One aspect of my cold pool experience is that, every day, with my twenty-one laps, I am sucking up vitamin D - so to speak. The vitamin is manufactured under the skin with sunlight – or even just daylight, on a cloudy day.
There is not one vitamin D but several. The precursors are taken up with food – all vitamins D are fat-soluble, so a fat-free diet doesn’t do a thing for you. And then these precursors are metabolized under your skin with sun exposure. As we age, or with darker skin, we require more light to do the job.
And don’t think that “fortified” milk, yogurt or cheese will provide you with the right amount of vitamin D. They will only make any disease in your body worse because they are inflammatory. Also, there are several forms of vitamin D, your physician should supply you with a vitamin D preparation, particularly in the winter and particularly if you are living in the inner city where light might be filtered away by high buildings and smog.
Vitamin D is important for several reasons:
1. It protects you from all kind of cancers. And, please, don’t be afraid that you catch skin cancer from that short of an exposure – not more than twenty minute. On the contrary! The other mostly unknown fact about skin cancer is that vegetables protect you from skin cancer much better than a sunscreen. Disclosure: I don’t use any sunscreen, ever. I usually dress with long sleeves, long pants and a sun hat. But I don’t fool myself with sunscreen: They are not doing the job they advertise they are doing.
2. Sun and day light protect you from the so-called winter blues – Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The more northern you live, the more at danger you are for depression, and the higher the incidence of alcoholism is. So, go out daily, at around noon, sun or rain, and fill up on light! You also get the exercise and the joy of walking in a park, or even just on a bustling street.
3. Vitamin D is essential for your bone health. Vitamin D is important for uptake of calcium and phosphorus, among others, from your bowels – without vitamin D the food or pill just passes you by. You also, of course, need a diet high in plant material so that you have access to all the minerals your body needs – because calcium alone doesn’t do a thing for your bones.
4. Vitamin D is essential for immune function - it protects your health in so many ways, not only against cancer. It also plays a role in warding off the common cold and the more dangerous flu. A virus alone can’t kill you – you also have to have a weakened body and a low immune function to make you susceptible to death and disease.
5. Insufficient vitamin D seem to lead to diminished intelligence and autism in children, and to dementia in older people.
6. The lack of vitamin D seems to be involved in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). Being outside - especially in your youth - protects you.
7. Low vitamin D in your blood makes you more vulnerable to stroke – it is easy to see if you don’t eat fresh food and never get out of the house, that you immediately are at higher danger of vascular events.
8. Vitamin D seems to prevent or improve several other diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and asthma – and it protects against radiation damage.
All this I get from my twenty minutes in the pool each day. And that is apart from the cold stimulus and apart from the exercise I get.
Should we not start a movement making people use their unheated, underused pools more? – If I only knew how! I am such an apolitical person.
And I admit publicly: It is hard every day to walk into that cold pool. – But isn’t everything worthwhile hard? Like raising a family, doing your job day-in, day-out, learning a new skill – and being afflicted by a bad, possibly preventable disease? Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Gluten-Related Symptoms and Diseases
September 24, 2010
Nearly one in one hundred people have gluten intolerance (gluten enteropathy, sprue, celiac sprue). In only fifty percent of them does the disease show with gastro-intestinal symptoms - the rest has non-intestinal symptoms.
Be aware that many of these symptoms can also have other causes - this list does not replace a doctor who sees you!
• Abdominal pain
• Acanthosis nigricans
• Addison’s disease
• Alcoholism
• Alkaline phosphatase (bone) elevated
• Allergic rhinitis
• Alopecia areata (patchy hair loss)
• Amenorrhea (absence of menstrual period)
• Anemia
• Anemia – iron deficiency
• Anemia - refractory
• Anemia - vitamin B12 deficiency
• Anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA)
• Anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA)
• Anti-tissue-transglutaminase antibodies (tTG)
• Antiphospholipid syndrome (frequent miscarriages and other problems)
• Anxiety
• Aortic vasculitis
• Apathy
• Aphthous ulcers (mouth sores)
• Appetite – poor
• Arthritis
• Arthritis – enteropathic
• Arthritis - juvenile idiopathic
• Asthma
• Ataxia
• Ataxia, progressive myoclonic
• Atherosclerosis
• Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism, learning disorders
• Autoimmune cholangitis
• Autoimmune diseases
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Autoimmune thyroid disease
• Balding – premature
• Bipolar disorder
• Bitot’s spots (foamy patches on whites of eye)
• Bleeding – unexplained
• Blepharitis
• Bloating
• Blurred vision
• Bone fracture
• Bone pain
• Brain atrophy
• Brain fog
• Bronchiectasis
• Cachexia (general wasting)
• Calcium – low
• Cancer - small cell of the esophagus
• Cancer (adenocarcinoma) of the small intestine
• Cancer of the esophagus
• Cancer of the pharynx
• Candida infections – recurrent
• Cardiomegaly
• Casein intolerance (cow mill “allergy”)
• Cataracts
• Cerebral perfusion abnormalities
• Cheilosis (cracked lips and corners of mouth)
• Cholesterol - low
• Chorea
• Chronic bullous dermatosis
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Colitis
• Common variable immunodeficiency
• Complications during pregnancy, labor, delivery and post-partum period
• Congenital anomalies
• Constipation
• Copper deficiency
• Coronary artery disease
• Cortical calcifying angiomatosis
• Cow mill “allergy”
• Cutaneous vasculitis
• Cutis laxa
• Cystic fibrosis
• Dairy intolerance
• Delusions
• Dementia
• Depression
• Dermatitis herpetiformis
• Dermatomyositis
• Diabetes Type I
• Diabetes Type II
• Diarrhea
• Disorientation
• Down syndrome
• Dry eyes
• Duodenal ulcers
• Dysmenorrhea (painful menstrual periods)
• Dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse)
• Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
• Early menopause
• Easy bruising
• Ecchymosis
• Eczema
• Edema
• Enteropathy Associated T-cell Lymphoma (EATL)
• Epilepsy
• Erythema nodosum
• Esophageal motor abnormalities
• Eyes – dry
• Eyes - bloodshot
• Erythema elevatum diutinum
• Failure to thrive
• Fatigue
• Fatty liver
• Folic acid (folate) deficiency
• Food allergies - blood-mediated and cell mediated
• Food cravings
• Gall bladder – impaired motility
• Gas
• Gastric emptying – delayed
• Gastritis
• GERD - Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease
• Glucose abnormalities - too low or too high
• Grave’s Disease
• Growth retardation
• Gums – bleeding and swollen
• Hair loss
• Hallucination
• Headache
• Heartburn
• Heart disease
• Hemochromatosis
• Hemosiderosis - idiopathic pulmonary
• Hepatic granulomatous disease
• High blood pressure
• Homocysteine elevated
• Hyperactivity
• Hyperkeratosis - follicular
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Hypertension
• Hyperthyroidism
• Hypocalciuria
• Hypogonadism
• Hypoparathyroidism
• Hyposplenism (atrophy of spleen)
• Hypothyroidism
• Hypotonia
• Ichthyosis - acquired
• Pulmonary hemosiderosis - idiopathic
• IgA deficiency
• IgA nephropathy
• Impotence
• Inability to concentrate
• Infertility (in both sexes)
• Insomnia
• Intrauterine growth retardation
• Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy - severe
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Keratoconjunctivitis sicca
• Keratomalacia
• Kidney stones
• Lactose intolerance
• Lassitude
• Late menarche (late start of menstrual periods)
• Leaky gut syndrome
• Liver enzymes elevated
• Loss of memory
• Lymphadenopathy
• Lymphoma - B-cell non-Hodgkin’s
• Lymphoma - cryptic intestinal T-cell (refractory sprue)
• Lymphoma – non-Hodgkin
• Macroamylasemia
• Macrocytosis (red blood cells larger than normal)
• Macrolipasemia
• Magnesium low
• Malabsorption
• Melanoma
• Memory loss
• Migraine
• Miscarriage
• Monoarthritis – recurrent
• Mouth sores
• Multiple sclerosis (MS) – a possible link
• Muscle pain and tenderness
• Muscle spasms and cramps
• Muscle wasting
• Muscle weakness
• Nail problems
• Nausea
• Nervousness
• Neuropathy - peripheral
• Neutropenia (low white blood cells)
• Nightblindness
• Nosebleeds – unexplained
• Obesity
• Occult blood in stool
• Ocular myopathy
• Osteitis fibrosa
• Osteomalacia
• Osteomalacic myopathy
• Osteonecrosis
• Osteopenia
• Osteoporosis
• Pancreatic insufficiency (poor digestion)
• Panic attacks
• Parathyroid carcinoma
• Penicilllin V impaired absorption
• Phosphorus - low
• Pityriasis rubra pilaris
• Plasma proteins low
• Plummer-Vinson Syndrome
• PMS (premenstrual syndrome)
• Pneumococcal septicemia
• Pneumonia – recurrent
• Polyglandular syndrome
• Polymyositis
• Potassium - low
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
• Prolactinemia
• Prothrombin Time prolonged
• Prothrombinemia
• Prurigo nodularis
• Psoriasis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Puberty - delayed
• Purpura – idiopathic thrombocytopenic
• Rhabdomyolysis - hypokalemic
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Rickets
• Sarcoidosis
• Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders
• Scleroderma
• Seborrhea
• Short stature
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• Skin rash – itchy
• Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
• Smell - loss of
• Sperm abnormalities
• Spina bifida
• Sprue - refractory
• Steatorrhea (pale, malodorous, floating, hard-to-flush stools)
• Stomach ulcer
• Stroke – premature
• Sugar intolerance
• Swelling
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
• Taste - loss of
• Tetany
• Thrombocytopenic purpura – idiopathic
• Thyroid disease - juvenile autoimmune
• Tongue – red and/or burning
• Tremors
• Tuberculosis - increased susceptibility to
• Turner’s syndrome
• Urinary tract infections - recurrent
• Urticaria - chronic hives
• Uveitis
• Vaginitis
• Vasculitis
• Vasculitis of the CNS (Central Nervous System)
• Vitiligo
• Volvulus (twisted intestines)
• Vomiting
• Weight gain – unexplained
• Weight loss – unexplained
• Xerophthalmia (dry eyes)
• Zinc - low
I will add to this list as I come across new links –keep checking! Read More
Autoimmune Diseases
July 11, 2010
In autoimmune diseases the body’s immune system turns against cells of the own body, slowing destroying them, creating havoc like thyroid problems, allergies, arthritis and muscle weakness, skin afflictions, diabetes type I, neuropathy, autism (at least some forms), fibromyalgia, kidney failure, multiple sclerosis, urticaria, psoriasis, chronic fatigue, bowel troubles – and many more.
Autoimmune diseases are on the rise – more people are suffering from them. Doctors are baffled and, on the whole, helpless. Strong medications like cortisone with myriad side-effects are employed, without getting to the root cause of autoimmune diseases.
Some researchers suspect that our modern diet plays a big role; others blame pollutants in the environment or the fact that we have much less intestinal parasites (compared with cave men) which makes the idle immune system turning against the self. Modern medical drugs (to name just one example - statins - that can cause an autoimmune muscle disease) might contribute.
Of course, I don’t have all the answers either – but these are some ideas that helped patients:
• Make sure you don’t have a gluten intolerance. Test are notoriously unreliable; a better idea is to leave out all gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats) and see if you improve. Many people feel so much better already after a week off gluten. Others need up to a year.
• Autoimmune diseases hurt the body at different organs. They all have in common an inflammatory effect. To do away with SAD (Standard American Diet) should therefore be the most important step: No sugar, no sweeteners, no white starches, no dairy (which might be the main culprit here!), no bad fats (nothing fried and processed). Instead: vegetables, vegetables, vegetables – and herbs, legumes, a bit meat and fish (but no deli). If you are not willing to cook for yourself and take yourself out of the mainstream food insanity, my hope for your recovery is slim.
• Moderate exercise: For a minimum, go for a walk everyday. Exercise produces anti-inflammatory molecules in your body.
• Bright light: Get some light outdoors. Not to the point of burning (autoimmune patients often have photo-sensitivity and are prone to easy sunburns). But light is important. If you have dark skin, you need more light. – Vitamin D might be what is protecting. I usually don’t give supplements; going outdoors daily and eating cod liver (delicious!) once a month should do the trick.
• Herbs (don’t take them all at once; try one after the other and give it time to work):
---Resveratrol; a strong anti-oxidant. Remember, there is far more resveratrol in the green vine leaves than in red wine – and nearly none in white wine and grape juice.
---Astragalus has shown some benefit. Just know that allergies are frequent in patients with autoimmune diseases. So, if you show signs of intolerance (upset stomach, aching joints, rash, etc.), stop the herb.
---Turmeric (its main ingredient curcumin) has anti-inflammatory properties is.
---Green tea.
---Korean Gamgungtang.
---Padma28, a Tibetan formula. There are some controversies about this. Talk this through with a knowledgeable physician.
---Zyflamend, a blend of several anti-inflammatory herbs. Make sure you don't have an allergy to any of its components.
---Artemisia (vulgaris and annua) both have shown some anti-inflammatory effects.
---Olive leaf extract.
---Cordiceps, a medicinal mushroom. – Eating mushrooms generally has a good effect on the immune system. Just never eat them raw (they could cause cancer): Always cook mushrooms!
---Alfalfa sprouts.
---Gluscosamine, while not an herb in the strict sense, has shown anti-inflammatory promise.
---Bupleurum, a Chinese medicinal plant.
• Be careful with vaccinations. A link between shots and autoimmune disease is suspected by some researchers. That does not mean you should avoid all vaccinations; just stick to the essential ones. Discuss this with your physician – who hopefully has an open ear for alternatives. The link between vaccines and autoimmune disease might come from the suppressing of the normal function of the body, namely fighting viruses off; or might be a function of certain additives in vaccines like mercury, aluminum and squalene.
• Selenium might be missing in your diet (Brazil nuts have the highest amount of selenium, but most nuts have some; seafoods are more moderate sources of selenium). As you might have noticed, I am no friend of supplements: minerals (and vitamins) from a bottle are not the same, and have even been proven to be harmful by recent studies. – With nuts always stay aware that you might develop an allergy at any time.
• Add some good anti-inflammatory fish oil capsules (you should not belch up a fishy taste!) daily.
• Help your intestines with probiotics. The bowels might be at the root of autoimmune diseases: A chronically inflamed bowel (“Leaky Gut Syndrome”) leads to inflammation in other parts of your body.
• One study showed that calorie restriction might decrease inflammation. I would not aim for weight loss per se; eating a fresh diet might lead to weight loss anyway. But a one-day vegetable broth fast per week (see an earlier blog entry here) might be a good idea. – Interestingly, one study showed that fasting during infectious fevers reduced the risk of developing consequent autoimmune disease.
• Don’t try this at home … but nicotine seems to protect from autoimmune disease. So does cannabis (which is still illegal!).
If you want to know which of all the above ideas are most important – probably these: NO DAIRY, NO GLUTEN! Read More