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In this episode I talk about the current controversy regarding BPA, also known as bisphenol A. The FDA just rejected a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council to ban BPA in food packaging.

BPA has been found in the urine of more than 93% of Americans tested. It is a synthetic estrogen that was developed more than 70 years ago and has been widely used since the 1960s specifically to make polycarbonate plastic for things such as baby bottles. It's also been used to line metal cans such as soup cans. It can be found in dental sealants and eyeglasses as well as a coating for cash register receipts and hundreds of other household items.

BPA is an “endocrine disruptor” (EDC) and as such disrupts our endocrine system. It is been linked to neurological defects, diabetes, breast and prostate cancer, and heart disease.

Just recently Campbell’s Soup company announced that they would be removing BPA from the inner lining of their soup cans. This was brought about by pressure from consumers. [Read more…]

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This is part 2 of my interview of noted Ob-Gyn Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz.

We pick up in part 2 of the interview talking the nutrients she recommends during pregnancy. Brain development and Essential Fatty Acids during pregnancy and nursing are reviewed. 

Then we move on to talk about bio identical hormones for menopause. We review the herbs that are helpful for menopause. What is the definition of bio-identical?  Dr. Suzanne defines it. 

Is it risky for a menopausal woman to take bio identical hormones? This depends on several factors in the woman’s life and personal history. 

Dr Suzanne definitely recommends bio identical hormones for women that want to take hormones at menopause. She reviews the new data from the Women’s Health Initiative that women with low risk for breast cancer actually had a lower risk of breast cancer when they took the horse hormone brand Premarin. 

Furthermore I am happy to learn that a new study of hormone replacement in women who had breast cancer is also in progress, to help with symptoms including bone loss.  [Read more…]

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I am delighted to have on this podcast my colleague and friend, Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz  M.D. Dr. Suzanne applies integrative medicine to Obstetrics and Gynecology , the way I apply it to Internal Medicine

Dr. Suzanne is fully trained in Ayurvedic Medicine and uses it in her practice. We talk about “what is Ayurveda” and how does it compare with Traditional Chinese Medicine. Ayurveda is one of the oldest healing systems and comes from India. 

Ayurveda means the science of life and is directly related to Yoga. 

We talk about the main modalities of treatment that are used in Ayurveda. And she points out that lifestyle management is a big part of Ayurveda.

 Marma therapy  is part of Ayurveda and is analogous to acupressure in Chinese medicine.

Dr. Suzanne brings in many aspects of integrative medicine to her practice and works closely with other integrative practitioners and that is how I met her. She provides a safe environment for women to talk to her about their lives and health.

We discuss how she uses Ayurvedic  medicine in Obstetrics. The idea that “you are not in control” is a big lesson during pregnancy and we discuss this.  Pregnancy lets a woman learn to let go! We talk about yoga and safe yoga practices during pregnancy. I am happy to see that Vitamin D is part of her basic prenatal blood panel.  [Read more…]

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In part 3 of my interview with Ashley Koff, R.D.,we talk about calories and how Ashley really pays attention to the nutrient value rather than calories and she calls meals “Eating Occurrences”.  Eating occurrences are not what we normally consider  a meal but eating every 3 hours rather than gigantic meals all at once.

This is the opposite of “backloading” which is eating small all day and then having a gigantic dinner with snacks the rest of the night. This prevents people from saying  “ I can go all day without food but then at 3pm I need my sugar. 

Ashley’s 4 tenets for healthy eating are

1.Quality,
2. Quantity,
3.Frequency and
4. Nutrient balance.

Food allergies are then discussed and the role of GMO’s in contributing to this. Our bodies are getting all sorts of things in modern food that it does not know how to deal with. This causes the body to become less efficient and irritated. Food intolerances are a wake up call –Your body is telling you it is so irritated that is not accepting the food you are putting into it.

So we use a simple bland diet for a while to clear the cobwebs so to speak and then try the foods again. Often you will be able to eat many of the foods that you thought you were allergic to.  [Read more…]

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This is part 2 of my interview with Ashley Koff RD on the importance of good diet for our health

We talk about her two books, Recipes for IBS and Mom Energy: A Simple Plan to Live Fully Charged which she wrote with Kathy Kaehler, who is a celebrity trainer. 

25 million people have IBS and that is why Ashley wrote a book on the dietary approach to helping patients with IBS. Ashley wanted her book to be called Digestive Wellness and that is what it is really about. 

In her new book Mom Energy: A Simple Plan to Live Fully Charged. In this book she talks about how fatigue is one of the main complaints in our society.  She talks about how people are confusing MORE energy with Better energy. We want to learn what a good baseline energy for us. Her book is much more than just the mother with children but really anybody who needs to give out a lot of energy.

She points out that in the name of being a mom, women are often rewarding themselves with food. She talks about the importance of being selfish so that you can take care of yourself and that you can then take better care of your children and family. In our society the idea being selfish is regarded as negative, but that is not really the way it should be. This will let women be better in their own lives and better for others.

The simple analogy is that on an airplane you are advised that if the oxygen masks drop down you are to put it on yourself before your children so that you can properly take care of them.  [Read more…]

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Ashley Koff RD is a registered dietitian that I have worked with in my office for over five years. Often I give my patient's special diets in order to help improve their health. This can range from a "leaky gut" diet to a diet to reduce overgrowth of yeast in the digestive tract. 

As a physician, I often do not have the time to go over the details of the diet and certainly do not have the time to help them with direct menu planning. I'm very fortunate to have Ashley working with me to help implement the diets that I prescribe for patients. As a Registered Dietitian, she is able to sit down with the patient  and go over the diet and menu planning in detail and answer all their questions because of her familiarity with all the integrative medicine types of diets that we use.

In this first part of my interview, Ashley and I discuss what is the difference between a registered dietitian and nutritionist?

We then go on to talk about why a doctor would refer her a patient and what her role is working with the physician such as she does with me. We talk about how she helps my patients. And how she allows email follow-up for her patients. She helps people find what works for them with diet not just a rigid following of a program on a piece of paper. 

Ashley works with me and other physicians around the country and helps our patients “implement” the diets the doctors prescribe.   [Read more…]

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Happy new year to all my listeners and readers and lets make this a year  of Enlightened Medicine, Conscious Living and Compassionate healing.

In this part two of my interview with Dr. Walter Crinnion we continue to discuss the ubiquitous phthalates, and how Conscious Living can help us minimize our exposure to them.

We talk about several studies that have shown it is easy to reduce your phthalate burden. And  a book that shows how the authors were able to reduce their own levels. The book is Slow Death By Rubber Duck

or you can get it on Kindle here

We also talk about Metametrix which is a laboratory where your doctor can order a test kit to measure your phthalate levels. We also talked about the dirty dozen at the environmental working group. The link to the environmental working group's safe cosmetics database is here.

[Read more…]