The Skinny on Fat

How awesome is fat? 

Fat is so great.  Your whole body needs fat.  Your brain needs fat, your nervous system needs fat, your skin needs fat, and your hair needs fat.

How do we get fat into our body?  From our digestive system.  When we eat any food that happens to have fat in it, sensors in our mouth send a signal to the brain saying, “Here comes some fat!  You’d better inform the Gall Bladder.”  The brain quickly text messages the Gall Bladder, the organ that holds Bile, the magic soap for fat.  Once the Gall Bladder gets the text, it mobilizes all its resources and squirts bile into the digestive system.  As the partly-digested food passes from the Stomach down to the Small Intestine, the Gall Bladder’s bile begins the process of breaking down the fats into digestible, absorbable pieces.

Now here’s where things can get interesting.  If the body has a good relationship with fats, and the Gall Bladder is producing the right amount of bile, the food is further broken down in the Small Intestine and absorbed into the body.  Then the fats can break down vitamins (like Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E), moisturize the skin, protect the nervous system, and feed the brain.  On the other hand, if the body has a less-than-optimal relationship with fats, then the Small Intestine goes, “Ugh!  What am I going to do with this mess?  Get rid of it!”  And it sends the fats that it cannot metabolize to the colon (and your poop floats in the toilet), and to the blood (who may choose to wallpaper with the particularly sticky bits of fat, thereby building up what we refer to as hardening of the arteries).  Then your doctor informs you that you have high cholesterol…which ironically means that your body is starved for fats that it cannot absorb.

While we’re on the subject, let’s talk about cholesterol.  Cholesterol is actually a very important nutrient in the body.  Cholesterol is the mother of all steroid hormones, from which sex hormones and Cortisol are made.  So this means that if you can’t metabolize fats, you couldn’t make a hormone if someone paid you.  So if you suddenly adopt a non-fat diet, don’t expect good sleep or a healthy sex drive.

How do you know if you have problems metabolizing fat?  All you have to do is look at the parts of the body that are dependent on fats. 

Let’s start with your skin.  Is your skin dry, no matter how much lotion you slather on yourself?  Your skin needs plenty of water, and the body’s ability to hydrate, but without fats, no matter how much water you drink, your skin will be dry, rough, and flaky.  When someone’s hormones are unstable because they’re in transition, like in menopause or puberty, you may see more acne because of the sex hormone’s effects on the skin.  An inability to metabolize fats just makes this condition worse because the sebaceous glands can’t regulate the oils properly.

The nervous system is another important aspect of the body affected by our relationship to fats.  If we have a good relationship with fats, our body will insulate and protect the nervous system with fats.  Then we will be mostly calm, cool, and collected…rather than jumpy, hyperactive, and overstimulated.  Our good relationship with fats will provide us with deep restful sleep because our fight-or-flight nervous system will allow our rest-heal-digest nervous system to be in control during our sleep time.

If we have a good relationship with fats, our brain will work smoothly and successfully.  There will be an effortless orchestration of our hormones and neurotransmitters.  We won’t walk into a room and say, “What was I going to do?”,  or lose our train of thought, or forget what we were going to say.  Our senses will be sharp; our thinking will be clear.

Developmentally, our relationship with fats is crucial during early childhood, when we are growing exponentially; during puberty, when our hormones kick in; and later in life, when our endocrine system is challenged by changing hormone levels—not just menopause, and not just for women, but for all people—because scientists are beginning to take note of other hormonal changes like thyropause and andropause. 

Other signs that you have problems with fat: meats and fatty foods feel “heavy” to you.  Because proteins and fats are inextricably linked in our food supply, our bodies need them to provide both protein and fats.  You may gravitate toward a vegetarian diet because you feel “lighter” when you do not eat meat, or when you eat only chicken or fish.  Although some people can eat a low-fat diet for a while, be wary of the telltale signs that your body isn’t getting the nutrition it needs.  If a vegetarian or vegan diet isn’t working for you, your lips and tongue become pale, and your hair becomes dry and thin.

And you may crave sugar!  Here’s the reason. Your brain can use three things:  water, amino acids and fats, and sugar in the form of blood glucose.  Glucose is the easiest, quickest source of energy; like water, glucose is absorbed instantly when it hits the stomach.  So when the brain sends us a signal that it needs energy, it’s just an impulse.  We won’t necessarily slow it down and think about it.  The brain says, “I need energy!”  And we NEVER interpret this to mean, “I need water!” or “I need some amino acids!” Rather, what we hear is, “I need chocolate!” or “I need some sugar!”

The problem with sugar cravings, of course, is that they tend to make us eat more sugar.  Which will put a strain on our pancreas and liver, and make our blood sugar do loop-de-loops all day long.  Eating sugar makes our blood sugar soar…and then drop like a rock…and then we crave sugar again.  All day long.  But that’s another story.

So take a good look at your diet.  Are you giving your body the nutrients it needs?  One of the easiest ways to balance out a lack of fat in your diet is to supplement with fish oil.  Consider DHA or Omega 3 fatty acids, readily available at your local health food store.  These supplements are safe and easy to take, even for children.  Nordic Naturals makes a great DHA Jr. formula, delivered in a strawberry-flavored caplet that even my picky kids will take.  Another great one is Omega 3-6-9 Emulsion by Biogenesis.  That one tastes like lemon custard!  Sometimes easing into dietary changes by supplementing with botanicals and nutraceuticals first can help you make the changes you need to deliver the right nutrients to your body. 

Most people can successfully supplement with Omega 3 or fish oil. If you supplement with Omegas or fish oil and you have problems, digestive or otherwise, consider consulting a health professional who can assist you with your absorption. 

Tapping: The Reset Button

Recently I ran into one of my former patients in a grocery store parking lot. When she asked me what I was doing these days, I told her that I'd incorporated BodyTalk into my practice. After a short description of BodyTalk, in which I mentioned that the Cortices technique in BodyTalk might help her son's asthma, she remarked with amazement that she recalled tapping on her own head as a child to stop her wheezing.
You might have noticed that some of the newer treatment modalities involve tapping: there's EFT, which works on emotions, there's NAET, best known for allergy elimination, and BodyTalk. Aside from the tapping, all three modalities seem very different.
Why do they all use tapping? Well, for starters, tapping has been around in indigenous cultures for centuries. Tapping wakes up the body and the brain and helps bring about healing.
Think about your spine. Inside your spine—and surrounding your brain--is cerebrospinal fluid which, according to osteopaths and craniosacral therapists, moves in its own rhythm. In NAET and BodyTalk, we are gently interrupting this rhythm to change our relationship with a substance or to call the brain's attention to something. The interruption of this rhythm is communicated to the brain and other places in the body via the cerebrospinal fluid and spinal nerves, which travel up and down the interior of the spine and emerge out of each vertebra.
We've all had a similar experience when we've contracted a case of the hiccups, which miraculously disappears when someone comes up behind us and startles us...and the hiccups miraculously disappear. We've just been reset, and our diaphragm no longer spasms with each inhalation.
It's like having a conversation with a friend, and just as you're in the middle of relating how your boss gave you so much work to do, someone runs up and interrupts you very loudly by shouting something in your face. Your mind goes blank. You can't remember what you were saying.
The same thing happens with tapping. As you tap on your head (or as your practitioner taps on you), causing a gentle interruption of the natural rhythm of the cerebrospinal fluid, your brain is surprised enough to be able to change its relationship with that substance, as in NAET. Or as in BodyTalk, your brain notices a lack of communication between your lungs and your spleen that has been causing coughing and phlegm for the past two weeks, and re-establishes the connection.

Can't Stop? Gotta Have It?

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you eat something (chocolate, for instance, or potato chips), and it just tastes soooo good, you just want that taste running over your tongue forever, and you keep eating and keep eating? Sometimes do you notice that you just can't stop? And then later, do you find that your stomach hurts, or you're just really bloated, or you get diarrhea after one of these episodes?
Or do you ever eat one thing and then really crave something else? Whenever I eat Indian food, for instance, I really REALLY want something sweet afterward.
What is this phenomenon? Why does this happen? Is it really that we have absolutely no control over our palates?
Actually, it's not you.
It's allergies.
You see, sometimes allergies look and behave a lot like addictions. If you know anything about Alcoholics Anonymous, you'll know that the first step is admitting that you're powerless over your addiction, and secondly you acknowledge the disease concept of alcoholism that your body is allergic to alcohol, and that's why you can't stop drinking. They even describe alcoholism as an “allergy.” And the truth is, they're absolutely right.
The reason you can't stop eating certain foods, or drinking, is because you happen to be allergic to that specific thing. The allergy creates a biochemical reaction in your body that makes you want more.
This also explains why some people are addicted to sugar and others aren't—it's the same reason why some people are alcoholics and others aren't...because everyone's biochemical makeup is unique.
This is why allergy elimination is so powerful. After preparing the body by normalizing the immune system with a certain number of treatments, we can treat you for the thing you're addicted to. Suddenly, it doesn't have the same pull it used to.
I remember when I was treated for my sugar addiction. I happen to be the adult child of a carb and sugar addict. For those of you familiar with addiction, you know that dual addictions are often more difficult to treat. And as a patient of mine once said, “I never met a piece of bread I didn't like.” I couldn't go to a party without standing next to a bowl of pretzels or popcorn and eating it all. I couldn't pass up a plate of doughnuts without having at least one and usually two. Yet after treating sugar, I suddenly didn't need to do that. I could pass up the doughnut because truthfully, I didn't want it anymore. I still appreciated the taste, but I could stop, and I could say no.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not simply using the language of addiction to make a point; rather, I'm using the language of addiction to demonstrate how powerful allergies can be, and to assure you that it's not in your head. It's not because your character is weak. It's not because you're not good enough. It's because there is a biochemical process that is causing you to lose control. And now, with allergy elimination, there's hope. You can have control over your addiction.

Cold and Ancient China

For thousands of years, Chinese Medicine has said that cold enters the body via the acupuncture points on the back of the head and upper back when the protective energy surrounding the body is weakened. An entire system of acupuncture, known as the Shang Han Lun, was developed some 1700-1800 years ago, that traced the invasion of “cold” into the body. As cold penetrated deeper and deeper, an individual got sicker and sicker until they eventually died. Herbal formulas and acupuncture point prescriptions were developed for each stage of illness, beginning with the simple cold, continuing to high fevers, to abdominal pains and exhaustion, to urinary tract infections, and to complete depletion and death. This is how doctors in ancient China kept people alive. Oh, and by the way, the doctors of ancient China only got paid when people were well. So there was a great incentive to keeping people from being sick.
If we were to engage our universal translator, we'd look at the last paragraph and say, “Oh, back then they had viruses, just like we do, except they didn't have antibiotics. And this is what it looks like when you have a virus that you don't treat—it weakens the immune system until the white blood cells can't fight anymore, and then you die.”
Of course, back then they didn't have antibiotics. People tended to stay home and rest when they got sick, rather than going to work because they didn't have sick days or because they had to finish a project. When a major contagious disease swept through a village, people were quarantined, and they complied voluntarily to try to contain the disease as much as possible. Their very existence—and the existence of their towns and villages—depended on it.
Life in ancient China was different in other ways, too. People had a pretty ascetic diet. There was no fast food, hardly any sugar, and not a lot of alcohol. Life was hard, and people didn't party like we do.
What in the world does this have to do with you or me in 2009?
I would argue that it has a LOT to do with us!
If we focused on preventive health, instead of palliative or curative medicine, health care in the US would look completely different than it does today. But even if the rest of the world doesn't change, we can focus on preventive health for ourselves and the people we care about. Here's a brief list of things we can do, taken from simple wisdom of Ancient China:
1. Pay attention to how you feel. Notice when you start to feel tired or run down. Respond by RESTING, not pushing through it.
2. Cut down or eliminate sugar, fast foods, and too much partying.
3. When you get sick, take a day off. Chances are you will nip it in the bud rather than spreading it around your whole office.
Best wishes to all of you for a prosperous and healthy 2009!

When A Cold Is Not A Cold, part 2

Continuing on this controversial subject, I would like to posit another relatively outlandish notion, and that is that some people may be sensitive to cold, as an environmental factor, in the same way that some people are sensitive to wheat or lactose intolerant.
Now, before you dismiss me entirely, humor me for one moment and suspend your belief in Western Medicine and Germ Theory. You can come back to it later.
I must remind you of three basic theorems of Allergy Elimination. They are:
1. An Allergy, according to Allergy Elimination, is anything you are not in harmony with, and includes sensitivities, intolerances, and hypersensitivity reactions.
2. You can be sensitive to, intolerant of, or allergic to pretty much anything on the planet.
3. Allergy elimination helps your immune system.
Environmental factors are things like heat, cold, dampness, dryness, wind, and barometric pressure. Environmental factors can either cause sensitivity in and of themselves, or they can combine with other things you might be sensitive to and cause a stronger reaction.
So for the purposes of this article, let's focus on COLD as an environmental factor. Some people do better in cold weather. Some do better in warmer weather. If you are sensitive to cold, here are some symptoms you might experience:
runny nose
aching muscles
constipation
fatigue
nasal congestion
headache
joint stiffness
Now, the funny thing about these symptoms is that they look a lot like a cold! How do you tell the difference?
Think about the DURATION of the symptoms and what happened directly preceding the onset of the symptoms. Did your “cold” start when the weather changed? Do you get a cold that lasts all winter and disappears when it gets warm again? If so, chances are, it's not a cold! You might just be sensitive to cold.
From the vantage point of allergy elimination, cold can affect specific organs in your body. If it affects your colon, you might get constipated. If it affects your stomach, you might have stomach pains, or you might experience a loss of appetite. If you are sensitive to cold, it usually affects the lungs, because as the air temperature drops, your lungs are directly exposed to the drop in temperature. Hence, you might have a cough, or runny nose, or sore throat.
Treating your sensitivities with allergy elimination will boost your immune system in many ways. For one thing, it will prevent those symptoms from occurring. An allergic or sensitivity reaction is hard on your body. Eliminating the sensitivity will basically cut down on the number of things your body has to deal with on a daily basis. And you'll feel better, too.

When A Cold Is Not A Cold

Recently a friend of mine told me that her daughter had been sick with a cold for two months.
“That's not a cold,” I told her. “It's an allergy.”
“Ridiculous!” my friend responded. “She doesn't have allergies.”
“If it was a cold,” I went on, “it would have been over and done with in a week, max.”
“Is that why she's not responding to the antibiotics?” my friend asked.

Here's two important facts you need to know about colds:
If it's a cold, it is caused by a virus, not a bacteria. Therefore, antibiotics will be useless.
Colds only last about a week. If it lasts longer, it's not a cold.
So how do you tell if it's a cold or an allergy?
First of all, if you have nasal stuffiness, sneezing, or runny nose for longer than a week, start to look at patterns. Do you notice it at a certain time of day? Do you notice that you get a runny nose after eating a particular thing? Is it possible that this happened the last time you ate it?
I had a friend several years ago whose daughter's nose would run every morning after breakfast. She called it “The Breakfast Cold.” Basically, the child was reacting to the food she ate every morning.
Secondly, does your runny nose or sneezing happen at a certain time of year? Do you have what seems to be a month-long cold every March? If so, chances are it's allergies and not a cold. Environmental allergies often mimic colds in their symptoms. The only difference is the duration.
Third, do not underestimate the effect of emotions. If you find yourself in the midst of a month-long cold after the death of a loved one, it's probably your body trying to work out the grief you still feel.
And emotions can be tricky, too! I was treating a patient once for his mold allergies. “My mold allergy is always the strongest in the fall,” he told me. Interesting, I thought; in California, the fall is the dryest time of year, and mold is usually at an all-time low in the fall. I tested him, and found that he wasn't allergic to mold at all. So when I tested again to find out what it was that was triggering his allergy each fall, it turned out to be an emotion...and, long story short, it was in the fall that his father had died several years earlier. After clearing the emotion, his autumn allergy disappeared.

Winter: The Season of the Dreaded Cough

I'll never forget the feeling...being awakened at 11:30 pm, soon after falling asleep, by the sound of my son's cough in his room next to ours...that feeling of dread and fear because my son can't breathe.
Every mother of an asthmatic child knows exactly what I'm talking about. There's a certain sound that every child makes when they cough, when you know they're in trouble. For my son, it was when the cough (which had begun 36 hours previously) had pretty much exhausted his lungs. His voice shrank to a whisper. He began to wheeze. And the cough shook his small frame, sending spasms throughout his entire body, sometimes causing him to gag at the end. I knew there was no medicine that would get us through the night, no matter what the doctor said, and that it would be a long, scary night indeed.
Fortunately for us, I learned from our nutritionist that my son had food allergies that were creating copious amounts of phlegm in his small system. When we eat food that is undigestible—either because we're allergic to that food and it creates inflammation in our gut or because we're sensitive to that food and can't absorb it—the residue of the undigested food produces excess mucus. When we reach a certain critical mass, so to speak, of mucus that our body can't store any longer, the mucus is released as phlegm, usually through the nose, in a form that looks, for all intents and purposes, like a cold. This is what our nutritionist explained to us. Hmm, I thought, that sounds suspiciously like Chinese Medicine, which I myself had studied before having children. And, come to think of it, my son seemed like he was getting an awful lot of colds—sometimes he got a cold every two or three weeks! But, I realized, no one else in the family was getting these “colds,” which made me wonder. Maybe the nutritionist was right.
So we followed the nutritionist's advice: No eggs. No wheat. No cow's milk dairy of any sort, including butter. No soy. And much less sugar. It was a miracle—my son got dramatically better in a very short period of time. I was amazed.
Now, for those of you who have never attempted an egg-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free diet, let me share with you how incredibly difficult this is to do, especially with children, and especially with someone who is a very picky eater to begin with, like my son is. Basically, you can't go out to eat. Every kid's meal known to mankind is replete with wheat and dairy, not to mention things no parent really wants to know about. Basically, on an egg-free, wheat-free, dairy-free diet, you eat meat, chicken, or fish, and vegetables, which if you're interested in losing weight is a really great diet to follow but unfortunately my son, aged 5 at the time, was already too skinny. And basically, we spent a lot of time at the kitchen table amidst plates of (you guessed it) protein and vegetables, while my son cried and said, “Mom, when can I get off this boring diet?” Breaks a mom's heart.
What kind of a life is this, I ask you? Doomed, at age 5, to eat only meat and vegetables! Ask any parent whose child has had to follow this diet, and they will tell you it is very difficult, but better than pulmicort and albuterol, the asthma medicine du jour. And I seconded that every time we fell off the wagon after a bithday-party soaked weekend, or a visit to the grandparents, or when I gave in because I just couldn't listen to the whining anymore, and the dreaded cough came back. Yes, I sighed, life is a sick joke.
But then we discovered NAET, the greatest therapy known to man, the holy grail of alternative medicine. NAET is a combination of Chinese medicine, applied kinesiology (muscle testing), and chiropractic spinal massage. It actually change your relationship with any substance you might be reacting to. I treated my son for eggs, and the cough went away. Really—I'm not kidding. It resurfaced twice in two years—once after he ate salmon, and once after he ate rice pasta—but after treating him for those two things, he basically doesn't cough anymore. The dreaded cough is gone!!