The word "libido" not only entails one's sex drive or desire to engage in sexual activity, but includes things like sexual thoughts and responsiveness as well.  Here in America, loss of libido (formally referred to as HSDD or Hypo-Sexual Desire Disorder) is said to affect approximately 1 in 5 males.  But according to 2006's giant PRESIDE study, almost 45% of America's females have a sexual dysfunction, with 'lack of interest' coming out on top at almost 40% of these (nearly double what was seen in the NHSLS Survey of 1999). 

When you look at lists of what most commonly affect one's sex drive in an adverse manner (whether male or female), two things seem to come up over and over and over again; Depression and Obesity.  If you follow my blog, you'll see that I have written about both topics extensively.  My goal is to help those of you dealing with this unhappy triad of OBESITY (it's possible to fall into this category even if you are 'SKINNY'), DEPRESSION, and Low Libido, get your lives back without feeling the need to resort to dangerous and addictive drugs. 

The truth is, if you want a good marriage, you need to be having sex.  Period --- end of story.   Buying into the myth that, "as long as both parties agree, even once a year is fine," is missing the point on many different levels.   Not only is sex going to deeply connect you to your spouse, the peer-reviewed scientific literature is absolutely chocked full of its known benefits including things like..... 

• Relieving Stress / Lowering Stress

• Lowering Blood Pressure

• Immune System Booster / Less Illness / Less Cancer

• Heart Healthy

• Improved Self Esteem

• Increased levels of Oxytocin / Increased Intimacy / Increased Connectedness

• Endorphin Release / Natural Pain Relief

• Look Younger / Live Longer

• Strengthens Pelvic Floor and Core Muscles / Can Act as a form of Exercise

• Improves Sleep

• Improved Mood / Anti-Depressive Qualities  (INTERESTING STUDY)
  

In fact, the Bible itself speaks to healthy sexual relationships.  Just check out Pastor Tommy Nelson's study on the Song of Solomon.  And if you look at First Corinthians 7: 3-5, you'll see several reasons that married couples are commanded by God to have sexual relations. 

But unfortunately, not only are increasing numbers of couples not having much sex, many are actually in marriages that are, by definition, "sexless" (less than once a month or less than 10 times per year).  This begs the question as to how much sex is "normal"?  Although every couple is different, over the past twelve years, the average for married couples has dropped from 132 times per year to 103 times per year (22%). 
 

There a whole host of reasons that either men or women would not desire sex --- many of which are emotional or spiritual.  However, it is no coincidence that during the same twelve years mentioned above, the incidence of Diabetes, Uncontrolled Blood Sugar, Syndrome X (Metabolic Syndrome), Obesity, Depression, Fibromyalgia, Endocrine Problems, and LEAKY GUT SYNDROME have all skyrocketed --- all of which are associated with diminished libido.  As far as men are concerned, the number one reason (other than serious illness) that they do not desire sex would be Low Testosterone.  And guess what?  Both Blood Sugar Dysregulation and Depression are intimately associated with "Low Testosterone", which is itself intimately tied to Obesity --- particularly CENTRAL OBESITY.  Although this is also an issue with women, women usually tend to be a bit more complicated than men.

The numbers speak for themselves.  12% of American women and nearly 7% percent of American men aged 18 and older (over 12 million and 6 million respectively) deal with Chronic Depression.  Depression is a disturbance in one's mood, which is characterized by feelings of sadness, anger, low self-esteem, loss, and loss of interest in pleasurable activities.  The scientific-medical literature on the subject also strongly associates it with a PATHOLOGICAL CRAVING for processed carbohydrates.  When you look at the fact that the vast majority (90 - 95%) of the body's serotonin (a 'feel-good' neurotransmitter) is manufactured in the Gut (HERE), some of this starts making more sense.  Let's see why.

A 1995 study that was done at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and published in the medical journal Obesity Research, called Brain Serotonin, Carbohydrate-Craving, Obesity and Depression, had this to say, "Serotonin-releasing brain neurons are unique in that the amount of neurotransmitter they release is normally controlled by food intake: Carbohydrate consumption.  Serotonin release is also involved in such functions as sleep onset, pain sensitivity, blood pressure regulation, and control of the mood. Hence many patients learn to overeat carbohydrates (particularly snack foods, like potato chips or pastries, which are rich in carbohydrates and fats) to make themselves feel better. This tendency to use certain foods as though they were drugs is a frequent cause of weight gain, and can also be seen in patients who become fat when exposed to stress, or in women with premenstrual syndrome........"

I would think that we would all agree with the statement that Depression needs to be treated.  The problem though is that treating Depression with anti-depressant medications can be a double-edged sword that often produces a vicious (and sexless) cycle.  This is because not only is Depression a libido destroyer in and of itself, but so are the medications used to treat it.

Depression is a double-edged sword because it saps sex drive while the antidepressants prescribed to treat it do do the same thing.  The conclusion of a large meta-analysis of studies on this topic was published in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry in 2010.  The study called, Overweight, Obesity, and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Longitudinal Studies, said that, "This meta-analysis confirms a reciprocal link between depression and obesity. Obesity was found to increase the risk of depression, most pronounced among Americans and for clinically diagnosed depression. In addition, depression was found to be predictive of developing obesity."  And the kicker is that despite most drug's warning labels saying that somewhere between 2 and 16% of those on antidepressants (SSRI's) will develop sexual side effects, many experts say that 40% of those on anti-depressants develop diminished libido.  Both groups might be significantly underestimating the problem.

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry published a study clear back in 2001 that looked at the medical records of 1,000 individuals who were being treated for Depression at the University Hospital of Salamanca (Spain).  A whopping 57% of the women reported sexual side effects (most common were loss of libido and orgasm dysfunctions such as inability to orgasm or painful orgasm).  And while the women's side effects were considered to be more severe, men were affected at a rate that was actually 5% higher than the women.  This is similar to a South Korean study that was published in a 2010 issue of the medical journal Psychiatry Investigations.  After looking again at the effects of SSRI's on sexual health, the authors concluded that, "The incidence of sexual dysfunction was substantially high during antidepressant treatment.....  Our study suggests the need for clinicians to consider the impact of pharmacotherapy on patients' sexual functioning in the course of treatment with antidepressants."

Could dealing with one's obesity have positive effects in the bedroom?   In 2009 one of the true experts in the field, Dr. Mitu Shah, an OB / GYN professor at the University of Missouri Saint Louis Medical School, weighed in on the matter in the conclusion of a study published in a 2009 edition of Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America.  This expert in the field of Menopause and Female Sexual Disorders stated that,  "The treatment of obesity will have a positive effect on a woman's sexual health, with a likely improvement in FSD (Female Sexual Dysfunction) and a decrease in risk factors related to contraception, pregnancy, infertility, and menopause".  Did you catch that?  Not only is dealing with one's weight going to help boost libido, it is going to help a wide variety of female reproductive issues.  This should not come as a surprise for those who read THIS POST a couple of weeks ago.

The bottom line is that I could quote the scientific research all day long, as there are literally hundreds --- probably thousands of studies on the topic.  Instead of doing that, I want to leave you with a few things that you can do to boost your sex drive naturally.  These are not sex-specific and unless otherwise noted, will work equally well for both men and women.  They are in no particular order.

A new study from the medical journal Pediatrics has determined that men who were diagnosed with ADHD as children, were twice as likely to be OBESE in later life.  For more information on the best ways to deal with both problems, please follow the links.  Just be aware that the authors declared support from Eli Lilly, Shire Pharmaceuticals, GLAXOSMITHKLINE, and Genopharm.  This means that soon, these companies will be coming out with new drugs for the problems,

Today is the last day of "Neuropathy Awareness Week" so I thought I would write a short post on the topic.  Because of our poor diets, Neuropathy is quite common here in America, affecting (according to the Neuropathy Association) at least 7.5% of the population --- 1 in 15 people or 20,000,000.  The feet are the most commonly affected area, followed by the legs.  Next comes the hands and arms.  Notice the pattern?  The further away from the heart, the more likely the area will be affected by Neuropathy if the causal conditions are present.  Some of the most common Symptoms associated with Peripheral Neuropathy include:

• Numbness, Tingling, or Burning --- particularly in the toes / feet, or reduced ability to feel changes in temperature, especially in your feet and toes
• A reduced ability to feel pain --- OR a heightened ability to percieve pain (the lightest touch can be agonizing)
  
• Muscle weakness and difficulty walking / Painful walking
  
• Severe foot problems, such as ulcerations, infections, swelling, and arthritic changes
  

A popular online encyclopedia defines "Neuropathy" (aka "Peripheral Neuropathy") thusly:  "Damage to nerves of the peripheral nervous system, which may be caused either by diseases of or trauma to the nerve or the side effects of systemic illness."  The thing that catches my eye here are the words "Systemic Illness".  Would Diabetes be considered to be a Systemic Illness (a whole-body illness that affects multiple body systems)?  You better believe it would!  In fact, the number one factor in developing Neuropathy is whether or not you have UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR.  Be warned; huge numbers of you have this problem even though you do not realize it.  The other thing heavily associated with Neuropathy is.......

Gluten (wheat / grain protein) is strongly associated with Neuropathy as well.  When I Googled "Gluten Neuropathy" I got well over one million hits.  I am not going to go into great detail about why GLUTEN is particularly NEUROTOXIC, but if you click links in the next paragraph, you will see that most of these are associated with Gluten Sensitivity.

Although there are lots and lots of causes of Neuropathy, some of the others that are common include HASHIMOTO'S HYPOTHYROIDISM, TOXIC DRUGS, FLUROQUINOLONE ANTIBIOTICS, STATINS, Alcoholism, MERCURY AND OTHER HEAVY METALS, some anti-seizure / anti-epileptic drugs, Cancer Treatment (radiation & chemotherapy), numerous AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES, and Vitamin Deficiencies --- most particularly the B-Vitamins.

Seriously, this is not as difficult as you might think.  If Uncontrolled Blood Sugar and Gluten are two of the most common factors in developing the problem, a starting point for everyone would be to go on a Low Carb (or PALEO) Diet, and figure out what it will take to get to GLUTEN FREE.  As far as something to actually do for these patients, by far the best thing would be COLD LASER.

It was not that long ago that women hardly ever had "Central Obesity" (aka Abdominal Obesity).  Yes, we men have always tended to accumulate fat stores around our waists (the proverbial 'spare tire' ---- apple shaped), but women have always tended to put weight on in the hip / butt area (pear shaped).  Now it is not only common to see women with Central Obesity, it is shockingly common --- even in women of "normal" weight.  These women are often referred to today as "SKINNY FAT" --- the topic of yesterday's post.  The point of this post is not to issue an indictment against those of you who are struggling with this particular problem, but to help you understand why Abdominal Fat is so bad, and why it leads to so many other health problems.  The cool thing is that if you understand what is actually causing you to put weight on around your waist, you can formulate a plan to conquer it.

Abdominal Obesity means that you have too much "Viceral Fat".  Don't get me wrong; we all require some fat around our Vicera in order to be healthy.  But once you understand that the word "Vicera" means organs, and that Viceral Fat is the fat that surrounds (and potentially entombs) your organs, you will begin to understand why Central Obesity is such a serious problem --- a killer. 

When a person has large amounts of fat engulfing their organs, that fat tends to create responses in the rest of the body (particularly the ENDOCRINE SYSTEM) that can never really keep up with what is being demanded of it.  Although the organs (pancreas, liver, ADRENAL GLANDS, etc) are scrambling to CONTROL BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS, they eventually fall behind.  As the organs fail to keep up, weight gain can end up like a snowball rolling downhill --- picking up momentum and feeding itself as it goes.  But be warned.... not all weight gain is equal.  Some is worse than others.

In the early 1980's, researchers began noticing that there was an important distinction between abdominal fat and the subcutaneous fat that all of us have underneath our skin.  They realized that the more abdominal fat a person carried, the more likely they were to have diabetes (decreased sensitivity to insulin), heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides.  They began to realize that Abdominal Obesity was a different kind of animal than General Obesity.

As the American diet has gotten worse ----- based more and more on processed grains, TRANS FATS, chemicals, and sugar ---- rates of Central Obesity have skyrocketed.   Yesterday's blog proved that at least 7 of 10 American adults are overweight, with about half of those being obese.  It gets worse.  For the over-50 crowd, 50% of the men and 70% of the women are not only obese, they meet the criteria for Central Obesity.  What are those criteria?  

                                                           MEN                                  WOMEN

A high WHR is associated with all of the risk factors / health problems I listed off earlier.  And If you were reading my blog last week, you could probably guess that a high WHR is heavily associated with INFERTILITY as well.  What is shocking, however, is that recent research is linking things like lower cognitive ability with a high WHR.  My best guess is that as time goes on, you will see more and more health problems associated with a high waist to hip ratio.  But the real question is what does it all mean?

If you are a male with Central Obesity --- the proverbial pot belly --- odds are that you simply need to get back on the wagon and lose some weight.  If you are a female with Abdominal Obesity, you need to make some serious changes to your life.  For one, it is important to realize that you are probably stressed out.  Adrenally stressed out that is.

Cortisol (aka Hydrocortisone) is your body's chief stress hormone, and  is made by by your adrenal glands in response to stress.  Bear in mind that this stress can come in many forms; emotional, physical, dietary, etc.  According to a popular online encyclopedia, the chief functions of Cortisol are to, "increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; [and] suppress the immune system...."  Did you catch that?  Cortisol is an Immune System Suppressor that raises blood sugar via gluconeogenesis (creating sugar from muscle tissue or fat stores).  Although creating sugar from fat might sound like a wonderful thing, in many cases it is not.

If a person already has high blood sugar levels and gets a subsequent boost in blood sugar, they are going right back into storage mode unless they burn it for energy.  This is unlikely.  Since these folks are already fighting Central Obesity, the new sugar they create from metabolizing fat is simply re-stored as fat.  Only this time it will be stored as belly fat.  If occurring on a regular basis, this process will literally exhaust your body.  This is why it is called Adrenal Fatigue and is intimately related to Fibromyalgia (ADRENAL FATIGUE OR FIBROMYALGIA?).  Also be aware that HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP ---- the sweetener most commonly used for practically all modern processed foods ----- is more associated with Belly Fat than other sugars --- far more associated.

Of course there are the health problems I listed earlier in the post.  However, it don't stop there.  There are a host of physical ailments that are being directly tied to Central Obesity.  Some of them include......

• ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE:  Although a number of studies have linked Abdominal Obesity to Alzheimer's, a study from Dr. George Razzy's team of Launceston General Hospital, University of Tasmania, Australia showed that older people with Central Obesity had a 10 times greater chance of developing Alzheimer's than the general population.

• LOW / HIGH TESTOSTERONE:  If you are a male who is struggling to hit home runs in the bedroom, odds are that you have some degree of Central Obesity.  Clear back in 1990, a Dutch study showed that men with Abdominal Obesity were much more likely to have high insulin and blood sugar levels, while having low testosterone.  However, if you are a female, listen to what Drs. Rasa Kazlauskaite (Endocrinologist) and Sheila Dugan (Physical Medicine Specialist) of Rush University Medical Center have to say about testosterone. "When that delicate balance of estrogen to testosterone shifts toward testosterone during the menopausal transition, the distribution of fat also shifts and women tend to accumulate more belly fat.  In men, we know that when their testosterone decreases naturally as they age, they tend to accumulate belly fat, but in women it isn’t really about having more testosterone, it’s about upsetting the estrogen-testosterone balance. We used to think estrogen protected premenopausal women against cardiovascular disease and that the increased cardiovascular risk after menopause was related only to the loss of estrogen’s protective effect. But now we know that it’s actually the change in hormonal balance that’s largely responsible for visceral fat. So if you’re a woman in your 30s or early 40s and you aren’t already eating healthy and exercising regularly, you should get started now and work hard to maintain these healthy behaviors throughout the menopausal transition."

• PCOS:  Strongly related to the above, if you have PCOS, you are much more likely not only to be INFERTILE, but to have Central Obesity as well.  Women with Central Obesity are more likely to deal with a wide range of hormonal issues.

• INFLAMMATION:  People with Central Obesity are much more likely to have high systemic levels of INFLAMMATION in their bodies.  Inflammation is strongly associated with nearly every health problem you can mention.

• LOW BACK PROBLEMS / ARTHRITIS:  Do you think it might be hard on your joints carrying 50, 100, or 150 extra pounds of weight around for years, or even decades?  It's a no-brainer. 

• GALLBLADDER DISEASE:  Who is likely to get GB Disease?  People with Central Obesity.  The moniker we learned in school was "fat, fertile, female, and forty".

• METABOLIC SYNDROME:   What is Metabolic Syndrome?  It is essentially a pre-diabetic condition that is in play if a person has at least three of the following ----- a blood pressure of 130/85 or higher, a triglyceride level above 150, a fasting blood sugar level of 100 or greater, low HDL levels, or high LDL levels. By the way, if you were paying attention to yesterday's post, you realize that large numbers of people of "normal" weight have at least one of these. 
  

• FATTY LIVER:  Although a Fatty Liver is usually thought of as being a problem of alcoholism, the largest class of people who develop this problem are those with Central Obesity.

• CERTAIN KINDS OF CANCER:  The truth is that many kinds of cancer --- particularly the ones that originate in the abdominal area such as colon cancer.

• SLEEP APNEA / BREATHING DIFFICULTIES: Show me a person with Central Obesity who breathes just fine, and I will show you 100 that do not.  And if it is bad enough to affect sleep, I promise it will affect your health in other ways.

• BLOOD CLOTS:  Enough said.

Although Obesity is bad, Central Obesity is doubly bad.  If you want to live a long, enjoyable, life, and be there for your children and grandchildren, you need to do what it takes to get this problem under control.  Fortunately I have created a plan for you.  All you have to do is follow the information on THIS LINK.  Granted, it's a ton of information.  But there is no way to effectively lose weight, get healthy, and stay that way for life unless you know what made you fat in the first place.  Knowledge is power, and if you will follow the advice on my blog, virtually everyone reading this post will know what it takes to get a handle on your Central Obesity.  Just remember; the choice is yours.

It had been over a year since I treated Cheryl for Piriformis Syndrome.  She had really struggled with pain for twenty years.  After one treatment, she is dramatically better.  Watch her video!

I remember the first time I heard the term "Skinny Fat".  I was reading a post on the PALEO DIET, which was talking about the epidemic of young women of normal weight, who had spindly arms & legs ---- and big bellies.  Believe it or not, there is actually a medical term for this ---- MONW.  It stands for Metabolically Obese -- Normal Weight.  These people do not carry enough lean body mass (muscle), but have too much Viceral Fat (deep abdominal fat surrounding their organs).  And although these folks might fit into the perfect spot on a height / weight chart, they are not healthy ---- and they are certainly not "skinny".  Don't believe me?   Let's take a look at a couple of recent studies from the peer-reviewed medical literature.

Not quite a year ago, the August 2012 issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) published a study done at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.  The study concluded that almost a quarter of the "normal weight" population would fall in to the MONW category.   Think of it another way.  According to government statistics, nearly 70% of the adult American population is currently overweight or obese.  This latest study brings the total closer to 80%.  And here is the real kick in the teeth.   These MONW individuals die off at twice the rate of visibly fat people if they have diabetes.  But forget the adults for a minute, lets look at the younger generation. 

If you pay attention, you will notice that a lot of today's teens could be classified as MONW.  A study published one year ago this week in the medical journal Pediatrics shows us that things are even worse than we thought.  Yes, they admitted that teen obesity was a huge problem that is related to a host of serious health problems.  But they also admitted that nearly one in four teens of normal weight had at least one of the signs of Metabolic Syndrome (pre-diabetes), such as high BP, HIGH CHOLESTEROL, UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR, etc.  In fact, many experts are saying that when the rubber meets the road, only about one in five US children could truly be categorized as healthy. 

This is one of the biggest reasons that our government school's OBESITY PREVENTION PROGRAMS are failing so miserably.   They fall into the trap of modern medicine; always trying to tie one's health to one's weight.  The so-called "skinny" people feel they are justified in eating whatever they want since they fall into the proper spot on the Height / Weight Chart.  The problem is that they are not only undermining their health with these bad habits, sooner or later they will end up visibly undermining their weight.   We all know that skinny guy who is constantly scrounging for food ---- loading up on fast foods, junk foods, and deserts.  Trust me.  He won't be the "skinny guy" forever.  If you think your body will perpetually be able to keep up with the steady barrage of SUGAR, junk carbs, and TRANS FATS, and still maintain a normal weight, just show up at your next High School Reunion.   You will be in for a rude awakening! 

OK; so you realize that you likely fall into the MONW (Skinny Fat) category.  What can you do about it?  Actually you can totally reverse it and get healthy in the process.  And the cool thing is, you are ahead of the game since you do not have lots and lots of weight to lose.  For you it will be more about redistributing the weight you currently carry.  Make the proper changes to your diet and lifestyle, and let your weight take care of itself.  What are these changes you ask?  Although I have immense amounts of detailed information on my website, it can be broken down to three simple steps. 

• EAT A WHOLE FOOD-BASED DIET:   It is imperative that you eat a diet based on WHOLE FOODS and Whole Food Supplements.   As you might imagine, this will likewise help you to.........

• AVOID PROCESSED FOODS AND SUGAR:  Eating low on the Glycemic Index (LOW CARB or PALEO) will help you CONTROL YOUR BLOOD SUGAR.  These first two steps will help get rid of the "fat" part of Skinny Fat.  The third step will help you gain some lean body mass (muscle) and change your body's shape as well as boost your metabolism.
  

• LIFT WEIGHTS / DO SOME SORT OF RESISTANCE TRAINING:  Although I am in no ways against things like walking or biking, it is imperative that you add some sort of resistance training to your exercise regimen.  In case you need some more information on this topic, go HERE.

All of us are guilty of using excuses.  It is human nature.  Sometimes these excuses are legitimate (I was late to work this morning because my house burned down last nite), sometimes they are not (I can't work out because I don't enjoy sweating).  The bottom line is that when it comes to your health, excuses are going to set you back dramatically.  Instead of making excuses, make a plan.   I will leave you with a few of my favorites as far as things you can do to get healthy and stay that way. 

• CONTROL BLOOD SUGAR

• GO GLUTEN FREE

• EAT A PALEO DIET

• EAT WHOLE FOODS AND TAKE WHOLE FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

• LEARN MORE ABOUT LEAKY GUT SYNDROME

• EXERCISE THE SMARTEST WAY

• STAY OFF OF ANTIBIOTICS

• UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFLAMMATION AND YOUR HEALTH

Infertility.  It's a significant issue in the US.  And if you are one of the millions of couples dealing with this issue, you are already aware of just how emotionally devastating it can be.    According to the latest CDC statistics.....

• Number of women ages 15-44 with impaired ability to have children: 6.7 million
• Percent of women ages 15-44 with impaired ability to have children: 10.9%
• Number of married women ages 15-44 that are unable to get pregnant for at least 12 consecutive months: 1.5 million
• Percent of married women ages 15-44 that are infertile: 6.0%
• Number of women ages 15-44 who have ever used infertility services (ART --- (Assisted Reproductive Technology)) : 7.4 million

Wow!  Almost seven and a half million American women under 45 years old have been through IVF fertility procedures known as ART.  And if you throw in male infertility (numerous studies say that this accounts for nearly half of all infertility) and ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION, you can can begin to see why so many couples are unable to have children.  As a woman, what can you do about it?  Well, you could spend a fortune on fertility drugs, hormonal treatments, and procedures that seem more suited for a guinea pig than anything else.  Sometimes these work, although there are a bundle of potential side effects.  The other option is to beat infertility naturally.   Here are some simple (generic) steps toward achieving your Fertility Makeover.  Honestly, it's not rocket science.  Some of the very same things that work for various disease processes and hormonal issues are used for Infertility.

• CONTROL YOUR WEIGHT:  If you are either overweight or underweight, your chances of getting pregnant diminish substantially.  Although there are many reasons that women gain weight, the biggest has to do with the fact that most infertile women are failing to..........

• CONTROL BLOOD SUGAR:  This is the number one most important thing on the list --- by far.  In case you have not been following my blog, let me share a secret to improving every single aspect of your health --- CONTROL YOUR BLOOD SUGAR!  Uncontrolled Blood Sugar is being intimately tied to virtually every single health problem under the sun, including PCOS.  PCOS (POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME) is critical to understand because it is not only the number one cause of infertility in America (75% OF IT), it has a known cause.  One of my all-time favorite movie lines was delivered by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Predator.  After the Predator (an invisible alien that is stalking a group of mercenaries through a South American jungle) trips a booby trap, everyone in Schwarzenegger's elite para-military unit lets loose with a wild burst of automatic weapon fire.   Arnold looks around and finds some yellow blood on a branch.  His response; "It bleeds.....  We can kill it."  The known cause of PCOS is Uncontrolled Blood Sugar.  Fix your blood sugar (including HYPOGLYCEMIA) and you have just solved the major cause of infertility!  In case you did not understand, let me say it one more time.  Deal with your blood sugar regulation issues and you have just dealt with the number one reason women fail to conceive.  But in order to do this, you'll have to.......

• MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGES TO YOUR DIET:   Let's not beat around the bush.  If you really want to have a baby, you need to go Low Carb, or better yet, PALEO.  A WHOLE FOOD-based Low carb diet is going to allow you to deal with your blood sugar.  And Paleo ---- the next logical step in the process ---- is going to do two biggies for you.  It is going to cut neurologically reactive foods such as GLUTEN out of your diet.  It is also going to help you control Inflammation.  Getting pregnant will requite that you understand INFLAMMATION and the things that drive it.   Let me quote to you from a study that came out just last week from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine as reported in MedPage Today.

In-Vitro Fertilization techniques (IVF) are not only expensive (and not covered by health insurance), they are notoriously difficult to control.  You could just as easily end up with multiple births (think "Octomom" here) as ending up failing to get pregnant at all.  There are also a growing number of POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS.  As you will notice from the quote below, it takes on average about three sessions of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) for a woman to become pregnant.

My biggest issue with ART / IVF is that it does not address any of the numerous underlying causes of infertility as listed in the body of this post (there are others as well).  By following the Fertility Makeover protocol, you are more likely not simply to end up pregnant, but to ultimately end up with a healthy baby.  In this day and age of rampant sickness, disease, and AUTOIMMUNITY, why would you not be interested in something that could not only positively affect your ability to conceive, but positively affect the health of your embryo, as well as the health of your newborn? 

Turkey season is over, but I just got this video of a gobbler looking at his reflection in a window.  It was shot by my sister in law a couple of days ago.  Enjoy.

If you are a regular reader of my column, you realize that SODA POP is bad for you on many different levels.  Much of this has to do with the fact that it is arguably the leading reason for the wide variety of health problems associated with UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR.  And in case you were not aware, soda is now the number one source of calories for the 15 - 25 crowd and is being directly linked to America's obesity epidemic --- an epidemic that is starting to show itself worldwide.  In fact, blood sugar regulation issues are the root of almost every single health problem you can name. 

It seems that public pressure has finally got to Coca Cola and forced them to at least pay lip service to changing their marketing strategies.  And it's not only Coca Cola.  It seems PepsiCo and other beverage giants are succumbing to public pressure as well.  CEO of Coca Cola, Muhtar Kent went as far to say that, "the key here is to ensure that in every market where we operate to have no- or low-calorie beverages of our main brands available".  The push is to diversify into fruit juices (most of which are 90% sugar water), diet soda, and SPORTS DRINKS.  But is this really beneficial? 

Hopefully, you read my recent piece on DIET SODA.  Several recent studies have shown that diet soda is actually responsible for more obesity instead of less.  When are people going to wake up to the fact that calorie count doesn't mean much?  Processed sugar is bad all around, and even natural sugars should be consumed in moderation.  Then there is HFCS.   But the truth is that the diet versions of all of these are worse --- much worse.  It is important to educate your children about this from an early age.