Dr. Connie muses at Pacific Naturopathic Hawaii

Have a Heart!

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The human heart attracts far more attention than any other vital organ. You don't hear the expression "have a kidney". Or "she is liverless". Or "my thyroid is broken." Considered to be our emotional home, the heart is associated with love, passion, and expansiveness. Search the internet and you'll find hundreds of quotes related to the heart. "The heart has reasons that reason cannot know." (Blaise Pascal)  "Wherever you go, go with all your heart." (Confucius) 

Energy or subtle anatomy places the heart, along with the lungs, in the 4th, or Anahata Chakra. This chakra is governed by the air element. It is associated with pranayama, the practice of yogic breathing, of bringing energy or life force into the body. The associated gland is the thymus gland, which governs immunity and produces a type of white blood cell known as the T cell lymphocyte. The job of this lymphocyte is to help recognize bacteria, viruses, and foreign tissue. In other words, its job is to discriminate, within the body, what is self and to protect from what is not self. Out of control T cells are one cause of auto immunity. 

In the world outside of our bodies, we tend to discriminate and decide that others are not the same as we are. A fundamental lesson of the heart chakra is to free ourselves from that discrimination of not self that prevents our feelings of connectedness and our expression of universal love. Positive expressions of the expansion of the heart chakra outwards and upwards include friendship, romantic love, compassion, devotion, and divine love.

Thinking of the heart in the context of the heart chakra, we find that there are many energy medicines that are of support both for psychospiritual  issues and for physical issues, as the heart, of course, is also a physical organ which governs vital physiologic processes.

The color associated with the heart chakra is green, a color which is both nurturing and calming. Green can strengthen the nervous system and stimulate inner peace. Green stabilizes blood pressure and heart conditions, enhances immunity, builds tissue, and generally rejuvenates. Wearing green, being in the great green outdoors, and bathing in green light therapy are all wonderful ways to support the heart chakra.

Gem and flower essences are also useful. Gems and gem essences associated with this chakra can help us expand our capacity to love. Chrysoprase, the favorite gem of Alexander the Great, is said to harmonize the heart and to help us accept the earth as our home. Chyrsocolla is used to open, soften and expand the inner dimensions of the heart chakra. It helps release tension around giving and receiving love; and allows the vibration of love to flow. Emerald is considered to be a universal heart cleanser and balancer, and the essence of emerald is used to help align with the energies of Divine Mother and the Divine Feminine, and to open to a greater experience of love in the physical body.

Of the flower essences, essence of holly promotes a compassionate understanding of others. Angelica tunes the heart to feel the presence and receive the love and care of spiritual protection. Bleeding Heart is used to help heal a broken heart.  And there are many other specific and relevant essences. 

These and other energy medicines which address the psychospiritual aspects of the heart chakra and heart function perfectly complement and enhance treatments oriented to the physiologic functioning of the heart.

Sugar and Heart Disease: 

Is There a Connection?

The February edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine published the results of a study indicating that excess sugar consumption may double the incidence of heart disease.  This is not a surprise to naturopathic doctors who have long warned of the connection between sugar and many chronic illnesses.  The study did not give any indication of what "excess" is, but Laura Schmidt, a professor at the UCSF school of medicine, in an interview with writer Nicole Ostrow, said that "Small amounts of sugar are fine.  It's consuming massive amounts of sugar that's a growing problem in America." This reply cannot be universally applied.  Even small amounts of sugar can wreck physiological havoc with many people.

Although the authors of the study can't explain the mechanism by which sugar affects cardiovascular function, the chief researcher said that the weight gain evident in heavy sugar eaters "may" raise blood pressure (it most certainly does), and it may raise bad cholesterol and triglycerides and lower good cholesterol.  Sugar also increases insulin resistance, a key factor in metabolic syndrome and diabetes, and increases fatty accumulation in the liver.

Heart disease is the number one killer disease in America, causing the deaths of more than 600,000 people each year.  Sugar sweetened beverages contribute about 37 percent of added sugar in US diets.  A recent study in the U.K. found that there are an amazing 44 teaspoons of sugar in a cinema-sized serving of Coke!  One can of Coke Classic contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar.  Keeping in mind that one teaspoon of sugar is about four grams, check out your favorite sweet beverage on this web site.

Although this issue of the newsletter is about the heart, it is difficult to stop the discussion of the effects of sugar with only mentioning its effects on cardiovascular function.  Sugar has a profound impact on the immune system, greatly slowing the response rate of the body's white blood cells to infectious organisms.  What we observe in our practice is that people who consume high amounts of sugar are weigh more, catch more colds and flus and have more health complaints than people who are conscious of moderating their sugar intake.

Problems with sugar consumption are not far removed from problems with alcohol and both need to be treated as addictions. There are many strategies for breaking the sugar habit.  The first step is a desire to do so.  If this is where you are but lack the wherewithal on how to proceed, schedule an hour visit with one of the doctors at Pacific Naturopathic for support and strategies.

Find out more about Dr. Marcel's work with men at:

Cholesterol in 

American Medical Mythology

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Connie Hernandez, N.D.

As a people, we Americans have been conditioned to fear cholesterol and to believe, if we could just smash those total cholesterol numbers, we would be protecting ourselves from heart disease. The numbers strike terror in the hearts of even relatively well informed folks.  Cholesterol lowering drugs are widely promoted with televised pharmaceutical infomercials, and are often rather indiscriminately prescribed. So strong is the belief in cholesterol as the cause of heart disease that people scratch their heads and wonder how a given person with a total cholesterol well below the suggested range could possibly have suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack. Or how another person who dutifully forgoes eggs in favor of breakfast pancakes and potatoes could still have high cholesterol (as well as high risk from out of control blood sugar.)

As it happens, cholesterol is produced and cleared by our very own bodies. Rapidly declining numbers, when not caused by radical dietary change or by medication, cause practitioners in the know to suspect chronic disease or cancer.  Cholesterol is the precursor molecule for all the steroid hormones in your body (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, pregnenalone), and these hormones will become imbalanced when levels are too low. On the other side of the equation, hormonal balance and thyroid and liver function have a great deal to do with cholesterol levels. It is common for cholesterol to rise in menopause, and a moderate rise in cholesterol in menopause is not statistically associated with heart disease. 

The total cholesterol, HDL and LDL numbers are screening tests, not tests upon which medication should be prescribed. HDL particles, the "good" cholesterol particles, are not universally protective, and LDL particles, the "bad" cholesterol particles are not universally damaging. Both come in particle sizes, with size of particle and aberrant particles contributing to cardiovascular risk. Particles such as lipoprotein a are indeed more problematic, but may not respond to statins at all. Particle profiles can be measured by conventional labs, the test panel being known as the "VAP" (Vertical Auto Profile). 

At Pacific Naturopathic, we prefer the Spectra Cell Lipoprotein Particle Profile, as it includes the homocysteine and cardio specific C reactive protein numbers. These values represent inflammation or injury to the lining of the blood vessels. (As they are relevant also to inflammation elsewhere in the body and brain and bone health, they are a standard part of our Wellness Panel). Cholesterol patches the injuries these values reflect, and can then create a problem by occluding blood vessels, or by chipping off. No injury, no patch problems.

Patients are done a disservice when the screening lipid profile alone (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides) is used to justify the prescription of statin medications.  An initial approach involves optimizing hormonal balance and thyroid and liver function, encouraging exercise, instigating dietary change (which does not mean substituting pancakes for eggs), and utilizing supplements such as omega 3 fatty acids and CoenzymeQ10 to favorably alter lipid profiles.

Moving beyond the cholesterol issue to broader heart health issues, we recommend a book by Dr. Stephen Sinatra called Metabolic Cardiology. A heart surgeon turned holistic by the failure of the heart surgeries which were his previous specialty, Dr. Sinatra details the importance of nutrients such as Coenzyme Q10, magnesium, ribose and carnitine to heart function, and promotes grounding or earthing (using the electromagnetic field of the earth to balance your own)  in prevention, management and treatment of heart disease.  

Find out more about Dr. Connie's consulting services at:  

Rapid Pain Relief 

With Elijah Free

Elijah Free, MH, CMI, CMT  

To contact Elijah, please either call the clinic at 650-917-1121 or e-mail at elijah@rapidpainelimination.com.

 

Services Provided at 

Pacific Naturopathic

 

                           

For information, please contact us at 650-917-1121.

* Naturopathic Consultations For All Health Conditions

* Intravenous (I.V.) Nutrition Therapy 

* Breast Thermography

* Rapid Pain Relief

* Tongue and Fingernail Analysis

* Craniosacral Therapy

* Adjunctive Cancer Therapy

* Bioidentical Hormone Therapy

* Men's Health

* Women's Health

* Vitamin B12 Shots

* Flower Essence Therapy

* LaStone Massage

* Earth Friend Herb Company Products

For the following services, please contact each individual provider:

* Transformational Medicine (Shanti Rubenstone, MD, 650-209-5813)

* Clinical Hypnotherapy, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Matrix Reimprinting (Jane Hernandez, CCHT, 510-676-1460)

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A gift certificate to a Pacific Naturopathic practitioner lets a special person know you really care about their well-being. 

Gift certificates for all practitioners and modalities offered at Pacific Naturopathic are available by phoning our front desk at 650-917-1121, or just stopping by.