| Iism so we prescribed
DHEA supplements.
........................................................................ We also examined
Jerry's diet, looking for stimulants that impair sleep (chapter 3 is an in-depth discussion of dietary issues related to sleep). We suggested that Jerry reduce his consumption of caffeine. He agreed and started substituting decaffeinated coffee for regular coffee in gradually increasing proportions until he was drinking only decaf. He stopped consuming wine and adding salt to his food and agreed to eat three balanced meals a day and not eat snacks on the run. |
| Further studies have found that melatonin supplements are nontoxic and very safe for short-term use, with only mild side effects such as headaches and abdominal cramps in test subjects who received extremely large doses (3 to 6.6 grams).
Melatonin effectively relieves insomnia (including cases associated with jet lag and shift work), sleep phase syndromes, and REM behavior disorders in all age groups. It has been shown to decrease sleep onset latency in stages 1 and 2 (light sleep), a helpful boost for those suffering from sleep onset insomnia. |
| Eat more whole foods limb movement disorder, and restless legs syndrome, as well as other sleep ¦ Take appropriate supplements disorders.1 If you drink coffee daily, even one or two cups, the caffeine can easily disrupt your sleep.
After you drink a cup of coffee, the caffeine enters your bloodstream quickly, resulting in an immediate burst of energy. Many coffee drinkers are familiar with some of the temporary stimulant effects of caffeine, including nervous jitters and irritability. |
Wendy Bazilian, DRPH, MA, RD, Steven Pratt, MD, Kathy Matthews
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 That's why fad diets, diet pills, exotic supplements, and weight loss surgery are so popular. But these methods can take a toll: on your energy levels, your appearance, your ability to stay trim and fit as well as your future health. We think the SuperFoodsRx Diet is a better way and you'll see immediate results in the mirror. Tour skin doesn't lie. Your glowing, smoother, skin will show you like nothing else can that as your clothes get looser and your energy levels increase and your moods stabilize, your body is enjoying its best health ever. |
John J. Ratey, MD
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 First, see your doctor about medication and get yourself some omega-3 supplements, which are proven to have antidepressant effects. This will, I hope, loosen up the brain lock enough for you to at least go for a walk. Ask for help. Get a friend or family member to agree to come by every day, at the same time if possible, to escort you outside and around the block. In England and Australia, walking groups for patients with depression have been popular for years, and now they're starting to make their way to the United States, so check the Internet to see if there is one in your area. |
Elaine Magee
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 Overall, the evidence of lycopene's prostate-saving effect (and anticancer effect in general) is more evident in people who eat plenty of tomato products than in those who take supplements. Eating combinations of fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoids—a sweet potato and a carrot and a mango, for example—automatically offers you a nature-made mixture and possibly the best protection.
In the meantime, the research on this amazing phytochemical family just keeps stacking up. |
Michael T. Murray and Michael R. Lyon
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 As such, we advocate incorporating green tea beverages and supplements into your daily routine. Remember, to see much benefit in weight loss, you need to ingest about 600mg of catechins each day.
To Burn Fat and Support Liver Health
The liver is the second-largest organ in the body and is the largest gland. It is critically involved in all aspects of metabolism and plays a central role in fat, protein, and carbohydrate processing. When liver function is impaired, the ability to burn fat properly and thermogenesis are also impaired. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 Reduce to 100 IU from supplements if you're taking a statin drug.
K
You should get enough in normal diet (see chapter 14).
Minerals
Get a daily value of all the usual suspects in your multivitamin plus these in higher quantity.
Calcium
This comes from many sources, so total all of them up and get at least 1,600 total mg for women, 1,200 mg for men.
Magnesium
400 mg.
Selenium
200 meg.
Zinc
15 mg.
Potassium
4 servings of fruit, plus a normal diet should do it. |
Devra Davis
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 Some types of iron deficiencies can be remedied fairly easily with supplements.
The results were worse than she could have imagined. Spector's blood count was all out of whack. She first thought it was a great big lab error, the sort of thing that occurs more often than anyone likes to admit. The white cell counts were so high she thought they couldn't be hers.
But they were.
Ruth Spector did not get to the twentieth reunion of her class at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. She had more important matters to deal with. |
| In the case of these blood-boosting drugs intended to deal with the anemia so common in cancer patients, controlled supplements with inexpensive iron have been found to be as effective in many cases as more costly patented drugs in staving off anemia. But there is little effort to promote this alternative. In the U.S. today, we use three times more of these drugs than in other nations, and spend about five times more on chemotherapy, although our cancer survival statistics are not appreciably different.19
More times than we might like to admit, we use chemotherapy as a form of psychotherapy. |
Too Profitable to CureBrent Hoadley, Ph.D.
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| Researching medical cures in the literature shows hundreds of references to herbs, supplements, and other forms of alternative healing that are prohibited in this country by the FDA, AMA, USD A, and other government agencies. Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling suggested that all diets should be supplemented with Vitamin C. When many Americans followed this advice, there was a dramatic, corresponding drop in the rate of heart disease. Coincidence? Authorities representing the Establishment discounted the correlation and characterized Pauling as a quack. |
| More remarkable, though, is that these added supplements are of little value in the overall nutritional picture.
Buying a used car from "Lucky" is safer than going to the grocery store. Many artificial sweeteners and other additives have received the stamp of approval from the FDA — the same agency that approved Vioxx, Prozac, and other questionable drug products.
In the early years of my diabetic life, sweets meant cyclamates or saccharine-altered products. Both were eventually declared carcinogenic after the FDA approved aspartame as their artificial sweetener of choice. |
| Before arbitrarily adding such supplements to your treatment protocol, consider what this moderation in blood sugar will do to insulin and prescriptions used to lower blood sugar.
Truth in labeling and manipulation by various components of the food industry make it very difficult to choose nutrition wisely. It is a well-known fact that oatmeal bread —hyped as a healthy choice — contains only minimal amount of oat flour when compared to the wheat flour content. Less obvious, though, is that many staples such as bread, milk, and pastas have been supplemented with vitamins. |
| Other important questions should be asked when considering the benefits of supplements. How much is clinically important? How often should the product be used? How will the product affect other health products, foods, and medicines currently in your health regime?
Most patients quickly realize that food and proper nutrition are not the first line of defense against disease. Drugs, expensive therapies, and surgery are encouraged as a first choice. |
| They are seeking to reclassify all these supplements as pharmaceuticals...to be bought, sold, traded, and regulated by the pharmaceutical industry. In an earlier chapter, we mentioned that this restriction on the supplement tryptophan had occurred in the U.S. When tryptophan became a "pharmaceutical" product instead of a "supplement" or "nutriceutical," the price increased tenfold.
Perpetuating
Chronic disease is the backbone of the pharmaceutical industry. |
| Until the pharmaceutical gods can control and profit from everything we consume, the interest in supplements and nutrition, and our freedom to choose our own course, will be limited as much as possible.
Codex Alimentarius is a subcommittee of the United Nations. Codex is mandated to establish guidelines on food trade issues.2 Any country that is part of the World Health Organization (WHO) is subject to the Codex guidelines and sanctions if they digress.
Consider what happened to the United Nations regarding the "food for oil" scandal. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Also, patients who have a history of kidney stones should talk to their doctors before taking vitamin C supplements.
NETTLES
A traditional herbal remedy for allergies, nettles inhibits the body's production of inflammatory prostaglandins. In one study of 69 allergy patients, 57% had significant improvement in symptoms after taking nettles. Nettles works quickly, often within hours, and can be taken during flare-ups.
What I recommend to my patients: 300 to 600 mg daily.
MAGNESIUM
This mineral is a natural bronchodilator that relaxes airway muscles and promotes better breathing. |
| Click on "Drugs & supplements."
Self-Monitoring Blood Drug Saves Lives
Carl Heneghan, MD, clinical research fellow, Oxford University, England.
Gary Liska, director, disease management group, Quality Assured Services, Melbourne, FL.
The Lancet.
People who take the anticlotting medication warfarin (Coumadin) get substantial benefits if they monitor their own blood levels rather than have a laboratory do it for them, British researchers report. |
Marshall Editions
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 Vitamin C, zinc, and immune-stimulating plants such as echinacea, larch arabinogalactodes, and reishi mushrooms are good daily supplements to take during the cold season. Stress lowers the immune system's ability to work efficiently so, at the onset of a cold, resolution may occur more quickly if stress reduction techniques such as meditation are introduced.
Nasal decongestants: Use a saline nasal spray to prevent the build-up of mucus and nasal obstruction. |
Devra Davis
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| Vitamin D, whether from food or inexpensive supplements, also plays a part. Getting the right amounts of sunlight every day so that the liver can make the needed amounts of this essential vitamin may turn out to be vital to boosting the body's ability to fend off pollution. Finding ways to reduce attacks on our bodies from tiny amounts of combined pollutants in the air and water from our homes and workplaces is obviously important. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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| Shop for vitamins (listed in YOU Tool 5, pages 357-358) and calcium supplements. Specifically, buy calcium tablets that have at least 500 milligrams of calcium, 200 IU of vitamin D, and 150 milligrams of magnesium.
Detoxify your home and buy nontoxic products (see YOU Tool 6, page 359).
Purchase and install water filters for your kitchen and bathroom.
Do the Chi-gong Workout (page 377) to build your coordination and mind-body connection.
If you have any addictions, start a cessation program like the smoking cessation program on page 134. |
Bottom Line Health
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| If you want to try PS supplements, start with a dose of 300 milligrams (mg) per day— the amount used in many studies. After a few months, you may be able to reduce this to a dose of 100 mg per day.
Caution: Pregnant or nursing women should not take PS before discussing it with an obstetrician or pediatrician.
Thomas H. Crook III, PhD, clinical psychologist and president, Psychologix, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Master of Memory:
How to Fight Forgetfulness
...and Win! |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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| Some brands of calcium supplements have been known to contain lead. It's wise to choose a name brand-such as Caltrate or calcium citrate chewables-over ones in bins from coral, or whatever, in natural-food stores, where you may be unsure about whether or not the companies test for levels of lead. We prefer calcium citrate, since your stomach doesn't need to be acidic for this to be absorbed. Plus, the citrate, combined with the magnesium, reduces the chance of constipation and can even loosen your poop.
How about taking Turns, Rolaids, or another antacid with calcium? Not so fast. |
| Other risk factors include untreated thyroid disease (especially increased thyroid hormone production, or hyperthyroidism) or overuse of thyroid supplements, kidney disease, inflammation, smoking, certain medications, and especially rheumatoid and other inflammatory forms of arthritis. And, of course, lack of weight-bearing stress, which stimulates bones to remodel.
As you learned in our menopause chapter, one of the three estrogen receptors we discussed helps bone formation. |
| In other words, you can take all the calcium supplements you want, but if your diet and lifestyle choices are unhealthy (like too many caffeine- or phosphate-laden carbonated blood are essential for proper muscle and nerve functioning. To ensure normal levels, you decrease excretion in your urine, increase absorption from your gut, and increase resorption of bone.
Active vitamin D, manufactured when skin is exposed to sunlight, is the key that unlocks the gate and allows calcium to leave the intestine and enter the bloodstream. |
| You can't OD on food sources (carrots, red peppers, sweet potatoes), but make sure your vitamins and supplements don't put you over the limit.
YOU Tip: See the Whole Picture. Around the time of menopause, your doc will suggest that you have a DEXA scan-the preferred standard for screening for osteoporosis and determining bone density. We believe in it too. DEXA commonly measures bone density only at the hip and lumbar spine but can measure it in your wrist too. Ultrasounds, which are safe and cheap, measure only at the heel bones. |
Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
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 There are also growing concerns on possible risks from the use of HGH nutritional supplements, including oral sprays. It should, however, be recognized that HGH absorption from the mouth and gut is unlikely to be significant, in striking contrast to complete absorption from injectable medication. Nevertheless, nutritional rHGH supplements should be phased out until it can be shown that they do not elevate blood IGF-1 levels. |
Ray D. Strand
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 I postpone prescribing drugs like Fosomax, Actonel, Evista, or Calcitonin in this situation if my patients are willing to make some lifestyle changes: taking these high-quality supplements, along with eating an improved diet and using a weight-bearing exercise program.
I follow these patients closely by repeating their DEXA (bone density) scan in one year. If they are stable or improving, I keep them on their program and continue to follow them closely. If they experience more thinning of their bones, I will start them on one of these newer drugs. |
| Although a patient may have a particular health problem, in recommending supplements I am not necessarily treating that particular disease. I am simply enabling the patient to provide the nutrients to his or her body at the optimal levels that studies have shown to provide a health benefit based on medical research. This approach to health I have labeled cellular nutrition, which enables the body to do what God intended.
The personal case histories that I present in this book are ones I have documented in my office. |
| Could patients who begin a consistent exercise program and a healthy diet while taking supplements actually improve their high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol to the point of being able to avoid taking some medications? The medical literature certainly supports this approach.
Almost all physicians agree that patients deserve a fair trial of healthy lifestyle changes before beginning medication for such chronic conditions. In reality, however, most physicians merely give lip service to lifestyle changes in their office even as they are writing out prescriptions. |
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