DAY 243 - Are Your Allergies Making You Fat?

Add caption

Hang on! This could be a bumpy ride!

“In August 2010, researchers from Yale University published a study in the journal Obesity finding that people who took antihistamines regularly were heavier than people who didn't take them at all. The study's authors used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006 to compare the body weight of 867 adults and their prescription antihistamine use. The two drugs most common in the study were ... Zyrtec, and ... Allegra, and the effect was more pronounced in men. The researchers warned that this was an observational study, and couldn't demonstrate whether antihistamines actually caused the weight gain or if obesity predisposes people to allergies.”

“[I]n a separate study, published in 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Allergy and Immunology ... [u]sing data from the same CDC survey, researchers found that obese children were more likely to suffer from allergies, specifically food allergies, than normal-weight children. "It wasn't clear to us if that really meant that the obesity was the cause of that allergic propensity or not," says Cynthia Visness, PhD, the study's lead author and a research scientist at Rho Inc., the research firm that conducted the study.”

“There isn't much literature available on the link between obesity and allergies, so possible explanations for the associations seen in these two studies are simply theories at this point, Visness says. In her study, she suggested that inflammation could play a role. Fat cells release cytokines, chemicals that promote inflammation, and an allergic reaction triggers inflammation as well.”

Here’s the bumpy part. The title of the Rodale Press article that I have quoted above, asks if allergies can make you fat. The Yale study suggests that the excess weight may be due to allergy medications. Dr. Visness of Rho Inc states that she isn’t sure whether obesity causes allergy, but concludes that obesity might be a contributor to the increased prevalence of allergic disease in children, particularly food allergy, and that systemic inflammation might play a role in the development of allergic disease.

Here is the way I see it; the dominant pathway is allergy leading to inflammation, which leads to excess body fat. From my experience treating overweight and allergic patients in the last 28 years, and from the findings of current medical science, I believe that inflammation is the central issue, with much of that inflammation arising from allergic reactions. Many individuals, including infants and young children have food allergy/reactions, inducing inflammation. Those same individuals often have diets rich in sugar and refined starch; and low in, or devoid of fresh vegetables and fruits, the effect of which additionally induces inflammation in the body. The combination of food allergy/reactions plus a nutrient-poor diet, often result in low energy and a resultant lack of physical exercise, which also increases inflammation. If that weren’t enough, the emotional stress of being overweight can also produce inflammatory chemicals.

One powerful therapy for halting this cycle of inflammation and weight gain is to determine and remove food allergens. In my experience, and in the experience of Mark Hyman, MD, a published expert in health restoration and weight loss, dairy products are one of the most common food allergens that induce weight gain. Taking a week to 2 weeks off of dairy can facilitate weight loss for some. There are those who will not respond quickly and obviously, and they will need the guidance of an experienced healthcare practitioner.

DAY 242 - Plain White Nutritious Milk Is Making A Comeback?

Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution tell us that plain, white, nutritious milk is making a comeback. While there is no doubt that America desperately needs a Food Revolution, I hope that in his heart of hearts Jamie doesn’t see the return of unflavored, unsweetened milk as anything more than a step in the right direction.

Describing milk as nutritious can be both confusing and dangerous. If by nutritious, he means that it contains nutrients, then we are in agreement. If, however, he is using the term more broadly to imply that it is healthy for human consumption, then he is simply wrong. There is medical science, clinical observation, and personal observations that clearly prove that dairy products cause a wide variety of mild to serious ailments in many people.

I want to be clear; I support Jamie, and completely agree that we, the people of the United States of America, need nothing short of a revolution in what we eat, and in our state of health. As a people, we may not be dead, but we are very sick, and like an obese 50-year-old man with coronary artery disease, we are a culture waiting for a heart attack.

My own personal experience of dairy products causing me chronic digestive problems and arthritis by the time I was ten, is dwarfed in its influence on my views on this subject by 28 years of chiropractic practice during which I have advised thousands of patients to temporarily stop eating dairy products, and have listened to the overwhelming majority of them report health improvements ranging from decreased pain, to weight loss, to increased energy.

Me with Dr. Campbell in 2006

T. Colin Campbell, PhD, respected nutrition and health researcher, and author of the landmark China Study, had this to say, "After a long career in research and policy-making, I have decided to step 'out of the system'. I have decided to disclose why Americans are so confused. As a taxpayer who foots the bill for research and health policy in America, you deserve to know that many of the common notions you have been told about food, health and disease are wrong. [In the China Study we found that] People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease ... People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. I propose to do nothing less than redefine what we think of as good nutrition. You need to know the truth about food, and why eating the right way can save your life."

This plain, white, nutritious milk that Jamie is happy to see on the comeback, is one of the same sources of animal protein that Dr. Campbell’s exhaustive and unmatched study shows is a potent cause of cancer.

While we help Jamie create the food revolution that we desperately need, might I recommend that you read The China Study so that you and your family can learn and know that cutting down your intake of animal protein such as that found in dairy products will reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

DAY 185 - Path to a Dairy-free Cancer Cure

photo from the Center for Food Safety

This is more like stepping stones in a stream of consciousness, rather than a path, but, walk with me if you will.
*****
We start in 1961; me with severe back pain at age 10.
My first chiropractic treatment in Fillmore, CA in 1976.
I graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1982.
In 1991, Dr. Steven Shuel, chiropractor, brings me an audio tape of a lecture on inflammation, by biochemist, Jeffrey Bland, PhD.
Almost overnight I recognize Dr. Bland as my first (and still only) professional mentor.
I subscribe to Dr. Bland’s Preventive Medicine Update (PMU); a monthly review of cutting-edge, scientific medicine (now called Functional Medicine Update).
In 1991 Dr. Bland interviewed Sherry Rogers, MD on PMU regarding her new book, Tired or Toxic?
I subscribed to Dr. Rogers newsletter – Total Wellness – in 1999.
Today, April 7, 2011 – sorting through a stack of Total Wellness newsletters, my attention was drawn to the title, Cancer is Just a Label, in the December 2006 edition. The story was that of a remarkable woman and a remarkable cure through foods, of a would-be-terminal, metastatic, multi-organ cancer.
I searched the internet to see if I could learn more about this case, and found http://www.kushicenter.com/Metastatic%20Cancer_en.htm
On this webpage I read the following:
Healing Metastatic Cancer with Diet By: Janet Vitt, R.N, B.S.N.
“Looking back, I think the main cause of my problems was cheese. I was obsessed with cheese. Not a day passed when I didn't eat it. I loved cheese omelets, I enjoyed cheese on hamburgers, and added cheese to all my vegetables. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, after aerobics class, I would come home and eat cheese and crackers. I was a cheese-a-holic.
There were several positive side effects of practicing macrobiotic. The migraine headaches I suffered from for over 20 years were now gone. The Joint pain in my knees and ankles, which I attributed to playing tennis and growing old, disappeared. My restless nights of sleep and waking to go to the bathroom became a thing of the past.”

The End
*****
50 years of hopping from stone to stone. It has been an interesting and valuable path for me. One of the clear threads that runs from beginning to end is; Warning! Dairy may be dangerous to your health!

Dairy products were clearly the single greatest cause of my own arthritis, back pain, fatigue and digestive issues. Janet Vitt suspects dairy products as being central to her nearly fatal cancer. In practice since 1983, I have seen the following conditions caused by dairy products: headache, migraine, ear infections, ringing in the ears, sinus infections, acne, tonsillitis, vertigo, neck pain, TMJ pain, back pain, knee pain, muscle pain, neuritis, arthritis, reflux, constipation, intestinal gas, nausea, gastritis, bedwetting, frightening dreams, carpal tunnel syndrome, menstrual cramps, menopausal symptoms, anxiety, depression, fatigue, sciatica, elevated blood pressure, hyperactivity, colds, flu, snoring, asthma, and weight gain.

Let the eater beware!

DAY 117 - Free Our Children from Nightmares

photo courtesy of Santa Rosa OLD SKOOL

As a child, as early as age 4, nightmares were a common part of my bedtime.

At times I was chased with the threat of knives or guns. Usually my body was heavy and weak as I tried in vain to escape.

Some nights I was falling from cliffs. One recurrent falling variation was based on my inability to maintain altitude as I flew through the sky unaided by aircraft.

I didn’t grow out of these scary dreams. As years rolled by, the content changed to include some dreams involving distressing issues in my daily life; but they continued nonetheless.

When I married at age 19, I was still having bad dreams. My wife, Joanne, adjusted quickly to my talking in my sleep, and my thrashing about, which occasionally resulted in her being awakened by a blow as I struggled to escape from danger.

Upon awakening in the morning, Joanne would often ask, “what was that about last night?” Usually, having no memory, I would ask what she was referring to. When she could remember, she would recite a few of the words that I had spoken while sound asleep and simultaneously in flight. Not infrequently, what she had remembered would bring the dream back with detail, and I could recount a lengthy ordeal.

At age 35 my bad dreams stopped; not entirely, but overwhelmingly. As I now write this, 24 years have passed, I am 59, Joanne and I still sleep together each night, and I still don’t have bad dreams, talk in my sleep, nor smack her unknowingly.

If you suspect the work of powerful mojo in this miraculous healing; you are dead right! At age 35 I completely removed dairy products from my diet.

Through my youth I had suffered with a duodenal ulcer and other digestive problems; with fatigue, with severe back pain, and with the complete ruptures of both of my achilles tendons. By 35 I had had enough of poor health and pain, and had noticed that I did not feel as well after ingesting dairy. That was enough. I have been off of dairy, and reaping the rewards, ever since.

Note: My hope in publishing this personal account of the effect of diet on my sleep and dreams is that it will awaken a few parents to the possibility that their child’s fear-filled nights might be caused or worsened by everyday foods that the child is eating.

My report does not stand alone. With a bit of research, one will find an abundance of reports and evidence of foods influencing sleep and dreams.

Please help me spare children this traumatizing fear by sharing this article with others. Also, please post comments and experiences to this book post to help spread the word.

DAY 93 - Mind Racing ... Can’t Get Back to Sleep?

Photo courtesy of xlibber at Flickr Commons

Trick question coming up; don’t be blinded by the obvious.

Lying awake for hours ... unable to quiet your mind; your mind is apt to be blamed. But is sleeplessness entirely caused by worries, unfinished work, or difficult decisions tossed around in your head?

The answer is NO! Turns out the mind-body connection is a veritable thoroughfare with a lot of traffic moving from south to north, especially at night.

That spicy pizza could activate your brain. The distention of your bowel with intestinal gas from that extra glass of milk can cause distress that would manifest in your head. The tightness and tenderness in your muscles and joints certainly don’t produce relaxed brain waves. And surely you didn’t think that that double espresso at 4:45 this afternoon would have no effect. The fact that you haven’t exercised for weeks is no calming influence either.

Your mind may be racing, but your body may be the source of the fuel.

DAY 69 - All Boy

She was 4 years old; and all boy!

Her parents brought her to my office for treatment of leg pain. As the three of them entered the treatment room, she paid little attention to me; no fear of the doctor that would be customary for a child this age. No clinging to mama; she began to check out the room, handled everything she could, and slapped at the vertical blinds.

After adjusting her spine, I advised her parents that both the leg pain and her fearless behavior might have some connection to her diet. I recommended a trial of no dairy.

The next week, she was back for follow-up. This time, she was all girl!

Glued to her mom’s leg, the two entered the treatment room. She glanced around the room, kept a careful eye on me, and remained close to mama. Her leg pain was much diminished. Mom had removed the dairy from her diet since the last visit.

Two weeks later, she was back; and all boy again!

Just like the first visit, she cared not who was in the treatment room. She was far from her mother’s side, and showed not the slightest concern about me or my actions. I asked Mom if her daughter was back on dairy again. Her response was, “it was so difficult.” A game of tag ensued as the little one began messing with every piece of equipment in the room. Mom would say “no” and move toward her. She would release the handle, knob or lever, and race to yet another. As she began swiping at the vertical blinds, Mom had had enough, swooped over, scooped her up in her arms and held her. There was a struggle, and some yelling from the little one. Then the real boy in her broke out; she bit her mom’s arm. Not a nibble, she clamped on that arm.

I never got to see her again, but would bet anything that if the milk and cheese got turned off again, Dr. Jekyll would return. It was clear what Mr. Hyde was eating.

Questions: What must it feel like to child, to be out of control one day, and in balance another? When out of control, what is the effect on family, school, and friendships? What is it that makes some boys and some girls, all boy? And what will it take for our culture to appreciate that foods can alter behavior?

(photo - not of the young lady in the story, but rather of, and courtesy of my wonderful granddaughter, Liel Geraci, who is all Liel)

DAY 68 - Simple Understandings #3 – I Carry My Stress in My Shoulders

“I carry my stress in my shoulders.”

You may not hear this as often as I do, because chances are that you aren’t a chiropractor, but tell me that this statement isn’t incredibly common. It is common, and it is ripe with danger.

Let me make it quick, cuz I know you are getting ready for a holiday party.

For clarification, when we say “shoulders” in this case, we are talking primarily about the trapezius muscles that run between the shoulder joints and the neck (see photo - with strap crossing the trapezius).

Stress can, and often does cause tightening and discomfort in the shoulders. One can often feel the shoulders get better and worse as stresses wane and wax. A conclusion is natural; stress causes the problem.

When one believes that stress is THE cause of shoulder tightness and discomfort, the only answer to the condition is stress reduction. But stress is rarely, if ever, THE cause.

An extremely common cause of tight shoulders is food allergy. This isn’t a guess or premonition; I have seen this in hundreds of cases since 1983. The most common single offender that I have observed, is dairy products. Most people are allergic to a number of foods; without knowing it. These foods, or combinations of foods can gradually tighten muscles and cause pain.

Take charge of your health and life and do a little experiment; take all dairy (%100 – read labels and ask what was put in everything you are about to eat) out of your diet for one week. Then put it back for a week. Repeat this on and off for 3 cycles. Most people will realize in the first cycle that they, and their shoulders, feel better off of dairy.

This self testing is not the final word, but will provide valuable feedback for many people, and may “cure” their shoulder problems. Others have more complicated physiology and will need the help of a wise doctor to sort out the causes and effects.

The fact that you don’t stretch, exercise, or get enough sleep may also play a role in your shoulder problems, but don’t miss the chance to employ this simple understanding, and experiment with dairy.

DAY 27 – Face Your Food: It Will Change Your Life

I’ve been talking with patients about the joys and the dangers of food for about 24 years, since I first saw the light.

My family, guided by my Mom, ate “healthy” food. We ate whole wheat bread, brown sugar, and only had boxed, sugar-coated, commercial cereals for dessert or for a special occasion. We ate cauliflower, asparagus, and eggplant.

Even with “healthy” food, I still had health problems from childhood through age 35. I consistently needed 10-12 hours of sleep, but awoke tired each day. My skin was dry and rough. Serious low back problems began by age 10, and resulted in severe damage to discs and bone in my low back, as shown on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). By 15 I developed large tear marks (inform yourself at http://turning60consciously.blogspot.com/search/label/stretch%20mark) on the skin in my groin and arm pits. An ulcer was diagnosed by age 16 and I lived on antacids for the next 24 years. At 20 my first complete rupture and surgical repair of one of my Achilles tendons occurred.

While I was young, and falling apart, it never crossed my mind that food could be a cause of my ills, because what I ate was “healthy”. Not one of the dozen or more medical doctors that saw me for my many illnesses and injuries, ever suggested nor even hinted at the possibility that food could be playing a role in my ill health.

By age 35, still taking antacids daily, I began to recognize that when I ate certain foods, I would feel worse the next day; gut pain, intestinal gas, tiredness, and generally achy. Not one to quickly move to stop eating foods that I liked, and that were a part of our family routine, I continued the experiment and time and again found that I felt worse after eating certain foods.

Finally one day, sick and tired of being sick and tired, I told my wife that I was going to temporarily stop eating dairy products, and stop eating foods that were made by others and that might contain ingredients that would harm me. I told her that I would not be eating in restaurants nor simply politely eating what I might be served at a friend’s house. There was a brief pause, and then she said “You are ruining my life!”

I share with you what my wife said to give clarity to how upsetting making dietary change can be. It was no more than minutes, or maybe an hour until she told me that she did not mean what she had said and that she would happily work with me to make sure that I could feel well.

Finally, it dawned on me that there is no such thing as a “healthy” food. Peanuts can be a “healthy” food for some people. It is clear that for others they can be deadly. Though not usually to the point of being lethal, dairy products, wheat, eggs, corn, and soy are examples of common foods that can cause illness, often serious, in many individuals.

Before long, I understood that what is most important is not whether a food is generally “healthy”, but whether it is “healthy” for an individual.

As a part of my dietary change in 1986, I stopped eating all dairy products. I started feeling better generally, and my gut felt better. I also felt a bit foolish. Why during all those years of gut pain and antacids, did I not consider that possibly my gut was being affected by what I was putting into it? And, why did not one medical doctor suggest it during the 19 years that I had been unwell?

I stopped all dairy in 1986, and have been off it ever since. It has clearly been one of the most profound factors in regaining and maintaining my health.

Not only did my gut and my general wellbeing improve, but my severe low back pain went away too. Remind me to tell you the rest of the story.

DAY 23 - Can You Crack Your Back?

Seems simple enough, but not only is there depth to this question, but understanding what’s behind it could save your health.

So, the question is, can you turn, arch, stretch, or extend your back and have it “crack”?

That “cracking” or popping is technically called cavitation, and occurs when joints are moved slightly beyond their normal range, creating a partial vacuum inside the joint. Collapsing gas bubbles in the joint vacuum create the “cracking” sound.

A large percentage of young people can “crack” their own backs. As people age, they tend to become stiffer, and they usually lose the ability to “crack” their backs. Given that young people are statistically healthier than older people, it could make one wonder if “crackability” is a sign of health, or associated with health. Turns out, it is.

Becoming stiff is not solely a result of aging. While there are many factors that influence flexibility, I have focused on four factors in my chiropractic practice to clearly and quickly demonstrate to patients that how they live, profoundly affects the mobility of their bodies. The four factors are: allergy to dairy products, magnesium, stretching, and spinal adjusting (also called manipulation).

One of the most common allergic effects of dairy products is the tightening of muscles and general stiffening of the body. By removing all dairy from the diet for 1-2 weeks, most people find that their muscles are more relaxed and their joints more supple.

Most Americans are deficient in the mineral, magnesium. One of many effects of magnesium in the human body is to allow muscles to fully relax. Supplemental magnesium (I use magnesium glycinate) usually results in muscular relaxation and greater joint mobility.

We all know that if we don’t use it, we lose it. But when it comes to using and keeping our flexibility through daily stretching, it’s just not happening in our culture. However, after thirty minutes a day of stretching for a few days most people find themselves more limber.

Spinal adjustments mobilize joints and clear neurologic patterns that maintain excessive muscle tightness and joint stiffness. Results are often instantaneous.

Each one of these four factors can independently increase flexibility and suppleness. In combinations or as a complete set they are even more powerful.

Since I began practice in 1983, many of my new patients between the ages of 30 and 70 have reported to me that in years gone by they could “crack” their backs, but they had gradually lost the ability to do so. A large number of these same patients, upon applying any one, or a combination of the four factors, regained the ability to “crack” their backs. This restored “crackability” is always accompanied by healthier and more relaxed muscle tone, and greater joint mobility.

Can you “crack” your back?

DAY 19 – I Can Help Your Kids Lose Weight (part 2)

OK, let’s get back to you and me helping your kids lose fat!

MY SIMPLE TRUTHS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
1)    everybody has food allergies (or sensitivities), even if symptoms are not obvious,
2)    people are attracted to foods that they are allergic too – yes, the stuff your kid loves,
3)    eating food allergens can cause many people to gain fat,
4)    food allergy is often a critical factor blocking fat loss,
5)    dairy products are one of the most common food allergens in the American diet,
6)    wheat and other gluten containing grains can cause fat gain for many people,
7)    sugars and refined starches are a real problem,
8)    it would be helpful if your child can have a body composition analysis – better than weighing,
9)    there is a difference between giving up on your kid’s health, and being discouraged at times,
10)    when we give up on our kids, they often give up on themselves.

A great place to start is to take your child off of ALL (100%) dairy products for one week. Dairy can not only cause fat gain, but often causes tiredness, emotional lability, poor behavior, aggressiveness, stomach aches, constipation, intestinal gas, diarrhea, muscle pain, headache, ear infections, throat infections, colds, etc...

It works best when the ENTIRE family participates in the experiment. In most cases, the entire family feels better while off of dairy . At the end of the week, put your child back on the same amount of dairy that he/she was eating before. Most kids feel, look and behave worse on dairy.

If your child felt or appeared better while off dairy, the experiment needs to be repeated. Some children voluntarily choose to stay off of dairy once they find that they feel so much better. Repetition of the experiment creates clarity for both parent and child.

If dairy is found to be an allergen for a child, removal for even a month will often result in fat loss.

The dairy experiment is just a place to start. Dairy is the best food to use to teach individuals and families about food allergens and their role in fat gain and fat loss. If you find that you need help as you work to improve your child’s body composition, you may want to find a knowledgeable healthcare practitioner (chiropractor, naturopath, medical doctor, doctor of oriental medicine, etc) to guide you. BEWARE; it may be difficult to find such a practitioner.

For more information on the power of removing food allergens from the diet to improve fat loss, read UltraMetabolism by Mark Hyman, four-time New York Times bestselling author, family physician and international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. Find out more at: http://www.drhyman.com/

All children deserve our help.

Dr. Young :)

DAY 13 – When “time-out” Isn’t Working Well (part 2)

     - continued from DAY 12 on October 16 -

Most of us have had firsthand experience observing the incredible stress and frustration experienced by a parent dealing with a child that behaves in an unacceptable manner over and over. It is understandable that most parents in this situation occasionally react to their child in a way that they later feel was not how they would want to respond.

(photo "Worried" by angelic shrek at flickr.com)

Beware of phrases like “he’s all boy”. Being a male child is not the same as being a child who repeatedly behaves in an inconsiderate or unkind manner. Lots of young boys are consistently kind, focused and polite, while some girls behave in ways that some would call “all boy”. I guided and documented the transformation into "student of the month" of one “all boy” boy who was failing academically and socially. His transformation was in part due to diet change, and accomplished without the medication that had been recommended by his school psychologist.

As a rule, most children don’t want to misbehave. They don’t like the cycle of distressed interaction that their misbehavior feeds. Most children are as confused by their poor behavior as are their parents. Many of these children develop poor self-images due to the repeated reprimands, punishments, and the obvious distress that their parents and others display.

Entering school systems, behavior problems often become compounded. Conflicts with fellow students are common. Teachers, not having the luxury of dealing with 1-3 children as an average parent would, are called upon to magically respond to the moods and behaviors of 25-35 children at a time, and can find themselves short on patience and needing quick answers in order to maintain a functional environment in the classroom. Quick answers are often in the form of Ritalin or amphetamines; but that is another story.

Diet change can be difficult for families; particularly with children who are picky eaters and demand certain foods. Often, these picky eaters have behavior issues fueled by the foods that they demand, and get. While dietary change can be difficult, I can assure you that it is nothing compared to the suffering and damage done to a family and the misbehaving child when change is not made.

My hope is that this brief discussion will awaken families to the increased harmony that usually accompanies dietary change. It is painful for me to watch parents, usually mothers, driven to distraction, and children learning to question their own worth. It is also painful for me to watch so many children put on prescription drugs without any prior attempt to explore the role of mind-altering foods in their life.

Children that I have worked with are often obviously relieved to begin behaving in a functional manner, and to learn that the problem was not that they were defective, but rather that they were eating things that negatively affected their mind, mood and behavior. Parents too are relieved to find that they just didn’t understand the powerful chemical factors that were influencing their child’s behavior.

One of the most notorious food groups that causes poor behavior is dairy products. Others foods include, gluten-containing grains, sugars, eggs, corn, nuts, colorings and additives.

I am not saying that every case will be an easy fix. What I am saying is that when “time out” is not working; parents need to take “time out” to include careful and knowledgeable assessment of food reactions as a cause or factor in their child’s behavior.