Healing Outside The Box

Not only is cross-addiction with food possible, but it can go both ways. That is the bad news. But the good news is that there is something we can do about it.  One of the 2 experts I mentioned was Dr Neil Barnard. The interview I quoted can be found here.   Dr. Pamela Peake also has many videos on this topic. I referred to this video in my episode, but she has other videos and a book on this topic called "The hunger fix". I did a slideshow of historic Salem with my pictures that I referred to in this episode. You can find that here.

Welcome to part 2 of my series on the possibility of treating autistic symptoms with broccoli sprouts. This week we put theory into practice with some tips about how to prepare broccoli and broccoli sprouts in a form on the kitchen table that children with autism might eat. After all, even Pres. George H.W. Bush didn't like to eat his broccoli. But when it comes to sprouts, we can chop them finely or blend them, and in that way, hide them in the food. But before we get to hiding it in our food, it bears repeating that sulforaphane found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables is a potent anti-oxidant that appears to fight oxidative damage to our cells. There is strong evidence for sulforaphane battling rapidly growing cancer cells, preventing the aging of cells, and possibly fighting off whatever it is that is responsible for the symptoms of autism. There is a great article that gets into details about sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts in terms of its overall benefits. That article can be found here. T

If anyone ever told you to eat your broccoli, the proof of its benefits has finally arrived. Today we are discussing the multiple reasons why antioxidants, like those found in broccoli, would be a good idea. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has put out a few remarkable journal articles looking into the evidence that one particular substance called sulforaphane (from broccoli sprouts) can counteract the harmful effects of cellular damage. The article that sparked a lot of interest in sulforaphane particularly was put out by NIH and it can be found here.  Another NIH article defines oxidative stress and lists the risk factors that cause this stress. Not surprisingly, it has a lot to do with the American diet and typical cell-damaging risk factors like smoking, x-rays, and excessive alcohol. That article can be found here. This NIH article connects the dots between large amounts of oxidative stress and the development of many chronic diseases, such as heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes, and now autis

In part 3 of this 3-part series, I humbly attempt to put this GMO controversy into some perspective with two stories about the unintended consequences of manipulating genes in a plant seed. The first story, from Roundup to dicamba, describes the ability of weeds to become resistant to one weedkiller (roundup) and then the following weedkiller (dicamba). The resulting superweeds are more difficult to kill even with higher and higher doses of these herbicides. The answer was to bring back the active ingredient in Agent Orange, a deadly herbicide used to clear the jungles of Vietnam during the war. The NIH article I discussed can be found here. The second story involves what old-timers call the BT corn controversy. BT stands for a bacteria in the Bacillus family that naturally carries an insect-killing gene that produces a deadly protein (for beetles, anyway). But what about honeybees and Monarch butterflies? There is a publication that talks about the indirect consequences of trying to kill one animal without

In part 2 of this 3-part series, I discuss more information about where we are with this genetic modification business, focusing on fish and animals today.  But first I announce that GMO labeling is becoming "a thing"  and the mandatory law goes into effect in January 2022. The link to the actual law can be found here. This article in Nature discussed the genetic modification of Glofish Tetras and ZebraFish.   As always, if you have any questions about this episode or would like to offer suggestions for future episodes, feel free to email me on my contact page, which is parked at "Healing outside the box".

I bet you're confused when you hear things like "GMO food is the science of the future." And then you turn around and hear "GMO food causes cancer." Can both people be right? The oversimplified answer is that GMO food is neither good nor bad. It depends on why the food is being genetically modified. And who is doing the modifying. I am going to attempt to do some splainin' today. There is an article put out by "nature" that defines some terms and explains why we might want to genetically modify plants and animals. That article can be found here. Could problems arise when corporations confuse product improvement with profit improvement? You bet. This article describes how canola oil (normally a healthy oil that is higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids) has now been modified to contain much more saturated fatty acids. It now resembles palm oil (an unhealthy oil), which was done to increase the stable shelf life of snack foods. Until now, there was no way of knowing what these food manufacturers had done. But h

Have you or someone you know been told that they have irritable bowel syndrome? You may have been too embarrassed to ask your healthcare provider what it's all about. Although I always recommend that you seek medical attention if you have any G.I. symptoms, it may help to break it all down and define a few terms. Inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome are actually 2 separate conditions. Inflammatory bowel disease normally covers 2 common diseases where the symptoms are pretty similar. They are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. A pretty descriptive article about these 2 diseases can be found here. Irritable bowel syndrome is the diagnosis that doctors usually land on when other diseases (Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease) have been ruled out. It is generally speaking, not as severe as those diseases, but people suffering from IBS can be pretty measurable. The dietary treatments usually center around trying to relieve the symptoms. This is usually done with a diet low in fermen

Every now and again I take a break from my usual episode content and launch into storytelling. Today I have a couple of stories for you. The first is called "The grand betrayal" and it's about an incident that happened with 2 of my personal care attendants and myself. We all collided and made a hot mess out of things. The second is called "my glass-half-empty just turned upside down." This is a slightly more upbeat story about being hopeful about an effective treatment for my disease, only to have my hopes dashed, and then coming around to seeing things with a bigger lens.

One of the (perhaps not so obvious) consequences of organic gardening is keeping the four-legged critters from eating what we grow. But much more serious is the consequence that climate change has on growing large scale food for our planet. We know about the floods and droughts, but what about the nutritional quality of our edibles? Today I look at this scary problem that is happening right under our noses. There was a mind-blowing article in politico from 2017 that talks about decreases in nutrient levels due to rising CO2 levels. That article can be found here.    Harvard.edu has a short but not so sweet article on this issue as well. It can be found here.    I summarized a detailed sciencey article from the journal, Nature. That article can be found here.   This article in Advances in Science talks about how climate change can affect the diversity of edible plant species. In this episode, I talked about my review of a documentary called "the need to grow". That was episode 242 and it can be found here.

okay. So no one food will be the miracle that will keep our aging brains as sharp as they were when we were young. Having said that, there are ways that we can support that hard-working organ by eating more of certain foods and less of other foods.  I get into which foods and why they might be helpful in this episode. The NIH almost always has something to say about research in this area. This general NIH article is a good place to start if you want to look at this list and pick out which foods you like and can pad to your current eating plan. US News and world report chose the Mediterranean diet as the best overall meal plan for proper nutrition and prevention of chronic disease. An article discussing why the Mediterranean diet is first and the Keto diet is last on their list, can be found here.  While discussing Tumeric, I mentioned some research connecting anti-inflammatory compounds found in Tumeric that could be tied to a reduction in amyloid plaques seen in Alzheimer's disease. That source can be found

I once went to a National nutrition conference and I still remember four words from that conference keynote address: "the future is coming". Indeed it is. the topic today is about the future of meat, or at least some of the meat that we are going to encounter over the next 20 years. there is a new company called "Eat Just, Inc" that has just put out a cultured chicken product. and if that succeeds, there will be more cultured meat products to come. So today I look at how this product is made and whether or not it is safe to try. But 1st I take off on a tangent regarding a study on ultra-processed foods. This study included 22,000 people and concluded that sugar may be more of a factor than fat when it comes to death from cardiovascular events like strokes and heart attacks. That pub med article can be found here.  I first learned about the approval in Singapore for this cultured chicken from a PBS radio news program. You can find the show on cultured meat on this "here and now" program. An article discussin

The doctor's exam room can be an intimidating place when you're sitting there in your hospital gown, all drafty in the back and all. Sometimes just getting the feel for the sound of all those lab tests and what they might mean, may make the experience less overwhelming. Today I go over several different groups, or panels, which screen your blood for signs of any problems. Here are the cliff notes, if you want to see the numbers in writing: fasting blood sugar (FBS): 65 – 100 is normal. You may also see 110 as an upper limit of normal. Random blood sugar (RBS): 100 – 140. You may also see 160 as an upper limit of normal. If you have diabetes, 180 might be considered normal for you. Hemoglobin A1C (also called glycosylated hemoglobin): 4.3 – 6.1 is normal. If you are diabetic, up to 7.0 might be considered normal for you. All pregnant women should undergo a glucose tolerance test at around 24 weeks gestation. Abnormally high glucose levels should be treated aggressively. Symptoms of low blood sugar include clam

Have you ever put a food item in your grocery cart based almost entirely on a promise for a healthier you? Not only are you not alone, but you are like just about everyone else when you shop. Advertisers of processed food know this all too well and often push the limits of what is legal to claim on the food label. It works because of something we call the "halo effect", which is actually a real thing.  We are more likely to purchase a processed food item if one of the ingredients is perceived to be beneficial in current society, regardless of the remaining ingredients. I am going to open up this can of worms and look at this issue more closely today.  But 1st, I want to invite you to have your own "me" time and try health and wellness coaching. I work exclusively online and I have spaces available now. Simply go to my website, Healing outside the box.com, and click wellness coaching at the top. I have various plans available to suit your needs and I am offering the initial session for free. Check it out! In t

Back in 1995, 2 dietitians came up with something called intuitive eating theory and wrote a book about it. Most dietitians that were asked about this, did not give it a thumbs-up rating. And that is because dietitians did not think that the right approach would be to "eat whatever you want, whenever you want". That could obviously get misinterpreted. It appears as though we finally come to the agreement that the goal of listening to your intuition to tell you when you are hungry is not the same goal as losing weight. They are 2 different goals that intercept. Once we understand that, this book makes a lot more sense. If you are interested in buying the book to read it for yourself, the link to the 4th edition of their book can be found here.  These 2 dietitians (Evelyn Tribole and Else Resch) also have a workbook that can be found here. There is a magazine article by Jessica Jones that clarifies the 2 separate goals for us. If you're interested in this topic, I recommend that you give it a read. As always,

I've been going on and on about what a great idea the Freestyle Libre is for all diabetics and pre-diabetics, so I imagine it's about time that I purchased it myself and tried it out. That is exactly what I did, and I have a review and tutorial for you in this episode. This first link is to a short video that will show you how to apply the applicator and start obsessing about your blood sugars all day long if you so choose. Just click on this link and then click on the video that says: apply the sensor. This NIH article describes a Norway study that looked at the Freestyle libre continuous blood glucose monitoring system versus another similar system. This NIH study looked at how well it was tolerated (in terms of skin irritation) in type I diabetics. This article put out by Abbott Pharmaceuticals (the maker of freestyle Libre), gets into data points that show positive health outcomes in terms of better glucose control and fewer diabetic complications. If you need advice, support, or counseling to better m

Now, I mean this in only the nicest possible way. But sometimes I review a documentary so you don't have to watch the whole darn thing yourself. Unless you want to; which you may in this particular case. I'm reviewing a documentary called "the need to grow", which tells us about two pioneers in the sustainability/save the planet field. These two men are Eric Cutter and Mike Smith. Eric Cutter is a micro farmer who uses the latest technology to grow a whole bunch of organic produce on an urban plot. Mike Smith uses science to make electricity from algae and combine that with carbon technology to replenish the soil with microbes and nutrients.  These two guys join forces to make the magic happen. If you would like to watch the documentary yourself, there are a few ways to get to it. One of them is through the food revolution.org people. It can be found here.  If you want to look into some resources to find out what you could do in your community, check out the website from the documentary produces. The website

Moving along with my nutrition supplements deep dive (starting with the S category), I found a few interesting ones. One of the more interesting plant supplements is called Thunder God vine. Don't let the name scare you. This NIH article gives you detailed information about what it's good for. What about tribulus terrestris? This one failed to deliver what it promised, according to PubMed and NIH studies.  This NIH reference had a lot to say about Turmeric, but it wasn't the miracle supplement that I had hoped it would be. Valarian root, on the other hand, does seem to have a mild calming effect, according to this NIH article. Here is the NIH Fact sheet on zinc and cold virus symptoms. Last but not least, there is a Chinese herbal medicine that has recently fascinated scientists and it is called Gastrodin. This NIH study examined metadata regarding potential benefits to people with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease. If you wish to ask any questions about these supplements or want to sugge

As I go tiptoeing through the floral herbs that are now nutrition supplements, I found some interesting ones in the L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S part of the alphabet. Not surprisingly, melatonin has attracted a lot of attention and this NIH article looks at some of these studies on its effectiveness to ease insomnia. Noni comes from a tropical fruit-bearing tree native to southeast Asia. This supplement may be effective as both an antioxidant and possibly as a cancer-fighting substance. The NIH article can be found here. Peppermint oil is an essential oil that is examined for possible health benefits. This NIH article reviews these studies.  Over the counter probiotics are sold everywhere.  But are they effective? And if so, for what ailments? This NIH article gets into that. You may have seen CoenzymeQ10 advertised somewhere. But does it repair muscle cells? This NIH article looks into it. Quercetin and Vitamin C, when combined, has been shown to kill the SARS coronavirus (among others) in the lab setting

Part 3 of my deep dive into nutrition supplements plunges into the G-K supplements. Can garlic help to fight pathogenic bacteria? There are many studies looking into this, but I recommend that you start with something like this article from the NIH. Ginkgo biloba may indeed help with memory a bit. This NIH article gets into the pros and cons of ginkgo biloba. Ginseng is hugely popular and now grown in Wisconsin.  But is the data there to prove its effectiveness? Read about it here. Glucomannan is touted for weight loss. But this NIH article didn't necessarily agree with the claims. As always, if you want to ask a question or suggest a topic for a future episode, you can reach me on my website contact page.

This week we embark on part 2 of my review of nutrition supplements... More specifically, supplements D – F. And even more specifically, what they are promoted to do for you, does the science support it, and who should avoid it. There are a couple of studies that I mentioned. The 1st was in relationship to dear antler velvet (yes that is actually a supplement). The NIH article on it can be found here. There is another NIH article on fluoride, which can be controversial as an additive to the water supply. The article on fluoride can be found here. I mentioned in a previous episode of mine that talks about metabolic syndrome and why we should care about it. You can find that episode here. If you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, please feel free to contact me on my website contact page, which is on healingoutsidethebox.com.