In Lieu Of Gifts This Year I Will Be Giving to Charity

Over the next few weeks I plan on posting links to some of the charities that I donate to. In lieu of gifts this year I am donating to several charities. My first favorite charity is the first charity I ever donated to. They remain the largest children's rights lobbying organizations in the United States. I am of course referring to The Children's Defense Fund. A great organization doing amazing things for America's children. If you would like to donate here is a link to their actual website. http://www.childrensdefense.org/

Can Velvet Bean (Mucuna Purens) be used effectively to treat Parkinson’s disease and Depression?

 (Mucuna Purens) has long been used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, and many other forms of traditional medicine, for centuries. This unusual plant has many usages, due to a wide variety of benefits that include, aiding in the relief of chronic pain, improved mood enhancement, increased libido, blood sugar stabilization and increasing testosterone.

One of the main active ingredients responsible for many of the therapeutic benefits of the Velvet Bean is Leva Dopa (L-Dopa), a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine dysregulation has been linked to several disease that include, Parkinson’s disease, chronic depression, drug addiction and the associated side-effects of withdrawal from drugs and alcohol, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and schizophrenia.

Dopamine is considered to be a neurotransmitter associated with reward-motivated behavior, and many recreational drugs have addictive qualities because of their ability to increase circulating dopamine in the brain. Dopamine can enhance mood, create feelings of joy and euphoria, and is associated with our ability to feel pleasure and even fall in love.

Currently, Velvet Beans is available as an extract of 15% L-Dopa and has been researched as an alternative treatment for Parkinson’s disease, drug addiction withdrawal, and depression. I don’t currently advice pregnant women to use Velvet Bean as it can raise testosterone and inhibit prolactin; an important hormone needed to aid in lactation.

For people currently taking antidepressants or antipsychotic medications Velvet Bean is contraindicated. Current dosage recommendations are 30 grams twice daily, or approximately 1 heaping teaspoon twice a day. I don’t advice taking Velvet Bean unless you have spoken to your doctor first; as it may be contraindicated with some medications.

New Studies Shows Link Between Youth Violence and Consumption of Soft Drinks

A recent article published in Injury Prevention has shown a link between the sugar and caffeine levels in soft drinks and youth violence.

While not a surprise to nutrition experts, or public health advocates, a possible link has been found between aggressive behavior in children and the consumption of carbonated beverages, and according to David Hemenway, MD, professor of public health, and director of the Injury Control Center at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (who over-saw the research) "This is the first study to suggest such an association."

The research, which controlled for sex, age, race, body mass index, typical sleep patterns, tobacco use, alcohol use, and having family dinners, found that high consumption of carbonated, non diet soft drinks showed a positive association with an 9% to 15% greater likelihood of engaging in aggressive behaviors. In fact, heavy soft drink use had about the same effect as tobacco and alcohol on violence.

While the exact amount of sugar and caffeine that can lead to aggression in currently not known, and Dr. Hemenway feels additional research needs to be carried out, the data suggest a possible cause-and-effect relationship between high soft drink consumption and aggression.

The research, carried out by Dr. Hemenway and coauthors, found that teenagers who drank more than five 12-ounce cans of carbonated soft drinks each week were more likely to carry a weapon and commit violence against friends, dates, and siblings. The study also found that the relationship appears to be a dose–response relationship, with the strongest relationships shown for teenagers drinking 14 or more cans per week. Of those adolescents, 42.7% carried a gun or knife, 58.6% were violent toward their peers, 26.9% were violent toward dates, and 45.3% perpetrated violence toward other children in their family.

Heavy soft drink use was also associated with, getting insufficient sleep and using alcohol and tobacco within the past 30 days.

Critics of the research, site the fact that data was collected using self reporting and that correlation does not necessarily lead to causation. Poor children often drink more soft drinks, and the study tended to look at a poorer minority populations of children, and children possibly more prone to violence, a population of children soda companies tend to market to.

Could Low Dose Radiation Extend Life Expectancy?

When Yiannis Karimalis, was told he had only months to live, he decided to return to his native Island of Ikaria Greece to die. He had thought it would be cheaper to be buried there and wanted to be close to his family in his final days. And than something strange happened, instead of dyeing, he proceeded to live happily and healthfully another 40 years.

The strange case of Yiannis Karimalis, who had been diagnosed with stomach cancer in the 1970's, is just one of a series of interesting and odd cases of life extension that have captured the interest and imagination of scientist. And researchers are currently attempting to discover what possible protective factors could exist on the Island of Ikaria that make it a place with so many healthy citizens of advanced age (Ikaria boast a large and vibrant senior population with very little chronic disease).

One possibly theory behind Karimali's remarkable recovery (in fact, when he returned on a recent visit to the United States, he discovered that he had survived all of his doctors), is Ikaria's hot springs. Like many people in Ikaria, Karimalis frequented the hot springs the Island was known for. Recent scientific research into the baths revealed that the springs emit low dose radon (a radioactive substance) that may be associated with life extension. One theory, by life-extension researchers, is that low dose radiation can be protective of DNA, thus reducing a person's risk of certain degenerative diseases, like cancer.

Other possible protective factors on the Island include: a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and fish, physical and sexual activity into old age, a culture that boast a greater respect for the elderly, and a culture that is seen as extremely close, affectionate, open, and demonstrative--where people are often perceived of as highly emotional and even volatile by outsiders. Tempers often flare up and are quickly cooled, but rarely progress to physical violence (a trait thought to be add additional cardiovascular-protective benefits).

Artificial Meat Less Than Six Months Away, Claim Scientist

In a mad dash to be the first scientific team to invent artificial meat by 2012, (PETA is currently offering a 1 million dollar prize to the first team that succeeds), Dutch scientist claim they are less than six months away from producing a synthetic lab grown sausage.

According to a recent article published in the Huffington Post, scientist may be just a year away from inventing artificial hamburger meat.

The idea of inventing cruelty free synthetic meat has been around for several years. However, it has only been in the last few years that the technology has enabled such products to become available.

Some of the potential benefits of such an invention could be the end of factory farming and widespread animal abuse, a reduction in methane gas and CO2 emissions, not to mention cheap readily available animal protein that could help reduce malnutrition and world hunger.

While I tend to be someone who encourages a whole-foods diet, I find myself being all too enthusiastic about the possibilities of animal-free meat products. The idea that so much land, currently being used to produce grain to feed cattle, can now be freed up to produce food that feeds people, or better yet free to return back to natural prairie lands, is an exiting idea. Still, convincing people to sink into a hamburger made from the stem cells of cows and fed on horse serum might be a hard sell. Furthermore, the meat is white in appearance and hardly appealing, namely because it contains no blood vessels.

Eating Animals: a book review

As of late, I have immersed myself, as only an anthropologist can, in the culture of the animal rights movement and the curious world populated by proponents of a vegan lifestyle (a diet that abstains from any food derived from animals including; dairy, eggs, fish and meat). During my studies, I fell upon the book “Eating Animals”, by Jonathan Safran Foer. Foer’s book, which became a national bestseller in 2009, was a glaring expose on the current escalation of factory farming in the United States, along with all of its horrific consequences, from the environmental devastation of factory farming, to the inhuman treatment of animals and the effect that eating large amounts of factory farmed meat on America’s overall health. Among the glaring statistics mentioned by Foer, are the fact that factory farms account for more than 40 percent of the global warming in our country (due to the astronomical amounts of methane gas being produced), loss of natural habitat, contamination of hundreds of lakes and streams, due to the run off from massive amounts of animals manure, pandemics (like Swine flu), and multiple medical problems like heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and obesity.

Sprinkled within the pages of this exhaustively well-researched book, are stories of his own childhood, as the grandchild of a holocaust survivor, and the significance that culture plays on our view of food and our food choices. The point being, that food is not just eaten for its taste, but also holds significant emotional meaning for us. Certain foods, such as traditional holiday foods can be eaten together with others in order to help create community and shared experiences. When we “break bread” with another human being, we are also creating bonds and shared experiences. A person who chooses to change their diet to a vegan diet does more than simply decide not to eat meat s/he chooses to challenge those old bonds and traditions. An example would be deciding to host a vegetarian Thanksgiving, instead of a traditional one with turkey. Perhaps this new Thanksgiving might create new traditions and a new community, but not with perhaps straining old ones.

Perhaps the thing that most influenced me about Safran’s book, peppered with dozens of studies citing the reasons not to eat meat, was his first hand accounts—by slaughterhouse workers—of horrific animal abuse they either witnessed or engaged in on a daily basis. While in some distant and abstract way I understood that animals are slaughtered in order that I eat meat, I had never really taken the time to thoroughly examine what goes into making meat on my plate so inexpensive and available.

The images in this book haunt me, and left me committed to finding a way to make it possible for both myself, and my patients, to choose a vegan lifestyle that was affordable and healthy. This book changed my life, made me re-evaluate the way I live and why I became a doctor in the first place. I became rededicated to my work as a health educator and to the firm commitment to contribute to a form of medicine that takes into account not only the health and welfare of the individual, but the planet as a whole. This book comes highly recommended.

Eat To Live: a book review

No Illness which can be treated by the diet should be treated by any other means.”

- Moses Maimonides (1135-1204)

When I was in medical school, I took a class on nutrition that required we read the book "Eat to Live," by Joel Furhman. Furhman is a family physician who specializes in treating obesity and chronic disease using diet alone. At that time, I was intrigued by the common sense logic of Furhman's approach, and could not understand why more doctors did not refer to his book to help them when developing diets for their patients.

Furhman explained what he called the 90/10 rule—where he encouraged people to obtain 90 percent of their calories from unprocessed fruits and vegetables—with animal products accounting for only 10 percent. This type of diet encourages people to eat foods that are high in nutritional content with very few calories. In Furhman's estimate, the most nutritious foods are green leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and beans (roughly half should be eaten raw), with animal products coming in dead last.

While many people prefer to make the meat dish the main course, from a nutritional standpoint, it is probably better to make the salad the main course; with meat acting as a kind of condiment. What this means is that people who eat this way consume foods that are high in nutritional value with very few calories. This is in contrast with the way most people live and eat today; where they consume high calorie foods that have little nutritional value whatsoever. Because this type of eating is naturally much lower in calories, but loaded with fiber and nutrients, people feel full, quickly begin to lose weight, and experience much better health overall.

Perhaps the most interesting observation I have made about this diet is that it so closely resembles what we believe people closer to nature eat. An example would be the Native American populations of the Pacific Northwest Coast, like the Sahaptin of the Columbia River, which I studied while a student at the University of Washington. Most anthropologist today believe that gatherers and hunters subsist mostly on a vegetarian diet with meat only eaten in small quantities. We also find that people who eat this way, live much longer and experience far less chronic diseases.

When in doubt about what to eat, Furhman suggest you eat 2 pounds of vegetables and fruit a day (1/2 of these should be raw and 1/2 cooked), to obtain optimal health. This way of eating is also very high in fiber (which has been found to lower cholesterol and help in elimination). If you are looking for an excellent book on general information about health and diet, I cannot think of a better one to recommend than Eat to Live, it is by far the best book I have ever read on health and nutrition for the health professional and layman alike.