Newsletter v3n9

"Man is a food-dependent creature. If you don't feed him, he will die. If you feed him improperly, part of him will die." (Emanurel Cheraskin, MD, DMD)

The DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER (Vol 3, No 9) March 20, 2003

"Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A." Written and copyright 2003 by Andrew Saul, PhD. of http://www.doctoryourself.com , a free online library of over 350 natural healing articles with nearly 4,000 scientific references.

FREE INDIGESTION CURE: LAYERED EATING

A puzzle for you: You are an air traffic controller. Your mission is to launch three very different aircraft such that they do not interfere with each other. One aircraft is a small private plane; another is a commercial jumbo jet; the third is a hot-air balloon. To insure that they are not in the same airspace at the same time AT ALL, in which order will you launch them?

The answer is, jet first; private plane second, hot-air balloon last.

Why? Clear the fastest out firstest. Getting the 500 mile per hour jet out of the way first means the slower airplane won't encounter it. And launch the balloon last, for it will necessarily linger in the airspace the longest.

Nutritionally, this is analogous to the Layered Eating plan I learned over twenty years ago from Dr. Christopher Gian- Cursio, a famous New York naturopath for over half a century. His view was that since complex, higher-protein foods take the longest to digest, they should have the stomach to themselves. To accomplish this, he directed patients to start their meal with quick-digesting fresh vegetable juices. Vegetable salad was next, and protein foods came last. Lest anyone hasten to take this to imply endorsement of pot roast or baby back ribs, please bear in mind that nuts, cheese and egg yolk were the doctor's preferred sources of protein.

Aside from Fletcherism http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v3n5.txt , this is the best totally no-cost way to improve digestion that I've ever learned. (Multiple digestive enzymes are the easiest go-and- buy-something solution.)

How to make Dr. Cursio's idea of a salad was mentioned in a previous Doctor Yourself Newsletter, and is posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v2n9.txt

Details on Dr. Cursio's techniques, by one of his closest associates, is posted at http://www.drbass.com . Scroll down about half the page to "Dr. Gian-Cursio: Vegetarian Diet and Food Plan." To avoid the pop-up ads on this other websites, please see below.

FREE SOFTWARE TO STOP POP-UP ADS may be downloaded from http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html . I am well satisfied with this program and I recommend it. This is free, fully-functional software, not a trial edition. I think this is valuable to have because so many otherwise very good internet sites have pop-up ads from their sponsors. (You will never find any ads of any kind at http://www.doctoryourself.com .)

AND REMEMBER: FREE ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE may be downloaded from http://www.grisoft.com . I have used "AVG Free Edition" for years and it is excellent. Updates are free, also.

BOOK REVIEW Natural Hygiene Society (of America), The Greatest Health Discovery, Natural Hygiene Press, Inc., 1972

I would invariably catch a little flak from my graduate students every time I'd trot out "old" research studies from the 1940's, 50's and 60's. Now to REALLY annoy them: here's a book of largely pre-Civil War sources of drugless healing. For when Hygienists speak of the 40's and 50's, you don't even know at first which century they are referring to. The natural hygiene lifestyle not only avoids drugs, but also involves neither supplements or nor remedies of any kind. Its reliance on clean living, sunshine, water, unprocessed raw food and therapeutic fasting is straight out of the 1800's.

The Greatest Health Discovery is a condensed recap of the writers and ideas that have shaped some 200 years of an American version of macrobiotics, and is a veritable natural health hall of fame. It includes Dr. Sylvester Graham (born in 1794), who is known for the crackers that bear his name. Did you know that his lecture in my home town of Rochester, NY drew three thousand people at a time when all roads leading to it were made of dirt? (I missed hearing him by just over a hundred years.) There's James Calab Jackson, M.D., abolitionist and founder of what was the world's largest naturopathic hospital in Dansville, NY. There's John H. Tilden, M.D., the originator of the theory of systemic toxemia as the root cause of all illness, and the work of twentieth century author Dr. Herbert M. Shelton.

My favorite account is that of Russell Thacker Trall, M.D., who founded the first hydrotherapy facility in the U.S. in 1844, and is credited with setting down a system of natural hygiene still followed to this day. So convinced was Dr. Trall that drugs were poisons, and that food and water would cure, that during the Civil War he wrote to various departments in Washington and to President Lincoln himself, offering "a system of the healing art which, applied to the treatment of the diseases prevailing in the camps and hospitals of our armies, would save thousands of the lives of our officers and soldiers." (page 55) Dr. Trall's successful patients included members of Congress. When he lectured at the Smithsonian Institution in February, 1862, he argued that Willie Lincoln, the President's teenage son, need not die from "a cold, a pneumonia or a fever" but to no avail. Dr. Trall's letters were never answered.

To this day, Presidents and Congress are yet to act on the advice of natural healing advocates.

DOCTOR YOURSELF WEBSITES OF THE MONTH:

http://www.rawfoods.com/ provides hundreds of natural hygiene links. An excellent resource.

http://www.soilandhealth.org/ is a free, online library of organic gardening, natural farming, and nutrition. Highly recommended.

LYSINE FOR HERPES: WHAT ABOUT ARGININE?

R. F. writes: "My understanding is that, when looking for a diet to fight herpes, it is the ratio of lysine to arginine that is important. Although the lysine content of beans is high, the lysine/arginine ratio is not far from 1:1. Certainly not in the same ballpark as cheese, for instance, at 3:1. I have found that supplementing with two grams of lysine tablets with each meal and basing your diet on low arginine, rather than high lysine, is effective."

From Leon Bylenok, DDS ( http://www.geocities.com/raddoll/Nutritional.htm ) :

"Griffith and colleagues working at Indiana University medical school found that supplemental lysine suppressed the clinical manifestationes of herpes virus infection. Oral doses of 300 to 500 mgs of lysine given in repeated doses resulted in accelerated recovery from the herpes virus simplex infection and suppression of recurrence. Studies of the herpes virus in tissue culture showed that a high lysine level resulted in suppression of viral growth, while arginine promoted growth."

Thank you both for writing. I agree that several thousand milligrams daily of supplemental lysine is effective against herpes. I also maintain that several servings a day of beans also works, with the added benefits of being a therapy anyone can afford, that is fiber-rich, and is utterly non-toxic. And coupled with topical vitamin C, the results are spectacular. http://www.doctoryourself.com/herpes.html

I think increasing lysine is more important than decreasing arginine. The human body knows how to maintain its own balanced "pool" of available amino acids. Deficiency of one is a far greater concern than excess of the other. Additionally, the amino acid arginine has its own special benefits in improving blood flow, benefiting persons with angina (J Am Col Cardiol 39:7, p 1199-1203, 2002) and even perhaps those with erectile dysfunction (Int J Impot Res 6: p 33-36, 1994).

ARGININE AND MALARIA

MS-NBC reported (Feb 21, 2003) that a study of 75 African children showed those with the lowest levels of the amino acid arginine suffered most from malaria. Arginine can be given orally, which is easy and relatively inexpensive, especially for developing nations.

Arginine promotes relaxation of smooth muscle and blood vessels, and promotes circulation by keeping arteries flexible. Malaria parasites secrete arginase, an enzyme that breaks down arginine. http://www.dgp-nvp-2002.de/abstract/d13.htm

ABC also reported this news, showing a beautiful picture of a smiling, bright-eyed African child, with this caption: "One of the children in the study; although infected with malaria, high levels of arginine appear to have protected him."

ABC said, in part:

"Deaths from severe forms of malaria could be reduced by providing a naturally-occurring amino acid as a food supplement, an international team of scientists has announced. The study is published in this week's issue of the journal, The Lancet.

"Associate Professor Nick Anstey of the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, Australia, one of the authors of the study, said, "We found that (low) arginine was a strong predictor of death even when other factors were taken into account.""

(Reported by Anna Salleh, ABC Science Online http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish _789706.htm )

There is no need to make urgent donations to UNICEF in order to buy arginine supplements for poor African children. Grains, seeds and especially nuts are loaded with arginine. And developing countries can and do grow lots of nuts. If local, small-scale, self-sustaining agriculture is encouraged, the problem will solve itself.

When I was in Africa, the best dish on the table was "groundnut soup." Groundnut is another name for peanut. Having previously heard musical satirist Tom Lerher's distressing description of "peanut butter stew," I was skeptical, to say the least, about that wide, steaming bowl of brown liquid placed in front of me at the dining hall of the University of Ghana ( http://www.ug.edu.gh ). It really was peanut soup. It sounds dreadful.

It was delicious. Try it with lots of pepper.

What's that? You want the recipe?

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP (from "Sundays at the Moosewood Restaurant")

2 cups chopped onion 1 Tblsp vegetable oil 1/2 tsp cayenne or other ground chiles 1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger 1 cup chopped carrots 2 cups chopped sweet potatoes 4 cups vegetable stock or water 2 cups tomato juice 1 cup smooth peanut butter 1 Tblsp sugar chopped scallions and chopped roasted peanuts, for a garnish

Serves 6-8. Details posted at

http://food4.epicurious.com/HyperNews/get/archive_swap10 1-200/149/1.html

Still not convinced? Need to go upscale? OK, take a look from whom this next recipe comes to us, and eat like a millionaire!

"The Honorable & Mrs. John D. Rockefeller IV's Fancy Peanut Soup" (Really.)

1-1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 teaspoon vegetable seasoning 1 quart chicken stock (Ed. note: You may substitute vegetable broth) 3 Tablespoons peanut butter 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped 1 quart milk 1 onion, chopped 2 celery ribs, chopped 3 Tablespoons flour 1/2 teaspoon salt freshly ground pepper

Serves 12. Details posted at http://www.virtualcities.com/ons/wv/gov/wvgvjr11.htm

When you buy peanut butter, select the "natural" (all peanuts, no added sugar or fat) variety. How do you know if nuts or nut butters are fresh? The nose knows: fresh nuts smell good; stale or rancid nuts smell "off," harsh or bitter. Only buy fresh. Smell nuts and nut products before you buy. This certainly will make you immensely popular at your local market. When you get them home, I recommend that you keep nuts and nut butters refrigerated.

As George Washington Carver demonstrated to 19th century America, peanuts are versatile, tasty, vegetarian, a cheap source of protein, and they can grow in lousy soil. And let's never forget our heritage and our veterans. In third grade music class, after learning that peanuts were formerly known as "goober peas," we all delighted in belting out the chorus to the folk song of the nearly-starved Confederate Civil War soldier:

"Peas, peas, peas, peas Eating goober peas; Goodness how delicious eating goober peas!"

LIZARDS, BANANAS AND FROGS (Oh, My!) Off on a Tangent Time: If you would like a virtual tour of my partial alma mater, the University of Ghana at Accra, try the links below.

Here is the entrance to the campus, and memorable to me at least because the university's rather inadequate supply of toilet paper (at least in 1974) was all stored here. Hey, I tell it like it is. http://www.ug.edu.gh/Templates/mainFrame_Place.htm and click "Main Entrance."

On these grand steps there was one little tan lizard per square meter of stonework, whether vertical or horizontal. The lizards were everywhere, always sunning themselves, but hard to catch. http://www.ug.edu.gh/Templates/mainFrame_Place.htm and click "Great Hall and Tower."

During the rainy season, this garden area fills with water, and thousands of enormous frogs. At night, their incredibly loud collective croaking was so loud that, if you wanted to have a conversation with a friend, you literally had to shout to be heard. http://www.ug.edu.gh/Templates/mainFrame_Place.htm and click "Balme Library."

As we walked this main thoroughfare, local children would appear seemingly out of nowhere in order to sell us fresh fruit. Until you have had tree-ripened African bananas, you do not know what "sweet" really means. http://www.ug.edu.gh/Templates/mainFrame_Place.htm and click "University Avenue."

An over all view of the campus. This being equatorial Africa, I am here to tell you that those tile roofs keep the buildings remarkably cool. http://www.ug.edu.gh/Templates/mainFrame_Place.htm and click "Arial View."

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Dr. Abram Hoffer and many outstanding orthomolecular scientists will be attending and speaking at the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine's 32nd Annual International Conference, "Nutritional Medicine Today." It will be held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Canada, April 10 -13, 2003. For more information, you can write to the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine office at 16 Florence Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M2N 1E9 (requires 60 cents postage if you are writing from the USA), or you can email centre@orthomed.org .

PEDIATRIC DENTISTS SELL OUT TO COCA-COLA From the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who I wish would more strongly support the use of nutritional supplements:

"The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) has entered a partnership with Coca-Cola for $1 million. The academy is dedicated to improving the health of children's teeth, while Coke is dedicated to selling a product that contributes to tooth decay and obesity. With this partnership, the AAPD is, in effect, a captive of Coca-Cola, making it extremely unlikely that the academy will take positions antagonistic to the company, like opposing soft-drink machines in schools. Tell the AAPD leadership to end this partnership and say no to Coke money!"

You can take action on this alert via the web at: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/AAPDCoke/iwb5g820783j j8

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/AAPDCoke/forward/iwb5g 820783jj8

Tell Pediatric Dentists to Say No to Coke Money!

CORAL CALCIUM M. W. (and a whole lot of other readers) write: "I have seen ads for coral calcium that claim it cures everything, including diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, headaches, and cancer. Is this true?"

No.

Certainly calcium, any calcium, is nutritionally and therapeutically valuable. Calcium deficiency is widespread, and calcium supplementation has been shown to help many conditions. But it is very misleading to waltz people down a profit-driven garden path claiming, as supplement promoters sometimes do, that they have the latest and greatest and the one and the only. I have been around the block a few times, and I am here to tell you that "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware) should be emblazoned on every nation's currency.

Obviously, the best-absorbed forms of calcium work the best. I am not persuaded that so-called coral calcium has a unique edge in this department. Calcium citrate, an inexpensive and easily absorbed form of calcium, is the type I most frequently recommend. Magnesium, also preferably as citrate, should be taken along with it. If you do not eat fish, you can get iodine by adding a single drop of tincture of iodine to a half-gallon (2L) of juice and having a glass or three each day. You can get the rest of your trace minerals from a varied, common-sense natural diet of whole, unprocessed, natural foods.

More on magnesium and specific conditions: PMS/PMDD http://www.doctoryourself.com/pms.html Epilepsy http://www.doctoryourself.com/epilepsy.html Kidney Stones http://www.doctoryourself.com/kidney.html Congestive Heart Failure http://www.doctoryourself.com/congestive.html

More on calcium and its relation to illness: Osteoporosis http://www.doctoryourself.com/osteoporosis.html Fibromyalgia http://www.doctoryourself.com/fibromyalgia.html Calcium and Dr. Jarvis' cider vinegar and honey therapy http://www.doctoryourself.com/honey.html How I get my daily calcium http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulslurry.html Arthritis http://www.doctoryourself.com/arthritis_II.html Multiple Sclerosis and neurological disease http://www.doctoryourself.com/calcdef.html

CANCER AND CALCIUM About 1,200 mg calcium daily may protect against colon cancer, even in persons with a family cancer history, and with a precancerous colon already. "Before they took the calcium, the cells of their colon linings were producing new cells, or proliferating, at a relatively high rate. But after taking the supplements two to three months, their colon linings resembled those following vegetarian diets." (D.Q. Haney, syndicated column, The News Journal (Associated Press), Wilmington, DE, November 28, 1985).

This study speaks at least as well for vegetarianism as it does for calcium.

Since I am far past worrying about whom I offend, I will offer this opinion: to tout any specific product as a miraculous cancer cure is worse than absurd. Should you have an affiliation with this or that company, please do not waste valuable time writing to try to persuade me otherwise. My unsubscribe link, at the top of this newsletter, is available and working.

Having said that, I want to encourage all readers to check the research for themselves.

DOUBLE STANDARDS FOR DRUGS & SUPPLEMENTS Ron Law juderon@clear.net.nz writes:

"MacGregor et al (Long term effects of advice to reduce dietary salt. BMJ, 326: 222a, 2003) do well to point out that there are no "controlled" trials showing a reduction in mortality on stopping smoking, reducing fat intake alone (without fish oil supplements), reducing salt intake, losing weight, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, or increasing exercise. Add to that cholesterol reduction, and you have a series of multi-billion dollar medical industries not evidence based.

"Isn't it a double standard that whenever a vitamin or mineral is touted as a likely candidate for risk reduction, that the medical hounds bay for randomized, double-blind, placebo- controlled clinical studies?

"Who's going to fund such studies over a 20 year period to "prove" that folic acid reduces the incidence of cancer of the colon by 50-75%? The innate difficulty of conducting and funding such trials, not to mention the medical politics, does indeed mean that such studies will never be undertaken.

"MacGregor et al ask a very pertinent question: "What strength of evidence is needed to give dietary and lifestyle advice to try to prevent cardiovascular disease?" A cynic might wonder what the recommendations regarding the plethora of risk reduction possibilities associated with longterm folic acid would be if folic acid was patentable and 'owned' by one of the large pharmaceutical companies."

(More on medical double standards for research posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_factoids.html http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_paradigm.html http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v1n16.txt )

Remember, there is always an alternative to anything. With health care, the practical alternative is to Doctor Yourself. Learn, try, share . . . and learn some more.

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