BIOTIN

Biotin is a member of the B family of vitamins. Functions: vital for a healthy immune system • involved in a wide variety of metabolic reactions in the body • necessary for maintenance of healthy skin, hair, nerves, bone marrow and sex glands • plays a role in extracting energy from carbohydrates, fat and protein.

Deficiency signs and symptoms: depression • skin inflammations • nausea and loss of appetite • vomiting • chest and muscle pain • increased cholesterol levels • blood sugar irregularities • deficiencies in the manufacture of protein • extreme exhaustion • hair loss • dermatitis • paleness and smoothness of the tongue.

Biotin’s enemies: alcohol • food processing • excessive boiling of food.

CHOLINE

Choline is an unofficial member of the B family of vitamins. Because it can be synthesized in the liver, it is not regarded as a true vitamin.

Functions: associated with the utilization of fat and cholesterol

• important for the maintenance and health of the nerve cover (myelin) • essential for transmission of nerve impulses • necessary for the formation of lecithin and the production of acetyle-choline, (a neurotransmitter) • helps prevent accumulation of fats in the liver and other organs.

Deficiency signs and symptoms: liver problems and hardening of the arteries • choline deficiency may be a factor in Alzheimer’s disease, nerve degeneration, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, stroke and immune-system problems. Choline’s enemies: food processing • excessive boiling of food• alcohol.

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As soon as you’ve completed your relaxation exercise, move right into meditation. You’re totally relaxed. Keep your eyes closed. Silently, to yourself, begin saying “one” over and over again. Say it slowly. If you can sense your heartbeat, say “one” in time with your heart. If not, say it slowly, over and over again.

Now see the numeral “1″ in your mind’s eye. See it and say it silently, slowly, over and over. Don’t count the number of times you say “one.” Just keep seeing and saying it. If you get tired of the number “1,” switch over to the word “one.” See the three letters, “o,” “n” and “e” in your mind’s eye.

If your mind begins to wander, if you start thinking about work or supper, gently bring your attention back to “one.”

If you can, see the “one” in color. See it in soft blue in your mind’s eye. See it in green, the green of trees in the woods. (When you can see it in color, or against a background, you know you’re doing something powerful with your mind.)

Keep seeing and saying “one” until you feel it’s time to stop. Don’t set an alarm to go off at a certain time. You’ll know when the session should end. Ten or fifteen minutes for the entire relaxation-meditation session should be enough, but no more than 20 minutes.

When you’re finished, slowly open your eyes. Sit quietly for a few moments, then rise and go about your business.

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OAT BRAN

A bowl of oat bran in the morning is a great way to start the day. You get fiber and complex carbohydrates, plus oat bran’s anti-cholesterol power. You can eat oat bran by itself, or mixed with oatmeal or other grains. I like a mixture of oat bran and Scottish oats, seasoned with a little cinnamon powder. Sometimes I add just a little apple juice for a different taste.

To cook oat bran, bring 1 cup of water to a boil, stir in 1/2 cup of*oat bran. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or to taste. Stir occasionally, watch closely and add water if necessary.

OATMEAL

Like oat bran, oatmeal is great by itself or mixed with other grains. Use old-fashioned oats or raw oats from a health food store. Stay away from precooked oats. Experiment with the different varieties of oatmeal and find the one you like best. To cook oatmeal, bring 1 cup of water to a boil, stir in 1/2 cup of oatmeal. Cook over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or to taste. Stir occasionally, and add water if necessary. If you like a dryer, firmer oatmeal, cook for just a few minutes over a higher heat, stirring frequently. If you like a more souplike oatmeal, use more water and cook longer. Try mixing your oatmeal with cornmeal or couscous.

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I’ve used a Super Food diet as the basis of treatment for many of my patients. One woman, Sharon R., had a 20-year history of headaches. These were painful attacks on one side of her head; pounding pain accompanied by nausea and made worse by lights.

She showed me a long list of the drugs she had tried. There was aspirin, acetaminophen, codeine, Darvon and Ibuprofen. She had been put on a beta-blocker medication (Proprandol), an antidepressant and, most recently, a calcium-channel blocker (Verapamil). All these medications helped a bit but were hardly worth the side effects they caused.

After performing a thorough physical examination, ordering appropriate laboratory tests and taking a medical and personal history to rule out disease, I persuaded her to slowly reduce, then eliminate, her medications and change from her junk-food diet to a Super Food diet. Be sure to eat plenty of carrots, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, parsley, lentils and whole grains, I told her.

She did as I instructed—up to a point. She ate all the Super Foods I recommended and her favorite candy bars, which she insisted she could not do without. But as the days passed and she noticed that her headaches were fewer and milder, she realized that they were a reaction to the additives and sugar she was used to eating. Determined never to have another of those terrible headaches, she got rid of the candy and stuck to the Super Food diet. In the months since then, her headaches have disappeared and, as a bonus, she feels healthier and more energetic than she has in years. Oh yes, she doesn’t crave candy bars anymore.

Bernice F. is another Super Food success story. She was a beautiful woman with clear, shiny skin that literally radiated health. Then she got a job as a representative for a major pharmaceutical company. Flying from city to city to put on trade conventions and meet with doctors, she ate nothing but bad hotel and restaurant food. Her diet was filled with processed foods, fatty foods, sugars and additives. Her skin became dry, and the beautiful complexion that had stopped men dead in their tracks was now pale and thick. She complained also of not being able to see well in dim light. “I must be aging,” she sighed. Aging? She was only in her late 30′s “What new drug will help my skin, Dr. Fox?” she asked.

I told her she didn’t need drugs, she needed carrots. She had the classic signs and symptoms of a vitamin A deficiency. But you don’t need vitamin A supplements, I said. Instead, eat lots of carrots, broccoli, spinach, cantaloupes and other Super Foods rich in beta carotene. Your body will convert into vitamin A exactly as much of the beta carotene as it needs.

Bernice still travels a lot, but now she stops at a market on her way from the airport to her hotel. She buys a small bag of fresh carrots and other Super Foods, which she has the hotel keep in their refrigerator for her. And she makes it a point to eat at least two carrots a day, plus as many other Super Foods as possible. Her skin has cleared up, her eyesight has returned to normal, and she’s proud of the way she takes care of her “doctor within.”

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It is advisable to take only a light meal at night and refrain from eating any hard-to-digest foods in order to ensure a good night’s rest. We recommend some fruit and wholegrain or wholemeal bread, spread with butter or vegetable margarine, and a cup of Bambu Coffee. The fruit may be in a dish of muesli, or served as a fruit salad made with fresh fruit only. Fruit as a diet food has to be fresh, so that you will have to limit your choice to the varieties that are in season.

If vegetables rather than fruit are preferred, make a dish of cold buckwheat gruel (see below) and serve with any salad as an evening meal. Or in lieu of that, make some fresh vegetable soup accompanied by wholemeal sandwiches and a mixed salad.

In order to avoid flatulence, it is best to avoid eating vegetables and fruit at the same meal. If you did not know about this, it may be difficult to change your habits. But observing this rule is worthwhile, because your digestion will improve, gastric disturbances will disappear and your body’s energy reserves will last longer.

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

Do you have cracks in the corners of your mouth that never quite seem to heal? You apply Vaseline, lip balm, and maybe even an over-the-counter bacitracin ointment, but nothing seems to help.

This annoying problem is called angular cheilitis, or perleche, and is caused by any one of a number of underlying conditions. The most common cause is dentures that no longer fit properly. When this happens, your bite is naturally altered, and the dentutes may rub against the insides of your mouth, causing irritation and sores in the corners of your mouth that never totally disappear.

Another less common cause of angular cheilitis is a vitamin B deficiency. Do you eat a lot of refined foods made with white flour and other processed grains? If you have cracks in the corners of your mouth and you don’t wear dentures and your bite hasn’t changed recently, you may need to eat more foods that are rich in vitamin B (see page 149), as well as taking a vitamin B supplement.

Treatment

Cracks in the corners of your mouth are relatively simple to treat; all you have to do is address the underlying cause.

If you believe that poorly fitting dentures are the cause of your cheilitis, you should visit your dentist, who will make the necessary adjustments in your dental appliance. After wearing the newly adjusted denture for a few days, the cracks in the corners of your mouth should disappear.

If you don’t wear dentures, and you know that your diet is low in vitamin B, you can start to cure the cracks in the corners of your mouth by eating whole-grain breads and cereals instead of refined ones. It’s also a good idea to take a B-complex vitamin supplement, which will quickly help clear up the cracks.

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

Small children are no strangers to the pain of ear infections, which can cause the ear to feel very full, but adults in midlife years and older can get them, too, though they tend to occur less often. Ear infections are sometimes accompanied by pain and fever.

If you suddenly lose some of your ability to hear and also have a fever and an earache, and/or you feel nauseous, you probably have an ear infection known as otitis media. You may also feel dizzy and be aware of a faint buzzing in your ears.

There are four kinds of otitis media, which range from mild to severe. In serous otitis media, fluid is present in the middle ear, while in otitis media with effusion, fluid also collects in the middle ear but is accompanied by an infection. Secretory otitis media alters the cells that line the middle ear so that the trapped fluid thickens and oozes from the ear. In acute purulent otitis media, pus accumulates in the middle ear, making it the most dangerous type of ear infection since the pus can build up enough pressure to burst the eardrum.

Treatment

Since it’s difficult to know which of the four types of otitis media you have, it’s important to see your physician whenever you have an ear infection. She will probably prescribe a decongestant such as Seldane, Claritin, or Hismanal for you to take for two weeks or longer, which will help to unclog the middle ear. She may also prescribe an antibiotic such as penicillin or Keflex when an infection is present. An untreated infection can lead to a chronic ear infection, which, in some cases, can lead to permanent hearing loss.

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

If you suddenly lose all or part of your ability to see on one side of your entire field of vision, and if your eyesight decreases markedly over the course of only a couple of hours, you must see your doctor immediately because this is a sign of a stroke.

A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident, occurs when the flow of blood to the brain is interrupted, even for as little as a minute. A stroke can be due to several different types of blockage. In one type of stroke, called a cerebral thrombosis, the arteries that supply blood to the brain have become lined with plaque (this is known as arteriosclerosis). A blood clot may form where the plaque lines the artery and eventually block the flow of blood to the brain. In a cerebral embolism, a blood clot or a small piece of plaque or arterial wall from another part of the body breaks off and travels through the arteries until it lodges in an artery, creating a blockage. Another type of stroke is a cerebral hemorrhage, in which the affected artery starts to leak or ruptures and blood flows into the brain. The accumulation of blood can then create pressure on the parts of the brain in which it masses and clots, cutting off the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. If your loss of vision is accompanied by a severe headache, you have probably had a cerebral hemorrhage.

The loss of vision symptoms for all three types of stroke are similar, except that a cerebral hemorrhage usually causes more damage and is more often fatal than the other two are.

Stroke is most common in men and women over 60, but men are more prone to stroke and die more frequently from it. About one third of all strokes are fatal, while another third leave the person with permanent damage. Nevertheless, one third of all stroke victims suffer no permanent damage at all. If you fall into this last category, you may have had a transient ischemia attack, or TIA, which is a mild form of stroke in which the blockage and impaired vision last less than 24 hours. With a cerebral thrombosis or cerebral embolism, the symptoms tend to be permanent.

If you have had a TIA, you should begin treatment for arteriosclerosis immediately, since a TIA is an indication that you will probably have another stroke—perhaps a more serious one the next time around.

Treatment

If you have experienced a sudden loss of vision due to a stroke, your doctor will administer a series of tests in order to make a positive diagnosis. These may include an electrocardiogram, X rays, and possibly a CAT scan to determine which parts of the brain have been injured. To reduce the risk of a TIA or stroke recurring, your doctor will prescribe medication that will help control your high blood pressure, a daily dose of aspirin, which serves as an anticoagulant and discourages future clots from forming, and a low-salt and low-fat diet, which will also help lower your blood pressure.

Your vision will probably return to normal after a TIA; with a cerebral thrombosis or embolism, the damage may be permanent.

In some cases, surgery to remove arterial plaque may be necessary.

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

We are all affected by blurred vision at one time or another. Fatigue, poor light, and alcohol can all make it difficult to focus clearly. And when you wear eyeglasses or contacts and it’s time for a stronger prescription, your vision may be blurred more frequently.

If objects occasionally appear blurry to you and your eyesight is otherwise good, whether it’s corrected by lenses or not, the condition is usually temporary and easy to treat. Blurriness is usually due to changes in the pupil, the part of the eye that is the first to react when our line of vision changes in some way.

The pupil is a black disk in the center of the colored part of the eye, which is called the iris. The pupil’s function is to regulate the amount of light that enters the eye, and it is controlled by involuntary muscles that respond to stimuli. Around the age of 50, as is true of many other parts of your body, the pupil’s reflexes start to decrease somewhat; it may take just a bit longer for the pupil to dilate or contract in response to the amount of light it can detect. This slowed reaction due to aging is a given, and there’s nothing you can do to improve it. The pupil can also become wider or more narrow in response to certain medications, such as atropine, which is prescribed to calm an irritable or spastic bowel, pilocarpine, or cocaine, as well as when you’re physically or mentally excited.

With many of the problems that occur in the eye, blurred vision is one of several symptoms including headache, dizziness, and bright flashes of light. However, if blurred vision appears by itself slowly over time with no other symptoms, the problem is usually easy to fix. The solution will probably lie in your glasses or contact lenses.

Treatment

The first thing to do if your vision is blurry is to check your glasses or contacts to see if they’re dirty or smeared. Frequently, blurred vision is caused by a problem with your corrective lenses, whether they’ve been scratched or just need cleaning. If you’ve worn the same nondis-posable pair of contact lenses for more than a year, the protein buildup on the lenses can be so extensive that even the recommended weekly enzyme cleaners won’t remove it. Sometimes a slight tear in a contact lens can also cause blurred vision, so it’s a good idea to check for this as well.

If you wear glasses, examine the lenses for scratches. Even scratch-resistant lenses can become marred.

After you clean your glasses or contact lenses thoroughly, your vision should be crystal clear. If, however, your vision is still blurry, see your eye doctor. All you may need is a stronger prescription.

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TREATMENT

No matter what the cause, damage to the cornea can be healed within a few days with proper treatment. If the culprit is a scratcl or injury by a foreign particle or a bacterial infection, your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic ointment such as Cortisporin or gen tamicin ointment for you to use two or three times daily for a few days until the injury heals. When the herpes simplex virus is the cause, your physician may prescribe a special antiviral medication such as Zovirax to apply topically in either eyedrops or ointment.

If a corneal ulcer or infection is caused by a fungus, the ulcer is usually invisible to the eye, but it will be painful. If this happens, your doc tor will recommend an antifungal medication, though a fungal infection can be stubborn and may reappear in the future.

Regardless of what caused the damage to your cornea, you should take care never to touch your eyes while they’re healing, as foreign matter or a new bacterial, fungal, or viral strain can be introduced very easily, prolonging the corneal infection.

Tips and Precautions

Whenever you have an eye infection, you should be careful to follow this advice:

1. Never use eyedrops or ointments from a previous infection.

2. .Wash your hands frequently, especially after you touch your eye.

3. Take a break from wearing contact lenses until your doctor tells you otherwise.

4. When you do have to touch the infected eye, don’t touch the other one, as this can easily spread the infection.

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