Tag Archives: vitamins

Be Well health tips, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Healthier bones

April 30, 2014 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

Do you ever have the experience of anticipating a really big event that is going to make demands on your body? You become more aware of the little aches and pains, the warning signals that all is not well? Maybe bone health has gotten worse. You worry about an escalation of the little twinge into something big right in the middle of the planned for event. You think about Traveler’s Insurance and then read the fine print that says unless you buy it with 14 days of purchasing your plane ticket and paying for the experience, you have to declare a pre-existing condition. Are these twinges enough to be called a pre-existing condition?

By now, you know that I have been living with a diagnosis of spinal stenosis and osteoarthritis. These are both age-related and trauma induced arthritis. My first trauma was in 1989 and then the herniation in L5 was exacerbated in 1993 by sitting in a slouched position in an airplane for 7 hours. At that time, I went to Dr. Stan Herring, sports medicine doctor to the Huskies sports teams and neurosurgeon. He told me my bone health as revealed in the MRI pictures were so bad, he was surprised I wasn’t in a wheel chair.

Over the past year my right leg has been going numb and weak from time to time, especially when standing for a long time, like in choir or wandering through a museum. Last June, I walked all over Paris with a numb right leg. No pain, just a feeling of distance, dissociation from that limb, even when walking around without a hiking stick or other means of extra support. In fact, I hardly ever experience pain above a 3-4 on the old 10-point scale. Probably because I pop an herbal Shaklee Pain Relief Complex tablet at the slightest twinge of pain.

I decided to call Dr. Herring’s office to see how he is treating his athletes these days. His practice has changed and he directs other doctors now. He is not a provider in my AARP Advantage insurance program. So, I met Dr. Ren at the Polyclinic for a review of my most recent MRI and a comparison to all the others I have had in the past. Three conclusions are worth sharing with you.

1. I do have bulging discs including a new one at L2, moving up the spine. But none is penetrating the spinal cord. I have what she calls a genetically narrow passageway for the spinal cord. This explains why I am so like my father in arthritis of the back; he suffered terribly. It was ironic, since he was an Orthopedic surgeon and performed hundreds of laminectomies and fusions over the course of his practice. He couldn’t operate on himself, so he never had his own back fixed. You can see where I get my “do it yourself” attitude.

2. There has been some improvement in the spinal stenosis and osteoarthritis since the last MRI. This I count as a victory and I attribute it to the fact that bone replaces itself slowly over time. Given proper nutrition and other care through strengthening and toning muscles, bone can improve. I am thrilled that my bone health has improfed. What a fabulous result! I will continue to visualize the formation of healthy new bone. I will certainly continue with a diet loaded with fruits and vegetables and lean meats and fish, plus little or no gluten or dairy. I am committed to continuing my workouts at the Xgym, because stronger muscles build stronger bones.

3. Dr. Ren called me her poster child, to be improving bone health at 76, almost 77, instead of getting worse. She also told me that low back problems on a major trip would only cause discomfort and was not life threatening. No need to update my will on account of my back issues and numb leg. Whew…

Let me review my early morning routine in case it would be helpful for you.

1. Lie on the floor for 12 minutes with my knees bent over the Back2Life Machine.

2. A Feldenkrais hip opening exercise, 10 counts with each leg. This video shows an extended version of my routine. A full hip opening practice in two parts. I limit myself to the dropping of the knee, extending the heal and back up again, 10 times on each side. If you are a beginner with Feldenkrais, I recommend following her program from start to finish for best results. You can later incorporate the segment that seems to give you the most benefit.

3. hanging upside down on the gravity inversion table for a total of 25 breathes. Here is a video of an expert doing her back mobilization exercises on this inversion table. It makes me seasick. I have never been able to work the way she does, but I can vouch from the success I have had with lengthening a stretching my spine. She inspires me to work up to what she demonstrates.

All this before breakfast. In addition, each week I walk a couple miles most days which include steep uphill climbing (I live in West Seattle on top of a hill and my destination is on the top of another hill a mile a way, therefore Up and Down going and coming.) On Tuesday I practice yoga with an instructor who builds slowly to the big poses and I stop when a twist gets to be too much. On Wednesday I hike in our mountains surrounding Puget Sound, usually 6 miles, more or less. On Monday and Friday, Clayton works me out at the Xgym, concentrating on 5 muscle groups and in a controlled manner, bringing them to complete fatigue. It takes 25 minutes. None of this takes a long time, except for the luscious outdoor experience on Wednesday. I hate to miss it when I have to. Nearly anyone could put this into their schedule.

I also take several supplements that improve joint mobility and strength muscles tissue: Fish oil, Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Calcium. They all work better because of an excellent catalyst, Shaklee’s multivitamin and mineral tablet. I take the one for seniors which is especially formulated for the aging absorption for someone over 50.

The special event, you might ask? A friend and I are going to hike 100 miles in England following the “highway” used by Lady Anne Clifford, a 17^th century noble woman who owned most of Northumberland and Yorkshire. We will walk from castle to castle beginning just north of Leeds, hiking for 9 days in the dales, wild and dramatic country to Penrith in the Lake District. It will be June, long days and with any luck, not too much rain. I will leave the end of May, feeling confident that my self-care and hiking sticks will see me to the end. I’ll be home on June 20^th.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

Let us know of your adventures. How you are preparing or maintaining your body to meet your travel goals? Sharing makes it all better.

betsy@hihohealth.com

206-933-1889

Be Well health tips

Don’t take vitamins.

April 24, 2014 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

“Whatever you do, don’t take vitamins.” One more doctor/author has come out with a book of instructions on how to stay healthy. Included in his list of what to do and eat is a chapter on why you should not take vitamins. My renter just showed me his latest book, A Short Guide to a Long Life, by Dr. David Agus. My own trainer who developed a highly efficient hands-on program for building muscles, reducing body fat and increasing strength and stamina wrote a book called Cracking Your Calorie Code. These books all tell us supplement users that we are wasting our money and perhaps doing ourselves harm. They are catagorically against vitamins. “Don’t take vitamins. You don’t need them. You are wasting your money.”

What is going on here? What is the key question these books address? Are they missing something?

How can I be healthier? Have more energy? Avoid chronic diseases that supposedly result from my life-style? Aren’t these the questions we are all trying to answer? We are looking for a better way to stay healthy as we grow old. We don’t want to spend our social time with doctors. We want to enjoy the days we have and then die without a period of long, drawn out suffering.

These authors seem to agree on the life style we ought to follow. They also claim we are wasting our money and even harming ourselves if we persist in taking vitamins.

First, let me clear up a couple things. Before 1998, a few deaths in children were reported from taking sugar coated, brightly colors vitamins containing high levels of iron. Since the packaging changed, only 1 death has been reported. Compare this with 59 confirmed deaths due to aspirin poisoning in 2003 and 147 deaths known to be associated with acetaminophen-containing products. According to the FDA, Americans easily take more than 60 billion doses of nutritional supplements every year, and with zero related deaths. This is an outstanding safety record. Compare this to 14,800 deaths in 2008 from prescription pain killers. About 6.1 million people abuse prescription pills, and overdose deaths have at least doubled in 29 states, where they now exceed vehicle-related deaths. In 10 of those states, rates tripled; in four of them, they quadrupled. (Reported in the Christian Science Monitor, 10/2013)

Second, let’s look at the healthy life style and eating habits these authors recommend, including my trainer. A quick rundown:

Adequate protein from lean meat, fish, eggs. (WebMD says 50 grams. daily, which is not enough, in my opinion. A good rule of thumb is 1 gram for every ½ pound of weight. 140 lbs. = 70 grams.)
5- 9 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. (Serving = 1 cup, 2 cups if leafy greens)
Whole grains (many people need to limit grains and refined carbohydrates like pasta and pastries to achieve optimal health)
6 – 10 eight oz. glasses of water
Small amounts of fat, sugar, dairy. (Many food guides recommend more calories from dairy)
No smoking. Little or no alcohol.
Exercise at minimum ½ hour walking 4 days a week.

My question to you is this: how many days last week did you achieve these markers for your healthy future? Are you really getting all those servings of fresh vegetables and fruits into your body every day? Did you find time to exercise at least that much last week (and you can’t count the running around you do in the office or in your house unless you are wearing a pedometer. You need to reach 10,000 steps a week.)

Fill out this checklist. It is equivalent to the auto mechanic’s diagnostic tool for your car (which you can replace when it doesn’t work anymore).

Today’s date

__ Tired

__ Overweight or Underweight

__ Stress

__ Dry/Oily skin/Problem skin

__ Thinning hair/Dull hair

__ Emotional on empty stomach

__ Dandruff

__ Need caffeine/sugar

__ Can’t wake up

__ Can’t sleep/Restless sleep

__ Poor attention span

__ Splitting Nails

__ Irritability/Depression

__ Nervousness/Anxiety

__ Allergies

__ Bruise easily

__ Heartburn/Need antacids

__ sinus problems

__ Cold hands or feet

__ Poor night vision

__ Back pain/Leg pain

__ Constipation/Diarrhea

__ Poor digestion/stomach

__ High/Low blood pressure

__ High/Low blood sugar

__ Various aches and pains

__ Elevated cholesterol

__ Cravings for sweets

__ PMS/Hormonal problems

__ Menstrual cramps/problems

__ Subject to colds/flu/infection

__ Muscle cramps

__ Joint pain/Arthritis

__ Bleeding gums

__ Headaches

If you wear out your body, where are you going to live?

__ Breath or body odor

__ Decreased sex interest

__ Infertility/Sterility

__ Menopausal symptoms

__ Vague “blah” feeling

“Whether we like it or not, a symptom is a message the body wants to express – which drugs suppress. If drugs are prescribed, new symptoms begin to appear.”

-Deepak Chopra, M.D.

You have only one body. When this one body wears out, where are you going to live?

In 1985, I was physically and emotionally depleted. I was eating the way I describe above, following all the guidelines provided by the various gurus on healthy living. I had had cancer and was determined not to develop cancer again. In spite of a perfect diet, frequent and vigorous exercise, little or no alcohol or refined, packaged foods, I was not healthy. I took no vitamins. I took some iron tablets at the recommendation of my doctor and they made me constipated. I had no idea how to choose a vitamin. “Don’t take vitamins” was not my thought or plan. I was introduced to the Shaklee vitamins and began a foundation program of Soy smoothies, a multi, extra B, C and Calcium, plus Alfalfa and Herb Lax for constipation. Within a month, my health change for the better. Many of my symptoms (I checked off 10 – 12 on the above list) disappeared or changed for the better.

What more can I say? I eat the way the textbooks suggest. But not every day. Some days I eat in my car, on the run, at someone else’s house, in a bar or restaurant and do not get all the fresh nutrients I need. Supplements are just that, a supplement to an inadequate diet. They don’t kill you. They may even give you better health. If you don’t feel better in a month of faithful consumption, Shaklee will give you your money back. Guaranteed. Does your drug store vitamin offer that? When is the last time your doctor gave you a money back guarantee on the prescription he/she wrote for you?

Enough said.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving.

Betsy

206 933 1889

besy@hihohealth.com

Be Well health tips, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Does a Blood Type Diet Work?

September 26, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

How do we know if a blood type diet works? How do we know if vitamins work? How do we evaluate health claims?I recently checked in on a new customer to see how her vitamin regimen was going. We had talked at length about the value of the Shaklee supplements and the ease of the Vita strip in Vitalizer. She had not reordered.

Her husband decided Vitalizer was too expensive and she should stick with the many bottles of individual supplements recommended by the local health food store. My friend suffers from aches and pains as well as other health issues and is taking a goodly number of vitamins and herbs.

I thought of them when I read about a recent publication in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A group of Belgian scientists did a systematic search of the literature to see if there was any evidence to support the basic premise behind Eat Right 4 Your Type, published in 1997 by Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo. This book has sold in the millions. Perhaps you are among those who have bought, read and followed his recommendation based on your blood type.

Have you found it makes a difference? Do you stick to it?

Dr Steve Chaney, Dr. Richard Brouse, Dr. Frank Painter, Dr. Bruce Miller are all students of the latest claims about diet and eating that promise life-changing results. What each of these men study is the research behind the claims. The question to ask of a blood type diet is whether it could be that simple, given that there is tremendous variation in the human genetic makeup? Is a blood type related to the health outcomes of different diets?

Where is the evidence?

Out of 1415 articles with blood type diet in the title, only one matched their criteria

Did the study start with human subjects grouped according to blood type?
Did the study have an intervention in which the subjects were required to adhere to a particular type of diet?
Did the study measure a health outcome of the dietary intervention?

You can read the study here, and the newsletter about it from Dr. Chaney here. The one study that met the criteria was based on an entirely different way of typing blood.

The take-away from this discussion is the question of evidence. Why follow a diet based on blood type without doing the same research you would do before buying a new car or paint for your house? If you truly purchase and consume products based only on price, evidence may not sway you to search further. If you purchase your products based on the recommendation of a trusted friend or professional, you may or may not be getting the best value.

I have not followed the blood type diet. I started a Shaklee nutritional program and felt better in many surprising ways. Then I called the company and asked for 2 clinical studies published in peer-review scientific journals. My body told me I had taken a positive step with vitamins and a protein smoothie. Now I wanted scientific evidence. A thick packet arrived with the articles. I knew how to read the studies and evaluate whether their set up, process and conclusions were valid. Their studies follow the above criteria.

Group the subjects according to the criteria
Track the intervention
Measure the results

Whether it’s a blood type study, a pain relief study, a vitamin delivery system study, it must follow clean scientific protocal and the results must be accepted for what they are. All of Shaklee’s products are tested in this way. I trust them. Don’t take my word for it. Google Shaklee science yourself.

Finally, if your body doesn’t give you strong signals that a new regimen or product is effective for you, ask yourself if you have given it enough time and if you have been consistent in following the program.

There are a lot of fads in the health and wellness world. Some of them may be harmless. Others may harm. If you are working to increase your mobility, lessen your pain level, or just want to prevent illness and have more energy, check the quality of the product. Do your research.

Let me know what your criteria are when deciding what to eat and what vitamins to take?

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

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

No Magic Pill to end Arthritis Pain

August 29, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

In the end, and in the beginning, there is only one thing we –you and I– can do to bring lasting health to our aching bodies. Life style change. As I travel the Alaska Marine Highway, eat in the cafeteria on board, snack along the wharf in the various Inside Passage towns, I struggle with how to maintain my eating habits with poor choices everywhere. Some people go on vacation and throw their healthy life-style to the winds for those 7 – 21 days. Unfortunately the stomach doesn’t know you are on vacation and when the deep fried foods, extra sour dough bread with butter come rolling down the intestinal track, the joints react.

I’ve been having a few digestive and joint issues until yesterday when I found an IGA in Skagway with a ripe peach, some snap peas, and carrots. Amazing how getting back to the healthy routine will quickly restore one to their mobile less-pained body. Did I mention I also found a 4 mile round trip hike up to Dewey Lake right out of Skagway on 2nd Ave?

So good to move after strolling. What a difference.

This article about the new weight loss drug Dexaprine came across my desk. Dr. Chaney talks about the hazards of relying on a magic pill to take care of the pounds that weigh our joints down. It simply doesn’t work. Read his whole article here.

Want to really make a difference in your health? Lose 10 pounds. Safely. Let the fat go, keep the lean muscle. Have the energy to work out, or a least begin a walking program. Change the way you eat, permanently. That’s what the 180 Turnaround kit and the Lean and Healthy Kit are all about. Consider these Shaklee products as a way to launch yourself into a permanent life-style change. Personally, I’ll be drinking –or pouring over my breakfast cereal–a Shaklee 180 smoothee for the rest of my life, just as I have been doing ever since I achieved my goal weight 25 years ago with the Shaklee shakes and vitamins. Why not? Excellent science behind the product. Delicious. Sustains energy all day. Convenient to use (I have packets with me on this trip.) Cheaper than the fast food items at Starbuck’s or McDonalds. Begin today.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

PS to catch the latest on the Alaska expedition, click here

PPS Leave me your diet success/struggle stories in the comment section.

Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Food Cures. Is there such a thing?

April 25, 2013 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I’ve joined an on line face book arthritis support group to learn from others how they suffer and what they are doing about it. Following the rabbit trails I came to this web site maintained by a Joy Bauer. She has a slide show showing foods that are helpful for sufferers of arthritis. You can also take a survey here that will give you a food suggestion list based on your answers to several life style questions.

Here are the suggestions that resulted from my survery:

Step 1

Understanding Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is due to a combination of factors, including genetics, past injury, joint use and overuse, and the aging process in general. The word “overuse” implies that it’s a concern for serious athletes, as well as those who have stress on the joints caused by excess body weight. Losing just a little weight can have a huge positive impact on OA. Because arthritis is a disease of inflammation, the most effective — and logical — treatment is anything that fights inflammation. Management of arthritis usually starts with ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory medications, eating anti-inflammatory foods, and improving weight and lifestyle. I will go into more detail on how to manage OA in the following steps and on the Food Cures Web site.

Step 2

Foods to Avoid

In order to reduce inflammation in your body, you should dramatically limit your intake of pro-inflammatory foods. It sounds like you’re already avoiding foods high in saturated fats — such as fatty meats, butter, whole and 2 percent milk, full-fat cheese, and rich desserts. However, there are a few other foods you should add to your “foods to avoid” list. Trans fats, which are man-made fats added to baked goods to give them a longer shelf life, are very dangerous and even worse than saturated fats for your health. The good news is that laws now require food manufacturers to list trans fats on nutrition labels — so they’re easy to spot. Choose packaged foods that list 0 grams trans fat on the Nutrition Facts panel and don’t list any “hydrogenated oils” — codeword for trans fats — in the ingredients panel. The other food group to avoid is simple and refined carbs — which set up a state of inflammation in the body. These foods include soda and other sweetened beverages, candy, sugary refined cereals, white-flour baked goods, and white rice, bread, and crackers.

Step 3

Keep Drinking Your Water

Cartilage is 65 to 80 percent water, so staying hydrated is important for the health and lubrication of your joints. Maintaining proper hydration is even more important for individuals who suffer from gout. Water helps flush uric acid out of the body, and studies suggest staying hydrated may help prevent flare-ups. It isn’t necessary to count the number of glasses of water you drink in a day — the latest research suggests that if you take time to drink a glass whenever you feel thirsty, you’ll probably do fine. You are already drinking enough water, which is important for managing your arthritis. To spice things up, you might want to try flavoring your water with fresh fruit slices or drinking unsweetened green tea or herbal tea — there are so many delicious and fun varieties. And be sure to avoid sugary drinks like soda, sweetened water, fruit drinks, sweet tea, and froufrou coffee concoctions.

Step 4

Smoking and Arthritis

I know you don’t smoke, but I just wanted to share with you a few good reasons to stay smoke-free: Smoking delivers toxins throughout the body, causing inflammation and increasing the risk of arthritis. In one study, smokers were more than twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than people who didn’t smoke. In addition, researchers from a multicenter study reported in 2005 that smokers had a greater risk of osteoarthritis of the knee, possibly because smoking interferes with the body’s ability to repair its own cartilage. The bottom line is that staying smoke-free is a wise choice!

Step 5

Maintain Your Healthy Weight
One of the best things you can do for your arthritis is maintain a healthy lifestyle and weight — and

you’re already there! Being overweight can put added physical stress on your joints, which can aggravate arthritis (particularly osteoarthritis) and increase your levels of pain. An unhealthy weight can also promote inflammation, which as I’ve mentioned is the root of arthritis. Another reason to keep eating right and exercising!

Step 6

Exercise and Managing Arthritis
You’re already exercising daily — good for you! Many people stop exercising at the first twinge of pain in a joint, but this can be a big mistake. Exercise can actually be a great tool for fighting

arthritis. It can help you lose or maintain weight, which reduces the overall stress impact on joints. Strong muscles can absorb shock from daily movements, keep joints stable, and protect against additional joint injury. Stretching and yoga can improve flexibility and range of motion and reduce joint stiffness. Swimming and water aerobics allow free movement without added stress on the joints. Walking is another manageable, low-impact form of aerobic exercise appropriate for most individuals with arthritis. All good reasons to maintain your active lifestyle!

Good luck changing whatever needs changing to find the pain free movement you long for.

Comments? Please leave your thoughts and comments. Pass this along on your facebook page.

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

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

What can help the pain after an accident?

December 27, 2012 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Help for pain after an accident?

Gentle Reader,

A woman I know suffered another bike accident on her commute. She is in her late 40s and this is not her first tumble. It is taking a long time to heal and she is suffering miserably, no fun any time and least of all at the holidays when there is no work to distract her. Most of us can push through pain when we have professional obligations, right?

Stories like hers happen so frequently. I don’t know what her doctor is suggesting. There are no broken bones this time. Typical treatment is ice packs alternating with heat to reduce the swelling plus anti-inflammatories. The swelling seems to be gone, but the deep pain remains.

In my experience the deep healing of joint pain and muscle pain caused by accidents (as well as in arthritic joints) requires extra nutrition, more than it is possible to get from food alone. Here is a list of vitamins that help:

Vitamin C is a natural anti-inflammatory and builds strong cartilage which has been ripped and bruised in the fall. Vitamin C combats the chemical reactions of stress in the body. Vitamin C helps the body absorb minerals which are necessary in joint healing. As much as 6000 to 10,000 mg. of a highly absorbable sustained release Vitamin C would not be too much. Take it as long as necessary. Your body will tell you if you have too much as your stool will get loose.

Alfalfa, found in tablet form, made from organic alfalfa leaves, reduces the acid build-up in the body after accidental injury; this helps with stiffness and increases comfortable mobility. People have found that as many as 30-50 Alfalfa tablets a day or more can make a huge difference in joint pain.

The full spectrum of B vitamins helps deal with the stress of traumatic pain.

Borage oil or GLA reduces joint tenderness, swelling and stiffness and is an excellent anti-inflammatory working deep inside the body.

Zinc promotes tissue repair.

Calcium Magnesium strengthens cartilage and alleviates pain.

After workout smoothies have ingredients in them that repair tears in the muscles. (I know personally of only one brand that for sure works like this, but perhaps there are others) It is the process of repairing torn muscle that recommends these sports nutrition products for building bigger, stronger muscles. The same repair work happens after an accident. I know a woman who in her late 70s fell from the back end of a moving van onto her back. She used a workout smoothie several times over the next hours and had very little pain from the trauma of the fall. Even a long time after the accident, the smoothie can help.

At the Sunnyside Chiropractic Clinic observations were made charting an elderly population whose muscle mass had atrophied and weakened. Over a 3 to 6 month period, men and women 65 – 84 years in age added the after workout smoothie on a daily basis and experienced increased mobility, strength and reduced joint and muscle pain. http://www.healthsachoice.com/supplements/building-muscle-mass-in-the-elderly/ I have not been able to access the actual study from Dr. Brouse and the Health Education Corporation. I know some of you want to see the science before believing.

Whether you are dealing with the pain of traumatic injury or the chronic pain of osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis, these supplements are worth a try. The body does its best to repair. We need to help it along with additional nutrients we just can’t get from our food. Medication alleviates pain but does not heal, repair or build new healthy tissue.

I recommend the supplements made by the Shaklee Corporation as these are the only ones with which I have personal experience. They have helped me endure acute traumatic pain and avoid debilitating chronic pain from the severe osteoarthritis in many of my joints and spinal stenosis in my spine. If you want to research the Shaklee version of these supplements, go to my shopping page and browse the Product Guide. You can call me for a consultation about your particular situation and I’ll be glad to share resources.

Before you go, share our comments on supplements and vitamins that have worked for you after an accident that has put you in a world of hurt.

If this post has been helpful, feel free to share it on your Facebook page.

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, travel

What helps when sitting around all day: Italian workshop

November 8, 2012 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

This is the view from the grand guest house bedroom window at the Villa Lina, a working 80 acre farm in Lazio, just minutes north of Rome in Italy. I was there to write with Natalie Goldberg, the guru I’ve been following for several years. She begins each day with sitting in a meditation room large enough to hold 45 people in a square. Breakfast is after that and then sitting again before instruction and writing begin.

Without daily stretching and exercise, I am toast. Full of pain in the hips and knees. Why we have to keep moving to keep from hurting, I explained in a lot of detail in my last post. Let me tell you a couple techniques I used faithfully every day while away for the month, even when on the over night train from the Netherlands to Zurich Switzerland.

1) Use the theraband, towel, shirt, scarf to stretch those calves. Lie on the bed/floor/rug first thing in the morning one leg straight along the surface, the other up over head. The scarf is over the ball of the foot, and end in each hand. Relax the ankle and let the toes be drawn toward your nose. Hold it no matter how much it hurts, easing off and then drawing down again for 20 breathes at least. Then take the ends of the scarf in the outside hand and draw the foot and outstretched leg to the side, not too far down, and pull the toes toward the nose for another 15 or so breaths. Change hands and extend the leg across the body. This probably hurts a lot. It certainly hurts when I do it. It’s the T-band on the outside of the thigh that gets so tight.

2) No matter what keep moving. At the Villa, I got up a little early and walked for an hour before the sitting began. It was a spectacularly beautiful place. There were ripe grapes waiting for harvesting. I picked a whole bunch and ate them as I walked. I had my shoes with me that I could get wet in the morning dew. Don’t leave home without them even if they make your bag heavier. The hotel consierge can tell you a safe route to walk in the early morning. Even in Las Vegas when I was at the Shaklee convention in August and it was blazing hot, early morning walks saved me. And there are always stair cases in the city.

2012-pool — pre-dawn, one of the pools at Villa Lina

3) diet is the hardest. At the Villa our food was incredible, but still not enough vegetables to please me. Or fiber. I bought a package of prunes at a grocery store. Helpful. This is where you are glad to have your multivitamins with you and perhaps extra special vitamins that concentrate the good stuff found in fruits and vegetables. The ones I like are here.

4) Drink plenty of water. Some people worry about water in a foreign country or different city. You know your own body and how it reacts to digestive changes like different water. Personally I don’t bother with bottled water. If the locals drink from the tap, so do I. I keep my system functioning with some friendly bacteria that comes in a little capsule. These millions of little guys keep my bowels functioning and protect me from catching every little bug that comes along. Did you know that your immune protection is mostly in the lower intestine? Keep that area healthy and strange water and other bad bugs probably won’t bother you.

5) one last thing, at the end of a busy day either sitting and writing or tromping around as a tourist, stick your feet up on the wall behind your bed. This restorative pose drains all the aches and pains out of your tired legs. This is good for any person who has tired achy legs at the end of the day. It’s hard to get into the position. Here’s how to do it. Sit next the wall on the floor (or at the head of the bed where the pillow have been cleared away). Your left hip is against the wall, your bunt on the floor. Swing your torso down to the floor (bed) and your straight legs up the wall. Here’s a funny picture of me doing just that on a picnic table bench when spending a day with my grandson tromping around Montreal. It embarrassed him, but not me. Don’t let your pride get in the way of comfort.

Happy travels,

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

The Nutritional Management of Chronic Pain

November 2, 2012 betsyjbell 1 Comment

Gentle Reader
Are you like me, suffering from chronic pain? Do you wake up every morning and check to see which joints are hurting? A friend of mine describes sitting on the edge of the bed wondering if she can actually stand and walk to the bathroom. I’m better off than that, but the first ½ hour each day is loud, you know the groaning and moaning. Too bad there’s no one around here but the cats to sympathize.

I when it was announced that Dr. Frank Painter would give a seminar on Chronic Pain management. This post contains careful notes from that seminar.

Dr. Painter is a major research and practicing chiropractor and maintains the research pages for the Chiro.org online resource for his profession. It gets thousands of hits a month and is the most go-to site for alternative health care regarding chiropractic treatment. You can look him up here.

He began with shocking statistics (sometimes I glaze over with too many statistics, but I know professionals quantify results so bear with me.) Chronic pain causes UNBELIEVABLE suffering, disrupts careers and lifestyle, and brings about unimaginable financial drains on our society. It’s now estimated that 24 percent of Americans (or approx. 48 million people) suffer from chronic pain. More than one-third of them regularly take pain medicine to manage their suffering. Those statistics are very frightening.

Pain is caused by tissue injury, surgical procedures, and a variety of illnesses. The common pain we experience from a cut or bruise is very well understood. It is referred to as acute pain, and is accompanied by the inflammatory response, which involves local swelling, increased temperature, redness, and loss of function.

Damage to cell membranes during an injury releases two substances that initiate the inflammatory response. They are called prostaglandins and bradykinins. These molecules cause nearby nerve cells to transmit pain information to the brain. Following the formation of a stable clot, fibroblasts migrate to the site of injury to repair the damaged tissues. That is when acute pain is normally extinguished. This explains how the acute pain and swelling when I hurt my wrist hiking gradually stopped hurting. The body rushed repair mechanisms to the place where it was most damaged and in a few hours the acute pain was gone; in a few days all pain was gone.

Chronic pain is different, because chronic pain persists.

Dr. Painter focuses on safe supplementation as an alternative to pain medication. He also talks about our diet and why chronic pain is so much more common today than in the past.

He reports on a recent study involving hundreds of patients who underwent surgery on their ankle or knee. The patients who took 1000 mg. of vitamin C for 46 days after their surgery reported 80% reduction in what is called complex regional pain, compared to patients who did not take vitamin C. If you are planning surgery, especially in a limb (knee or hip replacement for example) begin taking 1000 mg of Sustained Release Vita C before surgery and continue for at least 46 days to prophylactically avoid pain.

Can you believe that more than a 3^rd of all people with pain take medication? When we suffer acute pain from surgery or an injury, the inflammatory response, loss of function, redness and damage to the membrane is alleviated by medication. And then you stop taking it. With chronic pain, the wound never heals. Chronic pain keeps on going. Any pain that lasts more than 6 months and has no end in sight, like arthritis, cancer is chronic.

A chiropractor once explained to me that injury sustained in a car wreck creates a pain path in the nervous and muscular system. The next fender bender is nowhere near as traumatic, but the pain is worse. This pain path is reactivated, familiar and more challenging to cure. Believe me, I had a series of car accidents each one less violent than the previous one. Funny how the pain increased with each one.

How does our diet contribute to chronic pain?

Because of radical changes in the American Diet since the 1950’s, our diet is now pro inflammatory and contributes to both chronic pain and autoimmune system diseases. I’ll remind you what these changes were: milling of wheat and other grain to make a ‘whiter’ end product, ie. refining our food; manufacturing foods with high amounts of hydrogenated oils.

Let’s see what’s going on here. In a plain food diet (no processing), the oils—omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are in equal balance. Dr Painter points out that there are 49 known essential nutrients—nutrients our body cannot make but must get from food. These two oils are among them. They work in concert in the body regulating thousands of functions through the prostaglandin pathways. I created a link here in case you, like me, are curious about these babies, prostaglandins, which I’ve been hearing about for all these years of studying nutrition’s effect on our body. Check it out. Fascinating.

Omega 3 (we eat salmon and buy fish oil for this one) helps the prostaglandins with inflammation, cardio health, allergies, immune response, mylin sheath protection, hormone modulation, and behavior. Omega 6, found in borage oil, evening primrose oil, initiates the chemical cascade in the inflammatory response to any injury or infection.

Here’s the problem with this duet. We used to eat a balance of the omegas 3 and 6, short and longer chain fatty acids: one to one. Now, with all these refined foods the balance has changed to twenty to one, omega 6 over omega 3. Think of the Omega 6 as the gas pedal on your car i.e. body, and omega 3 as the breaks. Omega 6 turns on the inflammatory response. Omega 3 (fish) turns it off.

The car is headed for the cliff, folks and the brake pedal is too weak to stop us from hurtling into a world of pain.

We need both Omega 3 and Omega 6. We need them in the correct ratio. Omega 6 comes from hydrogenated oils which are found in virtually all processed foods. Removal of the grain coatings (brown rice, wheat), increased sugar consumption (sugar interferes with synthesis of these fatty acids) and the increase in consumption of deep fried foods and margarine prevent with the healthy marriage of the two fatty acids. The 1:1 synthesis isn’t happening.

What’s the ratio in your life between corn, sunflower and sesame oils (which appear is most processed foods as hydrogenated oils) and cold water fish, sardines, salmon and anchovies? Too many Omega 6’s = chronic pain.

Impact of chronic pain

People hurt too much to get up and go to work. We lose $3 billion in income each year because of pain. Stuff doesn’t get done because we hurt too much to do it. $60 billion a year in lost productivity. Sixty million of us have arthritis, 1 in 3. Family members living with someone in chronic pain have to deal with the frustration, anxiety and misery of the suffering person. How disruptive to family life it is to have all this depression and a sense of helplessness caused by pain!

How do we manage this pain?

Standard medical management: pain meds, the most popular, aspirin, NSAIDS. We spend $2.6 billion a year on prescription NSAIDS and another $6 billion on over the counter pain meds. Most of us are unaware of the lethal side effects of these pain killers. Stanford University reviewed Inflammatory rheumatoid Arthritis (IRA) drug use in 15,000 patients. Projecting the findings from this well controlled study to the entire US population, they found that 107,000 rheumatoid Arthritis patients were hospitalized for complications from these drugs, a large number of whom never left the hospital alive. They bleed out before anyone can help them. 16,500 a year die this way. That’s only the IRA sufferers. What about everyone else who takes these meds?

You get no warning signs for the stomach trouble that results from taking these medications. You just bleed to death.

People with osteoarthritis and IRA are more likely than the regular population to be hospitalized because of GI bleeds. The risk of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDS is constant but increases over time with continued use. The longer you take these drugs, the higher the risk becomes. Drugs used to coat the stomach do not lower this probability. The only way to prevent this stomach damage is to stop taking the non steroidal pain medication. Dying from bleeding to death because of taking too many NSAIDS is the 15^th cause of death in America.

By the way, when’s the last time you picked up a bottle of aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen and stopped by to chat with your pharmacist about possible interactions with any other drugs you are taking? No? You are not alone. Of all the readers of Consumer Report magazine who answered their survey, only 38% who picked up these drugs when prescribed by their doctor talked to the pharmacist about dangers or interactions. Only 29% who bought the OTC versions checked with their pharmacist. We used to be more cautious, before usage became so common. Eight years ago, Consumer Report did the same survey and over 50% of the people purchasing these medications checked for side effects, dangers and interactions with other medications. Our pharmacists are trained in drug, supplement and food interactions (not our doctor) and should be used for their expertise. Avoid risk.

Two neurosurgeons at U of Pittsburg Medical Center decided to explore natural substances to use as a substitute for NSAIDS. They gave their IRA patients fish oil and after 75 days, 60% of the people had been able to completely discontinue their NSAID usage and were also able to drop off their other pain meds. 88% were extremely satisfied with their pain reduction from taking fish oil. They would continue to buy fish oil even though it costs more than the medication.

Natural relief

I am going to shamelessly talk about Shaklee’s pain management products. Dr. Painter is specific about Shaklee as the manufacturer in his presentation. This company’s large staff of medical scientists studied the problem of prostaglandins and pain, created biochemical models and searched until they found herbs and safe substances that would interrupt the pain path. I was blown away by the slide presentation Dr. Les Wong made at the annual conference the year Pain Relief Complex was introduced.

Pain Relief Complex. A compliment of medicinal herbs designed to treat pain. The primary ingredient Boswellia extract has been used in India for a long time for joint and arthritic pain as it contains very powerful analgesic properties. In a study people with severe osteoarthritis knee pain where able to get more flexibility and much less pain with Boswellia extract, and thereby increase their walking distance dramatically. The frequency of swelling in the knee joint decreased. Boswellia has also been used to heal the stomach from ulcerative colitis. In other words, it helps heal a stomach damaged by Celebrex or other NSAIDS.

Jt. Health Complex. When in pain we develop pain avoidance behaviors like limping. Other daily activities are avoided because you know its going to hurt too much to do it. I know I leave stuff lying on the floor and put off raking leaves because I know I’m going to hurt when I bend over too often.

When we stop moving to avoid pain, we actually increase the likelihood of increased pain. Why is that? Joint tissue—ligaments, bone, have no blood supply of their own. They eliminate their waste products through a pumping motion when the joint moves. Nutrition to the joint also depends on pumping, or moving. Waste products out, nutrition in, through motion. Without motion, waste products build up around the joint which inhibits the nutrition from being absorbed. Nutrients move from the high concentration in the blood to diffuse themselves into the joint. This process requires movement. If your joint is smothered in waste products, the nutrients don’t go there—too crowded—and the cells start to die because there are no nutrients to feed them. The cartilage begins to degrade and then the bones start to get closer and closer together. The body tries to stabilize that joint by importing minerals like calcium and magnesium to build extra protection around that joint. If you took an x-ray of the joint, you’d see little growths where they should not be. The objective is to reduce the pain so you get more motion in the joint and clear the waste and allow nutrients to enter. Joint Health Complex provides dramatic and speedy pain relief to get you moving again.

NSAIDS actually accelerate the deterioration of cartilage. 36% of liver failure is being cause by acetaminophen (Tylenol) toxicity. One out of three liver transplants is because of the use of acetaminophen. This research and the death of children from Tylenol drove the search for anti-inflammatories with no side effects.

Jt Health Complex leads the way. Boswellia seratta has a long use as an herbal anti-inflammatory. It works. It can be used to treat osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, RA and asthma. Boswellia was first introduced in Shaklee Pain Relief complex in 2003. It is so powerful they decided to add it to the Jt. Health Complex. Joint Health Complex includes as a major ingredient glucosamine. It has been shown in clinic studies that combining chondroitin with glucosamine reduced the body’s ability to absorb the glucosamine. In redesigning the Jt. Health Complex, Shaklee scientists made sure there was no chondroitin mixed in with it.

Testing

Once they had the new formulation completed, they tested it head to head with the leading pharmacist recommended product, Walgreen’s Osteobyflex. In a clinical trial they found that Jt. Health Complex was 28% faster acting than byflex for providing pain relief. If you were beginning for the first time to take the product, it took only 5 days to get relief with Jt. Health Complex as opposed to 7 days with Osteobyflex. With the addition of boswellia, Jt. Health complex gave 45% better pain relief than the Walgreen product. Shaklee found a vegetarian source for glucosamine. Most glucosamine on the market is sourced from shell-fish. They also made use of a carrier molecule that does not have salt (some products on the market are as much as 30% salt!) which, if you had high blood pressure could be bad—1 third of a tablespoon of salt? I don’t think so. Jt. Health Complex uses hydrochloric acid instead of sulfate to deliver glucosamine. It also contains zinc, manganese, copper and Vita C to nourish the developing cartilage. Glucosamine has been researched extensively since 1970’s and has been found to be at least as effective in relieving pain and NSAIDs without any dangerous side effects. In one study it was shown that there was an actual increase in the cartilage with glucosamine.

Joint and muscle pain cream. Helps with pain from over use during exercise. Active ingredient is menthol. Shaklee improved on the healing characteristics by improving on the delivery of the menthol with a liposome delivery system. This liposome delivery provides prolonged release and deeper penetration. If you’ve used Flexall 454, Icy Hot and JointFlex, your may get temporary distraction from pain, but you are probably throwing your money away. Topical local anesthetics, topical capsaicin are basically aspirin in creamy form and could affect your stomach the way taking aspirin does.

I strongly recommend this trio of pain relief products for chronic pain. I use them to great advantage. Dr. Painter provides the scientific back drop to prove the effect is no placebo.

If you suffer from chronic pain that does not seem to associated with a joint, Omega guard is the #1 nutrient solution. Shaklee’s OmegaGuard, DHA, EPA and 5 other naturally found omega 3 fatty acids provides the missing link for halting diet induced inflammation. Get the balance back between omega 6 and omega 3, supplement with Omerga 3 so the ratio is 1:1 and you will have less pain. OmegaGuard naturally balances the prostyglandins that prolong the inflammatory response to pain stimulus. Rather than using drugs to suppress the inflammation, re-balance the body’s own ability to handle pain by changing your diet to eliminate hydrogenated fats and excess sugars plus taking enough OmegaGuard to change the Omega3:Omega6 dance back to 1:1.

That’s it. Thanks for reading all the way to the end. May you be well, pain free and able to keep moving.

What’s next?

Tell us

Do you check your meds and OTC drugs with the pharmacist?

What pain relief rubs have your tried? Results?

Have you given up hope or are you willing to try another way to get relief?

If you decide you want to try these products, go to my blog page, http://www.grandmabetsybell.com/shop-shaklee-products/ and browse the product guide.

Get in touch via the comment section.

If you have found value here, feel free to share on your FB page or with your friends and colleagues suffering from chronic pain.

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

The last word on Consumer Report’s warning against Vitamins

September 27, 2012 betsyjbell 10 Comments

Gentle Reader,

This week Dr. Chaney concludes his analysis of the article titled “10 Surprising Dangers of Vitamins and Supplements” in the September 2012 issue of Consumer Reports. The article consists of 10 warnings about the potential dangers of food supplements.

The first six of those were at least partially true, but they pertained to such a small portion of the food supplements in the market that they were almost meaningless. See the blog for 9/13.

Last week I posted Dr. Chaney’s response to the seventh warning: that heart and cancer protection are not proven. It is, he tells us, very difficult to unambiguously prove that any intervention prevents heart disease or cancer in a primary prevention setting. “In fact, recent studies have shown that you can’t even prove that statin drugs reduce heart attack risk in a primary prevention setting.”

Dr. Chaney argued that the authors seemed to suggest “that supplements have been proven not to be effective in reducing heart disease and cancer risk – and that they might even increase the risk.” Check with last week’s blog to see how he refutes that insinuation.

#8 you could choke on supplements. “Really?” Dr. Chaney sounds indignant. “That’s true of anything you swallow. But let’s put it in perspective. The FDA says that has occurred a total of 900 times over the past five years – and only a few of the cases were serious enough to require a Heimlich maneuver. Most cases of choking on supplements were easily resolved by a second swallow or little extra water.” My poor husband, Chuck, choked on his vitamins more than once and they came up instead of going down. It didn’t keep him from taking a hand full with the next meal. A slurry of a protein smoothie helps when you have a hard time swallowing. But to warn people away from supplements because they might choke?! For heavens sake.

#9 Some natural products were anything but. Are you really surprised? In most cases you can figure that out just by reading the label.

#10 you may not need supplements at all. The authors state that “If you are already getting the recommended amount of nutrients by eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, cereals, dairy, and protein, there’s little if any additional benefit from ingesting nutritional supplements”. Dr. Chaney agrees with this statement, as do I. However, what the authors did not point out was that the USDA tells us that only 5% of the US population actually eats that way.

In conclusion, “Consumer Reports is very good when they are testing consumer products or surveying customers about their satisfaction with consumer products. They are less reliable when they start to venture into areas of health and nutrition. Because this is not an area of their expertise, they are easily misled by the urban myths that abound in the field of nutrition. They do not have the expertise to examine the literature
themselves and evaluate whether or not the urban myths are true. So just take their nutritional advice with a grain of salt.”

Perhaps when looking for supplements to help with managing arthritis pain, muscle soreness, the effects of osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis, plantars faciatitis, Bell’s Palsey or the effects of menopause, you scour the web. Be sure to take a look at the Shaklee website. Nearly every product has a label and an article about its properties and benefits.

Next week, The Landmark Study, what the University of California School of Public Health concluded after looking at the health of people who had supplemented with Shaklee vitamins contrasted with those who took regular multivitamins and others who took none.

It’s your turn: Comments, please. Do you rely on Consumer Report for major purchases? How do you experience “Urban Myths”? Do you fall for them? Dig deeper? Pass them on? We’d love to hear from you.

Shop my page for the most reliable way to prevention along with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

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