2020 Wddty Feb-March

Helping you make better health choices ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | AUSTRALIA/NZ
facebook.com/wddtyaunz
Reversing autism
Reignite your child's
brain with holistic
nutrition
Lower your
blood pressure
without drugs
Foods and supplements
that heal hypertension
Reverse your
failing eyesight
Pioneering treatments
for macular degeneration
PLUS Why women need to include resistance training in
their workouts. By master trainer, Andrew Griffin (p.62)
AUST/NZ $7.95 INC
GST
AND • Keeping SAD at bay • Calm your gallbladder through diet • Simple exercises to
keep moving • 15 simple moves to keep you supple • Keep your home safe from aluminum
• Bio-identical hormones: How safe and how necessary? • Walk your dog and live longer
Welcome
Published under exclusive license
Lynne McTaggart and Bryan Hubbard
in Australia and New Zealand by: Editors
Nuclear Media
PO Box 230
Double Bay NSW 1360
Australia
+612 9363 1464
Editors
Lynne McTaggart &
Bryan Hubbard
ManagingEditor
For your eyes only
JoannaEvans
J
Design udy Dench,who played“M,”head of the British Chief among them is eating your greens (and your
TTM&R:07923361303 Secret Service in seven James Bond movies,broke oranges, yellows and reds). All the carotenoids—but
andLukeShaddock hearts recently when she spoke openly about her especially the super antioxidants zeaxanthin, lutein and
ProductionEditor failing eyesight. meso-zeaxanthin—have been shown to protect the eyes
EmilieCroisier DameJudy,age84,isavictimof age-relatedmacular from free-radical damage and damaging blue light.
Production degeneration(AMD),whichcausesslowandsteady Foods like spinach and kale are rich in lutein and
RickGreer deteriorationof cellsinthemacula,thepigmentedpartof the zeaxanthin, and research shows that getting at least 5.8 mg
MasterTrainer eyeinthecenterof theretinawherevisionismostfocused. of these special antioxidants a day can decrease your risk of
AndrewGriffin Theconditioncreatesalittlecloudrightinthefieldof AMD by a whopping 43 percent.1
Contributors visionandcausesstraightlinestoappearwavy,makingit But it’s essential that you get adequate amounts of all
DrRobVerkerk difficulttoread,write,driveorevenwalk. three to maintain a healthy macula, particularly as levels of
DrRohiniSathish
CharlotteWatts
DameJudyhasacceptedherconditionstoicallyassimply all three can tend to diminish as you age.
CateMontana apoorgeneticrollof thedice,sincehermothersuffered One study showed the three carotenoids can increase
CelesteMcGovern fromit,too. the density of pigment inside the macula, which helps to
JaneTurney Shesaysthatshenowrequiresscriptsin22-pointtype improve many aspects of eyesight, including the ability to
Internationallicensing andthatshefindsitdifficulttowatch discern bright color and fine detail, and
BruceSawford
+44(0)1280860185
films,afavoritepastime,insteadrelyingon
friendstodescribewhatishappening. ❝ AnAMDdiagnosis deal with glare or brightness.
isnotapassportto Since it is difficult to get all of these
Advertising Shealsohadtoleanonfriendslike nutrients from food, the best solution
NatalieDowns MaggieSmithtohelphergetaroundin blindness,butrather is supplements. British naturopath Dr
[email protected]
Printsubscriptions
IndiawhentheywerefilmingTheBest awake-upcallto Harald Gaier recommends daily dosages of
(Australiaonly)
CRMAustralia
ExoticMarigoldHotel.
AMDisalwaysreferredtoas“age-
cleanupyourdiet ❞ 15 mg lutein, 10 mg meso-zeaxanthin and
2 mg zeaxanthin for optimal eye health.
(02)8227-6486 related” becauseitismorecommoninpeopleover50.It’s Another overlooked supplement is zinc. Our panel
[email protected] thenumberonecauseofirreversibleblindness,affecting11 member Dr Melvyn Werbach has long recommended zinc
subscribe.wddty.com.au millionpeopleintheUSand600,000intheUK,andpredicted as the single most important supplement for AMD patients,
toriseto30millionsufferersintheUSaloneby2030. largely because the retina contains a higher concentration
LIABILITY STATEMENT But,asourcoverstory makesclear,AMDhasnothing of zinc than any other part of the body.
While every care is taken in prepar-
ing this material, the publishers todowithage,andeverythingtodowithenvironmental If you are low in zinc—and most people are, who aren’t
cannot accept any responsibility
for any damage or harm caused by factorsandnutrition. supplementing—you are likely to have a reduced activity
any treatment, advice or informa- Onemajorbutlittle-knownculpritisbluelight.Research of catalase, an enzyme in the tissues of the macula that
tion contained in this publication.
You should consult a qualified fromHarvardhasshownthatbluelight—fromsunlight; is essential to sight. Below-par activity of this enzyme is
practitioner before undertaking
any treatment. fluorescentbulbs;andmoderncomputers,smartphones associated with AMD.
© WDDTY News Ltd 2020 andtablets—isparticularlydangerousfortheretina In one study of some 150 patients, those given zinc for
No part of this publication may be becauseitpenetratesmoredeeplyintotheeyesthan one or two years kept significantly more visual acuity than
reproduced without permission.
ordinaryultravioletlight,causingdamagetotherodand those given a placebo.2
This magazine is published under
license from WDDTY News Limited conecellsresponsibleforsight. As the various case studies in our cover story make clear,
a company incorporated and Andincreasingly,evidencepointstonotoldageper a diagnosis of AMD is not a passport to blindness, but
registered in the UK. All rights in the
licensed material belong to WDDTY se,buttoyearsof ahighlyprocesseddietandnutritional rather a wake-up call to clean up your food, supplements
News and may not be reproduced
whether in whole or in part without deficiencies,whichoftenbecomemarkedasweage. and surroundings.
its prior written consent. The name Smokingandevenchemical-ladenhouseholdcleansers Now if only someone would let Dame Judy in on this
‘What Doctors Don’t Tell You’ is the
property of WDDTY News Limited. havealsobeenlinkedtoAMD. secret intelligence.
Thegoodnewsisthatif youhaveAMDorhaveafamily REFERENCES
historyof it,youcanreverseorimprovetheconditionwitha 1 JAMA,1994;272;1413–20
numberof lifestylechanges. 2 ArchOphthalmol,1988;106:192–8
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 3

CONTENTS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020
36
Reversing autism
How one woman overcame
her son’s autism with a holistic,
nutritionally focused approach
Bioidentical
44
hormones: how
safe and how
necessary?
Sort out science from myth
and good hormones from
bad in our Special Report
Why Women
62
need to include
resistance training
in their workouts.
Advice from master trainer,
Andrew Griffin
Reverse your
68
failing eyesight
Cate Montana investigates the
natural treatments that are
working for macular degeneration
6 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

NEWS
10 34
The price is always right
64
Calm your gallbladder
The US spends more on through diet
News pharmaceuticals than any other Juliet Sullivan has devised a diet
New therapies for cancers are not country—and those prices keep rising to keep your digestion running
being researched; walnuts can smoothly, even after surgery
ease the pains of ulcerative colitis. HEALTHYLIVING
Healthy lifestyle trumps genetic risk of
ALTERNATIVES
50
dementia; vitamin D helps diabetics
74
control sugar levels
23 ❝ Drinking
unsalted
Simple exercises to keep ‘How I beat emotional tomato juice
Drug news moving trauma’ has been
Antibiotics raise bowel cancer risk; Charlotte Watts shares her simple tips Matthew Donnachie’s abusive
Ritalin changes children’s brain for making physical activity part of your childhood was slowly killing him, until found to
structure daily life he discovered a transformational significantly
method of breathing reduce
54
NEWSFOCUS high blood
24 80
pressure ❞
See page 60
15 simple moves to keep
Fluoride in our water you supple The truth about ...
With new studies suggesting health Getting back to basics with natural,
primal movement patterns can do aluminum
dangers, is it time to stop putting Find out why you should avoid
fluoride in tap water? wonders for body and mind, says
Charlotte Watts aluminum in cookware and cosmetics,
28
and where else it could be hiding
FAMILYHEALTH REGULARS
58
Why your doctor
doesn’t know about diet
The food we eat is the single most
important factor in determining our
health and longevity—yet doctors Keeping SAD at bay
Solve seasonal affective disorder with
9
Readers’letters
31
have only basic knowledge about Your views are
nutrition these tried-and-tested treatments important to us.
Please contact us at:
60
EVERYPICTURE WHAT DOCTORS
DON’T TELL YOU
32
PO BOX 230
The politics of health DOUBLE BAY NSW 1360
Break free from Google for a more AUSTRALIA
Lower your balanced search, says Rob Verkerk TELEPHONE:
82
+61293631464
Walking blood pressure EMAIL:
the dog without drugs [email protected]
Owning a Discover effective WEB:
diet and lifestyle FACEBOOK.COM/
pet is good
changes to keep
The last word WDDTYAUNZ
for you, Despite zero deaths from vitamins and
especially if blood pressure in minerals, regulators are clamping Subscriptions (AUSonly):
check naturally
it’s a dog down (02)82276486

L PANEL
Dr. Jean of Wales’ Foundation of Advanced Longevity Organic Chocolate.

Monro, for Integrated Medicine, he Currently he is director
medical Health, Dr. Gaier is has published of Soil Association
Editorial director of
the Breakspear Hospital,
author of numerous
scientific papers and
11 books. Certification, executive
chairman of Carbon
Panel is an internationally
recognized specialist in
The Encyclopedia of
Homeopa thy.
Dr. Sarah
Myhill has worked in
Gold Ltd, a carbon
sequestration business
What Doctors
environmental medicine, the UK National Health based on the use
Don't Tell You is including such conditions Dr. Michel Service and private of biochar as a soil
supported by some as chronic fatigue Odent, a practice since 1981. improver,
of the world's syndrome, Lyme disease French- For 17 years she was and a trustee
leading pioneers and multiple chemical trained surgeon and theHonorary Secretary of the Slow
in nutritional, sensitivity. She is Fellow obstetrician, is the of the British Society for Food Trust
of the American Academy foremost pioneer of the Ecological Medicine, a UK. He is
environmental
of Environmental natural birth movement, medical society interested also the author of four
and alternative Medicine and a Board emphasizing home and in the environmental books, including The
medicine. Each is Certified US examiner. waterbirth.Founder causes of disease and Little Food Book.
an authority in his of the Primal Health non-drug treatments. She
or her field; many Dr. Damien Research Centre in the is a frequent lecturer and Sally Bunday is
have broken new Downing, UK, he has written some has written several books founder of the The
whose practice 50 scientific papers and including Sustainable Hyperactive Children’s
ground and inspired specializes 11 books, now in 21 Medicine (ChelseaGreen, Support Group, the first
new practices in in allergy, environment languages. 2018) and Diagnosisand organization to draw
medicine. and nutrition, is current Treatment of Chronic attention to the role
president of the British Dr. Melvyn Fatigue Syndrome and of diet and nutrition,
Society for Ecological Werbach, Myalgic particularly the effect
Medicine and on trained Encephalitis of food additives
the editorial board as a psychiatrist, is an and essential fatty
of Orthomolecular expert in nutritional acid deficiencies, in
Medicine News Service. and botanical childhood behavior
Chief Medical Advisor influencesonillnessand (ChelseaGreen,2018). problems. The
of cancer charity Yes to mentalillness.Hehasheld registered charity
Life (www.yestolife.org. afacultyappointmentin Janet Balaskas, who has helped thousands
uk), he is also the author psychiatryattheUCLA named and inspired the of families of children
of numerous books, Schoolof Medicine, Active Birth Movement with attention deficit/
including The Vitamin served as president of in the 1970s, helped hyperactivity issues since
Cure for Allergies. the Biofeedback Society to revolutionize many it started more than 30
of California in 1977, maternity practices years ago.
Dr. Harald and authored numerous around the world. Janet is
Gaier, books, including the founder and director
arguably the award-winning of the Active Birth Centre
the UK’s Nutritional Influences on in North London and
most knowledgeable Mental Illness. the author of nine books
practitioner of the including
major alternative Dr. Jonathan Active Birth,
medical disciplines, is Wright, Preparing for
registered in the UK as an medical Birth with
osteopath, homeopath, director of the Tahoma Yoga and Easy
acupuncturist, Clinic in Renton, Exercises for Pregnancy.
naturopath and medical Washington, pioneered
herbalist. Former nutritional medicine in Craig Samsis co-founder
director of medical the US. A boardmember of Whole Earth Foods,
research at The Hale of the American a leading organic
Clinic and the Diagnostic Preventive Medical food company, and
Clinic and a committee Association (APMA) and founder and President
member of the Prince the International College of Green & Blacks

HAVE
Unsure about many new findings, and your All vaccines carry a risk in
antioxidants magazine keeps us abreast themselves as is stated on the
Over the last 30 years, I have of them. manufacturers’ information
collected and read many books In today’s world, where drug sheets. The MMR vaccine
and articles on nutritional companies control most things, manufacturers’ information
medicine and concluded that we need more people to support sheets specify that the live vaccines
most authors agree on reasonably those of us who believe in should not be given to anyone
safe upper limits for maintenance alternative methods of health. with a compromised immune
and therapeutic dosages of Lorna Tarn, via email system and give a specific warning
vitamins, minerals and other if there is a family or personal
supplements. We need more balanced history of neurological problems,
However, when it comes to debate on vaccines or if the child has had a seizure of
taking dietary antioxidants, I I feel that we need some balanced any kind.
can’t find any references for safe and measured debate about I really think that if single
intake levels and have even read the immunisation program vaccines were to be reintroduced
that too many antioxidants can amid stories in the media about by the UK National Health
have the opposite effect, causing outbreaks of deadly diseases Service (as they once were
oxidation instead. due to poor take-up of the available), there would be a
Antioxidants including immunization program and much bigger uptake and it would
grapeseed extract, pycogenol, threats to make it compulsory for put an end to all these untruths
rutin, hesperdin, quercetin, all children. being published online and in
green tea extract, ginkgo, I believe that many so-called the media, whether they be from
bilberry, milk thistle, turmeric ‘antivaxx’ parents are actually just antivaxxers or the science police.
and various carotenoids (lutein, ‘anti’ the MMR vaccine, believing P.S., via email
zeaxathin, lycopene, alpha that it is brutal and unnatural to
and beta carotene) add to the introduce three diseases at the Surgery side-effects
antioxidant action of vitamins Re: your podcast ‘Silent strokes
C and E, coenzyme Q10, alpha for surgery folks,’ about surgery
lipoic acid, selenium, zinc, copper,
manganese and N-acetyl cysteine.
❝ Thank you for increasing the risks of strokes and
cognitive decline in older people,
Advice varies from taking as keeping us up to I can attest to this.
many of these as possible to get date with all the After I received general
the widest variety (at the doses anesthesia for back surgery in
recommended on the bottles) to new research ❞ 2011, I required pain medication,
only selecting two or three. and the combination of the meds
I have also read that the body’s same time into a small child’s and the surgery gave me atrial
own natural antioxidants— immature immune system. fibrillation (abnormal heart
superoxide dismutase, catalase Measles does sometimes have rhythm), which caused me to end
and glutathione peroxidase—are very serious consequences in a up in intensive care.
not very effectively absorbed as small number of children, and it is When I was discharged,
oral supplements and are better a good idea to vaccinate children I suffered from nausea and
made up in the body by these against it. But are the scare stories vomiting and discovered I had a
other dietary antioxidants and that have been circulating in the hospital-acquired infection. I also
amino acids. press actually truthful? It is one noticed a cognitive decline after I
There is an oxidative stress test thing for many children to have left the hospital.
(blood and urine) to determine contracted measles and another The cardiac specialist who I saw
your free radical levels against to know how many have suffered told me that,“Older people who
GET IN TOUCH: Share your views on your body’s own antioxidant serious side-effects or have died have general anesthesia almost
What Doctors Don’t Tell You AU/NZ levels.I wonder,is it a case of the from it.We are never given that always have atrial fibrillation after
via email or Facebook.
more the better with antioxidants, information. surgery.”Not very comforting.
Address: What Doctors Don’t Tell You, or are we risking doing more Mumps is another disease The more I speak to people who
PO Box 230, Double Bay NSW 1360
Australia
harm than good? that can,in a small number of have had surgery,the more I hear
Marc,Wirral,UK children,have bad consequences, how many of them have memory
Email: [email protected]
although it is more dangerous for problems and cognitive decline
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ Up to date on adult men (I believe it can cause following their surgery.
wddtyaunz
alternatives sterility).Rubella is a relatively IamnowdoingeverythingI
Thank you for keeping us up to mild disease in children but can cantoavoidtheneedforsurgery
date with all the new research cause birth defects if a woman requiringgeneralanesthesiaagain.
that’s coming out.There are so catches it during pregnancy. J.N.,viaemail

UPFRONT
Newtherapies Music as effective as
forcancersnot powerful sedatives
beingresearched before an op
The most common—and deadliest—cancers are
not being researched by independent scientists, Patients are usually given a sedative such as a benzodiazepine
which is blocking the introduction of innovative and before undergoing a medical procedure—but listening to music
non-chemo therapies into mainstream treatment. could be just as effective.
Nonprofit research funding is not being Music had the same anxiety-reducing effects as standard sedative
allocated to the research of these cancers—and medication—but the drug can also cause side-effects like breathing
it could be because some consider the cancers problems, hostility and agitation, say researchers from the University
“embarrassing” or they have been stigmatized. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Only breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and The researchers gave 157 patients the choice of having 1 to 2
children’s cancers are getting the lion's share mg of the sedative midazolam or listening on headphones to a
of independent funding, say researchers at piece of ambient music while having a nerve block injection.
Northwestern University. The music—“Weightless” by Marconi Union—was specifically
The ‘forgotten’ cancers include colon, composed to reduce stress and anxiety in collaboration with
endometrial, liver and bile duct, cervical, ovarian, sound therapists.
pancreatic and lung cancers, and they lack support The researchers evaluated the patients' stress levels
because they are embarrassing or have been before and after the two options and found similar levels
stigmatized. of anxiety in both groups.
“Shame and discomfort with talking about our Music is being offered as a preoperative procedure
bowels and ‘private parts’ may be reducing funding in the school’s surgical center, often before outpatient
for diseases like colon or endometrial cancers,” surgery, said Veena Graff, one of the researchers.
said Suncel Kamath, one of the researchers. “Our research shows there are drug-free
His team researched 119 major nonprofit alternatives to help calm a patient,” she said.
organizations that between them made $5.98 The study was the first to test the effectiveness
billion in contributions to cancer research in of music against an intravenous sedative.
2015 and 2016—but the money wasn’t reaching RegAnesthPainMed,2019;44:796–9
research for these forgotten cancers, even though
they are often the deadliest and most common.
Independent research is vital because it can look
at alternative therapies to chemotherapy.
Most medical research is paid for by the drug
company whose drug is being tested, and so
innovative therapies aren’t being tested for their
effectiveness—and without research validation,
they aren’t being accepted into mainstream
treatment.
JNatlComprCancNetw,2019;17:849–54
Walnuts can ease

the pains of ulcerative colitis
Eating walnuts every day for several weeks before the The researchers aren’t sure
could help protect against protective effects start to kick why walnuts in particular
ulcerative colitis, a form of in, say researchers. have a protective effect,
inflammatory bowel disease, A research team from the but they contain an array
and even alleviate some of its University of Connecticut of natural compounds
worst symptoms. tested laboratory mice that and phytochemicals that
The nut protects the colon had colitis-like symptoms, earlier research has shown
during an ulcerative colitis and those fed the nut for two to be protective against
episode and speeds up repair weeks suffered less damage inflammation and colon
afterward—but you may have to the colon.Their colons also cancer.
to eat up to 25 nuts a day healed more quickly. Nutrients, 2019; 11: 1118

UPFRONT
Curcuminis
goodforbone
cancer,too
Curcumin, the main ingredient in turmeric, is
a natural cancer killer—and the list of cancers
it can combat keeps on growing. The latest is
bone cancer; the spice could be particularly
effective against osteosarcoma, the second
most lethal cancer among children.
It stops the cancer from growing and
promotes healthy bone cells, say researchers
who believe it’s a real alternative to
chemotherapy, especially for small children.
Researchers have been searching for a
gentler way to treat the disease, especially
after surgery, when children are recovering
from bone damage while still getting high
doses of chemo.
Now a research team from Washington
State University believes it has found the
answer in curcumin, which has antioxidant,
anti-inflammatory and bone-building
qualities. In laboratory tests, they discovered
the spice inhibits osteosarcoma cell growth
by 96 percent, while at the same time
promoting healthy cells.
One problem has been getting the curcumin
to the right place in the body. Taken orally, it
isn’t readily absorbed, and it’s metabolized
and eliminated too quickly before it can be
effective. The Washington researchers got
around the problem by encasing the spice
i fat
in f t molecules,
l l
which helps it
survive its journeyy
through
the gut.
ACSApplMaterInterfaces,
2019; 11:17184
HEALTH FACT
A daily one-hour walk
outdoors can greatly
reduce symptoms of
seasonal affective disorder,
like low mood, tiredness
and poor concentration

UPFRO
UPFRONT
One billion people around the world suffer from migraine, making it the third most prevalent illness—
Migraine could but nobody really knows what causes it.
Weather patterns, bad sleep, hormonal changes, stress, medications and some foods and drinks
be triggered by have all been identified as possible triggers for an attack, but coffee—at least not the first two cups—
isn’t one of them, researchers believe.
third cup of However, three or more cups a day can increase the risk of
a migraine attack, say researchers at the Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, who
coffee tracked the lifestyle and diets of 98 migraine
sufferers for six weeks and noted what
they had consumed just before a
migraine came on.
Even though all the usual
suspects like alcohol, stress,
menstrual cycles and poor
sleep were monitored, only
coffee—specifically three
or more cups a day—
seemed to be linked to
the onset of an attack.
Those who drank one
or two cups of coffee a
day didn’t seem to suffer
an attack afterwards.
Only people who weren’t
accustomed to drinking coffee
were likely to suffer an attack
after drinking just one cup.
Am J Med, 2019; 132: 984–91
Badsleepmoretodo
winethancoffee
Not sleeping well? It’s more likely down to the glass of wine yoou had before
going to bed than a late-night cup of coffee.
Despite the belief that caffeine keeps us awake, researcherrs say they
couldn’t find any evidence that drinking coffee in the evening is the
culprit. Instead, smoking and wine were more likely to cause a
sleepless night.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School tracked the
lifestyle and sleeping habits of 785 people for a total of 5,164
days. In particular, they were looking at alcohol and caffeine
consumption and smoking within four hours before bedtime.
People who smoked or drank wine before going to bed were
more likely to suffer interrupted sleep, but coffee didn’t have thet
same effect.
Of the three, smoking had the most dramatic impact, with
smokers losing around 42 minutes of sleep.
Up to 70 million Americans regularly suffer a disturbed sleeep.
Sleep,2019;pii:zsz136

UPFRONT
A sling’s the only thing after a shoulder fracture

What happens after you fracture your shoulder fracture. Half had surgery, “As there is no difference in the
shoulder? You put your arm in a sling, and the other half had nothing more patients’ ability to carry out daily
of course—and it seems that’s all you than keeping their arm in a sling. chores, their level of pain or quality
need to do. Just using a sling can heal At the end of three weeks, there of life with or without surgery, then
a fracture as effectively as surgery. was no difference in the two groups. treatment with only a sling should
Wearing a sling for three weeks is Both had healed equally well and be preferred as the patients avoid
just as good for a displaced fracture continued to improve over the pain and complications related to
of the shoulder as surgery that uses following year. the surgery.”
plates or metal screws to join the Describing the results as “thought- She accepts it will be difficult to
bones back together again. provoking,” researcher Inger change clinical practice, especially
The two approaches were tested Mechlenburg said: “Those who as it means going from more to less,
by researchers at Aarhus University underwent surgery don’t have better but it’s still a result that healthcare
in Denmark on 88 patients, all over shoulder function or less pain than services need to acknowledge.
age 60, who had suffered a displaced those who didn’t. PLOS Med, 2019; 16: e1002855
AIR POLLUTION
Psychiatric problems such as a national pollution register in
depression, schizophrenia and Denmark, and then set those against
COULD CAUSE
bipolar disorder probably aren’t ‘all two big population data sets,
in your head’—but they may very including 151 million US residents
well be in the environment. and 1.4 million people in Denmark.
DEPRESSION
The quality of the air you breathe For the Danish data, they were
may be a trigger for so-called also able to assess exposure to air
AND BIPOLAR
psychiatric problems, and the age pollution in a person’s first 10 years.
you start breathing polluted air could They found a direct link between
also be a factor. air quality and a risk of psychiatric
Bipolar disorder, major depression disorders. “Living in polluted areas,
and schizophrenia may all be caused especially early on in life, is predictive
by poor air quality—and the chances of mental disorders,” said researcher
of schizophrenia, in particular, Atif Khan.
appear to double if you’re exposed They suspect that pollution is
to polluted air during your first causing inflammation in the
10 years. brain, and this is triggering the
Although genetics and life disorders—as earlier animal studies
experiences may play a part in have predicted.
psychiatric problems, environmental In those studies, researchers
factors could be the third element of discovered that small particulate
a complex interplay, say researchers matter, or fine dust, was traveling
from the University of Chicago, who to the brain after being inhaled.
explored the effects of air pollution in Animals exposed to high levels of
the US and Denmark. pollution showed signs of cognitive
They used Environmental impairment and depression-like
Protection Agency measurements behavior.
to assess air quality in the US and PLoS Biol, 2019; 7: e3000353

O
ONT
More than
3 million suffer
a ‘silent stroke’
Men who
after surgery regularly ate
Around 7 percent of older people will suffer a
‘silent stroke’ after surgery, and this doubles their
risk of cognitive decline—possibly leading to
meat and eggs
dementia or Alzheimer’s—within a year. were 28%
Although it’s known that 0.5 percent of people
over 65 suffer a stroke that is immediately less likely to
recognized after surgery, many more will have a
‘silent,’ or covert, stroke that is never diagnosed.
suffer from
Researchers at McMaster University estimate it
affects around 7 percent—or one in 14—of older
dementia
people who have nonemergency and noncardiac
surgery. With 50 million people over the age of
65 worldwide having elective (nonemergency)
surgery every year, around 3.5 million could be
suffering a silent stroke.
This type of stroke doubles the risk of cognitive
decline and can also cause delirium or a TIA
(transient ischemic attack) during the 12 months
after surgery.
The researchers used MRI scans to assess the
health of 1,114 patients from around the world nine
days after they had undergone elective surgery.
The procedure can damage the veins and arteries
in the brain, so increasing the risk of a stroke, the
researchers found.
Lancet, 2019; 394: 1022–9
Eggs and meat reduce

dementia risk
Eating plenty of eggs and meat could amount of eggs and meat the men ate
reduce your chances of developing and their risk of dementia; in other words,
dementia. The two foods are rich in the more they ate, the lower their risk.
phosphatidylcholines, compounds that The findings are noteworthy, as
help maintain brain health, and people dementia has become so prevalent,
who regularly eat them are 28 percent affecting more than 50 million people
less likely to suffer from dementia, around the world, even as meat and eggs
researchers from the University of East have been branded unhealthy.
Finland estimate. Choline is an essential nutrient
They tracked the diets and health of that’s needed to make acetylcholine,
2,500 men, who were between 42 and a neurotransmitter. The latest findings
60 years old at the start of the study, for 22 echo those of earlier studies that
years, and during that time, 337 of them have found choline plays a key role in
developed dementia. The researchers preventing cognitive decline.
found an inverse correlation between the Am J Clin Nutr, 2019; pii: nqz148

LYME DISEASE
STARTS WITH A
MOUSE, NOT THE TICK
Debilitating Lyme disease is caused by
a tick bite, as everyone knows—but
now researchers have discovered how
the tick gets to be a carrier in the first
Lloyd’s place, opening the door to new ways of
preventing the disease from spreading.
refuses to insure against It all starts with the white-footed mouse
(Peromyscus leucopus), not the tick. The
5G health claims mouse, which lives in forests and wetlands,
harbors the bacteria that cause Lyme
Lloyd’s of London, the world’s hold the school responsible for the levels of electromagnetic disease, and it’s the ticks that feed off the
largest insurer and reinsurer, is health problems students might radiation that will be generated mouse which pass it on to people.
refusing to handle any health suffer if it is later confirmed by the new high-powered 5G Scientists from the University of
claims relating to the new high- that wireless technology is later network and the damage this California at Irvine have sequenced the
powered 5G mobile network. found to be responsible. could cause to human health. genome of the white-footed mouse,
Although there’s never Lloyd's decision may have The 5G Appeal, endorsed and this gives them the roadmap to start
been definitive proof that been influenced by its in-house by over 240 scientists, fears developing preventative programs, such as
mobile networks cause health risk assessment team, which, 5G could increase the risk of an environmentally safe vaccination.
problems, industry watchers in 2010, likened wireless cancers, affect fertility and cause Most approaches have concentrated on
believe Lloyd’s is taking a networks to asbestos, a building neurological disorders. somehow controlling the movement of the
precautionary approach and material that causes lung The US National Toxicology tick, “but they have been difficult to pput in
staying out of the market in case disease and cancer. Although Program has discovered practice,” said Alaan Barbour, one of the
a link is discovered. the link was established as statistically significant increases researchers.
In a waiver to its insurance early as the 1920s, the asbestos in rates of brain and heart The researchers also
policies, Lloyd’s is passing the industry was slow to react and cancers in animals exposed to want to understannd
onus on to schools that install spent years denying a causal low levels of EMF, far below why the mouse
Wi-Fi or have cell phone masts connection. those that will be generated by doesn’t get sick
placed in school buildings. It Similarly, the first warning the 5G network. from the bacteria it
recommends policyholders shots have been fired about scientists4wiredtech.com carries, which couuld
provide clues about
key processes of diabetes, the glucose levels are nonetheless how people couldd
It’sfats, new hypothesis holds that cells still seeing the disease progress. combat the infection.
In addition to Lyyme
not glucose, are driving an inflammatory
response to some fats, and not to
Researchers from the
University of Kentucky set out to bacteria, the micee
also carry a form of o viral
claimsnew glucose (also called blood sugar).
If true, it would explain
demonstrate that the immune
cells of diabetics would produce encephalitis and illnesses like
diabetes why some diabetics who are

successfully controlling their
energy by burning glucose—but
discovered instead that defects
malaria and Rocky Mountain
spotted fever.
theory in the mitochondria, the ‘power

houses’ of our cells, were causing
The research teeam is making the white-
footed mouse genome sequence publicly
We’ve got it wrong about type 2 a reaction to raised levels of fats. available so other researchers can work
diabetes, the lifestyle disease. Research is still ongoing, with it, too.
According to a new theory, but if further investigations The incidence of Lyme disease increased
it’s got nothing to do with support the initial 17 percent in the US from 2016 to 2017,
blood sugar and insulin discoveries, the way with 42,743 cases being reported. The US
resistance—as the current diabetes is treated will Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view maintains—but fundamentally change. (CDC) says that cases have tripled since the
instead it’s a disease of our Instead of controlling late 1990s, partly due to the urbanization
cells and the way they react sugars in our diet, we will of rural areas and forests, and fears the
to some fats, a new theory instead be watching out for actual increase is far greater, as most cases
suggests. certain fats. are never diagnosed or reported.
Although both camps agree CellMetab,2019;30:447–61
SciAdv,2019;5:eaaw6441
that inflammation is one of the

UPFRO
UPFRONT
Dark chocolate keeps

depression away
Chocolate helps prevent depression—but it must be dark. Normal milk
chocolate doesn’t seem to have any positive effects, certainly not when
it comes to mental wellbeing.
Those who eat the most chocolate every day—and that is up to 16
oz (454 g), or a whole small bar—were also the least likely to suffer
clinical depression as diagnosed by a health practitioner.
Their chances of developing depression were 57 percent lower
than others who ate little or no dark chocolate, say researchers from
University College London’s Institute of Epidemiology. They surveyed
more than 13,000 people, and just 1.4 percent of them reported
eating dark chocolate regularly.
But of these, only 1.5 percent of the dark chocolate eaters
reported suffering from depressive symptoms, compared with
7.6 percent of the non-chocolate eaters.
Those eating the most dark chocolate every day—between
3.6 oz (104 g) and 16 oz (450 g)—also were the least likely to
suffer from depression.
Everyone knows that chocolate produces a ‘feel-good’
effect, and this is because of its psychoactive ingredients, but
it also contains phenylethylamine, a neuromodulator that
helps maintain a good mood, and flavonoids, which lower
inflammation, another contributory factor for depression.
Depress Anxiety, 2019 Jul 29
Vitamin D helps diabetics

control sugar levels
Taking vitamin D supplements can slow the progress of type 2
diabetes—and possibly even reverse prediabetes, the precursor
of the disease.
High doses of the supplement—up to 10 times the
recommended daily allowance—help the body regain its
capacity to process glucose, or blood sugar. Diabetics
have become insulin resistant, and, as a result, can’t
break down glucose properly.
But after takingg the supplement for
six months, glucose metabolism
started tto improve, say researchers
from Laval University in Quebec. It
had a positive effect even among
diabeetics whose vitamin D levels
were normal.
The researchers tested glucose
metaabolism in a group of people
with diabetes or prediabetes before
and aafter they were given the
suppplements. After six months, tests
show wed that the supplements had
signnificantly improved the ability of
insuulin to break down glucose.
Eur J Endocrinol, 2019; pii: EJE-19-0156.R2

UPFRONT
Healthy gut blocks MS and Parkinson’s

A healthy gut could be an insurance policy in the nervous system and produces MS-like
against multiple sclerosis (MS) and other chronic symptoms, but only the mice with a bacteria-
central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as free gut became infected.
Parkinson’s. When those mice were then fed ‘good’
Microbes in the gut produce compounds bacteria, they too started to produce
that prime our immune cells to destroy harmful an immune response that reversed
viruses in the brain and nervous system. Viral their symptoms of paralysis and other
infections in the brain and spinal cord are thought neurological damage.
to be a catalyst for MS. “Signals from microbes are
These microbes could protect against essential to quickly clear viruses in
other CNS diseases as well, such as paralysis, the central nervous system and prevent
Parkinson’s disease and stroke. damage from MS-like diseases. Our results
A poor diet and antibiotics compromise our gut emphasize the importance of maintaining
bacteria, known as the microbiome, which makes a diverse community of bacteria in
people more susceptible to these diseases. the gut,” said June Round, one of the
Researchers from the University of Utah researchers.
School of Medicine tested the idea on a group of After a course of antibiotics, it’s
laboratory mice, some with healthy gut microbes important to top up the good bacteria with
and others with guts that were bacteria-free. probiotics and a healthy diet, she added.
Both sets were given a dose of mouse hepatitis Elife, 2019 Jul 16; 8. pii: e47117. doi: 10.7554/eLife.47117
virus, which infects cells
Feverfew compound killing leukemia

Feverfew—the common garden plant that combats migraine and arthritic pain—also
contains a compound that kills leukemia, usually considered a chronic and incurable cancer.
Scientists have isolated the compound, parthenolide, to kill chronic lymphocytic leukemia
(CLL) cells in the laboratory.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK say they discovered a method
of isolating the compound and modifying it to enhance its cancer-fighting qualities.
Parthenolide increases the number of unstable molecules in cancer cells until they reach the
point where they self-destruct.
Feverfew is sold in health food stores as a remedy to reduce fever and
inflammation, but its anticancer abilities have been hit or miss, the researchers
say. Their research makes feverfew more “drug-like” in the way it can
target CLL cells, they claim.
This isn’t new; other researchers reported similar findings
in 2005. Researchers from the University of Rochester
Medical School discovered that 18 hours of exposure to
parthenolide could kill off leukemia cells while leaving
alone the surrounding healthy cells. In other words, it
doesn’t appear to have toxic side-effects.
Parthenolide was more effective than the standard
leukemia drug, cytarabine, the Rochester researchers
also discovered. That drug was only “modestly toxic” to
the cancer cells, but “highly toxic” to healthy cells, and so it
was doing more harm than good.
MedChemComm,2019;10:1379–90
HEALTH FACT
The immune-boosting herb
Andrographis can reduce the severity
of cold symptoms
Vitamin A helps
protect against
skin cancer
Eating a diet rich in vitamin A—or taking it in
supplements—protects you against skin cancer.
People who eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, or take
supplements, have a 17 percent reduced risk of developing
cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, the second most
common form of skin cancer.
Researchers from Brown University analyzed the
health and diets of around 123,000 people, nearly
4,000 of whom developed the skin cancer. Those
who had the highest levels of vitamin A were 17
percent less likely to develop the cancer than those
with the lowest levels of the vitamin.
The most effective source for getting vitamin A was fruits
and vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, leafy green
vegetables and fruits such as apricots and cantaloupe.
Animal sources of the vitamin include liver and some fish,
but the researchers warn that an over-reliance on eating organ
meat can increase the risk of liver toxicity, osteoporosis and
hip fracture.
JAMA Dermatol, 2019 Jul 31
Inflammation the common Is arthritis a bacterial

link between arthritis and infection from a
heart disease ‘bad gut’?
Osteoarthritis and heart disease have one common factor—inflammation. Is there a link between a ‘bad’ gut and arthritis? Researchers have
So it’s not surprising that people who have arthritis are also more likely to noticed that bacteria from the gut can infect an artificial knee and
develop cardiovascular disease and die from it. hip—but aren’t sure whether they also attack the actual joints to
The risk isn’t enormous; researchers estimate that people suffering cause the usual arthritic symptoms in the first place.
from arthritis of the knee, for example, for up to 11 years, are 16 Making sure someone’s gut microbiome—the
percent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than environment of good and bad bacteria—is healthy
people who don’t have the joint condition. before surgery could reduce the risk of infection
In other words, for every 100,000 people who have of the artificial joints, say researchers from
had arthritis for that length of time, 40 more will die Cornell University.
from heart disease. Postoperative infection is rare and
Researchers from Lund University in Sweden affects only 1 percent of patients—but as
noticed the connection when they tracked one million Americans opt for knee or hip
469,000 people for 11 years. In that time, around replacement surgery every year, that still
16,000 developed arthritis, and when they died, means around 10,000 get infected by
the researchers looked at the cause of death. ‘bad’ bacteria.
Cardiovascular disease was cited more often in Preparing the patient with a course of
people who also had arthritis, although the effect probiotics before surgery could reduce the
wasn’t immediate. Heart disease was generally risk of infection, the researchers say.
diagnosed only between nine and 11 years after But they left unanswered the bigger
arthritis had started. question: do ‘bad’ gut bacteria infect the joints
Although inflammation was the common factor, and and cause all the disabilities of arthritis? If that’s
the most likely reason for the connection, the researchers say the case, instead of being a disease of wear and tear,
that arthritis makes people less able to be active, and this, too, could be as every sufferer is told, osteoarthritis and its many derivatives
contributing to the start of heart disease. could actually be caused by bacterial infections.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2019; 27: 848–54 Clin Orthop Relat Res, 2019 Jun 17

RYETHE
Red wine “HEALTHIEST
GLUTEN”
reduces If you can tolerate gluten,
rye is one of the healthiest
anxiety sources of it to eat, especially

for helping maintain ‘good’
gut bacteria.
and Rye sourdough, used for

baking rye bread, is rich in
lactic acid bacteria that help
depression
the gut microbiome—the
‘universe’ of bacteria
in the intestines—and
control insulin metabolism,
reducing the risk for
diabetes.
It also triggers a positive
chain reaction that lowers
the amount of oxygen
the heart muscles need,
which may reduce the
There’s a reason people like to unwind with a glass of risk of stroke, according
red wine after a stressful day—and it could be because to researchers from the
of one of the drink’s key compounds, resveratrol. University of Eastern Finland.
Resveratrol blocks stress signals in the brain, and it Although the health
could also help other neurological disorders such as benefits of rye have been
depression and anxiety. known for a long time,
It’s in the skin and seeds of grapes, which are the scientists haven’t researched
basis of wine, as well as other berries, so people who the biological processes that
instead choose to eat the fruit may get the same happen when we eat it.
calming benefits. The Finnish researchers
Resveratrol works by blocking an enzyme that is have started to put that right
associated with stress signaling in the brain—and it with tests on laboratory
could be an effective alternative to drugs for treating mice. From their results,
depression and anxiety as well, say researchers at the they found that rye has
University of Buffalo. bioactive compounds, or
Only around one-third of people suffering from phytochemicals, that work
depression are helped by antidepressants, and that as antioxidants, and their
could be because the drugs are targeting the wrong health benefits are amplified
biological process. by gut bacteria.
Most antidepressants focus on serotonin, whereas Microbiome
Microbiome,2019;7:103
2019;7:103
the more likely culprit is corticosterone, which regulates
the body’s response to stress. Too much stress can
trigger high amounts of the hormone circulating in the
brain, and this could eventually cause depression or
other disorders, says lead researcher Xiaoxing Yin.
Resveratrol targets corticosterone, and so it could
be more effective to combat depression and anxiety.
To test the theory, Yin and his team fed resveratrol
to laboratory mice whose corticosterone levels had
been raised; the compound blocked the biological
processes, suggesting that this could also ease feelings
of depression or anxiety in people.
Neuropharmacology, 2019; 153: 20–31

UPFRO
UPFRONT
HIGH-RADIATION CT SCANS
IN PREGNANCY QUADRUPLE
IN 20 YEARS
Pregnant women today are getting four
times the number of powerful imaging
scans a mother-to-be was getting 20 years
ago—exposing her and the growing fetus to
dangerous levels of radiation.
The biggest increase is in CT (computed
tomography) scans, which use high doses of
ionizing radiation to create a detailed image
of the growing baby.
The use of CT has quadrupled in the US and
doubled in Canada over the last 20 years,
researchers at the University of California at
San Francisco have discovered.
Instead of relying on traditional ultrasound,
doctors are turning to CT, also called medical
imaging, to detect serious medical conditions.
“Imaging can be helpful, but it can be
over-used. Always, but especially if you’re
pregnant, you should ask whether it is really
medically necessary to have any imaging
test that involves ionizing radiation,” said
researcher Rebecca Smith-Bindman.
A CT scan releases far higher levels of
radiation than a standard x-ray, and nobody
knows what damage this could do to the
growing fetus.
The researchers tracked 3.5 million
pregnancies in six health systems in the US
and the Canadian state of Ontario between
1996 and 2016. In that time, 5.3 percent
of the women in the US and 3.6 percent in
Ontario had a CT scan.
JAMA Netw Open, 2019; 2: e197249
HEALTH FACT
Taking a garlic
supplement may
reduce your
likelihood of
coming down with the flu
UPFRONT
Three T
Three CT scans
more kkick-start
ccancer
Healthy countriess
phase out
CT (ccomputed tomography) is
suppoosed to be a safe screening
lifestyle dental
amalgam m
technology—but researchers have
discovvered that the radiation from just
three scans can prime cells to become
trumps
cancero ous.
fillings DNA
Because CT radiation doesn’t damage
DNA, radiolo
radiologists have been told the
Three more European countries are technology is safe—but instead the scans
genetic phasing out the use of amalgam—

which is 50 percent mercury—in dental
practices. Ireland, Finland and Slovakia
alter healthy cells and make them “cancer-
capable,” which means they make cancer
more likely to develop.
Radiation from just three CT scans is
riskof have announced a timetable that will see

amalgam banned over the next few years.
They join Sweden and Norway in
enough to increase the risk, say researchers
from the University of Cambridge, and
creates mutations in cells—known as p53
dementia
banning amalgam, which has been linked mutations—that make them more likely to
to neurological and kidney problems. become cancerous.
Dentists in all 27 member states of The researchers have examined the effects
the European Union are forbidden from of CT scans on cells in the esophagus—which
Lifestyle can trump genetics—even when
using the material in pregnant and connects the throat to the stomach—of
it comes to having an inherited biological
breastfeeding women and in children laboratory mice. A radiation dose equivalent
makeup that doubles the risk of dementia.
under the age of 15. to three scans started the spread of p53
A healthy lifestyle—including a good
mutant cells until they overwhelmed the
diet and not smoking—reduces the risk of Under the 2018 ruling, the member
healthy cells, in what the researchers called
dementia by around 30 percent in people states have also been asked to submit
the body’s “Game of Clones.”
who have a genetic predisposition to develop plans for the phased withdrawal of But taking an antioxidant before having
the condition. amalgam from all dental practices. Ireland, a scan seems to block any damage it may
Healthy living has an even bigger Finland and Slovakia have been among the cause. An over-the-counter antioxidant—the
protective effect in people who don’t have first to respond. researchers used N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)—
the ‘bad genes,’ which suggests the problem The ruling follows pressure from lobby gives healthy cells the extra boost they need
is avoidable for most people who live well,
groups such as the Campaign for Mercury- to ward off the mutations.
say researchers from the University of Exeter CellStemCell,2019;pii:S1934-5909(19)30275-9
Free Dentistry, which is now turning its
in the UK.
They tracked the health of more than focus to North America.
196,000 people with an average age of 64, Although the American Dental
who weren’t showing any signs of dementia. Association still supports the use of
Of these, 20 percent had a higher risk of amalgam, claiming it doesn’t have any
developing the condition because of their health risks, the campaign is confident the
genetic profile—and 1.13 percent of those US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
who followed a healthy lifestyle eventually may soon shift its position.
suffered from dementia compared to 1.78 Campaign president Charles Brown said:
percent who had an unhealthy diet and “We congratulate these countries on taking
didn’t exercise, suggesting lifestyle did have this important step to protect our planet
an impact on genes. and patients from this outdated mercury
Just 0.5 percent of people with both a low
product. Now the heat is on the FDA and
genetic risk and good lifestyle developed
Health Canada to get off the dime.”
dementia.
A healthy lifestyle includes physical activity, Regulators are concerned about any
moderate alcohol drinking, a healthy diet backlash to an outright ban. A sudden
and not smoking, the researchers say. announcement that amalgam is unsafe
JAMA,2019;322:430–7 could trigger millions of demands for
the removal of dental fillings, and there
is also the worry that people may sue
the authorities if they link neurological
problems to their fillings.

UPFRONT
brains of the boys, but not the men, while there by 7 percent, and folate linkked to a 20 percent
was no difference seen in the brain structures of reduced risk of stroke.
the boys given a placebo. The only problem is that the studies
Radiology, 2019; 182528 the researchers analyzed were
w limited
to randomized controlled trials, many off
Blood pressure meds cause which came up with partial results, had
dangerous gut problem drug company funding or werew designed
A common blood pressure drug can cause without an adequate understanding
nutrition. Plenty of indepenndent studies have
Doctors prescribe opioids even diverticulosis, a bowel problem that affects
many elderly people. reported benefits of taking vitamins.
to small children Calcium-channel blockers are Ann Intern Med, 2019; 171: 190–8
Doctors are prescribing opioids—the powerful antihypertensives—they keep high blood
and highly addictive painkillers—to young pressure under control—that also raise the risk Antibiotics raisebbowel
children. Around 60 percent of children who of diverticulosis, a bowel problem that causes cancer risk
have their tonsils removed are being given the small bulges or pouches in the intestine. Antibiotics increase the riskk of bowelell,
drugs, a new study has discovered. Left untreated, diverticulosis can lead to or colon, cancer. Nearly 72 percentt
The children are being given an average of diverticulitis, when the pouches become of people with the cancer ad tak
48 doses of opioids after a tonsillectomy, say inflamed. the drug within 10 years b fore th
researchers at the University of Michigan, who The problem affects around 65 percent of were diagnosed, a new study has
reviewed case records of 15,793 children who people over 85. It can be life-threatening and discovered.
had the operation in a private clinic. may need emergency treatment if the pouches The drugs can double thee risk for
Some 60 percent of these children, who burst or become infected. bowel cancer, although this varied
were between one and 18 years old, were given Calcium-channel blockers are the only according to the length of time the
opioids. The painkillers are thought to reduce antihypertensives linked to diverticulosis, say drugs were taken and their potency.
complications after surgery, but the researchers researchers from Imperial College London. Other cancers of the digeestive
say there is no evidence the drugs are any more They also tested ACE inhibitors and beta system were also more likely after
protective than standard NSAIDs (nonsteroidal blockers by analyzing gene variants in around taking antibiotics, but, paraadoxically,
anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen. 750,000 people. the risk of rectal cancer wass
Constipation was more likely to occur among The researchers aren’t sure why the drugs reduced.This could be because the
children taking opioids, the researchers found, should cause diverticulosis but suspect they rectum is at the end of the digestive
d
and in one case, the child became addicted. could be affecting the ability of muscles in the system, and the pattern of risk
On average, each child was given an eight-day intestine to push food through the gut. seems to follow the way foo od travels
prescription, equivalent to 48 doses—far more Genetic variant testing is a relatively new through the gut.
than they should need, the researchers say. This science that allows researchers to assess the The cancer risk is increased because
overprescribing could put the health of family benefits and side-effects of drugs without antibiotics cause dysbiosis, a disturbance of
and friends at risk if they take the unused pills. having to launch expensive, lengthy trials the gut microbiome, the bo ody’s
JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2019 Aug 8
involving thousands of patients. universe of bacteria, say
Circulation, 2019; 140: 270–9 researchers from Johns
Ritalin changes children’s Hopkins University School
brain structure Why cheaper isn’t better when of Medicine.
ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactive disorder) it comes to vitamins Using a database of 11.3
drugs such as Ritalin alter the structure of Buy high-quality vitamins—the inexpensive million patient histories,
children’s brains. They change the distribution brands probably won’t do a thing for your the researchers found nearrly
of white matter in the brain, which affects their health, new research suggests. 29,000 cases of colorectal
ability to learn—paradoxically, the very thing The popular brands won’t help you live cancer diagnosed between 1989 and 2012
the drug is supposed to improve. longer, and they don’t protect against heart and compared their histories of antibiotic
Profound changes to the brain were disease, say researchers from Johns Hopkins use against 137,000 healthhy people.
seen within four months of taking ADHD School of Medicine, who took a second look at Penicillin seemed to carry the greatest
medication—and the researchers who made 277 clinical trials of popular vitamins, minerals cancer risk.
the discovery have urged doctors to prescribe and nutritional supplements. Although doctors have been told to
the drugs only when absolutely necessary. They certainly won’t do you any harm, but reduce antibiotic prescribinng to slow the
Researchers from the University of with 52 percent of Americans taking at least rise of antibiotic-resistant ‘ssuperbugs,’ the
Amsterdam carried out MRI scans on the one vitamin a day and spending a total of $31 fact that the drugs also raise the risk of colon
brains of 50 boys and 48 men who had been billion a year in the process, it might be hoped cancer is another good reason why alternatives
diagnosed with ADHD. Half the participants had they’d do some good as well. need to be found, the reseaarchers say.
been prescribed Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Only omega-3 and folate supplements had People are taking an aveerage of 10
the rest were instead given a placebo. any health benefits, the researchers found, antibiotics each year, whichh adds up to oa
After four months of taking the drug, the with omega-3s reducing the risk of a heart global annual total of 70 billion doses.
researchers saw significant changes in the attack by 8 percent and coronary heart disease Gut,2019;pii:gutjnl-2019-318593

NewsFocus
say,possibly causing hypothyroidism or
Fluoride in our Hashimoto’s disease.

Another possibility is that fluoride
that’s not excreted could be absorbed
water: too much

by the body’s hard and soft tissues,such
as the bones and other organs.People
with high levels of fluoride in their blood
for too long?

are more likely to develop bone disease,
earlier studies have found.
Intelligence reports
It’s been the effects of fluoride on
intelligence and learning that are
We’rebombardedwithfluoridedentalproducts—sowithnew most troubling to many opponents of
studiessuggesting health dangers, is it time to stop putting it in fluoridation,who point to 54 studies
our tap water? showing that high levels cause a
reduction in IQ in people,and 60 animal
studies that found fluoride impairs
memory and learning abilities.
But a new study has discovered
something even more worrying—
pregnant women can pass on fluoride to
the growing fetus,suggesting it crosses
the placenta.Women who drank the
most fluoridated water during pregnancy
had children who,by the age of four,had
lower IQs. There was roughly a four-
point drop in IQ score for every 1 mg of
fluoride in a liter of the mother’s urine.2
Researchers fromYork University in
Toronto analyzed data from 512 mothers
A
dding fluoride to the water supply Fluorosis is on the rise because most and their children,141 of whom lived in
has been hailed as one of the top toothpastes already contain fluoride— an area with fluoridated water,tracking
ten most important public health an ingredient they lacked when water their levels of fluoride while pregnant
measures of the twentieth century—but fluoridation was introduced.These and testing the IQs of their children when
has the practice,introduced in the 1940s days,one small strip of toothpaste on they reached the age of three or four.
to prevent tooth decay in children,now a toothbrush has between 0.75 and 1.5 Not surprisingly,the women in
passed its sell-by date? mg of fluoride. fluoridated areas had much higher levels
Two new studies suggest it has,with of the mineral in their urine—but they
one concluding there’s no such thing Bad processing also had more children whose IQ score
as a safe dose of fluoride to the growing But even this lower level could still be was below the 107 average for the group.
body,and another underlining what too high,say researchers from Icahn For every 1 mg of fluoride in the
fluoride’s opponents have claimed for School of Medicine at Mount Sinai mother’s urine,boys’average score was
years: the chemical is a neurotoxin that in NewYork—especially as health 4.49 points lower,whereas girls didn’t
affects a child’s IQ and ability to learn— officials haven’t factored in the growing appear to be affected by fluoride.This
even when it’s the mother who drank immune system’s ability to excrete difference has caused critics to dismiss
fluoridated water while pregnant. fluoride.An adult excretes around 60 the study as‘bad science,’although
Advocates of fluoridation have argued percent of the mineral,but for a child, one possibility is that the sexes develop
that the poison is in the dose.At the this drops to just 45 percent. differently,and another is that the
recommended concentration of 1 part Children retain around 55 percent of mother’s IQ score has more influence
per million (equivalent to 1 milligram the fluoride they take in from tap water than fluoride on their child’s intelligence.
per liter of water),it’s safe,they argue. andtoothpasteintheirliverandkidneys.
This is despite the fact that,in 2015,the Among 1,742 adolescents they tracked, Not so bad
US Department of Health and Human all had high fluoride levels,even though The Canadian study might indeed
Services reduced that safe threshold to most lived in areas that fluoridated have been ignored and classified as‘bad
0.7 mg,because dentists were reporting public water well below the 0.7 mg safe science’were it not for the many other
a rise in cases of dental fluorosis,a level,with some as low as 0.4 mg.1 studies that have also come to the same
discoloration of tooth enamel caused by Compromised kidneys could reduce conclusion.For example,researchers
excess fluoride. thyroid gland function, the researchers from the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou
NEWS FOCUS
Opponents of
fluoridation
point to studies
showing that
high levels of
fluoride cause
a reduction in
IQ and impair
learning and
memory

NEWS FOCUS
Water fluoridation
Cochrane, the research body
considered an impartial arbiter of Fluoride facts
is an intervention scientific data, found evidence that •Small children often swallow 50 percent of
fluoridation reduces dental decay—there
of its time, but with was a 35 percent reduction in decayed
the toothpaste on their brush, ingesting up to
1.5 mg of fluoride
increased awareness, and missing teeth in children who lived
in fluoridated areas—but the reviewers •All toothpastes with fluoride are supposed to
that time has passed were concerned that the 20 studies they carry a poison warning in the US
analyzed were old, with small numbers of
•Almost all the fluoride in our body is in our
children and high risk of bias.6
Medical University in China took Researchers at Notre Dame University- teeth and bones
another look at 26 studies,involving Louaize in Lebanon also aren’t sure. •Despite the myth, fluoride doesn’t help
7,258 children,and concluded that high Water fluoridation can be essential in protect bones affected by osteoporosis; in
fluoride exposure in water was strongly poor communities, but the fact that fact, it increases the chances of fracture
linked to lower intelligence levels.3 modern toothpastes and mouth rinses
Other Chinese researchers carried out contain fluoride should be enough to •Fluoride was introduced into public water
a similar exercise and came to the same prevent tooth decay today, they say. 7 supplies in 1945 with the promise that dental
conclusions.They reviewed 27 studies It’s not as if we’re going to run out decay in children would halve. It did—
that had compared IQ scores across of fluoride. It’s a form of fluorine, the although the rate had already started to drop
regions with different fluoridation levels thirteenth most abundant element in the in 1930
and noted that there was a consistent earth’s crust, and it occurs naturally in
•By 2004, fluorosis—a discoloring of the
difference in the scores of children living water and soil. Every time we drink tea or
in areas with the highest and lowest eat seafood that includes edible bones or teeth from excessive fluoride ingestion—was
fluoride levels.4 shells, we’re ingesting fluoride—and, of affecting 41 percent of American adolescents
Researchers from the University course, we’re doing it every day when we •Almost all research into the effectiveness of
of Kent in the UK went further, brush our teeth with most toothpastes. fluoride in water was done before 1980
concluding that“fluoride has the It’s not a nutrient—although it was
potential to cause major adverse human heralded as such by dentists in the •Just 10 percent of the world’s population has
health problems”—and has only a 1950s—and so there’s no recommended fluoridated water
“modest”impact on dental health.The daily allowance (RDA) for fluoride;
fluoridation of public water should be instead there’s an“adequate intake”that products. A single strip of toothpaste
reconsidered,they say.5 varies depending on whether you’re an contains up to 1.5 mg of fluoride, and
adult or a child,man or woman. mouth rinses have 0.25 mg.
Not so modest The adequate daily dose for a child is Even when public water is fluoridated
Their last point—that fluoride has only 0.7 mg,but FluorideAction Network,an to the new, lower level of 0.7 ppm,
a modest impact in preventing tooth anti-fluoridation group,argues children dental fluorosis, a disease caused by
decay—is still hotly debated by the pro- get far more than that every day when an overabundance of fluoride, affects
and anti-fluoride camps. they brush their teeth or use other dental around 12 percent of children, and
that figure will be higher in areas
Thetopfluoridenations Countrieswiththemosttoothdecay where fluoride levels are higher, say the
COUNTRY % FLUORIDATED COUNTRY AVERAGE* FLUORIDE STATUS
Cochrane researchers.
Water fluoridation may indeed have
Hong Kong 100 Norway 1.7 None
been one of the top 10 most important
Singapore 100 Japan 1.7 None health measures in the twentieth century,
Brunei 95 New Zealand 1.4 63% coverage especially in an age before the affluence
Australia 80 Iceland 1.4 None we enjoy today, but with increased
Chile 70 Greece 1.35 None wealth, awareness of a healthier, low-
sugar diet, and the abundance of fluoride
Malaysia 75 Finland 1.2 None
toothpastes, it’s an intervention of its
Irish Republic 73 USA 1.19 64% coverage time, and that time has passed.
Israel 70 Italy 1.1 None Bryan Hubbard
United States 64 Ireland 1.1 73% coverage
Guyana 62 Australia 1 80% coverage REFERENCES
Source: British Fluoridation Society, 2012 *Averagenumberofdecayed,missingorfilledteethin12-year-old 1 EnvironInt,2019;105012
children.Source:WorldHealthOrganizationDMFTindex 2 JAMAPediatr,2019Aug19
3 PublicHealth,2018;154:87–97
No cause-and-effect between fluoride and tooth decay: Three countries—the US, Ireland and 4 EnvironHealthPerspect,2012;120:1362–8
Australia—rank among the top 10 for both water fluoridation (left) and tooth decay (right). All in 5 ScientificWorldJournal,2014;293019
6 CochraneDatabaseSystRev,2015;(6):
all, there appears to be no correlation between whether a nation fluoridates its water and citizens’ CD010856
dental health. Other factors such as diet and lifestyle are more likely to be involved. 7 PrevNutrFoodSci,2018;23:171–80

NewsFocus refined flour and concentrated sugars
in our diet,while eating more fruits,
Why your doctor cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and

cauliflower,and chlorophyll from green
vegetables such as spinach,could reduce
doesn’t know
the rate of breast,colorectal and prostate
cancers by 70 percent,and that of lung
cancer by as much as 50 percent.3
about diet School’s out

So why isn’t your doctor telling you
this?While some will give you the
rudimentary advice to eat more fruits
and vegetables and cut down on sweets
Thefoodweeatisthesinglemostimportantfactorin and processed foods,none are taught the
determiningourhealthandlongevity—andyetdoctors have biological complexities of food and diet
only the most basic knowledge about nutrition or the way nutrition can be harnessed to
reverse disease.
It’s even started to worry theAmerican
HeartAssociation (AHA),an advocate of
the drugs-first approach to heart therapy.
Spurred on by rising rates of diabetes,
obesity,high blood pressure and other
H
ippocrates might have “This study affirms that poor diet is chronic diseases,theAHA commissioned
pronounced that food should be responsible for more deaths than any an expert panel to discover why this
our medicine,but it’s advice that other risk factor in the world,”said lead increase is happening,especially as
doctors have been ignoring for the past researcher Dr Christopher Murray from doctors have been giving patients basic
100 years.And they really should have the University of Washington. dietary advice for years.
been listening,as underscored by a new Although health agencies have focused Essentially,it comes down to the
research study that has discovered one in their public health alerts on fast and simple fact that doctors aren’t being
five deaths around the world every year is sugary foods as things to avoid,the taught anything beyond those basics,
the direct result of a poor diet. researchers discovered that not eating recommendations that could have been
Add to that the 40 percent of cancers enough fruits and vegetables had a far gleaned in a tabloid newspaper.
and the many cases of diabetes and heart bigger impact on health and longevity. It’s an educational gap that goes back
disease caused by bad eating habits,and Othersagree.Takingaone-year decades,says panel chairperson Dr Karen
it’s clear that a healthy diet is the single snapshotof heartdisease,dietanddeath Asprey.Even the barest minimum of 25
most important factor for maintaining intheUS,researchersfromtheTufts hours of instruction in nutrition and
health and preventing disease. FriedmanSchoolof NutritionScienceand diet,which was recommended in 1985,
But don’t just blame the doctor. PolicyinBostonrecorded702,308deaths is being met by fewer than 30 percent of
Medical schools aren’t teaching in2012fromcardiometabolicdiseases, medical schools in the US.4
nutrition,and health agencies that lay whichincludesheartdisease,strokeand The average teaching time is just 19
down the guidelines for best practice diabetes,andmorethan45percentof hours,suggestingthereislittlerecognition
are not pushing nutritional approaches themweredirectlycausedbydiet. that“obesity and cardiovascular disease
as a valid way to treat chronic disease— Most of these deaths were attributed are linked to poor nutrition and poor diet
even though there is an abundance of to not eating enough nuts,seeds and quality,”Asprey added.
evidence to demonstrate that nutrition omega-3 fatty acids from seafood,and And nobody really cares if doctors
plays a pivotal role in preventing and consumption of too much salt (sodium) understand what they’re being taught.
reversing many health problems. and processed meats.2 There’s no testing,and diet doesn’t
Cancer,too,could be prevented by appear on any examination papers,said
Eating bad eating a healthy diet.Up to 40 percent of Dr David Eisenberg at the Harvard T H
Thelatestsuchstudy,whichtracked all cancers are caused by a poor lifestyle Chan School of Public Health.
dietandhealthin195countriesfor27 and diet, and reducing the amount of “It is a scandal that health professionals
years,concludedthat11milliondeaths are not introduced to these facts above
ayear—roughly5percentof alldeaths and beyond minimal information about
worldwide—arecausedbypoordiet, The bare minimum 25 hours nutritional deficiencies in biochemistry,
definedaslowintakeof wholegrains,fruits,
vegetables,nutsandseeds,andhighlevels
of instruction in nutrition is and that these things do not appear
on their examinations to become a
of sodiumandtransfatsfromprocessed being met by fewer than 30 practicing physician.
“fast”foods,bakedgoods,sugarydrinks
andredandprocessedmeats.1
percent of medical schools “Nor are they required on
board certification,whether it’s to
1
Willyoureviewtheuseof
complementarytherapiesthatcould
Wouldn’t it be beusedalongsideconventional
Nice? treatments,especiallytotemper
their adverse effects?
NICE(theNationalInstituteforHealthandCare NICE response:
Excellence)setstheUKguidelinesforthebest,most We will not review
effectivepracticesfordoctorstofollow. alternative medicines
Butthegroupwon’tevenconsideranutritional
approach,despitetheoverwhelmingevidence,as
oneofitssubmissionteam,RufusGreenbaum,has
revealed.Herearesomeofhissuggestionsabout
cancer treatment and care, and NICE’s responses.
2
Iscanceranuclear
geneticdiseaseor
3 amitochondrial
Thereisverygoodevidence metabolic disease? NICE response:
thatadjustingvitaminD We will not review the
levelsof 25(OH)Dto100–150 causes of cancer
nmol/Lhelpsprevent
andtreatbreast
cancer NICE response:
We are not covering
vitamin D
4
Thereisverygoodevidence
thatadjustingomega-3
andomega-6levelshelps
5 preventandtreatbreast
Reviewtheeffectof vitamin cancer
C—deliveredintravenously,
orwithliposomalornormal
capsules—topreventor NICE response:
treat breast cancer NICE response: We are not covering
We are not covering omega-3 and omega-6
vitamin C levels
6
Reviewtheeffectof vitamin
K2onthepreventionand 7
treatmentof breastcancer Reviewtheabilityof
and DCIS[ductalcarcinoma curcumintodestroycancer
in situ] cellsandpromotehealthy
NICE response: cell function
We are not covering
vitamin K2 NICE response:
We are not covering
curcumin

NEWS FOCUS
Most doctors said

they lacked the
confidence and
training to advise
patients on nutrition
become an internist, cardiologist,

endocrinologist—you name it.”5
We know nothing
Doctors don’t disagree. A BBC survey of
UK doctors discovered they knew next
to nothing about the impact that diet
and lifestyle have on health, and what
they are taught about nutrition isn’t
relevant or applicable to the problems
they see in practice.
Around 80 percent of the patients he
treats have problems caused by poor
lifestyle and diet, Dr Rangan Chatterjee
told the BBC. In 2016, he was one of the
signatories to a letter to the UK’s General
Medical Council and Medical Schools
Council that called for the introduction
of teaching of “evidence-based lifestyle
interventions.”6
It’s the same the world over. In one diabetes and thyroid diseases, among of pharmaceuticals and the treatment
survey, 87 percent of Canadian medical others, NICE has ruled that it would not of symptoms. One benefactor was
students said their undergraduate be considering this information when oil magnate John D Rockefeller, who
programs should dedicate more time to recommending the best approaches to funded new colleges that extolled
nutrition, and most doctors graduating treat the diseases (see page 19). the virtues of the first generations
from American medical schools said “It’s not a conspiracy. I honestly of pharmaceuticals, made from the
they lacked the confidence and training believe they don’t understand about petrochemical offshoots of his core
to advise patients on nutrition.7 the effectiveness of nutrients,” said Mr product.
Greenbaum, director of the nutritional This limited view of disease and
Sorry, not here company GreenVits. healthcare seems inadequate today.
So, if nutrition is pivotal in disease To illustrate the point, he recalls One doctor, fresh out of medical school,
prevention and cure, why isn’t it being talking about using nutrients to treat related the day she was approached by an
taught? The problem goes deeper than macular degeneration with three leading obese woman who wanted to know how
just the medical schools— it seems to be ophthalmologists. Two of them said she got into that state.
systemic throughout medicine. they knew nothing about nutrition, and “The patient was asking a
NICE (National Institute for Health the third, the most senior of the three, straightforward question, and I think she
and Care Excellence), the UK agency asserted that “vitamins are dangerous.” was expecting a straightforward answer,”
that determines the most effective Going deeper still, the seeds of this she said—but her training hadn’t given
treatments, dismisses out of hand nutritional blindness can be found in her the knowledge to respond. She just
any nutritional therapies.Rufus the groundbreaking Flexner Report of didn’t know.
Greenbaum, who is a “registered 1910, which laid the foundations for the Bryan Hubbard
stakeholder” with NICE, says his teaching of modern “scientific medicine” REFERENCES
submissions on 20 diseases—all of in American medical schools, a blueprint 1 Lancet,2019;393:1958–72
which have suggested therapeutic levels that would spread around the world. 2 JAMA,2017;317:912–24
3 NutrJ,2004;3:19–40
of vitamins—have been rejected. Schools that were teaching 4 Circulation,2018;137;e821–41
Even though there is strong evidence homeopathy, natural medicine and 5 AmericanHeartAssociationNews,published
May3,2018
that nutrition helps with early-stage nutrition were closed and replaced by 6 BBC,March25,2018
breast cancer, macular degeneration, those that embraced the new medicine 7 CMAJ,2018;190:E94

F
digital technologies and
many strategies to minimize
its negative effects, such as
blue light-blocking glasses,
bioenergetic devices, radiation-
Rob Verkerk The Politics of Health proof cases for portable devices
A GOOGLE
reedom is one of our and so on.
most treasured rights—one But as Dave Asprey—
that’s tightly allied to privacy. biohacking guru and founder
DETOX
And while many of us rejoice of the Bulletproof brand—
at living in societies that announced last September at the
supposedly respect both these Health Optimisation Summit
rights,we would do well to in London, where I was also
ponder just how free and private honored to be a speaker, the
our lives really are. Break free from Google for a more balanced search, terms “biohacker,”“biohacking”
Focus especially on what says Rob Verkerk and related phrases have just
relates to our freedom and been downgraded by Google.
privacy when using the internet they watch what shopping you ‘health optimizers’— a rapidly Think about that. A
and the rapidly expanding might do, they see where you live growing group, often young and community that is trying very
“internet of things”—all the and look at any information they well educated, who are keen to hard to minimize its burden
interconnected devices being can amass about your personal manage their health themselves. on the healthcare system—to
incorporated into our daily lives profile, family and friends. They don’t like the idea of engage proactively with concepts
that share digital information They use artificial intelligence eating the way governments that the mainstream has long
and guide us in our actions, to make decisions about what advise and waiting for a chronic called “prevention” but paid little
portending a future of driverless content you should find in your degenerative disease to catch up more than lip service to—is now
cars and“smart cities.” searches and, just as importantly, with them, only to have no option being massively disadvantaged.
All well and good if you like what content should be hidden but to ask their doctor for a pill or Add to that the same treatment
that kind of thing,but not if from your view. two when the time comes. for the most popular natural
the information is filtered, This is where it hits really Biohackers know that this kind health website in the world,
biased or distorted,so when close to home, because there is a of reactive healthcare is too little, www.mercola.com (as well as
we link ourselves to the‘net,we definite anti-natural health bias too late, and that prescription this magazine’s website), or the
see a view of the world that is being metered out through these medicines are the third biggest permanent ban on our ability, at
nonrepresentative—selected for conspirators. killer in society.Instead,they the Alliance for Natural Health
us based on our past search International, to use Facebook
histories,assumed interests,
locality,gender,age,socio- This isn’t the stuff of ads to extend our reach, with no
reasons given.
economic status,perhaps conspiracy theory. Well, here’s the revelation
even our ethnicity.
It’s also a big concern if the
This is just plain that I’ve been enjoying for the
last few weeks. It’s called Google
view we’re given is one that’s old conspiracy, detox. I’m using DuckDuckGo
not really intended for our
benefit,but rather one that’s
supported by facts for my internet searches, and
it’s wonderful—privacy, no
designed to line the pockets of tracking, no biases, and I’m once
specific business interests that lie One common form of bias is prefer to engage proactively with again finding things that are of
behind the internet. called “downgrading,” and it’s their health. much greater interest to me.
This isn’t the stuff of done with algorithms that can They’re more likely to eat The world appears more
conspiracy theory.This is just change search results from one nutrient-dense foods, take state- balanced. The voices that run
plain old conspiracy,supported second to the next. of-the-art dietary supplements contrary to the establishment’s
by facts.Of course,it’s no big You may look up a topic one and engage in regular physical can be heard more clearly.
secret who the corporate players day and find a particularly useful activity. Try it—life free from the
are.They include the likes of link near the top of your search. But, equally important manipulation of the dark forces
Alphabet (Google’s parent The next day, after the algorithm to them is connecting with behind the internet seems
company),Microsoft,IBM, has been tweaked, the same link nature and keeping their minds potentially addictive, but at least
Oracle andAmazon,and social has fallen off the first page—and clear through meditation, it’s one of those few addictions
media giants likeYouTube may be hard to find at all. mindfulness practice or even that are actually good for us.
(owned by Google),Facebook This causes a huge loss in some “forest bathing” (known as
and its subsidiary,Instagram. traffic for affected sites.Take shinrin-yoku in Japan). For more information on this
They do their darndest to track one community with which we Oh, and let’s not forget, this topic, see “The Last Word” in our
your every move on the internet, work closely,‘biohackers’ and community is highly reliant on Dec/Jan 2020 issue.
Robert Verkerk PhD is the executive and scientific director of the Alliance for Natural Health International, a consumer group that aims to protect our right to natural healthcare and nutrition. For more
information and to get involved, go to www.anh-europe.org, or check out ANH’s Facebook and Twitter pages (www.facebook.com/ANHInternational and www.twitter.com/anhcampaign).

EVERY P
PICTURE...
Walking the dog

Owningapetisgoodforyou—but you’re even better off health-wise if it happens to be a dog
O
wning a pet—and especially a
dog—is good for your blood Taking the lead
pressure, makes you less likely In a study that compared the health profiles of dog BODY MASS INDEX
to be obese, and reduces your chances owners against people who owned other sorts of pets (kg/m2)
of developing diabetes. Oh yes, and or none at all, man’s best friend appeared to give their
you’ll earn more money, too. owners an advantage in many health metrics.
And while we don’t understand that
Dog owners Pet owners No pet
last one either, it’s certainly true that
(non-dog) DOG
pet owners are healthier and less likely OWNERS
Number of
to suffer heart disease, a new study has participants 429 440 1,023 25
concluded.
Dog owners were the healthiest of Average age 47 44 50
them all. The obvious reason for all PET OWNERS
(NON-DOG)
these health benefits—other than * MET (metabolic equivalent for task)
earning more money—is that the
25.1
Often referred to as the ‘volume’ of exercise, MET is a
dog needs walking, and a gentle stroll widely used measure of physical activity that represents
NO PET
around the park or the block several the difference between a person’s actual metabolic rate
times a day appears to be the difference. versus their theoretical metabolic rate at rest. 25.4
Researchers from the University
of Catania in Italy looked at rates of
heart disease among 1,769 people, 42
percent of whom owned a pet, and,
among these, they also compared the
MET*
health of dog owners to those who had (MET-min/week)
a different pet.1
Among dog owners, 29 percent were NO PET
obese, compared to 32 percent of the 2,805
non-pet owners and 37 percent of the
PET OWNERS
pet owners who didn’t have a dog. Dog (NON-DOG)
owners weighed an average of about 3,217
168 lbs (76 kg) while those who didn’t
have a dog weighed an average of 170
lb (77 kg). DOG PET OWNERS
OWNERS (NON-DOG)
In a score for general health, with
14 being the top score, dog owners 4,833 26.3
averaged 10 and non-dog owners had a DOG
OWNERS
score of nine.
And dog ownership isn’t just good 28.4
for the heart. Lead researcher Dr
Francisco Lopez-Jimenez says that NO PET
other studies have shown it’s also 32.9
good for mental health and feeling
less isolated socially—which both
also happen to be risk factors for heart HYPERTENSION
attacks.
HISTORY
(%)
REFERENCES
1 Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual
Outcomes, 2019; 3: 268–75

EVERY PICTURE...
TURE
WEIGHT DOG OWNERS

76
(kg)
PET OWNERS DIABETES DOG OWNERS
6.9
(NON-DOG)
77 HISTORY
NO PET (%) PET OWNERS
(NON-DOG)
77 7.7
NO PET
10
WAIST
CIRCUMFERENCE
(cm)
DOG
OWNERS
87
PET OWNERS
(NON-DOG) CENTRAL
88 OBESITY
NO PET (%)
89
DOG
OWNERS
29.2
NO PET
32
PET OWNERS
(NON-DOG)
37.3

EVERY P
PICTURE...
The price is always right

The US spends more on pharmaceuticals than any other country—and those prices keep
rising,helpedbymulti-million-dollarlobbying campaigns and payments to politicians
W
hen Turing Pharmaceuticals ramped
up the price of its drug,Daraprim,by
Annual inflation of drug prices far
5,000 percent overnight in 2015,the US outstripped that of other consumer costs
media and Congress were shocked—but the drug
industry regarded it as business as usual. Average price rise
And defending the extraordinary price hike, Average drug
Year in goods and
CEO Martin Shkreli did what the drug industry price increase (%)
services (%)
always does: he hired a team of lobbyists to help
with“Congressional outreach.”That way,his
decision could be justified and defended.
2006 3.3 5.9
WhenitcomestoCongressandpricingpolicy,
thedrugindustrylikestohuntasapack.Itstrade 2007 2.9 6.6
association,thePharmaceuticalResearchand
Manufacturersof America(PhRMA),increased
duesby50percentin2016toraiseanextra$100
2008 3.8 8.7
millionforlobbying.
PhRMA’saverageannualspendisUS$19.9 2009 0.3 8.2
million,usedtoconvinceCongressthatcurrent
pharmaceuticalpricelevelsarejustified,aswouldbe
anyhike,evenupto5,000percent,perhaps.
2010 1.6 7.8
It’s not just the lobby firms that benefit.According
to the campaign group Citizens for Responsibility
2011 3.2 9.7
and Ethics inWashington (CREW),399 members
of the House of Representatives collectively
received a total of US$16 million in drug industry
2012 2.1 12
“donations”during the 2016 election.In addition,
Hillary Clinton’s campaign was handed US$2.42
2013 1.5 15.4
million,and Trump’s a miserly US$343,000.1
But it’s money well spent,with the US paying 2014 1.6 16.1
more for its pharmaceuticals than any other
country in the world and those prices still rising.
The average price hike is set to reach 6.3 percent
2015 0.1 15.5
in 2019—a continuing trend that has seen average
drug prices increase by 172 percent in the US over a 10-year increase 21.6 172.1
10-year period,while prices for general goods and
services have increased by just 21 percent.
While most agree that the US drug pricing
system is broken,only the money is doing the real
talking.
REFERENCES
1 CREW,ABitterPill:HowBigPharmaLobbies
toKeepPrescriptionDrugPricesHigh.
www.citizensforethics.org

EVERY PICTURE...
TURE
Drug prices increased roughly eight times faster than

goods and services over 10 years
Rise in drug prices
Rise in goods
and services
21.6%
172.1%
That’ll do nicely: How drug prices have been hiked in the US

The only way is up when it comes to drug pricing. Here are a few examples of price rises; in some cases,
they represent increases that have taken place over a couple of years, in others, quite literally overnight.
Drug Type Price hike (%) Time period Supplier

Albuterol Asthma inhaler 4,014 1 year Maylan
Pravastatin Cholesterol-lowering 573 1 year Maylan
EpiPen Allergic reaction 488 7 years Maylan
Nitropress Heart failure 525 OVERNIGHT Valeant
Isuprel Heart blockage 212 OVERNIGHT Valeant
Daraprim Parasitic infections 5,000 OVERNIGHT Turing
Cycloserne Tuberculosis 200 OVERNIGHT Purdue
Vimovo Arthritis pain 600 1 year Horizon

SPECIAL REPORT
SPECIA
With my
craniosacral
background,
I knew the brain
can feel its way
back.So,I went
to work

SPECIAL
HOW ONE WOMAN HEALED HER SON’S BRAIN
Reversing
autism
K
aren Thomas didn’t expect to become stronger consequences.” It was ridiculous, says Karen.
an autism recovery expert.She was “They just basically told us that we were bad parents.”
a holistic health professional,a When Jacob was almost 10 years old, a doctor finally
massage and craniosacral therapist, made a tentative diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and
happily married and mother to a autism.“I’d studied the brain, and I’d heard of autism,”
happy-go-lucky,vibrant two-year- says Karen,“but that was back in early 2005, and I
old son.Then came the change. really didn’t know anything about it and neither did
“This was in 1998,and the hepatitis B the doctor.”
shot was a relatively new thing,”says Karen.
“There wasn’t a lot of research out there,and
In her quest to find He told her there wasn’t anything he
could do and that she was going to have to
I didn’t know anything about it.I was still
uncertain but said,‘Go ahead.’It was pretty
solutions to her own research autism on her own. But none of
the bookstores where she lived in San Luis
quickly afterwards that Jacob changed.”
He regressed and became very introverted,
son’s symptoms, Obispo, CA, had books on the subject.
Finally, she visited a store in Berkeley.
quiet and hyperfocused to the point where Karen Thomas Coincidentally the owner’s son had Asperger’s
PHOTOGRAPHY: Lacey Moranville; www.laceymoranville.com
people would be talking to him and even say and autism, and she carried some books
his name and he wouldn’t hear or respond.
Simultaneously he became extremely
developed a four-step on autism.“I picked up a book and started
reading it right there in the store, and it was
oppositional and experienced profound
anxiety,headaches and stomach aches that
program for like I was reading about Jacob,” says Karen.
“I thought,‘Oh, my gosh, this is him!’ It
would wake him up screaming at 3 a.m.
Desperate to understand what was going
autism recovery makes me cry even now thinking about it.”
Eventually a psychiatrist specialising in
on with her firstborn,over the next five years Karen autism spectrum disorder (ASD) confirmed that
took Jacob to multiple physical and psychological Jacob had Asperger syndrome and was fairly high
therapists who said things like,“You’re just not being functioning, but with the worst case of oppositional
firm enough with your discipline.You need to give him defiant disorder she had ever seen in her career.
EPORT
“Try to parent that!” jokes Karen.“You

sort of go through this relief now that you Today misunderstood. To this day, the root cause
of the majority of autism cases has defied
have an answer. And then you have grief.
And then it’s,‘Okay, now what do I do?’”
It was a behavioral therapist who kicked
– after 14 years understanding.
For years it was thought to be primarily a
genetic disorder passed on by the parents,
her fully into taking action on her own.
“After several sessions, the woman took
of intense but today chromosomal testing reveals that
approximately 80 percent of children with
me aside and said,‘You really need to drug
him. If you don’t drug him, you will really research– ASD have a normal genome.
A growing number of brain studies
be doing him a disservice and making life
really hard for him.’
“I couldn’t believe it. I said,‘I am not
Karen’s son show high levels of neuroinflammation
and neuronal damage in people with ASD,
indicating that something else is going on
going to drug my child!’ With my holistic
background working with the brain and
Jacob is fully besides inheritance and developmental
mishaps.
my craniosacral background, I knew the
brain can feel its way back if you can just get recovered and It was this “something else”—getting to
the root causes of her son’s autism—that
whatever is in its way out of the way. So, I
went to work.”
Today—after 14 years of Karen’s intense
away at college drove Karen.
She refused to accept simple answers or
“We just don’t know.” She also refused to lay
research into the many causes and triggers of the blame solely on Jacob’s fateful HepB shot
autism, developing treatment in 2005. That it played a role in triggering in
protocols and working with her her son’s autism, she has no doubt. But common sense
son on her own— Jacob is fully and years working as an alternative health therapist
recovered and away at college. told her the dynamics at play were much more
“I was so determined to complex than that.
figure out what was going on Diet was the first thing she zeroed in on (see box,
and to help him get better. I’m page 39). Diet had been a large part of the Defeat
just sorry it took so much time Autism Now (DAN) protocol, founded in 1995,
researching, going through which promoted the view that autism is a disorder
all of the trial and error trying characterized by a lowered immune response caused
foods and supplements.— by a combination of certain foods, most importantly
they’re expensive and then gluten from grains and casein from dairy products, as
you have to try them for a well as external toxins (especially from vaccines).
decent length of time, a couple Although the protocol was discontinued in 2011,
of months or so to see if it’s Karen discovered that diet was indeed a vital key—and
going to do anything, and then not just the elimination of gluten and casein.
continuing research, reading Through a process of trial and error, she learned she
countless books. had to also eliminate sugar, processed carbohydrates,
“I spent $150,000 and food dyes, MSG and aspartame.
thousands and thousands of “It was hard changing his diet when we started
hours researching. But it was because kids become very addicted to the opiates that
Karen Thomas with her son,
worth it, because not only have I recovered my son, it Jacob, in Maui, Hawaii
are created in the body from eating gluten and casein,”
has put me in a position to help others.” she says. (Wheat and dairy break down into peptides
called gluten exorphins and casomorphins, which
Know what you’re dealing with mimic opiate drugs, attaching to the same receptor
The prevalence of autism is rapidly escalating, and sites in the brain.)
it’s more common in boys than girls by a ratio of Cutting out refined sugars wasn’t easy either, because
approximately five to one. the Candida in Jacob’s gut created wild cravings for a
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sugar fix. But slowly his gut health improved, and the
(CDC) currently estimates that one out of every 68 cravings died along with the Candida.
children in the US is on the autism spectrum, a figure Karen also put him on a regime of prebiotics and
that’s up 30 percent from 2008 and up more than 200 probiotics.“Gut health is vital,” she says.“The gut
percent since the year 2000. controls the brain and houses 80 percent of the immune
ASD is characterised by a range of deficits in social system, so you have to work with the gut and support
communication and interaction, repetitive patterns of the organs of detoxification and the lymphatic system,
limited behavior and interest, frequent oppositional because these kids have really poor detoxification.”
behavior and emotional dysregulation along with a Like so many parents of children with autism,
wide range of other physical and health issues. Until Karen vividly recalls the first benchmark moment
about 15 years ago,it was regularly misdiagnosed and of change as she got Jacob’s diet and gut health under
SPECIA
control. “Jacob was usually wild and all over

the place,”she says.“One morning I was in Karen vividly for autism is so much worse for boys. Girls
have protective estrogen in their system
the kitchen preparing breakfast and I looked
toward the dining room table and there
Jacob was,just sitting there normally,talking
recalls the first that will shield the brain. Testosterone has
an opposite effect. This is why we often find
very high testosterone levels in girls with
to his younger sister.It was stunning.” benchmark autism.”
Even though he was in the process of
Clearing the toxins
Heavy metal detox was the next thing moment of detoxification, when he hit puberty the
mercury in Jacob’s system combined with
Karen tackled.She knew she’d had mercury
amalgam fillings done when she was
pregnant and had no idea what else she’d
change as she got the elevated testosterone levels, and all of a
sudden he was in total rebellion, refusing to
go school or cooperate with Karen’s efforts.
been exposed to.
“I learned that when you’re pregnant,
Jacob’s diet under “It was constant battling for a while, and
there were times I thought I was just going to
the body of the baby is used by the mother’s
body as a conduit to detoxify,so if you have a
lot of toxins,your baby is getting all of that.”
control have a stroke,” she says.
“We had just moved, so I had no support
system. My husband worked out of town
To clear Jacob’s system of four days a week, so I was basically a single
mercury toxicity,instead of using mom with my little girl and my son. For a
dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA,a while it was pretty
pharmaceutical chelator used to treat lead, traumatic.”
mercury and arsenic poisoning),which
has side-effects such as diarrhea,weight Supporting
loss,fever and flu-like symptoms,Karen used a zeolite recovery
formula (microporous alkaline aluminosilicate The next critical
minerals) to draw the mercury out of his cells. stage of recovery
“DMSA isn’t safe for our kids,”she says.“It’s not for Jacob was
discriminatory,so it pulls out the good minerals dealing with
as well as the bad,further depleting their bodies of coinfections.
calcium,magnesium and other things they need.It Karen found that
also allows for reabsorption of the toxins once they’ve most doctors
been released. working with
“Zeolyte tastes like water,and you can spray it in autistic patients
their mouth because you’ve got to do things that are either didn’t know
easy for them.It doesn’t allow for any reabsorption of about dealing
the toxin,and it won’t pull out the good minerals.” with this, or they
Detoxing from mercury,however,did temporarily couldn’t identify
jack Jacob’s autism symptoms through the roof. Karen and Jacob and handle the
by Huntington
“When testosterone and mercury come together it’s Lake, California coinfections properly.
like a bomb going off,”Karen says.“It really exacerbates “Over 90 percent of children with autism have Lyme
the effects of mercury. disease,” she says bluntly.“It mimics the symptoms
“That’s one of the reasons why the boy-to-girl ratio of autism. It’s really hard to diagnose and is highly
Autism diet basics “Roughly 60 percent of children and leading to a host of physical the hypothalamus, which in
who cut out these two food and emotional ailments. turn impacts our hormones,
The health of the gut is directly groups improve within a short Food dyes & coloring. The triggering headaches, asthma,
linked to the health of the brain period of time. Their parents dyes used in foods, drugs and anger, memory loss, reduction
and therefore to the symptoms report more positive behavior, cosmetics contain lead, mercury, of growth hormone and more.
of autism. According to Karen improved concentration and arsenic, benzidine and harmful Aspartame. This artificial
Thomas, as much as 80 percent better sleep, among other major chemicals and have been linked sweetener causes excitotoxicity
of the immune system resides improvements.” to hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, damage to the brain and raises
in the gut, so if the gut is not Processed carbohydrates & asthma, behavioral problems levels of the neurotransmitter
healthy, then the immune sugar. When it comes to gut and other conditions. phenylalanine, contributing to
system is compromised. It’s a health, these sugars feed the MSG. Monosodium glutamate many mental and behavioral
vicious cycle that, thankfully, overgrowth of Candida (yeast) in or MSG is a flavor enhancer disorders.
can be broken by eliminating our system, which damages the that excites the neurons in
harmful foods from the diet. gut lining, preventing beneficial the brain to death—known
Gluten & dairy. Says Karen, nutrients from being absorbed as an excitotoxin. It affects

EPORT
prevalent. So are mold biotoxins, which

affect the gut and the brain, stirring up a Karen
ar He wasn’t even able to turn in bed. We were
being told it was bone marrow infections
chronic inflammatory response.”
Dr Jodie Dashore, PhD (Integrative
Medicine), OTD (Neurology), MSc
dh
foundthat and sent to cancer specialists.
Eventually we found out he had 11
comorbid infections, many of which had
(Neurology), a leading global naturopathic
practitioner in biotoxin illness, ASD and
mostdoctors crossed the blood brain barrier, including
strep, mycoplasma (mold), Lyme, Babesia,
Lyme disease, agrees that dealing with
coinfections is a huge part of autism workingwith intestinal parasites and yeasts.”
After Dashore treated Brian for
recovery.
“Research shows that infections like
mycoplasma pneumonia and Lyme disease
autisticpatients mycoplasma, his two and half years of
severe asthma disappeared.“Once all of
the coinfections were cleared, his autism
can suppress the immunoglobulin part of
the immune system—the antibodies the
couldn’thandle went away,” she says.
Because his condition was life-
body creates to fight infection—because
their job is to suppress the host’s defenses coinfections threatening, Dashore used a combination
of antibiotics along with natural
so they can grow,” says Dashore.“That’s
what they do.”
Dashore, who lives and works in New
properly detoxification as needed until the
infections cleared sufficiently that she
could switch the protocol and
Jersey and is a close friend and consulting associate of rely more heavily on natural
Karen’s, also has a fully recovered autistic son, Brian, products, using antibiotics
who had 10 false-negative tests for Lyme before finally only if necessary until his
being properly diagnosed. immune system got better.
“It was a nightmare,” recalls Dashore.“He was Like Jacob, today Brian
barely verbal, low IQ, in a wheelchair, not growing, is fully independent and
head shaking, with vocal tics. I had to carry him on my away at college, where he
back up and down the stairs and into the bathroom. is a straight A student. Not
surprisingly, he is following
some of which he had d clotthing. He will not wear

Testimonials from a bad reaction to,” shoes for long and bolts/
Autism Moms says Owen.“I swore uns from class at any
Mentoring Program to myself he wouldn’tt
spend another night
iven chance.
“Since we started
again in a hospital.”
ChamberlineOwen His next step was Karen and Jacob in Dublin, Ireland aren’s program, we have
Karen says that most of the contacting Karen. Two wo noticed that he has become so
were concerned, they could see
time she works with moms. But years later, he has dropped out calm. It’s truly amazing when
nothing wrong with him, that he
the very first member to join of the program because Pierce you do not have to lock up all
behaved like a normal four-year-
her program was Chamberline is doing so well.“I am glad to doors. I can leave him alone in
old who was just slow to speech
Owen from Nigeria, a father report that Pierce no longer a room for five to 10 minutes
and would outgrow it.”
desperate to help his son. stims, no hand flap, his sleep without him destroying and
Two-year-old Pierce had time has reduced, and he now
just gotten home after a two-
A.A.
says words like shoes, chocolate, “My son is six, and he was
breaking stuff like before.
week hospital stay treating “His constipation issues have
etc.
autoimmune reaction, Candida mostly nonverbal and reduced, he’s slowly learning
“Now we can tell him to go do
overgrowth, rheumatoid had major digestive issues his numbers, alphabet, colors,
something or run some limited
arthritis and a very severe strep (constipation) since he was a shapes, etc. He’s not completely
errand, and he does it. He will
infection. walk to a stranger and hug them baby. He has been hyperactive, verbal, but he can now answer
He was nonverbal, with in greeting, saying ‘Hi.’ The destructive, noisy, has learning
some questions and repeat
no eye contact, antisocial, other day he saw his Barney problems, obsessive-compulsive
whatever you say. He has
“stimming” (self-stimulating stuffed doll and said ‘Look at disorder, repetitive clapping
repetitive speech and even
through repetitive behaviors, Barney!’ I was overwhelmed.” and inappropriate noises.
“He was also recently though it’s not perfectly clear,
movements or sounds), When two friends, both
it’s progress to us.
and hyperactive, with poor physicians, visited from the UK, diagnosed with both Lyme
sleep patterns and severe Owen says they were surprised and strep (PANDAS). He has “We are hoping and praying
gastrointestinal issues. to see the level of interaction Candida and heavy metals. He that we can see more positive
“In the hospital he went Pierce had with their kids.“They has sensory issues especially changes as we continue on with
through all kinds of antibiotics, commented that as far as they when it comes to some types of the program.”

SPECI
a premed track and is focused on a career

helping others recover from autism as he If you’re in autism you’re in autism recovery, you’re talking
healing biology and that is a process.
has. He even has his own Lyme-dedicated
informational website called www.
teenlymehub.com.
recovery,whether Whether it takes you one year or four years,
everybody’s timeline is different depending
on the nature of their biology.”
The final step in Karen’s work with Jacob
included brain support with supplements
it takes you one Global interest
and repair with craniosacral therapy,
which balances the bones of the head year or four years, Four years ago, Karen wrote and published a
book on her autism recovery protocol titled
that surround the brain. These bones can
easily get displaced and pushed out of their
normal movement patterns.
everybody’s Naturally Healing Autism: The Complete
Step-By-Step Resource Handbook for Parents.
She also started a web-based program
When that happens, the affected part
of the brain can’t function properly.“For
timeline is called Autism Moms Mentoring Program
that takes parents of children with autism
example, the occipital bone at the very
back of the head, the lower bone where
it connects to the neck, is very easily
different through a step-by-step process of recovery.
Karen’s four-step program follows the
comprehensive yet holistic approach she
destabilized—in fact it’s easily destabilized took with Jacob (see box,page 37). Today,
at birth,” says Karen. both the book and her program are being
“Displaced cranial bones can pinch on used by parents in over 40 countries.
the vagus nerve, which affects respiration. “Iff you have a
So if you have a child who has asthma it mprehensive 360°
could be that. It also affects digestion and is a proach, if you have
really big contributor to anxiety.” practitioner who
If the temporal bones around the ear are understands
d the full 360°,
misaligned, she says, speech and balance u can expect an array
are affected. Misaligned temporal bones improvements,” says
are also associated with anger issues. Dash hore.“Improvements
These kinds of adjustments can be done Karen all th
he way to recovery. I see
and Jacob
throughout the entire recovery process, which, camping in the cliennts from 49 countries,
Karen insists, takes time. High Sierra, and I’m seeing the same
“People ask me how long it will take, and I say,‘If California gree of improvement
What to do if your medicines and dosages ggested autism tests

that are appropriate forr an • Urine test for glyphosate
child has ASD individual with a particuular Urrine panel for Lyme
Both Karen Thomas, founder of condition. annd other coinfections
Naturally Recovering Autism, The same thing is truee of Urrine mycotoxin panels
and Dr Jodie Dashore cautioned dosages. “I cannot advise a Test for organic acids
against listing any specific any dosages,” says Dasshore, part of a treatment plan. “You • Comprehensive stool
nutritional supplements to help who runs an organic herb farm,
erb farm can’t
’t just give a child a life parasitology
mitigate symptoms of autism. raising and producing her sentence of autism without • Nasal swabs
Since every child (and adult) own herbal treatments for her understanding that autism • Shoemaker’s protocol
is different, a supplement that patients. “Everybody has their can be a symptom, not a for chronic inflammatory
might work for one person won’t own biological blueprint. diagnosis,” says Dashore. response syndrome (CIRS)
be as effective for another. This “One drop of an herb might “It can be a symptom of diagnosis
is why in her recovery program, give a six-foot, 200-pound something underlying. So you • Mitochondrial swab
Karen teaches parents how to man Herxheimer symptoms— have to test for pathogens, • Methylation profile (normal
muscle test. detoxification die off toxins, pesticides, for anything metabolism of methionine is
Also known as applied symptoms such as fever, chills, that can compromise the critical for cellular methylation
kinesiology or manual muscle hypotension, headache and immune system and the brain.” of DNA, proteins and
testing, this purports to be an anxiety—where I might have The following is a list of neurotransmitters)
alternative health method of an 11-year-old child who’s doing tests Dashore recommends. • GI-MAP (Gastrointestinal
diagnosing structural, muscular, 60 drops three times a day. However, like every other part Microbial Assay Plus)
chemical and mental ailments It’s all about bio-individualized of the process, testing needs to • Blood work for viruses and
as well as determining the nutraceuticals.” be individualized as well. bacteria
proper foods, supplements, Testing, however, is an • Hormone panels

SPECIAL REPORT
SPECIA
The science of recovery

Karen Thomas developed her four-step program
through years of research and trial and error in her
quest to find solutions to her own son’s symptoms.
Every step is supported by scientific evidence
and intended to provide a simple framework for
individualized treatment strategies.
Heal the gut: An elimination diet supplemented

with omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, vitamins and
minerals has been shown to relieve autism symptoms
(as well as gastrointestinal disorders).1 A gluten-free
and casein (dairy)-free diet has also been lnked to
reduced symptoms of autism.2 Studies also show an
association of gut dysfunction and gut dysbiosis with
ASD symptoms.3
Heavy metal detox: Exposure to heavy metals
such as lead and mercury have been linked
“With a to the development of autism by triggering

neuroinflammation and excitotoxicity.4 Immune-
related excitotoxicity—where inflammation in
mother’s love, the brain leads to dangerously high levels of the
excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, triggering
a father’s love, a cascade of events that disrupts brain function—is
both directly and indirectly linked to autism.5
and a lot of This inflammation can result from persistent

infections and particularly environmental excitotoxins
such as aluminum and fluoride. Dr Chris Exsley, PhD,
hard work,it’s professor of bioinorganic chemistry at Keele University
in Staffordshire, UK, has conducted research
amazing what suggesting that aluminum contributes to autism and

that individuals with autism may be more susceptible
happens” to aluminum toxicity.

“Anything that reduces human exposure to
aluminum should be beneficial,” Exsley says. “And
Dr Jodie Dashore a significant body of anecdotal information now
suggests that regular drinking of silicon-rich mineral
waters benefits some individuals with autism because
for the kids on the spectrum that I see, subject to vast silicon-rich mineral waters help the body to excrete
cultural differences and vast dietary differences.” aluminum in urine and probably in sweat too.”
“But,” Dashore continues,“all in all, what I see is that Exposure to mercury is also an established risk
with a mother’s love, a father’s love, and a lot of patience, factor for autism. In a review of 91 studies on the
a lot of hard work finding the right practitioner, it’s topic, 74 percent found a connection between
amazing what happens.” mercury and ASD.6 And the baby teeth from children
with autism were found to contain more toxic
lead and less of the essential nutrients zinc and
REFERENCES RESOURCES manganese than teeth from children without autism.7
1 Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig, 2013; 64: Clear coinfections: Infection with the Lyme bacteria,
1–12 Karen Thomas: www.
2 Nutr Neurosci, 2010; 13: 87–100 naturallyrecoveringautism.com borreliosis, has been linked to mental disorders
3 Front Nutr. 2018; 5: 40 Dr Jodie A. Dashore: www. including ASD and autism-like symptoms.8 New
4 Environ Res, 2018; 116: 234–50
5 Surg Neurol Int, 2018; 9: 74
bionexushealth.com brain scanning techniques show that, indeed, brain
6 J Trace Elem Med Biol, 2016; 37: Brian Dashore: www. inflammation is related to Lyme disease,9 as well as
8–24
7 Nat Commun, 2017; 8: 15493
teenlymehub.com being a tell-tale sign of autism.10
8 Healthcare (Basel), 2018; 6. pii: Exposure to molds and their mycotoxins has also
E104 been found to negatively impact the nervous system
9 J Neuroinflammation, 2018;
15: 346 through immune cell activation and thus contribute
10 Nat Commun, 2014; 5: 5748 to ASD.11
11 Clin Ther, 2018; 40: 903–17

EPORT
Not so
natural
With the dangers of hormone replacement
therapy confirmed, we investigate the
good, the bad and the ugly of so-called
“bioidentical” alternatives

SPECI
he change was hard for Jane Dales.

A British expat living in Spain, she was 52 years old when she felt the full force
of her haywire hormones in menopause. At night she tossed and turned,
her mood took tumultuous swings, and she had frequent hot flashes. Her
outlook had darkened, too.“I had no joy in anything,” Jane recalls.“I am
always a very positive person, but positivity had gone out the window. I was
putting on weight; my skin was getting thin and like crêpe paper.
My hair was falling out in handfuls. I just felt like I wanted to
crawl under a rock and hide. I was totally desperate.”
About 30 million women in the US alone are in that
phase of life, usually somewhere between ages 45 and
55, when the hallmark of their reproductive capacity,
menstruation, gradually winds down and ceases.
Estrogen, the hormone that makes fertility possible,
nurturing not just the breasts and uterus but also the brain,
bones, liver, heart and other tissues, and performing many
functions like fat and glucose metabolism, slowly declines,
as do other hormones like progesterone.
The process can take years and sometimes involves
hormone ups and downs that produce a host of
symptoms including hot flashes, vaginal dryness, poor
sleep, decreased libido and weight gain around the
middle. Frequently, it comes at a time of life when other
things are changing too—empty nests, aging parents and
realigning relationships.
Some women sail into menopause and hardly notice
the change. For others like Jane it demands their attention.
Most of the millions of women in perimenopause—the
long phase before “true” menopause when menstruation
has ceased for a full 12 months and beyond—experience
some symptoms.
If they approach their doctor, they may be prescribed
standard hormone replacement therapy (HRT)—usually
a combination of estrogen and progestogen, chemical
copies of the two most active hormones in their bodies—
which has a long, conflicting history of research findings,
the latest of which support the bad news.
Breast cancer risk

A new large-scale analysis of data from more than
half a million women, published in the prestigious
medical journal The Lancet, has confirmed that taking
pharmaceutical hormones for menopause symptoms
increases breast cancer risk. The higher the dose and the
longer the women took the drugs, the greater the risk.
What’s more, their cancer risk stayed elevated for over a
decade, even after they stopped taking the drugs.1
This study supports the results from the landmark
2002 Women’s Health Initiative—involving more than
160,000 postmenopausal women—which showed that
conventional HRT with estrogen and progestogens
dramatically increased women’s risk of strokes, dementia
and breast cancer.2
EPORT
The Women’s Health Initiative was an HRT party-crasher. In the skeleton goes through a number of molecular changes, governed
18 months following its publication, HRT prescriptions in the US by enzymes in various organs, to transform into hormones like
plummeted by half. progesterone and estrogen.
Nonetheless, women in menopause had heard for years that they Chemists making so-called “natural” hormones imitate this
needed to replace estrogen.“There was this medical argument that process, starting with a plant-derived molecule similar to this basic
came from the pharmaceutical industry that women will disintegrate skeleton, then subjecting it to chemical reactions that yield an end
if they don’t get the drugs,” says Christiane Northrup, a retired product with the same molecular structure as what our bodies
obstetrician and gynecologist who has authored a number of best- produce—but there is nothing natural about how they came to exist.
selling books on menopause including The Wisdom of Menopause
(Bantam Books, 2012) and Goddesses Never Age (Hay House, 2015). Drugs masked as supplements
Outside mainstream medicine was a huge smorgasbord Advocates of bioidentical hormone replacement (BHRT) say
of hormonal-balancing herbs, supplements and a that most of the ill effects of HRT have been found with
growing industry of “bioidentical hormones” synthetic progestogens like medroxyprogesterone
waiting to fill the gap. acetate, and that “natural” progesterone has a different
risk profile.
HRT vs. BHRT They often cite studies such as a 2008 analysis of
Millions of women first heard about bioidentical postmenopausal women, which found that invasive
hormones from celebrity Suzanne Somers, breast cancer risk was elevated among those
who put “bioidentical” in the spotlight more taking estrogen and progestins but not among
than a decade ago with her series of books those taking estrogen and progesterone.3
on the subject.“By replacing my hormones However, the late Dr Ellen Grant, who
with bioidentical hormones, I got my life participated in early trials of the Pill and
back,” she raved to Oprah Winfrey in 2009. HRT and became a vociferous critic of
“I got my health back, I got my figure back, I all supplemental hormones,“natural” or
got my happiness back. Everything in my life Bioidentical otherwise, said,“Both progesterone and Pill
is better.”
Bioidentical hormones, while not derived
hormones have progestogens produce identical changes in
endometrial cells, enzymes and blood vessels.
from human sources but from plants like
soy and yams, are “identical” in molecular
slipped through “Both relate to widespread systemic effects
such as headaches and mood changes. Any
structure to human hormones. Like the a regulation differences are of degree and individual
correct piece in a puzzle, they are designed
to fit perfectly into hormone receptors on loophole, so they sensitivity, but not of kind.”
She drew attention to research linking
human cells.
Non-bioidentical pharmaceutical
don’t undergo progesterone to cancer and birth defects4
and showing that progesterone skin gel, once
concoctions don’t match any receptor
exactly. Their structure has been tweaked so
any of the safety absorbed by the body, can increase levels of
the estrogen estradiol—high levels of which
they can be patented for profit (since natural monitoring have been linked to endometrial cancer.5
substances cannot be patented).
However, to complicate matters, some required of drug Alarmingly, their “natural” label means
that bioidentical progesterone products
modern pharmaceutical products are
bioidentical, because the pharmaceutical
companies have avoided much of the scrutiny of their
synthetic counterparts.
companies are able to patent bioidentical Critics of bioidentical custom
products that are specially “compounded” compounding pharmacies say that BHRT
to make a unique combination or delivery system, including pills, preparations have slipped through a regulation loophole, so they
patches, creams, suppositories and even surgically implanted pellets don’t undergo any of the monitoring and safety reporting required of
that slowly release hormones. drug companies.
Or take the case of Premarin, derived from horse urine, which “In the USA, it became an unregulated drug manufacturer industry
is actually a bioidentical hormone—for horses. It matches the in disguise, without proper control and making false claims and
receptors for horse estrogen and is a close fit to the human receptor, misleading advertisements” says a 2017 review of the subject.6
but biologically much stronger. Premarin is “natural” in that it’s from What this means is that these products are being used with virtually
nature, but some would say it is unnatural for a woman to swallow it. no oversight for quality control or side-effect risks.
Champions of bioidentical hormones will often describe the
differences as “natural” versus synthetic, but all the hormones are Fountain of youth or medicalization?
synthetic. Whether they’re an exact hormone copy or not, they’ve Both old mainstream gynecology and new anti-aging medicine see
been created entirely through processing in a lab. hormones as an indispensable “fountain of life”—run dry.“Hormone
Dr Michael Telford, former medical advisor to the company that replacement is no different than giving insulin to a diabetic or thyroid
produces Gestone, a bioidentical hormone created from the fibrous hormone to someone who is hypothyroid,” says retired obstetrician
root sisal, explained to this magazine that the human body produces and gynecologist Barbara Taylor in one of her popular “Menopause
a basic steroid “skeleton” from which it creates all its hormones. This Taylor” videos on YouTube.
SPECI
Specialists like Taylor cite research such as the Danish

study of nearly 700,000 postmenopausal women that found
topical estrogen may significantly lower women’s heart
attack risk.7 How, they ask, could the hormones that bathed
your body for years, nourished your cells and kept your skin “Natural hormones nearly killed me”
and arteries soft, be dangerous? In 2004, Cathy Groves wrote to the British Medical Journal
This philosophy underpins much of anti-aging medicine about her nightmare journey with progesterone cream. She’d
today. But others, like Christiane Northrup, see the had a terrible experience with the Pill, which affected her
menopause industry as “medicalising” the natural aging thyroid, and seeking to find an alternative to get her back
process and failing to respect nature’s design. to normal, she sought out a “natural” cream, following the
Just as doctors used to “treat” menopausal symptoms manufacturer’s instructions to use between 20–30 mg per
with hysterectomies and still flatten out the slightest day, split between morning and evening doses.
aberration in a teenager’s cycle with birth control to “When I first took the cream, beginning in May 2003, I felt
“normalize” them, perhaps 60-year-olds just aren’t meant great. In fact, I had more energy and ability to lose weight than
to have the hormone levels of 30-year-olds coursing I had in about five years. I didn’t need near as much sleep, and
through their veins, as the Women’s Health Initiative and found that I no longer struggled with depression,” she wrote.
Lancet studies suggest. However, two months later, Cathy developed sharp pain in
her legs, followed by a bruised and swollen lump and localized
Miracle or nightmare? soreness in her calf, which continued to worsen.
The experiences of women themselves reflect the conflicts “That ended up being the first of two episodes with venous
in hormone therapy. Jane Dales, for example, started on blood clots in the six months I was on the cream. Little did
custom-compounded BHRT eight months ago, after a I know that progesterone is heavily implicated in clotting
battery of tests to rule out thyroid and adrenal dysfunction. disorders, much as the Pill is. Not one of my doctors ever
“The change is astonishing,” she enthuses. Even her hair made the connection between my blood clots and the
grew back to its former “crowning glory.” progesterone.”
But other women describe BHRT as a “nightmare” Cathy’s resting heart rate was going “through the roof,”
rather than a dream come true.“Everyone raves about bio reaching 120 beats per minute. She also suffered crying spells,
hormones, but I found they made my symptoms much uncontrollable temper and bouts of nausea and vomiting.
worse,” one woman commented on a thread about side- “When I couldn’t stop throwing up and couldn’t eat and it
effects.“It was a horrible and expensive experience for me. had been three weeks—that was when I ran across the first
The doctor kept telling me to tough it out, but she was not in doctor who said, “Well, if there’s one thing I know that makes
my body.” pregnant women sick as dogs, it’s progesterone. I’d look there
One woman started having delusional thoughts and first.” I quit the cream on October 26, 2003.
panic attacks soon after starting bioidentical progesterone From there, it took six months for it to clear her body and for
cream that were so severe she was hospitalized. A 35-year- her to stop being sick.
old prescribed bioidentical progesterone cream stopped “The symptoms during those six months of illness as I
using it after14 days “when I started having panic attacks rebounded from the cream are almost too many to list, but
out of nowhere, crying spells, intrusive thoughts, inability they include: severe nausea and vomiting, gastrointestinal
to concentrate, difficulty sleeping, etc. . . I have been off for problems (marked heartburn, bouts of diarrhea, and bouts
about nine days and still feel the effects.” of constipation), uncontrollable shaking, acne and extremely
Some women describe having to beg doctors to remove oily skin, hirsutism, depression, anxiety, tingling/burning
surgically implanted hormone pellets.“I pluck dark hairs sensations on the back of my arms,
arms neck and head,
head insomnia,
insomnia
from my moustache area daily,” one woman complained hypersensitivity to medications and foods,
about her bioidentical hormone implant.“I can’t waait for hot flashes and serious withdrawal
this stuff to wear off.” symptoms.”
Another woman who’d contacted this magazine went w
on to develop breast cancer after being told to use rub b-on
progesterone to prevent it, and was attempting to suee the
American medical center that prescribed it to her.
The trouble with hormones

What can explain these disparate results? Getting thee
dose right is crucial with hormones, and overdosing is a
real risk. Delivery system is important as well, and many
practitioners using bioidentical hormones advise aggainst
taking them as a pill.
“If you swallow steroid hormones you will serioussly
distort their natural metabolism, ” osteopathic physiician
and health advocate Joseph Mercola wrote on his website.
EPORT
“Only 10–15 percent will eventually reach the target

tissues, and you will need to take an oral dose that is 500
percent higher than you need.” What’s left behind as
metabolites in the liver can cause unwanted side-effects like
those described by unhappy users.
Many women are drawn in by the claims of greaater safety
A TRULY NATURAL ALTER
ALTERNATIVE
for hormone creams and gels that are applied to th he Many women don’t want hormone replacement—
skin—especially since these are not subject to FDA A bioidentical or otherwise—during menopause, but still
approval and marketed simply as “cosmetics.”Butt w nt relief from some of its manny associated symptoms
wa
there are dangers with creams, too, notes Mercola from hot flashees to vaginal dryness.
(see box, page 49). Among tthe many herbal
“I have learned that although progesterone cream m preparations and supplements on
an enormously useful tool, it needs to be used veryy offer for thaat, Pueraria mirifica has
cautiously.” unique estrrogen-like properties.
Over-the-counter products also have wildly va yin P. mirifica is a woody, climbing plant
concentrations. When one laboratory analyzed 199 found in Thailand, where it
different topical creams containing progesterone, for has been used for its anti-aging
example, it found that the creams contained anyth hing opert es for centuries.
from less than 2 mg to 700 mg per ounce. 8 Local folk medicine suggests
that both women and
Getting it right men can take a small
m
Balancing hormones is a tricky art. These tiny mollecules act ppiece of the plant’s root,
as powerful signals to other players in the body,trigggering eqquivalent to about 5 mg/
cascades of action.“You have to get the right form of the kg bodyweight, once a day at
hormone, the right dose, the right timing and the rright night to counter wrinkled skin,
delivery system,” explained Jonathan Wright, an eaarly arken white hair and increase
pioneer of bioidentical therapy. air
But the problem with this art, says Northrup,is that
t owth, alleviate cataracts in the
“women are getting the wrong stuff at the wrong dose,
d and ey help with memory loss, increase
eyes,
ey
they’re not individualizing it.” energy and vigor, provide more reflexive body movements,
Northrup recommends the Dutch 24-hour dried urine stimulate blood circulation and appetite and alleviate sleep
test for getting the most accurate picture of the state of disorders.
fluctuating hormones.“Some women do beautifully on Many phytoestrogens that mimic human estrogen have been
bioidentical hormones,” she says,“while others have to isolated from the plant’s roots including the particularly potent
quit. Some women do very well on herbal supplements that miroestrol, which activates some estrogen receptors. A number
contain plant estrogens (phytoestrogens) and others find of animal studies have confirmed the estrogenic activity of P.
they don’t work.” mirifica on the reproductive system, and it has been shown to
Northrup says she tried bioidentical estrogen and “it influence reproductive function in both sexes, but particularly
didn’t do a thing for me.”Yet she takes herbal remedies and in females.1
offers maca root and Pueraria mirifica (see box, right) and In a double-blind randomized controlled study of 71 healthy
has seen it help women “again and again.” postmenopausal women given a placebo or 20 mg, 30 mg
And of course, some women don’t need hormones. or 50 mg of P. mirifica supplement for 24 weeks, the herb
“There are so many ways to keep your brain and your body effectively decreased vaginal dryness.2
healthy, and we can’t underestimate the lifestyle things,” says Another double-blind randomized controlled trial of
Northrup. These include: postmenopausal women taking P. mirifica supplements with
• Exercise the same dosages and duration showed it improved their bone
• A ‘clean’ unprocessed diet as free of sugars and excess structure and slowed bone deterioration.3
carbohydrates as possible Toxicity studies showed P. mirifica was safe at these doses,
• Adequate sunshine to make sufficient blood vitamin D but be on the lookout for falsely labeled products, which have
levels for bone health been reported. Vaginal creams with P. mirifica are available
• Adequate sleep as well. REFERENCES
• Meditation to relieve stress 1 Front Med, 2012; 6: 8–21
• Magnesium to promote bone health 2 Menopause, 2007;14:919–24
3 Menopause, 2008;15:530–5
• Addressing underlying issues. Often, a woman’s
hormones are blamed for symptoms like low libido,
for example, when there are many possible causes from
unresolved issues in the relationship to unhealed trauma
or exhaustion

SPECIA
Other tests
Concerns about unregulated.5
London-based naturopath Robert Jacobs
Beyond the debate over whether short-
agrees that balancing hormones without progesterone cream term effects of hormone creams are too
addressing underlying lifestyle imbalances
While some argue that progesterone great or too small is the growing concern
is fruitless. He recommends the Array 3
and 4 tests from Cyrex Labs to indicate creams are too weak to be effective, others about how they accumulate.
contend that they harbor serious long-term Dr Mercola explains that his initial
immunological reactions to food ingredients.
risks. But there’s one thing all the critics interest in the creams began in the early
These can manifest as subtle allergies or
autoimmune conditions that may mimic or agree on: the dearth of medical evidence to 1990s, when millions of women began
support menopausal women using them. using them due to their popularization in
worsen “hormonal” symptoms, says Jacobs.
Bioidentical progesterone cream was Dr Lee’s book, What Your Doctor May Not
Another issue is genetic differences in how
first developed by Dr John Lee, a general Tell You About Menopause.
we process hormones.“If you are going to use
practitioner, in the 1970s, and marketed But he became “gradually disenchanted
any hormones, you want to make sure the body
to menopausal women based mainly on with them after I noticed that they typically
is able to handle those hormones properly.”
He uses the complete hormone and genetics anecdotal claims of “improved wellbeing” worked wonderfully initially but then
and recording of improved bone density invariably stopped working. This is now
profile tests from Genova Diagnostics to reveal
among his patients. known as ‘dermal fatigue.’”
“where the weak spots are and how the body
There was no scientific evidence Any hormone applied to your skin
is converting it.” Women with a variation in
whatsoever to support rt thi
this, bbutt will be absorbed by tthe fat tissue and
their cytochrome p450 pathway, for example,
because they containeed only “natural” accumulate there. “When one
will have compromised liver function when it
progesterone, the creams never needed initially usees the cream, there
comes to processing hormones.
FDA approval.1 aren’t any pproblems as the fat
“The first step is to unblock each of the
A number of studiess have failed to sttores are very low.
pathways,” says Jacobs. For these women,
find any beneficial effect of Butt as time goes on,
it’s important that they take something—he
progesterone creams the cream accumulates
uses chlorophyllin—to help their liver with
compared to placebo and contrributes to disruptions
hormones, be they bioidentical, which he
on menopause in your addrenal hormones
doesn’t prescribe, or phytoestrogens from
symptoms, including such as DHEA, cortisol and
plants like red clover, which he does.
testostero
testosterone.
Sometimes, the process of finding what
works is trial and error. “At the end of the
hot flashes, muscle aches,
anxiety and decreased bone
h
❝ long
It may take as
as two years
“I found that many of the
women who were on the cream
day,” says Northrup, “women should heed metabolism.2
Researchers have also for built-up excess have terribly elevated levels of
their intuitions. You have to go with quality of
life—how do you feel? And if you feel great, warned that saliva tests, hormones to wash this hormone,” Mercola said.
make sure you re-evaluate yourself at least
once a year.”
sometimes used by
practitioners to convince
out of the body
❞ “Progesterone is normally a
cyclical hormone, and the body
patients the creams are working, mask the really needs to see a change
But before embarking on any “trials” of
low levels of progesterone that reach the in the concentration to affect a proper
bioidentical hormones—even over-the-
blood.3 physiological response.” If it is constantly
counter topicals—it’s important to remember
And studies suggesting that these leaking from tissue, this can’t occur.
the risks involved and make sure you’re
creams actually do affect symptoms leave Once the negative effects begin, Mercola
working with an experienced practitioner.
even more cause for concern. Researchers adds, it may take as long as two years for
The long and short of it is, a woman’s
from St. Luke’s Hospital in Pennsylvania built-up excess progesterone (or other
response to hormones is highly individual
and likely to change over time, and they found 20 mg of progesterone applied daily hormones) to wash out of the body.
to the skin had no effect on bone density It all boils down to Dr Grant’s decades-
aren’t “natural” or as harmless as maintained.
Furthermore, there are no long-term studies but did reduce “vasomotor symptoms” like long assertion that no hormone is a safe
hot flashes and night sweats.4 one unless the body produces it itself. As
of their effects, they are unregulated, and there
If this is really the case, as Dr Ellen Grant she wrote, “It is the same old hormone
are safer herbal alternatives. Proceed with
writes, it serves as “alarming evidence” story—each disciple believes in special
extreme caution.
Reporting by Celeste McGovern, Emilie Croisier that over-the-counter creams may suppress magic formulae for treating a physiological
andLynneMcTaggart the immune system as strongly as steroids, condition and chooses to disregard the
which of course require careful medical evidence of much greater harms from
REFERENCES
1 Lancet, 2019; pii: S0140-6736(19)31709-X monitoring due to their long-term dangers. using exogenous hormones.”
2 JAMA, 2002; 288: 321–33 A 2005 study reported that an over-
3 Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2008; 107: 103–11
4 Dangerous Properties of Industrial and Consumer Chemicals, CRC
the-counter cream (Pro-Gest), applied REFERENCES
Press, 1994, pp. 581 at a dose of 40 mg twice daily had 1 Med J Aust, 2005; 182: 237–9
5 Percutaneous Absorption of Steroids, Academic Press, 1980, pp. the equivalent effect of 200-mg oral 2 Menopause, 2003; 10: 13–8
262 3 Maturitas, 2002; 41: 1–6
6 Climacteric, 2017; 20: 205–11 progesterone capsules, suggesting again 4 ObstetGynecol, 1999;94: 225–8
7 Eur Heart J, 2008; 29: 2660–8 that the cream was far too powerful to be 5 J Clin Pharmacol, 2005;45:614–9
8 Berek& Novak’s Gynecology, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2019,
pp.544

HEALTHY LIVING
HEALTH
You
gotta
move
Making physical activity
part of your daily life
is vital for a healthy
body and mind, says
Charlotte Watts

HEALTHY LIVING
O
ne of the downsides of gym Hunter-gatherers were common until day boosted their fitness over an eight-week
culture is that,having worked about 10,000 years ago.Their naturally active period.6 Most of us are time-poor, but if you
out a few times a week,many lifestyles meant they weighed an average of 30 get up and move around every hour or so,
people think being sedentary lb (14 kg) less than we do today and expended you’re keeping your metabolism more fired
the rest of the time is okay. about 400–600 calories more daily,but also up than if you were just sitting for four hours
The reality is that this sudden shift from with fallow periods and imposed fasting. straight until lunch.
0–100 miles an hour can shock the body and The energy expenditure of a typical
cause the very stress you’re trying to avoid. Westerner is about 38 percent that of our Get together
Rather than allocating exercise to specific, primitive hunter-gatherer ancestors.1 “Social setting exercise”—that is, any activity
corralled time slots,it’s vital to move regularly Daniel Lieberman,professor of human that requires more than one person—is
throughout the day—ideally a little every hour. evolutionary biology at Harvard,describes in especially beneficial, not only because of its
This type of movement is often referred his book,The Story of the Human Body, how cardiovascular effects but also its ability to
to as“spontaneous physical activity”or our ancestors would have alternated high- help you connect with other people, have fun
“incidental”exercise,as it’s simply about activity days with less demanding days to have and engage in some healthy competition.7
moving more in the context of your day— adequate rest. We are pack animals, and the cohesion of
wherever you are,whenever you can. However,their low-activity days would not the tribe is key to survival, so our brains reward
Although you can feel a number of bodily have been the complete inactivity we equate these behaviors with a shot of that motivating
functions as you sit,for instance your pulse, with rest today.Rather,they were times to neurotransmitter dopamine. This can help
many processes rely on motor activity to keep rebuild tissues and reduce the risk of injuries. bring us out of our often overstimulated
them flowing.The lymphatic system,for This sets the pattern of exercise that we mental states and burn off stress hormones
example,needs you to move for its immune have evolved to be best suited to: a variety of generated during a typical week.
and detoxification effects. activities performed intermittently and with Engaging in social exercise once or twice a
Fluids can easily pool and stagnate when different levels of intensity,with adequate week can help to naturally incorporate physical
you are not continually moving them against rest in between to ensure complete bodily activity into family and social gatherings.8
the action of gravity.Long stationary periods recovery between exertions.2 Having a relationship with others that involves
can contribute to circulatory issues caused As we now have food readily available, physical activity and contact raises the feel-
by loss of vein integrity,such as edema (fluid permanent and reliable shelter,no predators good chemicals beta-endorphins and the
retention),cellulitis,varicose veins and to worry about,and transport to move anti-stress hormone DHEA.
hemorrhoids. ourselves and the things we need to carry, Both of these have key roles in immune and
natural prompts to move and opportunities nervous system regulation and protection
How we evolved to move to do so are simply no longer there. against chronic degenerative diseases such
Humans are built to move.Your metabolism This gives us the difficult task of motivating as osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes.
(the rate at which you use energy) rises in ourselves to get up and do things we simply Exercise is, of course, also preventative and
response to signals that you need energy as don’t need to. helpful for such conditions.9
physical activity increases.If you don’t move Social exercise doesn’t just have to be
around enough,energy usage can slow down, How to move through formalized sports such as tennis or
leaving the body more disposed to fat storage The best forms of spontaneous physical golf but can also be activities like:
than building muscle. activity are those we can weave into our • Community gardening or conservation
Simply put,the more you move,the everyday lives,such as taking the stairs rather • Picking up litter with a group – great to get
more efficient body processes become. than the elevator.They all add up.Here are children involved in
Consequently,related systems such as blood some top tips. • Outdoor swimming
sugar and appetite are more easily regulated. Get a pedometer, and aim to clock up about • Throwing and catching a ball
This means sugar and other food cravings can 10,000 steps a day,five or six days a week.A • A game of ‘it’ or ‘tag’
be better managed. review of over 30 studies found that relatively • Dancing—with others this is really plugging
But it’s not simply about‘more,harder, healthy adults take 7,000 to 13,000 steps a into how we have bonded with our tribe for
faster’movement.Our hunter-gatherer day.3 Those meeting this 10,000-step target thousands of years.
ancestors would have had a widely varied are more frequently classified as‘normal’ Any activities that can involve being outside
system of movement and activity mostly built weight,and those getting less than 5,000 a day in nature, laughing with others and having
around necessary tasks—walking,running, are more frequently classified as obese.4 fun are extremely nourishing on all mind-
building,mending,climbing,etc.—with no Every step counts,even walking to the body levels.
comfortable furniture to lounge around on. kitchen for a snack,but roughly speaking,
Survival within that lifestyle required 3,000 steps is about half an hour’s walking. REFERENCES
plenty of necessary movement and calorie Walk the dog. Studies have linked owning 1 IntJSportsMed,1998;19:328–35
burning from finding food and water,social a dog to better heart health,more physical 2 AmJMed,2010;123:1082–86
3 ResQExercSport,2001;72:1–12
interaction,escaping predators,building activity,healthier diet and lower blood sugar.5 4 IntJObesRelatMetabDisord,2001;25:1571–8
homes,making tools,washing clothes Take the stairs. Research published in the 5 MayoClinProcInnovQualOutcomes,2019;3:268–75
and carrying babies—all in much harsher British Journal of Sports Medicine found that 6 BrJSportsMed,2005;39:590–3
7 JAmGeriatrSoc,2003;51:1685–92
environments than we usually find ourselves women who ran up and down the stairs at 8 CanJPublicHealth,2007;98Suppl2:S208–17
in today. work for two minutes at a time,five times a 9 ComprPhysiol,2012;2:1143–211

HEALTHY LIVING
HEALTH
Exercises to encourage more movement

Here are some simple movements that can be woven into daily life—when waiting for a kettle to boil or taking a screen break, for example. These
can be an opportunity to counter stagnation and support lymphatic flow, circulation and metabolism.
Move your arms

Moving the upper body—
around the chest, heart,
shoulders, neck and arms—
frees up tightness from stress
that can contribute to tension
headaches.
Swing both arms forward and

back, side to side, letting their
weight create a bouncing
motion through the
Reach forward with one arm, shoulders to release tension
back with the opposite elbow commonly built up there
and alternate sides in a rotating from stress, poor posture and
motion that loosens tissues using a keyboard.
around the diaphragm, ribs and
belly. This supports breathing,
digestive and reproductive
health by loosening the fascia
(connective tissue) in that area.
Move into your

hips and lower back
After long periods of sitting, the
lower back can seize up, particularly
if you’ve been slumping.
Continually coming back to
mobility there can help prevent Lift one foot off the
the low back pain so common in ground and then
sedentary cultures. circle that knee
around to create
loosening and opening
in the hip, either with the
foot staying off the ground
or touching toes to the ground
Circling the hips loosens tightness in the every circle.
lower back and wakes up the inner legs.
Standing with feet hip-width apart, rotate
the pelvis, while the head stays central
and knees soft. Spend a while circling
in one direction, and then change the
rotation to feel the difference.

HEALTHY LIVING
Use your legs

These motions replicate the walking
motion and, with the arms above
the head and the twist, really get the
circulation moving.
With feet hip-width apart and

parallel, step into a lunge with the Bounce on the back leg
back knee bent. Raise the opposite to draw it up in toward
arm to the front leg; leave the other the chest, with the arms
hanging down. Bounce here a little helping the movement
to get the feel for the movement, by swinging the
drawing up through the hanging arm up, and
belly to support the the raised arm down.
lower back. Repeat this motion
at a pace that doesn’t
feel overwhelming or
agitating, starting with five
repetitions.
Spontaneous
activities to try
Then for the next five • Carrying shopping bags home—
repetitions of the motion evenly distribute the weight over
described above, add in a twist both arms
where you hold the outside • Gardening
of the lifted knee with the • Cycling to and from work
opposite arm and swing the • Getting off the bus a stop early to
other out to the side. Come back walk
to the lunge in between, and do • Parking the car farther away from
this for a total of five repetitions where you need to be or where you
before changing sides. can walk through a park to get there
• Walking the dog
• Vigorous housework
• Putting washing out on a line
• Carrying and chasing after a baby
• DIY projects
• Cleaning out a shed or cupboards
you’ve been meaning to get to
• Buying your lunch from somewhere
you have to walk farther to
• Dancing—with others or alone to
your favorite tunes

Going Gettingbacktobasicswithnatural,primal
primal
movementpatternscandowondersfor
body and mind, says Charlotte Watts

ALTERNATIVES
ATIVES
he word primal is This helps to break away from moving in tight, what you ‘should’ be doing, to how to listen in
bandied around hard and limited motion ranges that can be far and respond.
a lot these days— removed from the reaching, pulsing, spiraling, Of course, all activities run the risk of
used to describe shimmying, shaking, swaying, pushing and becoming purely goal-oriented, and people
movement, diet pulling gestures of natural motion. do derive motivation from challenge. It is not
and lifestyle— If you sit rigidly on chairs all day and then ‘bad’ per se to want to walk a certain number
but what does it limit your movements to a similar set of of miles or feel more physically able in a yoga
actually mean? exercises at the gym or via fitness activities like pose, but if that takes over as the primary
The word running and cycling, then you are limiting the focus, it can quash your enjoyment and create
itself stems from scope of your potential adaptability in tissues, the idea that you must punish your body
primary, that which came first. So “primal” leaving you more prone to injury. toward physical ideals or comparison with
can mean “original” in terms of our evolution Even by following the same set routines in others.
either as an individual or as a species. movement systems such as tai chi, yoga or When you trust your instincts (primal
This can relate to how humans evolved Pilates, you can become “set in your ways”— messages), you can move in ways that are
from primitive sea creatures to four-legged literally set into those shapes and capabilities. playful and curious instead. Parts of you
mammals and up to primates, and still Changing body movement habits and that have previously felt stiff, sore, painful or
possess the types of motions such animals including all of those animalistic forms in shut down can begin to loosen, open up and
exhibit within our range of movement. human evolution supports basic functions, soothe signals of distress.
Humans also progress through these such as cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous Playful movement is known to promote
same patterns of movement within our own system and endocrine (hormone) balance adaptability, injury prevention, strength,
lifetime, from our fetal shape within the and health. balance, agility, coordination, speed, skill and
womb to becoming an upright adult. mental focus—and a little can go a long way.
Along the path of life, various experiences, Primal movement as pleasure and play Indeed, movement coach and author Daryl
stresses, traumas, criticisms, judgments, Babies and small children simply move and Edwards has developed a method called
comparisons and other factors come along to play. There is no specific purpose to this Primal Play to inspire others to make physical
support or interrupt how you stand upright. beyond moving to explore, reach for what activity fun while getting healthier, fitter and
Feeling that you may need to protect is needed or gesture for what is wanted to stronger.“Primal people danced, celebrated,
yourself or keep yourself small can affect your express and respond to the present moment in competed, hunted, walked, dealt with nature—
whole-body expression. A common trauma ways that give joy and a sense of freedom. and played,” he says.
(and shame) pattern held in body tissues, for Play is creative and not limited to a specific “You can still see our human past in what we
example, is a collapsed chest and endpoint or goal. But this spectrum of do today. Music, drumming, hiking, camping,
hunched posture. possibility becomes narrower as movement fishing, swimming, gardening, sports,
In his book Emotional and ‘games’ become more focused on specific laughter, even dancing in dance clubs, all tap
Anatomy (Center rules, competing with our peers and getting into the primal part of us.”
Press, 1985), body the form right for best performance. Dance and group games are often the
psychotherapist Stanley Many adults continue to bring this most accessible modes of play for adults,
Keleman explains: mindset to the gym, running or other fitness where embodiment, fun, joy and laughter
“Human uprightness is a regimes that target specific areas to fix what is can promote the release of feel-good
genetic urge, yet, it requires perceived as ‘wrong’ in their bodies. Exercise chemicals such as beta-endorphins and other
a social and interpersonal forms with more play and responsiveness, endogenous (self-produced) opioids.
network to be realised . . . What such as climbing, explorative forms of yoga These increase our feelings of wellbeing
nature intended as the development (like Scaravelli yoga), water sports and rough- and social inclusion and are known to help
and expression of human form is influenced terrain hiking, involve the whole body and a relieve depression, anxiety and stress-related
by personal emotional history.” myriad of movements, responding moment symptoms such as inflammation and chronic
When you view movement not as simply to moment. pain.
something you do, but rather how you make Stepping away from counting and fixating
REFERENCES
your way through life, then you can begin to on numbers of steps, calories, minutes and 1 Am J Epidemiol, 1988; 128: 179–89
see it more as gesture than mechanical form. repetitions helps shift your viewpoint from 2 Curr Opin Rheumatol, 2010; 22: 533–7
3 J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, 2013; 43: 881–90
Playful movement is known to promote adaptability, injury

prevention, strength, balance, agility, coordination, speed, skill
and mental focus—and a little can go a long way
Exercises
to unlock Start lying down with your knees bent and feet on the
floor. After settling into your breath, keep your feet
your primal where they are and move one knee toward your head,
the other away. This knee movement won’t be massive,
movement but it creates movement deep into the pelvic and
patterns abdominal fascia (connective tissue) to free how you
move from the center. You can feel your hips moving up
The following exercises and down in a side-spine undulation. Draw your knees into your chest and
weave together many aspects move around as your lower back needs; you
of humans’natural motion can rock, circle, roll and open your legs to
before we stand up.Moving move into your hips—it doesn’t need to be
through the patterns humans anything specific or even symmetrical.
evolved with helps to unravel
any conditioning held within
body tissues,which often
hold onto the shapes of old
responses that are no longer
appropriate to the current
situation.
Within these exercises,feel
free to play and explore as With feet back on the ground, lift one leg at
feels right for you,listening a time with continual motion, as if you are
not only to your physical walking in the air. Only straighten the leg as it
capabilities but also your feels natural to do so, taking your time to coax
emotional needs. this out if your hamstrings feel tight. Cycle your legs in a forward, then
If something provokes a fear a backward motion.
response (felt as tightness
of breath and jaw),back
out of it.Pushing yourself Stretching out into a star position, draw one
only reinforces the need for elbow down as the opposite knee comes up,
protection and yet more then both at the same time.
tension.
Focus on where you are
rather than what you can Still while lying down, alternately
do,and notice small,simple flex and point the feet, then reach the
movements like pulsing, same arm as the foot up over your
rocking,rolling and crawling. head to lengthen the side body.
Lightly loading areas that
you mobilise is much more Rock your feet on your heels side to side (like
effective for healthy full-body windscreen wipers) and then in and out (toes
movement patterns than more together and then away from each other) to
aggressive,localized actions move your thigh bones up into your hip
such as crunches or push-ups. sockets. Then rotate your feet fully to feel
Linking motions through your ankles create movement all the way
opposite aspects of the up your legs.
body—top/bottom,left/
right,front/back,revolving in
each direction,the sides and
across the diagonals—creates Roll side to side as you feel able, eventually resting on
torso coordination,where one side, supporting your head with your lower arm.
everything moves in and out Inhale to bring your top elbow and knee in toward
and brings you back to center. each other, then exhale to reach the top arm and leg away
These movements are great from each other. Repeat this as feels right, then roll onto
before other forms of exercise the other side and repeat there.
too,especially when they
include the basic motions of
squatting,lunging and moving
upright.

ALTERNATIVES
ATIVES
Push yourself back into a child’s pose

(kneeling, backside resting on heels,
From your side, roll up just enough to come onto your torso folded down over the thighs) with
belly. Then with hands under your forehead, tuck the arms out to the side. With your fingers on
toes of one foot under to engage and lift that leg, then the floor, palms gathering in and out to
release and do repeat the motion from side to side, activate the hands, move in any way that
letting the hips rock. explores in the shoulders, spine,
neck and head.
Come back onto your belly. Draw up the right leg and come onto the elbows; lift the
left arm to bring it into the same position as in child’s pose, so the freedom in that
arm now can push up from gravity and move into any twisting, lifting or spiraling
movement that feels good through the front of the left side of the body and the lower
back. Move to the other side.
Come onto all fours and move freely into your hips
and shoulders. Then lift your right hand to the
front of the left shoulder while you lift the left
knee off the ground. Place them back and move to
the other side. Move side to side, lifting the knee
enough to feel engagement into the belly
without a pull on the lower back.
From there, step one leg forward into a lunge. With

hands on either side of your feet, move forward
and back to ‘walk’ on the front foot and create
pliability in the ankle—crucial for all freedom of
movement further up the body.
Still on that side, lift into a lunge where

you take the arms open and out with
an inhale, forward and curled in
with the exhale, moving the whole
Resources body as naturally occurs within your
The Body Keeps the Score comfortable range. Repeat steps 13 and
by Bessel van der Kolk 14 on the other side.
Embodied Relating by
Nick Totton
Yoga, Fascia and
Anatomy by Joanne
Avison
Yoga of the Subtle Body
by Tias Little Walk your hands toward your knees, tucking your toes under
to rock back and forth on your toes and loosen deep into your
Cranial Intelligence by
Ged Sumner and Steven feet. From here, you can start to move yourself back toward a
Haines squat if possible, then walking your hands back to all
fours and child’s pose. Move back and forth before
Emotional Anatomy by
Stanley Keleman either resting or further movement.

THE NATURAL MEDICINE CASEBOOK
Practical, natural solutions to your most pressing health problems
Natural LIGHT THERAPY

The most-researched treatment for SAD, light
treatments therapy usually involves sitting in front of a light box,

which gives off bright light that mimics natural outdoor
light. It has an overall positive treatment response of up
for SAD to 70 percent and rarely any side-effects.2

In one trial, light therapy was reported to reduce
SAD symptoms by at least half in 60 percent of patients
receiving light therapy in the morning and 50 percent of
I suffer from seasonal affective
patients receiving it in the evening.3
disorder and have little energy
Light boxes, also called ‘SAD lamps’, are widely
or interest to do anything at the
available from companies such as Lumie (www.lumie.
moment. Can you suggest any
com) and Verilux (www.verilux.com). You could also try
effective drug-free options?
T.S., via email
a dawn simulation bedside lamp, designed to mimic a
natural sunrise, although the effects don’t appear to be as
powerful as with a traditional light box.4
While many of us experience a shift
in mood as the days get shorter and
darker toward the end of the year,
CUT THE CARBS

seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is
more than just ‘winter blues’—it’s
a form of depression that makes
it hard to get on with daily life. C
Carbohydrate cravings—especially for the
Symptoms of SAD include ‘sim
mple’ carbs found in sugary cakes and sweets,
persistent low mood, tiredness, white bread and processed snacks—often go
w
difficulty sleeping, low libido, body hand in hand with SAD. But research suggests
aches, poor concentration, anxiety you’d be better off avoiding these foods.
and a lack of interest in activities While they can bring a temporary boost in
you once enjoyed. mood, over time they can contribute to low
In the US and UK, symptoms mood as well as reduced energy and fatigue.5
m
typically start between September You don’t have to avoid carbs completely,
and November, when there is less tho
ough. Choose unrefined, complex carbs like
sunlight, and subside around oatss,brown rice, quinoa, lentils, chickpeas and
March or April, when spring sweet potatoes instead.
arrives. They tend to be most severe
in January and February.
The good news is there’s
plenty you can do beside takin ng
antidepressants, one of the
usual treatments for SAD.
For starters, try to get outsid
de
VITAMIN D
If SAD is triggered by a lack of sunlight, then it makes sense that
in sunlight as much as possiblle. suupplements of the ‘sunshine vitamin,’ vitamin D, could help. But the
A daily one-hour morning eevidence so far has been mixed.6 It may be that supplementing with
walk outdoors can dramatically vvitamin D is beneficial for SAD, but only if your levels of the vitamin
reduce symptoms.1 are low to start off with. Consider getting tested, then supplementing
Next, check out the (vitamin D3 is the best form to take) with an appropriate dosage
following top science-based for your levels if necessary. You can get tested via your doctor or a
solutions. natural health practitioner, or you can order an at-home test kit from
n
numerous sites online.
EXERCISE
Exercise, such as running, walking, cycling and resistance
training, is known to ease nonseasonal depression. Studies
show it can be just as effective as antidepressants, but with
better long-term results.7 Less research has been done on
exercise for SAD, but one trial found it to be on par with light
therapy for boosting mood.8
Try to exercise outdoors when it’s light if possible, as
the combination of light and exercise may bring bigger
L-TRYPTOPHAN
Supplements of
benefits.9 L-tryptophan, an amino acid
the body needs to make the
so-called ‘happy hormone’,
serotonin, may be useful for
SAD. They were pitted against
JOHN’S WORT
light therapy and a placebo
in one small study, and both
the supplements and the light
Thiis popular herb is an effective treatment proved equally
trreatment for nonseasonal effective at improving SAD
ep
pre sion, and it seems to work for symptoms—and both were
AD too.Taking it led to significant better than a placebo.11
imp provements in SAD severity Suggested dosage: 2–6 g/day
afterr just a month in one study.10 (but consult a qualified health
Sugggested dosage: 900 mg in three practitioner first)
divideeddoses (but consult a qualified
herbalistfirst)
REFERENCES
1 J Affect Disord, 1996; 37: 109–20
2 Altern Med Rev, 2005; 10: 5–13
3 Arch Gen Psychiatry, 1998; 55:
CBT
883–9
4 Acta Psychiatr Scand, 1998; 98:
73–80
CBT—cognitive behavioral 5 Int J Eat Disord, 1993; 14: 171–83
therapy—is a type of talking therapy 6 J Nutr Health Aging, 1999; 3: 5–7;
BMC Res Notes, 2014; 7: 528
used to treat a variety of conditions.It seems 7 Psychosom Med, 2011; 73: 127–33
to be effective for SAD,with results 8 Psychiatry Res, 2000; 94: 29–42
comparable to those of light therapy.12 You 9 Percept Mot Skills, 1996; 83:
379–83; J Clin Psychiatry, 2002;
should be able to find a CBT therapist near 63: 316–21
you by searching online. 10 Pharmacopsychiatry, 1997; 30
Suppl 2: 89–93
11 J Clin Psychiatry, 1990; 51: 162–3
12 Am J Psychiatry, 2015; 172: 862–9

FAMILY HEALTH
Natural EAT MORE FRUIT AND VEG

Simply upping your intake of fruit and vegetables
remedies for can significantly lower blood pressure.2 Both are good
sources of potassium and fiber, which are known to
d
reduce readings.3 See the box below for the varieties that
high blood are especially good at keeping your blood pressure leveels
in check.
pressure BP-lowering Berries. Eating 3.5

oz (100 g) of berries
Raisins. Snacking on
a handful of raisins
foods plus a berry drink three times a day can
I recently had a health screenin
ng and Beets. A daily dose daily can cut systolic significantly lower
found out I have high blood of beet jjuice can blood pressure by blood presssure in
6 as little as a month.8
pressure. I am a healthy weightt, loweer blood up to 7 mmHg.
don’t smoke and rarely drink. preessure.4 Blueberries, bilberries, Tomatoes. Drinking
Bananas. A fruit
Can you suggest any proven Researchers lingonberries, famed for its high
unsalted tomato juice potassium content,
diet and lifestyle changes to think it’s blackcurrants,
has been found to
bring it down? becauuse beets strawberries, reduce both systolic
bananas may
A.S., via email are rich in nitrate,
nitrate
nit chokeberries and help lower blood
andd di
diastolic
li blood
blo
which increeases levels raspberries are all presssure in peo ople
pressure when eaten
High blood pressure, also called of blood vessel- good choices. regularly.
g y9
with hypertensio on aand
hypertension, is defined as having a dilating nitric oxide in r hypertens on””
re
sustained reading of 140/90 mmHg or above the blood. But beets ( lightly
(s
in the UK and 130/80 mmHg in the US. It appear to hhave a ove-
ab o
rarely causes any overt symptoms, but can blood presssure- normal
seriously damage organs such as the heart, lowering ood
kidneys and brain, while contributing to the effects essure).7
risk of heart attack and stroke. independent
But you shouldn’t worry yet. A single high t 5
of nitrate, too.
blood pressure reading does not necesssarily
CONSIDERSUPPLEMENTS
mean you have a problem.
A huge variety of factors can influen nce
your reading, such as the time of day,room
temperature, eating or drinking within the A vaariety of supplements have been found to effectively
previous hour, physical exertion, stresss— low
wer blood pressure. It’s best to consult a qualified
even just having a conversation. And you y practittioner to determine what supplements and dosages
may have heard of the “white coat effecct”—a are beest for you, but here are some of the top ones to try,
rise in blood pressure caused by the very act witth suggested dosages, according to the evidence.
of having it measured by a doctor. Garlic: Numerous studies show that garlic supplements
To work out whether your blood preessure can
n effectively reduce blood pressure in people with
is cause for concern, your doctor may hypertension.10
Suggested dosage: 600 mg/day garlic extract
recommend ambulatory monitoringg,which
Coenzyme Q10: In one study, this potent antioxidant
involves measuring your blood pressu ure
couldd lower systolic blood pressure (the top number) by
over a 24-hour period, or home monittoring,
up to 17 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom
whereby you take your own readings.
num mber) by up to 10 mmHg without significant side-
These types of monitoring havebeen nshown
effects.11
to provide a better measure of cardiovascular Suggested dosage: 100 mg twice/day
risk than manual blood pressure readin ngs Om
mega-3s: Supplements of these essential fatty acids
taken in the office or clinic.1
consiistently cut blood pressure in clinical trials. Higher
If, after careful monitoring, it turns out dosess appear to have the most dramatic effects, but even
that your blood pressure is unhealthilyy loower doses can lead to significant reductions.12
high, there are a number of simple step ps you Suggested dosage: 3 to 15 g/day total omega-3s
can take to lower it, providing there is n
not Grape seed extract: Results from 16 trials involving
a specific cause such as kidney disease or a more than 800 people show that grape seed extract has a
hormonal disorder. Here are some nattural beneficial effect on blood pressure.13
remedies and lifestyle changes to try,w with Suggested dosage: 150 to 300 mg/day
good evidence of success.
FAMILY HEALTH
GO FOR DARK CHOCOLATE

Just a couple of squares a day (about 0.2 oz or 6 grams)
can lower blood pressure in people with mild hypertension
without any effects on body weight. But it’s got to be the dark
stuff; white chocolate has no effect.14 Choose chocolate with a
cacao content of 70 percent or more for maximum benefit.
GET
MOVING
Aerobic exercise,
which includes
walking, running,
cycling, dancing
and swimming, is
a powerful natural
way to reduce
blood pressure.15 If
you’re not already
physically active,
find an activity you
An ancient Chinese method of enjoy and aim to do
movement and breathing control, at least 20 minutes
qigong was found to slash blood pressure each day.
readings after 10 weeks in a trial of
people with mild hypertension.16 Tai chi,
a related technique, also appears to have
MEDITATE
blood pressure-lowering effects.17 REFERENCES
1 Curr Hypertens Rep, 2008; 10:
355–8; Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol,
CHECK YOUR MEDS

2014; 41: 46–53
In a four-month trial of 2 Lancet, 2002; 359: 1969–74
Transcendental Meditation (a form 3 J Hypertens, 1991; 9: 465–73; J
Hypertens, 1992; 10: 195–9
Various drugs may cause of silent mantra meditation) in heart 4 J Nutr, 2013; 143: 818–26
high blood pressure, so check disease patients, the meditators saw a 5 Adv Nutr, 2017; 8: 830–8
significant reduction in their systolic 6 Am J Clin Nutr, 2008; 87: 323–31
with your doctor whether any 7 Food Sci Nutr, 2019; 7: 2271–9
medication you’re on could be a blood pressure compared to the 8 Postgrad Med, 2014; 126: 37–43
cause of your high readings, and control group.18 9 Indian J Med Res, 1999; 110: 27–9
10 J Nutr, 2016; 146: 389S–96S; BMC
investigate natural alternatives Cardiovasc Disord, 2008;8:13
whenever possible. Here are 11 J Hum Hypertens, 2007; 21:
297–306
some drugs to watch out for: 12 Circulation, 1993; 88: 523–33
• Oral contraceptives 19 13 Medicine (Baltimore), 2016; 95:
e4247
• Tricyclic antidepressants 20 14 JAMA, 2007; 298: 49–60
• Decongestants such as 15 Medicine (Baltimore), 2017; 96:
pseudoephedrine 21 e6150
16 Am J Chin Med, 2003; 31: 489–97
• Stimulants such 17 J Altern Complement Med, 2003;
as methylphenidate 9: 747–54
18 Arch Intern Med, 2006; 166:
Ritalin) 22
((Ritalin) 1218–24
19 J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich), 2017;
19: 1032–41
20 Am J Cardiol, 1992; 70: 1306–9
21 J Fam Pract, 2017; 66: E1-E2; Arch
Intern Med, 2005; 165: 1686–94
22 Int J Environ Res Public Health,
2018; 15. pii: E1789

FAMILY HEALTH
TOP 4 REASONS
Why WOMEN need to include
RESISTANCE TRAINING in their workouts.
From master trainer Andrew Griffin, director of GRIFFIT
Outdoor Fitness + Pilates and creator of 28 Day BODY BLITZ.
Lose body fat quickly

F
inally, women
utilising resistance Muscles are fat-burning machines; the more definition. This increased muscle mass will
training is building muscle you have, the more calories you burn raise your metabolic needs leading to an
momentum. More and more every day at rest. Resistance training helps increased number of calories burned daily,
build muscle, as well as increasing bone even at rest. Not only will this assist you
of my female members
density, enhancing function, and creating in losing weight, but more importantly in
are regularly picking up a toned appearance. Why wouldn’t you keeping it off.
resistance bands, dumbbells choose an exercise with so much upside?
and core bags, increasing Resistance training will help increase your
their strength and power, metabolism by 15-25 calories for every
and LOVING the results. kilogram of muscle you gain.
But even with its increasing It is important to note, when you are
increasing muscle mass while losing fat,
popularity, there’s still
it may not reflect right away on the scale.
a camp of firm believers However, you will notice that you are losing
spreading the message that, centimetres while gaining strength and
“lifting weights will make
me bulky and masculine.”
I’m here to crush that
argument with science, once Gain strength without the bulk
and for all. Being a woman Hands up if you’ve ever asked a trainer this look bulky.”
who lifts heavy weights question??? Strength training not only sheds
“I don’t want to get big and bulky. I just centimetres where you don’t want them;
won’t make you bulky, or
want to tone the muscle I already have.” it also allows you to build in places where
give you a manly physique. Many women are afraid to lift weights you do. Genetics aren’t the only factor in
In fact, it’ll do just the because they are afraid of getting bulky, your body’s appearance, you can control
opposite: It’ll tighten and and by that, they generally mean gaining your appearance through regular
tone all over your body, burn a significant amount of muscle mass. My resistance training! It can help you
fat, and speed jump your argument here is always that “women don’t slim down, tone up, and create
have the same hormone profile as men, and curves in places that you’ve never
metabolism.
therefore cannot gain enough lean mass to had curves before!

FAMILY HEALTH
Burn calories, all day long

Strength training also helps you burn more calories throughout the day – even while
calories and speed up your metabolism, you’re not working out. The higher your
which means you lose more body fat. Your RMR, the faster you burn fat, and the quicker
metabolism is the rate at which your body you lose weight.
processes food for energy. When female’s In addition to strength training and a
strength train, your metabolism goes nutritious diet, drinking green tea and ice
through the roof! In fact, studies have shown water every day are also great for boosting
that regular strength training can increase your metabolism throughout the day—
your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) by about making way for optimal fat loss.
5%. This means your body burns more
Decrease chances of osteoporosis

Did you know that resistance training, not coordination, both critical elements
just walking or doing aerobic activity, can in preventing falls, which can lead to
help protect your bones and prevent osteoporosis-related fractures.
osteoporosis related fractures? Age-related muscle loss, called sarcopenia,
Strength training has been shown is a natural part of aging. After age 30,
to not only prevent bone loss, you begin to lose as much as 3% to 5% per
it may even help build new decade. Most women will lose about 30% of
bone. their muscle mass during their lifetimes.
Maintaining strong Less muscle means greater weakness and
muscles through less mobility, both of which may increase
resistance training, your risk of falls and fractures. A 2015 report
helps to from the Australian Society for Bone and
maintain your Mineral Research found that people with
balance and sarcopenia had 2.3 times the risk of having
a low-trauma fracture from a fall, such as a
broken hip, collarbone, leg, arm, or wrist.
In addition, regular intake of calcium,
vitamin D, and other micronutrients play a
vital role in building up and protecting
your bones.

TIVES
RECIPES
FORAHAPPY
GALLBLADDER
After years of gallbladder
troubles, Juliet Sullivan devised Low-fat pancakes
In this recipe I use a sugar alternative 2 Whisk the egg white, milk and
a diet that will keep because it’s best to avoid sugar vanilla extract in a small bowl.
your digestion generally. You can omit it altogether if 3 Add the wet ingredients to the dry
you don’t want your pancakes sweet. and stir well.
running smoothly, 4 Heat a nonstick frying pan for a
even after surgery Ingredients couple of minutes on high, then squirt
½ cup (75 g) gluten-free flour a few sprays of the oil spray into the
1 Tbsp stevia pan (or a few drops of water if you are
steam frying).
¼ tsp baking powder
I
f you suffer from gallstones or a grumbling 5 Immediately pour your batter into
gallbladder as I did before I had my gallbladder out, ¼ tsp salt the pan and cook until bubbles form
whether you have opted for natural treatment or 1 large egg white and the edges appear dry, then flip
you are waiting for surgery,you will need to watch ½ cup (118 mL) skimmed milk and cook for another 1–2 minutes.
your diet. ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Although experts believe that a no-fat diet can be Small amount of coconut or olive oil To serve:
harmful,it does seem to be universally accepted that cooking spray, or water for steam Add blueberries, bananas, raspberries and
frying pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with honey
cutting down on fat intake reduces the likelihood of a
for a little extra indulgence.
gallstone attack,as,without fat,the gallbladder will not
be stimulated to release bile into the small intestine. 1 Mix the flour, baking powder and
The gallbladder collects and stores bile,made by the salt in a large bowl. Add the stevia or
liver as a result of its many detoxification processes.It sugar.
then releases the bile into the small intestine when food
enters from the stomach.
This helps with the digestion of food because the
gallbladder contains bile salts and other substances Here are some Bolognese by replacing • Make your own
the meat with lentils, dressings using low-fat
that neutralize the acidic contents of the stomach as
they arrive in the duodenum (the first part of the small
easy ways to kidney beans and yogurt, lemon/lime juice
intestine) and emulsify and break down fat. cut down on mushrooms. and herbs.
• Use only “good” oils • Remove all visible
The bile duct,which connects the gallbladder to fat: or oil spray like olive or fat and skin from meat
the small intestine,can become blocked by gallstones,
making it difficult for bile to be released from the bile • Avoid processed foods coconut when cooking. and choose leaner cuts.
duct.This is what may cause symptoms—the extreme and cook from scratch • If you are cooking I avoided all red meat
pain,bloating,nausea and whenever possible. This anything that sticks to while I waited for my
vomiting associated with a will give you control over the pan, use a few drops operation, but I did eat
gallstone attack. how much fat goes into of water rather than oil. some poultry and fish.
your food. This is known as steam • Avoid eating out, but
• Check labels for high frying. I have also used if you do, ask the kitchen
Excerpted fromThe fat content. wine to ‘fry’ food. Wine to dry roast, grill or bake
Gallstone-friendlyy • Bulk out meals with adds moisture as well your food. Some will
Diet by Juliet Sullivan vegetables and pulses. as flavor. Most of the agree to do this.
(Hammersmith Health For example, you could alcohol will burn off in • Avoid sauces, dressings
Books, 2019)
make a gallstone-friendly the cooking process. and gravies.
REFERENCES
1 BrJGenPract2004;54:574–9

ALTERN
Good digestion So if you no longer have a

Penne perfecto gallbladder, she suggests
without a gall the following:
Ingredients 1 Cook the pasta according to the
2 cups (125 g) gluten-free, whole- package instructions. bladder: what • Minimize consumption of
dairy products and grains,
grain penne (or whole-grain pasta
of your choice)
2 Meanwhile, heat a frying pan on to do after gall particularly gluten
medium heat for 2 minutes, then
1 tsp dried oregano coat the base with the cooking
bladder removal • Check out any food
allergies or sensitivities,
1 tsp dried thyme spray (or wine/water). According to Dr Sandra
particularly if you’re still
1 tsp chili flakes 3 Add the oregano, thyme, chili Cabot, MD, and Margaret
having pain after the
2 garlic cloves, crushed and garlic and sizzle gently. Jasinska ND in their book,
surgery. Besides gluten and
Coconut or olive oil cooking spray, 4 Cut the cherry tomatoes into Save Your Gallbladder
dairy, you should also be
or water/wine for steam frying quarters, then add to the pan with Naturally and What to Do
suspicious of eggs, pork,
12 cherry tomatoes the canned tomatoes and tomato if You’ve Already Lost It:
onions, corn and soy.
purée; cook about 5 minutes, until “A significant number of
7 oz (200 g) can of chopped • Eat some good fats, while
tomatoes the cherry tomatoes are soft. patients who have had
strictly avoiding the bad
1 Tbsp tomato purée 5 Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. their gallbladder removed
fats. Although your doctor
6 Drain the cooked pasta, and then continue to suffer with pain
Juice of 1 lemon may recommend a low-fat
stir into the sauce. and digestive problems.
Salt and pepper diet after surgery, Dr Cabot
According to a study
says that is potentially
published in the British
harmful because we
Journal of General Practice,
all need good fats. She
it was found that having
recommends eating
the gallbladder surgically
“moderate quantities”
removed does not always
of extra virgin olive oil,
relieve upper abdomen
coconut milk, avocados,
pain.1
nuts and seeds.
“Without a gallbladder,
• Eat some bitter and sour
your liver continues to
foods, such as lemons,
manufacture bile, but
limes or salad vegetables
there is no longer a place
like radicchio lettuce,
to store it or concentrate it.
chicory, endive and
Therefore bile continually
dandelion leaves. They help
slowly trickles into the
you digest fats.
intestines. If you eat a fatty
• Have digestive enzymes
meal, you will not be able
with every meal as well
to secrete a large enough
as an ox bile supplement
amount of bile into your
with each meal, to counter
intestines, therefore the fat
indigestion, diarrhea or
will be poorly digested.
light stools.
“This means many
• Take a daily vitamin D3
people experience
supplement, since vitamin
diarrhea, bloating, nausea
D stores are often poor in
or indigestion. Some
people with compromised
common symptoms of
digestion.
poor fat digestion are dry, Suggesteddailydosage:5,000IU
brittle hair; dry skin and • Take taurine, an amino
premature aging of the acid needed for producing
skin; weak nails and bile, which will also aid
painful joints.” digestion and help prevent
If you don’t digest fat stones forming in your liver.
well, says Dr Cabot, you • Investigate a good quality
won’t be able to digest liver tonic, such as Livatone.
essential fatty acids or the It should contain St Mary’s
powerhouse fat-soluble thistle, dandelion root and
vitamins, like vitamins A, E globe artichoke leaves—
and D. all of which increase bile
production and flow.

ALTERN
ALTERNATIVES
Grilled fish and greens with

capers and lemon salsa
Ingredients 3 Meanwhile, for the salsa,
4 whitefish fillets (e.g. cod, trim the skin off half the
sea bass, hake, haddock), lemon, slice the peeled lemon
sustainably sourced into thin rounds, and then cut
2 cups (350 g) tenderstem the rounds into small wedges,
broccoli discarding any seeds; put
1 cup (150 g) trimmed green these in a bowl.
beans 4 Finely chop the parsley and
1 bunch spring onions mix with the lemon and a few
Coconut or olive oil cooking sprays of the oil.
spray 5 Drain the capers, add to the
Salt and pepper lemon and parsley mixture
1 lemon with some salt and pepper and
Small bunch fresh parsley mix well.
1 Tbsp capers 6 Add the fish on top of the
To serve: vegetables, then grill for 4–5
minutes more (or longer,
Lime wedges
depending on the thickness of
Steamed rice
Sweet potato risotto the fish fillets) until the fish is
just cooked and the vegetables
1 Heat the grill to high, then
Ingredients 3 Bring to a boil, then reduce are soft and sweet.
For the rice: coat the fish, broccoli, beans 7 Squeeze over the remaining
to a simmer, cover and cook
and spring onions with a few lemon and serve with the salsa
2¼ cups (500 g) brown rice for around 40 minutes or
sprays of oil and season well and lime wedges.
3 cups (700 mL) water until the liquid has been
with salt and pepper.
½ cup (118 mL) low-fat absorbed.
2 Put the vegetables in a large
coconut milk 4 Meanwhile, chop three
shallow baking tray, reserving
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar of the sweet potatoes into
the fish, and grill on high for 4
bite-size chunks, place them
Salt minutes.
on a baking tray and coat
For the sauce:
them thinly in cooking spray;
4 large sweet potatoes then add salt, pepper and
Coconut or olive oil cooking cinnamon and put the tray in
spray the oven for 30 minutes.
1 cup (236 mL) water 5 Peel the fourth sweet
Salt and pepper potato, cut into bite-size
1 tsp cinnamon chunks and place in a
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar steamer until very soft.
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast 6 Once the steamed potato is
1 Tbsp ground cumin cooked, add to a blender with
1 cup (236 mL) water plus
Juice of 1 lemon
the remaining apple cider
3 garlic cloves vinegar, yeast, cumin, lemon
Handful of fresh cilantro juice, garlic, salt and pepper
(coriander) and blend until smooth.
1 cup (225 g) spinach 7 Once the rice is cooked, stir
in the blended mixture along
1 Preheat the oven to with the roasted sweet potato
350°F/180°C, then put the chunks, cilantro and spinach.
rice into a large saucepan 8 Allow to cook until the
with 3 cups (700 mL) of spinach has wilted, then serve
water. immediately.
2 Add the coconut milk, 2
Tbsp of apple cider vinegar
and salt.
66 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 UNZ

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAU
ALTE
Chocolate brownies
Ingredients
Coconut or olive oil cooking spray
1 cup (128 g) gluten-free flour
¹⁄³ cup (35 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup (125 g) brown sugar or 1 cup stevia
¼ cup (30 g) fat-free dry milk powder
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 cup (255 g) unsweetened apple sauce (recipe
Nearly no-fat banana bread below left)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients 2 In a large bowl, stir together flour,
Coconut or olive oil cooking spray sugar, baking powder, baking soda 1 Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Lightly
1½ cups (200 g) gluten-free flour or and cinnamon. coat an 8×4 inch (20×10 cm) baking pan with
whole-wheat flour if tolerated 3 Add the egg whites, bananas cooking spray and then set it aside.
¾ cup (140 g) caster sugar or 1½ and apple sauce and stir until just 2 In a large bowl, sift together the flour,
cups stevia combined. unsweetened cocoa, salt, baking powder,
1¼ tsp baking powder 4 Pour the batter into the prepared baking soda and cinnamon until well mixed,
½ tsp baking soda/bicarbonate tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 then set the bowl aside.
of soda to 55 minutes, until a skewer inserted 3 In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar,
½ tsp ground cinnamon into the center of the loaf comes out fat-free dry milk powder, egg white, applesauce
2 egg whites clean. and vanilla extract with a spoon until well
5 Turn out onto a wire rack and allow combined.
3 ripe bananas, mashed
to cool before slicing. 4 Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture,
4 Tbsp apple sauce (recipe below)
Top tip: If your bananas are already black
mixing just until the dry ingredients are well
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. but you can’t make a cake right away, moistened. Do not over-mix—once they are
Lightly grease an 8×4 inch (20×10 simply peel them and pop them in the moist, stop mixing.
cm) loaf tin with a few pumps of the freezer. Defrost the bananas whenever 5 Spread the brownie batter evenly in the
you’re ready to bake prepared baking pan and bake in the oven for
cooking spray.
20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in
the center comes out clean.
6 Cool on a wire rack and give the brownies a
Unsweetened apple sauce light dusting with powdered sugar, if desired.
Ingredients 1 Peel, core and chop the apples (or
4 medium cooking apples you can leave the skins on if
1 cup (235 mL) water preferred).
½ tsp cinnamon 2 Add the apples to a saucepan with
1 Tbsp lemon juice the cinnamon
c and lemon juice.
Add half of the water, and then
top up with more during cooking
as needed (to get the desired
conssistency).
3 Bring to a boil, reduce the heat,
coveer and then simmer gently for
25–330 minutes until apples are soft.
4 Maash it all together using a potato
masher or hand blender.
5 Leaave to cool and transfer to a jar.
Store in the fridge until needed. It
shouuld keep for up to 7–10 days.
OK.COM
COM
CO DTYAU
AUNZZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 67
Reversingthe
sight stealer

ALTERNATIVES
ATIVES
n the spring of 2018, Connie Coker, 72, of High Falls, New York,
awakened to a gray cloud obscuring her central vision. Immediately she
called her ophthalmologist, who examined her the next day. Concerned,
he referred her to a retinal ophthalmologist who confirmed the diagnosis
of macular degeneration.
The retinal specialist injected her affected eye with Eylea, an anticancer The stages of AMD
drug designed to block what’s known as vascular endothelial growth Macular degeneration, also known as
factor (VEGF)— a signaling protein produced by cells that stimulates the age-related macular degeneration or
formation of blood vessels, in this case in the retina. After the injection, he AMD, is the slow deterioration of cells in
told her to come back in a month. the macula, a tiny yellowish area near
Eylea, which costs an average of $2,000 per injection, is one of three the center of the retina where vision is
popular injectible anticancer drugs used for macular degeneration, most focused.
along with Lucentis and Avestin. They all have numerous side-effects; In later stages, this decline in macula
Eylea negatively impacts over 30 percent of those given it. health often shows up as a shadow or
Side-effects include burst blood vessels in the eye, eye pain after the cloud affecting the central visual field
injection, cataracts, watery eyes, blurred vision, swelling of the eyelids, needed for everything from driving,
vitreous detachment (a condition where the gel-like substance that fills the reading and writing, to watching
inside of the eyeball shrinks and separates from the retina), eye “floaters,” movies and identifying faces.
increased pressure within the eye, light sensitivity and sudden numbness Another problem that occurs with
or weakness, especially on one side of the body, as well as sudden severe macular degeneration is that straight
headache, confusion and problems with speech or balance. lines in the centre of one’s vision
After a follow-up eye scan, Connie’s doctor recommended doing become crooked or wavy. Peripheral
another injection, and from then on she had injections every two months. vision—vision to the sides—is usually
“Sometimes there would be fluid and blood in there, and sometimes left undisturbed.
there wouldn’t,” she said.“But his protocol recommendation was always There are three stages of macular
the same, to continue with the injections.” degeneration and two names for it.
The doctor carried on with his Early and intermediate AMD are known
A few pioneering doctors are recommendation, even when Coker as “dry” macular degeneration. Early
developed a severely infected eye from AMD typically presents with changes to
using a mix of diet, supplements, an injection she quite possibly didn’t the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE),
acupuncture and more to reverse need—an infection that required the cell layer that nourishes retinal
surgery to correct. neurons, the cells responsible for vision,
macular degeneration. At this point, Coker began seeing as well as the presence of small, hard
Cate Montana investigates Dr Marc Grossman, optometrist, New fatty deposits called drusen underneath
York state-licensed acupuncturist, and the macula.
coauthor of Natural Eye Care: Your Guide to Healthy Vision and Healing. Intermediate AMD is characterized by
Grossman started her on a regime of acupuncture, nutrient-rich foods, continued RPE deterioration and the
supplements and Chinese herbs to help stabilize her condition, and after presence of large, soft drusen, which
an examination that showed her retina to be clear of blood and fluid, he further break down the macula cells.
recommended that she stop the injections and continue with monthly Soft drusen are the usual precursor
checkups to monitor the situation. to advanced AMD, also known
After coping with the infection, Coker vowed never to have another as “wet” macular degeneration,
injection. Recently she switched to another retinal ophthalmologist where something called choroidal
who is collaborating with Grossman, and who recognizes the value of neovascularisation occurs—a condition
acupuncture and nutritional supplements for macular degeneration. where abnormal blood vessels begin
Says Coker: “I’m very optimistic based on my history working with Dr to grow toward the macula, frequently
Grossman that I won’t have to have another injection.” leaking blood, obscuring vision and
breaking the macula down even further.
Causes of AMD If left untreated, wet AMD results in
For decades, little was known about the cause of AMD aside from the rapid vision loss and eventual blindness.
fact that it is age-related and affects a higher percentage of women of On average, approximately 10 to
European descent than men and other ethnicities. Today, studies have 15 percent of cases of dry macular
shown that diet and lifestyle are also major contributors to the disease. degeneration progress to the stage of
“Macular degeneration is starvation of the retina, such that we’re not wet macular degeneration.
able to use nutrients that we take in in an effective and efficient way,” says
Grossman.“And we’re not getting the carotenoids that we need. Frankly,
I think that the first approach for macula health is nutrition and diet, then
acupuncture and microstimulation. But if I had only one approach I
could take,I would go with nutrition.”
Testimonial
Rivah D. from New York Signs of AMD
After detecting early signs of macular degeneration, a Macular degeneration is the Fluorescein angiography
condition New York resident Riva said she watched steal the leading cause of vision loss requires injecting fluorescent
vision away from her mother, her eye doctor recommended and blindness in the US and yellow-green dye into the veins.
that she begin taking Dr Marc Grossman’s herbal Advanced UK, affecting approximately When the dye reaches the
Eye & Vision Support Formula. “At a six-month check-up, there 11 million men and women in interior blood vessels in the eye,
was improvement,” she says, “and after a year, all signs of the US, 600,000 in the UK and it highlights abnormal growth of
macular degeneration are gone! I’m so relieved. Getting older, 170 million people globally.1 blood vessels in the retina and
as my mother used to say, is not for sissies. Feeling like there Because of the rapid aging of the retinal bleeding.
are some conditions that are not inevitable gives me strength population, AMD is on the rise. You can self-test for AMD by
for the journey.” Optometrist Dr Marc Grossman viewing something called the
estimates that by 2030, as Amsler grid, a chart with black
many as 30 million people in lines and a black dot in the
Macular degeneration is the number one reason for the US could suffer from the center. (You can take the macular
irreversible blindness in the United States, and by the disease. AMD is most commonly degeneration test at this website:
year 2030, Grossman says there will be almost 30 million diagnosed among older people of www.allaboutvision.com/
Americans struggling with the condition because European descent, affecting more conditions/amsler-grid.htm)
there’s no real drug or healing protocol for dry AMD— women than men. AMD, even in its early stages,
injections are only used when dry AMD has advanced to makes the central portion of the
wet AMD (see box, page 69). Early detection is crucial grid blur and causes many of
One of the few things ophthalmologists and retinal Because AMD is painless and has the grid lines to appear wavy.
specialists recognize as working for dry macular few, if any, symptoms early on, There is also something called
degeneration is something called ARED vitamins, a it is difficult to detect in its early an OCT test—optical coherence
combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, zinc stages (when something can be tomography— of the macula,
and copper discovered by researchers involved in the done to halt and even reverse its which can pick up very early signs
Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) back in 2001. progress). The only safeguard is of macular degeneration.
Grossman, however, is clear that this approach to have regular eye exams. AMD progression is slow, taking
is far from enough (see box, page 72).“Lutein, If small amounts of drusen years. But in some cases, vision
zeaxanthin, mesozeaxanthin and astaxanthin are all (fatty lipid deposits under the loss can be sudden.
vital carotenoids we rarely get enough of,” he says. macula) are found, the standard
Carotenoids are a class of yellow, orange or red fat- care procedure calls for the
REFERENCES
soluble pigments that give red and yellow peppers and attending physician to wait for
1 Eye Vis (Lond), 2016; 3: 34
wild-caught salmon their distinctive color. signs of increasing drusen before
“Kale is the number one food for preventing and taking action, which often can
mitigating macular degeneration, along with orange involve a fluorescein angiography
peppers and other green leafy vegetables and dark fruits test to examine the condition
like blueberries and grapes,” he adds. of the retinal blood vessels
surrounding the macula.
Recharging the battery
Next to diet and nutrition, Grossman says stimulating
blood circulation to the eyes and making sure the
photoreceptors in the eye easily drain are the best
strategies for preventing AMD and controlling and
reversing dry macular degeneration. microstimulation to
“That’s why I also use microcurrent stimulation in treat patients with
addition to diet and regular acupunture,” he says.“It macular degeneration.
increases levels of ATP, the cellular energy in the retina, “Opinions vary wildly about the effectiveness
and helps more with the circulation.” ATP, adenosine of microcurrent stimulation for macular degeneration,”
triphosphate, is a crucial molecule that provides energy Rosenfarb says.
to all living cells. “I think it can be very useful,and people improve
Microstimulation of the eye is a technique where in more than 50 percent of cases.I haven’t seen any
microelectrodes stimulate a small, local population of cases where theAMD has gotten worse from using
neurons by passing a small electrical current through it.However,if somebody has severe dry eyes there
energy meridian points surrounding the eye. might be a consideration because you’re dealing with
Dr Andy Rosenfarb, founder and clinical director electricity.
of Acupuncture Health Associates in Westfield, “Basically the idea of microcurrent is it stimulates
New Jersey, is an international expert in the field of all the acupuncture points around the eyes to increase
Chinese Medical Ophthalmology who regularly uses blood flow.By dilating the blood vessels and stimulating
ALT
Testimonial
Bob D. from Texas What causes macular degeneration?
Bob has cataracts in both eyes and had been diagnosed with The most common cause of Eat the right fats: Studies show
macular degeneration. He ended up seeing Dr Grossman, who macular degeneration is aging that diets high in saturated fatty
prescribed herbal formulas and special eyedrops. After just three and a deterioration of the cells acids (SFA), polyunsaturated
weeks of treatment, he says he cannot believe the improvement of the retina. Research also fatty acids (PUFA) like omega-6
in his vision. “Three weeks ago I was leery of driving my car when shows a strong association oils and monounsaturated
it was overcast, and now I can see very clearly,” he says. “It is between advanced macular fatty acids (MUFA) lead to an
amazing having my eyesight back!” degeneration and the presence increased risk of AMD, while
of a specific genetic variant of people who eat diets high in
the immune-regulating protein omega-3 and low in omega-6
the nerves around the eyes, it wakes up the dormant complement factor H (CFH).1 fats are at decreased risk
cells and gets the ATP going, kind of like a recharge.” Almost half of patients studied of AMD.5
Rosenfarb likens the use of microstimulation to with advanced AMD—most of
charging your cell phone. The cells around the eyes are Get regular eye exams, to
European descent—had this
like batteries, and just like batteries, they can lose their check whether you have
gene variation.
charge and go dormant. fatty deposits called drusen.
But you don’t have to give up on them—you just have The presence of drusen is
But here are some other risk
to charge them again as you would a battery.“If you have related to a person’s risk
factors you can control yourself:
cells that are weak, the charge is going to help you,” he of developing AMD, and is
says.“If you don’t and your situation is more advanced, Don’t smoke: Other than age, one of the major signs that
it’s probably not going to help.” smoking is the risk factor most macular degeneration may be
Lifestyle changes are also an important factor in consistently associated with occurring.
maintaining macular health. Because the macula AMD.2 “Hard” drusen, which are
receives the highest blood flow of any tissue in the body small and distinct from one
Eat your greens: Poor nutrition
in proportion to its size, anything that reduces the rich another, may not cause vision
and a lack of antioxidant-rich
blood and oxygen supply to the eyes, such as lack of problems for a long time, if at
foods such as leafy greens in
exercise, smoking and oxidative stress (an imbalance all. “Soft” drusen, by contrast,
the diet have been linked to
between free radicals and antioxidants in your body), are large and clump together.
macular degeneration.3
can negatively impact the macula.1 It is the soft type of drusen that
Says Grossman,“Even when advanced AMD has Lower your blood is known to be the precursor to
developed, healthy lifestyle choices and targeted pressure: Hypertension and AMD.6
supplementation can still play a major role in slowing atherosclerosis, or hardening
down and stabilizing the AMD. But lost vision, due of the arteries, are also
to retinal cells no longer living, cannot at this time be contributing factors.4
regenerated, though excellent research such as with “When the drusen
stem cells and the regeneration of lost retinal cells is accumulates, it clogs the
underway. eyes like cholesterol will
“Keep in mind that patients can sometimes clog the heart,” says Dr
experience improved vision, as retinal cells that are not Andy Rosenfarb, a Chinese
active may still be alive, but low functioning. These cells Medical Ophthalmologist
can be stimulated and helped to become more active in Westfield, New Jersey.
through diet, exercise, microstimulation and targeted (Drusen are fatty deposits
supplementation.” that collect under the
macula in the eye.)
Emotional and spiritual components “The majority of
Grossman also believes there are clear emotional macular degeneration
and spiritual aspects behind AMD—something that cases are highly linked to
Western medicine often fails to take into consideration. cardiovascular disease. I
“On the emotional level, the macula in Chinese tongue-in-cheek call it ocular-
medicine has to do with earth elements,” he says. vascular disease.”
“The earth element is related to the stomach and the REFERENCES
spleen, and that has to do with nourishing yourself. I 1 Int J Epidemiol, 2012; 41: 250–62
2 J Ophthalmol, 2013; 2013: 895147
find it’s people who are caretakers—who take care of 3 JAMA, 1994; 272: 1413–20
other people before they take care of themselves—that 4 Clin Interv Aging, 2017; 12:
1579–87
often experience macular degeneration.” 5 Arch Ophthalmol, 2001; 119:
This might not be as far-fetched as it first seems to 1191–9
some people, especially considering the statistically 6 Prog Retin Eye Res, 2016; 53:
70–106
significant difference between the number of men and
Testimonial
Adah H. from Massachusetts Supplements to
Adah was being treated with injections for wet macular take for macular
degeneration in both eyes until her doctor told her the left eye degeneration
had become untreatable due to scar tissue that was not caught The following dietary
in time. supplementation of
She heard about microstimulation treatment, and in carotenoids, antioxidants,
February 2016 she decided to purchase a microcurrent vitamins and trace elemen is
stimulation device from Dr Grossman for home use, faithfully recommended by opthamo ologist
following the instructions to treat her eyes four times a day. and acupunturist Dr Marc
After about three or four months of self-treatment, she started Grossman for improving overall
noticing the clapboard siding on houses. “It seemed to happen eye health. Gut health is alsso
all of a sudden,” she says. “Every house now stood out and important. nerve fibers in the eye
practically shouted with their long horizontal lines.” “Health is determined not only Suggesteddailydosage:2,000–6,000
Then she says she started noticing colors that had long since by what you eat but by what mgdaily
faded from her vision. “Red cars were redder; same with the you absorb,” he says, “Paying Grapeseed extract: Strengthens
color blue. The string that holds my glasses around my neck, attention to how you feel after blood vessels
which I thought was black, suddenly turned green—small little you eat, to the quality of your Suggesteddailydosage:150–300mg
colored things showed up.” daily
digestion and elimination, will
Most exciting was the change in her reading ability. give you clues as to how well you
Very important
“After using an extra-strength magnifying glass to read the The following compounds are
are assimilating your food and its
newspaper, now I can read the newspaper with just my also beneficial for eye health.
nutrients.”
reading glasses. Writing checks and balancing my checkbook is Dr Grossman recommends the
He also advises caution when
easier, and I can see the lines much better.” suggested daily dosages listed
buying commercial supplements,
below.
as they can contain additives like
Cyanidin-3-glucoside: 2–5 mg
women who develop AMD. The condition occurs far dyes. Read the labels and make
Vitamin B6: 100–200 mg (as
more often in women than men of all ethniticies. sure your supplements are high
pyridoxal 5’-phosphate)
Spiritually, Grossman says, many of the people who quality and contain only what
Vitamin B12: 1–5 mg (as
come to him with AMD are not only not taking care they should.
methylcobalamin)
themselves, they carry an almost martyr-like mentality. Vitamin D3: 2,000–5,000 IU
“So often I see the theme ‘I don’t deserve’ in these Essential Vitamin E: 100–400 IU alpha-
patients. So I always recommend to these kinds of Lutein and zeaxanthin: These
tocopherol and 200 mg gamma-
people to learn to nurture themselves. I have them take two carotenoids make up
tocopherol (from natural sources)
baths with lavender at night and do a lot of self-care.” the macular pigment in the
Bilberry: 100–200 mg
For most people dealing with macular retina and help protect against
(standardized extract)
degeneration—facing the frightening prospect of damaging blue light as well as
Soy isoflavones: 135–270 mg
losing their vision in one or possibly even both eyes— acting as powerful antioxidants
Suggesteddailydosage:Lutein,10–20
R-lipoic acid: 300–900 mg
taking lavender baths, eating lots of kale and taking mgdaily;zeaxanthin,3–8mgdaily. Beta carotene: 25,000 IU
supplements seems a small price to pay. Takewithfoodorasmallamountofoil Ginkgo biloba: 120 mg
Robert Essman, 67, of Stamford, Connecticut, Astaxanthin: Has a high Glutathione, reduced: 500–900
was diagnosed with macular degeneration after he antioxidant effect mg per day. Best to take
experienced a severe buildup of blood that formed a Suggesteddailydosage:6–12mgdaily sublingually (dissolving under the
swelling in front of the retina in one eye. Mesozeaxanthin: Helps central tongue)
“They wanted to do an anticancer drug injection in vision in the retina Taurine: 750–1,000 mg
my eye,” he says,“and I’d heard there is only a really small Suggesteddailydosage:10mgdaily N-acetyl-carnosine eye drops:
percentage of people that it helps. I was willing to try Vitamin C: Scavenges free 1–2 drops, 1–4 times daily
anything other than that crazy stuff. So I spent about 18 radicals Lycopene: 3 mg
months working with Dr. Grossman, and it got better Suggesteddailydosage:1,000–2,000 Melatonin: 3 mg
and dried up. mgdaily(bufferedandascorbate)
Zinc: at least 10 mg
“Frankly, I think at this point I’d be blind if I’d gone Resveratrol: Helps strengthen
the other regular route.” blood vessels and reduce Helpful
REFERENCES
inflammation Green tea: 500–750 mg per day
Suggesteddailydosage:150mg–175
1 Biomed Res Int, 2014; 2014:
mgperday CoQ10: 100–200 mg per day
768026
Omega-3 fatty acids: These Selenium: 200 mcg per day
RESOURCES form primary parts of retinal Digestive enzymes: follow
DrMarcGrossman:www.naturaleyecare.com photoreceptors (vision cells) and the recommended dosage
DrAndyRosenfarb:www.acuvisiontherapy.com the myelin sheath that surrounds instructions on the label

ALTE
The Vision Diet at a glance:

TheVisionDiet • Dark leafyy greens
There is substantial research proving
that a high-quality diet is effective at • Coloured vegeetables
preventing macular degeneration and
slowing its advancement.1 • Cruciferous vegetabbles
The Vision Diet has been developed
by holistic optometrist and licensed like broccoli, cabbage an
nd
acupuncturist Dr Marc Grossman, Brussels sprouts
coauthor of Natural Eye Care: Your
Guide to Healthy Vision and Healing, as • Fruits, especially
the healthiest diet to follow for people
dealing with macular degeneration and dark fruits like
to optimize general eye health. blueberries and
The Vision Diet is based on an alkalizing
diet (which reduces inflammation)
grapes
and the Mediterranean diet. It avoids
processed food, refined carbohydrates, • Omega-rich fissh
poor-quality oils (including margarine such as mackerel, salmon
n
and oils high in trans fats), and high and
an tuna—wild caught,
levels of salt. It focuses on the nutrients
that support vision health—primarily not farm raised
carotenoids, essential fatty acids,
vitamins and enzymes. • Poultry and occasionall red meat
On the Vision Diet, the majority of
foods should consist of vegetables and • Leg
gumes—eat at least twice a week,
fruits, with an emphasis on lots of darkrk
leafy green vegetables and other colo orful
prefeerably served in the same meal with
options, such as yellow and orange whole grains. Soak them, if possible, to
peppers. reeduce phytates (which can block the
These are rich in antioxidants,
especially lutein and zeaxanthin— absorption of minerals).
these carotenoids are pigments found
in plants that function as internal • Whole grains every day, varry
sunscreens, protecting the plants from m your selection
solar radiation. Not surprisingly, theyy
provide the same protection to humaan • Healthy oils and fats
eyes, functioning as “internal sun filteers.”
Carotenoids are highly concentrated in (coconut oil, olive oil,
the eyes and act as antioxidants, helping avocado oil)
protect them from oxidative damage and
free-radical production. • Plenty of pure water everyy dayy,
Many studies show that a diet centered
on leafy greens, colored vegetables preferably spring water
and fruits not only lowers the risk of
developing macular degeneration or • No processed or highly refined foods
having an existing condition progress,2
but also helps prevent heart disease3 • Avoid or reduce sugars and artificial
and age-related cognitive decline and sweeteners
dementia.4
• Reduce alcohol
REFERENCES
consumption (a glasss of
1
2
OphthalmicEpidemiol,2010;17:58–65
JAcadNutrDiet,2018;118:2311–4
ne)
wine at night is fin
3 Nutrients,2018;10:595
4 Neurology,2018;90:e214–22 • Green tea

‘HowIbeat
emotional
trauma’
ALTERN
As a young man,
Matthew Donnachie thought he was heading for prison or an early
grave. Years of bottled-up trauma from an emotionally abusive
childhood had left him with no self-esteem, problematic relationships,
depression and huge anger.
Diagnosed with behavioral problems as a child—
Matthew realized later he was just trying to get attention—
Matthew Donnachie’s abusive his life spun out of control as the internalized negative
childhood was slowly killing him script of his abuser played out. The put-downs and
until he discovered that eliminating phrases he had heard daily as he grew up, like, “You’re not
these painful experiences was a good enough, you will never succeed,” and “No one will ever
love you,” echoed through his mind, driving him into a
matter of catching his breath. frustrating cycle of toxic relationships and dead-end jobs.
Jane Turney reports “I thought nobody cared, and then because of that I
didn’t care about myself,” says Matthew, 39.
“Some days I was so depressed I could hardly get out of bed.
My anger was so great I used to punch doors and walls. I was a walking
time-bomb.”
Matthew tried counseling and anger management, after 24 hours I realized it was the abusive voice in my
but,“talking about the past and why I was angry head. I used to hear ‘You can’t do that, you’re an idiot,’
just made me angrier.” In his twenties, he turned to and ‘If I can’t love you, who can?’ But it was gone!”
recreational drugs to block out the mental pain.“I was Matthew continued to see Pennie once a month,
heavily into cocaine, I smoked marijuana and I was the breathwork sessions being complemented
drinking way too much alcohol sometimes. by life coaching and cognitive techniques such as
“At first it was fun, I was going out with friends, going neurolinguistic programming (NLP) to anchor the
to wild parties, but when I was in the same groove seven internal shifts and support change in his external life.
years later I realized I was in trouble. I got to 28 or 29, “As well as dealing with my childhood traumas, I
and something clicked—‘I have got to change.’” needed to look at my own behaviors to see what I was
Matthew’s pivotal moment came while working on a putting out and what I was getting back,” he says.
rooftop as a builder. His mind, as usual, was elsewhere, A year later, he had transformed so much he decided
and he hit his thumb three times in quick succession to become a Breath4Life practitioner and started a
with a hammer. In pain and desperation, he cried out,“I three-year training with Pennie at the Acorn to Oak
can’t live like this anymore. I’ve had enough.” International School of Energy Medicine in the south
Fortunately, Matthew’s colleague saw how deadly of England.
serious he was and called someone he knew could help: “If I had not found breathwork, I would be dead or in
Pennie Quaile-Pearce, creator of the transformative prison,” he says.“My life flipped around, and I wanted
breathwork modality Breath4LifeTM. Two hours later, to help others.”
Matthew was lying on the floor in her office.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Tony C. French; www.tonycfrench.com
What happened next was the start of an extraordinary What is Breath4Life?

transformational journey.“I was skeptical, but in that Breath4Life is one of a number of breathing techniques
moment I would have done anything,” says Matthew. that have emerged in the West since the 1960s to
“I didn’t do too much talking, I went straight into the transform and heal body, mind and spirit. They use a
breathwork. I dealt with some anger and fear, and I method of connected breathing that practitioners claim
came out with a feeling of ecstasy.” catalyzes a change in consciousness (see box, page 77).
He felt that life changed instantly.“Afterwards, I In Breath4Life subconscious connected breathing,
couldn’t grasp how I could lie on the floor for two hours the technique is to employ an energetic in-breath
and be different, but within three to four days, I noticed followed by a sighing out-breath, with no pauses
that something was missing. I thought about it, and between in- and out-breath. The theory is that the
ALTERN
ALTERNATIVES
simple act of connected breathing in a safe space,

allowing suppressed emotions to be felt rather than
pushed away, is sufficient for them to surface and
release, no matter how long they have been blocked.
What makes Breath4Life breathwork unique in terms
of emotional healing is that the practitioner leads the
client down into the subconscious at the beginning of
a session through a simple visualization and relaxation
process, purportedly so the emotional clutter that has
been stored there—limiting beliefs, core conflicts and
blocked feelings—can be accessed more easily.
It’s not just negative emotions that are held there—
we can also suppress joy, love and laughter.
“The purpose of conscious breathing is not primarily
the movement of air but the movement of energy,” says
Leonard Orr, a pioneer of transformational breathwork.
“If you do a relaxed, connected breathing cycle for a few
minutes, you will begin to experience dynamic energy
flows within your body. These energy flows are the
merging of spirit and matter.”
Given permission to feel, Breath4Life practitioners
claim that the body knows what to do, and emotional
energy is automatically released with the breath. People People can pour
can feel incredibly expanded and light as a result—as
with Matthew’s first blissful experience—although
their hearts out
some can feel tired at the end of a session. It can be or say nothing. In
a scary process when intense emotions surface, so a
supportive guide is very helpful.
breathwork, if you
“We are not taught that emotions are our friend. are feeling it, you are
People think it will be scary and that they won’t handle
it,” says Matthew.“But the coaching and statements I
dealing with it
use allow people to let go. They only have to feel it—for
example, grief around a death—for a moment.
“There is no need to talk about what comes up.
People can pour their heart out or say nothing, but it will
work anyway. In breathwork, if you are feeling it, you are
dealing with it.” led to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and a prescription
for antipsychotic drugs for life.
Universal benefits “I did not want to accept the diagnosis,” says Danielle.
Breathwork is generally considered safe and well “I knew it was not me, and the behaviors were not me.
tolerated by all. The exceptions are those with My instability was triggered by unresolved emotions,
cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, glaucoma, especially anger,” she said.“I also had so much fear, and
retinal detachment, or people taking certain it affected many areas of my life: I had a good job, but I
antipsychotic medications. was afraid to go for promotion, and I was in and out of
If you are under medical treatment, it is essential to toxic relationships.”
check with your doctor before initiating treatment. After a year of twice-monthly breathwork sessions,
But connected breathing has been able to address a she is completely different: “I was a severe insomniac,
number of issues on the physical or psychological level, and now I sleep well at night. I came off my medication
particularly stress-related ailments (see box, page 67). after about six months. I have been promoted at work,
“The worse the emotional state, the bigger the and currently I have really good relationships with my
change you see,” says Matthew.“The issue can be friends and family.
anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, ADHD, autism, “I also used to suffer with bulimia and had huge
bereavement, relationship issues. It will help with any body insecurities, which I am still working my way
negative experience you have suppressed.” through, but I am not making myself sick, and I am not
Danielle, 34, a healthcare worker, turned to Matthew worrying about my weight so much. I used to wear hair
to overcome severe anxiety and depression as a result of extensions, artificial eyelashes, lots of makeup and inject
growing up with an alcoholic mother, sexual abuse at filler in my lips.
14, and the death of her fiancé and mother within a few “I had so little confidence in how I looked. Matthew
months when she was 19. Years of unresolved trauma has taught me to embrace the real me. For the first time
ALTE
Transformational breathwork therapies

My whole life has Breathwork has
been an element
become automatic,
such as walking
changed dramatically. of Eastern spiritual and driving,
After only three traditions for
centuries, integral
while the other
half is used to
sessions, I came off my to the practice of store suppressed
meditation, yoga emotions.
medication and tantra. In the The third level—
West, the power comprising 50
of breathwork percent of the
was discovered mind’s capacity—is
in my life,I can stand tall and proud and in the mid- the superconscious,
happy because I know who I am,my twentieth century sometimes known
flaws and good points.” by pioneers of as the authentic or
Emma Meredith,38,from Surrey,UK, psychotherapy ‘higher’ self. The
has similarly been amazed at how much such as Wilhelm superconscious
Breath4Life has helped her achieve. Reich, but it connects our
Dyslexic and on the autism spectrum, wasn’t until the intuition to our
she had no self-confidence and had been counterculture divinity or universal
taking the antidepressant drug Prozac movement in mind—the spiritual
since she was 16.She also suffered from the 1960s that part of us that
chronic fatigue.“I spent about 10 years interest really took knows who we
in bed,out of work,or I could only work off. Psychiatrist are underneath
part time about five hours a day,and then Stanislav Grof “Most practices acknowledge that the masks,
my parents had to pick me up because I and his wife both the breather and the breath conditioning and
was so exhausted.
“I have been doing breathwork for just
Cristina developed have an innate healing capacity” limitations we
Holotropic develop as we go
over a year,once a month,and my whole Breathwork based through life.
life has changed dramatically. After only on Grof’s work in psychiatric bodywork, affirmations The two states of being are
three sessions, I came off my medication. institutions. and coaching. Breath4Life that you are either connected
I haven’t had any chronic fatigue since I Then Leonard Orr discovered incorporates life skills, to your authentic or higher
started. In fact, I now have my own doggy conscious connected breathing neurolinguistic programming, self—with emotions, creativity
daycare business. I look after three dogs, practice of Rebirthing in life coaching and written and and life flowing naturally
five days a week, and I take them on 5k the course of his search for nonwritten process work. and in balance—or you are
walks every day!” spiritual growth and the Most practices acknowledge disconnected. This is a state
As an added bonus, Emma’s early- expansion of consciousness. that both the breather and the of suffering—unhappiness,
onset menopause, which started at age A variety of conscious breath have an innate healing feeling stuck or overwhelmed,
35, has now also completely reversed. connected breathwork capacity and use positive in emotional or physical pain
“When I went to Matthew, I thought it schools have evolved intention to focus the energy and with no flow in life.
might help with the depression. I did not from Rebirthing, including of a session. But they have Breath4Life postulates
know how big the scale of the work is Integrative Breathwork, unique features and spiritual that breathing, beyond the
when you get into the unconscious mind. Shamanic Breathwork and frameworks. basic need for survival, acts
I am happier now than I ever have been, Transformational Breath. The theory behind as a bridge between spirit,
and I’m full of vitality.” Pennie Quaile-Pearce set Breath4Life is that there are mind, and body and between
up the Breath4Life training three levels of consciousness the conscious and the
Unlocking emotions program in the UK after and only two states of being. subconscious.
Matthew works with a huge variety of training as a Bodhisoul The first two consciousness When used in specific ways,
conditions and issues from rape victims breathwork practitioner with levels are the conscious mind, say practitioners, breathing
to children with ADHD and autism from Christina Thomas-Fraser, accounting for 10 percent enables the release and
his clinic in West Byfleet, Surrey.“One director of the Inner Light of mental capacity, and the resolution of emotions,
autistic child I worked with, I asked, Institute in California, in 1998. subconscious mind, which belief systems, stresses and
‘What is it like to have autism?’ Each breathwork school makes up another 40 percent. memories, which are often
“He said,‘It is like having 100 windows combines a unique set of The subconscious has less accessible through more
open on a computer at once, and they are additional healing modalities two functions: half of its conventional talking therapies
all asking you things.’ After one session with the core breathing effort is put toward holding operating solely at the
he said it was like someone had closed 20 practice, such as sound, the learned skills that have psychological level.
windows.”
TIVES
Breathwork has helped me so

much; my mission is to help
as many people as I can
Research into breathwork

While various breathing modalities have
been around for centuries, medical research
into conscious breathing and other such
transformational breathwork therapies is still in its
infancy. No clinical studies have been carried out on
Breath4Life, but there have been studies on other
breathwork modalities, particularly in the area of
mental health and wellbeing.
Researchers have suggested that Holotropic
Breathwork can support psychotherapy, particularly
in reducing avoidance behaviors,1 and that it “can Matthew is particularly keen to get the word about
induce very beneficial temperament changes, this technique out to men, who typically suppress their
which can have positive effects on development emotions more than women.“Clients who are soldiers
of character, measured as an increase in self- and have had PTSD could not believe the difference it
awareness.”2 Transformational Breath has made. If I was to ask soldiers to think about emotions, the
been shown to improve anxiety, depression and first word that might come up would be ‘vulnerability.’
wellbeing and reduce physiological measures of “In a session, they can have what is almost a two-hour
anxiety among performers.3 panic attack because of dealing with all the emotions
Trials have also demonstrated that breath that they were never able to feel while fighting in the
work can improve physical health. In a study field. A number say they came back from war a different
by researchers at Radboud University in the person from who they were before.
Netherlands,4 12 individuals trained in breathing “They say,‘I never thought I would come back to
techniques, meditation and exposure to cold had myself again,’ but they have worked through the trauma,
an increased ability to resist infection and fight dealing with the fear they never felt. It’s the same with
inflammation. The researchers considered that firemen who have to run into a burning house to get
the breathing techniques were mainly responsible someone out. They don’t feel fear, they suppress it,
for the results and concluded that the study had and during these sessions they have had incredible
“important implications” for the treatment of experiences of release.”
diseases that involve excessive inflammation, Most people have breathwork sessions, which last
especially autoimmune diseases.4 up to two hours, once a month (see page 79). This
Another modality, Breath Therapy (a mind-body leaves time to notice and integrate the changes and
therapy integrating body awareness, breathing, More information: then for new things to bubble up. Significant results
meditation and movement), was linked to a Matthew Donnachie: might be observed after one session, but for many, more
significant improvement in pain and disability among www.innerbalancelife. profound changes take place over time.
patients with chronic lower back pain, comparable to co.uk “It took me five to six years to deal with my core
high-quality, extended physical therapy.5 The International issues,” says Matthew, who now radiates positivity and
Breathwork Foundation, happiness.“I now consider myself one of the world’s
REFERENCES which collects and luckiest men. Everything works, life is easy, I don’t
1 Altern Complement Med, 2007; 13: 771–6 disseminates information
2 J Altern Complement Med, 2015; 21: 796–803
about breathwork and
have negative situations anymore. If something comes
3 International Symposium on Performance Science, 2017 up, I don’t panic, I think ‘What can I do to help this?’
4 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2014; 111: 7379–84 conscious breathing
5 Altern Ther Health Med, 2005; 11: 44–52 research: www. Breathwork has helped me so much; my mission is to
ibfbreathwork.org.uk help as many people as I can.”
What happens in a Breath4Life session?
Breath4Life sessions are carried out with the client lying fully clothed,
face up on the floor, on a mat or other comfortable support. After an
initial conversation about current concerns and the possible focus of
the session, visualization and relaxation exercises help the client to
relax and drop into a theta brain wave state (4–7 Hz), which allows
easier access to the subconscious.
Breath4Life subconscious connected breathing is done entirely
through the mouth. This brings more air and oxygen into the
body—and thus more energy—than nasal inspiration. An energetic
in-breath is followed by a sighing out-breath, a forceful in-breath and
so on, without pausing between.
Evocative music helps people connect to their feelings, and within
a few minutes, emotions start to surface. These may be familiar or
totally unexpected: the subconscious has its own agenda and knows
what needs to be released.
Sometimes the intensity of the emotions can feel overwhelming, in
which case the practitioner coaches the client to stay with the feeling
and just allow the breath to naturally release the emotional energy.
There is no need to analyze or discuss what is happening unless
the client wants to; feeling and breathing is sufficient. Sometimes
memories and images may surface, but not always—it’s different for
everyone.
If people get ‘stuck’ in difficult emotions such as anger or grief, they
are asked to speed up the breath. With this additional energy input,
the emotions pass through more quickly. Conversely, if a person is
in a state of bliss and expansion (which often happens after a big
release), the breath is slowed to hold and intensify the feeling.
Breath4Life sessions last around two hours: up to one and three-
quarter hours for breathing, with 15 minutes at the end to lie quietly
and integrate what has happened. People often feel exhilarated,
but occasionally tired, as they connect to how much their body has
changed and how muscles that may have been holding tension for a
lifetime have now relaxed.
Some clients find it useful to support subconscious breathwork with
sessions of life coaching and neurolinguistic programming (NLP) to
look at conscious limiting beliefs and behavior patterns and better
integrate changes in their inner and outer life.

HEALTHYHOME
How to limit
The truth about... your exposure
to aluminum
aluminum Don’t cook with
aluminum
Should you be worried about aluminum in your home? When you cook food in aluminum
pots and pans or wrap it in foil,
Here’s what you need to know aluminum can leach into the
food. One study found that
cooking red meat in aluminum
WHAT IS IT? foil increased its content of
Aluminum—silvery white in appearance—is the third most common element the metal by 89 to 378
found in nature (after oxygen and silicon) and makes up nearly 8 percent of the percent, while poultry
earth’s crust, although it plays no essential role in living systems.1 Industry began showed an increase of
mining and processing it in the late nineteenth century, and today some 58 76 to 215 percent. The
million tons are produced annually.2 It’s one of the most widely used metals in higher the cooking time and
building construction and is also commonly used in medicine, food technology temperature, the higher the
and cosmetics. aluminum.10
Parchment paper (preferably
the unbleached kind like the
WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT? products sold by the company If
In the home, aluminum can be found in cooking equipment; foil; food; food You Care) is a good alternative to
and drink packaging such as cans, cartons, water bottles and juice pouches; aluminum foil, while stainless steel and
baking powders; water; antiperspirants and other cosmetics; and drugs such as glass are safer options for cookware.
antacids and aspirin. Food is the main source of aluminum exposure in the home.3
Aluminum can be naturally present in some foods but is also often used as a food Check your meds
additive. Furthermore, it can leach into food via aluminum cookware, foil, utensils
and packaging.4 Aluminum can be found in a number of
drugs, such as antacids, buffered aspirin
WHAT’S WRONG WITTH

T IT? WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
For many years, aluminum was not considered a threat to health Although single, low-level exposures to
because of its relatively loww bioavailability (absorption by the body). But aluminum, such as eating food cooked
in 1965, animal studies suggested a possible link between aluminum in aluminum foil or using aluminum-
and Alzheimer’s disease.5 Since then, research has been containing antiperspirant, are unlikely
mounting to show w a clear connection between the two, and it’s to damage your health on their own,
now widely acceepted that aluminum can be deposited in the the cumulative effect of smaller
brain, where itt can have toxic effects.6 In fact, aluminum exposures like these over time—from
has been linkked to a host of neurodegenerative multiple sources—is cause for concern.
conditions besides Alzheimer’s, including amyotrophic What’s more, how much aluminum
lateral scleerosis (motor neuron disease), Parkinson’s, the body absorbs from exposure
dementia, Gulf war syndrome and multiple sclerosis.7 varies from person to person. Certain
There’s also research suggesting that aluminum nutritional deficiencies, for example,
may bee involved in breast cancer. It’s been found in can increase the rate of aluminum
the breeast tissue of women with breast cancer— absorption.9
and inn significantly higher levels in the underarm It makes sense to limit your exposure
region near the breast, suggesting a possible link to aluminum as much as possible. See
to aluuminum-based antiperspirants.8 opposite for our top tips.
| S FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
ALTERNATIVES
ATIVES
Did you know?

Aluminum affects more than
200 important biological
reactions, including
neurotransmitter synthesis,
gene expression and
One study found that when poultry inflammatory responses.9
was cooked in aluminum foil, levels
of the metal increased by
76% to
215%
aluminum
chlorohydrate is much less
soluble in water, whereas
sulfates are highly water
soluble, so alum may more
readily break down into
and anti-diarrhea drugs. Check labels its component parts in
carefully and ask your doctor if you’re in a warm, sweaty armpit
doubt about whether a drug you’re taking or ‘sodium aluminum sulfate.’ Baking (meaning it could then
contains aluminum. Investigate natural soda is just pure bicarbonate of soda, so it potentially be absorbed into the skin).
alternatives whenever possible. should not contain aluminum. Brands offering 100 percent natural and
Vaccines and allergy shots can also aluminum-free deodorants include Earth
contain added aluminum. Choose aluminum-free Conscious, Ben & Anna, Native Unearthed
cosmetics and Black Chicken Remedies.
Limit processed food
Read the labels of cosmetics and
Aluminum is found naturally in drinking toiletries carefully to check for
Get a water filter
water and unprocessed foods. But levels aluminum, which can be present The ZeroWater jug filter is
may be higher in processed foods due in both natural and conventional capable of removing virtually
to added aluminum in the form of food products. If in doubt, contact the all dissolved solids from tap
additives and the leaching of aluminum brand directly to find out. water, including aluminum.
from food packaging and manufacturing Most commonly, aluminum Whole-house water filter systems
processes 11 Baked goods such as bread,
processes. is found in antiperspirants and are another option.
cakes and m muffins may be deodorants, so switching to an
especially hhigh in it because aluminum-free option is a great REFERENCES
of alum minum-containing step to reduce your daily exposure 1 EncyclopediaofFoodSciencesandNutrition,2nded.
AcademicPress,2003
bakking powders. to the metal. 2 BritishGeologicalSurvey,WorldMineralProduction
Iff you’re buying Watch out for products containing a 2012–2016
3 FoodAdditContam,2005;22:234–44
baaking powder natural form of aluminum called alum, or 4 CibaFoundSymp,1992;169:26–35
seeparately, check aluminum sulfate. Manufacturers claim 5 EnvironSciEurope,2011;23:37
6 JEnvironMonit,2004;6:375–403
thhe label to make that, as this is a much larger molecule 7 BiomedPharmacother,2016;83:746–54
sure it doesn’t than aluminum chlorohydrate—the form 8 JInorgBiochem,2007;101:1344–6
9 JResMedSci,2018;23:51
conntain ‘sodium usually used in antiperspirants—it cannot 10 MeatSci,2006;74:644–7
alumminum phosphate’ pass through the skin. However, others say 11 EnvironSciEur,2017;29:19
ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 81

THE LAST WORD
Zero deaths from vitamins and minerals—but regulators are clamping down
Death by vitamin
Bryan Hubbard
T
he Irish are lucky—and not just in valerian,yohimbe,ma huang (ephedra),kola followed by antidepressants, with 131,000
general. They’re especially lucky when nut and yerba mate was ...yes,zero. adverse reactions.
it comes to vitamins and supplements. Of course,there were no deaths from All these cases are recorded as
With those fusty old bureaucrats homeopathic remedies,because as the poisons, because the drugs were taken
in the European Union dithering for years in skeptics like to remind us,they’re just water- “inappropriately”—such as inadvertent
setting the maximum doses that people based placebos.And nobody died from overdosing, taking someone else’s medication
can safely take, Ireland’s own watchdog has Ayurvedic medicine,either. by mistake, or taking doses too close together.
acted decisively. Someone died from an“unknown single What about deaths from prescription
With Ireland’s supplement market tripling ingredient botanical,”and an“unknown medications taken correctly? The National
in just 10 years, the Irish Food Safety Authority energy drink”was somehow implicated in Institute on Drug Abuse reports that US
has set the upper safe levels for 21 vitamins and another death,but“the obvious uncertainty government agencies don’t track drug deaths,
minerals.“We are concerned about the safety of such listings diminishes any claim of so, trying to create a clearer picture, Thomas
of vulnerable groups of the population in validity,”saidAndrewW.Saul,editor of J Moore, senior scientist for drug safety and
Ireland, including children, pregnant women Orthomolecular Medicine News Service,who policy at the Institute for Safe Medication
and older people,” said the authority’s chief reported on the lethal list. Practices, has been setting up systems that
executive, Dr Pamela Byrne. There was also one possible fatality from monitor deaths in hospitals.
Her concerns were shared by the chairman taking vitamin D,but the vitamin’s role was Assuming people go to a hospital after
of the authority’s scientific committee, “contributory,”which could mean the person suffering a drug reaction, Moore estimates
Professor Albert Flynn, who said: “There can died—as people do—and happened to be that 128,000 Americans die each year from
be adverse health effects when people take too taking vitamin D at the time. a drug taken according to the prescription,
much of some vitamins or minerals.”1 Not quite so many gray areas when it comes including correct dose and frequency.2
And there must be statistics to back up his to prescription pharmaceuticals.Analgesics, That figure is consistent with estimates
worries, right? Step forward the American or painkillers,were the single most toxic agent prepared by Professor Thomas Light at the
Association of Poison Control Centers, which reported to poison centers,accounting for Rowan University School of Osteopathic
collates deaths and adverse reactions reported around 288,000 adverse reactions or deaths. Medicine, who wrote a paper with the no-
to poison centers around the US, including Sedatives and antipsychotics weren’t too holds-barred title,“Institutional Corruption
reactions to pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, far behind,with around 150,000 victims, of Pharmaceuticals and the Myth of Safe and
chemicals, household products, cosmetics, Effective Drugs.”3
vitamins and minerals, which are also In the paper, he estimates that around
considered poisons. 2,460 Americans die each week from a drug
According to its 2017 report, the number of properly taken.
deaths from overdosing on vitamins A, C, E, Even these figures are conservative. Studies
niacin, pyridoxine (B6) or other B vitamins into the safety and effectiveness of drugs often
was . . . zero. OK, how about minerals? don’t record adverse reactions at all.
Overdose deaths from calcium, magnesium, In fact, researchers from the UK’s University
chromium, zinc, colloidal silver, selenium, of York discovered that just 38 percent of the
iron or multi-mineral supplements were . . . 1,376 reviews of healthcare interventions they
also zero. There were no deaths from amino analyzed even mentioned adverse reactions.4
acids, creatine, blue-green algae, glucosamine
Painkillers were the single We’re sure the Irish regulators are on the case.
or chondroitin, either. most toxic agent reported to
There must have been some deaths poison centers, accounting REFERENCES
1 IrishTimes,June5,2018
from herbs, surely? The body count from
concoctions such as blue cohosh, echinacea,
for around 288,000 adverse 2 U.S.News&WorldReport,September27,2016
3 JLawMedEthics,2013;41:590–600
ginkgo, ginseng, kava kava, St John’s wort, reactions or deaths 4 JClinEpidemiol,2019;108:95–101

Helping you make better health choices AUSTRALIA/NZ
facebook.com/wddtyaunz
ANDSAVE!
LAUNCH
OFFER!
Get What Doctors Don’t Tell You
Australia/NZ delivered to your
ddoor for 12 months (6 issues) and
save ALMOST 40% off the cover price!
ONLY $29.95 for 6 issues!
Head to: subscribe.wddty.com.au now!
Prefer a digital subscription?

Search What Doctors Don’t Tell You Australia/NZ through one of our digital partners

2020 Wddty Feb-March

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

2020 Wddty Feb-March

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Helping you make better health choices ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | AUSTRALIA/NZ

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 3

6 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

Lower your balanced search, says Rob Verkerk TELEPHONE:

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 7

Dr. Jean of Wales’ Foundation of Advanced Longevity Organic Chocolate.

8 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 9

Walnuts can ease

10 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 11

12 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

A sling’s the only thing after a shoulder fracture

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 13

Eggs and meat reduce

14 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

diabetes why some diabetics who are

theory in the mitochondria, the ‘power

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 15

Dark chocolate keeps

Vitamin D helps diabetics

16 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

Healthy gut blocks MS and Parkinson’s

Feverfew compound killing leukemia

Inﬂammation the common Is arthritis a bacterial

18 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

anxiety sources of it to eat, especially

and Rye sourdough, used for

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 19

genetic phasing out the use of amalgam—

riskof have announced a timetable that will see

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 21

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 23

Fluoride in our Hashimoto’s disease.

water: too much

for too long?

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 25

26 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

Why your doctor cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and

about diet School’s out

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 29

Most doctors said

become an internist, cardiologist,

30 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 31

Walking the dog

32 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

WEIGHT DOG OWNERS

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 33

The price is always right

34 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

Drug prices increased roughly eight times faster than

That’ll do nicely: How drug prices have been hiked in the US

Drug Type Price hike (%) Time period Supplier

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 35

36 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

HOW ONE WOMAN HEALED HER SON’S BRAIN

“Try to parent that!” jokes Karen.“You

control. “Jacob was usually wild and all over

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 | WDDTY 39

prevalent. So are mold biotoxins, which

some of which he had d clotthing. He will not wear

40 WDDTY | ISSUE 04 | FEB/MAR 2020 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ