Erik's Journal

Speakers this week included Annemarie Colbin, founder of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts, and Mark Hyman, MD, editor-in-chief of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and best selling author.

Some select notes from Annemarie Colbin

• 3 Major Causes of Cravings
• Addiction/Allergies (mostly wheat)
• Imbalance (calories/quantity, protein, carbs, or fats)
• Emotion/Memory
• It's hard to eat too much when eating whole foods.  The "hollow leg syndrome" is most noticeable with prcoess/refined (fragmented) foods.
• Osteoperosis
• Causes: caffeine, sodium (not just salt, but also commercial additives in popular food products), lack of exercise/movement
• Harvard Nurses Study: only 13% of cases due to low calcium.  2 glasses of milk/day had twice the risk of hip fractures as those that had 2/week or less
• There are more fractures in European cultures, in cities vs countryside, and in present vs past
• Bone density tests do not take into consideration flexability from collagen matrix (bones = 65% ca phosphate + 35% collagen matrix)
• Vit D (aids calcium absorption from small intestine to bloodstream) severely reduced with sunblock.  Good Vit D sources - cod liver oil, parsley, shiitake mushrooms.
• Vit K in depositing also important - leafy greens & exercise
• BAD  foods - pasta, white bread, potatoes, desserts, nightshades (potato, tomato, eggplant, peppers, tobacco)
  
• GOOD foods - leafy greens, vegetables, protein (beans, meats), whole grains

Select notes from Mark Hyman

• Two simple diagnostic questions
• What do you need to get rid of to get healthy?  (Toxins, allergens, microbes, diet, stress)
• What do you need to add to get healthy? (foods, vitamins, light/water/air, love)
• "The most powerful tool I have is food.  Food is not just calories.  It is information"
• Common Myths
• Your doctor knows best - US is 27th in life exptancy yet spends more per person than any other country in healthcare.  We are practicing acute medicine and not prevention.  Major causes of death are lifestyle, diet/obesity
• If you have a diagnosis you know what is wrong with you - we "blame the name"  The end of diagnostic medicine is near.  Most doctors "stop thinking" when they make a diagnosis and specialization segmentation is missing many problems.
• Drugs cure disease - sometimes of course.  "A drug for every bug.  A pill for every ill.  But that's not how the  body works"  Most of the chronic diseases can't be treated with drugs.  We are over-medicated.
• Your genes determine your fate - yes and no.  It's not just a "roll of the dice".  Most of your DNA regulates your body's functions.  Food, lifestyle, fitness affect genes.
• Getting older means aging - most of what we see are imbalances.  First time in history our life expectancy is going down.  The body has the capacity to take care of itself at any age.  "Add life to years not just years to life"
• Fat is a four letter word - most are deficient in omega-3s (fish oils).  Sugar not fat causes cholesterol problems.  Dietary fat is not a major indication of body fat.
• You can get all the vitamins you need from food - the avg hunter-gatherer ate 12 lbs food/day.  92% of Americans don't eat the RDAs esp B-6, Ca, Fe, Mg
• The more calories you eat, the more vitamins you need.  They are like oil in your car engine.