Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (166 page)

Always take a vitamin B complex, as opposed to just one or two of the Bs.

Choose chelated minerals when possible. These are wrapped in an amino acid when manufactured to ensure proper absorption.

If you’re taking a well-balanced formula, you don’t have to worry about megadosing.

Remember that supplements are not a substitute for a diet of whole, organic foods. The quality of the food you eat is still the corner stone of good health! But more and more, research is clearly showing that a commitment to supplementing, day in and day out for your entire life, can make an amazing difference in your health. And remember the old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Recommended Supplement Dosages

Here is my list of recommended daily supplements for adults. There really isn’t that much difference between the nutritional needs of men and women (except for iron) unless a woman is pregnant or nursing. So these recommendations can also be used for the men in your life. (Note that this program will require about six tablets a day.)

TABLE 11

R
ECOMMENDED
D
AILY
S
UPPLEMENTATION

*Please refer to iodine discussion in chapter 10.

OTHER COMMON CONCERNS

Can Diet Help Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Other Digestive Problems?

Many women have taken numerous courses of antibiotics for acne, urinary tract infections, and upper respiratory infections. Chronic use of antibiotics kills the normal bowel flora that are necessary for a healthy, functioning colon—a place in the body in which essential bacteria play an important role in nutrient absorption and manufacture. In addition, chronic use of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, or NSAIDs—such as ibuprofen (the active ingredient in Advil) and acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol)—has also been shown to affect both the stomach’s and the intestines’ physiolog ical function. (One-half to two-thirds of patients who use NSAIDs chronically show evidence of inflammation of the small intestine.)
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More than fifty-six thousand emergency-room visits per year are due to acetaminophen overdoses; a hundred die annually from overdosing on this drug, which is also the leading cause of liver failure in the country.
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Because of our national penchant to overuse antibiotics and NSAIDs, to eat a refined-food diet, and to have a high-stress lifestyle, many women have digestive difficulties, such as chronic constipation, excess gas, frequent diarrhea, and lower abdominal distress. All of these conditions may result from an imbalance in normal intestinal bacteria, intestinal para sites of various kinds, overgrowth of intestinal yeast, and an increase of intestinal permeability (leaky gut syndrome). These conditions are collectively known as intestinal dysbiosis. Intestinal dysbiosis is often related to and may result in chronic vaginitis, migraines, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, and food allergy.

This problem is diagnosed either clinically, from symptoms such as chronic gas or diarrhea, or by sending stool cultures to a lab that specializes in this testing. Intestinal parasites are often diagnosed as well. As with nearly every other disease, chronic cellular inflammation is caused in part by a diet too high in refined carbohydrates and too low in nutrients, fiber, and omega-3 fats. So the first step—and often the only one necessary—is to follow the dietary guidelines outlined in this chapter. Additional supplements known as probiotics (as opposed to antibiotics) such as acidophilus and bifidobacteria, as well as digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid, also often help restore normal bowel flora and get the yeast under control. A yeast-free diet is also prescribed for some, but it has been my repeated experience that this type of rigorous dietary restriction is not necessary once your metabolism, emotions, supplement levels, and food choices become optimal. Once they do, the yeast—and often parasites as well, if present—will go away by themselves.

Another very common related problem, irritable bowel syndrome, often responds well to probiotics, dietary change, and enteric-coated pepper mint. The last of these is available in natural food stores; I have prescribed Phy-toPharmica’s Mentharil or Nature’s Way Pepogest peppermint oils with good success.
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What About Food Allergies?

Intestinal dysbiosis is often accompanied by food allergies.
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Many women are sensitive to certain foods, which can result in symptoms ranging from intestinal distress to weight gain. More than 90 percent of all food allergies are to dairy, gluten (found in wheat and other grains), corn, or eggs. Once you eliminate one or more of these, negative reactions to other foods often simply disappear. I’ve also noticed that allergies to cat fur also seem to disappear when individuals stop eating foods that they are allergic to, especially dairy. It appears that the cat allergy is triggered, in part, by the inflammation started by the original allergen.

There are a number of ways to diagnose food allergies, the most common being a blood test known as an IgG ELISA assay. This test should be ordered by a physician familiar with this type of testing and should be performed by a lab that specializes in it.
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A special diet is then prescribed based on the results. Rather than go through all that, however, I recommend that you just eliminate all gluten, egg, and dairy products for a week and eat mostly lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. You’ll be amazed by how much better you feel. Then, after a week or so, add one of the food groups that you eliminated and see what happens. Many people are amazed that their headaches, runny noses, and other “allergies” return immediately when they resume dairy, or gluten, for example. Another convenient alternative to give your body a rest from possible allergens is the USANA Reset program. (See page 690.)

Women with multiple food allergies that are resistant to simple di etary change often have a history of abuse of some type, or they are continuing to live in dysfunctional relationships or to stay in overly stressful jobs. When this is the case, dietary change alone won’t address the problem over the long term. There is a dramatic synergy between lifestyle choices, stress, and the parts of the immune system that maintain bowel and vaginal health.
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Supporting your body nutritionally while you learn to support yourself emotionally and psychologically can help enormously. Studies have shown that this normalizes immune system response. I refer to it as “replenishing the soil.”

The Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique, known as NAET, is a very effective method of clearing allergies of all types, including those to foods. NAET was developed by Devi Nambudripad, M.D., Ph.D. (who is also a licensed acupuncturist and chiropractor), who discovered through personal and clinical experience that allergies are often associated with certain physical, emotional, and nutritional patterns, all of which require reprogramming in order for them to be eliminated. Her technique uses a process known as kinesiology (muscle testing) to pinpoint the offending allergens and the accompanying emotional pattern, followed by stimulating specific acupuncture or acupressure points to clear the patterns from the body. Until the pattern is cleared, she recommends temporary elimination of the allergen as well. I have referred many patients to practitioners trained in NAET, and I highly recommend this revolutionary approach. (For more infor mation, visit
www.naet.com
.)

Do I Have to Give Up Caffeine?

Caffeine is a very popular drug worldwide, perhaps the most popular. The average American drinks some thirty-two gallons of caf feinated soft drinks and twenty-eight gallons of coffee a year, and more than a thousand proprietary drugs list caffeine as an ingredient. Ninety-five percent of pregnant women consume caffeine during their pregnancies.
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I personally love coffee but now drink decaf, having grown increasingly sensitive to the effects of caffeine over the years.

Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and affects the heart, skeletal muscles, kidneys, and adrenals. Because of the boost of adrenaline that comes from caffeine, it is associated with increased mental acuity initially. However, it may also result in rebound confusion once the effect has subsided. Caffeine also results in an increase in blood sugar followed by a rather sudden drop. When it’s combined with a sweet pastry or other “white” food such as a bagel, the blood sugar drop is even worse—and is a setup for out-of-control cravings later in the day. In some women caffeine is a factor in breast pain and cysts. An occasional woman is so sensitive to it that one piece of chocolate (which contains both caffeine and theobromine, a related substance) will cause breast tenderness premenstrually during the month in which she eats that chocolate. Caffeine has also been implicated in cellular inflammation.

However, studies done since 2000 have shown that coffee, like wine, is not harmful in moderation. Once again, you need to consult your own body wisdom.

Sleep disorders often disappear when people stop using caffeine—and so does urinary frequency. Some studies have shown that the ef fects of caffeine on females may vary according to the level of estrogen in their system.
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Even decaffeinated coffee can be a breast and bladder irritant for some.

Here’s a test to see if you’re addicted to caffeine: Go without it for three days. If you get a headache, you are addicted. If you don’t, it probably doesn’t affect you much. Withdrawal from caffeine takes only two or three days. The headache and the fatigue that accompany this withdrawal, however, can be quite debilitating. I recommend that women plan to withdraw over a weekend, or whenever they have time to rest and nurture themselves in other ways. During caffeine withdrawal, drink plenty of water and three to four cups of chamomile tea per day. This tea is considered a “nervine” (nerve tonic) and helps maintain alertness. Many of my patients noted that their tol erance to caffeine decreased over the years. Those who have stopped caffeine and try it again often notice that the drug affects them quite dramatically.