Is Most Back Pain Caused by Repressed Emotions?

Posted by zedie

Few people want to be told that their pain is psychological or emotional in origin, but there’s quite a bit of evidence that backs up the idea that most pain is your brain’s response to unaddressed stress, anger or fear.

Back pain is perhaps one of the most common health complaints across the globe. Worldwide, 1 in 10 people suffers from lower back pain, and it’s the No. 1 cause of job disability. In the U.S., a whopping $90 billion is spent on back pain each year.¹ Tragically, back pain is also a leading cause of opioid use, which now kills more Americans than car crashes.²

Seventy-five to 80 percent of back pain cases do resolve within two to four weeks,³ with or without treatment, although it’s important to note that back pain can also be symptomatic of something else entirely, including an aortic aneurysm, appendicitis, gynecological issues, osteoporosis, arthritis and kidney stones,⁴ so if your back pain is not the result of an injury or strain, it’s advisable to see a doctor for an assessment.

Few people want to be told that their pain is psychological or emotional in origin, but there’s quite a bit of evidence that backs this up. As noted in a 2014 scientific review:⁵

“Specifically with regard to pain, studies pointed to the need for a model encompassing the complexity of the pain phenomenon. The biopsychosocial perspective closes this gap by confirming the existence of a dynamic relationship among biological changes, psychological status and social context.

The difficulty to accept the multidimensional nature of pain is largely linked to the widespread acceptance of Cartesian principles separating mind from body. Conversely, the biopsychosocial approach tries to consider physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects not separately, but as an integrated whole … [S]everal studies show the major role of biopsychosocial factors in triggering chronic pain, in the process of acute pain chronicity and in patients’ incapacity.”

Back Pain — Is It All in Your Head?

The late Dr. John Sarno, a professor of rehabilitation medicine, used mind-body techniques to treat patients with severe low back pain. His specialty was those who have already had surgery for low back pain and did not get any relief. This is a tough group of patients, yet he claimed to have a greater than 80 percent success rate using techniques like the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). A recent Vox article⁶ discusses Sarno’s unconventional treatment strategies for back pain, citing feedback from enthusiastic patients:

“‘Thousands of people, including myself and my husband, cured our chronic back pain using [Sarno’s] methods,’ wrote Karen Karvonen. Another Sarno devotee, Steven Schroeder, said the doctor changed his life. Schroeder’s back pain flared whenever he was stressed — a busy time at work, an illness in his family.

After he absorbed Sarno’s books, the discomfort mostly vanished. ‘I still sometimes have pain now in times of stress — but I can literally make it go away with mental focus,’ Schroeder, a lawyer in Chicago, wrote in an email. ‘It is crazy.’

Though he may not be a household name, Sarno is probably America’s most famous back pain doctor. Before his death on June 22, a day shy of his 94th birthday, he published four books and built a cult-like following of thousands of patients … Many of them claim to have been healed by Sarno, who essentially argued back pain was all in people’s heads.”

Before his death, Sarno was even the subject of a full-length documentary, “All the Rage: Saved by Sarno,” produced through Kickstarter donations. The film is expected to become available on Netflix before the end of the year. He was also featured in a “20/20” segment in 1999 (below).

As noted by Sarno in “All the Rage” — a four-minute trailer of which is included above — “I tell [my patient] what’s going on, and lo and behold, it stops hurting.” The “what” that is going on is not a physical problem at all — it’s emotions: anger; fear; frustration; rage.

The Psychological Underpinnings of Pain

One of the most controversial aspects of Sarno’s theory is that spine and disc abnormalities have no bearing on pain. In this 20/20 segment, Sarno dismisses these issues as “normal abnormalities” that are unrelated to any pain you may be experiencing. Many with back pain have no detectable abnormalities or structural problems while some that do have them suffer no pain.

According to Sarno, you unconsciously cause your own pain. In a nutshell, the pain you’re experiencing is your brain’s response to unaddressed stress, anger or fear. When these kinds of emotions are suppressed, your brain redirects the emotional impulses to restrict blood flow to certain parts of your body, such as your back, neck or shoulder, thereby triggering pain.

This pain acts as a distraction from the anger, fear or rage you don’t want to feel or think about. The pain essentially acts as a lid, keeping unwanted emotions from erupting. You may feel anger at the pain, but you won’t have to face the fact that you’re actually angry at your spouse, your children or your best friend, or that you hate your job, or the fact that you feel taken advantage of.

As noted by Sarno, working hard and constantly trying to do everything perfectly to keep everybody around you happy, “is enraging to the unconscious mind.” The term Sarno coined for this psychosomatic pain condition is “tension myoneural syndrome,”⁷ and he firmly believed most people can overcome their pain by acknowledging its psychological roots.

Even if you struggle to accept such a concept, the mere knowledge of it can have therapeutic power. In other words, by considering the idea that your problem is in fact rooted in stress factors opposed to a physical problem can allow the pain to dissipate.

While many of Sarno’s patients got well without psychiatric help, he would often recommend seeking out a psychotherapist to explore repressed emotions, or to take up journaling to put your feelings on paper. Dr. David Hanscom, an orthopedic surgeon, also uses expressive writing as a primary treatment tool for back pain. To learn more about this, please see our 2015 interview linked above. Other dos and don’ts listed in Sarno’s book, “Healing Back Pain,” include:

Do:	Don’t:
Resume physical activity. It won’t hurt you.	Repress your anger or emotions.
Talk to your brain: Tell it you won’t take it anymore.	Think of yourself as being injured. Psychological conditioning contributes to ongoing back pain.
Stop all physical treatments for your back — they may be blocking your recovery.	Be intimidated by back pain. You have the power to overcome it.

Studies Support Mind-Body Connection in Painful Conditions

While many pain experts disagreed (and still disagree) with Sarno’s theories, recent research supports the idea that pain, in many cases, has psychological underpinnings. A study⁸ published last year found emotion awareness and expression therapy (EAET) reduced chronic musculoskeletal pain by at least 30 percent in two-thirds of patients; one-third of patients improved by 70 percent.

More recently, a study⁹ published in the journal Pain concluded that treating fibromyalgia pain with EAET was more effective than cognitive behavioral therapy and general fibromyalgia education. Other recent research¹⁰ found that feelings of stiffness in the back “may represent a protective perceptual construct.” Tasha Stanton, Ph.D., who investigates the neuroscience behind pain, explained her team’s findings:¹¹

“People with chronic back pain and stiffness overestimate how much force was being applied to their backs — they were more protective of their back. How much they overestimated this force related to how stiff their backs felt — the stiffer [it] felt, the more they overestimated force. This suggests the feelings of stiffness are a protective response, likely to avoid movement …

In theory, people who feel back stiffness should have a stiffer spine than those who do not. We found this was not the case in reality. Instead, we found that the amount they protected their back was a better predictor of how stiff their back felt. [We] found that these feelings could be modulated using different sounds.

The feeling of stiffness was worse with creaky door sounds and less with gentle whooshing sounds. This raises the possibility that we can clinically target stiffness without focusing on the joint itself but using other senses.

The brain uses information from numerous different sources including sound, touch, and vision, to create feelings such as stiffness. If we can manipulate those sources of information, we then potentially have the ability to manipulate feelings of stiffness. This opens the door for new treatment possibilities, which is incredibly exciting.”

All Pain Is Regulated by Your Brain

It may be helpful to remember that while pain may be largely a product of your own mind, the pain is still “real.” As noted by Dr. Mel Pohl,¹² a clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, “all pain is regulated by the brain — whether there is an actual nail in your thumb or an old injury that should have healed by now but inexplicably keeps hurting — in both cases it is nerve fibers that are sending messages to your brain that cause you to feel pain.”

An acute injury doesn’t have to have a psychological trigger, but if the pain persists long after the injury has healed, there may well be an emotional aspect involved. Pain can also carve figurative grooves in your brain. When pain is perceived over an extended period of time, the number of pain-causing neurotransmitters in your nervous system increase and your pain threshold tends to get lower. Essentially, you become more sensitized to pain.

Like Sarno, Hanscom and many others, Pohl also believes emotions are a primary cause of pain, triggering as much as 80 percent of all pain. This does not detract from its validity or intensity, however. Writing for Psychology Today, he says:¹³

“Based on studies conducted [in 2013] … published in the journal NatureNeuroscience, we now have conclusive evidence that the experience of chronic pain is strongly influenced by emotions. The emotional state of the brain can explain why different individuals do not respond the same way to similar injuries.

It was possible to predict with 85 percent accuracy whether an individual (out of a group of forty volunteers who each received four brain scans over the course of one year) would go on to develop chronic pain after an injury, or not.

These results echo other data and studies in the psychological and medical literature that confirm that changing one’s attitudes — one’s emotions — toward pain decreases the pain. I believe that one of the most important things people with chronic pain can do to help themselves is to notice what they are feeling.”

Physical Movement Is a Crucial Treatment Component for Most Pain

Your body needs regular activity to remain pain free, and this applies even if you’re currently in pain. Not only does prolonged sitting restrict blood flow, which may trigger or exacerbate pain, sitting may even be the cause of the pain in the first place. For example, when you sit for long periods of time, you typically end up shortening your iliacus, psoas and quadratus lumborum muscles that connect from your lumbar region to the top of your femur and pelvis.

When these muscles are shortened, it can cause severe pain upon standing, as they will effectively pull your lower back (lumbar) forward. When there’s insufficient movement in your hip and thoracic spine, you also end up with excessive movement in your lower back. Most people tend to “baby” the pain and avoid moving about as much as possible, but in most cases, this is actually contraindicated. In fact, experts now agree that when it hurts the most, that’s when you really need to get moving.¹⁴

A scientific review of 21 studies¹⁵ confirmed that not only is exercise the most effective way to prevent back pain in the first place, it’s also the best way to prevent a relapse. Among people who had a history of back pain, those who exercised had a 25 percent to 40 percent lower risk of having another episode within a year than those who did not exercise.

Strength exercises, aerobics, flexibility training and stretching were all beneficial in lowering the risk of recurring pain. The video above, featuring Lisa Huck, demonstrates and explains the benefits of dynamic movement, and how it can help prevent and treat back pain.

New Treatment Guidelines for Back Pain Stress Non-Drug Interventions

Fortunately, doctors are increasingly starting to prescribe activity in combination with a wait-and-watch approach for back pain patients.¹⁶ Dr. James Weinstein, a back pain specialist and chief executive of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System, told The New York Times:¹⁷

“What we need to do is to stop medicalizing symptoms. Pills are not going to make people better … [Y]oga and tai chi, all those things are wonderful, but why not just go back to your normal activities? I know your back hurts, but go run, be active, instead of taking a pill.”

This view has now become the new norm. In fact, on February 14, 2017, the American College of Physicians issued updated treatment guidelines^18,¹⁹ for acute, subacute and chronic low back pain, now sidestepping medication as a first-line treatment and recommending nondrug therapies instead. This is a significant change, and one that could potentially save thousands of lives by avoiding opioid addiction. The new guidelines include three primary recommendations:

“1. Given that most patients with acute or subacute low back pain improve over time regardless of treatment, clinicians and patients should select nonpharmacologic treatment with superficial heat … massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation … If pharmacologic treatment is desired, clinicians and patients should select nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or skeletal muscle relaxants …

2. For patients with chronic low back pain, clinicians and patients should initially select nonpharmacologic treatment with exercise, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction … tai chi, yoga, motor control exercise, progressive relaxation, electromyography biofeedback, low-level laser therapy, operant therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, or spinal manipulation …

3. In patients with chronic low back pain who have had an inadequate response to nonpharmacologic therapy, clinicians and patients should consider pharmacologic treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as first-line therapy, or tramadol or duloxetine as second-line therapy.

Clinicians should only consider opioids as an option in patients who have failed the aforementioned treatments and only if the potential benefits outweigh the risks for individual patients and after a discussion of known risks and realistic benefits with patients …”

The guidelines stress that even in the rare case when an opioid is given, it should only be prescribed in the lowest dose and for the shortest duration possible. Steroid injections and acetaminophen are also discouraged, as studies suggest neither is helpful or beneficial. Acetaminophen does not lower inflammation, and a review of the research²⁰ shows steroids are on par with placebo when it comes to treating back pain in the long term.

Non-Drug Solutions for Pain Relief

I certainly believe that your emotional health and your ability to effectively address stress is an essential component of optimal health, and can have a major influence on whether or not you’re effective in eliminating your pain. And so do many other doctors and scientists from various fields of medicine.

It’s unfortunate that so many people dismiss these types of treatment strategies simply because they seem “too simple to be effective.” We’ve been indoctrinated to believe that getting well involves radical, often painful treatment, when in most cases the complete opposite is true.

It’s also important to be fully aware of the addictive potential of opioid drugs, and to seriously weigh your need for a narcotic pain killer. There are many other ways to address pain. Below is a long list of suggestions. If you are in pain that is bearable, please try these options first. If you need a pain reliever, consider an over-the-counter (OTC) option.

Research²¹ shows prescription-strength naproxen (Naprosyn, sold OTC in lower dosages as Aleve) provides the same pain relief as more dangerous narcotic painkillers. However, while naproxen may be a better alternative to narcotic painkillers, it still comes with a very long list of potential side effects,²² and the risks increase with frequency of use.

Eliminate or radically reduce most grains and sugars from your diet

Avoiding grains and sugars will lower your insulin and leptin levels and decrease insulin and leptin resistance, which is one of the most important reasons why inflammatory prostaglandins are produced. That is why stopping sugar and sweets is so important to controlling your pain and other types of chronic illnesses.

Take a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fat

Omega-3 fats are precursors to mediators of inflammation called prostaglandins. (In fact, that is how anti-inflammatory painkillers work, by manipulating prostaglandins.) Good sources include wild caught Alaskan salmon, sardines and anchovies, which are all high in healthy omega-3s while being low in contaminants such as mercury. As for supplements, my favorite is krill oil, as it has a number of benefits superior to fish oil.

Optimize your sun exposure and production of vitamin D

Optimize your vitamin D by getting regular, appropriate sun exposure, which will work through a variety of different mechanisms to reduce your pain. Sun exposure also has anti-inflammatory and pain relieving effects that are unrelated to vitamin D production, and these benefits cannot be obtained from a vitamin D supplement.

Red, near-, mid- and far-infrared light therapy (photobiology) and/or infrared saunas may also be quite helpful as they promote and speed tissue healing, even deep inside the body.

Medical cannabis

Medical marijuana has a long history as a natural analgesic and is now legal in 28 states. You can learn more about the laws in your state on medicalmarijuana.procon.org.²³

Kratom

Kratom (Mitragyna speciose) is another plant remedy that has become a popular opioid substitute.²⁴ In August 2016, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a notice saying it was planning to ban kratom, listing it as Schedule 1 controlled substance. However, following massive outrage from kratom users who say opioids are their only alternative, the agency reversed its decision.²⁵

Kratom is likely safer than an opioid for someone in serious and chronic pain. However, it’s important to recognize that it is a psychoactive substance and should not be used carelessly. There’s very little research showing how to use it safely and effectively, and it may have a very different effect from one person to the next.

Also, while it may be useful for weaning people off opioids, kratom is in itself addictive. So, while it appears to be a far safer alternative to opioids, it’s still a powerful and potentially addictive substance. So please, do your own research before trying it.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

EFT is a drug-free approach for pain management of all kinds. EFT borrows from the principles of acupuncture in that it helps you balance out your subtle energy system. It helps resolve underlying, often subconscious and negative emotions that may be exacerbating your physical pain. By stimulating (tapping) well-established acupuncture points with your fingertips, you rebalance your energy system, which tends to dissipate pain.

(Learn more about EFT for pain in the video featured below.)

Meditation and Mindfulness Training

Among volunteers who had never meditated before, those who attended four 20-minute classes to learn a meditation technique called focused attention (a form of mindfulness meditation) experienced significant pain relief — a 40 percent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 percent reduction in pain unpleasantness.²⁶

Chiropractic

Many studies have confirmed that chiropractic management is much safer and less expensive than allopathic medical treatments, especially when used for pain such as low back pain.

Qualified chiropractic, osteopathic and naturopathic physicians are reliable, as they have received extensive training in the management of musculoskeletal disorders during their course of graduate health care training, which lasts between four to six years. These health experts have comprehensive training in musculoskeletal management.

Acupuncture

Research has discovered a “clear and robust” effect of acupuncture in the treatment of back, neck and shoulder pain, and osteoarthritis and headaches.

Physical therapy

Physical therapy has been shown to be as good as surgery for painful conditions such as torn cartilage and arthritis.

Foundation Training

Foundation training is an innovative method developed by Dr. Eric Goodman to treat his own chronic low back pain. It’s an excellent alternative to painkillers and surgery, as it actually addresses the cause of the problem.

Massage

A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the journal Pain Medicine included 60 high-quality and seven low-quality studies that looked into the use of massage for various types of pain, including muscle and bone pain, headaches, deep internal pain, fibromyalgia pain and spinal cord pain.²⁷

The review revealed massage therapy relieves pain better than getting no treatment at all. When compared to other pain treatments like acupuncture and physical therapy, massage therapy still proved beneficial and had few side effects. In addition to relieving pain, massage therapy also improved anxiety and health-related quality of life.

Astaxanthin

Astaxanthin is one of the most effective fat-soluble antioxidants known. It has very potent anti-inflammatory properties and in many cases works far more effectively than anti-inflammatory drugs. Higher doses are typically required and you may need 8 milligrams (mg) or more per day to achieve this benefit.

Ginger

This herb has potent anti-inflammatory activity and offers pain relief and stomach-settling properties. Fresh ginger works well steeped in boiling water as a tea or grated into vegetable juice.

Curcumin

In a study of osteoarthritis patients, those who added 200 mg of curcumin a day to their treatment plan had reduced pain and increased mobility. A past study also found that a turmeric extract composed of curcuminoids blocked inflammatory pathways, effectively preventing the overproduction of a protein that triggers swelling and pain.²⁸

Boswellia

Also known as boswellin or “Indian frankincense,” this herb contains specific active anti-inflammatory ingredients.

Bromelain

This enzyme, found in pineapples, is a natural anti-inflammatory. It can be taken in supplement form but eating fresh pineapple, including some of the bromelain-rich stem, may also be helpful.

Cetyl Myristoleate (CMO)

This oil, found in fish and dairy butter, acts as a joint lubricant and anti-inflammatory. I have used this for myself to relieve ganglion cysts and carpal tunnel syndrome. I used a topical preparation for this.

Evening Primrose, Black Currant and Borage Oils

These contain the essential fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which is particularly useful for treating arthritic pain.

Cayenne Cream

Also called capsaicin cream, this spice comes from dried hot peppers. It alleviates pain by depleting the body’s supply of substance P, a chemical component of nerve cells that transmits pain signals to your brain.

Grounding

Walking barefoot on the earth may also provide a certain measure of pain relief by combating inflammation.

Other methods…

Methods such as hot and cold packs, aquatic therapy, yoga, various mind-body techniques and cognitive behavioral therapy²⁹ can also result in astonishing pain relief without drugs.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) for Physical Pain

How to Reduce Your EMF Exposure

Posted by zedie

The negative effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) continue to ignite conversations and controversy worldwide. The most dangerous pollution affecting you is the invisible sea of EMFs your body swims in daily. You are exposed to EMFs all day long, not only in public but inside your home too. Most of the radiation emits from cellphones, cell towers, computers, smart meters and Wi-Fi, to name just a few of the culprits.

While it’s nearly impossible to avoid EMF exposure completely, there are practical ways to limit it. Given the number of EMFs that bombard you all day long, getting educated about the negative effects of EMFs is imperative to your well-being. Particularly if you are dealing with a serious illness, it is well worth your time to reduce your EMF exposure as much as possible. If you have been told EMFs are safe and not a danger to humans, you may want to consider:

The telecommunication industry has manipulated federal regulatory agencies, public health authorities and professionals through powerful and sophisticated lobbying efforts leaving consumers confused and unaware of the health risks associated with EMFs
Any negative health effects from EMFs, similar to smoking, may not be immediately noticeable, but will likely develop gradually over time. Cell phones indeed are the cigarette public health threat of the 21st century.

What Are EMFs?

According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, EMFs are “invisible areas of energy, often referred to as radiation, that are associated with the use of electrical power.”¹

Most agree on the hazards associated with ionizing radiation, which is why the dental hygienist covers you with a lead apron when taking X-rays. Similarly, you would expect to get sunburned if your bare skin is overexposed to the sun’s powerful UV rays. Ionizing radiation is generally believed to have enough energy to break the covalent bonds in DNA but actually most of the damage is due to the oxidative stress resulting in excessive free radicals.

The type of EMF your cellphone emits is in the microwave 2 to 5 gigahertz range. Besides your cellphone, electronics such as baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, smart thermostats and Wi-Fi routers consistently emit microwave radiation at levels that may damage your mitochondria.

Interestingly I have reviewed a number of studies that show double and single strand DNA breaks are actually higher when exposed to nonionizing microwave radiation than ionizing radiation. This is believed to be due to the excessive oxidative stress that microwave exposure induces.

Intracellular Calcium Increases With Exposure to EMFs

Download Interview Transcript

Martin Pall, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of biochemistry and basic medical sciences at Washington State University, has identified and published several papers describing the molecular mechanisms of how EMFs from cellphones and wireless technologies damage humans, animals and plants.^2,^3,^4,^5,⁶ Many studies indicate your intracellular calcium increases with exposure to EMFs.

Pall also discovered a number of studies showing that you can block or greatly reduce the effects of EMFs using calcium channel blockers — medication commonly prescribed to patients with heart disease. Notably, it is the excess calcium in the cell and increased calcium signaling that are responsible for a vast majority of the biological effects of EMFs.

Pall discovered no less than 26 bodies of research asserting that EMFs work by activating voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), which are located in the outer membrane of your cells. Once activated, they allow a tremendous influx of calcium into the cell — about 1 million calcium ions per second per VGCC.

When there’s excess calcium in the cell, it increases levels of both nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide. While NO has many beneficial health effects, massively excessive amounts of it react with superoxide, forming peroxynitrite, which is an extremely potent oxidant stressor.

Peroxynitrites, in turn, break down to form reactive free radicals, both reactive nitrogen species and reactive oxygen species, including hydroxyl radicals, carbonate radicals and NO2 radicals — all three of which do damage. Peroxynitrites also do their own damage. All this to say EMFs are not having a thermal influence; they are not “cooking” your cells as some suggest. Rather, EMF radiation activates the VGCCs in the outer cell membrane, triggering a chain reaction of devastating events that, ultimately:

Decimates your mitochondrial function, cell membranes and cellular proteins
Causes severe cellular damage
Results in DNA breaks
Dramatically accelerates your aging process
Puts you at higher risk for chronic disease

Peroxynitrites, Cellphones and Spikes in Chronic Disease

Once formed, peroxynitrite reacts relatively slowly with biological molecules, making it a selective oxidant. Inside your body, peroxynitrites modify tyrosine molecules in proteins to create a new substance, nitrotyrosine and nitration of a structural protein.⁷ These changes from nitration are visible in human biopsy of ALS, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, myocardial ischemia and septic lung disease.⁸

Significant oxidative stress from peroxynitrites may also result in single-strand breaks of DNA.⁹ This pathway of oxidative destruction triggered by low?frequency radiation emitted from mobile devices may partially explain the unprecedented growth rate of chronic disease since 1990.¹⁰ This, truly, is a far greater concern than brain tumors, when it comes to the hazards of cellphones.

Once you understand cellphones can contribute to these chronic diseases — not just brain tumors — you may be more motivated to limit your exposure. Although the top health threats continue to be cardiovascular disease, cancer and infections, the rates of increase noted for the following diseases and disorders is astounding. Some of them were not even public knowledge prior to 1980.¹¹

Disease or disorder	Increase since 1990
ADHD	819 percent
Alzheimer’s disease	299 percent
Autism	2,094 percent
Bipolar disease in youth	10,833 percent
Celiac disease	1111 percent
Chronic fatigue syndrome	11,027 percent
Depression	280 percent
Diabetes	305 percent
Fibromyalgia	7,727 percent
Hypothyroidism	702 percent
Lupus	787 percent
Osteoarthritis	449 percent
Sleep apnea	430 percent

Are You Affected by One of These EMF-Related Health Problems?

Since biological damage from EMFs is triggered by activation of your VGCCs, it stands to reason that tissues with the highest densities of VGCCs are at greater risk of harm. Your body tissues with the highest concentration of VGCCs (and most susceptible to damage from EMFs) include your:

Brain
Testes (for men)
Nervous system
Pacemaker of your heart resulting in arrhythmias
Retina

When VGCCs are activated in your brain, they release neurotransmitters and neuroendocrine hormones. Elevated VGCC activity in certain parts of your brain has been shown to produce a variety of neuropsychiatric effects. Among the most common consequences of chronic EMF exposure to your brain are:¹²

Alzheimer’s
Anxiety
Autism: One of my longtime mentors, Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, has linked autism in children to excessive EMF exposure during pregnancy
Depression

While EMFs may not be the sole cause of heart problems, it is very likely a significant factor and one worthy of further investigation, especially if you are taking a heart medication. The most common heart issues that have been tied to EMF exposure include:

Atrial fibrillation / atrial flutter
Bradycardia (slow heartbeat)
Cardiac arrhythmias (associated with sudden cardiac death)
Heart palpitations
Tachycardia (fast heartbeat)

EMFs Negatively Affect Reproduction

If you are a man, EMF exposure can increase your risk of infertility, especially if you routinely carry your cellphone in a pants pocket near your groin and/or use your laptop on your lap. Studies have linked low-level electromagnetic radiation exposure from cellphones to an 8 percent reduction in sperm motility and a 9 percent reduction in sperm viability.^13,¹⁴

Besides those associated with reproduction, you have a number of other sensitive organs in that general area, including your bladder, colon, kidneys and liver, all of which are susceptible to damage from radiation.

If you are a woman, your risk of breast cancer is higher if you regularly carry your cellphone in your bra. Generally, the most common location for breast cancer is the upper, outer quadrant. When the cancer is located in the upper, inner quadrant, however, it’s more likely to be related to cellphone radiation (if you’ve been carrying your phone in your bra).

Ways to Reduce Your EMF Exposure

Below are some tips to reduce your EMF exposure:

Connect your desktop computer to the internet via a wired connection and be sure to put your desktop in airplane mode. Also avoid wireless keyboards, trackballs, mice, game systems, printers and house phones. Opt for the wired versions.

If you must use Wi-Fi, shut it off when not in use, especially at night when you are sleeping. Ideally it is best to work toward hardwiring your house so you can turn off the Wi-Fi at all times. If you have a notebook without any Ethernet ports it is easy to purchase a USB Ethernet adapter that will allow you to connect to the internet without a wireless connection.

Shut off the electricity to your bedroom at night. This typically works to reduce electrical fields from the wires in your wall unless there is an adjoining room next to your bedroom. If that is the case you will need to use a meter to determine if you also need to turn off power in the adjacent room.

Use a battery-powered clock, ideally one without any light. I use a talking clock that I merely press a button to determine the time and never see any light at night.

If you still use a microwave oven, consider replacing it with a steam convection oven, which will heat your food as quickly and far more safely. Next to induction stovetop burners, microwave ovens are likely the largest EMF polluters in your home.

Avoid using “smart” appliances and thermostats that depend on wireless signaling. This would include all new “smart” TVs. They are called smart because they emit a Wi-Fi signal, and unlike your computer, you are unable to shut the Wi-Fi signal off. Consider using a large computer monitor as your TV, as they don’t emit Wi-Fi.

Refuse smart meters as long as you can or add a shield to an existing smart meter, some of which have been shown to reduce radiation by 98 to 99 percent¹⁵

Considering moving your baby’s bed into your room instead of using a baby monitor, or use a hard-wired monitor. In any case avoid any baby monitor that is wireless. There are some wired options available.

Replace CFL bulbs with incandescent bulbs. Ideally remove all fluorescent lights from your house. Not only do they emit unhealthy light, but more importantly they will actually transfer current to your body just being close to the bulbs.

Avoid carrying your cellphone on your body unless it is in airplane mode and never sleep with it in your bedroom unless it is in airplane mode (and especially not under your pillow). Even in airplane mode it can emit signals, which is why I put my phone in a Faraday bag.

When using your cellphone, use the speaker phone and hold the phone at least 3 feet away from you. Seek to radically decrease your time on the cellphone. I probably am down to below 30 minutes a month on my cell, mostly when traveling. Instead use VoIP software phones that you can use while connected to the internet via a wired connection. Google Voice is a free example.

While you may think the majority of your radiation exposure comes from outside your home, most of it is very likely coming from the items inside your home and the homes of your closest neighbors. Due to their proximity, particularly if you live in an apartment or condo, it may be worth your time to educate your neighbors about the dangers of wireless technology, including cordless phones, smart meters and Wi-Fi.

CCertain Nutrients May Help Protect Your Body From EMF Damage

While making changes to your physical environment is of the utmost importance, there are a few nutritional interventions you can consider to help protect your body from EMFs. My recommendations include:

•Magnesium: As a natural calcium channel blocker, magnesium can help reduce the effects of EMF on your VGCCs. Since many are deficient in magnesium, I believe you could benefit from as much as 1 to 2 grams of magnesium per day.

•Molecular hydrogen: Studies have shown molecular hydrogen can mitigate about 80 percent of the damage caused by EMFs because it targets the free radicals produced in response to radiation, such as peroxynitrites. You can take molecular hydrogen tablets when flying to protect you from gamma rays. It is one of several tips I shared on how to minimize jet lag.

•Nrf2: Increasing Nrf2, which is a biological hormetic that upregulates superoxide dismutase, catalase and all the other beneficial intercellular antioxidants, is also helpful mainly because it lowers inflammation, improves your mitochondrial function and stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis, among other benefits.

You can activate Nrf2 by consuming Nrf2-boosting food compounds such as sulforaphane from cruciferous vegetables, foods high in phenolic antioxidants, the long-chained omega-3 fats DHA and EPA, carotenoids (especially lycopene), sulfur compounds from allium vegetables, isothiocyanates from the cabbage group and terpenoid-rich foods.

Performing high-intensity exercises that activate the NO signaling pathway, such as the NO dump exercise, activates Nrf2, and so does intermittent fasting.

•Spices: Certain spices may help prevent or repair damage from peroxynitrites. Spices rich in phenolics, specifically cinnamon, cloves, ginger root, rosemary and turmeric, have exhibited some protective effects against peroxynitrite-induced damage.^16,¹⁷

Children at Greater Risk Than Adults From EMFs

Sadly, most of our youth have widely adopted the wireless revolution and it is your responsibility to teach your children these dangers. Many kids have cellphones and wireless tablets before the age of 5 and many children sleep with their phones on or under their pillows. This is exposing them to a far more serious health threat than their grandparents had when they were smoking as adolescents.

The opportunity to experience greater mitochondrial damage over time is exponentially greater for children than it is for adults. Many kids today are growing up completely enveloped in technology. They carry cellphones at younger and younger ages, use computers and tablets beginning in the early school years and play internet-based video games, to name just a few of their EMF-related activities.

Depending on the habits of their parents, especially their mothers, many children were exposed to EMFs even before they were born. Particularly as it relates to cellphone use, EMF radiation penetration is deeper in kids than adults since their skulls are thinner.

Regarding the use of cellphones within the pediatric population, Ronald L. Melnick, scientific adviser for the Environmental Health Trust, said, “The penetration of the cellphone radiation into the brain of a child is deeper and greater. Also, the developing nervous system of a child is potentially more susceptible to a damaging agent.”¹⁸

California’s Environmental Health Investigations guidelines concur, saying: “EMFs can pass deeper into a child’s brain than an adult’s. The brain is still developing through the teen years, which may make children and teens more sensitive to EMF exposure.”¹⁹ It’s important to take precautions now to protect your children, especially because the damage done by EMF radiation can take years, and sometimes decades, to develop.

While there is no reliable way to predict the long-term effects on children, one study, involving more than 13,000 mothers, revealed some sobering potential effects. Upon viewing these statistics, I hope you will take steps today to reduce your EMF exposure, both for the health of your child and your own well-being. As compared to children born of mothers who did not use cellphones during pregnancy, children born of mothers who did experienced a:²⁰

49 percent increase in behavioral problems
35 percent increase in hyperactivity
34 percent increase in peer-related problems
25 percent increase in emotional issues

Sources and References:

By:Dr. Joseph Mercola

Vitamin D Is More Effective Than Flu Vaccine, Study Says.

Posted by zedie

According to Dr Joseph Mercola and others, vitamin D deficiency may actually be behind your winter flu.

As a result, researchers have begun examining if increased vitamin D might make an effective flu vaccine, and, as it turns out, it does!

n fact, the research found several notable returns:

People with the lowest vitamin D levels show significantly more colds and/or cases of the flu.
For people with the lowest vitamin D levels, taking a vitamin D supplement cut the risk of respiratory infection by 50% – though researchers also noted that vitamin D was better absorbed through sunlight.
Vitamin D proved slightly more effective than the traditional flu vaccine (1 case prevented per 33 people vs 1 case prevented per 40 people), though this was more pronounced in trial participants with severe vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D is significantly better absorbed from sun exposure than from supplements.

Mounting research suggests vitamin D deficiency may actually be a major cause of influenza. People with the lowest vitamin D levels report having significantly more colds or cases of the flu
Scientific review confirms vitamin D optimization boosts immunity and cuts rates of cold and flu. Among people vitamin D blood levels below 10 ng/mL, taking a supplement cut risk of respiratory infection by 50 percent
To prevent influenza in one person, 40 people must receive the flu vaccine whereas one case of the flu can be prevented for every 33 people taking vitamin D. If you’re severely vitamin D deficient, vitamin D supplementation is 10 times more effective than the flu vaccine

Source: organicandhealthy.org

Life Expectancy Projected to Soar — Except in the U.S.

Posted by zedie

According to a recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics, life expectancy has actually declined in the U.S. for the first time in 20 years,^1,^2,^3,⁴ dropping from 76.5 years in 2014 to 76.3 in 2015 for men, and from 81.3 to 81.2 for women. This means American women now die, on average, about one month earlier than they did in 2014, and men lost about two months of lifespan in two years.⁵

Life Expectancy Projected to Soar - Except in the US

In all, there were 86,212 more deaths in 2015 compared to 2014 — a rise in death rate of about 1 percent in 2015 — and as of 2015, the U.S. ranks 29th out of 43 countries for life expectancy,⁶lagging behind countries like Chile, Costa Rica, Slovenia, Korea and the Czech Republic. In 2014, the U.S. ranked 28th.⁷

Moreover, according to Dr. Peter Muennig, a professor of health policy and management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, this decline in life expectancy is a “uniquely American phenomenon.” No other developed countries experienced this decline. “A 0.1 decrease is huge,” Dr. Muennig added. “Life expectancy increases, and that’s very consistent and predictable, so to see it decrease, that’s very alarming.”

Dr. Jiaquan Xu, the report’s lead author, noted the decline in life expectancy is primarily caused by a rise in several categories of preventable deaths,⁸ again highlighting the failure of the American health care system to properly address the root causes of chronic disease. He also cited the opioid epidemic as a significant factor.

Meanwhile, both dietary patterns and health care availability in South Korea — which has made some of the greatest life expectancy gains — offer valuable hints at what Americans need to do to change course.

Analysis suggests South Koreans may soon outlive the rest of the world.

Another extensive analysis ⁹ of longevity patterns in 35 industrialized nations projects life expectancy at birth in the U.S. will continue to lag, such that by 2030, it will be on par with the Czech Republic, Croatia and Mexico.^10,^11,¹²

Meanwhile, South Koreans of both sexes and Hungarian men and have made the greatest life expectancy gains. By 2030, South Korean women are projected to have an average lifespan of 90.8, making it the first nation to break the 90-year life expectancy barrier.

This is a significant feat, considering South Korea ranked 29th for women’s life expectancy in 1985.¹³As for the cause of the U.S.’ failure to keep pace, The Washington Post notes:¹⁴

“The reasons for the United States’ lag are well known. It has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of any of the countries in the study, and the highest obesity rate. It is the only one without universal health insurance coverage and has the largest share of unmet health care needs due to financial costs,” the researchers wrote …

In contrast to the United States, South Korea “has a remarkable investment in early childhood nutrition,” has been taking advantage of medical advances and technology across its population and has some of the world’s lowest obesity and hypertension rates … “They seem to be getting a lot of things right at the same time, and getting them right for almost everyone”, [lead author Majid Ezzati] said.

Differences in diet offer valuable clues…

Japan has long been noted for its longevity, but that’s starting to change as Western dietary influences have crept in. Again and again, we see health outcomes decline when countries adopt a Western style diet with processed foods as a staple.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s use of nutritional supplements, especially probiotics for both adults and infants has risen, and their fermented food and omega-3 intake is among the highest in the world. In my view, this is what you would call a major clue.

Research¹⁵ published last year showed South Korea, along with Japan, the Primorskry region of Russia, Denmark, Norway and Greenland and a few other indigenous regions had the highest blood levels of the animal-based omega-3 fats eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — the latter of which is a primary structural component of every cell in your body.

Americans and Canadians both have “very low” levels, which may increase the risk of chronic disease. Use of vitamins and dietary supplements in South Korea also rose by 4 percent in 2016, and probiotic sales rose by 7 percent.

According to Euromonitor, “these products are increasingly seen as essential consumer health items among South Koreans.”¹⁶ South Koreans also consume 2 million tons of kimchi each year — a traditional dish of fermented cabbage. As noted in a previous Food First article:¹⁷

“[K]imchi is the one food that most Koreans simply ‘cannot live without.’ ¹⁸ … [It] seems to make its way into every meal of the day. In autumn, South Korean employers even give their workers a customary ‘kimchi bonus,’ helping to subsidize the ingredients for their annual kimchi supply.¹⁹”

Considering that most Americans eat a primarily processed food diet, high in sugars and low in healthy fats, fiber and fermented foods, it shouldn’t come as a major shock that life expectancy might suffer. Advertisements might lead you to believe this processed fare will give you all the nutrition you need for a long and happy life, but your body cannot be fooled.

The toll of chronic illness and opioid addiction on Americans:

The cost of health care in the U.S. is also the highest in the world, and continues to rise. Health care now accounts for 17 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).²⁰ But even though the U.S. spends more than $3 trillion on health care each year, it is the worst performing system ranked by multiple aspects of care.²¹

Recent research also reveals HALF of all Americans live with chronic illness,²² and in my view, this has everything to do with diet. According to study authors Elizabeth Reisinger Walker, Ph.D., an assistant research professor, and Dr. Benjamin Druss, professor at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University:²³

“The health of individuals in the [USA] is increasingly being defined by complexity and multi-morbidity, the co-occurrence of two or more chronic medical conditions.”

Addiction to opioid painkillers appears to be another significant contributor to declining life expectancy in the U.S.^24,²⁵ Deaths from synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, rose by a whopping 73 percent between 2014 and 2015. Prescription pain killers alone killed 17,536 people last year.

According to Robert Anderson, who oversees death statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like this. Certainly not in modern times.”

More than half of the American diet is ultra-junk food.

Ponder these parallel statistics:

Half of all Americans are chronically ill.
Half of all Americans are also either pre-diabetic or diabetic. ^26,²⁷
Nearly 60 percent of the American diet is ULTRA-processed junk food, and these products also account for 90 percent of the added sugar consumption in the U.S.^28,²⁹
As much as 40 percent of American health care expenditures are for diseases directly related to the overconsumption of sugar.³⁰
Less than 1 percent of Americans’ daily calorie intake comes from vegetables.^31,^32,³³

While correlation does not definitively prove causality, I for one have no doubt these statistics are related. The dangers of eating too much added sugar have been well-established, and have even become officially recognized. For the first time ever, the 2015-2020 U.S. dietary guidelines³⁴recommend limiting your sugar intake to a maximum of 10 percent of your daily calories.³⁵

Without a doubt, lowering your consumption of added and natural sugars is at the top of the list if you’re overweight, insulin resistant or struggle with any chronic disease. This includes sugar from refined non-vegetable fiber carbs such as potatoes, bagels and breakfast cereal. Recent research actually suggests these foods are as risky as smoking, increasing your risk for lung cancer by as much as 49 percent, even if you’ve never smoked.³⁶

High glycemic foods, i.e., refined carbs high in sugar, promote insulin resistance and obesity, and this isn’t the first time a connection has been made between a high-sugar and/or obesity and cancer.

In fact, cancer specialists who discussed the cancer trend at the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago warned that obesity will likely overtake smoking as the principal cause of 10 different types of cancer within the next decade.³⁷ Obesity, also associated with worsened prognosis after a cancer diagnosis, raises your risk of dying from the cancer treatment, and raises your risk of additional malignancies and comorbidities.³⁸

Why fermented food is so important for your health:

In ancient societies, fermentation was a very common food preservation method. And, while they may not have understood the mechanisms involved, by eating fermented foods, their overall health flourished — principally, their intestinal health. Today, we have a much more comprehensive understanding of the human microbiome, and its influence on health. We also now know that the best ways to improve gut health are to consume fermented foods on a regular basis and avoid sugar and processed foods.

About 80 percent of your immune system is in your gut. When your intestinal flora is skewed toward more sugar-loving pathogenic microbes, health problems of all kinds are more prevalent, from obesity and diabetes ^39,⁴⁰ to allergies and autoimmune diseases. The fiber and wide variety of beneficial bacteria (probiotics) found in traditionally fermented and cultured foods help protect against disease by improving your microbiome, and also help chelate harmful toxins and heavy metals from your system.

Nearly all organic plant matter (and even the dust covering the soil) contains lacto-fermenting bacteria called Lactobacilli, or Lactobacillus acidophilus. As Lactobacilli start multiplying in the fermentation process, they produce lactic acid. When lactic acid is produced, it helps preserve the food. Another benefit is that fermentation makes nutrients more bioavailable.

It also provides instant energy. Several studies indicate the many amazing benefits fermentation brings to your gut health. For instance, one week after sauerkraut begins fermenting, the vitamin C content rises to around six times higher than in the same amount of plain cabbage.⁴¹

Another fermentation advantage is vitamin K2, which works in tandem with and provides many of the same benefits as vitamin D. Certain cheeses, homemade yogurt, kefir and natto (fermented soy) are good sources of vitamin K2. There are only certain strains of bacteria that make K2, so not all fermented foods will contain it. Most commercial yogurts are virtually devoid of vitamin K2, and while certain types of cheeses, such as Gouda, Brie and Edam are high in K2, others are not.

It really depends on the specific bacteria present during the fermentation. When fermenting your own foods at home, using a special starter culture designed with bacterial strains that produce vitamin K2 will ensure a vitamin-K2-rich result.

Reclaiming your health is not rocket science.

The data and statistics presented in all of these studies and analyses give us significant clues as to what works and what doesn’t — what promotes health and what will kill you off sooner rather than later. The fact that the average American lost up to two months of life expectancy from one year to the next should be a wakeup call.

Clearly, the Affordable Health Care Act did not have a positive influence. This makes sense when you consider that American health care is grossly lacking in common sense disease prevention. Making health care available to more low-income individuals makes no difference when treatment strategies are primarily focused on costly pharmacological interventions rather than low- or no-cost lifestyle recommendations.

For starters, if you seek wellness, you’d be wise to ignore any and all food commercials and most conventional dietary advice, which still to this day promote dangerous low-fat myths and condone the use of artificial sweeteners. In fact, a health-promoting diet is more or less the conventional food pyramid turned upside-down. My free optimal nutrition plan will lead you through the needed changes one step at a time.

Higher healthy fat consumption, lower sugar intake, and increased omega-3, fiber and fermented foods are of particular importance. The shift from sugar to fat will allow your body to become an efficient fat burner, which has many tremendous benefits.

The animal-based omega-3 fat DHA is a necessary component for all of your body’s cells, and fiber-rich and fermented foods will help optimize your gut microbiome. Switching to organic whole foods is also recommended, as this will help you avoid harmful agricultural chemicals as well.

U.S. statistics may be depressing, but the significant improvements made by countries like South Korea also offer hope. It’s rather remarkable to think a nation may soon have an average lifespan of 90! We can all get there. But to do so, we have to change our dietary status quo, and realize the price we pay for all of our convenience foods.

References: see below.

About the author:

Born and raised in the inner city of Chicago, IL, Dr. Joseph Mercola is an osteopathic physician trained in both traditional and natural medicine. Board-certified in family medicine, Dr. Mercola served as the chairman of the family medicine department at St. Alexius Medical Center for five years, and in 2012 was granted fellowship status by the American College of Nutrition (ACN).

While in practice in the late 80s, Dr. Mercola realized the drugs he was prescribing to chronically ill patients were not working. By the early 90s, he began exploring the world of natural medicine, and soon changed the way he practiced medicine.

In 1997 Dr. Mercola founded Mercola.com, which is now routinely among the top 10 health sites on the internet. His passion is to transform the traditional medical paradigm in the United States. “The existing medical establishment is responsible for killing and permanently injuring millions of Americans… You want practical health solutions without the hype, and that’s what I offer.”

Source:wakeup-world.com

Fat for Fuel by Dr. Joseph Mercola

Posted by zedie

“Life-Changing and Potentially Life-Saving: I Promise You This Book Will Be the Most Important One on Health That You’ll Ever Read.”

– Dr. Mercola

I couldn’t be more thankful that you’re reading this.

Maybe you’re dealing with a chronic health condition that just won’t budge, no matter what your doctor suggests. Or perhaps you’re simply trying to lose weight and nothing is working long-term.

Or maybe you’ve been handed a serious medical diagnosis like cancer. After all, the latest statistics tell us that 1 in 2 Americans will develop cancer during their lifetime.

And of course, the fact that the medical establishment is really no closer to finding a “cure” than when President Nixon first initiated his “War on Cancer” in 1971 provides no comfort.

Even though the U.S. has spent more than 105 billion dollars on their efforts!

Without a doubt, I know I can help you. No matter what you’re dealing with.

There’s real hope on these pages and in my new book, Fat for Fuel: A Revolutionary Diet to Combat Cancer, Boost Brain Power, and Increase Your Energy.

Real hope for cancer patients – even those with advanced cancer – as well as anyone dealing with a chronic disease or wishing to improve his or her health.

I believe anyone with a health concern, big or small, including those wishing to drop extra pounds, will find this information life-changing.

I view this as the most important health information I’ve ever written. Fat for Fuel represents my most worthy contribution to our understanding about preventing and healing disease.

Enough accolades. Let me tell you about my newest book…

FAT FOR FUEL

PRE-ORDER NOW

Order Now to reserve your copy, and receive free 6 bonuses. Product will ship May 16th, 2017.

What I Learned In 1995 Forever Shaped My View On Cancer And Chronic Disease

“Dr. Joseph Mercola has been a shining beacon of health wisdom and freedom for decades. Fat for Fuel is a masterpiece of cutting-edge research and practical application.”

— Christiane Northrup, M.D.

New York Times best-selling author of Women’s Bodies,
Women’s Wisdom and Goddesses Never Age

Surprisingly, my seven years of medical school and family practice residency never addressed the root cause of common chronic illness.

All I was taught was how to manage symptoms through the use of pharmaceuticals and medical procedures.

Then, in 1995, my understanding of chronic disease took a quantum leap. I was introduced to Dr. Ron Rosedale and his breakthrough views on clinical metabolic biochemistry.

In a nutshell, Dr. Rosedale taught me that defective metabolic processes in your mitochondria, not your genetic makeup, cause cancer and nearly all other chronic diseases, including accelerated aging.

And what causes these faulty processes?

Insulin and leptin receptor resistance from too many net carbs and activation of the mTOR metabolic signaling pathway by too much protein.

Let me put this into more easily understood terms…

When you eat too many sugars and carbs without fiber, along with too much protein, you can ignite a cascade of metabolic events that includes:

Widespread inflammation and cellular damage, especially your mitochondria, or your cells’ power factories
Faster aging and a greater risk of all cancers from the activation of your body’s most important signaling pathway from eating excess protein
An increase in insulin resistance that can progress to prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes because your cells have lost their ability to respond to insulin effectively
Overeating due to the loss of control over your appetite and knowing when you’re “full”
An inability to lose weight because your body is holding on to fat instead of burning it for fuel

So how can you take what I’ve learned and put it to good use? That’s the idea behind my new book, Fat for Fuel – to help you take control over obesity and chronic disease, including advanced cancer.

Why Cancer Is One Of The Most Manageable Diseases We Know Of Today

“Once you realize what cancer is, that it’s a metabolic disease, you can take charge of those kinds of things. In other words, getting cancer is not God’s will. It’s not bad luck.”

— Thomas Seyfried, Ph.D.

Human Mitochondria — An artist’s view of human mitochondria inside a cell

I believe, along with many of the experts I interviewed for Fat for Fuel, more than 90 percent of cancer cases are either preventable or treatable.
That should be very welcome news to most people – even if you’re not currently fighting cancer or have a friend or family member who is.

But here’s something that I think should be even more reassuring…

Many people don’t realize that their chances of developing cancer are slim if their mitochondria are healthy and functional.

Researcher Dr. Peter Pederson from Johns Hopkins, recently made a fascinating discovery:

One characteristic that cancer cells share with one another is that they have a radically reduced number of fully functional mitochondria.

Maybe you remember learning about mitochondria in science class…

These tiny organelles, originally thought to have evolved from bacteria, exist in nearly all your cells. Most cells have several thousands of them, and can comprise up to 50 percent of your cells’ volume!

Your mitochondria are truly your body’s lifeline. They supply over 90 percent of your body’s energy needs by converting the food you eat and the air you breathe into usable energy.

Powerful Strategies For Repairing And Nurturing Your Mitochondria

As you age, your body produces fewer mitochondria, so that makes taking care of the ones you have all the more important.

When a significant percentage of your mitochondria stops functioning properly, your health can falter and leave you more vulnerable to cancer and other chronic diseases.

However, we now know there are powerful strategies that can repair and improve the health of your mitochondria.

What I believe to be the most valuable strategy for repairing your mitochondria is the main subject of my newest book:
Fat for Fuel: A Revolutionary Diet to Combat Cancer, Boost Brain Power, and Increase Your Energy.

You see, everything you eat affects your mitochondria – positively or negatively.

When you make food choices that boost your mitochondrial health, you reduce the risk of damage to your cells’ genetic material or DNA that can lead to disease or cancer.

In Fat for Fuel, here’s just a sampling of what you will learn:

How to trigger powerful changes in your health in just a few days
How to avoid feeding cancer cells’ mitochondria while repairing your healthy mitochondria
How to starve out cancer cells (and not harm your healthy cells!)
How to permanently shed unwanted pounds and inches faster than you ever thought possible
How to feel sharper mentally and improve your memory just by changing how and when you eat
How to boost your physical stamina and endurance
How to eliminate excessive hunger pangs and food cravings
How to explain to your friends, family, and doctor exactly what you’re doing and get their unwavering support
How to monitor your progress and find the least expensive supplies

Beyond Ketogenic Diets: The Eating Program That Can Heal Your Mitochondria

“A truly revolutionary program. . . Fat for Fuel will change the way you think about nutrition and your health.”

— Leo Galland, M.D.

Author of The Allergy Solution

Let me be very clear… you don’t need to be sick, overweight, or have cancer, heart disease or Alzheimer’s to benefit from the information in Fat for Fuel.

This book is designed for anyone wishing to improve his or her health. There’s tremendous value in repairing and nurturing damaged mitochondria just to feel more energetic and to help live a long life free from disease.

However, the sicker you are or the older you are (because you now have fewer mitochondria), the more you stand to benefit from the strategies I present in Fat for Fuel.

My program, Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy, or MMT, is a system of eating that aims to heal the root cause of chronic disease and aging – and your mitochondria themselves.

MMT Benefits — Greater energy and stamina are just two benefits of MMT

It does this by shifting your metabolism from burning glucose as your primary fuel to burning fat instead.

When you replace carbs with fat for fuel, potentially:

You optimize your mitochondrial function
You turn on your body’s ability to burn body fat
Your metabolism runs more efficiently
You enjoy long-lasting energy and stamina
Your brain functions more efficiently and you feel sharper mentally

Glucose is a “dirty” fuel, while fat burns much cleaner. So by replacing carbs with healthy fats, your cells’ mitochondria are less likely to suffer damage from free radicals that are caused by reactive oxygen species or ROS.

Since 90 percent or more of the total ROS in your body are produced within your mitochondria, these fragile components of your cells are continually under siege when there are excessive ROS. Some are needed for crucial cellular functions, but too many cause devastating damage.

Previously, it was thought excessive ROS could be addressed by taking antioxidants, but we now know that this was a flawed strategy and it is far better to prevent their production by eating an optimal fuel mixture.

MMT can help your cells’ mitochondria reach the “Goldilocks” zone for producing ROS — not too much and not too little, but just the “right” amounts for healthy cellular and mitochondrial function.

Why You Need Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy (MMT)

What many people may not realize is that switching over to fat-burning is not an instantaneous “aha” moment. Nor is it a one-size-fits-all plan.

That may be why, if you’ve ever tried a ketogenic diet, you weren’t able to reach or remain in ketosis long enough to produce significant health effects.

My MMT program is a highly customizable, multi-step process that can take a few days or as long as a few months to become fully fat-adapted. Everyone is different.

Fat for Fuel walks you through the complete step-by-step process. You learn which foods and practices work best for you.

My goal is to help you get there smoothly and as easily as possible, identifying and removing potential challenges ahead of time that can derail you off course.

Ketogenic Diet Plan — You’ll receive my step-by-step plan for reaching nutritional ketosis

Here are some of the valuable insights you’ll gain from Fat for Fuel to help you succeed:

The 7 most common symptoms to expect while shifting to fat burning and simple ways to ward them off
How to use timing and spacing of meals to propel your results
The weight loss bonus that will hook you in your first few days on MMT
How to overcome emotional roadblocks that may arise before and during MMT
One simple way to tell if you’re exercising too much (or too little) while adjusting to fat burning
The 7 most common challenges people face when adopting a fat-burning eating plan and how to face them head on
How to customize MMT for you so you’ll want to continue it for life (although you’ll most likely be convinced that long-term is for you once you experience how much better you feel when eating this way!)
Why your brain loves ketones (Hint: it has to do with how easily they are whisked across your blood-brain barrier into your brain tissue)
Why it’s easier to lose weight on a ketogenic diet (and especially my MMT plan) and keep it off
The greatest tool I’ve found to help keep on track, pinpoint nutritional deficiencies in my diet – and to stay motivated
The effective and inexpensive long-term alternative to blood tests for monitoring ketones
My guidelines for long-term optimum fat-burning, including the ideal amount of protein to eat at any meal to avoid activating mTOR
The other side of eating that most people ignore, yet it’s equally important for your body to function at its best (it happens to be the oldest dietary intervention in the world!)
Why taking too many antioxidants can be dangerous and actually aid the survival of cancer cells
The popular cooking oils that can harm your cell membranes and threaten your mitochondrial health
Why it may be a big mistake to follow your conventional doctor’s advice about fat in your diet

Why MMT Is One Of The Most Powerful Strategies For Lasting Weight Loss And Much More…

“Beautifully lays out the history—and the myths—behind the high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet that has been at the root of so much illness and death in the last half-century.”

— Ron Rosedale, M.D.

Weight Loss — Your waistline measurement is your greatest gauge of health

As a healthy child, you had healthy metabolic flexibility. When you ate a limited amount of sugar and net carbs (carbs minus the fiber) and greater amounts of healthy fat, you were easily able to burn clean burning fats as your primary fuel.

After eating a high net-carb diet, your body loses its ability to switch effortlessly from glucose-burning to fat-burning. And, if you’re like the majority of adults, your health — especially your metabolic health — has suffered as a result.
One visual gauge of your current metabolic health is the amount of body fat you’re carrying, especially around your waistline. This is largely unhealthy visceral fat.

You need a certain amount of body fat to protect your organs, but too much puts you at higher risk for chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

By making MMT part of your everyday life, you can regain that long-lost metabolic advantage. And that puts you squarely into control of your health – and weight – like no other step you could possibly take!

Similar to a ketogenic diet, MMT is a high-fat, low-carb, and moderate-protein eating plan. But unlike a ketogenic diet, it emphasizes on high-quality, unprocessed whole foods.

Since your body was designed to run more efficiently on fats than on carbs, when you successfully shift over to what’s called nutritional ketosis, you optimize your mitochondrial function and your body’s ability to burn body fat.

While fitting into your favorite skinny jeans is certainly a valuable side effect of MMT, my plan’s primary aim goes much deeper – to heal your metabolism at the cellular level and ward off the development of most common chronic diseases and premature aging, including:

Cancer
Type 2 diabetes
Alzheimer’s disease
Parkinson’s disease
Atherosclerosis and heart disease
Cataracts

And of course, that includes the core causes of obesity!

Please Don’t Confuse Paleo With My Advanced Version Of Ketogenic…

Meat Protein — Paleo promotes far too much protein

Paleo diets are one of the hottest eating trends today. Many people claim eating that way helps them feel more energetic. Others swear by them for weight loss.

But it’s not the same thing as MMT…

While there are many advantages to the Paleo diet – it’s certainly a big step above the typical American diet – it doesn’t initially control net carbs.

Paleo restricts grains, dairy, starches, and processed foods, but the diet allows some starchy vegetables, fruits, and sugars like honey and coconut sugar.

And it encourages protein from meat, seafood, and nuts and seeds – lots of it! Many people who follow the Paleo diet consume far too much protein.

Too much sugar and too much protein can make it impossible to maintain a state of ketosis, especially if you are new to nutritional ketosis.

Eating too much protein can also activate your body’s most important signaling pathway – mTOR, or the mammalian target of rapamycin – and boost your risk of cancer. Your mTOR pathway organizes all the nutrient sensors in your body to regulate metabolism, growth, cell differentiation, and cellular survival.

Researchers have discovered that low-protein diets extend lifespan in flies because they improve mitochondrial function and inhibit mTOR.

MMT or my version of the ketogenic diet provides very precise protein recommendations to help avoid activating mTOR and, at the same time, restore health to your mitochondria.

With the guidance I provide in Fat for Fuel, you’ll know how to determine the exact amount of protein that’s right for you!

Just As Important As What You Eat Is What You Don’t Eat

“Fat for Fuel . . . reveals truths the food industry won’t tell you about the food you eat and starts you on a path to radically transforming your health.”

— Mark Hyman, M.D.

#1 New York Times best-selling author of Eat Fat, Get Thin and
director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine

Water Fasting — If water fasts aren’t for you, I introduce you to 5 other types of fasts in *Fat for Fuel*

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we should eat that it’s easy to forget the other side that’s equally important for your mitochondrial health. And that’s not eating.

Consider your early ancestors… They didn’t have ready access to food 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Instead, they evolved to withstand extended periods without food. You and I are here today, so they obviously thrived.

Could your body perhaps be equipped to function optimally by not eating?

Fasting can rapidly accelerate your transition to fat-burning and immediately begin to improve metabolic pathways involved with many health challenges.

Think of it as a jump start to success… Starting MMT when you’re already adapted to burning fat through fasting makes your eating plan much easier to implement and stick with.

Fasting also provides numerous benefits in itself. When you fast, your:

Blood sugar stabilizes
Insulin levels fall and insulin resistance improves
Digestive tract gets to rest and repair its mucosal lining
Immune system participates in the regeneration of your body’s organs
Stem cells produce new white blood cells to boost immunity
Body produces ketones to fuel your brain and nervous system while preserving muscle mass
Metabolic rate increases to provide energy in the absence of food
Damaged cells are cleared out through a natural cleansing routine
Excess body fat is shed without the loss of lean body mass
Levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and cancer-promoting hormones drop
Rate of aging slows as does the accumulation of cellular free radicals
Brain function is protected by higher levels of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and other chemicals

Your Biggest Decision Likely Won’t Be If You’ll Fast, It’ll Be Which Fast Will You Choose?

Working Out — Want to kick-start your results? Choose one of my fasts

I think you’ll agree that fasting provides an exceptional way to jump-start your mitochondria and become fat-adapted in as short a time as possible, and start reaping the many benefits of fat burning.

You can do a traditional 2- to 3-day water fast where you drink nothing but water plus minerals, or you can take your pick of at least 5 other types of fasts to make the transition to fat-burning even easier.

You’ll find detailed information about each type of fast in Fat for Fuel, including:

How to find the “right” fast for you
The fast that burns through your glycogen stores the quickest and pushes your body to start using fat for energy (You’ll want this one if you’ve just received a very serious diagnosis)
How to get the benefits of water fasting without the typical loss of energy
How to quickly shed your cravings for sweets and carbs while fasting
How to optimize your body’s repair and rejuvenation processes
How to use timing to reap many of the same benefits as long-term calorie restriction without the pain, suffering, and compliance challenges
How to know if fasting is safe for you (Especially if you have low blood pressure, thyroid disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or are taking diuretics or blood pressure medications)
The fast where you’re still eating food (This may be a tougher approach!)
What you need to know about exercising while fasting
How to fast without upsetting your body’s circadian rhythm
A quick trick to help extend your fast while warding off your hunger without raising your blood sugar (Many will enjoy this taste treat!)
The 3-hour window when you never want to eat (To help optimize your mitochondrial function and prevent cellular damage and faster aging)
My favorite form of fasting – and the one I personally use (It’s the easiest to maintain once you’ve shifted over to fat-burning)

Is There Life After MMT?

Healthy Diet — Once you regain the ability to burn fat as your primary fuel you’re ready for more variety in your diet

As I show in Fat for Fuel, switching to burning fat as your primary fuel is a very powerful strategy for improving the health of your mitochondria, and in turn, your overall health.

But maybe you’re wondering, “Do I have to eat this way for the rest of my life?”

The short answer is, no you do not. In fact, I don’t want you to.

In Fat for Fuel, I help you determine how long is enough for you based on your genetic and mitochondrial differences, as well as any hormonal challenges you may have.

MMT is not intended to be a long-term deprivation diet. Once you regain the ability to burn fat as your primary fuel you’re ready to listen to your body and increase the flexibility in your diet.

By mimicking the eating pattern of many of our ancient ancestors, you can use what I call “feast-famine cycling,” a strategy that many in the body-building community have embraced to optimize their performance.

There are multiple ways to use this clever strategy and I review them all in Fat for Fuel. When done correctly, you’ll enjoy a greater variety of delicious, wholesome foods without harming your body’s newly regained ability to burn fat.

And I think you’ll agree… With greater variety and flexibility, it’s much easier to stick to a lifetime of healthy eating!

The Stealth Threat Facing Every Man And Postmenopausal Woman, Exposing You To Obesity, Cancer, Cognitive Decline, And Heart Disease

Weight Management — If you struggle with weight issues, excess iron may be a factor

My MMT Program helps control the production of damaging ROS and secondary free radicals in three important ways. The first two are the foods you eat and when you eat them.

The third is such a serious threat to overall health that it absolutely astounds me that more doctors aren’t giving it the attention it deserves, including many holistic practitioners.

This threat targets every single man and postmenopausal woman, and it isn’t related to a reckless lifestyle or poor eating habits.

You could even be following my MMT eating plan and be at high risk for this health-wrecking threat!

I’m talking about iron.

Excess iron can lead to one of the most dangerous reactions in your body — the Fenton reaction — that decimates your mitochondrial DNA, proteins, and membranes and contributes to system-wide inflammation.

And all you may initially notice is some joint pain, fatigue, gut pain, memory fog, or an irregular heartbeat!

Even moderately elevated levels of iron can contribute to:

Obesity — Obese individuals are more likely to have high levels of iron in their bodies.
Cancer — Elevated levels of iron are found in patients with many types of cancer, including breast cancer, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS — High levels of iron in your brain tissue (which can easily happen as you age) can lead to cognitive impairment and inflammation.
Cardiovascular disease — Women’s risk of heart disease rises significantly after they either go through menopause or have a hysterectomy (and stop losing blood each month through menses).
Diabetes — Men with high iron stores were found to be 2.4 times as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as men with lower levels.
The growth of pathogens — High iron levels facilitate the growth of disease-causing bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.
Osteoporosis — Too much iron in your body can damage your bones, but unfortunately, symptoms don’t typically appear until your levels are dangerously high.

What You Learn About Iron In Fat For Fuel Could Literally Save Your Life

Iron Test — Serum iron tests won’t tell you if there’s a problem

Many doctors, including some Naturopathic physicians, aren’t doing the right test to give you the information you need about your iron levels.

Yet, they’ll insist they know best, and may even try to talk you out of the test you really need.

It’s much easier to manage your situation if you discover your high levels early, which is just one of the reasons why I’ve become so passionate about this topic.

Fat for Fuel is your guide to repairing and nourishing your mitochondria. But, you simply can’t optimize your mitochondrial health – or that of your entire body – if you have excess iron.

I’ve dedicated an entire chapter to the topic of excess iron, where you’ll learn:

The real test that you need to find out how high your levels truly are
The ideal range you want to maintain (it’s not what labs and most doctors consider “normal”)
The 7 things that increase your absorption of iron (it’s not only cast iron pans)
What to avoid eating or drinking with a steak to minimize your absorption of iron from red meat
The fastest way to lower excess iron levels (and what I do each month to help maintain safe low levels)
The 6 alternative strategies that can lower your absorption of iron as much as 95 percent
The 3 popular beverages that help protect you from the iron in foods
When never to take vitamin C or calcium supplements as they can increase your absorption of unwanted iron
The controversial strategy that provides the same iron level reduction as donating blood (it even provides up to a 75 percent lower rate of certain cancers), but it may not be for everyone

Your iron levels are so crucial, I’ve made getting them tested the right way a prerequisite before proceeding with my MMT plan!

10 Bonus Strategies To Boost Your Mitochondrial Health

Healthy Mitochondria — Diet isn’t the only way to improve the health of your mitochondria

Without question, my MMT diet is the most effective way to improve the health of your mitochondria. But it’s not the only way…

In Fat for Fuel, I outline 10 other powerful strategies for boosting mitochondrial health. At least half of them you can do at home without any special tools or equipment!

In this bonus chapter, I show you:

How to use photobiology to create energy to improve your mitochondrial function (first, make sure your cells have enough of this beneficial fatty acid)
The two-part strategy to gain a powerful synergy that could help reverse any health challenge
How to use light to deeply penetrate your tissues to deliver energy to your mitochondria for increased ATP production (it must be this certain hard-to-find wavelength!)
How to renew damaged proteins inside your cells, inside of allowing them to accumulate and form plaque deposits in your brain and vascular systems
The inexpensive tool to help protect your circadian rhythms and natural melatonin production to help you sleep better at night and help lower your cancer risk
The simple change you can make in your home to nearly duplicate the sun’s healthy, natural lighting for your eye health
What to do if you wake up before sunrise, especially during the darker months of winter (and continue to do it until the sun rises)
How to stimulate the production of new mitochondria and boost the destruction of diseased ones
The 20-second trick to double your body’s production of norepinephrine for improved focus and attention and to boost mood and alleviate pain
The four supplements to avoid if you have (or suspect) cancer as they can make cancer cells stronger and more resistant to anti-cancer treatment (this is a mistake many natural medicine practitioners make!)
The ancient healing method that’s been shown to be useful in treating pain conditions, depression, age-related mental decline, and Alzheimer’s (I use it every night to help quell free radicals and protect against EMFs)
Two ways to help your body increase levels of healthier “structured” water inside your cells and two simple ways to create it yourself from regular drinking water

Why My Book May Not Be For Everyone

Is Fat for Fuel for You — Is *Fat for Fuel* for you?

What I think about this book: A MUST READ ONE.

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Back Pain — Is It All in Your Head?

The Psychological Underpinnings of Pain

Studies Support Mind-Body Connection in Painful Conditions

All Pain Is Regulated by Your Brain

Physical Movement Is a Crucial Treatment Component for Most Pain

New Treatment Guidelines for Back Pain Stress Non-Drug Interventions

Non-Drug Solutions for Pain Relief

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) for Physical Pain

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What Are EMFs?

Intracellular Calcium Increases With Exposure to EMFs

Peroxynitrites, Cellphones and Spikes in Chronic Disease

Are You Affected by One of These EMF-Related Health Problems?

EMFs Negatively Affect Reproduction

Ways to Reduce Your EMF Exposure

CCertain Nutrients May Help Protect Your Body From EMF Damage

Children at Greater Risk Than Adults From EMFs

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According to Dr Joseph Mercola and others, vitamin D deficiency may actually be behind your winter flu.

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Analysis suggests South Koreans may soon outlive the rest of the world.

Differences in diet offer valuable clues…

The toll of chronic illness and opioid addiction on Americans:

More than half of the American diet is ultra-junk food.

Why fermented food is so important for your health:

Reclaiming your health is not rocket science.

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What I Learned In 1995 Forever Shaped My View On Cancer And Chronic Disease

Why Cancer Is One Of The Most Manageable Diseases We Know Of Today

Powerful Strategies For Repairing And Nurturing Your Mitochondria

Beyond Ketogenic Diets: The Eating Program That Can Heal Your Mitochondria

Why You Need Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy (MMT)

Why MMT Is One Of The Most Powerful Strategies For Lasting Weight Loss And Much More…

Please Don’t Confuse Paleo With My Advanced Version Of Ketogenic…

Just As Important As What You Eat Is What You Don’t Eat

Your Biggest Decision Likely Won’t Be If You’ll Fast, It’ll Be Which Fast Will You Choose?

Is There Life After MMT?

The Stealth Threat Facing Every Man And Postmenopausal Woman, Exposing You To Obesity, Cancer, Cognitive Decline, And Heart Disease

What You Learn About Iron In Fat For Fuel Could Literally Save Your Life

10 Bonus Strategies To Boost Your Mitochondrial Health

Why My Book May Not Be For Everyone

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