Dr.Lisa's Good Natured Health

EMOTIONAL EATING WEIGHING YOU DOWN?

2011-07-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts on the three basics: fat, protein and sugar.

It seems like weight gain and anxiety go hand in hand in my household. Do you ever notice this correlation? Well today I had an interesting experience as I started to notice this playing out. I was driving around this cloudy Seattle summer day, and though I’d eaten just an half hour earlier I started feeling the strong urge to eat again. I checked in with my stomach, it was quite full still, and I knew that if I gave in to this sense of craving that I wouldn’t be able to eat much more without feeling stuffed.

So, I began to look around for what could be causing this- I was near an upscale mall, and so I wondered was it a feat of marketing with all the signs for fast food? Or the sophisticated appeal of fancy restaurants that were making my mind hungry? As I’ve been instructed in meditation, you can do one of two things you can apply an antidote or you can sink into the sensation even more. I decided that aversion (the antidote) would be too time consuming- I’d have to think of the decomposition of food, perhaps even it’s form after going through my digestive tract, etc. Geez! Thus, I decided I’d stick with the sensation of craving, and drop deeper into the sensation of wanting, which felt so strong it uncovered a neediness.

What was I truly needing that was driving this sense of urgent wanting for more food? And, noticing that the foods that were most appealing to me at the time (pasta, rich sauces), I asked myself, what was it that was beneath this hunger for richness- a desire for fat.

After I relaxed into the sense of craving, I began to feel a slight buzz. At the beginning there was quite an unpleasant sense of resistance, like a magnetic repulsion that with a decision to just sit with whatever was happening, and resisting the resistance to overcome or succumb to something, it became palpably different. Amazingly enough, I didn’t reach for my cell phone or pull into a drive thru restaurant (Can I have an enormous burger with extra fat to fulfill my extreme craving for sanity? And, a super sized side of inner peace, please?) I thought of something I’d heard the word of before, “the suchness”- isn’t that a lovely word?

That word, suchness allowed my mind to attach a label to a heightening of my senses as if I could feel the air around me become more present, like it had a pleasant viscosity and the signs and colors became more vibrant without drawing me in. In fact, the cool thing was I felt like I was in the “in” and that there was no “into” to be concerned about. Hmmm, the “suchness of now,” the richness of all these different inner and outer sensations, and interactions with my mental and physical body became my focus instead of a lack or a struggle to be at one pole or another of giving in or pulling away from a craving. It was cool, and then it transitioned into my more reliable state of monkey mind that went back to focusing on what I had to do next.

I finished my errands, without distraction, and decided if I felt hungry when I returned home I would have some avocado with a healthy left-over, curry beet quinoa. (Perhaps having a yummy leftover at home was another positive driver for resisting temptation!)
When I got home, I continued contemplating the experience, the craving sensations and the fact that I was craving fat. What was at the basis of fat as the focus of my craving? I asked myself, if, and, what emotional need was driving my craving for fat. The answer my brain produced almost immediately, was the need for comfort, for structure, for a sense of security. I had just been through a few days of indecisiveness and having a bit too much laxity in my life. I thought of how fat is the major ingredient in breast milk, and how it represents the emotional structure of Mother.

Then I started to think about protein craving, like when people feel a need to eat lots of meat. I realized that usually came about when people wanted to feel stronger, or ground as in strengthening their root chakra. I thought of how protein resonates with the emotional structure of father.

So what about sugar? That’s probably the most familiar phenomenon for most people including myself (which perhaps is why I was able to be surprised and curious about a craving for fat. The almost compulsive ingestion of simple carbs or sugary foods is a prime reason for the epidemics of obesity and adult onset diabetes worldwide. Of course, from a nutritional and physiological standpoint one could argue that a craving for sugar is actually a need for protein.

I find myself eating lots of simple carbs, when I am trying to push through something like a long day, a tall stack of papers, as if I need to reward or convince myself that I can do it if only in spurts. This is an interesting concept as it jibes with the anthroposophic medicine point of view, (which stems from the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Eva Wegman), that increased sugar intake occurs when there is a need for more “Ego structure,” like inspiration, drive, or a sense of Will.

Does this ring true for you? I invite you to look at what your drives, be it food cravings or shopping addictions, tell you about your emotional needs are. What the emotional triggers are and how you might make them your allies when you need to get through the day without pushing yourself at an oral level when you might do better receiving at an emotional level. Like a hug instead of butter, a game of basketball or wrestling instead of a 16 oz sirloin, or finding inspiration in a person, a sunset, or yourself, instead of the chocolate bar or a stiff drink.

As always, I welcome your feedback (including recipes) and send you wishes for good health, laughter and insight.

Here's a recipe for a non-dairy, non-wheat, good for your liver nourishing meal, measurements aren't exact so experiment ; )

Curry beet quinoa (or rice)

Ingredients:
3 small beets raw/sliced
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on your taste or you can omit)
1 tsp yellow mustard seed
1-2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp coconut oil
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
3 cups of cooked quinoa or brown rice
1 can tomato sauce

Garnish:
1 fresh lemon
1 Avocado slices
Sea salt and pepper to taste.

Saute garlic, mustard seeds in warm oil, add in onions if you want,raw beets, and curry powder, cook for few minutes while beets absorb spices and soften, add in quinoa or rice, tomato sauce (1/2 can) and water in about equal amounts (taste as you go), and cilantro. Simmer for few minutes until beets are soft and the liquid is resorbed.
Squirt with lemon juice and sea salt to taste, and garnish with fresh avocado slices and more cilantro leaves if desired. Make a lot so you can refrigerate for left overs.

Surprisingly my daughter and her friends are always asking me to make this for them- go figure kids like curry beet rice! Beets and cilantro are excellent for helping your liver detoxify, and the spices help with circulation. Coconut oil nourishes your thyroid gland, and along with avocado, are great sources of good fats. Quinoa is a good protein source. Bon apetit!

some musings on George Orwell, Goethe, Google, facebook and debt ceilings

2011-06-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

What does facebook, Goethe and global economic instability have to do with your health?What’s one to do when their motivation is blunted by fear and loathing in Google-opolis?I’ve been putzing around with a website launch for about 10 months now, in that time Google has changed their algorithm for organic ratings and the prospect of facebook and twitter looms heavily on the virtual marketing horizon.It makes sense to me now, the visibility of another website essentially for free with facebook and twitter- the increased presence online and all, but what is the tradeoff?I think of the Goethe quote: “How much knowledge have we lost to information? How much wisdom have we lost to knowledge?”Though, it would seem the option to post on one’s business facebook is so inviting, it holds very little appeal for me. Sure, there are awesome triumphs to report about patients who’ve lost 14 Ibs in a month or another’s chronic yeast infection that has finally resolved, or the mood elevation and improved focus of another patient- all without high intervention pharmaceuticals or weekly injections of pregnant women’s urine (i.e hCG), but where’s the line? Where is the anonymity? Where is the privacy in which to treasure these triumphs in a more meaningful way than a momentary news flash amongst the deluge of tidbits mashed in with major events? Where’s the respite from information? And, more poignantly what’s information and what’s marketing?Yes, great results are great things to report so that others may feel invited to start their journey- to maybe inspire them that they, too, can do it, and that indeed it can be done. That is surely valuable. However, what about anonymity? Yes getting over a chronic yeast infection is great, but how would you feel about reading about it and knowing it was your story of woe? Would you feel embarrassed or would you feel left out for not having the option to put your name on such a victory? Would you post on the wall that it was you and that it was awesome? Because in facebook there’s no anonymity- your preferences, and your group of friends and their preferences are all there for everyone to see. It’s a marketeers’ wet dream- perhaps their drool accounts for the sticky feeling I get when I visit facebook ; )It’s probably cliché by now that facebook is better than even George Orwell could have imagined in 1984, (maybe because it’s decades later), but who would’ve imagined that the government would have been usurped in it’s role as the fascist voyeur? Not even Edgar Allen Poe imagined a time where instead of government, or guilt, that the downfall of civilization ends up being in the name of marketing for voracious consumption.And, here we are in year 2011 where the economies of the world so melded have begun to melt, and the habitual drive of creating consumer demand has far outpaced the ability of consumers to support their habit. What does the drug dealer do when his poppy or pot crop is bursting and yet there aren’t enough addicts able to pay him in a currency that pays for the manure, or the water bill? Dorothy, we are not watching the game show jeopardy, it’s the reality of jeopardy (that was a wizard of oz allusion btw)- and it’s happened before. What did our predecessors do in such tight times? Well they threw a party of course- not for just the rich, because in these times the rich are better off than ever, but for everyone. They threw a forgiveness party- a jubilee, where all debts were forgiven and those who committed petty crimes were allowed again into the world, and the game could begin anew. However, in this convoluted time of virtual currency what’s one to do? The whole point of virtual currency is to solve the inevitable insolvency, right? Perhaps all we can do is evolve- taking that of past tradition and adding a twist of modern sophistication (you might google the word sophistry, btw) - like the pop stars of modern times have made their fortunes by rehashing songs from the 80’s (as far as I can tell : ). Thus, I propose, WE proclaim a jubilee-potlatch hybridization. A full on Jubilee, as in the days of old is just too extreme for these times, of high population. But combine it with a potlatch ( where one holds a party and gives away objects that are valuable and usable to the invited), may be just the right type of mixer for the strong drink needed to adjust our present dismally confusing economic reality. Here are some ideas for the potlatch if the governments are the party giver:1. Student loan debt forgiveness: can you say “Uh Huh Uh Huh, Oh Yeah!” Hey, the big banks were fished out of the creak with a TARP instead of a paddle, why not give America’s educated the same courtesy. It could be in a form like homeowner’s are given, especially when graduates, like myself, come out of school with mortgage sized educational loans. And, though we can write off interest to a limited amount, why not allow us tax write-offs for all student loan interest? After all, the fact that the government is paying banks the interest on these loans is clearly only benefiting the banks!2. Health care solutions. How about instead of allowing pharmaceutical companies and private laboratories to set a price for their business they are given a range of Usual and customary charges that are acceptable not to some insurance company that’s creating a contract, but to all people who use their lab or pharmaceutical. 3. Have you noticed that your Health Insurance premium is increasing? So, is your co-insurance costs for labs? My goodness, I bet even your co-pays for pharmaceutical drugs are going up, too. Well, what’s the point of paying hundreds of dollars for insurance coverage and then hundreds more towards what they’re supposed to cover? I think it’s time to start a Health Savings Account revolution, it will benefit patients by giving them both choice and credit for when they pay for health care outside of the choices available to them in network, and for the medicines, including those that have no side effects that aren’t mainly beneficial side effects like nutritional or botanical supplements. High quality fish oil, mercury and PCB free, of course, should definitely be covered or at least credited toward a deductible. What other substances can you think of that not only lowers your bad cholesterol, increase your good cholesterol, decrease depression and anxiety and reduce joint pain and inflammation?I know this started off on a facebook rant, and ended with strange archaic, perhaps even mythical, theocratic acts of yore, but these are the times when national healthcare, global debt forgiveness, and the health of the individual all collide- at least in my view. After all, when there's economic anxiety there's sympathetic nervous system override- which is a physical equivalent of raising the debt ceiling to pay back on what was borrowed. When you've been running on adrenaline for a long time, the constant stimulation will wear down your family jewels, (your adrenal glands) and what can you do then? You might feel like you've been hit by a truck physically and emotionally, you'll experience more allergies, more illness, more forgetting things, and running out of momentum just by thinking of doing something, etc.. What to do then? Of course, augment with adrenal glandulars or other supplements and botanical medicines, and count on investing time, money, effort and patience. Of course, it's your family jewels you'll have to commit to seeing it through, but wouldn't it be great to start sooner than later? Salvage what you can and invest in restoring your sanity without sacrificing your greatest resources?What do you think? These are just some musings, and I’d love to hear your inspiring or insightful comments.

The subtle power of "the" and how I learned to love the "this"

2009-10-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since my last post, all apologies. This year has been quite a whirlwind of hurricane energy and yet the eerie stillness at the eye of such phenomena. Many of my patients have come in with heightened anxiety during this onslaught of media manipulated headlines that use the word "the" recession instead of "this" recession. This single word has caused a lot of anxiety, with a subtle but powerful innuendo that this is the impending doom we've all been bracing for. This implies a fatality to the economic situation; a permanence that can only be met with resignation or paralyzing fear. But what happens when we turn the "the" into "this" - doesn't that feel better? When we say this recession, or this downturn, we give credence to the impermanence of the situation- we allow for the memory that we have survived many recessions already and that there may of course be more in the future, but most importantly there is flux! When we buy into the concept of "doom" we sell off our greatest assets- the potency of the now, and thus the ability to adapt to any and all changes that we meet in each moment. Fear robs us of perspective, the ability to step outside the minutiae of momentary struggles and seek the view of our greater path and thus the courage to take the next step- step by step. When I look at our present economic and political climate in respect to the grave issues of climate change and the value of a healthy balance within our bodies, our relationships and our global community, I notice the enormous potential of "this" crisis to bring about a more balanced and fluid pattern. After all how long can gross national product, material expansion and exploitation and endless pursuit of distraction be maintained? The real sorrow that has come from this change, however abrupt it is for some and subtle for others, is that there has been a rigidity in our belief that increase and more and bigger is "the" American way. I think, the 1950's defined the pursuit of "more" as "the" American way. And, now that our retirement savings have been eaten away by market tumult and our health insurance premiums eat away at our salaries- we've got to take the chance to make "this" situation into a more stable, balanced alternative. Alas, the "the" of "the" American way takes some disentangling. And, of course, there'll be stiffness as we are forced into stretching muscles that have been moving further into atrophy- and for those who've gone into atrophy, well there may be some actual gangrene and a painful loss of those parts that have been over-extended into the abyss of crushing debt.
Yet, in this light, I hope you can see that "this" present climate is actually a great opportunity to become limber and passionate about life in the standards of now- for this is our opportunity to renew the spirit of creativity, brotherhood and mining the depths of inner resources for our own good and the good of all. Not keeping up with the Jones's of the 1950's standard of American life. Our "more!"centered society has focused on material gains and the importance of "busy-ness" to the deficit of authentic life gains. We may have more conveniences, yet, we fill our time with more reasons to be in a hurry. At this rift in the ideology of "more" and our inability to sustain it, there is a real struggle; do we choose between focusing on the constricting survival mode of self-preservation or the expanding natural buoyancy of the mystery of life? This indeed,is the time to chose: is your priority your life style or your most cherished reasons for living? Regardless of your creed, at least ask yourself if your most cherished reasons circle around community and family- brotherhood, instead of hierarchy, or do they circle around a bottom line number? "This" is present time and it is "the" long awaited time to decide how to become responsive, as in rejoining our inherent flexibility, the dynamism of life as we join the flow of life wholeheartedly, learning new skills around flexibility. The alternative is tightening our grip around old notions, which are vanishing quickly as the global economies of old are being swept along in a despairing sea of reactivity. Remember, the choice is up to each and every one of us: may you choose to live the path of your full potential, and perhaps you'll be curious to ponder the question: If there is nothing independent of the all and there is nothing independent of the one: why is interdependence is as real as impermanence?

Treat the whole person

2008-11-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

Why it’s hard to be a pure Specialist if you’re a Naturopathic Doc, and hallelujah!

Even though conventional medicine can’t get enough of specialization, and insurance companies begrudge the costs of specialist visits, it’s hard to complain of overpriced Specialist care from a Naturopathic Doc.

You see, we are trained in the science of the body as a whole system- it is all generally interdependent. That is if you hurt your ankle, we’re not gonna forget about the hip or the knee or the adrenal glands for that matter. There’s just no escaping the fact that we can’t help create our treatment plans without addressing the whole person- including your livelihood, lifestyle and your general environment. For example, people with arthritis rarely realize that they need to make changes in their diet to reduce the pain in their joints.

You might be stunned, “how can food have anything to do with joint pain?” It all boils down to inflammation. Inflammation is the cause of pain, swelling, redness and well more inflammation. It can fast become a vicious cycle and it often involves an immune reaction that perpetuates or worsens the inflammation. Inflammation itself is not a bad thing, it is an important mechanism meant to protect the body by giving clear signals of pain, like redness and swelling to help our minds easily recognize the place of pain and adress the source of it quickly. As we ignore the symptoms they worsen, or sometimes they seemingly go away only to return in another more serious form. An example of this is an allergy that creates skin eruptions, and the longer this is either ignored or just treated symptomatically (i.e. hydrocortisone lotions) the inflammation goes “underground” it turns into a deeper pathology commonly in the form of asthma. Asthma is a serious long lasting disease and a cause of early death and a lower quality of life for many.

Thus, by treating the whole person naturopathic doctors need to make the time to see who their patients are in their unique situation. Only by seeing our patients in all the aspects of their current situation can we clearly imagine our patients being whole, and doing all we can to help them get to that stage. We cannot treat the cause until we know as much as possible about each of our unique patients.

So a Naturopathic doctor is a specialist at generalization, and putting together the fractals of each individual patient.

Doctor as Teacher

2008-11-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Just like the fable of compassionate helping, we can offer others in need longlasting benefits by offering them tools they can use to help themselves and others. In that spirit, I offer each patient as much information about their condition in easy to understand language- in fact I create mind maps (simplified flowcharts) that give a good picture about the many different elements that play into their condition the obstacles, the catalysts and the main players.

It is very important to offer patients as much information as possible so that they can make good decisions. After all, I am a guide and coach mainly for each patient; the best doctor is inside each one of us. Still, information can only give you so much. Perhaps you’ve noticed the abundance of information on the internet?

Yet, I have patients come ot me, even practitioners like Nutritional therapists and massage therapists who’ve been using something they heard about on the web or by word of mouth, and yet they are ignorant that their current complaints are related to the misuse of that same information.

For example, high doses of Vitamin B6 can create numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. Though Vitamin B6 can offer excellent relief for conditions from insomnia to PMS, it can be used in lower doses with other vitamins and minerals to create even better results without creating side effects. As Goethe said “How much knowledge have we lost to information? How much wisdom have we lost to knowledge?”

Not only do I offer patients information, I put it in context- I offer my knowledge and, with many treatments, I offer first hand experience. I don’t stock medicines if I don’t know they’re effective. Doctor as teacher is not only about sharing information, it is about sharing my own experience with you and creating an experience where your body and it’s present state makes sense to you.

If that’s not the case how can you know that it’s time to change and if the route to change will be effective for you or not? I’d love to hear your view on this and how you envision a doctor’s visit being a satisfying learning experience. Or perhaps I should say that visits aren’t so much about learning but unfolding what is the next step, what makes sense at this point in the journey.

Sometimes, I must ask myself what are my patients needing to recognize about their situation, now. Doctor as teacher, more importantly, is not about hierarchy. Though medicine has bred an arrogant lot of Mdeities, doctor as all-knowing authority, it is a disservice to approach patients from a pedestal. Inevitably, the man behind the curtain like in the Wizard of Oz, will tumble from grace by the smallest gap in knowledge. This gap in knowledge is really the gap in recognizing that we are all fragile human beings seeking refuge from suffering, reaching out towards happiness and support. I see my work as being present with my patients, hearing them fully and seeing who they are trying to become.

To this end, I continually hone my skills and offer my best to bring you long lasting benefit. A lot of naturopathic medicine could be coined “antecdotal,” if we see that it is tried and true practical applications of knowledge passed from generation to generation then we recognize the loving kindness and wisdom of our grandparents who’ve passed this knowledge to us freely. I feel privileged and honored to share this with others, and combined with the latest information I offer you the opportunity to email me if you’d like a quick clarification or simplification on a medical condition you have or a treatment you’re considering. Until then, may you go in Grace and good health.

Prevention

2008-10-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

PREVENTION, is a fundamental principle of Naturopathic Medicine.
Is it enough to inform patients?

There are many handouts I make available for patients at initial visits specific to their conditions and concerns. But I’ve found on follw up visits that some feel overwhelmed and do not even read the materials. What to do? These patients know how to read, they know it is specifically for them and their situation and yet they are shy to learn more.

I’ve found this is especially the case with people who’ve had longstanding problems and that it is mainly for them a combination of two reasons: disbelief that a simple practical change in their life like diet changes will magically help them, that they will not know how to do it right and it won’t work and they’ll have wasted their time at the least embarassed themselves in failing.

What is the underlying theme here? Fear.

Both of these reactions are fear based, one is fear of success and the other fear of failure—how can they be the same? They are really fear of change. It’s hard to admit, I know from my own experiences, that something that is a big problem has also shaped daily life and to change it creates a kind of vacuum in the conscious mind, perhaps you’ve also experienced thoughts something similar to this—“What will replace this? If I do this my life might change in drastic ways, and I’m not sure how I will cope with the changes—after all I’ve been coping well enough with the current situation because I’ve made it this far.”

If that’s so, please try this simple exercise:

Take a moment now and close your eyes, relax and think about how it is truly impossible to be afraid of the unknown, and that all this time your fear of change is that it will be one of many known and unwanted results. Perhaps you can list 15 of the most crazy unwanted results you can come up with, be as far out there as you can get. Really, go for it, if you can get more than 15 write them down. The point is to take it so far that you know you are creating worst case scenarios that keep you from moving out of your current patterns. That’s right, it needs more balance so now think of 15 positive results that are not so far out there at all- in fact they’re the intended goals of practical suggestions!

For example, quit smoking possibilities:

WCS: I’ll never be relaxed again. I’ll never get outdoors enough. I’ll probably die healthy. I’ll bite nails to the quick. I’ll chew so much gum I’ll be up at night with the aching jaws. I’ll get so fat, I won’t be able to get in my car. I’ll be fidgeting so much that people will think I’m on drugs. I’ll get sugar diabetes from putting so much sugar in my coffee, because I can’t match it with tobacco. My family will have to find other things to nag me about, like my personality. I’ll have so much extra money from not buying cigarettes that I’ll become addicted to the lottery. I’ll have no good excuse for buying new clothes, cause they won’t have yellow stains and burnholes. I’ll start biting my toenails. I’ll start biting other peoples toenails. I’ll have bad breath. I won’t have any thing to cover up the smell when I have gas. Etc, etc….

Positives:I’ll be able to relax around others without having to go outside like I’m an unwanted guest. I’ll have a lot more money to spend on nice clothes, that will stay unyellowed. My family and friends will stop nagging me about my health. I can enjoy fresh air and the great outdoors without gasping for air. I will lose weight now that I can move and breathe well. My dental bills will go down. I’ll be able to take airplanes without panicking about my next nicotine fix. I will contribute to the good health of my family as well as myself. I won’t have to be a slave of an addiction. I’ll chose for myself what I want to do with my time, energy and money instead of being a slave to nicotine.

As you can see prevention depends on your view, if you only see the difficulty then there is little that can be done in the way of prevention- for what you keep anticipating will certainly come your way.

However if you’re able to notice those moments when your body tightens up with resistance and recognize the source of this you can glide through to taking the next step. Humor is a great way to help get perspective, really it is the best way to put the farce of fear in it’s place and let us move on with the work of creating a better tomorrow. For in the end, the ability to choose is always with us but the choices we have are not up to us—take heart that your choices now are great chances to widen your future choices instead of ending up in a helpless situation.

Prevention is the best we can do to increase our options for the future, so don’t miss out!

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a misnomer?

2008-10-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

The great catch all diagnosis when your doctor can’t find out what is going on in your gut. Some docs refer to it as the new “female hysteria” condition, seeing that the sex ratio is 2:1 in (dis)favor of women.

That said, it happens to be one of my favorite conditions to help patients with- mainly because after all the many doctors, tests and years of suffering without a reasonable grasp of the causes or treatments I can help patients investigate their situation in a methodical and purposeful way. Often, this leads to a new level of self awareness, much less a handle on what is at the bottom of their endless bottom problems, so to speak ; )

Irritable bowel syndrome can manifest in unruly ways that would leave anyone irritated- like getting ready for a party or a meeting or an exam, only to be running to the toilet every few minutes unable to leave the house on time, or at all. When you spend the day in bed worrying about the grumbling in your tummy or the next time you go to the bathroom if will there be any end, it can really degrade one’s confidence and set up a vicious cycle of opting out as a preventive measure.

And, let me tell you, life is a terrible thing to opt out of day after day. Staying home waiting for it to pass, may be a good way to prevent embarassment in public, with the bloating, flatulence and the grimace you wear from the painful spasms in your gut; perhaps you’ve noticed, though, it’s part of the problem. As Neil Young would say, don’t let it get you down. Because, I remind you in a hushed tone: the nervous system is listening. The more you stress about that abominable abdominal stress the more it continues to feed itself.

Still, I laugh to think of the 2+ years I took a prescription drug for IBS, that caused a few very undesirable side effects like fainting at work, dry mouth and dizziness. No stress there. My initial diagnosis of IBS was made in less than a 4 minute office visit with my then PCP. He prescribed me bentyl immediately. I asked him how he knew that was appropriate as he hadn’t done any testing; he said there were really no tests besides a colonoscopy which was highly uncomfortable. I insisted that I be tested as I didn’t believe in taking a prescription drug for something that lacked a clear diagnosis. Yes, I got to experience the charm and grace of a colonoscopy, and because there was no other finding other than pain the specialist said that IBS was indeed the diagnosis. Doctor’s aren’t always right, they do the best they can and they sometimes are just there to help us feel more ignorant, (though they may very well match us in that department at the time). And, anyway ignorance is bliss, right? Not!

So back to IBS, I think irritable bowel syndrome is a misnomer; it really stands for Irritating Bowel Symptoms. I know most everypart of my body has the ability to be irritated, but most everypart has been doing it’s job with no complaints. It’s like by some blind curse we’ve stirred up trouble in the bowel and we have got to step lightly around the volcano of our tummies-cause my goodness it’s active. And, many docs may prescribe you antidepressants or an antispasmodic narcotic to hush the volcano- they can help with those irritating symptoms, but they don’t treat the cause.

So, now, we see in the research that the gut contains nearly as many autonomic nervous cells as the central nervous system (that means your brain and spinal cord)—and that melatonin, the biorhythm hormone, is found in much higher concentrations in the gut than in the pineal gland. Interesting, huh? (As an aside, did you know that the pineal gland is just about where your third eye is? Nothing like unruly bowel habits to cloud your insight).

Traditional medical systems focus on the gut as the primary predictor and protector of health; basically, if the tummy no good, then the rest will go to pot. And, isn’t that so? IBS is now entwined with other diagnoses like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, where they see them as the IBS of the musculoskeletal and sympathetic nervous systems, respectively.
According to an article the Role of intestinal bacteria in nutrient metabolism, each of these diagnoses could be strongly related to a dysbiosis in the gut. Dysbiosis is the art of harmful bacterial anarchy in the gut; where the balance of good to bad bacteria is not happening (if only there were a Batman in our the Gotham city of our bowels, sigh). Yet, there is—lots of them, 2-8 billion cultures to be exact of bifidobacterium could set things aright again. Which leads me to the spiritual scientific part of this article; why are you bloated after you eat.

Why am I bloated all the time?

Though you may be feeling the effects of the bloating in your large intestine (the colon that leads to the area where you may feel the end result of all that bloating ; ), the origination may be due to what’s found in the small intestine—an overgrowth of bacteria that like to make sulphide. These bacteria are usually confined to the large intestine, and a few studies suggest that the type of food these bacteria need is not getting all the way down to where they were in the large intestine so the bacteria end up moving up to where they can get it in the small intestine. Yep, that’s right the kind of food you eat makes a difference. Simple white rice is already digested in the small bowel and doesn’t make it to the large intestine (thus bacteria will have to move up to get it); whereas legumes take a longer distance in the colon to get digested and thus the bacteria can stay put in the large bowel and still get their pickings. (By the way this is the spiritual part, in case it isn’t clear).

The starch in these foods is what the bacteria like to eat. And when you can get your starch in a more dense, complex fibrous form like artichokes it is more likely to go the distance, so to speak. It will also satisfy your hunger sooner; along with keeping the bacteria in your large intestine well-fed which enables them to rid your body of more byproducts that you no longer need-do you see the correlation with losing some weight and some irritable bowel symptoms, too?

Additionally, you could set out to supply your large intestine with all the delicacies it desires—propitiating the bowel, hmmm the newest religious rite. Foods like artichoke, garlic, onions, leeks and chicory are their faves because they have oligosaccharides. But, wait you say, “arent’ garlic and onions full of sulphur?” Why, yes they are and I’m glad to see you have been paying attention. My suggestion then is this, if you have a ton of bloating because of all that bacterial displacement why not eat lots of artichokes, chicory and foods with inulin and/or supplement with FOS (fructooligosaccharides) that when encapsulated are termed “prebiotics” until you’ve replaced the small bowel population with a new homestead in the large intestine.

Oh, and to ensure that those displaced small bowel bacteria don’t stay too attached to their current place, add in some, well lots, of probiotics-bifidobacterium and lactobaccillus to carry the torrent back into the large intestine? After some weeks, you can begin to add garlic and onions back in to your diet. Of course, if you’re like me and can’t be parted from garlic at least, don’t worry you can still take the pre/probiotics and it will be ok. Listen to your body, your whole body not just that joker in your mind that keeps pointing out the snowball donuts are on sale, and your bowels will be chiming in good time. Remember propitiate the bowel, and until, next time here’s a link for some lite reading. Stay in good health and good humor!

Reference: Role of intestinal bacteria in nutrient metabolism
JPEN: Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, Nov/Dec 1997 by Cummings, J H, MacFarlane, G T

Benefit of the doubt

2008-10-06T13:28:00.001-07:00

Though there is a rash of instructional and self-help books out there for idiots, it’s plain to see that we can think of ourselves in an attempt to be humble perhaps, as less than capable for the tasks ahead.

Yet, this may instead of lowering the bar to create a “comfortable welcome” for those who are unsure, or just aggressively humble, play into and perpetuate the dumbing down of anything from pregnancy (how is this possible? Oh indeed it is) to complex software applications. People subscribing to this low self esteem as a postive trait, probably think it is virtuous and are convinced it is best not to speak up even when you see something is askew—what are you some kind of idiot for asking such a question? Or should I say, people might be thinking what you didn’t read the idiots guide to this class before you signed up…?

Which brings me to the main topic of this chapter- the benefit of the doubt. What a simple and yet wonderfully elegant and powerful way to wise up about your self worth – not just what you know, or can do or be, but truly who you are. The benefit of the doubt can become as simple a practice as making it into a mantra (I offer myself the benefit of the doubt, I offer others the benefit of the doubt).It is just one way to create your own process around this concept.

For if anything is truly part of reality it is that we are unable to see it fully in a whole way from our limited perspective and therefore those areas that are shady or not even on the map are in someway our benefactors- for this is exactly why and how we must benefit fully from this doubt which is based on knowing that we most probably don’t! Yes, it’s true we most likely don’t have the corner on the complete clarity perspective, in fact we may just have a clue despite our ego’s self-assured sense that it is all grasped, judged and decided. So are you ready to give your self and others the benefit of the doubt?

Are you ready to know you don’t know, and thus willing to have faith in your ability to adapt? You can try this in baby steps. Sometimes by just listening and turning to silence or nodding agreement when something is unclear we can allow time to give us the next sign of how to respond. These murky gaps can be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to stepping towards clarity, no matter how small those steps may be. And, yes this does rely on that sometimes elusive and ever marvelous virtue of patience, which we now know can be steadied by a passionate dedication to evolve, however slowly.

And now for some practices to help you begin taking strides towards confidently tackling the future no matter how murky or thick!

Did you know you can experience the ground best in the water? That’s right it’s time for the practice of detoxifying through dirt. Peat is a clay that draws out the impurities in the body through the skin, and with the instructions below it can help you also redraw your path with more focus and clarity.

First, ensure you’ll have a few solid hours of alone time, and nothing scheduled.To prepare, make up a bowl of fresh fruits, some rice and steamed vegetables and lots of water. I order the peat from http://www.healthegoods.com/, it’s excellent quality. Make a hot mud bath, with peat preferably, don’t over do the temperature and be sure to have lots of water to drink while you’re soaking.

As you get into the bath allow yourself to really sink into it with the intention of losing all of those chemicals, emotions, thoughts, etc that are no longer serving you. Those things that are byproducts that are accumulating you and creating a sluggishness that holds you down. Let the mud soak up all the fears, obstacles (usually more fear, yours or that of others), and nervous energy about your performing or being or having those items or situations you’ve been polishing with the mitten of shame and defeat. Allow your skin to merge with the dark waters. Make it sacred, grounding, and safe. Norah Jones music, a notebook you’ll never write in, whatever you need-except those substances like alcohol which may help you feel relaxed (out of habit or in reality is not certain) so it is not the best choice seeing that you want to sink into grounding.

Grounding can be contrasted to relaxation in the metaphor of a glow that you get from a memory or interaction that lit up your entire being compared to the glow you get after a facial scrub, if that makes sense. So, back to the dirt, put some on your face for a lovely tightening mask, which is a metaphor in itself in how restricting the act of wallowing in the mud of self-defeating behavior can be. 15-25 minutes should do, and then you can shower, ending in as cold of water as you can stand to for a full minute (I often take this as the time to rinse out conditioner and formally soap and rinse my body).

As you dry off you’ll notice within 15 minutes how wonderfully cleaned and replenished you feel. Lots of water, rest fruits and steamed vegetables are a great follow up. Without a doubt, the best way to get clean is to get really dirty- the contrast is a great reminder of the purity that is within you just waiting to shine forth. Good change.

The downfall of MDeities

2008-10-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it happened in the 80's when the drug companies started rolling out antibiotics as if they were the next best thing to sliced bread, and, by intimidation perhaps, doctors bought into the hype.

Remember when undercover cameras were the hottest thing in tv journalism? There was a 20/20 story, I still recall, where a reporter went into 3 different doctor's offices as a new"patient" with a sore throat. All 3 doctors gave the "patient" antibiotics; no lab tests were run, no fever was present, no throat scrapings, etc.. When asked why, a female doctor replied "It's about customer satisfaction, I want my patient to come back." At the time I was blown away, patients are customers in the eyes of doctors? Holy Hippocrates since when? I had always seen doctors as highly intelligent people gifted with the humility to help others, or even intermediaries of the Gods from an ancient Greek perspective, and here this female doc was talking customer service.

A new day dawning indeed...it wasn't until 10 years later when I was eating a ribeye steak at the most expensive hotel in town listening to a doctor "expert" talk about the virtues of Prozac, and how patients will feel the doctor is really making cure happen. The enormous bill graciously paid for by Eli Lilly. In retrospect, I think the antibiotic drug reps must have been convincing in their sales terms: keep your patients coming back, give them this. Convincing, indeed, drug pushers, in fact, for the pharmaceutical industry has a phenomenal profit margin. As for M.D.'s, in a way, who can blame them? Especially female doctors at that time- it was the new wave, just think of the pressure to perform.

Medicine is surely an art, for sometimes our best thought out plans don't always work and seeing a patient's condition stagnate, or worse decline, under our care would instigate doubt in anyone. Put that together with a patient's lawyer's willingness to sue your doctor and you have a winning combination for mediocre if not dismally uninspired care. Where there's no inspiration how can there be curiousity and creativity?

Though, N.D.'s have been trained in the modern medical methods of diagnosis, our treatment approaches have mostly remained holistic and rooted in antecdotal methods. Modern medicine and science refer to any treatments or trials as antecdotal if they've not been studied in a randomly controlled double blind study. Which I must add, here, is designed for the express purpose of comparing a placebo pill with an active ingredient pill; it's hard to use this template for any other type of clinical investigation, and near impossible when dealing with psychological or emotional treatments that are not encapsulated.

Thus, N.D.'s see a lot of "hopeless" cases, it is our credo that we can do something no matter how small to help patients, and we usually help them quite a bit. It's not that we are curing them, per se, but that we are relying on their body's inherent ability to effect cure. With this in mind, how can one test for an individual's ability to move itself into balance? Does this mean that the ancient observation of the body's power to get healthy is a figment of imagination? I'd love to hear any and all proposals for a double blind randomly controlled study of this dynamic healing power inherent in the human body. Because at this point if it can't be bottled and/or tested it aint gonna work, much less be covered by insurance. 'Til next time, keep it simple, fresh and full of grace.

The job of the physician is to humor the patient while their body does the healing...

2008-10-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

How could it be that a French philosopher, a Greek physician and a witty New Englander can all agree that health depends on the patient (and their patience) instead of an injection, pill or surgical procedure?

Though modern medicine is dismissing more and more anything but "evidence based medicine," it is becoming more and more obvious that this is a cop-out. Now, research is an excellent thing, and thanks to Francis Bacon, methodologies have become quite uniform--but is that really so great for the dynamic ailments and solutions of the human body?

Let me put it this way: testing whether an onion makes a person well or ill clearly depends on how much, when and with what it is given, and who it was given to. If you give someone an onion after they finished desert, or for breakfast or if they're a 5 year old all of the outcomes will be different, of course. But, somehow modern medical research thinks that, by analogy, giving the same amount of onion the same number of times a day will create evidence of the onion's effects. Would you agree?

Much of the money that is in the pharmaceutical industry floats around looking for more research to support that allows this same industry to capitalize on the authority this gives these drugs as cures. If anyone's taken a pain killer like vicadin, you're sure to remember the side effects (unless you're Rush Limbaugh of course, which in that case you'd somehow forget that you required them to get through the day). Everyone seems willing to put up with the sometimes dangerous side effects and expenses of pharmaceuticals for if not only for the fact that the doctor has authority to prescribe them in the first place, the scientific research shows they really work by acting on such and such receptors, etc.. Most of the time that is, there are a number of drugs which we have no known mechanism for why they work only clinical trials where enough people experienced few deaths in comparison to those that felt statistically significant results, not necessarily positive.

It was only a few years ago that a study showed that calcium channel blockers, a drug used commonly for congestive heart disease, arrythmias, etc, created a greater risk of dying from a heart attack than not taking any drugs for their heart symptoms.

Now, let me be clear, I'm not suggesting that modern medication is all bad. It is life saving for many. What I am saying is that the ease with which doctors AND patients turn to pharmaceuticals for cure when most of the medicines are treating symptoms and thus ensuring longtime maintenance doses is money and time that could be better spent on treating the cause. And, though we have lots of fancy imaging tests and lab tests for myriad conditions, modern medicine has still neglected to look deeply into the greatest source of information-the patient history. Or should I say, the patient's story. If we can spend some time carefully listening to the patient unfold the process of how they got to where they are, we could make certain headway in discovering how to help them bring the process full circle.

In an acute condition we say there are only two resolutions: death or relief. Modern medicine does great with this 50-50 situation. Now, the chronic conditions are the most complex, no wonder they are the most money consuming- but really, do they have to be? Because, if you think about it, a chronic condition starts somewhere and when we don't correct the cause from the start we have to contend with the body's complex reaction, first to the cause and then to the treatments for the symptoms layered on top of that. Take for example, type II diabetes. A disease caused by dysregulation of blood sugar due to diet and lifestyle factors that could be easily modified. Well, easily modified if doctors had the guts to insist on no more doughnuts and patients had any reason to not question their authority.

Stay tuned for more discussion about M.Deities and their fall from grace : )

Cheap, easy & profoundly effective steps to feeling and looking younger

2008-10-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you’ve heard the new buzzword: Anti-oxidants. Which essentially means “against oxidizing,” for our purposes lets think of oxidation as what you see when you burn something, the blackened burning tissue is a good visual. So, of course, getting something to protect your skin from oxidation sounds like a great idea…and it really is. However, it’s not that simple. We can put all the sunblocks, and polyglycols on our skin but we won’t see the results we want unless we look at it from a holistic perspective.

Let’s start from the start, when you were an embryo and gaining form, there were 3 layers of tissue, an outside (ectoderm), a middle (mesoderm) and an inside layer (endoderm). One of the first things to form was your spinal cord and brain, this starts out as a bunching up of ectoderm, and coincidentally enough, this same layer of tissue forms your skin, and mucus membranes. Mesoderm forms bones and muscles, and endoderm the organs.

This means that your skin and your gut, like your brain and peripheral nervous system are giant receptors taking in your external environment in a way that protects, and reflects upon, your delicate internal environment (tissues and organs and blood). In short, what you eat and think is key to healthy skin, mind and emotions-their beauty shines from within.

Sugar is easy to oxidize, it is energy ready to burn, literally. The more sugar you take in your diet the more complicated it becomes for your body to maintain balance, much less, optimal health and emotional harmony. Perhaps you’ve noticed that you get pimples or acne from eating a lot of sugar?

Skin isn't the only place it takes it’s toll, lots of sugar also affects those organs that produce adrenaline, the adrenal glands, which stabilize our moods. Adrenaline is so vital to survival, as it is a buffer for stress, ensuring that the brain functions as well as it can under stressful conditions, that without it we wouldn’t last a single day! Yep, you can die quickly if you don’t have the adrenaline to respond to the effects of stress on your body. That’s why people who are taking very strong medications like prednisone, a synthetic form of cortisol (the precursor of adrenaline), can not just stop taking it—after taking it for more than a few days the feedback mechanism in your brain recognizes there’s enough in your system so it turns off or sharply turns down your body’s own production of cortisol. And, if you were to abruptly stop taking prednisone, your body would be completely thrown off. It takes some time to dust off the machinery and get the endogenous levels up to par. So please consult with your doctor before discontinuing any medications (especially steroids)!

In short, sugar is the basic material for energy but too much of it leads to lots of oxidation.

Another key element to add is fat; yep, fat is actually good for you if it is the Omega-3 type chains. You see, fats are long chains of carbon molecules, and there are 3 main types of chains: Omega-6 (most prominent), Omega-3 (most anti-inflammatory), Omega-9 (found in olive oil). The standard american diet is flooded with Omega-6, (i.e. big macs, fries, etc) and this leads to inflammation—inflammation goes hand in hand with oxidation, in that it can damage tissues, lead to aging and added stress on your blood vessels, organs, and skin. Perhaps you’ve stubbed your toe sometime, the pain, redness, swelling are all signs of inflammation. Now every time you’re about to eat a juicy steak or fries, think of that stubbed toe…your blood vessels may not ache now, but it will certainly add up over time. Which, brings me to the most important act for great skin and overall balance: Moderation!

A steak, fries, alcohol, etc., are fine in moderation because we are blessed with an excellent response mechanism that is natural to the body—that is to find balance in the face of temporary setbacks. Moderation will work with your body’s natural abilities to find balance; overdo it and you override a most important and brilliant mechanism meant for your basic protection and innate ability to thrive.

I know, moderation is a challenge sometimes. With all the wonderful delicacies and experiences the world offers it can be easy to slip into habitual indulgence, but your more than a slave to your habits, right? I have had days where a piece of chocolate cake and a glass of wine with a steak seem the perfect solution to my mood stagnation. So, let me pass on 2 gems that help me move through it with fluidity and that let me keep my ability to choose to indulge if I would still like to.

The 2 items that help me keep my balance and my ability to indulge are: water and fiber. Yep, that’s it! If I decide I want to indulge, I first pledge to my good natured body that I will first indulge in what will help it cleanse itself of any damage I might do later; I am not talking about binging and purging (I guess this order would be purging than binging, anyway both are extreme and therefore harmfully counterproductive). So, I make a deal with my Self that I will have some number of glasses of water (usually three 8 oz glasses) before I drink any "indulgent" liquids (this could be soda pop, wine, etc). And if its a food, I commit to eating 2 fiber-full fruits or vegetables. I usually match flavor categories, sweets with fruits/savory with vegetables. For example, if I want to eat a piece of chocolate cake I ensure that I eat 2-3 full apples or pears first. If I want to indulge in a juicy hamburger, I first eat 2 cups of salad greens, a full carrot and celery stalk. If I’m in a hurry or about to go on a dinner date, I drink a full 16 oz of fiber drink (16-20 g of fiber).

This is a great game if you want to maintain or lose weight. And, sometimes that mood that has us reaching for items from the outside to dump into the inside is really just asking for some play time, so engage your Self in a playful way. This is a practical and satisfying food/drink game, that you can extend to other areas. If you want to procrastinate on finishing that project and indulge in a movie instead, you might first take out a musical instrument or a book of poetry and use your voice, your body to create sounds and rhythm—you may find that the block in your desire to get on with your action list just needed to have some freedom to flow. Dancing is also highly recommended, and with children it's positively rejuvenating. Until next time, keep your heart in tune with time’s delightful glide in gratitude.

A recap
1. Decrease amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates in your body

2. Increase amount of good fats in your diet, Omega-3, found in wild fish, flaxseed, etc.. Replace inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids with good ones like borage oil, or evening primrose oil.

3. Moderation, help your body be at its best by creating manageable conditions for balance. Don’t overdo it or it will be hard for your body to keep up with, much less repair, the damage.

4. Satisfy your cravings all you want, but first indulge in those two items that will help your body prepare for and eliminate any toxins; water and fiber.

5. Play! Create games that allow you to get what you want while offering a healthy challenge so that you can feel deservedly good about your choices