| Natural
Wellness News |
| Vol.
1, No. 51 * * * September 2011 |
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Happy States, Healthy People
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Message
from Bernadette Wulf
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Greetings!
Why are Hawaiians smiling, while inland residents along the East Coast
frown? Well, maybe the difference is not that extreme, but there must
be obvious reasons why some states of the U.S. consistently come out on
top in the health and well-being ratings. Check out the last article
and take a look at the map of recent Gallup Poll findings. Makes you
wonder, doesn't it?
What else do we have to share with you this month? How about some great
herbal remedies from Brigitte Mars, research on how breast feeding and
probiotics can prevent or even cure autism, an OJ shocker that has
nothing to do with Simpson, a couple of fascinating articles on Omega 3
fatty acids and how you can now get your levels tested, and one from
Dr. Mercola that really got my goat. It is about how medical "science"
differs from physical science... and it's a BIG difference! Think twice
about all those the health studies you read about and ask who has
something to gain from the results. It may have a lot more to do with
money than health.
Wherever you are, I hope you have avoided flooding, earthquake damage,
rioting, or any other sort of natural or unnatural disasters. Mother
nature is cleaning house, moving her furniture and generally working to
bring everything into balance for the health of our planet. It's sort
of like a flu bug working to clean up our bodies - not always fun, but
ultimately a valuable process.
To Your Health!
Bernadette Wulf
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Visit
My Website HealItAll.com |
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Herbs
and Food for Natural Pain Relief
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Herbalist Brigitte Mars offers some great information on natural pain
relief on her website. I've included an abbreviated version here.
Follow the link below for more details on specific uses for each herb.
Sometimes the remedy you need is as close as your spice rack or the
local natural food store!
"* Cayenne pepper stimulates endorphin production and is an
anti-inflammatory agent.
* Corydalis root, a relative of Poppy helps relieve pain from
traumatic injury. Corydalis binds with opium receptors in
the body and slows down the breakdown of choline.
* Cramp Bark is an analgesic, anti-inflammatory,
antispasmodic, and sedative. It can calm menstrual cramps,
rheumatism and spasms of legs and lower back.
* Feverfew herb inhibits certain inflammatory type hormones
known as prostaglandins and prevents blood platelet
aggregation (clumping together).
* Ginger root is warming and improves circulation. It can
improve the pain of arthritis, backache, and menstrual
cramps.
* Hops strobiles, a relative of Marijuana, are sedating to the
nervous system.
* Kava kava root, enjoyed by many tropical island natives is a
skeletal and muscle relaxant.
* Passionflower, doesn’t make you more passionate, but slows
the breakdown of neurotransmitters serotonin and
norepinephrine.
* Skullcap herb sedates the brain and spinal column and
encourages endorphin production.
* Valerian root is a smooth muscle and skeletal relaxant.
* White Willow bark contains salicin; one of the original
aspirin compounds and is a traditional herb for arthritis,
backache, gout, headache, joint inflammation, migraine, and
general pain.
* Vitamins & Minerals - Vitamin B-1 and calcium raise
one’s
pain threshold. Vitamins C and E are necessary for the production of
endorphins. Magnesium can help relax muscle spasms.
* DLPA (dilauroylphosphatidic acid) is made from the essential amino
acid, phenylalanine. DLPA works by inhibiting the enzymes that destroy
endorphins so that the naturally occurring endorphins can survive
longer. DLPA helps relieve chronic pain, yet does not block the nerve
transmission of short-term acute pain. Although DLPA is considered to
be very safe, it should not be used with MAO inhibiting drugs, during
pregnancy or by phenylketonurics."
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Learn
More About Natural Pain Relief |
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Autism
and Gut Flora, the Amazing Connection!
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When Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride discovered that her own son was
diagnosed with autism, she started on a journey of discovery that
healed her child and now offers hope to millions of autistic children
around the world.
From Mercola.com: "Dr. Campbell is a medical doctor with a postgraduate
degree in neurology. She worked as a neurologist and a neurosurgeon for
several years before starting a family. When her first-born son was
diagnosed autistic at the age of three, she was surprised to realize
that her own profession had no answers…
"Back in 1984, when she graduated from medical school, autism was an
exceptionally rare disorder, with a prevalence of about 1 in 10,000.
"'By the time I graduated from medical school I had never seen an
autistic individual,' she says. '… To be honest, the first
autistic child that I encountered was my own… Five years ago
we
were diagnosing one child in 150, which is almost a 40-fold increase in
incidence. Now in Britain and some countries, we are diagnosing one
child in 66.'
"The rates are similar in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand
as well. She quickly delved into research, looking for an answer for
her son, and ended up getting a second postgraduate degree in human
nutrition. As a result of her work, her son fully recovered and is no
longer autistic."
What Dr. Campbell discovered is that autism begins in the gut. "'What
happens in these children [is that] they do not develop normal gut
flora from birth…' she says. 'Gut flora is a hugely
important
part of our human physiology. Recently research in Scandinavia has
demonstrated that 90 percent of all cells and all genetic material in a
human body is our own gut flora. We are just a shell… a
habitat
for this mass of microbes inside us. We ignore them at our own peril.
"…As a result, their digestive system—instead of
being a
source of nourishment for these children—becomes a major
source
of toxicity. These pathogenic microbes inside their digestive tract
damage the integrity of the gut wall. So all sort of toxins and
microbes flood into the bloodstream of the child, and get into the
brain of the child. That usually happens in the second year of life in
children who were breast fed because breastfeeding provides a
protection against this abnormal gut flora. In children who were not
breastfed, I see the symptoms of autism developing in the first year of
life.
"So breastfeeding is crucial to protect these children."
The overuse of antibiotics and vaccines, combined with poor diet, turns
out to be causing "...a generational build-up of abnormal gut flora,
with each generation becoming ever more prone to being further harmed
from the use of antibiotics — and vaccines as well..."
Please circulate this article to any new parents you know and anyone
who has young autistic children. It could save them untold misery.
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Read
More About Autism and Probiotics |
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The
Shocking Truth About Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
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How Fresh is your OJ? I don't know about you, but I was duped! I always
thought that "not from concentrate" orange juice meant it was just
squeezed from fresh oranges, flash pasteurized, packaged and shipped
out to markets. Turns out that is a bunch of hooey.
I thought this type of OJ would be healthier, because they didn't take
out the natural water and replace it with fluoridated, chlorinated tap
water. In that way, I suppose it is actually healthier, but what about
all the other tampering they do?
According to this article from Dr. Mercola.com, "For
industrially-produced orange juice, after the oranges are squeezed, the
juice is stored in giant holding tanks and the oxygen is removed from
them, which allows the liquid to keep for up to a year without
spoiling. It also makes the juice completely flavorless. So the
industry uses “flavor packs” to re-flavor the
juice."
Yuck! That is hardly what I would call fresh squeezed. No wonder it
never tastes as good as when you squeeze it yourself. Personally, I
tend to go for grapefruit juice rather than orange, but I bet the "not
from concentrate" grapefruit juice is treated pretty much the same as
the OJ.
Seems like we always come back to the same conclusion. Nothing is ever
going to be as good, or as healthy, or as safe as when you make it from
scratch, especially if you also grow it yourself.
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Read
More About Not-From-Concentrate OJ |
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Fats,
Insulin & How Accurate is Health Science?
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This article from Dr. Mercola's newsletter is really fascinating,
because it brings up the whole issue of how medical science differs
from physical science. We all took science classes in school and
learned that science requires controls, repetition, and strict
procedures in order to prove theories. So naturally, we assume that
"scientific" medical studies operate in the same way. According to
prominent scientific journalist Gary Taubes, that assumption is totally
false! Who knew?
The article, which is well worth reading, goes on to explain the
relationship between fat, carbohydrates, insulin and various diseases
such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and weight gain. But the part
that really made me sit up and take notice was the following:
"Mechanisms that Maintain Dogmatic Beliefs, Regardless of the Evidence
"Today, it's easier than ever to connect the dots and see how health
and dietary recommendations are the result of massive conflict of
interest, perpetuated by self-interested groups, and industries that
push unfavorable research findings under the proverbial rug. The
medical and health fields are now absolutely riddled with dogmatic
beliefs that defy both common sense and scientific truth. And yet they
prevail, even though it's clear to see that many of these
recommendations are doing more harm than good.
"Why is that?
"According to Taubes, part of the problem is that, contrary to research
in physics, where a lot of attention must be paid to the many variables
that may influence the result, and where negative results that do not
confirm your beliefs are meticulously evaluated, medical research does
not adhere to many of these same exacting standards. One of the reasons
for this is the perceived need for speed, or as he likes to call it,
'the Jurassic Park mentality.'
"'[A]bout every 10 minutes they would go, 'But people are dying out
there! People are dying out there! As we're talking, I don't know;
another 100 Americans have dropped dead from a heart attack. So you've
got to move fast. You can't wait for the definitive evidence to come
through,' he says.
"I would look in the literature and I was always told this by the
research: 'We can't dot every i and cross every T. We're not like the
physicist who… have the time and the patience to reproduce
the
experiment and make sure they control for all the variables.' I say,
basically, 'What you're saying is you don't have the time to figure out
whether you're really right or not, because if you don't dot every i
and cross every T, you don't know.' That's how cruel science is. But
because people are dying out there, we have to move fast… We
have to jump to conclusions and we have to hope that we're right.
Unfortunately, all too often… when people do that, they're
NOT
right.
"Unfortunately, once nutritionists, dieticians, personal trainers, and
the average person has fully embraced a pre-conceived conclusion, it's
very hard to reverse. It's even more difficult once the government
agencies have bought into it and turned it into dogma.
"'[I]magine if the American Heart Association… decide they
were
wrong. What do they do? You can't just put out a press release saying,
'We apologize for the last 40 years of advice we've been giving you. We
apologize if we got a lot of stuff wrong and we killed a lot of your
loved ones… Now, we're going to tell you what the real
answer is
and we have confidence in this one'… It just can't be done.
All
that stuff is institutional self-interest too.
"Then there's the issue of what psychiatrists calls 'cognitive
dissidence,' where, when faced with the possibility that you've been
wrong for a long time, perhaps most of your career, your brain simply
invents ways to convince you that you're still right. These are some of
the mechanisms that keep dogmas firmly in place for extended periods of
time. This is not only true for nutrition, but also in other areas of
public health, such as the issues of water fluoridation, the use of
mercury in dentistry, and the ever-growing childhood vaccination
schedule.
"'[A]nd then you have the funding mechanisms,' Taubes says. 'They tend
to fund people who agree with the conventional wisdom.'"
I will add my two cents worth here: Follow the money trail. Health
science is big business and funding goes where money grows. Don't
believe every study you hear about. Always measure the evidence against
traditional ethnic diets that have kept people thriving for thousands
of years.
Ask your body what it wants. It will tell you. You can trust it. You
may find that it asks for seemingly strange "meals." Sometimes just a
spoonful of something is all it really wants, but you keep eating
mechanically just because your plate is full. Stop, listen, and feel
after every bite. Do I want this? Do I want anything? What DO I want?
Your body is wiser than any scientist and more sensitive than any
instruments yet invented. It is designed to function perfectly and heal
itself, but you have to listen. You have to give it permission to
decide what IT wants not what your ego wants. You have to ASK it what
it wants.
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Read
More About Fats, Insulin & Science |
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Are
You Getting Enough Omega 3?
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Now that we have all learned about the importance of Omega 3 fatty
acids in our diet, how do we know if we are getting enough?
Fortunately, we now have tests that can determine our Omega 3 levels.
If you are having any health problems, I would highly recommend blood
testing for Omega 3, Vitamin D, and B12, as well as all the tests
usually included in a comprehensive blood panel. The solution to your
health problem could be as simple as taking an inexpensive supplement.
Wouldn't it be well worth checking your levels before resorting to
expensive and dangerous medical treatments like prescription drugs or
surgery? I sure think so!
Excerpt from Dr. Mercola's newsletter: "Did You Know? Your Omega-3
Levels Can Now Be Measured!
"Yes, you can actually measure the omega-3 level in your blood, which
will also give you information about your risk for heart disease. Dr.
Harris' research led to the development of an assay that measures your
omega-3 level, which is referred to as the 'omega-3 index.'
'"We measure the omega-3 level in red blood cells as a reflection of
the omega-3 levels in all the tissues,' Dr. Harris explains. 'We then
use that to help people figure out if their omega-3 levels are too low.
We really haven't seen [levels that are] too high, so that's apparently
not a problem.'
"The red blood cell as a marker for the omega-3 fat level is comparable
to a test used for diabetes, which measures the hemoglobin A1c, or
glycosylated hemoglobin. Using the red blood cells can give you a good
indication of how well you've controlled your diabetes in the past
three months, because that's the typical life span of your red blood
cells.
"The omega-3 assay does the same thing and shows you your omega-3
status based on your omega-3 consumption over the last three months. So
it's not easily influenced by a large fish meal the night before the
test.
"What's the Ideal Omega-3 Level?
"Dr. Harris' omega-3 assay can be used as a helpful gauge of your heart
disease risk. In case control studies, blood samples were obtained from
people admitted to the hospital to evaluate heart attack risk based on
their omega-3 levels.
"'We looked at the difference in omega-3 levels and found that those
who have heart attacks are much more likely to have a low level [of
omega-3]. A low level meaning under 4 percent… and very
unlikely
to have an omega-3 level above the eight percent range where we think
it's good' Dr. Harris says.
"The omega-3 index is expressed as the amount of omega-3 in the red
blood cell as a percentage. The omega-3s typically run from about two
to 10 percent. According to Dr. Harris, the current belief is that a
level:
* Below four percent puts you at high risk for heart attack
* Between four and eight percent puts you at intermediate risk
* Above eight percent is considered the target value for low risk"
In this article, Mercola pushes krill oil, and it may be of value, but
I've heard that it takes so much krill to make the Omega 3 supplements
that it usually contains high levels of environmental toxins. If you
decide to take krill oil, be sure to get pharmaceutical grade. That
goes for all other types of fish oil, too. Personally, I prefer taking
marine phytoplankton, like Oceans Alive, which is where the krill and
fish get their Omega 3 fatty acids in the first place. The more you eat
low on the food chain (i.e. plants), the less environmental toxins you
will ingest.
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Read
More About Adequate Omega 3 Levels |
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Omega
3 Fatty Acids & the Criminal Brain
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Omega 3, ALA, EPA, and DHA are big news items lately, but here is a
twist on them that I had not heard before. Dr Mark Hyman, MD reports on
a very interesting study showing that the fats we eat can actually
contribute to crime and homicide rates. He says, "I attended a
nutrition conference where I watched a presentation by Joseph Hibbeln,
MD, who studies nutritional neurosciences at the National Institutes of
Health. Dr. Hibbeln delivered some startling news.
"The flood of soy and seed oils we’re currently consuming
adds up
to big problems, he warned. That’s because the linoleic acid
they
contain not only promotes inflammation, it harms mental health.
"That’s not just a fish tale. Take a look at some recent
research on fats.
"Studies across the globe — from the United States and Canada
to
the United Kingdom, Australia, and Argentina — suggest that
the
more linoleic acid from soy oil people in these countries eat, the more
dramatically homicide rates rise.
"But here’s the kicker. When people eat more omega-3-rich
seafood, murder rates go down!"
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Read
More About Omega 3 and Criminals |
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Preventing
EFT Reversals
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I've been using EFT for about 15 years now, both with clients and on
myself and, like many others who have tried it, I am very impressed
with the results. Almost invariably, clients notice partial to complete
relief of emotional issues in one or two sessions. Even chronic
physical problems are often resolved within a few days or weeks of
tapping. On rare occasions, though, EFT doesn't seem to work, or the
symptoms return later after they seemed to be resolved.
For many years I have wondered why EFT would work so well for most
people, while a few others notice no improvement. I have not run into
the problem of reversal, where an apparently cleared issue later seems
to return, but that also seems to occur in some cases. Finally, I found
an article that begins to make sense of it all.
Apparently, the nine-gamut point works at a deeper level than the usual
tapping points used in EFT (on the face and body). Simply by tapping
the nine-gamut point alone, we may be able to permanently clear
deep-seated trauma that did not seem to clear with ordinary EFT.
If you are an EFT therapist, you will probably want to read the entire
article, which is quite interesting. It explains all the whys and
wherefores of the final conclusion that I quote below. Others may just
want to jump to the chase and find out how to get around the problems
while trying it on themselves. Here is what peakstates.com has to say:
"A simpler, faster and irreversible approach is to have the client
focus on the issue while simply tapping on the nine-gamut point, or
just use the nine-gamut eye roll technique [see below]; for most, the
nine-gamut point also gives some immediate symptom relief while the
gene histone is healing. Continue until all symptoms are gone (this
occurs when the gene is healed). Be sure to go a minute or so past the
time the client no longer feels symptoms to completely heal the
underlying biology.
"If nothing appears to be happening, add the karate chop point, finger
and thumb points. If it is taking more than a minute or two for any
change to occur, add the psychological reversal step (or find and heal
the ‘guarding traumas’ that cause psychological
reversal as
in BSFF). Remember, if a shortcut isn’t working, the
therapist
simply adds omitted steps until the client’s problem goes
away.
You can certainly tap on the face and body if you need to calm the
client’s symptoms quickly, but this may not heal the gene
histone; and so you would need to check for reversibility by using the
dying-feeling or reverse-breathing trick."
Note: The karate chop point is on the side of either hand between the
little finger and wrist.
The "nine-gamut point" is between the bones of the little finger and
ringer finger on the back of either hand.
The nine-gamut eye roll sequence is as follows:
1. Close your eyes
2. Open your eyes
3. Look hard down to the right
4. Look hard down to the left
5. Roll your eyes in a clockwise circle
6. Roll your eyes in a counter-clockwise circle
7. Hum a tune (i.e. the first line of "Happy Birthday")
8. Count out loud to five
9. Hum a tune
If you want to learn more about EFT, give me a call at 707-824-0675 or
visit my HealItAll EFT page - http://healitall.com/eft.html
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Read
About Improvements in EFT Therapy |
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Happy
Hawaiians - What About You?
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GALLUP POLL, WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "Americans in Hawaii continued to set
the national standard in well-being in the first half of 2011, followed
closely by North Dakota. West Virginia and Kentucky maintained their
status as the states with the lowest well-being. Nebraska, which showed
the biggest gains in well-being rank from 2009 (25th) to 2010 (10th),
continued to move up, landing in the top five."
The Gallup poll doesn't go into detail about why happy people seem to
thrive in some states while those reporting less happiness are
predominantly found in others. When looking at the map (see below) it
is clear that these are much larger regional differences. The entire
west coast and the middle northern states report more happiness than a
large swath running from Michigan to Florida on the other side of the
country.
Could it be that diets high in sugar, fried foods, and processed,
packaged foods that are commonly consumed in that sorry swath might be
undermining the health and happiness of those residents. On the west
coast we have more access to fresh produce, natural food stores, and
perhaps we have a generally more health-conscious population. Having
traveled a bit in those sadder states, I can vouch for the fact that a
good salad is hard to find. Fried food and lots of meat is the norm. I
don't know how people eat at home, but that's what most restaurants
serve up. I can't help but think that must have a bearing on the
happiness statistics.
Ultimately, happiness is a choice. No matter what our circumstances, we
can decide to be happy and look for things to appreciate. However, a
sickly body will make it more challenging. If you happen to read this
newsletter, you are probably a lot more health conscious than the
average person, so you probably don't fit the profile of your state if
it happens to be one of the unhappier ones. Even so, it may be a
challenge to eat well when your local stores don't offer the fresh,
organic produce you would like, especially in the winter months.
Here's a solution. Grow sprouts. They are the freshest, most nutritious
plants on the planet. They are easy to grow and they don't even take up
much room. You might also want to make sure you get enough vitamin D
and B complex, and try full spectrum lighting when you have to stay
indoors a lot. Full spectrum lights can help to relieve winter
depression.
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View
Map of State Wellbeing Levels |
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To read past issues of
HealItAll.com Newsletter go to
http://healitall.com/newsletterarchives.html
Bernadette Wulf is a Naturopath, EFT therapist, Health and Nutrition
Coach, and Reiki Master with a world-wide practice via phone and
Internet.
Visit http://healitall.com for more information.
For Health & Wellness Coaching contact Bernadette Wulf at
wulfartist@yahoo.com
707-824-0675 |
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