The Natural Path

Going Raw

2010-05-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

I have always been a vegetarian - well, since 1978. I have tried meat here and there - don't like it. I will eat fish and I can stomach turkey but I minimize the turkey! I have recently started eating raw just 5 days a week. It is so much easier than you could ever imagine. Let me back up for a moment. I recently had a client that had M.S. - (groan) - my experience with 90%(+) of M.S. clients is that they will not do what they need too! I have almost given up on that diagnosis altogether. He had been diagnosed several years ago and not a single symptom! He is 100% raw and has been for those years after diagnosis! I looked amazing! He felt amazing! If only everyone would do this - even 75% of the time they would be just as amazing!!
When I have suggested it in the past to clients I would say it holding my breath because I knew what they were thinking - "are you crazy" there's no way - I'm too busy, I cannot take the time, it's too expensive, my family would never do that"... I hear all kinds of excuses for any dietary changes or exercise recommendations! It is easy! If I can take care of my own business, 3 young kids, a household and a husband and eat raw anyone, anyone, anyone can do it!
If you take just a moment to wash a few fruits in the morning, just keep your blender always on the counter (I rinse after using and use a couple times a day or a couple days in a row before really having to wash thoroughly). To get your protein just add a spoonful of raw nut butter (it's just about the same cost as the other at Super Walmart if you have to shop for a family like I do - maybe 7-10 cents more). If you need essential fatty acids grab that box of ground flax meal out of the refrigerator and throw in a handful. With the nut butter you will stay fuller longer. I keep a bag of dates or nuts in my purse and if I need a little something I grab a handful and munch on it while returning emails and posting my daily healthy thoughts on my Facebook business page. I even do it between clients when they are filling out paperwork. If you don't have a few minutes to make a smoothie in the morning or you would rather sleep 15 more minutes and you don't make the time - run into Starbucks on the way to work. They have raw nuts, fruit leather, raw breakfast bars with no gluten, wheat or dairy. You have your choice of organic fruit juices or bottled water. I did that this morning so I could get to the office at 6:50 a.m. and catch up. After picking up my daughter we made a stop at a farmer's market on the way home and picked up grapfruits, blueberries, squash, strawberries and eggplant with fresh basil. It took a total of 20 minutes, in and out. When I got home I heated up the wok and threw in olive oil, garlic and some veggies, frozen and fresh. Done in another 15 minutes. It can be quick and easy. If you have some extra time to get fancy then do it - make an awesome salad, or a fruit plate. I took some time the other night to make a raw pudding so my kids could be a part of my new venture. We opened a coconut and used the milk and meat with 1 banana, 1 cup walnuts, a tiny bit of ginger with 1/4 tsp of sea salt and 1/4 tsp of Mace and cinnamon (the recipe called for pumpkin spice - didn't have it), and 12 dates. Mix in the blender for a minute and you have a sweet, raw treat! I am skinnier and feeling awesome! A great smoothie to use as a snack is a banana, 1 mango and 1 avocado - yummy - green, but yummy! Look at Victoria Boutenko's blog, and facebook fan page for more recipes! That's it, just giving you the scoop on eating right - no excuses needed!
http://greensmoothiesblog.com/green-smoothies-discovery-research/

Check Out These Signs Of A Stroke!

2010-05-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

One of the things I do in my practice is to look at a client's tongue. It gives me a lot of information! A client came to see me one day and this visit was different. When I examined her tongue it went straight to the side! I told her this was a sign of stroke and to be aware of symptoms. She immediately voiced her opinion about my comment. She told me that I shouldn't tell people that and how it was unnecessary. I will not stop, people need to know. I heard from her a month later with news that she had a stroke and the Dr.s told her she had already had around 20 small ones that she wasn't aware of. I received this email today reminding people of the signs of a stroke and for the first time ever the tongue was a sign - imagine that! When my father called me one day to tell me my mother had a stroke we grabbed two things right away to prevent long term permanent damage. Capsicum to thin the blood and a liquid herbal combination called First Herbs for the first sign of a stroke or heart attack. We gave these to her for the several hours we had to wait in the hall of a hospital not seeing anyone that could help her. She is now in great shape by the way! This combination is from Cedar Bear Naturals - find it and keep it in your medicine cabinet!!

The photo shown above shows exactly why the tongue goes off to the side! Here is the other information in that email:

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening
Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ... Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die.. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this.....
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally.. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S Ask the individual to SMILE.

T Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today.)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher..

Another sign of a stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke..

Adrenal Fatigue

2010-04-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ever feel like this in the afternoon? Ever wake up feeling this way? You spend a lot of energy during the day. You fit a lot in during your awake hours. Take my day. I awoke at 6 to get 3 lunches prepared and 3 breakfasts fed to my children. I got my email and gave some love to my 5 year old before I hopped in the shower and got ready. I helped my 5 year old prepare to be the star of the day at school with snacks for 16 children and a share toy to show her friends. I ate breakfast and ran off to drop my daughter at school. I headed off to work and saw clients, returned calls, returned emails and posted some healthy tips on my Facebook. I ran to the gym, ran a mile and lifted weights for 1 hour then got my daughter from school. Went to the bank, came home and fed myself and re-started the laundry. Folded 3 loads and started 2 more. I am preparing my 2 boys to do their homework and going through their work for the day while writing a blog. I will get up and make dinner and do the dishes when I finish with this and get in the shower to get ready for tomorrow since I have to leave at 7:30 to drive to VA to see a home bound client....Wow - crazy how much needs to be done daily. I know there are a lot of people out there that are juggling a similar load. I can tell you what I do to support my body's ability to handle stress. I take my minerals and adrenal formulas to keep my body moving without falling on my face. I exercised and followed that "stressor" up with stretching and breathing. And tonight before I go to bed I will use a cream for adrenal support so that my adrenals are fed while I rest. I wouldn't normally be able to sleep after a day like today. It is a common complaint I hear from people with adrenal stress.
Your adrenals are the size of a hazelnut that rest on the kidneys like baseball caps. They make over 50 hormones, help you to carry out any excess fluid, help with mood, help keep your blood sugar balanced, and put out corticoids to help you deal with stress - good and bad. Stimulants such as stress, caffeine, lack of rest, failing health and other stressors will keep the adrenals constantly putting out stress hormones. Just like any other living organism it will wear down from all that they have to deal with - this is where the term adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion comes from. You take and take and take from them - they will end up unable to give back to you when they need to. How do you give back to the adrenals you ask? Well, if you are going to take from them all day and in some cases at night too, then you should know how you can give back. Stop beating them up everyday is the obvious response, but it's not always possible to rest properly and not live a stressful lifestyle. B vitamins are a great start! Even better Algae is full of B vitamins and also contain other balanced nutrients that feed and balance adrenals. Also, you have more vitamin c receptors at the adrenals than any other cell in the body! 1,000-2,000 mg a day is a great way to give back. I am doing a liquid mineral combination with adaptogens in it that give back to the adrenals, and oh does it energize!! I amaze myself with the stamina I have to complete all my daily tasks! Diet helps too. You need to get complete proteins (eggs, meat, dairy, beans, edamame)... You also need complex carbohydrates, (beans, whole grains, brown rice)... each at every meal! Moderate caffeine intake and limit sugar intake (including high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, chlorinated sugar (Splenda and sucrolose) and excess fruit sugar. do Xylitol, stevia and honey instead. Eating lower glycemic index food daily will also make the adrenals very very happy! If you don't like feeling completely exhausted and not able to cope or sleep, or feeling anxious and depressed just give back to your adrenals, so they can continue to give to you! See my website home page to read about balancing glycemic index in your diet at thenaturalpathwithjillclarey.com

Hydration, Guaranteed Helpful!

2010-04-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

It's getting warmer outside - just driving around today my nine year old had sweat dripping off his brow! He knows to drink water, and how much is needed, thanks to me and his curious brain! I have always tried to put the word out that every person needs 1/2 their body weight in oz. of water a day. So, if you are 130 lbs you need 1/2 that (65) oz. a day of pure, fresh, clean water. No need to get so fancy. No need to drink alkalizing, mineralized or flavored waters! Being over alkaline is just as much a problem as being over acidic. The water I prefer is reverse osmosis. I have had a shoebox size reverse osmosis unit for over 20 years. Easy and cheap to maintain. It cleans 96% off all the garbage out of my city water and adds oxygen. How do I know? I have had it checked!
Okay, let's talk about the whys now. Your body is made of about 74.5% water. Your blood is made up of over 80% water and you need to keep it clean to make healthy blood cells. If you drink 1/2 your body weight in oz. daily you will replace that water in 5-7 days! If you don't your blood will be full of garbage and sluggish, and, therefore, your filters, such as liver and kidneys will be congested and not as effective. Your lymphatic (your garbage men) will be stagnant full of garbage as well! Your bones are made of 50% water, and you need to be hydrated to make more bone cells! Did you know that you make red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in stem cells in the bones? It's a simple step to drink water daily to keep two very important parts of your body a little healthier! Water also regulates your body temperature! Why do you think my nine year old was sweating? His body was trying to keep him cooler. Need to mobilize some fat cells? A great way to mobilize them is to hydrate! Fat cells store toxins! Hydrate, you move toxins out of the body, therefore they don't need to be stored in fat cells. Your body will make more fat cells if needed for storage! I know of plenty of people that feel that as long as they are drinking fluid that they are hydrated! Think about what you drink daily. Would you wash your car with those fluids? Soda? Tea? Coffee? NO - no one would. You wouldn't try to put those fluids in your car either - good way to kill your car. So WHY would you think they are acceptable used inside your body?! All of those are dehydrating, the opposite of what you need to do!! For those that have water retention, I have to tell you, if your body is retaining water, the best way to flush that old out is to hydrate! It will help with the cause of most water retention! It is easy, and so very available to most! Take this one small, easy step and your body will be healthier and happier through this hotter weather!

Metabolism Helpers

2010-03-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Metabolism is a subject I get a lot of questions about. First of all, move! If you are stagnant, your metabolism with stagnate as well. Some people say - I want to exercise but I don't have enough energy to. I get that - I do! I've had 4 children and a business I had to jump back into work less than a week and a half after the birth of 3 out of them. Talk about double shift! Start slow! When you wake get up and move! I know people that move from the bed to the kitchen to a sitting position in the living room for the day - getting up to find the phone and eat. Needless to say they have developed a saggy bottom, heart disease, and have no energy! The part of the body that has the most to do with metabolism is the thyroid gland. Okay - probably ought to say - has a lot to do with energy too! Let's feed that first to give you some get up and go! Iodine (unless you have Grave's) is the food for the thyroid. Yes, iodine liquid is good, but so is seaweed like Dulse or Kelp. Dietary iodine sources are things like seafood, eggs, mushrooms, garlic, onions, eggplant and kale. I am an O blood type, and yes, like so many other O blood types, I have had issues with my thyroid. The last 3 babies I had in 4 years, a GREAT way to beat up the thyroid gland! I get a good amount of iodine in my diet and take Dulse daily and liquid iodine with exercise. I feel more energetic and can take care of everyone after expending energy at the gym. Let's talk exercise. Fact: the more muscle mass you have the faster your metabolism is! You don't need to get buff, just get toned! Start with a cardio work out (more than just 20 minutes - that first 20 minutes you are burning sugar - after that you are burning fat). Then whether you prefer resistance or Pilate's or just lifting some weights - just tone! 3-5 days a week minimum! You can make time if it is important enough! There are on-demand channels for you people that have children and for those that work 10 hours a day! I do those on my busiest weeks! There are even 10 minute workouts if that's all you can do. There are supplements for speeding metabolism too - but be careful not to get one pumped full of caffeine or guarana which has the chemical constituents as cocaine. Both will not be a healthy thing for the thyroid long term, and.....as you now know, you need your thyroid happy! There are other things involved in weight reduction - but this is a great place to start! After you read this go to the January blog to learn more about cleansing gently to mobilize fat cells!

Immune health

2010-03-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

This is such an important subject! So many people are concerned about immune health. More and more I am seeing autoimmune disorders as well!! Now, vaccinations have increased so much since I was a child. These day by two years of age, U.S. children receive as many as 24 vaccine injections, and might receive up to five shots during one visit to the doctor. Studies are coming out about a vaccination link to autoimmune disorders. My family has had personal experience with this specific issue. Studies are linking Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune demyelinating disease to the flu shot and recently following immunization with the recombinant hepatitis B and tetanus vaccines. My uncle had the experience with the flu vaccine and suffering immediately with Guillain-Barre syndrome. He was hospitalized for 6 months due to a staph infection he also caught while in the hospital. He now can walk with a cane which is the good news. I also had a client in his 80s that suffered Guillain-Barre after the flu shot, (different part of the country and different decade). He was told from his Doctor that this sometimes happens! Like that makes everything okay! Anyhow, back to the immune system. You have to look at your immune system as something you earn. In most cases, you are exposed to a pathogen, your body makes antigens and you are equipped to fight it off next time you are exposed. However, let's talk about your internal environment. Let's compare for a moment, your body to a trash can. There are clean, shiny trashcans, (mostly at the store, waiting to be sold) and there are dirty, smelly trashcans that are screaming for a cleaning. Let's start with the shiny trashcan - or a clean internal environment of a healthy body. You fill up the trashcan and it is dumped and a little dirty. You fill it again, it isn't dumped as fast and when it is emptied it is a little smelly, and attracting flies and rot. You keep filling and dumping and slowly a buildup occurs. The floor and walls of that trashcan is now covered in a thick, toxic sludge. When you realize it's toxic nature you hose it out and start the process again - right? Okay - a clean body...you eat, break everything down in your pipes, and move it though and out of end of the pipe system. Let's say that elimination slows down. Your pipes become full of toxic sludge. At this point you are absorbing through the villi in the intestines what is on the walls of the intestines. Yuck, now your whole body is toxic and the villi lay down and break off and whole, rotten, undigested food enters the blood stream and you become inflamed systemically. Whether you understood that or not, you get it, it's not good! Okay - now, what does this have to do with the immune system? Well, everything! At first exposure to a pathogen (undigested foods, or chemical, or herbicides or pesticides ...) your lymphatic system responds by grabbing it up. Your lymphatic system is a team of garbage collectors. If the lymph doesn't grab it all up properly your white blood cells chases it and it drains into your circulation, and you're rid of it. If your lymphatic system is backed up due to poor elimination, water intake and/or exercise then there are cells in the liver (Kupffer cells) that try to then remove the pathogen from the blood. They are primarily in charge of cleansing the blood of foreign materials and toxic substances. Sometimes due to the toxicity of the body if the first two lines of defense are not able to finish this cleaning process these particles excite the immune system and we get circulating immune complexes (CIC). Once CIC are recognized by the immune system as unwelcome, antibodies form to destroy invaders. Then they are cleaned up in the blood by white blood cells before they cause inflammation.
if that went over your head I apologize. Here's something quite simple, limit toxins coming in, make sure your pipes are clean by cleansing "every 3,000 miles or 3 months" like you would your car and home air filters. Eat more whole food than dead, processed food. And hydrate hydrate, hydrate. 1/2 your body weight in oz. daily. (No, coffee and sweet tea do not count, herbal tea does though). Eating well and digesting it is good. Try enzymes not only with food but in between meals to digest toxins in the blood. If you are suffering from an autoimmune disorder then use immune modulors (like Astragalus and colostrum). If you just need to stimulate a weakened immune system, then besides the changes discussed above you can stimulate with vitamins, minerals and immune stimulating herbs like garlic, echinacea, antioxidants and rose hips... I have others, but enough is enough. Call with questions on what would be best for you!

Birth Control Deaths

2010-03-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

For so very many years I have discussed with women the ill-effects of taking hormones in on a regular basis. Doctors used to tell people there were no cardiovascular risks and that ERT (estrogen replacement therapies) actually improved bone density. I am here to tell you this information is not correct, and never ever was. You see not only does the estrogen in birth control and in ERT's make you twice as likely to break a hip but it will make it more likely that you will die from a heart attack and suffer from strokes and blood clots! You want proof? Read about the cycling of osteoclast and osteoblast cells responsible for building of the bones. You will see the waxing and waning of hormones a woman cycles through causes the bones to discard of old material and re-build with fresh, new material. Yes, you will read about the parathyroid and thyroids involvement, and you will see that E2 (estradiol) stops the discarding cells in the bones from getting rid of useless material. You then, as many will visualize what happens. Like stalagmites in a cave, this old, dead material builds up with no cells coming in to support the bone's density with fresh, new, live, strengthening material. The bone may appear to be more dense, however, it is fragile! This is also the mechanism of action of many osteoporosis medications - such as Boneva (I like Sally Fields too, but she would be ashamed if she really knew the facts - not her job though is it)?
There is a lot in the news right now about birth controls, Yaz (Yasmin) and Seasonique. The documented damage is in the news again. I looked it up on Snopes.com to get the real story. Take a look at what I found. http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/dishuk.asp

Put Out The Fire of Heartburn!

2010-03-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Heartburn, so common. I will tell you just like I tell all my clients, heartburn is not always related to too much acid in the stomach, it is in most cases not enough! Yep, you read right, it is a lack of the gastric secretions that cause the terrible symptoms of belching, bloating, burning in the chest and up the esophagus, sour and heavy stomachs.
From the age 40, (sometimes sooner), your supply of gastric secretions wanes. It is almost half of what it should be when you reach age 50! Without these gastric secretions, you do not break down your food therefore, you do not absorb the nutrition from good food either. You see, the secretions in the stomach are suppose to break protein down into smaller molecules so you can fully break it the rest of the way down in the duodenum (the 1st part of the small intestines). If you have a gallbladder it will squirt bile into the duodenum. Pancreatic enzymes from the head of the pancreas will also be secreted into the duodenum. From there everything should empty into the rest of the small intestines completely liquid! Let me give you a visual. Let's say the food does not break down the way it should and it passes into the latter part of the small intestines whole. It is dark, warm and moist in there. By the time the food reaches that part of the intestines (where absorption should take place) it has been in your gut for 6-8 hours. At this point, whatever didn't break down is rotting and fermenting causing gas and bloating. This IS the case for those taking a proton pump inhibitors such as protonix, nexium, prilosec etc... The action proton pump inhibitors have in the body is they stop all acid production. Protein is not going to break down, blood will thicken, weight gain is emanate, dry hard stools are painfully eliminated, absorption is useless, because you will absorb undigested, rotting material. YUCK! Instead, take a wide spectrum enzyme combination at every meal, 2 at meals with hard to digest animal protein (like a steak, or chicken breast). I give a HCL/enzyme to those that consume animal protein at meals. The HCL is best for those over age 40 that have no way to digest successfully otherwise. These enzymes will really be helpful for constipated individuals as well. Something so easy helps with assimilation and elimination! If you want to do an experiment to see how these natural products work get two bowls of oatmeal together, make the same size with the same amount of fluid. You can put some saliva in one bowl too just to start the experiment off in a more accurate way. In the bowl with the saliva put in the powder from one capsule in. stir it up and wait. You will notice the oatmeal with the saliva and enzymes liquefies. (Digests). The other bowl will show you an undigested version. It will be thick and sticky. One more hint: no liquids at meals! If you do have adequate gastric secretions, or take an enzyme combination you will dilute them and, again, you will not digest. Your stomach digests from the outside-in, so put the enzymes in prior to eating each meal. Here is some extra help from the heartburn alliance.
http://www.heartburnalliance.com/pdfs/stopandselect.pdf

Information You Can Trust

2010-02-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

I read all day information on health and nutrition. Some of it makes me shake my head and wonder how many people are getting the wrong information. I am a second generation Naturopath, I have been in the field for 19 years now and I update my education yearly - couple times a year most years. I read and learn from trusted sources and enjoy "teaching" through my blogs, and facebook and twitter posts. I thrive on helping people learn how to be healthier through diet and lifestyle choices. I have recently stumbled upon a website that reports healthy tips that I like. It is thorough and good information. I am passing that onto you. The reports include expert opinions of Dr. Joseph Mercola, Jean Carper, Dr. William Douglass and Dr. Robert Rowen and much more. You can sign up for regular emails packed with new reports at
http://www.healthylivingnow.com/ I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Depression, Achey, Low Immune System?

2010-02-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

I know I talk about Vitamin D a lot, but there is good reason. Do YOU get 20 minutes sunlight exposure daily without the UV protection of sunglasses or sunscreen, I know, but you thought you were suppose to protect yourself from sun exposure. It's confusing! Wintertime sun exposure is hard to come by when you are a busy, working individual. You can only get what you can walking back and forth to your car and office - or to lunch and back. I get it. I always have had the tendency to catch colds from the kids when taking care of them and sick clients daily in the colder seasons. I would bounce back fairly quickly, because I know what to do to get better, but this year - well, it's been a different story! Here's another one. It gets cloudy, cold, grey, snowy, icy...and my mood is dark. I can't help it. I even dress in grey and black when I wake to that type of weather! This year, again, a different story! As soon as it started getting darker earlier in the day I started 4,000 i.u. Vitamin D daily. The blues are now more of a thing of the past. I was sick once in July of 2009, but I was under a tremendous heavy layer of stress like I have rarely experienced. I am excited to say it works!! I shouldn't be surprised, I have been testing levels of Vitamin D for people for years, and it is rarely in normal range. I see the changes in mood, achiness and immune health when it is in a client's program. It is my new favorite thing to take! It is ultra affordable and does so much! D3, not D2 people. There is a big difference in the way it is put together, so be careful! Again, Vitamin D3 is in the news, take a listen to this: http://www.kgw.com/video/featured-videos/Vitamin-D-is-the--84527142.html

Tips For Getting a Good Night's Sleep

2010-02-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

Stimulants are a big no-no. The most common are caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. It's best to avoid these in excess especially caffeine late in the day!
A routine with your sleeping schedule is helpful for a good nights rest. Wind down at a certain time nightly and stick to a regular bedtime schedule. In your brain there is a gland that puts out a hormone that helps with sleep/wake cycle (Melatonin). When you establish a regular sleeping pattern, Melatonin will adjust to help you to have a restful sleep at that time.
Exercise early in the day. The stress hormone, cortisol, will keep you awake at night if you exercise too late. You should exercise no later than 2 hours before your expected bedtime to have a restful sleep.
No computers, or t.v. in your room. If they are in there, unplug when you are not using them. They put off electronic energy that will disturb your sleep.
Sleep in a dark room! Melatonin has a nocturnal cycle that will be disturbed if a light in the room is on at night. If you go to the bathroom at night - just leave the light off. Turning it on will disrupt this nocturnal production and cause the diurnal cycle to start - waking you up enough that you will have a very hard time getting a restful sleep.
Serotonin levels matter! If your Melatonin cycle is out of balance you need to work on getting your Serotonin levels up. I test neurotransmitters here in my practice and I'll bet over 85% of people first tested have very low Serotonin levels. Your body makes Melatonin out of Serotonin. I am not talking SSRIs (prescribed anti-depressants). Those do not raise your levels - just recycle what you currently have. I am talking about B6, tryptophan, L-theanine, and Inositol to raise and balance Serotonin levels. This also helps with depression and anxiety, and of course, insomnia.
Sleep well!!

TONGUES

2010-02-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

When I am talking to someone (anyone) I can't help myself but to look for what their issues are. I can tell you if you have heart stress tendencies, if your liver is unhappy, if your lungs are stressed - just by looking at you. When a client is sitting in front of me I observe their skin tone, the way they smell, the lines on their face and ears, and spots on their skin. All of which tells me a little more about what's going on inside. One way to tell what is going on with your health is to look at your tongue. I had a woman once come in with a very crooked tongue. She stuck it out and it went off to one side! I knew this woman was headed for trouble, if she wasn't already there. You see, this indicates a possibility of a stroke. I asked if she had a history of stroke - "nope", no one in her family had ever suffered from a stroke. She basically called me crazy to suggest she might need to work on this. Well, about 6 months later she called with some news. Not only did she suffer from a stroke within 6 weeks of our visit, the Dr. told her she had already suffered from several small strokes in the past. Okay, so now I'm amazing in her eyes, what else did I see? http://www.chinalifeweb.com/news/tongue-chart.html

2010-02-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have a lot to say about the information in this article - so take a read and come back! http://nyti.ms/bnV3Ed
First of all, it is disturbing to me that the herbal remedies are made to look like the cause of the contraindications! I've seen it for years! Yes, taking a dangerous blood thinner like Coumadin (otherwise known as rat poison - not kidding here), is very depleting! You shouldn't use anything with that that also has blood thinning properties - no matter what it is (Grapefruit, orange juice, aspirin, vitamin E etc....) You could bleed to death. In fact, any medication you take with grapefruit juice you will always absorb more. It doesn't mean grapefruit juice is bad for you, it is not a good mix with medications. A lot of blood pressure medications re-distribute potassium in the body, so, therefore, keep potassium supplementation away from these meds. Again, potassium is very good for blood pressure and so much more, but the medications that re-distribute potassium when done with a potassium supplement can cause chronic kidney issues. A good health practitioner, such as myself always look up medications for contraindications and depletion's. It isn't the herbs, that are causing problems, they are just concentrated food sources. It is the medications and the effect they have upon the body's physiology that you have to be careful with

Winter Blues

2010-02-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

It is a chemical thing! You are getting less sunlight, working under bad lighting and for the most part, less active. I have talked about neurotransmitters and their involvement in mood in the past. You can look at previous blogs and my article in the Art of Well being : http://www.artofwellbeing.com/articles/biggest_casualty_of_stress.php
The other considerations are Vitamin D3. It is called the Sunshine vitamin. You get it from skin, retina and pineal exposure to sunlight. It is very difficult with a busy lifestyle to get this during the late fall and winter. I test D3 levels and it is rarely in the acceptable range. You need to get 4,000-10,000 i.u. daily during these darker seasons. D3 is much different than D2! - You need D3! It will also keep your immune system happier during the flu season. I find this to be a helpful part of keeping mood up during the winter as well!
There are also full-spectrum lighting that you can put in your office and home to trick the brain into thinking you are getting sunlight. My mother used these at our old office and I could definitely feel a difference when I flipped up the desk lamp. You can even find it in a dawn simulator option, helping keep balance with the diurnal/nocturnal melatonin cycle. (wake/sleep cycle).
Of course, I can't complete this post without mentioning the benefits of exercise! You don't always want to but don't you feel invigorated after a good exercise?! I do!! Ever hear of endorphines? They are the chemicals that give you that "natural high" when you exercise. Exercise also releases adrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine. These chemicals work together to make you feel good. Exercise also helps to lower the stress hormone, cortisol and helps with prevention of heart disease, and a myriad of other diseases.
Need guidence to bring balance for this? That's what I am here for! All you have to do is ask for help!

2010-01-12T04:16:00.000-08:00

In the month of January I have put together a weekly detox. The first week we worked on skin, it is the largest eliminative organ ya know. Here is the recipe for what that included: Epsom Salts, baking soda an powdered ginger. You will also need an exfoliating scrubber for the bath. 3 days this week you need to set aside 20-25 minutes to soak. Fill the bathtub with hot water, because you will need to sweat. Use 2 cups Epsom salts, 1 cup baking soda and 1 Tablespoon powdered ginger. Soak for 20-25 minutes, exfoliating and sweating. Shower in the end with cool water to close exposed pores or wait for a few moments to dry when you get out so that evaporation of water will cool the skin. You will want to drink water before, during and after so that you don't get dehydrated and to speed the detoxification process. This will make you dizzy if you go into it dehydrated, so drink water (not tea, or coffee - while these contain water they also are dehydrating fluids). Enjoy - it makes your skin so very soft. If you have a dry skin brush you can brush the skin prior to the bath on dry skin to aid in an even better detox. The second week we are keeping it simple and easy with enzymes!
Did you know detox, when done slowly and seasonally can cut down on systemic inflammation? Toxins can congest your filters just like the air filter in your home. By the way, a post holiday air filter change might be in order. You wouldn't believe how many more toxins are floating in the air from a Christmas tree, dusty, old ornaments and guests in and out of your home. Part of a successful detox includes making sure the environment in your home is healthy too.
In order to flush your filters you need to clean up what is passing through them all day every day. Let's work on blood and lymphatic cleaning, (a.k.a., your garbage men).
Your blood is made up of over 90% water so let's make the blood happier and help the garbage men dump out the garbage as well. Do this by continuing to drink 1/2 your body weight in water (remembering that coffee, tea (not herbal) and soda are dehydrating - they don't count...you wouldn't wash your car that or wash your dishes with them would you)?!
This enzyme cleanse is so simple, not too harsh for the winter, and a great way to clean up what you have put in over the holidays that are gumming up the works. Not digesting well causes your pipes to fill up with garbage. Ever used a snake or Draino in your water pipes at home?! Undigested food ferment and rot in the intestines and colon that lead to a buildup of toxins too.
Just a few facts. Fact one: Digestive enzymes play a vital role in improving your immune system. Fact two: They may also help break down fatty deposits that build up around the inside of the blood vessels, which restrict blood flow. Fact three: Most of us have experienced fatigue after a large meal. Nutrient absorption is hindered by undigested food that has stuck to our intestinal walls. Digestive enzymes help break down this undigested food - hence, WEEK TWO...
What you will need: Enzymes, (I like the Proactazyme plus, it is well rounded. If you do the Allegany Nutrition Enzymes those are great too! They are the one I use), lots of water and a fresh, clean air filter.
How to do it: So simple! When you wake pop two capsules on an empty stomach with 8 oz. of water. after 45 min. to an hour go ahead and eat breakfast with 1 enzyme for a light breakfast - 2 if you are having heavy animal protein (eggs, meat, cheese, milk). Do 2 at each of the other two meals and 2 more at bedtime. You are breaking down wastes throughout the body as a whole when doing them on an empty stomach and digesting everything at your meal as well.
Hints: Do not drink anything at meals - unless you are taking your enzymes and do just a sip. You can dilute all of your secretions that you need for breaking down your meal, the opposite of what you need to do right?!
Also, no skimping on fiber! Take in Oats, Oat bran, salads, other whole grains and fruit (keeping the peelings on when practical). Your eliminations should pick up after a couple days of this. You can add pro-biotics, (Acidophilus) also, but not necessary - because enzymes are pre-biotics, so for now, you don't have to do both - I will be doing both!
You can keep up the skin brushing and baths once a week for now if you would like. It is a nice habit - after all your skin is your largest eliminative organ you have, keep it clear! The next step I have listed options. I know some of you may not enjoy fasting, so there is a pill version to this too. It is time for the Master Cleanse/Tiao He Cleanse week. For those of you that do not like to fast go ahead and order the Tiao He Cleanse from Nature's Sunshine. It has herbs in it to cleanse the colon, liver, blood, cells and lymph. It has a little fiber, you can always use more. Your diet is always the best place to start. Live, fresh food, flax seeds, oats and oatbran, Aloe Vera etc... It is always a good idea to keep up with the fiber in your program if it is already in there. Nature's Sunshine has Psyllium hulls, Loclo, Nature's Three, Slippery Elm, Everybody's Fiber... You can get an extra 3.8-7 grams with a daily dose of one of these. Considering that you need between 30-40 grams daily, you can use all the help you can get. Your cleanse will be more effective with the fiber you need. For those with irritable bowels you will want to add CLT-X (a bowel spasm formula) for comfort. Please continue with probiotics on an empty stomach with this, because cleansing gets rid of the good guys too. The Tiao He Cleanse package will say to do 3 packets a day. I recommend you do one a day. You will doing it for the last 2 weeks of January, slow and steady is how we will do this. Again, drink a lot of water when cleansing!! Continue to do your enzymes from the 2nd week of cleansing just at meals.
For those that don't mind fasting we are doing the Master Cleanse! It is only a challenge for the first 2 days, then it is no big deal! If you have low blood sugar problems you can go ahead and order the Red Beet Root formula (used to be called Fasting Plus - due to it's help during fasting with hunger and blood sugar). You would need to do the Red Beet Root a couple capsules every few hours. Here is what else you will need:
Filtered water
Grade B Maple Syrup (I got mine at House of Health - cheaper than Earthfare)
A big bag of organic Lemons (look at Costco or Fresh Market)
Cayenne pepper (for this, better than just capsicum - I got a shaker from Nature's Sunshine).
Use organic ingredients The goal of the Master Cleanse is to remove toxic substances from your body so stay away from ingredients that have been sprayed with pesticides
Don't use concentrated lemon juice If you have to you can use non-organic lemons, but you cannot use concentrated lemon juice because It's filled with sugar and preservatives.
The Master Cleanse works just how it sounds; you consume primarily lemonade for the entire time you're on the diet. So the recipes for the diet itself are fairly simple. You should drink a minimum of 60 oz of lemonade a day, but can drink more if you like. You can also drink as much water as you want. I suggest you consume half your body weight in ounces of water.
Below are two different recipes. The first is for a single serving of the master cleanse lemonade. The second will make 6 servings
#1 (single serving):
2 Tablespoons of organic lemon Juice (about 1/2 a Lemon)
2 Tablespoons of Organic grade B maple syrup (not the commercial maple flavored syrup you use on pancakes)
1/10 Teaspoon Cayenne pepper powder
Ten ounces of filtered water
#2 (60 oz. daily serving):
60 ounces of filtered water
12 Tablespoons of organic grade B maple syrup
12 Tablespoons of organic lemon juice
1/2 Teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
There are a couple important things to remember when preparing the lemonade.
For one, the lemon juice used must be fresh squeezed. This cannot be emphasized enough. It is necessary to use fresh produce. Canned juice won't work and will erase most of the benefits of using the master cleanser diet.
Also, the maple syrup must be grade B maple syrup, not the sugar filled syrup that is used at the breakfast table.
The cayenne pepper might seem unnecessary, but it is actually very important. Not only does it help to add a bit of a kick, but the pepper helps to break up mucus and increases healthy blood flow. It also is a good source of B and C vitamins, commonly referred to as Super Vitamins due to their many benefits for the body.
This is done for at least 2-5 days minimum and for the last two weeks of the month maximum (we will always cleanse again in the spring, so no need to go overboard). Happy Cleansing!!

Progesterone Cream Causes Cancer in California?!

2009-10-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall! - First time since I moved to NC that I have really enjoyed fall!!
A client has brought to my attention the new warning on all bottles of Progesterone cream. It states: This product contains Progesterone, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer. So, naturally I had to look into why this new warning is there. First I looked up the ingredients of Progest by Emerita to see if they added something to it that I should know about and this is a look at what is in it: Water (Purified), Tocopheryl Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Carthamus Tinctorius (Hybrid Safflower) Seed Oil, Panthenol, Glycerin, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Sodium Behenoyl Lactylate, Stearic Acid, USP Progesterone, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Carbomer. Free of parabens, mineral oil, petroleum or animal products and has not been tested on animals Okay - that looks the same - and all good for sure - so why the new warning. Well - this is what I found. There was a proposition put in place in 1986 called: Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. It was enacted as a ballot initiative in the state of California and was intended by its authors to protect California citizens and the State's drinking water sources from chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and to inform citizens about exposures to such chemicals. It requires that that Governor annually posts a list of chemicals “known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity .” Progesterone is on the list. Just a word about Progesterone - it is a necessary hormone to keep bones "renewing" themselves to stay healthy. Studies show as a women goes through menopause and is no longer ovulating - therefore getting cyclical progesterone - that she is likely to lose about 20% of her bones density within the first 5-7 years. Here's a clue why - it takes a long bone 5-7 years to rebuild itself - small bone 3-5 years. Without the cyclical hormones that aid cells in the bone in building up and breaking down bone, the bone starts to lose it's density. Back to Proposition 65... the study done to add progesterone to the list used synthetic - let me repeat SYNTHETIC PROGESTERONE - Progestins and and other progestagens (progesterone-like compounds). Also using other steroid hormone derivatives (mainly synthetic estrogens) and many different methods of administration. Progestins and other synthetic progestagens are not necessary for building healthy bone! - Progestins and progestagens are similar in molecular structure to progesterone, but when they bind to progesterone receptors, their effects are usually much stronger and more likely to cause abnormal physiologic responses. Furthermore, the majority of the studies concerning the health effects of these progesterone derivatives involved combinations with synthetic estrogens! There were very few studies mentioned in the 2004 document that used exclusively bio-identical progesterone (like the Progest cream). The doses of progesterone ranged from 10-1000 times the dose usually recommended by manufacturers of progesterone creams. All of the studies cited in the OEHHA document used either oral, injected, or suppository forms of hormones; none was conducted using transdermal creams. This is an important consideration because hormones absorbed through the skin are metabolized differently than hormones that are administered via other routes.
So you understand now that the study that was run did not use the proper mode of application or even the bio-identical natural progesterone in practical dosing. There are companies such as Emerita that are trying to get this removed from the list of carcinogens - however - in the meanwhile you can take a sigh of relief! -

Men suffer from Menopause too....

2009-03-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, I hear men - have for 15 years - starting with my father when my mother was going through menopause talk about the woman in their life going through menopause and how hard it is on them. But, I have rarely heard women talk about the husbands version of menopause, called andropause. Most men and women don't even know it exists! - Yes, starting around age 40, men start to have their hormones decline as well. This causing symptoms of weight gain around the mid section, depression, irritability, nocturnal urination, erectile dysfunction, lowered libido, lower energy, higher cholesterol and triglycerides. Most people in general would chalk this up to familial tendencies. It's easier to do that, requires a lot less work. It takes work for everyone to get through this time of life. Let's go through a few things. Testosterone - the hormone famous for making men aggressive and for making woman a little too hairy is what starts to decline as men age. Testosterone is responsible for all structural integrity - muscles, skin, and bone. Let's talk about muscle. The heart is a pretty important muscle most would agree. Men have more testosterone receptors on the heart than any other muscle in the body. So as testosterone declines the heart weakens. When this hormone declines men will have more cardiovascular problems. Veins and arteries start to thicken, cholesterol comes up, triglycerides go up, insulin increases causing the prostate to swell, fibrinogen increases.... most of which is treated as a separate issue by separate doctors! - There are a lot of behind the scene issues that compound this problem. There are two areas of the body responsible for making testosterone, the adrenal cortex (which are beat up with regular caffeine intake, stress and lack of sleep) and cells in the testes. There are two areas of the brain that communicate to these areas to produce testosterone. The Hypothalamus and pituitary glands. These glands need a healthy amount of trace minerals - which are void in our foods for the most part these days. Men need to supplement what is taken in from the diet with a good multiple. The cheap ones are not good - synthetic and full of fillers - don't go cheap. And an additional zinc with proper enzymes with meals to utilize it all. Zinc is necessary for the body to make testosterone! If you are insulin resistant you are probably zinc deficient. If you sweat - you are zinc deficient, if you drink alcohol or if you ejaculate on a regular basis - yes, you are zinc deficient - don't be shy with it - you are excreting zinc all the time! - So, a multiple AND additional zinc supplementation. Okay. now the liver. If you haven't cleansed in a while then do one. You should every 3 months or 3,000 miles just like changing fluids in your car. You don't need to go crazy, just make sure you are not just cleaning the bowel, do a liver detox as well - that will ensure you are cleaning your blood more effectively - and therefore keeping the kidneys happier. In case you didn't know, the liver and kidneys are your filters. The liver filters out toxins we ingest and inhale. It clears out hormones we get in red meat, eggs, cheese, chickens, pesticides and herbicides.... It would be helpful a few months after feeding the body in this was to test your hormones. For men I test testosterone levels as well as DHT (dihyrotestosterone), LH and FSH that the pituitary is making, cortisols from the adrenal cortex, androsteredione (another androgen made in the adrenal cortex) and progesterone. Knowing your PSA score will give you an idea of progression of the health of the prostate gland. Can you see why if the doctor notices swelling in the prostate and he gives you something for the swelling it doesn't solve what's causing the swelling in the first place? There's so much more to it than the symptom. The cause needs to be addressed as well. This problem that starts at 40 will not make you symptomatic until you hit your 50s for the most part. By the time you are symptomatic, what caused the imbalance has been going on sometimes for 10 years. It is time for catch up with everything concerned (diet, insulin, adrenals, pituitary, liver, hypothalamus, testes)......... Do something about this now and you won't have to suffer as much as you get older. If you are already in the symptomatic state - what is stopping you from correcting it? Come see a Naturopath, like me, and I will guide you in correcting the imbalance.

FIBER FACTS

2009-02-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's been a long while since I have blogged. Holidays and the insane amount of time the kids are out of school along with nanny scheduling problems and snow days etc..... I know, excuses excuses. I am back now and feeling ambitious. I have some fiber facts for you. You need sufficient fiber for keeping bowels healthy, keeping elevated glucose in the system that your body isn't using from reeking havoc on all your systems, for blood cholesterol level help and to soak up all the garbage we inhale, ingest or just store. We eat only about 1/5 the amount of fiber we did 100 years ago. The average American consumes 8-11 grams of fiber a day. The American Hearth Association and the American Diabetic Association recommend 25-35 grams of fiber a day. I am going to take that a step further and say - if you are over the age 50 you need to bump that up to around 40 grams a day. High fiber diets inhibit the development of disease. To see if you have enough fiber - look at your stool (you all do it anyway) and see if it floats?! - It needs to. If it doesn't you need more insoluble fiber. Think insoluble for intestines. It will make you feel fuller longer between meals and will lower the glycemic index of foods that break down into the sugar very quickly in your system. It also acts as a natural laxative. So, what is insoluble fiber you say? It is in foods like: wheat bran, beets, peas, broccoli, carrots, lima beans pears, apples, brazil nuts whole grains and green beans. Let's talk quantity. A medium pear offers 5 grams fiber. An all bran cereal, 1/3 cup has 7 grams insoluble and another 1 1/2 grams soluble fiber. Soluable fiber helps to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and aid in weight management. Diets high in soluble fiber help balance HDL and LDL cholesterol to healthy levels. A healthy diet should contain both soluble and insoluble fibers. 2/3 of that fiber intake should be insoluble. Examples of soluble sources are: flax seed, cabbage, pears, peas strawberries, green beans, psyllium, oat bran, corn peppers and green vegetables. Off and running again, have children to attend to. I vow to write more often.

Lack of Sun Exposure Can Make You Sick

2008-10-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

In the past year most women coming into my office have a vitamin D deficiency. The primary source of vitamin D for both children and adults is from sun exposure. I have not always supplemented my clients with an additional vitamin D. I do now. Most people I know work inside an office, then go home leaving them with little to no sun exposure on a daily basis. Most people protect their skin from the sun. Then, there are those with darker skin which makes it even harder to get vitamin D from sun exposure. When I heard that 80% of the skin's aging happens due to sun exposure I started carrying sun screen in my purse. I apply it when I hang my arm out the window. I apply it every time I wash my face. I even put it on my ears - because my father grows skin "barnacles" as he calls them, like most people grow fingernails. He keeps his dermatologist in business. Then I read that sunscreen with only a SPF of 8 reduces the skin's production of vitamin D by 95%. So now what? 50% of the GLOBAL population is at risk of a vitamin D deficiency. It is estimated that 50,00-70,000 people in the U.S. die prematurely from cancer each year due to insufficient vitamin D levels. I started supplementing with vitamin D3 last week - taking 4,000 i.u. a day. This is why: Vitamin D is not only crucial in promoting bone health, but is is also an immune modulator. It plays an important role in glucose metabolism (the conversion of blood sugar into energy). I am not done yet. It is also an anti-inflammatory, promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, facilitates normal blood clotting and healthy breast tissue. There are two source of vitamin D. D3, known as cholecalciferol is the best source of vitamin D. D2, or ergocalciferol is manufactured by the ultraviolet radiation of yeast. D3 has been shown to be at least 3 times more effective than vitamin D2 at raising serum vitamin D levels. Quoting here from a 2008 study put out by Herb Allure: "...scientific evidence has also demonstrated an association between low levels of vitamin D and a greater risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, depression, obesity, type 1 diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. In addition, vitamin D deficiency is increasingly being diagnosed and treated in patients with cystic fibrosis." According to the pooled studies involving 1760 individuals, those with a sufficient serum vitamin D levels (corresponding to a daily intake of 4,000 i.u.) demonstrated a 50% lower risk of breast cancer than those with a serum vitamin D deficiency. And daily oral intake of 1000-2000 i.u. vitamin D3 exhibited a 50% lower incidence of colorectal cancer. Sounds like everyone needs to take this. Dr. Oz told Oprah that it is one of his favorite vitamins to suggest as part of a daily supplement regimen. It's going to be getting darker earlier in our day, protect yourself by supplementing with vitamin D3.

Education, not Vaccination

2008-09-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am one the many parents that choose not to inject toxins (vaccinations) into my children's bodies. It is a choice that I have to defend everytime I take them to their yearly school physicals. I almost have the doctors at the clinic I use trained not to broach the subject with me. If the doctor I use is not in, I warn the receptionist that to tell the Dr. on staff that I am not paying him for his opinion on my vaccination choices. It makes the trip a lot more productive. It was easy for me to make the choice, I attended vaccination classes that just happened to have nurses attending too. They told the class of the many calls, post vaccination, about the side effects that some parents dread. I also learned that they are only aloud to post a small percentage of those complaints to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Then I went to the library and opened a PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) and looked at a few vaccinations to determine what is put into a vaccination. Scary stuff!!! That was that - decision made.
Let's take the MMR vaccine - the one that has been hailed for many years as being a trigger for autism. This is injected twice typically. The first time at 12-14 months old and again at age 4-6 prior to children entering school. Just a few ingredients for you to consider: each dose of reconstituted vaccine contains approximately 25 mcg of neomycin (an antibiotic), a strain of mumps virus propagated in chick embryo cell culture; and a strain of live attenuated rubella virus propagated in WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts from aborted fetusus. (The Chickenpox, Hepatitis-A and MMR vaccines were developed using aborted fetal cell lines) Each dose of the vaccine is calculated to contain sorbitol (14.5 mg), sodium phosphate, sucrose (1.9 mg), sodium chloride, hydrolyzed gelatin (14.5 mg), recombinant human albumin (≤0.3 mg), and fetal bovine serum. I found this letter from the Vatican on the use of tissue from aborted fetuses
These are the side effects listed in the paper work that comes in every MMR vaccine. The following adverse reactions are listed in decreasing order of severity:
Body as a Whole
Panniculitis; atypical measles; fever; syncope; headache; dizziness; malaise; irritability.
Cardiovascular System
Vasculitis.
Digestive System
Pancreatitis; diarrhea; vomiting; parotitis; nausea.
Endocrine System
Diabetes mellitus.
Hemic and Lymphatic System
Thrombocytopenia (see WARNINGS, Thrombocytopenia); purpura; regional lymphadenopathy;
leukocytosis.
Immune System
Anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reactions have been reported as well as related phenomena such as
angioneurotic edema (including peripheral or facial edema) and bronchial spasm in individuals with or
without an allergic history.
Musculoskeletal System
Arthritis; arthralgia; myalgia.
Arthralgia and/or arthritis (usually transient and rarely chronic), and polyneuritis are features of
infection with wild-type rubella and vary in frequency and severity with age and sex, being greatest in
adult females and least in prepubertal children. This type of involvement as well as myalgia and
paresthesia, have also been reported following administration
Nervous System
Encephalitis; encephalopathy; measles inclusion body encephalitis (MIBE) (see
CONTRAINDICATIONS); subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE); Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS); febrile convulsions; afebrile convulsions or seizures; ataxia; polyneuritis; polyneuropathy; ocular palsies; paresthesia
Respiratory System
Pneumonia, pneumonitis (see CONTRAINDICATIONS); sore throat; cough; rhinitis.
Skin
Stevens-Johnson syndrome; erythema multiforme; urticaria; rash; measles-like rash; pruritis.
Local reactions including burning/stinging at injection site; wheal and flare; redness (erythema);
swelling; induration; tenderness; vesiculation at injection site.
Special Senses — Ear
Nerve deafness; otitis media.
Special Senses — Eye
Retinitis; optic neuritis; papillitis; retrobulbar neuritis; conjunctivitis.
Urogenital System
Epididymitis, orchitis.
Other
Death
Now, can you see why the decision you make needs to be based on education, not the fear factor most medical professions and billboards impose on us?!

New Tooth Revolution

2008-09-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, I can hardly believe it myself - but I still tell everyone who will listen. One year ago, in the fall of 2007 I visited the dentist and received bad news. I had a hole in my tooth, and it was going to be very hard to get to. It was at the back tooth, on the side of the tooth (I guess from storing food in my cheeks). I don't know what the dentist was thinking, maybe that the painless dentistry would make it painless, but she informed me that it would take a lot of numbing (more pokes with the needle). So, I put it off a few months, giving the tooth a lot of TLC. When the visit came up, I put it off again. See, I am terrified of needles - don't mind poking clients, just don't like to be poked myself. I ended up putting it off for several months. When I finally felt brave enough I sucked it up and went in to see her. Well, this is when the magic happened. The dentist put on her gloves and mask and gave me my spit apron. She shined the light deep into my mouth and after scraping for a moment and referring to my chart from the fall she asked me if I was using Xylitol. Yes! I was using it since our last visit, in my toothpaste, mouth rinse, gum, mint and food. It is a natural, food based sweetener that is also used for re-building tooth enamel. It is suppose to kill bacteria that does a lot of damage to our teeth. You are about to become a bigger fan of Xylitol! THE DENTIST COULD NO LONGER FIND THE CAVITY - IT WAS GONE!!! I was in the dentists chair for no longer than 20 minutes before I was on the phone to everyone I knew! My girlfriend who has had several teeth removed from her mouth was astounded. My husband, parents, clients.... and now you, the new fans of my blog. I hope you have the same sort of success that I did. I don't mean to put any dentists out of business. Maybe you can get your dentist on the bandwagon - making teeth healthier can be part of their practice too!

Who knew?

2008-08-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's my first post - never even read a blog - don't hold that against me, my life consists of running my own business and taking care of 3 children and a husband - excuses excuses.... Thank you Brian - my sweety, for setting this up for me, I feel a little bit cooler! I have thrown myself into a new study. I am learning a new facet of human physiology. Neurotransmitters - Who knew they did so much. Everyone knows that chocolate - my daughter's favorite food group, helps raise serotonin, and exercise does something to raise our neurotransmitters too, but.... Wow, it's so much more than that. This is what I have found. 95% of our neurotransmitters are in our gut. So does this explain when we are constipated why we are so grumpy - I'd say "YES". We only have 1-2% in our central nervous system (our brain and spinal column). Hmmm, Then only 2-3% is of serotonin is found in our blood. Most of my clients that come in want to work on the gut - constipation, indigestion, GERD, IBS...... Little do they know that's only a jumping off point to make the rest of the body healthier. After the gut is healthier, they are able to assimilate nutrients better, so their body's become more balanced - and happier apparently. Another factor for making everyone happier is repetitive exercise - (walking, yoga, tai chi.....) It is an essential factor for getting our serotonin up. What is serotonin you say? Well, It is keeps us balanced both biochemically and emotionally. It is depleted from living a stressful lifestyle (check), using stimulants like caffeine (check), nicotine, a diet high in sugar and low in protein. I think most of us qualify for a little help already. So, how do you know if you really do have low serotonin? Well, you can have some depression, low mood, pms and hot flashes, sleep difficulties, anxiety and carbohydrate cravings. It also upsets our thyroid which feeds our brain, heart, kidneys and ovaries and has the most control over our metabolism than any other gland! The more the relentless stress we are under, the higher the cortisols get. Ever heard of that? It's been a popular subject lately in weight loss articles. Cortisol is our stress steroid hormone - helps us cope. Well, raised cortisol desensitizes serotonin uptake! Most of you are asking, well sign me up for a SSRI (selective serotonin re uptake inhibitor) - NOOOO. It simply slows the serotonin uptake, it doesn't raise our serotonin. It also helps you to pack on quick weight - not the answer you are looking for?! Eat more chocolate? I know that's what you are thinking, right? No, well, yes, but in moderation only - small amounts one time a month, no biggy. The best thing to raise serotonin is, yes the exercise, but also things like tryptophan, B6, magnesium, DHA/EPA, and taurine. I can think of something that I give to my clients that has some of those things in it called 5-HTP from Nature's Sunshine. I tried once, and could tell an immediate difference in the way I felt, literally 25-30 minutes - the Ziggy cloud dissipated! Crazy. You need to work on other things obviously, but that is what I am here for. I test neurotransmitters in the urine and send it off to the lab to get the bigger picture, and of course move the bowels and exercise...... I help with getting you set on the right track. No need to thank me yet, first you need to get in to pick up a kit.

Testing...

2008-08-28T04:46:00.000-07:00

First post on Jill's blog.

She already has a website.

And here's a pic of this fine lady: