Many of us experienced scary moments when dreadful news are delivered to us and loved ones about the disease that has no cure and at the best can be managed with medications or nothing at all – just wait and see. Probably the scariest of all is placing your fate to the hands of your doctor while “googling” for hours, asking friends, pacing back and forth, screaming at heavens, feeling powerless. Then you have to make a decision – either disease has you – or – you have been diagnosed with the disease. I would strongly advocate for the second choice simply because it leaves you with the power to choose what to do from the place of your own unique constitution – on all levels. The disease never manifests exactly the same for everyone, and never can be treated exactly the same. The limitation here is what you already know vs what you don’t know yet.

The rule of thumb: never give up. The miraculous cures are recorded over and over again – while you have a hope you have a chance. Don’t believe a doctor who takes hope away from you, it is your health and your body – you have the right to press for answers, demand explanations, copies of your medical records, and consultations about other choices. Turn your attention to alternative medicine. A good medical doctor never blindly dismisses an alternative option – he will study it and give you his/her opinion. Some doctors don’t have time to educate themselves about other kinds of medicine and you can encourage them to do so. More and more medical doctors embrace acupuncture, nutrition, homeopathy, and other modalities in their practice or in collaboration with other practitioners. It all comes down to what patient will benefit from the most, and the safety of therapies integration. It is equally important to provide your alternative medicine doctor with copies of your lab results, especially if you are looking to benefit from herbal medicine or nutrition care.

We are lucky to live now – the age of technology. Modern and ancient medicines are dancing together building bridges between top-notch machines and dried herb decoctions, brain surgeries and homeopathy. Using it all you can expand your choices and the most important – build a well-defined plan to heal yourself using the expertise of doctors and specialists you trust.

Seeing Diet Clearly

The eyes you are using to read this sentence are made up of the food you eat. Emerging research is showing that what you eat has the profound ability to influence how well your eyes function.

Not Just Carrots For Seeing In The Dark

My mom always used to tell me that I should eat lots of carrots because they would help me see in the dark. She was right on with this piece of advice. Carrots have a ton of Vitamin A-the vitamin that helps your eyes see in dark conditions. However, we are learning that the nutrition and eyesight connection is not confined to carrots and darkness.

Slow Your Eyes From Aging

Whether you’ve heard of it or not, macular degeneration (MD) is the #1 cause of blindness in the US. It turns out that the best way to prevent this debilitating condition is to eat certain foods.

The reason carrots aid in eyesight is because Vitamin A forms a pigment, beta-carotene, that’s necessary for seeing in dark conditions. Your eye actually has a number of important pigments that it needs to function best. Your body cannot make these, so it relies on getting them from food.

The most important is lutein. Lutein doesn’t get a lot of press, but it should-not getting enough lutein is a  sure fire way to get MD. Lutein is a pigment that gives vegetables an orange color. This pigment literally gets absorbed into our bodies and gets planted into our eyes. Lutein acts as a bullet-proof vest, taking the brunt of light damage for our vulnerable eyes.

Where can you find lutein?

• Leafy Greens
• Egg Yolks
• Corn
• Brussel Sprouts
• Peas

Get Fish Eyes

Add eyesight protection to the amazing properties of Omega-3 fatty acids. Those that eat 2 or more servings per week of fatty fish are much less likely to develop MD.

It appears that omega-3s actually protect the retina from damage and help the eyes flush out waste. Also, just like your heart, your eyes have arteries that are prone to inflammation and plaque build up. Omega-3s are well known inflammation fighters, and this effect applies to your eyes as well.

If high cholesterol or blood pressure hasn’t motivated you to eat more vegetables and omega-3s, perhaps the inctenvie of a lifetime of crystal clear eyesight will.

cabbage soup diet

Brian Dean MS, RD is a registered dietitian and researcher. After years of research, Brian has set his sights on helping those with lower back pain.  He serves on the Medical Nutrition Committee for The American Society for Nutrition and is a professional member of numerous research organizations including the International Association for The Study of Pain, American Chronic Pain Society, and The American Dietetic Association. He recently created a research-based lower back pain treatment program called The Back Pain Diet which is available from his website Stop Lower Back Pain.

If you have a close relative with type 2 diabetes (the kind that usually develops in adulthood), you are at risk for developing diabetes yourself.

1. The most important way to avoid developing diabetes is to pay close attention to nutrition and exercise and to maintain a healthy weight. The particular food groups you eat may not be as important as how many calories you consume. Once obesity develops the risk of type 2 diabetes goes way up.

2. Exercise not only helps prevent obesity but the muscle you develop through exercise helps your body to metabolism blood sugar. This lowers your diabetes risk.

3. Recent studies have shown that some medications used at the first sign of high blood sugar can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. Among these medications are acarbose (Precose) which blocks absorption of carbohydrates from the intestine, rosiglitazone (Avandia) which makes the body more sensitive to insulin, and orlistat (Xenical or Ali) which blocks absorption of fat from the intestine. These drugs are not yet approved by the FDA for the purpose of preventing type 2 diabetes.  For each individaul with prediabetes only a health care professional can determine if such medication is appropriate.

Gary Pepper, M.D.

Metabolism.com

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