I meet two friends at the neighborhood fitness center once a week. Last week one of them asked me if I still took calcium supplements after the new report linking calcium supplements with heart attacks. I hadn’t read about the study. Lin came to my rescue and posted a news article about on the Forum. Calcium News

First a disclaimer: I am not a medical professional or nutritionist. I haven’t read the original study reports. However, I have been an avid reader about preventive health care for more than 35 years. What follows is my opinion, plus a few quotes from books that I have found trustworthy.

The thing that jumped out at me in the news article is that it did not mention whether the study distinguished between calcium-only supplements and supplements containing calcium, magnesium, and Vitamin D.

Most grocery store calcium is compressed calcium tablets without magnesium. In my opinion those tablets are worthless. Whether they cause heart attacks, I have no idea, but if the study was based on people taking calcium supplements that they buy at the grocery store, the results are skewed from the start.

Compressed tablets are not easily absorbed under the best of circumstances and in older women who are likely to have reduced digestive function, very little of the calcium is absorbed. This advice is under Calcium – Warnings in Prescription for Nutritional Healing. “Test your brand of calcium to assure absorption. Place the calcium pill in a glass of warm water and shake. If the calcium does not dissolve within 24 hours, change to another brand or form.” If you are going to take calcium supplements, do not waste your money on tablets. Get capsules chewables or liquid-gels.

Calcium and Magnesium must be taken together in order for either one of them to be useful. The rule of thumb is 2:1 calcium:magnesium. Some supplement manufacturers vary that ratio a little. Forty years ago Adelle Davis was writing that calcium taken without magnesium would actually cause calcium to be withdrawn from bones. Almost every book on my shelf talks about the importance of magnesium to prevention of heart disease. Here is just one quote from Dr. D in Live Right. “Many people with high cholesterol and triglycerides are magnesium deficient, so you may need a supplement.” If Calcium and Magnesium work together and must be simultaneously in the blood stream, why would anyone expect a Calcium-only supplement to be helpful, and why would anyone be surprised when research shows that it may be harmful?

Calcium and Magnesium need Vitamin D to be absorbed. If you do not get enough sunshine, and/or supplement with Vitamin D, the Calcium supplements you take may not wind up in your bones where you want them. They may wind up in your kidneys as stones or in your arteries as atherosclerosis.

Another factor is fluoride, which binds with calcium and prevents it from getting into bones. As a post menopausal woman, I resent the fact that my tap water is intentionally contaminated with a chemical that will hurt my bones.

The Type O diet doesn’t make getting calcium from food very easy. Most dairy is avoid. The few cheeses that are neutral, I use as garnishes rather than as main courses. Spinach, kale and almonds would be good sources of dietary calcium, if they didn’t contain so much oxalic acid which interferes with absorption and is linked to kidney stones and joint pain.

So I will continue to take calcium supplements in spite of the study. But no grocery store calcium for me. Capsules, chewables, or liquid-gels where calcium is combined with magnesium and Vitamin D.

El síndrome metabólico es un conjunto de factores de riesgo relacionado con la enfermedad cardiovascular, aterosclerótica, incluyendo obesidad abdominal, dislipidemia, hipertensión arterial y metabolismo anormal de glucosa, que presentan un problema de salud pública.

En base a esto se han realizado estudios en los alimentos encontrando que en los adultos sanos el consumo de pan de centeno se ha observado una disminución postprandial de la respuesta a la insulina y el consumo diario de pan de centeno mejora la respuesta en la primera fase de secreción de la insulina en comparación con el consumo de pan de trigo refinado. Que razón ha tenido el Dr D Adamo al darnos a cada quien el valor que corresponde a cada grano en nuestra dieta cotidiana en su reporte nutrigenomico denominado SWAMI.

Además de los hidratos de carbono con consumo de pan de centeno y la pasta se han encontrado que aumenta la secreción de insulina temprana en los pacientes con síndrome metabólico. Este efecto no se debió únicamente al contenido de fibra de la pasta y el centeno, además de la fibra insoluble en el centeno contiene fibra soluble, es bien sabido que la ingestión de fibra soluble puede afectar las concentraciones, plasmáticas de colesterol total y LDL reduciéndolo de un 10-15% si un individuo consume 3 g de fibra soluble al día. Nuevamente observamos cómo cada reporte SWAMI le da a cada quien no solo los valores sino que también la cantidad a consumir de cada grupo de alimentos ya sea al día o a la semana.

Este efecto se basa principalmente en la capacidad de la fibra soluble para aumentar la excreción de ácido biliar que inhibirá la absorción del colesterol desde el intestino. Recientes hallazgos indican que existe una interrelación entre la sensibilidad a la insulina y el metabolismo del colesterol total, de tal manera que personas con resistencia a la insulina han reducido la absorción del colesterol. Repito que en cada SWAMI dependiendo de las variables e historia clínica del paciente, se le otorga aquel alimento o grupo de alimentos que lleven a cabo el proceso curativo en cada sistema.
Lo anterior plantea la cuestión de la síntesis de colesterol y la absorción puede ser alterada con la modificación de carbohidratos en la dieta. Además de la modificación de la dieta que fue bien tolerada en un estudio donde se demostró que esta modificación beneficiaba a las personas en dicho estudio, en general la fibra soluble, se considera que tiene un efecto hipocolesterolemico, mediante el aumento en la producción de heces y ácidos biliares, que son resultado en la regulación de la síntesis de colesterol.

El sistema computa el consumo de carbohidratos en la dieta midiendo las modificaciones de colesterol y las mediciones mediantes precursores del colesterol como (colestenol, demosterol, latosterol y la absorción de colestanol, y esteroles vegetales), esteres de colesterol y su asociación con el metabolismo de la glucosa. Evitando el dichoso síndrome metabólico, que aqueja a tantos, por medio de las recomendaciones personalizadas nutrigenómicas que el sistema computariza al tomar en cuenta las miles de variables individuales.
El aumento en la ingesta de fibra soluble es bastante menor, en promedio y el colesterol cambia en diferentes formas en función a cada quien. Es evidente que la fibra por sí sola no obtiene un funcionamiento óptimo, sin embargo con los ajustes de la dieta personalizada se pueden obtener mejores resultados.

Enfermedades Crónicas en niños
Generalmente hablamos de que las enfermedades crónicas se presentan en etapas tempranas, pero que sintomatología tenemos que tener en cuenta para que los pacientes tomen esto como foco de alarma o factores de riesgo.

Los niños a menudo tienen enfermedades agudas de corta evolución, como infecciones del tracto respiratorio superior o de oído, enfermedades gastrointestinales como vómitos y diarreas o problemas relacionados con lesiones.

Sin embargo algunos niños desarrollan enfermedades crónicas que duran años o incluso toda la vida como resultado de afecciones genéticas, factores ambientales o una combinación de ambos.
Debido a que la exposición prenatal al humo del tabaco y al alcohol puede afectar la salud de un bebé. Es importante comunicar los aspectos ambientales y nutricionales a las mujeres que quieran o van a ser mamas.

Por ejemplo el asma aumenta año con año. El tratamiento adecuado disminuye las posibilidades de hospitalización. La fibrosis quística, enfermedad pulmonar heredada, el diagnostico precoz incluso prenatal ayudaría a llevar un mejor tratamiento en los niños.

Tener diabetes causa un mayor riesgo de enfermedad cardíaca y de los vasos sanguíneos, accidente cerebro vascular y complicaciones relacionadas con una diabetes temprana. La obesidad y el sobrepeso en los niños constituyen un importante problema de salud pública. Hay más niños que presentan sobrepeso, obesidad u obesidad mórbida, esto lleva a complicaciones relacionadas con la diabetes, enfermedad cardíaca, hipertensión, colesterol alto, accidente cerebro vascular, algunos tipos de cáncer, artritis y trastornos de la respiración durante el sueño.

La desnutrición que presentan los niños por periodos cortos o largos produce anemia, función inadecuada del sistema inmunitario y susceptibilidad a enfermedades y problemas de desarrollo intelectual. Discapacidades del desarrollo incluidos déficit de atención, hiperactividad y los trastornos espectro autistas son otras de las enfermedades crónicas que a etapa muy tempranas se consiguen desarrollar dependiendo del estilo de vida del pequeño antes, durante y después de la concepción. Consecuencias del bajo peso al nacer y el nacimiento precoz, incluso enfermedad pulmonar crónica, retinopatía del nacimiento precoz y retraso en el desarrollo. Enfermedades mentales esto su diagnostico y tratamiento precoces son importantes para disminuir los efectos sobre el desarrollo.

Se menciono anteriormente problemas con el colesterol, estos problemas comienzan en la infancia aunque algunas patologías se llegan a manifestar en la edad adulta. Los niveles de colesterol en la sangre pueden ser un indicador de este proceso de la enfermedad en curso. Los estudios no son concluyentes sobre el significado de los niveles de colesterol en la infancia.

Por lo general en estos niños se recomienda cambios en la dieta, de preferencia adaptar y evitar aquellos alimentos tóxicos a su fisiología desde temprano, y ejercicio para parar en seco las complicaciones de colesterol alto. A esto no hay mejor prevención de por vida que seguir cada quien sus lineamientos estipulados en su SWAMI, tomando en cuenta sus resultados de Lewis o antígeno eritrocitario, sistema MN, subtipo en caso de ser tipo de sangre A o AB, etc.

Seguiré contestando sus dudas o preguntas guiándolos en como ir adaptando sus lineamientos cada vez mas específicos e individualizados. Gracias mil por sus bellos y alentadores comentarios y buenos deseos. Yo también les deseo a todos buena salud para poder alcanzar una forma de expresión única que nos impulse a brillar! Los que me contactan por esta vía, oprimiendo el botón 'contact Lola' lo pueden seguir haciendo, de lo contrario, pueden enviar un mail a la dirección de contacto de dadamo.com, en Español, no importa, los administradores me lo harán llegar en su oportunidad.

I am in a book club in my neighborhood. While most book clubs choose a book for everyone to read, we are different. We bring books that we have read and talk about what we liked and didn’t like. Then we lend our books to each other. The only rule is that the books have to have a positive message. The reason most of us joined this club is because we were weary of buying a best seller and finding it full of violence and bad language. I have lent out several of my BTD books to people who were interested.

Several of the ladies like murder mysteries, and a series of murder mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert is particularly popular. We all live in the Texas Hill Country, and the setting for these mysteries is an imaginary Hill Country town. We all like to cook, and the theme of the books is herbs. The heroine owns a herb shop and catering company. In addition to clues there are recipes and fun facts about herbs.

My two favorite genres are classics and historical fiction, but once in a while I get in the mood for a good mystery. Last month I borrowed one of Susan Wittig Albert’s books called Nightshade.

When I picked it up, I was thinking of the lovely purple flowers that grow in my yard. I wasn’t thinking of all of the foods in the nightshade family: potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, and bell peppers.

As I read the history of nightshades, I learned that many cultures have considered them all to be poisonous. Some modern nutritionists associate them with diseases like arthritis.

After the mystery was solved, I thought I would see what Dr. D. had to say about nightshades. Every type except Type A has nightshades that beneficial, neutral, and avoid. I couldn’t find any beneficial nightshades for Type A.

Potatoes are avoid for all types. For me (Type O) Eggplant is neutral, but I don’t really like it. Tomatoes are neutral. I eat them if I find them in a salad, but I don’t buy them. Green bell peppers and tomatillos are neutral. They are ok if they are cooked, but don’t like either of them raw. Red Bell Peppers and chili peppers are beneficial. I like both of them cooked and used as a seasoning, but I don’t like them raw.

The bad elements in Nightshades are compounds called alkaloids. Cooking reduces the alkaloid content by half. Perhaps that is why I instinctively prefer cooked peppers to raw peppers.

The pretty flowers that grow in my yard are called Deadly Nightshade. I’ve noticed that in dry weather the deer will eat almost anything green, but they do not touch the nightshade.

Interesting mystery and interesting food facts.

I have a dilemma about peanuts. How should we as a society balance the needs of peanut allergy sufferers with the needs of Type As for whom peanuts are a beneficial and inexpensive food?

When DD was a little girl, she did not like much meat, and she did not like cheese. (It amazes me how self aware she was of her nutritional needs as a Type A) Because of that, I packed a peanut butter sandwich in her lunch almost every day. I thought she would eventually get tired of it. I certainly desire more variety than that. But DD never did. She is now 22 years old and she still eats a peanut butter sandwich for one meal almost every day.

I have a vivid memory of her coming home from school one day with a paper from health class saying that peanut butter was an unhealthy food. This was shortly after I had started the Blood Type Diet, and it made me furious. We had a talk about protein, and about good fats and bad fats. She was convinced that peanut butter was beneficial for her, but she wanted a good grade in the class. We agreed that if there was a question about peanut butter on a test that she could answer what the teacher had taught, but continue to eat her peanut butter sandwich.

One of my nephews was allergic to peanuts. Eating anything with peanuts or peanut oil could send him into an asthma attack. His mother was very careful with what he ate. And after one time when he ate a peanut butter cookie at the insistence of an uninformed adult, he was very careful about what he ate as well. Eventually he grew out of the allergy. Today he is in his 30s. He has three children and none of them are allergic to peanuts.

However I have a friend whose elementary school son has a peanut allergy that is so violent that the smell of peanuts can send him to the emergency room. He has had attacks on airplanes and in the school cafeteria. His mother is on a campaign to get peanuts outlawed in the school, or to make students with peanut butter sandwiches eat their lunch in a separate room away from the other children.

I don’t see a fair way out of this situation. Her son’s life is at risk. I can’t ignore that. I would support a system where peanut allergy sufferers could declare themselves when they bought their ticket and flight attendants would not serve peanuts on those flights. What to do about school is more complicated. It would certainly be socially damaging for my friend’s son to have to eat his lunch alone in a separate room every day.

Yet it seems equally unfair for a Type A child to be stigmatized and sent to eat their peanut butter sandwich alone. While DD might have had the self confidence to stand up to that kind of pressure. I can easily imagine peer dependent Type A children who would eat more meat and cheese just so they didn’t call attention to themselves. That meat and cheese would be detrimental to their health - just not as rapidly as or as obviously as an allergic reaction.

If any of you have heard of a school that has come up with a wise policy about this issue, I would be interested to hear it.

The British Naturopathic Association's annual Study Day on June 23rd 2012 will have the theme of Naturopathic Approaches to Endocrinology. MIfHI graduates, Drs. Tom and Jacqueline Greenfield, are presenting a lecture entitled: A Nutrigenomic Approach to Endocrinology. A summary of their lecture follows:

Medical endocrinologists typically deal with major hormonal imbalances pharmacologically. A reductionistic approach to the body perceives the organ which is producing increased or decreased levels of hormones as the source of the organic dysfunction; the "cure" is either hormone replacement therapy, suppression of excess hormone production or blocking receptor sites. In the same way, nutritional supplementation can be used to make up for deficiencies or excess to directly enhance or suppress the function of specific hormonal pathways. However this is not necessarily treating the patient as a whole: it could be seen as linear thinking, not looking for the reason behind the disturbance in homoeostasis, or whether the cause of the imbalance is still there. As naturopaths how can we support health in the patient with endocrine-related disorders using natural methods and a more holistic approach?

Nutrigenomics has brought a growing awareness of the potential for modification of food intake to promote health and reduce the risk of diet-related diseases. It is a way of altering the expression of genes through nutrition: a nutrigenomic perspective views nutrients as cell-signalling mechanisms which are detected by sensors in the cell: a variation in nutrient levels triggers a cellular mechanism which changes gene expression, protein and metabolite production. This can restore balance in many body systems where the individual's genes have been programmed during gestation to survive in an environment in which they no longer find themselves.

In our presentation we discuss ways of influencing hormonal pathways through diet and nutritional supplementation at the level of the gene using the example of types of thyroid dysfunction and diabetes. We also look at a commonly-supplemented hormone in detail: vitamin D, it's role in many disease processes; we review a hypothesis for the role of vitamin D3 and it's metabolite in dysregulation of androgen and glucocorticoid receptors in autoimmune disease.

Knowing what diseases to prevent and how to address existing illness is the key to individualised medicine. As naturopaths we can target prevention to the specific disease tendencies of the individual rather than assume everyone will get the same illnesses. We present a system devised by Dr. Peter D'Adamo ND which looks at three overriding responses to the environment: reactive, thrifty and tolerant, further refined by gene clusters, or haplotypes, in proximity to the blood group gene on 9q34. We discuss simple in-clinic biomarkers that can be used to assess the patient's epigenetics: how to determine their disease susceptibilities and which preventive measures may be the most appropriate for them; in the presence of an existing disorder, how to know which pathways to upregulate or downregulate through dietary intervention. We also discuss an educational opportunity for practitioners and the informed public to become certified in human individuality.

Other speakers at the event are Dr. Marilyn Glenville Ph.D., nutritionist specialising in women’s health, Alison Cullen, education manager at Bioforce UK, and Marian Baartz MSc., Iridologist. The event is open to non-members of the British Naturopathic Association.

We’re about a week away from the Jewish holiday of Shavuous, the commemoration of the Jews receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. It’s a two day holiday, with blessings made over wine and bread at dinner and lunch both days. It’s traditionally celebrated with dairy foods, in contrast to the meat meals usually served at other holidays and Shabbos. Fish and eggs can be served with dairy meals, but not red meat or poultry.

With 3 O’s in the family, dairy meals are a challenge, and are less likely to feel satisfying than meat meals. Sure, we could defy tradition and make some meat meals for the holiday, but the kids would be disappointed. What’s Shavuous without cheesecake for dessert after every single meal? Plus, being a holiday, we want more than tuna and egg salad at every meal- it’s a time to rejoice with special holiday foods that are tasty and fun and don’t make us feel deprived.

It’s a precarious balance between health, enjoyable meals, and the tight food budget. My 17 year old daughter and I have no common cheeses. I’m not supposed to have mozzarella cheese, and she’s not supposed to have ricotta cheese. But last year we made this delicious vegetable lasagna that used both cheeses. It was delicious and satisfying and everybody enjoyed it. We both felt that the semi-compliance was worth it for a once-a-year holiday treat.

Last year, I made this delicious cheesecake with goat cheese and agave. It’s compliant for everybody in the household. We ended up making 4 or 5 recipes’ worth of cheesecake over the course of the holiday, as everybody enjoyed it, even guests who were not following BTD. However, goat cheese and agave are significantly more expensive than cream cheese and white sugar.

This year money is extra-tight, with my ex-husband still out of work and unable to pay child support. I’m going to have to cut some corners with the holiday cooking this year. I need to be extra-careful with my own diet since I’m very sensitive to “avoids” in my diet and I have not been well lately. But my children have been eating a lot of “cheat” foods at social gatherings, and I’m not convinced that one more weekend of sugar and non-compliant dairy will have a significant impact on them.

This year, we’ll be making one small “healthy” cheesecake that I can eat, and a much larger “unhealthy” cheesecake using more traditional, cheaper ingredients. That lasagna recipe may be used as a risotto instead, since rice is a lot cheaper than rice lasagna. I may skip the mozzarella cheese on top for my own sake, or make it in two batches so I can have the mozzarella-free version.

In an ideal world, Shavuous would be a time for cooking with fresh fish and goat dairy, and I would never cook with white sugar. But we don’t live in an ideal world and I need to make the most of what I have.

I was recently prescribed a new medicine to help with bio-film in my intestines. I have Lyme disease so extra measures are needed to help get my body back on the right track. My doctor and I discussed the dosage and because I’m so sensitive to medication we decided on a very low dose. The doctor’s office called in the prescription and my spouse picked it up the next day.

I started using the medicine and was surprised by how much I was affected by it. The fourth time I took the medicine I had such a bad reaction I nearly called an ambulance. But after about an hour and a half, the horrible pain, diarrhea, and weakness abated. The next day I thought “boy I’m sure glad I didn’t get the higher dose, that would have killed me”. But then I thought “hey, maybe I did get the higher dosage”. I never did check the package to see what dose it was!

So I looked, and sure enough it was incorrect, four times the dose we agreed on. The doctor’s office said they asked for the right dose. The pharmacy said they were told the wrong dose. Since nothing was in writing I had no idea who made the mistake that gave me such pain. But really, it was my responsibility to look at the package, wasn’t it? I couldn’t really blame the doctor or the pharmacy, mistakes happen. I have to take responsibility for my own health, lesson learned.

By the way, my health continues to improve. It’s been around two years since I was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme disease which I contracted around 2003. The progress is amazingly slow, but I have much more energy these days. And my brain actually works almost like it did 10 years ago before the bites. I still have tons of pain, heart trouble, and various neurological symptoms. But they have decreased as well. My first step to health started with the Geno Type Diet and I can’t thank Dr. D enough for all his good work.

A whole new me

If you didn’t know it, your body will produce about 12 brand new skeletons over a normal lifespan. Things like muscle, skin and blood cells are replaced daily in order to keep our bodies at an optimum level of health.

Cells in our body are built upon proteins that do all kinds of jobs based on the types of carbohydrates that are assigned to them. Sometimes the proteins don’t fold just right and become impaired or useless. The cell usually stores these mis-folded proteins until too many are made and the cell gets clogged with them. The cell still functions but at a lower capacity and quality.

In comes Trehalose Complex by Dr. Peter D’Adamo. In a simplified explanation, Trehalose causes cells to either fix themselves or waive the white flag. By fixing corrupted cells and causing the destruction of others, more “new” you is created!

Trehalose also keeps the cell structure “together” better and the cell retains proper water balance. All of this results in a healthier cell. A healthier cell means a longer living cell and a healthier, longer living you.

I started using Trehalose on April 5th, 2012. I haven’t noticed anything extraordinary so far but I have noticed acne on my face and other places on my body that I don’t normally get it. I equate this to a “detox” effect of the Trehalose causing corrupted cells to be expelled and my skin is paying for it.

Even if I don’t notice what others have experienced, I chalk it up to the 12 years that I have been following ERFYT, LRFYT, GTD and SWAMI. After all, it does take a long time to process 7 trillion cells.

Thank you Dr. D.