Pacific Health Center | Nutritional Health Balancing Program | Portland, Sisters, OR

Doug Burch interview with Monte Kline

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Permanent Healthy Weight Loss Program

by Monte Kline, Ph.D.

INTRODUCTION

Though I’ve never had an overweight problem, nothing has bothered me more in 27 years of clinical practice with Pacific Health Center clients than this issue. Though with some we fairly easily get weight loss from general dietary change, getting off of sensitive foods, and various metabolic supplements, I always had the sense that the real issue of most weight problems was eluding us (and about everyone else doing weight loss programs). Why were so many people plagued with fat deposits on their abdomen, buttocks, thighs, neck, and other common areas? Why were clients that were eating right (and definitely not overeating) unable to lose weight? Why did some people gain weight, even on the most rigidly controlled plans? Why did weight come back so easily with most people who lost it?

BACKGROUND

Recently, one of our suppliers, DesBio Products, developed a customized version of a revolutionary weight loss program developed in the 1950’s by Dr. A. T. W. Simeons of Rome, Italy, the story of which is told in his book, Pounds and Inches: A New Approach to Obesity.  To read the amazing story in this 78 page book,  – go to the following link:

http://desbio.com/assets/docs/pounds_inches.pdf

Dr. Simeons got consistently great results with his program, often used by royalty and other celebrities (and consequently seldom publicized), up until his death in 1970. Since then various clinics around the world have continued his program which featured daily injections during treatment of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin hormone (hCG). A few years ago a book by Kevin Trudeau again unearthed the Simeons program, recounting his own dramatic weight loss experience, but not really giving a practical way of doing the program apart from finding an MD willing to give you the required hCG injections daily.  The problem with the approach has always been its difficulty to follow. It’s very effective, but it’s not simple, and definitely not a “do it yourself” program, particularly with its requirement of those daily hCG injections.

However, the program became much easier and more practical with the approach developed by Bruce Shelton, MD, MD(H), DiHom, FBIH, the medical advisor for DesBio Products. Having taking several classes over the years from Dr. Shelton, he is, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant men in natural medicine today. Dr. Shelton, as a licensed homeopathic MD in Arizona and President of the Arizona Homeopathic Medical Association, is particularly noted for his expertise in homeopathic medicine. Dr. Shelton has also had a long-term weight problem – he was a short, fat, double chinned, 65 year-old man . . . until he lost over 60 pounds on this program! To eliminate the need for daily hCG injections, he developed a largely equally effective homeopathic version of hCG. Though others have done homeopathic hGH, Dr. Shelton’s DesBio formula is different in that it doesn’t just have hGH, but 16 other homeopathic ingredients to also help detox, drainage support, glucose management, metabolism support, immune support, and trauma and stress management. No one else has come up with such a comprehensive hCG formula. It is a totally unique product that many feel is actually superior to the hCG injections.

3 KINDS OF FAT

Dr. Simeons noted that there were three kinds of fat:

• Structural Fat – This is healthy fat that fills the gaps between organs, somewhat like a “packing” material. It cushions organs, protects coronary arteries, and keeps your skin smooth and taut.
• Essential Fat – This is also a healthy fat, located throughout the body that the body uses as a reserve fuel, as well as a source for synthesizing essential hormones.
• Non-Essential Fat – This is the abnormal, unhealthy fat that causes weight problems. This fat stores toxins and is burned last, only after the healthy structural and essential fat reserves have been exhausted (as in over 90 days of starvation).

Think of the Non-Essential Fat as a Certificate of Deposit (CD) that is locked away and non-accessible, unlike the funds in your checking account. But how are the “deposits” and “withdrawals” to this “fat bank” managed?

THE HYPOTHALAMUS & hCG

The diencephalon area of the brain, including the hypothalamus, manages the “deposits” and “withdrawals” to and from your “fat bank.” Dr. Simeons wrote:

When . . . the deposits grow rapidly while small withdrawals become more frequent, a point may be reached which goes beyond the diencephalon’s banking capacity. Just as a banker might suggest to a wealthy client that, instead of accumulating a large and unmanageable current account he should invest his surplus capital, the body appears to establish a fixed deposit into which all surplus funds go, but from which they can no longer be withdrawn by the procedure used in the current account . . . Once a fixed deposit has been established, the normal fat reserves are held at a minimum, while every available surplus is locked away in the fixed deposit and is therefore taken out of normal circulation.

Dr. Simeons discovered that hCG injections “reset” the hypothalamus, resulting in the release and burning of these locked-up fat deposits, provided a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) was followed during treatment. During the diet, most of the body’s energy needs are being met from the dissolution of the fat deposits stimulated by the hCG, such that an additional 500 calories from diet results in no hunger. Simeons wrote:

I found that as long as such patients were given small daily doses of hCG they could comfortably go about their usual occupations on a diet of only 500 calories daily and lose an average of about one pound per day. It was also perfectly evident that only abnormal fat was being consumed, as there were no signs of any depletion of normal fat. Their skin remained fresh and turgid, and gradually their figures became entirely normal . . .

It should also be noted that fat “moves” with the hCG program. In regular diets structural fat is typically lost making your face look hollow, while your thighs, buttocks, and abdomen retain that “banked” reserve fat. Simeons found with his program that fat would actually redistribute from these problem areas.

The hCG treatment helps other conditions besides overweight. Diabetic medication needs may drops, rheumatic pain may improve, cholesterol may be reduced, uric acid may reduce lessening gout symptoms, blood pressure may reduce, and peptic ulcers may heal. HCG may also improve psoriasis, fingernails, and hair.

ROOT CAUSES OF THE DISORDER

So what causes the accumulation of the abnormal fat deposits in the first place? Dr. Simeons postulated three basic causes of obesity:

1. The Inherited Factor – Some people are born with an abnormal fat-banking function. In such a person, obesity would develop as a child in spite of normal dietary habits. This explains the often-observed situation of fat parents with similarly fat children.
2. Other Diencephalic Disorders – In menopause, diabetes, or other endocrine disorders, hormones previously circulating in the body are absent. This creates an additional demand on the pituitary and draws more energy away from other diencephalic functions including the fat-bank.
3. Exhaustion of the Fat-Bank – If your normal fat-regulating center is suddenly called on to deal with a significant excess of food, the normal fat-banking mechanism can go awry. Food, far exceeding the body’s actual needs, will be “banked” in those inaccessible fat reserves. Psychological or other compulsive disorders may also trigger this disorder originally.
4. Other Causes – A number of other causes have been suggested for disrupting the hypothalamus function resulting in the accumulation of abnormal fat deposits, including: lack of exercise, liver congestion, colon toxicity, nutrient deficiencies, refined food consumption, artificial sweetener consumption, microwaving food, consuming meat and dairy contaminated with hormonal drugs, food allergies, lack of sunshine, parasites, and more. Unfortunately we live in a pretty unnatural and toxic world with multiple possibilities of causes for hypothalamus dysfunction.

Simeons again notes:

There are thus a large number of ways in which obesity can be initiated, though the disorder itself is always due to the same mechanism, an inadequacy of the diencephalic fat-center and the laying down of abnormally fixed fat deposits in abnormal places. This means that once obesity has become established, it can no more be cured by eliminating those factors which brought it on than a fire can be extinguished by removing the cause of the conflagration.

THE hCG HORMONE

There is much confusion about the nature and effects of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin, partly due to its misleading name. While the term “gonadotrophin” means a sex gland directed hormone, Simeons noted that:

It cannot be sufficiently emphasize that hCG is not a sex hormone, that its action is identical in men, women, children in those cases in which the sex glands no longer functioning owning to old age or their surgical removal . . . it never virilizes a woman or feminizes a man. It neither makes men grow breasts nor does it interfere with their virility, though where this was deficient it may improve it. It never makes women grow a beard or develop a gruff voice.

Bottom-line, the hCG has been proven effective at “flipping the switch” in the hypothalamus to release the “banked” fat deposits. Particularly in homeopathic dilution it cannot have any adverse effect on your health.

THE PROGRAM

Enough background and theory – so what’s the actual program to correct abnormal fat deposits?

General Considerations:

1. Losing 15 pounds or less requires a 26 day program.
2. Losing more than 15 pounds requires a 40 day program, but the program must be stopped at a loss of 34 pounds. If additional weight loss is needed, another course may be started after a 6 week break.
3. Since the program is not done during menses, for menstruating women the best time to start the program is immediately after the menstrual period.

1. Preparation (1 week or more)

a. This is a very precise program. Do not start until you have everything ready
b. Begin homeopathic detox program – this involves several homeopathic formulas that are just added to a measured amount of your drinking water.
c. Ready an accurate bathroom scale and a postal scale for accurate food measurements
d. Review recipe plans and get needed food
e. Get recommended non-fat-containing personal care products – fats and oils used in these products are absorbed into the body and can disrupt the fat burning/redistribution process.

2. Fat-Loading

a. 2 days of Fat-Loading to prevent hunger during initial days of 500 calorie diet
b. Eat high-fat, high-calorie foods of your choice
c. Begin taking hCG Professional Formula drops as directed

3. 500 Calorie Diet (for 21 – 43 days)

a. Begin Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD)
b. 500 calories daily (even a 100 calorie increase above this will shut down the fat burning/redistribution process)
c. The VLCD with the HCG will trigger your brain to draw energy from the undesirable secondary fat reserves.

4. Stop Drops

a. Continue 500 calorie diet for 3 more days.
b. This enables your system to regulate on its own without the HCG

5. Maintenance (3 weeks)

a. Increase caloric intake
b. Larger portions & variety
c. Introduce fat
d. Slowly add foods not on the VLCD
e. NO STARCH OR SUGAR
f. In this phase you stabilize your new weight and reset your hypothalamus. Stay within 2 pounds of your diet end weight.

6. Final Phase (3 weeks)

a. Same as Maintenance Phase, but gradually add sugars and starches in small servings
b. Emphasize whole foods.
c. This allows the new weight “set point” to take hold.
d. Stay within 2 pounds of your VLCD end weight.

PROGRAM COST

Your program will involve a lot of telephone and email consultation time with the PHC staff – primarily Nancy or Leah, since they have gone through this program and know it best. In some cases you may need to communicate with us on a daily basis. Thus, our program fee is oriented toward the average amount of time we will need to spend in directing your program and answering your questions.  We’re offering this program at a modest price to a limited number of clients at a time to make sure we have sufficient time to deal with their needs.  Initial pricing will be:

26 Day Program (for losing up to 15 pounds) — $149
40 Day Program (for losing up to 34 pounds) — $199

Products needed include the hCG Professional Formula, the six homeopathic detox products that are added to your drinking water one week before and during the program, a potassium supplement, a multi-mineral (you may already have), a B12 supplement, and Celtic Sea Salt (you may already have). These will total around $200.

To begin your hCG Weight Loss Program, just call us at 800-255-4246 for a consultation. If you just have questions, feel free to respond to this email.

DO NOT DO THIS WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM IF . . .

This program requires a high level of commitment to work. Please “count the cost” before commencing. We don’t want to waste your time (or have you waste ours), so the following commitments are required for us to begin the program with you:

1. You must follow the program exactly. Dr. Simeons found in 20 years of dealing with thousands of people that even the slightest variations would stop the weight loss.  For example, if a meal calls for 3 ounces of meat, you can’t use 3.5 ounces — a deviation like that can actually stop your progress.  He always found the program worked as long as there was no deviation.
2. You must take the hCG Professional Formula as directed. This program will not work with the Very Low Calories Diet alone.
3. You must do the program for at least 26 days. It will take that long for the hypothalamus to reset. If you stop prematurely,  you will immediately regain the weight you have lost.
4. You must immediately call or email us if you’re having any difficulty. There are reasons that will explain any problems and corrective measures that must be undertaken immediately.
5. You must read Dr. Simeons book, Pounds and Inches: A New Approach to Obesity (just 78 pages) twice before starting your program. It is essential that you fully understand the program in advance so that you know what’s happening to you during the diet.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I have been waiting my entire professional life for a program that would really get down to the root causes of obesity, for a program that would achieve permanent weight loss, for a program that would get rid of the fat in the “problem” areas and properly redistribute the weight. Over a 60 year time period, tens of thousands have seen Dr. Simeon’s original program work. I have seen this new homeopathic hCG Program work with not only my wife and daughter losing 11 – 15 pounds and with the dramatic loss of weight by this program’s designer and my teacher, Dr. Bruce Shelton, but now with our own initial group of clients who are losing 1/2 to 1 pound per day.

If you’re overweight, I know how much you hate being that way. I know how you’ve been falsely blamed for the problem. I know you want to remove this obstacle to achieving optimum health. We’re here to help you toward that end. We hope to talk with you soon.

Monte Kline, Ph.D.

After 30+ years working in connection with nutrition and natural health care methods, I’ve noted the persistent pattern of media distortion of scientific studies.  This is another version of the familiar “journalistic” rule — If it bleeds, it leads.  When it comes to nutrition and natural health care, the more sensationalistic the story, the better.  It doesn’t matter if decades of studies have shown a particular nutrient helpful, the one study supposedly showing it “harmful” or “ineffective” is news, though it’s not really true.  Let me give two recent examples:

VITAMIN E INCREASES MORTALITY?

A study presented in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2005:142(1):37-46) created a huge amount of controversy and negative press on the value of vitamin E.  This was not an original study, but a “meta-analysis” of previous vitamin E studies.  The study found increased mortality from all causes for individuals taking more than 400 i.u. of vitamin E daily.  Naturally, the authors then concluded that people should avoid vitamin E supplementation.  This conclusion was false and foolish because:

1. This was not a controlled study designed to determine if vitamin E supplementation increased the risk of death, but a meta-analysis of previous studies to attempt to answer a question not posed in those original studies.  Meta-analyses thus cannot definitely establish cause and effect relationships.

2. The authors reviewed 19 studies, of which only 9 studies supplemented with vitamin E alone.  Most were also using other nutritional supplements.

3. Generally the vitamin E used in the studies was d-alpha tocopherol, not the full vitamin E complex (mixed tocopherols) nor the tocotrienol isomers that are part of the vitamin E family.  Also, many of the studies did not use the natural form of vitamin E — d-alpha tocopherol — instead using the synthetic “dl” form.  It is well-known that there are major differences in the efficacy of natural and synthetic vitamin E.

4. Subjects in these studies were either not healthy or were already at an increased risk of developing the disease investigated by the particular study.  It is a quantum leap therefore to superimpose conclusions from such unhealthy populations onto healthy individuals.

5. Of the 19 studies, 11 showed a reduction in mortality, but the findings of just 3 studies (one of which was not peer-reviewed) were allowed to skew the overall result.

6. Numerous previous clinical studies have shown the benefit of vitamin E supplementation with an upper safe limit of 1600 i.u. per day by the Institute of Medicine.

CALCIUM & VITAMIN D DON’T PREVENT FRACTURES?

36,000 women were involved in this Women’s Health Initiative  study designed to determined the ability of calcium and vitamin D supplementation to prevent fractures (N Engl J Med 2006;354(7)684-696).  They took 1000 mg of calcium carbonate and 400 i.u. of vitamin D daily and were followed for 7 years.  But the following factors distort the result:

1. Only 40% of the women followed the dosing schedule.  The subgroup of women that actually took the full dose or calcium and vitamin D had their fracture incidence reduced by 29%!

2. The placebo group were allowed to take calcium and multi-vitamin supplementation, so they weren’t really serving as a proper comparison.

3. Many of the women were already taking a baseline of 1100 mg of calcium and 360 i.u. of vitamin D, thus making the additional supplementation used in the study less significant.

4. Calcium carbonate (eating rocks) is the worst, most poorly assimilated form of calcium, with as little as 4% assimilation.  400 i.u. of vitamin D is almost an insignificant amount, based on the latest research.  Most people need 4000 – 5000 units  of vitamin D to bring blood levels into the optimal range.

Conclusion: Don’t pay too much attention to headline-grabbing stories on vitamin studies.  Upon closer examination such studies are usually not correctly interpreted, but simply used in yet another vain attempt to turn the public from natural medicine approaches that threaten the conventional, drug-oriented medical establishment.

– Monte Kline

This past week the Journal of the American Medical Association reported supposedly “new” findings about which age groups of women should have mammograms.   Now they are generally suggesting that women in their 40’s and women above 70 do not need to get annual screening mammograms.   Only one problem:  this is not news!

Years ago in my Better Health Update #46 “Mammograms–Yes or No” (read at http://www.pacifichealthcenter.com/blog/46-mammograms-yes-or-no/) I reported the following:

• “Dr. Suzanne W. Fletcherof of the American College of Physicians also reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that for women age 40 to 49 there is no survival benefit to obtaining routine mammograms.”
• “No benefits have been found for mammography of women over age 69.”

I don’t want to break my arm patting myself on the back, but how come I knew of these research findings 10 years ago and JAMA just figured it out last week?

As referred to in others posts on this blog, treatments are “marketed” by the conventional medical/drug establishment.   If you’re going to spend large amounts of money on mammogram machines, you have to convince women that they need this procedure, which in and of itself increases the risk of breast cancer.    But I guess eventually, even which such a “sacred cow” as mammography, someone is going to say, “The Emperor has no clothes!”  I just glad I said that years before JAMA caught on.

– Monte Kline

Every Fall I observe the marketing of flu shots through the media, doctor’s offices, retail stores, etc.  But this year with the H1N1 Pig Flu, they’ve outdone themselves.  In a nutshell, the basic strategy is create panic. This always begins with a hyperinflation of the numbers of people killed in the 1918 flu epidemic.  The fact is that 40 million did not die from the flu back then, but rather mostly from pneumonia which came as a secondary infection.   Flu shots are of no help whatsoever for pneumonia, which is normally treated today with antibiotics (which conversely are of no value for the flu).

The next part of the propaganda strategy is to overestimate the number of pig flu cases.  Every day the news is telling you of epidemic levels of H1N1 around the country, especially in schools.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has stated that most flu is the H1N1 pig flu so far this year.  But CBS news, after a three month study, has concluded otherwise, stating:

If you’ve been diagnosed “probable” or “presumed” 2009 H1N1 or “swine flu” in recent months, you may be surprised to know this:  odds are you didn’t have H1N1 flu.  In fact, you probably didn’t have flu at all.

So, how can this be true?  Would you believe that the CDC in late July 2009 told states to stop testing for H1N1 flu and stopped counting individual cases.  Since they had already declared it an epidemic, why bother counting it anymore!  Thus, everyone that visited a doctor with flu symptoms since late July was assumed to have pig flu.  Can we all scream together, “The Emperor has no clothes!”

CBS further found that H1N1 tests were “overwhelmingly negative” for confirming pig flu.  In Florida, out of 8,853 specimens tested 17% were positive for H1N1 and 83% were negative for other flu.  In California, out of 13,704 specimens, only 2% were positive for H1N1, 12% were positive for other flu, and 86% were negative for other flu.  So where’s the epidemic?  So far, there is none.  It is strictly a manufactured media event.  Keep in mind that if you don’t have a fever, you don’t have the flu — you may have a cold, sinusitis, bronchitis, etc, but if there’s no fever, there’s no flu.  You can read the complete article on the CBS story,  by Dr. Joseph Mercola’s website by clicking here.

So what’s all the nonsense about?  One thing:  Selling flu vaccine.  It takes weeks, or even months to produce this highly toxic junk, and the drug companies must sell it this season.  How do you sell millions of doses of flu vaccine?  Keep beating the drum in the media that there’s a widespread epidemic.

As stated in my Better Health Update “Flu Shots — Yes or No,” there are only two problems with flu shots:  (1) They’re not safe and (2) They don’t work.  To read this article, go to:

http://www.pacifichealthcenter.com/blog/61-flu-shots-yes-or-no/

But what’s the alternative?  Simply stated, the answer is to keep your immune system strong.  That’s the only way you avoid flu, colds, or any other infection.  For years I’ve recommended a flu prevention homeopathic, L-lysine supplements, Vitamin D, and Vitamin C.  Pacific Health Center currently has a special on these products.  Check them out on our “Special Offers” page:

http://www.pacifichealthcenter.com/shop/cid-34-1-Special_Offers.html

– Monte Kline

by Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist

I’ve never been prouder of my fellow Americans than in watching the tens of thousands that are turning out at town hall meetings confronting their senators and congressmen with the facts about ObamaCare.  Thanks to this issue the “silent majority” is no longer silent . . . or, as one woman said to Senator Arlen Spector:

You have awakened a sleeping giant.

When you distill it all down, several things become clear:

1. ObamaCare will result in a “single-payer” government-run health care system. The oft-repeated line that you can keep your existing insurance is disingenuous at best and a bold-faced lie at worst.  Does anyone really believe that many of the 1300 private insurance companies would survive when competing against a taxpayer-subsidized government program costing 30% less?  Employers would jump at the chance to reduce their health insurance costs by transferring to the government program.  Unlike private insurance companies, government unfortunately doesn’t have to make a profit.  It wouldn’t happen immediately, but within three to five years the bulk of the private health insurance companies would be out of business.  Though he now denies it, Obama is on tape during the campaign saying he favors a single-payer (i. e. the government) system.  This is how he plans to get there.

2. The resulting government health care will have rationing and waiting lines. We absolutely know that because that’s the way it is in every country that has socialized medicine.   You’ve heard the examples many times already from Canada and the U.K.  Make something “free” and you get more usage of it.  Add 50 million people consumers to the health care system with the same number of doctors and hospitals, and you have to have rationing and waiting lines.

3. Can the government run anything well? If you want to know what ObamaCare would look like, examine the government-run health care we already have — the VA (Veteran’s Administration).  I have dealt with clients for over 25 years who received conventional health care from the VA — suffice to say, horror stories abound.  Is there anything that the government really runs well?  The bankrupt Post Office?  The long waiting lines at the DMV?  Your local Planning Department?  Because of lack of competition and no need to make a profit, government-run anything tends to be a disaster.

4. 45 million uninsured — lying with statistics 101. Of the supposed 45 million uninsured, according to the US Census Bureau:

• 17 million make over $50,000/year and could afford health insurance
• 18 million are age 18 – 34 and just don’t feel the need to spend the money on health insurance
• 14 million are eligible for existing government health insurance programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.
• 12 million are illegal aliens that shouldn’t have free government health care anyway
• ONLY 8 MILLION ARE REALLY UNINSURED.  Many of these have chosen a life of irresponsibility and will not be forced into the health care system no matter what.

5. SOLUTIONS — A lot is wrong with health care in America, but it cannot be fixed with a government takeover of the system:

• TORT REFORM – I know from personal and client experience that medical malpractice goes on and that people must have legal recourse for damages.  Actual damages are one thing; punitive damages are another.  A $250,000 cap on punitive damages would greatly lower exhorbitant malpractice insurance rates, which comprise a significant part of health care costs.  It would also lower the income of multi-millionaire, sleaze bag, ambulance-chasing lawyers, like John Edwards.  Unfortunately, half of the Congress are lawyers.  Since trial lawyers comprise one of the largest funding sources for the Democrat party, ObamaCare makes no mention of tort reform.

• EXPAND HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS — The main reason health care is expensive is because people are not spending their own money.  They neither know nor care what the services received cost.  Imagine what that kind of system would do to buying groceries, cars, or any other item?  In an HSA part of your monthly payment goes to a catastrophic insurance policy to cover major events and part goes to your own HSA account where you decide what to spend.  The money you don’t spend is yours to keep, so you actually shop for the best deal — competition, lower prices, etc.  Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the population has HSA’s, mainly due to governmental interference.  They could be as common as IRAs.  This also solves the “portability” question:  When you move or change jobs, your HSA goes with you because it’s yours.

• DECREASE THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN HEALTH CARE – ObamaCare, however you cut it, intends to increase the role of government in health care — paying for it, rationing it, deciding what treatments you get, etc.  The problem is not that government is not involved enough, but that it is already too involved in health care! Thanks to the government, all 1300 health insurance companies cannot sell policies in all 50 states — lack of competition = higher prices.  Why is it that car insurance companies like GEICO, State Farm, Allstate, Farmer’s, etc. sell in all 50 states, but health insurance companies can’t do the same thing and compete for business, instead of having essentially government created monopolies?

The current protests have been very revealing of two basic political philosophies in America.  One philosophy believes in the government running things.  Probably 90% of the Democrat Party is committed to this view, along with the “moderates” in the Republican Party.  Adherents basically want to remake American into a Western European style social democracy.

The other philosophy is summarized by Ronald Reagan’s famous statement:

Government isn’t the solution to the problem; it is the problem.

Conservative Republicans, Libertarians, and independent conservatives hold to this view.  The current town halls demonstrate the clash of these two philosophies.

The newsletter from the American Association for Health Freedom on 4/7/09 contained a very insightful statement:

. . . the drug industry is now marketing illnesses, offering pharmaceutical solutions to problems the public didn’t even realize they had.

How true!  In 25 years of practice as a “non-medical” health practitioner, I’ve seen this again and again.  When I started in practice in 1983, cholesterol wasn’t considered high until it was above 240.  Then they lowered it to 200.  Three or four years ago they lowered down to, I believe, 175 or 180.  By lowering “abnormal” down into what is actually a very normal and healthy range, the drug industry has “marketed” an illness, creating a problem where none existing . . . and of course, adding 20 or 30 million new potential customers for unneeded cholesterol lowering drugs.

The same thing happens with blood pressure pills, borderline high blood sugar drugs, and especially the gastric reflux drugs.  Remember the months of advertising about “Do you need the purple pill?”  The original ads didn’t even say what the “purple pill” was or what it was supposed to treat.  You were just supposed to go beg your doctor to give it to you.

Most of these commonly drugged and overdrugged conditions can be remedied naturally with dietary change and supplements that cost a fraction of the prescription medications.  More importantly, the drugs only treat symptoms, while natural health care approaches seek to deal with root causes.

Bottom-line, be very leery of being diagnosed with non-problems that just happen to have an expensive drug available to treat them.

–Monte Kline

Headlines are blazing with how everyone’s going to be able to take one “superpill” and reduce their risk of heart disease by 50%.  The study, published in Lancet, was announced at the convention of the American College of Cardiology this week in Orlando.  The “superpill” combines low-dose aspirin, a cholesterol lowering drug, and a blood pressure lower drug.  Basically the study found that participants lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure.  Making a quantum leap, they conclude that will reduce heart disease.  Just one problem — lowering cholesterol and blood pressure doesn’t necessarily prevent heart disease! It does, however, produce huge profits for drug companies.

The conventional medical/drug establishment practices Joseph Goebel’s propaganda techniques to perfection:  Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it’s the truth. A lot of people with normal cholesterol and blood pressure have heart attacks.  B vitamin, magnesium, and other nutrient deficiencies are probably much more significant in producing cardiovascular problems than cholesterol and high blood pressure.  The cholesterol is high in the first place because it is needed.  Cholesterol is a repair material, analogous to patching potholes.  But the reason you have the “potholes” in your blood vessels in the first place goes back to nutrient deficiencies.  Let me also add that the “diet-heart hypothesis” sold to American consumers for decades — namely that consumption of saturated fats and high cholesterol foods raises cholesterol levels — has been repeatedly proven false (see Better Health Update #40 — “Cholesterol Confusion”).  Artificially lowering the cholesterol without correcting the cause of the high cholesterol simply exchanges one health problem for another.

But what about blood pressure?  Does anyone ever stop to ask why the blood pressure is high?  No.  The dogma says that the blood pressure should be at a certain level, and if it isn’t, we’ll artificially lower it with a drug.  I can tell you with good confidence that if you’re blood pressure is high, it needs to be high to get blood and its nutrients to where it needs to go.  Lower that pressure, and you will deprive parts of the body of circulation and nutrients.  The better solution is to clean out and expand the blood vessels with nutrition and exercise which will automatically lower the blood pressure without compromising your health in some other way.  But there’s no money in that, and drug companies want to sell drugs.

The propaganda campaign from Orlando didn’t end with the “superpill” study, though.  The featured headline following that study says:  Omega-3 of No Added Benefit for Health Patients:  Study. It’s bad enough that they have to promote their phony drug approach, but they didn’t stop there.  The PR campaign also trashes the number one nutritional supplement for cardiovascular health — Omega 3 Fish Oils.  The message is clear:  Drugs are great; natural remedies don’t work. The problem is that many, many studies have already shown the significant benefit of Omega 3 fish oil for cardiovascular disease.  The study was done with people right after having a heart attack and did not measure the preventive value of the supplement.  In other words it didn’t measure at all the way most people use Omega 3 supplements–not after having a heart attack, but before having one.

Be very leery of “studies,” especially lone studies like this that contradict established findings.   Most are funded by drug companies as part of their marketing program for their products.

– Monte Kline

A few days ago I started getting sick with a respiratory viral infection that’s been, as they say, “going around.”  Though I uusally can nip these things in the bud with the Salt Cleanse (see Better Health Update #56 on “Celtic Sea Salt”), that didn’t work this time, as symptoms worsened into the worst cold/bronchitis/sinustis I’ve experienced in many years.  Eventually my head was feeling like it was going to explode and my teeth were hurting from sinus pressure.  Most of all, I just felt like the viral infection was winning and my body was losing.  At one point it was so bad that I thought I might have to be hospitalized, which, if you know me, is really, really, really bad.

Last night, in desperation to turn this around, I went back to two old “cures” that I have used on myself in the past:  (1) Artificially-induced fever, and (2) raw garlic.  If I remember right, I first heard of artificially-induced fever from the late German physician, Dr. Josef Issels, who used it with his cancer patients.  The mechanics of this are pretty simple — you lie in a very hot bath and get your body temperature up to 103 to 104 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes  and thus “fry” the viruses.  The body uses fever to kill off pathogens, but we don’t typically get a fever every time we’re sick.  Understand that doing this requires considerable care.  First,  you must monitor your body temperature throughout this process.  Do not let your body temperature exceed 104 degrees. It’s also a good idea (and feels good) throughout this process to cool your head with a wash cloth dipped in cool water.  Do not do this alone! There must be someone else in the bathroom that can make sure you’re OK throughout this process.  You will tend to get lightheaded, and you sure don’t want to pass out in the bathtub!  Fever has an amazing ability to rid the body bacterial and viral toxins, even this relatively short artificially-induced fever.  You’ll be a little woozy for awhile, after you get out of the bathtub, but you’ll feel OK in a few minutes.

After doing this last night, I turned to another somewhat uncomfortable, but very effective approach — raw garlic.  After 25 years in practice and using a lot of garlic supplements with clients for its powerful infection fighting properties, I have to tell you that nothing is as powerful as raw garlic, right from the clove.   Take a garlic clove and peel it (this is done by striking the garlic clove  on your cutting board with the flat side of a big kitchen knife).  Then pop it in your mouth an hour before going to bed and suck on it.  Resist the temptation to bite into the garlic clove very much because the juice is very potent and will sting your tongue.  The idea is to just gradually get the garlic sucked out over an hour’s time and then go to bed (needless to say, sleeping by yourself is probably necessary).  Garlic will come out every pore in your body, so a soapy shower, including washing your hair, is necessary in the morning.

Last night I slept better than I had in weeks and woke feeling pretty functional for the first time in days.  I felt like the viral infection was on the way out — my immune system was winning.  It’s hard to explain how much different this can make you feel in the midst of an infection.  Would love to hear your experience with either of these methods.

Monte Kline

Over the years I’ve been amazed at the confusion most people have about average lifespan statistics.  This confusion arises from the fact that the statistics generally shared in the media are for lifespan at birth, not lifespan from your present age. Let me explain:

If you are born today your average lifespan in the U. S. is 77.8 years (both sexes, all races).  But if you’re 75 today, your average lifespan is not another 2.8 years, but another 12 years! The longer you live, the more your expectancy average increases simply because you’ve dodged more of the things that would take your life.  Statistically you have fewer “opportunties” to lose your life the older you get.   Each year you live the average lifespan extends a little, as shown in these 2005 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control:

AGE          REMAINING YEARS          TOTAL LIFESPAN

0                             77.8                                      77.8

5                             73.5                                      78.5

10                           68.5                                      78.5

15                           63.6                                      78.6

20                           58.8                                      78.8

25                           54.1                                      79.1

30                           49.3                                      79.3

35                           44.6                                      79.6

40                           39.9                                      79.9

45                           35.3                                      80.3

50                           30.9                                      80.9

55                           26.7                                      81.7

60                           22.6                                      82.6

65                           18.7                                      83.7

70                           15.2                                      85.2

75                           12.0                                      87.0

80                             9.2                                      89.2

85                             6.8                                      91.8

90                             5.0                                      95.0

95                             3.6                                      98.6

100                           2.6                                     102.6

Note that at age 5 or at age 10, odds are you’ll live to be the same age — 78.5 years, but if you live to be 100, your average lifespan will have increased 4.0 years over what it was at age 95.

Monte Kline

Source:  Life Expectancy at Selected Ages by Race and Sex:  United States, 2005, http://www.disastercenter.com/cdc/Life%20expectancy%202005.html