September 2008
In This Issue:
Are You Trying To Get Pregnant?
The 9 Worst Foods You Might Be Eating
It's a "DUH" Situation - a Testimonial
Are you or someone you know trying to get pregnant? They might have just started trying, or they might be doing IUI’s, or IVF. One little known fact is that the #1 reason for infertility is PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome1. PCOS causes an imbalance of hormones, causing many symptoms like heavy periods, missed periods, high testosterone and cysts on the ovaries that interfere with ovulation. Did you know that this is reversible? Do you want to increase your chances of getting pregnant?
Today modern medicine treats infertility due to PCOS with drugs that cause women to produce multiple eggs at once. Later, these eggs are collected, to be used in in-vitro fertilization. This treatment is unpleasant, risky and can cause serious side effects such as sterility. The over-all success rate of these procedures has been quoted at less than 30%2. This all seems a little extreme when one understands the root of the problem – too much insulin.
The majority of people develop too much insulin production by eating too many carbohydrates over time. Eating a low carbohydrate diet with healthy fats that are full of fat-soluble vitamins can reverse this condition, also known as Metabolic Syndrome. Reversing this condition really is as simple as committing to a healthy diet and daily exercise.
The connection between carbohydrates, insulin, and infertility is not unknown in medicine. The names do get confusing though. Gynecologists call the condition PCOS, while endocrinologists call the same thing Metabolic Syndrome – it’s a condition where the body is in a state of insulin resistance, causing hormonal imbalances like PCOS.
If you are interested in finding out if you have Metabolic Syndrome, and learning how to reverse insulin resistance, as well as PCOS, please call our office. We are happy to discuss your options with you.
1 Sozen I, Arici A. Hyperinsulinism and it interaction with heperandrogenism in polycystic ovarian syndrome. Obest Gynecol Surv 2000;55:321-328
2 Kharrazian, Datis Functional Endocrinology: Case Studies and Principles, sponsored by Univ. of Bridgeport, 2007.
Besides having a great trip from Canada to Mexico (with Marlene hitting a bicycle land-speed record for herself at 56 mph coming out of the Grand Tetons!), Will and Marlene have been continuing to lecture to students, doctors and other health practitioners. Their last lecture was on Insulin Resistance, Obesity and Diabetes, and how to reverse those conditions. They are also teaching a nutrition class at the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin, showing acupuncturists how to incorporate nutrition into an Oriental Medical practice. There's apparently a great demand to understand nutrition in the medical field, both Oriental and Western, and they've been asked to speak at the University of Miami Medical School on that subject for a conference in April.
- High fructose corn syrup – this product was originally hailed as a “good sugar” because it was designed to absorb more slowly into the blood than table sugar. Later we learned that it caused liver damage in test animals, since it has to be broken down in the liver, unlike all other sugars. Then we learned that it promotes insulin resistance, a growing epidemic. Looking back at its introduction, we can also see that this product parallels the sharp increase in obesity in the US3.
- Trans-fatty acids/ hydrogenated vegetable oils – These industrial products have been banned from restaurants in New York. Great Britain is in the process of banning trans-fatty acids from the country. These fats are as bad for your health as smoking cigarettes4 and are found in fried foods, chips, crackers, and other processed foods. These fats “look” like cholesterol to the body and the body tries to repair cells and arteries with them. However, trans-fatty acids make leaky cell membranes and plaque that is prone to break off and cause heart attacks and strokes. Your body, ironically, will try to recycle this type of “cholesterol” and the trans-fatty acids in those McDonald’s fries will stay with you for up to100 days5,6.
- Rancid oils – Commercially produced canola and vegetable oils are damaged in the industrial processing that includes high temperatures and pressures and petrochemical solvents, causing free radicals in the oils7, 8. The widespread use of these fats parallels the increase in heart disease because these oils cause plaques in the arteries9. If you buy cold-processed or expeller pressed oils they will not be rancid and full of free radicals like the common vegetable oils.
- Refined sugar- Calories without nutrition is a concept that doesn’t occur in nature. Sugar causes insulin spikes, which lead to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), insulin resistance and diabetes. This is the worst epidemic in the history of chronic disease. 81% of people over 55 are diabetic or pre-diabetic according to the International Diabetes Foundation!
- Refined carbohydrates – Just the same as refined sugar, but less sweet to the taste.
- Aspartame – This is Nutra-Sweet or Equal. This is the most contested substance to ever be approved by the FDA. This product could not be passed until a new US president was elected who fired the head of the FDA so he could appoint someone who would approve Aspartame 10. It also causes brain tumors in test animals11.
- Soy – Books have been written on the many ways soy can harm your health. We recommend The Whole Soy Story as a good reference book for a list of problems soy can cause. Soy can slow your thyroid, change your hormones, cause zinc deficiency, damage your digestion and was consumed by monks to eliminate their libido12.
- Commercial Dairy – Non-organic milk typically contains both antibiotics as well as hormones. Commercial dairy cows are fed antibiotics due to the crowded living conditions that breed diseases so easily. Hormones are injected to increase the production of milk – Bovine Growth Hormone is common, as well as other hormones. Long-term effects are unclear, but have been shown to contribute to antibiotic resistance, and increased hormone levels in humans13.
- Commercial Meat –Pesticides and hormones are the concern here. The pesticides end up in meat from the feed, and the hormones are injected to increase weight gain in the cattle. Children and even toddlers are having signs of puberty at abnormally young ages when exposed to hormones. It may be more obvious in the sensitive bodies of children, but hormone exposure affects us all14.
3 Parks EJ, Skokan LE, Timlin MT, Dingfelder CS. Dietary sugars stimulate fatty acid synthesis in adults. J Nutr. 2008 Jun;138(6):1039-46.
4 Enig, Mary. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition off Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol. Bethesda Press, Silver Spring, MD 2000.
5 Deposition in Tissues and Fecal Excretion of Trans Fatty Acids in the Rat. Patricia V. Johnston, Ogden C. Johnson and Feed A. Kummerrow. Journal of Nutrition, August 8, 1957
6 Fallon, Sally, Enig, M.G. Nourishing Traditions. New Trends Publishing, Washington DC, 1999.
7 Enig, Mary. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition off Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol. Bethesda Press, Silver Spring, MD 2000.
8 Fallon, Sally, Enig, M.G. Nourishing Traditions. New Trends Publishing, Washington DC, 1999. Fallon, Sally, Enig, M.G. Nourishing Traditions. New Trends Publishing, Washington DC, 1999.
9 Enig, Mary. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition off Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol. Bethesda Press, Silver Spring, MD 2000.
10 Rietz, David Oliver. History of Aspartame. January 18, 2008. http://dorway.com/dorwblog/?page_id=24
11 Life-Span Exposure to Low Doses of Aspartame Beginning during Prenatal Life Increases Cancer Effects in Rats. Morando Soffritti, Belpoggi,F, Tibaldi,E, Esposti, DD, and Lauriola, M. Environ Health Perspect 115:1293-1297 (2007)
12 Daniel, Kaayla T. The Whole Soy Story. New Trends Publishing, Washington DC, 2005.
13 Schmid, Ron. The Untold Story of Milk. New Trends Publishing, Washington DC, 2003.
14 Fallon, Sally, Enig, M.G. Nourishing Traditions. New Trends Publishing, Washington DC, 1999.
"Marlene ran a liver cleanse protocol on me and fixed a digestive condition that I'd had for years. She educated me that my diet directly caused my intestinal distress. Looking back on it, the link between our food choices and our physical ailments is ridiculously direct. It's a "duh" situation, but one that most MD's won't ever discuss with their patients because 1) most MD's are minimally schooled on nutrition in med school and just don't know (bizarre, but true) and 2) MD's are trained to treat symptoms with medication rather than alter habitually caused (yet reversible) root causes. Eastern medicine goes beyond acupuncture to really common sense "food as medicine" treatment. Despite their business name, they have a whole range of treatment options for all sorts of medical issues. I'd highly recommend Merritt Acupuncture and Wellness."
