Make Better Lifestyle Choices!

The major health problems affecting Americans and nearly all Western citizens are not due to a lack of prescription drugs.  These health problems are primarily caused by lifestyle choices.  I think the most critical lifestyle choice we face every day is what we will eat.

Americans eat too many refined foods and not enough whole foods.  Refined foods contain refined sugar, flour, salt, and oils.  These foods not only lack basic nutrients, they contain items that are toxic to the body.  Eating a standard American diet (SAD) ensures health problems as you age.  How can I make that claim?

After nearly 20 years of listening to my patients tell me what they eat, I have no doubt that educating patients about how to make better dietary choices should be the focus of all physicians.  Sadly, most physicians do not even care what dietary choices their patients are making.  If a patient continually eats devitalized food, how can they supply the body with the correct nutrients to not only heal but to achieve their optimal health? 

Let’s take adult onset diabetes (type II) as an example.  Millions of Americans suffer from type II diabetes.  In fact, if we do not reverse this trend, I believe our country will be in serious economic trouble.  The health care costs associated with type II diabetes is enormous. 

What is the solution?  The solution to curing and preventing type II diabetes is not difficult.  The solution is to make better lifestyle choices, particularly with the food you eat.  For the vast majority of individuals with type II diabetes, the primary cause is eating too many refined food products and not exercising.

Conventional medicine would have you believe that type II diabetes is due to a deficiency of a prescription medication such as Metformin or Glynase.  Now, to be fair, conventional medicine does recognize that obesity leads to type II diabetes, but their dietary recommendations (too many refined carbohydrates) often exacerbates the situation.

What can you do?  Number one, educate yourself about food.  We are designed to eat healthy food which is full of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes in order to supply our body with the correct nutrients to maintain health and heal injured tissues.  Food such as fresh fruit and vegetables as well as organic animal products including eggs and meat are examples of healthy food.  Refined foods need to be avoided.  More examples of food choices can be found in my book, The Guide to Healthy Eating.  

Supplementing with the appropriate vitamins and minerals can also help your body overcome diabetes and maintain health.  If you have type II diabetes, I (along with my partners) have developed a supplement designed to help the insulin receptors work more efficiently.  It is known as Glucontrol.  Glucontrol can be found at: www. Purezenhealth.com. When Glucontrol (2 tablets twice per day with meals) is combined with alpha lipoic acid (1 tablet twice per day with meals—also available at www.purezenhealth.com) I have seen blood sugars lower and the metabolism of the body increase.  Although the supplements are a help for type II diabetes, they are no substitute for eating a healthy diet and exercising. 

Finally, exercise is a must.  Exercise helps nearly every condition including diabetes.   I suggest doing 15-30 minutes per day.  It does not have to be aerobic exercise.  In fact, I think weight training or short bursts of exercise are more beneficial than aerobic training.  I will write more about exercise in the future. 

We make hundreds of choices every day.  Remember, the one choice we need to spend a little more time on is deciding what food we are going to eat today.

Avoid Birth Control Pills

An article in Family Practice News contained the headline:  Oral Contraceptives May Be Linked to Atherosclerosis.  The article contained information from 1,301 Belgian women aged 35-55.  Each 10 year use of oral contraceptives was associated with a 42% increase risk of bilateral carotid (the arteries in the neck) plaque.  There was also a 34% increase risk of femoral artery (leg) plaque. This study also showed much higher markers of inflammation in oral contraceptive users as compared to non-users.  The biggest shock of this report was the summary which stated, “The finding was quite a shock.  But, there is no need to panic. The next step should be to look at other data sets that include women who used oral contraceptives to see if the finding is replicated.”

Can you imagine if a supplement was found to cause a 42% increase risk of plaque in the carotid arteries?  There would be an immediate call for the removal of the supplement and congressional hearings would commence. I am not quite sure what the “shock” is all about.  Oral contraceptives totally disrupt the normal hormonal cascade, as I have discussed in The Miracle of Natural Hormones, 3^rd Edition.   When the hormonal system is disrupted, cardiovascular disease, cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and other serious illnesses will increase.  My clinical experience has clearly shown that it is impossible to adequately treat these illnesses if there is an imbalanced hormonal system. 

I do not recommend the use of oral contraceptives for any reason.  There are other safer and effective methods of contraception that are available.  I have seen many women who have overcome serious chronic illnesses by removing oral contraceptives and taking the appropriate supplements to help rebalance the hormonal system.  Finally, the only hormones that should be used a bioidentical, natural hormones.   

What You Can Do To Prevent Osteoporosis

The headline in the New York Times is titled, “Researchers Puzzled by Role of Osteoporosis Drug in Rare Thighbone Fractures” (3.24.10). The article states that case reports of women breaking their thigh bone are being reported in the medical literature. Some of the women were young—in their 50’s—and did not have osteoporosis. However, all of the case reports of spontaneous thigh bone (femur) fracture thus far reported have one thing in common; all of the women were on osteoporosis drugs.

The femur is the largest bone in the human body. Folks, the femur should never spontaneously break. Ever.
Fractures of the femur can occur with trauma. However, the case reports cited above described women fracturing their femurs without a fall or any other trauma. Some women were just walking and felt the femur fracture.

I just returned from a cruise where I was lecturing about holistic ideas. I met a woman, Patty, who told me she was sitting on stool and moved her leg ever so slightly and heard a “crack” as her thighbone fractured. Patty said she barely moved her leg when the fracture occurred. As she was telling the story, I guessed what caused the fracture; bisphosphonate use. Patty had been on Fosomax for nearly 15 years. Now, she is having to walk with a walker, and is in constant pain.

How could this happen? The explanation for a spontaneous femur fracture is not that hard to ascertain. The reason this happens to women taking osteoporosis drugs is that these drugs (e.g., Fosomax, Boniva, and other bisphosphonates) inhibit normal bone remodeling. These medications work by poisoning important bone-building cells--the osteoclasts. These cells help to break down weakened and injured bone so that new bone can take its place. When a woman (or a man) takes an osteoporosis drug, the osteoclasts are poisoned, rendering them useless in the bone remodeling process.

The long-term use of osteoporotic medications can make the bones thicker on a bone mineral density test, but they do not make the bones stronger. In fact, due to their mechanism of action, they can be expected to make the bones weaker. Weaker bones will be prone to spontaneous fractures. I believe that the longer a patient takes these medications the more danger they are in from having weakened, unhealthy bones.
Bisphosphonates also decrease blood supply to the bones. Due to their mechanism of action, it can be predicted that osteoporosis drugs will result in bone problems. Minor (and major) trauma to the bones will not heal correctly if someone is taking a bisphosphonate drug.

If you have osteoporosis should you take an osteoporosis drug? No. I don’t believe anyone should take these medications for any condition. Their mechanism of action is harmful to the bones over the long-term.
What can you do for osteoporosis?

Exercise has been shown to improve bone strength. Cleaning up the diet and avoiding refined flour, sugar, and salt also helps. Avoiding soda and drinking adequate amounts of water further helps the bones maintain normal bone density. Finally, taking the right supplements helps bones stay healthy. Vitamin D and minerals are very important for bone density. I have developed a bone building supplement (along with my partners) which supplies the nutrients our bones need to maintain their strength. It is known as “Osteoelite”. More information about Osteoelite can be found at: www.purezenhealth.com.
I have described the problems with osteoporosis drugs in more detail in my book, Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do. I have also written a newsletter on this subject. Information about my newsletter can be found at: http://w3.newsmax.com/newsletters/brownstein/osteo.cfm?PROMO_CODE=8983-1

I suggest doing your own research before taking an osteoporotic drug. If the mechanism of action of the drug makes sense to you, then consider using the drug. However, if the mechanism of action of the drug defies common sense and disrupts normal biochemistry, then consider alternatives. Once you read more about osteoporosis drugs, I am sure you will come to the same conclusion I have come to.