Uncategorized » Beyond Prescriptions

What is “bud nip” and why is it on my potatoes?

Mar 012012

So often when I am the local grocery store I question whether or not to purchase the “conventional” or “organic” vegetables. The price tag steers me toward the conventional ones; however, I am well informed about “the dirty dozen” (those vegetables and fruits we want chemical-free which include apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, nectarines, gapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce and kale), and do try to steer clear of those, unless they are organic.

This little video about a 4th grader’s science experiment called “the potato project” caught my attention. Elise goes to the store with her grandma and they purchase 3 sweet potatoes, all from different sources. One comes from the grocery store, one actually comes from the same store and is labeled “organic” and one is from a certified organic food market called Roots.

Elise places each of them in a glass of water and begins to see what vine growth and sprouts occur. After 3 weeks the one from the grocery store does not have any, the second one (which was labeled organic from the grocery) has a sorry little vine which has taken over a month to produce. The third sweet potato (bless its little heart) ~ the certified organic one from Roots, begins to produce beautiful healthy vines just after one week.

Elise then learned from the grocer that the first potato had been sprayed with “bud nip.” and that explained why there was no vine growth. What is bud nip? A commonly used chemical herbicide and one ingredient in it is chlorpropham. 75% of Potatoes contain chlorpropham which prevents sprouting, and has been known to be slightly toxic for aquatic animals and honeybees. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies chlorpropham as “slightly toxic,“ meaning it can cause mild skin and eye irritation.

I am not sure why Sweet Potato 2 did so poorly other than it was not “certified organic” ~ just labeled as that. Obviously, the certified organic sweet potato won the race for cascading, healthy sweet potato vines! I will say I go along with the “dirty dozen” advice so do always buy my potatoes organic. I also am aware that even organic produce needs to be washed thoroughly before eating!

Here is the video ~ enjoy!

A Natural Alternative to Multiple Sclerosis

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Feb 212012

I subscribe to a very informative and upbeat blog written by a well-known actress, Alicia Silverstone, called The Kind Life. Today she posted a wonderful healing story of a woman who conquered the debilitating disease of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), not by taking the toxic prescribed drugs but by changing her diet to a whole foods, plant-based one as well as listening to her body and resting often.

This plan was recommended Dr. John McDougall. (You may recognize him from the film Forks Over Knives). He has successfully treated many MS patients with a plant-based diet, based upon the low-fat, whole foods diet pioneered by his mentor Dr.Roy Swank. Dr. Swank had studied multiple sclerosis (MS) since 1946 and, based on his scientific findings, had treated MS patients through a healthful diet. An amazing interview between Dr. McDougall and Dr. Swank describing these findings can be found at this link.

According to Wikopedia, here is no known cure for multiple sclerosis. Treatments attempt to return function after an attack, prevent new attacks, and prevent disability. MS medications can have adverse effects or be poorly tolerated, and many patients pursue alternative treatments, despite the lack of supporting scientific study. The prognosis is difficult to predict; it depends on the subtype of the disease, the individual patient’s disease characteristics, the initial symptoms and the degree of disability the person experiences as time advances. Life expectancy of people with MS is 5 to 10 years lower than that of the unaffected population.

Fortunately, the individual that Alicia featured in her blog decided to go the alternative route. The doctor’s report of her treatment would have included drugs with side effects and did not give her a very good prognosis for living other than a few more years. She followed the alternative plan very carefully and feels very fortunate that she took this route. She now offers email advice to others who are suffering from this disease. Her story is very inspiring and can be read completely here.

I believe anytime we can find alternatives to drugs when fighting illnesses, the better. I know of many individuals who have chosen not only a much better diet but also good supplementation with supplements that will feed our cells, and not just slip through our system and not be absorbed. One of the supplements I have recently been studying is Vitamin D3. There is a great deal of research now available that shows that a great deal of us have a deficiency in this vitamin, particularly because we do not spend enough time outdoors as well as use products with SPF which blocks the absorption of Vitamin D3 that we would be getting from the sun. If you would like more information about this, just check out this site.

I hope you take the time to read Donna’s great testimony. It took courage for her to go the path she did but she truly chose the right one.

The Power of Affirmations

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Feb 152012

I loved watching this small child express such positive statements about her family, her home, her life. So often we get caught up in the challenges of the day and forget the small stuff. Just appreciating what she has and expressing it was wonderful to watch. Health is a process of the choices we make each day, including affirmations acknowledging what we are grateful for, and of course, choosing to eat a healthy diet, exercise and supplement wisely. My post this week is to share with you some of the great books I have read on the subject.

In the book, Healing And The Mind, the author, Bill Moyers, talks with physicians, scientists, therapists about the connection we have with our thoughts and feelings and how these influence our health; he asks the question, how is healing related to the mind and how do our emotions translate into chemicals into our bodies. His journey led them all to a central question: What is health? The book is organized around the questions and answers found during this journey, and helps us all learn more about this remarkable union of mind, body, and spirit that is the human being. This book is actually a companion to Bill Moyer’s public television series, Healing and The Mind. As a side note, credit is given to Doubleday senior editor at the time, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, as an important part of the project with her vision and encouragement. This is a wonderful book and series about this subject.

Bruce H. Lipton, PhD., a renowned cell biologist, in his book, The Biology of Belief ~ Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles, reports on groundbreaking work (called Epigentics) showing that genes and DNA do not control our biology; but instead, DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts! Joseph Mercola, founder of the world’s most visited natural health site, stated: “Finally, a compelling and easy-to-understand explanation of how your emotions regulate your genetic expression. You need to read this book to truly appreciate that you are not a victim of your genes but instead have unlimited capacity to live a life overflowing with peace, happiness, and love.”

Watching the news this week about the sad and untimely death of singer Whitney Houston made me think about how negative thoughts, even the often not true statements in the press about her life, must have affected her. One of the press releases stated that she reacted angrily in the hotel gift shop, just prior to her death, after seeing a tabloid with her picture, claiming she was back in rehab again. Dr. Franklin Ebaugh of the University of Colorado Medical School states that resentment, hate, grudges, ill will, jealousy, vindictiveness, are all attitudes which produce ill-health. Chemical reactions in the body are set up by emotional outbursts that result in feelings of ill-health.

He continues by suggesting that if you are not feeling so great, honestly ask yourself if you are harboring any ill will or resentment or grudges. And if so, cast them out without delay. Many people suffer poor health not because of what they eat but from what is eating them, siphoning off any happiness, as well as draining energy and leading to deterioration in one’s health. Filling the mind with attitudes of goodwill, forgiveness, faith, love and gratefulness can produce feelings of well-being.

Norman Vincent Peale recommends that we saturate our thoughts with peaceful experiences, peaceful words and ideas, and utlimately we will have a storehouse of peace-producing experiences to which we can turn to for refreshment and renewal of our spirit ~ a vast source of power.

I love Ode for Intelligent Optimists, a magazine totally focused on positive news. In the December issue was where I found the delightful video that I posted above. I highly recommend reading Antonia Hall’s article on how to Develop the Power of Positive Thinking. She shares with the reader how to develop positive affirmations to recite each day and shares hers as well.

I will end this post with a quote from my favorite author, Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Coming to Our Senses ~ Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness…

“The journey toward health

and sanity is nothing less than

an invitation to wake up

to the fullness of our lives as if they

actually mattered.”

May the “Farm” Be With You

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Feb 092012

Great little film ~ let’s all do our part, support our farms and buy organic. A great resource I found regarding organic food choices is by Dr. Greene. Go to this link to learn more. And check out my post about the Shopping Guide to Pesticides by the Environmental Working Group.

The Dangers of Sitting Too Much

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Feb 012012

This may work in some work environments ~ realistically, according to the Alliance for Natural Health, periodically taking time out from your computer, desk, television, and driving time to walk, move around, stretch, and flex your muscles, are all associated with a smaller waist circumference, lower body mass index, and lower blood lipid levels, and better glucose metabolism.

What about moderate or even vigorous exercise? Would that make a difference? According to a study of 4,757 adults by the European Health Journal, prolonged sedentary periods led to larger waist sizes and higher levels of blood fats, even if subjects participated in regular sessions of moderate to rigorous exercise outside of their inactive hours. So who fared the best? Those who did both regular exercise and took breaks to stand or walk at regular intervals.

According to ANH-USA, animal studies show that how much time we are sedentary is related to how well our bodies process fats. The studies in rats show that leg muscles only produce the lipase lipoprotein (fat-processing) molecule when they are being actively flexed ~ that is, when standing, or better still, walking around ~ and low levels of he molecule are associated with health problems, including heart disease. In short, sitting makes this important molecule slow down. In fact, actively contracting the muscles produces a whole suite of substances that have a beneficial effect on how the body uses and stores sugars and fats.

So maybe it is time to stick to those new year’s resolutions as well as adding some new ones. The daily decisions we make, including not sitting so much, can truly impact the state of our health and well-being. One of the interesting facts I learned from ANH-USA was that we even have specialized muscles designed for low-intensity activity ~muscles very rich in enzymes which grabs fat and cholesterol from the blood, burning the fat into energy while shifting the cholesterol from LDL (the bad kind) to HDL (the healthy kind). But when we are sedentary, our muscles relax, dropping that enzyme activity by 90% to 95% ~ the fat is left in the bloodstream and our healthy cholesterol soon dives by 20%!

How about you? Does your job keep you glued to your desk? If so, consider a few spurts of activity each hour. And perhaps all that sitting watching those favorite TV shows should take a back seat as well!

To Drug or Not To Drug ~ That Is The Question

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Jan 252012

Watching this little film clip made me think about our medical treatment options offered today. Most of us have family members who, upon learning their cholesterol is high, are immediately offered a prescription to take care of it. Should we really be abdicating control of our own personal health?

Dietary and lifestyle choices have been shown to be far better than treatment. According to Dr. Dean Ornish, author of Reversing Heart Disease, there is a genetic variability in how efficiently (or inefficiently) a person metabolizes dietary saturated fat and cholesterol. Some people can eat almost anything yet their blood cholesterol levels do not increase very much. Others find that even a small amount of dietary fat or cholesterol makes their blood cholesterol levels increase. Most people are somewhere in between on this spectrum.

In 1985 Drs. Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of LDL-cholesterol receptors, located primarily in liver cells, and they bind and remove cholesterol from the bloodstream. According to Ornish, “The more cholesterol receptors you have, the more efficiently you can metabolize and remove cholesterol from your blood.” And this is, in part, genetically determined.

So what is the answer? Ornish goes on to state that if the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet is low enough, then your blood cholesterol level will be low even if you don’t have very many cholesterol receptors. Three fourths of the cholesterol in our blood is made by the body. It’s the excessive amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat in our diet that lead to coronary heart disease.

By eating healthier, controlling our weight and supplementing wisely, the rewards can be great, particularly over a lifetime. According to Ornish, if drugs are used to control a patient’s symptoms without also treating the underlying causes of the illness, than that patient will probably have to take these drugs for the rest of his or her life, often in ever-increasing dosages and with unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects. Not a pretty picture!

With one in three American adults having high cholesterol, one option is using a natural way to lower it. Natural compounds called plant sterols and stanols, when added to a healthy diet, can significantly reduce LDL cholesterol. These sterols and stanols are found naturally in plants, fruits, vegetables and grains and because their structure is similar to cholesterol, they compete for absorption, and thereby may help to decrease the level of cholesterol in the body. Ask me about it.

I am so happy and grateful that I am still prescription-free just as I celebrate my 69th birthday. Fortunately I took control of my own health and it has been very rewarding for me. What about you? What changes are you making daily that keep you on the path of wellness? I would love to hear your comments.

Saving Lives With A Soda Tax

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Jan 172012

Watching the news this morning I learned that Hostess Brand, a 87 year old company and maker of the infamous Twinkies is going bankrupt again.

This made me very happy considering the fact that the Twinkie, (150 calories and 4.5 gr of fat) is not really a food but a mixture of chemicals and trans fat, filled with an unidentifiable sugary cream filling that never goes bad. Of course when my children were growing up, if they found a Hostess Brand Ding Dong (368 calories, 19.4 gr of fat) or Twinkie in their lunchbox, I was truly “Mom of the Day!” Here are the exact ingredients of that Twinkie:

Apparently, because there has been more demand for healthier options such as yogurt and energy bars, purchase of this gooey snack has diminished. Under its most recent bankruptcy filing, it is looking to restructure into a “strong, competitive” company. I found the following video very enlightening about this subject:

Another sugary issue is our love for sweet drinks. Every year Americans drink 13.8 billion gallons of soda, fruit punch, sweet tea, sports drinks, and other sweetened beverages. According to Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF (University of California, SF), after analyzing the effect of a nationwide tax on these sugary drinks, estimates of 240,000 cases of diabetes per year, 100,000 cases of heart disease, 8,000 strokes, and 26,000 deaths over the next decade could be realized simply by slapping this penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages.

Even more impressive would be the savings to the public of $17 billion over the next decade in health care related expenses due to the decline of obesity-related diseases (as well as the $13 billion per year in direct tax revenue). The fact that surprised me was that the scientists who generated this first study to generate concrete estimates of the health benefits and cost savings of such a tax are only estimating a reduction of 10 to 15% over a decade!

Some interesting facts about these sugary drinks:

17 teaspoons of sugar in a typical 22-oz soda
45 gallons consumed annually per person of sweet beverages
70,000 calories is average number person consumes per year in sweet drinks
cost per decade of excess coronary artery disease attributable to elevated consumption of sweetened drinks may be as high as $500 billion!

We all know deep down that sugar is toxic. If it takes a tax to stop even 10 to 15% of us to stop consuming so much of it, then it is a worthwhile tax. Just happy to see that Americans are choosing yogurt over twinkies some of the time!

More News About Statins and What To Do About It

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Jan 112012

Are you one of the many who have been prescribed a statin drug by your doctor as a way to prevent heart disease? A recent study of postmenopausal women, led by Dr. Yunsheng Ma of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has found that statins may increase some people’s chances of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Steven Nissen, cardiology chairman at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved in the research, fears that people who need and will benefit from statins will be scared off of using the drugs because of reports like this.

So what exactly are statins? According to the Mayo Clinic, statins are drugs that can lower your cholesterol. They work by blocking a substance your body needs to make cholesterol. Statins may also help your body reabsorb cholesterol that has built up in plaques on your artery walls, preventing further blockage in your blood vessels and heart attacks.

Statins include well-known medications such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and others. Lower cost generic versions of many statin medications are available. This class of medication, cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, generate more than $15 billion in worldwide sales every year; and 40 million Americans have been recommended to take them for the rest of their lives. Basically, statins have become the most profitable drug class in the world.

One interesting fact about statins ~ In Canada all statin drugs require warnings that the drugs reduce the coenzyme Q10 level ~ one the substances needed for the creation of energy by virtually every cell of your body.

According to Michael B. Schachter, M.D., when these drugs are given to lower LDL cholesterol levels in order to reduce risks of a heart attack, CoQ10 levels in the tissues are lowered, thus increasing risk for heart disease. He believes anyone taking Mevacor or similar type drugs should be on a significant dosage of CoQ10. He also mentions beta blockers, drugs that are used extensively to treat heart disease, high blood pressure and other conditions, also deplete the heart and other tissues of CoQ10. Unfortunately, most cardiologists and conventional physicians in the U.S. are unaware of this fact and do not give patients on these drugs supplements of CoQ10.

The Women’s Health study mentioned above certainly can be looked at as a needed note of caution for women. Taking a statin cholesterol-lowering drug should be your last resort, but if you do take one, it might be advantageous that you also take the supplement CoQ10 to replenish what has been lost by taking that statin.

My husband was recently requested by his doctor to begin taking a statin to reduce his cholesterol. Rather than take a drug, he chose to take a heart-healthy choice, containing 2,000 mg of plant sterols and stanols found naturally in plants, fruits, vegetables, and grains, and clinically proven by more than 80 studies to lower LDL cholesterol. Other suggested lifestyle changes for lowering our cholesterol include:

Decreasing our intake of saturated at to less than 7% of total calories
Decreasing our dietary cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg per day
Losing 10 pounds if overweight
Adding 5-10 g of soluble fiber to our diet each day
And adding that 2,000 mg of plant sterols and stanols to our diet each day

What is Your New Year’s Resolution?

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Dec 282011

Wikopedia describes a New Year resolution as a commitment that an individual makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. According to Gretchen Rubin (author of best-seller “The Happiness Project”): “You hit a goal, you achieve a goal. You keep a resolution”.

It further states that this lifestyle change is generally interpreted as advantageous. A New Years Resolution is generally a goal someone sets out to accomplish in the coming year. Some examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become more environmentally responsible. A key element to a New Years Resolution that sets it apart from other resolutions is that it is made in anticipation of the New Year, and new beginnings.

So as the days of 2011 come to an end and 2012 looms ahead, what are your resolutions? Mine include, of course, exercise more and eat less! Actually, I have joined with a group of like-minded individuals and formed an actual team to work together on this resolution. We plan to meet weekly, discuss our victories and challenges, share healthy tips and recipes and hold ourselves accountable to our stated goals. If you are in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area ~ you are welcome to join us. We will be meeting every Saturday from 11:00 am until Noon at Kinetix Health Club, 503 W. Main Street, Carrboro, NC ~ free childcare provided!

I look forward to posting many more healthy articles for you to read in this upcoming year as well. Happy New Year to everyone and I wish you all a healthy life!

Heart Attacks and Holiday Dishes

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Dec 212011

Last evening our extended family met at my twin sister’s farmhouse out in Chatham County for our annual “Holiday Family Feast.” Each family brings their best dishes and we all converge on the huge dining room table which is laden with a variety of mouth-watering amazing dishes.

This year was different for me ~ since March I have not eaten meat so ham was definitely not going to be on my plate. I usually bring meatballs in a great sauce (my father’s recipe) and for years I only used beef. Last year we chose to offer beef as well as ground turkey. This year I chose to make the turkey meatballs, but no beef, but also brought something for myself ~ vegetarian meatballs ~ and they were amazing! I noticed that these, along with the turkey ones, disappeared quickly! (If you would like the vegetarian version recipe, let me know) ~ it came from a Meatball Shop Restaurant and apparently they sell faster than the meat ones!

The great thing about this year was that everyone thought to bring a salad ~ we had potato, green, Lebanese, bean, persian ~ they were all delicious. And Robyne’s Carrot Raisin Rice, as always, was delicious. So when the desserts arrived ~ Maia’s famous sugar cookies, Aunt Joyce’s fudge, Raelee’s Whoopie Pies, Jaleh’s Gingerbread Cake, etc. we indulged without guilt! (well, sort of)

I am sure there are many of you attending such holiday events. It is all part of the season. But what about all that rich holiday food and drink? Knowing that salt and alcohol can raise blood pressure, fatty foods can boost cholesterol, and even one rich meal can adversely affect blood vessels ~ perhaps those veggie meatballs and all those salads were a great choice! Although that rich holiday food and drink have not been linked to a rise in winter heart attacks, stress, according to Robert Kloner, a cardiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, plays a pretty major role. Heart attack deaths peak on three days of the year, and one of them is Christmas. The other two are the day after Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Perhaps creating a simpler holiday and facing the holiday with less expectations can help with that stress. We all know that flu and pneumonia can play a role in the winter so keeping our immune systems strong is important. One of the ways I practice prevention is by taking an immune support supplement. When used daily, it increases the production of my body’s natural interferon, a critical activator of the immune system. It works at the cellular level, by rapidly activating my immune system’s defenses.

A recent study published in Cell Metabolism showed that by taking a resveratrol supplement for 30 days significantly lowered multiple markers associated with heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and many other chronic diseases. These include markers of inflammation, improved mitochondrial capacity, lowered blood pressure, and blood glucose. The study participants showed significant increases in markers of mitochondrial function (our body’s energy producers that tend to decrease in number and output as we age). I take a high potency resveratrol supplement daily for a longer and healthier life.

As we all enjoy the holiday season and “indulge” in those occasional feasts and parties, perhaps we can focus on making our holidays a little slower pace, lessening our expectations, and most importantly practicing prevention by providing our body with important immune and cell defense. Happy Holidays!

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