Fitness & Complementary Therapist

A good deal of advice that was once considered gospel truth among the medical community is now being questioned.

Runner's Knee

Many doctors, while advocating for exercising in general, have recommended swimming and walking over running because of the assumption that running would ultimately destroy your knees. New studies reveal, however, that not only is runner's knee avoidable, running can actually protect your knees.

Margarine

Margarine was invented in a laboratory by a chemist in 1813. By the 1960s, when cholesterol became a bad word, doctors were recommending margarine over butter because it was naturally cholesterol free. A few years ago, however, it became apparent that margarine's trans-fat not only raises bad cholesterol but also lowers good cholesterol.

Eggs

In recent decades eggs have been demonized as being loaded with fat and cholesterol to such an extent that doctors were recommending that adults limit consumption to a few per week or else eat those tasteless egg substitutes. But the cholesterol in eggs doesn't seem to have much effect on blood cholesterol levels. And eggs are high in many essential vitamins, minerals and fatty acids.

Aspirin Therapy

A daily, low dose of aspirin can help prevent heart attacks for people with coronary heart disease. But it’s a bad idea to be on aspirin when a vessel in your stomach or brain starts to bleed. The latter is called a hemorrhagic stroke. And there’s no evidence that daily aspirin can prevent heart disease in people who are already healthy. So by taking aspirin, you can seriously increase this risk of a hemorrhagic stroke or internal bleeding with absolutely no benefit to compensate for the risk.

1.The swine flu is simply another flu. It is not unusually deadly.

2.This is the first time both seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines will be administered. Both seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines will require two inoculations. This is because single inoculations have failed to produce sufficient antibodies. This is an admission that prior flu vaccines were virtually useless. Can you trust them this time?

3.Adjuvants are added to vaccines to boost production of antibodies but may trigger autoimmune reactions. Some adjuvants are mercury (thimerosal), aluminum and squalene. Why would you sign a consent form for your children to be injected with mercury, which is even more brain-toxic than lead?

4.This is the first year mock vaccines have been used to gain FDA approval. The vaccines that have been tested are not the same vaccines your children will be given.

5.Over-vaccination is a common practice now in America. American children are subjected to 29 vaccines by the age of two. Meanwhile, veterinarians have backed off of repeat vaccination in dogs because of observed side effects.

6.Modern medicine has no explanation for autism, despite its continued rise in prevalence. Yet autism is not reported among Amish children who go unvaccinated.

7.Researchers are warning that over-use of the flu vaccine and anti-flu drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza can apply genetic pressure on flu viruses and then they are more likely to mutate into a more deadly strain.

8.Most seasonal influenza A (H1N1) virus strains tested from the United States and other countries are now resistant to Tamiflu (oseltamivir). Tamiflu has become a nearly worthless drug against seasonal flu.

9. Public health officials are irresponsible in their omission of any ways to strengthen immunity against the flu. No options outside of problematic vaccines and anti-flu drugs are offered, despite the fact there is strong evidence that vitamins C and D activate the immune system and the trace mineral selenium prevents the worst form of the disease.

What the Research Really Says About Apple Cider Vinegar

There have been many lofty claims about the miraculous healing powers of apple cider vinegar, and many people do seem to be experiencing some health benefits. However, much of what you read about this product on the Internet is overstated, or simply unfounded.

Some proponents of apple cider vinegar claim it can cure everything from diabetes to acid reflux, to warts, cancer, arthritis, athlete’s foot, halitosis, high cholesterol, gout, poison oak, urinary tract infections, and even head lice!

With the surging interest in alternative medicine, you can now even get apple cider vinegar in pill form.

Dramatic claims aside, let’s examine what is really known about vinegar, based on the scientific studies to date.

Latest Research Findings on Vinegar and Diabetes

There has been surprisingly little research about using vinegar for therapeutic health purposes, given the large number of dramatic claims about it. However, lack of scientific studies is a common problem for many natural and alternative therapies.

Perhaps the most researched and the most promising of apple cider vinegar’s benefits are in the area of type 2 diabetes. Several studies have found that vinegar may help lower blood glucose levels.

In 2004, a study cited in the American Diabetes Foundation’s publication Diabetes Care[i] found that taking vinegar before meals significantly increased insulin sensitivity and dramatically reduced the insulin and glucose spikes that occur after meals. The study involved 29 people, divided into three groups:

1. One third had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
2. One third had pre-diabetic signs.
3. One third were healthy.

The results were quite significant:

* All three groups had better blood glucose readings with the vinegar than with the placebo.
* People with prediabetic symptoms benefitted the most from the vinegar, cutting their blood glucose concentrations by nearly half.
* People with diabetes improved their blood glucose levels by 25 percent with vinegar.
* People with prediabetic symptoms had lower blood glucose than the healthy participants after both drank vinegar.

A follow-up study geared at testing vinegar’s long-term effects yielded an unexpected but pleasant side effect: moderate weight loss. In this study, participants taking two tablespoons of vinegar prior to two meals per day lost an average of two pounds over the four-week period, and some lost up to four pounds.

In 2007, another study cited by WebMD involving 11 people with type 2 diabetes found taking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bed lowered glucose levels in the morning by 4 to 6 percent.

Although the research to date looks favorable, more studies are needed to confirm the extent of vinegar’s insulin stabilization benefits.

Vinegar and Blood Pressure

There is far less research exploring vinegar and heart health.

In 2006, one study showed that vinegar could lower cholesterol in laboratory rats. Another study on rats found their blood pressure could be lowered by the acetic acid in vinegar.

However, these results do not necessarily apply to people; therefore, we really need some research on humans before conclusions can be drawn.

Possible Cancer Combatant

There is some positive preliminary research suggesting apple cider vinegar can help prevent cancer. A few laboratory studies have found that vinegar may be able to kill cancer cells or slow their growth. However, epidemiological studies of people have yielded confusing results.

One study found that taking vinegar was associated with a decreased risk of esophageal cancer. Another associated it with an increased risk for bladder cancer. Clearly, the jury is still out on cancer prevention.

An Apple a Day

Those who tout apple cider vinegar’s wide-ranging benefits say its healing power comes from the abundance of nutrients that remain, even after the apples are fermented. They contend that vinegar is rich in minerals, vitamins (including potassium, calcium, and beta-carotene), complex carbohydrates and fiber, pectin, amino acids, and beneficial enzymes.

The problem is, when standard nutritional analyses of apple cider vinegar are done, it is found to be a poor source of most of these nutrients. For example, the one milligram of calcium found in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar does not come close to the 1,000 milligrams a typical adult needs each day.

It has been claimed that soluble fiber in the vinegar, in the form of pectin, binds to cholesterol and helps carry it out of your body, thereby improving your lipid profile. However, apple cider vinegar contains no measurable pectin or any other fiber, for that matter.

Perhaps apple cider’s magic may come from the vitamins it contains?

Wrong again.

According to the USDA, apple cider vinegar has no measurable vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, beta-carotene, or folate -- and it’s equally lacking in amino acids, lycopene, or any other nutritional elements.

Then, is this stuff just good for cleaning windows and dying eggs?

Hardly.

Even though it is devoid of many of the traditionally valued nutrients, evidence of apple cider vinegar’s health benefits has been witnessed for hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of years.

So, what can explain this mysteriously beneficial elixir?

It could be partially related to the fact that vinegar is a diluted acid, specifically acetic acid, which is responsible for its sour taste and pungent smell. The pH changes it induces may contribute to some of its actions.

Some of the dramatic benefits may also be derived from yet-to-be-identified phytochemicals (beneficial compounds in plants) that scientists are now discovering in a number of different foods. In fact, many of your strongest weapons against cancer are the phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables.

The more we know, the more we realize we don’t know.

One thing that apple cider vinegar is high in is acetic acid. Like other acids, acetic acid can increase your body’s absorption of important minerals from the foods you eat. Therefore, it is possible that drinking a mild tonic of vinegar and water just before meals might improve your body’s ability to absorb the essential minerals locked in foods. Apple cider vinegar might help you get more out of your leafy greens!

How can apple cider vinegar help regulate your insulin?

One theory is that it might activate some of the digestive enzymes that break down carbohydrates into sugar, thus slowing absorption of sugar from a meal into your bloodstream. This gives your body more time to pull sugar out of your blood, preventing your sugar levels from spiking.

The Gnarlier, the Better

When purchasing an apple cider vinegar, you’ll want to avoid the perfectly clear, “sparkling clean” varieties you commonly see on grocery store shelves. Instead, you want organic, unfiltered, unprocessed apple cider vinegar, which is murky and brown.

When you try to look through it, you will notice a cobweb-like substance floating in it. This is known as “mother,” and it indicates your vinegar is of good quality.

The reason manufacturers distil vinegar is to remove this rather schmurky looking stuff that most folks won’t buy. But in this case, it’s the murky looking stuff you want. As with everything else, the more processed a food is, the less nutritious, and this holds true for apple cider vinegar.

The first vinegar was the result of an ancient accident.

Long ago, someone stored a keg of wine too long (presumeably a poorly sealed one that allowed oxygen in). When the eager drinkers opened it, they found a sour liquid instead of wine. The name “vinegar” comes from the French words for “sour wine.”

How Should Apple Cider Vinegar be Used?

There are no official guidelines about taking vinegar internally. Some people take one to two teaspoons a day, mixed in a glass of water or juice, before meals or in the morning, and report benefits from doing so. The risk of taking small amounts of apple cider vinegar seems low.

Apple cider vinegar makes a delightful salad dressing. You can even make a vinegar-based coleslaw, rather than the usual creamy mayonnaise-based one. It is good on fish as well and serves as a great tenderizing marinade for meat, giving it a bit of zing. And it’s tasty drizzled over cooked greens.

If you are considering taking it medicinally, there are some things to keep in mind:

* Apple cider vinegar is highly acidic. The main ingredient is acetic acid, which is quite harsh. You should always dilute it with water or juice before swallowing. Pure, straight apple cider vinegar could damage your tooth enamel or the tissues of your mouth and throat. (There is, in fact, one reported incident of long-term esophageal damage to a woman who got an apple cider vinegar supplement capsule stuck in her throat.)
* Long-term excessive use could conceivably cause low potassium levels and lower bone density.
* Apple cider vinegar could theoretically interact with diuretics, laxatives, and medicines for diabetes and heart disease.

If you are under the care of a physician and you want to try a course of apple cider vinegar, talk to your doctor first to make sure it won’t interfere with any of the medications you are presently on.

Apple Cider Vinegar -- It’s Not Just a Breakfast Drink

Vinegar is one of the best natural agents for removing certain pesticides and bacteria from your fresh produce. Of course, you don’t need apple cider vinegar for this -- any basic white vinegar will do, and for a fraction of the price.

Gayle Povis Alleman, MS, RD recommends a solution of 10 percent vinegar to 90 percent water as a bath to briefly soak produce. Just place your veggies or fruit in the solution, swish it around, and rinse thoroughly.

Don’t use this process on fragile fruits (like berries), since they could be damaged in the process or soak up too much vinegar through their porous skins.

* Apple cider vinegar has long been used as a natural hair care product. Its acidity is close to that of human hair; it’s a good conditioner and cleaning agent, as well as an effective germ killer. You can visit http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com for information on how to make a vinegar hair rinse.
* Vinegar also has some applications for pets, including cleaning ears, relief of certain skin problems, and combating fleas and ticks[vi].
* Some horse owners claim apple cider vinegar is an excellent natural horse fly spray and horse hoof care product.
* Vinegar is a great, all around cleaning agent for everything from countertops to windows.

Obviously, we need a great deal more research to investigate vinegar’s full healing potential. While it is not likely an all-encompassing miracle cure, it can certainly be useful in a variety of ways, for a variety of conditions. It’s one more multi-purpose tool to have in your natural pantry.

And if you are really ambitious and adventuresome, you might want to try your hand at making apple cider vinegar from scratch. Detailed instructions can be found at http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com.

So enjoy......

Doctors are warning that excessive cola consumption can lead to anything from mild weakness to profound muscle paralysis. This is because the drink can cause your blood potassium to drop dangerously low. One Australian ostrich farmer needed emergency care for lung paralysis after drinking large amounts of cola.

Researchers believe that many people risk problems due to their intake. Dr. Clifford Packer says that, “We have every reason to think that it is not rare. With aggressive mass marketing, super-sizing of soft drinks, and the effects of caffeine tolerance and dependence, there is very little doubt that tens of millions of people in industrialized countries drink at least 2-3 liters of cola per day.”

According to Packer, "It follows that the serum potassium levels of these heavy cola drinkers are dropping, in some cases, to dangerously low levels."

Excessive cola consumption has also been linked with obesity, diabetes and tooth and bone problems.

Sources:

BBC News May 19, 2009

Priority for achieving optimal health by Dr Mercola:

1. Healthy Living
2. Avoiding Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)
3. Clean Water
4. Healthy Food
5. Healthy Movement
6. Emotions & Relationships
7. Tests
8. Organ Support
9. Supplements
10. Detox Tools

As you can see detoxification is an important tool, but it is not at the top of the priority list -- especially if you are sick. Unfortunately, a lot of people first consider detoxing when they’re not feeling well.

It’s important to realize that if you fail to follow an orderly process and begin detoxification processes prematurely, it can deteriorate your health even further, making you very sick.

Why is Your Diet so Important When it Comes to Detoxing?

In addition to avoiding or limiting your exposure to toxins, you need to focus on eating a healthy diet, preferably based on your nutritional type to reap maximum overall health benefits.

The Weston A. Price diet recommendations -- which were written in 1920 and still, like all truths, hold true today -- includes these timeless guidelines:

* Eat foods that are natural, unprocessed, and organic (and contain no sugar except for the occasional bit of honey or maple syrup).
* Eat foods that grow in your native environment. In other words, eat locally grown, seasonal foods.
* Eat unpasteurized dairy products (such as raw milk) and fermented foods.
* Eat at least one-third of your food raw.
* Make sure you eat enough healthy fats, including those from animal sources like omega-3 fat, and reduce your intake of omega-6 from vegetable oils.

Additionally, it’s important to understand that if you’re deficient in essential metals, your body will actually use toxic heavy metals as “stand-ins” instead.

For example:

* Calcium is replaced by lead, which deposits primarily in bone, and disrupts the formation of red blood cells. Lead contributes to poor bone health such as osteopenia and osteoporosis.
* Zinc is replaced by cadmium, which tends to accumulate heavily in your kidneys. Cadmium overload is associated with peripheral neuropathy.
* Magnesium is replaced by aluminum, which, among other things, induces neurochemical changes and has been identified as a contributing factor to developing Alzheimer’s.
* Manganese is replaced by nickel, which is carcinogenic.

So not only do you need to make sure you’re getting vital nutrients in order to avoid this toxic metal replacement process, you also need nutrients to aid your body’s natural detoxification process.

Toxins are naturally eliminated from your body through your liver. It converts many (but not all) of the harmful chemicals you ingest or absorb into water-soluble molecules that are flushed out in your urine or feces.

Remember, Your Skin Eliminates Toxins Too

One beneficial detox method is using an infra-red sauna, particularly for slow metabolizers. It heats your tissues several inches deep, which can enhance your natural metabolic processes. It also enhances circulation and helps oxygenate your tissues.

Your skin is another major organ of elimination, but many people do not sweat on a regular basis. This may be due to wearing synthetic or tight clothing that does not breathe. Sedentary living and sun damage also inactivate your skin. Repeated use of the sauna slowly restores skin elimination, which can help reduce your toxic load quite significantly. Steam baths, sweat lodges, vigorous exercise and hot tubs are other options, but not as effective.

Your results will be best when saunas are part of an integrated program as described above. You may want to add some natural, unprocessed salt to your diet to replace minerals lost through sweating.

Cautionary Notes

Please remember that you should avoid starting any detox regimen when you are sick.

You need to establish a healthy lifestyle and dietary habits FIRST, so you have a reserve that your body can draw on to allow your liver to do its job properly.

If you fail to do this you can easily overwhelm your liver's ability to process the toxic substances that are being eliminated and you will become very sick, wishing you had never done the detox in the first place. I have seen this happen many times, so please use caution and evaluate your current state of health before embarking on any kind of detoxification program.

Clearing Up Two Major Myths About Osteoporosis and Its Treatment

The first myth is that osteoporosis is due to a calcium deficiency. As you’ll soon see, that’s not simply the case.

The second misconception is that the treatment for it is to use bisfosphonate drugs like Fosamax, Actonel, or Boniva. This is one of the worst strategies for treating this condition, because even though it will increase your bone density, it is a poison! The reason these drugs work is because they actually kill certain cells in your bone called osteoclasts. These are the cells that destroy bone as part of your natural bone regeneration process.

When these cells die off, you’re left with only osteoblasts, which build bone. Hence you get bigger bone that is denser, but NOT stronger. Your bones actually become weaker, and in the long term increase your risk of developing a fracture.

Your bone undergoes a dynamic process, constantly being remolded based on the forces in your body, and you need to have both osteoblasts and osteclasts to remove old bone and rebuild new bone.

Another drug you want to avoid, especially if you have asthma or any other autoimmune disease, is steroids. Steroids are very detrimental for bone density, and will increase your risk of osteoporosis.

One of the important strategies for healthy bones is to eat the right kind of foods. If you eat a diet full of processed foods, it will produce biochemical and metabolic conditions in your body that will decrease your bone density, so avoiding processed foods is the first step in the right direction.

Eating high quality, organic, biodynamic, locally-grown food will naturally increase your bone density and decrease your risk of developing osteoporosis.

One food in particular worth mentioning are onions, which are high in gamma-glutamyl peptides that have been shown to increase bone density. But generally, you’ll want to eat lots of fresh vegetables.

There’s a common concern that eating a high protein diet will secrete calcium into your urine. But the truth of the matter is that more people are now eating low-protein diets, and your body needs protein, because amino acids are part of the bone matrix. If you don’t consume enough of specific amino acids your body can’t form strong, dense bones. So you’ll also want to make sure you eat plenty of high quality protein like free-range eggs and grass-fed meats.

One food you may want to consider avoiding is gluten -- a specific protein in many grains, specifically wheat, but also barley, rye, oats and spelt. Gluten has been shown to decrease bone density.

Beneficial Supplements

Along with your foods, your omega 3 fat content has a lot to do with building healthy bone. Most everyone needs to take a high quality, animal-based omega 3 fat. I recommend krill oil, as I believe it’s a superior source of omega 3’s.

At the same time, to balance out your omega 3 and omega 6 ratio, you’ll want to reduce the amount of processed vegetable oils you consume. Oils like corn oil, safflower- and soy oil are loaded with omega 6’s. Additionally, canola should be avoided for other reasons.

Another supplement you may want to consider if you already have osteoporosis is vitamin K2, which has been shown to radically improve bone density. Fermented foods, such as natto, typically have the highest concentration of vitamin K found in the human diet and can provide several milligrams of vitamin K2 on a daily basis.

Additional Components that are Vital for Bone Density

Two additional components that are vital for building bone density and strength are vitamin D and proper exercise.

Vitamin D -- Interestingly, you don’t need much vitamin D to protect you against osteomalacia (the term for the softening of bones due to defective bone mineralization, also known as rickets in children). In fact, most of our RDA’s are based on that observation, which is why they’re up to ten times lower than what many people need for optimal health.

Now we know that vitamin D is enormously important for an ever-growing number of conditions, which is why I recommend you regularly expose large amounts of your skin to safe amounts of sunshine (or use a safe tanning bed) to optimize your vitamin D levels.

Proper exercise -- The second component you can’t ignore if you want strong, healthy bones is weight bearing exercises like strength training. Remember, bone-building is a dynamic process, so you want to make sure you exert enough force on your bones to stimulate the osteoblasts to build new bone.

You may want to see a personal trainer or exercise therapist to give you specific exercises to build up the muscles around the bone that are most at risk, such as your arms and hips, as that’s where most of the damage occurs.

The Calcium Lie

Dr. Robert Thompson M.D. wrote an entire book, The Calcium Lie, addressing this important issue. Although he’d been able to resolve many illnesses with supplements and herbs and other less toxic alternatives to drugs, he’d come to realize that similar to the pharmaceutical industry, the nutrition industry had its own flaws.

He concluded that enormous amounts of money were being wasted on supplements that had little or no health benefit, and in some cases could actually worsen your health.

One of the tenets of his book is that bone is composed of at least a dozen minerals, and if you focus exclusively on calcium supplementation you are likely going to worsen your bone density, and will actually increase your risk of osteoporosis!

Dr. Thompson believes that the over consumption of calcium in the goal of preventing osteoporosis creates other mineral deficiencies and imbalances that will also increase your risk of heart disease, kidney stones, gallstones, osteoarthritis, hypothyroidism, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Interestingly, he proposes that one of the best practical alternatives is the use of naturally occurring ionic supplements, as ionic minerals are the most plentiful form of minerals found on earth. He believes that almost everyone needs trace minerals, not just calcium, because you simply cannot get all the nutrients you need through food grown in mineral depleted soils.

Unprocessed Salt – A Better Alternative to Calcium Supplementation

Dr. Thompson believes that unprocessed salts are one of the best sources of these ionic trace minerals responsible for catalyzing many important functions in your body.

I have been a long time fan of high quality salt, and even more so once I learned of Himalayan salt, which I believe is one of the healthiest salts on the planet. High quality salts like Himalayan contain vitally important trace minerals from the ancient oceans that are not contaminated with toxins, and which are very difficult to get in your food due to the challenges of modern agricultural practices.

Before you reach for expensive over-the-counter or prescription allergy remedies, you might want to try an inexpensive alternative treatment that really seems to work: nasal irrigation, or washing out your nose once or twice daily with warm salt water. Most medical studies on nasal irrigation for allergies are rather positive, and there's little risk and little expense in trying.

Spring marks the beginning of pollen season, and the same yellowish dust that coats your car also fills your nasal passages, causing enough irritation to trigger an allergic reaction. Nasal irrigation simply washes away the irritants causing the allergy symptoms.

Many medical institutions, such as the Mayo Clinic, advocate the use of nasal irrigation. The most recent study appeared in January 2009, with the 200 patients in the study reporting some relief of symptoms from twice daily irrigations.
Why is Salt Good for Your Sinuses and More?

Salt -- in its natural form -- has many therapeutic properties when inhaled or used as a soak. Not only are brine baths, which you can make at home by adding a large amount (about 2.6 pounds of salt for a 27-32 gallon tub) of natural, high-quality salt like Himalayan salt to your bathwater, a great way to revitalize your body, but salt rooms are also growing in popularity.

These rooms, which are essentially small rooms covered in salt, originated in Eastern Europe but have made their way to the United States, including to my hometown of Chicago. Visitors sit in the room for a half hour or an hour to simply breathe in the salty air. And anecdotal reports say they’re beneficial for everything from asthma to respiratory infections to stress.

Nasal irrigation, however, is likely beneficial not only because of the therapeutic effects of salt, but also due to the physical flushing that helps remove irritants.

If you are going to use salt in your nasal irrigation I would suggest you avoid using conventional processed salts and instead use a high-quality sea salt or even better Himalayan Salt.

How to Use Nasal Irrigation

Nasal irrigation takes a bit of getting used to, but once you learn the technique you’ll see how simple it really is. To start, you’ll need:

• All-natural Himalayan salt or sea salt
• Filtered or distilled water
• Neti pot or bulb syringe
• Towel or washcloth

The technique, outlined below, may seem unusual at first. However, once learned, you will quickly realize how beneficial it is for sinus problems.

1. Locate a workable container. The neti pot is specially designed with a spout that fits comfortably in one nostril. Alternatives you can use include a bulb syringe, a small flower watering pot, a turkey baster or just a teacup (though the latter will be messier).

2. Fill the container with lukewarm salt water. The salt-to-water ratio is 1 teaspoon sea salt to 1 pint (2 cups) water. Filtered or distilled water is best.

3. Have some tissues within reach for this next part. Over a sink, tilt your head forward so you are looking directly down toward the sink. Insert the spout into your right nostril. It is important that you breathe through your mouth. Turn your head to the right and let water move into the right nostril and exit the left nostril. Normally, you will feel the water as it passes through your sinuses.

It is fine if some of the water drains into your mouth. Simply spit it out and adjust the tilt of your head.

4. After using a cup of water, repeat the above procedure for the other nostril.

5. To finish, expel any remaining water by quickly blowing air out both open nostrils 15 times over the sink. Avoid the temptation to block off one nostril, as doing so may force water into your eustachian tube.

It is important to follow all the instructions very carefully and continue the routine until all your symptoms resolve. This may take three to six months in the case of a chronic infection, so be patient. For acute problems like seasonal allergies, perform the nasal wash up to four times per day until your symptoms improve.

For chronic problems like sinus infections, it is usual to do the wash one or more times daily and continue for several months.

More Tips for Seasonal Allergy and Hay Fever Relief

Many people struggle with allergy symptoms at this time of year, and nasal irrigation is a simple, safe and inexpensive tool to relive your symptoms. But to really address allergies at the source takes a deeper approach that involves:

1. Strengthening your immune system: Eliminate or limit sugars and grains from your diet, as detailed in my nutrition plan and even more in-depth in my book Take Control of Your Health.

2. Exercising: The rate of hay fever among inactive kids is more than double that of healthier, more active youngsters, so regular exercise is an important tool to help prevent allergies from forming in the first place.

3. Addressing your emotional stress: The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is one profoundly simple, inexpensive and effective tool to address the underlying emotional traumas that can devastate your immune system and allow allergies to flourish.

4. Getting plenty of animal-based omega-3 fat: The omega-3 fat in fish oil and krill oil helps reduce both allergic and inflammatory response.

5. Optimizing your vitamin D levels: Healthy amounts of vitamin D can also help to lower inflammation.

6. Taking a high-quality pro biotic: Good bacteria (pro biotics) may help lower levels of an antibody that produces allergy symptoms while raising levels of a different antibody, called IgG, that may play a protective role against allergic reactions.

7. Considering an air purifier for your home, to help remove airborne allergens.

Ultraviolet light is a proven treatment for psoriasis, and sunshine itself can also beat back the chronic autoimmune disorder of the skin. But explaining light’s therapeutic effects has been difficult.

A new clinical trial is attempting to find out the reasons. Researchers have recruited the first of what will be 20 patients who will visit the hospital three times a week for up to four months to receive narrowband ultraviolet light B (UV treatment. Patients will give skin and blood samples as the treatment takes its course, giving the scientists the possibility to study what is happening at the molecular level as the skin gets better.

UVB therapy is known to kill off T cells, which are partly to blame for the inflammation caused by the disease. UVB may target a pathway involving two immune system proteins called cytokines, which could disrupt certain types of T cells and another specialized group of immune-directing dendritic cells.
The Bright Side of Psoriasis

Light therapy is a natural way to help treat psoriasis, and is far preferable to topical steroid creams, which can wreak havoc with your adrenal system.

It works, in part, because UV rays in sunlight and certain types of artificial light kill off the activated T cells in your skin. This slows down cell turnover and reduces the scaling and inflammation of your skin. Even brief daily exposures to sunlight may help improve psoriasis, as can controlled doses of UVB light from an artificial light source.

Ideally, you’ll want to get your vitamin D from appropriate sunshine exposure because UVB radiation on your skin will not only metabolize vitamin D, but will also help restore ideal skin function. High amounts of UVB exposure directly on affected skin -- but not so much as to cause sunburn! -- will greatly improve the quality of your skin.

Vitamin D in the form of sun exposure is actually one of your best choices when choosing natural therapies for psoriasis.
However, if you can’t get sufficient amounts of sun during the winter months, a high-quality safe tanning bed can suffice. A safe tanning bed will provide the optimized forms of UVA and UVB wavelengths, without dangerous magnetic ballasts.
Prevention is Your First Line of Defense

No one knows for sure what triggers psoriasis in some people, but it can certainly be triggered by environmental factors and dozens of other external irritants like the following:

• Laundry detergent and soaps
• Household and workplace chemicals
• Perfumes
• Animal dander
• Metals (such as nickel in jewelry)

So avoiding these irritants, if they prove to be problematic for you, is a must. But there are many other triggers as well, and you should be aware of these top factors that could be contributing to your itchy skin:

1. Your diet: A diet high in sugar and processed or refined foods can wreak havoc on all aspects of your health. The condition may also be related to food allergies or intolerances.

If you were to visit my clinic outside of Chicago as a new patient, one of the first steps we would advise would be to go on a gluten-free diet for a number of weeks and carefully observe any health improvements. This is an enormously common problem and many of our patients are surprised to find how much improvement they actually achieve from this step.

Avoiding grains will also reduce the amount of sugar in your system, which will normalize your insulin levels and reduce any and all inflammatory conditions you may have, including inflammation in your skin.

Other common allergens include milk and eggs. I recommend you do an elimination trial with these foods as well. You should see some improvement in about a week, sometimes less, after eliminating them from your diet if either of them is causing you trouble.

2. Lack of animal-based omega-3 fats. When working with any type of skin condition, you need to make sure your skin is optimally hydrated. Skin creams are rarely the answer here, rather you’ll want to hydrate your skin from the inside out by consuming high quality, animal-based omega-3 fats in your diet. Your best sources for omega-3s are animal-based fats like krill oil or fish oil.

3. Stress: Stress absolutely worsens psoriasis and may also trigger it. So make sure you are taking good care of your emotional health.

4. Weather: Cold, dry winter weather worsens psoriasis, whereas sunny, hot, humid conditions make it better. If you struggle with psoriasis and have the option of choosing where to reside, you may want to keep this in mind.

5. Lack of good bacteria in your gut. Many don’t realize this, but the health and quality of your skin is strongly linked to the health of your gut. I recommend taking a high-quality probiotic to ensure optimal digestive health. Eating fermented foods like kefir and natto can be used for this purpose as well.

A Quick Tip to Stop the Itch

If you address the issues I mentioned above, including getting plenty of safe sun exposure, you should be able to clear up psoriasis at its source in time. But I realize the painful, itchy skin associated with this condition calls for immediate relief.

Again, please do not reach for a topical steroid cream for this purpose. Long-term use of steroid creams can result in side effects such as thin, fragile, dry skin and even suppression of your adrenal glands. Plus you’ll likely develop a tolerance to them, making them ineffective over time.

A much better option is to simply put a saltwater compress over the itchy area.

You’ll want to use a high-quality natural salt, such as Himalayan salt. Simply make a solution with warm water, soak a compress, and apply the compress over the affected area. You’ll be amazed to find the itching will virtually disappear!

Secondly, you’ll want to reduce your exposure to harsh soaps and drying out your skin with excessive bathing. Use a very mild soap when you cleanse your skin, especially in the winter, to avoid stripping your skin of moisture, and do so only when necessary as opposed to automatically every day.

Do You Have Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

It’s important to realize that IBS is completely different from another condition that sounds very similar, namely inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Inflammatory bowel disease is an autoimmune disease that can have very serious consequences. But irritable bowel syndrome, even though it can cause debilitating pain, is a functional bowel disorder. In other words, there are no significant physical conditions that contribute to the problem; hence it’s a functional disease.

So how do you know if you might be suffering from IBS?

Common signs and symptoms include frequent:

* Abdominal discomfort and/or pain
* Spastic colon (spastic contractions of the colon)
* Bloating
* Gas
* Diarrhea
* Constipation

How to Treat IBS Without Drugs

Fortunately, there are some simple, basic strategies you can use as an alternative to the drugs that are typically prescribed, such as antispasmodics and antidepressants. These drugs may help control the symptoms but do nothing to address the underlying cause.

Avoid all sources of gluten -- The first step for any patient that comes to my clinic with this problem is to go on a gluten free diet. Most people understand this means avoiding all forms of wheat, but you also need to be aware that there are many other hidden sources of gluten in your diet.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, but it’s also found in other grains such as:

* Barley
* Rye
* Oats
* Spelt

Typically, avoiding gluten for a week or two is enough to see significant improvement.

In addition to gluten, food allergies can also play a role so be sensitive to that and start a trial and error process to determine which ones you have.

Get checked for parasites -- Another comprehensive strategy, to make sure you’re not struggling with a physical condition that could be simulating IBS, is to have your stool checked for parasites. Some parasites, such as giardia, can sometimes be a contributing factor that needs to be treated.

Tailor your diet to your personal biochemistry -- Naturally, you’ll want to pay close attention to your diet. Ideally, you’ll want to eat according to your nutritional type, as you have specific nutritional needs that are based on your personal biochemistry, metabolism, and genetic makeup.

Some people thrive on low-carbohydrate, high-protein and high-fat diets. A typical ratio for a Carb Type might be 40 percent protein and 30 percent each of fats and carbohydrates, but the amounts could easily shift to 50 percent fats and as little as 10 percent carbohydrates depending on individual genetic requirements.

Others require the converse: a high carb, low fat and low protein diet. (However, it’s important to realize that there is a major difference between vegetable carbs and grain carbs, even though they’re both referenced as "carbs." Grains convert to sugar, which is not something anyone needs in their diet in high amounts.) Others fall somewhere in between these Protein and Carbohydrate types and can afford to be less strict with their ratios of carbs, fats and proteins.

It’s important to realize that if you don’t eat a diet that is suitable for you, you’re likely to suffer health challenges, and a spastic colon is one possibility.

Part of nutritional typing is also to pay attention to the quality of your food. You’ll want to consume high quality, unprocessed food. Remember, 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food is for processed foods. When you choose foods like this you’re bound to experience physical complications, and it’s no big surprise that one of those complications could be in your gut.

Boost healthy bacteria in your gut -- It’s also important to make sure you have enough healthy bacteria in your gut. You can get healthy bacteria from fermented foods or a high quality supplement.

Now, once you lower the amounts of sugar and processed foods in your diet, you’re automatically creating a milieu that will support the growth of good bacteria and diminish growth of bad bacteria. But you can enhance that process further by eating fermented foods or taking a high quality probiotic.

Take your fiber – Taking additional fiber can also be very helpful to control IBS symptoms such as constipation and diarrhea. Fiber such as psyllium tends to be particularly helpful, and is my personal favorite. I use it nearly every day.

Psyllium is adaptogenic fiber, meaning if you’re constipated it will soften your stool and help increase your bowel frequency, and if you have loose stools and frequent bowel movements, it will help with stool formation and decrease the frequency of bowel movements.

If you decide to use psyllium, make sure it is organic as nearly all the products out there are not, and the damage from the pesticide residue in most of the products far outweigh the benefit you would receive from the fiber itself. Metamucil is a classic non-organic psyllium.

Another good fiber is whole, organic flax seed. You can take a few table spoons of freshly ground flax seed per day. Another benefit of flax is that it’s also a high quality source of plant-based omega-3 fats, particularly ALA, which nearly everyone needs on a regular basis.

Address emotional challenges – Last but certainly not least, I’ve found that many people with IBS have an unresolved emotional component that contributes to their physical problem. This is also one of the reasons why antidepressants are frequently prescribed. Meditation, prayer, and psychological techniques and tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) are all strategies you can use to effectively address your emotional challenges.

If irritable bowel syndrome is a condition that you or someone in your family struggles with, following these tips and recommendations can help you, and your family, to take control of your health.

New research findings show that omega-3 fats in your diet may protect your brain cells. It works by preventing the misfolding of a protein resulting from a gene mutation in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Huntington's.

Researchers developed a cell model with a mutation of the Ataxin-1 gene, which induces the misfolding of the protein. These deformed proteins cannot be properly processed by the cell machinery, resulting in tangled clumps of toxic protein that eventually kill the cell. But the omega-3 fat docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) protects cells from this defect.

The same researchers discovered earlier that neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1), a naturally occurring molecule in the human brain that is derived from DHA, also promotes brain cell survival. NPD1 is capable of rescuing the dying cells with the pathological type of Ataxin-1, keeping their integrity intact.