Winner of One of Our Customized Free Wigs!

Congratulations to Janet Wilder one of the winners of our Wigs for Wonderful Women (women's cancer wig giveaway contest)! Ricky created a customized wig for her and when she saw the finished product she said, "It looks so natural and now I look like a real person! Wow!!"

Carcinogen Free Hair Products

Our world-renowned master hair stylist talks about the Neuma product line and how it is one of his favorite hair care product lines to use for his clients.  It is carcinogen free and the closest product line to organic without having to be refrigerated.  Ricky works closely with cancer patients and loves being able to provide them with a wonderful product that helps them stay away from cancer causing agents.

Low Sodium Tortilla Soup

For all of you who are watching your sodium intake, we've found a delicious Tortilla Soup Recipe to share!  This soup yields only 480mg of sodium per serving!

Servings = 4 | Serving size =about 2 cups

Cooking Time = 60 Minutes

1 tsp. olive oil
1 large onion (diced)
2 ribs celery (diced)
2 large carrots (diced)
3 ears corn (cut kernels off cob)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs (cubed)
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
6 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
Fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
16 tortilla chips

Place the olive oil in a medium stock pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.

Add the celery and carrots and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the corn and chicken and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add the cumin, paprika, chili powder, water, salt and pepper. Stir well. Reduce the heat until the soup is simmering. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve topped with crumbled tortilla chips.

A Low Fat Snickerdoole Recipe Just in Time for the Holidays!

Low Fat Almond Butter Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup (about 3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons smooth almond butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
4.75 ounces white whole-wheat flour (about 1 cup)
1.5 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Place the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at high speed until well combined (about 2 minutes). Add 1 teaspoon lemon rind, vanilla extract, and egg yolks; beat until well blended.

4. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat at low speed until well combined. Drop half of the dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Combine the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and granulated sugar in a small bowl; sprinkle half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over cookies. Bake at 350° for 6 minutes; flatten cookies with the back of a spatula. Bake an additional 6 minutes. Cool on pans 1 minute. Remove from pans, and cool on wire racks. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and sugar mixture.

How to Wash a Mastectomy Prosthesis

Ever wonder what the best was is to wash a mastectomy prosthesis?  Watch our BOC/ABC certified mastectomy fitter demonstrate:

WALNUTS SLOW PROSTATE CANCER IN MICE

posted by Dorsey Griffith-UC Davis

Both whole walnuts and walnut oil appear to slow down prostate cancer and to reduce levels of a hormone linked to both prostate and breast cancer in studies with mice.

“For years, the United States government has been on a crusade against fat, and I think it’s been to our detriment,” says lead scientist and research nutritionist Paul Davis. “Walnuts are a perfect example. While they are high in fat, their fat does not drive prostate cancer growth. In fact, walnuts do just the opposite when fed to mice.”

Davis and colleagues have been investigating the impact of walnuts on health for some time. A previous study showed that walnuts reduced prostate tumor size in mice; however, there were questions about which parts of the nuts generated these benefits. Was it the meat, the oil, or the omega-3 fatty acids?

If it was the omega-3 fats, the benefit might not be unique to walnuts. Since the fatty acid profile for the soybean oil used as a control was similar, but not identical, to walnuts, more work had to be done.

In the current study, researchers used a mixture of fats with virtually the same fatty acid content as walnuts as their control diet. The mice were fed whole walnuts, walnut oil, or the walnut-like fat for 18 weeks.

The results replicated those from the previous study. While the walnuts and walnut oil reduced cholesterol and slowed prostate cancer growth, in contrast, the walnut-like fat did not have these effects, confirming that other nut components caused the improvements—not the omega-3s.

“We showed that it’s not the omega-3s by themselves, though, it could be a combination of the omega-3s with whatever else is in the walnut oil,” Davis says. “It’s becoming increasingly clear in nutrition that it’s never going to be just one thing; it’s always a combination.”

While the study does not pinpoint which combination of compounds in walnuts slows cancer growth, it did rule out fiber, zinc, magnesium, and selenium.

In addition, the research demonstrated that walnuts modulate several mechanisms associated with cancer growth, including the hormone IGF-1.

“The energy effects from decreasing IGF-1 seem to muck up the works so the cancer can’t grow as fast as it normally would,” Davis says. “Also, reducing cholesterol means cancer cells may not get enough of it to allow these cells to grow quickly.”

In addition, the research showed increases in both adiponectin and the tumor suppressor PSP94, as well as reduced levels of COX-2, all markers for reduced prostate cancer risk.

Although results in mice don’t always translate to humans, Davis says his results suggest the benefits of incorporating walnuts into a healthy diet. Other research, such as the PREDIMED human study, which assessed the Mediterranean diet, also found that eating walnuts reduced cancer mortality.

Still, Davis recommends caution in diet modification.

“In our study the mice were eating the equivalent of 2.6 ounces of walnuts,” he says. “You need to realize that 2.6 ounces of walnuts is about 482 calories. That’s not insignificant, but it’s better than eating a serving of supersized fries, which has 610 calories.

“In addition to the cancer benefit, we think you also get cardiovascular benefits that other walnut research has demonstrated.

Top Causes of Hair Loss

1. Heredity
2. Hormones
3. Stress
4. Poor diet/missing nutrients
5. Chemical hair styling services
6. Certain medications
7. Surgery or high temperature

If you are experiencing sudden hair loss, your first step is to visit your physician for a complete work up. Once you've identified the reason for your hair loss, you will be able to put together a plan to renew your hair either with medical treatments or alternative methods such as non surgical hair replacement. We offer free initial consultations and would love to help you develop a plan to get you looking fabulous again!

5 Tips for the Winter to Relieve Dry Skin

1. Bathe daily, but keep it short.  Use warm, not hot water, close the bathroom door to keep in the humidity.  Gently pat the skin dry when finished.

2.  Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize

3.  Plug in a humidifier

4. Avoid wearing wool and other rough materials next to the skin

5. Give hands the extra attention they deserve. When outdoors, wear gloves and apply hand cream after each hand washing.