Nutrition Advice for Aging and Illness

Dietary guidelines- Ageing & Recovery After Illness

The following guidelines are from various presentations I have given on health, fitness, athletic conditioning and rehabilitation. Please refer to the additional nutrition guidelines that appear on this website and in many of my E-Publications and Blog postings for additional and very relevant nutritional advice.

An apology
Please accept my apologies in advance for lumping ageing and illness together. Of course, ageing is not an illness! However, many of the guidelines for both are similar enough that I have decided to put them together to avoid unnecessary repetition.

Recovering from ill-health

There is good evidence that you will weather a period of ill health and recover more rapidly and more completely by following the nutrition guidelines outlined in this paper & supplementing your daily diet. Additional nutritients may be required if on medications that may interfere with absorption or use of them:

• Additional vitamin E
• Additional vitamin C
• Additional B vitamins
• Vitamin D from sunlight is essential when ill. Read this advice here
  
• Fish oil (up to 2 grams per day) and other oil like flaxseed oil that are all rich in Omega 3 oil
  
• Whey protein
• Chelated mineral supplement
• Other supplements according to special need
  

(All of the above are available at the online Myotec Store)

The Super Smoothie recipe will provide many of these ingredients in a palatable form. You might try the Smoothie as a breakfast meal and as a meal supplement.

Supplement this nutrient-rich diet with appropriate exercise such as a daily walk and the use of an exercise device like the Myotec Pocket Gym. Exercise promotes healthy circulation and improves the uptake and use of these extra nutrients by your body. Have your health professional guide you as to what is appropriate exercise when ill or injured. If ill, exercise should not exhaust – and there are times when it is simply best for your body to rest up – listen to your body.

As we get older...

... our need for a nutrient-rich diet grows – not diminishes

We need to care for our bodies with a nutrient-rich diet as we get older because:

• Our bodies are frailer, less resilient and may already be carrying the legacy of a mis-spent youth
• Our skin's ability to manufacture essential vitmain D is reduced and we may be spending less time exposing skin outdoors. Read these guidelines
  
• Our ability to uptake and use many nutrients is diminishing and this may be complicated by medications
  
• We may already have health problems that cause added demand for various nutrients
• We eat less due to lowered activity and reducing metabolism

Did you know that as many as 70% of the institutionalised elderly may be suffering from malnutrition and as many as 10% of the non-institutionalised elderly population may be malnourished?

How do exercise and diet inter-act?

• If our daily calorie intake falls below about 1,500 calories, we are at risk of malnutrition
• Exercise boosts calorie output
• The more we exercise – the more we can eat
• Exercise stimulates the appetite
• People who exercise tend to eat more nutritious foods

Your diet should include a mix of these:

• Fresh fruit and veges (emphasise ones with lots of colour in the flesh)
• Lean red meat
• Fish twice a week instead of meat
• Some dairy products
• Whole grain breads
• Nuts & dried fruits
• Beans and peas
• Yeast extract (Marmite/Vegemite) – two small dollops a day

No junk food – unless exercising daily! Favour organic, pesticide & herbicide – free foods

What is this anti-oxidant thing?

We are prone to rusting (oxidation) – If a molecule or atom has spare electrons (Sometimes called a “free radical”), it will look for something to share or give its electrons. This is oxidation. Oxidation is active in our bodies.

Anti-oxidants mop up surplus electrons before they do damage to our bodies, principally by speeding the degradation of our genetic material. If we slow the rusting, by reducing the production of free radicals and increasing the supply of anti-ocidants, we slow how quickly we wear out (age). The research evidence is growing all the time that anti-oxidants work - they are important for general good health.

High anti-oxidant foods - eat more of these:

• Fresh fruits
• Fresh veges
• Go for colourful fleshed fruit and veges
• Most vitamins and some minerals
• Cold pressed vegetable oils
• Raisins, prunes – dried fruits
• Nuts
• Yeast extracts - Marmite/Vegemite

Damaging foods - eat less or none of these:

• Fatty meat
• Fatty foods
• Foods containing trans-fatty acids
• Refined flour foods
• Commercially salted foods (add sea salt, which has a full range of minerals, to your food instead)
• Sugary foods
• Fast foods
• Refined or processed foods
• Foods high in preservatives and other additives
• Over-cooked foods – especially at very high temperatures
• Stale or rancid foods
• Anything that is not fresh
• Alcohol

Read more!

An Introduction to Nutrition and Health

Nutrition as Medicine
Exciting nutrition research developments are occuring by the day, confirming the powerful effect of nutrition on health. Nutrition is perhaps the single most important decision that you will ever make about your health. Along with selection of foods to create a healthy body, advanced nutritional approaches to healthy ageing, energy management, and enhanced performance are crucial in determination of your health over the duration of your life. Nutrition is your first defense against many, if not the majority, of ailments associated with modern lifestyle and ageing. In many cases, nutritional strategies are essential in the treatment of ailments once they manifest and for preventing their progression.

Best Nutrition
Although there are very good basic guidelines, there is no such thing as "best nutrition". We are all different (including race, religion, culture and even income) and our needs vary throughout our lives depending on ever-changing factors like activity, illness, pregnancy and age. There is no ‘right way’. Good nutrition is a life-long journey with many paths you may choose to travel with equally good effect - Nutritional paths that lead to the same destination - good health. The nutritional advice that appears on this website and throughout my E-Publications is advice for a sensible, evidence-based journey. I will update these now and then as the journey continues.

The first thing we need to consider is that food is not just fuel, it is what our bodies are made of. It's fashionable to scoff at the cliche "you are what you eat", but it is literally true.

Get back to natural & fresh
It makes sense to start with plants & animals that have been raised in healthy ways (eg. free range and organic). Then we want them to be either fresh, or processed in such a way that the nutrients in them are preserved or enhanced. Look for fresh, minimally processed & organic foods like:

• Fresh proteins - Meats, seafood, eggs, whole milk products
• Unrefined carbohydrates - Whole grains or flours (in small amounts), legumes, vegetables, fruits
• Stable fats & oils – Butter, coconut products, nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil
• Natural flavourings - Sea salt, herbs & spices, whole food sweeteners such as raw honey, pure maple syrup, molasses

We all need a balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, though the ratio is different for each person. So choose something from each of the above groups at each meal.

Foods to avoid
It pays, as much as is practical to avoid foods that are either empty calories or actually harmful to us. Most fast foods, or foods that are processed or pre-prepared, are unhealthy. A good rule of thumb is: the closer the food is to its natural state, the better it is.

If a food comes in a packet or tin, get into the habit of flipping it over and reading the ingredients. These are the main things you want to avoid:

• Sugars – which means sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrose, golden syrup, corn syrup and concentrated fruit juice. These have been depleted of their minerals, and require us to use our body's store of nutrients to metabolise them
• Refined carbohydrates – such as white flour, white rice, grains that have been puffed or flaked
• Grains that have been processed are like sugars in that many of the minerals have been stripped from them. Cereals that have been puffed or flaked have had their protein altered during the processing
• Soy products such as soy milk, yoghurt or cheese; tofu; vegetable protein; soy flour & protein powders.
• Soy contains anti-nutrients, which are not neutralised by standard processing methods. But fermenting does neutralise them, so fermented products such as tempeh, miso & tamari are fine.
• Dangerous fats – such as margarines and commercial, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. When vegetable oils are procesed these ways, they turn into trans-fats which are detrimental to our health
• Artificial sweeteners – eg. aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), sucralose (Splenda), saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame-K. These are chemicals, not food, and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence of them being harmful
• Additives – such as artificial flavourings or colourings, MSG (often called natural flavour) and limit preservatives as much as possible. Many children, in particular, are sensitive to food additives and there are many cases where cutting them from the diet has shown improvements in behaviour & learning ability
• Pesticides or GE foods – Organic foods are free of both pesticides and GE materials. If you can't get organic, wash fruit & vegetables thoroughly. Pesticides are poisonous to pests, so can't be any good for us either. And there is still not enough known about GE foods, so stick to the natural stuff in the meantime.

To Supplement or not to Supplement
The Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) for nutrients is what has been calculated through research as being necessary to keep us healthy. Illness, injury, medications, environmental stresses, adolescent growth, ageing or hard exercise may cause increased needs for various nutrients. Furthermore, our over-worked soils may be deficient in various nutrients, principally the trace minerals. While the RDA may suffice in the case of good health and "normal" behaviour, it may be insufficient if one falls outside of normal. If a person has become depleted, then taking just the RDA for that nutrient will not restore body levels to healthy - it will only serve to keep the current status quo which may be very unhealthy.

I advocate supplementation in cases where need is either demonstrably higher or where it is known (usually through blood tests) there is a deficiency. In many instances, such as with minerals like calcium, magnesium and iron, it may take several months, or even years to fully replenish stores in organs like the liver, bones and muscles.

The Myotec Online Store has fresh quality supplements that are made from natural sources, rather than synthetic kinds and selected for value for money. The only supplements that are stocked are the ones that have good evidence for nutritional benefit and which fit well with the work I do with clients. I support these with ongoing advice.

A little advice to finish:
please don't get too tied up about what foods are right or wrong for you, healthy or unhealthy. My advice to you is to follow some general rules of thumb for a diet that is basically healthy, apply common-sense and relax! If you can't adhere all of the time - and who can - relax! The sun will rise in the morning. Get the basics generally right, exercise regularly, get some sunlight, be productive and enjoy life, including enjoying good food.

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Child nutrition at its simplest

With the help of his youngest son, Alama, Gary Moller demonstrates how easy it can be to provide good nutrition for a child.

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What is Resveratrol and is it any good?

Resveratrol (trans-3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene) is a substance found in the skins of certain red grapes, in peanuts, blueberries, some pines (Scots pine, eastern white pine) and the roots and stalks of Japanese knotweed (hu zhang in China) and giant knotweed. It is now being sold as a mass-produced nutritional supplement. The supplement, first sourced as ground dried red grape skins, has shifted somewhat to include certain of the knotweeds as a raw material.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resveratrol
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Gary Moller comments:
This nutrition supplement is promoted as being beneficial for everything from obesity, heart disease, blood pressure, anti-ageing, multiple sclerosis, ovarian cysts, low energy and high cholesterol!

I am naturally cautious of any new nutritional substance that has been mostly tested on mice and which makes sweeping and dramatic health claims. I have seen it all before.

While I have no doubt that this antioxidant is beneficial, it is far too soon to say just how effective it is and working from anecdotal feedback by users and a few mouse studies is dodgy at best. Over-pricing is usually an issue with these new wonder supplements and it may be better value and better nutrition to stick to the more broad spectrum anti oxidant supplements that have been around a while and to concentrate one's efforts on establishing a consistent nutrient dense basic diet and keeping to it.

Read more!

Health benefits of omega 3 oils

Here is a quick list the most recognised health benefits of omega 3 oil that is sourced from fish oil and the healthy vegetable oils, such as olive and flax seed oil.

• A healthy heart
• Support for concentration, memory and learning
• Blood sugar health
• Healthy joints, with an increase in joint comfort
• Fighting the signs of aging
• Healthy brain and nervous system function and development
• Protection for cell membranes
• Cholesterol and other blood lipid health
• Healthy liver function
• Relief of normal PMS symptoms
• Bolstering the immune system
• Healthy mood support
• Optimal skin, hair and nails health (eczema, psoriasis, dry skin)
• Improved quality of life

During winter you are advised to take cod liver oil because it is rich in vitamin D and A, both of which are essential for immune health. Thompson's now put out a vitamin D supplement which has fish oil in it. Flax oil is a good alternative to the fish oil sources and you could add garlic oil, either Wagner Aged Kyolic Garlic or Red Seal Garlic Oil. Then there is Evening Primrose Oil from Thompsons (all available from www.myotec.co.nz).

Most omega 3 oils are highly unstable, especially fish oil, which is why quality fish oils usually come with vitamin E. Vitamin E is a powerful anti-oxidant which is not only good for you but also good for the oil because it prevents the oil from oxidising, including while it is circulating through your body doing its good works. When taking omega 3 oil, it is therefore advised that you take in some extra vitamin E. But beware of the synthetic kinds - seek out natural sources, such as Kordel's Natural Vitamin E. There are doubts about the health benefits of synthetic vitamin E.

People ask which is best? My response is to suggest taking a mix of all the various sources of omega oils - so fish oil now and then switch to flax oil and then add some cod liver oil and garlic oil over winter and so on and so on. Variety is the spice of life! And so it is with diet. Of course, your diet should be very healthy with fresh fish, garlic, onions, spinach and brocolli on the menu. A hearty beef bone broth is a rich source of minerals.

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Which Waihi Bush Flax Seed Oil blend is the best for you?

In this video presentation I explain which of the Waihi Bush flax seed oil blends is right for you and when to switch between blends.

Available from http://www.myotec.co.nz/

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Upcoming Events - Sally Fallon Nutrition expert

May 2007: Sally Fallon, author of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions, will be in NZ for a short time in May, and will be giving some public talks. It's a unique opportunity to find out about the amazing health benefits of traditional foods. Learn from the expert about . . .

• The pioneering work of Dr. Weston A. Price
• The vital role of animal fats in human nutrition
• The dangers of modern vegetable oils
• The safety and health benefits of raw milk
• The dark side of modern soy foods, and which ones are safe
• How to prepare grains for optimal assimilation and digestion
• The health benefits of enzyme-rich lacto-fermented foods
• Why delicious sauces can be good for you
• Practical steps to change your diet for the better

For details of her national tour and how to book your place, go here.

Read more!

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Virginia Tech: Is there a link between noodle consumption and mass murder at school?

The murder of 32 people and the wounding of dozens more by Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung Huiat, at Virginia Tech this week may have been the worst, but it was only one of about 20 mass shootings that happen each year in the US. The fashion, it seems be it from boredom, being unfairly fired or cruely snubbed by one's peers - is to retailiate with all guns blazing.

Place a modern weapon like a Glock hand gun in the hands of even a monkey and you have a natural born killer.

Since the 1966 Texas Tower killings when Charles Whitman, a student at the University of Texas, climbed a 27-storey tower and killed 15 people, wounding 31 others, there has been a disturbing rise in the the frequency of school mass killings and they have become increasingly bloodthirsty. What is going on here and what on Earth has this to do with noodles?

One of the disturbing facts about these college mass killings (please correct me if I am wrong) is that every single one of these crazed killers was on one or more mood-altering prescription medications and, in some cases, various illicit drugs as well. Refer to this website for more information about this topic.

We know that some prescription anti-depressants cause more - not less - suicide and more violent behaviour in young people - not less. Refer a troubled young man to a psychiatrist and you can be assured 99/100 that he will exit the consultation with a prescription for a mood-altering drug like Prozac or Ritalin. And possibly some counselling that he may never attend.

These drugs do nothing at all to address the multitude of underlying factors, beginning before birth, that may be contributing to poor concentration, muddled thinking, depression and violent outbursts. A factor not to be overlooked is a young man's nutrition. Take some time to view this compelling video here.

As an aside: Another factor that can not be ignored in the United States nowadays is institutionalised fear-mongering and the social isolation of those who do not quite fit in with the majority (Do prescription drugs cure this problem?). This situation must be especially difficult for minority races and for ex-patriats living within the USA. Gosh! In some security-sensitive institutions, non-US citizens are required carry distinctive ID tags that make them to stand out from others.

Whenever I talk to groups of young people about health and fitness, I always take along a supply of a teen's staple food - instant noodles. Almost without exception, instant noodles make up a significant part of a young man's diet - more so if he is a student. I get the young audience to do a nutritient analysis of the contents of the instant noodle pack. Of course, the conclusion we always come to is that there are no real nutrients worth mentioning and they are packed with flavourings and other chemicals that are of dubious safety.

The brain requires a range of essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to function properly. A fat-free diet, such as instant noodles and skinless chicken is capable of triggering a full-blown psychotic episode. Additional factors such as stress, excessive caffeine and sleep deprivation can cause an explosive cocktail when combined with a fat-free diet. Add mood altering prescription drugs and the ready access to automatic weaponry and we have the recipe for mass killings.

"...The law-abiding citizen is entitled to own a rifle, pistol, or shotgun. The right, put simply, shall not be infringed..." Charlton Heston

Out of this latest set of killings is the call for even more freedom to carry guns, since the killings happened within a gun-free campus. If the kids and teachers were armed, the killer would have been shot before he killed too many is the argument. Sure, this might possibly reduce mass killings; but I don't buy that argument for a moment. What it would mean is more killings overall - just think of a typical road rage incident if the drivers were armed to the teeth! Guns kill - We just pull the triggers.

Here in New Zealand we have more than our fair share of murderous nutters. The difference is they are most unlikely to run amok with an automatic weapon with thousands of rounds of lethal dum-dum bullets. The weapons most likely to be used are knives or single shot rifles, thus limiting the carnage.

If Americans want to retain their God-given constitutional right to bear arms, perhaps they should do so in the spirit of the technology when that right was first written into their constitution Centuries ago. Those who demand to retain the right to bear arms should be restricted to good old fashioned muskets that are difficult to load and prone to misfiring - and difficult to conceal.

Noodle King and inventor of the instant noodle, Momofuku Ando, died recently at the good age of 96 years. I have no doubt that he would have had fresh and nutritious foods lavishingly topping his daily meal of noodles.

Read more!

Is a protein cookie healthier than a regular chocolate chippie cookie?

"The Protein Bakery makes protein cookies which are high-fibre, high-calcium, have no added sugar, and have 15g protein.

But don't be tempted to believe this protein cookie "with a healthy attitude" is any better for your waistline than a regular cookie. It contains 1140kJ of energy per cookie. That's the same as eating six Griffin's Chocolate Chippie cookies.

Protein bars and shakes claim to make you "perform better", "replenish muscle", or "speed recovery"."
(For the full article that appeared in Consumer Magasine, click on the title).
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Gary Moller comments:
The Protein Bakery is here in Wellington. When the manager/owner, Justine Schwartz, asked me for advice about Consumer's unflattering comparison of her cookies with a chocolate chippie, I was happy to oblige in return for a few samples to chomp for lunch on the run!

I will state immediately that I am not much of a cookie fan. My partner, Alofa, is a keen cookie baker but, as she well knows, I seldom eat them. Still, I ate a couple of the Protein Bakeries for lunch. I can tell you this:

I was able to go right through from lunchtime, and do a long run before dinner without hunger pangs. The cookies did not leave a sticky residue on my teeth (Having two dental professionals in the family causes heightened awareness of these things!!)

So, what does this mean?

1. Not all calories are alike: A diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates (Like one with lots of chocolate chippie biscuits) can cause wild fluctuations in blood sugar levels. This is seen as bouts of sugar craving. This throws a huge strain on the pancreas which produces insulin. With time, the pancreas tires and the resulting ailment is Type II Diabetes. A diet that is relatively low in refined carbohydrates and which contains protein maintains a more stable blood sugar and spares the pancreas.
2. While a protein cookie might contain plenty of calories, the more stable blood sugar levels mean that one can go for longer between meals before hunger pangs bite. This is why the Atkins Diet works.
3. Diabetics can use the low refined carbohydrate, high protein diet, along with exercise, to maintain stable blood sugar levels and therefore less medication overall through the day.
4. People on weight loss programmes can use the same dietary strategies to obtain a gradual loss of fat and to keep it off.
5. The extra protein, when combined with exercise, will help maintain lean muscle mass during the weight loss.
6. The elderly may need no more than 1,000 calories per day due to low physical activity and poor basal metabolism. These needs can be supplied by several chocolate chippie biscuits and a cup of sugary tea. Depending on the group examined, rates of malnutrition in elderly populations can be as high as 90% with protein deficiency being high on the list.If an elderly person is going to eat a biscuit, it surely makes sense to feed them one that is packed with protein and calcium and low in refined carbohydrates that stresses their insulin.
7. Being high in protein, low in fat and high in calcium, the protein cookie does not leave a sticky residue between the teeth for bacteria to feed on. The calcium in the cookie may assist with remineralisation of the enamel surfaces of the teeth, through direct contact and later when excreted by the saliva.
8. Trans fatty acids are found in most commercially baked goods and the chocolate chippies biscuit is no excpetion. Trans fatty acids cause cancer and heart disease. The less in the diet the better. The Protein Factory Coookie has no trans fatty acids.

While I am not a cookie fan and while our family is still into the cut lunch, there is little doubt that the rest of the world has shifted to pre-prepared foods, including commercially made cookies. If I had to make a choice about which to choose I would go for the Protein Bakery Cookie in preference to the unhealthy chocolate chippie one.

Read more!

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Ribena-maker fined $217,500 for misleading vitamin C ads

"GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Ribena, has been fined $217,500 after admitting it mislead customers about the vitamin C content of the blackcurrant drink.

The company appeared in Auckland District Court to face charges alleging 15 breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

It admitted that its cartoned Ready To Drink Ribena, which it claimed had 7mg of Vitamin C per 100ml, in fact had no detectable Vitamin C content.

The company also admitted it may have misled customers in advertisements saying the blackcurrants in Ribena syrup had four times the Vitamin C of oranges."

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Gary Moller comments:

Read the whole story - it is a wonderful one about how a couple of school girls doing a school science experiment outed a dishonest pharmaceutical giant.

The Advertising Standards Authority and Brandpower deserve no accolades in this affair by showing no interest in the girls' findings. Action only happened after the story aried on a television consumer programme.

All is not lost for Ribena with regards to being able to make health claims: It can climb onto the "99% fat-free" bandwagon because it is all sugar and no fat - more sugar than Coca Cola in fact. How about that!

Read more!

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Brutal murder of pensioner - Is there a link with diet?

"The murder of 77-year-old Doreen Reed was so brutal it attracted the attention of the FBI.
When Supervisory Special Agent Mark Safarik - a behavioural analysis expert at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia - picked up the story, he made contact with Auckland police with an offer to help catch the killer...A 15-year-old Glenfield boy is in custody,". (Click on headline for the whole story)

Wayne wrote this:

"How does somone get into such a mental state to do this?
a dental anthropologist travelled the world and amongst native tribes on traditional diets he found nothing but pleasant temperaments.

A policemen in london, put young offenders on a wholesome diet and had an almost 100% success rate of turning the offenders onto the straight and narrow.

If we let the children growing up thinking its OK to eat empty calories, and take drugs, we will end up with more of this,
The States has amongst the highest consumption of processed food, in the world, and is one of the most violent nations in the world."
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Gary Moller comments:
I wonder as well and it just so happens that I have been having discussions about this sort of thing with Impact Taurange, a charitable trust that provides residential care and schooling for troubled teens who have just about run out of options. This charity runs on the smell of an oily rage and most of the parents are not in a position to contribute much at all.

We have been discussing adding to these teens' diets a Blend of flax oil specially formulated for their needs. This is on the basis of exciting research that indicates supplementing teenage diets with omega oil may improve behaviour and academic performance. Impact Taurange wants to try it with their teenagers. Many, if not the majority, have been raised on suspect diets.

Because these teenagers are in residential care and formal education, their are objective measures in place of their behaviour and academic performance. If there is an effect from supplemenmting their diet, this should be apparent to their supervisors and educators and measured.

We are seeking a sponsor for trialing this intervention for a three month period. The cost is approximately NZ$600. If you can assist with this cost, that would be fantastic, as would referral to a potential sponsor.

Read more!

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Honest Food Guide Launched

The Honest Food Guide is exactly that: it outlines in a chart the foods to eat more of an those to eat less of and explains concisely and honestly why.

While one may not necessarily agree with everything stated, I think it is a good guide to refer to and it certainly get's one thinking!

Here is the direct link to download the chart in PDF format.

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Polynesians are fat - a sweeping generalisation

"Pacific Island nations have the most overweight people in the world, according to the most recent estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Eight out of the ten of the "fattest" countries are in the Pacific, the research found.
The top four - Nauru, Micronesia, the Cook Islands and Tonga - all have more than 90 per cent of their population defined as obese. "
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Gary Moller comments:
There is unquestionably a serious world-wide obesity problem that is only going to get much worse before it gets better and that will not happen for several generations, if the latest crop of kiddies coming online right now are anything to go by. Polynesians are at the top end of the problem - there is no argument about that. But let's kill some stereotypes:

We have discussed BMI in a previous posting about how heavy boned and muscled people are penalised by the one-size fits-all limitations of BMI measures. Polynesians, being among the most naturally well muscled and big boned races on the planet are immediately at a disadvantage with regards to BMI. That does not mean to say Many, if not the majority, have a serious problem with obesity.

The solutions are simple but extremely difficult to implement because one comes up against unhelpful stereotypes and health resources are almost exclusively locked up in the ambulance services (Drugs, surgery, hospitalisation). But, for the moment, let's dispel these broad-brush misconceptions that all Polynesians are fat. There are many, many exceptions that include my immediate and extended family.

Polynesians that exercise regularly and who eat well make exceptional physical specimens that make scrawny people like me very poor examples of humanity. The holiday photos above show Alofa with the kind of food that produce a strong and healthy human. You will see, despite her high BMI, she is thin, but very strong, muscled and in glowing health. She, and the rest of her family, is not the obese and sickly stereotype of the Polynesian. The photo of Alama, our son who will never get skin cancer (btw) is significant because it shows a lean, muscular 7 year old with a narrow waist and a broad barrel chest. Incidentally, outside of Africa, this physique is most unusual nowadays. The swiiming togs he is wearing are sized for a three year old! My, how children have changed!

Good health is not about race - It is all about lifestyle - plenty of sun, exciting and stimulating exercise and lot's of good food. It is about choosing to walk to school and riding a bike to work, rather than to drive. It is about taking responsibility for one's personal health which means becoming informed about traditional and natural therapies and taking control of one's lifestyle - like placing family before work.

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Kordel's Omega 3 Fish Oil give-away sale is on right now

Purchase any products worth $50 or more before 11th February from my online store, www.myotec.co.nz and I will include a

Free Pot of Kordel's Omega 3 Fish Oil 1,000mg
(180 capsules) to the value of $25.88.

I am making this great offer from 1 February because we are going "bush" for a real Kiwi holiday. Any orders placed between 2nd and 11th February will not be processed until we get back. I want to keep my customers happy, so this crazy freebie is to make your waiting very worth the while.

Reminder: Purchase NZ$50 or more worth of any product and delivery within New Zealand is free

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Is it iliotibial band syndrome - or is it Wobbly wheels syndrome?

"Hi Gary
I did my first marathon in July last year and had very tight ITB bands afterwards. I had a few weeks off then starting running again. When I did my first few runs I developed a shooting pain around my knee. I have been for physio treatment on and off and had a big break from running but I’ve just tried starting back again and the knee pain has come back. It is where my ITB band joins my knee on the outside of my left leg. Do you have any suggestions/advice on how to overcome this injury so I can get back to running again.

Photo: Here is an example of useless therapy in action - Get the cart after the horse please: This patient needs to improve nutritional status first before any kind of physical therapy can be expected to give lasting benefit.

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Gary Moller comments:
Further discussion with this 30'ish very active woman revealed that this injury is just one of a whole succession of injuries over the last few years, all of which have been pushed, prodded, massaged, manipulated or exercised in various way, including the near mandatory fitting of the dreaded orthotics. I have concluded that she is suffering "Wobbly Wheels Syndrome" (WWS). "

I clicked to WWS several years ago because I kept getting inquiries like this: "Gary, I get a week into exercising in the gym and my knee flares up. I rest for a couple of weeks, and go see the physio several times and then my hip goes and then its the knee again. Then its my back and and then my doctor tells me I have blood pressure! I feel as if my body is falling apart. Am I just getting old? Should I just give up and go buy a rocking chair?"

No, it is not really about getting old and this person does not need the rocking chair - But his wheels and other part are getting loose and worn. Time to put the body into the Body Workshop for some major tender loving care.

WWS has little to do with getting old. I think it is a case of the body getting exhausted and depleted. The body needs to recharge its batteries. This means a physical and emotional rest from the rush of modern life and a diet with some supplements to restore depleted stocks.

The therapy that I usually recommend for conditions like recurrent iliotibial band pain, glandular fever or high blood pressure is a combination of corrective exercises, rest, sun and nutrition. This may include advising the person to take a lenghty holiday in the sun in a place like the peaceful and isolated Cook Islands and living on the locally grown fruits and vegetables. This advice works without fail. Their injury and health problems resolve within a few weeks and the person is able to resume exercise later on with energy and enthusiasm and without recurrence of health or injury issues.

I have thought often about setting up a health resort in a place like the Cooks as an alternative to the costly, wasteful and mostly ineffective medical treatment that goes on for conditions like cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression and anxiety, chronic fatigue and arthritis (to name a few). Unfortunately, all the health money has been sucked up by these wasteful therapies, leaving little over for the therapies that actually work.

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Healthy shopping study gives the wrong impression

Healthy eating options for a family of four can cost less than $10 more a week than more unhealthy options, an Auckland University study has found.
The study, based on research of shopping habits in a Wellington supermarket over a 12 month period, found that options such as chicken breasts over drumsticks and drinking lower fat milk made just $7 per week difference in a weekly family shop.
The results appear to contradict popular beliefs that healthier foods were much more expensive. However, the researchers said their methods didn't really reflect an average diet as it excluded fruit and vegetables, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The researchers used data from 882 shoppers from one Wellington supermarket over a 12 month period. The 88 top-selling staples were then used to create two different shopping baskets.
The basket of healthier food for a household of two adults and two children aged five to 10 cost $6.42 more a week, yet it contained a third less energy and fat and half the sugar and saturated fat.
Healthy options such as low-fat spreads and leaner cuts of meat and poultry were substantially more expensive, but healthier breakfast cereals, breads and canned fish were cheaper.
"It was interesting for us to see that for a lot of the real staple food groups, you can make healthy choices that won't cost an awful lot more," researcher Dr Cliona Ni Mhurchu told the Herald.
"But it has to be qualified that this wasn't really looking at an average diet for a family because it excludes fruit and vegetables as a major food group and we know they tend to cost a fair bit."
The study appears in the latest New Zealand Medical Journal.
Dr Ni Mhurchu next plans to research whether cutting GST off healthier foods would make people buy more healthy foods.
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Gary Moller comments:
This study is flawed in two ways. The first, which is stated in the report above, is that it did not include the cost of fruit and vegetables which we eat far too little of. This is an atonishing exclusion.

The typical cost of quality fruit is anywhere from $2-$8 per Kg with the average in the supermarket right now being about $4-5 per Kg. If we were to feed each household member four helpings of fruit per day, this could add about $15 per day to the family food bill. If we add quality vegetablesother than the reliable potato to the daily diet we can add another $5-10 to the daily food bill. The total could be as much as an additional $175 per week.

I listened to a health expert on the radio yesterday using this study to admonish low income families for not feeding their kids better food. Low income families simply can not afford a diet that has ample daily servings of fresh fruit and vegetables. Any person who argues to the contary has to be in Cuckoo Land. It amazes how selective a so-called expert can be when interpreting a study to suit his agenda.

On the other hand, $175 a week can keep a family of four well supplied with loaves of white bread and bottles of coke.

The less obvious flaw of this mostly useless study is the assumption by the researchers that low fat milk and spreads and skinless chicken, canned fish and "healthier breakfast foods" are actually healthy. Fat free and sugar free are not necessarily healthier. I think they can be unhealthier. Take low fat margarine for example - most unhealthy by any standards. Eating more low fat meat is not necessarily healthy - eating less meat overall is.

Central to a healthy diet is more fresh fruit and veges and much less processed grains, manufactured oils, processed sugars, less meat and dairy, less preservatives, colourings and flavourings.

If we are to improve the nation's eating habits we must first make the healthy choices of fruit and vegetables much more affordable. Taxing the cheap offending foods like coke and white bread is not the solution for those who already struggle with their weekly food bills.

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Therapeutic Goods Authority looms large - stop it now!

The Therapeutic Goods Authority (TGA) which the Government has committed to setting up without proper consultation with the public is well on the way to being established. Staff have already been hired making a farce of any consultation.

How will this regulatory organisation benefit the NZ public? We deserve to know.

The TGA will regulate natural therapies, natural medicines and nutritional supplements as if they were hazardous prescription pharmaceuticals. It is doing so on the basis of safety - premise that nobody has been able to substantiate (There is not a single recorded death in recent NZ history from taking a natural medicine or supplement).

If the TGA goes ahead, as would appear inevitable, your ability to decide what is best for your health will be severely diminished and the cost will rise.

Maori traditional healing will be seriously compromised and the development of herbs and medicines based on native NZ plants will probably not be possible without the financial muscle of Big Pharma.

Submissions are being called for; but you have only a few weeks to get one in. A Maori Hui is being organised to opposed the TGA. Details below and please get involved, if only by writing to your MP.

Here are the PDF files for these:

• Hui Invite
• Impact of TGA on Maori
• Hui Expression of Interest
• Maori Party Letter and Speech

Please act now and retain our freedom to manage our own health. Throw out the TGA!

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Should an endurance athlete take creatine?

"Gary,

Do you have much experience on the use of creatine? perhaps you could make a post of that, I heard of an aquaintance who was taking it, his body bloated up as a result! I understand it only helps anaerobic performance as its used in the energy pathway for glycolytic independant energy pathway, since anaerobic is actually a misused phrase, anaerobic energy is what is used in throwing and jumping, for a maximal quick surge of power, more sustained maximal output is the glycolytic independant pathway that is commonly referred to as anaerobic"
Wayne
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Gary Moller comments:
Good question Wayne. There are no easy answers. All the energy pathways contribute to a greater or lesser degree whether sprinting or exercising steady state. It is just a question of degree. So, even during steady state our "anaerobic" processes are still at work. And they sure are whenever there is a surge of pace

Cycling is a good case in point: during a 100km race, there may a thousand micro-surges and a hundred longer ones. Seldom is it steady state. Surge-gasp for air-surge-gasp- surge and on and on and if you are lucky you still have enough left in the tank for a final sprint! Having optimum creatine stores for such events makes good sense. Low creatine levels will reduce muscle power and slow recovery from these bursts.

I have always been reasonably good on a bike and there are few mountain bikers my age who can beat me up a long hill. This is partly because I weigh just a little over 60kg. Now, I have good lungs but it is lack of leg strength that limits me. I have no sprint and I have to work very hard to hold onto a surge. I can chug along with my partner Alofa for a good three hours or so; but she always kills me on that last sharp hill when those strong Samoan thighs get pumping. My chicken thighs are no match.

I have been experimenting with adding about 5 grams of creatine to my recovery Super Smoothies because it is strength and power that are my limitations. I might have put on a Kg of body weight but this may be attributed more to my eating more and doing less overall activity. What I can report is I am riding just about the best in memory with no problems with failure of the thighs so far this season. The test will be this coming weekend when we do the 80km bone rattling Gentle Annie through the Central Nth Island.

Although I am running hard right now I would be concerned, as a runner, about possible weight gain from creatine supplementing and would probably take less than 5 grams per day. However; I have the impression that significant weight gain may be offset by the natural leaning effect from endurance training of 2-4 hrs depending on it being running or cycling.

There is also the factor of body type. If you are a heavily muscled mesomorph, just thinking about lifting weights will see muscle growth! If you are like me - a lighlty muscled ectomorph - then no matter how heavy the weights you lift and the supplements you take, you will be lucky to put on a kilo or two. Especially if you do endurance work as well. If an athlete has any tendency to gain excess muscle in a sport that favours light weight, I would be cautious about anything more than creatine supplementation of up to 5gm per day - no more. Whereas a "skinny" might benefit from a little more - up to 10 grams.

Athletes need to identify their strengths and weaknesses. A runner like Peter Snell needed to work on his endurance because he had strength to burn. Alofa is like that - her weakness is her lungs and not her legs. My weakness is my leg muscles - or the lack of them.

If you are taking creatine, it is advisable to spell the body by having a month or so off it every three or so months. For leg strength, endurance and recovery other nutritional factors such as optimum supplies of magnesium and calcium may be of greater importance.

Oh - and despite the current creatine experiment, Alofa continues to thrash my arse on that last hill!

Creatine can be purchased from here

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Depression link with chronic cough

"Among people suffering from chronic cough, more than half have symptoms of depression, new research shows. The good news is that the depression seems to lift as the cough improves."
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Gary Moller comments:
Duuh? Did we miss something? Ok, so I am looking awful and coughing all over the place, grossing other people out. That's depressing.

So, what do we do? Place the person on antidepressants and antibiotics - one or both? Do we take a cough suppressant? This is leading medicine down the wrong path of treating the symptoms and not the cause. Symptoms are being treated to treat symptoms.

While a course of antibiotics may be necessary to get on top of any infection; to really get to the heart of the matter of conditions like chronic chest infections and depression, we need to investigate and deal with the real underlying causes. In doing so, we might find any of the following at work:

• Vitamin D deficient which is linked with chronic respirattory infections and depression
• Malnutrition related to a junk diet that usually goes hand in hand with feeling depressed
• Poor living conditions
• Abuse of drugs including cigarettes, marijuana, prescription drugs and alcohol
• Sleep disturbances
• Chronic stress - financial problems, a lousy marriage or job, no job, no goals, too many committments, out of control kids etc

To not deal with these by means other than drugging is to leave the wolf at the door waiting for the next opportunity to strike.

Read more!

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Poor Athletic Performance Linked To Vitamin Deficiency

Science Daily — Active individuals lacking in B-vitamins -- including college athletes and other elite competitors -- may perform worse during high-intensity exercise and have a decreased ability to repair and build muscle than counterparts with nutrient-rich diets, according to recent Oregon State University research published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.

The B-vitamins include thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, B-12 and folate. These micronutrients are necessary during the body's process for converting proteins and sugars into energy, and are used during the production and repair of cells, including red blood cells.

For active individuals a marginal deficiency in the nutrients may impact the body's ability to repair itself, operate efficiently and fight disease, said Melinda Manore, researcher in the Colleges of Agricultural and Health and Human Sciences. Manore analyzed the athletic performance of several elite and collegiate athletes in her research, as well as less competitive individuals.

The stress on the body's energy producing pathways during exercise, the changes in the body's tissues resulting from training, an increase in the loss of nutrients in sweat, urine and feces during and after strenuous activity and the additional nutrients needed to repair and maintain higher levels of lean tissue mass present in some athletes and individuals may all affect an individuals B-vitamin requirements, said Manore.

"Many athletes, especially young athletes involved in highly competitive sports, do not realize the impact their diets have on their performance," said Manore, who is also an Extension Service nutrition scientist. "By the time they reach adulthood they can have seriously jeopardized their abilities and their long-term health."

Current national B-vitamin recommendations for active individuals may be inadequate, and athletes who follow the recommended daily allowances set by the U.S. government may be receiving lower amounts of nutrients than there bodies need, said Manore.
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Gary Moller comments:
The B group of vitamins is especially important for any person who is under stress, be that physical or emotional - which probably applies to 99% of the population! Stress not only steps up the body's need for these vitamins, it also chews through them at a higher rate. While a wholesome diet will supply the RDA (recommended daily allowance) this is not the case when the body is under constant stress.

Stress also chews through magnesium. Organs, like the adrenals, require ample magnesium, as well as the B vitamins, to function poperly.



Let me tell you about Beriberi. Beriberi is a third World disease, causing paralysis and heart failure. It is unheard of in a well-nourished country like New Zealand (Last seen on the sailing ships that carried explorers to this far-flung land 150+ years ago). Beriberi is caused by chronic thiamine (vit B-1) deficiency. Well, I can tell you that I have seen two severe cases over recent years in older men who have been in ill health which has caused enormous stress and affected their digestion. They have suffered varying degrees of nerve damage, inclusing limb paralysis. Frustratingly, treatment has consisted of powerful medications, including large doses of prednisone. Needless to say, this has been without any benefit.

All they required was a diet rich in B vitamins and a quality B vitamin supplement. Modern medicine can be very frustrating at times. I'll write more about this later.

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Are omega-3 products really the good oil?

Consumers buying foods with omega-3 may not be getting the good oil they think they are says Rufus Turner, a lipids scientist with Crop & Food Research. He and colleague, Dr Carlene McLean, have studied commercially available fish oil in New Zealand, that’s been manufactured overseas. They found it contains varying levels of primary and secondary oxidation products
"These oxidised products result in variations in the quality of fish oils and may explain the mixed results in international human clinical trials investigating omega 3 health benefits” Dr McLean said. Recent results from international cellular, animal and human trials indicate that the oxidised products in fish oils may have potential carcinogenic and pro-inflammatory actions. These products have the potential to increase the risk of atherosclerosis and thrombosis and reduce the potential benefits of omega-3 fatty acids..
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Gary Moller comments:
While there are undoubted health benefits from consuming fish oil, it is clear that not all fish oils are the same. If the oil is of a poor quality it is possible there will be no health benefits and possible harm. If you are buying fish oil:

• Do not buy product that has been sitting about on a warm, brightly lit shop shelf


• Purchase a known brand that is from a store that you know has high rates of product turnover


• Preferably purchase fish oil that has added vitamin E which stabilises the oil, preventing oxidation and/or


• Take a capsule of natural vitamin E with your fish oil


• Once opened, keep the fish oil capsules sealed tight and stored in a dark cool, dry place and


• Consume the lot in good time, rather than leaving capsules lying about for several weeks

Note: The fish oils that are stocked at www.myotec.co.nz are leading brand New Zealand products. Only small stocks are held and these are turned over quickly. For the industry response to the report above, read this.

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Stomach surgery 'needed for teens'

"Surgeons are calling for children to be offered publicly funded stomach-stapling operations in a bid to treat soaring rates of extreme obesity.

New Zealand hospitals have been reluctant to consider weight-loss operations in young adolescents because of the risks of major surgery, and the potential for long-term complications such as nutrient deficiency.

However, growing numbers of teenagers are so overweight they are suffering diseases previously seen almost exclusively in adults.

These include type-2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure and gall bladder disease.
Some are at risk of heart attacks and strokes in their 20s.

Paediatric surgeons are saying it is time to make stomach-stapling surgery more readily available with the complicated health needs of morbidly obese adolescents now impacting on the care of other children.... The surgery can cost between $12,000 and $20,000 and about 400 a year were done, most on adults and only a handful publicly funded. "

To read the full article, click on the title above.
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Gary Moller comments:
This kind of surgery produces a very uncomfortable feeling in my gut. The reason why is that stomach stapling surgery is an over-priced solution that, at best, only indirectly targets the cause which is the lifestyle of the positionally challenged. It is symptomatic of irresponsible, neglectful parenting, poor food choices and a societal bureaucracy that engenders a fear of all things natural, including the outdoors, sunshine and water.

There is an alternative to stomach stapling: I used to run rehabilitation programmes for long term Accident Compensation clients: people who had been seriously injured, incompletely rehabilitated following surgery, consequently losing their jobs and becoming unemployable due to ongoing health problems, loss of work skills, confidence and poor personal habits.

Rehabilitation focussed on gradually replacing old unhealthy habits with healthy ones. This was a challenging process that took 12 weeks to be successful. Successful it was, and almost without exception - and for a cost of from $3-$6,000. What was a constant frustration were the constant demands by the health and funding agencies to cut back on the cost of these programmes, the preference being to spend their money on high technology surgical solutions at quadruple the cost or more. These intervention programme were progressively reduced to about 5 weeks for several hundred dollars - effectively rendering them a complete waste of time.

The same model of gradual behavioural change can and should be applied in cases of extreme childhood and teen obesity and they need to involve the entire family. Costing probably no more than $6,000 and lasting 12 weeks, the outcome will be fit, strong and healthy families that play together.

This is a far better prospect than surgically turning out thinner teens who then face uncertain lives that are still a constant daily preoccupation with food and at serious risk of malnutrition-related ailments and shortened lives.

Note: The Google Adsense ads to the right of this article can interesting to peruse. You will see that there is quite an industry, involving drugs and surgery, surrounding obesity. It is no conicidence that the call by surgeons for public funding of this kind of surgery for teens comes at the time of year of greatest over-indulgence and just in time to capitalise on all the New Year's resolutions for weight loss. Am I just being too cynical?)

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Natural medicines – the safest way to avoid death

"A report just released by the Acting Chair of the Coroner’s Council has shown natural medicines have the lowest fatality rate of all medical treatments in this country.

Despite extensive research, coroner Dr Wallace Bain found no deaths have occurred in this country due to natural medicines such as vitamins, minerals and herbal products.

Dr Bain, who is also a trained pharmacist and lawyer, undertook the study in light of growing opposition to new legislation that will see New Zealand’s natural health industry come under Australian laws.

The safety of natural products is often sited as a reason for the need for such a move.

The Labour government plans that the Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority (ANZTPA) will soon replace the current Medsafe agency as part of a `trans-Tasman harmonisation’ push. Opponents fear this move will decimate New Zealand’s natural health industry as has already occurred in Australia."
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Gary Moller comments:
Dr Bain correctly points out in his report that, in contrast, in 1998 (the last year of detailed official statistics available) adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs killed 1524 New Zealanders and deaths associated with medical injury (mistakes by doctors and medical staff) killed 4222 New Zealanders.

These horrific statistics that dwarf even the national road toll of about 4-500 per year and which generates much outrage and receives huge funding.

The question: 'Why is there is such an enthusiastic push by ther NZ and Australian Governments to regulate a group of products when there is absolutely no credible evidence whatsoever of the need for this kind of thing on the grounds of safety?" Is it a conspiracy by big business with political buddies to wipe out alternative and traditional therapies?

It is interesting to note that many of my mail order internet nutritional sales via Myotec are directly to Australians who find that purchasing directly from New Zealand is easier and cheaper than from their own country. This is a good indication of what will happen to the NZ market if we go the Australian Way as our politicians would have us.

Please visit your local MP and write to the Minister of Health, Anette King, and express your opinion on this matter (Therapeutic Goods Bill). No stamp is required when writing to your MP c/o Parliament, Wellington. Please also refer to my earlier article on this important topic.

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Omega Oils - Flax vs Fish Oil

Despite diminshing fish stocks, the push is on to have us consume more and more fish oil. Apparently fish oil is superior to plant derived omega oils like flax seed and evening primrose oil. Is this true, or is it merely big budgets getting in the way of the facts? I am not convinced that one source is superior to the other from a health point of view, although I am tending towards being in favour of flax seed oils. What I am convinced about is that these oils, regardless of their source, are of undoubted benefit and the list of benefits grows by the day. Here are some basic facts about fish and flax oil ingredients:

• Flax seed contains Omega-3, 6 & 9; fish oil only has secondary Omega-3
• Flax Boost (A blend of flax seed, black currant and star flower) contains secondary Omega-3 EFA (Steriodonic Acid), as well as primary Omega-3 and Omega-6 EFAs. Taking these secondary EFAs means the body means your body does not have to perform the conversion from primary to secondary EFAs.
• Fish oils are often recommended because they contain Omega-3 derivatives EPA and DHA, rather than the Omega-3 precursor Alpha Linoleic Acid (ALA) found in flax seed oil. The thinking is that if these derivatives are taken directly, the body does not have to make them from the precursor.
• It is however beneficial to consume some ALA because it is thought to have some specific functions in the body.

So, if that has left you confused, don't worry. The guts of this is that it is a good idea to get your healthy nutritients from a variety of sources, rather than one alone. Your body will take care of the rest!

Having said this, flax seed has some emotional and convenience advantages (I am referring to Waihi Bush flax seed in particular) because:

• It is organically grown and free of pesticides, heavy metals etc
• It is from a sustainable source
• It is a vegetarian source
• Fish stocks need preserving - not further depletion
• Toxic residues concentrate in fish stocks, although we are assured that fish oils are free of these
• Flax seed oil is rich in natural vitamin E
• Flax seed is pleasant tasting, so can be used as a butter substitute on bread, drizzled on salads, or simply taken straight from the bottle
• Gram-for-gram flax seed oil is much, much cheaper

For a selection of quality Omega oils go here

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Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill being rammed through Parliament

"I am sad to have to inform you that on the 5th December 2006, at 9 a.m., Annette King tabled the ‘Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill’ in Parliament. The 494-page bill will have its first reading on Tuesday 12th December, at about 3.30 p.m.

This bill will undermine our sovereignty and our democracy, and restrict our access to natural supplements by regulating them as pharmaceuticals through a heavy handed Australian-based Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Agency (ANZTPA).

Despite overwhelming opposition, the government is bulldozing ahead with its plans to set up a Trans Tasman regulator.

New Zealand First, having promised publicly that it would never support a Trans Tasman agency that included dietary supplements, has reneged on its promise, and will now support the legislation, along with the government and United Future, through to Select Committee.

The proposed agency is designed to suit large multinational corporations, but will wipe our small New Zealand dietary supplements manufacturers. It will regulate dietary supplements as if they were drugs; impose an inappropriate, pharmaceutical model for low risk healthcare products, and result in increasing pharmaceutical control of natural health products.

If it goes ahead, small natural health businesses will go to the wall as a result of excessive compliance costs.

There will be reduced consumer choice as many ingredients will not be available in the future Some traditional remedies that have been safely used for centuries, such as Chinese herbs and Ayuvedic medicine, will become illegal in a few years time." Sue Kedgely, Green Party MP

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Gary Moller comments:

This is a deliberate action by the pharmaceutical industry to knobble one of the leading threats to their domination of the health system and its billions of dollars which mostly go into the coffers of big business. They are getting away with it.

If you have not realised this yet: Governments serves big business first and the little people who elected them a far off second.

The current medical model only works well with emergency medicine. People are realising this and have been voting with their feet and their wallets by seeking out natural therapies via nutrition and lifestyle measures that empower, rather than disempower and create dependency.

Death by medicine now kills many more New Zealanders than road smashes. This is a huge scandal that still receives little media attention. Most of these deaths are preventable - by prescribing good nutrition, exercise and lifestyle interventions instead of grossly expensive poisons that eventually kill or maim the recipient.

New Zealanders will pay a lot more for their vitamin C and flax seed oil. Many products will no longer be available, or only via a costly prescription. Those who most need them; pensioners, the ill and the injured will no longer be able to afford the cost (Most already struggle with current costs!).

Fish oil or rat poison? At present you have a choice. Lets keep it that way. Write or visit your MP and express your outrage - NOW!

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Gary: Do you recommend Coenzyme Q-10?

Hello Gary,
A friend has suggested that coenzyme q 10 is “the” supplement that should be taken above any other. I had a look at your store, but couldn’t find any reference to it. Have you any thoughts on the subject that you’d care to share?"B"
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Gary Moller comments:

"B", Do you really need it? That’s the big question. I assume that coenzyme Q-10 was recommended because you may feeling tired, possibly a bit off the pace and not recovering quite as quickly as before – or something like that.

I have tossed up on stocking Q-10; but have not to date. The problem is that almost every supplement has its enthusiastic proponents and research to back it; but we can’t take the lot, can we? So, one of my roles as a natural health advisor is to help a person work through the thousand or so options to settle on the few essential supplements that will hopefully cover their needs.

Q-10 is definitely essential for health and energy. However; the body produces it and you also get it through a healthy diet. I do worry that, if a person habitually ingests an artificial source of an internally manufactured substance, the body reduces its own natural production in response. This is what happens if caffeine is ingested habitually, causing the body to reduce its production of natural neurotransmitters; hence addiction. This is known to be the case with various substances other than caffeine and may even be the case with coenzyme Q-10, so it is prudent to exercise caution until the hard evidence is in, if ever it is that this does not happen.

Why not assist the body with its natural production of Q-10? It is no coincidence that Q-10 exhibits many of the physiological benefits of the B group of vitamins and also magnesium. These are essential for cardiovascular and nervous health and it just so happens that a rich supply of B vitamins (and various proteins) is necessary for the synthesis of coenzyme Q-10. So why not assist the body to do its work, rather than take over the whole job? I would definitely not take supplementary Q-10 if the intake of B vitamins is low.

Now, because you are in a full-on stressful job ("B" is an aquaintance) and because you just don’t know how to relax after work – running about the hills and plummeting down mountainsides on bikes all days of the week – it is reasonable to assume that your need for the B vitamins and magnesium is much higher than most. You are also at ­that age, or thereabouts, where you need to be giving the body a little more TLC than previously.

So, my advice is to stock up on the nutrients that assist your body with manufacturing coenzyme Q-10 naturally. That means taking a quality vitamin B supplement 2 times per day. You should probably add a mineral supplement that has magnesium due to all the exercise you are doing and that age thing. Because you work indoors and because riding a bike about Wellington does not have you exercising in a near-naked state, I urge you to get a blood test for vitamin D levels. Low vitamin D is responsible for many ailments, as well as low energy and even flagging libido. So get it checked out and then you will know where you stand. So far, the highest levels of anybody I have had tested is 68 (my own) which is pretty damn poor (optimum is 120-160). The odds are on that you are too low.

To assist recovery and energy you might like to consider the latest product that I have added; effervescent glutamine. These few supplements are probably all you need to give those energy levels a boost, so long as your diet is rich in quality protein, nuts, colored fruits, vegetables and berries and whole grains.

It is possible that your requirements are more specific than this advice is for. In that case, it would be best to arrange to come and see me some time.

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Does glucosamine and chondroitin work for runners?

Glucosamine assists the repair of worn or damaged cartilage while chondroitin assists the hydration of cartilage, thus improving shock absorption and reducing wear and risk of injury. Their actions are supported by a growing body of research and the experiences of clinicians, including vets.These substances are best taken with various other nutritional co-factors, including MSM, copper and vitamin C which are beneficial to joint health. Many formulations, including the two listed here have these additional nutrients in them.

The benefits may be noticed within days, but it is usual to undergo a course of supplementation taking the maximum dose daily over a 3 month period before easing off. As with most nutritional strategies to maintain health and to be inury free, the effects are subtle to the point of being impossible to measure. In answer to queries about benefits for connective tissue other than joints: the answer is "Yes". they are beneficial for tendons and even the skin, nails and hair.



Should a runner take them? My recommendation is to do so if you are over the age of 35, or have had a history of joint problems or injury, a family history of arthritis, if you are in a job that is stressful on your joints or if you are doing particularly heavy training or intense competition - or all of these!

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New products added to www.myotec.co.nz

A new range of products has been added to the myotec store. These are the Red Seal Floradix Tonics which provide rapid and complete absorption with nothing other than ntural ingredients, no preservatives, colourings or sweeteners:

Floradix Magnesium
Floradix Kinderval for children
Floradix Tonic and
Floradix Calcium and Magnesium

Also added is Red Seal's Crampbuster which is a special magnesium and potassium formulation for athletes to use during intense training and competition.

The Red Seal Effergize range is replaced by these delicious and natural formulations.

Purchase more than $50 worth of product and you will definitely save as compared to what you pay in the stores, including supermarkets.

Here is the direct link to these products for more information.

• Floradix
• Crampbuster

myotec
nutralife

Read more!

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Low vitamin D levels linked to increased risk of falling in elderly populations

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older men and women with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to fall multiple times in the course of a year than their peers with adequate vitamin D levels, researchers in The Netherlands have found. Vitamin D may be best known for its role, along with calcium, in maintaining bone health. However, vitamin D is also important for muscle mass and strength, and compromised muscle function may explain the fall risk seen in this study, according to the researchers. The findings suggest that older adults should be sure to get adequate vitamin D from food and multivitamins, lead study author Dr. Marieke B. Snijder, of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told Reuters Health. However, she added, clinical trials are needed to prove that this actually prevents falls. Snijder and her colleagues report their findings in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. For their study, the researchers measured blood levels of vitamin D in 1,231 adults age 65 and older, then followed them for one year to track any falls they suffered. During that time, 33 percent fell at least once, according to "fall calendars" that each participant kept. Just over 11 percent fell two or more times. Overall, men and women who were deficient in vitamin D at the outset were 78 percent more likely than those with adequate levels to fall at least twice. Their risk of falling three or more times was more than doubled.
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Gary Moller comments:
Notice that the good researcher conveniently omitted to recommend sunlight as a source of vitamin D! Is it because it is not PC to make such recommendations?

I am currently investigating falls prevention programmes in NZ, of which there are a couple. The Otago exercise programme to prevent falls in older adults is a well researched example that reduces falls injuries by about 35% in over 65's.

While I am impressed with the programme's format and content, I am dismayed that none of the programmes I have looked at so far, this one included, seem to pay any attention at all to assessing participants' nutritional status (including vitamin D) and then correcting any identified deficiencies. When up to 90% of some elderly populations are nutritionally deficient in some way, assessing the nutritional status of elderly populations who are at high risk of falling would seem an obvious thing to do. But it isn't. With regards to vitamin D, it is hardly ever tested. When was the last time you had it done?

If an elderly person is, say, vitamin D deficient, low in dietary protein, anaemic or washed out of essential minerals and vitamins, then no amount of exercise therapy is going to work all that well. While there may be initial gains, this is hardly likely to be sustained and the individual will quickly back-slide. Strong bodies are not created out of thin air - they need good food to be built and to then be maintained over the long term.

I have demonstrated many times with elderly people under my care that it is possible to double their physical work capacity in as little as 12 weeks by taking a comprehensive approach to their care, including tidying their nutrition.

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Handy hint if you love your butter

If you are like me, you will love your butter on hot toast! However; I appreciate that it is a good idea to reduce total saturated fats in the diet especially as we get older. In fact it is even better to replace those saturated fats with those of the healthy kind; like olive oil and flaxseed oil - the kinds of oils that come with a list of health benefits too long to list.

Try this for a healthy butter subsitute on on your bread: Waihi Bush Flaxseed Oil. Just drizzle a little onto the bread, crackers or toast and then add your favourites spread. Yummy!

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Chocolate as a source of antioxidants

http://www.ffnmag.com/NH/ASP/strArticleID/240/strSite/FFNSite/articleDisplay.asp

Gary,
Its me again. Hello.
Can I ask if you have an opinion on chocolate - nice way to take an antioxidant!
please see above site
thanks
John
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Gary Moller comments:

John,

While I love chocolate, I am very sceptical of what is said in the article by a spokesperson for the cocoa industry. Chocolate is a billion $ industry and we hear little of research of the downside simply because there is no funding and no massive publicity machine to get the bad news out, even if the research somehow gets done.

We have a similar problem with products like coffee and sports drinks which are equally harmful to health.

A kiwi fruit or an apple can equally claim to have similar antioxidant benefits of cocoa but without the side effects.

I recall a client who was very unwell. It turned out he was addicted to peanut slabs, eating 8 per day.

There is merit in topping up the antioxidant levels. If you want a quality antioxidant here is one of the best:

All the best John.

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Link

Anti-aging Supplements Inquiry

Gary
Can I ask if you have read the above book by Stephen Cherniske?
It is quite fascinating - he talks about taking supplements to assist the body to delay aging, A lot of it really makes sense, but I want to get a 2nd opinion on it as he advised using things like DHEA and other controversial supplements.
I guess I am also suspicious as he works for a company that sells anti aging goodies!
Anyway - any comment will be appreciated!
thanks
JOhn
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Gary Moller comments:
The jury is still out about the supposed anti aging qualities of substances like DHEA, so I can not recommend them at this stage. I also note that Stephen Cherniske is being prosecuted by the regulatory authorities for making excessive claims about his anti-aging products. From the little I have read, he sure does seem to be overstating the claims.

A couple of years ago I attended a lecture by a strikingly young looking professor in gerontology who was supposedly one of the world's experts in aging. He believes that we must die at about 100 years principally because our genetic code becomes too riddled by about that age with errors as an inevitable conseqence of of cell division. He explained that the main reason we die earlier than 100 years (infection and accidents aside) is additional damage to our genetic code that happens mostly from free radicals and radiation that knock it around.

He explained that the best way to prevent premature aging is to ensure that we have plenty of anti oxidants in our bodies and that we minimise exposure to conditions that cause damage to our genetic code. Among other things, this means avoiding old, rancid and burned foods, preventing sunburn, avoiding xrays and not overdoing the exercise. Once our genetic code is damaged beyond a certain point our cells simply cannot do their work and we die and there is nothing we can do about it once the damage is done.

As we get older our bodies change, including our hormones. While we can supplement with artificial hormones, I wonder if this is really necessary in most cases. Surely we should be accepting that our bodies change with time and these changes in hormones are possibly for a reason? Tinkering with one area may adversly affect another. Aging gracefully is a pleasant thought.

Stay young at heart: Smile and laugh with others each day, exercise moderately, have regular sex, eat fresh foods, take some key supplements, have regular medicals, avoid regular drugs use (including prescription ones) unless absolutely needed, get your toes in the dirt or sand, get wet and cold and challenge your brain daily.

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Some healthy tips for blood pressure management

For blood pressure do the following:

If you are currently being treated for high blood pressure, please discuss this with your health care provider before making any changes, thanks.

• Do a brisk walk each morning, including weekends before breakfast
• Do other exercise like swimming, tennis and yoga as well as the walks
• Do one very long walk up to three hours once a week, like a trail hike, taking in only water for sustenance (You might need to gradually build up to this one)
• Take one Chrometate tablet with breakfast and another with dinner
• Take one Calcium and mineral tablet in the am and another in the evening
• Have one dessert spoon of flaxseed oil with breakfast, lunch and dinner. You could add a few fish oil with vitamin E capsules as well as a beneficial extra.

Take all of the above for a period of three months and do not miss a day. Top up your supplies well before you run out of any.

Monitor blood pressure first thing in the mornings and later in the day at the same time daily.

Diet

• Reduce or eliminate all refined flours and grains. Replace with wholemeal grains and oatmeal and give preference for starches like Kumara and other root crops.
• Little or no refined sugar, including honey and sweets
• Reduce dairy intake
• Use flaxseed oil as an alternative spread to butter
• Reduce animal fats
• Eat fresh nuts daily
• Eat fresh fish twice a week
• Eliminate margarines and all oils that contain trans fatty acids (read the labels carefully)
• Have several daily servings of fresh fruit and leafy vegetable, carrots, celery etc

If you are carrying any excess weight, aim for a very gradual loss over the three months using these diet and exercise guidelines.

• Find something to laugh about each day
• Smile and say "hello" to at least one stranger each day

After three months, review your blood pressure health including discussing your progress with a health practitioner if BP is consistently about 150/100 or higher.

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Was it the barley sugar?

"How much sugar wud switch your body from running on body fat to runnning on sugar. for example would a single barley suger during a marathon switch ones body to suger as fuel???? the reason that I asked is because I was given a barley sugar just before the 20km hill I was going fine until then just over that hill I crashed and burned, the barley sugar was great to suck going up the hill but was it my undoing??"
- Anon
_______________________________

World class runners go at a pace so fast that it is
next toimpossible to take in carbohydrates and
only a few cups of water, so they train for this.

Dear Anon,
Sorry, Mate; but you can't blame the barley sugar for the crash and burn act. It was probably the 8 week build-up to the marathon that was your undoing.

Your inquiry raises a few interesting points that I will try to cover:

1. Do at least 12 weeks training before a marathon, preferably the best part of a year. Each week, at least one run should be long and slow and completed without sustenance other than water. Follow the guidelines in the "Training for a Marathon" e-pub. Have a diet that is low in refined carbohydrates (whole grains and unprocessed carbos are essential). It will take at least 12 weeks of this kind of training to adapt; and you will notice with delight that you can go longer and faster during these long runs without getting irresistible carbo-cravings.
2. Doing what is recommended in (1) will help your body conserve its internal carbohydrate stores during a race like a marathon, enabling you to run longer and faster before hitting the wall. While there is no "switch" between fat and carbohydrate metabolism (Useage is in terms of ratio, rather than just one or the other), there does come a critical point in body carbohydrate store depletion where the body and brain appear to do a sudden drop in performance - the wall. this can feel a bit like throwing a switch.
3. When you are running really hard, it is almost impossible to take in anything other than the smallest quanity carbohydrate without suffering disabling stomach upsets. This is why the training as outlined above (1) is so important. The only other way to avoid hitting the wall is to run much slower and to eat and drink as you go. But, the more you take in, the slower you must go and that means a long time out on the road, which can be just as hard as trying to go fast.
4. Trying to eat and drink, including sucking a barley sugar, when going at anything other than a slow pace also causes interference with breathing and running rhythm. This can force the runner ever so slightly into oxygen debt. This hastens the hitting the wall.

So Anon, when you felt yourself seizing up, the best thing you could have done was to slow right down and take on a dozen or so barley sugars, wait for the sugar to infuse the body and hope. However; with the lack of training, other metabolic problems compound the seizing up, such as the nervous system itself running out of gas (the muscles go into a kind of rigor mortis).

With regards to the barley sugars, there is an additional issue:
If you are breathing heavily, jostling and being distracted there is a serious risk of inhaling the barley sugar and chocking to death. This is why responsible coaches ban chewing gum and sweets during training and competition. Barley sugars are fine if only walking slowly; but not if the pace is brisk and definitely not if running. The better choice is a sugary drink and soft caramel bars.

However, Anon, if you start training now (you are allowed 10 days rest) you will find that everything is so much less complicated when you run your next marathon.

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