I used to have tremors. Now I don’t. The doctors I work with are shocked. They can’t believe that I was able to get rid of my tremors. You see, whether or not they’re associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) or some other condition, tremors don’t come and go. Once you get them, you tend to have them for life.
Still, I found the solution to my five years of daily shaking. And I want to share it with you.

I found the answer to my tremors in a very unlikely place. It was hidden in one of the many abstracts that cross my desk. I could easily have missed this one, but somehow I didn’t. Its heading – “High-Dose Thiamine” – didn’t indicate that it might offer a solution to my tremors. But I found the study that was written up in this abstract to be interesting. So I sent it to a doctor friend who has a specialty in gerontology. I thought it might be good material for a possible article. The more we studied this abstract, the more we realized this abstract had even more value than I first suspected. In fact, it changed my life.

As I mentioned earlier, I had tremors for five years, which began after a severe flu with a high temperature that lasted three days. It was the first case of the flu I had in more than 10 years. It also was the only time I had neglected to take MycoPhyto Complex to support my immunity. MycoPhyto (800-791-3395) is a combination of six medicinal mushrooms grown on immune-enhancing Chinese herbs. I use it to keep my patients and myself free from colds and flu, and it works. But that year, I was just lazy or distracted, and I paid a high price for this omission. When my flu was over, I had lost over 15 pounds and was left with tremors.

I saw a neurologist for an evaluation. He said my shaking wasn’t from Parkinson’s disease, but it was a condition that was Parkinson’s-like. I didn’t have the slowness or stiffness that occurs with this condition, and other neurological tests ruled out Parkinson’s. I just had annoying tremors all of my waking hours. As you can imagine, I was constantly tired. These tremors robbed me of energy and made it impossible for me to gain any of the weight I had lost.

But I was puzzled. What caused my condition? Was it possible that there was an association between thiamine and my shaking? How could this common vitamin alleviate tremors? As I delved into the subject, I discovered that a severe thiamine deficiency has been seen in cases of Parkinson’s and in poor thiamine metabolism. A number of factors can contribute to this. One of them is dietary.

Foods and thiamine

You get thiamine in your foods – primarily in animal proteins, whole grains, and nuts. But the problem is that your digestive system doesn’t absorb it well. Metabolizing thiamine can be a challenge. Heat can interfere with its absorption, and some compounds in coffee and tea inactivate it. So does a diet high in simple carbohydrates, which automatically increases the need for dietary thiamine. If you’re a big coffee or tea drinker and you eat a lot of refined foods, you could be low in thiamine.

As I researched this subject further, I discovered an encouraging observational study that found 100 mg injections of thiamine reversed the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This lead the researchers to suggest that elevated thiamine may protect against tremors. Could thiamine prevent or slow down Parkinson’s? It was worth checking out. As my doctor friend said, it was safe, available, and relatively inexpensive. In other words, it was worth trying.

The participants in this study experienced a considerable reduction of symptoms when they were given 100-200 mg of thiamine twice a week for one month. So that’s what I decided to do. I arranged for my doctor to give me 100 mg injections of thiamine bi-weekly. I experienced a considerable reduction of motor and nonmotor symptoms almost immediately – just like all of the patients these researchers studied. Some of them had been taking carbidopa-, levodopa-, or dopamine-agonists, which are the standard care for Parkinson’s. Others were not taking any therapy.

But this wasn’t all. Another review looked at multiple studies and found that taking thiamine orally can help reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. All of these studies revealed that most Parkinson’s patients have a thiamine deficiency. This is interesting because most conventional doctors will tell you that a thiamine deficiency is rare. These studies show it isn’t rare. In fact, it’s quite common.

Unfortunately, this study didn’t give dosages for taking oral supplements. Personally, I wouldn’t rely solely on supplements to treat tremors, whether they come from Parkinson’s or something else. Let me tell you how I used the oral supplements.

Keeping thiamine levels high

Raising thiamine levels with intramuscular injections may be a good beginning, but you still want to keep from becoming deficient. I did this by following the course of injections with an oral form of thiamine.

The two kinds of oral thiamine available on the Internet are benfotiamine and allithiamine. They are not equally effective. While thiamine levels increase rapidly in the blood and liver an hour or two after ingestion of benfotiamine, they don’t affect the brain. For tremors, allithiamine is the best form of oral thiamine to take.

After increasing my thiamine levels with injections twice a week for two months, I took 100 mg of oral allithiamine twice a day to keep my levels boosted. I found that this was sufficient to keep my tremors at bay most of the time – with one exception. Stress caused the tremors to begin again. Studies have shown that stress factors (dietary, viral infections, or even a sudden exposure to cold air) can trigger a thiamine deficiency response.

Several months have passed and I’m still tremor-free. I continue to take oral thiamine and watch my stress. My doctors and friends are amazed, but I’m not. I always believed I would find an answer to my tremors, and I’m not surprised that the solution would be nutritional. After all, I’ve been the Nutrition Detective for more than 30 years.

It’s quite possible you can experience the same relief from tremors that I’ve experienced. Just follow the same protocol I did. You’ll need to find a doctor who is willing to give you the injections. You may find one at www.acam.org. Once you’ve found a doctor, ask him or her to read this article. If they need more proof, they can research the references below. These articles have all the information your doctor will need.

Constantini, A., et al, “High-dose thiamine as initial treatment for Parkinson’s disease,” BMJ Case Report, 2013 August 28.

“Benfotiamine, a synthetic S-acyl thiamine derivative, has different mechanisms of action and a different pharmacological profile than lipid-soluble thiamine disulfide derivatives,” BMC Pharmacol. 2008 June 12;8:10. doi: 10.1186/1471-2210-8-10.

Lu’o’ng, Ky and L.T. Nguyyen, “Thiamine and Parkinson’s disease,” 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Luong, K.V. and L.T. Nguy?n. “The beneficial role of thiamine in Parkinson disease,” CNS Neurosci Ther. 2013 July;19(7):461-8. doi: 10.1111/cns.12078. Epub 2013 March 6.

Volvert, M.L.1, S. Seyen, M. Piette, B. Evrard, M. Gangolf, J.C. Plumier, and L. Bettendorff.

This May Be the Missing Key to Protect Yourself From Colon Cancer

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States. Now we’re finding one more reason why. It may simply be having enough of the right species of bacteria in your gut. At a time when scientists are working hard to map out the bacteria that live within us, new research is finding that our colons need enough of specific bacteria to remain healthy.

Every person’s gut contains an estimated 100,000 billion bacteria. And those bacteria and their interactions affect everything from digestion to obesity and type-2 diabetes to Crohn’s disease. As they begin to understand more about these interactions, researchers hope to one day be able to alleviate these diseases by adding or removing specific bacteria in the gut. They’re also learning about bacterial viruses that attack certain bacteria, which they may be able to harness to eliminate dangerous bacteria or eliminate to protect helpful bacteria.

It may surprise you to know that so far, researchers have mapped only 200-300 different bacterial species. That’s just a drop in the bucket. But this number is now close to doubling thanks to the hard work of scientists around the world. There are estimated to be more than a thousand different species that can live in the human intestines, so identifying these species is still a work in progress. And it’s an especially difficult project because most of these bacteria can’t be cultured.

Why is this?

It’s very challenging to reproduce in a lab the conditions that are found in our intestines. But researchers are continuing to investigate as many species as possible because the more bacteria they map, the more they can study their interactions. This is far more informative than studying individual bacteria in isolation, although you wouldn’t know it from the folks that market single probiotics.

The role of stress

One of the most interesting things researchers are discovering is how our gut bacteria, our hormones, and our stress levels combine to affect the foods we crave. Our taste buds actually contain receptors for stress-activated hormones. When we get stressed, we release more hormones called glucocorticoids, or GCs. When GCs bind to the receptors in our taste buds, we crave different foods – particularly high-calorie sweet or fatty foods. And if you’ve ever turned to chocolate or potato chips after a stressful day, you’ll better understand what’s driving your cravings.

But it isn’t just your taste buds on your tongue that are affected. Your gut and pancreas have taste receptors that stress can affect as well. Researchers are still trying to determine exactly how stress affects the gut, and therefore our appetite, but there’s a good chance your intestinal bacteria are playing a role here, as well.

For now, it’s important to recognize when you’re getting stressed and take steps to reduce it – not give in to your cravings. Eating the foods you crave won’t do your diet or your health any good. And keep reading to find out how you can maintain optimum gut health with the information researchers have discovered so far.

Since nutrition is a factor in colorectal cancer, avoiding unhealthy foods will help you fight this disease, too. But there’s another factor that has been overlooked until recently: the diversity of microbes in your gut.

According to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, decreased diversity is associated with increased risk of colon cancer. This study examined DNA from fecal samples taken from 47 participants with colorectal cancer, as well as from 94 control subjects. The researchers sequenced the DNA to compare the microbe population between those who had colorectal cancer and the control group.

In particular, they found that the participants had lower levels of Clostridia, a common class of gut bacteria. One of the functions of bacteria in this family is to ferment fiber from your diet into a metabolite that reduces inflammation and carcinogenesis in the colon. The participants also had higher levels of Fusobacterium and Porphyromonas, which are related to increased inflammation.

This wasn’t the only study that associated Fusobacteria with colorectal cancer. Two studies published in Cell Press and Cell Host & Microbe also found this association. These studies demonstrate that Fusobacteria cause negative immune responses and also stimulate genes that contribute to the growth of colorectal tumors. So targeting Fusobacteria may slow or even stop the growth and spread of these tumors.

They also found that Fusobacteria work together with a molecule called Fusobacterium adhesin, or FadA. Higher levels of FadA are also associated with colorectal cancer. However, they’ve found a compound that prevents FadA from affecting cancer cells. This treatment, along with FadA’s usefulness as a marker for early diagnosis, is promising for the future fight against colon cancer.

Clearly, keeping the right bacteria in your gut and the wrong ones out is essential to good health, particularly when it comes to avoiding colon cancer. Scientists are hopeful that they may someday be able to give you exactly the bacteria species you need, while eliminating the bacteria you don’t need. This is still a work in progress, but in the meantime, there are steps you can take to keep your gut as healthy as possible.

We already discussed reducing stress so you can stay on track with a healthy diet. As part of that healthy diet, eat foods that contain beneficial bacteria every day that you can. Look for fermented foods, such as tempeh, miso soup, sauerkraut, and kefir. And take at least one probiotic supplement every day. It’s a good idea to rotate the probiotic supplements you take so you can benefit from a mix of beneficial bacteria rather than a single probiotic. You want to make sure you have plenty of healthy ones taking care of your gut. Remember, the key word here is diversity.

It’s going to take time to map out and sequence all the bacteria that can exist in our guts. After all, there are an awful lot of them. But the potential discoveries for our health make the work worthwhile. Stay tuned for further updates, and incorporate a variety of good bacteria into your diet and supplement regime whenever you can. It could make the difference between being healthy or getting colon cancer.

Saving Your Eyesight as You Age May Be Easier Than You Think

When my Uncle Ben lost his vision in his ’70s, I remember wondering what, if anything, he could have done to prevent getting the macular degeneration that robbed him of his sight. Now I have some ideas. It may be too late to save Uncle Ben’s eyesight, but it’s not too late to protect mine. Or yours.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the major causes of blindness as we get older. This condition occurs when light-sensing nerve cells in the retina, called photoreceptors, die. It’s a progressive deterioration of the part of the retina, known also as the macula. The deterioration of the macula results in a loss of vision in the center of the retina that is said to have no treatment or cure.

However, there are steps you can take to slow down or stop its progression. There are other more complex and expensive ways to preserve your eyesight, but I believe in starting with simple, low-cost therapies. They may be all you need.

You may want to feed your eyes with nutrients that protect against some neuro-degenerative diseases. Do they have an effect on macular degeneration? A recent study in the Journal of Neuroscience says they do. And exercise also helps if you’re doing enough of the right kind.

Eat your veggies

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two plant-based carotenes in the vitamin A family. They are present in large amounts in the retina. In fact, they’re food for the macula. They occur naturally in red, yellow, and orange fruits and vegetables, as well as in cooked broccoli and dark green leafy vegetables. Egg yolk and yellow corn contain the highest amounts of these foods, but we tend not to eat enough of them. These protective chemicals are also found in significant amounts in kiwi, grapes, and various kinds of squash.

John Landrum, PhD, a researcher and expert on the macula, comments, “When we compared the amount of macular pigment, which is comprised of lutein and zeaxanthin, present in the eyes of people with age-related macular degeneration to people without the disease, those with the lowest levels of carotenoid accumulation in the outer retina were significantly more likely to suffer from age-related macular degeneration than those with higher pigment levels. The difference in risk between those having the highest and lowest levels was 75%.”

Just how much of these nutrients is enough to have an effect on the macula? According to Harvard University researchers, 6 mg of lutein a day lowers the risk for macular degeneration. Half a cup of cooked kale contains 10.3 mg; the same amount of cooked spinach has 6.3 mg. You may need higher doses than you did when you were young, because none of us absorbs adequate amounts of nutrients from our foods or supplements as we age.

One way to ensure you’re getting enough of these plant-based nutrients is to boost your diet with a daily formula designed to protect your eyes, like Advanced Vision Formula (800-791-3395). In addition to containing 15 mg of lutein, it has significant amounts of vitamin A along with a host of nutrients known to protect and feed your eyes.

Exercise

Not all new therapies need to be expensive or difficult to find. Take exercise, for example. I’ve said in the past that exercise is the most important nutrient for your health. Now new research is finding that it can protect your eyes from macular degeneration – or slow down its progression.

In a recent study, researchers exposed mice to bright light. This causes degeneration in the retina. Then the researchers ran the mice on a treadmill an hour a day, five days a week for two weeks. This amount and kind of exercise – equivalent to taking a brisk walk – preserved their photoreceptors and retinal cell function. In fact, this was the first study to discover that aerobic exercise can directly benefit retinal health and vision.

After their initial exposure to bright light, the mice exercised for another two weeks. They had almost twice the amount of photoreceptor cells as the mice that spent the same time on a stationary treadmill. What’s more, their retinal cells had become more responsive to light.

If you have the beginnings of macular degeneration, or a full-blown case, there are three things you need to do starting today:

• Increase your intake of foods high in lutein and zeaxanthin.
• Take a nutritional supplement designed to support a healthy macula.
• Exercise for an hour at least five days a week.

Following this regimen could slow or even stop the progression of macular degeneration and vision loss.

Nutrition Detective

The Painful Condition You Can Treat With Water

Brenda got her macular degeneration under control by modifying her diet to include high quantities of spinach and chard. She had read that dark green leafy vegetables are high in lutein and zeaxanthin – antioxidants that are abundant in the tissue of the eye’s macula. But eating a lot of greens led to another problem: kidney stones.

When kidney stones become stuck in the urinary tract, the pain is excruciating. Brenda experienced this once and she did not want to ever experience it again. One bout with kidney stones was more than enough.

She learned that these stones are often formed from oxalate or phosphorous when some of the chemicals in urine that make stones concentrated. Leafy greens are high in oxalate, while soft drinks contain a lot of phosphorus. Unfortunately, Brenda realized that the foods needed to protect her eyes should be limited by anyone who has either had kidney stones or who wants to avoid them.

She had been drinking two or three cans of soda a day and very little water. I suggested that she drink eight eight-ounces of water. This diluted the substances in her urine that lead to kidney stones.

Brenda’s solution turned out to be simple. Yours may be more complicated. You could need more dietary calcium. Two little calcium may cause your oxalate levels to rise, which can cause kidney stones.

Or you may need to be on a low-sodium diet, because a high-sodium diet could increase the calcium in your urine that can form stones. You also would be wise to reduce your intake of high-oxalate foods like beets, chocolate, spinach, tea, and nuts. But if you get in the habit of drinking more water, you could find that this is enough. Sometimes a simple approach is all you need.

LETTERS

Q: My brother (age 72) is having memory lapses, which have continued to worsen over the last couple of years. Can you direct me to information concerning possible causes and treatments (particularly nutrients) and anything that I might present to him to encourage him to seek help? And is there a difference between what doctors diagnose as dementia or Alzheimer’s? Our father had Alzheimer’s disease. Can it be related to heredity? – S.K., Henderson, NV

A: Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, and there are often some genetic components to it.

I’m glad you wrote to me, because whether or not your brother seeks help, you may want to consider supporting your own brain function. You could have a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s, and it’s easier to prevent a problem than to cure it.

You can find a great deal of information on memory and genetics on my website. It’s available at no charge to all newsletter subscribers. There’s also a chapter in my book, 456 Most Powerful Healing Secrets, that includes information on nutrients that can help restore memory (800-610-2107).

Both you and your brother can start today by looking at your blood sugar levels. High blood sugar, caused by simple carbohydrates, such as white rice and most desserts, makes Alzheimer’s plaque more toxic to cells lining the blood vessels in the brain. This can contribute to dementia. Make sure your blood sugar isn’t high. If it is, dietary changes and regular exercise can help regulate it.

Q: I just lost 45 pounds last year, and I feel terrific. But I’m curious. Where did my fat go? I asked my doctor, and he said it was turned into energy. Is that correct? – S.S., New York, NY

A: No, it’s not, although this is a common misconception. It’s surprising how many doctors, dieticians, and personal trainers are ignorant about a process that affects so many people.

When you lose fat, it doesn’t turn into energy or muscle. Most of it is breathed out as carbon dioxide and simply disappears into thin air. A small amount of this fat is also excreted in water in urine, sweat, and other bodily fluids.

An Australian physicist and TV science presenter, Ruben Meerman, was looking for an answer to this question for a TV science program. He realized that few people understood what happed to fat after a person lost weight.

So he decided to trace every atom in the fat that was lost in dieting and find out where lost fat goes. No one had ever done this before. It wasn’t easy, because the exhaled carbon dioxide gas is invisible. Still, Meerman was determined to find an answer. And he did.

Does this mean that you can lose weight by breathing rapidly? Not at all. You’ll just hyperventilate and cause dizziness and palpitations. You could even lose consciousness!

But it wouldn’t hurt for you to take a few deep breaths at times when you meditate, do yoga, or take walks. Many people forget to do this.