For the Health of It: Bounce!

The Health Benefits of Rebounding

Rebounding is a form of exercise that has been scientifically proven to improve the immune system and flow of the lymphatic system.  Rebounding involves jumping on a mini trampoline; this increases both blood and lymph circulation. The body contains 5-6 quarts of blood, which is circulated by the heart. There is three times more lymph in the body than blood and it does not have a pump like blood does.  We have to depend on our muscles to contract in order to move the lymph.  Yet there is so much of it that if a person’s lymphatic system were to stop functioning loss of fluid volume and swelling tissue would cause death within 24 hours. That is how important circulation of both blood and lymph is for the body.  Blood carries protein, oxygen, nutrients to the organs.  Once inside the organs it exchanges it's nutrients and carries wastes and carbon dioxide away.  Lymph is the leftover blood that leaks from blood capillaries into the tissue that the lymphatic vessels pick up.  Lymph fluid contains water, proteins, salts, lipids, and white blood cells that must return to the blood.  It also filters toxins like pathogens, damaged cells, cellular debris and cancerous cells in lymph nodes on it’s way to the chest where it is connected to a blood vessel and gets dumped back into the blood supply.  

I love how Dr. Samuel West puts it, ’Toxins are carried through the body by blood. These toxins include impurities of what we eat, inhale and ingest.  This causes an increase in blood protein and water to leak out of the capillaries into the interstitial space around the cells causing swelling (edema).  The swelling prevents oxygen from getting into the cells, causing cellular stress which can lead to various forms of diseases.’  Dr. Samuel west was  One of the first doctors in U.S. to talk about the importance of the lymphatic system in the healing process of disease and injuries. He believed that the #1 cause of diseases and pain are a lack of oxygen due to a congested lymphatic system.  Rebounding gets circulation moving.  All  forms of exercise work on the principle of opposing gravity, rebounding utilizes the forces of gravity, as well as the forces of acceleration and deceleration.  When you land on a rebounder, every cell in the body has to adjust to the increased deceleration. When the springs take over and push the body up into the air, then the body has to adjust to a weightless condition for only a moment at a time. But that weightless condition is throughout the entire body regardless of where the cells are.  Having the body adjust to an environment that it is not used to, which is deceleration at the bottom of the bounce promotes the flow of lymph, thereby helping the body flush out toxins and strengthening the immune system and making it more effective.

The way the lymphatic system works is the lymphocytes, the white blood cells, are moved through the body via one-way valves. You’ve got these valves from the bottom of the feet upwards throughout the entire body – and the valves from the legs all point upwards, from your neck they go down, from the arms they go towards the chest. So when you move the body around, the lymph fluid is always moving in one direction, that is towards the collarbones.

It’s here, at the top of the chest, the lymph valves allow the lymph fluid to flow into the bloodstream.  By activating the one-way valves  of the lymphatic system, you cause an increase in lymph circulation by 10-30 times of what the lymphatic system is able to circulate during periods of rest, lymph flow is sluggish and almost zero.  So when you bounce on a rebounder, or jump on the floor, or use a jump rope, the one-way valves open and close about 100 times a minute, circulating the lymph fluid, removing toxins and getting the white blood cells to areas of the body where they need to be.

Without adequate movement the lymph does not move and the lymph vessels can’t even pick up the lymph from the tissue.  This means the cells are left stewing in their own waste products and starving for nutrients and oxygen, a situation that contributes to arthritis, cancer and other degenerative diseases.  

Rebounding is great for the lymph system because the lymph vessels move the lymph in one direction, towards the heart that makes the  vertical up-and-down movement of rebounding more effective than horizontal motion workouts, such as jogging and running.  It’s nice for the joints in general too because the rebounder gets rid of the pressure the joints take when hitting the pavement.  

Poor lymph flow is common in sedentary people; this is one reason why less active individuals are more susceptible to illness. Sedentary people who have poor diets or choose to live on junk food are often unwell because the body sends all the toxins and waste to the lymphatic system. The lymph flow is poor due to a lack of exercise, so toxins accumulate in the body.

Additional benefits of rebounding include:

• Increased lymphocyte activity 

• Physically strengthens muscles

• Helps improve balance

• Improves cardiovascular function

Linda Brooks says gently bouncing on a rebounder for two minutes every hour is an ideal protocol for fighting against cancer. Within just two minutes the entire lymphatic system is flushed, creating a demand for more lymphocytes, including killer T-cells. The white blood-cell count is approximately tripled during this two-minute rebounding session.

Approximately one hour after rebounding, the white blood-cell count returns to normal, so it is time to rebound again to flush out the lymphatic system and to create another army of defensive cells. The object of this pattern is to keep the immune system operating optimally and naturally, hour after hour, day after day.

Rebounding exercise also strengthens each cell of the body so that healing can occur. Every process of every cell is enhanced allowing each organ to do its job more efficiently: digestion and absorption are enhanced; elimination is improved, thus removing more toxins from the body; and the body is relaxed and de-stressed so healing hormones are produced.

She explains that practice of rebounding against cancer is done using the “health bounce”.  Here is an explanation of the health bounce along with other rebounding exercises you can do.  

The Health Bounce

The health bounce is where the feet never leave trampoline. This still has positive effect. You’re getting all the one-way valves to open and close at the same time, increasing the activity of the lymphatic system throughout the entire body. 

The Basic Bounce

This can be done instead of the Strength Bounce below until you develop more balance.

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart.

2 Relax shoulders and arms and keep arms slightly bent at the elbow.

3 Gently bounce up and down while keeping your knees slightly bent. Your feet should never leave the trampoline surface more than a few inches.

The Strength Bounce

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart.

2 Relax shoulders and arms and keep arms slightly bent at the elbow.

3 Gently bounce up and down while keeping your knees slightly bent. Your feet should leave the trampoline surface approximately 8-12 inches.

High Knees

This is a terrific exercise that gets your heart rate up while working the muscles of your core.

1 Stand on trampoline surface with your feet hip distance apart.

2 Raise your right knee, lower it, then raise your left knee and lower it.

3 Once you feel able, begin doing the knee raises as if you are running in place.

4 Variation: Sprints – go as fast as you can in short bursts.

Butt Kickers

1 Stand on trampoline surface with your feet hip distance apart.

2 Begin jogging in place.

3 When your knee goes up, kick yourself in the tush with your heel.

Jumping Jacks

This will increase your heart rate while working both the inner and outer thighs.

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet together

2 Jump up off the trampoline surface a few inches while extending arms out, up and overhead

3 Return to the starting position and repeat.

Twisting Jumps

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet together

2 Jump up off the trampoline surface a few inches while twisting your body to the left.

3 On your next jump, twist your body to the right.

One Leg Jumps

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart

2 Begin jumping on one leg for 3-10 bounces.

3 Switch legs and jump on the other leg for 3-10 bounces.

4 Variation: kick out the leg you are not jumping on.

5 Variation: alternate legs every bounce, kicking out non-jumping leg.

Sample Beginner Routine

These are perfect rebounder workouts for beginners.

1 Health bounce for two minutes while breathing deeply.

2 Strength bounce for 3 minutes (do the basic bounce if you don't have enough balance for the strength bounce).

3 Health bounce for an additional 2-3 minutes while breathing deeply.

4 Repeat three times daily.

Sample Advanced Routine

1 Health bounce for 2 minutes while breathing deeply.

2 Strength bounce for 3 minutes.

3 High knees alternating with butt kickers for 3 minutes.

4 10-15 second sprint.

5 Jumping jacks for 3 minutes.

6 Twisting jumps for 2 minutes.

7 10-15 second sprint.

8 Strength bounce for 1 minute.

9 Health bounce (cool down) for 2 minutes.

For stability, most retailers of rebounders sell an optional handlebar to attach to the rebounder to help with balance. For balance you can also place the rebounder beside a wall or in a doorway and using the door frame or wall to help keep you balanced while performing rebound exercise.

I have seen improvement with my patients doing as little as 5 minutes a day of rebounding.  

How Healthy pH Levels Can Help With COVID-19

An overlooked aspect of the coronavirus pandemic is the fact that most viruses are pH sensitive. pH medicine offers us a key to treating viral infections that is easy, safe and inexpensive. Shifting a patient's pH, combined with high dosages of vitamin C, vitamin D and other immune boosting support is foundational support to both treat and prevent COVID-19.  

There are many additional treatments like zinc, glutathione, iodine and selenium, even hydrogen, but the first thing we should reach for is baking soda aka sodium bicarbonate, which offers us control of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.

Wherever the body has low voltage (pH), the cells begin to have problems that get more serious the lower the voltage goes. The lower the voltage goes, the lower the pH goes, and the lower oxygen levels go.  Chronic disease is associated with low pH values (acid conditions).  This means that alkaline (higher pH) tissues have more oxygen in them. 

Wherever the body becomes acidic, voltage drops as does tissue oxygen levels. What is pH after all? It is ultimately a measure of redox potential. Redox potential is a measure of whether electrons are available in surplus (and thus are “electron donors”) or whether electrons are positive (and thus are “electron stealers”). Electrons are necessary for life and are needed for health and in high quantities for healing and the growth of new cells.

Dr. David Brownstein wrote, “The human body is constantly removing old and injured cells and replacing them with healthy new cells. This process can only occur if the voltage of the cells is maintained at an optimal level. This process works more effectively when we are young as compared to when we are older. In the body (or in a solution), voltage is a direct reflection of pH, which is a measure of the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution, measured on a scale of 1 to 14. A low pH reading (highly acidic) indicates a low voltage state. Conversely, a high pH reading (highly alkaline) means a high voltage state.”

The amount of oxygen in cells is determined by voltage. If a cell has adequate voltage, it will also have adequate oxygen. If cellular voltage is low, the amount of oxygen in the tissues will be low. This applies to metabolism as well. When voltage and oxygen are low, metabolism becomes anaerobic, which means that oxygen is unavailable. The more aerobic metabolism we have the healthier we are.  

So now that you know what pH is you need to know that the Coronavirus needs a slightly acidic pH to penetrate the cell. The simple alkalinization of the blood reduces the cells susceptibility to the virus and this goes for lots of other viruses and pathogens as well.  When we are alkaline we invariably don't get sick or have mild attacks of viral infections and the same is true for bacterial and fungus infections. Studies have shown there is significant decrease in the growth of bacteria and fungi in the lungs of pneumonia patients when sodium bicarbonate is used compared to saline during nebulizer treatments.  

Although the pH of blood ranges from 7.35-7.45, the pH of other body fluids is different. If the pH blood levels drop below 6.9, it can lead to coma. The pH of saliva is ranges from 6.5 to 7.5. After swallowing, the food reaches the stomach where upper and lower parts of stomach have different pH values. The upper part has a pH of 4.0−6.5, while the lower part is highly acidic with a pH of 1.5−4.0. It then enters the intestine which is slightly alkaline, with a pH of 7.0−8.5. Maintaining the pH values of different regions is critical for their function and good digestion.  

Any increase or decrease in the blood pH can lead to inflammation and we know inflammation is the cause of all disease.  Maintaining the right pH is so important to have good health.  The body does this using primarily three mechanisms: buffer systems, respiratory control, and renal control.

Proteins form a part of the buffer system to regulate the pH levels. These proteins can act as electron acceptors or donors because of the presence of basic or acidic groups. Similarly phosphate buffers also help in moderating the levels of pH. Buffers may help in regulating pH during minor physiological changes, such as during breath holding (which increases the CO2 in the blood), exercise (which increases lactic acid in the blood), or when stomach acid is secreted.

The pH of blood during normal conditions is 7.4. However, CO2 dissociates into carbonic acid in the tissues. Thus, presence of more CO2 makes the blood more acidic. That is the reason when we hold our breath for long durations, the CO2 levels increase in the blood lowering our pH leading to fainting. On the other hand with increased pH, the breathing may get slow in order to increase the CO2 levels and reduce the alkalinity. However, low breathing rate could also lead to low oxygen levels which could be detrimental. Thus, respiration provides an important control to regulate the pH levels.  We already know how important breathing and lung support is for the Coronavirus.  For more info on good breathing techniques, click here. 

The kidneys (renal system) regulates the pH of water in your body. The changes in pH induced by the respiratory system are in minutes, while the changes induced by the renal system are in the order of days. If the acidity of the fluids is high, kidney secretes H+ ions, while if the carbonate ion levels are high it retains H+ ions and secretes HCO3 ions. Although this process is slow it can prove an effective mode to regulate pH. One limitation of renal regulation is that the pH of urine cannot be below 4.4 so renal regulation can only do so much. 

Respiratory acidosis occurs when too much CO2 builds up in the body. Normally, the lungs remove CO2 while you breathe. However, sometimes your body can’t get rid of enough CO2. This may happen due to:

• chronic airway conditions, like asthma
• injury to the chest
• obesity, which can make breathing difficult
• sedative misuse
• overuse of alcohol
• muscle weakness in the chest
• problems with the nervous system
• deformed chest structure

Metabolic acidosis starts in the kidneys instead of the lungs. It occurs when they can’t eliminate enough acid or when they get rid of too much base. There are four major forms of metabolic acidosis:

1. Diabetic acidosis occurs in people with diabetes that’s poorly controlled. If your body lacks enough insulin, ketones build up in your body and acidify your blood.

2. Hyperchloremic acidosis results from a loss of sodium bicarbonate. This base helps to keep the blood neutral. Both diarrhea and vomiting can cause this type of acidosis.

3. Lactic acidosis occurs when there’s too much lactic acid in your body. Causes can include chronic alcohol use, heart failure, cancer, seizures, liver failure, prolonged lack of oxygen, and low blood sugar. Even prolonged exercise can lead to lactic acid buildup.

4. Renal tubular acidosis occurs when the kidneys are unable to excrete acids into the urine. This causes the blood to become acidic.

Factors that can contribute to your risk of acidosis include:

• kidneys not functioning
• obesity
• dehydration
• aspirin or methanol poisoning
• diabetes

If you body is too acidic which most people's are, here are some common symptoms:

• fatigue or drowsiness
• becoming tired easily
• confusion
• shortness of breath
• headache
• lack of appetite
• jaundice - yellow skin
• increased heart rate
• breath that smells fruity, which is a sign of diabetic acidosis 

If you think you may have acidosis, you can get blood work to check your pH levels and your kidney function.  Blood work can also check your calcium, protein, blood sugar, and electrolyte levels which are all important levels to know to see if the body is too acidic.  

If you are concerned about respiratory acidosis is you want to test the health of your lungs. This may involve a chest X-ray or a pulmonary function test.

If metabolic acidosis is suspected, you’ll need to give a urine sample. Doctors will check the pH to see if you are properly eliminating acids and bases. 

Now that I know the relationship between pH and viruses I will start checking oral pH in the office to keep everyone healthy.  It's a quick easy thing that can give us a good idea of your overall pH and the health of the mouth which is part of the digestive tract.  Based on the results we may test you for mineral drops, phosphorus drops or add a baking soda drink in the morning on an empty stomach to help become less acidic.  The less alcohol you consume and the more water you drink can also help your pH levels.  Chlorophyl can also be very helpful in supplement form or just increase your intake of green leafy veggies.  Because this coronavirus likes to hit the back of the throat and go into the lungs the less acidic our mouth and throat are the better.  A mouth wash can really help but not the Lysterine types.  You need to get a more natural one and I love Oxy Pulling mouth wash.  It advertises to do Oxy Pulling instead of oil pulling but instead I love to do them together.  The extra oxygen is exactly what the mouth and throat need to kill any germs and keep the body healthy.    

Bacteria and Lyme's Disease

At the offices we do a lot of work with patients reestablishing their gut flora and pH.  This type of healing usually starts with giving patients supplements to kill bad gut flora and get rid of toxins in the gut.  Once that phase is over, we then give supplements to put good gut flora back in and other supplements that may be needed to rebuild the gut.  This process of getting rid of toxins, which can include heavy metals or chemicals, and inflammatory foods by using food supplements from an organic farm is how we give people back their health.  I want to share with you how helping detox from the gut in particular helps with brain chemistry.  The majority of your neurotransmitters for your brain are made in the large intestine by bacteria.  Yes, the bacteria actually produce serotonin, dopamine and GABA, all of which play a key role in mood. The gut’s nervous system uses more than 30 neurotransmitters, just like the brain, and in fact 95 percent of the body's serotonin is found in the bowels. We look at the gut as our second brain. So if the large intestine environment is not healthy, a person could feel anxious, moody or depressed. Functional medicine calls this the gut-brain axis and we need to make sure that it is healthy.  ONE example of the relationship between the brain and the gut is IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) which has the common symptom of getting worse with stress.  So not only does the gut make the neurotransmitters for the brain but it's a two way street and the mental stress in the brain can affect the function of the bowels.  That’s why we have sayings like I have butterflies in my stomach, I am so nervous I could throw up. I have a knot in my stomach. The mind body connection is real.

Now Bacteria in general have gotten a bad reputation, and for a good reason. Bacteria are behind a number of serious diseases — including pneumonia (Streptococcus pneumoniae), meningitis (Haemophilus influenzae), strep throat (Group A Streptococcus), food poisoning (Escherichia coli and Salmonella both are a bacteria) and a variety of other infections.

These “bad” bacteria are the reason why we diligently disinfect our hands and wipe down our kitchen and bathroom sinks, as well as any other places where germs tend to congregate. Yet, not all bacteria are bad guys. The good bacteria I already mentioned, it is estimated that we have 100 trillion of these, I can’t even wrap my head around that number, and not only are they good for our mood, making neurotransmitters but they help us regulate our sleep too for melatonin which was thought to only be produced in the brain by the pineal gland is also produced in the gut.  By getting rid of toxins and reestablishing a healthier gut flora with good bacteria we help people get off their sleeping aids and antidepressants.  We have been doing this for 14 years at Healing Arts using muscle testing and are so glad science is catching up to our results in the office for you can now do lab tests to see what your specific gut flora is made up of. The fancy scientific term for gut flora is micro biome and there are now lab tests one can do to see what specific bacteria you have  that make up your personal micro biome.  It will check all the good bacteria and see what level they are at and also the bad bacteria and show you what level they are at as well.  then with the results you can supplement with very specific good bacteria to create a healthier micro biome which means a healthier you!

There’s lots of other reasons to want a healthy micro biome.  Beneficial bacteria protect us against their dangerous relatives that cause disease by crowding them out in the gut, producing acids that inhibit their growth and stimulating the immune system to fight them off.  When helpful bacteria multiply and thrive in our bodies, they act as our protectors. But sometimes, we put the population of beneficial bacteria at risk. Such as When we take antibiotics to treat an infection of harmful bacteria, we also kill helpful bacteria. This can cause an imbalance of bacteria in the body that can lead to diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems.  That’s why supplementing with probiotics is a good, foundational thing to do for health.  A probiotic is a supplement that has good bacteria.

Probiotics are available in many forms, including pills, suppositories, and creams. Many foods contain friendly bacteria, such as:

• Yogurt and cheese
• And  fermented foods such as: 

• miso
• tempeh 
• sauerkraut
• Pickles 
• sourdough bread
• kimchi 

I have mentioned a few already but Probiotics can help with a variety of health conditions, such as:

• Diarrhea
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Anxiety and depression
• Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
• Eczema 
• Oral health including tooth decay, gingivitis.  The gut from mouth to anus is one large tube so it’s all connected. 
• Probiotics can also help in losing weight but not one probiotic in particular.  It all depends on your gut flora makeup and what is missing.  Once the missing probiotic is added in then metabolism gets a boost because good bacteria help our bodies digest food and absorb nutrients, and they produce several vitamins in the intestinal tract — including folic acid, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12.  This is why good gut flora is the foundation of a healthy body.

Let’s look at the different types of good bacteria

Lactobacillus

In the body, lactobacillus bacteria are normally found in the digestive, urinary, and genital systems. More than 50 different species of lactobacillus exist, including:Lactobacillus acidophilus, one of the most commonly used probiotics. Lactobacillus acidophilus has been used  to treat bacterial infections of the vagina, to prevent and treat diarrhea, eczema, IBS and block h.pylori  from growing which is the bad bacteria that causes ulcers to grow. 

Bifidobacteria

Bifidobacteria make up most of the “good” bacteria living in the gut. 

Bifidobacteria come in about 30 different strains and help with killing bad bacteria, relieve abdominal pain, gas, and bloating and improve cholesterol levels.

Streptococcus thermophilus

These bacteria can help prevent lactose intolerance because they help us digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and milk products. 

What You Can Do To Keep Your Microbiome Healthy?

1 – Avoid excess sugary foods: I’m talking about white refined sugar, brown sugar and cane sugar which will lower the healthy micro biome because sugar feeds all bacteria the good and the bad and also yeast.  We want to avoid yeast build up also known as Candida. If you think you may have Candida it is best to follow a Candida diet or get foods muscle tested using MuscleTesting to figure out what foods are specifically feeding the Candida in your body.

2 – Good Quality Sleep: good sleep is key for the intestinal lining to repair and create a healthy microbiome.

3 – Meditation and Relaxation: Meditation and quality down time is important to keep the body in the ‘rest and digest’ mode instead of stress mode. The Stress mode inhibits circulation to the gut, which doesn’t allow for a healthy microbiome. If you are new to meditation A good app to help you learn to meditate and relax is headspace.  

4 – Eat Foods with Fiber: fiber helps feed the good bacteria and keeps them healthy. Vegetables, fruits, psyllium, flax, inulin all contain fiber to help keep good flora.  In supplement form this good fiber is called a prebiotic.  

5 – Keep the colon cleansed - Bowel movements are really important. Healthy bowels should have a good, complete elimination at least once a day.  One of the main reasons for constipation in my office is dehydration.  We should be drinking at least our 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water a day, 64 ounces in total.  It’s not a recommendation, but for good health a minimal requirement. Many times I have my patients drink even more water than that. I like to start out every morning with 32 ounces of warm water with 1/2 lemon squeezed in it for a variety of reasons.  It hydrates the body, boosts the immune system and helps flush out the toxins the liver dumped into the colon from the night before.  That’s how the body gets rid of toxins.  Toxins find their way to the liver and the liver detoxes them and then dumps them into the intestines by moving through the gallbladder duct.  Toxins can also find their way to the kidney where they get filtered out to the bladder and excreted out through the urine.  Elimination is so important for a healthy body.
Take an antibiotic only if necessary and when you do supplement with a probiotic.  Antibiotics kill bad and good bacteria leaving your gut flora a mess afterwards so to replenish the good gut flora that is being killed by taking 3 probiotic away from the antibiotic.  If taken with the antibiotic the medicine will just kill the probiotic as well.  This imbalance of gut flora from an antibiotic is the reason why people get yeast infections after taking an antibiotic.  Taking a probiotic can prevent yeast infections from occurring.

6 -Drink celery juice - when I recommend it to my patients I usually recommend 16 ounces on an empty stomach and not to be mixed with any other juice.  Just pure celery juice.  Besides boosting the immune system to fight bacteria and viruses.
+ it is a great anti inflammatory, because it starves pathogens that cause inflammation & disease
+ it contains a multitude of minerals that act together as an antiseptic to kill disease and help the body function optimally
+ it’s an amazing detox for the kidneys and adrenals and it also raises hydrochloric acid in our gut… so helps with digestion a ton & balances pH
+ it is amazing for the SKIN as it clears out debris in the digestive tract and liver

7– Get tested for a probiotic supplement: A good quality probiotic should contain at least Lactobacillus and Bifidus bacteria. There are a number of good ones on the market and some that are poorly made, so it is best to get muscle tested to figure out which one you specifically need.  I have about 6 different ones in the office to cover a variety of different types of situations.  Also make sure your probiotic doesn't have any binders, fillers, or corn.  Sometimes people feel worse after taking a probiotic because the body needs to detox or kill bad gut flora first and so adding healthy bacteria to the body is overwhelming.  If that has happened to you it is best to first do a cleansing program with a healthcare practitioner.  We also test to see if a prebiotic is needed along with a probiotic.  A prebiotic helps the good bacteria grow so the gut can maintain the good bacteria on it's own which is what you want in the long run instead of your body being dependent on always needing a probiotic. 

I want to take the time now to talk about lyme’s disease which is caused by a bacteria.  This bacteria is not contagious from human to human but It comes from getting a tick bite.  Not all ticks carry Borrelia, the bacteria that causes lyme’s.  Once a tick attaches it can stay there for days and the longer it stays the higher the chance of it transmitting Borrelia or other pathogens into your bloodstream.  Lyme disease is a complicated infection, tough to diagnose and even harder to treat if doctors miss an early diagnosis, which is all too often the case.  Symptoms start with a bullseye-like mark at the site of the bite, a stiff neck, chills, ever, headache, and joint and muscle pain. Infection occurs within 24 hours of the initial bite and treatment should be sought out immediately. Now is the perfect time for me to talk about Lyme’s because ticks are not out all year round but tend to be out only when it is warm out.  Your chances of getting bit by a tick are highest starting in March and ending in the fall.

Lyme disease is a very serious condition which poses the following health risks if left untreated: numbness, nerve pain, cognitive issues, tingling, muscle weakness, and trouble with speech.  Lyme disease treatment is tricky because the most popular blood tests used in most doctors' offices to detect the disease miss about 55% of Lyme cases. 

 If and when a patient finally is diagnosed, it's sometimes by a clinical evaluation of the symptoms, ones that often mimic other ailments like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and even Alzheimer's disease.

Complicating matters even further, symptoms can change and move making it even harder for doctors to effectively diagnose and treat. There is a lyme symptom tracker app you can download for free which is  helpful for patients to figure out what helps them with their symptoms. The tracker also makes it easy to share your symptoms with your healthcare provider.

Lyme disease occurs in three stages: early localized, early disseminated and late disseminated. However the stages can overlap and not all patients go through all three. A bulls-eye rash is usually considered one of the first signs of infection, but many people develop a different kind of rash or none at all. In most cases, Lyme symptoms can start with a flu-like illness. 

Stage 1: Early Localized Disease

Symptoms with early localized (or acute) Lyme disease may begin hours, a few days or even weeks after a tick bite. At this point, the infection has not yet spread throughout the body. Lyme is the easiest to cure at this stage. Symptoms may include:

• skin rash, which may or may not look like a bull’s eye
• flu-like illness, including chills and fever
• fatigue
• headache and stiff neck
• muscle soreness and joint pain
• swollen lymph nodes
• sore throat

Stage 2: Early Disseminated Lyme

Early disseminated Lyme may occur several weeks or months after the tick bite. Bacteria are beginning to spread throughout the body. In addition to flu-like symptoms, this stage is often characterized by increase in symptoms such as:

• chills
• fever
• headaches
• fatigue
• pain, weakness or numbness in the arms, legs
• vision changes
• heart problems, such as palpitations, chest pain
• rash may appear on body
• facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy)

Stage 3: Late Disseminated Lyme Disease

If Lyme disease isn’t promptly or effectively treated in the first two stages, late disseminated  Lyme also known as chronic, or neurological Lyme occurs weeks, months or even years after the tick bite. The Lyme bacteria have spread throughout the body and many patients develop chronic arthritis as well as an increase in neurological and cardiac symptoms. Symptoms may include:

• arthritis 
• severe headaches or migraines
• vertigo, dizziness
• migrating pains that come and go in joints/tendons
• stiff, aching neck
• sleep disturbances, insomnia
• disturbances in heart rhythm
• mental fogginess, concentration issues
• numbness in the arms, legs, hands or feet
• severe fatigue

One reason why you can get all these symptoms from Lyme is that coinfections can occur. Coinfections are other bacteria or viruses that the tick can give someone besides Borrelia. 

To help prevent getting tick bites here’s a DIY repellent to rub on your body before heading outdoors:

•  9 drops citronella essential oil
• 6 drops Tea Tree essential oil
• 6 drops Peppermint essential oils
• 1 tablespoon almond oil or jojoba oil

Also eat lots of garlic. Regular consumption of garlic or garlic capsules reduces the risk of tick bites, and tick-borne disease. The garlic causes the body to excrete a scent that ticks hate.

While antibiotics and other prescription medications can help in treating Lyme and co-infections I say there's also a place for holistic remedies in the treatment and management of Lyme disease. 

Antibiotics alone may not suffice because the Borrelia has a way of getting into the cell. When it does this the cell membrane inadvertently protects the bacteria and shields it from the antibiotics. The bacteria can also hide dormant in the nervous system, among other places, where antibiotic drugs can't reach them.

Natural treatments can help heal the body by knocking out the infection all together and reducing inflammation while also getting an injured immune system back on track.

Using Nutrition Response Testing I do not diagnose or treat Lyme but if a patient comes in knowing they have it, here is how I help support the body:

I have gotten great results using Herbs: stevia, andrographis, resveratrol, and cat's claw all target Lyme and coninfections.

Green tea compounds, along with curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, are known to reduce oxidative stress and help aid in traditional antibiotic treatment. You can find these in supplement form or drink green tea and add turmeric to your food or drink

Having enough vitamins and minerals: Zinc, B, and D vitamin deficiencies could slow down Lyme recovery, so I always test to see if a patient is in need of these.

Of course if you took antibiotics for treatment then you will need Probiotics to help replenish the beneficial bacteria in the gut.  Eating more probiotic food too can help.

Exercise: Even small concentrations of oxygen can help destroy Lyme bacteria in the body. Although Lyme typically zaps people's energy, intense exercise during and after treatment can help keep the symptoms at bay.

Natural Anti-Inflammatories: natural compounds that ease inflammation, such as curcumin, and Standard Process's antronex.

Diet: a low-carbohydrate diet is a must because carbohydrates, including sugar, fuel the Lyme germs. This means ditching most processed foods and avoiding any added sugar. Muscle testing the person for their specific diet gets the best results, but in general, besides staying away from sugar and depending on the severity of the case you want to stay away from natural sugars too like honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar and only use stevia.  Besides the sugar other foods to avoid are bananas, avocados, cashews, legumes,  vinegars, tomatoes, strawberries, oranges, pineapple, and mushrooms, 

We have seen great results by actively supporting the person's general health with emphasis on their immune system, circulation, reducing inflammation, and detoxification because this can lead to reduced symptoms and full immune system restoration. give the body the right nutrition and it can heal. 

Create a New Normal

I've recently been blogging health tips that we should add to our daily routine.  They should be our new normal not only now but also after the pandemic.  What else should your new normal be? We can’t go back to the way things were. First, it wasn’t working. That’s how we got to a pandemic level to begin with and second, we are different people now.  This is a wake up call to keep ourselves healthy.  With the world on pause this is a perfect time to get new healthy habits in place. When we do start getting back to our new normal I want to warn you about the gaslighting we will be under.
Gaslighting, if you don’t know the word, is defined as manipulation into doubting your own sanity; as in, Dave denies smoking cigarettes even though you saw him do it. Dave is trying to gastlight you.

Pretty soon, as the country begins to figure out how we “open back up” and move forward, very powerful forces will try to convince us all to get back to the old normal, that COVID-19 never happened. Billions of dollars will be spent on advertising, messaging, and television to make you feel comfortable again. It will come in the traditional forms — a billboard here, a hundred commercials there — and in the new-media form memes to remind you that what you want again is normalcy. In truth, of course we all want the feeling of normalcy.  We want desperately to feel good again, to get back to the routines of life, to not lie in bed at night wondering how we’re going to afford our rent and pay the bills, to not wake up to an endless scroll of human tragedy on our phones.  We will desperately and simply want to leave the house for work. 

The need for comfort during these dark times is real and every brand in America will come to your rescue to help take away that darkness and get life back to the way it was before the pandemic. I urge you to be well aware of what is coming.

What the trauma has shown us, though, cannot be unseen. In a quiet New York, I can hear the birds chirp in the middle of Lexington Avenue.  There are photos of a carless Los Angeles  that has clear blue skies as pollution has simply stopped.  Coyotes have been spotted on the Golden Gate Bridge. These are the postcard images of what the world might be like if we could find a way to have a less deadly daily effect on the planet. What’s not fit for a postcard are the other scenes we have witnessed: a health care system that cannot provide basic protective equipment for its frontline; small businesses — and very large ones — that do not have enough cash to pay their rent or workers, sending over 16 million people to seek unemployment benefits; a government that has so severely damaged the credibility of our media that 300 million people don’t know who to listen to for basic facts that can save their lives.

This pandemic hasn’t broken us, it has brought to light the truths of how we live, all of the beautiful and painful truths. So I ask you What do you want to do now that these truths are exposed.  How can we heal and grow from this, together?  How can we create a better country and a better world for our kids? I beg you, do not blow this opportunity to recreate.  Do not  look at McDonald’s, Macey’s and Target to make you feel normal again. I know what you are thinking, If I could just have the new iPhone in my hand, because that’s what my daughter thinks.... if I could just go try on the new Nikes. if I could drink a venti blonde vanilla latte then I could feel normal again. Instead of running to the normal consumerism and distractions I dare you to take a deep breath, ignore the deafening marketing that will come, and think deeply about what you want to put back into your life. This is our chance to define a new version of normal, a rare and truly sacred opportunity to get rid of what was broken and to only bring back what works for us, what makes our lives richer, what makes our kids happier, what makes us truly healthy. I am proud of us. I see us supporting one another through this in every positive Facebook post, in every meal dropped off for a neighbor, in every Zoom birthday party, I had my own last week. We now have a chance to define — on our own terms — what this country will look like in 5, 10, 50 years. This great pause is our chance to do that.  We’ll never have a chance like this again.

We can recreate what we want on a personal scale in our homes, in how we choose to spend our family time, what we watch, what we listen to, what we eat, and what we choose to spend our dollars on and where. We can do it locally in our communities, in what organizations we support, what truths we tell, and what events we attend. And we can do it nationally in our government, in which leaders we vote in and to whom we give power. If we want cleaner air, we can make it happen. If we want to protect our doctors and nurses from the next virus — and protect all Americans — we can make it happen. If we want our neighbors and friends to earn a dignified income, we can make that happen. If we want millions of kids to be able to eat if suddenly their school is closed, we can make that happen because we already did it. And, yes, if we just want to live a simpler life, we can make that happen, too. But only if we stay strong and resist the massive gaslighting that is about to come because I am warning you it’s on its way.  So please stay healthy and strong during this time and during the transition that is to come.  Together we can do this.

Deep Breathing to Boost the Immune System

Exercise is known to boost the immune system. It also is a great stress reducer which can help if you are doing too much quarantine snacking out of being stressed.  Go for long walks or runs if you can do it safely, staying 6 feet away from people.  Do yoga from home.  I use an app called down dog that I pay for but since March has been free and continues to be free during the quarantine.  The same company also has free apps for Barre and HIIT which is important for you to get your heart rate up and your lungs working harder.  We actually want to exercise the lungs.  I never thought about exercising an organ until the coronavirus hit and pulmonologists shared that it would help preventatively to do deep breathing exercises to strengthen the lungs.  Before the pandemic I only thought of people with trouble breathing as needing breathing exercises.  

So on a daily basis I want you to do lung exercises both preventatively and if you are feeling symptoms.  Make sure when you do lung exercises you breath by first pushing out your stomach, filling the bottom of the lungs first and then the chest.  Don’t pick up the chest first when breathing, because then you aren’t using the diaphragm to breath.  The diaphragm is the only breathing muscle in the body.  If you don’t use it you are then using the trap and other shoulder muscles to pick up the rib cage and this is why so many of us have knots and tension in our shoulders and neck.  But if you breath using the diaphragm is allows the lungs to expand automatically.  You see the diaphragm is a muscle that sits at the bottom of the rib cage, over the stomach and when looking at the body is an upside down U shape that when inhaling, flattens, enlarging the rib cage allowing the lungs to expand.  When the diaphragm moves like this it applies pressure on the stomach, almost like a massage that is good for digestion.  

The deeper the breath, the more oxygen can come in per breath.  The amount of oxygen that we inhale through our breathing, influences the amount of energy that is released into our cells. On a molecular level, this progresses all sorts of chemical and physiological processes. Breathing is controlled by the autonomic nervous system.  The part of our nervous system we don’t have to think about that makes our heart beat and digests our food.  There are two parts to the autonomic nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic.  These two parts control different things in the body.  The parasympathetic controls the breathing, digestion, sleep and libido.  This is the part of our nervous system that makes us feel relaxed and that is why breathing is so good to do during stressful times. It helps get us out of fight or flight mode. Breathing is also the easiest part of the autonomic nervous system to control and navigate. In fact, the way you breathe strongly affects the chemical and physiological activities in your body. It’s amazing what you can do when you can control your breath.  I’m not just talking about how long you can swim under water for but Wim Hof has developed special breathing techniques that keep his body in optimal condition and in complete control in the most extreme conditions. The breathing technique is first and foremost premised on inhaling deeply and exhaling without any use of force!  With his controlled breathing the heightened oxygen levels hold a treasure of benefits, more energy, reduced stress levels, and an augmented immune response that swiftly deals with all germs.

Wim Hof got his nickname “The Iceman” by breaking a number of records related to cold exposure. His feats include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle on his bare feet, and standing in a container while covered with ice cubes for more than 112 minutes.  Patients who have used his method say that it helps with stress and it even helped one patient heal from his eczema.   

In 2011 researchers at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands brought Hof into a laboratory and started poking and prodding him, trying to figure out how he did what he did. At one point they injected his arm with an endotoxin, a component of E. coli. Exposure to the bacteria usually juices vomiting, headaches, fever and other flu like symptoms. Hof took the E. coli into his veins and then breathed a few dozen  breaths, willing his body to fight it off. He showed no sign of fever, no nausea. A few minutes later he rose from the chair and got a cup of coffee.  There's all the proof you need to know how deep breathing boosts your immune system!

To practice the Wim Hof‘s breathing method, start by finding a quiet place and lay flat on your back with a pillow under your head. Relax the shoulders, trunk, and legs. Take a very deep breath into the pit of your stomach and let it back out just as quickly. Keep breathing this way for 30 cycles.  It should take about 3 minutes if you are breathing about 6 seconds in and 6 second outs.  If possible, breathe through the nose; if the nose feels congested then breath through pursed lips. Each breath should look like a wave, starting with the stomach lifting, then the chest. You should exhale all the air out in the same order. At the end of the 30 breaths, exhale naturally, leaving about a quarter of the air left in the lungs, then hold that breath for as long as possible. Once you reached your breath hold limit, take one huge inhale and hold it another 15 seconds. Then exhale and start the 30 cycles of breathing again. Repeat the whole pattern three or four rounds and add in some cold exposure, cold shower, ice bath, a few times a week. The controlled breathing and then breathing all out, then not at all, getting really cold and then hot again is the key to the body’s magic. It forces the body into high stress one minute, a state of extremely relaxation the next. The body becomes more adaptable and flexible and learns these bodily responses can come under our control.

Wim Hof sees this controlled breathing as being able to create amazing physiological responses with the body.  His feats speak for themselves.  But I think it’s not just about biochemistry.  There’s more going on then we can see under a microscope or find in a college textbook.   In energy medicine (which I guess can be partly found in a quantum physics textbook) we see pumping the lungs with breath like this isn’t just about oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules moving in and out but it’s also about the movement of the chi, prana, kundalini energy, chakras,  or the meridian system. It’s all the same. This life force goes by many names.  Chi has it’s origin in Chinese medicine and is used by acupuncturists.  Japanese call it ki, Hebrews call it ruah, Greeks call is pneuma.  The Iroquois even had a word for it, orenda. Prana has it’s origin in yoga and comes from the Hindu culture.  Chakras are energy centers of this life force.  Kundalini is the name of the life force energy that is stuck at the bottom of your spine.  Guess what you do to get it unstuck? You use breath.

I'm not waiting for science to catch up to tell me to use breath to be able to hold more life force in my body.  I see the results with my patients and you can too.