I love my daughter but boy is it challenging to get her to take a vitamin regularly. I started early with my son and introduced chewables early. Or it could be that formulations are better? I have found "Herbasaurs" by Natures Sunshine and "FloraBear" by Renew Life as a good or should I say "tolerable" daily. The former is the vitamin and the latter is the probiotic. Due to my son's asthma, I have had to retreat to antibiotics several times and his intestinal flora is probably shot. The great thing is that this guy loves fruit and veggies (thank you Lord!) My daughter on the other-hand is a typical teenager with an appetite for the poor carbs found in drive through windows. Have tried several types of multivits with little to no success until recently! New Chapter was the first herbal company I started buying at Whole Foods. I think I stumbled on Zyflammend for a trapezius muscle issue and it opened the herbal world to me. Of course my friendly herbalists Wendy and Jennifer in Clermont Florida taught me the "way of the Herb".
http://www.clermontherbshop.com/
Although I am a big supporter of Natures Sunshine for supplement products, I stumbled on a bottle from New Chapter called Tiny Tabs Multi. Six of these smaller than tictac size tablets is required daily. We are finding that due to the small size, when the palmed tabs are "thrown back", one usually escapes due to it's microscopic size. But at least she really likes them since they are so "cute". Big problem with both kids is the lack of calcium. I will tackle that battle at a later campaign.
Of course the old go to will be Flintstones, Bugs Bunny or someother generic chewable but I just don't trust these companies....maybe since I can't find any great information on them. I don't remember taking any vitamins when I was a kid. (But I also remember frying eggs and spam in a pan soaked with cooking LARD from a big nasty can under the sink....oh, just thinking of those days gives me chest pain!) I believe parents should set examples and teach ritual. Eating right and consuming 5-7 fruits and veggies daily outdoes any multivitamin routine but what child will do that when the parent is eating a donut, having coffee and taking pepsid for morning heartburn. I will never forget my college age nephew lookin his parents in the eye and very arogantly stating....."I am NOT, waking up early just to eat breakfast". I just shook my head and proceeded to "pants" him.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Fad diets
In preparing for the lectures on weight loss, I had to look into the use of fad diets. So many people have tried the Pritkin, Atkins and South Beach diets. The concepts are very novel but in the end, when the human body is presented with an extreme of conditions in environment or food intake, it will stabilize and adapt. If no other option is given to the body and it believes there is no good food to eat, it will slow down. (reset its own basal metabolic rate and make you gain weight or get frustrated by giving you a short temper) Remember that old commercial from the 70's..."you can't fool mother nature!"
I know the first few months of a new diet are great. The body hasnt figured how to adapt to the loss of food for hunting and it burns off all remaining calories from storage places like the love handles, the beer belly, the arm fat, the buttocks. Eventually though, no further fat to burn off or brain gets way to tired of not having any energy to function and it will make you "hunt" and there goes your diet! Most studies show that at 12-18 months, most people will blow the diet. There was a 4 pound weight loss for most people that participated but is this good for a year and a half of suffering? Not to mention that the cholesterol levels will usually shoot up during the diet phase. I recently was contacted by and old patient and he wondered if the Atkins was good and I told him what I thought. I said if he was going to try it, reevaluate at the 4 month mark and add an exercise program to it so he can loosen up on the strict carb cutting. He should make it until then. I did suggest omega 3 and a multivitamin. I will help him adjust the caloric intake in 4 months to make up the difference of his exercise. I would probably shift him to more of an antiiflammatory diet and try to bring down his cholesterol with red yeast rice and co q10. Then we reassess in the fall and prepare for the winter in Chicago. I always believe small portions and small goals are easier to achieve. But the applications that work for me might not work for others....this is why everyone has a different approach in my eyes. This is the "Saguil Approach".
I know the first few months of a new diet are great. The body hasnt figured how to adapt to the loss of food for hunting and it burns off all remaining calories from storage places like the love handles, the beer belly, the arm fat, the buttocks. Eventually though, no further fat to burn off or brain gets way to tired of not having any energy to function and it will make you "hunt" and there goes your diet! Most studies show that at 12-18 months, most people will blow the diet. There was a 4 pound weight loss for most people that participated but is this good for a year and a half of suffering? Not to mention that the cholesterol levels will usually shoot up during the diet phase. I recently was contacted by and old patient and he wondered if the Atkins was good and I told him what I thought. I said if he was going to try it, reevaluate at the 4 month mark and add an exercise program to it so he can loosen up on the strict carb cutting. He should make it until then. I did suggest omega 3 and a multivitamin. I will help him adjust the caloric intake in 4 months to make up the difference of his exercise. I would probably shift him to more of an antiiflammatory diet and try to bring down his cholesterol with red yeast rice and co q10. Then we reassess in the fall and prepare for the winter in Chicago. I always believe small portions and small goals are easier to achieve. But the applications that work for me might not work for others....this is why everyone has a different approach in my eyes. This is the "Saguil Approach".
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Aspirin
Aspirin has been prescribed for those with heart disease for the last 3 decades. It is known to make plaques in the blood vessels break up. The massive heart attacks happen due to artery blockage. If the lumen or inner lining of a vessel is narrowed, one small plug that comes along with stop any further flow. The ER has protocols that start with 4 baby aspirins in the case of anyone coming in for chest pain (or stroke) before anything else is done. This basic and old drug is still useful for saving lives. There are more complex drugs and procedures that are used now but for the sake of this review, we will stick with the basics. Aspirin is known by its generic name of acetylsalicylic acid. It falls into the family of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medicines. This family works on the cascade of inflammation that starts with a break in the lining of the blood vessel. A cascade develops to signal to platlets (small blood particles that rush to form a "glue plug") to accumulate in the area of damage and stop up the hole. Some times if there is no tear in the blood vessel wall but inflammation present from cholesterol plaques or tobacco damage, a plug will form anyway and block the lumen. There are herbs that are thought to do the same thing like ginko biloba. The theory is that by allowing blood to be "plug free" it gets to smaller sized blood vessels with easy. Think of the blood as being slippery so it gets to the smallest spaces. One of the known side effects of ginko is to have bleeding thus the contraindication to it's use when on a blood thinner.
I believe the use of this antiinflammatory has multiple benefits. Controlling inflammation should be considered a basic concept with anyone who suffers from any disease process. It has yet to be researched if antiinflammatory control will help to modify a disease manifestation but all my patients are told that in addition to controlling the specific disease, an antiinflammatory diet is encourage to gain further health benefits and possible reverse the disease at hand.
Try adding this to your daily diet :
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet
I believe the use of this antiinflammatory has multiple benefits. Controlling inflammation should be considered a basic concept with anyone who suffers from any disease process. It has yet to be researched if antiinflammatory control will help to modify a disease manifestation but all my patients are told that in addition to controlling the specific disease, an antiinflammatory diet is encourage to gain further health benefits and possible reverse the disease at hand.
Try adding this to your daily diet :
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Healing through sound
I have recently learned about the power of hard rock metal music when I go to push 430 pounds on the "smith machine" at Planet Fitness. Then it got me to thinking, how about I play soft music at the ER. I set up my music to play "Music for Brain Wave Vibration", bought some flowers, spread some lavender aromatherapy and tried to say hello to everyone no matter how hectic things were. So far, my shifts haven't sent me home wondering why I am working there, I have set the record for Yorkville Expresscare in highest number of patients seen and I am still blessed enough to save some lives. (I love this job!) Anyway, with the more than positive attitude I keep, I always see the cup half full. I feel the music is working for me and I believe a few others in the Emergency Department have picked up on a few things I do to make life rewarding.
Now there is more to music than just provoking imagery. There are technical hormonal chain reactions that occur when certain parts of the brain are stimulated (specifically with sound). The vibrational sounds of African drums, the flute of the Native American, Tibetan gongs.....all work along the same premise of healing by stimulating energy to move. In most parts of the world, the old theory is that every cell in the body has atoms and those small particles move. As those atomic size "things" move, so does energy that is generated through atoms, cells, human tissue, physiological organ functioning and finally human engineering. Injury works to block or slow energy, when the energy doesn't flow, something builds up but don't think of an electrical charge that is about to shock someone. The blocked energy usually show up in the form of back pain, headache, or more complex- heart disease or depression. I learned this through acupuncture that if needles can help "move" energy, patients will feel improvement. Can't explain this phenomenon though western research (and most insurance companies still don't agree with this form of healing) -but thats why people pay out of pocket when they get tired of playing the pill game.
Sound it just another part of healing that will help the mind body and spirit move together, may want to check out
http://www.brainwavevibration.com/
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/07/17/music-as-medicine-for-the-brain.html?PageNr=1
http://www.rhapsody.com/tantric-music/kundalini-vibrations-2
Now there is more to music than just provoking imagery. There are technical hormonal chain reactions that occur when certain parts of the brain are stimulated (specifically with sound). The vibrational sounds of African drums, the flute of the Native American, Tibetan gongs.....all work along the same premise of healing by stimulating energy to move. In most parts of the world, the old theory is that every cell in the body has atoms and those small particles move. As those atomic size "things" move, so does energy that is generated through atoms, cells, human tissue, physiological organ functioning and finally human engineering. Injury works to block or slow energy, when the energy doesn't flow, something builds up but don't think of an electrical charge that is about to shock someone. The blocked energy usually show up in the form of back pain, headache, or more complex- heart disease or depression. I learned this through acupuncture that if needles can help "move" energy, patients will feel improvement. Can't explain this phenomenon though western research (and most insurance companies still don't agree with this form of healing) -but thats why people pay out of pocket when they get tired of playing the pill game.
Sound it just another part of healing that will help the mind body and spirit move together, may want to check out
http://www.brainwavevibration.com/
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2008/07/17/music-as-medicine-for-the-brain.html?PageNr=1
http://www.rhapsody.com/tantric-music/kundalini-vibrations-2
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