Naturopathic News Winter 2012

[Susan DeLaney]

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Welcome This newsletter is an educational benefit to those who are seeking to improve and maintain their health. Four times a year I will be sending nutritional updates and health related information through this newsletter. I am hopeful that you will find the articles useful and informative. Please send you feedback or ideas for information to be discussed. Please visit us at www.thewellnessalliance.com  or call us at 9919.932.6262, ext. 210.   Disease or Symptom? Chronic diseases offer us an interesting challenge, as the current medical system views chronic illnesses as something separate and unrelated to us as a whole. Type 2 Diabetes is an example of this way of thinking. Conventional medicine sees high blood sugar as the disease itself and attempts to lower it with medications.High blood sugar is not the disease; it is not diabetes, but a symptom of the diabetic disease process, an indicator that your health is out of balance. Hypertension is another example of this idea. High blood pressure is called the disease when is it is actually a symptom of the underlying disease process. Taking drugs to lower the blood sugar or blood pressure will only treat that symptom but it will not reverse the disease process itself. Managing ones blood sugar with medications has not shown to be effective at eliminating the long term complications of Type 2 diabetes such as heart disease, neuropathy, blindness, and kidney failure. Medications do not address the underlying causes of why you have diabetes or hypertension or many other diseases of modern civilization.     This is similar to putting duct tape over the engine red light on your car. Yes, it will go away and for a time you can continue to drive your car. But until you address the underlying issues which have created the problems, it will still persist and one day will breakdown.Investing in your health and well-being is essential to preventing the development of chronic diseases, so you do not need to duct tape over your symptoms. It requires attention and your intention to make it a priority. Simple things like creating a more balanced life with rest, time for friends and family, time for solitude and creative activities and time in nature. Exercise every day, when it is too hot or too cold or even when it rains. Find a way to move and enjoy it!! Eat real food, avoiding refined sugars and wheat grain products. Mostly things that don't come in a can or a box, food with only 3-4 ingredients that you can pronounce!! Eat healthy fats like butter cheese, nuts, olive oil and avocado. Have some protein with every meal, beans, lentils, chicken or fish with pork and red meat consumed 2-3 times a week. Eat local foods, organic if possible and without preservatives. Eat foods that provide real nourishment for you and enjoy what you eat! And in 2012 love yourself more than you ever felt was possible!    Home care for early onset of colds and flu-like viruses   Pay attention to those early signs of aches and pains, headaches, sore throats, chills and not feeling well. Catching these symptoms early and using simple home therapies may help prevent the full onset or shorten the duration of the illness.   Stop what you are doing, leave work, go home and allow yourself to rest.   Make a pot of ginger tea by slicing a 2 inch piece of fresh ginger into a quart pot of water. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add honey and lemon to taste. Drink the entire pot that day.   Take a hot bath by immersing yourself in water that is as hot as you can tolerate for about 15-20 minutes. Follow-up with a cold shower rinse and dry off quickly. Go to bed and wrap yourself in a cocoon like fashion in warm blankets. This raises your body temperate and creates an artificial fever. Stay there for 2 hours and sleep if possible. Sweating will occur as your body releases heat and cools down. Creating an artificial fever with a hot bath promotes increased activity of the white blood cells, which help eliminate the virus or bacteria.   For sore throats gargle frequently with hot and very salty water several times a day. Gargles are useful to soothe the pain and rinse bacteria or viruses from the throat area. Use a tincture of Propolis, a bee product, which has anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. Apply every hour directly to the painful areas in the throat.     Use an oral herbal formula which contains a combination of several of these herbs. See sidebar for more information.    Drink plenty of water and enjoy homemade chicken soup if possible. It turns out that chicken fat contains compounds that help thin mucus and reduce congestion. The Omega 3 and Omega 6 ratio- and why does it matter?    To begin the conversation, let's briefly discuss exactly what is an Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acid. Fatty acids are long chain molecules of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen which are named by their structure. They belong to the family known as polyunsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated means that they each contain at least one double bond with the number 3 or 6 designating the location of that double bond within the chain of carbons. Polyunsaturated means they contain more than one double bound which adds to their fluid like nature.Saturated fats and unsaturated fats always occur together in nature and are related to their structure not to their source of origin. For example beef fats are 54% unsaturated, lard 60% unsaturated and chicken fats 70% unsaturated, dispelling the belief that animal fats contain only saturated fats.   Historically our diets have contained both Omega 6 and Omega 3 poly-unsaturated fats close to a 1:1 ratio. Since the 1960's with the introduction of vegetable oils from corn, soy, safflower and other oils, that ratio has begun to shift and currently looks more like 20:1 in favor of Omega 6, In comparison to the diets of the people of Japan, whose diets include fish on a daily basis, the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 is closer to 1:1.     This change to processed and refined vegetable oils in the western diet has shifted this ratio creating a myriad of health problems. The imbalance of Omega 6 fats leads to an overproduction of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins and cytokines which are associated with a variety of inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and depression.This epidemiological association was first noted in the 1980's in a population of Greenland Eskimos that showed a low incidence of auto-immune disorder and inflammatory disease such as psoriasis, asthma, Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis compared to a gender and age matched group from Denmark.It was also noted that Greenland Eskimos and Japanese have a high dietary intake of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from seafood. When compared to their westernized counterparts they have a low incidence of auto-immune and cardiovascular disease.   According to Dr. Bill Lands, one of the leading lipid researchers in the country, it is this imbalance of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fats that is the leading cause of the rise of chronic diseases in the western world, contributing to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, depression and auto-immune disease. You can begin to shift your own balance of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fats by adding oily fish to your diet 2-3 times per week. Adding a daily fish supplement of 1-2 grams per day is also beneficial. Also reduce your use of refined vegetable oils and use high quality olive oils for cooking and salads. Local farm raised eggs, milk and beef also contain higher levels of omega 3 fats, benefiting the balance as well. Eat Nuts to reduce your blood sugar and bad cholesterol   For years people have been told to avoid nuts as they are too fattening and make you gain weight. Nothing could be further from the truth! Nuts contain an assortment of healthy nutrients as well as a combination of Omega 6 and 3 fatty acids shown to be useful for reducing inflammation. In research done by Dr. David Jenkins in Canada, he showed that eating nuts daily lowers your risk for diabetes and heart disease. His study with 117 people with Type 2 diabetes divided people into 3 groups, nuts, nuts and muffins, and muffins only. After 3 months the reduction of blood sugar as measured by the HgA1c blood test was clinically significant in the nuts only group with no change in the two other groups. Levels of LDL or bad cholesterol also dropped in the nuts only group, with some improvement also seen in the nuts and muffin group. And NO weight gain was seen by adding nuts to the diet, a finding which is consistent with other studies done on nuts and weight control. Eating 1-2 ounces a day of nuts is a healthy alternative for reducing your carbohydrate intake and preventing diabetes and heart disease. Walnuts, almonds, pecans, peanuts and even pistachios and brazil nuts are great, unsalted and soaked for 24 hours and then slow roasted in the oven for 2 hours at 250 degrees. Store them in the refrigerator and enjoy daily as a healthy snack. Walnuts with pears and cheese ranks as one of my favorite snacks! Personal care products- Are they safe? A case study that questions this assumption   I recently saw an interesting case of a middle-age woman who has suffered with severe asthma since she was 13 years old, which required the use of several medications to control her cough, wheezing and asthma symptoms. Despite the very best care with specialists at UNC, she continued to have significant episodes of asthma with hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Even with these treatments, her asthma was getting worse. After taking a personal inventory, she wondered if there could be something in her life that could be creating this condition. She eliminated different foods, one by one with no results.After making a list of personal care products, she discovered that she had been using the same toothpaste since she was 13 years old. After switching to another brand her symptoms began to improve!! She has begun to slowly decrease her use of the asthma medications and hopes to completely eliminate their use. After relaying this story to another client who complained of heartburn mostly at night when she went to bed, I suggested to her that she try switching her toothpaste as it could be aggravating her digestion as well. To her surprise it went away completely after discontinuing her toothpaste!   I tell you these stories as we all assume that products we are using in our mouths, on our hair, on our skin, and in our homes are safe for us to use. They sell them in the store so they must be tested and safe!! But this is actually not the case. All of these products contain multiple ingredients, dyes, preservatives and ingredients in combinations that make it impossible to determine what we may be reacting to. Is it the foaming agent, the detergent, the added scents or the coloring agents??? You may never know. My suggestion is that you consider switching to natural products starting with things you directly apply to your body. You can find out more about this by visiting the Environmental Working Group site, www.ewg.org, and read their information on personal care products. Start by switching toothpastes, soaps and shampoos as they are in direct contact with your skin on a regular basis. Switch to household cleaning products which are non-toxic yet just as effective. Avoid spraying your yards with weed killers and extra fertilizers which wash off into our streams.  Continue to explore more options for the entire household and make 2012 the greenest and cleanest year ever!   In this Newsletter  Is this a disease or a symptom of an underlying disease?   Eat Nuts to reduce your blood sugar and bad cholesterol   The Omega 3 and Omega 6 ratio- and why does it matter?   Home testing for Omega 3/Omega 6 ratio now available Reversing Type 2 Diabetes using Natural Therapies   Personal care products- Are they safe? A case study that questions this assumption Home care for early onset of colds and flu-like viruses       Visit us at www.thewellnessalliance.com      Reversing Type 2 Diabetes using Natural Therapies   ­I am offering small group classes at my office for groups of 3-4 people who are interested in restoring their health, reducing and possibly eliminating the need for diabetic medications. Working together and supporting each other in creating the lifestyle necessary to lose weight, reduce blood sugar and blood pressure makes it easier to make those changes and sustain them over time.     Classes will be held in the evening for one hour after work or on a Saturday morning over a 3 month time frame. There will be eight classes per session with instructions, individualized care and educational discussions about diabetes. Journaling, homework assignments and learning to cook healthy foods will all be a part of reversing this disease process.     Start your own Type 2 diabetes support group by calling your friends and colleagues who are seeking ways to reduce their need for medication, feel better and begin the journey toward better health.Call Becca at 919-932-6262 to find a time for your group to get started with changing your health and reversing the progression of your Type 2 Diabetes. Home testing for Omega 3/Omega 6 ratio now available Our office now has home test kits available for your use for a reduced price of $125. (Normally $145) This ratio may be the most important indicator of your potential to develop chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, hypertension and depression.Call now to for have your test done in the office or sent to you by mail. The test requires an 8 hour overnight fasting period and a finger prick. The kit comes with easy to read instructions. The test results will be emailed to you. I am also available to consult with you regarding the results.     Herbal Supplements Herbal supplements are very useful when the symptoms of a cold or virus are caught at the onset of symptoms. Combination supplements that contain any of the following herbs Berberine, Eluthero, Bromolain, Thyme, Andrographis, licorice, garlic, echinacea, and ginger. These can be obtained at your local health food store or by calling our office at 919.932.6262, ext. 210. Thanks for reading and until next time be well.  Please feel free to forward this newsletter to family and friends.   Warmly, Susan R. DeLaney, ND

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The Wellness Alliance
301 W. Weaver St.
Carrboro, NC 27510
919-932-6262
www.thewellnessalliance.com