Weight comes back as fads go away

Atkins Nutritionals, the company that made low-carb dieting a household word, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday, July 31.

The waning popularity of the Atkins Diet and the glut of me-too low-carb products sent the formerly high-flying company, founded in 1989, into a tailspin of debt. Apparently they have made arrangements with many of their lenders to reduce their debt in exchange for equity in the company.

I never sold the Atkins products, nor used them, but I did get on the low-carb kick in April 2004, and over the next six months shed about 20 pounds just by cutting out breads, pasta and rice. Somewhere around September '04 someone gave me a bottle of wine, something I normally didn't drink. I enjoyed the wine, and set out to learn about the differences in wines -- you know, become a wine snob -- and before I knew it, most of those 20 pounds came back. And eventually, I ate a piece of bread. And rice. And pasta. And ice cream. And enjoyed it.

Fish oil dramatically reduces ADD/ADHD symptoms

The Guardian reported in May that studies documented in the journal Pediatrics have recently shown that underachieving children's performance improved dramatically when their diets were supplemented with fish oils.

Half of the 120 children in the study were given fish oil supplements over three months, while the other half were given placebos of olive oil. After three months, the placebo group was also given the supplements. Children who took fish oil supplements made about three times the amount of progress in their reading skills than those who took the placebo, making 9-10 month's advance in their reading skills during the three months. Similar boosts in progress were seen in the placebo group when they switched to active supplements.

California astronomer claims discovery of 10th planet in solar system

Recently a new chunk of rock was discovered circling our Sun even further away than Pluto. Scientists have since estimated that the object is at least 1 1/2 times larger than Pluto. This is the first planet-sized object discovered in our Solar System since Pluto, in 1930. It is 15 billion kilometers from the Sun (97 times further out than the Earth is from the Sun), which it orbits every 560 years at an unusual 45-degree angle. For now, it is known by its assigned number "2003 UB313." Its discoverer, astronomer Mike Brown of California Institute of Technology, is quoted as saying, "It's definitely bigger than Pluto." (Click here for a chart showing comparative sizes of the Moon, Pluto, 2003 UB313, and other moons, mesoplanets and planetoids.)

Brown has submitted a name for the new planet to the International Astronomical Union, the organization that oversees such matters, but his choice of names had not been announced publicly. There is no truth to the rumor that Disneyland, located just down the road from Cal Tech, has paid an undisclosed sum to have the planet officially christened Goofy.

Eat a doughnut, er, I mean, a peach

As a native of Georgia -- the Peach State -- I couldn't help but notice this article. Seems that peaches that look like doughnuts went on sale in Great Britain on July 28. The peaches are native to China, where they were first grown in the 19th century. Marketers are making the most of the way they look, packaging them in long doughnut boxes for the "fun factor" and saying kids will "get the fun of them."

Mutating viruses make flu vaccines senseless

I cannot remember a time in my life when I thought vaccinations were a good idea. I mean, when I was a kid, I hated 'em. That needle hurt! I remember once praying before going to the doctor's office, "Oh, please, God, make it not hurt!" I told my mom and she laughed, saying of course it would hurt, but God wanted me to have the shot so I'd be healthy. Guess you can't argue with that logic -- I've never contracted whatever disease it was they were shooting into me. Not sure that means the vaccine worked, though.

When I grew up and discovered they were actually shooting disease cells into me, I disliked 'em even more. I especially never understood the public's fascination and demand for the flu vaccine. Last year's near panic over the lack of available vaccine amused me. It takes nearly a year to produce and distribute a vaccine, making it extremely unlikely that the vaccine begun in January would be the one that would stop a flu outbreak 10 or 11 months later. Even medical doctors would tell you that the flu strain in the vaccine seldom matches the one going around nearly a year later. The logic just isn't there.

So the July 26 article from BBC Health News makes me smile, whacko that I am. It seems that viruses mutate much quicker than previously thought. One virologist said, "Their work shows that, overall, the virus is a lot more busy swapping genes than we ever thought it was."

I'm not gloating over rampaging viruses that may decimate the world. Might happen, might not. I'm just commenting on the now-shown fact that that flu vaccine jab everyone got so excited and angry about not getting last winter probably wouldn't have helped anyway.

First, do no harm: The principles of Naturopathy

A lot of people don't know what naturopathy, or a naturopath (also known as a naturopathic doctor) are. Some people even have trouble pronouncing the words. They come from "nature," and from the suffix "-pathy," which means either "disease" (as in "neuropathy") or a "system for treating disease" (as in "homeopathy" or "allopathy").

Here are some dictionary definitions from dictionary.com:

• A system of therapy that relies on natural remedies, such as sunlight supplemented with diet and massage, to treat illness.
• A system of therapeutics in which neither surgical nor medicinal agents are used, with dependence being placed only on natural remedies.
• A system of treatment of disease that avoids drugs and surgery and emphasizes the use of natural agents (as air, water, and sunshine) and physical means (as manipulation and electrical treatment)
• A method of treating disease using food and exercise and heat to assist the natural healing process

Naturopaths shouldn't be confused with medical doctors. Medical doctors are supposed to treat illness. They provide "sick care," not health care.

Medical doctors (rightly called "allopaths") have their place, but the medical profession shouldn't be your only source of health information, or your only source of attention when you aren't feeling well. Modern technology has made modern medicine outstanding in acute care. I mean, if I'm in an accident, don't take me to the local herbalist or naturopath. Take me to someone trained in treating trauma. But... most medical doctors don't have a clue when it comes to treating chronic problems, lifestyle-created illnesses, like heart disease, diabetes, etc. You can't just throw the latest pharmaceutical drug at a patient and expect them to get well. At best, you can mask or alleviate symptoms for a while. But no true health is re-established.

So, then, what are the principles of naturopathy. I've never found a better short description that these six points, originally from a book called "Alternative Medicine."

• First, Do No Harm -- By employing the safe and effective natural therapies, naturopaths are committed to the principle of causing no harm to the patient.
• The Healing Power of Nature Is Powerful Indeed -- The body has considerable power to heal itself, and the role of the naturopath is to facilitate this natural process with the aid of natural, non-toxic therapies.
• Treat the Cause Rather than the Effect -- Naturopathic physicians seek the underlying cause of a disease rathern than simply suppressing the symptoms. They avoid suppression of the natural healing wisdom of the body, such as fever and inflammation. Symptoms are viewed as expressions of the body's natural attempt to heal, while the causes can spring from the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels.
  
• Treat the Whole Person -- The individual is viewed as a whole, composed of a complex interaction of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social and other factors. This multifaceted approach results in a therapeutic approach in which no disease is automatically seen as incurable.
• The Physician is a Teacher -- Naturopathic physicians are first and foremost teachers who educate, empower, and motivate the patient to assume more personal responsibility for his or her health by adopting a healthy attitude, lifestyle and diet.
• Prevention is the Best Cure -- Naturopaths are preventive health specialsts. Prevention of disease is accomplished through education and a lifestyle that supports radiant health.

In many states, it's true, naturopaths aren't licensed by the state, and you can't pay them through your insurance company. That doesn't mean they aren't useful, or reliable, or to be trusted -- it simply means the state and the powerful medical lobby have stacked the deck against them, just as they did for so many years against chiropractors.

Hormone replacement therapy added to list of carcinogens

It's in the news again -- the dangers of hormone replacement therapy. I've been talking about this for quite a while. Three years ago this month, the plug was finally pulled on a long-term study of women using HRT. The proof was in -- women were suffering and dying from putting all that synthetic horse urine into their bodies.

When those stories hit the news back in 2002, my mother finally stopped taking using the stuff -- after 36 years of doing so, and after at least seven or eight of hearing me suggest she stop. I guess it takes a while for your family to accept that you might occasionally know what you're talking about. My mom is fine -- thankfully -- but she has buried both of her sisters in the last few years. Both died from hormone-related cancers, one of breast cancer and one of ovarian cancer.

There are alternatives to help women going through menopause to deal with the sometimes unpleasant symptoms. The simple use of progesterone cream -- applied to the skin -- has helped many women (and some men) get through the "change of life." Herbs such as pomegranate, soy, black cohosh, licorce, red clover, kava, and others, offer relief to stressed-out, hot-flashing women, as do increased levels of calcium and magnesium. Here's an article from an issue of Energy Times magazine about phytoestrogenic herbs.

Vitamin C and alpha-carotene may protect children against asthma

A low intake of vitamin C and alpha-carotene seems to be linked to an increased risk of childhood asthma. In a study of 4,093 children ages 6 to 17 years, researchers found that children who had a high intake of vitamin C were 26% less likely to develop asthma than those who took less than this, and that children had a lower risk of asthma when they took higher levels of alpha-carotene.

Am J Epidemiol 159:351-357, 2004

Magnesium and vitamin B6 ease hyperexcitability in children

A group of French investigators studied 50 hyperexcitable children, whose symptoms included instability, aggressivenes, inattention at school, and “twitchiness.” Over 50% of the children had low blood levels of magnesium. All the children were given magnesium and Vitamin B-6 supplements, and in all of them, symptoms of hyperexcitability were reduced after one to six months.

Mousain-Bose M, Roce M, Rapin J, et al. Magnesium VitB6 intake reduces central nervous system hyperexcitability in children. J Am Coll Nutr 23(5): 545-S-548S, 2004.

It was a dark and stormy night

Recently I heard about the "Dark and Stormy Night" competition, an international literary parody contest, celebrating the memory of Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). According to the webpage, "the goal of the contest is childishly simple: entrants are challenged to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Although best known for 'The Last Days of Pompeii' (1834), which has been made into a movie three times, originating the expression 'the pen is mightier than the sword,' and phrases like 'the great unwashed' and 'the almighty dollar,' Bulwer-Lytton opened his novel Paul Clifford (1830) with the immortal words that the 'Peanuts' beagle Snoopy plagiarized for years, 'It was a dark and stormy night.'"

This was the winning entry, by Dan McKay, of Fargo, N.D.:

As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual.

I emailed some friends about this, providing the link to the runners-up and category winners. One of my friends, Laura Knight, wrote her own "bad opening sentence," and emailed it to me tonight. If she ever gets tired of marine biology, she has a career waiting for her somewhere else. Not saying it would be in writing....

The bespeckled literary oracle scowled and squinted mightily as she examined a tall, yet delicate woman with long brown hair pulled tightly in a bun maintaining a steely gaze back at her while quietly ranting, "This is an outrage!", as she hastily unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse and kicked off her Mary Jane shoes in rapid succession and feverishly grasped the hairpin that launched an explosion of cascading tresses alongside her face that was thrashing from side to side till her glasses were unapologetically smashed upon the floor, right in the exact spot where only seconds ago she was peering into her open compact mirror and had observed the approach of a spandex clad David Lee Roth directly behind her as she whirled around and calmly asked, "May I help you?"

Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead

Don't even ask me how I ended up at the Dead People's Server website, but I found (at least) two interesting pieces of information:

* Charles Lane, the crotchety but lovable old man often seen in episodes of "Bewitched" and "Petticoat Junction," and who appeared in a zillion old movies including Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," celebrated his 100th birthday in January, 2005. He is still having a wonderful life, over half an orbit around the Sun later.

* Andy Kaufman is still dead, no matter how many times Bob Zmuda, his old partner, plays Tony Clifton. Here's Andy's death certificate.

Tell Congress to protect dietary supplements

I just rec'd this Action Alert from the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA), of which I am a member. Please act accordingly if your conscience so dictates.

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Tell Congress to Protect Dietary Supplements!

As you read this, Congress is considering new legislation that would take away your access to safe, effective and affordable dietary supplements. You can make a difference by urging your Representative to oppose The Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act (H.R. 3156) and any bill that would limit your choice and access to dietary supplements. Visit www.nnfa.org to work for healthy policies and make your voice heard.

BACKGROUND:
The Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act (H.R. 3156), introduced by Representatives Davis (D-CA), Waxman (D-CA), and Dingell (D-MI), this month, would place trusted vitamins, minerals, and herbs under unprecedented and unwarranted scrutiny. If H.R. 3156 becomes law, 70 percent of dietary supplements currently on the market would become subject to burdensome new regulations – some equivalent to those required for prescription drugs – driving up supplement prices for everyone and forcing well known dietary supplements to disappear from store shelves.

AREN’T SUPPLEMENTS ALREADY REGULATED?
In 1994, Congress took an important step forward with passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) - federal legislation that requires manufacturers of all dietary supplements to ensure the products they put on the market are safe. The law holds manufacturers directly accountable for product safety and demands truth in labeling and advertising. These consumer safeguards give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration all the authority it needs to police the marketplace and keep bad products from being sold.

TAKE ACTION NOW:
Write Your Representative

Let your lawmaker know that good laws exist on the books, and the FDA needs to enforce them. Please share your personal supplement story, so that your lawmaker understands why it’s important to protect your access to dietary supplements. Click here to tell Congress to protect dietary supplements!

The Tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao

The tao that can be described
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be spoken
is not the eternal Name.

The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of creation.

Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery.
By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real.

Yet mystery and reality
emerge from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness born from darkness.
The beginning of all understanding.

From Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Deadly Immunity

Autism rates have skyrocketed in recent years. A growing number of parents, medical professionals, scientists and politicians are coming to believe that thimerosal, a mercury compound used in vaccines, is the cause of U.S. autism rates multiplying 15-fold since 1991. If you have children or grandchildren that you love, you owe it to yourself and to them to read Robert F. Kennedy's investigation of the government's cover-up of the mercury/autism scandal "Deadly Immunity."

Infant given carbon dioxide instead of oxygen

While the medical doctors strut around telling us how bad herbs are for us -- this week's whipping boy is echinacea -- someone at an Army hospital in Honolulu hooked up a newborn baby to carbon dioxide instead of oxygen for 42 minutes, leaving him blind and comatose.

Words cannot describe the disgust I feel when reading that some "trained health care professional" -- in the military, no less -- was that stupid. No excuse.

Bashing the herbal industry

In the latest in an endless series of articles where the press bashes the natural products / alternative health / herbal industry, MSN reported that some smart guy medical doctor professor named Wallace Sampson said, "When it comes to herbal remedies, the bottom line is that they are drugs and toxins and most plant species out there have a more likely chance of harming one than helping one."

It's so easy for the press to bash the little guy. Why don't they ever do an expose on the giant pharmaceutical companies' and how they manipulate doctors, insurance companies, medical schools and the public? Oh, yeah, that's right -- 'cause the Rx companies buy ads and commericals on television, radio, newspapers and magazines. D'oh!

The article was intended to report a study that "proved" that echinacea was useless in helping to prevent colds. What the article didn't report was that the study used a tiny amount of echinacea in the subjects, nothing close to the amount that would be used therapeutically by an herbal consumer trying to keep a cold at bay.