Dr. Frank Lipman, The voice of sustainable wellness

Classic symptoms of dairy sensitivity are mucus, respiratory problems, digestive problems (such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation), fatigue, joint pains, and skin problems from rashes to acne. About 10% of adults are lactose intolerant and many others have difficulty digesting casein from cow’s milk. When casein is not properly digested, it gets into your bloodstream, and the immune system reacts, causing inflammation.

There are a number of hormones in an average glass of milk (even the organic and bovine growth hormone free milk) and recently a cocktail of other chemicals were found in a typical glass of milk too. Pasteurization eliminates many of the beneficial components of milk, and homogenization creates fats that are foreign to most human digestive systems.

At the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, we encourage patients to give up dairy products, which includes milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, butter and non-dairy creamers. By doing this for at least 2 weeks you will give your digestive system a rest and will be able to tell if you are sensitive to dairy. In my experience of eliminating dairy for a few weeks, I figured out that it bothers my stomach (especially any cream-based soups), so I now avoid dairy and feel much better.

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In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, “We are losing our listening.” In this short, fascinating talk, Treasure shares five ways to re-tune your ears for conscious listening — to other people and the world around you.

My last blog post focused on your power to say “no” to things. I mentioned that with the courage to say “no” comes a deeper commitment to that to which you say “yes.” I want to talk about the next layer of saying “yes” to things. We at the Handel Group™ call it “designing your life” and the main tools we use are promises and consequences.

Yup, we tell people to promise to do what they say they will do and then pay a consequence for every promise they don’t keep. For example, I promise to be on time to dinner with my family every night or else I throw $20 on the street. I also promise to stay at a certain weight or else I lose my dessert. I promise not to blame my husband for things, to be kind to my co-workers and to exercise and do yoga a certain number of times a week. The list goes on and on because even though I said, technically, we can’t “have it all” in my last blog, I am still trying to almost have it all. And that can never work without promises and consequences.

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Flu season is headed our way and in a few weeks many will suffer, but you don’t have to be one of them if you start boosting immunity now. Here are 10 simple ways to prep your body so it’s strong enough to repel viral invaders all winter long:

1) Do your D’s.
Adequate levels of Vitamin D are essential for our immune systems to function the way it is designed to. Unfortunately, there are no significant dietary sources of Vitamin D – most of our intake comes from exposure to sunlight. To optimize your vitamin D levels, you’ll need to take a Vitamin D3 supplement daily. This is the most important step you can take to prevent the flu!! To find out how much vitamin D you’ll need, get your 25 hydroxy Vitamin D level checked by your doctor. If that’s not an option, you can self-test your level with ZRT labs. For optimal health, you’ll want your level to be between 50 and 70ng/ml. It may require several months of taking 5,000 to 10,000 IU of Vit D3 daily (especially during winter) under a doctor’s supervision to achieve this – but it will be well worth the effort. Monitor your 25 hydroxy vitamin D status every 3 months until you are in the desired 50 and 70ng/ml range, then cut back to a maintenance dose of at least 2,000 IU a day.

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I get a little excited every time a new “slow” movement comes along. I thought Slow Food — linking enjoyment of food to sustainable communities — was the coolest when it came over from Italy more than a decade ago, and the concept of paying a little more time and attention to our communities, our money and a slew of other daily habits always made sense too me. Whether I’m eating dinner with my family or choosing where my 401K money should go, I’m drawn to the idea that slowing down to consider and savor will lead to more satisfying choices. (Full disclosure: I’m the most deficit-disordered multi-tasker I know.)

I read recently in the Utne, that the “slow” conversation has progressed to consumer consumption — a habit we’ve all been bullied into cultivating, whether we want to or not. Our diet of cheap, short-lived products; functional and fashionable obsolescence and this year’s colors has turned us into submissive consumers who buy fast, use up fast and discard fast. Buying and living with mass-produced, shoddily made goods has left us feeling both empty and bloated — like we feel after eating fast food.

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Another bite size piece of wisdom from philosophersnotes.com. This one is called Ink Blobs and Emptiness.

There is a factor in your health which is often left out of the healthcare picture: your mind.  Once you realize that your thoughts cause biochemical shifts in your brain, which in turn cause reactions throughout your entire physiology, your mind becomes a health practice.

There is nothing new in this fact.  What is new is the greater degree to which we understand the thought-brain-body interaction.  The most significant interaction is around fearful thoughts which lead to a fearful body.

Fearful thoughts cause your body to go into the instinctual fight/flight/freeze reaction.  Depending upon your emotional style, you react to fear by becoming angry and aggressive (fight), trying to avoid and escape (flight) or by disconnecting and going numb (freeze).   Typically, we go in and out of these reactions several times a day, with their negative effects on our heart, blood pressure, gut, hormones, and neck and back muscles.  If fight/flight/freeze reactivity becomes an unchecked pattern, we show up one day at our doctor’s office with what’s been euphemistically called a stress-related disorder.  In truth, we are showing up with a fear-related disorder.

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For many thousands of years, humans have enjoyed eggs, probably one of nature’s most convenient and nutritious foods. Many feel that eggs are one of nature’s perfect foods as they are one of the few foods containing all the essential amino acids. With these, our bodies can make whatever non-essential proteins they need.

Eggs are relatively low in calories and contain many other healthy nutrients, including vitamins B12, C, D, E, and K, as well as the minerals iron and zinc. They’re also a rich source of choline, important for brain functioning in particular but actually essential for the functioning of all cells. They are also a rich source methionine, which is important for detoxification function and the carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, which are helpful for eye function.

In spite of the egg’s reputation for increasing cholesterol–one of the most common medical myths–research has shown that humans do not increase blood cholesterol levels by eating cholesterol. Yes, you read correctly there is little or no connection between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol.

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We hear a lot about the importance of compassion — and the lack of it — in medicine these days. Compassion comes from Latin words meaning to “suffer with.” If taken literally, compassion in healing seems irrational. Why would a medical professional want to suffer alongside his or her patient? Suffering with one’s patient might cloud one’s professional judgment. When sick, patients need the cool-headed objectivity of their doctor and nurse — not co-suffering or sentimentality. But compassion means more than “suffering with.” It involves entering the mind-space of other persons so completely that one senses what the experience of illness is like for them.

The reason why compassion matters in healing can best be seen at the bedside. My favorite example is an event from the life of Sir William Osler (1849-1919), who is often called the “father of modern medicine.” At Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, he revolutionized the teaching of medicine by bringing students out of the lecture hall for bedside clinical training, and created the first residency program for the specialty training of physicians.

After revolutionizing how medicine was taught and practiced in the United States and Canada, in 1905, at the peak of his fame, he was lured to England where he became the Regius Professor Medicine at Oxford. One day he went to a graduation ceremony at Oxford, wearing the impressive academic robes that are a feature of the occasion. On the way he stopped by the home of his friend and colleague, Ernest Mallam.

One of Mallam’s young sons was desperately sick with whooping cough. The child would not respond to the ministrations of his parents or nurses and appeared to be dying. Osler loved children greatly and had a special way with them. He would often play with them, and children would invariably admit him into their world. So when Osler appeared in his dramatic ceremonial robes, the little boy was captivated. Never had he seen a human like this! After a brief examination Osler sat by the bed, peeled a peach, cut and sugared it, and fed it bit by bit to the enthralled, speechless boy. It was his first nourishment in days. Although recovery was unlikely, Osler returned for the next 40 days, each time dressed in his magnificent robes, and personally fed the child. Within a few days the tide had turned and the little boy’s recovery was assured.

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An uplifting profile of Garth McLean and his unconventional battle with Multiple Sclerosis. Garth is a practitioner and a teacher of Iyengar Yoga. Through the results of his practice, Garth has enlightened members of the medical community who attest to his able management of the disease. The title “Courage and Caution” refers to the advice Yogacharya BKS Iyengar offered Garth upon learning of the challenges he faces with MS.