The Oil Spill and Your Environment

The massive oil spill in the Gulf is tragic and almost incomprehensible. To understand how much damage is truly being done to the ocean, our environment, and our health is almost impossible. This devastating event is a serious wake up call, bringing the issue of environmental toxins that surround us daily to the forefront. The magnitude of this pollution reveals uncertainty and doubt as to how safe we really are from this catastrophic and dangerous spill. Even if you don’t live close to the Gulf, the fear is present as to how far the oil will spread, and for how long the leak will continue to destroy ocean habitat, wildlife, and seafood sources. In light of this disaster, you may feel frustrated and helpless. What can I do to stay healthy? How can I live more sustainably and protect not just my health, but the health of others and the environment?

I operate from a holistic perspective. The planet, our environment, and our bodies are all one system. We need to clean and detox both our internal and external environments. Fortunately, the planet and the human body are both amazingly adaptable and have the enduring capability to heal. With support and gentle methods, we can nurture our world back to balance. By understanding the impact of environmental toxins, we can take the first step towards learning how to remove them from our bodies.

You  may know that I have long been a proponent for education about toxins and removal of unwanted toxins from not just our bodies, but from the environment as well. For example, plastic water bottles are one of the more toxic and detrimental sources to our health and our planet. My video on this subject matter explains why I believe we all need to be informed of the danger of plastic packaging.

Each year in the United States, nearly 90 million plastic bottles are purchased, burdening both the environment and your health. Certain chemicals contained in these plastic containers—including bisphenol-A (BPA) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)—act as xenoestrogens, or substances that mimic estrogen in the body. They seep into your beverages during normal use, and are especially potent at high temperatures. These substances can disrupt crucial antioxidant and DNA activity, as well as interrupt the normal functioning of the endocrine system. This influence has dangerous consequences, ultimately heightening the risk of cancer in adults, and contributing to developmental problems in infants and young children. To minimize damage to both the planet and your health, you should switch to glass or stainless steel bottles and containers, which can be safely re-used by everyone in the family.

We all suffer from everyday exposure to the toxic metals in our environment. For some it's amalgam dental fillings, for others it's dangerous mercury in fish. Multiple medical conditions are linked to the accumulation of toxic metals in the body. Gently chelating (removing metals) from the tissues of our bodies is an important and essential way to cleanse ourselves from the toxins in our environment. Using Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) combined with alginates evolved out of successful clinical trials of MCP alone, after it had proved effective in selectively removing toxic metals and (most importantly) not affecting the body's essential minerals. MCP and alginates (derived from kelp seaweed) is an improved formulation for a more effective binding and removal of toxic metals, without side effects and the risk of toxin re-absorption and redistribution in the body. The report of five case studies confirms that Modified Citrus Pectin combined with alginates is both safe and effective and has been proven to significantly address toxic heavy metal burden in patients with a number of different health conditions. My video, Removing Dangerous Toxic Metals From Our Bodies, explains this further.

I hope you find this information useful and educational. To download my free health report on chelation and detox, click here.

Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease

One of the latest movements in the world of dietary nutrition is the “Gluten Free Revolution.” Awareness of gluten sensitivity (allergies to gluten and its byproducts) and its extreme manifestation as Celiac disease, is on the rise. What really got my attention is the news of a first ever Celiac Vaccination trial underway in Australia. As you know, my position on vaccines is that they are often unsafe and unnecessary, and can frequently be replaced by proper diet, supplementation and healthy lifestyle habits to ensure immune strength.

Now there seems to be some debate amongst proponents of the gluten free movement, about the differences between gluten sensitivity and actual Celiac disease. I recently came across a NY Times Consults Blog titled “Confirming a Diagnosis of Celiac Disease” (1/12/10). Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition brought on by the body’s allergies to gluten, a protein found in wheat, and is currently identified as a hereditary condition associated with one or two specific genes. In a patient with Celiac disease, the body considers gluten a toxic substance and mounts an immune reaction with specific antibodies that then attack the intestinal walls, and can attack other areas of the body as well, causing serious problems in not only the digestive tract, but potentially the nervous system and major organs. Numerous findings are now associating Celiac disease with Diabetes Mellitus 1, Fibromyalgia, Autoimmune Hypothyroidism, Autism, and many others conditions and diseases. 

What the article did not mention is that many health practitioners, especially in the alternative field, are now using the term “Gluten Sensitivity”, or “Gluten Syndrome” in the absence of a positive Celiac diagnosis.  This may mean that although a patient may not have a Celiac diagnosis, they still have allergies to gluten and can exhibit similar, and sometimes equally severe, symptoms. The tests currently used to diagnose Celiac disease, like many tests, are not always accurate, producing a number of false positives and false negatives. And of course as many patients know, the unwillingness of some doctors in the current medical establishment to open their eyes to an upcoming yet illusive epidemic of potentially widespread consequence is always going to be a challenge for patients who seek accurate information on traditionally undiagnosable or misdiagnosed conditions. Common problems associated with Gluten Syndrome or Gluten Sensitivity are inflammatory conditions, gastrointestinal problems, autoimmune disorders, neurological and behavioral illness, skin diseases, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, chronic headaches, endocrine issues, chronic fatigue and a host of other degenerative conditions.

A growing number of people who present such symptoms, and many other specific and generalized reactions to wheat and gluten, have tested negative for Celiac disease. However, after following a strict gluten free diet for even as little as a week or two, their symptoms clear up dramatically. Cutting out gluten for many people even without severe gluten allergies has resulted in increased energy and digestive health. Does this mean that gluten is an overall toxin? The debate on this issue is certainly heated. One thing for sure is that many wheat products today contain higher amounts of gluten than in previous times. Also, our ever increasing exposure to environmental toxins can trigger many autoimmune and allergic reactions in people that were previously absent, as their bodies’ defenses weaken in the fight against invaders. 

Integrative Digestive Formula and Pectasol Chelation Complex are two unique formulas that promote the elimination of toxins, reduce inflammation and support the GI system.  And fortunately, there is a fast growing demand for gluten free food products, and many new choices becoming available and affordable. If you suspect that you may have a gluten allergy, you can ask your doctor for the proper tests. However, if your diagnosis comes back negative, follow your gut!

CT Scans Can Cause Cancer

The word is out!  CT scans can cause cancer. Well, it's really not new news. See my newsletter article, August 2006. It is quite alarming. Based on statistical models, 29,000 cancers and 15,000 deaths in the next 10-20 years will be caused individuals getting CT scans.. It can actually be much worse with every additional CT scan; the risk increases. It's truly sad that doctors simply didn't pay attention!! The information has been out for years. It's especially scary for cancer patients, post therapy who are being "followed up" with CT scans every 6 months for years. Secondary cancers are going to be a huge problem!

What can we do?

1. Make sure that you really need the CT scan. Can an MRI, an ultrasound, or another image help? PET-CT often uses less radiation and gives more information.
2. There are traditional, ancient diagnostic methods that are of great value. One example of this is pulse diagnosis in TCM or Ayurvedic medicine.
3.The various energetic and electro-acupuncture diagnostic machines are definitely controversial. With the danger that modern technology is posing, they may deserve a better look and more rigorous evaluation.

If you have to take a CT scan, make sure to load yourself with antioxidants, and agents that can absorb and eliminate ionizing radiation. Such agents include alginates, pectins, and various botanicals.

It's important to remember that we are being "radiated" with cosmic radiation, pollutants, free radicals, heavy metals, and the stress of life. A lot of these issues can be balanced with life style. See my recommendations and health reports on www.dreliaz.org.

Get ready for the politics of medicine to play out. The radiologists will be out there trying to undermine the findings; a natural survival response. However, we are smarter than this.

So, stay healthy, be radiant, and make it the radiance of your heart, not the radiance of a CT scan.

What will you "let go" this fall?

September is here, and the fall season is fast approaching. Soon, many of us will be out doing yard work— raking leaves and generally cleaning house in preparation for the winter. But just as you clean up your home environment, so, too, is it important to cleanse your internal environment. And this coming season provides the perfect opportunity to do just that.

An annual fall cleanse is aimed at lightening your body and lessening the burden you carry with you into the winter. The goal is to shed unnecessary pounds and toxins just as nature sheds the leaves from the trees—and this is a task that encompasses your physical body as well as your emotional and mental facets. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, autumn relates to the metal element and to the lungs and large intestines… both of which are also strongly linked to the concept of “letting go.”

This is because the natural movement of the lungs is exhalation—when we exhale, we let go of air that includes “information” from our past. This is manifested as toxins and waste materials that have been released from our cells. They travel though our capillaries to our veins, then the right ventricle of the heart, and finally into the lungs where the final product—carbon dioxide—is exchanged with oxygen.

A more basic discharge takes place in the colon—and if the colon isn't functioning optimally, it can lead to constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and a whole host of other unpleasant digestive concerns. Problems like constipation can be the result of a physical issue—but quite often emotional issues are at play as well, such as compulsive tendencies or other manifestations of emotional imbalance.

This brings us to one of the most important aspects of a successful fall cleanse: the emotional process of letting go. If you examine your mind and your emotions, you’ll likely notice how often you’re often enslaved by them. Thoughts relentlessly proliferate in your mind, producing various emotions that you may not be able to control. So, what can you do about it?

Well, the first route is to try to suppress your thoughts and feelings—to push them aside. This is called denial… and it doesn't work well on a long term basis and can actually damage your health and wellbeing.
Another strategy is to develop your own antidotes to your emotions and thoughts. For example, if you have a lot of anger, you can work to cultivate patience. If you are feeling overwhelmed by grief, you can work to cultivate joy. And if you have a lot of attachments to material things, you can work to cultivate generosity.
The final path, of course, is to release your emotions—this is done by letting go and not holding onto these feelings when they arise. In order to do this, however, you must first come to terms with the impermanence of things—and accept the inevitability of change. Our likes, dislikes, attachments and aversions—they’re all impermanent in their nature. They didn't always exist—and they won't continue to exist forever.

A far cry from denial, truly understanding and experiencing the impermanent quality of all phenomena—and not least importantly your thoughts and emotions—can (and should) become the centerpiece of your fall cleanse.

If done properly, the end result of this process will be true transformation—and by cultivating a genuine, open heart, we can transcend our destructive emotions. But in order to have the space to do this, we must first cleanse our negative feelings and thoughts through the process of letting go.

Remember, your heart has no limits. An open heart is as vast as space itself—it's your afflictive emotions and concepts that bind you and restrict your heart from opening. With a successful fall cleanse, however, you’ll find that not only is your body lighter, but that your heart is more open, too. This is the spiritual peeling process—and it’s an absolutely vital aspect of your health, happiness, and lasting wellbeing.

Over the next couple months or so, I’ll offer some basic tips on how to plan your own fall cleanse this year. In the meantime, be sure to take some time to reflect on what this process is going to mean for you on a deeper level… and just what it is that you need to let go of in order to begin the winter with a freer, more open heart.