MegaZEN Well-Being Journal - Volume 8

CONSCIOUSNESS | ENTELECHY | INTENTIONAL HEALING COMMUNIT Y

_ Inviting _

r e i c m a A to &

...........

heal

again

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A Healing Gesture of a Gift From

Dr. Habib Sadeghi & Dr. Sherry Sami beingclarity.com

MegaZEN VOLUME 8

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ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:

WELL-BEING JOURNAL

Health & Medicine M I N D - BODY W ELLN ESS Thyroid Protection

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A Delicate Balance

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Joint Venture

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The Sun as Medicine

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Parenting R A I S I N G H E A LT H Y K I D S Dogma for Dinner

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The Father Factor

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Badmouth Backfire

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Divine Dilemma

112

Second Opinion TA K I N G A C LO S E R LO O K A Blind Eye

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A Lie of the Mind

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Fad or for Real

126

Food & Nutrition CHOICES FOR W ELL- B EI NG Organic VS. Conventional

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Intermittent Fasting

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Unwhole & Unwholesome

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Fake Burger

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Health & Tech D I G I TA L W E L L- B E I N G Digital Downsizing

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What's on Your Phone

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Blinded by the Light

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L.I.G.H.T. Bests FAVO R I T E S O F T H E Y E A R Five Essential Questions for Life

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The 4 Healing Agreements

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Cycles of Nature & Wellness

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Functional Analysis in Healthcare

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Empowerment & Perspective

Eliminating pandemic fears through education and action

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t the time of this writing, we’re still in the midst of the COVID-19 social shutdown or partial shutdown. It’s not always clear, as it seems to change from week to week. It’s difficult to keep track of what stores and services are open or closed and whether we do or don’t need to wear masks to go the places we need to go in order to get things done. In short, just meeting the simple tasks of life like running errands and sending the children off to school (if they actually have in-class school) have become challenges. Life is now an exercise in improvisation.

It’s precisely this sense of unpredictability or ambiguity, never knowing what life will look like from one day to the next that has unsettled many people and given them a dark view of the future.

Without social interaction and the grounding force of leisurely activities that fulfill us, it’s easy for people to collapse emotionally and fall into hopelessness. That’s exactly what’s been happening for many people because we know the rate of suicides, attempted suicides, and depression have been increasing at an alarming pace as the shutdown drags on.

Even so, we’ve done our best to find ways to feel empowered in spite of all the uncertainty. For us, helping others is a powerful way to take an active part in what’s happening rather than worrying and passively waiting for it to be over. If there ever was a time that we felt called forward to be of service in order to stand in the gap between hope and desperation for those who are struggling, it has been this past year.

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WELCOME TO THE 8TH VOLUME OF

We’ve regularly been appearing on KPFK public radio as health experts, answering questions from callers and working to dispel much of the mass media-driven hysteria. We’ve also hosted informative Instagram Live sessions and appeared on many podcasts, virtual conferences, and TV and radio shows in order to bring some balance and dispassionate critical thinking to the national conversation.

It’s been said that Louis Pasteur, the renowned microbiologist, admitted prior to his death that infection isn’t determined by the power of the microbe, but by the susceptibility or terrain of the host. In other words, regardless of exposure, whether we become infected or not depends on our current health status and the strength of our immune system. Our terrain is also affected by how we treat our bodies, what we put into them, and things in our immediate environment like EMF radiation that impact our overall physical constitution and health.

Of course, we can’t forget how our physical terrain is significantly impacted by our mental health through the quality of our relationships with family, friends, and the larger community. Instead of reacting in fear to potential illness, we really need to be asking ourselves what it is we’re exposing ourselves to that’s compromising our ability to be as healthy as we can be.

That’s where MegaZEN comes in, the definitive guide to a healthy mind, body, and spirit. In this issue you’ll learn about the dangers of a vegan diet for children, how to avoid knee replacement surgery, why meat substitute products are unhealthy, the incredible benefits of intermittent fasting, how to use the sun as medicine, why a father’s presence in the home is vital for a child’s emotional wellbeing, and more.

We would also encourage you to get out in nature as much as possible. In a world that seems turned upside down, the sights and sounds of nature have a powerful way of connecting us to the harmony and balance of the earth. We feel this strong grounding force every time we work on our little farm with our chickens, sheep, goats, quail, and ducks. Even though it’s hard work, it’s a valuable reminder of how interconnected everything is and that the divine is always in control of the process.

Lastly, do your best to look deeper into what’s occurring at home and across the world. It’s clear that the earth is evolving, going through a fundamental rebirth, and all of us along with it. Although we’re experiencing the pangs of that upheaval right now, we’re confident that the resolution will bring us closer to spirit as well as each other, and that certainly is nothing to be feared.

Love, Light, and Clarity to You,

Dr. Habib Sadeghi & Dr. Sherry Sami 7

Life, Death and Dragonflies Understanding death improves quality of life

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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saw a dragonfly buzzing around a cluster of flowers the other day and was amazed at how it was able to maneuver its long twig-like body with such precision. Glinting in the sun of iridescent blues and greens, it navigated what seemed like an awkward body effortlessly through the petals by flying up, down, sideways, and even backwards. I later learned that dragonflies are the only insect capable of such aerial versatility.

the water and can remain submerged anywhere from a few months to three years, even as the water surface freezes over in winter. When the time is right, they breach the surface of the water and enter into the world in their winged form.

Once out in the open air, the damselfly’s lifespan in quite short. It has only two weeks to find a mate and lay the eggs of the next generation before it dies.

Dragonflies were some of the very first insects to evolve and have remained virtually unchanged for millions of years because of their optimal design. The damselfly is a type of dragonfly, and one thing that has remained unchanged about it is its life cycle. Like many types of dragonflies, the damselfly lays its eggs underwater. When hatched, the damselfly larvae live off of microorganisms in

I’ve sat with many patients during their final hours before making their transition, and also witnessed the miracle of birth with others.

What strikes me most about the lifecycle of the damselfly is how its brief existence mirrors our own temporary journey through life. Like the damselfly that initially lives underwater for years, we too existed long before we entered this

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“It’s important not to be fixated on the temporary experience we call life, because like the damselfly, it’s the tiniest part of our eternal beingness.” physical world. Life is so fleeting for humans, but as with the damselfly, it actually constitutes the smallest part of our existence. In its initial watery surroundings, the damselfly larvae are full of creative potential as they change, grow, and move through their metamorphosis. In the same way, we initially exist in the spirit realm among infinite possibility, waiting for the perfect time to break through the veil separating the worlds into the adventure that is life.

It’s important not to be fixated on the temporary experience we call life, because like the damselfly, it’s the tiniest part of our eternal beingness. It’s easy to be fooled by what looks like the concrete nature of life and to get stuck in a rigid, polarized way of living. In my book The Clarity Cleanse, I refer to this as the concrete realm of limitations and judgments. Instead, we should aspire to live

our lives more like the damselfly, living with a defined purpose, but never clinging to the physical world because we know that we too will soon return to that realm of possibility and change when our time comes full circle. That realm is our real home where we will spend the vast majority of our eternal existence, interrupted with brief breaks through the surface to have temporary adventures in the material world.

If we can always keep in mind the awareness of where we came from and that we’re not just participants in life but constitute the process of life itself, our lives take on more meaning and a greater sense of purpose regardless of whether they last 18 or 80 years. We can live in a fuller way because in celebrating life, we also honor death and welcome the transition that will take us on to the next phase of our own metamorphosis.

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Thyroid Protection Minimizing radiation from x-rays and mammograms

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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ne of the fastest rising forms of cancer involves the thyroid gland. Located in the neck region, the thyroid gland is crucial to regulating weight, sleep, body temperature, and countless other biological functions. Every function in the body is guided by hormones through an interdependent network of glands, and when one of them is out of balance, they’re all out of balance. A healthy body requires healthy glands and balanced hormones, but many

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things from diet to lifestyle choices can upset this balance and expose the thyroid to disease.

One of those exposure risks is radiation from x-rays, specifically of the chest, neck or head region. The risk often comes from routine medical procedures we take for granted like dental x-rays and mammograms. Perhaps this is why thyroid cancer has increased much more in women than men because women regularly receive both these procedures on a yearly basis.

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“These inner demons can be so subtle in taking over our personal identity that we lose all sight of who we really are.”

When receiving a head, neck, or chest x-ray for any reason, always ask the x-ray technician for a neck or thyroid guard. This is an additional accessory that’s not part of the x-ray protection vest that is draped across the chest. It’s a separate collar made of the same protective material that covers the neck and protects the thyroid gland from ambient radiation. This is particularly the case with mammograms. In fact, a patient told me that she’d just heard how important it was to protect her thyroid the day before she went for her mammogram.

“By coincidence, I had my mammogram the day after hearing the news about protecting my thyroid,” she explained. “I felt a little strange, but went ahead and asked the technician about using the neck guard. Sure enough, she turned around and pulled one out of a drawer. I asked why it wasn’t routinely used. She answered, ‘I don’t know.

You have to ask for it.’”

That’s part of the problem. How are people supposed to know to ask for something they aren’t even aware is available? With dental x-rays, the neck guard is often attached to the protection apron that the patient wears. All that’s needed is for you to ask the dental hygienist to unsnap the guard and flip it up into place.

When it comes to dental x-rays, always make sure they’re absolutely necessary. Many dentists like to take yearly x-rays, mostly because insurance companies consider them as preventative care and pay for them without question. Be sure to talk to your dentist about whether such x-rays are really necessary and the possibility of having them less frequently, especially if you don’t have an underlying dental condition that needs to be monitored regularly. In the case of mammograms, consider the alternative of getting a thermogram instead, which uses no radiation and identifies tumors and cancerous activity through heat-sensitive thermography.

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DOGMA FOR DINNER THE DANGERS OF A VEGAN DIET FOR CHILDREN

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By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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woman brought her eight-year-old son to me because she had several complaints about his health. She described his muscles as doughy and slack, and said that he was easily distracted, unfocused, irritable, and fatigued most of the time. Although he didn’t appear ill, he lacked a certain vitality that’s easily noticeable in healthy children, even when they’re sitting still. I suspected the boy’s problems were nutritionally based and asked about his eating habits at home. That’s when the mother told me she’d been feeding him a strict vegan diet for years.

Speaking privately to her, I explained that infancy through puberty is a critical time of hormonal changes, growth patterns, and brain development for children. Things happen in the first twelve years of life that can only occur during that time period and have no opportunity of ever happening again. These changes are entirely dependent on nutrition. I told her that the existing problems in her son were most likely due to nutritional deficiencies from his vegan diet. Without healthy saturated fats and essential fatty acids from organic animal products, his hormonal changes and growth entering puberty in two years could be delayed or disrupted in ways that could affect him the rest of his life.

In general, I knew that vegans were committed to their principles, but I wasn’t prepared for the aggressive backlash I received from the boy’s mother. She went on and on about everything from the ethical treatment of animals to the dangers of cholesterol. I tried to explain to her why cholesterol is not to be feared and that it’s crucial for good health and hormonal development, but she got up and walked out.

CLARIFYING CHOLESTEROL

I want to make it clear that while I’m not a supporter of a vegan diet, I recognize every adult’s right to choose the diet that they feel is best for them. Children, however, are different.

They cannot choose and must eat what they’re given. When essential nutrients are missing or low in children’s diets, they are at great risk for developmental delays and diseases that can affect them for the rest of their lives. In most cases, the

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effects of malnutrition aren’t immediately seen.

When symptoms finally appear, the child has likely been in a malnourished state for quite some time. More than 60 years of research conclusively shows that this malnourishment is a direct result of a lack of animal protein, saturated fat, and cholesterol in the diet.

Cholesterol is the precursor for the master hormone, pregnenolone, from which six types of steroid hormones including mineralcorticoids, glucocorticoids, androgens, estrogens, progestagens, and vitamin D are derived. In fact, the body couldn’t make a single hormone without cholesterol.1 As the apex of this hormonal cascade, cholesterol is vital for all humans, but especially during the rapid development of childhood and puberty. Cholesterol along with overall nutrition is what drives the pubertal process through countless metabolic and endocrine pathways.2 Aside from puberty, cholesterol is an essential factor in thousands of processes from brain and immune function to electrolyte balance, carbohydrate metabolism, transmission of neurons, menstrual regulation, bile salt production, and more. The membranes of all one-trillion cells in the body require cholesterol to maintain their structure. New cells couldn’t be created without cholesterol. Not one neuron could fire without it. It helps transport fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K (only found in dietary fat) throughout the body. These are essential for functions like cell division, bone mending, immune function, forming tooth enamel and healthy skin. Cholesterol is vital to the nervous system and brain, which is 60% saturated fat. Low cholesterol plays a significant role in depression, lack of concentration, and mood instability.

People on statins, cholesterol lowering drugs, have been known to commit suicide.3 With regard to cognitive development for children, cholesterol is absolutely essential, and research finds that it is “critical to learning and memory, and disturbances in cholesterol levels, synthesis or metabolism have significant consequences.”4 In late life, high cholesterol has also been found to reduce risk of dementia.5

C ON T I N U E D. . .

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foods every day to supply the amount that a human needs.”6 She also adds, “The statement, ‘even if you didn’t eat any cholesterol, your liver would manufacture enough for your body’s needs’ has been made so frequently it is often believed.”7 I find it odd that some doctors and dieticians would subscribe to the claim that because saturated fatty acids and cholesterol are synthesized in the body, there is no need for them in the diet. How can this be, when 50% of the calories in breast milk come from saturated fat, and the level of cholesterol is nearly six times the level adults consume in their food?8

“Various health agencies around the world have spoken out against a vegan diet for children and/or advised extreme care in doing so largely because of the extreme risk for nutrient deficiency. ” HOW MUCH?

The body has a massive demand for cholesterol, and yet it only produces 75% of the total cholesterol, which is done by the liver. Eating a low or no cholesterol diet leaves one at a significant 25% deficit and risks serious consequences that will certainly come when an overworked liver begins to falter. Of course, this assumes a person’s liver is functioning at maximum capacity, when for most people it isn’t due to accumulation of environmental toxins. Shockingly, doctors, who get no nutritional education in medical school, and even some dieticians, often say that because the body produces so much cholesterol we don’t need to eat any...ever.

On the contrary, the body produces so much cholesterol internally because it’s virtually impossible for us to consume the amount that it actually needs. Mary Enig, PhD, biochemist, nutritionist, and author of Know Your Fats: The complete primer for understanding the nutrition of fats, oils and cholesterol has stated, “It’s not possible for humans to eat enough cholesterol-containing

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Unfortunately, research shows that phytosterols, cholesterol-like molecules found in small amounts in plants and high levels in processed vegetable oils, are entirely inadequate for performing the countless functions of cholesterol because they actually lower cholesterol in the body and increase the “occurrence of major coronary events” and risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). They also interrupt cholesterol synthesis and are related to the development of atherosclerosis. An overview of 16 studies concluded that “there is no evidence that plant sterols reduce the risk of CHD and much evidence that they are detrimental.”9 PROTECTION & PREVENTION

Fat and cholesterol do not cause heart disease but protect us from it, along with lots of other diseases. The false crusade against cholesterol, The Lipid Hypothesis, began in the 1940s as part of a campaign by processed food and pharmaceutical corporations to push the public into buying toxic processed vegetable oils and later statin drugs.

Here are just a few ways cholesterol protects us from disease.

When saturated fat is replaced with vegetable oils, people die at much higher rates of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. This holds true even when compared to others eating the exact same meals with the only difference being the source of fat.10 Researchers who tested corn oil stated that “under the circumstances of this trial, corn oil cannot be recommended in the treatment of ischaemic heart disease. It is most unlikely to be beneficial and is possibly harmful.”11 The Framingham Heart Study has been going on for 72 years and found that participants experienced a 14% increase in cardiovascular death for every 1mg/dl decrease in cholesterol levels, as well as an 11% increase in deaths from other chronic diseases. Researchers stated, “In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol...We found that the people who ate

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the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.”12 A study of 68,000 deaths showed low cholesterol predicted increased risk of dying from gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases.13 A 30-year study of 89,000 nurses found the more saturated fat women ate, the lower their breast cancer risk fell. Results consistently showed that a woman’s risk of breast cancer dropped by 9% for every 5% of saturated fat that replaced carbohydrates in her diet. Results also showed no association between cholesterol and heart disease.14 In contrast, a study from the National Institutes of Health following 49,000 women showed a whole grain, low-fat diet provided zero improvement of cancer risk when compared to women consuming the Standard American Diet.15 High cholesterol, including LDL, the so-called “bad” kind, not only protects against infection,16 but helps prevent atherosclerosis,17 protects red blood cells against certain strains of Staphylococcus, 18 and maintains healthy levels of white blood cells.19 For more information on the inflammatory and other dangerous effects of processed vegetable oils and the health benefits of saturated fat and cholesterol, see The Big Fat Lie from MegaZEN vol. 4, as well as The Great Cholesterol Con by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick and Good Fats, Bad Fats, by Dr. Mary Enig, PhD. DEFICIENCY DANGERS

Various health agencies around the world have spoken out against a vegan diet for children and/or advised extreme care in doing so largely because of the extreme risk for nutrient deficiency.

Children grow quickly and as such require high quality bioavailable protein to fuel the process.

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Because there is no plant-based food that contains all essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein, vegans must combine different plant foods to obtain the full amino acid profile normally found in meat and dairy products.

Unfortunately, in spite of the food combining, vegan children require 35% more protein per day because plant proteins aren’t as bioavailable to humans and have lower digestibility.20 Even properly combined foods will have different digestibility between them leading to inevitable deficiencies. So regardless of what’s being fed to the child, what he or she is actually digesting and absorbing is often quite different.

Vegan diets are also very heavy on grains and legumes, which contain a host of anti-nutrients including phytates or phytic acid, which binds to minerals like magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc, preventing the body from absorbing them and leading to deficiencies. Phytic acid also interferes with the assimilation of vitamins D, A, C and B12. Unfortunately, whole gains, the kind we’re encouraged to eat, have the highest levels of phytic acid. Add to this the complex array of supplementation that has to accompany a vegan diet and it’s plain to see that it’s inherently unnatural. For these reasons and more, even the most conscientious vegan parents have malnourished children, and health agencies around the world are speaking out.

EXPERTS ISSUE WARNINGS

Dr. Mary Fewtrell, Nutrition Committee Chair for the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHN) stated, “It is difficult to ensure a healthy and balanced vegan diet in young infants, and parents should understand the serious consequences… The risks of getting it wrong can include irreversible cognitive damage and, in the extreme, death.”21

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“Increasingly imposed by parents on their infants, the vegan diet should not be allowed...This restrictive regime leads to inevitable deficiencies and requires constant monitoring of children to avoid deficiencies and stunting that are often irreversible.”

Dr. Myriam Winckel of ESPGHN added, “The more restricted the diet of the child, the greater the risk of deficiency, and this is by far highest in vegan children. But the risk does not stop there.

Vegan mothers who breastfeed also need to be aware that their children can develop vitamin B-12 deficiency between 2 and 12 months because of the lack of reserves in their body at birth, even if the mother is not showing any signs of deficiency herself.”22

and essential fatty acids. The demand is such that for optimal development, it must be provided by animal sources. Therefore, we cannot recommend a vegan diet for children or pregnant or lactating women… Vegan parents absolutely must seek the guidance of a qualified dietician who works in collaboration with their paediatrician. Even in this arrangement, we must emphasize the fact that it is abnormal to medicalize a healthy child in this way.”24

The German Nutrition Society (DGE) said, “With a pure plant-based diet, it is difficult or impossible to attain an adequate supply of some nutrients.

The most critical nutrient is vitamin B12. Other potentially critical nutrients…include protein resp. indispensable amino acids, long-chain n-3 fatty acids, other vitamins (riboflavin, vitamin D) and minerals (calcium, iron, iodine, zinc and selenium). The DGE does not recommend a vegan diet for pregnant women, lactating women, infants, children or adolescents.”23

While the Canadian Paediatric Society cautiously said a “well-balanced vegetarian diet” could theoretically work for children, it gave a serious warning against the challenges of actually doing so and recommended constant monitoring by physicians and nutritionists to track deficiencies.

It said, “Particular attention should be paid to adequate protein intake and sources of essential fatty acids, iron, zinc, calcium, and vitamins B12 and D. Supplementation may be required in cases of strict vegetarian diets with no intake of any animal products. Pregnant and nursing mothers should also be appropriately advised to ensure that the nutritional needs of the fetus and infant are adequately met. Recommendations are provided.

Adolescents on restricted vegetarian or other such diets should be screened for eating disorders.”25

A committee of physicians from the Royal Belgian Academy of Medicine stated, “Increasingly imposed by parents on their infants, the vegan diet should not be allowed…This restrictive regime leads to inevitable deficiencies and requires constant monitoring of children to avoid deficiencies and stunting that are often irreversible…The Commission advises against subjecting a child to such a scheme…In children, the body creates cells for particular developmental purposes, especially the nervous system and brain. This implies a greater need for protein 16

UNNECESSARY TR AGEDIES

In spite of this advice, it seems that news stories are becoming more frequent about vegan parents, unable to break away from their dietary dogma, having their children taken away because of serious health problems related to

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malnutrition.26, 27 A 12-year-old girl in Scotland was taken away from her vegan parents after developing rickets, a degenerative bone disease normally only seen in the poorest countries. After multiple fractures, doctors said the child had the spine of an 80-year-old woman.28 Children have died and their parents sent to prison, including an Atlanta couple whose baby died after repeatedly feeding him soy milk and apple juice.29 It seems their deep-seated adherence to the socio-political philosophy of veganism is what prevents many parents from seeing the obvious signs of illness in their children. British mother and vegan, Holly Paige, couldn’t figure out why her daughters’ teeth were turning brown and full of cavities, or why the girls looked so drawn and their muscles had no tone. It wasn’t until a trip to the grocery store one day, when malnutrition instinctively drove her younger daughter to pull a stick of butter out of the cooler and start gnawing on it, that Holly suspected it might be the diet that was making her children sick.30 RUNNING ON EMPTY

In addition to protein and cholesterol deficiencies, vegan children lack B12 to a great degree. In fact, studies show B12 deficiency in infancy is exclusively linked to vegan, vegetarian and lacto-ovo breastfeeding mothers.31 Children of mothers on a vegan or macrobiotic diet often lack any B12 reserves in their bodies from birth.

This gives them low serum concentrations32 as they grow and places them at serious risk for cognitive impairment in adolescence, including loss of fluid

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intelligence (reasoning, solving complex problems, abstract thinking, and the ability to learn), spatial ability, and short-term memory.33 Unfortunately, research shows that switching a vegan child to a lacto-ovo vegetarian or omnivorous diet by age six cannot restore B12 reserve levels to normal.34 Iron is consistently low in vegan children.35 This is largely because nonheme iron from plants is less bioavailable to humans than heme iron from animal products. Anemia is common, and vegan children score lower on psychomotor development tests as a result.36 Vitamin D and calcium are also consistently low in vegan and macrobiotic children.37 Vitamin D is almost exclusively found in animal products, and a vegan diet high in plant-based phytates prevents calcium absorption. Low calcium often results in rickets38 and reduced bone mineral content or osteoporosis.39 One study found a group of vegan children ages 9-15 as having “significantly” reduced whole body bone mass up to 10% in some areas. 40 EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are omega-3 fatty acids that are critical for neural and cognitive development.

DHA and EPA are absent from all vegetable fats and oils, including nuts, grains, and seeds. 41 The richest source is fish followed by poultry and eggs.

Vegans mistakenly believe flax and chia seeds provide sufficient amounts of EPA and DHA. Flax and chia are rich in ALA (alpha-linoleic acid), which is not as beneficial to the brain or during development. Furthermore, babies cannot convert ALA to DHA.

“Studies show B12 deficiency in infancy is exclusively linked to vegan, vegetarian and lacto-ovo breastfeeding mothers.”

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“[Parents] must realize that there is a difference between philosophy and biology. While they may be emotionally committed against consuming animal products, their children’s bodies aren’t having the same debate.”

This was just the short list of critical deficiencies that come with a vegan diet. In fact, a study published in the British Medical Journal said child malnutrition from what it called “cult diets” like veganism was “a form of child abuse”. The researchers stated, “…the deleterious effects that these atypical diets can have on infants and children, such as scurvy, rickets, and kwashiorkor, are well documented.” 42 PUBERTY PITFALLS

The lack of so many critical nutrients along with protein, saturated fat, and cholesterol make the vegan diet particularly dangerous for children, especially during puberty, which is driven by nutrition-hormone interaction. 43 Puberty is a time of accelerated growth where children can grow four inches and gain up to 20 pounds per year, especially boys, with most of it being lean mass.

During puberty, girls require on average 2,000 or more calories per day, while boys can easily require up to 3,200 in order to maintain a healthy body weight. It’s not uncommon for teenage athletes to require 5,000 calories per day. 44 A vegan diet is simply not calorically dense enough to fuel these accelerated growth requirements.

Growth tends to be a challenge from the very beginning for children of vegan or macrobiotic mothers because they’re consistently born underweight and remain so throughout childhood.

Muscle accumulation is only half that of omnivorous children. Language and gross motor development are also delayed. 45 Since they lack the total calories and nutrients to meet the growth demands of puberty, they’re small in stature46, 47 because the normal growth spurt gets stunted. 48 18

As a result, puberty is delayed as well. 49 Boys born underweight or small for gestational age (SGA) due to a lack of intrauterine nutrition, as with vegan children, experience high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and low levels of inhibin B that results in small testicular volume during adolescence.50 As a result of either gestational or postnatal lack of nutrition, these boys usually experience low testosterone levels.51 For girls, initiation of ovulation can be prevented through inhibition of Luteinizing Hormone secretion, or ovulation can occur at a reduced level. Internal genitals were also observed as “small” for girls.52 Other studies confirm that chronic primary malnutrition during childhood alters the timing of adolescent sexual development in both sexes and is associated with later menarche (first menstruation), as well as amenorrhea (lack of menstruation in fertile women).53 A WORD ABOUT SOY

Soy in all its forms is widely used as a source of protein in vegan and vegetarian diets, and is promoted heavily by the media as a health food. The truth is that soy contains so many anti-nutrients and endocrine disruptors that it’s toxic to adults and dangerous to children going through the hormonal changes of puberty. The only reason soy is promoted as a health food is because like corn and wheat, it’s a gigantic mono-crop subsidized for billions of dollars by the government.

Like all other grains and legumes, the soybean contains high levels of phytates and enzyme inhibitors that block nutrient digestion and absorption. It also contains high levels of lectins,

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glycoproteins that also block absorption while damaging villi, the fine brush-like interior of the intestine, and perforating the gut lining.

As of 2014, 94% of all soy grown in the U.S. was genetically modified (GMO).54 What makes soy even worse is its ability to disrupt hormone production and balance through goitrogens and isoflavones. Soy is classified as a goitrogen because it contains properties that suppress thyroid function. In Asia where there is wide soy consumption, thyroid problems are rampant. It’s not a coincidence that Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was first discovered in Japan. In the U.S., researchers found women experienced a “significant” drop in thyroid function after taking 45g of a soy supplement daily. That’s the equivalent of only one cup of soy milk. Shockingly, the women’s thyroid function did not return to normal until three months after they stopped taking the soy.55 Isoflavones or phyto (plant-based) estrogens can readily latch onto hormone receptors on human cells, blocking the body from utilizing its own hormones or preventing the production of estrogen by fooling the body that it already has enough. Because a birth control pill is basically an estrogen pill, it’s no surprise that soy isoflavones have been shown to cause infertility in animals56 and humans, as well as disrupt the menstrual cycle.57 In fact, the Swiss Health Service found that 100g of isoflavones per day contains the same level of estrogen as a birth control pill.58 A study from Harvard University showed that men who ate just ½ a serving of soy per day as tofu, miso soup, and so on, had 41 million fewer sperm per milliliter than men who did not.59 Male animals fed soy experience damage to sperm and discoloration of testicular tissue. 60 For children, it’s even worse. Researchers in New Zealand found babies fed soy-based formula received the same amount of estrogen as five birth control pills a day.61 In the first three months of life a boy will experience a surge of testosterone at the level of an adult man. This hormonal rush programs the body for proper genital development and sets neurological patterns for how men perceive, think, and process information. If this hormonal rush is inhibited, developmental problems occur with spatial relation, visual discrimination, and learning ability. Physical problems include undescended testicles, inguinal hernias and hypospadias, and a malformation of the penis where the urethra opening is on the underside rather than at the tip.

As they become more common, these soy-induced urogenital phenomena have been collectively called Developmental Estrogenization Syndrome.

Early exposure to soy has also been linked to low

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sperm count and motility, inability to support conception, and low weight of reproductive organs in adulthood. 62 Exposure to soy’s phyto-estrogens accelerates the development of sexual organs in girls with increased vaginal cell maturation at just six months of age. 63 Girls fed soy formula have measurable breast development at age two compared to those fed cow’s milk formula or breast milk. 64 They can experience greater ovarian volume and ovarian cysts, while boys experience decreased testicular volume. 65 For these reasons and more, children should not be exposed to soy in any form. Agencies around the world, including the U.K. Department of Health,66 Canadian Paediatric Society, Dieticians of Canada, Health Canada, and the American Academy of Pediatrics67 have all come out against soy for children and in particular soy-based formula, stressing breastfeeding as the best choice.

The Swiss Federal Office of Health said it best when it made this statement: “Soya-based infant feeding should only be used when there is a clear medical indication. It should never be used for ecological or ideological reasons such as strict vegetarianism.”68 For an in-depth investigation into the dangers of soy, see The Dark Side of Soy in MegaZEN vol. 4 or The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel.

PHILOSOPHY VS. BIOLOGY

While I can understand a parent’s personal dietary convictions, they must realize that there is a difference between philosophy and biology.

While they may be emotionally committed against consuming animal products, their children's bodies aren’t having the same debate. Biology is not emotional; it’s physical. It must have what it needs to thrive—if not, it will not. Humans have lived for great lengths of time through ice ages with no access to carbohydrates. In fact, samples of human corprolites, fossilized feces, from 300,000-50,000 years ago show no plant matter of any kind. The Inuit people of the arctic live almost entirely on seal meat and fat.

It’s interesting to note that while science recognizes essential fatty acids and essential amino acids (proteins), there is no such thing as an “essential” carbohydrate. Humans can live and have lived healthy lives without eating any carbohydrates at all, but they cannot do so without animal protein and fat. This is supported by the fact that never in all of human history has there ever been a civilization that sustained itself on a strict vegan diet.

For further reading, I would highly recommend The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith.

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Sources (1) McVoy, Michael, “Cholesterol: Your body is incapable of making hormones without it”, Metabolic Healing, (April 11, 2011), bit.ly/3nrfLQB. (2) Soliman, A et al. (2014). Nutrition and pubertal development. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 18(Supp. 1), S30-S47, doi: 10.4103/22308210.145073.

(3) Greenblatt, James, “Low Cholesterol and Its Psychological Effects: low cholesterol is linked to depression, suicide, and violence” Psychology Today, (July 10, 2011), bit.ly/33HZDSV. (4) Schreurs, B. (2010). The effects of cholesterol on learning and memory. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 34(8), 1366-1379, doi: 10.1016/j. neubiorev.2010.04.010.

(15) Prentice, R et al.. (2006). Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of invasive breast cancer: The women\'s health initiative randomized controlled dietary modification trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. , 8(295), 629-642.

(16) Iribarren C and others. Serum total cholesterol and risk of hospitalization, and death from respiratory disease. International Journal of Epidemiology 26, 1191–1202, 1997, (17) Ravnskov U. High cholesterol may protect against infections and atherosclerosis. Quarterly Journal of Medicine 96, 927-934, 2003.

(5) Mielke, M et al. (2005). High total cholesterol levels in late life associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Neurology, 64(10), 1689-1695, doi: 10.1212/01.WNL.0000161870.78572.A5.

(18) Bhakdi S and others. Binding and partial inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus a-toxin by human plasma low density lipoprotein. Journal of Biological Chemistry 258, 5899-5904, 1983.

(6) Enig, M. (2000). Know Your Fats: The complete primer for understanding the nutrition of fats, oils and cholesterol . (1st ed., p. 50). Bethesda: Bethesda Press.

(19) Muldoon MF and others. Immune system differences in men with hypo- or hypercholesterolemia.

Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology 84, 145-149, 1997.

(7) Enig, M. (2000). Know Your Fats: The complete primer for understanding the nutrition of fats, oils and cholesterol . (1st ed., p. 56). Bethesda: Bethesda Press.

(8) Jensen, R. (1999). Lipids in human milk. Lipids, 34(12), 1243-1271, PMID: 10652985.

(9) Harcombe, Z. Baker, J. (2014). Plant sterols lower cholesterol, but increase risk for coronary heart disease. Online Journal of Biological Sciences, 14(3), 167-169, doi: 10.3844/ojbsci.2014.167.169.

(10) Christakis, G. Rinzler, S. (1966). Effect of the anti-coronary club program on coronary heart disease risk factor status. Journal of the American Medical Association, 198(6), 597-604.

(11) Rose, G et al. (1965). Corn oil in treatment of ischaemic heart disease. The British Medical Journal, 1(5499), 1531-1533, doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5449.1531.

(12) Anderson, K et al. (1987). Cholesterol and mortality30 years of follow-up from the framingham study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 257(16), 2176-2180, doi: 10.1001/ jama.1987.03390160062027.

(13) Jacobs D and others. Report of the conference on low blood cholesterol: Mortality associations.

Circulation 86, 1046–1060, 1992.

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(14) Willett, W. (1992). Dietary fat and fiber in relation to risk of breast cancer: An 8-year follow-up. Journal of the American Medical Association. , 268(15), 2037-2044.

(20) Amit, M. (2010). Vegetarian diets in children and adolescents. Paediatrics and Child Health, 15(5), 303-308, PMID: 21532796.

(21) Fernandez, Colin, “Trendy Vegan Diets Can Wreck a Child’s Health: Nutritionists wars that lack of nutrients can cause irreversible damage to their nervous system,” Daily Mail, (May 10, 2017), dailym. ai/36L3IYr. (22) Ibid.

(23) Fuchs, Stephen, “Controversial Report out of Germany Warns against Vegan Lifestyle”, German Pulse, (September 12, 2016), bit.ly/3dcJlVl. (24) Academie Royalede Medecinede Belgique, Le Veganisme Proscrit Pour Les Enfants, Femmes Enceintes et Allaitantes, Communique De Presse, (May 12, 2019), bit.ly/3ntXjXn. (25) Amit, M. (2010). Vegetarian diets in children and adolescents. Paediatrics and Child Health, 15(5), 303-308, PMID: 21532796.

(26) Hui, Mary, “An Italian baby raised on a vegan diet is hospitalized for severe malnutrition and removed from parents”, The Washington Post, (July 11, 2016), wapo.st/2SB4iQe.

MEGAZEN

(27) Snaith, Emma, “Couple charged with child neglect for ‘starving baby' with potato-based formula”, Independent, (February 16, 2019), bit.ly/3lkAsf8.

Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 103(6), 748-765, doi: 10.1053/jada.2003.50142.

(28) Davies, Rob, “Couple face questioning after vegan daughter suffers bone disease”, The Telegraph , (June 8, 2008), bit.ly/2GMa1A7.

(40) Parsons, T et al. (1997). Reduced bone mass in dutch adolescents fed a macrobiotic diet in early life. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 12(9), 1486-1494, doi.org/10.1359/jbmr.1997.12.9.1486.

(29) “Vegan Couple Sentenced to Life After Baby’s Death”, NBC News, (May 9, 2007), nbcnews. to/3jMzLL9.

(41) Innis, S. (2007). Dietary (n-3) fatty acids and brain development. The Journal of Nutrition, 137(4), 855-859, doi.org/10.1093/jn/137.4.855.

(30) Watson, Angus, “How a strict vegan diet made my children ill”, Daily Mail, (August 14, 2008), dailym. ai/36ICTnH.

(42) Roberts, I et al. (1979). Malnutrition in infants receiving cult diets: a form of child abuse. British Journal of Medicine, 1(6159), 296-298, 10.1136/ bmj.1.6159.296.

(31) Black, M. (2008). Effects of vitamin b12 and folate deficiency on brain development in children.

Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 29(2 supp.), S126-S131, doi: 10.1177/15648265080292S117.

(32) Daenelie, P. Staveren, W. (1994). Macrobiotic nutrition and child health: results of a populationbased, mixed-longitudinal cohort study in the netherlands. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59(5 supp.), 1187S-1196S, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/59.5.1187S. (33) Louwman, M et al. (2000). Signs of impaired cognitive function in adolescents with marginal cobalamin status. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 72(3), 762-769, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/72.3.762.

(34) Van Dusseldorp, M et al. (1999). Risk of persistent cobalamin deficiency in adolescents fed a macrobiotic diet in early life. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 69(4), 664-671, 10.1093/ajcn/69.4.664.

(35) Fulton, J et al. (1980). Preschool vegetarian children. Dietary and anthropometric data. Journal of the American Dietetic Association., 76(4), 360-365, PMID:7391470.

(36) Daenelie, P. Staveren, W. (1994). Macrobiotic nutrition and child health: results of a populationbased, mixed-longitudinal cohort study in the netherlands. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59(5 supp.), 1187S-1196S, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/59.5.1187S.

(43) O'Connor, D et al. (2007). Developmental control of plasma leptin and adipose leptin messenger ribonucleic acid in the ovine fetus during late gestation: role of glucocorticoids and thyroid hormones. Endocrinology, 148(8), 3750-3777, doi: 10.1210/en.2007-0310.

(44) Caprio, S et al. (1994). Effects of puberty and diabetes on metabolism of insulin-sensitive fuels.

American Journal of Physiology, 266(6 part 1), E885-E891, doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.1994.266.6.E885.

(45) Dagnelie, P et al. (1989). Nutritional status of infants aged 4 to 18 months on macrobiotic diets and matched omnivorous control infants: a populationbased mixed-longitudinal study. Ii. Growth and psychomotor development. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 43(5), 325-338, PMID: 2737170.

(46) Shull, M et al. (1977). Velocities of growth in vegetarian preschool children. Pediatrics, 60(4), 410-417, PMID: 905003.

(47) O'Connell, J et al. (1989). Growth of vegetarian children: the farm study. Pediatrics, 84(3), 475-481, PMID:2771551.

(48) Satyanarayana, K et al. (1980). Adolescent growth spurt among rural indian boys in relation to their nutritional status in early childhood. Annals of Human Biology, 7(4), 359-365, PMID: 7436349.

(37) Et, al. (2003). Position of the american dietetic association and dietitians of canada: vegetarian diets.

Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 103(6), 748-765, doi: 10.1053/jada.2003.50142.

(49) Soliman, A et al. (2014). Nutrition and pubertal development. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 18((supp. 1)), S39-S47, doi: 10.4103/22308210.145073.

(38) Daenelie, P. Staveren, W. (1994). Macrobiotic nutrition and child health: results of a populationbased, mixed-longitudinal cohort study in the netherlands. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59(5 supp.), 1187S-1196S, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/59.5.1187S.

(50) Ibanez, L. (2006). Puberty after prenatal growth restraint. Hormone Research, 65(Supp. 3), 112-116, doi: 10.1159/000091515.

(39) Et, al. (2003). Position of the american dietetic association and dietitians of canada: vegetarian diets.

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(51) Gertler, A. (2009). The role of leptin during early life in imprinting later metabolic responses.

Leptin and Leptin Antagonists, 1st edition, doi. org/10.1201/9781498713146.

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(52) wwwIbanez, L. (2006). Puberty after prenatal growth restraint. Hormone Research, 65(Supp. 3), 112-116, doi: 10.1159/000091515.

(53) Soliman, A et al. (2014). Nutrition and pubertal development. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 18((supp. 1)), S39-S47, doi: 10.4103/22308210.145073.

(54) Acreage. Washington: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Statistical Reporting Service, Crop Reporting Board, 2015. 27. USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, June 2015.

(55) Cassidy, A. (1994). Biological Effects of a Diet of Soy Protein Rich in Isoflavones on the Menstrual Cycle of Premenopausal Women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 60, 333-340.

(56) Adams, N. (1995). Detection of the effect of phytoestrogens on sheep and cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 73, 1509-1515.

(57) Manning, R. (2004). Against the Grain: How agriculture has hijacked civilization. (1st ed., p. 359).

New York: North Point Press.

(58) L’Office Federal de la Sante Publique, (1992).

Bulletin de l’office federal de la sante publique. No. 28.

(59) Chavarro, J et al. (2008). Soy food and isoflavone intake in relation to semen quality parameters among men from an infertility clinic. Human Reproduction., 23(11), 2584-2590.

(60) Smith, Jeffrey. Genetically modified soy linked to sterility, infant mortality in hamsters. 2010, August, 8. The Huffington Post. bit.ly/3d9dogy.

(61) Irvine, C et al. (1995). The potential adverse effects of soybean phytoestrogens in infant feeding. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 108(1000), 208-209, PMID: 7783996.

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(62) Goyal, H., & Robateau, A. (2003). Neonatal estrogen exposure of male rats alters reproductive functions at adulthood. Biology of Reproduction, 68(2801), 2091. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.102.010637.

(63) Bernbaum, J et al. (2008). Pilot studies of estrogenrelated physical findings in infants. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116(3), 416-420, doi: 10.1289/ ehp.10409.

(64) Zung, A et al. (2008). Breast development in the first 2 years of life: an association with soy-based infant formulas. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 46(2), 191-195, doi: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e318159e6ae.

(65) Gilchrist, J et al. (2010). Ultrasonographic patterns of reproductive organs in infants fed soy formula: comparisons to infants fed breast milk and milk formula. The Journal of Pediatrics, 156(2), 215-220, doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.08.043.

(66) Woods H.F. Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment: Phytoestrogens and Health. COT Report No. FSA/0826/0503 Food Standards Agency; London, UK: 2003. pp. 357–360.

(67) Setchell, K et al. (1998). Isoflavone content of infant formulas and the metabolic fate of these phytoestrogens in early life. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 68(6 supp.), S1453-S1461, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/68.6.1453S. (68) Bulletin de L’Office Federal de la Santé Publique, No 28, July 20, 1992.

(69) Bryant, V. & Williams-Dean, G. (1974). Coprolites of Man. Scientific American, Inc., Retrieved from bit. ly/36N7GzC.

MEGAZEN

Volume 8

IDENTIFYING ALLERGIES MADE EASY You might remember as a child how unpleasant it was to be tested for allergies. Sitting in a chair for nearly half an hour while a nurse pricked lines of little red bumps up and down your forearm was anything but fun. Waiting for each bump to become inflamed after the nurse used an eyedropper to expose each one to a potential allergen made the whole messy process a miserable experience. Fortunately for adults and children, allergy testing isn’t what it used to be.

The Clarity Cleanse Food Discovery allergy test is simple and fast with no mess. For adults, all it takes is a quick blood draw, for children just a drop of blood from a finger prick. While you get to go back to your life, it’s your blood serum that gets exposed to a whole panel of potential allergens. Results arrive in just two weeks, and you can start improving your life and health by avoiding those things that trigger you. Contact the Be Hive of Healing today to set up an allergy test for you and/or your child. Your immune system will thank you for it.

Make sure what you’re eating is safe and come get an easy, hassle-free allergy test.

behiveofhealing.com/contact

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Answers & Emotional Anti-venom

How problems hold their own solutions

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

T

im Friede of Wisconsin has a very strange hobby. He collects the deadliest snakes from all over the world and then allows himself to be bitten by them.

He does this as part of his passion to provide scientific research that may lead to developing a vaccine for poisonous snake bites in the future that could save millions of lives.

Since high school, Friede has performed decades of research into poisonous snakes and biology to achieve what one might call a degree-by-experience.

Even so, the official science behind his efforts is being supervised and analyzed by Brian Hanley, PhD, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis, whose Butterfly Sciences is involved in developing an intracellular vaccine for HIV/AIDS treatment.

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Although anti-venom has a 100% record of saving the lives of those bitten by venomous snakes, the time and cost involved in producing it prohibit most hospitals around the world from having enough or any of it on hand. That’s a big problem when a venomous snake bite can kill in a matter of minutes. The fact is milking snakes to produce enough anti-venom yields only negligible amounts of the venom itself, so snakes have to be milked over and over again. For example, it took a total of three years and 69,000 milkings to get one pint of coral snake venom. The time involved and highly complex process of actually producing the anti-venom makes the end product extremely expensive. Just one vial of anti-venom can cost between $1,500 and $2,200, but a snake bite usually requires between 20 to 25

MEGAZEN

Volume 8

“Just as venom is the essential ingredient in its own cure, anti-venom, so too does the emotional pain we experience contain the antidote to solving the biggest challenges of our lives.”

experience contain the antidote to solving the biggest challenges of our lives. For example, the emotional upset we experience from a relationship problem happens for a reason. If we resist it through blaming the other person or denial, it poisons our life with anger and resentment, and can even destroy our health over time. If we allow the upset to move through us while remaining conscious enough to ask ourselves some very important questions, we can use it to help us create the healing we need.

vials for the venom to be neutralized. That means a single treatment can easily cost $30,000 or more.

So even though Friede’s work tends to make most people queasy just thinking about it, it holds great promise in many ways.

Friede has even allowed himself to be bitten by two of the world’s deadliest snakes back-to-back, a black mamba and a taipan. The good news is he survived once more what would have killed any other human on the planet. So, how does he do it? He’s built up his own store of antibodies by injecting himself with controlled but increasingly higher doses of venom every day for over 17 years.

The story of Tim Friede reminds us that just as venom is the essential ingredient in its own cure, anti-venom, so too does the emotional pain we

What does this situation have to say about me and my judgment? What could it be inside of me that drew this person or circumstance into my life? How would I need to change so that I can resolve this situation and not create others like it for myself in the future?

This is the kind of internal exploration required to begin real emotional healing that’s also the catalyst for physical healing. Sherry and I will be discussing these issues along with the power of emotional anti-venom and Tim Friede’s incredible achievements at a special workshop hosted by The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies later this year.

With a 40-year history of providing ecumenical and spiritual education by instructors such as Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, and Thich Nhat Hanh, we are extremely honored to have been asked to present.

So, by understanding that the venom we experience from the trials of our lives actually contains a healing balm, we can use it to create the proper anti-venom that delivers us into a healthier understanding of ourselves and a better life.

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A BLIND EYE

THE CDC IGNORES HOW THE GARDASIL VACCINE IS DEVASTATING THE LIVES OF YOUNG WOMEN

V

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

accine safety and efficacy have been hot button issues since the 1980s when the vaccine schedule for children began to climb dramatically, up from 5 shots of 3 vaccines in 1962, to 12 shots of 5 vaccines in 1986, and now 54 shots of 13 vaccines in 2019. As children began receiving more vaccines, the autism rate increased right along with it, and concerned parents and health officials demanded answers. As a result, it wasn’t a coincidence that in 1986 Congress passed the Childhood Vaccination Injury Act that gave pharmaceutical companies producing vaccines full federal protection from lawsuits. Many were right to ask, If vaccines were really safe, why did their makers need protection from liability?

Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was ordered by Congress in 1986 to determine if vaccines like DTP, DTaP, Hep B, Hib, PCV 13, and IPV caused autism, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly Institute of Medicine, that was charged with supervising the CDC in this regard confirmed in a 2014 report1 that the research was never done.2 The only vaccine ever studied with regard to autism was the MMR vaccine, and senior CDC scientists have stated it does increase autism.3 Other scientists from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have submitted sworn affidavits to the Department of Justice stating the same of other vaccines. 4 Even now, as the autism rate in America has exploded from 1 in 2,500 pre-19865 to 1 in 36 today,6 the CDC still claims on its website that vaccines are safe and do not cause autism7 in spite of never having performed any research to prove that’s so. This baseless claim comes from the same agency that will spend tens of millions of dollars tracking a few hundred cases of measles, an illness that virtually no one dies from (1 in 10,000 or 0.01%),8 while turning a blind eye to the epidemic of 68,000 new cases of autism diagnosed each year.9 C ON T I N U E D. . .

“Because vaccines are so lucrative for manufacturers and government health agencies, they are the only medical / pharmaceutical product for which the FDA does not require rigorous safety testing before being licensed and released for public use.”

At the same time, researchers in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) African vaccine program published research in 2017 that found children receiving the DTP vaccine had a mortality rate ten times higher than children who were unvaccinated. It was found that the vaccine had weakened the children’s immune system so severely that they died in droves from unrelated infections. The researchers concluded, “The DTP vaccine may kill more children from other causes than it saves from diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.”10 UNHEALTHY INVESTMENT

The governmental agencies that were created to protect and improve our health look the other way as millions of children are neurologically damaged and die from vaccines because they’re financially invested in them. In fact, the conflicts of interest run so deep and profit margins so high that these agencies are little more than vaccine pushers with no intention of reducing vaccinations or removing the mandates for children to get them.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives 45% of its annual budget from the pharmaceutical industry. The WHO gets 50% of its budget from private sources, including the pharmaceutical industry and its allied foundations.

The CDC is little more than a vaccine company holding the patents for 56 vaccines, while buying and distributing $4.6 billion in vaccines each year through its Vaccines for Children Program, which represents 40% of its budget.11 HHS partners with vaccine makers to develop, approve, recommend and pass mandates for new vaccines. In fact, 28

HHS employees receive up to $150,000 per year in royalties from vaccines they work on.12 This enormous financial incentive for government healthcare agencies is precisely why, after vaccine makers were freed from all liability in 1986, the vaccine schedule for children now includes 11 times more shots than a few decades ago, exemptions are being eliminated, and vaccination has exploded into a $50 billion industry.13 ABSENCE OF STANDARDS

Free from liability and with a captive market of 76 million US children mandated to be vaccinated for school, there is zero incentive for vaccine makers to ensure their products are safe. Presently, only four companies, Merck, GlaxoSmithKlein, Sanofi, and Pfizer, make all vaccines, and since 2009 they’ve collectively paid over $35 billion in fines for defrauding regulators, bribing government officials and physicians, falsifying scientific data, and leaving a trail of hundreds of thousands of dead and injured from their many products that they told us were safe and effective.14 So should we believe them when they tell us the same about vaccines?

Because vaccines are so lucrative for manufacturers and government health agencies, they are the only medical / pharmaceutical product for which the FDA does not require rigorous safety testing before being licensed and released for public use. While other drugs are typically required to go through five or more years of double-blind, controlled studies,15 vaccines are often approved in a matter of days. Even worse, vaccines are not tested against an inert placebo,

MEGAZEN

such as a shot of saline solution. When two drugs are tested against each other, especially if they have similar ingredients, and no placebo is in place, it’s impossible to discover which components might be causing adverse effects because nothing has been isolated. There is no capacity to assess a medication’s risk. It’s also impossible to determine a medication’s effectiveness because in order to be deemed effective by FDA standards, a medication must perform better than a placebo.

SAFETY FOR SALE

Adding to the lack of safety protocol, a 2013 report from NAM found that there has never been a single study comparing the differences in health outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Equally, studies examining the long-term health effects of cumulative vaccines or other aspects of the vaccine schedule “have not been conducted”. 16 Approving vaccines within a matter of days doesn’t allow enough time to identify and track many illnesses that vaccinated children often present with later on such as allergies, asthma, auto-immune diseases, cancer, seizure disorders, arthritis, diabetes, rhinitis, neurological disorders, autism, and hundreds other injuries listed on manufacturers' inserts. It seems more than coincidental that before the vaccine schedule exploded in 1986, 12.8%17 of American children suffered from chronic diseases. Today it’s 54%.18

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In the meantime, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program at HHS has paid out more than $4 billion in compensation to Americans injured by vaccines. 26 This seems like a telling admission because if vaccines were proven to be safe, they wouldn’t be paying anyone.

Although the CDC basically refuses to do vaccine safety research, it has set up the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), an online information portal where vaccine injuries can be self-reported and tabulated by vaccine, type of injury, and year. In 2018, the system received 58,381 reports of adverse events that included 412 deaths, 1,237 permanent disabilities, and 4,217 hospitalizations.27 These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg because HHS has stated that less than 1% of vaccine injuries are ever reported. 28 This is largely due to the CDC’s refusal to either mandate or automate reporting for healthcare providers, so it’s left up to patients, if they are even aware of vaccine dangers, to self-report.29

If vaccines worked the way they are claimed, the U.S. should have the healthiest children because we have the most aggressive vaccine schedule in the world. Since the mid 1980s, health outcomes for American children have plummeted, ranking 35th behind Costa Rica,19 giving us the sickest children and highest infant mortality 20 in the developed world.

Because virtually no safety research has been done on vaccines, vaccination advocates almost always have to rely on appeals to authority such as the CDC, FDA, or WHO that “says” vaccines are safe in order to support their claims instead of scientific evidence. Even more, NAM, which was designated by HHS as monitor of the CDC’s vaccine safety research has stated that the claims of these agencies are entirely unfounded because the necessary research simply hasn’t been done,21 which the CDC still refuses to perform.22 In spite of this, NAM has released several investigative23 reports24 determining25 that more than 30 conditions have a causal connection to vaccines. In examining the paltry amount of research data the CDC has produced over decades, NAM stated that is was so inadequate it couldn’t possibly be used to accept or reject vaccine causation.

“Studies examining the long-term health effects of cumulative vaccines or other aspects of the vaccine schedule ‘have not been conducted.’”

The media is complicit in the cover-up of vaccine dangers because it receives over $5 billion in advertising from the pharmaceutical industry each year.30 So instead of exposing the dangers of vaccines and the fraud and negligence of the government health agencies and manufacturers that profit from them, they pretend they’re “protecting public health” through information blackouts, coercion, and shaming dissenters. All

29

the while, the pharmaceutical companies make billions more from children who must take numerous medications like Adderall, asthma inhalers, ADHD and anti-seizure medications because of vaccine-related illnesses for the rest of their lives.

contract HPV each year, but less than 3,900 of them will die from cervical cancer—mostly due to not getting regular pap smears.32 To put this in perspective, just 0.065% of women contracting HPV annually will die from cervical cancer and even less if they see their gynecologist regularly.

SELLING FEAR

The CDC continues to wildly exaggerate the threat of HPV by claiming that nearly 35,000 Americans are diagnosed with HPV related cancers each year. In reaching this number, the CDC explained that its researchers referred to the National Program for Cancer Registries and simply added up the number of cases with “cancer in parts of the body and cancer cell types that are more likely to be caused by HPV.” However, immediately after that statement the CDC admits, “Cancer registries do not routinely collect data on whether HPV is in the cancer tissue.”33 Then it’s impossible to know if HPV played a role in any of those cancers and irresponsible to say so. In reality, HPV may have been involved in a fraction of a percent, or more likely none of them. More junk science from the CDC to push vaccines for profit.

The most recent vaccine-related childhood health tragedy comes to us by way of the HPV vaccine, alleged to protect against the human papilloma virus that has been linked to cervical cancer. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease and presently affects 79 million Americans.31 There are about 100 different strains with all but a few being harmless. The most familiar is associated with genital warts, which aren’t dangerous and can be removed with a minor procedure. The virus is transferred through skin-to-skin contact, usually via the mouth, genitals and other sexual areas of the body. This makes it very easy to contract, which is why so many people have already been exposed.

Sold as Gardasil by Merck in the U.S. and as Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKlein in Europe, the CDC approved the HPV vaccine three-shot series for girls between ages 11 and 12 in 2006. Astonishingly, it was approved for boys between ages 11 and 26 in 2011. With a fear-based ad campaign, pharmaceutical companies and the CDC urged parents to vaccinate their children against HPV before they became sexually active to protect against the miniscule risk of dying from cervical cancer.

According to the CDC, six million women

The truth is HPV is essentially harmless with only two strains (16 & 18) out of 100 considered to be “high risk”. Even in those cases, research34 has consistently 35 shown36 that the body will naturally eradicate HPV on its own in more than 90% of cases. The odds are even better if the person is under age 30. When interviewed

by SELF magazine about HPV, board certified gynecologists stated, “The vast majority of people with HPV get rid of the virus naturally” and “Most [HPV infections] are self-limiting and will be self-cleared.”37

“With a fear-based ad campaign, pharmaceutical companies and the CDC urged parents to vaccinate their children against HPV before they became sexually active to protect against the miniscule risk of dying from cervical cancer.”

30

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“In 2018, a research study of eight million women ages 25 to 29 between the years 2007 and 2014 found that 60% of women who did not receive the HPV vaccine were pregnant at least once during that seven-year period, while only 35% of women that got the vaccine had conceived.”

Even the CDC admits on its own website, “Studies have shown that more than 90 percent of new HPV infections, including those with high-risk types, clear or become undetectable within two years, and clearance usually occurs in the first six months after infection.” 38 An astonishing admission. So, why the hysteria?

Condoms can prevent 70% of HPV infections.39 Coupled with a greater than 90% chance of clearing by the immune system and regular pap smears, who needs a vaccine for what’s essentially a non-lethal virus?

TR AIL OF TR AGEDIES

Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped the CDC, drug companies, media, and uninformed healthcare providers from encouraging young people, mostly girls, to get the HPV vaccine. As with other vaccines, it’s now been implicated in an increasing number of adverse events, disabling injuries, and deaths.

At the time of this writing, a search of the CDC’s VAERS database for all versions of the HPV vaccine returned 53,375 adverse events reported between the vaccine’s release in 2006 through 2019. This included 1,854 hospitalizations, 646 life-threatening events, 1,165 permanent disabilities, and 239 deaths. This doesn’t include other categories such as emergency room visits, prolonged hospitalization, or birth defects / anomalies. Of note were 2008 and 2009 when 155 people were permanently disabled each year, along with 2016 when 24 people died. 40 REPRODUCTIVE R AMIFICATIONS

Also of great concern is a growing number of young women who are experiencing premature ovarian failure (POF) approximately three years after receiving the HPV vaccine. POF is an extremely rare condition where the eggs in the ovaries spontaneously die and a woman immediately goes into menopause. At that point, she is infertile regardless of her age. Medical journals have been documenting 41 this rare

phenomenon happening42 more often to girls as young as 1643 who received the HPV vaccine around age 12. Most reported seeing their menstrual cycle become increasingly irregular starting at six months after vaccination until menstruation completely stopped about two years later. As this shocking occurrence becomes more common in young women, medical investigators have urged “rigorous inquiry” into the subject. 44 The threat of POF after HPV vaccination received broader public awareness in 2013 when sisters Madelyne Meylor and Olivia Meylor of Wisconsin both experienced POF at 16 and 17.

After diagnostic testing, including genetic testing, couldn’t provide answers, they filed a lawsuit against HHS. 45 A federal judge later threw the case out on a technicality and without making any determination as to the relationship between POF and the HPV vaccine. 46 Around the same time the Meylor sisters filed their lawsuit, more than 2,000 Japanese women were reporting severe adverse reactions six months to three years after getting the HPV vaccine including long-term pain, numbness, paralysis, and sudden, unexplained infertility. As reports continued to grow, the Japanese Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry withdrew its support for the HPV vaccine and now no longer recommends it. 47 PREVENTING PREGNANCIES

For women who received the HPV vaccine but did not experience POF, studies are showing they 31

“In the wake of the overwhelming evidence of the damage to fertility caused by the HPV vaccine, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) issued a press release publicly admitting it had concerns about the connection.”

have difficulty conceiving and become pregnant less often than unvaccinated women. In 2018, a research study of eight million women ages 25 to 29 between the years 2007 and 2014 found that 60% of women who did not receive the HPV vaccine were pregnant at least once during that seven-year period, while only 35% of women that got the vaccine had conceived. Among married women, 75% who did not receive the HPV vaccine had conceived. In comparison, 50% who’d received the shot had been pregnant. Because the HPV vaccine is a three-shot series, it was found that having just one of the shots without the others made a woman less likely to conceive than a woman who’d received none. The lead researcher, Gayle DeLong, stated:

spontaneous abortions, 130 cases of amenorrhea (cessation of menstruation), and 123 cases of irregular menstruation.

Results suggest that females who received the HPV shot were less likely to have ever been pregnant than women in the same age group who did not receive the shot. If 100% of females in this study had received the HPV vaccine, data suggest the number of women having ever conceived would have fallen by 2 million. Further study into the influence of HPV vaccine on fertility is thus warranted. 48

“Data suggest that at least part of the reason for the recent decline in US birth rates amongst females aged 25–29 may be associated with increasing injection of the HPV vaccine.”

The study went on to show that not only are birth rates for American women under age 30 at record lows, dropping 11.5% between 2007 and 2015, but that the sharp downturn began just one year after the HPV vaccine was licensed for public use in 2006. This was after a steady increase in births of 8.5% between 1995 and 2006. It seems to be more than a coincidence that the drop-off in births began just one year after the introduction of Gardasil. Also of note in the research were examinations of other studies documenting 48 cases of ovarian damage, 214 32

The study went to great lengths to try and explain the drastic reduction in births for women under 30 by means other than the HPV vaccine. Abortions actually declined between 2006 and 2014. Use of contraception remained static for the same time period, and the effectiveness of contraceptive devices was unchanged. While the economic recession of 2008 was followed by a decrease in births, the economy was recovering by 2010. U.S. employment rates and birth rates tend to move together, however, as employment rates began to recover in 2010, births continued to decline. The study concluded:

SCIENTIFIC SABOTAGE

The study also called into question the lax methodology of the original Gardasil safety testing for a reason as to why the connection between the HPV vaccine and infertility problems was never made. In one study, over 50% of the girls were too young (9-12) to examine abnormal changes in the menstrual cycle. In another, older girls were required to use birth control pills, once again making it impossible to track effects on fertility. Follow-ups only included adverse effects that happened in the two weeks following vaccination, when research consistently shows major adverse events happen within 2-3 years after receiving the shots.

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Even worse, the control group in some of the clinical trials received solutions containing some of the same substances already in the vaccine instead of plain saline solution. In other research, these substances were found to have side effects, including ovarian damage. Corrupting the placebo this way would falsely make the HPV vaccine appear no more risky than the placebo and at least as safe and effective. Clearly, the so-called safety trials for the HPV vaccine constitute scientific misconduct if not outright criminal fraud.

The 2018 study caused a sensation within the medical and pharmaceutical industries. After multiple complaints and a letter to the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health where it was published, it was retracted by the editor several weeks later, 49 but can still be accessed online. Gayle DeLong responded with her own rebuttal defending her study shortly after.50 A great breakdown of Dr. DeLong’s original study can be found by doing an internet search for: vaccineimpact.com, 2018 study, HPV, fertility.

In the wake of the overwhelming evidence of the damage to fertility caused by the HPV vaccine, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) issued a press release publicly admitting it had concerns about the connection.51 It acknowledged: • “Long term ovarian function was not assessed in either the original rat safety studies, or in the human vaccine trial.”

• “Potential mechanisms of action have been postulated based on autoimmune associations with the aluminum adjuvant used and previously documented ovarian toxicity in rats from another component, polysorbate 80.”

• “Since licensure of Gardasil in 2006, there have been about 213 VAERS reports involving

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amenorrhea, POF or premature menopause, 88 percent of which have been associated with Gardasil.”

The ACP also announced that it was establishing a Vaccine Safety Datalink POF study to address these connections. It added that it would likely be years before results could be determined.

DEPOPULATION THROUGH VACCINES

With so many young women suffering unusual and rare fertility problems after vaccination, there has been much talk about the possibility of vaccines being used for world depopulation by global agencies. While that may sound like science fiction, most people don’t know that the WHO does indeed have a Task Force on Birth Control Vaccines. They have been working on contraceptive vaccines for decades and speak openly about their use to curb population growth across the world.

“Our study provides insights into possible modes of action of the birth control vaccine promoted by the Task Force on Birth Control Vaccines of the WHO (World Health Organization).” “…we initiated studies relating to possible mechanisms of action and potential side effects of this vaccine, which should be relevant to world-wide regulation of population growth.”52 One of the mechanisms being used in vaccines to reduce human births is the inclusion of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) coupled with a toxin such as HPV, tetanus, diphtheria, etc. to trigger an autoimmune response to the body’s increased production of the hormone. After a female egg is fertilized by sperm and an embryo starts to develop, the woman’s body begins to produce more hCG. This is the signal that tells the female body it is pregnant and triggers the rest

“With a fear-based ad campaign, pharmaceutical companies and the CDC urged parents to vaccinate their children against HPV before they became sexually active to protect against the miniscule risk of dying from cervical cancer.”

33

of the hormonal cascade and biological changes.

In a vaccinated pregnant woman, her body not only contains antibodies to the toxin but also antibodies to hCG that was coupled with it.

Because of this, hCG is seen as an invader too and neutralized as soon as the embryo begins to develop. Without the signal of hCG to tell the woman’s body it’s pregnant, the embryo will be swept out with her next menstrual cycle.

Researchers have stated: Three major approaches to contraceptive vaccine development are being pursued at the present time. The most advanced approach…involves the induction of immunity against human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). Vaccines are being engineered … incorporating tetanus or diptheria toxoid linked to a variety of hCG-based peptides … Clinical trials have revealed that such preparations are capable of stimulating the production of anti-hCG antibodies…

The fundamental principle behind this approach to contraceptive vaccine development is to prevent the maternal recognition of pregnancy by inducing a state of immunity against hCG, the hormone that signals the presence of the embryo to the maternal endocrine system.

In principle, the induction of immunity against hCG should lead to a sequence of normal, or slightly extended, menstrual cycles during which any pregnancies would be terminated…

[Additional vaccines] aim to prevent conception by interfering with the intricate cascade of interactive events that characterize the union of male and female gametes at fertilization.53 There are over 50 journal articles on contraceptive54 and anti-fertility vaccines.55 Perhaps this is why rumors have circulated for years about the tetanus vaccine being used by WHO, UNICEF and the UN to reduce the population in places like Kenya,56 the Philippines, Nicaragua, and Brazil,57 where young women flee into the wilderness to avoid the massive vaccination campaigns that go on there.

It should be stated that as far as what we know about the contents of the HPV vaccine, it does not contain hCG. However, it does contain Polysorbate-80, a surfactant that reduces the surface tension between the boundaries of two liquids, a gas and a liquid or a solid and a liquid.

Pharmacology uses surfactants to deliver certain drugs through the blood-brain barrier, whose job is to protect the brain by keeping most things out. Research has found that exposure to Polysorbate-80 decreases the weight of the uterus and ovaries, and causes chronic estrogenic stimulation. Studies with mice have shown affected ovaries are also without corpora lutea (a mass of progesterone-secreting endocrine tissue that forms immediately after ovulation) and have 34

degenerative follicles.58 It’s also important to know that the manufacturer’s insert of other vaccines, including the flu vaccine, states that the shot “…has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential or impairment to fertility.” In the case of the flu shot it also admits that, “There have been no controlled trials adequately demonstrating a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination…”59 REVERSING POSITIVE HEALTH TRENDS

Although the HPV vaccine is purported to protect against cervical cancer, statistics show cervical cancer rates were in sharp decline in all countries where pap smear screening was used regularly for a total global decrease of 30% between 1989 and 2007 before the vaccine was in use.

Some of the most dramatic declines were seen in Australia (13.5 to 7), France (11 to 7.1) and the U.S. (10.7 to 6.6) per 100,000. 60 Several years after the HPV vaccine was introduced in 2006, this trend was completely reversed, particularly in countries where vaccine campaigns were aggressive and a large percentage of young girls were vaccinated.

In the UK, where 85% of girls between 14 and 18 were vaccinated, national statistics from 2016 showed an increase of 70% in the rate of cervical cancer for these women when they reached 20-25 (from 2.7 to 4.6 in 100,000). Women 25-30 who received the vaccine when they were 18-23 saw

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their cervical cancer rate increase 100% from 11 to 22. Women 25-34 who were exposed to less of the vaccine with only the catch-up shot saw their risk increase by 18% from 17 to 20. Unvaccinated women in all age groups continued to see their cervical cancer rates decrease. This has been the case in all countries where vaccination rates were over 80% including Sweden, Australia, Norway, and others.61 Even though 4.6 in 100,000 is still fairly low for women 20-25 in the UK, risk increases of 70% to 100% just ten years after the HPV vaccine was introduced and in such a young age group after decades of decline is a phenomenon that should not be ignored.

In the U.S. where the HPV vaccine isn’t mandatory (yet), coverage rates of young women average about 60%. Because of this, the cervical cancer rate among all women under 50 has remained relatively stable, seeing a 4% increase from 5.24 in 2007 to 5.47 in 2015.62 The odds are great that if only vaccinated women were isolated from this group, the increase in cervical cancer rates would be closer to those seen in Europe.

“The pharmaceutical industry and media may turn a blind eye to the real dangers of the HPV vaccine, but we don’t have to.”

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CAUSING CERVICAL CANCER

In Sweden, where 80% of 12-year-old girls received the HPV vaccine and 60% between 13 and 18, cervical cancer cases increased 50% between 2006 and 2015, from 202 per 100,000 to 317. These shocking statistics prompted a Swedish researcher to publish a study in 2018 demonstrating how the HPV vaccine may actually cause cervical cancer and not protect against it in many women. The study also examined the original HPV trials and found researchers were aware of this risk but chose not to disclose it. 63 Out of 100 HPV strains, the HPV vaccine is said to protect against just four of them, two of which, 16 and 18, have been associated with most cervical cancers. In a review of the original vaccine trials, the 2018 Swedish study found that the vaccine is only effective against strains 16 and 18 in women who have not been previously exposed. In women already carrying those strains, no new antibodies are produced by vaccination and therefore no protection is provided.

The study found that in women who were previously exposed to HPV 16 or 18 and later received the vaccine, the 16 and 18 viral strains in the serum reactivated and accelerated the virus in their bodies, causing cell proliferation and higher rates of cancer. Not only that, but it can cause reactivation of other “non-target” viruses in the body, including other HPV strains.

Of equal concern is that young girls are not screened for which HPV strains they may have already been exposed to before vaccination. Since it’s passed through skin-to-skin contact, being sexually active isn’t a prerequisite for exposure.

Children can be exposed by passing through their mother’s birth canal, coming into contact with infected items or hospital-acquired infection and never know it. Anyone even contemplating the HPV vaccine should be pre-screened and if they discover they’re carrying strain 16 or 18, they should not under any circumstances receive the shots. A regular pap smear can provide this simple information, but aggressive vaccine campaigns promote mass immunization for girls so young they’ve never had one. At the same time, in 95% of women, the body will neutralize all HPV strains anyway, including 16 and 18. Why take a vaccine that will supercharge them instead?

REVELATION & RETR ACTION

It’s very telling that this Swedish researcher didn’t publish his Swedish study in a European or North American medical journal. It was probably because he knew the explosive results would cause a professional backlash. In fact, he went so far as to publish under a pseudonym, explaining to the 35

journal editors his need to avoid threats to his personal and professional wellbeing. After the study caused a sensation, the pharmaceutical industry’s damage control went on the offensive. Just like Dr. DeLong’s study, the Swedish study was quickly retracted by the journal editors. In the retraction, they admit that they knew the author’s true identity and that the “threat of harm” he expressed that justified using a pseudonym was “credible”. Even so, they chose to retract the article (which is still available online) because of the “deception” involved, not because the data was incorrect.

In spite of the attempt to censor the Swedish study, a connection between cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine continues to be made. Among 305,000 adverse events that included 445 deaths, a recent study in the British Medical Journal attributed over 1,000 cancerous tumors (including 168 cervical cancers) to the HPV vaccine. Researchers stated: A healthy 16-year-old is at zero immediate risk of dying from cervical cancer but is faced with a small but real risk of death or serious disability from a vaccine that has yet to prevent a single case of cervical cancer.64 While the HPV vaccine isn’t believed to contain hCG, it has been found in other vaccines where components of it have been shown to stimulate and increase the growth of resistant cancers, including cervical cancer. 65 This is of particular concern because researchers working on anti-fertility vaccines have previously stated interest in developing vaccines with regard to hCG sensitive cancers.

At the present time, studies are focused on increasing the immunogenicity and efficacy of the birth control vaccine, and examining its clinical applications in various hCG-producing cancers. 66 EDUCATION SAVES LIVES

With an adverse event rate of 1 in 15 including reproductive damage, autoimmune disease, and cancer, and a death rate of 14 in 10,000, the HPV vaccine has left a long trail of tragedies in its wake since being approved in 2006. 67 The overall risk of dying of cervical cancer in the U.S. is 2.3 in 100,000, but the chances of getting an autoimmune disease from the HPV vaccine are 2.3 in 100—that’s a risk 1,000 times greater than dying of cervical cancer. 68 Is it really worth it?

Believe in the body’s ability to heal and clear HPV, which happens in 95% of all cases. Get regular pap tests every three years with an HPV screening every 5th year, and educate your doctor on the information in this article. Even in spite of the tragedies caused by the HPV vaccine, cervical cancer continues to fall for women over 50 largely because 99% of them never received the vaccine. That speaks volumes. The pharmaceutical industry and media may turn a blind eye to the real dangers of the HPV vaccine, but we don’t have to. Share this information with someone you love and protect their health and future.

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(2) The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, “Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines”, The National Academies Press, (1991), bit. ly/2E8dDeL. (3) Hooker, Brian, Thompson, William, recorded interviews, “CDC Whistleblower-Full Audio”, SoundCloud, (May, June, July, 2014), bit.ly/3msyPgC. (4) Atkisson, Sharyl, “Dr. Andrew Zimmerman’s full affidavit on alleged link between vaccines and autism that U.S. govt. covered up”, (January 6, 2019), bit. ly/3hDbF3x.

(5) Blaxill, Mark. (2004). What’s going on? The question of time trends in autism. Public Health Reports, 119(6), 536-551, doi: 10.1016/j.phr.2004.09.003.

(6) Zablotsky, B, et al., CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, NCHS Data Brief #291, “Estimated Prevalence of Children with Diagnosed Developmental Disabilities in the United States, 2014-2016, (November, 2017), bit. ly/2GYfDHl. (7) CDC, “Vaccine Safety”, bit.ly/2FEnFVs. (8) Physicians for Informed Consent, “Measles – Disease Information Statement”, bit.ly/3mvX4KT. (9) Kennedy, Robert F. Jr., “Americans Can Handle an Open Discussion on Vaccines – RFK Jr. Responds to Criticism from His Family”, Children’s Health Defense, (August 15, 2019), bit.ly/3hCeoud.

(10) Morgensen, S. (2017). The introduction of diphtheriatetanus-pertussis and oral polio vaccine among young infants in an urban African community: a natural experiment. EBioMedicine, 17(1), 192-198, doi: 10.1016/j. ebiom.2017.01.041.

(11) Kennedy, Robert F. Jr., “Americans Can Handle an Open Discussion on Vaccines – RFK Jr. Responds to Criticism from His Family”, Children’s Health Defense, (August 15, 2019), bit.ly/3hCeoud.

(12) Legal Information Institute, US Code, Title 15, Commerce and Trade, Chapter 63, Technology and Innovation, Section 3710c, “Distribution of Royalties Received by Federal Agencies”, bit.ly/33z7np4.

(13) Statista, “Global Vaccine Market Revenues from 2014 to 2020”, bit.ly/3hwtAsM (14) Almashat, S, et al., “Twenty-Seven Years of Pharmaceutical Industry Criminal and Civil Penalties: 1991 – 2017”, Public Citizen, (March 14, 2018), bit. ly/3c5ycor.

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(15) DiMasi, J, “Cost of Developing a New Drug”, Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, Tufts University, (November 18, 2014), bit.ly/2FElJwd. (16) National Academy of Medicine, The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholders Concerns, Scientific Evidence, and Future Studies, The National Academy Press, (2013), bit.ly/2H8Q1Yw. (17) van Cleave, J et al. (2010). Dynamics of obesity and chronic health conditions among children and youth. Journal of the American Medical Association, 303(7), 623-630, doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.104.

(18) Bethell, C et al. (2011). A national and state profile of leading health problems and health care quality for us children: key insurance disparities and across-state variations. American Pediatrics, 11(3), S22-S33, doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2010.08.011.

(19) Miller, Lee, “These Are the World’s Healthiest Nations”, Bloomberg, (February 24, 2019), bloom. bg/3iDPZFN. (20) Trimble, Megan, “U.S. Kids More Likely to Die Than Kids in 19 Other Nations”, US News & World Report, (January 11, 2018), bit.ly/2FrHjUT. (21) National Academy of Medicine, The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholders Concerns, Scientific Evidence, and Future Studies, The National Academy Press, (2013), bit.ly/2H8Q1Yw. (22) Bigtree, Del, “HHS Vaccine Safety Responsibilities and Notice Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 300aa-31”, Informed Consent Action Network, (Dec 31, 2018), bit.ly/33z7X6e.

(23) Fineberg, H, “Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines: A Report of the Committee to Review the Adverse Consequences of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines”, Institute of Medicine, National Academies Press, (1991), PMID: 25121241.

(24) Stratton, K, “Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines: Evidence Bearing on Causality”, Institute of Medicine, National Academies Press, (1994), PMID: 25144097.

(25) Stratton, K, “Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality”, Institute of Medicine, National Academies Press, (2011), PMID: 24624471.

(26) National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, Monthly Statistics Report, Filings 1/1/2006 to 12/31/2017, (July 1, 2019), bit.ly/3kmZQ3m.

(27) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, searched on July 15, 2019, bit.ly/32BV5wH. (28) Ross, L ., Electronic Support for Public Health-Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, Grant Final Report, Agency for Health Research and Quality, 12-1-07 to 9-3-10, bit.ly/32BRLBT.

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(29) Bigtree, Del, “HHS Vaccine Safety Responsibilities and Notice Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 300aa-31”, Informed Consent Action Network, (December 31, 2018), bit. ly/33z7X6e.

(30) Picchi, Aimee, “Drug ads: $5.2 billion annually and rising”, CBS News, (March 11, 2016), cbsn. ws/2Ed8baw.

(31) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Genital HPV Infection Fact Sheet”, (August 20, 2019), bit.ly/33CLNjk. (32) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “HPV Diseases and Cancers”, (April 29, 2019), bit.ly/35JpE5u.

(33) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “How Many Cancers are Linked with HPV Each Year?”, (August 2, 2019), bit.ly/33Ep6vn.

(34) Molano, M et al. (2003). Determinants of clearance of human papillomavirus infections in Colombian women with normal cytology: a population-based, 5-year follow-up study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 158(5), 486-494, doi: 10.1093/aje/kwg171.

(35) Franco, E et al. (1999). Epidemiology of acquisition and clearance of cervical human papillomavirus infection in women from a high-risk area for cervical cancer. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 180(5), 1415-1423, doi: 10.1086/315086.

(36) Ho, G et al. (1995). Persistent genital human papillomavirus infection as a risk factor for persistent cervical dysplasia. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 87(18), 1365-1371, doi: 10.1093/jnci/87.18.1365 (37) Zahra, Barnes, “Does HPV Stick Around Forever or Does It Go Away On Its Own?”, SELF, (August 8, 2019), bit.ly/3hysrkh.

(38) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, Chapter 5, Human Papilloma Virus, (November 10, 2017), bit.ly/3mv9539.

(39) Winer, R et al. (2006). Condom use and the risk of genital human papillomavirus infection in young women. The New England Journal of Medicine, 354(25), 2645-2654, doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa053284.

(40) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, About the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), search conducted: January 15, 2020, bit. ly/32BV5wH. (41) Little, D. (2014). Adolescent premature o var ian in suf f ic ien c y follo wing hum an papillomavirus vaccination. Journal of Investigative Medicine High Impact Reports, 2(4), 1-12, doi: 10.1177/2324709614556129.

C ON T I N U E D. . .

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(42) Little, D et al. (2012). Premature ovarian failure 3 years after menarche in a 16-year-old girl following human papillomavirus vaccination. British Medical Journal Case Reports, 45(7), bcr2012006879, doi: 10.1136/bcr-2012-006879.

(54) PubMed, Best Matches for Contraceptive Vaccines, bit.ly/3iC45re

(43) Colafrancesco, S et al. (2013). Human papilloma virus vaccine and primary ovarian failure: another facet of the autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants. American Journal of Reproductive Immunology, 70(4), 309-316, doi: 10.1111/ aji.12151.

(56) Wetherbe, Steve, “A Mass Sterilization Exercise: Kenyan Doctors Find Anti-Fertility Agent in UN Tetanus Vaccine”, LifeSite, (November 6, 2014), bit. ly/3iDX5Ky

(44) Ibid.

(45) Wetzstein, Cheryl, “HPV Vaccine Cited in Infertility Case”, The Washington Times, (November 11, 2013), bit.ly/2FATNJM. (46) DeLong, Katie, “Judge Dismisses Lawsuit: Wisconsin Sisters Say Gardasil Vaccine Caused Their Premature Ovarian Failure”, Fox6 News, (May 19, 2016), bit.ly/3muNesU. (47) “Cervarix Vaccine Issues Trigger Health Notice”, The Japan Times, (June 15, 2013), bit.ly/33Eypv2.

(48) Delong, G. (2018). A lowered probability of pregnancy in females in the USA aged 25-29 who received a human papillomavirus vaccine injection.

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 81(14), 661-674, doi: 10.1080/15287394.2018.1477640.

(49) Editors. (2018). Retracted Article: [A lowered probability of pregnancy in females in the USA aged 25–29 who received a human papillomavirus vaccine injection]. Statement of Retraction. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 81(14), 1-2, doi: 10.1080/15287394.2018.1477640.

(50) Delong, Gayle. (2019). Letters to the editor; response to: a possible spurious correlation between human papillomavirus vaccination introduction and birth rate change in the united states. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 15(10), 2503-2504, doi: 10.1080/21645515.2019.1622977.

(51) Field, Scott, “New Concerns About the Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine”, Press Release, (January 2016), bit.ly/35GSF1J. (52) Dirnhofer, S et al. (1993). Functional and immunological relevance of the COOH-terminal extension of human chorionic gonadotropin beta: implications for the who birth control vaccine.

Research Communications, 7(14), 1381-1385, doi: 10.1096/fasebj.7.14.7693535, bit.ly/3knKmMl. (53) Aiken, R et al. (1993). Contraceptive vaccines.

British Medical Bulletin, 49(1), 88–99, doi: 10.1093/ oxfordjournals.bmb.a072608.

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(55) Talwar, G. Raghupathy, R. (1989). Anti-fertility vaccines. Vaccine, 7(2), 97-101, doi: 10.1016/0264410x(89)90043-1.

(57) Hoffman, Matthew, “Massive Brazilian Vaccination Raises Suspicions of Covert Sterilization Program”, LifeSite, (August 14, 2008), bit.ly/3mBvFYj. (58) Gajdova, M et al. (1993). Delayed effects of neonatal exposure to tween 80 on female reproductive organs in rats. Food and Chemical Toxicity, 31(3), 183-190, doi: 10.1016/0278-6915(93)90092-d.

(59) Adams, Mike, “Flu Shot Hoax Admitted: No controlled trials demonstrating a decrease in influenza”, Natural News, (January 27, 2015), bit. ly/3iExyAK. (60) Delepine, Nicole, “The Paradoxical Effect of Anti-HPV Vaccine Gardasil on Cervical Cancer Rate”, (January 31, 2019), bit.ly/2RAUy85.

(61) Ibid.

(62) Ibid.

(63) Andersson, Lars. (2018). Increased incidence of cervical cancer in Sweden: possible link with HPV vaccination. Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, 1-5, doi: 10.20529/IJME.2018.037.

(64) British Medical Journal, Rapid Response: UK Doctors Re-Examine Case for Mandatory Vaccination, (2017), 358, doi: 10.1136/bmj.j3414.

(65) Jankowska, J et al. (2008). Reduction of human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit expression by modified u1 snrna caused apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. Molecular Cancer, 7(26), 1476-4598, doi: 10.1186/1476-4598-7-26.

(66) Naz, R et al. (2005). Recent advances in contraceptive vaccine development: a mini-review.

Human Reproduction, 20(12), 3271-3283, doi: 10.1093/ humrep/dei256.

(67) British Medical Journal, Rapid Response To: HPV Vaccines are Effective and Safe and Work Best in Young Women, stud finds, (2018), doi: 10.1136/ bmj.k2059.

(68) Walia, Arjun, “Robert F. Kennedy Junior Explains Dangers of the HPV Vaccine and How It Could Give You Cancer”, LewRockwell.com, (April 6, 2019), bit.ly/2Rwwva7.

THE HEALING & VERSATILE

Power of Taurine The Japanese are well-known for their longevity, and while many factors go into living a long, healthy life, it’s believed one of their secrets is a high dietary intake of taurine. As an amino acid, taurine is made in the body and essential for health, but things like aging, vegetarian or vegan diets, and diseases of the liver, kidneys, and heart, as well as cancer and diabetes cause serious deficiencies.

The positive effects of taurine supplementation have shown to be so broad and dramatic that researchers called taurine a “wonder molecule” in the Journal of Biomedical Science. A wide range of studies have shown taurine to prevent the onset of type II diabetes, reduce blood glucose and restore insulin sensitivity, and reverse diabetes-induced complications such as arterial and vasculature rigidity, as well as neuropathy. Taurine also has powerful effects against cardiovascular disease by helping to lower blood pressure, reducing arterial thickening and inflammation, restoring the arteries’ response to nitric oxide, and reducing left-ventricular diastolic volume, one of the largest predictors of heart attack.

Studies also show taurine helps to reduce weight and serum triglycerides, protect the retina against age-related vision loss, reverse biochemical hearing loss, eradicate tinnitus, prevent seizures, and protect the liver from free radical damage. Ask us how Healing Taurine can help improve your health.

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These statements made have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All medications and nutritional supplements should only be used after you consult with your physician or other healthcare provider.

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MEGAZEN

Volume 8

Tattoos and Emotions Tattoos reveal more than we realize

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

E

very picture tells a story, especially if it’s tattooed on the human body. As tattoos have become increasingly popular over the last decade, it seems each one holds a special reason as to why someone chose to get it. Ask anyone why they got a particular tattoo and you're likely to hear stories about how the image commemorates a special moment or achievement in their life, how it bonds them to a lover or friend, or how it expresses a particular part of their personality. Tattoos are intimately connected to who we are perhaps in a way that nothing else can be, not even our style of dress, because we can always take clothes off. Tattoos become part of us, a permanent, ever-present display of who we are on the inside radiating to the outside world. Unfortunately, the pictures aren't always so pretty, outwardly revealing a darker story linked to an internal emotional issue that needs healing.

This year, I will be submitting a paper on a theoretical medical hypothesis for publication in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. I have been developing this medical theory with my mentor, Jon Tabakin, PhD, FIPA, Training and Supervising Analyst for The Psychoanalytic Center of California, with whom I have consulted over 800 hours on psychosomatic illness and mind-body healing. Our paper is an empirical observation on how tattoos can serve as indicators for psychologists, psychiatrists, and medical doctors with regard to certain internal issues that may be affecting their patients’ mental and physical health. In the report, we discuss the unique relationship between the brain and skin.

When cells begin to divide on their way to becoming a human being, the skin and brain are formed from the same part of the developing fetus, the ectoderm. The skin and brain have the same origin therefore; and in a very real but different way, the skin acts like a second brain. Oftentimes when we have a traumatic experience and don't have a way of breaking it down or catabolizing and resolving it, it gets misplaced. The fear, anger, sadness, regret, and shame related to the trauma dominate the mind, and to create more mental space so we can function, we transfer that burden from the inner brain to the outer brain, memorializing it with a tattoo on our skin. The image is the outer representation of the undigested material from a painful past. Sometimes the mental pain can be so intense that submitting ourselves to hours of excruciating physical pain under the tattooing needle is preferable to the mental suffering required for us to heal.

Sometimes there is so much hurt to displace that one tattoo cannot contain it all and so people act out by acquiring even more. I’m constantly amazed at the number of patients I see with increasing tattoos. It seems that people are bombarded with so much stress these days that they have no means by which to process the difficulties of their lives, and so those internal struggles keep manifesting outwardly as more bizarre images inked on their bodies. Without the tools, guidance, and courage to breakdown or catabolize their unresolved emotional issues and anabolize or rebuild their sense of wellbeing by giving new meaning to those experiences, they run the risk of damaging their health. Over time, they’ll acquire still more tattoos 41

attached to their body, only this time it will be the ones that come with disease like rashes, lesions, and cancer.

“When we have the right tools to process the traumas, disappointments, and heartbreak of our lives, we don’t need to wear our grief on our skin.”

The paper we are intending to publish is a call to doctors to pay attention to the tattoos their patients display, particularly with regard to certain types of images and location on the body.

The information these images reveal can be of great importance in cases where healthcare professionals are struggling to make a breakthrough. Even if tattoos aren’t visible, it’s sometimes important to ask patients if they have any. Likewise, patients should be asked if they’ve had any tattoos removed, what the image was, where it was located, why it was acquired, and what emotional shift or reasoning led to its removal.

When we have the right tools to process the traumas, disappointments, and heartbreak of our lives, we don’t need to wear our grief on our skin. Our minds remain clear and free, and the personal story we display to the world is one of light and hope—darkness no more.

Please enjoy the following poem, “Tattooing in Qazwin”, by Rumi. It’s a humorous short tale with a wonderful message. I share this with you as a way to celebrate the Persian New Year, and to request that you keep our friend and Rumi scholar, Coleman Barks, in your thoughts and prayers for a rapid recovery from a recent health challenge.

TATTOOING IN QAZWIN

by Rumi In Qazwin, they have a custom of tattooing themselves for good luck, with a blue ink, on the back of the hand, the shoulder, wherever.

A certain man goes to his barber and asks to be given a powerful, heroic, blue lion on his shoulder blade. “And do it with flair!

I’ve got Leo ascending. I want plenty of blue!”

But as soon as the needle starts pricking, he howls, “What are you doing?”

“The lion.”

“Which limb did you start with?”

“I began with the tail.”

“Well, leave out the tail. That lion’s rump is in a bad place for me. It cuts off my wind.”

The barber continues, and immediately the man yells out, “Ooooooooo! Which part now?”

“The ear.”

“Doc, let’s do a lion with no ears this time.”

The barber shakes his head, and once more the needle, and once more the wailing, “Where are you now?”

“The belly.”

“I like a lion without a belly.”

42

The master lion-maker stands for a long time with his fingers in his teeth.

Finally he throws the needle down.

“No one has ever been asked to do such a thing! To create a lion without a tail or a head or a stomach.

God himself could not do it!”

Brother, stand the pain.

Escape the poison of your impulses.

The sky will bow to your beauty, if you do.

Learn to light the candle. Rise with the sun.

Turn away from the cave of your sleeping.

That way a thorn expands to a rose.

A particular glows with the universal.

What is it to praise?

Make yourself particles.

What is it to know something of God? Burn inside that presence. Burn up.

Copper melts in the healing elixir.

So melt yourself in the mixture that sustains existence.

You tighten your two hands together, determined not to give up saying “I” and “we.”

This tightening blocks you.

LESS IS MORE

Protect Yourself Against Harmful Skincare Products When it comes to healthy skincare product ingredients, less is more. Unfortunately, conventional skincare care products commonly contain many toxic ingredients including methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl parabens that can cause serious allergic reactions and mimic hormones inside the body leading to imbalance.

Phthalates help lotions spread better, but cause great hormonal disruption, especially in the male fetuses of pregnant women. Unfortunately, manufacturers aren’t required to list phthalates on product labels.

The basis of any good beauty regimen is a quality moisturizer. You can completely avoid the toxic minefield of modern cosmetics with Healing Face Moisturizer and Healing Body Moisturizer. Each contains an organic, antioxidant-rich blend of ingredients formulated for maximum skin absorption, protection and rejuvenation that includes shea butter, cocoa butter, pomegranate seed oil, hempseed oil, sea buckhorn oil, rosehip seed oil, borage seed oil, coconut oil, kukui nut oil and essential oils of grapefruit, orange and lemon. Their deeppenetrating effects are also ideal for eczema and fading stretch marks and scars. Transitioning to healthier beauty products can be a daunting task, so begin with the basics. Try our healing moisturizers and discover that beauty and health are a natural combination.

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These statements made have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All medications and nutritional supplements should only be used after you consult with your physician or other healthcare provider.

Five Essential Questions for Life The answers to who you are.

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi & Dr. Sherry Sami

I

t is an honor to have been asked to give the commencement speech for this year’s graduating class of medical doctors at Western University of Health Sciences on May 24th. As I was reflecting on what to care share with the students that will be sitting exactly where I was sitting nearly a couple of decades ago, I came across an inspirational speech that I wanted to share with you. It’s from Harvard University’s dean of the Graduate School of Education, James Ryan, and focuses on the five essential questions of life. Although it’s from the 2016 Harvard University commencement, as memorable graduation speeches go, it’s timeless in its content and emphasizes some essential principles I recommend to my patients every day to create a happy, fulfilling life, especially the bonus question at the end.

“Truly, there is no greater gift in life than to really know who you are.

That’s what the journey is all about, to reveal us to ourselves.”

The first question we should ask ourselves throughout life is, “Wait, what?” It’s the same question teenagers often ask after you’ve told them to do something like clean their room or mow the lawn, usually accompanied by a blank stare.

“Wait, what?” is really a request for clarification or what I refer to as perception checking. It’s pausing and asking for more information before one moves forward. It’s the same question we need to ask before drawing conclusions and especially before making decisions. It’s important to practice inquiry before advocacy, to really understand something before we advocate for or against it.

“Wait, what?” is a good way to slow down and make sure we really understand what we’re doing and the potential outcome. This is why the tagline for the nonprofit organization Sherry and I started, the Love Button Global Movement, is #pauseandlove. When we stop rushing around and become present right where we are, we create an opening where we can choose to share our love with someone around us.

The second question is, “I wonder why / if?” “I wonder why” is what keeps us curious about and engaged with the world. Being inquisitive is a big part of feeling alive and solving problems. This naturally leads to asking, “I wonder if”, which generates possible ways of not only improving your own life but helping address the problems of the world around you. I wonder why there are so many homeless people in this city and if there is a way to provide shelter for all of them.

The third question is, “Couldn’t we at least…?”

This question creates common ground among people during disagreements and helps them get unstuck by creating a consensus. Couldn’t we at least agree that we all want to solve the homeless problem, even though we’re committed to different strategies?

This question is also a great motivator, a way to get groups moving in a particular direction, even when the exact solution isn’t in sight yet.

The fourth question is, “How can I help?” One of the most basic human instincts is to help others, but how we help is just as important as that we do help. By asking the person in need to tell you how you can help, you’re asking for

44

MEGAZEN

direction in the way of assistance that will have the greatest impact. Remember that you don’t have to fix the entire situation or problem. Too many people don’t lend a hand because it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by certain situations, especially national or worldwide problems, and they either don’t know where to start or feel their individual effort won’t make a difference. All you have to do is your part. When enough people do their part, the whole problem will eventually be solved.

The fifth question is, “What truly matters to me?” The answer(s) helps you get to the heart of your beliefs and convictions. You crystallize the principles that define you and what you’re really about. The answer(s) will inform all the previous life questions and drive every decision you make.

“Wait, what?” is at the root of all understanding.

“I wonder why /if?” inspires curiosity and possible solutions. “Couldn’t we at least…” is the beginning of making progress. “How can I help?” is the foundation of good relationships, and “What truly matters to me?” helps you understand who you are. Regularly asking yourself these questions throughout life puts you in the perfect position to answer the bonus question, “And did you get what you wanted out of life, even so?”

This question comes from a poem by Raymond Carver, called “Late Fragments”. The key part of this question is the “even so”. While acknowledging that the human experience is full of pain and loss, it’s asking if you had a full and satisfying life in

Volume 8

spite of it. When you ask yourself the five essential questions throughout life and make your decisions based on what you discover, you’ll certainly be able to provide the right answer to the bonus question, which is, “I did.”

“Remember that you don’t have to fix the entire situation or problem...

All you have to do is your part.”

The poem asks, “And did you get what you wanted out of life, even so,” and then continues, “I did. / And what did you want? / To call myself beloved.

To feel beloved on the earth.” The word beloved not only means dearly loved, but cherished. The ancient Greek aphorism commands us to Know Thyself. Truly, there is no greater gift in life than to really know who you are. That’s what the journey is all about, to reveal us to ourselves.

The five essential questions of life are a powerful way to do that, and when we find out who we really are, it’s impossible not to love the person we’ve discovered.. and self-love is at the root of all healing.

Watch Ryan's original commencement speech on the essential questions of life at youtu.be/bW0NguMGIbE

45

THE FATHER FACTOR HAVING A DAD AT

HOME IS CRUCIAL TO

A CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

Q

uite some time ago I read a news article about how a greeting card company had donated thousands of Mother’s Day cards to prisons around the country so inmates could send them to their moms.

The project was so successful that the company ran out of cards during a second shipment. When the company repeated the campaign for Father’s Day it was shocked when only a tiny percentage of the cards were used. This makes sense, however, when we realize statistics show the majority of people in U.S. jails and prisons grew up in fatherless homes.1,2 In spite of this sad reality, everyone from the media to politicians and women’s rights groups seem to be celebrating and even encouraging the disappearance of the father from the “new” American family. When Pew Research released a survey that stated 40% of all households with children under 18 included women who were the sole or primary source of income for the family, media pundits heralded it as a milestone of income equality and empowerment for women.3 The truth behind the headlines was that nearly two-thirds of those “breadwinner” moms were single mothers. They weren’t just the biggest earner in

their homes, they were the only earner. Only 37% of the “breadwinner” moms were married and making more than their husbands, but in many cases because the husband had lost his job. Of the 63% “breadwinner” single mothers, 29% weren’t working at all. 4 With their high profiles and even higher incomes, women in the entertainment industry are huge breadwinners who regularly promote the idea that a father is irrelevant to the family. With a sperm donor and in vitro fertilization, they can design their fatherless families in a way that fits perfectly with their career plans. A famous pop star not wanting to break up her busy concert schedule to find a husband and start a family said, “I don’t need a dude…We are living in the future; we don’t need anything. I’m not anti-men. I love men. But there is an option if someone doesn’t present himself.”5 An actress said, “Women are realizing they don’t have to settle with a man to have a child.”6 Diminishing a father’s importance entirely, author Pamela Paul stated in Are Fathers Necessary? “The bad news for Dad is that despite common perception, there's nothing objectively essential about his contribution.”7 C ON T I N U E D. . .

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47

I think social science and the 2.1 million incarcerated people in U.S. prisons8 would strongly disagree with those statements. Is a father’s only contribution to the family a financial one? If a woman is wealthy enough, does a father become unnecessary? The fact is that decades of research exist that prove consistently and conclusively that biological fathers living in the home make a profound contribution to their children’s physical, emotional, and social development that sets the course for their success or failure in adult life in a way that cannot be provided by the mother or replaced by stand-in father figures, stepfathers, or grandfathers. When a child is forced to grow up in a fatherless home because of divorce, incarceration or death, he faces an incredible number of disadvantages, the least of which is financial. This is unfortunate. However, when a woman puts a child in that position because she consciously chooses to be a single mother from the outset, believing a father is unnecessary; it’s tragic, as we shall see.

CRIME & COMMONALITY

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 23% 9 of children under 18 (17.4 million)10 live in single mother households. Although the report excluded children being raised by grandparents in its tabulation of “two parent” homes (69%), it did not make the distinction as to whether one of those parents was the biological father. As such, it’s quite likely the number of children in fatherless homes is even higher. Add to this the fact that 40% of all births in the U.S. are to unmarried women, bringing 1.6 million more children into fatherless homes each year,11 and we can quickly see a crisis appearing.

“Boys who grow up without fathers are three times more likely to end up in jail before they turn 30. This holds true even after controlling for household income.

Research consistently shows that family structures that do not include the father ‘significantly predict delinquency.’”

Boys who grow up without fathers are three times more likely to end up in jail before they turn 30.12 This holds true even after controlling for household income. Research consistently shows that family structures that do not include the father “significantly predict delinquency”13 and that 70% of juveniles in state institutions are from fatherless homes.14 Unfortunately, the trend toward criminal behavior doesn’t change with these children as they grow up. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found that 60% of inmates in local jails across the country reported growing up in a single parent household or with a guardian.15 Because the BJS survey involved only a small sample of 7,000 inmates out of nearly 700,000 nationwide, the percentage is probably even higher. Likewise, the BJS found 60% of the inmates in state and federal prison who had minor children were themselves raised in a single parent home.16 It’s important to note that this survey was limited to only those inmates who were parents of minor children and excluded inmates of adult children and those who had none. Had this been a system-wide survey of the 1.5 million state and federal prison inmates, the percentage could realistically be closer to 80% or higher.

It has been well documented that neighborhoods with fewer fathers experience higher levels of juvenile violent crime. In fact, for every 1% increase in fatherless homes a neighborhood sees a 3% increase in violent crime committed by teens.17 Although the Department of Justice has spent $3 billion dollars over decades on youth programs like Midnight Basketball designed to provide recreation, and direction from “father figure” mentors to prevent teen crime, along with boot camps, neighborhood watches, and school

“When their father lives at home, children, especially boys, behave and perform better in school at a significantly higher level than those who live with a single mother, non-biological father, or stepfather.”

based drug education classes, these efforts have had no impact on the crime or incarceration rate of fatherless youths. When Congress finally required these programs to be tested for outcomes, criminologists at the University of Maryland concluded they were “ineffective”.18 EDUCATIONAL ATROPHY

The educational achievement of children from single parent homes is so much lower than children from intact families that researchers called the family structure a “legitimate cause for concern” when it came to securing the future of children.19 When their father lives at home, children, especially boys, behave and perform better in school at a significantly higher level than those who live with a single mother, non-biological father, or stepfather. 20,21 The National Center for Education Statistics found that it was the father’s involvement in a child’s academic life that determined whether the student got mostly A’s or not.22 On the contrary, the U.S. Census shows that children from single mother households are twice as likely to drop out of school,23 and the National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools found 71% of high school dropouts to be from fatherless homes.24 A father’s unique influence on a child’s educational development starts even before school. Research shows that young children whose biological fathers live in the home consistently have faster speech development and a broader vocabulary than children who live with single mothers.25,26 It is thought this difference is due to the fact that mothers, who spend more time with

their children, know their children’s vocabularies and communicate with them in those terms.

Fathers, not being as familiar with the children’s vocabularies, speak to them in adult terms and in the process introduce more new words.

By the third grade, boys with fathers at home score higher on every achievement test and earn better grades than those whose fathers are absent.27 Children with a father at home consistently score higher in math and science even if they go to weaker schools. 28 The historical trend is that the more years children spend in a single mother household, the fewer years of schooling they complete.29 Not only does growing up in an intact biological family give children from low-income households greater odds of climbing up the economic ladder as adults, but it helps ensure children who grow up in intact wealthy families remain wealthy in adulthood. To this effect, the Economic Mobility Project from Pew Research found that 54% of children who grew up in an intact family in the top one-third income bracket remained in the top one-third as adults, whereas only 37% of the children who grew up in a top one-third income but divorced household remained there in adulthood.30 EMOTIONAL AVALANCHE

Growing up without a father affects a child’s sense of stability and security in ways that have dire consequences on his or her emotional wellbeing.

After controlling for household income, as well as the parent’s mental health and drug history, a study published in The Lancet found children 49

from single parent homes were two to three times more likely to experience a psychiatric or mood disorder, including depression, twice as likely to attempt suicide and abuse alcohol, and three times (girls) and four times (boys) more likely to abuse drugs.31 In addition, the single most important factor in preventing children from using drugs was found to be a close relationship with their father,32 while not having a father at home was found to be more correlated with adolescent or teen suicide than any other factor—for both sexes.33 Regardless of whether it’s drugs, suicide, gang violence or something else, boys from single parent homes have increased risk of all-cause mortality.34 This kind of acting out leads children from single mother households to regularly display aggressive behavior as they experience an average of five adult partner transitions in the home.35 While research continues to confirm that the best environment for children to be raised (when possible) is with both their biological parents,36 studies have shown that children in the vastly smaller percentage of single father households do not suffer the same consequences as those in single mother homes, particularly when it comes to emotional wellbeing. Researchers stated that with regard to self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems all children, and especially boys, “did significantly better in the custody of their fathers” and that these children maintained a “more positive relationship with the non-resident parent, the mother”. Even more interesting, researchers found “no same-gender advantage” for girls in mother custody. For those children, researchers said their “wellbeing was predicated by close parent-like contact with the non-resident father—participating in a variety

“Research is now showing that losing a father to death, divorce, incarceration, or any other reason has significant biological consequences that may very well shorten a child’s overall life expectancy. ” 50

of activities and spending holidays together.”37 In light of this evidence, fathers have rightfully questioned the automatic assumption by courts that children are always better off with their mother as the custodial parent.

ABUSE OUTCOMES

Children who live with both biological parents are “significantly less likely” to experience physical and sexual abuse, as well as neglect and other acts of victimization.38 Just as with the incorrect assumption that children are automatically better off with their mother as the custodial parent, there is a widely held misconception that because fathers are bigger and stronger they pose a greater danger to children when it comes to abuse. In fact, it’s the opposite that’s true.

According to the Children’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than half (54%) of the adults who abuse children are women. As the perpetrators in 41% of all cases, mothers are more than twice as likely to abuse their children than fathers at 20%. Likewise, at 28% mothers murder their children more than any other group and at more than twice the rate of fathers at 12%. This is in contrast to the male partner/relative in the home who abuses or kills a child about 3% of the time.39 BIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES

Abuse isn’t the only way children can be physically harmed by the absence of a father.

Research is now showing that losing a father to death, divorce, incarceration, or any other reason has significant biological consequences that may very well shorten a child’s overall life expectancy.

A recent study in the journal Pediatrics examined

“A father in the home becomes the role model for men in his daughter’s eyes, and her relationship with him will set the tone for how she relates to every man in her life, including her choice of boyfriends and husband.”

the length of cellular telomeres in a group of 5,000 children beginning at birth and again at ages 1, 3, 5, and 9. Telomere length is a sign of cellular aging and overall health. Telomeres protect the DNA ends of chromosomes during cell division.

Each time a cell divides a bit of its DNA is lost and its telomere shortens. When telomeres get too short, cell replication stops, the remaining DNA becomes exposed, and the cell becomes vulnerable to genetic damage and a host of diseases, including cancer. Nothing whittles telomeres down faster than stress.

Researchers found that stress related to father loss for any reason between birth and age nine resulted in an average telomere reduction of 14%.

Death of the father had the largest loss of 16%, while incarceration resulted in a 10% loss, and divorce or separation caused a 6% reduction.

The effect was 40% greater for boys who lost or had been separated from their father before age five and 90% greater for children with the most reactive alleles. Based on these results, researchers said, “Father loss is clearly associated with cellular function as estimated by telomere length…”40 and that “This underscores the important role of fathers in the care and development of children and supplements evidence of the strong negative effects of parental incarceration.”41

daughter needs. Once again, it would be a serious mistake to assume that fathers make little or no contribution to their daughters’ development simply because they are of the opposite sex. On the contrary, the facts show that fathers play a crucial role in their daughters’ development in ways that the mother cannot provide.

Research shows that girls whose fathers leave home before age six become sexually active much earlier and are five times more likely to become pregnant as teenagers than girls whose fathers live at home. 42 Naturally, a father’s guidance and discipline would contribute much to his daughter not becoming sexually active prematurely or promiscuous, but researchers also suggest that it’s his physical presence in the home that has an equal if not greater effect on the outcome.

DAUGHTERS NEED DADS

It’s well known that the menstrual cycles of women who live together eventually synchronize.

Therefore, it stands to reason that the sexual cycle of a single mother would cause the sexual development of her daughter to accelerate in the absence of a father through sympathetic resonance. Researchers of the study estimated that a father’s pheromones in the home prevent a young girl’s sexual development from being accelerated by the mother’s biological influences, thus slowing down her pubertal development to a normal pace. 43

On the journey from girl to womanhood, it would seem that a mother’s guidance is all a

A father in the home becomes the role model for men in his daughter’s eyes, and her relationship 51

with him will set the tone for how she relates to every man in her life, including her choice of boyfriends and husband. Linda Nielsen, professor of educational and adolescent psychology at Wake Forest University explains.

“A daughter who has a secure, loving relationship with her father is also the most likely to create emotionally intimate, fulfilling relationships with the other men in her life.

She is able to create emotional intimacy with men because she has learned, largely from her father, how to communicate well and to resolve differences with men.” 44

“Fathers are far more than just ‘second adults’ in the home. Involved fathers — especially biological fathers—bring positive benefits to their children that no other person is as likely to bring. Fathers have a direct impact on the wellbeing of their children.”

With no father in the house, a young girl becomes frozen relationally with regard to interacting with a mature male on a close and regular basis. In his absence, the girl subconsciously finds others ways to contribute to her development in relating to men that often aren’t safe, healthy, or in her best interests. Ken Canfield, author of The Seven Secrets of Effective Fathers explains the consequences of such a loss.

“When you are frozen relationally, it is difficult to know your place and how to develop a healthy relationship. It's because you are working from a point of need instead of working out of a position of co-equal,” Canfield says. “A 50-year-old woman may look like an adult, but on the inside she is still working on issues that should have been attended to by a healthy, engaged father. There is a void in her life. The search to fill that void prompts her to take risks in relationships, which usually result in some really poor choices.” 45 Ultimately, a daughter wants to see her dad as a leader, someone to look up to who is her protector and provider. Because of this, fathers shouldn’t shy away from spending time with their daughters thinking they’re better served in their mother’s company most of the time. Fathers must remember that their daughters are watching how they treat their wives and in the process understanding that is how they need to be treated by a male partner in the future. In an innocent and pure way, a father is really his daughter’s first love, and the relationship should be nurtured with the greatest of care.

DADS DO IT DIFFERENTLY

Most would agree that there isn’t one way to parent. The truth is there are two ways to parent.

One comes from the mother, while the other is from the father. Parenting is a two-sided coin, and for children to be well-adjusted and healthy, they need the influence of both. Living in a world governed by essential opposites like summer and winter, sun and moon, yin and yang, it’s easy to see 52

that a mother and father in the home serve equally important but opposite functions for children.

Parenting from a father is fundamentally unique because men and women are fundamentally different in how they think, communicate, and approach life. This is why as parents, dads do it differently.

Child psychologist Erik Erikson says that fathers “love more dangerously”. They tickle more, wrestle with their children, and toss them into the air to give them a thrill while mom says, “Not so high”. Fathers chase children around like lions or monsters and swing them around by the arms like a windmill in the backyard. By roughhousing with dad, children learn that biting, kicking, and other kinds of violence are not acceptable. They understand when “enough is enough” and how to engage self-control. Both boys and girls learn how to achieve a healthy balance between timidity and aggression from their dad.

Fathers teach empathy through enforcing boundaries. When fathers demand children take boundaries seriously, they learn to respect the needs and rights of others. Fathers also emphasize delayed gratification more, which is essential for reaching maturity. When children get what they want without having to do anything to achieve it, they become entitled and self-involved.

Children learn confidence from their fathers.

Look around any park or playground and see who’s encouraging their children to climb a little

MEGAZEN

higher, ride a little faster, or hit a little harder.

Fathers teach children to go beyond their limits while mothers teach caution and carefulness.

Taken alone and to the extreme, both of these approaches would be unwise. One would teach risk without considering consequences, while the other would teach risk avoidance and result in a lack of independence. So both approaches are vitally important to children.

Because children are taught confidence primarily from their father, studies have shown it’s the quality of their relationship with him and not their mother that determines their level of resilience and perseverance or stick-with-it-ness. 47 It’s fathers that urge children to keep on going, even when it’s hard, and to stick with commitments because we don’t learn by quitting.

Fathers discipline differently with an authoritative style underscored by love, or as songwriter Dan Fogelberg perfectly stated with a “thundering velvet hand”. 48 They stress justice, fairness, and duty, while mothers teach politeness and care based on relationships.

HONORING MEN & FATHERS

There’s a father crisis going on in America, but it’s a schizophrenic one. On one hand men are being told to step up and be the fathers their children need, while on the other they’re being told by women and the media that they’re unnecessary, little more than sperm donors. They’re regularly

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portrayed in film and TV as bumbling idiots who just complicate things. Perhaps part of the reason men aren’t stepping up is because they actually believe they aren’t necessary anymore. Meanwhile, as Hollywood continues to glamorize the single mother who can “do it all”, the benefits never trickle down to the children.

Other forces conspiring against men stepping up for their children include divorce laws that without exception almost exclusively favor mothers, especially in terms of custody and support. In many ways, the federal government has replaced the father as provider in millions of homes with single mothers facing a reduction in benefits or even tax penalties if the father moves in and begins contributing.

It’s going to be a very long time before any of these things change, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change our minds right now about the vital role fathers play in the development of their children. Thousands of issues come into play when raising healthy, well-adjusted, happy, and successful children, but most of them filter down to one factor—the father factor. As author, David Popenoe stated in his book Life Without Father: “Fathers are far more than just 'second adults' in the home. Involved fathers — especially biological fathers—bring positive benefits to their children that no other person is as likely to bring. Fathers have a direct impact on the wellbeing of their children.” 49 53

Sources (1) James, Doris, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Profile of Jail Inmates 2002, (July 2004), https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ pji02.pdf.

(2) Glaze, Lauren, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children, (August, 2008), https://bjs.gov/ content/pub/pdf/pptmc.pdf.

(3) Timm, Jane, “40% of Moms are Primary Breadwinners”, MSNBC, (May 29, 2013), http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/40moms-are-primary-breadwinners.

(4) First Things First, “Where have all the fathers gone?”, https://firstthings.org/where-have-all-the-fathers-gone.

(5) Sirota, Peggy, “The Unbreakable Katy Perry”, Rolling Stone, (July 30, 2014), https://www.rollingstone.com/music/ music-news/the-unbreakable-katy-perry-inside-rollingstones-new-issue-190578/.

(6) “Jennifer Aniston: ‘You Don’t Need a Man to Have a Child’”, The Huffington Post, (August 9, 2010), https://www. huffpost.com/entry/jennifer-aniston-you-dont_n_675038?

(7) Paul, Pamela, “Are Fathers Necessary? A paternal contribution may not be as essential as we think”, The Atlantic, (July/August, 2010), https://www.theatlantic.com/ magazine/archive/2010/07/are-fathers-necessary/308136/.

(8) Bureau of Justice Statistics, “U.S. Correctional Population Declined for Ninth Consecutive Year”, press release, (April 26, 2018), https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ press/cpus16pr.cfm.

(9) US Census Bureau, “The Majority of Children Live with Two Parents, Census Bureau Reports”, Press Release, (November 17, 2016), https://www.census.gov/newsroom/ press-releases/2016/cb16-192.html.

(10) US Census Bureau, (2015), Living Arrangements of Children Under 18 Years and Marital Status of Parents,

by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin and Selected Characteristics of the Child for All Children: 2014.

Washington, D.C. (11) US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Report, “Births: Preliminary Data for 2015”, Vol. 65, No. 3, (June 2, 2016), https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_03.pdf (12) Harper, C. McLanahan, S. (2004). Father absence and youth incarceration. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 14(3), 369-397, https://bit.ly/2J4KovK

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(13) Bush, C. (2000). Differences in empathy between offender and nonoffender youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29(4), 453-461, doi: 10.1023/A:1005162526769.

(14) US Department. of Justice, Special Report, (Sept 1988).

(15) James, Doris, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report, “Profile of Jail Inmates 2002”, (July, 2004), https:// www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pji02.pdf.

(16) Glaze, Lauren, Maruschak, Laura, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report, “Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children”, (August, 2008), https://bjs.gov/content/ pub/pdf/pptmc.pdf.

(17) Noester, C. Haynie, D. (2005). Community context, social integration into family, and youth violence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(3), 767-780, doi: 10.1111/j.17413737.2005.00168.x.

(18) Butterfield, Fox, “Study Criticizes Popular Crime Programs Midnight Basketball Ineffective Researchers Say”, New York Times News Service, (1997), https://www. questia.com/newspaper/1P2-33067652/study-criticizespopular-crime-programs-midnight-basketball.

(19) Milne, A et al. (1986). Single parents, working mothers, and the educational achievement of school children .

Sociology of Education, 59(3), 125-139, doi: 10.2307/2112335.

(20) Astone, N. McLanahan, S. (1991). Family structure, parental practices and high school completion . American Sociological Review, 56(3), 309-320, doi: 10.2307/2096106.

(21) Tillman, K. (2007). Family structure pathways and academic disadvantage among adolescents in stepfamilies.

Sociological Inquiry, 77(3), 383-424, doi: 10.1111/j.1475682X.2007.00198.x.

(22) Nord, Christine, West, Jerry, US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, Statistical Analysis Report, “Fathers’ and Mothers’ Involvement in Their Children’s Schools by Family Type and Resident Status”, (May, 2001), https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001032.pdf.

(23) Father Absence + Involvement, Statistics, US Census Bureau, (2017), https://www.fatherhood.org/fatherhooddata-statistics.

(24) Kruk, Edward, “Father Absence, Father Deficit, Father Hunger: the vital importance of paternal presence in children’s lives”, Psychology Today, (May 23, 2012), https:// www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/co-parenting-afterdivorce/201205/father-absence-father-deficit-father-hunger.

(25) American Academy of Pediatrics, “Involved Dads Help Kids Develop”, AAP Media, (June 13, 2016), https://

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www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/ American-Academy-of-Pediatrics-Involved-Dads-HelpKids-Grow.aspx, (26) Lemnada, C et al. (2004). Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-year-olds: contributions to language and cognitive development. Child Development, 75(6), 1806-1820, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00818.x.

00000087.

(37) Clarke-stewart, K. Hayward, C. (1996). Advantages of father custody and contact for the psychological well-being of school-age children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17(2), 239-270, doi.org/10.1016/S01933973(96)90027-1.

(27) Biller, Henry, Paternal Deprivation: Family, School, Sexuality and Society, Lexington, MA, Lexington Books, 1974.

(38) Turner, H et al. (2006). The effect of lifetime victimization on the mental health of children and adolescents. Social Science and Medicine, 62(1), 13-27, doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.05.030.

(28) Christiansen, Bryce, “America’s Academic Dilemma: The Family and the Schools”, The Family in America, Vol. 2, No. 6, (June, 1988).

(39) US Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment, (2013), https:// www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2013.pdf.

(29) Krein, S. Beller, A. (1988). Educational attainment of children from single-parent families: differences by exposure, gender, and race. Demography, 25(2), 221-234, doi: 10.2307/2061290.

(40) Makhijani, Pooja, “At the cellular level, a child’s loss of a father is associated with increased stress”, Princeton University, Office of Communications, (June 18, 2017), https://www.princeton.edu/news/2017/07/18/cellular-levelchilds-loss-father-associated-increased-stress.

(30) DeLeire, T, Lopoo, L, Family Structure and the Economic Mobility of Children, Economic Mobility Project, Pew Research, (2010), https://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/ legacy/uploadedfiles/pcs_assets/2010/familystructurepdf.pdf.

(31) Gunilla Ringback Weitoft, B et al. (2003). Mortality, severe morbidity, and injury in children living with single parents in sweden: a population-based study. The Lancet, 361(9324), 289-295, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S01406736(03)12324-0.

(32) Coombs, R. Landsverk, J. (1988). Parenting styles and substance use during childhood and adolescence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 50(2), 473-479, doi: 10.2307/352012.

(33) Velez, C. Cohen, P. (1988). Suicidal behavior and ideation in a community sample of children: maternal and youth reports. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 27(3), 349-356, doi. org/10.1097/00004583-198805000-00014.

(34) Gunilla Ringback Weitoft, B et al. (2003). Mortality, severe morbidity, and injury in children living with single parents in sweden: a population-based study. The Lancet, 361(9324), 289-295, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S01406736(03)12324-0.

(35) Osborne, C. McLanahan, S. (2007). Partnership instability and child well-being. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(4), 1065-1083, doi.org/10.1111/j.17413737.2007.00431.x.

(36) Anderson, J. (2014). The impact of family structure on the health of children: effects of divorce. The Linacre Quarterly, 81(4), 378-387, doi: 10.1179/0024363914Z.000

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(41) Mitchell, C et al. (2017). Father loss and child telomere length. Pediatrics, 140(2), e20163245, doi: 10.1542/peds.20163245.

(42) Ellis, B et al. (2003). Does father absence place daughters at special risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy?. Child Development, 74(3), 801-821, doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00569.

(43) Oppenheimer, Mark, “Relevant? Nurturing? Well, So’s Your Old Man”, The New York Times (June 1, 2014), https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/books/do-fathersmatter-shows-why-they-do.html.

(44) Winfrey, Carlton, “Why Fathers Matter to Their Daughters”, The Detroit Free Press, (June 18, 2016), https://www.freep.com/story/life/2016/06/18/fathers-daydaughters/86061320/.

(45) First Things First, “The Value of Father-Daughter Relationships”, https://firstthings.org/the-value-of-fatherdaughter-relationships.

(46) As cited in Kyle D. Pruett, The Nurturing Father, (New York: Warner Books, 1987), pg. 49.

(47) Padilla-walker, L et al. (2012). “Keep on keeping on, even when it’s hard! ”: predictors and outcomes of adolescent persistence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 33(4), 433-457, doi.org/10.1177/0272431612449387.

(48) Fogelberg, Dan, “Leader of the Band”, Epic Records, 1981.

(49) David Popenoe, Life Without Father (New York: The Free Press, 1996), p. 163.

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Organic vs. Conventional Studies show organic is more nutritious

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

T

he debate over whether organically farmed foods, those raised without the use of caustic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, are really healthier than conventionally raised foods has been going on for quite some time. Of course, it’s understood that certain large commercial food producers have a lot invested in the assumption that there really is no difference between the two. Naturally, common sense would tell us an apple that has not been sprayed with pesticide is healthier than one that has. Now, a very large study has finally settled the issue and we don’t have to assume anymore. Organic fruits and vegetables aren’t just less toxic, but significantly more nutritious than their conventional counterparts.

The most comprehensive comparative analysis of organic and conventional foods ever performed was funded by the European Union and Sheepdrove Trust, and published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Utilizing 343 international studies comparing organic and conventional produce, results showed the nutritional difference between the two to be so striking that switching to an all-organic diet could equal up to two additional servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

“The crucially important thing about this

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research is that it shatters the myth that how we farm does not affect the quality of the food we eat,” said Helen Browning, chief executive of the Soil Association, who was not involved in the study.

“When we are good stewards of the earth, respecting the animals, plants, and soil involved in the farming process, it will bless us in return with what it yields.”

Results showed that organic produce contains between 19% to 69% more antioxidants than conventional fruits and vegetables. Although no studies have been conducted to confirm the long-term health benefits of an all-organic diet, it stands to reason that a higher intake of antioxidants will naturally provide us with even greater protection against the free radical damage we already know contributes to a wide range of diseases. Researchers noted that antioxidants such as those found in higher concentrations in organic foods “have previously been linked to a reduced risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and certain cancers.”

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“Organic fruits and vegetables aren’t just less toxic, but significantly more nutritious than their conventional counterparts.”

Researchers also found that conventional produce and grains were four times more likely to contain pesticide residues and significantly higher concentrations of the heavy metal, cadmium. Of course, commercial agriculture was quick to downplay these results, minimizing the nutritional differences and completely ignoring the pesticide issue. Their main argument was that encouraging people to eat more organic produce is actually cost prohibitive and would lead to worse health because people would end up eating less fruits and vegetables overall.

“This study demonstrates that choosing food produced according to organic standards can lead to increased intake of nutritionally desirable antioxidants and reduced exposure to toxic heavy metals,” said lead author Carlo Leifert of Newcastle University. “This constitutes an important addition to the information currently available to consumers which until now has been confusing and in many cases is conflicting.”

In case you’re wondering, a later study also published in the British Journal of Nutrition found organic meat and milk to be more nutritious than conventional as well. Organic milk and meat contain 50% more healthy Omega-3 fatty acids that help prevent heart disease, 40% more conjugated linoleic acid, along with slightly higher levels of iron, vitamin E, and some carotenoids.

This significant study confirms that it’s not just what we eat that matters but how it’s raised; and in the case of animal products, what they eat as well. When we are good stewards of the earth, respecting the animals, plants, and soil involved in the farming process, it will bless us in return with what it yields. John and Molly Chester of Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, CA know this very well. Continue reading to find out how you can meet the former documentary filmmaker and private chef who pursued their dream to establish a biodynamic, sustainable farmstead so they could make the highest quality produce, meat, and dairy products available to people like us.

Sources (1) Baranski, M et al. (2014). Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses. The British Journal of Nutrition, 112(5), 794-811, doi: 10.1017/S0007114514001366.

(2)Guiterezz, David, “Huge new study proves organic foods are healthier and more nutritious: results immediately attacked by chemical and agriculture industry”, Intellihub.com (July 6, 2014).

(3) Srednicka-tober, D et al. (2015). Higher pufa and n-3 pufa, conjugated linoleic acid,ɑ-tocopherol and iron, but lower iodine and selenium concentrations in organic milk: a systematic literature review and meta- and redundancy analyses. The British Journal of Nutrition, 115(6), 1043-1060, doi: 10.1017/S0007114516000349.

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THE 4 HEALING AGREEMENTS OBSERVATIONS FROM A LIFE IN MEDICINE

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

A

s a young osteopathic physician, I saw hundreds of cases in my early career. Based on the similarities and differences between each case and whether the patient recovered or not, I began to ask myself some difficult questions about medicine, its capacity to heal us, and the amount of faith we put into doctors. Why do some people heal from a certain disease and others don’t?

Why do people with a healthy diet and lifestyle still get sick? Isn’t it all just about genetics?

It would have been easy to get disillusioned with medicine because of these seemingly unanswerable questions, but it soon became clear that there 58

was something greater at play in the process of health and healing. There was something above the doctor-patient-medicine paradigm that not only determined if patients recovered from illness but whether they got sick in the first place.

That missing component was the patient’s mind.

Over time as I talked with hundreds and then thousands of patients, I learned much about their personal lives. What became obvious to me was that patients struggling with a chronic illness in their physical body were most often also experiencing an upset in their emotional body. They were angry, resentful, depressed, guilt-ridden, self-hating, or

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burdened with shame for any number of reasons that related to relationships, childhood, parenting,

jobs, or some other unresolved emotional issue from their past or present life. After years of treating these patients it became clear to me that the compounding stress effects on the patients’ bodies from these unresolved emotional issues played a primary role not only in their development of disease, but in sustaining it and its resistance to treatment. In order for the physical body to heal, the emotional body had to be treated as well. With the unresolved emotional issues fully reconciled and released, the body could respond to treatment in a new way.

“In order for patients to have the best chance at recovery, they must not only understand the role their unresolved emotional issues are playing in their physical illness, but commit to doing the necessary work to resolve it — a responsibility that is solely their own in which the doctor can only prescribe and advise, but not perform this for them.”

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After more than 20 years of treating patients, I have found the mind-body approach to healing to be the most effective, particularly in cases of chronic illness. Since a disease in the physical body is usually the echo of an older dis-ease in the emotional body or mind, a physician must work on both levels if healing is to be complete and lasting. Witnessing the dramatic recoveries in many of my patients who have exhausted their options at some of the most prestigious medical centers around the world continues to confirm this truth for me.

In order for patients to have the best chance at recovery, they must not only understand the role their unresolved emotional issues are playing in their physical illness, but commit to doing the necessary work to resolve it—a responsibility that is solely their own in which the doctor can only prescribe and advise, but not perform this for them. This requires much more than taking medications as prescribed, and then waiting until the next appointment. Patients who commit to this kind of work are what Dr. Bernie Siegel called exceptional patients, and often they see exceptional results for their efforts. With this in mind, I have devised The Four Healing Agreements or the four most fundamental principles of mind-body healing that patients must commit to in order to see exceptional results on their healing journey.

THE FOUR HEALING AGREEMENTS

1

I can only experience the quality of healing that is directly proportional to my level of understanding about what disease really is and its purpose for me.

In order to heal, it is essential that the patient understand the mind and body work together to produce our current state of health and that each part, the mental and physical, must be treated equally for healing to happen. What starts in the mind as emotional upset becomes somaticized in the body as disease over time, so special attention must be paid to the emotional aspect of illness.

Patients must also understand that disease doesn’t happen randomly. Their struggle with physical illness is a calling to heal a specific unresolved emotional issue of which they may or may not yet be aware.

Doing the proper work to realize and release this issue is an opportunity to learn about themselves and grow through self-awareness. Free of the resentment, guilt, shame or other negative emotions associated with the issue, the patient will have a better quality of life with greater personal insight. In this way, the primary purpose of physical disease is to bring our attention to the unresolved issues inside of us that need healing so that we may grow emotionally and spiritually. This kind of personal evolution is the purpose of life, and physical disease is just one of the ways through which we learn and grow. The degree to which a patient is conscious of and clear on this higher purpose of illness will determine the level of healing he or she experiences.

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2

I understand that I play a central role in my own healing and have a responsibility to do the necessary work to bring it about.

God helps those who help themselves. It’s been said a lot of different ways, but miracles don’t just drop out of the sky. Whether we know it or not, we take an active part in bringing about all the positive (and negative) changes in our lives. God, spirit, universal source energy or whatever you choose to call the organizing force of our existence has all the power to produce the kind of changes we want to see in our lives—but that power is just pure potentiality waiting for us to activate it and point it in a particular direction. It’s like a sports car with a powerful engine that remains motionless until we turn the key and drive it toward a desired destination.

We engage universal energy and begin to move it in our favor the moment we take action to help ourselves.

It’s been said that God meets you at your point of action, and this is true. However, this action must be active and consistent. Simply going to the doctor and expecting him to heal you isn’t an active choice; it’s passive. It also pawns off all your responsibility in the healing process to the doctor, which is entirely disempowering to you and won’t bring about healing anyway. The patient must understand that they and the doctor are partners in the healing process. The doctor creates the plan of care and treats the body, while the patient treats the mind and heart by consistently performing the emotional exploration and resolution work prescribed by the doctor. In this way, the whole person is treated, and both doctor and patient work synergistically to co-create with divine energy the outcome they desire.

3

In spite of illness, I am not broken or lacking anything. Physical healing is for my personal growth and evolution, but I am as whole in spirit now as I will ever be.

We are all eternal divine beings having a temporary human experience. The purpose of life is to remember our divine identity and to embody more of its power so that we may use it consciously to create lives that we love. We accomplish that by realizing and removing from our consciousness the misperceptions we have about ourselves and the world around us. Illness is just one of the ways the universe encourages us to look inside ourselves and let go of the unresolved emotions that are holding us back. During this healing process, however, we have lost nothing of our divine nature and maintain all the power within ourselves to heal our lives and bodies. While illness may alter the body, the spirit never changes.

4

In order to receive healing, I let go of the expectation of how it must look or when it will arrive. I focus on my work and allow divine energy to operate in its own time.

A watched pot never boils. If we keep waiting for healing to arrive or placing conditions on how it has to happen, look, or feel, then we’re not trusting the process. We’re telling divine energy how to do its job. Instead of allowing and remaining in a state of receiving so divine energy can bring the healing to us, we try to force things to happen. Unfortunately, this shuts the healing process down, and we stop making progress because we’re trying to do everything. The beauty of working as a co-creator with divine energy is that we only have to do our part, our internal work, because divine energy already knows the quickest and best way to bring about our healing. While the end result may not look exactly like what we envisioned, it’s often better. After all, would you really complain if you envisioned yourself healthy and running on the beach in Tahiti and it turned out to be the Bahamas? I didn’t think so.

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INTERMITTENT

FASTING THE MOST ASKED QUESTIONS ANSWERED

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

A

ncient religions and sages of old have spoken regularly about the benefits of fasting to purify and renew the spirit. That may be so, but research is showing there are astounding health and weight loss benefits to fasting that could only be described as miraculous in spiritual terms. In the last decade, intermittent fasting (I.F.) has become a powerful tool used by physicians, as well as health and fitness experts, to change the lives of millions of people.

The best part is it’s easy to understand and doesn’t require costly supplements or anything else. As with any lifestyle change, if you’re currently under a doctor’s care, it’s always a good idea to consult him or her before starting I.F. Now, let’s see what all the excitement is about.

WHAT IS I.F.?

The real issue is what I.F. is not. It’s not a diet. It has nothing to do with counting calories, excluding certain foods, or even weighing yourself. It’s also not the traditional idea of fasting that comes to mind of abstaining from food for multiple days. I.F. is a meal timing plan. It focuses on extended periods of time where you’re not eating or fasting and consolidates your meals into a smaller time window. Hence, you’re doing extended fasts intermittently between periods of eating, so it’s not about going days without food. I.F. works so well because our bodies evolved to consume food this way. For much of history, human beings were locked into ice ages when food was scarce and at times entirely unavailable. Fasting is a natural function of the body. Relatively speaking, the three-mealsa-day way of eating is a very new invention for humanity.

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WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF I.F.?

The body responds quickly to I.F. because it triggers an ancient biological process that knows how to keep us healthy in times when food isn’t available. Our bodies actually go through this process every night when we sleep because we’re not eating and technically in a fasting state. During that time the body has the opportunity to divert the enormous amounts of energy normally required for digestion toward removing old and damaged cells, destroying harmful microbes, generating new cells, cleansing, and more.

The minute we eat, these processes mostly stop and digestion begins. By fasting, we can extend this time of healing and rejuvenation while compounding its benefits, just some of which are: DRAMATIC FAT LOSS: Fasting increases the production of catecholamines (adrenaline,

epinephrine and norepinephrine) which allow the body to shift from burning sugar (glucose) for fuel to burning fat through the activation of hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and the lipid protein, Perilipin. This process allows the body to tap into fat stores for energy while preserving lean muscle.1 Researchers studied two groups of men of roughly the same age with the same amount of lean muscle who worked out regularly for the last five years. They were assigned the exact same meals with the same caloric value and supervised doing the same workout routine with the same level of intensity for two months. The only difference was that one group practiced I.F., eating their meals in an 8-hour window at 1pm, 4pm, and 8pm, while the other group ate theirs on a traditional 3-meal-a-day schedule at 8am, 1pm, and 8pm. While both groups saw small increases in muscle mass and strength, the I.F. group experienced a 16.3% reduction in body fat compared to 2.8% for the 3-meal-a-day group. In addition, the I.F. group had lower triglycerides, and a significant decrease in inflammation.2 The I.F. group saw dramatic benefits all from eating the same food but in a different way.

REDUCES CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK:

I.F. lowers both blood pressure and heart rate for improved cardiovascular health. It also lowers triglycerides. While both HDL and LDL cholesterol are slightly elevated during the fast, this has no negative effect on blood pressure or arterial health.3 This is because in the absence of glucose the body burns fat cells for fuel, as well as the cholesterol they contain. 4 After the fast, levels return to normal.5 REDUCES INSULIN RESISTANCE:

Fat cells inhibit insulin sensitivity. The more fat cells a person has, the more insulin resistant they will be. Because I.F. causes the body to consume fat cells instead of glucose for energy, it improves insulin sensitivity. 6,7 Because diabetes and cardiovascular disease often go hand-in-hand, doctors are using I.F. successfully as an intervention for both conditions.

ANTI-AGING AND LONGEVITY:

Human growth hormone (HGH) has powerful anti-aging effects because it protects lean muscle mass and improves metabolic health.

HGH production is triggered and accelerated by fasting. During a 24-hour fast, HGH levels rose 1,300% in women and 2,000% in men. 8 Cycles of prolonged fasting have been shown to trigger stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system. Not only does it protect immune function, but it awakens dormant stem cells to regenerate a damaged immune system, particularly after chemotherapy.

During a fast, white blood cell counts drop. Without glucose, the body looks for anything it can metabolize for fuel, including old and damaged immune cells. When

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the fast is over, the body mobilizes stem cells to create brand new immune cells to replace the ones that were lost. Researchers called the effect “remarkable” and also found that fasting reduces levels of IGF-1, a growth factor hormone linked to aging, cancer, and tumor progression.9 This is important because immune function tends to decrease with age, increasing our susceptibility to disease over time.

As far back as 1945, research found I.F. extended the lives of rats. Scientists noted that eating on alternate days allowed the rats to “delay the development of the disorders that lead to death.”10 IMPROVES BR AIN FUNCTION:

During fasting when nutrients are scarce, the brain responds by reducing synaptic activity. Synapses are the connecting structures that allow chemical signals to be passed between neurons. The brain does this to conserve energy. So in essence, the brain slows down, but that’s not really a bad thing because it’s giving itself a chance to recharge, similar to what happens during meditation.

Reducing the release of neurotransmitters also gives the entire nervous system a break. This reduction is beneficial because neurotransmitter release uses a great deal of energy in a process that generates waste, including reactive oxygen species which can inflict oxidative damage on cells and neurons. Therefore, fasting helps protect against unnecessary damage to the brain and nervous system11,12 because overactive synaptic activity (racing mind with lots of extraneous thoughts) has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s disease.13 Fasting also produces ketones (beta hydroxybutyrate) that cross the blood-brain barrier and are converted into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy that every cell needs to function. When this happens, the “engine” of the cell, the mitochondria, multiply in the neurons. This “supercharged” brain state improves concentration by allowing us to better focus on one thing at a time. It also improves learning and memory, while strengthening the brain’s physical structure and integrity.14 When the brain is challenged by physical exertion or fasting, the body produces a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that strengthens neural connections by helping the neurons grow outward toward each other so they can communicate better. This happens predominantly in the hippocampus, cortex, and basal forebrain, all areas associated with learning, memory, and higher cognition.

Low levels of BDNF have been associated with Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment.15

HOW DO I START I.F.?

Starting a fast might seem simple; just stop eating.

But here is a tip that’s good to know. Sticking to it will help ensure your success. It’s important that the last meal you have before beginning a fast contain high fiber foods with some protein and fat. The bulk from the fiber will help you feel fuller longer, while the fat will keep you satiated to prevent feeling hungry as long as possible.

HOW LONG DO I FAST?

It depends on your goal. With a shorter fast, you can get some body sculpting benefits. But the key to fasting is the longer you fast, the more you’ll be 64

able to take advantage of its weight loss, brain, and cellular rejuvenation effects. With fasting, it’s really about the long haul because the serious benefits don’t kick in until about the 15th hour. There are several ways to perform I.F., and you can choose which works best for you.

16/8: This is the most common and easiest method. You fast for 16 hours and move your three meals into an 8-hour window. For example, you might stop eating at 8pm and not eat again until 12pm the next day. Your remaining two meals might happen at 3pm and 7pm to be finished again for another fast by 8pm. How you schedule it is entirely up to you, but it’s essential that you fast for at least

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“There’s no calorie counting here either. I.F. isn’t a diet but a meal timing method. Of course, it goes without saying that eating healthy foods and exercising will accelerate your progress.” beverages in addition to water are black coffee or tea with no sugar, cream, half and half, or anything else. Although black coffee and plain tea aren’t recommended because they contain calories, some people consume them because they do not incite the production of insulin, and the caffeine provides an energy boost. Outside of this, anything that is consumed will incite insulin production that will trigger a metabolic response, and the fast will be broken.

16 hours to experience the greater benefits. If you find over time you can extend the fast to 18 or 20 hours, you’ll experience impressive results.

Don’t worry about hunger because with 16/8, you’re asleep for half the fast anyway, and most people tend to skip breakfast, which makes this the most desirable method.

WARRIOR FASTING: This is a 20/4 split with a 20-hour fast and a 4-hour eating window. Working out during the fast helps burn even more fat. This is something to aspire to, but you wouldn’t want to start here if you’re new to fasting.

OMAD: This stands for One Meal a Day. The fast is for 23 hours while 1 hour is reserved for eating.

Some people have success with this method, but it can be problematic. It’s very difficult to fit all or most of your daily calories into one meal. Such a large amount of calories consumed in one sitting will take longer to digest and induce a higher than usual insulin spike. Insulin prevents fat loss, so the benefits can be delayed until very late in the fasting window.

24 ON/OFF: You fast for 24 hours while eating

normally on alternating days for two or three days a week. In some ways, this is actually easier than the OMAD approach.

The number of days you fast each week is entirely up to you, as is what you choose to eat. Fasting three to four days a week is common for most people. There’s no calorie counting here either. I.F. isn’t a diet but a meal timing method. Of course, it goes without saying that eating healthy foods and exercising will accelerate your progress.

WHAT CAN I CONSUME DURING THE FAST?

Technically, nothing because if you’re eating you’ve broken the fast. The only allowable

CAN I TAKE MY SUPPLEMENTS DURING A FAST?

No. Most vitamins and supplements contain calories and carbs that will trigger insulin production and break the fast. Take all supplements after you begin eating again.

HOW DO I BREAK THE FAST WHEN I’M READY?

Breaking a fast isn’t just about sitting down to eat again. What you eat for your first meal matters. At the end of a fast you’ll be highly insulin sensitive because you’ve not eaten for an extended period. Insulin is a fat-storing hormone because its presence in the blood stream increases the fat-storing enzyme, lipoprotein lipase (LPL), so you don’t want to create a large insulin spike with your first meal after a fast.

Your body now thinks food is scarce, so it’s going to take whatever you eat in that first meal and pack it immediately into the cells. Because of this you want to avoid eating carbs and fat together for your post-fast meal. Simple carbs will spike insulin that will open the cell to receive nutrients.

While the carbs will go in for energy, so will the fat, and it could easily contribute to thwarting your weight loss goals or even gaining weight depending on what it is that you’re eating.16 At the same time, pairing carbs and fat triggers the production of a fat-storing hormone in the gut known as glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP). Pairing protein and fiber, however, does not generate a large GIP response.17 So for your first meal post-fast, avoid things that pair carbs and fat like a grilled cheese sandwich, pizza, or fettuccini alfredo. Pot roast with vegetables or chicken marsala with a green salad would be good choices.

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“Working out in a fasted state burns significantly more fat because tiny bits of fat inside the muscles known as intramyocellular lipids are evacuated out into the blood stream and burned as fuel.”

WHEN DO I WORK OUT WHILE I’M FASTING?

Working out in a fasted state burns significantly more fat because tiny bits of fat inside the muscles known as intramyocellular lipids are evacuated out into the blood stream and burned as fuel.18 It’s an excellent way to turbo charge the fat burning process. Of course, working out in the hour or two before your fast ends means you’re at the peak of your fat burning power, but many people find energy and performance challenges an issue.

Working out in the middle of the fast seems to work best because you’re still strong from the food you’ve eaten the prior day, yet not so tired as you might feel at the end of the fast. If you choose to work out after you break the fast, be sure to leave about two hours between eating and going to the gym so your meal is fully digested. If you work out too soon, much of the body’s blood will still be drawn to the inner organs for digestion and out of the muscles, leaving you with performance challenges and improper digestion.

WILL I LOSE MUSCLE BY NOT EATING FOR SO LONG?

No. You’re providing your body with all its necessary nutrients and calories during the eating time period, so it will not start breaking down muscle. During the fast, the body is conditioned to burn fat for fuel, so muscle is preserved. The study mentioned earlier about the two groups of men who ate the same meals with the same caloric values and performed the same workout routine is powerful proof of this fact. The men doing 16/8 in the I.F. group gained more muscle and lost five times more fat than the men eating the same meals over a 12-hour period.19 WON’T THIS SLOW MY METABOLISM DOWN?

No. Metabolism is more calorie dependent than anything else. As long as you’re consuming your usual amount of calories during your eating 66

window within a 24-hour period, your metabolism isn’t going to slow down.

WILL THE FASTING HARM MY THYROID?

No. Much of the misunderstanding about I.F. and thyroid health comes from people who are already dealing with low thyroid function (hypothyroidism). Part of the problem is that the overwhelming majority of research on fasting and thyroid function focuses on going 10 days or more without food, basically starvation. Clearly, that has nothing to do with I.F. From those studies, researchers found that multi-day near-starvation fasting does change the level of the most active thyroid hormone (T3), but its precursor (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were unaffected. So while extended starvation-style fasting does affect the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT), it has no impact on the hormones that affect thyroid function in the body. The days-long fasting did change levels of thyroid-releasing hormone (TSH) and leptin, but all other levels held constant. When the fasting ends, all levels return to normal. 20 Although it’s not exactly I.F., a study of Muslims fasting over Ramadan comes much closer to the answers we need. During Ramadan, Muslims only eat after sunset for one month. Basically, they’re intermittently fasting for eight to twelve hours per day before eating for 30 days. Results showed the fasting had no significant effect on T3, T4 or TSH levels. While there were slight fluctuations during the fast, all remained within the normal range. 21 WHAT’S THE SECRET TO I.F.?

There is no secret. It’s basic biology. Insulin is a fat storing hormone. In the absence of insulin, the body switches from burning sugar (glucose) for fuel because it’s no longer available to burning fat and ketones. By condensing all eating into a

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smaller time window, people feel fuller and tend to eat a bit less at each successive meal. This puts I.F. participants in a slight caloric deficit, which is the sweet spot for muscle building and fat burning.

Once the initial hunger pangs pass, people adapt quickly, and each successive fast becomes easier.

Sources

life/?redirect=1.

(1) Chan, J et al. (2007). Short-term fasting-induced autonomic activation and changes in catecholamine levels are not mediated by changes in leptin levels in healthy humans. Clinical Endocrinology, 66(1), 49-57, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2006.02684.x.

(11) Kauwe, G et al. (2016). Acute fasting regulates retrograde synaptic enhancement through a 4e-bpdependent mechanism. Neuron, 92(6), 1204-1212, doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.063.

(2) Moro, T et al. (2016). Effects of eight weeks of time-restricted feeding (16/8) on basal metabolism, maximal strength, body composition, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk factors in resistance-trained males. Journal of Translational Medicine, 14(1), 290, doi:10.1186/s12967-016-1044-0.

(3) Varaday, K. Hellerstein, M. (2007). Alternate-day fasting and chronic disease prevention: a review of human and animal trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86(1), 7-13, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/86.1.7.

(4) McNamee, David, “Periodic fasting may protect against diabetes in at-risk groups”, Medical News Today, (June 14, 2014), https://www.medicalnewstoday. com/articles/278264.php.

(5) Varaday, K. Hellerstein, M. (2007). Alternate-day fasting and chronic disease prevention: a review of human and animal trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86(1), 7-13, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/86.1.7.

(6) McNamee, David, “Periodic fasting may protect against diabetes in at-risk groups”, Medical News Today, (June 14, 2014), https://www.medicalnewstoday. com/articles/278264.php.

(12) Sugarman, Joe, “Are there any proven benefits to fasting?”, Johns Hopkins Health Review, Vol. 3, Issue 1, (spring/summer 2016), https://www. johnshopkinshealthreview.com/issues/spring-summer2016/articles/are-there-any-proven-benefits-to-fasting.

(13) Khatn, N. Heng-Ye, M. (2013). Synaptic activity and bioenergy homeostasis: implications in brain trauma and neurodegenerative diseases. Frontiers in Neurology, 4(199), 183-197, doi: 10.3389/ fneur.2013.00199.

(14) Li, L et al. (2013). Chronic intermittent fasting improves cognitive functions and brain structures in mice. PLoS One, 8(6), e66069, doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0066069.

(15) Ibid.

(16) Cianflone, K et al. (1999). Acylation stimulating protein (asp), an adipocyte autocrine: new directions.

Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 10(1), 31-41, doi: 10.1006/scdb.1998.0272.

(17) Yip, R. Wolfe, M. (2000). GIP biology and fat metabolism. Life Sciences, 66(2), 91-103, PMID: 10666005.

(7) Varaday, K. Hellerstein, M. (2007). Alternate-day fasting and chronic disease prevention: a review of human and animal trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86(1), 7-13, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/86.1.7.

(18) Stannard, S et al. (2002). Fasting for 72 h increases intramyocellular lipid content in nondiabetic, physically fit men. American Journal of Physiology, 283(6), E1185-E1191, doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00108.2002.

(8) Gomex, Jess, “Study finds routine periodic fasting is good for your health and your heart”, American Association for the Advancement of Science, (April 3, 2011), https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/201104/imc-sfr033111.php.

(19) Moro, T et al. (2016). Effects of eight weeks of time-restricted feeding (16/8) on basal metabolism, maximal strength, body composition, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk factors in resistance-trained males. Journal of Translational Medicine, 14(1), 290, doi:10.1186/s12967-016-1044-0.

(9) Cheng, C et al. (2014). Prolonged fasting reduces igf-1/pka to promote hematopoietic stem cell-based regeneration and reverse immunosuppression.

Cell Stem Cell, 14(6), 810-823, doi: 10.1016/j. stem.2014.04.014.

(10) Stipp, David, “How intermittent fasting might help you live a longer and healthier life”, Scientific American, (January 1, 2013), https://www. scientificamerican.com/article/how-intermittentfasting-might-help-you-live-longer-healthier-

(20) Fiers, E et al. (2014). Beyond the fixed setpoint of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis. Journal of European Endocrinology, 171(5), 197-208, doi: 10.1530/ EJE-14-0285.

(21) Mansi, K. Amneh, M. (2007). Impact of ramadan fasting on metabolism and on serum levels of some hormones among healthy jordanian students. Journal of Medical Sciences, 7(5), 755-761, DOI: 10.3923/ jms.2007.755.761

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Cycles of Nature and Wellness Season of birth gives clues to health

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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n his book entitled On Airs, Waters and Places, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates stated, “Whoever wishes to pursue the science of medicine in a direct manner must first investigate the seasons of the year and what occurs in them.” What are the seasons, but the stages of progression of the natural world throughout the yearly cycle. Since nature is a closed loop and humans are part of that natural system, science is showing how deeply we’re connected to and affected by its laws, especially when it comes to our health and the season in which we’re born.

“A UK Biobank Study consistently showed to a fairly high degree, that babies born in the summer have a higher birth weight, later start to puberty and grow taller as adults than those born throughout the rest of the year.”

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Although scientists are still trying to determine the exact cause(s), there are many large-scale research studies that show the time of year or season in which we’re born has a verifiable effect on things such as birth weight, onset of puberty, height in adulthood, and even overall lifespan. All studies referenced here break the year up into the traditional three-month seasons: spring (March, April, May), summer (June, July, August), fall or autumn (September, October, November), and winter (December, January, February).

Research results across a wide range of large samples, most recently of 450,000 participants from the UK Biobank Study, consistently shows, to a fairly high degree, that babies born in the summer have a higher birth weight, later start to puberty and grow taller as adults than those born throughout the rest of the year. In contrast, babies born in winter weigh the least, enter puberty sooner and tend to be the shortest as adults. Those born in spring and fall are intermediate in these categories, with spring babies weighing more than autumn babies and growing taller as adults on average. Although the British study found no

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correlation between season of birth and body mass index (BMI), a Chinese study of 500,000 people has claimed a link between obesity in adulthood and those born in the spring and summer.

“In utero vitamin D levels via a mothers’ exposure to sunshine, causes vitamin D levels in babies born in the summer to be nearly twice as high as those born in the winter.”

These findings are giving credence to what’s been called the “fetal programming hypothesis”, or the theory that much of a child’s growth and development after birth are largely determined by influences while still in the womb and that these elements are independent of environmental and even genetic factors. While some have suggested things such as changes in available foods, air quality and physical activity as the year passes as possible causes, scientists have determined that a clear marker of these wide differences in babies based on season of birth is their in utero vitamin D levels via their mothers’ exposure to sunshine, especially during the second trimester. In fact, vitamin D levels in babies born in the summer are nearly twice as high as those born in winter.

Since the bulk of our vitamin D comes from sun exposure, it easy to see why the mothers of summer babies can get the best levels and pass that benefit on to their babies. Vitamin D isn’t as much of a traditional vitamin as it is a hormone precursor. Even its molecular structure is very similar to other hormones. That’s because vitamin D is crucial for cholesterol synthesis, and it’s from cholesterol that all of our other hormones are

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made, from pregnenolone, cortisol, and melatonin to progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and all the rest. There isn’t a function in the body that’s not triggered by a hormone, and every one of those processes is dependent on vitamin D, which is at the top of the hormonal cascade.

Because vitamin D is central to bone growth, it makes sense why summer babies with the highest amount from their mothers grow bones that are longer and stronger and end up taller as adults.

Perhaps it’s the hormonal boost of vitamin D, compliments of mom, that helps them weigh more, as well. Although babies born in the fall and winter tend not to be as tall as adults, they do mature faster. This may be caused by an additional hormonal signal that triggers something in our primal biology that recognizes a baby born in the dark part of the year, when food and bounty are scarce, needs to grow up quicker as opposed to in the leisurely, bountiful summer. While researchers continue to search for clues, the differences between humans and season of birth, particularly with regard to physical and mental health later in life, continue to surprise and perplex science.

“A scan of 1.7 million health records from the U.S. found that there were “robust” connections between many diseases in adulthood and season of birth.”

By far, babies born in autumn are most likely to grow up and pursue higher education and advanced degrees. Researchers stated this educational data showed an “abrupt difference” even when comparing births from August, the last summer month just prior to the school year, to September.

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A scan of 1.7 million health records from the U.S. found that there were “robust” connections between many diseases in adulthood and season of birth. The strongest connections came with multiple sclerosis, which disproportionately affected those born in the spring and summer to a great degree, while celiac disease was experienced much more by patients born in the summer. In all, the research found 55 diseases that were strongly correlated with season of birth, including Type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mental health disorders. Schizophrenia, major depression, and bipolar disorder were largely associated with those born in the winter and early spring, while suicide has shown to be a higher risk for those born in spring/summer versus fall/winter.

“Understanding the seasonal risk factors that go along with various illnesses has helped me create powerful interventions for my patients, especially those dealing with mental health challenges, self-harm issues, and other such tendencies.”

I strongly believe that a patient’s past informs their present and future health. When I say past, I mean going all the way back to what happens during gestation, emotionally and physically, with the mother. A person’s present physical

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constitution, or what I call their physical terrain, is the result of everything they have experienced physically, mentally, and spiritually up to the current moment, much of which they may not be aware of or even remember. Understanding the backstory of a patient’s current physical terrain is crucial in accurate diagnosis and creating an effective plan of care. Of course, the information a patient’s season of birth can provide goes a long way toward that end. Understanding the seasonal risk factors that go along with various illnesses has helped me create powerful interventions for my patients, especially those dealing with mental health challenges, self-harm issues, and other such tendencies.

Overall, research shows that those born in autumn and the beginning of winter tend to have the longest lifespans, while those born in the summer have the shortest. Of course, no one is suggesting that season of birth alone predisposes a person to one type of condition or circumstance over others, but the evidence is clear that it plays a key role on some level. Researchers believe that one of the answers is vitamin D exposure for pregnant mothers. While many of the cases in these large research samples existed before prenatal vitamin D supplementation was recommended, perhaps it’s time to have your levels checked and discuss it with your doctor, especially if you’re pregnant, and considering the fact that vitamin D is crucial to a baby’s central nervous system development.

It’s a simple test. Visit behiveofhealing.com and connect with us. We’d love to help you.

UNWHOLE & UNWHOLESOME

WHOLE FOODS. HOLISTIC HEALTH. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.

By Cynthia Liu

W

e ste r n med ic i ne h a s t ra d it io n a l ly compartmentalized the body into separate parts, each treated by a specialist who is myopically absorbed in an area of expertise. Conventional health care practitioners don’t look at the big picture to treat the underlying problem—they often only manage the symptoms.

Human beings aren’t houses. Yet medicine customarily perceives people that way and treats diseases in silos.

Trouble breathing? Visit the pulmonologist (or HVAC repair). The neurologist or electrician takes care of nerve issues. The infectious disease expert is like the pest control guy.

But what if seemingly disparate problems are related to a root cause? What if the HVAC is broken because rats chewed the electrical wires that connect the HVAC system? What if a virus attacked the lungs and also affected the nerve cells responsible for smell? This is why we need to view situations as a whole.

When Dr. Sherry Sami practices integrative orthodontics, she doesn’t just straighten teeth for cosmetic reasons. She analyzes patients’ jaw and skull structures to determine if they may be causing breathing difficulties, which can affect sleep and lead to ADHD, obesity, and other chronic medical conditions.

An infant having difficulty breastfeeding may have a tongue-tie, where the tissue connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth restricts the tongue’s range of motion.

This can result in sleep issues, tooth decay, chronic fatigue, acid reflux, and migraines later in life.

Likewise, Dr. Habib Sadeghi combines mind and body in his medical practice, and utilizes both Eastern and Western treatment modalities. With a master’s degree in spiritual psychology, he believes in the importance of psychological well-being in order to facilitate physical healing.

I teach healthy eating as part of lifestyle medicine courses offered by a large health care organization. Lifestyle medicine is holistic—a healthful diet is essential, but quality sleep, exercise, and stress management play equally significant roles in wellness. ***

You’ve probably heard that whole foods are crucial to a nutritious diet. There’s even the ubiquitous grocery store called Whole Foods. What’s the big deal about whole foods?

Processed food or supplements synthesized in a laboratory aren’t whole foods. Nutrients such as healthy fats, vitamins, and fiber have been stripped away.

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“Processed food or supplements synthesized in a laboratory aren’t whole foods. Nutrients such as healthy fats, vitamins, and fiber have been stripped away. ” of sweeteners (corn syrup, sugar), fruit puree, thickeners (modified corn starch, gelatin, pectin), natural and artificial flavors, factory-made vitamins, and artificial colors.

The nutrient-rich germ and the nutritious and fibrous bran of whole grains are removed to make white flour. In wheat, this results in a 20 to 30 percent reduction in the daily value percentage of various B vitamins and approximately 35 percent less magnesium (calculated using data from nutritiondata.self.com). All that’s left is the starchy endosperm, which is basically empty calories.

Refined flour has a longer shelf life than whole grains. Plus the food manufacturer can sell the germ and bran as two different products back to the health-conscious. This is a triple win for food companies!

Likewise, dairy companies make low-fat or non-fat milk by taking out the fat. This results in the loss of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A and D. Decades of public health messaging about saturated fat causing heart disease has led people to shun whole milk.

Yet studies are leading to a paradigm shift that although replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat is healthier for the heart, replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates makes no difference. In addition, many studies have shown an association between whole milk drinkers weighing less than those who drink reduced-fat milk.

While most of the population prefers reduced-fat milk, the dairy industry profits by selling the unwanted fat as cream, which can also be processed into aerosol whipped cream, butter, and ice cream.

Compare a whole fruit to a processed Fruit Snack or Fruit Roll-Up. Whole fruit has vitamins, phytonutrients, antioxidants, and fiber. In comparison, processed fruit snacks may consist 74

Often, there’s more sweetener than fruit. Since the fruit puree has lost its vitamins in processing, the product is fortified with synthetic vitamins so that the nutrition label can truthfully state there are vitamins in the product. Some Fruit Snack labels even come with a disclaimer in small print: “These fruit snacks are not intended to replace fresh fruit in the diet.”

Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups don’t even contain strawberry puree. They’re manufactured with pear puree and “natural flavor,” which isn’t natural in the way that consumers would assume. The FDA allows anything that originally started with an animal or plant ingredient to be called a natural flavor.

A natural animal or plant ingredient that has been extracted with toxic solvents and combined with dozens of laboratory-created flavors qualifies as a “natural ingredient.” It doesn’t even have to be derived from the flavor that they are trying to imitate—for example, vanilla natural flavor can be made from wood.

The most common sweeteners used are corn syrup and sugar, which are processed, empty calories from corn and sugarcane. Corn syrup is used in almost every processed food because it’s so cheap.

A serving of whole corn contains almost 50 percent of the recommended daily value for fiber, 20 to 50 percent of the daily value for several B vitamins, and 25 percent or more of the recommended intake for iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium.

After conversion to high fructose corn syrup, the only nutrient left is 15 percent of the daily recommended intake for manganese. Corn starch has no significant nutrients—you would have to consume a cup of corn starch to get 3 percent of the daily value for iron and manganese and 7 percent of copper and selenium. Modified corn starch has been processed even further to change its properties.

In addition to lacking nutrients, processed foods

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alter the microbiome, killing off the probiotics, or beneficial bacteria in our gut. Though microbiome research is still an emerging field, we know that probiotics are responsible for a myriad of functions, from immunity to digestion to blood pressure.

It’s easy to categorize fresh peas as a whole food and cupcakes as not. But what about pea crisps manufactured from pea protein and seasoned with low-sodium aminos and agave syrup?

Pea protein is an isolate separated from peas and lacks the phytonutrients, fiber, and vitamins found in peas. It can be obtained using water, air, or cheap chemicals. The standard industrial method starts by taking out the fat, using a solvent like the petroleum-based neurotoxin, hexane. Then the protein is dissolved with a caustic alkali such as lye (sodium hydroxide), which is frequently used to clear drains, make soap, or clean ovens.

Next, the pH is manipulated with a corrosive acid such as hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) so the protein will clump out of the solution. Finally, the protein is dried into a powder, which could be more oxidized than whole peas.

Hydrolyzing other proteins, such as soy and whey, is basically the same, though it’s more common to break down the protein with the acid first, then neutralize with the alkali or base. Glutamates similar to MSG (monosodium glutamate) are a byproduct of hydrolyzing protein. This gives protein isolates an addictive umami flavor.

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“In addition to lacking nutrients, processed foods alter the microbiome, killing off the probiotics, or beneficial bacteria in our gut. Though microbiome research is still an emerging field, we know that probiotics are responsible for a myriad of functions, from immunity to digestion to blood pressure.”

Liquid aminos is a soy sauce substitute that’s popular because it’s low in sodium. Genuine soy sauce is made by fermenting soybeans, grain (usually wheat), and salt. Chemical soy sauce and liquid aminos take a shortcut on fermentation time by hydrolyzing soy, referred to as “vegetable protein from soybeans.”

Naturally fermented Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce has 590 mg of sodium in one tablespoon (15 ml). Unfermented and hydrolyzed Bragg Liquid Aminos misleadingly lists 160 mg of sodium in half a teaspoon (2.5 ml), which converts to 960 mg of sodium in one tablespoon. Various brands of coconut aminos, which is made from unhydrolyzed coconut sap, contain about 300 mg of sodium per tablespoon.

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“Food manufacturers spend millions of dollars on marketing.

Don’t let them fool you with ingredients where part of the name has a whole food in it—such as soybean isolate, cane sugar, chicory inulin, brown rice syrup, and pea protein.”

Likewise, consumers have this perception that agave syrup is made like maple syrup, but the traditional way of collecting agave nectar and cooking it until the water has evaporated and the sugars have concentrated is rare. Instead, commercially available agave sweetener (sometimes misrepresented as nectar) is made by heating or hydrolyzing the starchy pulp into a high fructose syrup. This is similar to the way that corn is converted into high fructose corn syrup. ***

The food industry will continue to “gift” humanity with new creations that sound too good to be true—because they are. Remember, their objective is to make money and the more processing they can do to food, the more they can profit from it.

Food manufacturers spend millions of dollars on marketing. Don’t let them fool you with ingredients where part of the name has a whole food in it—such as soybean isolate, cane sugar, chicory inulin, brown rice syrup, and pea protein.

If what you’re planning to eat comes with an ingredient label, be on alert. And if the ingredients include something you don’t recognize as a whole food, don’t eat it!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Cynthia Liu holistically combines 20 years of experience in different disciplines to be an alchemist for positive transformation. A health educator and culinary instructor who teaches healthy eating and lifestyle medicine, she wrote Nature’s Palette: A Food Journey about reconnecting with vibrant, whole foods and integrating mind, body, and spirit. Cynthia is also the author of A Meditation Tasting: 12 Easy Practices from Fun to Formal.

Visit her at alchemicita.com to download a FREE Natural Immunity Toolkit.

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Sources (1) Beck AL, Heyman M, Chao C, Wojcicki J. Full fat milk consumption protects against severe childhood obesity in Latinos. Prev Med Rep. 2017 Jul 23;8:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j. pmedr.2017.07.005. PMID: 28856083; PMCID: PMC5552381.

(2) Chowdhury R, Warnakula S, Kunutsor S, Crowe F, Ward HA, Johnson L, Franco OH, Butterworth AS, Forouhi NG, Thompson SG, Khaw KT, Mozaffarian D, Danesh J, Di Angelantonio E. Association of dietary, circulating, and supplement fatty acids with coronary risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2014 Mar 18;160(6):398406. doi: 10.7326/M13-1788. Erratum in: Ann Intern Med. 2014 May 6;160(9):658. PMID: 24723079.

(3) Clifton PM, Keogh JB. A systematic review of the effect of dietary saturated and polyunsaturated fat on heart disease.

Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2017 Dec;27(12):1060-1080. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2017.10.010. Epub 2017 Oct 18. PMID: 29174025.

(4) FDA Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Food Labeling.

Revised as of April 1, 2019. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/ scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=101.22 (5) Fontecha J, Calvo MV, Juarez M, Gil A, Martínez-Vizcaino V. Milk and Dairy Product Consumption and Cardiovascular Diseases: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Adv Nutr. 2019 May 1;10(suppl_2):S164-S189. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmy099. PMID: 31089735; PMCID: PMC6518146.

(6) Holmberg S, Thelin A. High dairy fat intake related to less central obesity: a male cohort study with 12 years' follow-up. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2013 Jun;31(2):89-94. doi: 10.3109/02813432.2012.757070. Epub 2013 Jan 15. PMID: 23320900; PMCID: PMC3656401.

(7) Kratz M, Baars T, Guyenet S. The relationship between high-fat dairy consumption and obesity, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease. Eur J Nutr. 2013 Feb;52(1):1-24. doi: 10.1007/ s00394-012-0418-1. Epub 2012 Jul 19. PMID: 22810464.

(8) Lichtenstein AH. Dietary Fat and Cardiovascular Disease: Ebb and Flow Over the Last Half Century. Adv Nutr. 2019 Nov 1;10(Suppl_4):S332-S339. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmz024.

PMID: 31728492; PMCID: PMC6855944.

(9) Rautiainen S, Wang L, Lee IM, Manson JE, Buring JE, Sesso HD. Dairy consumption in association with weight change and risk of becoming overweight or obese in middle-aged and older women: a prospective cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr.

2016 Apr;103(4):979-88. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.115.118406. Epub 2016 Feb 24. PMID: 26912496; PMCID: PMC4807700.

(10) Scharf RJ, Demmer RT, DeBoer MD. Longitudinal evaluation of milk type consumed and weight status in preschoolers. Arch Dis Child. 2013 May;98(5):335-40. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2012-302941. Epub 2013 Mar 18. PMID: 23508869; PMCID: PMC4439101.

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Digital Downsizing Minimizing media technology for a better life

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

I

was recently a guest on the Dr. Oz podcast speaking about mental clarity and the role it plays in health. During the conversation, I mentioned how a life saturated in media technology can easily keep the mind so overly stimulated that there’s no room left to make space where clarity can occur. This is happening to all of us to some extent, but we don’t notice it because digital technology is ubiquitous to the 21st century lifestyle where chronic hyper-stimulation has become the norm.

When we stay in a hyper-stimulated mode for long periods of time, we live our lives in a mild state of fight-or-flight where cortisol levels remain elevated. Unfortunately, this has health consequences down the road because elevated cortisol has been implicated in hundreds of health problems. In fact, overdosing on technology, which is easy to do, not only poses risks to physical health but decreases the quality of relationships and even alters the way we think, learn, and remember.

So to create more mental clarity in my life (and for all the other obvious reasons), I’m 78

digitally downsizing my life. While I can’t get rid of technology completely, I’m taking steps to de-emphasize its prominence in my life and reducing my temptation to use it mindlessly.

When I got off all social media, I received frantic phone calls from friends wondering if something terrible had happened to me. On the contrary, it’s all good. I’ve gotten rid of my smartphone and gone back to a flip phone. Yes, they still make them. Not having internet access on my phone eliminates the temptation to check email, visit Twitter, watch videos, and surf the web when I need to be engaged with the world and people around me. I’ve also gone back to using a pager so that I use my phone to return only the most important calls.

So, I’m living like it’s 1999 again. I don’t mean to imply that it’s easy; it’s not, but I’ve committed a full year to what I call my media detox sabbatical.

It should be a very interesting experiment. I’ll be sure to let you know the changes I experience as a result of it. In the meantime, you might want to think about how you could benefit from digitally downsizing your life in one or two ways. Don’t worry. You don’t have to get a flip phone.

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“You might want to think about how you could benefit from digitally downsizing your life in one or two ways.”

TEN WAYS TECHNOLOGY CAN MINIMIZE YOUR LIFE: Overstimulation from technology (TV, computers, cellphones, notebooks, etc.) has consistently been shown to be associated with impaired learning, executive function 1 and attention deficit,2 increased impulsivity, and cognitive delays.3 The brain requires downtime to process new experiences, committing them to long-term memory. Overstimulation short circuits this learning process. 4 Sixteen international studies showed brain scans of internet and game-addicted teens revealed gray matter atrophy in areas involved with planning, prioritization, organization, impulse control, cognitive control, and emotional processing, as well as reduced cortical thickness of the frontal lobe related to cognitive impairment.5 When we’re multitasking (on the phone while doing something else) the hippocampus, which controls memory recall, switches off creating new, less efficient neural pathways that make remembering more difficult. 6 GPS is causing people7 and taxi drivers8 to lose their spatial relation capabilities.

Increasing use of texts, email, and social media reduces the ability to read social and nonverbal cues, body language, and the emotional state of others.9 By staring at screens barely 12 inches from our faces, myopia (near-sightedness) has increased 66% in Americans ages 12 to 54.10 In China, 90% of young adults are myopic, as are 95% of 19-year-old males in Seoul, Korea, largely attributed to screen-based technology.11 The World Health Organization and experts like Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez have been warning the public for years about the possible carcinogenic and neurological effects of overexposure to EMF waves from electronic devices, wireless technology, and cell phones.12 Our attention span is shrinking. The average visit to a webpage lasts 10 to 20 seconds.13 A New York Times poll found 1 in 7 people spend less time with their partner because of media, while 1 in 10 spend less time with their children.14 As electronic communication between spouses increases, marital satisfaction decreases.15

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“A New York Times poll found 1 in 7 people spend less time with their partner because of media, while 1 in 10 spend less time with their children. As electronic communication between spouses increases, marital satisfaction decreases.”

Sources (1) Christakis, D et al. (2012). Overstimulation of newborn mice leads to behavioral differences and deficits in cognitive performance. Nature. 2(546), doi:10.1038/srep00546.

(2) Christakis, D et al. (2004). Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems in children. Pediatrics. 113(4), 708-713.

(3) Pagani, Linda et al. (2010). Prospective associations between early childhood television exposure and academic, psychosocial, and physical well-being by middle childhood. Pediatrics. 164(5), 425-431.

(4) Richtel, Matt. (2010). Digital devices deprive brain of needed downtime. The New York Times, (nyti. ms/33Ww68p).

(5) Dunckley, Victoria. (February 27, 2014). Gray matters: too much screen time damages the brain.

Psychology Today, (bit.ly/3anPZq3).

(6) Foerde, K et al. (2006). Modulation of competing memory systems by distraction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103(31), 11778-11783.

(7) Bella, Rick. (June 11, 2010). Two hikers found after two-day search in Mt. Hood national forest. Oregon Live, (bit.ly/3aonVmL).

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(8) Frankenstein, Julia. (2012). Is GPS all in our heads?

The New York Times, (nyti.ms/2XYrPh0).

(9) Uhls, Yalda et al. (2014). Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues. Computers in Human Behavior. 39(1), 387-392.

(10) Vitale, Susan et al. (2009). Increased prevalence of myopia in the united states between 1971-1972 and 1999-2004. Archives of Ophthalmology. 127(12), 1632-1639.

(11) Medaris Miller, Anna. (2014). Is nearsightedness an epidemic?. Us news & world report, (bit.ly/31MZwTO).

(12) Letter from the American Academy of Pediatrics to The Honorable Mignon Clyburn, Acting Commissioner, U.S. Federal Communications Commission, August 29, 2013. (bit.ly/2XWEMIk).

(13) Nielsen, J. (2011, September 12). How long do users stay on web pages? Retrieved from bit.ly/2FgAtko.

(14) Connelly, M. (2010). More Americans sense a downside to an always plugged-in existence. The New York Times.

(15) Social Media Study Finds Link Between Media Use And Relationship Satisfaction, The Huffington Post, (April 15, 2013), (bit.ly/2y1vJIk).

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A comprehensive ocular nutrition formula, Healing Eyes has been created to strengthen and extend vision clarity as we age. Mixed carotenoids with vitamin A from the palm tree fruit assist the body in converting beta carotene into vitamin A. Maximized doses of riboflavin (B2) and methylcobalamin (B12) help keep homocysteine, which can aggravate eye conditions, at healthy levels. Lutein and the powerful antioxidant, zeaxanthin, work together to prevent age-related eye deterioration and cataracts.

Bilberry (standardized at 36% anthocyanins) is potent defense against eye fatigue, dimming eyesight and vision with sparks. Rounding out this arsenal for optimal eyesight is Taurine, an organic acid which has shown great results in providing protection against degeneration of the retina.

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These statements made have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All medications and nutritional supplements should only be used after you consult with your physician or other healthcare provider.

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Volume 8

What’s on Your Phone?

Probably more germs than apps

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi & Dr. Sherry Sami

O

ne of the simplest and most powerful health prevention actions we can take is to wash our hands regularly. Growing up, we were all reminded to wash our hands before dinnertime, but how many of us complied then, and how many of us do it consistently today?

As obvious as washing hands is to staying healthy, it wasn’t always that way. In 1847, Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis suspected that unseen elements might be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of pregnant women each year from what was known as puerperal fever. He felt that if doctors washed their hands between delivering babies, the death rate of mothers would drop dramatically.

After much resistance, doctors accepted the handwashing protocol and the deaths of birthing mothers immediately plummeted. Years later, after Semmelweis’ death, Louis Pasteur discovered the existence of germs.

Everything we touch imparts a portion of its molecules to us, and we to it. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that we transfer many of our skin molecules to our cell phones as we interact with them. In fact, molecules from whatever else we’ve touched before touching the phone also get transferred to it. By simply taking a swab from a person’s cell phone, researchers were able to construct what they called a “molecular signature” from which they could derive a fairly accurate profile of the phone’s owner, including personal care products used, preferred foods, medical conditions, and even personal habits.

Molecules harvested from cell phones included those from beauty and personal care products, food, pesticides and insecticides, plasticizers, medications like anti-depressants and antifungals, and more.

Researchers could even determine levels of skin inflammation from the samples taken. Traces from elements the phone owner touched only once could still be found on the phone up to six months later, such as DEET, an ingredient in mosquito

repellent. In fact, the molecular profiles taken from cell phones were so specific that researchers could pair people up with their phones simply by taking a skin sample from their hands.

“Research from the London School of Hygiene has found 92% of cell phones to be contaminated with bacteria, including E. coli, a bacteria of fecal origin.”

Although this kind of research may eventually be used to construct composite sketches of personal lifestyle for law enforcement, it has a more immediate message for us; almost none of us are washing our hands enough, if at all. We didn’t even talk about germs. Research from the London School of Hygiene has found 92% of cell phones to be contaminated with bacteria, including E. coli, a bacteria of fecal origin.

It should be clear now that we need to make it a habit to wash our hands regularly, particularly after using the restroom (yes, some need reminding about this!), before eating and when coming home from any public place where we’ve shaken lots of people’s hands or touched anything lots of other people touch like department store door handles, gas pumps, checkout credit card machines, and so on.

It won’t do you much good if you use your clean hands to touch a dirty cell phone. Do your best to clean your phone daily. You can purchase sanitizing phone wipes in bulk online, as well as screen cleaning kits with a microfiber cloth and diluted alcohol solution to disinfect the phone. You might also want to consider using a Q-tip dabbed with a little rubbing alcohol to make sure crevices have been covered like ports and the grating of the speaker grill.

Sources (1) Bouslimani, A., & Melnik, A. V. (2016). Lifestyle chemistries from phones for individual profiling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(48), E7645-E7654. doi:10.1073/pnas.1610019113.

(2) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. (2011, October 14). Contamination of UK mobile phones and hands revealed. Retrieved from https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2011/mobilephones.html.

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MEDITATION 84

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N MINUTES ANNUAL DOSE OF INSPIRATION FROM BE HIVE OF HEALING’S L.I.G.H.T.

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A DELICATE BALANCE HOW FASTING BLOOD SUGAR AND INSULIN PREDICT HEALTH

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By Dr.Habib Sadeghi

T

he body needs sugar, but in very small amounts. Too little and you’ll slide into hypoglycemic shock, a deadly condition if left untreated. Too much and you’ll slowly waste away through tissue and organ degeneration. Getting blood sugar right for health is a delicate balance.

This is why it’s important for patients to understand how and why their doctors measure blood sugar, what the numbers mean, how they predict health (especially fasting blood sugar), and how to keep it under control.

EXIT STR ATEGIES

In a fasted state, the average person has between four to seven grams of sugar (glucose) circulating throughout their body. That’s about a teaspoonful. How can this be when we know most people consume large amounts of sugar, including starchy/simple carbs that convert quickly to sugar, throughout the day?

Because sugar is pro-inflammatory, it’s largely toxic to the body and has to be removed from the bloodstream as soon as possible. So the body converts and stores much of it in the liver and muscles as glycogen for future energy. Some we burn for energy we need at the moment, while any leftovers get converted to fat in the liver. It’s when we can’t get the majority of sugar out of the blood through these pathways that it reaches unsafe levels and diabetes occurs. Before going there, let’s look at the different ways blood sugar levels are tested and what the numbers mean.

TEST TYPES

The most common way to test for blood sugar is to prick the finger, place the blood on a test insert, and do the analysis. After the finger prick test, it’s very common to do a fasting blood sugar test. That’s a blood draw after the patient hasn’t eaten or drunk anything but water for at least eight hours. Any fasting blood sugar level under 100 mg/dl is considered “normal”. A higher level in a fasted state may well be a sign of insulin resistance. It means that you’re not getting enough of the sugar out of your blood, and its damaging inflammation is affecting the whole body, significantly raising the risk of a host of diseases, including diabetes. Much research shows a fasting blood sugar test is a reliable tool to predict future health, which we’ll discuss later. We’ll also explore whether the modern “normal” range of fasting blood sugar is actually safe and why we should probably be aiming for lower levels.

A postprandial blood sugar test is taken after eating and measures blood sugar response to food, as well as the ability to dispose of glucose. An HbA1C test measures the degree of glycation in the red blood cells’ hemoglobin. Glycation is a reaction that happens when simple sugar molecules become attached to protein or fat molecules in the bloodstream and results in harmful compounds being created known as advanced glycation end products (AGE). Also known as glycotoxins, AGEs create a high level of oxidative damage and are considered pathogenic with a significant link to diabetes and other chronic diseases.1 This test is a measure of how much blood sugar red blood cells are exposed to over time, usually two to three months because that’s the general lifespan of a red blood cell. Cells that have been exposed to more sugar will have more glycation.

So the HbA1C test seeks to establish the average level of blood sugar circulating through the body across the life cycle of the red blood cells, rather than tracking blood sugar numbers that fluctuate throughout the day, week, or month. It measures chronic not acute blood sugar levels.

Becoming more common is the continuous glucose monitor. It’s a wearable device that measures blood sugar at various points throughout the day and night. This gives doctors a unique view of how levels change in response to meals, exercise, fasts, stress, etc. Since high blood sugar does its damage over the long-term, a test such as this gives doctors valuable information that they can’t obtain from some something like a finger prick test that only captures one moment in time.

C ON T I N U E D. . .

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“Having high levels of insulin in the body (hyperinsulinemia) due to high blood sugar is connected to a number of diseases and foreshadows others.”

RETHINKING RECOMMENDED LEVELS

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), any fasting blood glucose (FBG) level under 100 mg/dl is normal. Pre-diabetic concerns are raised between 100 and 125, and anything above 126 is considered diabetic.2 Unfortunately, there’s a problem with these ranges. Research is showing that healthy FBG levels are lower than the ADA suggests.

Using continuous glucose monitoring, research has found that the mean blood glucose level of healthy adults is 89 mg/dl, considerably lower than 100.3 At the same time, another study found that people with an FBG of 95 to 99, which is considered “normal” by ADA standards, were more than twice as likely (2.33) to develop diabetes in the future than those whose levels were on the lower end of the scale. 4 With regard to HbA1c, the ADA says anything under 5.7% is normal, 5.7% to 6.4% is pre-diabetic, and 6.5% and up is diabetic.5 Again, research points to much lower levels being healthy. One study found under 5% was best and that anything over 4.6% was associated with increased risk of heart disease. 6 INSULIN ISSUES

Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas that allows cells to uptake the glucose in the bloodstream and convert it into a form that can be used for energy. It’s the key that opens the lock on the cell surface that allows glucose to enter. Over 88

time as a person consumes larger amounts of sugar on a regular basis, it requires increasing amounts of insulin to open the cell. Eventually, the cell’s “lock,” or insulin receptors, become so exhausted that they don’t open anymore. Suddenly, the body can’t get all the sugar out of the bloodstream, and this creates an emergency situation. This is what we call insulin resistance or diabetes. At that point, it requires levels of insulin higher than the body can produce in order to get the cells to respond, so exogenous insulin must be taken, usually in the form of injections.

What’s important about fasting insulin levels is that not only are they an important marker of current health, they are a strong predictor of future health. Elevated insulin is the cause of many illnesses and at the same time a reliable indicator of others. Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted healthy range for insulin.

Most research linking elevated insulin to disease uses quantiles, which break up test subjects into groups of high, medium, and low levels. It’s relative to a great degree.

Because our modern diets are full of high carb, processed, and starchy foods, it’s difficult to know what a normal fasting insulin level should be.

Swedish scientist Staffan Lindeberg performed much research with indigenous tribes separated from industrialized society. He found the Kitava people of the South Pacific eating their natural unprocessed diet had fasting insulin levels that were very low, a range of 3 to 6 uIU/mL in men and women of all ages. By contrast, he found modern

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Swedes had fasting insulin ranges between 4 and 11 uIU/mL and that they increased with age. The average American’s fasting insulin is about 8.4 uIU/mL.7 Considering that the Kitava people were largely free of degenerative diseases, it would seem that a normal and healthy fasting insulin range is closer to theirs than ours.

Having high levels of insulin in the body (hyperinsulinemia) due to high blood sugar is connected to a number of diseases and foreshadows others. In fact, that connection is so strong and supported by so much research it’s why most physicians use a fasting insulin test as part of their standard diagnostic investigation.

WEIGHT LOSS SABOTAGE

One of the primary functions of insulin is to suppress lipolysis—the release of fatty acids from body fat to be burned. 8 When we eat carbohydrates, insulin goes up to help us dispose of the glucose in our system. During this time sugar is the priority, much of which we’ll be using for energy. Therefore, insulin suppresses the body’s ability to use fat for energy instead because sugar is toxic and must be removed from the bloodstream ASAP. Because of this, it’s much harder to burn fat and lose weight when insulin levels are high from eating lots of carbs.

Studies show the higher the insulin level, the stronger your sense of hunger and the more you eat. In fact, high insulin levels are the most powerful way to increase hunger, food intake, and cravings.9 Naturally, reducing insulin levels reverses diet-induced weight gain.10 CANCER CONNECTION

Another important function of insulin is to make things grow. This is beneficial when it comes to children that need to grow or wounds that need to heal. It’s not so good when it comes to cancer.

Actually, it’s a well-known medical fact that hyperinsulinemia is a risk factor in virtually all types of cancer.11 Research shows hyperinsulinemia is a major factor in colon cancer because of its ability to increase the availability and potency of insulin-like growth factor (IGF).12 Women over 50 with a genetic predisposition for hyperinsulinemia have increased risk of colorectal cancer,13 and colon cancer patients who eat high insulin-producing diets experience poorer outcomes.14 Hyperglycemia increases the resistance of breast tumors to chemotherapy.15 People genetically inclined to hyperinsulinemia are at greater risk of pancreatic cancer,16 and hyperinsulinemia can predict endometrial cancer independent of the patient’s bodyweight.17

“Studies show the higher the insulin level, the stronger your sense of hunger and the more you eat. In fact, high insulin levels are the most powerful way to increase hunger, food intake, and cravings.”

Although many diabetics need insulin, using it actually increases their risk of liver cancer.18 It has long been suspected that insulin’s strong connection to cancer lies not only in its ability to make things grow but because cancer cells have an excessive amount of insulin receptors on their surface, suggesting cancer has an affinity for circulating insulin.

HEART DISEASE HALLMARK

Hyperinsulinemia is an independent risk factor for heart attack. That means that regardless of how well a person controls cholesterol levels, triglycerides, and blood pressure, even above family history, hyperinsulinemia supersedes all other factors in predicting risk of heart disease and heart attack.20 Many cardiologists often identify the ApoB lipoprotein biomarker as the “causative” factor of heart disease. This lipoprotein also happens to be one of the strongest predictors of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. 21 The link between insulin and heart disease is undeniable and constantly appears across decades of medical research.

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“Keeping blood sugar and insulin in check is probably the single most important disease prevention we all need to be putting into practice.”

Contrary to popular belief, cholesterol is not the culprit of heart disease—it’s sugar and the insulin spikes it creates. Sugar-induced inflammation in the bloodstream can damage the fine lining of the arteries. This emergency situation triggers a response whereby the artery linings are coated with a combination of various fats—not to kill us, but to protect the circulatory system from springing leaks due to inflammatory damage.

Once excessive amounts of sugar aren’t consumed and are out of the bloodstream, the coating process stops. This is why once a person is diagnosed as diabetic, the risk for heart attack and stroke immediately doubles.22 Since 1990 researchers have known of the atherogenic (artery coating) effects of elevated insulin. In their work they state, “Long-term treatment with insulin results in lipid-containing lesions and thickening of the arterial wall…Insulin deficiency inhibits the development of arterial lesions.”23 Because hyperinsulinemia is an independent risk factor for heart disease, it makes perfect sense that it’s also one for hypertension. Elevated insulin leads to sodium and water retention, which increases blood pressure. Just as lower insulin levels in the form of a low carb diet inhibit arterial buildup, they also lower blood pressure. This is particularly the case with women. 24 The link between insulin and blood pressure is so strong 90

that even controlling for weight or body mass index (BMI) doesn’t affect it.25 MORE MALADIES & MORTALITY

Evidence is now showing that insulin has an inflammatory effect on the joints that causes collagen degeneration and pain.26 Although it has not been formally studied yet, this likely explains why many people speak of no more aching joints after adopting a low carb diet.

Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver nearly always show some level of insulin resistance. 27 Insulin has to get glucose into the cells; but if they’re already full of glucose, the liver will convert the excess into fat. 28 Some of that fat can be exported to other cells, but a large portion remains in the liver, especially in cases of hyperinsulinemia.

Because elevated blood sugar and insulin are involved in so many disease processes, they can be used with a fair degree of accuracy to predict mortality. In this way, the message is clear: If you want to live a longer, healthier life and avoid countless chronic diseases, reduce sugar intake and keep your insulin on the low end of the normal range.

We already know that cancer cells thrive in high insulin conditions and that cancer patients who have diets high in insulin-inducing foods fair the worst and have higher mortality. 29 Even after

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controlling for diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome, hyperinsulinemia predicts cancer mortality.30 Research has also shown that in older diabetics, insulin use predicts mortality.31 PREVENTION IN PR ACTICE

Keeping blood sugar and insulin in check is probably the single most important disease prevention we all need to be putting into practice, and there are a number of ways we can do that.

While there is a lot of debate about what the “right” diet is, no one is praising the benefits of hyperinsulinemia. Therefore, it stands to reason that the best diet for health is the one that doesn’t sustain high insulin levels or cause insulin spikes.

This means adopting a low carb diet, one that eliminates processed sugar and strictly limits starchy carbs like grain products (bread, crackers, etc.), potatoes, and rice.

Exercise is a great way to minimize blood sugar because it depletes the muscles of glycogen. This opens up more storage space for new glucose to exit the bloodstream and be deposited there.

Drinking a tablespoon of vinegar diluted in a glass of water before a meal containing carbohydrates will improve your blood glucose response. Any vinegar-based dressing on a pre-meal salad can work as well.

As more carbs are eliminated from meals, introduce more protein and saturated fat. They’ll help you feel more satiated and extend the time before you feel hungry again. Be sure to get good sleep because sleep deprivation impairs blood glucose regulation.32 Avoid dairy because it’s high in sugar (lactose), but fermented dairy products much lower in sugar such as kefir33 and yogurt34 have been shown to improve glycemic control in diabetes patients. Even cheese has been shown to have the same positive effect.35 Much research has been done on the power of spices and their ability to help regulate blood glucose.36 The best part is that they’re not exotic types but the same ones you have in your kitchen cupboard right now like cinnamon, cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander, ginger, cloves, sage, oregano, and more. So work on adding more spice to your diet.

Do your best to incorporate these changes into your life, and soon you’ll be able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels without even thinking about it. It takes some time to withdraw from sweets and starchy carbs because of their addictive properties, so have patience and don’t try to do it all overnight. Eventually, your carb cravings will weaken then disappear, and you’ll see that life lived in a healthy body is far sweeter than any fluffy confection and the health consequences it’s hiding.

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Sources (1) Goldin, A., & Beckman, J. A. (2006). Advanced glycation end products. Circulation, 114(6), 597-605. doi:10.1161/ circulationaha.106.621854.

(2) American Diabetes Association, Diagnosis, Fasting Plasma Glucose, https://www.diabetes.org/a1c/diagnosis.

(3) Freckmann, G., & Hagenlocher, S. (2007). Continuous glucose profiles in healthy subjects under everyday life conditions and after different meals. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 1(5), 695-703. doi:10.1177/193229680700100513.

(4) Nichols, G. A., & Hillier, T. A. (2008). Normal fasting plasma glucose and risk of type 2 diabetes diagnosis. The American Journal of Medicine, 121(6), 519-524. doi:10.1016/j. amjmed.2008.02.026.

(5) American Diabetes Association, Diagnosis, Fasting Plasma Glucose, https://www.diabetes.org/a1c/diagnosis.

(6) Adams, R. J., & Appleton, S. L. (2009). Independent association of HbA1cand incident cardiovascular disease in people without diabetes. Obesity, 17(3), 559-563. doi:10.1038/ oby.2008.592.

(7) Lindeberg, S., & Eliasson, M. (1999). Low serum insulin in traditional Pacific Islanders—The Kitava study. Metabolism, 48(10), 1216-1219. doi:10.1016/s0026-0495(99)90258-5.

(8) Chakrabarti, P., & Kim, J. Y. (2013). Insulin inhibits Lipolysis in Adipocytes via the Evolutionarily conserved mtorc1-egr1-ATGL-Mediated pathway. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 33(18), 3659-3666. doi:10.1128/mcb.01584-12.

(9) Rodin, J., & Wack, J. (1985). Effect of insulin and glucose on feeding behavior. Metabolism, 34(9), 826-831. doi:10.1016/00260495(85)90106-4.

(10) Page, M. M., & Skovs, S. (2018). Reducing insulin via conditional partial gene ablation in adults reverses diet induced weight gain. The FASEB Journal, 32(3), 1196-1206. doi:10.1096/ fj.201700518r.

(11) Djiogue, S., Nwabo Kamdje, A. H., & Vecchio, L. (2012).

Insulin resistance and cancer: The role of insulin and IGFs. Endocrine-Related Cancer, 20(1), R1-R17. doi:10.1530/erc-12-0324.

(12) Giovannucci, E. (2007). Metabolic syndrome, hyperinsulinemia, and colon cancer: A review. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86(3), 836S-842S. doi:10.1093/ajcn/86.3.836s.

(13) Jung, S. Y., & Rohan, T. (2017). Genetic variants and traits related to insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin resistance and their interaction with lifestyles on postmenopausal colorectal cancer risk. PLOS ONE, 12(10), e0186296. doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0186296.

(14) Yuan, C., & Bao, Y. (2017). Influence of dietary insulin scores on survival in colorectal cancer patients. British Journal of Cancer, 117(7), 1079-1087. doi:10.1038/bjc.2017.272.

C ON T I N U E D. . .

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(15) Qahtani, A. A., & Holly, J. (2017). Hypoxia negates hyperglycaemia-induced chemo-resistance in breast cancer cells: The role of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2. Oncotarget, 8(43). doi:10.18632/oncotarget.20287.

(16) Carreras-Torres, R., & Johansson, M. (2017). The role of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic factors in pancreatic cancer: A mendelian randomization study. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 109(9). doi:10.1093/jnci/djx012.

(17) Nead, K. T., & Sharp, S. J. (2015). Evidence of a causal association between Insulinemia and endometrial cancer: A mendelian randomization analysis. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 107(9). doi:10.1093/jnci/djv178.

(18) Liu, X., & Wu, H. (2018). Association between insulin therapy and risk of liver cancer among diabetics. European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 30(1), 1-8. doi:10.1097/ meg.0000000000001001.

(19) Papa, V., & Costantino, A. (1997). Insulin Receptor: What Role in Breast Cancer? Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, 8(8), 306-312. doi:10.1016/S1043-2760(97)00114-8.

(20) Després, J., & Lamarche, B. (1996). Hyperinsulinemia as an independent risk factor for ischemic heart disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 334(15), 952-958. doi:10.1056/nejm199604113341504.

(21) Makaridze, Z., & Giorgadze, E. (2014).

Association of the Apolipoprotein B/Apolipoprotein A-I ratio, metabolic syndrome components, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol with insulin resistance in the population of Georgia.

International Journal of Endocrinology, 2014, 1-8. doi:10.1155/2014/925650.

(22) Sarwar, N., & Gao, P. (2010). Diabetes mellitus, fasting blood glucose concentration, and risk of vascular disease: A collaborative meta-analysis of 102 prospective studies. The Lancet, 375(9733), 2215-2222. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60484-9.

(23) Stout, R. W. (1990). Insulin and atheroma: 20-Yr perspective. Diabetes Care, 13(6), 631-654. doi:10.2337/ diacare.13.6.631.

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doi:10.1186/s12986-019-0402-3.

(26) Qiao, L., & Li, Y. (2020). Insulin exacerbates inflammation in fibroblast-like Synoviocytes.

Inflammation. doi:10.1007/s10753-020-01178-0.

(27) Utzschneider, K., & Kahn, S. (2006). The Role of Insulin Resistance in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 91(12), 4753–4761. doi:10.1210/jc.2006-0587.

(28) Sanders, F. W., & Griffin, J. L. (2015). De novolipogenesis in the liver in health and disease: More than just a shunting yard for glucose. Biological Reviews, 91(2), 452-468. doi:10.1111/brv.12178.

(29) Yuan, C., & Bao, Y. (2017). Influence of dietary insulin scores on survival in colorectal cancer patients. British Journal of Cancer, 117(7), 1079-1087. doi:10.1038/bjc.2017.272.

(30) Perseghin, G., & Calori, G. (2012). Insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia and cancer mortality: The Cremona study at the 15th year of follow-up. Acta Diabetologica, 49(6), 421-428. doi:10.1007/s00592-0110361-2.

(31) Damluji, A. A., & Cohen, E. R. (2017). Insulin provision therapy and mortality in older adults with diabetes mellitus and stable ischemic heart disease: Insights from BARI-2D trial. International Journal of Cardiology, 241, 35-40. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2017.03.048.

(32) Daza, E. J., & Wac, K. (2019). Effects of sleep deprivation on blood glucose, food cravings, and affect in a non-diabetic: An N-of-1 randomized pilot study.

Healthcare, 8(1), 6. doi:10.3390/healthcare8010006.

(33) Ostadrahimi, A., & Taghizadeh, A. (2015). Effect of Probiotic Fermented Milk (Kefir) on Glycemic Control and Lipid Profile In Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 44(2), 228–237. Retrieved from PMID: 25905057.

(34) Watanabe, D., & Kuranuki, S. (2018). Daily yogurt consumption improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in young nondiabetic Japanese subjects with type-2 diabetes risk alleles. Nutrients, 10(12), 1834. doi:10.3390/nu10121834.

(24) Wang, F., & Han, L. (2017). Fasting insulin, insulin resistance and risk of hypertension in the general population: A meta-analysis. Clinica Chimica Acta, 464, 57-63. doi:10.1016/j.cca.2016.11.009.

(35) Comerford, K., & Pasin, G. (2016). Emerging evidence for the importance of dietary protein source on Glucoregulatory markers and type 2 diabetes: Different effects of dairy, meat, fish, egg, and plant protein foods. Nutrients, 8(8), 446. doi:10.3390/ nu8080446.

(25) Baghbani-Oskouei, A., & Tohidi, M. (2019).

Impact of 3-year changes in fasting insulin and insulin resistance indices on incident hypertension: Tehran lipid and glucose study. Nutrition & Metabolism, 16(1).

(36) Thondre, P. S. (2013). Food-based ingredients to modulate blood glucose. Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, 181-227. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12416555-7.00005-9.

BALANCE YOUR BODY WITH MEDICAL MAGNETS

HEALING MAGNETIC FIELD THERAPY Just like a magnet, both the earth and the human body contain and emit electromagnetic energy. They also have opposing poles like a magnet. Because of this phenomenon, cells can be signaled and stimulated to perform in new and different ways with electromagnetic waves. While chemically-based pharmaceuticals are often used to impact cell function, electromagnetic waves have been shown to provide a much deeper stimulation with better outcomes and no side effects in many cases. Healing through energy, not chemicals is at the heart of Healing Magnetic Field Therapy (HMFT).

As with any electrical device such as a TV or radio, the body has ranges of frequencies in which it works best. As long as the frequency the cells are receiving is within the range of these “biological windows”, as science describes them, all systems such as digestion, elimination, circulation and so on function perfectly, and the body is in balance. When the body’s electromagnetic frequency becomes disrupted by electromagnetic pollution from power lines, cell phones, cell phone towers, Wi-Fi, microwaves and so on, it becomes jammed like a radio receiving static, setting the stage for illness.

HMFT is designed to rebalance cellular activity by introducing the appropriate electromagnetic signal for the existing condition through a specialized calibration of waveform, field strength, frequency and resonance. Magnetic bracelets aren’t effective for healing because their frequency isn’t necessarily tuned to the body. They also produce a singular or static sine wave which easily fatigues the cell membrane. HMFT uses alternating frequencies delivered in pulses with extremely low field intensity to keep the cells constantly stimulated and responsive.

Healing Magnetic Field Therapy Session On an HMFT session, the patient either lies on a comfortable mat containing ten internal copper coils or has a transmitting device placed on the affected area of the body while a prescribed set of electromagnetic frequencies gently pulse. The frequencies used always fall within 0.5-15 Hz, the ideal range for optimum health. Sessions also include treatment at 7.83 Hz, the frequency at which the earth vibrates and a healthy body is synchronized, also known as the Schumann resonance.

HMFT has produced impressive results across a wide range of illnesses including osteoporosis, inflammatory conditions, and fibromyalgia, which is also referred to as magnetic deficiency syndrome in Japan.

Contact us today at behiveofhealing.com/contacts to ask about how HMFT can enhance your healing plan.

LEARN MORE BY VISITING behiveofhealing.com/magnetic-therapy

BADMOUTH BACKFIRE TALKING BAD ABOUT YOUR EX HURTS YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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hen a marriage ends there can be great emotional pain that without proper self-awareness can turn into bitterness. In some cases, this bitterness can cause the partner who feels betrayed or rejected by the divorce to talk badly about their ex-spouse to their children. This is done as a form of punishment with the intention of damaging the denigrated parent’s reputation with the children and causing estrangement in their relationship.

For many years it was assumed that parental alienation is exactly what happened in such situations, but recent research has shown that it’s the exact opposite. It’s the denigrator parent that damages his or her own relationship with their children and ends up estranged from them in adulthood.1 The evidence strongly suggests that children don’t want to hear negative talk about either of their parents and that it’s the badmouthing parent that loses respect in their children’s eyes. There are several important reasons badmouthing of an ex should be avoided, especially in front of children.

Even under the best of circumstances divorce is never easy, especially when there are children involved. As difficult as the circumstances may be, it goes without saying that if you can’t say anything good about your ex, then it’s best to say nothing at all.

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SELF-ALIENATION As the denigrating parent continues to badmouth their ex, the child experiences an increased sympathy for and desire to be near the parent who was verbally abused and/ or kept away. As the child gets older, he or she will naturally seek out the target parent to establish a relationship and resent the denigrator parent for lost years they can never get back and memories that were never made.

GUILT AND SHAME No matter what parents do, it’s natural for children to love them unconditionally and seek their approval. When anyone puts down someone we love, we feel hurt and offended; children are no different when their parents are insulted. When feeling like they’re being forced to choose sides, children can feel guilty for betraying one parent for the other. Unable to fully express their feelings, this can manifest in poor self-esteem, self-blaming, self-hatred or self-harm.

Children also see themselves as part of their parents. They’re told they have their mother’s eyes or father’s determination. When one parent badmouths the other, children are hearing that there are parts of their identity (appearance or personality) that the denigrator parent despises. Children can deeply internalize this into a belief that there is something wrong with themselves. A shame-based personality leads to unhealthy relationships in adulthood.

A CHILD’S RIGHT Just because the denigrator parent had a bad relationship with the target parent does not mean that their children will. Assuming children are free from harm and will receive appropriate care and supervision, every child has a fundamental right to love and build a healthy relationship with both parents, regardless of what the adults in the situation think of each other. To undermine that relationship is abusive.

LOSING CUSTODY If it can be proven that one parent is attempting to harm a child’s relationship with the other parent through denigration and/or alienation, it is legally possible that custody could be transferred to the non-custodial parent. Warnings against such behavior are regularly included in divorce agreements. For example here is a standard clause: “Neither parent shall do anything which may estrange the other from their children, ignore the opinion of the children, injure the opinion of the children to the other parent or hamper the free and natural development of the love of the children for the other parent.”2

Sources (1) Rowen, J. Emery, R. (2014). Examining parental denigration behaviors of co-parents as reported by young adults and their association with parent–child closeness. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 3(3), 165-177, doi: 10.1037/cfp0000026.

(2) “Why Bashing Your Ex is Bad for Your Children…And How to Stop Yourself”, Weingerger Divorce and Family Law Group, (July 31, 2017), bit.ly/3kIIU7J.

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A LIE OF THE MIND TRANSGENDERISM AS MENTAL ILLNESS

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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H

ow do we determine who we are? Forming an identity is the foundation of human existence. Once we answer that question for ourselves, we can interact with the world in a way that’s congruent with our identity. Our place and function in society become clearer.

Life makes sense as we move forward adopting viewpoints and taking actions that continue to strengthen our sense of self.

In forming our identity, no other aspect is more important than biological sex. It’s our primal identity and cuts to the core of who we are. Long before we identify with external things like a religion, political party, job title, or even our race, we come to understand as toddlers that there are only two kinds of human beings on earth: males and females, and we are either one or the other.

That realization is the foundation and beginning of self-awareness.

When there is confusion between a person’s sexual identity and their biological sex, as is the case with transgender people, it generates great stress throughout every aspect of their lives.

They can’t live fully and freely because there is a significant psychological conflict between who they are with regard to their biology and who they believe themselves to be.

“The plight of transgender people deserves great compassion, but how their struggle is being met by medicine is of great concern.”

The plight of transgender people deserves great compassion, but how their struggle is being met by medicine is of great concern. Unfortunately, well-funded special interest groups have made politics the center of the issue and under the guise of civil rights pressured the medical establishment into fast-tracking transgender adults into radical life-altering surgeries and pubescent children into cross-hormone therapy 1 that they later grievously regret. This is happening all while increasing numbers of transgender people are searching for ways to “de-transition”, as mounting evidence continues to show transgenderism is a mental illness in desperate need of psychological treatment, not surgery.

POLITICS & SEMANTICS

Since the 1970s, transgender people were diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) as described in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), the official compendium of all known mental illnesses. After heavy lobbying of the APA by special interest groups that claimed transgender people suffered a social stigma from the word “disorder” in their diagnosis, the organization changed the name of the condition from GID to gender dysphoria in 2013.2 The change caused much celebration among transgender advocates assuming that transgenderim was “no longer a mental illness”,3 as if someone could just declare a thing on paper and the make it so. In fact, the name change was little more than medical wordplay. The transgender community didn’t want to be labeled “disordered”, but removing their condition entirely from the DSM-V as a mental illness would have made them ineligible for coverage for medical services. With this in mind, the APA played with semantics by giving the condition a new name without the offending word, all while keeping it as a classification in the DSM-V. In other words, just changing the name of the condition changed nothing. As long as transgenderism can be diagnosed under a classification of the DSM-V, the official reference guide for mental disorders, it is a mental disorder.

REALITY DISCONNECT

Gender dysphoria refers to the clinically significant stress, anxiety, or depression that arises from personally identifying with one of the two sexes that is opposite a person’s biological sex: a man who perceives himself and identifies as a woman or a woman who perceives herself and identifies as a man. In principle, it’s very similar to another mental disorder, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), where a person is unable to see 98

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“Unfortunately, countless governmental, medical, and social institutions not only encourage but enable [transgenderism] for their own political and financial gain.”

their body objectively as it is and instead obsesses on some aspect or part that they feel needs fixed or changed. A subgroup of this condition includes muscle dysmorphia when bodybuilders become obsessed with exercise and steroids because no matter how big they get, they see their body as small when they look in the mirror. This also applies to anorexia where no matter how much weight one loses, they only see a fat person in the mirror, and so the obsession with dieting goes on.

Like a transgender man who perceives himself as a woman, there is a fundamental inability to recognize objective reality in all these conditions.

Those who believe that transgenderism is now “no longer a mental illness” often mistakenly liken the GID name change to the removal of homosexuality from the DSM-V in 1987 as a similar step forward in the march toward sexual rights, except that isn’t an accurate comparison.

Homosexuals do not suffer from an inability to recognize objective reality. When they look in the mirror, there is no conflict with what they see and how they feel with regard to their biological sex.

A gay man still sees himself as a man and feels like a man, and the women see and feel themselves as women. In addition, homosexuality was entirely removed from the DSM-V, while transgenderism was simply renamed.

So it’s the inability to recognize and reconcile with objective reality that’s at the heart of transgenderism. The inability to recognize reality used to be called delusional or at least a hallucination. Unfortunately, countless governmental, medical, and social institutions not only encourage but enable this condition for their own political and financial gain. At the time of this writing, the U.S. Supreme Court is deliberating a case on whether transgender people will become a protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 4 If this happens, it will be the first time a mental illness was normalized by judicial edict.

How can this be? It would be obvious to any rational person that an adult male who identified himself as an eight-year-old child, alien from another planet, or even an animal was suffering from some sort of mental illness. However, when he identifies as a woman, nothing is out of order? I make this analogy not to disrespect the struggle of transgender people but to show the absurdity and danger of normalizing it as research continues to show increasing numbers are committing suicide, especially after their surgeries. This is happening as the medical industry charges up to $100,000 for each “transition”5 and transgender people continue to be unwittingly used as political pawns.

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better adapt to the world and their place in it.11 Unfortunately, their call to action has fallen mostly on deaf ears as the mental health needs of transgender people go entirely unaddressed and they commit suicide in increasing numbers.

SUICIDE EPIDEMIC

All the psychopathologies that occur in tandem with cross-gender identification are highly associated with suicide.12 Because of this, it’s an unfortunate fact that as transgender people struggle to adapt to their bodies and their place in the world, they commit suicide at much higher rates than the general public. Sadly, these numbers increase exponentially after surgery, which changes virtually nothing on a psychological level.

PRE-EXISTING MENTAL ILLNESS

A clinical review from the Department of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University of the university’s Gender Identity Clinic found that 90% of transgender patients “had at least one other significant form of psychopathology… [including] problems of mood and anxiety regulation and adapting to the world.” Some also had “persistent and significant regrets about their previous transitions.” The researchers expressed great concern about the agencies claiming to help transgender adults and how the issue was being manipulated for political and financial gain at the expense of the patients.

“This finding seems to be in marked contrast to the public, forensic, and professional rhetoric of many who care for transgendered adults . . . Emphasis on civil rights is not a substitute for the recognition and treatment of associated psychopathology. Gender identity specialists, unlike the media, need to be concerned about the majority of patients, not just the ones who are apparently functioning well in transition.” 6 Studies from Sweden and the Netherlands also confirm that as many as 90% of transgender people suffer from mental disorders related to depression and anxiety,7 and that their cross-gender identification is a secondary effect that arises out of “other psychiatric illnesses, notably personality, mood, dissociative, and psychotic disorders.” In fact, these serious mental disorders were identified in 79% of all transgender people. 8 As evidence continues to mount that transgender people overwhelmingly suffer from one or more of these Axis I disorders,9, 10 researchers are urging the medical establishment to focus on helping patients develop coping skills so that they might 100

The longest and most comprehensive follow-up study on post-operative transgender people occurred in Sweden, a culture strongly supportive of transgenderism, and examined all cases of patients who underwent sexual “reassignment” surgery from 1973 to 2003. At some point in their lives, 41% of transgender people will attempt suicide compared with 4.6% of the larger population.13 According to the Swedish study after surgery, the suicide rate for transgender people is 19 times the rate of the general public with the highest risk in male-to-female patients.

As such, transgender people have a much higher mortality rate than the general public, which the researchers attributed mostly to completed suicides. Even so, transgender people were found to have a death rate from cancer and cardiovascular disease 2.5 times higher than control groups.

Although researchers did not speculate, it may be that these increases are due to the long-term effects of cross-hormone use. At the same time, the study also showed psychiatric hospitalization was triple the rate of non-transgender people.14

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“It’s an unfortunate fact that as transgender people struggle to adapt to their bodies and their place in the world, they commit suicide at much higher rates than the general public. Sadly, these numbers increase exponentially after surgery, which changes virtually nothing on a psychological level.”

An important point made in the study was that the majority of these suicide and disease events occurred 10 to 15 years after surgery when physicians are no longer following patients and the initial post-operative euphoria of “becoming” the opposite sex has worn off. Long after the media stories celebrating post-operative transgender people have left the front page, their darker and deeper struggle begins, but no one is paying attention anymore.

SURGERY NO SOLUTION

Yet, as the political bandwagon for transgenderism rolls on, the medical evidence continues to mount showing that physical treatments like surgery and hormone therapy for what is fundamentally a mental illness make no impact on the long-term quality of life for transgender people. A 2012 review of the literature on treatment for gender dysphoria by the APA found the “quality of evidence pertaining to most aspects of treatment in all subgroups was determined to be low.”15 A 2004 review of more than 100 international medical studies of post-operative transgender people found "no robust scientific evidence that gender reassignment surgery is clinically effective.”

The lead researcher at Birmingham University in Britain found that studies supporting surgery for transgender people were poorly designed with skewed results that were biased toward “changing” sex with no evaluation of other treatments such as long-term counseling or whether cross-sex

identification lessened over time. Other studies were unsound because they lost track of over half the participants, many probably due to suicide.

Because of this, researchers gave the studies supporting transgender surgery the lowest rating for quality.16 In their final report, they stated: “Statistically significant improvements have not been consistently demonstrated by multiple studies for most outcomes. … Evidence regarding quality of life and function in male-to-female adults was very sparse. Evidence for less comprehensive measures of well-being in adult recipients of cross-sex hormone therapy…was sparse and/or conflicting. The study designs do not permit conclusions of causality and studies generally had weaknesses associated with study execution, as well.

There are potentially long-term safety risks associated with hormone therapy but none have been proven or conclusively ruled out.” 17 While Medicare and Medicaid have not issued a National Coverage Determination (NCD) on a blanket approval for transgender surgery, the agencies will still pay for those procedures on a case-by-case basis. Even so, they expressed grave concerns about the success of surgery in a 2016 memo stating: “Overall, the quality and strength of evidence were low due to mostly observational study designs with no comparison groups, subjective endpoints, potential confounding…small 101

sample sizes, lack of validated assessment tools, and considerable lost to follow-up…The majority of studies were non-longitudinal, exploratory type studies…or did not include concurrent controls or testing prior to and after surgery…studies did not demonstrate clinically significant changes or differences in psychometric test results after [gender reassignment surgery].” 18 Of course, the failure of surgery to help transgender people isn’t a new discovery. In 1979, thirteen years after the first transgender surgery was performed in 1965, endocrinologist Charles Ihlenfeld who had treated more than 500 post-operative transgender patients with cross-hormone therapy, confided in a letter to fellow endocrinologist Harry Benjamin, “There is too much unhappiness among people who have the surgery. Too many of them end as suicides.

Eighty percent who want to change their sex shouldn’t do it.”19 Later he would write in Transgender Subjectivities: A Clinician’s Guide (2004), “Whatever surgery did, it did not fulfill a basic yearning for something that is difficult to define. This goes along with the idea that we are trying to treat superficially something that is much deeper.”20 Dr. Ihlenfeld eventually left

endocrinology to pursue a residency in psychiatry.

BR AVERY & BACKLASH

More recently, Dr. Paul McHugh, former Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, made waves in the media when his op-ed was published in the Wall Street Journal in 2014 titled, “Transgender Surgery Isn’t the Solution: A drastic physical change doesn’t address under-lying psycho-social troubles”.21 In the article, McHugh stated that transgender surgery is never medically necessary or ethically defensible and that surgeons performing such procedures are “cooperating with delusional thinking”, likening the practice to giving liposuction to anorexic patients.

After reviewing decades of transgender cases at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. McHugh found patients were no better adjusted to their world after surgery, stating, “They had much the same problems with relationships, work, and emotions, as before. The hope that they would emerge now from their emotional difficulties to flourish psychologically had not been fulfilled.”22 With this evidence, Dr. McHugh was instrumental in getting transgender surgeries stopped at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1979.

“After reviewing decades of transgender cases at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. McHugh found patients were no better adjusted to their world after surgery, stating, ‘They had much the same problems with relationships, work, and emotions, as before. The hope that they would emerge now from their emotional difficulties to flourish psychologically had not been fulfilled.’”

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Unfortunately, after backlash from Dr. McHugh’s 2014 op-ed and pressure from the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBTQ organizations, transgender surgeries were resumed at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2016 after 37 years. In a press release, the hospital celebrated the return of what it called “gender-affirming” surgery. 23 The new feel-good title for the surgery only underscores that the hospital knows it’s impossible to change or even “reassign” biological sex, and that the only thing it’s affirming is the delusions of its patients.

TARGETING CHILDREN

Regardless of the euphemisms healthcare and the media prefer to give transgender surgery, it doesn’t eliminate any of the dire risks that come with it.

Dr. McHugh insists that “policy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention.”24 This is particularly important because Dr. McHugh cites two studies from Vanderbilt University and London’s Portman Clinic of Children that show 70% to 80% of young people who express transgender confusion about their biological sex lose those feelings over time.25 In 2016, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) issued a scathing indictment against the push for transgender medical interventions for children titled, “Gender Ideology Harms Children”. In it, the ACP cited the APA’s own findings published in the DSM-V that state 98% of boys and 88% of girls experiencing transgender confusion eventually accept their biological sex naturally after passing through puberty.26 It also cited many studies documenting the dangers and permanent damage done to children from cross-hormone therapy and puberty blockers such as sterility, hypogonadism, stunted growth, cardiac disease, blood clots, diabetes, and cancer.

In the end, the ACP stated that “Conditioning children into believing a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse.”27 COMPULSORY COVER AGE

Unfortunately, increasing numbers of transgender people of all ages are being pushed into cross-hormone therapy and surgery by political cheerleaders and medical enablers. Medical tracking data has revealed that transgender surgery has quadrupled in the U.S. since 2000 with a total of 4,118 procedures by 2015. This drastic increase is thought to be the result of the Obama Administration’s Affordable Care Act barring discrimination based on gender identity, in effect mandating coverage of transgender services by nearly all insurance companies.28

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Not surprisingly, the rush to irreversible medical interventions has ruined the lives of most post-operative transgender people. Once they eventually come to accept their biological sexual identity or realize surgery wasn’t the emotional panacea it was promised to be, it’s too late, and the devastation sets in. With the amputation of healthy body parts there is no way back to their former lives or selves in spite of consultations with surgeons in an attempt to “de-transition”. Intense regret leaves them with nowhere to turn because expressing second thoughts about transgenderism in any way is to be shouted down as intolerant, bigoted, trans-phobic, and infringing upon the sexual health rights of others.

DEVASTATING REGRET

Because the political-medical-media alliance pushing transgenderism is broad, well-funded, and powerful, getting actual statistics on how many post-operative transgender people regret their decision is nearly impossible. Those who do dare to express their regret openly are either humiliated in the press or regularly accused of “not having been transgender to begin with”.

One of those people is Walt Heyer, who in order to escape the pain of early childhood trauma, adopted a female identity that arose out of what he would later learn was dissociative identity disorder. At 42 he had surgery and lived as a woman for eight years, after which he realized that it was impossible to truly become a woman.

It was that discovery that helped him begin to accept his maleness. After intense therapy to deal with surgery regret, he now helps other “regretters” share their stories and provides assistance for them to move forward with lives that have purpose and meaning through his online service, sexchangeregret.com.

Because Heyer stepped out of the shadows with his sex change regret, others are slowly gaining the courage to do the same. In his book, Trans Life Survivors, thirty people share their heartbreaking stories and what it cost them to come out of the trans regret closet.

Urologists such as Miroslav Djordjevic who specialize in transgender surgery have seen an increase in “reversal” surgeries, particularly in trans women who want their male genitalia back.

Dr. Djordjevic said these patients display high levels of depression and suicidal thoughts. This isn’t surprising since male-to-female transgender people have the highest suicide rates. He told Newsweek, “It can be a real disaster to hear these stories.”29 A Swedish documentary titled Regretters gained a lot of attention when it followed two trans women 103

“When there is such a clear disconnect between objective reality and personal identity, psychological intervention should be the first and only course of action. ” person. Famous tennis player and ophthalmologist Richard Raskind had surgery to become Renee Richards in 1975. After living nearly 25 years as a woman, he shared this with Tennis Magazine:

who returned to living as men in their 60s.30 As the social conversation about transgenderism slowly expands beyond the accepted narrative, people are feeling more emboldened to share the details others don’t want us to hear. As one regretter told The Guardian: “ Tra nssex u a lism wa s inve nted by psychiatrists. You fundamentally can’t change sex. The surgery doesn’t alter you genetically.

It’s genital mutilation. My ‘vagina’ was just the bag of my scrotum. It’s like a pouch, like a kangaroo. What’s scary is you still feel like you have a penis when you’re sexually aroused.

It’s like phantom limb syndrome. It’s all been a terrible misadventure. I’ve never been a woman, just Alan.” 31 For some transgender people, regret happens immediately after surgery. For others, regret develops slower as disillusionment sets in over the coming years. This was the case for Los Angeles sportswriter Mike Penner, who shocked everyone after announcing in his column in 2007 that he would be returning from a three-week vacation as “Christine Daniels”.32 After living as a woman for a year and without explanation, he decided to resume living as a man in 2008. Sadly, the post-operative struggle was too much for him, and he committed suicide in 2009. Penner’s funeral was private to keep out the media. While the LGBTQ community had their own memorial service, it was only for “Christine Daniels” and not Mike Penner.

Still, transgenderism advocates insist that transgender people living in their post-op bodies for decades are well-adjusted and the real success stories. This just isn’t true, and longevity is no barometer for happiness for a post-op transgender 104

“If there was a drug that I could have taken that would have reduced the pressure, I would have been better off staying the way I was—a totally intact person. I know deep down that I’m a second-class woman. I get a lot of inquiries from would-be transsexuals, but I don’t want anyone to hold me out as an example to follow.

Today there are better choices, including medication, for dealing with the compulsion to cross dress and the depression that comes from gender confusion. As far as being fulfilled as a woman, I’m not as fulfilled as I dreamed of being. I get a lot of letters from people who are considering having this operation…and I discourage them all.” 33 In a later interview with The New York Times in 2007 titled The Lady Regrets, the reporter described Richards this way: “…as she wearies of the interview, her body language seems to become more traditionally male, suggesting an athlete who is wearying of the game.”34 Although no one is about to fund a large, long-term study of transgender surgery regret for obvious reasons, we can get a pretty good idea of how serious the problem is just based on existing evidence. When we consider that post-operative transgender people have a suicide rate 19 times higher than the general public, and the fact that 65% of people who have cosmetic surgery end up regretting it,35 it becomes clear that the level of regret from procedures as drastic as transgender surgery is excessively high, regardless of what the media says.

EXPLORING ORIGINS

It was once thought that abnormalities with androgen receptors involved in sexual differentiation, as happens with hermaphroditism (a birth defect resulting in the development of both male and female sexual genitalia), might be at the heart of transgenderism. However, research of men with transgender feelings has shown no genetic abnormalities whatever. Researchers stated, “This gender disorder does not seem to

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be associated with any molecular mutations of some of the main genes involved in sexual differentiation.”36 This evidence along with the fact that the DSM-V tells us that the overwhelming majority of people lose their transgender feelings over time,37 as well as the mounting cases of post-operative regret, underscore the reality that transgenderism is mental in origin, not physical. It therefore demands psychological intervention, not surgery or hormones.

childhood events and doing the hard work of dealing with a painful past. The causes of these disorders lie buried so deep, and stirring them up leads to such high levels of anxiety, that changing one’s identity and appearance—while extreme—seems preferable. Thirty-three years ago I underwent gender-reassignment surgery only to discover it was a temporary reprieve, not a solution to the underlying comorbid disorders.” 38

In Walt Heyer’s case, he believes that escaping the pain of childhood trauma through an alternate identity is one way it happens. A person can’t get further away from his or her own identity than adopting that of the opposite sex. He stated:

More mental health professionals are starting to suspect that the phenomenon can happen subconsciously as a way to escape all sorts of challenges in life. Nancy Verhelst of Belgium was devastated after her transgender surgery transformed her into “Nathan”, saying the procedure turned her into “a monster”. Years later, she realized her feelings of wanting to be a man had arisen from the rejection of her mother who always preferred her brothers. Physicians eventually put Nancy to death at her request under the country’s euthanasia law.39

“Advocates and trans-clients fear that if a psychologist or a psychiatrist looks too deeply into the patient’s psyche they could discover the presence of a disorder that, if properly treated, would take away the dream of sex change, a fantasy they nurtured most of their lives. Living in denial is often a means of escape, a way to avoid looking back at early

Dr. McHugh believes that in many male-to-female cases, the men cannot come to terms with their homosexuality and subconsciously seek becoming a woman as a way to ease the moral conflict between their sexual orientation and their biological sex.

He also suspects that cross-dressing along with an obsession to inhabit the female form too deeply may create confusion in some men. 40

Even so, how does it happen? Once again, there is virtually no research in this area because the existing medical establishment doesn’t see transgenderism as a problem, and there is no need to study something that’s not a problem.

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Research from Brown University recently found that the media was a major force in creating transgender confusion, especially in young people.

It went so far as to call transgenderism among the young a fad that young adults attached themselves to because it was hip, driven by “peer contagion”. 41 Outrage from transgender advocates caused the university to remove the study from its own site.

WHO’S TRUTH?

When politics and profit are put before patients, the most vulnerable people always suffer. This is undoubtedly the case with transgender people. When there is such a clear disconnect between objective reality and personal identity, psychological intervention should be the first and

Sources (1) Keenan, Jeremiah, “Doctors Insist Canadian 14-Year-Old Needs No Parent Consent for Hormone Injections”, The Federalist, (February 26, 2019), bit.ly/35SqqNP.

(2) Ford, Zak “APA Revises Manual: Being Transgender No Longer a Mental Disorder”, ThinkProgress, (December 3, 2012), bit. ly/3iSdEm9.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Skurkiss, Peter, “Huge Transgender Case Will Be Heard By Supreme Court in October”, American Thinker, (September 1, 2019), bit. ly/33OQNBr. (5) Phillips, Trisha, “The Price Tag Behind Gender Transitioning Will Leave You Stunned”, CheatSheet.com, (January 24, 2018), bit. ly/2Empypn.

(6) Levine, S. B., & Solomon, A. (2008).

Meanings and Political Implications of “Psychopathology” in a Gender Identity Clinic: A Report of 10 Cases. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 35(1), 40–57. doi: 10.1080/00926230802525646.

(7) Dhejne, C., & Lichtenstein, P. (2011).

Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden. PLoS ONE, 6(2), e16885. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016885.

(8) À Campo, J., & Nijman, H. (2003).

Psychiatric Comorbidity of Gender Identity Disorders: A Survey Among Dutch Psychiatrists.

American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(7), 1332-1336. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.7.1332.

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only course of action. Anything else is tantamount to malpractice. Dr. McHugh is correct when he states: “Sex change’ is biologically impossible.

People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is a civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder.” 42 Yet, the healthcare establishment, media, and advocacy groups continue to urge transgender people to “live their truth”. But where will that lead them when their truth is based on a lie of the mind?

(9) Mazaheri Meybodi, A., & Hajebi, A. (2014).

Psychiatric Axis I Comorbidities among Patients with Gender Dysphoria. Psychiatry Journal, 2014, 1-5. doi:10.1155/2014/971814.

(10) Heylens, G., & Elaut, E. (2014). Psychiatric characteristics in transsexual individuals: multicentre study in four European countries.

British Journal of Psychiatry, 204(2), 151-156. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.112.121954.

(11) Budge, S. L., & Adelson, J. L. (2013). Anxiety and depression in transgender individuals: The roles of transition status, loss, social support, and coping. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81(3), 545-557. doi:10.1037/a0031774.

(12) Mazaheri Meybodi, A., & Hajebi, A. (2014).

Psychiatric Axis I Comorbidities among Patients with Gender Dysphoria. Psychiatry Journal, 2014, 1-5. doi:10.1155/2014/971814.

(13) Ungar, L. (2015, August 16). Transgender people face alarmingly high risk of suicide.

USAToday. Retrieved from bit.ly/2FZ34ek.

(14) Dhejne, C., & Lichtenstein, P. (2011).

Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden. PLoS ONE, 6(2), e16885. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016885.

(15) Byne, W., & Bradley, S. J. (2012). Report of the American Psychiatric Association Task Force on Treatment of Gender Identity Disorder.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(4), 759-796. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-9975-x.

(16) Batty, D. (2004, July 30). Sex changes are not effective, say researchers. The Guardian.

Retrieved from bit.ly/3kPbRir.

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(17) Hyde, C. “Sex Reassignment Surgery for the Treatment of Gender Dysphoria”, Medical Technology Directory, (August 1, 2018), bit. ly/2G0twnP. (18) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “Decision Memo for Gender Dysphoria and Gender Reassignment Surgery”, (August 30, 2016), go.cms.gov/3iRgnfB. (19) Person, E. (2008). Harry Benjamin: Creative Maverick. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 12(3), 259-275. doi:10.1080/19359700802111619.

from bit.ly/3kz6rrB. (30) Regretters, (2010), Director: Marcus Lindeen, Atmo Media Network, imdb.to/2RM4cEP. (31) Batty, D. (2004, July 30). Mistaken identity.

The Guardian. Retrieved from bit.ly/3mEiyp3.

(32) Penner, M. (2007, April 26). Old Mike, New Christine. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from lat. ms/3cmvye4.

(33) Morabito, S. (2014, November 11). Trouble In Transtopia: Murmurs Of Sex Change Regret. The Federalist. Retrieved from bit.ly/35UoxA3.

(20) L. Ubaldo, Drescher, J., Transgender Subjectivities: A Clinician’s Guide, Hayworth Medical Press, (2004), bit.ly/32Qq9Jt.

(34) Wadler, J. (2007, February 1). The Lady Regrets. The New York Times. Retrieved from nyti.ms/3kBbzLD.

(21) McHugh, P. (2016, May 13). Transgender Surgery Isn't the Solution A drastic physical change doesn't address underlying psycho-social troubles. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from on.wsj.com/2FYI1bM.

(35) Russell, S. (2014, May 14). Why two thirds of Britons (and Katie Price) say they REGRET having cosmetic surgery. Daily Mail. Retrieved from dailym.ai/3ckCN6o.

(22) McHugh, P. R. (1995). Witches, multiple personalities, and other psychiatric artifacts.

Nature Medicine, 1, 110-114.

(23) Ford, Z. (2016, October 18). Johns Hopkins to resume gender-affirming surgeries after nearly 40 years. ThinkProgress. Retrieved from bit. ly/3hVhnxU. (24) McHugh, P. (2016, May 13). Transgender Surgery Isn't the Solution A drastic physical change doesn't address underlying psycho-social troubles. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from on.wsj.com/2FYI1bM. (25) Ibid.

(26) American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association, 2013 (451-459).

See page 455 re: rates of persistence of gender dysphoria.

(27) Cretella, M., Van Meter, Q., “Gender Ideology Harms Children”, Position Statements of the College, American College of Pediatricians, (March 2016), bit.ly/2HmuRGs. (28) Ellis Nut, Amy, “Transgender Surgeries on the Rise Says First Study of Its Kind”, Washington Post, (February 28, 2018), wapo. st/2ZXohwF. (29) Borreli, L. (2017, October 3). Transgender Surgery: Regret Rates Highest in Male-to-Female Reassignment Operations. Newsweek. Retrieved

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(36) Lombardo, F., & Toselli, L. (2013).

Hormone and genetic study in male to female transsexual patients. Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 36(8), 550-557. doi:10.3275/8813.

(37) American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association, 2013 (451-459). See page 455 re: rates of persistence of gender dysphoria.

(38) Heyer, W., “50 Years of Sex Changes, Mental Disorders, and Too Many Suicides”, Public Disclosure: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute, (February 2, 2016), bit.ly/2FMYP5S. (39) Gayle, D. (2013, October 1). Transsexual, 44, elects to die by euthanasia after botched sex-change operation turned him into a 'monster'.

Daily Mail. Retrieved from dailym.ai/3mFl927.

(40) Barber, N. (2018, March 16). The Gender Reassignment Controversy When people opt for surgery, are they satisfied with the outcome?

Psychology Today. Retrieved from bit.ly/32Qclys.

(41) Mikelionis, L. (2018, August 30). Brown U. censors 'gender dysphoria' study, worried that findings might 'invalidate the perspectives' of transgender community. Fox News. Retrieved from fxn.ws/3chDLAv. (42) McHugh, P. (2016, May 13). Transgender Surgery Isn't the Solution A drastic physical change doesn't address underlying psycho-social troubles. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from on.wsj.com/2FYI1b

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Volume 8

BLINDED BY

THE L GHT THE RISK OF LEDS TO VISION HEALTH

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

T

he human eye is designed to see and process light in its most natural form, that being light emitted by the sun.

Sunlight contains all the colors of the light spectrum in their natural wavelengths and intensity so the eyes can view the world properly and remain healthy.

In 2009, as part of an effort to make energy consumption more efficient and reduce costs, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established regulations to completely phase out production of the traditional incandescent light bulb we all grew up with, replacing them with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) and light emitting diodes (LED) by 2020. Unfortunately, research shows that the artificial light emitted by these hybrid bulbs poses a serious risk to vision health that far outweighs the nominal savings in energy usage or cost when compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs.

ADDED TOXICITY

Both CFLs and LEDs are considered photo-toxic, meaning that they emit light at unnatural wavelengths and at levels of intensity that are detrimental not only to vision but to overall health. While this article focuses on LEDs, it should be noted that CFLs (those swirly-looking light bulbs) are equally dangerous with the added toxicity of mercury. In fact, in the event one is broken the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has special rules for cleaning it up that involve far more than a broom and dustpan. All windows must be opened to air out the room.

Air conditioning and heat must be shut off for

hours so the escaped mercury will not become airborne and inhaled. Consumers are required to call their local governments with regard to rules regulating the disposal of toxic waste, in this case the shards of glass, and poison control if necessary.1 Because of the semiconductor at their base, CFLs also produce what’s known as “dirty” electricity in the 62 KHz range, frequencies that can negatively impact our biology with everything from headaches to heart arrhythmias.

BLUE LIGHT BLUES

Of all the wavelengths in the light spectrum, blue light has the most potential to do harm to vision, particularly if the wavelengths are below 455 nanometers and the intensity is high. This is exactly the kind of light emitted by LEDs which can lead to loss of retinal cells and diminished sharpness. Unfortunately, LED lights are now found in most homes, offices, electronic toys, computers, cell phones, streetlamps, and headlights.

LEDs emit unnatural wavelengths of blue light and at high intensities because of their construction. They consist of a semiconductor chip positioned on a reflective surface. When electricity passes through the chip it produces an unnatural form of light in its spectrum which is then reflected off a mirror-like surface, making it even more intense. By comparison, traditional incandescent light bulbs produce far less blue light than LEDs and CFLS, and in a range much closer to natural sunlight.

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“Blue light photo receptors in the retina communicate with the brain to set sleep-wake patterns. Exposure to blue light at night inhibits the production of the hormone melatonin, which we need to makes us sleepy. ”

interrupts sleep and the circadian rhythm, which are closely linked to vision. Blue light photo receptors in the retina communicate with the brain to set sleep-wake patterns. Exposure to blue light at night inhibits the production of the hormone melatonin that makes us sleepy. Some retinal cells also produce melatonin that helps rejuvenate the retina overnight. Long-term exposure to LEDs, especially at night, reduces the eyes’ regenerative capacity, and less regeneration means degeneration, which leads to macular degeneration, a primary cause of blindness in the elderly. As the eye ages, it also accumulates fluorescent molecules called lipofuscin which are sensitive to blue light and put us at greater risk of blue light damage over time.

A REVERSAL

In view of this evidence, the good news is that the DOE reversed its ban on the incandescent bulb in 2019, allowing consumers to continue to choose what kind of light is healthier for their home and work environments.6 Unfortunately, by 2015 most manufacturers had stopped making incandescent bulbs in order to comply with the 2020 ban deadline, although they can still be found in some stores like Walmart.

RESEARCH CONFIRMED

Barely one year after the DOE set the eventual ban on incandescent bulbs in motion, the Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) in France issued a report in 2010 exposing the health dangers of the intense blue light from LEDs. 2,3 A follow-up report in 2019 confirmed the findings. 4 The reports state: [LED technology] has a wide range of applications including public, domestic and commercial lighting, sport facilities, indicator lamps (toys, signposting, etc.), vehicle lighting, and therapeutic products (light therapy).

Strong components in the blue part of the spectrum of light emitted by the LEDs, as well as the associated intensity of the radiation, raise the issue of new health risks related to these sources of lighting.

Some scientific studies [Dawson et al., 2001, Ueda et al., 2009], based on laboratory experiments with blue LEDs conducted on monkeys, give reason to suspect a danger for the retina related to exposure to light-emitting diodes.

Blue light is therefore recognized as being harmful and dangerous to the retina, as a result of cellular oxidative stress. There is a strong suspicion that blue light aggravates age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), based on converging observations on experimental models.

The photochemical risk is associated with blue light, and depends on the accumulated dose to which the person has been exposed, which is generally the result of low intensity exposure repeated over long periods. There is a high level of proof of such a risk.

SLEEP CYCLE INTERRUPTION

An American study from 2016 also verified these findings5 in additional to establishing how blue light

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At the same time, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is suing the DOE to reinstate the ban and leave Americans with only dangerous CFLs and LEDs to choose from. The agency is taking this action knowing that the savings in energy usage and cost over a full decade is nominal when compared to incandescent bulbs: ($3.30 vs. $12.35) price paid ($3.23 vs. $32.37) cost over a decade.7 Currently, data from the National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association (NEMA) show LED bulbs make up 65% of the market with 28% accounting for halogen incandescent bulbs.

This difference in usage is likely due to the availability problems people have when looking for incandescent bulbs.

The data also show that CFLs have mostly fallen out of favor and are little used today. 8 HIGH RISK GROUPS

While LED blue light is everywhere and a problem for everyone today, the ANSES has identified several groups that are at high risk. These include children because of the transparency of the lenses in their eyes, people missing their lenses due to surgery or those who had crystalline lenses implanted in their eyes, those who are already light sensitive or have conditions like macular degeneration, and lighting installers in the film, TV, and theater industries.

The ANSES has also called for limiting LEDS for domestic use to “warm white” bulbs instead of bright white, which pose the greatest risk. Also suggested was reducing the luminosity in car headlights, regulating the installation of high-risk lighting in public venues like sports stadiums, and designing lighting systems in which beams of LED light cannot be seen directly.

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PROTECTING YOURSELF Although LED light is pervasive throughout our lives now, there is much you can do to protect yourself and your family from its effects.

Replace all LEDs in your home with incandescent bulbs. Your risk to LEDs is reduced if they’re used in places where you will not be exposed to the light for very long such as in a closet or on a front porch. Still, do your best to get rid of all of them.

Get natural light exposure every day. Not only is this healthy for your eyes, but it will help keep your circadian rhythm strong and sleep cycle regular, especially if you sleep in a room that’s completely dark.

Avoid exposure to blue light at night, preferably three hours before bedtime. Blue light waves mimic the sun and suppress melatonin that helps us feel sleepy. Red or amber lights do not suppress melatonin, neither does candlelight. If you must use the computer or cell phone or watch TV during that time, wearing a pair of glasses that block blue light from entering the eye known as blue blockers is important. Studies have shown wearing blue blocker glasses at night can significantly improve sleep quality and protect against LED-induced melatonin suppression. Be sure the glasses have been tested for blue light blocking capacity and aren’t simply sunglasses with amber lenses.

Sight is a precious gift, and using incandescent bulbs in your home while minimizing exposure to LED light is essential to preserving it. Even though incandescent bulbs might not last quite as long or cost a bit more over the long-term than LEDs, the greater benefit they offer your sight and overall health make them a very worthy investment.

Sources (1) Environmental Protection Agency, “Cleaning Up a Broken CFL”, (May 21, 2019), bit.ly/34157ak.

(2) Édition scientifiqueoctobre 2010effets sanitaires des systèmes d’éclairage utilisant des diodes électroluminescentes (led). ANSES, (October 2010), bit.ly/3j5Adng.

(3) Opinion of the French agency for food, environmental and occupational health & safety in response to the internally-solicited request entitled “health effects of lighting systems using light-emitting diodes (LED)".

ANSES, (October 19, 2010), bit.ly/2RZdFJ5.

(4) LEDs & blue light health effects of lighting systems using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). ANSES, (August 13, 2019), bit.ly/3cuZmWh. (5) Tosini, G et al. (2016). Effects of blue light on the circadian system and eye physiology. Molecular Vision, 22(12), 61-72, PMID: 26900325.

(6) Bhambhani, Dipka, “Let There Be Lighting Choices, Energy Department Tell Environmental Groups”, Forbes, (September 5, 2019), bit.ly/3j4Y1I6.

(7) Ibid.

(8) Ibid.

(9) Burkhart, K. Phelps, J. (2009). Amber lenses to block blue light and improve sleep: a randomized trial.

Chronobiology International, 26(8), 1602-1612, doi: 10.3109/07420520903523719.

(10) Van der Lely, S et al. (2015). Blue blocker glasses as a countermeasure for alerting effects of evening light-emitting diode screen exposure in male teenagers. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(1), 113-119, doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.08.002.

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DIVINE DILEMMA TEACHING CHILDREN ABOUT SPIRITUALITY

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

A

s increasing numbers of people continue to move away from organized religion into a more spiritual lifestyle, teaching children about spirituality can be a challenge. While religions use people, places, and stories to demonstrate their principles, it’s more difficult to convey abstract concepts like consciousness and the interconnectedness of all things to young children, and even adolescents. It’s thought that by age six or seven children have the ability to ponder the rudimentary aspects of spirituality. With the right approach, children can grow up learning about spirituality in an organic way that sets the foundation for a healthy practice in adulthood.

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DEFINE SPIRITUALITY VS. RELIGION If you don’t attend regular services anywhere, you can help children begin to understand the difference between spirituality and the traditional religions by comparing them in terms of worship. Tell children that churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples are places where people worship or connect with spirit/God in a formal way as a member of a community. Be sure to stress that we can also connect with spirit/God anywhere including outside in nature, at school, or in our bedroom. Let your child know that there are many ways to connect to spirit/God, and that they are all equally valid.

FIND ONENESS IN NATURE Nowhere is the spirit more connected to all that is than in nature. Take hikes with children, and let them feel the expansiveness of great vistas. Go camping and stargaze at night to help them get the sense that they’re part of something much greater than themselves. Awe and wonder awaken within us an instinctual knowing that life involves forces far greater than what we can see with our eyes. It’s something that has to be felt to be understood, and nature provides those kinds of experiences. To demonstrate the interconnectedness of all things, point out how the rain helps trees grow, which in turn provide food and shelter for many creatures, and how flowers give their nectar to bees in exchange for helping them pollinate. Remind your children that they are also part of this process, and that the love and protection of nature is a sacred act.

CREATE HABITS OF REVERENCE Prayers, rites, and rituals help strengthen our commitment to and respect for what we believe. Feel free to borrow prayers or poems from other sources and tailor them to the principles you’d like your child to live by. When a loved one is sick, hold hands, close your eyes, and send them healing energy by thinking about how much you love them. When you pass an ambulance on the road, send good thoughts to the person that’s waiting for it. Light a candle at night and share a moment of something wonderful that happened that day.

CONTRIBUTION IS KEY Teach your children that when they contribute to helping nature or others, they help themselves. Not only does this reinforce the idea that everything in life is interconnected, but it emphasizes the importance of contribution as part of a spiritual life. Doing so helps children feel empowered and understand that their efforts make a difference. It also cultivates empathy and compassion, which are fundamental to any spiritual practice. Take your children to volunteer at a local nursing home, children’s hospital, or animal rescue service. Even picking litter up at a local park teaches children to be good stewards of the earth.

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ADD MEANING TO EXPERIENCES When your children make a mistake or experience something they perceive as “bad”, reframe the incident as an opportunity for learning. After you’ve calmed the child down, ask him or her what they could have done differently to have avoided the negative outcome. This kind of introspection emphasizes the spiritual principle that all things happen for a reason. Life is for learning, and sometimes “bad” things happen so we can learn a valuable lesson that helps us. By adding meaning to each experience in this way, children become less polarized in how they view life, are more able to reflect inwardly during difficult experiences, and are less likely to feel like victims when things don’t go their way. They learn to trust life more.

BE GRATEFUL If you don’t have specific bedtime prayers to say, consider saying your “gratefuls” with your child. Express gratitude for everything good that happened throughout the day, as well as for the things we take for granted like having a home and enough food to eat. Before meals, don’t just be thankful for the food but for every part of the process that brought it to your table like the rain that helped the vegetables grow, the farmers, sun, and so on. You can bring gratitude to mind for your child at any time and reinforce the need to be thankful.

You might say, “We’re lucky to have such a big backyard to play in, and that’s why we take care of it by watering the flowers and putting our toys away.”

EXPERIMENT WITH SILENCE In all great faiths, silence is essential to quiet the mind and bring a person closer to the divine. Take a short moment at the end of the day and have your child sit with you in silence, even for a few seconds. Afterward, ask your child what he or she could hear in that brief moment of quiet. Maybe it was a ticking clock on the wall or a dog barking outside. This allows children to have the experience, regardless of how brief, of present moment awareness and cultivates the importance of stilling the mind for longer periods as they grow.

Understanding the sacredness of silence helps children to understand that listening is an equally important part of praying.

ANSWERING TOUGH QUESTIONS As your children grow, they’ll eventually ask tough questions about life, death or some other aspect of spirituality that you’re not ready to answer because you don’t have all the answers. No one does. In times like these, be up front and admit that you don’t know. Say that life is full of mysteries and that even grown-ups are still learning, which is the truth. Don’t be afraid to ask your child what he or she thinks the answer might be. This encourages children to contemplate bigger concepts.

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CREATE A FAMILY CREED Creeds declare the pillars of a particular faith and help believers adhere to them. You can create a creed for your family by stating something like, “Our family believes in kindness to others and the earth, helping when we can be of service, and gratitude for all our daily blessings.”

PROVIDE PROTECTION Even if your belief does not include God in the traditional sense, children still need to feel safe in the world. Children need to feel that the universe smiles on them. Whether it’s guardian angels, the spirit of grandma who passed away, or something else, children need to feel they’re being watched over.

You might tell your child that you’re “holding him in your heart” all day long until you see each other in the evening. Whatever approach you take, be sure it’s comforting and uses imagery that the child can relate to and understand.

“Life is for learning, and sometimes “bad” things happen so we can learn a valuable lesson that helps us. By adding meaning to each experience in this way, children become less polarized in how they view life, are more able to reflect inwardly during difficult experiences, and are less likely to feel like victims when things don’t go their way.”

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MOTHER'S

EULOGY

By Julia Ain-Krupa

I

n preparing for this day, I’ve been wondering how I can possibly fit the book of my life onto one page? But for you, mama, I will try.

How can I put into words what we have been through and what you mean to me? How you raised me in a song?

Mama, I see all these faces before me, people who have gathered here to honor you, and, like always, I’m searching for your face.

These past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time listening to your music. I turn on the recordings, I listen. I plan for this day. And I cry.

“An artist always needs to buy time,” you often told me.

You were ready for more, but your body had already crossed that finish line.

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When you were in the hospital, I would call out to you and say “mama,” out loud, as often as I could, just so that I could hear your response, which had become monosyllabic. And when, annoyed, you said, “what, what, what, what,” I was so happy, because you heard me, and because you were alive.

Mama, because of your illness, I learned early on never to take love and presence for granted, especially not yours. I knew the gift of every day, every time, and it helped teach me how to savor love, especially yours.

When you were in the hospital, we played you a recording of a beautiful Cantorial concert from Krakow, in Poland. When you began to moan, I thought I’d surely tapped into something deep and important, something that could possibly even boost you spiritually, but soon you gave us a

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pointed thumb’s down, and Dotan and I laughed.

Instead, we gave you Yemenite sisters from the desert, Aoova, Terry Riley’s in C. “Goodnight,” you said, over and over. This was the closest you could come to saying goodbye.

You had become so good at living, that it was hard for you to let go.

“It’s almost like you live in two bodies,” I used to tell you, and you’d smile conspiratorially. “I like that,” you’d say, a gleam on those painted red lips.

A smile that I still see when I remember how you could delight in me.

Who lives with cancer for thirty years? You did.

And I cannot tell you how many people have said to me, “I thought she would never die.” I also still find it hard to believe, but sometimes I can sense you peeking in from behind that veil.

Sometimes, when I was taking care of you, I wanted to turn to you, and to show you. I was awaiting one of your emphatic statements, your encouragement, but I found there was nowhere to turn. I was like a figurine spinning, destination unknown. That’s when I had to start to listen from the inside.

When you were a child, your name was Susan, and they would call you Susie Snowflake, because you’d get snowflakes caught in your hair. When you were an adult, you changed your name to Noa, which suited you better, and which changed your life.

As a small child, you played Beethoven on your record player, and you’d sit listening to music in your little rocking chair.

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York, the Upper West Side. You are the Wisla River, in Krakow, the country roads extending past the city limits. You are the rainbow that sometimes appears, reminding me of tencza, my second name. You are wild hair, beautiful clothes, you are art, and you are music. You are everywhere, but then again, you always were.

You are also the phone that doesn’t ring, the absence at every turn, the presence. You are in the dreams, the laughter. You are a lipstick stain, hair on the floor, an impatient gesture, a knowing look. You are the moon on the ground, stories collected and saved, but for whom? For what?

You were the one who understood the sadness, and all the beauty. You were the one who listened, who made it fun, who set me straight, but who was so proud. You are the one who made me feel beautiful and beloved, the one who made friends everywhere. Impossible, wonderful, you.

An old friend of yours in Poland told me, “Be happy that you had such a mother.” And I am.

Someone else said, “Your mom is leaving light.”

You always dreamt of having a ceremony in Central Park, of creating a ritual to marry yourself.

I wanted to help give you that celebration, to give you everything, but this is what we have. A room filled with people who loved you, and your soul through music. Yours is the spirit that extended out, past your body, and into the room.

Now you can finally occupy the space that you deserve. The universe.

Now that you are gone, are you more a part of me, or more separate? My answer is, both.

You are the moon at every phase, you are the clouds, the spiders and their webs. You are New

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FAKE BURGER THE TOXICITY AND DEFICIENCY OF MEAT SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

I

n the last few years, meat substitute products have become regularly available at grocery stores. Made for a vegetarian and vegan consumer base, these products are heavily promoted as health foods. But with a laundry list of questionable ingredients and a high level of processing, these meat mimics aren’t good for the environment and even less so for your body.

Now, Burger King is offering the first fast food no-meat burger, and health experts are raising objections with regard to how it’s being compared to real beef.

WHOLE FOOD? HARDLY.

According to those who have tried the Impossible Whopper, as it’s called, it tastes good and remarkably similar to beef. Yet, if the idea is to draw people away from meat, why make a product that tastes like beef and keeps consumers’ taste buds primed for meat? Isn’t the idea of vegetarianism to eschew animal products altogether? It seems a bit hypocritical or at least counter-productive. In any case, when Dr. James Stangle compared the ingredients and nutrition profile of Burger King’s Impossible Whopper with their original beef Whopper, some alarming facts were revealed 1 about their new, allegedly eco-friendly invention.

In the meat patty of the original Whopper, there is one ingredient, beef. The composite patty of the Impossible Whopper has 21 ingredients.2 As much as I’ve stressed the importance of a whole foods diet for health, this fact alone should be a dead giveaway that the Impossible Whopper is not a healthy choice.

We’ll examine some of those ingredients in more detail shortly, but an initial glance over the nutrition profile3 of both burgers shows that the Impossible Whopper has virtually the same number of calories as the beef Whopper at 630 vs. 660, which come mostly from added oils. It also has more carbs, sugar, and significantly more sodium. Although the Impossible Whopper has virtually the same amount of saturated fat as the beef Whopper (11g vs. 12g), it comes entirely from vegetable oils that are completely devoid of vital nutrients that exist only in animal fat such as true vitamin A and vitamin D. (Carrots only contain pro-vitamin A, which must be converted to vitamin A with the assistance of saturated fat.)

Vitamins E and K are found abundantly in animal fat, but only in some plants. This is why vitamin E must be added to the Impossible Whopper, along with a host of other vital nutrients its ingredients naturally lack such as zinc and vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, and B12.

A BIG FAT PROBLEM

Although the Impossible Whopper contains coconut oil, a good plant-based saturated fat that’s still nutritionally inferior to animal fat, it also includes sunflower oil as one of the main ingredients. As an industrially processed commercial oil along with others like canola oil, safflower oil, vegetable oil, and corn oil, sunflower oil is highly inflammatory in the body because it’s full of omega 6 fatty acids, which become pro-inflammatory if they’re not balanced out by anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids. The percentage of omega 6 to 3 fatty acids in sunflower

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chains connected in a row. If eight chains can bear 100lbs, but one can only bear 50lbs, it doesn’t matter how strong the others are. The limiting rate of the whole chain is 50lbs. A protein is only as effective as its weakest link.

oil is 65% to 0%. 4 Since 1965, research5 has consistently shown6 that the inflammation caused by consuming these highly processed oils as a replacement for saturated animal fat significantly increases risk of death from heart attack and cardiovascular disease.

Because the Impossible Whopper’s saturated fat is plant-based, it has significantly less cholesterol than the beef Whopper (10g vs.

90g). Cholesterol is absolutely essential for health. The membrane of all one-trillion cells in the body is made of protein, saturated fat, and cholesterol. The liver makes 85% of the cholesterol in the body because it doesn’t trust us to eat enough of it with 25% reserved for the brain, which is 60% saturated fat. All our sex hormones are made from cholesterol, and not a single neuron could fire without it. Studies going back to the 1940s have consistently shown7 that the more saturated animal fat and cholesterol people consume, the healthier they are with significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and all other chronic diseases.8 Decades-long studies9 from Harvard University and elsewhere have also shown10 that increased intake of saturated fat and cholesterol results in a significantly decreased risk of cancer, particularly breast cancer.

To find out more about the importance of saturated animal fat and cholesterol to health and how processed food manufacturers demonized them to get us to buy their processed oil products instead, please read The Great Cholesterol Con by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick or The Big Fat Lie from MegaZEN Vol. 3.

At 79% of the required level, tryptophan is the rate limiting amino acid in beef. Soy is the main protein source in the Impossible Whopper with a rate limiting amino acid of methionine at 41% of the required level. So, to compare the protein in both Whoppers we simply multiply 0.41 x 25g for the Impossible version and 0.79 x 28g for the beef version.

Results show that the Impossible Whopper only contains 10g of usable protein compared to 22g in the beef Whopper.

It must also be remembered that the only true complete protein sources with all nine essential amino acids at adequate and usable levels come from animal products like meat, eggs, and dairy. There are no such plant sources. The human body has also not evolved to be able to extract and process plant proteins properly.

“Although the Impossible Whopper has virtually the same amount of saturated fat as the beef Whopper (11g vs. 12g), it comes entirely from vegetable oils that are completely devoid of vital nutrients that exist only in animal fat such as true vitamin A and vitamin D.”

FAUX-TEIN

The Impossible Whopper claims to have nearly as much protein as the beef Whopper with just 11% less (25g vs. 28g). However, not all proteins are created equal. In order for a food to be considered a “complete” protein, it must contain the nine essential amino acids that our body cannot make and therefore we must consume in our diet. Each must also be at a level that is usable and effective in the body. If both of these criteria are not met, then the protein is said to be incomplete or rate limiting. It might help to imagine nine 120

ANTI-NUTRIENT ATTACK

After water, soy protein concentrate is the number one ingredient in the Impossible Whopper. It also contains soy protein isolate

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and soy leghemoglobin, which works with yeast to give it its reddish color. It might come as a surprise, but soy in all its forms, including soy protein concentrate, isolate, and isoflavones, has never been granted the Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) rating for human consumption from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Soy does, however, have a limited GRAS rating for use as an industrial paste and cardboard binder.11 Plants, like animals, don’t want to be eaten and fight back in their own way, mostly with toxins.

All nuts, grains, seeds, and legumes (beans) contain anti-nutrients that protect them and harm those trying to eat them. The soybean has some of the highest levels of these toxins that aren’t destroyed by cooking.

These include phytates that bind to minerals like magnesium, zinc, iron, and calcium, preventing us from absorbing them. This leads to deficiencies and disease, as evidenced by vegetarians who consume soy products and are more often diagnosed with anemia12 and osteoporosis.13 Phytates also interfere with proper assimilation of vitamins D, A, C, and B12.

Enzyme inhibitors prevent the body from using its enzymes to break down food properly for complete digestion. Soy also contains trypsin inhibitors that prevent the absorption of protein.

Lectins are glycoproteins that damage the fine brush lining of the intestine, further impairing absorption. They’ve also been linked to autoimmune disease. 14 Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that 75% of autoimmune disease patients are women,15 who are overwhelmingly vegetarian compared to men and consume more soy. These dangerous properties exist in all soy, regardless of whether it’s organic and non-GMO or not. Other meat substitute products like Beyond Meat, which is available in grocery stores in patties and sausage, use pea protein as the main ingredient. Peas are part of the legume (bean) family and come with all the same anti-nutrients.

In addition to these health dangers, 90% of all soy grown in the U.S. is genetically modified (GMO).16 The herbicide glyphosate that’s liberally sprayed on GMO soy has been linked to birth defects,17 while GMO crops have been shown to create kidney and liver damage in mammals18 and immune system dysregulation.19 Genetic material from GMOs has also been shown to enter human DNA and reprogram organ function,20 as well as “silence” other genes.21 Genetic fragments from GMO soy were also found to transfer into the DNA of human gut bacteria and continue to function.22

“Soy’s greatest danger is its powerful ability to upset hormone function and balance. . . This can lead to significant health problems for both men and women.”

HORMONAL HAVOC

Soy’s greatest danger is its powerful ability to upset hormone function and balance. This is because it contains extremely high levels of isoflavones or phyto-estrogens that are very similar to human estrogen and so mimic estrogen in the body. This can lead to significant health problems for both men and women.

Soy is classified as a goitrogen because it disrupts thyroid function. A study of pre-menopausal women taking 45mg of soy isoflavones per day (the equivalent of just one cup of soy milk) saw a significant drop in thyroid levels that did not return to normal until three months after they stopped consuming soy.23 A birth control pill is mostly estrogen, and soy isoflavones have a significant contraceptive effect having been found to cause complete infertility in sheep, cows,24 hamsters,25 and other rodents,26 along with endometrial and cervical damage, making it extremely difficult to conceive.27 To put this risk in perspective, the Swiss Health Service found that 100mg of soy isoflavones per day, a bit more than two cups of soy milk, contains the same amount of estrogen as a birth control pill.28 It only takes a small amount of soy to have a significant impact on fertility and hormone production.

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“Politics and dogma should never enter into the realm of science and nutrition.

The body needs specific kinds of nutrients in the proper amounts and from the right sources to thrive.

If it doesn’t get them, it won’t. It’s that simple. The body doesn’t care about philosophical debates. It needs to be nourished.”

A Harvard University study found men who ate just ½ serving per day of soy foods like miso soup, tofu, and soy ice cream had 41 million fewer sperm per milliliter than men who didn’t consume soy.29 Young boys consuming soy experienced sexual development problems such as undescended testicles, hypospadias, a malformation of the penis where the urethra opening is on the underside rather than at the tip,30 and low sperm counts, low sperm motility, and low weight of reproductive organs when they reached adulthood.31 Girls exposed to soy experience premature, accelerated sexual growth with pubic hair and breast development regularly found in 14.7% of Caucasian girls and 50% of African American girls by age eight.32 One of several malformations of the reproductive tract can be found in 50% of girls exposed to soy isoflavones in infancy.33 Because a woman’s biggest risk for cancer comes from her own estrogen levels, it’s not surprising that soy isoflavones have been linked to the pre-cancerous cell proliferation process in the uterus34 and epithelial tissue.35 They’ve also been shown to instigate the malignant cycle in breast cells.36 For more information on the dangers of soy read The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel, Soy Alert from the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website or The Dark Side of Soy from MegaZEN Vol. 3.

HOW MUCH ESTROGEN?!

Based on Dr. Stangle’s analysis, the Impossible Whopper has a staggering 44mg of estrogen, while the beef Whopper has 2.5ng of estrogen. There are 1 million nanograms (ng) in 1 milligram (mg). That means the Impossible Whopper has 18 million 122

times more estrogen than the beef Whopper!

The standard birth control pill contains 35mcg of estrogen,37 and there are 1,000 micrograms in every milligram. At 44mg of estrogen, the Impossible Whopper contains 44,000mcg of estrogen or over 1,257 times more than a birth control pill! According to Dr. Stangle, you’d have to eat 880lbs. of beef from cows treated with hormones to consume the same amount of estrogen that’s contained in one birth control pill, and the Impossible Whopper has a whole lot more than that.

OTHER OFFENDERS

Also on the ingredient list of the Impossible Whopper is yeast extract, which always contains the neurotoxin monosodium glutamate (MSG), as does the generic “natural flavors” additive.38 The yeast extract is also GMO and works to create the fake red color to mimic blood so the soy mash looks more like ground beef. Modified food starch often comes from corn of which 98% is GMO. Cultured dextrose is a simple sugar fermented by the bacteria Propionibacterium freudenreichii that, like soy, has not received the GRAS approval for human consumption.

ULTERIOR MOTIVES

As if the ingredient label of the Impossible Whopper isn’t proof enough that plant-based meat mimics have nothing to do with real nutrition, the spokesman for the company that manufacturers the fake meat substance for Burger King, Impossible Foods, publicly admitted as much.

In an interview with Chemistry World, Impossible Foods chief science officer, David Lipman, said his company’s mission wasn’t to improve health

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but to eliminate the animal farming industry by 2035. He stated, “It really started with the idea that making a delicious plant-based meat is a really important problem, because animal agriculture is so damaging.”39 Never mind that massive, government subsidized mono-crops like corn, soy, and wheat farmed over tens of millions of acres, which destroy ecosystems and vital topsoil, do far more damage to the earth than livestock, which have been grazing on grasslands for millennia. It’s clear from Lipman’s admission that plant-based fake meat products are more about environmental politics than they are about nutrition.

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Eliminating farming as an industry and removing meat from public consumption with the only alternative being artificial substitutes would certainly end in catastrophic levels of death and disease from toxin accumulation, physical degeneration, and profound nutritional deficiencies. Everyone has the sovereign right over their own body to make the healthcare choices they feel are best for them. That right begins with the quality of food we choose to eat.

Everyone needs to stay informed with regard to how this meat replacement movement progresses and keep in touch with their legislators. While I support everyone’s right to choose what they wish to eat, I’ve never advocated a vegan or vegetarian diet based on science and the fact that there has never been a vegan society in all of human history. Yet, there is an aggressive, militant, and well-funded faction within vegan society that seeks to force us into their way of life. That’s wrong.

Politics and dogma should never enter into the realm of science and nutrition. The body needs specific kinds of nutrients in the proper amounts and from the right sources to thrive. If it doesn’t get them, it won’t. It’s that simple. The body doesn’t care about philosophical debates. It needs to be nourished.

Also on store shelves is fake chicken in strips and other forms. Stay away from it and all fake meat products because the only impossible thing about them and the Impossible Whopper is that they’re healthy. For more information on the damaging effects of a vegan or vegetarian diet and the reality of how livestock versus mono-crop farming impacts the earth, I highly recommend The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith, as well as the article Dogma for Dinner from MegaZEN Vol. 8.

Also an important read is the online blog post, A Vegan No More, about the agonizing decision a leader of the vegan movement made to return to eating meat after her diet ruined her health and her amazing recovery.

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Sources (1) Stangle, James, “Impossible burgers are made of what?”, (Dec. 20, 2019), Tri-State Livestock News, bit.ly/3jnpxzZ. (2) Impossible Foods, “What are the ingredients?”, bit.ly/2HhIsiN. (3) Capritto, Amanda, “Burger King Impossible Whopper: Ingredients, Calories, Where to Buy It”, (November 8, 2019), cnet.co/31yaUDG. (4) Kresser, Chris. (2010, May 8). “How Too Much Omega-6 and Not Enough Omega-3 is Making Us Sick.” (June 17, 2019), bit.ly/3dP7f9r.

(5) Rose, G et al. (1965). Corn oil in treatment of ischaemic heart disease. The British Medical Journal, 245(11), 1531-1533, doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5449.1531.

(6) Christakis, G. Rinzler, S. (1966). Effect of the anti-coronary club program on coronary heart disease risk factor status. Journal of the American Medical Association, 198(6), 597-604, doi: 10.1001/ jama.1966.03110190079022.

(7) Castelli, W. (1992). Concerning the possibility of a nut.... Archives of Internal Medicine, 152(7), 1371-1372, doi: 10.1001/archinte.1992.00400190013003.

(8) Mahmood, S et al. (2014). The framingham heart study and the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases: a historical perspective. Lancet, 383(9921), 999-1008, doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61752-3.

(9) Willett, W et al. (1987). Dietary fat and the risk of breast cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine, 316, 22-28, dlo: 10.1056/NEJM198701013160105.

(10) Willett, W. (1992). Dietary fat and fiber in relation to risk of breast cancer: An 8-year follow-up.

Journal of the American Medical Association, 268(15), 2037-2044, doi: 10.1001/jama.1992.03490150089030.

(11) Fallon, S. (n.d.). Tragedy and Hype: The third international soy symposium – Part II. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3mpPOQb. (12) Mahajani, K. Bhatnagar, V. (2015). Comparative study of prevalence of anaemia in vegetarian and non vegetarian women of Udaipur City, Rajasthan.

Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, S3(001), 1-6, doi: 10.4172/2155-9600.S3-001.

(13) Smith, A. (2006). Veganism and osteoporosis: a review of the current literature. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 12(5), 302-306, doi: 10.1111/j.1440172X.2006.00580.x.

(14) Freed, D. (1999). Do dietary lectins cause disease?

The evidence is suggestive—and raises interesting C ON T I N U E D. . .

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possibilities for treatment. British Medical Journal, 318(7190), 1023-1024, doi: 10.1136/bmj.318.7190.1023.

(15) “10 Surprising Autoimmune Disease Facts You Need to Know”, Prevention, (June 20, 2019), bit.ly/3kmiTv5.

(16) “High Risk Crops & Inputs: Soy”, The Non-GMO Project, bit.ly/3md9t5I. (17) (2014). Herbicide used in Argentina could cause birth defects. . Latin American Herald Tribune. bit. ly/2FWROQg. (18) Spiroux de Vendômois, J. Roullier, F., et al. (2009). A comparison of the effects of three GM corn varieties on mammalian health . International Journal of Biological Sciences. , 5(7), 706-726, doi: 10.7150/ijbs.5.706.

(19) Zhang, L. et al. (2012). Exogenous plant mir168a specifically targets mammalian ldlrap1: Evidence of cross-kingdom regulation by microRNA. Cell Research. , 22, 107-126, doi: 10.1038/cr.2011.158.

(20) Ibid.

(21) Heinemann, J. (2012). Evaluation of risks from creation of novel RNA molecules in genetically engineered wheat plants and recommendations for risk assessment. Centre for Integrated Research and Biosafety.

Christchurch, NZ. bit.ly/35jxIs0.

(22) Netherwood et al . (2004). Assessing the survival of transgenic plant DNA in the human intestinal tract.

Nature Biotechnology. 22, 2, doi: 10.1038/nbt9.

(23) Cassidy, A., et al. (1994). Biological Effects of a Diet of Soy Protein Rich in Isoflavones on the Menstrual Cycle of Premenopausal Women, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 60, 333-340, doi: 10.1093/ajcn/60.3.333.

(24) Adams, N. (1995). Detection of the effect of phytoestrogens on sheep and cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 73, 1509-1515, doi: 10.2527/1995.7351509x.

(25) Smith, Jeffrey. Genetically modified soy linked to sterility, infant mortality in hamsters. 2010, August, 8. The Huffington Post. bit.ly/3d9dogy.

(26) Chapin, R., & Stevens, J. (1996). Endrocrine modulation of reproduction. Fundamental and Applied Toxicology, 29, 1-17, doi: 10.1006/faat.1996.0001.

(27) Murkies, A., & Wilcox, G. (1998). Phytoestrogens. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 83, 297-303.

(28) L’Office Federal de la Sante Publique, (1992). Bulletin de l’office federal de la sante publique. No. 28.

(29) Chavarro, J et al. (2008). Soy food and isoflavone intake in relation to semen quality parameters among men from an infertility clinic. Human Reproduction. , 23(11), 2584-2590, doi: 10.1093/humrep/den243.

(30) Keith, L. (2009). The Vegetarian Myth: Food, justice and sustainability . (1st ed., p. 221). Crescent City, CA: Flashpoint Press.

(31) Goyal, H., & Robateau, A. (2003). Neonatal estrogen exposure of male rats alters reproductive functions at adulthood. Biology of Reproduction, 68(2801), 2091. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.102.010637.

(32) Herman-Giddns, M. (1997). Secondary sexual characteristics and menses in young girls seen in office practice: A study from the pediatric research in office settings network. Pediatrics, 99(4), 505-512, doi: 10.1542/peds.99.4.505.

(33) Sheehan, D., & Doerge, D. (1998). FDA Scientists Protest Soy Approval. Department of Health and Human Services, bit.ly/3ojckMg (34) Unfer, V., & Casini, M. (2004). Endometrial effects of long-term treatment with phytoestrogens: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Fertility and Sterility, 82(1), 145-148, doi: 10.1016/j. fertnstert.2003.11.041 (35) Petrakis, N. (1996). Stimulatory influence of soy protein isolate on breast secretion in pre and postmenopausal women. Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 5(10), 785-794, bit.ly/3dTapcj.

(36) Ibid.

(37) “Low-Dose and Ultra-Low-Dose Birth Control Pills”, WebMD, wb.md/3jnpwvU. (38) The Truth in Labeling Campaign, “Where MSG is hiding”, truthinlabeling.org.

(39) Hughes, Patric,, “The Impossible Whopper Has a Secret Ingredient: Chemistry”, Chemistry World, (August 9, 2019), bit.ly/37tiGCJ.

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FAD OR FOR REAL? EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CUPPING THERAPY

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

A

few years ago, the public was aghast to see multiple circular bruises on the back of Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps in Rio de Janeiro. Then they started appearing on the backs of Hollywood celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow as they walked down the red carpet. The rumor mill was in full swing. Were the bruises from some sort of illness or abuse?

As it turned out, the temporary bruising was the result of an ancient healing therapy known as cupping. Although it’s been used for millennia for a variety of conditions from acne to pain management, does it really work? Is it a legitimate therapy that can really help people or is it, as some say, just another healthcare fad of the rich and famous?

ANCIENT EVIDENCE

Cupping has been around for thousands of years, dating back to ancient Egypt around 1500 BC where drawing of the procedure exist on the walls of the temple of Kom Ombo. Ancient writings tell us that it was used to treat eye inflammation, tonsillitis, headaches, gout, and sleep difficulties.

The Eber Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text also 126

describes cupping being used for pain, fever, and dysmenorrhea or menstrual cramps.

In ancient Greece, Hippocrates advised that cupping should be used to balance the four bodily humors, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

During the Han dynasty, the Chinese regularly used cupping in conjunction with acupuncture to treat tuberculosis, chronic cough, and snake bites.

Early treatments used animal horns, bamboo, and earthenware in place of the glass cups we use today.

CUPPING PROCEDURES

There are two types of cupping. Dry cupping involves coating the inside of a thick glass cup about the size of a coffee cup with alcohol. A flame is applied and the alcohol ignites. Before the flame inside the cup is completely extinguished, it is placed onto the skin. It’s important to note that the flash of flame heats the air inside the cup and not the cup itself, so the patient is not burned.

Negative pressure caused by the heat sucks the patient’s skin up inside the cup, which remains in place for 10 to 15 minutes. Because of the powerful drawing effect of the heat, patients are usually left with circular ecchymosis (bruising) and/or

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petechiae (red speckling from broken capillaries) on the skin that heal over several days.

Wet cupping differs from dry cupping in that it involves some minor bloodletting. Before the cup is placed on the skin, the targeted area is disinfected.

An instrument known as a scarificator is used to make several tiny incisions in the surface of the skin, usually about 1cm long and 4mm deep.

When the cup is placed over the area, the heat draws blood from the incisions. Approximately 50ml to 300ml can be extracted from one session.

An alternate version of wet cupping, mostly

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used in the Middle East, involves starting with dry cupping, removing the cup and making the incisions, then placing a new up over the area.

Wet cupping is thought to be advantageous because it changes the patient’s circulation in two ways. It stimulates bone marrow to produce more red and white blood cells, and blood viscosity temporarily drops, allowing blood to flow better.1 These two types of cupping can be adapted in several ways depending on the patient’s needs and condition. These are the most common protocols.

MOVING CUPPING Uses a gentler suction so that the cup can be moved across the skin, usually on the back, in order to stimulate blood flow throughout the body and activate the lymphatic system. It’s also used as a precursor to either wet or dry cupping.

Different sized cups can also be used on the arms and legs.

NEEDLE CUPPING This method combines acupuncture with cupping. After acupuncture is begun, the target area is treated with a thin layer of oil, and the cup is placed over the acupuncture needle, which is left in place for 10 to 15 minutes. It’s thought this method works best for knee and elbow joints.

HERBAL CUPPING Bamboo cups are soaked in an herbal solution formulated to the patient’s needs.

Once removed from the solution, the cups are heated and placed on the skin for 10 to 20 minutes. It’s thought that the negative forces inside the cup transfer the herbal compounds to the patient. Because the cup is directly heated in this method, practitioners must be careful to avoid burns.

WATER CUPPING The cup is partially filled with water, while the rest of the cupping procedure is the same. It takes a skillful practitioner to be able to turn the cup over quickly without spilling any of the water. It’s thought this method is good for asthma and cough. It also results in minimal bruising, and is often used with children.

PULSATILE CUPPING A cup with a vacuum hose attachment is placed on the skin, and a pulsation is generated through a pump mechanism. This method has been used for treating large joints in relation to osteoarthritic pain.

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“A study of dry cupping for shoulder pain used infrared spectroscopy to find significant oxygenated hemoglobin in the affected area. Researchers believed it was the oxygenation of the muscles that allowed for increased muscular mobility and a decrease in pain.”

WHY IT WORKS

Anecdotal evidence and initial research show cupping really works for a variety of conditions, but researchers have been puzzled as to how it achieves its results. A study of dry cupping for shoulder pain used infrared spectroscopy to find significant oxygenated hemoglobin in the affected area. Researchers believed it was the oxygenation of the muscles that allowed for increased muscular mobility and a decrease in pain.2 Animal studies of wet cupping concluded that the heat shock to the skin from the cup increased production of proteins and beta-endorphins that reduce pain, and that cupping was an effective intervention for pain management.3 Another study found that cupping may work by removing oxidants from the body and reducing oxidative stress. Blood samples were taken from a group of people before a session of wet cupping.

Results showed that the blood from the cupping session had higher levels of compounds that 128

cause cellular damage and oxidative stress, like myeloperoxidase, malondialdehyde and nitric oxide, but lower levels of superoxide dismutase, a powerful antioxidant found in the body, when compared to the venous blood taken before the procedure. Researchers stated that part of the benefit from cupping comes from the excretion of oxidants from the body. 4 SUCCESS WITH SKIN CONDITIONS

Cupping has been shown to be particularly effective with dermatological issues. A review of eight studies found wet cupping therapy to be superior to conventional treatment of herpes zoster with regard to cure rate, improvement of symptoms, and reduction of nerve pain.5 It must be noted that the herpes virus can lay dormant for decades and be activated by any kind of skin trauma, as one case has been reported from a session of needle cupping. 6 Other trauma to the skin from procedures like dermabrasion7 and laser surgery8 have been known to trigger latent

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herpes virus as well. Although these cases are very rare, if one has never been exposed to the herpes virus, it is impossible for cupping or any dermal procedure to trigger it.

Patients with hives who were treated with cupping experienced a 55% cure rate compared to 30% in a group treated with Chinese medicine and antihistamines.9 Moderate acne has also been shown to make significant improvements after wet cupping.10 One study found wet cupping paired with a Chinese herbal mask achieved a 95% improvement rate when compared with just the mask alone at 61%.11 Wet cupping has also shown success in treating acute eczema when compared with topical ointments.12 In the same way, small studies have

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shown wet cupping to achieve a 90% remission of psoriasis that is unresponsive to steroid creams with only minimal recurrence after six months.13 Although these results are impressive, critics regularly point out that all existing studies on cupping only involve small groups, usually 50 or less, and that there are only a handful of randomized controlled trials. This is a valid point and yet, as western medicine continues to become more integrated with alternative therapies like acupuncture and herbal extracts, cupping now merits a deeper, more formalized investigation.

If larger studies can confirm cupping’s powerful ability to treat certain conditions as demonstrated in these smaller samples, then it could go mainstream too and change many patients’ lives.

Sources (1) Manz, A. The Art of Cupping, Stuttgart, Thieme, (2009).

(2) Ting, Li. (2017). Significant and sustaining elevation of blood oxygen induced by chinese cupping therapy as assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy. Biomedical Optics Express, 8(1), 223-229, 10.1364/ BOE.8.000223.

(3) Subadi, I et al. (2017). Pain relief with wet cupping therapy in rats is mediated by heat shock protein 70 and ß-endorphin. Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences, 42(4), 382-391, PMID: PMC5523046.

(4) Suleyman, M et al. (2014). Wet-cupping removes oxidants and decreases oxidative stress.

Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 22(6), 1032-1036, doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2014.10.008.

(5) Cao, H et al. (2010). Wet cupping therapy for treatment of herpes zoster: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 16(6), 48-54, PMID: 21280462.

(6) Ye-Jin, J et al. (2011). A herpes simplex virus infection secondary to acupuncture and cupping. Annals of Dermatology, 23(1), 67-69, doi: 10.5021/ad.2011.23.1.67.

(7) Silverman, A et al. (1985). Activation of herpes simplex following dermabrasion: report of a patient successfully treated with intravenous acyclovir and brief review of the literature. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 13(3), 103-108, doi: 10.1016/S0190-9622(85)70151-X. (8) Fatahzadeh, M. Schwartz, R. (2007). Human herpes simplex virus infections: epidemiology, pathogenesis, symptomatology, diagnosis, and management. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 57(5), 737-763, doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2007.06.027.

(9) Li, L. et al. (2001). Treatment of urticaria with cupping at back-shu points: a report of 40 cases.

Traditional Chinese Medicine, 21(1), 37-38.

(10) Xu, J et al. (2013). Effect of acupuncture anesthesia on acne vulgaris of pricking-bloodletting cupping: a single-blind randomized clinical trial. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 33(6), 752-756, PMID: 24660606.

(11) Hong, T. Wu, L. (2013). Clinical observation on pricking bloodletting therapy at back-shu acupoints plus chinese herbal mask in treating patients with acne. Journal of Acupuncture and Tuina Science, 11(5), 286-298, doi: 10.1007/s11726-013-0711-4.

(12) Yao, I. Li, W. (2007). Clinical observation on pricking and blood-letting and cupping with a three-edge needle for treatment of acute eczema. Zhonguo Zhen Jiu, 27(1), 424-426.

(13) Malik, I et al. (2015). Treatment of psoriasis by using hijamah: a case report. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 22(1), 117-121, 10.1016/j.sjbs.2014.09.004.

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Tumors Melt Like Snowballs Mind as medicine in cancer treatment

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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ast year was a particularly busy one, packed with international presentations and teaching engagements that had me traveling from one end of the globe to the other. It was a heavier schedule than I’m used to, but I remain very grateful for the opportunities. Among my journeys was presenting new research at the 1st International Health Congress on Integrative Oncology in Geneva, Switzerland, World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) 2019 conference in Mexico City, conducting a continuing medical education (CME) course on psychosomatic medicine for 700 physicians at the Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of California (OPSC) conference in Monterrey, presenting at the 70th Annual Symposium of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH) in New Orleans, and 130

co-presenting a retreat alongside my beloved Dr. Sherry Sami to medical students at Western University of Health Sciences, Lebanon, OR campus to name a few.

No matter where I’m presenting, I always get asked the same question, How did you heal yourself from stage III cancer when given a 70% chance of metastasis? Those who follow me, know my work, and have read my books and writings understand the answer to this question. Still, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to encapsulate it into a few minutes when answering someone’s question after a presentation. I’ve found it helps to cite one of the most dramatic examples of the healing power of the mind which was published in the Journal of Projective Techniques regarding Dr. Bruno Klopfer and one of his patients in 1957. I present a portion of the text here for you.

Psychologist Bruno Klopfer was treating a man named Wright who had advanced cancer of the lymph nodes.

All standard treatments had been exhausted, and Wright appeared to have little time left. His neck, armpits, chest, abdomen, and groin were filled with tumors the size of oranges, and his spleen and liver were so enlarged that two quarts of milky fluid had to be drained out of his chest every day. But Wright did not want to die.

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“Isn’t it empowering to know that our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs play such a fundamental role in how our bodies express health or disease and to imagine what we could achieve if we decided to take conscious control of that process?”

hospital. The tumors had literally returned all over his body.

This time his physician decided to try an experiment. He told Wright that Krebiozen was every bit as effective as it had seemed, but that some of the initial supplies of the drug had deteriorated during shipping. He explained, however, that he had a new highly concentrated version of the drug and could treat Wright with this. The physician used only plain water and went through an elaborate procedure before injecting Wright with the placebo.

He had heard about an exciting new drug called Krebiozen, and he begged his doctor to let him try it. At first his doctor refused because the drug was only being tried on people with a life expectancy of at least three months. Wright was not expected to live that long. Finally, the doctor gave in and gave Wright an injection of Krebiozen on Friday, but in his heart of hearts he did not expect Wright to last the weekend.

To his surprise, on the following Monday he found Wright out of bed and walking around. Klopfer reported that his tumors had ‘melted like snowballs on a hot stove’ and were half their original size. This was a far more rapid decrease in size than even the strongest X-ray treatments could have accomplished. Ten days after Wright’s first Krebiozen treatment, he left the hospital and was, as far as doctors could tell by their tests, cancer free. When he entered the hospital he had needed an oxygen mask to breathe, but when he left he was well enough to fly his own plane at 12,000 feet with no discomfort.

Wright remained well for about two months, but then articles began to appear asserting the Krebiozen actually had no effect on cancer of the lymph nodes. Wright, who was rigidly logical and scientific in his thinking, became depressed, suffered a relapse, and was readmitted to the

Again the results were dramatic. Tumor masses melted, chest fluid vanished, and Wright was quickly back on his feet and feeling great. He remained symptom-free for another two months, but then the AMA announced that a nationwide study of Krebiozen had found the drug worthless in the treatment of cancer. This time Wright’s faith was completely shattered. His cancer blossomed anew and he died two days later.”

Many medical professionals are quick to dismiss this story by claiming that Mr. Wright’s experiences were “all in his mind”. But isn’t that the most exciting part? Isn’t it empowering to know that our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs play such a fundamental role in how our bodies express health or disease, and to imagine what we could achieve if we decided to take conscious control of that process? Many have and are living proof of its effects, including me... and you can be too.

Sources (1) Klopfer, B. (1957). Psychological variables in human cancer. Journal of Projective Techniques, 21(4), 331-340, doi: 10.1080/08853126.1957.10380794.

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Creating Headspace

How to make it through medical residency ...and life

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi DR. SADEGHI ADDRESSES THE 2019 GR ADUATING CLASS OF THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

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early 20 years ago, I left a seat just like the one you’re sitting on to rush to a major hospital in New York City to start my internal medicine internship.

During one of my first calls as the house officer, I was so excited to evaluate the patient that, in my enthusiasm, I forgot to review the patient’s chart before I walked into the room and addressed him.

Unfortunately, I was greeted by an unwelcomed gesture from the patient. As I extended my hand to him, he sank his teeth into it. After managing to free my left hand from the patient’s clenched jaw, I walked out to be informed by the rest of the team that the patient was HIV positive and that he most likely experienced an acute psychotic episode during the altercation. Apparently they were familiar with his condition as he’d made repeated visits to the emergency room in the past.

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In a flash, my life stopped. I realized everything I’d worked so hard for up to that point could have been destroyed in an instant. In the following days, the uncertainty and overwhelming stress about my health made the smallest task require twice the effort; even my breathing felt labored. My mind was constantly flooded with fears about how my life would drastically change if I contracted the virus. I was immediately started on a triple antiviral cocktail of drugs to prevent that from happening, and yet there were no guarantees.

Even worse, I’d have to wait weeks before I could be tested and know for sure.

During one particularly long night of worrying, I found myself staring at a bottle of wine, and the realization that came to me helped me transcend out of the dark night of my soul. Looking at the bottle, I saw something that I’d never noticed before. While I had always noticed the bottle, the wine inside, and the cork, I had never noticed the empty space that existed below the cork and above the wine. As I discovered, the emptiness

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at the top of a new bottle of wine is called the headspace and is crucial in the wine production process. The amount of headspace in each bottle is determined by a formula that takes into account factors such as the volume of the bottle, the amount of wine inside, and its percentage or proof of alcohol content. Calculating the correct amount of headspace is very precise. Not leaving enough could risk a buildup of pressure from fermentation that blows the cork right out of the bottle, while allowing too much would see the wine turn into vinegar.

As a young doctor, it became clear to me that although I had all the necessary ingredients for success, like a great education, loving family, and loyal friends, the wine inside the bottle that I thought of as my life depended on the headspace I created for myself throughout my life. It was this headspace that would determine whether everything exploded into a mess, soured into vinegar, or fermented into the sweet wine of my dreams. This was especially the case in troubling times when something threatened what I was creating for myself.

Fortunately, I tested negative for HIV, but going through that harrowing experience of not knowing what my future would be for at least three months forced me to create the headspace in my mind that was necessary to stay grounded in the eye of an emotional storm. Soon I came to think of that headspace as my first office space, where I counsel my most important patient—me.

If I can’t secure my own sense of wellbeing, how can I be expected to do that for my patients?

Doctor, heal thyself. Getting through the rigors of my internship working one-hundred hours per week while dealing with the possibility of having a terminal illness required great mental clarity and the cultivation of a psycho-spiritual internal ecosystem I now call headspace. Even in the worst moments of fear and doubt, I intuitively knew that if I could mind my headspace through my challenges, I could mend my life.

Everything wouldn’t fall apart no matter what the tests revealed. To help myself through those tough times, I created an acronym for the word headspace, and now to help you graduating medical students navigate the challenges of your lives, I share it with you.

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H is for hold. Hold on! Don’t let go of your dream but be flexible enough to accept the possibility that it may manifest differently than you’d planned. Don’t get stuck on the details, but stay focused on the bigger picture of your vision. Pace yourself in a way that allows you to keep your life going without overwhelming yourself. Let the small things go and don’t feel like you have to control every aspect of the situation because you can’t anyway.

E is for empathy. Know that you are doing as well as you possibly can under the circumstances.

We’re all making the best decisions with the knowledge available to us at the time. In spite of taking powerful antiviral drugs that caused extreme nausea and fatigue, I refused to beat myself up when those side effects impacted my performance. If I had to suddenly leave patient rounds or a lecture to throw up in the nearest bathroom, then that’s what I had to do. Having empathy for myself helped me treat my patients with greater empathy and generosity of heart years later.

A is for acceptance. I learned peace amidst the storm comes largely from not arguing with what is. Acceptance doesn’t mean giving up or that things will be a certain way forever. It simply means accepting that this is the way things are for now, not forever, but for now. Acceptance in the moment helps to regain a sense of peace while continuing to work toward a solution. Acceptance prevents the self-pity that often disempowers us.

No one who kept asking, “Why me?” ever found a solution to their problem. Acceptance also neutralizes self-shaming that comes from second guessing ourselves. “If only” I had been assigned a different patient that night. I “should” have read the patient’s records or consulted a nurse on his condition before entering the room. All of those self-judgments go away when we accept that things are happening exactly as they are meant to happen and that there is meaning in it for us, even if we can’t see it at the moment. It will be revealed to us in time if we know how to surrender.

“Even in the worst moments of fear and doubt, I intuitively knew that if I could mind my headspace through my challenges, I could mend my life.”

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The word surrender includes the prefix “sur”, which means extra or above, as well as “render” which refers to a particular kind of translation of something. So to surrender means to adopt a new translation or meaning of the problem that’s above or beyond just the physical aspects that we can see.

We must put our challenges into a new context that benefits and empowers us. For example, losing a job is never fun; but instead of focusing on the workplace politics that brought it about, we have the choice of seeing the separation as the universe’s way of moving us out of our comfort zone and into a new position that pays better, where we’ll be challenged more and finally get the respect we deserve. A change in perspective like that requires acceptance and trust. The gift of acceptance taught me to let go and let God. I knew that no matter what my medical tests ultimately showed, I had all the resources I needed to move forward into a fulfilling life even if it didn’t look exactly like the one I’d planned. It was dropout-medical-student turned renowned poet, John Keats, who really helped me understand acceptance with his concept of negative capability or the ability to sit in the mystery of uncertainty—the ability to be okay with things not being okay. That’s where headspace is.

D is for daring. Stare your challenge in the face and don’t

back down. Dare to live a full life with joy and laughter in spite of it. Answers often come to us when we feed our souls in this way, spending time with loved ones and doing what we love.

S is for standing tall, learning to rise above our physical circumstances in the natural world and living in a supernatural way. Life becomes a sacred practice, a living meditation when we understand that we are far more than our material selves in a physical world. It gives us the confidence of knowing that nothing and no one can truly destroy us. That is great power in the face of any challenge.

P is for the power of words. Thinking and especially speaking in positive terms is essential when going through a crisis. We may not know exactly how a problem will turn out, but we can certainly remain hopeful in our discussions about it. Hearing ourselves repeatedly use positive statements about how things might resolve not only keeps stress levels low, but over time entrains our minds to actually believe what we’re saying.

To maintain compassion for myself during difficult times, I use the power of words to recite a poem to myself to let that scared inner child that I call my little Habibi who doesn’t know what to do, that everything is going to be okay.

The poem is I Carry Your Heart with Me by e.e. cummings.

I carry your heart with me.

I carry it in my heart.

I am never without it Anywhere I go, you go, my dear, and whatever is done by only me is your doing.

I fear no fate for you are my fate, my sweet.

I want no world for beautiful- you are my world- my true and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a 134

sun will always sing- is you.

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows. Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide and, this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart.

I carry your heart.

I carry it here in my heart.

A is for acknowledgment of everything you’re doing to overcome a particular challenge. Give yourself the credit of what you’ve already done, and don’t expect yourself to have all the answers. This is about creating a culture of prizing, appreciating, and honoring yourself, your most essential loving essence, when you need it the most. We all have this ability to appreciate ourselves in this way where you’ll counsel in that private mental office space with your first patient—you. Of course, in order for acknowledgment and prizing to take place, this office must be a judgment-free space held sacred in the words of the Persian poet, Rumi:

Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing there is a field.

I’ll meet you there.

That’s where headspace exists.

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“Every experience we have, regardless of whether we see it as good or bad, is working toward our learning, growth, and evolution of consciousness.”

C is for compassion. The prefix “com” means together, while passion can be defined as suffering. Facing our own challenges helps us cultivate compassion for others in their struggles and thus we understand them better. Compassion through shared experience is what unites us, all 7.85 billion human beings. In their recent book Compassionomics, Drs. Trzeciak and Mazzarelli provide scientific and empirical evidence of the healing power of compassion. Diabetic patients who perceived their doctor to be more compassionate experienced better control of their HgAIC, while surgical patients experienced fewer complications, less pain, and healed faster, which resulted in a quicker discharge from the hospital. Compassion brings us closer to Keruv, a beautiful Jewish value that means to draw near or bring close in a welcoming way. When we have the spaciousness inside to offer ourselves the compassion we deserve, then we will have the proper headspace to provide it to others, particularly those loved ones disguised as our patients.

Headspace is the headquarters for the Compassionomics that will revolutionize patient-centered care in the future.

E is for the evolution of consciousness. If life isn’t for learning and expanding our consciousness about ourselves and the world around us, then what is it about? I believe we

are spiritual beings having a temporary human experience in order to learn and grow in specific ways that are important for each of us. In this context, nothing happens to us but for us. Every experience we have, regardless of whether we see it as good or bad, is working toward our learning, growth, and evolution of consciousness. From this perspective, nothing is really bad when we know there is good in the form of growth in every challenge we face. Understanding this provides a purpose for our struggles and increases our sense of peace because we don’t see our situation as meaningless suffering anymore. The best part is that on the other side of our problems, we’re different people because of what we’ve learned. When we know better, we do better.

Ladies and gentleman of the graduating class of 2019, by the power of all resources invested in me, along with your beloved friends, families, and members of faculty, we prize, appreciate, acknowledge, and honor your superb accomplishments and most importantly who you already are as a loving essence. We all send you the blessing of an unseen prayer that each of you mind your kingdom of headspace inside, and in so doing mend your glorious lives forward.

God Bless you.

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The Biggest Little Farm An award-winning feature film about John & Molly Chester of Apricot Lane Farms

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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ohn and Molly Chester run Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, CA, like a mini ecosystem. They know that in order for the food they produce to be nutrient dense, the farm has to be healthy. That means everything from the bacteria in the soil to the grass, animals, and people on the farm; everything must play its part in the cycle of use and renewal. Nothing takes without giving something back, and nothing goes to waste. This is what it means to be truly sustainable.

Their regenerative farming methods begin with the soil because if it doesn’t contain the right nutrients, they won’t be in the food that’s grown in it. Wild grasses and legumes are sown to feed the healthy microbes and hold moisture in the soil in order to prevent top soil loss. Manure isn’t thrown away but fed to 40,000 worms along with vegetable scraps in their vermicomposting operation. As a result, the worm casting are loaded with beneficial bacteria for the soil and are either used around the farm or composted and irrigated across the gardens and fields.

Livestock are kept on the move and rotated through various pastures to avoid overgrazing. This allows the pastures time to rest and restore, unlike factory farms where livestock are stationed in only one place, which isn’t good for the animals or the environment. Leaving trampled grass that hasn’t been completely eaten allows something for the earthworms and soil microbes to feast on. Hormones, antibiotics, and chemical de-wormers are out of the question for livestock. Through balancing copper in their diet, a bit of Diatomaceous Earth, and some apple cider vinegar in their water, livestock are kept happy, healthy, and pest-free.

I recently had the privilege of watching a documentary based on Apricot Lane Farms and the symbiotic process on which it functions. It was amazing to see how John and Molly understood that the connection between food and health is a closed system and how they incorporated their love for farming into that process. In a time when healthcare means being anti-everything these days from anti-histamines to anti-cancer drugs, John and Molly have shown how health and balance can return when we choose to work with the natural forces in and around us.

Visit John and Mary’s farm at www.apricotlanefarms.com 136

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JOINT

VENTURE HOW TO PREVENT OR POSTPONE KNEE REPLACEMENT SURGERY

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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trong and flexible joints are one of the things most of us take for granted about our health. Then one day we realize climbing the stairs takes a bit more effort than it used to or crouching down to grab something from under the kitchen sink is starting to feel uncomfortable. Of all the joints in the human body, the knees tend to experience the most wear and tear over a lifetime.

Nearly 1.5 million total knee athroplasties or replacements (TKA) are performed worldwide each year.1 Most people are between 50 and 70 with the average patient being a 66–year-old female.2 Women make up about 62% of all TKA patients, and men 38%.3 Although they’re becoming more common, TKA’s are considered major surgery and shouldn’t be taken lightly. When things go well, a TKA will last 10 to 15 years. 4 Nearly 2 out of 10 patients (18.3%) experience a failure of the apparatus and require a second surgery or revision. Over 80% of all failures happen in the first two years after surgery with the majority (44%) involving infection, followed by pain and stiffness (23%). Complications can also include problems with the mechanism’s extension capacity and fracturing (18%). Loosening can also occur due to osteolysis, when particles of the apparatus break off and embed themselves in surrounding tissue, generating an inflammatory response that causes bone degeneration, which loosens the implant (5%). Blood clots are a rare but serious cause for failure (4%), while general instability is also a factor (3%).5 With regard to any of these complications, TKA can be unpredictable even in the same patient.

Oftentimes an implant in one knee works well, while the other knee done only a few years later experiences problems.

Whether your knees are still healthy or starting to get a little creaky, there is much one can do to prevent knee replacement surgery or at least put it off as long as possible.

Consider incorporating one or more of these tips into your knee preservation plan.

STRENGTHEN MUSCLES

The most important part of preserving a joint is to strengthen the surrounding muscles that support it. To improve the stability of the knees, this means strengthening the quadriceps and hamstrings. The stronger these muscles are, the lesser the load will be transferred to the knee joints when walking or during weight-bearing activities. Leg extension and hamstring curl machines at the gym are perfect for conditioning these muscles. Using ankle weights while doing leg lifts on the living room floor works too, as well as isometric exercises of intermittent tensing and release.

LOSE WEIGHT

If you’re overweight, the downward force of gravity is putting extensive pressure on your knee joints even when you’re standing still. The good news is that research shows for every one pound lost, the knees experience a 4lb reduction in vertical load pressure. 6 That means losing 50lbs takes 200lbs of pressure off the knees when standing or walking.

Just be sure to find a sensible diet that helps you lose weight at a healthy pace and that you can stick with for life.

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“Exercise has so many benefits when it comes to health, its effects are nearly miraculous. For anyone with stiff or painful joints, low impact exercise is critical because it improves flexibility and reduces pain... In addition to a weight resistance routine, be sure to include aerobic exercise in ways that protect the knees like using a stationary bike, elliptical runner, swimming, riding a bicycle, or walking around the block.”

LOW IMPACT EXERCISE

Exercise has so many benefits when it comes to health, its effects are nearly miraculous. For anyone with stiff or painful joints, exercise is critical because it improves flexibility and reduces pain. Avoid all high impact exercise like running on pavement or treadmills, doing aerobics on a standard floor, or anything that requires jumping up and down. This activity generates micro-damage and inflammation in joints regardless of how good you think your athletic shoes are. In addition to 140

a weight resistance routine, be sure to include aerobic exercise in ways that protect the knees like using a stationary bike, elliptical runner, swimming, riding a bicycle, or walking around the block. Research shows that replacing just five minutes of sedentary time with five minutes of moderate to vigorous walking each day reduces the chance of having a knee replacement by 16%.7 ICE

Occasionally applying ice to your knees will reduce pain and inflammation, especially if you’ve engaged in an activity that isn’t knee friendly.

About 15-20 minutes should be enough. Elevating the knees also helps to accelerate the benefits of icing.

WEAR GOOD SHOES

When it comes to shoes, you get what you pay for. Be willing to invest in shoes that have a sizeable rubber sole, with lots of cushion, and good arch support. Lots of athletic shoes are also incorporating a gel or air chamber within the sole to absorb more of the impact. Walking on pavement, concrete, or other hard floor surfaces in cheap sandals or flat, flimsy shoes is sending shockwaves up through the body that impact the knees and even the spine that create slow, cumulative damage over time.

SUPPLEMENT

Glucosamine sulfate is a natural sugar found in

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Sources (1) Gallo, J et al. (2013). Osteolysis around total knee arthoplasty: a review of pathogenetic mechanisms.

Acta Biomaterialia, 9(9), 8046-8058, doi: 10.1016/j. actbio.2013.05.005.

(2) American Joint Replacement Registry, Third AJRR Annual Report on Hip and Knee Anthorplasty Data, Annual Report 2016, http://ajrr.net/images/ annual_reports/AJRR_2016_Annual_Report_final. pdf.

(3) Javad Mortazavi, S M. (2011). Failure following revision total knee arthroplasty: infection is the major cause. International Orthopaedics, 8(35), 1157-1164, doi: 10.1007/s00264-010-1134-1. and around the tissues that cushion the knee.

It works by stimulating cartilage formation and repair. Chondroitin sulfate helps prevent cartilage deterioration. Often times both these supplements are found in combination. People tend to have widely varied experiences with them from no effect to dramatic improvement. Be patient because they take about eight weeks to show results. A powdered collagen supplement works faster on relieving joint pain and supporting rejuvenation, while halting some enzymatic processes that work toward joint degeneration. Hyaluronic acid is a natural biological lubricant that can be taken orally in soft gels or administered by a doctor via injection into the knees. A recent study also showed that 1,000mg per day of curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, substantially reduced joint pain from arthritis. 8 Although not a supplement, corticosteroid (cortisone) injections into the knees also reduce pain and inflammation, but they come with many side effects like anxiety, depression, jitteriness, insomnia, and more that can be a concern for some people. See Prescribing Caution in MegaZEN vol. 6 for full details. Botox has also been shown to be effective for reducing knee pain. In a study of athletes with mild to moderate knee pain, 69% experienced total relief of symptoms and required no further medical treatment after receiving Botox injections. Results remained consistent after five years.9

(4) Putman, S et al. (2018). Ten-year survival and complications of total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis secondary to trauma or surgery: a french multicentre study of 263 patients.

Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Surgery & Research: OTSR, 104(2), 161-164, doi: 10.1016/j.otsr.2017.11.019.

(5) Javad Mortazavi, S M. (2011). Failure following revision total knee arthroplasty: infection is the major cause. International Orthopaedics, 8(35), 1157-1164, doi: 10.1007/s00264-010-1134-1.

(6) Messier, S et al. (2005). Weight loss reduces knee-joint loads in overweight and obese older adults with knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 52(7), 2026-2032, doi: 10.1002/art.21139.

(7) White, D et al. (2014). Daily walking and the risk of incident functional limitation in knee oa: an observational study. Arthritis Care & Research, 66(9), 1328-1336, doi: 10.1002/acr.22362.

(8) Daily, J et al. (2016). Efficacy of turmeric extracts and curcumin for alleviating the symptoms of joint arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Journal of Medicinal Food, 19(8), 717-729, doi: 10.1089/jmf.2016.3705.

(9) Stephen, J et al. (2016). The use of sonographically guided botulinum toxin type a (dysport) injections into the tensor fasciae latae for the treatment of lateral patellofemoral overload syndrome . The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 44(5), 1195-1202, doi: 10.1177/0363546516629432.

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THE SUN AS

MEDICINE IT’S ABOUT MORE THAN VITAMIN D

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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veryone is aware of the important relationship between vitamin D and sun exposure. When sunlight hits the skin, the ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation activates the body’s ability to synthesize vitamin D. The fairer the skin, the more vitamin D is produced. Research has shown that just 30 minutes in the sun wearing a swimsuit generates 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D in Caucasian people, 20,000 to 30,000 IU in tanned people, and 8,000 to 10,000 IU in dark-skinned people.1 This is good news when it comes to building healthy bones and hormonal balance,2 for which vitamin D is crucial. The sun also helps us in many ways that you might not expect. Some of those benefits involve vitamin D while others don’t. Because the sun is vital to all life on earth, it only makes sense that it benefits us in more ways than one. Here are just a few.

ELEVATES MOOD

There’s a reason why a “sunny” disposition is equated with a happy, upbeat person. It’s because sunlight has powerful mood-lifting capabilities. As soon as it’s detected by the retina, it triggers an increase in the production of serotonin, the hormone that helps us feel calm and focused.3 Because of this, research has shown it has powerful antidepressant effects. 4 Without enough sun exposure, serotonin levels can drop leading to darker moods and depression. Many people suffer from seasonal affective disorder which causes depressive symptoms during the winter months when the days are shorter. In most cases, phototherapy (exposure to light that mimics sunlight) is often enough to generate more serotonin for these people.

LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE

Sunlight also happens to be an excellent way to reduce blood pressure.

In a British study, healthy volunteers were exposed to ultraviolet-A (UVA) light from tanning lamps in one 20-minute session. In a separate 20-minute session, the UVA rays were blocked and the subjects were only exposed to the heat of the lamp.

During the UVA session, the subjects’ blood vessels dilated, improving blood flow and significantly lowering blood pressure. These effects were the result of the UVA rays triggering nitric oxide production in the skin, which acts as a vasodilator by relaxing the smooth muscle cells inside the blood vessel walls. A 20-minute session that exposed subjects to just the heat of the lamp and no UVA rays resulted in no change.5 Researchers stated: These results are significant to the ongoing debate about potential health benefits of sunlight…It may be an opportune time to reassess the risks and benefits of sunlight for human health and to take a fresh look at current public health advice. Avoiding excess sunlight exposure is critical to prevent skin cancer, but not being exposed to it at all out of fear or as a result of a certain lifestyle could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. 6

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“Sunlight has powerful mood-lifting capabilities. As soon as it’s detected by the retina, it triggers an increase in the production of serotonin, the hormone that helps us feel calm and focused.

Because of this, research has shown it has powerful antidepressant effects.”

BOOSTS IMMUNITY

Researchers have also found that when the blue light ray from sunlight hits the skin, it energizes infection-fighting T cells in the dermis (second layer of skin), making them move much faster throughout the body. This makes the T cells, both killer and helper, move more quickly to the sight of infection and operate at a faster pace.

This speeding up of T cells happens because sunlight generates the production of hydrogen peroxide inside them. Hydrogen peroxide is what white blood cells release when they sense an infection to kill bacteria and to “call” the T cells and other immune cells into action. So it makes sense that hydrogen peroxide inside T cells would really rev them up. While vitamin D has been found to play an important role in immune modulation, researchers discovered this process was independent of vitamin D.7 Vitamin D has long been known to have a central function in regulating the immune system.8 It also has powerful antimicrobial properties, having been used successfully to treat infections like tuberculosis9 and leprosy10 in the past.

Exposing patient blood to UV light then autotransfusing it back into the patient has been shown to kill a wide range of infections including E coli,11 as well as those involved in serious conditions like sepsis12 and peritonitis.13 This treatment method was commonly used until it fell out of favor when antibiotics were invented, leaving many calling it 144

the cure that time forgot.14 Now we face the era of evolving superbugs because of the overuse of antibiotics, when UV blood therapy has no such negative impact.

Because UV light is so good for immunity it makes sense why we feel so much better when we step out into the sun during the flu or a cold. This also explains why hospitals are now instinctively designed with rooftop terraces where patients can sit in the sun.

IMPROVES BR AIN FUNCTION

The vitamin D we receive from the sun and other sources provides better mental clarity, especially as we age. Scientists tested 1,700 people 65 or older and found that cognitive function decreased as vitamin D levels fell. Those with the lowest levels had the poorest cognitive capabilities.15 This is likely because there are receptors for vitamin D throughout the central nervous system and in the hippocampus. Vitamin D also modulates enzymes in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid that are involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and nerve growth. It could well be that vitamin D deficiency plays a role in the cognitive decline related to dementia.

Another study of 3,100 men between 40 and 79 across eight European countries found those with lower vitamin D levels experienced slower information processing speed. This was especially the case with men over 60.16

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“Vitamin D has long been known to have a central function in regulating the immune system.”

CANCER PREVENTION

Yes, too much sun exposure does put us at risk for skin cancer; however, moderate exposure has been shown to act as a protection against cancer.

In fact, research shows that people who live in areas with fewer daylight hours are more likely to have certain kinds of cancers than those who live where the sun shines longer. These include colon cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer.17 A four-year study followed 1,179 women over age 55. Those that took 1500 mg of calcium and 1100 IU of vitamin D3 per day saw a dramatic 60% drop in the risk of developing any kind of cancer.

Researchers agreed that calcium and vitamin D supplementation “substantially reduces all-cancer risk in postmenopausal women.”18 Sunlight and vitamin D also play a prominent role in prostate cancer prevention. In a study of 900 Caucasian men, half with advanced prostate cancer and half with no cancer, researchers examined the men’s underarm skin with a reflectometer. The underarm skin was used because it receives little to no sun exposure. Results showed no difference in the underarm pigmentation between the prostate cancer and control groups. However, when sun pigmentation was measured on the forehead, results showed the men who had been exposed to the most sun over time reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 50%. Men with certain gene variants saw risk reductions up to 65%. Overall, the risk of prostate cancer dropped in relation to the amount of sun exposure over time.19 This preventative effect likely occurs because vitamin D is essential for the production and maintenance of healthy prostate cells. It also works to inhibit invasive cell proliferation and has anti-tumor and anti-metastatic effects.20 Historically, vitamin D deficiency is prominent in prostate cancer patients,21 particularly Black men living in countries in the northern hemisphere that see partial sun and cloudy skies through much of the year. This fact holds true even for Black men

living in the southern U.S.22 This is why they are 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and two to three times more likely to die from it, which makes vitamin D supplementation critical for them.23 SKIN CONDITIONS & FAT BURNING

Research has shown that some skin conditions respond well to sunlight. One study exposed patients with moderate to severe psoriasis to controlled sun exposure. Results showed sunlight induced a rapid reduction in inflammation. 24 Another study found a four-week sunbathing routine significantly cleared symptoms of psoriasis in 84% of the subjects.25 Scientists have recently discovered that exposure to sunlight is essential to burning body fat and preventing metabolic syndrome, a comorbidity that involves three of the following medical conditions: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, low-serum high density lipoprotein, and abdominal obesity.

When researchers placed mice in a cold environment with full-spectrum lighting, their fat-burning process operated normally, and their core body temperatures were maintained.

When only the blue light wave of the spectrum was turned off, their core temperatures dropped, 145

showing opsin 3 was no longer being activated, and fat was no longer being burned. Under these conditions, the mice also didn’t lose weight when fasting. This presented evidence that full-spectrum light as provided by the sun influences metabolism. Researchers also found that it’s the specific wavelength of blue light at 480 nanometers that stimulates opsin 3. This wavelength is found in sunlight but not artificial light. Researchers stated: If the opsin 3 adipocyte pathway exists in human, there are potentially broad implications for human health [because] our modern lifestyle subjects us to unnatural lighting spectra…26 MEASURED DOSES

The sun might be 93 million miles away, but it provides countless benefits much closer to home for all life on earth. When it comes to sun exposure, the important thing to remember is moderation. Too much of any good thing becomes a bad thing. While regular, moderate sun exposure is healthy, boosts immunity, and offers cancer prevention benefits, too much exposure damages

“The sun, like any medicine, is safe and effective in measured doses. That’s about 20 minutes per day, getting sun exposure on as much skin surface as possible.”

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DNA in skin cells, increases skin cancer risk, and suppresses immunity—not to mention accelerating aging.27 The sun, like any medicine, is safe and effective in measured doses. That’s about 20 minutes per day, getting sun exposure on as much skin surface as possible. Feel free to use sunscreen on your face to prevent premature aging, but try to keep the shoulders, back, arms, and legs exposed as much as possible when going for a short daily walk. If you’re very fair-skinned, you’ll want to avoid the sun’s peak hours between 11am and 4pm.

That’s quite enough to get all the necessary health benefits from the sun, especially if you’re already taking a multivitamin that contains vitamin D. If your skin tone is darker, 30 to 40 minutes is probably better along with a separate vitamin D supplement. Your doctor can test your level and recommend a dosage.

Nature offers us countless opportunities for better health, but we rarely recognize them. The sun is hard to miss and yet, all we have to do is walk out our door and soak it in. Seems like a good day for a walk.

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Sources (1) Mead, M. N. (2008). Benefits of sunlight: A bright spot for human health. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116(4). doi:10.1289/ehp.116-a160.

(2)Norman, A. W. (2008). From vitamin D to hormone D: Fundamentals of the vitamin D endocrine system essential for good health. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 88(2), 491S-499S. bit.ly/3o9aTik. (3) Fraikin, G. Y., & Strakhovskaya, M. G. (1989).

Near-uv activation of enzymatic conversion of 5-hydroxytryptophan to serotonin. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 49(4), 475-477. bit.ly/37saPUe. (4) Artigas, F. (2013). Serotonin receptors involved in antidepressant effects. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 137(1), 119-131. doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2012.09.006, (5) Liu, D., & Fernandez, B. O. (2014). UVA irradiation of human skin vasodilates arterial vasculature and lowers blood pressure independently of nitric oxide Synthase.

Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 134(7), 1839-1846. doi:10.1038/jid.2014.27.

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(15) Llewellyn, D. J. (2010). Vitamin D and risk of cognitive decline in elderly persons. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170(13), 1135. bit.ly/2JtQJ3H. (16) Lee, D. M., Tajar, A., & Ulubaev, A. (2009).

Association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and cognitive performance in middle-aged and older European men. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 80(7), 722-729. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2008.165720.

(17) Holick, M. F. (2008). Vitamin D and sunlight: Strategies for cancer prevention and other health benefits.

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 3(5), 1548-1554. doi:10.2215/cjn.01350308.

(18) Lappe, J. M., & Travers-Gustafson, D. (2007). Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: Results of a randomized trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85(6), 1586-1591. doi:10.1093/ ajcn/85.6.1586.

(19) John, E. M., & Schwartz, G. G. (2005). Sun exposure, vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms, and risk of advanced prostate cancer. Cancer Research, 65(12), 5470-5479. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.can-04-3134.

(6) “Here Comes the Sun to Lower Your Blood Pressure”, Science Daily, University of Southampton, (January 17, 2014), bit.ly/39xV2pK.

(20) Chakraborti, C. (2011). Vitamin D as a promising anticancer agent. Indian Journal of Pharmacology, 43(2), 113. doi:10.4103/0253-7613.77335.

(7) Phan, T. X., & Jaruga, B. (2016). Intrinsic Photosensitivity enhances motility of T lymphocytes.

Scientific Reports, 6(1). doi:10.1038/srep39479.

(21) Murphy, A. B., & Nyame, Y. (2014). Vitamin D deficiency predicts prostate biopsy outcomes. Clinical Cancer Research, 20(9), 2289-2299. bit.ly/2VqfwbG.

(8) Sassi, F., & Tamone, C. (2018). Vitamin D: Nutrient, hormone, and Immunomodulator. Nutrients, 10(11), 1656. doi:10.3390/nu10111656.

(22) Egan, K. M., & Signorello, L. B. (2008). Vitamin D insufficiency among African-Americans in the southeastern United States: Implications for cancer disparities (United States). Cancer Causes & Control, 19(5), 527-535. doi:10.1007/s10552-008-9115-z.

(9) Airey, F. (1946). Vitamin D as a remedy for lupus vulgaris. Medical World, 64(26), 807-810. PMID: 20282870.

(10) Herrera, G. (1949). Vitamin D in massive doses as an adjuvant to the sulfones in the treatment of tuberculoid leprosy. International Journal of Leprosy, 17(1-2), 35-42.

PMID: 18143438.

(11) Rebbeck, E. (1943). Ultraviolet irradiation of the blood in the treatment of escherichia coli septicemia. Arch Phys Ther, 24(1), 158-160.

(12) Rebbeck, E. (1941). Ultraviolet irradiation of autotransfused blood in the treatment of puerperal sepsis.

American Journal of Surgery, 54(3), 691-694.

(23) Chornokur, G., & Dalton, K. (2010). Disparities at presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and survival in African American men, affected by prostate cancer. The Prostate, 71(9), 985-997. doi:10.1002/pros.21314.

(24) Søyland, E., & Heier, I. (2011). Sun exposure induces rapid immunological changes in skin and peripheral blood in patients with psoriasis. British Journal of Dermatology, 164(2), 344-355. bit.ly/37p4ybX. (25) Kazandjieva, J., Grozdev, I., & Darlenski, R. (2008).

Climatotherapy of psoriasis. Clinics in Dermatology, 26(5), 477-485. doi:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2008.05.001.

(13) Rebbeck, E. (1943). The Knott technic of ultraviolet blood irradiation as a control of infection in peritonitis.

American Journal of Gastroenterology, 73(10), 1-26.

(26)Nayak, G., & Zhang, K. (2020). Adaptive Thermogenesis in Mice Is Enhanced by Opsin 3-Dependent Adipocyte Light Sensing. Cell Reports, 30(3), 672-686.e8. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2019.12.043.

(14) Hamblin, M. R. (2017). Ultraviolet irradiation of blood: “The cure that time forgot”? Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 295-309. doi:10.1007/978-3-31956017-5_25.

(27) González Maglio, D. H., & Paz, M. L. (2016). Sunlight effects on immune system: Is there something else in addition to UV-induced immunosuppression? BioMed Research International, 2016, 1-10. doi:10.1155/2016/1934518.

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Functional Analysis in Healthcare: How or Why? Past struggles become future blessings

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

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hen we face a health challenge, nothing seems certain anymore. What happens if you don’t get a guarantee from your doctor that everything is going to be fine or a recovery percentage that’s in your favor? Most people, especially those with supposed terminal illnesses, don’t get such reassurance. In this frightening uncertainty, how do we find a way to coexist with our dis-ease so we can go within and find the healing answers we need?

Poet John Keats said negative capability is man’s ability to “be in uncertainties, mysteries and doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason, from being incapable of remaining content with half knowledge.” Our ability to heal physically is directly proportional to our ability to remain at peace spiritually, even if we don’t yet know how our personal story is going to play out. Do you remember seeing a movie that you love for the first time? Even though there was suspense and danger, you maintained a certain level of confidence that the hero would prevail in the end, even though you didn’t know how the plot would unfold.

That’s negative capability. It means sitting with certainty in the midst of uncertainty. It’s allowing yourself to be okay with not being okay.

Every tumor is surrounded by a thick, fibrous capsule.

It’s the body’s defense mechanism to keep the cancer from spreading. Because of the fearful way we’ve been educated about cancer, our immediate reaction is to cut, poison, or burn it out. Just get rid of it. The standard practice is to perform a biopsy where a needle is inserted into the mass and cells are tested for malignancy. The problem here is that in our rush to react, we puncture the protective membrane our body created to contain the cancer, allowing it to escape 148

and spread to other locations. Without negative capability, we rush in to solve our problems only to create breaches where they can spread and expand.

Before Rene Decartes was a scientist, he was a mystic. It was his later scientific discoveries that would all but erase his earlier spiritual work. One of his most significant is the Primary Method of Analysis. It’s the model all medical diagnostics are based on today. It uses structural analysis to find the root of a problem. It assumes all physical problems have a physical origin. This is why medicine is dominated by tests like the ultrasound, CAT scan, PET scan, MRI, and x-ray. It uses these to find a physical cause. Once found, quantitative analysis asks, “How much is there?”

This physical model implies if we can find some-THING, we can count it. If we can count it, we can label it. If we can label it, we can control it; and if we can control it, we are God. Without negative capability, we’re physically focused, fearful, and try to control everything. When man tries to play God, it always ends badly.

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS IN HEALTHCARE: RENE DESCARTES

Instead of structural analysis, it’s time for our medical model to shift to functional analysis. It’s based in qualitative observation rather than quantitative. Structural analysis is a reductionist approach that continuously breaks the body down into ever smaller separate parts from organ systems to atoms and asks “how” something is happening, all the while assuming these trillions of different parts have no universal relation to each other. Functional analysis views all parts and systems as interdependent and asks “why” something is happening.

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Finding out why a particular condition is occurring for a patient is the foundation of everything I do. Answering the why informs how we will approach treatment, and it’s never the same for any two people even if they have the same illness. That’s because the why also includes the patient’s psycho-spiritual state of health as well, which standard allopathic medicine doesn’t even consider. Without answering the why for each patient, we end up with one-size-fits-all cookie cutter treatment which is the state of healthcare today.

“When we panic and rush into a healthcare ‘solution’, we’re focusing only on the how and not the why of our personal situation— why disease developed in the first place, which will offer vital information with regard to how treatment should be approached differently for each person.”

Patients often ask us how it’s possible that they experienced healing breakthroughs at Be Hive of Healing Medical Center after having received similar treatments from other doctors to no effect.

They often say things like, “It just feels different as it’s going inside my body! I can feel it.” We explain to them that our job is to find out why a disease is occurring in their body and no one else’s based on their physical, spiritual, and emotional condition, and then formulate a personalized treatment based on what we discover through that holistic diagnostic process.

For example, no two IV combinations are the same, not just with regard to ingredients and their levels, but also the attention we put into preparing them. We say a prayer over each one with the direct intention of achieving the required psycho-spiritual and/or physical healing shift the patient is working toward. To reinforce this

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process, we also infuse the consciousness of this intention into each IV bag in a physical way as well. We write out a specific intentional prayer on a clear transparency sheet, then shine a cold laser beam through it and into the IV bag, carrying the healing energy of those powerful words into the liquid itself. I mentioned this psychospiritual preparation process in an interview with Vogue magazine about why the same people respond differently to the same treatment when administered by different providers. I guess it was too “out there” for them because it was cut from the published article. Apparently, they weren’t interested in the why of things.

We sincerely believe that it’s psycho-spiritual preparation in treatments such as this, as well as our intensive personal work with patients through Integrative Psycho-Synthesis (iPs) sessions that yield such powerful results, even from similar treatments a patient may have had elsewhere.

That’s because most of our attention is on why a patient got sick in the first place and not how they should be prescribed the same generic treatment everyone else gets. I was presenting at a conference recently where people were lining up to all have the exact same IV cocktail promoted by the newest “hot” clinic in town. No blood tests, no personal evaluations, no emotional exploration of any kind.

Just 100% focus on the how…and people have to wonder why they often get limited or no results from alternative care. It amazes me that people are more concerned about how a meal is cooked to their personal specifications in a restaurant than they are about how their healthcare is administered in a generic and uniform way.

Regardless of whether it’s dinner or disease, an ancient Persian proverb assures us that the same herbs brew different medicine in different hands.

When we panic and rush into a healthcare “solution”, we’re focusing only on the how and not the why of our personal situation—why disease developed in the first place, which will offer vital information with regard to how treatment should be approached differently for each person. In the case of cancer, it’s not the cancer we need to be paying attention to, but our reaction to it. Cancer is a gift the body gives the soul. It’s the signal that says the cancer isn’t the issue but how we’re relating to it is! Most never accept the invitation to look deeper, to a functional level. That’s why most cancers that are physically removed always return, because cancer is a functional (why) issue, not a structural (how) one. A tumor’s fibrous membrane is our body’s insurance policy. It buys us time to take this journey and discover our why. If you can practice negative capability and stand in the eye of a hurricane where all is calm, you will find it.

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A REASON FOR

LIVING

A MEANINGFUL LIFE SUPPORTS RESILIENCY

By Dr. Habib Sadeghi

S

tudies consistently show that in order for humans to live a satisfying life, they have to live by values or for reasons that are greater than themselves.1 A scientist’s passion for life might come from his desire to find a cure for a particular disease. A musician is often energized by the joy his music brings to the audience. In order to feel fulfilled, we can’t just live a life of idle amusement for our own gratification. We have to feel like what we’re doing is part of something bigger that will benefit others in some way, even after we’re gone.

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In fact, having such a reason for living is directly connected to our longevity. Research shows that people who retire and don’t replace their old jobs with some other type of meaningful activity but instead play golf and take cruise ship vacations consistently die earlier than people who work longer or find a new purpose for their lives.2 A study sponsored by National Geographic found that people who had a life purpose and could clearly explain it lived an average of seven years longer than others.3 REASONS & RESILIENCE

Assigning meaning to our lives or living for a particular purpose not only helps us live longer, but also makes us more resilient when challenges arise. Drs. Steve and Sybil Wolin, authors of The Resilient Self, 4 say that creativity is key when learning how to overcome the difficulties of life, particularly when we’re faced with finding new meaning because of a challenge so big it has altered life as we know it forever.

A prime example of this kind of resilience is Agustin, a Honduran man from the mountain village of Siguatepeque. Born into poverty and handicapped from polio in his youth, Agustin could easily have given up and chosen to live life by just getting from one day to the next. Instead, he chose to provide meaning to his life by giving himself a purpose; he decided to build a helicopter.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

It didn’t matter to him that he was confined to a wheelchair and had no money or education in aerodynamic technology. He made building a helicopter his life purpose, and he began to do so

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with a passion. He collected materials of all sorts wherever he could find them, bicycle parts, rebar from old concrete structures, and even wood. First begun in 1958, Agustin is still working on his passion project that consumes his days. Featured in the independent short film Everything is Incredible,

by Tyler Bastian, Agustin can be seen hovering over some section of the helicopter that contains tens of thousands of moving parts.

Although his tenacity is admired by some, Agustin is also ridiculed by others who say his machine will never fly. One of his critics was his brother, who Agustin says used to call him the idiot of the family for believing in such a ridiculous scheme. Consequently his brother, who was an alcoholic and had no purpose in life, passed away many years ago. Meanwhile, Agustin continues to tinker away at his passion project.

While it’s mostly a kinetic sculpture, it’s clear that Agustin’s helicopter will never fly, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the passion of his purpose that gives Agustin’s life meaning and energizes his body to keep on living, particularly because he has a specific reason to live. He’s determined to see his helicopter fly. Whether it actually does or not is irrelevant to his body, which is fueled by his passion. When interviewed in the documentary film, the local mission director had this to say about Agustin’s seemingly pointless project.

“And you say, ‘What has he gotten out of it?’

Maybe it’s kept him alive. Maybe it’s been able to conquer loneliness. Maybe it’s been able to conquer poverty.”5 Perhaps it’s all those things. That’s the power of living a meaningful life.

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LOVE BUTTON GLOBAL MOVEMENT UPDATES

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his year, we collectively faced unprecedented hardships and challenges worldwide. Massive shelter-in-place regulations caused many businesses to shut down, thereby creating tremendous economic hardship for many across the globe. Love Button Global Movement was no exception to these guidelines, and found themselves unable to perform many of their existing programs. Although it was a very challenging year, ambassadors, donors, supporters, and volunteers safely came together to pull off their most successful annual Gratitude Basket event with a goal to assemble 800 Supply/Toy Bags for children in underserved areas.

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4TH ANNUAL BASKETS OF GRATITUDE HEALING OUR COMMUNITY DURING A YEAR OF EXCEPTIONAL NEED Every year generosity blesses and overwhelms the Love Button team as they distribute baskets of toys, books, and clothing to children in need across Southern California. This year, however, help was needed more than ever because 2020 has been anything but an ordinary year.

The statewide response to COVID-19 has resulted in millions of family breadwinners losing their jobs and businesses. In a matter of months, their quality of life has been devastated. It’s estimated that nearly two-thirds of California families have been impacted in some way.

During this time, many have struggled with the uncertainty, anxiety, and isolation, and the Love Button team wanted to help. So, even though Baskets of Gratitude had to work with a smaller crew this year, they still came together in purpose and made this year's event a huge success.

Dr. Sherry Sami, Founder of Love Button Global Movement was very excited about the success of this year's campaign in light of 2020's COVID-19-related shutdowns. “As we reach out to those in need and experience the joy and connection that comes with giving, we strengthen our sense of community and commitment to each other’s well-being. That's what is most important.”

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POETRY LOUNGE HUMBABA RETURNS

By David Booth

Humbaba floating in our nightmares, or filling our lungs with death?

Humbaba ruled the cedar forest in Ancient Mesopotamia with monkeys as heralds, birds his courtiers, and a throne room redolent of cedar resin. A wonderful life, until the punk king Gilgamesh and his hairy buddy Enkidu came one day to steal cedar and build their resumes.

No, because every being, every mountain and every molecule has one mission encoded into them and it is--to survive.

Some create beauty, others destroy civilizations, even change the face of their home planet, but all are animated to obey their prime directive—live!

Humbaba was a frightening monster with the face of a lion but wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. Gilgamesh tricked him and Enkidu cut off his head.

The cedar forest lost its protector, its Lord and its way. Gilgamesh returned to his kingdom with a bloody head and a hoard of cedar. Such was the way in the ancient world if you sought fame and glory.

Only one in the philosophical or religious universe figured it out; the Buddha.

He correctly saw the world as Maya, or pretense. Most everything, especially that created by man, is illusion; a set of imagined realities we accept to give them form and substance.

Eons later, Humbaba is back, wandering the earth, still angry about losing his head. But now he wisely avoids the trickery of petty kings and princes. A shape-sifter, now he insinuates himself into the form of a tiny virus and stalks the world, bent on destruction.

What did Gilgamesh and Enkidu unleash? Will we ever be free of

When we have our little world all set up, running smoothly, full of vigor, Humbaba lumbers back into our time and spins it like a top. Everything changes in a heartbeat; mountains fly off, rivers run backward, and our race shrinks or disappears, making room for the next set of players. Our lives are a blink in time. Yearn for and celebrate each sunrise, and our brief, happy moment.

LOVING LIGHT By Lori Putoto the bistro of life is quenched by the thirst of unfathomable loving the inner chambers of light drumming to new heights even at night. . . witnessing strobes of light ready to take flight I dwell in the currency of light. . .

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MEGAZEN

Volume 8

WE'RE DINOS By David Booth We dwell in a land of smooths; rounded Pueblo homes, water-polished river rocks and vigas; logs over our heads, nude and recumbent. And that recall ancient times, all round bellies.

In stark contrast to the bone-heaps and minerals we now perch upon, screeching and lording it over all the dinos and other apes we slaughtered to be Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds.

The choking swamps withered eons ago and cooked the grand lizards that we hadn’t yet got on the barbie. The relentless scalding took the water, took the flora and took the brand.

The heretofore advertised “Westworld Triassic” had no choice but to become Southwestern, repopulating from monstrous cud-chewers to little naked guys skittering around in feathers and paint. Quite a hurdle from the former lot, who had their own fur and picked each other’s nits.

But we won and here we are, brazenly chest-thumping, even in our one-handed forest. Yet a tiny invader slips past high-tech face condoms and flies into lungs, oh wondrous human. And he bobs gently in the fluid tempo of your breathing, deciding whether to turn off your lights or only rattle your chain.

So here we are, in a coronavirus Fellini carnival, full of ghouls, beautiful people and ghouls impersonating beautiful people. Shape-shifters, no one exactly

what they seem or present; dangers galore in the new world, so many ways to test your superhuman perception.

But our surprise is where the humor lies.

We beat the other apes and dinos; bred with the first, killed them, and the other we slaughtered outright. We fought the smooths; glistening heads, serpentine bodies, enough teeth to eat Cleveland.

We ran thrilling hunts, filleted the dinos and cracked their bones for toothpicks.

Then our hairy bands of little critters with pointy things crept in, ants at the picnic. They formed little patterns, like leaves, with dark intent. They drove the monsters over cliffs, into water and fire. Like killer rabbits, they bred and ate; insatiable. Roasting dinos, they had millennia of “hmm, tastes like chicken,” and now we’re here in a suit.

Back where we began, hostile participants in a frightmare world.

Achilles heels exposed, no plan in sight, grasping at wings and prayers, beseeching the night for sun and warmth.

Still, at the precipice, the glory of the bipedal creature is the ability to love, to think and to enjoy. We rose up to accommodate our problem-solving machine. Even in the grayest morass, the lights twinkled and we invented the wheel. And we shake off fear. And we build civilizations. Blow on the embers and keep the spark alive.

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MegaZEN

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G A L L E R Y

The Kennedy Center (THE REACH) Dr. Habib Sadeghi and Usher conduct a healing prayer and meditation session, in THE REACH at the Kennedy Center.

Dr. Sadeghi Awarded OPSC Physician of the Year Dr. Sadeghi received the distinguished award for Physician of the Year for 2020 from the Osteopathic Physicians of Southern California (OPSC) for his furthering of osteopathic principles in medicine, as well as his philanthropic and humanitarian work.

Elevated Summit

Dr. Habib Sadeghi and Dr. David Foss speaking, and being interviewed at the Elevated Summit in Chicago.

CME by the Bay

Dr. Habib Sadeghi speaks at Osteopathic Physicians of Southern California (OPSC) annual CME by the Bay event.

Dr. Sadeghi Talks Mental Health at SoulPancake Panel Dr. Habib Sadeghi was invited as a guest panel speaker at an event hosted

by Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake called “4 Conversations About 1 Thing.” The panel discussed the importance of mental health across different areas in life: parenting, media/representation, workplace, and more.

68th Annual National Prayer Breakfast Dr. Habib Sadeghi is invited to the 68th annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., by the US Congressional Host Committee.

Dr. Sadeghi at the Unwell Conference Dr. Habib Sadeghi participates in "Becoming Your Own Health Advocate" panel at the Unwell Conference by The Fullest. The conference is a full day experience that brings together inspiring change-makers who redefine wellness in the industry.

Be Hive of Healing & Happy Kids Teams Dr. Habib Sadeghi & Dr. Sherry Sami with the loving teams of Be Hive of Healing and Happy Kids Dental Planet.

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MegaZEN VOLUME 8

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WELL-BEING JOURNAL

CON T R IBU TORS EDITORS IN CHIEF Dr. Habib Sadeghi Dr. Sherry Sami

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dr. Habib Sadeghi Dr. Sherry Sami Luke Cowles Cynthia Liu

Julia Ain-Krupa David Booth Lori Putoto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dr. Habib Sadeghi Luke Cowles David Ord

MAGAZINE DESIGN & CREATIVE DIRECTION Persius Creative

ART DIRECTION & ILLUSTRATION Persius Creative

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Kourosh M. Khajavi Rodin Eckenroth

MANAGING DIRECTORS OF BEING CLARITY PUBLICATION Dr. Habib Sadeghi Dr. Sherry Sami Hutch Morton

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