Monthly Archives: July 2014

Why You Really Need To Know About Purple Nutsedge

If you already know about purple nutsedge you’re probably not a fan, simply because it’s been named the “most costly weed in the world” – this, by the way, is not meant to be a flattering distinction.  There is so much more to this weed and as it turns out, purple nutsedge has been intimately linked to humans for literally thousands of years.

Here it is! The tenacious purple nutsedge, also called nutgrass or Cyperus rotundus. Thanks to wikimedia commons for the image.

Here it is! The tenacious purple nutsedge, also called nutgrass or Cyperus rotundus. Thanks to wikimedia commons for the image.

The reason I’m so impressed with this is partly because the plant itself is kind of awesome. It’s been found on every continent, thrives in poor soil or fertile soil and is the bane of sugarcane, cotton and soybean farmers everywhere. It’s a little bit unstoppable and is resistant to most chemical herbicides. The most important point for me about purple nutsedge, or nutgrass  is that it is useful to humans in every way it’s possible for a plant to be useful. Instead of trying to burn this out of our fields we should embrace it for the myriad benefits it can provide (not that corporate farming cares at all about the myriad benefits of this “weed”)




Purple Nutsedge In Caveman’s Teeth

I know that sounds hilarious, but no joke.  Someone took the time to analyze paleolithic era dental plaque, which actually showed that not only did paleo people have a deep and detailed knowledge of plant life pre-agriculture, they also relied heavily on plants for nutrition. Not only that but there is evidence that they roasted and boiled the tubers, which kind of makes me love my ancient ancestors even more.  If you want to read more about how this was deduced click here for the research or here for my blog post on Primal Docs.  This plant has been interwoven in our ancestry and evolution for thousands of years (these plaque samples were taken from fossils dated between 17,000 and 15,000 BCE), so we are probably pretty intimate allies. The important part here though, is how you can also enjoy the benefits of this awesome weed.

What You Can Do With Purple Nutsedge

If you want to be like your caveman ancestors, or follow a caveman diet then this might be a good place to start! Nutsedge or nutgrass has bulb-like tubers that form out of the roots that grow laterally, helping to spread the plant. The tubers are shown in the picture below.  Also the plant is easy to recognize because it has a triangular stem, so if you cut a slice of the stem it’s shaped like a triangle.

Purple nutsedge tuber or root. This is the part you eat!

Purple nutsedge tuber or root. This is the part you eat!

This amazing plant is used for:

  • Food – the tuber is bitter, but packed with trace minerals, nutrients and especially the essential amino acid lysine, which is antiviral against the herpes family and essential for many bodily functions. The evidence suggests the tuber could be boiled, lightly heated on open fire or roasted.  The tuber is white and juicy when young and black and fibrous when old. Older tubers may require chewing and then spitting out the fibers that you can’t chew through (who wants glamor when you’re back yard foraging anyway)
  • Medicine: (Traditional Chinese Medicine Uses)– This plant is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as a potent qi tonic (that means it makes pretty much everyone feel better) called xiang fu. The tuber is harvested in autumn (look for the harder black ones), steamed for a short time then sliced lengthwise and dried in the sun. These dried strips can then be made into a tea that helps resolve grief and depressing which appears as depression with excessive sighing. The tea also helps regulate women’s menstrual cycles, resolve stomach pain from anger and generally open and regulate the emotions.  Isn’t it fascinating that a plant with so much power to help depression is growing unstoppably everywhere in a time when depression and sadness are rampant within society? I *love* the divine mystery.
  • Medicine: Ayurvedic Medicinal Uses – Ayurveda is the ancient system of medicine in India and they also consider this plant to be of utmost importance. Purple nutgrass, called Motha or Mutha, is used to stimulate appetite, to soothe the stomach, to kill digestive parasites and also to ease joint pain. In fact the essential oil is highly anti-inflammatory and is both a sedative and pain killer. For more technical details look here.
  • Medicine: Modern Research – This miraculous tuber has been found to be antibacterial, antioxidant, antimalarial and anti-diabetic. That’s pretty hard to beat from any plant.
  • Essential Oil – An essential oil can be harvested from the tubers that smells peppery and spicy and is used extensively in the perfume industry. It’s also a potent pain killer.
  • For Your Teeth – The antibacterial properties of this tuber also explain the shocking lack of cavities in the paleolithic fossils that have been discovered.  Eating the tuber kills the bacteria Streptococcus mutans, which contributes to tooth decay, so paleo teeth were protected by purple nut sedge in their diet.
  • For Weaving – If all the rest of it wasn’t enough, the grass is sturdy and can be woven into mats, baskets and rope if you’ve got some time on your hands.

So – maybe you’re not as excited as I am about caveman plaque or herbal remedies or even fragrant, peppery essential oil.  But my god it’s astounding that when the world is depressed and angst-y and generally going through some kind of identity crisis there is a literally unstoppable, un-killable, pesticide resistant plant called purple nutsedge  that can help with all of those things.  I wasn’t sure if I could find any and I literally walked five feet out of my back door and there was some mixed in with my lawn.  It makes me feel so supported and so loved and so generally caught up in wonder that the earth really does provide everything we need for the time we’re living in and the human condition.  All this even when we don’t necessarily treat the earth with the respect she deserves.  Thank you to the Divine Mystery. Thank you for purple nutsedge.



Who Owns Your Food? Food Corporations.

Did you know most of the food you eat every day is owned by 10 major food corporations, and that those food corporations are squeezing local farmers, local bakers, and small businesses out of business. These are the companies that make food so that it can sit on a shelf for months at a time and not go bad, so that it can be “merchandized correctly” but not necessarily so that it can be digested or utilized correctly

The Food Corporations that own what you eat. Infographic by Joki Gauthier for Oxfam 2012

The Food Corporations that own what you eat. Infographic by Joki Gauthier for Oxfam 2012

This is what corporate food looks like. This is who owns what you put into your body.  I dislike this on so many levels.

What’s Wrong With Food Corporations?

Any time food becomes a big business the company HAS to focus more on the retail and money side of things than the health side of things. It’s the nature of the beast. But overall, here’s why this is so very very bad.

  1. Mass-produced food has to be shelf-stable for a long time, meaning more preservatives.
  2. Mass producing food (instead of making it by hand) means you’re using machines, instead of hands so chances are you’ll use more chemicals to make the machine process work.
  3. Big food companies use a lot of fancy packaging that contributes to environmental badness.
  4. A May 2014 report by Oxfam International says that if the big 10 was a company it would be the 25th highest polluting country in the world.
  5. Food corporations make deals with mega-farms and drive out the local farmers.

Here’s more info from Oxfam:




Corporate Food Is A Problem, What Is The Solution?

This is the really simple part and also the not-so-simple part because it means changing your routine. This is a money-driven machine so the less money you put into the system, the smaller the system will get.  What does that mean? Shopping for food, food services and restaurants totally differently.

  1. Get your produce from farmers markets, CSAs (or Community Supported Agriculture), local growers and your own garden.
  2. Cook more at home.
  3. Visit local bakers, butchers and food producers
  4. Shop at a food co-op
  5. Boycot food corporations
  6. Buy bulk from the bins instead of pre-packaged
  7. Consciously avoid the big brand names and look for smaller local options
  8. Visit restaurants that source their food locally
  9. Get involved – support Oxfam International or any other local food advocate
  10. Get way healthier because this is how your nutrition gets better anyway.

Is food always going to be a big money maker? Yes – it always is. We’re always going to need to eat.  Does it need to make money at the expense of farmers, nutrition, and the environment?  Nope. That part is up to you.



Be a blissed out joy-bunny! The gorgeous fractal is "Finite subdivision of a radial link" by Brirush - Own work.

Addicted to Thinking? Learn To Meditate

When we think of addiction we usually think about the big scary addictions like heroine or crystal meth or alcohol.  As it turns out you may be plagued by an addiction that takes a far greater toll on your health – you may be addicted to thinking.

Ha! How could that be a problem? We *love* thinking.  We worship thinking.  Thinking helps you to grow and innovate and solve problems and plan for your day, your life, your week, your career.  Thinking got you all those certificates and awards and diplomas and promotions. But what if there is a point where all the thought turns into over-thinking. Where the planning becomes worrying, and where the thought loops become obsession?  What if we are a Nation that thinks instead of feels?

I feel like this is a fine line to walk, but every day in my patients (and yes, in myself too) I see people trying to solve all the possible problems of the future by thinking of them in advance. I see people so consumed by fear and anxiety about what might happen that they don’t notice the wonderful things that are happening right now.  I see people trying to decide if they love their partner by making pro and con lists (hint – this isn’t going to generate the right answer for you). Maybe we all need to take a collective deep breath and watch all those thoughts go by until they can settle down just a little to give us space to feel, to notice, to breathe.  Maybe then we can unwind all those knots in necks and shoulders and relax those overly tight muscles.




What is the Answer to Over-Thinking?

I feel like there is only one answer to the problem of being addicted to thinking, and that is mindfulness.  I know mindfulness is the new buzz-word. Everyone thinks you should have it because it helps with stress levels and combats chronic pain, but what is it actually? In a big general sense, mindfulness means being here right now. Instead of thinking about the past and what has happened, or the future and what might happen, or analyzing the “why” or “how” questions, instead you are completely present with the here-and-now. Surprisingly, that is harder than it sounds, and it isn’t something we’re used to doing.  For this the practice of mindfulness meditation is the key to training your mind to be right here, right now.

How To Practice Mindfulness Meditation

First – assume the position. Not crash position, actually just sit upright in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your hands resting gently on your thighs.  Keep your back upright and straight, so not slouched down resting on the back of the chair, but rather  with your vertebrae ‘like a stack of gold coins.” Keep your eyes open and your gaze downward at about a 45 degree angle.  Open eyes help you to not get distracted by your thoughts.  Here are the steps:

  1. Assume the position! (As I just described)
  2. Set your timer on your phone for 3 minutes. (Yes! Just 3 minutes!)
  3. Take three deep breaths to help settle your mind and relax your system
  4. Just keep your eyes open and notice what is happening in your mind.
  5. Chances are, you’re thinking.  Notice the thinking and let it drop without following it and turning it into a story.
  6. When you have a new thought pop up, just notice it and drop it.
  7. When the buzzer rings, drop the thought that’s happening right then, and you’re done!
  8. Pat yourself on the back because you just did your first mindfulness meditation.
  9. Now rinse, and repeat!  Do another 3 minutes and then you’re done for the day.
  10. Try to do this 5 days a week and then just watch out world because there is going to be a whole new you.

The Benefits of Mindfulness

Mindfulness does so many wonderful things for you – here’s just a short list.

  1. Cures that pesky addiction to thinking
  2. Reduces anxiety
  3. Reduces panic attacks and helps you get out of them more quickly
  4. Helps decrease chronic pain
  5. Gives you more peace of mind with who you actually are (and helps you to have less of the self-critical voice in your head)
  6. Increases attention span
  7. Helps you focus
  8. Increases your joy in the moment
  9. Enhances your immune system
  10. Helps reverse heart disease

    Be a blissed out joy-bunny! The gorgeous fractal is "Finite subdivision of a radial link" by Brirush - Own work.

    Be a BLISSED OUT JOY-BUNNY! The gorgeous fractal is “Finite subdivision of a radial link” by Brirush – Own work.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, you also get to be the blissed-out joy bunny on the block because you are able to see all of the wonderful things happening right now. Mindfulness is no joke and the more research we have on it the more powerful we realize it is. Isn’t it time you dedicate 6 minutes a day to being a happier you?



All possible variations of MTHFR gene combinations.

Understanding the MTHFR Mutation Basics

I’m amazed at how many people are coming into my office with MTHFR mutations, and also at how difficult it can be to actually understand the MTHFR mutation basics. So let’s start from the beginning and go from there.

What is MTHFR? Why Do I Keep Hearing About It?

MTHFR, just to be confusing, is the name of both a gene and the enzyme which that gene helps your body to make. We call it MTHFR because the actual name, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, is just ridiculously long and cumbersome. This enzyme helps your body to methylate. If your genes have a mutation it means that the enzyme they’re supposed to make turns out just a little bit wrong.  You still make the enzyme it just isn’t exactly the right shape and so it works differently from normal. It’s become kind of a buzzword these days simply because we’re discovering that it is more common than we thought and if you happen to be a mutant (like I am) then you may be at greater risk for a number of health problems. We’ll get to those in a second.




What Does the MTHFR Enzyme Do?

The short answer is that this enzyme methylates. Since the short answer sounds like something nobody cares about, let’s also talk about a long answer.  Methylation means that you add a “methyl group” which is essentially a carbon bonded to three hydrogen that looks, appropriately, like mutant mickey mouse ears. This sounds highly anticlimactic, but actually helps your body to do almost everything, like replicating and using your DNA, activating your B vitamins, detoxifying toxic substances and a whole host of other things.

What Are The Possible MTHFR Mutations?

There are TWO MTHFR genes, the MTHFR-C gene and the MTHFR-A gene and you have two copies of each of these (one from your mother and one from your father). This means there is a whole variety of ways that things could go wrong… Let’s look at those here:

ossible good and bad copies of the MTHFR gene

Possible good and bad copies of the MTHFR gene

This means that there are two genes, each with two copies and you could have good or bad copies of one or both… So:

All possible variations of MTHFR gene combinations.

All possible variations of MTHFR gene combinations.

The basic rule is that the more bad copies of the gene you have, the more likely you are to have negative health effects from those genes. The good news is the more bad copies of the gene you have, the more benefit you can get out of working to improve your body’s methylation ability.




Can I Fix a MTHFR Gene Mutation?

Yes and no. You are born with a set of genes and you’ll die with the same set – nothing can change your genes.  That sounds like bad news, but the good news is that we can get around a slow enzyme pathway – usually by supplementing the methylated form of B vitamins (so that it doesn’t matter if your genes can’t convert them) and also methyl donors. MTHFR mutation can make your life miserable, but if you learn to deal with it correctly it can also be overcome.

Poor methylation is becoming a common topic in medicine simply because we’re realizing how common these mutations really are and how great an impact on health they have.  Learn more about some of the conditions caused by this mutation here, and about some of the problems you can run into taking methylated B vitamins here.  There is so much more to this story, but at least we’ve covered the MTHFR mutation basics here. If you suspect a problem, get tested and talk with a doctor who knows about it because that will be the quickest path forward.