Category Archives: Heart health

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How about a “media fast” to start the New Year?!

“FAST MEDIA / MEDIA FAST”

(Lengthy but timely and rewarding)

Tony's picture 2 from PeggyWe had an interesting event happen in our family over the Holidays, which I think may be an eye-opener to others besides ourselves.  One of our close relatives commented that for the first time their children didn’t know what they wanted for Christmas, and the reason they gave was the eye-opener: for the first time they didn’t have live television in their home, so the kids didn’t know what toys were out there.  In other words, they had not been exposed to mass media advertising.  Wow! What a testimony to the influence of television in our lives!

A couple of months before the Holidays, a close friend for many years, Dr. Tom Cooper, asked me to read a book he was about to release entitled “FAST MEDIA / MEDIA FAST.” Well, I read the first two chapters and then had to set it aside until after our move to Southern Oregon from the Denver area.  I had offered to do a book review on my blog, so to keep my word I recently returned to his book online, more out of my integrity in making good on my offer than out of keenly piqued interest.

Quite frankly,  I had already grown somewhat weary of reading all the data the author had presented up front enumerating the many horrible things we are allowing the Media to do to our lives.  To be totally honest, in a peculiar way I felt irritated that someone would take icons that are such an integral part of our daily lives – television, movies, the Internet – and suggest we even consider the possibility we are addicted to them. But then, why not, if indeed we are?

Not that he does it without a lot of compassion and understanding – and certainly not at all to bash the media.  The data is presented very objectively without the slightest tone of condemnation or criticism. And he does re-count the many blessings in changed lives great programs of mediated material (movies, books, music, TV programs, etc.) have bestowed upon us and continue to bring to our lives as we’ve used them consciously and creatively.

Nevertheless, for me it was akin to the discomfort I felt listening to all the data warning against smoking in years gone by when I once enjoyed  the companionship of a cigarette and especially my pipe. Fortunately, I developed an allergy to tobacco in answer to a prayer that the Almighty find a way to take the addiction away from me.  It was the addiction that I found limiting and distasteful and not the tobacco.

As it turns out,  this is the real message Dr. Cooper conveys is his well-written, thought provoking, and reader-friendly (for an intellectual professor, that is) book: it’s our addiction to and abuse of mediated entertainment and information that the author brings to our attention – as seems typically the case with what we do with the good things life brings to us.  We tend to lose our balance and allow ourselves to become addicted, like the proverbial couch potato, to the consumption of our own creations and media of entertainment.

With the added incentive spurred by the story about our relatives whose kids didn’t know what they wanted for Christmas in the absence of live TV in their home, I returned to Tom’s book with renewed interest and a stronger commitment to hear him out all the way and tell my blog readers about this painfully essential and wonderfully important book.  So, here it is. . . . a truly important book with a timely message for all inhabitants of the planet.

“FAST MEDIA/MEDIA FAST”

I will start by saying the author, Thomas W. Cooper, PhD, a very personable and sweet-hearted gentle-man, besides being a fellow and fine musician, is a scholar and a Harvard-groomed university professor from Swampscott, Mass.  This, in and of itself, speaks volumes about his scholastic dependence on media in his chosen field of service.  His publisher, Dr. Michael Gaeta, also a good friend and colleague in the healing arts, introduces his author/friend in the Forward of the book:

In this cacophony of fast media, which make for superficial lives, comes Dr. Cooper’s learned voice, speaking words of wisdom and balance. Brilliant academics are at times disconnected from most people’s daily life experience, preferring complex theoretical frameworks to wisdom sourced in authentic experience. Dr. Cooper is remarkable in that his impeccable academic credentials are balanced by a heart-filled, spiritual, and eminently practical perspective, based in deep life experience.

Now, here’s what got my attention, and I think will grab your’s as well when you read his book. In preparation for his research project on the media’s influence in human affairs, Tom decided to go on a month-long fast from all media.  That’s right, he unplugged the TV and avoided the Internet for an entire month. After that, he decided to punctuate his media fast with an additional week-long fast from talking . . . except, of course, when he was spoken to and where it was necessary to his teaching duties.  Then he turns around and writes a book sharing his experiences during his fasts, which are really quite interesting, even inviting as they open opportunities in the privacy of personal introspection for honest self-examination.

He then proceeds to lay out not only thoroughly researched and well documented  data on the ramifications of the involvement of the media in our lives, both “good and bad,” but, even more helpful, how to go about taking a fast once in a while from our daily media diet, a diet to which we have grown accustomed, perhaps even addicted.  He even outlines how to do group fasts for families, classes or any group, and cites whole communities who permanently fast from all electronic media, even telephones and computers, such as the Plain People — the Amish and Old Order Mennonite, the Hutterite, and other subcultures.

Dr. Cooper gives guidelines in the form of symptoms of addiction, to which his readers may readily relate:

Long-term effects of addiction may often be … subtle ….  Staying up later each night, or changing one’s job to see the soaps, hiding an earphone line up one’s sleeve in class to hear the conclusion of baseball games, uninterrupted listening to music on the job to avoid boredom, missing appointments to see the next episode, wearing headsets while jogging to blot out the environment, reading a book through meals and events because “I couldn’t put it down,” and showing up late for meals whenever online, are all examples of media hooking us and rescheduling our lives….

He further helps us understand the nature of and distinction between habits and addictions:

 

One definition of the word habit is “act that is acquired and has become automatic.” Addiction carries the additional connotation “devoted to” or “given up to” or “controlled by” a specific habit. Usually, a habit forms prior to an addiction to that habit. For example, I might consciously eat ice cream periodically late at night. It is only when I eat it consistently and eventually automatically late at night that it becomes a habit. If I become conscious of the habit from time to time and decide to go without ice cream, I “break the habit” at will. When I discover that the habit can no longer be broken easily or will bring discernible consequences (depression, headaches, eating ice-cream substitutes late at night, etc.), the habit has become an addiction.

Similar to books on dieting and fasting from food, FAST MEDIA/MEDIA FAST includes a detailed guide on how to go about a media fast . . . and I must admit the author does so with keen sensitivity and generous support based on his own well earned understanding of the enormous undertaking such a fast could and likely would be for most of us.

To balance it all out, Dr. Cooper cites the many, many ways that the various kinds of media are useful in our lives and how we may return to our consumption of mediated material in a balanced way so as not to be consumed and controlled by it.  That aspect of the book I really appreciated and thoroughly celebrate.  Here’s a sampling of Tom’s balanced perspective, as well as a taste of the appeal and quality of his writing style, as he writes of and from his own experience:

During my media fasts, I consciously chose to be a creator, not a consumer. I let my mind relax, find different routings and mix new ingredients. By returning to composing and playing instruments I had abandoned, I found a strong river of inner creativity that had been dammed. Although I am not condemning reading, I found that a temporary switch from reading books to writing one restored a full measure of initiative to my work.

This “single switch” in consciousness and in action might be described as living from the inside out, rather than from the outside in. It is characterized by rediscovery of the creative process, which many of us abandon—some forever—usually during childhood. Motivation sharply increases, so much so that virtually any procrastination from the creative process seems a total waste of time. As a child I can recall times when the games, tree houses, sports or skits we were creating became so all-consuming and enjoyable that we could not wait for the next day to begin.

“MEDIA AS FRIENDS, NOT VILLAINS”

When the “single switch” is made from information gluttony to creative communication, one may return to media with new ears, eyes and thoughts. Instead of viewing media as mind pollution, each medium may be employed as a tool of creativity. When the mind and emotions begin to originate creative images and sounds, why not extend that creativity through books, radio, cyberspace, cassettes, or whatever is suitable? Media never have been enemies, in and of themselves. Rather, they simply amplify, disseminate and perpetuate the nature of human consciousness….   To the extent one’s work genuinely originates in the creative process, rather than duplicates conventional programming, it will assist in the liberation rather than enslavement of audience members. The single switch is contagious.

Rarely does one find an author who is as intimately familiar with his/her subject as Dr. Cooper reveals when writing about our “other freedoms” of which we are robed by our subjugation to mediated material, such as movies that bring us to tears against our will every time we see them.  I’m a real softy when it comes to joyful scenes in movies like “It’s a Wonder Life,” which Tom sites in his book.  As a physician, I was intrigued by his inquiry about the impact of manipulated emotions on our health:

Are these emotions genuine? Do they serve a purpose? To what extent are they voluntary? How do they affect our nervous system? Which ones will be replayed when triggered in the future? Do they upset the endocrine glands? Does this affect our emotional expression in the “real world”? Our emotional stability? No one seems to be asking or answering these questions with authority.

Then there’s the impact of over consumption of television on our children, scary to say the least:

Healy’s 1990 research suggests that television may be related to children’s attention and learning difficulties. In one sense, TV is a multi-level form of sensory deprivation that may stunt the growth of children’s brains. The combined research of Poplowski (1998), Gross (1999), Mander (1978), and Scheidler (1994) remind us that children are not just watching programs or surfing the Net, but are staring into flickering, radiant computer monitors and into fuzzy cathode-ray electron guns.

Johnson (1999) synthesizes this research to show what common sense might dictate: since repetitive screening allows functions of the corpus callosum, cortex, neocortex and limbic system to atrophy, children become more mentally lazy, uncoordinated and underdeveloped. She concludes that what children truly need to develop their minds are purposeful activities using their hands, feet and whole bodies; much exposure to nature and imaginative books; and much less media….

…More than anyone, parents and teachers may explain the difference between the “consumer” and the “creator” to children. The music classes, sports programs, summer camps, family outings, and educational or therapeutic hobbies in which we enroll our offspring pay lifelong dividends.

But, hey folks, our children will inevitably do what we do and not what we say.  This is one of my most favorite passages from Dr. Cooper’s book:

However, those who are addicted cannot bring others out of addiction. Since children are watching us for leadership and example, our own habits will loom large to them. In that regard, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s persuasive quotation applies as much to what adolescents see in us as to what they see in the hidden optical patterns in TV, video and computer screens. Emerson stated: “Do not say things. What you are stands over you the while and thunders, so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.”

The author sums up his perspective on the benefits of a media fast, such as regaining our five lost freedoms:

….   If there can be media addiction, then there can also be media liberation. But media liberation does not necessarily mean liberation from mass communication. Rather, it means liberation from the rigid attitudes, manipulated emotions, frozen thoughts, assumed identities and truncated perspectives that both contribute to and result in media addiction….  Fasting from any substitute for living can be liberating and empowering. The transition from consumer to creator can increase effectiveness and influence simultaneously.

Then there’s the impact of FAST MEDIA on our sense of meaning and time to keep up . . . with life itself:

“When I was faster, I was always behind” is a catchy refrain from Neil Young’s “Slow Poke.” (Reprise Records, 1999) Young’s apercu suggests that there are unintended and ironic consequences due to speed changes. As a child, I would play the long-playing 33 1/3 rpm records at the faster speeds of 45 rpms and 78 rpms with my friends. We found there were comic, absurd, and even fascinating effects at the faster speeds. But we could no long understand the song’s meaning. Is it the same for society?  …If so, the death of meaning, or of the time to find it, could be one of the most tragic unintended effects of the three “uppers”—keep-up, speed-up and blow-up….

Then there’s the role of choice:

The ultimate freedom rests in seeing that one has a choice—to identify with the creator or the consumer. Becoming the creator does not mean mindlessly bashing the media any more than mindlessly digesting it. In fact, one of the easiest, cheapest and most creative ways to publicize your liberation is to create a Web site or printed article about your creations.

Or, as I discovered for myself, start up a blog!  It doesn’t matter if anybody follows it either.  The real benefit to me is the writing of it, the delightful flow of creative thought and feeling; the creative release of my spirit through the carrier waves of words and ideas.  That’s the real benefit of creative use of any and all forms of media.

ALL SOUND ARISES OUT OF SILENCE . . .  AND RETURNS TO SILENCE

As a sound healer, I know that the purest and finest moment to connect with the healing current within is the golden moment of silence after the sounds fade out.  All sound arises out of silence and returns to silence.   True communication arises out of silence.  If I have something important to say, let me be quiet first in order to listen and hear what it is. Sound can be a tool for healing when used as a carrier wave for spirit and consciousness.  Not just any sound.  Sound that arises out of the silence that lies within.  The Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan called that “Music.”   Dr. Cooper sees silence as a door to deeper awareness of presence:

Such personal silence emphasizes not so much what is absent, but rather hidden dimensions of self which suddenly become present. I am not suggesting that “enlightenment” or “wisdom” are automatically more available to the silent than to the loquacious. After all, a zombie seems silent; a corpse is still. But if the stillness is purposeful, consistent, focused, intelligent, and deliberately connected to a creative process, a larger awareness can appear, step-by-step.

Finally, as any good author would do, Cooper saved the best until last and brings his reader all the way Home to the inner soundscape of being itself.  I personally think that his final chapter is the most inspiring of all.  In writing about his speech fast, he crafts timeless words of insight and wisdom:

Naturally, there are other purposes for a speech fast—to enlarge one’s awareness of sound and listening, to learn of and from one’s interior soundscape, and to discover who is present beneath the mask…. …When clichés are liberated from our overuse, we discover in stillness the deeper meaning of “still waters run deep…..”   …being is the central ingredient of such depth, and the core of such stillness. Of course, when one stops over-reading and listens…. and indeed invigorates one’s own expression, yet another level of being is known.

What is discovered in these depths, or paradoxically at these heights, might be called being fully present. Fasting from all distraction, including one’s own post-dubbed narrative over the sounds and images of life, allows a sense of anchoring in this ground of being…present. The answer to the question “What is present when my programming is absent?” is “I am.”

IN THE END . . . TRUTH

Fasting from food with only juice and water to purify the body’s cells and fluids is a wonderful experience when done during a speech and media fast, as Dr. Cooper testifies toward the end of his book . . . and he ends his book with a wise suggestion as to the end purpose of any fast:

Our deepest danger is that we would ignore truth and not care, that we would persist in belief and hope, and thus avoid evidence. The longing for truth unites the spirit of education, religion, philosophy, science and journalism. If fast media were to ring true, not attract through the cosmetic, there would be less need for a media fast. It is to that quest for the ongoing discovery of truth, as best we may determine it, that this book, fast and life are dedicated. One and the truth are a majority….  So one of the deepest purposes of a media fast lies in the pursuit, and even the revelation, of truth. What is the truth of myself beneath my programming?

I highly recommend my friend’s book to my blog readers.  Order it online today and start the New Year with an enjoyable read on a timely subject.

So, here’s to your good health in 2011 . . . . and how about a media fast to start off the New Year?!

Dr.Tony Palombo

P.S. Tom’s book is available as an E-book (no e-reader necessary) at Gaetapress.com and  can also be pre-ordered there whether as a hard copy or paperback.  It will be available from the usual sources (Amazon; Barnes & Noble, etc.) this spring.

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MD Admits to “Great Cholesterol Lie”

This is what I and other alternative healthcare doctors have been saying for years!  My own cardiologist couldn’t afford to change his approach . . . and here’s why!

 (This is long, but read it if you want to fully understand coronary heart disease.)

 Seven years ago I had by-pass surgery due to clogged coronary arteries.  My cardiologist and surgeon said the culprit was cholesterol and that it was hereditary.  The real culprit turned out to be chronic inflammation due to several factors, primary of which was an allergy to high fructose corn syrup and corn products in general – all of which I found out visiting a colleague in Houston, Texas, Dr. Stuart White.  The hereditary factor is only 5%.  My dad died of coronary heart disease at age 61. I was 62 when I had my bypass.

Against my cardiologist’s strong recommendations, I opted not to take the Statin and other drugs and instead addressed my condition naturally with dietary and lifestyle changes, which included therapeutic dosages of critical nutritional supplements.   I am, non-the-less, eternally grateful to my cardiologist and heart surgeon for my second lease on life – which, ironically, allowed me to pursue my search for the real cause of coronary heart disease and to be alive today to tell my story and report on my findings.

When I showed my cardiologist the evidence against cholesterol as a marker for coronary heart disease, his reply was that all the medical literature pointed in the direction of statin drugs to reduce the production of cholesterol by the liver.  Now I know that he couldn’t, and probably still cannot, go against the literature without risking a malpractice suit.  He has to follow the protocol dictated by the AMA and the pharmaceutical industry.  Here’s an MD who fessed up to the big mistake medicine has made and is still making.  Thank you Dr. Dwight Lundell!

“Without inflammation, cholesterol won’t accumulate in blood vessel walls and cause heart disease”Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake! 

 
By Dwight Lundell, MD
We physicians with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong. So, here it is.  I freely admit to being wrong..  As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries,today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific fact.
I trained for many years with other prominent physicians labelled “opinion makers.” Bombarded with scientific literature, continually attending education seminars, we opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol.
The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake.  The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease.  Deviations from these
recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice
It Is Not Working!

These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible. The discovery a few years ago that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease is slowly leading to a paradigm shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.
The long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences.

 

Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before.

  Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and younger people in greater numbers every year.

Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes.  Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended.  It is inflammation
that causes cholesterol to become trapped.

Inflammation is not complicated — it is quite simply your body’s natural defense to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus.

The cycle of inflammation is perfect in how it protects your body from these bacterial and viral invaders.  However, if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods the human body was never designed to process,a condition occurs called chronic inflammation.

Chronic inflammation is just as harmful as acute inflammation is beneficial.

What thoughtful person would willfully expose himself repeatedly to foods or other substances that are known to cause injury to the body?

Well,smokers perhaps, but at least they made that choice willfully

The rest of us have simply followed the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, not knowing we were causing repeated injury to our blood vessels.

This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease,
stroke, diabetes and obesity.

Let me repeat that. The injury and inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet recommended for years by mainstream medicine.

What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.

Take a moment to visualize rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding. you kept this up several times a day, every day for five years.. If you could tolerate this painful brushing, you would have a bleeding, swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury.

This is a good way to visualize the inflammatory process that could be going on in your body right now.

Regardless of where the inflammatory process occurs, externally or internally, it is the same. I have peered inside thousands upon thousands of arteries. A diseased artery looks as if someone took a brush and scrubbed repeatedly against its wall.

Several times a day, every day, the foods we eat create small injuries compounding into more injuries, causing the body to respond continuously and appropriately with inflammation

While we savor the tantalizing taste of a sweet roll, our bodies respond alarmingly as if a foreign invader arrived declaring war. Foods loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates, or processed with omega-6 oils for long shelf life have been the mainstay of the American diet for six decades. These foods have been slowly poisoning everyone.

How does eating a simple sweet roll create a cascade of inflammation to make you sick?

Imagine spilling syrup on your keyboard and you have a visual of what occurs inside the cell. When we consume simple carbohydrates such as sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly. In response, your pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to drive sugar into each cell where it is stored for energy. If the cell is full and does not need glucose, it is rejected to avoid extra sugar gumming up the works.

 When your full cells reject the extra glucose, blood sugar rises producing more insulin and the glucose converts to stored fat.
 
What does all this have to do with inflammation? Blood sugar is controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.
While you may not be able to see it, rest assured it is there. I saw it in over 5,000 surgical patients spanning 25 years who all shared one common denominator — inflammation in their arteries.
 
Let’s get back to the sweet roll. That innocent looking goody not only contains sugars, it is baked in one of many omega-6 oils such as soybean. Chips and fries are soaked in soybean oil; processed foods are manufactured with omega-6 oils for longer shelf life. While omega-6’s are essential –they are part of every cell membrane controlling what goes in and out of the cell —they must be in the correct balance with omega-3’s. If the balance shifts by consuming excessive omega-6, the cell membrane produces chemicals called cytokines that directly cause inflammation.
 
Today’s mainstream American diet has produced an extreme imbalance of these two fats. The ratio of imbalance ranges from 15:1 to as high as 30:1 in favor of omega-6. That’s a tremendous amount of cytokines causing inflammation. In today’s food environment, a 3:1 ratio would be optimal
and healthy.
To make matters worse, the excess weight you are carrying from eating these foods creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar. The process that began with a sweet roll turns into a vicious cycle over time that creates heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes
and finally, Alzheimer’s disease, as the inflammatory process continues unabated. 
 There is no escaping the fact that the more we consume prepared and processed foods, the more we trip the inflammation switch little by little each day. The human body cannot process, nor was it designed to consume, foods packed with sugars and soaked in omega-6 oils.
There is but one answer to quieting inflammation, and that isreturning to foods closer to their natural state. To build muscle, eat more protein. Choose carbohydrates that are very complex such as colorful fruits and vegetables. Cut down on or eliminate inflammation- causing omega-6 fats like corn and soybean oil and the processed foods that are made from them.
One tablespoon of corn oil contains 7,280 mg of omega-6; soybean contains 6,940 mg. Instead, use olive oil or butterfrom grass-fed beef.
 
 Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labelled polyunsaturated. Forget the “science” that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent. The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak. Since we now know that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.
 
The cholesterol theory led to the no-fat, low-fat recommendations that in turn created the very foods now causing an epidemic of inflammation. Mainstream medicine made a terrible mistake when it advised people to avoid saturated fat in favor of foods high in omega-6 fats. We now have an epidemic of arterial inflammation leading to heart disease and other silent killers.
 
What you can do is choose whole foods your grandmother served and not those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with manufactured foods. By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed food, you will reverse years of damage in your arteries and throughout your body from consuming the typical American diet.
 
[Ed.. Note: Dr. Dwight Lundell is the past Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Banner Heart Hospital, Mesa, AZ. His private practice, Cardiac
Care Center was in Mesa, AZ.

Recently Dr. Lundell left surgery to focus on the nutritional treatment of heart disease. He is the founder of Healthy Humans Foundation that promotes human health with a focus on helping large corporations promote wellness.

He is the author of The Cure for Heart
Disease and The Great Cholesterol Lie .

For a nutritional protocol to support your cardiovascular integrity, write to me at: tpal70@gmail.com  To your health,

Dr. Tony Palombo, DC, ACN (Applied Clinical Nutrition)

 
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What to know when buying food supplements

NATURAL VS. SYNTHETIC VITAMINS

 It could be said that never in history has so much money been spent on the advertising and purchasing of any merchandise, with so little knowledge of the product itself, on the part of either the seller or the buyer, as has been spent on vitamin and mineral supplements.

Billions are being spent annually, and most of the purchasers, wholesalers, retailers or direct-to-consumer salespeople do not know the difference between a synthetic, a crystalline, and a truly natural vitamin, or the difference between a chelated organic and an inorganic mineral.

What’s the difference between natural and synthetic? In short, it’s the difference between something that’s living and something that’s dead. That’s a big difference.

NATURAL WHOLE FOOD VITAMINSOn vitamin labels the word “natural” has no specific definition other than that the substance exists somewhere on the planet or in outer space. The key words to look for are “Whole Food Vitamins” — this means vitamins as they are found in food, not tampered with in any way that would change their molecular structure, their biological or biochemical combination, or their actions. 
  
 SYNTHETIC means that a chemist attempted to reconstruct the exact structure of the crystalline molecule by chemically combining molecules from other sources. These sources are not living foods, but dead chemicals. For example, Vitamin B1 is made from a coal tar derivative, and d-alpha tocopherol (so-called Vitamin E) is a byproduct of materials used by the Eastman Kodak company to make film. However, it is not legally necessary to give the source from which the synthetic “vitamin” is derived. Synthetic “vitamins” should more accurately be called drugs.  

HOW TO READ A VITAMIN LABEL
  
To identify synthetics on the label, look to see if a source is given. If it isn’t, assume the product is synthetic. These terms also identify a vitamin as synthetic: acetate, bitartrate, chloride, gluconate, hydro-chloride, nitrate, succinate. Carbonate always indicates the mineral is in-organic and therefore of no use to your body. All minerals have to be organically chelated and arranged in their proper ratios by vegetables in order for humans to be able to use them. All of them.
  
Whole-food natural supplements never come in high dosages. It is only possible to create high-dosage “vitamins” if you isolate one fraction as a crystalline, or synthesize one fraction as in synthetics. For example, take Vitamin C and E. In naturally-occurring Vitamin C Complex, the ascorbic acid portion comprises only about 5% of the whole complex. Similarly, alpha tocopherol only comprises a small percentage of Vitamin E Complex. Both serve as anti-oxidants for the vitamin complexes.
Legally, according to the FDA, the only portion of the Vitamin C Complex that is allowed to be called “Vitamin C” is the ascorbic acid portion, and the only part of the Vitamin E Complex that can be called “Vitamin E” is the alpha tocopherol piece—(the “d” in front of alpha means it’s synthetic, as in d-alpha tocopherol).

We, as consumers, have been thoroughly fooled and misled about vitamins and minerals. We have been hoodwinked into believing that large quantities of dead chemicals are more nutritionally potent than smaller amounts of high-quality living compounds. These chemicals are stimulants (drugs), not nutrients, and should therefore be under FDA control – better still, condemned for the toxins they are.

Relatively small amounts of whole-food natural vitamins, with all of their naturally-occurring synergists, are far more potent than high doses of synthetic imitation “vitamins.” They alone are nourishing to the cells. It is sheer arrogance for us to think that we can synthesize or in any way alter a natural design that is so crucial to our health and wellness and that we do not understand. There was one man who did understand human nutrition and that was Dr. Royal Lee, founder of Standard Process Laboratories. I thank God every day for him and for those who carry forward his work, providing the highest quality of nutritional and herbal products possible.

 To your good health

 Dr. Palombo

 tpal70@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Vitamins in their natural state always exist as living complexes with specific synergistic co-factors, enzymes, phytonutrients and organic mineral-activators, and never as isolated single factors. A vitamin needs all of its synergists to function. Further, there are literally hundreds of such synergists, most of which have not yet been studied but are nevertheless very important.

 

CRYSTALLINE means that a natural food has been treated with various chemicals, solvents, heat and distillations to reduce it down to one specific “pure” crystalline vitamin. In this process all the synergists, which are termed “impurities,” are destroyed. There is no longer anything natural in the action of crystalline “vitamins”— they should more accurately be termed drugs.
 

 

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Turn stress into peace and calm!

     

THE CALM, CONNECT AND COORDINATE SYSTEM       

  You’ve heard of the “fight, flight or freeze syndrome,” haven’t you? That system is turned on by stress, or by reaction to stressors which makes you distressed. Well, the calm, connect and coordinate system is what turns it off, restoring you to a state of calm wherein you can sink back into your skin and reconnect with your body as well as your environment instead of fleeing from them. It also gets the cells of your body functioning as a well-coordinated whole once again rather than galvanized, or frozen, in an isolated state of self-defense. This syndrome is turned on by a rarely talked about and scarcely understood hormone: Oxytocin.      

 Produced in the hypothalamus–a part of the brain that coordinates pituitary hormone production with the central nervous system and with what’s occurring around you–and stored in the posterior pituitary where it is released as a hormone to circulate through the body, oxytocin functions by altering or modulating the activities in other major body systems. It can have very long-lasting effects as these major systems work in a feedback loop and stimulate more oxytocin production. New discoveries are showing oxytocin is produced in many different places, including the heart and blood vessel walls, ovaries, and testes.       

 The hormone, Vasopressin–which stimulates the stress syndrome–is also produced in the hypothalamus and is stored and released by the posterior pituitary gland. Also known as an anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), it functions to maintain the body’s fluid volume and balance. In addition, vasopressin acts to increase aggression, hyper-vigilance, and other fight or flight type reactions.    Our understanding of oxytocin and the calm and connection system is in its infancy. Almost all study has been directed to the fight or flight or distress handling system. Most textbooks still state that oxytocin’s only functions are to simulate uterine contraction and facilitate lactation in females (along with prolactin).     

 In oxytocin producing cells the electric impulses do not occur one by one, but in a cluster. When the cells are powerfully stimulated, as in breast-feeding, (or other oxytocin stimulating behavior) the electrical activity becomes coordinated and the cells act in concert. This is part of the reason large amounts of oxytocin can be released in nursing women.  Estrogen can activate the oxytocin system and prolong its effects. Therefore, at certain times oxytocin affects females more potently than males. Testosterone can activate vasopressin and sustain its effects. Therefore, at certain times, vasopressin affects males more potently than females. Neurons that contain serotonin stimulate the release of oxytocin. This may be part of the mechanism of action of SSRI drugs that affect mood and anxiety levels. (Dopamine and noradrenalin also stimulate oxytocin release.) As you can see by the following list, there are many ways we can foster the calm, connect and coordinate system.     

So, next time you find yourself stressed out over something, start producing oxytocin!      

What stimulates Oxytocin release?  

 Giving thanks, being thankful and grateful, coming into the present moment with unconditional acceptance of things the way they are as being perfect; feelings of security, sensation and pleasure; touch, stroking, rhythmic touch; friendship, closeness, bonding experiences; sexual behavior, sex and intimacy, childbirth (uterine contractions), nursing and sucking (thumb-sucking); thoughts, memories, feelings of all the above; and probably such things as . . .   

 Some types of massage, chiropractic spinal adjustments, acupuncture, and other body-mind-spirit based techniques; energy work, attunement healing (Reiki); laughter and random happiness, deep sleep (delta), deep rhythmic breathing, Yoga, tai chi, and other related practices; rocking, singing, meditation, certain types of music, dance, art, literature, poetry; giving and receiving unconditional love; interaction with animals; a job or activity well done, especially if it benefits many; play and other positive and meaningful experiences. 
 
Isn’t it wonderful how our bodies look after us and respond to our every wish and intention!  The body never makes a mistake.  Everything it does is perfect.  We have every reason to trust it.  
 
 To your health,  
 
 Dr. Tony Palombo  
 References:   Dr. Janet Lang’s Nutritional Seminars, HealthLight Newsletter, Fall 2004   
 

 

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Eat the Whole Egg

The yoke is where the nutrition is.

Here’s to the faithful breakfast egg!  I found a great article on the nutritional qualities of the egg on Facebook and thought I would share it with my blog readers. 

You’ll find it at this link: http://www.truthaboutabs.com/whole-eggs-or-egg-whites.html

Here’s an excerpt:  “This is a perfect example of how confused most people are about nutrition. In a world full of misinformation about nutrition, somehow most people now mistakenly think that the egg yolk is the worst part of the egg, when in fact, the YOLK IS THE HEALTHIEST PART OF THE EGG!

“By throwing out the yolk and only eating egg whites, you’re essentially throwing out the most nutrient dense, antioxidant-rich, vitamin and mineral loaded portion of the egg. The yolks contain so many B-vitamins, trace minerals, vitamin A, folate, choline, lutein, and other powerful nutrients… it’s not even worth trying to list them all.

“In fact, the egg whites are almost devoid of nutrition compared to the yolks.

“Even the protein in egg whites isn’t as powerful without the yolks to balance out the amino acid profile and make the protein more bio-available. Not to even mention that the egg yolks from free range chickens are loaded with healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

“Yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg. In addition, the yolks contain ALL of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as ALL of the essential fatty acids (EFAs).”

My tip: The harder the egg white, the more work it takes in the stomach to break it down.  The amino acids bond more tightly together with heat, as is the case with all cooked proteins.  Better to eat the egg white raw in a health drink.  The next best way to eat it is poached, soft-boiled, or soft-scrambled in a little olive oil and butter.  Yummy!  Add some chives or green onions, and a clove or two of garlic, and you have a tasty and healthy brunch.  And don’t forget the salsa!  Ummmm good!

“And now the common objection I get all the time when I say that the yolks are the most nutritious part of the egg…

“But I heard that whole eggs will skyrocket my cholesterol through the roof”

Click on the link and find out the truth about the egg and cholesterol.

To your health,

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Whole Food Vs Half Food Supplements

 

 

Only whole foods are “natural.”

Tony Pics for SA BookWe are born to see things whole.  We have to be taught fragmentation.  When a child sees an apple, it sees something whole.  This is well before it knows even how to spell the word.  In fact, a child has to be taught how to spell a-p-p-l-e.   But first it has to learn the letters of the alphabet in order to know what the letters are.   As we parents and teachers know, learning to break things down into their individual component parts is hard work for a young child just learning this method of educating its mind about its world, moving from a sense of wholeness to one of fragmentation.  And it hasn’t even begun to learn all the parts that make up the apple itself, the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients we’ve called by various names in order to make our minds feel intelligent. 

 (The word “vitamin” is derived from the Latin “vita” (life) and “amines”, or vital amino acids.  These building blocks of the body are made of molecules that contain the key elements of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen).

But what really are all these various fragments that make up the whole apple?  There are over a hundred nutrients in an apple, no doubt why one a day may keep the doctor away.   The “uneducated” child, or layman, might well take a “Who cares?” attitude as it reaches for an apple in the fruit bowl.  All it knows is that it loves its taste and it looks delicious to the eyes.  On the other hand, try and give the child (and some adults) a vitamin pill that has some, if not all, of the “vitamins” an apple has, and you will not get the same response as you get offering it a whole fruit that it likes, such as grapes, strawberries, apples, blueberries and bananas.  “What’s that?” the child may ask.

Children love whole foods, and I don’t think it’s all about how delicious they look or taste.  There’s an innate sense at work in us that resonates with wholeness.  Granted, the little boy wants to take things apart to see what they’re made of and how they tick.  I don’t notice little girls doing much of that.  They rather cry when little brother takes their doll apart.  Hum……

Parts crave wholenesss

Scientists, largely male in gender, have fragmented the world into pieces the human mind can identify and tag.  It’s the nature of the beast.  However, in the process of taking foods apart to identify and tag their parts, even synthesize them by artificial means, they’ve discovered something very interesting, if indeed enlightening, about “parts” in the natural world:  parts crave wholeness and will seek out their “friends” and partners in life when turned loose in a natural environment.  They can be held isolated in a “controlled” lab test, but not outside this artificial environment.  

Case in point

B Vitamins:  There are 9 of them known to be vital to human health.  There are some 20 other B Vitamins that have been identified in foods and animals, most of which we consume in our diets.  Notice how many of these are added to foods and “vitamin drinks” and put into high potency “B Complex” vitamin pills. You will usually find only 4 or 5,  but never 9 .  That’s because most, like Vitamin B4, cannot be extracted from food, nor can they be synthesized outside the body.  What is Vitamin B4?  Well, it’s only a co-enzyme that helps produce energy.  But it is essential to the rhythm of the heart beat. 

You’ll not find B7 added to foods and drinks either.   How important is VitaminB7?   Well, it only governs the anatomical and functional integrity of the intestinal tract and prevents digestive disturbances.  You won’t find B17 either. Well, how important is Vitamin B17 (amygdalin, also known as laetrile, found in a number of seeds, sprouts, beans, tubers, and grains)?  It only helps rid the body of cancer cells.  And I could go on, but I won’t do all of your homework for you.  You can Google Vitamin B and read all about it yourself.  It’s quite complex . . . and very informative.

Then there are the co-factors.

What in the world are the co-factors?  Well, they’re all the stuff that’s left over and thrown out as dross after the vitamins have been extracted from the food – or in the case of synthetic vitamins, what the scientists consider un-necessary and insignificant (mainly because they can’t isolate, tag and duplicate them, nor comprehend their significance) and therefore counted for naught.  Yet, the co-factors are the critical ingredients that facilitate the function of the nutrients once they are incorporated into the body’s anatomy, physiology and chemistry. Vitamins cannot be utilized without minerals, for example.  It is the inclusion of this “insignificant dross” into his food supplements that makes Dr. Royal Lee’s whole-food philosophy, and therefore his supplements (Standard Process Labs, Palmyra, Wis.), a cut above the rest, setting the benchmark for the entire food-supplement industry.

“Vitamins in their natural state always exist as living complexes with specific synergistic co-factors, enzymes, phytonutrients and organic mineral-activators, and never as isolated single factors.   A vitamin needs all of its synergists to function.  Further, there are literally hundreds of such synergists, most of which have not yet been studied but are nevertheless very important.”  (Health Light Newsletter, Sept. 2004) 

Minerals are balanced and proportioned by and in the vegetable kingdom.  They are naturally “chelated” – clawed apart by organic acids in the roots of the plants – so that they can be utilized by the animal kingdom.  It is important that their ratio one to another is appropriate for proper absorption and utilization in the body.  Unchelated, raw, elemental minerals (rocks), such as calcium carbonate derived from crushed oyster shells or dolomite, cannot be ionized fast enough in the body to render them useful. Most calcium supplements are elemental calcium carbonate.  Read the label. You want calcium lactate or citrate.

My Point: Fractioned high potency vitamins, synthetic or “natural,” are chemicals (drugs), not food . The body will only accept whole food for its nourishment.  Anything less is a toxin and will be dealt with and eliminated as such by your body.  The fact is, they hurt your body.   Elemental minerals, such as calcium carbonate, that cannot be readily eliminated are deposited on long bones until they can be ionized, absorbed and utilized. It takes nine steps to ionize calcium carbonate so that it is useful.  Calcium lactate and citrate take only one or two steps, so they are almost immediately absorbed into the tissues when consumed.

Now – and here’s our lesson for today – when you take a “B Complex” pill, which is made up of only a few chemical parts of the whole B Vitamin food essence, you turn loose in your body fragmented, unstable and craving molecules, functionally free radicals.  They will immediately set out to find and attach themselves to their “friends” in order to re-establish their stability and wholeness. Where will they find their friends and partners in life?  Well, in your gut, your bloodstream, your organs, and your body tissues.  It’s called “leaching” in bio-chemistry and clinical nutrition.  In other words, these fragmented, unstable partial “vitamins” rob  your body of what they need to complete themselves, simply because Nature abhors a vacuum.  That’s the bottom line. They give you nothing and take away plenty of vital nutrients.  As drugs, they only offer stimulation to make you feel good taking them, and in that sense they act like addictive substances.  They add nothing, not a molecule, to the health of your body. I could not be more clear and simple in my wording. 

For examples: “Vitamin C” (as ascorbic acid) is a good antioxidant but it’s not the whole Vitamin C.  It is the protective antioxidant of the C Complex, which consists of Biflavonoids, Tyrosinase (copper), Vitamins P, K and J factors.  Taken into the body, high-potency ascorbic acid leaches copper (tyrosinase) from it, an essential mineral to blood vessel integrity. Copper deficiency is at the root cause of bulging arteries (aneurisms).  Commercial “Vitamin E” as “d-alpha tocopherol,” may be another great antioxidant but it is not Vitamin  E.  Whole Vitamin E consists of four protective layers of tocopherols – that’s how fragile Vitamin E is – at the core of which are Selenium, Xanthine, Lipositols, Vitamins F1, F2, E2 and E3.  Taken into the body, high potency, synthetic d-alpha tocopherol – so called “Vitamin E” –  leaches selenium from the body, an essential mineral to cardiovascular health and the prevention of arterial plaque.  Yet the Food and Drug Administration allows these partial non-foods to be called “Vitamins C” and “Vitamin E” when they are not what they are called, a blatant display of the scientific fragment-oriented mentality. 

We still can’t fool Mother Nature

Enough said perhaps to get my point across for this important lesson.  Stay away from vitamin pills that are not made of whole food substances created by Mother Nature, who alone knows how to put the chemical world together in proportions and quantities we can utilize to our health and wellness.  No matter how “smart” we are in breaking down the world into its fragmented parts and tagging them, we will never be able to outsmart or fool Mother Nature.  We only hurt ourselves by cutting corners.  Whole foods are our only true source of vitamins and minerals. 

For me and my house, Catalyn by Standard Process Labs is by far the best whole-food vitamin and mineral supplement. Read it’s ingredients at www.standardprocess.com. It costs less than a nickel a day.  Send me an email and I’ll send you a four-month supply for $45, or a full year’s supply for only $125.  It also comes in a cherry-flavored chewable for children ($55 for 4 months supply when ordered along with 1 adult’s 4-months supply, or $65 if ordered separately (a year’s supply is $170).  Prices include drop-shipping and handling within the USA.

In conclusion:

There’s no such thing as a “One-A-Day” whole-food supplement.  The only “one-a-day” vitamin this doctor  recommends is the ripe and juicy apple.

To your health,

Dr. Tony Palombo

Chiropractor and clinical nutritional therapist

Email Dr. Palombo at tpal70@gmail.com. Visit his website www.healingandattunement.com .

Disclaimer:  Nothing written in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any diseases. 

ADS ATTACHED TO THIS BLOG ARE NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSED BY THE BLOG AUTHOR.

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Facts about Agave

Oh No!!!  Not Agave too!!!

Well,  just when I thought it was safe to sweeten my coffee with Agave, unfavorable facts about this high fructose sweetener surfaced through all the false and misleading reports put forth by the producers and distributors of this nectar of the agave plant. 

I developed a high sensitivity and intolerance to high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) over the years, which very quickly landed me in the hospital under the heart-surgeon’s knife.  The inflammatory process, triggered by the presence of artery-damaging corn protein in my blood , resulted in high-cholesterol production by my liver to patch up the eroding lining of my coronary arteries.  You see, I’ve had a sweet tooth since my childhood years.  With the introduction of HFCS in nearly everything I liked to eat and drink, my heart didn’t stand a chance against arterial blockages.  I had six bypasses in 2003 right here in Fort Collins, Colorado.  The cardiologist and heart surgeon attributed my high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease to hereditary factors, which apparently account for 5% of  cardiovascular cases. My dad and his Italian forbears had it, so I was destined to have it too.  Or so I was assured.

Well, I didn’t buy into this common explanation, and went in search for the real cause. My search led me to a clinical nutritionist in Houston, Dr. Stuart White of Whole Health Associates, who uncovered a food-intolerance related to corn and all corn-derived products, which he attributed to my European background.  Europeans, he explained, and their progeny appear not to have sufficient reserves of the kind of enzymes that break down the protein in corn, just as  Native Americans and their progeny don’t have the enzymes to break down the protein (gluten) in wheat.  If you remember from your American history, the Europeans died after eating corn the indian natives gave them in exchange for their wheat, and the indians died from eating the Europeans’ wheat.  So, depending on what your hereditary background is, you may have an intolerance to either wheat or corn — or  both if you have a mixture, which many living on this melting-pot American continent have.   

Note:  The undigested protein from corn or wheat finds its way into the bloodstream through the lining of the gut.  Here is where the inflammatory process kicks in to deal with undigested food matter, such as corn protein and wheat gluten.  With chronic inflammation comes irritable bowel syndrome (ibs) and Crohn’s disease, which leads to what is called “leaky-gut syndrome.”  The eroded lining of the gut allows protein molecules to enter the blood sream.  This triggers an immune response of histamine production to literally flush the protein out of the blood through the mucous membranes of the lungs and sinuses. Thus we have what are often called “food allergies” but are more accurately called “food intolerances.” Much of what is back of  “COPD”, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, which is really a chronic cough, is a food intolerance triggering histamine production that congests the bronchial tubes, resulting in a chronic cough to get the protein-laden mucous up and out. 

So, the cardiologist was accurate in attributing my cardiovascular disease to genetic factors, only the genes responsible are not cardiovascular genes, as though my body was programed genetically to have coronary heart disease.  It is rather that my European genes lack the factors that help produce enzymes to break down protein in corn, which can lead to inflammation – which can lead to erosion of the inner lining of blood arteries – which triggers  cholesterol production in the liver – which can lead to plaque in the arteries to prevent them from leaking – which can lead to heart-attack and bypass surgery.  In short, I did not inherit heart disease from my father.  I simply inherited his European genes with their shortcomings in digesting corn protein.  What an important revelation!  Thank you Dr. White!

Today one of my associates forwarded the following to me and I found it so important that I felt I should pass it on to my readers.  Needless to say, after reading this, I’m back to using raw sugar in my coffee instead of Agave!  All things in moderation, of course. 

 

Is this Popular Natural Sweetener Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Posted By Dr. Mercola | July 03 2010 | 155,922 views

By Dr. Mercola

Many people interested in staying healthy have switched to agave as a safer “natural” sweetener. They want to avoid well documented dangerous sweeteners like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) but are unaware that most agave is actually WORSE than HFCS.

Once I realized this, I wrote a special report on agave to inform the public of this danger. I was somewhat surprised that the report would prompt such a firestorm of debate within the industry.

A number of natural agave manufacturers and health conscious consumers still proclaim agave is a safe, all-natural sweetener that is good for everyone.

Some have even criticized me for having ulterior motives. But nothing could be further from the truth. Although I do offer natural health products for sale on this site, I sell no competing products to agave.

Rather, I recommend other options such as stevia products. You can also use xylitol in small amounts or glucose, which is sold commercially as dextrose, and can easily be purchased on Amazon for $1 per pound. I do not sell any of these products.

My only purpose for sharing this information is to help people understand the truth about health. In case you haven’t noticed, we have an epidemic of obesity in the US and it wasn’t until recently that my eyes opened up to the primary cause — fructose.

Yes, it is all about freedom of choice. It is hard to have freedom if you aren’t given the entire story, and up until now that has been the case with agave.

Read more on his website:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/03/can-this-popular-alternative-sweetener-spike-uric-acid-into-the-danger-zone.aspx

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The Heart Knows Best

    Welcome to Lifting Tones, my newest blog.  My name is Dr. Anthony Palombo.  I am a retired chiropractor and alternative healthcare practitioner from Louisiana up here with my wife to be with the grandchildren and to enjoy the Rocky Mountains and the blue Colorado skies.  I finally left the confines of the office after 43 years.  I continue to offer my expertise in clinical nutrition as a health coach.  If you wish to consult with me, send me an email at drpalombo@bellsouth.net and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  There is not a single health condition that would not benefit from nutritional and herbal therapies.  

The sacred healing art of Attunement has held my deepest interest over the years, and I continue to offer this service when and where there is a need and a request, even long-distance.  To set aside a time for sharing attunement long-distance, simply drop me an email with your telephone number and I will call you.  I love doing this kind of sacred energy healing more than anything else.  I have learned the benefit of using sound in my healing  work as well and teach a workshop intensive in Attunement with Sacred Sound.  You can visit my website for more information. My website is  www.healingandattunement.com .

To visit my first blog, go to:  http://www.attunementwithsacredsound.wordpress.com

Special request:   Please go to http://NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=512 and vote for my book, Sacred Anatomy-where spirit and flesh dance in the fire of creation.  Your vote will help greatly in moving my book toward a plublishing contract with Hampton Rhodes Publishing and getting this important message out to the world.  Thank you, and thanks for asking your friends to vote for me as well. 

Now to the main purpose of this new blog (which I invite you to subscribe to and follow).   During the last fifteen years of my professional carreer, I published a newsletter.  HealthLight was its name, and it was true to its name as a beacon of light shining upon a path to health and wholeness which I myself traversed for many years; still do.  It isn’t the traditional path of healthy diet and vigorous exercise – although it included a moderate amount of such essential ingredients.  My philosophy has always been:  eat for your heart’s  health eighty percent of the time and for your soul’s health twenty percent.  “Soul food” is often more beneficial than “health food.”   It is rather an internal path based more on spiritual values and perspectives than on physical values – more a spirit-based model of healing and wholeness (body-mind-spirit) than a medcal model of “fixing” health problems and issues.

Several fans of my newsletter have asked me – since I stopped publishing it when I retired two years ago – to bring it back, or at lease make some of the best and most inspiring and educational article available on the web.   So, what better way, I thought, than via a blog?! 

Now I need to do a little digging through my filing cabinet back home in Louisiana, and see what I have saved on CD’s, before I start sharing these morsels of wisdom with you . . . but I will do it.  So bear with me . . . and follow me.  (I like that word  “follow” we bloggers use, although I encourage my fans to follow no one but their own heart and gut.) 

Perhaps this little morsel of wisdom from one of my last newsletter will give you enough food for thought and meditation while I compose my next post.  Here it is.  Read it deeply –  with your heart as well as with your mind.

“No, you’re not going crazy.  Life is intensifying.  You’re simply going through transformation — from being ‘only human’ to discovering your divinity — from a state of needing to understand with your mind to one of knowing in your heart.  The heart knows and understands.  Listen to your heart. Welcome change.  Enjoy the mystery of life. Live well!”

Take care of your heart.  Till I see you again,

Dr. Anthony Palombo