How Do We Undo The Obesity Epidemic? The Australian Solution.

Fat, Sick & Nearly DeadIt's hard to make weight loss into a movie, and it's harder to make it inspiring without a hard sell approach.  I was impressed by Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  Unlike almost any weight loss program I've seen, it really is about people getting well without any money in it for the producer. 

The movie is available at Netflix streaming, but you could also get a copy (so you can hand it to your relatives where it will sit on the shelf gathering dust until they have heart attacks like Bear in the movie did). 

If anyone is looking for someone to monitor the fast and do blood work, this is one I can get behind.  It's not permanent, but it is sustainable over time, and it's based on fruits and vegetables.
You can just look at the diet, but I'd watch the movie.  It's not often you see a trucker become an actor and make the transition gracefully. 

Why We Get Fat: It's the Carbs or our Genotype?

Gary Taubes has a new book that explains why we get fat.  Guess what?  It has nothing to do with calories.  Well, it does to some extent, but what should be obvious from the title of his previous work is that all calories are not equal.
So Taubes sets out to convince that calories alone do not explain our weight gain.  Then he progresses on to basically say:  meat is good.  Carbs are bad.  The first part is great the second part has yet to be proven (NY Times reviewer agrees.)

Ok, I'm already convinced that calories don't work.  But I'll also say that low carb is effective for only some people.  Yes, it is an answer for a very select subsection of the population.  But the rest of us do not need a blanket prescription for low carb.  We need to look at individual variation in food choices. 

The D'Adamos had at least a little variety, although they based it all on blood type, which is only one factor in individual makeup.  Now Peter D'Adamo has moved on to genotyping the diet, which is really cool and hopefully leads to more options.  But it isn't the genes, it's the histones.  They determine the activation of the genes.  So maybe I'll get a jump on everyone and start promoting the Histone Diet (patent pending).  Watch for it!  

By the way, Taubes Good Calories book does a number on a lot of diet myths.  It just concludes the way he wants it to conclude, because we don't have the perfect diet data yet. 

Allergies

The application of sublingual desensitization is a necessary part of any allergy therapy.  We aren't supposed to be allergic to everything.  Check out http://www.maloneymedical.com/ under the What Do I Treat? page.  I just added a page on allergies.

Christopher Maloney, Naturopathic Doctor

We're linked up on my alternative health page!  For those who want the complete set of links, go to:  http://www.maloneymedical.com/ under other websites. 

A Naturopath's friend. The old Merck.

Every time they call alternative medicine old fashioned, pull out a copy of the original Merck manual and read about M.D.s dosing patients with arsenic.  We've come so far? Today we use methotrexate to treat RA, a disease caused by a bacteria.

Stress release, escape to another world.

While implausible, Lost in Austen was tolerable and interesting in its explorations of modern and Victorian life.  For Austen fans only.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The Alchemist reminded me of this earlier work, which is better as a book than as a movie.  That is saying a lot, since the movie is very hot, but you can't translate the sense of the book's ethereal nature into a movie.  The movie is a tragedy, but the book somehow avoids that sense. 

The Alchemist

I picked this up at a friend's parent's camp house and read it cover to cover in four hours.  It isn't so much the ideas as the images that he manages to insert into your consciousness without you being fully aware of it.  I've read everything? he's written that has been translated.  Good, thoughtful material, but his most recent didn't resonate as much as his earlier books.

Four Hour Workweek

When you look at this book, it seems so shallow.  A twenty something has figured out how to outsource his supplement business.  Now he's selling a book.  But have a look at the last chapters (not the blog additions).  He has some good points and makes anyone taking the "safe" path to retirement think (if the financial crisis hadn't already done that for you).

Mercola's Journey

If you look at Mercola's journey, he has moved from conventional to unconventional medicine for the sake of his patients.  Mercola's discussion of his journey.  So many doctors haven't taken the time to examine not just how they practice, but the overall picture of how to truly get their patients well.

Overcoming Underearning

One of the hardest things about alternative health is the fact you need to pay out of pocket.  It does motivate patients to engage fully in their own healing.  In my experience, alternative health patients are often the martyrs in their social group, outperforming and underearning their coworkers. 

Barbara Stanny's book gives a wonderful look at the steps necessary to move from being blocked and underpaid to being assertive and paid what you are worth. 

Natural Treatment Therapies

As patients ask me, I will post various answers to their queries here to help everyone live healthier lives.