It seems like a dirty trick. You’ve learned you’re gluten intolerant and are hoping a gluten-free diet will cure your eczema, diarrhea, or whatever niggling health malady vexes you. Transitioning to a gluten-free diet is hard enough: You had to replace your toaster, your cutting boards and stone baking wear, disinfect your pantry, toss a bunch of perfectly good food, and say a tearful goodbye to pizza deliveries and pints of beer.

But what’s this? Not long into your new diet you’re actually getting worse? Your skin flares up, your gut is doing circus tricks, your joints feel like they have knives stuck in them, or your newly gluten-free child is growing fangs and snarling at you.

Relax. Turns out what you’re experiencing—that storm before the calm—is totally normal for some people who give up gluten and casein (the protein in dairy).

“Twenty-four hours after I stopped eating gluten, I felt like I got kicked by a horse,” says Holly, who lives in Washington. “I simply could not function and just basically stared at the walls. A few days later I started feeling better. That was what convinced me that, for me, gluten was a drug. It was a real drug to the point I went into withdrawal if I couldn’t get it.”

“In fact, gluten and dairy do act as drugs for many people” says immunologist and researcher Aristo Vojdani, PhD, MSc, MT, the CEO of Immunosciences Lab, Inc. in Beverly Hills, California. ” Just as with the heroin or pain-pill addict, going off gluten or casein cold turkey can produce withdrawal symptoms”, says Vojdani. That’s because both gluten and casein are broken down into gluteomorphin and casomorphin peptides, short chains of proteins that, should they escape through the gut and make their way to the brain, mimic the effects of heroin and morphine.

Jeanne, a homeschooling mother who used to practically live on homemade bread, took the family gluten- and casein-free (GFCF) in the hopes of clearing up her children’s eczema, gut problems, and neurological issues. She wasn’t prepared for her own response, though.

“My youngest son had dramatic improvements almost immediately, but I had a scary three-day drug-like withdrawal after going off gluten and casein complete with hallucinations and paranoia,” said Jeanne. “I felt great after I got through that but I still have a three-day mental reaction with anger and depression if I am glutened and it takes but a whiff for me.”

Not everyone is sensitive to gluteomorphin and casomorphin, but it does explain why some people, like Holly, get worse before they get better. These opioid-like effects are also believed to reduce gut mobility and cause constipation. Four days into a GFCF diet, one woman’s son had a bowel movement without the aid of medication for the first time in nine years. Mysteriously, however, other people become constipated when they give up gluten or casein. For Holly, it got so bad she remembers eating some wheat bread for relief. Vojdani suspects that because opioid effects tinker with serotonin metabolism, a serotonin deficiency may be at work. “Ninety-five percent of our body’s serotonin is found in the gut, and it’s an important neurotransmitter for digestive health and function,” says Vojdani.

He also says removing gluten and dairy, the staples of the Americans diet, can create a significant change in intestinal flora, which not only affects digestive health, but other areas of the body as well. Some newly gluten-free folk end up with joints so sore and swollen they can barely walk. “Bacterial infections in the gut secrete lipopolysaccharides (LPS) which are able to open the tight junctures in the intestinal wall and escape into the bloodstream,” says Vojdani. “The immune system reacts to the LPS, which can induce inflammation and pain such as in the joints.”

My own daughter had been gluten-free three years when we removed casein from her diet due to her chronic respiratory issues. Right away she started having stomach cramps. When I gave her a children’s probiotic, which she had been taking regularly for years, her stomach cramps became debilitating and she had diarrhea. That was my clue her new casein-free diet had likely instigated a battle of the bacteria in her bowels. Warm baths, Pepto-Bismol, and daily doses of sauerkraut have been seeing her though.

Another possible explanation for the storm before the calm comes from Kenneth Fine, MD, founder of EnteroLab, a lab that screens for food intolerances and digestive disorders. His research has shown that in some people the immune system creates more antibodies to gluten and/or casein for three to four months after the offending food has been removed from the diet (although this tidbit raised the eyebrows of the other doctors I interviewed). This increased immune activity can be responsible for all sorts of ills stemming from inflammation. “It’s as if the immune system becomes hypersensitive,” says Phyllis Zermeno, RN, the staff nurse at EnteroLab. “It’s so used to combating gluten all the time that when you remove the gluten, it’s as if it’s saying ‘Where’s the gluten? I’m used to gluten!’ and it doesn’t know what to do with itself. Some people get no symptoms during this period while others get new symptoms. If that’s the case, we occasionally advise people to wean off the gluten or casein slowly instead of going cold turkey.”

It can be disheartening when you or a client feels worse after kicking gluten and casein, especially considering the hardships and all the promises. Most people, however, feel tremendously better immediately, says EnteroLab’s Zermeno. For others, the symptoms can last from three days to six months as the immune system and the body’s homeostasis readjusts. Naturally, this is when the nutritional therapist can turn to her toolbox of remedies for soothing the gut, taming inflammation, and clearing those detox pathways.

Also, it’s vitally important, says Zermeno, to make sure you truly are GFCF. People have found themselves affected by gluten in the coating of their medications, in paper towels or plates (particularly if used in the microwave), shampoos and body care products, their Teflon pans, and even handling pet food. For the highly sensitive person, it doesn’t take much to set off a reaction. I know a woman who watched in horror as a man finished a Saltine then shook her son’s had with the same hand he had been holding the cracker. It was enough to make her son quite ill for several days.

Also, although a gluten-free diet may be the magical cure-all for many, it’s only one chapter of the story for many more. It’s not uncommon for someone long ravaged by a gluten intolerance to have developed multiple food intolerances (such as to dairy, eggs, soy, corn, yeast, nightshades, etc.) that also need to be addressed. It wasn’t until my newly GFCF friend cleared up an amoeba infection that she began seeing intestinal relief. For others whose symptoms still persist long after the six-month mark, figuring out what to eat can get very technical. I know people who are sensitive to oxalates, salicylates, lectins, amines and so forth, and swear by diets that eliminate foods high in these potential triggers.

In fact, according to Tom O’Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN*, who lectures nationally about gluten and celiac disease, 30 percent of those who go on a gluten-free diet are not recovering. What’s worse, he points to studies showing that patients with celiac disease who adhere to a gluten-free diet show more nutritional deficiencies and lower bone density measurements than the control group. He also cites other studies that show teenagers on a gluten-free diet suffer higher rates of affective disorders, including depression and anxiety, as well as a higher Body Mass Index. Although malabsorption is one likely culprit, O’Bryan paints a bigger, more insidious picture.

“So many people, especially teens who are in a lot of social situations, feel deprived when they go on a gluten-free diet,” says O’Bryan. “Because of that and the opiate withdrawal, they start eating more carbohydrates and sugar. They’re not getting the stimulation they were used to getting from gluten so they turn to carbs and sugars. This knocks their blood sugar out of balance and leads to nutrient deficiencies. As a result, they are not getting enough blood to the brain which can lead to affective disorders such as anxiety and depression.”

O’Bryan is serious about the dangers of people simply adapting a gluten-free diet and then going on their way, and he lectures on the topic around the country. Going gluten-free (or GFCF) is a much more complex lifestyle change than people realize if they want to stay healthy.

“People going on a gluten-free diet must get a comprehensive overview of nutrition from a qualified nutritionist, dietitian, or other professional who has devoted years to understanding this topic,” says O’Bryan. “They should not go on a gluten-free diet without guidance.”

We GFCF folk tend to be rather evangelical because of all the miracles we’ve both experienced and witnessed. The truth is a GFCF diet is but one step on the healing journey, and sometimes it even takes us a few steps backwards.

*O’Bryan lectures on food intolerance, nutrition and autoimmune disease for Metagenics and sells a DVD titled “Unlocking the Mysteries of Wheat and Gluten Intolerance” at www.thedr.com.

Elaine Fawcett, MJ, NTP, is a health writer living in Aurora, OR:dandelion@wbcable.net.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

However gluten, in all its nefariousness, is a bit of a fall guy. Although a gluten-free diet can go a long way toward resolving health issues, it might not score the touchdown. In fact, a gluten-free diet is to eating what marijuana is to drug abuse — the gateway to something more powerful.

To achieve true health, according to the book Primal Body – Primal Mind: Empower your total health the way evolution intended (…and didn’t) by Nora Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT, we must give up not just gluten but all grains entirely. This may have your friends and relatives rolling their eyes at the dinner table, but, as the book explains, we’re simply not physiologically equipped to handle grain. Archeology and anthropology show that once hunter-gatherer humans (to whom we are 99.99% genetically identical) widely implemented agriculture, they experienced a decline in human stature, bone density, dental development and health, and an increase in birth defects, malnutrition and degenerative diseases. Although our farming ancestors rendered grains more digestible through sprouting, fermenting, proper storage and not tinkering with it genetically, Primal Body – Primal Mind explains that health is declining at an alarming rate in this country.  Diseases that once belonged to the old now afflict the young, and our genetic resilience has waned considerably. We are Pottenger’s cats in action, and while grains have always been a hardship on the human body, they are now one we can no longer weather.

Although it may shock your clients, the idea of a grain-free diet is nothing new to the nutritionally savvy. Grains contain anti-nutrients, are low in tryptophan these days, and high in omega 6 (“There is no human dietary grain requirement,” writes Gedgaudas), but their real downfall is the sheer number of carbohydrates they pass along. As can be expected, the author provides ample evidence to warn readers away from not only grains, but high-carbohydrate foods in general, including sweeteners, potatoes, starchy vegetables, legumes, and most fruits.

While the book details the myriad ways carbohydrates rob you of good health (in which NTPs are well grounded), Primal Body – Primal Mind uses cutting-edge research to depart from low-carb and Paleo diets in some fundamental ways. Most interesting are the nods to the influence of insulin in longevity. Gedgaudas’ review of the scientific literature shows that how much insulin we produce throughout our lives determines how long we live. Why? Because insulin’s primary role is not to lower blood sugar, but rather to coordinate the body’s energy stores with lifespan and reproduction. In other words, insulin, an ancient molecule found in most all life forms, regulates whether we are in the mode to store fat and reproduce, or to focus attention on cellular repair and regeneration. A high-carb diet requires constant surges of insulin, putting your body into fat-storing and baby-making mode. When you cut out the carbs and hence the insulin surges, your body assumes “the hunting is good” and there’s no need to shore up for hard times ahead. Instead it can direct energy toward bodily repair, regeneration and maintenance — otherwise known as staying young.

Even more fascinating is the role protein plays in  lifespan and reproduction. Anyone with a history of low-carb dieting remembers those diets that promote liberal amounts of protein. According to Primal Body – Primal Mind, this sabotages your low-carb efforts; any protein not required by the body is converted to glucose and then ultimately to fat for storage: “We want just enough protein to meet the demands of our own repair, regeneration and basic maintenance needs that can extend our own longevity, enhance our own health and possibly even reverse signs of aging.”

Any more protein than this, and it’s surprisingly little, kick starts a pathway that leads to cell proliferation, such as in fat storage, reproduction and growth, but also, unfortunately, cancer. Down regulating both this protein pathway and insulin in turn triggers the up-regulation of cellular repair, regeneration and maintenance… the essence of longevity.

Furthermore, a high-protein diet, even in the absence of carbs, not only promotes fat storage, but worse, promotes a “sugar-burning” metabolism that relies on glucose for energy. Better, according to Primal Body – Primal Mind, is a metabolism that runs on ketones, the energy derived from fat.

When it comes to fat, the Primal Body – Primal Mind diet gets fun, and doable. If you’ve read the research on a calorie-restricted diet, you know it’s the key to enjoying optimal health into a ripe old age. But the thought of a calorie-restricted diet also sounds agonizing (at least to me!).

That’s where Primal Body – Primal Mind breaks the mold. Gedgaudas’ review of the scientific literature shows that calorie-restricted diets work because they are restricting the insulin surges and cell proliferation that go along with high-carb, high-protein diets. What falls outside these rules is an abundance (but not excess) of healthy, natural fats — the sort our hunter-gatherer ancestors prized. According toPrimal Body – Primal Mind, humans and hominids have been using ketones, the energy created from burning fat, for fuel instead of glucose for close to three million years. Ketosis (not to be confused with ketoacidosis, a serious condition affecting primarily those with Type I diabetes) provides the body with a steady, long-burning source of energy and isn’t destructive in the way excess insulin and glucose are when the body is in sugar-burning mode. Glucose, Gedgaudas reminds us, was designed for an energy source only in states of emergency, not for daily life. No wonder we’re all so stressed out.

Switching your body from a sugar-burner to a fat-burner doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it usually takes four to six weeks. However, Primal Body – Primal Mind helps you ease the transition with recommendations for nutritional supplements, and then further recommendations that keep you sailing smoothly once you’ve settled into fat-burning mode.

Although a Primal Body – Primal Mind diet can make you feel like you’re from another planet in social situations, it rewards you with increased energy, better brain health (Gedgaudas’ day job is, after all, working with peoples’ brains as a neurofeedback practitioner), balanced hormones and, if necessary, weight loss. And — the icing on the cake you’ll no longer be eating — it also rewards you with a smaller grocery bill. By eliminating carbs and avoiding excess protein, meals shrink considerably in size…and cost. Thanks to all the fat, however, they’re still satisfying. “You’ll be shocked by how much money you save and how satisfying this little protein can be,” the author writes. “Trust me. I was.”

Primal Body – Primal Mind goes into much more detail on how to properly adapt this way of eating than this article presents. It also includes surprising information on exercise (which you will find a relief), menu plans and nutritional supplements.

Gedgaudas will teach about topics covered in her book in a one-day seminar, “Primal Mind: Nutrition and Health in the Modern World,” scheduled for Saturday, June 6. Sponsored by Seven Waves Alliance for Functional Wellness, the cost of the seminar is $89 for registration prior to May 15, $99 thereafter, and $49 for students and 2009 NTP graduates. To register, please visit www.sevenwaveswellness or call 503-278-7505.

To order the book and read Gedgaudas’ blog, please visit www.primalbody-primalmind.com.

Elaine Fawcett is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and health writer who lives in Aurora, Oregon. Please email feedback, corrections or new information about gluten-free living to dandelion@wavecable.com.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

“I ate one square of a Green and Black chocolate. Within 30 minutes I became nauseous. Then I was in bed, totally comatose, passed out. I was unable to get up until about four hours later. At that point I had a bad headache and I was really disoriented and confused. I was shaking violently all over. Visibly shaking hard. There was digestive upset as well, with diarrhea. Last time this happened I was sick for six days with vomiting and extreme fatigue.”

Luckily we both knew why Heidi got so sick. Green and Black isn’t using Chinese melamine, but instead wheat syrup in their filled bars. When this mother of five eats gluten she goes down hard which is amazing considering what a tough sell she was. She had long been an avid and accomplished baker and she bristled whenever I suggested her children’s autism symptoms, or her own poor health and slippery brain function, might be gluten related. Finally, after her teen daughter’s umpteenth violent outburst, she got the family tested, they all tested positive. They’ve been gluten-free ever since. Now just the tiniest bit sends her reeling.

You may have noticed a robust section of gluten-free foods at your local health food store. In fact, it’s the fastest growing segment of the natural foods market. Why is going gluten-free suddenly so popular, and what does it mean? A gluten intolerance means your immune system is reacting to gluten as if it were something harmful, like a virus or bacteria. Also, technically we’re talking about a gliadin intolerance as antibodies are produced against this sub-protein of gluten. Since the term gluten intolerance has fallen into popular use that’s what we’ll call it.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat and wheat-like grains including spelt, kamut, barley and rye. Oats are guilty, primarily by association, as they are processed with wheat. Gluten-free oats are now available. There’s a reason the word gluten has the “glue” sound in it–gluten is what gives dough it’s elastic consistency and holds bread together. In fact, one of the hardest things to get used to on a gluten-free diet is more crumbly bread.

Gluten is difficult for humans to digest (as well as pets. Do your dogs and cats a favor by buying them gluten-free food). Ancient humans intuitively knew this as they transitioned from hunter-gatherer to agriculture societies and fermented or soured grains to make them more digestible. Even still, as the book Dangerous Grains by James Braly, MD, and Ron Hoggan, MA points out, archeology shows humans decreased in stature and brain size after gluten was introduced to the diet, while dental caries, infant mortality and skeletal diseases mushroomed. What’s worse, this already difficult-to-digest grain has been hybridized over the years for higher gluten levels, and methods of storing wheat in this country fosters the growth of toxins that denature the protein, making it even more antagonistic to the body.

Partly because it is subsidized by the government, giving it a high profit margin (Google Michael Pollen’s articles on the Farm Bill for an eye-opening look at how politics play into what’s on your plate), wheat dominates the American diet. We simply eat way too much of it, improperly prepared. This became apparent to me when I was trying to figure out what was causing reoccurring bumps on my toddler’s skin. I kept a food diary of what she ate, while at the time a few friends were hounding me to give up gluten. But like a lot of people new to the concept, I couldn’t fathom cutting gluten out of our diet completely. I came across that diary after more than a year on a gluten-free diet and was shocked to see wheat or spelt was in virtually every snack and meal my daughter ate. I was one of those people who always said, “Oh, we don’t eat that much wheat.” By the way, those bumps turned out to be a dermatitis herpetiformis, a skin condition caused by gluten antibodies.

Once you’ve gone gluten-free and done some research, you develop gluten antennae–the ability to see the telltale symptoms in a great many people especially those closest to you. The growth of these antennae is followed by the proselytizing stage when you are compelled to end war, fascism and rampant tummy aches by telling the whole world to go gluten-free. The books Dangerous Grains or Going Against the Grain are good manuals to arm you with some alarming evidence in this phase. After a few too many people have told you to go to hell, you live with a sore tongue from biting it so much unless you have been asked for, or better yet, paid for your advice. The only time I break this last rule is when I see children suffering, but even then, I usually lose. Apparently the thought of getting through parenthood without the aid of mac-and-cheese and goldfish crackers is too overwhelming for most parents, even if it means giving their children prescription drugs instead.

At first I thought I was being overzealous with the gluten thing, but newer research shows no, there really are that many people having problems with gluten. One cutting-edge scientist, Kenneth Fine, MD of EnteroLab (www.enterolab.com), estimates from his research that one in three Americans is gluten intolerant, one in three!, and that more than 80 percent of us are genetically predisposed to a gluten intolerance. That’s like, uh, most of us. Once those genes turn on, it means that your immune system is armed and poised to attack every time gluten, which it now recognizes as an infectious agent, enters the body. The spooky thing, according to Fine’s research and other studies, is that most cases of gluten intolerance don’t manifest as gut symptoms, so people have no idea they’re gluten-intolerant. “But I don’t have stomach problems,” they’ll retort indignantly even though they can’t bend their knees or remember their three-year-old’s name (and as we NTPs know, they do, in fact, have stomach problems).

True, Fine is basing these estimates on his own extensive research and not epidemiological studies. “Oh, he just wants people to use his lab,” the naysayers will contend (EnteroLab is a direct to consumer lab, testing for antibodies to gluten and other foods using stool samples). But consider this, antibodies to gluten are made in the digestive tract. That is where EnteroLab looks for them and so far it has a 100 percent success rate in confirming celiac disease, a form of gluten intolerance that creates an autoimmune reaction in the small intestine. Conventional medicine still relies on blood tests and intestinal biopsies for a diagnosis. Unfortunately, you’re likely to get a negative result with a blood test until your condition is very advanced and antibodies are spilling into the bloodstream. You don’t want to wait that long. Biopsies aren’t much better. The tissue sample can be taken from an area that’s not affected. Or the intestinal villi can remain relatively unscathed while gluten does its damage elsewhere, like in the brain, and who wants to biopsy that?

Also, there’s this inconsequential but charming tidbit about Fine himself, a bespectacled but long-haired and brawny scientist whose remedy for gluten intolerance doesn’t involve the pharmaceutical industry or expensive therapies, just a gluten-free diet. If you’re so inclined, you might also purchase one of his music CDs through his non-profit organization, The Intestinal Health Institute (http://www.intestinalhealth.org/). When he’s not wearing his research hat, Fine dons a wide-brimmed leather hat and becomes Kenny Fine, a singer songwriter who created the child-oriented “Get On a Mission of Nutrition” CDs and DVDs. The Intestinal Health Institute also hosts an annual family summer camp in New Mexico, catering to children and their parents who are not only gluten intolerant, but dealing with other food intolerances as well. As a mother of two celiac children, one of whom is also dairy-intolerant, the idea of an entire week free of scouring ingredient labels, packing “special” food for my kids, and the gnawing anxiety that I’m raising them to feel like freaks almost brings me to tears. And, of course, campers sit around the fire evenings while Kenny Fine himself strums the guitar and sings about good gut health.

Which is all a rather long-winded way of saying, when you want the low-down on gluten who are you going to believe–conventional medicine with its prescription pads, poorly performing blood tests, biopsies, outcries that a gluten-free diet is too extreme (many have been told this by their family doctor), or a researcher and health advocate who spends his spare time composing songs about your intestines?

So how does a gluten-intolerance affect your health? Although it manifests differently for different people–joint pain and inflammation, dermatitis, asthma and other respiratory tract issues, poor brain performance, autoimmune diseases, behavioral issues, digestive issues galore–the damage often begins in the gut. There the intestinal villi, the little “fingers” that absorb nutrients, are gradually flattened by a gluten intolerance as gluten’s glue-like properties go to work gumming up your intestinal lining. This creates a permeable intestine (leaky gut) so that undigested gluten and other proteins escape into the bloodstream, creating a chronic immune response. One’s overall health slowly erodes, various allergies and food intolerances develop, cancer risk increases, degenerative diseases set in, and the risk for developing autoimmune diseases runs high.

Datis Kharrazian, DC, DHSc advises his patients with autoimmune Hashimoto’s thyroid disease to immediately remove gluten from their diets. Numerous studies from several different countries, not to mention overwhelming clinical evidence, show a strong link between gluten intolerance and Hashimoto’s. Because the structure of gluten so closely resembles that of the thyroid gland, the connection is largely believed to be that of mistaken identity. When the immune system tags gluten for removal, this stimulates the production of antibodies against the thyroid gland as well. In other words, every time gluten is ingested by person with Hashimoto’s, the immune system attacks not only gluten but also the thyroid. Therefore, your clients with Hashimoto’s should be screened for gluten intolerance, and your gluten-intolerant clients should be screened for Hashimoto’s.

Perhaps gluten’s most devastating area of impact can be the brain. At his recent brain chemistry seminar, Kharrazian showed brain MRIs of a man who had symptoms of Lou Gehrig’s Disease (he was increasingly losing function of his right arm and leg). As the disease progressed, his MRIs showed lesions in his brain growing worse. Along the way he was screened for celiac disease and tested positive. After several months on a gluten-free diet, with no other form of therapy, the MRIs showed a significant reduction in his brain lesions and he regained use of his arm and leg. But that’s even not the kicker. Guess who was the athlete featured on the first ever box of Wheaties? That’s right, Lou Gehrig. Of course we can’t say for sure gluten caused his demise, but it does make you wonder.

As parents of autistic children know, gluten also acts as an opiate by attaching to opiate receptors in the brain and producing a narcotic effect, which explains why so many comfort foods are wheat-based. This effect creates powerful behavioral responses in autistic children, while making gluten highly addictive to them. It’s no wonder these parents complain their children will only eat gluten and dairy foods, (casein in dairy acts in the same way) the very foods people like me are telling them to remove. Unlike most children who heed old-fashioned truisms, autistic children willstarve themselves to death. Fortunately most parents find when they remove these drug-like ingredients, other foods suddenly become more agreeable to the autistic child. I have one friend, however, whose autistic son is so addicted to gluten that he will eat the binding out of books (since gluten is so glue-like, it is an ingredient in many sticky things–think twice before licking that envelope) . For a home schooling family, they have very few books on the shelves.

Kharrazian believes autism starts with the mother, and so many of us are in such toxic, weak and depleted states when we have children that it takes very little–a gluten intolerance, a vaccine, exposure to toxic molds or chemicals–to tip a child who was born with a fragile immune system into full blown autism. Many children are also born with their mothers’ undiagnosed food intolerances. I was one of these mothers, and I can only thank good luck or genetic stew that my children didn’t become autistic. However, I endured my share of what I now know was abnormal childhood behavior. They say temper tantrums are standard for children, but my own experience says otherwise. Three days after both my children were gluten-free, and my youngest was also dairy-free, the daily tantrums, the night terrors, and the uncontrollable behavior dried up (although being too tired or too hungry still pushes them over the edge). One by one, as my mom friends have taken gluten, and often casein, out of their children’s diets, the stories I hear about changes in their children’s health and behavior is truly miraculous.

Sometimes, however, the afterglow of that miracle gets lost in trying to maneuver a gluten-free child through a world obsessed with wheat. Suddenly simple trips to run errands or go for a play date turn into tactical missions. The gluten-free mother must be well armed with a portable kitchen of tasty meals and snacks, special cupcakes for each and every birthday party, rules for caregivers, and a lot of trust, patience and forgiveness. Those rules will be broken, or people won’t take you seriously. They’ll roll their eyes, study you for a tic or some psychological flaw, or say, “It was just a little bit of wheat, it wont’ hurt.” Or Grandma, while a walking wikipedia of gluten intolerance herself, will turn to Daughter-In-Law and say, “What’s wrong with your children?” as if they are growing an additional nose. I can’t tell you how many moms I know home school their children simply because they are not willing or able to deal with it..

And then at home you get the guilt tripping that any clever child learns to pull: “I wish I could eat gluten. I sure wish I could have a hot dog bun. I wish I could eat the birthday cake. I wish I could eat chicken nuggets. I wish I could eat pizza with them. I wish I could eat whatever I wanted. I wish you weren’t such a lame mom. I wish you could see how a gluten-free diet is child abuse and how I’m clearly growing into a dysfunctional misfit who will write a scathing memoir about my neurotic mother when I grow up.” It is hard to stay the course when what’s poison for us is breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of the world. Then I just take myself back to when she was three years old, standing at the top of the stairs screaming obscenities at me for hours (well, if you count “poopie-headed mama” as an obscenity), violently hacking up her lungs all winter, scaring me with advanced digestive issues, and waking up every single night, screaming in terror. Thanks, but we’ll pass on the Ritz crackers. Not worth it.

Luckily there are so many gluten-free products on the market now, and new ones always coming out, that being gluten-free feels like having the pass to a secret party where only the cool people are invited. If you find out a stranger is gluten-free, you are instant friends. With some advance notice, cruise ships, Disneyland and some resorts will spoil you rotten with a gluten-free diet. I even found a gluten-free dude ranch online. Although we can each feel awfully alone in this Wheat-Based Wonderland, our dollars have added up to a recognizable force in the market. All of this makes transitioning to a gluten-free diet easier than it’s ever been before.

Truthfully, a lot of gluten-free products are not the kind of crap you want to eat regularly, but it’s nice to know which condiments, baking ingredients, meats (like sausages), and other foods are gluten-free. When I transitioned my children to a gluten-free diet, I indulged them for a short while on all the gluten-free cookies and cakes on the shelves, did quite a lot of baking at home, and hit all the restaurants and bakeries in town that offer gluten-free foods. When my friend learned her 13-year-old was both gluten and casein intolerant through an EnteroLab test, she met with a lot more resistance than a parent of younger children would. So she instituted a points system, just like you get with a credit card, to earn toward a gift. Her daughter desperately wants a video ipod, so my friend took her to the Apple Store to pick one out, hold it, smell it, and caress it. Then back at home she earns points for each week she can stick to her diet. If she cheats she has to go back to the beginning of the week. Between the promise of a new pink ipod and the fact that the kids at school will no longer be calling her Godzilla since her eczema is clearing up, she is doing great on the diet (also, having personally witnessed me succumb to a migraine and nausea after eating a contaminated meal was very motivating). I have another friend, however, whose 15-year-old daughter flies into psychotic rages and symptoms of bipolar disorder when she eats gluten. She refuses to stop eating it for more than a few weeks and there is nothing my friend can do about it. That’s why, ideally, you sort this out before your children are of the age when they think that everything coming out of your mouth is coming out of your, well, you know.

Currently the EnteroLab test, which you can order yourself online, is considered the best thing going for diagnosing an intolerance to not only gluten, but also dairy, eggs, soy and yeast. Last I heard they were also working on corn. EnteroLab also tests other markers that look at genetic susceptibility for gluten intolerance, as well as digestive function.

The gold standard, however, is a simple elimination/provocation diet. In this diet, you remove all the common allergens for a minimum of two weeks (longer is better), then reintroduce each food, one at a time, every three days. After the two-week rest, your immune system will raise all kinds of hell if you assault it with an offending food. The reason this test is preferred is because sometimes a person’s immune system is so depressed that EnteroLab’s test will produce false negative results. In other words, your exhausted immune system is producing so few antibodies that it can’t even make enough for a positive score on a lab test, even if gluten is a big problem; or it can give you a low positive score. On the test anything over 10 shows a gluten intolerance, and let’s say you’re a 14. This could mean your beleaguered immune system is barely able to crank out the antibodies. It does not mean you’re only a little bit gluten intolerant. This is what the family doctor told my friend’s mom after he puzzled over her EnteroLab results, saying that since her score was low it was ok for her to eat just a little bit of gluten. That’s like being only a little bit pregnant, so it’s ok if you smoke just little bit of crack. Note the bald patches where I pulled my hair out.

Although the elimination diet is the cheapest and best test, the EnteroLab test is still great for stubborn children, suspicious spouses, and for those who could sooner fly to the moon than muster the discipline for an elimination diet. Those cold, hard lab results are also handy when you need a little backbone standing your ground with your children’s caregivers and family members.

Once you’ve got the bad news, or good news, depending on whether you mind spontaneously soiling your pants, I think it’s important to mourn what amounts to a huge loss. Food is such a constant in our lives, especially sweet, doughy food. It’s no small thing to give gluten up, knowing you’ll spend more than one potluck pacing back and forth in front of the dessert table like a turkey trapped on the wrong side of the fence. Every time I’m confronted with saying no thank you to a warm chocolate-chip cookie, pizza with friends, or with the tedium of trying to find something “legal” to eat out, I mourn all over again. Every time my children are left out of a surprise treat because they are gluten-intolerant, you may as well drop my heart into the middle of a dirt road and back your truck up over it. Then I remind myself that I now can bend over to pick something up off the floor (my joints used to be too stiff and achy), my face isn’t always painfully red and splotchy, and I no longer have to pry my clenched jaws apart in the morning. My children are healthy, energetic and smart. It’s worth it. It’s the only body we get in this lifetime and the convenience of gluten just isn’t worth wrecking it.

Elaine Fawcett is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and health writer who lives in Aurora, Oregon. Please email feedback, corrections or new information about gluten-free living to dandelion@wavecable.com.

How Do You Know If You Are Gluten Intolerant?

There are literally dozen, if not hundreds, of symptoms of gluten intolerance few of which are gastrointestinal related. My rule of thumb is if you have a chronic health problem of any sort, you need to rule out gluten intolerance. If you have an autoimmune disease of any sort, but especially if it’s Hashimoto’s, then you need to remove gluten, and possibly casein, from your diet. In my personal experience I have seen gluten intolerance cause problems with the skin, lungs, joints, digestion, brain and behavior, growth in children, and nutritional deficiencies (especially calcium and iron). That said, here is a list of symptoms related to gluten intolerance from www.glutenfreedom.net:

The most common symptoms of celiac disease include:

• Fatigue
• Addison’s disease
• Gastrointestinal distress (gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, reflux)
• Headaches (including migraines)
• Infertility
• Mouth sores
• Weight loss/gain
• Inability to concentrate
• Moodiness/depression
• Amenorrhea/delayed menarche (menstrual cycles)
• Bone/joint/muscle pain
• Dental enamel hypoplasia
• Short stature
• Seizures
• Tingling numbness in the legsSymptoms also include:
• Abnormal liver test
• Addison’s disease
• Alopecia
• Anemia
• Ataxia
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Chronic abdominal pain
• Chronic fatigue
• Crohn’s disease
• Dermatitis herpetiformis (a “sister” of celiac disease)
• Down syndrome
• Epilepsy
• Family history of celiac disease
• Gall bladder disease
• Hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism
• Total IgA deficiency
• Insulin-dependent diabetes (type 1)
• Infertility/spontaneous abortions/low birth-weight babies
• Iron deficiency
• IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
• Malnutrition
• Multiple sclerosis
• Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Osteoporosis, osteopenia, osteomalacia
• Pancreatic disorders
• Pathologic fractures
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Psoriasis
• Recurrent stomatisits
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Scherosing cholangitis
• Sjogren syndrome
• Systemic lupus
• Turner syndrome
• Ulcerative colitis
• Vitiligo 

MY FAVORITE BOOKS

There are now tons of books on gluten-free baking and living. I’ll just share my four favorite gluten-free books:

Garden of Eating, by Don Matesz and Rachel Albert-Matesz: This is an excellent book that is grain and dairy free, and emphasizes ample produce and pastured meats. I don’t agree with them on everything as they are salt-phobic, advocate low-fat eating and use powdered egg whites (gack!), but overall it’s a great resource. (www.planetarypress.net)

The Ice Dream Cookbook, by Rachel Albert-Matesz: To be honest, I haven’t made anything out of this dessert book since it was just released by the Garden of Eating author. It looks great however, as the recipes are dairy and gluten free, and use coconut milk, minimal natural sweeteners, and stevia. (www.planetarypress.net)

The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN: This is a little self-published gem I picked up after listening to Malterre deliver and excellent gluten-free presentation at the Naturopathic College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. His recipes are gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free, and very tasty. He has tofu recipes and tends toward vegetarianism, but the recipes I’ve tried so far make up for that. The bonus–I once called the published number to ask about modifying a recipe and got the author on the phone who was able to help me out while I was in the kitchen. (www.wholelifenutrition.net)

Sweet Alternative, by Ariana Bundy: Ok, here I go recommending another dessert book. This book was written by a classically trained chef and the recipes are gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free. She calls for only the most exquisite ingredients for these high-brow desserts. Sweet Alternatives is worth it for the gorgeous photos alone, and my children love to just sit and look at it. Another confession, I haven’t actually made of any of the recipes, but my friends who have loved them. (www.whitecap.ca)

Elaine Fawcett is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and health writer who lives in Aurora, Oregon. Please email feedback, corrections or new information about gluten-free living to dandelion@wavecable.com.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

The author clearly invites the reader to: Cleanse your system back to glowing health and vitality, get rid of unhealthy fattening toxins, and jump start your metabolism.

The Fast Track is a guide for the professional looking for an organized tool to support their clients/patients who desire to lose weight, or the lay person looking for an easy-to- use guide to better health and weight loss.

She suggests that any diet that does not support liver and colon function is not going to work in the long term. If the liver is not healthy and functioning normally, the fats in our diet will not be digested and this fat and cholesterol will circulate in our blood leading to obesity.

This book comes as a complete package, which includes a seven day prequel, a one day fast, and a three day sequel. Also included are detailed shopping lists and recipes for all three phases of the detox process.

The beginning of this book details why we need to eat certain foods to live a healthy life in our toxic world. As Gittleman makes her case she calls on her twenty years as a practicing nutritionist. She sees the rising levels of obesity strongly linked to our toxic body loads increasing each year.

Our bodies are staggering under the huge load of industrial toxins in our foods. The author describes the negative effects on our endocrine balance of the hormone-laden meats coming from the feed given to livestock to fatten them up for the market. She describes as “deadly to our health and disastrous to our weight” the toxins in our homes, workplaces, our cosmetics and our foods.

Gittleman suggests that we would get the fiber that we need if we ate a diet rich in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fresh fruits to help neutralize toxins. She describes how we are more likely to “consume fatty, sugary and floury foods or go on low carb, low fiber diets like Atkins or South Beach”. In previous generations we ingested twenty to thirty grams of fiber daily, while today average less than 12 grams. The waste from our food sits in our colon for weeks causing our overloaded liver stress as it works to detoxify our bodies. She asks “how can they [our livers] properly metabolize fat when they are assaulted by this daily dose of toxins?”

Gittleman also talks about the downsides of long term low-carb diets on our health and weight. While she suggests that most individuals can lose weight on the low-carb diets, she stresses that many of the high protein foods are loaded with the toxins referred to earlier. Also the low amount of fiber in a low carb diet reduces our ability to purify and eliminate the toxins. She has found that many people do not have sufficient stomach acid to digest the large amounts of protein in these low fiber diets, and the undigested meat and cheese rots in our guts. She sees the resulting acid reflux epidemic as a result of these dietary choices.

Now that she has described the need to “get on the fast track” she describes the three-stage process that this plan prescribes, the seven day prequel, one day Miracle Juice fast, and a three day sequel.

Each day during the prequel you will choose foods from five categories of liver-loving foods such as:

1. Crucifers including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli
2. Green leafy vegetables such as parsley, kale, chard or collards
3. Citrus juices from orange, lemon or lime
4. Sulfur rich foods including garlic, eggs
5. Liver healers such as artichoke, asparagus, and beets.

You will daily choose two of the following Colon-Caring foods, powdered psyllium husks, ground flaxseeds, carrots, apples, pears or berries. She also suggests you drink “half of your body weight in ounces of water”. The prequel also includes two tablespoons of either flax or olive oil daily.

Each prequel day include two servings of protein in the form of lean beef, lamb, skinless chicken or fish. She suggests that if you are vegetarian you include at least two tablespoons of high-quality blue-green algae or spirulina.

Gittleman supplies a list of “detox detractors” to avoid which include: Excess fat, (especially trans fats from margarine) sugar, artificial sweeteners, refined carbohydrates, gluten, soy protein isolates, alcohol, caffeine, mold (from over-ripe fruits), milk and cheese.

The author stresses that the prequel is key to this plan working. She suggests that “if you do not follow the prequel for the full seven days do not attempt the One-Day Detox” She has found in trials that as a consequence of not doing the prequel for seven days, participants were more bloated, constipated and toxic than before.

Of course she includes detailed user friendly instructions including a shopping list for each of the prequels steps. Gittleman supplies in the book logs where you can record what foods you have eaten from each group each day.

The second part of this program is the One-Day fast. Avoid fasting under the following circumstances: if you are pregnant, nursing, recovering from an illness or injury or have a weakened immune system. The author also recommends that those people with type I diabetes, many heart issues or mental illness not fast. She also suggests that if you are under a physician’s care, using prescription medication; consult your physician before starting a fast.

The One-Day Detox, a delicious blend of cranberry and citrus juices spiced with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg will stave off hunger, balance blood sugar, and rev up metabolism. Gittleman supplies the recipe and instructions and a sample schedule for a day alternating each hour with a cup of the “Miracle Juice” and a cup of water. To support detox she suggests a fiber drink upon arising and at the end of the day. She describes in detail the reasoning behind each ingredient in the Miracle Juice.

To seal in the results of the fast she offers a three day sequel. During the three day sequel choose from the same categories as the prequel and add a probiotic food to restore “friendly” bacteria to the colon, such as raw sauerkraut (she supplies a recipe) or plain yogurt and follow the same steps and instructions as outlined in the Prequel. She also suggests a hydrochloric acid supplement during your sequel meals.

Gittleman includes many recipes in this book that are simple and carefully explained.

She also includes a comprehensive resources section. In the resources are found ranchers who supply healthy beef, educational opportunities, schools, and other resources to use towards a healthier lifestyle.

This is not your fathers (or mothers) diet book. This is an excellent guide to living healthier in our toxic world. I have enjoyed the Fast Track because it is a simple and manageable plan with great results. This new way of eating can benefit you as you strive to be healthier, have more energy, and enjoy life to the fullest.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

The occupation of Nutritional Therapy Practitioner is still in its infancy. Lifestyle education, nutrition, supplementation, and complementary therapies are escalating exponentially around us providing tremendous opportunities. We can create a position for ourselves where none existed before with eye care professionals who are not accustomed to having an NTP on staff or doing nutritional work in practice. It takes far ranging vision to spot developing trends – like the paradigm shift we are in the middle of – thinking and acting creatively to solve future needs.

“Finding needs and filling them” is one of the great definitions of success. NTP’s are true pioneers in an industry that is ripe for the picking and the eye care industry is a profession in need of assistance, but many doctors still don’t realize it or they haven’t fully acknowledged the paradigm shift on a practical working level with their patients.

As a whole, the eye care profession is currently on the cutting edge of integrating nutritional therapy into medical practice. Implementing nutritional strategies is where we come in. Medicare and the AMA are actually promoting this integration through a new initiative we will discuss momentarily.  Who is ready to fill this vital need for busy doctors? Who better than us as we are trained to restore balance and function by supporting each organ system? When we support ocular health, we improve the total body. In many ways, the eye really is the window not only of the soul, but of the whole body as it functions as an “early warning signal” to identify disease by early detection. Web like interconnections of multiple organ systems are able to be accessed through the eye.

The Ophthalmologist and Optometric Physician, because of their unique ability to see blood vessels in the eye without cutting into the body, are at the front line in creating a higher level of health system wide. The eye becomes an open window into the body’s intricate and integrated systems whereby disease processes are seen much earlier than waiting for them to manifest in other parts of the body, such as the vascular network.  The ocular vasculature actually reflects not only the health of the cardiovascular system, but also the blood sugar regulatory systems and others. In fact, the health and appearance of the eye is affected by multiple organ systems such as the heart, vascular system, pancreas and endocrine system, liver and gallbladder.

During the eye examination, by using sophisticated magnified, 3D imaging lasers that photograph the macula (the center of vision) macular edema can be observed. Macular swelling can be the result of rising blood glucose levels. The patient incorporating nutritional therapy may choose to embark on a course of treatment to control blood glucose at this point before the potential diagnosis of diabetes is determined by his or her primary care physician.

The eye has always been tied very closely with liver function, such as in the case of the sclera revealing jaundice in hepatitis.  Assessments can even be made about the digestive system’s integrity when the patient presents with ocular allergy. By observing the vessels in the retina, elevations in blood pressure can be seen revealed in “nicking” where blood vessels cross which lead to ocular hemorrhages. In cases of atherosclerosis the retina presents with “tortuous vessels” when normally the vessels are straight. We can observe adrenal function indirectly through the pupil’s response to a pinpoint of light directed into it.  The pinpoint light test reveals photophobia, extreme light sensitivity, as well. So we can see by these examples our web like interconnection between bodily systems; how one affects the other. The eye affords unique preliminary detection of potential interruption in the functional health of these systems.

Lifestyle changes,  embracing healthful habits and the use of supplementation can often radically affect the outcome of disease states or foster prevention. Indeed for Macular Degeneration, there is currently no medical treatment, but implementing a nutritional and lifestyle protocol can prevent and actually reverse this potentially blinding disease.

What does this mean for us? Specifically we have the possibility of a previously untapped source of employment or path of service by initiating a consulting practice alongside the doctor’s practice. And ultimately creating a dispensary in the practice so the supplements prescribed by the doctor can be sent home with the patient. We can also contract our services out to several eye doctors simultaneously, in a traveling NTP scenario, even with a portable dispensary. Additionally, we can train office personnel so the staff and doctor engage with patients referencing the same nutritional knowledge base.

Medicare has tremendous regulatory power in the eye care industry. It recently instituted the Provider Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) in July 2007 which uses billing and coding modifiers to reflect when a patient has received nutritional counseling based on the AREDS study. This groundbreaking study will be discussed later in the next series or you can access it online at the National Eye Institutes’ website www.nei.nih.gov.

AREDS in a nutshell: The 2001 clinical trial called the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) — was sponsored by the National Eye Institute (NEI), one of the Federal government’s National Institutes of Health. They were studying patients with Age Related Macular Degeneration.  It is currently the leading cause of blindness in the elderly and a potentially blinding disease where central vision is progressively lost.

Scientists found that people at high risk of developing advanced stages of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) lowered their risk by about 25 percent when treated with a high-dose combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc. In the same high risk group — which includes people with intermediate AMD, or advanced AMD in one eye but not the other eye — the nutrients reduced the risk of vision loss caused by advanced AMD by about 19 percent.

Medicare’s request for nutritional counseling documentation relates specifically to those receiving a diagnosis of Macular Degeneration.  While the July 2007 request was voluntary, more permanent enforcement is under review in a year’s time. Here is our opportunity to provide counsel and treatment plans for eye doctors. This fills their need and ours as well while we broaden the capacity in which we create employment opportunities for ourselves. If that priceless counsel saves the eyesight of just one person who implements the AREDS protocol, it is complete success.

Here is where the paradigm shift comes in: This move by Medicare is coupled with the American Medical Association’s reversal of their long held position on supplement use, where they previously stated supplements were not necessary. In 2002 they did an about face and stated that “everyone needs a multivitamin and mineral supplement daily” (JAMA, 2002).

We see a movement toward the recognition of the role supplementation  plays in affecting disease processes as Medicare takes the PQRI reporting action. This is of major consequence, and not to be overlooked. It represents a gigantic paradigm shift in the medical community. Every month there are new studies supporting nutrition, lifestyle and supplementation positively affecting outcomes of ocular disease.

The fact that macular degeneration was formerly considered an untreatable disease makes the AREDS and related studies very valuable. But the information must be shared to create the desired result: vision preservation.  I remember well the day I counseled a retired doctor who never used vitamins or minerals. His diagnosis?  Macular degeneration. What a great feeling to offer him hope in nutrition and supplementation, backed by double blind, placebo controlled studies, even though it ran counter to everything he believed in. When we speak from research and studies, we hold incredible hope and power.

Medicare is currently providing a 1.5% reimbursement incentive to the doctor for performing AREDS based nutritional counseling and it is being tracked, by the use of the modifier. Medicare is proposing a greater standard of care which has the potential to set the future standard of care. This request by Medicare creates dramatic potential to add to our current levels of NTP education providing a wider scope of practice and a desperately needed service to busy eye care professionals. It opens a whole new arena of practice to our profession. It’s a win-win-win!

So what exactly do these potentially blinding diseases entail? We will discuss them in the following newsletters. www.nei.nih.gov has information if you want to research now. But first let’s see what filling this urgent need for eye doctors in a counseling capacity would look like in a clinical setting.

The PQRI move creates an open door for Ophthalmologists, Optometric Physicians and Nutritional Therapy Practitioners alike to either gain certification as NTP’s or use their own profession in resourceful and profitable ways. Dr. Donald A. Carroll, Optometric Physician was the first Optometrist to graduate the NTA program in June of 2004 as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner.

As his wife, graduating at the same time from the program, we have both been on the cutting edge of integrating nutritional therapy into medical practice. (Actually we have been doing it for years without the designation afforded by the NTA.) We also established a small, but profitable and highly effective dispensary into the clinic to service both our patients and the general public.

Our community was clearly ready for treatment that did not require drug therapy. Even though Dr. Carroll still regularly prescribes for various eye diseases and complaints, our office is counseling on alternative therapies and providing on site solutions in the form of supplements and homeopathic remedies along with lifestyle intervention. Often the patient requests a trial period in which alternative therapies are introduced before a drug regimen is instituted. We encourage our patient’s participation in their own healthcare by giving them several treatment options.

Is the dispensary client base confined to predominately ocular patients? Absolutely not. Word of mouth advertising by satisfied patients insures that we have a steady stream of new patients and clients interested in getting help to achieve total wellness, eye related or not. Nutritional therapy works through restoration of health and function, rather than simply controlling signs and symptoms. Current NTP’s have a ready answer for those doctors who would prefer to hire out their consultations by employing a NTP in office or subcontracting our services.

Having qualified staff equipped to provide basic information along with specialized staff possessing proper certification ensures that the office has much more to offer than less progressive offices still practicing in the old paradigm. We now see a need developing for NTP’s to educate existing staff in eye doctor’s offices so all support staff is “on the same page”. There are several opportunities presenting themselves due to nationwide changes in Medicare reporting! Even for those professionals who do not accept Medicare, and several do not, the precedent is now set and a new standard of eye care is emerging. To fail to comply with basic standard of care is professional suicide. We are trying to ensure that this doesn’t happen for the sake of the professional and those that will receive healing, restorative information though AREDS based counsel.

Since the AMA reversed its position publicly in 2002 on supplements, and now advises everyone to use a daily multivitamin and mineral formula, we cannot even say practices are “traditional” anymore when they don’t offer lifestyle and nutritional counseling and/or supplementation to their patients. These practices are at risk of appearing archaic in light of the AMA’s new stance on supplement use, as well as Medicare’s interest in tracking nutritional counseling in a practice. The times aren’t merely changing. They have changed!

Busy doctors delegate tasks; we are in the position to provide a great service to an eye care professional by agreeing to consult all their ocular disease patients as well as providing preventative counsel to the general patient population. These patients could conceivably all be scheduled in a template or time block fashion or be consulted on a few days of the week. Inevitably, counseling should extend to all patients for prevention or remediation of diseases or ocular conditions so NTP work would most likely grow to include most or all of the doctor’s daily patients depending on how the office schedules.

The personal fulfillment of serving people in our own locale, or even taking our skills abroad in a mission sense, is immense. It is unthinkable that blindness can exist in 2007 when we have eradicated so many other threatening diseases. To be part in saving the precious resource of vision is no small accomplishment. We find this true particularly with the elderly who have experienced the loss of mobility or function in other bodily systems. Preserving sight becomes priceless particularly in these cases. The rewards of this profession are beyond any monetary bounds and begin to impart a sense of incredible satisfaction with our life’s chosen work.

What do our patients think of our cutting edge method of practice? Our practice has tripled in as many years drawing people from over 100 miles away just to have access to this level of care; astonishingly, this occurred despite a locally depressed timber based economy! Our community lacked NTP services. We have experienced many walk-ins that are simply interested in purchasing from the on-site health store with a knowledgeable NTP on staff to consult with. This has ultimately resulted in an increased patient base due to exposure to the clinic in general and the added services specifically.

We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. The idea of creating healing outcomes without medication is extremely appealing. Or even being able to use less medication and gain further support with nutrition and supplementation. When patients see other longstanding conditions resolving that are not supposedly related to the eye, such as the fish oil prescribed for their glaucoma helping alleviate pain from arthritis as well, they are delighted. We witness the body’s interconnection every day as we apply nutritional therapy in medical practice.

The most rewarding cases are those patients in nursing homes who have little or no control over their diet. When they see a few key supplements begin to raise their general level of health and wellbeing,  they are infused with hope and an optimistic outlook for their future. In short, implementing a nutritional therapy program is empowering on many levels. We have a program years ahead of its time in the Nutritional Therapy Practitioner certification.

Now that we’ve discussed how a practice works with an NTP assisting in counseling and/or managing the dispensary, the next question is: how does one tap into an opportunity by preparing to offer a solution to the AREDS/PQRI question as well as providing additional counsel that is directed to general ocular diseases or prevention in a current practice or as a stand-alone counseling service to Optometrists?

Obtaining the basic certification as Nutritional Therapy Practitioner is a firm foundation. Next, we must add to our knowledge base with special emphasis on the eye by reading. The web is full of current research and new studies are appearing all the time. One of my favorite sites for up to the minute research findings is Pub Med at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez. Review of Optometry,  www.revoptom.com, is good as well. The National Eye Institute’s website listed earlier is also valuable, among others.

An understanding of basic ocular anatomy is crucial. Mosby’s Handbook of Anatomy and Physiology is good, as is Tortora’s book of the same title. Interning with professionals who are currently implementing nutritional therapy in their practice is another invaluable option.

Several books have been instrumental in the development of the nutritional branch of our practice and creating the dispensary. Bill Sardi, Medical Reporter, writes my personal favorite User’s Guide to Eye Health Supplements. It is truly an important resource available at our Nutritional Visions dispensary bookstore.  Understanding how to support the health of the eye from a functional medicine approach is taught in the Textbook of Functional Medicine. This amazing textbook was released by the Institute for Functional Medicine in 2005 with emphasis on training professionals to understand and improve the patient’s functional core as the starting point for intervention. www.functionalmedicine.org has information for ordering a copy for your library.

When our knowledge base is increased focusing on the care and feeding of the eye, we are ready to present our solution to professionals in our individual areas. We not only solve the AREDS/PQRI challenge but potentially create other opportunities. Most importantly, the patient will receive a higher quality of care through our knowledge, counsel, and clinical experience that potentially enables their vision to be preserved. Hopefully this is the intent of Medicare with the PQRI. This initiative has opened the door for a very dramatic entry into an untapped market to us as  professionals, but only if we take the initiative to propel our education to an advanced level while being proactive in creating a new specialty niche for our practices.

Several NTPs have called requesting information on protocol and treatment programs to assist the eye’s restoration to proper function in cases of dry eye, allergic conditions and styes that they have experienced in their own practice or with friends and family. Hopefully the information is pertinent and useful particularly as we understand the interconnectedness of our body’s systems.

It’s our expectation that those interested in creating a specialty niche will be poised to capture the opportunities this considerable paradigm shift has afforded us as Nutritional Therapy Practitioners. The options of using our excellent training are literally limitless. In the next newsletter, we will present our Seven Foundational Pillars of Ocular Health that we use at Medical Vision Center’s clinic. In the last of the three part series we will discuss major disease and condition processes providing protocols to use in your practice.  Mastering this information so that you will be able to address patients professionally in a clinical setting under a doctors’ supervision, should you choose to do so, is our goal.

Katherine A. Carroll, NTP
President of Nutritional Visions, LTD
240 W. Main Street, Box AC, Morton, WA 98356
cell: (360) 790-2011 Office: (360) 496-5140   fax:360)496-6039
www.nutritionalvisions.com kat@nutritionalvisions.com

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

Ancient societies had no way of knowing about the microscopic life responsible for culturing their foods. Yet, they praised them for their amazing health benefits. The Turkish prized kefir as a health enhancing, anti-aging tonic. It is well documented that the Bulgarians consumed copious amounts of yogurt to increase immunity and longevity (hence the name of the beneficial microbial species Lactobacillus bulgaricus). Even Weston A. Price, the nutritional pioneer who studied and observed isolated cultures around the world, discovered that cultured foods were an integral part of most, if not all native diets. His findings revealed that traditional peoples cultured everything from grains, seafood, and flesh meats, to dairy products, fruits and vegetables.

Today we know that the regular consumption of cultured super foods introduces beneficial microbes into the alimentary canal to aid in digestion and detoxification, provide enzymes, vitamins and minerals, balance our internal bio-systems, and boost immunity. As an added bonus, the sour flavor of cultured foods will even help to curb cravings for sweets and other processed, devitalized foods, which we all know are grossly over-consumed by most modern Americans.

The Culturing Process

Traditional sauerkraut was generally prepared with root vegetables like cabbage, carrots, radishes, beets, etc., by shredding them, adding salt, and pounding them to allow the contractive nature of salt to pull the organic water from the veggies to create a natural brine. Allowed to sit undisturbed for a period of two to three weeks, the root veggie mixture would become pleasantly tart and soft, resulting in an enzyme-rich, probiotic-rich superfood. The beneficial bacteria responsible for orchestrating this culturing process are mostly from the Lactobacillus and Bifidus species. This class of microbes cultures many delicious delights such as salsa, chutney, ginger/root beer, sour cream and more. As these bacteria divide, they produce a substance called lactic acid, which is responsible for that characteristic sour flavor we associate with cultured foods. Bacteria typically divide every 20 to 30 minutes at temperatures between 41° and 140°F. Their division is exponential, i.e., one microbe becomes two, which become four, which become eight, which divide into 16, then into 32, and so on. Microbes need optimal conditions to reproduce including moisture, slight acidity, time and warmth. In cooler temperatures foods culture at a slower pace. Warmer temperatures encourage microbial division resulting in a faster culturing process. The ideal temperature for culturing is between 75° to 85°F. Most foods culture well in this temperature range within 24 to 96 hours, depending on the individual needs of the medium being cultured.

My Experience

I have been preparing my own cultured foods since 1992. I have cultured everything from veggies and butter to fruits, meats, seeds, grains, tea, juice, cow’s milk, goat’s milk and nut milks. My first teacher of cultured foods was Ann Wigmore. I successfully prepared her veggie kraut recipe for years in big candy store style bubblegum jars before using any kind of culture starter. I simply relied on the organisms present on the vegetables and in my immediate environment to initiate the culturing process. Ann’s traditional culturing style took too long for my liking, so I began to research cultured foods on the Internet and soon learned about a culture starter called “whey” from the book Nourishing Traditions. Adding whey to my veggie kraut recipe took the culturing process from more than two weeks to just five days! I was thrilled! Since discovering whey, I have experimented with all types of culture starters including powdered/freeze-dried starters, culturing water grains, and liquid starters – all yielding delicious results. Like Ann Wigmore, I prefer not to add sea salt to my culturing recipes. Let me explain…

What about sea salt? Is it necessary?

Salt is anti-microbial in nature. Therefore, it may very well inhibit the proliferation of all types of microbes (yeast, fungus, mold, bacteria, etc. etc.) whether they are pathogenic, neutral, or beneficial. My belief is that salt makes it a bit more difficult for the culturing process to take hold. Salt is mineral rich and can actually alkalinize the culturing environment if too abundant. The beneficial microbes found in cultured foods prefer a slightly acidic environment (just like your colon), so adding salt may cause them to work harder to produce lactic acid to make the culturing environment more to their liking. The longer the culturing process takes to initiate, the greater the chance of pathogen invasion.

What about Mold, Fungus and Yeast?

The key to keeping mold, fungus and yeast from growing on the surface of your cultured foods is to keep what you are culturing UNDER the brine or away from oxygen at all times. Beneficial microbes flourish in an anaerobic environment. Be sure to fill jars near to the top – leaving just about an inch or less of open space – to allow for expansion during culturing. Hand-tighten each jar. Do not over tighten. Too much space at the top of a jar or vessel will allow too much oxygen to remain inside the jar providing the perfect conditions for mold, fungus and wild yeast to grow on the surface of liquids or on parts of the food that may peek out of the brine. There is nothing wrong with the food or liquid under the brine. Scraping away any scum at the top will usually render the culture successful and edible. Your nose and your taste buds will let you know if the culturing food has been contaminated. If so, throw it away and start over. Many people are overly germ-phobic these days. The minute they see a speck of mold or fungus appear they throw away the entire batch, which is completely unnecessary in most cases.

Your Experience: Preparing your own cultured foods!

If you have never ventured into the land of culturing, I highly recommend it. Many commercial superfoods are available at natural food markets across the nation, but creating your own from local, raw, organic ingredients is much more delicious, nutritious and economical; and certainly much more fun! It takes some time and effort to prepare your own cultured foods, but the microbes will do most of the work for you while you tend to other important activities in your life. Don’t be overly concerned about sterilizing jars and utensils. A thorough washing with chemical-free soap and hot water will do just fine. Try not to worry so much about measuring out exact amounts of food and culture. This process is pretty flexible. Just make sure to fill each jar near to the top to minimize oxygen exposure. Keeping several size wide mouth mason jars, lids and rims on hand (half-pint, pint, and quart) will help take care of any leftovers too small to put in a larger jar, but too large of an amount to throw away. Also, keep in mind that different foods require different lengths of culturing time. If a recipe suggests that a particular food will be cultured and ready to eat within 24 hours, don’t take this information literally. There are variables that will cause a food to need further culturing time. Just be sure to sample foods as they are culturing to see when and if they’re ready. Eventually you will know by the color and smell, but until then, always taste test. Once your batch is ready, it should be refrigerated. Refrigeration slows down the culturing process and even halts it at 38°F and below. Storing cultured foods at 38°F will lock in the flavor, texture and tartness and will keep them fresh for many months. An inexpensive refrigerator thermometer, available at most hardware stores, will help you set your fridge to the correct temperature.

Culturing is a bio-individual process!

Culturing is truly an art and a science. It does take some time to perfect. It also is a bio-individual process, so if you wish to use a culture starter or not, and if you choose to add sea salt or not, simply experiment to see what works for you as an individual. If you do choose to inoculate with a starter, be sure to select one of high quality to give the culturing process a hardy jumpstart. Once you practice with a few batches, you will have a system in place that will yield consistent results. Again, each batch will vary slightly in time, taste, texture and tartness, so use your trusty taste buds to determine when you feel each batch has cultured to your liking!

For detailed instructions on culturing kefir, coconut water kefir, coconut meat pudding, vegetables, butter, yogurt and more please visit our “Recipes” webpage at http://www.immunitrition.com. To receive hands-on culturing lessons, join us at a future “Certified Healing Foods Specialist (CHFS) Training” near you. For a CHFS Info Packet, send your request to CHFS@immunitrition.com or call 877-773-9229.

Caroline is will be the Lead Instructor for the 2008-09 NY Distance Learning class and conducts Certified Healing Food Specialist workshops nationwide. She can be contacted at 877-773-9229 or at info@immunitrition.com.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

If one wishes to argue that honey is “manufactured from nectar picked up from flowers by the bees—then predigested, vomited and stored for their own future use with preservative added” (Burroughs, p. 18) then it is understood why animosity exists towards any kind of benefit that honey would have. The National Honey Board (NHB, www.honey.com) reports “82 percent of households currently use processed honey, which has been heated and pasteurized, and can contain botulism and High Fructose Corn Syrup, (HFCS). Processed honey is not as antibacterial as raw honey, and is dangerous for diabetics and infants under 12 months old” (http://tinyurl.com/3hfkyh).

Processed honey is just another refined sugar, habit forming because it is a strong stimulant. It causes an excessive reaction because it needs to be oxidized by the gastrointestinal tract creating a toxic environment and a “variety of digestive ills.” Like an explosive fuel it burns with intense heat and burns out quickly, causing a shock effect on the nervous system and other organs. Similar to the effects of some drugs, the organs work very hard and very fast with no nutritional benefits. The exhilaration is followed by a crash leaving the body craving for another fix (Beck, p. 30).

What about raw honey not gathered as mentioned above? What about the modern day believers and researchers that say “raw honey is the safest sugar to use, but you should not use it in excessive amounts” (www.mercola.com, pure gold raw honey). That disclaimer does go on to say “if you have elevated insulin/leptin levels you will need to minimize your use of any sugar–including raw honey”. Can it be that honey has beneficial properties, moderation being the key to success?

The ancients used honey as a “special formula for many health concerns–both for food and to support wide range of body functions” (IBID). What is in honey that makes it amongst nature’s most incredible foods? Now that we can test for vitamins and minerals we know honey has both. It is laden with riboflavin, thiamine, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, nicotinic acid and vitamin C. In fact, the more pollen in the honey the more Vitamin C it has (Beck, p. 20).

According to studies that have been done and reported on www.naturalnews.com raw, unprocessed honey is known to be “a superfood that provides antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients.” Raw honey digests faster requiring little to no energy to burn off without oxidation, no shock to the nervous system or organs, and no cravings (Beck, p. 30). It is known to increases calcium absorption, hemoglobin count, and to treat or prevent anemia caused by nutritional factors. Raw honey can help arthritic joints. It fights colds and respiratory infections. It helps boost gastrointestinal ulcer healing. It works as a natural and gentle laxative, aiding relief of constipation. It supplies instant energy without the insulin surge caused by white sugar and it is known to be helpful against allergies and hay fever.

We believe people should do research to ensure quality choices. It’s not good enough to trust that all honey is natural. Store bought honey can have additives and be stripped of its important nutritional value. We hope to demystify raw honey and advocate a revival due to its many nutritional benefits. The following is a list of studies, associations, and web pages to be used as a starting point.

The American Apitherapy Society at www.apitherapy.org. Apitherapy is the medical use of honeybee products.

From the 1st International Symposium on Honey and Human Health, http://tinyurl.com/4b4vup, the following is a listing of research symposium reports that discuss the varied topics of honey. Refer to the above link for copies of these researches:

• The Effect of Honey on Prostaglandins
• Honey Protects against the Hypertriglyceridemic effect of Fructose
• Metabolic Risk for Diabetes with Short and Long Term Sleep
• Honey Protects Against Homocysteine Elevation in Rats
• Sleepless in America
• Melatonin and Sleep – a Role for Honey
• Two Studies Relating Melatonin, Sleep and Memory Processes
• Nighttime Caloric Intake is not Associated with Weight Gain
• The Significance of the Regulatory Effect of Liver Glycogen in Human Metabolism
• Honey and Its Effect on the Immune System
• Chronic Stress and Obesity: A New View of “Comfort Food”
• Glucose vs. Fatty Acid Metabolism in the Human
• The Importance of Adequate Liver Glycogen during Recovery Sleep
• Honey, Sleep and the HYMN Cycle-1
• Physiology of Sleep and Psychology of Dreams
• Honey, Mental Fatigue (Neurasthenia) and Physical Fatigue (Myasthenia)

For more on uses of raw honey refer to http://www.naturalnews.com/z021506.html or http://tinyurl.com/2efxsu

References

Burroughs, S. (1976). The Master Cleanser with Special Needs and Problems. Burroughs Books.

Beck, F. B. and Smedley, D. (1971). Honey and Your Health: A Nutrimental, Medicinal and Historical Commentary. Silver Spring, MD: Bantam Books.

Campbell-McBride, N. (2004). Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., A.D.H.D., Dyslexia, Depression, Schizophrenia. UK: Medinform Publishing.

http://products.mercola.com/honey/ (2008). Finally, You Can Indulge Yourself Again With the Natural Sweet Power of Raw Honey — Guilt-Free!

http://www.naturalnews.com/z021506.html (2007). The healing power of honey: From burns to weak bones, raw honey can help.

http://www.naturalnews.com/z022872.html (2008). FDA Quietly Acknowledges MedicalBenefits of Honey.

http://www.naturalnews.com/022859.html (http://tinyurl.com/3hfkyh). (2008). Raw Honey: Exploring the Benefits of This Ancient Superfood.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-18-2006-105877.asp (2008). The 7 Secret Foods that Only the Healthiest People in the World Eat.

http://americanmadness.com/2008/01/06/honey-what-do-you-think/ (2008). Honey, what do you think?

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=96#healthbenefits (http://tinyurl.com/2efxsu) Health Benefits of Honey.

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s978921.htm . Honey Cure.

http://www.prohoneyandhealth.com/custom.aspx?id=11 (http://tinyurl.com/4b4vup)

1st International Symposium on Honey and Human Health

Dominique is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Registered Play Therapist & Supervisor and NTP in Los Angeles County, CA. She believes in a holistic approach to mental well-being. For more information on and to contact Dominique, please refer to her web page www.DominiqueEugene.com..

Melinda is a Registered Bee Keeper and NTP in Orange County. She collects, stores and sells her RAW honey. For more information on Melinda, please contact her at (714) 534-5586, or email at buzzroundtown@yahoo.com.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

Price discovered upon analysis of the foods consumed by these native groups that they were found to contain at least four times and up to ten times the macro-mineral content of the standard diet of the day in America. Linger there for a moment with that number. What kind of house can you build if you have only a quarter of the necessary materials? Remember this was in the 1930’s and 40s, and the soils in which our food is grown have since then been further depleted of their minerals, and we have grown used to the consumption of highly processed foods. The very processing that makes foods fast and convenient to prepare devitalizes them and reduces their mineral content. We are in sad shape in North America if these native diets are taken as a measure of what is needed to sustain health, but I believe that to be the unfortunate truth of the matter.

If Dr. Price had known to analyze the trace mineral levels, I suspect he would have found a similar story. Only in relatively recent years has information about the key role of trace elements come into focus in the scientific community. Despite the exceedingly small amounts of these elements that our bodies require, they are nonetheless crucial for health. Many serve as key catalysts in essential processes in our bodies. When we deplete these trace elements in our soil, the plants growing there are weaker and susceptible to disease. It is no different in our bodies.

For those who, upon hearing this, try to find solace in the fact that they eat organically grown foods, I have bad news. According to the USDA charts found in Paul Bergner’s The Healing Power of Minerals, commercially grown foods in the 1960s had a significantly higher mineral content compared to organic produce of the early 1990s. And both pale in comparison to the mineral content of foods from the 1930s. Not a pretty picture. Clearly, simply resorting to an all-organic diet is not going to provide minerals in sufficient quantities to match the native diets that Dr. Price researched.

If insufficient minerals are in the soil, where can we go to find adequate amounts for our health maintenance? Dr. Price noted the great efforts natives in the Andes Mountains made to obtain seaweed and other treasures of the sea, a sea that was two hundred miles away. The second group he visited lived on small islands off the coast of Scotland, and their diet was built around oats, cod, and other seafoods, including sea vegetables. What was it that these native groups recognized in these foods? In a word: Minerals (They have other valuable qualities as well, but it is beyond the scope of this article to explore them.). The most nutritious land plants grown in the very best soil are all quite mineral-deficient if we use sea vegetables as the standard. All the commonly consumed sea vegetables are virtual treasure troves of mineral nutrition.

It is worthy of at least a brief mention here that Dr. Price observed significant damage from the inclusion of even small amounts of modern foods, what he called the displacing foods of modern commerce, in the native diets he studied. If even slightly less than a fifth of the food came from modern sources (he was referring to commercial oils, white flour, white sugar), the children born to those people would have diminished health evidenced as crowded teeth, narrower faces, cavities, less energy and so on. He took nearly 20,000 pictures on his journeys and the difference between the children on a pure native diet and those with partial inclusion of modern foods is clear for anyone to see. So, it is important not only to include sea vegetables in the diet, but to also eliminate, or at least to severely limit,

the consumption of these displacing foods of modern commerce.

The Japanese have the only modern diet that has retained a significant role for seaweed in its cuisine. Statistics tell us that they are doing something right—the Japanese live longer than any other modern people, and this despite a highly stressful work life that undoubtedly has negative health consequences. Some researchers have speculated that it is perhaps the greater soy consumption in Japan that explains their longevity, but a serious look at Price’s work leads one to suspect it is more likely the added minerals and other nutritional factors in the seaweed and other seafoods.

How much seaweed should one consume? According to Dr. Ryan Drum, a noted seaweed expert in the Western herbal community, a good ballpark number is 3-5 grams per day of dried seaweed. This is roughly a kilogram per year per person. Eating a variety of seaweeds is the ideal. However, if one is not accustomed to having sea vegetables in the diet, it is advised to start with just a gram a day for a time before slowly increasing it. With its high iodine content sea vegetables generally have a positive impact on thyroid function, but it is best to proceed with caution. If negative changes are noted, the seaweed consumption should be discontinued.

Because of the epidemic of hypothyroidism in modern life, particularly among middle-aged women, I thought I might mention one brown algae, Fucus vesiculosus (common name: bladderwrack), known to have a positive impact on the thyroid. This seaweed grows abundantly throughout the temperate zones and can be easily harvested off the rocks where it attaches itself. It is easily identified through its small, heart-shaped bladders. These bladders contain a mucilaginous substance that is high in essential fatty acids. Although it would be a terrible diet, humans can exist for a long time on nothing but dried Fucus and water. Fucus contains a compound called DIT (diiotothyronine) that our bodies can use to easily construct a T4 molecule; no other sea vegetable is known to contain this substance. Unfortunately, bladderwrack is not especially tasty, even for die-hard seaweed fans, so that taking it in capsules becomes the recommended route for hypothyroid patients. A number of companies produce Fucus capsules and most natural food stores carry them. I generally start people at 1 gram per day of the dried bladderwrack and move it slowly up to 3 grams per day. If someone has been on thyroid hormone medication for a long time, you will not likely wean them off, but if you do, they will require daily use of Fucus just as they do their medicine. As with any supplement or special food, if there are adverse reactions, the patient should be advised to discontinue use immediately. It is a food and very safe, but idiosyncratic reactions are always possible.

When harvesting one’s own seaweed, a practice I highly recommend, a few key pointers are worth mentioning: First, find out if there is a nearby municipal sewage outfall or septic system. Seaweeds are like thirsty sponges for any ambient minerals that pass by their neighborhood, and whether or not the substances picked up are healthy for humans is not a concern of theirs. Be clear: People have died from eating contaminated sea vegetables. Second, do not harvest plants washed up on a sandy beach; it is far better to harvest from the rocks at water’s edge. It is impossible to remove all the sand that the mucilaginous coating on the seaweed will pick up from the beach. A certain broken tooth awaits any who avoid this warning. Third, do not rinse your harvest in fresh water; seawater rinsing is better. Fourth, dry the seaweed as soon after harvest as possible and then seal it in moisture-proof containers. Fifth, never put your harvest in plastic trash bags. These bags are coated with a toxic chemical that ensures anything put in them will become de facto rubbish. Instead, use plastic produce bags from the supermarket or a food-grade plastic bucket.

For many modern people including seaweed in the diet is an unpalatable option. They should be reminded that tastes do change and encouraged to start with just a small amount; some sea vegetables have a stronger taste than others. For those who are hopelessly fussy about their food, the option of using powdered seaweed in capsules should be explored. Toasted nori is usually an easy stretch for the typical North American palate. Many Americans have an easy time starting with dulse (Palmaria palmata), a red algae with a mild and quite agreeable flavor. (Irish cattle and horses have been observed eating dulse from the rocks on beaches.) It does not need to be cooked and is easily cut with scissors into salads.

A brief personal story about dulse might be of interest here. In 1977 I hitchhiked around Ireland for a month while on semester break from university in Germany. In one tiny Irish coastal community I observed children on their bicycles going into a corner grocery and emerging with little paper sacks filled with paper-thin maroonish-purple strips that they greedily pushed into their mouths. I wandered into the store to see what they were eating, imagining I would find a homegrown type of candy. Instead I discovered they were eating dulse. I was astounded that nutritious seaweed had replaced candy for these children. The bags were selling for five pence, so I bought one and thus started my love affair with this delicious sea vegetable. As it turns out elderly men in this community harvested and dried the dulse and sold it as a way of making a little money.

My final word is to not underestimate what improvements in health are possible for your patients if you help them increase their intake of minerals by eating sea vegetables regularly. Practitioners should realize though that the health benefits from seaweed consumption do not show up overnight. We need to counsel our clients to have patience as their bodies learn to utilize the added nutrition. It will be worth the wait.

Bob Quinn practices meridian therapy, herbal medicine, Sotai, and Thai massage in Portland, OR and supervises in the clinic of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

The most potent steroid hormone in the human body is Vitamin D. When you are deficient in Vitamin D the genes designed to protect your health can’t work properly. Our physiology is as closely linked to the sun as plants. Plants use sunlight to photosynthesize chlorophyll. Our body uses a similar process to photo synthesize Vitamin D. Sunlight and Vitamin D touch virtually every aspect of your bio chemistry and physiology. Following is just a small number of the vital roles that Vitamin D plays in your health: Regulates and assists in calcium absorption, energy metabolism, muscle strength and coordination, reduces C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation, brain development, insulin production stimulation, helps the heart to beat properly and prevents IBS.

When it comes to your bones calcium and Vitamin D have a symbiotic relationship. If either is missing, the other can’t do its job. Not only does calcium have a vital role in bone health it also helps the central nervous system transmit nerve impulses, helps the muscles to contract, influences the secretion of insulin by the pancreas and regulate the immune system. You get calcium from the food you eat, or from supplements. But your body needs Vitamin D in order to absorb calcium and phosphorous from the intestinal tract. No matter how much calcium you ingest, without Vitamin D your body cannot absorb it from the small intestine.

Research shows that calcium and Vitamin D deficiency in combination puts you at risk for a wide array of chronic diseases. Studies suggest that 90% of the population is deficient in one, the other, or both. Vitamin D helps prevent osteoporoses. When your body is short of calcium it pulls it from your bones. This leads to osteoporosis. Here is how it works. If there is not enough calcium in your diet or not enough Vitamin D to facilitate the absorption, then Vitamin D and the parathyroid hormone will work together to pull this mineral from the bones. The result is osteoporosis.

You have Vitamin D receptors all throughout your body and scientists have found that there are also Vitamin D receptors sites throughout all the organs. Activated Vitamin D is one of the most potent regulators of cell growth in both normal and cancerous cells. The more activated Vitamin D your body can create the better. In fact, billions of cells use Vitamin D to respond to a wide variety of diseases and help the body heal. It is one of the most potent powerful nutrients you can give to your body. (Dr. John Cannell’s article “The Secrets of Vitamin D Production”).

If you are not getting out in the sun for 15-20 minutes almost daily and not eating appropriate Vitamin D rich foods or taking supplements, you are at high risk for a deficiency. The best way to know if you are deficient is to have a yearly measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D as part of your annual physical exam. The test you should ask for is a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test. This test measures levels of calcidiol in your blood.

Optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D values are: 50-60 ng/mlor or 125-160 nmol/l

Also, when looking at your results you may see seasonal variations. Your levels will likely be lower in the winter than in the summer.

You Don’t Need to Burn to Get Your Vitamin D

Here are some basic guidelines to responsible sun exposure:

1. Fair-skinned, 10-20 minutes of high summer sun will produce adequate Vitamin D levels. Skin with a moderate amount of pigmentation, 20-40 minutes. Those with the darkest skin may need up to two hours to meet daily Vitamin D requirements.

2. If you are going to be in the sun longer than what you need for Vitamin D, take measures to cover you most sensitive skin – usually your face, shoulders, and the back of your legs.

3. Natural Sunscreens – Sunscreens with zinc oxide as the active ingredient go on thick, but they are safe and effective. Zinc oxide protects against both UV-A and UV-B rays, and zinc oxide remains stable even when exposed to UV radiation unlike the active ingredients found in most sunscreens.

4. Give some thought to how much exposure you are going to get, and act accordingly.

This one hormone can dramatically reduce the chances of developing a chronic disease…and if your levels are low Biotics makes a wonderful, easy to take supplement called Bio-D-Mulsion Forte. I would recommend 2 drops per day. If you or someone you know is severely deficient I would suggest starting on 5 drops a day for 30 days then reduce to 2 drops a day.

My Vitamin D level in May of 2007 was 29. Sometime around October-November I started taking 2-3 drops a day of Bio-D-Mulsion Forte. I also made sure I increased my Cod Liver Oil during December and January. I had my Vitamin D level checked on February 12, 2008 and it is 65.

Diane Weisenberg, BS, NTP
Diane is an educator, researcher, and a spirited and passionate forager of whole foods, health and nutrition. As a Practice Manager for a Holistic Veterinary Clinic she is also involved in small animal nutrition. My Motto: Stay curious and get to know the body you were gifted with.

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.

Reflexology Overview
During a first reflexology appointment, I measure the arch of the foot and then from the toe back to the heel with a Brannock measuring device. I check the foot’s width. I have them do a walking stride imprint on something resembling a giant ink pad while looking for how the client balances weight from side to side. Once that has printed on the paper, I have the client step over their imprint and trace the outline of their foot. I then take the shoe they came in with and place it over this foot tracing to figure out if the shoe they are currently wearing is the right length and style for them. Inevitably I hear “well, I don’t wear it that often” from my clients. I liken this to what we hear as NTP’s when reviewing food journals. I’ve asked clients to keep a diary about their shoes to really get an idea of how much time they spend in the shoes they tell me they do not wear that often. This aspect is critical if they have sought my services because they currently have foot pain.

The next step is a quick bone assessment of the feet and lower leg. Reflexologists work the feet, hands and ears and are allowed to work up to the lower 1/3 of the legs and arms. The bone assessment is especially important if someone comes in wearing orthodics. My specialty as a Reflexologist is in working with the structure of the foot to return full mobility. When an orthodic is prescribed, it is often prescribed when many bones are out of alignment. If my goal as a practitioner is to get everything back into place and mobile, the orthodic often becomes obsolete with the first reflexology session.

Ready to begin, clients relax on my massage table with a bolster under their knees and a light blanket when needed. Now I can see the sole of the foot and what the leg length is currently. I look for calluses, corns, toes that have moved out of position, bunions, hammer toes, etc. I look at the nail size and compare each toe’s nail to the next. From my position at

the client’s feet, I also assess the tip of the client’s nose and I am looking for a crease under the tip of the nose to tell me about heart issues and between the eye brows to tell me about the state of the liver. I feel for tension in the lower leg to tell me about the heart and have referred many folks out for blood pressure help. Now an NTP, I can take the blood pressure myself! The quality of tissue, tendons and ligaments of the entire foot talk to me about vitamin/mineral needs, health of the liver or if sugar handling needs to be addressed.

My own health care team is made up of chiropractors who work off the spine and Acupuncturists: Five Element and Traditional Chinese styles. What I have learned from all of these practitioners colors what I bring forth in the care I give to my own clients. As a result, I use not only the reflexes of the foot to “treat” a client, I also use the meridian flow of energy, the lymphatic flow, the nerve, breath and blood flows of the body. My foot assessment continues, before I actually begin working, by putting some of the already mentioned factors of bunions, hammer toes, calluses together with what toe they match. See the graphic of the hand and foot meridian reference points. I also look at the great toe to represent thinking; the second toe is feeling; the third toe is doing; the fourth toe is communication; the fifth toe is family of origin and family of mankind.

Then from a reflex point of view, I have moved away from “points” on a chart. You might have noticed differences from one chart to another. This is all about copyright laws. I consider the right foot to house things pertinent to the right side of the body. When thinking about anatomy and physiology superimpose the body onto the sole of each foot. All toes are representative of the neck (doesn’t the toe “stem” look like our neck?) and head. The webbed area between the toes is the top of the shoulders and ends at the shoulder joint at the little toes. Under the toes in the metatarsal area is the chest/lung/between the shoulder blades and the blades themselves. This is also breast tissue/lymph and lungs/heart and ribs. Right under the metatarsals and slightly different in color is the diaphragm/liver/gallbladder/colon/small intestine/stomach and all body parts in the mid region of our body. Arms and legs are located at the lateral sides of the feet. Around the ankles is the pelvic girdle/fallopian tubes/pubic bones. The middle of the heel has a liver point (I say that heel “spurs” in this region are connected to the liver). The bowel and the base of the spine are in the heel and the sides of the heel medially are uterus/prostate and the lateral heel houses ovaries and testes.

Three Typical Clients
S came to see me because she thought she had plantar’s fascitis. I measured her feet, assessed the bone structure of her feet and lower legs. Her tissue was like the Pillsbury Dough boy. I asked her what

she ate the most each day and she said about 12 cans of coke and two to three coffees. I told her she was malnourished. She was shocked.

K’s foot hurt after a weekend of training for an upcoming bike trip. She rode her bike one day for 70 miles, the next day for 90 miles, and followed that up the next day with a walk with a girlfriend, even though her foot hurt. She thought she had “bad pedals” on the bike. After assessing her feet, I told her she’d over trained and broken the second metatarsal bone and sent her off for an x-ray. She didn’t believe me until the doctor confirmed what I’d already told her. During those rides she’d only eaten “bars”.

When I first touched “R”, I knew he didn’t want to live. He had an asbestos tumor in his lung large enough to deform his rib cage. I wondered what I could do with my reflexology treatment and simply “tuned” him up. He called me the next day to say that the nausea he had been dealing with was gone. I had concentrated my treatment on his stomach, liver and kidneys because I knew he’d undergone a lot of chemo. He was so happy because he loved to eat, and in fact, took me out to his favorite lunch spot. His wife told me after he died that he had told her when they married he would pass at the age of 54. He did.

Seasonal Considerations: Summer
I always make note of the season when a new client shows up for treatment. Summer is about lightening up, play and deep joy. Conversely, one can feel “burned out”. The element of summer is Fire that gives us the power of illumination, to see our way through darkness. All things in nature have come into full ripening and bloom. From Fire comes partnership and warmth in relationships and community. When a client “hates” summer, I always ask what summer vacation was like between school grades and if the client knows how to play! Sometimes I have to help the client define what play might be for them.

Summer is about the Heart and is considered in Chinese medicine to have greater importance than the brain. When we wobble or lose our way with any part of life’s journey, listening to our Heart is key to restoration. There are three other “officials” that guide and support the Heart. The Pericardium is the protector of the heart and is in charge of grace and grants us full intimacy in relationship. The Triple Warmer/Burner/Heater is our joy maker, rhythm maker, family maker. The Small Intestine (considered to be the secretary) does the work of sorting and separating, of clarifying life at every level–body, mind, spirit.

Some practical tips for tending the fire of summer: eat bitter tasting vegetables like endive, spinach, watercress. Bitter tastes feed your fire. **When it’s hot outside, eat cool foods like fresh fruits, watermelon (eat melons alone or leave them alone), cucumber. Avoid drinking ice-cold drinks. Iced coffees are really heat producing because the fire is in the ROASTED coffee bean. **Notice clues showing you might be “burned out”: not wanting to return phone calls/answer e-mails; you don’t want to interact with people; you yearn for peace and quiet. **Balance activity with solitude. Take warm baths at the end of days filled with outside activities.

Digestion
Here we go. Let’s visit Digestion and what it looks like in the foot. Bunions tell me a lot about a person: HCl is insufficient, there is a sugar handling problem and the liver is congested. If the great toe is straight, but the tip is upturned, this is more of a liver indicator. You see the medial border of the graphic shows spleen/pancreas. NTP’s know the pancreas is responsible for blood sugar handling and making digestive enzymes, but a bunion also tells me about the boundaries a client holds in their life. Women think they show up because of shoe choices, but over 30 years in practice with reflexology gives me a different opinion. Women with bunions often over-give in their lives and end up in such an exhausted state of being that life does not seem “sweet” any longer. The base of the great toe locates the reflexes for the thyroid/parathyroid and the voice box. When I ask a woman how easy it is to ask for what she wants in life, tears flow.

Flat feet indicate digestive disorders. The 2^nd and 3^rd toes are pertinent to the stomach, so if they are moved in any way, support the digestion! Operating on a hammer toe does not fix the digestive needs and ultimately sets up other problems for the foot.

Feet that are ticklish have digestive breakdowns. If a client is too wiggly and tense at the same time, I have them chew up a digestive wafer. NTP’s know the lingual/neural relationship has an immediate affect on the body. Clients are astonished when they settle down with ease by the time the wafer is swallowed and restless legs and cramping during a session calm down by putting a few grains of celtic sea salt on the tongue.

Chinese medicine partners organs and I like to think that way as well. So, in having talked about the liver, let me say a bit about the gallbladder. Referring to the graphic again, I look to the fourth toe. Is there a corn; has the toe moved in any way. Has the client talked about a neuroma (often found between the 3rd and 4th metatarsal bones–I think that a medially rotated calcaneus that moves the cuboid bone actually sets up the neuroma). Following that fourth toe on top of the foot to the ankle, you might see a quarter sized swelling. Gallbladder congestion shows up when you are trying to make an appointment for treatment and the client can’t “decide” day and time. “D” asked me why I never told her she had a gallbladder problem. When she had to ‘fess’ up to me that she was getting Botox for her frown lines on her forehead, we talked about what that meant for the liver and gallbladder, but once the gallbladder was removed, she forgot that information and many of her appointments!

Liver and gallbladder manage our life’s thinking/planning and ability to take action steps to bring “something” forth. Anger/frustration/irritation/impatience result when the gallbladder can’t decide what to take action about!! Imagine what happens to the brain when this cycle repeats over and over.

Hydration
Hydration problems in the body show up in the tissues of the feet; sometimes the entire sole of the foot looks like ripples in sand. When I talk to a client whose feet look like that, I ask them about how “easy” they find life. Nothing holds water back in the natural world, so when a client struggles with life, simply ADDING more water into their diet has amazing results. “S” created vertical lines in the small intestine area of the foot when she overdid colonics and drank too much coffee. Look to kidney information in the little toenail on each foot. A tiny nail on the right foot is our body’s bank account in life from mom, dad and the Universe. On the left side of the body, a tiny small toe nail is what you added into your life’s bank account from hydration, rest and life-style choices. If the small toe has moved, i.e. a tailor’s bunion, the client can feel insecure in life, fearful about life, and looks to others to define their “place” in the world.

Chinese medicine pairs the kidneys and bladder. They govern our bones and can be responsible for tight achilles tendons, leg cramps, sciatic nerve pain and chronic back pain, scoliosis, bouts of hearing loss or other ear disorders that don’t respond to hearing aids. The quality of hair and amount of hair is often related to kidneys. Feet pointing outwards and burning, sweating, or painful soles point to kidney/bladder, too.

Folks with tiny toenails on the small toes, have weak ankles as the kidney meridians loop around them. As a result, this person needs to avoid shoe styles that don’t have a solid heel cup to keep their calcaneous in place. Sport shoes need to have a filled-in, oval sole. A lot of these style shoes “cut in” under the arch creating instability for the ankle.

Sugar Handling
Sugar handling shows in bunions as well as whether the great toenail gets ingrown or not. Sugar issues also show up in the quality of the tissue of the foot. Ulcerations on the lower leg and foot are related to the heat and inflammation that sugar generates in the body. A paste of tumeric and milk or castor oil applied to the ulcer will begin to show healing signs within 24 hours. Have the client take 1-2 capsules of tumeric daily as well.

Some Do’s and Don’ts for Summer Shoes:
The first thing I teach my clients is how to fit a shoe to accommodate their feet needs so the marketplace becomes more manageable. If a client has come to me with plantar fascitis pain, it is imperative they comply with changing shoe styles to support the calcaneus’ alignment. Once I have measured a man’s feet, they often find they have been wearing shoes almost two sizes too short. Once the length size is managed properly, the client’s width and toe box circumference will be properly handled.

Flip flops are the shoe I love to hate. Diane Sawyer did a piece on flip flops for Good Morning America, June 8, 2008. What they said about folks shortening their walking stride is true. But the piece left out a lot of other information. Those toes of ours are designed to help us balance and manage/interpret the terrain we traverse. When they are holding on to ANY kind of a shoe that has no back to it, we create neck and shoulder tension, we medially rotate the calcaneus (creating plantar fascitis!) and we begin to put tension into our hips (gallbladder 30 is right at the hip socket). Every client that has had a knee replacement, ACL surgery or shin splints has a rotated calcaneus that also moved the fibula head and sometimes the knee cap out of place! Limit the time you might be tempted to wear this style shoe. The nickname for shoes without heel cups is “scuffy”. You can notice that scuffing sound as folks wearing that style of shoe walk around you.

Other shoes that I caution my clients against are: Crocs (they might be soft and cutely colored; they simply do not fit properly on the foot), MBT’s (the rocker shoe), Z-coils, Dansko clogs or any clog, earth shoes, or Birkenstocks because they all constrain the toes, Chacos overbuilt their arches (in my opinion).

I like some sandal styles of Naots, Finn Comfort, some Mephisto sandals, Romika, some Clarks, Naturalizer, Ecco, SAS, Teva has some terrific styles of sandals and I like Keens for some folks too.

I do not recommend buying a shoe and then adding inner soles to it to cushion your foot or putting in an arch “support”. This changes the interior space of the shoe significantly! Look for cush within the shoe’s design. Our medial arch is designed to flatten when we put weight on the foot in order to spring our stride forward. If we cannot do that, we begin to contract the arch tissues (our adrenal gland and kidney reflexes are located at this point) and the contraction continues up into the legs and hips. One of the constant comments of folks as they get off the table from a reflex session is how “fluffy” their feet feel. Hydrate and spend some time reflexing your feet and you will find “cush” is built in!

I hope this excites you to want to do your own exploration of reflexology as a tool for supporting whole body well-being. Reflexologists can be located nationally through the Reflexology Association of America at www.reflexology-usa.org, the American Reflexology Certification Board at www.arcb.net or the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals at www.abmp.com/home/index.html.

Lighten up. Laugh more. What makes you smile nourishes you. Seek it out.

Kandi’s journey started when she crushed her 5th lumbar disc in her early 20’s. The resulting sciatic pain caused her to search everywhere for relief. Her first pedicure was combined with a reflexology session that offered her immediate pain relief! On her way home from the appointment, she bought two books the Reflexologist had recommended and began tending to her own health. She received her massage license in 1987 and an NTP certification followed in 2008. Kandi can be reached in Seattle at (206) 441-TOES (8637) or by email at kandift4hlth@gmail.com

Disclaimer
Statements made in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products or protocols are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or be used as a substitute for appropriate care of a qualified healthcare professional.  The ideas and options of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc.