Trash Mouth

You know what I've never understood? The appeal of smokeless tobacco to anybody not sitting in a baseball dugout. Chaw, dip, spits, grizz--nasty stuff. So if you're a spitter, here's a post for ya: The American Dental Association wants everyone to know that smokeless tobacco contains at least 28 cancer causing toxins, and they are in the best position to see what it can do to your trap.

Here's a list of oral health problems associated with chewing the chaw:

• Increased risk of oral cancer
• Increased risk of periodontal (gum) disease, possibly causing tooth loss and tooth sensitivity (awesome pictures here).
• Difficulty healing after a dental procedure.
• Limited treatment options for dental care, such as a dental implant.
• Staining of the teeth and tongue, as well as bad breath.
• Reduced ability to taste and smell.

Like I said, I never did get the chewing tobacco thing. I remember tutoring organic chemistry for the Student Learning Center at UC Berkeley, when sitting one day with a Cal football player trying to explain to him the alkene reactions, I couldn't help but being distracted by his repeatedly spitting into a Styrofoam cup. I kept thinking..."That's gross, dude." And I was a cigarette smoker...ha ha ha...Imagine a smoker thinking your habit is disgusting? Smokeless tobacco is definitely on the bottom of the cesspool when it comes to the hierarchy of poisoning yourself (along with methamphetamine use, or sniffing paint).

If you currently use smokeless tobacco, then...yuck! Hey it's your health, your life, and your choice...but well, shoot, maybe you'd be interested in needle sharing, or unprotected sex with a $10 hooker. Same thing, dude.

Household Items Poison Pets

Listen up pet lovers: Be super-careful with your drugs, as they top the list of toxins poisoning household pets.  From dropped pills to medication packets lying around, domestic animals can be sickened by ingesting human drugs.  One ASPCA hotline reports that it received approximately 40,000 calls last year for animals poisoned by human medication--that's in one city alone!  Dang!

Pet owners do not always know what their pets have gotten into--they just see the animals exhibiting symptoms, like lethargy, vomiting, seizures or refusing food.

The top toxins sending pets to veterinary ERs are over-the-counter meds, antidepressants, and...Ritalin!!!  Ha ha ha ha...no kidding.  Guess little Johnny ain't paying attention the way he's supposed to on the dope.  Just try watching your dog fer chrissakes.  Here are the top ten poisons taking out household pets:

1. Human medication
2. Pesticides
3. Rodenticides
4. People food
5. Veterinary medications
6. Chocolate
7. Household toxins (cleaners)
8. Plants
9. Herbicides
10. Outdoor toxins (like antifreeze and fertilizers)

So clean up your garage, put the Easter candy up high, and please...please...keep your kid's Ritalin off the floor.

ADD: Pieces to a Puzzle

One of the biggest messages I try to put forth in this blog is that human beings are amazing self-healing, self-regulating life forms.  We operate under the laws of the universe, and as such, by obeying some very fundamental principles regarding life, our ability to experience great physical health and well-being is magnified.  It doesn't matter whether you have any particular genetic, anatomic or physiologic disposition--you can experience great health, as well as a fulfilling life, by observing basic principles.

This is as true for the "normal" individual as it is for the ADD-labeled person.  Whenever somebody comes to me with this or that problem, my first investigation as a doctor is to find out if they are observing the basics.  So that's what I want to finish off with regarding ADD.  It's of mega-importance that your ADD-labeled child is practicing the healthiest lifestyle possible.  But take note, and do not mistake this very crucial point: What I discuss here is NOT a treatment regimen for ADD.  I do NOT believe that an attention deficit is a disorder, therefore nothing needs treating, especially as we would think in a mechanistic sense.  Instead, what I put forth here will allow any child to thrive physically and mentally, because these are fundamental health principles.

There are no absolutes when it comes to health.  No one practice is more important than another--let's just get that straight right from the beginning.  Instead, health is like a puzzle, and each practice is a piece to that puzzle.  I will for brevity's sake only touch upon each puzzle piece.  If you want more, then I highly recommend reading my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health.  In it you will find most of these points discussed in full detail, along with tips on how to best implement and maximize each practice.

First and foremost is diet and nutrition.  It should go without saying that good nutrition is paramount to a healthy functioning body, but I wonder sometimes.  Too many parents feed their children foods that are, well...suspect.  Here is a basic: foods should be whole and natural.  I'm not saying organic or hormone free or anything like that.  If that's what you prefer, awesome!  But what I mean is "not processed".  Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meats and dairy, wholesome grains, minimal sugar, minimal fast food (or none at all, like my kids), and definitely, with no exception: NO SODA!

Soda consumption should be the biggest no-no for an ADD-labeled child.  No, I don't think soda causes ADD.  Soda is garbage for anybody, and that much sugar consistently cannot be conducive to mental sharpness.  Sad fact is that many parents will have to kick their own liquid garbage habit, too, if they want to keep their kids off it.

Next is exercise*.  Kids need to spend time playing and moving!  Period.  It is a standard recommendation for ADD-labeled kids to exercise often, and I couldn't agree more.  Get your kids moving everyday--that's what our bodies (and all life forms) are meant to do.  Don't try operating outside of universal laws and then also expect good health. *Check out this interesting article on children, exercise balls, and focus.

Next, bodywork.  If you haven't taken your ADD-labeled child to see a chiropractor, then you are doing them a great disservice.  Subluxations (misaligned and stuck vertebrae) are extremely disruptive to the nervous system and the mind.  I have seen hundreds of children go into a state of ease and calm following a chiropractic adjustment.  Time to learn more about chiropractic and give it a try if your knowledge and experience of it is limited.

**Throughout these posts, a regular reader and friend, has been kind enough to share her understanding and insight of primitive movement patterns and neurological development.  I am so fascinated and intrigued by this field of study that I intend to investigate it further.  She swears by its benefits, and I respect her knowledge and judgment.  I will keep you informed as I learn more.  Thank you K.O. 

Sleep is next.  But we could just as well call this rest and recuperation.  If your child is not sleeping properly, then they are aging faster and breaking down more quickly.  Sleep is essential to life.  Many metabolic and regenerative processes occur while we sleep.

And don't discount dreaming.  Although we still understand little about this ubiquitous function, I believe it has an important role in our mental brain states (no, I do not think dreams are symbolic).

If your ADD-labeled child is on Ritalin, then I would expect his or her sleep to be disrupted, particularly deep and REM sleep.  Think about that--it's just another way that these dangerous drugs can hurt your child.  If they are also hopped-up on soda...(sigh) heaven help them.

Next is minimizing toxins.  Lot's of things are toxins, but the ones I find most prevalent and damaging are...drum roll please...prescription and over-the-counter drugs.  Nothing wrong these meds periodically when needed, but as a society, Americans are way too over-medicated.  Just look at the Ritalin numbers: 90% consumed in the U.S.  Sad.

Finally is the mental health.  When it comes to your ADD-labeled child, they want what every child (and every person, for that matter) wants--love and acceptance for who they are.  So, again, help them find what they love--they know what it is, because they do it all the time.

Be it sports, be it music, be it socializing, be it fashion--find it, nurture it, and help them be inspired by it.  Pressuring your kid--directly or passively--is not going to help.  When a child senses that you are worried, frustrated, or disappointed, they know it; and trust me this only will add to their stress and inability to perform.  Let them know you love, honor and support them in whatever they love doing, and they will reward you by excelling.  No, they may never excel in school, but plenty of people live amazing lives that were not the result of traditional schooling.

There you have it--like pieces to a puzzle.  Each one important, but neither more-so than any of the others.  In fact, they work synergistically, but I'll leave that topic for you to read in my book.

Once again, I sincerely hope I've helped people facing some tough decisions regarding their own ADD-labeled child.  If I can have helped you see your beautifully unique and gifted genius in a new light, then I am pleased.  If I've influenced you to reject the dangerous chemical poisons that the ADD establishment wants to numb your child on, then I am honored.  If I've given you some ideas on how to inspire your child to be all that they can be, then I am utterly grateful that I could contribute.

Thank you for reading.

Unsafe Drinking Water Found in Schools

This just in: Thousands of schools across the country have been found to have unsafe drinking water. Contaminants have surfaced at both public and private schools in all 50 states--cities and small towns alike--including lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.

The federal government has failed to monitor water safety violations despite them multiplying over the last decade. The contamination is most prevalent at schools with their own water supply--wells, that is--which represent 8 to 11 percent of the nation's schools. Approximately 20% of schools with water wells has violated the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last ten years, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The number of schools with violations is only a fraction of the country's 132,500 schools, but it causes concerns since children drink more water per pound of body weight than adults do. Part of the problem is that the monitoring of drinking water in schools is spread too thin among a number of local, state and federal agencies. Finding a solution, experts and children's advocates say, would require a costly new national strategy for monitoring water in schools.

Some of the findings from the EPA data include:

• Water in about 100 school districts and 2,250 schools breached federal safety standards.

• Those schools and districts racked up more than 5,550 separate violations. In 2008, the EPA recorded 577 violations, up from 59 in 1998 — an increase that officials attribute mainly to tougher rules.

• California, which has the most schools of any state, also recorded the most violations with 612, followed by Ohio (451), Maine (417), Connecticut (318) and Indiana (289).

• Nearly half the violators in California were repeat offenders. One elementary school in Tulare County, in the farm country of the Central Valley, broke safe-water laws 20 times.

• The most frequently cited contaminant was coliform bacteria, followed by lead and copper, arsenic and nitrates.

It seems to me that this problem is only the tip of the iceberg. I point out in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, that the nation's public water system is a shambles. According to a 2003 National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study, many community water systems (CWS) had the following problems:

• polluted water source
• outdated treatment processes
• poor maintenance of water treatment and storage systems

It's high time investigative journalists, like the ones at the Associated Press breaking this story, start reporting this mess with our nation's water system. Water is the elixir of life--no living thing can survive without it--so it stands to reason that a faulty public water system is essential to our health and safety. Children in Minnesota and Seattle have already gotten sick from drinking contaminated water at their schools. At what point will the entire system come unglued and start causing a real public health hazard? I don't know, but it's one of those rare times I endorse the government stepping in, providing funds for the upkeep of this vast system, monitor all source water and its transportation, and shut down schools or any other building violating the Safe Drinking Water Act.

*If you would like to know more about your local drinking water, check here: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html

Gastroenteritis--My Bout With Stomach Flu

Well, 2008 has started with a bang! Just not the one I'd been hoping for. As I was shaking off the blow of a serious tooth infection, and a subsequent root canal, I got nailed with the stomach flu--gastroenteritis to be exact--and I'm only just starting to feel my old raucous self today.

Gastroenteritis is often called the stomach flu, although it's nothing like the regular flu--no fever, no body aches or pains, none of that stuff. What is was, however, was a lot of stomach ache--cramping, crippling spasms that had me boweled over in pain for about 48 hours. Many things can cause gastroenteritis--bacteria, viruses, toxins, medications, some other things. I think mine was probably viral, but it could have also been from taking Motrin; I was taking 2,400 mg a day for the toothache I was enjoying.

Either way, I stopped taking the meds on Friday, immediately following my first hit of flu. I also stopped drinking coffee and pretty much eating all together. If, in spite of my haze, I am remembering all the details correctly, I think I couldn't even stomach water; I was helpless. But did it ever make me find religion. Please Oh Mighty Isis. Make it stop, please. Nicky be good boy. Nicky be good boy...

Once again I have to say, being sick is a part of life. You can get depressed about it (it's easy, really), or you can just see it as a time to take care of yourself--rest, relax, catch up on paperwork, and even on those missed episodes of Real Housewives of Orange County (right PB?). There's no such thing as 100% health, 100% of the time; and living in that illusion is the quickest way to frustration and/or depression. We all get sick. Bless it, use it to your advantage, and rest up. There's plenty of life to be lived tomorrow.

Start With the Basics - Health First

Our health care system is in a shambles - so says the director of the Centers of Disease Control, Dr. Julie Gerberding. Her solution: start from the ground up - train medical doctors in health theory and practice, and not just the treatment of diseases.

Bravo! I've been pushing this agenda for the last seven years. In fact, my upcoming book - The Six Keys to Optimal Health - runs precisely on that premise. It makes no sense to me to neglect basic health practices and hope that, in the future, a magic bullet will be waiting to save us. That's a big fat fantasy. Dream on.

If you are not eating wholesome nutritious foods, not exercising regularly, not getting sufficient rest, not working out the stress and tension of your body with regular bodywork, not keeping mentally balanced, and regularly ingesting toxins - like prescription and over the counter medications, recreational drugs and cigarette smoke - then you're flirtin' with disaster. And...guess what? It's going to continue to tax an already overloaded and overpriced medical system. Michael Moore can make 5,000 films and presidential candidates can campaign on the Universal Health Care platform till kingdom come - if the people of this country don't start with the basics, then it ain't gonna get any better - just worse. Nuff said.