There have been many studies, both formal and observational, about the myriad health benefits of owning pets. Dog owners are generally less sedentary, have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, decreased response to mental stress, improved mood and better overall emotional state.¹ Pets also seem to improve recovery from severe mental illness,² improve recovery post-heart attack,³ and positively impact the mental state of dementia patients.⁴ Other studies even suggest that children exposed to pets around the time of birth (or at least early infancy) have decreased incidence of atopic conditions (e.g. asthma, allergies, eczema)⁵ though other studies suggest that children need to be exposed to both cats and dogs in order to lower risk.⁶

Despite the health benefits of owning pets, we have to acknowledge the risks. In the Northeast, the threat of tick-borne illnesses is very real and generally under-diagnosed. While for some this is enough of a deterrent to owning pets, others are willing to manage the risk. Some methods used include avoiding tick-infested areas, wearing light-colored clothing when outside for easy identification of crawling ticks, regularly checking your body and pets for ticks (daily or even after each outing), wearing protective garments (long pants tucked into socks, long sleeved shirts, etc. to prevent tick access to skin) and closed-toed shoes when outdoors, and wear insect repellent on your clothes (especially if it contains DEET or other strong pesticides). Topical tick prevention products for your pet are readily available, though you must weigh the risk of chemical exposure to you and your children against the risk of contracting a tick-borne illness when you make this decision. I’m hoping to get more information from our vet about less toxic alternatives that still provide significant protection from ticks, because in my opinion the risk of tick-borne illnesses is so high in this area that it’s worth pursuing some kind of additional protection.

In the home, keep pets well groomed, don’t allow pets on the furniture (especially the beds), and check bed linens nightly for the presence of ticks before getting into bed even if you don’t allow pets onto the beds. If you find a bite, remove attached ticks promptly by using tweezers or forceps to apply a steady upward pull, and alert your healthcare provider to get immediate treatment until test results are available. It is actually possible to save the tick (in a plastic bag with a water- moistened cotton ball) and have it tested for the presence of things like Lyme’s disease instead of putting the tick-bitten individual through the series of tests that are required to help identify infection, though immediate treatment before test results are available is still the best way to go.

Having pets can be an incredibly beneficial move for many people, though mitigating the risks pets bring through vigilant pet care and prophylactic approaches for their humans is very important. We are so excited to have Sophie and love learning more about her every day. Already I’m much more active and feel better (walking her three times a day will do that) and am looking forward to seeing how she grows and develops along with my little (and growing) family. Check out your local shelters and foster organizations to find that special member of your family, and let the bonding begin!

1     Arhant-Sudhir, K., Arhant-Sudhir, R., & Sudhir, K. Pet ownership and cardiovascular risk reduction: supporting
evidence, conflicting data and underlying mechanisms. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2011. Nov;38(11):734-8. doi:
10.1111/j.1440-1681.2011.05583.x.

 
2     Wisdom, J. P.; Saedi, G. A.; Green, C. A. Another Breed of “Service” Animals: STARS Study Findings about Pet
Ownership and Recovery from Serious Mental Illness. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2009 July ; 79(3): 430–436. doi:10.1037/a0016812.

 
3     Friedmann E, Thomas SA. Pet ownership, social support, and one-year survival after acute myocardial infarction
in the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST). The American Journal of Cardiology. 1995;76:1213–1217.
[PubMed: 7502998]

 
4     Motomura N, Yagi T, Ohyama H. Animal assisted therapy for people with dementia. Psychogeriatrics. 2004;4:40–42.

 
5      Bufford, J. D., Reardon, C. L., Li, Z., Roberg, K. A., DaSilva, D., Eggleston, P. A., Liu A. H., Milton, D., Alwis, U., Gangnon, N., Lemanske, R. F. Jr., Gern, J. E. Effects of dog ownership in early childhood on immune development and atopic diseases. Clin Exp Allergy. 2008. Oct; 38(10):1635-43. Epub 2008 Aug 12.

 
6      Mandhane, P. J., Sears, M. R., Poulton, R., Greene, J. M., Lou, W. Y., Taylor, D. R., Hancox, R. J. Allergy Clin Immunol. Cats and dogs and the risk of atopy in childhood and adulthood. 2009. Oct; 124(4):745-50.e4. Epub 2009 Aug 22.

Sobering fact: On average Americans gain 0.4-1.8 pounds per year during their adult lives.

Some research indicates that half of this weight is gained during the holiday season (average weight gain 1-2 lbs) and is rarely lost during the remainder of the year. To make matters worse, those who are already overweight or obese (or who used to be) tend to gain twice as much weight during the holiday season in comparison to their healthy weight counterparts and are much more likely to retain that weight.

How does this happen? Few people will remember sitting down and eating an entire pie or polishing off the remaining half of the lasagna. It doesn’t take enormous binges to edge the numbers on the scale higher. One pound of fat mass is approximately 3500 kcal, meaning that you only have to eat and extra 500 kcal per day in order to gain up to a pound of fat per week. While 500 can sound like quite a bit, let’s put this in perspective. There are approximately 500 calories in:

• 1-2 mixed drinks,
• 2 ounces of mixed nuts,
• 1 bagel with cream cheese,
• 3 ½ oz of potato chips,
• 1 slice of quiche….

Let’s be honest, one holiday party could account for a huge increase in calorie intake without eating a large volume of food. To try and make up for this, many people try the ol’ “diet during the week and live on the weekends and holidays” trick… these folks tend to be 1.5 times more likely to gain weight over the course of the year than those who manage their food intake consistently.

Before you start to think that things look bleak and that you’d better put clothes one size up on your Christmas wish list, there are things you can do to avoid the holiday nutritional pit falls. Here are 3:

1-      Always have a bit of protein with each meal and each snack. This is even more important during the holidays. Protein will help to maintain your blood sugar more evenly between meals, and is the most satiating type of nutrient- helps you to feel fuller, longer. Stress plant-based proteins like legumes and seeds which have fabulous amounts of fiber (which also help you feel full) and are fabulously nutrient dense.

2-      Stay well hydrated. People often misinterpret body signals such as fatigue and thirst. Feeling some vague discomfort, instead of identifying the source correctly people assume that they’re hungry and eat instead of resting or taking a drink of water.  On top of that, people generally associate water intake with sweating- when it’s cold outside the last thing you want to do is down an ice cold glass of water. While it may be less obvious, your water needs rarely get lower during the cooler months. That flakey dry skin of wintertime is trying to tell you that you need more water!  Herbal tea and diluted fruit juice count towards your water intake, so dig that water bottle out from the back seat of your car and fill it up!

3-      Keep healthy snacks on hand. The holiday hustle and readily available high-calorie foods can get the best of even the most rigorous advanced planner. Skipping meals because you’re too busy to stop will help insure that you’ll be famished by the end of the day and become more prone to overeating and making poor food choices, while holiday snacks around the house and the office invite a small handful here and a nibble there amounting to big calories by the end of the day. A small baggie of raw nuts and seeds with some dried fruit is very portable, tasty and only 1- 1½  ounces can help you keep going and give you a better option instead of the chips and cookies in the break room.

While taking a vacation from good nutritional habits may sound appealing, it generally is a great way to undo all the work you’ve done during the rest of the year. Taking care of yourself will help you be sure and have a happy holiday season and short-circuiting the common holiday weight gain. Don’t wait until the New Year to make a commitment to yourself.

Start now.

Each meeting we will discuss a variety of topics, including natural body detoxification, environmental exposures, emotional and lifestyle toxicity, healthy nutrition and more. We will have weekly discussion, demonstrations, food tastings and recipe share as we provide you the tools to safely and healthfully detoxify your body and improve your health.

Location: Dr. Smith & Associates located at 2 Narrows Rd., Ste 101A, Westminster, MA.

Fee: $250;  20% off for each friend you bring

Registration: Please call 978-874-1180.

Registration Deadline: January 9th, 2012

During this series, we will discuss healthy nutrition in a practical sense. You will leave understanding what carbohydrates, fats and proteins are, and you will also know how to identify each of them in your meals and make balanced choices. We will cover herbs and spices, and how to incorporate these not only to improve flavor, but also to improve your digestion. You will taste new foods, see balanced portion sizes, and learn new eating behaviors that will help you use your diet as your primary medicine.

Each meeting will consist of approximately 1 hour of nutrition instruction followed by 30 minutes of cooking demonstrations and food tasting.

Location: Dr. Smith & Associates located at 2 Narrows Rd., Ste 101A, Westminster, MA.

Fee: $150;  20% off for each friend you bring

Registration: Please call 978-874-1180.

Registration Deadline: January 9th, 2012

Many studies have shown that indoor air quality is consistently and dramatically worse than outdoor air quality, regardless of where you live. Most people are spending a great deal more time indoors than they are out, live in newer and more efficient homes, and have many more of the ‘creature comforts’ including carpeting, upholstered furniture and electronic equipment surrounding them all day. While many of these are unavoidable parts of our lifestyle, they are all major sources of indoor air pollution, and can have a significantly negative impact on our health.

Join us for a day of discussion focused on improving your health through modifying your home environment. We will discuss areas of concern and areas of opportunity for you to improve your health without compromising the comfort or beauty we all work to establish in our homes. These will include flooring and wall décor options, cleaning supplies, food choices, food preparation and storage materials, as well as personal care products.

Location: Dr. Smith & Associates, 2 Narrows Rd., Ste 101A, Westminster, MA

Fee: $75/person; 10% off for each friend you bring

Registration deadline: April 6th, 2012

During the intake she was adamant that we only talk about her weight struggle, but as I explained to her things are never that simple. We needed to get a lot more information about her in order to find out the particular ‘why’ in her case. Only then could we find the best ‘how’ to address her issues.

Over the course of the intake it became clear that she has a long history of poor sleep because she stayed up late. Why did she stay up so late? Well, it was because she felt anxious and jittery. And this led her to snack (typically high sugar foods) quite a bit. After all that, she was exhausted in the morning so drank significant amounts of coffee to get through the day and try to get through the exercise she’d do three days a week. A quick review of her medical history also showed that she has a history of elevated blood sugar and insulin levels. Classic.

She finished her story, and I paused. I told her that in order to lose weight she had to stop drinking coffee and sleep more. Needles to say she was very confused! All the diet aids she’d tried in the past contained stimulants, especially caffeine (which turns out to be the real reason she started drinking more coffee to begin with!).

Sleep deprivation is an independent risk factor for insulin resistance, which is both a cause and a result of weight gain.

When we don’t get enough restorative sleep, it changes how our bodies respond to food on a hormonal level. Sleep deprivation increases signals of hunger and decreases signals of fullness regardless of what we eat. For this patient, the more she stimulated her system thinking that it would help her lose weight, the later she would stay up because it made her tendency towards anxiety much worse, and the more she would rely on food as a form of self-medication.

Only when you work with the body instead of against it can you make effective change in your overall health. When what you’re doing isn’t working, it’s time to challenge your assumptions that might be causing more problems than they’re solving…  shift gears people!! And go to bed!!

Avoidance- decrease the allergens in the immediate environment:

1- Neti Pot: Nasal sinus irrigation, even several times a day (at least morning and evening) when the allergies are coming on strong, is a great way to mechanically reduce the amount of allergens impacting the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract… but if you can start even before the allergies are in full swing, that’s even better.

2- Air Filter (Hepa): Placing one in the house (especially the bedroom where we each typically spend the longest stretch of time in the house) can be very helpful in maintaining a cleaner air environment as the pollen count increases outside.

3- Pillow cases: Being sure to change the pillow case much more frequently (even daily) can also help. This cuts down on the pollens that collect on all surfaces in the house as well as other common allergens such as dust. When these collect near the entry ways to the upper respiratory tract, they can greatly predispose to allergy symptoms.

Helping the body regulate its response to the environment:

1- Sleep: ‘Running on empty’ when we’re fatigued taxes the body even more, particularly the adrenal glands, which are responsible for producing many of our regulatory hormones. If we don’t have our normal reserve to call on when our bodies are faced with additional burdens, the resulting symptom picture is often much worse.

2- Nutrition: Again, making sure we have the reserves to call on is very important.

3- Supplementation: When predisposed to allergies, using therapeutic doses of certain vitamins can be very helpful, such as Vitamin C and Quercetin. These act as mast cell stabilizers, which are the immune cells responsible for releasing the chemical triggers in the body producing our allergic response to the environment. Healthy oils like flax and fish oils (high in EPA), black currant or borage oils can also help to significantly modulate the inflammatory response. There are many other nutritional supplements (as well as botanicals) that can assist in decreasing the body’s response to allergen exposure, but recommendations are specific to the individual. Ask your doctor for more information.

Decreasing the reactivity of the body in general:

1- Avoid food sensitivities: Be even more conscious to avoid eating those foods you know you don’t react well to. Common food sensitivities include wheat, dairy, corn, and soy. If you aren’t sure you have a food sensitivity, stop eating one of the potentially problematic foods for even a week and see if your symptoms improve.

2- Avoid inflammatory foods: Cut down on the baseline level of inflammation in the body by avoiding sugars, refined carbohydrates, meats (especially from non-grass fed/grass finished meat sources) and other animal fats, and eliminating processed foods, etc.

3- Homeopathy: While the remedy is always recommended based on the individual case, there are certain remedies that are commonly used in cases of environmental allergies including Nat mur, Euphrasia, Allium cepa, Dulcamara, and Arsenicum album.

4- Acupuncture

While the effects of allergies can range from a minor nuisance to incapacitating, there are some steps that we can all take to decrease our responsiveness to environmental allergens. Most of these changes are more effective when made in anticipation of the allergy season, and carried on throughout the season itself. If you find additional symptoms that you may not have been paying attention to also decrease, you may find you want to adopt some of these changes long-term!

Food sensitivities are different from food allergies, and may have nothing to do with how ‘good’ that food is for you. Food allergies are characterized by severe stimulation of the immune system, causing potentially life-threatening symptoms which can include skin rash or hives, nausea or vomiting, palpitations, and difficulty breathing. Some of the most common food allergens include peanuts, shellfish, dairy products and strawberries.  In contrast, food sensitivities are foods that irritate the immune system, causing symptoms that aren’t quite so obvious and tend to manifest in a wide variety of ways, depending on the individual.

Some of the most common digestive symptoms can indicate the presence of food sensitivities, but these aren’t the only ones. The symptoms of food sensitivities can be extremely varied, and tend to manifest wherever the ‘weak link’ is in someone’s health. They may range from insomnia, to anxiety or irritability, frequent headaches or migraines, worsened PMS or menopausal symptoms, elevated blood pressure, or even the weight gain, or muscle aches that people often discount as something that ‘everyone experiences’ especially with age. Beyond these, food sensitivities also exacerbate the immune dysfunction that is occurring in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and even immune-mediated thyroid conditions like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It goes without saying that food sensitivities have significant implications for our overall health and quality of life.

Identifying which foods are causing us trouble can be difficult. This difficulty is not just because people often don’t acknowledge the symptoms they are experiencing, or they make excuses or attribute symptoms to other things, but largely due to the fact that the symptoms can be very different from person to person and can develop 2-72 hours after ingesting the offending food so you often have no idea what is causing the problem. Given all of this, it may seem overwhelming to try and figure out what is going on in your body.

There are ways to make the detective work easier and the potential to have significant improvement in your symptoms and quality of life simply by changing your diet is very exciting. Certain foods are more commonly problematic, and performing an elimination-challenge test may help to identify which foods are problematic for you, especially when guided by a trained professional. Despite being the ‘gold standard,’ some people are often unable to complete this process, and instead opt for food sensitivity testing which consists of a blood test which can detect immune irritation caused by 96 – 155 different foods (depending on the test used).

In practice, Naturopathic Doctors work extensively with patients to identify the problem foods and rebalance their bodies, heal the gut and calm the immune system, while helping them identify new resources to find food options and recipes that will allow them to maintain their new and better health. Because what we choose to eat is guided by a number of complex factors (e.g. tradition, habit, cost, availability, preference, etc.), putting the diet changes into practice can sometimes be difficult especially when the problem foods are difficult to avoid like wheat, gluten, dairy or eggs. Despite this, there are ample opportunities to combine the detective work of your Naturopathic doctor with the talents of whole foods chefs and people experienced in healthy cooking techniques in every area, with Southern New Hampshire being no exception.

While symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, heartburn, anxiety or even high blood pressure may be common, they are often indicative of other issues going on within the body now or worsening issues in the future. Whether you choose to ignore them or join the ranks of many who use medications (over the counter or prescription) to manage these symptoms, discovering to what extent food sensitivities may be contributing to the problem can be an incredibly effective and economical method of treatment. The first step is to acknowledge what symptoms you are experiencing, then decide what makes sense to you- treat the symptom, or treat the cause of the problem.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my local health food store.  It‘s a marvelous resource to the community, and I couldn’t imagine life without it and the wonderful people who work there. And I love supplements. I use supplements in effectively treating patients every day. The problem is that there is just so much information (and misinformation) available about health issues. Products seem to appear daily as ‘the best’ way to prevent or treat cardiovascular disease. The list of the supplements everyone should be on gets longer and longer, bringing us further and further away from the idea that diet and lifestyle really are our first (and best) medicine.

Any health care provider worth their salt will recognize that this ‘cookie cutter’ approach to patient management is not only ineffective, but it can be downright dangerous. Just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s safe. To illustrate this point let’s look at a couple fabulous supplements commonly used to help address cardiovascular issues: omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil) and hawthorne.

Omega 3 oils are a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids. As with any family, not all members are created equal. The omega 3s with the most pronounced health benefits are eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (EPA and DHA for short). They are the precursors to various compounds in the body (hormone-like chemical signaling agents in particular) that help decrease inflammation and lower the risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, among many other virtues. It’s rare that the Standard American Diet (yes, the SAD diet) provides enough of the healthful omega 3 fatty acids to maintain good health.  It definitely doesn’t provide enough to help treat existing cardiovascular issues, necessitating supplementation to meet therapeutic doses. Omega 3s are great.

Omega 3 supplements, however, aren’t all great. The quality of fish oil supplements varies significantly, and the consumer needs to be wary. Look on the label for ‘pharmaceutical grade’ or ‘molecularly distilled’ or at least ‘PCB and mercury free’ so you know you’re not getting a concentrated dose of contaminants to which fish are commonly exposed.  Additionally, as with any oil, fish oil can oxidize and become rancid. It’s easy to tell when liquid fish oil goes bad, but capsules are more difficult. Take one and bite into it- if it tastes bad or even fishy (good oil shouldn’t even taste fishy!), you need some new fish oils. To prolong shelf life, store all your fish oils in the refrigerator.

Given the many and varied actions (and therefore health benefits) of omega 3s, you also need to consider potential interactions with other supplements and medications. Omega 3s have an anti-platelet aggregation effect which means it can help reduce the risk of blood clot formation, and therefore can interact with medications such as blood thinners (Coumadin, etc.). Because of this, omega 3s (as well as supplements like garlic, gingko, Vitamin E, etc.) must be stopped a week before surgery. Despite its many beneficial effects, omega 3s are NOT a substitute for Coumadin or other prescription blood thinners and you need to be sure and alert your medical providers of all the medications as well as supplements that you’re taking at each visit.

Hawthorne (Crataegus oxycantha) is a wonderful thorny hedge-like plant, of which the berries, flower and leaves are medicinally useful. The compounds contained in this plant include various flavonoids and proanthocyanins thought responsible for its antioxidant actions and ability to improve coronary circulation. Crataegus dilates blood vessels, lowers blood pressure and can increase the contractile ability of the heart muscle itself. It’s generally used as a ‘heart tonic,’ requiring several months of use to have any significant effect. Crataegus can be quite helpful, but it can also pose risk to those taking it inappropriately or in combination with other medications/supplements.

Crataegus can increase the force of contraction of the heart muscle (positive inotropic action).  This action has the most potential for pharmaceutical interaction and should only be used under medical supervision in the treatment of heart conditions. Despite this, when taken at appropriate doses in the right person, Crataegus can be a wonderful addition to a healthcare regimen.

Supplements can be safe and effective when it comes to getting and staying healthy, but they need to be used cautiously and many should not be used without medical supervision. There are many effective natural compounds that have particular affinity to the human cardiovascular system, but they are not a replacement for a balanced, whole foods diet and ample physical activity. Diet and exercise are our primary medicine, and there is no supplement out there that is more effective, especially when it comes to cardiovascular health.