The free time that comes with retirement gives seniors ample opportunity to explore the globe. Seniors, in fact, make up a large proportion of the tourist market both domestically and internationally. But being a little older can make these travelers a bit more susceptible to certain travel-related health problems.
For a safe trip, heed these tips:
* Make sure your itinerary is not too demanding for you or your companions.
* Visit your doctor and dentist before an extended trip; schedule appointments enough in advance to take care of any health problems well before your departure date.
* When traveling to areas in which infectious diseases are a threat, consult your doctor several months in advance to assure time for immunizations. Many large university hospitals have travel clinics, which have the latest information on necessary immunizations, and precautions for travel to remote (and not so remote) areas. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control also maintains a web site with this information.
* If you are being treated for an ongoing medical condition, carry copies of your medical records.
* Carry a good supply of your prescription medications and keep them with you, not packed in your suitcase. Take along non-prescription pain relievers, such as aspirin or ibuprofen and over-the-counter antacids and antidiarrheal medications.
* Take along a spare pair of eyeglasses.
* When traveling to areas with poor sanitation or disease-control measures, avoid drinking unbottled water (including ice cubes and tap water for brushing your teeth). Also avoid raw and undercooked seafood as well as unpeeled fruits and vegetables. The food you eat should be fully cooked and served HOT.
* For additional protection against traveler's diarrhea, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using Pepto Bismol or an antidiarrheal. You can take these safely, several times daily with meals, for up to three weeks --EXCEPT if you are already taking salicylate products (for example, aspirin for arthritis). If diarrhea becomes severe, or contains traces of blood, seek medical attention immediately.
* When traveling in mosquito-infested regions, use insect repellent containing the compound DEET. Mosquitoes are responsible for spreading yellow fever, dengue fever, encephalitis, and malaria.
* Check your health insurance policy. If it doesn't cover you for treatment outside the U.S.A. -- including emergency evacuation by air ambulance to a major medical center -- consider purchasing travel health insurance (ask your travel agent).
* If you need medical care while abroad, go to the largest university hospital or consult the hotel concierge.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Chocolate reduces Bllod Pressure
Here's some good and bad news for chocoholics: Dark chocolate seems to lower blood pressure, but it requires an amount less than two Hershey's Kisses to do it, a small study suggests. The new research from Germany adds to mounting evidence linking dark chocolate with health benefits, but it's the first to suggest that just a tiny amount may suffice.
Volunteers for the study ate just over 6 grams of dark chocolate daily for almost five months - one square from a German chocolate bar called Ritter Sport, equal to about 1 1/2 Hershey's Kisses. People who ate that amount ended up with lower blood pressure readings than those who ate white chocolate.
University of Cologne researcher Dr. Dirk Taubert, the study's lead author, said the blood pressure reductions with dark chocolate were small but still substantial enough to potentially reduce cardiovascular disease risks, although study volunteers weren't followed long enough to measure that effect.
The research involved just 44 people aged 56 through 73, but the results echo other small studies of cocoa-containing foods. Cocoa contains flavanols, plant-based compounds that also are credited with giving red wine its heart-healthy benefits.
One problem is chocolate bars containing cocoa tend to have lots of calories, so Taubert and his colleagues tested small amounts containing just 30 calories each.
The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. It was funded by University Hospital in Cologne.
The results are interesting but need to be duplicated in larger, more ethnically diverse populations, said Dr. Laura Svetkey, director of Duke University's Hypertension Center.
She stressed that the study results should not be viewed as license to gorge on chocolate.
"I would be as happy as the next person if I got to eat more chocolate," she said, but cautioned that weight gain from eating large amounts of dark chocolate would counteract any benefits on blood pressure.
Study participants were otherwise healthy and mostly normal-weight German adults with mild high blood pressure or pre-hypertension, which includes readings between 120 over 80 and 139 over 89.
Average blood pressure at the start was about 147 over 86.
Every day for 18 weeks, the volunteers were instructed to eat one-square portions of a 16-square Ritter Sport bar, or a similar portion of white chocolate. White chocolate doesn't contain cocoa.
Systolic blood pressure, the top number, fell an average of nearly three points and diastolic dropped almost two points in the dark chocolate group, compared with no change in blood pressure readings in the white chocolate group.
Tests suggested that steady exposure to dark chocolate prompted chemical changes that helped dilate blood vessels and regulate blood pressure, the researchers said.
Participants were told not to eat other cocoa-containing products and to continue regular eating habits and activity levels. They also kept food diaries so researchers could see if other foods might have influenced the results.
But, said Taubert, "It is very unlikely that other factors may explain the blood pressure reduction".
Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said the most proven non-drug methods for lowering blood pressure are losing weight and eating less salt. Eating dark chocolate might help if combined with those two, he said.
For most people, "the lower your blood pressure, the better you are. So if you can get it lower from different strategies that's good for the long term".
Volunteers for the study ate just over 6 grams of dark chocolate daily for almost five months - one square from a German chocolate bar called Ritter Sport, equal to about 1 1/2 Hershey's Kisses. People who ate that amount ended up with lower blood pressure readings than those who ate white chocolate.
University of Cologne researcher Dr. Dirk Taubert, the study's lead author, said the blood pressure reductions with dark chocolate were small but still substantial enough to potentially reduce cardiovascular disease risks, although study volunteers weren't followed long enough to measure that effect.
The research involved just 44 people aged 56 through 73, but the results echo other small studies of cocoa-containing foods. Cocoa contains flavanols, plant-based compounds that also are credited with giving red wine its heart-healthy benefits.
One problem is chocolate bars containing cocoa tend to have lots of calories, so Taubert and his colleagues tested small amounts containing just 30 calories each.
The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. It was funded by University Hospital in Cologne.
The results are interesting but need to be duplicated in larger, more ethnically diverse populations, said Dr. Laura Svetkey, director of Duke University's Hypertension Center.
She stressed that the study results should not be viewed as license to gorge on chocolate.
"I would be as happy as the next person if I got to eat more chocolate," she said, but cautioned that weight gain from eating large amounts of dark chocolate would counteract any benefits on blood pressure.
Study participants were otherwise healthy and mostly normal-weight German adults with mild high blood pressure or pre-hypertension, which includes readings between 120 over 80 and 139 over 89.
Average blood pressure at the start was about 147 over 86.
Every day for 18 weeks, the volunteers were instructed to eat one-square portions of a 16-square Ritter Sport bar, or a similar portion of white chocolate. White chocolate doesn't contain cocoa.
Systolic blood pressure, the top number, fell an average of nearly three points and diastolic dropped almost two points in the dark chocolate group, compared with no change in blood pressure readings in the white chocolate group.
Tests suggested that steady exposure to dark chocolate prompted chemical changes that helped dilate blood vessels and regulate blood pressure, the researchers said.
Participants were told not to eat other cocoa-containing products and to continue regular eating habits and activity levels. They also kept food diaries so researchers could see if other foods might have influenced the results.
But, said Taubert, "It is very unlikely that other factors may explain the blood pressure reduction".
Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said the most proven non-drug methods for lowering blood pressure are losing weight and eating less salt. Eating dark chocolate might help if combined with those two, he said.
For most people, "the lower your blood pressure, the better you are. So if you can get it lower from different strategies that's good for the long term".
Health Care for Women
Women have been synonymous with multi tasking-juggling careers, motherhood, and household chores. This hectic lifestyle forces, health issues to take a back seat. To ensure a healthy lifestyle, it is imperative that women acquire health related literacy. Research has shown that 90% women are not concerned about their health due to lack of health care literacy, which has it’s consequences for the entire family.
Obesity in women is responsible for triggering off, a series of other health related problems. Most women would feel more positive about themselves if they could maintain an ideal body weight. Obesity however, can become a catalyst for heart disease , high blood pressure, diabetes , arthritis, back pain, some cancers, and infertility .Specific diet plans are popular but difficult to follow instead adopting healthy habits can go a long way in achieving physical and mental fitness.
Breast and ovarian Cancer : Women have been susceptible to these cancers which can turn fatal, unless detected at an early stage. Routine mammography and any changes in the breast should be evaluated by a physician. It has been proven that women over 40 years of age and in younger women with a family history of breast cancer have improved the survival rate of breast cancer patients by 2% per year over the last ten years.
Unfortunately, ovarian cancer remains more difficult to detect at the early and most curable stages. The symptoms of ovarian cancer are fairly nonspecific and often go undiagnosed. Change in urine production, bowl movements, gas production, indigestion, or weight in addition to pelvic pain, painful intercourse, or feeling of fullness should be discussed with a physician and an exam should be scheduled.
Women HealthMenopause is part of the normal life cycle of women. The average age for women to reach menopause is about 51 years. Many women welcome this new phase which life brings- liberty from pregnancy and child-raising responsibilities. However, it is important for women to seek medical advice in case menopause occurs on account of poor health or other reasons. Also post-menopausal women are at a greater risk (as much as double the risk of younger women or men) of heart attacks, cholesterol levels , which increase more rapidly in women over 50 from diet or other factors including smoking, increase the risk of heart disease.
Information and awareness can empower women to enjoy better health and lifestyle. Research and advances are continually being made in women's disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Women’s health and fitness requires constant attention. So why wait…Start your journey, to attain a healthy lifestyle-NOW!!
Obesity in women is responsible for triggering off, a series of other health related problems. Most women would feel more positive about themselves if they could maintain an ideal body weight. Obesity however, can become a catalyst for heart disease , high blood pressure, diabetes , arthritis, back pain, some cancers, and infertility .Specific diet plans are popular but difficult to follow instead adopting healthy habits can go a long way in achieving physical and mental fitness.
Breast and ovarian Cancer : Women have been susceptible to these cancers which can turn fatal, unless detected at an early stage. Routine mammography and any changes in the breast should be evaluated by a physician. It has been proven that women over 40 years of age and in younger women with a family history of breast cancer have improved the survival rate of breast cancer patients by 2% per year over the last ten years.
Unfortunately, ovarian cancer remains more difficult to detect at the early and most curable stages. The symptoms of ovarian cancer are fairly nonspecific and often go undiagnosed. Change in urine production, bowl movements, gas production, indigestion, or weight in addition to pelvic pain, painful intercourse, or feeling of fullness should be discussed with a physician and an exam should be scheduled.
Women HealthMenopause is part of the normal life cycle of women. The average age for women to reach menopause is about 51 years. Many women welcome this new phase which life brings- liberty from pregnancy and child-raising responsibilities. However, it is important for women to seek medical advice in case menopause occurs on account of poor health or other reasons. Also post-menopausal women are at a greater risk (as much as double the risk of younger women or men) of heart attacks, cholesterol levels , which increase more rapidly in women over 50 from diet or other factors including smoking, increase the risk of heart disease.
Information and awareness can empower women to enjoy better health and lifestyle. Research and advances are continually being made in women's disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Women’s health and fitness requires constant attention. So why wait…Start your journey, to attain a healthy lifestyle-NOW!!
Eyestrain and your computer screen: Tips for getting relief
Although not associated with long-term consequences, eyestrain resulting from computer use can be bothersome and uncomfortable — and may cut your work short. Minimize computer-related eyestrain by following these tips.
Your eyes hurt. Your head aches. And there you sit, peering at your computer monitor. If you're one of the many people who use computers every day — either for work or personal use — you may experience eyestrain as a result.
Eyestrain: Signs and symptoms
Common signs and symptoms include:
* Sore, tired, burning or itching eyes
* Watery eyes
* Dry eyes
* Blurred or double vision
* Headache and sore neck
* Difficulty shifting focus between monitor and paper documents in your work area
* Color fringes or afterimages when you look away from the monitor
* Increased sensitivity to light
Eyestrain associated with computer use isn't thought to have serious or long-term consequences, but it's disruptive and unpleasant. Though you may not be able to change the nature of your job or all the factors that can cause eyestrain, you can take steps to reduce the strain.
New habits can help relieve eyestrain
A few simple adjustments in how you work or surf the Internet can give your eyes a much-needed rest.
Follow these simple tips to reduce eyestrain:
* Take eye breaks. Throughout the day, give your eyes a break by forcing them to focus on something other than on your screen. Try the following exercise: Hold a finger a few inches in front of your face; focus on the finger as you slowly move it away; focus on something far in the distance and then back to the finger; slowly bring the finger back toward your face. Next, shift your focus to something farther than eight feet away and hold your eyes there for a few seconds. Repeat this exercise three times, several times a day.
* Change the pace. Try to stand up and move around at least once every hour or so. If possible, lean back and close your eyes for a few moments. At the very least, try to give yourself a five-minute rest every hour. Do other work, such as phone calls or filing, during this time.
* Blink often to refresh your eyes. Because many people blink less than normal when working at a computer, dry eyes can result from prolonged computer use. Blinking produces tears that can help moisten and lubricate your eyes. Make a conscious effort to blink more often.
Your eyes hurt. Your head aches. And there you sit, peering at your computer monitor. If you're one of the many people who use computers every day — either for work or personal use — you may experience eyestrain as a result.
Eyestrain: Signs and symptoms
Common signs and symptoms include:
* Sore, tired, burning or itching eyes
* Watery eyes
* Dry eyes
* Blurred or double vision
* Headache and sore neck
* Difficulty shifting focus between monitor and paper documents in your work area
* Color fringes or afterimages when you look away from the monitor
* Increased sensitivity to light
Eyestrain associated with computer use isn't thought to have serious or long-term consequences, but it's disruptive and unpleasant. Though you may not be able to change the nature of your job or all the factors that can cause eyestrain, you can take steps to reduce the strain.
New habits can help relieve eyestrain
A few simple adjustments in how you work or surf the Internet can give your eyes a much-needed rest.
Follow these simple tips to reduce eyestrain:
* Take eye breaks. Throughout the day, give your eyes a break by forcing them to focus on something other than on your screen. Try the following exercise: Hold a finger a few inches in front of your face; focus on the finger as you slowly move it away; focus on something far in the distance and then back to the finger; slowly bring the finger back toward your face. Next, shift your focus to something farther than eight feet away and hold your eyes there for a few seconds. Repeat this exercise three times, several times a day.
* Change the pace. Try to stand up and move around at least once every hour or so. If possible, lean back and close your eyes for a few moments. At the very least, try to give yourself a five-minute rest every hour. Do other work, such as phone calls or filing, during this time.
* Blink often to refresh your eyes. Because many people blink less than normal when working at a computer, dry eyes can result from prolonged computer use. Blinking produces tears that can help moisten and lubricate your eyes. Make a conscious effort to blink more often.
Monday, July 2, 2007
What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is the process by which feelings, issues, problems, stresses, symptoms, disorders, etc. are discussed openly, addressed and resolved appropriately. What form this process takes, whether or not it is successful and how it turns out depends a lot, in my opinion, on the dynamic between the therapist and client or clients, the willingness of the client to be an active partner in the helping and healing process and do his/her/their part towards working on and resolving issues (even if his/her/their part is just being open and honest in discussion and in giving and receiving feedback). I believe that the therapist and client are equally responsible for working out issues and problems. My role is to help you gain insight and awareness as well as to facilitate your healing and problem solving so that you can assume more control in your life with the issues that present themselves and in general. This is not to say that you are to blame for the problems that have occurred in your life, but for true healing, you need to assume responsibility for working on the problems and resolving them appropriately. Psychotherapy can assist in this process.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
ABCs of Nutrition
THE ABC'S OF NUTRITION
VITAMIN A: fat soluble for vision, gene expression, reproduction, immune function, embryonic developement, human growth.
VITAMIN B1: thiamine...converts carbohydrates and aminos to energy..helps heart,
muscles, and nervous system to operate
VITAMIN B2: riboflavin..human growth and reproduction, red blood cells, energy from carbs
VITAMIN B3: niacin...digestion, skin and nerves, cholesterol reduction
VITAMIN B5: pantothenic acid..fatty acid metabolism, synthesis of hormones and cholesterol
VITAMIN B6: pyridoxine..metabolism of amino acids and glycogen , antibodies in the immune system
VITAMIN B9: folic acid...synthesis of protein , DNA production, tissue growth, cell function
VITAMIN B12: cell metabolism, red blood cell production, central nervous system
BIOTIN: muscle mass
CHOLINE: improved memory and magnesium stores
VITAMIN C: in vivo production of collagen, or your body's infrastructure
VITAMIN E:tocotrionols...potent antioxidant, heart, circulation, cancer prevention , etc
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS or E.F.A.'s the omega oils..should be a mix of 4 parts omega 3 to 1 part omega 1 to 1 part conjugated linoleic acid..essential to tissue repair
MINERALS the correct balance of bio-identical bioavailable salts..essential for growth and hormone balance
VITAMIN A: fat soluble for vision, gene expression, reproduction, immune function, embryonic developement, human growth.
VITAMIN B1: thiamine...converts carbohydrates and aminos to energy..helps heart,
muscles, and nervous system to operate
VITAMIN B2: riboflavin..human growth and reproduction, red blood cells, energy from carbs
VITAMIN B3: niacin...digestion, skin and nerves, cholesterol reduction
VITAMIN B5: pantothenic acid..fatty acid metabolism, synthesis of hormones and cholesterol
VITAMIN B6: pyridoxine..metabolism of amino acids and glycogen , antibodies in the immune system
VITAMIN B9: folic acid...synthesis of protein , DNA production, tissue growth, cell function
VITAMIN B12: cell metabolism, red blood cell production, central nervous system
BIOTIN: muscle mass
CHOLINE: improved memory and magnesium stores
VITAMIN C: in vivo production of collagen, or your body's infrastructure
VITAMIN E:tocotrionols...potent antioxidant, heart, circulation, cancer prevention , etc
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS or E.F.A.'s the omega oils..should be a mix of 4 parts omega 3 to 1 part omega 1 to 1 part conjugated linoleic acid..essential to tissue repair
MINERALS the correct balance of bio-identical bioavailable salts..essential for growth and hormone balance
17 steps to better health
1. Do not eat sugar or high-sugar containing foods.
High sugar in your diet will stimulate micro-organisms in the gut and in your intestinal tract. It will overstimulate the growth potential for fungal and yeast infections. Diets that are high in sugar are feeding the bad remnants in our system. And when you feed the bad, those bad organisms give off toxic metabolites. Then your body has to deal with it and handle it. Therefore, it taxes and compromises your immune system.
Therefore, in this category, the foods we should all be avoiding include carbonated drinks, cookies, biscuits, dried fruits, and any food that has added sugars to it. We strongly recommend that you use Stevia as a natural sweetener.
2. Do not consume caffeine
Having a cup of coffee or two occasionally is not a major problem. It's when folks have 5-6 or 8-9 cups of coffee a day that they are asking for trouble.
The main reason is with adrenals...with caffeine, you are abnormally sitmulating the adrenals. You are driving the adrenals to increase output and you are causing your adrenals to work harder than they are already working. And for the average American, who doesn't sleep well, doesn't eat real well, and doesn't get enough exercise, your adrenals don't need more stress loaded on them. Caffeine is absolutely going to be an antagonist to your adrenal system.
3. Reduce or eliminate cow milk and cow milk products
Dairy products are problematic because the pasteurization and homogenization process is changing the molecular structure. There are a lot of implications to cardio vascular health and not because of the fat content alone. But because of how the molecular structure of the proteins has been changed.
Another reason is that dairy products are very allergy inducing. And you don't have to have a full-blown allergy to a dairy based product. Dairy products, cow dairy in particular, is fifth on the list of foods most antagonistic to the system. So, what that really is saying to me is it has a great potential to compromise your immune system. If you potentially have an immune response, and you are drinking 4-5 glasses of milk, or you are consuming ice cream on a regular basis, you are antagonizing your immune system.
4. Reduce starch intake
Starches are simple carbohydrates. That would include white flours, processed refined baked goods, cookies, and very heavy simple white starchy foods.
Not included here are the complex carbohydrates, the type of carbohydrates found in fruits and so on.
Focus on reducing the amount of starch. Why? Because a simple starch is very quickly converted to sugar. Why do you need to reduce your sugar intake? Because it compromises your immune system. A study showed that if you give an individual a sugar bolus, the equivalent of 2 donuts, it compromises your system for the next four hours, it reduces your lymphocyte production, your immune system production, by 30%. 30% is a staggering overwhelming number!
5. Increase intake of vegetables
When you increase your intake of vegetables, especially when you eat all the colors, the green, the red, the yellow, what you are doing is increasing the nutrient intake. The level of vitamins and minerals that are bio-available to you are increased. Therefore you've got an inherent health promoting benefit right there by increasing the quality of the nutrients that you are taking in.
Second, you are adding soluble fiber that actually aides in the movement of pathogenic (that means, disease inducing) types of bacteria and fungus from your intestinal track.
6. Increase intake of dietary fiber
Dietary fiber helps to remove a lot of the toxic remnants, harmful bacteria. Especially when the dietary fiber comes from vegetables, and especially those coming from the cruciferous family. What happens is you will increase the excretion of excess hormone type metabolites in your gut that you may be receiving from foods (low level hormones in foods, etc). By increasing the amount of dietary fiber, the number of bowel movements will increase and the efficacy of your bowel movements also increases. The more toxic remnants that you can remove from the intestinal track, the more you lower the overall load on your system.
7. Eat small amounts every 1 1/2 to 2 hours
In other words, grazing. Have vegetables, fruits and nuts at your disposal so that you can consume them over a regular period of time. If you have intestinal health problems and you go for long periods of time with nothing in your stomach, you are allowing the gastric acid secretions to work on the lining of the stomach. By eating small amounts, you are not over taxing your digestive processes.
You lower the load in digestive difficulties by eating smaller, more frequent, health promoting types of foods.
8. Reduce intake of cured or canned foods
Nitrates and cured foods are difficult on your intestinal track. They have been proven to be carcinogenic. We're not saying that these foods do not taste good. They do. But the fact of the matter is, they are carcinogenic.
9. Eliminate alcohol and tobacco
Alcohol irritates the lining of the stomach. Tobacco robs your system of oxygen - the ability of your red blood cells to carry oxygen. That results in a reduction of muscular function efficiency in feeding your extremities. Add to that high blood pressure, heart disease, inducement of arterier cardiovascular types of diseases.
Alcohol, and particularly wine and hard alcohol, contains a lot of sugar. And we've already talked about sugar. Beer contains a lot of yeast. And if you have a fungal or yeast problem and you drink beer, you are making the problem worse.
10. Increase water intake
Water is critical. Water will improve your detoxication pathways. It will help to carry nutrients more efficiently to your cells. It has the ability to act almost as an energizer.
Water also helps hunger. A study was done on how your body recognizes it's sensation to hunger. When you do not have adequate hydration, the glucose and the nutrients do not get to the brain efficiently. The brain is a highly energy dependent organ in the body and when it senses that it is not receiving adequate nutrients, it will put out the signal for more food. Drinking more water does not help you lose weight because it fills you up, it helps because it makes sure that what you are consuming is carried to where it needs to go. Therefore, even though indirectly, it helps to curb your appetite because of the brain response.
Purified water is nature's natural cleanser.
11. At a minimum, take a good bio-available Multi-vitamin and CoQ-10
A good mult-vitamin is necessary because you need the B Complexes, you need the energy transport, it aids in cellular efficiency in elimination of toxins, and it improves the viabillity of the cellular structures. The B's are also very important to your liver. The lipotropic agents, such as mathiameine and cystine (which are amino acids), will aid and encourage and stimulate liver detoxification. Magnesium is important to detox pathways and to liver function. A good multi-vitamin along with maybe some of the good oils that we often talk about, flax oil or Triple EFA, are very important to health enhancement.
CoQ-10 improves cellular oxygenation and cellular function.
12. Add the minerals not present in the Multi-Vitamin
Selenium, especially, is one of these. Selenium, amazingly, is a helpful for reducing the potential for cancer risk. Bio-available selenomethameine has been shown to raise glutothione. When you raise glutothione, you raise your overall immune properties. Remember, though, if you take a good bio-available multi-vitamin, you don't need to do anything specific in this area.
13. Make sure you are eating enough fish or taking essential fatty acids
Essential fats are absolutely key to mobilization, utilization and reducing inflammatory states. Especially the fish oils because of the omega 3 content.
Transfatty acids and/or foods that are rich in omega 6 or omega 9 actually feed the wrong pathway. They are actually pro-inflammatory. They encourage inflammation. We want to reduce inflammatory states.
14. Take a ProBiotics with at least 3 billion live cultures in the right proportions
and form
At least 80% of the people we work with have some need of reinhancement in this area. The need comes from our eating habits, our antibiotic exposure. There's something about cleaning up the gut, and restoring and reinocculating with the right types. The bifidol bacterium, the lacto basilio ascidophilus, the brevium, the prenarium. These are all key, very key. A good healthy gut should have at least 2 kilo of bacteria floral remnants because they aid your digestion, they aid in your immune function. Your stomache has everything to do with your immune system.
Having a good healthy gut does not guarantee that you will never get sick, but it does put your body in the base position to be as healthy from an immune standpoint as you possibly can.
15. When necessary, take a supplement of natural digestive aids
If you are not digesting well, you are not receiving all the nutrients and you are opening yourself up for the potential for allergen induction over a long period of time. Undigested food remnants in your intestinal track, the potential for developing food allergies at some point in time increases many times over.
16. When necessary, add an immunemodulator in a natural remedy to your diet
An immunemodulator is anything from something as simple as echinacea and goldenseal to cholesterum extracts all the way up preps. that we use with our patients. Depending on where you are, an immunemodulator could definitely be a part of the program for you.
17. When necessary, take an antifungal medication or a natural yeast and fungal controlling remedy
If you have a tremendous amount of yeast or fungal overgrowth, it will produce a toxic metabolites that will compromise your immune system.
To actually gain the support of a traditional medical practicioner, you will need to do a stool culture or a toxic metabolite screen and prove you have overgrowth. If you don't want to do that, you can do a lot of good natural intestinal cleansers such as Pau Diarko or Cat's Claw. We offer our product, Bowel Support.
In many cases, it's not always about cleaning up and reinocculating with good, but modulating the immune system or supporting it are just as important as cleaning up. A strong host environment is when you have a good solid immune function and you are not being compromised, you should not be nearly as suseptible to fungus, yeast and bacterial overgrowth.
You want to cleanup and reduce the amount of stress and when you have done that successfully, you then need to stimulate the innate God-given abilities that your immune system has so that you do not become a hospitable host. You don't want these things setting up camp.
In Summary:
As Tiger Woods says, "When I make a mistake, I learn how to recover." When we are looking at our health, that key word, "recovery" is a key point. We know we've made mistakes. We know we used to smoke. We used to drink. We used to do other things that drove us to the point where we are today.
Improving your health is a process. Do not be discouraged. If you enhance yourself by following these 17 steps, you should see a major change in the way you feel, the way your body is processing, bowel function, mental clarity, etc.
It is a process. It needs to be a change in the way of life. And just because of the way life is, you are not going to do this 100% of the time, all the time. No. Because we don't live in a bubble. We don't live in a plastic world. That's reality. But, we have seen where people have made the commitment to make the dietary changes along with the correct targeted nutrient supplementation and they have seen astounding results. It comes down to a matter of discipline and commitment. You need to ask God to help you, to give you the strength and the wisdom to turn away from the foods that are bad for you.
The dietary changes are the foundation to these steps helping you.
High sugar in your diet will stimulate micro-organisms in the gut and in your intestinal tract. It will overstimulate the growth potential for fungal and yeast infections. Diets that are high in sugar are feeding the bad remnants in our system. And when you feed the bad, those bad organisms give off toxic metabolites. Then your body has to deal with it and handle it. Therefore, it taxes and compromises your immune system.
Therefore, in this category, the foods we should all be avoiding include carbonated drinks, cookies, biscuits, dried fruits, and any food that has added sugars to it. We strongly recommend that you use Stevia as a natural sweetener.
2. Do not consume caffeine
Having a cup of coffee or two occasionally is not a major problem. It's when folks have 5-6 or 8-9 cups of coffee a day that they are asking for trouble.
The main reason is with adrenals...with caffeine, you are abnormally sitmulating the adrenals. You are driving the adrenals to increase output and you are causing your adrenals to work harder than they are already working. And for the average American, who doesn't sleep well, doesn't eat real well, and doesn't get enough exercise, your adrenals don't need more stress loaded on them. Caffeine is absolutely going to be an antagonist to your adrenal system.
3. Reduce or eliminate cow milk and cow milk products
Dairy products are problematic because the pasteurization and homogenization process is changing the molecular structure. There are a lot of implications to cardio vascular health and not because of the fat content alone. But because of how the molecular structure of the proteins has been changed.
Another reason is that dairy products are very allergy inducing. And you don't have to have a full-blown allergy to a dairy based product. Dairy products, cow dairy in particular, is fifth on the list of foods most antagonistic to the system. So, what that really is saying to me is it has a great potential to compromise your immune system. If you potentially have an immune response, and you are drinking 4-5 glasses of milk, or you are consuming ice cream on a regular basis, you are antagonizing your immune system.
4. Reduce starch intake
Starches are simple carbohydrates. That would include white flours, processed refined baked goods, cookies, and very heavy simple white starchy foods.
Not included here are the complex carbohydrates, the type of carbohydrates found in fruits and so on.
Focus on reducing the amount of starch. Why? Because a simple starch is very quickly converted to sugar. Why do you need to reduce your sugar intake? Because it compromises your immune system. A study showed that if you give an individual a sugar bolus, the equivalent of 2 donuts, it compromises your system for the next four hours, it reduces your lymphocyte production, your immune system production, by 30%. 30% is a staggering overwhelming number!
5. Increase intake of vegetables
When you increase your intake of vegetables, especially when you eat all the colors, the green, the red, the yellow, what you are doing is increasing the nutrient intake. The level of vitamins and minerals that are bio-available to you are increased. Therefore you've got an inherent health promoting benefit right there by increasing the quality of the nutrients that you are taking in.
Second, you are adding soluble fiber that actually aides in the movement of pathogenic (that means, disease inducing) types of bacteria and fungus from your intestinal track.
6. Increase intake of dietary fiber
Dietary fiber helps to remove a lot of the toxic remnants, harmful bacteria. Especially when the dietary fiber comes from vegetables, and especially those coming from the cruciferous family. What happens is you will increase the excretion of excess hormone type metabolites in your gut that you may be receiving from foods (low level hormones in foods, etc). By increasing the amount of dietary fiber, the number of bowel movements will increase and the efficacy of your bowel movements also increases. The more toxic remnants that you can remove from the intestinal track, the more you lower the overall load on your system.
7. Eat small amounts every 1 1/2 to 2 hours
In other words, grazing. Have vegetables, fruits and nuts at your disposal so that you can consume them over a regular period of time. If you have intestinal health problems and you go for long periods of time with nothing in your stomach, you are allowing the gastric acid secretions to work on the lining of the stomach. By eating small amounts, you are not over taxing your digestive processes.
You lower the load in digestive difficulties by eating smaller, more frequent, health promoting types of foods.
8. Reduce intake of cured or canned foods
Nitrates and cured foods are difficult on your intestinal track. They have been proven to be carcinogenic. We're not saying that these foods do not taste good. They do. But the fact of the matter is, they are carcinogenic.
9. Eliminate alcohol and tobacco
Alcohol irritates the lining of the stomach. Tobacco robs your system of oxygen - the ability of your red blood cells to carry oxygen. That results in a reduction of muscular function efficiency in feeding your extremities. Add to that high blood pressure, heart disease, inducement of arterier cardiovascular types of diseases.
Alcohol, and particularly wine and hard alcohol, contains a lot of sugar. And we've already talked about sugar. Beer contains a lot of yeast. And if you have a fungal or yeast problem and you drink beer, you are making the problem worse.
10. Increase water intake
Water is critical. Water will improve your detoxication pathways. It will help to carry nutrients more efficiently to your cells. It has the ability to act almost as an energizer.
Water also helps hunger. A study was done on how your body recognizes it's sensation to hunger. When you do not have adequate hydration, the glucose and the nutrients do not get to the brain efficiently. The brain is a highly energy dependent organ in the body and when it senses that it is not receiving adequate nutrients, it will put out the signal for more food. Drinking more water does not help you lose weight because it fills you up, it helps because it makes sure that what you are consuming is carried to where it needs to go. Therefore, even though indirectly, it helps to curb your appetite because of the brain response.
Purified water is nature's natural cleanser.
11. At a minimum, take a good bio-available Multi-vitamin and CoQ-10
A good mult-vitamin is necessary because you need the B Complexes, you need the energy transport, it aids in cellular efficiency in elimination of toxins, and it improves the viabillity of the cellular structures. The B's are also very important to your liver. The lipotropic agents, such as mathiameine and cystine (which are amino acids), will aid and encourage and stimulate liver detoxification. Magnesium is important to detox pathways and to liver function. A good multi-vitamin along with maybe some of the good oils that we often talk about, flax oil or Triple EFA, are very important to health enhancement.
CoQ-10 improves cellular oxygenation and cellular function.
12. Add the minerals not present in the Multi-Vitamin
Selenium, especially, is one of these. Selenium, amazingly, is a helpful for reducing the potential for cancer risk. Bio-available selenomethameine has been shown to raise glutothione. When you raise glutothione, you raise your overall immune properties. Remember, though, if you take a good bio-available multi-vitamin, you don't need to do anything specific in this area.
13. Make sure you are eating enough fish or taking essential fatty acids
Essential fats are absolutely key to mobilization, utilization and reducing inflammatory states. Especially the fish oils because of the omega 3 content.
Transfatty acids and/or foods that are rich in omega 6 or omega 9 actually feed the wrong pathway. They are actually pro-inflammatory. They encourage inflammation. We want to reduce inflammatory states.
14. Take a ProBiotics with at least 3 billion live cultures in the right proportions
and form
At least 80% of the people we work with have some need of reinhancement in this area. The need comes from our eating habits, our antibiotic exposure. There's something about cleaning up the gut, and restoring and reinocculating with the right types. The bifidol bacterium, the lacto basilio ascidophilus, the brevium, the prenarium. These are all key, very key. A good healthy gut should have at least 2 kilo of bacteria floral remnants because they aid your digestion, they aid in your immune function. Your stomache has everything to do with your immune system.
Having a good healthy gut does not guarantee that you will never get sick, but it does put your body in the base position to be as healthy from an immune standpoint as you possibly can.
15. When necessary, take a supplement of natural digestive aids
If you are not digesting well, you are not receiving all the nutrients and you are opening yourself up for the potential for allergen induction over a long period of time. Undigested food remnants in your intestinal track, the potential for developing food allergies at some point in time increases many times over.
16. When necessary, add an immunemodulator in a natural remedy to your diet
An immunemodulator is anything from something as simple as echinacea and goldenseal to cholesterum extracts all the way up preps. that we use with our patients. Depending on where you are, an immunemodulator could definitely be a part of the program for you.
17. When necessary, take an antifungal medication or a natural yeast and fungal controlling remedy
If you have a tremendous amount of yeast or fungal overgrowth, it will produce a toxic metabolites that will compromise your immune system.
To actually gain the support of a traditional medical practicioner, you will need to do a stool culture or a toxic metabolite screen and prove you have overgrowth. If you don't want to do that, you can do a lot of good natural intestinal cleansers such as Pau Diarko or Cat's Claw. We offer our product, Bowel Support.
In many cases, it's not always about cleaning up and reinocculating with good, but modulating the immune system or supporting it are just as important as cleaning up. A strong host environment is when you have a good solid immune function and you are not being compromised, you should not be nearly as suseptible to fungus, yeast and bacterial overgrowth.
You want to cleanup and reduce the amount of stress and when you have done that successfully, you then need to stimulate the innate God-given abilities that your immune system has so that you do not become a hospitable host. You don't want these things setting up camp.
In Summary:
As Tiger Woods says, "When I make a mistake, I learn how to recover." When we are looking at our health, that key word, "recovery" is a key point. We know we've made mistakes. We know we used to smoke. We used to drink. We used to do other things that drove us to the point where we are today.
Improving your health is a process. Do not be discouraged. If you enhance yourself by following these 17 steps, you should see a major change in the way you feel, the way your body is processing, bowel function, mental clarity, etc.
It is a process. It needs to be a change in the way of life. And just because of the way life is, you are not going to do this 100% of the time, all the time. No. Because we don't live in a bubble. We don't live in a plastic world. That's reality. But, we have seen where people have made the commitment to make the dietary changes along with the correct targeted nutrient supplementation and they have seen astounding results. It comes down to a matter of discipline and commitment. You need to ask God to help you, to give you the strength and the wisdom to turn away from the foods that are bad for you.
The dietary changes are the foundation to these steps helping you.
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