Positive Thoughts

Our thoughts have a profound effect on our health. We have previously talked about our emotions and how they effect our health. Negative thoughts release hormones that breakdown the body’s tissues causing dis-ease. Today I have included an audio of Dr. Caroline Leaf and Joyce Meyer discussing how your thoughts affecting your life.  To see a video from her website go to:   http://www.drleaf.net/about/video-appearances or for an audio go to: Dr. Caroline Leaf.

Dr. Leaf explains the brain and emotions from a scientific view point.

Breakthrough Diagnosis Tool Uncovers What’s REALLY Causing Your Health Problems

The headline comes from Dr. Mercola’s site and he is praising the technique (ART) that we practice in our clinic. The technique is finally getting the recognition it deserves! The article explains autonomic response testing (ART) and the science behind it. This is not new age or voodoo, this is a scientifically based diagnostic tool for helping practioners to determine the proper course of care for their patients.

We have seen many, many “miracles” with this technique!! Patients that have reached the end of their (medical) rope and have no where else to turn have found this technique to finally give them answers and hope. Please pass along this article to as many people as you can to let them know there is another way to handle and treat their health problems and it is based on scientific principles.

The reason medical doctors have such a hard time with this is that the treatments are not the same for each patient even though they may have the same disease. What works for one person with fibromyalgia may not be the same answer for the next. Thus clinic trails don’t work. But guess what-we are all different with different histories and lifestlyes and stresses, so to expect one thing to work for everyone is just wrong.

Hope you find this article helpful in explaining to your friends and family that there is another way other than the one size fits all.

The article can be read at:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/09/The-Absolute-Best-Muscle-Testing-System-I-Know-of.aspx  Print it and pass it on! 

He also has a article on the mechanics of muscle testing called  Next To Prayer the Most Powerful Healing Technique I Am Aware of  which you can read at :http://www.mercola.com/article/mind_body/applied_psycho_neurobiology/muscle_testing.htm 

Yours in health.

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Weight Loss: The Most Common Resolution

It is the new year and with it brings the hopes of a healthier, thinner you. There are many diets and exercises to help you on your path. If, however, you are feeling overwhelmed by all the changes and choices, here are a few things you can do to help. The first step is to get your fat burning organ (liver) back in shape. A good fast and detox is the best way. It is like cleaning the carborator on your car-the liver keeps your vehicle (body) running smoothly. For an idea how toxic you are take our detox quiz.(for more information on detox go to our website.)  What does being toxic have to do with weight loss? If your motor is full of crud how do you expect it to run and burn fuel (fat) efficiently? A 21 day detox gets the crud out and starts your weight loss. Call the office at 770-425-6068 to find out more . We start in the middle of January.

   Next is to eliminate those empty calories-sodas, junk foods, refined grains(cookies, cakes, white flour and white sugar) A good resource to start with is at http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/index.htm. Basically Dr. Mercola breaks it down into manageable steps for the beginner like:

Step 1: Eliminate All Gluten, and Highly Allergenic Foods From Your Diet.

Step 2: At least one third of your food should be uncooked.

Step 3: Eat more vegetables.

Step 4 : Keep your vegetables fresh.

Step 5: Limiting sugar is critical.

Step 6: Avoid Artificial Sweeteners.

Step 7: Avoid hypoglycemia. Eat low glycemic!

Step 8: Learn to distinguish physical food cravings from emotional food cravings.

A great site for good, clean, organic foods is www.cleaneatingmag.com

Just eliminating sodas from your diet will result in a weight loss. Watch the video on sodas:

Lastly, by adding a few simple exercises a week  you will be a stronger, healthier you in no time. You don’t need to join a pricey gym. Just get out and walk 30 mins a day, buy a few dumbbells for weight bearing exercises (this prevents osteoporosis ladies) and buy a yoga tape for flexability. It doesn’t need to be complicated. A good site for simple dumbbell exercises that you can do at home with little other equipment is :  http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/dumbbellexercises.html . 

 Yoga not only stretches you out but improves posture, flexibility, and gives you a long, lean look. There are many dvds out there-your library may have some you can try out to see which type of yoga you like best. 

A good PM yoga stretching routine (Goes a little fast):

A couple of other video that are great are: The biggest loser yoga tape and yoga by sara ivanhoe. You an watch a variety of sample yoga videos on you tube. Another great resource is: www.exercisetv.tv here you can watch many exercise videos for free!

Hope this helps you start your new year and new you!!

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Newest Research On Why You Should Avoid Soy

soy
The propaganda that has created the soy sales miracle is all the more remarkable because, only a few decades ago, the soybean was considered unfit to eat – even in Asia. During the Chou Dynasty (1134-246 BC) the soybean was designated one of the five sacred grains, along with barley, wheat, millet and rice.

However, the pictograph for the soybean, which dates from earlier times, indicates that it was not first used as a food; for whereas the pictographs for the other four grains show the seed and stem structure of the plant, the pictograph for the soybean emphasizes the root structure.

Agricultural literature of the period speaks frequently of the soybean and its use in crop rotation. Apparently the soy plant was initially used as a method of fixing nitrogen.

The soybean did not serve as a food until the discovery of fermentation techniques, some time during the Chou Dynasty. The first soy foods were fermented products like tempeh, natto, miso and soy sauce.

At a later date, possibly in the 2nd century BC, Chinese scientists discovered that a purée of cooked soybeans could be precipitated with calcium sulfate or magnesium sulfate (plaster of Paris or Epsom salts) to make a smooth, pale curd – tofu or bean curd.

The use of fermented and precipitated soy products soon spread to other parts of the Orient, notably Japan and Indonesia.

The Chinese did not eat unfermented soybeans as they did other legumes such as lentils because the soybean contains large quantities of natural toxins or “antinutrients”.

First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion.

These inhibitors are large, tightly folded proteins that are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking.

They can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake.

In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including cancer.

Soybeans also contain haemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together.

Trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinin are growth inhibitors.

Weanling rats fed soy containing these antinutrients fail to grow normally.

Growth-depressant compounds are deactivated during the process of fermentation, so once the Chinese discovered how to ferment the soybean, they began to incorporate soy foods into their diets.

In precipitated products, enzyme inhibitors concentrate in the soaking liquid rather than in the curd.

Thus, in tofu and bean curd, growth depressants are reduced in quantity but not completely eliminated.

Soy also contains goitrogens – substances that depress thyroid function.

Additionally 99% a very large percentage of soy is genetically modified and it also has one of the highest percentages contamination by pesticides of any of our foods.

Soybeans are high in phytic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds.

It’s a substance that can block the uptake of essential minerals – calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc – in the intestinal tract.

Although not a household word, phytic acid has been extensively studied; there are literally hundreds of articles on the effects of phytic acid in the current scientific literature.

Scientists are in general agreement that grain- and legume-based diets high in phytates contribute to widespread mineral deficiencies in third world countries.

Analysis shows that calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc are present in the plant foods eaten in these areas, but the high phytate content of soy- and grain-based diets prevents their absorption.

The soybean has one of the highest phytate levels of any grain or legume that has been studied, and the phytates in soy are highly resistant to normal phytate-reducing techniques such as long, slow cooking.

Only a long period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans.

When precipitated soy products like tofu are consumed with meat, the mineral-blocking effects of the phytates are reduced.

The Japanese traditionally eat a small amount of tofu or miso as part of a mineral-rich fish broth, followed by a serving of meat or fish.

Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral deficiencies.

The results of calcium, magnesium and iron deficiency are well known; those of zinc are less so.

posted on mercola.com by Sally Fallon & Mary G. Enig (westonaprice.org)

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92 Deaths Linked to Cholesterol Lowering Statin Drugs

death by drugs



Experts are calling for a complete safety review of heart drugs taken by millions of Britons.

More than 37 of the deaths were attributed to Zocor.

Lipitor, made by Pfizer, was associated with 36 of the deaths.

Three other leading statin brands — Novartis’s Lescol, BMS’s Lipostat and AstraZeneca’s Crestor — have been associated with 19 deaths.

As well as the deaths there have also been reports of 7,000 side effects reported to the Department of Health by doctors, including kidney and liver damage and muscle weakness.

There are an estimated 4 million people taking the drugs, almost a third more than a year ago.

Cholesterol Confusion Among the Researchers

Anxiety about overuse of the drugs is coupled with a growing body of research suggesting the connection between cholesterol levels and health is more complex than previously thought.

A number of investigations have discovered that people with higher amounts of cholesterol live longer than those with lower levels.

Despite growing evidence that cholesterol is not the primary cause of heart disease, the pharmaceutical industry still is aggressively marketing statins.

The Death of a Tennis Player
Next month an inquest is to take place into the death of Ivor Meacher, 71, a fit former tennis coach from Okehampton, Devon, who became ill and died within weeks of being prescribed a statin for an irregular heartbeat.

Research by his daughter, Jay Ballard, has produced what she says is irrefutable evidence that his death was caused by the drug atorvastatin, manufactured by Pfizer and marketed in Britain as Lipitor.

Eventually she contacted Andrew Herxheimer, emeritus fellow of the United Kingdom Cochrane Centre and co-founder of DIPEx (an electronic database of patients’ experiences) in Oxford. He has filed a yellow card on her behalf.

Herxheimer, however, has questioned the heavy promotion of the drugs. “We don’t know what other things statins do apart from reducing lipids in the liver,” he said.

The Most Severe Side Effect
The most severe adverse effect of statins is called rhabdomyolysis, where muscle is “dissolved” and the breakdown products block the kidneys, with fatal consequences.

The Food and Drug Administration, which licenses medications in America, has been forced to review the safety of one statin in particular: Crestor.

This came after David Graham, the FDA’s leading drug safety expert, turned whistleblower last autumn to raise concerns about levels of kidney damage.

Beatrice Golomb, a scientist at the University of California in San Diego, has been sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to investigate the effects of statins on mental function in 1,000 patients. It is understood she has recorded a number of problems ranging from memory lapses to changes in personality.

Last year a study of almost 150,000 people in Austria found that those with the lowest cholesterol were more likely to die of cancer.

Andrew Clark, a cardiologist at Castle Hill hospital in Hull, was the co-author of an international study of 417 heart failure patients that showed those with highest cholesterol levels actually lived longer.

The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, which advises doctors on drug safety, is concerned about the marketing of statins and is planning a review of the sale of Zocor over the counter. “We are concerned there is no research data on the efficacy of the recommended dose, and there is also a potentially lethal effect if you drink grapefruit juice while taking it,” said its editor, Ike Iheanacho. Another statin drug called Lipobay was withdrawn in 2001 after unacceptably high death rates among patients.

Mark Harvey, a solicitor who represented more than 50 British patients who claimed they had suffered adverse effects from taking it, said last week: “There is an increasing crisis of confidence in public authorities. They keep telling us they are looking after us, but we keep having drugs taken off the market after too many people have been damaged by them.”

For a sattrical look at statins watch the video:

Start at 2.12:Heart Health

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Superstar CBS Reporter Blows the Lid Off the Swine Flu Media Hype and Hysteria

Video from CBS on Swine Flu/H1N1:

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What Soft Drinks Are Doing To Your Body

In the news today: …Soda, pop, cola, soft drink — whatever you call it, it is one of the worst beverages that you could be drinking for your health. As the debate for whether to put a tax on the sale of soft drinks continues, you should know how they affect your body so that you can make an informed choice on your own…

…A lot of research has found that consumption of soft drinks in high quantity, especially by children, is responsible for many health problems that include tooth decay, nutritional depletion, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease…

To read the entire article go to the following link:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/20270/what-soft-drinks-are-doing-to-your-body/

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Swine Flu Ingredients

vialspill2After reading this list I’m sure you will decide to forgo the shot. Dr. Oz stated on his program that after looking at the ingredients of the swine flu vaccine he would wait to see a little more research on it before getting the shot.

aluminum hydroxide
aluminum phosphate
aluminum sulfate
amphotericin B
animal tissues: pig & horse blood, rabbit brain, dog kidney, monkey kidney
chick embryo, chicken egg, duck egg
calf serum(blood)
betapropiolactone
fetal bovine serum(cow blood)
formaldehyde
formalin
gelatin
glycerol
human diploid cells (from human aborted fetal tissue)
hydrolized gelatin
MSG
neomycin
neomycin sulfate
phenol red indicator
phenoxyethanol (antifreeze)
potassium diphosphate
potassium monop hosphate
polymyxin B (antibiotic)
polysorbate 20 & 80(detergent)
pig pancreatic hydrolysate of casein
residual MRC5 proteins (from aborted fetus)
sorbitol
sucrose
thimerosal
tri(n)butylphosphat e
VERO cells(line of monkey kidney cells)
washed sheep red blood cells

For more information you can go http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html to look deeper at the ingredients.

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Staying Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

The cold and flu season is here and with all the flu shot media out there people are confused as to what they should do to prevent this years “epidemic”.

Before rushing to get the flu shot take a look at the ingredients:In addition to mercury, they  also contain other hazardous ingredients like:

· Formaldehyde — a known cancer-causing agent
· Aluminum — a neurotoxin that has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease
· Triton X-100 — a detergent
· Phenol (carbolic acid)
· Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
· Various antibiotics: neomycin, streptomycin, gentamicin — which can cause allergic reactions in some people

The research on flu vaccines shows that the truth is :

· Giving young children flu shots appeared to have no impact on flu-related doctor visits or hospitalizations during two recent flu seasons, according to a study published in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

· The flu vaccine is no more effective for children than a placebo, according to a large-scale, systematic review of 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states:

“In some years when vaccine and circulating strains were not well-matched, no vaccine effectiveness can be demonstrated in some studies, even in healthy adults. It is not possible in advance of the influenza season to predict how well the vaccine and circulating strains will be matched, and how that match may affect the degree of vaccine effectiveness.”

So what can you do to prevent the flu?   Exercise, wash your hands frequently, avoid sugar (lowers immune function), and  get plenty of sleep.

Some great herbals to keep the immune system strong and that can be taken regularly to prevent colds and flu are:

*Goldenseal- increases the blood supply to the spleen, an organ that’s the staging area for the fighting cells of your immune system and helps clear mucus from the throat

*Echinacea-activates the body’s infection-fighting capacity.

*Andrographis -reduces the cold symptoms such as fatigue, sore throat, sore muscles, runny nose, headache, and lymph node swelling

*Garlic- has anti-bacterial properties

*Elderberry- has been proven effective against eight strains of influenza.

*Vitamin D -(Cod Liver Oil)-Cod Liver oil is rich in Vitamin D & A(healthy mucous membranes)and reduces inflammation throughout the body helping runny noses and healing sore throats.

*Vitamin C- boosts the immune function and reduces inflammation.

The time to treat a cold is when you don’t have it.! Prevention is always better than cure.

For a funny look at how they make vaccines watch:

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Menopause or Thyroid Dysfunction?

Many people consider hot flashes and night sweats a sign of early menopause but altered thyroid function can cause many symptoms associated with menopause. In fact many of the symptoms associated with menopause are also signs that your thyroid isn’t functioning properly. Some other signs of thyroid dysfunction are: fatigue, cold hand and feet, forgetfulness, changes in nails and skin, depression, muscle cramps/weakness, irregular cycles, PMS, constipation and weight gain.

This is why it is so important to look at the body as a set of interconnected systems, rather than isolating the organs as a single entity. In fact, we often see hypothyroidism in our patients as part of a larger pattern of long-term hormonal imbalance.

Over 20% of menopausal women in the US are diagnosed with thyroid dysfunction. Recent studies suggest that millions more suffer from subclinical problems but are undiagnosed. For women in their late 30’s or 40’s, hypothyroidism is often a good indication that they are in perimenopause — the five, ten, or even 15 years of hormonal change preceding menopause. Why is this so? Because, studies have shown that high estrogen combined with low progesterone levels, called estrogen dominance, hampers thyroid function. Strong synthetic estrogens, such as those in Premarin, may exacerbate estrogen dominance.

A great test that you can do at home is a temperature test. Keep a thermometer beside your bed. When you awaken in the morning, before moving around (yes, even before you make a trip to the bathroom), tuck the thermometer snugly in your armpit and keep it in place for 15 minutes. Keep as still as possible. Then, remove the thermometer, take a reading, and write down the results. Follow this procedure for three days, then determine an average reading by adding all three readings together and dividing by three. If you’re average temperature is below 97.5 degrees F., in all probability you are suffering from subclinical hypothyroidism. Of course, this test is not to be used to replace any needed medical tests or attention to problems that you may have.

Other testing of salivary or blood levels of progesterone during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle can be of great value, as well as salivary and blood levels of thyroid hormones give us a picture of your hormonal health. With these simple tests a gentle replacement can be implemented if needed to reduce the negative impact of excess estrogen on the thyroid.

Some dietary supplements we use are Bladderwack which is high in iodine and is beneficial for under-active thyroid conditions, Black Cohosh which helps balance estrogen levels and may be useful in thyroid conditions, Siberian Ginseng which helps the adrenal and thymus glands, by helping support thyroid health, and Kelp Sea Weed is an excellent antioxidant and contains iodine to assist thyroid function. Our Thyroid Complex formula by Mediherb contains these helpful herbs to help the body to restore normal function.

The bottom line is that nutrition, stress management, and exercise are the keys to your well-being —and optimal thyroid and hormonal function is not likely without them. Beyond this foundation, you may still may need thyroid hormone replacement, and this is something you should discuss with your healthcare provider. We can tell you that we’ve seen in our practice patients who improve using nonprescription thyroid interventions, but for some women, thyroid hormone replacement is absolutely crucial. In these cases we recommend alternative thyroid treatments as a complement, rather than a substitute, for thyroid medication.

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