Calcium – bone builder or risky? Travel kitchen tip.

My Digestion TeleSeminar

Learn about digestion from the comfort of your home. My teleseminar is this Tuesday, June 19 at 7 PM. If you are interested but not available at that time, you might sign up anyway because those who are registered will have a brief opportunity to use an archive. Click this link for info and to register: LINK.

Healthy by Nature radio show this week

I aim to help keep you healthy and active (i.e. avoid degenerative disease) until your number is up. This week, part of that is alerting you to hazards that are all around us. The wide variety of creative ways people can find to suddenly die prematurely is darkly comical. I was amazed by the huge collection of odd death statistics, trivia and vintage illustrations and photos compiled in Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die , by Michael Largo. So, I invited him to be a guest. We also talk with Derek Mellencamp about how to assure that your drinking water is not contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Click here to find pod-casts, show archives and ways to listen nationwide.

Will the "experts" please make up their darn minds?

Calcium. I remember back in the mid 80’s that no one questioned that women need extra calcium to guard against osteoporosis. The first (and still one of the few) “health claim” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved was one that says calcium builds strong bones. (Health claims are descriptions of benefits approved for use on packages and in advertising.) At that time the FDA proclaimed 1,000 mg as the right daily dose. Oddly, no differentiation in dose was made between forms that were easily absorbed and those that weren’t. Also, no mention was made of the need for any other nutrients to make the calcium effective and safe. Nutritionists knew that people should at least take a product that also contained magnesium. When the FDA said it was considering increasing the daily intake recommendation to 1,500 mg, that sounded extreme and so I ignored them. Then I learned that the US has the highest intake of dairy products and calcium in the world and yet the highest rate of osteoporosis. Common sense started to seem more reliable than federal guidelines. I began recommending a bone formula like Jarrow’s BoneUp because it is a superior form of calcium and contains many of the other nutrients the body requires to get calcium into the bone rather than into inconvenient places like bone spurs, kidney stones or worse yet, arteries. In most cases I told clients not to take the full dose because they also get calcium in their foods. That is still my position. Calcium and heart disease. Researchers looking to document a benefit from calcium on heart disease did not find one. Calcium from dairy products didn’t seem to help. Calcium from supplements actually seemed to increase the risk of heart attack. LINK Scientists can’t control for all possible variables such as differentiating between supplements of plain calcium and those that also contained magnesium. Also, surely they didn’t sort out people taking good quality supplements from those taking ones that are more like ground up rocks. Who knows how many of the supplement takers were cautious healthy folks or just trying to compensate for bad habits? The list of possible questions goes on, but in any case, the findings are alarming. Perhaps we can gain some insight by looking at the diet of our primitive ancestors. Our hunter-gatherer forbearers had a much greater supply of Vitamin K--it helps keep calcium going into the bone rather than the arteries. Vitamin K comes from dark leafy greens (like spinach and kale) which used to be a much greater proportion of the diet. It is also made by beneficial bacteria in the gut. Unfortunately, those good bacteria are depleted by medications, chlorinated water and many other modern inventions. Both Calcium and Magnesium are important for bone. In the ancient diet, magnesium was plentiful (from greens, nuts, seeds, etc.), so our chemistry did not need to be protective of it. Calcium was rarer and our systems became good at hanging on to it. Today, the supply equation has reversed. Magnesium deficiency is widespread, while at the same time dairy intake is great. Even orange juice has added calcium! Tiny muscles constrict or relax blood vessels. Calcium makes muscles contract while Magnesium relaxes them. Might that be part of the calcium/cardio connection? I think it makes sense to appreciate our natural chemistry and therefore work harder at getting magnesium and back off the hunt for calcium. Next week: bones part 2-what about FDA approved bone drugs and ideas on improving bone density safely.

Kitchen tip for on the road

File this one under “slightly wacky”. I was in New Mexico this week for meetings. Other than scrambled eggs, the breakfast buffet was the typical starchfest. A couple days in I decided to make my own breakfast with leftovers from an excellent dinner the night before. I cut the grilled salmon, roasted veggies and onions into bite sized pieces. I spooned them and the rice into the coffee pot and did a little stir-fry. It was hot and yummy. Of course, I didn’t want to leave a mess for the cleaning crew, so washed the pot out thoroughly with shampoo and a clean wash cloth. Fortunately there was a small refrigerator in my room. When there isn’t, I use this trick: fold a bath towel on the bottom of the bath tub. Fill the plastic bag from the ice bucket with ice from the dispenser down the hall. Tie the top of the bag tightly. Put the bag of ice on top of the to-go container of food. Wrap another doubled bath towel around it snugly on top. Usually there is still ice in the morning and the food is safely cold.

LAST WEEK

Two herbal experts and Dr. Paula Strait joined us to discuss how most common underarm deodorants interfere with one of our body’s important detoxification pathways and possibly increase the risk of cancer.  On the lighter side we investigate another type that actually promotes detoxification.  Even more interesting, these herbalists have discovered how to use the same principles to reduce belly fat…yes from the outside. To purchase, visit: www.TummyShrinker.com or call toll free 1-866-999-3006.

Restless legs, magnesium, high blood pressure, cake, events

Healthy by Nature radio show this week: We talk about looking younger at any age and avoiding dangerous procedures. Dallas area practitioner, Dr. Darcy Brunk, discusses the use of micro-currents to improve the appearance and health of the skin and to lift and tighten facial features. Then Valerie Hall, CNHP covers the foods and supplements that contribute to our good looks (and health). Note: below and from now on, I’ll include in the newsletter the links from the previous week’s show and a link to the archive in case you missed it. Click here to find podcasts, show archives and ways to listen nationwide. Call with questions during the show at 1-800-281-8255.

Restless Legs and Blood Pressure

I recently noticed an article about a study that linked restless legs syndrome and hypertension among middle-aged women. The study included 65,544 women (aged 41-58 years) that participated in the Nurses' Health Study II. (I’m glad to know that the experts think that 58 is still middle aged because it means I could live to be 116!) The article mentioned that iron deficiency is thought to be one cause of restless legs. I looked up the abstract (LINK) to see if perhaps they also mentioned magnesium They did not, but it seems maybe they should have. Magnesium is considered a potential help for restless legs and often is helpful for high blood pressure too. (Magnesium has a looong list of other benefits.) The following linked article lists the many things (mostly drugs) being considered for helping restless legs. LINK A review of 29 trials indicates that Vitamin C helps lower blood pressure. The typical dose was 500 mg / day. LINK. The vitamin also improves the absorption of iron from food, so C might also be useful for restless legs if it was due to low iron.

Cake

Bill and I were elated that our daughter, Laura McMullen married Rob Fuller on Saturday. A few times a year I make an art project type of cake for family events. This groom's cake (photo below) was a bigger deal than usual and I was pretty relieved to have it completed. The basket, bottle, napkin, apple etc. is life size and everything you see is edible, being made of cake and frosting. I just have to show off the picture here because the evidence of that work becomes a pile of crumbs so fast! If you are into that sort of thing, here is a link to a bigger photo and some of my other cakes. (Nothing healthy about them I’m afraid.) LINK.

EVENTS THIS WEEK

Saturday, April 28, 2012 10:30 – 1:30 (come and go as you like)Ezzilift Mother’s Day Party Open House •    Demos of the micro-current facelift device •    Special Savings (buy a kit for the price of just the device) •    Gift bag (a gift for just watching the demo, more gifts with purchase) •    Refreshments Location: HealthWorks Center (On the back side of the shopping center on the SW Corner of Parker & Independence in Plano, TX. Street address: 3221 Independence, 75075. For more information call 1-877-262-7843.) Saturday, April 28, 2012 -- 10th Annual, Integrative Oncology Conference    Hilton Dallas / Southlake Town Square    100 Plaza Place, Southlake, Texas, United States 76092    To register: email annie@bestanswerforcancer.org or Call 512-342-8181. Experts from around the world will lecture on the many diet, lifestyle, emotional and even spiritual issues involved in causing and curing this dreaded disease. They will also talk about cutting edge therapies. Doctors and other health professionals can earn continuing education credits (LINK).  There are also lectures for the public on Saturday. Click here for speaker list and cost: LINK

Information about last week's show:

Dr. Jeffrey Burke (naturopath and herbalist) talked about which forms of minerals are best absorbed and about a way to take vitamins in fizzy form with Oxylent. Then, producer Andy Hopkins turns things around and interviews me about Aloe vera and my book on the subject. We discussed the science that shows why Lily of the Desert brand is so much more potent than other brands. ARCHIVED SHOW.