February 2012

Healthy scavenger hunt. Let me clue you in, at Salty’s it’s time to come hunt for crustaceans. They are all over our menu and ready for your choosing. Winter months are prime for the freshest catch of prawns, crab and lobsters and picking your favorite tasty preparation is such an incredible adventure.

We love to eat these delicious denizens of the deep, but have you ever wondered how they like to dine? The diet of the crustacean focuses primarily on scavenging for what we might call “small plates” containing itty-bitty servings of micro-algae and krill (oh yum). These food sources turn out to be of tremendous benefit to us. Although they are small in size, they are powerful in effect. This phytonutrient diet of the prawn, lobster and crab contains one of the most powerful antioxidants found in nature, a nutrient called astaxanthin (I am tripping over my tongue just trying to say it!). Antioxidants such as astaxanthin are like a team of scavenger hunters. They play a very important role in helping the body deal with naturally occurring free radicals and excess oxidation by stabilizing them on a molecular level. If left unchecked, those two gamers would wreck havoc in your body on a cellular level. They cause chain reactions and the cellular damage that contributes to many difficult disease states including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and arthritis. All of these diseases have chronic inflammation as a huge contributing factor.

Scientists do not have all the answers as to why and how the antioxidants work to decrease inflammation, but here is a hint: They know they do not work alone. They have teammates of do-gooders, but we don’t entirely know who they are or how significant their role is. Each one works on solving a clue in the game of keeping you healthy. What scientists do believe is that you can’t get these benefits from popping a supplement pill alone. The riddle is far more complex than that. It requires the integration of ingredients from whole foods and all of those nutrients working together. As complex as it may sound, the answer is really quite simple. Eating a well-rounded diet is the key to winning this game.

Check out my “Good for You!” blog from August 2009 called "Color Yourself Healthy” for a variety of hints.Speaking of healthy coloring, interestingly enough this wonderful antioxidant astaxanthin is the very thing that gives our lobster, crab and prawn shells their beautiful color of red. Salmon gets the same rosy benefit from astaxanthin, too. It’s just another colorful hint in the scavenger hunt toward health. For more informative clues, visit www.livestrong.com, and for more delicious clues, come to Salty’s waterfront seafood restaurants!

January 2012

Pass go, collect $200. Hello, January, here you are again. It’s time to pass go and collect $200. The game starts over with 2012 and the year is full of possibilities. Is there something you would like to do differently or better when it comes to your health? Well then, go for it. After all, it’s your game and you are in charge of how it’s played. Results are a manifestation of our choices throughout the year. It is shocking how much of our physical well-being really is in our own hands; okay not all, so let’s give ourselves that grace. If we don’t like what we see or we don’t like how we feel, now is a great time to determine to change it.

Who else could do it for us? I’m looking around and frankly see no one else in the mirror but myself. I have myself to thank or blame for the state of my wellness. So my goal (and maybe you will join me) is to be pleased with the job that I do for myself this year. It is the small choices we make daily that add up to big results. Did you know that if you just cut out 100 calories in each day, by the end of one year you would have lost 10 pounds? No kidding. Let’s do the math here. There are 365 days in the year and 3,500 calories in each pound so 365 days x 100 calories = 36,500 calories per year. Now divide that by the 3,500 calories per pound, and voilà, you have a new pant size! Sweet.

For heaven’s sake, what can we cut out that would equal 100 calories? Let me tell you this is not a problem. One tablespoon of butter is 90 calories. Instead of reaching for that sports drink or a glass of juice, reach for water just once a day. One can of pop is 150 calories. A decrease of one can a day from your usual chug-a-lugging would take 15.6 pounds off your back by the year’s end. Now that would be something. Skip the flavored syrup in your coffee drink and try the cocoa powder and cinnamon shaker instead. Another place to look is snack time. Try cutting up some fresh vegetables like celery, carrots, jicama or red peppers and keep them in your refrigerator. You can snack on those goodies all you want. Check out prevention.com/100calories for 100 great tips that might work for you.

Let me also say that if you decide to burn 100 calories a day by adding new exercise, you can use the same math and double your results. This is fantastic. I feel more fit just thinking about it! So go for it. You’re in charge and you deserve good health. By the time this year is over, you could have the monopoly on a very pleasing personal win!

December 2011

Over the river and through the woods. It’s time for the holidays and the gathering of family and friends. All the generations get together and celebrate making our holidays merry and bright. I have one piece of advice for you this year—listen to Grandma. Every time I turn around there she is, right again. Remember how she said to eat good healthy food? (I know you hid your peas in your napkin.) No dessert unless you eat your vegetables? Imagine telling Grandma that these days you get your nutrition from pills and powders rather than the earth or the sea? Can you see her eyes roll? Oh deary me darling, what are you thinking!!! Well guess what? Even the scientists at Harvard think she is right.

There were some large-scale human studies published recently suggesting that getting our nutrition from supplements and vitamin pills might not be the best medicine (see Is This the End of Popping Vitamins?). The bottom line they were reporting was that vitamins and supplements do not always have the health benefits we think they do and sometimes even cause harm. The problems begin to occur when we take our essential nutrients, which we need in small doses, and feed ourselves very large pill doses. In theory this becomes similar to taking a drug. Some examples are: the Sloan-Kettering cancer study that revealed that Vitamin C actually protects cancer cells more that normal cells. The Iowa Women’s Health Study, 38,000 strong, showed that statistically women who took multivitamins had a higher risk of mortality. And how about the “SELECT Trial” published this month studying Vitamin E for the decreased risk of prostate cancer that proved it did just the opposite?

Enough already with all this fake stuff we put in our bodies. Apparently it isn’t such a great idea. But HELLO, Grandma already told us that. (Let me please throw in a caveat here that if you are told by your doctor you need a nutritional supplement be sure to follow that advice.) Remember when we were all told to eat margarine for our health? Now it causes cancer. We were told to not eat fat, then we were told to not eat carbohydrates. Grandma never wasted time on any of this dizzying nonsense. Let’s not chase rainbows for the easy way out when there really isn’t one. Yes, deary, you do need to eat healthfully if you want to lead a long healthy life.

The wisest advice is to eat good food for our nutrition, real gosh darn grown in the ground, harvested from the sea, raised on the land food. Let’s eat it as fresh, local and natural as possible, prepared deliciously and nutritiously. And by all means, be sure to invite Grandma!

November 2011

Mussel Muscles The science of muscles and exercise is a fascinating topic. As I dug into this season of clams, mussels and oysters, I found that they taught me some mighty lessons. Mollusk muscles are built on the same principles as ours. Mollusks have muscles (one or two) located inside the shell that are called adductors. They are strong circular muscles used to open and close their shells. Interestingly enough their muscle fibers perform similar tasks to ours. They have fast twitch muscles that quickly snap shut the shell if they sense an advance from a predator. They also have slow twitch muscles that allow them to keep their shells shut for long periods of time, for example, if they sense an aquatic environment that is unhealthy. Both situations are vital to the survival of the mollusk.

Humans have fast twitch muscles for intense bursts of energy called for in “fight or flight,” but we also need the ability to keep moving over long periods of time for “hunting and gathering.” Muscles are constantly breaking down as each cell’s life comes to an end. They are either asked to be replaced by new and stronger muscles and cells—because we used them—or less and smaller—because we didn’t. It is a very dynamic process. When we use our muscles by exercising, we are asking our body to renew itself and to profuse itself with life-carrying oxygen.

Each time we do this we increase our carrying capacity and the health of our entire body. Did you know that sedentary women are five times move likely to die than the fittest women, and that exercise decreases the risk of most disease (and increases the survivability)? Check out the book Younger Next Year by Crowley and Lodge for a real eye opening read.

Our lives are full of challenges mentally, physically, environmentally and emotionally. We need the ability to react, to move, to remember, to calculate, to absorb and to endure. Without constantly renewing our muscles and asking for oxygen to flow in every inch of our bodies we cannot function at our highest and greatest potential. It is important to shut that shell quickly, or hold tight for a long time if our environment requires it. The constant request to renew and repair our bodies is done by the daily exercise we ask of it. It is not just to look better or feel better but it goes far beyond that.

A strong yet parallel function to the mollusk shutting it’s shell tight might be our body resisting the onslaught of some cancer-producing transitory predator. Maybe there is a “hold your shell tight for a long time” period of stress in your life that you can’t control. If your body is strong and able, you can fight it and endure. Surprisingly enough exercise helps with that, too.

Whatever the case may be, in order to get the job done research tells us that we must exercise almost daily. Spend four days a week doing aerobic exercise and at least two days doing anaerobic (strength training). This is essential to our good health. This is the way that we give our body the upkeep it needs so we can either shut our shell fast or hold tight when we need to. It’s as basic as a mussel muscle, yet as profound as the basis for our own healthy life.

October 2011

The Vegetable Underground—In Seattle this year, we are keeping an autumnal secret. September 23 may have been the first day of fall but it was 80 degrees! There is no denying that the season is about to turn, and marching in with it will come a whole new fresh cadre of underground vegetables. I get excited thinking about these new ingredients, and there are many fine reasons to store up on their goodness.

As it gets colder and temperatures begin to snap, the vegetables that grow above ground begin to wither on the vine. This is the time when the vegetables that have been living in the dirt surface are the freshest. There are multitudes of interesting lumpy, bumpy, knobs of nutrition that we can all enjoy. The list is long but includes many well-known favorites as well as others that are lesser known: sweet potatoes, turnips and carrots are down with celeriac, sunchoke and taro root. The vegetables that we dig for are taking their nutrition directly from the rich soil. The big bonus is that they basically contain no fat and are low in calories. Protein is often high and thankfully they cost less and store very well. They are the support system or “root” for the entire plant above the ground, and they store a tremendous amount of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients.

For example, “radishes, rutabagas and turnips are classified as cruciferous vegetables along with broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. This family of vegetables provides an important compound that seems to offer cancer protection by stimulating enzymes that deactivate carcinogens. Jicamas, rutabagas and celeriac (celery root) are all good sources of vitamin C; parsnips and rutabagas are high in potassium, which helps control blood pressure; and all these root vegetables supply dietary fiber.” (See www.elements4health.com.)

“Compared to people who eat only small amounts of fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts—as part of a healthy diet—are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases. These diseases include stroke, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and perhaps heart disease.” (See www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov.)

The root of the problem is that we don’t get enough fruits and vegetables in our diet. So exactly how many fruits and vegetables would constitute “generous amounts,” my inquiring mind wanted to know. I went further into the dot gov website to find out. A couple of clicks and, presto, I found that I need one and a half cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables. Wow! I better get going on that. It’s a new fall season with new produce and new recipes. Enjoy experimenting and be sure to dig in to those root vegetables.

September 2011

A Salty Little Story—Gather around my friends, I have a salty little tale to tell you. I must caution you, it contains a lot of pressure, danger and risk but it can have a happy ending.

Once upon a time we ate too much Na+ salt. When we consume too much sodium, fluid is forced by osmosis to move into our blood vessels, increasing the amount of fluid they contain. Too much fluid in the limited space of our vascular system causes high blood pressure. It’s just like turning on the garden hose but not opening up the nozzle. High blood pressure puts us at risk for a heart attack or a debilitating stroke. But there is something more to the story. Another salty character comes into play called K+ potassium. It turns out to be the real hero in this important saga.

A new study led by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) illustrates the fact that when a person reduces sodium consumption and increases potassium consumption, they benefit from decreased blood pressure and a reduced risk of stroke and other diseases. The study found that people whose sodium intake was high and potassium intake was low had twice the death rate of those whose salts were actually in balance. I don’t know about you but I think those are some pretty convincing odds. The key discovery was that the sodium-potassium balance was the most important contributor to success. “If sodium increases your high blood pressure, potassium decreases it. If sodium retains water, potassium helps you get rid of it. Instead of focusing only on salt, we should focus on the balance between potassium and salt. We need to strive to do both—decrease your sodium intake and increase your potassium intake,” said Dr. Elena Kuklina, who led the CDC study.

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking about giving potassium a leading role in my diet. (If you have kidney disease, please check in with your doctor.) Let me clue you in on who the real super stars are in the potassium category. I bet you could guess that one of the best is FISH—(smile) and you can come to Salty’s for that—especially salmon, halibut and tuna. Fruits and vegetables are also big winners, especially sweet potatoes, bananas, avocadoes and spinach, as well as all kinds of dried fruits, seeds and beans. A little yummy bonus is that dark chocolate and cocoa are some pretty strong characters, too. As far as reducing sodium, your best bet is to grab your hand when it reaches for the saltshaker; try to reduce your consumption of all those pre-processed foods—and instead, think simply fresh! Throw in a bunch of potassium-rich foods and your life story could be a long one. (Photo by Ilya Moshenskiy ilyaphoto.com)

August 2011

The Ciao Diet!—Great colorful vegetables, fresh fruit, olive oil, nuts, legumes, whole grains, herbs, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese yogurt and ah … red wine—these are the bounty of the earth and the backbone of what is defined as the Mediterranean Diet. It is a great way to “mange!!!” (Some great hand gestures should go on here including kissing your fingertips and casting them to the air, excellente!). The Mediterranean lifestyle also includes a substantial amount of walking, lots of talking and family and friends all around. It has been scientifically (not to mention generationally) proven that “A Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduced risk of overall and cardiovascular mortality, a reduced incidence of cancer and cancer mortality, and a reduced incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. For this reason, most if not all major scientific organizations encourage healthy adults to adapt a style of eating like that of the Mediterranean diet for prevention of major chronic diseases.” (Mayoclinic.com/health/mediterranean-diet/CL00011)

Life really does revolve around meals, so it is good to gather those you love and cook up a storm, or dine out together (at Salty’s). When the cooking is up to you, it is fun to get inspiration from others. I have a friend Roberto Russo who inspired me to help him produce a cookbook here in the United States. He is from Tuscany and I am from Seattle. Worlds apart, it’s true, but when you love food there is a common language shared by all. Cooking is an art form. It is an expression of a complex combination of culture, tradition, regional foods and ingredients, inspiration from mothers, friends, restaurants, chefs you’ve watched, cookbooks you’ve read and when it comes down to it, sometimes just what is available in your kitchen.

The best rule of thumb is the fewer ingredients the better, so you can really savor the flavors. Some of the most marvelous recipes come from combining something from your pantry with something from your refrigerator with something from your garden and fantastico! It’s heaven when you work with family and friends in the kitchen and cook something up that you can all be proud of. Everyone helps, everyone shines and everyone enjoys.

In order to bring a little Mediterranean Diet inspiration your way, I want you to know that the cookbook Good Ciao, that my friend and I worked on together, is available to you through Salty’s. (I will even personalize it for you, just e-mail me.) It is written in both English and Italian so it is fun to see the recipes side by side. About three quarters of the recipes are Roberto’s and about one quarter are from Salty’s chefs (and me), but they are all focused on the “Ciao Diet” principles. No matter where you live in the world, enjoy good, fresh, healthy cooking and living.

Buon Appetito! Ciao, ciao, ciao!

July 2011

Pick Me!—Did you know that Salty’s is a huge supporter of many of our local farmers? Some of our vegetables are organic as well. We were also one of the first restaurants in Seattle to compost. For about a decade, our scraps have been picked up and mixed into good dirt that goes back to local farms as organic material that they use to grow their crops, that we buy and use to prepare our food, that you eat and then we compost scraps again—it goes full circle!

July is a fabulous time in the Northwest because there is so much local bounty that is simply fresh! Our gardens are blooming and growing and we are diggin’ it. If you don’t have a green thumb and aren’t growing your own, then go to Salty’s and see what these delectable delights should taste like. If you want to experiment on your own, our wonderful neighborhood farmers markets have a plethora of earthly delights. Even at good grocery stores, we can find our local farmers proudly represented. The really great thing is that the report from the green grocers is that the local stuff goes first. Yeah for that!

So why should we care where our produce comes from? Does it make a difference? The goal of being able to eat vegetables at their freshest is that the vitamins, flavor and texture, color and beauty are at their optimum. When a fruit is able to ripen completely on the vine, it can draw the maximum nutrients and flavor from the sun and the soil. Once picked, a vegetable can only draw on its own reserves. Food that is picked far away and shipped long distance must be picked early (somewhat unripe) to prevent bruising and lack of freshness. This may mean a week or more of trucking and transfers and ripening off the vine. When you buy from local farmers, your produce may have been picked that morning! Think about how much longer it will last and how much better it will taste.

Here are some great tips for keeping your produce fresh: Make sure that your refrigerator is set at about 40 degrees. Keep your fruits and vegetables in separate bags as they can cause ripening issues when mixed. You can buy great plastic bags for storing produce, but you can also make your own by punching holes in them (similar to apple bags). In most cases, it is best to wash your fruits and vegetables just before you use them. Here are for more tips.

There is no better time to experience the best of the fresh. The bounty is here at Salty’s, come enjoy! (Photos courtesy of Full Circle farm.)

June 2011

Mission Control—There are things in life that we can control and things that we can’t, but a healthy level of blood pressure is one thing that is well worth trying to manage. Blood pressure is an element of health that has a reverberating effect throughout our bodies. When it is under control, all systems are able to receive the support they need, which makes us feel good.

So what do our blood pressure numbers mean anyway? The measurement of our blood pressure is actually a calculation of how hard our heart has to pump to get the blood to flow throughout our bodies. The heart is like a water pump and the blood vessels are like hoses. Imagine that you are trying to water your entire yard with a really narrow gardening hose. The whole yard needs water today so you turn up the water full blast to get the job done—but all the plants get pulverized! The force and the pressure backup certainly are not good for the pump, nor for the elasticity of the hoses. The water pump starts to heat up, then slows down—you get my drift. Eventually the system just can’t keep up. After a full day of trying to water, some plants just aren’t getting the nourishment they need. Over time, if the pump is working too hard, you might think, hey, maybe I need a bigger pump. Presto, heart enlargement. The heart (pump) begins to literally change its shape by enlarging, stiffening or elongating, and the blood vessels (hoses) start to stiffen.

As you can well imagine, the heart gets tired of this and eventually a weakened condition sets in called “heart failure.” This does not mean that the heart stops beating, rather it means that the heart just can’t keep up. It can’t beat hard enough to push the blood throughout the body. When this happens, we can become tired or out of breath. Heart failure has actually become a condition of almost epidemic proportions. To prevent heart failure, make sure your body is the right size for your heart, so maintain a good body weight. Don’t smoke or over-drink. Make sure you get plenty of exercise and eat a heart healthy diet. That means lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and proteins and dairy products that are low in saturated fat. Fish, of course, is a magnificent option and is recommended twice a week.

Check out the DASH diet for guidance on how to happily, healthfully and effectively manage hypertension. You should also know that at Salty’s restaurants part of our mission is to prepare your food with any dietary needs you have. Plus our menus contain a vast array of very nutritious seafood that can help keep you in heart healthy control.

May 2011

Found: The Fountain of Youth! When the sixteenth-century explorer Ponce de Leon set sail to find the “fountain of youth” he instead found Florida. Florida is beautiful and a great consolation prize, but couldn’t he have looked just a little harder? I’m sure we all might like to have a small bottle of those magical waters to stave off our pesky crow’s feet. Wouldn’t old Ponce be surprised to learn that today’s scientists may have found that illusive fountain right under his boat? That’s right. A recent study found that those fish swimming in the deep blue sea make a substantial difference in the aging process.

Let me clarify. The study, led by Ramin Farzaneh-Far, M.D., from the University of California at San Francisco, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that fish oil may actually slow aging (JAMA 2010 Jan 20; 303(3): 250-7). Put simply, fish might be the illusive fountain of youth.

The study sampled blood levels of fish oil called Omega-3 fatty acids in patients and correlated them with the youthfulness of their cellular genes. Those with high blood levels of Omega 3’s had the youngest-looking, longest “telomeres,” and those with the lowest levels of Omega-3 fatty acids had the shortest. Don’t be surprised if you have never heard of telomeres (I must have fallen asleep in genetics class because it was not ringing a bell with me either). They are actually compound structures located at the end of a chromosome. The longer the telomere, the more youthful the cell. Healthier telomeres result in lower biological age. Eating fish = high Omega-3 blood levels = longer telomeres = lower biological age = the Fountain of Youth!

I found a short YouTube film produced by the authors of the study that is interesting and explains the whole premise of the concept. I promise if you watch it and then discuss what you learn at the next cocktail party, you will sound like a proverbial brainchild, and your old friends will thank you!

But are there enough fresh fish in the fountain to keep us all young? This is a very important question. Fish supply management is paramount to sustainability and we are all concerned that we take good care of this phenomenal food source. A recently published article makes an excellent case for us to not worry. The op-ed was printed in the New York Times and also in the Seattle Metropolitan magazine. University of Washington Fisheries Department Professor Ray Hilborn reports that the sustainability of our fisheries, primarily in the US and cooperating areas, is looking very good. The systems of fish management that we now employ may keep our fountain of youth flowing for decades and generations to come. We hope to see you soon at Salty's, a great source for fresh local sustainable seafood.

April 2011

The locale for local. I may be biased, but I just love the Northwest. There is nothing more sensational than the Northwest local beauty and local bounty. Today I saw our beautiful snow-covered mountains across the clear blue water, streets with cherry trees blossoming and a beach area that was closed off to protect a young seal pup waiting for its mother. The spring days are longer now and randomly they can either seem like a warm summer day or send down sprinkling rain, making for an excellent growing environment. Shoots of chartreuse green are piercing the dark brown soil and fresh life is popping up everywhere. The spring season almost screams NEW! So to honor its arrival, we have a new menu at Salty's. It features fresh sustainable local seafood, colorful local produce, rich local cheeses, luscious local wines, boisterous local beers and our own in-house local bakery goods. Did I mention that Salty's is locally family owned?

Ah, but why is local better? Outside of homegrown pride, the secret is in its freshness. Of course this freshness principle applies to fish and seafood, but it also definitely pertains to the fruits and vegetables we call "produce." Have you ever thought about the word produce? You can find it in the dictionary under the word birth and along with bearing fruit and bringing forth; the earth "produces" produce!

Why is local produce better for you? There are many, many reasons. It both supports our local farmers and uses less fuel to travel to its destination. It doesn't rumble around in a truck all the way across the country, after being harvested when it was under ripe so it would better survive the trip. Instead it is quite ripe when locally harvested, allowing those important nutrients to develop to their fullest. Ripening, on the vine so to speak, not only brings better flavor but also higher nutrient content and color. Because it was just picked, it has retained more of its nutrients.

There is a direct relationship between time and nutrition: the more time on the vine the better, the more time off the vine is worse. This is because many vitamins and nutrients are not stable. They decay over time. The more time that passes from harvest, the more exposure there is to light, oxygen, temperature and bruising. Produce contains well-known essential vitamins and also the stupendously effective phytonutrients. (We'll call them the Fight-O nutrients because they can help take down cancer, heart disease, inflammation and even macular degeneration with a right hook and a left cross!) Carotenoids, flavenoids and sulfides are a few of those stealth ingredients. They play roles in lending obvious color to vegetables, helping bring you good health with their antioxidant abilities and anti-inflammatory properties. You can learn more at nutrition.gov then come visit us at Salty's—the locale for local!

March 2011

Clear as a bell. Have you ever had an old concept strike you as if was once again new? This happened to me the other day when I was reading the Mayo Clinic Health Letter "Exercise for your heart, more powerful than you think." It hit me like the stunning clear sound from a bell tower.

Let me set the stage for you. You walk every day for exercise yet have a heart attack anyway. Why, doctor? Why? With all that effort I should not have had a heart attack! Ah, yes, he says but it is the very reason you survived. It was not catastrophic because of the small things you have done daily to contribute to your heart health. A closer look tells us that this exercise has created a demand on the heart muscle that could not be supported by the normal coronary blood vessels. Thus new blood vessels had to be formed to bring blood supply and oxygen to the hard working heart. Instead of having 1x number of blood vessels this hard working heart needed 1x plus!

So the heart very smartly formed what are called collateral blood vessels. These bring additional food and oxygen to the same areas of the heart, cardio, as the normal healthy coronary arteries, thus producing a very well-served heart with a profuse, vascular blood supply. (Here is where the bell starts ringing, ever hear the word cardio-vascular?) Now one day out of the blue you have a little blood clot run through a main coronary artery. Oh no, it gets stuck. Rats, it's a blockage! Oh what to do? Well until you get help, those smaller new collateral blood vessels come to the rescue with blood flow and nourishment that keep your heart tissue from dying. Now, what might have been a complete disaster is a mild event.

I stop typing here and start blinking. Whoa. A mild event? What would you give to have a mild event? Reversing out of the former is impossible but a mild event is a big hallelujah. Is it worth taking a little time out of our schedules to work on some exercise? You bet it is. That extra blood flow helps more than your heart, it also helps your muscles, too. That extra bit of strength can mean the difference between an injury and a near miss. It also keeps the brain functioning at a higher level. Here comes the fun part. Keep those blood vessels healthy with some Omega-3 fatty acids by eating a nice piece of salmon or delicious fish at least twice a week. Consider a glass of red wine and let the resveratrol and flavanoids get to work (read more at mayoclinic.com/health/red-wine). A little dark chocolate to top it off wouldn't be a bad idea either.

You see it isn't all work and no play. But if you work hard and play it right, you might be very glad. The reason to do so rings clear as a bell.

February 2011

February, Love, Dates and Fish. Let's start with this crazy question, what do the words February, love, dates and fish all have in common? Sure Valentine's Day is an easy guess and a date at Salty's for some great seafood would be a brilliant answer (make reservations at saltys.com) but there is more to this combination of words than meets the eye. They all have to do with this wintry time of year and the effect it has on our minds and bodies. As we round the corner into February, the long dark days of winter are still with us. We know that spring is coming soon but by now we are really wishing it would hurry up. What causes this? Let's not get into a discussion about the earth's axis and rotation here, but shorter time periods between sunrise and sunset, along with too much time spent indoors, can be the culprits. How can we fool Mother Nature and get around this annual phenomenon? There are a few things we can do. First of all, bundle up and get outside no matter the weather. The outdoor O2 air makes you feel energized and is so much better for you than the indoor re-circulated variety. Even a few minutes can brighten your day.

Love gets extra focus in February and as it turns out, Cupid's "Will You Be Mine" arrow actually produces effects that are good for us. Loving and being loved actually helps us stay healthier. Studies have found that our feelings of love decrease the risk of disease and increase both our ability to heal and our levels of immunity. And, hey, love gives us warm feelings so there you go, it's another way to beat the cold winter blues.

As for dates and fish, it turns out that they are included in a list of great foods for this hibernating time of year. Why? Because they contain a substantial amount of the nutrient tryptophan. The essential amino acid tryptophan is actually a precursor and building block to a very important molecule called serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that relays signals in the brain that influence sleep, appetite and mood among other neurological functions. Low levels of serotonin have actually been found to be instrumental in sleep apnea, obesity and depression. Foods that can increase the production of serotonin include salmon, dates, papaya, banana, whole grains, peanuts, seeds, poultry and dairy products. So focus on these foods and you might notice a difference. If you would like to read more on this topic, I recommend that you visit livestrong.com, an excellent website on diets to help you live strong.

February, love, dates and fish—four fun words for the winter season.

January 2011

A Smart Start It has been a busy holiday season filled with gatherings and gifting and lots of good cheer. Now is the moment when we need to consider a belated gift to ourselves. Yes, it's time for a little reflection and good old New Year's resolutions. Mine don't seem to change much from year to year; sometimes I achieve them, sometimes I don't. The smoke detector batteries are pretty straightforward. It's the more nebulous ones that tend to trip me up. My yearly favorites are: number one, to spend more time with those I love; number two, to eat more healthfully; and number three, to exercise more (in no particular order).

Right off the bat I can give you a couple of great ideas. Salty's has reengineered their menu to make it possible to gather with friends and family frequently. We have price points for every occasion, so stop by and let us help you easily achieve that goal. You relax and we do all the work. Love that. Second, we happen to specialize in some of the most healthful food on the planet. The lean protein of fish and seafood and our fresh local vegetables are so very good for you, plus we have plenty of healthy dishes or are happy to modify any dish to suit your dietary needs. Okay, resolutions one and two are easily solved for us. Yes, that was easy.

Now we must get on to the tougher goal, exercise. I have ideas for that one, too. Let's start with the premise that exercise is absolutely essential. It is not the reward of the day when we get everything done, rather it is an essential ingredient we must build in. Get that mind set going and you are well on your way. Without exercise we step on that proverbial banana peel and slide. It's a move-it or lose-it proposition. Exercise is not just beneficial for our bodies, but for our minds as well. This concept is well illustrated in Harvard professor Dr. John Rately's best selling book Spark. His research explains the health benefits of exercise on the brain in a new and compelling way, which gives us even more reason to resolve to move.

I would also like to direct you to the incredible website sparkpeople.com which was created because of the book. It contains fantastic information and advice and is now considered one of the best health-related sites on the web. A brief synopsis of what Dr. Ratley's research found is quite interesting and inspirational. Exercise actually keeps the brain from aging and helps us learn better and faster. It also promotes the rejuvenation of our brain cells and "sparks" our neurological connections. This improves our ability to think, learn and function on every level. Exercise has a way of interrupting the stress, pain and anxiety loop. Physical activity actually causes the production of serotonin, a chemical that affects us neurologically to give us a sense of well-being. Exercise is now technically a really brainy idea.

So let's get our year off to a smart start. Let's resolve to gather more with friends and family, eat delicious food that is good for us and include daily consistent exercise to move our year in the right direction. Happy New Year to you!

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