Brain Trust

You probably don’t play football, but this blog has something to do with all of us. I am in Chicago, where the NFL Draft is taking place as I write this. On the airplane flying here, I saw the film “Concussion” starring Will Smith as the medical coroner and researcher who first identified head trauma as an identifiable condition for athletes. The New York Times just published an article by Scott Martelle, citing a study released by the American Academy of Neurology, which found that 40% of retired pro football players suffer from some degree of brain injury.

If you saw “Concussion” you know that the explanation is that the human skull was never designed to withstand repeated blows. Some mammals that boast horns and antlers also have shock absorbers built in so that head butting does not cause brain injury. Apparently humans were not designed with this same protection, so multiple small bleeds can occur, and certain proteins get released. In a webinar on the subject I learned that these proteins might turn on an inflammatory response in the immune system.

Over time, this produces a type of dementia because the neurological connections in the brain are interrupted. Think of it like pouring coffee on your keyboard. The software is not damaged, but the connections are interrupted.

Caught early enough, and treated with the correct natural medicine, the damage could be minimized, according to the webinar. But so often the damage is extensive before symptoms appear.

This is perhaps even more dangerous for younger players, whose developing brains may put them more at risk. Chiropractors have warned against kids playing football for years, because of the intense strain on tendons, muscles and bones, which could introduce a young boy to a lifetime of difficulties. And now there is even more reason to re-think football for young players.

Even if you are not a parent, or a player, there is something to consider about these new findings. If you have never seen anyone with Alzheimer’s or dementia, you may not realize the devastation wreaked by these brain disorders. Not only does the person affected have a declining quality of life, they may become violent and difficult to handle. Instead of being loving parents and grandparents, enjoying their elder years, they can become almost unrecognizable in temperament and personality.

Alzheimer’s made the news recently when Will Farrell pulled out of a comedy film based on President Ronald Reagan’s struggle with the disorder. Here is what Reagan’s daughter, Patty Davis, wrote to Will Farrell, “Alzheimer’s is the ultimate pirate, pillaging a person’s life and leaving an empty landscape behind,” Ms. Davis, 63, wrote in her blog Thursday. “It sweeps up entire families, forcing everyone to claw their way through overwhelming grief, confusion, helplessness, and anger. Perhaps for your comedy you would like to visit some dementia facilities. I have — I didn’t find anything comedic there, and my hope would be that if you’re a decent human being, you wouldn’t either.” http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/29/will-ferrell-pulls-out-of-ronald-reagan-film-amid-/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT0RobVlqa3laV00xTkRaaiIsInQiOiJvekZuZCtoZFRIcndqbGFBenRqNDhKdHdhZXRSNTcxT2NGZVFhdGs1V2lpTWMxTWpTYjMyVFwvNlFzRVRMcWhlOFdVQzd3c3ZLb2c3c3RBTlc3UTFOdG1jQlFXejB5UW1sSERuS1Y4WWZjdnc9In0%3D

So, we all need to protect the health of our brains, and it is not too late to start. http://www.agehealthy.org/There are a few basics you can apply now.

1) First, stop using any personal products or cooking utensils that contain aluminum. When I researched the effects of aluminum on WebMD, there were dozens of studies documenting the horrific effects of this toxic metal on nerve and brain healthy. Choose porcelain, stainless steel, glass or iron pots and pans. For non-aluminum deodorants, shop at Health food stores or see a list here. http://goop.com/the-guide-to-non-toxic-deodorant-plus-our-7-favorites/

2) Eat organic and unprocessed foods to avoid toxic chemicals and pesticides, which are neurotoxins. The only way to escape from a sea of neurotoxins in our food supply is to get smart about the foods you choose. Neurotoxins disrupt or destroy the capacity of our nervous systems to pass information along nerve and brain pathways. That is the wiring for how our bodies are run. If someone cuts that wires from the electrical control panel in your house, there is no surprise that the lights won’t come on. Eating foods containing neurotoxins is like letting someone erode away at your internal wiring. The lights don’t just go out at death. They can become dimmer and dimmer. And toxins can also affect mood and attitude towards life, so if you are suffering, you may need a detoxification program. http://www.thebestbrainpossible.com/swimming-in-a-sea-of-neurotoxins/

3) Eat plenty of healthy fats. The brain contains a lot of fat and the nerve cells are protected by an envelope composed of fats. So, one theory about the current epidemic of brain disorders is that we have not been eating enough of the right kinds of fats for the past 60 years since the non-fat craze started. Corn oil is pro-inflammatory and Fish Oil is anti-inflammatory. Eliminate corn and canola oil and include coconut, olive and fish oil in your cooking. Be sure to eat fats raw and uncooked as well, such as organic butter and raw nuts. Frankincense Essential Oil may provide some health benefits for the brain. http://naturalsociety.com/the-essential-oils-that-can-naturally-help-heal-brain-injuries/

4) Watch alcohol, drug and medication use. Not only do drugs and alcohol affect the brain, but they strain the detoxification pathways in the liver and kidneys, causing the whole body to be more toxic as a whole.

5) Maintain a healthy weight and balanced blood sugar levels. An overweight or obese body is usually a body with inflammation and insulin resistance. The earlier this is handled, the better. Inflammation means that the immune system is constantly “on” and does not get a chance to calm and switch off. This is a perfect recipe for burnout, and we all need all the help we can get from our immune systems.

Healthy brains begin in the womb. For all of us, taking care of the brain has become a priority, given the rising epidemic of brain disorders. To keep your wits about you, be smart and do a detoxification program and follow the tips above. By the time symptoms hit you, it may be too late to reverse the damage. We have plenty of grey matter, and brains should easily last a lifetime. To stay connected to your loved ones, you have to keep your own wiring in working order. We can help. Call us. 818-562-1400.

Could Herbal Preparations Help You?

You already know how important vitamins, minerals and proteins are for your health. Along with air and water, they provide the essential building blocks for the repair and maintenance of tissue, glands, organs and cells of the body.

How often have you wished that you could just shift gears as fast as life requires? Imagine if you could speed up or slow down your body’s responses as needed. The ups and downs of life are inescapable. It may be that those who can adapt the quickest have the best health, and likely have more fun.

To shift gears, your body has to be able to make fast changes in various systems that monitor the whole show. How do you ensure that your body’s “monitors” are working?  This is the true function of medicine, to help the body adapt to demands and challenges on the body. The immune challenges include chemicals, toxic metals, radiation, and bacteria, viruses and fungus. The demands include the various stresses from all the incoming messages and requests, the tugs and pulls on our time and energy, we each get every day.  These bring emotional responses ranging from joy and happiness to anger, frustration, anxiety and grief. Basically anything you run into in life requires the body to adapt to the new circumstances, every moment of every day.

Even a perfectly functioning body-machine needs to monitor how to adapt to changing conditions when more or less production is needed. This is the challenge of our modern world.  Generally speaking, there are more factors to interfere with normal function, and less vital nutrients available, than in previous times.

Herbal medicine can assist by acting to temper, or regulate, the reaction of an organ or gland to the degree of stress it is under. This can work in both directions. If you are exposed to a large degree of stress, such as missing sleep, experiencing emotional highs and lows, or suffering an injury, different body parts may have to shift into high gear, and herbal preparations help them do this efficiently. Likewise, when the stress has subsided, the glands or organs in question need to shift down and switch to a more normal or moderate amount of activity so they don’t burn too many nutrients, or send the wrong signals to their partner body-parts.

 This ability to shift up and down gives you more stamina, mental clarity, a stronger immune system, stress reduction, deeper sleep, a healthier libido, and can promote healing and longevity. Some herbal medicines can work quickly to help you through immediate needs. Other herbal preparations work over time to strengthen the body and minimize the wear and tear of every day living.

Herbal medicine must be prepared according to exact methods and standards to give you the full benefits. Look for companies that source and prepare according to standard herbal guidelines. At Well Body Clinic we use MediHerb brand from Australia. If MediHerb cannot source plants to their specification they will suspend manufacturing for weeks rather than make an inferior product. Potency and results are ensured this way.

Recently many of our patients have gotten help with sleep, stress, immune, fertility, bloating/digestion and allergies from MediHerb preparations. The herbs can be used when needed, or taken every day. Either way, herbs can improve your life and give you much-needed help to live a healthier/happier life. Ask for a sample at your next visit or email us to find out more.

The herbal world may not be quite as magical as suggested in Harry Potter, but getting on top of your world may be miracle enough.

Coconut Oil for Beauty and Health

You might call coconut oil the best beauty oil for inside or outside the body. As a skin oil, coconut oil can be used at any age. Coconut oil is an excellent moisturizer for moisturizing dry skin, or removing make-up and cleansing the face. For infants, coconut oil can be used for moisturizing or diaper rash.

Mix coconut oil with Epsom salts and use as an exfoliating treatment that won’t dry out the skin and may even be beneficial for acne, without drying out blemish-prone skin like harsher acne cleansers.

Added to shakes and smoothies, coconut oil may contribute to weight loss and has even been shown to decrease belly fat and improved blood cholesterol levels, as reported in The Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Despite the increase in calories participants in the study lowered their body mass and increased metabolism. That means that the rate of calorie usage by the body was improved, making weight loss easier, and increasing energy.

Subject to flus, viral infections or cold sores? Coconut oil is 50% Lauric acid, which converts to Monolaurin in the body, which has powerful anti-viral effects. These days our immune systems need all the help they can get, so coconut oil could be part of your defense system. Children could benefit both from the immune enhancement and from the brain/nervous system support. Ulcers caused by H-pylori bacteria and candida infections have also been helped by the properties of coconut oil. http://www.livestrong.com/article/476661-coconut-oil-the-immune-system/

If you are concerned about Candida over-growth or have gut/intestinal issues, coconut oil contains caprylic acid, which is anti-inflammatory, discourages unhealthy bacteria and fosters the growth of healthy gut flora. We can’t live without the good bugs that line our intestines, so keeping them happy and strong is the best kind of prevention.  http://www.thealternativedaily.com/alerts/coconutoilsecret/click-thyroidspecial.php

You can check your own candida levels by spitting in a tall glass of water first thing in the morning, before brushing your teeth. Allow a few hours and see if the glass begins to look like a science experiment, with long strings and odd lumps forming. That means you need digestive help to restore normal gut function. If the water remains clear, that is a good sign of gut health.

Healthy fats like coconut oil are also vital for helping vitamins and minerals get absorbed. Some vitamins are fat loving, and they need fat to help them pass through the intestinal walls into the blood to be carried to the cells. Fats are a component of cell membranes and form a lipid layer that protects the cells. Fats may protect against neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Natural, unaltered, fats allow the transmission of nerve impulses. Processed fats like corn, canola, soybean oil, and margarine can interfere with nerve transmission. http://www.thenaturalvet.net/Fats-and-Their-Relationship-to-Cell-Membrane-Function_ep_61.html

Adding a good fat like coconut oil to your diet can make you feel more satisfied, so may actually help with appetite and over-eating.

What makes coconut oil so unique? Fats are arranged in chains of fatty acids. Coconut oil is composed of medium-chain fatty-acids (MCFA’s). In the 90’s it was discovered that medium-chain fatty acids helped control seizures in children and now elite athletes have discovered their benefits for endurance.

The beauty of MCFA’s is that they are burned easily for energy and cannot be converted into fat cells in the body. MCFA’s appear to improve mental clarity and provide energy for the heart muscle, so may be protective.

So, if coconut oil sounds like a good thing to you, try incorporating it into your diet for a month and see if you notice a difference.  All you have to lose is belly fat, excess appetite and dry skin or acne.  

One of the best ways to include coconut oil is to add it to a morning protein shake. If you would like a sample of the Standard Process Nutritional Shake, ask us and we will include healthy recipes. Ask us about our flavored Stevia that can turn your shake into a yummy snack or dessert as part of a detox, weight loss, or blood sugar balancing program.

Need More Healthy Energy?

One of the number one reasons people visit their medical doctors is because they are tired or fatigued. When is being tired a risk to your health? When your fatigue makes it too difficult to carry on safely with the daily tasks of living or it causes too much of a strain on your organs or glands so that they are unable to function adequately. So, being tired can have consequences that go beyond falling asleep at your desk.

Fatigue can cause driving and operating machinery to be dangerous. An Australian study showed that going just eighteen hours without sleep caused a similar impairment to alcohol. Shift workers, parents of young children and young males are most at risk. http://drowsydriving.org/about/facts-and-stats/

Relationships can suffer because a tired person is not a patient, understanding person. When a person is sleep deprived, there are mood changes and memory impairment. Anxiety is more likely. These all put a burden on relationships with family and friends, and can even put jobs at risk. http://hr.uiowa.edu/uieap/10-reasons-well-rested

The physical stress puts more of a burden on the organs, especially adrenal glands, which compromises your immune system and may be a factor in the healthy function of your heart. Weight gain and difficulty losing weight is a common issue, and there is a higher cancer risk, as well.

There are many reasons why someone may be tired and unable to get sufficient restful sleep. If you are a high achiever, or in a demanding job situation, you may simply not be spending enough time in bed to get enough sleep. Emotional stress and worry may impact ability to fall sleep and/or stay asleep. Congested organs from toxins and processed foods, or a weakness in the hormonal system, can make it difficult for the body to relax enough to sleep. Eating a high sugar, high carbohydrate diet can play havoc with blood sugar, causing the body to wake up hungry when blood sugar drops too low after a sugar spike. Iron deficiency can cause tiredness and listlessness, because the red blood cells need the mineral iron.

Vitamin deficiencies may be a factor when fatigue becomes debilitating, as in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. As a syndrome, and not an actual disease that can be measured or viewed under a microscope, Chronic Fatigue may have different causes or be a combination of factors.

The best course of action is to identify the factors that are involved in any type of fatigue. Often people crave a diagnosis, particularly when they are suffering and having a difficult time with their symptoms. But so many diseases today are lifestyle issues, and they need to be sorted out by someone who can evaluate diet and other factors, rather than simply diagnose a disease, and give it a label. The important factor is to find a way to help the body get well, and that takes more than medication.  Lab work may only offer part of the answer, or none at all.

Don’t ignore fatigue, especially if it lasts for more than a few weeks. You can push yourself, but push when your body is rested, if you do not want to make the problem worse.

B vitamins deficiencies, Adrenal-hypothalamus-pituitary function, liver congestion and blood sugar imbalances can all wreak havoc on sleep, mood and general health. If you know someone who is tired, urge them to get an evaluation and find help. There is no reason to go through life too tired to enjoy the special moments.

With Spring around the corner, it is a perfect time to do a Cleanse/Purification program, or a Blood Sugar Balance program, or a Liver Detox Program. Any of these will help sleep, as well as energy and weight loss. The programs can be tailored for your specific needs. Call us and find out how to Stop Being Tired, no matter the underlying cause. Coffee won’t fix it. Natural and Nutritional Medicine will.