An analogy I am becoming fond of

A friend has recently had some major health issues and I have watched what allopathic medicine has done for her (or to her).

They have her on multiple mediations and (of course)  told her nothing about the side effects she might see right away or could see down the road.  Two of her medications are known to cause type II diabetes.  One can cause an allergic reaction where the face and tongue swell causing death very shortly.  Two are "water pills" which get rid of water by preventing the kidneys from hanging onto salts (minerals).  While they recognize that can cause a potassium shortage they ignore the magnesium and calcium loss which can have devastating affects on muscles and nerves (oh, by the way, the heart is a muscle that needs nerve impulses to beat correctly).  All the medications cause digestive upsets.  Of course--they are toxins and the body wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible.  Another medication shuts down the body's natural production of CoEnzyme Q10 which is what powers the mitochondria (the power plant in EVERY cell).  Did they tell her to supplement coq10?  No.

So here's my analogy.

Your body/wellness is like a boat.  It rides around on top of the water keeping you (the passengers) dry and happy.  It takes maintenance and fuel and care to not crash into things.  But if you ignore the maintenance or use bad fuel or forget the oil or run into pilings, the boat ends up with problems and eventually that means it goes poorly, won't go at all, or it gets dry rot and it springs a leak or a hole and really leaks.  Some boats get a little leakage and the owners manage to keep riding around in their boat anyway with just wet feet and low power.  Some damage is more extensive and pretty soon the boat is filling with scary amounts of water.

When the hole in your boat is pretty small someone could sell you a cute little cup with a handle and tell you to start bailing.  As the damage to your boat gets larger,  they might sell you a small bucket to get the water out.  For bigger holes, maybe they sell you five gallon bucket.  This is where my friend is.  She was about to go under, and after a week in the hospital she got her five gallon bucket and she's bailing to stay afloat.  In an even more dire case, someone might stick a bilge pump in your boat to keep it from ending up on the ocean floor.

That's what allopathic medicine knows how to do---sell you buckets from cup size to bilge pump.  What they do not know--or even care about--is telling you how to fix the leaks/power problems/holes in your boat.  There is no money in the bucket/pump industry if you fix the holes.  Besides, they know you probably won't bother.  It takes knowledge you'll have to research (construction techniques, marine materials, dry dock, etc)  and changing habits (better fuel choices, regular maintenance, how to navigate better, adding bumpers in strategic locations, how to stay on top of things, etc)  That's hard.  Much easier to go to the bucket store and say "Give me a bucket that will keep me afloat."

I get it that not everyone wants to maintain their boat, and some are happy to bail for years.  I guess you know where I fit in that scheme.  In fact I have become a master boat repair person.  My boat is whizzing through the water and the inside is dry and comfy.  My boat is older than dirt and in the best shape of is existence.

If yours is not, but you would like to quit buying buckets and bailing to stay afloat, ask me what it takes and how you, too can repair your boat and enjoy the ride once again.

VITAMIN D Again

 

The Vitamin D Council sends out a newsletter that I recommend to anyone interested in healthy aging or general health for that matter.  Today’s issue points out three more diseases of civilization that are linked to low vitamin D levels—Leukemia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and PMS.  Over the last year I have mentioned its role in preventing cancers.  I cannot begin to remember all the other diseases that are likely caused by or worsened by low Vitamin D, but these are memorable:  Parkinson’s, premature births, MS, Crohn’s, Rheumatoid arthritis,  depression, celiac, autism, ED, dementia, Alzheimer’s, type II diabetes….and the list goes on.  More research just adds to the list.

Have you gotten a Vitamin D test lately?  Of all the tests I think are useful for keeping us healthy, this is the easiest, least controversial and most important.  A level below 20 is deadly.  A level of 80 to 100 is what is normal for indigenous people who spend a lot of time outside not totally covered in clothing.  Anything thing below 50 or 60 is less than ideal. 

Another thing I want to comment on today.  I keep reading in supposedly scientific articles, a little throwaway line that is flat out wrong and so misleading.  When talking about insulin resistance many articles and documents list the causes as (first) fat and (second) as sugars.  They ignore biology and adhere to politics.  Fat has no effect on insulin production.  ZERO.  It CANNOT affect insulin resistance.  Sugars—whether added to or contained in carbohydrate type foods are the only food that affects insulin production. 

We’ve had 40 or 50 years of the special interests and government telling us that low fat is the way to go.  In that same period, the epidemic of obesity and diabetes has mushroomed.  Over and over, good research demonstrates that fat is not the enemy, sugars are.  The theory persists that fat is bad.  It is not.  Eat plenty and you will be thinner and healthier and fuller on less food.  Insulin is triggered by sugar (blood sugar, to be exact) not by lipids.  Insulin is always inflammatory and always the hormone of hunger. 

What you put in your mouth matters.  Every meal, any snack.  Be good to your bodies!!  And may 2016 be a year of vigor and robustness for all!