60 Day Turnaround

FULL ARTICLE

There has been recent concern over the CSL made flu-vaccine, which come from the Australian country into other nations around the world.  The vaccine has been found to cause febrile convulsions (seizures) in young children.  The US made recommendation’s that children under nine do not receive the flu vaccine, where the European community has made a ban of its use across the board for those under five.

The article linked above is short, and says little about the ban vs. recommendation… so I wonder… Why do we not just ban the whole thing?  One of the main considerations for why this flu vaccine might be so risky for young children, is that it combines the regular flu vaccine with the H1N1 flu vaccine.  This seems to be reason for a higher likelihood of an excessive immune response in children.

The concern that I have, is that other manufacturers have been hard at work since the CSL vaccine was released in April, to make their own combined flu vaccine.  According to news reports, and the CDC statements, we will be seeing MANY combined flu vaccines this coming season, which could really jeopardize the health of A LOT of children.

Of course we recommend that you completely stay away from these flu vaccines that are given without any concern of side effect, even though the article references a Brisbane toddler who died within hours of receiving the flu vaccine.  I want to stop for a second here… we often read about deaths in news articles, and on we go to the next sentence.  Imagine this was your child, your nephew, grand daughter; and you were totally unaware of any risk, and they died from a flu vaccine.  Possess that feeling for just a second.  Now you understand why this is horrible.  The risk of death from flu is so minimal, and you can make it less by building your immune system the right way. 

This flu season, join us and become a vocal opponent to the flu shot.  Don’t just abstain, tell the world why!

Dr. E

Last night I wanted dessert, so I made it…

New recipe on the spot…

approx. 3 cups of blueberries
approx 1 cup of almond meal
approx 1/4 cup of turbinado sugar
approx 1/4 stick of butter
fold the butter into the almond meal
and sugar,  mix with blueberries, bake at 350
for 30 minutes!  Yum!!

Dr. Eric will be in Saturday.

He gave up his glory seeking Adventure Race
to be in the office to serve!

Please come see him… 9:30-10:15am,
schedule ahead please… he will be without
help that day.

Dr. Levi 10 – 11am

It was a few weeks ago that a patient of mine asked me if I had written any Daily Sprouts about sleep.  I said, sure, I am positive I have.  And as we looked to find the information, it occurred to us that we had never written an article about sleep.  We may have mentioned it within articles, but never actually wrote one about sleep.

So I am going to correct that problem!  Indeed, sleep is one of the absolute most important components of health.  If we consider the Five Essentials to Health: Good Nutrition, Exercise, Detox (Clean Living), Peace, and Nervous System function; we can come to the conclusion that SLEEP effects the last two.  And I don’t need to prove that, it is an obvious fact to us that we are more relaxed and calm when we achieve greater sleep (just watch my three year old at 6pm if she skipped her nap that day).  Also, your nervous system is partially a result of your peace (low stress=better nervous system function), and partially a function of your spine.  So your rest has a significant impact on your nervous system.

You may have heard me comment about the health of my children.  In our practice we have about 1200 active children patients, and as I consider all of them, I really believe that my two kids have the greatest health.  Not because they were born healthier, but rather because the path for health has been a strict one for them.  That being said, we had ice cream cones yesterday!  But we are smart about what else happens on the same day, and when the next ice cream day will be.  And even though we enjoy some treats, my kids have never eaten at McDonald’s, and never will.  They eat vegetables at almost EVERY meal, and if not veges, then fruits.  And yes, they were adjusted the day they were born, and have been ever since.

But the thing that separates them from my other child patients (I have about two dozen who have the same lifestyle as what I posted above), is that their sleep has been protected as an absolute necessity.  And MAN does it show up in the immune system function.  My Five and a half year old who is in kindergarten, comes home (she is in a private school, so she only does a half day) and takes a nap.  She naps about 4 days a week, and we know it is PARAMOUNT in her health.  My selfish desire is to keep her awake on the days that I can be around her, in order to spend more time with her.  But I know our quality time together will go up significantly if I let her sleep and be healthier because of it.

So what research is out there to support sleep?  There have been longevity studies that show that individuals who sleep better, and get more sleep will live longer.  There have been specific illness studies comparing those who are battling cancer, HIV, and other diseases that might specifically prey on those with weaker immune systems, that show increased longevity and quality of life with increased sleep.

I am more interested in the studies that relate ongoing well defined sleep patterns with better overall lifestyle and mental health.  It has been shown that the circadian rhythm that comes from having a specific sleep pattern, improves well being, and reduces risk of depression, ADD, and other behavioral diagnoses.  Furthermore, it was found that by having this sleep rhythm follow the “normal” night and day cycles, that the reduction of those conditions was even greater.

So let me explain that in lay terms.  Your rhythm of melatonin (sleep inducer) to seratonin (mood elevator) is more stable if you go to bed, and wake at close to the same times everyday.  And that this rhythm goes a long way to insure your mental health is good.  And if those times also follow a path, where you are sleeping as the sun is setting, and waking as the sun is rising, you are even more immune to those behavioral conditions.

This is really good news for those who get to bed at the same time every night, and it is as the night is upon us… and really bad news for those who work at night and sleep in the day, and then a week later they have a swing shift that has them doing just the opposite.  You will see that the evidence of this has been increasing, so most companies who “swing shift” are keeping people locked in for longer periods of time, hoping to decrease their claims experience, and ultimately their cost of insurance, and total sick day exposure.

You may have seen the commercials for “Shift Work Disorder”, which are the name that the pharmaceutical companies have established for this condition, which then allows them to market a drug specifically for this condition.  Before the label, doctors needed to have off label prescriptions for these conditions, because they didn’t always add up to clinical depression.  But if you look at NUVIGIL you see that the disorder has many of the symptoms that occur in early depression.  So you end up with a drug that is really a Stimulant, that has been on the market for narcolepsy, but now has a whole new use!  The point is, it is a serious problem, but drugs aren’t an answer.  Why kill yourself with these side effects, if you could hunt hard for a new job (even if it took three to five years to switch, it would be worth it) and figure out how to get normal sleep!

So take your sleep seriously, it has the ability to make or break your life.  Oh yeah, it might take up to nine years for the damage that you are doing to yourself to catch up and become a symptom.  I know, I have tried to shortcut sleep on and off for my entire life, and I still do, but I am always brought back to the reality that there is no substitute!

Dr. E

The Total Food Makeover is a NEW take on 40 Day Challenges.  Add the Biggest Loser style BOOTCAMP, and your life will never be the same!  Keep looking for info, coming SOON!

Start Date – October 4th, Monday night at 7:00PM

Sometimes we hold ourselves to a diet for a day, then we fail… hopefully its more like a week or two before we fail.  And if we are really good, it might be a month.  But then, what entails failure in the diet world?

The Healing Diet, which is the one that we teach most often, had a very significant problem if you fail… which is a serious loss of the value of the work that has been accomplished to date.  In this diet, eating no sugars or grains, limiting your fruit intake to berries every other day, or perhaps a granny smith apple a few times a week, means VERY tight dietary controls.

The purpose is to really reign in any sugar blips in your bloodstream, giving your body a chance to heal leptin receptors, and thus become a fat burning machine.  What you realize when you have thoroughly beaten down this path, is that body weight is a funtion of hormone, not caolrie balance.

Ok, so on to the article title.  In a diet like the healing diet, if you cheat by having a sandwich, or having an extra serving of fruit, or even having a dessert, then you haven’t ruined the diet.  However, if you cheat by falling completely off, grabbing a soda, following it up with five slices of pizza, then three massive scoops of ice cream… well.  You will have driven your blood sugar so high, that there is no way you will retain the complete measure of what you have accomplished.

Thus, “choosing to cheat” can be a very wise choice.  What I mean, is if you can foresee the inevitable collapse of your will power, and you can stand in the middle of a completely controlled, manifest destiny, I own my diet individual… and an out of control raving “give me the whole pie or die” lunatic… then you can win.  So identify the weakness, see where it is coming from (“I need grains” or “I need sugar”), and feed that weakness ever so slightly with something that satisfies.

For some of you, if you get the least taste of something you are craving, you then fall completely.  So for you, in the healing diet world, you need a replacement food.  For me it is ice cream, i love it!  So when I feel that surge of desire, i pull out a pint of heavy whipping cream, almond butter, peanut butter, 100% cocoa, and a little stevia or xylitol, and away we go!  That will usually completely satisfy me.  If not, add some coconut, and eventually breakdown to throwing some fruit in.

It might be that you could make an “english muffin” pizza, and never need to go get the whole pizza (much more will power is needed when there is a whole pizza staring at you)!

So choose to cheat, when it can save your diet.  Other diet plans can have a cheat day every week with little consequence, but then… that is why the healing diet results are so amazing.  Come hear all about it at the TOTAL FOOD MAKEOVER coming in October!

Dr. E

 So I have been trying to be VERY quiet all week long.  This sign here that says “Dr. Eric is resting his voice” is designed to do just that, create a restful environment for my voice.  Which really needs rest.

See it all started almost two weeks ago, my gym (The Garage, the CrossFit gym that I told you earlier this week that you are all going to come try out), had a huge event.  I got on the microphone at 8:45 that morning, and finally set it down at 4pm.  I talked non-stop, and for anyone who has had to try to be loud for 7 hours, you know it takes a toll on the voice.

Polish that day off with stporytelling in front of a bunch of kids for two sessions a day later, a doctor’s report, a Nutrition workshop (thanks to those who came), another doctor’s report, a GOAL setting workshop, and another day of heavy talking at church… equals throat destroyed.

So how does that turn into sickness(remember I call it expressing health, you call it sickness)?  Just talking too much surely cannot cause a sore throat and sickness!  Aah, but you see, it does.  As a matter of fact it is necessary to have some pre-emptive weakening of your system in order to have sickness.

You are carrying a ridiculous number of viruses and bacteria on and in your body.  It is well estimated, and pretty widely accepted, that the average person is carrying 10% of their body weight in viruses and bacteria.  So guess what, if you are NOT sick, then you are STRONG.  Well, relatively strong, at least stronger than all of the viruses and bacteria in your body, which is pretty cool.  Most of us, are winning that battle most of the time.

If you GERMS caused you to become sick, and not the WEAKNESS of your body, then you would be sick 100% of the time.  If you are sick a lot, then you are weak, meaning that you need more of what we have to offer.  This is important. So pay attention here; just because you are not sick, does not mean that you do not have other weakness in your body.  Immune system health is only one measure of your overall health, but it is an important one.

Back on track, so if your child is in a classroom with a bunch of kids, and one kid gets sick, and then five others get sick, but ten others do not.  What do you believe?  Most of you believe that those five were in closer proximity to that child than the other ten, to which I say GARBAGE.  The five were weaker than the others.  Here is a better example.  Your youngest child gets sick, then one of your other children get sick, as does one of the parents.  The other parent and another child do not get sick.  Guess what, most married adults sleep in the same bed, and the kdis are all over each other no matter what.  The germs were COVERING the two who did not get sick, yet they fought it off.  Because they were in a position of strength, not weakness.

So what makes you strong or weak?  Your nervous system is the most important thing, because it organizes the defense against the external coming internal.  Getting adjusted, and SLEEP are the most important components of your nervous system function, with stress right there.  Diet will weaken an immune system incredibly!  And even more so when there are abrupt changes in the diet, vs. simply a consistent bad diet.  I know, not fair, but I have witnessed that someone who eats well  will get punished by eating poorly, where that person who eats poorly all the time, can handle it much better.  Still, the reasons for eating well vs poorly are so huge, that it is a must!

So do yourself a favor, and don’t avoid germs, just avoid being weak.  God Bless, and have an awesome Labor Day!

Friday Edition – December 28, 2007
NEJM – 2007, Dec.

Childhood Obesity

Adolescent obesity increases future coronary heart disease risk

The effect of adolescent obesity on future adult heart disease risk has not been clearly established. In a recent publication, researchers estimated the prevalence of obese 35-year-olds in 2020 on the basis of adolescents overweight in 2000 and historical trends regarding overweight adolescents who become obese adults. A state-transition computer simulation was used to project the annual excess incidence and prevalence of heart disease, the total number of excess heart disease events, and excess deaths from both heart disease and other causes related to obesity from 2020 to 2035.

The number of overweight adolescents is projected to increase the prevalence of obese 35-year-olds in 2020 to a range of 30-37% in men and 34-44% in women. As a result of this increased obesity, an increase in the incidence of heart disease and related deaths is projected to occur in young adulthood. By 2035, it is estimated that the prevalence of heart disease will increase by a range of 5-16%, with more than 100,000 excess cases caused by the increased obesity.

Although projections 25 or more years into the future are subject to numerous uncertainties, based on current data it is a reasonable assumption that adolescent obesity will increase rates of heart disease among future young and middle-aged adults, resulting in substantial increases in disease and death rates.

Researchers concluded that aggressive treatment with currently available therapies to reverse obesity-related risk factors may reduce, but not entirely eliminate, the calculated increase in the number of heart disease events.

N Engl J Med. 2007 Dec 6;357(23):2371-9.

Dr. Eric’s Note:
There is nothing new or shocking in this article, the Pan World Heart Disease Incidence Report showed a worldwide increase in heart disease with small pockets that showed decreased death rates, but ever rising incidence rates showing the continued lack of quality of life in heart disease sufferers. The point is that life has enough hurdles in it, if you are 30+ you already realize that. I have seen people who have gone through incredible difficulty and those who have had seemingly simple lives. The interesting thing is that it doesn’t matter, both people can perceive that life is hard. So if that is the case, then the last thing you need to do is add the stress of fighting obesity. You know what I mean, so do everything you can to educate your kids about the dangers of obesity, about the difficulty of coming from behind to beat it. Start this year out right, and remember that every choice you make in front of your kids, influences them in some way. Cut out the unnecessary calories, and think before you pop a pill to solve a problem, do you really want to teach your kids that popping pills to solve problems makes sense? You open the door for drug abuse with that mentality. God Bless, be safe as we approach the New Year!