I am a Licensed Acupuncturist and Licensed Dietitian specializing in Food Sensitivities which are often the cause of health challenges such as IBS, IBD, Migraines, Fibromyalgia, Fatigue, Depression, Immune dysfunction, Autoimmune, and Arthritis. Within 14 days most patients experience at least a 70% reduction in symptoms.
Besides acupuncture one of the big components of my practice is food hypersensitivities which can cause a myriad of symptoms that then drive up our health care costs because doctors are treating the symptoms with medication rather than the identifying the cause. Food hypersensitivities are caused by immune system dysregulation where there is an inappropriate response to foods we eat that then in turn cause an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response is the root of almost all modern diseases and ‘syndromes’.
There is unequivocal evidence that the genetically modified foods that are in our food supply are contributing to the increase in inflammatory diseases we see today. This is especially true of intestinal diseases, asthma, allergies, and likely contributes in some way to the autism spectrum of diseases. I will go out on a stretch and say I wouldn’t be surprised that in 10 or 15 years we find that all these new tick vector diseases and widespread insect diseases are in part because of the GMO crops that lay out in fields for animals,birds and insects to eat causing mutant genes to be expressed.
Jeffrey Smith the direction of the Institute for Responsible Technology has made a stellar film about GMOs. It is available free for the next week. Please take an hour to view it. GMOs in our food supply must be stopped.
There was an insightful interview on NPR’s “Here and Now” regarding the corruption within the USDA organic standards. Before the government took over labeling of the organic standards there was no big business involved. It was only small farmers who held the spirit of the organic food movement. Some states had their own labeling. But now that the USDA is involved and big box stores are selling organics, not because they believe organic food is good for you, but in the name of profit, the ‘organic’ standard has become green washed.
In a meta-analysis, oral doses of at least 800 IU were associated with
reductions in the risk of both hip and nonvertebral fractures, according
to Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, MD, DrPH, of University Hospital in Zurich,
and colleagues.
The analysis differs from previous studies and other meta-analyses in
that it looked at how much vitamin D participants actually took, rather
than what dose they were assigned to take, Bischoff-Ferrari and
colleagues reported in the July 5 issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine.
Ivan Oransky, executive editor of Reuters Health, delivered a clever TEDMED 2012 talk on pre-disease states. He sums up one of the main problems with our healthcare system – the over-treatment of potentially non-medical conditions that offer little return on investment. Here is Dr Oransky’s blog.
My wife, Joy, and I work with many prenatal women. We certainly honor the birthing choices our clients would like however we also try to educate regarding options. Many people. including us feel the C-Section rate (over 33% in the Boston area) is a bit out of control.
C-Sections are absolutely necessary. C-sections have saved tens of thousands of lives, both baby and mother. However 1 out of every 3 births do not require a C-Section as is shown by the lower C-Section rates of Toby Hospital in Wareham and the Mt Auburn Midwives. An emergency procedure has turned into almost a standard of care because of many factors.Read the rest of this entry
CHICAGO – Traditional acupuncture improves heart rate variability, and it may prove to reduce the risk of sudden death for patients with established coronary heart disease, a pilot study suggests.
The blinded study with a sham-acupuncture control arm demonstrated that acupuncture accomplishes autonomic remodeling via sympathovagal modulation as reflected in increased heart rate variability (HRV), according to Dr. Puja K. Mehta of the Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. The clinically meaningful improvements in heart rate variability in this pilot study lay the groundwork for a future large outcome-based clinical trial of traditional acupuncture in patients with known CHD. Read the rest of this entry
I don’t believe there is any greater insidious threat to our health than genetically modified foods (GE or GMO). Think about what it means. You are taking a gene that is in one species (say a lectin) and splicing it into species that may not even be in the same family. What will the body do with it? All one has to do is read about the immune systems response to oral antigens to know we are in for a potential catastrophic disaster.
This is not selective breeding. I hear pro GMO folks say well ‘we are just speeding up evolution.’ That statement is a fallacy as evolution is a process of slow change. Our immune systems and digestive systems are not changing and adapting along with the GMO foods
(From HealthDay News) — Pregnant women with low levels of vitamin D may be putting their children at risk for language difficulties, Australian researchers report.
Taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy may relieve the problem, they suggest.
“Adequate vitamin D levels among pregnant women may be important for the optimal development of their baby,” said lead researcher Andrew Whitehouse, an associate professor and reader in developmental psychopathology at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia. “However, it is important for the findings of this study to be replicated before any strong conclusions are made.”
Vitamin D levels among pregnant women have decreased steadily over the past 20 years, most likely because of less exposure to sunlight, Whitehouse said.
“The effects of lower maternal vitamin D levels on the developing offspring is not fully understood,” he said. “The current study found that women with vitamin D insufficiency during pregnancy have an increased risk of having a child with developmental language difficulties.” Read the rest of this entry
Since Valentine’s Day is upon us it is a good time to bring up chocolate and the moral consequences that goes along with purchasing the majority of chocolate we find on the shelves. Certainly chocolate has a plethora of benefits as can easily be found in research studies. These are often because of the powerful plant chemicals known as polyphenols which are made by the plant to protect itself, however us humans can ingest polyphenols for nutritional benefit. A truly polyphenol rich dessert would be a dark chocolate with Shiraz red wine which will warm and protect your heart.
Yesterday I watched a phenomenal webinar on the effects of food chemicals and child behavior. It was entitled “Driven to Distraction: Food, chemicals and child behavior” and hosted by an organization that is worth knowing, Healthy Food Action. The webinar was recorded and they promise to have it up soon, once they do I’ll post a link.
Today a video with a similar theme was posted on a Functional Medicine listserv I am on. If you want to see digestion of wholesome foods vs. processed foods you need to check out this video. Amazing how long long those Ramen noodles are intact in the stomach. I guess we can also just use a compost bin to compare processed vs. whole instead of expensive technology.
Besides acupuncture one of the big components of my practice is food hypersensitivities which can cause a myriad of symptoms that then drive up our health care costs because doctors are treating the symptoms with medication rather than the identifying the cause. Food hypersensitivities are caused by immune system dysregulation where there is an inappropriate response to foods we eat that then in turn cause an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response is the root of almost all modern diseases and ‘syndromes’.
High doses of vitamin D prevent fractures in older people – as long as
I don’t believe there is any greater insidious threat to our health than genetically modified foods (GE or GMO). Think about what it means. You are taking a gene that is in one species (say a lectin) and splicing it into species that may not even be in the same family. What will the body do with it? All one has to do is read about the immune systems response to oral antigens to know we are in for a 
