Friday, December 11, 2009

Dr. Scott's short wellness tip #1

Hi guys and gals,
Today I am starting to post a cumulative list of wellness tips.
I'll try to plug in a reference when possible for those who want more detail.
Now that it's "cold and flu season" we need to boost our immune systems.
The #1 simplest and cheapest immune enhancement is to avoid sugar.
White blood cells ((WBC's) are serve as our immune warriors. They kill bacteria and viruses.
(Viruses are not technically alive, but who wants to consider being invaded by an army of microscopic "undead" beings?)

WBC's are activated by vitamin C; research shows that sugar inhibits WBC activity.
Sugar ties up the receptor site on the WBC where vitamin C is supposed to fit. (It's like a chunk of metal stuck in your ignition on your car so your key can't be inserted.)
Sorry to say, fruit sugar is still sugar. Drink fresh water with a small amount of unsweetened fruit juice in it. (Boring, I know. But do you want to get well or drink sugar?)

Bonus tip:
The immune system is THE MOST ENERGY CONSUMING PROCESS IN THE BODY.
If you are getting sick, go to bed.
If you can't go to bed, cut out as much as you can, get home early, and go to bed.
The rest of the stuff can wait.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

What is a good diet, anyway?

How do you make cows fat REALLY FAST?
Answer: Put them where they don't get much exercise and feed them starchy grains and cereals.






How abou
t people?
Well...put them in cubicles and have them eat pastries, sugared coffee drinks, and pizza!

Moo.





These are various facts and opinions cobbled together for you to add to your knowledge.
If you think someone is going to write the final comprehensive book or article on human nutrition, forget about it. It's a learning process like raising kids, cooking, or working on cars.
Hand me that spatula/socket wrench and let's get started.

You're at your family doctor and due to your weight, blood pressure, or cholesterol level, they say, "You should eat a healthier diet and get more exercise". But what does a "healthy" diet consist of? It can seem very complex at times with all of the conflicting research in the media. One day eggs are good, next day they're not. One day they say drinking coffee causes heart disease. The next day they say it prevents Alzheimer's disease. So, what's the deal?

The following are general recommendations and dietary needs may vary depending on individual needs, like athletes, people with certain diseases, etc.

The simple overview of the building blocks for planning your diet can be listed here:
Meat and fish;
Fruit and vegetables;
Nuts and seeds.
Healthy oils come from fish, vegetables (avacado, cocanut), and nuts.

All philosophical debate aside, we are designed to eat meat. Our teeth, digestive system, and metabolic needs dictate that including fish and meat in the diet is healthier than being a strict vegetarian. If you're going to be a vegetarian, you had better study how to replace the nutrients you need.

Here are some sad facts:
Dairy products are generally bad for you.
Your humble author grew up on a farm in Minnesota so dairy products were a big part of our diet.
Two things need to be considered:
First, proteins in milk (casein, lactoalbumin) usually aggravate food allergies (along with every inflammatory process in your body- arthritis, asthma, runny nose).
Secondly, milk contains grown hormones which aggravate hormonal systems in the body, especially in teens. (This stimulates accelerated skin cell growth, oil secretion, and clogged pores.)
Toss in hormones and antibiotics needed for large dairy farm production and milk becomes worse.
(For calcium, eat green vegetables like cows do. Cows don’t drink milk and they don’t get osteoporosis! Elephants have a solid femur and they don't drink milk either!)

Peanuts contain aflatoxins and are more of a vegetable than a nut.

Grains and cereals make us fat, acidic, and allergic.
Glutens cause constant inflammation of the colon and probably the whole body. The more processed they are, the more like sugar they are. Twinkies are not the staff of life.)
Grains move us toward acid environment which is cancer friendly.

Sugar is killing us. Starch is sugar. Breads, grains, and cereals are starch. Corn is not a vegetable; it is a grain. When you eat sugar your blood sugar rises; your pancreas secretes insulin which tells your cells to pull sugar out of the blood into storage (usually fat); sometimes the system wears out and you become diabetic. Prevention is the key. Eat little sugar, little starch, slow absorbtion of sugar by combining with oils.

Corn syrup is killing us. It is in everything. Run away!

If you’re going to change your diet, you have to study food and human physiology. If you can learn to use a cell phone and a computer, you can learn nutrition. Get to work. The benefits are huge. The cost of failure is a huge waistline and huger health problems.

First change your beliefs, then change your habits.
First add healthy things, then delete bad things.
Drink more water; eat a bag of raw vegetables; if your friends undermine your efforts,tell them you need their support in your healthy pursuits; if necessary get healthier friends.

In our anti-health life
Our dirt is so disinfected that we don’t get enough good bugs on our food any more. You need to eat good bacteria every day. We stock probiotics in our clinic.

We don’t have time to eat enough good food so take a multivitamin / mineral supplement. We stock them in our clinic.
(You need to take vitamin D in extra quantities as well.)

Finally, you need Omega 3 fatty acids for about 100 important reasons. It is like the oil that keeps your leather apparel from drying out. It keeps your cell walls healthy and if your cells are healthy, you will be healthy.
We stock Nordic Naturals Products in our clinic.


A couple of other things:
1. Fresh fruits and vegetables - Raw or lightly cooked/steamed is the best. Overcooking results in less nutrients being available and it breaks down the natural enzymes found in produce, which helps aid in digestion and in the health of the digestive system. In this "eat as much as you can" category, I would limit potatoes, and any other very starchy vegetables high on the glycemic index.

Also, try to eat twice as many vegetables than fruits. Eat a wide variety in order to get the spectrum of vitamins and minerals out there. Oh, and of course, eat organic when possible.

2. Herbal teas, water, lemon water - Drink at least 60-100 ounces per day to keep your body well hydrated. Herbal teas are a great way to give things flavor and add beneficial anti-oxidants to your system.
For more on the importance of water, read "Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty!” by F. Batmanghelidj.

For an idea of what foods are very nutritious, see George Mateljan Foundation's website.
(He's a cool old guy with nutrition tips; plus he looks like Leslie Neilson.)

Include some of these, but don't overdo it:
1. Healthy fats and oils - These include olive oil, butter, and coconut oil. These are much healthier than hydrogenated oils, vegetable oils, and margarine. Even though butter and coconut oil are high in saturated fats, when used in moderation they promote health. Then there are oils such as flax seed oil and fish oil. They are not usually used in food preparation, but taken more like supplements.
2. Meat - I would try to use only meat from free range, antibiotic and hormone free animals. These animals are allowed to grow at a natural rate eating grasses, clover, etc. versus the grain and corn feed given to most farm animals.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Here come the holidays so remember: you are what you eat!

If you are a “typical American”, be prepared to be “overfed and undernourished”!

A rich, holiday diet typically contains a lot of processed starch (bleached flour, pasta, and sugar). In addition to being short on proteins our holiday treats leave us deficient in. Micronutrients are the trace amounts of vitamins, minerals, and other compounds found in foods. This is opposed to macronutrients, which are what is found in higher concentrations in food (starch, proteins, fats).

Historically, foods that humans have consumed were made up of a balance of macro- and micro- nutrients. For instance, vegetables and fruits are made up of carbohydrates and a small amount of protein and fat. They also contain an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. The typical foods consumed today in the Standard American Diet (SAD) have an abundance of processed and refined foods that are stripped of their vitamins and minerals. Because of this, we consume plenty of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, but they lack the vitamins and minerals that we need.

The human body is probably one of the most complex and resilient “systems” in the universe. This allows us to adapt to almost anything that we can do to our bodies. In the case of micronutrient deficiency, our bodies can adapt to allow short term survival, but it is done so at the expense of long term health and well-being. In other words, taking in fewer nutrients than we need now doesn’t cause any immediate short term effects, but let this go on for several years or decades, and it will take a toll on our health.

We see evidence of this phenomenon everyday. Chronic micronutrient deficiency is linked with increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. All diseases are on the rise even though we have access to more food than ever. These lifestyle related diseases combine to kill more people than any other causes. Additionally, we have also seen a decrease in quality of life due to degenerative diseases such arthritis.
Micronutrient deficiency causes DNA damage and mitochondrial decay, leading to increased free radical production and oxidative stress in the body. This “leads to functional decline of mitochondria, cells, tissues, and eventually organs such as the brain with an accompanying loss of ambulatory activity.” The DNA damage and mitochondrial decay is also seen with exposure to radiation and other harmful chemicals. It’s interesting because most people freak out over the risk of radiation exposure from 3-Mile Island or having x-rays done, yet they think nothing of allowing themselves or their kids to become micronutrient deficient!

Message of hope:
What we put in our bodies really does matter, and we can make small changes for big rewards.
Add healthy items for awhile before trying to deprive yourself of treats. Add fruit and vegetables to your diet starting today.
Later you can “raise the bar” and cut out sugar and processed grains. Additionally, you can take a high quality daily multivitamin with minerals.

Monday, October 26, 2009

What you put ON YOU goes IN YOU!

You gals and guys who are SO concerned with what you put in your bodies, may wish to think about what you put ON your bodies.

When doctors want to put something in you, they give it to you, up your nose (inhalant), through your mouth (oral), in your bum (rectal), and sometimes put directly on your skin (dermal).
(Try this experiment. Paint some iodine on your forearm. After awhile it
disappears. When you are deficient, it "soaks in" faster.) Nicotine and morphine patches are all the rage.

This brings us to mention that the FDA does not protect you from toxins in things you put on your body unless it kills you immediately. Lots of makeup contain toxins but they won't kill you. They may however, accumulate in your tissues. The major store houses for toxins in your body are

-your liver,

-your fat cells, and

-your skin.

When you get older, your skin often shows this with spots or in some people discoloration. (There is this weird condition where the iron from your blood breaking down normally doesn't leave your body but accumulates in your skin turning people a sort of bronze color- hemosiderosis/hemochromatosis.)

The quick answer is to start studying toxins in things you put on you.

Take note: the chlorine in the shower is being absorbed. It pays to have sensitive babies washed in filtered water.

To start with makeup, here is a list of some natural make up companies:
  1. •www.Sukicolor.com
  2. •www.Boscia.net
  3. •www.Sephora.com
  4. •www.DollFaceBeauty.com
  5. •www.MyChelle.com
  6. •www.BareEscentuals.com
  7. •www.CargoPlantLove.com
  8. •www.CargoPlantLove.com

Friday, October 23, 2009

The "Swiss Ball"

The big inflatable balls that you see in your gym have been around for a long time, originating in the 1960's made by an Italian toy maker. American physical therapists and trainers picked them up in the 1980’s and they caught on in the 1990’s.
Many innovations have come about to use them to enhance core strength and stability; the major catch being that you have to use them.
I am interested in Swiss Balls for the following purposes:
1. These are great for adding variety to your workout to keep it interesting.
2. Big ball exercises combine strengthening with balance and coordination. Challenging the balance and coordination part of your brain helps build stability to keep you healthy. It also stimulates upper brain centers to increase mental function, reduce stress hormones, and even slow aging.
3. Sitting on a Swiss ball at your desk will help
avoid low back fatigue and wearing on spinal structures.
When you sit on a ball, you almost never stop moving slightly. This easy movement keeps your muscles firing and gives structures more of a break from moment to moment. (You may have noticed this when you have walked or hiked for several hours vs. standing for the same amount of time. Your legs and back are often more fatigued from standing than from moving.)
A ball should be large enough to support you so that your thighs are horizontal when sitting. For most people, a 65 cm ball is about right.
Another factor is that more expensive balls are much firmer when inflated to the correct size. You may actually prefer a softer ball but it is something to consider.
Balls run about $15-30 depending on the source. We carry them at the clinic for $25.
There are thousands of websites including Youtube videos demonstrating how to use Swiss balls in a variety of ways.

While searching the web, if you substitute "exercise ball" for "Swiss ball", you will find another 15,000 Youtube videos.


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Food Allergies

Eight foods account for 90% of all food-induced allergic reactions: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, cashews, etc.), seafood, shellfish, soy, and wheat.

Milk, it does a body good, or does it?
Milk is the biggest culprit when it comes to food allergies. There is no argument that breast milk is superiorly designed to maximize baby growth and health. But why is it we are the only animals that drink the milk of another animal after weaning? Many alternative practitioners feel that it's not necessary for humans to consume cow's milk and link its consumption to health problems, such as ear infections, allergies, cancer and diabetes. On the other hand, the medical community has convinced us that if we don't drink enough milk our bones will disintegrate. Cows don’t drink milk and they don’t get osteoporosis. And the American Dairy Association wants us to think we'll be cool like celebrities with milk mustaches if we drink lots of milk.

Eggs, Soy, and Wheat
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises children to be breastfed exclusively for the first 12 months of their life. But a breastfed baby’s routine will be to eat every two to three hours, which means the child will not sleep through the night. Pediatricians often encourage sleep deprived mothers to supplement by introducing baby cereal and formula into the baby’s diet which can lead to an early development of food allergies to wheat and soy. As the child grows older, these allergies can worsen and lead to further complications, such as asthma.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Blog Topics of Interest?

Hello patients and friends,
If you are interested in a health related topic, please let me know. If I can offer any insight on it from a practical or natural health care point of view I will make it part of this blog. Thank you.