Avoiding Gray Hair

Gray hair is caused by lack of pigment in the hair follicle and is often an accompanying symptom of the aging process. The ultimate cause of gray hair is stress on the body that damages the melanocytes responsible for producing the pigment responsible for the hair's color. In order to prevent gray hair damage to the melanocytes must be avoided. This can be accomplished by avoiding the stresses that cause cellular damage, providing the body with with adequate defenses against these stresses and helping the body to eliminate the damaging substances caused by stress.

How and when hair turns gray is dependent on many factors including genetic, lifestyle and environmental. Hereditary factors are largely out of our control and, although science and medicine show some promise of developing means to alter this aspect of our health, there is no proven technique to change our genetic disposition to gray. Fortunately, a great deal of the graying process is due to environmental and lifestyle factors that are within our ability to change.

Stress produces the effects of aging including gray hair. Stress is a normal part of life but when the body's ability to handle stress is overwhelmed irreversible changes such as gray hair result. Gray hair begins at the cellular level with damage to the cells that produce melanin, the substance that gives hair and skin it's color. All forms of stress can lead to damage to the body's cells and there are several common mechanisms that the body uses to defend against the damage that stress causes. In order to avoid gray hair and other affects of aging we need to reduce the stress we put on our bodies and provide the materials that the body needs to reduce the damage caused by stress.

To avoid the premature graying of hair three simple steps need to be followed:

1. Avoid stress

2. Provide your body with the nutrients it needs to combat the effects of stress

3. Assist your body's elimination process to remove cellular toxins

Although this sounds relatively simple, history and experience has show this to be one of the most challenging goals; the proverbial fountain of youth. However, it should be said that when the goal of avoiding gray hair is perused the entire process of aging is also slowed and the benefits are much greater than just more beautiful hair.

Lets look more deeply into these steps.

1. Avoid stress:

   Avoiding stress is avoiding cellular toxicity. Stress produces many changes to the body that result in cellular toxins such as free radicals, inflammatory compounds, oxidized lipids, damaged proteins, etc. etc. Toxins can also come directly from the environment; our environment is full of toxins from air pollution, industry and manufacturing processes. Even the foods we eat can be a source of stress and toxins both emotionally and chemically. When possible eat organic foods and minimize exposure to environmental toxins such as auto exhaust, contaminated water and industrial chemicals.

   Our bodies are adapted to the substances and materials found in nature but the products of the industrialized world are new to our species are a source of stress that accelerates the aging process. When eating, drinking or breathing try to limit your exposures to natural settings and substances.

   In today's world it is difficult or impossible to avoid all stress so do your best and don't worry too much. Worry and fear are some of the greatest stresses that we face causing the body to produce toxins internally though hormones and inflammatory processes. This means that in order to avoid stress fully, you need to reduce your emotional, mental and spiritual stresses as well.

   Again, don't worry, just do your best. There are other steps you can take to mitigate the effects stresses cannot avoid or control.

2. Provide your body with the nutrients it needs to combat the effects of stress:

   Your body is built of what you eat, drink and the air you breathe. Provide your body with natural, healthy and wholesome foods, water and air. Our cells use many nutrients to combat the effects of toxins and reduce the damage stress causes. Many vitamins and essential minerals are utilized by the cells to reduce or repair the damage caused by toxins. Anti-oxidants and omega fatty acids are utilized extensively by the cells to defend against stress and oxidation.

   There are literally thousands of nutrients that the body uses to fight the effects of stress and slow the aging process; almost every day a new anti-oxidant or dietary nutrient is brought forward as the cure for aging, only to be replaced by a new super food tomorrow. There are some general rules that can help make sense of this onslaught of fad and fancy:

   1. Colorful fruits and vegetables are generally high in antioxidants. Plants use colorful compounds such as carotinoids and anthocyanididns to reduce the damage caused by ultraviolet radiation. Our cells also utilize these components to combat the effects of toxins.

   2. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are easily damaged by heat and manufacturing processes. Plant oils eaten with little or no cooking are the best.

Other factors that are important to good health, though much forgotten in today's scientific society are good friendships and other relationships as well as developing a sense of love and appreciation for life. These are beneficial to the body as they help to boost the immune system and prevent self-toxicity from stress and worry.

2. Assist your body's elimination process to remove cellular toxins:

Despite the best efforts, you will be exposed to cellular toxins. Help your body to eliminate these damaging compounds from your system.

1. On a cellular level this means drinking plenty of pure water. Water helps carry away the toxins into the blood and lymph system and out of the body.

2. For the body systems exercise creates the flow of fluids that flush away the toxins and move them to the organs of elimination. Our lymph and circulatory systems are dependent on physical exercise to move fluids and prevent stagnation. Moderate exercises such as walking, bicycling and similar activities are the best way to help you body move the toxins away from your cells. Other techniques such as massage and skin brushing are excellent to assist this process.

3. Along with drinking plenty of water, eat enough fiber to eliminate stagnation of the digestion and help detoxify the body. Fiber helps reduce the time foods stagnate in the bowels as well as binding the wastes from the liver and bile to remove them from the body. Many experts in the field of longevity have focused on auto-toxicity due to food stagnation as the source of premature aging. Fiber (found in fruits and vegetables) increases the movement of wastes in the digestion and helps the body eliminate cellular toxins processed by the liver.

4. Water is needed for the kidneys to flush the blood as well as the tissues. The easiest way to judge water intake is color of urination. Dark or painful urine indicates that not enough water is being consumed. Urine that is completely clear is not a necessarily good and indicates that further consultation with a physician may be necessary. Good rules of thumb exist for water and fiber intake but each person is unique and if there is any concern about an individuals health it is a good idea to consult a dietician or doctor.

There are simple steps to avoid the premature graying of hair. These steps are: avoid stress, provide your body with the nutrients it needs to combat the effects of stress, and assist your body's elimination process to remove cellular toxins. Though these steps are simple they are not easy. Remember that worry is one of the most potent stresses in our lives and should be avoided above any other. Just do your best day by day and you will make progress.

Be Well and Shine!

Grieving

I wish I had some more insight into grieving.

I have found that this process is difficult and the best help I get are the moments of silence I share with others. When I am alone the burden is great and I cannot go to the place inside that needs my attention but in the company of others I can often feel safe enough to visit that place of loss.

I wonder what will heal this, I see that time has closed up the edges a little. I wish I knew what the process was so I could patent an easier way... so far I have only seen the age old wisdom I already knew:

Loss and grief are much like wounds:

Acutely it is good to have some help to stop the bleeding - a pressure pack of family or friends.

Debridement is necessary to remove the irritations that stand in the way of healing or slow the process and this is a good place to get some help with perspective.

Initially there is a lot of itching involved but it is best to leave a wound alone to allow the healing to proceed naturally.

Unfortunately this is where I am right now... if the analogy holds there will be a time to stretch and strengthen the healing tissues so that the scar can be as strong as possible, I suppose that is the process of sharing and helping others in their grief. From what I know about wound healing, this phase is important to take gently and not push too hard.

We will see.

Growing

Seasons of nature, seasons of life: we are but reflections of the greater universe.

Our inner landscape is our access to the larger picture but only when we are fully engaged with the outside world. As the universe around us is reflected in the currents and eddies in our minds, so the discipline we generate in ourselves becomes reflected in the world. This is how we can truly touch each other, in love or hurt, and through this paradox we are the authors of each others fate.

Discipline does not come easily, that is its very nature. The rewards are great but the price is nearly as great. Many great people have seen that, in service to the world, we may forget the struggle of our own journey and that in struggling through our lessons we become cut off from the connection we most desire.

The river is flowing, look to the source for knowledge and help clear the path for peace.

May 29, 2009

When someone dies it is a loss, you never really know what you held of them or how they made your life until that thread is taken. I cannot tell you my feelings but I must try, for there was no map for me in this darkest of places and I must thread there. I pray you never do.

She was young and removed from me, I had given up the hope of raising her and teaching her the simple things of life in respect for her adopted family and her own sense of self. I left word of compliance and support often enough to be heard. I had to leave it at that, she was precious, I could tell.

I often told the story of my grief of letting her go but the hope of her experiencing a better life than we could offer her. I still believe that was true.

Know this: she died in a particularly terrible way and I went there to see that place. I had to because someone had to tell those spirits that they were loved and must go now. It was too fast to understand but too slow to change and she outlived both of them in that terrible event.

I cried for them, I cried for her, I cried for him who brought this fate to be. If I think my soul is in torment, I see the truth for him. Even though I tell him he must let go and return to his grandparents, it only serves to pin him closer to his pain. He will get there when he can learn but I, well, I don't care if it takes a while.

Her face, all pancake makeup, was serene at the viewing. I cried again, for those children who could have had more. As I learned from the stories, they were good kids, loved by their community, happy. Still I wonder if I could have done more. There is a guilt that, though I know I did what was clear at the time, I failed her.

I will try to leverage those wounds to benefit you, it is all I can do. He took half my future and much of my hopes and dreams. I never thought that I could be this mad at another human, not even Cortez or Bush, but I am. I would rend him bone from bone if I could. I am empty for the loss of a daughter and hope. I am enflamed at the savagery and chill of this insult.

There is a belief that those who come with the most powerful lessons and stongest medicine often leave very early, having finished their work quickly. I only stand in shock and pray that it is true.

Web Posting of Gumm Family murder/suicide

Newspaper Report

Swine Flu Alert

From: Tristin Mock
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 10:23 AM
To: Public Health
Subject: H1N1 Screening
Importance: High

Here’s the screening procedure that’s recommended by the state. Basically if someone has cold symptoms with a fever over 100°F and within the last 10 days has traveled to an area with confirmed cases or, has been in close contact with a confirmed case of H1N1 (human or swine), they should be screened.

Here is the information from http://www.flu.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/acd/provider.shtml:

If you are seeing a patient with febrile respiratory illness:

• Consider Swine Flu in the Differential Diagnosis Case Definition: A person with an acute respiratory illness (cough, sore throat, rhinorrhea or nasal congestion) and fever of > 37.8°C (>100°F)
• Who has traveled to an area where there are confirmed cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) within 7 days of suspect case's illness onset or
• Who was a close contact to a confirmed case of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection while the case was ill or
  Who has a history of recent contact with an animal with confirmed or suspected swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection.
• Use protective equipment when attending suspected swine flu cases
• Surgical mask
• Gloves
• Gown
• Laboratory testing
• For people who meet the case definition, obtain 2 swabs for testing. Preferred swab is a flocked or Dacron tipped nasopharyngeal swab on a non-wooden shaft. See ww.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/phl/docs/stock3.pdf for information on ordering sampling kits
• Do initial testing in your regular lab to determine if strain is influenza A. If the patient tests positive for influenza A, send the second refrigerated swab in viral transport medium to the State Public Health Lab. Label these “RULE OUT SWINE FLU.” These samples will be processed at NO COST. Also please complete and send a Virology/Immunology Request Form, available at: www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/phl/forms.shtml and fill in “rule out swine flu” under “other” in the “virus isolation” section.
• Treatment - If treatment is considered, the swine flu strain is sensitive to both zanamivir and olseltamivir, but resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. Guidance is on the CDC swine flu website. Patients with suspected swine flu should be encouraged to stay home for 7 days after symptom onset. Close contacts who develop symptoms consistent with the above case definition should be encouraged to seek evaluation
• Prophylaxis - Guidance on prophylaxis in selected situations on the CDC swine flu web site. Universal prophylaxis of household contacts is not indicated. For more information, call Public Health Epidemiology at 971-673-1111.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

So here is my take on this:

This IS a big deal, but it is not a reason to freak out or cry Armageddon...

Influenza has killed a lot of people in the past and, as all infections, the worst time for a new and virulent strain is in times of high stress. This is a time of high stress, the economic state of the world is in question, terror is on most peoples minds, the environment is having a lot of trouble and population is skyrocketing. These stressors have the effect of lowering peoples immunity and. therefore, increasing their susceptibility to illness. The "perfect storm" is here and, like the 1918 flu outbreak, the social and political stressors may contribute to the severity of this outbreak.

The best way to avoid the flu is: follow good hygiene techniques, wash your hands, avoid people who are sick, get enough sleep, etc. This is true for 2009 H1N1 flu as well as the common cold.

Stay healthy, lower your stress, eat well, get enough exercise and rest and you will live a long and healthy life.

Balance

Falls are a real threat to our elders, especially when their motor functions start to wane. Tai Chi (also spelled taiji) practice helps to prevent falls, provides a source for regular meditation, and can generally improve the function and vitality of elderly people.

The benefits of a taiji practice stem from two sources and the combination of these leads to the great benefits for all people, especially the elderly.

First, taiji is exercise. As a form of exercise, taiji is very adaptable to both time and space requirements as well as skill level. Regular movement helps the body in a myriad of ways and is vital to moving the lymph and body fluids, assisting the cardiovascular system, maintaining immunity and neurological functions, and reducing physical degeneration. Taiji is an extremely low impact activity (next to swimming) and still challenges the muscles enough to build strength.

Second, taiji is a meditative practice. Regular meditation has been shown to benefit immunity, reduce stress, and improve the outcome of most medical conditions. Meditation serves the body in many ways: "grounding" the nervous system, relieving stress, quieting the mind, resting the organs, and lowering the metabolism. Meditation generally improves the effects of aging by balancing the endocrine, immune, and nervous systems, allowing them to rest and rejuvenate.

The combination of these two sources makes taiji an outstanding form of exercise that can greatly reduce the complications of aging. the movements are simple but allow for as much skill as even masters of martial arts possess, they are challenging to all without being impossible to any.

Even disabled people can benefit from taiji, although specialized instruction is required.

There are few other practices that are so profoundly beneficial to aging and yet so easily attainable as taij.

Article Article Article Article Article

How to make Green Tea

Green Tea is a great antioxidant, is full of tannins and is a great drink.

Green Tea has about half the caffeine of coffee but certainly can keep you up at night, the drink is much more alkaline and seems to release the caffeine more slowly into the circulation. The flavor of green tea can be too bitter if brewed incorrectly so I will give some guidelines to making the perfect pot of green tea.

The first washing of tea leaves with water produces a vary acrid and bitter flavor. Green tea should be "washed" with hot water once before the flavor is right. The tannins that removed from this first wash are still healthy and can be drunk as a shot or simply discarded. The best method is to use a small amount of very hot water to quickly dissolve and drain off the most bitter flavors. This also serves to soften and wet the tea leaves for a better brew.

The optimal temperature for each tea is different but generally, the darker the tea, the hotter the temperature. White teas can be soaked in lukewarm water with good taste (and many, many more servings of a mild and wonderful flavor), green teas should be soaked in hot water and black teas in very hot water.

The second through the third or fourth time the tea leaves are soaked are the best flavors for green teas. If you use the hot wash method the tea will have a nice flavor for that simply weakens over a few cups and eventually becomes a very dilute green flavor.

I generally use 1-2 tsp of gunpowder green tea leaves per cup (I have a 4 cup ceramic teapot) and get 3-4 cups of good tea from each batch. I like strong tea in the morning and find that this method gets me about 6-8 cups of green tea per day.

First I pour a couple ounces of simmering water over the dry leaves and drain it off almost immediately. This first cup is rather bitter but I like it as a "shot of green." Then I fill the pot with hot water and let it steep for about 5-10 minutes before drinking. As the pot is emptied, I simply re-fill it with hot water until the flavor is washed out (about 3-4 times).

There are several choices in sources of tea but I strongly suggest that an organic source is found. Experiment with the different types of tea as well as the timing and temperature of the washes and you will find a tea you love.

Sencha
Dragon Well
Macha
Gunpowder
Jasmine
Anji

Good Green Tea

I believe it is the tannins in the tea but it could just be the great flavor:

Green Tea is Good for the Mouth as well as the body.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Causes Diabetes

Yes, it is true, those sodas are pushing your body into diabetes.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the grand invention of the modern food industry, can lead directly to metabolic syndrome and diabetes, two of the fastest growing epidemics on earth.

Fructose, a type of sugar that is found in HFCS and composes half of most other sugars, is processed differently by our bodies than glucose, the preferred sugar of out bodies. Fructose is processed to form fats much more rapidly than glucose. Especially when combined with a diet too rich in carbohydrates, the rapid accumulation of fat initiates and drives the spiral to diabetes through metabolic syndrome and obesity.

Nature has not been fair to us who live in the plenty of the modern world, for as we get larger, our bodies go haywire. The fat secretes hormones that increase hunger and disrupt the normal feedback mechanisms for our fat and sugar metabolism. The sensitivuty of our bodies to insulin decreases at the same time as our desire for sugar takes off.

This is true for all sweets. Especially when devoid of fiber, sugars are absorbed extremely rapidly, overtaxing out bodies ablility to regulate blood sugar and causing a rapid increase in fat storage. Fructose is just exceptionally easy to store as fat so, not only do we get the high and crash of the sugar, we accelerate the downward spiral of hormonal imbalance, autotoxicity, unregualted blood sugars, and ultimately metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Cruciferous Vegetables Decrease Damage from Poor Air Quality

Broccoli, that best know representative of the cruciferous vegetables, has scored another hit for good nutrition. Recent work at UCLA has shown that these champions of detoxification can increase the antioxidant levels in the respiratory system, helping the body to combat air quality related diseases such as asthma and emphysema.

This adds to their already famous supporting position in detoxification of dietary poisons by the liver.

Go, Go Crucifers!

Psychoneurocardiology?

Here is the dark side of positive thinking and self affirmation:

According to studies by Becca Levy of Yale School of Public Health, those who had a poor regard for the elderly were much more likely to have heart-related problems long before those volunteers who viewed old age positively and also had shorter lifespans.

Not only are you what you eat... you may just fulfill you own stereotypes as well.

Another recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that fits of anger can lead to heart attacks, not really news but true enough.

Scientists Prove Taoist Philosophers Were Right

Ok, so not quite proved, there is a little more work to do; but here goes:

Craig Hogan, a physicist at Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics in Illinois is convinced that he has found proof in the data of the gravitational wave detector GEO600 of a holographic universe.

That is a direct quote from a news feed describing a January 15th article by Marcus Chown in New Scientist Magazine. The idea of a holographic universe is a fundamental concept to the Taoist thinkers from ancient times and through today.

The journey of a thousand miles begins at one's feet... - Lao Tsu

There are many philosophers and theorists that have proposed that the universe is holographic. Probably the most noted is Michael Talbot for his work The Holographic Universe. This is one of the fundamental foundations of holistic medicine, and indeed one of the roots of the word itself.

To understand the parts we must embrace the whole, at all levels of understanding. In a nutshell, to fully grasp a thing we must know everything about it including the context and surroundings of that thing, which lead us recursively to needing to see the whole universe in this context.

Do not despair, the ancient Taoist thinkers knew of our dilemma and gave us the roadway out of this quandry.

That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was
not vainly spoken: all real completion is comprehended under it. - Lao Tsu

Like a hologram, the universe can be understood because we are a part of it and to know oneself is to know the universe. This is fundamental of Taoist thinking and, if the discoveries of the Fermilab particle physics lab in Illinois are correct, it is one step closer to being proven.

This is pretty cool stuff and, in itself, another piece of evidence for the ultimate correctness of Taoist thinking.

I will leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from the Tao Te Ching:

Without going outside his door, one understands all under heaven;
without looking out from his window, one sees the Tao of Heaven.
The farther that one goes out , the less he knows.

To know and yet know we do not know is the highest
To not to know and yet know we do know is a disease.

The highest excellence is that of water.
The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things,
in its occupying the low place without striving...
Hence it is near to the Tao.

Who can make the muddy water clear?
Let it be still and it will settle, gradually becoming clear.

Healing from injuries

Prevent the chronic complications of trauma... special techniques for reducing chronic diseases.

Reading the recent article from Science Daily on Healing Arthritis Caused by Traumatic Injury, I wanted to share some insights from years of Tui Na practice and training in natural and Chinese medicine. Inflammation is the normal response to injury and assault on our bodies, in the sort term it helps to bring the nutrients, stem cells, and healing factors to areas of our bodies that need the attention. Unfortunately, inflammation easily becomes excessive or chronic, causing more damage then help.

There are several reasons the normal inflammatory response can become problematic:

• Not spending the time to rest and allow the body to clear damage from the injury. The body needs to rest and repair injuries and often the social and personal pressures of performance overwhelm the natural need to rest after an injury.
• Poor diet and other sources of chronic inflammation can cause the body to become overwhelmed with inflammatory signals. Even with rest, when the body is flooded with inflammatory signals it is nearly impossible to completely resolve inflammation around a given injury.
• Certain parts of the body are prone to chronic inflammation such as joints, hands, and the digestive tract. Some areas have poor vascular supply (joints), are constantly exposed to foreign substances (guts), or are under constant use (hands and fingers). In these sorts of places it is much harder for the body to properly respond to trauma and consequently, chronic inflammation is more likely to occur.

Luckily, there are some simple methods for assisting the body in its response to trauma and help avoid chronic complications such as arthritis, chronic fatigue, cancer, and other chronic diseases.

• The first response to trauma should be to remove whatever is causing the trauma. Stop running, remove the splinter, stop eating the food, get away from the stressful situation. All too often we forget this simple and fundamental first response by continuing to injure ourselves or ingnoring the pain, the inflamation cannot stop unless we stop the trauma.
• We should rest to allow our bodies to respond and resolve the inflammation. This means not going right back in the game or getting back on our feet too soon, it is extremely important to spend the time needed to heal before resuming our normal activities.
  
• Address chronic insults to our bodies: these include food allergies or intolerances, chronically stressful situations, chemical exposures, poor posture or ergonomics, repetitive stresses, and others. This is the area that takes the most attention and expertise in today's world, and often is difficult to manage with the pressures of living. I invite you to contact Golden Leaf Clinic for consultation on how to best approach this for yourself and family.
• For sports and joint injuries physical therapy including Tui Na, lymphatic massage, manipulation and gentle, low impact exercise is important to preserve function and avoid chronic complications. A well trained therapist should be able to assist in the healing of joint and sports injuries.
• There are several herbal, dietary and supplemental methods to directly assist in the healing process and specifically reduce chronic consequences of inflammation. Unfortunately there is no one-size fits all guide for use of these methods and a specialist should be consulted. Again, contact Golden Leaf Clinic for consultation and referral.
• Finally, there are many specific techniques such as meditation, Qi Gong, prayer, therapeutic massage, Tui Na and others that can directly reduce inflammation both generally and in specific injuries. The choice of method that best suits a given person or injury depends on many factors including preference, mechanism of injury, philosophical or spiritual belief and personal lifestyle. The choice should fit with your beliefs and lifestyle, make sense to you and be something you are willing to do regularly. In today's world of stress and environmental exposures this is something I suggest for anyone interested in living a long and healthy life.

If you haven't guessed by now, I suggest that everyone consult with an expert on how to reduce chronic inflammation. The doctors at Golden Leaf Clinic would be more than happy to consult with you, or provide referral, for both general considerations or specific injuries.

Life is a process of degeneration and regeneration, pain and growth, loss and fulfillment, loneliness and love. It requires full attention and diligence, it promises nothing but often gives more than we can hope for; relish in its beauty, tragedy, color and shadow. Embrace it and it will embrace you. -Drew Scott

Health Risks Associated With Stressed Food

You are what you eat!

New evidence is emerging that by stressing our food we are endangering our own health. Science is catching up with the age old wisdom that health is affected by not just the nutritional value of the foods we eat, but also the health of those foods. Amyloid fibrils have been associated with several degenerative diseases and now it appears that by stressing our food supply, we are exposing ourselves to these very compounds.

Remember the mad cow scare? It looks as though we are on the brink of understanding that, by stressing the animals we depend on for food, we are seeding the increasing degeneration of our own culture. Amyloid fibrils apparently are capable of initiating the degenerative process of Alzheimer, arthritis and other degenerative diseases.

"a biochemical mechanism akin to the replication of similar protein fragments in the brain diseases Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), scrapie, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, might occur when amyloid fibrils enter brain tissue or the pancreas" - Inderscience Publishers (2009, February 19). Potential Health Risks Associated With Stressed Foodstuffs Such As Foie Gras

"Prion protein, notorious for causing the brain-wasting mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases, may also be a coconspirator in Alzheimer’s disease" - Science News Web edition

It is important to remember that, despite the prevailing trends reduce the world to its components and ignore the connectedness of life and nature, we are what we eat in more profound ways than chemical nutritionally. Wholesome does not mean fortified. Caged and feedlot animals, genetically manipulated crops, chemically enhanced growth, medicines produced from factories... these are not the way to health.

Participate in your food, know where it came from and how it was treated. Eat well to live well; even science is beginning to show that the connections between us, our food, our families and our world are the true fundamental sources of our wealth and well-being.

Let those who will not listen super-size and degrade themselves, try to do better for yourself - please don't join them.

Children's Toys

I am listening to the NPR program on the banning of phthalates in childrens' toys just after the story on the courts deciding that thiomersal in vaccines are not causing developmental problems (specifically autism) in children. Now I feel compelled to vent.

Children are, without a doubt, the future of our society. Instead of not using proven toxins in products for children, lets only use known safe materials to make products for children. We are facing some pretty serious problems in our near future, it is a good idea to explicitly protect our children, they will be the ones who solve the problems we are creating today, if anyone will.

It seems that the agencies that are supposed to protect us from commercial interests have been maneuvered into the position where they are actually protecting the industries they are supposed to regulate. Through a history of legal actions and court decisions, most governmental agencies have been restricted to only being able to control materials and chemicals that are known to harm.

Now that I have that off my chest, I suggest a simple answer: Buy toys and products made of natural things for children. There are many toxins in nature, however, not many of them are new and most are well characterized. I cannot think of one natural material used in manufacturing that isn't either relatively safe or already regulated.

We don't know what plastics and other new materials do to our health (yes, we should be very weary of emerging nanomatreials) and it looks more and more like there are some serious developmental consequences with many of them. If you don't know what it is, don't eat it or give it to your kids.

Eating Well

I have been asked a few times to help people understand how to eat well. Here are some general rules for healthy eating:

The best thing to know is that variety is best. This allows our body to get the variety it needs to thrive and gives it a chance to send us clear messages about what works best for it.

Eat as close to nature as you can (that means avoid processed food from factories, things with lots of artificial ingredients, things imported from far away, or lots of chemicals and preservatives), most of the poisons in our diet are man-made or things our ancestors never ate.

Growing children need the best food because what they eat determines who they will become, at least physically, and a lot more mentally than we realize.

A general rule is: if it grows in the current time of year it is energetically better for your body (like eating more roots and squash in the winter, more leaves and fruits in the summer), than imported foods.

Organic is better but much more important for some foods: leaves, flowers and things you eat the skin on are the most important, meat and fatty foods tend to accumulate chemicals. If you can choose, choose organic; if you can't, try to minimize the amount of chemicals you do eat by washing, peeling or paring, cutting off the fat and not eating organ meats.

Eat things with lots of color, that is what antioxidants look like, colorful. (when you take vitamins your urine turns colorful... vitamins are very bright)

Don't eat too much meat, our ancestors had to work very hard to hunt and we are lazy... if you are very active then more meat is ok but if you aren't then less is better. Eat meat that is raised locally if you can and has freedom. Caged animals are stressed out and will stress your body with toxins.

Fish is the best meat but still not too much. Tuna and other top predators, are a problem because they tends to have higher levels of mercury and other toxins. Cold water fish that are lower on the food chain are the best (my favorite is herring or sardines: small fish with lots of good fats and not so much mercury, and not too expensive). This is especially important for kids, both avoiding the mercury and eating a lot of fish... for kids fish is one of the best foods there is, it helps their brains and bodies develop.

Nuts and seeds are, much like fish, a good source of essential fatty acids. Essential means we need them so they are an essential part of our diet. Choose the source carefully because fats tend to concentrate toxins, organic is important for fatty foods.

Don't eat too much sugar or starchy foods, lots of calories without much nutrients, but like the first point: variety is good.

Cook things more in the winter and less in the summer, use warming spices in the winter and less spices in the summer. Simple is better, our body digests things differently and a lot of variety isn't so good in the same meal. Eat more in the fall and winter and fast or eat lighter in the spring and summer. You are part of nature and a reflection of her rhythms, work with those rhythms, not against them.

Listen to your body, it is wise. If you crave salty or sour or beets or meat, it is probably telling you something. If you crave alcohol or sugar or foods that you eat a lot of, that may be a different story: sometimes cravings can indicate a bad relationship to a particular food (back to the "variety is good").

These are good general rules but, of course, everyone is unique and can greatly benefit from a more detailed and in-depth look at what they eat.

See also: Modern Mis-fortune by Dr. Hart

Vitamin Use Is Highest In Kids Who Don't Need Them

Interesting... health is a choice and some kids are getting it.

I suggest regular assessment of diet and lifestyle to determine the need for supplements. Of course if supplements aren't needed there is no reason to take them but I do recommend that anyone eating less than an optimal diet (like any junk foods) should consider taking a supplement to ensure adequate intake of micronutrients and antioxidants.

Neutralizing Acidosis And Bone Loss Among Mature Adults

It is no surprise that alkalizing diets are healthy and now we know that they can help reduce osteoporosis as well. Funny thing is that the research didn't provide healthy foods to the subjects but instead gave them antacids to simulate healthy food. I am glad that mainstream medicine is looking into health as something nature can provide but am appalled that they do it through pills that simulate healthy living.

Will we ever learn?

Check out: holistic solutions for Jupiter Science Water Ionizers that provide conditioned water that is balanced to neutralize acidosis

Vaccines And Autism: Many Hypotheses, But No Correlation Found

It is nice that researchers are willing to look into the potential nosocomial causes of autism and spectrum disorders. I am not so surprised that there isn't a clear link between vaccines and autism but the case is far from over. I suspect that the ultimate causes of these disorders are multifactorial, include environmental and dietary causes and may ultimately be added to by vaccines using thimerisol and other mucury containing compounds.

Other links of interest:
California's Autism Increase Not Due To Better Counting, Diagnosis
NIMH Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders)