does your healthcare provider embody health?

A new client yesterday said one of the reasons she came to us is that she started wondering, "Why am I taking advice from someone who does not take care of himself?"

Unfortunately there is no class in medical school on self-care. It might be a whole different world if there was. Not just the nutrition part, but connecting the mind-body, finding time to relax, learning how to relax, creating a balance between your career and your life.

Ever feel this way about your healthcare provider?

SAMe: Evidence-based Treatment for Depression and Osteoarthritis

SAMe is a naturally-occuring molecule in the body that has great evidence supporting its use in treating depression.  Sometimes your medication just doesn't seem like it's doing enough or maybe it feels like it has started to wear off.  SAMe has been shown to improve symptoms in those suffering from both major and minor depression.  It has also been shown to help relieve joint pain and stiffness in those with osteoarthritis.  

sprouted wheat - is it better?

I get a lot of questions about sprouted grain breads, like Ezekial and if they are any better than typical wheat bread. My experience says that some people will be able to tolerate this better than regular old bread and the fiber content and density is definitely higher. I found this interesting from Dr. Davis' Wheat Belly blog:

"...it’s still wheat. And it’s not the wheat of the Bible, i.e., 28-chromosome emmer or 14-chromosome einkorn; it’s the sprouted seeds from 42-chromosome modern wheat. And what a difference 14 chromosomes can make!

It is folly to believe that such a process as simply allowing the seed to germinate somehow disables all the bad potential of modern wheat. It still contains the gliadin protein that clouds your thinking and stimulates appetite. It still contains glutens that disrupt intestinal health. It still contains amylopectin A that sends your blood sugar through the roof. It still contains lectins that disable the normal intestinal barriers to foreign substances. It still contains apha amylase, peroxidases, lipid-transfer proteins, and thioredoxins responsible for a variety of allergic phenomena."

It seems the only "safe" bread is no bread at all. Dr. Davis, in his book, references a company on the east coast that sells the original, heirloom wheat. This is likely tolerated by non-celiac folks. I suggest working on living without bread, sure it's inconvenient, but so is obesity, fatigue, ibs, fibromyalgia, hormone imbalance, etc.

another healthcare recommendation down the tubes

First it's heart catheterization as a treatment for heart disease is no better than medical management. Then agressive management of diabetes increases the risk of death. Now, the Achives of Internal Medicine tells us:

"Despite important reductions in nonfatal MI, aspirin prophylaxis in people without prior CVD does not lead to reductions in either cardiovascular death or cancer mortality. Because the benefits are further offset by clinically important bleeding events, routine use of aspirin for primary prevention is not warranted and treatment decisions need to be considered on a case-by-case basis."

And this was not just some small single trial. This was an analysis of nine well done studies to get the big picture on what the aspirin recommendation should be. The only benefit was in the reduction of nonfatal MI (the ones that don't kill you), and 162 people have to take aspirin for one to get this benefit. There was no significant reduction in cardiovascular death or cancer mortality.

Bottom line: If you have not had a heart attack, taking aspirin does not help your prevent cardiac death.
I suspect the recommendations from most providers won't change though. It's really hard to change long held beliefs and what you were taught in medical school, even when the evidence refutes it. In this case, it was not just one research study. So put down the bottle of aspirin (if your healthy and trying to prevent cardiac death).