I want to wish all my patients and readers a very healthy happy New Year! I hope this new year brings you great health, happiness, and financial and spiritual success.
May you always continue to grow!
Have a great holiday!
Dr. Soram
Portion Sizes are Out of Control! Are Bigger Meals Bloating Your Waistline?
The problem is that there is a big difference between wanting to lose the extra weight and actually following through and doing something about it.
These findings were confirmed in a recent Gallup Poll, which revealed that most Americans — 55 percent — say they would like to lose weight. However, less than half of those people (27 percent) are making a serious attempt to lose the weight.
There also seems to be a misconception of what is considered overweight, as 36 percent of Americans in the study considered themselves to be in the overweight range, but when the Poll compared the self-report information to their reported ideal weight, the number of overweight people jumped to 62 percent.
8 Ways to Avoid The Top 5 Common Crippling Exercise Injuries
In other words, there’s no shortage of benefits to hitting the gym or taking a brisk stroll or two around your block on a daily basis. That’s why experts recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five or more days per week.
However, exercise, by its very nature, can also put you at risk of injury, especially if you’re new to working out or carrying excess weight. Even the most seasoned exercisers can find themselves with injuries from overuse of joints, accidental falls, or improper technique.
How to Make This a Joyful Holiday Even for those Feeling Lonely, Depressed or Emotionally Overwhelmed
And it seems everywhere you turn you hear on the news or read in the newspaper stories about the poor state of the economy — only compounding feelings of desperation.
By changing your outlook on the holidays and practicing gratefulness for the people in your life and your health — along with finding ways to give back — you can start embracing the holiday season once again with open arms. It’s amazing how showing your love, consideration and serving others changes your perspective during times of hardship and stress to a more positive one.
Happy Thanksgiving !
I want to wish all my readers and patients a very happy Thanksgiving!
This is the time of year when we all like to settle in with our families and friends and give thanks for all the blessings we have had over the last year.
I am very thankful to all my readers and for the wonderful feedback you give me all year.
Similarly, I am very grateful to all my patients who come to me, and treat me with such love and respect.
All my best wishes to all of you for a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Dr. Soram
Remember to follow me on Twitter and Like me Facebook where you can leave me questions and comments.
Also remember to visit my Healthy Living Shop where you can get physician quality supplements for you health!
First time buyers can use the code VPP10FT for a one time discount of 10% (before shipping, handling and tax)
Wishing you the best of health!
Dr Soram
11 Unexpected Things That Are Making You Fat
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1. Cul de Sacs: A study by Lawrence Frank of the University of British Columbia found that residents in neighborhoods with grids and interconnected streets traveled 26% fewer miles by car than those who lived in neighborhoods of cul-de-sacs.
2. Cars: The less people walk, bike or use public transit, the more likely they are to be obese. If you don’t have a car, it’s also more difficult to load your fridge with tons of food.
How Adults (and Teenagers!) Can Avoid Acne and Pimples
Having acne as an adult can lead to feelings of embarrassment, shame and lack of self-esteem.
“Despite the fact that adult acne tends to be generally milder than teenage acne, this common medical condition can have a significant impact on a person’s overall quality of life — regardless of when it occurs,” said dermatologist Julie C. Harper, MD, FAAD, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
You are Burying Your Face in a Hot Zone for Fungal Spores Every Night: Your Pillow
And it doesn’t matter if you just bought your pillow or have had it for 20 years. In a new study published in the journal Allergy, researchers at the University of Manchester sampled 10 pillows that were between 1.5 and 20 years old. ALL of the pillows had fungal spores — more than 1 million per pillow!
Each sample contained four to 16 different species, and the one that was the most common, Aspergillus fumigatus, is also the one that’s most likely to cause disease. Bread and vine molds and fungus usually found in damp showers and walls were also found.
Integrative Medicine News Briefs
Mercury in the Oceans
As my patients know, I have been very concerned about the increasing concentrations of mercury in the oceans, rivers, and lakes of the world. I see patients with increasingly large burdens of mercury. Even salmon, which is what I used to recommend that my patients eat, is now producing significant levels of mercury in my patient’s blood and total body load calculation.
Now a new study, published in Nature News has shown that humans have tripled the mercury levels in the open ocean since the Industrial Revolution.
A quote from the lead author of the article is:
“Study co-author Carl Lamborg, a marine geochemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, says that the deep water’s ability to sequester mercury may soon be exhausted. Humans are on track to emit as much mercury in the next 50 years as they did in the last 150 years, he notes.
He goes on to say, “You’re starting to overwhelm the ability of deep water formation to hide some of that mercury from us, with the net result that more and more of our emissions will be found in progressively shallower water. That increases the odds that mercury levels in key food species will rise, increasing humans’ exposure. ”
In addition, I do not think the scientists are measuring levels in people now as they say:
Between 5–10% of US women of childbearing age already have blood mercury levels that that increase the risk of neurodevelopmental problems in their children, and an estimated 1.5 million–2 million children are born in the European Union each year with mercury exposure levels associated with IQ deficits. Wildlife and marine life is not spared either. Studies have found that mercury levels compromise the reproductive health and fertility of some fish and birds”
I see very large levels in the blood of men and women who eat fish of almost any variety, especially in women of child bearing age eating the ubiquitous sushi!
Poisoned Seas
New information is showing that Otters in Scotland are only living one third of the lifespan of those who are in mainland Europe because of poisoned seas.
Zoologist Dr Paul Yoxon says that “chemicals in everyday products are accumulating in fish and shellfish on which the mammals feed, weakening their immune systems.” He goes on to say that “Toxicology tests have shown that they have accumulated high levels of cadmium and mercury in their bodies from the fish they eat.”
For this reason the “otters are not living long enough to significantly ?expand the population further.”
Dr Yoxon goes on to say that “‘Another group of chemicals have now appeared in the environment – polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are used as flame retardants in carpets, car seats and furnishings. These also accumulate in the environment and become concentrated in fish taken by otters, and can cause problems with the immune system.’’
So the question is what happens in humans who eat fish from this part of the world, if the otters are having trouble surviving at all with their chemical burden?
I used to tell my patients to eat Wild Alaskan Salmon which was very low in mercury. However, I am now seeing my patients who eat salmon-even just occasionally -still getting significant levels of mercury in their blood.
If these women then get pregnant, that mercury will be transmitted through the placenta into the fetus, thereby having an effect on the immune system, the endocrine system, and the nervous system of that baby. As I have shown in previous articles, Mercury is increasingly being linked by scientists as a contributor to the autism epidemic that we now have.
If you are eating salmon regularly, I encourage you to ask your doctor to get a blood mercury level. Make sure you are not getting too much mercury!
Oceana and Mercury
The environmental group Oceana is getting involved in the call to stop mercury pollution of our environment.
They are pointing out that “Mercury is a dangerous chemical finding its way into the oceans and the seafood we eat.”
“Mercury released into the environment from industrial sources ends up in our oceans, leading to seafood contamination. Because it builds up in wildlife through a process called bioaccumulation, animals high on the food chain carry the most mercury.”
In their article, it primarily focus on the large fish as having excessive mercury. They seem a little naïve to me that they are also not looking at the smaller fishes and their mercury load.
Oceana rightfully points out that “A handful of chlorine plants still use mercury in the chlorine manufacturing process. Not only has newer, mercury-free technology been around for decades but more than 100 factories globally have switched to the modern technology due to environmental reasons as well as increased energy savings.”
They have started a campaign to stop seafood contamination with mercury, and to encourage grocery stores to at least post the FDA’s mercury advice about how to avoid high mercury levels. At least this advice is a start. However it needs a major update, to show what I see as the increasing toxicity of fish contaminated with mercury.
Have you had your blood mercury level drawn recently?
The Mercury Policy Project
In my research for this week’s newsletter, I am delighted to have come across a new organization called the Mercury Policy Project which is organizing to create a “Zero Mercury Working Group”!
They have put out a new announcement , which I completely agree with
saying that “A new federal advisory promoting seafood fails to protect sensitive populations from methylmercury exposure, according to an analysis by Environmental Working Group and MPP
You can read here Five Things FDA and EPA Didn’t Tell You About Seafood Safety and get the full REPORT HERE
Lets stay in dialog about this ! Talk to me on Twitter !
Wishing you the best of health!
Dr Soram
Leaky Gut and Multiple Sclerosis
“Leaky gut” is a condition where the lining of the small intestinal tract has been damaged. The small intestine is approximately 20 feet long and is all coiled up upon itself inside our abdominal cavity. It is across the membrane of the small intestine that the nutrients from our foods are absorbed. The permeability of this membrane is now being linked to Multiple Sclerosis in an article that just came out.
Normally the cells in the small intestine are lined up like soldiers and tightly held together by “rubber bands” which we call “tight junctions”. If these rubber bands are damaged by anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, stress, gluten sensitivity, food allergies, then small holes develop between the tightly knit cells of the intestinal tract. Then food which normally should be going through the cells to be digested, is able to “leak” between the cells and directly enter our bloodstream. This is called a permeability defect of the intestinal walls.
Because these are incompletely digested food molecules, they are relatively big. Big enough to be recognized by our immune system as a “foreign invader”. The immune system then becomes activated and secretes pro-inflammatory molecules which are not limited to just the gut. Rather they get into our bloodstream and circulate through the entire body. This then can contribute to inflammation in any and all parts of the body, and specifically relates to autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
In the picture below you see the gluten (and other foods) “leaking” between the cells, causing immune cells called T-cells, and inflammatory molcules like Cytokines to be produced:
For several decades now, integrative doctors have recognized that there is a link between “leaky gut” and autoimmune diseases. In my practice, for a long time, if a patient comes to me with an autoimmune disease such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or multiple sclerosis, I always have evaluated them for leaky gut. The majority of the time, they do have intestinal permeability problems, and we use diet and nutrients to repair the lining of the intestinal tract. This very often brings great clinical improvement.
However if you read websites from conventional doctors including Wikipedia, you will find that this diagnosis of “leaky gut” is questioned by conventional doctors. They say it does not exist!
However I am happy to say that not ALL conventional doctors are close- minded to the idea of a leaky gut and its connection to autoimmune diseases.
Leaky Gut and MS
Just this past week, Shahram Lavasani, Ph.D., and colleagues have published a paper showing a link between animal-model multiple sclerosis and “leaky gut”. In an interview, Dr Lavasani, told the healthline website that this connection has been the focus of his research for more than a decade. He stated “back then, the scientists and professionals did not believe in involvement of the gastrointestinal tract and development of ”extra-intestinal“ autoimmune diseases.”
Because Dr Lavasani, had written another paper showing that a specific probiotic mixture can exert a therapeutic effect in animal model multiple sclerosis, he was spurred on to do this research evaluating gut permeability and animal model multiple sclerosis.
To me, this recent research is extremely exciting, because once again the validity of integrative medicine’s principles of health, are being proven with modern science.
Dr Lavasani states at the end of the abstract for his recent article that “an increased understanding of the regulation of tight junctions at the blood – brain barrier and in the intestinal wall may be crucial for design of future innovative therapies” for multiple sclerosis.
Although the animal model that they use for multiple sclerosis is widely recognized to be a very good model for human multiple sclerosis, we must acknowledge that this study was done in mice not humans. I am happy to see that Terry Wahls M.D. is currently finishing a study on the role of diet and multiple sclerosis. Her study is looking at the benefit of a meat-based Paleo diet for MS. I hope that one day we will be able to do a study with multiple sclerosis and a vegan diet along with nutrients that are known to be able to heal a leaky gut. Ideally, this study will have measurements of leaky gut at the beginning and end of the research.
Do you or your friends or family have Multiple Sclerosis or other autoimmune dieseases? Have you or they been evaluated for leaky gut?
Let me know your thoughts on Twitter and Facebook .
References:
Acknowledgments of photos:
Wishing you the best of health!
Dr Soram
