In this day and age, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of stress entirely. In fact, many people are desperate to find healthy ways to cope with their stressful lives. In this interview, Michael T. Murray, ND, shares some practical stress-relieving tips and discusses specific nutrients and herbs that may help. Whether your stress is caused by a particular event or the pressures of daily living, this advice from a leading expert will help.
Welcome
On the Dr Oz show
On the show I discussed the failure of conventional medicine to address the underlying issues in many health conditions offering little more than drugs as biochemical “band aids.”
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month
Introduction
The statistics on the growing epidemic of type 2 diabetes are staggering as it is now estimated that over 100 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes and are at high risk of developing diabetes. If things do not change one-half of all Americans adults will develop the disease by 2020. It is a serious issue that will bankrupt our society on many levels if the tide is not turned.
Currently, one out of every five United States federal health care dollars is spent treating people with diabetes. The average yearly health care costs for a person without diabetes is $2,560; for a person with diabetes, that figure soars to $11,744. Much of that increase is related to the costs of drugs.
A “Misguided” Organization
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the largest and most powerful organization dealing with this deadly disease. Though the ADA does a great deal of good, I wonder if the agenda of the organization is more to be a front for the pharmaceutical industry rather than trying to offer effective answers to patients with diabetes. The ADA’s Standards of Medical Care for Type 2 Diabetes focuses on the complete overreliance on the drug treatment of diabetes and its complications while completely ignoring the use of critical nutritional support.
When medical historians look back at these sorts of position papers they will refer to them as marketing propaganda promoting the dark age of pharmaceutical interventions. These guidelines were obviously written by individuals closely tied to the drug industry – it’s a travesty. The major shortcoming of pharmaceutical interventions in type 2 diabetes are that they do not impact the progression of the disease and in many cases actually accelerate the underlying disease process and increase mortality. Yet, this approach is the only one offered by conventional medicine.
A Rational Solution
The key issue that is not addressed by the ADA or other conventional medical group dealing with diabetes is that the drugs are only biochemical band-aids and some of the drugs actually shorten life expectancy (click here). There is one fundamental truth that is rarely explained to the patient: type 2 diabetes in almost every case is a disease caused by diet and lifestyle. The focus should be on using diet, lifestyle, and natural medicine to achieve ideal blood glucose control and metabolic targets, as well as reducing the risk of the complications of diabetes by focusing on the following four areas:
*Providing optimal nutrient status
*Reducing after-meal elevations in blood glucose levels
*Improving insulin function and sensitivity
*Preventing nutritional and oxidative stress
For more information, please see the completely revised and updated 3rd edition of The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine.
Mind Your Ps and Qs
PQQ may be the perfect answer to preventing or reversing age-related mental decline.
kiwiPQQ (short for pyrroloquinoline quinone) is a vitamin-like compound found in plant foods that shows a wide range of benefits for brain function and energy production. Learn more about PQQ with the following Q&A.
What Exactly Does PQQ Do?
PQQ is an extremely potent antioxidant that is able to carry out the role of an antioxidant in the body more than 20,000 times—which is a rare thing. For example, other antioxidants, such as vitamin C, are only able to accomplish this “cycling” process about four times.
Are There Any Food Sources of PQQ?
PQQ has been found in all plant foods analyzed to date. Particularly PPQ-rich foods include parsley, green peppers, kiwi, papaya, and tofu. These foods contain 2–3 mcg of PQQ per 100 grams. Green tea provides about the same amount per 4-oz. serving. While these amounts appear to be sufficient in helping our cells carry out their basic functions, research indicates that boosting PQQ through supplementation can produce some amazing effects.