You’ve probably known about this plant before as a high-priced culinary spice. Chefs use it to impart a distinct flavor, color, and aroma to risotto, paella, and other dishes. You may even have used it yourself occasionally in cooking. But not many people know it has strong medicinal properties – especially for women.

Although it works equally well on both sexes to prevent such diseases as cancer and macular degeneration, it excels in treating PMS (premenstrual syndrome), depression, and even Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease in women. This plant is the Crocus sativus L, otherwise known as saffron.

Saffron is expensive because you can find its active ingredients, the antioxidant carotenoids crocin and crocetin, only in the three thread-like stigma inside each flower. And you have to pick each stigma by hand. What’s more, each crocus plant produces only one or two flowers a year. But it’s worth the effort.

PMS & Depression

PMS: For the millions of women who experience monthly mood swings and cramping — and I was one of them — PMS is more than an inconvenience. It reduces the quality of their life every month. Studies have shown that saffron is effective in reducing many of the effects of PMS.

An Iranian study took a group of women who had PMS symptoms for at least six months and gave them either 15 mg of saffron tablets or a placebo twice a day. All of the women experienced improvement in both PMS and depression after just one cycle. They improved even more after two cycles. After four months, at the study’s conclusion, 76% of them had at least a 50% reduction in their PMS symptoms.

A recent Japanese study found that it wasn’t even necessary to ingest saffron to get its benefits. Inhaling its odor for 20 minutes significantly decreased menstrual pain and depression. Unfortunately, saffron essential oils are difficult to find. Try it if you can find it. If not, this spice works beautifully when taken orally, and you can find 15 mg saffron tablets – the amount the researchers used in the PMS and depression studies – on the internet at www.exirsaffron.com or www.saffron.com.

Depression: Heart disease is the number one killer of postmenopausal women, and 40-60% of heart disease patients are clinically depressed. Many of them are on medication, like Prozac.

Saffron enhances the activity of mood-boosting neurotransmitters such as dopamine. The Iranians have used it in traditional medicine for depression. So a group of Iranian researchers compared it to Prozac in 40 adults who had mild to moderate depression. The researchers gave the participants either 30 mg/day of saffron or 20 mg/day of Prozac. Both worked equally well.

Alzheimer’s disease& Multiple Sclerosis

What if you could slow down, stop, or even reverse incurable diseases in the brain? It may be possible. Studies are showing that saffron contains properties that reduce brain inflammation in people with Alzheimer’s disease and MS.
This is good news for you and me, because more women have Alzheimer’s and MS than men. Although it is believed that Alzheimer’s is incurable, a four-month randomized placebo-controlled study on people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s found that just two 15 mg capsules of saffron a day significantly improved their cognitive function.

In another study lasting 5½ months, 15 mg/twice a day of saffron gave results that were similar to taking the Alzheimer’s drug Aricept (5 mg/twice a day). But there was one important exception. The study participants who took Aricept had significantly more vomiting than those taking saffron.

It’s possible that saffron may slow down the production of amyloid plaque and prevent it from being deposited in the brain. So saffron could be effective against other neurodegenerative conditions as well, like MS.

Twice as many women as men have MS, a chronic progressive disease where inflammation destroys the protective coating surrounding nerves in the brain, called myelin. According to medical researchers at the University of Alberta, Canada, saffron has properties that reduce this inflammation. You no doubt remember from dozens of past articles that inflammation is at the heart of most, if not all, chronic illnesses. Reducing inflammation can be the most significant step you can take to improve your health.

These Canadian study scientists found that crocin, one of saffron’s antioxidants, prevents damage to cells that make myelin. Head researcher, Chris Power, explains: “Myelin is the insulation around nerves. MS is characterized by inflamed brain cells that have lost this protective insulation, which ultimately leads to neurodegeneration.”

Based on a number of preliminary studies, I’d suggest than anyone with mild to moderate depression, PMS, MS, or Alzheimer’s who has been unresponsive to traditional medications or supplements give saffron a six-month trial.

Agha-Hosseini, M., L. Kashani, A. Aleyaseen, A. Ghoreishi, H. Rahmanpour, A.R. Zarrinara, and S. Akhondzadeh. “Crocus sativus L. (saffron) in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome: a double-blind, randomised and placebo-controlled trial.” Infertility Center of Dr Shariati Hospital, Vali Asr Reproductive Health Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Akhondzadeh, S, M.S. Sabet, M.H. Harirchian, M. Togha, H. Cheraghmakani, S. Razeghi, and S.Sh. Hejazi,, M.H. Yousefi, R. Alimardani, A. Jamshidi, F. Zare, and A. Moradi. Psychiatric Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Institute of Medicinal Plants (ACECR), Department of Neurology, Tehran, Iran. [email protected].

Akhondzadeh, S., M. Shafiee Sabet, M.H. Harirchian, M. Togha, H. Cheraghmakani, S. Razeghi, S.S.Hejazi, M.H. Yousefi, R. Alimardani, A. Jamshidi, S.A. Rezazadeh, A. Yousefi, F. Zare, A. Moradi, and A. Vossoughi. “A 22-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind controlled trial of Crocus sativus in the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.” Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2010 January;207(4):637-43.

Fukui, H., K. Toyoshima, and R. Komaki. Department of Education, Nara University of Education, Nara, Japan. [email protected] Phytomedicine. 2011 Jun 15;18(8-9):726-30. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2010.11.013. Epub 2011 Jan 15. “Psychological and neuroendocrinological effects of odor of saffron (Crocus sativus).”

Noorbalaa, A.A., S. Akhondzadeha, N. Tahmacebi-Poura, and A.H. Jamshidib, A Psychiatric Research Center, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, South Kargar Avenue, Tehran 13337, Iran. “Hydro-alcoholic extract of Crocus sativus L. versus fluoxetine in the treatment of mild to moderate depression: a double-blind, randomized pilot trial.”

“Saffron in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: a 16-week, randomized and placebo-controlled trial.” J Clin Pharm Ther. 2010; 35(5):581-8 (ISSN: 13 65-2710)

The Deadly Infection You Can Catch in the Hospital and How to Avoid It

In the March issue, I talked about several bacterium linked to inflammation. Today, I want to tell you about a bacterium that’s actually caused by antibiotics. It kills thousands of people every year in hospitals, nursing homes, and rehab facilities. Seniors are particularly vulnerable, especially those with compromised immunity. I was at risk for this potentially deadly bacterium after I broke my leg, but I knew enough to take precautions and avoided it. I’d like to share my findings with you.

After I broke my leg, I spent two days in the hospital before they moved me to a rehabilitation facility to learn how to walk again. Because I was in good health, I was able to become mobile quickly. In fact, I was in the rehab facility for half as long as my doctor said was the usual stay.

I was anxious to get home as soon as possible for a number of reasons. The main one was that I wanted to avoid getting a bacterial infection. Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile, is a bacterium that’s becoming more common than ever in hospitals and nursing homes. In fact, it’s the most common cause of diarrhea in these facilities and leads to 14,000 deaths in this country alone every year. It’s not unusual for someone — especially a young child or an older adult with a compromised immune system — to go to a hospital for a routine procedure and come down with this life-threatening bacterial infection.

Trust me. You don’t want to be in a facility with C. difficile. It can be fatal and its symptoms are extremely uncomfortable. They include watery diarrhea that can occur up to 10 to 15 times a day. This can lead to dehydration and weight loss, abdominal cramping, and nausea.

If you’re over the age of 65, my advice is to do your best to stay out of hospitals and nursing homes. You’re at a particularly high risk for getting this infection. If you have to be in a facility, get out as soon as you can.

While you’re there, take particular care to practice excellent — not just good — hygiene, and insist on this from the nurses and other staff as well. I can’t say it enough: Clostridium difficile can kill you. I’m not being dramatic. And antibiotics are not a solution. In fact, they are a major part of the problem. Here’s why.

There are millions of bacteria in your intestines — both helpful and harmful. When their balance is upset, as it is when you take an antibiotic, the drug destroys some of the good bacteria that protect against infection along with the pathogenic bacteria. This creates an environment where C. difficile can flourish.

If you have plenty of good bacteria, you’re less likely to get sick. Even if you’re around people who are carriers. And the longer you remain in a hospital or rehab facility or nursing home, the more likely you are to be in contact with someone carrying this bacterium.

You can get C. difficile anywhere, but it’s more common in health care facilities where it can grow on surfaces like walkers and cell phones, and where there are a greater percentage of people who are carriers. Spores from this bacterium can remain on surfaces for days or even months. So make sure that everyone who comes into contact with you washes his or her hands frequently with soap and water. Alcohol-based sanitizers won’t do. They are often ineffective.

If you are in a facility and are sharing a room with someone who has this bacterium, ask to be moved. You are at an extremely high risk for infection. Make sure that surfaces in your room are cleaned daily with a product that contains chlorine bleach.

Avoid taking any antibiotics if at all possible. Instead, take large doses of probiotics — the friendly bacteria that support your immune system. The standard medical treatment for C. difficile is antibiotics. But you know what this will do: destroy the beneficial bacteria that are needed to reduce the pathogens.

The best solutions

Choose your probiotics wisely. There are dozens of probiotics on the market and not all are equally effective against a C. difficile overgrowth. Studies have found that the most effective ones are Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and combinations that contain Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species. My suggestion is to get all three and rotate them. In this way, you can assure yourself of getting the best probiotics for this infection. You can get all of these from Klaire Labs (888-488-2488).

If probiotics are not enough, there’s a new therapy that doctors are using more frequently with a great deal of success. It’s a human stool transplant (HST) using donated stool from a healthy family member. I know. It sounds extremely unpleasant. But if you have diarrhea day and night that won’t stop, and you don’t respond to conventional treatment, you might welcome this therapy. Especially when you realize that studies found it cures more than 90% of patients.

The doctor gives this treatment, intestinal microbiota transplantation (IMT), through a nasogastric tube or colonoscopy. To do the treatment, the doctor mixes a small sample of the healthy stool with warm water and re-establishes healthy bacteria into the patients’ colon. In case you’re wondering, patients don’t taste or smell this mixture. And it works quickly — usually within 24 hours.

But always remember that it’s better to prevent the infection than have to cure it. So make sure you’re taking plenty of probiotics before going into a facility and while you’re there. And follow the rest of my advice. It could save your life.

Fitzgerald, Kelly. “Human Stool Transplant Effective Treatment For C-diff.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 20 Oct. 2012. Web. 22 October 2012. www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/251759.php

How Nutrition and Intuition Saved My Parrot’s Life

Everyone who knows me knows my Mexican Double Yellowhead parrot, Pancha. She’s lived with me for over 50 years — 53 years to be exact. And aside from one episode years ago when she ate some of the living room carpet and had a little blood in her stools, she’s been remarkably healthy.

Then one morning last year, she was listless and refused to eat. She just sat on her perch staring ahead. She had always been talkative and responsive to me, but not this day. Hours later she fell off her perch and sat on the bottom of her cage.

After living with Pancha for so long, I knew that something was terribly wrong. If I couldn’t find out what, she would most likely die.

Although parrots are long-lived, a 50-year-old parrot is still an old parrot. I knew this, but I wasn’t willing to just sit by and do nothing. So I took her to our veterinarian who specializes in birds. He examined her thoroughly and ran a blood test, but he couldn’t find anything wrong with her.

Fortunately, I live only a few hours away from UC Davis, a university with a comprehensive Parrot Wellness and Welfare Program. If anyone could find out what was wrong, they could. They might even find a way to turn her health around.

The veterinarians at UC Davis kept her overnight to run a barrage of tests. The next day, I picked her up and they gave me the news: Pancha had gone blind in one eye from a tumor in her brain. They told me that she might lose the sight in her other eye, which she did. Her listlessness and refusal to eat may have come from a sudden inability to see out of one eye.

The veterinarians assured me that many birds adjust to blindness. As long as I put her food, water, and toys in the same place, she should adjust. There was nothing else for me to do but interact with her.

But that little voice inside of me that I’ve learned to listen to over the years whispered that something had been overlooked. Something simple. I took the reports from UC Davis and laid them out on the dining room table next to Pancha’s cage. Slowly, methodically, I studied them. Everything except for the tumor was normal, even the blood tests, which they had repeated. Pancha’s vitamin A levels were a little low. But they were still within the normal ranges.

Now, when I look at someone’s blood tests I not only look for clinical abnormalities. I also look for subclinical abnormalities. What if Pancha was just a little low in vitamin A, but low enough for her to have symptoms? Could it make a difference in how she felt?

I went on the Internet to look at nutrients for birds, and what I read astounded me. Vitamin A was one of a parrot’s most important nutrients. In fact, some companies that sell seeds for parrots add a little vitamin A to their mixture.
What would I do if Pancha was a person with a subclinical deficiency in an important nutrient? I’d begin by giving her a loading dose of that nutrient — a high amount for a few days or a week. Then, I’d follow this with lower doses on a daily basis.

I had a bottle of vitamin A drops that I use at the first sign of a cold, and I put one drop in her water dish. Each day for a week I gave her fresh water with a single drop of vitamin A. And I added fruits high in vitamin A to her food dish. For some reason, fruits have never interested her much.

But somehow, Pancha got the message that fruits were necessary for her. She’s been eating them ever since. Not a lot, but enough. And she now gets a parrot mix of seeds that include vitamin A. Without this added nutrient, given to her during this incident three years ago, I believe that Pancha’s health would have continued to deteriorate.

Sometimes the difference between health and illness can be nothing more than boosting the amount of a vitamin, taking hydrochloric acid (HCl) to improve digestion, or eliminating gluten. I’ve learned to listen more to my little inner voice through the years and, at times, it has led me to solutions that doctors have missed or that I have dismissed. The solution to your health problems may be just this simple as well.

Take the time to sit quietly every day for a few minutes and ask which direction to take. Ask for clarification. Ask for information. The answers you hear may be coming from that deep well of knowledge called the subconscious. The results could save your life. They saved Pancha’s.

This Treatment May Reduce Your Back Pain, But Don’t Use It

If you’ve never had back pain, you’re in the minority. There are so many causes that finding a single effective treatment is impossible. Back pain from muscle strain needs to be treated differently than pain from a herniated disc or spinal stenosis. And the treatment should not only reduce pain, it should do no harm.

One cause of back pain is inflammation in nerves in the spine. There’s one conventional treatment that may eliminate the pain. But I don’t suggest you use it because it can cause serious side effects.

When back pain comes from inflamed nerves, many doctors inject the site with steroids. Steroids are NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications). The idea is that by reducing inflammation, you also reduce the pain.

There are several problems with this method. The first is that these epidural steroid injections become less effective over time. The second problem is that this treatment is causing severe osteoporosis.

If you must take NSAIDs to reduce inflammation, take one tablet of Reduloxin (800-791-3395) twice a day instead. This is a strong natural anti-inflammatory supplement with no negative side effects.

Recently, a six-month observational study found that loss of bone density was six times greater in a group of 28 pain patients who were given epidural steroid injections than those who didn’t get them. How many rounds of steroid injections does it take to affect bone health? This can vary from person-to-person.

So if you’ve ever had steroid injections, take steps now to support your bones by taking 500 mg of calcium and magnesium along with Ultimate Bone Support (800-791-3395). It contains vitamin D, strontium, and other bone-saving nutrients. It’s one of our most popular supplements because it works.
One reminder that many people forget: You should take strontium and calcium/magnesium at different times. If you take them together, they cancel one another out. I suggest you take the bone support formula morning and night on an empty stomach, and take the calcium with meals.

Spine, December 1, 2012.

NUTRITION DETECTIVE

You Can’t Escape These Estrogen Mimickers — And They’re Harming You

I’ve warned you before about the dangers of environmental chemicals used in herbicides, pesticides, and plastic water bottles. These chemicals called xenoestrogens mimic the estrogens in our bodies and change the way our hormones work. We know from numerous studies that these chemicals can lead to breast cancer, obesity, and other health problems, which is why I urge you to eat organic foods whenever possible.

But even if everything you eat is organic, you’re still getting xenoestrogens. They’re in bisphenol A, found in plastic water bottles and the linings of food cans, bisphenol S, and on nonylphenol, a chemical used in industrial detergents and surfactants.

But what if your exposure is minimal? A study published in the journal Environmental Health compared the amount of these estrogen-disrupting compounds with estradiol alone and with estradiol plus these three chemicals. It found that xenoestrogens with estradiol can cause health problems in very low concentrations, like parts per trillion or parts per quadrillion. You can’t escape them or their effects on your hormones and health.

This is why it’s smart to take an effective detoxification formula every day. The one I trust, and take, is PectaSol Detox Formula (800-791-3395). I’m presently researching these chemicals for an article that will appear next month. You won’t want to miss it. Toxicity is related to many illnesses from Parkinson’s disease to dementia. Lower your toxic load and you’ll feel and be better off.

LETTERS

Q: I constantly have cold hands and feet, and my hair is thinning horribly. I thought a urine thyroid test would be available and could help me. But I haven't found one. Can you help? — G.H., e-mail

A: Don’t worry. I do my best to find a solution to every problem I identify.
This includes finding reliable tests and directing you to doctors I trust. This is
no exception. There is someone who can help you, even at a distance: Dr. Richard Shames, MD, author of Thyroid Power (HarperCollins, 2002). He’s an expert in the thyroid and is a colleague whose work I respect.

I suggest you start by reading his book. If you still think you need a test, Dr. Shames will see that you get it and will even interpret it for you. You can reach him at www.ThyroidPower.com or send him an e-mail at [email protected].

I suspect that your thyroid tests will indicate a subclinical imbalance, which most traditional doctors fail to understand and treat. This is why I like working with doctors like Dr. Shames who practice integrative medicine. They often combine the best of both worlds and find problems before they become major. You may find an integrative doctor in your area through www.acam.org.

Q: I recently ordered your Ultimate Bone Support and I’m wondering if it’s okay to drink a glass of milk with my supper and then take UBS at bedtime? I know that I shouldn’t take a calcium supplement with strontium, but is drinking milk okay a couple of hours before taking it? I used to take a 315 mg calcium pill at bedtime because I thought it might be helping my nightly leg cramps. Now that I’m not taking the calcium, I seem to be having more leg cramps. I’m not sure what to do. — C.S., e-mail

A: It’s perfectly fine to take a calcium supplement or food half an hour away from UBS. You don’t have to wait several hours. However, the amount of calcium you’ve taken in the past may be responsible for your present leg cramps. Let me explain why.

Calcium causes muscles to contract, while magnesium causes them to relax. If you’re taking a calcium supplement (315 mg) and drinking a cup of milk (300 mg), you need at least 600 mg of magnesium – in your diet or supplement. You probably need more like 1,000 mg of magnesium. I doubt you’re getting this much.

Magnesium is high in whole grains, nuts, and seeds, but you have to eat a lot of them to get the 1:1 ratio your body needs of calcium to magnesium. And when there’s a magnesium deficiency, many people need as much as twice the amount of magnesium as calcium. Try reducing your total calcium intake to 500 mg/day and increase your magnesium to bowel tolerance. This should end your leg cramps.

As for milk, it’s the perfect food to put on hundreds of pounds of weight on baby calves. The hormones and antibiotics given to them make it a less than desirable food for humans. If you crave milk, you probably have a sensitivity to it. Stop drinking milk for two weeks and see how much better you feel.