Sunday, September 29, 2013

GRAIN BRAIN By Dr. David Perlmutter: Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar - Your Brain's Silent Killers

The gluten brain/chronic disease connection is very strong, as I have been teaching since 2005. I wish to congratulate Dr. David Perlmutter, one of my favourite neurologists, for putting together his cutting edge health promoting  thoughts it into a book, "Grain Brain", a New York Times bestseller. It is sure it empower you to take charge of your health. 

This is what he says about Alzheimer's: My bold


“This is a disease that is highly revenue-producing for mega factories of various so-called Alzheimer’s drugs,” Dr. Perlmutter says. “The point is there is no meaningful treatment in 2013. It is a disease predicated on lifestyle choices primarily, because of the high amount of carbohydrates/sugar that we now, as Western-culture individuals, are consuming.It’s a preventable disease. It surprises me at my core that no one’s talking about the fact that so many of these devastating neurological problems are, in fact, modifiable based upon lifestyle choices.”(like diet, exercise and caloric restriction)


“They've been talking about it for years and years (which is now just gaining traction in mainstream medicine) that our health really depends on maintaining a barrier of the intestine from the bloodstream,” Dr. Perlmutter says.


“We now understand that the so-called blood-brain barrier, or that barrier that keeps things out of the brain where they don’t belong, is also affected by gluten, according to new research. It’s a very exciting time when we recognize that our biggest exposure to the environment is actually the lining of our intestines – not our lungs, not our skin. We are in fact very much dependent on the microbiota, the bacteria living in the gut, to maintain our health.”

Food, including the microbiota, is information to our cells. It tells them what to do. You can change your genetic destiny with the food choices that you make. Even the brain can get more healthy, because of something called neuroplasticity. See what Dr. Perlmutter has to say about neuroplasticity.  I see it in my practice everyday.

If you would like to know more about Dr. Perlmutter here is his Facebook page.

Time to cut back on the grains for all people. Find out if you are gluten sensitive because this will tell you how strict you have to be, because if you are GS, even eating small amounts of gluten, even once a month will increase your risk of dying by 6% a year.

Also increase your consumption of good fats like butter and real olive oil, eat traditionally fermented foods like sauerkraut, and get out side and exercise... these are the fundamentals of a GAPS diet and protocol. And it works.

To Your Health
Dr. Barbara

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Latest Cold and Flu News- Garlic

Cold and flu symptoms are a sign of vitamin D deficiency, but once you think you have these symptoms, what do you do? Besides taking extra vitamin D3, take garlic.

Garlic, raw garlic, is an all round health promoting herb.
It can be very powerful at preventing and treating colds and flu symptoms. Because it is anti-viral, it can be used against warts. 

See what
Cochrane Summaries, ( a newsletter that is part of Cochrane Library, a source of "Independent high-quality evidence for health care decision making") says about garlic.

Read what Dr. Mercola writes about garlic and about commonly offered medical management: ( my comments are in bold)

Cochrane Database—which has repeatedly reported that the science does not support the use of flu vaccine as a first-line defense for those persons over 65 years of age—has also reviewed studies on the alternatives, such as the use of garlic.15

They found that those who took garlic daily for three months had fewer colds than those who took a placebo, and, when they did come down with a cold, the duration of illness was shorter—an average of 4.5 days compared to 5.5 days for the placebo group.

While this may not seem overly impressive, it’s still better than the results achieved by the much-advertised flu drug Tamiflu. If taken within 48 hours of onset of illness, Tamiflu might reduce the duration of flu symptoms by about a day to a day and a half. That's the extent of what this $100-plus treatment will get you. It’s virtually identical to just taking garlic on a regular basis!

However, some patients with influenza are at increased risk for secondary bacterial infections when on Tamiflu—a risk you won’t take by eating garlic... Other adverse events of Tamiflu include pediatric deaths, serious skin reactions, and neuropsychiatric events, including suicide committed while delirious.



Read the whole article to find out the best way to take garlic and why. And what lifestyle issues lower your immune system and how to make changes for better health.

I can't forget to mention the finding, by Canadian scientists, in 2010, reported by the Vancouver Sun, that getting the seasonal flu shot appeared to increase the seriousness of a future flu illness. A new study by US government investigators reported in Science Translational Medicine August 28,2013, may have found the explanation. They did confirm the finding by the Canadian researchers, lead by Dr. Danuta Skowronski.


Get ready for flu season by building up your immune system.


To Your Health
Dr. Barbara


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A Hot Weather Favourite: GAPS Friendly Maple Walnut Frozen Dessert!

For those hot summer days I've developed a dairy free GAPS friendly recipe for a frozen dessert. It really hits the spot!

But you can eat it anytime.

Ingredients for a double recipe enough for 6-8 servings:

2 cup coconut milk free of sulfites, carrageenan and starches like guar gum.
1 1/2 cup maple syrup (less maple syrup may suit your taste)
Two pinches of sea salt
10 tsp coconut flour
2 tablespoons water
2 1/2 cups organic coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups walnut pieces


In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk, maple syrup and salt, simmer for 30 minutes until thick like table cream.
In a small bowl, combine coconut flour and water to form a smooth paste.
Pour smooth paste into saucepan. 
Whisk the contents of saucepan vigorously and bring to a boil, briefly.
Remove pot from heat and gradually blend in coconut oil
Blend in vanilla
Place pot in freezer for 30-40 minutes, until dessert solidifies and turns white. 
Remove from freezer and blend again, until fluffy, then stir in walnuts

To make a smaller amount, just halve the amounts.


Enjoy your maple walnut frozen dessert.

To Your Health,
Dr. Barbara

Dr. Tom O'Bryan on The Existence of Gluten Sensitivity

Dr. Tom O'Bryan is an internationally recognized speaker and workshop leader specializing in Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease. He is a DC who has studied functional medicine and I first heard him speak in 2009 at the American Academy of Environmental Medicine Annual General Conference in Phoenix. 

On his website  he states the following:

"In the last 3 years, the acceptance of Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) in the medical community as a distinct clinical entity has gone from that of being an orphaned child crying in the world for recognition, to an accepted, unique component of the triad of gluten-related disorders."

His web site has some very informative articles well worth reading.

In future issues I will provide a summary of the major scientific articles that have shown distinctive differences between celiac disease and non- celiac gluten sensitivity, which I shorten to gluten sensitivity. 

To Your Health.
Dr. B