Holy “Supersize Me” Batman!! This article makes you want to go vegetarian.

A new report reveals how your favorite hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and fries go from farm to table….

Read the rest of this post from Forbes.com: Health News

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Just came back from a seminar about ACL knee injuries/prevention in girls, given by Laura Ramus, P.T., ATC who is head trainer for the WNBA Detroit “shock” team who won 3 championships. The statistics are daunting. In the U.S. girls suffer 30,000 ACL injuries per year. Girls are 4-6X more likely to suffer ACL injuries than boys.

Here are some facts:
The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is a ligament in the knee that stabilizes the knee on physical activity. So it helps us stop suddenly, move side-to-side quickly and land straight down when we jump. This ligament should be the last safeguard we use when doing these activities because our muscles should be working together to be our main knee support. But…

In girls…we tend to use our ACL much more because girls primarily use their quadriceps (thigh) for running, jumping, and moving side to side, whereas boys use their hamstrings. Hamstrings protect the ACL.

It takes girls 3/10ths of a second longer to contract their hamstrings than boys. That doesn’t sound slow, but it is if you consider it takes 1/10th of a second to jump.

Girls don’t get ACL injuries until after puberty because estrogen makes tissues/ligaments more elastic and looser, so they don’t contract as well.

Pelvic size is different for girls because their hips are wider which causes their knees to turn in. This is called the Q-angle.

Girls have more lumbar lordosis (more of a curve in the lower back) which causes their knees to hyperextend and turn inward.

Shoes make a difference! Flat feet or pronation causes strain on the ACL and leads to injuries unless it’s balanced with orthodics or good sneakers that address this problem. Also, shoes should bend at the toe box (end of the toes), not at the mid-foot (near the arch).

It’s not the knees that are the problem. The problem is with the feet/ankles or the pelvis.

Prevention means:
1) Strengthening the gluteus maximus (butt muscles) and hamstrings which are commonly weak in girls.
2) Practice balance and proprioception. Balance and being aware of how your body is in alignment is the “glue” that holds the bones, ligaments and muscles together. Squats are a great exercise for this.
3) Work on speed of contracting the muscles. Try to do 20 squats in 20 seconds with GOOD form. It’s harder then you think!
4) These prevention exercises should be started at age 9 for girls. For all you women athletes, start these exercises now! Hopefully coaches will start incorporating these exercises in the many sports girls play.

Find out more at www.girlscanjump.com.

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We may need to start thinking about whether the benefits of wine are better than the possible risks of the heavy metals that are in them.

A recent study was done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine safe levels of frequent, long- term exposure to various chemicals in wines. The findings were quite surprising. Read more…

Just one daily glass of red or white wines from most European nations gives drinkers dangerous doses of at least seven heavy metals, U.K. researchers find….

Read the rest of this post from WebMD Health

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This is one of the most historic elections in history.
You can make a difference.

Remember to VOTE! It will make you feel good.

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Halloween is upon us once more. That means fun creative costumes and some yummy hand-outs. Whether you’re buying candy to hand out to the kids or enjoying the sugar coma yourself, there are ways you can buy treats that are good for you and the planet.

Unfortunately most candy is made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). There’s plenty of research (including our own wellcast blog; July 4th & Aug. 11th 2007) that shows HFCS linked to obesity and complications with type 2 diabetes, as well as a host of other health problems.

HFCS is not only bad for you, but it’s bad for the planet. Even though corn is natural, it is one of the most environmental destructive crops. Only 1% of the corn grown in America is eaten on the cob, or in some other unprocessed form. The rest is either food for stock, or processed as ethanol or corn syrup. Corn is the #1 crop grown in America…that’s alot of corn to grow! So you factor in heavy duty fertilizers that effect the nitrogen cycle; loss of top soil since crops aren’t rotated, in addition to carbon emissions from processing, which all leads to a negative imprint on the planet.

But don’t get too depressed. There are other options for Halloween besides candy corn…
Chocolate (one of my favorites), especially organic is a healthy choice. Go one step further and buy fair-trade chocolate. Most cocoa is grown by farmers in inhumane conditions and they see less than 1/60th of the profit from an average chocolate bar. Buying fair-trade can make a big difference in people’s lives.

If chocolate doesn’t do it for you, you can hand out bags of organic chips, nuts or fruit leather. Yea, so you won’t be the most popular house on the block, but you can go to sleep with a better conscience.

Happy halloween!

For more information, check out www.purefun.ca or www.greenhalloween.org.

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This month is breast cancer awareness month and I want everyone to be aware of a supplement that I think is essential in preventing breast cancer.

That supplement is indole-3-carbinol (IC3). The supplement Bioresponse DIM is equally as good. This is how these supplements work:

Estrogen and its metabolites (which is what estrogen breaks down into) have a variety of functions. However, imbalanced estrogens can cause increased levels of some metabolites that are more potent and pose challenges to the health of breast tissue. Estrogen gets detoxified and eliminated through the liver. There are two major hydroxylation pathways in the metabolism of estrogen. One pathway yields the protective metabolite called 2- hydroxyestrone, and the other pathway yields a more dangerous metabolite known as 16 alpha -hydroxyestrone. This “bad” metabolite has more estrogenic activity and is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer.

The goal is to increase or help shunt estrogen into the 2-hydroxylation pathway which is what indole-3-carbinol can do. It promotes the formation of this “good” metabolite. This product is a naturally occurring compound derived from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower. One capsule is the equivalent of about a bushel of broccoli! IC3 is broken down upon contact with stomach acids and is converted into diindolylmethane (DIM). With most of our diets lacking cruciferous vegetables, Biorespone DIM or IC3 is an effective way of promoting a healthy balance of estrogens.

There are tests that can measure ones estrogen metabolites, either by blood or urine. Ask your practitioner for more information about these tests.

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This article emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all in diets. Some people can’t wait to see what the next new fad diet is to see if this one may “work” for them.

It is best to choose a diet (or lifestyle food choices) that you can live with that fits your personality and goals.

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all diet. How you pick one can have as much of an impact as the diet itself….

Read the rest of this post from Forbes.com: Health News

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Within the past year, a newer type of screening method has been used for women with dense breasts. This test is molecular breast imaging, otherwise known as “Breast Specific Gamma Imaging” (BSGI).

Researchers screened 940 women with both BSGI and mammography. All of these patients were diagnosed as high risk for breast cancer and had a breast density >50%. The investigators found 13 tumors in 12 patients, with BSGI finding 10 tumors and mammography only 3. Molecular breast imaging was more sensitive than mammography (75% vs. 25%) and more specific (93% vs. 91%).

Even though this test has an important role in finding cancers that are stealth to mammography, investigators are not advocating replacing mammography with BSGI. About 10-15% of breast tumors are missed on mammography for women with dense breast tissue. This is a common phenomenon in alot of women, especially those in their 40’s.

The goal is to use this tool as a low cost alternative to breast MRI which runs around $3500.00. Ouch! Molecular breast imaging in my town runs around $800.00. Radiologists find this test appropriate for women with extremely dense breasts and strong family history of breast cancer, and those with abnormal mammograms to determine whether biopsy is necessary. BSGI is a good adjunct screening tool in addition to mammography.

This is a test that can be individualized for women at high risk for breast cancer. It is my hope that we can personalize medicine better with these type of tests for certain populations. We need to get away from one size-fits-all in terms of screening approaches and direct certain tests for an individual women based on her risk and the characteristics of her breast tissue.

Reference: Hruska CB. HemOnc Today. “2008 Breast Cancer Symposium- Washington, Sept. 5-7. Molecular breast imaging found more tumors in dense breasts”, 2008.

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It’s hard to miss the headlines in the news concerning the economic turmoil in this country; only weeks away from what may be the most important presidential election in history. There are many important issues in this election, healthcare being one that is on the top of my list.

Peoples’ lives have changed, that has left them confused, frustrated and hopeless. We feel out of control, disempowered. It’s a vicious cycle that we’ve fallen into: Job loss leads to loss of health insurance. Health insurance costs have gone up dramatically and most cannot afford it on their own. People looking for other work have found that they are not qualified, can’t afford to go back to school, or that companies are not willing (due to time and money) to train new people. Some people have settled to be on a “temp” list in which the hours (and paychecks) are unpredictable and again is not supplemented with health benefits. Many of these individuals are helping out their elderly parents with medical bills and other expenses and now need help themselves to pay for food, mortgage and other bills. This vicious cycle is going on all over America. Where did this land of hope and opportunity go?

I think it’s still here, deep within all of us. The paradigm has shifted from one of dependence on government subsidies to one of self- responsibility. Lets face it…I’m not counting on a social security check in the future, are you?

One thing I have always encouraged my patients to do is to help them find their own answers. Each one of us needs to participate in our own health care, and that starts with prevention. We have to take care of ourselves and not depend on others to “bail” us out. We can’t depend on our government or politicians to “fix” it for us. We ned to pick ourselves up and not fall victim to what’s happening around us. Is it affecting us? Absolutely! But we need to get through each day and take charge of our health, our money, our planet and our future.

Empower Thyself!

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Watch out for that slow, creeping weight gain that can take us by surprise as we get older. It is a common frustration I see when counseling women at mid-life. How and why does this happen?

So much of this is related to what we eat and our activity level. We may have been able to get away with eating refined sugars in the past, but as we keep consuming foods that contain white flour, white sugar and rich fatty ingredients, our pancreas starts to get overstimulated with all the work it needs to do in trying to get glucose in the cell. The pancreas must secrete insulin to get glucose into the cell to be used for fuel and energy. Instead of secreting insulin just when it sees food (as it should), the pancreas now secretes insulin ALL the time…even when we are sleeping. It now takes even MORE insulin to escort glucose into the cell because the receptors outside the cell have become dysfunctional and resistant. Hence the term, “insulin resistance”. If glucose cannot get into the cell, then it gets stored as fat in our adipose tissue (mainly the abdomen) and in coronary arteries, which leads to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

But that’s not all…
Our thyroid and adrenal glands are also involved. Our adrenal hormones (glands that sit on top of our kidneys) are responsible for helping us adapt to stress, both emotional/psychological and physiologically. Lets face it, we are all under a tremendous amount of stress these days. When women are starting to go through peri-menopause and rocky hormone levels, their adrenals are also being used to cope with this changing internal environment as well as external stressors.

Some adrenal hormones assist in the conversion of thyroid hormones, T-4 to T-3. Some researchers believe that the entrance of thyroid hormone into our cells is under the influence of adrenal hormones. So if we have adrenal fatigue, which most of us do to some degree, then the way we utilize food for fuel will be compromised. This is where low thyroid function comes in. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue and hypothyroidism are sometimes indistinguishable. We start to put on weight, feel exhausted, have foggy thinking, more constipated, craving sugar, lack of libido, allergies, dark circles under the eyes, muscle and joint pain, dizziness, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, poor sleep, dry skin, cystic breasts, difficulty recovering from stresses like colds or jet lag, no stamina or motivation to do things, tendency to startle easily, lowered immune function, anxiety, depression, and premature aging.

Sound familiar?

The point is…this doesn’t just happen when you hit a certain age. It’s been happening for many years. It’s that your body now has a hard time compensating with keeping everything in check, so these symptoms start emerging and we call it “aging”. I just call it frustrating, but there is something you can do.

See a practitioner that can test your thyroid and adrenal function. Talk to a good clinical nutritionist who is familiar with insulin resistance and can also rule out food allergies. Gluten allergy has been well researched in its association with malabsorption, blood sugar imbalances, adrenal fatigue and thyroid dysfunction. The main emphasis is on increasing whole grains and dietary fiber along with essential fatty acids, healthy proteins and quality fats. Eat frequently, several small snacks a day instead of 3 larger meals a day and exercise. Exercise has been shown to decrease insulin resistance, lower blood pressure and high cholesterol, reduce stress and help weight loss.

Supplements to consider are chromium picolinate, alpha lipoic acid, selenium, and cinnamon.

You can reverse these symptoms and the time to start is NOW.

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John McCain seemed to favor embryonic stem cell research more than the other members of his Republican party; at least that’s what he said in 2007. Now, he’s taking a different stance. Now, he claims it “a federal crime for researchers to use cells or fetal tissue from an embryo created for research purposes.” Sounds like a pretty clear “flip-flop” to me.

Read more

Although presidential candidate John McCain has reaffirmed support for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, scientists fear that his actual policies would criminalize their work.

Read the rest of this post from Wired: Med-Tech

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There have been some mixed reviews about Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) and its use in preventing menopausal symptoms. Clinically, women that I see have improved greatly when using this herb for symptoms such as night sweats, hot flushes, fatigue and mood. Now, a study at the First Hospital of Peking University in Beijing, published the first major trial looking at the effect of Black Cohosh vs a pharmaceutical drug for menopausal women.

The study randomized 244 Chinese women aged 40-60 to either daily treatment with 40 mg of a standardized Black Cohosh known as Remifemin or 2.5 mg of Tibolone which is a synthetic steroid whose hormonal effects are said to be “tissue-specific” primarily with estrogen. It is used in Europe and Asia as an alternative to hormone replacement for menopausal symptoms and is said to have fewer side effects than traditional hormone treatments. Tibolone effects estrogen, progesterone and testosterone activity.
After 12 weeks, both treatment groups had significant improvement in symptoms including hot flushes, insomnia, depression, weakness and fatigue, joint pain, headaches and palpitations. WOW!!

In terms of safety and side effect profiles, Remifemin was the clear winner. None of the women in this group had vaginal bleeding, while 17 in the Tibolone group had abnormal bleeding. This is a common reason why women stop their hormone replacement therapy. The Tibolone group also had breast and abdominal pain while the Black Cohosh group had none of these symptoms.

This is one of the few studies comparing an herb head-to-head with a pharmaceutical drug for women in menopause (it’s about time!). I recommend Remifemin frequently for my patients with mild to moderate symptoms and see very few side effects.

Reference: Hudson, T. Holistic Primary Care. “Black Cohosh Compares Favorably With Drug Therapy for Menopausal Symptoms”. Fall 2008, p. 14.

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Here we go again!
Safety studies have shown ill effects of the product bisphenol A, or BPA commonly found in baby bottles, plastic drink containers and in the lining of food cans. Most studies have been done in animals. Now, this chemical has been studied for the first time in humans and has demonstrated similar effects in people. This research found that people with the highest levels of bisphenol A in their bodies were more than twice as likely to develop heart disease and/or diabetes.

BPA is a chemical used to make polycarbonate plastics. It is found in resistant durable plastic containers and bottles, and is also used to make durable epoxy resins used as the coating in most food and beverage cans and in dental fillings. It may also disrupt hormones, primarily estrogen, especially when hot foods are cooked in this plastic as it leaches this chemical and puts women at risk for estrogen dominant health conditions such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis and breast cancer.

The FDA recently reported this chemical as being safe, however, a panel of outside experts will hear testimony on health effects from BPA again.

Read the rest of this post from CNN.com - Health

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Don’t be surprised if your doctor recommends a cholesterol screening test for your 2 year old. Yes, what once was a common screening test for those over 35, is now becoming a way of detecting early risks for heart disease.

The research has shown through autopsy data that atherosclerosis begins in childhood and that elevated cholesterol levels in childhood is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Lipid levels rise rapidly in our earlier years and stabilize by age 5 to those similar to adolescents. Currently 35-45% of children are screened for cholesterol levels due to a positive family history of cardiovascular disease (Bauchner, H. Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Vol.7, Number 9, 2008, p.68).

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released new guidelines due to the rising incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in U.S. children. Besides the standard advice of restricting cholesterol and saturated fats and exercise, the new guidelines calls for wider screening, and cholesterol-lowering drugs to be considered in children.

There are several concerns with using these drugs (statins) in children.

First, we don’t know the long-term risks or benefits of these drugs (statins) in children.
Second, there may be concerns about aggressive cholesterol lowering. A recent study analyzing the aggressive lowering of blood sugar in type 2 diabetes was associated with increased mortality. Lets not experiment on our kids!

Last, if a child is treated with a drug, does it not “label” that child as having high cholesterol, which could have long-term implications and possibly raise a red flag for health insurers to deny coverage for a pre-existing condition.

I believe each practitioner needs to consider the concerns and preferences of patients and families when making decisions about the use of statins in children.

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