Archive for July, 2006
Boost your body defense
Eat lot of vegetables, both green and leafy, and fruits ! This is what many suggest. But why ? Because they are good sources of antioxidants. Antioxidants help your body from numerous infections and possibly diseases like cancer. They protect against free radicals. Free radicals are chemicals formed in the body as part of the metabolism and defense against bacteria. But factors like exposure to environmental pollution or ultraviolet light, illness and cigarette smoke can cause the body to increase the production of free radicals to a level more than required. These free radicals have been associated with aging, cancer, blood pressure, immune deficiency etc.,
Recent research suggests that dietary supplements containing such antioxidants may offer protection against certain cancer and may help in premature aging. Science daily, quoting the researchers of Penn State University, reported that the mushrooms are as good a source of antioxidants as vegetables. The commonly consumed Button mushrooms rank with carrots, green beans, red peppers and broccoli as good sources of dietary antioxidants.
Epidemiological studies have shown that those who eat the most fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants have lower incidence of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s and atherosclerosis.
“O.K . What if I do not enjoy eating the vegetables ? Can I still get the benefits of antioxidants “ , you may wonder . Yes ! There is an option . And an easier option. This nutritional supplement with many other vital ingredients are available for consumption in liquid form for easier consumption and absorption in to the body system.
Enjoy the healthy life
Healthier Alternatives
In response to a growing demand on the part of consumers, more and more organic foods are flooding the market. However, many shoppers only seem to have an abstract understanding of the benefits of organic foods on the environment and their health. Organic food are not only better for your health, but it is also better for the environment.
Organic Research and Harmful Pesticides
Throughout this history, the focus of agricultural research, and the majority of publicized scientific findings, has been on chemical, not organic farming. Surprisingly, few empirical analyses studies have addressed the question of pesticide residue on produce. Many believe that eating organic foods does help children ingest fewer pesticides, since logically organic foods would have significantly less pesticide residue than nonorganics, but no actionable studies have been conducted. Although this is obviously very important.
Organic Research and Harmful Pesticides
What’s Missing from Western Medicine: The Power of the Mind – Part I
In this four part series, I will describe what’s missing from Western Medicine that can get us well or keep us sick, and offer practical tools for harnessing this power.
Part I: What Western Medicine can Learn from the Scientists and the Mystics
What distinguishes Western medicine from all other healing traditions on the planet are several key concepts: the separation of mind and body, and the notion that all of nature can be explained via a materialistic world view. On the other hand, every single non-Western healing tradition recognizes the inextricable link between psyche and soma. “Dis-ease” is not limited to the physical body; thoughts and emotions are causative factors. And healing necessitates addressing these elements of our being. Getting well is not just about fixing the physical body.
Our thoughts are omnipotent. Thoughts are powerful vibrations that can make us well or make us sick. Negative thoughts can make us sick and keep us sick. Positive thoughts can heal us and transform our lives. These concepts do not come from the realms of pseudoscience. In fact, there is a tremendous body of scientific research that can support these notions.
Most notably, researchers in physics and engineering labs have been conducting experiments that suggest the profound effect of consciousness on the material world: how our thoughts can affect us, literally, and physically1-4. For over 25 years, scientists at Princeton University’s PEAR Laboratory have demonstrated powerful correlations between human intention and machine behavior. They have shown that untrained individuals can influence the output of random mechanical and electronic number generators, just by “thinking” in which direction the numbers should go. These effects were found to be independent of space and time. Effects persisted when the individual was thousands of miles away, and, when the individual influenced the machine before and even after it was run.
These ideas are millennia old, and have roots in many of the world’s ancient traditions from cultures outside of our Western culture, and are implicit aspects of healing traditions throughout the globe.
However, Western medicine has remained unaware of these notions, and, unaware of this research. Most medical students took the easy college physics course to get into medical school, and were never exposed to the paradigm-changing observations that modern physicists made in the early part of the twentieth century, leading to the models of quantum mechanics and relativity.
These models dramatically influenced our understanding of nature, and, ironically, given that they were the result of sophisticated, technologically advanced research, led scientists to become more philosophers than technicians. And in these new notions of nature, were parallels to the ancient traditions of other cultures, to the healing traditions of other cultures, and to mystical, non-Cartesian views of life.
These notions are not new; again, they are millennia old. The ancient traditions of Chinese medicine and Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine), for example, draw links between bodily symptoms and emotions. In Chinese medicine, the lung is the repository for grief, the liver for rage, and the kidney for fear. In Ayurveda, the vata dosha may yield arthritides and worry, the pitta, ulcers and rage. To even consider a separation between these elements is contrived.
In Part II, I will continue to describe the dichotomy between Western Medicine, and the concept of inherent connectedness of mind and body.
References
1. Tiller, W.A., Dibble, W., Kohane, M. Conscious Acts of Creation. Walnut Creek, CA: Pavior Publishing;2001.
2. Tiller, W.A. Science and Human Transformation: Subtle Energies, Intentionality, and Consciousness. Walnut Creek, CA: Pavior Publishing;1997.
3. Jahn RG, Dunne BJ. Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace;1997.
4. Jahn RG, Dunne BJ. On the quantum mechanics of consciousness with applications to anomalous phenomena. Foundations of Physics 1986;16:721-772.
2006 Patricia A. Muehsam, M.D.
Dr. Muehsam is a holistic medical doctor practicing in New York City. She can be reached by phone at (212) 946 – 5700.
Click HERE to see Dr. Muehsams listing on The Healing Directory.
• A version of this article was published in The Epoch Times on July 17, 2006
What’s Missing from Western Medicine: The Power of the Mind – Part II
Part II: In Part II, I continue to describe the dichotomy within Western Medicine, and the concept of inherent connectedness of mind and body.
Not so long ago, before the advent of the pharmaceutical machine, with its vast offerings of new fixes for our physical failings, physicians were the consummate healers. Voltaire described our role as that of the amuser, to keep the patient amused long enough so that nature could do her healing work. And Sir William Osler, considered one of Western medicine’s founding fathers, maintained that it was more important to know the patient that had the disease, than to know what kind of disease the patient had.
However, Western medicine is not employed in the business of healing. Rather, this is a disease care system. For, by its very nature, our Western medical model makes people sick and keeps people sick. Indeed, Western medicine’s approach to chronic illness cures no one of anything. Pharmaceuticals merely suppress symptoms, interfering with the true and natural healing mechanism of the human organism. Skeptics, and those who espouse our dominant biomedical paradigm, relegate inexplicable cures to the realms of placebo or perhaps an initial incorrect diagnosis. And, in fact, they are ignoring that most powerful mediator of healing of all time: the mind, intention, consciousness.
All these ancient notions, once lost, are now seeking resurgence with the advent of unhappy consumers, and truth–seeking scientists. These scientists are the pharmacologists, experimental toxicologists, and immunologists doing low dose research to support the veracity of the homeopathic phenomenon. They are the physicists and engineers mentioned earlier. They are the parapsychologists and psychoneuroimmunologists, lending credence to the notion of mind affecting matter, and mind affecting body. They are the open-minded physicians and other researchers conducting research on the power of prayer, and on the healer phenomenon1-9.
Some examples of how literally our minds can affect our bodies and our health include the following research outcomes: positive thinking lowered blood sugar levels in diabetics, lessened asthma attacks, reduced colitis symptoms, and improved immune function in HIV-infected individuals10-12. And not only can our thoughts affect on our bodies, but our thoughts can affect others: numerous studies have demonstrated the clinical efficacy of prayer, most notably the positive effect of prayer on patients in a coronary care unit13.
In addition to this concept of the inherent connectedness of mind and body, as suggested by both ancient wisdom and modern science, is the existence of some ineffable source – entity, energy, connectedness – that embraces all and affects us all. Some may call this entity God, or Allah. Others may call it the power of intention, thought, or energy. Healing traditions throughout the globe draw on this source as a conduit to healing.
While we may delight in acknowledging this ancient wisdom, and be encouraged that the evergrowing field of complementary and alternative medicine has lent support to the notion of mind-body medicine, we are still missing the link. Until we can realize that the mind is more powerful than molecules, than pharmaceuticals, and that we can apply this concept to actually heal our own bodies, we are not realizing the full potential that lies within each of us.
In Parts III and IV, I will describe techniques for harnessing the powers of our minds, for healing ourselves, and even impacting on situations and circumstances in our lives.
References
1. Bellavite, P., Signorini, A. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy:
Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. Berkely, CA: North
Atlantic Books;2002.
2. Schulte J, Endler PC, eds. Fundamental research in ultra high dilution and
homeopathy. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers;1998.
3. Radin, D. The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic
Phenomena. San Fransisco: Harper’s Edge;1997.
4. Ader, R., Felton, D., Cohen, N., eds. Psychoneuroimmunology. Philadelphia:
Elsevier Academic Press;2001.
5. Jonas, W., Crawford, C. Healing, Intention, and Energy Medicine: Science,
Research, and Clinical Implications. London, UK: Churchill Livingstone,
2003.
6. Dossey L. Healing words. San Francisco, CA: Harper San Francisco; 1993.
7. Astin JA, Harkness E, Ernst E. The efficacy of “distant healing”: a systematic
review of randomized trials. Ann Intern Med 2000;132:903-909.
8. Benor D. Healing research: vol. 1, Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of
a Healing Revolution. Southfield, MI. Vision Publications;2000.
9. Muehsam DJ, Markov MS, Muehsam PA, Pilla AP, Shen T, Wu Y. Effects of
Qigong on cell-free myosin phosphorylation: preliminary experiments.
Subtle Energies 994;5:93-108.
10. Talbot, M. The Placebo Prescription. The New York Times Magazine; January 9,
2000: http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000109mag-talbot7.html.
Accessed 7/4/06.
11. Antoni, MH. Psychosocial stressors and behavioral interactions in gay men with
HIV infection. Int. Rev Psychiatry: 1991;3:383-399.
12. Astin JA, Harkness E, Ernst E. The efficacy of “distant healing”: a systematic
review of randomized trials. Ann Intern Med 2000;132:903-909.
2006 Patricia A. Muehsam, M.D.
Dr. Muehsam is a holistic medical doctor practicing in New York City. She can be reached by phone at (212) 946 – 5700.
Click HERE to see Dr. Muehsams listing on The Healing Directory.
• A version of this article was published in The Epoch Times on July 24, 2006