Every day in the clinic I see new patients with High Blood Pressure who are shocked when I tell them their condition is quite likely self-inflicted and probably curable, without having to take pills for life. No doctor has ever talked to them like this; they have only heard the defeatist, un-empowering "all you can do is take a pill the rest of your life" speech. Now granted, there are some people who just need blood pressure pills due to their genetics or other medical problems; but in reality, they are few and far between. As we all continue reclaiming our health, and retaking responsibility for our own well-being, more and more patients will no longer be needing those pills.
With that in mind, I'd like to tell you about a recent study showing that natural substances in berries prevent High Blood Pressure and almost certainly decrease existing High Blood Pressure. You can read the abstract of the study here. The more I study and read, the more I find these naturally occuring medicines all around.  |
| A Great Book |
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| A Great Book |
The effect was a little stronger for blueberries than strawberries. Compared to people who ate no blueberries, those eating at least one serving of blueberries per week were 10 per cent less likely to develop High Blood Pressure. The researchers seemed shocked by their findings:“Our findings are exciting and suggest that an achievable dietary intake of anthocyanins may contribute to the prevention of hypertension ... Anthocyanins are readily incorporated into the diet as they are present in many commonly consumed foods. Blueberries were the richest source ... Other rich sources of anthocyanins ... include black currants, blood oranges, eggplants, blackberries, red grapes and raspberries.”I love it that these university researchers were surprised and excited to discover health benefits from eating berries. If just one serving per week had this kind of effect, just imagine what effects a serving per day might have!
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| Grow them on your Deck! |
If you just can't grow your own, then the ones at China-Mart are much better than nothing; also in the Winter they'll have to do. Yes, I know they are pricey, but don't forget the money you will be saving on co-pays for that hand-full of pills you no longer take... Ms. Bridget and I have a back-yard full of blueberry bushes, raspberry brambles and strawberry plants, and we plan on putting in even more this spring. We are, to say the least, quite busy with our careers and kids, but we find the time to care for these plants so they will care for us. More than one sunny morning, I have caught Ms. Bridget and Abby Grace eating our raspberries right off the bramble (yes, without washing them; we put no pesticides on them).This is just another little reminder that you actually are what you eat. Eat right and you will prosper and flourish; eat junk and you will suffer, and pay lots of co-pays!
kb.
One morning on rounds we entered a young ladies room, who was sipping her morning's first cup of coffee. She had preeclampsia so bad she was being kept as an inpatient on a Magnesium drip, and for fetal monitoring. My chief resident, during his exam/discussion, asked her about the coffee. She said she had two or three cups every morning. He then did what countless doctors do every day with the very best of intentions, he gave her medical advice based on nothing but the foggiest of assumptions;
This is a tactic used by chief residents the world over to get research done without actually doing it. In the process of "educating" me, he also gets free research done for himself. I guess that's a fair trade. So off I go to the computer. It was obvious what his opinion on the matter was so I was on a mission to prove him right.
Here are just a few of the 2500 articles currently listed on PubMed you might like:
It seems that this healthy golden glow is found to be quite attractive by members of the opposite sex, almost on an unconscious level. Perhaps in past eons, since a healthy diet leads to a long life and strong offspring, possible mates were naturally drawn to this color in the skin. A pale, sickly skin-tone would reveal a poor diet and less chance of reproductive success.
I remember when I was a teen-ager, I couldn't have cared less about "healthy" foods, but, my ears would have perked up at the mention of something that might have improved my looks in the eyes of the opposite sex... Just a thought...
After quietly counting to 10, I explained to him that breakfast cereals in general, and kid's cereals specifically, are a terrible pseudo-food, and probably the cause of his daily fatigue. He looked as if he thought I was pulling his leg, and then said, "Com'on doc, if it was that bad, they wouldn't let them sell it. Besides, they're good!" I just didn't have time that day to explain to him that the they he thought was protecting him from them, was owned by them.
The best kid's cereals are 1/3 sugar; the worst are over 50% sugar. You see, they have a sneaky way of not having sugar as their first ingredient; they divide it up and call it by different names. For example, a cereal may have sugar, corn syrup, corn starch solids, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup and molasses. These are ALL sugar and if the company were forced to group these sorts of things together, then most cereals would have sugar as their number one ingredient. You can find a great breakdown of cereal nutrition (or lack thereof) 
The companies behind this top 10 hall of shame spend billions advertising to your kids on TV and also Online. Now ask yourself this; 'If their product was nutritious, wouldn't they be advertising it to the parent instead?' More experts are starting to think that it might be this huge amount of sugar kids get each morning that leads to things like ADHD; and don't even get me started about the obesity epidemic.
About two years ago I kept reading on that blasted internet about how everyone was vitamin D deficient. I vaguely remembered how Vitamin D was not really a vitamin at all but actually a pro-hormone, so my interest was piqued. I kept reading and thinking about all the implications. Intrigued, i started to check a Vitamin-D-25 level in a few folks I thought most likely to be deficient. Bam! Lab result after result came back revealing deficient levels in the patients I checked. Worried at this point, I begin to check even more Vitamin-D-25 levels, and to read about the best way to replace Vitamin-D. 
So, about two years ago I started checking Vitamin-D levels in many of my older patients, and replacing the deficiencies with Vitamin-D-2 initially, and then later with Vitamin-D-3. We've easily checked levels on over a thousand patients. In the beginning they were all low, and I mean ALL! 
So, two years ago I started her on 50,000 IU of Vitamin-D2/week for about a year, and for the last year she has taken 2000 IU/day of Vitamin-D3. I see Ms. Truvie about every 3 months due to her age; to check bloodwork, freeze the worst patch of lesions, and get her refills. For a while I saw the trend of her actinic keratosis being generally smaller, and fewer in number. 
He noticed immediate gains in strength and in muscle size (Rule #5). He also noticed a little twinge in his right shoulder, which he promptly ignored and pushed through, violating Rule #4. He stuck to the system as published and even did extra workouts because he was so pumped about his progress (Rule #2). After a few weeks his right shoulder was getting worse; it was hurting during the workouts and aching badly at night, even waking him from sleep. 
There are 5 rules you must follow if you want to stop being a soft, weak 40-something or 50-something without injury. If you are a 20-something, you can scoff at these recommendations and proceed. If you are a 30-something, you might want to pay a little more attention. But, if you have a sprinkling of gray hair, that is supposed to be evidence of wisdom; (use it!) after 40, you must go slower initially or you will hurt yourself. So, here are The Rules for getting back into shape after 40:
3. Your nutrition (or lack of it) matters much more now than in your teens/twenties.
Oh, and my 50-something businessman with the achey shoulder? Well, he actually heard my Rules and took them to heart. He took his medicine, he rested the shoulder much more (while continue to work the rest) and his thankful shoulder responded and was well about 6 weeks later. He is now looking better than his somewhat jealous doctor... Four to eight weeks is the usual amount of time you have to rest a ligament or tendon injury before starting to push them again. You can see how that would cut into your progress; better to prevent the injury by following the 5 Rules.