Cyd Notter

Author and Nutrition Educator, Founder of The "Plan A" Diet™

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  • Articles of Interest
    • Food Topics
      • How Are Soy Curls Made
      • What’s the big deal about fiber?
      • Artificial Sweeteners – What you should know
      • Which food has 8x more cholesterol than beef?
      • 3 Big Reasons to Include Berries in Your Diet
      • Success Tips for Changing Your Diet
      • Suffering from Carbophobia?
      • What about alcohol?
      • The Slippery Slope of “Eating in Moderation”
      • A Nutrition Pop Quiz
      • Protein and Calcium
      • Aren’t Starches Fattening
      • Oils
        • Coconut Oil – Yes or No
        • Oils – what you should know
      • Eating Enough Fruits and Veggies?
      • Do You Have a Holiday Game Plan?
      • Making Only One Change?
      • America’s Love Affair with Bacon
      • Is it Safe to Eat Soy?
      • Are gluten-free diets for everyone?
      • Planning to diet this January? Do this instead.
      • Fabulous Flax Seed Has it All
      • How Important is the Glycemic Index?
      • Eating Out at Restaurants or Parties
      • Healthier Halloween Options
    • Health Topics
      • Common Barriers to Change
      • Omega Fatty Acids
      • Inflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Foods (Printable List)
      • What is Vitamin B12 and how much should I take?
      • Why exercise?
      • 5 Reasons to Skip the Charcuterie Boards
      • MEN: Prostate Stats You Should Know
      • The Aluminum in Our Foods is Strongly Linked to Dementia
      • Diet and Gallbladder Disease
      • Infants are Being Fed Junk Food by Their First Birthday
      • 4 Things Necessary for a Successful, Healthy Diet
      • Habits – Good or Bad?
      • Is it too late to start eating healthy?
      • Making Small Changes but Expecting Big Results
      • Family and Social Pressure
      • Genes, Schmenes – It’s most likely the food
      • Is a plant-based diet safe for children?
      • Which Processed Meats Should We Avoid?
      • Gut Bacteria and Our Diets
      • Diet & Breast Cancer Prevention
      • Statins – Don’t Believe Everything you Read
      • Diabetes – “Manage” or Reverse?
      • The Health Benefits of (a little) Unprotected Sun
      • Making Changes Stick
      • Evaluating Research
      • Vitamin D and Sunshine
      • Featured in Health Science Magazine
    • Faith Related
      • Addressing Biblical Objections to a Plant-Based Diet
      • The mathematical odds that Jesus is who He said He is…
      • Poem: Lessons from a Bike Ride
  • Recipes
    • Dinosaur Kale Slaw
    • Southwest Burgers with Low-fat Green Chile Sauce
    • Easy, Fat-free Hummus
    • Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting
    • Date-Sweetened Berry Jam
    • Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
    • Berry Rice Cake Bites – by Vicki Brett-Gach
    • Pasta Fagioli Stew
    • Iced Beverages
    • Black Bean Quinoa Salad with Tangy Date-Lime Dressing
    • Easy Braised Onions & Green Beans
    • Best Blueberry Pancakes
    • Vegan Sausage Patties
    • Zucchini Bean Burritos
    • Minestrone Soup (Easy!)
    • Gingerbread Biscotti
    • Instant Pot Pineapple Chili
    • No-Flour Corn Muffins
    • BBQ Soy Curls
    • Klunkers Kitchen Potato Salad
    • Carrot Cake with Glaze
    • Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins
    • Choco-Mint Nice Cream & Sauce
    • Homestyle Squash and Pinto Beans
    • Chocolate Orange Nice Cream (and Sauce)
    • Easy Instant Pot Risotto
    • Easy Meals and Desserts
    • Recipe Links
    • Pumpkin Raisin Muffins
    • Roasted Veggie Pasta
    • Zucchini Muffins
    • Fat-free Green Chile Sauce
    • Tofu Lettuce Wraps
    • Creamy Chickpea Pot Pie Soup
  • Upcoming Events
  • Resources
  • Testimonials
    • Amanda G. – Loses Digestive Issues and 115 lbs.
    • Tim P. – Off all 8 Meds!
    • Cindi R. – Reversed Blocked Carotid
    • Doug M. – Doc says “Cured!”
    • Denise V. – At Peace with Food and Body Image
    • Linda Z. – Autoimmune Skin Disorder now Dormant
    • Olga A. – Improved Cognitive Function
    • Kim C. – Relief from “Getting Older”
  • Blog
  • Media Kit
  • Coaching Services

Diabetes – “Manage” or Reverse?

August 21, 2016 By Cyd Notter

Do you or a loved suffer with Type 2 Diabetes?  or have you been told you have "insulin-resistant" cells?  Have you tried to compensate for the cell's resistance by limiting your starch and sugar intake, with the idea that too much carbohydrate leads to too much glucose?

If so, you will be relieved to know that a dietary pattern of all-you-can eat whole grains, beans, fruits, nuts, and vegetables (including starches such as potatoes, rice and pasta) has long been established to effectively and naturally lower A1C levels to normal ranges in a short amount of time.

The American Diabetes Association’s Clinical Practice Recommendations have cited the value of whole, plant food diets for Type 2 diabetes for several years. And here’s an added bonus, according to registered dietitian Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., who says “A diet change beats a pill.  A plant-based diet improves blood sugar, body weight, blood pressure and cholesterol all at the same time, something no drug can do.”  So why “manage” diabetes when the chances our very high that it can be eliminated?

Read the entire article here.

And please be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep informed of our upcoming classes!

Filed Under: My Blog Tagged With: diabetes, diabetic, food, lower A1C naturally, plant-based, reversing diabetes, type 2 diabetes, vegan, whole food

Free Workshop: Withdrawing from the Medical Mill

August 1, 2016 By Cyd Notter

Attention anyone who's tired of being in the "medical mill" and seeing no health improvement!  You may be interested in this upcoming free workshop hosted by Dr. Pam Popper of Wellness Forum Health.

Unfortunately I will not be available to sit in, but would love to hear feedback from anyone who does so!    Here's the info:

Free Workshops

Withdrawing From The Medical Mill

with Dr. Pam Popper

Tuesday, August 16 - 9:00 PM EST

Tired of being sick?  Tired of spending money on doctors, tests, drugs, procedures, supplements and other things that have not made you better, or made you better but not well? Have a doctor who does not understand that you want to eat better and be well? This workshop will help you learn how to talk to your docs, find new docs, and how to use evidence to get your way with your healthcare providers.

To sign up, email pampopper@msn.com.

Filed Under: My Blog Tagged With: Dr. Pam Popper, Free Class, Medical Mill, Wellness Forum Health, Workshop

Comfort Food? This recipe delivers!

June 26, 2016 By Cyd Notter

Creamy Chili Sauce with Zucchini,  Spinach & Pasta
        Creamy Chili Sauce with Zucchini,
                     Spinach & Pasta

In the mood for something creamy and different?  We tried a new recipe this weekend that has been added to our "Favorite" list!  The combination of home-made cashew cream, zucchini, spinach, elbow pasta and the resulting chili sauce made for an excellent combination.  The liquid smoke is optional, but I did add a couple of drops and it was delicious.  This is another home-run from "The Vegan 8" website.  Eight ingredients or less - my kind of recipe! 

Get the recipe here

PS - We have a couple of great events coming up:  The Quarterly "World's Healthiest Potluck" on Friday, July 15, 2016;  AND a great class on bone health will be held on Saturday July 23, 2016.  If interested in either event, please contact me at cydnotter@comcast.net.

Filed Under: My Blog Tagged With: chili pasta, elbow pasta, healthy, plant-based, spinach pasta, vegan, vegan 8

Are gluten-free diets for everyone?

June 6, 2016 By Cyd Notter

PancakesDear Coach:   I’ve been on a gluten-free diet for about 2 months now, avoiding all wheat products faithfully.  I really don’t feel any better.  What do you think?  Signed, Jill

Read the answer here.

Filed Under: My Blog

How “Whole” are your grains?

May 20, 2016 By Cyd Notter

If you buy packaged grain products (breads, tortillas, crackers, cereals, pastas), you'll notice many have the words "multigrain", "stone ground", "cracked wheat", or "100% whole wheat", or "Seven Grain" on the front label.  Unfortunately, most of these items are usually NOT  whole grain products, but instead refined grains with fancy labeling.  Did you know that manufacturer's use "raisin juice concentrate" to darken white bread, making it appear healthier?  Brother!

Even if the first word on an ingredient label is "whole", the rest of the ingredients could be anything but healthy.  I learned an interesting tidbit while reading Dr. Greger's book, "How Not to Die".  It's called "The Five-to-One Rule".  This simple mathematical method is an easy way to tell if the product is really that healthy.  The secret is to compare the ratio of carbs to fiber.  Divide the carb grams by the fiber grams, and shoot for an answer of five or less.

The examples Dr. Greger includes are these:  Wonder Bread has 30 grams of carbohydrate and 3 grams of fiber.  Thirty divided by 3 = 10, so Wonder bread goes back on the shelf.  How about Ezekiel bread?  It has 15 grams of carbohydrate and 3 grams of fiber.  Fifteen divided by 3 = 5, so Ezekiel bread passes the test.  Multi-grain cheerios have a ratio of over 7, compared with Uncle Sam cereal which has a ratio under 4.

Why is this important?  The less processed the grains are, the better.  When grains are ground into flour or puffed, the are digested more rapidly and more completely.  Dr. Greger explains that this increases their glycemic index and leaves fewer leftovers for the friendly flora in our colon to eat up.

One study divided people into two groups.  One group ate nuts, seeds, and beans - more or less intact.  The other group ate the exact foods, but ground into flours and pastes.  The first group ate nuts, chickpeas and museli.  The second group ate nut butters, hummus, and museli ground into cream-of-wheat texture.  Both groups were eating the whole foods, just in different forms.

The result was that the intact whole grain diet doubled their stool size.  Why?  Because there is so much more left over for your gut flora to eat when you eat your grains intact.  The bulk of stool is not undigested food, but rather pure bacteria - trillions of bacteria.  Which could explain why our stool increases nearly 2 ounces for every ounce of fiber we eat.  So whole grains are good, but intact whole grains are even better.

Lastly, oatmeal is of course a wonderful whole-grain breakfast.  Brown rice for breakfast may sound weird, but it beats puffed brown rice cereal - and warm bowls of grains are traditional breakfasts in many parts of the world.

Dr. Greger suggests three servings of whole grains a day - but the servings sizes are not very large.  For example, 1/2 cup hot cereal or cooked grains, pasta, or corn kernels;  1 cup cold cereal; 1 tortilla or slice of bread;  1/2 bagel or English muffin; 3 cups popped popcorn.  Considering these serving sizes, just one pasta meal may exceed 6 servings!  There are also a variety of quick-cooking whole grains available on the market today, making it easy to get at least 3 servings.

I hope you found this interesting!

PS:  I checked my own bread in the fridge, labeled "Stone-ground, 100% whole wheat".  Carbs are 27 grams, and fiber is 3 grams.  Twenty-seven divided by 3 = 9.  This violates the Five to One rule - so I won't be purchasing this brand again!

Filed Under: My Blog Tagged With: Five to One rule; Dr. Greger; Whole Grains; How whole is whole; Label reading; Carbohydrate grams; Fiber grams, processed food

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