03/27/12 "The best solutions for your pain"

3/27/2012 The best solutions for your pain

·        Back Pain –“Gua Sha”, an ancient Chinese medical secret, it creates a vacuum that helps remove the body’s toxic debris, and replace it with fresh healthy blood.   It is a myofacial release treatment.  (it is a massage treatment given by a licensed acupuncturist)

·        Migraines – botox.  It weakens the muscle.  Takes about a week to get in, peak effect in about 2 weeks.  FDA approved for migraines, but up to individual insurance companies for coverage. 

·        Neck pain –HVLA (high velocity low amplitude), hands-on manipulation technique.  Done by an osteopathic doctor.  Bio-mechanically. 

·        Pain solution to treat all pain –Radiofrequency Ablation.  Takes about half an hour, and usually covered by insurance.  Uses heat to warm the nerve and interrupt the pain frequency.  Can last a year, if not forever.  Prevents the nerves from signaling pain.  Done under x-ray and sedation. 

·         Cheap, fast, pain solutions that cost less than $10

1.      Helichrysum oil-    helps with muscle tension and anxiety.  Dilute it in water and rub in areas that are tense, but not the face (it can get into your eyes).  May also help wounds and bruises.

2.      Hot and cold packs –know when to use them.  Torn ligaments, need cold to bring down swelling.  Heat is good to prepare your body for an activity and increase the blood flow.  Swelling=ice, chronic=heat but no more than 20minutes at a time. 

3.      Telephone headset- to prevent head/neck/back pain and headaches. 

4.      Medicated Herbal Plaster –can be used up to 3-4 times per day.  It is a patch you leave on a few hours, don’t use if sunburn/cuts/bruises.   In a hairy area, remove after a bath or shower.

·         Canyon ranch’s at-home  spa treatments:

1.      Facial mask- to restore complexion.  1c seedless red grapes, 1c fresh cranberries, 2Tb grapefruit juice, 1 env unflavored gelatin.   Put in blender, chill in fridge 45min, take out for 10min, apply to face, relax for 15min with a glass of red wine J  $2.70 –vs- $185 at the spa.

2.      Dry skin- brown sugar body scrub -1c brown sugar, 1/4c almond oil, 1tsp liquid vit.E, 1tsp vanilla extract.  Apply in circular motion and rinse.  Under $7-vs $155.

3.      Feet- milk and honey foot bath.  3-5tsp honey, 1tsp vanilla extract, 2tsp baking soda, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2c orange juice, 1c whole milk.  Mix ingredients, fill tub with warm water, stir in mixture, soak 10-15min.  apply honey to the balls of your feet first.  $3-vs-$220.

·         Miraval Spa’s favorite treatments:

1.      Clarin’s essential oils- sooth and relax, prevents blemishes and fine lines.  $50 at department stores.  Use at night daily.

2.      rose water –balance natural oils in skin, sooth irritated skin, reduce skin damage.  1c roses, put in 2c boiling water, steep 20min, store in fridge about a week.  Squash and strain before fridge.  Apply cold to face with cotton ball day and night before other treatments. 

3.      Cucumber mint water=  detoxifying, soothing, relieves stress.  1 cuke, 3 mint sprigs, ½ lemon, 2qts water, combine ingredients.  Slice cuke, add all ingredients to water.  Drink throughout the day. 

4.      Insomnia- add 3 drops lavender to your humidifier at night.  Clean the humidifier every once in a while.

·         Age defying meal to take years off your life: 

1.      One pan almond crusted chicken with sweet taters and asparagus

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/almond-crusted-chicken-sweet-potatoes-and-asparagus    -can use any other protein or veg.  tip for cutting veg that can roll around –cut one side off so that it lays flat, then start cutting.  Use olive oil in a spray, 21 squirts=1 Tb.  Way to tell if chicken is done, use your body to gauge it.  Pressing on the top of your hand while pressing it down-well, press on forearm near elbow where there is a little give-medium, rare=bottom of butt cheek!  If use thermometer, go in from the side, not the top, chicken should be 160 degrees-don’t cut it.  450 calories.

·         Bonus Tips:

o   Give yourself a foot massage with a golf ball, roll it under your foot a minute or 2, to relieve cramping and get the target points. 

o   Remove calluses by soaking feet in chamomile feet about once per week before filing down.

o   After removing callus, use a moisturizer with Vit.E, like burts bees.  

3/13/12 The worry cure!

3/13/12    The worry cure! 

·         when you are awake at night worrying about stressful items, and when it can become toxic.  We have become an anxiety society.  How to manage it.

·         When you need to be treated more aggressively is when it becomes all consuming.  It is in our DNA to be anxious, but you have more control than you think. 

·         How to quiet the brain down and lead normal lives.  Give yourself a worry-window, sit back and tell yourself you need a time-out to let your thoughts take over for a while, it will help you to not stress out as harshly.  You can create a worry calendar, look and plan out your month (events/bills due)  on what you need to get done, it will give you structure and organization which will give you control and reduce anxiety and worry.  In the moment, use a balloon as a prop, take a deep breath of air, blow slowly into the balloon as you inflate it.  It forces you to slow your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure down. 

·         The intestine is like a second brain, and very sensitive to stress and worry. Stress causes digestion issues- nausea and diarrhea.  To keep them from overreacting, try lemon balm –it also helps you sleep better (400mg 2x/day –one at beginning of the day, one at the end of the day, $4 drugstores).  Iberigast –use 20 drops in a glass of water as needed ($20 online), more of an immediate effect. 

·         Mind body connection:  a holistic cure to balance the body is to take 1tsp lemon juice, ½ tsp honey, 1tsp ground ginger –take 3x/day.  Lemon juice lowers blood pressure and stimulates weaker constitutions that lend themselves to worry, the ginger is a warming, nurturing herb, and the honey stabilizes blood sugar. Aromatherapy inhalers are good when you have to calm down quickly ($7 online) and use throughout the day. 

·         Food can be the safest way to cure your worry and just as effective as medicine.  The amino acids, complex carbs, and vitamins that go a long way to help. 

a)      Complex carbs act as tranquilizers, they will keep mood stable, you will get a good nights sleep –has serotonin. 

b)      Serotonin is also in tryptophan foods –salmon, shrimp, bananas, kale, and low sodium soy sauce.  Tryptophan helps you relax. 

c)      Vitamin c foods helps reduce stress hormone levels.  Red bell peppers, broccoli, kiwi, peaches, collard greens (1 cup collard greens will give you half the vit.c  that your body needs in a day!) 

d)      Omega-3 fatty acids, will stabilize your mood.  Not just oily fish.  Walnuts, flax seeds, edamame, soybeans

·         A whole day to incorporate all of those foods:

i)        Breakfast -Start off with a “panic proof parfait” –layer cantaloupe, cottage cheese, oats, and pistachios.

ii)      Lunch- “stress less taco salad”- take an upside down muffin tin and spray a whole wheat tortilla with a little olive oil, bake 375 degree oven for about 15minutes to make your taco shell.  Put in black beans, grilled turkey, redbell peppers, chili peppers, corn, and a dollop of greek yogurt. 

iii)    Dinner- “the wind down dinner”- get organic grass fed steak, you get the highest nutrition.  Make mashed blue potatoes- the pigment gives you bigger bang of nutrition.  Steamed asparagus with slivered almonds.

·         Actress Kristen Johnston wrote a book called “Guts” and the health crisis that nearly killed her, and how she overcame it.  (that chick from 3^rd Rock).  She had a secret addiction to rx pain pills and alcohol that caused an ulcer that caused her stomach to explode and her to almost die. http://www.doctoroz.com/book/guts (excerpt from the book).   

Peritanitis is when the food and acid leaks out from the hole and poisons your body – 3 warning signs:  weight loss, sudden severe pain, and black stool. 

·         Her favorite one-pot stomach saving recipe, Rosemary and Thyme Chicken.  http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/one-pot-rosemary-and-thyme-chicken

·         Anti-exhaustion hot-list

i)        Liquid B-12 from Nature’s Bounty ($11 drugstores), 40% of people don’t have enough of it.  You put the drops under your tongue. 

ii)      The Luna Energy Bar –wont make you crash.  Protein/fiber/carbs, pick one with 15grams of sugar. 

iii)    The IPosture ($80 iposture.com), you put the button on your body, it buzzes when you slouch.  Posture sends a signal to your psyche, the way you hold your body reflects the alertness you have in your life.

iv)    Latte  the combo of caffeine and milk will give you energy.  There is a mr.coffee latte machine. 

·         Bonus tip:  how to protein pack your day:  have 2Tb peanut butter in your oatmeal in the am- 8grams of protein.  Add a handful of hemp seeds to your salad- nutty flavor, and about a handful gives almost your daily serving of protein, same texture as sunflower seeds.  Wrap a slice of turkey around a cheese stick in the afternoon.  One handful of almonds, and half of a Verve energy drink.  

3/14/12 5 Controversial solutions to your 5 biggest pain complaints

3/14/12 5 Controversial solutions to your 5 biggest pain complaints

·         BACK PAIN:  instead of back surgery.  Your dr should have ordered an xray, ct scan, and a mri for at least 6 weeks until the pain started.  Not every bulging disc has pain associated with it and may get better. 

i)        Physical therapy:  do these at least 3x a week, or can do every day.  Lie down on your back, come back up on elbows, raise your hips up and down.   Lie on your back, straighten left leg out, poke right foot into the back of the knee of the left leg (making the right one into a bent-knee pose), roll over your legs to the left side, press down on the bent knee a little to stretch it more with your left hand. 

ii)      Chiropractors:  60% of people suffering from back pain claim they get relief from it.  It deals with spinal balance, and can help the body to heal itself.  Stretching, strengthening your core, staying hydrated, and when sitting try to avoid long periods of time without getting up as it puts a lot of pressure on your back. 

·         Weight Loss:  the HCG diet which is very controversial.  Human Chorionic Gonadotropin.  People can lose a pound a day.  Taking the pill and eating just 500 calories per day.  It suppresses appetite and burns fat.  Some dieters swear by it, but doctors say no and that it is dangerous.   The injections –not the drops-  are taken with a meal plan- coffee for breakfast, apple for snack, lunch of small piece protein and lettuce, 2 melba toasts for snack, dinner of small piece protein and veg, snack in evening of an apple.  500cal total.  Problems- it may put you on rebound weight gain;  the body burns selective fat cells and leaves the muscle alone.  A new test just done found out people on the placebo lost more fat and muscle.  DO NOT BUY THE DROPS, they are fraudulent and don’t work at all.  There is no scientific evidence the injections work.  No diet below 1200 calories should be used without having an expert.  If you decide to try it, understand you are part of an experiment.

·         Fibromyalgia:  tired, worn out, overcome by unexplained pain.  No concrete tests can tell that it exists.  80% of women, and over 6million people say they have it.  There are 2 conditions- have to have pain throughout your body for 3 consecutive months and have to have 11 out of 18 “tender points” on the body.  Back of the head, in between the shoulder blades, tops of the shoulders, front of the neck, upper chest, inside of the knee.  Women with it have a decrease in blood flow in the part of the brain region known to discriminate pain intensity.  Doctors think that it hurts because of central sensitization, where pain receptors in the brain become more sensitive to pain, and the pain itself causes the fatigue.  Treatments:  over the counter and rx pain relievers, antidepressants, and anti-seizure drugs. The antidepressants are not for depression, just to boost energy level and help with the pain.  Supplements:  D5 Ribose- sugar found naturally in body, helps especially with mental energy.  Melatonin- helps with pain and sleeping while in pain.  Avoid certain foods- wheat, dairy, and nuts.  Stress reduction techniques also help. 

·         Depression:  can magnetic therapy work?  TMS- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation which uses pulse magnetic energy to stimulate and reset neurons in the brain.  It is non- invasive but revolutionary.  There is a device that can provide a very focused magnetic field to the part of the brain that mediates depression.  TMS activates the region and teaches the brain to pick it up and keep activating the activity.  The magnets turn on the parts of the brain that have been turned off, and also changes the bloodflow to the brain.  The treatment is done every day for a 7day period for 3-6 weeks until the person is completely well.  It was approved 3 years ago, but the limitation is with insurance companies.

·         Stress:  Can wine help us more than hurt us.  If you are hard wired for stress you cope with alcohol differently that others.  One glass will calm down the hard wired person, but the 2^nd glass will actually increase the stress that you feel.  The amount of a single serving should be is 5oz glass per day, drink with friends, and have it with food.  Don’t become a wine drinker to stay healthy. 

·         Bonus Tip:  if you are stretching to relieve pain, remember to stretch all of the muscles around the area where you have the discomfort.  For neck, stretch ear to shoulder.  

3/19/12 Eat twice as much and lose 10 pounds –with Hungry Girl Lisa Lillian

3/19/12 Eat twice as much and lose 10 pounds –with Hungry Girl Lisa Lillian

·         Ways to swap for favorite foods, and eat a lot of food while losing weight.  She has a ton of books and has daily emails.

·         “pasta expanders”:  ways to bulk up pasta meals.   “mega mac & cheese” which is super creamy  and has cauliflower to bulk it up (410 in normal recipe, this is 198). http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hungry-girls-mega-mac-cheese.   “ez cheesy lasagna” which uses real noodles but bulks it up using eggplant –the eggplant is sliced thin lengthwise to look like lasagna noodles (2 servings  of this is 250 calories, instead of 850) http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hungry-girls-ez-cheesy-lasagna-two

·         “frozen food mega meals”:  the whopper stopper – uses boca burgers, a lot of veggies, and thin high fiber bun.  Can use low cal condiments on it (670 in a normal whopper, this is 220) http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hungry-girls-whopper-stopper .  When you want to have a frozen dinner (lean cuisine) they have a lot of extra sauce, but a small portion.  Take a bag of frozen veggies, steam it, and mix it into the meal to give a lot of bulk, doubling the portion size, and only adds 60calories which are all vegetables.

·         “supersized sweets and treats”:   “red hot apple pie in a mug” uses redhot candies (490 calories in a normal slice of pie, 135 per mug for this) http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hungry-girls-red-hot-apple-pie .  “club soda chocolate cake” –box cakes ask for eggs an oil which you really don’t need.  Take one box of moist style dark choco cake mix –or any flavor- and add one 12oz can of club soda, mix and bake.  Saves 100 calories per slice and tons of fat.  (290 calories down to 171).  http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hungry-girl-club-soda-chocolate-cake

·         Tips from ladies that lost weight following her diet:  “dip, don’t pour” for dressings/sauces.

·         For those who think they cant cook, she has a dinner for 300 calories that anyone can cook.  “pan fried chicken parm for 2”.  Uses fiber one breakfast cereal  and spices instead of bread crumbs, use an egg substitute to dip the chicken in first.  Cook 4min each side.  Use a low fat tomato sauce and low fat cheese to it in the pan,  (1090 in traditional chicken parm, this is 258 calories). http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hungry-girls-pan-fried-chicken-parm

§   

§  Constipation

§  The very healthy average person usually puts out 160 pounds of poop, when constipated; you probably put out 18 pounds –over a year.  Water and fiber bulk up the poop, if you don’t have the right amount at the right time, you get backed up.  Checklist to know if you are constipated:  fewer than 3 stools per week; are your stools hard and painful?  Are you pushing more than you are pooping?

§  Simple solutions:  

1.      When you are pooping less than 3x per week, take a shot of sesame oil once a day, it will oil up your intestines.  It stimulates the gut, and is a lubricant and laxative.  Have a “constipation breakfast bar” , it has fiber/berries/seeds/applesauce –gives you magnesium and will get you to go.  And are no-cook.  http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/constipation-breakfast-bar. 

2.      Yoga move:  lie on your back, grab your right knee and pull it up to your chest, raise the leg and rock back and forth a little –side to side.

·         Acid reflux   -if left untreated for a long time, it can become a dangerous medical issue or even cancerous.  Symptoms= acidy stomach, burping, rumbling, painful in the throat.  The acid works it way up and into the vocal cords –causing hoarseness or esophageal cancer.  Acidic foods will contribute to the acid in your stomach (citrus, vodka, pasta sauce, alcohol).  Caffeinated and spicey foods loosen the connection in the sphincter allowing the acid to come up, caffine/choco/soda. Fatty foods like butter slows the transit of food in your stomach, so it stays there longer.  Tight clothes around the belly will push the acid back up your stomach.  If you wear them chronically they will cause flair ups. Aloe vera juice $5/bottle, is a natural acid buffer.  Chewing bubble gum 30min after a meal, any kind gum, stimulates saliva in mouth, neutralizes the acid, forces the acid in the right direction –not mint gum which can aggravate it.  

·         Uncontrollable belly bloat-   4 fast simple cures

Salt, dairy, and carbs combined together will cause bloating.  Use “spike salt-free magic” salt-alternative $3.  Dandelion tea stimulates the bile and stimulates the intestines to work, and is a mild diuretic.  1 cup per day when you are bloating.  White Bean Hummus actually soaks up the water in your intestines, so you can get rid of it.  A Belly Massage you can do- rub the right bottom pelvic area just above the bone, press fingers together and work up towards rib cage then across the middle, and then down to the left pelvic bone.  –also works for constipation.

·         Bonus Tips:  best packaged foods to eat all day long- for breakfast, eat vitamuffins vita tops which are full of fiber.  Evol mini burritos for lunch, each is lowcal/lowfat and microwavable.  Snack= Lesser Evil baked veggie sticks.  Dinner- Amy’s toaster pops pizza.

3/22/2012 The controversial RX pill that women are taking for diet/energy/more focused- Adderall, Ritalyn, and Concerta

3/22/2012  The controversial RX pill that women are taking for diet/energy/more focused-  Adderall, Ritalyn, and Concerta

·         Makes them feel like supermoms and lose weight, even thought they don’t have ADD.  They lie to the doctor, take their kids, or get them from friends.  Taking them under the table can put you at a serious risk.

·         They felt very low energy, were very forgetful, and overweight. 

·         Adderall dramatically stops the stomach movement and stops the appetite.  When you abuse these drugs in order to lose weight when you aren’t diagnosed for ADD, it becomes dangerous.  It is the number one overly prescribed drug, and the choice of many celebrities.  There were a million more rx’s  written last year than people diagnosed for ADD.  The drugs causes you to not eat that much, but raises heart rate and lungs will breath quicker, and then shut off blood supply to parts of the body- which can cause arrhythmia, strokes, & heart attacks.  Can cause rage, sleeplessness, and depression.  You cannot sustain on this drug if you do not have ADD.  They are very addictive drugs because they are a stimulant, and tolerance will build up and can spiral into eating disorders. 

·         Best questions to ask yourself to see if you really have ADD:  how often do you have trouble with details? Do you miss appointments/lose your keys/forget what someone just told you?  How often do you start a project and never complete it? 

·         Even 10minutes a day of an intense burst of exercise can keep you balanced with the feel-good chemicals in your body and combat add/depression.  To increase dopamine, eat lean protein and leafy greens.  Put on music while doing chores, sex/cuddling, ask someone out on a date if you are single. 

·         Natural alternatives to prescription drugs –the cheapest alternatives: 

A.      Acid reflux- take apple cider vinegar, 2 TBS diluted into 4oz water, don’t take if you have an ulcer.

B.      Hypo thyroidism- use L-Tyrosine, it is all natural, it will get your thryroid to produce more thyroid hormone.  It is under $20, take 1500mg 2X/day.

C.      Pain- “California poppy” it is non-addictive and a powerful pain medication that tells the brain to increase the opiate receptors.  For muscular skeletal pain.  You cant patent something that comes from nature, so drug companies cant patent it and make money, so they wont invest money into studies that prove it is a powerful analgesic.  ¾ tsp once per day before bed.  It will help you sleep better.  Cost will be only $25/month.

D.     High blood pressure- green unroasted coffee bean extract, there is a plant derived nutrient that helps open blood vessels and decrease overall blood pressure.  It is gone when the beans are roasted.  200mg capsules, $7, once per day.

·        Surviving Allergies

·        We are in for the worst allergy season EVER because a wet summer followed by a warm winter, plants are blooming way ahead of schedule and pollen is in overdrive and earlier this year.

·        Tree pollen:  maple/birch/oak, and flowers- sunflowers are the worst, there are some new hybrids that are pollen free but cant tell by looking at them.

·        Allergic to pollen?:  itchy eyes, sneezing, nasal congestion –more eye issues

·        Mold:  it is invisible outside.  1:10 are allergic to both indoor and outdoor mold and don’t even know they have it.  Cant smell it or taste it.  After rain storms mold counts are higher.  Mold causes a lot of nasal symptoms rather than your eyes –post nasal drip, stuffiness, and congestion.

·        Springtime survival kit to make it through this allergy season, the best quick cures:

1.      Itchy eyes- sunglasses will block pollen from entering your eyes.  Take baby shampoo mixed with water when washing your face in the morning, very gently irrigate around your eyelids, it will push the pollen away and reduce your symptoms.  Wash your eyeglasses/sunglasses.  “Pataday” is an eyedrop antihistamine that you use once per day.

2.      Stuffy nose- nasonex is once per day nasal spray for congestion, patanase is one spray per day and an antihistamine RX.

3.      Sneezing- “machine gun sneezing” especially.  Saline spray to rinse the pollen out of your nose, followed by histamine blockers- zyrtec/claritan –whichever works best for you. 

4.      Itchy nose- people that constantly rub their nose may develop a crease in the middle of their nose –transverse nasal crease.  Wearing a hat will prevent the pollen from getting into your face and hair.  Hair gel is a pollen magnet.  Shampoo your hair in the evening so it wont get onto your pillows. 

5.      80-90% people can benefit from an allergy shot. 

·        Is your house making you sick?

·        Some allergies are year round and triggered by things in your house.  One of the biggest causes is cockroaches.  If you have one, there are probably 800.  They cause rashes, acute asthma attacks.  They can get into blenders and wall cracks.  You can put bay leaves into wall cracks-they don’t like it.  Boric acid can be sprinkled in the back of cabinets. 

·        Dust mites- in pillows etc.  there are dust mite covers you can get for pillows/mattresses.  Wash bedding and pillows in 130degree water, or hot dryer for 45minutes and it will kill all the dust mites and remove the dead skin.

·        Mold- can cause chronic headaches.  Mold loves damp.  If on tiles or walls, use plastic gloves and a mask and scrub with soap and water to remove it, not toxic stuff. 

·        Fruit- the surface of fruit has very similar properties to pollen.  If you peel the fruit, you can help to avoid the subtle symptoms of allergies.  Very similar to the pollen in birch trees.  Washing doesn’t really help.  Eat dried fruit, or cook the fruit for 30 seconds in the microwave to kill the pollen on it.

·        Bonus tip:  use a juicer to supercharge the fruit and keep you energized.  (dr.oz’s green drink);  use an electric toothbrush to prevent cardiac diseases- they will make sure to remove the plaque and prevent gum disease;  yoga mat- start the day with a 7minute yoga routine –also a great way to reduce stress at night.  Get into the “cow pose” which looks awkward but feels good, it stretches out your hips, releases your back, you lean forward then spin around your body to the same pose in the opposite direction. (I couldn’t find a video link for this though…)