Ankh Healthcare

I think it is just bizarre that all these singers die at the same age of 27, or maybe it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and a sense of wanting to be like such tragic lives that have been cut short and not allowed to live out their promise, or maybe they just couldn't.

Or maybe it was just too much to ask of someone with a last name like Winehouse, lol, just kidding.

But looking back, not wanting to go to Rehab was the worst possible decision that she could have made in her short life. Research is now showing that addiction is something that has to be managed daily and on an ongoing basis. It is something that you will relapse back into without the right medication. A new field for it has just opened up and it is separate and distinct from the field of psychiatry. The facts are very simple, you stop taking your meds and you relapse. The same can be said for other addictions like gambling and smoking. The understanding that we now have of these addictions take the guilt away from those who have these problems. WIll power alone cannot control it, it is about brain wiring and chemistry and doctors are learning more about it.

On the other hand the hit her liver takes from all the drugs, smoking and alcohol she takes cannot possibly be sustained indefinately without causing some longterm damage. The fact that she appears intoxicated on stage means that her liver was not able to clear the alcohol in her effectively enough and the alcohol has moved to her brain causing damage there. An impaired liver is the setting for so much toxins and damage to the body. I think she didn't stand a chance.

If you browse through my blog here, I have always mentioned liver protecting herbs and vitamins and that the most basic things that you could do is to protect the liver. It detoxifies so many toxins that hit us everyday. The environment with live in is so toxic, our livers need all the help we can get. Even something as simple as smoking uses up so much more Vitamin C in our body to neutralise the toxins produced by it. And the body needs a daily supply of this to stay healthy. Throw out those old RDA levels.

Modern science seems to be moving in the direction of a connection between an infection and a mental illness. In other words the mind or the brain, just like the rest of the body, breaks down when exposed to a pathogen. Alot of new research seems to back this up, it is not as far fetched as it seems. Psychiatry and the study of mental illnesses by itself is becoming an old and archaic way of approaching mental illnesses and a more holistic approach must be taken. It all started with the discovery that viruses were able to produce a neurotoxin protein that can travel to the brain and cause depression or that HERV (Human Endogenous Retro Viruses) are able to unwind and code for proteins that cause schizophrenia in people whose immune systems are weak.

The immune systems of people going through a psychotic episode or anxiety or depression can look like an immune system that is fighting an infection.

Getting past the fact of that annoying song ( Friday ) and and that she (Rebecca Black ) is only 14 y.o., all i can think about when I look at her is how black her hair is. Genetically I would argue that black and dark skin coloring is the hardest to maintain because it requires the Most amount of melanin to maintain that color. Also as you age, genetically there are more chances for mistakes to happen while maintaining that coloring that is why people with darker skin complexions tend to have more skin issues as they age too. Fair skinned people, the Northern and Western Europeans, don't exactly have it that easy too. Their skin support and structure break down too easily as they age and after continuous exposure to the sun. That is why you will see them age literally overnite past the age of 30. Caucasian skin adapted to the low sunlight conditions of the higher latitudes and need that to maintain its youthfulness.

Here are some suggestions to maintain hair coloring for all skin types but particularly black hair. Not surprisingly most of them come from Eastern/Asian cultures.

Recently Rosemary has been proving to be a very good rinse for black hair. This is not a new fad, Rosemary has been used in skin and haircare for hundreds of years. Historically Rosemary is used for its essential oil which is know to be a gentle and effective stimulatant. Consider Rosemary tea in the morning, it is invigorating and feels different from caffeine.

As it turns out that besides its stimulating properties, Rosemary is also a very powerful antioxidant, many spices are. It is very effective at inhibiting lipid peroxidation: oxidation processes that go on in fats and oils. This is very important as 90% of our brain cells are made out of fats. This effect works everywhere, including on the sebum on the scalp. This strengthens the microenvironment of your scalp mantle. It also stimulates antioxidation production on the scalp, this fights off free radicals that can age skin and hair coloring. Definately something to consider using on a regular basis.

From an antioxidation point of view, you would want to stimulate catalase production. This is a very important endogenous enzyme in the body and does all sorts of good things when there is alot of it. The Chinese herb Foti can stimulate the production of this enzyme and is in the hair formula Shen Min. Foti works similiarly to Resveratrol and perhaps in other ways we don't quite know yet. It contains Stillbenes.

The main idea here to maintain the coloring of dark hair is to keep the concentration of antioxidants high at the scalp. This can be achieved both orally and topically. The most important of these for coloring is Catalase and the the herbs Resveratrol and Foti are very helpful for this.

All throughout the Casey Anthony murder trial Nancy Grace was calling for a guilty sentence with at least 25 to life. She staked her reputation on it and in fact her whole tv show on it. But this is what happens when you have someone who is not experienced in criminal law or who as never been a judge before gets her own tv show where she arbitrates her own cases, the inexperience shows.

In fact if you follow the case and read up on what other criminal lawyers had to comment about it, there were always whispers about Casey actually being acquitted, because the prosecutor's forensics team has so little evidence to work with. If you think that real life forensics technology is like what you see in CSI you can forget it, it is no where close.

But let's take a look at a mental illness or irrational behaviour which I believe that Nancy Grace exhibited throughout her commentary on the murder trial. Her irrational thoughts and assumptions made her almost hysterical and fanatical each time she said something about it. She seemed to think that every time there was any doubt involved all she had to do was get more emotional and all the doubts would go away. She can bob her head as many times as she wants (until that wig of hers fall off)  but it still doesn't change the facts. This is quite frankly consistent with someone who comes from a very religious background and is something that more and more churches are encouraging. They call it a 'Southern Baptist Evangelical worship'. I think it is very dangerous as it takes you on wild emotional roller coaster rides that after awhile take on a life of their own. People who are otherwise mentally healthy but are susceptible to such swings can end up with emotional disturbances and in extended cases bi polar disorder. Coming down from that emotional high when exposed to it at a regular interval can lead to depression, cause lets face it, reality isn't quite like that.

More about this on another post.

I was surprised to see that Prince William, only in his early 30s, is already beginning to bald. I guess it can be hard to predict these things sometimes in the sense that you can never tell which side of the family you are going to get it from. But I am also surprised that he is not doing anything about it. Considering his royal lineage, I don't know, I would think that he would want to to present himself more vainly, or maybe it is just that, that British or royal people aren't that vain. Although I beg to differ on this point alot.

Unlike Beverly McClellan from the Voice, whom someone obviously forgot to tell her that Sigourney Weaver's look from Aliens 3 is so 1990s ( maybe she is going through chemotherapy, who knows ... ) men have somewhat more options than women when it comes to hairloss and they can do 'more' about it.

Besides what was suggested for Bev ( we are on a first syllabus basis now ), here are some other suggestions. If your hairline is still somewhat intact and it is your hair that is beginning to thin. Believe it or not, this is usually a pretty straight forward problem, your hair follicles are beginning to get clogged up. This is just simply due to DHT and sebum accumulating around the hair roots and choking off nutrients, making the follicle width smaller and smaller. DHT inhibitors like Saw Palmetto, Propecia and Avodart really work. Applying them topically works in its own way too. Rogaine at 5% is OTC and works on male pattern baldness.

The Ankh guides me from a distant point in time, to this point in time, to the now - Ankh Intuition.

I have thought about this alot as I work on my herbal formulary of what to combine and the best proportions to blend them in together. And no matter how far my mind ventures, it still brings me back to these 2 herbs: Licorice and Andrographis (Kalmegh).

When it comes to Licorice, the root is used medicinally. It is also known as sweet root and it is often used to sweeten herbal preparations in soup that are otherwise too bitter to take. Only a little bit of it is needed. Andrographis on the other hand is known as the 'King of Bitters' the whole herb is used in medicinal preparation, except unusually the root instead the stems and leaf are mostly used. Intuitionally, I am getting images from the Ankh that a combination of these 2 herbs into one formula would make an excellent tonic, its synergistic effects far superior to each individual herb alone. This would be a product that boosts immnune health with specific anti-viral, interferon (alpha and beta) inducing effects on the body. This is something that I hold very dearly to me because of what I am going thru.

I see the Church of the Ankh and part Zen Buddhism and part Soka Gakkai, something very intune with the cosmic force and energy that surrounds us everywhere we go. In many ways, the Zen monk Ikkyu sums up what I think about it.

For in the foreseeable future, she has become America's most hated woman. If she thinks that she has gotten away with things and that she can put it all behind her, she is simply dead wrong. As dead wrong as her daughter Caylee.  I can imagine the death threats she is getting now or how even moving on with her life will be so incredibly difficult. Will she even be able to get a job ? Will companies even be willing to hire her ? WIll she sue them for being prejudice ? WIll she wish that she was in jail because society will reject her ? Her story will only get more and more interesting.

I imagine her to be somewhat depressed and experiencing some sort of anxiety issues as she goes through this. There are lots of drugs that can help her over come this but if she decides to go the non-prescription route, there are many supplements and herbs out there too that are able to take the strain of what her life has become, basically what she has done to it.

The Jujube seed or Chinese Red Date is also affectionately known in Chinese Medical text as the ' Star of Tranquility '. It is quite an amazing herb with the ability to sedate without over-drowsiness. This is quite the holy grail when looking for something to calm nervousness and the over-stimulation of the CNS. Many prescription drugs have this nasty side effect that limits their use, not to mention the possibility of becoming addicted to them. But the Jujube seed which is fast becoming more and more popular in the West does not have these issues and definitely worth giving it a try.

Most plant roots have a strengthening effect on our bodies and the glands and it is not surprising that they also work on on our hormone system CNS systems. Roots like Ginseng, Astragulus, Licorice, Rhodiola and Siberian Ginseng all have adaptogenic properties and their 'side effects' simply means that they work beneficially on many parts of the body at the same time. They are all worth a try during times of prolonged strain.

Somehow I think that Casey will also be going through alot of psychological issues, I can't help but think that she will. Unless of course she is a clinical sociopath which means that her guilt system has been numbed. Well I guess it has to be to do something like that to your own daughter. But here I think Lithium Orotate will help. Lithium in its Citrate and Carbonate forms are available by prescription only but the Orotate is available as a supplement. This is because very little Lithium is actually in the Orotate form, but small studies and anecdotal stories suggest that it still works and that it has neuro protective properties as well, especially when brain cells are under attack from toxins. It has a very calming effect when used properly.

Now that Kate Middleton has 3 titles to her name (literally overnite): the Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn and Baroness Carrickfergus, I wonder if the pressure is on her to have children as quickly as they made Diana do it. I won't be surprised if the pressure came directly from the Queen herself. Here are some interesting health tips for anyone trying to conceive and going through pregnancy.

In a little well known fact in many old world cultures, eating plenty of rich fatty foods increases the woman's chances of having a boy. In the world of nature having a male is more energy intensive than having a girl. Eating plenty of rich foods sends a signal to the body and tells the body that the environment the to-be-mother is in is secure enough to have a body, this triggers the vaginal coating to be more receptive to Y chromosome carrying sperms. Bear in mind that even with artificial insemination, the odds of having a boy cannot really go any higher than 70% at anyone time.

During pregnancy, there are several things she can do to make sure that her baby is born healthy and alert.

Folate supplement, this is a very simple supplement to take daily and is available everywhere. It is the essential vitamin B9. Deficiency of this vitamin will cause a condition call neural tube defect and babies born with this condition have cerebral disorders. It is a very sad condition to be born with because it is very easily treated. Green tea in particular depletes the body of folate so this condition is more prevalent in cultures that drink more green tea.

Another supplement that is crucial for brain and eye development is DHA. Just 100mg of DHA daily throughout your pregnancy can ensure that your child be born with an IQ several points above average to begin with. This is a very popular supplement in Japan and Asia only now getting caught on in the West. Nowadays most good infant formulas contain some DHA in them.

Probiotics are especially good during and after the time of delivery itself. It coats the passage which the baby comes out of with good bacteria, this ultimately contributes to the immune health of the baby. It also goes into breast milk and this will also further develop and stimulate the baby's health.

With all the stories of incest, rape, sexual abuse, sex, murder and lies, I keep waiting to hear about the drugs and the alcohol. I am sure it is in there somewhere. At the end of the day, all I know is that that little baby girl Caylee is dead and nothing can bring her back.

While Casey goes thru her trial, it is obvious that is is probably going through THE most stressful time she will EVER go thru in her life. At such times when the body comes under severe duress, many healthy metabolic processess can be thrown out of whack. Nervousness, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, these are all not uncommon and all of us have experienced them before at sometime in our lives. If left to go on for too long a time, depending on our own genetic make up, it can cause chronic conditions in some people that are more susceptible. These chronic conditions can be even more difficult to treat once they have started. The cross over line at which they begin can be very subtle. Here are some supplements that can help:

All the B vitamins: All the B vitamins should be taken at mega doses during stressful periods of time. Either from a natural source ( Brewer's Yeast ) or the common formulas that we find in the supplement stores. This cannot be repeated enough. Many enzymatic reactions and pathways start to fail and breakdown under stress. The B vitamins can come in and help keep these pathways running, ALL of these pathways are important in terms of producing energy for the body. If possible take the B vitamins in their active form. This will mean that the body does not need to put them to thru extra steps and convert them into their usable co-enzyme form to actually be used by the body. Many cheap B vitamin supplements have to be put thru these extra steps. WIthout B vitamins many of your body's energy processes will shut down.

One B vitamin to note in the case of Casey Anthony's is B5, Pantothenic acid. Mega doses of B5 have been tested and found useful for people that are going thru Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It has been found to help lessen and shorten the duration experiencing the the disorder. Whatever Casey's outcome I definitely recommend it to her cos she gonna need it.

Much has been said about Beverly McClellan's look on the Voice. Her bald head is as unusual and as striking as her voice, but consider for a moment that her hairstyle is not so much a choice but rather a necessity in terms of what nature give you or does not in this case.

Many people choose to go bald at some point in their lives, I would think that it was more common in the past, lice for example comes to mind, maybe even crabs. More any kind of chemotherapy that treats fast growing cancers would automatically trigger both hair and nail loss, here are somethings that would help :

Biotin (B7 vitamin): At mega doses, 5mg twice a day, this B vitamin has been shown to help regrow hair. It helps grow strong nails  too.  The time for saying that this dose is just experimental is past, too many anedoctal stories have come in confirming it.

Silica : If you get the rite form of SIlica, soluble and bioavailable, make no mistake, this mineral will help your hair grow thick and strong. It is essential for structural integrity throughout your body. This means that yout joints, skin, eyes and everywhere else that is supported by collagen with benefit from this.

Rosemary: This herb is a fine stimulant and used as a shampoo with help stimulate microcirculation on the scalp, bringing nutrients to each and every hair follicle.

Saw Palmetto: 320mg a day, this herb is a DHT inhibitor and prevents testosterone from converting to its DHT form. DHT attaches itself to hair follicles and shuts them down. Take this if you want to avoid that from happening.

I havent posted in awhile and took a break from it to do other things and I was thinking that I would like to come back and post something really important, something really profound, something that came to me in an 'a-ha' moment that suddenly makes so much sense of  many things that people did a long long time ago. I think I found something worthy of that. So please read on and let me know what you think.

By now you must have heard of how every religion and culture have extolled the benefits of fasting. All 3 of the major monothesic religions have it and so does Buddhism. Emancipated images of Buddha come to mind no thanks to Keanu Reeves. Some form of fasting is prevalent all thoughout history usually associated with a festival or a ritual that may not be religious either.  Although all religions equate a spiritual connotation with it, fasting is also much more down to earth. It is the commercial equivalent of dieting, however very few people attribute any health benefits to dieting unless you are over weight.

At this point, the 'experts' diverge. Many say that fasting or dieting is bad for you because it shifts the body into a lower metabolic rate which it can stay in if extended long enough. It throws many of the body's metabolic processes off, especially the thyroid's which just doesn't know what to do any more as it yo-yos back and forth from various states. Fasting if done improperly will skip the ketogenic state ( using fats for energy ) and go straight into the catabolic state ( using protein for energy ), so worse, now not only are you not losing fats you are losing the muscle that you need to do work to burn the fats.   The cycle spirals downwards.

On the flip side of that, you have the calorie restriction diet. A diet almost impossible to maintain.  At about 1000 calories a day it doesn't give you much energy left to do anything besides run your organs but the reward is a tantalisingly longer life span at the risk of a permanently lowered metabolic rate. However many health profile markers go up.

I propose another theory Hear me out.

Women generally live longer than men, there are many explanations for this but one of the more prominent ones is due to a woman's menstrual cycle and even pregnancy. During a woman's monthly period, the body flushes out the embryo that is not used. At the same time, the body also takes this opportunity to flush out whatever toxins that are in the body. This is a very very important concept. In this world that we live in right now, we consume toxins daily. It is a myth that we do not. Do not take the foods that you eat for granted. The insidious part about these toxins is that they accumulate gradually over time and by the time they are in sufficient quantities to cause chronic conditions, hunting for the cause of it can be like a walk in a maze.

Another concept is that at breastfeeding, the body also dumps toxins into the breastmilk that the baby feeds on. This isn't deliberate per se it is just a function of how healthy the body is going into the pregnancy and how much toxins has been accumulated before hand. Even as a mother's biological function tries to prevent this, some eventually get through and goes to the infant at its most vulnerable stage. I mention these 2 stages because the body at anytime is trying to eliminate the toxins that are in it. May it be heavy metals, xeno estrogens or bacteria and virus by products, the body tries to flush them out. From my experience, sometimes ( many times actually ) it needs help.I think that these could be the main factors why women live longer than men. Their bodies are continually flushing out toxins that men do no have the biological processes to do.

How many of you have heard of the lemon diet where u eat nothing at all but drink lemon juice and a small amt of some other stuff for 3 weeks. Its a hard diet to be on and incredibly stressful on the body, but how many of you have also heard that at some point into the diet, while not eating anything at all, you will start to experience bowel movements like as though you had a meal. This can essentially be interpreted in 2 ways: Either the body is trying to detox itself or the the gut is producing stools as a way of maintaining some sort of regularity in its function. Basically the gut is confused as the job it is supposed to do isn't there anymore. So far most research points to the pancreas producing this 'phantom bowels' since you did not eat. Where did it come from ? I think that at this point, the body is using the opportunity to detox itself and using the same organs that are usually for absorbing nutrients, this time round the body is using those same organs to eliminate toxins. That means that depending on what state you put the body into, those organs can be used to do different things and purposes. I also think that many people in our past already knew about this and that was why they so intimately tied it with religious rituals. It was a healthful routine for the body. These people were already aware of its multiple benefits from so simple a practice, from its calorie restriction benefits to it ability to move the body into a state of elimination just by an extended state of not eating.

Tie this in with what we already know about detox supplements like seaweed and pectin, then it makes even more sense as these fibers go about setting up a negative charge in our guts, attracting as much toxins to it as possible as it moves through us.

I thought this insight was something worth posting about.

in the dead of Winter

Recent experience with B12 (methyl and adenosyl), active folates (formyl and hydro) has convinced me that at least to some extent, people suffering from CFS/FM have at least some of their methylation cycle broken down. The ability of the body's methylation cycle to withstand stress comes from many things. Most importantly genetics. Under tremendous stress, the body's ability to produce the enzymes and co-enzymes to support this cycle can be considerably diminished or knocked down completely. There are several tests available to determine a person's polymorphism (mutation) and some people with have a polymorphism that is lacking in this gene to support the cycle. The advancement of medicine has given us the ability to supplement this cycle directly by consuming the active form of the co-factors.

Western herbs include different parts of the plant as herbs. The seeds, flowers, roots, leave, or fruits are used as herb. These herbs are highly beneficial in curbing down numerous ailments. The herbs are included in many different types of cuisines, thus they are grown widely in garden lawns.

Many of the herbs comprises of numerous different types of beautiful flowers that are highly beneficial in the treatment of several diseases. Out of them, one such flowering plant is Wild indigo that has been used to lessen down the intensity of illnesses. Inhabitant of Central and Eastern North America, this plant is commonly found in Midwest. Wild indigo is a perennial shrub that has yellowish green colored stems. The plant blooms flowers colored in yellow or purple.

According to researchers of western herbs, the leaves and fresh or dried roots are used for medicinal purposes. Wild indigo are grown in some parts of North America and consumed as herbal remedy for numerous reasons. This plant has no specific requirement for its growth; it will grow properly in any kind of soil. The flowers, leaves, and roots contain flavonoids, alkaloids, polysaccharides, and coumarins. This herb can be consumed in different forms such as decoction or tincture in order to fight against several diseases.

Wild indigo is used to boost immune system of the body. The intake of this herb is considered very much beneficial in the treatment upper respiratory infections such as pharynges and tonsillitis. The contraction of chest due to gastric troubles can be cured with the help of wild indigo. This herb possess the properties of immuno- boosting features and anti-microbial, which helps our body to fight against numerous infections that might cause lymphatic disorders. If wild indigo in consumed by mixing detoxifying herb- burdock, it helps in reducing the intensity of lymph swelling. Herbal researchers have strongly suggested the intake of wild indigo will cure chronic viral disorders. A drink prepared by boiling the roots of wild indigo is highly beneficial in the treatment of infectious skin and sore nipples. This infusion is also useful to gargle and clears throat infection. The decoction also heals the gum disorders such as bleeding, swelling, and irritation. With the development in research, wild indigo has been found efficient in healing cuts and wounds. The application of this herb stops bleeding and clears all infections of wounds. Many practitioners have prescribed this herb for application as; it contains the properties of anti- septic. Besides all medicinal uses, this herb is used for witch craft or rituals for protection from evils. Blue indigo kept near doorstep, keeps away the flies and insects. You may even place them near animal farms.

Honestly, as a health supplement by itself, I am ambivalent about collagen. I know some people that swear by it and other that derive no benefit from it at all. But I have been reading and testing out alot of brands and I am more convinced that it really is the brand that ultimately affects the efficacy of the product. Recently I have been introduced to Venessa's and Neocell.

First off, the common mainstream view is that collagen will not work when taken orally. It is degraded by stomach acids and enzymes and therefore has to be topically injected for it to work. This method of collagen injections has been proven to work and is very popular. But what about joints and other parts of the body that are deeper than the surface. Most brands selling collagen recommend that you take it on an empty stomach and at least 30 mins before food. This is the best way to sneak it past the digestive system. In fact, if you are taking other products like glandulars (liver, thymus), enzymes or intact proteins (hi-quality whey protein, immunoglobulins) or any other products that work because they are proteins, you have to take it on an empty stomach. And as an added precaution you can take it with Tums, Calcium Carbonate or with a green food drink. This will neutralise any acids and keep digestive enzymes to a minimum.

But one thing that is curious to me is that collagen that has been chopped up or hydrolysed is simply gelatin. The kind that you find in JellO and Know and gelatin itself is very well known to help joint health in the elderly. I mean Jello is such a staple with this demographic we practically associate it with seniors. So we know that gelatin on its own does help.

Another thing that comes up is that Venessa's collagen formula has Vitamin C formulated into it. It is in the form of Ascorbic acid. They did not even try to buffer the acid with say Calcium Ascorbate. Looking at it logically, wudnt the ascorbic acid attack the collagen proteins as soon as it is in liquid form ? Sally Byrd of Venessa's says that they are following the exact formula that Linus Pauling worked on when he researched collagen. The formula also has Mn and Cu. This was one thing that always perplexed me as you why it is in there in that form if you profess to want to maintain the integrity of the proteins in the collagen. If anyone has any thots about this please email me. I wud like to hear from you.

Oh and going back to gelatin: Every old-world country in the whole world has got recipes for soup and stews where you slow boil the bones for hours to give the soup taste and body. It is also common practice to boil the soup 'down to the bone'. This soup was considered healthy for you and it was often consumed when one was sick. Somehow back then, people already knew that the cartilage and connective tissues in and between the bones had health benefits and they knew that they could extract it in liquid form. Having been boiled for that long, there is no way that there cud be any collagen left in the soup, it can only be gelatin and this must mean that even gelatin itself has got health benefits.

Isn't it ironic that now in our society we throw out these bones and consider them poor man's food ? Or that when we go to the supermarket we don't ever see meat with the bone in instead they are all packaged and saran wrapped aseptically to remove us from the process of how we got the meat from ? Is it any wonder that Paris Hilton on her reality show did not know where milk came from ? And of course the most ironic thing about is that bones and joints that are considers waste and by products in the meat industry is the bought at an incredibly cheap price to make collagen supplements to be sold with over 500% margin profits ? I have been finding alot of things funny lately, but they are really not. In fact they are incredibly sad.

So back to chicken soup. Chicken is essentially Type 2 collagen and there is more to the myth of taking chicken when you are sick. But where the heck can you find chicken bones nowadays is beyond me. I live in a city in NYC and NONE of my neighbourhood supermarkets carry just chicken bones. They do for beef, pork and veal. Pork is Type 1 Collagen.Of course once it is in a soup it is no longer collagen but gelatin, but the aminoacid profile remains the same and collagen is very rich is lysine, proline and glycine. They are all hydrolsed as in hydroxy- the body can use them. And lysine and proline are natural protese inhibitors. In fact free form lysine is recommended at the onset of a herpes breakout. It helps to reduce the severity of the break out and reduce the length of time. Same for proline. And Lysine together with Proline, Vitamin C, bioflavonoids ( and a little Cu and Mn) helps build the collagen fibers under your skin and btw your joints. At this point in time it is not exactly clear which is more effective, intact collagen proteins or gelatin. But you can definitely make up for the amt of gelatin you consume becos of the sheer ease n economy of coming ax it everyday if its inferiority is in anyway related to its dosage compared to collagen.

Another thing to take note of is that Copper and Manganese that are essential trace minerals in collagen synthesis isn't that easy to come by n be absorbed in the diet. Supplementation might help.

All said and done, I know that collagen is very very popular in Asian cultures. The Japanese are crazzzzy about it. Everyday they think of new ways to add it to the diet or a new supplement form. And when the directions are followed properly I have literally seen changes in the skin of frens who take them. The benefits are more pronounced when you are younger. For example my sister who is my age has found collagen 'impressive' whereas my mother has yet to see or feel any effects from it. Regardless of whether it is collagen or gelatin, i think that consuming large amounts of it daily will help you age better.

Some other keywords to think about: aspice, knox ( name brand gelatin product).

There was an article in the news the other day about whether cancer was man-made. I feel that I have to comment on it because to an extent, I really believe that it is. Now I have to be careful so say 'to an extent' because there is alot about it that we still dont know.

I think that in the long run, one of the biggest mistakes that doctors will ever make will be about guidelines when it comes to vitamins and supplementation. Doctors are so afraid that these vitamins will interact with drugs that their patients are taking. But to date so many of these fears are just groundless and really just instigated by the drug companies. They would rather you depend on their drugs than on cheap, available anywhere, OTC supplements.

Time and time again, recent research has shown how such vitamins are really sucked up and used by the immune system when one is sick or run down. It doesn't matter what the disease it, may it be the flu or cancer. These are vitamins, that is what the word vitamin means, they are essential to you being able to live. Mega vitamin supplementation should be the First thing one does when you feel sick.

The recent study released in the news concluded that Vitamin E taken at doses above 400IU seem to lead to 'all cause mortality' What do I bet you that they will realise that this is the wrong conclusion. I take Vitamin E at 800-2000IU a day.* I am willing to bet my life on it that that study is wrong. Simply because it feels wrong. Over the many years with my struggles, I have begun to trust my instinct and intuition more and more. And led by the Ankh as a source of Illumination and Enlightenment, I now feel more confident than ever that I am going in the right direction.

The only caveat here is that Western culture loves to use monotherapy in its treatments. This is the wrong approach. Always take all the vitamins when using them for antioxidant therapy.

Recent research indicates that gamma tocopherol maybe more beneficial than alpha tocopherol. My Vitamin E is gamma based.

Will all the experiences that I have had with doctors over the years, at least 15 years with my condition, I have come to the conclusion that doctors really don't know much. They dont know much, refuse to admit it, and in the process taken away hope for hundreds of thousands and patients that are sick, frightened and getting worse each day.

One of the main problems is really PCPs that act as a gateway to other specialists who maybe able to help. But more often than not, they just stop you rite there and turn you rite back round sending you back home. I have had sooo many misdiagnosises over so many years that I have literally cried over it. And all because too many doctors refuse to believe what you say or think that just because they do not know anything about it, it is not real. I mean, wow imagine that. The hubris of it all.

Even after I had made it all the way to a virologist, I continue to stun him with each checkup where he is not able to know how come my condition is so different from his other patients, in fact I am the only one at the clinic with my condition.

I have come to just trust and depend on myself so much when it comes to listening to my body and what is going on. I also advocate for myself alot nowadays, suggesting protocols and drugs first even before the doctor thinks of it.

I just think I owe it to myself.

So after the initial euphoria I felt after starting Valcyte at the really hi dose, I had to cut the dosage in half as per protocol after the 3 week. And since then, things have not been great again. I definitely feel better than I have before but not like I did when I took it at 900mg. Who cares if at that dosage the drug can produce some serious life-threatening conditions. I just want to live and live like I really have a life, even if it turns out to be short.

Ephedrine has been used as Ephedra(Ma Huang) in China for thousands of years, literally mentioned in Chinese medical teachings over 3000 years ago. Back then is was used to flavor teas and everyone enjoyed the buzz they got from it.

And to this day all TCM practitioners are allowed to sell and dispense it. This was all throughout the media fiasco when the herb was linked to the death of a football player. Some of the evidence pertaining to that case is still controversial but the FDA never stopped TCM practitioners from selling Ephedra even as it was banned from most other sources.

My arguement is this: This herb as over 3000 years of safety record usage in the Chinese culture. What happened when it came to the US ? The culture here decided that more is always better and using purification techiniques to increase yield they were able to isolate the active chemical only. TCM has never believed this. TCM works slowly and often we blend various herbs together for synergy and reduce the side effects of each individual one.

A similar case can be made for the Coca Leaf where it has been enjoyed in Southern Americas for thousands of years too, in its natural form ! Only after the cocaine was isolated as the active ingredient by an over-eager German chemist student working on his Phd did all hell break loose.

Even the FDA is aware of this as TCM was not banned from selling Ephedra. Take a look at my eStore if you are thinking about adding it to a weight-loss regime.

I am now on my second week of Valcyte. I am on a high dosage of it to begin with and so far I have nothing to report. Many of the side effects that I feared of and read about have not happened. It maybe that I just have not been on the drug long enough or it could be the CAM support that I am taking while on Valcyte is helping minimise the side effects.

It is a strange drug, some of its side effects would actually help a person who has CFS while on it. And the fact that Valcyte is itself a known carcinogen anyway ? Well the truth is that if you have circulating EBV, CMV or HHV6 viruses in you, these viruses are themselves known to cause cancer anyway, and as you grow older your immune system would be less able to deal with them theoretically leading to the cancers that are induced by these viruses.

I am on alot of CAM support while I am on Valcyte. No, my doctor does not know that I take any of them. I had asked him about it when I first started taking it but he said that he did not know of any.

I am on :-

Shark Liver Oil Vitamin D BHT All the Vitamins Coconut oil for Monolaurin EPA & DHA SST

and some more. I even take Valtrex as a hedge in case the Valcyte does not work. I noticed a pattern here that many of the supplements that help the immune system with CFS are oil based. We forget that sometimes. Oils are very very good for you. They body needs them.

As the research goes, many doctors wonder how come supposedly innocuous viruses that are present in nearly 90% of all the population can turn so virulent a small subset of the population. What is the trigger ? One of the main factors involved is stress, extreme and prolonged stress. If that is true, I can really see how this has happened to me in the past. As the stress is both internal and external.

Would I stop taking Valcyte today because of its potentially toxic side effects ? Do I really think that it is not worth the risks ? The answer is no. I really do not have a life now anyway. There are days when you are so debilitated that you literally stay in bed and watch the world go by. This condition has taken so much away from me already maybe this time I can get something back.

It is well known that foods like white bread, pasta, or even noodles made from flour, esp those found in the instant maggie mee types spikes your blood sugar value alot immediately after eating them (Another famous culprit is plain baked white potatoes). This sends your sugar levels on roller-coaster rides that make you feel tired and fatigued when you crash. Something about the way the sugar is held together in such foods make them very readily available and digested, going into your bloodstream very very fast. Same goes for ALL carbonated soft drinks.

What is not so well known is that you can do something about it easily and modify your diet to great effect.

Researchers have long known that if you ate a whole pint of say Hagen Daz ice cream, your glucose levels do not spike as high as if you just ate white bread. This is despite the fact that there is much more sugar in the ice cream. As it turns out, mixing the sugar with cream or more specifically fats, slows down it's absorption alot. Oil slows down the absorption of everything. Italians always eat their breads dipped in olive oil. This is the secret step which although very small, cannot be overlooked.

Another ingredient is vinegar. Vinegar is so acidic that it it switches off the enzyme in your gut that digests carbs. This will slow down the speed of which sugar gets into your blood too, giving a more even gradual release of sugar. As it turns out many cultures eat their breads with vinegar too.

There are times when we need a quick burst of sugar, but these are few and far btw, usually involving exercise to exhaustion. At this point, the muscles have depleted all their stores of glycogen that they will very quickly take up any sugar that is in the bloodstream.

I just came off my worst summer in years and I am convinced that it was because I went off the Vitamin D for a few months, on the misguided assumption that during the summer days I did not need to supplement myself with Vitamin D because I would be able to make enuf of it from just being in the sun. I was wrong. I was incapacitated and debilitated for 3 whole months. I am now getting some semblance of a life back after going back on the Vitamin D. And this time I have upped the dosage to 5000 iu where I was previously only taking 2000 iu last winter.

Looking back, I thot that I had a very good winter too, I actually felt so good going into the winter that I actually skipped my flu shot last year. That was how good I felt and how much I actually thot that I was making progress. During that time, I had actually been taking Vitamin D for a few months going into the winter too.

As I start to read up about this vitamin, I am beginning to find out more about it and what it does in the body. I had always known that it was a hormone but never knew that it was also considered a steroid. That was naive thinking on my part I guess as most steroids work like hormones in the body. What I can't seem to figure is how doctors and the medical community have gotten it wrong for so long. I mean are doctors really that dumb ? It seems like only yesterday that the RDA for Vitamin D is 400 iu and now suddenly 5000 iu doses are confidently being sold in health stores. And nothing has really changed either. The list of potential side effects and toxic side effects for this vitamin is still endless and nothing to laff at. But suddenly it is ok to take it at 10 times the RDA daily.

What's sad is that this is not going to be the last time. I know that doctors are going to be wrong about many many more things and many many more people will have to suffer before before they will even admit it. Not sure what to make of it.

For those of you considering going on the supplement, please consider the following first:

- The Vitamin D that the body makes on the skin in the sunlight is a different form of Vitamin D than D3. D3 has to be converted to that form in the liver. The way the body uses the vitamin is also different. Since it is a hormone and like all hormones used in the body, it is secreted into the bloodstream slowly over time. You can say that the body time releases all the hormones that it needs into the bloodstream. This is what seems to work best. When we take an oral dose of it, it is is released all at once into the bloodstream, there is no mechanism to control its release.

- Recent studies show that the body makes about 10,000 iu of Vitamin D in the sun if you are light-skinned and stay in the sun for 30mins exposing your whole body. This is without any kind of sun protection ( SPF lotions). Also if you are dark-skinned, you will need to be in the sun longer and it will suck for you if you are not in the equatorial latitudes because that is where dark-skin has evolved to work best. You will have to be out in the sun longer.

As you can see this has confused me alot considering all the hype about SPF and skin cancer. There is always a catch somewhere and in this case, this seems to be it. I am guessing that the body has evolved to use Vitamin D in small doses over a period of time, to be released slowly into the body over a 24hr period and that orally may not be the best way. Unfortunately it is all we have.

Nobody knows if taking Vitamin D in one large dose like that will have any effect in the long run. I am guessing no becos we seem to be able to get it from food anyway, like cod liver oil (which is very popular and common) and mushrooms ( the vitamin D they contain is in the D2 form which has to be converted). All I know that when my chronic fatigue came back this summer it hit me and hit me hard, suggesting that the virus got stronger after the Vitamin D was no longer suppressing it. So Vitamin D alone is not the solution and ultimately a cocktail is still needed.

If anybody has been following the financial markets recently, things have recently taken a turn for the worse and instead of calling it a slow recovery, the words ' double-dip recession' have been whispered and acknowledged alot more. For those of us on the ground, it is as if we did not know that already as we just cannot comprehend the disconnect between the market's performance and what we already know from day to day living.

The gist is that GDP will be revised downwards and the even more relevant take away from all this is the fact that our standard of living is going is get worse. As people cut back on spending and save at a rate much more than they have in the last 10 years, we can expect the quality of life to drop. This is a very important concept because an improved quality of life can only be had if people take risks and do things they have never done before.

The big defensive food and beverage industry is now saying that they are concerned about what the rest of the year will look like. Nestle (Swiss) and Danone (French) are saying that prices of raw materials will go up while demand for their items are expected to drop. Where are consumers looking at ? To in-house brands which they say will fill the gap with their lower costs.

All this brings to mind an alternative view of the way in which we can view the world and this planet that we live in. And it is not so alternative if you consider the currrent research into the superorganism theory.

As demand drops, resources are not so strained, there by giving the planet a chance to heal and recover from the ravages that we have done to it over time. For better or for worse, this is viewed as a much needed respite from what it has endured and will further endure in the years to come. In my view, there is just no way that Earth can support 10 billion people without having to buckle at some point. And because of the birth rate in 3rd world countries, we will probably hit this number sooner rather than later. Amazingly, I blame religion for this, with their relentless need for more members and their aim of world domination.

I think that stepping back and looking at recent events in the financial world, this slowing down of every economy is to be expected as some form of world/living consciousness attempts to rein in and hit back at all the damage that it has taken. It is attempting to establish some sort of new equilibrium if you will or maybe attempt to heal itself outright. Whatever the case might be, I am talking about a self-regulating system that is appearing to have some sort of conscious ability. Much like super organisms if you consider hives and bees.