NHT News. Vol. 2 No. 11 Nov 2006

Get all the latest from Natural Health Techniques delivered directly to your inbox when you join our newsletter here.

Stay in touch:

Sign up for occasional updates/videos/tips/specials and receive the Fast-Start Bonus Report with or 150 Tips and Tricks to optimize your health today!

NATURAL HEALTH TECHNIQUES NEWSLETTER

November, 2006 Volume 2 Number 11 

(Please note that full names are never used in this newsletter or on my website without the full consent of the sender or client. Some cases also encompass groupings of cases with similar symptoms and suggestions for healing in an attempt to educate the general public.) 

In This Issue:

  • Health in the News: Cranberries increase your HDL (good) cholesterol 
  • Case of the Month: None this month
  • What’s New on the Website? Liver/Gallbladder Flush, Opening a Coning, Mineral Charts, More Ezine Articles
  • Ask Dr. Moffat: Sulfite Allergies in Dogs? Best time to neuter male cats. Traveling with Supplements and Homeopathics, What’s the difference between Viral and Bacterial symptoms?
  • Product of the Month: Cranberry Concentrate
  • Media Reviews: First Do No Harm (Movie: 1997)
  • Tips and Tricks for a Healthier Life: Tips on protecting your pets in the winter
  • Healthy Recipes: Pumpkin Custard
  • Client Testimonials: Lips Healed, Pain is Better, It’s Official—We’re Pregnant!
  • Inspiration & Perspective: The Butterfly Project
  • What’s New at Our House? Processed that 210# Pumpkin! Thanksgiving with Family
  • Local Events: Reiki II Class with Jim Johnson 

Health In the News: Cranberries

Trending
Life in Five Short Chapters

Drinking cranberry juice may raise levels of the good HDL cholesterol the British Journal of Nutrition recently reported. People who have an HDL cholesterol of less than 40 mg/dl have an increased risk of heart disease, but after drinking as little as 1 cup of cranberry juice cocktail each day for a month you may be able to significantly raise your good HDL levels. Drinking more than that each day made no difference.

After drinking 1 cup of cranberry juice cocktail diluted with 1 cup of placebo juice each day for four weeks, the 30 men with increased weight below the belly button had increased their HDL cholesterol levels by 8% over baseline. “The extent of this increase is near the one usually obtained with [drug] therapy,” the authors of the study reported.

Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) belong to the blueberry family. Besides their historical use of promoting urinary tract health, cranberries are also receiving attention for their potent antioxidant and anticancer properties.

Note: People on Coumadin may need to limit the amount of cranberry juice they drink. Please check with your doctor on the amounts safe for you.

If you’re looking for other ways to get your daily dose of cranberries, try one ounce of dried cranberries, or 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce—these are both equal to one cup of cranberry juice cocktail.  Ref: (British Journal of  Nutrition 2006;96:357–64)

Case of the Month: None this month. I was going to focus in inappropriate urination in the cat, but the column got so large I turned it into an e-book instead. Another project completed (which was actually scheduled for August 2007). Now I have to figure out how to set it up to market it.   

What’s New on the Website? 

This Month I had several offers to expand my viewing such as radio talk shows and infomercials. Seems that my pages have really gotten up there in the search engines! Gee, I had no idea what that would mean. I guess now I do. I’ve also had a few people from around the world try to sign up for my newsletter only their email addresses are not valid. I keep removing their names, but they keep trying to be listed for some reason. Sounds like some kind of marketing, sell my name to a million people type of scheme. How rude, but I guess it’s just part of being “popular”.  If I only had an extra million dollars to spend on advertising, just think what I could do?. . .Not! I did have several people outside the United States email me for an appointment this month. And I did get my merchant account approved. . .now, if I can just figure out how to use it. . .I’ll be able to accept Visa and MasterCard and Discover. 

Liver/Gallbladder Flush: This is also known as the Liver Flush and is just one recipe for this ghastly experience. I’ve done it twice over the years—it is not to be done frequently—and almost puked the concoction up both times. Some people swear by it. I’m not so sure. I opt for the gentle and slower remedy of taking choline and/or hydrangea root for dissolving gall stones. But you can read about it here: /HealingTechniques/LiverGallBladderFlush.htm

 Opening a Coning: This is one of those “wild and wooey” types of healing techniques that seems to work well for some things. The original reference is listed at the bottom of the handout. The author definitely has an ego, but the technique works well. I’ve modified it somewhat to fit my practice. /HealingTechniques/opening_a_coning.htm 

Mineral Charts: I finally posted all the mineral charts complete with signs of deficiency, what the mineral does in the body, comments and contraindications and foods/herbs that are high in each mineral. Look for the individual links on the right hand bar of each page in the Diet/Nutrition section: /Diet_Nutrition/diet_&_nutrition.htm 

More Ezine Articles: My goal for this year was to write and post 100 articles. I think I’m up to about 40 now. The last batch I posted about 10 days ago has already received over 4500 hits (reads). Sheesh, that never ceases to amaze me! Hope to get the rest of them posted by the end of the year and complete that goal. Ask Dr. Moffat:

Dear Dr. Moffat, I saw your internet article about sulfite allergy foods.  Have you ever heard of a sulfite allergy in dogs?  I have two German shorthaired pointers and I’m almost certain that this is the problem.  Please let me know. Chris 

Answer: Although I have not recognized this in my own practice (so far) I can imagine that it could be a source of allergies in pets. How many of our pets get treats such as sausage, beef sticks, cheese and pizza? Giving your dogs the human drops would not hurt them and is definitely worth a try to detox their system while at the same time eliminating sulfites from their diet. It’s amazing how many foods have sulfites in them. I’d go for it—and muscle testing the dogs—they do test strong on the drops (which means that the drops would help them.) In my practice I never send anything out my door that does not test strong on the body in question.  To read more about which foods contain sulfites, go to: /Diet_Nutrition/sulfites.htm 

Question: When do you believe the best time (age) is for a male cat to get neutered? Thanks for your input- your newsletters are great! Joy 

Answer: Any weight over two pounds or after both testicles have descended is the best time, but if your vet is not comfortable with that, then anytime after 4 months of age. Once the cat starts marking territory (about 8 months of age), neutering does not always solve the problems of inappropriate urination. Studies do show that altered pets live 4-5 years longer than intact pets. And if you want to know how many kittens can be produced by one female cat if she lives through her productive years or what other benefits are received from neutering your pet, this is a mind-blower: /Veterinary_Stuff/spay_neuter_benefits.htm 

Question: Hi Denice, My husband and I will be traveling by air at the end of next week, and I was wondering what your thoughts are on the effects of the airline’s x-ray machines on supplements and homeopathics.  Since they x-ray everything, whether it’s in your checked baggage or carry-on, I was trying to decide if it made sense to place a week’s worth of Essential Vitamins and Essential Minerals into small bottles, or if I should just leave them at home.  And what about the homeopathic drops and Standard Process items? 

Answer: Good question. I would leave the liquid vitamins and minerals at home, take the Standard Process supplements with you, but you might want to put a day’s dose in a snack zip lock baggie and make one for each day instead of bringing all those bottles with you. The homeopathics can be reactivated when you get where you are going by shaking (knocking) them 100 times on the heel of your hand. It doesn’t take long and you are making enough progress that I’d love it if you didn’t stand still or go backwards without a weeks worth of treatment. Have fun! Denice 

Question: What’s the difference in signs and symptoms between viral and bacterial infections? My doctor did not give me a clear enough answer. 

Answer: Viral infections: Usually achy muscles and joints, alternating fever and chills, white or clear watery discharge, flu like symptoms. Skin symptoms would be blisters. Bacterial infections: Can have diarrhea, fever, yellow discharge with congestion, and pus, skin discharges would be carbuncles, acne, boils and secondary infections causing lots of oozing and scabbing.

Of course each virus or bacteria has its own signs and symptoms, but that’s what we see in general. I usually just ask the body which one it is. The body will usually tell me if it’s a virus or bacteria, but won’t often let me know which particular strain of virus or bacteria it is if I ask from a list. And I have seen a viral infection also be followed by bacterial infections after a few days. Your body will tell you with muscle testing which products, given a list of products, will work to stimulate the immune system to help fight off infections of both kinds. I hope that helps. 

Product of the Month: Cranberry Concentrate, Unsweetened 

Cranberry Concentrate Unsweetened – 16 Fluid Ounces Liquid – Tree Of Life or Hain’s brand. This is my secret weapon for bladder infections. I wanted to make sure the picture was in this column because often people say, “Yeah, I know what you mean.” And then they go out and purchase cranberry juice or frozen cranberry concentrate which is NOT the same thing. This concentrated stuff is often not on the juice shelf. It may be in with the nutritional supplements.  Cranberry juice in general (concentrated or juice) makes the inside of the bladder wall slicker so bacteria can’t stick to it. It also helps to tighten urethral sphincter muscles so you don’t dribble—a very annoying problem as many of you already know! 

You’d have to drink a couple of gallons of Cranberry juice off the shelf to get the same affect as just two tablespoons of this stuff. Plus, you’d be ingesting so much sugar that if your bladder infection had anything to do with yeast, the sugar would feed it. I put this concentrated stuff in a shot glass, down it, and then chase it with an ounce or two of plain water. The chaser turns the acrid flavor instantly sweet and is therefore more tolerable. Repeat the treatment for about a week. If that doesn’t do the trick, you are on the wrong track. Note: I’ve noticed that the cranberry capsules are not near as effective as the concentrate.  

Other ways to use the stuff are to put some in your smoothies every once in a while as a preventative. I also purchase a couple extra bags of fresh cranberries during this time of the year to store in the freezer so I can toss a handful of them into my smoothies occasionally as a preventative. 

Media Reviews: First Do No Harm Movie: 1997 

Based on a true story, Meryl Streep plays the small town Midwest mother of a child who has severe epilepsy. After experiencing many, many tests, drugs, and other medical techniques, she and her son are left without options and without hope. Instead of opting for the surgery where they sever the brain hemispheres the mother presses on, studies everything she can find about the illness, and, against the wishes of their local doctor, decides to take her child to the Mayo Clinic where controversial ketogenic diet studies are being done. 

I guess what made me angry about the whole thing was the fact that, because she wanted to remove her child from the hospital, the powers that be were trying to declare her an unfit mother and get custody of her child removed from her. Exasperating! After getting to the Mayo clinic, her child went on the diet and his epilepsy resolved. The best part of the movie is the ending where they run the credits, and most of the characters in the movie were played by epileptics who had been “cured” with the diet. 

I recommend the movie First Do No Harm for anyone with epilepsy or knowing anyone with the epilepsy (human or animals) because adding specific fats to the diet can control and/or greatly reduce the incidence of seizures. 

After watching this movie, I advised a pet-owner to add a slice of bacon to her dog’s diet each morning. Apparently it did the trick because two years later she saw me at a seminar and came up to thank me for the advice. She had done that for both her dog—and herself! She had never told me that she also had epilepsy. I often tell my clients that often, when people don’t listen to other people’s advice for certain health issues any longer, God brings them a pet with the same dis-ease. This way they can look at things from a different perspective. When they see their animal friend heal, often they regain hope for their own health challenge. That is what happened for her. 

Of course there are other wonderful herbs and supplements that are used in overcoming epilepsy, and for most cases of epilepsy, it is fairly easy to get to the core cause, treat it and then control the electrical imbalances of the brain, but the bacon trick in dogs works wonders. Humans usually need different types of fats—not always bacon. It’s something to think about. 

To read more about the ketogenic diet, go to: https://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/Medical/treatment/diet 

Tips and Tricks for a Healthier Life  

Make Drinking Water Available: Well, the temperature is dropping here where we are. I’ve noticed all the water places I have lovingly placed in the yard for all the neighborhood cats, squirrels and birds are frozen in the morning. This is the time of the year when you want to be diligent about replacing that water for the animals. Dehydration at this time of the year can lead to bladder stones and urinary track blockages. 

So. . .if your cat is crying while trying to urinate or makes direct eye contact and urinates on some beloved item you own, don’t scream, grab the cat and throw it out of the house without calling your veterinarian to make an appointment for a urinalysis and exam. The cat is trying to tell you something. “Look at me. I’m in trouble and really in excruciating agony. PLEASE HELP ME!” And if you have thrown your cat out and it left and never came back, then it’s time to forgive yourself and learn from this tip. We all make mistakes occasionally. 

Do you use Rock Salt or some other Ice Melt products? Exposure to salts and salt-based ice melting products, a common occurrence, can cause dogs severe dermatitis, inflammation of the paws and serious gastrointestinal problems including vomiting and internal burns of the mouth and digestive tract. You might want to check out www.SafePaw.com for a location on where to purchase this product. Safe Paw is a patented compound that works just as good or better than salts or salt-based ice melt products. This non-corrosive product is a two-way timed-release wonder. The liquid component starts melting ice instantly while breaking its surface tension, which speeds up the melting process. 

Is your Antifreeze safe for pets? This is antifreeze season and I’ve seen a few leaky radiators. Just one teaspoon of this sweet, delectable substance will totally trash your pet’s kidneys causing an agonizing death. And I can tell you through experience that it is really terrible to watch. If you can get your pet into the vet within 24 hours of ingestion, you have a chance to save them. We inject alcohol (somewhat similar to EverClear) into the animals veins and keep the animal drunk for 24 hours. The alcohol binds up the ethylene glycol so that it won’t crystallize and destroy the kidney tubules. Expensive, painful, and not necessary! Get some pet-safe antifreeze today which is made of propylene glycol instead. I noticed the Sierra brand was cheaper than the regular stuff at our local WalMart this year. 

Healthy Recipes: Pumpkin Custard 

  • 2 cups canned or processed Pumpkin
  • 1 ½ cups low-fat Evaporated Milk
  • ¼ cups Brown Sugar
  • ½ cup Turbinado, Sugar in the Raw, or C and H white cane Sugar (beet sugar has nitrates)
  • ½ teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon Ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg (I use Cardamom as I’m allergic to Nutmeg)
  • ¼ teaspoon Allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon Ground Cloves
  • 2 slightly beaten Eggs 

Toss all ingredients into the blender. Buzz on medium until frothy, then pour into a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350˚F for 30-40 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean. 

Client Testimonials:  

Hi Denice –I just wanted to let you know that my lips cracking in the corners are all healed up today!  Looks like the call on the lip balm was perfect — I started using mint lip balm from Trader Joe’s after I got your message on Monday. The little bumps on the upper edge of my lip is also gone and the corners aren’t all puffy anymore either. Thanks again for testing that for me.  The fact that it wasn’t healing was driving me nuts. Sheila. 

Denice’s Note: Sheila was having a couple different challenges with her lips. Because they were not responding, she kept trying new things. We picked up several things she was using occasionally and a couple of things she was using more consistently that she was allergic to. This is a common thing that people do for both themselves and their pets (trying lots of products when something isn’t working then not knowing which products are causing the problem.) Unfortunately sometimes this only makes the problem worse and difficult to decipher—unless you use muscle testing which is what we did. In general though: 

1)     People are often allergic to products containing petroleum and even some products labeled “hypoallergenic”. Occasionally people are allergic to their toothpaste and more often to their lipstick/lip balm. Many people are allergic to Neosporin and Chap Stick. I recommend Mentholatum Lip Balm often. It comes in tube, like Chap Stick.

2)    Sores on the outside corners of the mouth are usually vitamin deficiencies (Like B6).

3)    Sores on the top and bottom lip edge are often allergies to something being put on the lips.

4)    Canker sores are often related to what it is in the person’s life that they are “biting their tongue” about or not saying out loud and is also accentuated by stress, poor diet, not enough raw foods, and sleep issues (in combination of course). 

Chronic Pain: Dr. Denice, Greetings from NJ.  Just want to wish you a happy thanks giving!  Since I have been on the MSM, Vitamin D and the 5-HTP my fibromyalgia pain is very little.  I can do so much more, I feel like I have been let out of some terrible dream.  I am not perfect, but vastly better.  Stairs are still hard, keeping the good nutrition, and exercising is still very much a challenge for me.  I’m still afraid to leave the house without something in my pocket to decrease the pain, but more often than not, I don’t need it.  I am considering giving up my handicap parking, but I have to admit I am still afraid.  I have learned a lot about chronic pain, even a little, but constant pain can make you change everything you do and how you cope with things.  Since August I have been feeling good, it hasn’t gotten very cold here yet, so we shall see.   I have much to be thankful for. Thank you for the work you do and thank you for helping me!  Sincerely,  Jersey Girl.

This one was my favorite testimonials this month: 

It’s official.  We are pregnant!  Both of us couldn’t be happier or more excited. 

Well, we made it through the stimulation phase, retrieval and transfer. . .and now we just wait to see if the embryos take.  I have attached the photo they gave us of the 2 they implanted into my uterus.  It’s a little blurry–but so exciting! They actually got 8 eggs.  All 8 fertilized and all lasted 3 days after retrieval, which is when they normally do the transfer back.  So, they decided to wait 5 days (when the eggs had reached blastocyst state), so they could see which were the strongest.  Five out of the 8 survived to this stage which they said was amazing! (Does not often happen, they said.) Two were perfect and they were the ones they implanted.  The other 3 were lesser quality but still could develop into babies, so we froze them. Jay and I are both very excited and I will let you know once I know something for sure. 

I was thinking about the first time we spoke on the phone and what you had said about seeing multiple “babies” and only seeing 2 make it.  Looking at the numbers and what has just happened. . .well, maybe it makes sense now!  So keep us in your thoughts and hopefully I will talk to you soon with good news. Ann. 

Denice’s note: I felt 8 energies around her when we first started addressing her infertility problem and told her that. (Hey, I just relay what is given to me to tell!) I thought her husband was going to croak! I figured maybe that some of the energies felt this was not the vehicle for them and left. I really didn’t know what to think or what to tell her because each time we talked there were fewer energies hanging around. Now I have the answer to that riddle.  I’d include the picture, but it has their real names in it. Send loving energy their way please, and more for a few other women in that same process. Thanks! 

Inspiration & Perspective: The Butterfly Project

(Carole is a registered nurse who has taken upon herself to raise funds to send 10 under privileged African women to college so that they can benefit their Nation. Her fund-raiser are beautiful Blue Morpho butterflies you can stick on your refrigerator or doors. All profits go directly to the college fund. The butterflies sell for $5 each.) 

Hi Denice, Life is good and very full.  I leave on the Sunday after Thanksgiving 11/26 for Africa again.  This time I am going with Global Partners for Development, a wonderful 4-star non profit and this year’s winner of the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, to Kenya and Tanzania.  The Butterfly Project is now one of their projects and is under their non profit umbrella.  This means we are a non profit from Jan 06 forward and I now can focus on the program and raising funds. Here is our website: https://www.thebutterflyproject.com

A donor has stepped forward from Global Partners and is offering a challenge.  He will match all donations until Dec 31, 2006 for any butterflies purchased up to $12,000 (which is what he would like to donate to us this year).  We already have enough money in the fund to pay for Evaline’s college education and two-thirds for the second child.  If we fulfill the challenge to the maximum that would mean 6 children would go to college from our work in 2006.  To me this is a miracle!

While we are in Africa this trip, we will be doing several special things.

  • First, we will attend the first Grassroots Women’s Conference in Kenya.  Over 500 women including rural village women will be coming together to celebrate the discovery of solutions that will uplift their lives.  Lots of micro business ideas, health, education, etc.  Some of the girls from the GPFD scholarship program for primary and secondary education in Kenya and Tanzania will also be part of this conference.
  • We will visit and learn about the education of girls in East Africa
  • We will meet with the two people from Uganda who will be responsible for bringing these programs to Uganda in 2007. The Butterfly Project will become available for higher education in Uganda first and then Kenya and Tanzania.
  • We will also visit the Serengeti and Mt. Kilimanjaro. I can hardly believe that a week from today I will land in Nairobi.  It is a dream of my life to see the wild beauty of these places and the migrating animals.  I will visit Karen Blixen’s home from Out of Africa.
  • We will visit many of the Global Partners projects including health clinics, rural schools, art projects for children, clean water wells and animal husbandry programs in villages.  You can check them out at https://www.gpfd.org
  • The Butterfly Project is still at https://www.thebutterflyproject.com   We are asking people to consider including butterflies in their holiday cards or for gifts in the personal and work lives.  The movie The Blue Butterfly also makes a wonderful holiday gift with heart, beauty and soul.  If you purchase the DVD on the Butterfly website, the producers donate half of the proceeds to The Butterfly Project.  Thank you for sharing! Sincerely, Carole Peccorini RN, MA   carolep43@sbcglobal.net   

What’s New at Our House?

We processed our 210# pumpkin this month. It actually didn’t take as long as I thought it might. I tried three different low-fat pumpkin soups which I will not be sharing with you all as they tasted awful. 

Michael and I shared Thanksgiving with my relatives this year and had a lovely time. It’s nice to have others cook for you sometimes. We shared dinner with 31 people and I had my first authentic taste of Collard Greens. Very good. 

Learned that you are not supposed to put your emergency brake on in the winter months or it freezes up the rear tire. I never knew that. And more weight in the back of the pick-up truck is a must in winter. We made it over the passes before too much snow hit the ground. I don’t think we’ll be traveling again until springtime. I don’t like those adrenaline surges as the vehicle slips and slides in the snow. And of course we don’t use the cruise control in wet or inclement weather, but for those of you who don’t know any better, you do now. Apparently on wet surfaces the wheels speed up instead of slowing down! Dangerous. (Thanks Dr. T for that email which I did check into at www.snopes.com to see if it was true.) 

Local Events: 

Reiki Classes by Jim Johnson are coming up again at the Orchard Studio. The next Reiki Level II (Okuden) class will be held on December 9th from 10am to 5pm at the Orchard Studio.  Please see https://www.palousereiki.com/okuden.html for more info on the teachings. The level II class is all about the use of Reiki symbols. The Reiki symbols help to increase the connection to Reiki, work on mental and emotional issues, and send Reiki through time and space.  The class will include the history of the symbols the sacred names, how to invoke their specific energy, and how to use them in your daily practice. Tuition for this class is $100 and can be paid in advance or at the class.  If you want to be a part of the class please e-mail your intent to do so.  In Light, Jim Johnson Palouse Reiki. 

That’s it for this Month!

Be Healthy.

Dr. Denice Moffat is a practicing naturopath, medical intuitive, and veterinarian working on the family unit (which includes humans and animals) through her phone consultation practice established in 1993. She has a content-rich website at www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com and free newsletter.