More to the story about shingles vaccine

Terrifying TV commercials promoting the shingles vaccine create panic about what it would be like to suffer with the condition. They aren’t exaggerating the misery that might ensue if nothing is done to treat shingles. The vaccine maker, of course, wants you to ask for their vaccine, “Shingrix” by name. The vaccine is a legitimate option, but to be an informed consumer, there is more you should know.

• Even though vaccinated, you may still get shingles. (Remember we learned that covid vaccines didn’t necessarily prevent infection? The manufacturer claims that the disease will at least be milder.)
• As with any pathogen, the key for prevention (even vaccine effectiveness) and healing is the strength of your immune function. So, that makes a healthful diet, basic nutritional supplements (especially C, D and zinc), and probiotics very important.
• As you may know, a virus, varicella-zoster virus (VZV), causes shingles. VZV also causes chicken pox (usually in children) but long after recovery, some of it hangs around dormant in sensory nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Once re-activated, the virus travels down a single nerve and causes a painful rash in a localized area. The risk of reactivation increases after age 50 because the immune system typically has weakened. There have been many reports of shingles occurring after the covid vaccines.
• The vaccine does not appear to contain heavy metals such as mercury but it does have polysorbate 80 to which many people are severely allergic. One other ingredient, MSG, neurosurgeon Richard Blaylock, MD told us is an excitotoxin that negatively affects the brain. It is also a bit of a concern to me that Shingrix contains a live (but supposedly weakened) virus.
• Shingrix side effects reported are typically mild such as injection site pain. A law firm website states “In rare cases, more severe side effects, such as difficulty breathing, may occur. If you experience these symptoms after receiving the Shingrix vaccine, you can file a lawsuit to seek compensation.”
• With or without vaccination, if you contract shingles, your doctor can prescribe antiviral medications – the sooner the better before the virus can multiply more.
• Foods high in the amino acid l-arginine (e.g. nuts, chocolate, seafood, arginine supplements) may feed the VZV virus but meanwhile foods rich in the amino l-lysine (meat, cheese, eggs) and lysine supplements may slow it down.

There are natural remedies to help. Read the library page about Shingles that includes info about my extremely experience with shingles which was quickly resolved. (I had not had the vaccine and still have not.)

HEARTBURN is not in the heart, but the burn part is real

A whole lot of people begin to experience heartburn (acid reflux) during the holidays. I worry that having been browbeaten by advertising, they may start taking a heartburn drug. US consumers spend a fortune each year on heartburn medications ($1.9 Billion in 2022 just on Nexium brand). The problems with the powerful drugs are:

• They only treat the symptom but do not fix the cause.
• They have been shown to be habit-forming. (Get on, can’t get off.)
• There are dangerous side effects if the drugs are taken for more than the 2 weeks shown to be safe. Side effects such as these (in alpha order):
  • C-difficile infection (hard to control life-threatening diarrhea)
  • Dementia
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Heart disease and stroke
  • Hip fracture
  • Insomnia
  • Kidney disease
  • Pneumonia
  • Premature death
  • Stomach cancer
  • Tremor
  • Vitamin B12 deficiency (which can lead to permanent nerve damage)

For details about why the drugs cause so much trouble, what causes heartburn and what to do about it, read my book, Natural Alternatives to Nexium & Other Acid Blockers: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments and / or read these articles for highlights:

• Overview
• Stomach Acid’s Crucial Roles
• Acid Reflux Q & A
• Getting Off of Acid-Blocking drugs

As noted above, the heartburn drugs don’t fix the cause, so here is just a sample of causes:

• Many drugs cause heartburn. Statin cholesterol-lowering drugs are among the culprits. (Remember that there is a natural solution to most health issues like high cholesterol.) Also, antibiotics can trigger reflux by causing an imbalance of gut microorganisms.
• Here is a tidbit from the above linked pages that seems relevant to the season: Limiting sugar and starch consumption often stops heart burn. Although the mechanisms are just now being revealed in research, a person has nothing to lose by reducing these fattening non-nourishing foods. STUDY: “A very low-carbohydrate diet improves gastroesophageal reflux and its symptoms.” To learn about how to eat like that, read “Avoid Diabetes with Low Glycemic Meals.”
• Hiatal hernia (HH) is another cause. I picked it to mention because so many people have been diagnosed with that and given up. HH is a structural problem where the stomach protrudes up through the diaphragm. It can often be remedied by a chiropractor or even a massage therapist. Check out Bob’s article about how to resolve that problem naturally.

My book and even the articles discuss a variety of natural products for heartburn pain. For example, some folks find relief with a teaspoon or two of Apple Cider Vinegar diluted in a little water before a meal. If the vinegar helps, it is a sign that your system may need more stomach acid for digestion, not less. However, even if the vinegar is needed, at first it may burn going down because the esophagus tissues have become terribly inflamed. Follow the vinegar with a few sips of water.

Have a sweet tooth?

If these look yummy, you may have a sweet tooth (and one that isn’t very fussy). Do you think you might have more than one sweet tooth? Does it seem that the more sweets you eat the more you want? Well, it really does work that way for at least couple of reasons. One is that when your blood sugar spikes because of a sugar load, insulin brings it down but it can over-compensate. Then, when your blood sugar is low (hypoglycemia), survival instincts kick in and tell you to get blood sugar back up. (At that point, celery just won’t do the job.) Another reason is that a regular diet of sweets and refined carbohydrates encourages an overgrowth of yeast. Yeasts have a sneaky way of sending your brain messages to eat more of what they like. (They basically order their lunch.)

“Lemonade” conjures up wholesome images of grandma pouring you an icy glass on the porch of the old farmhouse on a warm summer day. However, research shows that lemonade along with other sweet drinks are linked to early death in type 2 diabetics.

It is easier to be fooled into eating more sugar than you think that you are because it is in so many of grocery items and goes by so many names: cane sugar, beet sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. Then there is fructose, dextrose, glucose and other names ending in “ose”. If a word ends in “ol” it is a non-caloric sugar substitute that is a sugar alcohol. Examples include sorbitol, maltitol and mannitol. One, xylitol, is valued because it is antimicrobial. Science has recently suggested (but not proven) that frequent consumption of another sugar alcohol, erythritol, may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. (I checked the actual study to see if it was funded or influenced by the competing sugar industry. It was not directly. This article details the errors in that study.) Excess intake of most any sugar alcohol at one sitting may cause gas and a loose stool. I still think those are preferred to the chemical artificial sweeteners like Splenda® (sucralose), NutraSweet® (aspartame), and saccharin. Natural is still better. I like the herbal sweetener, Stevia which has health benefits and Monk fruit (also sometimes called “lo han guo” or just “lo han”).

I did a quick internet search for the origin of “sweet tooth”. Vocabulary.com reported “The phrase has been used in English for hundreds of years, since the late fourteenth century, and it comes from toothsome, an even older word meaning ‘delicious or tasty’. This sense of tooth standing in for taste gave rise to sweet tooth, or ‘particularly enjoying sweet tastes.’”

We probably always knew there wasn’t just a tooth to blame for sweet cravings. And it is not surprising that the origin goes back to the 13^th century. Actually, the cravings themselves most likely go back to early humans. Think about it. If we were not genetically programed to seek foods with some sweetness, our species might have eaten only leaves and died off thousands of years ago from starvation. Foods with a bit of sweetness in the flavor, like nuts, root vegetables and obviously fruits, have more calories and other nutrients.

Unfortunately, modern food technology and product availability have thrown us a big curve. These days, we are much more likely to die from the effects of obesity than starvation. Although in the past, thanks to industry lobbying not science, the government blamed fat in the diet instead of sugar. If we understand the science as alluded to in this authoritative article by the Harvard School of Public Health, sugar intake should be controlled to reduce the risk of obesity and heart disease. (I might add: diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s.)

Americans eat more sugar than any other population on the planet! (Yay us? Is it a coincidence that we also pay more for sickness care?) Most estimates have us eating well over 100 pounds a year on average. And, since that average includes some people who eat no sugar, other folks must eat boatloads. Probably few people have a sugar bowl on the table and must refill it every two days. Most of the intake is hidden in foods and beverages. Even an apple contains sugar, but I doubt that anyone is getting fat eating apples. The biggest offenders are not naturally occurring sugars like that but rather refined sugar added to beverages. Examples of sugar in these: 12 ounces of Dr. Pepper = 10 teaspoons, Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino® or Monster Energy drink = 14 teaspoons (almost a quarter cup). Look up your personal beverage temptation on this website. Of course, we all know that candy, cookies, cakes, donuts, pies, and ice cream are sources of sugar. But it is important to read labels on catsup, BBQ sauce, salad dressing, yogurt, peanut butter, chicken pot pies…well, everything. Little by little it adds up. Learn more about sugar on this page in our Library.

At the market, I was inspired to do this blog when another customer (who said that her husband is diabetic) asked me about a brand of bread that had the least sugar. I think we are better off without bread in general, but at least this variety of Dave’s bread had good organic ingredients, decent fiber, low  sugar content and is sliced thin.

If your sweet tooth is getting you into trouble, know that there is hope. Stopping cold turkey can cause withdrawal symptoms. Reducing gradually may be easier. Be of good cheer—after  you are off for a week, it becomes much easier to resist sugar. Yes, you still know it tastes good but it doesn’t have power over you. I ran across a supplement product that, based on my experience in the past with its ingredients, should help reduce cravings.  (I’ve never used this particular one, so I can’t say for sure.)

Craving something sweet? Maybe eat an apple or a date so you get some fiber and other nutrients. Take heart, after a week or so off of sugar, it will no longer have power over you.

Confused about what to eat?

Over the years, I (Martie) have covered a lot of different diet plans, Hamptons diet, paleo, Atkins, and so on. We haven’t spent much time on plant-based diets. I think many of them have merit, but I am concerned about the way the research was usually done. For example, how much of the benefit was due to adding vegetables versus removing animal products. (They’d have to pry brother Jim’s BBQ ribs from my cold dead hands.) I believe that much of the emphasis placed on these plant-based plans like vegetarian and vegan is based on environmental and other ideologies rather than health facts. One interview I did, with Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, debunked some of the myths surrounding those topics. Also, Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth by Judith D. Schwartz is a good and enlightening read.

So, back to what to eat. In my humble opinion, the bottom line from the research, history, logic and experience, both personal and with clients is approximately this:

• Eat real food, not let’s-pretend manufactured food like products such as artificially flavored lemonade mix that contains NO LEMON. (I am not implying that lemonade is a nutritional requirement, just that chemicals are worse.)
• Eat food that has had minimal processing. For example, maybe eat roasted Yukon gold potatoes rather than Pringles®.
• Add more vegetables to your diet, especially green ones and members of the broccoli, kale and cabbage family. (Frozen is okay and easier to have on hand.) In addition to the minerals and phytonutrients they contain, they support our good bacteria.
• Also, use herbs and spices because they provide powerful phytonutrients and feed our probiotics.
• Don’t be afraid of fat! We need fats…just aim for the good ones like anti-inflammatory omega-3’s and monounsaturates such as olive oil and macadamia oil. Previously shunned high fat foods like cold water fish, avocados, and walnuts can be very good for you. Life is better with butter. Don’t worry about it, especially if butter helps you eat more vegetables.
• Of course, avoid sugar in all its forms—the worst being soft drinks.
• Those are fundamental guides, but avoiding toxins and chemicals is also important, so as much as possible, buy organic.
• Every year The Environmental Working Group reports which foods are the most contaminated and therefore most important to buy as organic.

A dab of this, a sniff of that and…and…

Some of the topics we’ve discussed on the Healthy by Nature Show may at first glance seem too trivial to worry about. Or you have been reassured by officials who say that they are harmless.

Here are some examples:

• The traces of Roundup® weed killer in the food supply.
• Electromagnetic pollution from sources like cell phones and smart meters.
• Insufficient intake of a trace mineral like selenium.
• Mercury contamination of high fructose corn syrup (which isn’t good to begin with).
• Anger and resentment
• Artificial sweeteners
• Root canals or titanium implants
• Mycotoxins from mold in your home
• Airborne allergens in the bedroom (could be removed by a negative ion generator).
• Stress
• Toxins in medical masks
• Chemicals off gassed from microwave popcorn
• Taking an over-the-counter heartburn drug for more than 2 weeks
• Not drinking enough water
• Poorly researched vaccines
• Toxins from BPA plasticisers in the linings of cans and non-stick cookware
• Excess of yeast in the intestinal tract
• A slight imbalance in hormones
• Believing a doctor that a vitamin D blood level of 30 is sufficient
• Ganging up on omega 6 fats from some cooking oils and processed foods
• Secondhand smoke (took a long time to prove that one)
• Tens of thousands more that the body was not designed to deal with

Some of the things on that list can kill you in the unlikely event that you are exposed to incredibly high doses all at once. But what doesn’t get enough attention is the effect of long-term consistent exposure to tiny amounts. A good example of the negative effect of accumulation are the grievous diseases caused when toxic chemicals leaked from underground storage into the drinking water supply at Camp Lejeune, NC from the 1950’s to the 1980’s.

Also, science rarely evaluates the effects of having some combination of items on the list. For example, two might have the same negative effect or one might make it harder for the body to detox one or more of the others.

Then there are genetics and a person’s history which may affect how well a person can handle a certain type of stress..

What to do? Avoid as many as negatives as you can without making yourself crazy and pay attention to the big things that help make you more resilient…Good diet, adequate sleep, exercise, moderation in alcohol, avoiding tobacco, etc.

Giving is good for your health!

I am extremely thankful for the great many blessings I have, but I sure do wish I was extremely rich…and not because I crave jewelry, a Birkin bag, Jimmy Choo shoes, a beach house, a fancy car (even one just a little newer than my 19-year-old-one), or anything like that. I’d like to be rich simply so I could donate with abandon to my favorite causes.

I give now as much as I can afford. Giving feels so good I was pretty sure it has to be good for our health. So I checked. It is! Even the Cleveland Clinic agrees and it doesn’t have to be money.  Check this article on the health benefits of giving, notes that MRI imaging shows that giving stimulates the same pleasure centers in the brain as does food, drugs and sex.(!!!) That is great physiological evidence, but there is more:

1. Greater self-esteem and satisfaction with life.
2. Lower risk of depression.
3. Better physical health. (even heart health)
4. A longer life. (Volunteering is easier on the budget and is effective.)

Cautionary Note: I was very disappointed in the past to learn that a famous breast cancer charity used an unacceptably high proportion of donations for overhead, huge salaries, marketing, etc. instead of the supposed mission of “awareness”. (I think the mission should include more public education about ways to prevent breast cancer). So, I now use Charity Navigator (CN) to make sure my donation is effective. CN rates charities with stars (up to 4) and lists what % of income goes directly to the stated mission.

Ways to make your donation better. One effective tactic is to check with your employer to see if it has a program to match employee donations. Also, apparently, donations made on Tuesdays may go further and there is an official annual “Giving Tuesday” right after Thanksgiving. It may just be a as a reminder, but I think sometimes there are incentives.

Like I imagine you do, I always want to help folks that I see in the news who have experienced some terrible loss.

The list below is of organized charities that speak to me personally (in alpha order and note, the bold headings are links.)                                                                                                        

ASPCA – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals^® has been protecting and rescuing animals since 1866. CN rates it a 4-star 99%.

Dallas Life Foundation (Recovery Center for the Homeless) – Sadly, so many efforts to help the homeless result in scant long term results because they address only the symptom not the cause. This organization has a track record of returning 90% of its homeless persons to normal life where they have dignity and can earn their own money for housing. The organization’s success is due to finding out what the person needs (e.g. drug treatment, healthcare, counseling, job training, etc.) and providing it. Some staff members are former clients. Although located in Dallas, they are sharing their methods nationwide. The CN rating is 4-star 100%.

Humane Society – protects pets, farm animals, marine animals. and wildlife around the world. (I about lose my mind when I see news reports of something like elephants being killed for their tusks.) CN rates this charity as 4-star 97%

International fellowship of Christians and Jews – They are currently providing food boxes to starving elderly holocaust survivors in Israel. (If you somehow think Israel is evil, that may indicate that you have not done your homework on the Palestinian Hamas terrorists. I can’t help you here with that. Just move on down the list) CN rates this charity as 4-star 97%

Mercy Ships – Around the world in places without access to medical care, there are children, teens and adults suffering and dying from treatable causes. Without help, one child in eight will die before age 5. CN rates it as 4-star 100%

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital  – The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. CN Rates this charity as 4-star 100%, but I am most impressed that families do NOT receive bills for the child’s treatment, travel, housing, or food. (Surely the family has already had a lot of expense and is stressed to the max.)

Tunnel to Towers Foundation – They honor and support our military and first responders who continue to make the supreme sacrifice of life and limb for our country. Among the benefits are handicap accessible homes and mortgage free homes for surviving families. Recently the organization has been constructing residential buildings in various cities to provide housing for homeless veterans. Today, the CN search did not have a current rating, but according to the charity’s financial disclosures, apparently it usually rates 95% to 100%.

World Vision International – it is a global Christian humanitarian organization that works to empower people out of poverty. I like the idea of giving poor folks in a third world country the means to buy or raise food instead of just giving them food (the “give a fish / teach to fish” principle). WV also has programs for US poor children (e.g. giving school supplies and warm coats). It is fun to look through their online gift catalog and I want to click on all of them. (By the way, I may no longer be the favorite aunt after this Christmas. My niece and 2 nephews want for nothing and have plenty of toys. So, this year I’m going to let them know they gave a poor kid a goat and two chickens or some such.)

Well, I know of no wealthy old uncles on the horizon, so I’ll just plug along as best I can.

Of course, donations can be other than money. Causes may appreciate your stocks, used car or time and talents. Choose what you like and reap the health benefits of generosity.

Does Thanksgiving dinner make you think about digestion?

One school of thought about promoting good digestion is called “food combining”. The theory holds that certain foods digest well together because of compatible length of time required, pH, and enzymes, etc. and that INcompatible foods lead to toxic products and disease. This website has a simple chart. One example is to avoid combining starches and proteins. I guess that alone makes Thanksgiving dinner basically the “poster child” of what NOT to do. Thankfully (er…hopefully?), we don’t do that every day.

Good health depends not only on eating nutritious food but also on being able to extract the nutrients from them and deliver them to the cells where they are needed. (Somehow calories seem to make it through to our waistlines no matter how bad digestion is). And, after the food value is removed, whatever remains can become a toxic burden if it hangs around. We literally “are what we eat” but also what we don’t get rid of. It is easy to ignore poor digestion if it isn’t talking back to us with something like heartburn, gas, bloating, constipation or diarrhea. However, that doesn’t mean that all our intricate systems are working up to optimum capacity.

To suppress obvious GI symptoms mentioned above, there are natural approaches that are safer than drugs. However, there is no substitute for fixing the root cause of the problem and doing so pays dividends all over the body. Quite often (almost always) the most fundamental cause of GI disturbances turns out to be an imbalance of gut organisms like bacteria and yeasts, inadequate water and a lack of fibrous foods in the diet. “Leaky gut” is thought to be the cause of most if not all autoimmune conditions and probably many more health troubles.

The text so far is the introduction an HBN library page. The balance of the page lists lots of resources such as info on a common cause of leaky gut, yeast and take the quiz. 

Other pages:

• Acid reflux / heartburn
• Gallstones, cholesterol, and bile
• Probiotics

One simple thing you can do to help minimize the trouble from Thanksgiving dinner (or any others) is to chew slowly and thoroughly. That gives your enzymes a fighting chance. (And you will be less likely to over eat which compounds problems.

Make it a Juicy Turkey Day

Turkey is a good high-protein relatively low-fat food. It is known for the amino acid l-tryptophan which is a mood and sleep aid (because it increases the neurotransmitter serotonin). I used to think that turkey was the reason for holiday after-dinner drowsiness. However, there really isn’t enough l-tryptophan in a serving to have much of an effect. Now, I believe that the drowsiness is due more just to relaxing after all the excitement has wound down, the sedating effect of food overload, low blood sugar from too much dessert and/or football on TV (if the game is not exciting).

As seen in the above classic Norman Rockwell painting, the star of most Thanksgiving tables is the turkey. (Note: the bird will not be quite as photo worthy if roasted breast side down to keep the white meat moist.) Many people remember that holiday bird as dry and flavorless, but that certainly doesn’t have to be the case. Over the years I have used two approaches that work well to produce a juicy flavorful bird.

Afterthought. It might be better for digestion to avoid what could become a “spirited” discussion of just how civilized the first thanksgiving was or was not.

Holiday Turkey Recipes

IMPORTANT NOTE: if starting with a frozen turkey, allow time to defrost the bird safely. Procedure Hints.

1. Gourmet turkey—Celebrity Chef Alton Brown’s recipe. This is delicious, moist, flavorful and very quick to roast (a little over 2 hours but the advance work does takes time). Note: you can use the general procedures even if you don’t have every single ingredient on hand. Recipe. There is even a video at this LINK. The secret is marinating the bird in brine first and starting the oven for 30 minutes at 500° then reducing to 350°.
2. Low and slow. Please plan way ahead for this one that Martie often used for many years since she first heard the late Alex Burton discuss it on his radio show. This recipe is quite quick to prepare but has a very, very long cooking time (an hour per pound). The happy news—except for checking the temperature toward the end of cooking time, once you have put the turkey in the oven, you are finished working until it’s time to carve. No basting! Recipe.

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

FIBER—the soluble type has different benefits

Last week, we talked about “roughage” the insoluble type of fiber that we do not digest. Its partner in health is a type of fiber that dissolves. Both types are food for friendly bacteria, but soluble fiber seems to be a bit better prebiotic. If eating fiber in excess is problematic, you might want to research SIBO (an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. That can cause chronic diarrhea and malabsorption, unintentional weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, and osteoporosis.)

Soluble fiber (SF) grabs water and makes a gel in the digestive system. That gel binds with fatty acids and helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels. SF slows stomach emptying. That improves the absorption of nutrients, satisfies appetite, controls hunger and aids in regulation of blood sugar levels. By helping prevent blood sugar spikes, it reduces the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes.

Sounds good right? So where do we get it? SF is found in foods like legumes (beans, peas, lentils), oats, barley, berries, apples, bananas, chia seeds, peanuts and peanut butter and many vegetables (which may also provide insoluble fiber).

You may have noticed that marketing for oat cereals often alludes to benefits for cholesterol management. That is because oats are the richest source of soluble fiber (as beta-glucan) compared to other grains.

You probably know that many people go on “low carb diets” to lose weight, improve blood sugar management and improve heart health. (From my experience, when people go “low carb” they also recover from heartburn and even cease having sleep apnea.) When calculating carbs, fiber grams can be deducted. Processed foods are usually not good sources of either type of fiber. For example, a Pringles® Potato Crisps serving is 28 grams. Of those, 16 grams are carbohydrates (almost 60%), but less than 1 gram is fiber. That means the snack is considered high carb and will be quickly converted to blood sugar. (BTW, Food sugar is listed as part of the carb count.) Pringles contain few vitamins or minerals and also only contains just 1 gram of protein. So, it is not healthful and will not be satisfying for long.

Bottom line. Unless you are working on a specific problem and need to focus on one type of fiber, don’t worry much about which foods contain which kinds of fiber. Eat plenty of whole real foods, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, legumes and whole grains. You don’t have to be a vegetarian, just make sure you eat sufficient quantities of those plant foods along with your protein source.There are many fiber supplements, but they are not otherwise nutritional.Also, your gut bacteria will be more healthfully diverse if you ingest a variety of fibers.