Coz Being Ageless Is Priceless

The Karate Kid

June 15, 2010
Medicines in a Chinese pharmacy in Seattle.

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Yes, I saw it on the opening weekend! It was actually better than I expected. Anyway, it’s interesting how the movie incorporated some aspects of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), primarily moxibustion. I don’t do this procedure in my practice but have referred clients to TCM practitioners. This traditional form of medicine has been practiced for over 5,000 years and is being used as primary health care by more than half of the world’s population. Moxibustion involves the burning of an herb called mugwort. It is useful for treating a variety of conditions such as aches and pains, colds and flu, and even poor digestion. Sounds like a Harry Potter movie, huh? Anyway, it does work and I encourage people to try other alternative forms of treatment once in a while.

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TGIF!

June 12, 2010
Massage in Frankfurt, Germany

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Yes, indeed. It’s been a busy, stressful work week and I’m ready for a relaxing weekend. Good thing that I’m taking supplements such vitamin C complex and pantothenic acid to help support my adrenals. Without those, I’ll probably be running like a chicken with it’s head cut off. Ever seen that scenario? I did when I was a kid staying at my grandparent’s house. My grandpa did the cooking and I would watch him make awesome dishes from scratch. And that includes catching a free range chicken and cutting it’s head off. Anyway, back to de-stressing for the weekend. There are 2 kinds of stress. One is eustress, which is actually beneficial for the body and the other one is distress, which is actually harmful for the body. In today’s blog, I’m referring to distress whenever I mention stress. People often equate stress with emotional drama. However, there are other things that could cause stress such as physical, mental, social, spiritual and electro-magnetic factors. No one is immune to stress. Nada! Since we’re all prone to stress, then we should all have ways to effectively respond to it. Massage therapy, meditation and retail therapy are my favorites. What’s yours?

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I Hate Radicals!

June 11, 2010
The lipid peroxidation mechanism shows a singl...

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Free radicals, that is! Free radicals are highly unstable atoms or molecules that have unpaired electrons. In order to maintain stability, they steal electrons from other molecules such as our cells thereby causing cell damage. A good analogy would be a codependent/clingy person. He or she always has to be with someone to thrive or even survive. That ain’t fun! Anyhow, excessive free radical formation leads to premature aging and nobody wants that. To fight against free radicals, we need to take antioxidants. Antioxidants are molecules that basically donates electrons to free radicals which then neutralize them and prevent them from damaging other cells. Antioxidants come in the form of vitamins (Vitamins A, C and E), minerals (zinc, selenium), amino acids (glutathione), herbs (ginkgo), essential oils (clove essential oil) and other nutrients (resveratrol). Antioxidants typically turn into free radicals once they donate their electrons. That’s why it’s always a good idea to take a good mix of antioxidants rather than just taking an isolated one. Among the antioxidants by the way, glutathione is the only one that doesn’t turn into a free radical. Neat, huh?

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Breast Alert! Women Beware…..

June 9, 2010
the international RADURA-logo

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Annual breast radiation ain’t hot! Yup, you read it right. That’s what you call the standard procedure used to screen for tumors in the breasts. More benignly called “mammograms”, the procedure actually involves the use of ionizing radiation. And what does ionizing radiation do? It damages the DNA, causes cell mutation and voila, tumor formation. The studies are found in prestigious journals such as the Archives of Internal Medicine, as mentioned in NaturalNews.com. There are other ways to screen for breast tumors. Besides self-breast exams, other procedures include breast thermography, ultrasound or even MRI. What things can one do to prevent problems in the breasts anyway? Simple things such as going bra-less at night, wearing bras without metal wires, avoiding the use of anti-perspirants, intake of cruciferous vegetables, avoiding environmental toxins (such as xenoestrogens from plastic containers since they accumulate in fatty tissues such as the breasts) and regular detox. So, smart up women (and that goes for men too)! Be informed! Ask questions!

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The Darker Side of Beauty

June 8, 2010
Dermatology products

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What’s up with mercury in skin whitening agents, toluene in nail polish, lead in lipstick and other sorts of toxins found in beauty products? The fact is that a lot of personal care products such as shampoos, lotions, make-up and hair styling products contain ingredients that are linked to asthma, cancer, infertility and birth defects, among many others. Why do you think there’s a surge in incidence of chronic degenerative diseases? Aside from the fact that our food is not as nutritious (because of farming practices and the extensive use of pesticides), we are seeing a deluge of synthetic chemicals that have not been tested for safety. And even if they have, they’re usually tested singly and not in combination with other chemicals. This toxic soup of chemicals have harmful synergistic effects. Scary! Therefore, go natural as much as possible. Read labels too! Explore http://www.cleanbodycare.com for all natural body care.

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Toxic America

June 4, 2010
Overview of main health effects on humans from...

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Now on CNN….. Interesting how a taboo subject is now in the mainstream media. Remember watching the Julia Roberts’ movie called Erin Brokovich? In that movie, corporate polluters were getting away with it until a nosey woman starts meddling with their affairs. Movie ended well. Hope it happens in real life too. It appears that corporate polluters are getting a slap in the hand and pay a measly fee for their misdemeanors (compared to the billions they earn in profits). Anyway, it’s timely that Dr. Sanjay Gupta discusses about this growing problem of toxic pollutants affecting our environment. Among those mentioned are arsenic, chromium and dioxins. Unfortunately, what happens is that people just abandon toxic communities. I don’t blame them. Nothing is really being done to clean the affected areas. What happens when our environment is toxic? We should clean it up. What happens when our bodies are toxic? We should clean them up even more so. What are the symptoms of a toxic environment? Plants, wildlife and people get sick. What are the symptoms of a toxic body? Headaches, fatigue, brain fog, premature aging, autoimmune disease, cancer, etc. Too numerous to mention. Should symptom relief be the goal? Yes, but that’s not enough. How about detoxifying the body? That would be the smart thing to do. Our food, air and water are not as clean as they used to be. We need to detox regularly or else….

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No More Shopping….

June 3, 2010
Thin plastic shopping bags

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…in plastic bags, that is. In an interesting article on AOL News, it stated that California may be the first state in the nation to totally ban plastic bags. San Francisco enacted a decree banning plastic bags a couple of years ago. Anyway, it’s about time that plastic bags are banned altogether because as environmentalists and anti-littering advocates say, they are unnecessary, unsightly and dangerous to wildlife. More importantly, plastic gives off chemicals that act as hormone-disruptors in the body, otherwise known as xenoestrogens. We are seeing a lot of hormonal imbalances as early as the pre-teen years because of the environmental toxins that are all around us. Thank goodness, people are now becoming more aware of how the environment influences our planetary and personal health. The use of paper bags however, may not be the best solution. It takes 14 million trees to create 10 billion paper bags, according to the article. The solution is to use recyclable bags or better yet, a Y3 tote bag (or your favorite designer bag) when shopping. Fortunately, there are different ways to detoxify the body of the harmful chemicals that come from plastic. Among these include the use of an infra-red sauna and if this is not available in your area, make sure that you do sweat regularly (through exercise, using a sweat lodge, dry sauna or steam bath). Another way to detox the body of xenoestrogens is through the intake of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower or my favorite, bok choy. This can be accomplished through supplements such as Calcium D-glucarate or glutathione as well.

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What A Hot Oily Mess!

June 2, 2010
Alternative Energy Galore

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Finally, I’m making a comment about the oil spill that’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico. What does this have to do with health in general? A lot! What’s happening is an environmental disaster of epic proportions (not trying to be dramatic here). It’s going to affect everything up the food chain eventually. What strikes me as odd is the way the emergency response has been all this time. The “topkill” solution didn’t make any sense at all. It’s like putting a band aid on a gushing wound hoping that by some miracle, it’s going to stop. Hello? This is a good example of treating the symptom, rather than addressing the root of the problem. We need to end our dependence on oil (not just foreign oil). There are a lot of alternative energy sources out there that we haven’t tapped as extensively as we could (like geothermal, hydroelectric or solar; not a fan of nuclear though). As far as our personal health is concerned, we also need to find out the root causes of symptoms, rather than just treating the symptoms alone. A good example is that of high blood pressure. Diet, exercise, weight loss, herbs and medications do help. But, we need to find out whether factors like nutrient deficiencies, stress, heavy metal toxicity or hormonal imbalance play a role in the situation.

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Fat Tuesday

I know that’s how most people feel like especially after a long holiday weekend. People tend to overeat and not exercise during these rare occasions. I would say that, just give yourself a break when you get off of your program. Oftentimes, you need a break from the monotony of it all. Take exercise, for instance. People do get bored doing repetitive, low-impact, hour-long exercises. Studies show that this is not healthy long-term. Dr. Al Sears’ program, called P.A.C.E., shows how it is so much better to do short bursts of intense or vigorous exercise. This is how our ancestors did it. They did intense shorts bouts of intense activity to gather food or avoid being food. A new study at the University of Missouri-Columbia shows that high-intensity exercise is the best way to reduce anxiety. Apparently, this kind of exercise enhances HGH production and optimizes brain chemistry, thereby making you feel good. So, go ahead and work it!

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Sex and the City

May 28, 2010
Cover of "Sex and the City: The Movie - E...

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You got it right! It’s the opening weekend of one of the more anticipated movies in 2010. The first movie (shown back in 2007), for those of you not in the know, is about 4 women who are now in their perimenopausal years . It’s nice to see these fictitious women go through this stage with flying colors, practically free from distressing symptoms. In real life however, we’re seeing a lot of symptoms associated with the hormonal changes that accompany perimenopause/menopause. These include anxiety, depression, hot flashes, night sweats, menstrual changes, vaginal dryness, low libido and more. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to relieve these symptoms. Medical aromatherapy, herbal and homeopathic medicines, acupuncture and other modalities have been used by holistic practitioners all over the world. In my practice, we use bioidentical hormones to help women (and men) age well. Bioidentical hormones are hormones that have the exact same structure as what our bodies produce. There are commercial and compounded preparations available by prescription. The goal is to bring about balance in hormones to help us age well.

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