NHT News. Vol. 4 No. 1 Jan 2008

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NATURAL HEALTH TECHNIQUES NEWSLETTER

January, 2008                             Volume 4 Issue 1

In This Issue:  

  • Health in the News: Adenovirus-36 can make you fat. Computers Spreading Norovirus? What’s going on in the United States these last few weeks.
  • What’s New on the Website? Alexa.com ranking. New Herbal Sheets. Multiple handouts for the Case of the Month including: General information about stones, What is a Urinalysis, How to diagnose Stones, Natural and Medical treatments for Stones, Drugs that cause stones, High Oxalate Food List, and Breeds predisposed to Stones
  • Case of the Month: Bladder, Gall and Kidney Stones 
  • Product of the Month: Hydrangea Root 
  • Media Reviews: If Life is a Game, These are the Rules. 
  • Ask Dr. Moffat: Lysine and Gout. Combining Homeopathics 
  • Tips and Tricks for a Healthier Life: Gout Remedy? Which Oils are Safe to Sauté with? How to cut a fresh pineapple.
  • Client Testimonials: Wow! Thanks! Best kudos yet. 
  • Healthy Recipes: Homemade Struvite-Friendly Diet for Dogs
  • Inspiration & Perspective: A Season for Non-Violence, The Dog Food Diet 
  • What’s New at Our House? Snow—Lots of it! Baby Sign Language 
  • Local Events: Tutxinmepu Pow Wow March 21-22.  Thyroid Study Participants Wanted. 

(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.)

Trending
Life in Five Short Chapters

Health in the News:  

The Virus That Can Make You Fat: Adenovirus—36

Incredibly, researchers have found that a common virus could be to blame for a significant percentage of adult obesity—and they’re hoping to develop a vaccine to get you back into your skinny jeans.

The Adenovirus—36 is a common cause of respiratory and eye infections, but it also appears to play an important role in boosting fat storage.

Researchers at Louisiana State University have found that adenovirus—36 stimulates human adult stem cells to turn into fat-storing cells—and obese humans are three times more likely to be infected with the virus than thin people.

They intend to make a vaccine for the virus. Hmm. (Reference: The National Enquirer Sept. 17, 2007) 

Flu in the United States: We’ve got quite the flu going around the United State this month. Nothing seems to be touching it. Lots of nausea and then breaking into diarrhea, which turns to watery diarrhea and even has some blood in it. Wicked stuff. I’m testing it’s Streptococcus fecalis, which is normally in the intestinal tract so I suspect it may have mutated, but have not gotten that confirmed through lab analysis yet (the doctor’s take the fecal for a culture and the lab may not test for the proper thing.) 

At this point there are a couple of viruses and about four strains of bacteria wreaking havoc around the United States.

Bladder, Kidney and Gall Stones: Then it was stones. All kinds of stones—including feline urological syndrome (FUS), bladder stones in dogs, kidney stones in humans and gallstones in humans (but lots of animals were testing they needed increased amounts of choline which helps with gall bladder function). And I had three women with gout. So, I thought I’d “whip out” a newsletter on stone formation. I was doing pretty well, too, but then lost about 10 hours of research and had to recreate whole sections of it.

Anyway, it turned out to be great information with lots of wonderful pictures. I hope you learn lots from it. Thanks for reading. Denice

More Health in the News: Nausea, Vomiting, and Diarrhea Associated with Norovirus

Noroviruses are members of a group of viruses called caliciviruses, also known previously as “Norwalk-like viruses.” Norovirus is also called viral gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and calicivirus.

Jan. 3, 2008 — The highly contagious norovirus, often called the stomach flu, can be passed from one person to another through contact with commonly shared items such as computer keyboards and computer mice, U.S. health officials report.

Norovirus is more common in winter months and causes severe vomiting and diarrhea that can last for several days. It seems to be lasting about 10 days and I’ve had calls and emails about these particular symptoms from all over the United States these last few weeks. The nausea seems to hang around the longest, but my clients are telling me they get diarrhea, then it turns into explosive water diarrhea and sometimes has some blood in it. The virus is usually not serious, and most people get better without treatment. However, it can be life-threatening to infants, older people and those with weakened immune systems.

In New York City, an outbreak of norovirus has been ongoing since November. Some 500 infected people have been showing up each day at emergency rooms around the city, health department officials said.

“. . .we have demonstrated that keyboards and computer mice can be a source of transmission of norovirus,” said Dr. Shua Chai, a CDC epidemiologist and co-author of the report, published in the Jan. 4, 2008 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The virus can live on surfaces for several days, Chai said. To prevent infection with the virus, people should wash their hands after using shared objects, and computer keyboards and mice should be disinfected regularly with diluted bleach, he said.

“In addition, people who are ill should stay home for one to three days after they have had their last symptom, because they continue to shed the virus and can still contaminate objects,” Chai added.

Contamination of surfaces such as computer keyboards apparently is fairly common. In the disease world, we call inanimate objects that inadvertently are the source of disease being spread, “fomites.”

I wondered how these symptoms spread so quickly but then I realized it was during the holidays when everyone was stressed out and their immune systems were at an all-time low for the year. They then traveled to see their relatives (spreading it on the plane and all over). It was cold, and the water filter systems everywhere were taxed because of so much snow and increased water levels.

Imodium A/D is working some, Nux Vomica for the nausea, but not always, lots of fluids, hot saunas for 20-30 minutes to fry the bacteria out of the system and sometimes Goldenseal capsules (if they can keep them down) are helping.

So, go clean your fomites, make sure you change your water filters and keep washing your hands with soap. Also helping are Bowel Pathogen Nosode drops, 20-minute dry saunas, and drinking lemon water. Oh, and I’ve been dispensing lots of MRSA homeopathic drops (Methicillin Resistant Staph. Aureus).

Links and References:

What’s New on the Website?

I got a nice surprise when I was doing my End of Year statistics for my paperwork. We’ve gone up over 100,000 rankings in our www.alexa.com ranking. If you’ve never plugged in your website into Alexa do it. It’s a nice gage as to how all your hard work is reaping the benefits. So, of all the websites out there, we are at 517,904. My goal is to get into one of the top ranking slots within a couple of years. We are at about 1000 subscribers for the newsletter (I had to expand my capacity twice this year) and the website it currently getting over 1.7 million hits/month. 

Mary Charley is helping me develop some handouts on the individual herbs I carry. You really must check them out. They are beautiful! We have the following herbs newly posted this month:  

Herbs We Carry,  Chaparral,   Comfrey ,  Mullein , and Hydrangea Root 

Case of the Month: Bladder, Gall and Kidney Stones

This newsletter is dedicated to my brother Don and his best friend, Chico who ended up with a bladder stone last month and had to have it surgically removed. It was a traumatic time there for a little while. We don’t know what kind of stone it is yet, so I thought I’d send my brother some helpful information. 

I started out researching what kinds of stones it could possibly be (knowing that he was feeding lots of meat and cheese and that my sister-in-law was trying to balance that out with salads, fruit and fresh vegetables. On top of that, Chico was sneaking in to eat the cat’s food which is WAY too high in protein for a dog. So I ended up with a handout Species & Breed Predilection to Stones   

Of course he wanted to know how Chico got the stones in the first place and how they would diagnose and treat it. They don’t have too many natural options over there and the stone was so big that even I would have done an exploratory on the little guy to remove the stone and flush the system. So, I ended up with three more handouts:  Urinalysis-What is it? What do they see?

Kidney, Bladder & Gall Stones and Medical Treatment of Stones 

At the same time, I was processing cases involving Feline Urological Syndrome (FUS) in a couple of cats, a couple of gout cases (one severe case), a co-worker had kidney stones and one other client had just had his kidney stones removed, several bladder infections and many cases of suspected gall bladder sludge and stones. What a month. Of course I had to develop the Alternative Treatments for Stones and that lead to the High Oxalate Food List  to go with the Gout

 handout I already had, Drugs and Medications Causing Stones & Crystals (because some of my patients were on a few of these) and then a handout on Hydrangea Root (my favorite treatment for many types of stones.) 

It seemed like the project would never end! But, as my husband says, “You’re tenacious.” I was, and they are now posted with lots of pictures and hopefully easy to digest information. 

Product of the Month: Hydrangea Root for Kidney and other Stones   

How Hydrangea is used and how it Works: Hydrangea root has historically been used as a decoction, tincture, extract, and in capsule form or you can use the powdered root to make a tea infusion. Native Americans mixed Hydrangea with Agropyron repens (Couch grass) and Ahhaea rosea (Hollyhock) for serious kidney disorders including nephritis. It acts as an antiseptic, diuretic and helps to dissolve bladder, kidney and gallstones which cause inflammation of the urethra and prostate. It reduces irritation and helps to soothe irritated tissue (including gout).  

Hydrangea is one of my favorite herbs used in the treatment of stones of most kinds. Too much is reported to cause dizziness and bronchial congestion (I’ve not seen this yet). We carry Hydrangea in bulk and also the Nature’s Way brand (100 capsules/bottle). Of course you would have to see your emergency room doctor for pain killers if a stone got caught and would not move, but what most people test they need for moderate stone formation is three capsules/day until 100 capsules are used up, then 2/day until the next 100 capsules are used then one capsule/day for about 2-4 months. 

I’m a stone former myself so when I start craving soda pop, I know that my phosphorus, calcium and magnesium levels are off. And when I get that tell-tale low rib cage achiness, I take a couple capsules a day for a few days and it seems to clear right up.    

These products are not drugs, but foods for special dietary use pursuant to applicable Federal law. No statement in this page shall be construed as offering these products for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease.     

For more pictures and information on Hydrangea, go to our newly posted herbal sheet on Hydrangea at: /ShoppingCart/Herb_Hydrangea_Root_files/Herb_Hydrangea_Root.htm 

Media Reviews: If Life is a Game, These are the Rules

A book by Cheri Carter-Scott 

Cheri Carter-Scott, a motivational speaker and management consultant, wrote this little 141 page gem in 1998. I’ve personally recommended this book to hundreds of my clients over the years. If Life is a Game is about listening to, trusting and honoring your inner knowing or voice (I call it the Still Small Voice). It’s the best and easiest to read self-help book on the market replete with true-to-life stories you can relate to. I think it will help you to see a different perspective on the “woes” of life and give you some healthy ways to handle what comes your way. There are ten rules in her book. I’ll give you a quick summary of each rule:  

Rule #1: You will receive a body. The body you are given will be yours for the duration of your stay. Love it or hate it, accept it or reject it, it’s the only one you will receive in this lifetime and it will teach you some lessons if you let it. 

If self-esteem is a lesson that you need to learn, you will be tested over and over until you feel confident about who you are and understand and believe your intrinsic value. Your body may provide you with enough opportunities to work on this lesson. 

In my practice, I’ve noticed that people like certain parts of their body then treat other parts with despair. Your cells work in unison. When you don’t like parts of your body they do not communicate as well with each other. So, love yourself—your whole self and treat your body kindly. 

Rule #2: You will be presented with lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called “life.” Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or hate them, but you have designed them as part of your curriculum. 

The trick is to align yourself with your own unique path by learning your individual lessons. 

I’ve noticed that if you have a lesson your are not taking seriously, you have friends, family and co-workers with the same lesson in various stages of overcoming or working through the lesson. And if you really don’t see what’s happening, God brings you a pet with that lesson. So what are your friends going through? Have you been through that, too? Are you there for them? Or, are they there for you? 

What you resist persists. 

Rule #3: There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors, and occasional victories. The failed experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that work. 

So, if you choose to go down the “wrong” path, tomorrow is another day. Choose again and redirect. This chapter reminded me of one of my favorite poems along this line called, Life in Five Short Chapters. 

Rule #4: A lesson is repeated until learned. I have a girlfriend who has married the same husband seven times. But lots of people marry the same personality types over and over until they work on themselves enough to shift their vibration and align with a different personality type. Rule 4 involves identifying and releasing the patterns that you are repeating.  It involves becoming aware of your patterns, acknowledgement of them, choosing to release the pattern, creating a realistic plan and committing to take action to change negative thoughts and choices and celebrating the success of a new and higher thought pattern.  

Rule #5 Learning does not end. As long as you are in this body and in this life, you will have lessons. The lessons may change over time, but they will never end. The sooner you can embrace and rejoice in that knowledge, the more you can connect to your Life Purpose here. I like the concept of “See one, Do one, Teach one.” So, you see the learning that needs to be done, you practice it and then you mentor others who are trying to learn the same lessons. 

Rule #6: “There” is not better than “here”. It’s all about the journey, not the end result. When you accomplish one goal, more topics and goals will come up to work on. So, enjoy the journey. True abundance comes not from amassing material things, but rather from appreciating what you have. 

Rule #7: Others are only mirrors of you. Your reactions to other people are really just a barometer for how you perceive yourself. People who irritate you are actually angels in your life teaching you about aspects of your own personality or past hurts you need to love and forgive. Hippocrates said, “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” So take the opportunities with the perspective that everything you experience is a gift. 

Rule #8: What you make of your life is up to you. You already have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. Lots of people transform adversity into success. Choose to be one of them. 

One of my favorite stories on this is the parable of the old donkey that fell in the dry well. Since the owner could not get the donkey out, the townspeople helped him alleviate the animals suffering by trying to bury the donkey alive. At first, the donkey was really afraid as the dirt was shoveled into the well, but he shook the dirt off his back and stepped up. The process continued hour after hour. With each scoopful of dirt, the donkey shook the dirt off, then stepped up. Eventually the donkey was able to step right out of the filled well. 

Life sometimes seems like a bunch of dirt being tossed into a well in an attempt to bury us alive. We don’t get through life without experiencing that. Will you step up or be buried? It’s your choice. 

Rule #9: All your answers lie inside of you. There’s a Hindu story about God and the angels talking about the creation of the planet. They’re saying, “Now that we’ve got the earth and we’ve got the sky and the mountains and the rivers and the moon and the stars, now we will create man.

Where shall we hide the truth of his being from him? One of them said,”Let’s hide it on the highest mountain top.” 

“No, eventually he will learn to scale the mountains, He will find it.” God said. 

“Let’s take it down to the very deepest part of the ocean.” 

“No, don’t hide it in the deepest part of the ocean. Eventually, man will learn how to go to the darkest, deepest part of the ocean. Don’t hide it there.” 

“Well, let’s hide it on the moon, then.” 

“No, eventually he’ll go to the moon and get it there.” 

Finally, they all knew…all at once, exactly where to hide the truth where mankind would never look for it and that was within himself. So all of the avatars, all the great teachers, all the saints and sages of all time have said there is a place in you that is absolutely holy. There is a place in you that is absolutely pure. There is a place in you that is divine. And it is God, and the kingdom is within you. 

All you need to do is look, listen and trust the Still Small Voice within. You already have all the answers possessed in your spiritual DNA.  If you don’t listen to that voice it becomes stronger and louder, sometimes bringing adversity into your path as a sign that you are not on the right path.  Stuart Wilde says, “Life was never meant to be a struggle.” And Wayne Dyer recommends that we “row our boat DOWN the stream.” I like to say, “If you try the door of opportunity and it is locked, try the next door.” You don’t have to pick the lock! 

Rule #10: You will forget all of this at birth. Remembering and forgetting are the dance of consciousness Cheri says. When you feel stuck, you have forgotten your truth. 

Life really is a game. The game of remembering. The goal is to remember here on Earth. The keys to remembering are our emotions. The more joyful we feel, the closer we are to winning the game. Trust and believe in yourself. 

Let the Game begin! 

Ask Dr. Moffat: 

Dear Dr.: I get the gout every now and then. Drink too much, etc, etc.   Question – I take 500mg lysine each day to help prevent cold sores. Do you think the lysine might worsen the gout? Thanks. Thomas 

Dear Thomas: Hmm. Good question. I asked my Guides, and I get a yes on that for you. I don’t know why though. I’m not a chemist. 

Question: Is it okay to combine the two different homeopathics you gave me, or should I be taking them at separate times?  

Answer: Yes, you can take them under your tongue right after each other or put all the days drops into a bottle of water and sip this over a period of a couple of hours. Whichever you prefer. I often take my drops in the middle of the night when I get up to use the bathroom.  I know then for sure I don’t have anything in my mouth (food, drink, toothpaste, gum/mints) that will inactivate the drops. 

Tips and Tricks for a Healthier Life  

(Gout Remedy?) Hi Dr. Denice, your site is very helpful and as a site manager, I can tell you have put a lot of time and care into informing web travelers with cares and concerns.

Gout—I have it and I watch my diet very carefully. One pizza with tomatoes and a glass of wine per month can spin me out of control.

Baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon in 8 ounces of water, can and has relieved my pain in less than 1 hour.  Please, ……….Please add this to your site for emergency care.  This wonderful and inexpensive cure “WORKS.”  Herb L.

Thanks for writing Herb. My only challenge with that particular treatment is that people think “if a little is good, a lot should be better” then they have a healing crisis, electrolytes REALLY get out of balance and, if they have high blood pressure, they can really pop it through the roof. 

Often I switch people from Baking Powder toothpastes to regular toothpaste because of high blood pressure problems. The dose you are using is a safe dose for an adult over 140 pounds (we used the same dose in vet school for calves with diarrhea) but multiple doses should not be used. And it’s just fooling Mother Nature only temporarily. Your kidneys will have to clean up that mess. 

I have lots of food allergies. I don’t knowingly eat foods that really set off difficult symptoms to treat, but I do have one client who uses the Food Additive Detox Drops so she can drink wine—even  though she has a sulfite allergy. You may be able to get away with this on occasion, but sometimes she calls and I have to explain that it’s getting harder and harder to put Humpty Dumpty back together again after so many falls! 

The reason I’m including this in a newsletter is because I see a lot of Baking Soda “insta-cures” circulating around on the internet these days. Be careful folks! 

Thanks for visiting the site, Herb. I’m glad that baking soda is working for you. All is well. Denice

Which oils are safe to fry or sauté with?

Here’s a nice clean website that’s easy to navigate with lots of great information for your New Year’s resolutions of eating healthier in 2008.  https://whfoods.org

One tip I got from the site was a review of which oils can be heated for fry-cooking and which oils are not to be heated because they produce free radicals and toxic fumes (like Extra Virgin Olive Oil). As the olive oil is heated, it is first green with a fruity aromatic smell then turns to a clear, toxic smoke filled with free radicals that makes your eyes water.

Safe oils to fry and sauté with are canola, safflower, coconut, and avocado as these oils are more stable in higher temperatures so they don’t produce free radicals.

month I demonstrated how to cut up a fresh pineapple for a 72-year old single man. Cut the green top off, then the skin, then the bottom half inch or less. Then slice it twice on one side, then the other avoiding the center core. Then the remaining fruit on either side of the core. Then chop into 1 inch chunks. 

I don’t think he knew to cut the core out because that part was too chewy for him to eat (so he was buying it already canned which, of course, does not have the same affect on the body as raw food teeming with enzymes and vitamins that have not been heat inactivated by processing.) 

And another woman was complaining that she got a pineapple that didn’t taste good. I used to feel the same way until I figured out the trick which is to tug the center leaf. If it comes out, it’s perfectly ripe (unless it looks dehydrated and smells rotten!) If the leaf doesn’t come out, let someone else take that one home. It’s not ripe.  

Client Testimonials: 

Dear Dr. Moffat: Truly, I cannot express my appreciation for the wealth of information that you are providing for all of us who are still eagerly learning about our future. I have never seen such a beautifully composed health ‘site as yours has been. I have several friends that I discuss health, exercise, and nutrition with, we all have age-related needs, and boom……here’s your terrific website. Please extend my appreciation to your staff and those who may help with your ‘site. 

Thank you (to the power of more than I can count)  Steve in San Diego, CA  

Wow! Thanks, Steve! That was an exceptionally fine compliment. I sent it to my mom and she called to tell me that you made her day and that she smiled for hours just thinking about it. She got quite the chuckle on the “staff” comment too knowing full well that I am kind of a workaholic, multitasking maniac—I got that from her—and that I do nearly all the work on my site and newsletter. 

I am blessed to have an occasional client who sends me a list to post and I think I’ve found an awesome person to start helping me with the Know Your Products section. Her name is Mary Charley and she wants to be an herbalist so is building some herb sheets for the site. My husband reads and edits my newsletter for me, so I forwarded your comment to him as well. Thanks again. Denice 

Healthy Recipes: Struvite Friendly Homemade Dog/Cat Diet 

Because of the pet food scare last year, a lot of homemade diets have resurfaced. My biggest problem with homemade diets is that the client starts out with the best intentions so adds all the ingredients, but by the time they’ve done this time-consuming cooking for 3-4 weeks, they run out of an ingredient. The animal seems to do “just fine” without the missing ingredient and they intend to pick it up at the store the next time they are in that area, but often forget. 

(What is “just fine” anyway?—Does that mean they don’t drop dead if you delete the calcium or the Vitamin E or what?) 

So, over time, the diet is actually imbalanced which just throws everything into an eventual tail spin. I guess that won’t stop me from posting homemade diets such as this, but I want you to know the downfalls of the process. 

Homemade Diet for the Prevention of Struvite Crystals: 

  • 1 ½ pounds of cooked Ground Chuck Roast (Beef), with the fat retained
  •  1/4 lb of cooked Calf’s Liver
  • 1 cup cooked Rice or Mashed Potatoes 
  •  1 teaspoon Canola Oil
  • 1 teaspoon of Phosphorus-Free Calcium Carbonate (crushed calcium lactate or calcium gluconate) or 8 regular Tums tablets
  •  ¼ Centrum tablet (I prefer 20 drops of liquid Pediatric Vitamins)
  • 100 iu of Vitamin E
  •  2-3 ounces of Distilled Water can be added during cooking if the cat or dog prefers a moister food

Feed approximately 1/4-1/2 lb per ten pounds each day or the amount that maintains optimal body weight. This formula is designed to keep magnesium and phosphorus levels in the food to a minimum.

Notes:

  • Taurine deficiency is a big issue in cats as it can cause an enlarged heart and blindness if the diet is not adequate.
  • Use high-quality Vitamin E capsules (something with mixed tocophorols) as cheaper forms of Vitamin E are not complete and are basically motor oil in a gel cap.
  • It’s actually best to have the stones turned into a qualified pathology lab that deals in determining the components of the stone to make sure you feed the correct diet so that other stones will not form. Herring Labs out of Orlando, Florida  is a world leader in stone analysis https://www.herringlab.com/
  • Commercial diets that have been recommended to prevent stones include: Hills x/d, s/d, k/d, u/d, CNM’s NF, and Waltham’s SO or their Low Protein Diet. Also sodium-potassium citrate supplementation of food shows potential in preventing oxalate reoccurrence.
  • Providing lots of clean, fresh distilled or Reverse Osmosis water is essential for the prevention of further stone formation. Many wells have too many hard minerals in the water and the kidneys can’t keep up with filtering them out of the system.
  • Dehydration is a big reason why stones start forming, so when it’s cold out and the water dish is frozen over we see lots of these types of cases. 
  • Cheap, high-ash foods such as Special Kitty, Ol’ Roy, Western Family, Atta Boy and Atta Cat among others have higher amounts of salt in them (to make them enticing to eat) so it takes more water to process the ash. The salt stimulates thirst and the increased water consumption causes more urine flow which helps to flush the small crystals out of the system.

It’s important to feed high-quality food if you want to prevent stones and nurture optimal health. I used to love that commercial that said, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later” when I offered high quality foods that were low in ash and much safer in the long run. My clients didn’t like that (and really, I didn’t care where they bought their food as long as it was high quality). Seeing a pet or family member in agony with stones is a real eye opener when it comes to diet education.

Reference: https://www.2ndchance.info/homemadediets.htm 

Inspiration & Perspective:

We’ve entered the Season for Nonviolence. I told my friend, Jana, that I’d post the 64 Ways in 64 Days Daily Commitments to Live By in my Inspiration Section for those who’d like to know more about this wonderful project. Here’s the link: /Inspiration/season_for_non-violence.htm

The Dog Food Diet: (Warning, this is vet humor and is rated PG for crass words.) 

The next time someone asks you a dumb question wouldn’t you like to respond like this?

Yesterday I was buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for Athena the wonder dog at Wal-Mart and was about to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think I had. . . an elephant? So since I’m retired, with little to do, on impulse, I told her that no, I didn’t have a dog, and that I was starting the Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn’t because I’d ended up in the hospital last time. But I’d lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish setter’s butt and a car hit us both.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard!

What’s New at Our House?  

We had up to 34 inches of snow in our backyard this last month. We just keep stacking it up along the path to the chicken coop. For the first time in my life, I called into work down at the Animal Shelter and told them I couldn’t come in because of all the snow on the roads. I kind of felt awful about all those people having to be rescheduled, but later that day they closed the road down! 

I met my new granddaughter for the first time this month. She just turned one and knows some sign language already. I was really impressed when she was able to tell us that she wanted food, water, or that she was done with eating. Now I’ll have to read a book on Baby Sign Language. I was very impressed!

Local Events:

March 21-22, 2008. Ninth Annual Tutxinmepu Pow Wow at the University of Idaho in Moscow “Tutxinmepu” is a Nez Perce word for “the place where the deer lost their spots,” referring to the Palouse region.  The university’s Native American Student Association has sponsored the Pow Wow for the last nine years. NASA students raise more than $20,000 to put on the event, and they coordinate all the vending, displays and activities. To learn more about university’s Native American Student Association, or to help out with the Tutxinmepu Pow Wow, call Steve Martin at 885-4237 or e-mail smartin@sub.uidaho.edu. I love this Pow Wow—it’s one of the best ones I’ve seen.

Thyroid Study Participants Requested: Hi Denice. For your newsletter, would you please indicate we are doing a thyroid study connecting thyroid function to a common lifestyle issue, and are looking for volunteers with hypo or hyperthyroidism to participate.  They can email me at syd@selfstudycenter.org.  The study is being done by the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, www.SelfStudyCenter.org.  Thanks.  Sydney Ross Singer   (Author of Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras)  

Denice’s Note: Syd sent me an article that he wrote for www.ezinearticles.com. I’ve posted it on a page in my website if you’d like to read more about this study:  /CoachingCorner/got_thyroid_disease.htm

That’s it for this Month!

Be Healthy.  Denice

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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.