If you regularly eat garbanzo beans or hummus, lamb, lentils, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds or tahini you’re well on your way to following my latest prescription. All of these foods are stellar sources of zinc, an essential trace mineral. For all of those who don’t eat zinc-rich foods on a daily basis, I highly recommend a daily multivitamin providing at least 100% of the RDA of most minerals including zinc. In fact, since zinc is both essential to health maintenance and safe when taken in conservative amounts, I recommend multivitamins to just about everyone. Now, you may think that I’m focusing on zinc because of its widely known benefits to the immune system. After all, zinc lozenges are probably the most popular natural cold aids currently on the market. While true, there’s so much more to zinc than just that.

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Part of my responsibility as a medical researcher and natural health consultant is to present breaking information that your doctors may not be aware of and/or ready to share with you. Mainstream medicine is notorious for not advocating certain important health practices until they’re widely accepted by the institutions that govern it. On the other hand, holistic practitioners often veer to the opposite end of the spectrum and assign too much importance to theories that are only backed by preliminary evidence. Today’s blog features an evidence-based snapshot of a trend I’ve been seeing over the past few years. I believe the data contained herein will eventually be accepted by the alternative and conventional medical camps. But, you don’t have to wait until the Journal of the American Medical Association or some other pillar of modern medicine gives its seal of approval to enact the forthcoming research.

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The term “Advanced Glycation End product” or AGE isn’t exactly well known. Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine aim to change that and with good reason. To the uninitiated, AGEs are toxic byproducts that are linked to numerous health threats ranging from cardiovascular disease to diabetes. They’re formed during the cooking and processing of various foods using high heat. Within the body, AGEs can also be produced – especially in the context of diets rich in carbohydrates.

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Figures just released by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics report that over 94 million prescriptions for Zocor (simvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering medication, were written in 2010. Crestor and Lipitor, two other statin drugs used to reduce lipids, registered sales of $3.8 and $7.2 billion respectively last year. Salvia officinalis or sage is unlikely to pose much competition to these powerhouse medications. However, a select group of integrative and naturopathic physicians are taking note that this common culinary herb may have much to offer as an alternative and/or complementary treatment option. (1) Read more »

On any given day, countless patients make the decision to visit a health care professional who practices alternative medicine. Sometimes they do so as an adjunct to the care they’re already receiving from a conventionally trained physician. In other instances, they simply want something different. Hence the term “alternative medicine”. But not every alternative is created equally nor does it need to be administered or monitored exclusively by a holistic physician.
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Nobody wants to waste time or money on quackery. On the other hand, we’ve all heard anecdotes about people who have made dramatic recoveries under the care of holistic healers. The question then becomes: How exactly does one navigate through this uncertain terrain? The first step is to get a referral from someone you respect. But even with that assurance, you’ll still need to practice something I call “inquisitive optimism”. This requires maintaining a hopeful attitude while at the same time asking plenty of questions. Read more »

Some health news practically begs to be told. This past week I received two emails and one Twitter message about a possible connection between higher HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels and a reduced risk of cancer. So my first item of business today is to review that data which comes courtesy of my favorite naturopathic physician in Oregon, Dr. Orna Izakson. Our second stop on this Twitter Thursday examines a proposed link between a specific type of fat and improved brain function in older dogs. That gem is brought to us by Dr. Michael Eades, a leading authority on living a healthy low-carb lifestyle. Last, but not least, there’s a new superfood recipe straight from the test kitchen of Dr. Jonny Bowden – the natural health guru to Hollywood and beyond. Read more »

Natural medicine provides real solutions for health issues that literally span a lifetime. In today’s column, I’ve collected several items from the scientific literature that will illustrate this quite clearly. As you probably know, my goal is to have you all share at least one of these news items with someone in your sphere of influence. But some of today’s content involves rather prickly topics such Alzheimer’s Disease, constipation, menopause and Parkinson’s Disease. I realize that it may not be possible to just come right out and offer up advice about these somewhat sensitive conditions. However there’s almost always a creative way to disseminate such information. Read more »

Most of us use a general practitioner as our primary health provider. It doesn’t make much sense to go to a specialist such as an endocrinologist or neurologist when you’re simply having your periodic check up. Generally speaking, a good G.P. can manage most general health needs. At the same time, doctors and patients alike realize that such physicians have their limitations. They can’t possibly be up-to-date on every new development in every field of medicine, so they refer patients to specialists whenever needed. The same is true of how consumers can approach their own health care. If you’re basically healthy, you may want to focus on staying informed on how to maintain good general health. However, if you’re trying to address specific health issues, then you’ll need to become a “patient specialist”. Read more »

The distinctive yellowish color that is often associated with Indian and South Asian dishes is derived from Curcuma longa or turmeric. This rhizome (underground stem) is part of the ginger family, but it doesn’t possess the same pungent flavor or odor. Turmeric does however contain a group of antioxidant pigments known as curcuminoids. The primary curcuminoid is curcumin, a name often used interchangeably in alternative medicine when describing turmeric extracts. Read more »

Perhaps you heard or read about the recent news concerning caffeine and its purported effect on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. I know those headlines certainly caught my attention. I’m a frequent coffee drinker and regularly advocate the use of this roasted bean to promote wellness in most individuals. But rather than simply accept the current positive findings, I decided to dig a little deeper. I wanted to know: Does caffeine and, more specifically, coffee really afford any real world brain protection? Read more »

Last week I presented a case for North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) as a natural way to manage the common cold and flu. In the second part of my 2 part column on ginseng, I’ll focus primarily on another member of the Panax family known as red ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer). Red ginseng is typically grown in China or Korea, and is marked by a six year growth cycle. In pre-scientific times, it was considered a virtual panacea, but its reputation has cooled considerably in the 20th and 21th centuries. In my own recent review of the medical literature, I’ve discovered what seems to be a renewed interest in the scientific study of ginseng. There were literally thousands of clinical and laboratory experiments to choose from. I’ve selected three specific health issues to illustrate the breadth and power of this comeback root. Read more »

The Alzheimer’s Project is a four-part documentary series and multimedia presentation currently airing on the cable network, HBO. It’s also available online for free for those who are not Home Box Office subscribers. This landmark event is a collaboration between HBO Documentary Films, the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association.

“Alzheimer’s is the second most feared illness, after cancer”. Those words appear on the screen during the second segment of the Alzheimer’s Project. Watching the incredibly intimate footage captured by the filmmakers will help every viewer understand why that is. But that’s only a very small part of the overall objective. What we find here is an attempt to present this mysterious disease through the eyes of the patients, their caretakers and the physicians who are desperately searching for a cure.
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