Balance Point Alternative Medicine Blog

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What do ancient Tibetan meditation practices, the study of genetics and the science of life extension have in common? They are all interested in the process and mechanisms of human wellness and how to live a long, happy life. They also share the exploration of how the state of your nervous system and your immune system contribute to health and longevity. For example, with age your immune system produces more and more inflammatory substances and your nervous system triggers a stress response to this. These events, in turn, promote the breakdown of the body and rapid aging. Modern Science Finds a Connection At the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Kevin Tracey discovered exactly how the brain controls the immune system through it’s affect on the Vagus nerve. The Vagus nerve is the primary nerve connecting the brain and every organ of the body. It mediates your heartbeat, your digestion and elimination and, in fact, virtually all of the automatic functions of your body. Why is this important? Because it is possible to activate the Vagus nerve to control your immune system, reduce inflammation in your body and slow or stop disease and aging. There are numerous time-tested ways to activate the Vagus nerve in this way. Among the easiest are meditation and guided visualization. Yoga, Qigong and other related practices also help this process tremendously. Additional studies show that this kind of activity also triggers immediate positive responses in the very core of every cell in your body, your genetic code. These responses help switch on the genes that help control inflammation. Since the biggest problems as we age all involve inflammatory responses, this is huge news for those people who want to live a long, happy life. Recreating Your Organs from the Inside Out Additionally, recent research shows that we are able to constantly create new cells and tissues in the body at any age. This process is mediated by what are called stem cells. If you guessed that the Vagus nerve controls the creation of stem cells, you are catching on! There are many other positive effects you gain from regularly practicing deep relaxation or meditation. Here’s a short summary of these: Reduce inflammation Help regenerate your organs and cells by activating stem cells Increase your heart rate variability Thicken your brain (which normally shrinks with aging) Boost immune function Modulate your nervous system Reduce depression and stress Enhance performance Improve your quality of life And, of course, all of these things contribute to living a longer, more healthy life. And, all of these are related to the relaxation response generated through your Vagus nerve.

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When most people hear about a world epidemic they think of some sort of infectious disease such as AIDS or Hepatitis C. That's why it's a bit surprising to discover that the fastest growing 'epidemic' in the world isn't infectious at all. See if you can guess what it is from these facts: In the past 20 years the worldwide number of people with this disease has risen 767%. It not only affects huge numbers of people in modern cultures, it also affects many people in...

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Fish oil is one of the two supplements that I recommend to most of my patients. There are many reasons for this, but today I’ll mention the benefits of fish oil for your brain. Learning In a very small but remarkable study children were given fish oil supplements. The children took tests before they started taking the fish oil and again at the end of three months. During the study, researchers found that the children’s reading age increased by a year, their handwriting became more legible and accurate,...

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Most pain involves tight, tense muscles and surrounding tissues in the painful area. There are two reasons for this. One is due to injuries. The body responds to injury by 'splinting' the injured area to reduce further injury. So whenever there are injuries, the surrounding area will tend to get tense and the muscles tight. If this goes on a long time, it becomes a kind of habit, leading to poor posture and chronic pain. The other reason we experience chronic pain is that in modern times we tend to spend...

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For years we've all been lied to. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was necessarily an intentional lie. But at the very least it was information presented as fact, while only offering part of the truth. And sadly, only offering part of the truth isn't any better than an outright lie when it comes to our health. The lie I'm referring to is the statement that saturated fats are bad for you. When I tell people this is a lie, they often look at me as though I'd lost...

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Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a little-known lipid that affects many aspects of health. The brain makes PS. You can also get it in pill form. Here are just some of the good things it offers: Helps prevent hypertension. Helps stop atherosclerosis. Boosts cell membrane health (such as myelin sheaths). Improves athletic performance. Helps age-related memory loss. Increases focus and improves learning. Lowers levels of stress hormone. In other words, PS helps heart and brain while increasing physical...

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********** Note from Dr. Bruce: This post is by guest author, John Jarmul of Kaneka Nutrients ********** After medication, diet and lifestyle changes are firmly in place, consider taking supplements known for their heart-protective qualities. 1. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish oil, have been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack, heart rhythm problems, and sudden death. This is because of their anti-inflammatory agents. Doctors recommend 1-4 grams daily, taken with food. 2. Derived from plant-based foods, plant sterols and stanols can lower your LDL numbers by...

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Complimentary therapies have been used for thousands of years. They have been used to treat illnesses since as far back as 10,000BC. They can often be used to treat problems which do not have an effective treatment option in traditional medicine. Complimentary therapies focus on all aspects of the patient and not just on the symptoms of their illness. These therapies aim to encourage a greater feeling of wellness and help the patient to feel better in every way. What are the options? There are many types of complimentary therapy to...

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The word "Lipofuscin" looks funny, but its effects in the body are no laughing matter. Lipofuscin is strongly implicated in Alzheimer's Disease, memory loss and impaired learning ability. It is commonly known as age pigment and is responsible for age spots (aka "liver spots") on the skin. Besides the skin, it also accumulates in organs and nerve cells. Although this sticky, caramel-like substance affects more than one part of the body, today I'd like to focus on its effects on the brain. Before we get to that, it...

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I'm continually learning things from my patients. For example, the other day I was reviewing Metabolic Typing® results with someone. I was encouraging her to notice how she felt after eating a meal with a specific ratio of fats, proteins and carbs. Every time I would mention it, she'd say, "I don't know how to do that." I finally said, "Think about it this way - an hour or two after you eat, pay attention to your energy level, how satisfied you feel from the meal...

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If you've read previous posts about GMO (Genetically Modified) foods, you know that they are experimental and have no human testing to confirm their safety. In fact, research strongly suggests that there are serious problems with eating them. You can view some very detailed information on this topic in these two posts: Save Your Life By Avoiding These "Frankenfoods" Genetically Modified Foods: The Latest Findings Now it comes out that the U.S. delegation to the European Codex Alimentarius committee is opposing a United Nations rule...

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I originally thought I'd use this issue to share breaking news about the shocking discovery recently that dozens of cities in the U.S. have traces of pharmaceutical drugs in their drinking water. As the week went on, however, this news was everywhere, from the print and broadcast news to late night comedy routines. I can't imagine you haven't heard about it already.Just in case, here's the short version: There are so many prescription drugs passing through people's bodies and into the sewer systems, that septic processing plants can't clear all of it. This has gone on long enough that these...

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We have heard for years that fish is good for us. And in many ways that's true. But there is one fish that is not so good. That fish is tilapia. You may have seen it in your local store. Often it is advertised as a healthy protein source. But there are three reasons to think about looking elsewhere for your fish choices. Before we go into those, here are some basic facts about tilapia. It originally came from freshwater ponds in Africa. It is good for...

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Many commonly used household products contain hazardous chemicals. And many of these chemicals are added to mask the smell of the other ingredients. This information came to light in a University of Washington study that analyzed a variety of popular laundry products and air fresheners. The final analysis uncovered the fact that these products released dozens of toxic chemicals into the air. In fact, every product they tested (six in all) emitted at least one toxic or hazardous chemical according to federal federal regulations even though none of them were included in the ingredient...

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Foods, even 'healthy' foods, don't have the same effect from one person to another. This goes directly against what we hear in the media when they quote medical research. It's very common to hear that one food or another is a great cancer-fighting food, or that it lowers cholesterol, or even that it slows aging. For example, we're told that garlic may lower blood pressure, red wine may prevent cancer and heart disease and soy is a healthy protein alternative. Unfortunately, all of these ideas are,...

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The most used addictive substance in the world is one that most people don't even pay attention to. It isn't opiates, speed, crack cocaine or even alcohol. In fact, this addiction is bigger than all of these combined. On top of everything else, this substance is responsible for more deaths than any other. It also creates a massive drain on healthcare resources worldwide. Here's one more hint - it's cheap, available practically everywhere and you have almost certainly used it this year. Have you guessed yet? ...

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I'm always amazed by how resilient people can be. As a case in point, I'm thinking about an 87-year-old patient of mine who came to her first visit requiring 2 people to help her into and out of the car. She couldn't walk on her own. Her M.D. had told her to go home and 'get her affairs in order,' which is doctor talk for 'get ready to die.' Frankly, when I she first came into my office I wasn't sure there was anything I could do. Once we started talking...