Category: Integrative Healthcare

Did you know that the overproduction of cortisol, triggered by your body’s stress response, can lead to adrenal burnout, memory loss, and aging?

One of the most insidious consequences of silent inflammation is the chronic increase in the hormone cortisol levels that it causes, and there is no way you can be in a state of wellness if your cortisol levels are too high. You may be asking yourself, what on earth is silent inflammation? Even more perplexing, how can inflammation be silent? Silent inflammation is simply inflammation that falls below the threshold of perceived pain. That’s what makes it so dangerous. You don’t take any steps to stop it as it smolders for years, if not decades, eventually erupting into what we call chronic disease.

Silent inflammation is a direct result of excess production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. In an effort to shut down these eicosanoids, your body’s primary hormonal defense mechanism is to secrete more cortisol. Unfortunately, cortisol is too powerful for its own good. It not only shuts down “bad,” pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, but it also shuts down the “good,” anti-inflammatory ones as well. That might be OK, if the damage stopped there; but it’s only the beginning of the collateral hormonal damage caused by excess cortisol.

Cortisol is produced by your body in response to long-term stress. When you are under any type of stress—whether physical or emotional—your body pumps out cortisol in an attempt to shut off the production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. Stress is defined as disruption to your body’s normal equilibrium. It might be due to an acute injury, chronic disease, excess exercise, changes in temperature or humidity, lack of sleep, or chronic anxiety. Whatever the cause, at the molecular level, the end result is the increase in silent inflammation.

We often think of cortisol as a stress hormone but, in reality, it is an anti-stress hormone whose job is to deal with the inflammatory responses that chronic stress is taking on your body. It is meant to be a short-term response to stress, and it works quite well in this capacity. The hormonal mechanism that evolved for cortisol was never intended to handle long-term stress coming from silent inflammation. Cortisol was meant to shut down the immune system after we recovered from a short-term, though potentially deadly, infectious disease or a fear of being eaten by a wild animal.

But what happens if you have high levels of silent inflammation on a long-term basis? In an attempt to shut down this silent inflammation, your body pumps out more and more cortisol, keeping its levels chronically elevated. Chronically high cortisol can lead to a host of health ills, from insulin resistance, to nerve cell death, to a depressed immune system. As a result, you gain weight, lose your intellectual potential, and become predisposed to illness.

While it’s true that we have far fewer threats to our lives these days, we tend to have more lifelong problems, such as stressful jobs, chronic health conditions, and mood disorders. The result is a hormonal mess for many of us.

Cortisol output is normally governed by our circadian rhythms. Levels are at their lowest between midnight and 2 A.M. and slowly begin to rise to awaken us out of sleep. They peak between 6 and 8 A.M., and then gradually decrease throughout the day, dropping off to their lowest point during sleep. That is, of course, if you have no extra stress to muck things up.

Far too often, though, you have a stressful blip that disturbs this cycle. Usually, cortisol production shifts back in gear after you get past that blip. But, if you have certain bad habits in your lifestyle on a permanent basis, you might have chronically high cortisol levels. These bad habits include:

• Prolonged or intense exercise
• Stuffing yourself with large meals
• Skipping meals
• Excess intake of stimulants, such as caffeine
• Being overweight
• Low blood sugar from a very low-carbohydrate diet

The Dangers of Excess Cortisol

Increased cortisol sends a signal to your body that it needs to prepare for a possible flight from danger. This triggers an immediate breakdown of muscle to make more blood glucose (neo-glucogenesis). To prevent non-essential organs in the body from using this precious blood glucose, a transient insulin resistance develops with a corresponding rise in insulin levels in the blood stream.

Constant stress means constant secretion of cortisol. As your body adapts to chronic stress, you become hyperinsulinemic, thereby creating more visceral fat. This fuels a new round of cortisol secretion, and the end result is you get fatter (especially in the abdominal region) and wind up with chronic silent inflammation.

As your body keeps producing excess cortisol, it cuts back on its production of other hormones, such as testosterone. Without adequate levels of testosterone, it is impossible to maintain, let alone build, muscle. Making matters worse, a deficiency in testosterone dampens libido (in both men and women) so that sex becomes far less enticing. Excess cortisol also destroys your short-term memory, which makes sense in times of acute stress (like combat, severe accidents, or physical abuse) because it allows you to repress very tragic events. Under long-term mild stress, however, this short-term memory loss is far more problematic and can lead to a decreased ability to recall a wide number of memories, including pleasant ones.

Like insulin, cortisol levels tend to increase naturally in our bodies as we age. But this increase occurs in a unique way. As I have mentioned, the normal circadian rhythm of cortisol is for it to peak in the morning, with a sharp drop-off in the afternoon. As we get older, the increase in overall cortisol is much more gradual, because the hormone remains elevated in the evening instead of dropping sharply. As a result of this elevation, it may be more difficult to get to sleep at night, which can lead to late-night cravings, especially for carbohydrates.

Lack of sleep, itself, can have a devastating effect on cortisol. Studies show that, if you decrease your sleep from 8 hours to 6 1/2 hours per night, within a week you’ll experience a significant increase in cortisol levels and a corresponding increase in insulin levels. In addition to all the psychological stressors we have today, most of us are chronically sleep deprived. The average American clocks in only seven hours of sleep a night, down from the nine hours we were getting a century ago.

Long-Term Increased Cortisol Equals Adrenal Burnout

Producing too much cortisol for months or years can eventually lead to burnout of your adrenal glands, the glands that sit on top of your kidneys and pump out both adrenaline and cortisol. If, after being chronically overtaxed, your adrenal glands eventually fail to produce enough cortisol, then you’re in real trouble, because you no longer have your primary hormonal tool to reduce silent inflammation. This is similar to what happens to the pancreas when it continually overproduces insulin in response to continuing insulin resistance in cells. Eventually, the pancreas fails to function properly and can no longer produce enough insulin to bring down elevated blood glucose levels. The result is type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. This only accelerates the generation of silent inflammation throughout the body and rapidly increases the likelihood of heart attacks, blindness, kidney failure, and amputation. With adrenal burnout, you have no internal mechanism to stop the overproduction of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, and aging begins to accelerate.

Cortisol-Reduction Strategies

I am sure you’ve now received the message loud and clear that excess cortisol is bad. Now, what should you do about it? Since excess cortisol is caused by the excess production of “bad” pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, the best way to lower your levels is to reduce the same eicosanoids. This means the reduction of silent inflammation.

If you’re following a diet which stabilizes blood glucose levels and taking high-dose fish oil (which reduces arachidonic acid [AA] levels), you’re taking your first steps to reduce excess cortisol. By maintaining stable blood sugar and insulin levels, your body will secrete less cortisol when you’re stressed. The EPA in the fish oil reduces the production of AA, which chokes off the production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. Without these “bad” eicosanoids, your body has no reason to secrete excess cortisol. High-dose fish oil also increases the production of serotonin, the “feel-good” hormone in your brain, which allows you to adapt to stress more effectively. The stress is still there, but now the collateral damage that comes from it is significantly reduced.

Unlike our Paleolithic ancestors, we have a pretty good idea when emotional and physical stresses are coming. This gives you the opportunity to plan in advance. This is especially true with respect to your diet. If you know you’re going to be under stress, you have to double your efforts to stick to a healthy diet. This will prevent you from having the increased carbohydrate cravings that come with stress, because you’ll be keeping your insulin levels stable.

How many times in the past have you given in to cravings for high glycemic-load carbohydrates, such as candy bars, potato chips, and pizza, during stressful situations? This type of emotional eating will rapidly replenish a rapidly dropping blood glucose level caused by increased cortisol. However, this form of self-medication puts you on a vicious cycle of rapid increases in blood sugar and insulin, followed by a rapid decrease, followed by craving for more carbohydrates. The result is that your body will continue to pump out even more cortisol to try to maintain adequate blood sugar levels (by tearing down more muscle to convert into glucose) for the brain.

Trying to rigidly maintain a good diet in times of great stress is not the easiest job. Therefore, the best hormonal strategy to rapidly address a particularly stressful period is to double your usual intake of fish oil. The results will be almost immediate. Once the stress passes, you can simply go back to your standard dose of fish oil.

High-dose fish oil and a good diet remain your primary tools for combating the collateral damage induced by excess cortisol. But there also remains one other tool that has been time tested. It’s called relaxation. If you are already following stress reduction strategies, taking high-dose fish oil and maintaining a healthy diet will only enhance their effectiveness.

Dr. Barry Sears, leading authority on the dietary control of hormonal response, author of the New York Times #1 best seller, The Zone, is a former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For more information about The Zone program call 1-800-404-8171 or visit  www.drsearszonefast.com.

Some confusion exists regarding the state of the immune system in patients that enter a chiropractic office. It is commonly held that immune systems are weak and the adjustment will increase the strength of the immune system. In fact, this oversimplification is generally incorrect.

Weak immune systems lead to the opportunistic infections, as in the case of AIDS and organ transplant. Certain aspects of tumor establishment are associated with immune underactivity; however, other aspects of cancer development involve an overactive immune system. Most diseases from which we suffer are actually associated with immune over-activity, such as frank autoimmune problems like type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.1,2

Although not typically considered classic autoimmune diseases, many common conditions are associated with overactive immune systems, such as osteoarthritis, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies, asthma, psoriasis, eczema and many other conditions.1,3-5  Even cold and flu symptoms, whether caused by a virus or physical injury, are known to be due to an overactive immune system, not one that is depressed.6

Vitamin D

In recent years, there has been an explosion in vitamin D research. One of the best review articles was recently written by Alex Vasquez, DC, and his colleagues, which outlined the numerous conditions thought to be promoted by vitamin D deficiency.7  Germane to the topic of this column is that vitamin D may be the key substance that controls autoimmune expression.3

For simplicity, our T-cell population is typically divided into CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and CD4+ helper T cells. The CD8, CD4 and other CD#s, refer to surface proteins found on lymphocytes. We are going to focus herein on CD4+ cells referred to as T-helper cells.

T-helper cells are essentially in charge of modulating autoimmunity. As T-helpers mature, they can develop into one of three different types of T-helper cells, including T-helper 1 (Th1), T-helper 2 (Th2), and T-regulatory (T-regs) cells. Th1 cells release pro-inflammatory cytokines that lead to tissue damage associated with autoimmunity. Th2 cells release anti-inflammatory cytokines that balance Th1 activity, so that an appropriate immune response can occur. T-regs are responsible for maintaining self-tolerance, so that our immune system does not react against the body and drive an autoimmune condition.3

Researchers have recently determined that, with inadequate levels of vitamin D, there is an over-expression of Th1 cells and an under-expression of Th2 cells and T-regs.3 Indeed, in vivo studies in the laboratory have demonstrated that vitamin D therapy leads to a reduction in the autoimmune Th1 response and a reduction of symptoms of experimental inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.3

In a recent review by Grant and Holick,8 they presented a chart of serum vitamin D levels [25(OH)D] for subjects in Florida, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oregon, Calgary, Toronto, and Paris, France. Subjects in all locations maintained insufficient vitamin D levels throughout the year, and this is likely because of avoiding the sun. Humans are supposed to derive their vitamin D from sun exposure; there is virtually no vitamin D in natural diets.

Recommendations for sun exposure are reviewed by Grant and Holick.8 In general, the average person will generate adequate vitamin D levels if they expose their face, arms, and legs to the sun (10 A.M.-3 P.M. during spring, summer and fall) for about fifteen to thirty minutes per day. In the absence of adequate sun exposure, it is conservatively recommended that we supplement with about 1000 IU’s of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) per day.3  I, personally, take a multivitamin/mineral and when I am not getting adequate sun exposure. I supplement with an additional 1000-4000 IU of cholecalciferol per day.

Summary

Vitamin D has only recently been considered as vital for other bodily processes beyond bone health. Vitamin D may be a key factor in stabilizing our immune function. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet, also supplementing with a multi, fish oil, and ginger/tumeric seems to be the most prudent way to reduce the pro-inflammatory state that drives so many diseases.9

References
1. Haddad PS et al. Natural products, modulation of immune function and prevention of chronic diseases. Evid Based Comp Alt Med.  2005;2(4):513-20
2. Kumar et al. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease. 7th ed. New York: Elsevier; 2005:p.223
3. Cantorna MT, Mahon BD. Mounting evidence for vitamin D as an environmental factor affecting autoimmune disease prevalence. Exp Biol Med. 2004; 229:1136-42
4. Nishioka K. Autoimmune response in cartilage-derived peptides in a patient with osteoarthritis. Arth Res Ther. 2003; 6:6-7
5. Hansson GK. Immune mechanisms in atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2001; 21:1876-90
6. Maier SF, Watkins LR. Cytokines for psychologists: implications of bidirectional immune-to-brain communication for understanding behavior, mood, and cognition. Psychol Rev. 1998; 105(1):83-10
7. Vasquez A, Manso G, Cannell J. The clinical importance of vitamin D (cholecalciferol): a paradigm shift with implications for all healthcare providers. Altern Ther Health Med. 2004 Sep-Oct;10(5):28-36
8. Grant WB, Holick MF. Benefits and requirements of vitamin D for optimal health: a review. Alt Med Rev. 2005; 10:94-111
9. Seaman DR. Nutritional considerations for pain and inflammation. In Liebenson CL. Ed. Rehabilitation of the Spine: a Practitioner’s Manual. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 2006: p.728-740

Dr. Seaman is the Clinical Chiropractic Consultant for Anabolic Laboratories, one of the first supplement manufacturers to service the chiropractic profession. He is on the postgraduate faculties of several chiropractic colleges, providing nutrition seminars that focus on the needs of the chiropractic patient. He is also a faculty member at Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida, where he teaches nutrition and subluxation theories. He can be reached by e-mail at
[email protected].

 

Passive Income—Every practitioner can simply and safely offer additional services for their patients and reach out beyond the sphere of their influence within the local community into a global effectualness. By simply linking your website to a specialized homeopathic store personally designed to complement your practice, you can provide safe, all-natural products people want as a logical, economical first step for their most common everyday health issues, such as allergies, colds, flu, first aid, and stress.

A progressive homeopathic company can handle everything for you, including information and set-up on your existing website, taking the order, answering questions, shipping to the patient/customer and paying the doctor 35% of all the retail sales each month by the 15th of the following month, along with an activity report. The Passive Income Program provides many benefits to the practitioner including:

• Totally passive income flow without the investment of time, effort or money by you or your staff.

• A logical, economical, first step, safe, credible, all-natural healthcare approach people are looking for.

• No liabilities:  You should make sure the company you work with on this type of program has product liability insurance. I recommend that you check with every company you are associated with for liability coverage. I suggest $2,000,000 per incident. This way you are well protected and it is relatively risk free.

• Good PR for the practitioner demonstrating relevance to the natural thinking of the public. Approximately 70% of the public is using natural health care and paying out of pocket for it.

• Safe products with simple logical lifestyle tips your patients can follow to help correct the problem and enhance the quality of their health.

If you do not have a website, there are companies that offer basic websites at little or no charge.

You can also provide brochures to your patients for suggested natural products to consider. The brochures can have your reference referral number or prescription number so that you get credit for all your patients’ purchases.

Active Income—A progressive homeopathic company should offer the practitioner an exclusive and more extensive “for physicians use only” line of higher potency products and training to equip the doctor to more effectively address the common, chronic, resistant and recurring health problems plaguing our society. The active income approach can be applied at various level of active involvement including:

a.  A basic cookbook approach for a selective list of conditions the practitioner desires to focus on (allergies, weight control, musculoskeletal conditions, etc.).

b.  An opportunity to expand the scope of practice to the level and at the speed the practitioner desires.

c.  Full integration of a comprehensive armamentarium of products and procedures for the cutting edge practitioner as a primary adjunct to their practice.

Both Passive & Active Income— The passive income approach can also work as a prospecting for new patients seeking safer all-natural healthcare solutions for other health issues. The company should offer, to the doctors that want to take a more active role, additional web information that leads people to the practitioner for further health care services. This program can work at various levels, depending on the practitioner’s personal expertise, scope of practice and desire to see more serious and resistant health problems.

I recommend choosing a company that:

1. Knows your profession well.
2. Manufactures its own product.
3. Provides credible FDA registered products.
4. Offers ongoing education on both products and professional utilization procedures.
5. Has a time-tested track record.
6. Provides advanced professional service and support.
7. Provides complementary consultative services to the doctor.
8. Has extensive product liability insurance.
9. Is clinically based with professional practice experience.
10. Offers a cutting edge, progressive, “for professional use only,” line of exclusive products.

People are looking for practitioners that offer trusted resources for safer more natural solutions to their health issues.  Your patients will greatly appreciate the simple, safer, more practical and economical steps they can apply in the convenience and comfort of their own homes. These common sense practical services provide totally passive income and positive public relations for the doctor.

Your patients will more likely think of you first for their health care needs. For more information on these flexible programs to fit your style of practice, please contact my office at 800-543-3245.

Frank J. King Jr., N.D., D.C., is a nationally recognized researcher, author and lecturer on homeopathy, and the founder and director of King Bio Homeopathics, a registered pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Dr. King offers ongoing  CE seminars and a free copy of his turnkey procedural manual, which can be used with any homeopathic company’s product line. Call 800-543-3245, or email [email protected].

 

New contemporary applications of homeopathy are designed to immediately empower and complement every style of practice and provide to the doctor multiple streams of additional income.  The doctor can simply choose a comfortable fit for his or her practice, ranging from a very passive role requiring NO time, effort or investment, or the doctor can take an active role.

If you want to take your practice to the highest level of excitement and personal fulfillment, then the mental and emotional abilities of homeopathy in practice is for you! If you are already implementing mental and emotional techniques, the homeopathic armamentarium can greatly enhance your therapeutic ability, lessen the time and intensity of your work and simplify your practice.

Emotional maturity is one of the key components to a successful and fulfilling life. The fruits of emotional maturity include:

• The ability to positively process emotions,
• Emotional balance, stability and self-control,
• A positive self-image, inner strength and resilience,
• A positive attitude, expectation, enthusiasm and hope,
• Joy, optimism, vibrancy and contentment,
• Enhanced tolerance, cheerfulness, and light-heartedness,
• Forgiveness and greater ability to love unconditionally.

We cannot enjoy these aspects of emotional maturity without positively processing the challenges of daily life. Homeopathy can specifically equip us with the inner ability to safely and naturally process the challenges that we experience in our lives everyday.  Homeopathy can turn these mental roadblocks into opportunities to positively process, grow and develop as more effectual and successful human beings.

Traditional medical options only allow patients to recognize emotional issues but do not correct the condition. The present conventional medical methodologies try to dance with it more gracefully. In a sense, we learn to dance better with the devil. Learning to dance with a dis-ease may help us live with the condition better, but it also creates a more intimate attachment with the condition as our partner in life. The closer we attach our identity as a person with a disease, the more difficult it is to actually correct the condition.

Other medical options are psychoactive drugs or “happy pills.” This approach is being more widely applied for more instant effects on the body, at least for a while. The problem is that it has a temporary effect, until it further drains the already deficient neurotransmitters and nutrients, leaving the patient with a deeper more difficult problem. Although this approach may be helpful for a short term, the long-term effects and side effects can be devastating. The underlying causes or dysfunctions must ultimately be addressed.

Homeopathy, like chiropractic, does not attempt to temporarily manipulate the body biochemically to only alter symptomatic expressions. Homeopathy, like chiropractic, works on a higher level, bioenergetically, to correct interferences within the body that control and coordinate our normal healthy functions. Homeopathy helps correct nerve interferences throughout the brain and periphery of the body where the hands of the chiropractor cannot, thus empowering the chiropractor to be a better doctor of the whole nervous system.

Homeopathy has accumulated the most comprehensive research in the realm of natural care and cure for mental and emotional conditions. More than 200 years of very unique and complete research, called provings, are confirmed clinically for safety and efficacy. Homeopathy offers key cures to the broad arena of mental and emotional issues. In the provings, homeopaths have recorded the detailed mental and emotional issues that humans have expressed in relation to their intimate connections with the many substances in the world, in which they are so functionally networked. With this knowledge recorded in detailed texts, called Homeopathic Materia Medicas, we now have an unparalleled ability to proactively correct many emotional issues within ourselves.

Homeopathy has discovered and developed remedies for hundreds of specific emotional expressions. Although this may sound quite complex, new contemporary applications of homeopathy have categorized this once complex and elusive healing art of homeopathy into an easy to use system applying streamlined therapeutic approaches to address the greater majority of emotional issues in our society.

Now the deeper life changing effects of homeopathy can be simply applied with great success. Traditionally, in homeopathy, the mental and emotional symptoms are keynote symptoms that are measured as most important in finding the deeper acting core remedies that better help the whole person at every level of life—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because homeopathy works on the whole person, the mental and emotional remedies have been keys to not only the mental and emotional issues at hand but can commonly help correct some of the more resistant or difficult physical cases.

Although these approaches are highly effective and essential for the enhancement of our overall health potential, homeopathy, like any other form of health care, does not negate but rather assists us in our personal growth, powers of choice, responsibility, and accountability in life.

Frank J. King Jr., N.D., D.C., is a nationally recognized researcher, author and lecturer on homeopathy, and the founder and director of King Bio Homeopathics, a registered pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Dr. King offers ongoing  CE seminars and a free copy of his turnkey procedural manual, which can be used with any homeopathic company’s product line. Call 800-543-3245, or email [email protected].

After 30 years of applying nutritional therapy to over 250,000 patients, the complex dynamics of nutrition within a living being have become more apparent. In fact, patients who have applied long-term use of isolated nutrients, whether synthetic or extracted from natural sources, have been the most difficult to help.

Science has identified over 300,000 chemical components in food and estimate there are over 1,000,000, considering what has not yet been fully identified. This phenomenon confirms the old adage that the more we know, the more we realize what we don’t know. With these insights, it is prudent for us, as natural health care practitioners, to apply our knowledge with wisdom. Nutritional therapy applied without wisdom is analogous to the indiscriminate application of technology which, when applied without regard for its effect on the whole, can create disease and destruction in our environment.

Wisdom in nutrition says we should use whole nutrients in their natural state. Isolated nutrients, whether extracted from natural sources or synthesized, are chemicals similar to certain drugs. Multiple vitamin-mineral supplements prepared from isolated nutrients are a result of the old school mentality in medicine.

This reductionist cause-and-effect mentality is falling by the way in light of medical advances, which are revealing the complex interconnectedness of every aspect of the human body.

In this article, we will reveal the value of applying homeopathically potentiated minerals as a safer, healthier and more therapeutically effective approach for balancing nutrition and assisting in the elimination of toxic metals.

Minerals, like other nutrients, have complex synergistic and antagonistic interrelationships. For example, a vitamin C deficiency can allow a toxic buildup of copper, creating deficiencies in iron, selenium and potassium. On the other side of the equation, too much vitamin C can create copper deficiency, causing excess iron retention.

Complex nutrient dynamics occur at every stage of metabolism, from the balance of nutrient breakdown in the GI tract to the intercellular utilizations within cellular organelles.

Are we jugglers in a nutritional circus, narrowly focused on manipulating short range effects on some isolated lab parameters; or, are we wise healers awakening the powers resonant within the body to optimize health and wholeness?

Figure 1 demonstrates what we currently know of the complex interrelationships between minerals. Note at the top of the chart is calcium (Ca) and, at the bottom, magnesium (Mg). The line connecting them has arrows pointing both directions, indicating a mutual antagonism. The same is true of the line from calcium to phosphorous (P). This indicates that too much calcium can create a magnesium and/or phosphorous deficiency; and too much magnesium or phosphorous can create a calcium deficiency. Note the delicate interrelationships between the 28 minerals in the Figure 1 chart.

The list below includes some of the known synergistic mineral interrelationships. Some of the synergistic minerals are also found to be antagonistic in the mineral wheel chart. This phenomenon demonstrates the delicate balance needed for healthy mineral function within the body. Figure 2 elucidates the multi-directional relationships between vitamins alone, while Figure 3 focuses on the incredibly complex antagonistic and synergistic relationships between vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins and minerals need each other for proper metabolic functions. Both vitamin C and vitamin A are required to correct iron deficiency anemia. Zinc is required for vitamin A transportation storage areas to cellular utilization. Thus, zinc deficiency could be the actual cause of vitamin A deficiency night blindness.

Having a basic awareness of the dynamic interrelationships of nutrients can prevent us from traveling down a path of which we are so critical, the casual misuse of drugs in medicine. Isolated nutrients can create relative nutrient depletions, just as drugs can. Nutritionally induced deficiencies are not uncommon and are often caused by the intake of isolate vitamins and minerals.

One may take mega doses of vitamin C isolate, called ascorbic acid, to prevent a cold. As previously mentioned, these doses of vitamin C can cause a copper deficiency so that, while trying to prevent a viral infection, the copper deficiency can make you more susceptible to bacterial infections! Sounds much like the negative effects of antibiotics causing yeast infections.

One of the most abused nutrients is the most prevalent mineral in our body, calcium. Taking mega doses of calcium for strong teeth and bones can cause deficiency of phosphorus and magnesium, both of which are essential for healthy teeth and bones. Thus, excess calcium supplementation contributes to the very condition you are trying to prevent!

These examples are only a few scenarios of the many illustrated in the figures on page 60. Even they are limited in their scope, considering the myriad nutrient interactions we have yet to elucidate. Within this context, applying the wisdom of whole sources of nutrients becomes a no-brainer.

Using homeopathic potentiated forms of the exact nutrients taken will help maximize the effectiveness of the complex metabolic functions within the body. The homeopathic potentiation™ process assures optimal digestion, assimilation, transportation, utilization, storage and elimination of our nutritional supplementation for metabolic balance and ultimate safety and efficacy.

Nutrition is affected by much more than diet alone. Two significant controlling systems that affect nutrition are the nervous system and the endocrine system. These two systems work so closely together, they are frequently called the neuro-endocrine system. The neuro-endocrine system provides authoritative control over nutritional digestion, absorption, excretion, transportation, utilization, storage and elimination of all our nutrients! Homeopathic potentiations provide the vital cellular signals necessary for the neuro-endocrine system to safely and effectually balance complex nutrient functions.

Figure 4 demonstrates the antagonistic relationships between some of the endocrine glands and hormones. Note the line between estrogen and the thyroid gland. The arrows on this line point both directions, indicating that an overactive thyroid can suppress estrogen production, or excess estrogen production could cause low thyroid function. This helps explain why women respond differently to birth control pills. An estrogen dominate oral contraceptive can create fatigue, weight gain and even depression in women with high estrogen levels or low functioning thyroids. The same could be true during PMS, when estrogen levels begin to rise.
To better balance these intricately complex glandular, hormonal, mineral and vitamin relationships, we need to apply more complete and sensitive therapeutic measures, like the homeopathic potentiation™ processes.

Homeopathic potentiations™ of nutrients provide energetic cellular signals that work deep within the control networks of the body to maximize nutrient utilization and maintain the delicate healthy balances between our nutrients. Nutrients, either in deficiency or in excess, can cause proportional health problems in the body. The homeopathic potentiation™ process provides a special modulating effect to assure optimal healthy balance of nutrients within our body.

While nutrient-induced deficiencies are a common cause of nutritional imbalance, a simultaneous dysfunction commonly occurs within the complex metabolic processes of our body. Together, these external and internal sources of imbalance can compound the disease and disorders created by unhealthy nutritional levels. The homeopathic potentiation™ process activates these complex metabolic processes by promoting our innate ability to resynchronize dysfunctions within the body that have caused nutrient imbalances. Restoration of these complex metabolic processes has not been fully achieved by any other known means.

The homeopathic potentiation™ of the specific nutrients promotes restoration of the complex metabolic modulating processes of those same nutrients. Thus, homeopathic potentiations are critically needed to simplify nutrient therapy and make it more effective and efficient. Homeopathic potentiation™ directly addresses many of the underlying causes of nutrient imbalances within the body.

Homeopathic potentiation™ directly addresses the underlying causes behind nutritional imbalances and provides the following advantages for nutritional therapy and the elimination of toxic heavy metals:

1. Provides economical benefits through the enhanced utilization of nutrition both from our food and supplementation.

2. Provides more ecological utilization of nutrients from both food and supplementation, thus lowering entropy or metabolic stress within the body.

3. Modulates nutrient-induced deficiencies (relative imbalances and toxicities within the body caused by over supplementation).

4. Helps desensitize the body against potential allergies from specific nutrients and their sources.

5. Helps eliminate toxic heavy metals imbedded in the body more safely and efficaciously.

6. Compliments and enhances other methods of toxic metal elimination.

7. Helps regulate neuro-endocrine functions that largely govern cellular metabolism and nutritional status.

8. Helps activate intercellular signaling of the nervous system, as well as intracellular signaling throughout the body to maintain healthy bodily communication.

9. Promotes a more extensive correction of mineral and metal imbalances.

10. Provides practitioners with an effective and easy-to-use therapeutic tool.

11. Coordinates overall metabolic balance and regulatory mechanisms.

As you can see, homeopathic potentiations of minerals can significantly enhance the therapeutic dynamics of mineral balance. You will be impressed with the increase in therapeutic effectiveness you experience, as well as the ability to prevent unnecessary recurring supplementation. By adding homeopathic potentiation to your armamentarium, you will be able to move more effectively and efficiently through cases, providing more consistently successful results that build a solid and rewarding practice.

Frank J. King Jr., N.D., D.C., is a nationally recognized researcher, author and lecturer on homeopathy, and the founder and director of King Bio Homeopathics, a registered pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Dr. King offers ongoing  CE seminars and a free copy of his turnkey procedural manual, which can be used with any homeopathic company’s product line. Call 800-543-3245, or email [email protected].

Over the last decade, type 2 (non-­insulin-dependent) diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in our country, affecting 16 million Americans. However, it has been my clinical experience that enzyme therapy coupled with specific lifestyle and dietary changes can help clients digest and assimilate carbohydrates to better manage weight and blood sugar levels. To understand how enzyme therapy can help prevent, improve, or even cure this disease, lets take a look at how diet can contribute to diabetes.

Poor Digestion of Carbohydrates

One reason behind the increase in diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes is the change in the American diet. Never before have we, as a nation, eaten more carbohydrates. Unfortunately, the carbs that we consume are not, for the most part, what are known as “good” or “complex” carbs, but simple sugars and processed carbohydrates. This overindulgence has health ramifications far beyond simply becoming overweight.

In my more than twenty years of practice, I have identified one characteristic shared by 80 percent of my patients: carbohydrate intolerance–the inability to adequately break down and assimilate sugars and starches. Since individuals who have food intolerances tend to crave the types of nutrients they cannot digest, they tend to overeat those types of foods. Over-eating carbohydrates–especially when one is intolerant–can put one at risk for high blood sugar, insulin resistance and, eventually, type 2 diabetes.

Enzyme therapy coupled with specific lifestyle and dietary changes can help clients to digest and assimilate carbohydrates to better manage their weight and blood sugar levels. For people who don’t have diabetes, or who have a family history of the illness, enzymes can safeguard against the disease by ensuring proper digestion, an important factor in stabilizing blood sugar. For those who develop diabetes, enzyme therapy is more than just nutritional support. Enzymes can restore physiological balance and resilience to a body that’s facing challenges on a variety of fronts, because diabetes affects so many organs and systems.

To fully understand how enzyme therapy can help prevent, improve, or even cure this disease, it is important to take a close look at the mechanisms behind the onset of diabetes. While a number of risk factors contribute to this disease, diet usually bears much of the blame.

How Carbohydrates Are Broken Down and Assimilated in the Body

In my clinical experience, the diabetes disease process often begins with excessive sugar (carbohydrate) consumption and poor sugar digestion.

Once a carbohydrate is ingested, the digestive process splits it into its component sugars. This process begins in the mouth with thorough chewing, which activates the food’s enzymes to facilitate pre-digestion. From there, the carbohydrate travels to the stomach, where it meets up with additional digestive enzymes, which further break it down into single sugar molecules small enough to travel through the intestinal lining into the bloodstream.

Once these sugar molecules cross over the intestinal lining, they enter the portal vein, which carries blood to the liver. There they are converted into cholesterol or triglycerides. This is a very important protective pathway because, while the body uses sugar for energy, it seldom needs the entire supply right away–only in cases of extreme physical exertion, such as running a marathon. If all that sugar headed directly into the bloodstream, blood sugar levels would skyrocket.

So, the liver acts as a buffer, releasing some of the sugar for use as energy in the body and converting the excess for storage as fat.

The Insulin Response

Meanwhile, the absorption of sugar through the intestinal lining prompts the pancreas to release insulin, the hormone that is responsible for escorting the sugar from the bloodstream into the cells. The amount of insulin produced is directly proportionate to the amount of sugar entering the portal vein at any given moment. Therefore, if an individual eats a high-carbohydrate meal, a lot of sugar floods the portal vein at once. In response, the pancreas churns out insulin to compensate.

The Role of Insulin

Insulin serves several important functions in the body. First and foremost, as we have seen, it helps balance blood sugar, thus protecting the body and brain from the effects of excessive blood sugar. When there’s too much sugar in the body, it alerts the liver to step up the conversion of sugar to fat to help stabilize blood sugar levels.¹

Insulin is one of the primary nutrient-transport hormones. Working in tandem with glucagon, a hormone released from the pancreas in response to the ingestion of protein, it delivers not only sugars but also proteins and fats into cells. Each cell has numerous receptors that open up to insulin, allowing the hormone to deliver its load of sugar and other nutrients for use as fuel.

Glucagon mobilizes nutrients through three primary actions. It directs the liver to send sugar into the bloodstream so that it’s available to the brain and body; it instructs cells to free up fats for use as fuel; and it signals cells to release proteins, which serve as building materials for muscles, bones, skin, hair, and fingernails.

The ratio of insulin to glucagon determines how the body utilizes and stores the various nutrients. For example, when you eat carbohydrates alone, they enter the bloodstream quickly, prompting a rise in insulin and a corresponding decline in glucose. In response to this elevated ratio of insulin to glucagon, the body stores the excess sugar as fat. Conversely, eating a protein-only meal increases glucagon while reducing insulin. (Fats and non-starchy vegetables have no effect on the ratio between the two hormones).

Maintaining a Balance between Transport Hormones

To maintain a balanced ratio between the transport hormones insulin and glucagon, one should ideally build meals around a healthy mix of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy (mostly unsaturated) fats, and non-starchy vegetables, such as asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, lettuces, celery, cucumbers, and onions.² When insulin and glucagon are in proper proportion, the body can efficiently use carbs and proteins to replenish cellular energy and repair structural components rather than storing them as fat.

The Glycemic Index

One important tool to help measure the ratio of insulin to glucagon in a given food is the glycemic index (GI). The GI is an indicator of how quickly insulin rises in response to a particular carbohydrate. The more sugar entering the portal vein after digestion of a particular carb, the higher the glycemic index of a food.

As a rule of thumb, simple sugars,such as refined grains (breads, cookies, cakes, white rice),have higher GI ratings. Because these grains have been stripped of their fiber, which slows the rate of digestion, their sugars enter the bloodstream quickly.³ Whole grains retain their fiber, which slows down the rate at which their sugars enter the bloodstream. For this reason, whole grains have lower GI’. The healthiest whole grains to eat are quinoa, wild rice, and buckwheat.

When Insulin Can’t Do Its Job

If an individual spends years eating highly processed, high-carbohydrate meals, that translates into years of excessive, cumulative sugar buildup in the body. When a certain threshold of sugar saturation is reached, cells respond by reducing their number of insulin receptors, thus preventing insulin from delivering its load of sugar. This is what’s known as insulin resistance,⁴ a forerunner of type 2 diabetes.

Insulin resistance is a natural defense mechanism. Cells become insulin resistant because they’re trying to protect themselves from the toxic effects of high insulin levels. Meanwhile, the pancreas keeps churning out more and more insulin because it’s trying to clear the bloodstream of all the excess sugar. However, such a high level of insulin production cannot be sustained forever. As insulin production begins slowing down and cellular resistance increases, blood sugar continues to climb, creating a condition known as hyperglycemia. Eventually, type 2 diabetes sets in.

Other Factors that Aggravate ­Insulin Resistance

There are other factors besides eating too many carbohydrates that can trigger insulin resistance. If you reduce the number of calories that you eat, or if you can’t properly digest the foods you eat because of an intolerance or enzyme deficiency, your body may need to do extra work manufacturing its own supply of sugar in order to keep your brain functioning. This is accomplished by converting glycogen, a type of complex carbohydrate molecule that’s stored in liver cells and muscle, into glucose–a process that contributes to insulin resistance. Skipping meals, drinking lots of caffeinated beverages, and chronic stress also contribute to this condition.

Insulin resistance is the primary symptom of metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X, which the federal government now recognizes as a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, among other serious medical conditions. Other symptoms of this syndrome include hypertension, high cholesterol and triglycerides, and excessive abdominal fat.

Further Diabetes Risk Factors

According to the latest research, being overweight or obese is the single most important predictor of diabetes. Poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption also significantly increase one’s chances of developing type 2 diabetes. These risk factors support the hypothesis that a majority of cases of diabetes could be prevented if people adopted healthier lifestyles.⁵

Let’s take a closer look at a few of the lesser-known diabetes risk factors.

Sugar/Carbohydrate Sensitivity

As I mentioned above, I’m convinced that the excessive levels of carbohydrate in the standard American diet is a major reason for the epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The problem isn’t just that people are eating too much sugar, it’s also that they aren’t able to digest it properly. When the digestive process goes awry because of an insufficient supply of enzymes or an inability to adequately digest carbohydrates due to an intolerance, this can cause cravings for sugary foods.

In my practice, I seldom meet a person who doesn’t show signs of sugar sensitivity. Even in the absence of a sensitivity, sugar is both highly addictive and damaging to the immune system. Enzyme therapy can correct this problem by restoring and supporting proper digestion. This not only eliminates carbohydrate cravings and sugar addiction, but also prevents sugar from bypassing the liver and seeping directly into the bloodstream.

For my sugar-sensitive patients, I recommend a carbohydrate digestive enzyme, which I have found to be tremendously successful in treating this condition. I suggest taking two or three capsules of this formula before each meal. It contains a broad spectrum of enzymes to thoroughly break down carbs into their component sugars and to assimilate the sugars into the bloodstream via the liver. A good carbohydrate digestive enzyme will also promote weight loss–an important benefit for people who need to slim down in order to effectively manage diabetes.

Cow’s Milk

The media tells us that our children must drink milk to build strong teeth and bones. But cow’s milk is not the healthy beverage we think it is. When young children consume cow’s milk, it triggers an autoimmune reaction that directs antibodies to the pancreas.⁶ This can interfere with the production of insulin, setting the stage for diabetes.

“It is a dietary error to cross species to get milk from another animal,” writes John R. Christopher, N.D., in his book Herbal Health Care. “There is a tremendous difference between human babies and baby calves, and a corresponding difference between the milk that is intended to nourish human babies and baby calves.”

The difference identified by Dr. Christopher involves not only the amount of protein but also the type of protein in the two types of milk. Cow’s milk has 20 times more casein than human milk. This makes assimilating it nearly impossible for humans.

When the body can’t thoroughly break down protein, this weakens the immune system, triggering an autoimmune reaction. In infants, symptoms of this reaction can include nasal congestion, bronchial infection, asthma, skin rash, irritability, and fatigue. Taking a protein digestive enzyme before consuming anything that contains cow’s milk should prevent or minimize these symptoms.

While I advise patients to steer clear of cow’s milk because of the body’s response to it, sometimes they can’t avoid it. For example, milk casein even turns up in many soy products, including tofu.

Taking a fat/protein digestive enzyme can help alleviate these sensitivities. I suggest taking two or three capsules of the following formula before each meal containing cheese or milk:

• Amylase (4,000 to 6,000 CU)
• Cellulase (150 to 300 CU)
• Lipase (150 to 600 LU)
• Glucoamylase (3 to 6 AGU)
• Lactase (300 to 500 ALU)
• Malt diastase (125 to 150 DP)
• Protease blend plus peptidase (18,000 to 50,000 HUT)

Prevention Is the Best Protection

It is my belief that type 2 diabetes is largely preventable. While a family history of this illness increases your predisposition to it, dietary and lifestyle factors determine whether or not you develop the full-blown disease–or how well you manage it, if you already have it.

The primary objective of any plan to avoid or control diabetes is to stabilize blood sugar levels. The two most important strategies are to, first, cut back on carbohydrates, which quickly elevate blood sugar; and, second, to take digestive enzymes, which ensure proper digestion and assimilation of any carbohydrates a person does eat. These two lifestyle changes protect against hyperinsulinemia, a condition in which the pancreas continuously churns out insulin in an effort to remove excess sugar from the bloodstream. Chronic hyperinsulinemia leads to insulin resistance and eventually to type 2 diabetes.

Enzyme and Nutritional Strategies

A number of enzyme formulas and nutritional supplements can help balance blood sugar and prevent or manage insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. While I specifically test clients for food sensitivities in my clinic, most people have an understanding of which foods affect them adversely, causing bloating and other digestive difficulties. I advise readers of my books and articles to try different formulas for a period of time and monitor how they feel and how much weight they lose.

While I use a line of specially formulated enzyme supplements in my practice, it may not always be possible to find all of these ingredients in a single product for sale in a health food store. In that case, an individual can either choose a product containing just the primary ingredients (in bold below), or purchase and take these ingredients as separate supplements.

In all cases, I encourage them to take these enzyme formulas with a pH-balanced, full-spectrum digestive enzyme to help them fully assimilate them.

Blood Sugar-balancing Enzyme Formula

To treat or protect against type 2 diabetes, take a blood sugar–balancing enzyme formula three times a day, 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal. This formula supports insulin production in the pancreas and assists insulin in moving sugar from the bloodstream into cells. A quality product will contain the following ingredients:

Gymnema leaf extract (300 to 450 milligrams)–native to the tropical forests of India, this plant has a long history as a treatment for diabetes.

Gymnema sylvestre appeared on the U.S. market several years ago and has a demonstrated track record of stabilizing blood sugar.

Vitamin E from d-alpha tocopherol succinate (60 to 80 IU)–significantly increases the insulin sensitivity of cells.

Vitamin B6 (4 to 8 milligrams)–people with diabetes run low in this nutrient.

Chromium polynicotinate (200 to 300 micrograms)–has been shown to positively influence the rate of insulin production, promote insulin responsiveness in muscle and fat cells, and maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Rice bran (100 to 200 milligrams)–a natural source of B vitamins, which help maintain healthy nerves and prevent diabetes complications.

Adrenal Formula

If you are suffering from chronic stress, I suggest two capsules of an adrenal enzyme formula twice a day, either 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal. The adrenal glands play an important role in sugar metabolism. Prolonged stress can exhaust them which, in turn, has a negative effect on blood sugar levels. I recommend a product that contains the following ingredients:

Panax ginseng root extract (320 to 500 milligrams)–has been found to lower blood sugar levels.

Bupleurum root extract (200 to 600 milligrams)–enhances adrenal function.

Vitamin C from acerola cherry extract (20 to 100 milligrams)–helps prevent diabetes complications.

Pantothenic acid (a.k.a. vitamin B5) (100 to 200 milligrams)–helps the body use carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Rice bran (130 to 200 milligrams)–a natural source of B vitamins.

Further Nutritional Strategies

Antioxidants. Take one capsule of an antioxidant supplement a day, either 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal. Antioxidants can help prevent the onset of diabetes as well as slow its progression.

EFA’s. Take one capsule of an essential fatty acid formula once a day. EFA’s activate enzymes that stimulate insulin receptors on cells to help them better take in sugar. Fish oil capsules and flaxseed oil are excellent sources of EFA’s. Conjugated linoleic acid, CLA, a type of EFA found in beef and dairy fats7, can improve blood sugar transport and insulin sensitivity. It is probably healthier, however, to take CLA in supplement form rather than eating these foods.

Folic acid. Take 400 to 800 micrograms of folic acid a day. Studies have established a link between a low intake of folic acid and a number of medical conditions, including diabetes. Some people appear to have trouble digesting and absorbing this B vitamin, which increases the chances of a deficiency.

Dietary nutrients. If you have insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes, be sure to increase your dietary intake of the following nutrients to help lower blood sugar levels, diminish sugar cravings, and support weight loss: magnesium⁸, vitamin E⁹, chromium¹⁰, vanadium¹¹, alpha lipoic acid¹², biotin¹³, and zinc.¹⁴

Taking these enzyme formulas and nutrients–coupled with lifestyle strategies such as maintaining a healthy weight, eating minimal carbohydrates (only complex carbs), and engaging in at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week–offer significant protection against developing type 2 diabetes in at-risk individuals and in controlling symptoms in those who already have the disease.

Dr. Ellen W. Cutler is a leading authority on enzyme therapy and the founder of BioSET, an innovative healing system that combines the use of enzyme supplements with other complementary medicine disciplines to treat a variety of chronic illnesses and achieve optimum health. Author of The Food Allergy Cure and MicroMiracles: Discover the Healing Power of Enzymes, among other books, Dr. Cutler resides in Marin County, California. For more information on enzymes, digestive aids, and a directory of enzyme therapy practitioners, visit her website at www.bioset.net.

The acupuncture approach being described in this issue of The American Chiropractor has been responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of pregnancies worldwide over a time frame of 16 years—when I first introduced this clinical protocol.  These points have been utilized very effectively either on their own or in conjunction with in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, which have improved enormously the last several years.  I am proud to say, they have become standard for infertility globally.

Hardly a month goes by when I do not, personally, hear from someone who has had a baby because of previous papers I have written—which have made their way to the Internet—discussing these acupuncture points.  The letters of testimonial I receive are, at times, emotional but always detail happy events.  To date, I have had nine boy babies named John Anthony, after me, and two girls named Johnna.  Eight families refer to me as “Uncle John”.

With the publication of this article, I expect an additional number of babies to be born and lives changed.  The rewards with this application are numerous for both the parents-to-be and the doctor.  Enjoy them all!!!  (Be sure to send me a photo of the baby. I’ll add it to my collection!)

Treat the female patient on a weekly basis starting with two times per week for the first six weeks then continue with one time per week.  If the husband is known to have fertility issues, treat him in the same fashion.  Otherwise, the female becomes the patient.

Do not become discouraged. This procedure may take anywhere from one month to six months for full effectiveness.  I, personally, feel chiropractic adjustments to the full spine are imperative and always a major part of my treatments.  Proper nutrition, mental focus and lifestyle are, likewise, important. I always advise my patients who tell me they “are trying to get pregnant” that they need to change their attitudes and “make love, not babies.”  The stress of “trying” to get pregnant brings into play a variety of emotions, which seem to have a deleterious effect on the hormonal system.  Eliminate that stress as much as possible.  I always tease my patients by saying, “If you really want to get pregnant, just put on a cheerleader outfit and go to a drive-in movie.  You’ll always get pregnant.”  (Boy, does that date me, or what???)

Stimulate all points with either needle, electronic or laser.  Mild electronic stimulation to each point for 12-15 seconds yields exceptional response.  Laser stimulation for 12-15 seconds per point, utilizing a 5mw, 632-635nm-wave length, is equally effective. Stronger lasers may be used; however, it is very subtle energy we are after.  Needle stimulation should be for 15 minutes with minimal external manual stimulation. Again, it is very subtle energy we are trying to stimulate. If a little is good, a lot is not better.  Treatment should always follow meridian balancing through Electro Meridian Imaging™ (EMI™).  This is crucial. It is imperative the meridian system be balanced electro magnetically. This diagnosis may be accomplished with EMI™, in less than one minute.   If unfamiliar with Electro Meridian Imaging™, send me an email to request information.

The primary points of treatment in infertility are:

• Reproductive Cerebral zone:  This is a zone (not an acupoint), which is one inch in length beginning at the front natural hairline and in line with an imaginary line drawn caudally/posterobilateral from the lateral canthus of the eye.
• “Sperm Palace”:  This point is three fingerbreadths bilateral to GV4, which is directly below the spinous of the second lumbar vertebrae. 
• “Palace of the Child”:  This point is three inches (four fingerbreadths) bilateral to CV3, which is one inch superior to the symphysis pubes. 
• CV 1: From a medico/legal standpoint, this point, because of its critical location, has fallen out of favor with Western practitioners.  This point lies directly in the perineum.  An alternative is to ask the patients to stimulate this point in the privacy of their own homes with a non-invasive stimulation.  The practitioner can also use the Koryo Sooji Chim (Korean Hand Acupuncture) point on the base of the palmar hand, just distal to the wrist.
 
Other extremely significant points follow:  KI 27, CV 17, CV 5, KI 3, GB 25, TH4, GV 4, Bl 23, P6, SP 4.

Best Wishes on a great response!  And, remember, send me a photo of the baby!!!!

Dr. John A. Amaro is the President of the International Academy of Medical Acupuncture, Inc. He practices in Carefree, AZ, and may be reached at 800-327-1113 or by email at [email protected].

Homeopathy is a remarkable healing art with therapeutic abilities capable of reaching deep within our nervous system that can correct a broad spectrum of acute, chronic, and even genetic weaknesses. The key to penetrating this depth and dimension of therapeutic ability is primarily found in applying a broad spectrum of homeopathic potencies.

Homeopathic potency is achieved through a complex, labor-intensive laboratory procedure consisting of serial dilutions and 40 succussions (intensive shakes) that establish a therapeutic imprint or energetic makeup of the substance in the water molecule. For example, one part of a substance mixed with nine parts of water creates a 1X (1+9=10, hence the X). Then one part of the 1X remedy mixed with 9 parts water and succussed 40 times creates 2X potency, and so on. The C potencies are done in the same manner, with a ratio of one part substance to 99 parts water. The difference between the X and C potencies, mathematically, is  6X=3C, 12X=6C, and so on. One scale is not superior to the other. Homeopathics are not component-intensive products, but very labor-intensive products. Higher potencies are much more expensive and not commonly seen in the marketplace.

Higher potencies, such as the 200X potency, are the result of the aforementioned laboratory procedure being done 200 times or attenuations. 1M potency is a similar procedure done 1,000 times. LM potency is an incredible 1:50,000-dilution ratio. Ironically, the further you go with the serial dilutions and successions, the stronger and deeper the therapeutic actions. At 24X, we have reached Avagadroes Number, indicating we have gone beyond the molecular level or, theoretically, we have no molecules of the original substance left.

Life consists of more than just molecules. Chiropractic calls this idea Innate Intelligence and homeopathy calls it Vital Force. This bioenergetic realm controls and coordinates all body functions. Every biochemical substance has a specific charge to it, waiting to be told what to do by the bioenergetic aspects of life. Homeopathy has demonstrated its therapeutic consistency with dilutions of potentization beyond the molecular level, or 24X. The higher the dilution or potency, the deeper and generally more dynamic the therapeutic result. So much so that homeopaths warn against using higher potencies unless professionally trained, since healing crises can be intense at times. The higher potencies are like higher frequencies or vibrations that permeate deeper within the control systems of the body, coordinating our core issues or underlying causes for disease. As we shift from the biochemical realm into the bioenergetic realm, the laws of physics change. For example, the smaller the radio wavelengths, the more powerful the radio frequency and the further its range.

Throughout many years of experimentation, we have found that the key to greater success without negative effects is in the mixing of a broad spectrum of potencies (high, medium and low) all together in one product. The appropriate mixing of specific homeopathic ingredients in a broad spectrum of potencies gives the body the opportunity to pick both the individual remedy out of a formula that best fits the specific needs of the body as well as the potency that can most gently and deeply correct the core causes of the health condition.

Almost every health condition we deal with consists of multiple components. For example, a patient bends over to pick up a paper clip and blows out a disc. The weight of the paper clip isn’t the primary causative factor. Other components or causes would be:

• The stresses of life, including adrenal exhaustion, weakening the ligamentous support of the low back.
• The burdens of life on our shoulders that weakens us. 
• The mental and emotional issues we carry within us that sabotage our health.
• The physical health issues (injury, degenerative and genetic).

The low potencies work on the more superficial muscle and joint injuries. The medium potencies work on strengthening the organ and glandular dysfunctions; and the high potencies work on the mental and emotional stresses as well as the genetic factors that are commonly causative factors to many injuries and diseases.

Combining high, medium and low potencies best equips us to:

• Broaden the therapeutic potentials of homeopathy.
• Increase the safety of homeopathy.
• Simplify what was once a complex and elusive healing art into a faster and easier procedure for the high volume demands of today.
• More effectively apply the remedies with faster, deeper and longer-lasting results.

Frank J. King Jr., N.D., D.C., is a nationally recognized researcher, author and lecturer on homeopathy, and the founder and director of King Bio Homeopathics, a registered pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Dr. King offers ongoing CE seminars and a free copy of his turnkey procedural manual, which can be used with any homeopathic company’s product line. Call 800-543-3245, or email [email protected].