Optimal Health

New Years Resolution - Start Taking Your Supplements

Summary:  Everyone needs the most basic supplements, which include:

*Omega 3, 6, 9 Oils

*Probiotics

*Magnesium

*Multi Vitamin/Mineral Fromula for your age and gender

*CoQ10 for your cardio-vascular system

*Individualized program based on symptoms and blood analysis 

We all need vitamin and mineral supplements — Right?  With our higher levels of awareness for our body’s health and healing process, who could logically say:  “No—-not me, I don’t need vitamins?”  

One might say that medical doctors and many scientific investigators don’t believe in the need for supplements, but this is no longer true.  In recent classes I’ve taught to medical doctors throughout the Los Angeles area, I’ve seen an incredible interest among many physicians  and an honest desire to learn what’s best for their patients.   Many of these docs are taking vitamins, herbs and other supplements themselves and seeing firsthand that they really work!

Some of the most common reasons for taking vitamin and mineral supplements are:

1.  Large-scale commercial agra-business has depleted our soils of nutrients.  Soil has been scientifically researched and found to be deficient in many necessary minerals.  Organically grown food is much better, and richer in vitamins and nutrients, but is more costly and still hard to obtain for our everyday needs.

2.  Pesticides are used around our homes, are found in most of the foods we eat, and are hidden in the form of ant and roach “hotels”, moth balls, mildew removers, fungicides, termite eradication and others.  These pesticides inevitably get into our body.

3.  Other environmental pollutants also claim a toll on the body, creating a need for more anti-oxidants and other minerals and vitamins.

4.  Smog:  Living in Los Angeles, we are all subject to the effects of poor air quality.  Breathing smog on a daily basis depletes the body of anti-oxidants.

5.  Smoking, prescription medications, recreational drugs and alcohol deplete the body of valuable nutrients and electrolytes.  This is why most people who smoke have a lot of dental and bone density problems:  The minerals needed to build healthy teeth and bones have been leached out of the system.

6.  Electromagnetic Field Pollution is everywhere.  From airports, cell phones, X-Rays, MRI’s, radio waves, microwaves, television and computer screens, we are constantly bombarded by radiation in every direction we turn.  If you own an electro-magnetic field detector as I do, you’d be amazed by measuring the amount of daily radiation you are subjected to.   Radiation alters your electro-magnetic field, your chi/energy, and personal gravitational center, thus causing stress-induced depletion of minerals and vitamins.

7.  We all live under tremendous stress.  Unless you live in the desert  and are on retreat 100% of the time, it’s likely that your endocrine system, including your adrenal glands and thyroid, are functioning on overdrive much of the time.  Stress depletes the body of its essential nutrients, including vital antioxidants and electrolytes.

8.  The “Quickening” — Few could argue that we perceive time as speeding up.  The physical body is dealing with a constant onslaught of energy, the mental body is constantly overwhelmed by too much data and information, and the emotional body is being called upon to integrate and make sense of all this additional information.  All of this contributes to stress, which depletes the body by sending it into “overdrive” much of the time.

But which supplements are the best ones for your particular body and mind?  Although we are all mostly exposed to the same common environmental problems,  not everyone needs the same products. 

Our bodies vary tremendously, and so do our physiological needs.  

In 1996, Dr. Roger Williams, the scientist who discovered Pantothenic Acid, wrote a book called Biochemical Individuality.   In this book, he discusses various research studies demonstrating people’s unique needs. 

This is why  the best way to determine your individual needs is through individualized testing and analysis.   And the most reliable form of testing uses the blood.

Health is relative, and a person who doesn’t have a known disease is not necessarily healthy.  So the best way to analyze blood chemistry is in terms of “optimum” rather than “normal.”

Your blood is alive!   By that I mean that your blood is electrically charged.  Each mineral molecule in the blood carries either a positive or negative electrical charge.   Each negative charge is attracted to a positive charge and each positive charge is attracted to a negative charge.

Problems like insomnia, low or high blood pressure, weight gain or loss, fluid retention, arthritis, colitis, constipation, allergies or asthma all begin to make sense when we look at the blood in this way.  

 Looking at the typical blood chemistry analysis and CBC, I have an entire picture of exactly which organs are weak, or “under-active,” and strong, or “over-active,” from the point of view of Chinese medicine.   

Taken together, these two methods of blood test analysis give a very clear indication of which supplements and herbs are needed to bring the body into balance for optimal functioning.  

Hypoglycemia - How to Understand and Treat this Serious Problem by Dr. Randy Martin, OMD

Too often a patient comes into to see me with a list of various problems that their physician has no solution for.  Sometimes the underlying problem is the real cause, and sometimes this underlying problem involves faulty blood sugar metabolism.

Hypoglycemia is defined as blood sugar dropping below the normal range. And while many people also have blood sugar within this normal range, their blood sugar may also swing too quickly from high to low or from low to high.  Either imbalance shares the same symptoms:  foggy thinking, headaches, blurred vision, muscle aches and pains, hypersensitivity, overly emotional, hypersensitive to noise or smells or light, anxiety, sweating, nervousness, faintness, palpitations, and the brain simply not working right.

The causes are sometimes genetic, or sometimes related to stress, over exercise, not eating well, or what we call in Traditional Chinese medicine, stagnant liver chi or weak spleen meridian.  Dietary causes can be a history of eating too much sweets, refined carbohydrates, such as white bread or pasta, or drinking too much alcohol or cold sweet drinks, such as soda.

The Traditional Chinese medical diagnosis for hypoglycemia can be complex.  There are quite a few types of diagnosis that could be associated by hypoglycemia.  According to E. Douglas Kihn, OMD, LAc, in an article published in The California Journal of Oriental Medicine (Vol 16, No 2, Fall 2005,) Liver yang rising with liver wind affecting the qui and blood of the head, is one of the primary causes of hypoglycemia.  There are other possible causes, however, including kidney yin weakness, disturbed shen and weak genetic qi.  My book, Optimal Health, How to Get It, How to Keep It, has a more extensive discussion of all these Chinese syndromes.

According to Dr. Kihn, the underlying reason for hypoglycemia is excessive heat caused by too much movement or friction. As a result, the liver overheats, causing Liver Rising, thus generating Liver wind.  Wind scatters and confuses the qi and blood in the head leading to dizziness, headaches, confusion, and the like.

The simple explanation or cause for this excessive heat is that at some point, we all experience stress and may become overworked.  In our culture, most of us are trying to accomplish way too much and don’t rest enough.  We worry and are constantly busy at trying to respond to stressful situations or trying to accomplish something. 

Many people in our culture have what we call in Traditional Chinese medicine stagnant liver chi. If you have gone to a Traditional Chinese medical doctor, you may have been told that you have this imbalance.  My patients always ask me what I mean when I tell them they have stagnant liver chi.

While Traditional Chinese medicine does use the name of the traditional organ system to describe the problem, Chinese medicine has a lot more to say about the organ.  In Chinese medicine, the term liver includes the actual organ, the meridian and the functions.  The meridian, or invisible energy pathway, travels from the foot, up the inner leg, and into the groin area, ending in the chest cavity area. Any problem along that meridian would be reason to treat the Liver meridian.

Hypoglycemia includes the classic symptoms of liver chi stagnation:  dizziness, headaches, sugar cravings, poor digestion, unstable blood sugar, mood swings, PMS and other hormonal imbalances.

From the Western perspective, our fast-paced lifestyle causes the adrenal glands to pump out too much epinephrine.  This hormone stimulates insulin production from the pancreas.  When the body is in this constant “flight or flight” mode, there is too much epinephrine being secreted and thus too much insulin production as well.  The net result is lowered blood sugar, or hypoglycemia.

Western treatment for this is to eat more frequently, in order to keep the blood sugar at a more normal level.  Although this works in the short run, it doesn’t solve the problem from a traditional Chinese perspective.  In fact, overloading the body with food, when a person is not hungry, actually places a heavy load on the liver.  Even though this technique will relieve the current symptoms of hypoglycemia, it will actually worsen the problem in the long run by creating further liver heat and stagnation.

The long-term danger of maintaining the hypoglycemic diet is that may lead to exhaustion of the pancreas.  Every time you eat, the pancreas must secrete insulin.  But over time, the pancreas may become exhausted, and lose its ability to function properly. This will end in diabetes type II.  In the end, from the Chinese medical perspective, eating too frequently causes even more liver heat and stagnation, thus exacerbating the original problem.

Traditional Chinese medicine offers a solution by eliminating the heat, strengthening and supporting the liver and spleen.  The method of treatment is to detoxify and support the liver with herbal formula such as Xiao Yao Wan and Relaxed Wanderer.  Acupuncture points such as Spleen 4, 6, Liver 2, 3, 14, CV 4, Du 14, LI 4, 11.  For relaxation and stress, Pc 6 and Ht 7, and ear Shen Men.

Relaxation exercises, meditation techniques, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and daily exercise are also very important. 

How to Withdraw More Easily from Prescription Medications, Smoking or Drugs, and Even Succeed at Your Weight Loss or Quit-Smoking Program.

It’s important to NEVER stop taking any prescription medications without the advice and support of your Medical Doctor.  The reasons are explained below:

Many times, patients come to me with the primary desire to stop taking their prescription medications or recreational drugs.  Other times, patients see themselves getting healthier and more balanced after receiving holistic treatments, and they ask me if they can get off one of their prescription medications.  Still other people, may have inadvertently become accustomed to taking a medication for the side effects of a surgery or an accident or trauma in their lives, and then they want to get off the medication after their life becomes more stable.The medication could be an anti-depressant, hypertension medication, anti-histamine, pain medications, hyper-acidity medications, diet pill, prescription hormones, marijuana, alcohol, or any number of other prescription medications or self-medications, such as sugar, carbohydrate addiction, caffeine addiction or hard drugs.

I would like to quickly outline below the most common mistakes I see my patients making when they try to get themselves off their medications, independent of their doctor’s advice:

1.  They do not first discuss their plan with their Medical Doctor.  It’s really, really important to not only discuss your plan with your Medical Doctor first, but to also get his or her approval for your plan.  This is because your Medical Doctor is in the best position to help you develop a rational plan for how to withdrawal off your medications.   Your Doctor knows your medical history, and also the pharmaceutical effects of the medication you are taking.  He or she is in the best position to help you develop a strategy for exactly how to stop the medication, and in exactly what increments it will be best to do it.

2.  Going too fast.  Many people start feeling really good after they start acupuncture or homeopathy and then they just stop their other medications, or stop them too fast.  This usually leads to having to go back onto their medications.  However, the best way is to actually go a lot slower then you might want to.  Thus you can head off any negative effects and catch yourself before you start feeling bad or your symptoms come back.   If you think you might want to stop over a period of three months, then extend it to six months.  The longer you take to do this, the more success you will probably have in the end.

3.  Not taking the right natural supplements as you taper off your prescription medications.  The body acclimates or even becomes addicted to some prescription medications.  When on a medication, your metabolism or hormones or neurotransmitters may have completely changed.   So if you are going to stop taking that medication, or significantly reduce it, it’s important to feed your body and mind with the nutrients needed to begin to work correctly without the medication.   Without taking natural supplements to replace your body’s dependance on the medications, it is much, much harder to go off any prescription medications.  Obviously, it can be done, but it’s a lot more challenging.

Here is a list of some of some of the more common natural supplements I sometimes recommend my patients take during this most difficult time.

*Homeopathic Kali phos - to support the nerves
*Homeopathic Mag phos - for relaxation, stress and for spasms
*Homeopathic Bio-Plasma - for overall support to keep the system strong during the transition
*Rescue Remedy - for the anxiety and panic that might occur.  Good to keep on hand*Homeopathic Tobaccum - for tobacco withdrawal
*Homeopathic Arnica - if you feel “beat up” and achy all over
*Homeopathic Aconite - for panic in the middle of the night or extreme fear anytime
*Amino Acids:  Theanine, Tryptophan, 5HTP, Taurine, Arginine, GABA, or a good mix of amino acids to support the system during withdrawl.   These amino acids will help to relax the nervous system, and reduce anxiety and alleviate other symtpoms of withdrawl.
*High Potency B-Vitamins - overall support
*Multi-Mineral Formula including large amounts of Magnesium and Calcium - relaxation and to keep the nerves and muscles from creating pain or spasms
*Plenty of fluids.  This should include electrolytes like Emergen-C, and detox tea such as Dandelion and Licorice (to balance the blood sugar).  Detox and blood sugar stability is critical!
*Extra Chromium to balance the blood sugar
*Herbal Pain Relievers for Pain and Herbal Sleep Medications to help with sleep. - I have many in my office and there are many others on the market.  Find what works for you and have it in your medicine cabinet for those times you need it.
*Rejuvamen HGH for energy
*Ponay Tea for energy, weight loss, and to assure assimilation of your proteins and fats
*Protein Powder made with Rice Protein for Detox and blood sugar.  (May also be used as weight loss aid to replace one or two meals per day.)
*Carry Protein Bars with you throughout the day to stop a sudden drop in blood sugar before it occurs. Exercise and breath are also key ingredients.  Exercise, even just daily walking, really will help. And if you cannot get out and exercise daily, try and remember to do breathing exercises, or Tai Chi, or some other centering exercise with breathing.

One really relaxing exercise is called “Cupping” or “Palming”.   Here is a web link for how to do it: 

http://community.livejournal.com/holistic_vision/tag/yoga

By relaxing your eyes, your brain will also stop repeating the same thoughts over and over again.  The eyes are a window to how the mind works.For women, it’s important to regulate the hormones.  If you are menstruating, then regulating and balancing your periods is critical to success.  There are many herbal formulas, and acupuncture, to aid in doing this.  If you are in menopause, it’s critical to balance your hormones, as any additional stress might throw your hormones off and cause another layer of symptoms. In my experience, the people who have the greatest success in withdrawing off prescription medications, stopping an addictive behavior or substance, or stopping recreational drugs have one quality in common:  They don’t give up!Time and time again, I see people stopping treatments or stopping their natural supplements, only to return 6 months later, back on their medications, or addicted again to a drug or harmful behavior.  They say “it didn’t work.”  But actually it did work, but they didn’t stick to the natural program long enough to see the results really take root.  The people who are really successful have follow-through. In general, it’s a good idea to really think through your choice before getting off any prescription medication and to discuss it with your Medical Doctor before making any decisions.  The worst thing you can do is to just go off it on your own without any support.    Your Medical Doctor should be the lead doctor in this decision, and remember to do it very, very slowly, if you really want to succeed.Lastly, anyone who has received acupuncture knows the relaxing effects.  So if you are not phobic of needles, and it’s convenient to get into an acupuncturist’s office, then regular treatments will really help at this transition time.  Even daily treatments for the first week are a good idea, or at least weekly or every other week.  Health insurance usually covers a percentage of the acupuncture treatments as well. Best of Luck on your healing journey. 

Acupuncture Beats Lower Back Pain

Low back pain is an extremely common concern, affecting anywhere from 75 to 90 percent of people at some point in their lives. Low back pain is second only to the common cold as a cause of lost days at work and is one of the most common reasons to seek medical care, including acupuncture. In fact, one of the top reasons that people get acupuncture treatments is for low back pain. 

The Oriental Medicine Perspective of Low Back Pain

In spite of the large number of pathological conditions that can give rise to low back pain, up to 85% of the cases are classified by Western physicians as ‘non-specific’. When low back pain is looked at from an Oriental medicine perspective, it is seen as a disruption of the flow of Qi within the area and associated with a specific disharmony and then treated accordingly.

The basis of acupuncture is expressed in this famous Chinese saying: “Bu tong ze tong, tong ze bu tong” which means “free flow: no pain, no free flow: pain.”

In other words, any kind of pain or illness represents an obstruction in the normal flow of Qi or life force. Simply put, acupuncture moves Qi, restoring free flow.

The disruption of Qi that results in low back pain is usually associated with the following three disharmonies:

Weak Kidney Qi - In Oriental medicine, the lower back is referred to as the “dwelling of the Kidneys”. The majority of chronic low back pain conditions are associated with Kidney Deficiency. Kidney Deficiency type pain is dull and comes and goes. It is usually aggravated by over tiredness and improves with rest.

Stagnation of Qi and Blood - When the flow of Qi along the meridians that traverse the lumbar region becomes congested, it is referred to as the stagnation of Qi and blood. This presents with a severe stabbing pain that is worse with rest and better with movement, tender to touch and can be accompanied by stiffness and tightness.

Invasion of Cold and Dampness - Cold, damp type pain is worse in the morning and when the weather is cold and damp. This type of pain improves with movement and the application of heat. Stiffness and contraction of back muscles that is aggravated by rest indicates cold predominance while swelling, numbness and a heavy sensation are indicative of dampness.

If you or someone you love suffers from acute and chronic back pain, please call to find out more about how acupuncture and Oriental medicine can help you.

While acupuncture is readily accepted as a viable option for low back pain in mainstream modern medicine, there has been little research to prove that it works. Now there are studies that support the clinical evidence.

In a German study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 1,162 adults with chronic, lower back pain were divided into groups treated with the standard pharmaceutical and exercise therapy commonly used in Western medicine and acupuncture. The researchers reported that acupuncture provided relief and lasting benefit to nearly twice as many lower back pain patients as drugs and exercise. Forty-eight percent of the acupuncture patients reported at least a one-third decrease in pain along with improvement in their ability to function, versus 27 percent of the patients treated with conventional methods reporting such benefits.

In another recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine analyzed 33 studies covering more than 2,100 patients from around the world on acupuncture for low back pain.

They found acupuncture provided definite pain relief in the short-term (defined as relief sustained for three weeks after the end of the acupuncture sessions).

Ulcerative Colitis, IBS, IBD, Crohn’s Update 

One of the most effective types of treatments I have done over the past twenty plus years has been the treatment of the range of digestive problems called inflammatory bowel disorders.  The range of diagnoses’ that are treated range from colitis, IBD, Crohn’s disease, indigestion, gas, bloating, inflammation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever and fatigue.

I have lectured extensively to support groups and what I always emphasis is the effectiveness of this type of treatment.  I have had patiens who were unable to leave home for longer than a few hours at a time, who, after treatment had absolutely zero limitations on their travel from home.  I have had many patients state that their lives had been totally transformed with holistic treatment. 

Most of these patients have been living with these problems for many, many years, and had not realized there were safe, nature, and effective methods for treating their problems.  Although many patients respond to traditional Western treatment, some fail to respond to even thee strongest drugs.  In addition, there are always risk factors and sometimes side effects from the Western pharmaceutacal drugs, where natural treatments rarely have any side effects.

There are also causal connections between smoking, nicotine, steroidal drugs, and Ulcerative Colits and IBS.  Diet has also been shown to play a large role in the causation of IBS.  In Chinese medicine, we have our own methods for determining which dietary factos are involved in exacerbating IBS.  We use the tongue and pulse diagnosis.  According to these methods, we can determine which diet would be the best for that particular person.  Common foods which are commonly culprits in IBS and affiliated diseases are the following:  ice cream, iced drinks, raw foods, fruits, and other foods which we label as “Yin” or “Damp” in Chinese medicine. 

Correcting nutritional deficiencies or excesses is a major portion of the treatment goal as well.  By analyzing blood and/or hair analysis studies, we can see where the precipitating factors arise in treating IBS, Crohn’s and colitis.  Supplements which are often needed, and are deficient, include Vitamin A and Beta Carotene, DHEA, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, and the essential fatty acids, including omega-3, 6 and 9.  Probiotics, such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria and Clostridia are also very helpful, and also quite deficient in people who suffer from IBS problems.  Also, we use Glutamine, Phosphatidylcholine and anti-inflammatory supplements such as Quercetin and Rutin.

In summary, the combined use of both Western and natural methods of treating IBS is quite effective.  Some people respond better to one then to the other types of treatments, but everyone will do well with some combination of both.  

Yours, In Health, Naturally,

Acupuncture Today
August, 2008, Vol. 10, Issue 08

Acupuncture Effective for Migraine Relief
By Editorial Staff
As any chronic sufferer will tell you, migraine headaches can be debilitating, affecting concentration and the ability to perform daily tasks. In fact, the odds are high that a patient will come to see you with a complaint of migraines.

The latest epidemiologic data estimates 28 million Americans (approximately one in 10) suffer from migraines. Furthermore, almost half of those migraine cases are undiagnosed.

Fortunately, as research suggests, Chinese medicine may help stop migraines in their tracks. In the March 2008 issue of the journal Headache, Italian researchers published the results of a study that involved 160 migraine patients. Researchers divided study participants into different groups, each of which received one of the following treatment protocols: real acupuncture plus migraine medication, two different methods of mock acupuncture with migraine medication, and medication alone. Patients were evaluated three and six months after starting treatment. Migraines were classified according to the following TCM symptoms:

    •    exogenous wind-cold attack;
    •    exogenous wind-heat attack;
    •    exogenous wind-dampness attack;
    •    excess of liver yang;
    •    obstruction of the middle jiao due to damp phlegm;
    •    deficiency of kidney essence; or
    •    stagnation of qi and blood.

For patients receiving true acupuncture, each syndrome was treated with a specific acupoint selection according to TCM. Twice a week, patients submitted to two courses of 10 acupuncture applications each, with a one-week rest period between the treatment courses. The sessions lasted 30 minutes.

In patients receiving ritualized mock acupuncture, the protocol was the same as in the actual acupuncture group, but the needles were not inserted. A small cylinder of foam was applied to the skin by a double-adhesive plaster on each acupoint. Needles with blunted tips were then inserted into the cylinder, touching but not penetrating the skin. This allowed the patient to feel a superficial, light pricking-like sensation, thus simulating needle insertion. A slight pressure was applied on the needle to simulate the arrival of qi. This procedure was used in order to check possible placebo effects related to the use of the TCM approach.

In patients who received standard mock acupuncture, only the Western approach was used for diagnosis and the following standard acupoint selection was used: tou wei (ST 8), xuan lu (GB 5), feng chi (GB 20), da zhui (GV 14), lie que (LU 7). The same method of needle insertion as for ritualized mock acupuncture was used.

All patients were allowed to take rizatriptan to treat migraine attacks, The rizatriptan wafer was administered at a dose of 10 mg, and a second dose was allowed after two hours if the pain persisted.

The researchers found that of all the groups studied, only the group that received real acupuncture showed a significant improvement both in terms of migraine disability and reduced medication use, both at the three- and six-month follow-up. Mock acupuncture showed a slight placebo effect, but only at the three-month follow-up.

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Dr. Martin’s Comments:  My experience is that of every problem I have treated over a 25+ year history, migraine headaches are truly one of the easiest and most effective problems I’ve treated.   In most women, they are commonly associated with hormone imbalances.  In both men and women, they are commonly associated with stress.

Most of my patients who suffer from migraines are also low in magnesium and calcium and don’t get enough exercise.  The other very common ingredient in most of my migraine patients is that many have a low thyroid, but it doesn’t show up on blood tests.

When we use the basal test to check the thyroid, it turns out that the thyroid is a bit low.  We use natural supplements to help with both the low thyroid and hormone imbalances, and along with the acupuncture, we see some great results!

If you are someone who is afraid of needles, then we can treat you using homeopathy and herbs only.  I also always look at the blood work of patients who have migraines because there is usually some imbalance. 

I’ll also have them write down what they eat, so we ca see if there is any blood sugar problem or other nutritional deficiency going on.  Often changing the eating and exercise patterns will also help to make a big difference.