My experiences doing the Inter Clinical Laboratory Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) - by Jonathan

I had a HTMA test carried out on me and have been following its recommendations for just on 2 months. This is my experience of it, although first I will need to explain at least my recent past.

Image left: Jonathan during the Wild Coaster which was about two weeks into the start of the HTMA, "struggling like buggary up a hill".

I am 30 and have been increasing my time on the bike over the last few years to a point where this time last year I had what was probably my best race to date (Source 2 Sea) where I felt I did well in. I had trained hard and found the 160km race easy (I blew away the bunch that I was riding with easily and beat my cycling buddy who I train with all the time). I was down to about 98kg from just over the Clydesdale weight range (100kg). Things were good.

But then over summer I kidded myself at the endless BBQ’s parties and quickly put on weight till I rose to a hefty 108kg easily. I rode in the Around Brunner and had the second worst cycling experience of my life. I was cramping on every tiny “undulation” of the ride for the last 50km of the 130km race. It was horrible!

Image left: Chart from Jonathan's HTMA. Excess calcium relative to all other nutrients. Majority of nutrients are low. This is indicative of adrenal and thyroid insufficiency with tendency to gain weight, poor sleep, poor digestion and fatigue among other things. This sort of pattern is common in athletes.

I then realised my mistakes and trained as much as I could over winter but I was still not losing weight. I was doing a 3.5hr ride on the weekend plus at least one more hr ride during the week and maybe a swim. I stayed at the 107kg to 108kg weight range regardless of what I did. It made no sense to me either as I knew that I did not eat ridiculously unhealthily. I knew other people who would eat chips and chocolate etc and not put on weight but with me I was struggling to lose anything and easily putting it back on. Sometimes I would binge a little but this was usually after a large ride. I was feeling like crap going up the hill at the end of winter. I was getting smashed by my riding buddy as well.

I mentioned this to Gary as I had already been following a vitamin plan and it wasn’t noticeably working. He noticed that I was eating about the same as him per day (he weighs buggar all!!!). He suggested that I do the HTMA and I was more than happy to as I was desperate to find out what was wrong.

The results that came back were shit! They showed that I had been leading a modern lifestyle with far too many dairy foods in my diet (which I never suspected as I don’t drink straight milk and the media/advertising go on about all the Calcium we are “supposed” to need). I was getting it from too much cheese, yoghurt and milk from take away coffees. I also had really high (as in way off the chart) ratios between Calcium to potassium and magnesium which balance each other as nutrients along with a slow metabolism.

The HTMA suggested a change in eating habits, change in foods and a crap load of vitamins to correct the imbalance over the next 3 months. Gary said that you can just do it by nutrition alone without the vitamins but it will take much longer. I thought “if I am going to take some persons advise, I may as well do it properly and to the letter so that if it doesn’t work then I know I did my best". I know for sure that it doesn’t work (you will always have that doubt in the back of your mind if you don’t do something in its entirety as to if it works or not).

I knew it would be hard as I used to eat 3 large meals a day. If I didn’t feel full after a meal then I would be hungry till I did fill up. The HTMA suggested that I change to eating 5 or 6 small meals a day and change to a low calcium diet with at least 40% lean protein and the rest natural unprocessed foods etc (stuff Gary preaches often but I had never implemented… sigh).

My stats were 107.3 kg, 30.7% body fat, 2.9% Bone density 53.8% Water ratio and 43.4% Muscle mass.

This meant that for the first 7 days it was sheer will and determination that kept me going as I was hungry all day every day. However I dropped like 3kg and 2% body fat in 2 days!!!!!

The results were staggering in the beginning. The flab was just dripping off me. I found that you really had to be prepared in advance for your day by ensuring that you would have adequate food for the whole day. If I didn’t prepare and make my own food then there are virtually no quick options to buy suitable food elsewhere. It took a lot of will power because when you make a major decision such as this it seems that all the wrong food is shoved in your face on a regular basis. Even your mates seem to conspire to force you from your diet by trying to get you drink with them or force some ridiculously bad food on you.

Anyway after a month I was down to 99.6kg, 25.6% Body Fat, 2.9% Bone Density, 57.6% Water and 43.2 Muscle Mass.

This is when it actually got harder as the fat didn’t fall off as readily. I actually had to be more disciplined to lose the weight and by this stage my mind was playing tricks by trying to tell me that it was alright to eat that thing that isn’t on my diet as I had lost so much weight anyway.

By now 2 months into the diet I have made it to: 95.5kg, 23.1% Body Fat, 3.0% Bone Density, 59.4% Water, 44.5% Muscle Mass. So things have become harder which is frustrating.

I have found now though that I am riding faster and further than ever before. I am easily riding with much larger cogs going up a hill and easily recording faster times. I have not quite caught up to my riding buddy as he has been putting in a lot of hours and he has shot off. But I am still riding faster than I have ever before. To let you know how far I have come, just before I started this diet I was about 1.5 minutes behind my riding buddy up a hill that takes about 10 minutes to climb. That is a huge margin. However a couple of weeks ago I raced him up the same hill and beat him!!

The next month I want to get as close as I can to the 20% body fat mark or under if I can. Then relax the strictness in my diet a little and aim to rip up some cycle races during summer. I have to say that it feels great to shed that weight and I do not feel nearly as self conscious already. Can’t wait till the 3 month mark and I will feel any better. If you have been thinking or trying various diet fads then instead of that try the HTMA and get a scientific report of where your health is at so that you quickly correct any problems that you might have.

_______________________________

Gary comments:

Jonathan's metabolism had been steadily shutting down, mostly as a consequenceof relentless stress and poor eating habits. Welcome to the modern workplace! And then we are urged to go to the gym, run a half marathon etc in our free time. Bit like a double beat-up if you ask me!

The mechanism of this metabolic shut down centers about the adrenals. As they shut down, so does the thyroid gland. The consequence is feeling tired and depressed and the fat piles on while muscle is lost and they hurt. Once in this metabolic hole, the spiral is downwards as the person becomes increasingly depressed and desperately resorts to all kinds of crash diets which only makes matters wose.

Jonathan is using Salter 9106 Body Composition Scales to track his changes in wieght and composition. Weight changes alone tell only part of what is happening inside his body. He is a big boy, so once he is down to about 18% that will be enough fat loss. The emphasis should then go onto gaining more lean muscle by percent. Less than 12% fatness for a male is getting too thin.

The combination of the ICL Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (Profile 2), the Brett Elliot Herbal Detoxification programme and a set of body composition scales are powerful tools for bringing about lasting weight losses and improvements in health and fitness. It frustrates me that millions are spent on unhealthy, invasive and risky weight loss measures, such as stomach stapling, yet there is no funding for simple and effective measures such as the programme being followed by Jonathan.

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I have destroyed my forearms while building my house!

Hi Gary,
I seem to have destroyed my arms with lots of digging, hammering, nail pulling, lifting, and so on.
Both forearms gradually got more and more sore. Now it hurts sort of between my biceps and my forearm, but mainly in the forearms when I do simple tasks like pick up my children and even brushing my teeth. This makes it hard to build my house. :)
Do you have any suggestions, or will I have to impatiently wait for 2 or 3 months? I gave them a week, they felt better, like it didn't hurt to pick up a child anymore. I went back to building for 3 hours and my arms went right back to hurting again. Is there anything I can do to speed up the healing? Can I work them if they are sore, but not work if they are in pain or do I have to wait?

"C"

______________________________

Gary responds:

One of the over-riding themes of this website is self help. Rest is mostly a waste of time and compromises the need to build strenght. Rest longer then a few days weakens. Most injuries do not need numerous visits to the doctor/physiotherapist/chiropractor. This is certainly the case for "C".

"C": What you need to do is to locate the area of most intense pain. In your case, this should be over the origins of the brachioradialus and extensor radialus longus muscles (refer image left).

Go see a massage therapist and have them thoroughly massage the affected area of both arms - plus all of the rest of the upper, lower arms, wrists and hands. While taking care not to overdo it on the first session, you should feel tender, bordering on bruising the following day.

Repeat the massage once a week with only gentle massage of the arms in between, if anything at all. You should notice a significant improvement by the 3rd session (3rd week). Continue for another couple of weeks for good measure, or for as long as it takes to be 100% pain free.

While it may be sensible to have a couple of days break from the house project, it helps the healing and strengthening process to continue to use the arms as per usual while avoiding the more damaging exercises such as heavy lifting, jack hammers and the like.

There are some nutrition measures that will aid recovery and the building of strength. Please read this article here for more about forearm pain and nutrition.

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Do you think beetroot juice improves athletic performance?

"Do you think drinking beet juice is a good thing? And can you get the benefits from a tablet

Refer Article here."

Richard

_______________________________________

Gary replies:

Richard, I would not be surprised if drinking beet juice will bring about an improvement in athletic endurance. This is because most athletes are lacking sufficient nutrients in their bodies to supply the needs of intense and exhausting exercise.

Nitrates (natural ones found in food including beetroot) are essential for maintaining flexible and relaxed arteries and nitric oxide for directing blood to the right places. If the diet is poor in foods containing these nutrients then performance is, of course, going to improve if big doses are then introduced into the diet.

The other action which is not discussed in the article is the powerful antioxidant effect of all plants that are bright; especially the deep red and black pigmented vegetables, fruits and berries - that includes beetroot. Intense exercise causes a storm of free radicals that the body soaks up and neutralises using antioxidants. If antioxidant capacity is poor, exhaustion will rapidly set in and recovery will be poor.

If you think the results of the beetroot study are good, then read on....

I am a good example of the benefits of careful assessment of nutrient needs, first with a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis almost three years ago and then adding specific nutrients to meet the needs of work and sport. Being 56 years old and having trained and competed in sport non-stop since my early teens one can be assured that I have peaked long ago! At 56, I should be slowing down, so any performance improvements from here on have to be taken very seriously.

Now, here is the record today as compared to the exact competition situation two seasons ago in mountain biking: I am riding as fast as I was 20 years ago and fully 15-20 minutes faster over each of a series of five races as compared to when I was 54 years old. Each race is less than two hours duration and one can ride a very long way in 15-20 minutes. I am not doing any extra training. I am just healthier.

The reason for the performance gains is mostly due to improved nutrition, including a couple of "sports specials".

As a matter of interest, beta alanine is the amino acid the body uses for producing nitric oxide. This is sold on its own and in Balance Recovery Stack.

The most effective antioxidant for improving performance and protecting the muscles from damage is Astazanthin.

Other great sources of antioxidants are found in dark berries and all bright berries, including the skin of kumara. Load up Berry Brights and Fruitful Greens are concentrated sources of antioxidants that can be added to your Super Smoothies.

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Cutting tracks in the bush - Do you have any advice for preventing damage to the wrist and phalanges?

Hi there Gary,
I've recently started work.. cutting tracks... full time. This involves the use of a scrub bar (basically, a strimmer on steroids), which can be a bit harsh on both wrists and fingers after gripping onto the handles tightly for hours on end. Do you have any advice for preventing damage to the wrist and phalanges? Any exercises I can do at the end of each day?
_________________________________
Gary comments:
These machines, even when used with a harness, require constant static contraction of the muscles of the upper body, especially of the forearms and hands. This may eventually cause spasm of the muscles and inflammation of the tendons and ligaments of the forearms, wrist and fingers.

The end results may be chronic injury such as lateral epicondylitis of the elbow and various tendonitis injuries to the wrist, such as DeQuervaine's tendonitis.

These kinds of injuries are common in sports such as Kayaking, rowing and tennis. We see these injuries in occupations such as the freezing industry where knives are used for hours on end for tasks such as boning. These are most common at the commencement of the season and usually disappear as the athlete or worker improves condition and becomes more adept at their work.

For example; incidence tendonitis is reduced in the freezing industry by ensuring that knives are razor sharp and protective gear is worn. These measures mean the worker does not need to pull so hard while being more relaxed knowing that a slip of the knife will not end up slicing a finger off.

So, the first step in preventing injury from using a strimmer is to first ensure the equipment is designed for the job, properly maintained and the worker is properly fitted with a carrying harness and protective gear.

The protective gear should include quality chainsaw gloves that have gel antivibration pads.

Eat like an athlete
Becoming progessively physically conditioned in the least time to do this repetitive work is dependent on the worker being thoroughly well nourished, just as one would do with an athlete in hard training. This means ensuring there is a little protein in the diet throughout the day and not all lumped into a single meal. Meals should be rich in plant antioxidants to soak up the free radicals produced during exercise.

Being out in the bush makes this a challenge; but I am assuming that the employer is bringing in supplies of food and this should includes fresh vegetables and fruit for the workers. Try to avoid the usual hiking stodge that lacks trace nutrients while gumming up the works.

Load Up Berry Brights and Load Up Fruitful Greens are convenient and refreshing ways to make up any dietary shortfall of fresh food. This can be added to a whey protein smoothie which can easily be made up while working the tracks by mixing these in a decanter. The powder ingredients can be pre-mixed in a plastic bag for use during the day.

It may be worth having a supply of Loadup Ultimate Recovery Stack on hand. A few scoops per day in, or additional to the smoothies, will help keep energy levels up and will definitely aid recovery from day to day.

Exercise and Massage
Stop every now and then and do some full range of motion exercises of the upper body, swivelling and swinging the trunk, arms and shoulders through their full range of motion. Do the same with the wrist and fingers.

Stretch gently during the day and do a more thorough stretching session after work has finished.

Take turns, with your mates, at the end of each day to massage all the muscles of the neck, shoulders and arms. You can use a quality massage wax such as Myo Heal. Concentrate massage on the tender spots. If you have the nutrients flowing into the body, healing will be rapid and strength and endurance will improve from one day to the next. Make the most of work breaks of 2-4 days to rest the arms and hands while keeping the daily massages going.

I reckon this should do the job with keeping you in good condition.

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How to treat road rash and bruising naturally

I had a serious crash two weekends ago while competing in a mountain bike race. I was going well, taking it easy in 3rd place when I hit a rut at speed, wiping out and landing heavily on the rut. Ouch! It is best described as being like having your thigh whacked with a softball bat.

Although one leg was dead-as I still managed to finish 6th, the consequence was severe bruising and gravel rash affecting the right side. I was in trouble. Of considerable concern was the fact I was covered in cow shit and mud - INFECTION!

Putting on my Sports Medicine Hat I resolved to pull out all of the big guns to fight the impending infection and to mitigate the damage of the deep bruising of the thigh muscles. This was not going to include antibiotics, antiseptic creams or ice on the bruising.

Upon finishing, I avoided the first aid service on hand and went straight home and then down to the gym where I spent several minutes under a warm shower scrubbing the wounds with soapy hands to remove every bit of grit and muck from the wounds, including blood and dead tissue. Bacteria are like flies: remove the food source and they do not thrive.

I dosed up on Reparen and Algotene which are remarkable supplements that promote tissue healing while preventing oxidative damage to stressed tissues. The intention was to take these for the next two weeks in quite high doses.

Then it was into the sauna for a continuous hour of frying the wounds. Anaerobic bacteria and viruses do not like heat (this is how your body kills infections). See my earlier article about using the sauna for health.

I kept the knee flexed while lying down. By keeping the thigh muscle taut and slightly elevated relative to the body, fluids and blood tended to be squeezed out of the crushed muscles and further

bleeding is pretty much impossible. Given enough time, the blood clots will take hold and further bleeding will stop.

Then it was back under the shower for a further thorough scrubbing of the wounds.

Once home I had a much needed cup of tea and to lie in the afternoon sun to use the natural UV as an antiseptic and to use the warmth and wind to dry the wounds as much as possible before bedtime.

The first two photos show my right thigh and elbow just five hours after the accident. You can see they are clean and already beginning to dry out and all bleeding has stopped. You can see some evidence of swelling in the thigh; but not much considering the force involved.

I slept with great difficulty under a light duvet with no dressings. If you can get away with them, dressings can irritate the flesh,

are a breeding ground for bacteria and they tend to stick to the wounds, causing more damage when attempting to remove them. I

had great difficulty walking the following day due to the corked thigh.

I gave the wounds a good soak in the bath and a further soapy clean and did so daily, taking care not to damage any scabbing.

The next two photos are of the wounds just three days after the wipe out. You can see there is minimal bruising and no sign of infection. Healing is remarkable when one considers my age (56 yrs). I was walking without a limp and squatting fine and back on my bike that day.

Gentle massage, mostly effleurage, commenced by day three, taking care to work around the damaged skin.

The final two photos are just 10 days after the injury. What you can see is excellent healing and resolution of the muscle damage. At 14 days I competed in the Grand Final of the PNP mountain bike series with a sprint finish against the overall winner of our age group, Marco Renalli, finishing 4th in that race and 4th over the series.

I did not use any dressings, no antibiotics, no antiseptics - just soap and clean water.

There is no need to use ice on a bruise - it can irritate the skin and underlying tissues. As if those poor cells were not under enough stress already! I know, I know - you will be wondering how on Earth I can say this. Well I am because the evidence that ice it is unnecessary is right in front of you (refer the photos).

The Algotene and Reparen are what I think made all the difference, additional to the measures like cleaning, sauna, exercise and massage.

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Vitamin B6, Pyridoxine for Trigger Finger and Carpal Tunnel

by Jeffrey Dach, MD

"Jim is a 46 year old retired New York policeman who uses power tools to repair his house. His problem is chronic pain at the base of the thumb and wrist. The pain worsens with use of the hand, making it difficult to use the power tools. Other repetitive motions cause pain such as turning a key in a lock, unscrewing the lid of a jar, and opening the car door. Jim also has "trigger finger" involving the thumb joint, and at night, before sleep he notices tingling and numbness in the hands."

...."Examine the backs of your hands. Have you ever noticed the backs of your hands are puffy and swollen, making the tendons obscured? Are your hands so swollen that you cant touch your palms with the tips of your fingers? That’s the positive “Ellis sign,” indicating extra B6 could be helpful. Usual dosage is 20 milligrams three times daily of the activated P-5-P form of B6."
Please go here for the full article.
_______________________
Gary comments:

When magnesium deficiency exists, excessive quantities of calcium can build up in soft tissues such as tendons and ligaments. Painful bursitis is caused by the same mechanism. I believe this process is also the main driver behind Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

These conditions usually respond well to magnesium supplementation. Vitamin B6 works with magnesium to prevent these accretions of calcium.

This explains why B6 works for cases of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. And why it works even better when combined with magnesium.

This nutrition therapy works even better when it is combined with weekly deep tissue massaging of the affected areas.

Diagram to left: Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis of an exhausted person who is prone to calcification of soft tissues due to an excess of calcium relative to magnesium.

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Children Who Often Drink Full-fat Milk Weigh Less, Swedish Research Finds

ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2009) — "Eight-year-old children who drink full-fat milk every day have a lower BMI than those who seldom drink milk. This is not the case for children who often drink medium-fat or low-fat milk. This is one conclusion of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

The study showed that children who drink full-fat milk every day weigh on average just over 4 kg less."
____________________________
Gary comments:
Our family has been drinking full cream raw milk for the last couple of years. My body fat has decreased from about 17% to 12%, My partner, Alofa, is 18% fat which is remarkable for a 44yr old Samoan woman and our child, Alama, is all lean muscle and nothing else.

Despite this increase in fat in our diet, my cholesterol levels have dropped a little. This is the first drop in over 20 years of monitoring my cholesterol levels.

At the same time, there has been a substantial improvement in my cardiovascular performance as a runner and a cyclist.

Of course, we have done many practical measures to improve our family's health in addition to switching to raw milk.

Our personal experience is that that raw full cream milk leaves one far more satisfied for longer, meaning we probably eat a little less overall. The raw milk is a complete food that is rich in many of the nutrients that are absent or lacking in the modern diet, such as the fat soluble vitamins - including vitamin D.

We get our raw milk direct from a farmer under the arrangement of a "Cow Share" agreement by which we pay the farmer to look after our cow which produces milk for our consumption. If you do not have access to this kind of resource, then the next best thing is to purchase only the silver top milk from your supermarket.

Feed your children real NZ butter and shun the maragrines, including the ones that come with heart health claims.

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Cancer Breakthrough with Spontaneous Remission

Cancer Breakthrough with Spontaneous Remission
by Jeffrey Dach MD

Injecting cancer into mice is a major activity at Wake Forest Medical School in North Carolina, keeping students busy with many publications over the years. Injecting the cancer cells prompty kills the mouse, but first, the mouse makes fluid in the abdomen, also called ascites.

Image: Lab Mice courtesy of wikimedia commons.

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind - Luis Pasteur

Then one day, a medical student injected a mouse and noticed something strange happened. What happened? Nothing. The mouse didn't get cancer, and no fluid in the abdomen. The first mouse that could kill cancer was discovered.

Spontaneous Regression of Cancer in the Mouse

Once identified as a "cancer killing" mouse, the little furry fellow was earmarked for study. These were exciting times in the lab. Researchers in the lab asked some urgent questions. Why didn't this mouse get cancer and ascites like all the others? How was this mouse able to resist injected cancer cells? What was the mechanism for the rejection of the cancer cells?

Over the next 3 years, research studies showed these mice are immune to cancer, a trait innate to this SR/CR strain.

Please go here for the full article for Dr Dach.

______________________________________

Gary Moller comments:

Dr Dach has to be one of the most interesting and insightful medical commentators around.

He refers to Interleukin 2 (IL-2). While I can not offer exactly what he is referring to, I have Brauer IL-2 here in homeopathic doses. It is completely safe to administer to even very sick people - because it is merely a signaling device. Please refer here for more information about IL-2. The person takes several drops per day. It does not replace medical treatment; at the same time it will not interfere with any treatment - it is complementary.

If anybody is interested in a course of IL-2, please write to me here. Depending on need, it may be best combined with Reparen.

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Is the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis an accurate measure of heavy metal contamination?

The Lead Group of Australia has said that the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis is not reliable as a measure of heavy metal contamination, such as lead. Is this true?

Also, is it better to use aggressive methods like EDTA chelation to remove heavy metals from the body?

___________________________

Gary comments:

Here is the link to the article concerned. Please read it then come back to this article.

The first comment about the Lead Group's advice is that it is far too dated: Hair testing technologies have made enormous advances since 1990.

When it comes to shifting heavy metals like mercury, cadmium, lead and uranium, I would always be inclined to stick to the conservative, tried and proven methods (antagonistic minerals and vitamins) for several months and then repeat the testing.

You do not want to aggressively shift sequestered heavy metals into the circulation too quick. It is safest to shift them very slowly using minerals and vitamins that neutralise their effects.

It is sad that the Lead Group have adopted a negative stance over the HTMA test when it is scientifically robust and when there is such a huge problem in Australia with heavy metal contamination. It would be very interesting to find out all the connections of the various experts and finding sources of this volunteer group. Is the negative stance to the HTMA because this test will show the full extent of contamination and lead to an explosion of compensation law suits? Better that big industry keeps the lid on it and one way to do this is to discredit valid forensic testing tools that can show evidence of harmful contamination long ago.

A blood test is useful only in that it will show recent exposure and/or recent mobilisation from tissue such as fat and bone. A blood test will not show historic contamination - the HTMA will show contamination even decades ago.

When reviewing numerous HTMAs there are common patterns of contamination within industry by type. I need no more than this consistent pattern to be convinced that the test is accurate.

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A marathon runner with a pelvis stress fracture

Hi Gary

I have been diagnosed with a stress fracture in my inferior pubic ramus. I am not having any treatment. I was simply told to rest.
I got the fracture approximately 5 weeks ago whilst training for the Auckland marathon and am now taking flax seed oil (omega 3) and Glucosomine Chondroitin.

And here is what I have had to eat in the last 24 hours:
Handful of almonds x2
Lamb curry with rice
Apple
Chi
Water x 6
Rice bubbles with banana and skim milk
Coffee
Tuna sushi
Coke zero

Regards T

__________________________________

Gary responds:

This kind of injury happens when the normal biological responses to stress fail to keep up. In the

case of bone, special cells are stimulated to first remove the bone damaged during exercise. These are called "osteoclasts". Other cells get to work producing new and stronger bone to replace that which was damaged earlier on. These cells are called "osteoblasts". A healthy response to exercise stress is complete in just a couple of days - hence the wisdom of training hard only every 2nd or 3rd day - not every day. Running is particularly hard on the skeleton.

For these cells to do their work, they rely on a rich and continuous supply of minerals, fats and proteins. If just one of dozens and dozens of nutrients are in short supply, the end result is an incomplete and weak job. If there is also inadequate rest of a day or two between workouts, the strengthening response to a workout may further be compromised. In this case, the consequence is a stress fracture.

Two terms worthy of understanding are:

Catabolism

The process by which tissue is broken down in the body.

Anabolism

The process by which tissue is built within the body.

Please go here for marathon training advice including more about these terms.

Here is an article I wrote earlier about stress fractures.

In T's case, rest alone is not nearly enough to ensure she makes a full and final recovery and able to resume training pain free and with vigour. Toni's diet is one that is actually conducive to catabolism, including bone breakdown. It will not aid the process of healing that is necessary to be completed well before any attempt is made to resume running. Let me explain why:

• Even bearing in mind she is resting at the moment, the total calories in her diet are far too low for anybody attempting training for a marathon. This daily total is about what my 50kg partner, Alofa, will eat in a single meal. A calorie and nutrient poor diet will lead to a state of ongoing lean tissue catabolism.
• The total protein is inadequate for bone health and clumped into two lots over 24 hours. She needs more protein spread in small lots over the day.
• While there may be a little fat in the lamb curry, there is woefully little in the way of fats and oils. The body must have a wide variety of fatty acids to be healthy. In her case, fats should make up about 40% of her total calories.
• There appear to be no unprocessed carbohydrates. Rice bubbles and white rice are barely different from eating plain sugar and have no appreciable nutritional merits. They are best left out. The diet requires a generous intake of carbohydrates from sources like taro, kumara, pumpkin, lentils, hummus, chick peas, whole grains, lightly cooked carrots and so on.
• While there may be a little minerals in the lamb, the almonds and the sushi, this is just not enough for even the most sedentary person to survive on. She needs to ensure every food that enters her mouth is rich in minerals and other nutrients - such as the foods mentioned in the above bullet point.
• Skim milk has no nutritonal merits worthy of mention and best replaced with highly nutritious full cream, non-homogenised silver top milk.
• Unless she is working in an industrial boiler room, there is too much water from all sources in this diet and may lead to flushing precious minerals out of an already depleted body. It is a commercially driven myth that one must drink beyond the signals of thirst in order to be healthy (This is called "brain-washing"). More people die nowadays in sports events from too much water than from too little. In fact I can not recall a single case of a person dying of dehydration during a sports event. Please read this to understand why drinking water can be harmful to your health.
• Coke and coffee are acidic and by this fact alone are mineral robbers. Minerals like magnesium, calcium and zinc are drawn out of the tissues to neutralise the acid found in these drinks. They have no place in an athlete's, diet, let alone one recovering from a stress fracture. Please read this article here. While coffee is not all that bad, coke sure is alongwith horrible drinks like Powerade. These also rot your teeth out. These drinks are best replaced by a good mineral water (tap water for example) and only drinking as required as per the guidelines in the articles linked above.

Action to take to assist bone healing

Your inquiry is timely, T. I have just returned from another Practitioner's course that

covered this health issue and I have only just received delivery of two products from Inter

Clinical Laboratories (ICL) that will greatly assist your recovery and full return to running.

• ICL Alogotene
• ICL Reparen

Please refer to the product information pages, including the PDF files for details of their actions.

You may also need to take additional vitamin D if you are not a regular sunbather.

Additional protein can be conveniently added to the diet with whey protein if need be.

Please be guided by the advice of your doctor or therapist and the many articles and E-Books on this site about running, nutrition and injury prevention as to how and when you resume running. The Reparen and Algotene, along with the dietary changes should expedite your recovery.

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I have a bone spur and arthritis on the same toe I was operated on

Hi

I have what may be another bone spur on the same toe I was operated on; as I also have arthritis on the same toe. What therapy can I do to relieve the pain. Also is it possible for a bone spur occur again after an operation? I am also very active. And frustrated. I have recently taken up yoga. Anything you can help me with greatly appreciated. I of also thought of trying acupuncture. Any thoughts. Thx again Karen

_______________________________

Gary responds:

Karen, please bear in mind that I am making the following comments without seeing you in the flesh.

Surgery may not be the longterm solution if the original cause of the irritation that causes a bone spur has not also been removed - wearing tight shoes for example.

There is often other factors at work of the physiological kind. There may be something amiss with your body chemistry which may be causing an excessive inflammatory reaction to stress or an inability to heal quickly and completely. Your connective tissues may be getting excessively soft, thin or hard, affecting bones, tendons, ligaments.

Longterm use of medications such as those for blood pressure, steroids for asthma and arthritis and drugs to "prevent" osteoporosis must all be considered as causative factors of what you are describing.

If it is not something as obvious as shoes, these less obvious factors must be explored and addressed for other therapies, including exercise, to be effective.

I can help further if you were to complete a hair tissue analysis and supply me with a detailed health history, including medicines.

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A long and healthy life has a lot to do with balance

As we get older, balance and coordination is not as good as it was. This is most obvious when walking and when doing balancing, such as reaching up to a high shelf while teetering on a stool. Walking may be more of a shuffle than a stride and arms not swing "left-right-left" in perfect timing with the legs as before.

As we age, there is an accumulation of multiple small deficits that gradually reduce function. This deterioration of function sadly begins from about age 30 and finally finishes when we are wheeled into the morgue with a toe tag.

The better the overall health of a person, the better their balance and coordination. Balance and coordination can be measures of how fast or how slowly we age biologically. Are you a young 70 year old, or an old one?

How to assess balance

The Stork Test

Remove the shoes and place the hands on the hips, then position the non-supporting foot against the inside knee of the supporting leg. The subject is given one minute to practice the balance. The subject raises the heel to balance on the ball of the foot. The stopwatch is started as the heel is raised from the floor. The stopwatch is stopped if any of the following occur:

• the hand(s) come off the hips
• the supporting foot swivels or moves (hops) in any direction
• the non-supporting foot loses contact with the knee
• the heel of the supporting foot touches the floor

Safety: Do this test on a carpet with no obstacles nearby like a coffee table. If balance is particularly poor, then do the test alongside a grab rail, or have a strong assistant stand behind as a spotter.

Scoring: The total time in seconds is recorded. The score is the best of three attempts. The table below lists general ratings for this test.

Rating	Score (seconds)
Excellent	> 50
Good	40 - 50
Average	25- 39
Fair	10 - 24
Poor	< 10

Reference: Johnson BL, Nelson JK. Practical measurements for evaluation in physical education. 4th Edit. Minneapolis: Burgess, 1979.

Of course, excellent balance and coordination can be maintained well into old age. It is just a matter of practicing balance and coordination skills and keeping in very good health.

How to improve balance and coordination

Start each day with the Stork Test (Practice with both legs). Sign up with a dancing studio. Take up Tai Chi. Put down a length of 4x2" timber on an even surface and use it as a low level balance beam that you can walk up and down, pirouette, skip and kneel on.

Walk your way to better coordination

Easily my favourite advice for improving coordination is encouraging people to get outdoors and walk, walk, walk! If there has been any loss of balance or if the arms are not swinging with perfect timing, then there is a very simple and effective solution: Walking Poles

Walking poles give a debilitated person the confidence to walk tracks and trails without undue risk of stumbling and falling. While it may take a few lessons to get the timing going, using walking poles quickly restores and retains the "left-right-left" action and timing of the arms and legs. Without the poles it is just far too easy for the infirm person to fall back into lazy habits of shuffling the legs and dangling the arms.

Health Tip: The sooner a disease is detected, the easier it is to treat and the more likely you will fully recover. Deteriorating balance may be your earliest warning sign that something may be going wrong with your health.

Do your balance exercises daily and put the occasional stop watch on the Stork Test. If you ever notice an unexplained loss of balance, measure it, then go see your doctor and report your findings, along with any unsual symptoms such as pain, dizziness, loss of apetite or feeling unusually tired.

Updated: Are the vitamins you're taking actually making you healthier?

"Are the vitamins you're taking actually making

you healthier? Inside New Zealand: Are Vitamins Killing You?, screening on Wednesday, October 28th at 9:30pm on 3, explores this question by making eight volunteers - mostly high vitamins consumers - go cold turkey for six weeks.

Many New Zealanders believe the way to good health and longer life is through the daily use of vitamin supplements. But not everyone agrees. Professor Rod Jackson of Auckland University says the scientific evidence is clear - people who pop vitamin pills die younger.

"The best evidence is a review of over 60 randomised trials of almost a quarter of a million people worldwide - and the evidence is that those who take vitamins have an increased risk of death compared to those who don't," Professor Jackson explains."

___________________________

Gary Moller comments:

I totally agree that taking megadoses ofvitamins; especially where the individual need is not established is wrong and has the potential to cause illness.

However: The study Professor Rod Jackson refers to is flawed and since been widely discredited.

"The problem is that this JAMA article was a flawed hatchet job not worth the paper it was written on. Out of 748 vitamin studies, the researchers selected only 67 focusing on high dose synthetic vitamins, and excluded all the others showing benefit. This called selective sampling."

Here is the best explanation I have read of why this study is rubbish :

http://jeffreydach.com/2007/05/05/vitaminsjeffrey-dachdrdach.aspx.

And here is the same author, Dr Dach, explaining Natural Medicine 101:

http://jeffreydach.com/2009/02/11/natural-medicine-101-by-jeffrey-dach-md.aspx

Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids and more are essential for life, including preventing and combating disease. Where there is an identified deficiency, then supplementing with those items that are deficient to bring these levels to their optimum balance is totally justified.

However; taking additional vitamins and minerals where no deficiency is identified is not justified and may contribute to relative imbalances alongside other nutrients.

I hope that Professor Jackson and other experts who are going to be in the series explain this and do not use the series as little more than an opportunity to bag the natural health industry. I hope they explain that vitamins and minerals do promote good health, combat disease and prolong life and its quality - where their need is identified.

I hope they explain there is a health difference between many natural vitamins and their synthetic counterparts. I do agree that megadosing on any vitamin where there is no need is not a healthy practice; especially if the vitamins are synthetic.

I dispense vitamins and minerals to promote health and well-being but do so on the basis of evidence of need. The most robust forensic tool is the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) for determining what foods to favour, those to avoid and, also, which vitamins and minerals to take and which to avoid. This can be ordered through me and I will send you details.

_______________________

28th October 2009

Well, the programme aired last night. I was very disappointed with many aspects of it. To view the programme in full, please click here and please read the comments below about the programme.

There was fearmongering by calling vitamins dangerous. So, taking vitamins is as dangerous as passive smoking! You have to be kidding! There has not been a single death in New Zealand from vitamin overdose.

There was no distinction made of the differences between synthetic vitamins and their natural counterparts. They did not tell us that we can safely prescribe natural dietary beta-carotene which is a powerful anti-oxidant that also provides provitamin A that is converted into vitamin A in the body as required.

They did not help the subjects in the programme other than to tell them not to take vitamins and to eat a balanced diet. It was obvious from the body language of the participants that most of them were unconvinced. The least the two medical experts could have done is to use their access to testing services and nutritional expertise to assist them with working out the most proactive nutrition programme for each individual's actual needs.

Sadly, both of the experts, including the epidemiologist Professor Jackson, lacked the most essential ingredient: Training in Human Nutrition, beyond the little that is taught while at Medical School. What is formally learned is heavily influenced by the most influential "other" in medicine - the pharmaceutical industry which would love to see vitamins dispensed by prescription only. Was this the real purpose of the programme: A cynical softening up of the public for the crushing of the Natural Health industry? I think that may be going too far; but there are people on both sides of the argument who sincerely think this is happening!

All-in-all, the programme was rubbish.

I would much rather have seen a programme that does some proper testing, including blood tests and a HTMA for:

• An osteoporotic woman, then weans her off her osteoporosis drugs, then follows her progress on a tailored natural health intervention.
• A middle age man with high cholesterol, weans him off his drugs and sets about correcting his health issues with the help of natural therapies.

We could do the same for say, a child with ADD or autism. Or how about attempting to reverse Type II diabetes?

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I have added exciting new functionality: Google Site Search

Go ahead: Give Site Search a go!

Try "achilles pain" or "recovery stack", or "why do tendons turn to bone", or how about "libido" for that matter?

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