050-Ask Dr. Soram-Preconception Pregnancy Preparation, Probiotics, Autism, Unsafe Bottled Water, and Your Questions Answered.

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I open the show with the announcement that I have a new website! You can find it at Integrative Medicine Update. I’ve made this a free membership site so that you may add articles on integrative medicine to share with the world. It has a Digg style interface and it is very easy to use. Please check it out and catch up on the latest in integrative medicine.

MY NEW WEBSITE AND STORE

I’m also delighted to announce that on April 18 I will be opening a new online nutritional supplements store. Many of you after my Dr. Oz appearance asked me if I had other products that I endorse. In this new store I will be able to make available to you most all the products I use in my private practice of medicine. These are products that are not available at health food stores, because they are of a higher quality and designed for physicians to use with their patients. More about this in my next issue!

VITAMIN D AND DIABETES

I then go on to give you an update in the latest this week in Integrative Medicine. First off we talk about the new study that has shown that vitamin D is able to decrease the risk for diabetes and obese children and adolescents. In fact a quote by the author said, “By increasing vitamin D intake alone, we got a response that was nearly as powerful as what we had seen using a prescription drug”. Click here to read this article.

Although this article was written about children and teenagers I’m sure that it would also be true for adults. If you have family or friends with diabetes be sure to tell them to get their vitamin D levels checked and to optimize their vitamin D.

OUR GUT BACTERIA

We then talk about the importance of gut bacteria and its relationship to obesity. A new study done at Cedars Sinai Hospital here in Los Angeles is the first to show an association between gas production and body weight. The author stated “This could prove to be another important factor in understanding one of the many causes of obesity.” Click here to read this study.

Back to back with this article about gut bacteria, another study has come out saying that part of the benefit of gastric bypass surgery could be a change in gut microbes. The author of this study, Lee Kaplan stated “Our study suggests that the specific effects of gastric bypass on the microbiota contribute to its ability to cause weight loss and that finding ways to manipulate microbial populations to mimic those effects can become a valuable new tool to address obesity.”

Over and over again, we are getting the importance of our digestion for our whole body’s health.

FRENCH BOTTLED WATER

I then review a study showing that one in five French bottled waters contain drugs or pesticides. Specifically it contained chemotherapy drugs as well as pesticides. The authors of the study say that the amounts are “miniscule” and not to be worried about. However consumer groups along with integrative doctors know that very small amounts of chemicals can work very powerfully on the body. This is especially true if there is more than one chemical.

They have not done this study on American waters yet but it does make you wonder. Click here to read about this study.

HEAVY METALS AND AUTISM

The next study I review is the one that shows several toxic metals are found in children with autism. This dovetails very well with the subject of our interview today. It was found that between 30% and 47% of the variation of autism severity was associated with the level of several toxic metals, with cadmium in Mercury being the most strongly associated. Click here to read.

ORGANIC FOOD AND HEALTH

I then talk about an article showing that organically grown food provides health benefits for fruit flies! Specifically, flies there were raised on diets with organically grown produce, had greater fertility and longevity.

I know it is only a matter of time until organic foods are shown to benefit humans in the same way!

MINDFULNESS TRAINING

And then we turn the conversation to the importance of mindfulness training. One new article shows that mindfulness training reduces mind wandering. They measured college students ability to perform on exams. The students who receive mindfulness training showed improved accuracy on the GRE and higher working memory capacity, compared to those who simply received instruction in nutrition. The researchers estimated that mindfulness training resulted in the equivalent of a 16 percentile – point boost on the GRE.

If your child is going to be taking examinations, you may want to have them learn mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques.

Yet another Mindfulness studies showed that it is associated with lower stress hormone levels. Specifically high levels of cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal gland, are associated with physical or emotional stress.

In this study, a Buddhist scholar trained participants in mindfulness of breathing, observing mental events, and observing the nature of consciousness. What the researchers found was that “The more a person reported directing their cognitive resources to immediate sensory experience in the task at hand, the lower the resting cortisol.”

Interview with Lyn Patrick ND

I then go on to my interview with Dr. Lyn Patrick with a world-renowned natural path Dr. from Colorado. Our topics this week is Preconception Pregnancy Preparation. We talk about BPA and other chemicals that are harming our children. We talk about how the mother should prepare for pregnancy before she conceives.

I know you will enjoy this podcast.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

I then answer your questions about:

1. Diverticulitis

2. Leg cramps and their treatment.

3. I talk about the feedback I got from listeners on the importance of silence that they have come to realize.

4. I also addresses listeners’ questions about the safety of vitamin D.

Thank you for listening to my podcast. You may send me questions by email at questions@askDoctorSoram.com. You may also call the voicemail hotline, which is back up and working, at 310-499-0275.

I will get to your questions as fast as I can.

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