The Health Plus Letter
August 19, 2003, Vol. 1, No. 7
By Larry Trivieri, Jr. – founder & publisher

Table Of Contents:
What’s New
Quote of the Day
Fast Facts
Medical Freedom Alert
Health News and Commentary
Holistic Self-Care Tips for Insomnia
Recipe of the Week
Reader Feedback
Recommendations


What’s New

This week I am offering all of my readers a chance to receive a f*r*e*e* eBook of your choice from 1HealthyWorld.com. All you have to do receive your title selection is recommend The Health Plus Letter to your friends and have at least ten of them subscribe to it. Once they do, have them notify you, then send me their email addresses so that I can confirm that they came from you. (I will not subscribe anyone using the email addresses you send me, only verify them against our subscriber database.) Please do not subscribe your friends yourself, as it is important that all subscribers voluntarily choose to subscribe on their own. You have until September 30 to do this. Whoever sends me the largest number of new subscribers will also receive autographed copies of my books, Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, The Complete Self-Care Guide to Holistic Medicine, and The American Medical Association Guide to Holistic Health.

As your friends sign up, you can send me their email addresses at larry@1healthyworld.com.


Quote Of The Day

“Life is like a bowl of cornflakes. It gets soggy if all you do is stare at it."


Fast Facts

“Since the 1940s, American agriculture has released about 30 billion pounds of pesticides into the environment … American use about 2 billion pounds of pesticides each year … About 850 million pounds of this is used in some way to produce food. As a result, everyone is the U.S. has some trace level of pesticides in their body fat, and everyone is routinely exposed to pesticide residues in food.”

“The pesticide regulatory system presumes that all pesticides on the market are safe until proven unsafe. Meanwhile we are the guinea pigs.”

Source: Extracts of testimony of Richard Wiles, then Director of Agricultural Pollution Prevention of the Environmental Working Group, given to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on October 1993. (Today, ten years later, the figures Wiles cited have significantly increased.)


Unabashed Plug

Learn the Truth about Heart Disease, Stroke and Hypertension. Most of what conventional medicine has to offer for treating these conditions is based on faulty and potentially dangerous assumptions. Discover the real causes behind these diseases and learn what you can do today to prevent and reverse them using safe and natural alternatives that have been scientifically proven to be effective. Read the critically-acclaimed eBook Burton Goldberg’s Definitive Guide to Heart Disease. To order or to find out more about this potentially lifesaving guide, visit http://www.1healthyworld.com/ebooks/Heart-Book-Info.cfm.


Medical Freedom Alert

Our unencumbered right to access to nutritional supplements is once again under attack, and could very well become law if we don’t get involved. I’m talking about a bill that has been introduced in the U.S.Senate called the “Dietary Safety Supplement” Act (S. 722). It’s title is wholly misleading, since the primary thrust of this bill is not consumer safety at all, but another attempt to severely undermine our freedom of choice when it comes to nutritional supplements. S. 722, while purporting to protect American consumers, in actuality, should it be passed, would:

Increase health care costs and decrease consumer choices.
Allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restrict access to supplements currently used by growing numbers of Americans for better health.
Potentially restrict access to any dietary supplement that receives even one complaint, whether factual or not.
Provide no more protection for consumers than the current law- the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)- already provides.

I urge all of my readers in the U.S. to become informed about S. 722 and to take action to help defeat its passage before it is too late. To do so, please visit the following:
http://capwiz.com/nnfa/S722.html and http://website.citizens.org/showpage.cfm?pageid=10962.


Health News and Commentary

Health Experts Say There Is No Need For General Smallpox Vaccine

Last week a committee of health experts from the Institute of Medicine publicly stated that there is currently no need for the general U.S. population to receive the smallpox vaccine, noting that “the vaccine is dangerous and the risk of a smallpox attack is only theoretical.” The vaccine uses a live virus related to smallpox called vaccinia, and has, in some cases of vaccination, been known to cause serious side-effects, ranging from a serious rash to a swelling of the brain called encephalitis. In addition, “Virus from the vaccination site can spread to other people, perhaps causing disease in those with damaged immune systems - such as cancer and AIDS patients.”

“When you take a vaccine or a drug for yourself, you are making a decision that 'I am willing to take the risk'. The problem in this case is the smallpox vaccine is a live virus vaccine. In taking on that risk you are taking it not only on yourself, but on the people around you," said Dr. Brian Strom, Professor of Medicine and at theUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and chair of the committee.

To read more on this story, see: http://snurl.com/22qb.

[Comment: It’s nice to see another bit of common sense regarding this issue appearing in the media. I’ve always felt that the threat of a smallpox attack was based far more on hype than fact. I also believe that the government’s official stance regarding serious side-effects from the vaccine are dangerously low.]

Ultrasound Shown to Be Useful for Treating Fibroids

A recent study headed up by Dr. Elizabeth A. Stewart, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston has found that focused ultrasound effectively destroys benign fibroid tumors in the uterus. Currently, the most commonly prescribed treatment for this condition is hysterectomy, which “involves risk and a prolonged recovery time,” and can also lead to hormonal disturbances later on if the ovaries are also removed.

The study involved 55 women with fibroids that were causing “significant symptoms.” Their fibroids were targeted by an “ultrasound beam guided by magnetic resonance images (MRI) that showed in real time what was happening to the fibroids during treatment.” All of the woman remained fully conscious during the procedure, and 76 percent of them completed the treatment. No major complications were encountered.

Since some of the women were already scheduled for a hysterectomy, they went ahead with the operation, which provided samples to further assess the effects of the ultrasound treatment. These showed that focused ultrasound "provides safe and accurate delivery of effective levels of thermal energy" to essentially safely destroy fibroids.

The study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003;189:48-54).

[Comment: This study adds further credence to the claims of a number of leading health experts that sound (as well as light) therapies will become increasingly common in the near future as viable treatments for a wide range of health conditions.]


Unabashed Plug

Ensure the health of your gastrointestinal tract with CaprobioticsTM, a natural therapeutic whole food probiotic blend of six strains of health enhancing bacteria cultured in fresh goat milk. These microorganisms remain viable in the stomach in route to the intestinal tract, to optimize digestion and the immune system. To find out more, visit
http://www.1healthyworld.com/healthProducts/Caprobiotics.cfm.


Holistic Self-Care Tips for Insomnia

It's estimated that as many as 60 million Americans suffer from insomnia at some point in their life, accounting for the fortune spent each year in this country on sleeping pills and other sleep-related medication. And in March of 1998, the U.S. government stated that insomnia has an annual cost to the U.S. economy in excess of $107 billion. Clearly, we are becoming a nation incapable of getting a good night's rest.

Fortunately, many cases of insomnia can be controlled and even eliminated by a variety of safe, inexpensive and noninvasive procedures you can begin implementing from the comfort of your own home. The following are some of the effective measures commonly prescribed by holistic physicians to treat insomnia.

Dietary Intervention

Most of us are familiar with the old adage that eating too late in the evening can keep us awake at night, and physicians commonly advise that the last meal of the day be taken no later than 2-3 hours before retiring. But a growing body of evidence reveals that many other dietary factors can determine how well we sleep at night. Among the factors to consider in this regard are: Are you consuming too much caffeine, sugar, salt and/or alcohol? All of these substances, along with cigarettes and exposure to second-hand smoke, can interfere with a good night's sleep. (If you are a smoker, get help in breaking your habit.)

An additional dietary factor to consider is whether or not you suffer from sensitivities or allergies to the foods you enjoy eating. Common foods with a high incidence of allergic reactions are milk, dairy products, wheat, and corn, but nearly any food can cause an allergic reaction, particularly if it is a regular staple in your diet. Often, simply eliminating the offending food is all that is required to promote deeper, more restful sleep.

Another possible cause of insomnia, according to Dr. Jack Tips, N.D., Ph.D, of Austin, Texas, is the presence of too much protein in the evening meal. "Even if the meal is eaten well before one retires, if it is high in protein the result will often be restless sleep," Tips says. The reason for this, he explains, is that in order to digest protein the body must produce an acidic state, which can interfere with the secretion of serotonin levels. "Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is very important to the sleep process," Tips explains. "Typically, insomniacs have reduced serotonin levels." For his patients with sleeping problems, Tips advocates that their evening meal be protein-free."The human body has a 24 hour pH cycle," he says, "and my research has shown that the optimum time to eat proteins are in the morning until about mid-afternoon, when the pH cycle is naturally more acidic. After around 3 P.M., it's usually a good idea to leave off the proteins and start eating your carbohydrates, along with vegetables and maybe some soup." Carbohydrates, Tips points out, are used by the body to produce serotonin, so getting in the habit of eating carbohydrate meals at night will replenish your serotonin stores over time. Excessive carbohydrate consumption can lead to insulin resistance, however.

Nutritional Supplementation

A variety of nutrients can also promote restful sleep, due to the sedative effects they have on the body. These include: calcium, magnesium, B complex vitamins (particularly vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and vitamin B5), and chromium.

Another sleep-enhancing nutrient is the amino acid phosphatidylserine, which plays an important role in regulating cortisone levels in the bodies. An excess of cortisone production by the adrenal glands can result in chronic stress. Phosphatidylserine, which is naturally produced by the body but diminishes as we age, can reduce cortisone levels, thereby promoting a more relaxed state. In addition, recent research also suggests it may play an important role as a "brain food" nutrient for its ability to stimulate mental functioning.

Also effective as a nutritional aid for sleep is the amino acid L-tryptophan. L-tryptophan was banned for sale in the U.S. earlier in the decade due to a contaminated shipment from a Japanese manufacturer that was linked to serious illness in several people. Recently, however, the Food and Drug Administration allowed the amino acid to be reintroduced for sale, but only when prescribed by a physician. Similar benefits can be obtained by using 5-HTP, a type of tryptophan that is available over-the-counter at health food stores.

Herbal Remedies

Herbs for sleep have existed throughout recorded history. Among the most common herbs used to induce restfulness are: valerian, which research has shown to be particularly effective for enhancing sleep, chamomile, lime blossom, linden flowers, hops, and passion flower. A cup of tea made from one or more of these herbs, taken about an hour or less before bedtime, can often prove extremely beneficial for sufferers of insomnia. Adding the herbs to a hotbath just before retiring can also do much to promote sleep.

If imbalanced adrenal function plays a role in poor sleep, herbs known as adaptogens, such as Siberian ginseng and licorice, can be useful for restoring proper functioning.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone primarily secreted by the pineal gland. Recent research suggests that, like DHEA, it plays an important role in a wide range of physiological functions, and that the body's natural supply of melatonin diminishes with age. Although indiscriminate supplementation of melatonin is not advisable, when used wisely, the hormone cay pay big dividends for people with sleeping problems.

A growing number of physicians are reporting excellent success using melatonin with their insomniac patients due to its ability to reset their biological clocks. One of its advantages as a sleeping aid is the fact that it is safe to use and usually is only required for a short period of time, typically one to two weeks. It's recommended that patients consult with their physicians if they are considering using melatonin for longer periods of time, however. Start with a dosage range of between 0.5 to 1 mg, taken 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime. If you find that you require more than this amount, you can increase the dose one milligram at a time until the quality of sleep you desire is achieved. Rarely will anyone need to exceed 3 mg, and typically results will be noticed within a week of use. Once your sleep has been restored, continue to use melatonin for a few more days. After that, use only as needed, for circumstances that can adversely affect your biological clock, such as jet lag, overwork, travel, or other lifestyle factors.

Exercise

Many insomniacs also lead sedentary lifestyles that, according to sleep researchers, can significantly increase their problem. For many people, adopting a light to moderate exercise routine is all that is required to improve their sleep. All of us, whether we suffer from sleeping problems or not, should make exercise a routine part of our lives. Exercising in the evening, however, can be counter-productive, particularly if the exercise is vigorous. Such evening workouts can be overstimulating and interfere with your ability to fall asleep. One exercise that is particularly recommended by many health experts is a daily walk of one to two miles at a pace that is brisk but not overly exerting.

Stress Reduction Techniques

A key factor in most cases of insomnia is an inability to let go of the daily stresses that affect us all. At times, the stress can become chronic and take root in our bodies, so that our own physiology prevents us from fully relaxing. In such cases, a variety of professional alternative approaches can provide substantial improvement in the quality of our sleep. They include: massage and bodywork, acupuncture, chiropractic, craniosacral therapy, yoga and Tai Chi. There are a variety of stress-relieving techniques that you can also practice at home. Among them are the following:

Meditation - Meditating before bedtime for ten to twenty minutes can be very useful for reducing stress and promoting sounder sleep. For those unfamiliar with meditation techniques, one of the easiest methods is to sit up straight in a relaxed position. With your eyes closed, place your attention on your breath. It's normal for your attention to wander. Each time you catch yourself becoming preoccupied with your thoughts, bring your attention back to your breathing. Continue for at least ten minutes or until you feel drowsy. Continued practice over time can make meditating a very relaxing daily routine.

Breathing Exercises - The following exercises make use of the breath and can enhance the ability to fall asleep due to their calming effects. Each of them only require a few minutes time to perform and, as with meditation, over time they can become easy, effective triggers of the sleep response.

In the first exercise (you will only need to choose one of them to work with), lie on your back with your eyes closed and the lights out. Begin gently but deeply inhaling, taking in as much air into your lungs as is comfortable. Exhale fully, drawing in your abdomen. At the end of each third exhalation, hold your breath for as long as you can. Then repeat the process two or three more times, or until you feel sleepy.

A variation of the above exercise is to breathe in for a count of 4, then hold your breath for another count of 4. Exhale fully, again hold your breath for a count of 4, then repeat the entire process. Usually three or four times is all it will take before you feel ready to fall asleep.

Muscle Relaxation - One of the easiest muscle relaxation exercises is already very well known and can make restful sleep much easier to come by. Beginning either at your head or your toes, clench and then relax the muscles in each region of your body. For example, if you choose to start with your head, tense all of the muscles in your head and face, including your jaw. Hold for a count of 1 or 2, then let the muscles relax. Then do the same with your neck muscles, followed in order by the muscles in your shoulders, arms, chest, abdomen, hips, thighs, calves, ankles and feet. There is no need to overly strain as you perform this exercise. Simply clenching and then releasing each muscle group in order is all that is required.

Creating An Optimal Sleep Environment In Your Bedroom

An often overlooked factor that can greatly contribute to insomnia is the environment you sleep in. Be sure your bedroom is kept clean and rid of dust, and that it receives enough fresh air. Also make sure that your mattress is not uncomfortable.

You may also be sensitive to the materials that make up your pillow, blankets and sheets. As a general rule, cotton or wool sheets and blankets are better than synthetic fabrics, as are feather pillows in comparison to those made from foam.

Also, make sure that your bedroom's room temperature is kept at a comfortable level, as rooms that are too cold or too hot can dramatically interfere with sleep.

Finally, if you have an electric clock, be sure that it sits at least 8 feet away from your bed. You should also avoid sleeping near cellphones, stereo, television or computer equipment unless they are unplugged, and beneath electric blankets. The reason for this has to do with the increasing amounts of electromagnetic pollution that is becoming more and more common in our homes.

While the above information has proved to be beneficial to many people with sleeping problems, it is not intended as a solution for all cases. For a wealth of other proven holistic measures for resolving insomnia and other sleep disorders, I recommend the eBook Burton Goldberg’s Definitive Guide to Sleep Disorders, which you can sample or purchase by going to http://www.1healthyworld.com/ebooks/Sleep-Book-Info.cfm.

Note: If you suffer from severe insomnia that has endured for sometime, consult with your physician. If psychological symptoms such as lingering anxiety, grief or depression, make up part of your problem, you might also consider seeing someone trained in their treatment, such as a psychologist or a physician competent in the use of Mind/Body Medicine.


Unabashed Plug

Discover and Gain Control of Your Human Energy Field. Read Dr. Valerie Hunt’s Mind Mastery Meditations: A Workbook for the “Infinite Mind,” the empowering guide created by one of the world's foremost researchers into the human energy field, energy medicine, and the relationship between consciousness and health. Each of the meditations this eBook contains is designed to give you mastery of your mind and to empower you to discover the answers to why you are the way you are, your soul's needs, your unique talents and capacities, and your self-designed destiny. By practicing and mastering these meditations, you will become able to live your life with greater ease and success, speed your self-healing, and dramatically increase your ability to manifest your deepest goals.

To order this life-changing guide, visit
http://www.1healthyworld.com/ebooks/Mind-Mastery-Book-Info.cfm.


Recipe Of The Week

Apple Spice Cake with Cranberry Kanten Glaze

Ingredients
Dry Mixture:
2 cups barley flour or spelt
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp allspice

Wet Mixture:
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup apple juice
1 tsp Stevia (this is a concentrated sweetener)
1/4 cup honey or maple
2 cups apples cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 cup walnuts

Add the combined dry mixture to the wet mixture. Stir until homogenous. Pour into a lightly oiled 9-inch cake pan and bake in a preheated oven at 375º F for 30 minutes.

Cranberry Kanten Glaze

1 1/2 cups cranberries
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 tbsp and 2 tsp agar agar
1 tbsp and 2 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch

In a medium sauce pan, add arrowroot and cold apple juice; then bring to a simmer. Add agar flakes and cook on medium heat for five minutes. Finally, add cranberries and simmer without stirring for two minutes. Cool to room temperature and spread evenly over cake.

This recipe comes from the eBook Burton Goldberg's Definitive Guide to Arthritis, available at http://www.1healthyworld.com/ebooks/Arthritis-Book-Info.cfm.

For additional healthy recipes, please visit http://www.1healthyworld.com/recipes, which features a new recipe each day.


Reader Feedback

I was very happy to receive an email from Ann Fonfa last week, telling me she is a subscriber to The Health Plus Letter. Ann is President of The Annie Appleseed Project(http://www.annieappleseedproject.org), a nonprofit corporation that provides a wealth of regularly updated information on complementary, alternative, natural cancer therapies.

A number of readers have emailed me in the last few weeks asking for cancer information. Ann’s site is a good place to start, as are the additional links to cancer sites that you can find within the Therapies section of 1HealthyWorld.com’s Resource Directory (http://www.1healthyworld.com/resources).

Cancer is a topic that is very close to me these days, as I am on the verge of losing my beloved sister Andrea to it, despite how heroically she's battled it for the last six years, inspiring everyone who knows her. And it’s something that I will eventually have a lot more to say about, including the rapacious special interests in this country and elsewhere that knowingly conspire to keep safe, nontoxic, viable cancer therapies from us all.


Recommendations

Websites:
The following web sites belong to organizations devoted to ensuring health freedom and they deserve our support:

http://www.apma.net - Home of the American Association for Health Freedom
http://www.citizens.org - Home of Citizens for Health
http://www.forhealthfreedom.org - Home of The Institute for Health Freedom
http://www.healthlobby.com - Provides information about state health freedom campaigns.

Sick of telemarketers? The following sites can help:

http://www.donotcall.gov/Register/Reg.aspx - Register your ph^ne numbers on the Do Not Call registry to keep telemarketers from bothering you.
http://private-citizen.com/book.htm - Go to this site if telemarketers persist in calling you after you’ve added your number to registry above to learn how you can take action against them.
https://opt-out.cdt.org - Learn how you can have your address taken off of junk mail lists.

Books:
Edgework: Exploring the Psychology of Disease by Ronald Peters, M.D. I like this book so much that I wrote this endorsement blurb for it prior to its publication earlier this year: “The confluence of consciousness, emotions and beliefs is increasingly being shown by modern science to have a direct impact on both health and disease. Dr. Peters provides us with an overview of that research, and empowers us to do our own personal Edgework with a variety of self-care techniques that can greatly assist in the healing of our emotional wounds. Both brilliant and compassionate, this is a book that belongs in the library of everyone interested in the medicine of the new millennium.” After re-reading it last week, I whole-heartedly stand by those words.

The Hiram Key by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. A fascinating exploration of the links between the rites of ancient Egypt, the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. Although at times I found the authors’ conclusions to be a bit of a stretch, there is no denying their historical research on which they base them.

See you next Tuesday.

Health and Blessings!

Larry Trivieri, Jr (larry@1healthyworld.com)


Disclaimer: The Health Plus Letter is a weekly eZine published by Larry Trivieri, Jr. and Library of Health, LLC (dba www.1healthyworld.com). It is made available without charge for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical care. If you are experiencing a health problem, seek prompt medical attention.

Legal Notice: The information in this eZine may be freely and widely disseminated so long as full attribution is made as follows: The Health Plus Letter, August 19, 2003, Vol. 1, No. 7. Copyright © 2003 by Larry Trivieri, Jr. All rights reserved.

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