The Diabetes Epidemic

The CDC reported that 26 million Americans have diabetes. That means that 1 in 12 U.S. citizens suffer from diabetes. This is a 9% increase from 2008. Are you surprised? I am not. Why should anyone be surprised when two-thirds of Americans are overweight and one-third is obese. If we do not change this trend, our standard of living will decline due to the large amount of health care dollars that will be spent in order to care for all of the diabetics.

This should be a national emergency with the highest levels of Government trying to solve this problem. We all share blame in this. As a society, we eat too much food and much of the food is of poor quality. Refined carbohydrates in the form of bread, pasta, and cereal are the prime culprits of the diabetic crises. Don’t forget the ingestion of too much soda, both diet and regular. These food sources contain refined sugar, salt, flour and oils which do not provide our bodies with the proper nutrients to function optimally.

How can we stop this situation? We need to be better educated on which foods are healthy and which foods to avoid. We should eat whole foods free of refined items. We should drink water and maintain hydration.
For those already suffering from diabetes or obesity, lifestyle changes can make a big difference. Simply removing refined foods, drinking water and replacing depleted nutrients can turn the situation around. I suggest removing all soda (both diet and regular) and juices from your diet. Drink water as the beverage-of-choice. Take your weight in pounds, divide by two and the resulting number is the amount of water,in ounces), you should drink on a daily basis.

I have found a higher protein and lower carbohydrate diet very helpful for losing weight. Exercise is also a key factor as exercise helps to improve insulin resistance. Finally, taking the right supplements and detoxifying can help fuel the metabolism and lower insulin resistance. I suggest taking a supplement that I (and my partners) formulated to help improve insulin sensitivity. The product is known as Gluc-Control (available at www.centerforholisticmedicine.com) . I suggest taking two tablets with each meal for six months. As things improve you can gradually lower the dose. Also, I recommend Total Liver Care (TLC) to help detoxify the liver and the colon, which improves blood sugar control. I (and my partners) also formulated TLC (available at www.centerforholisticmedicine.com) over a four year trial period.

Folks, the CDC numbers are scary. We will not survive as a superpower with the majority of the adult citizens ill with obesity and diabetes. For the vast majority of people, obesity and diabetes is due to poor lifestyle choices. With the proper knowledge, these choices can be changed. You don’t have to live with obesity and diabetes; you just have to make some positive lifestyle changes. More information about how to make better food choices can be found in my book, “The Guide to Healthy Eating.”

My Vitamin D Recommendations

Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin. When the sun hits your skin, vitamin D is produced. Amongst many things, vitamin D has been shown to:

• Maintain bone strength
• Modulate the immune system
• Have anti-infectious properties
• Decrease the risk of cancer
• Lower the risk of heart disease

I have been checking levels of vitamin D and supplementing with vitamin D for almost 20 years. There are two sources of vitamin D available for supplementation: D2 and D3. D2, known as ergocalciferol is a plant-based vitamin D that has to be converted to D3. Vitamin D2 is not the natural form of vitamin D produced in humans. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the form of vitamin D produced in the body when sunlight hits the skin.

I have always recommended vitamin D supplements to be D3 since vitamin D3 is naturally produced in the human body. I have never understood why anyone would use vitamin D2 when vitamin D3 was available.
A recent study looked at which form of vitamin D (D2 or D3) was better absorbed. Researchers studied 33 adults and gave them 50,000U of either vitamin D2 or D3 for 12 weeks. At the end of 12 weeks, Vitamin D levels were measured in the blood. The results showed that, as compared to vitamin D2, vitamin D3 was much more effective at raising serum vitamin D levels. In fact, the researchers wrote, “…D3 was from 56-87 percent more potent than D2 in raising {vitamin D levels}.”

Vitamin D3 is more potent and less expensive than vitamin D2. This study provides further validation that there is no reason to use vitamin D2. Unfortunately, the prescription form of vitamin D is in the form of D2. As previously stated, I only recommend vitamin D3 when supplementing with vitamin D. My usual recommendations are from 2,000-6,000IU of vitamin D3 per day. It is important to periodically check your vitamin D levels.

A well-absorbed form of vitamin D3 is Bio D Forte from Biotics Research Company. This product can be found at my office: www.centerforholisticmedicine.com.

Do We Need Less Fluoride In Our Water Supply?

In order to prevent further dental problems, the Department of Human Health Services and the Environmental Protection Agency released a joint announcement (January 7, 2011) stating the recommended level of fluoride in the U.S. drinking water supplies should be lowered. These two governmental agencies recommended that municipal water supplies should contain 0.7mg of fluoride per liter of water which replaces the current recommended range of 0.7 to 1.2mg/liter.

Why the change? The U.S. government was concerned about the large number of children suffering from fluorosis. Excess fluoride consumption during childhood (the tooth forming years) can cause the teeth to become pitted and stained due to excess fluoride. Estimates are that at least 30% of U.S. children are suffering from fluorosis. There is no treatment for fluorosis as dentists must use crowns or bonding agents to cosmetically fix the problem. I have seen many young people with signs of fluorosis.
If the U.S. government was concerned about our health, it would remove fluoride from our water supply. Ingesting fluoride through our water supply has never been shown to prevent cavities. In fact, most Western countries have removed fluoride from their water supply. The World Health Organization has shown that there is no difference in cavity formation in countries that fluoridate their water supply as compared to countries that do not fluoridate.

There is no known medical or dental benefit to ingesting fluoride in the diet. In fact, there are zero studies that show ingesting fluoride has any large benefit at preventing cavities. However, there are many studies that show fluoridated communities have higher hip fractures, more cancer and elevated thyroid disorders. If the U.S. government was looking out for us, the citizens, it would undertake the proper studies to ascertain the safety and efficacy of fluoride.

The form of fluoride added to our water supply is a byproduct of industrial manufacturing. It is a toxic form of fluoride. It should be handled as a toxic item and not be placed into our water supply.

Fluoride is a very toxic substance that has been shown to cause problems with the thyroid gland and increase oxidant stress on the body. Fluoride interferes with the body’s usage of iodine. In fact, supplementing with iodine can help the body remove fluoride. Fluoride has been shown to poison over 200 different enzymes in the body. This does not sound like a substance that I would like added to the water supply. It doesn't make biochemical sense, hormonal sense, or common sense to add a known carcinogen and toxin (i.e, fluoride) to our water supply.

My experience has shown that patients with chronic illness improve their condition when they remove fluoride from their diet. Finally, all patients suffering with thyroid problems should remove fluoride their diet.

Medicating Too Many Children

An article in the Wall Street Journal (12.28.10) was titled, “So Young and So Many Pills.” This article pointed out that more than 25% of kids and teens in the U.S. take prescription drugs on a regular basis. In 2009, prescriptions for children included:

• 24,357,000 ADHS medications
• 9,614,000 antidepressant medications
• 6,546,000 antipsychotic medications
• 5,224,000 antihypertensive medications
• 307,000 sleep aids
• 424,00 diabetes medications
• 94,000 statin medications

When I look at these numbers I am not sure what to say. Does anybody really believe our society needs to medicate our children like this? Is anybody thinking about the long-term consequences of these medications? Does anybody think we are healthier because tens of millions of children are being medicated on a daily basis?

I think these numbers are an indictment on the failure of our medical system. Children were not medicated in these large numbers when I was growing up. We have been raised to look for the ‘easy fix’. Take a pill for anything. That is good advice for the Big Pharma Cartel, but I can assure you it is not good advice for our children.

Children’s bodies are constantly changing, particularly their brains. It is not a good idea to give them long-term medications that impact the neurological system. It is unclear how their neurological system will develop and mature when taking these medications.

A better way to help children avoid illness is to feed them a healthier diet. This can be accomplished by eliminating refined foods and artificial sweeteners. Eating whole foods is a must. Encourage them to drink adequate amounts of water, eat unrefined salt, and exercise. Following a holistic dietary plan can be the best medicine for your child and help them avoid or minimize prescription medications. I can guarantee you that , as compared to prescription drugs, a holistic plan has fewer adverse effects.