Regenerative Agriculture

I recently started learning about the term regenerative farming when I listened to a podcast called The Doctor’s Farmacy. (episode #73 September 25, 2019) Dr. Mark Hyman was interviewing Tom Newmark who is one of the founders of a farm in Costa Rica called Finca Luna Nueva Lodge where he and his team put regenerative farming principles into practice. The farm and lodge are located near San Ramon in the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica, about 2 1/2 hours from the San Jose airport. After listening to this podcast episode, I looked up the farm/lodge and said to myself- “I need to go to Costa Rica and check out this special place!”

I just returned, having experienced the magic of Finca Luna Nueva Lodge two weeks ago and am sharing what I have learned with you in this blog. I hope you enjoy learning something new!

Finca Luna Nueva Lodge is a 207 acre organic, regenerative farm and ecolodge in the Costa Rican rainforest. “The goal of regenerative agriculture is to optimize photosynthetic activity to sequester carbon in the soil.” “Regenerative agriculture is the hope for the future.” Tom Newmark

Do you remember photosynthesis from biology class? (at least 40-50 years ago for me!)  Basically it is carbon dioxide + water = glucose + oxygen that requires the presence of sunlight for energy. So in regenerative agriculture, plants can pull carbon dioxide out of the air and return it to the soil in the form of glucose that then nourishes the complex system of organisms in the soil that keeps soil healthy. In comparison, industrial agriculture uses pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer and mono crops that destroy the health of the topsoil with the end result of damaging the living systems that are supposed to be in soil. Worldwide there has been a loss of between 35-75% of available topsoil. The podcast mentioned above gives much more information if you want to explore this further and I will include resources below for more exploration.

What follows is my experience as a solo traveler to the lodge. From their web site: “Finca Luna Nueva Lodge is both a recreational paradise and a living classroom. We offer a delicious “farm to table” experience of regenerative agriculture, together with miles of hiking trails through rain forests, farmland and herbal gardens.”

I flew into San Jose and the lodge arranged for private van transportation to the farm that was 2 1/2 hours from the airport. I chose not to rent a car since I was traveling solo and didn’t feel comfortable in an unfamiliar country, but cars are available and a good option if you want to explore other surrounding areas. The drive was beautiful! Mountains, fields, forests, sunshine, fog, rain, narrow winding two lane roads and single lane bridges that required turn taking. It was amazing how fast the weather and the terrain changed as we drove. 

The Lodge is located in a rain forest. It is about 30 miles from La Fortuna where a lot of adventure tours are located because of Lake Arenal and the Arenal volcano. The lodge is a peaceful refuge away from all the extreme sports but close enough to access many different activities if you choose to.

My fun souvenir from the lodge

I stayed in a room in the building closest to the reception building and also close to the open air restaurant and swimming pool. There are multiple on-site activities. I did the farm tour, the bird watching tour, chocolate making tour, and the sacred seed tour.

I was extremely fortunate to take the sacred seed tour when one of the founders, Steven Farrell, was leading it. We walked through the forest as he identified medicinal herbs and spices and let us smell and taste when they were edible. He has a wealth of knowledge about plants and medicinal uses and the tour was my favorite. There are more than 300 plants prized for their medicinal or sacred uses and it is one of the finest medicinal herb gardens in the world. It is a sanctuary because many of these plants are close to extinction and the farm is working to preserve those species. 

I also enjoyed the farm tour, early morning bird watching, chocolate making tour and the night hike where you see critters that come out at night. The chocolate tour was fun because we learned how chocolate is made from harvesting the cacao pod, removing seeds, fermenting seeds, roasting seeds, grinding and then mixing with sugar and making our own chocolate bars. Fun and yummy!

Everyone at the lodge was super friendly and helpful. The owners were there mixing with the guests and by the end of the week, I felt like part of the Lodge family. Other guests invited me to eat with them when they saw me sitting alone and we got to know each other well enough to exchange contact information. One new friend, I discovered later, knows one of my cousins in the Boston area! 

Horseback riding to view the volcano

I signed up for two activities offsite. One was a float trip down the river on an inflatable boat, like a zodiac. There were 6 people on the raft and a guide doing most of the paddling. We saw monkeys, sloths, crocodiles and birds. Then another day I went horseback riding up to the top of a mountain where you can sometimes see Arenal Volcano. But that day there were too many clouds and fog. Both activities were great fun. The lodge is really good about arranging transportation for offsite activities and it gets added to your bill so money doesn’t have to change hands unless you want to give drivers a tip.

Three toed sloth cruising down the driveway the day I left

The food at the lodge was amazing! So fresh and healthy. Breakfast was included with homemade bread, granola, fresh pineapple, papaya, watermelon, eggs, kimchi, kefir, fried cheese and much more. There was enough on the menu for lunch and dinner that I could order something different everyday if I wanted to. I ate all my meals onsite. The fresh smoothies were creative and delicious!

Breakfast buffet-included daily

Yummy lunch!

Overall it was a wonderful experience! I learned a lot, met new friends and felt completely safe and nourished. I would definitely visit again sometime! 

Resources:

1. The Doctor’s Farmacy Podcast  episode #73  September 25, 2019 

2. https://thecarbonunderground.org   great information about saving our soil and planet. You can donate by “adopting a meter” of soil to support regenerative agriculture globally

3. https://fincalunanuevalodge.com
   
   
   

CBD Information

Have you noticed that there is CBD in everything lately? CBD creams, CBD gummies, CBD added to beverages and food. What is CBD anyway and what is legal? It can seem a bit complicated so let’s see if I can simplify it. I listened to a CBD Health Revolution Summit recently hosted by Mary Clifton, MD and much of the following information is from that summit. 

CBD is the abbreviation for cannabidiol, a non psychoactive chemical in the cannabis plant. In other words, it doesn’t make you “high” and it is generally legal to ship it in the US from state to state. It is extracted from the cannabis plant as well as other chemicals such as terpenes, THC and other cannabinoids. (CBD,CBDV, CBG, CBC, CBN). They all have some therapeutic effects and beneficial uses for various health conditions that is backed with research too extensive to list here. 

THC is the abbreviation for tetrahydrocannabinol which is the psychoactive part of the cannabis plant. It is also called marijuana or pot. This component of the plant is not legal in all US states. Some states allow use of medical marijuana and others also allow recreational use of THC. 

Hemp plants are cannabis plants that contain less than 0.3% THC, while other cannabis plants contain higher amounts of THC and are used to extract CBD and THC. www.healthline.com   The two common varieties of cannabis plants are cannabis indica and cannabis sativa.  

It is interesting that we each have an internal cannabinoid system called the endocannabinoid system (ES) that responds to about 60 different chemical compounds in cannabis. Within this system there are cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids that the body makes and enzymes that make and breakdown the endocannabinoids. The role of ES is homeostasis. The two types of receptors are called CB1 and CB2 and are located in different parts of the body. CB1 is mostly in the brain and is involved in many of the psychoactive effects. CB2 receptors are more prevalent in the rest of the body. Reference: Cannabis: Myths, Benefits and Barriers from GreenMedinfo

Cannabis contains more than 480 natural compounds. Of those, 66 have been classified as cannabinoids. Cannabidiol or CBD is the most abundant, accounting for up to 40%. The strongest psychoactive chemical is THC or tetrahydrocannabinol. Terpenes are other compounds present in the plant and up to 100 terpenes have been found in cannabis. 

When CBD and THC are combined, the CBD helps to temper the psychoactivity of the THC and the THC boosts the therapeutic effect of CBD. Cannabis also contains flavonoids that act as antioxidants in the body. For these reasons, the whole plant extracts are much more effective than isolated chemical parts of the plant. And just because a product says whole plant extract, doesn’t mean it contains THC.  

The  GreenMedInfo website has 476 abstracts discussing benefits for different diseases. A report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine: “The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research” is based on an analysis of more than 10,000 cannabis studies showing substantial benefits in many medical conditions. 

Some of the conclusions from this report are:

There is conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis/cannabinoids are an effective treatment in the areas of chronic pain, muscle spasms from multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and for nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy.

There is less evidence that smoking marijuana has some anti-inflammatory benefits.

Early onset of marijuana use is not associated with poor health outcomes as an adult. The idea that pot is a “gateway drug” to opioids or other drugs is fully disproven. 

Pregnant women should abstain from marijuana due to increased pregnancy complications and low birth weight babies. 

Driving under the influence of marijuana increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident.

There is still much that we do not know about cannabis but the fact that research is underway is hopeful.

As I said before, hemp comes from the same plant but a different part of the plant and a plant that is bred for industrial purposes such as paper, clothing, oils and topical ointments and contains less than 0.3% THC. When the plant is bred for marijuana production, it may contain as much as 30% THC. 

If you decide to try a CBD product, the challenge is finding a good quality product. Some commonly available CBD products may not be grown organically and so may contain pesticides. You want a whole plant product to get the benefits of all of the terpenes and flavonoids. The three important things to look for are:

1. organically grown, pesticide free 2. whole plant product and 3. third party testing to confirm purity

Personal Experience:

I have tried CBD products for sleep. I initially felt that they were not doing much, but the challenge is figuring out what dose you respond to. I have purchased  them from health food stores and grocery stores and local dispensaries (legal in Oregon). But I never really knew if I was buying quality. I also tried a CBD:THC tincture when I was desperate to get sleep and it was helpful and didn’t make me feel high. But I can’t legally travel with that! But then after the CBD summit I spoke of earlier, Mary Clifton, MD made a recommendation for a company that sells CBD and that she has vetted herself and it meets the 3 criteria listed above. It is called Prosper Wellness https://store.prosperwellness.co . The interesting thing about this company is that they recommend using a loading dose that they describe as jumpstarting your endocannabinoid system to be more receptive to CBD. So I bought their CBD tincture and am in the process of taking the loading doses. It does seem to help to take higher doses than what the bottle says, but everyone responds differently, so starting low and going slow is prudent.  Another brand that my naturopath recommended is Procana Hemp Excel whole plant extract. I have had benefit from that as well as long as I took higher doses.

This is in no way meant to be medical advice, only educational information, so please discuss with your medical provider of choice before purchasing. I am also not an affiliate of any company mentioned and do not have financial connections with anyone mentioned. 

There is much that I did not cover, but hopefully the resources listed will be helpful if you choose to do further research for yourself.

I got scammed!

I didn’t think this could happen to me! I know better for Pete’s sake!! But I was caught off guard and was scammed by a fake Verizon call. Here’s what happened and what you can do to prevent it. This is not exactly a health topic, but it impacted my mental health that day, so I’m sharing my experience.

Last week I was expecting a call from a friend in Virginia but my phone was being weird. He called and couldn’t get through, so I called back and couldn’t get through. Then I got a call from an unfamiliar number with the 804 area code, which is Virginia, and I thought it was the call I was expecting, calling from a different number, so I answered it. I almost never answer a call from 804 area code unless I know the person because it is almost always a scam call. When I answered the call, a computer said that my Verizon account had been suspended and press “2” for customer service. So I followed the prompt because my phone seemed to have been not working right. First mistake was answering the call, second was continuing on with the prompt. So the customer service person was very kind and helpful and asked questions, ultimately needing my PIN in order to check my account. He texted me verification codes in order to proceed which I read back to him, believing he was a legit Verizon rep. He gave me some tips about avoiding fraud, like turning off your WIFI when you leave home etc. At the end of the conversation he gave me a confirmation number to document the investigation that was going to happen and explained I would get a letter in the mail if I wanted to press charges. I was not thinking clearly, obviously, because having my account compromised is upsetting.

So I get off the phone with fake customer service dude and check my email only to find that my Verizon password had been changed and someone had purchased 2 sets of Air Pod Pros at $280.00 each, billed it to my account and shipped  to an address in Worchester, Massachusetts! Seriously!! I was livid! While I was on the phone with fake dude, he was hacking my account and ordering products. I was angry with him for his fraud and angry with myself for falling for it. I know better! But I still got drawn in. 

I got on the phone with the real Verizon, by calling 611, and after a very long wait finally got through to a person and reported the fraud. They cancelled the order for Air pods, but the charge will still show up on my bill until it gets refunded. They helped me change all my security settings and recommended a service called “call filter” that supposedly screens scam calls so they don’t ring through. There is an app for that but it has to be activated with Verizon. Then I got a text from Fedex that “my” order had shipped-the air pods were shipped to the fraudster anyway!! So I drove to Fedex here locally and asked if they could intercept the shipment and return them to Verizon so the thief would not receive what I paid for. They said they did, but I really don’t know if the fraudster got the air pods or not. He probably ordered hundreds of them from other marks like me and then sold them on eBay. 

Lessons learned:

1. Don’t answer calls that you don’t recognize- if it is important, they will leave a message. Google the phone number and if it still doesn’t identify a person you know or business you want to talk too, block the number. Verizon would not call your phone to tell you there is a problem with your phone. They email. Or text. And that’s the other weird thing. When Verizon texts me to tell me my bill is available, the number looks like this:+90 (008) 000 40 00 or something similar. Scammers usually text from a phone number. But this one texted me from a Verizon number like the one above- apparently a new hack for scammers. Was the scammer that called me a Verizon employee with a side scam gig going on? Makes you wonder.

2. Add a call filter to your phone so scam calls are blocked 

3. Don’t give out any information on the phone like I did. Either hang up or call the real Verizon number back to see if there is an issue with your account. You can also ask for their employee number which will probably result in them hanging up. Same applies to banks or credit card companies.

There you have it. My scam story and warning for the day. I wish I could say the scammer was caught and had consequences, but unfortunately, they probably just got away with it. I hate that it is so prevalent and apparently easy.

ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet Review

Have you wondered about whether you should try fasting? There is a lot of information available lately about different types of fasting protocols and maybe you have thought about learning more about this trend. You may have heard the term “intermittent fasting”. There are many versions of this but it basically means time restricted eating as well as calorie restricted eating. If you eat your first meal at 8am and your last meal at 6pm, then your eating window was 10 hours and your fasting window was 14 hours. If you want longer hours of fasting, then you decrease your eating window to a shorter time period, like 6 hours for example. Then you would have an 18 hour fast. You get the idea. There are many versions of this type of fast. One great resource for more information on this is a book by Jason Fung, MD called “The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day and Extended Fasting”.

Today I am writing about a type of fast called a “Fasting Mimicking Diet” (FMD) and the product called ProLon. www.prolonfmd.com   This is a prepackaged 5 day plan that has extensive research behind it and was developed by Professor Valter Longo, PhD from the Longevity Institute of the University of Southern California.  From the ProLon website: “ProLon is  a 5-day dietary program that nourishes your body while promoting regenerative and rejuvenating changes, including supporting healthy levels of a wide range of physiologic markers that contribute to aging, such as cholesterol, inflammation and fasting glucose.” 

The benefits of this kind of fast are that it is easier to tolerate than a pure water fast. Research has shown that it helps your body enter a stress resistant mode. It helps trigger autophagy, which means the body’s method of cleaning up old and damaged cells and supports cellular renewal. There has also been research showing the benefit of FMD in cancer patients who are on chemotherapy by protecting healthy cells while allowing the chemo to target cancer cells.

I have done this particular fast 4 times in the last 1-2 years. I am currently on day 5 of my most recent experience. When you order ProLon, it arrives in a box (see photo) with an empty water bottle, instructions and 5 boxes that are labeled for each day. Everything you need for 5 days is included in the box. The instructions are super clear. The ingredients of each food item are very clean-primarily plant based, no additives, preservatives or chemicals. Everything tastes good, so even though you are “fasting” and your calories are restricted, you do not feel totally deprived. I do not usually feel hungry during the 5 days, but the evenings seem to be the most difficult for me. When I decide to do a ProLon fast, I am committed to not cheat at all, because I want to get the full effect of the program. 

ProLon Meal Program box

Each breakfast includes a nut based bar that is tasty and satisfying. Tea is also part of breakfast and the kit includes both spearmint and spearmint lemon each day. Lunch is a dry packaged soup that is mixed with water and cooked on the stove. Some days lunch includes kale crackers and or olives. Most afternoons the snack is just tea, and some days includes olives. Dinner is another package of soup and on some days includes a choco crisp bar. The soup flavors are Minestrone, tomato, quinoa mix, mushroom, and vegetable soup. On day 2-5 there is also what is called the L-drink which is a concentrate containing vegetable glycerine that you add to your 32oz water bottle(included in kit), and then flavor with the hibiscus tea that is also included. 

Day by day meal program

What I like about the ProLon fast: I usually lose several pounds in the course of 5 days. This time of year I am dealing with post holiday weight gain, so it was good timing for ProLon. I notice that it resets my appetite and diminishes cravings for a while after I finish the program. My metabolism feels like it has been reset too. I haven’t done pre and post labs in order to document other changes, but I always lose weight.

What is hard about ProLon: I have to find 5 days when I don’t have trips, or events or dinner plans or anything else that might derail my 5 days. I have to be committed to not cheating at all. Since I don’t get terribly hungry, this hasn’t been a problem. I have to make myself drink 2 bottles of water/hibiscus tea for a total of 64 oz for the day. And I do tend to get constipated when I am eating less and not on my routine magnesium. So I add my magnesium to the program when needed. I also get more frequent headaches during the FMD that may be part of the detoxing effect or due to the lectins that are in the different food items. It is gluten free, but not lectin free. 

I am not an affiliate of this product and therefore have no financial interest in this company. It costs $249 per box and sometimes there is a discount if you subscribe to the program and have the box shipped more than once. I signed up for two shipments per year and paid less because of that. 

So, there you go! If you have questions, feel free to ask.

Resources:

1. www.prolonfmd.com website for ProLon information and purchase

2. “The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight” by Valter Longo, PhD

HIIT Exercise

Have you ever tried HIIT as a form of cardio exercise? HIIT stands for high intensity interval training and can be done while running, biking or on the elliptical machine or treadmill. As the term HIIT describes, it is intense bursts of cardio exercise followed by recovery and then another intense burst. The number of intervals can vary depending on what method you are using, but it is not uncommon to do 4-6 intervals in a workout. A typical work out would start with a 2-3 minute warm up followed by intense effort for 20-30 seconds, then recovery for 2 minutes and another intense interval until you have done as many intervals as you have planned or reached a total time of 30 minutes with the last 2-3 minutes being your cool down. There are many variations of HIIT and I am describing a fairly typical series of intervals. One benefit of this kind of training is that you can get maximal benefits with less time expended. Other benefits are that you can burn calories quickly, increase your metabolic rate, help lose fat and gain muscle and increase cardiovascular fitness. 

I recently read about a newer exercise bike that uses artificial intelligence and the bike adjusts to your fitness level as you train. It is called the CAR.O.L bike (cardiovascular optimization logic). It looks like a typical spin bike but because of the computer programs and the AI, you can do a HIIT program in 9 minutes! Research from  Western Colorado University done by Lance Dalleck, PhD. has shown that only 2 intervals are needed to accomplish the maximum benefit. And the optimal number of workouts per week is three. I appreciate the idea of finding the minimal effective dose of exercise for the maximal effect! I have never been a fan of long hours in the gym, so was intrigued by the idea that I could achieve cardiovascular fitness in 9 minutes three times per week! Yay! That doesn’t mean that this workout is easy. The intervals are only 20 seconds, but maximal effort, so extremely intense!

The reason that the CAR.O.L bike workout is so effective is that it results in glycogen depletion in your muscles. As the glycogen is broken down during the sprints, there are signaling molecules, including AMPK, that are released and that result in increased aerobic capacity. The second sprint interval then activates PCG-1 alpha that stimulates a series of physiologic changes. After 8-10 weeks of this HIIT protocol, they have seen a 10-12% improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness. 

A randomized controlled trial at Western Colorado University compared the CAR.O.L bike protocol  three times per week with a government guideline protocol of 30 minutes of cardio per day done 5 times per week. After 8 weeks, the CAR.O.L bike group had a 12.6% improvement in fitness level and the Government protocol group had a 6% increase. Pretty significant difference!

Even though you can do a HIIT workout in multiple ways with typical gym equipment, it is not the same as what you can do on the CAR.O.L bike because the CAR.O.L bike automatically adjusts the resistance based on your individual level of fitness due to the artificial intelligence feature of the bike. 

I decided I needed to try out a CAR.O.L bike to see for myself. The website for CAR.O.L, www.carolfitai.com, has a directory of businesses where you might be able to schedule a demo ride. I found one in my area at Fitness Prometheus in Hillsboro, OR and thanks to Rob, I plan to go check it out on Sunday! Let me know if you have experienced the CAR.O.L bike!

Resources:

1. CAR.O.L bike website: www.carolfitai.com

2. Bulletproof Radio podcast # 615 with CAR.O.L founders Ratna and Ulrich Dempfie

3. www.healthline.com  HIIT information

Death Preparedness Part 3

Photo credit Daniel Welsh @wel_shy

It used to be that there were fairly traditional choices for what happened to the body at the time of death. The family would call the local funeral home of choice, after death was pronounced officially, then they would pick out a casket, or choose cremation or above ground internment. Embalming was standard unless cremation was chosen. Then there was visitation or not. Funeral ceremony or memorial service. 

Now there are home funerals, green burial, aqua cremation, donating all or parts of your body to science, Recompose- human composting, floating ice urns, turning ashes into jewelry, becoming  part of a coral reef, becoming a tree, having  a tattoo created from your ashes and tattoo ink, having your ashes turned into a vinyl record or having your ashes put inside a stuffed animal.  And all are legal. So many choices! 

All the more reason to communicate your wishes with your family. My Mom had donated her brain to the Miller School of Medicine in Miami after participating in a brain health study for the last several years of her life. She communicated very clearly that we were to follow her wishes and call the University at the time of her death. She died on a Saturday night in Ft Myers, FL and there was no one available to harvest her brain. I was with her when she died and made sure her head was packed in ice. A local funeral home came to transport her body to Miami. It was all a bit weird, but what she wanted, and what I accomplished for her. 

So there you have it! Many choices now available. Follow links to learn more if interested!

Happy Merry Gratitude

For the last blog post of the year, I am taking a break from Death Preparedness to talk about gratitude. Part Three of Death Preparedness will be posted after Christmas. 

What are you grateful for? This is the time of year when many of us reflect on the year past and look forward to the year ahead. The picture I started this blog with is of my Mom, Wanda. In that picture she was celebrating her last birthday, age 87, as she was dying from pancreatic cancer. It’s been twelve years since she died! It’s hard to believe how fast those years went. I still miss her and still have many fond, grateful memories. 

I’m grateful for my Mom because she was so supportive of me and my sisters as we were growing up. Our childhood was not perfect and we had our share of childhood trauma, just like everyone else on the planet. But we knew that our Mom was there for us. My twin sister and I fell in love with horses at about age 10, and despite the fact that we were not rich kids, our Mom helped us buy a $200 pony to start our equestrian journey. She took us to horse shows in a beat up pick up truck and homemade trailer (picture Beverly Hillbillies with horses), and spent many boring hours watching us ride and praying that we would not fall and break our necks. She always told us we could do anything we wanted to do. 

She got married right after the war and so did not finish her college degree at that time and started raising a family, ending up with five girls. She was a go-getter though. Once we were older, she went back to school, finished her bachelor’s degree, went on to get a master’s degree and then a PhD at age 62 in Early Childhood Education. She got her PhD the same year I got my MD! She worked in her field into her mid eighties. She continues to be such an inspiration. 

She loved to travel and continued to go on photo safaris into her eighties. When she traveled she enjoyed buying a T-shirt from the locations she visited. So when she died, she had an abundance of T-shirts! I made two T-shirt quilts for me and my sister Becky as a special memory of our Mom. If you haven’t built up your collection of T shirts, you might want to start so your kids can make quilts to remember you by! Just saying.

T-shirt quilt in memory of our Mom

Speaking of memory projects, I read today about a young woman in Scotland who makes teddy bears out of fabric from a loved ones clothes. They are so precious! Now I have another option! Her name is Mary Macinnes and she makes Memory Bears. Check out her Facebook page at Mary Mac.

I am also grateful for family. I have two incredibly talented, entrepreneurial adult children who I love with all my heart. They have taught me so much! My twin sister and her husband were kind enough to welcome me into their home when I decided to make a change after my husband died three years ago. Having a twin sister is a special blessing! Thank you! My four year old grandson has a special place in my heart too and I am seeing him tomorrow in Tennessee! Can’t wait to be with him, my daughter, her boyfriend, and my son and his wife! My extended family that I gained when I married my husband, continue to be an encouragement to me and I treasure their friendship! Thank you to all Sheltons, Bonsers, Ruseaus and Barrs!

And friends! I miss my friends in Virginia and am slowly making friends in Oregon. It takes time doesn’t it? I am especially grateful for my friend Leisa who checks in on me and helps me stay accountable with this blog!

And finally I am grateful to my Church and church family here in Lake Oswego. You have all been so kind and welcoming.

Enjoy your time with friends and family as the year and decade come to an end, Best warm wishes for the coming year!

Death Preparedness Part 2

In my last blog, Death Preparedness Part 1, I focused on advance directives. Today I will address the other three types of paperwork to consider. Here is the list again from my last blog:

Paperwork-protecting your own wishes and making life a lot easier for your heirs

1. Advance directive- discussed in part one of my blog

2. Durable Power of Attorney for Finances

3. Will

4. Revocable Living Trust

Much of this information is from the book: “A Beginner’s Guide to the End” by BJ Miller, MD and Shoshana Berger. I am grateful for how thorough they are in this book!

A Durable Power of Attorney for Finances allows someone to manage your financial affairs if you become incapacitated. They are able to sign checks, sign financial documents and pay your bills. This person has power over your finances while you are alive but unable to take care of finances yourself. Let’s say you have a serious accident, end up in the hospital and are temporarily unable to attend to your finances. Who will pay your bills when you can’t? If you have joint checking accounts, then the other person on your account will have access. But if not, it could be a major issue. Obviously you want to choose someone you trust since they will have access to all of your financial information. After you die, this document will no longer be in effect. After death, your will designates who you choose as a personal representative or executor and they then have responsibility of managing your finances and estate.

A Will is a legal document that gives instructions on how to transfer your assets and property to whoever you designate after your death. Some of you might think that you don’t need a will if you don’t own property or do not have children. But if you die with no will, it is much more difficult for your family to figure out what to do with your stuff and how you would want your body dealt with after death. Do you want to be an organ donor? Would you prefer burial or cremation or green burial? Who knows? You don’t have a will so whoever is left behind has to just use their best guess. What if you have kids and have not designated a guardian for them? It can get pretty complicated and messy. Sometimes even a legal nightmare! 

Wills are not a one and done document either. They should be reviewed every year if possible to update as needed. What if you designated a certain family member to be your executor, but then they developed a serious illness or they died. Or you bought a new home or sold a home. All that should be updated in your will. And each state has different laws, so when I moved to a different state, I had to update my will to be in compliance with that state’s laws. There are some do it yourself sort of wills out there on the internet and if you have a pretty uncomplicated estate, that may be one way to go. But you want to make sure your will is valid and does what you want it to do. Generally it is best to have a lawyer help you with all of these documents to make sure they are legally valid.

A Revocable Living Trust is a legal document that you place your assets into. While you are alive, the assets belong to you. If you do decide to create a trust, it is super important to “fund” the trust so your assets are owned by the trust. After you die, the successor trustee, who you named in the document, transfers assets to your beneficiaries. This type of document is best done by a lawyer because it is more complicated and used for more complicated estates. An alternative to a trust, if your estate is not too large or complicated, is to have your assets transferred on death to a specific beneficiary. So if you own a house, you can have a lawyer draw up a form that says to transfer the deed of the house directly to your heirs at the time of your death. That way you avoid probate for those assets. I have beneficiaries listed for all of my bank accounts and any other asset of significance. Any IRA’s or investment accounts and life insurance policies also have beneficiaries listed so they pass directly without going through probate. 

What is probate anyway? If there is no trust, or the trust is not funded, or if property is owned by you personally with no beneficiaries, or no will, then those assets are called Probate assets. This then requires your heirs to go to probate court to settle your estate. In some states, probate can be a long drawn out process and cost your family time and money to try to get your estate settled. I chose the TOD (transfer on death) route to make settling my estate as easy as possible for my family. You might choose to go the route of setting up a trust. But the most important thing is to have a will and beneficiaries designated to protect your family from unnecessary suffering. 

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to be used as legal advice and is for educational purposes only. Each person’s situation is different and would benefit from legal consultation. 

Another idea that I found super helpful in the Beginner’s Guide to the End, is the recommendation to create a “When I Die Folder”. This puts all your important information and documents in one place so at the time of your death your family can easily find everything they need. Here is the list from their book:

When I Die Folder:

1. Advance directive-signed and notarized if necessary

2. Lawyer and accountant information

3. Birth Certificate

4. Will and living trust

5. Durable power of attorney for finance

6. Life insurance policy plus agent’s name and contact information

7. Military service documents

8. Bank account plus any safe-deposit box information

9. investment information

10. Real estate documents and deeds

11. Debtor information-credit cards, loans, membership dues

12. Copy of driver’s license and Social Security card or number

13. Marriage or divorce certificate

14. .Location and combination of any safes and combination in your home

15. .Tax information

16. Passwords for phone, computer, email, social media accounts (consider an online password manager to collect all, share master password with someone you trust and designate emergency contacts within the program who are allowed to gain access

17. Letters to loved ones

18. Funeral and burial plot documents and funeral insurance

19. Instructions for your funeral and final disposition

20. Helpful home details: location of car keys, gate codes, hide-s-key location, garage door opener

Another resource I came across is a notebook called Peace of Mind Planner published by Peter Pauper Press Inc and available on Amazon. It has pages for you to fill in with all your personal information and where to find important documents after your death. 

Whew! That was a lot of information! I hope you found it helpful and if you or a family member do not have your paperwork in order, I encourage you to talk about it and decide to get it done. It is a gift from you to those you love to have your estate papers in order.

My next blog will cover what happens after death. There are more choices now than there used to be and there are even more than one choice for cremation. If you haven’t heard of aqua cremation, then stay tuned and learn all about it!

Resources:

www.Gyst.com online service to get affairs in order

www.everplans.com  secure digital archive to store important documents

www.willing.com  for creating an online will, created by lawyers, fees apply

www.naela.org the National Academy of Elder Law attorneys

Photo Credit Tyler Nix @jtylernix

What's All This Buzz About Death Preparedness...Part 1

If you are reading this, the word “death” must not have freaked you out! I applaud you for continuing to read! This is such an important topic and anyone who is age 18 and over needs to know this information. Most of us do not like to talk about death, and yet it is an inevitable part of life. I have not yet met anyone who is not destined to die at some point. None of us know the time or the circumstances of our future death. Some of us are closer to our death than others just based on our age. Surprisingly only 10-20% of us will die unexpectedly from a sudden event without warning. The rest of us will die from age related chronic conditions or chronic diseases that have a slower progression. Since we can’t predict our death, it is all the more important that we prepare for our future death in a way that will help our loved ones know what sort of care we would want in different situations. 

A recently released book called “The Beginner’s Guide to The End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death” by BJ Miller, MD and Shoshana Berger has so much helpful and practical information. And it is presented in a way that is easy to understand. A lot of the information I am sharing here is from that book. 

My focus in this blog is mostly about the paperwork that is an important part of preparedness. If any of us die without these documents it can be extremely difficult for our loved ones to sort out. If you are incapacitated before you die and do not have an advance directive or have not had a conversation with your family, how will they know what your wishes for treatment are? These decisions are different depending on the person and their age and health. A healthy 18 year old who had a serious car accident would probably want aggressive medical care, while someone who was elderly and with chronic diseases might not want that same care. My recurring message here is Talk About It! Document it!

“Next to birth, death is one of our most profound experiences- shouldn’t we talk about it, prepare for it, use what it can teach us about how to live?”  A Beginner’s Guide to the End

Here are some basic documents that we should all consider and that should be updated regularly:

1. Advance Directive for Health Care (also called a living will)

2. Durable Power of Attorney for Finances

3. Will

4. Revocable Living Trust

Explanation:

Today in Part 1 I will be discussing Advance Directives. The other three will be discussed in Part 2.

1. An Advance Directive for Health Care is a legal document that explains your wishes for care if you are unable to make those decisions because of illness. Maybe you had an injury and are in a coma or on a ventilator because of a serious illness. Your health care agent, who you designated before you became ill, will be the one to make decisions for you. If you are at the end of your life it is also important for your health care agent to know how aggressive you want the medical team to be with your treatment. Do you want “everything done” or are you ready for comfort care which would not involve being on a ventilator or receiving CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) if your heart stopped. It is really important to choose an agent who understands you and your values and wishes and someone you trust to advocate for you. As you can see, this isn’t just for people who are older or at the end of their lives. Young people can easily be in this situation after an accident or critical illness and need a health care agent too. This document can also include whether or not you want to be an organ donor.

   A POLST form (Physicians Order for Life Sustaining Treatment) is an addition to the Advance Directive and is used for those who are living with a serious medical condition or advanced age and it needs to be signed by a physician to be valid. Some states allow other medical providers to sign also.

A newer additional form that is extremely helpful for any of us who may be at risk of developing dementia in the future, or have a loved one who may be at risk, is the Dementia Directive. This is a specific form developed by Dr. Barak Gaster, MD from the University of Washington, that gives directions for care that can vary based on the severity of the dementia symptoms. It is meant to be filled out by you while you are still cognitively clear in case you develop dementia in the future and at that time would not be able to express your wishes. The web site for this form is listed in the resources below.

One more helpful form relating to dementia is called My Instructions for Oral Feeding and Drinking. It was developed by End of Life Washington and can be found on their website. https://endoflifewa.org This form was developed because as dementia becomes more severe, feeding can become a difficult issue for the patient. This has been controversial because with severe dementia, patients many times do not want food or liquid and can’t process food, but caregivers may feel the need to push food and liquid even when it is being spit out and choked on. This form can make your wishes clear before this happens. We had a younger sister who had an advanced form of multiple sclerosis and was being spoon fed at the end of her life because she would reflexly open her mouth when a spoon was brought near. Did she want food at that point? It’s hard to say. She never shared her wishes, as far as I know, before her brain stopped working. Everyone has their own idea of what “quality life” looks like. If you have cared for someone with late stage dementia, then you probably understand what I am talking about. If not, you might think it is cruel to withhold food or that the person is “starving”. But part of the natural dying process is that the body starts to shut down and no longer needs or can process food and liquids. If someone is still asking to be fed, then they should be given food and drink in a form that they can manage safely. I’m talking about the situation where the person does not want food and cannot safely swallow or process what is being offered.

The Beginner’s Guide to the End has some great resources for advance directives. If you want more, I highly recommend buying the book! (I have no financial interest)

Resources

www.Gyst.com online service to get affairs in order

www.everplans.com  secure digital archive to store important documents

www.prepareforyourcare.org  free advance directives to print out for all states

www.aarp.org/home-family/caregiving/free-printable-advance-directives/ 

www.mydirectives.com create advance care plans online, add video if desired

www.conversationsofalifetime.org  tips for starting a conversation about end-of-life wishes

https://fivewishes.org guide for advance care planning

www.theconversationproject.org  conversation guide to get the talk started

https://commonpractice.com/products/hello-game

www.dementia-directive.org  advance directive for dementia-Mentioned in blog above

www.joincake.com  questions about your values 

www.willing.com  for creating an online will, created by lawyers, fees apply

Photo Credit Mr. Xerty @xerty

What's All This Buzz About Inflammation and Food Sensitivities...

Have you been told that you have food allergies, or food sensitivities? Does it seem like everyone is gluten free, or dairy free or lectin free? Sometimes it seems like it’s hard to know what the heck is safe to eat! Dr. Mark Hyman wrote a book recently called “Food: What The Heck Should I Eat?”  I can definitely relate to this! You would think that once you decide to eat whole foods, like fruits and vegetables and whole grains, that you would be in good shape and not have any issues. But hold on a minute! That is not true! Even “healthy” whole foods can cause inflammation or a sensitivity of some sort in some people. Yikes!  And there is that “inflammation” word. Just about every disease out there is caused in part  by inflammation including heart disease, depression, diabetes, autoimmune disease, dementia and many other ailments.

So what exactly is inflammation and what causes it? Acute inflammation is a good thing. When we have an injury or infection, our bodies have an inflammatory reaction that works to heal the problem. But when inflammation becomes chronic, then we can have an autoimmune condition, or heart disease or brain issues like depression or anxiety. Chronic inflammation can be caused by the foods we eat, or the chronic stress in our lives or chronic infections with mold exposure or chronic bacterial or viral illnesses. Some people develop chronic Lyme disease because it wasn’t diagnosed in the acute stages. 

Today I’m focusing on food as a source of inflammation. Some foods are known to be inflammatory for everyone, like sugar for example. Refined sugar is not a healthy food group and results in chronic inflammation even if you do not have diabetes.  Other foods can seem healthy, but for certain people can be associated with an inflammatory response. For example, some people react poorly to gluten that is a protein found in most whole grains. Even if you do not have celiac disease, you may still have a sensitivity to gluten. And you might not have the typical intestinal symptoms from gluten, so you think you are fine. But it can result in inflammation in other parts of your body or your brain. Some doctors would say that gluten is not healthy for anyone to eat because it is difficult to digest and is often containing the pesticide glycophosphate. And apparently grain products in Europe are different from what we grow here in the US. But that’s a topic for another blog. 

So how do you know what to eat and what to avoid? A general recommendation is to eat whole foods, meaning unprocessed vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, grass fed meats and to avoid food that is packaged and preserved with ingredients that are not recognizable as food! But like I said before, even whole foods can cause an inflammatory response. That is where food sensitivity testing comes in. The current standard to figure out food sensitivities is the Elimination Diet. That means completely removing certain foods from your diet for about 4 weeks and monitoring your symptoms. Then reintroducing them one at a time to see if symptoms recur. The most common allergenic foods are: sugar and artificial sweeteners, all grains, dairy and eggs, nuts and seeds, and nightshades. The elimination diet is a great tool and it helps to be working with a functional medicine practitioner when you are doing this for accountability and support. But it is a challenge for most of us, me included, to be compliant! And when you add food back in, then you have to add one at a time and wait 3 days or so to see if there are new symptoms. My impatience kicks in big time trying to do this!

Food sensitivity testing uses a sample of your blood and looks for IgG (immune) response to different foods to determine if you have a sensitivity to certain foods. (Food allergies result in IgE response and is immediate but I’m only talking about food sensitivity today.) There are many tests out there, but the one I came across recently is called The FIT test (Food Inflammation Test) offered by KBMO Diagnostics. www.kbmodiagnostics.com    This test is unique because it measures IgG 1-4 as well as a complement antigen called C3d. They are the only lab doing this test in this way. So they are looking at which foods stimulate an immune response as well as which foods cause inflammation in your body. They test 132 different foods, and additives. The results show which foods have a strong response-shown in red, moderate response in orange, less response in yellow, and no inflammation in green. This give you a better idea about which foods you personally should avoid. It may not be forever that you need to avoid them, but at least for 2-3 months to let your gut and body heal before trying to reintroduce them. 

Some of this food sensitivity is due to what is called “leaky gut” which means that undigested food particles get through the mucosal barrier of your intestine and into your bloodstream where they are then recognized as foreign invaders and your immune system forms antibodies against them and inflammatory cytokines are formed that create inflammation. (this is a very simplified version of what happens)  There is a great podcast with Kara Fitzgerald, ND interviewing Joel Evans, MD, the medical director of KBMO if you want more detailed information. It is called New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and it is episode #53 recorded on 12/7/18.

So I had a FIT test done 2 weeks ago and the results were a bit surprising. My red foods are corn, chick peas and sugar. I love corn chips!! My orange foods are coffee and cola nuts. I love coffee!! Don’t care about cola. Yellow foods are rice, orange, sweet potato, tomato, pinto bean, turmeric and shrimp. Turmeric? Really? (did you know it was spelled that way?) Apparently it is not uncommon for people to react to turmeric, even though we think of it as anti-inflammatory. Then there were multiple foods that were less reactive but in the light green category. Ideally I should avoid all the foods that I reacted to if I want to see how it affects my symptoms. For me my main indicators of inflammation are headaches when I eat the wrong foods and joint pains. 

This is what my FIT results look like

What is the point of all this? Why bother eliminating foods or figuring out what is causing inflammation? For me the point is that chronic inflammation can lead to the more than 100 autoimmune diseases out there, and can contribute to heart disease, diabetes and dementia. So it is worth it to me to try to quell inflammation, hopefully avoid chronic diseases down the road, have better quality of life for the time I do have and to feel better.  I just hope avoiding coffee is not a lifelong restriction!!

Resources:

1. Dr. Hyman’s books- “Food: What The Heck Should I Eat” and “Food: What the Heck Should I Cook”

2. Dr. Will Cole www.drwillcole.com Books: “Ketotarian” and “The Inflammation Spectrum:Find Your Food Triggers and Reset Your System”

3. Kara Fitzgerald podcast New Frontiers in Functional Medicine Episode #53 12/7/18 with Joel Evans, MD

4. Broken Brain Podcast with Dhru Purhoit #76 on 10/17/19 interviewing Will Cole, MD

5. KBMO Diagnostics www.kbmodiagnostics.com

What's All This Buzz About Energy Medicine...

photo credit: Hal Gatewood @halgatewood

My topic this week is energy medicine. There is so much to learn in this area and I am just barely scratching the surface. I have been especially interested in medical devices that can help anxiety, depression, insomnia and PTSD because sometimes the pharmaceutical choices for these conditions have been challenging, not always effective and many times associated  with unpleasant side effects. 

I found it a bit hard to find a definition for energy medicine that was clear and simple. Here is one:  “Any energetic or informational interaction with a biological system to bring back homeostasis in the organism”

Or this: “A generic term for a format of alternative medicine that uses an energy field (i.e., magnetic, sonic, acoustic, microwave, infrared) to screen for, or allegedly treat, health conditions by detecting imbalances in the body’s energy fields and then correcting them.” https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com

From encyclopedia.com  “Energy medicine is a broad term that includes touch therapies, movement therapies, spiritual healing, meditation , magnetic field therapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, light therapy , and other innovative methods of healing.”

It’s harder to think of our bodies as having an electrical energetic component. The focus in medical school was more biochemical. Which is why we tend to think that we need a drug for every disease process that develops. But there are energy fields all around us and the earth’s magnetic field is essential for life. When we have an EKG, (electrocardiogram) we are measuring the electrical activity of the heart. And an EEG (electroencephalogram) measures the electrical activity in our brain. So our bodies are obviously not just biological and chemical but also electrical.

PEMF console from Swiss Bionic

The first treatment modality I want to discuss is PEMF or pulsed electromagnetic field therapy. Magnetic fields can penetrate through matter, meaning it can pass through clothing and reach every cell of the body. Cell membranes are effected by the magnetic field to function more effectively and the energy production in the cells is improved. 

PEMF mat- Charlotte enjoys a treatment too!

There are PEMF units available for home use, which is more practical because the most benefit is seen with daily use. I have a system made by Swiss Bionic. It includes a mat that is for full body treatment, a cushion for more localized therapy and a probe that is very localized. The intensity used ranges from sensitive to 400. Different parts of the body have different intensity recommendations. I decided to purchase one last year because of persistent headaches and started using it twice per day as well as seeing a chiropractor for upper cervical spine adjustments. It seemed to make a significant difference in the frequency of my headaches. I have also used the mat for musculoskeletal injuries with improvement noted. It is not a one treatment and you’re healed kind of therapy. It takes daily use and then on going maintenance therapy once acute symptoms are better. There are other systems out there as well and I do not have financial interest in any of them. Unfortunately they are pricey- in the several thousand dollar range depending on the brand you choose.

Another interesting treatment modality is LENS neurofeedback. LENS stands for Low Energy Neurofeedback System. A great resource I used to learn more about this is:   https://www.site.oschlabs.com   You can also find practitioners in your area on this site.

LENS measures each person’s specific EEG (electroencephalogram) signals and then matches the feedback to the person’s neurologic fingerprint. It is different from traditional neurofeedback because it does not require focused attention and the sessions are shorter. It typically takes fewer sessions to see results. It works well with symptoms of anxiety, depression, attention deficit, sleep disorders, headaches, PMS, and emotional disturbances. I started seeing a naturopath here in Portland recently to see if it would help with my insomnia. The first appointment involves mapping my brain by using electrodes on different parts of my scalp and measuring the EEG in different areas of my brain. The electrodes are on the surface of the scalp, so no needles or punctures in case you were wondering!  Then based on the EEG findings, the practitioner decides how to administer the therapy. I have only had a couple treatments, so a little early to tell how it is working. I did not feel any physical sensations on my scalp and so far have felt more focused and alert after the treatments. I have not yet noticed a change in my sleep, but it is still early. This is not an at home sort of treatment, but it usually can produce results in about 10 treatments or less, given weekly at the practitioners office. The cost ranges from $100-$175 per session and may be covered by your insurance depending on your carrier and the provider you are seeing.

The third modality I want to mention is Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM). I have not personally had experience with this, but listening to podcasts and reading about it has been enlightening. Carolyn McMakin is a pioneer in this field and has great information on her web sites. 

https://frequencyspecific.com  She also wrote a book called “The Resonance Effect”.

FSM delivers sub sensory micro amperage current. It has been shown to increase ATP production inside cells and increases amino acid transport into the cell. FSM repairs tissues at a cellular level.  

I realize this is just a very brief overview of a few different energetic treatment modalities, and hopefully it will spark (pun intended) an interest in learning more.

Resources:

1. Body Electric Summit hosted by Dr. Klinghardt, MD, PhD and Christine Schaffner

2. Bulletproof Radio Podcast by Dave Asprey

3. Doctor’s Farmacy podcast with Mark Hyman, MD

4. Broken Brain podcast with Thru Purohit

What's All This Buzz About Humidity and preventing infections...

I came across an interesting article recently, thanks to my alert friend Leisa. The title of the article was “Is low indoor humidity a driver for healthcare-associated infections?” written by Stephanie Taylor, MD, M Arch from Harvard Medical School and reviewed in Forbes Magazine by Leah Binder. (October 17, 2019). I was interested because it sounded like maybe there was a non-pharmaceutical method that might prevent influenza like illnesses and hospital infections and I’m all for that! Dr. Taylor reminded me of a modern day medical detective in the way she investigated this question. As a scientist, when we see something that doesn’t make sense, we ask ourselves why? What are the factors contributing to the increased incidence of infection in hospitals? Ineffective hand washing? Room cleaning procedures? Contamination in the ventilation system? She did an extensive evaluation of a hospital building and looked at millions of data points and concluded that DRY AIR was a big contributor that had not been previously considered or studied. Dry air!! Why would that be?

If you are a germaphobe, you might want to stop reading now. The truth is, there are microbes everywhere around us. Every time we breathe, bacteria and viruses from our mouths are expelled into the air around us. When the air is dry, the droplets that carry microbes are small, travel further through the air, are able to penetrate more deeply into our respiratory tract and are more virulent. With increase in the relative humidity(RH) of the room, the droplets become bigger and heavier and fall to the ground more quickly. There are also microbes in the air from skin flakes that become airborne, especially with dry air. When Dr. Taylor’s team looked at the data, there was a significant decrease in the rate of infections that correlated strongly with relative humidity in the 40% to 60% range. So during the colder, dryer winter months when the RH was below 40%, the incidence of healthcare infections increased. This included influenza as well as other hospital acquired infections. Not only are microbes more virulent in rooms with lower RH, our bodies are more susceptible to infection when our nasal mucosa and respiratory mucosa are dry from the lower RH. More research is needed to sort out what the mechanisms are for this increased incidence of infection, but the indication is that the RH plays a significant role.

Another study done by the Mayo Clinic had similar findings. (PLoS One  2018 Sept 25:13(9) Humidity as a non-pharmaceutical intervention for influenza A) In this study they used a preschool setting in the community and had one classroom that was humidified to an absolute humidity (AH) of 9.86mb compared to a control classroom with an AH of 6.33mb. (There is a difference in RH compared to AH that I had to look up to understand, but  basically one room was humidified and the other wasn’t) From Jan25-March 11, 2016 10 influenza-like illnesses (ILI) from absent students were recorded by school personnel. Seven were from the control room, three were from humidified room.  Both sets of rooms had the same number of absences due to illness overall, but there were more ILI in the control classroom.

The study monitored the presence, genomic copy number and infectivity of influenza A virus in the preschool classrooms during the dry winter months. This correlated with peak respiratory virus infections in Minnesota. Increasing AH from 6.33mb in the control room to 9.89mb in the humidified room was associated with a significant decrease in Influenza A virus presence in fomite and air samples in the humidified room compared to the control room. And virus positive samples from the humidified room had lower infectivity than samples from the control room. 

Beware of Paw Patrol fomites!!

Fomite is a funny word that means an object (such as a cup or a doorknob) that may be contaminated with infectious organisms such as viruses or bacteria, and allow their spread. You can imagine all the potential fomites in a preschool classroom-light switches, toys, tables, used kleenexes etc. And don’t forget cell phones, computer keyboards, and remote controls in other settings. Viruses have been shown to live and remain infective for several days on bank notes! Your Mother was right! Money is dirty stuff! Wash your hands please.

Now that you know about relative humidity and prevention of infections, what do you do next? I ordered a hygrometer from Amazon to see what the RH was at my daughter’s house where I am visiting. It was 52%-phew! No dry air for me. But it isn’t winter yet, so I will keep monitoring. I remember winters in Virginia when the inside RH was below 20%!  Should you get yourself a personal humidifier to carry with you to school or work? Talk your kids preschool into humidifying the classroom? I plan on finding a good humidifier for the winter and see if it keeps the household healthier. Looks like more research is in order!

Unrelated fun fact: Fear of Halloween is called Samhainophobia.

And another one I never heard of: Fear of long words: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.  I seriously did not make this up!

For more information on the work that Dr. Taylor is doing, there is a Youtube video called “Better Health is Just a Breath Away”, as well of many other studies relating the effects of humidity on incidence of infections. 

What's All This Buzz About Sleep Apnea...

Most of you have probably heard of sleep apnea, or you know someone who is using a CPAP machine because of being diagnosed with apnea. Maybe you are using CPAP yourself. Maybe you have questions  about what it all means. Here is what I have learned about sleep apnea. 

Definitions: The word apnea means an absence of breathing, usually temporary unless you have died, then it’s permanent apnea. Sleep apnea means that you stop breathing multiple times during sleep and then spontaneously start breathing again without being aware that the apnea is happening. If you have a sleep partner, they may hear you snoring or gasping for air during the night.  There are three types of sleep apnea:

1. Obstructive sleep apnea, 2. Central sleep apnea and 3. Mixed apnea. CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. So a CPAP machine creates pressure in your upper airway, your throat, to keep it from closing off while you sleep.   Source: Mayoclinic.com

Typical CPAP machine

Central apnea is caused by something going wrong in the part of your brain that controls your breathing, called the respiratory control center. This is a less common form of apnea that is more common in men, people with congestive heart failure, someone who has had a stroke or someone on long acting opioids. With this kind of apnea, the brain doesn’t send the signal to your chest muscles that says “BREATHE!!” I remember coming out of anesthesia one time and had no desire to take a breath. The nurse had to tap my shoulder and remind me to breathe! Anesthesia induced temporary apnea!

Obstructive sleep apnea is more common and is associated with multiple risk factors:

1. Overweight- excess fat around your neck can restrict your breathing, especially at night

2. Neck circumference- thicker necks can restrict your airway

3. Narrowed airway- either as a genetic trait or from tonsils and adenoids blocking the airway (more common in children)

4. Being male- men are 2-3 times more likely to have apnea, risk for women increases after menopause

5. Older age- incidence increases as we get older

6. Family history- relatives with apnea might increase your risk

7. Alcohol, sedative or tranquilizer use- relaxes the muscles in your throat and they are more likely to collapse on themselves and close your airway

8. Smoking- smokers are three times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea because of inflammation and fluid retention in the upper airway

9. Nasal congestion- if you have trouble breathing through your nose for whatever reason, you are more prone to developing obstructive apnea.

According to www.sleepdisordersguide.com, 2-4% of all Americans have undiagnosed sleep apnea. Most people are not aware that they stop breathing during the night unless they have a sleep partner who tells them. There are significant risks to your health if you have sleep apnea and have not been diagnosed or treated. One thing that happens is that your oxygen level drops when you are not breathing and this has a negative effect on your brain. I recently read about the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( William G Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, Gregg L Semenza - “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability”) being awarded for the discovery of how cells respond to limited levels of oxygen. It involves a factor called HIF-1 alpha (hypoxia-inducible factor) and the end result is to induce inflammation. Lack of oxygen contributes to cognitive impairment and macular degeneration. Which is why it is so important to know if you are not breathing during the night and experiencing hypoxia, or insufficient oxygen levels in your blood!!

Sleep apnea can result in excessive daytime sleepiness, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, atrial fibrillation, and even sudden death due to an irregular heart rhythm.

The standard method of diagnosis is with sleep studies, called nocturnal polysomnography that is done at a sleep lab. It requires spending the night at the sleep lab hooked up to equipment that monitors your breathing, oxygen levels, brain waves and arm and leg movements. There is also the possibility of a home sleep test that is less complicated than the ones at the lab, but not as detailed. It could be a good way to screen for apnea and if positive, then do the sleep lab for more information if your doctor feels it is needed.

Measuring neck circumference

Some at home measurements you can do yourself are checking your neck circumference with a measuring tape. Men should be less than 16.5 inches and women less than 15 inches. Another is called the Mallampati scale that is used to assess your airway. (See photo)

This scale shows the amount of airway obstruction due to the position and thickness of your tongue. Anesthesiologists commonly use this scale to evaluate how difficult it might be to intubate you before a surgical procedure. It can also predict whether you are at risk for apnea. Stand in front of a mirror with your head looking forward. Open your mouth and stick out your tongue. Look in your mouth with a flashlight and see if you can see your uvula hanging down from your soft palate. Refer to the pictures for the scale from 1-4. If you are a 3 or 4 on the scale, you are more likely to be at risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Check in with your doctor for recommendations.

Personal experience:

A few years ago I was evaluated for sleep apnea at a sleep lab. I didn’t fit all the criteria but I was having frequent headaches on waking and I thought it would be worth checking for apnea. My Dad had apnea and my sister has apnea. My sleep study showed mild apnea that didn’t require CPAP, but I decided to get a CPAP machine anyway in case it helped my headaches. I used it for about 1 month and did not notice any difference in my headaches, so I put it in the closet. Fast forward 2 years: I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping and my naturopath looked in my mouth and thought I was a 2-3 on the Mallampati scale and suggested that I start using the CPAP machine again. Then before I got the machine out and running, I developed atrial fibrillation. Remember, that is one of the risks of untreated apnea! Yikes!  So I have been using my machine again and have been having better quality sleep most nights. It takes a little getting used to having the head gear in place, but once you get used to it, it is fairly comfortable. And definitely better than having a stroke! Or cognitive issues!

One type of mask that rests under your nose- only works if you are a nose breather

If you have any of the symptoms mentioned above, daytime sleepiness, poor sleep, feeling unrefreshed on waking, atrial fibrillation, snoring or if you have a Mallampati score of 2 or higher, I would encourage you to talk to your medical provider and get a sleep study if recommended. 

What's All This Buzz About Sleep...

There is so much information out there about sleep lately! And there are an incredible number of people who are struggling with insomnia, myself included. This article will be more of an overview with other articles to follow because there is a lot to talk about when it comes to sleep. 

How is insomnia defined? Insomnia can be marked by difficulty getting to sleep, staying asleep or early waking. Acute insomnia is periodic, lasts for days or weeks and is often related to a stressful event. Chronic insomnia is defined as trouble getting or staying asleep more than three nights per week for three months. 

What is happening in our culture that has contributed to the epidemic of insomnia? Technology? Wifi? Work habits? Diet? Caffeine?  All of these factors can play a role and each of us is affected differently. 

Quality sleep is foundational to our health. It’s not just the number of hours slept, it is also the quality of sleep that is measured by how much of each stage  of sleep you experience during the night. The types of brain waves, or electrical patterns,  that are measured by EEG (electroencephalogram) from highest frequency to lowest are: gamma, beta, alpha, theta and delta. Gamma and Beta waves are typically prominent in the waking state. Alpha waves are prominent in a relaxed state. Theta waves are involved in daydreaming and restorative sleep. Delta waves, the slowest waves, are involved in deep restorative sleep. 

A typical sleep cycle has 5 stages that can be measured by the changes in brain wave patterns. Stage 1 is light sleep when the brain waves switch to theta activity. Stage 2 involves the slowing of brain waves, lack of eye movement and shutting down of alpha activity. Most of the sleep cycle is spent in this stage. Stage 3 and 4 involve deep slow-wave sleep. The delta waves are prominent in this stage. This is also when nightmares and sleepwalking can happen. Stage 5 is REM sleep. REM stands for rapid eye movement. Your breathing becomes slow, muscles are paralyzed, eyes move around under your eyelids and dreams that you remember occur during this stage. 

Here is a fun fact: sleep laughing is called hypnogely and occurs during REM sleep. 

So why is sleep so important? Deep restorative sleep detoxifies your brain, allows the nervous system to rest and promotes healing of your body. Poor sleep contributes to weight gain, hormonal imbalances, mood swings and brain fog. www.drhyman.com  Sleep is a priority!

Now that you know that quality sleep is really, really important, what do you do if you are not getting restorative sleep? I’ll talk more about circadian rhythm in another blog post, but for now here are five recommendations from Harvard sleep medicine for circadian rhythm management.

1. Go to bed between 9pm-9:30pm consistently

2. Get bright light exposure for 30 min in the first 30 minutes after waking. If you live in a cloudy area, you can use a 10,000 lux light like a “Happy Light” in the morning to have a similar effect.

3. Block out blue light after sunset using blue blocking glasses or using the night shift setting on your devices. Melatonin production is disturbed by blue light exposure (regular lighting and most screen exposure) and you need melatonin to prepare your brain for sleep.

4. Create complete darkness at night where you sleep-either with black out curtains or sleep mask (see previous picture with my model Lulu)

5. Avoid eating any food for at least 3 hours before bed.

       https://sleep.med.harvard.edu

These are all very basic steps that can make a big difference for some people. However, I also realize that there are many people who have tried all five steps and are still struggling. There are parents out there whose children don’t sleep well and therefore disturb their parents sleep cycles. There are people who are caregivers for a sick family member who doesn’t sleep well. I know the frustration of chronic lack of sleep!

Personal Reflection:

I am an experimenter with myself as the subject. I have tried many herbal and nutritional supplements, pulsed electromagnetic frequency mats, the Fisher Wallace device, and have not yet found the answer for my insomnia. I have benefited from the PEMF and Fisher Wallace in other ways but not improved sleep. There are pharmaceuticals out there, but most of the drugs that fall in the hypnotic category have side effects that are not great for your brain. I have ordered a new supplement that sounds promising, but it has not arrived at my house yet, so I will report on that in the future. I will also address the issue of sleep apnea in a future post.

I have been wearing the Oura Ring now for a year or so and have been pleased with the amount of information it provides. https://ouraring.com  It is a ring that tracks multiple pieces of data including your body temperature, the time spent in each phase of sleep, heart rate variability and much more. It helps me see whether what I am doing has made a difference in my sleep quality. (I do not have any financial interest in Oura) 

There is so much more to talk about related to sleep so here are some resources for further research if you are so inclined. 

Sleep well my friends!

Resources:

1. Dr. Breus The Sleep Doctor: https://thesleepdoctor.com

2. Bulletproof Radio podcast #616 August 16, 2019 interviewing Matthew Walker, PhD author of “ Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams”

3. Doctor’s Farmacy podcast with Dr. Mark Hyman

4. Broken Brain podcast #53 with Dhru Purohit interviewing Shawn Stevenson, author of “Sleep Smarter”

5. Chris Kresser has a lots of information about many health topics on his web site: https://chriskresser.com

This blog is intended for educational purposes and not for medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider for specific recommendations.

What's all this Buzz About Therapeutic Humor....

Who doesn’t enjoy laughing? But when you are sick, laughter can be the last thing you might think of to help you feel better. So what is therapeutic humor or humor therapy?  The definition from encyclopedia.com is: “Humor therapy is the art of using humor and laughter to help heal people with physical or mental illness.”  Believe it or not, there is research to support the use of humor in healing. I remember reading a book called “Anatomy of an Illness” by Norman Cousins years ago and being impressed by his healing journey. He was a political journalist, author, professor and peace advocate and developed the sudden onset of a severe crippling connective tissue disease and ankylosing spondylitis. His prognosis was poor for recovery and he decided to immerse himself in humor by watching episodes of Candid Camera and the Marx Brothers. When he had genuine belly laughter, he had pain free episodes that allowed him to sleep. He lived and thrived much longer than his doctor’s thought possible. 

Norman Cousin’s quotes: “Life is an adventure in forgiveness.”

“Laughter is inner jogging”

     “The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.”

Other humor quotes:

Proverbs 17:22 “ A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.”

And way back in the fourteenth century a French surgeon named Henri de Mondeville wrote: “Let the surgeon take care to regulate the whole regimen of the patient’s life for joy and happiness, allowing his relatives and special friends to cheer him, and by having someone tell him jokes.” Do you have friends who tell you jokes?

Here’s an interesting observation: Children laugh 300 times/day. Adults laugh only 15 times per day! Where did our ability to laugh go once we got older? 

Personal reflection:

I am finally feeling better after 3 weeks of a very challenging virus and during my recovery I was sitting outside feeling sorry for myself when I saw a friend post something on Facebook that made me laugh out loud! It totally changed my mood and my attitude. Here is a sample of the autocorrect mishaps in that post:

Texting:
Jane: I know this may sound dumb but is placenta considered gluten? Was thinking of making that with chicken. For when you are here.

Mary: Placenta?? Like from a human? What?

Jane: OMG! Stupid spell check! I meant polenta!

And another one:

Mom: How is our pregnant little daughter?

Jane: Mom, how did you know?

Mom: I meant perfect! Wait, what???!

Here’s a couple one-liners that made me chuckle:

“My girlfriend left me because she couldn’t handle my OCD. I told her to close the door five times on her way out.”  (https://onelinefun.com/health)

“A cop just knocked on my door and told me that my dogs were chasing people on bikes. My dogs don’t even own bikes.”

Do you feel better yet? I love to laugh but when I don’t feel well, it is harder to find something that hits the spot for me. My funny bone changes when I’m sick and not everything is funny that used to make me laugh. 

I ended up in the ER twice in the last week. Once in TN for facial weakness that turned out to be mild Bell’s palsy and fortunately not a stroke. Then one day later in Oregon because of a rapid heart rate diagnosed as atrial fibrillation. Being sick is not for the faint hearted and I am not used to having health issues requiring ER visits! So I really needed some humor! When a volunteer came by to see if I needed anything, I said- “do you have any good jokes?” I think I caught him off guard and he said he would have to think about it. Then I told him one of my favorite jokes instead. He did come back later and shared this one: “What kind of shoes does a frog wear?  Open toad” (toed, get it?)

So I have decided I need more laughter in my life and decided to go to ComedySportz tonight to listen to some improv and have some good belly laughs with my sister and her husband. And I joined the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor. I may even go to a humor conference next year! 

I hope you can add some laughter to your life, no matter where you are in your life and health journey. It boosts your mood, lowers blood pressure, decreases stress and just feels good!!

What's All This Buzz About Flu Like Illnesses

Last week I wrote a blog about the flu vaccine, how it’s made and what ingredients are included in the preparation of vaccines. Then two days later I developed flu like symptoms and have been sick for the last week! So Not Fair! It has been a long week of fevers, chills, sweats, muscle weakness, fatigue and general unpleasantness. 

So did I have influenza? Most likely not. I did not have any respiratory symptoms, no cough, no runny nose or congestion. The only way to be sure it was influenza would be to do a nasal swab, which is not always accurate, but if it shows positive, then it is called influenza. The CDC is not reporting any cases of influenza yet on their web site. So, no, I didn’t have the flu. I just felt miserable enough to have the flu. I had a flu like illness, or a viral syndrome of unknown etiology. We do not usually even test for what type of virus is involved because it doesn’t really matter. The treatment is still the same- rest, drink fluids, ibuprofen for discomfort and fever if needed. It just takes time! 

Other viruses that can cause flu like symptoms are adenovirus, enterovirus, paramyxovirus and parainfluenza viruses to name a few. But you can also feel like you have the flu when you have a bacterial infection. Even something like appendicitis or diverticulitis can make you feel muscle aches, fever, weakness and fatigue. So it is super important to check with your doctor if you are ill with these symptoms in case it requires antibiotics or surgery and is not a virus. 

There are things you can do to help prevent catching a viral illness. Eating a clean healthy diet, daily movement, clean water and  hand washing can all help your immune system stay strong. I am pretty good at doing all these things and so I can feel really offended when I get sick anyway! The song that comes to mind is “I fought the virus and the virus won”!  ( by The Clash, with adjusted lyrics) Sometimes the virus is stronger than my ability to fight it off. So not fair!  

It has taken me a while to regain my strength this week. I am better but not back to health. My legs still ache and my stamina is puny. But lab work says I’m normal, so I’m grateful. Being sick has a way of making you grateful for your health. I will cherish those days when I feel good again! Just another reminder to practice gratefulness. 

The information in this blog is intended for educational purposes only. Please seek medical attention for your specific circumstances.

What's all this buzz about flu shots...

Today’s blog is about the flu vaccine. It’s that time of year again and the vaccine for the 2019-2020 season is available. This is one of those topics I almost hate to talk about because there is so much controversy and emotion around vaccine decisions. Can’t we just talk about this calmly and rationally? I am avoiding “pro” and “anti” terms because I don’t find them helpful. I am only addressing the influenza vaccine today. Each other vaccine is a topic by itself! 

 Reminder:

The goal of this blog is education. I am not making medical recommendations for you-that is between you and your medical provider. But I believe it is important to be informed so that you can make those decisions for yourself and your family. My hope is that you learn something new today!

The first site I went to was the CDC. That website is filled with detailed information about all vaccines. First I wanted to learn more about how flu vaccines are made. There are egg based vaccines and cell based vaccines as well as recombinant vaccines. Egg based is the most common. The viruses each year are chosen by the World Health Organization based on what strains are prominent in the environment that year. The candidate vaccine viruses (CVV) are injected into fertilized hen’s eggs and incubated to allow the virus to grow. Then the virus containing fluid is harvested from the eggs. The virus is then killed, since you don’t want to inject people with live virus, and the virus antigen is purified. The killed virus is an antigen, which means it is what the body makes antibodies to to fight off any potential future exposure to that virus, hopefully allowing the body to not become infected with the flu. The challenge each year is deciding which strains of virus to pick for the vaccine. Typically it is 2 Influenza A strains and 2 Influenza B strains. Sometimes the vaccine is not as effective as desired because the strains mutate, or change over the course of the season, or a different strain shows up that wasn’t predicted. In those cases, the antibodies would not be protective. With the cell based vaccines, the CVVs are grown in animal cells instead of eggs. One of the common animal cells used for this is called Madin Darby Canine Kidney cells, which are cells from a dog kidney. There are also fetal cell lines that are used in the preparation of certain vaccines but I am not clear about whether the flu vaccine is one that uses fetal cells. 

Other substances are sometimes added to vaccines as well such as squalene and aluminum salts-both of which are adjuvants that cause a strong inflammatory response to stimulate antibody production. Other potential ingredients are thimerosal, which is mercury as a preservative, formaldehyde as a preservative, antibiotics to prevent bacterial contamination, and polysorbate 80. 

I want to know exactly what is in a substance that I am putting in my body, whether by ingestion or injection, so I always look for the ingredients. One of the current flu vaccines is called FLUARIX quadrivalent. Quadrivalent means that it was prepared with 4 influenza strains.

 From the package insert: (2 A strains and 2 B strains): A/Singapore/GP1908/2015 (H1N1) IVR-180 (an A/Michigan/45/2015 [H1N1] pdm09-like virus), A/Singapore/INFIMH-16-0019/2016 (H3N2) NIB-104, B/Maryland/15/2016 NYMC BX-69A (a B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus), and B/Phuket/3073/2013.

This vaccine is a single dose vial rather than a multi dose vial so it does not contain thimerosal. If you receive your shot at your physician’s office, it is good to ask if it is a multi dose vial or not. I met a friend lately who is allergic to thimerosal and therefore can only receive the flu shot from a single dose vial. This vaccine, FLUARIX, contains octoxynol-10 (TRITON X-100) ≤0.115 mg, α- tocopheryl hydrogen succinate ≤0.135 mg, and polysorbate 80 (Tween 80) ≤0.550 mg. Each dose may also contain residual amounts of hydrocortisone ≤0.0015 mcg, gentamicin sulfate ≤0.15 mcg, ovalbumin ≤0.050 mcg, formaldehyde ≤5 mcg, and sodium deoxycholate ≤65 mcg from the manufacturing process. (also from the package insert)

By now you might be saying, “Yikes! way too much information!!  Just tell me if I should take the flu shot or not!”  It really depends on so many things. How old are you? What is your current health? Are you around fragile, compromised friends or family, or do you work in an area where there are immunocompromised people? Have you had a serious reaction to the flu shot in the past or are allergic to eggs or thimerosal? It is an individual decision that you and your provider should discuss. It is helpful to do what you can to stay healthy during the year by eating nutrient rich foods and washing your hands frequently during the day. Sorry it is not just a simple yes or no answer. For me personally there are years that I took the flu shot and years that I didn’t. There are people who don’t get the flu shot and never get sick, and others who get the flu despite taking the shot. and then there are flu like illnesses that are not Influenza A or B and are not prevented by the flu shot. There are no guarantees either way. With any medical procedure, I believe in looking at risk vs. benefit. If you are at high risk for developing influenza and it’s potential complications, then it is more important for you to discuss that with your provider. 

Another valuable resource that is a go to site for me is the National Vaccine Information Center(nvic.org)  You can research all of the available vaccines on this site, any potential side effects, vaccine injuries reported and scientific studies related to vaccines. As with any medical procedure, there are potential complications that you should be aware of when making decisions for yourself or your children. 

My final request: be kind to each other, even when you disagree about vaccine decisions. I confess that I am at times afraid ( I am an enneagram 6 after all) of certain vaccines and respectful conversations are more helpful than critical ones. 

Resources:

1. CDC.gov Center for Disease Control

2. NVIC.org National Vaccine Information Center

3. chriskresser.com podcast called Revolution Health Radio, search on his website for “flu shots” He takes a more alternative, functional medicine approach

4. Natural MD Radio with Aviva Romm, MD podcast 105 talks about vaccines in general, not just the flu vaccine, a very rational approach to decision making

What's All This Buzz About Vegan Diets

What’s all this buzz about vegan diets?

In my last blog I wrote about the ketogenic diet so I thought it only fair to talk about vegan and vegetarian diets next. Vegan diets include fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains and exclude meat, dairy, eggs and any other ingredients that are from animals. Some vegans are stricter than others and some allow occasional fish or shellfish. Vegetarians commonly allow eggs and dairy products. 

Is eating this way healthy?  It depends! Some vegans eat a lot of processed food, like cereals and breads as well as packaged food as long as it is not from animals. This is obviously not as healthy as a vegan who eats a whole food, plant based diet with minimal processed food. Even when you choose a whole foods, plant based diet, it can be difficult to get adequate B12 and omega 3 fats that are primarily from animal sources. There are omega 3 supplements that are from algae which can be a non animal sourced alternative. 

Vegan Humor: What did the lettuce say to the celery? Are you stalking me?

Personal experience: 

I have not personally ever tried a strictly vegan or vegetarian diet, so I cannot share my own experience. However I have several friends who are on vegan/vegetarian diets for many years and have maintained good health and vitality. 

There is an interesting study from Stanford that looked at 2 groups of eaters. One  group was on a low fat diet and one on a low carb diet. It was published in JAMA Feb 20, 2018 with the  lead scientist being Christopher Gardner, PhD. Both groups were encouraged to eat whole foods and make healthy choices. The results showed  that there was no apparent association between genotype patterns, or baseline insulin levels on the likelihood of succeeding on either diet. In other words, both diets were successful independent of the genotype or insulin levels that they predicted might influence the outcome. The conclusion is that there is no one best diet for everyone!  We all have an individual response to food and it is best to know your own body and know what works for you. I know that I do better with a lower carb diet because I am susceptible to elevated blood sugar when I eat too many carbs, even when they are whole food carbs. You might be able to eat a higher carb diet but don’t do well with increased fat in your diet. It just depends.

The universal recommendations though are to eat less sugar, less refined flour and processed food and more vegetables!

Resources:

There are many vegan/vegetarian authors available, and I am sharing those I am familiar with:

1. Joel Fuhrman, MD “Eat To Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained weight Loss” (plus his other books)

2. Neal Barnard, MD “ The Vegan Starter Kit: Everything You Need to Know About Plant Based Eating”

3. Caldwell Esselstyn, MD “ Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health”

What's the Buzz about... Ketogenic Diets!

Ketogenic diets have been in the news a lot lately and before I explain what that is all about, I think it is important to define the terms so it is clear. A ketogenic eating plan limits carbohydrates (sugar and starches), allows moderate protein intake and high amounts of healthy fats. What exactly does that mean? By limiting carbs and increasing fats, it allows the body to burn fat for fuel instead of sugar. When sugar from carbs is the main source of energy, it stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin is a fat storage hormone and excess insulin stores fat instead of burning fat which results in weight gain. When you eat fat, it does not stimulate insulin production and can be used for fuel for the cells of the body and brain.

There are many versions of the ketogenic diet, with variations in the percentages of nutrients. The other terms used are paleo, ancestral or primal eating plans. Typically fat intake is 70% of calories, protein is 20% and carbs are 10% of calories each day. It is also recommended that all food as much as possible is from grass fed animals and organic sources.

Personal Experience:

I started on a primal ketogenic fat burning diet about 2 months ago after reading a book by Nora Gedgaudas called Primal Fat Burner. I calculated that my carb allotment should be 50gms, my protein allotment is 54gms, and about 85gms of fat, based on my ideal weight and calorie consumption. I have lost several pounds, am not as hungry and feel better overall. My fasting blood sugar is in the 80’s rather than above 100 where it had been before eating ketogenic. It takes a bit of math to figure out the right amount of each nutrient needed, but Nora Gedaudas’s book explains that process very well. I also use an app developed by Dr. Mercola called Cronometer that has been very helpful. This app allows me to log all my food and keep track of the grams of each macronutrient I have eaten each day. The Cronometer app can be found in the app store.

Resources:

1. Primal Fat Burner by Nora Gedaudas

2. mercola.com Ketogenic Diet: A Beginner’s Guide to Keto

3. Cronometer app food diary

Introduction

Hi! I’m Bonnie Shelton and I am writing this blog to share with you the years of medical knowledge that I have accumulated through my surgical training and practice, functional medicine CMEs and geriatric experience from working as an attending physician in a nursing home setting. I love to learn and love to share what I have learned in a way that may inspire you to consider lifestyle changes that can improve the quality of your life. I love to laugh and sometimes make fun of the health care system we all deal with regularly. My desire is to explain things in a way that is understandable as well as to motivate you to read more on the subjects I introduce.

Thank you for reading and enjoy!