Cocoa beans contain a lot of potentially beneficial flavanols . . . more than tea, red wine, apples, or onions. The only problem is flavanol is very bitter and often is taken out when cocoa beans are treated to make them milder. So chances are the better the chocolate tastes, the less beneficial it is. …
Recently, I was at an acupuncture conference and one of the topics of discussion over lunch was the “epidemic” of vitamin D deficiency. One doctor said he knew a physician in Phoenix who tested all his patient’s vitamin D levels and half of them showed up being deficient. I expressed my opinion that vitamin D …
Parkinson’s first surfaced in 1817 when James Parkinson, a British physician, published a paper on what he called “the shaking palsy.” Almost 200 years later it has become an epidemic where over 1,000,000 Americans lie with Parkinson’s, making it the second most common neurodegenerative disorder (Alzheimer’s ranks first). What is even more alarming is that …
A recent article in the Journal of Urology, reported on the long term use of lemonade (3.7 years) and its beneficial effects on decreasing kidney stones. The therapy consisted of drinking 120ml of concentrated lemon juice mixed with 2 liters of water and consumed throughout the day. Prior to the experiment the patients were experiencing …
Over the years I have had literally hundreds of patients suffering from hay fever receive significant benefit from either large dose of vitamin C given intravenously or what is known as Myers Cocktail. The vitamin C is well known for its antihistamine activity and when 50,000mg is given intravenously the results are often amazing. In …
Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) is a fairly common problem that we see in our clinic. This complaint is not at the top of patient’s list of symptoms but when they find out it can be treated without prescription or OTC medications they are elated. While studying Ayurvedic Medicine I became impressed with their dietary guidelines that …
The last several months numerous articles have been written on how the US public is consuming trace amounts of pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics, hormones, mood-altering drugs and pain killers in each glass of water they drink. The pharmaceuticals wind up in the water supplies in 1 of 3 ways: they may be excreted unmetabolized by …
One of my 13 year old son’s favorite TV show is Dirty Jobs. For those who have not seen this show the host of the show Mike Rowe films himself working on jobs that can be quite gross and disgusting. It is too bad Mike Rowe can’t go back in time 1,000 years ago in …
So often patients will try to increase their serotonin levels by taking only 5-HTP which is converted to serotonin. Increasing serotonin levels in the brain often will help with stabilizing mood swings such as depression and anxiety and insomnia. The problem with this approach is that when only 5-HTP is used it depletes the neurotransmitter …
Let me begin by quoting an interesting article that appeared in JAMA 100 years ago. A few days ago a famous American surgeon told a friend that it was a constant mortification to him that for his life-work he had not chosen business rather than medicine, and yet the annual income of this particular surgeon …