I have written quite a bit so far about how dangerous and damaging a high intake of sugar can be which might lead people to reach for the other alternatives to sugar. And the most common artificial sweetener would have to be aspartame. You can find aspartame in sodas, chewing gum, candies, breath mints, and you name it, it’s there. Aspartame is a mainstay in our culture and it appears to be here for good. So it is up to you to make the choice to avoid it.
Aspartame is made up of three different chemicals, and once ingested, these chemicals separate from one another and are then exposed to the tissues of your body.
The first component is Aspartic acid and composes approximately 40% of the aspartame molecule. Aspartic acid leads to high levels of aspartate which acts as a potent neuro-stimulant. These chemicals are known as “exictotoxins” and when exposed to the neurons on the brain can literally stimulate the brain cells to death! No joke.
The second component is phenylalanine which comprises approximately 50% of the total molecule. It has been shown that consuming aspartame raises your blood levels of phenylalanine. If phenylalanine is exposed to your brain serotonin levels begin to decline which can lead to depression and other serious mental disorders.
The last component is methanol otherwise known as good old wood alcohol! This makes up about 10% of the molecule. Wood alcohol is a known deadly poison. This poison can wreak havoc on your nervous system and can cause blindness among other things. This is how people would go blind from drinking moon shine back in the day. Dirty distillation techniques led to methanol production and subsequent poisoning. Well methanol is alive and well today in the form of aspartame. Methanol also has a very slow excretion rate from the body and can begin to build up to serious levels in the body over time. And if the diet soda drinkers that you know are anything like the diet soda drinkers that I know, it is usually a daily intake. And quite often more than one per day too. The Environmental Protection Agency limits the consumption of methanol to 7.8 mg per day, but one large diet soda can contain as much as 50 mg of methanol! You can do the math for yourself to see the dangers involved in drinking diet soda.
For a final closing statement let me just say that feeding your soda addiction is just like feeding any other addiction. It offers you some immediate reward at the cost of your health. I urge you to lose the soda of any kind. It is full of really nasty things that are out to get you. I also recommend that you check out the online video Sweet Misery. This video will tell you much more than what I have had the opportunity to tell you here, and they do a much better job at scaring the holy hell out of you too!
4/19/08
The Cholesterol Misunderstanding
In diagnosing any disease pattern it is first and foremost important to look for the right things. For example you wouldn’t get very far by examining how best to treat skid marks left on the road from a car accident. The skid marks are of course a symptom of events leading up to the accident. The same holds true with heart disease. Looking at cholesterol is like focusing on the skid marks. Cholesterol acts as a protective layer much like a band-aid which rushes to the site of injury (inflammation) in the arteries, and if left long enough can build up and cause plaque. Well that is the short story at least. But the bottom line with heart disease is that we need to look at what is causing the problem in the first place. The most current medical research states that cholesterol itself only plays a minor role in heart disease. How long do you think it will take the mainstream medical establishment to catch up to the current research? I for one don’t want to wait and find out. I want to do everything in my power to avoid heart disease in the first place!
Very simply put, HDL and LDL are not cholesterol like you have all been taught. Cholesterol is cholesterol. HDL and LDL are proteins that carry cholesterol around the body. HDL carries it from the blood vessels back to the liver to be recycled and LDL carries cholesterol to the blood vessels and tissues to be used in a huge number of very important bodily functions. Without adequate cholesterol we couldn’t make hormones, or have a healthy nervous system. In fact we couldn’t repair our cells effectively and we would grow old really quickly! Now who wants that? We should love our cholesterol! Cholesterol is our friend. It keeps us healthy and happy.
The current cholesterol screens are simply not effective in determining risk because they fail to examine the actual HDL and LDL particles themselves. They do in fact lead to monumental sales of cholesterol lowering medications. That they do quite well. But it is the size and number of the HDL/LDL particles as well as several other factors that determines accurate risk for heart disease. We all know LDL is “bad” cholesterol right? But in fact only the smaller denser type LDL particles wreak havoc on the arteries. The larger ones tend to pass on by without hurting anything. It is also possible and quite common for people to have empty LDL particles and appear to be healthy on a routine cholesterol screen but die of suddenly heart disease. This happens about 50% of the time in fact. If you look closer you would probably see that these people were loaded with a bunch of empty dense type LDL particles. Their cholesterol was low but their risk was high. They have been failed by the system in place to protect them.
For people with PPO insurance we can order these tests for $30.00. For a $30.00 co-pay you can blow away what your doctor ordered for you. You can gain proper insight into your actual heart disease risk. You can see first hand everything that would be on a normal cholesterol screen plus the breakdown of the particle size, as well as a handful of other significant emerging risk factors all noted by current medical research. Call me soon and let’s schedule an appointment and find out for sure where you stand on your heart disease risk.
Very simply put, HDL and LDL are not cholesterol like you have all been taught. Cholesterol is cholesterol. HDL and LDL are proteins that carry cholesterol around the body. HDL carries it from the blood vessels back to the liver to be recycled and LDL carries cholesterol to the blood vessels and tissues to be used in a huge number of very important bodily functions. Without adequate cholesterol we couldn’t make hormones, or have a healthy nervous system. In fact we couldn’t repair our cells effectively and we would grow old really quickly! Now who wants that? We should love our cholesterol! Cholesterol is our friend. It keeps us healthy and happy.
The current cholesterol screens are simply not effective in determining risk because they fail to examine the actual HDL and LDL particles themselves. They do in fact lead to monumental sales of cholesterol lowering medications. That they do quite well. But it is the size and number of the HDL/LDL particles as well as several other factors that determines accurate risk for heart disease. We all know LDL is “bad” cholesterol right? But in fact only the smaller denser type LDL particles wreak havoc on the arteries. The larger ones tend to pass on by without hurting anything. It is also possible and quite common for people to have empty LDL particles and appear to be healthy on a routine cholesterol screen but die of suddenly heart disease. This happens about 50% of the time in fact. If you look closer you would probably see that these people were loaded with a bunch of empty dense type LDL particles. Their cholesterol was low but their risk was high. They have been failed by the system in place to protect them.
For people with PPO insurance we can order these tests for $30.00. For a $30.00 co-pay you can blow away what your doctor ordered for you. You can gain proper insight into your actual heart disease risk. You can see first hand everything that would be on a normal cholesterol screen plus the breakdown of the particle size, as well as a handful of other significant emerging risk factors all noted by current medical research. Call me soon and let’s schedule an appointment and find out for sure where you stand on your heart disease risk.
4/9/08
The Menopause Pathology
It is unfortunate but true that life’s most natural processes are quickly becoming institutionalized and medically managed. They are being treated as "pathology." There is nothing more natural for example than when a woman’s hormones begin to decline and she enters menopause. It is as natural as puberty. Men also go through a similar process. It is the natural way of things. More and more though we humans feel the need to fight against what is happening naturally. We feel that somehow we might just be able to reverse the millions of years of development through the cunning use of chemicals. Well, let me just say that when you really look at the situation critically, and not blindly, it becomes apparent that women are increasignly being injured by the very system that has pledged an oath to protect them.
The story goes like this… A middle aged woman goes in for her routine medical visit and discusses with her doctor that she is experiencing hot flashes and other various uncomfortable symptoms. Some tests are run and it is determined that she is indeed beginning menopause. She is then given replacement hormones to “fix” her problems.
What the doctor does not explain is that these hormones are doing nothing to actually fix anything but in fact are going to complicate matters in the future. So much of mainstream medicine is focused on the band-aid approach of covering up the symptoms of a root cause. Replacement hormone therapy, given to menopausal women, is often times really good at eliminating the undesirable side effects of menopause, but only prolongs the inevitable. Once on the replacement hormones a woman’s body becomes reliant upon them and eventually becomes weaker in the process. The systems that she will need in place once off of the hormones will by then be sluggish and unresponsive. And once the call is made to get off of the hormones she will experience symptoms like she has never felt before! And in the mean time she has increased her risk of breast cancer, heart attack and stroke considerably. No joke!
Perhaps supporting the woman’s whole body instead of weakening it would be more beneficial. The reality is that the uncomfortable experiences associated with menopause are easily managed naturally without the added threat of cancer, heart disease and strokes!
Perhaps the most beneficial thing to do for a woman entering menopause is to support not the ovaries but the adrenal glands. That’s a little tidbit that I picked up while looking into where female hormones come from after menopause. The whole concept of menopause is that the ovaries stop responding to the signals from the pituitary gland in the brain. The ovaries then no longer produce the sex hormones. The burden now lies upon the adrenal glands. And in this fast paced modern society, adrenal fatigue is at an all time high! It is no wonder why so many women are having a hard time with their midlife changes. Without the proper support they are experiencing full force what hormone withdraw can feel like and then are told that hormone replacement is their only option. Well shame shame to the medical system for pulling the wool over our eyes on this one!
Take it from me, clinically, and in my research I have seen more women on hormone replacement therapy in a dangerously out of balance hormone picture than not. This is especially true of the hormone creams that seem to be all the rage especially in the “alternative medicine” community. Please stay away from any topical hormone cream. And I mean all creams even if they say that they are all natural and bio-identical. If you must take replacement hormones try to take them under your tongue.
The dangers of hormone replacement therapy became very clear to me one day while speaking with a head of Endocrinology at a well respected hospital in Oregon. I asked him about how they monitor hormone levels in the replacement model and he told me that they don't. They don't! They go by symptoms. Does this give you comfort that your health is being valued? Well it scared the hell out of me that's for sure and opened my eyes a little wider than they were before!
But in the mean time please, women, consider the implications of your hormone replacement therapy. Educate yourself about all of your options. Invite me to do a lecture for you with your friends and families. Challenge your doctor with good and educated questions. And for god’s sake, call me for an appointment so that we can get a clear picture of your hormone status. It could very well save your life. Menopause is not a pathology that needs medicating. There are safe, effective and natural alternatives.
The story goes like this… A middle aged woman goes in for her routine medical visit and discusses with her doctor that she is experiencing hot flashes and other various uncomfortable symptoms. Some tests are run and it is determined that she is indeed beginning menopause. She is then given replacement hormones to “fix” her problems.
What the doctor does not explain is that these hormones are doing nothing to actually fix anything but in fact are going to complicate matters in the future. So much of mainstream medicine is focused on the band-aid approach of covering up the symptoms of a root cause. Replacement hormone therapy, given to menopausal women, is often times really good at eliminating the undesirable side effects of menopause, but only prolongs the inevitable. Once on the replacement hormones a woman’s body becomes reliant upon them and eventually becomes weaker in the process. The systems that she will need in place once off of the hormones will by then be sluggish and unresponsive. And once the call is made to get off of the hormones she will experience symptoms like she has never felt before! And in the mean time she has increased her risk of breast cancer, heart attack and stroke considerably. No joke!
Perhaps supporting the woman’s whole body instead of weakening it would be more beneficial. The reality is that the uncomfortable experiences associated with menopause are easily managed naturally without the added threat of cancer, heart disease and strokes!
Perhaps the most beneficial thing to do for a woman entering menopause is to support not the ovaries but the adrenal glands. That’s a little tidbit that I picked up while looking into where female hormones come from after menopause. The whole concept of menopause is that the ovaries stop responding to the signals from the pituitary gland in the brain. The ovaries then no longer produce the sex hormones. The burden now lies upon the adrenal glands. And in this fast paced modern society, adrenal fatigue is at an all time high! It is no wonder why so many women are having a hard time with their midlife changes. Without the proper support they are experiencing full force what hormone withdraw can feel like and then are told that hormone replacement is their only option. Well shame shame to the medical system for pulling the wool over our eyes on this one!
Take it from me, clinically, and in my research I have seen more women on hormone replacement therapy in a dangerously out of balance hormone picture than not. This is especially true of the hormone creams that seem to be all the rage especially in the “alternative medicine” community. Please stay away from any topical hormone cream. And I mean all creams even if they say that they are all natural and bio-identical. If you must take replacement hormones try to take them under your tongue.
The dangers of hormone replacement therapy became very clear to me one day while speaking with a head of Endocrinology at a well respected hospital in Oregon. I asked him about how they monitor hormone levels in the replacement model and he told me that they don't. They don't! They go by symptoms. Does this give you comfort that your health is being valued? Well it scared the hell out of me that's for sure and opened my eyes a little wider than they were before!
But in the mean time please, women, consider the implications of your hormone replacement therapy. Educate yourself about all of your options. Invite me to do a lecture for you with your friends and families. Challenge your doctor with good and educated questions. And for god’s sake, call me for an appointment so that we can get a clear picture of your hormone status. It could very well save your life. Menopause is not a pathology that needs medicating. There are safe, effective and natural alternatives.
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