Dr. Jonny Bowden

Tag: holistic living

  • Multivitamin Benefits Stress and Mental Function

    Multivitamin Benefits Stress and Mental Function

    A recent study showed that men taking multivitamins had significant improvements on major clinical measures of stress and general well-being.

    In the study, 215 health males were randomly assigned to receive either a multi-vitamin-multimineral supplement or a placebo, for just over a month. Compared with placebo, those taking the multi had significant improvements on the Perceived Stress Scale, the General Health Questionnaire (a measure of general mental health), the serial subtractions test (a measure of cognitive function) and the Profile of Mood States (used to measure vigor and vitality).

    The multiple included high doses of B-complex, vitamin C and many other vitamins and minerals typically found in a high-quality multiple.

    Think multiple vitamins just give you “expensive urine”?

    Think again.

    “Many people take vitamins and minerals because they perceive that taking them improves various factors such as tolerance to stress, mental health, energy level, and cognitive function”, said legendary icon of integrative medicine Alan Gaby, MD.

    “The new study provides scientific documentation for what many of us have known for a long time.”

     

  • The Alpha Lipoic Acid Miracle

    The Alpha Lipoic Acid Miracle

    What if I told you there was a supplement available that could help control blood sugar, protect the liver and the brain, and just might turn out to be one of your most powerful weapons in the fight against unhealthy aging?

    Meet alpha-lipoic acid.

    First discovered about 50 years ago, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is one of the most potent antioxidants in the human body, where it’s normally synthesized in small amounts. In fact, Lester Packer, PhD, a senior researcher at the University of California for over 40 years has called it, “probably the most potent naturally occurring antioxidant known to man”.

    Antioxidants — as readers of this blog know — are substances that help protect cells and DNA from the damage done by rogue molecules called “free radicals”. This harm — called oxidative damage — has been implicated in virtually every degenerative disease from cancer to Alzheimer’s.

    Oxidative damage is almost certainly one of the processes that ages us on a cellular level. Antioxidants fight this damage and are therefore potent weapons against disease and aging.

    Other antioxidants like vitamin C are water soluble while still others like vitamin E are fat soluble. But ALA isn’t just any ordinary antioxidant — it can go anywhere, acting as an antioxidant in both fat and water as well as in intracellular and extracellular environments.

    Best of all, it’s a virtual antioxidant wrangler. When antioxidants have scavenged free radicals, they basically become useless, having used up their ammunition in the fight against oxidative damage.

    Alpha Lipoic Acid on the other hand, serves as a kind of “rest and recuperation” station for these exhausted sentries, refueling and rearming them for battle. It literally regenerates vitamin C, vitamin E and Coenzyme Q10 — turbo charging their antioxidant power while providing additional antioxidant firepower of its own.

    ALA also regenerates glutathione, another of the body’s most important antioxidants, and one which is very difficult to absorb from supplements or food. According to neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD,(1) studies have shown that the lower a person’s glutathione levels, the greater their risk of cancer. We need all the glutathione we can get, and ALA helps the body create more of it.

    Possibly because it is such a powerful antioxidant, its actions are particularly important for regions of the body that are highly susceptible to oxidative damage, like the brain. Rats fed an ALA supplemented diet showed significant reversals in signs of aging compared to a non-supplemented group — and the reversal was seen in as little as two weeks.(2)

    And it’s probably not an accident that ALA is showing up as a key ingredient in some of the best skin care formulas, where it’s said to help repair some of the oxidative damage of the sun. According to Burt Berkson, MD, PhD, author of The Alpha Lipoic Acid Breakthrough, ALA protects collagen in the skin from cross-linking, thus preventing wrinkling and ultimately the appearance of an aging of the body.(3)

    ALA is a go-to supplement for diabetics or people with blood sugar issues. It appears to enhance insulin signaling, helping to bind it to its receptors and increasing the ability of the cells to take in glucose — possibly lowering insulin resistance (the signature feature of Metabolic Syndrome).

    This action makes ALA a great tool for managing blood sugar. It’s hardly coincidental that in Germany, ALA is an approved drug for diabetic neuropathy, the painful degeneration of nerves in the arms and legs.

    It’s also remarkable for liver function. Berkson3 has long been a champion of using ALA as part of a treatment protocol for hepatitis C. He has seen people recover from severe mushroom poisoning of the liver with a treatment plan that included intravenous ALA.

    “I believe ALA deficiency is at the root of many common yet serious health problems”, says Berkson. “It works on the cellular level to produce energy”.

    But as we age, we synthesize less and less of this important molecule. If you are over 40 you can never obtain ideal amounts of ALA from food alone. “You’d have to eat about 100 pounds of spinach just to get enough of the stuff to fill a 100 mg capsule” says Berkson. Clearly, supplements are the obvious choice.

    How much? If you’re over 40, 100 mg should do for a basic protective dose, though some experts recommend anywhere from 100-300 mg. If you’re diabetic, have blood sugar problems or liver disease, a dose of anywhere from 300-1200 mg is in order.

    Because the structure of lipoic acid is similar to that of the B vitamin, biotin, they both may compete for transport across cell membranes. It’s unknown whether taking ALA requires extra biotin, but many of the best formulas include some biotin just in case. Since biotin has beneficial effects on blood sugar, this is a good thing, especially for people with blood sugar issues.

    References

    1. Blaylock, R, Health and Nutrition Secrets that can Save your Life, Health Press, 2006.

    2. Hagen, TM et al. FASEB J. 1999; 13:41-418.

    3. Berkson, B The Alpha Lipoic Acid Breakthrough, Three Rivers Press, 1998.

  • Magnesium Can Reduce the Risk of Diabetes

    Magnesium Can Reduce the Risk of Diabetes

    Daily supplements of magnesium may improve insulin sensitivity and help reduce the risk of diabetes in overweight people, a new German study suggests.

    In the randomized controlled trial, 52 overweight, non-diabetic participants received magnesium supplements at a dose of 365 mg per day or placebo for six months (1).

    In order to study the effect of oral magnesium supplementation on diabetes risk, researchers looked at several important markers for insulin sensitivity, such blood glucose levels, blood insulin levels, blood pressure and overall lipid profile.

    The study results showed that two out of three measures of insulin sensitivity (blood glucose and insulin levels) improved significantly following magnesium supplementation, and there was also a trend towards an improvement in blood pressure as well..

    The scientists concluded that the study provides significant evidence that magnesium supplementation ameliorates insulin resistance and subsequently type-2 diabetes in obese people.

    Magnesium supplementation was effective even in people who had “normal” blood levels of magnesium to begin with!

    According to the researchers, several mechanisms may be responsible for the beneficial effect of magnesium on insulin resistance, including direct effects of magnesium on the insulin receptor and its signaling processes.

    In 2007, the results from a meta-analysis of observational including 286,668 participants had shown that, for every 100 mg increase in magnesium intake, the risk of developing type-2 diabetes decreased by 15 percent (2).

    Magnesium is one of my seven basic “can’t-do-without” supplements. I recommend magnesium for everyone. It’s required for over 300 metabolic operations, nearly no one gets enough of it, it helps support strong bones, it’s relaxing, and it lowers blood pressure, all in addition to its positive effect on insulin resistance and diabetes risk.

    REFERENCES:

    1. Mooren F. C. et al. Oral magnesium supplementation reduces insulin resistance in non- diabetic subjects – a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2011.

    2. Larsson S. C. and Wolk A. Magnesium intake and risk of type-2 diabetes: a meta-analysis. J Intern Med. 2007; 262(2):208–214.

  • Stress Management Increases Longevity in the Lab

    Stress Management Increases Longevity in the Lab

    Guest article from The Economist, April 9, 2011

    Telomeres are to chromosomes what plastic caps are to shoelaces- they stop them from fraying at the ends.

    Unlike shoelaces, though, chromosomes replicate themselves from time to time as the cells they are in divide. This shortens the telomere, and, after 50-70 such divisions (a number known as the Hayflick limit, after its discoverer), a chromosome can grow no shorter and the cell it is in can divide no more.

    That provides a backstop against cancer. The rapidly dividing cells in a tumour soon hit the Hayflick limit and the process is brought to a screeching halt. Which is a good thing.

    The bad thing is that reaching the limit is one of the markers of old age. You do not want it happening too quickly, particularly in tissues that have to do a lot of dividing in order to work properly, such as those in the immune system.

    It has been known for some time that chronic stress (caring for a child with a protracted illness, for example) causes premature shortening of the telomeres. What has not been clear is whether this is a one-way trip, with each stressful period turning the telomeric ratchet irreversibly.

    This week, though, at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Orlando, Florida, a group of researchers led by Edward Nelson of the University of California, showed that it isn’t.

    Their research suggests that stress management not only stops telomeres from shortening, it actually promotes their repair.

    Dr. Nelson drew this welcome conclusion from a previous study that measured the impact of telephone counseling on women who had been treated for cervical cancer. The study found that such counseling worked, both mentally and physically. Women who had been counseled reported that the quality of their lives had improved, compared with those of a control group who had not been counseled. They also showed improvements in the strength of their immune systems.

    Given those benefits, Dr. Nelson wondered if he could find others. So he reexamined the participants’ samples this time looking at the lengths of their telomeres.

    What he found surprised him.

    Not only did counseling stop telomere shrinkage, it actually promoted telomere growth!

    Those women for whom counseling had worked (i.e. those who reported a decrease in emotional stress) had longer telomeres at the end than they did at the beginning!

    Their Hayflick countdowns were being reset!

    A single such result must, of course, be treated with caution. But another study reported at the meeting, by Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco (who shared the Nobel prize for the discovery of the enzyme that repairs telomeres), gave some support. Her study showed that exercise has a similar effect to counseling on the telomeres of the stressed.

    If Dr. Nelson’s work is successfully replicated, it will shine more light on the ill-understood relationship between the health of the mind and the health of the body.

    For, as he points out, nothing actually changed in the lives of the women in question.

    They still had cancer, albeit under treatment, and they were still under stress.

    Nothing changed—that is—except their attitude.

    Dr. Jonny comments: I’ve long maintained that stress makes everything- including diseases- worse. In my book, “The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer”. I call stress one of the “Four Horsemen of Aging”

    While stress doesn’t necessarily cause diseases, it makes recovery harder (or impossible), and can exacerbate symptoms and destroy well-being. It can also bring on outbreaks of conditions as wide ranging as herpes and asthma. And stress contributes to inflammation which itself is a major factor in every degenerative disease of aging known to humankind.

    In my book, “The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth” I recommended a four minute breathing technique that almost anyone can do. This technique will go a long way towards bringing down stress levels.

    You simply sit quietly in a chair or lie on a couch, palms facing upwards, hands and legs uncrossed. Set a timer for four (or five) minutes. Then breathe in deeply on a count of four, hold the breath for the count of four and exhale slowly on the count of four, emptying the lungs completely. Repeat till the timer goes off.

    Try to do the four-minute deep breathing exercise several times a day. It’s like hitting the “reset” button on your stress levels.

     

  • The Four Horsemen of Aging

    The Four Horsemen of Aging

    Did you know that the life expectancy the United States is lower than 49 other countries? (We’re ranked number 50 out of 195 countries in the CIA World Factbook, 2009!)

    Or worse, that the vast majority of our medical expenses occur in the last three to five years of life, and that those years are frequently plagued by memory loss, disability and general ill health?

    Enter “The Four Horsemen of Aging”.

    When I was doing research for my latest book, “The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer”, I looked at all the ways our bodies break down. Specifically, I investigated what the research showed about the heart, the brain, the muscles, the joints, the bones, the hormone system and the immune system.

    What I found was fascinating.

    No matter what organ or system in the body that I looked at, the same four processes kept showing up.

    I named these “The Four Horsemen of Aging” because their effects on the body were so systemic, so profound and so far-reaching that they literally were at the bottom of the iceberg of individual diseases. Conquer these four horsemen and you might literally wipe out- or at least significantly diminish- most of the disease we now associate with “aging”.

    My good friend Mark Hyman, MD, explains it very well. He says:

    “The way we think about disease, mental illness, and our brain aging, actually has nothing, nothing to do with how our body actually works … The way we think about disease is all wrong … the name of the disease tells us nothing about the real reason or the causes of them. Diseases don’t exist.“

    Now Mark might be using a bit of poetic license here; certainly “diseases” exist as diagnostic categories. But what he means- and what I talk about in “The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer”—is that what we call “diseases” are actually just specific manifestations of systemic problems, the same basic problems I call the “Four Horsemen of Aging”.

    What are those “Four Horsemen of Aging”?

    Glad you asked.

    They are: Inflammation, Glycation, Oxidative Damage and Stress.

    • Inflammation is associated with every major degenerative disease on earth, from Alzheimer’s to diabetes, from obesity to cancer. It’s also a big factor in less “life-threatening” diseases like asthma, acne, migraines and arthritis.
    • Glycation is the process by which excess sugar (from the diet) “gums up the works”, causing circulation problems that- in extreme cases- are the cause of so many diabetes-related issues including amputations. The “thickened” blood can’t get through small blood vessels in the eye and foot, not to mention the kidneys.
    • Oxidative damage is what happens when nasty rogue molecules called “free radicals” attack your cells and DNA, damaging the body and aging you from within.
    • Stress hormones wreck havoc on the body and its systems. They cause extra weight around the abdominal region, and shrink an important part of the brain called the hippocampus that’s central to thinking and memory. (No wonder you can’t remember anything when you’re under stress!)

    There is not a disease on earth that doesn’t involve one or more (usually all four) of these issues.

    Getting at the heart of how to prevent them can go a long way towards helping us age in the most healthful, robust way possible, so that we can live a life of vibrant good health, optimism, joy, well-being and vitality.

  • Vitamin Angels: Making A Difference

    Vitamin Angels: Making A Difference

    In 2008 the Copenhagen Business School asked eight eminent economists to imagine they had $75 billion to spend on causes that would most help the world.

    Five of their top ten involved nutrition: vitamin supplements for children, adding zinc and iodine to salt and breeding extra micronutrients into crops.

     

    Lack a Day

    Deficiencies and their effects

    Micronutrients, RDA                          Deficiency Effects

    Calcium, 1000-1300 mg Rickets, osteoporsis
    Iodine, 150 ug Goitre, mental retardation
    Iron, 8-18 mg Anemia
    Sodium, 1.5 g Nausea, fatigue, confusion
    Zinc, 8-11 mg Infections, Diarrhea
    Vitamin A, 900 mg Night-blindness
    Folic acid, 400 mg Birth Defects
    Vitamin C, 90 mg Scurvy
    Vitamin D, 5-10 mg Rickets

    Source: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

    Of the 40 nutrients people need, four are in chronically short supply: iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin A.

    • Vitamin A is essential for the mucous membranes that protect the body’s organs, such as the eyes. Lack of it causes half a million children to go blind every year; half of them die within a year as their other organs fail. Vitamin A supplements were the Copenhagen experts’ top choice.
    • Zinc deficiency impairs brain and motor functions and causes roughly 400,000 deaths a year.
    • Iron deficiency (anemia) weakens the immune system and affects, in some poor countries, half of all women of child-bearing age.

    Too hungry to think properly

    The missing nutrients bite wide and deep. Education levels drop (malnourished children concentrate poorly); earning-power weakens. Even marriage chances wane: malnourished boys marry women of lower educational levels when they grow up.

    One third of all childhood deaths are caused by undernutrition. For young children, essential nutrients help build the foundation for good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.

    Handing out vitamin pills (and fortifying common foods with micronutrients such as iodine in salt) are simple strategies that can make a huge difference. One group that’s doing exactly that is called Vitamin Angels.

    What You Can Do

    Vitamin Angels is a non-profit organization whose mission is to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance the availability, access and use of micronutrients- especially vitamin A- by newborns, infants and children in need. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.

    Their “Operation 20/20” for example, connects infants, children and lactating women to Vitamin A. An estimated 190 children worldwide suffer from vitamin A deficiency and Operation 20/20 has dramatically decreased mortality rates in areas targeted by this program by 23%. In 2010, Operation 20/20 reached approximately 20 million infants and children and another approximately 4 million lactaing women in 30 countries on three continents.

    Vitamin Angels also has a program called Thrive to Five which currently distributes around 100 million doses of essential micronutrients annually in about 20 countries on four continents (including the United States).

    You can find out more about the Vitamin Angels Program here.

  • Breaking Bad Habits: Three Easy Steps

    Breaking Bad Habits: Three Easy Steps

    Guest article by Karen Keller, PhD

    There are a number of things to quit: Smoking, overeating, fibbing, ignoring reality, gossiping, over-working … just to name a few.  When facing your bad habits, it’s your drive to succeed that keeps you from their clenches. It’s these bad habits that affect your satisfaction and fulfillment.

    You recognize your unhealthy habit but something compels you to stick with it.  What makes it hard to quit?  Well, habitual behavior changes the neuron activity patterns in your brain where habits are formed.  The good news is you can form new habits!  The bad news is when a stimulus, (calorie-laden chocolate cake) from the old days returns, the latent neuron pattern reestablishes itself – making you almost go on autopilot!

    Because the brain retains the ‘habit’ memory, it can be triggered if the right cues come back.  It takes 21 days to create a new habit.  In order to make that change it’s important to watch out for the triggers that encourage the old habits to return.  But there are 3 things you can do to erase those habits:

    1. Give yourself permission to ignore the bad habit.  You are quite capable of knowing when you are out of control, stuck or causing yourself a problem.  Leaving your decisions to another person, or trigger, only serves to dis-empower yourself resulting in low self esteem.  Empower yourself.  Set your course for making change.  Go for the 21 day challenge – invite a healthy habit into your life.
    2. Break out from your comfort zone.  Take a risk to stop avoiding risk – things that may be uncomfortable.  What opportunities are you missing by being afraid of venturing into the unknown?  Make a list of ten ‘bad-habit-breaking’ or ‘good-for-you’ things you have backed away from this past year.  Develop a plan to approach the top 3 on your list – vowing to successfully make your way through them.  Let yourself experience the unfamiliar, getting acquainted with your own sense of courage.
    3. Know when to leave good enough alone.  Leave that last bit of juicy gossip on the tip of your tongue.  Put aside the dessert menu.  And when you are hitting your head against the wall constantly trying for the next promotion, that seems to somehow land in everyone else’s lap, giving it all you have, and coming up empty handed, then it’s time to leave. The habit of accepting not being valued or appreciated falls under the umbrella of ‘bad habit.’  Exit with your head held high.  Knowing when to quit is the first step toward finding what’s worthy of your time and talent.

    Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to be a ‘quitter’.  The tough part is recognizing you’re committing a destructive behavior and then take that next crucial step to actually break the cycle and quit whatever habit is causing the self destruction.

    You CAN teach an old dog new tricks if you just take the time to unlearn an habitual behavior.

    Influence and persuasion expert, Karen Keller, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Master Certified Coach with over 25 years of experience. She focuses on women’s leadership and empowerment as well as executive, personal, relationship and life coaching. Get a free subscription to her newsletter, “Influence It! Real Power for Women Now” at karen-keller.com

  • Using Guided Imagery as a Weight Loss Tool

    Using Guided Imagery as a Weight Loss Tool

    Guided imagery is a program of directed thoughts and suggestions. It’s a way to help you harness the power of your subconscious mind.

    And it’s an incredibly effective tool for weight loss.

    Here’s how it works: You listen to the gentle instructions and allow your imagination to take you to a relaxed and focused state. This can be done in person with an instructor, or, more commonly, with a taped audio program which can help guide you through the process. (The six Guided Imagery mp3’s are the latest addition to the all-new 2011 version of Diet Boot Camp.)

    Generally, guided imagery has a specific purpose—such as helping you stop smoking, or helping you lose weight. (It’s particularly helpful with both of these challenges.)

    The concept behind guided imagery is that your body and mind are ultimately and powerfully connected. It’s also based on the well-documented fact that what we imagine appears “real” to the brain, and sends important (subconscious) messages that help us put what we visualize into practice.

    Our bodies often respond to what we imagine as if what we are seeing in our minds eye is completely real. Here’s an example:  Imagine an orange or a lemon in great detail-the smell, the color, the texture of the peel. Continue to imagine the smell of the lemon, and then see yourself taking a bite of the lemon and feel the juice squirting into your mouth. (Many people salivate when they do this.)

    This exercise demonstrates how your body can respond to what you are imagining.

    You can achieve a relaxed state when you imagine all the details of a safe, comfortable place, such as a beach or a garden. This relaxed state may aid healing, learning, creativity, and performance. It may help you feel more in control of your emotions and thought processes, which may improve your attitude, health, and sense of well-being.

    What is guided imagery used for?

    You can use guided imagery to promote relaxation, which can lower blood pressure and reduce other problems related to stress. But you can also use it to help reach goals (such as weight loss or quitting smoking), manage pain, and promote healing. Using guided imagery can even help you to prepare for an athletic event or for public speaking.

    Is guided imagery safe?

    There is nothing safer than guided imagery. It has no known risks.

    Guided imagery is most effective when the person teaching it has training in guided imagery techniques. (The new guided imagery audio mp3’s for Diet Boot Camp 2011 were designed by Anja Christy, one of the top weight loss coaches in the country and a certified Guided Imagery Practitioner.)

    Remember the old saying, “Seeing is believing”? You can use guided imagery to “see” yourself in a desired state (like being at your perfect weight) or to “see” yourself doing things (like public speaking). The message sent to your subconscious is very clear: “She can DO this!”

    Why not harness the enormous power of your subconscious mind to help you achieve your goals this year? Remember, in weight loss- as in everything else- your brain is your greatest ally. Guided imagery is a terrific way to harness its power and achieve incredible results!