Welcome to our November '98 edition of the AHS Journal. Yes, it is true that our newsletter has been rather silent as of the last several months. For that, you have my most humble apologies. I could sit here and tell you how busy these last several months have been, but I fear it might come across as complaining. I assure you that although I would not mind having a weekend off from time to time, being busy is always better than the alternative when you are working to grow a company.

We have experienced several changes here, some of which have allowed us to begin this newsletter sooner than we might have otherwise. One of the significant changes has been that my sister, Tamara, has moved to Scottsdale, Arizona from Denver, Colorado to help us out. In fact, she has agreed to take over the responsibility of editing this newsletter. If it were not for her willingness to take this as one of her new responsibilities, I don't know when I could have gotten it started again.

Some of you who have been with us from the beginning might remember me telling you a little about my sister. She is the person who nagged, griped, pleaded, and eventually bribed me to go see a holistic practitioner after the medical doctors gave up on trying to fix my right eye, when I had lost the sight.

The medical doctors did what they were supposed to initially, which was to ensure that the reason I had suddenly lost the sight was not due to some life threatening problem. But once they had completed all their gruesome tests, they threw up their collective hands, shrugged and said, "Learn to live with it."

My sister did not like that answer, bless her big sweet heart. She eventually got me to go see an Applied Kinesiologist/Acupuncturist/Nutritionist who is here in Scottsdale, Dr. Mark Force.

Now, I have told this story in more detail, before, in a previous newsletter. But I wish to briefly mention it again for reasons I will get to later.

I credit my sister for kicking me squarely in the posterior to motivate my then complacent mentality to seek additional help. And I credit Dr. Force for slapping me squarely upside my stubborn noggin, to learn better self-care habits and the need to accept responsibility for my own health.

It was this experience of having lost the sight in an eye - followed by the long struggle to become healthy enough that my healing properties could eventually restore my sight - that gave me the passion to learn more about nutrition and holistic principles. That passion is also what convinced me that one day I would be involved in some manner of the health industry.

I tell this story again - albeit, more brief this time - because this is the time of year that we should remind ourselves of that for which we give thanks:

I am thankful for my health, and that I can see from both eyes.

I am thankful for my sister being there for me then, and here for me now.

I am thankful for my knowing Dr. Force, and for the influence he had on me all those years ago.

I am thankful for my business partners, who made it possible for my being involved in this industry.

I am thankful for my friends letting me nag them about health issues, without them getting mad.

And, I am thankful that I will get to spend another Thanksgiving with my mom, a "Lady Extraordinary", who taught me to believe in myself.

Next month I will take some time to tell you a little more about what we have been up to. I hope to be able to contribute a little something each month, if my time permits. Mostly, you will be introduced to the features of each newsletter by Tamara. She has had some very interesting experiences of her own, so I suspect it will be some time before she runs out of things to say.

I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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Hello Everyone!

What a wonderful time of year to restart the newsletter - a time of year when not only do we consider that which we are thankful for, but also a time of year which reminds us to be more helpful toward others. In regards to that - we are hoping this newsletter will provide helpful information for each of you.

In the following months, we will have new articles for you to read from health practitioners on various topics. Contributors will come from both the holistic and traditional fields, as well as, individuals wishing to share a special interest story about an experience of their own. Also, we will be recommending various books and articles for your information.

Our main focus is to get as much information as possible to you, so that you can see there are many choices which are available to improve your health and the quality of living - when traditional medical doctors are not solving the problem. Fortunately, we have recently seen a greater number of doctors become more open-minded to the possibilities and opportunities of alternative health care practices.

Several years ago, I was encouraged to learn that the University of Arizona Medical School began a program that would incorporate alternative and holistic classes with the standard medical school classes. Andrew Weil, M.D., a renowned "integrated" medical doctor, who has extensively studied alternative health, was involved with setting up this program. I am hopeful that we will see more of these programs added to traditional medical school curriculum.

As integrated medicine is a combination of both worlds between alternative and traditional medical practices, we at Applied Health believe in another combination of both worlds - nutriceutical nutrients. Nutriceutical nutrients are obtained by maintaining the total nutrients intact in their natural form with as little processing as possible, while using pharmaceutical technology to bring about the best results and most absorption in the body.

When I joined the Applied Health team, Bill requested that I memorize the following paragraph, which best explains our philosophy for health:

"Each of us has the power within ourselves to take responsibility to strive for a higher quality of life. Our bodies are amazing organisms that are constantly working to attain a state of equilibrium. We, as the proprietors, need only provide the proper discipline, nutritional environment and care to assist the body's goal of a healthy condition."

My own experiences with alternative healing methods have been extensive on the "patient" level - everything from healing Valley Fever (a fungus indigenous to the Southwest, with symptoms similar to mononucleosis or chronic fatigue syndrome); to saving my daughter from an eye operation for crossed-eyes; to Candida (another fungus with many various symptoms - a repetitive ailment which I constantly battle); to hormonal situations - just to name a few of my experiences.

With each newsletter, I will tell you about some of these experiences or share with you an interesting article or book, which may help many of you.

This month we have two new articles from Dr. Mark Force and Helen Olsten. Dr. Force's information on butter versus margarine will help us feel less guilty when we choose the "real stuff" for our Thanksgiving meal. I am sure you will also enjoy reading Helen's thoughts about her own health, and suggestions for holiday stomachs.

We, at Applied Health, hope that you will enjoy the information in our newsletters, and have an increased interest in alternative healing. We wish each of you a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season.

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HOWS AND WHYS OF HYDROGENATED OILS -

THE EFFECTS OF USING HYDROGENATED FATS:

"Fake" fats block the way that your body uses natural fats and oils. Normally your body makes prostaglandins from the essential fatty acids that occur in natural fats and oils. So when you eat a diet that has "fake" instead of natural fats and oils, you end up being essential fatty acid deficient. The symptoms of this deficiency are great and many, and you can't get rid of this deficiency by taking a multiple vitamin. Many of these short acting hormones control inflammation in your body and the ones that do are blocked by hydrogenated oils. These "fake" fats keep your body from producing the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins. These prostaglandins also prevent abnormal blood clotting and decrease your risk for having a heart attack or a stroke.

The prostaglandins that are not anti-inflammatory (in fact, they are pro-inflammatory) are not blocked by "fake" fats. You need these prostaglandins because they help control your immune response among other useful functions. However, if you have too many of these pro-inflammatory prostaglandins in relation to the ones that are anti-inflammatory, the result is pain, inflammation, and abnormal blood clotting. What blocks these pro-inflammatory prostaglandins are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin, ibuprofen, and a slew of others. A multi-billion dollar industry created because our diet of "fake" fats causes us pain and other health problems.

Here is a more complete list of the health problems that can be caused by essential fatty acid deficiency: feeling cold, migraine, abnormal nerve sensations (parasthesia), muscle cramping, abrupt changes in visual acuity, cracking of the ears upon swallowing, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, depression, anxiety, manic depression, schizophrenia, mental retardation, epilepsy, narcolepsy, dry or scaly skin, dandruff, psoriasis, depigmentation, age spots, dry hair, hair loss, immune disorders, acne, arthritis, bursitis, tinnitis, allergies, cracking of the skin on your heels, PMS, menstrual irregularities, high cholesterol, chronic fatigue, hemorrhoids, constipation, thyroid imbalances, and infertility.

The solution: eat butter instead of margarine, use more natural fats and oils like extra virgin olive oil, cold pressed corn oil, almond oil, and others (they're not what cause high cholesterol or obesity; more on that in another newsletter), avoid hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, eat more unrefined (unpackaged) foods, consider using flax oil as a supplement to your diet (with menstrual or skin problems use black currant oil instead).

I hope this is useful to you and that you have a great month.

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During this Thanksgiving and Holiday season, my thoughts have turned to how truly grateful I am for my health. It has been a long road getting here, with many years of trial and error. Through those years, I have been able to gather lists of information and "cures", which I can readily turn to whenever I need help with a new (or recurring) ailment. The availability of alternative health information has allowed me extensive opportunity for healing on many occasions. Through my years in the medical field, I have also used traditional medicine; however, I have found the least intrusive and most permanent healing comes from natural methods.

At this time of year, stomach ailments become more prevalent due to overeating, minor upsets, and/or severe viral attacks. The following recommendations are those I believe to be most effective for my family and me. The items suggested can usually be found at health food stores:

Enzymes taken with meals help the digestive process, especially after overeating. Also, some people respond well to a capsule of HCL, if they need extra digestive acids. Another suggestion is a teaspoon of 'raw' apple cider vinegar - this contains important nutrients, unlike the more common 'white' vinegar (which robs the body of vitamins, and should only be used as a cleaning product).

For a queasy stomach, 2 - 3 drops of peppermint oil rubbed on the stomach can relieve the symptoms. When purchasing "essential oils" at health food stores, request 'high' quality brands to insure the best results. Ginger is also very beneficial, whether in the form of an herb tea, capsules, or candied ginger. Depending on how severe the stomachache is, I sometimes like to use a therapeutic magnet on the stomach, with or without the peppermint oil. "Nikken" is the name of one company that makes therapeutic magnets.

A daily dose of lactobacillus or acidophilous in capsules or liquid form can help protect against even the strongest of stomach viruses. It is also important to keep antibiotics at a minimum, because they destroy the intestinal flora, or "good" bacteria, in the digestive tract. These good bacteria fight stomach viruses by aiding in the synthesis of B vitamins. Since antibiotics indiscriminately kill most bacteria, it is especially important to replace the good bacteria with supplements.

Some time ago, a friend of mine coined the word "bibliotherapy" meaning "healing (physically, mentally or spiritually) through the reading of books". The majority of the information I have acquired has been obtained through reading books on alternative healing. Reading material, on a wide range of holistic topics, is readily available at health food stores, libraries, and the Internet.

I am very grateful for the many ways I have been inspired, through "bibliotherapy", to heal myself, my family, my friends and others. I believe it is immensely important that we recognize the responsibility we have to ourselves, our families, and yes, even our doctors, to be as informed as possible about alternative healing methods. In doing so, we can allow ourselves choices when we need to make decisions about our health.

I hope these ideas help. Have a safe holiday season.

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