What the Dr. is Saying

FDA Officials Criticized for Secrecy

No one’s perfect—but if these officials managed a Fortune 100 company, they probably would have been asked to retire right away. If they were "made men" in the Mafia, they probably would have been whacked. One major difference between CEOs, mobsters and FDA officials, however, is that the latter are responsible for a significantly greater number of American lives. Their responsibilities are awesome, and yet they are not held accountable by the consumer-legislature chain of command. Whether these FDA officials behaved in this manner due to oversight, carelessness or cover-up, there is little wonder that the annual number of deaths from food- and lifestyle- related diseases such as cardiovascular, cancers, and obesity is higher than the number of combat-related deaths during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War (Union and Confederates combined), WW I, WW II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Gulf War, plus the civilian deaths in 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina combined. In addition, the number of children with obesity and type 2 diabetes is at an historic high.

The Convenience Food War rages on at a cost of over 800,000 American lives per year and several billion dollars. This is because consumers seem to prefer a point-your-finger-at-government instead of an interactive government, established for the people, by the people. But there is no excuse. Computers, BlackBerrys and cell phones in addition to old-reliable telephones and writing utensils make it easier than ever to contact your representatives and senators in order to start making a difference over in the FDA War Room. Start speaking out today, so that when our new president is sworn in, she or he will be better prepared to hit the ground running.

Poor Sense of Smell May be Alzheimer's

A poor sense of smell—or deterioration of any of the other senses for that matter—can be early signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer’s. In either case, certain foods have been identified that can help fight forgetfulness, MCI and Alzheimer’s; these are outlined on AlzheimersandNutrition.com. The reason why faulty senses can send up a red flag for Alzheimer’s is this: Just as your computer’s hard drive records the information you type on your keyboard, your brain absorbs data all the time. Our five senses constantly pass information along to our brains. Even when some don’t function—as was the case with the deaf and blind Helen Keller—information continues to be processed via the others (touch, taste and smell) and stored as memories.

Under normal circumstances, when you think of a word such as “diving,” your mind conducts a search and “sees,” “hears,” “smells,” “tastes” and “touches” the experience of diving, or “views” documentary clips of the experience. Divers who’ve seen a whale shark might remember that image and “re-feel” the powerful emotions that have been in storage for years. This makes it possible to express the recalled information and emotions through art, music, speech and writing. Scientists believe that recall from all five senses is diminished when one has Alzheimer's. But there are two main reasons why a person may not smell a particular scent, say apple. One reason is due to a dysfunction in the smell-memory portion of the brain. The second is a damaged olfactory or smell nerve in the presence of a normal smell-memory.

Olive Oil for Dry Skin

Dried-out skin and mucous membranes are a common sign of omega 9, 6 and 3 deficiencies. Women adhering to unhealthy low-fat diet regimes, unhealthy because low fat often includes low levels of vital omega fatty acids (good fats), may apply skin moisturizer frequently. Every cell wall that makes up the skin, internal organs, and mucous membrane cells requires all three omegas in the right ratio and antioxidants such as those found in first-press olive oil, which act like natural preservatives. Processed, unnatural omegas, such as those from other plant oils including canola, flax and fish oil supplements, are not the same as the ones found in minimally processed extra-virgin or first-press olive oil. This is the only essentially unprocessed plant oil on the market. If you ingest 1 to 2 tablespoons of first-press olive oil (Newman's Own Organic has a smooth taste), on 12-grain toast or elsewhere in your diet each day, it will act like skin moisturizer working from the inside out. Avoid heating filtered first-press olive oil above 400 degrees to keep it healthful. Forget about using regular olive oil because it's partially hydrogenated or halfway-trans-fat, just like canola, corn, cottonseed, peanut, safflower and the rest. The rest includes the new line of trans-fat-free cooking oils coming off of oil manufacture assembly lines. For more information visit SkinandNutrition.net.

One Egg a Day Will Do You No Harm

The whole egg serves as a prime example of how a stellar nutraceutical food was unnecessarily exiled from our diets for more than three decades. It brings up two important points to ponder. First, what other foods currently thought to be “unhealthy” because of marketing warfare or ignorant science, such as first-press olive oil, will be tomorrow’s high-test health foods? Secondly, what current “health” foods, such as processed soy products and cheese, need to be limited or exiled? Regardless, it is good to see the revival of this healthful food, the egg. Egg white is an excellent source of high-quality protein, and egg yolk contains vitamins A, D, and E; riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, choline, iron, calcium, phosphorous and potassium, including a powerful memory enhancer. Why take costly chemist-made supplements when you can get the real thing? As with most other foods and supplements, more is not better (especially supplements that have been linked to heart disease and cancers). Keep a dozen hardboiled eggs on hand in the refrigerator. Whether eaten as a snack or part of a meal, this non-dairy food makes for a great one-a-day all-natural supplement. For more information visit AlzheimersandNutrition.com.

Nutrition Education Ineffective

Schoolteachers may be missing the mark on teaching good nutrition to students. This is because they are like most other segments of the population who believe they understand—when in actuality they don’t— the components of the kind of lifestyle needed to reach and maintain an ideal weight, both in children and adults. Medical nutrition researchers, graduate-level nutrition professors, and others significantly more qualified to teach nutrition are grappling with the deadly dilemma brought about by what has become the standard in American eating: a predominance of calories from heavily processed convenience foods and beverages. These types of foods, snacks and beverages dominate because of trends at work in the academic and business worlds, and because of the erosion of free time available to American consumers, which results in eating “on the run.”

At Psyche Nutrition Sciences, we have developed nutraceutically-rich foods, snacks and beverages that are also convenient and can be eaten on the run. A buffet of possibilities can be found in BRIGHTFOODS, which is a reliable beacon in the fight against childhood obesity, behavioral problems, and learning disabilities. It is not a fad diet flavor of the month or wellness plan of the year, but rather a lifestyle that should endure through the test of time. BRIGHTFOODS is based on more than twenty years of nutritional neuropsychiatric research and experience, and 800 recent medical references. If your school is looking to get better grades in its Nutrition Education program, read BRIGHTFOODS. If you like what you read, have your principal take it to the Board of Education. If they like what they read, they can take it to your State Capitol. If they like it, we can work with them to bring your public school system the BRIGHTFOODS High-, Middle-, and Elementary School Editions. For more information contact Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.com.

Over 30 Percent Report Alcohol Abuse

There is a fine line between alcohol abuse and dependence. Here is a fish tale to help you make the differential diagnosis. Two fishermen who live next to each other, but don’t talk to each other, have been going out on their boats every evening from 5 pm until 10 pm for two months. Each boat is usually stocked with tackle, bait, and a six-pack of cold ones. It takes them 40 minutes to get to the outer reef and the same to return. So far, we know that both fishermen abuse alcohol. One afternoon both Peter and Paul realized they forgot their beers after they had reached the outer reef; Paul began fishing while Peter started the engines and headed back to get the brews. The following day both Peter and Paul realized they forgot their tackle after they had reached the outer reef; Peter drank the beers and watched the sunset, while Paul started his engines and headed back to get the tackle and bait. Paul abuses alcohol. Peter is alcohol-dependent or alcoholic. If Paul keeps it up, there is a good chance he’ll be only drinking, and watchin’ the sunset along with Peter one of these evenings.

Alcohol becomes one of the deadliest drugs when frequent users quit “cold turkey.” For this reason, alcohol cessation should only be attempted under the supervision of a physician experienced in treating alcohol dependence. Otherwise, fatalities are much more likely to occur during the first three days of abstinence and most often on the third day of being “on the wagon”. This is due to marked increases in electro-chemical activity in the brain, commonly known as alcohol withdrawal seizures. Seizures occur because alcohol temporarily calms brain electro-chemical activity, which produces a serene feeling in most users (but not in others, such as many of Japanese heritage). This only lasts about an hour, however. After the chemo-serenity wears off, the brain starts rushing, much like an employed person who has slept an hour past the morning alarm. Milder increases in brain electro-chemical activity, or mild withdrawal, is why even social drinkers sometimes can’t fall asleep on nights after drinking wine or beer with dinner. The makers of novo-sleeping pills such as Ambien, Sonata, and Rozerem might be more instructive if they mentioned this and other common causes of insomnia in their package inserts. Natural sleep-inducing alternatives such as USA-made L-Tryptophan, 500 to 1000 mg, or GABA, 750 to 1500 mg, might be wiser choices provided your physician approves. Keep in mind that these new-generation novo-sleeping pills are controversial, and have been anecdotally linked to brain dysfunction. Moreover, they should be avoided because they do not address the underlying cause of insomnia. That cause is most likely to be an anxious or agitated depression (Cyclothymic Disorder), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Insomnia is most often a symptom associated with anxious or agitated depression or Cyclothymic Disorder, OCD, or PTSD. Alcoholics often self-medicate in order to quiet a slew of uncomfortable emotional symptoms, insomnia included, associated with an agitated or anxious depression, OCD, or PTSD. This is why many successfully recovering alcoholics regularly attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and have been prescribed non-habit forming mood stabilizers such as Effexor XR and Neurontin.

Whether you are contemplating detoxification, undergoing detoxification, or are in recovery, you should know that certain foods stimulate uncomfortable moods and alcohol cravings, while other foods work like mood stabilizers to keep alcohol cravings at bay. These foods are found on AlcoholDetoxDiet.com (OpiateRecoveryDiet.com has a similar plan). If you want to understand why some foods can drive you to drink or drugs, while other foods are medicinal, read BRIGHTFOODS. Whether you’re detoxifying, in recovery, an AA or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) sponsor, a substance abuse counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist, BRIGHTFOODS is bound to give you a necklace full of pearls of wisdom that you can wear for a lifetime.

Just One Bite of Dark Chocolate Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

Like other foods rich in antioxidants, dark chocolate helps fight heart disease, cancers, Alzheimer’s, mood disorders (including premenstrual and –menopausal), and other medical conditions when used in moderation. One to three 60-70%cacao squares each day is a healthful supplement and enjoyable snack as long it does not interfere with bowel function; more than that is not better. Strive to get your antioxidants from a variety of wholesome foods rather than from supplements. Ideally, each medicinal meal or snack with beverage should consist of about 70% antioxidant-containing carbohydrates. These include foods such as corn and tomatoes, dark chocolate and green tea; the rest should consist of minimally processed protein. Meals or snacks with beverages that are essentially devoid of antioxidants, such as macaroni and cheese, milk chocolate, and steak, are “addictive” and contribute to disease. Chocolate exemplifies how the antioxidant content of a meal, snack, or beverage helps determine whether it’s a medicinal or disease-causing addictive food.

Most of you probably won't find it hard to believe that milk chocolate is habit-forming and contributes to disease. This is because it is low in antioxidants and is thought to possess the largest number of addictive food properties. Chocolate contains three stimulants: caffeine; theobromine (Theo is the Greek word for "God"), which produces a "godly" feeling in humans, but can cause disease in dogs; and the amphetamine-like phenylethylamine, from the protein link phenylalanine. Chocolate has a calming and sedating opiate effect, because the opiate blocker naloxone cuts chocolate cravings. Finally, a fifth substance increases the amount of anandamide, a relative of the active ingredient in marijuana, found in the brain. The sixth addictive component, whole milk, is one reason milk chocolate is more addictive than dark chocolate, and that makes detoxification from milk chocolate a snap. A fling with milk chocolate that's high in rapidly-absorbed glucose feels like it can go on forever. But when we eat dark chocolate, we have what we want and then we're done—because it is healthier, and contains useful antioxidants. When used in therapeutic doses, dark chocolate is healthful for the body in general and can help improve brain functions such as learning, memory, mood, and performance. For more information about how antioxidants help fight disease and maintain health, and contribute to longevity, visit ProstateCancerPrevention.com or click on the BRIGHTFOODS icon.

The Research Is In: Women Don't Really Talk More

This is a wake-up call to anyone who takes “poll” results seriously; data can be manipulated in any direction. The results of this study are skewed because male university students, ages 18-29, tend to be at the top of their social game. After all, talking is their principle means of getting dates; you’ve all heard of “fast talkers” and “smooth operators.” Also, women in this age group tend to be more naive when it comes to interpreting male-manipu-blabber. The researchers should record conversations between older married men and women, groups of older women only, and groups of older men only. They should examine the amount of time spent on the phone with the same sex, who dominates the conversation during a female-male social and business conversation, and many other diverse measuring techniques; then they can compare them with these results.

It’s these incomplete types of research design, data collection, and interpretation of results that have led to the current mayhem of nutrition beliefs among Americans. Those beliefs are based more in philosophy than science. For more information about how not to be fooled by polls, or how to interpret neuropsychiatric study results, visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.com.

Burger King to Use Cooking Oil without Trans Fats By End of 2008

A certain “king” is leading the blind fast-food industry into the valley of the shadow of death with fairy tale-like quotes such as: “It will use trans-fat-free cooking oil!” Trans-fat-free cooking oils are made of partially hydrogenated canola, sunflower, cottonseed, or soybean oils that are higher in omega 9 and lower in omega 3, and have never undergone long-term safety trials in animals or humans, according to the PubMed search of medical journals we just conducted. That makes trans-fat-free cooking oils a little different but not necessarily less dangerous. These new trans-fat-free oils will be halfway- or almost-trans-fat-oils at best. But let’s say new oil manufacturers—perhaps the same guys that first brought us the then-untested and now deadly transfats—were to develop trans-fat-free and halfway-trans-fat-free oils. Never mind that these already exist in the form of first-press or extra virgin olive (not partially hydrogenated). But fried potatoes, chicken pieces, or hash browns will still become coated with disease-causing substances due to the high temperatures generated by these so-called safer oils.

Consumers beware; we are on our own. Get the facts about fats and oils from BRIGHTFOODS. Legislators need to either outlaw frying completely or permit it using old trans-fat-oils or new almost-trans-fat oils. They should have fried foods follow the same excise tax hike route as cigarettes to help offset healthcare costs. Creating a whole new “a little less dangerous oil” industry and eventually having restaurants across the country retool is ludicrous and is not a good public health move.

Tobacco Taxes May Go to Child Health

The Democrats would start a much-needed and wise trend by having the nation's smokers help pay for the spending increases needed for children's health insurance. This action could also prompt new legislation that will tax other commodities that adversely affect pediatric health. Candy, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereals, and fried restaurant items should also be taxed since the American Cancer Society reported that certain foods, physical inactivity, and obesity caused more deaths from cancer than tobacco use. Junk food should follow the same excise tax hike route as cigarettes in an effort to help pay for children’s health insurance. Visit Rx4HealthcareReform.com or CTRTDiet.com for more information regarding healthcare reform and the food-cancer connection.

Glycemic Index Indicates How Food Elevates Blood Sugar

Despite several best-selling books that deal with the glycemic index and considerable press, the average Joe or Josephine does not understand what the GI, or glycemic index, means. This is probably because researchers often have a hard time keeping it simple. Think of the glycemic index number in this way: Each food is like a particular street with a corresponding speed limit. Table sugar has a glycemic index of 65, which for our purposes means it absorbs through the intestinal wall and turns into blood sugar as if it were traveling at a speed of 65 miles per hour. Old-fashioned oatmeal crosses at 51 miles per hour, meaning it is slowly absorbed; it is a medicinal carbohydrate, and therefore helps fight heart disease, cancer, obesity, and aging. Instant oatmeal, on the other hand, speeds into your blood stream at 65 miles per hour; that’s the same as table sugar.

In the BRIGHTFOODS’ GI perspective, carbohydrates traveling faster than 55 are speeding. They are considered hard to put down, habit-forming or addictive, and have been linked to heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, mood disorders, arthritic problems, and accelerated aging. You want to eat carbohydrates that stay below 55. A full comprehensive list of foods and their corresponding GIs is found in BRIGHTFOODS. However, let’s list a few foods so that you can get a better idea whether you are eating slowly absorbed medicinal or rapidly absorbed addictive carbohydrates:

Kidney Beans – 22	Whole Wheat Bread - 69
Cherries – 22	Watermelon - 72
Barley (not instant) – 25	Bagels - 72
Peach – 30	Bran Flakes - 74
Low-fat Chocolate Milk – 34	Cheerios - 74
Tomato juice – 38	French Fries - 75
Unsweetened Apple juice – 40	Total - 76
Pumpernickel – 41	Grape nuts flakes - 80
Banana bread – 47	Jelly Beans - 80
Peas – 48	Rice Cakes - 81
Carrots -49	Instant Rice - 87
Mango – 51	Fruit Roll-ups - 99
Stoneground whole wheat – 53	Dates - 103
Sourdough wheat – 54	Tofu Frozen Dessert – 115

For much more information about the glycemic index, and ideas about how, for example, to take a speeder like mashed potatoes and slow it down to 55, visit BrightFoodsBooks.com.

Snack food makers are probably going to have to do more than use so-called healthier fats and reduce sugars in the future. They are going to have to deal with Public Health Enemy #1: enriched white and whole wheat flours. This is because processing magically transforms wholesome wheat essentially into sugar. Our bodies perceive snacks, bread, bagels, breakfast cereals, English muffins, and pasta as if we were eating refined granular sugar. Sprinkle flour fairy dust over adults and children and "poof""-they become overweight and obese. Because cylinder- or hammer-milled flour is depleted of antioxidants and other nutrients, Psyche Nutrition Sciences has compiled original nutrient-rich recipes for snacks, breads, pastas, pizza crust, rolls, buns, cakes, cookies, and baked goods that uses flour containing 100 percent stone ground organic whole wheat plus two other antioxidant-containing ingredients.

These recipes will be welcome news for people who can't wait for manufacturers to wake up and smell the more healthful baked goods. For more information visit EmptyWavesofGrain.com.

The cardiac benefits mentioned here pertain only to certain younger women who start taking estrogen in their 50s. The risks of taking estrogen still may outweigh the benefits because it can increase the risk of endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women. Naturally occurring phytoestrogens from processed soy have not proven to be useful in combating cardiovascular disease. However, phytoestrogens (found in snacks, cereals, and bottled salad dressings, for example) have been found to affect puberty onset, premenstrual and menopausal neuropsychiatric symptoms, hormone-sensitive cancers such as breast and prostate and estrogen-driven obesity-a major reason why women have a harder time losing weight. For more information visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.com.

It has long been known that the stomach is essentially impervious to alcohol-meaning that alcohol does not absorb through the stomach lining in order to alter the mind. Under normal conditions, therefore, alcohol is held in the stomach and slowly drips into the intestine, where it is slowly absorbed through the bloodstream and into the brain. A stomach containing alcohol becomes much like an alcohol time released capsule. However, gastric surgery changes all that. After gastric surgery, alcohol bypasses the stomach and goes right into the intestine, where it is rapidly absorbed into the brain and psyche.

Bypass surgery transforms the gastro-intestinal system from a time-released scenario into an almost immediate release of alcohol into the bloodstream. Thus people with gastric bypasses get buzzed sooner.

The story neglects another, more important point. Bypass surgery also changes the way we digest carbohydrates. Rapidly absorbed carbohydrates-the bad ones such as products made of flour-are essentially the same as sugar, and turn into fat faster without a stomach. People who have not had the bypass surgery will process bad carbohydrates differently; carbs will first wait in the stomach, where they are essentially not absorbed. Bad carbohydrates become less fattening while waiting in the stomach because they become time released, meaning small amounts of bad carbohydrates enter the intestine over time. Smaller amounts of bad carbohydrates entering the intestine mean more is burnt up as energy and less is deposited as fat. Therefore, one of the functions of the stomach is to make bad carbs less fattening.

On the other hand, bad carbs can be more fattening for people after bypass surgery. For more information visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.com.

Because it can become a repetitive self-defeating behavior, video addiction is real. In order for video- or computer-related activity to classify as an addiction, however, the behavior must be directly linked to a significant reduction in academic, social, or occupational functioning.

What makes the video addict keep coming back? It's an actual change in "feel-good" chemicals inside the brain's emotional center. Video addicts become reliant on bursts of dopamine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, and other stimulants that are found naturally in the brain and body. Perhaps the biggest danger is that people of any age can become addicted to video and computer entertainment because they become accustomed to relying on the environment in order to feel good-instead of working on feeling good from within. That can make video addiction a "gateway" to addictions related to foods, energy drinks, gambling, pornography, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, drugs, and relationships. For more information visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences.

Americans eat more dairy products and take more calcium supplements than any other country in the world. We also have the highest incidence of osteoporosis. People relying on calcium from dairy can rely on other less processed sources such as acorn squash, almonds, low mercury fish, broccoli, dried figs, kale, legumes, okra, old-fashioned oatmeal, sesame seeds, turnip greens, walnuts, and watercress and decrease their animal protein intake to about 25 percent of their total calories, as percentages above 30 percent have been linked to osteoporosis. For more information visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.com.

Omega 6 and 3 fatty acids and protein can be obtained from first press olive oil, and poultry and beans. Millions of monks and Hindus have proven that fish consumption is not essential to life or high intelligence. However, if you like fish there is a safer way to eat.

Then there is the mercury issue. Low mercury fish such as talapia, flounder and shrimp are safe two to three times per week in adults, children, and pregnant and lactating mothers. Children, pregnant and lactating mothers would be wise to avoid midrange mercury fish such as tuna and adults should avoid high mercury fish such as sword and grouper. For more than 60 species of fish, how often and what age group should eat them, visit BrightFoodsBooks.com.

Also, be aware that the health benefits from fish that we see in the medical literature might be more a function of a diet low in red meat than one high in fish.

Hypertension is up due, in part, to obesity and the overabundance of processed, convenience and addictive foods in our diets. One of the most prevalent addictive additives is salt. Excess salt raises blood pressure, not only because of water retention, but also because it irritates the brain and increases anxiety. For more information about addictive foods and additives visit NutritionalNeuropsychiatry.com.

Medicine for breast cancer prevention seems as futile as diet pills for
obesity. Prevention is the best treatment for both diseases. Eating
mainly medicinal foods, participating in an active lifestyle and
maintaining your ideal weight is the best prevention for breast cancer.
For more information visit NutritionalNeuropsychiatry.com.

Genetic research is important, however, it is well known that breast
cancer is mainly a function of diet, physical activity and weight.
Genetics only play a small role and any hopes of bioengineering our way
out of breast cancer will only be neutralized by the same three: excess
addictive or processed foods, a sedentary lifestyle, and obesity. For
more information visit NutritionalNeuropsychiatry.com.

Aging is a term we use to describe the toll that excited oxygen molecules take on body cells. Where do these unwanted oxygen molecules come from? They're called free radicals, and they're mainly by-products of burning the thousands of food calories-human fuel-that we use each day to keep trucking along. Just like cars, we need fuel to function properly. The body never stops burning fuel, even while we're resting, meditating or sleeping. And just as it is when we drive, whenever we burn through our energy sources, we create a corresponding amount of emissions in the form of free radicals, causing body rust-or, as it's referred to in the scientific community, oxidative stress, or cell aging. For more information on how your lifestyle may be cutting your life span, visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.com.

Minimally processed foods high in antioxidants such as produce and omega 9, 6, and 3 in a therapeutic ratio such as first press olive oil, and poultry, beans and low mercury fish such as talapia and salmon, have been liked to improved learning, memory, mood and performance. For more information visit AddandNutrition.com.

Comprehensive treatment of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes includes reaching ideal weight by reducing or eliminating dietary saturated, trans and half-trans fats such as canola oil, bad carbohydrates, salt, and processed protein such as delicatessen meats, bacon, soy and whey. Following these dietary practices also reduces the risk of developing forgetfulness, mild cognitive impairment or MCI, and Alzheimer's. For more dietary and lifestyle changes to save your memory, visit Alzheimersandnutrition.com.

This fad diet is living proof why low-fat diets make you fat; of course you will be less hungry if you eat more calories. However, I would discourage people from eating half-trans, partially hydrogenated plant oils such as canola, olive and light olive, and eat organic first press olive oil instead. It's safe even when heated by keeping the temperature under 400. For more information about the dangers of fad diets visit nutritionalneuropsychiatry.com.

Many sunscreens provide a false sense of security because skin damaging rays do pass through lotion. This is especially true with sun exposure greater than 30 minutes. If you are interested in additional information about healthier looking skin, visit SkinandNutrition.net.

This is a wise policy because people with mood disorders often not only have a higher aptitude for the arts, but also excel in engineering, inventing, medicine, law, physics, chemistry, biology, and other technical professions. Moodiness is often the sign of good brain balance, and potential over-achievers or movers and shakers. It has long been known that there is a very fine line between genius and madness.

Some of the most prominent people in society were harvested from that edge; many prominent people dwell there. If you are interested in secret ways to access the full potential of your mind, visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.com.

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, previously known as "Shell Shock", is best treated with frequent psychotherapy or counseling, antianxiety/antidepressant medication, and life style counseling. The latter focuses on anxiety reducing medicinal foods, daily aerobic exercise and stress management in the form of self-hypnosis, meditation, prayer, yoga, walking, fishing, reading, and others. For more information visit NutritionalNeuropsychiatry.com.

There is considerable neuropsychiatric evidence to suggest that medicinal foods and additives improve problematic psychiatric symptoms, while others amplify or create emotional discomfort. For more information visit NutritionalNeuropsychiatry.com.

There is strong neuropsychiatric evidence to suggest that Tai Chi, Yoga, Kung Fu, meditation, prayer and self-hypnosis increase activity in the left prefrontal cortex or serenity center. Worry, irritability, anxiety and depression stimulate the right prefrontal cortex. Stress management training minimizes activity in the stress center and increases activity in the serenity center. For more information visit NutritionalNeuropsychiatry.com.

Besides caffeine, there are natural stimulants in food and additives that can aggravate OCD. They include excess salt; MSG and glutamate hidden in ingredients such as hydrolyzed plant protein, high-fructose corn syrup, soy and whey drinks; and aspartame, NutraSweet and Sweet and Low. For more information on foods and additives that can aggravate OCD, visit NutritionalNeuropsychiatry.com.

As part of an effort to offset the 89 billion dollars incurred annually
for smoking-related healthcare costs, a panel recommended raising excise
taxes on cigarettes by as much as 2 dollars per pack. If legislators
considered more input from clinical experts, they would have learned a
long time ago that charging a much higher tax would not only help offset
the enormous strain on the healthcare system, but would also help the
nicotine addict to stop smoking. In addition, it is only a matter of
time before legislators wake up and see that nutraceutically weak or
absent foods such as most breakfast cereals, including those marked
"whole grain", salty snacks, candy, cookies, cakes, many delicatessen
meats and cheese, ice cream, pizza, bread, partially hydrogenated oils
such as canola, beef, sugar substitutes, and pastas, also contribute to
heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, obesity in children and numerous
other medical illnesses. Junk food should follow the same excise tax
hike route as cigarettes in an effort to help offset healthcare costs
and begin making headway in the obesity epidemic, according to the
research director at Psyche Nutrition Sciences.

The Coca Cola Bottling Company was probably the first manufacturer to
realize that drugs mixed in food makes for more return customers.
According to Psyche Nutrition Sciences (PNSI-Inc.com), there are
medicinal foods and additives and ones that are habit-forming or
addictive. Let's look at one, there are many more, addictive additive
that has helped make McDonald's famous. In some ways, salt behaves like
the addictive drug cocaine according to BRIGHTFOODS. Salt is one main
reason why once we get started with a salty snack or meal, we are often
amazed at how fast it, too, is consumed. Salt makes otherwise wholesome
food such as chicken, more habit forming and that means better sales and
more customers returning. Salted foods become more addictive because
America's favorite additive and preservative affects "feel good"
messengers, including dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, acetylcholine, and
opiates inside the brain and mind. If you would like to learn more about
mind nutrition, visit nutritionalneuropsychiatry.com.

Mounting nutritional neuropsychiatric evidence strongly suggests that Alzheimer's and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are more the product of dietary and lifestyle than genetic factors, as is now known about cancer. For example, according to alzheimersandnutrition.com, a diet rich in beef, cheese, bad carbohydrates such as products made of whole wheat flour, partially hydrogenated plant oils such as canola and olive, certain cooking methods such as frying, and a sedentary lifestyle, increase forgetfulness and the gravity of MCI and Alzheimer's. A diet rich in minimally processed produce, "real" whole grains, poultry, low-mercury fish, and first press olive oil, has been shown to improve memory, focus and most other cognitive functions.

The sting of "obese" can be cushioned by explaining that these are scientific terms that are generated based on Body Mass Index (BMI) or newer more accurate calculations. A BMI of 26 to 29 = overweight, 30 to 39 = obese, and 40 to 50 = morbid obesity. It's nothing personal, just a calculation and a solid motive to gradually move kids towards ideal weight using the BRIGHTFOODS Lifestyle.

Today we know that a diet poor in antioxidants (that is, not containing good carbohydrates, first press olive oil), and minimally processed protein from whole grain, beans, poultry and low mercury fish, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle have more to do with the risk of getting most types of cancer than tobacco and genetic factors. The good news is that following a healthier path, such as the BRIGHTFOODS Lifestyle, helps prevent most cancers. The bad news is: How are we going to get a generation of junk-food-junkies and manufacturers to convert recipes for pizza, macaroni and cheese, cheeseburgers and other favorites into more wholesome versions?

There is considerable agreement among researchers that vitamin D, which is actually a hormone, decreases the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Women and men now can agree on one more way to live in healthful harmony. But do we need vitamin D from milk? No, because most of the vitamin D we need is made inside our bodies when sunlight is absorbed.

With as little as 15 minutes exposure to our arms and face a few times a week, the vitamin can be stored for months. Dairy should be avoided in adults because it can be a risk factor for both breast and prostate cancers, obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer's. For more information on the latter visit Alzheimersandnutrition.com.

Folic acid and colon cancer is the latest example of why more is not better, and how a processed vitamin supplement can cause disease. Pertinent old news items include: taking more than 400 IU of vitamin E supplement each day can increase the risk of heart attack and high dose beta carotene from supplements has been linked to lung cancer and other diseases. According to Psyche Nutrition Sciences (PNSI-Inc), minimally processed nutrients from wholesome foods always deliver the goods our bodies need to help fight most cancers, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's, ADD, and depression.

The FDA gave the go ahead for the first nonprescription diet pill. But this diet pill may cause disease in dieters especially when used in conjunction with a low fat diet. Once dissolved inside the intestine, this diet pill can cause a vital oil deficiency by reducing the absorption of essential omega 6 and 3 fatty acids. In 1927, scientists first noticed that a deficiency in fat affects both growth and reproduction. This observation began a hunt for what they called "Vitamin F." Researchers eventually found two: linoleic (omega 6) and linolenic (omega 3) acids. They referred to these as "essential fatty acids," since it was believed that the body needed to get them from foods in order to manufacture other key functional and energy-providing oils. For more information visit Psyche Nutrition Sciences at PNSI-Inc.

Special K, like most other breakfast cereals made essentially of hammer or cylinder milled wheat flour, does not have a low glycemic index; meaning it essentially turns to sugar once absorbed into the blood stream. That coupled with its essential absence of “whole grain” qualities and surplus of unwholesome manufactured vitamins, makes Special K a dressed-up junk food that is contributing to the malnutrition epidemic facing this country. According to Psyche Nutrition Sciences, manufacturers would be wiser to go with 100% stone ground whole wheat flour.

Tanning is habit forming, in part, because light increases the amounts of "feel good" messengers or neurotransmitters inside the brain and mind. That's why increased exposure to light is one of the treatments for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Light, chocolate, pizza, chips, and ice cream each temporarily stimulate the same or similar antidepressant chemicals inside the brain and mind. If you would like more information about mind nutrition, visit nutritionalneuropsychiatry.com.

In some ways, salt behaves like the addictive drug cocaine according to BRIGHTFOODS. Salt is one main reason why once we get started with a salty snack or meal, we are often amazed at how fast it, too, is consumed. Salt makes otherwise wholesome food such as chicken, more habit forming and that means better sales and more customers returning.

Salted foods become more addictive because America's favorite additive and preservative affects "feel good" messengers, including dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, acetylcholine, and opiates inside the brain and mind. If you would like to learn more about mind nutrition visit nutritionalneuropsychiatry.com.

Vitamin D cuts cancer risk in older women

There is considerable agreement among researchers that vitamin D, which is actually a hormone, decreases the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Women and men now can agree on one more way to live in healthful harmony. But do we need vitamin D from milk? No, because most of the vitamin D we need is made inside our bodies when sunlight is absorbed.
With as little as 15 minutes exposure to our arms and face a few times a week, the vitamin can be stored for months. Dairy should be avoided in adults because it can be a risk factor for both breast and prostate cancers, obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer's. For more information on the latter visit Alzheimersandnutrition.com.

Healthcare costs continue to reel out of control well after they were first showcased by the Clintons back in the 1990s. Measures taken back then to correct this problem only demonized medical personnel who serve the public and significantly shrunk the profit margins of healthcare insurance companies, hospitals, and physicians. We now have a glut of overworked and underpaid healthcare workers. Those of us in the field have a tough time encouraging young people to hop on board this sinking ship. Even after many parts of the healthcare system (pharmaceutical industry excluded) have tightened their belts, the revenue vice continues to cripple it. Medicare and Social Security are struggling to pay their bills and those receiving the best healthcare in the world continue to scream "no fair" each time they pay a ten dollar co-payment or a new fee is added.

Even non Freudian psychiatrists would agree with the father of psychoanalysis when he proposed that patients need to pay in order to get well. Although it has never been proven, a national study of medical specialties would find much better treatment outcome results in private practices that enjoy a majority of self-paying patients, than in practices relying almost exclusively on an insured population. The main flaw of such a study would be that people who can afford to pay out of pocket medical costs also are more likely to have healthier lifestyles and not tax the healthcare mill for every scrape and ache.

Many ideas were bandied about in the early 1990s in an effort to curb skyrocketing healthcare costs. One suggestion was to hold cigarette and cigar smokers more accountable for their personal choice to smoke. I recall this aspect of the controversy as the editor of the newly published medical textbook, The Clinical Management of Nicotine Dependence (Springer-Verlag). Almost everyone on the front lines trying to cut healthcare costs back then knew that cardiovascular disease and cancers were among the most costly. Only an almost inaudible minority knew that these two groups of diseases were actually caused by a phantom disease, nicotine dependence, lurking behind the cardiovascular/cancer façade.

I can still hear the tobacco lobby, the precursor of today's processed foods and sugar substitute lobbies, shouting "these are nothing but poorly designed studies leading to inconclusive links between cigarette smoking and disease." Politicians were afraid to speak up in a country that literally gained its independence on the back of the tobacco trade, a little business our ancestors learned from Native Americans, where gold tobacco leaves adorn the columns of Congress and tobacco stimulated not only their minds but also commerce and the economy. Nonsmokers cried, "No fair! Why should we pay for coronary bypasses, cancers, emphysema and other diseases because people chose to take up a disgusting habit?" Smokers yelled the loudest: "It's a free country. You can't tell us what to do," and "I am not paying more for insurance; that's discrimination." There was neither a peep nor a helping hand from the rich pharmaceutical industry that quietly walked away without a stain on its lab coat.

The side stage debates, however, may have been fruitful because today there is a two-tier system regarding price tags on private healthcare and life insurance; one price for smokers and a lower one for people who were treated, stopped or choose not to smoke in the first place. Much more could have been and can be done, however, to have smokers pay for their freedom to choose. For example, cigarette or cigar smokers, and tobacco chewers or dippers receiving Social Security, who are also on Medicare, should have their monthly check reduced by a certain percentage to give them an incentive to stop, while taxing the healthcare system less.

Be that as it may, in today's political arena we have much bigger fish to fry. And although the pre-primary debates present a virtual buffet of very hot issues, healthcare seems to be over on yesterday's hors d'oeuvre table. Who knows, with healthcare costs continuing to tax the national deficit to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe soon it will become a special on the political debate menu. Regardless, it would be a good strategy for both Democratic and Republican candidates to keep voter attention away from this steaming topic and on the war, where at least each team is confident that it can win; time will tell. The problem with this strategy, however, is our nation has attention deficit disorder and is not likely to stay focused on the geographically distant issues from now until the very distant Election Day. The fact remains, that healthcare is likely to become an important issue just before we vote because last minute deciders, perhaps the majority of Americans, often vote on pocketbook and living room issues. Candidates will know when to broach the topic of healthcare when their strategists give the green light, which they will get from skewed polls. By skewed I mean biased and inaccurate because participants in a FOX TV (for example) poll may view issues more off to the right than perhaps participants in a New York Times poll. In any case, poll participants, as a group, are not necessarily reflective of national views as the majority of Americans are too busy to be bothered answering pollsters' questions. In any case, let's begin formulating our own perspectives and solutions to the healthcare crisis before we get bamboozled by agenda driven politico-babble.

Politics aside, I see deja vu all over again, because cardiovascular disease and cancers are still among the largest financial burdens imposed upon our government, economy, and people. Don't forget type two diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer's, and many other lifestyle-dependent medical disorders draining hundreds of billions of dollars from the increasingly inaccessible American dream pool. Once again the powers that govern purse strings are missing a primary cause for these diseases. What is the common denominator? It's malnutrition, even as it relates to Alzheimer's, in the form of being overweight and obese. As an expert in the treatment of addictions for over 25 years, I once again am trying to point out that people who are dependent on addictive, over processed foods and additives, the cause of the brain disease popularly known as obesity, need to be held accountable for their choice to over indulge; the best way to persuade them to reconsider their food and lifestyle choices is to charge an Abnormal BMI (Body Mass Index) Fare for those who exercise their right to bulge.

I can hear them now: objections from special interest groups and food and additive lobbyists confidently parroting an intimidating "These comments are from irresponsible scientist who base their comments on poorly designed studies and inconclusive findings" (never mind that there is a squadron of data to support the link between processed foods and additives, and obesity). Politicians skirt the issue until they know what their flock would graciously accept besides free healthcare and because food and beverage manufacturers stimulate the economy and create jobs; inactive overweight and obese people will be screaming bloody murder. The same ones that typically spout "We all have to die some day!" in response to recommendations made to change their self destructive behaviors, might shout "No Fair! Are you out of your mind? It's a free country. You can't tell me what to eat and what not to eat. I am not paying more for healthcare, that's discrimination." Then there is the eye rolling minority, less than forty percent of the population, who are within their ideal weight range (as determined by the BMI) and whose mantra could be "no good deed will go unpunished" might be heard complaining "Why should we have to help pick up the tab for treating obesity driven diseases in people who have unnecessarily inflicted harm upon themselves by choosing an unhealthy lifestyle?" The pharmaceutical industry might be too busy formulating the next diet pill (a futile effort given that food cravings are stifled only by wholesome nutraceuticals) to weigh in on this issue; where are the candidates that closed many quality hospitals in the 1990s after gripes of $1000 dollar a day hospital stays, to point out that it is not uncommon for prescription medicines to cost more than $30 per pill? Come on guys, can't we pull in that 42 inch belt a notch?

Peanut gallery aside, people who treat addictive food dependence, popularly known as obesity, know that optimal treatment results are achieved by having patients change their eating choices and behaviors and some of the best motivational fuel includes consequences in the form of continuing to pay a fare to stay obese and give financial rewards for those who reach and maintain an ideal weight. Applying this incentive-driven treatment model to the current healthcare system could conceivably cut costs and defeat the nation's biggest terrorist. Let's take a brief look at how a nutritional neuropsychiatrist might take the healthcare crisis and turn it into an opportunity to prevent and treat the most costly diseases facing our nation and simultaneously cut costs:

1. Private health and life insurance companies should be permitted to charge higher rates for the underweight, overweight, obese and morbidly obese accordingly; rates would be adjusted after the patient's insurance company receives, directly from a treating physician, documentation of a healthier weight sustained for at least six months.

2. The cost of employer-sponsored health or life insurance should be offset by having employees who are outside their ideal weight range have a percentage of their check go towards helping their employer/employer's carrier pay for their healthcare.

3. Elementary, middle and high schools should clean up their lunchrooms and vending machines; get graded lifestyle classes and workshops with homework.

4. Overweight people receiving social security benefits, Medicare, Medicaid and service connected veterans should have a percentage taken off their monthly checks and increased co-payments to offset their higher healthcare costs and more importantly motivate them to reach and maintain an ideal weight.

5. Overweight people receiving food stamps should receive itemized percentages of medicinal foods instead of the current food stamp system that allow overweight people to continue feeding their addictive foods habit with bagged, boxed, bottled, canned, jarred, frozen, and other heavily salted and over processed nutritionally depleted foods. For example, 50% of the stamps each beneficiary is awarded would be green and could only be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, 20% would be white for old fashioned oats, uncooked wild rice, barley, legumes, a small bottle of first press olive oil, multigrain pasta and multigrain bread, and 30% would be colored yellow for minimally processed proteins including unprocessed chicken, flounder, talapia, turkey, Cornish hen, eggs, peas, beans, nuts and seeds.

This thumbnail sketch illustrates how an incentive-driven healthcare system can be both humane and cost-efficient. There are many additional ways to cut healthcare costs and limit self-destructive behavior.

People who treat addictive food dependence, popularly known as obesity, know that optimal treatment results are achieved by having patients change their eating choices and behaviors and some of the best motivational fuel includes consequences in the form of paying a fare to stay obese and give financial rewards for those who reach and maintain an ideal weight. Applying this incentive-driven treatment model to the current healthcare system could conceivably cut costs and defeat the nation's biggest terrorist. Let's take a brief look at how a nutritional neuropsychiatrist might take the healthcare crisis and turn it into an opportunity to prevent and treat the most costly diseases facing our nation and simultaneously cut costs:

Montgomery Bans Trans Fats in Restaurants, Markets

(Similar comment posted on washingtonpost.com)

Canola, olive, soy, corn, safflower, coconut, palm, peanut, and sunflower oils are all partially hydrogenated, or what BRIGHTFOODS author Dr. Cocores calls "half-trans" or "bad" fats. Processed oils contribute to obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancers, Alzheimer's, and other diseases because they are weak in nutraceuticals and generate disease and cancer causing substances on meat and produce when they are heated to high temperatures. The only oil that is not partially hydrogenated is first-press or extra virgin olive oil because it contains high amounts of several antioxidants, which serve as natural preservatives. Filtered first-press olive oil does not turn foods into disease and
cancer causing agents as long as browning is avoided and the temperature
is kept below 400 degrees.

OXYCONTIN MAKERS ADMIT DECEPTION

(Comment posted on washingtonpost.com)

In a 2002 report, the Drug Enforcement Administration traced 142 deaths to OxyContin overdose and said the drug contributed to another 318 fatalities according to the Washington Post. The term "overdose" needs clarification, as the average reader is likely to link it to suicide instead of accidental death from this particular time-release narcotic.

As a psychiatrist specializing in the detoxification and rehabilitation of substance-dependent individuals, I know most deaths caused by OxyContin overdose to be accidental because of the hazardous way this heroin-like drug is prepared. OxyContin is time released, meaning a large dose is slowly absorbed into the central nervous system over many hours in a sustained way. When this time-release tablet is crushed by opiate addicts, who know it to be more efficacious after it has been crushed, it changes from the mg dose equivalent of one time-release tablet to the equivalent of a multiple mg dose of immediate-release oxycodone. This is what makes OxyContin so deadly.

Obesity on the rise in Europe

According to medical research worldwide, when Europeans adopt American-style eating habits, they increase their risk of developing many different forms of cancer, diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer’s, and of being overweight and obese.

During my 1971 trip to Greece, I ate a fresh-cut tomato and onion salad covered with extra virgin olive oil and a side of stone ground wheat bread (different from whole wheat bread), with friends and relatives almost every day. In 2004, however, meals in Greece regularly consisted of cheese and white bread. It is no wonder that the scales in Greece are tipping with increased weight.

As Research Director of Psyche Nutrition Sciences (PNSI-Inc.com), I can attest to the fact that even though America has great strengths, when it comes to inventing a healthier way of eating, we are definitely not the sharpest tool in the worldwide shed. The very convenience-oriented technologies and industries that have made us the envy of the world have also made us the most overweight and obese society in terms of the percentage of population affected. The myriad of emotional and medical diseases associated with obesity are not only choking us financially, but they will also eventually kill many of us. As citizens of other countries gradually adopt our harmful eating habits, immigrants to these shores are also beginning to show higher incidences of disease.

The Maltese, Greeks, and Americans would be wise to follow the trim Italians and French when it comes to using wholesome ingredients and employing better eating habits. Incidentally, the French smoke more than Americans and live longer. That is the power of minimally processed whole foods.

FDA wants pill labels to warn of `sleep-driving'
(A similar comment was posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

Insomnia is a symptom frequently associated with worry, anxiety, and depression. In addition to causing sleep-eating and hangover like side effects, the latest generation of sleeping aids does not treat the cause. Some of the most common causes of insomnia include sleep apnea, obesity, unsettled moods, and diet. Mild cases of insomnia have been treated by avoiding foods and supplements that can drive insomnia, such as wine and B vitamins. Eating more medicinal foods can help fight insomnia and other symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. Moderate and severe cases of insomnia associated with racing thoughts and obsessive worrying may best be treated with psychotherapy and medicine that can treat the cause of the problem. BrightFoods has more information on medicinal foods that can help insomnia, anxiety, and depression, as well as addictive foods that can make these conditions worse.

We're eating too few veggies
(A similar comment was posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

Eating a three-course meal can be a useful tactic, especially when trying to feed children. Keeping the main course in sight or within sniffing range, start with a serving of fresh cut fruit and follow it up with a serving of minimally processed vegetables. The main course becomes desert. BrightFoods contains many recipes that can make medicinal foods look and taste like junk.

Rethink that drink
(A similar comment was posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

Soft-drink consumption has exploded to 21 percent of the calories in the American diet. There are also other non-nutritive components to our diet. We also need to reconsider the enriched flour and the whole wheat flour found in breads, English muffins, breakfast cereals, muffins, pasta, cakes and cookies. These two highly processed flours can turn into glucose as fast as granular sugar. Healthier alternative flour is one-hundred percent stone ground whole wheat, which truly qualifies as a whole grain and converts into glucose much slower than common flours, providing time released energy and nutrients. BrightFoods contains recipes using nutritious stone ground whole wheat flour and details the differences among these flours.

Garlic no cure for cholesterol
(A similar comment was entered in the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

It is a poor research practice to administer garlic or any other isolated food or nutrient (i.e. omega 6) to lab animals and draw conclusions. Cholesterol aside, when used in conjunction with five servings of produce every day and an active lifestyle, garlic can fight cancer and other diseases. This action is a function of body cleansing agents called antioxidants. Like tomato sauce, garlic is one of the few exceptions to the general rule that the more an antioxidant is processed or oxidized, the less of an antioxidant affect it possesses.

For many employees, fitness has its prize
(Based on a comment posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

An increasing body of evidence continues to mount in favor of the notion that obesity is a brain disease characterized by a pathological attachment to addictive foods. Incentives are given to people addicted to nicotine in the form of lower non-smoker insurance premiums. Why should food addiction be different? Being within ones ideal weight range for height and sex should have its prize as does being a non-smoker. Others should pay higher premiums to cover their higher healthcare costs, shorter life expectancy and give them an incentive to reduce the amount of processed and addictive foods they choose to consume.

Pregnant women get coffee break
(Based on a comment posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

This “OK to proceed on moderate coffee consumption while pregnant” is reminiscent of the relatively recent finding that egg yolks are occasionally permitted for people with elevated cholesterol, after the yellow beauties were outlawed by nutritionists in 1972. However, pregnant or otherwise, people should know that the sugar substitute that they stir into coffee was never proven effective for weight reduction. It also was never been adequately brain tested. Sugar substitutes affect the brain. For example, aspartame has been linked to panic attacks, headaches, migraines, and seizures. Recently two of my young female patients were hospitalized for sugar substitute related seizures. In my opinion, pregnant women and children should avoid sugar substitutes until these non-nutritive chemicals have been thoroughly brain tested in these populations.

VA Tech Massacre: Identifying Problems and Solutions
(Based on a comment posted on usatoday.com and virginianpilot.com)

Let’s try to identify problems and solutions. HIPAA law and privacy is essential. The information obtained within the patient-doctor relationship is protected by federal law, it is private and should remain that way. Without confidentiality, students would not seek treatment or speak up during court-mandated treatment. Massacres would probably be more common.

With more than 25 years of research and clinical practice, the answer is simple in my opinion. We knew the answer in the 1950s. I turn your attention to information and a quote from a major pharmacology textbook printed in 1975: In 1958, Kuhn administered the first antidepressant ever discovered, imipramine, and found it most useful in plain depression, “whereas patients with hyperactivity, agitated, and anxious depressions were made worse by the drug.” Modern psychiatry calls hyperactive, agitated, and anxious depressions “cyclothymic disorder”, which is a mild touch of bipolar disorder; something I call “baby bipolar”. Cyclothymic disorder often requires the addition of a mood stabilizer to the antidepressant, requiring patients to take two medications because cyclothymic disorder can turn into suicidal or homicidal bipolar disorder or both, which is when someone kills, then kills themselves. Again, I have seen or heard of cases in which an antidepressant without a mood stabilizer made a previously mild to moderately depressed person, suicidal or homicidal in hundreds of instances. When antidepressants make people suicidal or homicidal, the problem is not the patient; the problem is physicians who missed the cyclothymic disorder wearing the mask of a plain depression.

The black box warning should include language about cyclothymia posing as plain depression and how a mood stabilizer may need to be added if the patient’s depression turns for the worse.

Each student is permitted to return to school only when accompanied by a letter, signed by a psychiatrist, stating: "This student does not present an immediate danger to himself or others."

Elementary schools and high schools have the right to send a student for a psychiatric evaluation at the parent's expense. If the student does not shape-up, they are placed in a more appropriate academic setting, especially when the safety of other students is in question.

High-fructose corn syrup is an ingredient found in numerous processed foods and beverages. It is an extremely unhealthy sweetener because it is a form of rapidly absorbed sugar that contributes to obesity and brain cell toxicity. Rapidly absorbed glucose from foods such as most “healthy” breakfast cereals can be inadequately managed by insulin, thereby leaving the excess glucose to be stored as fat. Slowly absorbed glucose from foods such as apples provides energy with essentially no conversion into fat. However, the big headline has been missed. In addition to concentrated fructose, high-fructose corn syrup contains concentrated MSG! Corn is a natural source of glutamate, popularly known as mono sodium glutamate or MSG. Minimally processed corn is healthy, but when a room full of the stuff is heated and processed into syrup, two addictive mind and brain cell toxins are created in abundance; high fructose syrup containing concentrated glutamate. Glutamate is also a short acting feel-good chemical (one reason why chips seem to fly down our esophagus), which has been linked to brain cell death, panic attacks, poor behavior, memory impairment, fear and seizures when consumed in excess.

Low nutrition literacy is pandemic even among self-proclaimed literates. Nutrition illiteracy is the direct result of new, rapidly harvested research findings that are not adequately translated from the medical into simple language or disseminated in a timely fashion by journalists, physicians and nutritionists. Instead, they continue to rely on often outdated information, and are confused and misled by static in the form of agenda-driven product information, as well as commercials and advertisements from vendors and manufactures of processed foods, additives and supplements. This contributes to confusion, deception and medical nutrition dementia across the country. People continue to pick and choose through information, and assemble their own ideas of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle. Obesity, cancer and heart disease will continue to run amuck until deceptive marketing campaigns are held accountable.

What do Britney Spears, schizophrenia and so-called "energy drinks" have in common?

Cocores said he's found energy drink consumption to cause heightened symptoms among his patients -- including creating the appearance of schizophrenia.

In most cases, he said, these symptoms resemble the behavior of the pop star that recently shaved her head.

"If you did not see it on the set of some of Spears latest antics, then you will need to check out other sources to know that she is a big fan of the stuff," said Cocores, who referred to Wikipedia. "So, this pertains to Spears if she in fact consumed large amounts of energy drinks because it could explain, at least in part, her recent bizarre behaviors as depicted in the media."

Cocores, the author of BRIGHTFOODS: Discover the Surprising Link between Food and Learning, Memory, Mood, and Performance said he's seen "too many [cases] to describe" cases of energy drinks having a negative effect on patients.

"A retired couple recently left my office after asking me, "Is Britney Spears going through what our son went through?" Their 20-year-old showed signs of disorganized and delusional thinking, insomnia for days, poor impulse control and judgment, angry and violent outbursts, and irresponsible behavior. As a result, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, hospitalized, and treated with antipsychotic and antidepressant medicines."

This mother cut off her son's energy drink supply shortly after he was discharged with his new medications. He now remains free of "schizophrenia," said Cocores, Medical Director of Southcoast Psychotherapy and Education Associates and Director of Research at Psyche Nutrition Sciences.

He added, "I have witnessed numerous other similar situations, and this should serve as a wake-up call for parents. Energy drinks do, in fact, contain several stimulants and one sedative that can alter brain chemistry in a very dramatic way. When used in excess and in the absence of wholesome nutrition, these drinks can cause the kind of brain soup that changes personality and mimics numerous psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder."

Cocores said his most recent experience with energy drinks was related to a young adult who chugs energy drinks eight times a day and used fitness and low carb products containing whey and soy, which he discouraged because "of the high content of the stimulant and brain cell toxin ‘glutamate,’ which is generated during the extensive processing of these proteins, aspartame, which breaks down into three brain cell toxins, and energy drinks, which contain a plethora of potentially brain cell and psyche altering substances."

"As he had done in the past, he cut back on the medicine that controlled his rage, paranoia, impatience, intolerance, anxiety, and irritability, and continued chugging and consuming toxic ‘fitness’ chow and supplements. He was so paranoid that he was unable to come in with his parents," Cocores said. "The young man was never treated for a psychiatric condition before as an inpatient, and had never caused a disturbance in his home late at night sufficient to have neighbors call the police. He was held against his will in a psychiatric hospital because of bizarre behavior."

Symptoms

For those that Cocores has treated with an underlying psychiatric disorder (anxiety, depressive, bipolar), energy drinks have "almost always brought back uncomfortable symptoms regardless of whether they take medicines and go to therapy or not."

"The aspartame in low carb energy drinks also can aggravate the brain. Aspartame has been linked to dizziness, intestinal disturbances, anxiety attacks, migraines, and seizures when used in excess," he said. "Recently, I encountered two young ladies who were mainly drinking aspartame-containing ‘diet’ beverages and were hospitalized because they had experienced their first seizure. No cause was found after extensive neurological testing, EEGs and brain scans."

Excess

"If taken in moderation along with a balanced wholesome meal and diet, energy drinks can result in a subjective enhancement of learning, memory, mood, and both physical and mind performance," he said. "But I don't know of anyone that drinks them in this fashion. More is not better. More often than not, they are consumed in excess with little if any food or with convenience foods that also contain brain toxins such as glutamate."

Warning signs

Parents should beware of warning signs including, "overwhelming anxiety, worry, tension, irritability, depression, paranoia, confusion, racing thoughts, anger, rage, oppositional and violent behavior, ADHD symptoms, headaches, heart palpitations, intestinal problems and more."

"They should not wean their children off of these drinks, but decide whether they are going to allow one can for homework with a large healthy antioxidant snack, or just stop it abruptly. My recommendation for children is to ‘Just say no,'" he said.

Obesity is a disease of the brain characterized by the consumption of more addictive foods than medicinal foods. We have learned from the drug and alcohol rehabs of the 1980s that short-term improvement following treatment for substance abuse, addictive-food abuse included, is meaningless. To paraphrase Mark Twain: Stopping smoking is the easiest thing I have ever done; I have done it hundreds of times. And so it is with losing weight on the Atkins diet. Losing weight with Atkins is the easiest thing many dieters have ever done; they have done it dozens of times. But relapse and weight gain is most likely because haunting carbohydrate cravings can be as powerful as cravings experienced by drug addicts. Many people may have lost their gallbladder in the process, and a high-protein and -fat diet is very low in antioxidants and rich in disease-causing free radicals. This study regarding the Atkins diet for women is a distortion of research data that shows Atkins does not make bad cholesterol soar in women. The article does not mention the potential hazards of a high-protein diet, such as kidney disease; osteoporosis; and disturbances in learning, memory, mood, and mind performance. In addition, the link between saturated fats, partially hydrogenated oils such as canola, and other bad fats to Alzheimer’s and other diseases was not elucidated. According to Dr. Cocores, the Atkins diet is organized malnutrition that propels most participants into a rollercoaster of weight results. Running the body, and especially the mind, without medicinal carbohydrates and large amounts of protein is like trying to run your car on kerosene.

The Convenience Diet is Killing Us
(In response to an article about how vitamin and antioxidant supplements don't work and can actually kill you):

Minimally processed nutrients almost always deliver the goods, while convenient supplements often offer a false sense of nutritional security as we pound-down our over-processed cheeseburger, large fries, and diet soda. Just as heavily processed proteins such as bologna, cheese, soy, and whey have been linked to disease, supplements and antioxidants churned out in laboratories and by manufacturers are not always what the doctor ordered. Taking more than 400 IU of vitamin E supplements each day, for example, can increase the risk of heart attack, while more than that amount from fresh sources such as first-press olive oil can help you live longer and stay trimmer. And even though high doses of beta carotene from supplements has been linked to lung cancer, beta carotene can reduce your risk of developing cancer and other diseases when eaten in a more wholesome form such as steamed broccoli. Trying to eat five or more portions of minimally processed produce each day, along with maintaining an active and spiritual lifestyle, can help you look younger, live longer, and be healthier. If you are relying on supplements, you may be the victim of deceptive marketing campaigns, which have left most of the populous believing that most of their foods need not come from wholesome sources because they are getting protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from supplements. BrightFoods contains tips on how to snap out of the convenience diet spell.

A retired couple just left my office after asking me, “Is Britney Spears going through what our son went through with that Red Bull?”

Their 20-year-old showed signs of disorganized and delusional thinking, insomnia for days, poor impulse control and judgment, angry and violent outbursts, and irresponsible behavior. As a result, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in November 2006, hospitalized, and treated with antipsychotic and antidepressant medicines. Mom cut off her son’s supply of Red Bull shortly after he was discharged along with his medicine. He now remains free of “schizophrenia.”

I have witnessed numerous other similar situations, and this should serve as a wake-up call for parents. Energy drinks do, in fact, contain several stimulants and one sedative that can alter brain chemistry in a very dramatic way. When used in excess and in the absence of wholesome nutrition, these drinks can cause the kind of brain soup that changes personality and mimics numerous psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder.

Thoughts on Bush’s Plan for the Uninsured
(Derived from a posting on washingtonpost.com)

The evolving healthcare insurance plan is destined to fail unless we factor in a variable known as Body Mass Index, or BMI. BMI indicates whether insured individuals are normal weight, overweight, or obese. Continuing not to factor in BMI would be like offering smokers and nonsmokers the same health care package at the same cost. As is now known regarding cigarette smoking, obesity and inactivity are also directly linked to cancer, heart disease, and many other costly medical illnesses. In fact, malnutrition in the form of being overweight and obese, coupled with an inactive lifestyle, is as likely to cause cancer as cigarette smoking.

BrightFoods has developed the first detailed eating guidelines, based on mercury and dioxin levels, for more than 60 species of fish. Shrimp, flounder, sole, and tilapia, for example, are rated PG 10 and can be eaten regularly by children over the age of 10, as well as pregnant and lactating mothers. PG 18 fish such as lobster, trout, and squid are not recommended more than once monthly in children under 18, and not at all in pregnant or lactating mothers. Fish rated R include Chilean bass, fresh or canned tuna, and halibut. Fish NOT RATED include shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and bigeye tuna. If you find toxin-rich fish on your plate, eat plenty of minimally processed produce along with your meal because the antioxidants in produce can help neutralize the disease-causing free radicals that mercury and dioxins create.

Sea Food Increases Intelligence
(Derived from a posting on washingtonpost.com):

Fish-oil supplements undergo processing, which may alter the otherwise valuable omega 3 oils. Omega 3 is also derived from first-press olive oil, greens, and walnuts inside our body. Fish and fish-oil supplements are not essential to high intelligence, as millions of Hindus can testify. The most import factor in absorbing omega 3 into the body is its ratio to omega 6 and omega 9. More information on the importance of omega 9, omega 6 and omega 3 ratios can be found in BrightFoods, along with the medical references that support this little-known scientific data.

Pregnant? Say Yes to Sea Food
(Derived from a posting on washingtonpost.com):

Looks like a biased study funded by the fish industry. It also does not highlight the many other associated dietary habits that increase intelligence in pregnant women who can afford to eat that much fish, such as eating less red meat. There are hundreds of scientific articles that eclipse this view. BrightFoods has developed the first detailed guidelines to fish consumption for more than 60 species. Remember, millions of monks and Hindus have proven that fish consumption is not essential to life or high intelligence. Lean meats and vegan protein sources may, in certain instances, also carry a lower toxicity potential, not only for mercury but also for dioxins. If you are pregnant or have children, rest assured that first-press olive oil, and a few other minimally processed foods, contain an ideal ratio of both oils vital to high intelligence—omega 6 and omega 3.

New Warnings for ADHD Medicines
(Derived from a comment posted on sun-sentinel.com)

It is important to underscore that most fatalities from ADHD medicines were associated with an underlying medical illness. ADHD medicines are safe when used under the watchful direction of a psychiatrist. Hallucinations have been reported in association with these medicines for decades and appear most often for the first time during the hormonal hurricane of puberty. Non-stimulant ADHD medicines should be used instead when such side effects erupt. If you do not want to give medicine to your child and want to try better choices instead, begin integrating your child into the BrightFoods lifestyle. It is very ADHD friendly.

Olive Oil for Ulcers
(Derived from a comment posted on a .com in response to the “ulcer” article)

First-press olive oil contains the kind of ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 that facilitates their absorption. This is important because taking too much omega 3 can create a deficiency in omega 6, and both are vital to intelligence. Once inside your body, olive oil turns into “homemade” fish oils. Greens and walnuts behave similarly. First-press olive oil is the only vegetable oil that is not partially hydrogenated and contains several antioxidants. Plenty of antioxidants and a good ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 spell extra potent brain food that goes to your head, not your waist. There is also evidence to suggest that olive oil cuts cravings for addictive fats such as cheese, fries, ice cream, and beef.

Running on Empty
(Derived from a comment posted on a .com in response to an “Atkins” article)

The latest high-protein diet study showing that Atkins does not make bad cholesterol soar in women is a distortion of research data. It needs to be framed with a reality check: The Atkins diet is organized malnutrition that propels most participants into a rollercoaster of weight results.

Blacks are more depressed than whites, according to new research. Socioeconomic factors aside, perhaps it’s partly because black Americans are more likely to be obese than white Americans. This is especially true in women. Three happy chemicals in our brain—dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin—are depleted in obese individuals. These joyful neurotransmitters may be further depleted by addictive foods. Medicinal foods, however, can act like antidepressants by increasing these neurotransmitters so that people suffering from depression have an extra incentive to reach their ideal weight and improved mood.

Obesity on the rise in Europe

FDA wants pill labels to warn of `sleep-driving' (A similar comment was posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

We're eating too few veggies (A similar comment was posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

Rethink that drink (A similar comment was posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

Garlic no cure for cholesterol (A similar comment was entered in the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

For many employees, fitness has its prize (Based on a comment posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)

Pregnant women get coffee break (Based on a comment posted on the south Florida sun-sentinel.com)