Memory can be stored actively or passively in the
bodymind. When the memory is passive, we remember and store experiences as
simple memory traces in the mind. The stronger or more interesting the memories,
the easier it is to recall them. Passive memory is a healthy normal function of
the body and the desirable situation.
Active memory is a state where we store the memory with
an emotional charge. This occurs when we haven’t fully synthesized the
emotional content of the experience. Our body then stores the emotion in the
fascia of the muscles or connective tissue at a location in concordance with the
bioenergetic nature of the body. For example, fear relates to the kidney
meridian which, in turn, relates to several muscles and areas of the body. The
non-synthesized fearful experience, therefore, will be stored in one of those
related areas. In the case of fear (kidneys) it could be the psoas muscle or the
ligaments around the knee.
An example of this would be a car accident. Two scenarios can occur:
1. The person may synthesize their emotions and fully
recover.
2. A person may have a car accident that was very
traumatic and, because of various factors going on at the time, never had a
chance to fully synthesize the emotional associations.
Ten years later the person in the first scenario can
recall or talk about their accident as simple memory and a description of an
event that was traumatic in their life but is now only a memory.
The second scenario is very different. In this case,
the person will be emotionally traumatized by the recall of the accident. When
talking about it, they may still experience fear, anxiety, grief, anger, or
whatever emotions were involved at the time. In other words, their memory is
active and associated with stored emotional trauma. When the thought process of
the accident is initiated, the brain links the thought to the stored emotion.
Whenever this happens the body is stressed, especially
in any areas associated with the accident. For example, they may have injured
their knee in the accident. Whenever the trauma is reactivated, the knee may
undergo pathological change inducing pain and discomfort in the weeks
thereafter.
In more serious scenarios, the active memory is
unconscious. In these cases, the patient’s bodymind is not consciously aware of
the memory associations. Whenever they see and or hear about an accident, or
even watch one in a movie, their subconscious mind triggers the emotional
association, and the person feels anxiety, fear, etc. that they cannot explain
in relation to their current circumstances. Furthermore, many symptoms may
suddenly flare up (such as the knee mentioned earlier), and they cannot find
reasons for the occurrence at that point in their life.
People collect a smorgasbord of active memories in a
lifetime that collectively compounds any health problem they have. These
problems will eventually create health issues in a patient who seems to have no
particular reason for getting sick at that point in their life.
A typical case was Jennifer
who presented with
depression, general aching in the body, fatigue and a feeling of severe body
weakness.
The etiology of the disease was:
1. The child was abused and never fully resolved the
emotional factors involved even
2. The emotional memory was stored in the body and
triggered subconsciously by the
3. Stressful emotions were released creating
physiological changes in the body that
4. The physical treatment of the symptoms could have
given the patient a temporary
5. By using the BodyTalk Emotional Synthesis Therapy
(EST) we were able to disconnect
6. Once the emotional basis was cleared, the patient
recovered fully in about three days.
The BodyTalk
system is very simple. It involves
use of neuromuscular biofeedback to get information from the body. Because it works at the level of the subconscious mind,
the patient does not even need to remember the specific emotional traumas. Once
isolated, the BodyTalk treatment involves connecting three trigger points on the
head with the fingers, doing specific eye movements, and tapping the head and
sternum lightly to cause the brain to disassociate from the active memory. The
process takes around two minutes and often only one treatment is required to
clear an active memory and bring about lasting health changes on the physical
and mental/emotional levels.
In
another case, Pam suffered severe recurring
headaches over a period of about four months.
Another case
involved Mark who had a multitude of food
intolerances. He had a list of foods that upset his digestive system and
triggered many allergic responses in him.
The problems started in his early
twenties, and Mark was now thirty-two.
The incredible thing about the BodyTalk system of
treating active emotional storage is that it does not require psychological
therapy, extensive treatment, or intense emotional discomfort. The traumatic
memory can be cleared without the practitioner needing to know the details of
the event.
There are times when the patient may recall an event
they would really prefer not to relate. In these cases, it is sufficient for the
patient to reflect on the event while being treated. Nothing has to be said or
explained.
Not all active emotional factors are related to
specific events or accumulated experiences. There are many emotional triggers
that are initiated by learned attitudes and belief systems.
As an adult, you may pride yourself on having
transcended your prejudiced upbringing and now feel that you are no longer part
of that ignorant past culture. However, you may find that you have recently
developed numerous stress related health problems. You eat well, exercise,
meditate, and have a happy life, yet here you are with all these anxiety
symptoms.
Through therapies such as BodyTalk or the Breakthrough
system, you may discover that your symptoms are rooted in a stored active
emotion to do with a belief system. Eventually, you realize that your symptoms
started a week after a new Mexican employee started working with you.
Deep down the active emotional trigger still exists as
a belief system embedded in your subconscious. Being with a Mexican triggered all
those anxieties the little boy felt, even though you consciously liked the
person.
The BodyTalk system would clear that link between the
negative belief system and the stored anxiety. In turn, this would not only
clear the disease but, once and for all, eliminate the negative belief.
The bodymind is an incredibly complex system of mental,
emotional, and physical dynamic
2. Relationships and Life Lessons
Is everything
a Mirror, or is it a Lesson?
There is a certain danger in
the belief that everything is a mirror and that everything is a lesson.
There is truth in this, but there is a danger in accepting it in the wrong way.
Should you stay in a Relationship if it is supposedly "teaching" you something?
Important here is to understand that
you
should not stay in a relationship or situation which is harmful to you simply
because you think it is teaching you a lesson or mirroring in a meaningful way.
Some of the lessons are very quick ones, and what you are meant to learn can be
grasped in a moment, in a day, and does not require you stay in a relationship
after it died.
It’s like
sometimes looking in a mirror where you see your own anger or other emotion; you
realize how harmful and poisonous it is to you, and you decide to let it go.
You have realized that it is something you must work on in order to take
yourself to the next step.
Observation made. Lesson learned.
Move on. It is that simple.
What if you find yourself in a repetitive Cycle of same Relationships?
Have you ever experienced a strange phenomena, when you finally break out of dysfunctional relationship and find a new one - you are with the "same" person again running against the same problems. You continue old arguments, see old patterns, etc.
If you find yourself in repetitive
circle with seemingly “no way out” this is a reality check for you: Check
your choices. Find courage to see what fear of yours brought you there.
It
is also important to explore what might be the deeper seeded reasons for
perpetually repeated patterns and relationship patterns. See
Family Constellation.
How do I know if I am making the right Choice?
In your centre, your
deepest calmest centre, below the emotions, there is a feeling of rightness
through which your very soul speaks to you, and it is this feeling that you must
follow. There could be many memories, yearnings, unfulfilled desires associated
with past or present relationship, but underneath these, there is a sense of
rightness. Get below the emotions and find this place. And then ask,
what shall I do? You will find there, below fear, below romantic yearnings,
the answer.
Do people Change? Should I change myself? Should I wait till my Partner changes?
As for the idea of changing someone the
principle is very simple. You must accept others as they are, assuming that
they will not change, for changing other people is not within your control or
power.
You have the power only to change
yourself. And so, in your heart of acceptance, give your partner the freedom to
be who he is. But that does not mean that you must live with it.
That does not mean that you tolerate behavior, which is harmful to you in any
way or blocks your growth.
At all times you have to exercise your most
important right: The right to be who you are.
And
so you have a choice: you may change, and it is your choice to do so, or you may
leave. But you cannot stay as you are since you are killing your soul.
Talk to your Partner
Try to talk and discuss with your
partner what you can do to accommodate your mutual rights in this relationship.
If this is not working, and you cannot reach understanding here look for
alternative decisions.
Being
in service of Self vs. being self-serving
You owe it to yourself to do what is in
your own best interests, and always be in service of your highest interests. If
you are following your spiritual path you must learn to love yourself so
deeply, so much so that you do not allow
others to treat you poorly. And then, when you love yourself
enough, so much that you cannot imagine not being
treated with respect and caring, not being yourself, then
you will be able to reach out and truly love others.
Some of them you will wish to have around you, because they mirror the wonderful
parts of yourself that you wish to move toward. And some of them you will
take as
old lessons, as past patterns reflecting back, and learn your lesson
quickly and well. You have moved beyond this. This is no longer you.
You love yourself too much, and respect your soul too much to allow someone to
be like that in your presence.
Let your Partner make his/her own Choice
Your partner may change or stay the same. That is their choice.
Do not surround yourself with corrosive Circumstances and People that do not support your Growth
Do not surround yourself with corrosive
circumstances and people that do not support your growth.
One of the primary lessons to be learned, always and in every situation, is to respect
yourself and to demand that others respect you. If you are in a relationship in
which this is not occurring, then you must change that situation.
You need to surround yourself with people who are caring and respectful
and who help you to move forward on your path, or you may surround yourself with
people who hold you back in old patterns and make it difficult for you to
advance. That is your choice.
So be grateful for this reminder that
you have more work to do. Let it go and then get to work. Reach down
into your heart and begin to build the peace there, begin to build
such a core of centered peace that outside circumstances can no longer cause you
to respond irrationally and emotionally or collapse your body into sickness (because
this is the type of a subconscious response).
Stop looking for Excuses and start looking for Ways
Break from the circle of looking for
excuses and justifications acting from the place of your own fears. From
that place you can only feed your own or someone else’s insecurities. There is
no movement, no life, no future on this path.
Connect to this place in you that
“knows”, that holds your
feeling of
rightness, which is your
soul
itself.
This place in you is beyond
fear and beyond Illusion.
Olga
Arsenyuk,
Certified
BodyTalk and Qi Qong Instructor, Wholistic Practitioner,
Whatever the Mind can Believe, the Mind can Conceive.
Hypnosis is a state of altered consciousness (trance state) similar to one we all spontaneously experience before we enter the sleep state. In terms of brain activity it is very natural and healing time for all Mind and Body Systems. It is the time when our conscious mind is opening the door to our subconscious mind, and subconscious becomes more active and fully available. We also experience it on a daily basis when daydreaming, or being totally absorbed with some activity, or movie. We might not even be aware if someone calls us during these times. These are all naturally occurring trances.
Hypnosis
is
not a state of unconsciousness
though (this is
how anesthesia works) where you do not remember
or know what is going on. On the contrary, in therapeutic
hypnosis/hypnotherapy our conscious mind is in a state of heightened awareness
at the same time maintaining open communication with subconscious mind. This
makes conscious, deep level healing possible. The client is in full control of
the process, themselves, and is consciously aware of what’s going on.
Hypnotherapy
and Hypnotic Analysis are a form of analytic meditation that incorporates psychological, as
well as psycho-physiological benefits. In truth, hypnotherapy is becoming an
effective influence in bridging the gap between Eastern Wisdom and Modern
Western Medicine and Psychology.
Hypnotherapy
is the most amazing therapy for activating the powers of the subconscious mind
to bring forth healing, and enable us to reach our highest potential in any
aspect of our lives.
We
are the sum of our life experiences, and by regressing from effect back to
cause, the fascinating voyages within our own consciousness bring profound
healing from Soul Level to cellular level resulting in physical healing,
emotional order, clarity of thoughts, and inner peace.
2. Can everybody be Hypnotized?
Yes,
because it is a normal state that everybody passes through before going to
sleep. However, it is possible to resist hypnosis like it is possible to resist
going to sleep. But even if one resists hypnosis, with practice and conscious
effort resistance can be overcome.
3. Who can do Hypnotic Analysis and Hypnotherapy?
Only
a qualified professional person should decide whether one needs hypnosis or
could benefit from it. The professional person requires special training in the
techniques and uses of hypnosis before he can be considered qualified, and
should be certified by a Professional Body. One of the most respected ones as well as acknowledged both internationally and in
North America is the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners.
4. Why do some People not believe in Hypnosis?
Regardless
of the latest research into the life of a cell itself Hypnosis is still a
much-misunderstood phenomenon. The exaggerated claims made for it by
undisciplined persons have turned some people into not feeling comfortable with
it. Some doctors and psychiatrists also do not believe in the value of hypnosis,
because Freud gave it up several decades ago, and because they themselves have
not had too much experience with its modern uses.
The
hypnotic state is as safe as the sleep state. Sometimes unskilled operators may
give subjects foolish suggestions, such as one often witnessed in stage
hypnosis, where the trance is exploited for entertainment purposes. A delicately
balanced and sensitive person exposed to unwise and unkind suggestions may not
respond favorably. On the whole, hypnosis is safe and comforting when practiced
by ethical and qualified practitioners. It is like any other tool, - best in the
hands of a professional.
If
you have symptoms such as depression, fears, fatigue, tensions, chronic pains
and certain physical complaints with which regular doctors cannot help you, if
you find it difficult to get along at work or in your relations with people; if
you have a school, sex or martial problem; or if you merely feel irritable,
unhappy and believe you are not getting the most out of life, hypnotherapy could
be very helpful for you.
7. How does Hypnotherapy work?
Nervous
symptoms and unwarranted unhappiness as well as many physical conditions
(especially “stubborn ones”) are the product of inner emotional conflicts.
In hypnotherapy you are helped to uncover the real, deep-seeded reasons for
internal problems to understand your conflicts. In this way, it is possible for
you to do something constructive about solving them.
8. Can Physical Symptoms be caused by Emotions?
Many
physical symptoms are psychosomatic in nature, which means that they have an
emotional or nervous basis. When you come to think of it, it is not really so
strange that emotional strain or worry would produce physical symptoms. After
all every organ in your body is connected with your brain by nerve channels; and
so it is logical that when your nervous system is upset by some crisis or
conflict, you may feel the effects in various organs of the body.
Hypnosis
and hypnotherapy could also be used as a great tool and a “shortcut” for
resolving and clearing any emotions, and bringing to closure any internal
“unfinished” business.
9. I am not sure I can be Hypnotized
All
people go through a state similar to hypnosis before falling asleep. There is no
reason why you should not be able to enter a hypnotic state unless you
consciously decide you do not want to.
10. What does it feel like to be Hypnotized?
The idea of how it should feel to be hypnotized often leads to many disappointments. Often people have an idea that they will go through something different, new, and spectacular in the hypnotic state. Often being hypnotized is equated with being anesthetized, being asleep, or being unconscious.
The truth is, that experience of being hypnotized is the same as the experience of relaxing and starting to go to sleep. In therapeutic hypnosis (hypnotherapy) and hypnotic analysis we are conscious and fully aware.
Our mind is active and we perceive all stimuli as we are in complete communication with the therapist and ourselves. Because of the change in brain activity patterns we might often experience what we call energy phenomena like heaviness in limbs and/or tingly sensations in the hands and fingers. This is because the electrical impulses from your brain slow down and you enter trance state. If you are habitually a deep sleeper, you may doze momentarily or if you are a light sleeper, you may have a feeling you are completely awake.
Often
we find people are scared of Hypnosis because they believe that someone might
“manipulate their mind”. To
this I would suggest that our minds are “manipulated” and conditioned on a
daily basis through mass media, at work, and pretty much everywhere we go. What
we hear about our performance at work, image, sexuality, status in the society, even medical conditions
we have "manipulates" and conditions our minds. The human mind is extremely suggestible which could literally ruin our
lives. Luckily, this same quality of "suggestibility of the mind" can
be used as a healing tool. A good deal of suffering is the
consequence of negative thoughts and impulses invading our mind. By the time we
reached adulthood we have built up "negative" modes of thinking that
are not easy to break. We
created the whole
culture of fears where we are
operating according to “should
and should not” lists. All
the negative and fearsome messages that go into our
subconscious minds daily are underlying the decisions we
make. In hypnosis,
that is therapeutic manipulation of negative programming, we replace these negative attitudes with
positive one's.
If
you are afraid that hypnotherapist can "mess up your mind" I always
say to this: “The only person that can mess up your mind is
you”.
I consider Hypnosis a gift of gods to the humankind, as it can operate as a key to the subconscious, to co-creating our reality, to be truly free and truly happy.
It
is also very important to understand that no one can be hypnotized against their
will. The client has to be ready to receive hypnotherapy
as we all should be ready to receive any spiritual gift on our path. It takes
courage to “face our subconscious Demons”, and deal with them by the power
of our conscious decision. This is what I call readiness. No professional should
recommend hypnotherapy if the client is not ready.
It takes time to disintegrate old habit patterns, so do not be discouraged if there is no immediate effect. If you continue to practice the principles taught you by your therapist, you will eventually notice change since this is simply the nature of things. An analogy may make this clear. If you hold a batch of white blotters above the level of your eyes so that you see the bottom blotter, you will observe nothing different for a while until sufficient ink has been poured to soak through the entire thickness. Eventually the ink will come down. During this period while nothing seemingly is happening though enough ink was poured, we could be tempted to consider the process a failure. Suggestions in hypnosis are like ink poured on layers of resistance. One must keep repeating them before they come through to influence old, destructive patterns.
12. What about Self-Hypnosis?
"Relaxing
exercise", "self-hypnosis" and "auto-hypnosis" are
interchangeable terms for a reinforcing process that may be valuable in helping
your therapist help you. If this is necessary, it will be recommended to you by
your therapist.
Olga
Arsenyuk,
Certified
BodyTalk and Qi Qong Instructor, Wholistic
Practitioner,
4. Osteoporosis De-Mystified. The Truth about Calcium and Bone Loss
Milk And Dairy Products are the Prime Cause of Osteoporosis, or brittle Bones
Bruce Friedrich of PETA gets credit for having written this column. The original appears on their award-winning website: http://milksucks.com/osteo.html
Osteoporosis is not caused by Calcium Deficiency
"The myth that osteoporosis is caused by calcium deficiency was created to sell dairy products and calcium supplements. There's no truth to it. American women are among the biggest consumers of calcium in the world, and they still have one of the highest levels of osteoporosis in the world. And eating even more dairy products and calcium supplements is not going to change that fact." - Dr. John McDougall The McDougall Program for Women (2000).
Will more Dairy Products help you with Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a debilitating disease characterized by low bone mass and deteriorating bone tissue that affects tens of millions of Americans and causes 1.5 million fractures annually. The annual cost of treatment totals more than $10 billion. While some people suffering from osteoporosis experience recurring back pain, loss of height, and spinal deformities, many don't even know they have the disease until a bone fracture occurs. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, one in two women over the age of 50, and one in eight men, will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture. The dairy industry has a powerful hold on the nutrition industry in this country; it pays huge numbers of dietitians, doctors, and researchers to push dairy, spending more than $300 million annually, just at the national level, to retain a market for its products. The dairy industry has infiltrated schools, bought off sports stars, celebrities, and politicians, pushing all the while an agenda based on profit, rather than public health. Dr. Walter Willett, a veteran nutrition researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, says that calcium consumption "has become like a religious crusade," overshadowing true preventive measures such as physical exercise. To hear the dairy industry tell it, if you consume three glasses of milk daily, your bones will be stronger, and you can rest safely knowing that osteoporosis is not in your future.
Studies show that more Dairy causes more Osteoporosis
Remarkably enough, if dairy has any effect, both clinical and population evidence strongly implicate dairy in causing, rather than preventing, osteoporosis. That the dairy industry would lull unsuspecting women and children into complacency by telling them, essentially, drink more milk and your bones will be fine, may make good business sense, but it does the public a grave disservice. Most of the world's peoples do not consume cow's milk, and yet most of the world does not experience the high rates of osteoporosis found in the West. In Asian countries, for example, where consumption of dairy foods is low (and where women tend to be thin and small-boned, universally accepted risk factors for osteoporosis), fracture rates are much lower than they are in the United States and in Scandinavian countries, where consumption of dairy products is considerably higher.
But don't take our word for it; examine the science for yourself: One study, funded by the National Dairy Council, involved giving a group of postmenopausal women three 8-ounce glasses of skim milk per day for two years and comparing their bones to those of a control group of women not given the milk. The dairy group consumed 1,400 mg of calcium per day and lost bone at twice the rate of the control group. According to the researchers, "This may have been due to the average 30 percent increase in protein intake during milk supplementation ... The adverse effect of increases in protein intake on calcium balance has been reported from several laboratories, including our own" (they then cite 10 other studies). Says McDougall, "Needless to say, this finding did not reach the six o'clock news."
Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) looked at all aspects of diet and bone health and found that high consumption of fruits and vegetables positively affect bone health and that dairy consumption did not. Such findings do not surprise nutritional researchers: According to Dr. Neal Barnard, author of Turn Off the Fat Genes (2001) and several other books on diet and health, the calcium absorption from vegetables is as good as or better than that from milk. Calcium absorption from milk is approximately 30 percent, while figures for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, and some other leafy green vegetables range between 40 percent and 64 percent.
After reviewing studies on the link between protein intake and urinary calcium loss, nutritional researcher Robert P. Heaney found that as consumption of protein increases, so does the amount of calcium lost in the urine (Journal of the American Diabetes Association, 1993): "This effect has been documented in several different study designs for more than 70 years," he writes, adding, "The net effect is such that if protein intake is doubled without changing intake of other nutrients, urinary calcium content increases by about 50 percent." Researchers from the University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital discovered that consumption of dairy foods, especially early in life, increases the risk of hip fractures in old age (American Journal of Epidemiology, 1994). Finally, an analysis of all research conducted since 1985, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000), concluded: "If dairy food intakes confer bone health, one might expect this to have been apparent from the 57 outcomes, which included randomized, controlled trials and longitudinal cohort studies involving 645,000 person-years." The researchers go on to lament that "there have been few carefully designed studies of the effects of dairy foods on bone health," and then to conclude with typical scientific reserve that: "The body of scientific evidence appears inadequate to support a recommendation for daily intake of dairy foods to promote bone health in the general U.S. population."
What is the real Cause of Osteoporosis?
Despite the dairy industry funding study after study to try to prove its claims, Dr. John McDougall, upon examining all the available nutritional studies and evidence, concludes:
"The primary cause of osteoporosis is the high-protein diet most Americans consume today. As one leading researcher in this area said, "Eating a high-protein diet is like pouring acid rain on your bones."
Real cause of osteoporosis is the disruption of metabolism and absorption of calcium in bones.
Studies on Osteoporosis the Food Industry does not want you to know about
After looking at 34 published studies in 16 countries, researchers at Yale University found that countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis "including the United States, Sweden, and Finland" are those in which people consume the most meat, milk, and other animal foods. This study also showed that African Americans, who consume, on average, more than 1,000 mg of calcium per day, are nine times more likely to experience hip fractures than are South African blacks, whose daily calcium intake is only 196 mg. Says McDougall, "On a nation-by-nation basis, people who consume the most calcium have the weakest bones and the highest rates of osteoporosis. ... Only in those places where calcium and protein are eaten in relatively high quantities does a deficiency of bone calcium exist, due to an excess of animal protein."
Harvard University's landmark Nurses Health Study, which followed 78,000 women over a 12-year period, found that the women who consumed the most calcium from dairy foods broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk. Summarizing this study, the Lunar Osteoporosis Update (November 1997) explained: "This increased risk of hip fracture was associated with dairy calcium. If this were any agent other than milk, which has been so aggressively marketed by dairy interests, it undoubtedly would be considered a major risk factor."
A National Institutes of Health study out of the University of California, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001), found that; "Women who ate most of their protein from animal sources had three times the rate of bone loss and 3.7 times the rate of hip fractures of women who ate most of their protein from vegetable sources." Even though the researchers adjusted "for everything we could think of that might otherwise explain the relationship it didn't change the results." The study's conclusion: "An increase in vegetable protein intake and a decrease in animal protein intake may decrease bone loss and the risk of hip fracture.
What decreases Osteoporosis?
What we do know is that osteoporosis rates decline markedly as body weight, exercise, and caloric intake rise. Corroborating the researchers' lament about bad studies, only three studies have factored caloric intake into the analysis; two of them found no correlation between dairy intake and osteoporosis. The other found a positive link; that is, the more milk consumed, the higher the fracture risk (Harvard Nurses Study, see above). The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) study cited above argued that since we know for certain that total caloric intake and body weight are positively associated with bone mass, such factors are "particularly important" in any study of osteoporosis and bone mass. Is the dairy industry ignoring these factors by design in its clinical studies, perhaps because dairy consumers tend to be heavier and to consume more calories than those consuming fewer (or no) dairy products? It is remarkable that the dairy industry can't get the results it's looking for, since dairy consumption does tend to make people heavier.
Some studies clearly indicate that milk causes osteoporosis. If the tendencies of those who consume more dairy to be heavier and to consume more calories were accounted for, would the studies indicating no link show, in fact, that dairy intake causes osteoporosis, like the Harvard School of Public Health study? That would bring clinical analysis into line with the population analysis, which clearly states that increased dairy consumption is linked to increased risk for osteoporosis.
So what can I do for strong Bones?
Osteoporosis is a horrible disease, and although the evidence is strong that dairy consumption doesn't prevent it, simply eliminating dairy products does not ensure that it won't afflict you. And if, like most people who consume no meat or dairy, you are slender, you should be sure to put some thought (and effort) into keeping your bones healthy.
What the evidence does dictate as useful for strong bones is: Getting enough vitamin D (if you don't spend any time in the sun, be sure to take a supplement or eat fortified foods). Eliminating or reducing animal protein depending on your genetic type, as excess animal protein causes severe bone deterioration. Limiting alcohol consumption (alcohol is toxic to the cells that form bones and inhibits the absorption of calcium). Limiting salt intake (sodium leaches calcium out of the bones). Not smoking (studies have shown that women who smoke one pack of cigarettes a day have 5 to 10 percent less bone density at menopause than nonsmokers). Getting plenty of exercise. Studies have concluded that physical exercise is the key to building strong bones (more important than any other factor).
A study published in the British Medical Journal, which followed 1,400 men and women over a 15-year period, found that exercise may be the best protection against hip fractures and that "reduced intake of dietary calcium does not seem to be a risk factor." And Penn State University researchers found that bone density is significantly affected by how much exercise girls get during their teen years, when 40 to 50 percent of their skeletal mass is developed. Consistent with previous research, the Penn State study, which was published in Pediatrics (2000), the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, showed that calcium intake, which ranged from 500 to 1,500 mg per day, has no lasting effect on bone health.
Of course, calcium is an essential mineral, and it is possible to have a calcium deficiency. According to Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: "Milk, in particular, is poor insurance against bone breaks the healthiest calcium sources are green leafy vegetables and legumes. You don't need to eat huge servings of vegetables or beans to get enough calcium, but do include both in your regular menu planning. If you are looking for extra calcium, fortified orange, apple, or grapefruit juices are good choices."
Conclusion:
Drinking milk builds dairy producers' profits, but as the above studies show, it's more likely to harm your bones than to help them. And dairy foods are linked to all sorts of other problems, including obesity, heart disease and cancer (including breast cancer and prostate cancer) and are likely to be contaminated with trace levels of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals, including dioxin, one of the most toxic substances known to humans (The Washington Post reported that "the latest EPA study concludes that people who consume even small amounts of dioxin in fatty foods and dairy products face a cancer risk of 1 in 100. They may also develop other problems, such as attention disorder, learning disabilities, susceptibility to infections and liver disorders" (April 12, 2001).
It makes no more sense for humans to consume the mother's milk of cows than for us to consume the mother's milk of rats, cats, dogs, giraffes, or any other mammal. Nature created human mother's milk for baby humans, cow mother's milk for baby cows, and so on. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, in Baby and Child Care (the United States' best selling book, other than the Bible, over the past 50 years), after recommending that no one consume cow's milk and cataloging a host of ills associated with milk consumption (heart disease, cancer, obesity, antibiotic residue, iron deficiency, asthma, ear infections, skin conditions, stomach aches, bloating, and diarrhea), concludes: "In nature, animals do not drink milk after infancy, and that is the normal pattern for humans, too. Children stay in better calcium balance when their protein comes from plant sources." Dr. Spock recommends human mother's milk for baby humans, as nature intended. "It is hard to turn on the television without hearing commercials suggesting that milk promotes strong bones. The commercials do not point out that only 30 percent of milk's calcium is absorbed by the body or that osteoporosis is common among milk drinkers. Nor do they help you correct the real causes of bone loss." "Dr. Neal Barnard Says Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the world's leading epidemiological researcher in the field of diet and health, "The dairy folks, ever since the 1920s, have been enormously successful in cultivating an environment within virtually all segments of our society "from research and education to public relations and politics" to have us believing that cow's milk and its products are manna from heaven. Make no mistake about it; the dairy industry has been virtually in total control of any and all public health information that ever rises to the level of public scrutiny."
"The association between the intake of animal protein and fracture rates appears to be as strong as the association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer." -Dr. T. Colin Campbell
"Milk, it now seems clear, is not the solution to poor bone density. To the contrary, it's part of the problem." - Dr. Charles Attwood.
From Robert Cohen ( NotMilk.com). Also check: http://www.rense.com/general10/ost.htm
5. Eating Organic
by Simone Gabbay, RNCP
Which Foods contain the most Pesticides?
Eating
organic is the surest way to avoid synthetic pesticides and genetically
engineered foods, so shifting the diet to emphasize certified organic foods is
important for all of us.
Apples
The Alar scare in the 1980s alerted us
to the fact that even the apple, always considered wholesome and healthy, is
commonly treated with toxic chemicals. In fact, United States Food and Drug
Administration tests have detected 36 different pesticide residues on apples,
including the fungicide captan (a carcinogen) and the insecticide chlorphyrifos
(a neurotoxin). A portion of these pesticides penetrates even the flesh of the
fruit and therefore can’t be washed off. Non-organic apples are also heavily
wax-coated to prolong shelf life. This wax, too, is not removed by washing.
Bananas
Pesticides used on banana plantations
include chlorphyrifos and the chemical benomyl, which has been linked to birth
defects. In Costa Rica, a major exporter of bananas, 35 per cent of the
country’s pesticide imports are applied to bananas. As if pesticides were not
enough, bananas are also artificially ripened with ethylene gas.
Grains
Who would think that wholesome staple
foods such as grains, including rice and oats, have some of the highest levels
of pesticide residues? Rice is contaminated both by the pesticides that are
applied to the crops themselves and by water-soluble insecticides and fungicides
that have seeped into the groundwater near rice fields. Both imported and
domestic types of rice are affected. Oats and other popular grains are subject
to similar contamination.
Green
Beans
Neurotoxins and endocrine-disruptor chemicals are among the chemicals applied in the process of growing green beans. In total, there are 60 different pesticides registered with the US Environmental Protection Agency for use on green beans. Of particular concern are green beans imported from Mexico; many of these crops are contaminated with illegal pesticides.
Peaches
Like the apple, this popular fruit is subject to repeated pesticide applications. According to a report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG; ewg.org), a non-profit environmental organization based in Washington, DC, peaches, apples and nectarines are the most common source of exposure for young children to unsafe levels of organophosphate pesticides. The next time you give your little one a juicy peach, make sure it is organic!
Strawberries
Everyone knows that strawberries are a seasonal fruit, yet they are now available almost year-round. But we pay a high price for this luxury. An EWG study considers strawberries the single most heavily contaminated fruit or vegetable. Strawberries are also the target of genetic engineering. For instance, some of the genes of strawberries that are available out of season may have been spliced with cold-water fish genes in an attempt to make the strawberries more resistant to frost.
Meat and Dairy
Whenever we eat higher on the food chain, as we do with meat or dairy, we ingest the concentrated residues of any chemicals that were consumed by the animal whose meat or milk we are consuming. Meat and milk from animals raised with intensive farming practices can be laced not only with pesticides from the animals’ feed, but also with antibiotics and hormones. Crammed, unnatural conditions often make the animals ill, requiring the administration of medication, including antibiotics.
Milk imported from the US is almost certain to contain recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a genetically engineered hormone used to boost milk production. A large percentage of cows treated with rBGH are vulnerable to developing clinical mastitis, an infection of the udder, which then necessitates the administration of massive doses of antibiotics.
Organic
Alternatives
All of the items listed above are not only popular foods that most people consume, but they are also commonly among the first foods that baby eats, whether pureed at home or store-bought. As a responsible parent, would you knowingly five your baby food quite possible laced with toxic chemicals and pharmaceuticals? Fortunately, organic alternatives are readily available in health food stores, as well as in many supermarkets.
If you have difficulty finding a store that carries organic foods, search the Internet for organic delivery services. Liferesearchuniversal.com/caorganics.html has a listing of those in Ontario, BC and Quebec. Consult the Web site of the Canadian Organic Growers (cog.ca) and search their directory for organic producers and retailers in your area. Another helpful source on information is the Organic Trade Association. (ota.com).
Higher price tag?
Why do organic foods generally have higher price tags? Is it fair that we are paying a premium for natural foods? Perhaps we need to turn these questions around: Is it fair that farmers using intensive chemical agricultural practices enjoy tax breaks and indirect subsides, such as public and private research dollars, for growing foods dowsed with toxic pesticides? Considering the “hidden” costs to personal health and the environment, such as soil, air and water contamination, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, and the resulting medical expenses, are non-organic foods really less expensive?
Organic farms typically operate on a small scale, which means that farming is considerably more labor intensive. Organic farmers and processors must also pay for the cost of organic certification, which requires documentation of all the steps involved in organic production-from soil management and seed purchase to harvesting, handling and shipping. None of these costs are subsidized by chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing giants, so they must be added to the final price of the product.
When we consider the impact of agricultural chemicals on our health, the health of our planet and the health of our children and future generations, it becomes clear that none of us can afford not to buy organic!
Simone Gabbay is a registered nutrition consultant in Toronto. She’s a writer and editor, the author of Nourishing the Body Temple [A.R.E. Press, 1999], the nutrition columnist for Venture Inward magazine and a health columnist for The Open Road newsletter.
6. Grocery Store Chickens are Toxic Machines
by Rhody Lake
No more cute
little red hen: Today’s caged chickens grow sick and die to produce our
bacteria-laden eggs and meat.
While eggs don’t compromise a major part of my diet, I do keep a dozen eggs for the occasional poached-egg lunch and for guests. Since I like my eggs fresh and organic, it’s no struggle for me to pay twice as much for them as for the commercial variety. But if I was feeding a family, I might hesitate over the price difference.
When I venture to crack the eggs and put the commercial and free - run organic side by side, I ponder the contrast. Those pale yolks look sickly. The shells are thin and almost crumble in my hands. The eggs from organic hens have full-orbed yellow yolks. Their shells are calcium-rich and hard. Those hard shells and golden yolks tell me a story.
It’s no Yolk!
Canada stands far behind other countries in implementing healthy livestock production of all kinds. Many Canadians say they have ceased to eat red meat because of inhumane animal husbandry, yet the raising of chickens might prove even more shocking than the treatment of beef animals in the feedlots of our country.
“ Commercial farm practices do not produce healthy hens. Their immune systems are weakened if not destroyed. They get no exercise. The unnatural diet is necessarily fortified with antibiotics to kill toxic bacteria that thrive in the stress of imprisonment.”
Emotional Health in the Farmyard
The North American egg-production industry dismisses the growing protest against “battery” cages as “ consumer sentimentality.” Egg advertising and packaging carefully foster a happy-chicken mythology while word technicians receive high salaries to preserve the image of plump brown hens cheerily searching and sharing in the chicken yard. Chickens are sociable creatures. They love to run around. They squabble and compete. They occasionally turn on one another. They herd for comfort or for safety and then disperse. Children’s books portray chickens as scatterbrained but lovable. The cock rules the roost. And the children go out to the hen house in evening (or is it the morning?) to gather the warm brown eggs. With the advent of intensive factory farming, that image is obsolete.
Modern Chickens are Toxic Machines
North American eggs come primarily from the lively and excitable Leghorn of Mediterranean descent. She’s a designer hen, bred by genetic selection and an unnatural diet to produce an egg a day. Her commercially manufactured feed contains poultry by-products, including chicken offal (waste parts, entrails, chicken droppings and dead birds). The chickens routinely receive antibiotics to control bacteria that thrive in close confinement, thus causing the evolution of super salmonella and other toxic bacteria. Laying Leghorns are bred to be small so that several birds can be crammed into a wire cage. Up to two-thirds of the hens’ beaks are removed so they don’t peck each other to death. But removing a large part of the beak makes eating a problem. Sometimes hens starve to death. The toes and claws of imprisoned hens don’t develop normally and often become permanently entangled in the mesh. Typically the toes are then cut off-“for their own protection!”
Hens also suffer a form of osteoporosis called “caged layer fatigue” due to lack of sunlight and fresh air. This increases demineralization of bones and muscles because of constant eggshell formation. Calcium is added to an already artificial diet, but this forms a poor substitute for the grit and gravel available in a natural farmyard habitat. Bone fractures and even paralysis are common.
Forced molting is another popular way to
increase egg production. When egg-laying naturally declines, hens are deprived
of food and water to shock them into a molt to start a new laying cycle. John
Robbins, a well-known environmentalist and best-selling author, says that
forcing hens to mot has been banned in animal-loving Great Britain since 1987,
but continues in North America.
Meat or “broiler” birds come from heavier breeds. They are intensively raised with growth hormones to develop quickly-from six to eight weeks-in as little space as possible. Unlike laying hens, broilers are sometimes raised on the barn floor rather than in cages, but are not allowed movement that would burn up valuable calories needed for fat production.
Broilers are fed animal byproducts, including condemned, diseased parts, which are significant source of bacterial contamination. Chicken producers simply avoid the brain and nervous tissues that might be a source of mad cow disease, which is equivalent to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. So says Michael W. Fox, veterinarian and spokesman for animal welfare around the world. Dr. Fox warns that intensive confinement systems are “epicenters for food-born diseases in the human population…that benefit [only] the medical and pharmaceutical industries because of the diseases being created in the animals and subsequently humans” (Acres USA, Dec.2002).
Twenty-first-century commercial farm practices do not produce healthy hens. Their immune systems are weakened if not destroyed. They get no exercise. The unnatural diet is necessarily fortified with antibiotics to kill toxic bacteria that thrive in the stress of imprisonment. Such bacteria are never eradicated, and Health Canada sends regular warnings to the public, putting the onus for food safety on consumers to cook eggs well to kill salmonella. Health Canada blames salmonella contamination on organic egg producers who don’t feed antibiotics to their hens! But it’s this same salmonella that Health Canada uses for an excuse to irradiate commercial poultry products, rather than correct bad farming practice.
The other side of the chicken-and-egg debate is nutrition. How much better are eggs and meat from chickens that are fed whole organic grain, greens and organic mash, no hormones or other drugs, and are allowed to run free? That research has not been profitable for either government or industry to undertake. Egg producers are more concerned with reduced consumer consumption of eggs as a result of the cholesterol scare. And the producers of commercially raised meat birds steer away from comparisons between organic verses factory-farmed chickens, claiming there are no “reliable” studies. But the truth is, the fat content in commercially raised chickens is high and their diet is just as unnatural as in the feed lots of beef animals. You either pay now for real food, or you pay later with poor health caused by poor nutrition.
For lacto-ova vegetarians, organic eggs are an excellent source of useable protein. Eggs contain good fat as well as a high level of lecithin, which emulsifies cholesterol as well as fat and thus eliminates both from the body. Eggs from organically fed hens are also a source of most B vitamins, including B12, minerals and vitamin E. They are actually good for the heart, not bad! They contain essential choline, which is a brain-development and memory nutrient that is recommended, along with niacin, against encroaching senility. Eggs are, by all counts, far more beneficial to the diet than the true cholesterol culprit, processed food!
For the occasional meat eater, organically raised chickens and other poultry provide lean, easily digested animal protein as well as at least five times the amount of essential fatty acids as commercially raised birds. They also contain B vitamins and are less likely to be contaminated with parasites.
While dietary changes to veganism and increased consumer opposition to cage-raised birds are definitely threats to the commercial egg industry, the BC government Department of Food and Agriculture tells us on its Web site that there are “positive animal welfare benefits” for raising hens in cages (it does not say what the benefits are). And that “intensive cage production keeps costs down in order to meet the consumer demand for inexpensive food.”
But do your own research. Shop for your food with discernment. After all, it’s the stuff of life! Buy an organic chicken, even if it costs $2 more, and check the taste and difference. Buy a half dozen organic, free-run eggs and another six, large, white, commercial eggs. Compare. Even without a laboratory analysis from Doctor’s Data, you know which eggs are freshest and most nutritious, just by looking. Put your money down! Since purchasing decisions are often made at the grocery store, the chicken and egg producers will get the message and respond accordingly, because they won’t raise what they can’t sell!
The ball inevitable returns to us.
Rhody Lake is a freelance researcher and journalist, and former editor of alive. We invite your feedback at editorial@teamalive.com. For more information, please search “chickens” at www.alivepublishing.com
7. Health and Anti-Aging Benefits of Qi Qong
Shift
your Life’s Focus from a Battling
Disease to
Cultivation of Health
*Dr. Sancier is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qigong
Institute. He is a professor at the
The
practice of qigong was found to cut the mortality rate of fatal strokes by 50% !
They also found that qigong allowed patients to take smaller doses of medicine.
Prof. Sancier is a former research scientist at Stanford Research Institute. His
curiosity and scientific background inspired him to collect a database of 3500
scientific studies on qigong and similar kinds of “energy medicine”. His
impressive scientific background is given in the full biography at the end of
the article.
The
word qigong is a combination of two ideas: qi the vital energy of the body, and
gong the skill of working of the qi. Medical qigong for health and healing
consists primarily of meditation, physical movements, and breathing exercises.
Qigong practitioners develop an awareness of qi sensations in their bodies and
use their mind, i.e., intention, to guide the qi in the body. The benefits of
qigong are said to extend beyond health and healing to enhance spiritual life
and even special abilities, such as psychic powers.
Research
is available on a CD from the Qigong Institute, has been used as a source for
six books, 7 dissertations, and numerous research projects. Dr. Sancier
has carried out and published experimental studies of mind/body
interactions. Including experimental studies and reviews, he has published about
25 papers in peer reviewed journals.
Qigong
Most Developed Form of Energy Medicine. It is a challenge for the Western mind
to understand the function of Qi (“chi”) in the context of bodily functions
as defined by science. According to Chinese medicine and Qigong theory, Qi has
an infinite number of functions in the body. The foundation of Qigong and TCM
theory dictates that intention (Yi) directs the movement of Qi, which in turn
directs the flow of blood in the body. Increased or decreased electrical
activity in specific areas of the body determines blood flow and fluid balance,
accumulation and dispersal of substances. The practice of Qigong is the act of
bringing awareness and skill to direct the function and movement of Qi. The
correct movement of Qi is a force that engages the body’s natural tendency
toward homeostasis.
For
health maintenance, the Qigong practitioners do not have to be an expert. Almost
anyone can learn to practice Qigong to maintain and improve his or her own
health. The objective of the exercises is to strengthen the Qi in the body and
remove obstructions to Qi flow that may have developed due to injury, emotional
states, diet, disease or other factors. Conversely, obstruction of Qi flow can
also produce disease.
There
are numerous reports of the effects of emitted qi on living systems and the
functions and organs of the human body. The present author reviewed some
examples of medical applications of qigong and emitted qi on humans, animals,
cell cultures, and plants, and he also published some of his experimental
research on physiological effects of qigong. He discussed some clinical and
experimental evidence showing that qigong exercise and external qi affects
various functions and organs of the body.
Many
clinical studies were conducted to illustrate the scope of research on medical
applications of qigong to treat chronic medical conditions that may affect the
aging process. It was proved by multiple studies that with the consistent Qi
Qong practice there is a steady therapeutic balancing of all functions of the
body.
The profound effect that internal qigong practice may have on balancing the
energies of the organs and functions of the body is illustrated by measurements
using Electroacupuncture According to Voll (EAV). In EAV the electrical
conductance of the skin above individual acupuncture points is measured using
low voltage and low current. Diagnosis depends on measuring the relative
electrical conductance and its time dependence. An important diagnostic
criterion of degeneration of an organ is an "indicator drop" that may
occur during the measurement when the conductance reaches an apparent maximum
value but then decreases before leveling off. The main conclusion from many
studies is that qigong exercise helps the body to heal itself. In this sense,
qigong is a natural anti-aging medicine. Two large studies conducted by Qi
Qong Institute indicate that qigong exercise is superior to some physical
exercises. (http://www.qigonginstitute.org/html/papers.
Qigong Institute is non-profit and is sustained by donations and low-cost user
fees for their Qigong & Energy Medicine Database. www.QigongInstitute.org
is the best place for deep research into scientific study of medical
qigong benefits.)
Qigong
can complement Western Medicine in many ways to provide better healthcare. For
example, qigong has special value for treating chronic conditions and as a
preventive medicine, whereas Western medicine has special value for treating
acute conditions. Some examples include chronic problems such as hypertension,
cardiovascular disease, aging, asthma, allergies, menstrual and sexual function,
neuromuscular problems, and cancer. While practicing Qi Qong we find patients
need less medication and have demonstrated decreased side effects to medications
they are taking.
One
consequence of aging is that the levels of sex hormones change in unfavorable
directions. For example, female sex hormone (estrogen) levels tend to increase
in men and decrease in women. Three studies indicate that qigong exercise can
reverse this trend. The effect of qigong exercise on plasma sex hormone levels
was determine for hypertensive men and women. The sex hormones levels were
measured before and after qigong practice for one year. The results showed the
levels of testosterone increased by 35%, and progesterone estrogen balance was
changed to pre-menopausal levels in 40% of women.
•
The vast research of medical benefits of Qigong offers a rich source of
information for benefiting mankind. Medical cost containment is an attractive
benefit of Qigong practice and should be further explored to provide healing
potential without side effects.
•
The science and art of Qigong may open a window into new thinking about health,
medicine, psychology and spirituality. It is a physical, mental and spiritual
practice that continuously supports our natural tendency toward homeostasis.
•
If that tendency is supported with regularity, allowing one to hover more
closely to that point of balance, then the entire being can experience a
tremendous evolutionary advantage.
•
From a scientific point of view, the promise of Qigong practices provides new
avenues for understanding some of the subtle aspects of human life and its
natural inclination to strive for balance.
•
For practitioners of Qigong, it gives us an experiential understanding of
greater balance within ourselves and of the cultivation our individual physical,
mental and spiritual potential.
Benor
DJ. Spiritual healing-scientific validation of a healing revolution. Vol. 1.
Visions Publications,
Benor
DJ. Spiritual healing-scientific validation of a healing revolution, Prof.
supplement. Vol. 2.Vision Publications,
Davidson
JD, Abercrombie H, Nitschke JB, Putnam K. Regional brain function, emotion and
disorders of emotion. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 1999; 9:228-34.
Kawano
Kimiko 1, Kushita Kouhei N 2. The Function of the Brain using EEGs during
InducedMeditation. J
Intl Soc Life Info Science 1996; 14(1):91-3.
Lama
Dalai, Goleman Daniel. Destructive
Emotions, how can we overcome them?
Reuther
I, Aldridge D. Treatment of bronchial asthma with qigong Yangsheng–A pilot
study. JAltern Complement Med 1998; 4(2):173-83.
Sancier
KM. The effect of qigong on therapeutic balancing measured by electroacupuncture
according to Voll (EAV): A preliminary study. Acupunct Electrother Res 1994;
19(2/3):119-27.
Sancier
KM. Anti-Aging Benefits of Qigong. J Intl Soc Life Info Science 1996a;
14(1):12-21.
Sancier
KM . Medical applications of qigong. Altern Ther Health Med 1996b; 1(4).
Sancier
KM. Therapeutic Benefits of Qigong Exercises in Combination with Drugs. J
AlternComplement Med 1999; 5(4):383-9.
Sancier
KM. Qigong and neurologic illness. Weintraub M. Complementary and alternative
medicine for neurologic illness.
Sancier
KM. Qigong database. Adv Mind Body Med 2000; 16(3):159.
Sancier
KM, Hu B. Medical applications of qigong and emitted qi on humans, animals, cell
cultures & plants: review of selected scientific research. Am J. Acupuncture
1991; 19(4):36777.
Wang
CX, Xu DH. [The beneficial effect of qigong on the ventricular function and
microcirculation in deficiency of heart-energy hypertensive patients]. Chung Hsi
I Chieh Ho
Tsa
Chih 1991; 11(11):659-60.
Wang
CX, Xu DH. [Effect of qigong on plasma coagulation fibrinolysis indices of
hypertensive patients with blood stasis]. Chung Kuo Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa
Chih 1993; 13(7):415-6.
Wang
CX, Xu DH, Qian YC . Effect of qigong on heart-qi deficiency and blood stasis
type of hypertension and its mechanism. Chung Kuo Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa Chih
1995;15(8):454-8.
Yamamoto
M 1, Hirasawa M 1, Kokubo H 1, Sakaida H 1, Kimiko Kawano K 2 1. Study on
Analyzing Methods of Human Body Functions Using Various Simultaneous
Measurements (VSM) -The Second Year Report of the 5-Year-Project Supported by
Science and Technology Agency (STA), Japan-. J Intl Soc Life Info Science 1997;
15(2):2.
8.
Do
you know what Supplements you need?
Just
as
vit B- niacin behaves differently in different people (sympathetic dominants or
slow oxidizers benefit from it, parasympathetic will get worse with it) so too
do all the other nutrients. Vit. B3 prescribed for elevated cholesterol
could be beneficial only for sympathetic type, and potentially harmful for
others.
Standard
bag with calcium, magnesium, vit. B, A, E, coenzyme Q10 prescribed by most
naturopathic doctors could be your medicine or your poison.
Here's
a related problem: The uncertainty involved with the use of standardized
nutrition is so great that even when clinicians do luck out and get good results
with someone, they don't know why they're getting good results.
How
do we know this to be the case? Because today there is not a health practitioner
anywhere using clinical nutrition who would not have to admit that what works on
one person who comes through his door doesn't work on the next person.
Metabolic
Typing Approach to Nutrition
Today's
nutritionists lack a systematic means of obtaining consistent, predictable, reproducible
results.
It's
also important to keep in mind that all applicable to nutrients also applies to
foods. Foods have highly specific effects - and variable effects-on the body's
fundamental homeostatic controls, in the same way nutrients do.
With
respect to the autonomic nervous system, for example, parasympathetic dominants
do better on root vegetables, whereas sympathetic dominants do better on leafy
vegetables. This is due to the fact that some vegetables contain more potassium
than others, and potassium either stimulates or inhibits one side or the other
of the ANS, depending on the quantity of the mineral that is present.
Standardized
Protocol for Osteoporosis
To give you a more in-depth understanding of how
this works, let's look at a typical standardized nutritional protocol for
osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to become thin and fragile.
Osteoporosis is also associated with calcium
deficiency. In fact, calcium supplements are the very first thing most
nutritionists prescribe for women at risk of bone loss. As a result, women
today are buying up calcium supplements like mad.
Is
calcium the thing you ought to be taking?
Just for a moment stop and think: if taking
calcium supplements would stop osteoporosis – we would not have this problem
by now. Just look at shelves in any Pharmacy or grocery store: shelves and
shelves with calcium while osteoporosis rates skyrocket. What is wrong with the
picture? May be the calcium from the bottle does not necessarily go into bones?
Well, the answer is-yes and no. Yes if it's
appropriate to your metabolic type, and no if it's not. But here's a crucial
point you need to understand:
Osteoporosis is a dysfunction or, an inefficiency
of calcium metabolism
For some metabolic types, such as fast oxidizers
or parasympathetic dominants, this dysfunctional calcium metabolism is the
result of an actual lack or quantitative deficiency of calcium in the body. So,
there are some people with osteoporosis who do need to obtain calcium, and
plenty of it. Then there are other people with osteoporosis who have entirely
different biochemical imbalances at the root of the problem. For these people,
dysfunctional calcium metabolism is actually the result of a relative excess of
calcium. This calcium excess exists relative to synergistic nutrients, i.e., the
other nutrients that calcium requires in order to be properly
utilized.
So, for some metabolic types, taking more calcium
only worsens osteoporosis, by accelerating deficiencies in synergistic
nutrients. If calcium is not metabolized properly it could start severe
calcification of organs (normally starting from kidneys). At the same time it
continuously is being washed out of bones. Taking calcium supplements also can
develop calcium allergies, and this in turn accelerates the rate of calcium loss
from bone tissue, where it should be held. Now let's go further by looking at a
broader spectrum of biochemical imbalances that could potentially lead to
osteoporosis.
To
answer the question what supplements YOU need you must know how at least 4
fundamentals of homeostatic control systems work in your body:
1. the autonomic nervous
system dominant function (sympathetic, parasympathetic type)
2. the oxidative system
(the "carbo-oxidative" system)
3. catabolic/anabolic
balance ( the "lipo-oxidative" system)
4. electrolyte balance
An imbalance in one or more of these systems
could cause calcium and bone metabolism to go awry and cause osteoporosis.
Each of these homeostatic controls is dualistic,
meaning it's comprised of opposing biochemical imbalances:
sympathetic/parasympathetic, fast oxidation/slow oxidation, and so on.
What's important to realize is that every
nutrient has a stimulating effect on either one side or the other of these
dualistic homeostatic controls.
Note that not every nutrient influences every
control. Calcium, for example, influences each of the four homeostatic
controls, while lysine influences only one.
Depending on the control imbalance that lies at
the base of the illness in question, a given nutrient will either correct the
imbalance, worsen the imbalance, or have no effect; and in turn it will improve
the condition, worsen the condition, or have no effect.
Sympathetic,
Parasympathetic Nervous Systems and Metabolism Controls
Now imagine that the cause of your osteoporosis
is an imbalance in the sympathetic branch of your autonomic nervous system
(ANS). This would mean that you're sympathetic dominant, i.e., your sympathetic
system is too strong and overactive by comparison with your parasympathetic
system.
But if you take calcium-what happens? Calcium
stimulates or strengthens the sympathetic branch and inhibits the
parasympathetic branch, - just the opposite to what you need.
Now, what would happen if you have osteoporosis
and you happen to have a parasympathetic imbalance, i.e., you happen to be a
parasympathetic dominant. This would mean that your parasympathetic system is
too strong and overactive by comparison with your sympathetic system.
Magnesium
Protocols
10. Understanding your Vitamins: How Good are the Store Brands?
In
It has been well documented that in
The truth is that many vitamins and microelements have a very short life spam.
Are
the Ingredients Natural or Synthetic?
Did you know that the main ingredient of
One-a-Day tablets is a by-product of Kodak film? Kodak's biggest
client, next to the film industry, is the vitamin industry, because this
petroleum by-product is cheap, is approved by the
FDA, and is the main
ingredient in almost all of the synthetic vitamins. Can you imagine what
that petroleum does to our insides? Would you prefer to swallow something
petroleum-based or plant-based?
Yes, with cheap vitamin brands you are paying for
petroleum and taking it inside. Ideally the best supplements would consist
exclusively of natural ingredients, with no artificial colors or added
preservatives. Most of the less expensive supplements are made from
synthetic ingredients.
What
is the Absorption Rate?
By far the most important attribute to look for in a
quality supplement is the adsorption rate. If what you are taking does not
even adsorb, why even take it in the first place. The problem with most
supplements is their small adsorption rates. Have you ever taken an iron
supplement? Did you enjoy it? These rather large pills often cause
constipation, tarry black stools, and maybe a little nausea, and the pills are
so large in the hopes that some portion will be adsorbed. The rest passes
through the body like eating a rock.
Did you know that the Body does not eliminate Carbohydrates?
Your body never eliminates the carbohydrates that you
eat unless you have diabetes or a serious kidney disease? In other words, your
body is either going to use or to store all carbohydrates! Fructose is a
carbohydrate, and as a carbohydrate fructose is never excreted from your body.
There is a patented process called "fructose compounding" whereby the
minerals are "pre-bonded" to a fructose molecule, providing one of the
highest absorption rates possible. The cells sense and readily accept the
fructose, consequently absorbing the mineral simultaneously, since it is part of
the same molecule.
One of the ways scientists can tell whether or not something has been adsorbed
into the body is to observe how it comes out of the body later. Anything
that comes out as feces did not get adsorbed at all. Whatever comes out as
urine did get adsorbed, and was used by the body, processed by the spleen, etc.
In order to make anything in the body, an ingredient
has to get into a cell. All foods are fighting for adsorption, and the
intestinal cell walls can adsorb only so much. Vitamins adsorb fairly well,
but minerals have a free electron and will bond with whatever is handy, which is
often something too large to be able to pass through a cell wall.
Consequently most minerals pass directly through the body without ever being
adsorbed.
Most over-the-counter vitamins are only adsorbed 3-9%.
The mineral pathway procedure (generally salts as cheapest means) used by most
pharmaceuticals is only 3-4%
efficient. The published absorption rate for "Tums" is
5%.
Whenever a fructose molecule is adsorbed, it would pull the bonded mineral
molecule with it. This means that the supplements would have close to 100%
absorption rate. Instead of the larger doses required for sulfate or amino acid
processes, with fructose compounding the doses could be reduced, thus allowing
the numbers of tablets and the sizes of tablets to be minimized while at the
same time guaranteeing far greater absorption.
Liquid vitamins of natural sources are another option. Your best bet will be taking organic vitamins and minerals derived from live plants. Specifically, from pure deep sea vegetation. See E3Live (available at Planet Organic Store) - your complete food, frozen algae. We are a form of life that is not synthetic, and we absorb best the “form of life” that is a building block of some kind. Algae is the oldest population on Earth, and can be a building block to practically any nutrient. Bioavailability is 90-96%. Your liver, immune and endocrine systems will say you a big “Thank you!” Energy levels and detoxing effects are amazing. (Read more at: www.E3Live.com)
Unnecessary
Ingredients and Fillers
Many store brands contain ingredients and fillers you
don’t need. Most provide inadequate nutrient doses. For example, Centrum
contains only 4% of the effective dose of the critical antioxidant lutein, 6% of
the effective dose of lycopene, and only 29% of the recommended daily Intake of
selenium. (Studies show that selenium may be a factor in prevention of
certain types of cancer.) Widely advertised Centrum contains just 16%
of the RDI of calcium. Centrum as per our research is the worst vitamin on
the market. Without the complete therapeutic dose, the ingredients do little and
are virtually non-existent.
11. On Sexuality, Sensuality, and Sex.
Unless
an individual has been involved in conscious spiritual/energy practices of
transforming their sexual energy by choice, and moving it to higher energy
centers - absence of healthy sex in life could create serious health concerns.
The
above mentioned transformative practices include higher levels of yoga, Qi Qong,
and Tantric practices.
Below is a short article by Dr.Veltheim on the topic.
“
Is Sex Necessary?
As a
general rule we associate sensuality with the emotional body and the senses –
especially the subtle ones. The sexuality is primarily a function of the nervous
system, reproductive system, and brain.
When the
brain is disengaged, interaction tends towards the sensual. Once the brain is
activate along with its tool – the imagination, then sexuality tends to be
activated.
Medically,
health problems with sensuality are relatively minor compared to problems with
sexuality. Ironically, it is usually and lack of understanding of sensuality
that leads to the belief systems that create problems with sexuality. Sexual
problems are easily the major cause of serious diseases of the brain, nervous
system, and genetics (reproduction or cells).
I don't
think we can live healthily without sex. I believe some people do manage to cope
and live apparently "normal" lives.
However, a
trained eye will soon be able to spot the many manifestations of sexual blockage
causing obesity, diabetes, mental disorders, spinal disorders, seizure type
issues such as epilepsy and migraine, IBS, etc. We could also speculate that the
lack of sex is due to pathological belief systems that will ensure they do not
have the opportunities for healthy sex.
Researchers
like Reich and Lowen showed that masturbation can be a temporary fix for short
periods of time. However, in the long term masturbation without interaction of a
partner (opposite or same sex) will definitely create sexual blockage and life
threatening disease.
Research
in
by
Dr. John Veltheim
Copyright © 2004 Pathway Medicine. All rights reserved.
Revised: March 13, 2011.
