This week, Dr. D’Adamo and Chef Kristin O’Connor launched their brand new e-cookbooks that have been a long time in the making, and the wait was worth it.  Trust me.  These recipes are to die for!  Roasted Pumpkin with Fried Sage?  Wow.  Thai Curry Soup?  Sign me up.  Salmon Black Bean Cakes with Creamy Basil Sauce? I could eat that every night.  This is what we’ve been waiting for, folks, so get yours by clicking on over to Amazon. At $9.99 each, it’s worth every cent.

For pictures to wet your whistle, check out Kristin’s blog where you can get the scoop on the making of the books as well as see scrumptious photos of her recipes.

I’ve been a fan of exercise ever I got my first pair of Adidas and scrambled around the soccer field as a kid. As a competitive tennis player in my teens, I logged hours each day on and off the court, training when I wasn’t playing matches.  After a brief foray into the world of rowing crew in my freshman year of college, I decided that the school newspaper was more my speed but even after closing the paper at midnight each night, I would often throw on a t-shirt and pair of shorts and go for a moonlight jog along the Connecticut River.

A true-to-form Type O, exercise feels essential to not only my body, but to my emotional well-being.  Makes sense, if you look at it from the point of view of Dr. D’Adamo who tells us in Eat Right For Your Type that Type O’s have higher-than-average adrenaline to burn.  Too, Type O’s are something of feel-good chemical addicts, so the fact that exercise elevates neurochemicals serotonin, dopanine and endorphin is no small thing. Certainly, jogging and yoga helped me survive the onslaught of stress hormones that I was constantly exposed to throughout medical school. All of this is to say that I’ve never really skimped on exercising. It’s as automatic and important to me as eating and sleeping. But since returning to NYC to start doctoring, I have to say, I’ve skimped on working out. Certainly, New Yorkers walk a lot and I’m no exception but it’s not the same for me as a good run or a profound  yoga class at my favorite studio Kula Yoga Project, in Williamsburg.

Building a practice and attending to patients has trumped my training time many days and I can tell you that I’ve suffered for it. Recently, I was sitting at my desk on a Saturday morning, working as usual, and I notice my muscles felt strange. The only way I can describe it is that they felt tingly and tired at the same time. The feeling was like an itch to exercise. Then I read an article in The New York Times this week that describes how exercise actually helps our body scour its cells,

Autophagy at work on the left. Not so much at right.

discarding detritus (bacteria, viruses, misshapen proteins, discarded cell membranes and the like) and, in effect, keeps it efficient and fit. This is called autophagy. We all sort of know that exercise goes along with detoxification, but here’s a study that has proven it. Researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas ran experiments on mice, in which they concluded that exercise amped up autophagy and this is partially where exercise’s health benefits derive from.

After taking in this new information, I believe that the exercise itch I felt was caused by a build-up of cellular debris that had been sitting around my exercise-starved cells for awhile. My cure?  I joined the gym this week and have gorged on Spinning classes. Is the feeling gone? You bet.  If you don’t want to slave away on the treadmill but want to get the benefits of increased autophagy, be sure to start taking the newest D’Adamo Personzlied Nutrition product called Trehalose Complex, which contains a component that enhances autophagy. It’s particularly good in fending off the neuronal aging that leads to memory loss and cognitive decline. One teaspoon twice a day isn’t exactly the equivalent of a five-mile jog, but it’s a very good start.

Full disclosure:  I am not a morning person.  At all.  I wish I were and I have this fantasy that one day (one day!) I will, indeed, become someone who bounds out of bed at 6 in morning, ready to take on the world, or at least a couple-mile jog.  Until that day arrives, I am content to ease into the morning at a more civilized hour.  As an O-type Explorer, I can’t drink coffee—what the rest of the world depends on to kickstart a new day.  Typical of O’s, my liver doesn’t metabolize the caffeine and I end up jittery and grumpy after one cup. Green tea has become my answer.

Green tea fields in Japan.

Green tea, anyway, has mountains of health benefits as compared to coffee.  The reason for this is that it’s chock full of antioxidants called catechins.  Studies have shown that catechins are more powerful than vitamins C and E in preventing the oxidative damage that free radicals (toxic oxygen molecules that come from a host of sources from high fat diet to chemical and pesticide-laden foods to simple sugar and, yes, coffee) wreak on our bodies.  What’s it good for?  First off, research has shown it helps prevent a number of cancers: skin, breast, lung, colon, esophageal, and bladder. Green tea can help block the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol, increase HDL (good) cholesterol and improve artery function. A Chinese study published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed a 46%-65% reduction in hypertension risk in regular consumers of green tea, compared to non-consumers of tea.  Dieters commonly take green tea pills or drink green tea and the weight loss benefits were, indeed, confirmed by a study in the International Journal of Obesityin 2009. What else?  It decreases periodontal disease, prevents strokes and increases brain function.  Why would you not be drinking this stuff?

The unmatched Mr. Itaru's.

As a bit of a tea connoisseur (my cupboards are overflowing with every type of tea imaginable), I’ve tried green teas from everywhere from Whole Foods to venerable tea-maker Kusmi to a batch I spirited back from Malaysia.  My absolute consensus on the best green tea out there?  Mr. Itaru’s green tea, which we import at the Store from a special distributor in Japan.  Dr. D’Adamo handpicked this tea when deciding on the best type to provide his patients and I have to say that, after conducting my own informal survey of green teas over the last couple years, nothing compares.  It’s of the genmaicha variety, which means it has toasted brown rice added to it, giving it a yummy toasted flavor and smell.  I actually look forward to getting out of bed in the morning to drink my daily dose.

Green tea-drinking tips: steep your tea for 5 minutes and sip a minimum of 3 cups a day.  You won’t get the antioxidant benefits from decaf varieties but if you’re caffeine-sensitive, you might want to experiment with different varieties to find one that is less stimulating.

As the latest round of flu has me knocked out (yes, even doctors get sick on occasion), I decided it was worth reposting an abbreviated version of one of my favorite blogs from my med school days about preventively treating my mom for the dreadful flu with one of the best and most powerful supplements around:  ARA 6.  Why does it work?  It supports the gut, where the body’s immune defense begins.  Read on to discover why and how it works.

When I was growing up, my two brothers and I rarely got sick with the flu. Sure, we had the occasional nasty cold and strep throat but we never battled much with the flu that tended to wipe out large swaths of our classmates once the winter months set in. My mom would always credit the strong family immune system so it was with great surprise that I started receiving phone calls from her over the last couple of winters reporting that she’d was sidelined with flu symptoms.

My mom, it should be said, works as an administrator in an all-boys’ high school in Manhattan and among kids, germs fly around like swarms of invisible clouds of disease just waiting to infect unsuspecting, weakened immune systems. This year, I am determined to help Mom head off the bi-monthly battle she wages with the average set of flu complaints: headache, aches, chills, fever, runny nose, cough, and deep fatigue—all of which come on quite quickly.

The strength of the immune system largely depends on the health of the gut. Why is this? The lining of the intestines is called the gut mucosa. It is constantly doing battle with pathogens that enter our system through the food we eat, as well as the billions of normal flora present in our gut at any given time. Because the gut has to constantly respond to this microbial onslaught, two-thirds of the immune system is found there. So if we suffer from any weakness in the lining of the gut—due to malabsorption, improper balance of flora, or chronic gastrointestinal issues—we have subsequently weakened immune systems. That’s why it is so important, particularly in flu season, to keep the gut strengthened and healthy.

ARA 6 is an interesting product, comprised of larch arabinogalactan and quercetin. Larch is important for immune health due to several of its properties. First, it is a prime source fiber and of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA’s), which are integral to gut health; actually, SCFA’s have been found to improve colon cells’ resistance to disease. Also, larch is an excellent probiotic, meaning that it serves as good food for the healthy bacteria in the gut, allowing them to proliferate. Good bacteria, such as lactobacillus and bifidobacter are essential for gut and immune health. Larch has also been found in studies to bolster the activity of some of the main components of the immune system: macrophages and natural killer cells. Quercetin is included here for its anti-inflammatory and antiviral qualities. As a prophylactic, ARA 6 is an excellent adjunct to Polyflora, which Mom also took.

Other items Mom took:

• Proberry Syrup
• Genoma Security

To strengthen her GI tract, I advised my mom, who has Type A blood, to increase her beneficial foods and remove her avoids as much as possible, particularly anything with refined sugar.  Because stress also lowers immunity, I pleaded with my mom (who is known to go out every night of the week), to spend a night at home every now and then and allow her body to chill out. Mom is an avid city walker, so I encouraged her to keep up her daily jaunts, as exercise is essential for helping the body fend off sickness. Did my sweet mother win the battle with this year’s fearsome flu virus? Click here to find out.

To have these items shipped to you, call us at the Store in Williamsburg at 718-388-0092.

The ladies circle up.

After hosting the first-ever Women’s Support Group at the D’Adamo Personalized Nutrition Center in Williamsburg last week, I can truly say I love my job. The experience confirmed one of the reasons I got into naturopathic medicine in the first place: having meaningful conversations is one of the most powerful ways to bring about healing. And truly, we eight women who got together last week at 135 Metropolitan had a good old girlfriend-style talk about the joys, challenges and great benefits of eating according to your blood type.  And, boy, did we laugh.

Sitting down to lead the conversation about all things Blood Type and GenoType, I marveled at what a diverse group of women had assembled at seven p.m. on a Thursday evening: the crowd was evenly split between Orthodox Jewish women from nearby communities and 30s-ish, young professional Williamsburg women.  Would the women be able to connect, I wondered?  Would their experiences be similar enough?  Any doubts I had were quickly dashed, as we all found ourselves sharing freely during introductions.  Seems that diet and everything it entails is an almost universal language. I asked everyone to state their name, blood type and their greatest challenge with following the Blood Type Diet. Answers included everything from coordinating the meals of their families to missing foods that they weren’t supposed to eat to finding it difficult to eat well while traveling.  We had women in our group who had been doing the diet for years, a couple who had been newly GenoTyped and one who didn’t even know her blood type but was quite curious to see what this whole blood type diet thing was all about.

As the hour went quickly by, women shared about their greatest health challenges.  One woman battled with candida, another with thyroid problems, and yet another with menstrual irregularity.  Other women quickly chimed in with what they’d done to solve such issues.  The lady who traveled a lot got great tips on snacks to pack and how to find GenoType-friendly foods in whatever far-flung locale she found herself in.  We spent a good ten minutes coaching our Blood Type newbie on the thrill of feeling the immediate benefits of eating right for your blood type.  The newbie, a natural comedian and professional chef, had us in stitches over how she continually falls off her diet goals because of the perils of her occupation.

When we wrapped things up after an hour, the women stayed put, chatting with each other and exchanging contact information.  We promised to get together in another month so check in on each other’s progress.  As I shared in a previous post, the best way to make New Year’s resolutions stick is by buddying up with someone with a similar goal. Similarly, getting support from like-minded people around something as important as eating well is probably the best way to keep up good habits.  I like this quote from physician and social activist Patch Adams, “We can never get a re-creation of community and heal our society without giving our citizens a sense of belonging.” Hopefully, at our group the other night (and in future Women’s Groups) we progressed a little further toward building a community here in Brooklyn and brought a bit of healing into each other’s lives.  And that feels good.

Please come one come all to our next Women’s Group on Thursday, March 1 at 7 pm.  RSVP to m.henninger@dadamonutrition.com.

What’s a list of New Year’s resolutions without the requisite ‘lose weight’ among the top five?  For some, it’s not as much about losing weight as it is about adopting healthier habits and those can encompass eating better, exercising more, sleeping more soundly, reducing stress and a whole host of other wellness goals.  According to research, more than half of people who make New Year’s resolutions will drop them by mid-year.  Nevertheless, the same research also shows that just the act of making a resolution and sticking to it for even an abbreviated length of time lays the foundation for future positive change.  The media overflows this time of year with advice on sticking to our resolve to introduce positive change.  The best one, in my opinion?  Buddy up.  Find a friend who is also committed to make the change you seek.  Research out of the University of Leeds shows that if you and a partner work together, better eating and exercise habits are bound to stick.  So, grab your spouse, mom, sister, brother, best friend, or child who’s interested in eating and exercising according to Blood Type this year.  Here are some tips to begin:

Type O

• At big meals, focus on proteins like red meat, turkey and fish
• To boost your metabolism, add green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach
• Avoid wheat completely, as well as most cow milk dairy
• To side-step weight gain, slash kidney beans, lentil and corn from your diet
• Engage in vigorous, sweat-enducing exercise at least four times per week

Type A

• Red meats are best avoided, but turkey is fine
• Soy is a good replacement protein metabolized quickly by Type As
• Load your plate with winter vegetables, particularly pumpkin, turnip and parnsip
• Pineapple will increase calorie utilization and aid in digestion
• Calming, restorative exercises like yoga and tai-chi will head off stress, which can exacerbate weight gain

Type B

• The biggest weight-gain offenders are chicken, corn and peanuts
• Like Type O’s, Type B’s should avoid the harmful lectins in wheat
• Load up on dairy and eggs to supercharge the metabolism
• Add licorice tea at the end of meals to balance blood sugar
• Try alternating days of physically rigorous exercise (3 days a week) with relaxing workouts (two days a week)

Type AB

• Seafood is the protein of choice but turkey is also metabolically favorable
• Common winter fruits like figs, cranberries and plums are excellent for AB’s
• Make tofu a regular part of your diet
• A power juice for AB’s:  one apple, a few stalks of celery, 2 carrots and a few leaves of cabbage
• AB’s have a similar stress profile to Type As, so heavy exercise will only deplete the nervous system.  Try yoga and low-impact martial arts, walking and dance.

Resolved to eat better this year and follow your Blood Type Diet more closely?  Send me an email or comment on this post.  I’d love to hear your plans.  Maura@dadamonutrition.com

My younger brother keeps what you would call an active travel schedule.  In the last few months he’s been to: England, Russia, Italy, Poland, Brazil, South Africa, China, Malaysia, Switzerland, Canada and several points around the U.S.  And I’m probably forgetting a few.  As chief of staff of one of the heads of a major investment bank, the guy is no slouch when it comes to globetrotting.  Luckily, he’s constitutionally equipped to hard travel.  He’s also one of those people who can actually operate on 4 hours of sleep for days at a time, which is a genetic inheritance that we do not share.  Another trait that predisposes him to being a good traveler is that he can sleep literally anywhere.  I always kid him that he could easily nap in the middle of Grand Central at rush hour.  And, actually, he probably could.   He doesn’t really get sick and he’s one of those can-do, optimistic types, both of which truly make the frustrations and headaches of layovers, long flights and multiple time zone-hopping all the easier.

Nevertheless, he does suffer from the odd travel-related complaint.  Now that it’s time for Christmas gift-giving, I’ve been scratching my head when I drew his name in the sibling present lottery.  For someone with a whole lot of interests and talents, he’s also something of a minimalist when it comes to stuff.  And, yet, I thought: why not tap into my naturopathic repertoire and give him a travel toolkit that he could take with him on journeys short or long?  I know he’s particularly irked by a few things when he travels:  back and neck pain from sitting and sleeping, dry eyes, and catching a chill or sickness on planes.

I’m hoping he’s too busy to read this blog or else I’ve blown it in the surprise department.  Peter, if you’re reading this:  Stop now!

Herewith, what I present Peter’s Travel Kit:

Muscle pain from long flights will disappear when he uses:

• Arnica oil (Weleda):  Arnica is the number one herb for restoring muscles tired and painful from either overuse or the immobility of long flights.  Rub a few drops on tight spots throughout the flight and in the first day or two at destination.

To keep his eyes from drying out:

• Optique 1 Eye Drops (Boiron):  Great for the redness, itchiness and dryness, as well as eye strain, that comes from being cooped up in an airplane for hours on end.  Start dosing a few drops in each eye in first hour of flight and continue as needed.

So he doesn’t catch a virus on the plane or elsewhere:

• Echinachea Goldenseal Throat Spray (Gaia Herbs):  A couple of sprays of these two powerhouse immune herbs every hour on a long flight will kill off germs that even think about infecting.
• Airborne Chewables: Who doesn’t love Airborne?  It works because it’s literally an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink immune product containing tons of vitamins (A, C and E), minerals (zinc and selenium) and herbs (echinacea, ginger).  Chew 4 on the flight every four hours.

To banish the beastly jet lag:

• Melatonin (D’Adamo Personalized Nutrition):  Resets the sleep-wake cycle.  Take a couple of 3 mg capsules when the hour to sleep in the new place has arrived.
• Rescue Remedy (Bach):  A combination of flower essences, this homeopathic is a time-tested favorite for alleviating the insomnia of jet lag and the stress of long travel.  Can be taken as a few drops under the tongue or in a small glass of water.
• Methyl 12 Plus (D’Adamo Personalized Nutrition): Taking one to two capsules of this dramatically increases energy levels depleted by jet lag.

Digestion is the key to happiness.  My brother will stay serene with:

• Digesteze (D’Adamo Personalized Nutrition): Take one of these digestive enzymes with each meal to help the body process unfamiliar foods and reduce any sign of gas, bloating and stomach upset.
• Ginger candies (Reed’s):  Ginger is great not only for motion sickness but also for any kind of nausea, particularly brought on by eating the wrong thing or catching a stomach bug abroad.  Chew as needed.

I’ve always thought that some of the best gifts are ones that lighten the load, making life lighter and easier.  I’ll follow up with Peter on a future blog to see whether I’ve accomplished this, as I believe the intrepid traveler has a trip to the Middle East coming up first thing in the New Year.

Last month, I saw a handful of pediatric patients brought in by their Orthodox Jewish mothers worried about their children’s weight gain.  I have found that the mothers in this community are extraordinarily thoughtful and attentive to needs of their kids.  And these women are quite  privy to the myriad problems presented by childhood obesity that include pre-diabetes and diabetes, heart disease, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, early puberty, and gastrointestinal challenges.  Oh, and let’s not forget the long-term psychological problems and self-esteem issues that can result from being targeted as a “fat kid.”

This isn’t just a Jewish problem, needless to say.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17% of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 (or nearly 12.5 million) are obese.  That doesn’t include overweight kids; obese means that one’s body mass index (BMI), which correlates with percentage of body fat, is 30 or higher. A child is obese if their weight is more than 20% higher than the ideal weight for a boy or girl of their age and height.   Obesity is turning into the biggest health concern of our age.  It is the one of the leading causes of death worldwide and is a public health concern of epidemic proportions. (1)  Look around any mall in America, and you’ll get a good illustration.

As I spoke with these kids in my office, it became clear to me that it was difficult for them to get any meaningful exercise, as they spend long hours in school without much recess or playtime.  Organized sports don’t exist in the Orthodox Jewish community.  One mother suggested she have her child walk on the treadmill but how boring for an 11-year old boy!  Another challenge I face with children is their reliance on bread and bread products.  When I told these poor mothers that they’d have to remove wheat (including spelt) as a primary food group, they were definitely exasperated.  And, hey, I understand.  It’s not easy to find easy, delicious meals and snacks that kids will actually eat.  A lot of kids exist on potatoes, bread and pasta.  But it doesn’t work, especially when the child isn’t active and is gaining 20 pounds each year.

So, what do I tell these parents?  Focus on the GenoType diet recommendations of beneficial foods and don’t worry so much about how many avoids their child is consuming.  These will fall away eventually when the only things on offer are good proteins, vegetables, fruits and the appropriate grains.  Special occasions, like Shabbat, are a time to have treats but food should not be used as a reward.  I try to shift these families into looking at food as fuel not as recreation.  These mothers I’ve met are amazing cooks and will go to any lengths to prepare wholesome sweets for their kids, so I encourage them to make sweets with agave syrup or maple syrup, dark chocolate, dried fruits and the like.  With one mother, I came up with a dynamite recipe for oat flour bread, which was allowable on her son’s diet.  I advise mothers that the more innovation and creativity you bring to the table, the better off your kid will be.

And exercise is a must.  No matter how late they get home from school, I encourage mothers to take their kids for a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood, with longer walks and bike rides on the weekends.  I counsel mothers to get their kids involved in the process of cooking and choosing their foods so they learn the how’s and why’s of making good food choices down the road.  For those prone to obesity (whether it be genetic, environmental or behavioral), keeping at a healthy weight is often a lifetime task.  To the 11-year old boy who couldn’t imagine a life without his daily spelt cookies, I told him to take it a day at a time and to realize that one of the best things about the GenoType Diet is that the restriction loosens once you reach your target weight (or other health goal).  Spelt cookies, I told him, are in your future.

1. Barness LA, Opitz JM, Gilbert-Barness E (December 2007). “Obesity: genetic, molecular, and environmental aspects”. Am. J. Med. Genet. A 143A (24): 3016–34.

We started getting calls reserving spaces for Dr. D’Adamo’s November 10^th talk weeks ago.  As we neared the day of the event, it looked like we were going to possibly be overbooked.  On the day before and the day of, the calls kept pouring in; we eventually had to turn people away, assuring them that we’d put them on the waitlist and let them know if a spot opened up.  You’d have thought U2 was giving a free concert at 135 Metropolitan Ave.  D’Adamo, a rockstar of another stripe, would be on hand to give the talk entitled “Are Our Genes Our Destiny?  How diet affects our genetics, and how to use the right food to make your family healthier.”  The evening of the event, as I stood by the door with my clipboard, checking people’s names off the list, it occurred to me that a bit of velvet rope action wouldn’t be out of the question.  People of all sorts teemed in, some excited to hear from the doctor they credit with turning around their health, some merely curious about what this blood type approach is all about.

Dr. D’Adamo spoke for about 90 minutes about his own journey through the development and writing of Eat Right For Your Type, as well as the whys and wherefores of blood type diet and how it’s possible to impact health at a genetic level through food.  For a clip of Dr. D’Adamo’s talk, where he talks about the importance of secretor status and blood-type specific probiotics, click here.  I’ve heard Dr. D’Adamo speak many times, participated in his classes in medical school, and worked on several clinical rounds with him but without fail, I always learn a new thing whenever I interact with him, whether it’s in a casual conversation or a formal like the one he gave last week.   The golden nugget this week?    Green tea’s power is not in its antioxidants, it is such a powerful anti-cancer and anti-aging substance because it’s the most potent remethylator around.  That means they take methyl groups off the front of the gene where they cause problems and adds methyl groups to the back of the gene, where they are most helpful.  The better and more efficient your genes are at remethylating themselves, the less prone to disease you’ll be.  Good stuff.

What was most striking to me, though, was the diversity of the crowd.  I’ve read a lot lately about the clash between the Hasidics and the so-called hipsters in Williamsburg.  The Hasidics, in particular the ultra-Orthodox Satmar sect, moved from Hungary and Romania to Brooklyn after World War II and have since built up strong, tight-knit and appropriately insular communities in South Williamsburg.  In the late 1990s, when artists and other other-borough-curious types started fleeing from prohibitively high rents in Manhattan to the gleaming industrial shores of Brooklyn, they found themselves rubbing their vintage-clad elbows with their new neighbors who were none too pleased to have them around; one of their complaints was that the newcomers dressed in such a way that was against the Hasids’ laws prohibiting them from seeing  unexposed flesh of the opposite sex.  The Hasids called their new neighbors the Artisten, Yiddish for, yes, the artists.  In the last few years there has been something of a truce between the the Artisten and the Hasidics, although the occasional flare-up does occur, as is evidenced by the recent bike lane wars (read this article from New York magazine for an interesting take).

Given all of that, I was pleased, and even a bit proud, to see dapper Hasidic men and women sitting next to shaggy haired hipsters at Dr. D’Adamo’s talk, all of them equally absorbed by what they were hearing.  One of the great gifts of the center on Metropolitan is that we act as a place where the disparate inhabitants of Williamsburg can coexist peacefully in the name of better health.  My colleague Dr. David Levi and I are actually a tiny microcosm of this:  he, a Hasid, and myself, well, more of a hipster than him, let’s say, although I make no claims to authentic hipster-hood.  But I’m a young(ish), Brooklyn-dwelling doctor who treats a lot of people from the Orthodox community and I feel as happy and comfortable treating them as I do the non-religious.  David would say that he, likewise, is equally at home treating the bar owner as the rabbi, both of whom he saw last week.  We both feel grateful to live and work at this point of intersection and look forward to continuing to create a place where healing occurs for all:  Hasid, hipster and everyone in between.

Follow Dr. Henninger on Twitter @DrMaura ND!

So, it turns out Williamsburg lives up the hype of being a pretty cool place.  I’m impressed with a lot of things:  the little shops that sell everything from artisanal cheese to handmade jewelry to surfboards, restaurants that serve some of the best grub in any borough, and crazy creative people doing amazing things.  Between setting up the store and clinic on Metropolitan Street, I’ve had the chance to check out the hood and so, in between blogs about all things D’Adamo and naturopathic, I’m going to occasionally take a brief intermission from all that and tell you about the ‘hood.  Because it’s that great and you should be coming to see us in Williamsburg not just because we’re will provide you with some of the best healing ideas this side of the Hudson but because we reside in one of the most interesting places anywhere.

One day after work last week, I locked up the store and walked all of 100 yards across the street to Nitehawk Cinema, our neighbors, and a completely innovative addition to movie-viewing in NYC.  The idea is this:  you buy our ticket and then hang out either downstairs at their airy, open cafe or upstairs where there’s bar serving cocktails you can sip while you wait for the theater to open.  Thirty to forty minutes before showtime, you take your seat in the plush auditorium.  Each pair of seats shares a little table, complete with cup holder and a little pad for ordering items during the movie.  Want some tater tots, a fennel salad, fish tacos, or bluberry pie with your flick?  Just write it on the pad and the server will sneak by and grab your order.  The chef here is Michelin rated, so you’re in good hands.

My friend and I were there for dinner so we ordered before the movie started.  We were seeing “The Driver” (excellent, go see it) so we ordered the special Drive Thru Meal (each movie has its corresponding special), which consisted of an In and Out double double burger with cheese spread and fries.  Hey, a girl has to splurge every once in awhile; don’t worry, I took my Deflect.  Before the film began, vintage Steve McQueen and Peter Fonda car chases played, warming us up for the main event.  While we nibbled our burgers, we watched Ryan Gosling kick some you-know-what.  It was heaven.  Next time you’re at D’Adamo Williamsburg, folks, check out the movie schedule at Nitehawk so you can get your health and entertainment fixes in one fell swoop.

www.nitehawkcinema.com 

AND: Don’t know your blood type?  Come by the store for a free blood typing kit all month!!