Tag Archives: arthritis

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

I did not know him: a cycle of pain

April 18, 2013 betsyjbell

My brother died. I went to Boston to be with his wife and children. At first the pain and suffering was all about my loss. In Boston I became one grieving sister in a sea of grief. I did not know all these other grieving people. Not his wife of thirty-five plus years and their three children, and all of his wife’s siblings, their spouses and their children. And then his friends from high school and college and his medical practice and their church and his men friends. Six hundred people in various degrees of pain.

I listened. I discovered that I have not listened well; I let the stories of others come in unfiltered. These stories gave me my brother. How bitter sweet to have him and lose him at the same time. The acute pain is mediated by the truth, the fleshing out of the man he was these years we had been separated by a continent and our too-busy lives. Today back in Seattle, I feel less pain. I also have far more compassion for his wife and their children who now begin the work of knitting a life without him physically present.

How are emotional pains like our body pains?

I recently found an interesting web site called the Arthritis Management Program. They published a graphic of the pain/fatigue cycle which you may find helpful. In a closed loop, each new painful experience pulls you further down into the pain and suffering. In this downward spiral, pain leads to depression which makes exercise difficult. One abandons the good diet. Sleep is challenging. All of these challenges occur while a loved one is struck down and then dies. Each of these symptoms can by themselves contribute to the other symptoms, and all can make pain and fatigue worse.

Even worse, they can feed on each other. For example, inflammation from the arthritis can cause pain, which causes stress and anxiety, which can cause poor sleep, poor sleep can cause depression, depression can sometimes make it hard to eat as we should, and these can lead to more pain or fatigue, and so on. The interactions of these symptoms, in turn, make our arthritis or fibromyalgia seem worse. It becomes a vicious cycle that only gets worse unless we find a way to break the cycle.

A support group for arthritis sufferers, a good blog (hehehe) or web site can trigger a cycle-breaking strategy. A memorial service in which all the sufferers participate can show the way to break the grieving cycle. Neither strategy is permanent. I have lost two husbands and this loss brings all that pain back. It was hard to sleep, to focus my mind on anything. I felt as though I was spinning. How must those much closer to my brother have suffered from the physical and emotional disruptions of death.

I always go back to my mantra of Keep Moving. If your arthritis pain gets too great to move in the usual ways, find new ways to move. A warm-water pool and a class for arthritics; gentle Feldenkrais movements; a quick trip to the Korean foot massage place (that was my strategy when I couldn’t sleep from the anxiety of my brother lying in the ICU with a stroke.) Call a friend and ask them to help you get out of the doldrums. Eat a salad with toasted pine nuts instead of chocolate cake.

You no doubt have been on this closed circuit pain path. How did you get out of it? Let us know.

If this has been helpful, pass it along, post it on your face book page, and like my business page while you are at it. 🙂

Fondly, Betsy

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving.

www.grandmabetsybell.com

www.dowellwithbetsy.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Who is Peggy Cappy?

March 24, 2013 betsyjbell 1 Comment

Gentle Reader,

Whether it is the new exercise classes or the intense gardening, I cannot say for sure. backcaremed (1) What I am sure about is increased pain and then the magical release from it. Here is the unexplainable magic. I have mentioned it to you several times in the past. It is a 20 minute meditation tape by Peggy Cappy about Rejuvenating the Back. She talks in a soothing voice about how every cell in your body is capable of reproducing into a fresh, new creation, whole and healthy.

I come in from the garden hurting in every lower back, hip and knee joint, shoulders and hands, as well. I turn on the Ipod to her voice and prop my knees over the Back2Life machine (I have described this contraption several times in previous posts) and when the tape is over, I stand and walk without pain.

BAck2Life machine

Back2Life

The third thing I do is take an herbal tablet that inhibits the pain path. The Pain Relief Complex is helpful but does not bring such complete results by itself.

I urge you, if you suffer pain, to invest in Peggy Cappy’s cd. You might want the Back2Life machine, too, but it probably is less important than her relaxation/rejunvenation message.

I’d be interested in hearing your techniques for curbing acute pain. So let us hear from you. If you investigate these techniques and like what I have shared, please pass the message along to your friends. While you are at it, like my facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/BetsyBellsHealth4U.

Fondly,

Be Well, Do Well, Keep Moving

Betsy

Injured at 52. Diagnosed and sentenced to a wheel chair at 55. Hiking, skiing, dancing and walking at 75. Read my story.

206 933 1889 betsy@HiHoHealth.com www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

World champion at 86: How did he do it?

March 14, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

Every so often I hear about a person who just won’t sit down and quit. This guy ruined his knees running and went in search of a new sport which didn’t require so much stress on his knees. Here’s his story. Enjoy. And thanks to Bob Ferguson for passing it along.

Dean Smith Rows to new World and American Record

Dean Smith set new US and World records at the World Indoor Rowing Championship, hosted by the CRASH-B Sprints that took place on February 17, 2013 at the Agganis Arena in Boston. Over 2,200 athletes raced from more than a dozen countries, with competitors ranging in age from 14 to 95. Dean’s world record time in the 2000 meter row was 8:10.5. Just Google Dean Smith Rowing to see how he has been keeping active.

Dean, a former world- class runner is used to being on the winner’s podium. Previously in Masters Track & Field he won World championship gold medals in Hanover, Germany and Gothenburg, Sweden for the 800 meter run, as well as several national championships. Bad knees brought an end to Dean’s running a few years ago, so he was delighted to find a new sport in which to compete. He joined the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club when he moved to Lone Tree, Colorado seven years ago. Since then he has won NINE World Championships in sculls on the water in Zagreb, Croatia, Vienna, Austria, Birmingham, England and Vilnius, Lithuania.

Dean is a young 86.

He attributes his edge for success to using Shaklee Sports Products.

Email deansmith3@msn for more information & complete sports history

My wish for everyone of my readers is a long active life. We may not all win medals, but we can all keep moving. Pass this along as an inspiration to your friends and family.

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

Betsy Bells Health4u

206 933 1889

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Watch out for the metal detectors!

March 7, 2013 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

His long legs and narrow hips will soon carry him back to the gym. He will be back on the machines and lose the ‘love handles’ that have crept on from lack of exercise. The long process of identifying what caused the sciatica, the sharp pinching pain radiating down the leg, making his once strong stride impossible is over. It took months to identify a worn out hip as the culprit. He has a new one now.

No more arthritis pain from that degenerated joint. His bones were healthy enough at 70+ to give the surgeon something to work with. Other joints–knee, shoulders, ankles–still hold. No advanced osteoarthritis everywhere.

Rehabilitation takes time. His spirit is good. He hates hurting or talking about hurting, so he will use the special chair lifters, the raised toilet seat, and take the procautions he must take to avoid damage to the new joint as the supportive muscles and tissue and tendons readjust to the trauma of surgery.

This world traveler will soon set off the alarms in the airport again. What joy. What thanksgiving.

Here are some tricks to rapid healing that his doctor may not tell him.

1. Lecithin is an oil that helps emulsify, make more liquid, substances that are sticky. After an incision or any wound to the body, our own mechanisms for repair rush to the task of healing. This healing process causes lots of swelling, too many repair cells for the space. To help bring this swelling down quickly, an emulsifier makes the spent repair cells easy to slough off through the normal waste stream. Several lecithin capsules a day, not just one or two.

Caution: not all lecithin is the same. Granuals or huge jars of capsules can go rancid quickly like any oil exposed to the air and light. I prefer a small jar with 180 capsules. There should be no smell of rancidity. A rancid fat causes more damage than you can imagine, so take care what you buy.

2. Alfalfa. This food for horses and cows is King of Vegetables and helps all systems in the body with its nutrients. In this case when the hip joint and surrounding tissue need held, it is there to do the job. Here are a few of Alfalfa’s contributions to our body:

a great aid in digestion, aids in peptic ulcers, great diuretic and bowel regulator,
effective barrier against bacterial invasion, anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine.
Natural body deodorizer, helps support the natural ph of the blood .
High in protein: 18.9% protein as compared to beef 16.5%; milk 3.3% and eggs 13.1%.
Remember, muscles are composed of protein and the lack of it causes them to break down resulting in fatigue and weakness.
After surgery, naturally replenishes joints and tissues with its healing properties.

How much Alfalfa? Lots and lots. It is like eating peas. Take a big spoonful and wash the tablets down with your favorite smoothie. Or make a hot tea. Or chew them up.

Caution: Not all Alfalfa is the same. Often genetically modified, the brand I use exclusively is grown by a very picky company’s organic farmers in Antalope Valley. The leaves are picked at sun-rise. No stems are included in the tablets. Open the bottle and take a whiff of the farm land where it grew.

If I had to pick only one supplement to take, it would be Alfalfa by Shaklee. Dr. Shaklee felt the same way.

Happy healing to my friend, the best travel leader I have ever known. And Happy Travels.

Fondly,

Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving,

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com 206-933-1889

Arthritis, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Is it Woo-Woo?

February 14, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

Climbing up a long snowy track on cross country skis yesterday, my companions and I talked about little miracles, ‘woo-woo’ magic, the unexplained healing that sometimes occurs. The husband of one friend has suffered from arthritis in both ankles for about 5 years, so bad that he could barely walk. He is in his late 50’s. The friend herself worked a stressful tech job that required her to bend over patients. She suffered from excruciating pain from her head down her neck, along her shoulders and down her arms. In time the pain reached down her back.

The man, slim, fit, an avid cyclist who couldn’t walk without extreme pain, got one of his ankles fused, a newish operation for arthritis. They chose the more painful of the two to work on. The operated ankle no longer hurts. The ‘woo-woo’ miracle is that the other ankle no longer hurts. He can walk 5 miles. The x-rays indicated that both ankles were equally damaged by the disease. Hum. . . . . .

The friend with the pain from bending over at work? Her doctor’s diagnosed fibromyalgia and offered drug therapy. After much consideration, she retired from her job. All the pain has vanished.

Were the x-rays wrong? Were the doctors missing something?

In my own case, I hurt my back badly at age 52. By the age of 55, I was diagnosed with a severe condition that my doctor said would put me in a wheel chair. At age 75, I am pretty much pain free. I haven’t had any of the operations they suggested. A check up with more pictures at age 65, the doc said, “If I didn’t know you, I’d say you should be in a wheel chair.”

What’s going on here? These three stories, my friend with diagnosed fibromyalgia, her husband with arthritic ankles and me with a back condition so bad I should be in a wheel chair all have to do with pain and the skeletal structure, nerves and pain messaging. Compelling research has been done with thought, intention and cancer. Here is a short video about this healing work. Do Thoughts Have the Power to Heal? Could similar healing happen with skeletal and nerve problems? Even if you don’t direct intention to the condition such as with my friend’s husband? He’s not interesting in discussing the ‘miracle’ healing of the second ankle.

You can read my story and what I’ve done to be pain free today in past blog posts. Perhaps the most important thing is hope, belief and action, in that order. I seldom miss my morning routine to limber everything up. I listen to a CD meditation that declares night after night that my cells have all the right nutrients to recreate themselves new and healthy, even the ones in my back that are supposed to be all messed up.

Miracles of healing? As the doctor says, “whatever you’re doing, keep it up.” And so I do. How about you?

Fondly,

Be Well, Do Well, Keep Moving

Betsy

Injured at 52. Diagnosed and sentenced to a wheel chair at 55 and 65. Hiking, skiing, dancing and walking at 75. Read my story.

206 933 1889 www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com Betsy@HiHoHealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Tips for women who have back pain because of osteoporosis

February 7, 2013 betsyjbell

Here they are:

Tip #1 Increase your vitamin D3 (more info about Vitamin D3 for bone density here)

Tip #2 Add weight bearing exercise to your routine

Tip #3 Eat more greens

Gentle Reader,

You have a sharp pain in your back and can’t remember that you lifted that bag of groceries 3 days ago even though you knew it was too heavy for you. The pain subsides after a few weeks with the help of rest and some pain meds. And then it happens again.

What’s going on? You probably had a vertebral compression fracture, caused either by falling or by placing a load on outstretched arms such as raising a window or lifting a small child or a bag of groceries. The front of the vertebrae collapse. The spine is weakened by low bone density. Our bodies can repair these hair line fractures on their own. The trick is to lessen the chances of reoccurrence.

You go for your check up and they do a bone density test. The dreaded report comes back. You have osteopenia. They tell you that is probably why you’ve been having back pain. This happened to me a few years ago. My doctor immediately offered me drugs to increase the bone density. I asked him to give me a couple years to change this picture and reverse the trend to osteoporosis. The next bone density showed full blown osteoporosis. I was very disappointed. I’d been taking a good quality calcium for years. Why hadn’t it protected me? I was very physically active, walking all the time, skiing, working in the garden. I pleaded again for more time and turned down the prescription. It worked. Here’s what I did.

#1 Increased Vitamin D3 to 6000 mg a day. My blood test indicated a major increase was necessary.

#2 Stair climbing. The advice was climb 200 steps every day while carrying 20 lbs. I climbed 200 steps several times a week but didn’t carry any extra weight.

#3 Add minerals by eating lots more greens. I eat 3 – 5 heads of greens (kale, chard, mustard greens, and collards) every week, usually steamed or in soups. Spinach is good, too. I also increased the supplement Alfalfa.

I was able to reverse the condition. You can too.

I know you have done amazing things to turn osteoporosis around. Let us know by leaving a comment. If you found this helpful, pass it along. And thanks,

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Are you feeling less alert?

January 31, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

If you are suffering pain from arthritis, osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, the regular wear and tear of life, you need good deep sleep to help you heal. I’ve written about Feldenkris, a therapy that helps with these painful conditions. I’ve mentioned Becci Parsons, who got me on the road to sitting/standing/walking after herniating a disc. Today I am posting her helpful solutions and suggestions for next steps for anyone who suffers from lack of sleep. Read on….

Change Your Sleep. Change Your Life.

Are you feeling less alert?

Are you unable to think clearly or sustain your focus?

Do you have difficulty falling asleep or problems with frequent awakening during the night?

If so, you may be suffering from insomnia.

We tend to think of insomnia as the constellation of symptoms that we experience just before sleep or during the night when we awaken with our mind racing and the bed sheets twisted. The process of insomnia actually begins much earlier in the day for most of us.

How?

Through the choices we make about how we spend our time.

The obvious culprits:

That afternoon pick-me-up latte or caffeinated green tea smoothie.

It could take between 9-14 hours to fully metabolize the caffeine. Even if you have no difficulty falling asleep, the caffeine could undermine the quality and duration of your sleep.

Evening computer use or cell phone email/texting, watching tv or reading using an e-reading device. Blue light from many of these devices is as bright as daylight and activates the nervous system sending the brain and body into “wake up mode”.

And what about the emotional responses that are triggered by these late night, last minute, urgent communications?

Life in the twenty first century is stressful and fast paced. A full, zoom-zoom workday of 8-12 hours is often followed by a long commute and sometimes a cocktail or a glass of wine to take the edge off. We eat late, do a few more email or text messages; watch a movie, read or log on to Facebook in an effort to wind down. Unfortunately very few of these activities actually promote relaxation and set the stage for a good night’s sleep. Most of them tip the nervous system far in the other direction to a state of hyper-arousal.

Hyper-arousal is a chronic over-activation of the body’s stress-response mechanism. There’s no instant ON/OFF switch. When these pathways are repeatedly excited, they become the default setting. We essentially travel a well-worn path leading us in the direction of elevated blood pressure, holding our breath, clinching our jaw and lifting our shoulders, without respite. Many of these sensations fly below the radar of our self-perception and become the background noise of our busy, over stimulated lives.

What to do?

“For fast acting relief, try slowing down”. –Lily Tomlin

On the one hand, we can increase the quality and duration of a good night’s sleep simply by making better choices. Following a good sleep hygiene program is an empowering start. For more detailed information about sleep hygiene refer to the following link:

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene

We also need to hit the pause, re-set button during the day to get off of the cortisol/ adrenaline high that many of us associate with feeling good and being productive. Functioning under the influence of stress hormones is not a sustainable practice. Biological systems thrive with ebb and flow. Metabolically speaking, we need to interrupt the cycle of prolonged excitation and dial things down to a more balanced, calm and functional neutral.

Learning to move more fluidly between states of stress and relaxation is key. It is positive motion in the direction of re-establishing the natural biological rhythms of exertion and recuperation. Think of it as self-regulation with applied intelligence. When we develop the capacity to meet the demands of a stressful moment and the flexibility to return to a state of equanimity in a relatively short amount of time, not only will we sleep better, but we’ll also be a kinder, gentler, version of ourselves.

Becci Parsons offers workshops and private coaching in the techniques of the Sounder Sleep System^® in the interest of helping to create a more sane and peaceful world. Restful sleep is necessary for the healthy function of every system in the body and helps to regulate mood, energy and emotional intelligence.

The Sounder Sleep System^® is comprised of a variety of calming and sleep inducing techniques to be used during the day and at bedtime, taught while sitting or lying down. The simple exercises are designed to restore our natural capacity to rest, recover and heal from the stress of daily life, one breath at a time. They are elegantly simple and simply profound.

For more information about private sleep coaching or to inquire about the introduction to the Sounder Sleep System^® Workshop in February 2013, contact me:

Becci Parsons, Authorized Teacher, Sounder Sleep System^®

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher^®

MotionSense Movement Education

bparsons@seanet.com

206.545.7272

www.BecciParsons.com

206.545.7272

Thank you, Becci. Be sure to leave a comment or suggestion of your own.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Your friend said WHAT?

January 24, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I don’t know about you, but the talk around me is about the latest aches and pain and what to do about it. We’ve had foggy weather and below freezing temperatures out here in the Northwest. One friend declared she couldn’t possibly so out because she might slip and fall. Another friend wants to lose some weight but complains that she’s heard a lot of bad things about soy and can’t get into any soy smoothies. Another friend’s husband is putting off getting his knees done by getting synovial fluid injections into his achy knees. Keep that arthritis at bay. And still another friend’s husband ignored a bad cough for days until finally going to the doctor and ending up in the ICU for over a week with serious pneumonia. One more friend who has player geezer

basket ball but is suffering from serious sciatica, shakes he head a

head and says, “This cane will keep me going while the physical therapist fixes me up.”

I could go on and on. You have similar stories. We’re all trying our best to keep our bodies going for a few more months or years.

Where do you go for advice when you’ve got something that’s not working right? Do you just stay indoors out of fear and trepidation? We’re all over the web doing our research to see how other people are coping with our deal. Who do you trust? How do you judge the best solution?

When I first got introduced to the stuff I take 26 years ago, my problem was that I was running on nervous energy and every time I sat still for a few minutes, I fell asleep. The product changed that. So my body gave me a testimony. Not content with physical data alone, I researched the company, ordered a couple of its peer-reviewed, published research articles and did a library search for back ground information. (This was back in the days before the internet.) All my due diligence confirmed my own experience. I developed brand loyalty over the next couple years, the way people line up for the next Apple product.

I have never left my brain in the closet. Company ownership changed several times and I researched each new team as if I were a complete outsider, you know, not going to other convinced sales people for their opinion.

Am I still influenced by my friends and family when they talk about their latest ache, their latest gadget, their latest restaurant? Of course. But I don’t leave my brain someplace else when deciding to follow their deal. I hope you don’t either.

Before you go, my readers would enjoy hearing your discernment process. Everyone evaluates with their own criteria. What are yours? Let us know.

If you’ve enjoyed this, pass it on. Come on over to my face book page and hit the ‘like’ button.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Where’s the Nyquil?

January 17, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Readers,

From the couch, handkerchiefs everywhere, head propped up I write to tell you the story of a person who used to get every cold bug that came along. In the old days, I grabbed the Coricidin and then the Nyquil P.M. and then went whimpering to my doctor. He gladly swabbed my throat and pronounced strep or bronchitis and prescribed an anti-biotic. It happened roughly three times every year. That’s a lot of antibiotics for a body to handle.

Down in Mexico where I spent New Year’s (came home on the 10^th of January), I felt a little sore throat coming on and that lethargy that seems to precede an illness. For the past twenty six years I haven’t used the standard over-the-counter meds to ward off or treat a cold. Starting on a food supplement program in 1985 moved me in a different direction. My friend suggested heaps of vitamin C frequently, and garlic and a supplement called lecithin (less-i-thin). They use it in salad dressings to keep the oil and water mixed together, emulsified. It works the same way in the body, keeping gunk liquefied so it can leave in the waste stream. Very helpful when you have buggers forming so fast you can’t cough them all up at once.

What I figured out was the cold medicines suppress everything, drive the battle between my immune system’s response fighters and the germs, down, down, down into my chest. The mass gets all sticky and gelatinous and won’t move. Nyquil suppresses coughing (which can keep you awake). The raging war between the good guys and the bad guys in your body gets all confined in a small space and the germs multiply and get all bacterial. Then you’ve got something the doctor knows how to treat, so he writes a prescription.

Is this familiar to anyone?

By the time I got home, I developed a full blown cold or maybe even the beginnings of the flu. I certainly had achy joints and swollen lymph glands. I got out the big guns. Please bear with me and try not to freak out at the quantity of supplements I take when this situation develops.

4 – 6 Sustained Release C

3 Lecithin

3—4 Garlic

1 Immunity Formula I (a supplement blend of C, A, E and 3 of the B vitamins, plus zinc, copper and selenium suspended in rosemary oil so the water soluble (C and B) and the fat soluble (A and E) vitamins don’t degrade each other)

I took this handful of supplements every 2 – 3 hours I was awake, swallowing them down with a little drink of protein smoothie so my stomach could handle them.

I also drank Traditional Medicinals herbal teas Throat Coat and Breath Easy, usually stirring in a throat lozenge made of Echinacea, zinc, larch tree extract, elderberry and stevia, 3 at once. Every time a coughing fit started, I popped a lozenge in my mouth. When I awoke in the night coughing or to pee, I went to the kitchen and took the whole Marianne all over again.

Happily the carcass of the Thanksgiving turkey was languishing in the freezer and there were carrots and celery and onion still in the frig. The broth worked magic and I drank a couple quarts with a little cous cous boiled up in it.

Results: In one day the achy joints and lymph were normal. In two more days, I was not coughing in the night. By day four I was able to enjoy some regular food and was not needing the Bomb as we call it every 2 – 3 hours, just every 4 – 5 hours.

Today I am healthy though a little puny from lack of exercise.

No antibiotics. No OTC drugs.

This is the same philosophy and process I use for dealing with other physical challenges like joint pain and arthritis. Even though the x-ray shows severe osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis, gentle abs strengthening exercises, daily walking, eating lots of greens, and low sugar fruits and vegetables plus excellent protein, plus supplements keeps pain at bay.

Is it easier to take the medications advertized on TV and recommended at the pharmacy? Is it cheaper to take them? Is the relief immediate? YES to all these. But what of the long term effects of drugs vs. high quality pure supplements? Drugs have side effects. Supplements made with extreme care for additives, purity of ingredients, and tested to make sure they actually get into the blood stream have side-benefits, not side-effects.

Just a side note about Ester-C. Apparently this little package which you dissolve in water and swallow, will boost the white cell production thus helping the immune system. The study designed to verify this was done with 15 healthy men some of whom were smokers. Each took the Ester-C product for a week and had an increase in the white cell count. To read the study yourself, click here. I just had to look this up because what I know about vitamin C is that it is water soluble and degrades immediately when exposed to light and air and water. The tablets probably work better. I found an online source for 1000 mg. sustained release Ester-C for $21 plus tax and shipping. But I still have lots of questions. Is their C ascorbic acid only? What about the white stuff in the orange which turns out to be just as important? What is used to slow down the release of C into the blood stream? You want guar gum and nothing artificial separating the dosage delivery. And the Sustained Release Vitamin C I take is 180 tablets for $21.00. It’s made by Shaklee, a company I trust for its scientific research and the careful testing every step of the way from raw material, through processing to the finished product.

One more thought. Not every stomach can handle that amount of supplements. You noticed I do not take supplements on an empty stomach if I can help it. If you want to follow this regimen, I’d be glad to guide you along the way. By all means pay attention to your own body and pull back on the volume if you have a reaction to that much Vitamin C. I am just happy I have this resource to use to ease the discomfort of a bad cold and to get over it quickly with no medications at all and so no side effects with their residual problems.

I did not take a flu shot this season or any season. Am I recommending against flu shots? I’d be a fool to do that. Use your own judgment.

Before you go, leave a comment. If you liked what you read, pass it on.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Help! Gotta have chocolate now!

January 11, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle reader,

How are you doing with those plans to take a few inches off? Are you starving yet? Are cravings getting the better of your will power? What’s this got to do with arthritis and joint pain, anyway?

The research has been done and is conclusive beyond a doubt that losing even 15 pounds (you may have 50 to 100 to lose) in any body will make a difference in the joints. Even people with severe osteoarthritis will experience relief from joint pain with the loss of 15 pounds. You may have lost that much and noticed. You may have put it back on again, and noticed an increase in arthritis pain.

A recent article in our Seattle based natural market, Puget Consumer Coop gives us a good understanding of cravings and why they are so difficult to eliminate. We are hard-wired as humans from the beginning of time to go for high-calorie food for our survival. When a bee hive was discovered in a high tree, no attempt was made to save it for tomorrow. The whole tribe ate all the honey they could harvest until it was gone. Just like that plate of cookies sitting on the counter. Or that pint of Ben and Jerry’s we were going to split into at least 5 servings spaced out over the next two and a half weeks. Gone in one sitting.

Then we beat ourselves up for lack of self control. Blame it on our chemistry. Salt, fat and sugar were scarce. We love eating them because they increase the feel good chemicals in our brain. For example, dopamine is neurotransmitter that high-fat foods increase regulating our reward and pleasure centers and making us happy. Who wouldn’t want that? Bring on the ice cream and the French fries.

Or maybe it’s the theobromine (found in chocolate) that gives us a pick me up when our brain and tail drag around 3 in the afternoon. That mocha latte is just the thing delivering caffeine, sugar and chocolate all in one gulp—feel good and get energized. I used to advise clients to eat a magnesium supplement to supply what chocolate cravings demand. The scientific thinking a few years ago was that cravings indicated a nutritional or emotional deficiency and something less unhealthy could be substituted for the same results.

You’re in luck, and so am I. Turns out it is wiser not to deprive yourself completely of these craved for foods. The more you deprive yourself, the more you crave. Once you give in to the craving, you can’t stop until the plate is empty. You may even head for the store to get a refill, more cookie dough that you might not even bother baking, or, let’s just pick up a gallon of that Rocky Road ice cream. I know a guy who holds back with great effort from eating peanut butter and then gives up with a great sign and is face down in the Adams jar with two cereal spoons. OMG I’ve been there and done that.

They even found that people who practice severe and rigid dietary restraint are more likely to be obese. That’s a yo-yo from deprivation to over-consumption.

<———————————–The Hunger Scale——————————->
0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Empty	Ravenous	Over hungry	Hunger pangs	Hunger Awakens	Neutral	Just Satisfied	Completely satisfied	Full	Stuffed	Sick

Thanks to Kelly Morrow, MS, RD, registered dietitian and Associate Professor in the School of Nutrition and Exercise Science at Bastyr University for much of this information and the Hunger Chart. 1 and 2 equate to excess hunger and 9 and 10 are excess fullness. Start eating around 3 or 4 and stop when at a 7-8.

Two strategies can make a big difference in how these cravings get handled.

1. Ease up. Have a taste. Savor it. Before the cravings are so great they can’t be handled without an all-out binge. Be gentle with yourself and eat small portions of your comfort food.

2. Keep a food diary so you can really understand how moods, physical location, memories influence the desperate need for comfort foods. Once you have a clearer understanding of your body’s response to certain trigger situations, you can plan ways to disarm your craving, like take a walk.

My sugar craving was severe and the results caused me so much misery. I could not stay awake in an important lecture or concert any time of the day or evening after eating sweet rolls, cookies, muffins, toast and jelly. I would get up during a talk and walk around the back of the room to stay alert after a couple Costco bran muffins put me sound asleep. To this day when I go to an all day meeting or conference and they serve sweet bread-y things with juice and coffee, I don’t touch any of it. Instead I mix a protein smoothie in my room and drink it before showing up for the pre-event sugary snacks. They still tempt me. They look so good. But I’m not hungry because I have taken in a high protein drink and it’s easier to resist what I know will keep me from being alert to the content I want so much to hear.

Getting to this place was an arduous process for me. I had to eliminate all sugars, even fruit, for a while. Grapes still set me off as though I were eating Sugar Pops or M & M’s. Once I thoroughly re-programmed my craving buttons, I just don’t think about those trigger foods. I was just in Mexico for a couple weeks. One of the great pleasures all those years visiting at my parents’ lovely beach house in Manzanillo was the morning “pan dulce” delivery. Mother would buy several little cakes for each person. They were heavy with lard, flour and sugar, almonds and icing. This Christmas holiday spent in Puerto Vallarta, someone in our party bought a half dozen for the group. I had one small mouthful and remembered the pleasure of the past family gatherings AND the sluggish, heavy feeling those cakes produce. One bite was enough.

Another strategy I try to follow is eat by the clock and not by my hunger. Eating with cravings as the signal for meals can be difficult for a person devoid of normal hunger pangs. I can go for hours after breakfast and suddenly realize my brain is not functioning. I’m getting crabby. I must have something to eat RIGHT NOW. Keeping a nutritional protein bar in my purse or planning lunch as I finish breakfast is the best way I know to stay comfortably on the path of good eating.

Was the chocolate cake and flan in the Botanical Garden restaurant ever good! Sharing one serving with my sister-in-law was all I wanted. We ate steak fajitas before the desert.

I know many of you readers will have your own stories about how you have managed a healthy balance of sugar, fatty, salty foods in your life without becoming fanatic or over powered. Tell us your strategies. I have shared mine. They are not universal. We’d like to hear yours. The comment place is just below.

If this has been useful, feel free to share.

BTW I am having a brunch at my house in West Seattle on Saturday, Jan. 19^th at 10:30-12n. and would be happy to have you join us. We’ll be presenting the 180 Turnaround weight management program. Better yet, we’ll be tasting the Smoothies, the bars, the tea and describing all the support material available to help you end the grip cravings have on your brain and consequently your health. A program that helps you feel satiety while your are changing your food habits can make a world of different in whether or not you are successful. I’d be glad to do the brunch vitually. Call me and we’ll set it up. Thanks in advance for your comments.

Fondly, Betsy

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving

BetsyBell’s Health4u

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com

206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077

betsy@hihohealth.com