|
by Lyle Hurd, editor
Total Health Management for Women
The sub-title of totalhealth for Longevity reads “The Definitive Voice In Anti-Aging and Self-Managed Natural Health.” More appropriately it should read “An amalgam of or forum for the definitive voices in anti-aging self-managed natural health.”
Ann Louise Gittleman, N.D., M.S., C.N.S., Hyla Cass, M.D. and Lorna Vanderhaeghe are three of the important voices in the current paradigm shift from conventional acute crisis and pharmacological-based medicine to integrative medicine, self-managed natural health and nutritional intervention as the imperatives to total health and productive longevity.
Each of them not only talks the talk but walks the walk—all having been involved in natural health for over 20 years. They can be credited with helping to pioneer what is now being hailed as the 21st century approach to optimal health. Today they are internationally recognized as successful authors, lecturers, researchers and nutritional consultants. However each still exudes a missionary zeal to learn, educate, mentor and to share the best research, products, therapies and lifestyle approaches to holistic health, as well as police the unfounded misrepresented or health-threatening concepts which are frequently promoted to the public.
Individually they are willing contributors, excellent sounding boards for new ideas, a conduit to their peers and demanding of a high level of excellence from the magazine. And while none of their practices are exclusively gender specific, as a group they are an outstanding resource on the complex subject of women’s health.
For the past 25 years Ann Louise Gittleman has devoted her life to helping people take back control over their health and well being by uncovering the underlying causes of “dis-ease.” She is one of the most respected and dynamic nutritionists in America today, continually breaking new ground in both traditional and holistic health. Her books have sold nearly three million copies worldwide. After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree from Connecticut College, Ann Louise attained a master’s degree from Columbia University in nutrition education. She later went on to attain a Doctor of Naturopathy degree. In 1993 Ann Louise became a certified nutrition specialist from the American College of Nutrition.
Internationally hailed as a pioneer in dietary, environmental and women’s health issues, Ann Louise regularly contributes to national radio, television, magazines and newspapers. Today millions of listeners from over 5000 radio stations nationwide recognize her name—which has become synonymous with nutritional expertise—as the Rejuvex Woman. On the Internet she hosts one of the top four diet boards for “Fat Flush with Ann Louise Gittleman” on ivillage.com, the most popular women’s health site.
In January 2001 she will be launching a nationally syndicated weekly radio show on one of the largest broadcasting networks.
For nearly a decade her articles, insights and books have enlightened the public on key nutritional issues. Countless major magazines and newspapers have published her work. Her 16 books include Beyond Pritikin, Super Nutrition for Women, Guess What Came to Dinner, Your Body Knows Best, Get the Sugar Out, Get the Salt Out, The 40/30/30 Phenomenon, Beyond Probiotics, Super Nutrition for Menopause, Before the Change, Super Nutrition for Men, Eat Fat, Lose Weight, How to Stay Young and Healthy in A Toxic World, Overcoming Parasites, The Living Beauty Detox Program and Why Am I Always So Tired?.
Excerpts from her latest book, The Eat Fat, Lose Weight Cookbook, are featured in this issue. It will be published in April 2001 by Keats Publishing.
I asked Ann Louise her secret for handling her incredibly busy schedule of writing and lecturing. Her response: “Balance. Managing your lifestyle so you are eating properly, exercising, you have sufficient time for rest, I mean sleep, good quality sleep and there is also a time during the day to recharge your batteries both spiritually and emotionally. That is my personal challenge and I believe like so many women in my generation that are constantly balancing career and home life it is a juggling act. You really need to put everything into perspective as you go along. Be realistic, don’t take things you cannot control to heart—find time to be not such a caretaker and a caregiver but to do what nourishes your heart, makes your heart sing. I am a dancer and singer who has kind of given it all up to be in this nutrition business, which takes a lot of my time. Finding time to do what I love, which is sing and dance, is a challenge. Rather than playing a character part on stage I have rechanneled my creativity into my writing and have used that as a vehicle to express myself. But you do need that release. Put your life into perspective, know who you are, find some time to celebrate being you each day in your own special way.”
Hyla Cass, growing up in Toronto, Canada, the a child of a caring and conscientious GP in an old-fashioned practice, observed integrated medicine long before the term was coined. From an early age she would follow him around on his medical rounds at the hospital and on house calls. He would always talk about what he was doing as if she were his apprentice. By the time Hyla was in her teens she had learned a great deal about the spirit and art of medicine and even about the “how to.”
Before she even completed medical school Hyla realized she was interested in a more relational, holistic approach to medicine than the prevalent mechanized, impersonal system of conventional medicine. This interest, coupled with an appreciation for the mind-body connection, led her into a psychiatric residency. Eventually she found the standard “couch and Prozac” combination of psychoanalytic and pharmacological treatments went only so far. She then began to incorporate interactive techniques such as guided imagery, voice dialogue and later EMDR (eye movement dissociation and reprocessing). Not only did these work more quickly than the older methods but clearly they could affect the body in many ways, in alleviating physical symptoms or bolstering the immune system.
The attention to the mind-body connection and partnership in the healing process has led her to explore the influences of nutrition and lifestyle on health, as well as how imbalance in the body can affect the mind.
In her move toward “integral” or holistic psychiatry, Hyla found herself treating a variety of medical conditions from chronic fatigue syndrome to irritable bowel syndrome. According to Hyla, patients don’t walk into doctor’s offices as disembodied heads, nor are our bodies divisible, separable into specialized compartments for the convenience of cardiologists, allergists, endocrinologists or gastroenterologists.
Hyla believes, with all the variables affecting our health and well being, from diet and lifestyle to toxic exposure, that we each need to take greater responsibility for our own health. Rather than taking our body (or mind) to the doctor as we would take our car to the mechanic, we need to become participants in a working partnership in which the physician becomes a resource. However, trust your intuition, trust your own body, don’t take anyone else’s word for it, do your homework and insist on the best care possible based on both your own research and intuition. Ultimately no one can tell you what is right for you. You have to feel right with the recommendations they make—if not, ask questions. Our common goal must be the healing of ourselves—body, mind and spirit—of our systems of health care, of our communities and ultimately, of the planet we all share.
Lorna Vanderhaeghe is a health journalist who has been researching and writing on the subject of nutritional medicine for over 20 years. She has a bachelor of science degree with a major in nutrition and biochemistry. Her list of accomplishments include working under the direction of Abram Hoffer, Ph.D., M.D. at the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, past editor-in-chief of Healthy Living Guide and Alive magazine in Canada and senior editor of the Encyclopedia of Natural Healing (winner of the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Award in 1998). Lorna is coauthor of the award-winning best-seller, The Immune System Cure, now published in six countries. She is an internationally-acclaimed lecturer who believes in empowering people with health knowledge so they can achieve optimal wellness.
Six months ago at a health food show I lamented to Lorna that for years I have been plagued by a stress-triggered herpes infection on my lip, in my mouth and nasal passages. To my surprise she suggested a nutritional supplement—Moducare™ Sterinol™, the same ingredients mentioned in Parris Kidd’s article on HIV/AIDS, could cure the problem. To my amazement it did. I asked her to comment on the impact of stress on women’s health and the potential benefits of sterols and sterolins to their compromised immune systems.
Lorna explains, “Stress has the most detrimental influence on humans as a whole but especially on women. It is so important for women to de-stress, learn how to handle their stress and supplement themselves against it. Stress is implicated in a host of diseases which are predominately affecting women. One category that is so true in this case includes the autoimmune conditions, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, diseases where the immune system becomes confused and instead of attacking a virus or a bacteria it turns on the body’s tissues. Eighty percent of these diseases affect women. They are on the rise, a serious increase. Women are raising families, working full time and managing the household. I talk to women who are up at 6:00 in the morning to get their kids ready to go to school then go to work and are doing the laundry at midnight. Women are just burning out with the total load they have taken on to be part of every day society. As a result of this we are seeing some weird diseases coming up like fibromyalgia. Osteoporosis rates are astronomical and they have a direct link to stressors and what happens within the body when we are under stress. I think it is really important that women learn to deal with stress. Stressors are not just a quarrel with your child or an argument with your boss. Stressors can also be inadequate nutrition, environmental poisons and over-exercising. If you don’t learn to manage stress, you will shorten your life span, be fraught with disease and unable to smell the flowers and enjoy the sunshine.
Research shows that potent plant nutrients—sterols and sterolins—are effective in balancing the immune system, increasing the good immune factors and decreasing the bad. Pharmaceutical companies worldwide have been attempting to make drugs with this same action but unfortunately the side effects have been so severe that none have come to market. Long-term safety studies have found that sterols and sterolins have no side effects, are safe for pregnant and nursing moms and the elderly. There are no drug interactions so you can continue your medication without concern.
Sterols and sterolins have been used to normalize immune abnormalities and eliminate fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, prostate inflammation, asthma and eczema, control the side effects from chemotherapy and radiation in cancer treatment, enhance the ability of the immune system to fight infections and reduce exercise-induced immune suppression. How can a simple plant nutrient do all this? The immune system protects you from disease and controls the inflammatory response. If we repair the immune abnormalities, the body will be able to heal itself and disease will disappear. Getting to the root of the problem is the key—immune dysfunction caused by poor nutrition and too much stress.”
|
