September 2008 PDF

Eat your way off diabetes
A drug-free plan that can slash glucose levels

There’s an old saying about digging your grave with a fork and a knife. As it turns out, that adage may be true: The single greatest contributor to your developing type-2 diabetes could be your food choices.

But who could fault you? With all the conflicting nutritional advice, it’s a wonder we don’t bump into ourselves trying to navigate grocery store aisles. Good fat, bad fat, good carb, bad carb—I talk with patients all the time who are on the road to type-2 diabetes, and who had no idea they were eating so poorly despite following these popular “guidelines.”

But I’m going to let you in on a secret I share with those patients—just as you can eat your way into type-2 diabetes, by making some better food choices you often can eat your way back to health again.

I’ve convinced many of my patients that drugs are not their only recourse in dealing with type-2 diabetes. I have a strategy that takes a lot more work than just popping a pill—but it’s worth it in the long run.

I’m going to show you how my plan worked for one of my patients, Jim, and how it can work for you too.

Facing down disease

Jim is a 52-year-old patient of mine. I met him when he showed up at our small, local hospital suffering from pneumonia. Turned out he also had new onset diabetes, with a sky-high fasting-blood-sugar reading in the 300s.

It didn’t get that way overnight. Diabetes is a long-latency disease, which means it was in the making for at least 10 years before coming on stage and sending Jim’s blood-sugar level into the stratosphere. But Jim did have one early warning: His father had diabetes too and ended up dying of a heart attack at 60. Heart disease is the most common complication of diabetes.

Jim wanted a fix that didn’t include a bottle of pills. He was open to making lifestyle changes, which, as you know, is the first thing I recommend. And guess what? It took less than six months to fix his blood-sugar problem without a drug in sight.

I’m going to show you how to do it too, but first it’s important to understand diabetes and the mechanics of how it affects your body.

Behind the curtain

Diabetes is defined as a fasting blood glucose (FBG) level of 125 or more. Prediabetes consists of having an FBG level of 100 to 124. In fact, a FBG of 90 or more merits attention.

Type-2 diabetes accounts for more than 95 percent of all diabetes in the United States. The main problem is insulin resistance (which means your cells are refusing to cooperate with the insulin in your body). The development of insulin resistance starts in your digestive system, which breaks down whatever carbs you eat into glucose (i.e. blood sugar).

Forget everything you think you know about carbs. We need carbs—they’re the most efficient fuel for energizing our bodies. The problems begin when we overdose on just one type of carb for too long.

Further, there are no such things as “good” and “bad” carbs—it’s just a matter of where they fall on the glycemic index (GI). The GI gives you a sense of how quickly the sugar in the foods you eat is entering your bloodstream as glucose and causing the trademark blood sugar and insulin “spikes.” You don’t have to give up your favorite carbs—you just have to practice moderation and balance. Get a good GI guide that shows you whether a food is high on the GI scale, then balance that selection with something that’s lower.

When you don’t pay attention to the GI scale, problems with insulin are bound to develop. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas, and “insulin resistance” is just what the phrase implies: Your cells stage a rebellion, resisting the efforts of insulin to do its job and escort glucose into your cells, where it can be burned as energy. Next thing you know, you have a backlog of glucose idling its engine in your bloodstream. That excess sugar in your blood is basically a time bomb.

Reevaluate your food options

I hope that by now I have convinced you of the need to balance what you eat to keep your blood sugar in check. Jim had failed to do this for years and was experiencing the grave results. Like most of my diabetic patients, Jim thought he was making decent food choices, but he was wrong. Here are two dietary truths I share with my diabetic patients––and they tend to be quite surprised:

1) You must avoid “white death”: A lot of folks have taken up the “Fat is Bad” mantra and rushed to purchase “low fat” foods—which often are a mother lode of white sugar and white flour. “Low fat” should be read as “cheap, carbohydrate-rich, edible manure,” courtesy of the fat cats at Big Food corporations.

2) You need fat: I can’t emphasize this enough: Eat fat. Overall, fat consumption has decreased over the last 30 years (except for people who eat fast food daily). I think it’s no coincidence that as fat consumption has dropped in this country, diabetes cases have skyrocketed. Fats provide vitamins A, D, E and K, vitamins that protect your heart, your metabolism, and your immune and nervous systems. Fats support hormone production and electrical functions. They’re also the clean-burning energy source your body prefers.

But not just any kind of fat will do. Trans fats (a.k.a. hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated ones) are lethal. Here’s a mantra to memorize: Increases shelf life? Decreases human life. Trans fats are found in thousands of processed foods—mainly packaged baked goods, snack foods, salad dressings, margarines, and french fries (sad but true, I know). Trans fats will be here with the cockroaches when the world ends.

The saturated fats we’ve been eating since the beginning of time in dairy and meat products are better—as long as they have not been tampered with. The mischief begins when hormones, antibiotics and pesticide residue enter the picture, which is why you need to choose organic dairy products and meat.

You have a picture now of what not to eat. Now I’m going to put the pieces together for you and show you a diet that can keep type-2 diabetes out of your life.

A blood-sugar-friendly diet

The diet I prescribe to patients looking to shed their type-2 diabetes requires discipline, but the results are worth it. Here’s a typical day’s worth of food and snacks.

Breakfast: Eat a couple of eggs (try boiling them and adding a pat of butter) plus an apple with chopped nuts. You’ll get the vitamins and filling proteins you need to avoid hunger and develop an ample supply of energy. Try a glass of unsweetened green tea as your beverage, which will give you a rich supply of antioxidants.

Many of my diabetic patients had been starting their days with over-processed cereals, skim milk and a cup of coffee. If you’re looking to avoid diabetes, this is a disaster. Skim milk consists of sugar and protein, and when combined with some fake-food dry cereal is guaranteed to spike blood sugar and lead to cravings by midmorning.

Midmorning snack: Instead of reaching for a doughnut at midmorning, opt for some walnuts, almonds or pecans, or a piece of cheese, plus a large glass of filtered water.

Lunch: For many people, lunch means a sandwich. That’s OK if you eat the right type of sandwich. Use one slice of very dense whole-grain bread from a local bakery, along with organic meats and cheeses. Add a big salad or a bowl of soup (which can include beans, whole grains and vegetables).

Afternoon snack: By late afternoon, grab some nuts or cheese again or some leftovers from lunch. No more potato chips, candy or soda pop.

Dinner: Your dinner should include a piece of fish, chicken or organic beef or lamb (from a pasture-fed animal) plus a plate piled high with vegetables (mostly the non-starchy green-leaf variety, such as bok choy, broccoli, kale or collard greens), and another salad. For dessert, try a piece of fruit—it’s a good way to savor a bit of sweetness without blowing your blood sugar sky high.

Tips and tricks

There are some simple tricks you can use to augment your diet—shake cinnamon onto your fruit and nuts, since cinnamon lowers blood sugar. Use apple cider vinegar on your salads, as research has shown that it significantly reduces blood-sugar and insulin levels after meals.

Take a good once-daily supplement. I recommend Every Man’s One Daily or Every Woman’s One Daily from New Chapter. Also, take a daily tablespoon of Carlson’s Cod Liver Oil for healthy vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, both important for their favorable effects on inflammation and blood-sugar levels.

Finally, consider adding some Rhodiola rosea, one of a class of adaptogens that can aid in balancing the internal workings of your body. One study showed that Rhodiola can significantly reduce blood glucose.

Get some exercise and manage your stress. Building muscle and losing weight will improve your insulin sensitivity, and getting a handle on stress will lower your body’s production of cortisol, which fuels insulin resistance. Several times a day, take a 60-second time-out, during which you slow your breathing down to six breaths per minute. It’ll make a difference.

A home run

By sticking to my diet and making the necessary lifestyle changes, I have seen diabetic patients achieve remarkable results without drugs. After just six months, Jim lost 30 pounds and his fasting sugar levels went back to normal—under 100. (Remember: They were originally in the 300s!) His glycated hemoglobin reading dropped from 9.3 to 5.7. Glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1C) gives you a three-month measure of your average blood-sugar. Although most doctors don’t wave the red flag until it’s over 7.0, anything over 5.8 suggests progression toward diabetes.

Jim’s results may seem remarkable, but I promise you they are not. If you’re looking to get your type-2 diabetes under control, stick to my diet. Clip this article and post it to your refrigerator door, then refer back to it often. Change what you eat and how you manage your life, and you will see improvements. With a little discipline, you really can eat your way to being diabetes-free.

Balance your blood sugar with magnesium

Nearly half of all Americans are not getting the 400 mg of magnesium per day needed in their diets. It plays a major role in insulin and glucose metabolism. Get it naturally from these sources:

• Whole-grain breads and cereals
• Beans: varieties include lima, black, and navy
• Avocados
• Pumpkin seeds
• Leafy green vegetables: includes Swiss chard, spinach, mustard and turnip greens
• Broccoli

Dr. Inglis recommends…

More great menu items for managing blood sugar

Breakfast

• Eggs with a banana-almond smoothie
• Whole oat groats and hulled barley (soak overnight) topped with nuts and berries

Lunch

• Salad: romaine lettuce and your choice of vegetables, topped with black beans
• Steamed bok choy and broccoli over brown rice
• Soup: navy beans, barley and a variety of vegetables with a side of hearty bread and a pat of butter

Dinner

• Whole-wheat pasta topped with organic ground-beef meat sauce
• Whole-wheat tortillas with your choice of black beans or organic ground-beef, cheese, and heavy on the veggies
• Grilled organic chicken breasts with steamed kale or collard greens with brown rice

Snacks & desserts

• Small plate of sliced pear or apple with a portion of cheese
• Baked berry or apple-betty made with a whole-oat, chopped-almond and cinnamon-rich topping

10 ways to stay eagle-eyed for life

Your vision provides as much as 80 percent of your sensory input. You want to preserve it at any cost, because it has an enormous impact on your quality of life. You have a couple of conditions working to erode your eyesight. Cataracts are the chief cause of vision loss in both developing and developed countries and are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. As if that weren’t enough, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has become the bane of the “golden years,” currently affecting as many as 20 million elderly Americans.

Most physicians still believe that progression to either of these conditions is inevitable, and they’ll wait to intervene until you start exhibiting symptoms. This type of “reactive” medicine could cost you your eyesight. You’re better off focusing on a variety of proven prevention strategies, running the gamut from nutrition to lifestyle choices, that can help keep your eyes healthy.

Here are 10 areas you can focus on to help promote a lifetime of good eye health:

Use vitamins as a first line of defense

Vitamins A, B, C and E play vital roles in eye health. You can get plenty of these vitamins if you are smart about food choices. Numerous studies have shown that a good way to fill up on vitamin C, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3) is with a whole-food diet. It should be a smorgasbord of vividly colored vegetables and whole grains. For vitamin E, I prefer to see patients supplement with food-based multivitamins (available from New Chapter or Mega Food) that include all four tocopherols. Get your preformed vitamin A (retinol) from cod-liver oil, up to 10,000 units a day for most folks. Higher doses may be risky for smokers, people with liver disease stemming from alcohol abuse, or women who are pregnant.

Incorporate sulfur-containing foods into your diet

Glutathione is an eye-supportive antioxidant that works as a major free-radical scavenger in the human lens. It’s found in sulfur-containing foods like onions, garlic, avocados, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, turnips, and cabbage), asparagus, and watermelon—all of which you should eat to your heart’s content. Glutathione boosters include alpha lipoic acid, MSM and N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Astronauts, who are exposed to high levels of oxidative stress-producing UV lights, supplement with as much as 3,000 mg of NAC per day. As for us earthbound folks, we can usually manage this need through nutrition.

Learn to love the yolk

Lutein and zeaxanthin are sibling carotenoid antioxidants found in abundance in leafy green vegetables and egg yolks. Because they’re fat-soluble, you’d be well advised to make sure your diet includes adequate amounts of healthy fats. Lutein and zeaxanthin are present in high amounts in the retina and lens—more so than beta carotene, found in orange-colored fruits and vegetables such as carrots. Folks with early cataracts or AMD should include 6 mg daily of supplemental lutein.

For extra supplemental lutein, Jarrow Formulas Lutein is an excellent, widely available choice. (Go to www.jarrow.com to locate a store near you.) For general prevention, getting 2 mg included in a multivitamin is recommended.

Get your amino acids

Taurine is an interesting amino acid, because it’s the only one that circulates freely on its own through your bloodstream and tissues. Capable of truly multitasking in the body, it helps stabilize biologic membranes in addition to being a useful mood stabilizer and a calmative and cardio-protective agent. It’s the most abundant amino acid in the retina and is known to protect the eye from toxins. For the eye, taurine deficiency is common in people with the retinal degeneration associated with AMD. Consider a supplemental dose of 1,000 mg daily. Taurine can be found naturally in fresh fish and meat.

Mine for minerals in your food choices

It’s not difficult to come up deficient in mineral intake—especially when you consider our food is being grown in increasingly mineral-depleted soil. But minerals are necessary for your eye health.

Zinc, magnesium, and selenium are key multitasking minerals, which means they work as cofactors in your body. The retina has some of the highest concentrations of zinc found in the body. Zinc is found primarily in meat, poultry, and fish and other types of seafood, especially oysters. Magnesium, which supports healthy blood flow to the eye, is found in leafy green vegetables and a variety of nuts. Selenium has been linked to cataract prevention. It’s found in whole grains, shellfish, and especially Brazil nuts—a couple per day can supply your daily requirement.

There’s no need to supplement with more than 200 mcg of selenium per day, as toxicity may kick in with regular ingestion of as little as 750 grams per day.

In one study, high-dose zinc sulfate (100 mg per day) significantly slowed the progression of AMD. While high doses of zinc can suppress the immune system, forAMD sufferers the benefits generally outweigh the risks.

If you don’t have AMD already, 15 to 30 mg per day in a supplement should be sufficient. Also, look for a supplement that includes 2 mg of copper, as supplemental zinc of 30 mg per day or more can reduce copper levels.

Eat more fish

A building block of every cell membrane in the body—and a key player in eye health—is DHA. It’s one of the two key fish-source omega-3 fatty acids that I recommend you look for when choosing an omega-3 supplement. It supports the health of your retinas, improves night vision and hand-eye coordination, and makes up 30 percent to 50 percent of the retinal photoreceptors responsible for light sensitivity. You can obtain it naturally in such fatty cold-water fish as salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines. Go one better, and get at least 1,000 mg of DHA from cod-liver oil. In one study, the combination of fish-based omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) in conjunction with acetyl-l-carnitine (1,000 mg) and coenzyme Q10 (100 mg) improved and stabilized vision in the elderly.

Use time-tested herbs

Ginkgo, sage, bilberry and milk thistle all have a role in eye support. Ginkgo (160 mg twice per day) has been shown to increase retinal blood flow by up to 23 percent. Sage also improves circulation. Unlike ginkgo, which can be excitatory for some people, sage is calming. Herbalists recommend 2 grams orally twice per day. Bilberry jam was used by RAF pilots in World War II to help support their night vision. Bilberries (similar to blueberries) and bilberry jam can be tasty additions to your diet. Bilberry is also found in many combination eye-support supplements.

Your liver supplies important substances that aid in molecular repair of the eye, including glutathione (which I mentioned earlier). To help support your liver while it’s supporting your eye health, I recommend you take the time-honored milk thistle (150 mg two or three times per day) to boost liver function.

Be wary of drug-treatment effects

If you’re taking any medication regularly, play it safe and wear sunglasses whenever you’re outside. More than 300 common drugs are known photosensitizers, which means they lead to increased light sensitivity. Cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs, such as Lipitor, can diminish glutathione production in the liver (and that’s just one thing they do to your liver). Tylenol may also be liver-toxic, even in small amounts (over 4 grams per day, and as little as 2 grams daily if you drink even moderate amounts of alcohol each day). Corticosteroids (e.g. prednisone and hydrocortisone) are known to raise the incidence of both cataracts and glaucoma.

The danger is most pronounced with the topical steroids used to treat eye inflammation and allergies. These medications are best avoided, so ask your eye doctor for an alternative.

Wear sunglasses

Taking medication isn’t the only reason you should don sunglasses. Excessive sun exposure and high altitudes have long been known to raise the frequency of cataracts and AMD. (Astronauts who go into space even once have a higher incidence of cataracts.) One study found that those who reported higher levels of sun exposure than their peers were able to cut their risk in half for developing deposits on their retinas (which signal degeneration)––just by wearing sunglasses. The damage from sun exposure is cumulative over a lifetime, so children especially should be encouraged to wear sunglasses.

Avoid lifestyle risks

There are many lifestyle-related risk accelerators that can lead to eye disease. These include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, not exercising, having diabetes, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, lack of sleep, poor nutrition and poor stress-handling skills. They all contribute to increasing your chance of developing eye problems.

Postmenopausal women have higher rates of AMD than do men. While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be beneficial, I wouldn’t recommend it simply for this reason.

Remember, you’re in control of your lifestyle. Make sure you eat plenty of fatty cold-water fish, leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale, and fruits like blueberries and grapes. Round out your food selections with nuts and extra-virgin olive oil. Finally, make sure you get a regular eye exam from a specialist. Ask your primary-care doctor how often you should get one, since individual need varies.

Finally, I recommend you consider taking a good, comprehensive eye-support formula. Mega Food has a well-designed botanical combination eye formula called Vision Strength. Another good product, though more challenging to obtain, is Ocuforce, from Designs for Health. It’s available through many health professionals and some related Web sites.

I don’t care for the commonly prescribed Bausch and Lomb Ocuvite products, although they were used successfully in studies. Unfortunately, they contain inferior forms of zinc and vitamin E. Your eyes deserve the best. Getting the best products may cost a little more, but good eye health is well worth the price.

Setting the record straight on vitamin E

It seems as though the medical community thrives on creating confusion—one day something is good for you, and the next it isn’t. The reason for this is often a simple one: The “studies” that some mainstream docs cite as gospel are frequently funded—or at least influenced—by special interests. One of the things I’m here to do is help you separate the genuine medical information from the bunk—and a lot of the information that has emerged lately on vitamin E is pure bunk.

Vitamin E is classified as an antioxidant that pgle

rotects fats found in human tissues from free-radical damage. It stabilizes cell membranes, regulates vitamin A, protects red blood cells, and helps control cell division, which could possibly confer an anti-cancer benefit. So why is it getting a bad rap?

A great deal of attention has been focused on vitamin E and heart-disease prevention, and doctors often cite two prominent, negative studies. In one, a review of 19 clinical trials concluded that long-term use of 400 IU or more of vitamin E per day was associated with a small 4 percent increase in overall risk of death. In another study, people with heart disease who took 400 IU daily developed heart failure more often than did those taking a placebo—5.8 percent vs. 4.2 percent. I cite these two studies because doctors will often use them as “proof” that vitamins are no good.

Risk-benefit analysis

But here’s what you won’t hear: Both studies had serious methodological flaws. Both studies—like the vast majority of vitamin E clinical research—used only the alpha-tocopherol form. Researchers seem to have fixated solely on this one form because it’s more potent in humans than are the other forms. This is a classic example of an archaic, limited-reductionist approach.

Another thing you won’t hear is that the benefits of vitamin E far outweigh the “risks” found in these flawed studies. High-dose supplemental vitamin E (usually 400 to 800 IU daily of the alpha-tocopherol variety) has been used to treat a wide variety of complaints. It speeds the healing of burns, provides immune-system support (particularly for the elderly), and has been known to benefit patients suffering from leg pain due to poor circulation, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and age-related macular degeneration (for more on eye health, go to page 4). I hate to think that people suffering from these conditions are being scared away, quite unnecessarily, from vitamin E.

Let’s face it—vitamin E has been an important dietary staple throughout history. We know from the research of nutrition expert Dr. Weston L. Price in the 1930s that many pre-industrial, primitive diets around the world supported excellent health and vitality. And those diets were rich in key vitamins, including vitamin E.

Food sources for vitamin E include wheat germ, nuts and seeds, whole grains, egg yolks, and leafy green vegetables. Foods that feature vitamin E often contain other nutrients that help support its function, including selenium, unsaturated fats, sulfur-based amino acids, and antioxidants like vitamin C and beta carotene.

Here are my common-sense recommendations: If you’re going to use vitamin E to treat a condition (the way you would use a drug), use a full-spectrum product with all four tocopherols and tocotrienols, such as Carlson E-Gems. (Go to www.carlsonlabs.com to locate a store near you.)

Other full-spectrum products include New Chapter’s Vitamin E and Standard Process’ Wheat Germ Oil Fortified™. I highly recommend either, as it would be reasonable to expect overall health benefits from a food-based product.

CAUTION: Supplemental vitamin E in higher doses over 400 IU has blood-thinning effects. Usually desirable, this could actually pose a hazard to people on the blood-thinning drug Coumadin (warfarin).

Vitamin E––naturally

• Sunflower seeds
• Almonds
• Peanuts
• Spinach
• Kiwi
• Broccoli
• Mango
• Wheat germ

Your Questions Answered

When your heart takes a hit, you can fight back

Q. I’m 62 years old and have been told I have congestive heart failure. I have a history of high blood pressure and am now on three drugs for it. My doctor tells me I had one or more silent heart attacks in the past because my heart isn’t pumping normally. My ejection fraction is 35 percent—whatever that means. I’m now taking a water pill, Lasix, to help the swelling in my legs and feet. I’ve finally quit smoking and have become serious about my diet and weight, but isn’t there something more I can do? I don’t want to live on Lasix the rest of my life.
––A. Potts, Charlotte, NC

A:The short answer is yes—there’s plenty you can do. In particular, there are specific nutrients that can help your heart to pump more efficiently.

First, let’s talk about your ejection fraction. This number reflects how much blood is being pumped out per heartbeat. Based on your heart’s ejection fraction, you’ve lost 25 percent to 30 percent of your heart’s strength. So now there’s back-up pressure in the vessels leading to your heart. As a result, fluid is pushed out of these blood vessels into tissue—mainly in the lungs and liver but also in the legs and feet. Another name for visible swelling due to fluid build-up is edema. All this waterlogged tissue is what the term “congestive” refers to.

When your doctor took his assessment, he probably saw a combination of things. One most likely was an abnormally thickened left ventricle, which is common in patients who have been dealing with high blood pressure for years. Another may have been some degree of damage from a silent heart attack. In a heart attack, the vessels serving the heart are blocked, preventing blood from delivering essential oxygen to the hard-working heart muscle. You end up with irreversible damage—a permanent scarring. A silent heart attack can happen in the absence of symptoms and occurs in up to 25 percent of cases.

And in case you weren’t aware, your heart is an energy hog. Many folks with CHF are functionally deficient in key nutrients required to produce energy in the heart muscle. These key nutrients are magnesium, carnitine, coenzyme Q10 and ribose. Many people with congestive heart failure are also deficient in vitamin D and vitamin B2 (riboflavin).

For vitamin D, ask your doctor to check your 25-hydroxy vitamin D level. Make sure it’s between 40 and 60 nanograms per milliliter, which for most folks will require 1,000 to 2,000 IUs of D3 daily. Most folks with CHF have some degree of vitamin D deficiency.

Here’s a roundup of nutraceuticals that you should consider adding to your daily regimen. They’ll help support and energize your heart.

1) Magnesium: Any form but the “oxide” version is good, so look for citrate, glycinate, orotate, or lactate. Take 400 to 800 mg daily.

2) D-ribose: Take 10 to 15 grams. It’s a huge energy-restorer and will help you to feel better than ever. I recommend you take a look at the product from Valen Labs (www.valenlabs.com). It includes both ribose and magnesium, which is also an effective treatment for chronic fatigue ass puociated with CHF.

3) L-Carnitine: 2,000 to 3,000 mg a day.

4) Coenzyme Q10: Take 100 to 300 mg in the gel-cap form. I put my wife’s grandmother on this while her ejection fraction was 40 percent. It increased to 50 percent after coenzyme Q10 treatment.

5) Vitamin B: Obtain this important vitamin through a whole-food diet that includes bananas, chicken breasts, tuna, liver, and beef tenderloin (from organic sources).

6) Food-based multivitamins: Use of multivitamins is the easiest way to give your body much of what it may be lacking. New Chapter (www.newchapter.com), Mega Food (www.megafood.com), and Standard Process (www.standardprocess.com) all carry multivitamins that I recommend highly.

7) Heart-healthy omega-3s: Take 2,000 to 3,000 grams of fish oil that includes DHA and EPA. (You’ll need to add up the amounts on the label.)

I owe a huge thanks to Frank Sinatra, M.D. (not to be confused with “Ol’ Blue Eyes”), an integrative cardiologist who spells this all out in his excellent book The Sinatra Solution, which I consider recommended reading for anyone suffering from CHF.

By the way, you may be able to eliminate the need for Lasix entirely and reduce—or even eliminate—the need for your blood-pressure medications with the right combination of these supplemental nutrients, exercise, and a whole-food diet.

May 2008 PDF

SPECIAL EDITION

Drug-free in 90 days

You may feel like you’re sentenced to a lifetime of dependency on a pile of prescription meds, but think again. Just 90 days from today, you could be off your drugs for good.

If I’ve proven one thing in my years of practice, it’s that I can help my patients finally be well again—without resorting to a prescription pad.

And if your mainstream doc hasn’t devised a plan to get you off drugs, blame it on the company he’s keeping. A barrage of drug reps and a dogmatic medical association have convinced him (wore him down) into believing that drugs are the answer—the only answer.

Let’s start with cholesterol, hypertension and GERD. For each of these conditions, I am offering you here the general guidance that will help you to free yourself from medications that you don’t truly need. Keep in mind that some recommendations will overlap, because, as I frequently tell you, your body is a wondrous, interconnected creation. And that’s why mainstream medicine fails. It looks at you as a heart, a blood vessel, or—God forbid—just a number on one of those slippery, sliding scales that were created by drug company medicine.

The first thing you need to do is to have a conversation with your doctor. Tell him that you have a goal of being medication-free. He may look as if he has been struck, protest loudly, and may even say “Absolutely not!” Stick to your guns. Let him know that you’re not deserting him, but have come to enlist his help on your journey back to wellness.

If he tells you that it can’t work or that he won’t work with you, find a new doctor.

It can work. I’ve seen it work with my own patients. It might not work the way some doctors practice medicine, but I treat people—not their symptoms.

Once I have a handle on a patient’s lifestyle, family history and interests, I recommend a course of action to get them back in balance—and to wean them off drugs. And just as often, I’m greeted with an incredulous look as if I’d suggested something scandalous.

If getting people off drugs is considered scandalous, well then, I’m happy to be guilty as charged. I get to know my patients face-to-face, not chart-to-chart—and you deserve a doctor who does the same.

Get off cholesterol drugs before the kids get back to school

The biggest gun on the market is statins. If your doc put you on one, you probably thought, “That’s it. I’m now a statin-lifer!” At least, that’s what all the TV commercials and magazine ads would have you believing.

Cholesterol is the main building block for all of your sex and stress hormones. It also helps maintain the integrity and function of every cell in your body. For starters, it’s a repair molecule. If you get a rip in the inner lining of one of your coronary arteries, maybe due to damage caused by high blood pressure, cholesterol leaps into action to plug up the wound. Think of it as your body’s self-produced glue, manufactured by your liver. You need adequate amounts of cholesterol to run your body. So it flies in the face of common sense and good science to aggressively scrape your body clean of every drop of it. But mainstream medicine doesn’t let these pesky facts get in its way.

Statins are criminally overused—up to twice as much as they are needed, and to the tune of $22 billion per year. We’ve become a nation cuckoo over cholesterol.

If you don’t already have heart disease or multiple risk factors, including a parent or sibling with heart disease at a young age (under 60), the studies clearly show statin drugs are of minimal benefit.

Big Pharma and its M.D.s-for-hire have taken a complex issue and slapped an oversimplified (but profitable) drug “solution” on it based on very faulty science.

Cholesterol has become the most maligned and poorly understood element of the human body. High cholesterol has been targeted as the cause of heart disease—a misconception that shows a grotesque ignorance and distortion of the medical science. As I discuss in a moment, cholesterol particle size and type are much more important than cholesterol levels.

Skip a cure that’s worse than the disease

About half of all first heart attacks occur in folks with so-called “normal” cholesterol levels. That blows any idea of “normal” right out of the water! It’s just an arbitrary guideline. And yet, this guideline is what most docs still rely on to “treat” your cholesterol condition.

Statins lower levels of coenzyme Q10. This would make me laugh at the irony if the problem weren’t so deadly serious. CoQ10 is a key player in energy production, and your heart requires a ton of it. This is why so many patients on statins suffer from muscle weakness and breakdown and why —irony of ironies—there’s increasing concern over heart failure from these drugs.

Also, dropping your cholesterol levels too low and too fast can cause a host of problems, such as memory loss, erectile dysfunction (ED), and nerve damage, and may even increase the risk of cancer.

So the idea that you need a statin drug in order to be healthier just because your numbers are high is absurd. It’s a classic example of brilliant marketing combined with incomplete—and rigged—science.

Foundations first

You probably think that if you eat a plate of cholesterol-rich scrambled eggs, your cholesterol levels will go through the roof. Not so. If you’re like most people, the amount of dietary cholesterol you ingest has little impact on your body’s natural cholesterol levels. Your liver makes production adjustments up or down based on what you eat. However, that’s not a license to eat whatever is put in front of you. Practice moderation and smart selections to improve all aspects of your health—not just your heart health. To reach and maintain ideal cholesterol levels, reject America’s standard anti-food diet that includes fast-food hamburgers, ice cream, highly processed baked goods and sugar-laden sodas. Vegetables should cover half your plate, with protein and starches getting a quarter each.

Here’s a little more guidance to help you decide what to put on your plate:

• Keep your selections simple.
  
• Choose vegetables of all colors. Steam them lightly for optimal taste and nutrient retention.
  
• Satisfy your cravings for a sweet treat by eating moderate amounts of fruit. It’s plenty sweet enough to have as a dessert—your taste buds just need to be recalibrated.
  
• Stick to a moderate intake of protein, avoiding anything that has been shot full of hormones and antibiotics. Fish, free-range chicken (leave the skin on—you need some fat), and beef—preferably from organically raised cattle and from a local source. That’s the best way to ensure that you’re eating the healthiest steak and burgers possible.
  
• Eat eggs every day if you want to, cooked with butter or olive oil. The anti-egg propaganda is nothing more than an offshoot of the marketing of cholesterol as heart enemy #1.
  
• If you like soy, use only the fermented kinds (miso and tempeh). Skip those big globs of tofu, soy powders, bars and soy milk, which for the most part are nutrient-robbing anti-foods.
  
• For your starches, choose minimally processed whole grains and starchy vegetables like potatoes (I didn’t say french fries), sweet potatoes, and winter squash (in moderation).
  
• Don’t even think about eating anything promoted as “low-fat.” That’s just shorthand for “high-sugar.” And a low-fat diet may actually contribute to heart problems. Nothing promotes undesirable, risk-heightening, small and dense LDL particles more than highly refined and processed carbs (such as cookies, cakes, crackers, and chips) and anything else with wheat and high fructose corn syrup.
  
• You need fat, plain and simple. Natural fats are perfect, derived from such sources as fish, healthy meats, nuts and nut butters, avocados, real butter (no margarine), and olive oil. You can even include small amounts of full-fat cheese and yogurt if you like. Trans fats (aka hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats) found in solid margarines and packaged baked and frozen goods should not be eaten, period.
  

Get off your La-Z-Boy

Studies show that just as eating well can help to reduce blood-cholesterol levels, exercise can do so as well. Even the drugmakers say you need to increase your level of exercise and fix your diet. (Of course, that message gets trampled in the mad rush to sell pills.)

The best exercise is the one you’ll do. Get a pedometer, because people who use one tend to walk more. Build up to 10,000 steps per day. And if you’re really serious, add some strength training. Use weights, weight machines, elastic bands, or even your own body weight as resistance. (You might try yoga, for example.)

Keep in mind that I’m giving you 90 days to build up your activity level, so you don’t have to head out tomorrow and try to run a marathon. That’s not necessary—but getting more active is. Don’t wait for tomorrow—start today. Keep up the momentum, just as soon as you’re done reading this issue!

Other forms of exercise you can try include gardening, dancing, chopping wood, bicycling and swimming. Hike on a local trail. Turn on the radio and dance in your living room. Give your tennis arm some practice. Have fun—exercise isn’t supposed to be so deadly serious. In the process, you’ll live longer and happier while making a meaningful dent in your risk of heart disease.

A positive outlet will bring you a positive cholesterol level

Do you want to know what’ll kill you faster than bad food, a sedentary lifestyle and cigarettes combined? Stress. It will increase your cholesterol level: When your body perceives a threat, it uses up more cholesterol in order to support its stress response. More important, stress provokes inflammation and magnifies your risk of heart disease and an early death.

I’m not telling you to perform a miracle and have zero stress. As a rule, stress is one of those givens —like death and taxes (and the bumbling of the FDA). However, you need to deal with it by becoming its manager instead of its victim. Your foundation has already been laid with real food and regular physical activity, which will build physical hardiness. The emotional stuff’s a horse of a different color. If you focus on the negatives, guess what happens: It becomes your world. And so starts that vicious, disease-inducing cycle that will literally wring the life right out of you.

I can’t emphasize enough the health-promoting, stress-evaporating power of time spent in a worship group, in a social club, and with friends and family members. Proven practices like deep breathing, prayer, meditation, and biofeedback can also help you manage your stress reaction. I recommend a form of biofeedback called Heartmath, which is being used successfully all over the world. You can purchase what’s called an Em Wave (for about $200) at www.emwave.com. You’ll quickly learn relaxation techniques with this excellent tool.

Nutraceuticals for lower cholesterol

There are natural supplements you can take that, along with your positive eating plan, will promote all-around good health while getting your cholesterol levels back in balance:

• Multivitamin: It’s a must as a blanket insurance policy. I recommend a food-form multivitamin from New Chapter, Megafood, or Garden of Life, because your body can handle them better. Men, choose one without iron. Ladies, be sure to get some extra calcium and magnesium, and men—just extra magnesium. You can take just plain old calcium and magnesium citrate, 600 to 1,200 mg of calcium and 400 to 800 mg of magnesium daily.
  
• Fish oil: This potent anti-inflammatory can protect against sudden death from abnormal heart rhythms, bring down high triglyceride levels and promote the desirable large, buoyant LDL particles. It may also boost good HDL cholesterol. Take 2,000 mg total EPA and DHA (the active form of omega-3s, as spelled out on the label). If your triglyceride level is above 150 (the ideal is below 100), take up to 3,000 mg daily.
  
• Vitamin D: Another anti-inflammatory, vitamin D protects against heart disease. Take 1,000 to 2,000 IUs daily. Ask your doctor to check your vitamin D level. (The optimum blood level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D is between 50 and 60 ng/ml.)
  
• Probiotics: They will promote healthy bacteria in your gut, balance your immune system, and, most importantly, normalize your cholesterol level. Take 10 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) daily to keep your gut “colonized” with good bacteria.
  
• Red yeast rice: I’m talking about a natural statin, which is why I caution you to treat it pretty much like a drug. It’ll improve your cholesterol and reduce inflammation. Red yeast rice behaves in a more balanced way in the body and causes fewer side effects than prescription forms. More and more cardiologists are using it—especially for people who can’t tolerate or simply refuse to take prescription statin drugs. It contains monacolins, which are the active ingredient, and it’s chemically identical to one of the first classes of statins, lovastatin. I recommend 400 to 600 mg per day, with the approval of your doctor.
  
• Antioxidants: I recommend Zyflamend from New Chapter or Vitanox from Medi-Herb. If you take extra vitamin E, choose a mixed tocopherol form (preferably one that also includes the four tocotrienols). Gamma tocopherol, not alpha tocopherol, protects LDL cholesterol from harmful oxidation. Don’t take over 400 units per day, and let your doctor know what you’re taking, because vitamin E has mild blood-thinning effects.

Here are additional options to round out your tool kit, based on your individual need:

• Plant sterols: They reduce absorption of cholesterol, lower levels 5 to 15 percent, and may confer some anti-inflammatory benefits.
  
• Tocotrienols: Part of the vitamin E family, this powerful anti-oxidant lowers LDL cholesterol and may protect against stroke and cancer.
  
• Sytrinol: Derived from citrus fruits, it lowers LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels while promoting favorable large and fluffy LDL-particle size. Take 150 mg twice daily.
  
• Pantethine: It lowers LDL cholesterol, boosts HDL and brings down triglycerides. Take 300 mg three times per day with meals.
  
• Niacin: The RDA for this B-complex vitamin (B3) is 20 mg daily. But prescription doses of up to 2,000 mg per day are used to boost HDL and bring down triglycerides (a pattern typically found in people with, or at risk for, diabetes). It’s effective, but it causes unpleasant flushing. Regular old off-the-shelf niacin will do if it’s taken with meals. Start at 250 mg per day with dinner. That dose can then be increased by 250 mg per week. This needs professional supervision, as liver and blood sugar tests need to be followed.

A primo blood test

I’m assuming your doctor is looking at a basic blood-cholesterol test: total, LDL, HDL and triglycerides, and hopefully a C-reactive protein that measures inflammation and is a strong predictor, when high, of heart-disease risk. (Ideally you want it below 1.0). I recommend you ask for the VAP test from Atherotec or a similar test from Berkeley Heart Labs or Spectra Cell. They all supply similarly fine details that allow a more accurate assessment of risk.

Focus on these two numbers

If you’re numbers-oriented and want to reduce your heart-disease risk, work on boosting your HDL to over 50 and reducing your triglycerides (TG’s) to below 100. These lower heart-disease risk more than worrying about lowering your LDL. Low TG’s favor a desirable, large and fluffy LDL particle type. Statins don’t budge either of these very much.

Boost HDL by up to 50 percent and lower TG’s:

• Niacin (Up to 2,000 mg a day)
• High dose fish oil (3,000 mg EPA+DHA daily)
• Exercise
• Cut back on carbohydrates, and cut out entirely the highly-processed stuff

Lower your blood pressure without beta blockers

If you were diagnosed with high blood pressure, your doctor probably made a notation on your chart that you have essential hypertension. That’s what over 90 percent of cases are called, and it means “cause unknown.”

Nonsense. If you can normalize high blood pressure with real food, exercise, appropriate weight loss and good stress management, the causes are fake food, inactivity, overweight, and poor stress-handling skills. Plain and simple.

But the term essential hypertension is a cop-out that results in the overuse of drugs. And as it turns out, two common drugs used to treat high blood pressure, hydrochlorothiazide and beta blockers, hasten the onset of diabetes. Many doctors are unaware of this not-so-little secret. And many who do know about it hem and haw on the subject. After all, those drugs lower blood pressure! But why choose the lesser of two evils, when there are solutions that don’t involve putting you at risk for the devastation of diabetes.

Smart changes will bring you smart results

Salt gets a lot of blame for hypertension. And in some cases, it’s true. Excess salt intake in salt-sensitive individuals equals increased blood pressure. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Excess salt causes the retention of fluid and actually triggers a mild surge of your stress hormones. If your blood pressure is creeping up, cut back on the salt. Also knock it off with buying those nasty processed foods—they’re overloaded with sodium.

If you must have salt, use the right kind. Plain old table salt is a processed chemical that’s foreign to your body. A bit of sea salt is okay, however, as it has a full complement of health-supporting trace minerals—like the sea water you’re made of. You can also fill your saltshaker with Mrs. Dash, a salt-free spice mix—or create your own. You may initially struggle with salt cravings, but they’ll disappear in about two weeks.

If you drink alcohol, cut back. More than a drink or two per day can increase your blood pressure and also lead to weight gain due to empty calories, which can be another factor in your escalating blood pressure.

Even if you’re 50 to 100 pounds overweight, losing just 10 to 20 pounds can make a difference. But don’t try to lose all that in just a week or two. More than two pounds per week will be mostly water, not fat, and won’t improve your health. Cutting 200 carbohydrate calories per day adds up to a 25-pound weight loss in a year. That’s about two light beers right there. That weight difference will help send your blood-pressure number south, where it belongs.

Clean up your stuff

The cornerstone of your blood-pressure-lowering campaign consists of real food, exercise and stress management. It’s what I call “cleaning up your stuff,” and this trio is many times more powerful —and ultimately a lot cheaper—than any pills you can take. And taking supplements can help move things along while you fix the underlying problem. Again, you have 90 days to make changes. I recommend the slow-and-steady approach, because that’s the one that will stick for the long haul.

• Fruits and vegetables: Bump up your intake. They’re rich in potassium and magnesium—minerals that relax your blood vessels and lower your blood pressure.
  
• Skip these: Heavily processed, salt-laden, alien-to-God’s-creation foods.
  
• Breathe: No, I’m not being a smart-aleck. While you may do it every day, there are a variety of ways to breathe. Check out RESPERATE (www.resperate.com), a clever device that will guide you toward a healthy breathing pattern and lower your blood pressure. It’s supported by solid research and is recommended by major institutions like the Mayo Clinic.

Get this key blood test

Ask your doctor to test your vitamin D status. Here’s why: Vitamin D performs a lot of key functions in your body. One task is regulating the action of your renin-angiotensin system, which is your hormone system responsible for regulating your blood pressure. If this system is inappropriately activated, your body will retain salt and fluid, increasing your blood pressure. This could be an important factor in your high blood pressure —as it is for many people. Vitamin D works at the fundamental level of the cell nucleus to regulate genes that influence plasma renin. Over half the population is deficient in vitamin D. Correcting this deficiency helps normalize blood pressure by normalizing renin activity, in addition to conferring a whole host of other important health benefits.

The renin-angiotensin system is the target of two types of drugs, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). These drugs will no doubt drop your blood pressure, but they also carry side effects. Vitamin D3 works similarly, but safely at a more fundamental level.

In my own practice, I’ve found that correcting vitamin D deficiencies with 1,000 to 2,000 IUs daily is all that’s needed to normalize some patients’ blood pressure. It makes more sense to give the body what it’s missing before you start chasing after high blood pressure with a drug hammer. That’s good medicine. If your 25-hydroxy vitamin D level is too low (<30 nanograms/milliliter), get it up to the 50 to 60 range and see where your pressure goes—it just may solve the problem.

To a regimen of vitamin D, I recommend adding:

• 4 Fish oil: Omega-3 fats from fish oil loosen up your blood vessels and lower blood pressure, but over 90 percent of the population doesn’t get enough. Fish oil protects against heart disease, diabetes, dementia and cancer while supporting joint health and a healthy mood. The best natural sources are cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines and herring. If you opt for a supplement form, shoot for 2,000 milligrams total EPA plus DHA—the active forms.
  
• 4 Magnesium: Deficiencies of this key mineral are rampant thanks to the Standard American Diet, with over 50 percent of the population not getting enough. It has mild “calcium-channel-blocker” effects, which means it’ll help to relax tight, narrow blood vessels and reduce blood pressure. Magnesium is found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains. Add 400 to 600 mg from food-form vitamins or up to 1,200 mg of the widely available magnesium citrate capsules.

There are several well-designed blood-pressure remedies to consider that drop blood pressure and support general good health. I’ve seen great results with “Blood Pressure Take Care” from New Chapter, an innovative company in Bennington, Vermont. Its premium products are available at retail stores and on the Internet (www.newchapter.com). I have no financial ties with the company—I’ve just witnessed the positive effects its products have had on my own patients.

This particular formulation includes specific probiotics, grape-seed extract and hawthorn. These work safely in combination on multiple pathways to help reduce blood pressure. They also supply antioxidant support and help maintain healthy levels of HDL “good” cholesterol. Also, check out Vasotensin, a unique formulation that’s derived from bonito fish and is made by Metagenics (www.metagenics.com). It helps prevent blood vessels from narrowing.

Freedom from GERD medications in 90 days

Got heartburn? The drug companies salivate at the thought, and mainstream medicine has turned this very treatable problem into a chronic medical condition. It’s not. Most people get heartburn now and then. A regular occurrence could be a problem, but let’s separate fact from fiction before we jump on the purple-pill bandwagon.

A regular occurrence of heartburn is called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which occurs when stomach-acid backflow (reflux) erodes the lining of your esophagus. This can worsen to Barrett’s esophagus, which increases your risk of esophageal cancer. The reason why doctors worry over heartburn and tend to jump the gun is due to statistics: Nearly 16,000 people will be diagnosed with esophageal cancer this year, and 13,000 will die from it.

You can often get rid of heartburn by taking an acid-blocking drug—either an OTC H2 blocker like Pepsid, Zantac or Tagamet or a much more powerful proton-pump inhibitor like Medium, Proton, Propose or Prefaced. Indeed, you can use any of these drugs now and then to kill heartburn without risking a lot of damage to your health. They can also be used short-term to help you heal ulcers or esophageal erosions.

But it’s a very bad idea for you to take them long term and certainly not every single day. As you age, you make less stomach acid—but your need for it doesn’t decrease. Also, as you age, the protective mucosal lining of your stomach and your intestine may thin out. The regular use of NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin, or even inadequate nutrition, can cause this. Another big cause of a thinned-out lining is prolonged stress, which can occur if you’ve handled a lot of emotional or physical stress poorly over many years. Cortisol will actually gnaw away at this lining over time.

Reduced stomach acid with or without a thinned-out GI mucosal layer can cause the symptoms of GERD. In short, your digestive system just isn’t working as well as it should. It’s estimated that up to 90 percent of all cases of GERD may be due to either of these problems—not too much stomach acid, as the Nexium pushers want you to believe. So the regular use of any acid-blocking medication is less than ideal (read “bad medicine”).

Don’t settle for feeling better temporarily—we can fix the problem permanently. The following non-drug measures will control symptoms of GERD, because for the most part, with this condition, when you get rid of the symptoms, you get rid of the problem.

Here are the basics to start with:

• Drop five to 10 pounds: Losing just this small amount may make the difference—even if it doesn’t bring you back to your normal body weight. Excess weight around the middle only serves to push stomach acid back up into your esophagus.
  
• Avoid tight clothes and belts: Literally loosen up, or you’ll be helping to push acid back up into your esophagus.
  
• Eat smaller meals: Overeating causes stress on your system. Finish up three to four hours before bedtime. And what you do eat, chew thoroughly.
  
• Kick butts: Smoking aggravates heartburn problems. (Though if you keep smoking, heartburn may be the least of your worries.)
  
• Raise your bed: Lift the head of your bed four to six inches or sleep in a recliner to help get rid of symptoms. Obviously it won’t fix the underlying problem, but it’s another tool that will help provide relief.
  
• Watch for food triggers: Pay attention to and minimize likely food-type instigators. Caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, hot spices and peppers, tomatoes, mint, and peppermint are common culprits.
  
• Protect your GI mucosal lining: Clamp down on cortisol, or it’ll continue to wear down your lining. A stress-reduction program will maximize your chances of long-term healing. Talk therapy, prayer, meditation and long hikes are just some of the ways to release the steam from the cortisol pressure cooker.
  
• Cut out NSAID’s: It’s bad enough that they kill 15,000 people per year. There’s no point in taking a chance on thinning out the mucosal lining of your stomach and intestines. A highly effective and safe botanical anti-inflammatory is Zyflamend made by New Chapter (www.newchapter.com).

The next level

To improve your gut function, the following will help you pull out all the stops:

• Probiotics: They provide general gut support and anti-inflammatory protection. Take at least 10 billion colony-forming units daily. This usually amounts to two capsules twice daily, and preferably with food. If you don’t like to take a lot of supplements at once, feel free to take one in the morning and the other one before bedtime.
  
• Fish oil supplement: 2,000 milligrams total EPA and DHA daily to help tune up your gut function.
  
• Digestive enzymes: Take these before a meal as part of an overall treatment plan for improving your digestion and relieving symptoms. Jarrow-Zymes Plus by Jarrow Formulas is a quality, widely available product.
  
• The Heidelberg test: Ask your doctor to determine whether or not you have too little stomach acid by ordering this test. It involves your swallowing a small capsule and waiting for 40 minutes.
  
• Betaine hydrochloride: You can also diagnose and treat low stomach acid with betaine hydrochloride, which will promote higher stomach acid levels. Do this only under supervision of an experienced practitioner.
  
• Bitters: These stimulate the digestive juices (aka stomach acid), a fact well known for centuries. Folks used to drink bitter aperitif beverages before meals. Swedish bitters (without alcohol) are widely available in stores and on the Internet. (Just type “Swedish bitters” into www.google.com to locate sources.) Try it before your meals.

Pump up your GI mucosa

There are several things you can use to build a thinned-out GI mucosal layer, whatever the cause. Mallow root (marshmallow), deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL), aloe vera gel, zinc carnosine, the amino acid glutamate and mastic gum are all known for their gut-healing properties. There are a number of top-line supplement companies that combine all of these healing agents into one convenient formulation so you don’t have to swallow a hundred pills per day. One such product is GI Revive from Designs for Health. Another useful product is Seavive, a fish protein derivative that helps heal the GI tract. It’s made by Proper Nutrition (www.propernutrition.com). You may need to take these products for three to 12 months to build up your GI mucosa.

Mark your calendar…

By the end of this summer, you could be off your drugs for good. I want you to look back on 2008 as the year you made your personal turnaround in terms of wellness. And when this natural regimen works for you, think of how many people you can influence to get off of their own crippling drug prescriptions and onto a new way of actually feeling healthy for the first time in years.

Drugs can intensify GERD symptoms

According to the National Institutes of Health, the following drugs and drug categories are associated with GERD:

• Calcium-channel blockers for high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms (ex. Norvasc, Diltiazem and Procardia)
• Tricyclic antidepressants (ex. Elavil)
• Sedatives for insomnia and anxiety (ex. Ativan, Valium and Klonopin)
• Beta blockers
• Bronchodilators for asthma (ex. Albuterol)

A hidden cause of GERD

If you have developed a hiatal hernia (HH), that may explain your GERD. It’s caused by a weakness in the tight band of tissue, called the lower esophageal sphincter, between your esophagus and your stomach. A barium swallow test can diagnose it, as can an esphophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD)—a mouthful that basically means a slender tube with a camera is inserted down into the stomach. It’s a safe, well-tolerated procedure, and it’s done under sedation.

Some chiropractors can pop a HH back into place with brief finger pressure. This may hold for weeks or months. There are also several newer, minimally invasive procedures performed at larger medical centers that can correct the problem and get you off drugs (see www.mayoclinic.org/minimally-invasive-surgery).

Also, make the changes I’m recommending here for GERD relief without drugs.

January 2008 PDF

Want to add 10 years to your life? Then watch your mouth

I know, I know: You don’t have time to make or keep a dental appointment. It’s one of those things you’re planning on getting around to. That is, after the kids are settled (even if they’re in their 40s), the dog has had her grooming appointment, and the cobwebs have been vacuumed from the ceiling corners.

The list of excuses goes on and on, so if I didn’t include your favorite, just fill in the blank. Or maybe your teeth just aren’t something you think about.

But what if I told you that you could add up to 10 years or more to your life just by having a healthy mouth? In my practice, I’ve found that this type of information tends to make people sit up and listen (even when nothing else would).

You see, while life continues to get in the way, over 400 families of bacteria are busily setting up shop in your rosy-pink gums and are breeding away. It’s a hospitable environment, you’re leaving them in peace—and they’re taking full advantage of it. They’re actually creating a portal so that an array of major degenerative diseases can worm their way in.

Gum disease is the opening salvo, considered degenerative in its own right. It mines its way through your gums and into your bloodstream, where it will allow the deposit of toxins.

The health of your mouth is something you can no longer ignore. It’s a priority you need to attend to this year—and I recommend that you get on it right away (well, as soon as you’re done reading this article).

What’s hiding in your gum line?

Have you ever seen one of those special news reports along the lines of “What’s hiding in your kitchen sponge?” I wish I could show you a real-life action film of the toxic stew lingering underneath your gums when these bacteria get the upper hand. You’d run to call your dentist so fast, you’d twist an ankle.

Here’s a scary fact: Nine out of 10 adults have some evidence of gum disease, but few of them realize it. Many folks count on the fact that if something’s wrong, they’ll have some pain to signal the trouble. Nope. You generally don’t experience any pain in the early stages. And like a lot of chronic degenerative diseases, this provides ample time for tissue loss and destruction to gain a foothold.

Most forms of gum disease are due to bacteria in the plaque that builds up along your gum line. These bacteria are literally irritating guests, known to produce a lot of garbage in the form of toxins and free radicals. This is damaging to your gums (sort of like a guest taking an ax to your furniture), and the tissue begins to deteriorate. Once the tissue is eroded, the bacteria take the opportunity to slink into your blood —where they’ll begin to circulate throughout your body. And this is where your trouble begins—chopping off up to 10 good years or more of your lifespan.

Once these bacteria have invaded your bloodstream, a chain reaction of long-term, chronic systemic inflammation is unleashed. In fact, gum disease is one of the more common causes of an elevated C-reactive protein (the blood test marker for inflammation in your body). When I see an elevated level (above 2.0), I always check to see if neglected dental care is a factor. Inflammation is a key contributor to and very likely the ultimate underlying cause of the many chronic diseases that plague our modern society.

That could explain why men under the age of 50 with gum disease are three times as likely to have a heart attack. Studies repeatedly show a link between heart disease and gum disease. Think about it: Both involve plaque build-up, which is never a good thing.

Gum disease with bone loss can lead to a three-times-greater risk of stroke and has also been linked to lung disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

How does it begin?

Never too early, never too late

There’s a list of causes that’s as long as your arm. (I’m not kidding: See the sidebar for some common ones.) One factor none of us can control is that we’re aging —even those just turning 10 years old. Would you believe that gum disease is prevalent in 15 percent of kids that young? And it just keeps climbing off the charts, with about 90 percent of us having it by age 65.

Another factor you can help is nutrition. Nutritional deficiency is a big problem when it comes to the health of your teeth—and maybe that’s why as you age, the statistics for gum disease get worse. Think about it: You have a lifetime of poor nutrition catching up with you.

Just like any other part of your body, your gum tissue and teeth need vitamins and minerals. Vitamin C is paramount for gum health. (Think of that old maritime curse, scurvy.) Calcium and phosphorous work together to provide strength to your teeth and the underlying bone structure. Zinc, copper and manganese are still more minerals that are required for a healthy mouth.

But good luck getting what you need if you follow the Standard American Diet, because it’s chock full of nothing. You may as well suck down air, for all the good it does you. In fact, it actually causes harm. Heavy on the processing, stripped of its nutrients––it’s insanity packaged in pretty wrapping in (somewhat) edible form.

Dr. Weston Price, a dentist in private practice at the beginning of the last century, spent a year traveling extensively throughout the world looking at the link between nutrition and teeth. He even visited “primitive” cultures (who could actually teach us a thing or three), and found a common theme. Anytime natural local foods were replaced with our Western “refined” foods (“Refined?” Talk about putting on airs!), the result was a steep decline in dental health. He took pictures the world over as evidence and published a now-classic book on his findings, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

His work and good old-fashioned common sense spawned a new line of thinking among the dentifrice crowd, which brings us to modern day.

Is everything about money?

Biological dentistry is a designation you may have already heard about. These are dentists who are becoming more aware of the gunk being dumped into their patients’ bodies—and want no hand in it. That includes the controversy over mercury fillings and about the adding of that toxic waste we’ve come to know as fluoride into our drinking water. There are still professionals in the world who wish to practice medicine in order to heal, not just to profit.

This growing field, also known as holistic dentistry, looks at a lot more than just our gaping maws. These dentists realize that there’s a synergistic relationship between your teeth, the foods you eat, and your entire body. By synergistic, I mean that all these things are working together—and that can be good or bad, depending on what you’re putting into the pot.

Unfortunately, these dentists have found themselves harassed by the disapproving mega-monopoly known as the American Dental Association. The ADA is evidently not immune to the same type of dependency that plagues the FDA: profit-reaping. Any dentists who think outside of the cash box are considered traitors to the cause, and some have been censured for their noble efforts.

So what can they do for you? A good biological dentist can advise you on the potential risks of root canals (yes, there are risks) and the right way to prepare for deep scaling, where the dentist goes under the gum line to clean up the mess. He’ll also take into consideration your overall health and look at nutritional factors—something you won’t get in an ordinary dentist’s office. If you’d like to see this type of dentist, go to www.mercuryfreedentists.com for a listing of practitioners by state.

How to tell if you have lifespan-shortening gum disease

Almost 100 years ago, the founders of the Mayo Clinic said this: “A person with a healthy mouth will live 10 years longer.” (Why do we so easily displace true wisdom?) And while you might not feel any pain or discomfort to give you fair warning of an unhealthy mouth, there are some signs and symptoms for you to look for. For starters, as a reaction to infection, your gums may be puffy and swollen. Also, consider it a warning if your gums bleed when you brush or floss.

Can you wiggle a tooth with your tongue? Not a good sign. Bad breath and mouth sores are some other unpleasant clues. And if you wear any sort of dental appliance, make sure it still fits properly. Misalignment leaves room for bacteria to barge in.

If your gums are receding and look like they’re being chased back into your head, that should have you begging your dentist’s receptionist to bump you to the front of the appointment line.

As you wait for your appointment, here are a few things you can start doing immediately:

1) Supplement: Grape-seed extract, vitamin D, and CoQ10 you can read more about in this month’s Top 10 on page 4. They’re vital for healthy teeth and gums.

2) Whole foods diet: Plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains will take care of the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy mouth, such as vitamin C, calcium and magnesium. Choose lean and unprocessed pasture-fed beef, free-range poultry and eggs, and organic dairy products. Eating healthy will go a long way in supporting good overall health.

3) Proper brushing: Brush for a total of two minutes. Use a soft Radius brush (that’s what I use) or a Sonicare electric toothbrush. Start with the front of your upper teeth, moving right to left. Keep the brush at a 45-degree angle on the gum line. Do 10 light side-to-side strokes, two to three teeth at a time. Repeat, but do up-and-down strokes.

That’ll get you started. I’ll be giving you more tips next month on getting the healthiest mouth possible.

Common causes of gum disease

1) Nutritional deficiencies
2) Diet full of highly processed foods
3) Excess alcohol consumption
4) Diabetes
5) Stress
6) Bruxism (teeth grinding)
7) Smoking
Chewing or dipping tobacco
9) Poorly fitting false teeth
10) Chronic nail biting
11) Overzealous brushing and flossing
12) Stuck foreign bodies (popcorn hulls, tomato seeds, toothpick pieces, etc.)

Top 10 Supplements for optimum health

Many of my patients tell me that when faced with an aisle packed with innumerable supplement selections, they get confused. (If you’ve recently shopped for vitamins, I’m sure you can relate.) Knowing my patients’ medical and lifestyle histories helps me in guiding them in what would be appropriate to take.

But I also want to offer some guidelines for my readers, since many of you have written in asking for advice on this very topic. I’ll tell you the same thing I tell all my patients: Food first. When it comes to getting the nutrients you need, nutritious whole food truly is your health ally.

Vitamins and minerals are best when ingested straight from the forms they evolved in. Within those forms are the materials needed for optimum uptake and utilization by your body’s multitude of cells. As humans, we’ve been ingesting our primary nutrition through food for thousands of years—and that’s the form our bodies are most accustomed to.

With that said, there are several supplements that are key players in my practice. Let’s face it: It’s not easy to get everything you need from food when you lead the hectic lifestyle we all seem to lead these days. And supplements have immense therapeutic value when used for the right reasons and under the right circumstances.

One of the first things you need to do is ask why you’re taking a supplement. Then ask yourself how long you’ll need to take it. For a few of the following supplements, some folks may be able to use them every day for the rest of their lives. Others can be used intermittently as the need arises and still others for a limited period ranging from months to a few years to allow healing to take place.

Some of the supplements I chose because many or even most people probably don’t get enough of them in their diets. When you correct a functional deficiency of a key nutrient, all sorts of problems can improve. Then there are other supplements I’ve included because of their incredible healing and health-promoting powers.

1) Get into a sunshine state
Over 50 percent of folks living north of the Mason-Dixon line are deficient in the “sunshine vitamin,” otherwise known as vitamin D. It’s actually a hormone, giving the body directions as to how to regulate the absorption of calcium and phosphorus. It’s also an anti-inflammatory, protecting you against cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. It helps keep your muscles strong too, which helps to prevent falls. The best source is the sun. You’ll want to get at least 20 to 30 minutes of sun exposure three to four times per week between April and October. Get vitamin D through your bare face and arms and apply sunscreen after 15 to 20 minutes of your exposure to the sun. Unfortunately, the winter sun just doesn’t cut the mustard in northern climes. You need oral vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), 1,000 to 2,000 IUs per day if you aren’t getting it from the sun. Vitamin D is found in fatty fish, such as salmon, herring, sardines and mackerel, with smaller amounts in full-fat dairy products. Get your blood level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D above 40 nanograms per milliliter. Every doctor should be checking this level in every patient—especially since the supporting science has been all over the mainstream medical literature for years now.

2) Omega-3 fats
This is an essential fat that your body cannot make on its own. And the food industry hasn’t helped matters any, stripping this important nutrient from foods for the past 100 years. (Thanks for literally nothing.) So it should come as no surprise that over 90 percent of all Americans are deficient in this healthy fat. You’ll find it in fatty cold-water fish like salmon and the others I just mentioned above. They’re also in plant- based sources: flaxseed, walnuts, hemp and purslane. Keep your walnuts in the freezer (or eat them quickly) so they’ll keep. I recommend you have two to three fish-based meals per week plus plant sources. Omega-3 is an anti-inflammatory, helping protect against heart disease, cancer, arthritis and diabetes. It has also been found to be an effective mood stabilizer in depression and manic-depressive illness. You can also use a supplement of 1,000 mg EPA plus DHA. As a therapeutic agent for any of the above conditions, aim for two to three times that amount.

3) Probiotics
Your gut is inhabited by healthy bacteria called probiotics. You can restock your gut’s supply with all sorts of fermented foods—the most popular being yogurt. Stick with the natural plain or organic variety that doesn’t contain unhealthy additives and sweeteners. Most of your immune system resides in your gut (small and large intestines), so a healthy balance of good bacteria supports a healthy immune system throughout your body. There’s a lot of unnecessary antibiotic use in our society, so there are few people who can’t benefit from the periodic use of a probiotic supplement along with regular inclusion of fermented foods. (Remember this: anti-biotic = anti-living; pro-biotic = pro-living.) Probiotics are useful in treating acute diarrhea as well as both inflammatory and irritable-bowel conditions. They also optimize bowel-barrier function for healthy folks and just about all inflammatory diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and various cancers.

4) Magnesium
This is the MVP of minerals when it comes to vital pathways in your body. It has a key role in every cell’s energy-production equation. It’s also necessary for proper calcium utilization. (Your calcium supplement should contain at least 50 percent as much magnesium in it.) You’d be amazed by how many problems improve with a course of magnesium, since so many folks don’t get enough of it in their diet. But always go for food choices first: Kelp, wheat germ, nuts, blackstrap molasses, plus a wide variety of green vegetables and whole grains. Therapeutic supplementation is useful for constipation, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, heart arrhythmias and leg cramps— which often get mistaken for restless legs syndrome. It promotes good sleep for some (without having to worry about nighttime sleep driving). When I treat any of the above conditions, I recommend magnesium citrate (from Twin Labs, for example), 400 to 800 mg daily ––for insomnia, up to 1,600 mg before bedtime. The main side effect is diarrhea when you’ve used too large a dose. Fancier forms with orotate, fumurate and malate work great too. Avoid the oxide form, which is cheap and for some mysterious reason favored by many mainstream MDs. It mostly passes through your gut unabsorbed.

5) Folate
Folate (or folic acid) is a key player in a process called methylation. The liver uses methylation to help rid the body of toxins. Depending on age, up to 44 percent of the population has some degree of difficulty with normal methylation. Methylation disruption can be a contributing cause to serious conditions including colon cancer, heart disease, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Pregnant women need folate to prevent several birth defects, including spina bifida. You can test your blood-folate level, but the best test would be to check your blood-homocysteine level, which should ideally be below 7.0. This will show how well you’re methylating. Most of you can get enough folate from your diet. You’ll find it in brewer’s yeast, rice, wheat germ, beef, lamb and pork liver. Also, it’s available in a wide variety of beans and green leafy vegetables. Some people will require from 1,000 micrograms all the way up to 5,000 micrograms daily to bring down their homocysteine levels. Giving high levels of folate can potentially mask B12 deficiencies, which can result in nerve damage, dementia and dangerous anemia. Supplemental folate should always be accompanied by 400 to 1,000 micrograms of B12.

6) Coenzyme Q10
Also known as ubiquinone, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a major cofactor (i.e., enzyme helper) in the little energy factories known as mito- chondria found in every cell of your body. A mitochondrial imbalance can lead to heart problems, migraines, chronic fatigue and muscle weakness. It can also cause liver, kidney and eye problems. If you’re eating a balanced, whole-food diet, you’re probably getting the building blocks needed to make enough. If you’re not, get started. Fatty fish such as salmon and sardines, organ meats and whole grains should be added to your repertoire. You can use supplemental CoQ10 to treat migraines, heart failure, Parkinson’s disease (up to 1,200 mg per day) and high blood pressure. If you’re on a cholesterol-lowering “statin” drug, your CoQ10 levels could be depleted and your muscles may ache, so take 100 mg or more daily. For proper absorption, stick with gel-cap or “Q-gel” formulations.

7) Alpha lipoic acid (ALA)
It’s known as the “King of Antioxidants,” and it works in just about all body tissues—including the brain. It’s a powerful anti-inflammatory that helps recycle vitamins C and E. Like CoQ10, it plays an important role in your body’s mitochondria—where energy is produced. The body makes its own ALA, and the small amount you get in food isn’t even used by your body, so it’s better to supplement. Take 50 mg per day of the racemic form. I routinely prescribe 300 to 600 mg per day for diabetics, because it helps process blood sugar. In doses of 600 mg or more, it is useful for the treatment of nerve damage caused by diabetes or liver disease. Its use in treating Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s is being studied. It may also prevent any age-related declines in energy, muscle strength, immunity and memory—especially when teamed with acetyl-L-carnitine. If you’re not suffering from one of the conditions above and are otherwise healthy, 200 mg per day is a reasonable dose.

Rhodiola
Also known as the Russian ginseng, rhodiola belongs to a special class of herbs known as adaptogens. They balance and normalize your body’s internal functions. For example, rhodiola can either calm or energize you—depending on your need—and can lower excess levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin in the body. It’s honored in Russia both as a tonic to promote healthy aging and as a sports-performance aid. I routinely use it to treat depression, a sluggish thyroid, adrenal exhaustion and fatigue. It can perk up your mind and memory—and possibly your sex life! I recommend you read the excellent book The Rhodiola Revolution, by Richard P. Brown, M.D., and Patricia Gerbarg, M.D., for more information on this fascinating herb.

9) Grape-seed extract (GSE)
An antioxidant, GSE is many times more powerful than either vitamin E or vitamin C. It protects tissues from the ravages of free radicals and helps prevent LDL “bad” cholesterol from oxidizing into its more harmful form. The active constituents of GSE, known as oligomeric proanthrocyanidins (OPC), are also found in wine and dark berries. GSE works as a potent anti-inflammatory, which is why I use it to treat arthritis and heart disease. It supports healthy skin and may reduce the formation of wrinkles. Active in brain tissue, it helps protect delicate cell membranes from free radical damage. Look for a product that indicates it is “Masquelier’s Own,” a high-quality formulation imported from France. A useful daily dose is 50 to 100 mg per day.

10) Curcumin
This is the active constituent of turmeric, found in curry. It’s currently the object of intense research due to its anti-inflammatory effects, potential to protect against a variety of cancers, and ability to fight brain changes that precede Alzheimer’s disease. It revs up the detoxification process in the liver and inhibits platelet clumping—thinning the blood and helping to prevent clots that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. For this same reason, take it with caution if you’re also on the blood-thinning drug Coumadin. Enjoy curcumin by eating it in curry. You might also want to pick up the botanical anti-inflammtory Zyflamend from New Chapter (available in groceries and health food stores), as they include it in their formulation.

Forgotten cures
A healing remedy from Down Under

I’ve often said that the simplest remedies are often the very best. Yet clever marketing strives to convince us otherwise. If you didn’t have a headache before you went to the store searching for a remedy, you probably left with one after encountering the throng of choices before you. And I don’t care what it is you’re suffering from. It seems as if there’s some law that there has to be a minimum of fourteen options to choose from.

There’s one remedy that’s often overlooked, even taken for granted. I’m talking about Vick’s VapoRub. Remember having this smeared all over your chest when you were little? At the first sign of congestion and nasal stuffiness, out came that small, blue jar. And you almost certainly remember that smell—an astringent, clean, powerful menthol vapor.

As you may also remember, it worked. That’s because it contained eucalyptus, which lends Vick’s VapoRub that distinctive scent. Eucalyptus is a natural remedy whose benefits were discovered by the Australian aborigines thousands of years ago. It comes from a species of tree (or occasionally a shrub) indigenous to the continent of Australia and a small number of countries to its north.

In the late 1700s, botanists who sailed with Captain James Cook were the first to collect specimens of eucalyptus. By the 1800s, ships’ crews returning from Australia used eucalyptus tea to cure high fevers. They’d learned of this remedy from the native aborigines and were sharp enough to know a good thing when they found it.

During the 19th century, doctors here in America began recommending a eucalyptus steam inhalation for treating upper respiratory ailments like asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough and emphysema (usually caused by smoking). An enterprising pharmacist created Vick’s VapoRub in the 1880s, and cold and sinus sufferers have benefited ever since.

But beyond that stuffy nose and clogged-up chest, eucalyptus has proven antibacterial and antiviral properties. It remains a safe treatment for a long list of health problems, and you can literally use it from head to toe.

Like that headache I was just talking about. Think twice about reaching for NSAIDs like ibuprofen, naproxen or the liver-toxic Tylenol. Those nasty pills account for over 50,000 emergency room visits each year. Here’s a recipe for your medicinal arsenal that won’t make your stomach bleed: Add five drops of eucalyptus oil to a cup of cool water. Moisten a clean washcloth with the mixture, fold it and apply it to your forehead. Allow it to remain there for 10 to 20 minutes (longer if needed). Re-dampen as needed. Try it the next time your head feels like a construction site.

Even applying just a few drops of the eucalyptus oil to your temples can provide safe, quick relief for a headache. Essential oils of eucalyptus are widely available both in retail stores and over the Internet. Combining it with peppermint oil and applying it makes it even more effective. If it works and you can skip the NSAIDs, your liver and your stomach lining will thank you.

Whether you’re congested, have a cough, a sore throat or are dealing with the irritations of a cold, the vapors from a good eucalyptus steaming can work wonders. You can use a steam diffuser, widely available from any drug store. Or you can simply warm one to two cups of water and add five to 10 drops of eucalyptus oil. Aim for two or more 10- to 15-minute inhalations. This is a pleasant way to help shorten both the duration and the course of your respiratory ailment.

Here’s a remedy Vick’s VapoRub is a little less famous for: It can be used to treat toenail fungus. Apply it twice daily to the nail and surrounding skin. Give it time—at least a month—to have an effect.

Eucalyptus is also found in a variety of mouth rinses, where its antibacterial and plaque-reducing powers are put to good use. And if you get a canker sore on your mouth, you can speed healing by applying the essential oil with a Q-tip.

It certainly has healing power, but it can also repel. Bugs, that is. It makes an excellent natural insect repellant. Typically married to lemongrass, it can be found in a formulation from Burt’s Bees—with no toxic chemicals whatsoever. (Go to www.BurtsBees.com.) I’ve also seen these products stocked in some grocery stores.

Warning: Although eucalyptus that’s used topically and as an inhalant is quite safe, it must be kept out of your eyes. And it can provoke an allergic skin reaction in a small number of susceptible individuals, so test a small amount before you dive in.

Your Questions Answered

Alternative sleeping arrangements

Q.Your November article on sleep apnea was interesting, but I don’t think I have that particular problem. I have a lot of trouble falling asleep in the first place. I just want to know what’s safe and will take the edge off so I can get a good night’s sleep. I’ve heard of valerian and melatonin but don’t know anything about them. Are they safe? Do they actually work? Also, are they addictive? And another thing—I don’t want to feel groggier in the morning than I already do!
––A. Gibbons, Minneapolis, MN

A.In situations like this, I like to offer a range of safe choices so you can figure out what works best for you. Here’s some good advice on four: valerian, magnesium, melatonin, and a surprisingly effective homeopathic remedy called Coffea Crudea. Just so you know, I’ve tried them all myself and can vouch for their effectiveness. Individual responses can vary all over the map, however. Some folks may feel nothing at all, while others are out like a light for the best night of sleep ever. Still others may sleep too well, not waking up until noon.

Valerian is a time-honored sedative and nervine (or tranquilizer). Makes getting to sleep easier and improves deep sleep. Most people feel an effect, and for some it works beautifully. What many people don’t realize is you need to take it nightly for up to a month or so before it kicks in. When combined with lemon balm, passionflower, hops and/or chamomile, it can work even better. Take 300 to 600 mg of a 4/5:1 concentrate 30 minutes before bedtime. (Nature’s Way offers a great product you can find in your local grocery.) Some master herbalists recommend that you take it for no more than four to six weeks, as it can produce a hangover effect, headaches and mild dizziness in some, though rarely.

Plain magnesium can work wonders for some folks. You may have to push the dose up to 1,200 to 1,600 mg, which can cause diarrhea in some. Start at 400 mg and increase by 400 mg per night. Use magnesium citrate or orotate. The oxide form just speeds through you, as I mentioned in this month’s Top 10. Frankly, it’s not much more than a bowel irritant. Twin Labs, KAL and Solgar are all acceptable, widely available retail brands.

Melatonin is a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles, which can knock some people out very nicely. As we age, we make less of it, so the older you are, the more likely that it may work for you. Some people respond to as little as 0.5 mg while others may need 3 mg or more. It’s especially useful for jet lag or resetting your sleep cycle. I’ve seen it work for shift workers trying to get back on a normal schedule and for folks who can’t fall asleep at night or who wake up in the early morning and can’t get back to sleep. It worked great for me during a tough month early on in medical school.

There’s a nanotechnology spray product offered y SprayForLife that works quickly and effectively.

I recommend you try it out. (Go to www.trysprayvitamins.com.) The term nanotechnology just means that the melatonin has been broken down into extremely small particles so that it can quickly go to work on your brain’s sleep centers. A word of caution: Since melatonin is a hormone, we do not know what it means to take it continuously for months and years on end. So as a rule I favor its use now and then as needed and never more than seven to 10 days in a row.

Finally, there’s Coffea Crudea, a homeopathic remedy based on the principle that “like cures like.” It’s actually an extremely diluted remedy derived from coffee. I recommend you try this first because it’s the least likely to cause side effects. The usual potencies offered are 12C and 30C—either is fine. Take it 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime. Minty flavors can interfere with any homeopathic remedy so avoid mint toothpastes the day you plan to try this. Find it in health food and vitamin stores. If you’d like more information on homeopathy, go to www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org.

Experiment with the various remedies and use a stepped approach to dosing until you come up with what works for you. None of them are likely to be addictive.
One other point: Most sleep problems are usually stress-related, and trouble getting or staying asleep becomes a bad habit. I’d try one of these remedies for just a few weeks or months while you work on removing stress. Exercise and meditation helps a lot of people relieve stress and sleep better.