Articles:

Cookie? What Cookie? I Don't Remember Any Cookie! - An article about aluminum toxicity.

Those Aches & Pains May Mean Fibromyalgia - An article about Fibromyalgia.

What's In Those Fruits & Vegetables? - An article about General Nutrition.

Could Coffee Be Making You Depressed? - An article about the many causes of Depression with some suggestions for treatment.





Cookie? What Cookie? I Don’t Remember Any Cookie!


Have you ever wondered why there seems to be a sudden increase in the people with chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s? Recent research shows a correlation between these two diseases and a high level of aluminum in brain tissue. But how are people getting aluminum into their brains?

Most people have fond memories of their mothers or grandmothers making scrumptious treats for them to nibble. Did you know that most baking powders, and therefore most bakery items, have aluminum in them? And not just baked goods, but waffles and pancakes, too. Most things that need to “rise” have baking powder in them, but so do treats like grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.

Go to your kitchen cabinet, look at the labels on your baking powder and see if aluminum is one of the ingredients. If so, throw it away and get a brand without it. The two companies I have found that make aluminum-free baking powder are King Arthur and McCormick.

If you cannot find either of these two brands and you like to make these delicious delights at home, you can make your own. For each teaspoon of baking powder needed, you can instead use 1/2 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar. I have not noticed any difference in taste or texture using this substitution, but it must be used quickly after combining the ingredients to avoid releasing all of the carbon dioxide.

Other sources of aluminum that you might be exposed to EVERY DAY are things like antiperspirants, some antacids, food cooked in aluminum foil, and tap water. Instead, use bottled water versus tap water, deodorants instead of antiperspirant, and cook with patapar paper instead of aluminum foil.

As for antacids, the common misconception about stomach burning is usually a lack of acid, as opposed to excess acid. Antacids only make the problem worse.

Another concern is the possibility of aluminum leaking out from cookware where the non-stick coating may be scratched or have worn off.

But what do you do about the aluminum already in your brain? You will need the help of your naturopathic physician, or other physician familiar with orthomolecular medicine and chelation, to remove this toxic metal, but it is removable.

Chelation is a medical treatment given orally, through a vein, and/or by injection, to remove heavy metals, like aluminum, from the body. So before you have that morning muffin or strawberry shortcake for dessert, think about what else might be in it. Anyone want some pudding?

— Elizabeth Grady, N.M.D.











Those Aches & Pains May Mean Fibromyalgia


Fatigue, un-refreshing sleep, emotional distress, widespread muscular and joint pain, muscle spasms, and diffuse tenderness in most areas of the body. Sound like anyone you know? These are all symptoms of fibromyalgia. Chronic fatigue is often associated with fibromyalgia as well as many other disorders, such as irritable bowel, panic disorders, mitral valve prolapse, and PMS, to name a few.

Fibromyalgia is classified as a rheumatic disease affecting far more women than men. It is seen both in children and the elderly and, in fact, the risk seems to rise with age.

Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis made by clinical elimination, that is, figuring out what it is by what it is not. Patients with no known diagnosis, having the above symptoms for greater than three months, and showing positive results on an examination revealing 11 of the 18 recognized sites on both sides of the body are painful to touch, are given the diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Despite the fact the cause has not been identified, there are many types of treatment.

Conventional medicine is directed primarily towards alleviation of symptoms and management of pain, including anti-inflammatory drugs, tricyclic anti-depressants, physical therapy, and injection of local anesthetics. However, these methods not only lose effectiveness over time but also may make the problem worse.

Think of these symptoms as an oil light coming on in the car. Do you want to simply snip the wire to the light so it does not bother you anymore, or do you want to find out why the WARNING light is on? As most people know, snipping that wire would lead to grievous harm to the vehicle. In the same way, only alleviating symptoms without addressing the cause can lead to grievous harm to your body.

Traditional medicine, otherwise known as natural or alternative medicine, on the other hand, attempts to treat the cause. Just as the symptoms vary with each person, so might the causes. Therefore, each person and their symptoms are assessed individually and a treatment plan is developed.

Did you know that a considerable amount of people with fibromyalgia has a sensitivity to bovine dairy products and report a significant decrease in their pain when they discontinue using them? As with most diseases, diet and nutrition play a large role in the traditional treatment of this disease.

Other traditional treatments shown to hold some promise in perplexing diseases like fibromyalgia, are: acupuncture, homeopathy, manual/manipulative therapies, and mind-body therapies, all of which can be performed by your naturopathic physician.

As we see over and over again, getting back to the basics in health care is not only a good way to prevent disease but to treat disease, too.



— Elizabeth K. Grady, N.M.D.











What’s In Those Fruits and Vegetables?


Why should you complement your diet with vitamin and mineral supplements if you eat your recommended eight to ten fruit and vegetable servings a day? If you truly are one of those 13-20% of Americans who eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables every day, you still are not getting all the nutrition you need. Here are several reasons why.

Due to farming practices and environmental factors, the soil no longer contains the nutrients once available. For example, the mineral selenium was washed out of the upper layers of the soil during the ice ages and so is deficient in most soils worldwide. Selenium is essential for the prevention of cancer and ischemic heart disease.

Another factor is bioavailability, either due to poor intestinal absorption, proper enzyme activity, or simply the ability to eat the amount required by the body.

Enzymes are needed to convert many vitamins from food form into a bioavailable (usable by the body) form. For example, folate must be converted into folic acid before it can be used by the body. Many foods that contain folate, such as orange juice, legumes, and tomatoes, also contain components that block the enzymatic activity in the intestines necessary for the conversion of folate into folic acid. On the other hand, folic acid supplements do not need to be converted.

Recent studies have shown certain nutrients from plants prevent breast, cervical-vaginal, and skin cancer. indole-3-carbonole (I3C) and diindolylmethane (DIM) are derived from cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts.

However, in order to achieve beneficial effects, you would have to eat a pound or more of broccoli or cabbage a day. Maybe even more, because I3C levels in the vegetable still depend on the climate, soil and seed strain. For instance, cabbage grown in Israel has been found to contain virtually no I3C.

You also have to consider the way food is prepared when trying to attain proper nutritional levels. Freezing, cooking, and processing both fresh and canned foods alters nutritional value and dramatically increases vitamin losses.

Storage also plays a large part in the nutritional content of food. Most women who breast-feed also “pump” some for later. There is 73-79% loss of glutathione when the milk is either left at room temperature or refrigerated for two hours. Glutathione is an essential antioxidant necessary in the prevention of cancer.

Furthermore, the food we consume and the water we drink may be more of a concern than a benefit to our health (e.g. pesticides, hormones, etc). These facts suggest we need to look beyond our diet to obtain sufficient supplies of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.


— Elizabeth K. Grady, N.M.D.











Could Coffee Be Making You Depressed?


Depression is the most common emotional disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, over 28% of all Americans suffer from some type of mental disorder severe enough to require psychiatric treatment. Incidences of depression and suicide are also rapidly increasing, especially among children and adolescents.

Until recently, most mental disorders were considered either psychological or genetically predisposed. Today, however, it is recognized that numerous factors can contribute to the onset of mental disorders, especially depression.

Depression may have a psychological basis, such as suppressed anger, grief, loss, loneliness, mental strain, or disappointment, or a physiological basis, such as, drug induced, hypothyroidism, nutrient deficiencies, excessive consumption of methylxanthines (i.e. caffeine or chocolate), excessive consumption of simple sugars, or an imbalance in brain chemicals. Both the emotional and physiological causes of depression must be considered when deciding on a treatment.

Because there are many different causes of depression, there are many different ways to go about treating it. Therefore, the first step in treatment is trying to find a psychological cause. Have there been any big changes in your life in the past year? Even events that are typically viewed as happy, like marriage and the birth of a baby, can cause such stress that depression develops. If there does not seem to be a psychological cause, or the treatment involved will take a long time and you are looking for some symptomatic support, your physician will need to do some tests and look for various imbalances.

One of the most overlooked causes of depression, especially in children, is food sensitivities. Foods may cause many mental and behavioral symptoms by a variety of different mechanisms including cerebral allergy, food addictions, low blood sugar, high insulin, too much caffeine, and hypersensitivity to chemical food additives, to name a few.

Common symptoms to look for in children are: bedwetting, chronic ear infections, eczema or hives, hyperactivity or erratic behavior, or trouble concentrating. As you can see, some of the same symptoms children are being given Ritalin and Prozac for, may simply be a result of something they are eating.

Lastly, your naturopathic physician may be able to prescribe a homeopathic remedy that would not only address your mental and emotional state but your physical symptoms as well. The most common remedies for depression are: 1) Aurum metallicum – despairing depression, commonly caused by a failure of some sort, 2) Kali phosphoricum – anxiety, nervous dread, 3) Lachesis – depressed and suspicious, 4) Natrum muriaticum – quietly and deeply depressed, 5) Pulsatilla nigricans – feels lonely and wants company, and 6) Sepia – depressed and irritable.

Twenty years ago, approximately 25% of all Americans reported to have suffered from depression at one time or another during their lifetime. Today, those numbers have almost doubled due to the stresses incurred in trying to keep up with the ever-increasing pace society demands. With today’s advances in nutritional therapy, mind-body medicine, and other alternative therapies, there are now many solutions available for the treatment of depression.

— by Elizabeth Grady, N.M.D.