Kids get so little Vitamin D these days, that Rickets- a disease that was thought to be virtually eradicated over 50 years ago in developed countries- is back again. Rickets,  with it’s characteristic bowed legs from improper bone hardening, is caused by a simple nutritional deficiency. Yet children right here in the US are getting this easily preventable disease in numbers never thought possible.

Vitamin D, which is naturally present in few foods except for Fatty Fish like Sardines and Salmon is made naturally when the skin is exposed to sunlight.

But Rickets became prevalent during the Industrial Revolution in England when the already weak British sun’s rays were blocked entirely by the incredible pollution in the air. Scientists were able to make a synthetic form of Vitamin D and quickly began fortifying milk products, solving the rickets problem for good- or so they thought.

But now, rickets is back…

Dr. Laura Tosi, bone health chief at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington says, “I am now treating rickets in a way that I never treated it 20 years ago,” Possibly even more alarming is a new epidemic where bone formation in children appears normal, but is actually much softer than it should be.

As such, girls today break their arms 56% more often than their peers did 40 years ago- and boys break them 32% more often!

A  long term Bone Health Study of US Children is now being done in response to this phenomenon- and researchers are concerned that widespread osteoporosis may be waiting for this younger generation in adulthood.

But why is this happening?

There is no one answer to that question. But the recommendation of most dermatologists to keep children out of the sun for fear of skin cancer is one reason. The widespread use of sunscreen that effectively blocks the UV rays that allow the skin to make Vitamin D is another. Children’s increased time indoors watching television, playing video games and computer usage is another reason.

Not only does being indoors keep children out of the Vitamin D making rays of the sun, but it also keeps them from doing the essential weight-bearing exercises like running and jumping that encourage young bones to grow denser and stronger.

“Physical activity increases growth in width and mineral content of bones in girls and adolescent females, particularly when it is initiated before puberty,” concluded one study.

Other studies estimate that children and teens, due to poor dietary choices, get 20% less calcium than is recommended.

So the problem is compounded by the perfect storm of:

Not enough Vitamin D
Not enough Magnesium
Not enough Fat Soluble Vitamins
and
Not enough Exercise

Very Long-Term Effects

While these studies are focusing on the possible osteoporosis that these children may be getting later in life, other researchers are concerned about other, less well known effects that low Vitamin D levels may have on these children later in life.

Dr. Cedric Garland, who  has been researching Vitamin D for over 20 years, states, “We estimate that we could prevent 75%of cancers by getting everyone’s Vitamin D Blood Level into the 40 -60 (ng/ml) level.”

There has also been much research into Vitamin D for diabetes and heart disease prevention. An analysis of several studies even claims that sufficient Vitamin D levels can reduce “All cause mortality”, a claim that is somewhat like the “holy grail” as drug research is endlessly in the quest of a patentable drug that can make this claim.

While Dr. Garland and other researchers like Dr. Robert Heaney and Dr. John Cannell have been urging higher Vitamin D levels for years, governments have been slow to respond.

With the Official Recommended Daily Intake  of Vitamin D unchanged in over 50 years despite the mounds of evidence of the benefits of higher Vitamin D intake -our youngest generation may be the ones who are going to be suffering from our governments turning a deaf ear to the cries of researchers worldwide.

What you can do…

Get enough sun and/or Take enough Supplemental Vitamin D to keep your level within the recommended 40-60 ng/ml range outlined by Dr. Cedric Garland and an entire team of Vitamin D researchers.

Kerri Knox, RN -The Immune Queen

Functional Medicine Practitioner

http://www.easy-immune-health.com

The newest guidelines for High Cholesterol levels and treatment are being embraced by some who don’t see cholesterol as being the huge cardiac risk factor that some organizations see it as. Some see the newest studies that have come out as better and more common sense guidelines for treating cholesterol than the “lower is better” crowd that give out the cholesterol lowering statin drugs to everyone with a cholesterol level over 150.

Essentially, for the past decade, we have been taught that cholesterol is bad and have been encouraged to get it as low as possible for health and to not eat cholesterol laden foods like shrimp lest it make our cholesterol levels go up even a smidge.

But there are those on the other side of this issue who question the lower is better theory. They see cholesterol as the precursor for every single hormone in the body, a requirement in order to make Vitamin D from sunlight and as a required component in every cell wall of the body. In fact, a former Heart Surgeon is taking on the notion that cholesterol is a problem at all! Take a look at why Dr. Lundell believes that Cholesterol is NOT a problem!

So there are doctors who are questioning whether we even SHOULD be lowering cholesterol in the first place. And a new study is finally shedding new on the ‘lower is better’ debate. The study is summarized in an easy to use guideline at the link below:

http://www.clinical-rounds.com/trigly.html

Essentially, they say to take your cholesterol levels and triglycerides and put it into a formula in order to find out your risk. You take your triglycerides and divide them by your HDL level. In other words, you do the following easy formula:

Triglycerides/HDL=___

Then use the following formula to find out your cardiovascular disease risk:

2 or less is considered ideal with the lower the number the better
2-4 = high risk
4-6  =very high risk

Check out this real life example of a 37 year old female (actually ME!). My:

Total Chol is 199
LDL is 127
HDL is 72
Trigly  are 83
CRP less than 1

According to the (hopefully soon to be abolished) thinking about cholesterol of ‘lower is better’, it’s likely that my doctor would have at least considered if not insisted upon a statin.

But according to this standard, I have very low risk with my Triglyceride/HDL ratio at 1.15 which is VERY low. My family history also agrees with this and I KNOW that I take care of myself VERY well so this article confirms what I already knew anyway. I love it when that happens.

Another study also showed that the C reactive protein, also called the CRP level- a marker of inflammation,  is really a more important predictor of heart disease than cholesterol. So my CRP of less than 1 also agree with the conclusion that I am at low risk for cardiovascular disease. And that’s also what Dr. Lundell writes about in The Great Cholesterol Lie. He believes that its INFLAMMATION that is the problem- NOT Cholesterol.

These are much more common sense and livable guidelines for Cholesterol levels that seem to work in real life situations much better than the practically unachievable and possibly detrimental ‘cholesterol level of 150 or less’ that gets just about everyone who sees their doctor on a cholesterol lowering statin drug.

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen

Functional Medicine Practitioner

Easy Immune Health.com

Doctors and Dermatologists for the past several decades have been telling us that virtually any amount of sunlight exposure is terrible for us and that we are going to get skin cancer.

Dermatologists tell us that we need to wear sunblock and cover up our skin at all costs, yet we are finding that the lack of sunlight exposure are probably contributing to the rise of many chronic illnesses such as heart disease, many different cancers, musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia, diabetes and other ‘diseases of civilization’.

This lack of sunlight exposure has contributed to very widespread Vitamin D Deficiency across the western world. Now that researchers and doctors are learning more and more about Vitamin D Deficiency, they have begun checking people’s Vitamin D Blood Levels.

And many of these researchers and doctors are shocked at what they have found. Dr. Elise Schroeder, a Naturopathic Doctor in Portland, Oregon (link to her radio broadcast) has found that 100% of her clients are Vitamin D Deficient.

In fact, her findings are no different than those of most researchers who are finding that Vitamin D Deficiency, even in people who are ‘healthy’, is approximately 85% of the population!!

Turned around, this means that only 15% of the population does NOT have a severe Vitamin deficiency!

If you think that you aren’t likely to have Vitamin D Deficiency, think again. Researchers found that even people living in Hawaii who got significant sunlight exposure were Vitamin D Deficient. And the vast majority of my clients are shocked to find out that they are deficient and can’t understand how they got that way.

Nearly every day, people tell me, “But I eat healthy, take a vitamin supplement and I go out in the sun, how did I get Vitamin D Deficient?”

But eating healthy has virtually NOTHING to do with it! You’d have to eat 6 to 10 ounces of fatty fish or 20 glasses of milk to meet your requirements. And vitamin supplements usually have a tiny 400 – 800 IU’s of Vitamin D in them- not NEARLY enough to meet your daily Vitamin D requirements.

Most people who are deficient and tell me that they go out in the sun everyday are living north of 37 degrees latitude. And if you live this far North, you get ZERO Vitamin D from the sun from mid September to April- even if it is sunny and warm!!!

So, if you rely on diet and sunlight to get your Vitamin D, I can guarantee that you are Vitamin D Deficient! Which puts you at higher risk for the ‘Diseases of Civilization’ that I mentioned above.

You can check your  Latitude Here.

So, if you live North of 37 degrees latitud like I do (37.9 degrees here in San Francisco) then it’s nearly guaranteed that you are Vitamin D deficient. But you’ll never know until you Get Your Vitamin D Level Checked. It’s likely that you’ll be shocked to find out what you’ve been missing.

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com

A new study on Parkinson’s Disease from UCLA shows a definite link between the disease and toxic pesticide exposure. Thousands of alternative practitioners have been saying this for years, yet it’s unlikely that this is going to change anything in the medical community.

This news comes at a time when Michael J. Fox is making headlines with his diagnosis and has a new television show devoted to Parkinson’s Disease awareness.

Michael J. Fox, on a commercial for his show states, “We’re just waiting for a cure.” But by “cure”, I’m sure that he means a drug, surgery or procedure. The fact that there are already treatments that can significantly improve Parkinson’s Disease seems to be beyond Michael J. Fox as well as most of the medical community.

The problem is that alternative treatments don’t have a ‘magic bullet’ that will make everything go away with one fell swoop. And that’s what the medical community as well as most sufferers are looking for. Like most disease sufferers, they want a pill, surgery or procedure to get them better quickly.

But that will not address the CAUSE of their symptoms. If your symptoms are CAUSED FROM TOXINS, then the solution is to get rid of the toxins- right? How is a pill, surgery or stem cell transplant going to fix the problem if you don’t get rid of the problem that caused Parkinson’s Disease in the first place?

Alternative practitioners, health groups, the organic food movement, the raw food people and many others have been saying this for years and this study confirms it. But the solution is not simple, and those with the disease will have to take some serious responsibility for their health if they want to get better without “waiting for a cure”.

If they choose to do so, then they could seriously alleviate some of their symptoms, delay progression of the disease and possibly even reverse symptoms. It won’t happen overnight and it won’t necessarily be easy, but it absolutely can be done for those who are motivated and willing to take some action.

Some ‘action steps’ that you can do to start the process are:

Eat  only organic foods
Switch  ALL home products to non-toxic alternatives
Eliminate the most common food allergies
Exercise vigorously every day within your limitations
Use sauna therapy to help eliminate toxins
Actively detoxify  using herbs and supplements
Use bowel cleansing routines to maximize elimination

While conventional medicine is unlikely to embrace or even condone these techniques, they have been practiced for centuries in many cultures around the world in order to gain better health.

So, if you want to take your Sinemet and antidepressants and wait for a ‘cure’, you can do that. You will probably have to wait a long time.

OR, you can take the initiative and try some VERY old and VERY safe techniques to get rid of the toxins that have been proven to be causing your problems.

Now that you know that you have a choice, which are you going to choose?

Resources:

Parkinson’s Study Places the Blame on Toxins

Article: Detoxification in Chronic Neurotoxic Syndromes

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com

As a kid, even though I lived in very urban Orange County, California, I was fortunate to live in the ‘milk delivery zone’ of Alta Dena Dairy, which still sold raw milk until the mid 1980′s.

I grew up getting freshly delivered raw milk straight to our front door, and I absolutely loved Kefir Milk. I made sure to order it every week before I went off to school and I credit the fresh raw milk and Kefir milk as having kept me in such good health most of my life because the rest of the food that we ate was typical Standard American Diet fare.

Having grown up on it, I never realized that people have never heard of Kefir milk before. Specifically, my fiancee Joshua- who is a voracious yogurt eater- tried Kefir milk for the first time the other night and decided that he really liked it.

For those of you who DON’T know what Kefir Milk is, it is a ‘cultured’ milk that is similar to yogurt, but that is simply cultured using ‘Kefir Grains’ which are a combination of specific good bacteria and good yeast that make the milk slightly thick and sour. While similar in taste and texture to yogurt, it is slightly thinner and drinkable rather than spoonable.

The other difference between Kefir and yogurt is that yogurt can be made by ‘inoculating’ a batch of fresh milk with another batch of yogurt before letting it culture. But it’s not possible to do this with Kefir.

In Kefir, the bacteria and yeast form into ‘grains’ that culture the entire batch. When Kefir has finished culturing, then the Kefir Grains are strained out and kept for future use.

We ended up discussing the process and he looked at the ingredients list on the Kefir and saw that it was made from pasteurized milk and he thought that that meant that the cultures were also pasteurized.  I told him that the milk was pasteurized beforehand and then cultured.

But I had heard that some unscrupulous companies first cultured the milk with Live Cultures, then pasteurized it. But since they actually added live cultures, they could say on the package “Live Cultures Added”.

So, in order to find out if the Organic Kefir that he now liked so much was made with truly “live cultures”, he wrote Clover Stornetta to find out.

Here is the results of that conversation that should clear up any misconceptions about Kefir Milk and Yogurt.

“We pasteurize the milk first, then add the cultures and immediately pump the  milk into the containers. Then the product is put into a warm room so that  the cultures can multiply and turn the milk into kefir. Kefir and yogurt by regulation must have live and active cultures.”

Sincerely,
Marcia Mc Glochlin
Director of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs

Although that seemed pretty clear, we wrote again to make sure that we understood correctly that NO companies were pasteurizing  AFTER culturing and thus killing the cultures, she wrote back:

“The actual rule is that the cultures must be added after pasteurization, and then if for some reason they want to kill the cultures, they have to say prominently on the principal display panel that it was heat treated after culturing.

The only yogurts that I have seen that do the heat treatment afterwards are when a company is manufacturing the product for overseas and want about a 6 month code on the product.

There is a lot of misinformation out there on that subject.  I have seen many ‘expert’ articles where they say that one has to make certain that the container says live and active cultures. These statements show that they know nothing about the regulations or the manufacture of yogurt and other cultured drinks.”

Sincerely,
Marcia Mc Glochlin
Director of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs

So,  there was a Yogurt and Kefir Milk myth busted thanks to Marcia McGlochlin of Clover Stornetta. Thanks for the Information Marcia.

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com