Archived News of the Week

The Media, Inflammation & Vitamin D

Regarding the Lamestream Media: As much as I love my boyfriend, Brian Williams and love watching his handsome head deliver the 5:30 news every night, I know, deep in my heart of hearts, he's not reporting the truth as it really is. And it hurts me. I subscribe to the New York Times, too, even though I know it is bought and sold, just like Brian. Even though the op ed columnists often strike out with opinions, lamentations and possible solutions to existing national and world problems and are like breath of fresh air in the arid wasteland of manufactured news, it's just not enough.

Our talking heads and our newspapers concentrate on Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, the random murder here and there, Kate's hyperemesis gravidum and dogs that drive. They intentionally avoid the imminent and looming nuclear threat from North Korea, the ongoing famine in Africa, the mistreatment of women in Arab countries and only the Very Higher Ups know what else we are not being told. And, why? There is nothing as a nation that we need from North Korea, nor from Africa and as our relationship to the Arab Emirates is fraught with our greedy need for oil, we dare not allude to any kind of human atrocities happening there.

"The mainstream media is atrociously misappropriated in covering actual threats to your safety [in the United States]. While the media will cover a single gunshot murder as if it were the end of the world, for example, it completely ignores the 783,000 Americans who are killed each year by failed surgeries, deadly prescription drugs and fatal mistakes by medical staff." Mike Adams. As my mother might have said, "I think the emPHA-sis is on the wrong syllA-ble.

Sort of related: You would be surprised at what huge multinational conglomerates now own supplements as the small and family owned vitamin companies of the 70's are now being gobbled up by corporate behemoths. For example, Centrum and Alacer are now owned and operated by Pfizer. One-A-Day is now owned by Bayer. New Chapter is now owned by Proctor and Gamble. Solgar was sold to a private equity company called The Carlyle Group. GNC has had many turnovers in the past few years; first sold to a Dutch company, then to a private equity firm then to another private equity firm called Apollo Management.

What I am getting at here, is that slowly but surely the integrity in the manufacture of supplements is being lost. The bottom line is predominating - every where, it seems - and if you purchase these products, your health could suffer. That's why I deal ONLY with the small, still privately owned companies like Designs for Health, Standard Process and Thorne, just to name three of the 15 or 16 companies I order from. I know what I am getting and more importantly, I know what I am passing on to you.

Inflammation: It's becoming more and more evident that the trigger for almost every disease process from arthritis to cancer to heart disease is chronic inflammation. I will be writing more about this later, but I wanted you to know how to start reducing inflammation right away. Just a couple of things would help tremendously. Starting today, 1) Eat two large helpings of fruits and vegetables every day, raw if your digestion can take it and eliminate (not cut down - eliminate!) sugar from your diet and 2) Start adding to your supplement regimen, things like fish oil, DHA, curcumin, quercitin, resveratrol and vitamin D.

Garlic and Coenzyme Q10 are also anti-inflammatory substances. The Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research reported a very favorable outcome for men who used the above two products: They enlisted 50 firemen who had high calcium scores as proven by EBCT. Blood samples of C-reactive protein (a measure of inflammation around the heart) were also measured before and after. For one year, the participants received either a daily placebo or a capsule containing Q10 and aged garlic. At the end of the year the calcium scores and the CRP were measured again. The average coronary artery calcium progression was significantly less among those who received the real stuff compared to placebo while the average CRP increased for the placebo group and decreased for those receiving the Q10 and aged garlic.

Vitamin D: In case you are like I am, and find it difficult to raise or even maintain high and healthy D levels, here is the latest research. I could not understand, since I was taking - religiously - between 5,000 and 10,000 iu's of D every day, why, first of all, my D levels dropped from 72 to 45 for no reason I could see, then despite all the D I threw at myself, just went up to 47 after three months. Keep in mind, I want my (and your) D levels to be in the 70's. Scratch head time. I changed to liquid D with no effect. Then just last week, I read some new research on this very problem. If you are like me and have trouble absorbing a fat soluble hormone like D, you have to take your daily D with your biggest meal. In my case, that would be dinner. That way, the D, which is a hormone and not a vitamin, will be more easily absorbed because of the fat and the volume in your biggest meal. I started doing that immediately and the jury is still out. Now I am advising everyone to take their vitamin D supplement along with their biggest meal.

It's that time of year when I tell you all how much I appreciate you - my patients - and how grateful I am that you continue to trust me and (mostly!) follow the advice I give you. That makes me happy and it makes me feel useful, too. Some of you I have been seeing since the get-go which is now 21 years in Boulder. (We are growing old together, aren't we?) Some of you are brand new patients and you and I are just getting to know each other. But, old or new, please know this: I am here for you - and just for the record and since you keep asking me, I have no plans to retire. Let's raise our particular form of bubbly to a great New Year filled with health, happiness and yes, wealth!

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