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keto To Stay Alive With Cancer

December 29, 2014

Yes, the title of this blog entry is provocative, it is provocative for a reason.

I am tired of hearing about cancer patients dying because they were told there was nothing they could do, or they agreed to the standard treatment even if that treatment didn't have good statistics associated with it.

It is important to understand how cancer cells proliferate in order to understand why something so simple as staying on a ketogenic diet can keep cancer at bay.

All cells require fuel to produce ATP for energy and proliferation. Under a normal western modern-day diet, that fuel is glucose. Under conditions of extremely low carbohydrate and moderate protein intake, that fuel is fat.

All cells but cancer cells can utilize ketone bodies (specific fats) as their fuel source. Cancer cells require 19 times the amount of glucose as a normal cell for their ATP production. They can only use this one pathway to fuel production. When serum glucose levels drop below 80, cancer cells start having difficulty staying alive, let alone dividing.

In instances of low fat and high carb dieting, when someone misses a meal, they often feel weak and dizzy. But when eating a high fat diet with very low carbs, that bad feeling is not there, even when missing a meal. It's not there because their brain is happy with ample fuel for activity. That fuel is fat.

Almost all of my cancer patients come to me thinking they haven't been eating too many carbs, but almost all of them have signs of insulin resistance, including higher than normal fasting glucose levels and difficulty bringing their serum glucose levels below 80 on the "induction" phase of the keto diet.

Until very recently, American institutions had not been looking at ketogenic dieting as a way to treat cancer or to boost treatments. That is changing and quite rapidly. It is changing because patients are showing up to their oncologist's office alive, well past the predicted time given. It's changing because many patients are breezing thru treatments, surpassing the other patients on the same protocols. Oncologists are starting to pay attention.

Researchers in biochemistry and nutrition have been looking at this for years and couldn't get the oncologists to notice. They are starting to notice.

Thomas Seyfried, a PHD researcher at Boston College has been working with glioblastoma patients and ketogenic diets. He has patients alive more than ten years out.In all other instances, glioblastoma patients are dead by the three year mark. Dr. Seyfried has been studying and publishing on this topic for many years and has been a leader in the US in terms of research regrading ketogenic diets for cancer abatement.

A university in Germany has performed a large scale study looking at outcomes with cancer patients, in general, comparing glucose restricted ketogenic diets vs the addition of ketone fats (medium chained trigyceride oil) without the glucose restriction. The results showed, glucose restriction is necessary in order for cancer burden to be reduced.

According to Seyfried, in some cases, tumors can shrink by as much as 25% for every two weeks that patient is in ketosis. The caveat is that one can never go back to using glucose as their primary fuel source. They must stay on the alternative fuel source. While this sounds difficult, it isn't. Nor, is it unpleasant. I have been on a ketogenic diet for almost a full year, feeling wonderful.

Many of my patients feel better than ever while on the keto diet, even if they are undergoing chemo. I have many types of patients who chose to be on a ketogenic diet just for the health benefits.

An added benefit of going keto for cancer is that previous medical issues like diabetes (type2) and high blood pressure, are all reversed very quickly. Even dementia can be reversed by switching to a ketogenic diet as most cases of dementia are actually insulin resistance of the brain cells.

It is important to note that in many cases, chemotherapy does not work. And, the steroids necessary for chemo, can add to increasing serum glucose levels thereby feeding the tumor. But even if the tumor initially shrinks from chemotherapy, which is common, steroids add to the insulin resistance and in the long term could be adding to the tendency to nurture a cancer.

It is vitally important to understand the treatments and outcomes presented by the Oncologist. I hear many patients say "I want to do everything" but if some of "everything" is actually adding to the very thing which created the cancer, it is not worth doing. An example of this is how breast cancer patients were once treated with the full Monty; radical mastectomy, chemo,radiation and bone marrow transplant. The thinking was everything should be thrown at the patient. It wasn't until this was closely looked at by comparing the outcomes with patients who didn't receive everything. Once this was examined, the outcomes showed patients were actually dying unnecessarily, from treatment.

Ketogenic dieting seems to enhance chemotherapy when chemo is warranted. addition, metformin, a drug which reduces insulin resistance, seems to enhance tumor reduction when taken along with a ketogenic diet.

Whether one chooses to use ketogenic, glucose restricted dieting as their sole treatment or complement it with other sound treatments, it is important the diet is started under supervision of a physician who is trained in ketogenic dieting for health reasons. The first few days of induction can be problematic and often patients who have high blood pressure, find their blood pressure lowered naturally. Spontaneous lowered blood pressure can be an issue if the patient is on medication to lower blood pressure, leaving the patient feeling faint.

In most cases, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and inflammation, will all be reversed, and fairly quickly. But the most important change is in cases with measurable tumor burden, and reducing tumor burden while the insulin resistance isn't so out of control rendering the process impossible.

I think the Ketogenic lifestyle is not only here to stay, but is the next gluten free.

Are You Keto-Adaptive Or Are You Fat, Exhausted Or Weak.

September 30, 2014

The concept of a Ketogenic diet has been around for decades and was historically recommended to treat intractable seizures. The initial iteration was yukky! All cream, butter, margarine, corn oil, mayonnaise and nothing tasty, interesting or very healthy. Ketogenic diets have come a long way, and the concept of eating low carbohydrates and higher fat is on a roll and gaining speed.

The term "ketogenic" means the body is using ketone bodies (produced from fatty acids) for cellular fuel (atp production), in place of glucose.

Under normal circumstances, your body maintains a glucose level; which hovers around 80-90. Glucose is extracted from carbohydrates and can be created from proteins via a process known as gluconeogenesis, which takes place in the liver. This is an important piece of information as many patients think protein is a "free" food, meaning unlimited quantity. Many think they are adopting a ketogenic diet, but don't understand why they either don't lose weight, improve their lipid profiles or drop their elevated blood glucose levels. In actuality, they are eating too much protein and converting the excess to glucose.

I was introduced to ketogenic diets as a way to shrink tumor burden (cancer cells need 19 times the amount of glucose for fuel production, as normal cells), while studying for my master's degree in medical science. I used the research of Dr. Thomas Seyfrid, as a basis for my mathematical model. While scouring the research, I found, repeatedly in the literature, how cognition improved, in many patients, as well as some neurological disorders. It seems, ketogenic diets are neuroprotective.

Over time, I began to read about insulin resistance of the brain and how patients with cognitive decline improve with this type of diet. Insulin resistance of the brain is equivalent to diabetes type 2 of the brain. If glucose can't get into brain cells, the cells can't produce energy or function properly. If you switch your fuel supply from glucose to fatty acids, brain cells can now function normally again. And research indicates that brain cells prefer fatty acids for energy production.

Under normal glucose predominant fuel, brains require 20% of the total body's glucose while contributing a smaller percentage of the total body weight. And, if brain cells, like liver and muscle cells, can become insulin resistant too, cognition could decline due to lack of fuel for brain cells. This brings us to the national SNIFF trials. The SNIFF trials involve intranasal insulin vs. intranasal saline placebo for those with early onset Altzheimer's. Interesting, right? On one hand, we have the medical community giving virtually little to no nutritional information to their patients with Alzheimer's or to their caretakers. And, on the other hand, we have numerous medical centers partaking in the trial on intranasal insulin as treatment.

I initially began using keto diets for my patients with cancers. Many of the cancer patients I see, have decided, for various reasons, to opt out of chemo. And, for those who have chosen chemo, they often seek nutritional advice for their remission phase. I have expanded my use of the keto concept to include many patients for various reasons. A very important reason has to do with stress resilience. As we age, many changes take place and one is our resilience to stress decreases, this goes hand in hand to our resistance to insulin increasing.

To put into layman's terms: as we age, any stress, even working out, can stimulate stress hormone production past the point of being beneficial. Stress hormones, specifically, cortisol, increases gluconeogenesis (glucose production from proteins) in the liver and the result is an increase in blood glucose levels.So, if you are eating carbs or lots of proteins, your liver is using the protein to make more sugar, not muscle and the result is muscle mass wasting and increasing glucose levels.

If you switch your fuel from glucose predominance to fat predominance, you can eliminate or improve this "ageing" process. This ability to easily switch and use ketone bodies in place of glucose is termed keto-adaptive. Many people are not keto-adaptive and the results are the tendency for the liver to take proteins and create sugar and without dietary proteins, the body will actually muscle waste.

Part of the reason the body wants to waste muscle is in order to create glucose is due to the preponderance of stress hormones. There is somewhat of a feedback loop. If your autonomic nervous system is under the impression you are stressed, it signals for more glucose to be produced so you have ample energy to flee, if necessary.

And, it seems, the brain is an organ very susceptible to this "stress" process. In addition to using alternate fuel for brain cells, it seems our neurochemistry improves. Ketone bodies promote GABA production, a brain chemical which promotes a sense of calmness over stress. If the autonomic nervous system is out of the "stress" response, the body won't try to muscle waste or use dietary proteins to make sugar. In addition, using ketones for fuel is more efficient than using glucose, therefore there are less free radicals produced in the mitochondria, the powerhouse of cells. Less free radicals is a good thing.

To recap, stress and insulin resistance both lead to a feedback loop which promotes muscle wasting, poor cognition and elevated glucose levels. Keto-adaptation restores our bodies and brains to a healthier and more youthful state enabling us to build muscle, stamina and brain power.

For information on a ketogenic diet workshop, please call the office at 847-8697740
One is happening October 15 7-9 pm 2014

Zonulin and Why You Need to Know About This Protein

September 14, 2014

In the early nineties, the buzz word for anyone seeking out alternative views on chronic illness was candidiasis. Candidiasis is an overgrowth of Candida, a yeast that is normally present in our environment but is opportunistic and can overgrow when normal bacteria are missing or reduced.

Candida was blamed for everyone presenting with chronic inflammation, chronic fatigue and food intolerance.

It is true that antibiotic use can lead to an overgrowth of Candida, and it is true that antibiotics are over prescribed. But, often patients would not improve on treatments to reduce Candida and they were subjected to months of medications and highly restricted diets.

Along comes Alessio Fasano MD, a pediatrician involved in intestinal barrier research. Dr. Fasano has identified a protein termed Zonulin which is responsible for regulating the "tight junctions" of the intestines and other tight barriers in the body such as the blood brain barrier.

From a medical evolutionary standpoint, there are times where a leaky gut might come in handy, like when we come into contact with infectious agents such as Cholera. A leaky gut in this instance would stimulate an immune response and memory antibody production which would help fight the infection. This is a theory but help explain why the body would create a protein like this in the first place.

Zonulin created gaps where our bowels leak and once proteins leak into our blood stream, lots of things happen like inflammation, antibody production and in some cases, auto-immune disease develops such as Celiac, MS, Rheumatoid Arthritis and the like.

It is interesting to note that Splenda is suspected as a stimulator of zonulin along with heavy metals, stress, and most likely other triggers not yet discovered. Gluten is one of the many proteins that seems to be involved in inflammation and autoimmune problems when leaked out of the gut.

One of the tests I perform for my patients in my Chicago area office is the food inflammatory response test. It is based on the inflammatory response of cultured white blood cells to different food antigens and is a true test of not antibody production but inflammatory response.

If patients have many foods they are inflamed by, they have a leaky gut and are at risk for autoimmune disease. The patient is then put on a protocol of supplements to repair the bowel and to down-regulate the zonulin. It is also recommended that they avoid the foods they are negatively responding to for a few months. Gluten and often dairy are on the list when it is a situation of leaky gut syndrome. And if gluten is involved, often lifelong avoidance is the best choice due to the risk of autoimmune diseases.

Heavy metal testing is often implicated in this situation and chelation therapy might be warranted to help rid the body of heavy metals.

What Patients Say About My Aestethic Skills

August 25, 2014

I have always taken pride in the natural looking results I achieve in the aesthetic work I perform on my patients.

If you are someone who wants to look frozen in time and would rather have a bizarre looking upper lip than vertical lines, I am not your woman. However, if you just want to look a little lifted and refreshed, with no obvious "work" done, I am, or should be, your first choice.

I don't like using copious amounts of botox on my patients because I have seen what constant paralysis of muscles does to the shape of the face. I also prefer not to fill in smile lines in the midface as this creates distortion. I do like to rejuvenate the upper midface to give a lift to the cheeks, which reduces the smile lines without distortion.

Here are some comments I have received:

"Damn you're good!

You know it's funny, I had 3 surgeons whom I went to to help with the closing of my left eye, offer me the filler on the temples, but after I saw what you did with the mesotherapy, after I had gone to so many people for 3 years asking for help, I knew no matter what you charged, you're the ONLY person who's going to be touching my face, and you proved me right again (for once I was proved right...:)

I'll need a slight amount more on the left side in a few spots.

May as well wait until after the 4th for things to settle more.

I'll touch base with you then.

Thank you. You're a gem. Seeing some familiar features after they disappeared makes a genuine difference.
Positive recognition is a wonderful thing :)


And, here is what one patient wrote to another patient inquiring about facial rejuvenation:

"Dear Kathy,

Dr Bark transformed my face with Radiesse. She applied the Radiesse in
several places on my face. It didn¹t hurt. It looks entirely natural,
and no one would ever know that i did anything to my face, , except that
i look 10 years younger! She is the best!"


Here is another patient's letter to her

"Hi Kathy,

I'm a patient of Dr. Bark's. I can tell you that I wouldn't trust anyone else with my face.

Before Dr. Bark, I had filler experiences with other doctors 2 times.

Once was about 10 years ago to fill the '11' lines between my brows (bad idea....recommended by doctor. He bruised me, and the lines reformed on each side of the filler...waste of money).

The 2nd time was 5 years ago to soften nasolabial folds. Another mistake. He didn't put the filler where the depressed areas were, and I had unnatural raised areas that served to accentuate my nasolabial folds (which actually weren't noticeable....but of course that doctor 'noticed' tons of things....).

I was hesitant to try fillers again, but I had success with something else that Dr. Bark did to help me, where the results were really good, that she gained my trust. So she did some radiesse in some areas, and she's exceptional. She spends her time looking, analyzing, and knows how to inject properly (which after I saw how Dr. Bark injected, I realized those other guys had crappy techniques....which showed).

You can trust her to give you a really excellent natural result."


While there are more important things in the world than facial rejuvenation, if you are going to have procedures performed, choose someone who will take their time and keep you looking natural and proportioned.

Anxiety As The Unseen Disability, Could It Be Hypoglycemia?

June 25, 2014

Most patients with chronic complaints, describe feelings or sensations in the body of generalized anxiety.

Whether their list of complaints include things like insomnia, hot flashes, tingling in their extremities, irritable bowel. Or, more specifically, chronic back pain, an inability to move past an injury, or issues in a relationship, the one thing in common is an associated underlying anxiety.

Anxiety in it's pure form and in it's disguises, can be quite crippling. So much energy is expended trying to "move past' or "deal" with the sensations, it often leaves the person physically and emotionally depleted and, often with a sense of isolation.

In the long term, pharmaceuticals for anxiety (anxiolytics), actually increase anxiety and are therefore, counterproductive.

The withdrawal from anxiolytics (typically, benzodiazapenes or benzos), is particularly difficult for most and must be handled with extreme care and caution. I taper my patients very slowly and follow them carefully.

Research has shown, those 65 or over are at a 50% greater risk of developing dementia is they have been chronic users of benzos.

If you follow my blog posts, you know I often write about the autonomic nervous system (ans) and how it plays a part in our sense of "well being" as well as our physiological reactions.

It is important to realize how our physiology affects our autonomic system and how lifestyle choices could be worsening anxiety by having an adverse effect on the ANS. Consider hypoglycemia; this is a situation in which the body's blood glucose levels fall precipitously.

A precipitous drop in blood glucose levels stimulates epinephrine (adrenaline) to be secreted.

The function of epinephrine is to convert sugar stores in our body in the form of glycogen, into glucose. Epinephrine also causes an increase in heart rate, breathing rate as well as many other changes involving, the bowel, bladder, muscle tone, etc.

Therefore, a sudden release of epinephrine when not working out or running from danger, can leave one feeling anxious, panicked or uncomfortable in their own skin.

Most physician's assume chronic anxiety and or panic attacks are emotionally driven. This is not necessarily true. I have yet to have a patient enter my Chicago area office without their head, or have a head show up without their body. Our physiology contributes to our psychology and vice-versa.

I have treated many a patient, over the years, who have presented with either anxiety, panic attacks or anger outbursts, all of which were attributable to precipitous swings in their blood sugar levels. Even seizures and migraines can be triggered from quick spikes in blood glucose levels.

Unfortunately, many patients come to me as their last resort and arrive on a cornucopia of pharmaceuticals in order to alleviate their symptoms. A large minority of patients are on some form of anxiolytics, even if only for sleep.

I taper my patients off their medications and they are the better for it. It is good to be weary of physicians eager to prescribe chronic medications or psychiatric medications such as medications for sleep or anxiety. While this has been a common practice, it is not a good one.

I screen all my patients using a lipid subfraction, to evaluate insulin resistance which is the primary cause of spikes in glucose levels. I also utilize SCENAR treatments, specifically, the activation method, in order to reduce excessive sympathetic tone.

The combination of reducing excessive sympathetic tone along with dietary changes to reverse insulin resistance, seems to be extremely helpful in combating anxiety as well as some of the associated symptoms seen in many patients.

Neonicatinoids, GMO, Colony Collapse Disorder And A Recipe From Organic Indian Products

April 3, 2014

In my Chicago area office, I often discuss nutrition, recipes and the need to avoid GMO and pesticides as part of a smart disease prevention program.

The past year, I had the honor to be intricately involved with creating and shooting a film (Bought) to be released this summer, which highlights the conflicts of interest in our food and health policies. During my research and interviews with experts and activists, I realized avoiding GMO and the few fruits and veggies which retain pesticide residue, is not enough to avoid harmful chemicals.

Neonicatinoids are a category of pesticides which are used to soak seeds in. Once the seed is planted, the chemical is incorporated in every aspect and cell of the plant. While GMO seeds are typically soaked in this chemical to impart some added pesticide resistance (the inherent GMO pesticide resistance is not working), many large-scale farmed conventional (non GMO) vegetable seeds are also soaked in this chemical.

Farmers buy seeds and if they are not organic, it is likely they have been soaked in neonicatinoids. Typically, farmers are unaware of the practice or don't understand the implications.

Neonics affect the autonomic nervous system of all living beings. Insects, animals and humans have nicatinoid receptors in their nervous systems. While all pesticides are damaging bees and are contributing to their decline, Colony Collapse Disorder has been shown to be severely increased due to the use of neonicatinoids.

Perdue University Entymology department has published crop yield analysis which show neonics do not increase crop yield, so we are poisoning the bees and ourselves with nothing to show for it.

While becoming more aware of the issues, I have decided it is not enough to avoid GMO foods, it is not enough to avoid the top 20 fruits and veggies which test high in pesticide residue even after washing, it is necessary to avoid produce from seeds which have been soaked in neonics.

While industry friendly news outlets like to imply only anti-science folks think GMO and neonics are problematic, this is far from the truth. A Forbes writer recently wrote about how bees die off periodically and that man is not contributing to colony collapse disorder. Sound familiar? Don't get me wrong, I doubt neonics are the sole contributor. We know bees used for commercial pollenization are fed a diet of GMO corn syrup, a diet sorely lacking in nutrients and ripe with glyphosate.

I hope to educate my readers on the intricacy of the food chain and how the foods we choose to ingest along with the products we choose to put on our bodies and in our homes affect our health along with the heath of the other living creatures around us.

To end this blog entry, I want to include a recipe for a creamy Bengal Dal (lentil) cauliflower soup which is easy to make and was created with organic ingredients found at a local ethnic market. It is encouraging to see ethnic markets, and in this case, a Greek owned market catering to south East Asians, carrying organic pulses, beans and spices grown in India.

Creamy Bengal Dal and Cauliflower Soup:
(vegan, low glycemic, high protein, high fiber, grain and gluten free)

one large cauliflower, 2 cups of dried split Bengal Dal, two Tblspn coconut or African red palm oi,l two inch cubed fresh ginger, one Tblspn curry powder, 1 tsp tumeric, 6Tblspn coconut aminos (can use soy aminos), one cube organic vegetable bouillon, a handful of dried curry leaf, a half tspn of chilli pepper (optional), a tspn of ground black pepper and a bunch of cilantro.

Place Bengal dal in rice cooker with 2 parts water (2cups bengal dal 4 cups water) along with a Tblspn of oil and allow to cook.

In a large soup pot, place everything else, including the other Tblsp of oil, set on low to medium heat and allow to cook (with lid to keep all nutrients), once dal is cooked, add and puree with hand held mixer or carefully pour into blender or processor and blend until creamy.

I served this with homemade croutons using stale organic ancient grain bread, basted with avocado and olive oil mixed with curry powder and then toasted.

This soup is very high in protein and fiber while having little carbohydrates and an adequate amount of healthy fats, including Medium Chained Triglycerides(MCT). Bengal dal has an extremely high protein and fiber content, once fiber has been subtracted from the total carbohydrate, there is almost a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein. In addition, Bengal Dal is one of the tastiest species in the pulse-legume family. It is akin to a young chikpea but more like a large lentil and finding it grown organically in India with a European certification for organic, is exciting as India has begun to increase it's pesticide (another blog entry) use along with other developing nations and many of the spices and specific lentils (dal) are only grown in these nations. Therefore, finding organically grown products from India is another promising sign that people around the world are waking up and are not taking their poison without a fight.

Paleo, Keto, Low Glycemic, Anti Inflammatory. What are you trying to achieve?

February 10, 2014

It seems that everyone is on some sort of low carb diet. The wave of people on some variation of a paleo diet is growing for good reason: carbs are inflammatory and excess carbs lead to increased triglycerides and dense LDL, and hence, heart disease diabetes and even increased cancer risks.

However, it seems many people have their own interpretations about what should be eaten and how much can be eaten on a paleo diet. In addition, the original goal to be healthier, seems to have been thrown out of the door in exchange for eating as much as someone wants and still not gain weight.

A whole foods diet, low in carbs and cooked food and void of processed food, is a preferable diet, in general. But, when saturated with lots of cooked animal tissue, it becomes inflammatory, acidic and is loaded with carcinogens.

It is true that eating a healthy low carb, clean diet can afford you more calories and more fats while allowing you fat loss and muscle growth. However, unlimited access to animal protein and fat, especially animal tissue cooked at high heat without the presence of water, like grilling or barbeque as opposed to a meat stew, creates a myriad of heterocyclic amines and has been shown to increase bowel inflammation.

In addition, most people do not buy organic meat, dairy or eggs and therefore expose themselves to pesticide residue and GMOs. Animals raised on soy and corn meal, produce meat and eggs which has a poor ratio of omega oils, being predominantly omega 6. And, soy and corn feed are rich with GMOs and pesticide residues which concentrate in fatty tissue and egg yolks.

The theory behind a paleo diet is until 10,000 years ago (a very short blip of time in our evolution), humans ate as hunters and gatherers. Our diet consisted of fresh kill and all kinds of foraged greens, seeds, nuts, berries, insects and sea greens and mollusks, if near the ocean. There is little evidence for grains being part of the diet until about 10,000 years ago.

From a health perspective, avoiding grains typically reduces one's carbohydrate load and eliminates commercial snack food, both very good things. However, people interpret "paleo" in many ways. Paleo does not mean eating unlimited amounts of meat, eggs, bacon and butter. Early man, worked in egalitarian social groups where food was shared, there would not have been unlimited access to these foods.

Cooking meat increases heterocyclic amines and hence increases risk for cancer. Raw meats such as steak tartar do not have heterocyclic amines and it is not known if raw animal protein increases cancer and general disease risks as cooked meats do. But, most do not eat unlimited amounts of raw meat.

Plant based diets are loaded with proteins as well as phytonutrients and are less acidic in nature. While it is important to eat adequate fats, including saturated, this can be done with a plant based diet which incorporates, coconut, macadamia and cocoa (chocolate) butters or oils. Seeds, nuts, and avocados are also wonderful sources of important and healthy fats.

In general, with few exceptions, plant based diets do not stress resources in the same way meat based diets do. The amount of water and energy required to produce a pound of animal protein is several times that necessary to make plant based protein. And, the amount of CO2 produced to produce animal protein is several times greater than the CO2 produced for plant based protein. Westerners, especially Americans, eat huge amounts of animal protein and if the rest of the world wanted to eat like Americans, we'd need 2.5 more planet earths just to do this. Whether grass fed cattle produce more or less methane has been an ongoing debate. Evidence shows omega 3 oils (grass fed ) fed to cattle, reduce methane production, but grain-fed fatten quicker and therefore have a shorter life-cycle which reduces the individual cow's lifelong methane production. Grain fed is unnatural and unhealthy.

On a large scale, eating beef will never be an environmentally sound choice. And, a diet high in animal tissue will always be pro-inflammatory at the least and pro-cancer at the worst.
This is not to say that a diet with a modest amount of grass-fed meat is unhealthy, it's a diet heavy on unlimited amounts of meat which is the problem.

In addition to the pro-inflammatory and ecological issues, excess protein is converted into glucose by the liver during the process of gluconeogenesis. So, if you have a history of eating excess carbohydrates or have had insulin resistance, eating excessive protein is not going to lower your glucose or insulin levels. To really reduce your glucose and insulin levels, you need to reduce your carbs; eat only the amount of protein you need and eat the rest of your calories in healthy fats.

How do you know how much protein you need? for a normal person just trying to maintain their muscle mass 1 gram of protein per kilo weight of lean body mass is appropriate. More if you are weight training and actively building muscle mass. For an lean 120lb female, 50 grams of protein is adequate, if she is very active in strength work, even 60 to 70 grams could be appropriate but at this level of protein intake, it would be important to check urinary pH levels to make sure there is no acid ash being produced and then neutralized.

Excess proteins lead to an acidification of the system which in turn, needs to be neutralized by bicarb. The bicarb is pulled from bone sources in the form of calcium carbonate. This process leads to bone resorption and mobilization of calcium, two things everyone wants to avoid. This is theoretically the reason we see more osteoporosis in those with high dairy intake, and vascular calcifications in those with a high meat intake.

Big Picture:

Eating a more plant based, paleo, low glycemic, whole foods based, diet is easy and healthy. If you love meat, eat grass fed buffalo, beef, butter, wild venison etc, but do it in moderation and have your extra calories come from healthy fats like nuts, seeds, coconut or cocoa (chocolate plant) butter and avocados as well as raw and cultured vegetables for fiber. Keep an eye on the protein intake and of course, keep the carbs to a minimum.

Joint Pain, Think Twice Before Injecting Steroids or Taking NSAIDS

January 21, 2014

Every week, new patients present to my Chicago area office, with pain in one of their joints. And often there is pain in many joints.

Pain in multiple joints can be an autoimmune arthritis, systemic inflammation or side effects from medications, while pain in one or two joints is most likely due to wear and tear on the ligaments, tendons or cartilage.

It is very common for athletes and people in their 40's and up to experience some form of joint pain from time to time. Often over use or repetition, can lead to tendonitis, most commonly, pain from overstretched tendons.

The mistake most people make is to take daily anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) or to receive steroid injections. The issue is not inflammation per se, but rather, lack of a strong inflammatory response. Tendons, ligaments and cartilage have poor blood supply and the inflammatory response is often not strong enough to bring enough blood flow and hence oxygen and growth factors to the area.

Often what poorly-infused tissue needs is a push. The push can be thru an electrical signal such as SCENAR or it can be thru injection of a mild irritant, also called Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy uses mild irritants such as dextrose (sugar) or even pummice.

I like to evaluate each patient's situation carefully in order to decide the plan of action. SCENAR is almost always necessary and many times injecting dextrose helps create some well needed inflammation. What the injection does, is to promote blood flow including platelets which are rich with growth factors and oxygen.

The mainstream accepted treatment of joint pain is actually pulling the joint away from a corrective healing response by suppressing an inflammatory response. It is true that eventually, the inflammation needs to be replaces with a shift to a restorative phase.
However, this shift is in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and not a local one.

The main reason patients can not recover from an injury is because their ANS is stuck in acute fight and flight tone. Once that is switched off with SCENAR, healing begins.

Prolotherapy is just another way to speed up the healing by increasing growth factors to the area.

Next time your doctor or trainer tells you to take NSAIDS or recommends a steroid injection, think twice. Steroids actually increase the chance of spontaneous rupture by thinning out tissue and reducing growth factors and oxygen to the area.

How We Take For Granted Basic Care And What Has Truly Saved Lives.

December 31, 2013

December 22, 2013

While the concept of IV saline as fluid replacement was written about, Prior to the 1950's, I.V. fluid replacement therapy was not widely used.
This equates to people dying from dehydration from all viral or bacterial infections which can lead to diarrhea and/or vomiting; just about any illness.

In addition, 1956 was the year inhaled drugs were formulated for asthma and launched the beginning of life saving asthma treatments in emergency rooms and clinics around the world.

I think it is worth mentioning, the early 1900's saw death rates from scurvy as high as from just about anything else, including all childhood diseases which led to diarrhea, asthma and dehydration. As death rates began to plummet with the onset of access to vitamin c in the winter, clean water and sewage treatment, so did all death rates from scurvy and and all infectious diseases. In fact, death rates today are what they were already on target for in the late 1950's or even earlier.

As I have spent years managing patients in emergency rooms, urgent care clinics and in rescue response, it has become appearant, thousands of lives are saved daily across the country because of fluid replacement therapy and nebulized asthma treatments. These very patients would have died years ago without proper fluid replacement and yet, we don't bother to culture and identify the source of the infection for the average dehydrated patient, we merely treat and send them home after a few hours.

Think about this for a moment. We have considered vaccinations to have saved thousands of lives, but we are basing our presumed death rates on early 1900 numbers, not even late 1950 numbers. And since most children died from dehydration secondary to their illnesses, would they actually go without fluid replacement therapy today? The answer is no, we rarely bother to look for the source of the vomiting or diarrheal illness when someone presents to ERs and clinics across the country, yet these patients would have been mortalities prior to the advent of IV fluid treatment or even good oral rehydration fluids, like the ones I used when I visited Haiti to work in the cholera response clinics.

Access to clean water and good nutrition all year long, goes a long way, but so does access to basic emergency treatment carried out by health care workers. Sound basic care saves more lives than most people realize. Children all over the third world die from diarrhea and dehydration, from many different pathogens, these children need clean water and access to clinics with basic rehydration care, not more multi-billion dollar vaccines and drugs targeting individual pathogens.

Clean water systems and sewage treatment systems are not sexy and shareholders don't benefit. New Drugs and Vaccines make money for shareholders and the industry, but let's not loose site of basic needs and access to life saving basics like rehydration.

Next time you meet an emergency medical technician or physician's assistant, remember, they are saving more lives than the pharmaceutical industry would have you believe.

Treating Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or RSD

December 11, 2013

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) used to be termed, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or RSD. In fact, the older name is truly a more accurate description of the syndrome.

For some susceptible people, once injured, the autonomic nervous system does not stop sending pain signals to the brain, long after the actual injury should be healed. In many cases, it is from a simple injury such as a needle stick or a contusion, for others, it is from a surgical procedure. Either way, the pain is neuropathic.

The term neuropathic implies the pain is no longer useful or from mechanical stress but rather the nerves are firing without a purpose. In addition to the nerves firing, there is a discreet change in the autonomic nervous system tone in the area of pain. Typically, the skin is mottled, red, purple, warm and sweaty and there can be swelling. The pain is intractable and is described as intense burning.

In the mainstream medical world, this syndrome is treated, albeit ineffectively, with heavy duty prescription pain and or psychotropic medications. In spite of taking many pills, these patients are in horrible pain.

Since the autonomic nervous system functions via electrical signals, it makes much more sense and is incredibly more effective, to treat this syndrome using electrical impulses or frequencies.

I have successfully treated many patients with CRPS , in my Chicago area office, by using SCENAR, homeopathy and by electrically stimulating acupuncture points. Often,relief is on the first treatment.

In many cases, the purple discoloration disappears with treatment as though using an eraser. Normal color is restored immediately.

Regular TENS units or E-stim will not achieve permanent results and need to be applied repeatedly for any improvement. But SCENAR sends a QRS wave in via specific points on the body to allow a dialogue with anterior hypothalamus, the master controller of the autonomic nervous system, which tells the hypothalamus it does not need all this excessive sympathetic tone.

While the acute "fight and flight" (F&F) is absolutely necessary for any injury, the body can not heal under a predominance of this tone. F&F is necessary for swelling, clotting, running, etc.. in acute trauma, but when this tone predominates, healing can not occur.

Some people are more susceptible to having a more hyper vigilant autonomic nervous system due to early exposure to trauma, medications, emotional states or genetics.

The mainstream treatments actually worsen the situation in the long term. Narcotic pain killers suppress the body's natural endorphin production and anti-depressants increase depression in the long term use, the same with the anti-anxiety meds. In addition, the problem is electrical signaling and not necessarily chemical.

There is hope for those with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, but prescription narcotics, antidepressants and anxialytics are not part of the equation.

Those Vaccinated With The Pertussis Vaccine Are Spreading Disease

December 1, 2013

The recent news articles to hit the main stream media in the past week finally states what public health officials and epidemiologists have known for some time: those vaccinated against pertussis are carrying and spreading the bacteria and are responsible for most of the outbreaks.

This news raises the question:
Should we hold those vaccinated with the pertussis vaccine, legally liable for outbreaks?

And, if you look up scholarly articles about previous outbreaks of measles, you'll find academic papers on an entity termed "the paradox of measles" a paradox because those vaccinated are the ones contracting the disease whilst the unvaccinated in many communities with outbreaks, are unscathed.

In addition, the rise in shingles over the past decade or so, is due to the chicken pox vaccine. This link is not denied in academic literature and was even predicted by mathematical biologists and epidemiologists, and was confirmed by another study funded by the CDC.

If vaccinated children and adults are capable of spreading disease, shall we hold them and their parents legally liable for outbreaks? shall we mandate unvaccination as a requirement for public school? Since we can't unvaccinate, shall vaccinated children be kicked out of public school?

While the above statements seem absurd, they are equivalent arguments bioethicist, Art Caplan has and continues to make.

Caplan believes parents of unvaccinated children should be held legally liable for outbreaks of disease.

Mind you, Caplan is no regular academic bioethicist, he is a bioethicist who has made a good deal of money for writing pro-industry speak.

If you read about Art Caplan and his direct financial conflicts of interest, you'll also read Art believes these financial conflicts can be managed while producing unbiased work. He and his previous institution of employment, the UPenn department of bioethics received mega fees from major pharmaceutical companies and the department of vaccine bioethics at U Penn was massively funded by the big vaccine producers.

In addition to the DTap rendering recipients colonized with pertussis bacteria, consider the following; a) recently vaccinated children must be kept away from cancer patients lest they shed vaccine virus. b)The oral polio vaccine was the cause of all polio cases in the US for several decades until, finally, the vaccine industry had a vaccine to replace it with. c)The nasal flu vaccine renders the recipient shedding viruses for several days. d) the rotavirus vaccine is shed in the recipient's stool causing diarrhea in other children. The above examples are just a few of how the recently vaccinated can shed pathogens and hence spread diseases.

So while the mainstream media is waking up to the realities of vaccination and outbreaks, shall we turn on all those who chose to vaccinate and make them pariahs?

I think the freedom to choose the risks vs benefits of vaccinating should be left to the consumer and not dictated by those with conflicts of interest.

Why Scenar is the Only Succesful Treatment for Peyronies

July 23, 2013

I have written about Peyronies disorder in other blog entries. It is one of the least talked about ailments due to the nature of the disease.
In general, men aren't comfortable speaking about personal issues and there really isn't anything more personal than a syndrome which directly affects the shape, size and function of the penis.

Peyronies is advertised as a disease which involves banding of tissue around the shaft of the penis leading to curvature and ultimately reduction in girth, length and sensation.
It is this last part which is what is truly disabling.

The current mainstream treatments which are available are not effective, yet, like futile treatments for many other ailments, they are still being used.

Most of my Peyronies patients have gone thru a series of injections at "specialty" clinics, to no avail. Most of these patients also have sleep issues, anxiety and some even have dupuytren's contracture of the hands. What the other clinics fail to consider is the connection between these symptoms. They are a constellation of symptoms which point to autonomic dysfunction.

The reason that all of my patients leave my office being helped, is the treatment of the missing piece. The dysautonomia is addressed and reduced and the function returns very quickly.

While there might be banding of collagen when the treatment starts, this is not the cause, it is a symptom. Just like with our bones, our bodies constantly create new collagen and breakdown old collagen. Bands and abnormally tight collagen can change and it does so under the direction of a balanced autonomic nervous system.

Our bodies need the sympathetic (fight and flight) response to survive, however, healing of tissue and healthy tissue re-formation can not occur under a system which is in a constant fight and flight mode. Our restorative (rest and relaxation) mode needs to balance out the system.

Scenar is the best way to balance the autonomic nervous system and reduce dysautonomia. Once in balance, meditation, breath work, yoga and exercise are great for maintenance.

I have tried numerous other techniques for autonomic balancing and Scenar is the quickest most assured way I've seen to date.

The best way to obtain treatment is to come in from out of town for a three day period and allow 1.5 to 2 hours of treatment daily. Improvement will be noticeable prior to leaving town and will continue over the next several weeks. For those in the Chicago area, a once per week session for 3 weeks works just as well.

In addition to improvement in Peyronies, the insomnia or sleep issue, as well as the anxiety issue will improve.

feel free to email the office with any questions regarding treatment.

Cultured Cabbage Juice: Rejuvelac or Kvass

June 7, 2013

Every few days, I put up a new batch of cabbage with salt and water in a large mason jar to ferment for my daily dose of lactic acid producing bacteria. While it doesn't sound appetizing, rest assured, it tastes a whole lot better than it sounds. In addition, fermenting raw cruciferous vegetables increases the levels of the cancer fighting compound called isothiocyanates and reduces the amount of phytates.

The benefits of this drink are numerous: it is an easy ,inexpensive source of healthy bacteria for bowel and immune function, vitamin production and source of nutrients which are known to heal the lining of the intestines as well as fight cancer and boost detoxification.

One characteristic that sets cruciferous vegetables apart from other vegetables is their high glucosinolate content. Glucosinolate can help prevent cancer by enhancing the elimination of carcinogens before they can damage DNA, or by altering cell-signaling pathways in ways that help prevent normal cells from being transformed into cancerous cells. Some glucosinolate metabolites may alter the metabolism or activity of hormones like estrogen in ways that inhibit the development of hormone related cancers.

The fermentation of cabbage or other cruciferous vegetable has the added benefit of extremely beneficial bacteria which has another set of health promoting benefits and is a wonderful raw and vegan method of ingesting these cultured probiotics.

For an easy method of creating your own cultured cabbage juice link here

Watch for my recipe on tasty ryeless rye crackers using the cultured cabbage from your drink.

Sexual Dysfunction and The Autonomic Nervous System

May 17, 2013

Many patients come to my office for sexual dysfunction (SD). SD can look like painful intercourse for women and erectile dysfunction (ED) or Peyronies for men. While
there are many reasons for SD, one commonality among patients is an underlying dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The exception is ED caused by vascular damage or induced by drugs.

Most women with chronic pain are told they need hormones, or need to be on very specific diets and do not find much improvement even with these measures. Men with Peyronies are often given painful injections and are not better after those tortuous treatments.

One of the other common symptoms I find in patients with underlying autonomic dysfunction is sleep disorder. Chronic difficulty staying or falling asleep is a sure sign the neuroendocrine system or the autonomic system is not working as it should be.

I have now treated numerous women with sexual dysfunction and men with ED and Peyronies successfully with minimal intervention. However, the intervention used is addressing the abnormalities with deep seated stress or anxiety.

Treatments consist of activating the nervous system by opening up the meridians as well as communicating thru the sympathetic chain directly with the hypothalamus of the brain.
I also use nutrition and supplementation in the cases of those who are deficient.

and phosphorylcholine are supportive substances for cell membranes and they have been shown in numerous studies to support the stress response in ways which create improved resilience and hence less stress on the system physically and mentally.

In addition to reduced perceived stress, studies have shown reduced cortisol levels, improved brain function and improved nerve-muscle communication as well as better levels of acetylcholine, a neruotransmitter involved in many functions including sexual response.

I find after one or two SCENAR treatments, all that is needed for maintenance is nutritional support. Daily breath work or meditation is also a fabulous way to reduce the stress response and improve resilience, something we all could use a little more of.

For more information on our body's electrical system and the sexual response, watch my lectures and interviews posted.

Succulent Split Pea Soup, Quick Bread and Kale Salad

April 2, 2013

This is a high protein, nutritious and easy to make soup meal, a type of meal often requested by my patients who either taste my lunch or hear about my cooking or attend my food prep classes. And, who have patiently been waiting for a cook book (ugh, don't hold your breath)!

Measure a cup of dried split green peas, place them in a rice cooker along with 2 and a half cups of water and turn the device on (I love the Sanyo digital as it is free of aluminum and teflon and works efficiently).

Slice two large leeks, carrots and parsnips and set aside. In a soup pan, heat organic, extra virgin coconut oil with a tablespoon and a half of high quality curry powder. Once hot, add the leeks until a little golden brown. Then add the parsnips and carrots.

After a few minutes of sauteing the vegetables, add 3 cups of water, two tablespoons of Bragg's amino's and two organic and vegan bouillon cubes and let sit.

Once the peas are cooked and the device switches off or to the keep warm mode, add the peas to the soup. Then take a hand held food processor and puree the whole mix.

For a thinner soup, add more water.

The texture for split pea should be thick and not brothy. This soup is mostly savory but has a sweetness from the parsnips, leeks and carrots. The Bragg's gives it a deep, rich undertone which tends to satisfy even those who "must have their meat".

This is a high protein soup and can be served just with a fresh green salad. If bread is desired, I recommend my chickpea/lentil flour quick bread, recipe as follows:

Measure one cup each of chickpea and lentil flour. Chick pea flour can be found at WF but I prefer to buy it at the Indian markets where I can also find lentil and mung bean flour and the prices are better!
Add enough water to stir the mix, about one to one and a half cups of water.

Sprinkle crushed curry leaf (about ten leaves) crushed pecans, a teaspoon of curry powder or paste (red or green) and a teaspoon of salt and stir well.

In a large cast iron pan, add two to three tablespoons of coconut oil and heat the skillet and oil at 375 degrees. Once pan is hot and oil is melted, pour in the mixture and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until sides are turning brown.

The bread is also high protein and can be used as a protein source alone with a salad for a quick meal.

Curry leaves are found at the Indian markets and make for a wonderful savory flavor, the aroma is savory and enticing and creates a subtle exotic flavor which is not overpowering.

I would balance out this meal with an easy raw kale and apple salad, pre-dressed in mashed avocado, olive oil, salt and lime juice.

Bon Apetit, Btai Avon and enjoy!