Getting Real About A.D.H.D.

Posted on April 3, 2013 by lkaholistichealth

The New York Times reported on Sunday, March 31st, that the rate of A.D.H.D. diagnosis in this country has risen rather scarily, a 16% increase since 2007 and a 41% rise in the last ten years.  Rates in other industrialized countries around the world are far lower than ours, with the CDC now estimating that 11% of American children are affected.

The article focuses on whether or not the condition is being over-diagnosed, which is probably a pretty good guess since the testing is very subjective.  But what has not been explored in this article is what else might be causing so many children to even be tested in the first place. Along the spectrum of A.D.H.D. there are a wide variety of symptoms, some very pronounced, others less so.  Why such a sudden and marked increase in these symptoms?

Certainly, one could point a finger at our system of education that seems to require conformity and drudgery to operate in its current format.  That would be enough right there to turn off a huge population of students, make them fidget in their seats, find schoolwork boring and unimaginative, have difficulty focusing. We are more likely to teach students how to take tests than how to learn in a joyous and novel way.

But the other oft-overlooked factors in this sudden rise of A.D.H.D.-like symptoms are food and environment.  Dr. Doris Rapp long ago wrote the book, “Is This Your Child?” The over-600 page volume draws on Dr. Rapp’s expertise as a pediatric allergist and environmental medical specialist.  Her book has been widely read over the last 2 decades by many a parent wondering about their child’s extremes of behavior and mood, and unexplained physical symptoms like rashes and dark circles around their children’s eyes.  The answer simply is allergies. Allergies to foods, to chemicals used in processed foods, to environmental toxins.  When you remove the offending toxicities, a good many symptoms can disappear.

A reviewer of Dr. Rapp’s book on Amazon says the following of trying a simple elimination diet with her son: “I did the elimination diet with dairy and his symptoms all disappeared within 48 hours! My pediatrician and the pediatric allergist we visited did not believe in these allergies despite my showing them this book…”  Therein lies a big part of the problem.  Too many doctors don’t “believe” in allergies and all the symptoms they generate.  But they are very willing to believe in A.D.H.D. as a condition and very willing to dispense medications (ALL medications have side-effects) to children without ever exploring other ideas that might mitigate symptoms and actually cure the affliction.

My own personal experience verifies what the reviewer describes: an ignorant pediatrician who could offer nothing more for my child’s terrible unexplained rashes than cortisone cream.  A naturopath suggested removing dairy from her diet for a couple of weeks to see if that had any effect.  Within a couple of days, the rash, which had persisted for years, disappeared.  Further blood testing showed that she was severely sensitive to dairy and wheat. Removing the offending foods, in addition to cutting back sugar drastically and food colorings and additives, brought an amazing array of positive results.

Diagnosing A.D.H.D. in a child brings with it all kinds of stigmas that follow the child throughout school and into adulthood.  Certainly, there may be some extreme cases of A.D.H.D. where medication could be the best answer.  But I would implore all doctors who work in the field to educate themselves about the excellent results that can be realized with food modification and possible supplementation of certain minerals and nutrients before handing out that prescription.

All of this leaves one to wonder whether drug companies are actually becoming the drug pushers of a generation, with medical doctors in their pockets.  Who really is responsible for drug policy in our country?  Follow the money trail.  is-this-your-child-193x300

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Chicken Lady

Posted on March 15, 2013 by lkaholistichealth

Did I ever tell you the one about the Chicken Lady? No, I don’t think so. This actually happened a few years ago, shortly after I graduated from nutrition school. I’m quite fascinated with the idea of medical intuition. I was determined to be more conscious in my observations of people to see if I could discern anything health related just by looking at them. The problem with this approach is that you may well pick up on something but unless you can verify it, you might never know if your observation was correct.

Sitting at a swim meet at my daughter’s school, I was observing the mother of another swimmer. I got the image of a chicken, clucking and nervously pecking in the yard. She even looked physically like a chicken to me. Since I was acquainted with her, I decided to be bold. I asked her if she ate a lot of chicken. Her immediate and expected response was, “Why are you asking?” In my most polite way, I said I was practicing my health intuition skills and just had this very strong sense that she was perhaps over-consuming chicken. She confirmed that she did, in fact, eat mostly chicken as her choice of protein in response to a desire to keep slim and avoid the darker, fattier meats. She was astounded that I could have gleaned this just by looking at her. We talked about it a bit more and I offered that maybe she should consider adding some other proteins, like fish if she found the idea of red meat repugnant. She thanked me but never quite looked at me in the same way after this chat. I’m sure that she was dying to ask me what I observed that made me so sure she was consuming an inordinate amount of chicken. :)

Two weeks later, while sitting at an outdoor cafe in Southern California, I noticed a man sitting nearby. I said to my husband, “Pork.” He turned to look, smiled and said, “You’re right. He looks like a pig.” I didn’t ask.

The moral of the story is that you most definitely are what you eat and drink. And it is observable…Pig 3 (1 of 3)Pigs, Stone Barns

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The “New” Mediterranean Diet

Posted on March 14, 2013 by lkaholistichealth

The press was all aflutter over the latest diet study out of Spain last week showing that olive oil and nuts within a healthy Mediterranean diet including vegetables, fruit, and fish, can have positive effects on individuals with heart disease.  Well, yes, this should not have come as much of a surprise, though it’s always good to have a scientific study to back up what has been obvious to many.  Except many doctors.

Perhaps the bigger surprise was for the doctors themselves who have been prescribing low-fat diets to their heart patients for decades based on the outcomes of other scientific studies that are now being cast into doubt.  Without much training in nutrition, doctors have been winging it, often times based on what THEY read in the press.

Unfortunately, medical trials and studies are often flawed and skewed by those that conduct them.  Since the Spanish government funded the latest Mediterranean Diet study, we might wish to believe there are no financial strings attached.  Unless, maybe, they have a reason to promote Spanish olive oil.  It’s a low blow from me, I know, but I can’t help being the skeptic on drug and nutrition studies.  I find that following the money trail usually yields important information on trial results.Olive Oil:Nuts

That being said, I welcome the study’s findings, though I think that there are no magic bullets – not olive oil and not nuts.  Staying healthy requires a much bigger plan involving an entire way of eating and socializing, avoiding toxic exposures, and dealing with what might be today’s number one toxin – stress.  Unfortunately, many people read the results of this kind of study and think they can ameliorate their health woes with a few tablespoons of olive oil a day. Highly doubtful.

The best news to come out of this study is that doctors are reading it.  And for many, it will be proof positive that diet and nutrition can be constructive in disease prevention and control.  If that opens a few medical minds in the process, it will all have been for the better.

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Not Just Chicken Feed

Posted on January 13, 2013 by lkaholistichealth

An article in The New York Times on December 25, 2012, “In Hopes of Healthier Chickens, Farms Turn to Oregano”, reports that Bell and Evans chickens are now consuming oil of oregano in their feed as a way to diminish the need for antibiotics.  Although the article states that there is no evidence supporting the use of oil of oregano, there have been some studies showing it’s efficacy as an antibacterial agent against such common pathogens as Staph, E. coli and Listeria.  And Scott Sechler, Bell and Evan’s owner, has experienced first hand that the oil of oregano is working for his flocks.

 

Mr. Sechler was able to read the public’s growing demands for cleaner foods and creatively looked for ways to improve the health of his chickens.  The article states that, “…nothing he had used as a substitute (for antibiotics) in the past worked as well as oregano oil.”  Sechler should be applauded for his creativity and willingness to look at healthier alternatives to antibiotic use.

 

However, chickens raised in pastures also have no need for antibiotic treatment.  Nor oil of oregano treatment. What is unnatural is raising chickens in crowded conditions that spread bacteria rapidly among the flocks. Growing up on pastures delivers far more health benefits, too. Chickens are meant to hunt and peck for bugs and seeds along with their vegetarian feed. Pastured chickens have higher amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene. They are hormone, antibiotic and drug-free.  They are arsenic-free.  Commercially raised poultry have arsenic added to their feed to stimulate their appetites.

 

If you think “free-range” means that chickens have been raised in open fields, think again.  The term free-range only means that the chickens are not confined in cages and can roam the barn freely. If, in fact, a barn crowded with chickens allows much room for roaming…  The term free-range also implies that chickens have access to sunlight on enclosed porches.  All that is required is access.  Whether they take advantage of such access is highly questionable.  An afternoon on a sunlit porch would be lovely except that chickens don’t read the exit signs to said porches and rarely go out to them, unless they accidentally happen to be near one.

 

A chicken is a chicken is a chicken you say?  Nope – not all chickens are created equal.  Go for the best if you want good health. Expensive you say?  Well, yes.  But the more demand there is for pasture-raised chicken, the more farms will do it the old fashioned way. And that would bring the price of excellent chickenImage down. You affect the food supply by voting with your dollar. It would do us all some good to eat less/eat healthier. Look for pasture-raised chickens at better markets and health food stores, and at your local farmer’s market. 

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Walmart, The Good Guy?

Posted on February 2, 2011 by lkaholistichealth

Walmart recently announced that they will be reducing the sodium, cutting out added trans fats, and reducing added sugars in their store brand packaged foods while asking their suppliers of brand name foods to do the same.  They’ve also vowed to sell fresh produce at reduced prices so more people will have access to healthy foods.  And they’ve said the reduction in prices on produce will not be passed on to the farmers but absorbed by Walmart, resulting in lower profit margins for them.

This is good news and Walmart needs to be applauded for taking these steps to try to reverse the food trends in this country that have contributed to an astounding rate of obesity and chronic illness.  Of course, Mrs. Obama, with her Let’s Move campaign, played a major role in “convincing” them to undertake these measures.  She must have been very persuasive.

Some of the reasons people love to hate Walmart is that they have been known to choke their suppliers, small local shopkeepers who can’t compete on price, and their own employees. So regardless of these new initiatives, I will still refuse to enter a Walmart store.   But not just for those three issues.  The whole idea of Walmart in their role as the primary force behind commercialism and over-consumption in this country makes them entirely objectionable to me.  There has been an insatiable appetite in the U.S. for more plastic toys and housewares, more cheap, nutritionally devoid manufactured foods, more electronic paraphernalia  – more of everything.   When people have more “stuff” than they need and if it was acquired cheaply, they have little respect when the stuff no longer holds any allure, or breaks.  Then where does it go?  It goes into the garbage.  And where does the garbage go?  You should know, you should care. Our environment is becoming more and more toxic and certainly a large portion of the problem is what to do with all the discarded stuff.  To see a great video about over-consumption and the problems it causes go to: http://1degreetv.com/1degree/2010/12/the-story-of-stuff/

I hope the lousy economy of the last 2 years was enough to wake people up.  Over-consumption, credit card debt, mortgages that people can’t afford – we have an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past.  Going back there should not be an option.  When a store, like Walmart, promises huge savings, one really must question what they are saving.  You don’t save anything if you spend money on things you don’t need, no matter how cheap they are.  You save money when you don’t buy, buy, buy but instead put that money into savings.  The days of putting aside some money in the sugar bowl seem unheard of today.  But my mother-in-law put a down payment on a house with her sugar bowl savings in 1953.  Let’s re-gain our values.  Let’s live with less stuff.  An economy based on consumption is a house of cards.

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The American Society of Bariatric Physicians Weighs In

Posted on January 20, 2011 by lkaholistichealth

Glad to see the docs agree that lap band surgery is not something to be taken lightly.  Regardless of this official statement, some of their members are willing to perform these surgeries on patients who don’t qualify because they fall below the established weight and health risk guidelines.  As long as money is a motivator in health care, procedures will continue to be performed unnecessarily.  Unfortunately, it’s looking like the F.D.A. will, in fact, lower the current guidelines to include more patients for approved bariatric surgery.  At a time when we are trying to make sense of escalating health insurance premiums and health care costs, this seems like a very bad decision.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/opinion/lweb20obese.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

 

Filed under: Dieting, Lap Band surgery, Weight Loss, Weight Management | Leave a Comment »

Belly Up

Posted on January 19, 2011 by lkaholistichealth

While driving in Southern California last week, I could not help but notice scads of billboards promoting lap band surgery as a remedy for overweight. The subliminal message on these billboards was that lap-band surgery was acceptable as a method of attaining the slim body image many have been hopelessly striving to achieve.  The billboards seemed absurd, and yet, in Southern California, land of surgically altered living Barbie Dolls and GI Joes, they were almost surreally normal.

An advisory panel presented to the F.D.A. recently supporting the use of gastric lap band surgery for people who are just slightly obese.  Until now, these devices have only been approved for use by dangerously obese adults with life-threatening health concerns.  The F.D.A.’s guidelines will determine which individuals may be covered by health insurance for this procedure.

I do personally know two women who were not qualified for the surgery under the F.D.A. guidelines but were willing to pay for their surgery out of pocket and easily managed to find a physician ready to perform the surgeries even though there were no apparent health risks in either woman.  In both cases, the surgery was done purely for aesthetic purposes, as one might undergo a facelift. Lowering the current F.D.A. standards would, in effect, promote lap band surgery as an aesthetic procedure that is covered by health insurance.

The most troubling aspects of the proposed F.D.A. approval of slackening the guidelines on this procedure are that there have been many serious side effects reported in lap band surgery patients and no long-term studies that might reveal more than the short-term risks of undergoing the surgery.  In an Op-Ed article in the N.Y. Times this past week, Diana Zuckerman articulated these concerns rather eloquently.  She points out that 5% of patients “required additional surgery one to nine months after getting their lap bands, and in most cases this meant permanent removal.”  Zuckerman also sites a three- year study of very obese patients finding that “one in four had their lap bands removed and not replaced.”  Common side effects include “vomiting, difficulty swallowing, pain and gastrointestinal reflux.”

I had a conversation with a young woman who was the head of a lap band surgery support group.  She reported not only the above side effects but also that eating was never the same after surgery.  Only very minute amounts of food can be consumed at any one time. Some patients manage to stretch their smaller stomachs over time and regain weight. And the surgery does not eliminate the need to be ever vigilant about one’s diet.  She said if she had fully realized what life would be like after the surgery, she never would have undergone the procedure.

Since lap band surgery is not a substitute for learning healthy eating habits, why not just learn the healthy eating habits and lose weight slowly but steadily?  Why risk a serious surgical procedure unless the risk of not having the surgery is greater?  Lowering the bar on lap band surgeries to include people who are mildly obese and without serious health problems invites more of us to consider vanity as more important than putting our lives at risk.  Not to mention the cost of the surgeries being covered by health insurance companies when health risk is not an apparent motive for the increase in these procedures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/opinion/12zuckerman.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

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