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Winter Energy Levels: What's Normal?

Submitted by on December 20, 2011 - 9:52am.

We receive many questions this time of year from patients about normal energy levels in the winter. It is natural for sleep to increase in accordance with the lack of light we experience, especially here in the Northwest. Our circadian rhythms respond to the change in light and our pineal gland is affected, which may trigger a feeling of sleepiness earlier in the evenings.  This is a normal phenomenon.  It is often when people are not heeding this need for an average of one more hour of sleep per night  (or when they have been under long term stress or not practicing good sleep habits for a period of time) that daytime fatigue and a general feeling of depletion result.   In this scenario, either people notice they don’t feel rested after sleep, or they experience an energy crash at either 2-3 pm or 6-8 pm. This type of fatigue has a different cause than the normal winter desire for a bit more rest.

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Your Child’s Brain and School

Submitted by on December 5, 2011 - 10:03pm.

 

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Hormonal Balance: The Link to Vitality and Health for Women

Submitted by on November 18, 2010 - 10:04pm.

As women, we hear a lot of information about our hormones. They can affect our cancer risk, affect our metabolism, and cause hot flashes, mood changes, and insomnia. But what are hormones, really, and why are they so important, especially for women? 

Hormones are chemical messengers that instruct the rest of the body to carry out physiological actions. They travel in the body and are more dynamic than vitamins, muscles, and organs.  In fact, they tell your organs how to function in many cases. For example, hormones instruct your body to ovulate (female hormones), suggest how much energy to have in the morning (cortisol), determine how you handle stress (also cortisol), and affect how you metabolize your food (thyroid). Vitamin D, which we've heard about in the news lately, is actually a steroid hormone in structure, not actually a vitamin. That explains why proper levels of it are so crucial to a wide variety of health-maintaining mechanisms, including protection against respiratory infections (i.e. the flu), certain cancers (breast, prostate, colon), heart disease, and depression.  

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What’s the fuss about Gluten?

Submitted by on August 19, 2010 - 9:55pm.

Gluten free products are the fastest growing sector of the grocery market. Why? The incidence of gluten related health problems appears to be rising. Celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder that affects your ability to absorb nutrients, and also creates an immune response to the gliadin (the protein in gluten) can manifest itself as joint pain, fatigue, skin rashes, digestive problems, neurological problems, thyroid disorders, iron deficiency anemia, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, and sleep disruption. What many people don’t realize is that even without a formal celiac diagnosis, you may be gluten intolerant . This problem is called non-Celiac gluten enteropathy.    Many of our patients benefit from a gluten free diet. 

Testing for gluten intolerance and disease has expanded as well. There are saliva tests, blood tests and biopsies that can confirm or deny a diagnosis of celiac disease. Some of these tests are combined with other regular tests that can discover other causes of the symptoms being experienced. 

Ask us about what types of testing makes sense for you!

For those of you in Portland, here's a list of gluten free restaurants.  

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Infant Food Introduction Comments from the AAP

Submitted by on April 28, 2010 - 10:08am.

We wanted to share an article that further validates the advice we have been giving to parents at Insights to Health for years.  Although the article does not mention this aspect, an child does not produce the enzymes to best digest grains until 22 months of age.  AT ITH, we counsel parents on which foods to introduce at which stages of development in order to create optimal health and well-being and to decrease the risk of allergies and asthma.

 

Rice Cereal Can Wait, Let Them Eat Meat First: AAP committee has changes in mind

Pediatric News Volume 43, Issue 11 (November 2009)

 

There is no good reason not to introduce meats, vegetables, and fruits as the first complementary foods, according to Dr. Frank R. Greer, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics's Committee on Nutrition.

Introducing these foods early and often promotes healthy eating habits and preferences for these naturally nutrient-rich foods, said Dr. Greer, who is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Rice cereal has traditionally been the first complementary food given to American infants, but “Complementary foods introduced to infants should be based on their nutrient requirements and the nutrient density of foods, not on traditional practices that have no scientific basis,” Dr. Greer said in an interview.

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No Head Shots!

Submitted by on March 26, 2010 - 9:07pm.
March is Brain Injury Awareness month. There are over 3.8 million new brain injuries in the US every year. In fact, these injuries have increased 21% since 2004, due in part to greater sports involvement in the young and falls in the elderly. Head injury may or may not involve a concussion or loss of consciousness. According to a new report, the groups at highest risk for brain injuries are children from birth to 4 years of age, adolescents aged 15 to 19 years, and adults 65 years and older. Falls were the leading cause of brain injury (35.2%), and rates were highest for children from birth to 4 years and for adults 75 years and older. At a recent American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting Douglas Smith, MD, a professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania stated that there is not such thing as a mild head injury. While the treatment up until recently has been observation and release, we are now learning that there are often health problems directly related to the injury, be it whiplash, a fall, or a sports injury. Some of the symptoms that may present 6 or more months after the injury are: cognitive deficits, anxiety, insomnia, depression, infertility, headaches, sleep apnea, and gastrointestinal problems.  
 
What can be done about it?

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Research and Natural Medicine

Submitted by on March 26, 2010 - 9:00pm.
You asked for updates on research on natural medicine --so you’ve got it. In the last month, there have been many of new studies published. We want to highlight two important findings, one about neurofeedback and brain plasticity and the other on homeopathy.
 
The first was a study about neurofeedback, which shows that brain plasticity does appear to be affected positively by neurofeedback. Plasticity is the ability of neurons to make more connections, which increases the flexibility of the brain--leading to enhanced concentration/memory, problem solving skills, and decision making abilities. The effects of even a small amount of neurofeedback show that the brain retains the affects for long periods afterward. The authors suggest that more serious consideration should be applied to neurofeedback as an alternative to expensive medication in the treatment of a variety of neurologically mediated conditions. Dr. Gil Winkelman at Insights to Health is one of four doctors in Portland offering neurofeedback for medical conditions as well as mental health conditions (he is the only physician who has also has a graduate degree in mental health). He recently was a keynote speaker at the Northwest Brain Injury Association's annual conference.
 

The second study showed how homeopathic remedies kill cancer cells in vitro.

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The Absorption of Vitamin D

Submitted by on March 26, 2010 - 8:57pm.

Winter is officially over --so you don’t have to worry about your vitamin D levels, right? Well, not exactly. From now until the end of October is the time to start increasing your stores of vitamin D. By getting just 20-30 minutes of summer sun exposure (avoid burning), you can produce up to 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day.  To gain maximum benefit, time sun exposure for the time of day when your shadow is shorter than your height (often between 10am and 2pm), expose as much skin as possible, and, of course, avoid wearing sunscreen. Unlike with dietary supplements, it is impossible to overdose on vitamin D obtained from sun exposure. 

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The Not-so Mild Knock on the Head

Submitted by on March 1, 2010 - 4:42pm.

 At a recent American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting Douglas Smith, MD a professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania basically said there is not such thing as a mild head injury. Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) affects over 1 million Americans every year. While the usually treatment is observation and release, we are now learning that these injuries are not so mild. Patient's persists in neurological and cognitive deficits and may also experience anxiety, insomnia, depression, headaches and gastrointestinal problems.  Even more disturbing is that one does not have to hit one's head to have a head injury!

What can be done about it? Noticing there is a problem is the most important thing. If you or someone you know has been in an accident or diagnosed with a mild concussion, pay attention. Notice if there have been changes in the person (or yourself). If you aren't sure, get to a clinician who is adequately trained to assess the situation. If you have any of the above problems see your doctor even if the incident was many years ago.   Neurofeedback, vitamin D, homeopathy, and fish oil are amazing at not only reducing brain injury but helping the brain recover from the injury. In particular, LENS or Low Energy Neurofeedback System is showing great promise in improving symptoms of 80% of patients with TBI!

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Health To Wealth: Decision-Making and Blood Sugar

Submitted by on February 2, 2010 - 3:20pm.
You've heard the saying, "Don't make important decisions on an empty stomach?"  A recent study shows this to be very important advice, particularly for long-term decisions. When people were given a choice between short-term but small gain versus long-term large gain, the people on empty stomachs consistently chose immediate gain instead of the long-term large gain, while people who had higher blood sugar levels did the opposite.
 
These results point out that having appropriate blood sugar levels is imperative to success of any business. But for some people that is easier said than done. For example, many people really don’t pay attention to their hunger and other bodily queues on a regular basis. They eat foods that do not foster optimal blood sugar levels.  Or they do not take the time to eat prior to meetings, conferences or even going to work.  They have been taught over the years to ignore the simple warning queues that healthy people take for granted. Rediscovering those bodily signals is something that we help our patients with, whether the message is to eat nourishing food, slow down, take some deep breaths, drink water, or get some exercise.
 
There are many simple things that you can do to help improve blood sugar regulation, but learning them may require breaking some habits. In the next month's newsletter, we will discuss what you can do to help regulate your blood sugar. When there's enough blood sugar, your brain can relax and focus on long-range planning.

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