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Staying Healthy (for people)

Dr. Jeff

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This comes from our friend Dr. Lisa Samet who is both a naturopath and homeopath. In addition, she has a great new book on rewiring the brain and emotional repatterning:


Though homeopathy is a big part of helping the body get back on track and heal itself, prevention is the best thing we can do TODAY!

Before we get to it, many patients who have decided to get the COVID vaccine have asked me what to do to mitigate its side effects. Here are my suggestions:

Take a dose of Ledum 30c or 200c right before and right after the shot. If you know your chronic remedy, take it the night before and the night of the shot. And make sure you take Vit C and D in large quantities the preceding day and for 1 week after…. If you have side effects from the vaccine, try Bryonia 200 every few hours to see if it helps.


FOOD:

- Never microwave in plastic (tupperware, plastic wrap, etc) – only glass, to prevent the plastic from leaching into your food in the high heat of the microwave. This can cause a build-up of xeno-estrogens (outside estrogens) in the body which none of us want, especially in our children (!) who often microwave their lunch at school or camp.

- Avoid aluminum foil, especially cooking in it – in the oven or on the grill. Aluminum has been found in high levels in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. (In fact, avoid ANY exposure to aluminum – check the ingredients in your anti-perspirant and consider switching to deodorant if you absolutely need to use something).

- Shifting your diet to one that is more plant-based (fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, nut butters, seeds, lentils, beans, hummus, organic tofu, etc) vs. animal-based (dairy, eggs, fish, poultry, meats) will help you live a longer, healthier life and avoid the common killers (heart-disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes….) as animal products cause acidity and inflammation in the body. PLUS, it’s better for our planet! (good reading on these points: Whole by C. Campbell and Eating Animals by Foer). If you can’t commit to being mostly vegan, choose to eat animal products less often, and in smaller amounts. If you can’t move your family to this way of eating (and chances are, you can’t!), do what you can for yourself: simply eat more of their side dish/veggies and skip or minimize eating their ‘main’ dish.

- As an adult, don’t be overly concerned about “getting enough protein”. Protein is used primarily for growth and repair in the body. As adults, we are no longer growing and thus need protein mostly for repair. You can absolutely get an adequate supply of protein from nuts, higher protein grains such as quinoa, beans, tofu, lentils, etc. Eating too much protein can accelerate the aging process.

- Similarly, dairy products in particular are not a health food, contrary to what the American Dairy Association would have us believe (good reading: Whitewash by Koen), and actually contribute greatly to digestive distress, skin problems such as acne and eczema, migraines, etc. in many people. If your main interest in dairy is calcium, more absorbable forms of calcium are actually found in non-dairy sources: green leafy vegetables, broccoli, almonds, sesame seeds, beans…

- IF and when you do eat animal products, eat organic! The hormones, pesticides, anti-biotics used to raise farm animals for consumption make them very toxic.

- Avoid frying, cooking with high temps and cooking over flames (grilling). Avoid vegetable oils whenever possible, choosing only extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil or avocado oil for cooking and salad dressings.

- The studies on longevity consistently show that the people who eat LESS live longer (and healthier). Digestion uses a lot of resources that the body could be using for repair. So, in general, eat less and less often, eat better quality… and consider replacing a meal a day with a fresh juice, doing a week-long juice fast, or some type of “intermittent fasting” – I like to recommend 18-6 (18 consecutive hours of fasting with a 6-hour block of eating).

- Patients often ask me why gluten intolerance has recently become such an epidemic. After all, people have been eating wheat since the first nomads settled down and began to plant fields! Did you know that the wheat we currently eat in North America bears little resemblance to the original wheat (emmer, einkorn, faro, spelt) that our ancestors ate? That is because modern wheat has been hybridized specifically to have more gluten in the grain. Why, you ask? Because it makes for better bread (higher gluten flour results in fluffier, less dense bread). Sadly, for those with some gluten sensitivity who might have easily been able to enjoy the ancient grains of our forefathers (I’m not talking about the extreme case of celiac here), one slice of today’s bread can have up to 4x the amount of gluten of that found in the ancient varieties of wheat! Hence, the current ‘epidemic’ of gluten-intolerant people.

-The chemical glyphosate (also known by the brand name Roundup by Monsanto) is now the #1 pesticide used in North America – and is being exposed as having toxic effects in humans. According to MIT researchers, some consequences of accumulated glyphosate exposure are neural tube defects, autism, hypothyroidism, cancer, diabetes and obesity, fatty liver disease, PCOS and endocrine disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The best way to avoid this pesticide is by eating ORGANIC foods. Food with the greatest contamination are non-organic: corn, soy, canola, sugar beets, wheat, oats, barley, rye, sugar cane, beans, lentils, peas, flax, chick peas. Sigh….

OTHER:

- Throughout the winter, a few well-chosen supplements can keep your immune system strong enough to resist getting colds and flus. I recommend Vit D (1-2,000 iu per day), Vitamin C (2,000mg per day) and NAC (N-acetyl cysteine – an amino acid) which helps build immunity (1,000mg per day) and Zinc (25+mg per day).

- If you tend to have allergies, or wake up with headaches or post-nasal drip, foggy in the morning… try buying dust-mite covers for your mattress, pillow and duvet as well as a small air filter to put next to your side of the bed. Breathing cleaner air all night could make an enormous difference in those symptoms!

- Avoid x-rays unless absolutely necessary. I cringe when I hear patients tell me about their routine 1-2x yearly dental x-rays and the casual way chest and sinus x-rays are given to us and our children with coughs, sinus infections, etc. X-rays are an exposure to radiation which is one KNOWN cause of cancer, and there is no one keeping track of the total number of x-rays we get each year (and the subsequent cumulative radiation exposure), not that anyone knows what is an acceptable amount of exposure anyway – which surely varies from person to person. So, say NO to x-rays (challenge your Dr or DDS and ask – “Is this absolutely necessary?”) wherever possible!

- Stress management: meditation is a fabulous way to find some peace. I also like EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) as a way to manage day to day stress and difficult emotional patterns we can have in relationships. Emotional stress lowers immune function (mind-body connection!) and makes us more susceptible to disease. Prevention is by far the best cure! I work a lot using Psych-K with my patients - a technique developed to change limiting beliefs and patterns. Its super effective, click HERE for a demonstration.

- Most of us are already in the habit of reading labels at the grocery store and avoiding purchasing food with ingredients we can’t pronounce. Hopefully, most of what you buy is already non-processed (packaged, canned, etc), whole foods. However, it is also important to scrutinize labels of products we put on our skin: there was a study done where a sunscreen was applied to the test subjects and their urine was collected for 6 hours after the application. EVERY CHEMICAL in the sunscreen, including the fragrance, colorants, etc was found in the urine! This means that everything we apply to our skin is rapidly absorbed into the body, processed and excreted (to the best of the body’s ability). Chemicals in anti-perspirants, skin creams, etc. add to the body’s toxic load. As we often cannot avoid exposure to these chemicals in the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, be conscious to use products with natural ingredients. It makes a difference to both your health, and the health of the planet!

Think twice before putting anything on your skin that you wouldn’t eat, because everything you apply to your skin is absorbed into the body, just like food! To research the toxicity levels of your skincare (and other) products, see this fabulous database by clicking HERE .

- Speaking of detox, one of the best ways to detoxify regularly is by using a sauna (far-infrared is ideal). Deep sweating over a prolonged period removes a variety of toxins, and even if you do everything “right,” simply living on the planet today exposes one to toxins in the air, water, food. Consider installing one in your house – they are not super expensive and regular use will pay it out in no time!

- More and more data has become available about the importance of our microbiome, specifically the balance and health of our gut flora. Recent studies have shown that an unhealthy microbiome can lead to, among other things, depression and mood disorders. The overuse of anti-biotics, starting with small children with chronic ear infections and strep throat, then to teenagers with acne, then to adults with sinus infections and urinary tract infections have surely altered our healthy microbiomes, as antibiotics kill off not just the targeted bacteria, but create an imbalance among all the beneficial intestinal flora. Find other solutions to these acute illnesses (homeopathy!) and use antibiotics as a last resort. Rebuild good intestinal health by eliminating food intolerances and increasing fermented foods and probiotic-rich non-dairy yogurt, and/or taking a probiotic supplement.

- Data shows that we are now almost as likely to have Alzheimer’s as we age as cancer and/or heart disease. Brain health is super important! Keep your brain active by learning new things (Luminosity and other brain games help keep the brain sharp, or learn a new instrument or language!), and consider supplementing with curcumin and MCT oil, rich in good fats. To view a webinar I made on Alzheimer’s prevention, click HERE.

- Consider doing a genetic test – such as 23andMe – which shows you what you are genetically at risk for. This is by no means a prediction of your future health (!!!), but does give you an idea of your weak points so you can take steps to offset the risk (ie, dietary changes and supplements).

- Regarding sleep, I’m a big fan of melatonin (a variety of studies have shown actual health benefits from supplementing with melatonin, a natural hormone produced by the brain which often decreases with age), but it doesn’t help all people with sleep problems. Many have found better sleep through a mixture of CBD/THC 2:1 in oil, before bed. Worth considering, as good sleep increases longevity, improves mood and memory - we could also say quality of life!

- Exercise: very important for a multitude of reasons…. JUST DO IT?
 

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