There is a grass roots way of improving the current health care system that very few patients, physicians and pundits acknowledge. It doesn’t involve increasing co-pays or taxes, dismantling Medicare or reforming health insurance. You don’t even need to organize with vast numbers of fellow citizens to make a difference. All that’s required is that you accept a basic precept and act upon it. Every single person reading this column is a unique individual with highly specialized information at their disposal. We’re exposed to different sources of anecdotal evidence, news and research. At any given point, some of this information may be of value to someone you know, be it a colleague, family member or neighbor. But how often do you make it a point to share something that you’ve heard or read when you’re not specifically asked? Taking the extra step to speak up can make a big difference in the way doctors practice medicine and those around us benefit from otherwise unknown information. Read more »

Body fat. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Too much body fat is a well established risk factor for the majority of leading causes of disease, disability and mortality in the modern world. But you do need a certain amount of adipose tissue to buffer the effects of toxins, protect your internal organs from physical damage, provide a stored energy source and stay warm when the weather turns cold. The key is to maintain a reasonable percentage of body fat. A recent publication in the journal Obesity offers up a new way to estimate your body fat percentage that may be more accurate than calculating your body mass index or BMI.
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Prospective consumers tend to categorize alternative and complementary therapies on a subconscious level. The fact of the matter is that some holistic techniques seem more reasonable than others. This is often a consequence of the culture and medical care to which we’ve been exposed throughout our lives. Human nature generally dictates that we gravitate to that which is familiar. With that in mind, allow me to suggest that esoteric healing techniques afford something rather profound to us all: an opportunity to expand our horizons and experience the world in a broader context.
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Natural medicine tends to excel in managing chronic health conditions. On the other hand, acute circumstances such as a broken bone, a ruptured appendix or a heart attack are clearly better suited to conventional care. But there’s a third category of treatment which falls between the two seemingly distinct philosophies. There are certain therapeutic practices that are natural but not the exclusive domain of alternative and complementary practitioners. For instance, it’s not unusual for all types of physicians to recommend limited sugar consumption and regular aerobic exercise. The difference that I find is in how such recommendations are made. Are they mentioned in passing or suggested as a first-line intervention to improve and/or protect against serious health conditions?
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One of the chief differences between conventional and holistic medicine is how a patient is viewed in relation to their disease. Allopathic physicians tend to focus on the symptoms reported to them. So if you go in complaining of heartburn, you’re likely to walk out with a prescription for a medication that addresses GERD-like symptoms. Naturopathic physicians will often take a broader view of the same symptomatology. They might ask questions about your diet, stress levels or supplement regimen. Anything that could possibly affect your body and mind are potential fodder for holistic healers. When the latter is properly applied, it’s a surprisingly effective and thorough way to reestablish wellness.
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There are few things in life that are more difficult than being in constant pain or seeing someone you love in the same predicament. Chronic pain related conditions are notoriously difficult to manage in the long term without accompanying side effects from the treatments themselves. But what can one do? You either live with the pain and forego conventional therapies or you take the best pharmacological and surgical advice your doctors have to offer. The latter is what most people settle on and it’s completely understandable. However, there are also natural pain relieving options available. My Healthy Monday tip is that patients and physicians consider adding alternative and complementary techniques to their list of viable interventions.
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Long before the advent of alarm clocks, the Sun served as mankind’s lone wake-up call. Conversely, when the dark hours of night rolled around it was an obvious reminder to rest and allow the body to recover from the active day that preceded. This was the logical pattern that served countless generations well, but that has largely been abandoned in modern times. While it’s impractical to try and reclaim this traditional sleep-wake cycle, it may be wise to inch closer to it in ways that fit our schedules. Read more »

Have you ever noticed that you eat more on days following a poor night’s sleep? Maybe you graze voraciously on snack foods while at school or work or perhaps you can’t control your appetite very well when you sit down for lunch or dinner. If you’re all too familiar with either of these patterns, then you might want to make this a Healthy Monday by resolving to place a higher priority on sleep.
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Prospective consumers tend to categorize alternative and complementary therapies on a subconscious level. The fact of the matter is that some holistic techniques seem more reasonable than others. This is often a consequence of the culture and medical care to which we’ve been exposed throughout our lives. Human nature generally dictates that we gravitate to that which is familiar. With that in mind, allow me to suggest that esoteric healing techniques afford something rather profound to us all: an opportunity to expand our horizons and experience the world in a broader context. Read more »

There’s an old joke that goes: “If you want to hear God laugh, make a plan”. In November I hatched a plan to conduct a pilot study on a traditional herbal tea. The objective of the preliminary, mini-trial was to determine whether an herbal blend known as SLP Tea could help promote better sleep quality in a handful of my readers. I didn’t hear any divine chuckles, but not everything turned out quite as I had hoped. Initially, I enrolled 6 volunteers into my experiment. 3 of the 6 were ultimately able to comply with all of the guidelines I set for the study.
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A reader recently inquired about an holistic practice commonly referred to as “earthing” or “grounding”. The question was a like a portal to my past. I was first exposed to the concepts behind this therapy when I studied holistic medicine in Arizona many years ago. In essence, grounding is, supposedly, a therapeutic process by which you connect with the earth. A popular theory behind its reputed healing power is that electrons present in the earth’s surface can be passed on to physical bodies when a person walks barefoot or sleeps on the natural ground. An expert in the field of earthing, Dr. James L. Oschman, describes the exchange in this way, “The most reasonable hypothesis to explain the beneficial effects of earthing is that a direct earth connection enables both diurnal (daily) electrical rhythms and free electrons to flow from the earth to the body”. Hypothesis and proposed mechanisms are helpful as far as they go. But the real question in my mind is whether there’s any serious science that supports these assertions and the many claims made by purveyors of grounding products. Read more »

One of most common problems that writers have is a nagging inability to self edit. It may seem odd, but it’s much easier for many scribes to write articles, novels or screenplays that are too long rather than too short. When I compose my daily column, I find that I generally have an over abundance of information to share. Therefore, I need to carefully pick and choose among my source information. But even so, I still end up with blog entries that tend to be lengthier than desired. This is especially problematic because I very much want to provide clear and concise resources on this site. One possible solution I’m currently toying with is the use of occasional lists. Instead of writing columns that are comprised of densely constructed paragraphs, I’ll simply select 5 noteworthy studies or topics and briefly describe their relevance as I see it. Read more »

A common criticism of conventional medicine is that it’s too clinical. Some patients feel like they’re simply cogs in a massive medical machine that needs repair. This is one of the unintended consequences of relying too heavily on the cold, hard facts provided by science alone. On the other hand, alternative medicine can sometimes go too far in the other direction, allowing emotions to run the show. Several years ago I attended a conference in which the famed cancer patient advocate Dr. Bernie Siegel gave a presentation. He emphasized the importance of considering every available treatment option and understanding the reality of one’s condition. But he balanced that advice by adding this, “Statistics do not apply to individuals and there is no false hope”. Read more »

If you’re overweight and you snore at night, there’s a good chance you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). People with this condition are unable to get adequate quantities of air through the nose and throat while sleeping. This can lead a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream and poor sleep quality due to frequent choking and loud snoring. Even if you set aside enough time to rest, you simply will not be well rested when you wake up. This drowsy state of mind puts people at higher risk for overall mortality resulting from accidents and cardiovascular related health events. The best natural way to address this serious condition is to lose as much excess weight as possible. Today I’ll share three safe and natural techniques that may help you achieve that goal. Read more »

We all need reminders. There’s so much information to process these days that much of what we learn is often misplaced somewhere deep in the recesses of our minds. While scouring through my list of scientific resources, I was reminded of some previous topics that needed updating and perhaps more importantly, expanding. Many times I’ll focus on a specific function of a food, supplement or therapy. By revisiting these topics, I can paint a broader and more accurate picture of the full potential of these gifts that nature provides. Read more »

Valerian root extract is perhaps the most intensely studied and widely used natural insomnia remedy known to man. But what’s both fascinating and infuriating about it is that many scientists still don’t agree about whether it’s a viable alternative to pharmaceutical sleeping pills. The two most likely reasons for this are: a) herbal extracts are significantly more complicated to study than most synthetic medications; and b) there isn’t much of a financial incentive to get to the bottom of this issue. The secondary point isn’t an attempt to indiscriminately knock the pharmaceutical industry. Both the allopathic and holistic camps have a financial interest in allowing this mystery to persist. Read more »