Q: How does meditation reduce stress and improve cognitive function?

A: Of all meditation techniques, “TM” or transcendental meditation is the best studied for its anti-stress effects. Studies have shown that catecholamines in the urine decrease during and following TM meditation.

This would be of advantage to blood type O, who has trouble clearing catecholamines. Even more significant, for blood types A and B, it appears that regular practice of TM results in lower resting basal cortisol levels for many practitioners. It is quite likely that these anti-stress results of meditation are available from other forms of meditation as well.

Meditation and visualization appear to be especially effective for type B and AB individuals, though it can be practiced by all blood types. The combination of music with guided imagery appears to be a very useful method for lowering high cholesterol.

Here is a link to a meditation website: http://quietmindcafe.com/quiet-mind.html

I think I am in shock that August is over. It was a busy and exciting month for us with a couple of wonderful highlights. Peter and I attended the 30th annual American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) Conference in Portland, Oregon. So good to see our colleagues and friends and catch up on life. Not to generalize, but naturopaths are really cool people! NAP sponsored a booth, and Roseanne Nenninger, ND and Nancy Kuhn, the NAP Professional Accounts Manager, were busy genotyping doctors and guests who stopped by. It was wonderful to see the level of interest and awareness that the concepts of blood type and personalized medicine are generating within the profession.

We hosted a reception at which Peter shared some of his latest research and his thoughts about the future of naturopathic medicine. It was provocative and exciting to hear about the concept of Generative Medicine, which examines natural phenomena at several levels including physical, biological and social, and it explores complex natural processes as generating through continuous interactions between elemental entities with simple universal rules and parameters. By defining Generative Medicine, Peter has actually created a new area of medicine, one that weaves together complexity theory with core naturopathic principles, genomic values and generative processes. Heady stuff which he has written about in the just-published “Textbook of Generative Medicine,” and of which we will be hearing much about in the upcoming months. I can’t tell you how many doctors shared with me their appreciation for this ground-breaking work. More than once, I heard people say, “He [Peter] has always been ten years ahead of the curve.” So true.

In addition to being “work busy,” I’ve been “life busy” as well, which certainly speeds up the passage of time. There’s been lots of back to school preparations, as we packed up Claudia for her sophomore year in college. (Enough socks? Toothpaste? Deflect? Computer?) Emily is preparing for her junior year in high school, which brings with it the SAT preparations, college visits and driving lessons. (Tranquility Base? Rescue Remedy?) Seems like just yesterday, they were little girls, and now they are mature, young adults with their own unique personalities and perspectives on the world. Witnessing their growth and evolution has been a delightful and enriching experience for me, and I have grown so much as an individual because of them.

As I was reflecting on our daughters, I found myself thinking that in many ways, NAP is like our third child. Born in the attic of an old Victorian house, the company has grown and evolved as an innovative nutritional supplements company with unique one-of-a-kind formulations and a dedicated and professional staff. We passed through the early growth stages that all companies go through and which were not “pretty,” and we have reached our own young adulthood. We have a solid foundation upon which to grow, and we have the maturity born from experience as we grew from a small, two-person company in our attic to having 20 staff members and a building!

Again, I am left with that same question of where did the time go? And the answer is that it went into living and building and sharing a dream and making it a reality, whether it is the dream of a company or a family or some form of creative expression. When we are in that moment of creative expression and full engagement, there is no real sense of time…not until we look back and recognize the enormity of what we have accomplished.

We have an opportunity as we start out September to envision what we want from the fall and commit ourselves to that wholeheartedly, whether it is a professional goal, and health-related goal, recommitment to exercise, whatever it is that is important to us in our lives. And then live it fully. We’ll look back in December wondering where the fall went, and hopefully it will be in having accomplished what we set out to do.

Happy September.

Martha

Genetics 101 – Dr. D’Adamo explains how genes are turned “on” or “off” and how eating right for your GenoType makes all the difference. (Excerpted from IfHI 2010 Micro-Conference and Certification testing in Nashville, TN) (4:37)

It’s fitting that we’re focusing on brain health for the September issue, as it’s the same month that our family is celebrating my grandmother’s 93rd birthday. Fiercely independent, she still chooses to live on her own and enjoys tending to her postage stamp sized garden where she grows and harvests her own vegetables. Sure, she complains about her aching joints and suffers from chronic asthma, but overall her health is good and she is sharp as a tack.

I’ve often wondered why some people retain their mental acuity well into their senior years and others seem to experience a decline in mental function in their forties and fifties. Until recently, scientists believed that the answer lay solely in genetics and that little could be done to control the timing and rate of decline. But according to some new studies, developmental and environmental factors could be even more important. Scientists have isolated a number of factors that contribute to premature aging and brain deterioration. These include: Mitochondrial damage, impaired circulation, hormonal deficiency, chronic stress, nitric oxide impairment, injury, tumors, and nutrient deficiency.

Dr. D’Adamo has identified brain power superfoods that provide the maximum nutritional support to fight many of the conditions associated with aging. Below are the top 12 Brain Power Super Foods for each blood type.

Greens are brain superfoods! Add a dash of flavor to your favorite green vegetable with these tasty recipes.

Creamed Swiss Chard
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil
• 2 medium shallots, diced
• 1 tablespoons all-purpose or spelt flour (depending on Type)
• 1 cup suitable milk or soy milk (depending on Type)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional)
• 1 large bunch (about 1 1/2 lbs.) green Swiss chard, rinsed with ribs removed and leaves roughly chopped

1. In a large saute pan, heat the ghee/olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
3. Add the milk or soy milk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, then raise the heat to high and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the chard, stir, and cook until tender, around 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Serve immediately.

• 1 bunch fresh collard greens
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
• 1 tablespoon sugar or 1/2 teaspoon agave if desired

1. Strip leaves from collards.
2. After washing collard greens, pour 2 cups of water into a 1 quart saucepan.
3. Add collard greens and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn heat down to low, and simmer until tender. It is not necessary to cut up collards before cooking.
4. When cooked down, cut the collard greens up with kitchen scissors in to bite size pieces.
5. Season with olive oil, fresh lemon, and sugar/agave to taste.

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds collard greens or turnip greens, boiled or steamed until tender
• 3 to 4 tablespoons light olive oil or ghee
• 2 to 3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 4 large cloves)
• salt and black pepper, to taste (optional)
• hot pepper sauce (optional)

1. Drain greens well.
2. In a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook garlic in the oil until it just begins to brown.
3. Add the drained greens.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired.
5. Add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce. (optional)

• 1 large bunch of curly kale (organic, of course)
• 3 small or 2 large lemons
• 1/2 cup raw, virgin, cold-pressed olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Celtic or Himalayan sea salt
• 4 small or 3 large cloves of garlic (peeled)
• 1/2 to 1 purple onion, sliced very fine

1. Wash and "spin" dry the curly kale.
2. Remove the stems.
3. Stack the leaves on top of each other and slice them horizontally into fine strips.
4. Place the strips into a glass or porcelain bowl.
5. Juice the lemons to make about 3-4 oz of juice.
6. Add the 1/2 cup olive oil.
7. Peel and cut the garlic cloves into chunks.
8. Put the olive oil, lemon, garlic, and sea salt into the blender or Vita-Mix and combine on high to make a frothy liquid.
9. Pour 1/2 the liquid over the top of the kale.
10. Mix well with salad utensils.
11. Pour the remaining liquid over the kale and keep turning and mixing with the salad utensils.
12. Let the mixture sit for at least 2 hours before you eat it as the lemon and olive oil will 'cure' the kale so that it becomes much softer and more edible.
13. Garnish with as many of the onion slices as you like.

Click here to do our D'Adamo interactive crossword puzzle! Get clues from the articles in this newsletter.

Looking for some more brainteasers? Here is a website that has fun games and online seminars to train your brain! www.lumosity.com

Introducing the first Blood Type Diet® iPhone App that lists beneficial, neutral, and avoid foods for each of the 4 blood types. Handy for grocery shopping, eating in restaurants, and meal planning. On the go or at home, you can always be sure that you are eating right for your type.

This is the basic entry point for Dr. Peter D'Adamo's Blood Type Diet® based on Right for Your Type food lists and is designed for secretors only; non-secretor food values will be addressed in a future app.

The Blood Type Diet® iPhone app is currently available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French versions.

Available for $3.99 through Apple iTunes

Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo and the faculty of The Institute for Human Individuality (IfHI) will hold the 2011 IfHI Conference & Certification May 20-22 at The Dolce Conference Center located in Norwalk CT.

For information, call: (203) 761-6701 or email: ifhi@dadamo.com.

Download the registration form: 2011 IfHI Registration Form.

Seating is limited so make your reservations today.

There are several groups sprouting up regarding the Blood Type Diet. This is Dr. Peter D'Adamo's group:
Blood Type Diet / Eat Right For Your Type

There is now a group based in France:
Hygiène de vie par les Groupes Sanguins

Here's a group based in London:
The Blood Type Diet

This group is based in Montreal, Canada:
Blood Type Diet

A new group out of New York has just started up.
"We are interested in the Genotype and Blood Type diets as published by Dr. Peter D'Adamo. We get together monthly in Manhattan for informal discussions. Come on down: learn new information, talk the 'language', and share experiences!"
NYC Genotype Diet Group

Event: D'Adamo Personalized Nutrition™ Support Group
Topic: Feeding Your Brain: Food for Thought
When: Thursday, September 16, 2010
Time: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Hosted by: Nancy Kuhn
Where: D'Adamo Personalized Nutrition™ Center, 213 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT
Admission: Free
RSVP: Please call or email Nancy Kuhn at (877) 226-8973 or nancy@dadamo.com

Event: Lecture by Ginger Nash, ND, MIfHI
Topic: Personalized Medicine and Homeopathic Medicine
When: Thursday, September 30, 2010
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: Fairfield Public Library, 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT
Admission: Free
RSVP: Please call or email Melissa at (203) 761-0042 or melissa@dadamo.com