WYSONG HEALTH LETTER
Dr. R. L. Wysong
February 1995
*
DEAR FRIEND:
 
    Before becoming aware of the sobering environmental and health issues facing us, I pretty much was striving for the American dream.  I went to college, had lots of kids, slowly improved my lot in life and began to accumulate stuff.  My home began as a trailer house, then a rented home, and then through a series of increasingly sized homes up until I built my present (excessive) home.
    Where was I going?  From an economic standpoint it seemed that the thing to do was to try to own as much as possible, strive for increased earnings, and seek happiness through the things that economic success could bring.
    Now, if our only responsibility in life is to take care of ourselves the best we can, this would seem a perfectly appropriate life course.  But we live in a community, a world family with finite resources and a responsibility to others in terms of the effect our activities have on them.  Not only are we responsible to those alive now, but we have a fiduciary responsi­bility to future generations.
    If I knew early on what I know now, I would not be in such a large home, I would likely not have had so many children (although I love them all and cannot conceive of sending any of them back), and I would have probably changed my career choice.
    So, as we learn more about the impact of our choices it can create a crisis of conscience.  Virtually everything we do seems to deteriorate the planet.  We might choose a smaller home, but a better choice might be to move to a climate where you need little if any shelter at all.  We might choose to eliminate animal products from our diet because of the impact factory farming has on our environment and because we don't like to cause suffering in sentient animals, but then if we eat plants we are faced with the problem that we are still destroying life in order to sustain ourselves.  If we recycle, we might decrease the rate of landfill fill­ing, but decreasing consumption and thus the production of packaging in the first place would be a far better choice.  Perhaps we met our thermostat to conserve on heating or air conditioning, but would it not be better to get off the grid altogether and use solar, wind, geothermal or other alter­native energy source?
    There seems to be no end to what we could or should do.  I must admit that for me these issues create a lot of conflict.  I try to make adjustments in my life, but yet I see so many around me apparently oblivious to the catastrophes we face and doing nothing.  It makes my efforts seem futile. Then, also, I realize that whatever I do, it is only a personal choice I make on a gradated scale from doing nothing, to the perfect option that would cause no envi­ronmental impact at all: I could walk back deep within an isolated forest and kill myself.  This way I would use no more resources and if no one found me, all the paraphernalia of a funeral and its environmental toll would not have to occur ei­ther.  I could be fertilizing the growth of a few needed trees.
    The problem with this is I like being alive.  If I choose to live, then I am faced with choices, none of which will be perfect.  If I wish to become a part of solutions to create a better world, rather than simply an aggravation of the prob­lem, choices on a scale must be made.
    It is very important to understand that what we do cannot be perfect, that most choices are not a matter of white - right, and black - wrong.  We simply must make decisions in a gray area, hopefully trying ever to lighten the gray.
    Even though what we individually do may seem puny compared to the mindless acts of the masses, change must begin somewhere.  Ultimately all change is the accumulation of the acts of individuals.  Once we become aware of a problem and are troubled by it, if we do not act to try to work toward some kind of solution we can be trapped with feelings of hope­lessness and victimization.  This in itself, as I have mentioned many times in the Health Letter, can cause serious health consequences.       Thus doing something that helps us feel we are gaining control of our lives is extremely important, regardless of how small it is.
    So for those who are troubled in our complex modern world by choices, realize this is the not-so-kind reward of enlightenment.  On the positive side it is wonderful to be aware rather than walking in ignorance waiting for unbeknown circumstances to befall us.  With knowledge, at least the opportunity comes to take measures that could conceivably save ourselves, our families and make us a contri­bution to solutions, possibly even for global problems.
    It is easy of course to become cynical and judgmental when you see the short­sighted lives of so many   Gentle education and example without fanaticism can do much to swing the tide and bring awareness to a larger community.  Being aware should be considered a gift to share and not a right to condemn and judge others.
    If we can remember, regardless of our convictions, that we are human and that our knowledge is always limited and not all-encompassing, then we should remain humble allowing for individual differences and always open to new ideas that can bring us closer to truth.  (see Vol. 8 No 4 on open­ness.)
    With any new-found awareness there comes zeal. Unfortunately, bigotry, cultism, ostracism and inqui­sitional persecution are not restricted to politics and religion.  It seems part of the human condition to take partial and pseudo truths as if they were absolute and all-embracing, and condemn all who do not agree.  People saving whales condemn everyone who is not.   Vegetarians condemn carnivores.  Those living in homes of f the grid condemn the utility glutton.
    People who wear natural fiber clothes are repulsed by their pesticide enrobed neighbors.  Nudists on the other hand scoff at those who feel it necessary to drape their natural bodies, even with organic cotton.
    We live in an increasingly complex world with an array us.  I cannot pretend to have all the answers, but I hope you find the Health Letter a guide that helps you to feel like you are moving on a scale of gray  to ever lighter zones.  At the same time we must all be at peace with our neighbors, allowing for their individuality and gently helping those who are willing to move with us into a bright and hopeful future.
 
DENTAL FILLINGS MAY BE KILLING YOU
    The amalgam silver filling used by dentists to fill tooth cavi­ties consists of almost 50% mercury.  Mercury is the most toxic heavy metal known.  There is no known safe level of exposure.
    In Europe, mercury mines are carefully regulated so that workers do not spend more than eight hours per week in the mines.      In this country the FDA and the EPA carefully control mercury movement and commerce... until it gets to the dentist and into your mouth.   In North America alone, one hundred tons of mercury per year are placed with impunity into the mouths of unsuspecting dental patients like you and me.
    Every time we eat, chew gum, drink an acidic soft drink beverage or consume a hot liquid or meal, mercury increases its release from fillings to be inhaled or directly absorbed through the mucosal tissues in the mouth, nose and pharynx.  From there the mercury moves particularly well into fatty tissues like neurons and the brain.  About 40-100 mcg per day leak from amalgam fillings, which is greater than our mercury exposure from the consumption of fish and other foods, and from the air and water all combined.
    Not surprisingly, dentists and dental hygienists are especially at risk from the constant daily exposure.  Dental hygienists have increased levels of spontaneous abortion and have more failed health than the general population.  In dentists, neurological deficits are common.  Memory loss, shaking and neuromuscular prob­lems can all be related to mercury toxicity.   Other signs of mercury toxicity include increased sensi­tivity to a host of environmental chemicals, drugs and foods.  The increased incidence of autoimmunities and hypersensitivities in our population may in large part be directly linked to dental amalgam mercury toxicity.
    Although mercury amalgam fillings have been used for 150 years, there is no scientific basis for the general belief that they are safe.  But since the American Dental Association is a trade orga­nization primarily dedicated to protecting the integrity and finan­cial interests of its profession, it will not admit error nor certainly condemn a procedure that is the financial backbone of the profes­sion.  When an alternative to sil­ver mercury amalgam fillings is created, then mercury fillings will be quietly retired as the profes­sion moves to the new "improved" filling material.
    In the meantime, you can just say “no.”  Don't permit amal­gam fillings to be placed in yours, or your children's mouths.  There are alternatives and if your den­tist will not tell you about them or use them, find a new dentist.
    Although dentists will debate this issue and argue that mercury is not released from the fillings, this is not what the facts say.      In one demonstration I viewed, a mercury measuring device tested the mercury present in the mouths of people in a random audience.   First the device measured the mercury in the air, which was essentially at zero.   Then levels were measured in the mouths of people in the audience ranging all the way from approximately zero for one individual who had all the amalgam fillings removed, to close to 100.  The individual who had the 100 reading had only a 25 reading until they began chewing gum and then had their mouth re­measured.  (See Resource A, below.)
    The following is a detoxifica­tion program to be used for mer­cury toxicity.  It can be used as well for other environmental tox­icities.
    1.              Eliminate all refined, frac­tionated foods from the diet such as the four white poisons; white flour, white sugar, white salt, and white (clear) oils.
    2.              Convert the diet as much as possible to fresh, whole, raw, natural foods.
    3.              Replace milk with yogurt containing live, active cultures.
    4.              Drink purified water with 1-2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice.  This helps create an alkaline in­testinal environment to pro­mote the growth of friendly probiotic gastrointestinal or­ganisms.  (Eliminating meats from the diet for a couple of days will also help with this alkalinizing.)
    5.              Take garlic oil cap­sules three times daily.
    6.              Take 2 grams (2,000 mg) of vitamin C (in divided doses) with meals each day.
    7.              Use a probiotic enzyme supplement with each meal. (See Resource B, below.)
    8.              Use an omega-3 fatty acid rich oil supplement three times daily mixed with yogurt, and/or used as a salad dressing.  Do not heat or otherwise process this fragile fatty acid.  (See Resource C, below.)
    9.              Take one gammalinolenic acid capsule from black currant oil or evening primrose oil.
    10.            Take 200 IUs of natural vitamin E four times per day.
    11.            Take 2 grams of biofla­vonoids per day divided among meals.
    12.            Do not use cholesterol­ lowering diets or drugs.  In fact, the consumption of fresh eggs and butter will help transport the fat soluble mercury out of the body.
    Use this regimen for about a week and then the supplements can be dropped.  But the dietary pattern - fresh, whole, natural foods as much as possible, should be continued forever.  Other obvi­ous things I continue to harp on such as fresh air, sunshine, exer­cise daily and elimination of all obvious toxins such as smoke and excess alcoholic beverages and workplace toxicities, as well as creating a nontoxic home, should become a part of life.
    There is debate about the ad­visability of removing all of the amalgams at one sitting.  Some believe this causes the release of too large a dose of mercury and is thus not advisable.  Perhaps a better approach is to over time slowly have the fillings removed and replaced with gold or some of the other non-mercury-containing filling materials such as the ce­ramics.   (See the     Dental section of the Wysong Resource Directory, Resource D, below.)
    Some people have reported dramatic improvement in their health with the above detoxifying program.  If you have several amalgam fillings and are suffering mental, neuromuscular or sensi­tivity problems, and even if you aren't, this program would be worth a try for a week and cer­tainly the lifelong changes sug­gested should be a part of every­one's life.
    Reference:
        A. Queen and Company Health Communications, Inc., P.O. Box 49308, Colorado Springs, CO 80949-9308.
        B. Wysong H-Biotic™. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        C. Wysong EFA™. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        D.     Wysong Resource Directory, available from Wysong Institute, 1880 N. Eastman Rd, Midland, Ml 48642-7779, $15.00.
3. Can Mercury From Dental Amalgam Cause Your Health Problems?, video, H.L. Queen, Queen and Company Health Communications, Inc., 1994
 
SAVE THE UTERUS
    The majority of hysterectomies (surgical removal of the uter­us) are done as a matter of choice rather than as a lifesaving measure.  Although use of the surgical procedure has moved beyond the time when it was performed to treat hysteria in women - thus the name hysteria-ectomy (removal) - it is still used as a method of sterilization, a cancer preventive and to treat obscure pelvic pain.
    Use of the procedure is now moving even beyond this and is being performed without regard for the complex nature of the uterus and its integrated function into normal physiology.  For example, it is found that male gynecologists are over-zealous surgeons.  Male gynecologists in North Carolina, for example, have a significantly higher rate for hysterectomy than do their female colleagues.  In Switzerland, male gynecologists do twice as many hysterectomies as female gynecologists.
Hysterectomies for symptom-less leiomyomas (fibroids) do not justify the operation.  Even carcinoma (cancer) of the cervix is not a reason for hysterectomy since specific surgery on the cervix (conization) yields similar cure rates with far less cost and risk.
    Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is often an indication for hysterectomy but alternate proce­ures such as endometrial ablation and fulguration or laser treatment yield faster, cheaper and safer results.
    There are many reasons to save the uterus if it is at all possible.  It is not an isolated component of the female body.  It is intricately interrelated with many metabolic functions and is only poorly understood at this point in time.  What is known, for example, is that it protects premenopausal women from heart disease by producing prostacyclin (PGI2) which vasodilates (dilates blood vessels) and reduces platelet adhesiveness (blood clotting).   Additionally, it has been found that removal of the uterus and cervix can decrease a woman's sexual response by significantly reducing the ability to have orgasms.  For these reasons newer techniques of supracervical hysterectomy have been developed so that the cervix is retained while the uterus is removed.
    Certainly any steps to retain as much anatomy as possible are critical once a decision has been made that surgery is absolutely necessary.  The notion that the uterus is simply a sack to hold growing babies which can be discarded when reproduction is over, is naive if not barbaric.
    Reference:
        4. Lancet, December 17, 1994: 1652
 
SLOWING BRAIN AGING
    The brain can age and lose function like any other body or­gan.  When this happens memo­ries fade, alertness dulls, and thinking ability wanes.  Since the brain is the higher control center for the rest of the body, when it degenerates so do our muscles, bones, immune system, arteries and all other body functions.  Our ability to live fully and enjoy life slips away.
    Here are some things you can do to help keep your brain func­tioning and even increase its ca­pabilities:
    1)              Use it or lose it. Use your mind by reading and keeping it challenged with new forms of work, hobby and play.  Don't resign to what you perceive you should be doing because of your age.   Do what you want to do and would like to do and continually push and challenge yourself. Take classes, travel, meet new in­tellectually challenging friends. Keep a log book of new words you encounter, look up their meaning, write them down and continue to review the words to make them a part of your vocabulary.  Read as much as you can of a variety of in­teresting and entertaining materi­als.  Write stories, poems, or keep an interesting diary of your devel­opment.  Learn to play an instru­ment.   Take voice lessons.  Join a choir.   Learn some new dances, a new sport.  Just do, do, do inter­esting, challenging and fun activities.  Learn as much as you can about how to maintain your health.  Become an envi­ronmentally conscious and population control activist. Determine to leave a better world for future generations and to make a positive contribution to our world.  This will keep you busy, exercise your brain, and make it grow new strong mus­cles of neural strength.
    2)              Make challenging exer­cise and sports a part of your daily life.
    3)              Get fresh air and sun­shine every day.
    4)              Slowly convert the diet to fresh, whole, raw, natural foods as much as possible.
    5)              Take dietary supple­ments and augment with natu­ral nutrients and antioxidants. These should include vitamin E, C, beta carotene (provitamin A) (see Resource E, below), selenium, and lecithin (preferably as a part of whole soy bean products)(see Resource F, below).  The amino acid acetyl-l-­carnitine has been found to boost nerve growth factors and has even been shown to help patients with Alzheimer's disease at a dose of 2 grams a day.  (See Resource G, below.)
    Another specific compound re­ported to be effective in slowing the microanatomical changes in aging brains is deprenyl, which is available by prescription.
    Reference:
        E. Wysong Food A~C~E" a concentrated food-only source of vitamins A, C & E. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        F. Wysong Whole Extruded Soy™ and Wysong Peanut Butter Plus™. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        G. Acetyl-l-carnitine. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        5. Neurology, 1991; 41: 1726-
        6. Mech of Aging And Devel., 1004; 73: 113-126
        7. Pharmacol Biochem Behav, 1991; 39: 297-304
 
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES ARE COMMON
    It is generally believed that Americans get all the vitamins and minerals and nutrients they need by eating the so-called "average" American diet.  Not only does the public hold this belief, but it is held by health practitioners and even dieticians and nutritionists.
    But the evidence indicates something entirely different. Large population surveys involv­ing careful scientific evaluation of nutrient intakes shows the gener­al population is at risk of a num­ber of nutritional deficiencies. The minerals calcium, chromium, copper, iron, magnesium and zinc are commonly deficient.  The vita­mins folic acid, A, B6, and E are also commonly deficient.      The proofs for this are not found in New Age pamphlets in a health food store, but come directly out of the pages of the most respected of scientific journals, including The Journal of the American Medical Association and The American Journal of Clinical Nu­trition.
    Consuming less than two thirds of an essential nutrient is relatively common in the popula­tion, and at this level nutritional deficiency would manifest itself in the form of susceptibility to a va­riety of diseases which are often simply attributed to infection. Nutritional deficiencies are not well understood by the profes­sional medical community, and are thus overlooked and misdiag­nosed  This speaks to overt defi­ciencies creating disease that sends people for medical help. This does not even mention the marginal deficiencies that take the edge out of robust health and just make a person less than whole, vital and robust.
    Follow the recommendations in the Health Letter.  Convert the diet to more fresh, whole, natu­ral, raw foods.  In this way the nutrients you are receiving are not being lost, destroyed or con­verted to toxins.  In addition, it is wise to supplement vitamins and minerals in the RDA range. (See Resource H, below.) Try also to incorporate into the diet highly concentrated, whole food sources of nutrients such as barley, wheat and kamut grass juice powder, bee pollen, nutri­tional yeast, sprouts, algae and spirulina, and fresh juiced veg­etables and fruits.  (See Resource I, below.)
    Reference:
        H. Wysong RDA™. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        I. Barley, wheat and kamut grass powder. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        9. Townsend Letter For Doctors, February 1995: 24
 
PREVENTION AND THERAPY FOR HEART DISEASE
    The underlying biochemical problem in heart disease is an in­sufficient supply of cellular ATP (energy).  When coronary vessels become increasingly narrowed from atherosclerotic plaque, the cardiac muscles that are fed by these vessels become oxygen and nutrient starved.  They are thus weakened and eventually die, re­sulting in a host of symptoms in­cluding arrhythmias, angina, diffi­culty in breathing, disorientation, weakness, pulse and heart rhythm abnormalities, and the whole host of cardiovascular signs and symp­toms related to heart disease.
    Since the cardiac cells are starved of energy, the following nutritional regimen has been proven effective in not only help­ing to prevent the condition from developing, but in treating it once it has occurred.  The rationale for the use of the following supple­ments and their dosages is docu­mented in a host of scientific pub­lications in which controlled trials have been performed.  (23 scientific sources are found in Reference 10.)
    L-carnitine is an amino acid which has the ability to increase ATP and beta-oxidation and de­crease blood and tissue triglycerides.  Coenzyme Q-1 0, the second nutrient,  increases ATP and is also a potent antioxidant.  The third nutrient, magnesium, is a calcium channel blocker and in­creases ATP stability and decreas­es catecholamine damage.  The fourth nutrient, vitamin E, is an antioxidant which decreases platelet aggregation, decreases leukotriene, and increases prostacyclin mediated inflammation.
    The following daily doses are based on an average body weight of 154 pounds and should. be ad­justed up or down based on that. To help prevent diarrhea, split the doses through the day and consume with meals.
PREVENTIVE DOSES
L-carnitine    1000 mg
Coenzyme Q-10      200 mg
Magnesium    800 mg
Vitamin E 1000 mg
*    For therapeutic doses, double the above.
    Reference:
        10. Journal of Optimal Nutrition, 1994; 3 (3)
 
GROWING MUSCLES AS YOU AGE
    In a study comparing the ef­fects of resistance exercise in eld­erly men and women compared to young adults, it was found that after a 5~day-a-week training pro­gram, the elderly experienced a similar rate of protein synthesis to that of 24-year-old participants.
    Muscle atrophy (shrinking) is a common consequence of aging. This study shows that the use of resistance exercise can reverse protein catabolism (breakdown) which shrinks and saps the strength from aging bodies.
    As mentioned before in the Health Letter (see Vol. 8, No. 8), resistance exercises should be a part of everyone's exercise program. A good challenging program even for 20 minutes three times a week is suffi­cient to main­tain flexibili­ty, strength, and even cause growth. This doesn't mean that you have to go down and start throwing around Olym­pic barbells with the "steroid plate-heads" at the local gym.  It also doesn't mean that you can't. It means that everyone should be-gin since there are several ways to use resistance training, even without using any weight other than your own body weight. Push-ups, chin-ups and squats, are all resistance exercises.  Cans of soup (which you aren't using anymore because you're convert­ing your diet to fresh, whole foods) can also be used for hand weights.  Water filled plastic juice jugs (which you no longer need since you are now squeezing your own fresh fruit and vegetable juice) can also be used as weights right at home.  There may also be a program in your community specifically designed to help elder­ly people with resistance exercise training.  Obtain a copy of the Wysong Resource Directory (see Resource D, below) to get further information on how to incorporate resistance training into your exercise program.
    Whatever you decide, decide to do it. Begin and don't quit. Make it a lifelong part of your life.
    Reference:
        D. Wysong Resource Directory, available from Wysong Institute, 1880 N. Eastman Rd, Midland, Ml 48642-7779, $15.00.
        11. American Journal of Physiology, 1993; 265: E2 10
 
A HEALTHY POPCORN SNACK
    When you get the munchies,   try this healthful alternative to hy­drogenated oil-laced, packaged products.
Air pop organic popcorn.  (See Resource J, below.) After pop­ping, lightly coat with extra vir­gin olive oil/herbal spread (see Re­source K, below) and shake on a cheese enzyme powder to taste. (See Resource L, below.)
This will give you fresh, or­ganic popcorn with the additional benefits of omega-9 fatty acids, antioxidants, probiotics, and en­zymes. As a bonus it's a great tasting snack.
    Reference:
        J. Organic popcorn. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        K. Extra virgin olive oil/herbal spread. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        L. Wysong Cheezyme™. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
 
GASTRIC CANCER
    Death rates from gastric (stomach) cancer are much higher in Flemish-speaking sections of Belgium than in the French-speaking regions.  The only difference between the two is cultural dietary patterns.  A study of 449 patients with gastric cancer compared to 3,524 population con­trols was undertaken.
    The results demonstrated that in­creased consumption of vegetables, fresh fruit and lean meat were protec­tive against gastric cancer. On the oth­er hand, an increased risk was associat­ed with refined salt and processed flour products, specifically white bread.  This is confirmation of the dangers of mod­ern society's white poisons: refined flour, sugar and salt.
    Reference:
        13. International Journal of Cancer, April 22, 1992: 1-6
 
STRESS CAUSES DNA DAMAGE
    Scientific evidence demonstrated by animals has shown that stress can induce oxidative DNA damage.  Since DNA damage can be related to susceptibility to a variety of diseases including cancer, as well as to the process of aging, a physical link between stress, disease and aging is established.
    Get control of your life by increas­ingly becoming more independent or there will be no life to control.
    Reference:
        14. Cancer Research, 1993; 53: 4153-4155
 
ST. JOHN'S WART FOR DEPRESSION
    A placebo-controlled, randomized, dou­ble blind trial involving patients with severe depression tested the effective­ness of the herb St. John's Wart (Hy­pericum).  66.6% of those who received the extract reported improvement, whereas only 26.7% receiving the place-ho did. (See Resource M, below.)
    Reference:
        M. St. John's Wart. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        15. Fortschritte Der Medizin, 1993; 111 (19): 339-342
 
RISK FACTORS FOR BLADDER CANCER
    In an epidemiological study in Germany, 675 bladder cancer patients were evaluated.  These patients came from an area in Northern Germany where there has been a steady increase in bladder cancer deaths over the past 20 years.
    An increased risk was associated with smoking, coffee consumption, beer drinking, highly processed fat meals, and canned foods.  The researchers sug­gest that the high consumption of
canned foods displaced the eating of fresh vegetables and fruits, thus lower­ing the amount of nonprocessed bio­available micronutrients available in the diet that could be protective against this disease.
    Another proof of the superiority of fresh, whole, natural foods over their processed counterparts.
    Reference:
        16. Cancer, April 1, 1992: 1776-
 
SERUM CHOLESTEROL ASSOCIATED WITH CANCER RISK
    In spite of the fact that there is no evidence that cholesterol as a part of fresh, natural foods causes harm, and evidence abounds that it is what food processors do to cholesterol and fats in foods that is harmful, and that your body will make its own choles­terol regardless of how much cholesterol you eat, it has become groovy to "watch your cholesterol."
    A number of epidemiological stud­ies and clinical trials, however, have shown that risk of cancers of the colon, lung, cervix, breast and blood can in­crease in those with low serum choles­terol by as much as 30%.
    Cholesterol has always been a part of the diet of hu­mans.  It was not until our modern era that the chronic de­generative vascular diseases have afflicted humans.  It can­not, therefore, be cholesterol that is the problem, but rather what we do to it as we manipu­late our foods.
    Reference:
        17. Annual Reviews-Nutrition. 1992; 12: 391-416
 
EVENING PRIMROSE OIL FOR DIABETES
    Small vessel damage in diabetics can lead to eye, kidney and nervous dis­ease.  Physiological vasocon­strictors (blood vessel constric­tors) such as Thromboxane A2 are often increased in diabetics as the result of altered essential fatty acid metabolism, particu­larly of gamma-linolenic acid. This may be due to a defective delta-6-saturase enzyme activi­ty which is amenable to treatment with evening primrose oil. (Resource N, below.)
    Reference:
        N. Evening primrose oil. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        18. Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, 1993; 49: 699-706
 
FISH OILS FOR ANGINA PECTORIS
    The pain of angina pectoris often leads people to surgeons who are increasingly quick to perform dangerous bypass sur­gery.      A study of 23 geriatric patients in a single blind, placebo controlled, cross­over trial showed that fish oil supple­ments were an effective method of re­ducing angina attacks.  Individuals who consumed the fish oil also found they were able to decrease the consumption of sublingual isosorbide dinitrate tab­lets. (See Resource 0, below.)
    Reference:
        O. Wysong EFA™ with fish oil. If not available locally, contact Wysong Institute for a supplier source.
        19. Nutrition Update, January 1994: 5
 
OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS FOR BREAST CANCER
    Scientific evidence has demonstrated that diets rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids stimulate the growth and metastases (spread) of mammary cancers.  These fatty acids are the predominant fatty acids in our modern, pro­cessed diets.  By increasing the amount of omega-3 fatty acids from flax, canola and fish oils, both growth and metastases of breast cancer cells are decreased.
    Reference:
        20. JNCI, 1993; 85 (21): 1743
 
VANADYL SULFATE FOR DIABETES AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
    For the vast majority of di­abetes sufferers, the disease progresses because of tissue resistance to the action of insulin, not from insufficient insulin production.  This resistance is likely a result of our modern unhealthy life-style.
    Vanadium is a trace mineral that may be deficient in our modern processed diet and has been shown to be effective in activating the cells in the body to be more responsive to insulin.  The activation of the insulin receptor sites on cells by va­nadium may create a beneficial effect that is even permanent.
    A dose of 100-150 mg of vanadyl sul­fate, a form of the mineral vanadium, in divided doses along with meals may not only stop and reverse diabetes, but treat high blood pressure as well.
    Combine this supplement with the other healthy life choices recommended monthly in the Health Letter.
    Reference:
        21. Biophysical Research Communications, December 30, 1993: 1549-
 
TOMATOES DECREASE CANCER
    A study of almost 6,000 individuals in Northern Italy showed that those who consumed the highest levels of tomatoes had 30-60% lower risk of digestive tract cancers than those individuals consum­ing the least amount of tomatoes.  Toma­toes are rich in a variety of antioxidant nutrients including vitamins C and E and the carotenoid lycopene.
    Reference:
        22. Int J Cancer, 1994; 59: 181-
 
OTITIS MEDIA AND FOOD ALLERGY
    104 children with otitis media (middle ear infection) were tested for food aller­gies.  For those children who had a food allergy, when the food was removed from their diet, 86% experienced im­provement. When the offending food was reintroduced to the diet, in those individuals in which otitis media had cleared, 94% had a recurrence.  Thus, eliminating allergenic foods in children would spare many the commonplace surgical procedure of placing tympanos­tomy tubes in their ears.
    Reference:
        24. Ann. Allergy, 1994; 73: 215-
 
INSULIN AND EXERCISE IN THE AGING
    Hyperinsulinemia (increased blood levels of insulin) is associated with atherosclerosis and hypertension, the #1 cause of death in the elderly.  In a study of the effect of exercise on older women, aged 61-82, it was found that daily treadmill or stationary bicycle ex­ercise for a moderate period dramatical­ly decreased blood insulin levels.
    Reference:
        25. J. An. Geriatric Society, 1994; 42: 394-
 
WE ARE LIGHT STARVED
    Even in San Diego, one of the nation's sunniest cities, healthy young adults average only 90 minutes of outdoor light expo­sure a day, mostly going to and from work.  Residents of nursing homes aver­age only two minutes.
    The more we remove ourselves from our natural environmental con­text, the more we remove ourselves from health. 
    Reference:
        26. Sun Net News, Autumn 1994: 1
        The Wysong Institute receives no profit from any of the following recommendations.