Thoughts about Vaccines and Disease

I would really like to start a discussion here concerning vaccines and the possible connection to diseases. There has been much published online regarding the connection between certain epidemics and the vaccines administered to prevent them actually CAUSING outbreaks. I believe that this preponderance of evidence, some from proven experts in epidemiology or medical research, must be considered before you submit yourself to another needle. For my part I am focusing on just what I need to do to keep my immune system in peak condition. Among those necessary things are: adequate hydration, adequate rest, proper nutrition and adequate physical activity (yes, that means exercise). Let me just point out one additional thing I'm frankly just learning about. Adequate oxygenation. One way to boost your serum oxygen levels is through aerobic exercise, but you can also do it by self-administered hydrogen peroxide in distilled water. Someone is now heavily promoting a book called The One Minute Cure (because it takes just a minute to prepare it), but I'm not involved with that, nor am I against buying it. I just think that a little diligent online research on the subject will produce enough information so that you can discuss it with your doctor. I even found a detailed chart concerning how much to use and how often, and from what I can determine, that's basically what this book wants to sell you. In any case, I've already begun to treat myself to this therapy and I will post updates here. There is documentation about treatment of many conditions with hydrogen peroxide, especially in conjunction with liquid vitamin C in an intravenous application to treat certain cancers. Laboratory testing has proven that cancer cells cannot survive in an oxygen rich environment. It is not such a great leap to the conclusion that increasing the oxygen levels available to your cells might have some beneficial effect. I'm not a doctor, I do not give medical advice, and I encourage you to discuss ANY changes you might consider in your lifestyle, including supplements, exercise, or alternative therapies, with your health care provider.

If you would like know what URL's I have on file for some of this information, e-mail me and I will share them.

What's Past Is Prolog

With each passing year, we can look back at what we have done to shape our future. We will become whatever we have set ourselves up to become, whether that is active and healthy, or sedentary and unhealthy. Please don't tell yourself the lie that you are too busy to do the things that will keep you active and healthy well into your "golden years". If you are too sedentary now, those years may not be so golden. They may have you functioning like a rusty hinge: not too smoothly, and not without loud groans of protest. So what will you make time for today?

In order to just maintain our present level of mobility, we MUST do what we CAN do. If you can climb a flight of stairs, then by all means you would be well advised to skip the elevator and climb that flight of stairs. If you can walk for 30 or 45 minutes at a fairly brisk pace, then you better make time to walk. You do not need to train for Olympic events, or try to set some age group distance record. Just discipline yourself to stay active now, so that five or ten, or twenty years from now you can still be active.

I have taken time to talk with many people in the course of the last ten years who are now disabled in one way or another. Some are no longer able to work and live on a disability income. Others work part time, or even full time with constant pain because they need the income. It is sad just how many of those people were very inactive for twenty or thirty years before they became disabled, and not a few of them now believe that at least some of their present health issues directly relate to that sedentary lifestyle. Those who were sedentary by choice for most of their adult life are now forced to be sedentary by declining health. It is because of those people that I began this blog and it is because of them that I made a firm commitment to myself to stay as active as possible right now.

Some of the folks I was referring to in the last paragraph became disabled thru some sudden accident or illness over which they had no control at all. But those who were active before then, often were the same ones who worked hardest at achieving whatever recovery was possible, and have again found ways to be active within their current limits. So even they have benefitted from staying in motion. I know this is a misuse of this law of physics, but I think you will agree that it seems to apply: bodies in motion tend to stay in motion. Humans who are active tend to remain active. So, what will you do today in order to have a better tomorrow?

Cholesterol is NOT the enemy!

We've all been running around with these numbers in our brains concerning "good" or "bad" cholesterol, and worried about what was happening to the inside of our arteries. First the confusion was over which is good and which is bad. Then there was a lot of talk about what the ratio between these two numbers should be. We were inundated with pleading public announcements concerning the perils of eating real butter, skin-on chicken, red meat, and lots of other food items. We were encouraged to go on low-fat diets, high-carb diets, cabbage diets, ginger bread diets, beet juice diets, cleansing diets, and on and on and on. We were encouraged to run for our lives, then, sadly, one of the most visible proponents of running died while running. Is it any wonder people are confused?

What concerns me is the tendency we might have to just "tune out" all this noise and do nothing. That would be an unfortunate choice. Cholesterol is something to keep an eye on, low density cholesterol (LDL) is not something you want too much of, the ratio between LDL and HDL may have some value. But really, what's the bottom line? Does anyone really know?

I am going to devote the next few articles on answers to at least some of these issues, to provide the latest, best advice, and to dispel some of the worries. Let me start by saying that moderation in all things is still the absolute best advice to follow concerning anything to do with your present or future wellness. Exercise is definitely good. We were designed for it and thrive because of it. But forget the "no pain, no gain" foolishness. Keep your LDL cholesterol levels in control by whatever means necessary, but don't go overboard on the low fat diets. About 1/3 of the population actually is healthier and feels better with higher levels carbs and fats in their diet. Ask your physician to tell you about simple test that determine what is best for you. Each individual has specific, unique needs. But today I wanted to just touch on what is likely a far more important marker, or indicator, of possible heart disease (CHD). Elevated homocysteine levels consistently and far more reliably predict cardiac problems than HDL and LDL levels. In conjunction with elevated homocysteine levels, those with CHD almost invariably will have reduced vitamin B6 levels in their blood. Everything I've been reading for more than a year now concerning cardiac health points to these two levels as the most significant warning levels for CHD. So next time you visit your doctor for a routine checkup, ask him to run the whole blood panel, and to tell you what he knows about these two substances in the blood, as well as what actions you can take to lower your homocysteine levels. I'll write more on this and other related cardiac health issues in the days ahead. As always, your comments and e-mails are welcome.

Water! The Weight Loss Secret

For many years now doctors in Japan have been prescribing this water routine for their patients for all sorts of health conditions. But people who need to lose weight are often told that water retention is part of their problem, so INCREASING their water intake seems counter-intuitive. In fact, the diet pill manufacturers have made a fortune from selling diuretics loaded with caffeine stimulants. But before you spend a dime on these, let me explain. The body tends to automatically store things it needs when it senses that it might not be getting a resupply on a regular basis. This applies to fat and water too! For this article, lets just stick to water. We'll talk about fat retention another time.

In many cases people who have a water retention problem are those who do not drink enough water. Many of us are dehydrated and don't even know it. If you are fatigued all the time, if you have high blood pressure, poor circulation, frequent headaches, if you tend to overeat, if you can't seem to lose weight --- you may be dehydrated. Think about this. If you are not getting enough water, you may be compelled to overeat because your body is trying to get more fluids by any means. And since you are not giving it the fluids it needs to function properly, it hoards what little water you give it. Sure, you give it a bit of water when you drink coffee or soft drinks, but not enough. And those things may contain caffeine, chemical sweeteners, preservatives, and flavorings that are not of much benefit.In addition to hoarding water, dehydration makes it difficult for the kidneys to function properly, so you are not able to properly metabolize fats. The result? Your liver can't support the kidneys and soon your body is storing not only water but fat as well. So what have we been told to do? Low fat diets, right? With what you've read so far, can you figure out the inevitable result of a low fat diet? Since fat is essential for proper body function, if you are not getting enough dietary fat, your body will begin to store fat as a protection. So now we have dehydrated people with storage locations of extra interstitial fat. One common location for this fat storage is around the liver. Not good. Again, we'll talk about fat later.

Back to the water. Next weekend, why not begin to give your body the water it needs to stay healthy? Wait for the weekend because for the first few days you will be making frequent trips to the restroom. But within a few days of this increased water intake, your body will begin to regulate it and those trips will become less frequent. Oh, you might also want to taper off the water drinking toward evening so you don't have to get up in the middle of the night. With that said, here is what is now recommended by a growing number of healthcare professionals. First thing in the morning drink a large (10 oz) glass of cold water. Do not drink or eat anything after that for 45 minutes or so. This will "kick-start" your metabolism and rehydrate your body after a night of rest. Water allows your body to flush out waste and toxins, and is essential for proper function down to the cell level. The next step is to increase the total daily intake of water to about two quarts (2-3 liters) every day. This is best done by spreading it out over the entire day. And please do not use bottled water! The bottles are a terrible burden on our ecology and the recent reports indicate that they are leaching harmful substances into the water we drink from them as well.I use a stainless coffee travel mug, a large one. I will admit that I do sometimes substitute plain water with green tea. But no other fluid counts. Not juice, soft drinks, or coffee.Once your body becomes accustomed to getting all the water it needs, it will stop hoarding it. Your skin tone will improve. Many people report that they get a "lift" from their morning glass of water. It wakes up the whole system. Given enough water to work with, the kidneys begin to function more efficiently, and the liver can do its job of secreting bile to assist in metabolizing the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E & K and helps the body assimilate calcium. With enough water, the liver can also more efficiently work as the body's detoxifier, and it can produce the GTF necessary (along with insulin from the pancreas) to properly regulate blood sugar levels. Water is essential for the circulation of blood. If you are dehydrated, your blood becomes thicker leading to reduced circulation and a whole cascade of related problems, including high blood pressure.

The body is a very complex organism, wonderfully made with the ability to keep itself healthy if we give it the basics, like water. You don't have to like drinking water, but you must admit it is a lot less distasteful than a lot of medicines, and a lot less expensive!! So, drink up!

Albert Schweitzer was right! So was Linus Pauling!

"It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you anyway. We doctors do nothing. We only help and encourage the doctor within." Albert Schweitzer, M.D.

Let me share something with you. It is just my opinion and I'm certainly no expert. I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV...or radio. I do devote considerable time to reading and researching information concerning health and general wellness issues and I share that information with my friends, with readers of my blogs, and listeners to GSFM 90.1 in Victor Harbor, South Australia. I encourage all to add this information to whatever you have found on your own and always, always, always consult your doctor or other healthcare provider before changing your health routine in any way. Get several qualified opinions if necessary. But make a firm commitment to taking charge of your own health. No one can, or will, do that job better than you can.

Having said that, I would encourage you to make a note of these two web sites and keep them handy. The first is http://doctoryourself.com/ You will find this site to be quite informative but I must warn you that it contains some controversial scientific information. Andrew Saul firmly believes that education is better than medication. Unlike many others I could name, his site contains no advertising. He is not indebted to any advertisers.

The second site I want to recommend to you is http://orthomolecular.org/ You may know of Linus Pauling. He was a molecular biologist who made a number of well-known claims about such things as vitamin C and its benefits in treating the effects of cold and flu. But he also believed that large doses of vitamin C could be used in the treatment of cancer. Many researchers discounted his cancer therapy, but most of their studies were terribly flawed. I have personally read a growing number of reports, studies, e-mails, newsletters that prove to my satisfaction the efficacy of vitamin C therapy. I am so convinced that I keep a file on my computer of physicians in my area who will administer something called IAA (or IVC) therapy, and should I ever be diagnosed with cancer, that will be my very first course of action. IAA is Intravenous Ascorbic Acid (or Intravenous Vitamin C). Taking large doses of C by mouth does little or no good, yet that's how many studies have been done. However when sufficient doses are given intravenously, vitamin C kills cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unaffected. I first heard about a successful case from the publisher of a health newsletter in England whose mother was diagnosed with terminal stage breast cancer. Too late for any conventional treatments. But she was administered a concoction of liquid vitamin C and hydrogen peroxide intravenously three times a week. Six months after the initial diagnosis she was cancer free and remains so today.
I recently read a case study about a man with prostate cancer. He received weekly IAA treatments and in a relatively short time his problem was resolved and today he is symptom free and his PSA numbers are great. No harsh drugs, no radiation, no surgery.

I encourage you to educate yourself. And be prepared for any health problem that might crop up. Of course, our main goal should be to stay well so we don't have to try to get well.

Just go nuts!

And Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease

You’ve been told that nuts are high in calories and contain a lot of fat? Well, it’s a fact.
But does that mean you shouldn’t eat them? Of course not. Over the last decade a number of studies have confirmed that eating certain types of unsalted nuts on a regular basis can reduce your risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac deaths. While they are calorically very dense, they are also an excellent source of protein, fiber, phytonutrients, and antioxidants as well as omega-3 fats. But as with all things, moderation is important.
Eating too many nuts can be a problem because you will be increasing your daily caloric intake. As you know, if you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.
So what’s the solution?

First, eat nuts that can actually do you some good and avoid the rest. In 2003 the FDA approved health claims for 7 different nuts, including peanuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, some pine nuts, hazelnuts, and almonds. These nuts provide less than 4g of saturated fats per 50g. You don’t have to limit yourself only to these nuts, but be aware that others may be much higher in fat content. Also, nut allergies are a concern for some, especially children and young adults. But if you decide to make nuts a regular part of your diet, you might also consider pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, because they may provide the same heart healthy benefits.
Second, limit your daily intake of nuts to 1 or 2 ounces. One guideline is to eat only the amount of nuts it takes to fill the palm of your hand. This does not mean a handful of nuts. If you like almonds, for example, just put 8 or 10 almonds in your hand. That’s about the right amount of nuts to consume daily. If you are substituting nuts for some other source of calories you need not worry about gaining weight. In fact, starting your day with a little protein can actually help you lose weight.

I won’t bore you with all the details here, but below I’ve pasted just the conclusions of a number of reports on the subject of nuts in the diet. This is not a magic bullet that will eliminate all heart disease risk, but it is certainly an easy thing to include in your arsenal of weapons against CHD (Coronary Heart Disease).

CONCLUSIONS: Frequent nut consumption may offer postmenopausal women modest protection against the risk of death from all causes and CHD. (University of Minnesota)

CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates a significant inverse relationship between legume intake and risk of CHD and suggests that increasing legume intake may be an important part of a dietary approach to the primary prevention of CHD in the general population. (Tulane University)

CONCLUSIONS: Frequent nut consumption was associated with a reduced risk of both fatal coronary heart disease and non-fatal myocardial infarction. These data, and those from other epidemiological and clinical studies, support a role for nuts in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. (Harvard School of Public Health)

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest potential benefits of higher nut and peanut butter consumption in lowering risk of type 2 diabetes in women. To avoid increasing caloric intake, regular nut consumption can be recommended as a replacement for consumption of refined grain products or red or processed meats. (Harvard School of Public Health)

STAYING WELL

In my experience and from everything I've read or learned by discussing it with friends, family and folks in the medical profession, staying well is far better and far less expensive than trying to GET well after you've become seriously ill. So give this some thought. For most of us, our contact with the medical folks is limited to those occasions when we have been injured or become ill, right? And unfortunately, most of us don't give a lot of thought to our general well-being at any other time. We get something to drink when we are thirsty. We get something to eat when we are hungry. We go to bed when we are sleepy. Individual variations on that theme are limitless, but for those who have access to food and drink and a place to sleep, that's about it.

For those of you who are NOT baby boomers, don't think this blog doesn't apply to you. In order to STAY well even after 50, you really need to consider the things you should be doing when you are 30 or 40 as well, because much of what you will face in your 50's, 60's and 70's and beyond can be set in motion decades earlier. This can bring either good or bad results. But let's say you are already approaching retirement. Your level of wellness today might be a direct result of what you did or failed to do many years ago.

In order to stay well you need a number of factors to come into play, and frankly, you just cannot control all of them. Genetics for example. You inherited genes that dictate certain things about you and you cannot do much about that. However, you do not need to surrender to that or use it as an excuse. If your whole family tends to be short and a littly heavy, there is a good chance that you too will be short, and unless you make a steady effort to combat it, a little heavy. But let's take this a little further. If your family had bad eating habits that were passed on to you from a very early age, you can do something about that. In fact, if you want to enjoy a high degree of wellness throughout your life, you BETTER do something about it. I once worked for a fellow who was quite large in every dimension. We'll call him Ron. He was about 6'5" and he was rather rotund. He said he was just "big boned", and during the period I knew him well, I seldom saw him without something handy to eat. Potato chips, Twinkies, candy, pretzels, cheeseburgers, milkshakes, you name it. He didn't actually stop to eat lunch. He just called that hour or so his lunch hour, and kept right on eating. I moved on to a different job and lost touch with him for about three years. One day in a shopping mall I heard a voice behind me saying "Jack, is that you?" I turned and looked at this fellow and had no idea who he could be. He introduced himself and though I remembered the name, I could not connect this fellow with that name in my mind.
Seeing my confusion he said "You probably don't recognize me. I've lost a little weight." He had actually lost nearly 200 pounds! We found a place to sit and visit for a few minutes and he told me his story. Briefly, a cardiologist told him that he would die before he made it to 50, just like his father and grandfather and one of his brothers. He asked, "Isn't there anything I can do?" The cardiologist told him that he would have to totally rethink his lifestyle, but he didn't seem to have much confidence that Ron would really do it. But after relating this news to his wife, Ron decided that he would do whatever was necessary to turn his life and his health around, and he enlisted his wife and three children in the plan. Growing up, he was accustomed to having ice cream for dessert just about every night. The family would open a half gallon carton and divide it amongst the three or four of them and eat it all. On special occasions, like Sunday supper, they would add some pie or cake to that. If it was a pie, they divided it, so that most often each one would get one fourth of a pie. They were all large people and had all been raised to empty their plate at every meal. "Waste not, want not." So Ron had these eating habits ingrained in him almost from birth.

In order to lose all that weight, Ron did two things at first. he took time every day, rain or shine, to go for a walk. Just ten or fifteen minutes at first, but eventually he worked up to about 45 minutes. At the same time, he just stopped eating dessert of any kind. Those two things resulted in such a dramatic weight loss that he really got enthused and started reducing portions of meat and substituting more vegetables, something he really didn't like to eat. But his successes gave him determination to go on.

When I saw this new Ron, he was still a big man. 6'5" and big boned, but not fat. He looked healthy and happy, and seemed to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and he certainly had improved his chances of survival well beyond 50. The point is that he took control of himself and his habits and made changes, not excuses. He has already outlived his father. You can do the same. If smoking is your personal struggle, you can do something about it. Something dramatic. We'll talk more about that another time. For now, let's just consider four things that you should keep in mind when you think about your own well-being. In order for the human body to function properly and heal itself from all the things that attack it from day to day, you must provide it with these four things: adequate nutrition, adequate hydration, adequate motion, and adequate rest. Eat properly, drink enough fluids, get some exercise on a regular basis, and get enough rest. If you will just do those four things, you will improve your current level of wellness and set yourself up for many more years of good health.