Radical Remedy: The Wonder of Amber

Baltic Amber use date back thousands of years. The Eastern Europeans used it as a tincture before of modern antibiotics came along. It was employed to increase immunity and treat pain like teething, stomach upsets, to boost energy in the elderly, and to enhance men’s libido.

How does it work?

Baltic amber is high in succinic acid. This substance is crucial to the Citric Acid Cycle, which generates energy in our cells. This acid is also vital to the cells of our immune system. It boosts the division rate of those cells and helps them eradicate pathogens. This is how amber imitates an antibiotic and helps increase vitality.

What can amber help ease?

Succinic acid is also a powerful anti-inflammatory agent and pain reliever. It prevents oxidative damage to cells in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, general back pain and menstrual pain.

But that’s not all. Amber necklaces and amber smoke were used in early times to ward off bad spirits. Seem implausible? Amber may actually reverse the effects of electromagnetic waves from electronics and from the sun. This 50-million –year-old precious gem has more than a few tricks up its sleeve.

You are what you eat: Kids & Multivitamins

In the absence of a strict, healthy eating regime from the very beginning, many children resort to junk food, processed foods, foods laden with animal fats, processed sugars, sugar-packed candy & processed drinks, artificial coloring and other garbage. They will especially resort to such diets when their authority figures are not watching. This can begin as early as Grade 1, when they start experiencing more freedom.

Such undisciplined gorging paves the way to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, inflammatory pain conditions, indigestion and —later in life— hypertension and strokes.

Nutrition begins at home

The best way to teach proper eating habits is to not allow the above listed “foods” in the home environment, and to lead by example. If these “foods” are eliminated and not allowed at home, their consumption will drop by up to 80%, because children won’t have time to access them elsewhere. They may have an opportunity at lunch or right after school when no one is watching, but not all day long. With such an approach, the worst-case scenario is a nutritious breakfast, (such as organic eggs, fresh tomatoes, a glass of organic milk, and a small piece of multigrain bread with organic jam), and a healthy dinner. Let’s also remember that the diet plans in most schools lack proper nutritional value. Their meals are usually very simple in composition and they are vitamin and mineral deficient.

The Biology of Food

Even when an effort is made at home, kids still may not get enough nutrients. Kids are growing (even beyond the age of 18) and they need more nutrients, vitamins and essential minerals in order for their biology to advance, promoting optimal physical development, mental development, mental balance as well as sufficient energy levels. These essential nutrients also detoxify their bodies of environmental pollutants as well as from the nasty stuff they eat when we are not watching. When these nutrients become deficient, they can lead to mood swings, depression, inattention, aggressive behavior, lack of energy, decreased learning & memory and a general feeling of lethargy.

Supplements: Going Beyond the Pantry

There is a simple way to prevent this. Have them take one large size multivitamin/multimineral tablet each day with a meal. Supplement with an additional fish oil capsule for mental health and optimal learning. Fish oil with omega-3 fatty acids have also been shown to help prevent the development of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This disorder is very common — although also commonly over diagnosed— in children.

And please remember: Try to make them eat at home more often and less often away from home. This will minimize their consumption of junk foods. Make the home meals nutritious with lots of protein, greens, vegetables and healthy oils such as olive oil and flaxseed oil. Also, try to keep it low in carbohydrates. This includes breads, dough, chips, French fries, and pop. Good luck! (No cynicism intended.) If you take my words as a gospel, your kids will thank you when they grow up.

Until next time,
Dr. Karol

Baby’s Immunity

 

 

Recently, a very interesting question has been posed to me. Should the mother continue breastfeeding even if she has the flu? The answer to this question is not an easy one because there are pros and cons, and they should both be weighed when deciding whether to breastfeed or not during an influenza infection.

Breastfeeding Versus Formula During Vaccinations

In general, breastfeeding is much better both for the baby and the mother than bottle formula feeding. The reason for this is that, first of all, breast milk is very rich in IgA type antibodies. These general antibodies protect the baby from gastrointestinal infections. Without these antibodies, infections would be very common as the baby’s immune system is not fully developed and is thus vulnerable. A small proportion of these antibodies are also absorbed into the bloodstream of the baby and offer some protection from other infections, such as respiratory infections. But this kind of protection is very limited, so it is a good idea to temporarily switch the baby to bottle formula feeding if the mother is experiencing the flu or any other type of respiratory infection. There are simply not enough IgA antibodies from the breast milk in the baby’s blood to provide significant protection from the influenza virus.

Pregnancy and Supplements~Part 1

 

 

 

Today’s blog is a continuation of my women’s health and baby topics. Recently I talked about Lecithin and how important it is in the neurological development of the fetus during pregnancy. Today I want to expand on the topic by making a connection between a decrease in the likelihood of Neural Tube Defects and supplementation with Folate and Vitamin B12 during pregnancy.
So what are neural tube defects and how can we prevent them? Well it all starts with a tube. That’s essentially what the fetus looks like at the very beginning of its development when it changes its shape from a ball of cells to a tube-like structure. The tube is what will actually become the baby’s gastrointestinal tract.

Lecithin~Part 1

 

 

Today I will be talking about Lecithin, a product which can be found on our website under the brand Jamieson. It is a general term to denote a number of very similar compounds, the most important of which is Phosphatidylcholine. The reason why I decided to bring this topic up is because of the utmost important role the choline part of lecithin plays in multiple biochemical processes in our bodies. Another reason is that the vast majority of our society has an inadequate choline intake from diet.

The molecular structure of Phosphatidylcholine is simply a choline molecule connected by a phosphate group to a glycerol molecule which in turn is connected to two fatty acids. It is an amphipathic molecule which means that it interacts positively with both water and with lipids. This unique property allows it to play the very important role of being the main building block of lipid membranes. All the cells in our body have walls made of lipid membranes. Without them, they would not be able to hold their structure and we would essentially not exist!  Lipid membranes are composed of lipid molecules that have affinity for each other, a property which helps them stay together and form the lipid membrane. They must also have side groups which interact well with water, as water surrounds the lipid membrane both on the inside and the outside of the membrane.  Without an adequate level of Lecithin the cell membranes are not structurally coherent. This affects the functionality of the cell membrane, especially the functionality of the receptors that are on or in the cell membrane, which in turn affects the functionality of the entire cell in a negative way….Read more…

Diaper Rash~Baby Part One

 

I have decided that once every two weeks I will cover a topic on babies. I decided to do this for two reasons. First of all we all know what great treasures babies are. They are cure, innocent, require our full attention, they are the next generation of our families and our society and an extension of our life into the future. The second reason is that I really enjoyed my clinical rotations in pediatrics and cherished seeing a big smile on mom and dad’s face when their baby was happy and healthy. I have decided to begin this journey of baby topics by talking about diaper rash. This is a very common condition, very unpleasant to the baby, and surprisingly, easily prevented.

So what is diaper rash? Well from the visual point of view it is the reddening of the skin in the diaper area. It causes itching and substantial discomfort to the baby. The major cause is prolonged wetness in the area when the diaper is left for too long or when the skin is not allowed to dry during the process of changing the diaper. The prolonged wetness makes the skin softer and the presence of urine raises the pH (i.e. making the environment more basic as opposed to more acidic), which activates certain enzymes in fecal material called proteases and lipases. These enzymes start breaking down the skin surface which is now even more susceptible due to its softness and natural thinness. The result is the rash, which is itchy and at times painful, especially when friction occurs between the baby’s skin and a new diaper…..Read more…..

The Inner Immunity Of Children

 

 

Today I am going to talk about a very interesting topic: inner Immunity.

I am going to put a pediatric spin on this one. When I was a kid I had frequent infections. Then I started spending some time in a veterinary lab facility where one of my close relatives worked. Back then, access to such facilities was not as restricted as now. Once there, I would spend time watching pathogenic bacteria under the microscope. Shortly afterwards I stopped having infections. Was it just a coincidence?

I am bringing this topic up because I think that some individuals are living with the misconception that raising children in a completely sterile environment is good for them because it keeps them away from bugs such as bacteria, viruses, and the freakiest kind, parasites. Well, this is actually only partially true. When the immune system is exposed to these pathogens it recognizes them as foreign entities and mounts an immune attack to fight the infection. Please be careful. This is not true for individuals who are immune compromised: for example, children with genetic mutations causing their immune system to be weak. But the stimulated attack is not the only thing that happens. The other interesting thing is that during this initial fight the immune system forms what are called memory B cells. These cells actually “remember” the particular pathogen for many years, and when an individual is exposed again to that same pathogen at some future time, the immune response is much stronger and quicker than the first time….read more….