You Don’t Always Get What You Want (or think you bought)

by Mila McManus MD and Nancy Mehlert MS

There is no question, that if you knew everything about your food and what the FDA considers “acceptable”, you would be shocked. It may surprise you (or not) that the FDA doesn’t have the resources to pursue all the fraud in the marketplace. And like so much in government, the FDA can be heavily influenced. Additionally the food industry is powerful and busy in Washington fighting for itself, and not usually for what is best for you. Unfortunately, that leaves us to figure out what really is safe to eat and sometimes that is seemingly impossible to do. Moreover, the food industry and marketing techniques today are laden with an over-abundance of hype and confusion. Today we are sharing a few food examples of “fake food”. The information about fish and olive oil is taken from Larry Olmstead’s 2016 book called Real Food/Fake Food.

Sushi and Other Fish Scams¹

It may be surprising to you that there are very serious and frequent scams in the fish world where less expensive and sometimes dangerous fish are sold as a premium species. According to Larry Olmstead in his 2016 book Real Food, Fake Food, “The seafood industry is rife with fraud, substitutions and adulteration.” The non-profit marine conservation group, Oceana, launched a study in New York City and found fraud in 58 percent of the retail outlets. In addition, 39 percent of restaurants were serving something other than what the menu claimed was being served. In the same study, they found that every single sushi restaurant, 100% of them, served fake fish. Upon further research, they discovered these trends existed as the rule for the entire country. In sushi restaurants, the single most common substitute for tuna is escolar, one of the most dangerous sea food products you can buy, nicknamed “Ex-lax fish” because it contains a natural wax ester that causes gastric distress and diarrhea. It is never shown on a menu as escolar, yet it is one of the most widely served fish in this country. Other frequent trade out scams include replacements for grouper and red snapper. Apparently, according to Larry Olmstead, almost all red snapper sold in the U.S. is fake and more likely to be tilefish, which is on the FDA’s do-not-eat list for children and pregnant women because of high mercury levels. Tilefish is a common trade out for halibut on the menu too. In the shrimp world, it is extremely common for farm-raised to be labeled wild caught. Olmstead also says that shipping and country-of-origin information is routinely, and illegally, falsified to cover up poaching and to hide fish coming from dangerous farms that use unapproved chemicals and even slave labor. Did you know that wild Atlantic salmon is extinct, so always farm raised when you see it on a menu or package? Alternatively, Alaskan and Pacific Salmon is wild, where fish farming is illegal (in Alaska).

Olive Oil²

There are many ways to adulterate olive oil. To begin with, the legal definition says that olive oil is nothing but the juice extracted from high-quality, fresh, otherwise unprocessed olives. It is a time sensitive issue from proper ripeness and speed to press from picking. The best oils are pressed within 12 hours from picking at perfect ripeness. The three main ways to adulterate it are to dilute it with less expensive oils, dilute it with lower grades of olive oil that have been heavily refined with chemicals, or failing to pick at peak ripeness and press immediately, resulting in an older, rancid oil. Most of our olive oil comes from Italy where Italian investigators have found plenty wrong with olive oil from hydrocarbon residues, pesticides and pomace oil laced with mineral oil, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are proven carcinogens and that can also damage DNA and the immune system. According to Olmstead, virtually every investigation, whether by universities, journalists, law enforcement or government agencies, have found the olive oil industry rife with fraud. Our supermarket brands are almost all, without exception, included in these fake oils and routinely fail testing. In 2011, a large sample supermarket test was conducted of the top selling imported “extra-virgin” olive oil brands in the United States and 73% of the time they failed to meet the basic legal standard for olive oil. Colavita performed best but failed 50% of the time and Pompeian took last place and almost never passed. As recently as November 2015, the police in Turin, Italy investigated seven leading producers which included Bertolli and Carapelli and all seven brands failed despite being labeled “100% Extra Virgin” olive oil. By law, “virgin” oil can only be extracted by physical processing such as crushing or centrifuges without the use of chemicals or heat. Sadly, you can see that enforcement is non-existent and everyone in the industry knows it.

By Mila McManus MD|2017-05-05T06:21:11-06:00May 3rd, 2017|Articles, General|

Pillars of Health

How’s Your Juggling Act?

By Mila McManus MD and Nancy Mehlert, MS

Admittedly, there are many balls to keep in the air to get well and stay well, and each aspect is necessary and overlapping with the others. How well are you doing with optimizing these areas? Test yourself here:

Clean Air – Often out of our control, but are you taking control where you can? At home, do you open windows frequently, decorate with real plants, vacuum often with a HEPA filter, eliminate heavily scented fragrances, candles and chemicals in exchange for safe, non-toxic cleaning products, replace ac/heat filters often, consider single room or whole house air filtration systems?

Clean Water – Do you avoid tap water and select high quality filtering systems for the water you drink and, if possible, the water in which you bathe? Do you limit plastic bottle water use? Are you successful at hydrating throughout the day (drinking half your body weight in ounces)?

Clean Food and Supplements – Do you know what is in your food and supplements? Are you an ingredient reader? Are you eating more and more real, whole food? Are you reducing sugar, packaged, fast, and restaurant food? See our article about choosing supplements carefully.

Unobstructed Energy Flow – Have you had surgery? Infections? Injuries? Parasites? Have you experienced the loss of a pet, family member, or job? These are just a few of the stresses that can trip a breaker for energy flow in the body. Energy therapies can restore this flow, promote healing, detoxification, oxygenation, reduction of pain, swelling and inflammation while increasing ATP (i.e. energy) production at the cellular level. These therapies assist the body with releasing emotional trauma stored at the cellular level to reduce emotional stress on the physical body. Read about our energy therapy called ONDAMED.

Quality Sleep – Do you achieve deep sleep? Do you get too much or too little sleep? Most people need 8 to 9 hours a night. Do you follow a consistent schedule for going to bed and waking up? While the number of hours a person may need can vary, the quality of sleep is critical. It is during deep sleep that our bodies balance, regulate and detoxify. Our brains process information from the day and are reset for the next day. This has a dramatic impact on the body’s ability to fight disease, cope with stress, ward off inflammation and illness.

Moderate Exercise – Are you getting exercise every week? Are you exercising too much (yes that is an important question to ask!)? Do you stand more than you sit? Do you get 10,000 steps in a day? Do you increase your heart rate at least 2-3 times a week? Do you get both aerobic and weight bearing exercise? Exercise is critical for reducing stress, improving sleep, and healing from some diseases. Are you trying to exercise your way out of a bad diet, poor lifestyle choices, or emotional stress? Too much exercise can have a dramatic impact on your adrenal health. So can too little.

Balanced Hormones – Are you working with a functional medicine specialist to balance and optimize your hormones? Simply having ‘normal’ lab results doesn’t guarantee that your hormones are working optimally at the cellular level. Test yourself here for hormonal imbalances.

Strong Immune Function – Are you taking care of your microbiota – the probiotics (aka beneficial bacteria) that defend your body from the outside world? Have you identified areas where your white blood cells are not coping well and put in place a proactive plan to restore this strength (ask why you are having recurrent upper respiratory infections, allergic responses, urinary tract infections or skin rashes, for example)? Do you supplement with immune supporting foods and vitamins? Are you prepared with natural anti-bacterials such as essential oils, coconut oil, herbs, vitamins and supplements that can support the immune system without the use of antibiotics?

Healthy Gut/Digestion –Are you consuming real food, avoiding man-made food products and chemicals and supporting your gut health with fermented foods, probiotics, soothing broths, digestive enzymes and moderate portions of food? There is great truth in the statement that “You are what you eat” but there are many external forces continually destroying your gut health. Do you know what they are and are you protecting yourself from them? Here are links to a 3-part series we published in 2014 regarding this subject: https://woodlandswellnessmd.com/defending-borders-part.html/ , https://woodlandswellnessmd.com/defending-borders-part-ii.html/ , https://woodlandswellnessmd.com/defending-borders-part-iii.html/ .

Emotional/Spiritual Wellbeing – Are you attentive to your soul? Do you address emotional aspects of your life that need your care? Did you know that your emotional stress and despair get stored at the cellular level and have direct impact on your physical health? Do you take time every day to get centered emotionally? Have you forgiven? Can you release hate and anger and take in love and joy? Have you dealt with difficulties in a healthy way that allows you to look forward, not backward, with hope and not dread? Can you turn off the sound of life and find a quiet place for your soul?

Countless times we hear people say that “when you have your health, you have everything”. It is with good health that we can share joy, love others fully, give, and stand beside, and with, others. There is truth in that statement. How’s your juggling act coming along?

By Mila McManus MD|2017-04-04T06:40:17-06:00April 3rd, 2017|Articles, General|

Peppermint Essential Oil

It is important to purchase properly extracted and distilled essential oils and we recommend DōTerra as a brand example of that quality. DoTerra Peppermint Oil is available in our office for purchase.

Peppermint Oil is gathered by steam distillation of parts of the flowering plant and is a hybrid species of spearmint and Mentha aquatica, or water mint. It is one of the oldest European herbs used for medicinal purposes and has health benefits dating back to 1000 B.C. From a therapeutic and clinical standpoint, peppermint oil is recommended for reducing nausea and soothing the digestive system by reducing muscle spasms. It is also effective for freshening breath, relieving headaches and providing some antimicrobial protection.

Here are some practical ways to use Peppermint Oil:

To reduce nausea, add a drop to your water, rub 1 to 2 drops behind your ears, and/or diffuse it into the air.
Add it to coconut oil and baking soda for a refreshing toothpaste, or freshen breath with a drop under the tongue.
For headaches, apply a drop to the forehead and temples.
Apply to achy joints and muscles to relieve pain and give a cooling effect. Lavender oil can be added and combined with coconut oil for a nice balm.
Place a drop under the tongue or nose to improve concentration and alertness. Great for focusing easily distracted kids on homework or perking yourself up behind the wheel.
Bring down a fever naturally by applying a mixture of coconut oil and peppermint oil to the back of the neck or bottom of the feet.

Source: https://draxe.com/peppermint-oil-uses-benefits/

By Mila McManus MD|2017-03-25T09:42:00-06:00March 25th, 2017|Articles, General|

Tyrosine

L-Tyrosine is an amino acid that is involved in the formation of thyroid hormones as well as a precursor for brain-stimulating catecholamines (dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline). As a result, it supports your stress support mechanisms, supports your thyroid, and has a favorable effect on energy and mood. It can also help with appetite control.

By Mila McManus MD|2017-02-23T14:46:02-06:00February 23rd, 2017|Articles, General|

More Surprising Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight

by Mila McManus MD

In 2014 I published an article on “Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight“.

Today I’d like to expand on that partial list (didn’t mean to wait 3 years to do that!)

So besides the reasons listed in the above link, here are a few more to add to the list:

Poor sleep quality and sleep deprivation cause an increase in ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, as well as cause a decrease in leptin, a hormone that tells you to stop eating.
Not staying hydrated.
Not eating enough calories.
Stress-yes, stress. Its effects are evil in every way.
Gut health
Excessive fruit intake because the sugar in fruit, fructose, more easily stores as fat than other types of carbs.

Check out this month’s specials which are dedicated to helping you lose those pesky pounds!

References:

webmd.com

shape.com

By Mila McManus MD|2017-02-23T15:23:59-06:00February 21st, 2017|Articles, General|

Choose Your Supplements Wisely

by Mila McManus MD

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: “Supplements are not all created equal”. There are countless brands from which to choose. How do you know which ones are good, safe, and optimal for your health? There are a number of factors to consider, and one of them is price. You DO get what you pay for with regard to supplements, and it’s important to know that there are also some expensive well-known brands that should be avoided. In general, though, if you are at a store looking at a long wall of supplements and nobody is around to guide you, I advise you to look at price first. I highly recommend avoiding the cheapest, generic supplements. It’s also extremely important that you scrutinize the ‘other’ and ‘inactive’ ingredients on labels.

Here are several other factors to consider when vetting a supplement:

Quality control methods and purity
- One study of 55 different brands of vitamin D showed that the actual amount of vitamin D per dose varied from 9 to 146% of what the labels said.
- Several years ago, Consumer Labs studied numerous brands of multivitamins and nearly half of them didn’t have in the bottles what the bottles said were in the bottles.
The “other” ingredients: Binders, colors, coatings, sweeteners, and fillers
Amount of active ingredient(s) per dose
How minerals are chelated (i.e., bound to substances that enhance absorbability of the minerals)
Synthetic vs natural ingredients
- Whole-food based supplements aren’t necessarily better
- dl-alpha vitamin E is the synthetic form and should be avoided. The best form of vitamin E would be “mixed tocopherols”.

1. Higher-end, reputable supplement manufacturers use the best raw materials, create formulations based on solid scientific data, and use 3^rd party testing to ensure quality and purity of their products. These factors command a higher price. Common contaminants found in vitamins and supplements include mold, pesticides, and heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. Don’t you want to feel confident that your supplements don’t contain these? Also, if you see a USP or GMP or NPA seal on a supplement, that supplement has at least met some minimum quality standards, but it doesn’t ensure top quality. Moreover, absence of these seals means nothing. There are many top quality supplements without these seals.

2. Look for supplements with the least number of ‘other’ ingredients. Covering all of these is beyond the scope of this article, but know that some are harmless (e.g., silicon dioxide, cellulose, citric acid), while many may be harmful (e.g., food dyes, talc, allergenic foods such as corn and soy)

3. The amount of active ingredients varies widely across supplements. A supplement may appear great because of numerous healthy ingredients listed, such as CoQ10, turmeric, spirulina, chorella, ginger, fruits and vegetables, but they may be insignificant amounts that aren’t doing much good, if at all. It’s also noteworthy that the RDA (recommended daily allowance) is often very suboptimal. For instance, the RDA for vitamin C may be enough to prevent scurvy, but it’s hardly an optimal amount to support immune function, alleviate seasonal allergies, and neutralize the onslaught of free radicals you create, and are exposed to, on a daily basis.

4. When looking at nutrient labels on vitamin and mineral supplements, you’ll notice, for example, that there are several forms of magnesium. Magnesium glycinate, magnesium oxide, magnesium citrate, and magnesium malate are all different chelated forms of magnesium. If your magnesium supplement is magnesium oxide, it’s nothing more than a good laxative. You aren’t absorbing that magnesium for its internal benefits. Calcium is another good example. Calcium carbonate is very inexpensive and also not well absorbed. If this is the form in your multivitamin, it’s time to find a better one.

5. It seems intuitive that taking a ‘natural whole food’ supplement would be better than a synthetic form; however, that’s often not the case. A supplement claiming to have nothing but fruits and vegetables in it may be contaminated with pesticides, and it’s also difficult to get optimal doses of nutrients from fruits and vegetables. Sure, it’s obviously important to eat your fruits and vegetables, but these days our bodies require much more than produce can provide. This is mainly due to depletion of nutrients available in soil, and increased toxins in the environment. Another reason that whole food based supplements may not be ideal for some is the yeast content. Yeast is a common allergen that could be affecting you without you realizing it.

I hope you realize how important it is to do your homework before buying your supplements. A popular brand isn’t necessarily a good one. For instance, Centrum® is one of the most popular brands of multivitamin, however, it contains corn and soy (highly allergenic and genetically modified), 3 food dyes including red dye #40, Talc (yes, baby powder, and has been linked to cancer), and contains the cheapest and least absorbable minerals, namely calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide.

Overwhelmed? Well, we’ve done our homework and offer several product lines at our facility to make your life easier.

References:

O magazine, June 2004  (Article on Consumer Labs study)

http://www.drwhitaker.com/choosing-the-best-supplements-to-take/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/health/policy/26herbal.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12867165

http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2013/02/11/that-vitamin-d-youre-taking-it-may-not-be-vitamin-d/#7dc9ca6e6b6a

http://www.drwhitaker.com/how-safe-are-your-supplements/

http://www.consumerlab.com/

By Mila McManus MD|2017-01-03T07:41:57-06:00January 2nd, 2017|Articles, General|

How Affordable is your “Affordable Healthcare”?

by Mila McManus MD and Nancy Mehlert MS

Talk to anyone about health care and you will be hard pressed to find one single sole who hasn’t noticed that deductibles, copays, and premiums are rising, and this next year will be no exception. With each passing year, it seems that we have fewer and fewer choices, including doctors and medications from which to choose, and which tests will be covered. These options are controlled by the insurance companies rather than by yourself or your doctor. More and more people are frustrated with the excessive government and insurance company control over how you spend your healthcare dollars, especially in light of the sad fact that, following the doctor visits, prescription drugs, tests, and time, your ailments and problems often persist. Seeking help for an undiagnosed set of symptoms can cost thousands of dollars and result in, for example, 1) no explanation, 2) more prescription drugs, and 3) doctor-hopping. It’s easy to feel out of control and frustrated.

Current conventional health care practices focus mainly on RE-active medicine rather than PRO-active medicine. It’s the same as your homeowners insurance. They don’t pay to remove the fractured and bending tree that is inevitably about to fall on your roof. They won’t talk to you until it does. Prevention is not their interest, though it would save them money in the long term. The same is true of health insurance. What is wrong with this picture?

This coming year, why not take control? Own your health, get control of how your hard earned money is spent, get educated about how to heal and restore your own health, and use the money you will have to spend in the current disease model to really get well. Save money in a Health Savings Account (because YOU get to determine how these dollars are spent) and use it to get well in a PRO-active medical model, thereby improving your lifestyle, gaining true health rather than spinning your wheels and spending your money for answers that never come. Over time this could save you thousands and thousands of dollars. Is your health holding you back from enjoying relationships, finding success, living an abundant and full life? The functional, PRO-active medical model is the place to be! Get to the source of your problems, address them and be well! The vast majority of diseases of today, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, autoimmunity and cancer, are stemming from nutritional bankruptcy, chronic stress, hormonal imbalance, prescription drugs and their side effects, food and environmental allergens, and toxins. Every one of these areas can be addressed and improved to bring better health and wellbeing.

Call 281-298-6742 today and ask to speak to a Wellness Consultant about our various programs. We have new programs and services that may be perfect for your needs. YOU ARE WORTH IT!

By Mila McManus MD|2016-12-06T16:21:56-06:00December 6th, 2016|Articles, General|

MSM

MSM is short for methylsulfonylmethane which is a substance that’s naturally occurring in the body. MSM has been extensively studied in humans and animals. It is a ‘methyl donor’ and a ‘sulfur donor’ which help reduce inflammation and support detoxification. It can also boost energy!

Here are some of the common uses of MSM:

pain
muscle recovery after exercise
osteoporosis
hair loss
skin disorders
allergies and asthma
high blood pressure
fatigue
dental and gum disease
leaky gut syndrome

Talk to your functional medicine specialist about whether MSM is right for you and about appropriate doses for your specific needs.

References:

www.draxe.com

www.mercola.com

www.msmguide.com

By Mila McManus MD|2016-10-06T13:32:24-06:00October 6th, 2016|Articles, General|

Unusual Signs and Symptoms of Low Thyroid Function

By Mila McManus MD

Many of you out there know some of the common symptoms of low thyroid function, such as fatigue, weight gain, constipation, headaches, hair loss, depression, and cold intolerance. I’ve also explained to many of you how the thyroid functions in the body. Think of this gland as your engine. If your engine is too ‘revved up’ (i.e., hyperthyroid), bodily functions will be overactive, such as overactive nerves causing jitters, shakiness, anxiety, fast heart rate, palpitations, and high blood pressure. Bowels may be overactive causing excessive bowel movements or loose stools. Temperature gets higher, metabolism gets faster, and so on. If your engine slows down (i.e., hypothyroid), bodily functions slow down. Energy gets lower, brain function gets slower, mood is lower, bowels are slower, pain threshold is lower, temperature is lower, metabolism is slower, and so on. It’s also important to note that some symptoms can occur on either end of the spectrum. For instance, you can be tired if thyroid function is low or high. You can lose weight or gain weight on both ends of the spectrum. You can be shedding hair when thyroid is under-active or overactive. And also noteworthy: 1) symptoms can vary, such as you may have normal bowel function, but have other symptoms of low thyroid, and 2) having normal thyroid labs does NOT mean that your thyroid is functioning adequately. (You can read about that here.) Moreover, there are many factors that affect how well your thyroid functions at the cellular level, including diet, gut health, stress, toxins, vitamin deficiencies, and imbalance of other hormones in the body.

Having said all of that, today I wanted to share some less well known signs and symptoms that may indicate a thyroid problem:

High cholesterol
Anxiety
Dry patches on elbows
Slow speech
Fluid retention
Swollen eyelids
Insomnia
Severe menstrual cramps
Downturned mouth
Acne
Twitching of the eyelid
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
Dizziness
Mild elevation of liver enzymes
Gallstones
Recurrent bladder infections

If you think you may have low or suboptimal thyroid function, you can test yourself here with our online symptom checker.

References:

Dr. Pamela Smith lecture at A4M conference 2015

By Mila McManus MD|2016-10-04T08:03:19-06:00October 4th, 2016|Articles, General|

IodoRx

Iodine is an essential element and perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle when it comes to thyroid hormones. One of Iodine’s main functions is in the production of thyroid hormones, but is detected in every organ and tissue. It is essential for healthy thyroid function and efficient metabolism, and there is increasing evidence that insufficiency correlates with numerous diseases, including fibrocystic breast disease and certain cancers. Iodine is a potent anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, and anti-viral agent. It has four significant roles in your body, namely to maintain your weight and metabolism, to develop brain and cognitive function in children, to optimize fertility and to strengthen your immune system.

Please consult with your holistic healthcare provider before adding, or adjusting your dose of, an iodine supplement.

Sources:

http://articles.mercola.com/thyroid.aspx

Prothera, Inc. 2015 Patient Catalog, pg. 107

By Mila McManus MD|2016-09-22T13:24:07-06:00September 22nd, 2016|Articles, General|