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 45 – Sugar Makes for a Lousy Gift

I just wanted to dash this off to you cuz I know that we are already deep into the “Holiday Season”.

Don’t think it is lost on me that the word “holiday” comes from “holy”, and that “holy” means “sacred”; but it is more than apparent that in America, holidays are mostly about gifts. You didn’t ask for my advice, but you don’t have to read this either, and I am speaking to the universal “you” anyway; so here goes. Sugar is a lousy gift.

Let me count the ways:

First off, don’t you want to give something unique and possibly personalized? Sugar is not unique; it is ubiquitous! No matter the form or the flavor, it is still just sugar; and folks eat that every single day; hardly special.

Many people admit to being addicted to sugar. Many of those same people say that they really want to stay away from the stuff. Do you give booze to your alcoholic family and friends? Me neither.

Sugar makes people sick; that’s not a hypothesis, it’s a fact. Consider a few of the major diseases that disable and kill Americans and that are known to be fueled by excessive sugar: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, obesity, and dementia. Obviously you aren’t wishing any of those on your loved-ones. But, are you facilitating them?

Obesity and overweight are talked about so much in our culture, that most of us are numb to the real meaning. The real meaning is that 2/3 of American adults (age 20-74) are either overweight or obese and are therefore seriously, or significantly unwell. Sugar plays a powerful role in this dangerous condition of our citizenry and of our Country. Disease and danger are not gifts.

It is both common, and understandable, that many people feel that to give sugar on a “special occasion” is perfectly reasonable. In fact, to question sugar gifts on “special occasions”, while historically would have been considered un-American, in today’s social climate, might now be considered terrorism. But back to the point; given that adults stop for sugared drinks each day on their way to work, and kids start their days with Pop Tarts, there is no way to imagine sugar being consumed just on “special occasions”. We are actually not far from a continuous IV drip (intravenous).

Your one little sugar gift does make a difference. Millions are giving one or more little sugar gifts.

It is not my intent to make your “holidays” more difficult than they may already be. I sincerely hope that the opportunity to consider the clear and present danger of sugar is a gift for you during this beautiful time of year.

PS – My wonderful wife suggests that I include the disclaimer/clarifier that I eat sugar. She’s right!   

Additionally, I am not judging those who give or eat sugar gifts. I am simply trying to address critical issues of our time in the hope of reducing suffering. It’s a tricky, if not scary job for me.

DAY 26 – New Day…Old Story about Drugs Without Conversation

First, let me give you a little background.  I practice a combination of Chiropractic and Functional Medicine. Chiropractic has historically been a practice of “natural” healing, with a strong interest in treating the causes of disease, rather than the symptoms. Functional medicine is personalized medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes, instead of symptoms, in the treatment of serious chronic disease.
(photo - Doctors Mac by owensoft)

The dominant mode of handling patients today in the US is to name their conditions (diagnosis) and then treat the conditions with drugs to stop the symptoms. It is uncommon for causes to be discussed with patients; and patients usually don’t ask.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that covering symptoms with drugs, and not addressing the lifestyle causes of ill health, are a recipe for disaster.

So, let me share with you a simple story from the office that carries, as the kids say, a “ginormous” lesson.

A 58 year-old returning patient reports that thanks to my encouragement, she had gotten her vitamin D level tested by her MD and learned that the level was still low. The MD had also run a single test for thyroid disease, which also showed a problem, and for which he had written a prescription. When I inquired, the patient shared that her neck pain from some months back had improved and that she was taking 1,200 mg per day of oxaprozin that her MD had prescribed to be used for 3 months.

And here is the rest of the story, and the short list of the dangers for the patient;
1)    while the patient’s test results showed low vitamin D, she received no counseling on her associated risk for cancers (including breast and colon), heart attack, stroke, diabetes, autoimmune disease, etc…, and she received no direction regarding how much vitamin D to take and when to retest,
2)    while the thyroid test has undoubtedly found a problem, no further testing was ordered to determine the type and cause of the hypothyroid condition,
3)    thyroid hormone replacement was prescribed with no discussion of the cause of the condition,
4)    given that 90% of hypothyroid conditions are caused by autoimmunity (the body attacking itself) it would have been wise to discuss why the body is attacking itself,
5)    additionally, the patient was not informed that of patients with autoimmune thyroid disease, 50-80% of them also have an autoimmune reaction destroying one or more other tissues of their bodies, such as joints-arthritis, pancreas-diabetes, etc….,
6)    the fact that low vitamin D is associated with autoimmune diseases was not mentioned,
7)    the patient was put on a drug for neck pain without discussion of the cause of her chronic degenerative arthritis; and no long-term functional care program was discussed,
8)    the patient was not advised that the drug, oxaprozin, an NSAID, is known to cause damage to the lining of the digestive tract in some individuals, thereby breaking down the barrier between the gut and the immune system, leading to increased inflammation, and potentially additional damage to the joints in this patient’s neck, remembering that pain in the neck is what the drug was being taken for to begin with,
9)    there was no conversation about the interesting probability that both the arthritis in the neck and the thyroid disease are  both autoimmune based, and that low vitamin D may be a factor in their progression.

All of us, doctors and patients, would be wise to think more and talk more about what causes our illness. We would not just be wiser to do so; we would be safer, and we would be setting a more functional example for our children.

Dr. Young

DAY 16 – Can Farting Cause Hearing Loss?

So, I’ll cut to the chase, while there is no scientific evidence that farting (flatulence) can directly cause hearing loss, there ARE known factors that can cause both farting and hearing loss; and I’m going to tell you about them. While farting is not usually a serious medical condition, and hearing loss won’t kill you, an underlying condition that can cause both, is a serious risk for all forms of chronic degenerative disease.

But first, it is important to know that our culture and most physicians believe that hearing loss is caused primarily by either exposure to loud noise or “getting old”. Loud noise can be a cause. “Getting old” is not. Everything wears out as we age, but have you ever noticed that some folks have hearing aids at age 40 and others die at 85 never needing them? Age is not a cause.

The serious underlying condition that I want you to know about is chronic inflammation of the digestive tract caused by eating foods one is either allergic to or intolerant of. Through a variety of mechanisms, these food irritants create an inflammatory state that can affect the digestive tract or the entire body.

When the digestive tract is inflamed, excessive intestinal gas is common. When the entire body is inflamed, it is possible for sensitive nerve endings in the ears to be damaged, resulting in hearing loss.

I would encourage you to go to YouTube and watch "Treatment of Hearing Loss" featuring Dr. Katz (EarNoseandThroatMD) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qior3h5xvWA . In this video Dr. Katz states that after determining that loud noise has not caused the hearing loss in a patient, the doctor must move on using a medical history and examinations to determine the cause. The first causal possibility that he suggests is inflammation, and he then suggests that steroids (anti-inflammatory) would be an effective treatment. Note also that he states that individuals with diabetes, and those with cardiovascular disease are at greater risk to develop hearing loss. Inflammation is an integral factor in the causation and progression of both these diseases. It therefore makes sense that the systemic (body-wide) inflammation associated with each of these serious diseases, could also damage nerves in the ears.

I want to be sure to leave you with two important points: 1) that it is possible for food allergies or intolerances to cause systemic inflammation that could cause hearing loss, and 2) farting may be caused by food allergies or intolerances, and may be linked to serious health conditions through the mechanism of inflammation.

Not so funny, eh?