I’m sure we have all been to the eye doctor, covered one eye and read a line of letters/numbers and repeated with the other eye. After that we were told our vision was 20/20 or otherwise. If you were told you have 20/20 vision this means that you read at 20 feet the same that people with perfect vision read/see. If you were told that you have 20/30 vision, this means that what you can read comfortably at 20 feet, an optimal seeing person can see at 30 feet. Once you are at 20/40 you have half the vision of an optimal seeing person.

As we age, many people start needing more light to see the same menu or require larger fonts to read without glasses as we have a progressively diminished ability to focus on nearby objects. This is called presbyopia. In Greek “presby” means “elder”, “opia” means sight. The cause is one of two things. One is that the lens of the eye becomes more rigid and less elastic, therefore having less accommodation for nearby objects. Another potential cause, or a little of both, is that the muscles that bend and straighten the lens (ciliary muscles) becomes weak, leaving less accommodation for nearby objects.

When light enters the eye and passes through the lens, it becomes concentrated upon the retina. The retina is a layer of tissue at the back of the inner eye that is sensitive to light. It converts images into electrical impulses, which send signals through the optic nerve to the brain to be identified as objects through the macula (which is in the center of the retina). The retina has a very rich blood supply, which diminishes as we age for many reasons. Some reasons have to do with the gel within the eye becoming more liquefied or collapsing, deposition of calcium salts, oxidative stress caused by unhealthy fats (hydrogenated) depositing in the vessels and reduction of both blood flow and number of cells of the retina which occurs with normal aging.

For most of us with age related vision loss there are things that we can do. The three main things are (1) exercise, (2) nutrition, (3) supplementation and (4) local eye treatments.

1. Exercise: When we think of physical exercise for the eyes, the key is to flex and relax the eye muscles so they can perform better, just like our skeletal muscles and heart muscle with exercise. All muscles need to be exercised to stay in shape, including the eye muscles. Here are two great eye exercises that you can practice at least twice daily to receive noticeable improvement in your vision over time:One: Near-Far Accommodation: Put a timer on for 5 minutes. Start the exercise by holding a pen in front of you with your arm outstretched as far as it can go.

• Focus in on the letters or symbol of the pen as much as you can. Once it appears the most clear to you, keep looking at it for 10 seconds.
• Bring it in to about an inch in front of your eyes and focus in on the details of the pen for about 10 seconds. Continue this exercise until the timer goes off.

Two: Circle Your Eyeball: Increase blood flow to your muscles and strengthen them by moving your eyes in a systematic way twice a day. It is easier to do this with eyes closed for most people.

• First move eyes side to side, looking at left shoulder then right shoulder (with eyes closed), 15 times.
• Glance your eyes up to neutral position and 15 times back and forth to the shoulders without looking down.
• Next, looking up move your eyes back and forth 15 more times as if looking at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock.
• After this move your eyes in a clockwise rotation 15 times and then repeat in the opposite direction for 15 times. If you can do this twice daily you will feel the fatigability and strengthening of your eye muscles which means you are working them out and, over time, improving your vision.
• Nutrition For The Eyes
  • Foods high in antioxidants, especially those with high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin as they decrease age related eye diseases by preventing oxidative stress. These are the only two carotenoids, out of 600, that are found in high quantities in the retina of the eye. Foods high in these two antioxidants are green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale and swiss chard) and they decrease the risk of age related visual loss, cataracts and macular degeneration (age-related). I believe the incidence of these eye dieseases is related to the increased intake of processed foods. Carotenoids increase vitamin A activity. Vitamin a is converted into retinal – a specific necessary nutrient for a healthy retina.
• Supplements For The Eyes – Visual-Eyes – Has all nutrients studied in one capsule!
  

  Get it at our store.

  Visual Eyes™ provides excellent support for those who want to maintain eye health, and also for those with age-related antioxidant issues. Antioxidants play a large role in eye health. Oxidative damage is one of the primary causes of poor eye health, including macular degeneration and cataract formation. In a recent study done on AREDS (Age-Related Eye Disease), it was shown that supplementation with beta-carotene (15 mg), vitamin C (500 mg), vitamin E (400 IU), zinc (80 mg), and copper (2 mg) had a beneficial effect on the progression to age related macular degeneration (AMD).

  Ingredients

  • Quercetin, a flavonoid, is used as a potent antioxidant. Quercetin is found widely in the plant kingdom, including in onions. In vitro, Quercetin has been shown to inhibit human lens aldose reductase (an enzyme that converts glucose to sorbitol). Sorbitol cannot be transported through the lens membrane and therefore accumulates in the lens tissue, causing damage.
  • N-Acetyl L-Cysteine (NAC) is another antioxidant and is also a precursor to the antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione concentrations in the eye are very high when compared to other tissues in the body, low levels are associated with poor eye health. Oral glutathione is not well absorbed in the body, supplementing with NAC may be a better way to achieve optimal glutathione levels.
  • Ginkgo has historically been used to increase circulation, and while its use in retinal protection is less common there are a few studies that show its benefits. In a small study, ginkgo was able to protect retinas from damage induced by different enzymes and xenobiotics.
  • Bilberry is rich in anthocyanosides and has historically been used to improve night vision. Extracts of bilberry are used in France and Germany for vascular conditions and night vision.
  • Zinc is a trace mineral and plays many important roles in the human body. Zinc plays a role in over 50 different proteins or enzymes, one being superoxide dismutase (SOD). SOD is vital to the quenching of free radicals in the lens and retina. Zinc is also used in other antioxidant enzymes including catalase. Studies have shown that zinc is able to significantly reduce visual loss when compared to placebo.
  • Taurine is an amino acid made by the body. Retinal concentrations of taurine are quite high and taurine is also required for the proper development of the retinal tissues. Taurine has been shown to be able to stimulate the replication of human retinal pigmented epithelial cells.
  • Lutein, Lycopene, and Zeaxanthin: Lutein and zeaxanthin are found in high concentrations in the macula lutea portion of the eye. These two carotenoids are thought to quench free-radicals before they damage the lipid membranes. Studies have shown that lutein and zeaxanthin increase macular pigment and lower the risk of AMD. Low levels of lycopene, one of 10 carotenoids found in the serum, has also been shown to be a risk factor for poor eye health.
  • Lipoic Acid, once known as thioctic acid, is considered one of the most versatile antioxidants. Lipoic acid is able to recharge the antioxidants vitamin e, ascorbic acid, and glutathione. Lipoic acid has also been shown to inhibit the activity of aldose reductase in hyperglycaemic conditions and improve visual function in a study of glaucoma patients.
• Local Eye Treatments. My absolutely favorite thing to suggest to patients is to put castor oil into their eyes every night before bed and every day before naps. The oil is a counter-irritant, which means that it liberates waste removal from a surface. I have seen it help with vision, help inflammation, eye congestion and irritation. It is so soothing and over time helps with inflammation involving the eyes and thereby can impact vision.

Dr. Theresa Ramsey is a practicing physician, speaker, lifestyle expert, author of the best selling book, Healing 101: A Guide to Creating the Foundation for Complete Wellness, and a weekly guest expert on Arizona’s top morning show, Your Life A to Z. Dr. Ramsey has been nominated Phoenix Magazine’s Top Doc for two years in a row and recently selected as an eHow.com health expert, as well as the 2012 Natural Choice Award winning Naturopathic Physician. As a nationally recognized speaker, she elegantly bridges the gap between Allopathic and Naturopathic medicine educating patients & physicians on the language of wellness and root causes to illness & dis-ease.

This book, Dr. Davis said, could easily be called Pretzel Brain or Bagel Bowel or Biscuit Face because there is not ONE organ system that is unaffected by wheat.

We also learn that even if we could bring back the wheat of 100 years ago or more, it still would not be a good trade-off. The carbohydrate exposure is higher in one slice of bread than in 1 tablespoon of sugar. Carbohydrates raise blood sugar, which causes fat accumulation, which turns on a systemic inflammatory cascade, leading to symptoms of diabetes, memory loss, hypertension and any single disease that has a name – outside of genetic disorders.

The USDA, physicians, and too many nutritionists tell people to cut out sugar and fat and replace them with “healthy whole grains if they have blood sugar imbalances. Dr. Davis calls this advice, “40 years of a failed experiment” and yet it continues! Eating this carbohydrate laden grain promotes the production of small LDL particles ~ that’s the kind that causes heart dis-ease.

When you think Gluten, think glue. That’s how it functions in the body, the same way it does in bread; it binds to yeast to prevent bread from being flat and heavy instead of light and fluffy. Okay, so we should focus on buying Gluten Free foods, right? No, sorry, that’s not the ticket either. The new “Gluten Free” foods that are hitting the market place are made with starches made from corn, potato, rice and tapioca starch. These starches actually raise blood sugar more than whole wheat!

Dr. Davis also cites what the Russians have known for decades from studying their weight lifters ~ they performed better in the warm weather because they experienced more sunlight and therefore more Vitamin D. So, Dr. Davis recommends normalizing blood levels of Vitamin D while eliminating wheat, which reduces carbohydrate intake to deeply cut heart-dis-ease risks.

Many people have gluten intolerance and don’t know it. Their health is not great, they are unfocused and gaining weight but never know why as it somehow becomes the standard for their lives over time. Symptoms of gluten intolerance can include, head aches, nausea, bloating, diarrhea, muscular and joint pain, abdominal discomfort.

It’s surprising that Gluten is not just in our “healthy whole grain” products. Gluten can also be found in these foods and products among many more. The important thing is to read labels. If you can’t pronounce it and don’t recognize it in nature, then please consider another option:

• Medications
• Beauty products like lip balm, lotions and moisturizers
• Vitamin supplements
• Pickles
• Bouillon cubes
• Instant gravy
• Bleu cheese
• Hot dogs
• Soy sauce
• Frozen vegetables in sauce
• Hot chocolate
• French fries
• And more!

Wheat is grown on sixty million acres in the US – about the size of Ohio. The first wheat that was identified was from 3300 years B.C. called einkorn during the age of the Tyrolean Iceman. Next was emmer wheat, which is a combination of the einkorn and a wild grass (goatgrass). It was made up of 28 chromosomes. Emmer Wheat flourished in Egypt, where it was also first mixed with yeast to make it rise. Emmer naturally crossbred with a natural grass causing a 42 chromosomal organism that we now call wheat. In the mid 1800’s 5 species of this wheat were identified. Christopher Columbus brought wheat to the New World, to Puerto Rico in 1493. Wheat first came to the US in 1602. Modern human-bred offspring created a genetic gap of over 100 years to the original emmer. Dr. Davis says that, “wheat has been modified by humans to such a degree that modern strains are unable to survive in the world without human support (like nitrate fertilization and pest control).” So this plant that could originally thrive on its own, in the wild now requires humans to keep it alive. That is what we are eating now. We did not have mechanized farming until the twentieth century. By 1980 thousands of new strains of wheat were created by gene splicing, unrecognizable to the original emmer and no animal or human safety testing was conducted on the new genetic strains. The modern strains express a higher quantity of genes for gluten proteins that are associated with celiac. Critics of genetically modified foods share that animals fed “Roundup Ready” soybeans developed liver, pancreatic, intestinal and testicular alterations. How can we not apply this to humans?

Here are 5 of my favorite facts from Dr. Davis in his book, Wheat Belly:

1. Wheat strains have been hybridized, crossbred and introgressed (moving a gene of one into the gene pool of another) to make the plant resistant to environmental conditions like drought and pathogens.
2. Wheat yields morphine-like compounds that bind to the morphine receptors in the brain and offer a sense of “reward” and “mild euphoria”. You have to read the book to understand how we know this. Basically institutionalized schizophrenic patients had wheat removed from their diets for one month and their incidences of hallucinations, delusions and detachment from reality decreased dramatically. Reintroduction of wheat brought these symptoms back.
3. Wheat exerts destructive effects on bones and joints. Dr. Davis asks, “What if rather than a total hip or knee replacement you opted for a total wheat replacement instead?” It’s a lifestyle choice that will influence your current and future life.
4. He noticed that the people who gave up wheat felt:
   a. Improved mood overall
   b. Fewer mood swings
   c. Improved ability to concentrate
   d. Deeper sleep
5. Gliadin triggers the release of zonulin at the intestinal wall. Zonulin is a protein that regulates permeability, which means the ability to pass through (ie: food passes through to bring the body nourishment and waste pass back through to eliminate from the colon). Zonulins disassemble tight junctions that normally create a barrier between intestinal cells. When this happens, large particles are absorbed through the loose barrier and stimulate the immune system, turning it into an autoimmune condition. All inflammatory conditions are considered “autoimmune.”

My recommendation is to replace your wheat products with fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and protein. Try it for a couple of weeks and see how you feel!

Dr. Theresa Ramsey is a practicing physician, speaker, lifestyle expert, author of the best selling book, Healing 101: A Guide to Creating the Foundation for Complete Wellness, and a weekly guest expert on Arizona’s top morning show, Your Life A to Z. Dr. Ramsey has been nominated Phoenix Magazine’s Top Doc for two years in a row and recently selected as an eHow.com health expert, as well as the 2012 Natural Choice Award winning Naturopathic Physician. As a nationally recognized speaker, she elegantly bridges the gap between Allopathic and Naturopathic medicine  educating patients & physicians on the language of wellness and root causes to illness & dis-ease.

European women can purchase a diaphragm OTC without prescription right now whereas in the US women must first be fit for a diaphragm in the office. The only way that Diaphragm’s are available in the US are with a prescription from the pharmacy in the US now.

The same reason that Diaphragms quickly dropped from favor is the same reason they are coming back as popular use. Birth Control Pills are convenient and effective (99%), IUD’s (both copper and hormone derived) requires surgical insertion and deliver materials into the body, be it copper or hormones. Women want to take more control of their bodies with the least amount of chemicals, synthetic hormones and procedures. I used to have to educate women about this method and now they are coming to me, requesting it. What a switch!

The Diaphragm, once inserted correctly, is meant to block the opening to the uterus (the cervix) and in tandem with a spermicidal, stop the sperm from moving up through the cervix. It is 94% effective when used correctly with a Nonoxynol-9 spermicidal cream or gel.

Although there are many advantages to the diaphragm, side effects can include increased risk of Urinary Tract Infections and vaginal irritation.

The SILCS diaphragm. Photo: PATH/Glenn Austin. Reproduced from the PATH website at www.path.org.

• Muscle and Bone weakness and pain
• Poor metabolism and Diabetes
• Skin afflictions like eczema and psoriasis
• Poor Immune Function
• Depression and Anxiety
• High Blood Pressure and Heart Disease
• Cancer

When we take in vitamin D, it turns into a hormone once metabolized through the liver. It assists the body in absorbing calcium from food and was originally known for its ability to prevent fracture of bones taken at doses from 400 – 1200 IU per day. Now we know that higher doses are required to attain healthy blood levels of 25 hydroxy-vitamin D3. In fact if you measure this level and it is low, it is often seen that the marker 1, 25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 is often high. This confuses doctors because the later is known as the active form of vitamin D called calcitriol. This form is very sensitive, ebbs and flows for many reasons, not just vitamin D deficiency. I often see calcitriol levels from other doctors and they are high. The patient leaves with false information. You can begin to see how unfortunate this is as the need for it is greater than potential toxicity.

Toxicity symptoms are:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal Cramps

Since one of the roles of vitamin D is to increase calcium absorption in the intestines, the body can become ‘calcium-toxic’. When the blood has high calcium, the kidneys have to filter it out and excess calcium in the kidneys will increase the risk of a kidney stone. There are two known reports of vitamin D toxicity. Both people took over 2 million units of vitamin D a day and neither were fatal.

Although more and more people are realizing that there is a high need for vitamin D, not all over-the-counter supplements are the same. I have measured low levels on people taking high vitamin D dosages and high levels on people on low vitamin D dosages. The only way to know if you have a good product is to test your levels. Low levels are < 30 ng/ml, protective levels are around 50 and optimal levels to me are around 100 ng/ml. Nobody should miss out on having optimal vitamin D levels – our DNA depends upon it to keep us healthy.

Due to the fact that vitamin D plays such a strong role in our immune system and therefore in protecting us against cancer, scientists are trying to establish optimal levels for specific types of cancer. We are a long way from knowing this but it is exciting to know that it is worth studying. In addition, consider the multiple books written on vitamin D. These aren’t chapters in a book; the topic of Vitamin D now constitutes an entire book! In these books the many biochemical processes that vitamin D influences are discussed in great detail. If you read one of them you will feel like you just had a full on biochemistry lesson as every system is discussed from our metabolism to Multiple Sclerosis.

Get your levels tested and once you attain optimal levels, take it everyday. When cold and flu season come around don’t be afraid to double your dose when exposed. You’ll be happy you did so.

Green Coffee Beans

The beans we’ll discuss here are not roasted and remain in their original green state. Green coffee beans or seeds contain the highest concentration of chlorogenic acid in the plant kingdom, which is a strong antioxidant and proponents say contributes to weight loss among other touted benefits. Roasting coffee beans changes the structure of the chlorogenic acid and greatly diminishes it

Chlorogenic Acid and Weight Loss

In the human body the liver releases insulin once glucose enters the blood stream. Insulin stores excess glucose as fat. Chlorgenic Acid suppresses the release of glucose into the blood stream and therefore reduces the absorption of fat.

Green Coffee Bean Extract

Today, the newly heralded weight loss product on the market is the Green Coffee Bean Extract or GCA, which stands for Green Coffee Antioxidant. In a study published in the Journal: Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity, 16 people, 8 men, and 8 women were given a high dose and a low dose of green coffee bean extract and a placebo. Participants were encouraged to eat as they normally do, but to keep a food journal during the course of the study. After two weeks, the control group who took the coffee bean extract, lost on average two pounds. The control group who took the placebo lost on average 1 pound. The study continued for 22 weeks.

GCA Study

The study referenced above, called “Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, linear dose, crossover study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a green coffee bean extract in overweight subjects” presented at the American Chemical Society, one of the largest scientific conferences in the world, suggested that, “GCA may be an effective nutraceutical in reducing weight in preobese adults, and may be an inexpensive means of preventing obesity in overweight adults.”

The 16 participants, 8 men and 8 women over a 22-week period, were told to eat whatever they like and to keep a food journal. None experienced any side effects using a specific GCBE product called GCA®. Some participants experienced at least a 10% weight loss, some a 4% loss. All 16 participants were classified as overweight and by the end of the 22-week study; six of the participants were in the normal Body Mass Index (BMI) category for their weight and height.

16/16 lost weight, 16/16 experienced decreased body fat percentage, 16/16 had reduced BMI and 12/16 had a decrease in heart rate of 2 beats per minute. The participants taking the placebo lost weight too, which is simply attributed to them keeping a journal and remaining mindful of what they consumed.

The specific mechanisms of GCA on weight loss are unknown right now. We do know that chlorogenic acid significantly influences glucose metabolism and retards the absorption of fats in the intestine and that it activates fat metabolism in the liver.

So far, there have been few studies done in humans; therefore, although effective all the rage, long-term use of GCBE is unknown.

All GCBE Products Are Not Created Equal

There are 4 things you should look for when purchasing this or any other supplement. Supplements of lower quality tend to be less expensive, as these supplements are made by companies that do not invest in purity standard qualifications. These supplements can actually hinder your health because they contain dyes and colors to “enhance appeal,” and are made with binders and fillers that prevent absorption rendering false label claims.

I recommend that if you go this weight-loss route, read the label! Make sure you choose GCBE that is made in the US, has no added fillers binders or extra ingredients. The label should stipulates GCA® on the label and each capsule should contain 400 mg. capsules. Take 2 capsules before each meal with a full glass of water to ensure you are metabolizing the capsules fully. Also, make sure that the product is 100% pure and in a vegetarian capsule.

GCBE Side Effects

The study showed that the GCBE reduced heart rate by 2 beats per minute so the small dose of caffeine has no bearing on the enhanced metabolism from the Chlorgenic Acid. Although participants in the study experienced no side effects, there is a small amount of caffeine

A Better Way to Go!

I would prefer that if you desire to lose weight that you approach it with mindfulness, food, exercise, and high-level supplementation. You will note that in the study, the people who were on the placebo lost weight on the study too! They suspect it’s because these people became more aware of what they were eating by writing it down. I created my Daily Health Journal for the purpose of recording your food and guiding you through the journey of creating recognition and awareness of you!

Guess what the number one cause of death is in the US? Heart disease. About 1,000,000 develop heart disease every year in the US. Just over 600,000 people die from heart disease every year in the US. I know one of the reasons these numbers are so high is because we simply don’t love enough. We don’t love ourselves enough to live well. How may years have people been talking about trans fats and high fructose corn syrup – and how many people still eat these foods on a daily basis – too many. In addition, the opposing hormones come more naturally to so many – fear, sadness, anger etc. Love releases “feel good” chemicals into our blood stream like oxytocin and vasopressin, which also create a bonding mechanism between people and things – and we just need more of it.

Stress opposes love, opposes ease. When we lose ease we step into dis-ease. Stress comes in many forms; broken relationships, financial hardships, illness or death of loved ones. Stress is as simple as living day to day with demanding schedules or the opposite – not enough to do.

Outside of the million cases of heart disease per year, a newer diagnosis surfaced in 1991 initially in Japan. The condition called Broken Heart Syndrome (BHS), did not gain recognition in the US until 2004. BHS is not true heart disease as it occurs as a result of a stressful event. The mind – heart connection is so powerful that we can actually experience the identical symptoms and attributes of a heart attack with the onset of any one of these highly emotional life-traumas, surprises or losses bring.
Sudden, emotional shocks literally stun the heart through the release and surge of stress hormones like adrenalin. A physical examination may reveal that the heart and arteries are perfectly healthy, but the emotional blow, throws the heart into temporary shock mode. This is the most absurd observation of stress and the heart.

The American Heart Association says that women over the age of 55 have three times more chance of experiencing BHS than younger women. This is also the age group of men and women who will suffer a true myocardial infarction. Aging itself is a stressor because we have lost our hormones – our batteries are gone. We can prevent most cases of heart disease that are associated with stress and age by replacing hormones with Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy. At the same time we have to be mindful of our stress levels. Nutrition is a huge part of inflammation, clogged arteries and heart disease – as is exercise.

After 10 years as a Cardiac Nurse and an additional 17 years experience as a Physician, I can tell you that heart disease is preventable. We must all start early and commit to self-care. We must honor ourselves and our life enough to slow down. As we start to slow down, we can than successfully choose to eat as nature intended us to. We have more time to move our bodies, as we are not meant to be stagnant beings and last but not least, we live a life of gratitude. Our heart, part of our heart chakra, is vulnerable to a lifestyle that lacks joy. Let’s all practice together ~ living a life of pure and utter joy, together. For me, its time to simplify.

Dr. Theresa Ramsey is a practicing physician, speaker, lifestyle expert, author of the best selling book, Healing 101: A Guide to Creating the Foundation for Complete Wellness, and a weekly guest expert on Arizona’s top morning show, Your Life A to Z. Dr. Ramsey has been nominated Phoenix Magazine’s Top Doc for two years in a row and recently selected as an eHow.com health expert, as well as the 2012 Natural Choice Award winning Naturopathic Physician. As a nationally recognized speaker, she elegantly bridges the gap between Allopathic and Naturopathic medicine educating patients & physicians on the language of wellness and root causes to illness & dis-ease.

• By the 1950’s, scientists began splicing the genes and DNA of seeds from one to another to make the “perfect” plant for consumption by humans and animals alike.
• By 1982, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first product for consumers developed through bioengineering.
• By 1992, the FDA states that genetically engineered foods are not “inherently dangerous” and therefore special regulation is not necessary.

The debate on the hazards and benefits of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) continues as man persists in mutating our natural food sources, negating the nutritional value, and subsequently creating “Frankenfood” for the American public. Webster defines “frankenfood” as genetically engineered food. (Franken = Frankenstine – food)

Today GMOs are altered or mutated unnaturally for several reasons including but not limited to creating foods that have:

Many studies and organizations currently estimate that approximately 70% or more of all processed foods now contain genetically modified ingredients.

Wheat for example has been influenced by human intervention since the dawn of agriculture. Well-intentioned farmers produced interspecies wheat varieties through cross-pollination for the purposes of creating the perfect wheat variety that would flourish, quickly, in a variety of harsh environments.

The seeds that produce our wheat, soy, and corn are now “pesticide-prepared” or “roundup-ready” whereby a gene has been inserted into the plant to defend itself against weed sprays. The weeds around it will die and the plant foods will remain hearty. As a doctor who understands how the immune system works, it sounds like these plants have been immunized.

Imagine the tremendous repercussions on your health from putting these genetically modified food into your body day in and day out. Most recently a study appeared in the journal Reproductive Toxicology: Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec. The study proved that the genetically modified foods and organisms led to a consequential rise in statistics for childhood allergies, ADD, ADHD, diabetes and obesity.

So, the truth about our Frankenfood industry is that the majority of our food has been manipulated to such extremes that have resulted in creating a nation of obese, people who are in pain from inflammation, and suffer from cancer, high blood pressure, heart dis-ease, diabetes, asthma, allergies, Alzheimer’s, and numerous other immune deficient and chronic illnesses. Many large companies providing GMO foods like Monsanto, Nestle, Pepsi and General Mills.

GMOs are commonly found in the following processed foods:

Of course, many people and organizations fight for the benefits of GMO. They cite the ability to grow more food faster on less land as a necessity for our growing population. Developing heartier plants through mutating and engineering nature ensures more bountiful crops with less loss due to drought, degraded soil, pesticides and the insurance of longer shelf life to reduce waste.

It is vital to note however that GMOs are banned or restricted in the following countries to date: Algeria, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Japan, Philippines, The European Union, Norway, Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Brazil, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, and Peru. Five states within the US are also banning specific GMOs and GE (genetically engineered) foods. These States include Maryland, North Dakota, Montana, Vermont (Berlington), and Colorado (Boulder).

A two-year study on rats fed diets with GMO Roundup Ready Corn, fed more controlled diets without corn that is not genetically modified and using water that has Roundup added to it at varying levels showed the following results: “Researchers from the University of Caen found that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a seed variety made tolerant to amounts of Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer – or given water mixed with the product, at levels permitted in the United States – died earlier than those on a standard diet.” The study also revealed, “Fifty percent of male and 70 percent of female rats died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group, said the researchers.”

Image: MillionsAgainstMonsanto via Flickr

As the debate continues as to whether food manufacturers are required to label our food as being of GMO origin, as well as how far the manipulation will go, it’s best to avoid packaged, canned, frozen, fast foods whenever possible! Look for labels that say “100% organic,” “organic” or “made with organic ingredients.” Look for the Non-GMO Project Seals and avoid all at-risk ingredients! If it’s not labeled organic or verified non-GMO, I recommend you avoid the product!

Some GMO food crops are Corn, Soybeans, Canola, Cottonseed, Sugar Beets, Hawaiian Papaya (most) and a small amount of Zucchini and Yellow Squash. In the US, sugar can be a combination of sugar can and GM sugar beets!

To further complicate matters, dairy products may come from cows that have been injected with genetically modified growth hormone so this is another reason of many to avoid dairy from cows!

Hint: Pay attention to those sticky PLU labels on fruit, vegetables, herbs, and nuts too. The numbering system on these insightful little labels is divided into three classes: conventional, organic, and genetically modified.

• The four-digit coded produce is raised conventionally which means it carries the burden of pesticides and is grown in soils that have been stripped of the nutrients necessary to grow nutrient rich foods.
• The five-digit numbed produce beginning with 8 means the fruit is a GM food and simply no longer natural.
• The five-digit numbers beginning with 9 means the fruit was grown to organic standards and maintains its natural genetic structure.

You may have heard of the Non-GMO Project. A group of retailers motivated to support clear labeling in the US. They are a third party organization that offers their seal to any company who goes through their testing, independently verifying that in fact the packaged product is non-genetically modified. This label is not used widely yet, but I believe it will. The public is smarter than the food industry thinks. Without revealing which grocery store gave the information to me, I’d like to share that they believe “mainstream marketing has to remain “neutral” and not having seals of approval. It confuses people”.

I recommend you buy your food fresh, from local organic farmers, plant a garden, share with neighbors, and speak up for labeling our foods with the truth of what we are purchasing and eating.

Farmers Markets Resource List
(Please note that this is the most current information. Call contact prior to attending.

Dr. Theresa Ramsey is a practicing physician, speaker, lifestyle expert, author of the best selling book, Healing 101: A Guide to Creating the Foundation for Complete Wellness, and a weekly guest expert on Arizona’s top morning show, Your Life A to Z. Dr. Ramsey has been nominated Phoenix Magazine’s Top Doc for two years in a row and recently selected as an eHow.com health expert, as well as the 2012 Natural Choice Award winning Naturopathic Physician. As a nationally recognized speaker, she elegantly bridges the gap between Allopathic and Naturopathic medicine educating patients & physicians on the language of wellness and root causes to illness & dis-ease.

Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures. We connect during mealtime and plan our special events, celebrations, and holiday’s around food while depending on our food for excellence in taste and also to nourish us and to fortify our bodies. Unless we carefully purchase fresh and cook our own food, “chemical free eating” is next to impossible to do in America. Our food suppliers are no longer in the business of providing nutritious foods because it’s not as profitable as being in the manufactured-taste-to-addict and the extended-shelf-life business.

Eating in restaurants can be perilous to our health and eating fast food can be considered dangerous to our health, especially repeatedly. Sadly, chemicals known as excitotoxins are used in high levels in all processed foods (fast foods are processed) as flavor-enhancers, and because of their makeup are also highly addictive, remember, “bet you can’t eat just one?” MSG for example is so flavorful that it imparts a fifth level of taste in addition to the four basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty and bitter, it also gives us a taste called “umami” which is Japanese for savory. The taste creates an addictive quality along with the “excitement” that these chemicals cause in our bodies. With these chemicals in our foods, it truly is impossible to eat just one and manufacturers count on it so you’ll keep buying it and keep coming back to the drive-thru as often as possible as you unknowingly continue to crave these ‘exciting chemicals.’

The most commonly known excitotoxins are:

• MSG (mono-sodium glutamate) ~ seasoning & flavoring
• Saccharin &Aspartame ~ (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure
• Hydrolyzed Protein ~ another code word for MSG, simply another way it is manufactured

Since the dangers of excitotoxins are becoming more widely known, and even though the FDA and USDA approve of these chemicals in our food, the food industry works hard to fool the knowing public by adding these chemicals to our foods under disguised names such as:

• Natural flavorings
• Spices
• Yeast extract
• Textured or soy protein
• Liquid forms of artificial flavorings (found in soups, gravies and diet soft drinks)
• Liquid forms of excitotoxins are more toxic than the solid forms because they absorb more rapidly into the body

The two main ingredients considered to be excitotoxins are known as glutamate (as in Monosodium glutamate), aspartate (as in aspartame). Once you start reading labels more closely, you’ll be surprised how many foods contain excitotoxins.

Glutamic acid (also called “glutamate”) is the chief excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. Glutamate neurotransmission is essential for cognition, memory, movement, and sensation. Aspartate is also a major excitatory neurotransmitter and can activate glutamate neurons as well. Aspartate and glutamate are the two most abundant amino acids in the brain. There are 4 classes of glutamate receptors, each with different structures and different effects on the neurons they excite.

The brain is dependent on these naturally occurring amino acids from food sources. It is a much different situation, a deadly one at that, when high concentrations of these isolated excitotoxins are put into the bloodstream via food additives. These substances excite neurons so aggressively that the nerve impulses fire rapidly and repeatedly until they become exhausted. These neurons become excited to death and hence have received the name “excitotoxins.”

There is a lot of scientific backing that suggests these substances could cause brain damage in children, adolescents and adults. The results could be developmental delays in children, learning and mood disorders with the ultimate being Alzheimer’s later in life. The enhanced taste fused into foods through these chemicals is a sure-fire way to marketing these processed foods, especially to children. Once they’re hooked at an early age, it’s tougher to make changes as they mature. The cumulative effect of neurotoxins has been linked but without absolute cause to: Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and Alzheimer’s disease. These chemicals also have been shown to further aggravate these conditions. People with a family history of neurodegenerative diseases like hypertension, diabetes, stroke, brain tumors, and seizures are at a higher risk when consuming neurotoxins.

The following foods contain known excitotoxins without spelling out glutamate or aspartate in their name:

• Calcium Caseinate
• Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
• Hydrolyzed Vegetable, Texturized, Hydrolyzed Protein
• Plant Protein Extract & Hydrolyzed Plant Extract
• Sodium Caseinate
• Yeast Extract and Autolyzed Yeast

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, is produced by boiling cereals or legumes, such as soy, corn, or wheat, in hydrochloric acid, and then neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide. The acid hydrolyzes, or breaks down, the protein in vegetables into their component amino acids. The resulting dark colored liquid contains, among other amino acids, glutamic acid, which consumers are more familiar with in the form of its sodium salt, monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

The following foods contain hidden amounts of MSG that don’t have to be listed on the label according to the FDA. The use of MSG in food has doubled every decade since 1948 and does not have to be labeled as such when blended into other flavorings. 

• Malt Extract and Flavoring
• Bouillon, soup stock, broth flavoring, natural beef and chicken flavoring
• Natural Flavoring Seasonings

The following three foods contain surprising amounts of glutamate:

The most common foods that contain excitotoxins are:

Sauces, seasonings and salad dressings contain MSG, as well as Soy sauce, fish sauce, gravy, and dipping sauces.

Dietary excitotoxins are also linked to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and fibromyalgia (characterized by pain and tenderness in the muscles), and chronic fatigue syndrome and migraines.

A sidebar to the excitotoxin story is the astronomical increase in autism over the past ten years by 644% among US children! This statistic comes from the US Department of Education data – indicating a tragic epidemic. The same data reports that approximately 1 in 9 children in the US are disabled.

Actress Jenny McCarthy’s son, who was diagnosed with autism abruptly after “living a normal childhood” at the age of two is being positively affected by a gluten and dairy free diet (both foods that contain high glutamate). Autism historically has been linked to thimerosal, (an elthylmercury compound used in vaccines) but I personally believe that it can also be linked to excitotoxins – along with the up-surgence of many childhood “behavioral issues”. I bring this up here because it’s all tied to understanding what exposures we can avoid which have potential negative health impacts, especially in our children. Processing, preserving, taste enhancement chemicals as well as thimerosol-laden vaccines are clearly things to avoid as much as humanly possible.

What isn’t often discussed too is that Excitotoxins not only affect the brain and nervous system, they also overburden our immune systems by working them overtime to protect the vital organs from these chemicals. The immune system knows to pull vital fluids from wherever possible in order to move and store the chemicals away in fat (hips, thighs, gut) and the extremities to be handled at another time. But another time never comes because the immune system isn’t equipped over repeated shots to the body to consistently rid or cleanse the body of these chemicals; they build up as fat and become cesspools in our body ripe for potential dis-ease. Therefore, excitotoxins are also profound contributors to America’s obesity crisis, and other serious chronic illnesses as the immune system breaks down, creating a triple-whammy to our precious bodies and overall health.

Recommendation: Decrease your load. Read labels. Cook fresh at home. Avoid processed foods.

In addition – support the liver pathways. Drink your body weight in ounces of water per day. Usually it is half that but to flush we need more. You can take supplements like milk thistle and dandelion root or you can use a Detoxification Protein Powder. I like the comprehensiveness of these, especially if it is easy to get compliance. My favorite is Detox Metabolism. The base is pea and organic rice protein with a specific blend of nutrients that support optimal liver, colon and kidney detoxification. Another way to support brain function is to use the famous Brain Sustain Formula (there is one for kids and one for adults). I look at this powder as a detox powder for the brain as well as nutritive for the brain. Both of these taste good just mixed in water in a blender and you can be creative and add fruit and ice or make a sorbet with just a little ice and stevia. The children I treat that take these don’t complain and, in fact they make it themselves. Many parents ask, “how do I wean the fast foods and bagged snacks from my children?” The most important thing is to be gentle, go slowly and get them involved with understanding how their body responds to different foods. Kids know when they have headaches or they are tired or wired when bedtime comes. The more you sit and educate and take time with them and offer other healthy foods they will slowly come around. Our taste buds change over every 3 weeks – BUT – the neurotoxic effect that excitotoxins have on our brain take 6-12 weeks to break that “addiction”. It is time, patience and keeping many options for children to keep trying over and over again. You can go cold turkey and endure a higher level of pain for a short period – but this is more typically much more successful for adults. Mindfulness and love are the backbones to success in changing eating patterns in all people.

Dr. Theresa Ramsey is a practicing physician, speaker, lifestyle expert, author of the best selling book, Healing 101: A Guide to Creating the Foundation for Complete Wellness, and a weekly guest expert on Arizona’s top morning show, Your Life A to Z. Dr. Ramsey has been nominated Phoenix Magazine’s Top Doc for two years in a row and recently selected as an eHow.com health expert, as well as the 2012 Natural Choice Award winning Naturopathic Physician. As a nationally recognized speaker, she elegantly bridges the gap between Allopathic and Naturopathic medicine educating patients & physicians on the language of wellness and root causes to illness & dis-ease.

Dr. Brouwer practices as a general family physician treating patients of all ages, with special emphasis on women’s health, graceful aging, and gastrointestinal health. She is passionate about empowering patients totake charge of their health by educating them about nutrition, lifestyle choices, and optimized hormones and working with them to create programs toachieve their individual goals. In addition to nutrition, hormone supplementation and botanical medicine, some of the tools she uses to benefit her patients include acupuncture, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, and stress management.

Naturopathic medicine is based in finding and addressing the underlying root cause of disharmony or dis-ease in the body, and Dr. Brouwer is a firm believer in this principle. To this end she will work with each patient to determine the potential biochemical, structural, environmental, or mental/emotional/spiritual basis of their particular cases and work with them to move toward ideal health. In searching for the causes of poor health, she may employ laboratory testssuch as standard blood testing, food allergy testing, micronutrient, hormone, or lipoprotein particle profiles, but she will always focus her attention on the most important investigational tool of all, listening.

In October of 2012 Dr. Brouwer is thrilled to join the family at Dr. Ramsey’s Center for Natural healing and is looking forward to working with all of the staff and practitioners at The Center to increase the well-being of everyone they encounter.