MCVitamins NewsYour Nutritional Education Site
1. The Problem with
Protein Diets by Dr. Eric Berg
Socialize
with us - Facebook Twitter Google+
The Problem with Protein Diets
Earlier Dr. Bert talked about the problems with a vegetarian diet, here is his video on protein diets. Protein Diets
Neuropathy, why the pain, the tingling and the numbness? Neuropathy has many symptoms. It may start with a tingling feeling and end up with numbness. It can be a pricking, or burning sensation, loss of reflexes and muscle shrinkage, abnormal sensations, or sensitivity to touch. Its worse symptom is pain, sometimes so excruciating that a person would amputate rather than continue the pain. It is called many names such as paresthesia, neuritis, neuralgia, dysesthensia, hypoesthesia, hypesthesia, hypalgesia, hypealgesia and hyperesthesia due to its many different kinds of symptoms. But, what underlies all these symptoms? They are created by a specific type of nerve damage. This nerve damage can come from too much sugar in the blood (the reason it is a side effect of diabetes). It can be caused by exposure to chemicals such as cancer treatments, poisons, alcoholism, or a side effect of some medications. It can be the result of kidney or liver failure, infectious disease or nutritional deficiencies especially B vitamins. The reasons are many; the damage they produce is the same. What creates the problem is damage done to the outer lining of the nerve cell. Cells have coverings much like an electrical wire has an insulation of plastic. Have you ever seen a wire whose insulation is damaged – the electrical current doesn’t flow correctly. It can send electricity out from the area where it is damaged, it can stop the flow of electricity or it can damage what it's supposed to be supplying electricity to. A damaged nerve covering does the same thing. It can send out “sparks” that cause tingling, it can stop the flow resulting in numbness. It can create feelings of hot or cold or sensitivity due to crossed signals. It can definitely cause pain especially as the damage gets worse. The idea is to fix this outer covering. This is called the myelin sheath. What is needed are specific B vitamins. The only question is how to get these B vitamins in sufficient amounts so that the body can actually build healthy nerves. Isolated B vitamins that are sold at the health food stores or local drug stores get washed out of the system too quickly to fix the damage. It would be hard to take enough of this type of nutrients to make a difference. You can’t get it from vitamins made in a laboratory. What is needed is a whole food supplement with methylcobalamine and benfotiamine and other B vitamins that the body can use to build healthy nerve cells. That is one of the functions of the body, to build health. But it does need specific nutrients to do its job. Nutrients are what a body runs on. A car runs on gas. If you drive the car down the road, it uses up a steady amount of that gas. If you take that same car and speed down the freeway, you will use up a lot of gas. When you take a body “out on the freeway”, or put it under physical stress, it uses up a lot more nutrients. Thus, getting the right supplements in the right amount is important. Just as a car won’t drive without giving it gas a body can’t or function correctly or build health without the proper nutrients it needs to “drive”. In the case of neuropathy, it needs these B vitamins. Neuropathy can be a side effect of many things. Although most often it is caused by too much sugar in the blood - Diabetes - there are many factors. Chemotherapy and some drugs have neuropathy as a side effect and it can be caused by surgery damaging the nerves - there are others. For more information about neuropathy. Success in Handling the Nerve Damage of Neuropathy We got lots of different people who got nerve damage from many different reasons who have written up what happened to them. Go here for their stories Read about getting relief by building healthy nerves.
Do you like Salt on your Food? I can observe
nutritional deficiencies by what a person chooses to eat.
One of the easiest ones is observing whether a person likes salty
foods and does he like to add salt to his food. What does this
mean? A deficiency of salt?
No, it indicates that your adrenal glands are not functioning as
well as they should. It is
commonly called adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion. What are some
other symptoms of adrenal fatigue besides salt cravings – increased
PMS symptoms, lack of energy, muscle weakness, fluid retention mild
constipation alternating with diarrhea – there are many others,
including the tendency to get the flu (as the adrenals are a major
factor in your immune system).
There is also a feeling of being less able to handle stress, mild
depression and absent-mindedness. The adrenal glands
are two small glands that sit over the kidneys. (Kidneys=renal;
ad=above). They are responsible for secreting over 50 different
hormones. They are responsible for the regulation of the mineral
metabolism (sodium, potassium, chloride), water balance, metabolism
(utilization and distribution of carbohydrates, protein, and fat),
allergic and immune reactions (such as hypersensitivity, allergies, and
autoimmune diseases), and production of the male and female hormones
(progesterone, testosterone, estrogens, DHEA, etc.). You may have been
experiencing this condition for years. Although there is increasing
physician awareness, many are not familiar with adrenal fatigue as a
distinct syndrome. Because of this lack of knowledge, patients suffer
because they are not properly diagnosed or treated. The onset of
adrenal fatigue and exhaustion can occur because of financial pressures,
infections, emotional stress, smoking, drugs, poor eating habits, sugar
and white flour products, unemployment and several other stressors. Stressors are something that create either physical or mental
stress. After experiencing
many of these events over a long period of time, the adrenal glands tend
to produce less cortical, the body’s master stress hormone. The main
role in the body is to enable us to handle stress and maintain our
immune systems. The adrenal gland’s struggle to meet the need for high
amounts of cortical production eventually leading to the adrenal
fatigue. Another symptom is
that some people feel tired in the morning, feeling better at noon and
then have a lull at about 2-4 PM. They
tend to feel better at 6PM and feel they work better at night. Sometimes they are exhausted at 9PM and in bed by 11 PM. It is hard to test
for a true diagnosis of adrenal fatigue.
Sometimes you have to test the adrenals and the thyroid because
they work together as does all the glands. It is important
for patients to eat regular meals, chew food well, and eat by 10 AM and
again for lunch. Patients should look to avoid any hydrogenated fats,
caffeine, chocolate, white carbohydrates (flour sugar, etc) and junk
foods. Diets should have a heavy emphasis on vegetables and protein. Sea salt should be used instead of refined table salt. Supplementation is also an important component. For more
information see Adrenal
Fatigue
Paleo Exercise Have you heard about the Paleo diet, well here is an addition regarding the Superb Benefits of Paleo Exercise
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? EMAIL AND GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
To Your Health MCVitamins
Sidebar:
Vitamin C and your Nerves Sorbitol (a form of sugar) travels to certain parts of the body where it builds up. These parts of the body are the lens of the eye where it forms a white milky film called cataracts, and the sciatic nerve (the big nerve that runs down your leg) where it causes nerve damage (nerve pain). RHP
Vitamin C
|