Be Wise-Health Wise

In my research for the ebook I’m writing on Sinusitis Remedies Galore, I uncovered this information on helpful herbs for sinusitis associated with allergies. Since spring is upon on us and the pollens are flying, you may find this information useful and timely.

The Herb Lady, author of Herb Lady’s Notebook recommends this herbal combinations for sinusitis associated with allergies.

                Bee Pollen

                Golden Seal Root

                Capsicum Fruit

                Parsley Root

                Marshmallow Root

                Lobelia Herb

                Burdock Root

 Bee Pollen, collected by bees as they go from flower to flower drinking in the nectar, contains rich levels of vitamins, almost all minerals and trace elements vital to man and contains 35% protein. Half of the amino acids in this protein are in the free form, making them very easy to assimilate. Such rich nutrition rebuilds and strengthens the hormonal glands and the immune system, restoring balance in the body. But if you’re allergic to bee pollen, you’ll have to bypass this one.

Golden Seal, a favorite of herbalists, becaue it supports so many body functions. Since allergic reactions stress the hormonal glands golden seal helps revitalize them and promotes hormonal harmony. It also  helps regulate the liver, fight infection, get rid of toxins and heal the mucous membranes in the sinuses and elsewhere. Precautions: Pregnant women should not take Golden Seal. If you experience low blood sugar take myrrh instead of Golden Seal.

 Capsicum Fruit, also known as cayenne or chili pepper, dilates blood vessels and stimulates blood flow. It’s a great partner for all the other herbs in this combination because it helps the blood carry them to the tissues faster.

 Parsley Root, high in vitamin A and B vitamins supports mucous membranes and increases resistance to infections. Precaution: Do not use in pregnancy as it may induce labor.

 Marshmallow Root contains mucilage which helps loosen and remove mucous from the sinuses as well as sooth irritation. Some of its nourishing components include high levels of vitamin A and zinc both so vital for mucous membrane health.

 Lobelia, highly favored for respiratory problems, in tincture form can calm a cough with its powerful relaxing effect on tissues. Lobelia reestablishes flow in congested tissue and contains a variety of nourishing minerals.

 Burdock Root, well known for its detoxifying properties, helps allergy and sinusitis problems by helping rid the body of toxins.

All of these sinusitis herbs combined provide a wide range of nutrients that help nourish and rebuild the sinuses and immune system.

Some companies may carry a combination capsule of all of some of these herbs that make them more convenient to take.

Folks who are quite allergic may be better off buying each herb individually. Then take only one herb at a time for 3 days and listen to their bodies. If they seem to tolerate the first herb then add the second one. Continue adding only one herb every 3 days. In so doing, if an uncomfortable symptom develops, they can tell which herb was the culprit.

After all it’s easy to recognize an immediate reaction to anything ingested because it occurs soon after you swallow it. But some reactions can be delayed up to 48 hours later. By waiting 3 days even the delayed reactions can be linked with the last herb added.

Folks may need to take this herbal regimen for four to six months or even longer depending on how long it takes to detoxify and rebuild the tissues.

But the reward of healthy sinuses and lessened allergies makes this sinusitis herbs program worth the effort.

Filed under: Allergies, Sinusitis on June 12th, 2010 | No Comments »

We’ll find out what Rejuvelac is – but first some great tips!

My eyes were really opened to the health dangers of our current food supply in preparing for the nutrition course I recently taught. That preparation prompted me to watch several documentaries. Food, Inc. is a must see for everyone in my opinion.

 After you watch it let me know if it opened your eyes too.

 You can order it online, or from Netflix. Or better yet just watch it on your computer.

 My good friend Sandy, nutritional consultant, sent me this note to share with you:

 “You can let people know that they can see Food, Inc., The World according to Monsanto, Food Matters (another really good one) and a host of other documentaries for free at:”
http://wideeyecinema.com/

Let me know how that link works for you. Since I am unable to get high speed internet, I have to settle for satellite and the movie thing just doesn’t work on our limited bandwidth.

 Another important tip:

If you are participating in the at home chelation therapy and want a 10% discount when you buy your products, we have a new discount code.

 Put this code in the box when you order online:

tillman

 (simply my last name – all lower case)

 If you order by phone tell them that Dr. Tillman arranged a 10% discount for you.

 Here’s the link to get to the information about this simple, inexpensive, easy, quick way to chelate at home:

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/chelation.html

 (Just click on the link in this article for a wealth of more information and to order.)

 I’ll remind you of this new code again, just to be sure everyone gets this money saving information.

 

 So what’s a Rejuvelac?

 When we were discussing the many benefits of fermented food in the nutrition class, Rejuvelac came to mind. It’s a fermented beverage that provides a lot of probiotics, those organisms so friendly to out GI tracts. Previously I knew about making it from wheat berries, but come to find out, lots of other grains make a great Rejuvelac too.

 Here’s one recipe for you:

You can use any grain to make Rejuvelac. Besides spring wheat berries and rye, Rejuvelac can be made from millet, oats, barley or triticale. Triticale is a hybrid between wheat and rye.  It is particularly high in protein.

 If you use wheat, choose the soft wheat berries so they will sprout. The Sprout People’s web site says they prefer to use rye because they think rye Rejuvelac tastes best.

http://www.sproutpeople.com/cookery/.html

 Ingredients

2 Cups Rye
10 Cups Water
2 Qt. Jar

 Preparation
1. Soak 2 cups of Rye in your 2 quart jar. Cover with 1 quart or more of cool (60-70 °) water. Stir seeds up to assure even water contact. Soak for 8 – 12 hours.

2. Pour off water.

3. Rinse (fill Jar 3/4 full with water), twirl vigorously, pour water out, and repeat – if necessary – until water runs clear). Use cool (60-70°) water.

4. Drain thoroughly by shaking your Jar – you want as little water as possible to remain in your Jar between Rinses. Set your Jar in a low-light, room temperature (70° is best) location.

5. Rinse and Drain (repeat steps 3 + 4) again 8 – 12 hours later.

6. 8 – 12 hours later your seeds will have the beginnings of little tails (sprouts). Add 6 cups of water (spring, purified or tap – your choice) to the sprouts and place the jar in the usual low-light, room temperature (70° is best) location for 2 days.

7. Pour liquid – this is your Rejuvelac – into a glass and drink some! Refrigerate the remainder until ready to drink or use in a recipe.

8. You may make more Rejuvelac by repeating step 3 and then adding 1 quart of water. Place your Jar in the usual location and culture your Rejuvelac for 1 day – then follow step 6 again.

Your sprouts are now pretty much spent so toss them to the critters (squirrels, rabbits, birds and many other outdoor creatures love sprouts) or compost them. Don’t throw them in the garbage; nothing decomposes in a landfill (below 30 feet). If you have chickens; they’ll love them!

 Serve Cold.

 Have fun brewing up this healthy beverage.

Blessings,

Dr. Jo

Filed under: Genetic Modification, Healthy Drinks on June 11th, 2010 | No Comments »

In the last post we started looking at the ethical and moral implications of the manipulation of our food supply by genetically engineering the food. Biotech companies commonly genetically modify food to make it resistant to herbicides. So we have Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” corn seed.

When farmers plant the corn, they can spray the herbicide Roundup on the corn plants and the weeds at the same time, killing the weeds but not the corn. This process makes it easy for farmers and is one of the reasons that corn farmers can produce 5,000 tons of food per acre.

Now that’s a whopping big bunch of corn. But at what cost?

And then there’s the genetic modification (GM or GMO) of animals, to make them grow faster or bigger. But again at what cost? Are we ultimately setting up monstrous problems that we will not be able to undo?

To understand all of these issues we really need to take an in-depth look at biotechnology’s manipulation of the genetic codes of plants and animals, even inserting animal genes into plants. GM foods are now introduced into the market place without good in-depth scientific study on how it affects the human body.  Consequently the general public (that’s you and me) become the guinea pigs.

Again I would urge you to watch the following DVDs so you have a good overview of genetic modification science and so you understand that it really is still in its infancy but has been released into our food chain without any significant testing.

Take a look at these videos:

•  King Corn
• Food, Inc
• Unnatural Selection
• Hidden Dangers in Kids’ Meals

The latter 2 come in a set called GMO Trilogy which you can order from Amazon. Find Food, Inc. and King Corn on Amazon

Do you even know how much genetically modified food you are eating? If you said none, then you may be surprised because 88-89% of all corn, soy, cottonseed and canola in the United States has been genetically modified. Food manufacturers turn corn and soy into a myriad of products that wind up in most prepared, packaged foods that you buy. So if you’re eating corn chips, corn tortillas, anything with high fructose corn syrup in it or any other corn by-product, then you are eating genetically modified food.

(Fortunately only 3% of sweet corn, like corn on the cob, is genetically modified. Yeah! I love corn on the cob.)

On top of that genetically modified (GMO) corn is fed to cattle in the feed lots. When we eat the beef, how does it affect our bodies? Questions thus far unanswered by scientific investigation.

To understand the issues and the enormity of this problem, I once again encourage you to watch these DVDs:
Take a look at these videos:

• Food, Inc
• King Corn
• Unnatural Selection
• Hidden Dangers in Kids’ Meals

The latter 2 come in a set called GMO Trilogy which you can order from Amazon. Find Food, Inc. and King Corn on Amazon

You can also review the prior articles on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) at:

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood1.html

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood2.html

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood3.html

And so after presenting these videos to the Shasta Bible College students in our nutrition class, here’s the question that I challenged them with:

Q. What are the major issues, problems, ethical and moral factors facing us individually and as a society in regard to genetic modification of our food? Did you know the truth or were you deceived?

Ryan Kwiatkowski gave this thoughtful answer:

One major ethical issue regarding genetic modification is a lack of respect for animals and God’s creation. God has given us dominion and authority over the animals. I say this because there are those who value animal life as high as or even higher than human life (if we are simply evolved animals this would be sensible). However, genetic modification shows disrespect for God’s creation. Scientists often experiment on animals not knowing what the ultimate outcome of their experimentation will be. Often the genetically modified animal will not live as long, be sterile, have deformities, or suffer extreme pain while alive. It is difficult, if not impossible for man to improve on God’s creation; there will always be harmful side effects. Genetic modification and animal experimenting often leads to a devaluing of life.

Another issue of genetic modification concerns the consumers, the human race. GMO foods have been introduced to our society unbeknownst to us. GMO foods can be unmarked or served in restaurants, so we may not be aware that we are consuming GMO foods. We should have the freedom to choose whether or not we are going to eat GMO foods. In a way, by not telling us they are taking away our freedom and deceiving us.

Ultimately a third ethical issue is tampering with God’s creation. By altering the genetic code that God has established, scientists are trying to improve on God’s design. By doing this they are putting themselves in the place of God. I don’t believe that God will honor this, and as it has been seen in the past, whenever man tries to add to what God has established, the end result is corruption.

 Now here are my questions to you:

Have you been eating genetically modified food without even knowing it? If so, how do you feel about that? What do you see as the ethical and moral issues in introducing GM food to an unsuspecting public?

I highly value your thoughts. Please make comments below.

Blessings,

Dr. Jo

Filed under: Genetic Modification on June 6th, 2010 | No Comments »

Hi,

Wow, where did May go? It zipped by with all the preparation and then teaching of the nutrition class at Shasta Bible College. We had so much fun even though it was so time intensive. I love teaching college students. They so quickly grasp the importance of eating correctly for lifelong health and for producing healthy children.

 

Dr. Titrud taught the first week of this course. The students had already changed their eating habits by the time that I arrived to teach the second week of the course. Isn’t that just amazing and incredible? I am so proud of them.

 

After each teaching session I asked them to answer 3 questions in writing because I wanted them to think about and interpret what they were hearing. With their permission I will share their essays with you because they had such great insights.

 

We watched portions of the videos King Corn, Food, Inc, Unnatural Selection, and Hidden Dangers in Kids’ Meals. The latter 2 come in a set called GMO Trilogy which you can order from Amazon. Find Food, Inc. and King Corn on Amazon

You may want to watch these DVDs yourselves. You can also review the prior articles on Genetically Modified Organisms at:

                http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood1.html

                http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood2.html

                http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood3.html

 

Here’s the first question asked of the class:

Q. What are the major issues, problems, ethical and moral factors facing us individually and as a society in regard to genetic modification of our food? Did you know the truth or were you deceived?

And the answer by Lisa Bowes:

A.        The genetic modification of food has created some key social, ethical, and moral dilemmas in our society and in the global food market. Since labeling is not mandatory in the United States it would be fair to state that like me, most citizens are unaware of the harmful side effects of genetically modified foods. Corporations that genetically modify food include the giant agricultural company, Monsanto. Monsanto only informs the public of the possible benefits of their biotechnological advances. It is important to look at both the positive benefits and negative side-effects of genetically modified foods before making an informed decision as a consumer.

The social effects of genetically modified food include the unknown health impact on humans. Potential concerns include unknown allergens and the increased use of antibiotics to treat animals fed genetically engineered food. There are also studies linking genetically modified food to the increasing infertility rates in humans. The environmental impact is now surfacing in the unintended transfer of transgenes (genetically engineered genes) through cross-pollination. Organic farmers are struggling to keep the genetically modified crops from cross-pollinating with their crops. The unknown effects on soil microbes are still being studied.

The ethical issues at hand include the manipulation of the natural organisms’ function and value. Companies are even going as far as mixing genes among species. Humans are unknowingly consuming animal genes in plants and plant genes in animals. Gene mixing is causing stress for the animals. Genetically altered corn fed to livestock is destroying them and causing the need for antibiotic treatment on a continuous basis. Seventy percent of all antibiotics produced are being used to treat livestock. The increased fat content in the meat and antibiotics used to treat acidosis from corn feed are passed along to humans who consume the meat of these animals.

The moral issues include the domination of world food production by a few companies. Genetically altered seeds are sterile and only produce one crop. Farmers are then subject to the controlling factors mandated by the large companies. The farmers must comply or go out of business. Developing countries are becoming increasing dependent on industrialized nations for their supply. Thus there is foreign exploitation of natural resources.

Monsanto has been very successful at marketing their biotechnology plan for the welfare of society. Monsanto’s current website states that the world will go hungry due to population overgrowth if we don’t turn to biotechnology. Biotechnology has yielded faster and larger crops. However, is faster and larger better? Do the companies controlling biotechnology really care about what is in the best interest of humanity or is it what is in their best interest? Until consumers are educated on the issues facing the whole of society concerning genetically modified food, large corporations will continue to dictate the future of agriculture based on profit. 

A comprehensive analysis by Lisa Bowes. Thanks Lisa!

 In the next post we will look at another student’s answer to the same question.

 Blessings,

Dr. Jo

Filed under: Genetic Modification on June 4th, 2010 | No Comments »

Before we delve into the juicy info in this Be Wise-Health Wise:

Just a reminder about the nutrition class that Dr. Titrud and I will teach in Redding, Ca from May 10^th to 22^nd:

Shasta Bible College

May 10 – 21, 2010

6-9:30 PM Monday through Friday

Taught by:

Dr. Oliver Titrud – Nutritional protection for the flu and much more – May 10-14

Dr. Bessie Jo Tillman – Disease is Optional – the Choice is Yours – May 17-21

$100 for seniors

$125 to audit the class

You may also take this course for college credits, earning 3-4 college units.

Call Shasta Bible College to register and for more information 530-221-4275

Visit their web site at www.shasta.edu

 

Now to give you another little taste of what we will cover in this class:

Are you a victim? Do you think that cancer is just waiting to pounce on you and there’s not a thing you can do about it?

Or are you willing to take personal responsibility for you health?

If you regularly read this newsletter, I suspect you eagerly search for the truth about health and incorporate health-building modalities into your lifestyle. That eagerness is so exciting because there’s so much we can do for ourselves to prevent disease and increase our level of health and vitality.

My search for health began back in the early 1980’s when I was feeling miserable and knew that my training in conventional medicine would not help me get better. In 1984 at a seminar sponsored by the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, I learned some amazing truths about nutrition and wondered why I had not heard it sooner. (After all I had been through 4 years of medical school, internship and continuing medical education.)

Well, maybe I just wouldn’t have accepted this information until my illness sent me looking for answers.

Anyway, this information changed my life and my medical practice, helping me and thousands of my patients. I have shared it with you in various ways through this newsletter over the years, but I haven’t introduced you to Dr. Weston A. Price, the man who travelled all over the world in the 1930’s to find out why people in the modern world were so unhealthy.

As a dentist Dr. Price actually wanted to find out why people had so much tooth decay and gum disease. He suspected that diet had something to do with it, so he decided to study people who still ate their native, “Traditional Diet” instead of the “modern diet”.

So in the 1930’s Dr. Price, DDS set out on his journey, travelling 150,000 miles to visit 12 different cultures on 5 continents, studying the effects of diet on teeth and general health. He began his travels when he was in his 60’s and was still traveling in his 70’s.

His premise: “modern people” were eating too much white flour and sugar and not enough health building foods. Eating wrong kinds of modern food causes tooth decay, general physical degeneration, and facial and dental arch deformities.

He visited and examined many “primitive cultures” around the world. Isolated from “the products of trade” (sugar, white flour, canned food, coffee, etc.) they thrived on their native diet. As long as they ate their native diet, they had healthy teeth (only 1% tooth decay), great physiques, well-formed faces, wide dental arches, no crowding of their teeth. The felt great emotionally, mentally and physically. Since their brains weren’t irritated by the devitalized food, they were happy people who got along well with one another.

But things changed remarkably when they went to live in a city or on a plantation or a ship came by and they adopted the “modern” diet. In these folks Dr. Price saw rampant tooth decay and physical degeneration.

Even worse, parents eating the modern diet gave birth to offspring with narrowed faces, deformed sinuses, narrowed nostrils, narrow jaws, crowded teeth and other physical deformities. If the parents returned to their native diet, their subsequent offspring had the normal facial configurations of their “tribe” and no physical deformities.

The native (no matter what part of the world) diet always included:

            Very adequate amounts of unprocessed animal protein, from animals fed by nature

            Vegetables

            Whole grains

            A source of fat-soluble vitamins

            A source of vitamin C

 

The native diet sometimes also included:

            Dairy products

            Fruit

Something about messing with the way God made food causes our teeth and gums to degenerate. But more than that, the teeth serve as a window on the rest of the body. Teeth are the first visible indication of degeneration and deformity.

Discover the underlying causes of all degenerative diseases in my nutrition class and enjoy the wonderful pictures of healthy native people captured by Dr. Price in his amazing journeys around the world:

Disease is Optional – the Choice is Yours

Shasta Bible College

May 10 – 21, 2010

6-9:30 PM Monday through Friday

Call Shasta Bible College to register and for more information 530-221-4275

Visit their web site at www.shasta.edu

And if you just cannot make it to the class, you’re in luck because the class will be available on DVDs. Send an email to me at drjo@dr-jo-md.com  to let me know that you would like to reserve a set of DVDs.

Hope to see you in class,

Dr. Jo

Filed under: Nutrition on May 4th, 2010 | No Comments »

Spring has sprung…

 Oops – now we’re back to winter again as we arose this morning to snowing falling out of the sky. After 3 years of drought we’re always grateful for the precipitation. When you live in the mountains you stay much more aware of the dry conditions and risk for forest fire.

 Nevertheless, we have had a taste of spring and some nice breaks in the weather to work on our garden. A few days ago we had our first treats from the garden – asparagus. We finally get to eat it, so delicious fresh cut. When my husband was digging the trenches 2 years ago in preparation for planting the garden, he said, “I won’t get to eat this until I’m 70”. You see, asparagus has to grow for 3 seasons before starting to harvest it.

 So he made it – not quite 70 yet, but he did get to eat that asparagus!

 My body is so ready for those fresh veggies from the garden. Store bought veggies are ok, but fresh from the garden rate so much higher.

 Veggies somehow remind me that “Disease is Optional” since they play such an important role in disease prevention.

 

Would you like to find out more about making Disease Optional in your life?

 You have the perfect opportunity if you live near Redding, California.  Join us for the nutrition class at:

Shasta Bible College

May 10 – 21, 2010

6-9:30 PM Monday through Friday

 Taught by:

Dr. Oliver Titrud – Nutritional protection for the flu and much more – May 10-14

Dr. Bessie Jo Tillman – Disease is Optional – the Choice is Yours – May 17-21

 $100 for seniors

$125 to audit the class

 You may also take this course for college credits, earning 3-4 college units.

Call Shasta Bible College to register and for more information 530-221-4275

Visit their web site at www.shasta.edu

Now for those of you who live too far away to come to the college class, we want you to have access to this vital information, so reply soon and we can reserve videos of Dr. Tillman’s portion of the class for you.

 What disease would you like to make optional?

•  Diabetes?
•  Heart Disease?
•   Cancer?

What diseases run in your family?

 

After helping many people back to health through nutrition and glandular support, Dr. Melvin Page proclaimed that you can have a genetic propensity for a disease, but your lifestyle causes it to manifest in your body. But with the correct knowledge applied with wisdom, you can prevent the manifestation of that familial disease and stay healthy.

 That’s the good news!

 

 Here’s another amazing thing that doctors are just discovering now:

All degenerative diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, eye diseases and others are caused by the same 2-3 factors. If you can correct those factors the disease process can be reversed. Looks like they’re just realizing what Dr. Page knew back in the 1950’s. Main stream medicine and media reports eventually catch up with the truth spoken by pioneers early on in the discovery process.

 In this class we will explore those universal factors that cause disease.

 In that process we will be on the alert to truth versus deception in the modern food industry.

 Would you be surprised to know that in the USA we have a corn based food supply? What does that mean in regard to obesity and degenerative disease?

 

And what does GMO have to do with corn? Do you even know what GMO is? Come to the class and find out how we’re the guinea pigs in this experiment with our food sources.

 For a preview of GMO, review these sites:

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood1.html

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood2.html

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/nutrition/gmfood3.html

We will also compare how most Americans eat now and how people in healthy cultures ate in the past. Here’s one small example of how far we have strayed from healthy eating:

Over-fed and malnourished typical “healthy” American annually eats:

•  756 doughnuts
•  60 pounds of cakes and cookies
•  23 gallons of ice cream
•  7 pounds of potato chips
•  22 pounds of candy
•  200 sticks of gum
•  365 servings of soda pop
•  134 pounds of sugar
•  90 pounds of fat

But your healthy ancestor typically ate:

 High fiber – slowly releases glucose into the bloodstream – only requires small amount of insulin

• 1/3 lean animal meat
• 2/3 unprocessed plant food including:
•           Mostly vegetables
•           Some grains
•           Some fruit
•           Nuts, seeds
•           Beans (legumes)

Do your eating habits line up with the typical American’s or your ancestor’s diet?

 

Personally I have trouble believing the statistic that the typical American eats 756 doughnuts per year. That’s over 2 doughnuts per day. I don’t eat any, so somebody’s eating more than 2 doughnuts per day!

Just the thought of eating a doughnut makes me feel nauseated. All that sugar and fried fat plays such havoc with our bodies.

 

If we only knew…

                 The Truth

 The truth sets us free…

               From disease

                From misery

                From being a burden to our families

                 From aborting our God designed awesome destiny

 Let the truth about nutrition set you free.

 We look forward to your input to our discussions at this lively nutrition class.

 Join us at:

 Shasta Bible College

May 10 – 21, 2010

6-9:30 PM Monday through Friday

 530-221-4275 to register

 See you there,

Dr. Jo

P.S. If you miss the class, ask me about the DVD’s of my portion of the class.

Filed under: Nutrition on April 20th, 2010 | No Comments »

In your search for natural remedies for high blood pressure you may never have heard of chelation.

Or if you’ve heard of chelation you may have felt you couldn’t afford it or there was no doctor nearby to administer it to you.

Now those worries can fly away because I have great news for you. Chelation at home has become a reality that’s very affordable. Would you go for it:

• If it only took 2 minutes every other day of your time, would you try it?
• If this Magic Bullet could help prevent disease, even cancer, would you use it?
• If it saved you money and lost time in the long run, would you buy it?
• If it prevented more pain and disability, would you embrace it?
• If it staved off a heart attack or a stroke, would you utilize it to lower high blood pressure?

If you’re not saying, “Sure I want it, you must be crazy.”

But why should you go for it?

Good question. Most doctors don’t even recognize the reason that chelation can be utilized to effectively lower high blood pressure and is a great addition to the natural remedies for high blood pressure.

You see, chelation pulls toxic metals out of the tissues where they have been trapped for years. Accumulating metals like cadmium, lead and nickel in your body contributes to the cause of high blood pressure. Getting rid of those poisons helps lower high blood pressure.

Now you’re asking, but where did those toxic metals come from?

Most folks don’t realize how much they’ve been exposed to toxic metals in air, water and food. Our environment is polluted, even the toxicology books say so. Did you live during the time of leaded gasoline? Then you were exposed to lead in the air and it eventually precipitates in the soil leading to water and food pollution.

Have you ever smoked or lived with a smoker or worked where a lot of cigarette smoke hung in the air?

If so you’ve been exposed to and probably accumulated toxic cadmium, lead, nickel and very toxic chemicals. Smokers should definitely consider chelation, but only after they stop smoking! It doesn’t make sense to draw toxins out of one end and dump them in via the other end.

Smoking, diabetes and toxic metal poisoning are all associated with hardening of the arteries too, a disease that often accompanies high blood pressure. The popularity of chelation for reversing hardening of the arteries began years ago after doctors used it to treat workers who had been poisoned by lead in their work place.

About three months after their series of chelation treatments, they reported back to their doctors saying they could walk without pain now, a reversal of PAD (peripheral arterial disease), their chest pain and shortness of breath had gone away and sure enough they had lower high blood pressure (or normal blood pressure).

Of course you will want more information. Review my articles on chelation and take a look at the in home chelation web site.

http://www.dr-jo-md.com/chelation.html

When you’re ready to start your chelation, order on-line, and put “Dr Jo” in the coupon code section (but without the quotes). Or if you call your order in tell them Dr. Jo (Dr. Bessie Jo Tillman) referred you to get the discount.

Let me know what happens with your blood pressure. Remember, reversing high blood pressure takes time. Be patient and consistent with your natural remedies for high blood pressure.

Blessings,

Dr. Jo

Filed under: High Blood Pressure on April 5th, 2010 | No Comments »

Since lectins found in our food can cause serious inflammation in our bodies leading to misery, pain, gas, bloat, diarrhea, constipation, dementia, brain irritability and chronic degenerative disease, we’re embarking on a journey to eliminate them from our diets. We want out of this vicious cycle!

 

Avoiding lectin-containing food can be difficult but highly rewarding in the measure of health you gain and the measure of pain and disability that you prevent.

 

Foods that contain the most problematic lectins include:

                All cereal grains, especially wheat, but oats, rye, barley, spelt, corn, rice, and even some of the other non-gluten grains may contain lectins in high enough quantity to cause problems

                Dairy products

                Soy

                Legumes

                Nuts

                Seeds

 

Remember folks, white flour is refined wheat. For some reason people only think of wheat as whole wheat. Anything made from the whole wheat grain is still wheat.

 

Besides the obvious sources of wheat in our diet, these ubiquitous wheat products in our food supply hide in our food in many processed forms such as:

                Soups, soy sauce, candies, cold cuts, and various low-fat or non-fat products.

If you are only eliminating wheat as your first step, you will need to be sure to check the labels before you eat it.

Also watch out for malt, starches, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), texturized vegetable protein (TVP) and natural flavoring. Some pharmaceuticals, vinegars and alcohol can also contain gluten and/or lectins.

 

 

Since many foods other than wheat also contain problematic lectins you may need to try a:

 

 Lectin elimination diet

 

Stop eating all suspect lectin families for 7 days. That means you do not eat:

                Grains as listed above

                Dairy

                Legumes, especially soy

                Nuts and seeds

 

Be sure to read labels so that you aren’t consuming a part of the lectin family hidden in a food.

 

Notice which of your symptoms subside. Are you thinking more clearly? Does your gut feel better? Are those muscle or joint pains gone or improved? Is your headache gone? If any symptoms improve then you have eliminated a culprit food.

 

Next you will want to start testing the foods you have been avoiding to find the culprits.

 

So, on day 8 reintroduce only one lectin group at a time to see if it causes your symptoms again.

 

If you want to test dairy then eat milk, cheese and sour cream on day 8 only. Then on day 9 and 10 avoid dairy as well as the rest of the lectin containing foods above. Listen to your body for 2 days. Is your bowel acting up again? Did the headache, joint pain, muscle pain or any other miserable symptom recur? If so, now you know that dairy products are a problem for you.

 

When all of your symptoms go away after the flare from the dairy food, test legumes by eating a variety of  them such as soy, kidney beans and peanut butter that day. Then avoid legumes and the rest of the high lectin foods for 2 days and listen to your body. If it talks to you again, you know you’re on the right track to finding your food culprits. If your body continues to feel fine, then you can keep legumes in your diet.

 

Avoid over eating any food you are tolerating though so you will continue to tolerate it well.

 

Continue testing the other lectin groups one at a time and listen to your body.

 

In summary, here’s how to use the lectin elimination diet:

                Avoid all the lectin groups for seven days or until your symptoms subside.

                Then eat a variety of food from one lectin group for 1 day.

                Next avoid that lectin food group for 2 days and listen to your body.

                If symptoms flare, wait until they subside.

                Then test the next lectin group in the same pattern.

 

If symptoms flare, remove that food group from your diet for 6 months. At the end of that 6 month period eat it and wait 2 days to see if symptoms recur. If you still feel good, then you may be able to once again eat from this lectin group.

 

Perhaps you developed difficulty digesting it because of taking anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, aspirin, etc, or because of an infection. Now your gut has healed and can tolerate that lectin food group.

 

But be careful to never over eat any one food so you will continue to digest it well.

 

IF you still don’t tolerate that lectin food group, then retest it in 6 months. If you react again, you may need to avoid it totally.

 

Some additional challenges for those with severe symptoms:

 

Rheumatic or arthritic problems have been associated with the nightshade family, so you will also need to eliminate that group as you test.

 

Nightshade group of foods to avoid:

                Tomato

                Potato

                Eggplant

                Pepper

 

What’s left to eat?

 

That’s a common question since we’ve just eliminated the most common foods in the modern diet. But actually there are a lot of wonderful, delicious, satisfying, colorful foods left to eat. You just need some coaching to learn to prepare and eat them joyfully.

 

That’s where Dr. Jo’s Natural Healing Cookbook comes to your rescue with the Get Healthy Eating Plan. Use it as your basic eating plan since it already eliminates the most common problematic lectin food. If your symptoms don’t completely go away after 7 days on the Get Healthy Eating Plan, eliminate the legumes and night shade family.

 

If you still have symptoms, eliminate even the non-gluten grains. Then add the lectin food groups back as described above until you have discovered your very own healthy eating plan for life that suits your uniquely-you body.

 

Enjoy your newly discovered health freedom.

 

Blessings,

Dr. Jo

Filed under: Food toxins on March 26th, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Wheat may be killing us gradually and insidiously.

Also, wheat intolerance and/or other food sensitivity may have put many folks in mental institutions. And what do they get fed while in those mental institutions? Right, lots of wheat.

Many years ago one of my patients sat across from me in my office and told me her story. As a child she had been abused and by age 12 she wound up in a mental institution. Her learning skills were severely limited and she was quite deficient in math.

She languished in that mental institution for years until her compassionate sister learned of the accomplishments of Dr. Jonathan Wright in helping folks overcome severe health problems through nutritional expertise and uncovering their food sensitivities or intolerances.

When this patient, now in her fifties, stopped eating the food that her body could not tolerate, she began to recover. Her foggy thinking began to clear up. She felt much better, lost weight and had more energy.

Best of all she was able to function in society again. She lived with her sister and took care of running the household including mastering math well enough to take care of the family checkbook and finances.

Her story brought tears to my eyes then and still does today. But her victory as an over comer still thrills me today. Her story should give us all encouragement to look for those hidden sources of substances that damage our health.

One of those sources may be a food or foods that we eat constantly day in and day out, even believing that those foods are really good for us.

Food can damage our bodies via several different mechanisms. We easily recognize acute allergic reactions like eating shell fish and immediately developing a rash or throat swelling or other life threatening or irritating symptoms.

If our reaction to a food occurs one to two days after eating it, it becomes more difficult to recognize. That reaction may still be mediated through the immune system and so be labeled a delayed allergic response.

But food can damage our tissues via non-allergic responses as well and some interesting, fairly recent research has revealed that lectins in wheat can induce severe tissue damage to our intestines, brain and other tissues.

For years I have noticed that wheat may profoundly affect the functioning of the brain in some people, causing irritability, grouchiness, negativity, depression and even severe reactions like tantrums and angry reactions. At that time I thought that the brain was the target organ of an allergic reaction.

Now I am realizing that the lectins in wheat or other grains from the grass family (oats, barley, rye, spelt, kamut and even rice) may be the greater problem since lectins can cross the blood-brain barrier and attach to the nervous tissue causing damage.  Could avoiding food containing lectins prevent such disorders as mental illness and senile dementia and other degenerative conditions?

It seems to me it’s worth a trial off of the high lectin food to see if we notice any changes. Wouldn’t it be a shame to suffer so much from simply eating a food that doesn’t agree with our bodies?

The majority of us have great difficulty digesting and breaking down these extremely small tough substances in wheat.

Then they slip into the tissues and accumulate there inducing inflammation, a reaction of our bodies to foreign substances. This chronic inflammation leads to damage to tissues which manifests as a painful, debilitating disease process.

Do you have an “itis” problem, like arthritis, tendonitis or bursitis? Any disease label that ends in “itis” refers to inflammation. Could that “itis” be due to constantly ingesting those damaging lectins in wheat and other grains? Possibly.

Other disease processes may also be linked to lectins including: atherosclerosis, hypertension, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, adult onset diabetes and obesity.

To help understand the lectin problem better, read these articles too:              

What Are Lectins?

Do Lectins Affect you?

Blessings,

Dr. Jo

Filed under: Food toxins on March 9th, 2010 | No Comments »

Have you tried any green smoothies yet? Maybe these recipes will arouse more interest and reward your taste buds.

Basic Green Smoothie combo:

2-3 sweet fruits, e.g. apple or pear – blend first to form a tasty base,
1 vegetable fruit or a celery stalk – add next for extra minerals, e.g. summer squash or zucchini,
One packet of pre-washed organic greens, or a handful of farm greens or wild edibles.

Some folks add water to get the consistency they enjoy.

Always blend the fruit first –

2-3 cups any greens of your choice, 2 cups papaya, 2 oranges, 3 dates

1 handful lettuce leaves, 1 handful mint, 4 bananas, 1/2 cup water

Winter Smoothie – 1 cup organic frozen berries (any kind), 2 cups fresh spinach, 1/4 inch fresh ginger, water

Spring Smoothie – fresh orange juice, ripe bananas, frozen mangoes, and several large leaves of kale

(extra frozen mango gives lovely thick consistency you eat with a bowl + spoon)

1/2 bunch romaine lettuce, 1 cup strawberries, 2 bananas, water

4-5 kale leaves, 4 apples, 1/2 lemon juiced, water

2 big handfuls mixed baby greens, 2 pears, 2 mangoes, 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Choc-mint – 2 cups spinach, 10-12 mint leaves, 3 bananas, 2 Tbs. carob powder, 1 cup water

1 handful of spinach, 2 stalks of celery, 2 bananas, 2 pears, 1 apple, 1 cup water

1 small handful of spinach, 2 cups arugula, 2-3 mangoes, 1 cup water

1/2 head romaine lettuce, 1 small pineapple, 1 large mango, 1-inch fresh ginger

1 handful wild greens (e.g. dandelion), 1 small handful mint leaves, 3 cups honeydew melon

3-4 stalks celery, 2 ripe persimmons, 1 banana

1 handful chard leaves, 5-6 kale leaves, 3 large bananas, 1 cup water

1 handful parsley, 3 cups of peeled papaya

These recipes were collected at the following web site, take a look at it for more good information:

http://www.greensmoothie.com/blend/green.html

Blessings,

Jo

Filed under: Raw Food and Green Smoothies on February 11th, 2010 | No Comments »