What To Do For A Cough

A friend just posted on their facebook "Does anyone know a good remedy for a cough for my little one?"

I would like to share my own thoughts but then leave it for an open discussion.  It is a good question, especially for a first time mother or anyone else tired of running their kids to the emergency room or waiting for hours to see a pediatrician.  There are several remedies out there, some work well and some don't.  One thing to remember that medicine forgets is that we are individual people with individual symptoms. We need to take care of the person as a whole, and not just as a symptom to cure.  There are different types of coughs and not everyone reacts the same to the same remedies.  Here is what my wife and I have experienced and learned thus far

The first thing to do is the remove anything that may be an agent to the illness.  This mostly involves Sugars, which feeds the pathogen. If they are congested, the best thing to do is remove all dairy and other mucus forming foods like banana.

The second thing is to give them supplements or herbs that help support the body and immune system and fights off the infection.  A great product we have been trying recently is a company called Wish Garden Herbs.  They have several types dealing with different issues.  One is Deep Lung, another is Kick-Ass Cough, and another is Kick-Ass Immune.  We have seen good results with this, but the cough is relieved temporarily.  We have just tried another product from Standard Process called Broncafect.  It comes in a liquid form and a pill form.  Our kids have been dealing with a mild persistent cough for 5 days recently.  We gave them both two pills yesterday, and their cough is gone.

The third is to use other remedies that may help the conditions.  These are things like keeping them in the bathroom while running steaming hot water in the bathtub which will help open the respiratory tract.  One thing is to use essential oils.  We often heard of using Vicks on their chest on soles of their feet, but we have now been using a mixture of natural oils and rubbing it on their chest.  One great oil to have is Lavender.  It has great affects, mainly it is a calming oil especially to help kids sleep. It also has shown to help build up the immune system in our body.  A few other things to keep in mind.  Make sure they are getting plenty of sleep, plenty of water, and also to have them take a Multivitamin every day and even a Vitamin C supplement to help the immune system.

Please share your ideas and remedies that you have come across.  Your input will help others.  The worst feeling is having a sick child and not knowing how to help them.  With our input together, not only will we have the knowledge of how to care for our little ones, but also have the confidence in what we are doing

Milk - It Doesn't Do A Body Good

I'm not much of a milk drinker, and I never really have been.  But I often poor it on my cereal or use it as an ingredient.  I use butter more frequently than I should, and don't get me started on ice cream.  Dairy is everywhere.  It has been placed as one of the main food groups in the recent years.  Growing up, it has always been encouraged to drink your milk.  Campaigns have ingrained into everyone that "Milk does a body good"  I'm afraid it doesn't

The media in several forms has painted a picture that certainly has no foundation.  We are told one thing while the research clearly demonstrates the opposite.  There's no debate.  This is no vague topic, it is clear cut.  Milk does the body great harm.

Now when I say milk, I am referring primarily to Cow's milk in all it's several forms.  It can be regular, whole, 1%, 2%, skim, unpasteurized and especially Milk based Baby Formula. Let me explain a few points that might make light on some issues.  Some (even myself) may ask, people have been drinking milk for centuries.  True . . . however, there are some differences especially the last 100 years and even in the recent years. First, people used several different sources of milk, not just cow milk, usually goat milk, coconut milk, or rice milk.  Second, milk wasn't consumed as much as it is now.  I thought of my wife who grew up in Haiti and had a few cows on their land.  She explained that they rarely had milk, and if they did, they usually boiled it into a pot and made things out of it, very rarely would they drink the actual milk straight.  Third, milk is being massed produced today.  Meaning the cows are fed cheaper foods and given hormones to produce more milk.  It is only in the last century that milk has been promoted has a health benefit and we have all fallen for it.

 Think about it, does a pig naturally drink cows milk, does a dog drink goats milk?  No, goat's milk is meant for a growing kid (a baby goat), and cows milk is meant for a growing calf . . . not for a growing child.  A human mother's milk has very different components than cows milk, and rightly so.  A cows milk is to help the calf grow into a large animal . . . and we are drinking it.  Human milk has Human Growth Hormone adequate for a growing child, and cows milk has Bovine Growth Hormone meant for a growing calf.  Cows milk also contains 3 times more protein than is necessary and is acidic, while human milk is alkaline.  But don't we need milk for our Calcium? Sadly, the truth is no, milk is a poor source of calcium.  It is true that cows milk does have 4 times more calcium than human milk, which initially looks like a great source.  Unfortunately the Dairy ads don't state the cows milk also have 7 times more Phosphorus.  Why is this important?  In our body, we need a calcium-phosphorus ratio of 2.5:1.  The ratio in cows milk is 1.3:1.  When this ratio is altered to the phosphorus side, the Parathyroid Hormone is activated to increase the Calcium levels back to a normal ratio. Where does the calcium come from? From our bones- this is what we call Osteoporosis.  Sadly, this is just the beginning.  Milk is associated with a long list of diseases and illnesses.  I don't have time to explain each one, but if there are any questions or thoughts, please ask and I will share more information.  Here is just a few:

1. Gastrointestinal bleeding- especially in infants
2. Iron deficiency
3. Type 1 Diabetes- mostly juvenile
4. Cataracts
5. Pancreatic cancer
6. Autism
7. Prostate cancer
8. Breast cancer- important to note the prostate cancer is the most common in men and breast cancer is the most common in women. 
9. Decreased average age of menstruation- the average not long ago used to be about 16, now it is close to 11
10. Allergies
11. Atherosclerosis- this is one thing I wanted to point out since I blogged about this not long ago.  Arterial disease has been seen recently with people fed cows milk as infants (formula).  This is due to the homogenization, which breaks down the fat in milk so small that it passes thru into the blood stream
12. Acute Lymphoid Leukemia (Lou Gerhig's Disease)
13. Rheumatoid Arthritis
14. Osteoporosis

What a list . . . and all we are told is that it does a body good.  Is milk the cause to all these conditions?  For several, no, milk is not the cause, but there is a significant association with each one.  Research has shown that though there isn't a cause and effect, there are things contained in the milk that provides an environment for all these conditions, and when Dairy is taken out of the diet . . . the symptoms are removed as well.  Research after research has been done all confirming the results.

I don't share this to cause a stir, or to "fight against the conspiracy".  I share it because it is important to become aware.  There are thousands of people who are suffering from these conditions (several of them are unknowingly) and it is dramatically increasing.  They are all told there is nothing to help them, or are given drugs to control but not eliminate their conditions.  Is milk the only cause for autism? No, but don't you think it would be worth trying.  And yet, no one is told that Dairy is the probability - most likely the possibility.  I know, because it is real in my own family.  Several years ago I wouldn't have thought twice about milk being a causative agent to illness.  But both my kids, especially my son had terrible respiratory problems.  When we were told to remove dairy from his diet, it seemed odd to me.  But I have seen the results.  We have made our milk source Soy milk, Almond milk, or Rice milk.  Do we need to be rid of dairy completely (even my favorite Rocky Road Ice Cream)? I may have a lenient perspective, but no, I don't think it needs to be eliminated completely.  If it is, the better, but we need to limit our intake, choose alternatives, and find better sources.  We need to become aware of what we are truly eating (and drinking), and Do Our Body Good

More on ADD

I just wanted to share my experience today.  The President of the school, Fabrizio Mancini, had a contest for the students and one student would be picked to take his place for the day.  It just so happens that the student picked was my good friend, which there couldn't have been a better choice.  The exciting part was that the President was to attend his classes.  Today was the day.  It was a fun experience.  I joked about it, even before my friend got picked, but it was crazy to actually sit right next to and interact with the President like a student. He played the part well, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and with a backpack.  He even came well prepared with a scantron- for the test we had first thing in the morning. I could sense some struggling on his part (I think he may even peeked a few times- jk).  It was fun.  I hope my friend survived his day of meetings.

I wanted to share a few things discussed today in class.  It's hard to just pick one, but I will have plenty more to write later.  In Neuro class we started discussing the part of the brain that secretes Serotonin.  In this discussion we learned that all information going to the brain has to go through a part called the Thalamus.  It receives all information and sends it to the different parts of the brain necessary.  There is a certain part of the Thalamus that inhibits, mainly in a normal setting telling the Thalamus to stop sending out the information.  If this part wasn't there, information would constantly be going to the brain without stopping.  It would be information overload.  Or some call it ADD.  Serotonin helps keep that part of the Thalamus functioning.  Those with low Serotonin levels don't activate that inhibitory part of the Thalamus, creating too much information to the brain, making it impossible for one to FOCUS.

What helps increase Serotonin- two answers were given

1. Pain- This is important.  If there is any pain, one immediately becomes well aware, focused and alert due to release of Serotonin
2. Activity- Movement is a big part.  There is a dramatic increase in ADD, especially in children.  It's not hard to see why.  What are kids activities these days?  The top of the list usually includes TV and video games.  And then they go to school and expect to sit in a desk for 7 hrs.  And the teacher and parents wonder why their kid can't concentrate.  If our activities include things that don't involve alot of motion and alertness, our brain is going to compensate and decrease the release of Serotonin.  No need to make it if we aren't going to use it.

I thought this information was very helpful in understanding the Neurological aspect of ADD.  Is it always the cause? My last post on this subject, I did give some factors to ADD.  Those do play a role as well, possibly triggering the decrease Serotonin levels. I did ask about Stress, in which he said he would lecture on it later, but stated that Stress plays an important role in ADD as well.

Coconut Oil

The past couple weeks, I have been trying new things to incorporate more healthy choices in my diet. Yesterday, I picked up some Coconut oil and decided to try it out.  I have heard many things in class and outside of class, and I was curious how it was.  Here is my result.  I tried it with frying plantains in which we usually cook in about an inch of vegetable of olive oil.  Coconut oil is quite different.  I found it in a bottle, like a water bottle, but in solid form.  I had to try and scrape it out into the pan. I only used a little, hardly covering the entire surface of the pan, but it fried the plantains well. My conclusion- it was definitely different, but overall  very satisfied.  I had heard that the food does taste different.  There was a faint distinct smell, and possibly a different texture to the plantains, but nothing horrid.  In fact, the food did taste a little different, but maybe for the better.  It was like I could taste more of the plantains.  They came out more soft and sweet, than fried and crispy.  From my experience, you get to taste more of the food when cooking with Coconut Oil . . . and that's a good thing.

So why was I trying Coconut Oil?  Coconut oil has been known to contain a significant amount of Saturated Fats, often associated with atherosclerosis (This goes back to our discussion about Heart Disease)  Other oils also contain many saturated fats.  So why is Coconut oil healthy if it has saturated fats.  Research has shown that the saturated fats contained in Coconut oil are Medium Chain Triglycerides.  This is completely different from all other oils that contain more Long Chain Triglycerides.  What is the difference?  The medium chains are easily broken down and utilized, while the long chains are not and so they get stored.  Coconut oil lowers LDL levels, while other oils increase LDL levels.  Research has shown that nations and areas where there is a more coconut oil based diet, there are low rates of Heart Disease.  There are other several health benefits that can't be found in other oils.  Using Coconut oil over other oils will decrease LDL levels, decrease obesity, decrease inflammation responses, maintain better hormone balance, and decrease insulin resistance.  It's worth it.

Here is a good article showing the results  http://www.coconutoil.com/DayritCardiology.pdf

The Silent Killer

Heart Disease is the #1 cause of death in the United States.  The most common form is Atherosclerosis which accounts for 50% of all deaths in the western civilization.  The sad thing is, like 90% of all diseases, this is a lifestyle problem.  Heart Disease is not just a by luck coincidence.  It is not a bug or virus that someone just happens to catch. It is not a contagious disease that can be prevented by washing our hands.  Too often people think that heart disease is a problem they can easily avoid when they are actually one hamburger away from being a statistic.  There are several theories on what causes atherosclerosis, but it comes down to a build up of plaque in the blood vessels due to accumulation of LDL (which we will consider as public enemy number one).  LDL are fat carriers which transfers the fat you eat straight to the adipose (fat) cells.  This buildup can cause even more serious problems.  It can rupture, ulcerate, hemorrhage, calcify, form an aneurysm, or form a thrombus (a blockage in the vessel).

The Key is to understand the risk factors

• Age- the older one is the greater the risk
• Gender- males are typically more at risk, however when a woman reaches menopause, her risk is about the same as the male. (It is believed that estrogen has a protective factor)
• Heredity- even though heart disease is a lifestyle problem, risks do run in the family.  Possibly an enzyme that leads to hyperlipidemia (excess accumulation of fat- or high LDL levels)
• Diet- this is a big one.  Our diets are high in saturated fats.  This will be better understood when talking about prevention
• Obesity- I hate to put this on here, because this is the misconception that you have to be obese to have heart disease.  Absolutely false.  An obese person can have a better heart than a thin person.  This is why heart disease sneaks up on people, believing they are healthy because they are not obese.  However, obesity certainly is a risk factor.
• Diabetes and Hypertension- increases risk of heart disease
• Cigarette Smoking- 1 pack/day increases risk by 200%

More importantly, it is necessary to understand what can we do to prevent Heart Disease.  As mentioned before, estrogen (at appropriate levels) has a protective factor.  I have discussed before the importance of having healthy levels of estrogen, and this may add to the list of benefits.  Another protection is exercise which I hope is understood without further comment.  The last and most important is Diet.  Like I said, the average diet contains high levels of saturated fats (Studies have shown a link between the introduction of vegetable oils and increased heart disease).  Heart Disease is a disease of affluence.  We have the freedom to choose any meat and how much meat.  In countries where meat is not part of their daily meal, heart disease is dramatically low.  We bathe our foods in fats and oils and other things.  It has gotten to the point where we are no longer eating food, but rather we are eating a Product ("I just had Dominoes")  Lets get back to eating food again, real food.  Cases have shown that a diet with little or no meat and with more vegetable and fruits, heart disease has reversed itself.  It's no miracle, its just the way our body was supposed to be

It's Amazing (Gotta say it the "Fab" way)

I had something else in mind to write about . . but I thought I would share my experience I had today.  A couple days ago, I started to have something bothering my in my lower neck area.  It wasn't painful, but seemed to be slightly restrictive, nothing I was worried about.  I didn't pay much attention to it, but then today at noon, my shoulder on the same side started to give a dull achy feeling.  My muscle began to feel tight, almost compressing and restricting my breathing.  As the day progressed, the dull ache began to radiate over my shoulder and even down my arm.  It was really bothering me.  I tried to figure out in my own mind what that cause could be.  I even had a fellow classmate adjust me.  Nothing

Finally I had my adjusting lab.  There, my classmate again tried to set up on different adjustments, but nothing seemed to relieve my dull pain.  After going through all possible reasoning, we finally decided to inquire of our teacher. He gave a couple of reasons why I may have had the symptoms, but then he noticed one of my vertebra in my spine was off, about the area of the base of my neck.  After letting my classmate again set up on the area, the teacher then adjusted that segment and then proceeded to test the muscle of my shoulder, and adjusted what was necessary a couple more times, and then, the dull achy pain was finally gone.

Was it a serious condition, no, nor was it life saving, but it was and always is amazing to see the workings and connections of the body.  What was the cause of my imbalance?  Who knows.  It could have been sleeping in a wrong position, it could have been stress, it could have even been what I ate for lunch (since it did start to appear at that time).  But it was obvious that something caused one segment in my spine to stick in place, thus effecting the nerve that runs down my arm.  Once that was corrected, the nerve was no longer effected, resulting in a pain free normal functioning shoulder.  Amazing!

Soy and Hypothyroid

This is a debate I am still trying to figure out which side I stand on.  I don't want to post any little thing I find, and I'm not fully convinced with this article, but there were a few things I did find interesting and I think is absolutely correct. Soy does contain goitrogens, which has negative effects on the thyroid.  I'll let you read for yourself
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/13/soy-controversy-and-health-effects.aspx

When it comes to hypothyroid, the first thought usually comes down to an Iodine deficiency.  Even though the thyroid needs iodine to function, it only needs a small amount and a deficiency is usually a slight possibility.  Other causes for hypothyroid is Cortisol, Cytokines, or could be the result of Hashimoto's. Adding to the list is Soy