WEIGHT LOSS: PUTTING DINNER ON THE TABLE

July 28th, 2011

Some time ago I interviewed a young chef for the job of designing “diet food” for this book. I put the challenge to her this way: “I need to design the most delightful, sensuous diet food that people have ever eaten. The recipes have to balance proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in a precise 30-30-40 ratio, eliminate most common food allergens like wheat, dairy, corn, and soy, and be easy for the typical man or woman to prepare . . . and make it food that the entire family will enjoy. Oh, and it should be inexpensive.”Meg just looked at me and said, “No problem.”When Meg West and I sat down and put together this truly delightful selection of “diet food,” my standards were very high because I really enjoy food! This food had to taste good!Let me introduce you to the most delightful, sensuous “diet” food you’ve ever enjoyed. Meg designed each of these menus to fit into your busy schedule, yet tease your taste buds with combinations of foods and flavors you may never have experienced. Several of my clients have commented on how tempting each meal is and that some of their grown children are dropping by for dinner more frequently! One woman was even asked to open her own restaurant—using her “diet foods”! We think you’ll be delighted as well.Just one word of warning: The most difficult part of this menu plan may be the time factor. You need to spend a little more time in the kitchen but this doesn’t have to be bad. We’re so used to throwing a plate of spaghetti, a bowl of cereal, or a creamy casserole on the table that it takes some getting used to in order to plan a meal around a protein embellished with fresh vegetables and condiments of fruit. We’ve lost the art of culinary skills, of nourishing both soul and body in the preparation and serving of beautiful, delicious food.The preparation of really good food is an important part of our culture that needs to be passed on from generation to generation. What flavors and aromas will our children remember from their childhood mealtimes? SpaghettiOs and Hamburger Helper? Boxes of KFC and containers of instant mashed potatoes topped with pseudogravy? The pizza deliveryman?The menus that follow do require that you become reacquainted with your kitchen. You will need to spend a little more time shopping for and preparing food. You will want to stock your pantry with ingredients ahead of time so they are ready when you need them.
“The most important things I learned on Carol’s program were how to take care of myself and live healthy for the rest of my life.”KAREN
We encourage our clients to do their grocery shopping twice a week and prepare all their vegetables before they put them away in the refrigerator. Vegetables can be washed, cut, and stored in containers in the refrigerator and last for several days if they are prepared and dried carefully. The few minutes you spend in planning and advance preparation will drastically cut down meal preparation and kitchen cleanup each evening. This is so important that we’ve included “Meal-in-a-Flash Prep Plans” with nearly every recipe.As a busy wife, mother, and businesswoman, I’ve found that if I spend just twenty minutes in the kitchen while the kids are getting ready for school in the morning, doing these “Meal-in-a-Flash Prep Plan” ideas, I can serve dinner with minimal time in the kitchen in the evening when I’m really rushed and still caught up in the events of the day.The menu plans that follow accomplish several goals:1. They eliminate the foods most likely to cause allergic reactions; that is, they do not contain wheat or dairy (except for goat milk products in a few recipes), or artificial ingredients. The use of corn products is minimal.2. They use fresh foods from the supermarket with minimal packaged foods. You will be eating live foods with an abundance of fresh vegetables, some fruits, and some grains. Your body will thrive on the rich variety of this diet.3. You are allowed to eat as much of this food as you desire as long as you balance every meal carefully. In other words, each menu is carefully balanced among protein, carbohydrates, and fats. The portion size is fairly insignificant. Eat until you are satisfied. The only thing you must be careful about is not increasing just the carbohydrate portion of the meal. If you feel you need to eat a little more, increase both the carbohydrate and protein.4. Each meal is designed to reduce the secretion of insulin and stimulate the release of glucagon, accomplished very simply through balancing the macronutrients. While you may change the order of the whole menu (you may eat Tuesday’s menu on Wednesday, for example) you may not exchange foods within the menu for another (you may not substitute a baked potato for the salad, for example). Each menu has been put together specifically to balance out the other foods within the meal. And please remember to drink eight to ten glasses of water each day.
It can be difficult to make an abrupt change in your eating habits, so I strongly recommend that for at least the first three months (or until you are comfortable on this program) you either use a meal replacement bar or a protein drink for your breakfast meal. It can be daunting to change three meals a day, especially first thing in the morning when you’re rushing out the door!I’ve counseled many clients on this program and found that they were able to follow the program if they didn’t have to think about breakfast. When I asked them to prepare three balanced meals a day, they nearly always failed. But if I recommended either a meal replacement bar or a protein drink for breakfast, they nearly always succeeded.Most food bars are far too carbohydrate dense to qualify as an insulin-reducing meal. Even so-called high-protein bars often contain less than 15 grams of protein up against 40 or more grams of carbohydrate. And most of those carbohydrates are high Glycemic Index sugars that will jack up your blood sugar levels precipitously and stimulate an insulin response. Other bars that are well balanced between the macronutrients are so full of potential allergy-producing ingredients that I have trouble recommending them.The only two bars I can recommend at this time are Balance bars and Ironman bars. Both of these bars (available in numerous flavors) are sold through health food stores and GNC. If you cannot obtain them locally, check Appendix С for more information.If you don’t care for a bar, you may use a protein drink for breakfast instead. Again, the issue is one of optimum balance between the macronutrients protein, carbohydrate, and fat. There are few protein powders that meet these requirements. The ones I can recommend are:Fulfill, from Nature’s Secret (mix with flax oil) UniPro The Perfect Protein (mix with fruit and flax oil) Nature’s Life SuperPro 96 (mix with fruit and flax oil) Nature’s Plus Spirutein
These protein drinks should be available through your local health food store or GNC. If not, check Appendix С for information on how to obtain these products in your area.There may be other protein powders that work well; simply read the ingredients carefully to make sure they contain no more than one-third more carbohydrate than protein in a serving size. For example, if one scoop of powder provides 15 grams of protein, it should contain no more than 22.5 grams of carbohydrate. If one scoop provides 20 grams of protein, it should contain no more than 30 grams of carbohydrates.Be particularly careful to avoid artificial sweeteners, artificial coloring or flavoring agents, and preservatives. Be especially wary of the protein or meal replacement drinks promoted heavily on TV or other media; they are typically full of sweeteners (high in carbohydrates) and artificial {everything}! If you can, avoid any foods to which you may be allergic, like corn sweeteners (fructose), casein protein (protein from a dairy source—the label will read “casein . . .”), egg or dairy protein, or other foods that may be specific to your own needs.*59\319\2*

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COSMETIC SURGERY FOR AGEING SKIN: HAIR TRANSPLANTATION

July 19th, 2011

Hair transplantation is the creation of an optical illusion by relocating the hair from areas of thick growth to areas of thin growth. No new hairs are created, yet the hair appears thicker. Under local anesthetic, hair is removed from the back of the scalp using special transplant punches. The hair is cleansed and then placed in holes created at the front of the scalp where the hair is thin. The transplanted hair still behaves as though it was in its old location and continues to grow.In the last few years hair transplantation has improved with the use of ‘mini-grafts’, where the original hair transplant is cut into smaller pieces and inserted into finer slits at the front of the scalp. This produces a more natural appearance because there is a larger number of a finer hair, instead of a lesser number of hair ‘clumps’.If hair transplantation is seriously considered, it should be performed before a person is too bald, so the new hairs can be interspersed with the old ones. Hair transplantation is often combined with scalp reduction, to remove large bald areas of the scalp. Both are performed as outpatient procedures under local anesthetic. During scalp reduction, an area of scalp is cut out, and the remaining scalp is reunited. By reducing the bald area in this way, an illusion of thicker hair is created and less hair transplants are necessary.
*107/150/5*

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HIV: MEDICAL TREATMENTS-ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: DIETARY MODIFICATION

July 5th, 2011

Dietary modification can mean almost anything. Certainly, physicians practicing traditional medicine say that good nutrition is an important part of health care for someone with HIV infection. Practitioners of alternative treatments usually define dietary modification as certain diets or food supplements that inhibit the growth of HIV or that enhance the immune system.     Probably the most popular of the alternative diets is a macrobiotic diet. Macrobiotic diets are said to balance foods with yin (foods which form acids in the body) and foods with yang (foods which form alkalines in the body). The macrobiotic diet consists largely of vegetables and grains. It excludes red meat, commercially raised poultry, all processed foods, polished rice, dairy products, leavened breads, and sugars. Dietitians say that a macrobiotic diet lacks essential nutrients and is potentially harmful.     Other practitioners of dietary modification advocate food supplements—a list of certain substances said to inhibit the growth of HIV or enhance the immune system. None of these supplements has, by the standards of traditional medicine, established that they will help. Some of the most common supplements are the following:     Acidophilus, a bacterium available without prescription in drugstores and health food stores that is supposed to produce a healthy intestinal tract. Acidophilus is harmless.     AL721, a substance derived from egg yolk that is supposed to inhibit the growth of HIV. AL721 was tested in scientific studies; though found to be useless against HIV, it is also harmless.     Coenzyme Q10, an antioxidant that is supposed to improve the immune system. It is harmless.     Garlic, which is widely advocated in herbal medicine and is available in an odorless and tasteless form called kyolic. It is harmless.     Lecithin, which is related to AL721 and is harmless.     Lentinan, an extract from mushrooms, called mushroom power or Lentil, is said to act against HIV. It is harmless.     Vitamin C, which is often advocated in large doses for HIV infection and a whole host of other medical conditions. Advocates often recommend taking 1,000 milligrams or more a day. Vitamin C has also been studied scientifically, to see if it combats colds and cancer; it does not. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of Vitamin C, 60 milligrams a day, is certainly good for you. Most people get more than the RDA in a standard diet. The large doses advocated in alternative medicine can cause stomach pain and diarrhea. They can also corrode the teeth—practitioners advocate taking large doses by straw.     Vitamin A, also advocated in large doses, which are said to promote the growth of CD4 cells. The RDA for Vitamin A, 3,000 International Units per day, is good for you; doses of 100,000 International Units per day for three months or more can cause dry and itchy skin, sore mouth, loss of hair, vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, and liver damage.     Zinc, a metal that occurs in traces in the body. In the later stages of HIV infection, concentrations of zinc in the body seem to decrease. Taking zinc as a supplement, however, can cause nausea and vomiting and is possibly harmful.     Selenium, another trace metal that also seems to occur in lower concentrations in people in the later stages of HIV infection. Excess selenium causes damage to cells; taking selenium as a supplement is possibly harmful.*194\191\2*

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PARASITIC INFECTIONS

June 30th, 2011
I remember clearly, when I was still quite young, my first encounter with parasitic infections, although at the time the word meant nothing to me. We were awakened in the middle of the night by the doorbell. A caller at that time of the night is most unusual at any time, but this was during the war years, so we were especially wary. Half-curious and half-frightened I crept behind my mother when she opened the door and outside stood a man wearing a shoe on one foot and a clog on the other. At that time my mother had people hidden in our house from the Germans, and when our visitor told her that he had escaped from one of the ships that would have taken him on his way to a concentration camp in Germany, she quickly pulled him inside. His presence in the house endangered all our lives but, at least inside he had a measure of safety, certainly more so than walking the streets. My mother, however, was faced with a considerable dilemma. She soon discovered that it would be irresponsible to let him mix with the other people in hiding, because our latest guest had scabies. This condition was more common during the war years, and it was fortunate that my mother, although not professionally trained, was very knowledgeable about homoeopathic and naturopathic remedies. She explained that if the house were to be searched she could not let him hide under the floor with the others because of the infectiousness of his condition, and she would have to treat him. The man was covered from top to toe in ointment, so that, if need be, he could also hide out in the space cleared under the floor.
Scabies is a highly contagious, parasitic skin disease, and its many eruptions cause intense itching. It is caused by the so-called itch mite and I have been told that it is enough to drive one mad. The treatment is basically external and sulphur echtiol, the cream used by my mother, is one of the best methods for treating a person with this disease. However, as the itch can become unbearable, it may be necessary to prescribe something for internal use as well. I have great faith in the Bioforce remedy, Boldocynara, which helps to ease the itching condition. This remedy is a fresh herbal preparation and should be taken three times a day, ten to fifteen drops in a little water.
Another parasitic infection, fortunately less and less common nowadays, is Pediculosis, which is also a lice infestation. This condition was also common during the war years and I remember that eventually we just shrugged our shoulders when, at school, we heard that someone would be absent for a few days because that usually meant they had been infested with lice and taken into hospital. Yet, prior to the war and since, there was a tremendous stigma attached to such conditions.
The Pediculus capitis, a head louse, is usually limited to the scalp, while the Pediculus corporis inhabits the seams of clothing worn next to the skin, and feeds on the skin covered by clothes. Usually the condition can be treated externally, but if it is persistent internal treatment may also be necessary. In days gone by, the old-fashioned remedy DDT was often used. Nowadays it is recognised that this poisonous substance can have very considerable after-effects. Although it was effective, there are natural treatment methods that are equally good, e.g. stinging nettle extract.
There are some very good ointments available for scabious conditions, one of which is a garlic ointment. Although smelly, it is quite effective, even for the condition of Pediculosis pubis, where the crab louse infests the hairs of the genital region. Occasionally it is also found in the eyebrows, eyelashes, beard or sometimes on the body surface.
These conditions are extremely unpleasant and socially embarrassing. Thanks to better hygiene standards, these conditions are nowhere near as common as they were during the traumatic war years. However, if they do occur, immediate treatment should be sought.
*34\147\2*

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HIV INFECTION AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE BODY: ASYMPTOMATIC PERIOD-KEEPING TRACK OF ASYMPTOMATIC HIV INFECTION

June 14th, 2011
During the asymptomatic period, your physician will probably keep track of the progress of the infection by physical examinations and with two principal tests. One test is to count, at regular intervals, the number of CD4 cells in the blood. The normal count is between 700 and 1,300 CD4 cells per milliliter of blood (five milliliters is one teaspoon). The average person has a CD4 count of about 1,000. People’s CD4 counts vary for several reasons. One reason is that different laboratories, counting CD4 cells in the same person or the same blood sample on the same day, can get counts that differ by as much as 20 percent. Another reason is that the CD4 count naturally varies in any one person over time, for reasons that are independent of HIV infection but are poorly understood. Consequently, a CD4 count of 500 one time may be 400 or 600 the next time; this is considered a normal variation. Because of this normal variability in the counts, a test showing a dramatic change in the count might need to be repeated.
In a person with HIV infection, the CD4 count decreases, on average, by 85 to 100 cells per year. Most people do not develop symptoms until their CD4 counts are below 300, and the average CD4 count for a person with an AIDS-defining diagnosis is 50—100. At a decrease of about 100 CD4 cells a year, the person who starts with a count of about 1,000 will develop symptoms after five to eight years, and will develop AIDS two or three years after that. The CD4 counts in some people fall more rapidly, while the CD4 counts in other people stabilize for several years. The CD4 count is the best measure of the progress of the infection. Physicians also use the CD4 count to determine what sorts of treatment will be helpful and to determine the benefit of the treatments used.
A second method for keeping track of the infection is through blood counts. Blood counts are counts of the numbers of the different kinds of cells in the blood: red cells, white cells, and platelets. Red blood cells deliver oxygen to the rest of the body; without enough oxygen, the
person loses energy, is tired much of the time. A low count of red blood cells is called anemia. White blood cells (the CD4 cell is only one kind of white blood cell) are part of the immune system’s defense against certain types of infection. A low count of white blood cells is called leukopenia. Platelets are cells that are critical in the process of blood clotting; a low number of platelets may result in excessive bleeding. During the asymptomatic period, the blood counts, like the CD4 counts, may also fall. That means that the body has progressively fewer red blood cells, fewer white blood cells, and/or fewer platelets. The body, however, has a great reserve, a large overabundance, of all three kinds of blood cells. The blood count must be lowered severely before symptoms occur.
*41\191\2*

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WHO GETS TYPE II DIABETES?

June 1st, 2011
Type II diabetes occurs in both sexes, but women who have had a lot of children and those who have had unusually large babies seem to face a special risk. People who have relatives with diabetes (especially Type II diabetes) have a greater chance of developing the disease themselves.
Diabetes affects all the peoples of the earth, with a few exceptions: It is extremely rare among Eskimos, for example. In the United States, minority groups seem to be especially hard hit: Type II diabetes, the more common form, occurs about 60 percent more often in blacks than in whites, and its prevalence is also very high among Hispanic populations and certain Native American tribes such as the Pimas and Papagos.
The probability of getting Type II diabetes increases with age. The risk also increases with the amount of excess weight. At least three-quarters of the people who develop diabetes in middle or old age are overweight. Yet not all (or even most) overweight people develop diabetes.
What Goes Wrong
Although Type I diabetes is caused by damage to the beta cells of the pancreas, so that they cannot secrete enough insulin, some people with very serious cases of diabetes have beta cells that look perfectly normal. Tests of their blood show plenty of insulin—more than enough, it would seem, to keep the sugar metabolism running smoothly. Yet they too suffer from hyperglycemia.
High blood sugar could result if the pancreas is producing normal amounts of insulin, but the body’s needs for the hormone become far higher than normal and the gland cannot keep up. This might happen when people overeat to an extreme degree, flooding their bodies with more carbohydrates than their system can handle. (In general, any diet that results in a gain in weight will increase one’s chances of developing diabetes. A diet that causes weight reduction will decrease one’s chance of developing diabetes, or, if it is already present, will make it less severe.)
In some cases of diabetes, the insulin that the pancreas produces does not work properly. This may happen for several reasons. For example, the body normally produces a chemical called insulinase, which breaks down excess insulin when its job is done. If too much insulinase is produced, the insulin will be destroyed before it has had a chance to lower the body’s blood sugar level. Sometimes the body produces antibodies against insulin, in much the same way it makes them against disease germs. These anti-insulin antibodies may attack insulin or attach themselves to its molecules so that the hormone cannot work on the cells. Certain drugs, including cortisone, prednisone, contraceptive pills, nicotinic acid, and some diuretics (drugs that are used to rid the body of excess fluids), can interfere with the action of insulin.
Diabetes may also result from hormone disorders, in which the body produces too much glucagon or too much of another pancreatic hormone called somatostatin. This hormone, secreted by the delta cells in the islets, helps to regulate the secretion of both glucagon and insulin.
In non-insulin-dependent diabetes, insulin may not be able to allow glucose to pass into the cells effectively because something is wrong with the outer surface of the cells. Researchers have found that insulin normally reacts with specific chemicals, called receptors, on the cells’ outer membranes. If there are not enough of these receptors, or if they become less receptive to insulin, the hormone will not be able to help glucose get into the cells. This condition is called insulin resistance.
*19\268\2*

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BACH FLOWER REMEDIES: PHILOSOPHY ACCORDING DR. BACH’S

May 21st, 2011
According to Dr. Bach’s philosophy it becomes clear that:
1. The basic cause of all troubles is the obstruction which a man allows to be placed in his chosen way of life or puts in the chosen life of some other person.
2. Whenever a person ignores the guidance provided by his inner voice and acts against his conscience, his mental peace is disturbed.
3. Physical ailment as such has no meaning; it is an expression of the mental disturbance. As soon as his mental state improves, the physical troubles disappear.
Thus while treating a patient no consideration of his physical troubles is taken into account—whether it is headache or diarrhoea, nausea or vomitting, stomachache or sneezing—no physical symptom has any relevance in the formation of prescription.
How these physical troubles have affected the mind and changed his mood is of importance. Whether it is fear or hopelessness, anger or irritability, hate or envy, doubt or conviction, the prescription is based on the mental symptoms alone, and as the remedy succeeds in rectifying the mood of the patient, the physical symptoms automatically disappear.
*20\308\8*

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WHO GETS OCD: WINSTON CHURCHILL

May 12th, 2011
at the funeral of Winston Churchill, the novelist Rebecca West summed up the feelings of those acquainted with the great British statesman: “Really, the world will not come to peace with itself except as it acknowledges that some men are simply superior.” Yet Churchill himself suffered from classic harm obsessions: intrusive impulses to suicide. They did not interfere into his life in a major way, and it is not at all certain that Churchill had diagnosable OCD, but his obsessions were anxiety provoking and a nuisance.
Churchill once confided to his personal physician, Charles Moran: “I don’t like standing near the edge of a platform when the express train is passing through. A second’s action would end everything. I like to stand right back, and if possible to get a pillar between me and the train.” Because of similar obsessional impulses to jump to his death, Churchill didn’t like to travel by boar. “I don’t like to look down into the water,” he once told Moran. “A second’s action would end everything. A few drops of desperation.” For the same reason, Churchill didn’t like to sleep in rooms with access to a balcony.
Yet Churchill was not suicidal. As is always the case with obsessional, to follow through on his tormenting thoughts was the last thing he wanted. He explained to Moran, “I don’t want to go out of the world at all in such moments. I’ve no desire to quit this world, but thoughts, desperate thoughts, come into my head.”
*18/338/2*

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BIOLOGICAL REASONS WHY YOU BINGE: HUNGER

May 5th, 2011
Overweight binge eaters have greater and more frequent hunger than overweight nonbinge eaters. This occurs in spite of the fact that overweight individuals in general are less likely to know when they are actually hungry than are people who are not overweight. As I mentioned in the last chapter, your hunger may be more a function of emotions or the availability of food than real hunger.
In spite of this, researchers have measured the gastric capacities of people with binge-eating disorder. Gastric capacity means just what it sounds like—how much your stomach can hold. Chronic overeating results in your stomach being able to hold more. Bulimics have significantly increased gastric capacities. When overweight individuals are tested, binge eaters also have increased gastric capacities but overweight nonbinge eaters do not show this pattern.
When your stomach’s capacity is increased, it takes more food to satisfy you. Over time, your binges may increase in size because you rarely feel full with a moderate amount of food.
*52\358\8*

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TRANSMISSION OF HIV

April 22nd, 2011
HIV is transmitted—that is, the virus enters the body—almost invariably by sexual contact, by blood-to-blood contact, or through pregnancy.
When HIV enters the body, it attaches itself only to certain sites on the walls of certain cells. The site on the cell wall is called the CD4 receptor, and the cell most commonly infected is called the CD4 cell. The CD4 cell is a white blood cell, or a lymphocyte. It belongs to a class of lymphocytes called T cells, which, along with B cells, are central parts of the immune system. (The CD4 cell is also called a T4 cell and a T-helper cell.) The CD4 cell’s job is to help coordinate the immune system’s defense against a variety of infectious diseases. HIV is carried by CD4 cells and other white blood cells to all parts of the body, including the brain. HIV also attaches itself to certain cells in the brain.
Once HIV attaches to a CD4 cell, it enters the cell. At this point, in a complicated series of events, the virus becomes part of the cell’s genes. Genes are composed of DNA, a molecule which is responsible for directing the reproduction of the cell. HIV is a virus and has only RNA, a molecule which is actually the mirror image of DNA but which cannot produce new viruses. HIV, however, is a retrovirus, meaning that it has a protein called reverse transcriptase. Reverse transcriptase allows the viral RNA to turn into a mirror image of itself; that is, it allows viral RNA to turn into viral DNA. This DNA then directs the infected cell to produce, not new CD4 cells, but new HIVs instead. The virus eventually destroys the CD4 cell, and the new viruses that have been produced then infect other CD4 cells. As CD4 cells are infected and destroyed, the immune system functions less and less effectively.
*37\191\2*

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