Monday, December 7, 2009
Omega 3 for kids health
Omega 3 oils are an essential part of our nutritional requirement. We now know the single most important factor in chronic illness, even in kids, is inflammation and the single best treatment (but not the only one) for inflammation is Omega 3 oils. There are more than 100 health conditions now linked with inflammation and low Omega 3 oils in both children and adults. Unfortunately our kids (and adults) are deficient in them, and as a result will manifest various adverse health conditions. GP's should assess the Omega 3 status of all children they see and asses their nutritional status before making any recommendations for medication. This is both a simple and common sense approach. Our children are deficient in nutrients not pharmaceutical drugs.
ADHD is not the disease
There is a growing body of very recent scientific evidence that shows a strong correlation between ADHD symptoms and other health conditions including toothache, bruxism, bleeding gums, otitis media, sleep disorders, food allergies and intolerances, Tourette's syndrome major depression and bipolar disorder, allergic rhinitis ,Atopic eczema and asthma in both adults and children. The higher prevalence rates of these conditions with ADHD suggests a common etiology routed in nutrition rather than a deficiency in a pharmaceutical drug that may at best treat one symptom
Monday, November 30, 2009
ADHD and drug companies
Unfortunately in the twenty first century illness has become one of the most profitable businesses. As a result of the billions of dollars available to the pharmaceutical companies it makes a laughing stock of our health system. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians were drafting ADHD Guidelines that suggested every kid should be treated with ADHD drugs first then asked questions later. Sounds like a good way for a pharmaceutical company to make money doesn’t it. Fortunately, the process was halted under a cloud of controversy when the US psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman whose studies are cited more than 70 times in the draft ADHD guidelines, went under U.S. Congressional investigation for his undisclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Biederman, has confessed to receiving up to US$1.6 million to research and promote specific drugs, clearly a conflict of interest.
What’s even worse was the list of associations of the various members of the committee writing the report and the drug companies gathered under the freedom of information legislation. It read like the who’s who of the drug companies. And this is the committee who was just about to develop guidelines for all ADHD kids to take drugs. It would suggest to me strong vested interests of a supposedly independent committee. Any wonder we have so little trust in the medical system.
There are many reasons for ADHD and none of them are a pharmaceutical drug shortage and there are many things we can do to alleviate this problem with kids.
What’s even worse was the list of associations of the various members of the committee writing the report and the drug companies gathered under the freedom of information legislation. It read like the who’s who of the drug companies. And this is the committee who was just about to develop guidelines for all ADHD kids to take drugs. It would suggest to me strong vested interests of a supposedly independent committee. Any wonder we have so little trust in the medical system.
There are many reasons for ADHD and none of them are a pharmaceutical drug shortage and there are many things we can do to alleviate this problem with kids.
Psoriasis is not a skin disorder
Psoriasis is an inflammatory disease not a skin disorder. The skin is simply a mechanism for the psoriasis to manifest and treating the skin will just worsen the problem. Unfortunately this is ignored by much of the medical profession.
We know it is not a skin disorder because it is associated with so many other inflammatory illnesses. There are literally dozens of peer reviewed scientific journals showing this. Unfortunately the research shows that a person with psoriasis is likely to die around 10 years earlier than the average person. Yep a bit scary eh. So time to take action now. Get the idea? It is not a skin disease. They are more likely to have any one or a combination of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and heart attack, ulcerative colitis and crohn’s disease, arthritis and even some cancers compared to the average person. Inflammation is the underlying cause of psoriasis and it can be treated with diet and lifestyle changes. These include not smoking and no alcohol as well as vitamin d and healthy nutrition. See my other blog on this.
Treat the illness not the skin. There is no magic bullet but there are simple solutions that require the person to change. This means an anti inflammatory diet and lifestyle.
We know it is not a skin disorder because it is associated with so many other inflammatory illnesses. There are literally dozens of peer reviewed scientific journals showing this. Unfortunately the research shows that a person with psoriasis is likely to die around 10 years earlier than the average person. Yep a bit scary eh. So time to take action now. Get the idea? It is not a skin disease. They are more likely to have any one or a combination of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and heart attack, ulcerative colitis and crohn’s disease, arthritis and even some cancers compared to the average person. Inflammation is the underlying cause of psoriasis and it can be treated with diet and lifestyle changes. These include not smoking and no alcohol as well as vitamin d and healthy nutrition. See my other blog on this.
Treat the illness not the skin. There is no magic bullet but there are simple solutions that require the person to change. This means an anti inflammatory diet and lifestyle.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
How to put Weight On!
It is so easy to put on weight as seen in the growing epidemic of people who are overweight and obese. To understand this epidemic all you need to do is look at their diet. But then if you’re not convinced review the scientific journals and you will see exactly the same.
If you want to put on weight eat more processed foods. Yep these include all the take-aways and fast food but even more importantly it’s the breads, pasta’s, packaged breakfast foods and processed potatoes. Not only are these foods laden with extra calories and no nutrients but you will also absorb more of the calories the more the food is processed. You see calories are no longer calories. Research shows that if you feed unprocessed food to a group of mice and then process the same food and feed it to another group of mice, even though the calories are exactly the same the mice fed the unprocessed food do not put on weight while the mice fed the processed food does put on weight. They both had the same amount of calories but as soon as you cook, crush, aerate or process in any way you increase the absorption of calories. Pigs fed raw potatoes do not put on weight, if you cook the potatoes they do. As little as 50% of a raw egg is absorbed and up to 95% of a cooked egg. The more processed the food the greater the absorption of calories.
So if you want to lose weight just do the opposite. Don’t count the calories just eat more raw food and increase your exercise. The raw food will also have multiple other benefits on your health including reducing the risk of and even reversing many forms of chronic illness.
If you want to put on weight eat more processed foods. Yep these include all the take-aways and fast food but even more importantly it’s the breads, pasta’s, packaged breakfast foods and processed potatoes. Not only are these foods laden with extra calories and no nutrients but you will also absorb more of the calories the more the food is processed. You see calories are no longer calories. Research shows that if you feed unprocessed food to a group of mice and then process the same food and feed it to another group of mice, even though the calories are exactly the same the mice fed the unprocessed food do not put on weight while the mice fed the processed food does put on weight. They both had the same amount of calories but as soon as you cook, crush, aerate or process in any way you increase the absorption of calories. Pigs fed raw potatoes do not put on weight, if you cook the potatoes they do. As little as 50% of a raw egg is absorbed and up to 95% of a cooked egg. The more processed the food the greater the absorption of calories.
So if you want to lose weight just do the opposite. Don’t count the calories just eat more raw food and increase your exercise. The raw food will also have multiple other benefits on your health including reducing the risk of and even reversing many forms of chronic illness.
Monday, November 9, 2009
10 Steps to Getting Well (Healthier)
If you’re suffering from any chronic illness, whether diabetes, cardiovascular risk, digestive troubles or skin complaints there are some really simple steps you can take to improve your health dramatically. There is no miracle cure just some simple steps. Unfortunately people find it easier to take pharmaceutical drugs than to change their behaviour to make a real difference for the health. So here I made it simple and clear and I give everyone the power to take control of their own health, one step at a time.
- Eat more raw foods. Just add an extra salad to your diet every day.
- Eat less processed foods. Not only are processed foods pour in nutrients to feed your body but they are also much higher in calories to be absorbed by the body and put on weight.
- Take a couple of fish oils each day or make sure you have some small oily fish almost every day.
- Supplement with a super green food such as spirulina or chlorella every day. It may be “YUK” but it is really good for you .
- Supplement with probiotis or if you have any digestive complaints supplement with some super high dose probiotics (1 trillion bacteria per serve)
- Replace all your vegetable oils, Omega 6 oils, with olive oil (omega 9).
- Cut down your consumption of all milks including Soya and other make-believe milks. Have pot set yogurt if you need some dairy. It has lots of live probiotics.
- Get out into the sun for at least one-hour every day.
- Consume plenty of water each day, no not coffee or tea and soft drinks, water.
- Take a deep breath and smile a lot more.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
How to Prevent Cancer
We know what causes cancer and the roles that cancer-causing chemicals and inflammation play in the development and progression of cancer. We know that we need to avoid cancer-causing chemicals, but without inflammation even a cancerous cell cannot progress or spread throughout the body. To prevent cancer, then, what we need to do is to reduce our exposure to cancer-causing chemicals and substances and concurrently reverse the inflammatory process. Fortunately, there is a large body of evidence that shows us the things that contribute to inflammation as well as those that are anti-inflammatory. The main reason that aspirin has gained so much popularity during the past 30 years has been its anti-inflammatory effect that can reduce both cancer and cardiovascular disease rates.
Anti-inflammatory processes are rooted in both our lifestyle and the foods we eat. Exercise, reducing your calorie intake and relaxation processes such as meditation are all anti-inflammatory. They trigger master genes and a subsequent cascade of genes that activate the anti-inflammatory biochemistry in the body. However, research suggests that these lifestyle processors are active and not passive in as much that the exercise has to create some exertion on the body, the reduction in calories needs to be 20% to 30% and the relaxation needs to be focused. An hour or two of sunlight each day produces vitamin D, which is not only necessary for the health and well being of every individual, but is also anti-inflammatory. A large amount of research is now showing that most people in Western countries are severely deficient in vitamin D.
Anti-inflammatory foods include the thousands of food components derived from plant sources found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, herbs and spices. It appears that many of the antioxidants that we find in these foods also have potent anti-inflammatory qualities. For example, turmeric—a bright orange spice found in lots of curries—is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammation nutrient. The enzymes found in some foods, particularly pineapple, pawpaw and mango, are absorbed into the blood and have anti-inflammatory effects. Enzymes in the blood play a major role in breaking down the inflammatory processes once they have been initiated in the body. This is especially important as we age and our anti-inflammatory enzymes decrease dramatically.
The omega 3 fatty acids (fish oils EPA and DHA) and to a lesser degree the omega 9 (olive and avocado oil) are anti-inflammatory. These high-energy foods are reminiscent of the hunter-fisher-gatherer diet with which we evolved and which dramatically reduces our rates of all chronic illness, including most cancers.
Probiotics, the beneficial bacteria in the gut, have a strong anti-inflammatory effect. This starts at birth and plays a significant role in the source of allergies in infants and children. If the wrong bacteria or fungi take hold in the gut of an infant as a result of caesarean birth, antibiotics given to the mother or infant, or some exposure to antibacterial chemicals such as cleaning products, this dramatically increases the risk of developing allergies such as asthma, eczema and severe allergies to foods including peanuts and fish. These occur as a result of the bacteria or fungi stimulating the inflammatory responses of the immune system (Th2). It appears that we have evolved with a range of positive bacteria, particularly bifidobacteria that keep our gut and immune system in balance (Th2/Th1 balance). A dysbiotic gut is a contributing factor to many inflammatory gut illnesses ranging from Celiac disease to irritable bowel and Crohn’s disease.
Other contributors to inflammatory processes are many aspects of our modern diet, obesity, poor digestion and chronic stress. Fat cells are inflammatory. They appear to be a secondary part of our immune system that developed in our evolution to protect us from the viruses and bacteria that threatened our lives as hunter-fisher-gatherers. By producing inflammation, fat cells protected us from these viruses and bacteria when we were able to put on a little bit of extra weight in times of plenty. We now have too much “plenty” and, as a result, too much fat and too much inflammation. Our bodies were not designed for the abundances of the 21st century.
Foods that feed inflammation include the omega 6 vegetable oils, saturated fats and protein derived from animal sources such as meat and dairy, trans-fatty acids and highly processed foods. The danger of these foods is that they are not only inflammatory but also have replaced many anti-inflammatory foods, exacerbating the problem even further.
Finally, many of the chemicals to which we are exposed can contribute to inflammation either directly or indirectly. These include our everyday domestic chemicals such as a cleaning and personal care products right through to the chemicals that are known to cause cancer. The best thing we all can do is to reduce our exposure to synthetic chemicals around the home and at work.
Not only do you dramatically reduce your risk of cancer by adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle and diet but also you reduce your risk of all forms of chronic illness from Alzheimer’s to cardiovascular disease and arthritis. Incremental and thoughtful changes can mean the difference between health and suffering—and even between life and death.
Anti-inflammatory processes are rooted in both our lifestyle and the foods we eat. Exercise, reducing your calorie intake and relaxation processes such as meditation are all anti-inflammatory. They trigger master genes and a subsequent cascade of genes that activate the anti-inflammatory biochemistry in the body. However, research suggests that these lifestyle processors are active and not passive in as much that the exercise has to create some exertion on the body, the reduction in calories needs to be 20% to 30% and the relaxation needs to be focused. An hour or two of sunlight each day produces vitamin D, which is not only necessary for the health and well being of every individual, but is also anti-inflammatory. A large amount of research is now showing that most people in Western countries are severely deficient in vitamin D.
Anti-inflammatory foods include the thousands of food components derived from plant sources found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, herbs and spices. It appears that many of the antioxidants that we find in these foods also have potent anti-inflammatory qualities. For example, turmeric—a bright orange spice found in lots of curries—is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammation nutrient. The enzymes found in some foods, particularly pineapple, pawpaw and mango, are absorbed into the blood and have anti-inflammatory effects. Enzymes in the blood play a major role in breaking down the inflammatory processes once they have been initiated in the body. This is especially important as we age and our anti-inflammatory enzymes decrease dramatically.
The omega 3 fatty acids (fish oils EPA and DHA) and to a lesser degree the omega 9 (olive and avocado oil) are anti-inflammatory. These high-energy foods are reminiscent of the hunter-fisher-gatherer diet with which we evolved and which dramatically reduces our rates of all chronic illness, including most cancers.
Probiotics, the beneficial bacteria in the gut, have a strong anti-inflammatory effect. This starts at birth and plays a significant role in the source of allergies in infants and children. If the wrong bacteria or fungi take hold in the gut of an infant as a result of caesarean birth, antibiotics given to the mother or infant, or some exposure to antibacterial chemicals such as cleaning products, this dramatically increases the risk of developing allergies such as asthma, eczema and severe allergies to foods including peanuts and fish. These occur as a result of the bacteria or fungi stimulating the inflammatory responses of the immune system (Th2). It appears that we have evolved with a range of positive bacteria, particularly bifidobacteria that keep our gut and immune system in balance (Th2/Th1 balance). A dysbiotic gut is a contributing factor to many inflammatory gut illnesses ranging from Celiac disease to irritable bowel and Crohn’s disease.
Other contributors to inflammatory processes are many aspects of our modern diet, obesity, poor digestion and chronic stress. Fat cells are inflammatory. They appear to be a secondary part of our immune system that developed in our evolution to protect us from the viruses and bacteria that threatened our lives as hunter-fisher-gatherers. By producing inflammation, fat cells protected us from these viruses and bacteria when we were able to put on a little bit of extra weight in times of plenty. We now have too much “plenty” and, as a result, too much fat and too much inflammation. Our bodies were not designed for the abundances of the 21st century.
Foods that feed inflammation include the omega 6 vegetable oils, saturated fats and protein derived from animal sources such as meat and dairy, trans-fatty acids and highly processed foods. The danger of these foods is that they are not only inflammatory but also have replaced many anti-inflammatory foods, exacerbating the problem even further.
Finally, many of the chemicals to which we are exposed can contribute to inflammation either directly or indirectly. These include our everyday domestic chemicals such as a cleaning and personal care products right through to the chemicals that are known to cause cancer. The best thing we all can do is to reduce our exposure to synthetic chemicals around the home and at work.
Not only do you dramatically reduce your risk of cancer by adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle and diet but also you reduce your risk of all forms of chronic illness from Alzheimer’s to cardiovascular disease and arthritis. Incremental and thoughtful changes can mean the difference between health and suffering—and even between life and death.
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