The hCG Diet
The most recent diet fad utilizes hCG(human chorionic gonadotropin) as an aid in weight reduction and has a lot of consumers advocating its use
Energy Science Perspective of hCG
hCG is a physiologic hormone signal and therefore a transformative molecule The physiologic energy effects of this kind of stimulation is to increase the hot quality or the transformative energy of the mindbody
Such an effect reaves up the metabolism and creates a hypermetabolic state This is essence burns more calories from a matter science view
In short the Kapha energy pattern gets a "kick in the pants" Kapha's energy pattern is a slow metabolism and difficult at times to get moving due to a multiplicity of environmental factors
This slow metabolism would respond very nicely to a metabolic hCG stimulus
What Are the Downsides?
The basic problem is that nobody can be on the stuff forever After a few courses one has to figure out a different approach
And of course there are as with any medication side effects that need to be spelled out very clearly to anyone looking for the short term fix Once we understand the negatives then we can move on
The real question is why use it in the first place?
Adjunctive to Lifestyle Shifts
Regardless, once a person stops the hCG diet, he or she will have to adopt a normal and healthy lifestyle, or the weight's just coming back
Proponents of the hCG diet maintain that the purpose of the diet is to break food addictions and abnormal eating behaviors, and that the month or so of treatment allows a person to do so In this sense, the diet hopes to achieve short-term weight loss with long-term behavioral modification
We know that it takes 6 ot 8 weeks to make the shift in lifestyle necessary to effect change And there is even genetic information to suggest that changes in behavior lead to changes in our DNA in this time frame
So Why?
The answer lies with the user If the side effects are understood and they are willing to use the technique as a "jump start" to a hypermetabolic state to aid with the behavioral changes that necessarily have to occur then I say great
But the lingering question still remains Why? If we have to make the lifestyle changes in behavioral patterns to begin with and we are committed to those then do we really need a crutch?
That question lies for each of us as we decide for ourselves
See foodsheal.com for more information about nutritional lifestyle behavioral changes
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
Photo credit mikebaird from Flickr
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Alzheimer’s and Prevention
The joys of extended life may lead to the dimness of failing mental skills(memory loss or retrieval problems, loss of creativity, attention span fading, and loss of learning ability) often described clinically as senile dementia
Alzheimer's Disease
Early dementia (earlier than age 70 although this age is arbitrary)is usually described as Alzheimer's disease but actually the label is applied to older people as well Suprisingly the problem begins around age 30 and 40% will have it at age 80 But 2% can't escape the fact that they will be affected(take my chances as they say)
The key pathological finding is plaque like lesions in the cortex which are thought to affect neural communication
Multifactorial causes are identified such as neurovascular injury(stroke leading cause), emotional trauma, neurotoxins, infection, and even overreacting which is interesting
Since we all want our mental faculties in our senior years the issue of what to do about it now becomes a subject of interest
The Matter Science Approach
Prevention of disease is presently where we are with many disease labels in the matter science medical model Usually the approach turns out to be early detection
So it is with the current matter science approach to Alzheimer's
The idea is that if we can genetically identify an at risk population we could then apply certain principles that would potentially interfere with the plaque formation in the brain tissue
The information becomes the carrot to change lifestyle behavior patterns S0 for example seems to have a protective effect against the disease If it doesn't you're simply demented and in good shape!
An Energy Science Medical Approach to Alzheimer's
From the above matter science medical model of Alzheimer's and from other models of disease it's clear that probably all diseases begin early
The figure that's thrown around these days from these disease models is that it's in the 30's(4th decade of life) That is the ground state of disease labels that are used presently begins earlier than we ever anticipated
What's this mean for people in their 50's? We'd better get busy But busy doing what?
Energy Science Suggestions
Here the energy science medical model has a lot to say about staying healthy and clearing stagnant energy flows in the mindbody physiology
Of course eating according to our mindbody energy makeups is help in not only clearing but also preventing further areas of stagnant energy(other names used toxic load, sludge etc)
Avoiding food incompatabilities
Using spices to improve digestion
Considering a monodiet intermittently such as kitchari for an extended period of time or one day out of a week using milk, preferred juice
Consider a practice of meditation to reduce overreactivity
Use of ghee for PV on a regular basis
Genetic Plasticity and the Energy Science
As we have discussed before genetic plasticity is a our friend as we move ahead with lifestyle behavior changes That literally changing how we do life can help impact our genetic predisposition to disease
And this is what the matter science medical model is telling us For those genetically prone to Alzheimer's changing lifestyle can have beneficial consequences
And the lifestyle changes that should be invoked come from the energy science medical model since the matter science model doesn't have much guidance
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Placebos and Lifestyle Behavioral Patterns
Seth Godin in a recent blog post talks about the effect of placebos that I thought is worth underscoring to show the mindbody connection Energetically, that is
A recent study found that placebos work even if the patient is told by the doctor that the drug they're taking has no 'real' medicine in it
Huh?
The Power of the Mindbody Connection
If we think we're going to get better, we're much more likely to actually get better
What Godin points out is very much energy science Since the mind and body are intimately spliced(you cannot separate them mind is body, body is mind since every cell has mind) when the mind says the body will be better, it gets better
But there is another aspect to this placebo effect that is very important nutritionally It's not only that the mind is saying, "I'll get better", but the body needs to act like it's getting better Now that's a very important point
Value of Ritual in Change
The body going through what Godin calls ritualistic activities reinforces that which the mind is saying, "I'll get better" So in fact the action of the body reinforces the mind and the mind reinforces the action of the body It's a to and fro activity Both mind and body in simultaniety, one talking and the other acting
So what does this have to do with nutrition? Well, everything particularly when we are trying to change lifestyle In the book The Secret the statement is made that if we want to change anything in our lives we have to act out as if whatever we want has already happened
If we think we're going to change a lifestyle behavioral pattern around nutrition then by saying and then acting as if it has already happened is many more times powerful than writing it down or creating a positive affirmation
Think AND Act
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Childhood Health and Nutrition
Ever wondered whether Junior's common cold is nutritionally induced? Or that rash that Missy is having trouble getting rid of is related to all the tomatoes that she is fed?
As custodians of our children's health to me the biggest responsibility for us as parents is to be sure that we are nourishing properly and establishing nutritional lifestyle behaviors that will carry them well throughout their lives
Let's talk about the common cold This occurs primarily during the winter and from an energy science nutritional view a Kapha imbalance
Since childhood is a Kapha time in a person's life due to growth which is part of the energy pattern of Kapha, feeding children Kapha provoking foods during this period of a child's life will produce physiologic Kapha imbalancing dis-ease
What are those symptoms of Kapha imbalance? Congestion, runny nose, and productive cough are all symptoms of Kapha imbalance Sounds like the common cold
What are common foods that increase the Kapha energy pattern?
Dairy, including cheese, milk(skim 2% or whole), yogurt, and butter
Nuts including peanut butter
Meats such as beef, lamb, and pork but not white chicken or turkey
Seafood(better freshwater fish)
Carbonated drinks
Condiments such as ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce
Sour and salty in general to include fruits and drinks AND the BANANA
So what about Missy and her skin rash? This occurs usually during the spring and summer when Pitta is prominent in Nature's physiology and so it is in our children's physiology(and adults as well)
What provoking inflammatory foods are involved?
Tomatoes, corn chips = salsa and pizza Oh no, not the mainstay of the American family diet!
Nuts including peanut butter Oh, oh
Meats such as beef, lamb, and pork
Seafood
Carbonated drinks
Chocolate
Sour and salty in general
So what's a concerned parent to do? I think the first thing to do is familiarize yourself with the nutritional information at foodsheal.com
Use it yourself because chances are that the energy nutritional format that mom and pop use will the be the same for Junior and Missy Then when imbalances show up pay exta attention to the nutrition
Watch for poor food combining that can cause provocation eg fruit with any other food
Pay attention to strengthening your child's digestive fire
And then say goodbye to the sneezing and congestion and skin rashes for good
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Genes and The Energy Field of the Mindbody
The genetic material is an expression of the energy field of the body
When the energy field changes so does the genetic material
The genes are not stable but adapt, shift, change, and are plastic and malleable
Lifestyle nutritional behavioral changes in patterns of what we do changes genetic expression
Try changing your nutrition for the better
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Happy 2011
We only learn by contrast Can't know hot if we haven't experienced cold, can't know feeling good if we haven't experienced feeling bad
Nobody wants to feel bad in life That's what takes them to doctors To feel better right?
Feeling Nutritionally Poorly
And just as foods are us, there are some that don't make us feel our best
The challenge is find out which ones they are
By seeing the qualities in food as the same ones that comprise us there becomes a common meeting place, where the qualities of us merge with the qualities of the foods that we consume
If we have the hot quality in our physiology in large amount(Pitta) then eating lots of foods that carry the hot quality will lead us to excess or imbalance of the hot quality
Learning by Contrast
If excess shows up in our awareness(heartburn) then we have a choice, leave the hot alone by choosing different foods that are more balancing
So experiencing hot in feeling bad gives us a choice with the emphasis that this choice is not right or wrong, good or bad, it's not breaking the rules, it's not being a bad person, not about being judged or judging ourselves It's just a choice
Even though this sounds simplistic, in its simplicity is elegance for it will become the way we "convince" ourselves about change in lifestyle behavior nutritional patterns
A Nutritional Resolution
So how's this for a new year's resolution?
During the year of 2011 I resolve to pay attention to how I feel when I eat foods
If they make me feel bad, I then have a choice, continue to feel bad or make a different choice And it's your choice
Until tomorrow Happy New Year I love you all Dr Bill
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