Autoimmune Disease and You

On this edition of Food Talk for Health, we look at some of the possible triggers of Autoimmune Disease, and some of the lingering mysteries that might lead to its onset. Dr. Chad Larson joined host Tonia King to try and clear up some of the confusion regarding the disorder. Dr. Larson, who is a consultant for Cyrex Laboratories says there's a lot of work still to be done, and it's not a simple matter of A vs. B. In fact, there's over 100 types of autoimmune diseases that have been identified. They affect tens of millions of people in the United States alone. A number of environmental triggers may cause the illness.  They include:

• Dietary proteins – Each person has their own unique body chemistry and digestive function. Sensitivities to different foods can not only bother one’s digestive tract but can also trigger an autoimmune-related response. While each of us may react differently to different foods, there are some proteins that are more likely than others to present symptoms of autoimmune response, such as gluten (a wheat protein).
• Chemicals – When thinking of the health risks associated with excessive chemical exposure, many of us are quick to think of cancer. However, the loss of immune tolerance associated with toxic-chemical exposure can also lead to autoimmune reactivity. Environmental toxins are believed by many healthcare professionals to be the leading cause of autoimmune disease. Over 80,000 chemicals have been introduced into our society since 1900, and only 550 have been tested for safety. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about 2.5 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released yearly by large industrial facilities.
• Heavy metals – Cadmium, lead and mercury are known to have strong associations with autoimmune reactivity. However, studies have shown mercury to be the worst. The EPA also reports that six million pounds of mercury are poured into our air every year.
• Bacteria, viruses and other pathogens – Repeated exposure to bacteria and viruses wears on our immune system. For some, that hard-working immune system can turn on its own body and mistake its own healthy cells for harmful ones, thus attacking them and leading to autoimmunity.
• Stress and other factors – Levels of stress-related illness are higher than ever. Both physical and emotional stresses weaken our immune system, allowing the body to develop a variety of illnesses. Stress is also known to trigger and intensify autoimmune-related disorders.

Identifying potential dietary, chemical or other environmental triggers to your individual immune reactivity is key. Cyrex Laboratories, a clinical laboratory specializing in advanced, innovative testing designed to detect food sensitivities and monitor autoimmune reactivities and their possible triggers, offers the Array 10 – Multiple Food Immune Reactivity Screen – to evaluate immune reactions to foods, raw and/or modified, food enzymes, lectins and artificial food additives, including meat glue, colorings and gums. This helps with early detection of dietary-related triggers of autoimmune reactivity. The Array 11 – Chemical Immune Reactivity Screen – identifies the loss of immune intolerance associated with toxic chemicals exposure, which may lead to autoimmune reactivity.
We are exposed to environmental toxins and bacteria through the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink. If you have symptoms that you believe could be related to autoimmune reactivity, speak with a healthcare professional to determine if testing might be an option for you. We learn more and more about the causes and impact of autoimmune disease every day, so determining any triggers you may have can set you on a path toward a much healthier, happier quality of life. 

#Cure Me

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
We all hurt. There's not a single human being who doesn't feel pain, but sometimes the question why hurt can be more mystifying and annoying than the actual pain itself. Enter America's Pain Detective, Dr. Mitchell A. Cohn, DO, who's out with the new book #CureMe -Stories of real people finding relief from chronic pain.  On this edition of Food Talk for Health Tonia talks with Dr. Cohn about Americans who find themselves suffering from chronic pain, how the so-called "Opioid Crisis has helped bring us to this crossroads we now find ourselves in.

Tonia discovered, through her discussion with Dr. Cohn that  innovation in real pain resolution has been stymied, why it has undergone no real changes since the inception of modern pain management

by anesthesiologists. Through his book, Dr. Cohn provides those suffering from chronic pain  with encouragement and tools to seek out real pain cures without dependence upon medications like opioids.

Find out more:
www.AmericasPainDetective.com

Twitter: @AmPainDetective

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericasPainDetective/

About Dr. Cohn

My training, like that of all Osteopathic Physicians, encompasses the full range of medical science, pharmacology, and surgery. I have, however, always been drawn to manual medicine, the art and science of using touch to diagnose and treat health problems, especially muscular and skeletal disorders. This Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) has been likened by my patients to a form of ‘Super-chiropractic’ – super because OMM is more all-encompassing, not just focused on the spine, and is the product of training in ALL areas of medicine and surgery.

Since we DO’s can do anything MD’s can do and a great deal more regarding manipulation than many chiropractors, I call us the ‘Elite, Complete Physicians.’

Acid Reflux - Not For Adults Only

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
And that's not a good thing. Recently on Food Talk for Health, Tonia talked with Dr. Jamie Kaufman, Founder and the Director of the Voice Institute of New York, and author of several books on the topic of Acid Reflux Disease. Dr. Kaufman gave some surprising information about the illness, not the lease of which is that children can actually acquire it. In fact the title of her latest book is the self-explanatory Acid Reflux in Children. Dr. Kaufman told Tonia symptoms can include poor sleeping, noisy breathing, allergies and ear infections. To make matters even more scary, Dr. Kaufman says the actual diagnosis of Acid Reflux is something that pediatricians can't easily detect. Learn more about how you can protect your children by picking up the book Acid Reflux in Children.

DR. JAMIE KOUFMAN has lectured nationally and internationally and is one of the world’s leading authorities on reflux. For almost three decades, her pioneering research has focused on acid reflux as it affects the voice and airway (breathing passages). She coined the medical terms “silent reflux” and “laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR),” "airway reflux," and "respiratory reflux," to describe reflux that involves the larynx (voice box), throat, and breathing passages.

Dr. Koufman is the Founder and Director of the Voice Institute of New York, one of the premier comprehensive voice treatment and reflux centers in the United States. Dr. Koufman is Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary of the Mt. Sinai Health System, and she has been listed among the Top Doctors in America every year since 1994. She has written four book regarding the diagnosis and treatment of acid reflux, including the New York Times best-seller, Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook & Cure and her newest book, Acid Reflux in Children: How Healthy Eating Can Fix Your Child’s Asthma, Allergies, Obesity, Nasal Congestion, Cough & Croup. For more information, please visit Voice Institute of New York.

QUENCH - An Apple and a glass of water, will keep the doctor away!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Based on breakthrough new science in the field of hydration, QUENCH: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight, and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration by Dana Cohen, MD and cultural anthropologist Gina Bria demonstrates how eating hydrating fruits, plants, seeds, and other foods is a more efficient – and effective – way to get the water you need and heal your body from the inside out. 

For years, we’ve been urged to drink eight glasses of water a day to hydrate. But did you know that an apple and a glass of water hydrates more than two glasses of water?  Why?  Because the fiber in that apple allows you to absorb the liquid you drink.  We need food to hydrate well.  If you’re on the quest to lose weight or you’re training for a half-marathon, the very first thing you’re encouraged to do is drink more and more water. But that long-standing myth is only half right. Based on breakthrough new science in the field of hydration, QUENCH: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight, and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration (published by Hachette Books) by Dana Cohen, MD and cultural anthropologist Gina Bria debunks several popular myths about “getting enough water” and offers a revolutionary five-day jump start plan that demonstrates how eating hydrating fruits, plants, seeds, and other foods is a more efficient – and effective – way to get the water you need and heal your body from the inside out.

In today’s day and age, preventing dehydration seems like a no-brainer, especially in the Western world where clean water is omnipresent and bottled water is easily accessible. But due to moisture-lacking diets, artificial environments, and medications, dehydration is more common than we think. Most people tend to detect dehydration only by a fuzzy-headed feeling or a dry mouth, but it actually contributes directly to an entire host of complaints, including: sleeplessness, decreased immunity, and lack of focus. Hydration is crucial to our well-being, but there are other ways to achieve it than merely relying on water alone.

Largely influenced by the new scientific discoveries from the University of Washington’s Pollack Water Lab, QUENCH presents an extensive and groundbreaking wellness routine (“the Quench Program”) that is based on the fact that hydration can be achieved by eating your water – hydration-rich foods like cucumbers, berries, aloe, and more – instead of drinking it. The culmination of Dr. Cohen’s medical experience and Bria’s work as an anthropologist, the Quench Program is the perfect nutrition plan for those who want to experience more energy, focus, and better digestion within five days—then move onto the lifetime plan for continued full-body wellness.

Dr. Dana Cohen is an integrative physician in practice for more than 20 years.  She serves on the Board of Directors of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM), the leading voice of Integrative Medicine, for four years. She is currently an advisor to their Board of Directors and on the education committee and has served as the program director for their yearly conferences, which train more 1,500 master-level health-care providers. She currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Council for the Organic and Natural Health Association. She received her MD from St. George's University School of Medicine, and completed her three-year internal medicine residency at Albany Medical Center.

Gina Bria is a cultural anthropologist researching ritual, ritual foods, and food strategies for over 25 years. She is Founder and Executive Director of the Hydration Foundation and CEO of HYCHIA, LLC. Trained at Columbia University, she is a former Berlin Fellow with the Social Science Research Council, a National Endowment for the Humanities finalist and has been featured at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She weds ethnographic strategies to the new science on hydration to serve the elderly, school children, athletes and hydrating while traveling. She has coached many of TED speakers on better brain performance. An innovator and inspiring speaker, her work has appeared in such diverse places as The New York Times, Grand Central Station, Harvard University and the Wissenschaftskollege, Berlin.

GET THE FACTS ON VITAMIN D

HIT the Refresh Button

Dr. Ken RedCross

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Spring is the time for renewal, and there’s no better time to hit the refresh button on your health according to Dr. Ken Redcross who says, “cleaning house” from the inside out can pay huge health dividends when it comes to your overall happiness and well being.

“This past winter season has been especially brutal to our health, between the life-threatening cold and flu season to being holed up in our homes due to inclement weather,” says Redcross, founder of Redcross Wellness, a personalized health and wellness company designed to provide quality care that is affordable to anyone. “We all really need to hit the refresh button on our health to shake off the potential damaging effects of inactivity, lack of sunshine and suppressed immune systems.”

GET THE FACTS ON VITAMIN D

The likelihood that you are getting enough vitamin D from the sun or dietary sources like fatty fish and fortified milk is statistically very low. Here are some other stats you need to know about vitamin D:

• The CDC labels vitamin D deficiency as the third most

common nutrient deficiency in America and as a “nutrient of

concern.”

• Most Americans are deficient including: 70 percent of whites,

80 percent of Latinos and Asians and 97 percent of African

Americans.

• Vitamin D deficiencies are associated with a slew of health

concerns, including an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease,

diabetes, osteoporosis and heart disease.

• Ten groups of people are more prone to vitamin D deficiency,

including: adults 55+, office workers, people with darker skin

tones, vegans and vegetarians, people with a body mass

index over 30, chronic headache sufferers, those on certain

prescription medications and patients diagnosed with arthritis,

fibromyalgia, IBD or depression.

• In a review of 18 separate studies, it was found that taking

vitamin D2 or D3 supplements regularly helped to reduce the

risk of general mortality in those who suffered from a lack of

vitamin D.

• Taking a blood test is the best way to find out if you’re

deficient and your D levels should be between 40-60 ng/ml.

Ask your doctor for a test or test your own levels at home (you

can order test kits at www.nutrientpower.org).

• Vitamin D is relatively inexpensive, costing on average, less

than around 5 cents a day, compared to the number of health

benefits that can be gained from having healthy levels.

• You can now take certain vitamin D supplements that provide

a week’s worth of coverage in one capsule. Dr. Ken Redcross

is giving away a two-month supply of these weekly vitamin D

supplements at www.FreeRedcrossD.com.

Dr. Ken Redcross, MD, is founder of Redcross Concierge, a personalized medical practice designed to enhance the patient-doctor relationship while providing convenient access to a full spectrum of health care services and holistic and wellness counseling. As one of the first full-service concierge, personalized medical practices in the United States,Redcross’s patient portfolio includes executives, athletes and entertainers, as well as individuals from all walks and stages of life. His focus on developing the patient-doctor bond is a unique characteristic of his concierge services that allows for a more strategic and customized approach to each patient’s healthcare plan. Redcross earned his medical degree from Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, specializing in internal medicine. He has extensive on-camera experience with major national television shows including “The Doctors,” HLN, CNN, “The Insider” and E! Entertainment

Television. Visit: www.drredcross.com and like on Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/KenRedcrossMD