Total Health Breakthroughs: Alternative Solutions for Mind, Body, and Spirit

As we enter the heart of cold and flu season, many of our patients want to know the best way to prevent coming down with these viruses. In my last article, I talked about whether flu shots really work. If you missed it, I said there is very little evidence that they do.

The best way to prevent flu or colds is to keep your overall health and immunity strong. That’s why you’ll see recommendations for making sure you dress warmly, get plenty of rest, and drink plenty of fluids. Good hand washing is another great preventive measure, but there is a ton of evidence that shows another sure-fire way to lower your chances of catching a nasty cold or debilitating flu — and it’s not one that you see discussed often.

Lower your stress.

Every fall, hundreds of patients ask us if they should get vaccinated with a flu shot. As with any medical treatment, the risks and benefits always need to be fully considered. Every year I scour the literature for any reports of harm from flu vaccines and also to look at whether the data show that they were effective in preventing the flu.

Let’s start with the risks. The manufacturers of flu vaccines combine three strains of inactivated (dead) flu viruses, along with preservatives. Most of the controversy surrounding vaccines has to do with whether the preservatives are safe. In some cases, they clearly are not. Mercury as part of the preservative thimerosol has received the most attention since it is a known neurotoxin, and it is still in some vaccines.¹ At the very least, I recommend requesting thimerosol-free vaccines.

October was Breast Cancer Prevention month, and as always, fund raising and education initiatives were everywhere. There are many advances in our understanding of how breast cancer develops, yet out of all the articles I saw in the mainstream media, none of them explained the most important factors influencing breast health.

Most breast cancer is the type that is called hormone sensitive. That means it is cancer that forms in response to estrogen. It is usually implied that it is solely a matter of having too much estrogen (and/or other compounds that have estrogen-like structure) in the body. However if you dig deeper, you learn that it is not so much the estrogen itself, but how it is being metabolized in the body and whether it is balanced by adequate progesterone that are the primary problems.^1-2

Estrogen/Progesterone Balance

The balance between estrogen and progesterone is very important for breast health and is almost never mentioned in popular literature on hormone sensitive breast cancer. There is a big misunderstanding among some people in the medical community that progesterone increases breast cancer risk. This was due to studies that found that synthetic progestins formerly used in women on hormone replacement therapy did increase breast cancer risk. However, further study has clarified that natural progesterones do not.³

Nature is a powerful force. Harness nature’s power and you can accomplish big things.

And so it goes in the world of wound care. If you have a serious wound that won’t heal or even a mild skin ailment, working in harmony with nature can often give results that aren’t otherwise attainable.

Managing stress and emotions is a cornerstone of healthy living. New research documents yet another area where a person’s stress level affects their well-being. Stress definitely makes things worse for people with seasonal allergies.

Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State, has long studied the effects of stress. She recently reported the results of a study of the effects of stress on people with seasonal allergies (such as hay fever).¹

Have you ever noticed how you feel happier when you have a chance to sit or walk in the warm sun? Doesn’t just going outside on a sunny day calm your nerves and lift your spirits?

By contrast, consider what happens and how you feel during the cold and dreary winter months. Many of us experience darker moods. We are more likely to become sick with colds and flu. We often gain weight and crave carbohydrates.

Then, come spring and summer, these symptoms magically disappear without treatment. Well, there is a reason for this.

Your body needs sunlight just like it needs nutrients. In many ways, your physiology is as closely linked to the sun as that of plants. Plants use sunlight to photosynthesize chlorophyll. By a comparable process your body uses sunlight to photosynthesize vitamin D — a molecule that is vitally essential to almost every aspect of your biochemistry and physiology.

When I began the course work to complete my degrees in alternative medicine, I was required to study herbs — their actions and the healing power they can exert on the body. I was amazed to learn there is something in nature for almost any malady that mankind might suffer.

In addition, when you correct wrong living habits, add a nutritious whole foods diet along with cleansing and building herbs, you would be surprised how fast your body can heal from most chronic diseases.

Let me list a host of reasons why herbal remedies work both effectively and efficiently for chronic disease states — and in many instances, over time, will allow you to come off some, if not all, prescription drugs:

Science is one step closer to eradicating one of the most dreaded afflictions of old age — Alzheimer’s disease. In a ground-breaking new study, researchers from the University of Rochester vaccinated mice with an immune-enhancing vaccine that prevented the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaque in the brain. ¹

Anyone who suffers from seasonal allergies knows how depressing it is to experience trouble breathing for weeks at a time. But did you also know that science is uncovering a close relationship between those same seasonal allergies and suicide?

Every year with the arrival of spring, I see many patients with bothersome seasonal airborne allergies. The usual symptoms are irritation and redness to the eyes, nose, sinuses, and throat. Many of these people also suffer from respiratory wheezing and mild to moderate allergic asthma symptoms.