My Six Nutritional Recommendations

There are six primary nutritional recommendations that I make across the board to my patients.  I consider these six crucial to good health and well being.  The nice thing is that these six recommendations are inexpensive and have multiple benefits to one's well being.  Here they are:

1.  A "good" multivitamin/multimineral.  The emphasis here is on "good"!  There are several companies out there that are really good at selling bad vitamins.  They spend a lot of money on TV, radio and print advertising vitamins that are essentially worthless to the consumer.  They travel through the body whole and are passed into the toilet undigested because they are made up of inorganic and synthetic vitamins and minerals.  The body intuitively knows the difference between digestable and undigestable matter.  Don't believe me?  Go to a water treatment facility and ask the workers what they regularly clean out of their filters from the backwash... undigested vitamins!  We recommend whole food supplements vs manufactured synthetics.  Your body recognizes real food and, voila, it digests it.

2.  Magnesium.  It has many benefits but the primary reason I recommend it is because magnesium is to your heart what calcium is to your bones.  It has been said that we could virtually wipe out cardiovascular disease, (stroke & heart attack), within six months if people were consuming enough magnesium in their diets.  But don't expect the medical community to promote this "wonder mineral" because it would also wipe out the cardiovascular industry in the process.  One popular statin drug alone makes $10 Billion a year selling essentially what I believe is poison to an unsuspecting public.  This drug causes memory loss, back pain, weakened immunity, hormonal imbalance and an increased likelihood of contracting cancer.  All of this could be avoided if one would simply take magnesium on a regular basis.

Some of the other benefits of magnesium include improved sleep, help for constipation or irregularity, it is known as "natures tranquilizer", it is a natural liver detoxifier, it helps with nervousness, anxiety, irritability, low energy, fatigue, muscle tension, spasms and cramps.  It is also helpful for diabetes and asthma.  And it is as important for strong bones as is calcium.

3.  Water.  I talked about this in a previous blog entry, "Do You Drink Enough Water?", so for more detail check out that entry.  Simply put, water flushes toxins out of your body.  You need at least 8-10 glasses a day to maintain health, more if you are heavier than the standard 150-180 pounds.

4.  Fish Oil/Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's).  The reason they are called "essential" is because our bodies cannot live without them.  Our brain and nervous system is composed of fat molecules that need good nutritional fats in our diet to keep us healthy.  These fats support a wide range of physiological functions.  EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexanoic acid) are important inflammation modulators and brain food respectively.  Although the FDA will not promote this idea, innumerable double blind studies have shown fish oil to be an important nutrient for heart health.  I recommend 3 servings of "oily" fish per week or take a good supplement.

5.  Fiber.  One of the most important things that you can do for general health and well being is keeping your gut in good working order.  If you are not moving your bowels at least one time for every meal that you eat then you are building up waste and toxins in your alimentary canal (the gut).  These toxins, over time, will break down the lining of the gut and lead to other potential disease processes.  This breaking down of the gut lining is known as "leaky gut syndrome".  Leaky gut syndrome can lead to secondary health problems associated with auto-immune disorders and generalized inflammation.  In addition to these two problems, fiber is also known to be helpful in preventing cardiovascular disease.  So between the magnesium, fish oil and fiber you've got three healthy tools to combat cardiovascular disease, the #2 killer in America.

6.  Iodine.  We have an epidemic of people who suffer with low thyroid and breast cancer.  These are conditions that respond positively to iodine therapy.  Unfortunately, what once was a staple in medicine has been relegated to the back shelf due to fears of iodine toxicity or allergic reactions which are rare.  Ironically, iodine is an incredibly safe mineral that is essential to good health.  The FDA currently recommends 150 mcgs. of iodine daily which is enough to keep you from getting a goiter but not enough to keep you healthy.  The typical Japanese diet consumes approximately 12 mgs. per day (or roughly 80 times our recommended daily allowance-"RDA").  They get the iodine primarily from fish and seaweed.  Current research suggests 12 mgs. is an ideal daily dose to help maintain healthy thyroid and general organ function.  Iodine is a natural detoxifier of many poisons including radiation fallout from a "dirty bomb".  One of the most important benefits of iodine therapy appears to be as a preventative for breast cancer.

There you have it in brief soundbites, my top six nutritional recommendations.  Contact me for more specific information on these products.