The Wide World of Health

Being in the health business I am very interesting in looking at people.  I look at things like posture and how a person moves.  I take notice of their waist, whether or not they are carrying more weight than they should.  I find it fascinating to watch how people hold their hands when they walk.  Someone who walks with a more purposeful stride will use the arms and hands with more directness while others will just have the arms dangle and the hands kind of flop when they walk.  Feet are also fascinating.  Again, not to be mean or critical, it is interesting to see how the feet are positioned when walking.  Moving quickly or easily generally finds the feet pointing forward while some who seem to be less physically active may walk with their toes pointing out like a duck.  The shoes are also worn unevenly in that case with the inside soles worn down the most.  This also affects the ankles and instead of being in a straight line with the foot, they are apt to be bent.  Skin tone and color, hair, finger nails, these are all clues as to how one lives and what we eat or don’t.   Ancient healers took all this into account when evaluating a patient, including looking at ones eyes, tongue, even smelling the patient.  Even without the sophisticated tests that we have today these doctors were able to tell a great deal about the patients health.  These same observations can help us evaluate ourselves.  Being aware of our bodies in ways other than just noting when we don’t feel good or hurt helps us to regain our body awareness and can be a big help in understanding how we are progressing when we make changes in our lifestyle patterns.

A good friend of mine was suggesting that I do a newsletter.  It would be a compilation of the information that I think is important.  A pretty reasonable suggestion but not something that I am really interested in doing.  It is not that I don’t collect information and I do have articles that I think are important but the fact remains that I would be getting the information from someone that has already collected it and my opinion, while important to me, might not be what you need.  But the central issue, and something I have been thinking alot about lately, is what do we do with the information?  We are actually awash in information.  I get it everyday.  Admittedly I am influenced by some of what I read but the real test is in the doing.  Think of any condition, disease, illness, what have you, and I can guarantee you that there is a plethora of information on how to deal with what every you have.  Obviously not everyone is responding to the research.  The battle for me, and I am sure everyone else, is how do we motivate ourselves to do the right thing.  If you know a hundred things but do nothing, or know one thing and do it, who do you think is better off?  The human condition is much more complex than the scientific research that I read about.  I don’t really have any answers but I do have my own story and I guess that is what it all boils down to, helping others to do what you have done or seeking out others who are doing what you want to do.  I think about that all the time and when given the opportunity I gladly share my experiences.  If that helps someone I am very happy but I don’t have a formula that will work for everyone. Indeed my own way of doing things doesn’t even work for me all the time.  I do know though that if you keep your goals in mind that whatever path you take and how ever you may stray at times, you do come back.  It might not be a steady progression and I suspect that for most of us it never will be.  So that is part of what passes for the human enigma.  My area is health but it is probably the same picture for every other area of life.  No hard and fast answers here, just musings and a desire to share what I know and what I don’t.

I have a real love hate relationship with exercise.  On the one hand I can’t imagine NOT doing something physical but at the same time I can honestly say that I sometimes dread what I am about to do.  Probably it relates a great deal to my personality.  When I do weight training I cannot do it half way.  I know that it is going to be somewhat of a battle.  Survival of the fittest kind of thing.  So it is not always something that I am looking forward to.  Not to say that there aren’t days when I look forward to the battle, in fact there are many of those, but the opposite is also true.  There are times when I just want to skip it or just lightly move through the routine.  Unfortunately or fortunately, I find that almost impossible to do.  Now when it comes to aerobics that is another story.  For me it is walking and I look forward to that.  Why, because I know that I am actually going to enjoy it!  I love to walk.  When you get into your rhythm it feels great and that is actually a very important lesson.  Even as I complain and bemoan the fact that weight training can be intense and hard, the fact remains that as I do it and get into my weight training rhythm, I love it.  I relish the feeling that comes over me when I warm up to my task and find myself performing hard physical activity. I feel my muscles and my body is more alive, my sweat, hard breathing, mental focus, and all that goes with it are ample rewards for breaking through the mental barrier that wants me to just not do it and rest.  Thank goodness that I have the guilty conscience that I do because it won’t let me back off.  That certainly doesn’t mean that I haven’t overdone it at times, in fact most of the injuries I endure are there because of exercises I have done, but overall it has also kept me in the game and not having to pick up the pieces because I had backed off or given in to the side of me that doesn’t want any part of intensity.

So what that means is that you will probably do some things you like and some that you don’t.  I like to walk and stretch.  I also like weight training but usually after I have done it.  So it all evens out.  If weight training weren’t so important I might opt out, but know this, again is essentially a loss of muscle mass that accumulates over time and which gradually affects how you get about and what you think you can do.  Weak leg muscles mean you are unsteady when you move, weak arms keep you from being able to handle things in your environment and teaches you to not try and fend for yourself.  Pretty soon other people are doing things for you that you used to be able to do for yourself.  So when you have the temptation to skip your exercise time just think ahead to when you qre done instead of focusing on why you don’t want to start.

After all, we are only human!

I definitely got out of the habit of writing. Like any other habit it must be kept up in order to reap the benefits and writing certainly falls into that category.
Sunday’s show was one that I had looked forward to for some time. Dr. Tim Chapman is a very interesting man and I had the opportunity to meet him prior to the interview. I attended a nutritional supplement show in Long Beach California and he was one of the speakers. We had a lot in common and I had lots of questions about his work. He spoke on astathanthin and that is what I talked to him about on the radio show. I do realize that it was very technical and even though I tried to make it a little bit more user friendly, I am sure that a lot of listeners probably found the conversation over their heads. So definitely go to the website that he gave, www.astavita.com, and read up on astathanthin because it is something that is very useful for our health. Ever since doing shows on vitamin D I have been getting more sun and of course, I am aware that there is a downside to sun exposure, so every time I discover something that protects us from UVA or UVB, I make it a point to learn more. That is what first drew me to astathanthin. It is excellent as a sun protectant, though definitely not a sunscreen, and for so many other things, which Dr. Chapman talked about. Bottom line, if you are looking for an anti-oxidant that really does a body good, then astathanthin deserves your consideration.
Dr. Braly, as usual, make his case with clarity and wisdom. The consequences of our horrible eating habits, minimal exercise, and stressful lives, are certainly acknowledged as major reasons for the many health problems we face today. Drug addiction and substance abuse are being recognized by some as being the casualities of the same poor habits. Not everyone agrees as Dr. Braly acknowledged, but the evidence is accumulating and the nutrition approach deserves a critical examination and hopefully will take its place with others types of therapy for those who find themselves addicted to drugs or alcohol.
I guess if you can be addicted to positive things then exercise would be my drug of choice. I had to travel last week and missed two gym workouts. It was very, very, uncomfortable dealing with the anxiety of wanting to workout and not being able to. When I finally got back into the gym today, I was like a buzz saw. Finally, I had to force myself to slow down and not burn out before the workout was completed. I had all this pent up energy that just seemed to explode when I started exercising. I had thought that I would just go at a medium pace and not try to lift too much to get back into the swing of things. Better said than done, because when I started I was like a man possessed. Felt good though, but I did have to lie down a bit a couple of hours after the workout. Again, if you are going to be addicted it is certainly better to be addicted to exercise. And as a point of clarification, I am rational and not totally devoid of reason when it comes to what I do, it is just that I sometimes ignore the signals that say stop, slow down, or back off longer than I should. I am getting better, and that is one of the positive things about aging and experience.

Well, another disappointing Sunday.  The difficulties I encountered during the October 7th show showed up again this Sunday, the 15th.  I apologize for the glitches and we will iron them out shortly.  Unfortunately, besides a distraction to you, the audience, it has also dimmed my enthusiasm as well.  Both my guests on the 7th had interesting things to say, especially Dr. David Burns.  Dr. Brickey’s book, Defy Aging, is great, the interview was not so hot.  Again, much of the continuity was lost because of the frequent drop outs, but I definitely didn’t like the way it evolved.  I was able to get the first hour in without any disruptions, my so-called News You Can Use, but then Dr. Marie Savard, with her excellent examination of the pear and apple shaped bodies, got hit again.  Very frustrating, and I have to be honest, it plays heavily on my energy and enthusiasm for doing what I do as it must do to your desire to even listen.  Plus there are times when the guest pool is simply not that great.  Coming up with two interesting guests every week might not seem like that difficult a task, but believe me there is not an unending pool of guest with the kind of information that I want to bring to your attention.  I do have some thought provoking stories in the pipeline but right now the waves are pretty calm which is not good for an information surfer like myself.  A bit down to be sure but I anticipate a rebound as the week goes on so I will check in later.  Last week I was so disappointed that I couldn’t generate the enthusiasm to write anything at all.  I will take my frustrations out in the gym, which I still find exilarating and a definite energizing activity for me.  Stay tuned!

Didn’t get around to writing much this week.  The week seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was Friday and I hadn’t contributed to the blog.  So belatedly as it is, here are my thoughts for the upcoming show.

I will be concentrating on the mental aspects of health this week with two excellent guests.  Dr. Michael Brickey, whose book Defy Aging was featured on Oprah, will discuss how to develop mental and emotional vitality to live longer, healthier and happier than you ever imagined.  At least that is what it says on the cover.  What it is, is a logical and well researched examination of the mental and emotional perspectives that give you the best chance of living to 100 or maybe even 150 as technologies improve.  Remember also that when the term “mind”  is examined that does not exclude the physical.  In fact need to understand the mental approach to be successful with what we initiate on the physical level, even why our minds keep us from doing things like exercise.  All in all an excellent guide book to navigate the years ahead or even to have years ahead.

Dr. David Burns has been a guest before on The Wide World of Health.  He is a professor at Stanford University and developed the Cognitive Reality Therapy which is used by therapists all over the world.  His book is When Panic Attacks, a nice play on words for a significant contribution to a drug free therapy to eliminate the adverse effects of anxiety.  He is an excellent speaker and I look forward to chatting with him again.

Sunday’s show presented some interesting viewpoints on how to deal with some of our most pressing physical problems.  The team of Dr. Richard and Karilee Shames did a very good job of showing us how to balance our mental, emotional, and physical states with balanced hormones.  Dr. Ralph Holsworth presented compelling testimony for the clot busting potential of nattokinase, an enzyme derived from the fermented soy food natto.

Health practitioners like the Shames’ who use nutrition and bio-identical hormones are at the forefront in the anti-aging movement.  There isn’t in my mind a standardized protocol for bio-identical hormone treatment.  The people who do it are pooling their information and there is some uniformity in treatment procedure but there are some differences.  When I asked them about saliva testing as opposed to using blood, it seemed to spark some lively emotions.  I do like saliva testing for hormones but there are integrative practitioners who still use blood.  Whatever method your doctor uses it is still very important to change lifestyle practices as well as balancing hormones.  In fact whatever you can do, whether it is exercise, food, supplements, herbs, etc., do those things before using the hormones to see what changing your lifestyle can do as far as balancing your hormones, especially the three areas the Shame’s highlighted, adrenal, thyroid, and sex hormones.  Even if you use bio-identical hormones, the one’s natural to your body, they are still very powerful substances and using the smallest amount to get the desired results is the safest way to proceed.  If you change your lifestyle habits and therefore change the hormone profile, then you can achieve what you want with even less than what would have been required before the change.

Dr. Holsworth did an excellent job in presenting the case for using nattokinase to reduce the rish of clotting in the blood.  He also gave a well reasoned argument for using a natural substance like nattokinase instead of pharmaceutical drugs like Warfarin, i.e.,Coumadin.  Like all drugs, it is not so much them doing what they are targeted to do, it is the side effects, or really the other effects that they usually do.  When you research nattokinase you find out that it does the good things without creating the other problems that drugs often do.  He was specific as to dosage, 100mgs., and when to use it.  Taking the nattokinase with meals gave 5 to 10 percent better absorption that away from food.  But that doesn’t mean that taking it away from food is not a good idea.  Since many heart attacks occur in the morning hours, taking the nattokinase before bed also makes sense.  As I said during the interview, Dr. Holsworth was giving us information that really could save a life.  One important work of caution,  check with your doctor before discontinuing any medication that has been prescribed and using something else, even if it is a natural substance like nattokinase.  Oh, and before I forget, remember that the nattokinase has an active life of about 6 to 8 hours in the blood, so breaking up the dosage so as to take it two or three times a day is also highly recommended.

I hope you enjoyed last Sunday’s show.  Gordon Smith is a shining example of the kind of CEO you want in the natural product field.  His product, Flex Now, has some solid backing, science wise, and he is committed to proving its effectiveness with further studies.  The fact that he has a 30 day guarantee is outstanding, but on the show he said they would actually extend that to 60 days because some people need more time for Flex Now to work.  I know it will not work for everyone, nothing does, but giving people a good reason to try it and guarantee their money back if it doesn’t, is very positive.

Perry Arledge is someone I really like.  Her passion for calcium bentonite clay is very obvious.  It is not the contrived kind of enthusiasm that a super salesperson can generate, but rather the conviction of someone who truly wants people to know what the calcium bentonite clay can do.  She is not a pushy person and she doesn’t like doing that to others as well.  I know that the information in her book or on the About Clay website has not been subjected to the kind of scientific studies that I like to present.  But it is also obvious that our ancestors used many things in the natural world to treat themselves.  I have known about clay and volcanic earth minerals for a long time.  I have taken mud baths in many countries and read the book Perry Arledge references, Our Earth, Our Cure, over 20 years ago.  Bottom line, this is another part of the health equation that the motivated seeker will use to make his or her decisions about their own health.

One thing I do want to make clear is my relationship to the people I interview.  Neither I or the station charge people to be guests on The Wide World of Health.  Companies can and do buy commercial time on my show, but that does not determine who I will interview.  The Flex Now people bought commercial time on my show and asked me if I would interview Gordon Smith.  I determined the product was something worth talking about and that was why I interviewed him.  I have declined to do shows for other products or people that I didn’t really want to publicize.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t think they were good, it was just not to my standards for my show.  There are some health programs that charge people to interview them.  Some health programs get a share of the money generated when listeners buy the products they are talking about and several are infocommercials designed to sound or look like a legitimate interview.  Whether that is good or bad is for the listener to decide.  When you hear something on my show it is because I decided, and no one else, that they should be there.

Moving on, this Sunday some great information about hormone balancing.  Richard and Karilee Shames will discuss their book, Feeling, Fat, Fuzzy, or Frustrated?  They are thyroid specialists and come with a host of recommendations from many prominent health experts.

Second hour will feature Dr. Ralph Holsworth.  He is an expert on nattokinase, an enzyme that can dissolve blood clots in our circulatory system.  This is a very important program and has profound implications, not only for our health but will also highlight the contrast between drugs and natural healing agents.  Make sure you don’t miss this one.

Best to you.

Just a brief update.  This Sunday Sid Shastri will not be on the second hour.  Sid was going to be talking about CoQ10 and ribose.  He has been re-scheduled for September 30th.  In his place I will be talking to Perry Aldredge.  Her area of expertise is calcium bentonite clay and she is a walking encyclopedia of information about how clay has been, as is being used, internally and externally.

I also wanted to call to your attention a recent study published in Archives of Internal Medicine.  It was found that people who took vitamin D supplements for an average of 6 years had a 7 percent lower risk of death than those who did not.  The level of vitamin D ranged from 300 to 2,000 international units with the average being 528 IU’s.  I have done a lot of shows on vitamin D and it is critical that people who want to live a healthy life know their vitamin D levels.  If your doctor doesn’t think it is important, as was the case with a friend of mine, then either show him/her the data or get another doctor.  My friend found out that he had an extremely low level and with proper supplementation is now within the optimal range and free of the pain he was experiencing in his muscles.  I will have more to say about nutrients like vitamin D and the calcium connection in a later post.

I saw a report today that the rate of serious problems related to prescription drug use went up four times in a period from 1998-2005.  That was four times greater than the increase in total outpatient prescriptions.  Reminds me of the interview with Dr. Julian Whittaker when he asserted that going to the doctor and getting a prescription was one of the most dangerous things a patient could do.   As long as we are willing to cover up every problem with a drug instead of making necessary lifestyle changes we can certainly expert the problem of adverse drug reactions to increase.  And of course the drug companies are more than willing to market something for every problem you have or think you have.

I enjoyed my guests from last Sunday’s show.  Bill Gottlieb was excellent and his book, The Natural Fat Loss Pharmacy is a real gem with excellent information.  I told him that just having fat loss in the title almost impugns the integrity of the information, but it is not faddish at all and presents good research to back up the claims.

Doug Parry did a good job with a very difficult subject.  Probiotics are a hot item research wise and they are finally getting their due.  We have had people telling us about them for some time, like Natasha Trenev with Natren.  Now people are finally getting the message and sales have really picked up.  This is also an area where research is driving the demand.  It was a primitive market early on.  Most people didn’t have a clue what constituted a good probiotic and Consumer Labs found that several brands didn’t have what they said on the label, in fact some didn’t have any good bacteria in them at all.  But things have changed.  Dr. Parry presented information on the L. Reuteri strain of probiotics, or good bacteria.  I would urge you to visit the website he gave, www.everidis.com.  Lots of information from a first rate company.  I take a couple of different products myself and have added the Reuteri to my regimen.

Also, this coming Sunday I have two more good guests.  Len Smith will update us with the newest info on Flex Now, the joint product made from Shea nut oil.  I had some very good feedback from people who have been taking it.  Sid Shastri is a legend of sorts in the natural products industry and he has a new company that specializes in the latest and greatest.  He will talk about the newest research and advances with CoQ10.  There have been some important improvements in the CoQ10 technology.  Should be a great two hours.

That’s it for today.  I have more later in the week.