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B1 April 8–14, 2016
Eight foods account for about 90 percent of all allergic reactions: fish, shellfish, milk, peanuts, eggs, soy, and tree nuts (not pictured).
The Bacterial Imbalance Behind
FOOD ALLERGIES The mysterious human microbiome gives understanding to allergy causes and prevention
4
Myths About Allergies
One of the most common food allergies in the United States.
You Thought Were True—but Aren’t on B2
Not a common allergen, so food items containing corn are not specially labeled.
About 40 percent of milk and egg allergies in children are outgrown.
By Conan Milner | Epoch Times Staff
A
llergies are caused by an immune system gone haywire and reacting to substances that generally do not affect most people. For example, peanuts are typically harmless. But for those with a peanut allergy, ingestion can trigger a severe, even fatal reaction.
For years, we only thought about being in combat with microbes. We’re not.
Peanut is one of the most common food allergies in the United States, and its recent rise is dramatic. From 1997 to 2008, the rate of peanut allergies in children has more than tripled, according to a 2010 survey published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Today, peanut allergies affect up to 8 percent of children younger than 3 years of age. It’s not just peanuts. According to the Centers for Disease Control, food allergies of all types are a growing food-safety and public-health concern. Nearly 6 million, or 8 percent, of children have food allergies. The youngest are the most affected. Although many kids mysteriously outgrow their food allergies, the only advice modern medicine can offer allergy sufferers is to avoid eating trigger foods. However, scientists have found some possible causes for food allergies. These are clues that may one day lead to treatment.
See Allergies on B6
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April 8–14, 2016
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Myths About Allergies You Thought Were True but Aren’t
By Sally Bloomfield
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llergies are on the rise across the developed world, and hay fever and eczema have trebled in the last 30 years. Yet allergies are an area of much confusion and concern. Although one study found 38 percent of people think they have a food allergy, in fact only 1–5 percent do, and allergists commonly report spending most of their consultations refuting firmly held beliefs that have no scientific foundation. Theories about allergy—some from medical research and some from lifestyle “gurusâ€?—have led to conflicting information, making it hard to know what to believe. Because of this, Sense About Science worked with me and a number of allergists, immunologists, respiratory scientists, and pharmacists to produce “Making Sense of Allergies,â€? a guide tackling the many myths and misconceptions about allergies. One common myth—something that I work on—is the link between allergies and exposure to microbes. So here is a reality fact-check on hygiene and allergies. 1. Do Fewer Childhood Infections Mean More Allergies? No. Although a link between allergies and microbes is largely accepted, the idea that more infections during childhood reduces the chance of developing allergies is now discounted. This idea came from the hygiene hypothesis, proposed in 1989, which theorized that the 20th century’s increase in allergies was due to lower rates of infection in early childhood. This hypothesis was based on observations that larger family size protected against hay fever, while smaller families were thought to provide insuďŹƒcient infection exposure because of less person-to-person infection. Exposure to a normal range of microbes during the first months after birth is critical to develop-
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ing the immune system, but there is no evidence that “regular� infections are important to boost general infection immunity or prevent allergies. 2. Are Allergies up Because of Modern Obsessions With Cleanliness? No. Our microbiomes, the population of microbes that live in and on our bodies, have altered from previous generations. This is not because of cleanliness, but because we interact with less diverse microbial environments than those of our largely rural ancestors. The idea that excessive cleaning has created “sterile� homes is implausible: Microbes are rapidly replaced by organisms shed from us, our pets, raw foods, and dust.
Old-friend microbes are still there, but we have lost contact with them due to lifestyle and public health changes over the past two centuries. This understanding has come from the “old friendsâ€? mechanism, a refinement to the hygiene hypothesis that oers a more plausible explanation for the link between microbial exposure and allergies. It proposes that exposure to the diverse range of largely unharmful microbes or parasites that inhabit our world are important for building a diverse microbiome that is vital for sustaining a well-regulated immune system that doesn’t overreact to allergens like pollen. These “old friendsâ€? have co-evolved with humans over millions of years. By contrast, most infectious diseases only emerged over the
Theories about allergies sometimes conflict. last 10,000 years as we came to live in urban communities. Old-friend microbes are still there, but we have lost contact with them due to lifestyle and public health changes over the past two centuries. Improved water quality, sanitation, and urban cleanliness have massively reduced infectious disease, but inadvertently deprived us of exposure to these microbes. Changes in microbial content of food, less breastfeeding, more caesarean sections, urban rather than rural living, and increased antibiotic use have also reduced early life interaction with old-friend microbes. 3. Will Relaxing Hygiene Reverse the Trend in Allergies? No. We now know that relaxing hygiene will not reunite us with our old friends, but carries the risk of increased exposure to other microbes that can cause old and new diseases. Because it was originally called the “hygiene hypothesis,� and because the terms hygiene and cleanliness are used interchangeably, people often assume that “being less clean� implies being less particular about hygiene. At the same time that allergies have increased, the threats of global pandemics and antibiotic resistance have increased, and hygiene is key to containing these threats. Protecting against infection is not about how clean our homes look or how often we shower; it’s what we do to stop germs spreading. By using “targeted� hygiene practices such as hand washing, food safety, and toilet hygiene,
while encouraging everyday interactions with our microbial world, we maximize protection against infection, while maintaining exposure to the old friends. 4. Are Synthetic Chemicals Linked to Rising Allergies? No. Excessive use of cleaning and personal-care products and antibacterials is sometimes said to be linked to allergies because it deprives us of microbial exposure. Antibacterial products are perceived to exacerbate this. However, because evidence suggests that general day-to-day home cleaning has no impact on microbial levels, it is unlikely to impact on our human microbiome. By contrast, targeted disinfectant use, for example while preparing food, can reduce infection risks. Many people believe that “man-made� chemicals are more likely to cause allergic reactions, leading to many synthetic substances in products being replaced by “natural alternatives.� However, the most common allergic reactions are to naturally occurring allergens, in foods such as eggs, milk, and nuts; in common garden plants such as primroses and chrysanthemums; and things in the environment such as pollen, dust mites, and pet dander. Some natural replacements for synthetic substances could actually increase the risk of allergic reactions. Sally Bloomfield is an honorary professor at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the U.K. This article was originally published on The Conversation.
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9 Ways Men Can Rev Up Their Metabolism By David Samadi For men, the most problematic area for weight gain is the midsection and belly, especially as you get older. Most men turn to exercise to get rid of this excess around the waistline, but this can be very hard to get rid of. Even before exercising, there are several ways you can eliminate visceral fat, boost your metabolism, and increase weight loss. 1. Eat Better, Not Less. Instead of eating less, eat more nutritionally dense food to keep you full all day. Restricting food will actually make you feel hungrier, thereby causing your metabolic rate to decrease, and eventually you’ll begin burning muscle tissue. 2. Get More Sleep. According to several studies, less sleep and more stress is associated with more visceral fat. 3. Eat More Protein. Your body needs protein to maintain lean muscle, so add one serving to every meal and snack. Moreover, protein can increase post-meal calorie burn by as much as 35 percent. 4. Sit Less. Sitting at work can play a big role in your health and waistline. Inactivity for four or more hours causes the enzyme that controls fat and cholesterol metabolism to nearly shutdown. Keep this enzyme active by standing up every so often, even when you are still working. 5. Drink Cold Water. Drinking six cups of water daily can raise resting metabolism by about 50
COURTESY OF DR. SAMADI
calories per day. This is the equivalent of about five pounds per year. It is thought that this caloric burning results from your body’s eort to heat the cold water to body temperature. 6. Eat Spicy Foods. Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their heat, can also fire up your metabolism. Eating chopped red or green chilies boosts your body’s production of heat, resulting in a temporary metabolism spike. 7. Eat Breakfast. Breakfast will jump-start your metabolism and keep your energy level high all day. People who skip breakfast are actually 4.5 times more likely to be obese. 8. Drink Coffee or Tea. Caeine is a stimulant that can raise your metabolism 5 to 8 percent, which is the equivalent of about 98–174 calories per day. 9. Eat More Fiber. We all know fiber is good for our bowel health, but it also helps us to feel fuller longer. Additionally, fiber can increase your fat burn by as much as 30 percent. Those who eat the most fiber gain the least weight over time. Fiber can come in the form of whole fruits and vegetables or whole grains. Dr. David Samadi is the chairman of the urology department and chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital. He is a medical correspondent for the FOX News Channel’s Medical A-Team. Learn more at RoboticOncology. com and visit Dr. Samadi’s blog: SamadiMD. com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
B3
@EpochFit
April 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochFit CHINESE MEDICINE
6 Steps to Avoid That Burned-Out Feeling SILVERJOHN/ISTOCK
By Lynn Jaffee
A
t my acupuncture clinic, I see a number of patients who work too hard. I see a busy lawyer who sometimes works 70 and 80 hours a week. I work with a woman who is in school and holding down a job at the same time. I also see a number of women who are trying to balance a busy work schedule with caring for their young children. These people have a couple of things in common: They are working too hard, and they’re exhausted. In Chinese medicine, working too hard, or overwork, is considered to be a common cause of illness. It’s believed that in order to be completely healthy, you must have a good balance between rest and work. When you burn the candle at both ends, the result is a depletion of your energy. Chinese medicine is all about energy, and having enough to function on a daily basis is crucial. If you become depleted, you might experience symptoms such as getting sick frequently, fatigue, a poor appetite, feeling cold, easy bruising, a pale complexion, poor digestion, and shortness of breath. What can you do if overwork has taken its toll on your energy? The obvious answer is to not work so hard. However, if you’re the parent of small children or the sole wage-earner in a family, if you need to work long hours at your job or have decided to go to school and work at the same time, working less may not be possible. There are things that you can do, however, to protect your health until a time when you can slow down.
If you do nothing else, getting enough sack time is imperative— seven to eight hours is ideal.
3. Eat Well. According to Chinese medicine, your energy is made from the food you eat and the air you breathe. Eating foods that are wholesome, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and light proteins cooked in soups, stews, and stir-fried dishes are nutritious and easy to digest. (Yes, some fruits can be cooked into soups, curries, compotes, and other entrees.)
1. Get Enough Sleep. If you do nothing else, getting enough sack time is imperative—seven to eight hours is ideal. If you struggle with insomnia, consulting with your acupuncturist can be extremely helpful. 2. Rest and Rejuvenate. While this may feel like one more thing to do in a busy week, it’s important to take some time for yourself to rebuild your depleted energy. This means taking some time each day to feed yourself mentally and spiritually. If you have time on a weekend, put your feet up for a half an hour and take a nap.
WANG ZHAO/ AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Chinese medicine is all about energy.
4. Just Breathe. Most of us don’t think much about breathing because it’s something we do all the time. However, knowing that in part, your energy is made from the air you take into your body through the lungs might make you a little more conscious of how you breathe. Take a few minutes each day (really, only three or four minutes) to take a deep breath, open your chest as you breathe in, hold for five seconds, and
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release slowly until your lungs are empty. Repeat this sequence for 10 breaths. 5. Sit Up. You can’t breath properly (or digest well) if you’re slumped over a keyboard or folded into a couch. Imagine you have a string coming out of the top of your head that is pulling you upward. Feel yourself getting taller, your shoulders dropping, and your chest opening.
It’s important to take some time for yourself to rebuild your depleted energy.
6. Take Care. If you are working too hard or too many hours, the ideal solution is to lighten up. However, if that’s not possible, it’s especially important for you to take really good care of yourself to avoid becoming sick or exhausted. Lynn Jaffee is a licensed acupuncturist and the author of “Simple Steps: The Chinese Way to Better Health.” This article was originally published on AcupunctureTwinCities.com
Everyone Who Has a Bunion Needs to Read This The ONLY practice in NYC that doesn’t break your bones to fix bunions!
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How to Breathe By Michael Edwards Believe it or not, most people don’t know how to breathe. Of course we all do it, but most of us don’t do it right. With a little practice, proper breathing will become second nature, and it will improve your mental and physical health as well as your stamina. Improper Breathing Most of us are rapid, shallow breathers. We raise our shoulders, pull in our diaphragm, and take a breath that fills only the top portion of our lungs. How to Breathe Correctly When you breathe properly, your diaphragm, your stomach, and your ribcage expand, not the pectoral area. Fully exhaling is important, too. Remember, you are breathing in oxygen rich air and releasing carbon dioxide and toxins. Have you ever watched babies breathe? Their stomachs rise, and their rib cages fully expand with each breath they take. Watch and learn. Benefits of Breathing Properly Every cell in our body requires oxygen to survive. Higher oxygen levels increase function and are vital for good health. Many of the most effective natural treatments for life-threatening diseases focus on oxygenating the cells. The easiest way to get more oxygen into your body and in every cell of your body is to breathe properly.
Proper breathing dramatically increases stamina and mental clarity, elevates your mood, and helps the body detoxify more efficiently (more toxins are released through breathing than through the pores, urination, and defecation combined). Learn How to Breathe In ancient martial arts, it is said that the student spends months or years learning how to breathe and to heal before he learns to defend himself. Practice by expanding your belly while breathing in. Fill your entire lungs with air. Pull in your belly when you exhale. Breathe slowly and deeply. When you practice this technique, try to take four breaths per minute. Think quality over quantity. Breathe only through your nose for several minutes. Then inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth for several minutes. Practice deliberate breathing as often as possible. Use it when you exercise, when you’re trying to go to sleep, and when you realize you are stressed. And it’s a great tool when you’re trying to hold your temper. Though it will take practice and effort for proper breathing to become a habitual, unconscious act (four days to three weeks), in time, it will become as easy as breathing (pun intended). Michael Edwards is the editor-in-chief of Organic Lifestyle Magazine, where this article was originally published.
rystal Stewart suffered from bunions on both feet; walking and standing were painful and she was considering surgery. However, as a diabetic and self-described “big baby” when it comes to pain, she had concerns. One day she saw an ad for minimally invasive bunion surgery and, curious to know more, made an appointment. Stewart was immediately comforted when podiatrist Dr. Andrew Glass explained how much less trauma the foot endures with minimally invasive procedures. Currently, the most common surgery for bunions requires an opening of two to three inches and often involves sawing off or breaking the metatarsals (mid-foot bones, located above the toes). Pins and screws are often needed and the healing time can take 2–3 months. It can also be detrimental because by reshaping the foot, it can change the way the patient walks or stands. Minimally invasive bunion surgery is done with only a 5-millimeter incision. The procedure is performed with long, thin instruments inserted through this opening. The surgeon carefully shaves off the protruding bone causing the bunion while looking at real-time X-ray images to see what’s happening underneath the skin. The healing time is generally much faster. Stewart’s first bunion surgery took about 30 minutes; she had one stitch to close the wound and went home the same day with minimal pain. “It turned out to be a better experience than I thought it would be,” she said, adding that her
WHAT IS A BUNION? A bunion is a bony bump on the joint at the base of the big toe. Bunions can cause significant pain and discomfort, becoming worse over time if not treated.
Before
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next surgery is already scheduled. Glass’s own issues with pain spurred his passion to practice minimally invasive surgery and he was among the first surgical podiatrists in the U.S. to practice this new technique. Although it’s becoming more widespread, minimally invasive bunion surgery is still much less common in the United States than in Europe. Minimally invasive surgeries fell out of favor with doctors after some surgeons in the ’70s and ’80s got bad results–the doctors were doing the surgeries blindly without real-time X-rays. Today, Dr. Glass does 100’s of minimally invasive surgeries a year and is the only surgeon in NYC who provides this new option.
CALL TODAY FOR A FREE CONSULTATION! New York Podiatric Medicine & Surgery, P.C. 315 Madison Ave. (entrance on E. 42nd St.) 212- 867-2500 • nymidtownpodiatry.com
DR. ANDREW GLASS
B4
@EpochFit
April 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochFit
The hip flexors are a powerful group of muscles situated at the front of the thigh.
Glute Bridge
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place your arms at your sides with your palms pressed against the floor. Contract your abdominal muscles, and lift your hips so that your body is in a straight line from your knees to your chest. Be sure not to exert pressure on your neck, but instead focus on contracting the muscles around your hips, lower back, and abdomen. Hold for five breaths, then relax back to the ground. Repeat five times.
WORKOUT OF THE WEEK
Increase Mobility and Athleticism by Strengthening
Hips
Donkey Kicks
Shift onto your hands and knees, and carefully lift your right knee to your chest. Then, maintaining a 90-degree angle at your knee, slowly lift your heel toward the ceiling. Return your knee to your chest. That’s one repetition. Perform 20 repetitions on each side. Be sure to keep your abdominal muscles contracted the entire time.
Pinched Nerve? Carpal Tunnel? Migraines?
By Rachel Trotta
B
ecause of its central location in the body, multiple planes of motion, and the myriad of deep, criss-crossing muscles that connect it to the abdomen and legs, the pelvic area is often a source of mysterious pain. However, compared to the knees, the hips are a very stable mechanical structure, surrounded by large muscles and protected by a ball-andsocket joint with multiple capsules that increase the depth and strength of the joint. Therefore, unless you have osteoarthritis or have experienced a traumatic injury, joint pain in the hips is often caused by muscles, ligaments, tendons, or nerves—not by the hip joint itself. Here are some common hip pains caused by tight, weak, or strained muscles, often experienced by active people:
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The Future of Non-Operative Orthopedic Pain Management When a nerve is compressed by its surrounding tissue, whether through overuse, injury or age, it can cause chronic pain that may include numbness and tingling. Using ultrasound technology, Dr. Kulick is able to target the exact point of compression and relieve the pinched nerve without surgery or medications. This procedure can allow you to have a pain free lifestyle!
A Holistic Treatment Without Drugs or Surgery Nerve hydrodissection is an outpatient procedure, usually taking less than an hour. A simple injection uses fluid to release the compressed nerve from its surrounding tissue. Patients receive an independent medical evaluation from the doctor, an analysis of their pain symptoms and a treatment solution tailored to individual needs.
Hydrodissection can treat: • • • •
Neck problems Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Cubital Tunnel Syndrome Pain radiating down the arm or leg
• Back pain • Migraine headaches • All pinched nerve syndromes
CALL TODAY 212.867.1777 Dr. Alexander Kulick, MD 112 East 61st Street, NYC 10065 www.dralexanderkulick.com We do not accept Medicaid or Medicare.
Dr. Alexander Kulick’s experience includes: Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Tel Aviv, Board Certified Physician, 17 Years of ER Experience, Certification in UltrasoundGuided Injections.
Hip Flexor Pain The hip flexors are a powerful group of muscles situated at the front of the thigh, responsible for lifting the knees in common motions such as walking, running, biking, and climbing stairs. The hip flexors can easily become strained through overuse in one plane of motion. If you are a runner or a cyclist, for example, most of your exercise movements are oriented around the forward action (contraction) of the hip flexors. If you do not counteract this tendency with strength training in every plane of motion, as well as with stretches that lengthen the hip flexors, you may begin to feel tightness or pain when you exercise. Piriformis Pain This mysterious pain, like hip flexor pain, often strikes recreational runners who are not appropriately strength training to counteract the pounding stress of high-impact exercise. The piriformis is a small muscle running sideways through the gluteal muscles, responsible for the outward rotation of the hips and legs. It may begin as a twinge during exercise, but piriformis pain can quickly become a near-debilitating mimic of sciatica that limits fitness activities and causes pain when sitting. This pain occurs in the gluteal sitting muscles, but radiates down one or both legs as well. The “referral pain” that can be experienced in the knee, leg, or even foot is due to the impingement of the sciatic nerve, around which the piriformis muscle is wrapped for many people. When the muscle is tight, it effectively “grabs” the sciatic nerve and tightly exerts pressure, sending pain signals throughout the leg that is affected. Piriformis pain can be alleviated through rest, specific strength-training moves, stretches, and self-myofascial release (foam-rolling). Bursitis Bursitis, which is a catch-all term for any time a fluid-filled sac at a joint is inflamed, affects the outer sides of the thighs, running from hip to knee, and may cause tenderness on the outer hips. Bursitis can make everyday movements, such as bending or walking, extremely painful, and can mimic the severity of arthritis. Bursitis can be treated not only by rest and by using ice, but also by strengthening the inner and outer thighs (the adductors and abductors). Here are some easy, simple strengthening moves that balance out the muscles surrounding the hips, to reduce pain, increase mobility, and enhance athletic performance: Rachel Trotta, certified personal trainer (NASM), is the author of “Injury-Proof: 28 Days to Better Movement, Smarter Training, and an Invincible Core,” and the owner of Zenith Personal Training. Her unique modality provides effective cross-training for runners, dancers, and other high-impact athletes, but also appeals to new exercisers who want to reach their fitness potential. To read more, visit PersonalTrainingUWS.com
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April 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochFit
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Shift to lying on your left side, resting your hand on your arm or hand. Bend your knees so that your feet are close to your hips and your right leg is directly on top of your left leg. Keeping your feet together, lift your right knee, then lower it. That’s one repetition. Perform 20 repetitions on each side.
Joint pain in the hips is often caused by muscles, ligaments, tendons, or nerves—not by the hip joint itself.
Dr. Michael Mongno MSC, MFT, Ph.D, LP Leading holistic psychotherapist and relationship expert in Midtown, Manhattan
PresentCenteredTherapies.com 212-799-0001
Bleeding Gums? YOU SHOULD READ THIS.
Bleeding gums, a metallic taste in your mouth and swelling/ receding gums are possible signs of GUM DISEASE. Left untreated - it might lead to tooth loss.
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Tired of looking in the mirror and not loving your reflection, even though you spend time in the gym and eat right?
TRY THE RUNNER’S LIFT Leg Lifts
Start on your left side once more, and straighten out your legs so that your legs are stacked on top of each other. Then, carefully shift your top (right) leg so that the right toes are just behind the left heel. Maintain this angle, and then slowly lift the right leg about 24 inches in the air, keeping the leg straight. Then gently lower it. That’s one repetition. Perform 20 repetitions on each side.
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B6
@EpochFit
April 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochFit YEKOPHOTOSTUDIO/ISTOCK
The Bacterial Imbalance Behind
FOOD ALLERGIES
The mysterious human microbiome gives understanding to allergy causes and prevention GRINVALDS/ISTOCK
Allergies continued from B1
We’re only beginning to understand how much of an impact the old paradigm has had on our bacterial colony.
One observation is that people who develop eczema are six times more likely to develop food allergies than those without the skin disease. Research suggests that food proteins in the environment (for example, peanut dust) may be absorbed through cracked skin, sensitizing patients to peanuts long before they ever eat any. But exactly how this happens remains a mystery. The results of a new study may offer a piece of the puzzle. Published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the study was conducted by researchers at National Jewish Health, in Denver, Colorado. They concluded that a very common bacterial strain may be one causal link from eczema to peanut allergy. British researchers have previously shown that some people with eczema are more likely to get a food allergy if they have a mutation in their skin barrier protein called filaggrin— a gene that helps keep the skin hydrated and prevents food in the environment from penetrating the skin. Researchers in the United States have not found evidence of the filaggrin mutation with peanut allergies, so they started looking for another possible factor that may contribute to a breakdown of the skin barrier. Donald Leung, M.D., Ph.D., at the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at National Jewish Health, and his team, examined over 700 patients, looking for any possible association with peanut allergies and eczema
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patients. The only connection they found was that patients who had a bacteria on their skin called Staphylococcus (staph) aureus, particularly the MRSA strain, had a very high level of allergy to peanuts. Leung said that although the association is strong, many details still need to be hammered out. “We don’t know whether staph occurs before the eczema or vice versa,” Leung said. “That’s a study that needs to be done in the future. We also don’t know if getting rid of the staph will help people with peanut allergies. That’s another study that needs to be done.” Hygiene Hypothesis Researchers have seen other microscopic mechanisms that may be responsible for causing food allergies. Patients who have a low T-cell count or who lack certain protease inhibitors in their skin have also been shown to be vulnerable to allergy development. “It’s a very complex disease, and we’re just starting to scratch the surface of why people are getting food allergies,” Leung said. “It’s not just one factor.” According to Dr. Bill Miller, author of “The Microcosm Within: Evolution and Extinction in the Homogenome,” there is a single idea that can account for the complexity. Miller says that the rise of asthma and allergies of all kinds is linked to a disruption in our microbiome—the diverse colony of beneficial bacteria that live within and around us. The idea that a change in our microbiome can lead to a rise in disease is called the hygiene hypothesis. “The hygiene hypothesis is that our cellular balance—the mix of particular types of microbes with our own personal cells—is not what it used to be,” Miller said. “The incidents of allergies and asthma is higher in industrialized countries than in non-industrialized countries. We now live in a different type of association with microbes. We don’t have fewer microbes, we have a different balance of microbes.” Evidence for the hygiene hypothesis is just beginning to emerge because the microbiome is a fairly new concept in medicine. Not long ago, all bacteria were generally demonized for causing disease. But today, scientists realize that our bodies rely on bacteria to remain healthy. “If you actually examine under a microscope what we are metabolically, immunologically, it is a combination of microbes and our own innate cells. It is this combination that permits us to survive. If we took away the microbial fraction, we would not be able to survive because we are dependent upon them,” Miller said. This new paradigm has prompted a more nuanced approach toward bacteria in modern medicine. But change is slow, and we’re only beginning to understand how much of an impact the old paradigm has had on our bacterial colony. The implications of the hygiene hypothesis go far beyond food allergies. According to Miller,
big changes in the industrial world over the last 100 years have fundamentally changed humanity in ways we don’t yet comprehend. Although the lifesaving benefits of a sterile hospital environment and antibiotic drugs have proved nothing short of miraculous, emerging evidence suggests that there may also be many unintended consequences associated with these changes. “For years we only thought about being in combat with microbes. We’re not. We work in concert with them, and some of them are bad actors. Most of them are ensemble players. That’s the real narrative,” Miller said. “You can give an antibiotic to treat a GI infection, and the consequence, which at one time would seem improbable but is turning out that there are linkages, is that your allergy and asthma can go up, because you have inadvertently upset the balance of the respiratory microbiome with a broad spectrum antibiotic,” he said. Scientists typically consider the hygiene hypothesis to be more of a curious speculation rather than a hard truth. But Miller says the concept is sound, it’s just going to take some time to work out the details. “The microbiome and its intimate association with us is a certainty,” he said. “It’s merely uncharted territory. What we know about it now, and how we co-exist together as a life form—on a scale of one to ten, we’re not even up to one.” Preventing Food Allergies Science is still many years away from nailing down the exact cause of food allergies, but researchers may have already found a reliable method for preventing them. Leung points to last year’s LEAP study (Learning Early about Peanut Allergy), which concluded that earlier consumption of peanuts by high-risk infants dramatically decreased their risk of developing a peanut allergy. “What they found was that in societies like Israel that usually introduce peanuts early in life—they eat a peanut candy there called Bamba—they actually have low prevalence of peanut allergy. But in societies like in the U.S. and U.K. that avoid peanuts until age 3, which was the usual recommendation of pediatricians until five years ago, those people actually have a lot of peanut allergy,” Leung said. The same theory seems to hold up in other foods too. A study published in the March 4 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the LEAP technique applied to six other allergenic foods produced similar results. However, it’s still not clear why it works. One possibility is that an early introduction of allergenic foods may sensitize immune cells at an important stage of development. Miller suggests it may also trigger an important change in our bacterial colony. “It may be the microbes ... are being desensitized, so they no longer fight the peanut when it’s ingested. The microbes in your gut are part of your ecology,” Miller said.
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April 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochFit VIKIF (YOGURT); MAYA KOVACHEVA PHOTOGRAPHY (BERRY); NEUSON11 (CHICKPEA); VOLOSINA (SPINACH); DIANA TALIUN/ISTOCK (ONION)
Spinach, onions, legumes, and berries are prebiotic-containing foods.
Prebiotics are foods that contain nutrients that actually feed the probiotics.
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Yogurt is the source of probiotics.
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It’s amazing how versatile they are and so easy to fit into your diet.
Include Prebiotics and Probiotics in Your Diet Add banana or berries (prebiotics) to unsweetened yogurt or kefir (probiotics) for breakfast or as a snack. Include miso soup in your line-up of weekly lunches. It’s a tasty probiotic food. Pair it with a bean salad, and you will have a full lunch that includes both probiotics and prebiotics. Beans like lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, and navy, white, or black beans are full of soluble fiber, low in fat and cholesterol, and packed with vitamins and minerals. Add tempeh to your salads and stir-fries. Tempeh is a probiotic that is high in protein and fiber and low in calories. Feed the good bacteria in your gut by eating more asparagus or spinach. I like mine slightly sautéed with garlic for a double dose of prebiotics. Add prebiotic vegetables such as spinach and tomatoes to your salads. Make a yogurtbased dressing to include those probiotics too. Eat tzatziki, a Greek dip made from yogurt. Play with prebiotic and probiotic foods. It’s amazing how versatile they are and so easy to fit into your diet. Include some of these prebiotic and probiotic foods in your diet on a regular basis for good health, and you’ll feel great. This article was originally published on NaturallySavvy. com
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Friendly bacteria are a key component of the digestive system. They improve gastrointestinal functions; enhance immunity; help regulate hormone balance; protect us from food-borne illnesses; control overgrowth of bad bacteria and fungus, such as candida or yeast; protect us from developing allergies; assist in vitamin production and nutrient absorption; and perform countless other important functions. It is important to keep a balance of good bacteria in our bodies; however, many things can easily upset this equilibrium. Medications, stress, hormonal changes, poor diet, and nutrient deficiencies can decrease the population of probiotics in our bodies. Drugs such as broad-spectrum antibiotics not only kill the so-called bad bacteria we want to get rid of, but also the good bacteria in the digestive tract. Other medications that upset this balance include anti-inflammatory drugs, birth control pills, and steroids. The great news is you can increase the friendly bacteria in our bodies by simply adding certain foods to our diet, such as yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, miso, tempeh, sauerkraut, and other fermented foods. You can also supplement with probiotics from your local health food store. When looking for a good probiotic, ensure that there is a delivery system, such as a capsule, to protect the probiotics from being destroyed by stomach acid. You may have heard the similar term, prebiotics, and wondered what the difference was
between prebiotics and probiotics. Prebiotics are foods that contain nutrients that actually feed the probiotics. Prebiotic-containing foods include asparagus, artichokes, unrefined oats, flax, barley (and other whole grains), onions, garlic, greens, honey, legumes (including lentils, chickpeas, and kidney, navy, white and black beans), berries, bananas, and other fruit. Eating a combination of prebiotic and probiotic foods is important to keep beneficial bacteria thriving. When you eat prebiotic foods, you nourish the good bacteria in your body. By eating probiotic foods, you replace friendly bacteria that have been lost.
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SECRETS OF KOREAN MEDICINE
Stroke Is Not an Incurable Disease Amazing recovery from stroke by restoring the resilience of cerebral blood vessels
Part 24 By Dr. Seo Hyo-seok COURTESY OF DR. SEO HYO-SEOK
Cerebral apoplexy, frequently referred to as stroke, is nicknamed “the silent killer” for good reasons. Statistically, one out of six people throughout the world experiences cerebral apoplexy at least once. Every two seconds, someone has a stroke, and every six seconds, stroke is the cause of death.
• • • • •
Symptoms of Cerebral Apoplexy Loss of feeling in the arm or leg on one side of the body Dizziness and difficulty in maintaining balance Sudden loss of vision in one eye and double vision Difficulty in understanding others and in expressing oneself Inarticulate speech
Cerebral Infarction and Cerebral Hemorrhage Cerebral apoplexy is divided largely into cerebral infarction, which manifests when the blood vessels become blocked, and cerebral hemorrhage, which manifests when the blood vessels are ruptured. Cerebral infarction is the result of arteriosclerosis (the narrowing of the internal diameter of blood vessels) and injuries in the internal walls of blood vessels, thereby causing blood clots. This is due to high blood pressure, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia (an elevation of one or more fat proteins in the blood). Cerebral infarction also manifests when coagulated blood sediments within the heart (due to diseases such as atrial fibrillation) become detached and travel toward the brain, blocking the cerebral blood vessels. Cerebral hemorrhage occurs due to the rupturing of blood vessel walls when they are unable to withstand the increased internal pressure. This increased internal pressure is caused by high blood pressure or when the cerebral artery is ruptured. Occasionally, there are situations in which cerebral hemorrhage is caused by the transfer of high pressure in the artery directly to the vein, due to a congenital deformation of the cerebral artery.
had a stroke at a young age, leaving him with paralysis in half his body. His condition had never improved. Shortly after I implemented pulmonary cleansing therapy, he began to exercise with a handgrip in the paralyzed right hand. After six months, he was able to walk up to the fifth floor of the building in which my clinic was situated. As soon as his condition improved to the extent of being able to write with his right hand, he started studying to get a license as a real estate agent. After a year of the therapy, he was not only fully cured, but he also passed the examination. Stroke is not an incurable disease. If the health of the cerebral blood vessels is restored, it is possible to completely rehabilitate stroke patients just as in my 40-year-old patient. I have always considered prevention and treatment of diseases as the same in terms of their context. However, prevention can be achieved in a relatively short period of time, while treatment takes five to six times longer. I treat stroke with the principle that the health of the heart improves when the health of the lung is improved, and that the heart—the superior organ in the cardiovascular system of the body—will restore the resilience of all the blood vessels in the body once it is made healthy.
Cerebral hemorrhage occurs due to the rupturing of blood vessel walls when they are unable to withstand the increased internal pressure.
Restoring the Resilience of Blood Vessels A while ago, a gentleman in his 40s and his wife came to see me after hearing about me from a friend. He was in a wheelchair, and his wife was in tears. Her husband
Since the blood vessels supply nutrients to the nerve tissues, restoring the resilience of the blood vessels will improve cerebral edema, assist in the regeneration of brain cells and tissues, and prevent degeneration of paralyzed body parts. Paralysis of the body can be prevented only when the resilience of the blood vessels is restored. For this purpose, the pulmonary functions must be improved to their highest level. If the heart becomes weakened and its pumping action becomes degraded, noxious substances circulating in the body through the blood vessels will easily accumulate on the internal walls of the blood vessels, turning the blood turbid (thick and cloudy) and leading to dizziness. Having strong pulmonary function is key to having a healthy heart because the heart is the partner organ of the lungs. In general, the health of the tonsils, the barometer of the pulmonary health, improves after about two months of pulmonary cleansing therapy. Once the cardiopulmonary functions improve, improvements in the health of the kidneys, the subsidiary organs of the lungs, can be achieved after four
Cerebral Hemorrhage
Cerebral Infarction
Types of Cerebral Apoplexy Prevention and treatment are essential since stroke is a potentially fatal disease. Moreover, it is accompanied by a wide range of complications, including damage to the cerebral hemisphere and paralysis of the body on the opposite side, speech impairment, sensory impairment, intellectual disorder, and the like. The severity of these complications depends on the level of damage to cerebral tissues.
Cerebral artery
Intracerebral hematoma
Cerebral artery
Area of cerebral infarction Cholesterol
TTSZ/ISTOCK
Ruptured cerebral artery
Cerebral hemorrhage is the rupture of a cerebral artery resulting in the destruction of nerve cells as well as the formation of a hematoma.
Thrombus
Cerebral infarction is the obstruction is caused by a blood clot that forms in a cerebral artery, at an atheromatous plaque.
months of therapy. Bones will then become healthier, and the blood will also become cleaner and clearer, accelerating the recovery process. The resilience of the cerebral arteriole will be restored after six months of pulmonary cleansing, and stroke patients will notice a rapid improvement. Using a special medical device, we measured the age of the blood vessels of a 57-year-old patient who was suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, prior to undergoing pulmonary cleansing treatment with Korean herbal medicine. The age of his blood vessels was found to be 75 years old. Following just six months of pulmonary cleansing therapy, the age of the blood vessels was measured again, and it was shown to be 51 years old—an amazing improvement of 24 years. So if the resilience of the blood vessels is restored, it will lead to the prevention of stroke because the improved resilience of cerebral blood vessels fundamentally eliminates all the causes of stroke including cerebral blood clots, cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, and so on. The longer the period of treatment through pulmonary cleansing, the higher the success rate, with substantial improvements in overall health. Pulmonary Cleansing In addition, the causes of stroke, including high blood pressure, low blood pressure or arterial sclerosis, and so on, can also be prevented through pulmonary cleansing. Once the health of the lung, which governs breathing, improves, the health of the heart, which governs blood circulation and is the partner organ of the lung, will also improve. When our body weight increases by 22 pounds, an additional 12 miles of blood vessels are generated. A reduction in the body weight by 22 pounds will eliminate 12 miles of blood vessels, and it is the heart that controls such fluctuation in the extent of the distribution of blood vessels in the body. As the vitality of the heart, the governing organ of the blood vessels, improves, this improvement is fully passed onto all the blood vessels to restore their resilience so that the blood pressure is maintained at a normal level. When hemorrhage occurs due to the rupturing of blood vessels, and one is taken to the emergency ward, hemorrhagic spots will be discovered. In the case of hemorrhage in the important area of the cerebellum, the hospital will advise the patient that hemiplegia (paralysis of one side of the body) is inevitable and that one must seek recovery through exercise once the symptoms enter a stabilization phase. However, those who took Korean herbal medicine for pulmonary cleansing for more than six months will be able to recover from hemiplegia quickly, the hemorrhagic spots being the first to disappear. When the leukocytes have been fortified through pulmonary cleansing, they can completely eliminate the hemorrhagic spots. As long as the ability of leukocytes to identify undesirable foreign matter in the body is kept at its highest level, it is possible to completely cure any disorders that result from cerebral hemorrhage. I have the testimonies of five patients who were completely cured of stroke complications. Western medical doctors will find these results hard to believe. In Western medicine, patients become enslaved to drugs. They are told that they need to take drugs for the rest of their lives in order to adjust their blood pressure. However, by strengthening immunity and enabling the body to adjust the blood pressure on its own, there will be no need to take drugs. Once the cardiopulmonary system becomes healthier through pulmonary cleansing and the resilience of the blood vessels is restored, it is possible for you to live in great health without relying on drugs. Dr. Seo Hyo-seok is the director of the Pyunkang Korean Medicine Hospital, which has seven branches in South Korea, one at Stanton University in California, and one in Atlanta. Dr. Seo entered Kyung Hee University in Korea at the top of his class and after years of research, developed the Pyunkang-Hwan herbal formula, which improves immunity by strengthening lung function. It has helped cure over 155,000 patients of various conditions. Find out more at Pyunkang.com Email: Dr.Seo@wwdoctor.com