What Are PFO's and How To Prevent Them?

The foramen ovale is a small opening located on the atrial septum that is used during fetal circulation to speed up the travel of oxygenated blood through the heart. When in the womb, a baby does not use its own lungs to oxygenate blood; it relies on the mother to provide oxygen rich blood from the placenta through the umbilical cord. Normally the foramen ovale closes at birth when increased blood pressure on the left side of the heart forces the opening to close.

If the atrial septum does not close properly, it is called a patent foramen ovale. This type of defect generally works like a flap valve, only opening during certain conditions when there is more pressure inside the chest. This increased pressure occurs when people strain while having a bowel movement, cough, or sneeze.


How does a PFO affect the body?

If the pressure is sufficient, blood may travel from the right atrium to the left atrium. If there is a clot or particles in the blood traveling in the right side of the heart, it can cross the PFO, enter the left atrium, and travel out of the heart to the brain (causing a stroke) or into a coronary artery (causing a heart attack).

A stroke occurs when circulation to a part of the brain is blocked. The resultant lack of oxygen can cause problems that range from death to permanent or temporary affects on muscle control and body function.

A PFO does not cause a stroke, but its presence may be a pathway for a stroke to occur by allowing blood to flow from the venous system to the arterial system without going through the lungs first. One of the important functions of the lungs, in addition to oxygen exchange, is to filter acidic debris from the venous blood returning to the heart. If this acidic debris goes to the arterial circulation, it can lodge in an artery serving the brain, heart, or other major organ causing an arterial embolization. When it lodges in the brain, a stroke occurs. If the effects of the stroke last less than 24 hours, the stroke is called a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA). If the symptoms persist longer than 24 hours, it is termed a stroke.


The best treatment to prevent and/ or reverse a possible heart attack or stroke is an alkaline lifestyle and diet, as outlined in our new book, The pH Miracle Revised and Revisited, that will prevent bowel congestion and constipation, reduce or prevent allergic reactions to environmental toxins, reduce cellular acidic debris, prevent thrombosis, and keep the blood clean and flowing throughout central and peripheral blood circulation.

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The Scientific Nonsense and Dis-Information of A Retired Chemistry Teacher - Stephen Lower

Stephen Lower is a text book retired chemistry teacher that just needs updated information. There are 100's of published scientific articles that validate the efficacy of drinking alkaline water and eating alkaline food. May I suggest the following articles after a few brief comments.

Distilled water is electrically neutral and provides no benefit to the body unless infused with electrons. Water is a catalyst for delivering electrical energy to all the anatomical elements of the body that make up all cells. You deliver electrical energy to the body by increasing the electron concentration of that water. The body runs on electricity NOT food or calories. Food is just one source for electrical energy. Another great source for electrical energy to run the body is the sun. The point here is water is a catalyst for delivering electrical energy in the form of electrons or alkaline water that is transported to every cell via a matrix of sodium.

According to Stephen Lower at the Simon Fraser University drinking alkaline water is of no value because it will be minimized by the hydrochloric acids of the stomach. That's exactly the point Stephen! You want to minimize the hydrochloric acid residues in the stomach!!!! Of course what Stephen does not explain is the biochemistry that every molecule of hydrochloric acid produced in the stomach an equal amound of sodium bicarbonate is produced by the cover cells. The equation is as follows: NaCl + H20 + Cl = NaHCO3 + HCL. The stomach pulls sodium, chloride, water and carbon dioxide to make sodium bicarbonate, an alkalizing compound with a waste product of hydrochloric acid. The stomach will always produce sodium bicarbonate to alkalize the food we eat or the liquids we drink to prepare the food and drink for biological transformation into stem cells in the crypts of the small intestine. The more acidic the food or drink the more sodium bicarbonate will be produced to buffer the acids of the food or drink. This of course leaves you with a belly full of acid which leads to all sorts of stomach disorders including the acidifying of the blood and then tissues. The stomach does not need to produce any sodium bicarbonate when we are eating or drinking alkalizing foods or drinks. The key here to remember is the stomach is NOT an organ of digestion but an organ of contribution and its main contribution is to alkalize the food and drink we ingest. You want to drink alkaline water to neutralize or buffer the hydrochloric acid in the stomach. The stomach is NOT an organ of digestion but an organ designed to alkalize the acids from food and metabolism. Bottom-line the best thing you can do to support the stomach is to drink alkaline water with a pH of at least 9.5 or better. You will be preventing serious stomach disorders and preparing the food and drink for its ideal pH in the small intestine at 8.4.

Stephen is also confused about the biochemistry of the blood which has a very narrow range of 7.365 to 7.4. Any acid introduced into the bloodstream via diet or metabolism must be eliminated through the four channels of elimination, i.e. urination, perspiration, defecation, and respiration. If one or more of these four channels of elimination are congested or damaged then the blood goes into compensated acidosis and will eliminate any acid into the connective tissue, Pishinger spaces and the fatty tissues to maintain the delicate pH of the blood at 7.365. If this process continues acids wiill build up in the tissues leading to latent tissue acidosis and eventually an inflammatory or degenerative condition. If the symptoms of tissue acidosis or latent tissue acidosis is not corrected this will then lead to decompensated acidosis in the blood and then eventual death.

I would suggest those who are interested in why it is important to drink alkaline water and eat alkaline food read The pH Miracle Revised and Updated and the following articles at http://www.articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/:

1) http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2010/04/non-scientific-statements-of-dr-andrew.html

2) http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2010/03/alkaline-minerals-proven-to-reduce-risk.html

3) http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2009/02/scientific-nonsense-of-dr-gabe-mirkin.html

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A Few Fequently Asked Questions?

The pH Miracle/Young pHorever Products and the Innerlight Products:

Can I use Epsom salt instead of pHlush?



Dr. Young: Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate which is hard on the intestinal villi. I would suggest the pHlush which is magnesium oxide and a buffer of sodium bicarbonate.



Is there any difference between Innerlight Super Greens and Doc Broc's Power Plants?



Dr. Young: Absolutely. SuperGreens is my medicinal formulation of grasses, veggies and herbs and Doc Broc is focused just on the grasses, veggies and alkaline fruit to help build blood.



Is taking pHour salts after ingesting food not a good idea? Can it make you feel ill?



Dr. Young: You can take the pHour salts before, during or after you have ingested food to buffer the acids of the foods and to neutralize the toxic hydrochloric acid in the stomach from sodium bicarbonate production.



How is the sugar in pHruit & pHoliage reduced? what's the process?

The sugar or acids of the exotic pHruits in my product pHruit and pHolage are eliminated through low heat evaporation.

I took two teaspoons pHlush this morning at 8:15 and at this time, (2:15) it has worn off and so I am just eliminating green powder and not much liquid. I just took another dose of pHlush a few minutes ago, (only one teaspoon this time) and I can hear and feel liquids being churned around in my digestive tract. Is this normal?



Dr. Young: That is the alkaline salts mixing with the acids of the stomach as well as the magnesium oxide breaking down undigested protein in the gut.

Other Products/Supplements/Herbs/Foods/Pharmaceuticals:

Some say that Sodium chlorite is poison, what are your views?

Dr. Young: Sodium chlorite is a very strong base and can be harmful to the body if not used properly. I have found that a 5 percent dilution of sodium chlorite when used in 1 liter of distilled or ionized water can be very helpful in restoring the alkaline design of the blood and tissues.

What is your opinion of Prednisone?



Dr. Young: Prednisone is a wicked evil acidic drug that masks the symptoms of dietary and/or metabolic acidity while you slowly die.

How good is virgin coconut oil?



Dr. Young: Virgin coconut oil is a great lubricant but no good for chelating acid. It is saturated with acid. Coconut oil is good but not for reducing cholesterol and clearing toxic buildup in the blood and lymph. It can help lubricate the alimentary canal to remove acidic solid waste and help clear the way for alkalizing oils, greens, salts and water.



What do you think about maca, bee pollen and Dong Quai?



Dr. Young: Mac and bee pollen are acidic and toxic to the body. Dong Quai I have found to be anti-inflammatory and good for the body.

Is taking EPA and DHA effective in the pill form?

Dr. Young: You need more up to 100 ml per day. So taking the just the pills is inadequate.

What is your take on Hemp and Chia seeds? I have been reading that they are both great sources of protein. If so, which one do you think is the best?

Dr. Young: Excellent source of alkalizing oil or polyunsaturated oil for chelating dietary and/or metabolic acid.

There is considerable literature speculating that cilantro may be an effective chellation therapy for people who have excess mercury in their systems. Cilantro is green, so how much can a person consume in a day?


Dr. Young: You can eat as much cilantro as you would like. It is alkalzing.

Are pistachios acidic or alkaline?



Dr. Young: Yes they are mildly acidic.

Diseases/Imbalances/Symptomologies:



What is your opinion of a fatty liver please?



Dr Young: An acidic liver equals a fatty liver and a fatty live equals an acidic liver. The body retains fat to park excess dietary and/or metabolic acids that are not removed via urination, perspiration, defecation or respiration. The cause is always an acidic lifestyle and diet. Alcoholism dairy and animal protein are major contributors to an acidic/fatty liver.



What causes Canker sores in the mouth?



Dr. Young: Acids coming to the surface of the skin causes canker sores.



I have been having pretty intense stomach pain, like an ulcer pain. (I have had ulcers in the past.) The pain usually acts up when I have eaten something that is hard for me to digest. I have been fine for a long time, but now it is back on a daily basis. I am wondering if all the supergreens are doing something, or the salts. I am better in the morning, but as I start the salts and the greens I get worse again. Please advise as I can not function as of now. Should I do more scoops of greens in a liter, and more clear water?

Dr. Young: I would suggest that the pain is coming from the increase of HCL as a result of the stomach creating sodium bicarbonate to buffer blood and tissue acidity. You may need to go up to 8 liters of green alkaline fluids a day. I would also suggest feeding the body via colonics with pHour salts, liquid chlorophyll and puripHy salts.

Today I am bedridden with gastro intestinal symptoms, like pain, gas, bloating and severe nausea I also feel faint. I am doing 6-8 liters, six of them supergreens with ph drops, and chlorophyll. I am doing abut 5 scoops of the pHour salts a day, the oxypowder, oils, salt, and green liquid. Sauna every day. All green in, and all green out. I am not constipated. Any suggestion as to how to get my intestines to calm down, this is day four of these symptoms. I seem much better when I wake up, and as soon as I start drinking the supergreens , it starts. Like I am going to burst from gas and liquid. I would guess it is just detox symptoms,, but it feels very severe right now.



Dr. Young: Cleansing is a process not an event and comes about in layers. It takes at least 2 weeks before you begin to scratch the surface of a deep tissue cleanse. Once again may I suggest that this process takes at least 3 months.



What causes vasculitis? Is it curable?



Dr. Young: Vaculitis is a stage 4 acidic condition associated with inflammation. Inflammation is always curable when you understand the cause is dietary and metabolic acid and all you need to do is alkalize and exercise the body.



What protocol do you suggest for gallbladder pain?



Dr. Young: The pH Miracle Lifestyle and Diet protocol as outlined in Chapter 11 of the pH Miracle for Weight Loss.



I understand that cholesterol coats your arteries/veins as a result of over acidity. But does our body make cholesterol or does it come from our diet or both? What is good vs bad cholesterol?



Dr. Young: There is no such thing as good and bad cholesterol. It is all good. LDL helps to reduce acidity and HDL helps to drive nutrition to the cells and build cellular membranes. There are good fats and bad fats. Saturated fats are saturated with acid and unsaturated fats are unsaturated with acid and have the ability to buffer dietary and/or metabolic acid.



My asthma is kicking my butt, and I guess it doesn't help when I have allergies because it's affecting it. I just started the PH Miracle diet. How can I tame the wheezing in my lungs, I really don't want to take medication. I know the doctor will want to prescribe steroids and that is the last thing I would want to take. Dr. Young what can I do? I'm having trouble sleeping at night because of my asthma, seems like it's worse at night than day. How can I control the cough as well, it gives me chest pain.



Dr. Young: May I suggest the liquid feast for 12 weeks. No solid food all raw, organic and alkaline. You can also use the Lung Plus which is an InnerLight product to remove acidic toxins from the lung. You may even want to consider nebulizing Glutathione and NAC once or twice a day. You can find the entire lifestyle and diet in our book, The pH Miracle for Weight Loss, Chapter 11.

My brother tells me that when he goes to the bathroom the stool will come in the form of balls and are a firm consistency. What can it be?



Dr. Young: Can you say constipation. Get off the acidic food, especially bread.

What would you recommend for a bone spur in the neck area creating numbness in the fingers?



Dr. Young: I would recommend Robin McKenzie's book, Treat Your Own Neck, doing the pH Miracle Lifestyle and Diet and supplementing with the OrthoPack that contains magnesium, manganese, zinc and niacin.

Cleansing:

I am about to start a cleanse per "pH Miracle" - wheatgrass powder, Doc Broc's powder and pureed raw green soups. What are your thoughts on the inclusion of tomato, lemon juice or red capsicum in the blended soups (not being green veggies) - vs using only green veggies (eg greens celery avocado cucumber)?


Dr. Young: Yes you can include tomato, lemon juice and red capsicum in your blended soups as well but it is best to keep your diet as green as possible.



Is it unusual for a live blood sample to show liver stress and Rouleau early while just starting a green feast?



Dr. Young: During detox the tissues will be dumping acidic cells and waste products so keep alkalizing and keep your urine pH above 8.



The primary organs of elimination are the skin, liver, gall bladder, lymphatic glands, kidneys and the colon will the pH Miracle Lifestyle clean all of these organs?



Dr. Young: The pH Miracle Lifestyle and Diet is focused on detoxing the blood and tissues of dietary and metabolic acids and restoring the alkaline design of the body.



How can I restore the imbalance in the intestinal lining the quickest? I am thrown off, by the strong pain, and not sure how to proceed to heal this again. It is like I am intolerant to everything I put down. When I eat I get worse, And the pain is 24/7.



Dr. Young: I love cabbage juice to help heal the stomach. I would start taking the activated charcoal and the montmorillonite clay. You can also drink high pH water.



Part of the green feast therapy suggests the colonic cleansings. When your instructions say colonics, do you include the methods where you take something orally along with lots of water in order to cleanse the bowel from the top down or are you talking STRICTLY about the several gallons of water infused by way of the rectum?



Dr. Young: I suggest drinking 4 to 5 liters of greens everyday and taking the pHlush product every 4 hours.

Urine at ph 10 at 3pm is good or too high?



Dr. Young: Excellent, for the most acidic time of the day. Keep your urine pH up you are saturating your tissues with alkalinity instead of acidity.



I have been doing this diet for 6 weeks now. After 4 weeks 9 kilos where gone but now everything has stopped for 2 weeks. I began drinking 4 liters a day, I increased it up to 8 liters for the last three days. My pH strips say that I am 7.4 to 8 but the kilos don´t go away. I can also see that black color under my rings on my fingers so there is still much acid going on. Any suggestion?



Dr. Young: It sounds like you are constipated. I would suggest colonic and of course exercise at least 1 hour a day.

Is it normal, (or desirable) for the supergreen drink with added chlorophyll to exit the bowels in almost the same form as when it was drunk? This happened shortly after I took the pHlush product? I am totally on supergreen drink with no solid food at this time.



Dr. Young: That's a good sign that the bowels are clear, especially after taking the pHlush.

The question is what happens when you take the SuperGreens with the Chlorophyll when you do not take the pHlush? Let me know.



Dr. Young: SuperGreens with chlorophyll has a mild bowel cleansing affect but its main purpose is to build the blood. If you are not eliminating your bowels at least 3 times a day then I would recommend the pHlush to clear any congestion or undigested protein in the small intestine.

I know yucca is alkaline but can you have steamed yucca mashed on a cleanse?

Dr. Young: No problem on the pureed yucca each day. A great anti-inflammatory or better said anti-acid.

Today, for the first time in over a week, I could not get my salvia ph over 6.5.


Is more acid dumped during the detox? Did my five scoops of salt, 8 liters of water.



Dr. Young: Sounds like you are on your way to a higher level of health, energy and vitality.
Continue your salts and 8 liters of alkaline water with greens to heal the root system of your body - the small intestine.

2 days into my green feast - yesterday I consumed 0.75L of raw green soup in the morning - as well as 5.5 liters of water with various combinations of Doc Brocs powder, wheatgrass powder, pH Plasma Drops, pink Himalayan rock salt, and/or lemon juice. I've just woken up with a) abnormal fatigue b) parched dry skin and lips, especially around the face (ironically ...since my water consumption is at an all time high), and c) being extremely sensitive to the cold weather that I can usually deal with. Do you think these would all be detox symptoms?

Dr. Young: The more alkaline fluids and greens you drink the more thirsty you get. At this point you realize how nutritional deficient you really are. You are absolutely detoxing.


I am on day three of a liquid green feast. I developed a migraine headache yesterday afternoon which only happens when I eat something I am allergic too. Since I did not eat any food I am allergic to, I am assuming the body is detoxifying. My occasional foot spasms seem to be constant since the green feast. The power of greens on the body are amazing. Can you explain what may be happening to my body?



Dr. Young: Acids are generally eliminated out from the extremities and thus the increase in foot spasms. Make sure you are exercising and doing your daily stretching. As far as the headache this is common when you are detoxing especially when you are detoxing off coffee, tea, alcohol and chocolate. And yes, even the so-called acidic raw chocolate that many folks are eating needs to be eliminated.

This is the beginning of day 4 of my green feast. I feel good. I have noticed that I have been feeling cold since I started the feast and have a sour stomach when taking Udo's oil with pureed green and/or liquefied avocados. What can I do to eliminate this sour stomach?



Dr. Young: May I suggest taking the pHour salts at least in the morning and before going to bed to mediate the sour/acid stomach and to help increase better circulation.

It is day 6 of my green feast, I do not feel sick but have no ambition. Blood was Rouleau this morning. Today I couldn't do all the things recommended because I had to get groceries but will pick up on the pHlush and pHour salts now that I am home. I am going to start some rebounding sometime today and looking forward to it. Is this normal or should I be concerned?



Dr. Young: You will know you are in a deep tissue cleanse when you start feeling sick and tired. Check the pH of the urine and saliva and make sure you push the pH up over 8. This will help to neutralize or buffer the increased load of acid from the connective and fatty tissues which are being dumped into the blood to be eliminated through urination.

Day 10 on the green liquid feast,, I am still in a liver cleansing mode. Lots of small "liverstones" coming out, like a constant mini liver flush. I am very, very nauseated, and would love for that to pass, I am staying motivated, but exhausted. What can I do to help with these symptoms?


Dr. Young: To relieve the nausea you have to be taking the pHour salts several times a day. You can also drink a cup of montmorillonite clay to buffer the HCL in the stomach or activated charcoal works as well.



Protocol:

I am worried that I am drinking so much water it is just going to flush the nutrition out of me when I eat and juice, I know you say that there are 9 liters of water in your small intestines, so does this mean we can drink as much as we want without flushing nutrition out?

Dr. Young: You need to make sure that you are ingesting at least 12 to 14 grams of alkaline mineral salts each day. This is based upon 70k or 154 Lbs. You can drink more as long as it is alkaline with a pH of at least 9.5. You can also add the alkaline mineral drops as well to increase atomic oxygen and increase electrical potential. Your large bowels will adsorb and absorb 8 liters of alkaline water a day. That is why you end up with a solid stool.

It seems to be that the supergreens aggravate something in my intestines and cause great pain. Last night I had a liter of pure water, then the salts. This morning the salts, then a liter of water (large bowel movement). When I then drank the supergreens the pain started up again. What would you suggest?

Dr. Young: I would suggest switching to the Doc Broc greens which does not have medicinal herbs but only grasses, veggies and alkaline fruit.


How do I nebulize glutathione and NAC?



Dr. Young: I would suggest purchasing our liquid glutathione and NAC of which you would then need to purchase a nebulizer to nebulize the glutathione and the NAC.

My salvia pH goes down over night, the urine pH stays high. What is the body doing while sleeping in regards to this?

Dr. Young: Drink a 2 to 3 ounce shot of pHour salts with 1 to 2 scopes before going to bed.


What can I do to gain weight? I'm 5'9" and I still loosing weight. I'm now 139.8 pounds with BMI 20.6.



Dr. Young: You build muscle with blood and you build blood with an alkaline lifestyle and diet. Daily exercise is important in removing acid and creating a static contraction that will draw blood to the muscle(s)that you want to build and strenthen.

Does eating alkaline truly change the density of fibrous tissue in breast tissue/glands?

Dr. Young: Fibrous tissue is the result of tissue acidosis caused by an acidic lifestyle and diet. The blood maintains its alkaline iso-structure by eliminating dietary and/or metabolic acids into the connective and fatty tissues. This is why all women are at risk for breast cancer because the blood will eliminate any excess acidity into the fatty breast tissue if it is not eliminated through urination or perspiration. This is also why micro-calcifications always appear before the tumor formation.

I am drinking 8 liters a day, and I feeling like I am going to burst, and I am nauseated. Should I back ? Can it be too much? Or just push trough?


Dr. Young: If you are nauseated and feel like you are going to burst you are constipated and need to start taking the pHlush product to clear the small and large bowel. I would also suggest drinking 2 to 4 ounces of whole leaf aloe vera 3 to 4 times a day to breakup undigested protein in the small bowel.

Antibiotics/Probiotics:

I noticed you advise against probiotics. Since I was a kid I have been taking many antibiotics and have stopped over the last few years (I'm 29). Would you suggest probiotics for me and if not what can I do?

Dr. Young: I would only suggest probiotics in cases of extreme constipation. I would recommend a green diet with exercise without probiotics.



You wrote that antibiotics destroy the intestinal villi. Is that damage irreversible?



Dr. Young: All acidic damage to the body is reversible when you focus on building the blood with green foods and green drinks and maintaining the alkalinity of the body fluids.

Pregnancy:



I havethis first trimester of my pregnancy. I used to run 3-6 miles a day and now I only seem to be able to make it to the sauna. What is the cause of all this fatigue?

Dr. Young: Extreme fatigue is extreme acidity and the need for sustainable energy from an alkaline lifestyle and diet.

Since I Have been pregnant, the pHour salts in morning especially when I do a flush make me very nauseous, any reasons why, this didn’t happen before. Anything I can do about it?

Dr. Young: Your body needs more alkaline salts in the morning then any other time of the day. You can buffer the acids of HCL that is causing the nausea with montmorillonite clay and activated charcoal.

Doing the Cleanse and I am 12 weeks pregnant. On liquids but I find I am liking a very simple smoothie of almond milk, young coconut meat and spinach and real salt. Do you see any problem with me having excess of these ingredients mainly the coconut. Plus I do about 6 scoops of doc Brocs in 4 liters of ionized water. I do 2 tablespoons pHour salts in morning and 1 scoop throughout day and before bed, pHlush, 1 bottle of chlorophyll, Saunas daily...Oils... anything else or too much of something?



Dr. Young: No problem drinking your alkaline juices and smoothies. I would suggest that 50 percent should be green and the rest the coconut, etc.

What can you use on a pregnant belly to prevent stretch marks?

Dr. Young: You can use Earth Mamma Body Butter an herbal shea butter, virgin coconut butter, and/or Mother's Special Blend Skin toning oil with almond oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter and Vitamin E. What causes stretch marks is the adsorption and absorption of dietary and/or metabolic acids which causes induration of the skin or the loss of elasticity of the skin.



Children/Babies:



This past Monday my daughter's eardrum had burst! She's on Amoxicillin for 7 days, what would be a great way to bring her energy levels up? Do antibiotics cause Candida Yeast and if so what is the best way to get rid of it?



Dr. Young: Amoxicillin is a toxic acidic drug that can breakdown any tissue or organ. All antibiotics compromise the delicate alkaline pH of the blood and tissues, compromises and destroys the root system of the body, the intestinal villi of the small intestine and sets the stage for sickness and dis-ease. Candida or yeast, bacteria and mold are the evidence of the breakdown of the tissues and organs caused by the acid antibiotic. I would suggest one to two drops of colloidal silver in each ear to break up the congestion and to improve blood circulation without over acidifying the affected area.

My daughter had a fever of 102 last night and she can usually drink 4 oz of water at a time. I put 5 drop of the liquid cloropHeal & 2 drops of the puripHy into her distilled water. How much sodium bicarbonate should I put into her 4 oz of water? She still has a fever of 99 and I will be giving her the avorado kids juice. She's been sick for 2 weeks now.

Dr. Young: All of my formulations and suggestions are based upon 70 kilos or 154 pounds. So adjust the recommended dose on the bottle based upon 70 kilos.


Hormones:



I had asked you in the past if my thyroid replacement could be the reason why I am not obtaining better health..you stated absolutely. I have no thyroid so have no other choice but to take replacement...should I possibly switch to Armour Thyroid replacement rather than the synthetic?



Dr. Young: The problem is not the thyroid it is the small intestine. You need to build health in the core of your body. This can only be done over time with a lot of green foods, green drinks, polyunsaturated oils, lots of alkalizing mineral salts and high pH water.



Water/Water systems:



If I have ionized water at 9.5 and put some puripHy drops on it, will it raise the ph from 9.5 to 10, 10.5, 11 or it will stay in 9.5?



Dr. Young: The pH of the ionized water will go to 10.5/11 and the ORP will drop another 150 to 200 mV.

Does a $100 dollar water distiller get me clean water without fluoride and other harmful things?



Dr. Young: I would be very surprised if a $100 water distiller would take out fluoride or pharmaceuticals.

Exercise:



I know you say to exercise for an hour every day. What do you think about sprinting?



Dr. Young: I love sprinting as well which works the deeper tissues. Definitely incorporate sprinting into your daily exercise.



Foods:



You recommend tomatoes, and I love them! They are nightshades, is there anything to the nightshades and inflammation theory. Is it ok for me to eat them on my feast?



Dr. Young: No. Inflammation is caused by acidity and acidity primary comes from acidic foods, drinks and lifestyles. Fresh raw organic tomatoes are alkalizing so enjoy.



Misc. Questions:



When a person builds up calcium on the bones, especially in the neck area, what happens to the body. I know the body tries to neutralize acids, but where does the body take the calcium from? Does the body produce more calcium or does it take the calcium from other parts of the body?



Dr. Young: Chelated acids can build up anywhere in the body so start alkalizing your blood and tissues.



What do you think of Frequency Generators like the GB4000, utilized in conjunction with diet/lifestyle changes?



Dr. Young: Frequency machines do not change the biochemistry of the body. The frequency machine can only be adjunct to an alkalizing pH Miracle Wellness Plan.



How would someone go about finding out if they had throat or lung cancer, like if they had no insurance?



Dr. Young: I would suggest a live and dried blood cell analysis as an initial step to seeing if you have any congestion of the lung or throat.

How could one go into Starbucks and be alkaline?



Dr. Young: Go into their bathroom immediately, eliminate acids via urination and then leave as quickly as possible. Starbucks is the worlds number 1 acid shop and coffee provides the perfect environment for a cancerous condition. you could have their mint tea. But remember hot drinks are NOT good for the belly! They damage the cover cells of the stomach which are responsible for making the sodium bicarbonate which alkalizes the food you eat and the liquids that you drink.

Sauna:

Is there a limit to how much far infrared sauna you can take on a daily basis?

Dr. Young: I would suggest 30 to 40 minutes of infrared sauna or until you break a sweat stay in at least 15 minutes more at least twice a day would be enough.



Colonics:



Will a colonic do anything for the small intestine, or is it just to clean the colon?



Dr. Young: Colonics work to help the health of the large bowel. They can also be used to infuse alkalinity into the blood and then tissues.

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Parkour Visions Summit and Talk

On August 13-15th, my friends Rafe Kelley and Tyson Cecka are hosting a parkour summit at their Seattle gym Parkour Visions. For those of you not familiar with the sport, here's a description from the Parkour Visions site:

"The essence of Parkour can be stated simply: it is the art of overcoming obstacles as swiftly and efficiently as possible using only your body. The fundamentals include running, jumping, and climbing, and we build on these fundamentals to improve our ability to pass over, under, around and through obstacles with more complex movements. Parkour is a system of fitness training that improves strength, speed, agility, co-ordination, stamina, endurance, and precision. It offers a full-body workout at any level of experience, and improves your ability to move, to harness your confidence, to change how you see the world. Parkour practitioners are called traceurs."

The summit will include seminars on strength training, injury prevention and rehab, and nutrition, as well as parkour jams, a roundtable and a dinner. I'll be giving a talk titled "Natural Eating for Sustainable Athletic Performance" on Saturday, August 14 from noon to 1:00 pm.

Registration is $40 for the whole summit. You can read a description of it here, and find a link to the registration system at the bottom of this page.

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Autism and the Homefirst Practice

The Age of Autism: 'A pretty big secret' By Dan Olmsted UPI Senior Editor

CHICAGO, Dec. 7, 2005 (UPI) -- It's a far piece from the horse-and-buggies of Lancaster County, Pa., to the cars and freeways of Cook County, Ill.

But thousands of children cared for by Homefirst Health Services in metropolitan Chicago have at least two things in common with thousands of Amish children in rural Lancaster: They have never been vaccinated. And they don't have autism."

We have a fairly large practice. We have about 30,000 or 35,000 children that we've taken care of over the years, and I don't think we have a single case of autism in children delivered by us who never received vaccines," said Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, Homefirst's medical director who founded the practice in 1973. Homefirst doctors have delivered more than 15,000 babies at home, and thousands of them have never been vaccinated.

The few autistic children Homefirst sees were vaccinated before their families became patients, Eisenstein said. "I can think of two or three autistic children who we've delivered their mother's next baby, and we aren't really totally taking care of that child -- they have special care needs. But they bring the younger children to us. I don't have a single case that I can think of that wasn't vaccinated."

The autism rate in Illinois public schools is 38 per 10,000, according to state Education Department data; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the national rate of autism spectrum disorders at 1 in 166 -- 60 per 10,000."

We do have enough of a sample," Eisenstein said. "The numbers are too large to not see it. We would absolutely know. We're all family doctors. If I have a child with autism come in, there's no communication. It's frightening. You can't touch them. It's not something that anyone would miss."

No one knows what causes autism, but federal health authorities say it isn't childhood immunizations. Some parents and a small minority of doctors and scientists, however, assert vaccines are responsible.

This column has been looking for autism in never-vaccinated U.S. children in an effort to shed light on the issue. We went to Chicago to meet with Eisenstein at the suggestion of a reader, and we also visited Homefirst's office in northwest suburban Rolling Meadows. Homefirst has four other offices in the Chicago area and a total of six doctors.

Eisenstein stresses his observations are not scientific. "The trouble is this is just anecdotal in a sense, because what if every autistic child goes somewhere else and (their family) never calls us or they moved out of state?"

In practice, that's unlikely to account for the pronounced absence of autism, says Eisenstein, who also has a bachelor's degree in statistics, a master's degree in public health and a law degree.

Homefirst follows state immunization mandates, but Illinois allows religious exemptions if parents object based either on tenets of their faith or specific personal religious views. Homefirst does not exclude or discourage such families. Eisenstein, in fact, is author of the book "Don't Vaccinate Before You Educate!" and is critical of the CDC's vaccination policy in the 1990s, when several new immunizations were added to the schedule, including Hepatitis B as early as the day of birth. Several of the vaccines -- HepB included -- contained a mercury-based preservative that has since been phased out of most childhood vaccines in the United States.

Medical practices with Homefirst's approach to immunizations are rare. "Because of that, we tend to attract families that have questions about that issue," said Dr. Paul Schattauer, who has been with Homefirst for 20 years and treats "at least" 100 children a week.

Schattauer seconded Eisenstein's observations. "All I know is in my practice I don't see autism. There is no striking 1-in-166," he said.

Earlier this year we reported the same phenomenon in the mostly unvaccinated Amish. CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding told us the Amish "have genetic connectivity that would make them different from populations that are in other sectors of the United States." Gerberding said, however, studies "could and should be done" in more representative unvaccinated groups -- if they could be found and their autism rate documented.Chicago is America's prototypical "City of Big Shoulders," to quote Carl Sandburg, and Homefirst's mostly middle-class families seem fairly representative. A substantial number are conservative Christians who home-school their children. They are mostly white, but the Homefirst practice also includes black and Hispanic families and non-home-schooling Jews, Catholics and Muslims.

They tend to be better educated, follow healthier diets and breast-feed their children much longer than the norm -- half of Homefirst's mothers are still breast-feeding at two years. Also, because Homefirst relies less on prescription drugs including antibiotics as a first line of treatment, these children have less exposure to other medicines, not just vaccines.

Schattauer, interviewed at the Rolling Meadows office, said his caseload is too limited to draw conclusions about a possible link between vaccines and autism. "With these numbers you'd have a hard time proving or disproving anything," he said. "You can only get a feeling about it."

In no way would I be an advocate to stand up and say we need to look at vaccines, because I don't have the science to say that," Schattauer said. "But I don't think the science is there to say that it's not."

Schattauer said Homefirst's patients also have significantly less childhood asthma and juvenile diabetes compared to national rates. An office manager who has been with Homefirst for 17 years said she is aware of only one case of severe asthma in an unvaccinated child."Sometimes you feel frustrated because you feel like you've got a pretty big secret," Schattauer said. He argues for more research on all those disorders, independent of political or business pressures.

The asthma rate among Homefirst patients is so low it was noticed by the Blue Cross group with which Homefirst is affiliated, according to Eisenstein.

"In the alternative-medicine network which Homefirst is part of, there are virtually no cases of childhood asthma, in contrast to the overall Blue Cross rate of childhood asthma which is approximately 10 percent," he said. "At first I thought it was because they (Homefirst's children) were breast-fed, but even among the breast-fed we've had asthma. We have virtually no asthma if you're breast-fed and not vaccinated."

Because the diagnosis of asthma is based on emergency-room visits and hospital admissions, Eisenstein said, Homefirst's low rate is hard to dispute. "It's quantifiable -- the definition is not reliant on the doctor's perception of asthma."

Several studies have found a risk of asthma from vaccination; others have not. Studies that include never-vaccinated children generally find little or no asthma in that group.

Earlier this year Florida pediatrician Dr. Jeff Bradstreet said there is virtually no autism in home-schooling families who decline to vaccinate for religious reasons -- lending credence to Eisenstein's observations.

"It's largely non-existent," said Bradstreet, who treats children with autism from around the country. "It's an extremely rare event."

Bradstreet has a son whose autism he attributes to a vaccine reaction at 15 months. His daughter has been home-schooled, he describes himself as a "Christian family physician," and he knows many of the leaders in the home-school movement.

"There was this whole subculture of folks who went into home-schooling so they would never have to vaccinate their kids," he said. "There's this whole cadre who were never vaccinated for religious reasons." In that subset, he said, "unless they were massively exposed to mercury through lots of amalgams (mercury dental fillings in the mother) and/or big-time fish eating, I've not had a single case."

Federal health authorities and mainstream medical groups emphatically dismiss any link between autism and vaccines, including the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. Last year a panel of the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies, said there is no evidence of such a link, and funding should henceforth go to "promising" research.

Thimerosal, which is 49.6 percent ethyl mercury by weight, was phased out of most U.S. childhood immunizations beginning in 1999, but the CDC recommends flu shots for pregnant women and last year began recommending them for children 6 to 23 months old. Most of those shots contain thimerosal.

Thimerosal-preserved vaccines are currently being injected into millions of children in developing countries around the world. "My mandate ... is to make sure at the end of the day that 100,000,000 are immunized ... this year, next year and for many years to come ... and that will have to be with thimerosal-containing vaccines," said John Clements of the World Health Organization at a June 2000 meeting called by the CDC.

That meeting was held to review data that thimerosal might be linked with autism and other neurological problems. But in 2004 the Institute of Medicine panel said evidence against a link is so strong that health authorities, "whether in the United States or other countries, should not include autism as a potential risk" when formulating immunization policies.

But where is the simple, straightforward study of autism in never-vaccinated U.S. children? Based on our admittedly anecdotal and limited reporting among the Amish, the home-schooled and now Chicago's Homefirst, that may prove to be a significant omission.

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What Causes the Elevation of Cholesterol Levels In the Blood?

After all, what causes the elevation of cholesterol levels in blood?

The following are some suggestions from the medical literature about factors, beyond the famous but wronged and simplistic idea that foods based on saturated fats cause the development of atherosclerosis (1, 22), suggesting that stress, high carbohydrate diets (sugar acid) and smoke may raise total cholesterol and low density lipoproteins levels:

1. Stress increases metabolic acids
a) Anxiety and cholesterol elevation (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
b) Hostility and cholesterol elevation (12, 13, 14)
c) Extreme physical exertion and cholesterol elevation (15)

2) High carbohydrate diets or the acid sugar and cholesterol elevation (16, 17, 18).

3) Smoke and cholesterol elevation (19, 20).
It is interesting to notice that specially in stress conditions and in high carbohydrate diets there is a significant elevation in blood lactic acid, with paralleling elevation of cholesterol levels in blood which represents in my view, a healing response of the body to the vascular endothelial lesions caused by the lactic acid. (21)

As Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, from the International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS), use to say: "Do cigarettes contain fat? No, not at all. So, how can smoking a cigarette, containing no fat or cholesterol, end up depositing fat and cholesterol in the artery walls. What is the mechanism for that?" The answers is easy. When you smoke your are breathing in burnt acid sugar and tars of which the body binds up with cholesterol to protect the artery walls.

Note:

A recent meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies during 5–23 years of follow-up of 347,747 subjects showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD. Consideration of age, sex, and study quality did not changed the results (22)

1. Uffe Ravnskov, Cholesterol Myths at http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

2) Changes in plasma lipids with psychosocial stress are related to hypertension status and the norepinephrine stress response. Wirtz PH, Ehlert U, Bärtschi C, Redwine LS, von Känel R. Metabolism. 2009 Jan;58(1):30-7.

3. Effects of hemoconcentration and sympathetic activation on serum lipid responses to brief mental stress, Elizabeth A. Bachen, Matthew F Muldoon et al, Psychosomatic Medicine 64:587-594 (2002)

4. Serum lipids, neuroendocrine and cardiovascular responses to stress in healthy Type A men, Fredrikson M, Blumenthal JA, Biol Psychol. 1992 Oct;34(1):45-58

5. Factors associated with the development of panic attack and panic disorder: survey in the Japanese population Kaiya H et al. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2005 Apr;59(2):177-82a

6. Changes in mental well-being, blood pressure and total cholesterol levels during workplace reorganization: the impact of uncertainty, Taylor & Francis V15, N1 January 1, 2001: 14-18

7. Examination stress: changes in serum cholesterol, triglycerides and total lipids. Agarwal V, Gupta B, Singhal U, Bajpai SK. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 1997 Oct;41(4):404-8.

8. Wives of patients with acute myocardial infarction are at an increased risk of developing coronary artery disease, Papamichael Ch et al, J Cardiovasc Risk. 2002 Feb;9(1):49-52

9. Lipid reactivity to stress: I. Comparison of chronic and acute stress responses in middle-aged pilots, Stoney CM et al, Health Psychol. 1999 May;18(3):241-250

10. Associations between acute lipid stress responses and fasting lipid levels 3 years later, Andrew Steptoe and Lena Brydon, Health Psychology 2005, Vol. 24, No. 6, 601-607

11. Effect of preoperative stress on serum cholesterol level in humans. Sane AS, Kukreti SC, Experientia. 1978 Feb 15; 34(2): 213-4

12. Prevalence of hostility in young coronary artery disease patients and effects of cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training, Lavie CJ, Milani RV, Mayo Clin Proc. 2005 Mar;80(3):335-42

13.Richards JC, Hof A, Alvarenga M. Serum lipids and their relationships with hostility and angry affect and behaviors in men.Health Psychol. 2000 Jul;19(4):393-8.

14. Hostility-related differences in the associations between stress-induced physiological reactivity and lipid concentrations in young healthy women.Suarez EC, Harralson TL. Int J Behav Med. 1999;6(2):190-203.

15. Changes in lipoprotein profiles during intense military training. B. L. Smoak, J. P. Norton, E. W. Ferguson and P. A. Deuster. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol 9, Issue 6 567-572

16. Metabolic effects of dietary fructose in healthy subjects.Swanson JE, Laine DC, Thomas W, Bantle JP. Am J Clin Nutrition 1992;55:851-6

17. Blood lipids, lipoproteins, apoproteins, and uric acid in men fed diets containing fructose or high-amylose cornstarch. Reiser S. Powell AS, Scholfield DI. Panda P. Ellwood KC. Canary II. Am J Clin Nutr 1989:49:832-9.

18. Hallfrisch J, Reiser 5, Prather ES. Blood lipid distribution of hyperinsulinemic men consuming three levels of fructose. Am J Clin Nutr 1983:37:740-8.

19. The Relationship Between Smoking, Cholesterol, and HDL-C Levels in Adult Women
Bert H. Jacobson; Steven G. Aldana; Troy B. Adams; Michael Quirk; Haworth, Women & Health, Volume 23, Issue 4 July 1996 , pages 27 - 38

20. Smoking and smoking cessation -- the relationship between cardiovascular disease and lipoprotein metabolism: a review. Chelland Campbell S, Moffatt RJ, Stamford BA. Atherosclerosis. 2008 Dec;201(2):225-35

21. Carlos ETB Monteiro, Acidic environment evoked by chronic stress: A novel mechanism to explain atherogenesis. Available from Infarct Combat Project, January 28, 2008 at http://www.infarctcombat.org/AcidityTheory.pdf

22. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease, Patty W Siri-Tarino, Qi Sun, Frank B Hu, and Ronald M Krauss. Am J Clin Nutr doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27725. First published ahead of print January 13, 2010

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Real Food XI: Sourdough Buckwheat Crepes

Buckwheat was domesticated in Southeast Asia roughly 6,000 years ago. Due to its unusual tolerance of cool growing conditions, poor soils and high altitudes, it spread throughout the Northern latitudes of Eurasia, becoming the staple crop in many regions. It's used to a lesser extent in countries closer to the equator. It was also a staple in the Northeastern US until it was supplanted by wheat and corn.

Buckwheat isn't a grain: it's a 'pseudograin' that comes from a broad-leaved plant. As such, it's not related to wheat and contains no allergenic gluten. Like quinoa, it has some unusual properties that make it a particularly nutritious food. It's about 16 percent protein by calories, ranking it among the highest protein grains. However, it has an advantage over grains: it contains complete protein, meaning it has a balance of essential amino acids similar to animal foods. Buckwheat is also an exceptional source of magnesium and copper, two important nutrients that may influence the risk of insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease (1, 2).

However, like all seeds (including grains and nuts), buckwheat is rich in phytic acid. Phyic acid complexes with certain minerals, preventing their absorption by the human digestive tract. This is one of the reasons why traditional cultures prepare their grains carefully (3). During soaking, and particularly fermentation of raw batters, an enzyme called phytase goes to work breaking down the phytic acid. Not all seeds are endowed with enough phytase to break down phytic acid in a short period of time. Buckwheat contains a lot of phytase, and consequently fermented buckwheat batters contain very little phytic acid (4, 5). It's also high in astringent tannins, but thorough soaking in a large volume of water removes them.

Buckwheat is fermented in a number of traditional cultures. In Bhutan, it's fermented to make flatbreads and alcoholic drinks (6). In Brittany (Bretagne; Northwestern France), sourdough buckwheat flour pancakes are traditional. Originally a poverty food, it is now considered a delicacy.

The following simple recipe is based on my own experimentation with buckwheat. It isn't traditional as far as I know, however it is based on traditional methods used to produce sourdough flatbreads in a number of cultures. I used the word 'crepe' to describe it, but I typically make something more akin to a savory pancake or uttapam. You can use it to make crepes if you wish, but this recipe is not for traditional French buckwheat crepes.

It's important that the buckwheat be raw and whole for this recipe. Raw buckwheat is light green to light brown (as in the photo above). Kasha is toasted buckwheat, and will not substitute properly. It's also important that the water be dechlorinated and the salt non-iodized, as both will interfere with fermentation.

For a fermentation starter, you can use leftover batter from a previous batch (although it doesn't keep very long), or rice soaking water from this method (7).

Ingredients and Materials

• 2-3 cups raw buckwheat groats
• Dechlorinated water (filtered, boiled, or rested uncovered overnight)
• Non-iodized salt (sea salt, pickling salt or kosher salt), 2/3 tsp per cup of buckwheat
  
• Fermentation starter (optional), 2 tablespoons
  
• Food processor or blender

Recipe

1. Cover buckwheat with a large amount of dechlorinated water and soak for 9-24 hours. Raw buckwheat is astringent due to water-soluble tannins. Soaking in a large volume of water and giving it a stir from time to time will minimize this. The soaking water will also get slimy. This is normal.
   
2. Pour off the soaking water and rinse the buckwheat thoroughly to get rid of the slime and residual tannins.
3. Blend the buckwheat, salt, dechlorinated water and fermentation starter in a food processor or blender. Add enough water so that it reaches the consistency of pancake batter. The smoother you get the batter, the better the final product will be.
4. Ferment for about 12 hours, a bit longer or shorter depending on the temperature and whether or not you used a starter. The batter may rise a little bit as the microorganisms get to work. The smell will mellow out. Refrigerate it after fermentation.
   
5. In a greased or non-stick skillet, cook the batter at whatever thickness and temperature you prefer. I like to cook a thick 'pancake' with the lid on, at very low heat, so that it steams gently.
   

Dig in! Its mild flavor goes with almost anything. Batter will keep for about four days in the fridge.

Thanks to Christaface for the CC licensed photo (Flickr).

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The pH Miracle for Weight Loss!

Dear Dr. Young,

The following are the before and after pictures of 25.5 pounds lost, thanks to the pH Miracle Lifestyle and Diet. I would also like to send you my blood test result later this week when I get them. Granted they, have no barring on the true results in how we see our ideal health outcome, none-the-less, they are highly recognized by societies known measurement of success, as taught by their M.D.'s.

As for now, the before picture is taken in May of 2009, when our son Ryan left for his mission to Argentina. (Location: Sundance) The after picture is taken July, 19, 2010 (Location: Chagrin River Park in Ohio)

May I also thank you for taking interest. To me these pictures are amazing even to me. I knew I was heavy on the weight, but to see this Wow! Goodbye weight, Hello Me!

I am so glad for this change! Thank You! Thank You Very Much! You are free to publish these weights below. And use the difference from any weight you choose. They are all true!
WEIGHT4/9/2004 -166 lb 12 oz
4/13/2004 - 166 lb
4/26/2005 - 170 lb 14.4 oz
5/3/2005 - 167 lb 8.8 oz
7/12/2005 - 167 lb 11.2 oz
8/26/2005 - 164 lb
7/2/2007 - 173 lb
5/30/2008 - 167 lb
6/4/2008 - 165 lb
7/7/2008 - 162 lb
10/16/2008 - 169 lb
7/13/2009 - 165 lb 6.4 oz
8/10/2009 - 164 lb
7/19/2010 - 143 lb From last years physical from being on The pH Miracle Plan.

8/10/09, I weighed 164 to 7/19/2010 of 143 on the same physicians scale. (Although the weight reflects 164, it rose to 167 (home scale) subsequent to the my physical in August. - The colder months drove me to eating comfort foods. July 18, 2010 my home scale displayed 141.5- clothes add the difference.) :-D

I bought my first pH Miracle book in November 2009. Then bought The pH MIracle for Weight Loss and then The pH Miracle for Diabetes (Just to know how it was applied in more complicated illnesses). I applied it little by little through the holidays, then got serious with it once the snow melted. My family, friends and neighbors have voluntarily commented on the noticeable weight loss. I am grateful this transformation has occurred. I am grateful for the science of the your "New Biology" as it is published for us today. All it took was doing it!

Kindest of Blessings,

Teresa Chapman

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Latent Tissue Acidosis or Sympathetic Over-Acidity From Cigarette Smoking

Latent tissue acidosis or sympathetic overactivity seems, in our point of view (1), to be the key factor in cigarette smoking as responsible for the development and progression of atherosclerosis.

Cigarette smoking increases latent tissue acidosis and efferent sympathetic nerve traffic acutely, as well norepinephrine and epinephrine release. The adverse effects of cigarette smoking are related to the mixture of chemicals, including nicotine that has been largely accused for many of the adverse effects of smoking on the cardiovascular system, including autonomic imbalance, endothelial dysfunction and coronary blood flow dysregulation. The acute sympathoexcitatory effects of smoking on the cardiovascular system are partially mediated by catecholamine release, muscle sympathetic nerve excitation and peripheral chemoreceptor sensitivity increase, consecutive to nicotinic receptor stimulation in the autonomic nervous system (2).

Both active smoking and exposure to enviromental tobacco smoke are associated with the progression of atherosclerosis as indexed by intimal-medial thickness of the carotid artery assessed by ultrasound. (7)

It is interesting to notice about the results from a study published in 2006 revealing that sublingual administration of a 4-mg tablet of Nicotine Replacement Therapy exerts acute deleterious cardiovascular effects and sympathetic activation (3).

Also interesting is the high sugar or acid content (up to 20% - including high fructose corn syrup - a toxic acid) of the popular brands of cigarettes (4,5).

Acidic sugars and other high-carbohydrate diets, particularly in the form of high-glycemic index carbohydrate, may also contribute for keeping the sympathetic nervous system overactive. (6)

1. Carlos ETB Monteiro, Acidic environment evoked by chronic stress: A novel mechanism to explain atherogenesis. Available from Infarct Combat Project, January 28, 2008 at http://www.infarctcombat.org/AcidityTheory.pdf

2. Adamopoulus D, van de Borne P and Argacha JF, New insights into the sympathetic, endothelial and coronary effects of nicotine. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 2008; 35(4): 458-63

3. Najem B et al. Acute cardiovascular and sympathetic effects of nicotine replacement therapy. Hypertension 2006; 47:1162-67 Full free text at http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/47/6/1162

4. Elson LA, Betts TE, Passey RD, The sugar content and the pH of the smoke of cigarette, cigar, and pipe tobbacos in relation to lung cancer. International Journal of Cancer, V 9, I 3; 666-675, 1972

5. Stavanja et al. Safety assessment of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as an ingredient added to cigarette tobacco. Exp Toxicol Pathol, 57(4): 267-81, 2006

6. Koop W. Chronically increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system: our diet-related “evolutionary” inheritance. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging Volume 13, Number 1, 2009

7. Howard G et al, Cigarette smoking and progression of atherosclerosis: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. JAMA, 1998 Jan 14;279(2):119-24. Full free text at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/279/2/119.pdf

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Minger Responds to Campbell

Hot off the presses: Dr. Colin Campbell's response to Denise Minger's China Study posts, and Minger's retort:

A Challenge and Response to the China Study

The China Study: My Response to Campbell

This is required reading for anyone who wants to evaluate Dr. Campbell's claims about the China Study data. Denise points out that Dr. Campbell's claims rest mostly on uncorrected associations, which is exactly what he was accusing Minger, Chris Masterjohn and Anthony Colpo of doing. He also appears to have selectively reported data that support his philosophy, and ignored data that didn't, even when the latter were stronger. This is true both in Dr. Campbell's book, and in his peer-reviewed papers. This type of thing is actually pretty common in the diet-health literature.

I respect everyone's food choices, whether they're omnivores, carnivores, or raw vegans, as long as they're doing it in a way that's thoughtful toward other people, animals and the environment. I'm sure there are plenty of vegans out there who are doing it gracefully, not spamming non-vegan blogs with arrogant comments.

As human beings, we're blessed and cursed with an ego, which is basically a self-esteem and self-image reinforcement machine. Since being wrong hurts our self-esteem and self-image, the ego makes us think we're right about more than we actually are. That can take the form of elaborate justifications, and the more intelligent the person, the more elaborate the justifications. An economic policy that makes you richer becomes the best way to improve everyone's bottom line. A dietary philosophy that was embraced for humane reasons becomes the path to optimum health... such is the human mind. Science is basically an attempt to remove as much of this psychic distortion as possible from an investigation. Ultimately, the scientific method requires rigorous and vigilant stewardship to achieve what it was designed to do.

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Lactic and Hydrochloric Acid Causes Atherosclerotic Lesions, and Plaque Leading To Hypertension and Heart Disease

Old experiments with rabbits and dogs provide powerful evidence for the Acidity Theory of Atherosclerosis (1)

Follows a summary about 2 studies from the beginning of the last century showing that acid-fed rabbits and dogs may develop atherosclerotic lesions:

1) Experiments from Oswald Loeb, a well-known professor in pharmacology and scientist from the University of Gottingen - Germany, have demonstrated in study published in 1913, that lactic acid-fed rabbits and dogs have resulted in atherosclerotic lesions in these animals (2). The book “Arteriosclerosis and hypertension, with chapters on blood pressure" (3), by Louis M Warfield, M. D. (Johns Hopkins), showed the following commentary about the experiments from Oswald Loeb:“Oswald Loeb produced changes in the arteries of rabbits by feeding them sodium lactate (lactic acid). His controls fed on other acids became cachectic, but showed no arterial changes. He further found that in 100 gm. of human blood there was normally from 15 to 30 mg. of lactic acid. After heavy work, he found as much as 150 gm. He considers that after adrenalin or nicotin injections, the function of the liver is so disturbed that lactic acid is not bound. The arteriosclerosis is actually due to the presence of free lactic acid in the circulation. He succeeded, also, in producing lesions of the intima in a dog fed for a long time on protein poor diet, plus lactic acid and sodium lactate.”

2) I. Adler, M.D., from the Laboratories of the New York Board of Health, told in his paper entitled “Studies on Experimental Atherosclerosis” (4), published in 1913, that a casual remark by Dr. P. A. Levene have suggested the simple procedure of adding dilute hydrochloric acid to the dog's food and thus producing a chronic hyperacidity. This led Adler to include acid-fed dogs in his experiments. He told in his paper that though only two dogs have thus far been fed with hydrochloric acid, presenting sclerotic affections, the possibility can not be denied, especially in view of the numerous negative results with other methods, that these positive results are not mere coincidences, but are probably due to the hydrochloric acid. Referring at the end of his paper about the acid-fed dogs presenting atherosclerotic lesions he stated “that the work is being continued, and definite conclusions would at this stage be premature; but perhaps it may be permitted, even now, to venture the statement that in all probability the theory which bases atherosclerosis on a purely mechanical etiology will not prove tenable. Whether mechanical factors come into play at all, and if so, to what extent, remains to be seen. It seems almost certain, at least in our present state of knowledge, influences, subject possibly to more or less nerve control, are dominant factors in the etiology of atherosclerosis. Perhaps it may be discovered also that cholesterin and its various modifications and combinations, while undoubtedly an element of importance in atherosclerosis of the rabbit and human beings, may not be the sole predominant etiological factor. “He finished telling that “If it should turn out that so simple a procedure as adding a certain proportion of hydrochloric acid to the food of dogs is sufficient to produce lesions of the blood vessels closely analogous, if not wholly identical with human atherosclerosis, a revision of our present theories will become necessary."

Carlos Monteiro

1. Carlos ETB Monteiro, Acidic environment evoked by chronic stress: A novel mechanism to explain atherogenesis. Available from Infarct Combat Project, January 28, 2008 at http://www.infarctcombat.org/AcidityTheory.pdf

2. Loeb, O., Ueber experimentelle Arterienveraender ungen mit besonderer Beruecksichtigung der Wirkung der Milchsaeure auf Grund eigener Versuche, Deutsch. med. Wchnschr., 1913, xxxix, I819

3. Louis M Warfield, M. D., Third Edition, C. V. Mosby Company, 1920, with full free text at http://www.archive.org/stream/arteriosclerosis00warfuoft/arteriosclerosis00warfuoft_djvu.txt.

4. I. Adler, ‘Studies in Experimental atherosclerosis - A preliminary report’, The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1913. Free full text at http://jem.rupress.org/content/20/2/93.full.pdf

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Acids Associated With Atherosclerosis

Studies around the world have consistently shown that both short and long term exposures to Particulate Matter (PM) air pollution are associated with a host of cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial ischemia and infarctions, heart failure, arrhythmias, strokes and increased cardiovascular mortality.

Very recently it was published a study in humans confirming the association of the exposure to ambient air pollution and atherosclerosis through the progression of carotid artery intima-media thickness (1).

In an interesting recent paper by Robert Brook (2) he states that there are three putative ‘general’ pathways to explain the biological mechanisms whereby PM exposure may be capable of mediating cardiovascular events: 1) autonomic mechanisms: parasympathetic nervous system withdraw and/or sympathetic nervous system activation; 2) the release of circulating pro-oxidative and/or pro-inflammatory mediators from the lungs (e. g. cytokines and activated immune cells) into the systemic circulation following PM inhalation that, in turn, indirectly mediate CV responses; and; 3) nano-scale particles and/or soluble PM constituents translocating into the systemic circulation after inhalation that then directly interact with the CV system.

According to Robert Brook, chronic actions of PM and the enhancement of atherosclerosis, are most likely to be induced by the generation of a chronic pro-inflammatory state (pathway 2).

Taking in view the results of studies in humans showing that particulate air pollutants continuous exposition decreases the heart rate variability (3,4) and may lead to an impaired autonomic control with potential acceleration in the progression of atherosclerosis (5,6,7), with the due respect, I feel obliged to differ from Brook’s opinion regarding the biological mechanism related to chronic PM exposure and atherosclerosis. In our view the sympathetic over activity may start the whole process of atherosclerosis which ends in the inflammatory state as hypothesized in the acidity theory of atherosclerosis (8) and discussed in our last article in this blog (9)Carlos Monteiro

1. Nino Kunzli, Michael Jerrett, Raquel Garcia-Esteban, Xavier Basagana, Bernardo Beckermann, Frank Gilliland, Merce Medina, John Peters, Howard N. Hodis, Wendy J. Mack. "Ambient Air Pollution and the Progression of Atherosclerosis in Adults." PloS ONE 5(2): e9096. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009096, February 8, 2010. Full free text at http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0009096

2. Brook RD, Cardiovascular effects of air pollution. Clinical Science (2008) 115, (175–187) Full free text at http://www.clinsci.org/cs/115/0175/1150175.pdf

3. Duanping Liao, Yinkang Duan, Eric A. Whitsel, Zhi-jie Zheng, Gerardo Heiss, Vernon M. Chinchilli, and Hung-Mo Lin. Association of Higher Levels of Ambient Criteria Pollutants with Impaired Cardiac Autonomic Control: A Population-based Study, Am J Epidemiol 2004;159:768–777

4. C. Arden Pope III, Matthew L. Hansen, Russell W. Long, Karen R. Nielsen, Norman L. Eatough, William E. Wilson, and Delbert J. Eatough. Ambient Particulate Air Pollution, Heart Rate Variability, and Blood Markers of Inflammation in a Panel of Elderly Subjects. Environmental Health Perspectives, V 112; N 3: March 2004

5. Heikki V. Huikuri; Vesa Jokinen; Mikko Syvänne; Markku S. Nieminen; K. E. Juhani et al, Heart Rate Variability and Progression of Coronary Atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1999;19:1979-1985.

6. Anders Gottsäter , Åsa Rydén Ahlgren, Soumia Taimour and Göran Sundkvist, Decreased heart rate variability may predict the progression of carotid atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes Clinical Autonomic Research Volume 16, Number 3 / June, 2006

7. J. C. Longenecker, M. Zubaid, K.V. Johny, A.I. Attia, J. Ali, W. Rashed, C.G. Suresh, M. Omar. Association of low heart rate variability with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients. Med Princ Pract 2009;18:85-92

8. Carlos ETB Monteiro, Acidic environment evoked by chronic stress: A novel mechanism to explain atherogenesis. Available from Infarct Combat Project, January 28, 2008 at http://www.infarctcombat.org/AcidityTheory.pdf

9. Sympathetic predominance: a primary factor in the cascade of events leading to the atherogenic spiraling, Carlos Monteiro, Monday, February 22, 2010 at http://aciditytheory.blogspot.com/2010/02/sympathetic-predominance-primary-factor.html

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Hey All You Alkalarians!

Hey All you Alkalarians! Summer is here in a BIG WAY and it’s time to think about those great Barbeques, Parades, Parties, and Picnics.

First of all think of your skin and the protection you’ll need during those hours out in the scorching July sun. Staying hydrated with your four liters of Doc Broc Power Plants Greens and pHour Salts will do wonders to prevent parched dry skin. Also it’s paramount that you include plenty of good oils in your diet like our pH Miracle Avocado Oil which comes in 3 flavors, garlic, lime and plain. Also all veggies that are high in silica like bell peppers and cucumbers are natural skin fortifiers so munch away! Remember beautiful skin, like good health, is created from the inside out.

Next, always protect your skin on the outside with our great skin care products like:

our cleanser: pHresh and Clean
our toner: re-pHresh
our moisturizer: sopH skin
our sunscreen: Young pHorever Sun pHilter
our skin masks: Doc Broc Power Plants Greens make a great refreshing skin beauty treatment. Just pour ¼ to ½ cup into a bowl and add water until it is a good poltice consistency. Spread on face liberally and let sit until almost dry. Rinse off and cleanse with pHresh and Clean. Terra pHirma is also a great skin mask but more for extracting skin impurities and acids from the skin. Make the same politce and spread on skin liberally. Let sit until almost dry and rinse. Both masks help with exfoliating dead skin cells will leave your skin porcelain smooth.

Find all these products and more on our website www.pHmiracleliving.com

Now let’s talk about your summertime FEASTS! It’s time to celebrate our country’s birthday by staying in tip-top alkaline shape by keeping close to the pH Miracle diet and lifestyle. That doesn’t mean you have to give up good flavor, it means you give up highly acidic food choices in turn for the best, delicious Alkaline feast you can imagine. Here are some great and easy recipe suggestions to keep you HEALTHY, WEALTHY and WISE this Summer.

Bon Appetite!

All page numbers for recipes are from our newly
Revised and Updated
The pH Miracle Book

For a Summer Brunch:
Serve: Seed Pancakes with Coconut Whipped Topping page 356
Or if it’s really hot and you just want something cool and refreshing:
Serve: The Limey Love Shake page 267

For that Barbeque, Family Party, or Pic-Nic:

Serve: Very Veggie Barley Burgers spiced with The Zip from Spice Hunter Spices page 325

OR place some oily fish on the barbeque like salmon fillets spiced with lemon, salt and The Zip (get all your Spice Hunter Spices direct from The pH Miracle Center www.pHMiracleliving.com)

Rainbow Salad (with fireworks colors of shredded veggies) page 286
topped with Spicy Pecan Croutons page 374 and
Sesame Soy Dressing page 299

and for sides serve:
Sweet Carrot Butter page 314
Sprinkled with
Dehydrated Red Bell Pepper Powder page 317
with veggie crudités

for dessert:
Shelley’s Soy Pudding page 377
(do ginger/lime variation)

Bon Appetite!

From all of us at the pH Miracle Center,
Have a happy, healthy and safe Summer!!!

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Will Cell Phones Become The Next Cigarette

The great cosmic joke would be to find out definitively that the advances we thought were blessings — from the hormones women pump into their bodies all their lives to the fancy phones people wait in line for all night — are really time bombs.

Just as parents now tell their kids that, believe it or not, there was a time when nobody knew that cigarettes and tanning were bad for you, those kids may grow up to tell their kids that, believe it or not, there was a time when nobody knew how dangerous it was to hold your phone right next to your head and chat away for hours.

We don’t yet really know the physical and psychological impact of being slaves to technology. We just know that technology is a narcotic. We’re living in the cloud, in a force field, so afraid of being disconnected and plunged into a world of silence and stillness that even if scientists told us our computers would make our arms fall off, we’d probably keep typing.

San Francisco just became the first city in the country to pass legislation making cellphone retailers display radiation levels. The city’s Board of Supervisors voted 10 to 1 in favor. The one against, the Democrat Sean Elsbernd, said afterward: “It’s a slippery slope. I can go on Google right now and find you a study that says there’s a problem with the Starbucks you’re drinking.”

Different phone models emit anywhere from 0.2 watts per kilogram of body tissue to 1.6 watts, the legal limit. The amount of radio frequency energy seeping into the body and brain is measured by a unit called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR).

“You see all these kids literally glued to their phones,” Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, told me. “And candidly, my wife was pregnant and on her cellphone nonstop. So I dusted off some studies and started doing research.

“That’s when I discovered that companies who make cellphones are already required to disclose that information to the federal government, and that it exists but somewhere on someone’s Web page on the 88th page.” Why not underscore it, he thought, by alerting consumers at the store, putting the SAR level in the same font as the phone price?

His alarmed advisers, accustomed to seeing the sleek Newsom diving into bold stands without calculating the potential blowback — as with gay marriage — told him to focus on jobs and the economy.

“They said: ‘There you go again. They’re going to mock you. It’s going to be another sideshow,’ ” he recalled. But stroking his baby daughter’s soft head and reading new studies on the vulnerability of children’s thinner skulls to radiation, he persevered.

One Swedish study that followed young people who began using cells as teenagers for 10 years calculated a 400 percent increase in brain tumors. But as Nathaniel Rich recently pointed out in Harper’s, studies about cellphones’ carcinogenic potential all contradict one another, including those involving children.

When Newsom proposed the bill, telecommunications lobbyists went to the mattresses, as did hoteliers, who feared losing convention business.

He said that lobbyists from Washington made it clear that they would invoke “the nuclear option” and come down “like a ton of bricks.”

“This is tobacco money, oil money,” he said. “But these guys from D.C. do not know me because that has exactly the opposite effect. Shame on them, to threaten the city. It’s about as shortsighted as one could get in terms of a brand.”

Months before the bill passed, he read me part of a letter that Marriott sent him: “CTIA — The Wireless Association, which is scheduled to hold a major convention here in October 2010, has already contacted us about canceling their event if the legislation moves forward. They also have told us that they are in contact with Apple, Cisco, Oracle and others who are heavily involved in the industry, as you know, about not holding future events in your city for the same reason.”

Sure enough, when the bill passed Tuesday, CTIA issued a petulant statement that after 2010, it would relocate its annual three-day fall exhibition, with 68,000 exhibitors and attendees and “$80 million” in business, away from San Francisco.

“Since our bill is relatively benign,” Newsom said, “it begs the question, why did they work so hard and spend so much money to kill it? I’ve become more fearful, not less, because of their reaction. It’s like BP. Shouldn’t they be doing whatever it takes to protect their global shareholders?”

So now we have Exhibit No. 1,085 illustrating the brazenness of Big Business.

They should be sending Mayor Newsom a bottle of good California wine for caring about whether kids’ brains get fried, not leaving him worried about whether they’ll avenge themselves in his campaign for lieutenant governor.

He’s resigned to that possibility, just as he is to his own addiction. “I love my iPhone,” he said cheerfully.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/opinion/27dowd.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

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