Pre-Interview Prep

• Research your potential employer
  Research corporate culture, values, financial stability and potential growth. It will also help to understand the interview process.
• Have references ready
  Have a minimum of three names with their titles, company, dates you worked for them, email and phone number ready. Learn how to get the most out of your references HERE.
• Plan your route and attire
  Know how long it will take you to get to your interview and plan to arrive 10 minutes early. Clarify where you will need to meet your potential employer. A few days beforehand, be sure to check that your professional attire is clean, neat and pressed if needed.
• Rehearse your answers
  Look into common interview questions and have your answers ready. View a few HERE with sample answers.
• More ideas

• Tailor your resume to each position
  While tedious, this step is important to not only get through resume sorting bots, but to prove why you are the best candidate to hiring managers. Whether in your cover letter or previous job descriptions, plainly point out how you will fit into the role.
• Read the directions
  For example, know if you should be submitting a CV or resume, cover letter, or references.
• Include simple contact information
  To avoid confusion, only provide your name, one phone number, and a professional email address. If you do not have a personal or professional email, it may be worth starting a free one with a company such as Gmail for use during your search.
• Address keywords
  Pay attention to keywords used in the job description and address in your resume how you meet those qualifications.
• Be specific about your work
  This is particularly important in the medical field. From grant applications, ER service, and even non-healthcare work showing your dedication to customers or clients, every duty counts.
• Keep it concise
  Yes, you want to be detailed, but don't repeat what you don't have to. (For example, you can lump similar positions together.) Keep your resume to one page ideally.

Article written by Olivia Thomason

Olivia Thomason comes from a long line of doctors, so her parents were a little disappointed when she told them she wanted to be a writer. Still, growing up around medical books and discussions about her parents' most interesting patients instilled in her a love for all things medical science. Thankfully, she's discovered blogging as a way to marry her two great loves of writing and medical science together. These days, she blogs about the latest developments in medical technology, and she hopes someday to have enough experience to become a full-time columnist on a broadsheet newspaper.

Chelation Therapy and EDTA have been proven to be effective in removing plaque from the arteries and removing heavy toxic metals from the body (1). The studies are there yet the current medical establishment refuses to acknowledge this amazing therapy, let alone embrace it. If you are a doctor you probably have a good idea as to why.  The current medical system here in the USA is primarily based on “pain management” and a “band-aid” approach rather than eliminating the main problem. This means that for acute and chronic conditions, medication and or surgery are the main options for treating people.

This approach is not only wrong, it’s not working. Here in America we spend the most money on healthcare and yet we have the worst health of all rich countries (2).

There are two main reasons for this:

1.      Insurance companies dictate treatment
2.      Medical Doctors are limited with their current scope of practice

If you’re a medical doctor, you most likely know the problems with the insurance model. (3) You know which drugs and which procedures are covered by insurance companies.  You also know what the “Medical Standard of Care” is for your licensure, largely prescribing pharmaceuticals and surgery. Recommending diet, supplements and detoxification therapies such at Chelation Therapy & EDTA are non-billable treatments and frowned upon in most cases, unless you are a Naturopathic Doctor (ND).

Today because of the internet and social media, the general public have access to more information and personal stories. There has been a movement gaining momentum over the past 5-10 years where people are demanding, trying, wanting more complementary and integrative medicine options. We see the demands of the people and even new research starting to impact what insurance companies are willing to cover. Take for example the VA, they have included acupuncture therapy to help Veterans manage their pain (4).

This trend is growing. People are willing and paying out of pocket for treatments they want (5).  With heart disease being the leading cause of death and cancer right behind it, people want solutions. Many Doctors are also ready for a change and are pushing for new guidelines. Nitin Damle, M.D., a former president of the American College of Physicians said in an article that he’s “hopeful that the new guidelines will move the needle forward, so there is a shift from pharmacologic to nonpharmacologic treatment.” (6)

So how can you as a doctor, be part of a shift to change the current medical paradigm to one that works for you and your patients? Education, educate yourselves and your patients on the benefits of nutrition, detox and exercise. (7) There is enough evidence-based research that backs these benefits, including Chelation Therapy.  The benefits from Chelation Therapy are massive from preventing heart disease and other life-threatening conditions such as cancer and strokes. (8) Get trained and certified in Chelation Therapy so you become an expert and minimizes your risks.

American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) offers a certificate program ideal for MD, DO, ND, DDS, PA, NP, and DC’s. This ensures proper training, which means more protection (https://www.acam.org/page/CCTCertification). To help promote its members, ACAM features them on the website so that people in your area interested in Chelation Therapy can find you ACAM.org/MemberMap.

Arizona offers another medical licensed to MD’s and DO’s who practice homeopathic and integrative therapies. The Arizona Board of Homeopathic and Integrated Medicine Examiners regulates physicians practicing homeopathic/integrated medicine in the state of AZ. The license provided by the board is independent of licensure provided from allopathic or osteopathic boards. Many MD’s and DO’s practicing integrative medicine in the USA, obtain the second licensure as a back-up. (https://homeopath.az.gov/about)

Arizona Homeopathic and Integrative Medical Association (AHIMA) supports this board and provides many resources for MD’s and DO’s its members and others who are interested in becoming licensed. For more information on this please listen to this interview with Lisa Platt, the Executive Director of AHIMA. (9) (https://arizonahomeopathic.org)

Reference:
1) https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/heart-health/the-therapy-nobody-wants-you-to-know-about-found-to-successfully-treat-heart-disease/

2) https://fortune.com/2017/05/24/us-health-care-spending/

3) https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-not-insurance-companies-should-take-medical-decisions-650872

4) https://www.research.va.gov/topics/pain.cfm

5) https://www.consumerreports.org/health-insurance/does-insurance-cover-acupuncture-nondrug-therapies/

6) https://www.consumerreports.org/health-insurance/does-insurance-cover-acupuncture-nondrug-therapies/

7) https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/heart-health/what-causes-strokes-and-6-ways-to-prevent-them/

8) https://youtu.be/T4Y8uYkPG7k

9) https://youtu.be/e7NO7SsqK0w

https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/2017-07-13/5-ways-insurance-companies-meddle-in-your-health-care

https://www.cardiorenew.com/history.php

https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-not-insurance-companies-should-take-medical-decisions-650872

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/chelation-therapy

Let’s start with a brief explanation of what Chelation Therapy does and how.

Chelation Therapy does two things:

1)     Remove heavy metals from the body

2)     Remove calcification/plaque in the arteries, capillaries and veins

When EDTA (Ethylendiamine Tetraacetic Acid) is injected into the blood, it binds to heavy metals and minerals in the body such as lead. Next, these poisonous materials are released through the kidneys then urine. In addition, calcium deposits (the part of plaque that obstructs the flow of blood to the heart), is also released.

So why should individuals know about Chelation Therapy?

Most people have heard about the devastating health effects of heavy metals toxicity. The list of heavy metals is long, along with the myriad illnesses they can cause. Chronic exposure can result in damaged body organs and may increase the risk of cancer. This begs the question: Could the vast exposure to heavy metals be one reason so many Americans are being diagnosed with cancer? I would say, ABSOLUTELY! Cancer is right behind heart disease, as one of the leading causes of death.

A commonly asked question is: “Where does heavy metal toxicity come from?” Heavy metal exposure can come from the very water that we drink! Just look what is happening to people affected by the water supply in Flint, Michigan. Other heavy metals are found in our food, medication and the environment. They are present in the air, dust, soil and many manmade products. Unfortunately, heavy metals can be easily absorbed by our skin and just by simply breathing and eating. 

Some common symptoms of heavy metal poisoning: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Exposures can cause heart abnormalities, anemia, behavior changes and brain dysfunction such as memory loss.

There’s currently a lot of controversy around the theory that aluminum metal is a leading cause of Alzheimer’s disease. When you see how many products contain aluminum and the massive number of people effected by Alzheimer’s, it really should make you wonder.  

Even if Chelation Therapy only helped the body detoxify from heavy metals and reduced the amount of cancer cases, don’t you think that would be enough of a reason to do it?

The fact is, Chelation Therapy does much more. In addition to helping rid the body of heavy metal pollution, which many experts believe is a cardiovascular risk, it also helps the body remove build-up in the cardiovascular (circulatory) system. The heart and blood vessels consist of arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules and veins. Studies have shown EDTA has reduced atherosclerotic plaque and other mineral deposits throughout the cardiovascular system, especially the hardened arteries around the heart.

There is no question, Chelation is the answer to reducing Heart Disease, the number one cause of death in America today. EDTA Chelation not only treats heart disease, it can also prevent heart attacks and strokes. Listen to this mans testimony. He had a heart attack and stent put in, and was on a lot of medications. He didn’t like how he felt so he stopped taking the medications he was on and started Chelation Therapy. Since his Chelation treatments, he has had no more symptoms or difficulties since.

Stroke and cerebrovascular diseases are the fifth cause of death in America. They can develop from a variety of causes, including atherosclerosis where the arteries become narrow. This can cause blood clot in an artery of the brain.

If you are reading this article and looking at the links I have included, you’re probably saying to yourself… “if Chelation Therapy really does so much good for one’s health, why haven’t I heard of it?”

The sad reality is that America’s present medical system heavily profits from treating health problems rather than preventing them. Though Chelation Therapy has been used for many years, it has been largely suppressed due to the current medical profit model. It has only been in the last few years that it has received public acknowledgement for studies such as TACT. Yet, Chelation still isn’t covered by insurance nor offered by most MD’s (Doctor of Medicine) or DO’s (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine).

But there’s some good news: There are doctors trained in Chelation Therapy who are providing it to their patients with great success. Typically they are Naturopathic Doctors or MD, MD(H) who have a second license to practice holistic medicine. For more information on where to find a doctor in your area who is certified in Chelation Therapy, please visit  ACAM.org/MemberMap.

I encourage you to educate yourself on this amazing therapy. Education is key, as is prevention. Along with Chelation, some other great therapies that help your body detox include regular infrared sauna’s, colon hydrotherapy and eating organic fresh produce. We live in a toxic world and detoxifying our bodies is absolutely essential in order to live healthy and happy lives.

References:
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/6577/heavy-metal-poisoning

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php

https://www.nrdc.org/flint

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/09/29/could-exposure-to-aluminum-cause-alzheimers-disease/#45fbaee84a3b

https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/2018-epi-report/heavy-metals

https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/heart-health/the-therapy-nobody-wants-you-to-know-about-found-to-successfully-treat-heart-disease/

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/uoc-ewo082818.php

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/heart-and-blood-vessel-disorders/biology-of-the-heart-and-blood-vessels/biology-of-the-blood-vessels

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/saunas-and-your-health

The good news is that there are many different things you can do to treat systemic inflammation, from changing your diet and taking medication to making certain herbs a part of your daily routine. In fact, cannabis has shown in studies to be effective in helping people manage chronic inflammation, so it may be worth researching when you’re ready to look for treatments.

Here are a few tips on how to manage chronic inflammation and pain.

Learn More About Medicinal Marijuana

Cannabis has shown in studies to be beneficial for many people who are suffering from various types of pain. However, marijuana comes in many forms, so it’s important to learn and understand the differences between them before you talk to your doctor. Read up on the key words and phrases surrounding marijuana for medical use so you’ll feel confident in starting a conversation with your doctor about it. Also, make sure you know about potential side effects as well.

Change Your Diet

Many people who experience chronic pain from issues such as a slipped disc in their spine have found that changing their diet is extremely helpful in managing the pain. Adding things like olive oil, dark leafy greens, nuts and berries, and fish while reducing refined sugars and red meat can have big effects on inflammation. Not only that, but it can also help you lose a little weight as well, which in itself can help you manage inflammation. Talk to your doctor about how you can change your diet for the better, and look for ways you can make substitutions for things.

Reduce Stress

Some doctors believe that chronic inflammation might be caused by stress, so if you’re suffering from pain, now is a great time to make some changes to your lifestyle that will help you relax. You might create a bedtime routine that will help you unwind after a long day so you can get quality sleep, or talk to your boss about making some alterations to your workload so you can take a break now and then. Think about the stressors in your life and how you can be proactive in reducing or removing them. That might include asking for help with things like running the household or understanding your limits so you can rest instead of overworking yourself.

Get Moving

If your job requires you to sit at a desk all day, consider investing in a standing workstation on wheels so you can move around. Studies have shown that just 20 minutes of activity per day can work wonders for pain, inflammation, blood pressure, and the immune system. It can even help individuals who are living with type 2 diabetes. So, talk to your doctor about the right workout for you, or start with something low-impact, such as yoga, swimming, or walking.

Managing chronic pain and inflammation can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. By taking care of your body and listening to your needs, you can create a plan for reducing pain and swelling that will carry you through for years to come.


About the author: Holli Richardson is a holistic health enthusiast who has experienced the benefits of the practice. She writes to share, inform, guide and introduce people to holistic health practices that can improve our lives.

Add whatever liquid you prefer; skim milk, almond or other milk (I add water) and whisk thoroughly

2 or 3 large peeled and minced chilies

2 or 3 inch square of cooked salmon, crushed with fork

Add chilies and salmon and stir well

Pour ingredients into a frying pan heated with a tablespoon or so of grapeseed oil

Sprinkle with preferred cheese, cheddar is really good with this dish

Cook over low to medium heat until the edges have congealed and omelet has cooked through.

Carefully loosen one side and gently flip over to make omelet.

Finish cooking to degree of preference: soft, medium or well cooked!

Sprinkle with pepper and turmeric and decorate with a sprig of fresh basil.

Enjoy!

My grandmother made an omelet envied by all. She also made the best scrambled eggs. Her secret? Leave the eggs alone while they’re cooking. She would say, “People keep stirring them while they’re cooking and ruin them!” 

Ristras are red chilies hung from twine, which serve a dual purpose: to keep a ready supply nearby that one can simply pick off the rope and also to offer a bright visual that is a work of art. They are strung across the face of the farm stand in different sizes, casting a welcoming banner. Inside the “stand,” which is really a full sized building, there is bin after bin of fresh produce, from corn, squash, peaches, pumpkins, okra, green beans, cucumbers and jalapenos to melons, varieties of apples and of course a whole wall of chili options from the mildest to the extra hot, in either bushel or standard burlap bag size. If you have the freezer space and want your chili to last all winter, most folks grab the large burlap bag, throw it into the cart, pay for it with cash or a check, (no credit card accepted), and take it outside to the roasting area to await their turn. Today the line is long and the customers take this opportunity to catch up with each other on the local news.

These farm stands are all over New Mexico during the chili harvest season, well known throughout the world as simply the best chili there is. Even next door in Arizona, the taste cannot be compared to the crop that is harvested in the Land of Enchantment. Fortunately today, those who live far away need not be deprived as many varieties can be bought on the internet. However, the experience of getting your chili freshly roasted is truly a treat. The aroma will stay in the vehicle for several days and it smells just wonderful. Once home, the chili must cool down so the sack is opened and allowed to cool to room temperature. Some like to peel their chilies before freezing, which makes it easier when you want to use them later. Others freeze it with the skins on as the chilies are easily peeled as they are defrosting at a later time. I use both quart and gallon bags to allow for a more appropriate amount for any given dish. A gallon bag would definitely go into a large green chili stew; several from a small bag would go into a batch of scrambled eggs.

One of my favorite breakfasts is a salmon and green chili omelet. My favorite chili is the Sandia hot variety, which has a nice warming effect on the tummy without an actual burning sensation. If I have a grilled salmon steak for dinner, I put some aside to put in an omelet later. Along with two or three chilies and some melted cheese on top, it is a wonderful meal to start off the day.

Buen Provecho!

In 2002 Prof Steve Hickey declared with Dr Hilary Roberts in their book "Ridiculous Dietary Allowance" that...CardioRetinometry represents a new and quantifiable method for derivation of vitamin C requirements. The following papers reveal the evidence for the need of an urgent and total revision of vitamin C needs now exposing the origins of a vast variety of fatal diseases associated with different degrees of deficiency and never suspected of holding the key to almost all non-violent premature deaths.

• CardioRetinometry® Reveals Rarely Absent, Focal Scurvy, Pathognomonic of Unrecognised Ubiquitous Fatal Occult Scurvy, Unexpected Heart Attack, Thrombosis, and Stroke Deaths
  Journal of Cardiology & Current Research  J Cardiol Curr Res 8(1): 00272. DOI: 25th January  2017
  
  
• CardioRetinometry® Solves the Riddle of the Retinal Arteriolar Reflex: A Review of Experience witha Contact Lens Wearing Population, with Life Extending Possibilities 
  Adv Ophthalmol Vis Syst 6(3): 00179. DOI: 10.15406/aovs.2017.06.00179 24th February 2017
  
  
• Not So Dry Eye’ (NSDE) Focal Occult Scurvy, Pathognomonic of Coronary Disease, Retinal Atherosclerosis and Neural Atrophy Cardiology Current Research (8) 3: 00282. DOI: 10.15406/jccr.2017.08.00282  28^th February 2017
  
  
• CardioRetinometry Exposes Pharmaco-Medical Secrets, and the UK ́s NHS as a Murderous, Money Making Parasite Infesting UK and World Health.  Journal of Cardiology & Current Research 8(4): 00292. DOI: 10.15406/jccr.2017.08.00292– 017, Pp1-10,  Published: March 31, 2017 ISSN: 2377-4290  31st March 2017.
  

The recent SUN paper produced in Spain shows over 50% of cardiovascular deaths to be so linked.

Published less than a month ago, Nutrients 2017, 9(9), 954; doi:10.3390/nu9090954  Article "Vitamin C Intake is Inversely Associated with Cardiovascular Mortality in a Cohort of Spanish Graduates:" The SUN Project [Nerea Martín-Calvo^, Miguel Ángel Martínez-González] proves over 50 Direct correlation reduction of heart events with small supplements of vitamin C in 13,421 participants in their 40s.

This wealth of data supports Sydney Bush´s finding that over more than a decade in his contact lens clinic, dispensing 200 gram pots of sodium ascorbate powder, that there were no deaths at all from CHD and the only myocardial infarcts and deaths were amongst those who rejected the advice to supplement with it.

 The evidence for reduction of CHD by ascorbate is now overwhelming and the new science iof CardioRetinometry enables its precise derivation of individual biological need by direct quantification effects on the retinal vasculature.

 If vitamin C had been killing people like Vioxx, the debate would have long been over. It is now appropriate for me to inform everyone of the original statements made in the Hull University thesis on  CardioRetinometry that was published by Paul Francis BSc.

 He talks of a paradigm shift in medicine that is fully supported by the thesis of Dr. Sam Wallace DO, that I sent you yesterday that will be published in an `open access´ journal before the end of the month. I think you will agree that the language of both researchers leads to the conclusion that we are indeed observing a paradigm shift in health  care. It is worth mentioning, before I quote his words from his thesis, that Francis himself was astonished at the degree of atherogenesis caused by his stress with the task of researching CardioRetinometry, and the happy outcome when, under direction, he accepted the nutritional supplementation that he was able to record showing the recovery of his own arteries"

The quoted section below is precisely as he wrote it and members should now be in  no doubt whatever that with this supporting evidence, they are obliged to take note and offer the new prevention which represents the greatest advance in medicine as they suggest since Helmhotlz enabled fundus inspection and removes guesswork from treatment by observation of precisely measurable cardiovascular pathology.

"Accurate measurement of vessel structures in retinal images plays an important role in diagnosing cardiovascular diseases. (CVD). This paper presents a method for the direct quantification of vessel geometry and texture in retinal images associated with increased oral intake of vitamin C.

Using models of vessel intensity profile presented and applied across a series of time lapse images, results are presented for their variation.  The developed methods were used to analyse retinal vessel variation across images taken over a 6 month period of a healthy white male taking oral supplementation of vitamin C.

This study found that direct quantification of variation across images was achieved using the models of vessel intensity profile, and that variation across images was affected by machine accuracy, image capture and vessel segmentation techniques.More accurate quantification of the changes witnessed requires the enhancement of existing instrumentation and diagnostic techniques to facilitate the increase in accuracy in the measurement of arterial deposits via retinal image analysis.

A limitation however may be the natural resolution of the human eye which deteriorates with age. Automated analysis of sequential images is envisaged with the evolution of the system to produce graphed predictions of life expectancy corresponding with degrees of regression of atherosclerosis achieved coupled with rates of change, quantification, possibly using ocular coherence tomography in absolute terms of the volume of plaque removed, with brief periods of reversion to the earlier diet and supplementation (or the lack of it ) in order to assess rate of regression.

These elements factored in from data gathered during the phase of retolysis are expected with suitable refinement to produce three graphs

 (1)The previously expected ‘normal’ life expectancy at each age.

(2) A graph superimposed on the first, showing the actual gain of CV life expectancy achieved by arrestation of atherogenesis.

(3) A graph above the others predicting total life expectancy factoring in the rate of regression which is anticipated to increase with age.

METHOD. Sequential fundus imaging ideally not less than biannually; Manual scanning by rapid alternation of images that would otherwise superimpose, allowing quick judgment of increase or decrease of retinal and atherosclerosis, retinal and papillary perfusion changes, curvilinear, blood - flow and lumen changes.

RESULTS: Informal study of images captured in 1998 were noted in 1999 to have started showing consistent atherolysis claimed by patients to have resulted from either extra vitamin C, dietary or lifestyle improvements. A hundred claimed in writing that they attributed the improvements to one or the other, a high proportion insisting that their sodium L - ascorbate or vitamin C tablets had effected the transformations.

CONCLUSION: After 150 years,a new system of healthcare has been revealed which may finally bring to mankind the full benefits of Helmholtz’ 1851 invention of the ophthalmoscope.

A multitude of nutritional and medical challenges to the retinal vasculature might now be evaluated for improving health, e.g.individual assessment the ideal duration of treatment with statins, Because of the dramatic effects seen and the removal of guesswork from the controversial correlation of blood fats and cholesterol to actual atherogenesis, urgent evaluation of this discovery is recommended for the establishment of better healthcare and real cardiovascular life extension in what might be the first paradigm shift in medicine since Pasteur"

The next course for the Diploma in  CardioRetinometry starts in October. To learn more contact Professor Sydney J. Bush at info@instituteofcardioretinometry.ac or visit www.LifeExtensionOptometry.com.  

4 large cucumbers

½ cup chopped parsley

1/3 cup fresh dill

2 tablespoons dried tarragon

1 avocado (optional)

6 scallions, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 cup vegetable broth

1/8 cup virgin olive oil

1/8 cup lemon juice

1 cup Greek yogurt

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Preparations:

1). Peel, split lengthwise and remove seeds. Then chop into small pieces.

2). Chop the parsley, garlic cloves, dill and scallions.

3) Add to blender: olive oil, lemon juice, and broth. Then add the cucumbers, parsley, garlic, dill and scallions. Then add the Greek yogurt and the avocado. ( Save a bit of dill for top dressing)

4) Blend well on medium speed until veges are pureed, then run on high until mixture is well blended and creamy.

5) Chill either overnight or make it first thing in the morning so it has a good 8 hours or so of chilling time before dinner.

6) Decorate each bowl with a few slices of cucumber, topped by a handful of small chopped purple onion and a sprinkling of extra dill.

7) Voila! Your fresh garden soup is ready. Don’t be afraid to experiment with proportions. Some people like more Greek yogurt, some less like me! Don’t expect to taste the avocado as it gets lost in this recipe, but it contributes to creaminess and nutrition!

Bon appetite!

Disconnect Day
A day for undisturbed creative production or rest and recovery
A day when my grand intentions will not be squandered in the vortex of reacting to the solicitations of other people’s agendas

I will declare a Disconnect Day to avoid the siren call of the Matrix
I will have a day unencumbered by the demands of the digital world
I will be free for 24 hours - DarrenHardy.com

His words are worth thinking about. How would you go about setting aside such a day? I haven’t found it to be easy, but I have found it to be a very worthwhile goal. It definitely helps to plan ahead. First, how are you going to spend this precious, unencumbered time? Face to face time with family and friends are most likely number one on the list, but a little alone time never hurts. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to paint? To play an instrument? To take your dog on a full day’s hike to that picture of the quiet lake in your brain?  What about the opportunity to take on that project around the house you’ve been putting off? Mine is painting the patio furniture. Don’t forget about some pampering like a massage or bath in essential oils. Any time spent outside the digital grid is good and nourishing to the soul. I believe that this sacred time helps to shore up our defenses against the inevitable stress of daily life. Life will always be throwing curveballs at us and yesterday was a good example. My automatic gate did not close all the way and despite the small gap, all three of my dogs squeezed through and decided to go on an adventure. Thankfully, they hadn’t wandered very far and were busy sniffing bushes, but I hate to think how that would have played out had I not been home. So, grab a bowl of fresh, delicious cucumber soup and get started on your digital checkout day. You’ll be glad you did.

The day of the dinner for my parents in law, I had everything assembled and was ready for the task. I started the preparation and then I came to whipping the egg whites. I whipped and I whipped and I whipped again, but the glossy peaks never formed. Not having any idea what was wrong, I put the batch aside and began with a fresh bunch of eggs. That didn’t work either and I started fretting about the cause because dinner was right around the corner. Believe it or not, I gave up after a dozen eggs had been vigorously whirled without forming stiff peaks. I was forced to ditch the beautiful result in my mind and accept reality. OK, so what can we have for dinner for your lovely parents without them knowing my distraught state? I can’t even remember what we ended up having for dinner because my mind was nestled in that failure.

Fast forward to the game of life where things still don’t always go as planned. Much later I realized the problem had been the egg whites. They don’t like to be whipped when they are cold. Many recipes fail to provide the advice to set the eggs out so they can go to room temperature. What a difference that makes! Take the eggs out hours ahead if you can. One hour will not be long enough. Then you will get that beautiful result in which the glossy peaks form. Souffles are a spectacular dish to be cherished and eaten quickly.

A couple more tips. Your soufflé dish will not be tall enough so put a collar of foil around the sides so that it can rise up as high as it can. While cooking, place it in another pan with water to have a water bath; it needs the moisture. Another thing is that you can make a soufflé out of just about anything, from cheese, to chocolate to fruits. It can be a main course with a salad or a dessert.

Since it is summer and peach season, my recipe calls for fresh peaches. The  better quality peach, the better the results.

I wish all of you a wonderful summer: drinking slushies under a summer sun, strolling on a boardwalk along the coast, lying in a field of clover and watching the moon just for the fun of it; waterskiing on the lake; relaxing in a hammock reading another great book; barbecues with family and friends; and my favorite, seeing my vegetables blossom into an edible, luscious crop!

                                                Georgia Peach Souffle

http://www.marthastewart.com/354141/georgia-peach-souffle by Chef Virgina Willis. I used this recipe as a base, but substituted some of the ingredients.

Ingredients: 

3 tablespoons unsalted Earth Balance buttery spread, olive oil

3 large fresh peaches

Juice of one lemon

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

7 large egg whites, at room temperature

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

¾ organic coconut palm sugar (replaces sugar in 1:1 ratio)

Confectioner’s sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Generously butter six 8 ounce ramekins or a one quart soufflé dish. Set aside in a small pan filled with water.

In a food processor, add the peeled and chopped peaches, the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt and puree until very smooth.

In a heavy duty mixer, use the whisk attachment to beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt on medium speed for several minutes until foamy. Add one tablespoon of sugar and beat on high speed until the whites hold soft peaks, one to two minutes. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on high speed until the whites are glossy and hold stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted.

Add about a quarter of the beaten egg whites to the peach puree and gently fold it in until well mixed. . Pour this mixture over the remaining egg whites and fold them together as gently as possible.

Spoon the mixture into the dish(es) and surround the dish(es) with a piece of foil that extends the height of the dish. Set it in a dish of water and put in the oven.

The directions said 8 to 10 minutes but that was not nearly enough cooking time. I kept cooking in five minute increments until the top was golden brown and the top of the soufflé was above the top of the dish. I cooked mine about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with the confectioner’s sugar and serve immediately.

Bon appetite!

First, it is important to address the issue of medication nonadherence, sometimes called noncompliance. It is due to a psychiatric phenomenon called “anosognosia” whereby an afflicted person lacks the insight to realize that they have serious mental disorder. Due to this process, it is common for people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to stop taking their medication. While the act itself of stopping the medication is willful, the insight to make a logical decision is absent; therefore, there is no blame assigned to these disordered individuals. They simply don’t see the need for it and often blame their resistance on side effects. While side effects are certainly a valid issue, we prescribers use every available strategy to minimize such events. Stopping the medication results in a decompensation into psychosis, characterized by hallucinations, delusions or mental disorganization, such that the afflicted person often becomes a danger to self or others in the community.

I am clearly a proponent of this new federal program simply because I have witnessed the desperation of family members far too often. Family members often are in fear for their lives in the middle of the night and commonly have to put away all sharp and potentially dangerous objects in the household. They struggle to help their loved one as best as they can, locking up medication and administering it, volunteering to be a court appointed treatment guardian and learning all they can about the illness from organizations like NAMI (National Association for the Mentally Ill.) However they can’t do this alone and need as much community support as they can get from prescribers, therapists, community support workers and psychosocial rehabilitation staff. They also need the court system and I can verify that patients often listen more closely to judges than their doctors.

 I have served as an expert witness in many competency hearings for both adults and children and when I was teaching, I would regularly take my students to the courtroom to observe the proceedings. I have personally witnessed patients with schizophrenia on an inpatient unit mumble to themselves in the morning, responding to the voices in their heads, and several hours later, answer questions appropriately by a judge. The patient is represented by an attorney usually with a degree of expertise in the mental health field and the physician/provider is there to represent the state. While most physicians/providers put forth a logical and convincing argument for treatment, the judge is paying close attention to the behavior of the defendant. If he or she is able to convince the judge that they are of sound mind and judgment, he or she will be discharged and free to discontinue their medication without further monitoring. Down the road, the cycle begins again when the person decompensates and is either hospitalized or incarcerated.  Sometimes they are deemed competent because they are responding well to the current treatment; sometimes they are able to put forth their own convincing argument because they have learned what buzz words to use in front of the judge. 

I have recently experienced this phenomenon myself. After having worked very hard to persuade three of my schizophrenic patients to take the long acting antipsychotic injectable medication that eliminates oral medications, all three decided to discontinue after having shown noticeable improvements in mood, behavior and functioning. Since there is no AOT program in this community, the family and I stood helplessly by and watched the inevitable process of decompensation begin. This is a tragic and unnecessary cycle that should be stopped.

While opponents to this program cite violation of civil liberties, statistics have shown that due to the effectiveness of AOT, the capacity of the mentally ill to exercise civil liberties is restored and there is a reduction of incarceration, hospitalization, suicide, homelessness and victimization. (www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/component/content/article/1336).

If you are facing this devastating challenge in your own family, find out if AOT has been instituted in your state. If not, write to your representatives and ask why not. The internet address above is a great source of information on the topic. Inform yourself, then get involved and make your voice heard. No one can speak to this issue as well as a family member. 

I like to promote products that I think will be useful to my readership and one that I have tried for the past year has proven to be tried and true. It is the VERSA 8-in-1 Multi-Cooker and it is a combination pressure cooker and slow cooker. It also allows you to saute, brown, simmer and steam. It comes with a recipe book that his handy. I absolutely love this cooker which comes in different sizes.

My typical preparation on Sunday is to combine two whole grains of my choice, adding in different vegetables and often legumes. You can prepare a delicious meal in minutes with the pressure cooker feature which includes a button for brown rice, white rice, yogurt and risotto.

So here’s an idea of a dish you could prepare in advance and then vary it by combining different greens:

Place 3 to 4 tablespoons of grapeseed oil in bottom of liner and push saute button, then start button. You have 30 minutes of saute time while chopping and adding your vegetables and grains.

Add ½ cup chopped carrots

Add ½ cup chopped celery

Add one medium chopped onion

Add a cup of chopped mushrooms

Add ½ cup chopped bell peppers

Add 1/8 tsp ground cardamom

1/8 tsp fennel seed

1/8 tsp whole cumin seed

1/8 tsp celery seed

½ tsp tumeric

Saute all vegetables until translucent, then stir in:

 1 cup brown rice and 1 cup of millet for approximately 5 minutes

Add in 5 cups of vegetable broth( 3 for rice, 1 each for veges and millet)

Then hit stop button. Secure pressure cooker lid and follow safety directions. Hit the “brown rice” button, then hit Start. The timer will not start counting until the proper pressure has been reached. Cook time is quick, 20 minutes. Once the pressure has been released and the lid opened, do not be alarmed if you still see water. It will absorb if you keep the lid closed for another 10 minutes or so. You need to experiment a bit with the amount of water to add. If I am adding in a cup of beans, I will add in one cup of water for the beans.

You can put some chopped kale or other green on top of the grain dish and it will steam by the time you sit down to eat. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. The grain dish can be used for breakfast with an egg on top or tofu crumble. Experiment with other healthy grains like quinoa and lentils. This Sunday preparation has been a life saver throughout the following busy week. But the time Thursday arrives, I am a bit tired of it and ready to think about the next dish!! Next on my slow cooker agenda is homemade chicken soup- good all year round!! Bon Appetit!

My job is to keep them out of the hospital, at least in terms of their mental health.  But who is to say that the 35 year old young woman who was hospitalized with serious suicidal ideation wasn’t deficient in iron, vitamin B6 or vitamin C or D? Since we do not normally test for vitamin deficiencies, we may not discover the underlying culprit for those life threatening thoughts. Iron deficiency can result in poor concentration and lack of energy, symptoms that are complained about frequently in mental health. B6 deficiency can also lead to depression and anxiety, causing decreased amounts of serotonin, the feel good hormone, dopamine, and melatonin. Decreased melatonin can produce all types of sleep disorders from trouble falling asleep, to middle insomnia, to early morning awakening. Of all the complaints I hear every day from patients, the number one complaint is inability to cope with stress. Aside from the psychologic component that reflects inadequate coping skills, there is a physiologic basis for this as well. Vitamin C is stored in the adrenal glands and how often have we heard that term “adrenal exhaustion?” Some blame poor adrenal response on consuming too much coffee, but vitamin C deficiency would be a better guess. Vitamin C is crucial in producing many important hormones and neurotransmitters in the body and when norepinephrine, thyroxin and dopamine are depleted, it takes its toll on a person’s ability to fight daily stress.

Our lifestyle today is largely unhealthy. Picture this: after a poor night’s sleep and awakening in an irritable mood, a person fights the stress of congested traffic to arrive at work to put in 8 hours or more under fluorescent lights in an artificial environment with too much noise, not enough time to eat, relax, and oftentimes even use the restroom. The pace of the work world does not wait for those who can’t keep up with its demands and these demands can become overwhelming. When the usual coping mechanisms no long seem to work, a host of unhealthy responses can set in, from shutting down and falling into a serious depression in which a person struggles to even get out of bed to becoming irate and flying into a rage that puts others at potential risk. Another response is to consume excessive alcohol or any of the many illicit substances that are so easy to come by today but which wreak complete havoc on a person’s life.

I recently listened to Dr. Tieraona Low Dog’s webinar on “Silent epidemic: the Hidden Dangers of Nutrient Deficiencies” sponsored by Emerson Ecologics. By the end of the presentation, I was in tears confronting the possibility that in my efforts to help patients by prescribing potent medications, I could have actually worsened their condition. The medications we utilize in mental health are like all prescription medications, they are extremely potent. Dr. Low Dog talked about the effect of the anticonvulsant drugs depleting vitamin B12 and folate. The anticonvulsants are one of two classes of drugs that we use as mood stabilizers. Along with the SSRIs and SNRIs, there are many medications that contribute to osteoporosis. The only thing that made me feel a little better is the fact that for as long as I can remember, I have recommended a multi vitamin/mineral supplement for ALL my patients and over the years, vitamin D3, fish oils and melatonin are also on the list. For those who feel that they can’t cope, a high stress vitamin B complex with 100% of the recommended amount of each B vitamin, is suggested. I am happy to say most follow through and I like to think that overall, my patients get better.

Dr. Low Dog also addressed the true origins of our deficiency syndromes, the lack of soil quality in which our food is grown along with the extensive use of pesticides today. I would add that another factor is well meaning but incorrect dietary advice from the medical community, pushing us to eat egg whites and throw out the perfect yolk, containing all nutrients to sustain life except vitamin C. Poor dietary habits along with small daily exposure to those nasty “endocrine disrupters” have most likely contributed to a burgeoning number of children with attention deficit disorder. Instead of examining the true cause, we throw more potent medications at these children and although I am licensed to do just that, I have my serious reservations about it. I have lived long enough to know that when I was growing up, there was no such thing as ADHD. Why has the inability to concentrate in so many children reached epidemic proportions today? I think we need to take a closer look at the physiologic origins of the problem.

With the deleterious consequences of poor nutrition in mind, it is inspiring to come across an agricultural business that is “safe for people, plants and pets!” I get a lot of catalogues and one that definitely caught my attention is “Spray-N-Grow,” a trio of organic plant foods developed by a chemist and father, Bill Muskopf, from Rockport, TX. There are three different products that when combined in a spray delivers the “Perfect Blend.” Rather than targeting the root system, these nutrients are sprayed right on the leaves where they make their way down the stems to the roots. The catalogue states that “foliar feeding is up to 10X more efficient than root feeding.” The first product is the fertilizer in “a perfect ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.” Next comes the second product, the Spray-N-Grow Micronutrients that are “like vitamins for your plants” and contain calcium, zinc, copper, iron, sodium, magnesium and other compounds. The third part of the trio is the Coco-Wet, which is a nonionic wetting agent that assists the other products to stick better to the leaves for better absorption and is made from all natural coconut oil. I think I have discovered my new approach to developing a beautiful, nutritious garden and look forward to trying out these unique products this summer. There are other products as well for natural pest control and animal repellents. Order a catalogue by phone: 800-323-2363 or go online to spray-n-grow.com.

If you haven’t done it thus far, get started on your vitamin supplements and a good quality multi is a good place to start. The information out there is overwhelming and can be confusing, so seek out a trusted professional to guide you through the process. 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup quinoa

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of sea salt

¼ cup organic maple syrup plus tablespoon

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation time: 20 minutes active; 1hour 45 minutes until ready

1). Combine 2 cups water in a medium saucepan with rhubarb, strawberries, quinoa, cinnamon and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook until the quinoa is tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the maple syrup and lemon zest. Whisk cornstarch with the remaining ¼ cup water in a small bowl. Stir into quinoa mixture, return to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly for one minute.

2) Remove from heat. Divide the pudding among 6 bowls and refrigerate until cool, about one hour.

3) Just before serving, combine yogurt, vanilla and the remaining 1 tablespoon maple syrup in a small bowl. Top each serving with a generous dollop of vanilla yogurt and fresh strawberries, if desired.

Nutrition information: calories per serving: 151; serving size: about 2/3 cup; nutrition bonus: 33% daily value of vitamin C.

Credit: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250696/strawberry-rhubarb-quinoa-pudding/

It's a rare success in a field suffused with more hope than facts — in which advocates clamor to have marijuana and compounds taken from the herb legalized for free use, while government rules limit use and researchers struggle to prove what works and what doesn't.

In this study, the researchers enrolled kids with Dravet syndrome, a very rare and often deadly form of epilepsy caused by a genetic mutation. These kids have multiple, prolonged seizures that cause brain damage.

There's no treatment.

"It's hard to portray how serious and devastating this is," Dr. Orrin Devinsky, director of the New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, told NBC News.

Devinsky and colleagues around the country tested a cannabis derivative called cannabidiol — CBD for short — on 120 Dravet syndrome patients.

Half took it for 14 weeks and half got a placebo.

"Seizure frequency dropped in the cannabidiol-treated group by 39 percent from nearly 12 convulsive seizures per month before the study to about six; three patients' seizures stopped entirely," the team wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"In the placebo group, there was a 13 percent reduction in seizures from about 15 monthly seizures to 14," they added.

"Quite remarkably, 5 percent of the children in the active treatment group with CBD were completely seizure free during the 14 weeks of the trial," Devinsky said.

"And these were kids who were often having dozens of seizures, if not many more than that per week."

The kids who got CBD were more likely to stop the trial because of side-effects. "Side-effects were generally mild or moderate in severity, with the most common being vomiting, fatigue and fever," Devinsky wrote.

But those who have been helped have been transformed, he added.

"There's no doubt for some children this is just been an incredibly effective and game changing medication for them," Devinsky said.

"These are some of the children I care for [who] were in wheelchairs, were barely able to open their eyes in an office visit and really showed no emotion and … now they come in, they're walking, they're smiling, they're interactive. It's like a different human being in front of you."

He said it's not quite accurate to called CBD "medical marijuana."

"Cannabidiol is the major non-psychoactive compound present in cannabis or marijuana," Devinsky said.

"In this study, we were giving a compound CBD which has no high-producing or psychoactive properties."

It's highly processed to strict standards. A British company, GW Pharmaceuticals, is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval for the product under the brand name Epidiolex.

"The drug we gave was derived from cannabis or marijuana but it really should not be confused with the medical marijuana that would be obtained from dispensaries in the 44 U.S. states that have approved it. Those typically contain combinations of THC with CBD and many other compounds," Devinsky said.

It's not clear precisely how CBD works. It appears to attach to brain cells, he said.

"The CBD binds with a novel receptor in the brain and thereby dampens down too much electrical activity," he said. "It seems to be a relatively unique mechanism of action that's not shared by any of the existing seizure medications."

Doctors are interested in trying CBD on autism, anxiety, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, Devinsky said.

It may help people with other types of seizures, as well. Jack Ziokowski, now 13, has been taking CBD for more than two years.

His seizures started with a viral infection, said his mother Jenny Ziolkowski, who lives in Stamford, Connecticut.

"We got a phone call from the school saying that Jack had had a massive seizure on his first day of first grade," Ziolkowski told NBC News.

"He was having seizure after seizure and they couldn't stop the seizures, and they couldn't figure out what was causing them so he was just hooked up to all these machines and wires," she added.

"He couldn't walk, he couldn't talk, he couldn't feed himself and he couldn't do any of those things."

Jack recovered somewhat but could never be left alone. "The post-illness Jack is not much like the pre-illness Jack," his mother said.

But once Jack started taking CBD, he went six full months without having a seizure and now rarely has one, his parents said.

"That was like a miracle. I mean ... we were actually able to see him grow and make progress," Ziolkowski said.

"He got a skateboard for his 13th birthday three weeks ago."

Australian epilepsy expert Dr. Samuel Berkovic said much more testing is needed. "This trial represents the beginning of solid evidence for the use of cannabinoids in epilepsy," Berkovic, who works at the University of Melbourne, wrote in a commentary.

Devinsky is hopeful.

"For 3,800 years, healers and physicians have been prescribing cannabis and documented that use to treat epilepsy," he said.

"After nearly 4,000 years we for the first time have vigorous scientific data that a compound from cannabis works to treat epilepsy."

The potential impact of “Brexit” (the United Kingdom’s “divorce” from the European Union passed by referendum in June 2016) was a focus of the panel discussion. Dr. Verkerk made this all-important point :

One of the biggest problems we have is the intersection of food and medicine law. The reason we have a roadblock, with products being taken off the market, is because medicinal law imposes itself far too often on food law….We’ve now got a very different scientific environment to the one that this regulation grew up in. We now know that food is medicine, we know that exercise is medicine, and therefore we need to re-frame the way that foods can be used for therapeutic benefit, and I think that will yield a fundamental change. I believe we need to review the whole of medicinal law in relation to the use of therapeutic foods. And that could create a possibility of a third route.

Of course, Dr. Verkerk is alluding to the fact that, by law, only government-approved drugs (in the US, only FDA-approved drugs) can claim to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent diseases, even if there are mountains of evidence to show that a natural vitamin or mineral can help with a disease. And because such approval commonly costs billions, only patentable, new-to-nature molecules fit the system. Food, food supplements, and exercise are totally excluded, even though we now know that they are often the most powerful medicine we have.

The Alternative Myth
Patients are under the assumption that treatments received at alternative clinics are all non-approved; however, that is not the case.  Ancillary services such as lab tests, radiology, diagnostic imaging, consultations, and more, are billable services. AMHA has a team of billing experts who will thoroughly review a patient’s medical bill to identify which aspects of their treatment and medical care are billable. However, each item needs to be properly coded in accordance to rules set forth by the American Medical Association.

In addition, some facilities will give patients a basic bill with a few codes. Thinking that this is enough, the bills are submitted to the insurance company, hoping for a reimbursement. But, when it’s insufficient, as it often is, it will either be delayed or denied. AMHA has worked with providers to help them create a billing template that itemizes the various treatments a patient receives so a claim is submitted with all the necessary information to properly process it.

How the Process Works
Prior to treatment, perspective clients can complete an AMHA patient information form, and then return it to AMHA’s office so it can be evaluated by the trained staff, free of cost. Even though they cannot make any guarantee of coverage, they will have a much better understanding on what coverage the patient may or may not have after evaluation. With this valuable information, they can then instruct you in the best manner to proceed.

After the treatment, the patient will submit a completed AMHA patient information form, along with the medical bill and proof of payment to AMHA’s office. Upon receiving the completed paperwork, the billing staff will determine which treatments and services provided are FDA approved. They will then note them with the appropriate codes and submit the claim for processing. The claim will be followed by AMHA throughout the entire processing stage, until a final decision is made.

 How AMHA Benefits Patients
With the help and expertise of AMHA, many patients can now afford to receive more medical care, due to successful reimbursements by the insurance company. Working on a contingent basis, AMHA will only get paid if they can obtain a reimbursement for a patient. So, there is absolutely no risk in utilizing their professional services.

 Here are some of the services AMHA provide:

•  Free verification of patient insurance benefits
•  Professionally and accurately prepared coded claims
• Certified CPT/ICD10 coders
• Electronically submitted claims
• Secondary insurance billing
• Insurance follow up in a timely manner
• Level 1 appeals

Alexander Lopera has over 20 years of experience, and has an experienced and dedicated team to help you in your needs. If you feel as though you could benefit from AMHA’s team, or want more information, give them a call at (281) 580-1423 or visit www.amhabilling.com. 

2 eggs

2 TBSP oil (grapeseed)

1 TBSP Kentucky straight bourbon

1 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup flour (garbanzo bean, gluten free)

4 TBSP pure maple syrup

1 tsp organic blackstrap molasses

½ cup dark brown sugar

8 oz organic buttery spread

1 and a half cups pecan pieces

12 oz package of semisweet chocolate chips

One bottom dough crust (Pillsbury, premade)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Beat eggs in an electric mixer until fluffy

Add oil, vanilla extract, the maple syrup, the molasses and the bourbon until blended.

Beat flour and dark brown sugar into mixture until smooth

Beat in butter until creamy and smooth

Hand stir in the pecan pieces and the chocolate chips

Mould the dough into the bottom and sides of a deep pie dish

Gently stir-fold in the ingredients

Place on a cookie sheet in the 2^nd rack of the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes until golden brown on top.

Decorate with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Basic recipe courtesy of 1000toprecipes.com/recipes/Kentucky-derby. Thank you 1000 top recipes for this wonderful recipe BUT I just had to make it a bit healthier!!

Are there lessons to be learned for humans in all of this risky but lucrative business? We humans struggle to control as much as we possibly can in our lives. To do otherwise and drift along in a sea of nonchalance and passivity is anxiety provoking. But sometimes it is the things we know we cannot control that offer the biggest attractions. The thrill of competition and victory, whether in sports, the stock market, in careers or relationships, propels us forward and gives us the perseverance, the stamina and the resolve to put forth our best, much like a field of racing horses.  In the starting gate, the competing horse is a culmination of thoughtful breeding, inherent talents, excellent training and above all, the spirit to win. The unpredictability of it all lays down a perfectly equal playing field. The same is true for us and we’ve all heard the stories of how some have overcome the most drastic odds for achievement or success or even survival.  So when that monster anxiety grabs you and you start to fret over your lack of control, take a deep breath and learn to relish the unpredictable moments, developments and outcomes in life. They might just bring a smile to your face. 

In January, Medicare began covering care-planning sessions for patients with cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. In response, the Alzheimer’s Association has created the Cognitive Impairment Care Planning Toolkit to help physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants provide the best care under the new Medicare code.

A change to the G0505 Medicare code means healthcare providers can get reimbursed for a clinical visit to develop a comprehensive care plan for a patient. It also helps providers identify community support services that are appropriate for the patient.

The Alzheimer’s Association, along with its sister organization, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, had pushed for this change. They had advocated for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to cover cognitive and functional assessments and care planning for patients with cognitive impairments.

“Diagnosing patients and linking them to services is a challenge,” said Beth Kallmyer, the association’s vice president of constituent services. This toolkit is “an opportunity to make a big difference in how people are diagnosed and how they’re linked to services.”

Most people with dementia are treated by primary care physicians, even if they are diagnosed by specialists, Kallmyer noted. The association had heard from doctors that putting together a care plan is time-consuming and difficult, so it assembled a group of specialists to decide what the association could offer to help clinicians conduct the care-planning session and implement the new Medicare code.

The toolkit helps clinicians understand what the code covers and provides resources to use in these sessions. It includes best practices and materials such as an overview of the code, validated tools to assist with diagnosis (including the Dementia Severity Rating Scale), a safety assessment guide, a caregiver profile checklist, and an end-of-life checklist.

Part of the association’s mission is to provide and enhance care and support for everyone affected by Alzheimer’s. Care planning helps improve outcomes and maintain quality of life. “It’s huge for people living with the disease,” Kallmyer said, explaining that some patients get diagnosed with dementia but then don’t receive much follow-up care or any comprehensive care planning.

Having a plan in place helps people living with the disease as well as their caregivers. A comprehensive plan can empower patients by giving them a better understanding of their future and allowing them to plan better for it, Kallmyer said. “They can say to their family, ‘This is how I want things to go.’”

“Alzheimer’s is one of the costliest diseases out there,” she said. A care plan helps families plan for when the patient might need to turn to residential care, for example. “Having a plan in place makes a big difference for families every single day with this disease.”

Now, the association is working on raising awareness and getting the word out to all the association’s 80 chapters about the toolkit and the resources it offers. “They are our boots on the ground,” Kallmyer said.

With his legacy website (www.warrenmlevinmd.org) continues to hear from former patients as well as new patients wanting to just have a few minutes of his time to consult with them. He has received and continues to receive letters from patients from as long ago as perhaps 40 years ago. Remarkable, wouldn’t you agree? 

It is not often that a Physician touches so many people and supports them in helping them to recover and achieve optimal wellness. What a gift. 

In my recent travels, I have had the privilege of seeing Dr. Levin’s colleagues that we have not connected with for years. Hearing their stories of how Warren Levin touched them, mentored them, inspired them and helped transform their lives and the lives of their patients. Most recently I was so touched by the kind words from Jeffrey Bland, PhD.,  Dr. Boyd Haley, PhD., and Dr. Michael Gerber all describing how Dr. Levin influenced their lives. I have been moved to tears and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  They come at a very special time.

Dr. Warren Levin was closely acquainted with Dr. Linus Pauling, Dr. Jonas Salk, MD PhD. and Dr. Hans Selye, the Father of Stress. He was also privileged to meet 5 other Nobel Prize winners. Other luminaries closely related in Dr. Levin’s life are Dr. Abram Hoffer, Dr. William Rea, Dr. Theron Randolph, Dr. Virginia Livingston Jackson, MD, Dr. Bruce Halstead, Dr. Elmer Cranton, MD Dr. Richard Casdorf, MD, and Dr. James Carter, MD. PhD. Dr. James Frackelton, MD Dr. Michael Schachter, MD, Dr.  Murray Susser, MD, Dr. Ross Gordon and Dr. Garry Gordon, Dr. Bob Atkins, Dr. David Steenblock, MD. Dr. Johnathan Wright, Dr. Alan Gaby, MD, Dr. Julian Whitaker, MD, Dr. Richard Horowitz, MD, Dr. Daniel Amen, MD, Dr. Martin Waugh, DO, and Dr. Carlton Fredricks, PhD, Dr. Sidney Baker, MD, Dr. John Trowbridge,MD, Dr. David Perlmutter, MD and  Dr. Terry Chappell, MD  just to name a few.  

 Along with this exciting and stimulating time, it was certainly intermingled with times of great stress, angst and struggle. However, there have been angels in our life that helped support the complementary medicine movement and believed in Dr. Warren Levin, his alternative medical mission and his integrity.  

Today, Dr. Levin is facing the next steps in life’s transition. He has now entered into kidney failure. Having only one kidney, dialysis not being an option for him in terms of his quality of life, we have now been given the gift of whatever precious time there is available to us. Because of all the incredible sharing of thoughts and memories most recently, I am reaching out to each and every one of you to put your pen to paper and share your memories and experiences -- the special gifts he has given to all of you freely, with love and integrity. 

I have been privileged to be beside him. He has been a mentor and I have soaked in as much as possible. For me now, I have chosen that my work is to carry on his work and make a difference in people’s lives. Please be so kind as to share how Dr. Levin has impacted your life and work.

I ask that you forward your letters to Dr. Sue Vogan, Peerobmagazine@aol.com, who has offered to help organize this tribute to Dr. Warren Levin. We will put a book together that he will be given so that he will be comforted in these final days. The book will also serve as a treasure for his friends and family so that may be consoled and encouraged for years to come by the sentiments. 

Susan Levin

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• Amalgam use in children under age 15 will be banned on 1 July 2018.
• Amalgam use in pregnant women will be banned on 1 July 2018.
• Amalgam use in breastfeeding mothers will be banned on 1 July 2018.
• Each country in the European Union will be required to develop a national plan by 1 July 2019, laying out how it will reduce its amalgam use.
• The European Commission must decide by mid-2020 whether to move forward with plans to phase out dental amalgam completely in the European Union.

This progress is the result of our team’s seven years of toil: building a united European coalition...meeting after meeting with government officials...submitting comments to one scientific committee after another...presenting testimony at a half dozen public hearings...organizing the grassroots... finding the right experts...and collecting signatures for petitions.

When we started, the European Union was the largest user of amalgam in the world – but that will change dramatically when this new regulation goes into effect in 2018. As the European Parliament explains in its press release, this new regulation “aims to phase out the use of mercury in dental amalgam by 2030.”

But we’re aiming to finish off this primitive, polluting mercury product even sooner – including in the United States. (After all, if we can win in the complicated European Union system, we can win anywhere!)

Today, Consumers for Dental Choice filed a petition that calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to act. It points out that while the European Parliament is taking steps to protect European children from amalgam, FDA’s 2009 amalgam rule fails to protect American children. To solve this problem, our petition urges FDA to follow the European Union’s example: ban amalgam use in children under age 15, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers....and then take the lead in championing a mercury-free future!

Now FDA needs to hear from you too! Please sign this online petition* telling FDA to catch up with the European Union. Then share it with your friends, colleagues, patients, and family.

Banning amalgam use in children and pregnant women was the step that led to the ultimate phase out of all amalgam use in Sweden. Now that the European Parliament has taken that first step, there’s no going back in Europe….and if we pull together, we can take this most crucial step in the United States too!

Charles G. Brown
National Counsel, Consumers for Dental Choice
President, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry
316 F St. NE, Suite 210 Washington, DC 20002 USA
Phone: 202-544-6333   Fax: 202-544-6331
www.ToxicTeeth.org 

Ingredients

½ to 3/4 pound lean, grass fed beef, cut up into small bite size pieces

4 large carrots

4 celery stalks

1 small container of organic mushrooms

1 large purple onion

½ bulb fennel root (optional)

4 cloves chopped garlic

Sprinkle caraway seeds

Sprinkle dill

1 to 2 TBSPs paprika

One 28 oz can of Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes

2 cups vegetable or beef broth

4 large potatoes, peeled and diced, optional

Directions

Heat up a heavy cast iron pan with several tablespoons of grapeseed oil on medium to high heat and saute the carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, fennel and garlic for 10 minutes or until browned and softened.

Push them to the side and add the beef, sautéing until browned, about another five minutes.

Add the broth, dill, caraway seed and paprika and stir well.

Add the tomatoes and stir again.

Turn down the heat to low and simmer on top of the stove for an hour or until the meat is tender. You can also bake it in the oven if you prefer at 350 degrees until the meat is tender.

If you are adding potatoes, add them in after about a half hour of cooking time so they don’t fall apart.

You can cook this dish on low heat and keep it simmering until everything else is ready.  I served the goulash over” No Yolks,” cholesterol free egg white pasta, Kluski European style.

The cucumber, peeled and sliced, is chilled in no/low fat yogurt in the refrigerator. Teta traditionally sweetened hers with a dash of sugar but stevia or maple syrup would do even better. Add in a couple teaspoons of dill and mix well. Serve the goulash with a large tablespoon of yogurt on top over the noodles.

Enjoy!

Short of surgery, is there any other approach that can help the condition of osteoarthritis? Here is my anecdotal evidence to date. I decided to start using systemic enzymes, which are similar to a cleanup crew in the body. Taken upon an empty stomach, the little enzymes find their way to areas that are “troubled” and go to work to remove debris. The catch is remembering to take them so my solution was to take them in the middle of the night when I invariably wake up. This has worked well and I have not missed more than a few nights since starting last November. In addition, I started a pair of supplements manufactured by Zycal Bioceuticals Healthcare Co. The first is Ostinol Advanced, 5X. which contains a complex of collagen and bone morphogenetic proteins and boswelia. The second is Chondrinol, containing glucosamine, chondroitin and the same complex as in the Ostinol. These are expensive supplements but far less than the costs of surgery and if they can help, it is worth the cost. More recently I have also started quercetin, PPQ and UC-II, a patented form of bio collagen, all of which have shown efficacy in promoting joint comfort and mobility. In Life Extension Magazine of September, 2014, Michael Enders references several studies by Kanzaki et al (2012) and Matsuno et al (2009) stating that “quercetin has demonstrated superior anti-inflammatory properties. When a group of flavonoids was studied, quercetin showed the strongest specific inhibitory effects on the pro-inflammatory enzymes. Added to a standard glucosamine/chondroitin supplement, 45mg/day for 12 to 16 weeks showed significantly improved joint pain and function scores compared with placebo.”  Both pyrroloquinoline quinone (PPQ) and UC-II are also potent anti-inflammatory compounds. UC-II is the cartilage from chicken breast and its collagen has a unique way of teaching killer T-cells in the gut to ignore exposed joint cartilage, thus reducing damage and destruction (Preston, W., 2/2012, Life Extension Magazine.)

For pain, I use boswelia, an additional dose from the one mentioned above and CBD, an extract of cannabidiol, from the hemp plant that does not have any psychoactive effect and is legal in all 50 states. From the natural remedies as cited above, I can say my condition has significantly improved. I no longer have the sudden, sharp pains that took away my breath. I have no pain or achiness at night when it is most noticeable. As if that was not enough, I was able to get back on my incline trainer and spinner and start back on my exercise regimen. I still have stiffness and decreased range of motion and occasional aches but it is nothing like it was and I am greatly encouraged. Perhaps that young doctor was wrong after all. I would prefer to believe that our wondrous human bodies have the capacity for regeneration if given the tools that are required.

For more information, the websites on stem cell transplants are: drfields.com and smartchoicestemcell.com. (These are only two examples and are not intended to be a complete listing.)

• 1 c yellow mung dal
• 1 c basmati white or jasmine rice
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
• 2 Tbs shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 1 small handful fresh cilantro leaves
• ½ c water
• 3 Tbs ghee
• 1 and ½ inch of cinnamon bark
• 5 cardamon pods
• 5 cloves, whole
• 10 black peppercorns, whole
• 3 bay leaves
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ¾ tsp sea salt
• 6 c water
• 1 slice of lime

Directions for kitchari

1.      Wash the mung dal and rice until water is clear. Soaking the dal for a few hours helps with digestibility.

2.      In a blender, put the ginger, coconut, cilantro and ½ cup water and blend until liquefied.

3.      Heat a large saucepan on medium heat and add the ghee, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns and bay leaves. Stir for a moment until fragrant.

4.      Add the blended items to the spices, then the turmeric and salt. Stir until lightly browned.

5.      Stir in the mung dal and rice and mix very well.

6.      Pour in the 6 cups of water, cover and bring to a boil. Let boil for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat to very low and cook lightly covered until the dal and the rice are soft, about 25 to 30 minutes. Decorate with a few sprigs of cilantro and a lime slice or two.

Nutritional information:  per 1 cup of mung dal

147 calories

14 grams protein

15.5 grams of fiber

Directions for making ghee:

1.      Melt 8 sticks of unsalted butter in a large heavy pot over low to medium heat for about 30 minutes. Use the very best quality butter you can find from grass fed, no antibiotic cows. The butter will separate into 3 layers: white foam on top (water content), clarified butter in the middle and mild solids on the bottom.

2.      Strain butter through a fine sieve or cheese cloth into a mason jar.

3.      If you still see white milk solids, you can strain it a second time. It should be a clear yellow color and is known in India as liquid gold.

Bon appetite! This will be the easiest cleanse you have tried!

Recipe compliments of Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing by Usha Lad and Dr. Vasant Lad, The Ayurvedic Press, Albuquerque, NM, 2^nd edition. 

What is chelation?

The Greek word “chele” means claw. Chelation is the binding of metals (like lead) or minerals (like calcium) to a protein “chelator” in a pincer-like fashion, forming a ring-like structure. Chelation is an important treatment protocol for the removal of toxic metals such as lead and mercury from the body’s bloodstream and tissues. Natural chelation, although weak, regularly occurs from eating certain foods such as onions and garlic. A stronger chelation effect can be induced when certain supplements, such as some amino acids, are taken orally. The strongest chelation effect is achieved with intravenous chelation. 

What is chelation used for?

Intravenous chelation therapy is used and accepted within conventional medicine as an FDA-approved treatment for the removal of toxic minerals such as lead from the body in cases of severe poisoning. However, it is also used in a  less conventional way: the repeated administration of intravenous chelating agents is used to reduce blood vessel inflammation caused by specific toxic metals and to reduce the body’s total load of those metals, especially lead. It has been shown that the risk of dying from cardiovascular events begins when a person’s blood level of lead is still well within the established normal reference range.[1]

IV chelation therapy often utilizes the chelating agent disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and is sometimes referred to as EDTA chelation. EDTA chelation is being used in the treatment of all forms of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, especially heart disease and peripheral artery disease. Although there is less published research in these areas, chelation therapy is also being used to treat macular degeneration; osteoporosis; mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease associated with heavy metal toxicity; autoimmune diseases, especially scleroderma; and fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome with high levels of toxic metals detected with a challenge test.[4]

Does chelation really work?

The most recent study to examine the effects of EDTA chelation therapy showed compelling value for preventing cardiovascular events, especially in people with diabetes who had a history of heart attack. The controversial Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy, or TACT, found an amazing 40% reduction in total mortality, 40% reduction in recurrent heart attacks, and about a 50% reduction in overall mortality in patients with diabetes who had previously suffered from a heart attack.[2] TACT was a large, randomized, placebo-controlled study published in JAMA that randomized patients to a series of IV chelation using EDTA or placebo.[3]

What kinds of doctors offer IV chelation therapy?

Doctors must be well-trained in chelation therapy in order to utilize the correct tests and treatments. Testing for toxic metal exposure is not straightforward since blood tests typically identify only those with severe and acute toxicity but fail to identify those with toxic metals stored in the tissues due to chronic exposure. Applying the appropriate chelating agent to properly treat toxic metal accumulation is also not a straightforward endeavor. Different chelating agents bind with different affinity to different metals. Some chelating agents may be taken orally, while others are administered intravenously.

Chelation therapy is not taught in conventional medical school but rather through various professional medical organizations. The most recognized leader in educating and certifying healthcare professionals, including MDs and NDs, in chelation therapy is the American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM). ACAM’s chelation therapy training teaches doctors how to diagnose and treat patients with heavy metal toxicity as well as how to use diet and nutrients to optimize toxic metal chelation strategies and protocols.

[1] ACAM website. Detoxification / IV Chelation. Downloaded Jan 7, 2014.

[2] Medscape Heartwire. 2013, Nov 19. ‘Extraordinary’ Chelation Effects…. Downloaded Jan 7, 2014.

[3] JAMA. 2013;309(12):1241-1250.

[4] Townsend Ltr. 2013 Aug/Sept. Report on the Proceedings of a Summit…. Downloaded Jan 7, 2014.

This article was originally published in 2014 and has been updated.

As the old saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun (or sleeping for that matter). Unfortunately for some, this is not always the case. According to the American Sleep Association (ASA), 50 to 70 million adults in the United States have some sort of sleep disorder. These disorders can range from dyssomnia’s to parasomnias.

Often times, this inability to rest results in sleepless nights. Although there are a plethora of causes linked to difficulty sleeping, integrative practitioners are able to pinpoint the most popular ones, while finding potential solutions.

Causes & Common Conditions

As previously mentioned, the causes that influence the lack of sleep are numerous, but doctors and experts alike have been able to narrow these down to ones backed by science, such as brain function, which could be the root of the problem.

“There are cycles of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (non-REM),” said Jeremy A. Holt, associate director of Ajinomoto North America’s health services section in New Jersey. “REM is typically 25 percent of the sleep period. Non-REM is divided into four stages. Stage One is the period between being awake and falling asleep. Stage Two is the onset of sleep and becoming disengaged from your surroundings. Stages Three and Four are the deepest and most restorative sleep, where muscles are relaxed, blood pressure drops and breathing becomes slower.

“A restless sleeper will wake up while transitioning between these stages. Once the body wakes, it doesn’t return to the state it awoke from – it must go back to stage one. Continually waking during the night and not reaching Stages Three and Four is what causes poor sleep quality.”

However, lack of sleep can also stem from gender-related issues that interfere with the REM process.

Gina Besteman, RPH, is the director of compounding and dispensing at the Women’s International Pharmacy in Wisconsin, a compounding pharmacy that provides high-quality bioidentical hormone therapies.

“One of the more common symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause that patients complain of is difficulty sleeping. There is a significant amount of research showing how hormones affect sleep,” she noted. “Progesterone affects GABA receptors which are responsible for non-REM sleep, the deepest of the sleep stages. Progesterone also affects breathing. Its’s been shown to be a respiratory stimulant and has been used to treat mild obstructive sleep apnea. Estrogen’s role in sleep appears to be more complicated than that of progesterone. Estrogen is involved in breaking down norepinephrine, serotonin and acetylcholine in the body. Estrogen has been shown to decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, decrease the number of awakenings after sleep occurs and increase total sleep time. Low estrogen levels may lead to hot flashes which can also affect sleep.”

Perimenopause refers to the menopausal transition, normally occurring in a women’s 40’s, sometimes mid-30’s (mayoclinic.org). Dr. Besteman also cited that if there is a disruption in cortisol, the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands and melatonin, the hormone responsible for sleep and wakefulness manufactured by the brain’s pineal gland, these could be contributors to the issue.

As a result, different sleep conditions affect different societal demographics.  According to Svetlana Kogan, MD, an integrative doctor in New York, NY and author of Diet Slave No More!, individuals affected by difficulty sleeping can be broken up into three categories.

“Young people have over stimulated nervous systems due to cell phones, video games, computers, TV and other electronic gadgets,” she said. “Older people (ages 35-60) are having difficulty sleeping due to all of the above, plus the stress of having to balance family, children and work. Much older people (over 60) have physiologic issues during sleep that cause them to wake up many times during the night (urinary incontinence or frequency, sleep apnea, insomnia, pain syndromes). Overall, people who live in big cities sleep much less than the rest of the country. This could be due to overstimulation of the nervous system, work stress and lack of time spent outdoors (that is, less oxygen to the brain).”

Solutions to Better Sleep

After hearing of patients’ difficulty sleeping, the next question is: what exactly can practitioners recommend to their patients to help combat these issues?

A great starting point would be in the mineral magnesium, which notably has a calming effect to it.

“Magnesium is an essential electrolyte and is known as the anti-stress mineral, and is a natural sleep aid,” mentioned Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, advisory board member of the Nutritional Magnesium Association. “Numerous Studies have shown its effectiveness in reducing stress levels as well as helping with deeper more restful sleep. This mineral has been depleted from our soils and foods due to modern farming methods and food processing. More than 75 percent of Americans do not get their recommended daily allowance of this mineral, which is a co-factor in 700-800 enzyme reactions in the body.

“A magnesium deficiency can magnify stress because of serotonin, the feel-good brain chemical that is boosted artificially by some medications, depends on magnesium for its production and function. Not all forms of magnesium are easily absorbed by the body. Magnesium citrate powder is a highly absorbable form that can be mixed with hot or cold water and sipped at work or at home throughout the day.”

As another option, Boiron USA, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of homeopathic medicine, offers Quietude, dissolvable tablets that help target lack of sleep, without the effects that come with it. Christopher Merville, DPharm, director of education and pharmacy development at the company, explained how exactly the medication is effective.

“Quietude temporary relieves sleeplessness, restless sleep and occasional awakening without grogginess or risk of dependency,” he said. “The biggest advantage of this sleep aid is that it doesn’t knock you out. It may sound funny for a sleep medicine to be non-drowsy and non-doping, but this means you won’t have that groggy hangover effect the next day like you are still in a fog, which is typical with sleep aids that mask the problem by sedating you. Instead, Quietude helps and overactive mind calm down. It’s perfect for when your head hits the pillow but you keep going over that to-do list or replaying the day’s events. If you’ve had a particularly exciting day- whether it’s from good or bad news- prepare for bed by taking Quietude once in the early evening and then again at bedtime.”

A common trend among those struggling with sleeplessness is the fact that the body, especially the brain, is operating at full capacity even during the late evening hours, when it should be resting. Glycine, and amino acid found in Ajinomoto’s Glysom, is able to affect he body accordingly.

“Glycine is a naturally occurring amino acid that induces sleep by setting the body’s internal clock and reducing the core body temperature,” said Holt. “It signals the body to relax and prepare for a better sleep cycle, improving the body’s sleep architecture. Taking Glysom together with melatonin provides a combo effect- the melatonin helps you fall asleep, the Glysom keeps you asleep.”

State of the Market

Being that difficulty sleeping is an ongoing issue, there are positive strides being made in the market, precisely in terms of both traditional and natural medications respectively. In fact, a major contributor to traditional medicine’s success is the severity of the conditions that it treats.

“Insomnia is recognized as the fourth most prominent health issue just behind stress,” said Dr. Dean. “The projections for sleep aids for 2018 are approximately $732 million with a 27 percent category growth rate. The recognized drawbacks are side effects and addictive nature of these medications.”

Moreover, as Dr. Kogan stated, “the sales are unprecedentedly high- especially those of generic sleep meds, as they are cheaper.”

On the other hand, natural sleep medication has continuously garnered attention, partly due to individuals that are popular in the public eye. “Awareness of the importance of sleep an getting proper sleep is growing, and with high profile celebrity deaths (Michael Jackson, Prince) related to sleep issues, consumers are searching for and demanding natural alternative to otherwise harmful side-effect ridden medications,” added Dr. Dean.

As a result, being that pros and cons lie in both forms of medication, practitioners must fairly provide both options to their patients.

Research

There are endless questions surrounding sleep, such as what in fact is the best solution to a good night’s sleep and how one gets to that point. Progress has been made in this regard, and to further enhance this progress, practitioners are thinking out of the box with their interest in research.

“I am interest in researching auto-hypnosis and sleep- specifically how teaching patient’s self-hypnosis techniques can help them fall asleep easier,” noted Dr. Kogan.

In fact, she is quite fond of this delivery method, as it takes more of a holistic approach to medicine. “Self-hypnosis (which I admire) is the least popular method because it’s an acquired skill that needs to be rehearsed many times over, until it becomes a lifestyle,” she mentioned. “Teaching patients self-hypnosis is my favorite modality, because it empowers patients to tap into their own inner resources, instead of depending on pills.”

Although the medical world may not have received all the answers is has been looking for thus far, one ideas is for sure: good sleep is king.

“There is a much greater understanding of the overall physiological and emotional role sleep plays on a body’s health,” said Holt. “Polysomnographic studies have proven that there is no substitute for good sleep. If a body is deficient in vitamin C, a supplement will help adjust that. The same cannot be said of sleep deficiency. Lack of sleep affects the whole body, including metabolism. That’s why good sleep  is so important for weight loss.”

 Learn more about the American Sleep Association at https://www.sleepassociation.org. 

• Let food be your medicine.
• Remove toxins to repair and restore your body.
• Harness the healing power of supplements.
• Reduce stress and reclaim your life.
• Strengthen your immune system with sleep.

With a 7-day detox and a 14-day healing program — including recipes based on anti-cancer foods, as well as inspiring stories from patients successfully treated at her Cancer Center for Healing — Dr. Connealy provides healing strategies for patients and those at risk.

“Dr. Connealy understands the role of nutrition, epigenetics, and integrative approaches in healing cancer and even preventing cancer,” says author and documentarian Ty Bollinger. “Cancer is not a death sentence. There is always hope, and this book will empower you with knowledge that just might save your life or the life of a loved one.”

The Cancer Revolution reveals its’ secrets in this three-part book:

A New Way to Prevent, Treat, and Beat Cancer

• Cancer: What It Is, What Causes It, and How to Fight It
• How to Detect Cancer Before It Wreaks Havoc
• Groundbreaking Cancer Treatments
  

The Six Revolutionary Cancer Strategies

• Let Food Be Your Medicine
• Remove Toxins to Boost Your Health
• Harness the Power of Supplements
• Get Moving to Get Well
• Reduce Stress and Reclaim Your Life
• Strengthen Your Immune System with Sleep

The Cancer Revolution Plan for Health and Wellness

• Putting Together Your Support System
• Creating an Anticancer Living Environment
• The 14-Day Anticancer Wellness Plan
• The 7-Day Juicing Detoxification Program
• Living a Cancer-Free Life
• The Recipes: Dishes for Repairing and Restoring Your Body

“The Cancer Revolution enables everyone to understand and take responsibility for their health and their role in the prevention of disease. It is truly an outstanding guide of how to create health and maintain wellness — from a personal and professional standpoint,” notes Paul Fisher of Biotics Research.

2 cups Keebler graham cracker crumbs or a gluten free version

½ cup Earth Balance organic buttery spread

1 (14oz) bag of Bakers sweetened coconut flakes

2 (12oz) bags of chocolate bits, semi-sweet ( for dairy, soy and nut free mini chocolate chips, try Enjoy Life brand)

5oz, half bag of chopped walnuts

8 oz bag of chopped pecans

2 (13.5oz) cans of Lite coconut milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spread the buttery spread over the bottom of a 9 and ½ x 14 and ½ inch pan

Add the crumbs and press down with a spatula to even them out

Sprinkle the bags of pecans, walnuts, and chocolate bits over the crumbs

Use a utensil to spread out the coconut flakes over the chocolate and nuts

If desired, you can use one half the amounts to alternate two layers of each

Pour the coconut milk over the mixture and place into the preheated oven

Cook 30 minutes or until edges are bubbling and coconut has a golden brown top.

Cool well and cut into squares; store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Bon appetite and Happy Valentine’s Day!

In a cursory perusal of PubMed abstracts, a number used rats as the subjects. In a study by Rahim et al (2017), virgin coconut oil (VCO) was associated with increased antioxidative, cholinergic activities along with reduced oxidative stress that produced enhanced memory in the groups treated with the VCO. Another study by Alves et al (2016) showed that intravenous doses of lauric acid, the most abundant medium chain fatty acid in VCO, reduced blood pressure and oxidative stress in hypertensive rats. In another study on lauric acid, Lekshmi et al (2016) found that animals fed lauric acid had lowered cholesterol levels. In a different type study by Famurewa et al (2017) VCO attenuated the toxic effects of the anticancer drug methotrexate on the liver by reducing oxidative stress in rats.

In the studies on humans, research focused on the antibacterial efficacy of VCO, particularly on the effect of Streptococcus mutans in the mouth (Peedkayil et al, 2016). An ayurvedic practice for oral hygiene is to swish VCO in the mouth for 20 minutes in the morning. Other studies examined effects on cardiovascular risk factors. Cardoso et al, 2015, found that a diet rich in VCO increased HDL cholesterol, the “good cholesterol ,” and decreased waist circumference and body mass in coronary artery disease patients. Another study by Vijayakumar et al, 2016 showed that the use of coconut oil as a cooking oil for two years did not alter the lipid profile of patients with stable coronary heart disease receiving standard medical care.

I did not find any studies on diabetes and VCO but there was one on Alzheimer’s disease that discovered that subjects who received 40mg/day of VCO had an improvement in their cognitive status as measured on their test scores, particularly in women and those without diabetes type II. (Hu et al 2015). There was an additional study looking at the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects of an ayurvedic formula, kerabala, which is partially comprised of VCO. There was a beneficial effect on inflammation, tissue damage and the pain associated with arthritis.(Ratheesh et al, 2016).

There is certainly more positive data than not but VCO should still be used in moderation. Botanically the coconut fruit is a drupe, not a true nut. A drupe is a fruit that has an outer fleshy part surrounded by a pit of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. Allergic reactions to coconuts are very rare and it is thought that those with tree nut allergies are safe eating coconuts. Although it does not contain any cholesterol, it is a saturated fat, although approximately 75% is in medium chain fatty acids that produce ketones that can serve as an energy source for the brain. The best VCO is the pure natural oil, which is hardened at room temperature and has a higher heating point than olive oil, making it preferable for frying and baking.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, there are several ways that VCO can add to your enjoyment. The first is with a sweet treat that will be featured with its recipe. The other is with a hot VCO massage that can be shared with your sweetheart. It is also beneficial to give yourself a weekly VCO massage to keep your skin and hair supple and moist. Heat up about 8 to 10 tablespoons of VCO in a small saucepan( half that for one person) until it melts. The best way to use it is to pour it into a glass container that has a pump on top. For couples, spread out a large towel on a bed and begin at the head. If you are standing, spread out a towel on the floor because the oil will spatter and collect on everything around it. Slowly massage the oil through the hair and scalp and face. Proceed downwards all the way to the feet but avoid the bottom of the feet if you will shower afterwards. Vigorous rubbing is good for the extremities where often the skin tends to be dryer and rougher. Use long strokes on the limbs and a circular motion on the joints. One of my daughters, who attends the Ayurvedic Institute, likes to put a small heater in the bathroom and break out into a sweat during the self massage. When finished, you can then shower but only use soap on the areas that need it, avoiding most of the body. The oil running off the body makes for slippery footing so be very careful and either have something you can grab onto or a mat to prevent a fall. After drying off, your skin will be silky smooth. The VCO also helps to prevent razor burn if you are shaving and you can apply some extra to shaven areas after the shower as well. You will be glowing which makes for a nice Valentine’s present. Enjoy!

Do you ever look around, possibly at the political process in our country, and ask yourself “is everyone brain-dead”?  Contrary to what one would think when looking at the advances in technology our overall  IQ is dropping as the decades go by, not going up! Those alive during the Victorian era actually had higher overall IQ than we do. [i] While that may explain a lot, one still has to ask what the cause could be.

During the last few decades our environmental burden has continued to increase. During the same time new illnesses that are clearly associated with environmental overload, like chemical sensitivity, have appeared. Other illness that are strongly associated with environmental overload, such as ADHD, allergies, asthma, autoimmunity, autism, T2DM, obesity and Parkinsonism have begun to increase dramatically.

The main body systems affected by environmental burden include the immune, neurological, endocrine and cardiovascular systems. Multiple toxicants that we are all commonly exposed to during daily living have been associated with damage to all of these systems.

Cognitive decline has been linked to both prenatal exposure and exposure in daily life. The major prenatal exposure that have been directly associated with neuroinflammation and loss of cognition are:

1.      Organophosphate pesticides

2.      Phthalates

3.      Methylmercury

In utero exposure to organophosphate pesticides, primarily through diet, has been associated with slower motor speed and worse motor coordination, visuospatial performance and visual memory when the children reached the age of 6-8. [This translated to a developmental delay equivalent to 1.5 - 2 years. [ii] Maternal use of personal care products, especially fragrances and nail polish have higher levels of plasticizers in their blood and urine. Those moms have kids with lower IQs by the age of 7! [iii] Moms eating high mercury fish when they are pregnant, and who then have high blood methyl mercury (levels fairly common for frequent fish eaters - nothing that far out of normal) are FOUR TIMES more likely to have a child with an IQ less than 80! Study The sad thing is that many women consume more fish during pregnancy to make a smarter child (because fish oil does that). [iv]

The major “post-natal” or daily life exposures that reduce our cognitive power along with increasing neuroinflammation are primarily:

1.      Vehicular exhaust (urban air pollution)

2.      Lead

A group of Spanish researchers led by Lillian Calderón-Garcidueñas have done a number of studies in the metropolitan area of Mexico City regarding cognition and air pollution. They have found that children exposed to higher levels of vehicular exhaust (especially PM2.5) have more problems with memory and attentiveness.[v] Children in Mexico City with no other risk factors for cognitive deficits except living in polluted areas exhibited clear cognitive deficiencies and neuroinflammation.[vi] [vii] The same relationship between vehicular exhaust and cognitive function has been found in men whose average age is 71.[viii] Those men with the highest level of traffic exposure had a mental decline that equaled 1.9 years of aging. Women between the ages of 70 – 81 with higher long-term exposure to PM2.5 and PM 2.5-10 exhibited a cognitive decline equivalent to 2 years of aging.[ix]

With indoor and outdoor exposures to vehicular exhaust being the greatest factor in neuroinflammation and cognitive decline, the second greatest factor is lead. Even though the blood lead level is lower in the United States than it has been in decades, lead remains in the environment and is still associated with cognitive decline in children and adults.

It has been shown repeatedly that children’s blood lead levels (BLL) below the current CDC level of <5 ug/dl are still capable of reducing children’s IQ levels.[x] [xi] [xii] Italian adolescents with BLL’s above 1.71 ug/dl lose 1 IQ point for each 0.19 ug/dl increase in BLL , with each doubling of the BLL equated to a 2.4 pt. reduction in IQ.[xiii] Not surprisingly lead-associated decline of cognitive function in children has been shown to persist into adulthood[xiv], giving the current state of municipal water lead contamination the potential for grave consequences amongst future adults in those areas.

Cumulative lead burden in adults, assessed via bone lead fluoroscopic assessment, has been associated with decreased cognition[xv] while BLLs have been shown no association.[xvi] Increasing levels of tibial lead were inversely related to impaired language, processing speed, eye-hand coordination, executive functioning, verbal memory, verbal learning and visual memory.[xvii] As the tibial lead concentration rose, hand-eye coordination diminished. Women in the Nurses’ Health Study also showed increased cognitive decline with increasing tibial lead levels.[xviii] Every 1-standard deviation jump in tibial lead was associated with a functional decline equivalent to 0.33 years of aging. Computerized neurobehavioral testing, easily done in a clinical setting, show clear cognitive declines associated with bone lead burden[xix], but shows no correlation with BLLs.[xx] Since bone lead measurement is unavailable to clinicians a lead mobilization test should be done in order to gain information on total body lead burden.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is moving against cannabidiol (CBD), a supplement used to control pain and inflammation. The circumstances are extremely suspicious.

Late last year, the DEA published a final rule that classifies marijuana and hemp extracts, including CBD, as Schedule 1 controlled substances—a category that includes heroin, LSD, mescaline, and MDMA. Note that none of the CBD extracts contains significant amounts of the psychoactive chemical in marijuana—only the non-psychoactive painkilling chemicals.

There are thousands of published scientific studies on CBD and its beneficial health effects on pain, inflammation, seizures, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions. CBD is available as a dietary supplement.

We reported last month that in Flint, Michigan, tap water in residents’ homes contained astonishing levels of lead, as high as 104 parts per billion (ppb), when the Environmental Protection Agency’s limit for lead in drinking water is 15 ppb. We also noted that research has linked lead exposure to violent and criminal behavior.

A new report from Reuters shows that lead exposure is not an isolated problem in a few communities. In the investigation, Reuters found about 3,000 areas with lead poisoning rates at least double those in Flint at the peak of that city’s crisis.

A recent article in Scientific American upends the conventional wisdom about what caused the recent spike in mumps in the US. In 2016 there were about 4,000 cases across the US; in 2010, there were about 2,000.

If you followed the mainstream press and a number of opportunistic politicians, the answer was clear: unvaccinated kids were the cause. Parents who didn’t vaccinate their kids according to the government’s schedule were vilified and derided in the opinion columns of newspapers and magazines, and state politicians like Sen. Richard Pan of California used the hysteria to enact legislation (SB 277) that eliminated parents’ right to decide whether and how to vaccinate their children.

In the waning days of 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ignored the expressed will of Congress. The agency completed a “guidance” document that prohibits traditional compounding pharmacies from stocking doctors’ offices with custom drugs.

In December 2015, Congress included a provision in an end-of-the-year spending bill ordering the FDA to issue a guidance document clarifying how physicians and compounding pharmacists could continue the “office use” of drugs. These are custom drugs that a doctor keeps on hand for immediate treatment use. Congress could not have been clearer: the agency was not to forbid office use. The FDA has now answered—by ignoring it.

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HOMEMADE GRANOLA

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup of any other nuts: cashews, almonds, walnuts

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

3 to 4 shakes of cardamom

Light sprinkle of nutmeg

Light sprinkle of ground ginger

2 cups of rolled oats

¼ cup of Earth Balance organic vegan buttery spread

½ cup of real maple syrup

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place the seeds, nuts and spices in a dry frying pan to roast. Stir the mixture and shake the pan frequently until the mixture releases a fragrant aroma, about 7 minutes or until the mixture has turned a golden brown.

Liquify the Earth balance separately and pour over the mixture and work it in well with a spatula. Add the maple syrup and work that in until the mixture is starting to stick together.

Spread the mixture out on a non stick baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn on the bottom. After cooling, break the granola into bite sized chunks and store in a mason jar.  Enjoy!

WARNING: This granola should only be given to children with molars who can chew well. If not, it could be a choking hazard. 

Don’t let the FDA pull supplements from the shelves.

An anonymous donor has recognized the importance of this threat to natural health and has generously offered to match every dollar we can raise before the end of the year. We have fought the FDA for over 20 years, but the threats continue to escalate —now is the time to give to ANH and double your impact as a member.

Please make your 100% tax-deductible gift before December 31!

Our members mean the world to us. Without your support over the years, very little would have stood between the FDA’s blatant power grab for control of your supplements. Thank you, profoundly, for standing up to defend our right to natural health!

In addition to creating my own culinary delights, I like to peruse recipes. I found this one from Kalyn’s Kitchen that I thought to be the perfect antidote to the heaviness of holiday mealtime. This lovely and colorful recipe can be a standalone entrée or a side dish. Just follow the link and you will find the step by step recipe along with appetizing pictures. Bon Appetit!

Warm wishes for a joyous holiday season! See you in 2017.

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2013/10/vegetarian-stuffed-peppers-brown-rice-mushrooms-feta.html

1. The supplements should be non-toxic or have a wide margin of safety, enabling daily use in order to have a more frequent or constant protective impact, thus targeting the more sustained angiogenesis that drives cancer’s growth and spread.
2. To reduce the chances of resistance, the supplements should be capable of modulating as many angiogenic pathways as possible, including, for example, endothelial cell migration, hypoxia, lymphangiogenesis, and tumor-promoting fibroblasts and inflammation.
3. The supplements should be able to impact multiple cancer-promoting pathways other than the angiogenic pathways, such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), epidermal growth factor receptor, the nuclear factor kappa-B transcription factor, the protein kinases, and other pathways.

With these principles in mind, we can now identify biological response modifiers in the natural world that may play a valuable role in cancer control and prevention, as well as possibly serving as adjuncts to mainstream treatment.  It turns out that a large group of natural compounds, also referred to as either nutraceuticals or pharmaconutrients, exhibits antiangiogenic effects as well as other types of anticancer activities. The remainder of this article provides a concise overview of ten of the most promising of these natural products.

Natural Products for Blocking Angiogenesis
Most of the published clinical trials of anti-angiogenic cancer therapy have reported improved response rates and progression-free survival (lowering recurrence rates), but no increase in overall survival compared to standard chemotherapy alone. But what if the anti-angiogenic therapy was non-toxic and could be received on an ongoing basis?  And what if multiple anti-angiogenic agents could be used concurrently and implemented in much earlier stages of the cancer, rather than waiting until the disease had become more advanced and aggressive?

Specific nutritional and botanical supplements are thought to play a role in the prevention and control of cancer by modulating angiogenesis. These natural products include the following: curcumin, resveratrol, green tea catechins, silybin, reishi mushroom, omega-3 fatty acids, scutellaria, ashwagandha, diindolylmethane, and convolvulus.  A number of these substances are capable of inhibiting tumor angiogenesis by blocking VEGF and many other pathways at the same time.  What follows is a brief survey of some of these effects.

1) Curcumin.  The East Indian spice turmeric is a rich source of the polyphenol curcumin.  This supplement has dozens of well-documented anti-cancer effects, mainly attributed to its impact on the immune response, antioxidant response, programmed cell death (apoptosis), cell cycle regulation and tumor progression.  Curcumin inhibits angiogenesis in a huge variety of cancer cells, through the modulation of many cell-signalling pathways.  For example, curcumin was shown to suppress VEGF secretion from tumors while also significantly improving the survival of mice with VEGF-expressing tumors, as reported in the 14 August 2014 issue of Oncotarget.  Although this supplement has extremely poor bioavailability, this problem is readily solved by using either a phytosome or liposome form of curcumin.  Alternatively, combining curcumin with biopiperine (from black pepper) boosts the supplement’s bioavailability by some 2000 percent.

2) Resveratrol. Found in grapes, berries, chocolate, and some nuts, resveratrol is a polyphenol known mainly for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as its ability to promote cardiovascular health.  Resveratrol has been shown to decrease glucose consumption in cancer cell lines while also inhibiting VEGF expression, as reported in the October 2013 issue of Human & Experimental Toxicology.  Thus, part of the agent’s anti-cancer impact entails a coupling of anti-angiogenesis with a calorie-restricting pathway.  In principle, the latter effect could be further exploited by following a low-calorie diet.  The anti-angiogenic effects have been studied mostly in brain and mammary (breast) tumors.  Because of resveratrol’s low bioavailability, it is best to use the supplement in either phytosome or liposome form.

3) Green tea catechins.  Green tea consumption has been linked with lower rates of cancer and heart disease.  A specific group of green tea polyphenols called catechins are though to account for most of the tea’s anti-cancer impact.  The main compound of interest is EGCG, a major green tea catechin that blocks VEGF and other aspects of tumor angiogenesis.  Research suggests that green tea extract may help prevent tumor recurrences, possibly due to inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-related pathways.  A study conducted at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (TX) indicates that EGCG inhibits pancreatic tumor growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis, as reported in the January 2008 issue of Frontiers in Bioscience.

4) Silybin.  Silybin, also known as Silibinin, is the primary active component of silymarin, a standardized extract of milk thistle seeds.  In animal studies, silybin’s tumor-killing effects have been shown to be mediated through inhibition of both tumor cell proliferation and angiogenesis, as reported in the January 2013 issue of Nutrition and Cancer.  Classified as a flavonolignan, silybin is also known to target various elements of the tumor microenvironment, thus rendering it more effective for preventing, retarding, or reversing the cancer process.  When taken as a phytosome, Silybin shows a nearly five-fold increase in absorption compared to standard milk thistle extracts.

5) Scutellaria.  Scutellaria baicalensis, commonly known as Chinese skullcap (and sometimes called wogonin), is a frequent component of Traditional Chinese Medicine protocols for cancer therapy.  This herb has been shown to inhibit both angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, the formation of lymphatic vessels from pre-existing lymphatic vessels, an angiogenic process that also fuels tumor growth.  The anti-tumor and anti-metastatic actions of scutellaria may be linked with inhibition of VEGF-induced lymphangiogenesis, as reported in the April 2012 issue of PloS One.  Some research suggests that scutellaria may have efficacy against advanced-stage prostate cancer.  Scutellaria contains the anti-inflammatory compounds baicalin and baicalein, which together may account for most of its anti-cancer impact.

6) Reishi.  Reishi mushroom (scientific name: Ganoderma lucidum) has long been regarded as among the most valuable medicines in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  Inhibition of angiogenesis is among the anti-tumor mechanisms of reishi, and laboratory studies have demonstrated effects against tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis.  When used in tandem with conventional treatments, improvements in immunity and quality of life have been noted in advanced-stage cancer patients.   The beta-glucan compounds in reishi mushroom are known to activate dendritic cells (DCs), which in turn induce the activation of T cells against cancer.  Most of the anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor effects are attributed to the triterpenoid compounds in reishi, as reported in the August 2013 issue of Expert Opinion in Investigational Drugs.

7) Omega-3s.  Omega-3 fatty acids are highly unsaturated fatty acids found in coldwater fish, algae, flaxseed and various nuts.  The U.S. food supply is largely deficient in these essential fatty acids, and yet there is ample evidence that these nutrients are critical to the control of inflammation and a host of cancer-related processes.  Much research has shown that omega-3s can inhibit the production of VEGF, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and other key angiogenic mediators, as reported in the August 2009 European Journal of Cancer.  The highest quality omega-3 products are processed under oxygen-free conditions and use molecular distillation to remove all impurities.

8) Diindolylmethane.  Diindolylmethane, or DIM, is a metabolite of indole–3–carbinol (I3C), and both compounds exist naturally in cruciferous vegetables like kale and broccoli.  Upon contact with gastric acid in the stomach, I3C is converted to a number of active compounds, mainly DIM.  DIM has been shown to stimulate a number of anti-cancer processes and to increase the urinary excretion of toxic estrogen metabolites.  In laboratory studies, DIM was shown to block tumor angiogenesis in animal models for both breast and prostate cancers.  At least part of DIM’s anti-angiogenic effect may entail inhibition of the VEGF receptor, as reported in the 5 May 2015 issue of Chemico-Biological Interactions.

9) Ashwagandha.  Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a well-known adaptogenic herb that helps counteract the effects of stress and supports cardiovascular, immune, cognitive and joint comfort and functioning.  Research has shown that ashwagandha inhibits inflammatory processes that support the growth and spread of malignant tumors.  A large number of withanolides have been isolated from the roots and leaves of this herb. Amongst these compounds, Withaferin A, a potent VEGF inhibitor and one of the most bioactive constituents of Ashwagandha, has been shown to inhibit tumor cell growth, metastasis and angiogenesis.  In one animal study, withaferin A exerted strong anti-angiogenic activity at doses that were 500-fold lower than those previously reported to block tumor growth, as reported in the February 2004 issue of Angiogenesis.   Ashwagandha is widely used as a dietary supplement for reducing stress and bolstering resilience.

10) Convolvulus.  Convolvulus arvensis (CA) is a species of bindweed in the morning glory family and is native to Europe and Asia.  Chemical analyses of the extracts from this plant have shown a mixture of polysaccharides and proteins, including proteoglycans that have been shown to inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis.  In a mouse study of fibrosarcoma, high doses of CA inhibited tumor growth by 70%, and the tumor growth inhibition occurred at non-toxic doses.  In other studies, significant anti-angiogenic activities were observed with CA, as reported in the December 2014 Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine.

CA is the sole active ingredient in a supplement known as C-Statin.  In a small pilot clinical study, C-Statin was combined with another product called Imm-Kine, which contains a beta-1,3-glucan derived from baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and a bacterial cell wall extract from Lactobacillus fermentum.  The combined effect of C-Statin and Imm-Kine on blood plasma VEGF concentrations was examined in 10 people with advanced-stage metastatic cancer.  The study found a statistically significant reduction in VEGF concentrations over time among these patients.  

Although this study was too small to provide meaningful data for an impact on survival, it is among the very few clinical studies to have examined the effects of natural products on tumor angiogenesis.  Moreover, several well-documented case reports have indicated that the C-Statin/Imm-Kine combo may have had a favorable impact on survival in Stage IV cancers of the breast, ovaries, colon, and pancreas.  Of course, well-designed clinical trials will be needed to put such observations to the test.

Supplementing the Anti-Cancer Lifestyle
The anti-angiogenic supplements described in this article have been shown to help prevent tumor growth and spread.  Evidence  for their anti-angiogenic activities stems mainly from animal and cell culture studies.  Nevertheless, these natural products are already in widespread use among humans because they display a wide margin of safety, are readily available as dietary supplements, and tend to be inexpensive when compared to pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Keith Block, medical director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment in Skokie, Illinois, has proposed a multi-agent strategy for cancer management and long-term disease control, using an approach he refers to as multifocal angiostatic therapy (MAT). According to Block and his colleague Mark McCarty, the MAT strategy “seeks to impede cancer-induced angiogenesis by addressing multiple targets that regulate the angiogenic capacity of a cancer and/or the angiogenic responsiveness of endothelial cells, using measures that are preferentially, but not exclusively, nutraceutical.”

The MAT supplement regimen includes a number of supplements (including several addressed in this article), along with a low-fat, high-fiber vegan diet, exercise training, and, where feasible, the drug tetrathiomolybdate and a salicylate. Since angiogenesis is a process relatively restricted to the growing tumor, Dr. Block’s team believes the MAT regimen could provide an attractive, non-toxic approach to the prevention and control of malignant disease.

In conclusion, natural products for blocking tumor angiogenesis have the advantage of a wide margin of safety and relatively low cost, enabling daily supplementation and thus the potential for a more sustained impact on cancer prevention and management.  Supplement strategies for curbing angiogenesis may ultimately prove to be more effective than pharmaceutical strategies, though controlled studies comparing these two vastly different paradigms for cancer control are unlikely in the near future.

M. Nathaniel Mead, MSc, is a nutritional oncology research consultant for several integrative medicine clinics in the Research Triangle of North Carolina.  He can be reached at:  nutriconsult@earthlink.net

References
Wang Z, Dabrosin C, Yin X, Fuster MM, Arreola A, Rathmell WK, Generali D, Nagaraju GP, et al.  Broad targeting of angiogenesis for cancer prevention and therapy.  Semin Cancer Biol. 2015;35 Suppl:S224-43.
Sagar SM, Yance D, Wong RK.  Natural health products that inhibit angiogenesis: a potential source for investigational new agents to treat cancer-Part 2.  Curr Oncol. 2006;13(3):99-107
Granci V, Dupertuis YM, Pichard C. Angiogenesis as a potential target of pharmaconutrients in cancer therapy. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2010;13(4):417-22

Curcumin
Kumar G, Mittal S, Sak K, Tuli HS. Molecular mechanisms underlying chemopreventive potential of curcumin: Current challenges and future perspectives. Life Sci. 2016;148:313-28.
Fu Z, Chen X, Guan S,Yan Y5, Lin H, Hua ZC.  Curcumin inhibits angiogenesis and improves defective hematopoiesis induced by tumor-derived VEGF in tumor model through modulating VEGF-VEGFR2 signaling pathway. Oncotarget. 2015;6(23):19469-82.
Bimonte S, Barbieri A, Palma G, Luciano A, Rea D, Arra C.  Curcumin inhibits tumor growth and angiogenesis in an orthotopic mouse model of human pancreatic cancer. Biomed Res Int. 2013;2013:810423.

Resveratrol
Fouad MA, Agha AM, Merzabani MM, Shouman SA.  Resveratrol inhibits proliferation, angiogenesis and induces apoptosis in colon cancer cells: calorie restriction is the force to the cytotoxicity.  Hum Exp Toxicol. 2013;32(10):1067-80.
Chen JC, Chen Y, Lin JH, Wu JM, Tseng SH.  Resveratrol suppresses angiogenesis in gliomas: evaluation by color Doppler ultrasound. Anticancer Res. 2006 Mar-Apr;26(2A):1237-45.
Garvin S, Ollinger K, Dabrosin C.  Resveratrol induces apoptosis and inhibits angiogenesis in human breast cancer xenografts in vivo. Cancer Lett. 2006 Jan 8;231(1):113-22.

Green Tea Catechins
Shankar S, Ganapathy S, Hingorani SR, Srivastava RK.   EGCG inhibits growth, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis of pancreatic cancer. Front Biosci. 2008;13:440-52.
Gu JW, Makey KL, Tucker KB, Chinchar E, Mao X, Pei I, Thomas EY, Miele L.  EGCG, a major green tea catechin suppresses breast tumor angiogenesis and growth via inhibiting the activation of HIF-1α and NFκB, and VEGF expression.  Vasc Cell. 2013;5(1):9. doi: 10.1186/2045-824X-5-9.

Silybin
Deep G, Agarwal R. Targeting tumor microenvironment with silibinin: promise and potential for a translational cancer chemopreventive strategy.  Curr Cancer Drug Targets. 2013;13(5):486-99
Mateen S, Raina K, Agarwal R. Chemopreventive and anti-cancer efficacy of silibinin against growth and progression of lung cancer.  Nutr Cancer. 2013;65 Suppl 1:3-11.
Deep G, Gangar SC, Rajamanickam S, Raina K, Gu M, Agarwal C, Oberlies NH, Agarwal R.  Angiopreventive efficacy of pure flavonolignans from milk thistle extract against prostate cancer: targeting VEGF-VEGFR signaling. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e34630.

Scutellaria
Kimura Y, Sumiyoshi M.  Anti-tumor and anti-metastatic actions of wogonin isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis roots through anti-lymphangiogenesis.  Phytomedicine. 2013;20(3-4):328-36.
Song X, Yao J, Wang F, Zhou M, Zhou Y, Wang H, Wei L, Zhao L, Li Z, Lu N, Guo Q.  Wogonin inhibits tumor angiogenesis via degradation of HIF-1α protein. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2013;271(2):144-55.
Liu JJ, Huang TS, Cheng WF, Lu FJ.  Baicalein and baicalin are potent inhibitors of angiogenesis: Inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation, migration and differentiation.  Int J Cancer. 2003;106(4):559-65.

Reishi
Cao QZ, Lin ZB.  Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides peptide inhibits the growth of vascular endothelial cell and the induction of VEGF in human lung cancer cell.  Life Sci. 2006;78(13):1457-63.
Stanley G, Harvey K, Slivova V, Jiang J, Sliva D.  Ganoderma lucidum suppresses angiogenesis through the inhibition of secretion of VEGF and TGF-beta1 from prostate cancer cells.  Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005;330(1):46-52.
Wu GS, Guo JJ, Bao JL, Li XW, Chen XP, Lu JJ, Wang YT.  Anti-cancer properties of triterpenoids isolated from Ganoderma lucidum - a review. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2013;22(8):981-92

Omega-3s
Wang W, Zhu J, Lyu F, Panigrahy D, Ferrara KW, Hammock B, Zhang G.  ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids-derived lipid metabolites on angiogenesis, inflammation and cancer. Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat. 2014 Oct;113-115:13-20
Zhang G, Panigrahy D, Mahakian LM, Yang J, Liu JY, Stephen Lee KS, Wettersten HI, Ulu A, Hu X, Tam S, Hwang SH, Ingham ES, Kieran MW, Weiss RH, Ferrara KW, Hammock BD.  Epoxy metabolites of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) inhibit angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Apr 16;110(16):6530-5.
Spencer L, Mann C, Metcalfe M, Webb M, Pollard C, Spencer D, Berry D, Steward W, Dennison A. The effect of omega-3 FAs on tumour angiogenesis and their therapeutic potential. Eur J Cancer. 2009;45(12):2077-86

Diindolylmethane
Nayak D, Amin H, Rah B, Ur Rasool R, Sharma D, Gupta AP, Kushwaha M, Mukherjee D, Goswami A.  A therapeutically relevant, 3,3'-diindolylmethane derivative NGD16 attenuates angiogenesis by targeting glucose regulated protein, 78kDa (GRP78).  Chem Biol Interact. 2015;232:58-67.
Kong D, Banerjee S, Huang W, Li Y, Wang Z, Kim HR, Sarkar FH.  Mammalian target of rapamycin repression by 3,3'-diindolylmethane inhibits invasion and angiogenesis in platelet-derived growth factor-D-overexpressing PC3 cells. Cancer Res. 2008;68(6):1927-34.
Kong D, Li Y, Wang Z, Banerjee S, Sarkar FH.  Inhibition of angiogenesis and invasion by 3,3'-diindolylmethane is mediated by the nuclear factor-kappaB downstream target genes MMP-9 and uPA that regulated bioavailability of vascular endothelial growth factor in prostate cancer.  Cancer Res. 2007;67(7):3310-9.

Ashwagandha
Saha S, Islam MK, Shilpi JA, Hasan S.  Inhibition of VEGF: a novel mechanism to control angiogenesis by Withania somnifera's key metabolite Withaferin A.  In Silico Pharmacol. 2013;1:11.
Vanden Berghe W, Sabbe L, Kaileh M, Haegeman G, Heyninck K.  Molecular insight in the multifunctional activities of Withaferin A.  Biochem Pharmacol. 2012;84(10):1282-91.
Mohan R, Hammers HJ, Bargagna-Mohan P, Zhan XH, Herbstritt CJ, Ruiz A, Zhang L, Hanson AD, Conner BP, Rougas J, Pribluda VS. Withaferin A is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis.  Angiogenesis. 2004;7(2):115-22.

Convolvulus plus Beta-Glucan
Mahmoudi M, Zamani Taghizadeh Rabe S, Zamani Taghizadeh Rabe S, Emami SA.  A study to investigate the biological activity of proteoglycan mixture extract from Convolvulus arvensis.  J Complement Integr Med. 2014;11(4):265-72.
Meng XL, Riordan NH, Casciari JJ, Zhu Y, Zhong J, González MJ, Miranda-Massari JR, Riordan HD. Effects of a high molecular mass Convolvulus arvensis extract on tumor growth and angiogenesis. P R Health Sci J. 2002;21(4):323-8
Torello CO, Souza-Queiroz J, Queiroz ML.  β-1,3-Glucan given orally modulates immunomyelopoietic activity and enhances the resistance of tumour-bearing mice.  Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2012;39(3):209-17.

Integrative Medicine Strategy
McCarty MF, Block KI.  Multifocal angiostatic therapy: an update. Integr Cancer Ther. 2005;4(4):301-14

We all have a definition of what anxiety means to us personally. Maybe it is that tight feeling when you are late for work and you hit all red lights, or the butterflies you feel before having a serious medical test. The textbook definition is that anxiety is the sense of worry, apprehension and unease we feel about an upcoming event with an uncertain outcome. Psychologists view extreme anxiety as a nervous disorder. In fact, it is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder in the United States. 

At its heart, anxiety is an emotion, and, believe it or not, it is a good thing. It may not be a pleasant experience, but it has kept us alive for countless generations. Anxiety ticks off the warning that the night is too dark to venture into the forest, that you should lock your doors after a string of robberies hits your neighborhood, or that you shouldn't let your small children cross the busy highway alone. Without the distress that anxiety fuels, our ancestors might have made many disastrous decisions and we might not be here today. 

Unfortunately, anxiety can become problematic when it i elicited by common everyday occurrences, or even by nothing at all. There is an impending sense of doom that bad things are about to happen. The neighbor's knock at the door starts the heart pounding, or driving over a bridge causes headaches and sweaty palms. Suddenly, you may have trouble catching your breath. Sometimes anxiety and panic attacks are so severe they are mistaken for heart attacks. In these instances, the physiological response of anxiety has become somewhat disconnected from the actual trigger. And that can cause everything from minor discomfort to paralyzing fear. 

The causes of excessive anxiety are not yet well defined. There may be some brain chemical imbalances that play a role, and there is always the influence of traumatic events not yet reconciled. There are definitely some issues with inflammation and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. But regardless of cause, high levels of anxiety call for relief. High levels of anxiety can cause other health conditions, or make existing health conditions worse. A study published recently in Current Psychiatry Reports found that anxiety disorders are associated with the onset and progression of cardiac disease, including mortality. By restoring better mental balance, all health improves.

THE ADRENAL CONNECTION
The adrenal glands release hormones in stressful situations that stimulate the fight or flight response. These hormones give use that strange feeling in the stomach and rapid heartbeat we associate with fear. Sometimes the adrenal glands over-respond, or respond without our awareness. One useful way to address one of the underlying causes of anxiety is to restore adrenal health. 

There are many elements that support healthy adrenal function, but there are two adaptogenic herbs that stand out: ashwagandha and rhodiola.

ASHWAGANDHA
Adaptogens are rare and precious botanicals that neither systemically increase nor decrease functions in our body - they push toward normal. If a person has low adrenal function and they are feeling overwhelmed and fatigued, ashwagandha will boost adrenal function. But if a person is highly stressed and jittery, it will gently pull this excessive adrenal function back to normal. This herb has also been shown to play a role in modulating GABA (gamma amino-butyric acid), which elicits a sense of calm. In a review of human trial results on using ashwagandha for anxiety, it was found that on average, anxiety measures decreased between 44 and 56 percent.

RHODIOLA
Rhodiola is another adaptogeneic herb that can have profound effects on mood and health. While research is ongoing, early results indicate that phyotnutrients in rhodiola can bind to the GABAA-benzodiazepine site of the GABAAA receptor. These technical results mean that rhodiola can improve mood and create calm without drowsiness or changes in judgment. 

People living in he harshest regions of China and Russia often add a snip of rhodiola root to a bottle of vodka. Over time, the liquid turns a brilliant rosy red. People venturing out in extremes of weather often fortify themselves with a sip of the rhodiola alcohol, or upon returning, and they feel it is highly restorative. I think of both rhodiola and ashwagandha as empowering herbs that can help people feel stronger and more in control, despite stressful situations.

KAVA
An important, clinically studied her that consistently performs well in reducing anxiety is kava. To date, in the electronic database of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) PubMed.gov, there are 176 studies specifically on kava and anxiety. However, reports of liver toxicity threw a monkey wrench into kava utilization, as the extract was banned in Europe, where it had enjoyed much popularity. Those bans are now being lifted as the original evidence is more closely examined and found faulty. What a disservice this has been to people for whom this might have been a useful intervention. Kava is slowly rebuilding its reputation and studies are resuming on this interesting plant.

LAVENDER
Lavender scent has a demonstrated calming effect. There are many published studies demonstrating the benefits of using lavender as aromatherapy. Adding lavender to situations that provoke anxiety can be very beneficial. For example, keeping a small clay scent diffuser on your desk and adding drop of lavender oil each day can be helpful . You can add lavender to the bath or to your pillowcase. 

While the majority of studies examined lavender as aromatherapy, there is strong evidence that internal use of lavender oil can promote sleep and relaxation. One recent study found it very useful for agitation and restlessness. This area of research is quite promising.

ECHINACEA
Echinacea may be a surprise to be included in this list, because the vast majority of the science on echinacea has been about boosting the immune system. However, the Hungarian Academy of Science has been conducting research on a unique echinacea extract of specific compounds found plentifully only in the root of one species (Echinacea angustifolia) grown under specific conditions. This single echinocoside extraction, called EP107, has the ability to partially bind to cannabinoid receptors in the brain. This binding causes a sensation to calm and relaxation without drowsiness or interference with thinking and judgement. 

In an experimental model of anxiety, small doses of this singular extract worked as well as the drug chlordiazepoxide, known by its brand name Librium. This is a drug in the Valium family of compounds and is both sedating and mind altering. It also has high addiction potential, so finding an herbal intervention that shows promise that works as well as this drug, but without the severe adverse effects, is a major step forward in natural therapies for anxiety. 

In a clinical study using the same extract, people with diagnosed anxiety issues were given 20 mg twice daily of this extract. The herbal product reduced anxiety significantly the first day of use, and even more so after one week of use. There were also no reports of drowsiness or confusion, or other adverse effects. 

Practitioners have anecdotally used this extract at slightly higher dosages, 20 mg up to four times daily, and have reported excellent benefits for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), without serious adverse effects. Since this is a single compound and not the whole herb, it won't help prevent the common cold, but it will help reduce anxiety. 

CONCLUSION
There are many natural interventions to help address problematic anxiety levels, and this list is not all inclusive. Healthy omega-3 fatty acids bound to phospholipids from salmon is my personal favorite for delivering much needed EPA and DHA to the brain. Curcumin with turmeric essential oil can play a tremendous role in reducing inflammation. Lemon balm has a proven track record for reducing nervousness and promoting relaxation. Chamomile tea and supplements also promote relaxation. There are many tools in the retailer's tool chest when offering to help customers with this very unpleasant experience: anxiety. 

Cheryl Myers, RN is an integrative health practitioner, author, and an expert on natural medicine. She has degrees in both psychology and nursing, and more than 10 years of experience in psychiatric care. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has been interviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Prevention magazine. Her research on botanicals for menopause has been presented at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the North American Menopause Society. Myers is the head of Scientific Affairs and Education for EuroPharma, Inc. 

Modern medicine is actively transitioning from "fighting disease" to promoting health. However, the medical community has yet to arrive at a universally accepted definition of "health." Without such, the path to health preservation, protection and rejuvenation remains unclear.

Supporting the emergence of integrated medicine and less expensive, value-based systems, we invite review articles that define "health" in a manner that helps to develop a healthier society and provide actionable guidelines for practicing physicians and public health workers. Cureus has assembled a very high profile team for peer review including 

• Dr. John Ioannidis, Professor of Health Policy with Stanford Medicine, 
• Dr. Victoria Maizes, Executive Director at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, 
• Dr. George Lundberg, former 17 year editor with JAMA, 
• Dr. Josephine Briggs, Director with the NIH / NCCIH, 
• Dr. Stephen Klasko, President and CEO with Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health,  
• Dr. Donald Abrams, Medical Oncologist with UCSF, and others.

As an incentive for submissions, we are offering $18,000 in awards for the authors that produce what the peer review panel and clinical community determines to be the most novel and impactful articles.

FDA must be worried—they’ve extended the comment period for the supplement guidance. We must use the opportunity to flood the agency with more comments. Please help out! Highest-Level Action Alert!

This past August, the FDA issued its long delayed guidance detailing how the supplement industry can bring new products to the market. The guidance deals with how and whether the supplement industry is allowed to innovate and create new supplements, also called “new dietary ingredients” (NDIs for short).

There are many, many problems with this guidance that you can read more about in our original coverage, but the main point is simple: if this current guidance becomes final with no modifications, consumers will very likely lose access to thousands of supplements. In some cases, ingredients that have been available as supplements could be handed over to the pharmaceutical industry. Innovation will be quashed.

We believe this is exactly what the FDA and its Big Pharma allies want. Only the American public can stop it.

Over the last few months, ANH-USA members and other stakeholders have inundated the FDA with comments—addressing the substance of the guidance as well as asking the FDA to extend the comment period to give the public ample time to respond.

The FDA paid attention because the only thing it fears is Congress—and the only thing Congress fears is the voters. The agency responded and agreed to extend the comment period on the guidance sixty days, to December 12, 2016.

We cannot stress how critical it is for everyone who has not yet submitted a comment to the FDA on this issue to do so now. The guidance will threaten too many vital supplements and effectively kill innovation in the supplement industry. We must stop the FDA from moving forward with its new regulations disguised as a “guidance” document.

Highest-Level Action Alert! If you haven’t already, send a message to the FDA detailing all of the problems with their NDI guidance document. Please send your message immediately!

TAKE ACTION NOW

The following drug products were withdrawn or removed from the market because such drug products or components of such drug products were found to be unsafe or not effective. The following drug products may not be compounded under the exemptions provided by section 503A(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act:

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), would prohibit the federal government, particularly the US Food and Drug Administration, from blocking patient access to experimental medications.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf was scheduled to attend a hearing on the bill, but canceled at the last minute.

As the law stands now, FDA bureaucrats can continue to throw numerous roadblocks and hurdles into the path of patients who desire access to experimental and potentially life-saving drugs, as they have been doing for quite some time.

Here’s how it works—or rather, doesn’t work—currently. Individual patients may apply for access to experimental treatments outside of a drug trial if they meet all three of the following criteria:

• have a serious or life-threatening disease or condition;
• have no other treatment options left; and
• can persuade a qualified physician to deliver the treatment.

Under these circumstances, the FDA may, at its sole discretion, grant “compassionate use” of the new medication. But the program is marred by a prohibitively cumbersome application and documentation process, and the agency does everything it can to delay or block approval. It can even revoke permission after it has been granted—and does. How capricious can you get?

The issue is gaining momentum at the state level: more than two dozen states have approved so-called “Right-to-Try” bills—including California, where Gov. Jerry Brown just last month signed such a bill into law. We must throw our support behind the federal bill.

Action Alert! Write to your senators and urge them to support Sen. Johnson’s Right-to-Try bill. Please send your message immediately.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Drug products on the list may not be compounded because the drug products have been withdrawn or removed from the market for safety or effectiveness reasons. The list appears in the Code of Federal Regulations at Title 21, section 216.24.

The final rule:

• Adds 24 types of drugs to the withdrawn or removed list.
• Modifies the withdrawn or removed list to allow one type of drug product to be compounded under certain circumstances.
• Clarifies that the withdrawn or removed list applies to sections 503A and 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

In addition, FDA published a discussion in the Federal Register that clarifies the procedure FDA intends to use to amend the withdrawn or removed list.

FDA’s website has additional information on compounding.

The following effects are pharmacologically evident:

·       PPC reduces the severity of oxidative stress manifestation and lipid peroxidation by reducing

o   transcription of pro-inflammatory genes by decreased expression of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB),

o   pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as of tumor necrosis alpha (TNF-α) and various interleukins,

o   pro-inflammatory enzymes, such as of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2).

·       PPC reduces ATP shortage, induced by overexpression of mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP-2).

·       PPC reduces serum and hepatic fat accumulation, by

o   improving hepatic mitochondrial membrane potential,

o   increasing hepatic triglyceride lipase activity.

·       PPC acts as an anti-fibrogenic.

·       PPC acts an anti-apoptotic.

Ingredients:
Chicken fillets, 2 small packages
Fresh spinach leaves, one large container
2 medium green or yellow squash
One green bell pepper
Two poblanos peppers
Cherry tomatoes, one small container
Onions, two medium
Fresh chopped clove of garlic
Fresh mushrooms, one small package
One can of tomato sauce
Chicken or vegetable broth, 3 cups
Fresh Parmesan/Romano cheese
¼ teaspoon herbs de Provence
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut chicken into bite size pieces and saute in grapeseed oil until browned and tender, set aside
In same heavy pan, add chopped onions, garlic, mushrooms and peppers and saute about 5 to 10 minutes.
Add in chopped tomatoes, chopped spinach, squash and chicken and cover with liquid broth.
Stir in tomato sauce. Add in  herbs de Provence, sea salt and black pepper.
Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.
Cover and bake in 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes.
Best served with brown rice and a salad.
Bon appetite!

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released a draft report finding that glyphosate—the active ingredient in Monsanto’s popular Roundup weed killer—is not likely to cause cancer in humans.

This finding is preliminary, to be followed by the agency’s final review of glyphosate, which has been delayed until spring of 2017.

The EPA decided to address the potential cancer-causing effects of glyphosate after the United Nations’ International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced last year that the chemical was a “probable carcinogen.”

An “independent” panel of scientists will review the EPA’s report this month. But as our readers know, Monsanto and other biotech giants have so deeply corrupted the science of this issue that finding independent scientists would be a very tough challenge.

Industry and allied “experts” have no doubt pressed EPA for this report because of concern that the chemical might be banned worldwide. But the agency isn’t even addressing all the right questions. Recent research has found that Roundup and other herbicides are up to 1,000 times more toxic than just the headline ingredient itself.

In addition, cancer is just one of the several serious human health concerns with this toxic agent:

• Glyphosate has been associated with epidemics of kidney failure killing farm workers in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
• We reported recently that glyphosate, because of its similarity in structure to glycine (an essential amino acid), is likely disrupting the synthesis of proteins in the human body, which can lead to all sorts of diseases and health problems.
• The chemical may be responsible for abnormal rates of birth defects in Hawaii, which is considered “ground zero for experimentation with GE crops.”
• Glyphosate also inhibits numerous physiological processes in plants including photosynthesis, mineral nutrition, and the synthesis of flavonoids—the compounds in blueberries, grapes, apples, and other fruits that make them healthy—meaning that we may not be getting the nutrients we need from plants that come into contact with the herbicide.
• Strong evidence also suggests that glyphosate is an endocrine disruptor, i.e., a chemical than can interfere with our hormone system’s proper functioning. Apart from numerous animal and in vitro studies demonstrating the endocrine disrupting effects of glyphosate, other peer-reviewed research shows that glyphosate disrupts male reproductive functions—decreasing testosterone by as much as 35%.

Let’s also keep in mind that when the EPA okayed glyphosate again in 1993, it relied on the same toxicity studies Monsanto originally submitted. Most of them were done in the 1970s. Most, if not all of them, were done at the notorious Hazleton Laboratories (now Covance). This lab provided the tobacco industry with studies showing that second-hand smoke isn’t harmful to human health.  The list of alleged violations for this lab is long, and includes adding extra animals to experiments, not following scientific protocols, and secretly keeping extra animals off-site.  These, and other violations dating back decades, cast serious doubt on the validity of the toxicity studies done on glyphosate.

It is disappointing that the EPA appears to be covering up for Monsanto, but hardly surprising. Among US political leaders, only Bernie Sanders has not been co-opted by this industry. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have promoted it in return for political support.

Action Alert! Write to your elected officials and tell them to make sure the EPA addresses ALL the relevant questions about the safety of glyphosate. Please send your message immediately.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Organic products are at risk. Action Alert!

When consumers purchase organic produce, they expect to avoid vegetables and fruits that have been genetically modified or sprayed with dangerous pesticides. The unsettling reality, however, is that cross-contamination between GM plants and conventional or organic plants is not only possible—it is already happening.

Take the example of rapeseed (Brassica napus). Millions of acres of GM rapeseed, which is used to make canola oil, the most popular cooking oil in North America, are being grown—in Canada and Australia in particular, but also in the US. This GM rapeseed has spread across the world, growing wild in ports, railway beds, along highways, and other areas where it has “escaped” during transport. This has been documented particularly in Japan but has been found growing wild in North Dakota as well.

Not only is it growing wild—it has contaminated another Brassica, the parent of cruciferous vegetables known as Brassica rapa. Organic broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Napa cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and more are now under threat. Keep in mind that when one type of GM plant crosses with another plant, it keeps all the GM mutations.

What is particularly alarming is that GM plants and non-GM plants do not need to be close together for cross-pollination to occur. GM rapeseed is spread thousands of miles along places where it’s spilled. Its pollen can also travel thousands of miles. Cross-pollination is likely to occur in weedy relatives of cruciferous vegetables growing in and around cultivated areas. It’s not known whether contamination of organic vegetables has already occurred. The US government isn’t monitoring GM canola and isn’t interested in finding out what is happening.

If you listen to Monsanto—or their allies in government—you’d think everything is just fine. Monsanto informs us that GM crops can coexist perfectly well with organic crops—sometimes even on the same farm!

More to the point, the organic seal cannot provide complete protection. It refers almost exclusively to the processes used by a farmer to make sure the crops are not genetically modified. This includes some measures that must be taken to avoid contact with GMOs, but the point is that food can still be labeled “organic” even if it ends up containing some unknown percentage of GM material.

Nor is testing vegetables a solution, since it would make already expensive organic food astronomically expensive. Large companies might even like this, because they could use such a regulation to shut down smaller competitors, including family farms.

There is an additional worry. Following the passage of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Act—that is, the phony GMO labeling bill that was approved by Congress in July—the USDA has to set a threshold for how much GM material can be in a food in order to qualify it for the GMO label. Given the biotech industry’s clout in Washington, it’s a safe bet that the USDA’s proposal will be written by those companies.

The issue here is not only one of cross-contamination—not only between GM and non-GM plants of the same species, but also between different species. This is all part of the Pandora’s Box of GM food that has corrupted our government as well as our good supply.

Action Alert! Write to the USDA and tell them to stop ignoring and covering up GM cross-pollination and contamination. Also urge the agency to protect consumers by keeping organic food truly organic. Please send your message immediately.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

6 or so large fresh peaches

1 lemon

1 cup maple Pecan Crunch (Nature’s Path Organic)

1 cup brown sugar

Sea salt

Cinnamon

Allspice

Nutmeg

4 tablespoons of organic olive oil buttery spread

PREPARATIONS

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Wash peaches  then slice them with their skins and toss with juice of lemon.  set aside.

With a rubber mallet, crush the maple crunch into small bits.

In a buttered baking dish, Mix the maple crunch with the brown sugar, sea salt and spices and line the bottom of the dish with one half the mixture.

Arrange fruit on top.

 Cut pieces of the butter spread into the rest of the crunch mixture and cover on top of fruit.

As Ruth Reichl states in her cookbook, My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life, for apple crisp: “The cooking time is forgiving; you can put your crisp into a 375-degree oven and pretty much forget about it for 45 minutes to an hour. The juices should be bubbling a bit at the edges; the top should be crisp, golden and fragrant. Served warm, with a pitcher of cream, it makes you grateful for fall.” You can also serve it with Greek yogurt, vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.  
Bon appetite!

But there was another reason; I was gearing up to buy another motorcycle after not having ridden for 29 years. Reactions of friends and family were interesting to say the least. My children were not thrilled with the idea for obvious reasons, but my therapist was thrilled that her client was taking on that next challenge. Who in their right mind takes on the danger game at this stage of life? This is a question I had to ask myself, but for me, the answer was easy. I’ve always been a risk taker and I dare to declare that with its sometimes negative connotations. But if you look closely, you will find that risk takers are actually very careful and very serious about the risks they take. First of all, they learn everything they can about the job ahead to insure full understanding. Back in the 80s, I attended the motorcycle safety course at the police academy; this time I completed the course with the motorcycle safety foundation. I had an excellent instructor and learned more this time than I did previously. Knowledge may be the first step but preparation is the second. When it comes to motorcycle safety, conspicuity is an important element. The brighter the bike and the clothing, the easier it will be for drivers to see you and that is extremely important because most motorcycle accidents are due to not being seen in time.  Reflective strips are helpful when riding in the dark.

Everything seemed to proceed smoothly. I chose my beautiful new red cruiser and gave it a name: Reno. And then Reno sat in my garage and sat and sat and…….. Was I ever going to venture out on the road? I started having dreams about my riding and some were not so pleasant. I obsessed about traffic patterns and how I could find back roads to take to work. I wondered where I could practice without worrying about traffic. In short, I was losing my courage and was filled with self-doubt and dread. A friend from work said he’d go riding with me and we planned a trip to see some petroglyphs along the way, but two weekends went by and he didn’t call. Was it because I was a newbie? He later assured me that was not the case and we are scheduled for our ride soon. It’s a lot more fun to ride with others, especially in the beginning when you are building up your courage.

And so the day of reckoning came and without thinking much about it, I dressed for the occasion. I put the dogs inside; I opened the gate; I backed out of the garage in neutral and then I started the engine. It sputtered and loudly objected but I persisted and within five minutes, Reno was purring like a kitten. With a few good deep breaths, I found the friction point and was off in first and soon an upshift into second. I was on my way. The first road I had to ride had fast speeds and I had to accelerate quickly; I was surprised by the force of the wind. I turned off onto a side road and headed to the rural campus of our university where I hoped to practice my maneuvers. Once I started to relax, I could smell the freshly cut alfalfa and smell who was cooking tortillas for breakfast. I heard the roosters crowing and the donkeys braying; I was exhilarated and knew why I was where I was.

I turned off onto the campus road and there was no one in sight.  I followed the road around the perimeter until I came to a large parking lot with some barriers at each end. Perfect! I started and stopped; went around curves, did my U-turns, did my emergency stops and swerves. I wasn’t as smooth as I wanted to be but I wasn’t half bad and only killed the engine once! It was getting hot and time to head for home. I walked into the house with a big smile on my face and was feeling very proud of myself. I did it; I took the first step all by myself with no one to hold my hand. Yes, I think this can be fun if I 1) never get complacent and am always alert; 2) do my T-CLOCS prior to the ride and make sure Reno is in good shape; 3) realize that life is fragile and can end in a heartbeat, no matter how experienced you are; 4) make sure I am in good shape and not tired or distracted.  Motorcycle madness? Some may think so but I must concur with Robert Pirsig; it is the pursuit of excellence and caring and OK, throw in a little exhilaration!

Sometimes it’s difficult to make a seamless transition from blog to recipe and this is one of those times. Does any recipe come to mind when discussing motorcycles? I can’t think of any but it does remind me of the concept of persistence: getting something right after lots of practice. Some months ago I offered a recipe for a berry tart and today I am repeating that since I found fresh Colorado peaches in the co-op this past week.  I haven’t tasted it yet, but it sure smells good cooking in the oven!

Our government and corporate America both acknowledge that our healthcare system is in need of revision,however, neither knows what to change. Interactive Medical Co-­‐op is the first Co-­‐op network to break the mold from the usual and customary conventional, symptom relief driven, traditional medical plans. Interactive Medical Co-­‐op is America's first Co-­‐0p network that embraces prevention, wellness and providing patients with a blend of both traditional and integrative treatments.

Why was IMC created? IMC resulted from the request of a fortune 500 corporation, which self-­‐insures, seeking a blend of traditional and non-­‐traditional medical services. The corporation tasked Utopia with the integration or blending of both realms of the medical world. The driving force for the corporation is to manage costs, while providing their associates with better healthcare options and treatments.

What is self-­‐insurance and how does it differ from ordinary healthcare insurance? Traditional health insurance is Obama care insurance. Someone, God only knows, decides what is medicine by deciding what gets paid, i.e. pre-­‐authorization. Now, one would think that the megaliths of the fortune 500 would understand health insurance.   I thought so, however the shocking reality, at least to me, is that the majority hire or purchase insurance through  a  broker,  who  tells  the  corporation  what  insurance  products  will  comply  the government’s mandate.

Usually, fiscally savvy brokers will steer a corporation into accepting a premade plan from a huge healthcare insurer, i.e. Aetna, Blue Cross, etc. The corporation, as we, in this case is at the mercy of the traditional health insurance company, who also works along side with the traditional health insurance broker. One would think savings would be returned, or passed on, to the buyer, the self-­‐insured corporation. This is a nice theory, but not the practice. In this case, which is the norm, the corporation is no better off than we are. The deals, or discounts, made to the large health insurance companies, i.e. Aetna, etc. is not  normally disclosed to the self-­‐insured corporation. I suspect the “logic” being, because we insure so many, this really is not because of you, corporation, it is because we risk so much more than you. Because corporations realize this, they are desirous of change. However, the corporations are not sure what to do. IMC is the physician arm of this change, the evolution of healthcare delivery.

Successful corporations adapt to situations. They analyze failures and learn from them. Thus IMC is the realization that self-­‐insured corporations, those mandated to provide healthcare for their employees have requested. They want us to help them provide a better product and delivery for the healthcare for which they are willing to pay. Corporations function with profit in mind, they understand everyone expects to be reimbursed fairly for services rendered and they expect that a profit will be incorporated into the reimbursement schedule. By the same token if fair reimbursement is given, they expect service commensurate with that payment. For equitable reimbursement, corporations expect face-­‐to-­‐face time between practitioners and patients. This is perceived value.

Over the years many practitioners have diligently studied and pioneered non-­‐traditional modalities to assist the healing of patients. These treatments are often effective and typically lack side effects, when done correctly. However, when traditional insurance healthcare plans are approached for acceptance and reimbursement, the clinical experience falls upon deaf ears. Whereas insurance companies are experts on mitigating financial risk and maximizing their own profits, they know little about healthcare and its delivery. They apparently never learned that medicine is an art and will never be just a science, mainly because each patient is his or her own unique environment, but the best clinicians know this well.

Interactive Medical Co-­‐op is now asking physicians who desire to practice and provide both non-­‐traditional and traditional therapies to join. With a large enough physician base, we will be able to service other self-­‐insured companies nationwide, providing them with the savings that come from integrated medical interventions, while providing their employees with blended treatment options, pre-­‐illness wellness interventions, and more efficacious treatments. Joining  Interactive Medical  Co-­‐op  offers highly  qualified  practitioners the opportunity to provide care with a broader therapeutic palette, with easy reimbursement.

Interactive Medical Co-­‐op is today's reality of medicine's evolution. Please join us in this groundbreaking endeavor. We welcome you; your input is valuable and needed!

I thank you for your consideration,
Carlos Garcia
Interactive Medical Co-Op, LLC.
110 State Street East
Oldsmar, FL 34677
727-799-9060
IntMedCoLLC@gmail.com


VIEW IMC Colleague Package

INGREDIENTS:

Two medium eggplants

3 large or 4/5 medium tomatoes

2 medium purple onions

6 garlic cloves

2 large bell peppers: green, red, or orange

3 large zucchini

2 large summer squash

One small container of organic mushrooms

One small can of organic tomato paste

3 cubes of vegetable or chicken broth dissolved in 3 cups water

1/8^th tsp each of parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, tarragon, garlic powder

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Freshly grated parmesan/romano cheese

PREPARATIONS:

Heat a heavy skillet with a small amount of virgin, cold pressed olive oil. Add finely chopped onions, mushrooms, garlic cloves for about 10 minutes until onions are clear and mushrooms shrunk. Set aside.

In the same skillet, put in the eggplant, chopped into small pieces, about quarter size. Saute until browned and the sponginess is gone, about 20 minutes or so.

In a large pot, add the onion/mushroom mix, the eggplants and the uncooked remaining vegetables chopped into bite size pieces. Add the chicken broth dissolved in water along with the tomato paste, herbs and salt and pepper.

Simmer for at least a couple hours; the longer the cooking time at low heat, the better the results.  Some recipes call for each vegetable to be sautéed separately in hot oil before combining into one pot. The problem with that approach is that too much oil is used in the process and the final product is much too oily. Go light on the oil, although with eggplant, you just have to adjust the amount due to its absorption. 

The taste is amazing and it is a wonderful side dish and also could be the basis for a moussaka if that’s where you’re headed. Bon Appetit!

Maybe you know someone who has suffered a heart attack. You’re concerned about their well-being, particularly if they’re diabetic or suffered a large heart attack. You want to make sure that absolutely everything that can help this loved one stay healthy and alive is discussed with their doctors. Odds are very high, however, that there’s one promising therapy the doctor won’t tell them about: chelation therapy.

We must kill this bill. It allows industry to decide how to label its products, and you can bet that most companies will choose the option that requires consumers to scan a code or call a number to find out what's in their food. Companies know that few people will want to do this and even fewer will be able to.

Worse, there do not seem to be any penalties for a company that doesn't label its food. So for those who choose to simply ignore this law, there are very few consequences—unless the state separately imposes fines for mislabeling.

This bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing: it pays lip service to mandatory labeling but is designed to block Vermont's GMO labeling law and keep consumers in the dark about what's in their food.

Click the link below to tell your senators and the White House to vote NO on S. 764!

CLICK HERE to TAKE ACTION

When we look at the traditional training and education that we all acquired in dental and medical schools, we realize that we were all taught an amputation model of delivering care. We were taught that if we cut away disease, then health will appear.

As more open-minded professionals, we realize this model does not work well for most patients and only further prolongs their morbidity and possibly can cause a faster mortality.

It becomes incumbent on all health professionals to to educate ourselves and to find and help educate colleagues who are open-minded enough and willing to learn new modalities in order to work together towards common goals.

In general:

·        503B facilities will only be able to compound drugs that appear on a separate pre-approved list, which has not yet been finalized. Current thinking is that this list will be extremely limited in terms of the needs of integrative physicians. 

·        503A pharmacies are also facing harsh restrictions. DQSA rules limit the substances that can be compounded by traditional pharmacies to those that either 1) have US Pharmacopoeia monographs, 2) are components of approved drugs, or 3) appear on a pre-approved list by the FDA. The FDA is developing a separate “Demonstrably Difficult to Compound List” that will exclude many other important ingredients from compounding.

What is threatened?
Bioidentical Hormones—Estriol, progesterone, testosterone, and other hormones have been nominated to the “Demonstrably Difficult to Compound” list, meaning that access to compounded hormones is in grave danger.
Supplements—Although many supplements have USP monographs, the FDA has stated that supplements must be pre-approved to be legally compounded. Many supplements and natural ingredients that have been nominated have been rejected, such as curcumin, aloe vera, boswellia, and acetyl-L-carnitine, to name just a few.
IV Nutrients—It is unclear whether the FDA will allow the compounding of nutrient IV bags—especially due to the threats to compounded supplements.
Office Use— The FDA has made it illegal for doctors to keep compounded medications from 503A facilities in their offices without a prescription, a practice known as “office use.” This has increased the cost of these medications, not to mention the added hassle for patients. Medications without prescriptions from 503B facilities can continue, but the list of medications that can be legally compounded by 503B facilities will be limited.
Affordability—Due to the above-mentioned restrictions, and the threat of more to come, it has become extremely difficult for doctors to obtain medications. For example, the price of injectable B-12 has climbed just under 700% from the mid-2000’s.
Interstate Commerce—DQSA limits the amount of interstate shipments that 503A facilities can make to 5% of total sales. This is extremely problematic given that certain pharmacies specialize in specific preparations. A memorandum of understanding released by the FDA increases this amount to 30%, but then states must take over regulatory responsibility over these facilities. Since it is likely that many states will not elect to take on this additional burden, the upshot is 503A facilities will only be able to ship a small portion of their medications out of state, which could create shortages and increase the price of compounded medications further. 

What Can You Do?

·        Follow the developments regarding compounding at ANH-USA.org. 

·        Participate in ANH-USA action alerts that urge lawmakers and regulators to preserve access to compounded medications.

·        Share your story with ANH-USA at http://www.anh-usa.org/contact-anh-usa/

·        Support ANH-USA in its efforts to rein in these excessive, burdensome, and costly regulations at http://www.anh-usa.org/donate/

·        Compounded chelation drugs such as dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA)

·        DMPS (sodium 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonate)

·        Compounded IV nutrients

·        Compounded supplements (even though many supplements have monographs, the FDA has said supplements must be pre-approved to be legally compounded)

Recent regulations have also made it illegal for doctors to keep compounded medications from 503A facilities in their offices without a prescription, a practice known as “office use.” This has increased the cost of these medications, not to mention the added hassle for patients. Medications without prescriptions from 503B facilities can continue, but the list of medications that can be legally compounded by 503B facilities will be limited.

EDTA on the chopping block?
In response to patient deaths allegedly linked to chelation therapy, the FDA is reviewing the “benefit/risk profile of [EDTA] to determine if the benefits of its intended use continue to outweigh the serious risks.”[1] Given the agency’s antipathy towards integrative medicine, it is likely to take action against EDTA.

State Medical Board Hostility.
State medical boards have been historically aggressive against doctors using chelation therapy—totaling 194 actions over 40 years. Mostly these actions have been against doctors using chelation without proving heavy metal toxicity with a blood—even though blood tests are not a reliable measure for heavy metal toxicity, since metals circulate in blood for a short time before concentrating in tissue.

Medical boards in Tennessee, New Hampshire, and Oregon have taken official positions on chelation that threaten action against doctors using chelation beyond FDA-approved uses.[2]

What can you do?

·        Follow the developments regarding chelation therapy at ANH-USA.org. 

·        Participate in ANH-USA action alerts that urge lawmakers and regulators to preserve access to chelation therapy.

·        Share your story with ANH-USA at http://www.anh-usa.org/contact-anh-usa/

Recently I decided to see a professional therapist even though I am one. I wavered back and forth telling myself that if I just stood in front of the mirror, I could tell myself anything I may need to hear. But instead of helpful suggestions, I kept hearing the phrase “you’ve been a stupid idiot.” Now I don’t really mean that and am much more forgiving of myself than that, but sometimes we fall into the trap of negative thinking. People call me an optimist and yet, such negativism still happens to me. It was time for a tune up!

So how do we go about fighting these negative messages that our brains sometimes send us in what seems to be a relentless stream? First step is always acknowledgment. If you can recognize yourself going down that path, you are half way home. Next step is taking action. What I often tell my clients is that once you have the recognition, take immediate action by telling yourself “STOP.” Put your hand up in front of your face and say the word “stop” out loud. This interrupts the unhealthy thoughts and sets you on your way to not only terminating the negative thoughts, but also getting you back on track.

The next mental leap is tapping into your coping strategies, the healthy ones that have served you well over the years. The simpler the skill is, the better it is. So if putting on your running shoes is the antidote, it will get you out the door. One of the things I have noticed about my clients over the years is that many do not have any interests, hobbies, pastimes, or passions.  Oftentimes, this becomes a homework assignment and for some, it’s like climbing Mount Everest.  Clients will come back and declare that they cannot think of a single thing they would be interested in doing. The caveat being that until their survival needs are met for food, shelter and safety, nothing else can be entertained. But once these basic needs are met, it is time to explore the world before us. What is it that attracts you? For some, it is the mechanics of machinery. For others it is the beauty of art, interior design, flower arrangements or volunteering. When we look around our world, we see such great need in every arena of life. The happiest of us are those who share talents, skills and passions with others. If you’re just starting out in your field, not to worry, you concentrate on your learning and down the road, you will also be a beacon for others.

I remember the psychiatric nursing instructor that set my heart on fire for my career. She could somehow communicate with the mentally ill who had been institutionalized for 20 to 30 years. Many were unintelligible and incoherent, but not to her. She would smile in our post conferences and tell us exactly what the patients were trying so hard to communicate. Many had the unfortunate side effect of the medications called tardive dyskinesia, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary movements of the face and extremities. This affliction could interfere with the ability to communicate. I remember at first being fearful and later being heartbroken by the patients’ conditions but also in awe over the dedication of my instructor and her ease in dealing with people of such incapacitations.

Everyone has something to work on within themselves. It takes courage to get help. But once you have opened that door of opportunity for yourself, you will be amazed at the gain of insight you have into your own life and how that will benefit every person whose life you touch. The more forgiving and accepting you can be towards yourself, the more you can be towards others in your life.

Can therapy help? First off, get some good references on the therapist you choose. It is always best to get a firsthand reference if you can. Write down questions you may have for your therapist on that first visit, so you can use that time to determine if you are a good fit. Don’t expect to hear everything you want to hear and this is very important. Therapists are not in the hospitality business of making you feel good like the therapist s at the spa and this is an important distinction to remember.  Mental health therapy is serious business and is intended to act as a guide with you at the helm. You and your therapist are partners and if something doesn’t sit right in your gut, pay attention to it. By that I mean that not every therapist will be the right one for your needs and that is Ok and often expected. A good therapist will thank you for coming and give you referrals to other therapists who can help.

Another great reason to seek psychotherapy is that it gives an individual a chance to get away from the good intentions of friends and family. Well intended as they are, they are fully invested in you in a way that reflects back upon themselves; meaning that as humans, what happens to you also affects them. What affects you may stimulate all kinds of emotional responses from others; whereas, with therapists, they are simply a sounding board upon which you offer up your emotional experiences on a clean slate. Therapists are trained to remain nonjudgmental but they are also human, so part of their education is to help them learn to identify their own “hot buttons” and know how to manage those without jeopardizing the client. Make sure you understand all the expectations on that first visit, including financial arrangements. Making copayments on a regular basis is the client’s responsibility and may even become part of the treatment plan if left neglected, so be sure you do your part.

A couple important points to remember is that change slowly occurs over a period of time, so don’t expect “miracles.” Since I prescribe medications and supplements, I tell my clients that I wish I had a magic pill for them but I don’t. One must be patient and expect to work hard to obtain significant results. I wish you a very special journey as you get to know yourself better and begin to see the very best of you brought out for others to enjoy.

After years of claiming that glyphosate offers no threat to humans, the FDA recently declared it will begin testing specific foods for these toxins, which are known endocrine disrupters. But we at ANH have taken testing into our own hands using an independent lab, and have found glyphosate levels in products like eggs and dairy--products that are not supposed to come into contact with the herbicide. This testing doesn't even include glyphosate analogs found in competing weed-killers, which could make the amounts even more alarming!

http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=Yo3pYMtvUXzVPD4cr_neSQ

ANH-USA relies on the generous support of the public to act as your watchdog group, and we're grateful for every dollar that sustains our efforts to show the EPA that we won't take no for answer. Please, make your tax-deductible contribution today and help us fight this toxic chemical! 

Donate:  http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=0si3GhB10DexoEaoeYfdLQ

As you can imagine, I wanted more, but what I got was this response, “well, you wanted a lesson and you got one.” That was the beginning and unfortunately the end, at least for that period of my life. I had many other experiences as a teen because I could not stay away, yet did not have the skills to participate safely.  I had a friend whose family had a farm in the countryside with horses. We would go out there and I remember one particular ride in which my friend took off on her horse at a gallop. She was well trained and competed in equine events. The only thing I had going for me was love of the horse and hung on for dear life. To this day I don’t understand how I stayed on until the end of the pasture, but unbeknownst to me, there would be many falls off horses in my future.

At 16, I was fortunate enough to go to a dude ranch in Wyoming for a couple weeks in the summer with some of my classmates.  Peaches and I clicked and she was my beautiful Palomino mare for the time I was there. But I had the chance to go on a cattle drive and had to ride a different horse, one that turned out to be “head shy.” Now if you are moving your arms around and shouting at cattle to “get along little doggie,” it might be disturbing to a head shy horse and sure enough, my horse shied and bucked and sent me flying off to land with my right hip hard against a  very large rock.  Crying out in pain that night, I was gently picked up on my mattress by a number of cowboys who laid the mattress in the back of a pickup truck and drove me to the hospital, at least 60 or so miles away.  In the morning I awoke to my bright eyed roommate who was in her 80s, telling me one joke after the other. The problem was that when I laughed, the hip spasms started and I ended up crying in pain. I hated to tell her she needed to please stop.

I finally owned my first horses when I was 32. My husband, who had just finished his residency at the time, was excited as well and we bought a 14 hand Morgan horse and a 17 year old Thoroughbred who had been on the track. Our property backed up on the national forest in New Jersey and so we had room to ride. We had a barn, arena and my husband built a separate hay barn. My children learned to ride and life was good until one day my husband and I were out on the trial and he decided to pass me on Ramah, the former race horse. A bell went off in Ramah’s head and he took off like a rocket with me clinging on.  Unfortunately, for us humans, we cannot stop a horse if he wants to run. On my right was the reservoir; on my left was the rock cliff, at least 100 feet tall.  In such a situation, it is advised to turn your horse in circles, but in my case, it was impossible. I thought about jumping off but he was going too fast and I knew that would be disastrous, so I decided to stay the course and thank goodness, he eventually tired and settled down.

Years later in New Mexico, my daughter and I competed on our Quarter horse, Sassy, she in 4H and me on the Palomino show circuit. Showing was fun but was not nearly as much fun as having a horse in my back yard. I can still see my daughter and her friend riding their horses bareback along the quiet streets of our neighborhood.  My fondest memory was going out with my friend for an early morning ride in the Corrales bosque and after enough of those rides, I still follow those trails in my sleep, knowing every twist and turn. It was amazing that Sassy learned to tolerate skateboarders, bikers, runners, hot air balloons, speed boats on the river, unleashed barking dogs, coyotes, rattle snakes and everything else that was scary. I was able to ride her alone, in parades and in other new circumstances knowing that she had the confidence in me as her leader to comply. I remember Sassy being due to foal and how many nights sleep I had missed waiting for this new family member to arrive. Knowing that horses tended to foal at night, I would set my alarm and go to the barn to quietly look inside the stall. On one particular night, long after she was due to foal, I peeked into the stall and saw the dark outline of a long legged foal standing quietly by her side. Welcome to the world, Sheridan! Years later Sassy had her second foal, Samson, a bay colt and grandson of Seattle Slew. Although he didn’t have his grandpa’s talent on the track, Samson more than made up for it with his always willing disposition to do his best.

In looking back upon my years, now measured in horses, I can see how therapeutic and healing they were for me in terms of stress reduction, motivation, diligence, perseverance, acceptance and companionship. Although they can definitely trick you into thinking they are indifferent, they are always curious when feeling safe. And yes, they can form an enduring relationship with you, recognizing your voice and whinnying or running along the fence line when they see and hear your vehicle. I decided to write about horses as I am now reading a book entitled Riding Home, The Power of Horses to Heal by Tim Hayes. I would highly recommend it whether you are new to the world of horses or an old hand as it is inspirational. Therapeutic riding has opened up a whole new dimension in the treatment of those with mental disorders, from children to adults, with sometimes astonishing results. The bibliography contains lots of great references to further pursue this great subject. Happy Trails!

Bulk Up

Buying in bulk is one of the best ways to save money on your groceries. If you notice one of your household staples goes on sale, stock up. Essentials like oatmeal, grains, beans, spices, dried fruits, nuts, and nut butters all make great bulk buying choices because they hold well in the pantry.  Consider your freezer your new best friend. Don’t be afraid to freeze extra meat, produce, breads, and seafood for later use.  Make swaps for expensive processed foods by combining your bulk oats, nuts, and dried fruits together as a healthy and affordable alternative. Cook up large portions at the beginning of the week and enjoy the leftovers in your packed lunches.  When buying in bulk, it’s also helpful to have a few versatile recipes like soups, stir fries or fried rice which can incorporate whatever produce or meat you happen to have on hand.

Join a Healthy Food Buying Club

Buying clubs are a great way to get healthy food for your family at wholesale prices.  Here’s how it works – a couple households get together and order their food directly from wholesale food distributors and farmers.  Because the club all orders together, everyone increases their purchasing power so wholesalers and farmers will deliver directly to the club.  Not only does the community get access to great food, they get it at wholesale prices.  It’s easier than ever to join or start a healthy food-buying club in your community through Wholeshare.  These are especially helpful if you live in an area without great natural food options.

Check here to see if there are Wholeshare buying clubs in your area. If not, starting a club is a great way to help your community save money on sustainable food and support their health.  Folks who run their own buying clubs on Wholeshare also receive a reimbursement for every order, so many of them are able to buy their families’ groceries for free.

Ingredient List:

3 medium onions

Olive oil

6 cloves garlic, smashed

Salt and pepper

Cumin and oregano

Homemade chili powder (recipe below)                

1 pound ground bison

1 small can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1 large can chopped tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

1 bottle robust dark beer

1 can black beans (kidney beans if you prefer)

Ruth gives options for adding in an ounce of dark chocolate, fish sauce, balsamic vinegar, cream sherry, soy sauce, cilantro, scallions, sour cream (or Greek yogurt if you prefer) and grated cheese. (Also if you can’t find ground bison, you can use lean ground beef.)

Preparation:

Dice the onions and saute them in olive oil until they’re soft. Add the garlic and let it soften, too. Add the oregano, some salt and pepper, a bit of cumin and 2 teaspoons of your homemade chili powder- more if you really like hot food.

Add the ground bison and cook, stirring, until it loses its redness. Puree 3 or 4 of the chipotle peppers and stir that in, along with the tomatoes and another teaspoon of your chili powder. Add the chicken stock (preferably homemade) and a cup of the beer and let it all simmer at a slow burble for a couple of hours.

Ruth writes, “Before serving, stir in a cup or so of cooked black beans. Now you get to play with the flavors. Is it hot enough? Do you want more chili powder? Sometimes I’ll melt an ounce or so of really good chocolate and stir that in to give it depth. Other times I’ll add a spoonful of fish sauce, or a splash of balsamic vinegar. Sometimes soy sauce to spark it up, other times cream sherry to mellow it down. It all depends on my mood. The point is, when you’ve made your own chili powder, everything else is just window dressing .

You can serve this with cilantro, scallions, sour cream and grated cheese. Or not. It’s that good. “

Preparation of chili powder:

Ruth writes, “I like to use anchos for their winey richness, habanero for their fruity heat, and New Mexicos for their earthy sturdiness.

Wearing rubber or latex gloves to protect your hands, sponge off 2 ancho, 3 New Mexico and 3 habanero chilies (they’re almost always dusty.) Cut them in half and removed the tips, where the majority of seeds congregate in dried peppers. Discard the seeds.

Put the chilies into a heavy-bottomed pan ( I use cast iron) and toast them over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes, turning from time to time with tongs, until they have darkened slightly. Allow them to cool and then grind the chilies to a powder in a spice grinder or coffee mill. Stir in a teaspoon of toasted ground cumin.

Most seed catalogues now have “collections” of seeds to fulfill a particular purpose. Purchasing a collection will give you a variety but take the guess work out of it, if you are not sure what to buy.  Examples would be a herb collection or a salad collection. This year I am planting Annies’s butterfly collection, a variety of flowers to attract butterflies and am hoping to attract hummingbirds as well. I feed my favorite feathered friends each summer and at 8:00pm on a summer’s evening, there are dozens and dozens around the four feeders that are hanging on the front patio. They may be tiny birds but they have a beastly appetite and at the peak of the season, I am refilling the feeders every day.

Once you have decided what vegetables, flowers and herbs to buy, it is time to do your “companion planning.” Garden and Flowers.com define companion planting as “the process of seeding amicable species along with one another to promote growth.” There are many charts and information on the internet about this subject, but as a rule of thumb, it is typical to plant your lettuce and lettuce type plants together which would include kale, collards, swiss chard, raddichio and radishes. Another bed would house your cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussel sprouts. Tomatoes are in the nightshade family along with eggplants and all types of peppers. Certain herbs/flowers  go very well with certain vegetables. Tomatoes love parsley, marigolds and especially borage which helps to detract the hornworms. Cauliflower and cabbage love oregano; Brussel sprouts love thyme, broccoli loves dill and rosemary and beets love sage.  Flowers like nasturtiums are edible and provide lovely color for a vegetable garden and they are especially compatible with squash. Make a drawing of your bed to lay out your plans so when the time comes to plant, you will know where everything goes. Believe me once the weather and especially the soil warms up, you’ll be in a hurry to plant those seeds.

Always read the directions on your seed packs because some seeds have such a long propagation time that they are best started indoors.  One of the downsides to this approach is that you need a fair amount of space and light for your seedlings. Another idea is to start them outdoors in a cold frame which ultimately is easier as they are planted where they will stay. I like small cold frames that you can lift off when the time comes to avoid an unnecessary transplant of the fragile seedlings. If you want to start tomatoes by seed, start early because a late planting may lead to disappointment in terms of the yield, unless you live in a location where the fall weather stays warm well into October.

Every year is a learning experience for me and no two seasons have ever been the same in terms of weather patterns, insects, irrigation scheduling or even yield. The important thing is to have fun with it and you will when you take your first delicious bite of something you have grown yourself. There is simply no comparison!

1. Who should be considered at higher risk for harm and offered treatment?
2. What treatments should be offered to individuals with elevated lead levels?
3. At what blood lead level burden is it appropriate to start therapy?

Unfortunately, this type of water crisis is not uncommon. People worldwide continue to be exposed to potentially harmful levels of many toxic metals that can profoundly affect their health. They face potentially enduring, serious and complicated health issues.  Perhaps the major question, especially in children, is the level of lead in the blood to cause concern.

The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), an educational organization and a leading authority in the field of metal toxicity and treatment believes, as the CDC does, that “no safe blood lead level in children has been identified.” The effects of lead exposure on child cognitive development and behavior may be permanent if no intervention occurs. Experts from ACAM believe that certain interventions may be useful in lessening the symptoms and long-term neurocognitive damage that lead causes in children.

ACAM experts also contend that the myriad, harmful effects that lead can cause in other organ systems in people of any age should also be lessened. The original guidelines for intervention in lead poisoning were based on early FDA drug approval studies from the minimal research conducted in pediatric patients with blood lead levels above 45 mcg/dL. ACAM believes that appropriate medical intervention may be beneficial to those suffering from lead levels even at the current CDC cutoff of 5 mcg/dl, the level that places the child in the upper 2.5% of tested individuals.

Practitioners can now take a more proactive approach to prevent permanent damage and disability due to toxic metal exposure. ACAM has announced two offerings of its national recognized Chelation Certification – now titled Chelation Advanced Provider (CAP) Course & Certification. Whether you’re new to detoxification education or a seasoned practitioner, ACAM’s rigorous CAP training will enhance your practice’s treatment options and improve health outcomes. One step cannot be completed without the other – this is a sequential course designed to provide the most in depth chelation training available to date.

As the recognized leader in metal detoxification/chelation therapy education, ACAM works diligently to ensure our curriculum is robust, relevant and of the highest caliber. The CAP Program covers a broad spectrum of detoxification topics for from biochemistry to billing. Our faculty ensure scientific rigor, complete understanding, and safe, practical application of therapy to maximize health worldwide.

“This is a chelation dream team,” Lyn Patrick, ND, co-chair of the ACAM Chelation Committee and co-organizer of the CAP Program said. The Basic Chelation Webinar Series (step 1 in the 3 step program) offers chelation insights and training from Tony Lamas, MD, FACC, FAHA, FESC, Dorothy Merritt, MD, David Quig, PhD, Walter Crinnion, ND, Jeffrey Morrison, MD, and Roy Heilbron, MD. The live training and certification exam (steps 2 and 3, offered in the spring and fall) give experts W.A. Shrader, MD, Merritt, Quig, Patrick, and Stuart Freedenfeld, MD time for didactic lectures and thorough back and forth question/answer time.

Registration for the spring CAP Training is currently open at www.acam.org/CAP. For more information or if you have questions, please contact ACAM at 1.800.532.3688 or email info@acam.org.

• Line a 9 inch springform pan with baking paper and sprinkle ¼ cup sugar on the bottom of the pan. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put the rack in the middle of the oven.
• Whisk 6 eggs and 2/3rds cup of sugar together in an electric blender until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
• Set 12 ounces of dark unsweetened chocolate on a double boiler to melt. Add one half cup of half and half.
• In a large bowl, mash together the 15 oz can of pureed chestnuts, one tablespoon of bourbon, one half teaspoon of vanilla and the stick of softened vegetable oil.
• When thoroughly melted and mixed, add the chocolate mixture to the chestnut mixture until smooth.
• Gently fold in 1/3^rd of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture until well mixed. Add the remaining egg mixture in two more batches and gently fold until it is mixed well.
• Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 35 minutes or until the top is cracked and it is mainly firm but a little wobbly in the middle. Set on a rack and cool and then chill until set, about 4 hours.

GLAZE GARNISH TOPPING

• Melt 6 ounces of fine quality bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler with one half cup half and half and one teaspoon of bourbon.
• Dip the marrons glaces (candied chestnuts) half way into the chocolate and set aside on foil to set.
• Invert the chilled torte onto a serving plate big enough to catch the drippings from the glaze. Pour the glaze over the torte and let it run down the sides. Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar, shaved chocolate and the marrons glaces.

For Vegans, there are many choices for substitutes for eggs: here is a great website to explore: http://www.theppk.com/vegan-baking-the-post-punk-kitchen-shows-you-how/

Advice to the lovelorn is abundant but elusive. As a professional who has facilitated relationship and marital issues over the years, it is clear there is never any easy answer, perhaps because we are ultimately so unique in our thoughts and perceptions. However, we try to generalize the human condition so we can come up with theories and strategies that work with the majority of clients. So let’s take a look at some situations and try to make some sense out of mishaps in the world of love. Let us begin at the beginning, that magical time when our hearts race upon seeing our beloved’s face, when our knees are weak when our beloved offers us a smile, and when our minds drift off to the newly familiar place of safety and exhilarant being. Despite this euphoria, there is anxiety. It is a time of sharing which begs the question, “how much should I share?” Your story will take form over time but it is important to be open and transparent at the very beginning about issues which could end up hurting the one you love. The sooner you share the fact that you have a roommate of the opposite sex, the better. The sooner you share the fact that you are the parent of three young children, the better. You get the idea; it is better to eliminate surprises that could be hurtful down the road. Such openness at the beginning goes a long way towards the establishment of trust, a key ingredient in any relationship.

You might have great chemistry but are your long term goals and dreams in alignment? The closer you both are in your core values and in your long term plans, the more solid the relationship. I once did marital therapy with a couple in their 50s that eventually got divorced. Her dream was to have an organic farming business and he endorsed the idea for years. At the end before he walked out, he declared he had never really been on board with the idea. At first he hadn’t wanted to hurt her feelings; later he became vindictive allowing her to think the plan was moving forward when it clearly was not. He later married a much younger woman and moved into an apartment in Brooklyn.  What had she missed? Perhaps his ongoing agreement never challenged her to truly explore her husband’s mind in terms of his own dreams. Lesson learned: it is easy to take things for granted, to accept what is presented on the surface. Try to avoid being complacent about your beloved’s thoughts. Unless you routinely check in with him/her, you will not truly know. In doing so, you will also benefit from the nonverbal language that gives us much information about a person’s emotional state.

Since we all are human, we make mistakes and hurt the ones we love, hopefully in small ways only. Handling this situation is extremely important in relationships. Some say women have higher emotional intelligence than men but both genders can be reluctant to take responsibility for their “lapses in judgment.” Here is a pattern I have discerned over the years: the higher a person’s self-esteem, the more easily they are able to apologize for their actions. Why would that be the case? When a person feels good about him/herself, an appropriate apology is a tool to simply get life back on track again. It is not construed as a blow to the ego. Such a person knows that making silly, but hurtful mistakes can cause pain for the one they love and they also know how to rectify the situation. Apologies come in all forms and adding in a special treat or surprise cannot hurt at all! But it’s those three little simple words “ I am sorry” that can literally put a relationship back on track again and all is forgotten. That is something well worth remembering on this special day.

A recent study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that couples who placed a higher value on friendship with their partner, were more committed, more in love and more sexually satisfied than their friends who did not place as much value on friendship.  Another study discovered that couples that laughed 10 or more minutes per day were happier than those who did not laugh that much. Think about being a good friend to your partner as it just might be the most important tool in the toolbox of love. It provides an opportunity to make your partner feel accepted, be it fair or stormy weather.  Friendship can be a powerful foundation upon which you can build a “home” in your heart. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give your partner.

So what is love? Love knows no boundaries in terms of time, age, distance or expectations. Love is its own master, beholden to none. It is so powerful it can topple hierarchies and governments; it can bring the most unlikely together in unison and song. It is the basis of joy and ecstasy; it is the glue that brings people together; it brings meaning to life.

Hold your loved one tight this Valentine’s Day and tell them why they are so special!

1. Who should be considered at higher risk for harm and offered treatment?
2. What treatments should be offered to individuals with elevated lead levels?
3. At what blood lead level burden is it appropriate to start therapy?

Unfortunately, this tragedy goes far beyond Flint, Michigan. People worldwide continue to be exposed to potentially harmful levels of many toxic metals that can profoundly affect their health. They face potentially enduring, serious and complicated health issues.  Perhaps the major question, especially in children, is the level of lead in the blood to cause concern.

The CDC states, “Experts now use a reference level of 5 micrograms per deciliter to identify children with blood lead levels that are much higher than most children’s levels. This new level is based on the U.S. population of children ages 1-5 years who are in the highest 2.5% of children when tested for lead in their blood.  In the past, blood lead level tests below 10 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood may, or may not, have been reported to parents. The new lower value means that more children will likely be identified as having lead exposure allowing parents, doctors, public health officials, and communities to take action earlier to reduce the child’s future exposure to lead.”

The CDC also states, “What has not changed is the recommendation for when medical treatment is advised for children with high blood lead exposure levels. The new recommendation does not change the guidance that the therapy used to eliminate lead from the body be considered only when a child has been tested with a blood lead test result greater than or equal to 45 mcg/dL.” [http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/ACCLPP/blood_lead_levels.htm]

However, medical science has determined that even very low blood lead levels in children can affect IQ, ability to pay attention and future academic achievement. It is now clear that IQ loss in lead-exposed children can occur at levels below 5.0 mcg/dL. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2212280/, from Neurotoxicology, 2006 Sep; 27(5): 693–701.

The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), an educational organization and a leading authority in the field of heavy metal toxicity and treatment believes, as the CDC does, that “no safe blood lead level in children has been identified.” The effects of lead exposure on child cognitive development and behavior may be permanent if no intervention occurs. Experts from ACAM believe that certain interventions may be useful in lessening the symptoms and long-term neurocognitive damage that lead causes in children.

ACAM experts also contend that the myriad, harmful effects that lead can cause in other organ systems in people of any age should also be lessened. The original guidelines for intervention in lead poisoning were based on early FDA drug approval studies from the minimal research conducted in pediatric patients with blood lead levels above 45 mcg/dL. ACAM believes that appropriate medical intervention may be beneficial to those suffering from lead levels even at the current CDC cutoff of 5 mcg/dl, the level that places the child in the upper 2.5% of tested individuals.

Due to the lack of current, cohesive, long-term studies in children with elevated blood levels below 45 mcg/dL, the decision when to initiate chelation therapy is a personal choice between a patient and their physician. To better elucidate what is the best treatment strategy for lead poisoning, ACAM is calling for the immediate initiation of a collaborative long-term research project. The project, conducted through appropriate channels, could provide immediate medical attention and intervention to all children and adults in Flint who have high blood lead levels (>5 mcg/dl). This research project should also investigate assessing those common genetic and metabolic defects that could render individuals even more susceptible to the harmful effects of lead.

We can take a more proactive approach to prevent permanent damage and disability not only in the population of Flint, MI but to everyone exposed to the potential devastation caused by lead.

ABOUT ACAM:
The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating physicians and other health care professionals on the safe and effective application of integrative medicine. ACAM's healthcare model focuses on prevention of illness and strives for total wellness. ACAM has been educating physicians in metal removal techniques such as chelation therapies since 1973. A recent NIH sponsored study has demonstrated that the chelation technique using EDTA is safe when it is used by physicians educated in these techniques.

FIND A PHYSICIAN NEAR YOU FOR ASSISTANCE:
ACAM offers Physician+Link – a free service provided to the public for finding integrative practitioners in their area. Call 1.800.532.3688 for personal assistance or visit www.acam.org/ACAMPL

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
A rationale for lowering the blood lead action level from 10 to 2 μg/dL

Effect of Chelation Therapy on the Neuropsychological and Behavioral Development of Lead-Exposed Children After School Entry

American Academy of Pediatrics: Lead Exposure in Children: Prevention, Detection, and Management

Safety and Efficacy of DMSA in children with elevated blood level concentrations

Children with moderately elevated blood lead levels: a role for other diagnostic tests?

What level of lead in blood is toxic for a child?

Spread a generous handful of spring mix on a platter.

Arrange the grapefruit slices and avocado slices in a circle on top of the lettuce.

In the middle place a few slices of cucumber.

Sprinkle walnut pieces on top.

Sprinkle dulce bits on top by snipping off small pieces with scissors.

Pour Citric dressing over salad. Use salt and pepper to taste.

Citric dressing:

2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange or lemon juice

2 tablespoons of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of lemon or orange zest

½ teaspoon of cumin

2 grated garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste.  (If you like a creamy dressing, you can add ½ cup of tahini.)

Enjoy, your thyroid gland will thank you!

There is also a movement among naturalists to only use sea salt which contains little to no iodine. It comes in a variety of colors: pink, light gray and light blue and even black and is easy to find today in any health store. Kosher salt is also a pure form which also lacks iodine. With the public campaign to decrease animal fats in the diet and thereby reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, people are eating more vegetables which contain less iodine than animal sources. Iodine is also lost in sweat while exercising. ¹

Back in 1926 a public health decision was made to include iodine in salt. The reasoning was that everyone loved their salt and used it daily, so they would also get the necessary daily trace amount of iodine. There was an epidemic back then of goiters, a large swelling of the thyroid gland that was not only uncomfortable but unsightly. The addition of iodine to salt resolved this public health problem and people’s thyroid problems were balanced just simply by a shake of salt at the dinner table.

Salt is an excellent preservative and so the inevitable happened. Food manufacturers started incorporating large amounts of sodium into their products, especially the packaged versions. And soon afterwards, blood pressures were on the rise.  With all the warnings, one would think salt had become public enemy number one; however, salt is necessary to life and without it, we cannot live. Due to the drastic reductions in salt intake today, iodine deficiency has increased to the point that nearly 74% of healthy adults may not consume enough.1 The US recommended daily allowance is 150 to 290 micrograms with a top limit of 1100 mcg; however, when that is compared to the daily intake of Japanese women which ranges from 5280 to 13,800mcg with no adverse effects, the RDA may be lacking in true efficacy. ¹

The important realization here is that we can no longer depend upon salt to provide our source of iodine and as a result, hypothyroidism has reached epidemic proportions in our US population. Do you know someone who takes thyroid replacement? I would bet you do. It’s a rampant health problem that is largely treated with prescription medications today. In addition, iodine deficiency may result in obesity, cognitive and psychiatric disorders, heart disease and forms of cancer, especially breast cancer and fibrocystic breast disease. In developing children, iodine can prevent mental retardation. Research has also shown that iodine can absorb and eliminate radioactive elements from our bodies, inhibit tumor formation and reduce cholesterol.  Please get your thyroid levels checked if you haven’t done so.

So what are the alternative sources of iodine, if our salt has largely been denied us? Don’t recoil when I present you with this gift from the sea, but seaweed is a vital source of iodine, especially for vegans who cannot depend on other sources. The sea is the greatest repository of iodine where various seaweeds are able to concentrate it to very high levels. Contrarily, there is very little iodine found in the soil. Seaweed is classified by its color which is either red, brown or green. Once company called Maine Coast Sea Vegetables provides its products in whole leaf, flaked, granulated, powdered and bulk forms. Their website is www.seaveg.com and is a wealth of information. Their products are easy to find in most nutrition centered stores and cooperatives. Seaweed can be used in soups, sandwiches, stirfries and salads. Because it is such highly concentrated food, only small amounts are needed to boost the flavor and nutrition of any dish. At their online store they feature their cookbook, Sea Vegetable Celebration, by owner Shep Erhart and organic chef Leslie Cerier, that contains over 100 vegetarian recipes.

There are many types including the Asian Nori, Hiziki, Arama and Wakame and the US coastal varieties such as dulse, kelp, alaria and laver. Incorporating seaweed into your diet is just a snip away. Simply get out your scissors and cut off tiny pieces to put in whatever dish you are cooking. Half the fun will be the experimenting so try out the dried seaweed which is crispy and salty and then the soaked version which cuts down on the salty taste. On the bag of my dulse seaweed, a one third cup serving based on the 2000 calorie per day intake yields only 18 calories and a whopping 780% daily value of iodine! This form of iodine intake may not be as easy as shaking a salt shaker, but being able to eat seaweed right out of the bag with a few snips is the next best thing. Here is a tasty and beautiful salad to get you started:

Grapefruit/Avocado Salad with Dulce

Spread a generous handful of spring mix on a platter.

Arrange the grapefruit slices and avocado slices in a circle on top of the lettuce.

In the middle place a few slices of cucumber.

Sprinkle walnut pieces on top.

Sprinkle dulce bits on top by snipping off small pieces with scissors.

Pour Citric dressing over salad. Use salt and pepper to taste.

Citric dressing:

2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange or lemon juice

2 tablespoons of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of lemon or orange zest

½ teaspoon of cumin

2 grated garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste.  (If you like a creamy dressing, you can add ½ cup of tahini.)

Enjoy, your thyroid gland will thank you!

1): http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2011/10/the-silent-epidemic-of-iodine-deficiency/page-01

Fill a blender about half full with peeled fresh tomatoes, about 12 medium.

Coarsely chop large red onion and add to blender.

Chop 3 cloves of garlic and add to blender.

Add 2 tbsps. cold pressed fresh virgin olive oil.

Add about 16 oz organic vegetable broth.

Add half teaspoon of dried or 3-4 sprigs of fresh basil.

Add half teaspoon of Herbs de Provence.

Mix well on medium speed for several minutes, then high for several minutes, then back to medium. It won’t hurt the soup to keep mixing it while you open a 16 oz can of white cannellini beans. Drain, wash and drain again.

Add the beans and mix again on medium, then high, until thoroughly mixed. If the blender is too full, you can pour off half the tomato soup and add half the can of beans and blend. Set aside and do the second batch. Some recipes call for cream and butter which this recipe avoids. The beans thicken the soup and provide plenty of good fiber at a low calorie intake. If you are needing something sweet, you won’t taste it in this soup. If it’s a bit too acidic, add some spice like cayenne pepper to zip it up. Season to taste with sea salt and fresh pepper and add a sprig of basil. Enjoy, guilt free!

What I have begun to realize is that just about all prepared foods, even the ones made with organic ingredients, contain “organic cane sugar.” That might sound good, but it’s not. We are deluged with too much sugar in our diets today. Maybe Americans are so programmed to the taste of sugar, we have trouble getting along without it. Unfortunately, the taste for it begins in childhood with the cereals and many other products containing sugar. As early as I can remember, those around me were pouring sugar on grapefruit, cereal, oatmeal, and other foods. I think there is a place for sugar, let’s say, in a piece of chocolate or some type of dessert, but do we need it in breakfast foods, lunch meats, and dinner entrees?

A realization I had when I first started drinking almond and coconut milk was that it was too sweet. First, I bought the Silk Almond Milk Light which provides 40 calories per serving. When I tasted it, I could tell immediately that it contained sugar. Then, I noticed that the original Unsweetened Silk Almond Milk contains 30 calories per serving with no sugar.  Now if you are a consumer, you might just think, as I had, that the Light version would be healthier than the original. Not! In addition, I had bought Raw Meal by Garden of Life along with Raw Protein by Garden of Life in chocolate (my fav) and was planning to whip up my liquid breakfast with some Silk Almond Chocolate Milk at 100 calories per serving. Yes, it contains cane sugar ( 17 grams/serving), but for meal substitution, perhaps that’s not too worrisome. My argument is not one of calories although that matters down the road. My point is about taste and how we Americans are programmed from an early age to love sugar.

When you’ve been literally blasted by sugar your entire life, what happens when you try to eliminate it from your diet? Nothing earth shaking if you are getting enough fiber, thank goodness. The worst of it is that you miss that sugary taste and that might be what drives you back to your old habits. Yes, at first, the taste seems bland or even unpalatable.  But if you persist, you will soon find yourself preferring the non-sugar version! Keep at it, and keep away from the inside grocery aisles, because the majority of   prepared food contains sugar.

Even frozen organic foods contain sugar. I had some Amy’s frozen dinners, because there are days when work leaves me depleted, and I simply need some sustenance without cooking it myself. I really like Amy’s vegetarian products, so I bought the Thai Red Curry frozen dinner. It would have been wonderful if not for one thing: it was sugary and sweet. When I am eating my entree, I don’t want it to taste sweet.

When we indict individuals about their weight gain, diabetes, and unhealthy lifestyles, we had better examine the food manufacturing in our country. Not many live on a farm anymore and are able to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables. We depend on large manufacturers to give us the nutrition we need. Sugar is a common ingredient, and unless we protest, it will not change.  We do not need to be consuming the current amounts of sugar that are routine ingredients in most, but not all, packaged foods.  My disclaimer is that I do not mean to pick on Silk and Amy brands. They simply serve as examples of many other health oriented products. I will continue to buy them myself, and especially like the Silk Original Unsweetened Almond Milk and Amy’s soups and chili.

Last month, I talked about making the switch from the omnivore to the herbivore diet. Here are my conclusions, at least at this time. I have made many changes. I had stopped eating meat, cheese, dairy, and other meat based foods, such as eggs, for a period of several weeks when I had an intense craving for meat. Since it was my birthday, I had a rib eye steak on the grill and it was great. Since then, I have not had any meat and don’t miss it, but I know down the road, I will.  Here is how I envision the dietary habits of our cavepeople, which teach us the following: most of the diet was plant based—greens, nuts, berries. What drove those people to hunt? Was it a basic biological drive to avert anemia? Killing an animal for food was not foolproof, and my guess is it did not happen often. So my educated guess is that prehistoric man was an omnivore, primarily eating plant based foods but eating animals on a sporadic basis. Why would I think that? We do have canine like incisors, designed to tear flesh. So a healthy diet always seems to come back to common sense. The mainstay should be plant based interspaced by an occasional meat based treat, like a small bite of real cheddar cheese!

Attached is a rebuttal argument I put together to help a physician in responding to an action taken against him by his state medical board. After an hour or so meeting with the board, no fault was found with his therapy for the patient in question, nor with the use of vitamin C and glutathione in that patient's treatment. In accordance with this finding, no fines were levied, and no restriction was placed on his license. Some additional CME (continuing medical education) was about the only tangible recommendation that resulted.

It should be noted that this physician not only rendered excellent medical care, he had never had an action initiated against him in roughly 40 years. Furthermore, he put together a massive and, I believe, excellent written scientific defense of his course of medical care for this patient. Nevertheless, the last communication before the hearing took place seemed to focus on the vitamin C and glutathione aspect of the patient's care, as the board expert continued to press with his or her lack of awareness of "any significant uses for vitamin C and glutathione in the treatment of sepsis." 

While it is doubtful it will ever be known exactly what the board's reasoning was, it would appear that some truly objective scientific minds were part (or all?) of the committee ruling on this case. While I will not mention what state board this was, I will say that this was one state that has historically been absolutely brutal in dealing with any physicians who did not tow the mainstream party line. Maybe the hard-liners are finally disappearing, who knows. 

So, are the times a-changing? This is only one case, but it tells me that the mainstream is finally beginning to recognize the legitimacy of the non-mainstream (aka alternative, complementary, integrative). Progress by microincrementalism goes slow, but it does proceed. 

Feel free to use the reasonings and concepts in this letter for any similar cases in the future that you might encounter.
READ COMPLETE REBUTTAL

Best regards,

Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151029005512/en/

Urinary levels of neurotransmitters primarily reflect the activity of the peripheral and GIT enteric nervous systems.  The majority of the neurotransmitters excreted in the urine reflect peripheral metabolism (Eisenhoffer 2004).  However, with the exception of tryptophan-5-hydroxylase, the enzymatic machinery for neurotransmitter synthesis and metabolism is often similar (if not identical) on both sides of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) (Cansev 2007).  Part of the metabolism of catecholamines takes place in the same cells where the amines are produced.  Different enzymes may be used and different metabolites are generated if a neurotransmitter is processed within a neuron (MAO, ALDH), or outside of it (COMT).  This occurs because catecholamines are constantly leaking out of vesicles and into the cytoplasm.  Circulating neurotransmitters may also be metabolized in the liver or kidney.  The metabolism of precursors or neurotransmitters results in intermediary metabolites.  The metabolites may or may not be biologically active, and may provide important functional clues about catabolic transformation reactions. 

Enzyme function may be affected by inheritance, nutritional status or environmental exposures.  Mutations or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may alter enzyme function and affect the metabolism of neurotransmitters. Dietary deficiency or gastrointestinal malabsorption may affect the availability of required nutrient cofactors.  Toxic exposures may inhibit enzymatic functions and increase oxidative stress, resulting in altered neurological function and metabolism.  The catabolic enzymes for neurotransmitters may be affected by any or all of these factors.

There are two forms of monoamine oxidase (MAO). Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) activity is necessary for intraneuronal neurotransmitter metabolism.  It oxidizes the catecholamine neuro-biogenic amines dopamine, norepinephrine and tryptophan to an aldehyde intermediary.  MAO-A also oxidizes dietary and environmental amines (dyes, pigments, insecticides and polymers).  Dopamine is primarily oxidized by MAO-B.  The degradation of dopamine creates reactive oxygen species, and increased MAO-B activity has been associated with aging and Parkinson’s disease.  Animal studies indicate that MAO activity may up-regulated with stress.  MAO is inherited with the X chromosome; males have one copy and females have two copies of the genetic code for MAO.  MAO-A and MAO-B are coded by two separate genes.  Inherited variations in MAO activity may affect neurotransmitters or neurochemistry.  In addition to medications designed to inhibit MAO activity (MAOIs), MAO may be inhibited by cigarette smoke, and toxic elements such as cadmium, lead and mercury.  Dopamine, if not converted into norepinephrine is degraded by intraneuronal MAO and extraneuronal COMT.  MAO-A converts dopamine to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC).  COMT uses SAMe and magnesium to degrade dopamine into 3-methoxytyramine (3MT).  MAOA and COMT further convert the intermediary metabolites to homovanilic acid (HVA).  There is no way to tell, by the level of HVA, if one or both degradation enzymes are deficient.  Differences in the levels of DOPAC and 3MT may easily distinguish which degradation enzyme, MAO or COMT, is not functioning optimally.

Oxidative deamination by MAO produces hydrogen peroxide and a reactive aldehyde, which may increase oxidative stress and put excessive demand on the cell’s glutathione pool. Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) converts aldehydes to fatty acids.  Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity contributes to a variety of vital biochemical reactions in the body.  Mutations or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may occur in the dehydrogenase or reductase enzymes, and may affect enzyme function.  Environmental aldehydes that must be processed by aldehyde dehydrogenases include cigarette smoke, formaldehyde, polyurethane, polyester plastics, and many medications.  Aldehyde excess due to enzymatic insufficiency may be associated with symptoms of dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) and “alcohol flush”.  ALDH is part of the metabolic pathway for dopamine and serotonin.  The dopamine intermediaries may elevate and have neurotoxic effects (increased oxidative stress) if ALDH or MAO-B activity is compromised. Serotonin may elevate and the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) may decrease, if either MAO-A or ALDH activities are insufficient.  Comparison of serotonin and 5-HIAA levels against dopamine, DOPAC and 3MT levels may distinguish insufficiencies in the activities of MAO-A, MAO-B or ALDH.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity is necessary for extra-neuronal neurotransmitter metabolism.  COMT methylates both catecholamines and catecholamine metabolites oxidized by MAO.  COMT is not found in sympathetic nerves, but is abundant outside the neuron in other cells and tissues.  High levels of COMT are found in the liver, kidneys; COMT is also present in red blood cells and in adrenomedullary chromaffin cells. Inherited or acquired factors may affect enzymatic activity. Various mutations and SNPs in the genes coding for COMT have been associated with some types of mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.  COMT requires magnesium and S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) cofactors.  Low levels of the metabolites metanephrine and normetanephrine, and (perhaps) elevated levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine, may occur if catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) function is insufficient.  The conversion of norepinephrine and epinephrine to their metabolites had been considered a major pathway leading to VMA, but it is now known that this is a minor pathway.  Most VMA (94%) is formed from the transient aldehyde metabolite 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycolaldehyde (MOPEGAL) in the liver.

Only 10-20% of urinary neurotransmitters and their intermediaries may originate in the central nervous system.  However, while the majority of the urinary neurotransmitters and metabolites in urine originate in the peripheral nervous system, normalizing urinary neurotransmitter levels based on laboratory analysis has been shown to result in the improvement of some mood and behavior symptoms (Marc 2010).  The evaluation of peripheral neurotransmitters and intermediaries may also assist in the evaluation of physiological conditions such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, thyroid or parathyroid disease, adrenal disorders or hormone imbalances, as all of these conditions may alter mental status or contribute to metabolic encephalopathy.

In 2011, an article in The Lancet (Kurian, 2011) stated “The monoamine neurotransmitter disorders consist of a rapidly expanding heterogeneous group of neurological syndromes characterized by primary and secondary defects in the biosynthesis degradation, or transport of dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and serotonin”.  The article also noted that “many neurotransmitter disorders mimic other neurological disorders, and may be misdiagnosed”.  The article recommended the analysis of neurotransmitters in cerebrospinal fluid for accurate clinical diagnosis.  However, the collection of cerebrospinal fluid for the assessment of urinary neurotransmitters and metabolites is expensive, uncomfortable and simply not practical in most cases.  Urinary neurotransmitters are easily collected by patients and the results may be readily integrated into routine practice.  Urinary neurotransmitters are stable during collection and transportation (other methods of evaluating neurotransmitters, such as platelets, may not be as stable), and urinary neurotransmitter intermediaries may best reflect enzyme functions. 

The proper collection and handling of urine specimens prior to laboratory receipt is necessary for accurate results.  As the purpose of urinary neurotransmitter testing is to evaluate clinically significant elevations or deficiencies in neurotransmitter status, either true first morning void (i.e., after being in bed without arising x 8 hours) or 24-hour urine neurotransmitters and intermediaries may be most clinically relevant.  The ingestion of certain foods may affect the results of urinary neurotransmitter testing, and the avoidance of specific foods is recommended, as certain foods may affect serotonin and other neurotransmitter levels.  Any medication that is meant to affect neurotransmitters (such as reuptake inhibitors, etc.) may alter neurotransmitter or intermediary levels from baseline levels; it is the clinical decision of the prescribing physician whether or not to discontinue (by safely tapering off), any such medications prior to testing.

Alterations in urinary neurotransmitter status may be associated with a variety of conditions including metabolic disorders, mood/behavioral disorders, environmental exposures, or (rarely) the presence of certain tumors.  Analysis of both neurotransmitters and their intermediaries may provide the clinician with greater clarity about patient health, functional status, and nutritional needs. 

References:

Abdelouahab, Nadia;  Huel, Guy;  Suvorov, Alexander;  Foliguet, Bernard;  Goua, Valérie et al. (2010)
Monoamine oxidase activity in placenta in relation to manganese, cadmium, lead, and mercury at delivery
Neurotoxicology and Teratology vol. 32 (2) p. 256-261

Audhya, Tapan;  Adams, James B.;  Johansen, Leah
Correlation of serotonin levels in CSF, platelets, plasma, and urine
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects. (2012) vol. 1820 (10) p. 1496-1501

Doorn, JA; Florang, VR; Schamp, JH; Vanle, BC. (2014)
Aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibition generates a reactive dopamine metabolite autotoxic to dopamine neurons
Parkinsonism & related disorders vol. 20 (0 1) p. S73-S73-5

Eisenhofer, Graeme;  Kopin, Irwin J.;  Goldstein, David S. (2004)
Catecholamine Metabolism: A Contemporary View with Implications for Physiology and Medicine
Pharmacol. Rev. vol. 56 (3) p. 331-349

Fowler, Joanna S.;  Logan, Jean;  Wang, Gene-Jack;  Volkow, Nora D.;  Telang, Frank et al. (2005)
Comparison of Monoamine Oxidase A in Peripheral Organs in Nonsmokers and Smokers
J. Nucl. Med. vol. 46 (9) p. 1414-1420

Kunze, Klaus (2002)
Metabolic encephalopathies.
Journal of neurology vol. 249 (9) p. 1150-9

Kurian, Manju A;  Gissen, Paul;  Smith, Martin;  Heales, Simon JR;  Clayton, Peter T (2011)
The monoamine neurotransmitter disorders: an expanding range of neurological syndromes
The Lancet Neurology vol. 10 (8) p. 721-733

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Catecholamine Fractionation, Free, 24 Hour, Urine
5-Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid (5-HIAA), 24 Hour, Urine
http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/index.html 
Accessed 15 June 2015

Meiser, Johannes;  Weindl, Daniel;  Hiller, Karsten (2013)
Complexity of dopamine metabolism.
Cell communication and signaling : CCS vol. 11 (1) p. 34

Stover, Patrick J
Influence of human genetic variation on nutritional requirements.
Am J Clin Nutr. (2006) vol. 83 (2) p. 436S-442

Tsunoda, Makoto
Recent advances in methods for the analysis of catecholamines and their metabolites.
Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry. (2006) vol. 386 (3) p. 506-14

Witte, A Veronica;  Flöel, Agnes (2012)
Effects of COMT polymorphisms on brain function and behavior in health and disease.
Brain research bulletin vol. 88 (5) p. 418-28

INGREDIENTS:
One 12 pack stone ground blue corn tortillas. (www.buenofoods.com)
Two 15 ounce cans of organic pinto and/or black beans.
Flame Roasted green chile 40 oz bottle (you will use about half). (www505chile.com)
Red chile sauce made from red chile powder. 3 oz bag. Follow directions on bag (www.northoftheborder.net).
One large chopped onion
Cumin
Daiyan cheddar cheese slices or other cheese as desired
One small tomato; lettuce

In a hot skillet or griddle, heat each tortilla on both sides until crisp and set aside. Line a large baking pan with an olive oil spray and line the pan with the tortillas.Pour organic pinto and/or black beans, chopped onions, and cumin over the tortillas. Pour half the pan with green chile and half the pan with red chile (Christmas!) Place (vegan) cheese slices over the top and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes.Garnish the enchiladas with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and raw onions if desired. Avocados or guacamole are also a delicious addition.

Bon appetit!

3 cloves garlic
Juice of one half lemon
2 tablespoons Tamari
½ cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
One half cup tahini or sesame butter
Sea salt and cumin spice to taste.