Vitamin C, Ketosis, Hormones, Olive Leaf, Apples

In This Issue: 

• Load up on Vitamin C
• Ketosis Dangers
• Olive Leaf Extract
• Apples Do Keep Doctors Away
• Balancing Hormones with Seed Rotation

You’ll Find More Fascinating Health Posts on Our Facebook Page –

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Message from Bernadette Wulf

Happy New Year!

It’s Veganuary! If you’ve been thinking about trying a plant-based diet, now is a great time to jump in. The Veganuary folks will send you daily emails containing delicious recipes, meal plans and helpful tips, such as where to get your nutrients and how to stock your cupboards. It doesn’t cost a thing. Sign up here – https://veganuary.com/us/

Start off 2018 with a healthy tradition from the American South. Black eyed peas and greens are said to promise a prosperous new year ahead. Who would turn that down? Here’s a recipe to get you started – https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/new-years-black-eyed-peas-and-greens. (Remember how good beans are for you, from last month’s newsletter?)

2017 was quite an eventful year here in Sonoma County, from major floods to massive fires. For those who lost homes, family, friends, pets, and possessions, here and around the world, I hope 2018 brings you a fresh start and all the support you need to make this the best year ever.

Articles on Vitamin C, Ketosis, Hormones, Olive Leaf, Apples

Start the new year out right by stocking up on Vitamin C, Olive Leaf Extract (alcohol free), juicy red Apples, and maybe a variety of seeds to help balance your hormones. And if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight, please beware of the popular ketogenic diet fads. You might lose a lot more than your weight!

As always, I would love to hear what you want to read about. Feel free to send requests, suggestions, or any sort of feedback. I appreciate hearing from my readers – Email Bernadette

Here’s wishing you the very best in the new year.

To your health and happiness!

Bernadette Wulf

http://healitall.com – Visit my new website Plant Based for Life

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Load up on Vitamin C

When you feel under the weather, there may not be a better remedy than vitamin C. But why wait until you get sick? Even though studies show that you can dramatically reduce the duration of a cold with massive doses of the vitamin, wouldn’t it make more sense to start taking it before you get sick?

Whenever people around me start sneezing and coughing, I’ve started taking 500 mg. Ester-C several times a day. I haven’t found the liposomal form yet, but I’ll try it when I do. Both Ester-C and liposomal vitamin C are easier on the stomach than plain ascorbic acid, but that will work too.

I don’t know about 100 grams a day! That would certainly be beyond “bowel tolerance,” which is usually the way to tell if you have taken enough Vitamin C, i.e. take 500-1000 mg. (every hour or so) until you get loose stools, then cut back to just below that dose on the following days, until you are feeling better. Though, if it was a life-threatening illness, I would go for the 100 grams.

Of course, the best way to get vitamin C is to eat lots of raw fruits, vegetables, and sprouts. Then you get all the mysterious co-factors that science hasn’t yet discovered.

From NaturalHealth365:

One simple truth to remember: the sicker you are, the more vitamin C you need.

For example, in one study (showing no benefit) researchers administered a mere 25 milligrams of vitamin C a day. Comprising half the amount of the vitamin C found in a small orange, this dosage is so low as to be ludicrous – and probably non-effective in treating illness.

But in another study, participants with colds were given either 4,000 mg (4 grams) or 8,000 mg (8 grams) a day of vitamin C. The group that received the 8-gram dosage enjoyed a 19 percent reduction in the length of their colds – roughly double that of the 4-gram dosage group.

In a review published in Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, (JRSM) the authors noted that “dangers” of mega-dosages of ascorbic acid have been shown to be “unfounded” – and recommended that patients with pneumonia take dosages as high as 100 grams a day of vitamin C.

Dr. Thomas E. Levy, board-certified cardiologist and advocate of high-dosage vitamin C therapy, recommends liposome-encapsulated vitamin C as a highly effective addition to any nutrient-based protocol.

The liposomal form allows the vitamin to pass through the digestive barrier and into the bloodstream and cells, eliminating possible gastrointestinal side effects. According to Dr. Levy, five grams of liposome-encapsulated vitamin C can work as well as 50 grams given intravenously.

Read up on why you should take Vitamin C – https://www.naturalhealth365.com/vitamin-c-deficiency-2403.html

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Ketosis Dangers

I’m sure you have heard about the wildly popular ketogenic diet fad. It’s a quick way to lose weight (though studies show that it is mostly water weight, and people generally gain back as much or more than they lose). Ketosis does have a few therapeutic uses, but it should only be used for brief periods, or under the supervision of a medical professional.

Though this no-carb diet allows large amounts of fat and a moderate amount of protein, Ketosis is similar to fasting, in that it starves the body of glucose. This forces the liver to create enough glucose to keep the brain working properly. That can be a good thing for people suffering from seizures, and other neurological disorders, but not so good for sustaining general health.

Please don’t use ketosis to lose weight. Eating a raw fruit and vegetable diet for a few weeks will have a similar weight loss effect, while actually improving, rather than undermining your health.

Here are just a few of the adverse reactions from ketosis (from thePaleoMom.com):

• Gastrointestinal disturbances (diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, constipation, GER)
• Kidney stones
• Muscle cramps or weakness
• Hypoglycemia
• Impaired concentration/cognition
• Nutrient deficiency
• Disordered mineral metabolism
• Poor growth in children
• Skeletal fracture
• Increased bruising
• Sepsis, infection, bacteria overgrowth
• Pneumonia
• Heart arrhythmia
• Myocardial infarction
• Death

That last one sounds pretty permanent! Unfortunately, there are not many scientific studies on the effects of ketosis, and apparently none on long-term outcomes. Why risk it?

Personally, I am taking myself off every email list that sends me articles promoting ketogenic diets (and there have been quite a few). It just seems irresponsible and dangerous to pass on misleading information urging people to avoid the fruits and starchy vegetables that are the main sources of glucose, which is needed for brain and muscle health, as well as essential vitamins, phytonutrients, and minerals. I have to wonder if the meat and egg industries are financing all this slick pro-fat, anti-carb advertising. They are really the only ones who stand to profit (well, aside from the medical/pharmaceutical industry).

Fat has NO nutrients we need aside from omega fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6). The more calories we get from fats, the less we will get from nutrient-dense whole fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, seeds, and nuts. And of course nutrient deficiency is on that list of adverse reactions!

ThePaleoMom.com article concludes by saying:

Other diets do not trigger the same biochemical pathways that are activated by a ketogenic state. [ ] The ketogenic diet is different in that it was designed to emulate starvation, taking advantage of the biochemical benefits of starvation for certain body systems (mainly neurological, but this is also why weight loss is a common result of a ketogenic diet) while tolerating the detriments to other body systems (such as endocrine and immune systems). [ ]

In this regard, the ketogenic diet more closely resembles a drug than a diet (in fact, many of the same pathways activated by a ketogenic diet are manipulated by anticonvulsant drugs), which should not be a deterrent in itself, but rather a caution to read the fine print and talk to your doctor before embarking on this course—especially if going “off-label” and using a ketogenic diet for purposes that have not yet been well studied. And this is why a thorough understanding of both the pros and cons of a ketogenic diet are necessary in order for every individual to make the best decision for themselves.

Read on for more pros and cons of a ketogenic diet – https://www.thepaleomom.com/adverse-reactions-to-ketogenic-diets-caution-advised/

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Olive Leaf Extract

I’ve been hearing about olive leaf extract for years, but I only recently started to take it when I feel like I’m fighting off a bug. In combination with vitamin C, I’ve found that it really helps to strengthen my immune system.

After reading this article, I think I will start taking it more often, even when I’m feeling my best. Look for an alcohol-free brand.

According to naturalhealth365.com, olive leaf extract can:

• Reduce the risk of a heart attack
• Counter the negative effects of influenza, colds plus much more…
• Protect your brain health and cognitive function
• Reduce your risk of diabetes
• Lower blood pressure – naturally
• Ease arthritis
• Aggressively target cancer cells

It also protects DNA from mutations that could potentially trigger cancer – and strongly inhibits the growth of tumors in animal studies.

Not bad for a simple tree leaf! No wonder olive trees have been prized for thousands of years.

Read more about the wonders of olive leaf extract – https://www.naturalhealth365.com/olive-leaf-extract-2405.html

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Apples Do Keep Doctors Away

It is amazing how much we are learning about different foods and how they can either protect or destroy health. Who knew that the humble apple could clear radiation from our bodies and fight cancer? We certainly won’t find those benefits in a high-fat ketogenic diet!

This is just one example of how familiar fruits and vegetables are helping us in mysterious ways that science has only recently begun to discover. According to Anthony William, the Medical Medium, red apples are better for us than green, but I’m sure any apple is better than none.

A few years ago, I briefly started to buy into the anti-fruit hype (you know the whole anti-sugar/carb thing), due to reading a lot of low-carb propaganda, but (though I did lose weight) it really didn’t improve my health at all. Thank goodness (and my brother Frank) I discovered Anthony William and turned that trend around.

The closer I stick to Medical Medium recommendations, the better I feel – and eating lots of fruit is one of them, including apples! If you have any sort of health issues at all, I strongly urge you to give his protocol/dietary recommendations a try.

Here’s what greenmedinfo.com has to say about apples:

It is likely that many of the fundamental processes involved in cancer initiation and promotion are inhibited by apples and their constituents, and therefore apples may protect against far more cancers than referenced above. It appears that no matter what part of apple is studied, it has anti-tumor properties. [ ]

Another proven way in which apples reduce the risk of cancer is through their ability to remove carcinogenic radioisotopes that have accumulated in our bodies as a result of the fallout from nuclear weapons, depleted uranium munitions, and nuclear energy and disaster-associated pollution, e.g. Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Post-Chernobyl, for instance, apple pectin was used to reduce Cesium-137 levels in exposed children, in some cases by over 60%. From 1996 to 2007, a total of more than 160,000 “Chernobyl” children received pectin food additives. As a result, levels of Cs-137 in children’s organs decreased after each course of pectin additives by an average of 30-40%. 

Significant reductions were noted in as short a time period as 16 days.  Apple pectin has even been found to prevent the most deadly, and entirely man-made radioisotope, Plutonium-239, from absorbing in the gastrointestinal tract of animals fed it.

Read more about how apples protect your health – http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/why-apple-one-worlds-most-healing-superfoods

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Balancing Hormones with Seed Rotation

This article is mainly for women, but may be interesting to men as well. I found it fascinating. The idea is that some seeds stimulate estrogen production (you’ve probably heard that flax does this) and others stimulate progesterone. So women can use seed consumption to help balance their fluctuating hormones.

The article provides charts based on moon cycles, advising us to eat flax and pumpkin seeds from new moon to full moon. Then switch to sesame and sunflower seeds, along with evening primrose oil, from full moon to new. It also offers advice for irregular cycles and other hormone issues.

I’ve never had much problem with hormone fluctuations, but if you do, you might want to give this a try. Check it out here – https://www.hormonesbalance.com/articles/how-to-use-seed-rotation-to-rebalance-your-menstrual-cycle/

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