8 minute read
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Health,Wellness&FitnessGuide
ADVERTISERCONTENT DR. KAPLAN: Thoughts on milk and other dairy products
My interest in health started when I was 13 years old. I was a very sick child. I had bad acne, low energy, and worst of all, I was overweight. Actually, the pediatrician said I was clinically obese according to the World Health Organization. In addition, every waking morning I started my day coughing up thick phlegm from my chronic bronchitis partly due to the fact that I was exposed to second hand cigarette smoke.
I had terrible “brain fog” which affected my academic and sports performance.
The doctor advised antibiotics and steroids. Because I was born in the 1970ʼs and grew up in the 1980ʼs, I never really saw anybody question the doctor, so of course, I decided to take the medications that he recommended.
I quickly realized that the medications made me super sick. I was constantly nauseous and dizzy. These harmful pharmaceuticals made me vomit five to ten times a day. Because I was embarrassed about always throwing up, I stopped going outside to play with my friends. I became depressed and I felt hopeless.
Luckily, I didn't even have to leave my own house to find the solution. My father, Dr. Larry Kaplan, is the one that changed my life forever by introducing me to a health group called the Natural Hygiene Society. After I showed a deep interest in health and wellbeing, he and my mom began paying for all my health seminars and education; buying me all the health books I could ever imagine, purchasing very healthy food for me to eat, and leading me in the right direction. I learned from the Natural Hygiene Society that dairy is a major cause of congestion in the lungs. I made the connection that quitting dairy might help my chronic bronchitis.
As a result, I completely eliminated all dairy from my diet. That means no cheese, no milk, no yogurt, no ranch dressing, no creamy sauces, no butter, and do I dare say it….no ice cream and no pizza! Because I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired, I decided to give it a try.
Within one month of quitting dairy, my bronchitis was gone. Imagine the look on the doctorʼs face when I went back and told him, “Thank you, but I wonʼt be needing these antibiotics or steroids anymore. I cured my bronchitis myself.”
I even lived in the same house as a smoker, and I was still able to heal myself of bronchitis just by changing my diet. As Hippocrates said, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be they food.”
Not only does dairy consumption cause lung congestion and phlegm, it contributes to risk of obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Studies have even shown dairy products are linked to prostate cancer in men and ovarian cancer in women.
Milk has also been linked to harmful pathogens including salmonella and E. Coli. The higher the consumption of dairy products, the higher the amount of colic, constipation, diarrhea, and even
bloody stool. A 2016 study found that teenagers who drank higher amounts of milk, especially low fat or skim milk, had a much higher incidence of acne. Moreover, dairy products have been linked to adult acne, as well. Other skin conditions that are linked to dairy consumption DR. ERIC KAPLAN, KAPLAN BRAIN & BODY are eczema and rosacea. Not only can they occur in a child that is eating dairy products, they can also be seen in the child if the mother was consuming lots of dairy products during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Sensitivity to dairy is more likely seen in people with autoimmune disorders. For example, if you have Multiple Sclerosis, Hashimotoʼs, Graves, Fibromyalgia, Celiac disease, Lupus, Sjogrenʼs, Psoriasis, or Rheumatoid Arthritis, it is highly
PASCACK VALLEY
Spin fundraiser on Dominique’s 25th
Join the fun at a spin fundraiser at Vision Sports Club in Pearl River, N.Y. on what would have been Park Ridge resident Dominique Francoʼs 25th birthday.
The event is Sunday, Jan. 8 from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Funds raised benefit Dominiqueʼs Journey Foundation (dominiquesjourney.com), helping continue her legacy of love in action for St. Jude Childrenʼs Research Hospital and Hackensack University Medical Center, the two organizations she was so passionate, from a young age, in supporting.
Canʼt make it? Venmo your donation to domsjourney.
Mike and Gina Franco started their non-profit foundation to honor their daughter, Dominque Franco, who passed away suddenly on Feb. 16, 2019, at 21.
Dominque was in her junior year at the University of Rhode Island, studying to be a nurse, and was president of her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. Her dream job was to be a pediatric oncology nurse at St. Jude Childrenʼs Research Hospital.
“She lit up the entire room with her amazing smile. She had a heart of gold and was truly determined to change the world and make it a better place,” Gina told Pascack Press on Jan. 3.
She added, “My job as her mom is to carry her forward and keep honoring her the best I can and our family is most grateful for everyone whoʼs stood by and continues to stand by our side.”
— John Snyder
DOMINIQUE FRANCO CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
PARKRIDGEPHARMACY
*Locally owned family business
WE HAVE AT HOME COVID/FLU COMBO TESTS AVAILABLE
LARGE SELECTION LARGE SELECTION OF VACCINES! OF VACCINES! CALL FOR INFO! CALL FOR INFO! TRANSFERRING YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS TO US IS AS EASY AS 1, 2,3
1) CALL US AND PROVIDE YOUR INFORMATION 2) WE WILL CALL YOUR PREVIOUS PHARMACY
AND HAVE YOUR
PRESCRIPTIONS
TRANSFERRED 3) WE WILL DELIVER
FOR FREE!
ASK ABOUT PERSCRIPTION COMPOUNDING!
FAST PRESCRIPTION PICK UP OR FREE DELIVERY!
FROM PAGE 12
wood is as universally respected and beloved as Borough Attorney Russell R. Huntington.”
Mayor Ray Arroyo added: “One of the most formative aspects of my public service was to have the good fortune of sitting next to David Rutherford, the ZBA attorney, for seven years and after moving to council sitting next to Russ for 10. Two calm reasonable pragmatic attorneys, both gentlemen.”
He said, “Russ took me to dinner when I first went up to council and told me that no matter how certain I was on any given issue, how well researched —I could be wrong.”
He said, “And so it was important to listen to your colleagues, be open to persuasion, try to find compromise and in the end support the consensus. Defer to the collective wisdom of the people who trust you and in turn in whom you should trust. Humility, what a concept.”
Arroyo characterized justretired WWPD deputy chief Jay Hutchinson tongue-in-cheek as “shy and quiet,” known for correcting junior officers in “soothing, hushed tones…”
And he thanked “the people behind the glass” at Borough Hall, “the people who make Westwood click.” He said, “It can be an unglamorous grind but so vitally necessary to Westwoodʼs orderly functioning. We appreciate you all.”
He touched on the contribution of each councilmember, underscoring the professionalism, humility, and respect that he said defined Westwood. “Under the stewardship of these six councilmembers, professional advisors, and borough staff, Westwood is in the best possible position to weather the economic downturn that the experts are predicting.”
Arroyo added in part “The landing will be softer” here because of Westwoodʼs caring culture and the network of churches and NGOs that have consistently picked our people up when we have fallen down.”
Dell thanked many, starting with her husband, Mark, and their children, Matthew and Nicholas.
In chipper remarks she lauded then-newly elected mayor Arroyo for his handling of the local aspects of the coronavirus. “To work with all those on this governing body who share so much of their time, talents, and their families remains a treasured part of my life.”
She thanked “my council partner, Rob Bicocchi, and the incredible team seated with us on this dais! Rob, who was directed here by the late great Westwood Mayor, Skip Kelly, approached me in 2015, and we have never looked back. Thank you once again for the invite into your special family and this front row seat of Westwood.”
Bicocchi thanked his wife, Roseann, “whoʼs been by my side through my elections. For the past 27 years of marriage, which includes the 10-plus years serving the borough.” He thanked Philip and other family members, and his supporters.
Bicocchi was one of several that night to thank the recently departed former mayor Skip Kelley, Schepisiʼs uncle.
Bicocchi said Kelley, known affectionately as “The Mayor,” asked him to get involved in town in 1996, first as a member of the Planning Board. “There I got to see how the foundation was laid out.”
He said in part that Kelley lay the groundwork for, among other fixtures of the borough, the firehouse, Westvale Park, and Westwoodʼs Home for the Holidays, and that “the downtown …continues to evolve with the times and is revered throughout the state.”
Bicocchi thanked the residents and singled out “my running mate, my council wife,” Dell, “whose energy is unstoppable and what we accomplished in three terms together is one for the books.”
The meeting included designation of council committee assignements; appointment of borough professionals; appointment to various boards; mayorʼs appointments; an annoucement that a schedule of budget meetings would be posted presently; and a full list of consent agenda items, all voted on and enacted with one motion. (See the agenda, online.)
Oaths of office of ambulance corps officials
President Rush Sherman, Vice President Janet Dunn, Captain Kris Rasmussen, 1st Lt. Nicole De Joie, 2nd Lt. Jeri Bowman, Treasurer Jerry Sheridan, Secretary Bonnie Costello, and trustees Jeri Bowman, Matthew Foley, Kali Spoelstra, and Dan Olivier.
Oaths of office for fire department officials
Chief James Voorhis, Deputy Chief Brian Kronewitter, Senior Capt. Brian Wiecenski, Capt. Scott Stewart, 1st Lt. Michael Griffin Jr, 2nd Lt. Ryan Weaver, 3rd Lt. Matthew Voorhi, 4th Lt. Justin Mason.
HILLSDALE
Board of Fire Officers sworn for 2023
Mayor John Ruocco swore in the Board of Fire Officers for their positions on Jan. 1. Pictured left to right: Chief Dan Schuster, Capt. Chris Kelley, Capt. Joe Solda III, Lt. Joe Solda Jr., Lt. Ray DeGroat, Lt. Tom Dunn, and Deputy Chief Bill Farrell. Not pictured: Lt. George Lucia Jr. — Hillsdale Happenings
Volunteer Emergency Services Hall of Fame
Westwood Volunteer Ambulance Corps recognized Capt. Matt
