Today there are regular media reports on the dangerous bacteria on our foods. Some people eat the food and get seriously ill, like I used to, while others may become mildly sick and others are not bothered at all. The acid we neutralize or suppress in our stomach is hydrochloric acid or HCl. One of the functions of the HCl in our stomach is to kill the bacteria that are in or on our food. A healthy HCl level kills many of the bacteria that can cause GI distress. For this to happen, the optimal pH for the stomach is between 1.5 and 2.0.

Is it possible that I was so often afflicted by bacterial infections of my G.I. tract because I used acid neutralizing and acid blocking medications? Does our food have more bacteria on it or are people today taking more acid suppressing medications thus making themselves prone to G.I. bacterial infections?

Optimal stomach HCl or pH level is also required to activate several digestive functions involved with protein, carbohydrate and fat digestion. We know that when HCl levels are not optimal, digestion and hence absorption of nutrients is impaired.

Studies indicate that acid blocking medications may interfere with bone metabolism and remodeling. This can be significant when you realize that our bones need to be under constant remodeling with our entire skeleton replacing itself every 7 to 10 years. This type of remodeling requires proper nutrient absorption. A University of Pennsylvania study reports a 44% increase in hip fractures with people taking certain acid blocking medications for more than one year. Was bone metabolism and remodeling being affected by the drugs? It is of interest to note that the manufacturers of acid suppressing drugs originally only suggested their use for 16 weeks to allow the tissues to repair. Were those drugs ever intended for lifelong use?

Most people taking acid blocking drugs do not understand the possible negative effects. I know, I never did when I was using them. However today I understand that the long term benefits of healing the digestive system and eventually getting off the acid blocking drugs is worth the effort. At a clinical level I have found that acid reflux issues are almost always addressed by supporting digestive dysfunctions rather than by neutralizing the very important HCl.

Jim Harris is a naturopath and nutritional consultant with an online practice at the Art of Wellness Center.

Web site: www.theartofwellnesscenter.com
Email: theartofwellness@earthlink.net
Telephone: 760-778-5600

The steps to be taken when taking a blood pressure reading for determining a hypertension diagnosis include the patient being seated peacefully for 5 minutes, use of a blood pressure cuff appropriate for the arm size, and having the arm positioned at heart height. A single reading of 140/90 is a sign of hypertension however this needs to be achieved on two subsequent occasions to confirm a diagnosis of hypertension. Any single reading of 160/100 or greater confirms a hypertension diagnosis with one reading alone.

High blood pressure is not a condition unto itself but rather is always a sign of some underlying dysfunction or disease. Therefore treatment should focus on finding the underlying cause as hypertension is an indicator that something is wrong or out of balance physiologically. Corrective intervention is required beyond the prescribing of blood pressure lowering medications. Every attempt must be made to determine the cause of the hypertensive state. A few of the causative possibilities are a Vitamin D deficiency, sleep apnea, tobacco use, licorice consumption, insulin resistance, and cocaine use. Some pharmaceutical drugs can cause an elevation in blood pressure and this should be understood by the prescribing physician.

Excess alcohol consumption can elevate blood pressure. This can make the cause difficult to recognize when the individual fails to indicate the amount and the duration of their alcohol consumption. This only emphasizes why a complete physical examination, a thorough history taking and appropriate blood serum lab tests must be performed by healthcare practitioners in a best effort attempt at determining the underlying cause of the hypertension. Your healthcare providers must search out all possibilities with you.

Not all hypertension is disease based. Emotions can play a strategic role in elevating blood pressure. Some individuals will have normal blood pressure at home and elevated blood pressure readings at their doctor’s office. This is generally known as “White Coat Hypertension”. This is explained as an exaggerated stress response to an innocuous stimulus. Unfortunately this has parallels in other areas of the individual’s life and studies indicate that people with “White Coat Hypertension” show an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. This is one instance when lifestyle adjustments can have a dramatic effect on lowering blood pressure.

For true primary hypertension there are many safe and effective holistic and nutritional interventions that can be utilized. If you suffer from hypertension you should contact your naturopath for guidance with a protocol designed at lowering it in a natural way.

When an integrative approach is used for lowering blood pressure the physician prescribing any pharmaceuticals should be aware that you are also seeking assistance with a natural approach involving lifestyle changes and supplemental nutrients. If you are already taking antihypertensive medications you will likely require downward dosage adjustments after altering your diet, lifestyle and commencing the addition of the nutritional supplements.

Jim Harris is a Naturopath and Nutritional Consultant with a virtual practice called the Art of Wellness Center. You can contact Jim or visit his web site.
web site: www.theartofwellnesscenter.com
email: theartofwellness@earthlink.net
telephone: 760-778-5600

It was a simple lunch made with a Cuisinart food processor. I grossly cut up celery stalks, white onion, radish, kale, cucumber, chard, carrots and scooped this mixture into the Cuisinart chopping bowel. I added a few walnuts, a handful of broccoli and sunflower sprouts, along with a few basil leaves. Before giving a few pulses to chop and mix my ingredients I poured in some olive oil and added both pepper and Celtic sea salt. This mixture was scooped onto a plate of lettuce leaves. To each plate I added half of a cooked salmon fillet and six small red tomatoes.

This lunch was simple, tasty and above all, nutritious. It was made from fresh, raw, non-processed foods that came from our local farmer’s market. This is as close to a hunter-gatherer diet as I can get today.

Now back to Weston Price who studied primitive races across our globe. Universally he discovered a total absence of degenerative disease when these people’s diet consisted of foods from their ancestors. Dr Price documented in his book that primitive people, even those living in very inclement climates, were able to build superbly healthy bodies when consuming their ancestral diet. However, even in the first generation after the introduction of modern processed foods containing white sugar and refined flours, the children were either born with or later developed nutritional deficiency diseases.

In the 1940’s, Dr. Royal Lee, another outstanding American nutritionist, continuously spoke out stating that Americans were starving themselves of basic nutritional requirements with the consumption of refined processed foods.

As stated above, today’s lunch was simple, tasty and nutritious. All the food used in preparation where fresh, locally grown and not processed. Dr. Price noted that when the primitive people returned to their ancestral diet their health returned as well.

Socrates stated: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.

Jim Harris is a naturopath and nutritional consultant at the Art of Wellness Center, a virtual practice.

Web site: www.theartofwellnesscenter.com
Email: theartofwellness@earthlink.net
Telephone: 760-778-5600

Why You Should Buy Organic Strawberries

“We love strawberries in my house! Love them! In salads, dipped in fresh whip cream, in muffins, on their own…we just really love them!

Strawberries are high in Vitamin C, Fiber and an excellent source of antioxidants…

So, what’s not to love about strawberries?

How about Methyl Iodide! Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? No, not so much.

Did you know the state that supplies 90% of U.S. strawberries has approved a fumigant pesticide that even chemists are hesitant to handle in the lab.

Methyl Iodide is a known nasty, cancer-causing toxin, so why use it on our fruit? In addition to Methyl Iodide, some strawberries have as many as 13 different pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group.

Obviously concerned about all of this, I consulted my dear friend and trusted source for all things natural and healthy, Rob Streisfeld aka “Doc Rob”. His thoughts – “This is another example where Science attempts to outsmart Nature, economics out values health, and the well being of the people. Something so simple and amazing as a strawberry becomes a potential toxic hazard. Very sad. There was no mention of organic strawberries though which I find interesting. Keep demanding pesticide free produce!”

Many strawberry farmers and corporations, including Driscoll Strawberry, a leading strawberry distributor, are growing berries without methyl iodide and other fumigants. “I’ve been growing strawberries without using pesticides in California for 25 years,” said Jim Cochran, owner of Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport, California. “It’s certainly possible to grow commercially-viable and ecologically sound strawberry crops without using methyl iodide or any other chemical pesticides.” According to Driscoll, “As the leader in fresh berries, growing the finest organic berries in the world is both art and science, requiring care, commitment and dedication. We work closely with our independent organic farmers to find new and innovative organic farming practices.”.

So for now do the best you can for your family by BUYING ORGANIC! BUYING LOCAL! But be sure to check your sources! Get involved!

Visit Safe Strawberry: Campaign For Cancer-Free Berries for more information.

And if you are not familiar with what fruits and veggies to buy organic, check out the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 15″ from the Environmental Working Group.

I am certain most of you were not aware of the toxic nature of non-organic strawberries so thanks to you Cara.

Your for better health naturally,

Jim Harris DDS, NMD

Jim Harris is a Naturopath and Nutritional Consultant with a virtual practice at the Art of Wellness Center.
Web Site: www.theartofwellnesscenter.com
E-mail: theartofwellness@earthlink.net
Telephone: 760-778-5600

Autoimmune disorders are basically an immune system running “amuck” and destroying the host cells and unfortunately you are the host. Some have said there is an inherited component to autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis but by todays research this is old science. Today, we understand there is a component that is controlled by our genes however, it is not the gene itself but how the genetic code is expressed that creates the problem.

To give you some understanding of gene expression let me tell you that we as humans have basically the same gene pool as the chimpanzee. This may surprise you; however, what makes us different from the chimpanzee is not the gene pool but rather how the genes are expressed.

Similarly someone can go along life’s path being very healthy and all of a sudden develop symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The gene pool has not changed so one should not consider heredity as a cause. What we can look at is a change in the way the genes are being expressed and how that makes a difference in the physiology of the individual. The exciting thing is that we now understand that gene expression can be modified in a positive fashion by using certain nutritional supplements to help regulate autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders.

Science has also shown us that certain immune cells can help down regulate or improve autoimmune diseases and others can up-regulate or promote autoimmune diseases and inflammation. The Regulatory T cells are the autoimmune suppressing cells. Science has proven that certain supplements will assist in converting immature T cells into Regulatory T cells. The greater the number of Regulatory T cells the less susceptible one would be to the autoimmune diseases and this is a good thing.

To assist in the induction of Regulatory T cells we need to:

• Eat an anti-inflammatory diet
• Exercise
• Exhibit weight control
• Seek hormonal balance
• Strive for healthy gut organisms
• Supplement with the appropriate nutrients

To review, we now understand that both gene expression, immune cell response and the type of immune cells can be modified in a positive way to assist people suffering from autoimmune diseases as well as to help prevent such diseases from occurring. The modification process involves lifestyle changes and the taking of specific nutrient supplements which is backed by solid science.

For the appropriate nutrients for you as an individual you should consult with your nutritionist or naturopath.

Jim Harris is a naturopath and nutritionist with a virtual practice at “The Art of Wellness”.

www.theartofwellnesscenter.com theartofwellness@earthlink.net
760-778-5600

Autoimmune disease is the result of an amped up immune system attacking you, the host. Normally you think of the immune system attacking a virus or bacteria but in an autoimmune disease it is your own tissues that get attacked. You probably know someone with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, or multiple sclerosis. With these diseases the body turns on itself, attacking the healthy cells in the same manner it would attack a viral or bacterial invasion in the body. It is believed that 1 in 12 Americans will develop an autoimmune disease.

There are more than 100 autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases are the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the industrialized world – surpassed only by cancer and heart disease. The true emphasis of healthcare should be on maintaining a healthy condition in the populace thus keeping them from manifesting diseases like cancer, heart disease and the autoimmune diseases.

Addressing poor lifestyle and poor food choices must be the starting point for disease prevention. Research shows us the right food choices alone can make a significant difference with the prevention of autoimmune disease development. Studies also show us that appropriate supplementation with children reduces their chances of developing Type 1 diabetes by over 70%.

Nutrition supplementation can play a significant role in the modulation of our immune system by assisting the body to produce more of the immune cells which have the potential to dampen inflammation and autoimmune conditions. We also know that the place in the body where these modulating cells are matured is a healthy intestinal tract with the correct types of beneficial bacteria living in it.

My advice to everyone out there is to take charge of your life for positive change, eat more vegetables and avoid sugars, processed grains and fast foods as a start towards a better quality of life for your future. Contact your naturopath or nutritionist for a list of the immune modulating supplements that you would benefit from.

Jim Harris is a naturopath and nutritional consultant at the Art of Wellness, a virtual wellness practice.

760-778-5600 theartofwellness@earthlink.net www.theartofwellnesscenter.com

“That is one of the biggest mistakes that medical science has ever made: to provide drugs to people who are starving. A starving man doesn’t need drugs. He needs food. And if he gets food he recovers. If he gets drugs, he doesn’t.”

Dr. Lee is no longer with us. He was the greatest nutritionist the world has ever seen. He gave us information on food and supplements that modern research is only now discovering some five decades after he spoke of them. He believed in the whole food approach: Whole food diet and Whole food supplements.

Components of a whole food diet are:

1. Organic
2. Locally grown
3. Seasonal
4. Fresh
5. Balance of cooked and raw

Dr. Lee addressed processed foods in 1943 with this statement: “We have drifted into this deplorable position of national malnutrition quite inadvertently. It is the result of scientific research with the objective of finding the best ways to create foods that are non-perishable, that can be made by mass production methods in central factories, and distributed so cheaply that they sweep all local competition from the market…”

The top worst foods are:

1. Pasteurized foods and homogenized dairy
2. Refined/white flowers and grains
3. High fructose corn syrup (which is 50% synthetic glucose)
4. Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners
5. Hydrogenated oils
6. Non-fermented soy foods
7. Refined sugar foods: soda, candy, pastries

The highly recommended foods are:

1. Fresh organic, locally grown fruits and vegetables
2. Low or no grain diet (best grains: brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat which are gluten free)
3. Organic (pasture fed) meats and eggs
4. Fresh wild harvested fish
5. Sea vegetables, Celtic sea salt
6. Raw nuts and seeds
Even the best organic foods today do not supply us with all the nutrients we need on a daily basis and whole food supplementation is required to sustain optimal health. Those of us who have starved ourselves with processed foods, conventionally grown and genetically modified foods have an even greater need for concentrated whole food supplements.

Jim Harris is a naturopath and nutritional consultant at the virtual practice “The Art of Wellness”.
www.theartofwellnesscenter.com theartofwellness@earthlink.net 760-778-5600

Statistically, 38% of 20 year olds and 58% of 50 year olds have periodontal disease which is directly caused by unwanted bacteria in the mouth. Now we all have bacteria in our mouths but the more plaque or soft debris that accumulates around our teeth the more bacteria there are to produce enzymes destructive to our periodontal tissues and jeopardize the support for our teeth.

There is an old saying in dentistry that the health of your gums and periodontal tissues is a reflection of your general health. So if you have poor oral health you most likely have poor general health as well. Proper and timely personal oral hygiene care, routine dental visits and quality nutrition are paramount to healthy periodontal tissues. Poor periodontal health is linked to a number of systemic health conditions and even to low birth weight new born babies. It may come as a surprise to you to find out that more people lose teeth due to periodontal disease than to tooth decay.

Understand that it is normal to have bacteria in the mouth and with good oral hygiene and good nutrition and a healthy immune system those bacteria are kept in check. However, the immune system can become compromised with a poor diet, adrenal exhaustion or toxic overload and more. With a weakened immune system the door opens for the unwanted organisms to thrive and cause deeper levels of infection. If you see bleeding gums you need to evaluate your oral hygiene, check the quality of your food intake and consider supporting the immune system on a global or systemic level.

There is an ancient method of removing unwanted organisms from the mouth called “Oil Pulling” with an origin from Ayurvedic medicine. Most of the disease causing organisms in the mouth have a fatty membrane covering them like your skin covers you. With oil pulling, you swish 1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil in your mouth for 15 minutes, drawing or pulling the oil between your teeth and over and under your tongue. The fatty membrane of the organisms is attracted to the sesame seed oil like a magnet and after 15 minutes of swishing you spit out the oil and the organisms now attached to the sesame seed oil are eliminated with the oil.

It is suggested you perform this procedure every day for a couple of weeks then less frequently as your condition improves. Always seek the advice of your dentist for the overall health of your oral tissues.

It has been reported that sinus and ear conditions may improve using oil pulling. You might want to give it a try to use on a preventive basis as I do.

Jim Harris – a virtual or distance healthcare practioner
Naturopath and Nutritionist
The Art of Wellness Center

From thatsfit.com:

“There’s a new kind of gender gap happening in America — and this one is centered around men’s health. Today, the average man dies nearly six years before his female counterpart, up five years since 1920, according to statistics collected by the non-profit organization Men’s Health Network. They are also more likely to die from the top 10 causes of death than women are.

More than 70 percent of men are overweight or obese (compared to 64 percent of women), around a quarter die from either heart disease or cancer and more than 32,000 men will die of prostate cancer alone each year.

Why? The theories, according to Men’s Health Network, include the fact that men are more likely not to have healthcare coverage and half as likely to make preventive visits to a physician — not to mention that there’s a societal pressure for men to, well, “man up,” and not complain about health ailments. A brand-new Fox News national survey has found that nearly 70 percent of men find it easier to care for their cars than for their personal health.

No matter the reason, the bottom line is that today’s men are living increasingly unhealthy lifestyles. So in honor of Father’s Day, which is this Sunday, June 19, 2011, why not give Dad the gift of letting him know that you want for him to live a healthier, happier and longer life?”

So why not think about choosing a healthy gift for dad. An introductory gym membership, an MP3 player for walking or bike riding. Some healthy cookware for the grill. Talk to dad about food choices and cook him a healthy meal which has great taste to eat. I am always surprised when we have guests stay with us as they are always saying how great our food tastes to them. Yet this is just basis complex carbs, protein and good fats.
Show your Dad how much you love him and tell him you want him to outlive the nations average age for men.

Jim Harris is a Naturopath and Nutritional Consultant with The Art of Wellness Virtual Practice Center
www.theartofwellnesscenter.com
760-320-1577