Inflammation

What’s so important about inflammation?

Discover 12 Powerful Ways to Reduce Inflammation - small3Inflammation causes pain, swelling, heat, redness and loss of function. Left untreated, it can lead to bodily tissue destruction, fibrosis and necrosis. Remember, pain is a signal that something’s wrong.

Who has inflammation?

Inflammation is a root cause of many chronic illnesses such as autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma, eczema, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, type II diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Help!  How do I reduce it?

Sign up for this free report!  In it, I’ll show you many simple things you can do with the foods that you’re eating to reduce inflammation.  And when that happens, you may not have as much pain, stiffness and swelling.

 

I’M NOW OFFERING KLAIRE LABS PROBIOTICS AND PROTHERA SUPPLEMENTS

Klaire Labs probiotic_groupI’d like to let everyone know that I am now offering my clients world-class probiotics from Klaire Labs and supplements from their parent company, ProThera.

Klaire Labs’ probiotics are a known and trusted entity, especially in the autism-recovery world, and the application of their probiotics extends far beyond autism to those with allergies, asthma, ADHD, OCD, SPD and other autoimmune, digestive and neurological disorders.

The ProThera line includes minerals, vitamins, fatty acids and supplements designed to improve the function of the immune system, liver and adrenals, as well as antioxidants, amino acids and enzymes.  They even carry non-denatured whey protein!

To learn more about how I can help improve your symptoms of these conditions, you can read more about me here.

Baking Soda and Health

Baking Soda and HealthI have to say, I was fascinated with the material in Dr. Mark Sircus’ book, “Sodium Bicarbonate:  Rich Man’s, Poor Man’s Cancer Treatment” because it provides a fundamental framework for understanding the nature of disease:  that chronic health conditions and diseases arise from an acidic state of the body.

This book is an interesting look at the link between baking soda and health.

Sign up below to get the webinar replay of my interview of him.

What pH Leads to Optimal Health?

By this point, many of us may have heard or read that an alkaline body is required for good health or its converse, that an acidic body develops diseases and disorders.  If you haven’t heard about this, that’s OK, just know that a slightly alkaline body pH of 7.35 – 7.45 is optimal.

Dr. Mark Sircus lays the foundation for why this pH level is optimal:  because “excessive acidic pH leads to cellular deterioration” and because “acid conditions increase the strength of oxygen free radical reactions which are involved in the processes of cell injury and cell death”.

Anyone who knows my work as a Certified Holistic Health Counselor knows that I am constantly harping about inflammation.  Inflammation is caused by the aforementioned free-radical reactions and is a common underlying factor in chronic diseases and conditions.

Acid Conditions Lead to Inflammation

So, here we have an underlying factor to the underlying factor of inflammation:  acid conditions in the body.  Not only that, but Dr. Sircus digs further to show us that this increased oxidative stress caused by free radicals, which is caused by an acidic condition, is especially dangerous to our mitochondria.  Aha!

Mitochondrial dysfunction is beginning to be shown by researchers to be a common underlying issue in conditions ranging from autism to Parkinson’s, and I’m betting that it goes deeper than that:  I’m betting it’s common in most, if not all, chronic diseases and conditions, which is, I believe, essentially what Dr. Sircus is getting at, too.

If I understand this correctly, then an acidic body condition => free-radical generation => oxidative stress => inflammation => mitochondrial dysfunction (in a nutshell).

So here’s a simplified, yet elegant, approach to understanding the nature of disease:  an acidic body condition, which is brought about by our Standard American Diet (SAD), toxicity, especially from heavy metals, stressful lifestyles and radiation, such as from EMFs.

Not only does Dr. Sircus deliver this framework, but he also dives deeper into two diseases with growing rates of incidence:  diabetes and cancer.

Diabetes and Cancer

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body’s cells become insulin-resistant, so the pancreas, which produces insulin, has to make more and more insulin to keep stuffing our excess blood sugar into our cells.

Dr. Sircus writes that “the pancreas, an organ largely responsible for pH control, is one of the first organs affected when general pH shifts to the acidic” and that “once there is an inhibition of pancreatic function and pancreatic bicarbonate flow, there naturally follows a chain reaction of inflammatory reactions throughout the body”.

He also points out that heavy-metal toxicity, other toxic chemicals and radiation “will affect, weaken and destroy pancreatic tissues.”  Interesting (at least to me)!

What’s even more interesting is what Dr. Sircus writes about cancer:  “Cancer patients have a saliva pH of 4.5 to 5.5.  Healthy people have a pH of 7.0 to 7.5.”  He points out that way back in 1931, “Dr. Otto Warburg discovered that ‘to become malignant, cancer must have low oxygen, strong acid environment'”, so this is not new news, although it appears it’s been forgotten.

Baking Soda and Cancer

So what happens when cancer patients alkalize their bodies?  He indicates that “Cancer cells become dormant at pH 7.0 and 7.5 and kills them dead at 8.0 and 8.5”.  He also advocates the use of sodium bicarbonate in cancer patients (as well as patients of other chronic conditions).

Before you start poo-pooing this idea and calling it quackery, consider that “Sodium bicarbonate is used routinely to keep the toxicity of chemotherapy agents and radiation from killing people or from destroying their kidneys.”

I caution, as does Dr. Sircus, that ingesting baking soda can be harmful if it is not done correctly because it leads the body into an overly alkaline state, which comes with its own set of of problems.  Perhaps the safest route is to toss a half cup of it into your bath and to eat a more alkaline diet.

Overall, I appreciate the material and references in this book for showing us how important an alkaline condition is and how it can be promoted with the use of sodium bicarbonate, which is baking soda.

However, I’m giving this book only 4 stars out of 5 because the book reads like a collection of blogs that weren’t edited for coherency from one chapter to the next.  In fact, there are many points where whole paragraphs are copied and pasted verbatim from one chapter to another.

The use of a professional editor would have been a good idea for this book because he or she could have added more flow and coherency while correcting the many typos and grammatical errors in the book.

I only point this out because I know, from having published many reports myself when I worked on Wall Street, that credibility is seriously lessened by such easily fixable mistakes.  If Dr. Sircus wants his ideas to receive more credibility with a bigger, mainstream audience, and I would like to see that happen, I recommend that he hire a professional editor first before publishing.

pH Testing

pH TestingpH testing is an easy way to determine your level of health.  I’ve got some pHion diagnostic pH test strips that I got on Amazon, and they measure pH between 4.5 (very acidic) and 9.0 (too alkaline).

An optimal pH of urine and saliva (says the lablel) is in the range of 6.75 to 7.25, which is right around a neutral pH of 7.0.

I just measured my own pH, and I’m at 7.5, which is optimal.  Given what I know about nutrition, I’d guess it’s easier to correct a too-alkaline pH rather than a too-acidic condition.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is very acidic because it’s full of sugar, processed grains, starches, meats and dairy, all of which are acidic (sugar being the most acidic).  SAD foods are typically low in alkaline foods such as sea vegetables, vegetables and sea salt.

Dr. Mark Sircus, author of “Sodium Bicarbonate – Full Medical Review“, says that the “first step in maintaining health is to alkalize the body”.  He also writes that “The closer the pH is to 7.35 – 7.45, the higher our level of health and well being”.

I have to say I feel pretty great right now, and my pH is 7.5.  I’m curious to see how it measures when I’m not feeling well.  I’d guess it’d be on the more acidic side.

Interestingly, Dr. Sircus writes that “cancer cells have a lower pH than surrounding tissue” because “excessive acidic pH leads to cellular deterioration, which eventually brings on serious health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and heartburn.”

A low pH can also be associated with colds, the flu, viral infections, allergies, asthma, cancer and neurological disorders.

If you want to get vain about it, Dr. Sircus points out that there is “a relationship between the aging process and the accumulation of acids”, so there’s another reason to eat your veggies – so you won’t age so fast!

Now that I’ve read this book, I’ll be more diligent about tracking the pH of my family and tracking it versus how we feel.  How about you – have you ever checked your pH?

 

How to Reduce Healthcare Costs

How to Reduce Healthcare Costs

Find out how to reduce healthcare costs by investing in a healthy lifestyle here. True, it costs more money up front, but as Benjamin Franklin is famously quoted as saying “A stitch in time saves nine.”

One of the best ways to create health is to eat organic foods.  Pesticides used in non-organic foods have been linked time and again to diseases and disorders ranging from cancer to Parkinson’s to autism and ADHD.

Yes, organic foods cost more, but consider that the typical American family pays less than half of what other cultures do because so many of our unhealthy crops are subsidized (sugar, corn, wheat, soy, canola, etc.).

Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farms and author of “Folks, This Ain’t Normal:  A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and a Better World“, says “If you think the price of organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?”

Another way to create health is to eat fresh-as-possible foods.  Americans typically eat far more processed foods loaded with these subsidized crops than other cultures do.

Take a look at this Time photo-essay to see that most other cultures eat far more fresh food and less processed food than Americans do.  Many times, processed foods contain preservatives, trans fats, sugar, artificial colors, antibiotics, growth hormones and, sometimes, even carcinogens.  No wonder Americans have such high healthcare expenses!

Do you think what you eat can have an impact on your health?  I know it does from both my personal and professional experience.

 

METHYLATION: THE HIDDEN LINK AMONG ALCOHOLISM, AUTISM, CANCER AND MORE

diseaseMethylation is a subject that keeps coming up again and again for my sons and myself.  It’s one of those all-encompassing issues like toxicity or gut dysbiosis because so many diseases and conditions are linked, directly or indirectly, to it or rather, a lack of it.

What is methylation?  It’s the chemical process of donating a methyl group (CH3) to a molecule or compound.  This doesn’t sound like much, but this little group is very important to how our bodies function, as I’m finding out.

It not only helps with energy production and builds immune cells and neurotransmitters, but it also processes hormones, detoxifies our bodies, puts protective myelin sheath on our nerves, and can be responsible for epigenetic gene regulation.

Because of its association with all of these essential processes, an inability to methylate is linked to a whole host of diseases and conditions.  Methylation defects are linked to: [Read more…]

TRICLOSAN LINKED TO MUSCLE WEAKNESS

hand sanitizerGreat.  Not only is triclosan, the drug in many anti-bacterial hand sanitizers and soaps, an endocrine disruptor (it damages your thyroid and hormonal system) and a pesticide (it kills your good gut flora), but now researchers are finding out it leads to muscle weakness, including cardiac weakness.

So not only is triclosan linked to allergies and any other chronic conditions with a gut dysbiosis component (like autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases, but now it might be linked to Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and heart disease.

Please pass the word.  This is a product no one should be using!

 

LOW LEVELS OF PESTICIDES DAMAGE THE BRAIN

Here’s another reason to eat organic food and stop spraying your lawn:  even low levels of organophosphate pesticides cause brain damage.  Exposure is linked to a decline in memory and slower processing speed.  Read more…

SOURCE:  Science Daily

 

REMISSION FROM PARKINSON’S WITHOUT DRUGS?

I was shocked to find out that my high-school friend Roger Long had Young-Onset Parkinson’s.  We’re not THAT old!

But I was super-happy to discover that his Parkinson’s is in remission because of his thinking outside the box.

Not only that, but Roger climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro a few months ago without being on any medication!  [Read more…]

PARKINSON’S AND PESTICIDES

Head injury and pesticide exposure leads to 3x the risk of Parkinson’s disease.  Read more…

SOURCE:  Science Daily