Finding a New Primary Care Doctor

A Big Thanks To Leslie at Wellparents.com for this great advice Thanks to Leslie at Read more

The Rollercoaster of Life

Grandma: "I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like Read more

Sheltering at Home/Covid 19

Never in the last two decades of my career as a physician would I have imagined that we would be using the same mask to see patients all day and then sterilizing/recycling them at the end of the day. Read more

Turmeric Health Benefits

Have you ever wondered what the paste is applied to the bride and groom's faces and arms in Indian weddings?  It's actually the spice turmeric.  Turmeric is the ingredient in curry that gives it a vibrant yellow color.  Actually, Read more

COVID 19 Precautions

With the scare of COVID here in the USA now, I wanted to post a little info about boosting immunity to prevent contracting the virus. Here are some important facts about Covid-19 It is spread by contact with Read more

Natural Tips for Avoiding Colds

This cold and flu season is still upon us and unfortunately, many patients are still being plagued by these nasty viral symptoms.  Here are a few tips to try if you feel like you are coming down with something. Of Read more

Sherry's Story

Sherry has a great story.  She has been diabetic for years and she has made some massive changes!   "I have been on a lifestyle change. It has been a year following a ketogenic food plan.  When I started this journey Read more

Pharmacy to Farmacy

Many of you may know Erin-- the fabulous Pharm D that worked in our office a few years back.  Erin is a phenomenal gal and we embarked on the journey  into natural medicine around the same time.  As we both Read more

nutriton

Going Against the Grain: Part 1

I had the fabulous opportunity to listen to Dr. William Davis speak at the World Conference on Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.  He presented his thoughts on wheat in an incredibly logical and understandable format.  I have decided to give you my dumbed down synopsis on why WHEAT is not the healthy grain with which educators inform us.  I have to plead ignorance on this subject and am grateful to read and learn more everyday to help educate you to the dangers of our food supply.  Remember, nutrition isn’t taught in medical school!

 

Wheat dates back to the Roman Empire when grain was traded for land.  Around 850 to 900 BC , huge glacier melts raised global temperatures allowing wheat to be grown more readily.  Thus ensued the first consumption of grain by humans.  Initially, the seeds of the grain were intolerable to the human gut and caused severe diarrhea.  Therefore, the seeds had to be cooked or heated to make  human digestion possible.  This dramatically changed the culture from the hunter/gathering model to a cultivation model. Hence, birth of agriculture changed our food supply.  When we started consuming grains on a regular basis many changes happened.  The jaws and facial structures of humans decreased because of less need for mastication.  Dental decay increased.  We lost height and bone size. Also, iron deficiency was born.  So ironically, wheat started causing disease this early in the evolutionary path.  Spoiler alert—it’s only going to get worse.

This original wheat was called Eiknorn wheat that contained 14 chromosomes.  I won’t bore you with the intricate science that ensued and will refer you to the book for the specific details but this original wheat was then mated with wild grass multiple times to evolve to the 19/20th century version of wheat called Spelt which then contained 42 chromosomes.

In the 1960’s, the fear of world population explosion caused a push by the government to fund the development of high yield crops.  We then started to increase the yield of wheat crops in hopes to feed the starving population.  The wheat then underwent repetitive hybridization with other wheats and grasses to yield a crop with big seeds and heads and a much smaller stalk.  This modification allowed for a heartier plant that was much more resistant to climate changes, susceptible to fertilizers, and yielded larger seeds.  Now remember–what did the wheat seed originally do to humans? (make them sick???)

Many people say that it is unethical to not eat bread.  I mean what did Christ do at the last supper?  He broke bread–but his bread isn’t the bread we are eating today!  His bread was much closer to what God placed on this earth.  Humans have modified that original grain so dramatically that we have made ourselves ill!

Please consider reading Dr. Davis’s great book for more information.  More to come on the whole Gluten/Gluten Free issues in following posts.  He also has some great grain free ideas and recipes at his site http://www.wheatbellyblog.com

More blog posts to come as I continue to read and educate myself on the dangers of wheat.

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Organic, Whole Food 1 Comment

Mid Life Manifesto

When I was a little girl–the words “become a professional and don’t expect someone else to take care of you” were gently and repetitively etched into my head.  I think that is why I aspired to become a doctor.  I didn’t want to do law, I have no passion for rules.  A business owner seemed too processed for me.  I wanted to help people.

When I was in college after already committing my life to become a doctor, I became terribly ill and landed a spot in the hospital.  My doctor at the time told me “You are not going to die”  That phrase I will never forget because at that moment–I felt like I might.  I was then forever indebted to becoming that person who would reassure a patient that their darkest hours were not at hand.   I studied hard and abstained from activities my peers were engaged in only to pursue my dream.  Eleven years ago my dream came true and I was finally the doctor starting practice and ready to change the lives of many.  I was trained to treat every disease with the best of medicines and could conquer any patient’s complaint.  Unfortunately, those concepts drastically changed as I continued to evolve as a person and was touched by each patient that I met.  After ten years of medicine I could feel myself beginning to change but I wasn’t quite sure just what the change was.  Then the day Susan came in I began to have a greater focus.

A few years ago, Susan, a popular vet in the local community with 4 boys, came to me tearstricken and upset.  She had developed an autoimmune disease seven years before that had debilitated her to the point that she was unable to function as the woman, mother, and wife that she had once been.  Tears welled in my eyes during that annual visit as I noted her spirit and life’s luster being eroded by the burden of her disease.  I told her … “I am no superwoman, I have no answers for you.”  We could only pray together that things would change.

The following monday morning she called and said  “My pastor pulled me aside after church on Sunday and told me he had dreamt I got a second opinion and was healed.”  I immediately called a physician whoI had not seen since residency.  He was leaving for a mission trip to Haiti the next day and the only way he could see her was if she could be there in thirty minutes.  Ironically, she had no patients scheduled that day, had a babysitter for her kids, and was already having lunch in the area.  He told her that it wasn’t a disease, it was an allergy.  He hadn’t a clue as to what she might be ingesting that would cause this severe reaction. Eventually, she discovered that she had to eliminate red dye # 40 from her diet and she is 100% healthy now.

I have spent countless hours walking in the woods and enjoying my own family.   Yet, I continue to watch many other patients struggle with their inability to share the same pleasures in life.  I have now realized that I have been on the wrong track.  We dont need to cure and treat disease–we need to prevent it!
All the years of training to to heal people have proven that I have been coexisting with them.  I must shift my role to help them before the diseases takes hold.  I must help my patients change themselves.  I realize that the best way to change the world is to change yourself.

Thus—I will simply become who I am by letting go of what I thought I was and hope to do the same for those who come to me for help.

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Exercise, Nutrition, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment