ANTIBIOTICS, GUT HEALTH, AND GLUTEN SENSITIVITY In my series on gluten, we have learned that GLUTEN INTOLERANCE is one of the most serious (and ignored) health problems facing Americans today. We have also learned about a few of the reasons that people today face an increasingly difficult situation as far as gluten is concerned (HERE). Today we will delve into some of the things that are known to trigger Gluten Sensitivity / Intolerance --- as well as full-blown Celiac Disease. Interestingly enough, some of these same things can actually be triggered by Gluten Sensitivity --- creating the proverbial "chicken or egg" question. Although there are probably a number of triggers that we are yet unaware of, we will stick with what we know from Scientific Research.
According to a recent article in Science Daily, Americans continue ruin their health with ANTIBIOTICS. Although the treating medical community seems to be doing little about this crisis, the scientific research community as well as the mainstream media is starting to take the ball and run with it. A few of the things that are most heavily associated with Gluten Sensitivity include antibiotics. ANTIBIOTICS: Is there any country on the planet that uses more antibiotics that the United States? Nope; and it's not even close! Antibiotics, when used properly, are a stop-gap measure to prevent people from dying of bacterial infections. Instead, they have become so common place that they are frequently little more than a placebo given to placate demanding patients --- something to be taken for every sniffle, sneeze, or cough (real or imagined). They are also improperly handed out like candy for viral infections (HERE). I have spent a fair amount of time on this blog talking about some of the dangers associated with antibiotic use / abuse, as well as the fact that 80% of your entire immune system is found in the gut --- a large percentage of that being made up of "good bacteria" (HERE). Now the research is starting to prove that antibiotic-induced DYSBIOSIS is a major cause of Gluten Sensitivity. Does anyone recall what was said oinn FRIDAY'S BLOG ENTRY? The prestigious medical journal Diabetes recently had to say this about Type I Diabetes, "There is a growing body of evidence that diet may play a role in the development of Type 1 Diabetes, through influencing gut flora [bacteria], intestinal permeability [Leaky Gut Syndrome], and immune function in the gut; wheat in particular has been shown to have a connection to the development of Type 1 Diabetes, although the relationship is poorly understood." The really scary thing is that the same things are being said about numerous other AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES as well. A 2005 Swedish study noted this when they said "There is a difference in the metabolic activity of intestinal microbial flora in children with Celiac Disease compared to that in Healthy Controls." Again, there are abundant studies on this phenomenon. YESTERDAY'S POST was all about showing you how to find them. CHRONIC VIRAL INFECTIONS: This one is probably more related to antibiotics than your doctor cares to admit. Because a whopping 80% of your entire Immune System is found in your gut / digestive tract (SEE HERE), and because antibiotics kill bacteria, and not viruses; every time you take an antibiotic, you are weakening your body's ability to fight viral infections --- by far the most common kind of microbial infection. Is this a big deal? Absolutely, considering that when you get sick, there is about a 90% chance that the pathogen will be a virus ---- not a bacteria. Here is one example from a 1994 study published by the Department of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin "A 12 amino acid sequence from the adenovirus [a very common virus that causes upper respiratory infections, among other things] 12 E1B protein is homologous at the protein level with a similar 12-mer derived from the wheat protein A-gliadin. It has been suggested that exposure to Ad 12 could sensitize individuals to gliadins with resultant gluten sensitive enteropathy." In plain English, proteins from viruses are strangely similar to gliadin (one of the two proteins that makes up gluten). Exposure to said virus can cause Gluten Sensitivity. PARASITES, YEAST, & FUNGUS: Yes, I know this sounds crazy. We live in America where everything is clean. We don't get PARASITES or fungal infections. Wrong! Parasites and fungal / YEAST INFECTIONS are actually common --- especially in people who have had lots of...... you guessed it; antibiotics. There are specialized immune cells that line the small intestine called immunocytes. These immune cells produce secretory IgA, a critical component of the thin, healthy mucous that is makes up the first line of immune defense. The inflammation produced in individuals that are Gluten Sensitive destroys these cells, which in turn opens the door to intestinal infections of all sorts. This lowered immune defense is referred to as depressed secretory IgA, and can result in many other food reactions as well. This is because secretory IgA also helps the body process food antigens. Be aware that while Gluten Sensitivity causes INFLAMMATION that cause the above mentioned infections of the gut; the antibiotics prescribed to people kill off a significant percentage of the good bacteria. As bad bacteria gain a foothold in the gut, it further opens the doors for good bacteria to be crowded out altogether. Is this a problem in America? Ask Dr. Martin Blaser MD. In a PREVIOUS BLOG POST, I reported his research stating that antibiotic abuse was causing the extinction of certain types of good bacteria (normal gut flora). When this happens, you create an environment where the bad guys push the good guys out and take over ---- permanently! For example, in a normal person, about 10,000,000 Salmonella must be ingested in order to cause disease. However, when that person's gut is "sterile" (all or most of the good bacteria have been killed off because of antibiotics), the same disease can be produced by as few as 10 Salmonella. This dramatic difference is simply due to competition. If you do not have friendly bacteria in your gut (and elsewhere), you will have problems. For a little taste of what good bacteria do in your body, CLICK HERE. INFLAMMATION: The chemicals that we refer to collectively as "inflammation" (prostaglandins, leukotrienes, thromboxanes, cytokines, chemokines, certain enzymes, kinnins, histamines, eicosanoids, substance P, TNF's, Il's, and dozens of others) are being touted by the medical community as the primary cause of a whole host of physical ailments. Let me repeat that. INFLAMMATION is a (probably "the") primary causal factor in numerous disease processes. It is not that Inflammation is a bad thing in and of itself. These chemicals that make up "inflammation" are actually part of your normal immune system function. In the correct amounts, these chemicals are crucial to insuring a proper immune system response to various attacks or injuries to your body. However, as they become increasingly elevated throughout the body, they drive the body's Immune System Response to higher and higher levels, causing scads of major health problems. This is because Chronic (long term) Inflammation is characterized by a cycle of destruction and healing in the affected tissue ---- at the same time --- over and over and over again! And yes, Gluten is a major cause of inflammation as well ---- particularly of the gut and the BRAIN / NERVOUS SYSTEM. Some of the other problems that Inflammation is known to cause includes;
TOO MANY BAD FATS / NOT ENOUGH GOOD FATS: Too many people are scared to death of dietary fat (HERE), and those who aren't, typically consume way too many TRANS FATS. Unfortunately for these people, they are not getting enough Omega-3's and other healthy fats into their diets. THE BOTTOM LINE: The bottom line is that although there are many potential triggers out there, antibiotics are a huge factor in the declining health of our nation. The American Society for Microbiology recently published research describing the relationship / interactions between the intestinal micro-flora (good bacteria) and the host. Their Conclusion? "Antibiotics profoundly disrupt intestinal homeostasis" (equilibrium). The authors prefaced this conclusion with this remark, "Intestinal microbes help us digest our food, provide us with vitamins that we cannot make on our own, and protect us from microbes that make us sick, amongst other things". In another major study, researchers examined over 2,000 molecules normally present in feces ---- before and after the administration of antibiotics. The "after antibiotics" group showed some frankly, freaky results;
"First, our work shows that the unnecessary use of antibiotics has deleterious effects on human health that were previously unappreciated." Although we spend more on healthcare as a nation and per capita than any other country on the planet; we really don't have as much to show for it as one would assume. Although we are managing to keep our population alive longer, we are a people plagued by Autoimmune Diseases (SEE HERE) ---- most of which the medical community has no answer for other than prescribing more immuno-suppressive cortico-steroids ---- or other drugs that are even harsher. If you are looking for real answers to problems that are plaguing millions upon millions of other Americans, I suggest you start at ENDOGUT. Endogut has loads of information about the very topics that you have read about in this series. You can also go to PubMed to view over 150 studies pertaining to both gluten and antibiotics.
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GLUTEN SENSITIVITY AND AUTOIMMUNITY  If you are convinced (even a little bit) that Gluten could be as big a heath problem as anything facing Americans today, it would be nice to have some scientific evidence to back it up --- especially when talking with your doctor about your condition. Is this evidence out there? If you have been following this blog series thus far, you already know that yes, the studies are out there ---- BY THE THOUSANDS! I was actually going to list studies here, but there are simply too many of them ---- way too many. However, what I will do today is pick a topic. You can do the same thing with any topic of your choice.
Because HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS is arguably the most common major AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE in America (10% of the population), we will use it as today's example. Firstly, notice that Hashimoto's is, as just mentioned, an Autoimmune Disease. Remember also that if you have an Autoimmune Condition of any sort, you have a better than 90% chance of being Gluten Intolerant (HERE for PubMed's "Gluten / Autoimmunity" ---- 700 studies). Now let's narrow down our search to "Gluten / Thyroid". We only find 135 studies to wade through here. Now let's look specifically at the 7 studies under "GLUTEN / THYROID / HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS". Because there are actually many more studies than this (no single database carries them all), we can also look on other databases, as well as the web. Thyroid problems? I would strongly suggest that you read Datis Kharrazian's Thyroid Book on the matter (it's a ten dollar paperback). The brilliant Kharrazian is a board-certified CARRICK-TRAINED Functional Neurologist, and is the world's foremost expert on managing Thyroid Problems from a Functional Medicine point of view. You can also visit the website of Dr. Aristo Vojdani, possibly the world's preeminent immunological expert --- whose specialty happens to be Food Sensitivities --- most specifically GLUTEN INTOLERANCE. The truth of the matter is that knowledge is power. If a doctor diagnoses you with problem X, you need to make yourself an expert on problem X. Never blindly trust what any doctor tells you (self included) without first checking it against current scientific research. If your doctor tries telling you that "Gluten Free" is a MERE FAD with no evidence to back up the link between AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES & GLUTEN, find another doctor! Better yet, get tested to see if you are Gluten Sensitive and whether or not it's throwing your Immune System out of balance, and into a state of Autoimmunity. A SMALL TASTE OF THE GLUTEN RESEARCH In one major study, authors suggested that treating Celiac Disease with a gluten-free diet can lessen the risk of developing autoimmune thyroid disease. In this study, a group of researchers from Italy compared the incidence of Celiac Disease and autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis) in so-called "healthy people", with the incidence of Celiac Disease in a group of "sick patients" (cancer and heart disease) with non-autoimmune thyroid disease. The prevalence of Celiac Disease in the thyroid disease group was "significantly greater than in both healthy and sick control groups". Although they stated that genetic and environmental factors could be to blame, they added "it is possible that the association between Celiac Disease and autoimmunity in untreated Celiac patients is caused by gluten intake." Other studies have shown that organ-specific antibodies (these indicate that the body's white blood cells are attacking specific organs, glands or tissues, such as the thyroid gland) disappear after three to six months on a gluten-free diet. Their startling conclusion was that it's possible that "undiagnosed Celiac Disease can cause other [autoimmune] disorders by switching on some as yet unknown immunological mechanism." The study was published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences in February 2000. Too bad your doctor has not gotten around to reading this 11 year old research yet. WHAT ABOUT TESTING? Interestingly enough, the Italian research team suggested that all autoimmune thyroid disease patients with Graves or Hashimoto's could benefit from being screened for Gluten Sensitivity. However, the medical community has (not surprisingly) balked at this suggestion. In a 2006 statement, the American Gastroenterological Association Institute, noted that patients with autoimmune thyroid disease are at higher risk for Celiac, but added that "there is no compelling rationale for the routine screening of patients with thyroid disease for Celiac Disease in the absence of symptoms suggesting or compatible with Celiac Disease." There isn't? Go back and re-read the first part of this blog entry! The evidence is overwhelming. However.......... Stop for a moment and think. Because Autoimmune Diseases are so rampant in America, it would make good fiscal (and humanitarian) sense for our medical community to not only to educate patients about the potential pitfalls of gluten, but to screen people with Autoimmune Diseases as well. In fact, in light of what we have learned in this five part series, a suggestion that everyone be screened for Gluten Sensitivity would not seem too out of line. Will this ever happen? Doubtful. Think about YESTERDAY'S COLUMN, Ivy League Professor, Dr. Peter Green's research (HERE), and the monster numbers of Americans with Autoimmune Disease (at least 1 in 5 --- probably more like 1 in 2). If even half of these people's health issues could be managed simply by removing gluten from the diet, think about the tens of billions in lost revenue that would be facing Drug Companies and the Medical Industry. Is it any wonder your doctor has not talked to you about gluten yet? GLUTEN SENSITIVITY AND AUTOIMMUNITY |
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Let me first say that I am putting my life at risk by doing this week's series of blog articles on Gluten Intolerance. Why? Because I grew up on a Kansas wheat farm. I was running a combine (Gleaner, Models A & G) by the time I was in 5th grade, and still have many family members that raise wheat. Hopefully, I am still alive by the time Saturday rolls around!
GLUTEN is a water insoluble protein that is itself composed of proteins ---- glutenin and gliadin (in wheat), secalin (in rye) and hordein (in barley). Because it is found in wheat-like grains, it is also found in most types of cereals, breads, flours, and pastas. However, not all foods from the grain family contain gluten. Examples of grains that do not contain gluten include wild rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, oats, and sunflower seeds. However, before you rush out and buy all sorts of these grains thinking that you are doing yourself a favor, you had better take a few minutes to read about GLUTEN CROSS REACTIVITY.
Although you will also see soybeans on this list as well, stay far away from them as they are a XENOHORMONE --- a Phytoestrogen (plant-based estrogen) that will cause far more problems than they help --- unless they have been fermented first (miso, tempeh, natto, & tofu). Although oats and corn are also on this list and do not contain gluten, there are frequent problems with both as they are common Cross-Reactors. This is because most of the farms and milling facilities that process oats and corn, also process gluten-containing grains that can cross-contaminate products that do not contain gluten. Also, people who are extremely Gluten Sensitive are sometimes highly reactive to the substance in oats and corn that are analogous to gluten in wheat (Gluten Cross Reactivity).
Although only about 1 in 5,000 Americans are ever diagnosed with Celiac Disease (a full-blown systemic reaction to gluten / gliadin), the actual number of sufferers is estimated to be closer to 1 in 100. In other words, only about one in fifty Celiacs is ever diagnosed. This, however, pales to Gluten Sensitivity (aka Gluten Intolerance), which, while some experts say is only 10% of the American population, recent research is estimating it to be closer to 1 in 3 ----- or even as high as 50% or greater (almost 85% of all Americans carry the genetic predisposition). Every study seems to be scarier than the study that came before it.
A large study carried out by the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research in Baltimore has confirmed this. Scientists there tested 8,200 adults and children. Half the sample had various symptoms associated with Celiac Disease and, of those, one in 40 of the children tested positive ---- as well as one in 30 of the adults. But it wasn't just those who seemed ill who were having problems with wheat. There was far more worrying about what the Maryland researchers found when they tested the other half of the sample ---- those who were healthy volunteers selected at random. Among kids under 16, one in 167 had Celiac Disease, while the rate among the adults was even higher - one in 111.
If those proportions are true for the American population in general, this means that nearly 2 million adults and 300,000 children have undiagnosed Celiac Disease - people who, sooner or later, are going to develop vague symptoms of feeling generally unwell, for which they will be offered various drugs that are unlikely to make much difference. Ultimately, they are at higher risk of a range of chronic diseases --- mostly in the AUTOIMMUNITY FAMILY.
The problem though is in the test. In order to have true "Celiac Disease", you have to have a positive biopsy result for the small intestine. Not only is this test not always accurate, it does not tell the whole story. When the body has an immune reaction, it makes antibodies. The test for anti-gliadin antibodies is known as AGA and people who test positive to AGA often have no sign of gut damage. In fact, according to Dr Alessio Fasano, who carried out the University of Maryland research, "Worldwide, CD 'out of the intestine' is 15 times more frequent than CD 'in the intestine'." Expert on Gluten Sensitivity, James Braly M.D. (my mom's first cousin) estimates that between 10% and 15% of the US and Canadian populations have anti-gliadin antibodies. This puts them at risk of conditions as varied as psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, jaundice, IBS and eczema. Other experts feel that even this estimate is low ---- possibly far to low.
A recent large study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people with diagnosed, undiagnosed, and Gluten Sensitivity had a higher risk of death from both heart disease and cancer, as well as other causes (Small-Intestinal Histopathology and Mortality Risk in Celiac Disease). The deaths (between 1969 to 2008) in a three groups of 30,000 patients were examined: Those with full-blown Celiac Disease, those with INFLAMMATION of their intestine but not full-blown Celiac Disease, and those with Gluten Sensitivity (elevated gluten antibodies but negative intestinal biopsy). There was a 39% increased risk of death in those with Celiac Disease, 72% increased risk in those with gut inflammation related to gluten (can anyone say 'LEAKY GUT SYNDROME'?), and 35% increased risk in those with Gluten Sensitivity.
A ten year old paper published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 "diseases" that can be caused by eating gluten. These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other Autoimmune Diseases. Gluten has also been linked to many psychiatric and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). It has also been linked to autism.
GLUTEN is a water insoluble protein that is itself composed of proteins ---- glutenin and gliadin (in wheat), secalin (in rye) and hordein (in barley). Because it is found in wheat-like grains, it is also found in most types of cereals, breads, flours, and pastas. However, not all foods from the grain family contain gluten. Examples of grains that do not contain gluten include wild rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, oats, and sunflower seeds. However, before you rush out and buy all sorts of these grains thinking that you are doing yourself a favor, you had better take a few minutes to read about GLUTEN CROSS REACTIVITY.
Although you will also see soybeans on this list as well, stay far away from them as they are a XENOHORMONE --- a Phytoestrogen (plant-based estrogen) that will cause far more problems than they help --- unless they have been fermented first (miso, tempeh, natto, & tofu). Although oats and corn are also on this list and do not contain gluten, there are frequent problems with both as they are common Cross-Reactors. This is because most of the farms and milling facilities that process oats and corn, also process gluten-containing grains that can cross-contaminate products that do not contain gluten. Also, people who are extremely Gluten Sensitive are sometimes highly reactive to the substance in oats and corn that are analogous to gluten in wheat (Gluten Cross Reactivity).
Although only about 1 in 5,000 Americans are ever diagnosed with Celiac Disease (a full-blown systemic reaction to gluten / gliadin), the actual number of sufferers is estimated to be closer to 1 in 100. In other words, only about one in fifty Celiacs is ever diagnosed. This, however, pales to Gluten Sensitivity (aka Gluten Intolerance), which, while some experts say is only 10% of the American population, recent research is estimating it to be closer to 1 in 3 ----- or even as high as 50% or greater (almost 85% of all Americans carry the genetic predisposition). Every study seems to be scarier than the study that came before it.
A large study carried out by the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research in Baltimore has confirmed this. Scientists there tested 8,200 adults and children. Half the sample had various symptoms associated with Celiac Disease and, of those, one in 40 of the children tested positive ---- as well as one in 30 of the adults. But it wasn't just those who seemed ill who were having problems with wheat. There was far more worrying about what the Maryland researchers found when they tested the other half of the sample ---- those who were healthy volunteers selected at random. Among kids under 16, one in 167 had Celiac Disease, while the rate among the adults was even higher - one in 111.
If those proportions are true for the American population in general, this means that nearly 2 million adults and 300,000 children have undiagnosed Celiac Disease - people who, sooner or later, are going to develop vague symptoms of feeling generally unwell, for which they will be offered various drugs that are unlikely to make much difference. Ultimately, they are at higher risk of a range of chronic diseases --- mostly in the AUTOIMMUNITY FAMILY.
The problem though is in the test. In order to have true "Celiac Disease", you have to have a positive biopsy result for the small intestine. Not only is this test not always accurate, it does not tell the whole story. When the body has an immune reaction, it makes antibodies. The test for anti-gliadin antibodies is known as AGA and people who test positive to AGA often have no sign of gut damage. In fact, according to Dr Alessio Fasano, who carried out the University of Maryland research, "Worldwide, CD 'out of the intestine' is 15 times more frequent than CD 'in the intestine'." Expert on Gluten Sensitivity, James Braly M.D. (my mom's first cousin) estimates that between 10% and 15% of the US and Canadian populations have anti-gliadin antibodies. This puts them at risk of conditions as varied as psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, jaundice, IBS and eczema. Other experts feel that even this estimate is low ---- possibly far to low.
A recent large study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people with diagnosed, undiagnosed, and Gluten Sensitivity had a higher risk of death from both heart disease and cancer, as well as other causes (Small-Intestinal Histopathology and Mortality Risk in Celiac Disease). The deaths (between 1969 to 2008) in a three groups of 30,000 patients were examined: Those with full-blown Celiac Disease, those with INFLAMMATION of their intestine but not full-blown Celiac Disease, and those with Gluten Sensitivity (elevated gluten antibodies but negative intestinal biopsy). There was a 39% increased risk of death in those with Celiac Disease, 72% increased risk in those with gut inflammation related to gluten (can anyone say 'LEAKY GUT SYNDROME'?), and 35% increased risk in those with Gluten Sensitivity.
A ten year old paper published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 "diseases" that can be caused by eating gluten. These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other Autoimmune Diseases. Gluten has also been linked to many psychiatric and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). It has also been linked to autism.
PROGENITORIVOX
(IT'S A DRUG YOU NEED!)
I first saw this thing a few years back, and thought it was hilarious. It's a catchy little parody of T.V. drug commercials that rings just as true today as when I first saw it.
Come back tomorrow when we start our four part series on Gluten Intolerance. Trust me; you do not want to miss this one. Especially if you or your family have any sort of health-related problems at all! Amazing stuff!
DR. ROYAL LEE
A GIANT AMONG MEN
Th G - Bietigheim-Bissingen/Deutschland - Pixabay
The Lee family came from Norway in 1845 and settled in fertile Wisconsin farm country. Royal was born in 1895, and his intellectual brilliance and mechanical genius were seen from a very early age. After serving overseas in WWI, Lee received his dental degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee although he never spent much time in practice. During his lifetime, Dr Lee secured over seventy U.S. patents for electrical and mechanical devices after starting an engineering company (Lee Engineering). From automotive to military to agriculture to the U.S. space program, Lee's company was involved with some of the most mechanically advanced technology of his day. Needless to say, by the height of the Great Depression, Lee's engineering royalties were earning him enormous wealth. But Lee did not spend money frivolously. Instead, he poured the profits from his engineering company back into his first love, nutrition.
From his earliest years, Lee was an outstanding scholar whose greatest passion was and always had been nutrition. Before he was out of grade school, he’d compiled a comprehensive notebook of biochemical terms. By sixteen he was buying up books on physiology and biochemistry, compiling detailed notebooks on the subject, and even managing to convince his HS principal that he should be teaching an advanced physics course to his 10th grade peers.
Although the body's glandular system was either yet undiscovered or not well understood, this was the focal point of his nutritional studies. Lee realized early on that that this system ---- the "Endocrine System" ---- was the body's “master control mechanism”. Through his research, he came to see that the key to the health of the endocrine system is sufficient intake of vitamins ---- real vitamins as opposed to the synthetic kind!
“Synthetic vitamins: these are highly inferior to vitamins from natural sources, also the synthetic product is well known to be far more toxic.” Dr. Casimir Funk, Polish biochemist and discoverer of "Vital Amines" (Vitamins) circa early 1900's
Lee realized early in the game that Vitamins are complex groups of interdependent compounds and phytonutrients ---- nutrients that can only be made by living organisms. According to Lee and some other progressive thinkers of his day, real vitamins could come only from whole, unprocessed foods. This foundational principle (vitamins are the result of "Life" whose functions are far too complex to be reproduced in a lab), would be the basis of his life's work.
When Lee was in Dental School, he began to work on creating a concentrated nutritional formula that could optimize endocrine health via the delivery of all the known vitamins and minerals ----- in their natural state. Because cold processing and working with vacuum chambers was not something being done on every street corner, it would be a few years before he invented the technology to preserve the nutritional complexes found in his supplement. Regardless; by 1929 Lee was making the world’s first raw, whole-food supplement. Even though “raw” and “whole-food” are today's health-marketing catch-words, Lee was doing this pioneering work over 80 years ago.
If there's one thing Dr. Lee understood, it was the strong relationship between health and whole food nutrition. He drove this point home by shocking his professors with a graduation speech that presented a whole new theory on the formation of cavities titled, “The Systemic Cause of Dental Caries.” Although most of today's dentists would still side with Lee's professors, he based his speech on the large amounts of scientific evidence showing that the cause of tooth decay is systemic bodily dysfunction, usually due to poor nutrition. Although this did not sit well with his professors, it would form the basis of his lifelong relationship with Dr. Weston Price.
In the 1930s, Lee’s friend and dental colleague, Dr. Weston Price, embarked on an epic, round-the-world expedition to photograph and document the effects of processed foods on the dental and physical health of indigenous people throughout the globe. Price's Magnus Opus, Nutrition & Physical Degeneration was the result. This amazing book unequivocally proved that poor nutrition is behind not just tooth decay but other modern diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, cancer, etc. It seems that this list of diseases “just happened” to start affecting huge numbers of peoples worldwide at precisely the same time processed foods and the processing of grains were becoming popular.
Lee's first product, "CATALYN", was made by concentrating foods that Dr. Lee knew had the highest amounts of the essential vitamins and minerals. Not surprisingly, it produced remarkable healing in many people who used it. Because of this, word of Catalyn grew. To meet the demand for his increasingly famous food concentrate, Dr. Lee established the Vitamins Product Company (from which he would receive a whopping salary of $1 per year throughout his lifetime). This is the company that was to become STANDARD PROCESS, INC., which continues to produce and distribute Dr. Lee’s formulations today --- many of them unchanged from when he created them decades ago.
Why did Dr. Lee’s formulas work so well? The key, he always maintained, lay in the idea of what a vitamin really is. From his studies in science, Lee knew that one of the basic tenets of holism — The whole is greater than the sum of its parts — is absolutely critical to understanding how a vitamin interacts with the body. Vitamins as they appear in food are never single, isolated chemicals. Instead they are groups of biochemically interdependent substances that all work together—each co-factor performing a specific function—to deliver a collective nutritive effect to the body. Not only that, they could only come from living cells --- as opposed to Synthetic Chemicals.
This thought process was in stark contrast to chemists of his day. Most of these chemists believed that nutritional complexes could be reduced to their “most important” parts. Dr. Lee's favorite question to ask this group of reductionist scientists was, "Which part of a watch keeps time?" Think about his answer in relationship to nutrition. It must all work together!
Interestingly enough, the scientific research of the time proved Dr. Lee's message --- the message that a lack of vitamins and minerals from whole foods leads to poor health. While this fact may seem obvious to us now, in Dr. Lee’s time making such a claim was in direct opposition to the prevailing opinion of medicine and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"It is wholly unscientific to state that a well-fed body is more able to resist disease than a less well-fed body." Elmer Nelson, M.D., head of the “Nutrition” Division of the FDA. This quote came from one of many Federal Cases against Lee --- this one in 1949.
Lee’s views put him at odds not just with organized medicine and the FDA but also with the food manufacturing industry. His work threatened the security of these commercial interests. Due to their prompting (and lobbying monies), governmental agencies like the FDA were assigned to discredit him. Throughout his life, Dr. Lee would endure perpetual legal prosecution character assassination at the hands of these governmental agencies. Fortunately for us, Lee did not back down from telling the truth; no matter the cost. With Americans increasingly consuming heavily processed foods, he carried on his work in spite of the constant lawsuits. It is easy to find those still vilifying his work online.
Ask anyone who has done it, battling the government and their infinitely deep pockets is almost impossible. Unfortunately, Dr. Lee lost a lawsuit with the FDA in 1962 and was ordered to stop accompanying his food supplements with literature describing their therapeutic value. He was also forced to destroy all the educational nutritional literature produced by his companies that the government deemed “misleading.” Within five years, at age 72, Dr. Lee died from a stress-induced stroke. His wife and partner, Evelyn, survived until she was105 years old ---- carrying on his legacy. Her mission was his mission ---- to show the American people the importance of whole-food nutrition. This has been accomplished via the Lee Foundation as well as the research being conducted by Standard Process.
Although Dr. Royal Lee is long gone, his legacy lives on. Whole Food Nutrition is becoming more popular every day. Why? People are beginning to understand that synthetic vitamins and those that occur naturally are different ---- radically different. Unfortunately, like so many other things, it all seems to come down to money. The marketing of synthetic vitamins has been so successful that most doctors and nutrition “experts” are unaware they have been bamboozled. Vitamin manufacturers compete for business using the exact same product. Their dirty little secret is that they all bought their synthetic vitamins from the same drug manufacturers (synthetic ascorbic acid [the only substance that can legally be called "Vitamin C" in America] is made by combining corn starch and sulfuric acid. The vast vast majority of America's supply comes from pharmaceutical giant, Hoffman-La Roche Labs in New Jersey). To explain why their product is better than the other guy's product, each company makes claim that, "Our vitamins are more potent than yours are. Nah nah nah-nah nah."
Lee knew better, and taught us why this is not true. Thanks Dr. Lee! Thanks Standard Process.
From his earliest years, Lee was an outstanding scholar whose greatest passion was and always had been nutrition. Before he was out of grade school, he’d compiled a comprehensive notebook of biochemical terms. By sixteen he was buying up books on physiology and biochemistry, compiling detailed notebooks on the subject, and even managing to convince his HS principal that he should be teaching an advanced physics course to his 10th grade peers.
Although the body's glandular system was either yet undiscovered or not well understood, this was the focal point of his nutritional studies. Lee realized early on that that this system ---- the "Endocrine System" ---- was the body's “master control mechanism”. Through his research, he came to see that the key to the health of the endocrine system is sufficient intake of vitamins ---- real vitamins as opposed to the synthetic kind!
“Synthetic vitamins: these are highly inferior to vitamins from natural sources, also the synthetic product is well known to be far more toxic.” Dr. Casimir Funk, Polish biochemist and discoverer of "Vital Amines" (Vitamins) circa early 1900's
Lee realized early in the game that Vitamins are complex groups of interdependent compounds and phytonutrients ---- nutrients that can only be made by living organisms. According to Lee and some other progressive thinkers of his day, real vitamins could come only from whole, unprocessed foods. This foundational principle (vitamins are the result of "Life" whose functions are far too complex to be reproduced in a lab), would be the basis of his life's work.
When Lee was in Dental School, he began to work on creating a concentrated nutritional formula that could optimize endocrine health via the delivery of all the known vitamins and minerals ----- in their natural state. Because cold processing and working with vacuum chambers was not something being done on every street corner, it would be a few years before he invented the technology to preserve the nutritional complexes found in his supplement. Regardless; by 1929 Lee was making the world’s first raw, whole-food supplement. Even though “raw” and “whole-food” are today's health-marketing catch-words, Lee was doing this pioneering work over 80 years ago.
If there's one thing Dr. Lee understood, it was the strong relationship between health and whole food nutrition. He drove this point home by shocking his professors with a graduation speech that presented a whole new theory on the formation of cavities titled, “The Systemic Cause of Dental Caries.” Although most of today's dentists would still side with Lee's professors, he based his speech on the large amounts of scientific evidence showing that the cause of tooth decay is systemic bodily dysfunction, usually due to poor nutrition. Although this did not sit well with his professors, it would form the basis of his lifelong relationship with Dr. Weston Price.
In the 1930s, Lee’s friend and dental colleague, Dr. Weston Price, embarked on an epic, round-the-world expedition to photograph and document the effects of processed foods on the dental and physical health of indigenous people throughout the globe. Price's Magnus Opus, Nutrition & Physical Degeneration was the result. This amazing book unequivocally proved that poor nutrition is behind not just tooth decay but other modern diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, cancer, etc. It seems that this list of diseases “just happened” to start affecting huge numbers of peoples worldwide at precisely the same time processed foods and the processing of grains were becoming popular.
Lee's first product, "CATALYN", was made by concentrating foods that Dr. Lee knew had the highest amounts of the essential vitamins and minerals. Not surprisingly, it produced remarkable healing in many people who used it. Because of this, word of Catalyn grew. To meet the demand for his increasingly famous food concentrate, Dr. Lee established the Vitamins Product Company (from which he would receive a whopping salary of $1 per year throughout his lifetime). This is the company that was to become STANDARD PROCESS, INC., which continues to produce and distribute Dr. Lee’s formulations today --- many of them unchanged from when he created them decades ago.
Why did Dr. Lee’s formulas work so well? The key, he always maintained, lay in the idea of what a vitamin really is. From his studies in science, Lee knew that one of the basic tenets of holism — The whole is greater than the sum of its parts — is absolutely critical to understanding how a vitamin interacts with the body. Vitamins as they appear in food are never single, isolated chemicals. Instead they are groups of biochemically interdependent substances that all work together—each co-factor performing a specific function—to deliver a collective nutritive effect to the body. Not only that, they could only come from living cells --- as opposed to Synthetic Chemicals.
This thought process was in stark contrast to chemists of his day. Most of these chemists believed that nutritional complexes could be reduced to their “most important” parts. Dr. Lee's favorite question to ask this group of reductionist scientists was, "Which part of a watch keeps time?" Think about his answer in relationship to nutrition. It must all work together!
Interestingly enough, the scientific research of the time proved Dr. Lee's message --- the message that a lack of vitamins and minerals from whole foods leads to poor health. While this fact may seem obvious to us now, in Dr. Lee’s time making such a claim was in direct opposition to the prevailing opinion of medicine and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"It is wholly unscientific to state that a well-fed body is more able to resist disease than a less well-fed body." Elmer Nelson, M.D., head of the “Nutrition” Division of the FDA. This quote came from one of many Federal Cases against Lee --- this one in 1949.
Lee’s views put him at odds not just with organized medicine and the FDA but also with the food manufacturing industry. His work threatened the security of these commercial interests. Due to their prompting (and lobbying monies), governmental agencies like the FDA were assigned to discredit him. Throughout his life, Dr. Lee would endure perpetual legal prosecution character assassination at the hands of these governmental agencies. Fortunately for us, Lee did not back down from telling the truth; no matter the cost. With Americans increasingly consuming heavily processed foods, he carried on his work in spite of the constant lawsuits. It is easy to find those still vilifying his work online.
Ask anyone who has done it, battling the government and their infinitely deep pockets is almost impossible. Unfortunately, Dr. Lee lost a lawsuit with the FDA in 1962 and was ordered to stop accompanying his food supplements with literature describing their therapeutic value. He was also forced to destroy all the educational nutritional literature produced by his companies that the government deemed “misleading.” Within five years, at age 72, Dr. Lee died from a stress-induced stroke. His wife and partner, Evelyn, survived until she was105 years old ---- carrying on his legacy. Her mission was his mission ---- to show the American people the importance of whole-food nutrition. This has been accomplished via the Lee Foundation as well as the research being conducted by Standard Process.
Although Dr. Royal Lee is long gone, his legacy lives on. Whole Food Nutrition is becoming more popular every day. Why? People are beginning to understand that synthetic vitamins and those that occur naturally are different ---- radically different. Unfortunately, like so many other things, it all seems to come down to money. The marketing of synthetic vitamins has been so successful that most doctors and nutrition “experts” are unaware they have been bamboozled. Vitamin manufacturers compete for business using the exact same product. Their dirty little secret is that they all bought their synthetic vitamins from the same drug manufacturers (synthetic ascorbic acid [the only substance that can legally be called "Vitamin C" in America] is made by combining corn starch and sulfuric acid. The vast vast majority of America's supply comes from pharmaceutical giant, Hoffman-La Roche Labs in New Jersey). To explain why their product is better than the other guy's product, each company makes claim that, "Our vitamins are more potent than yours are. Nah nah nah-nah nah."
Lee knew better, and taught us why this is not true. Thanks Dr. Lee! Thanks Standard Process.
Want to Loose a lot of Weight Fast, get in Great Physical Shape while you do it, and do just one Single Exercise?
KETTLE BELL SWINGS ARE IT!
SARA DEMONSTRATING A KETTLEBELL SWING
About a month ago, I posted a blog article on the amazing transformational power of Kettlebell Swings. The one drawback to using Kettlebells ----- their cost. Not only is each individual Kettlebell extremely expensive, you will likely need several different sizes / weights. I did you a great favor by showing you how to make an easily adjustable, inexpensive Kettlebell-alternative called a "T-Bar". You can read how to build one of these creatures with material found at your local hardware store (here in Mountain View or anywhere else for that matter) for under $20 HERE. Now I want you to meet Tracy Reifkind.
Four years ago Tracy Reifkind was overweight. In fact, for the decade of her thirties, her BMI bounced around in the absurdly high 25-30+ range ---- GROSS / MORBID OBESITY. Although naturally athletic most of her life, she had succumbed to the twin pitfalls of fast food and a busy lifestyle. Four years ago at age 40, she realized she wasn't getting any younger ---- or any healthier, and decided it was time for a radical change. She finally broke down and allowed her husband Mark Reifkind, a life-long elite athlete and long-time gym owner / personal trainer, help her start on a simple program of walking a half hour a day, and low carb eating that she prepared herself. She quickly realized that Mark was right about the fact that CARDIO DOES A POOR JOB OF WEIGHT LOSS, and she would have to add some resistance training to her routine.
She dropped the walking and started swinging a Kettlebell two times a week for an average of 15 to 20 minutes (never more than 35 minutes). That's all she did. LOW CARB EATING and Kettlebell Swings. No starvation diets. No hours and hours of training. No crazy / expensive weight loss formulas or equipment. No gimmicks. No tricks. No drugs. She simply cut the JUNK, and started a simple exercise program that revolved around one exercise ---- the Kettlebell Swing. Within a matter of three months, she had lost over 100 lbs! Let me repeat that for those of you who are hard of hearing. She lost 100 lbs in just over 100 days.
She dropped the walking and started swinging a Kettlebell two times a week for an average of 15 to 20 minutes (never more than 35 minutes). That's all she did. LOW CARB EATING and Kettlebell Swings. No starvation diets. No hours and hours of training. No crazy / expensive weight loss formulas or equipment. No gimmicks. No tricks. No drugs. She simply cut the JUNK, and started a simple exercise program that revolved around one exercise ---- the Kettlebell Swing. Within a matter of three months, she had lost over 100 lbs! Let me repeat that for those of you who are hard of hearing. She lost 100 lbs in just over 100 days.
Tracy credits Kettlebell Training with her physical conditioning, as well as the reason she claims to have never hit a weight loss plateau during her three month journey. She currently maintains her weight consistently between 132 and 135 pounds, with a bodyfat level of about 17-18%. Besides being a mother of two, she maintains a small, private studio in California for training others how to do what she has done. But like I just showed you, there is really no trick to it. Learn what Low Carb eating is all about (HERE), and learn the proper way to do Kettlebell Swings (HERE).
Here's the deal folks. There is not a reason in the world that you can't do what Tracy has done. She, and people like her have removed your excuses. Get off the couch, and learn to swing. Sure it's difficult to make changes, but when you see the difference that it makes in how you look and feel, the process itself becomes motivational! For even more information on maintaining a healthy weight, visit our WEIGHT LOSS POSTS. Start by creating a written plan, follow it, and start getting in shape today!
If you find that exercise and weight loss are impossible even when you follow all the right steps, it is probably time for some serious metabolic testing to see where your body is malfunctioning. What do I mean my "malfunctioning"? visit DESTROY FIBROMYALGIA, ENDOGUT, or THYROID EPIDEMIC to learn more.
If you find that exercise and weight loss are impossible even when you follow all the right steps, it is probably time for some serious metabolic testing to see where your body is malfunctioning. What do I mean my "malfunctioning"? visit DESTROY FIBROMYALGIA, ENDOGUT, or THYROID EPIDEMIC to learn more.
SODA POP AND OSTEOPOROSIS
STOP THE MADNESS BEFORE YOUR BONES CRUMBLE TO DUST!
Hamza-sia
Americans have a pathological obsession with soda pop (our per-capita consumption is approaching a gallon a week)! A recent study said that soda pop is the number one source of calories for the under-25 crowd. It's an ugly addiction that rivals that of any drug. However, we also happen to have the worst rate of osteoporosis in the world as well ---- and the drugs that Big Pharma has come up with as the solution for this problem, are actually CAUSING OSTEOPOROSIS. We all know that there is a direct correlation to SODA CONSUMPTION & OBESITY (ESPECIALLY DIET SODA). But is there a correlation between soda pop and osteoporosis? You betcha there is!
Bone is a living and dynamic tissue that responds to mechanical stresses and loads by becoming stronger. This is why lack of weight-bearing exercise ---- STRENGTH TRAINING (not a lack of dietary calcium) is considered to be the number one cause of osteoporosis. And we all know that there is not a more sedentary people on the planet than Americans.
But let's move beyond this issue of "sedentary" for a moment and talk about the effects of acidity. Your body likes a pH of about 7. This is smack dab in the middle of a pH chart, and considered "neutral" (see chart below). As an over-generalized rule, most healthy foods tend to be alkali (above 7), while most unhealthy foods tend to be acidic (below 7) --- the more acidic a food is, the worse it is for you. This is a big reason that sick people are almost always acidic. The chart below comes from the University of Minnesota's School of Dentistry, and is a list of the most acidic brands of soda.
Be aware that a pH scale is analog. This means that each number is a factor of 10 times greater or less than the numbers next to it. For example; milk is 10 times more acidic than pure water, and the banana is 10 times more acidic than milk. This means that a banana is 100 times more acidic than pure water. What can we say about soda pop? If it is, on average, pH 3, then it's 10,000 times more acidic than pure water. If it is pH 2.5, it will be about 50,000 times more acidic than pure water. Why am I talking about 2.5 pH soda? Stay with me for a moment.
Bone is a living and dynamic tissue that responds to mechanical stresses and loads by becoming stronger. This is why lack of weight-bearing exercise ---- STRENGTH TRAINING (not a lack of dietary calcium) is considered to be the number one cause of osteoporosis. And we all know that there is not a more sedentary people on the planet than Americans.
But let's move beyond this issue of "sedentary" for a moment and talk about the effects of acidity. Your body likes a pH of about 7. This is smack dab in the middle of a pH chart, and considered "neutral" (see chart below). As an over-generalized rule, most healthy foods tend to be alkali (above 7), while most unhealthy foods tend to be acidic (below 7) --- the more acidic a food is, the worse it is for you. This is a big reason that sick people are almost always acidic. The chart below comes from the University of Minnesota's School of Dentistry, and is a list of the most acidic brands of soda.
Be aware that a pH scale is analog. This means that each number is a factor of 10 times greater or less than the numbers next to it. For example; milk is 10 times more acidic than pure water, and the banana is 10 times more acidic than milk. This means that a banana is 100 times more acidic than pure water. What can we say about soda pop? If it is, on average, pH 3, then it's 10,000 times more acidic than pure water. If it is pH 2.5, it will be about 50,000 times more acidic than pure water. Why am I talking about 2.5 pH soda? Stay with me for a moment.
EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT SODA POP DOES TO TEETH
IT DOES THE SAME THING TO BONES!
Two of the most common soda brands (Pepsi & Coke) both have pH's right at an almost absurd pH of 2.5 (approximately 50,000 times more acidic than pure water). Forget, for a moment, that diseases thrive in acidic environments (read our posts on SUGAR FEEDING CANCER). Let's try and figure out how soda pop or other acidic foods cause osteoporosis.
Many of us have used vinegar to clean mineral (calcium) deposits from our shower heads. Just take a plastic baggie full of vinegar, put it on the shower head, rubber band it in place, let it sit over night, and presto! The next morning the softened calcium deposit wipes off as easily as bacon grease from a stove top! Although this is not the exact mechanism that soda consumption causes osteoporosis, you should be starting to get the picture. Acid dissolves calcium!
BUFFERING STRONG ACIDS:
So, why don't I immediately die when I drink a Pepsi ---- after all, it is 50,000 times more acidic than water? It is because your body was created with a series of internal pumps and buffers to blunt the effects of strong acids. This is because you will die if your body cannot maintain a slightly alkali blood pH of between the narrow range of 7.35 and 7.45. Any higher or lower, and you rapidly run the risk of extreme consequences (including Rigor Mortis!). If you drink just one 12 ounce can of Pepsi or Coke (and in this age of the "Big Gulp", who drinks just 12 ounces any more?), it will take four (4) gallons of alkali water (pH 9) to buffer this acid. I personally don't know very many people who chase their soda pop with a five gallon bucket of water! So what does your body do to survive this acid insult if gallons and gallons of alkali water are not readily available? It has to get buffering power from somewhere else --- quickly. So it steals buffering power in the form of calcium from the easiest available source(s)
Think for a moment. When it comes to heartburn and acid indigestion / reflux, we have all been brain washed to think in terms of Rolaids Spells Relief, and Tums for the Tummy; but what is it in those products that buffers or neutralizes acid? Calcium! Calcium Carbonate --- the same kind of calcium found found in limestone, oyster shells, or egg shells. Calcium Carbonate has another name you might be more familiar with --- chalk. By the way, calcium from rocks and shells is a terrible source of dietary calcium (HERE), unless you enjoy hardened arteries and arthritis. Only use calcium supplements that comes from raw (cold processed) bone (HERE)!
When you drink SODA --- yes even DIET SODA, your body explodes into action to buffer the extremely high acid that is invading the system. It needs buffering power and it needs it quick. Where does it get it? It gets it from the most readily available sources of calcium that it can find ---- calcium from blood, bone, and DNA. So, every time you drink soda (or eat other high acid content foods --- SUGAR, white flour, etc), your body is robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is stealing calcium from vital parts of the body, and using it to buffer the effects of the soda. This is why I urge women (particularly small women, or women who used to be small) to avoid soda at all costs. If you don't, the medical community will use a bone density test to sell you on the fact that you have Osteoporosis, and need one of the so-called "BONE BUILDING DRUGS" --- drugs that actually CAUSE OSTEOPOROSIS!
Many of us have used vinegar to clean mineral (calcium) deposits from our shower heads. Just take a plastic baggie full of vinegar, put it on the shower head, rubber band it in place, let it sit over night, and presto! The next morning the softened calcium deposit wipes off as easily as bacon grease from a stove top! Although this is not the exact mechanism that soda consumption causes osteoporosis, you should be starting to get the picture. Acid dissolves calcium!
BUFFERING STRONG ACIDS:
So, why don't I immediately die when I drink a Pepsi ---- after all, it is 50,000 times more acidic than water? It is because your body was created with a series of internal pumps and buffers to blunt the effects of strong acids. This is because you will die if your body cannot maintain a slightly alkali blood pH of between the narrow range of 7.35 and 7.45. Any higher or lower, and you rapidly run the risk of extreme consequences (including Rigor Mortis!). If you drink just one 12 ounce can of Pepsi or Coke (and in this age of the "Big Gulp", who drinks just 12 ounces any more?), it will take four (4) gallons of alkali water (pH 9) to buffer this acid. I personally don't know very many people who chase their soda pop with a five gallon bucket of water! So what does your body do to survive this acid insult if gallons and gallons of alkali water are not readily available? It has to get buffering power from somewhere else --- quickly. So it steals buffering power in the form of calcium from the easiest available source(s)
Think for a moment. When it comes to heartburn and acid indigestion / reflux, we have all been brain washed to think in terms of Rolaids Spells Relief, and Tums for the Tummy; but what is it in those products that buffers or neutralizes acid? Calcium! Calcium Carbonate --- the same kind of calcium found found in limestone, oyster shells, or egg shells. Calcium Carbonate has another name you might be more familiar with --- chalk. By the way, calcium from rocks and shells is a terrible source of dietary calcium (HERE), unless you enjoy hardened arteries and arthritis. Only use calcium supplements that comes from raw (cold processed) bone (HERE)!
When you drink SODA --- yes even DIET SODA, your body explodes into action to buffer the extremely high acid that is invading the system. It needs buffering power and it needs it quick. Where does it get it? It gets it from the most readily available sources of calcium that it can find ---- calcium from blood, bone, and DNA. So, every time you drink soda (or eat other high acid content foods --- SUGAR, white flour, etc), your body is robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is stealing calcium from vital parts of the body, and using it to buffer the effects of the soda. This is why I urge women (particularly small women, or women who used to be small) to avoid soda at all costs. If you don't, the medical community will use a bone density test to sell you on the fact that you have Osteoporosis, and need one of the so-called "BONE BUILDING DRUGS" --- drugs that actually CAUSE OSTEOPOROSIS!
WHY DIET SODAS CAUSE OBESITY
StockSnap - Pixabay
If you read YESTERDAY'S BLOG ENTRY, you are already aware that diet soda causes obesity, but the question is why. Why do diet sodas cause obesity? In a word, Aspartame.
Aspartame is arguably one of the largest cause of health problems in America. It is sold under the brand names: NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure, and used to sweeten thousands of "food" products. But how does a chemical that has no calories cause one to get fat? It's really quite easy to understand.
Like MSG, aspartame is an excitotoxin. Excitotoxins cross the blood-brain barrier unrestricted, and contribute to all manner of neurological disorders. They attack the part of the brain that regulates HORMONE PRODUCTION. Among other things, this causes HYPOTHYROIDISM, a condition which affects at least 10% of the American population, which slows the metabolism. But that's not all.
When you ingest aspartame (a known liver toxin) it is absorbed from the intestines and passes immediately to the liver for detox. The liver breaks down aspartame to its toxic components - phenylalanine, aspartic acid, formaldehyde, and methanol (wood alcohol). This process requires a lot of energy from the liver which means there will be less energy remaining in the liver cells. This means the liver cells will have less energy for fat metabolism, which results in fat storage. Excess fat may build up inside the liver cells causing "fatty liver". When this starts to occur, it is extremely difficult to lose weight.
Although it contains no calories, aspartame causes causes DYSGLYCEMIA (unstable blood sugar levels), which increases the appetite, causes high levels of blood insulin, and causes the sugar cravings that many people (particularly women) would compare to a crack addiction. INSULIN is a storage hormone that moves sugar out of the blood and into the cells to be burned or stored ----- as fat.
Let me leave you with a little tidbit from the Congressional Record, Senate, S - 5511, May 7, l985. "Aspartame has been demonstrated to inhibit the carbohydrate-induced synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin (Wurtman affidavit). Serotonin blunts the sensation of craving carbohydrates and this is part of the body's feedback system that helps limit consumption of carbohydrate to appropriate levels. Its inhibition by aspartame could lead to the anomalous result of a diet product causing increased consumption of carbohydrates." Do you think that carbohydrates can make you fat? To answer this one, ask yourself a simple question: How does one fatten a beef? I grew up on a Kansas farm, and can assure you that carbohydrates (grain, sorghum, molasses, etc) is the only way to get the job done! But let's explore this "Serotonin" thing just a little bit more. Listen to what Ralph Walton, MD, says about aspartame and its effect on serotonin levels.
Food seeking behavior and satiety are driven by an area of the brain known as the hypothalamus. Stimulation of the medial hypothalamus in a laboratory rat leads to eating. Stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus leads to satiety and cessation of eating. Placing a lesion in the lateral hypothalamus produces an obese rat. The lateral hypothalamus is driven by serotonin. I believe that consuming large amounts of aspartame decreases the availability of serotonin and is thus analogous to placing a lesion in the lateral hypothalamus. Although much of this work is recent, clinical suggestions that aspartame can lead to paradoxical increased appetite date back to Blunder's work of 1986. An evolving view in modern psychiatry is that although depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, impulse control disorders, and eating disorders have historically been viewed as separate entities, in fact they should be viewed as a continuum of disorders all involving some degree of dysregulation of serotonin. I believe that at this time there is overwhelming evidence that aspartame contributes to this dysregulation.
And for those who may have been interested, approximately 90% of the body's serotonin is manufactured in the Gut (HERE). Poor GUT HEALTH, means that you will not be making the serotonin your body needs to feel 'normal'. Odds are you will be labeled with DEPRESSION, and all bets are off from here on out.
Aspartame is arguably one of the largest cause of health problems in America. It is sold under the brand names: NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure, and used to sweeten thousands of "food" products. But how does a chemical that has no calories cause one to get fat? It's really quite easy to understand.
Like MSG, aspartame is an excitotoxin. Excitotoxins cross the blood-brain barrier unrestricted, and contribute to all manner of neurological disorders. They attack the part of the brain that regulates HORMONE PRODUCTION. Among other things, this causes HYPOTHYROIDISM, a condition which affects at least 10% of the American population, which slows the metabolism. But that's not all.
When you ingest aspartame (a known liver toxin) it is absorbed from the intestines and passes immediately to the liver for detox. The liver breaks down aspartame to its toxic components - phenylalanine, aspartic acid, formaldehyde, and methanol (wood alcohol). This process requires a lot of energy from the liver which means there will be less energy remaining in the liver cells. This means the liver cells will have less energy for fat metabolism, which results in fat storage. Excess fat may build up inside the liver cells causing "fatty liver". When this starts to occur, it is extremely difficult to lose weight.
Although it contains no calories, aspartame causes causes DYSGLYCEMIA (unstable blood sugar levels), which increases the appetite, causes high levels of blood insulin, and causes the sugar cravings that many people (particularly women) would compare to a crack addiction. INSULIN is a storage hormone that moves sugar out of the blood and into the cells to be burned or stored ----- as fat.
Let me leave you with a little tidbit from the Congressional Record, Senate, S - 5511, May 7, l985. "Aspartame has been demonstrated to inhibit the carbohydrate-induced synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin (Wurtman affidavit). Serotonin blunts the sensation of craving carbohydrates and this is part of the body's feedback system that helps limit consumption of carbohydrate to appropriate levels. Its inhibition by aspartame could lead to the anomalous result of a diet product causing increased consumption of carbohydrates." Do you think that carbohydrates can make you fat? To answer this one, ask yourself a simple question: How does one fatten a beef? I grew up on a Kansas farm, and can assure you that carbohydrates (grain, sorghum, molasses, etc) is the only way to get the job done! But let's explore this "Serotonin" thing just a little bit more. Listen to what Ralph Walton, MD, says about aspartame and its effect on serotonin levels.
Food seeking behavior and satiety are driven by an area of the brain known as the hypothalamus. Stimulation of the medial hypothalamus in a laboratory rat leads to eating. Stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus leads to satiety and cessation of eating. Placing a lesion in the lateral hypothalamus produces an obese rat. The lateral hypothalamus is driven by serotonin. I believe that consuming large amounts of aspartame decreases the availability of serotonin and is thus analogous to placing a lesion in the lateral hypothalamus. Although much of this work is recent, clinical suggestions that aspartame can lead to paradoxical increased appetite date back to Blunder's work of 1986. An evolving view in modern psychiatry is that although depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, impulse control disorders, and eating disorders have historically been viewed as separate entities, in fact they should be viewed as a continuum of disorders all involving some degree of dysregulation of serotonin. I believe that at this time there is overwhelming evidence that aspartame contributes to this dysregulation.
And for those who may have been interested, approximately 90% of the body's serotonin is manufactured in the Gut (HERE). Poor GUT HEALTH, means that you will not be making the serotonin your body needs to feel 'normal'. Odds are you will be labeled with DEPRESSION, and all bets are off from here on out.
DIET SODA CAUSES OBESITY
Speedy McVroom - English - Pixabay
Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse ----- try this one on for size (no pun intended): Everyone knows that SUGAR MAKES PEOPLE FAT, but a large review of 26 years of patient data found that people who drink diet soft drinks were more likely to become overweight than those who drank regular sodas. Not only that, but the more diet sodas they drank, the higher their risk of becoming overweight or obese - 65 percent more likely for each diet drink per day! The findings, the latest from the long-term San Antonio Heart Study, took even the researchers by surprise. "I was baffled," said Sharon Fowler, a faculty associate at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Researchers looked at questionnaires and medical records for 1,177 patients who began enrolling in the study in 1979. All had weights considered either normal or overweight, but not obese. The volunteers were asked how many soft drinks per day they usually drank and whether they drank regular or diet -- or a combination of each, and then followed up with them over the next 26 years.
Not surprisingly, researchers found that drinking any soda -- regular or diet -- was linked to a higher risk of becoming overweight. But when the researchers adjusted the data to account for differences in age, sex and ethnicity, they found that regular soft drinks had significantly less connection with serious weight gain than did diet soda. The idea that diet sodas can lead to weight gain isn't new. Last year, a group from Purdue University found that when rats were fed the Aspartame equivalent of a diet soda, they ate more high-calorie food afterward than did rats fed the same amount of a drink sweetened with high-calorie sweetener.
Researchers looked at questionnaires and medical records for 1,177 patients who began enrolling in the study in 1979. All had weights considered either normal or overweight, but not obese. The volunteers were asked how many soft drinks per day they usually drank and whether they drank regular or diet -- or a combination of each, and then followed up with them over the next 26 years.
Not surprisingly, researchers found that drinking any soda -- regular or diet -- was linked to a higher risk of becoming overweight. But when the researchers adjusted the data to account for differences in age, sex and ethnicity, they found that regular soft drinks had significantly less connection with serious weight gain than did diet soda. The idea that diet sodas can lead to weight gain isn't new. Last year, a group from Purdue University found that when rats were fed the Aspartame equivalent of a diet soda, they ate more high-calorie food afterward than did rats fed the same amount of a drink sweetened with high-calorie sweetener.
The same 2011 study showed that diet soda drinker’s waist sizes increased 70 percent more than non-consumers. Those who consumed two or more diet sodas per day increased their waist sizes five times more than those who avoided diet drinks entirely.
“They may be free of calories but not of consequences,” Dr. Helen Hazuda, professor of medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said in a written statement. “These results suggest that – amidst the national drive to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks – policies which would promote the consumption of DSDs (diet soft drinks) may have unintended deleterious effects.”
As your waist size grows, so do your health risks such as DIABETES, heart disease, CANCER, and a whole host of other health-related problems. Stay tuned for tomorrow's column to find out how / why diet sodas make you fat.
“They may be free of calories but not of consequences,” Dr. Helen Hazuda, professor of medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said in a written statement. “These results suggest that – amidst the national drive to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks – policies which would promote the consumption of DSDs (diet soft drinks) may have unintended deleterious effects.”
As your waist size grows, so do your health risks such as DIABETES, heart disease, CANCER, and a whole host of other health-related problems. Stay tuned for tomorrow's column to find out how / why diet sodas make you fat.
SAVING LIVES OR TAKING LIVES?
OpenClipart
After years of doing so, no medical group currently recommends routine PSA blood tests to check men for prostate cancer. Why not? Because a government panel is now saying they do more harm than good.
The recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, being made public recently, will not come as a surprise to cancer specialists. The assumption has always been that finding cancer early is always a good thing. "Not so", said Dr. Virginia Moyer of the Baylor College of Medicine, who heads the task force. "We have put a huge amount of time, effort and energy into PSA screening and that time, effort and energy, that passion, should be going into finding a better test instead of using a test that doesn't work."
The task force analyzed all the previous research on this subject, including five major studies, to evaluate whether routine screening reduces deaths from prostate cancer. The conclusion: There's little if any mortality benefit. "But there is harm from routine screening: impotence, incontinence, infections, even death that can come from the biopsies, surgery and radiation." One study estimated that 40% of the men whose prostate cancer was caught through a PSA test had tumors too slow-growing to ever be a threat.
The recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, being made public recently, will not come as a surprise to cancer specialists. The assumption has always been that finding cancer early is always a good thing. "Not so", said Dr. Virginia Moyer of the Baylor College of Medicine, who heads the task force. "We have put a huge amount of time, effort and energy into PSA screening and that time, effort and energy, that passion, should be going into finding a better test instead of using a test that doesn't work."
The task force analyzed all the previous research on this subject, including five major studies, to evaluate whether routine screening reduces deaths from prostate cancer. The conclusion: There's little if any mortality benefit. "But there is harm from routine screening: impotence, incontinence, infections, even death that can come from the biopsies, surgery and radiation." One study estimated that 40% of the men whose prostate cancer was caught through a PSA test had tumors too slow-growing to ever be a threat.
ASTHMA INHALERS KILL
Another Dirty Little Secret of America's Medical Community
Another Dirty Little Secret of America's Medical Community
Myrabella
Popular and long-acting asthma medicines such as Advair and Serevent pose a substantially increased risk for both hospitalization and death when compared with placebos. This is not according to me, but according to a huge Meta-Analysis of 19 studies on the subject. The analysis also found that the increased risks of the long-acting broncho-dilators (LABA) affect a broad range of users -- more than doubling the rate at which asthma patients require hospitalization.
However, the most shocking results of the study found that people on the long-acting inhalers were four to six times more likely to die of an asthma attack than those on placebo (which, by the way, was itself a less potent medication and not a true placebo. In other words, the placebo was not really a placebo. If a true placebo were used, the results would probably have been far more dramatic). Use inhalers to treat you or your child's asthma, and you double your chances ending up in the hospital, while multiplying your chances of ending up in a pine box. Gulp!
"What we have here is a drug that increases the number of people who will die from the disease it is treating," said lead author Shelley Salpeter of Stanford University. "The long-acting bronchodilators can help reduce symptoms for many people, but we think the price in terms of serious side effects and deaths is unacceptable."
The analysis, published in a 2006 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that these drugs should be taken off the market. "The use of long-acting [bronchodilators] could be associated with a clinically significant number of unnecessary hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions and deaths each year," the authors wrote. "Black box warnings on the labeling for these agents clearly outline the increased risk for asthma-related deaths associated with their use, but these warnings have not changed prescribing practices of physicians."
One of the long-lasting bronchodilators is Advair, made by GLAXOSMITHKLINE. It brings in several billion dollars a year for the company, making it the nation's fifth biggest-selling drug (nearly four million patients a year use it), according to IMS Health, which tracks health data. In the new analysis, the authors estimated that Advair "may be responsible for as many as 4,000 of the 5,000 asthma-related deaths each year in the United States." If this does not freak you out just a little bit, nothing will!
An FDA advisory panel meeting was held to discuss whether these drugs should be taken off the market. Although the panel concluded that they should not, one result of the meeting was a demand for stronger language in the black-box warning. They came up with an Advisory Warning that says: "Even though LABAs decrease the frequency of asthma episodes, these medicines may make asthma episodes more severe when they occur. . . . LABAs should not be the first medicine used to treat asthma. LABAs should be added to the asthma treatment plan only if other medicines do not control asthma, including the use of low-or-medium dose corticosteroids." I could write a book on corticosteroids, but needless to say, they are no less dangerous an option for asthma than the LABA's! When are people going to learn? As long as Big Pharma has something to say about it; never!
If you want to understand how to deal with ASTHMA naturally, you have to understand two simple principles: INFLAMMATION & CHIROPRACTIC. Otherwise you will be at the mercy of the Drug Companies, and the deadly products they continue to push via your doctor.
However, the most shocking results of the study found that people on the long-acting inhalers were four to six times more likely to die of an asthma attack than those on placebo (which, by the way, was itself a less potent medication and not a true placebo. In other words, the placebo was not really a placebo. If a true placebo were used, the results would probably have been far more dramatic). Use inhalers to treat you or your child's asthma, and you double your chances ending up in the hospital, while multiplying your chances of ending up in a pine box. Gulp!
"What we have here is a drug that increases the number of people who will die from the disease it is treating," said lead author Shelley Salpeter of Stanford University. "The long-acting bronchodilators can help reduce symptoms for many people, but we think the price in terms of serious side effects and deaths is unacceptable."
The analysis, published in a 2006 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that these drugs should be taken off the market. "The use of long-acting [bronchodilators] could be associated with a clinically significant number of unnecessary hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions and deaths each year," the authors wrote. "Black box warnings on the labeling for these agents clearly outline the increased risk for asthma-related deaths associated with their use, but these warnings have not changed prescribing practices of physicians."
One of the long-lasting bronchodilators is Advair, made by GLAXOSMITHKLINE. It brings in several billion dollars a year for the company, making it the nation's fifth biggest-selling drug (nearly four million patients a year use it), according to IMS Health, which tracks health data. In the new analysis, the authors estimated that Advair "may be responsible for as many as 4,000 of the 5,000 asthma-related deaths each year in the United States." If this does not freak you out just a little bit, nothing will!
An FDA advisory panel meeting was held to discuss whether these drugs should be taken off the market. Although the panel concluded that they should not, one result of the meeting was a demand for stronger language in the black-box warning. They came up with an Advisory Warning that says: "Even though LABAs decrease the frequency of asthma episodes, these medicines may make asthma episodes more severe when they occur. . . . LABAs should not be the first medicine used to treat asthma. LABAs should be added to the asthma treatment plan only if other medicines do not control asthma, including the use of low-or-medium dose corticosteroids." I could write a book on corticosteroids, but needless to say, they are no less dangerous an option for asthma than the LABA's! When are people going to learn? As long as Big Pharma has something to say about it; never!
If you want to understand how to deal with ASTHMA naturally, you have to understand two simple principles: INFLAMMATION & CHIROPRACTIC. Otherwise you will be at the mercy of the Drug Companies, and the deadly products they continue to push via your doctor.
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
ASTHMA MEDS CAN BE DEADLY!
ACCORDING TO STATISTICS TAKEN FROM THE CDC'S WEBSITE ----- FOR AMERICANS.....
This statistic on asthma-related deaths is too low. If you stick around for tomorrow's column, you will see that. I have seen the death stats for American Asthma put at almost 10,000 a year. Asthma is the chronic INFLAMMATORY disease of the airways, and is characterized by recurring symptoms, broncho-spasm, and subsequent airway obstruction. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. How is it typically dealt with? Inhalers. How should it be dealt with? That one is easy --- firstly with DIET, and CHIROPRACTIC!
Because ASTHMA is based on INFLAMMATION, it is largely a disease of lifestyle. Because Chiropractic Adjustments affect both the nerves that control breathing, as well as the part of brainstem that regulate respiration, asthma can often times be effectively managed with methods that are actually safe. Is chiropractic safer than inhalers? You will have to come back tomorrow to answer this question, but suffice it to say that the scientific studies on CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS FOR CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA, are overwhelmingly supportive of its safety record as well as its effectiveness. But how? It all comes back to the NERVE SYSTEM.
When vertebrate get misaligned, or loose their normal ability to move freely on each other, bad things happen. One of these is nerve interference. Irritate a nerve, and irritate wherever that nerve goes. I cannot tell you how many children (and adults) with asthma, I have successfully treated over the years. And for those whose cases are more severe; there may be an underlying issue that requires testing. The bottom line? You do not want your child on inhalers, if they can be helped by more conservative (non-deadly means). Oh, you mean to tell me that you had not heard that Asthma Inhalers can be deadly? You'll have to stick around for tomorrow's column in order to learn that MOST (the studies say 80%) of the deaths attributed to Asthma are actually caused not by the asthma itself, but by the inhalers.
- Number of non-institutionalized adults who currently have asthma: 17.5 million
- Percent of non-institutionalized adults who currently have asthma: 7.7
- Number of children who currently have asthma: 7.0 million
- Percent of children who currently have asthma: 9.4%
- Number of visits (to physician offices, hospital outpatient and emergency departments) with asthma as primary diagnosis: 17.0 million
- Number of discharges with asthma as first-listed diagnosis: 456,000
- Average length of stay: 3.4 days
- Number of deaths: 3,447
This statistic on asthma-related deaths is too low. If you stick around for tomorrow's column, you will see that. I have seen the death stats for American Asthma put at almost 10,000 a year. Asthma is the chronic INFLAMMATORY disease of the airways, and is characterized by recurring symptoms, broncho-spasm, and subsequent airway obstruction. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. How is it typically dealt with? Inhalers. How should it be dealt with? That one is easy --- firstly with DIET, and CHIROPRACTIC!
Because ASTHMA is based on INFLAMMATION, it is largely a disease of lifestyle. Because Chiropractic Adjustments affect both the nerves that control breathing, as well as the part of brainstem that regulate respiration, asthma can often times be effectively managed with methods that are actually safe. Is chiropractic safer than inhalers? You will have to come back tomorrow to answer this question, but suffice it to say that the scientific studies on CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS FOR CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA, are overwhelmingly supportive of its safety record as well as its effectiveness. But how? It all comes back to the NERVE SYSTEM.
When vertebrate get misaligned, or loose their normal ability to move freely on each other, bad things happen. One of these is nerve interference. Irritate a nerve, and irritate wherever that nerve goes. I cannot tell you how many children (and adults) with asthma, I have successfully treated over the years. And for those whose cases are more severe; there may be an underlying issue that requires testing. The bottom line? You do not want your child on inhalers, if they can be helped by more conservative (non-deadly means). Oh, you mean to tell me that you had not heard that Asthma Inhalers can be deadly? You'll have to stick around for tomorrow's column in order to learn that MOST (the studies say 80%) of the deaths attributed to Asthma are actually caused not by the asthma itself, but by the inhalers.
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FIBROMYALGIA -vs- ADRENAL FATIGUE
Photo by Mikael Häggström
Fibromyalgia has become a full-blown American epidemic. But ask the average doctor what causes Fibromyalgia, and you'll likely get a deer-in-the-headlights look, some stuttering and stammering about the fact that no one knows what really causes it, and the suggestion that you go through a bunch of diagnostic testing. Now ask your doctor how he /she is going to go about treating it. That one is easy. Drugs! But stop and think for a moment.......
How on earth can you effectively treat something whose cause is completely unknown? The best their method of treatment can hope to achieve is some temporary symptomatic relief. Most doctors will tell you that since no one knows what causes Fibro, symptomatic relief is their one and only treatment goal. This is unfortunate because most of the drugs used to treat Fibromyalgia (particularly anti-inflammation medications) can actually make things worse by contributing to something called LEAKY GUT SYNDROME.
If you really want to learn more about Fibromyalgia, you absolutely must learn what Adrenal Fatigue is. This is because Adrenal Fatigue was, for decades, the clinical name of the group of symptoms that we today call Fibromyalgia. Without understanding Adrenal Fatigue, you have no hope of conquering Fibromyalgia ---- no matter what your doctor tells you! To visit my new website on the twin topics of Fibromyalgia and Adrenal Fatigue; DESTROY FIBROMYALGIA.
How on earth can you effectively treat something whose cause is completely unknown? The best their method of treatment can hope to achieve is some temporary symptomatic relief. Most doctors will tell you that since no one knows what causes Fibro, symptomatic relief is their one and only treatment goal. This is unfortunate because most of the drugs used to treat Fibromyalgia (particularly anti-inflammation medications) can actually make things worse by contributing to something called LEAKY GUT SYNDROME.
If you really want to learn more about Fibromyalgia, you absolutely must learn what Adrenal Fatigue is. This is because Adrenal Fatigue was, for decades, the clinical name of the group of symptoms that we today call Fibromyalgia. Without understanding Adrenal Fatigue, you have no hope of conquering Fibromyalgia ---- no matter what your doctor tells you! To visit my new website on the twin topics of Fibromyalgia and Adrenal Fatigue; DESTROY FIBROMYALGIA.
ETHIOPIAN FLAG
Arron Bradley and I will be leaving on Tuesday to get our daughters (four sisters --- the older two are Bradleys, the younger two are Schierlings. Everyone involved is thrilled. Stay tuned next week for blogs from the Dark Continent. P.S. The office will be open as usual on Monday, but closed the rest of the week. We will be open as usual the following Monday (Oct 17th). HERE are pics of our girls.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, SIDNEY
CROSBY, AND DR. CARRICK
http://www.VancityAllie.com (Sid the Kid originally posted to Flickr
Sidney Crosby has been suffering from severe headaches and dizziness for the better part of eight months. Why is this a big deal? Only because, Crosby is, after all, arguably the best hockey player on the planet ---- and has been for several years. After being on the receiving end of a brutal hit on New Year's Day, followed by another a few days later, the concussed Crosby started having HEADACHES, vertigo, mental fog, and other symptoms of POST-CONCUSSION SYNDROME. If you are the Pittsburgh Penguins, it's not good when your star player (and your biggest investment) is sitting on the bench, instead of out on the ice earning his tens of millions of dollars.
When I heard that one of my all-time favorite magazines, Sports Illustrated was going to carry an article on Crosby's Post-Concussion Treatment by world famous Chiropractic Neurologist, and pioneer in Functional Neurology, DR. TED CARRICK, I could hardly wait to read it. Dr. Carrick is one of the most brilliant men on the planet --- period! His creation and development of Functional Neurology is changing the landscape of healthcare --- both alternative and mainstream. The article is short, and could actually be viewed as two separate articles; the first being Crosby's excellent experience with Dr. Carrick's treatment protocol, the second being the medical community's "dogging" both Carrick and Functional Neurology as unscientific.
One of the first problems that I had with the article is that Sports Illustrated chose to use HARRIET HALL of Stephen Barrett's anti-chiropractic / anti-natural health, Quackwatch Site, as one of their so-called medical "ex-spurts". But really, when given an open mic, what did you expect these hand-picked, anti-chiropractic, medical mouthpieces to say? Were they about to admit the doctors in charge had utterly no idea what they were doing over the course of a half year of Crosby's treatment? Not on your life! Wouldn't it have been nice to see them admit the truth for once --- the fact that all they do is evaluate the concussed player, hoping that they improve quickly so they can take credit for returning them back to the ice? But bashing Dr. Carrick as some sort of "unscientific" pseudo-doctor who has somehow mesmerized Crosby, sells more magazines. SI's article should have contained at least a small portion that read a little something like this.....
"For the past eight months we tried everything that we knew to do, but Sid's symptoms did not change. Since there are no medications or surgeries to perform that can help Post-Concussion Syndrome, we continued to carefully analyze his symptoms, performing as many tests as humanly possible, while continuing to give zero amount of effective treatment. Needless to say, we spent countless hours educating Sid on his condition in an attempt to convince him not to seek out other treatment options that could prove to be either dangerous, or more effective than anything we have done for him so far. We warned Sid that according to our profession's most esteemed experts, his choice to go outside of the Penguin's organization for his healthcare was both unscientific and dangerous. Unfortunately, those efforts fell on deaf ears."
Sid personally recruited Dr. Carrick into the case, even though we made every attempt to stop him. We must admit that after starting treatment, and since working with Mr. (er, uh) "Doctor" Carrick, Sid has done remarkably well ----- making us all look like we have absolutely no idea what is going on ----- even though Carrick's treatment obviously had nothing to do with said improvement. Our current protocol for managing this difficult case involves constantly testing Sid, secretly trying to figure out why Dr. Carrick's treatment seems to be light years ahead of anything we have to offer, and trying to save face by saying anything and everything possible to discredit and undermine Dr. Carrick. The truth is, Dr Carrick is a quack, Functional Neurology is whitewashed voodoo, and he uses big words that he made up himself. Of course Sid's recovery was actually due to a coincidentally-timed placebo effect. I.E, he would have gotten better on his own eventually ---- at least that's the message we keep pumping out to other patients like Harry Carson, Dave Duerson, and Jr. Seau.
Would we ever consider referring a patient to a Chiropractic Neurologist in the future ---- even if there was ample research to validate what they are doing? Are you kidding me? We would rather die first!"
Believe me, sometimes you can figure out what is being said by reading carefully between the lines. It's amazing that even though Carrick's completely non-invasive treatment of Sidney Crosby obviously worked, half the article was spent telling readers why it shouldn't have. Wouldn't it have been nice to have seen this article presented with some more information about Carrick and the fact that his specialty is bringing people out of comas (WAKING UP THE BRAIN)?
However, you will not hear Carrick toot his own horn. Dr. Carrick DC, Ph.D, DACAN, DABCN, DACNB, FACCN, is a class act ---- an articulate, yet humble man, who happens to be the chiropractic profession's only "Neurological Fellow". I am not sure that there is another Neurologist on the planet who could keep up with him. The bottom line is results. It's almost embarrassing to listen to the whining from the people who could not get the job done with Crosby's health and career.
When I heard that one of my all-time favorite magazines, Sports Illustrated was going to carry an article on Crosby's Post-Concussion Treatment by world famous Chiropractic Neurologist, and pioneer in Functional Neurology, DR. TED CARRICK, I could hardly wait to read it. Dr. Carrick is one of the most brilliant men on the planet --- period! His creation and development of Functional Neurology is changing the landscape of healthcare --- both alternative and mainstream. The article is short, and could actually be viewed as two separate articles; the first being Crosby's excellent experience with Dr. Carrick's treatment protocol, the second being the medical community's "dogging" both Carrick and Functional Neurology as unscientific.
One of the first problems that I had with the article is that Sports Illustrated chose to use HARRIET HALL of Stephen Barrett's anti-chiropractic / anti-natural health, Quackwatch Site, as one of their so-called medical "ex-spurts". But really, when given an open mic, what did you expect these hand-picked, anti-chiropractic, medical mouthpieces to say? Were they about to admit the doctors in charge had utterly no idea what they were doing over the course of a half year of Crosby's treatment? Not on your life! Wouldn't it have been nice to see them admit the truth for once --- the fact that all they do is evaluate the concussed player, hoping that they improve quickly so they can take credit for returning them back to the ice? But bashing Dr. Carrick as some sort of "unscientific" pseudo-doctor who has somehow mesmerized Crosby, sells more magazines. SI's article should have contained at least a small portion that read a little something like this.....
"For the past eight months we tried everything that we knew to do, but Sid's symptoms did not change. Since there are no medications or surgeries to perform that can help Post-Concussion Syndrome, we continued to carefully analyze his symptoms, performing as many tests as humanly possible, while continuing to give zero amount of effective treatment. Needless to say, we spent countless hours educating Sid on his condition in an attempt to convince him not to seek out other treatment options that could prove to be either dangerous, or more effective than anything we have done for him so far. We warned Sid that according to our profession's most esteemed experts, his choice to go outside of the Penguin's organization for his healthcare was both unscientific and dangerous. Unfortunately, those efforts fell on deaf ears."
Sid personally recruited Dr. Carrick into the case, even though we made every attempt to stop him. We must admit that after starting treatment, and since working with Mr. (er, uh) "Doctor" Carrick, Sid has done remarkably well ----- making us all look like we have absolutely no idea what is going on ----- even though Carrick's treatment obviously had nothing to do with said improvement. Our current protocol for managing this difficult case involves constantly testing Sid, secretly trying to figure out why Dr. Carrick's treatment seems to be light years ahead of anything we have to offer, and trying to save face by saying anything and everything possible to discredit and undermine Dr. Carrick. The truth is, Dr Carrick is a quack, Functional Neurology is whitewashed voodoo, and he uses big words that he made up himself. Of course Sid's recovery was actually due to a coincidentally-timed placebo effect. I.E, he would have gotten better on his own eventually ---- at least that's the message we keep pumping out to other patients like Harry Carson, Dave Duerson, and Jr. Seau.
Would we ever consider referring a patient to a Chiropractic Neurologist in the future ---- even if there was ample research to validate what they are doing? Are you kidding me? We would rather die first!"
Believe me, sometimes you can figure out what is being said by reading carefully between the lines. It's amazing that even though Carrick's completely non-invasive treatment of Sidney Crosby obviously worked, half the article was spent telling readers why it shouldn't have. Wouldn't it have been nice to have seen this article presented with some more information about Carrick and the fact that his specialty is bringing people out of comas (WAKING UP THE BRAIN)?
However, you will not hear Carrick toot his own horn. Dr. Carrick DC, Ph.D, DACAN, DABCN, DACNB, FACCN, is a class act ---- an articulate, yet humble man, who happens to be the chiropractic profession's only "Neurological Fellow". I am not sure that there is another Neurologist on the planet who could keep up with him. The bottom line is results. It's almost embarrassing to listen to the whining from the people who could not get the job done with Crosby's health and career.
THE NEWS CONFERENCE WITH SID & DR. CARRICK
(Dr Carrick Begins Speaking at about the 7:40 Mark)
GUT HEALTH AND YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
Mariana Ruiz Villarreal
For years I had heard the statistic kicked around; "80% of your body's immune system can be found in the gut". Because I figured I really ought to know where this came from, I did a quick Google search and this is what I found. In 1999, a group of three Australian doctors from University of Melbourne's Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology published a scientific paper in the American Journal of Physiology called, The Intestine as a Sensory Organ: Neural, Endocrine, and Immune Responses.
In the Abstract, the authors revealed something that the scientific community (particularly the portion with a bent toward natural healing) has known for decades. "The gut immune system has 70– 80% of the body's immune cells". Stop! Did you catch that? Read it again and let the sheer magnitude of what they are saying sink in. Your "Gut" (intestinal tract) is where the vast majority of your Immune System lives! Poor digestive / gut health (HERE is one extremely common example) automatically means poor Immune System function. I showed you yesterday that is just the beginning (HERE). Poor Immune System function opens a Pandora's Box of health problems that can affect any and every part of the body. In other words, GUT HEALTH is everything!
It is not a coincidence that DYSBIOSIS is now being touted as the primary culprit in AUTOIMMUNITY (At least one in four Americans are afflicted with some sort of Autoimmune Disease). This doesn't even begin to touch on our national epidemics of FIBROMYALGIA, ADRENAL FATIGUE, THYROID ISSUES, ENDOCRINE PROBLEMS OF ALL SORTS, MIGRAINE HEADACHES, OBESITY, as well as a long list of others (HERE). Dysbiosis is also heavily related to LEAKY GUT SYNDROME (actually, it's the FLIP SIDE of the same coin).
"The enteric nervous system contains on the order of ten to the eighth neurons, the gastro-entero-pancreatic endocrine system uses more than 20 identified hormones, and the gut immune system has 70– 80% of the body's immune cells. When this response is maladjusted or is overwhelmed, the consequences can be severe or debilitating as in irritable bowel syndrome."
The two primary causes of America's dysbiotic nightmare? Easy. ANTIBIOTICS --- even SEEMINGLY SMALL AMOUNTS of antibiotics --- get the ball rolling by killing off your good bacteria (some vaccines have been accused of this as well --- HERE). Remember that these are the same bacteria that make up a huge portion of your Immune System. Too much SUGAR & JUNK CARBS keep the process moving by feeding the bad bacteria. What it their food of choice? Easy. In similar fashion to other health problems, SUGAR FEEDS INFECTION.
Again, the antibiotics kill your good bacteria, while SUGAR & REFINED CARBOHYDRATES feed the Dysbiotic organisms (bad bacteria, YEASTS, MOLDS, fungi, PARASITES, etc) that begin taking over your Gut. Sometimes, simply going on a PALEO or other LOW CARB DIET, and taking some HSO PROBIOTCS can be enough to pull a person back to health. Frequently, however, things are so fouled up that a person is going to have to go "ALL IN" in order to solve their crisis. Understand that when we start talking about some of the crazy and severe problems that are befuddling doctors today (MUPS, for instance), you might have to REALLY THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX in order to regain your health.
In the Abstract, the authors revealed something that the scientific community (particularly the portion with a bent toward natural healing) has known for decades. "The gut immune system has 70– 80% of the body's immune cells". Stop! Did you catch that? Read it again and let the sheer magnitude of what they are saying sink in. Your "Gut" (intestinal tract) is where the vast majority of your Immune System lives! Poor digestive / gut health (HERE is one extremely common example) automatically means poor Immune System function. I showed you yesterday that is just the beginning (HERE). Poor Immune System function opens a Pandora's Box of health problems that can affect any and every part of the body. In other words, GUT HEALTH is everything!
It is not a coincidence that DYSBIOSIS is now being touted as the primary culprit in AUTOIMMUNITY (At least one in four Americans are afflicted with some sort of Autoimmune Disease). This doesn't even begin to touch on our national epidemics of FIBROMYALGIA, ADRENAL FATIGUE, THYROID ISSUES, ENDOCRINE PROBLEMS OF ALL SORTS, MIGRAINE HEADACHES, OBESITY, as well as a long list of others (HERE). Dysbiosis is also heavily related to LEAKY GUT SYNDROME (actually, it's the FLIP SIDE of the same coin).
"The enteric nervous system contains on the order of ten to the eighth neurons, the gastro-entero-pancreatic endocrine system uses more than 20 identified hormones, and the gut immune system has 70– 80% of the body's immune cells. When this response is maladjusted or is overwhelmed, the consequences can be severe or debilitating as in irritable bowel syndrome."
The two primary causes of America's dysbiotic nightmare? Easy. ANTIBIOTICS --- even SEEMINGLY SMALL AMOUNTS of antibiotics --- get the ball rolling by killing off your good bacteria (some vaccines have been accused of this as well --- HERE). Remember that these are the same bacteria that make up a huge portion of your Immune System. Too much SUGAR & JUNK CARBS keep the process moving by feeding the bad bacteria. What it their food of choice? Easy. In similar fashion to other health problems, SUGAR FEEDS INFECTION.
Again, the antibiotics kill your good bacteria, while SUGAR & REFINED CARBOHYDRATES feed the Dysbiotic organisms (bad bacteria, YEASTS, MOLDS, fungi, PARASITES, etc) that begin taking over your Gut. Sometimes, simply going on a PALEO or other LOW CARB DIET, and taking some HSO PROBIOTCS can be enough to pull a person back to health. Frequently, however, things are so fouled up that a person is going to have to go "ALL IN" in order to solve their crisis. Understand that when we start talking about some of the crazy and severe problems that are befuddling doctors today (MUPS, for instance), you might have to REALLY THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX in order to regain your health.
PART II
GUT / IMMUNE SYSTEM
In my last blog article we learned a little something about Gut Function and its relationship to antibiotics and Dysbiosis. Whenever we hear people talking about "the gut", we think of beer guts, gut aches, getting punched in the gut, "gut" feelings, or that guy has guts! For our purposes though, the gut is your digestive tract, and chiefly your small intestine.
Is the gut important for anything other than digestion? Believe it or not, you have 10 times the number of bacteria living in your gut, as you have cells in your entire body. In fact, at least 25% of the dry weight of your stool is bacteria! Most bacteria that live in your gut (aka "flora") are not harmful, and actually perform numerous critical functions in your body. Some of these include things like....
As you can see, bacteria perform lots of tasks critical to the proper function of your body --- and this is just the very tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg.
Is the gut important for anything other than digestion? Believe it or not, you have 10 times the number of bacteria living in your gut, as you have cells in your entire body. In fact, at least 25% of the dry weight of your stool is bacteria! Most bacteria that live in your gut (aka "flora") are not harmful, and actually perform numerous critical functions in your body. Some of these include things like....
- THEY MANUFACTURE VITAMINS: They specifically make one of the B VITAMINS (Biotin) as well as Vitamin K.
- THEY PRODUCE ENERGY: Healthy flora have the capacity to extract energy from unused materials via process of fermentation. A little fermentation is a good thing. Very much fermentation, and you have a problem on your hands. This happens when too many bad bacteria overgrow your gut (DYSBIOSIS). It also happens to the body when CANCER attacks.
- THEY "TRAIN" THE IMMUNE SYSTEM: Research published in the Jan 2010 issue of Nature Medicine, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, suggests that good bacteria in the gut keep the immune system primed and ready for combat. Senior author Jeffrey N. Weiser, M.D. draws the analogy to how a cold engine versus one that is warmed up and idling would perform. If the immune system is already warmed up by "good bacteria", it can better cope with pathogenic invaders (the bad guys). By the way, ANTIBIOTICS are the biggest preventer of an "idling" immune system.
- THEY PREVENT OVERGROWTH OF PATHOGENIC ("BAD") BACTERIA: There are so called "bad" bacteria that live in harmony with the good bacteria. Keep in mind that we have to have a certain amount of these critters in our gut to maintain good health. The problems start when they get out of balance. This is called Dysbiosis and is frankly a huge problem here in America. Why? Our medical community as well as our farmers are killing off our good bacteria so fast, entire species are being wiped out ---- forever (SEE HERE).
- THEY PREVENT OVERGROWTH OF OTHER PATHOGENIC ("BAD") ORGANISMS: There are a host of critters out there that we do not want in here. Some of these include Yeasts (Candida is the biggie), Molds, Fungus, Parasites, Protozoa, etc. Good bacteria actually keep these in check. Women understand this better than anyone via vaginal yeast infections after using antibiotics. The real problem, however, is not vaginal yeast; it's SYSTEMIC YEAST. What do you think happens when yeast (or the toxic chemicals yeast produces) get into the blood stream? Can anyone say MIGRAINE HEADACHES, LEAKY GUT SYNDROME & FIBROMYALGIA?
- THEY CONVERT 20% OF YOUR BODY'S INACTIVE THYROID HORMONE (T4) TO THE ACTIVE FORM (T3): Hypothyroidism affects a minimum of 10% of America's population (some experts claim the number is double that). Dysbiosis is a huge contributing factor in our country's THYROID EPIDEMIC.
- THEY DEGRADE METHYL MERCURY --- THE MOST TOXIC FORM OF MERCURY: MERCURY is the single most toxic non-radioactive element on the planet. You want it converted into a form that can be excreted instead of stored in your fatty tissues. Good Bacteria do this!
As you can see, bacteria perform lots of tasks critical to the proper function of your body --- and this is just the very tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg.
Dr. Schierling completed four years of Kansas State University's five-year Nutrition / Exercise Physiology Program before deciding on a career in Chiropractic. He graduated from Logan Chiropractic College in 1991, and has run a busy clinic in Mountain View, Missouri ever since. He and his wife Amy have four children (three daughters and a son).
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