Are You Surviving or Thriving in Today's Toxic World?

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ~ James 1:5 ~

Environmental toxins can be found in what you eat, drink, breathe, feel and think. You may or may not be aware of them, but chances are if you follow my blog you are aware, more than most, that toxins cause many chronic health conditions, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and cancer.

My experiences with environmental toxins has been life-changing and lead me on a path of research to gain understanding.  It is a passion of mine to share what I learn with those I love so of course  I could not wait to tell you about the upcoming Detox Summit!


Join me online for free from August 4-11, 2014.

This Detox Summit will provide you with the information you need to:

•     Learn about environmental toxins in food, air and water
•     Understand internally-generated toxins, like thoughts, emotions and behaviors
•     Recognize toxins of all types and eliminate them
•     Focus on breakthrough solutions to gain more energy and vitality

Navigate your way through today’s toxic terrain when you register for the free, online Detox Summit today:

"Detox" is a multi-faceted term that means many things to people, from drug and alcohol detoxification to nutritional detoxification, or cleanses using food, smoothies and juices. Deanna Minich, PhD, has selected 30 experts in various areas of medicine, nutrition and personal growth to offer a well-rounded, credible approach to the issues of environmental toxins and holistic health.

Here are a few of the presenters:
Jeffrey Bland, PhD, Father of Functional Medicine
      The Science of Nutritional Detoxification
Mark Hyman, MD, Functional Medicine Expert
      Toxins and Chronic Disease: Why Detox is a Necessity for Good Health
Jeffrey Smith, Leading Spokesperson on GMOs
      Genetically Modified Foods as Toxins in Everyday Eating
David Wolfe, Superfoods Guru
      Foods to Enhance Vitality and Detox
Rainbeau Mars, Fitness Model and Actress
      A Full Spectrum, Superstar Approach to Everyday DetoxWith 30 presenters sharing their wealth of knowledge, this invaluable (and FREE) resource is intended for people everywhere!
Better yet, if you register today you’ll have access to the following FREE eBooksas soon as you register!
  
Food & Spirit Nourish Your Whole Self™ Report, by Deanna Minich, PhD
Detox Your Medicine Cabinet: 26 Herbs and Supplements that Treat Common Symptoms, 

     by Aviva Romm, MD
Top 7 Therapeutic Foods, by Kelly Brogan, MD
Ten Tips for Helping Your Loved One with Autism, by Martha Herbert, MD, PhD
Benefits of Vitamin D, by Soram Khalsa, MD

Come listen to The Detox Summit ONLINE for FREE from August 4-11, and learn to survive in our toxic world!
  To sign up click here - SIGN UP NOW!

I’ll see you at the Summit!

Debbie

The World's First Gluten Summit Could Change Your Life

 

The World's First Gluten Summit hosted by Dr. Tom O'Bryan of theDr.com is coming up in just two weeks -- November 11-17, 2013. You may register now to have free online access to the world's experts and opinion leaders (scientists, researchers, and nutritionists)--those on the cutting edge of food sensitivities, celiac disease, autoimmunity who will be teaching us what to do about them.. 

 I am excited to be an affiliate of this event and to be able to give you a sneak peek of  the schedule of speakers..   

You may register for this FREE summit by clicking here.

Each day's interviews will be available for 24 hours between 10:00 A.M. EST - 9:59 A.M. EST the next day.

 

DAY 1: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11

• Michael Marsh, MD, DSC, FRCP, "Godfather" of Celiac Morphology
• Mark Houston, MD, MS, ABAARM, FACP, FAHA, FASH, Assoc. Clinical Prof. of Medicine at Vanderbilt University
• Cynthia Kupper, RD, Executive Director of the Gluten Intolerance Group
• David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM, President, Perlmutter Health Center

DAY 2: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12

• Alessio Fasano, MD, Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition at Mass General Hospital for Children
• Rodney Ford, MD, MB, BS, FRACP, Pediatric Gastroenterologist & Food Allergy Expert
• Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, CHN, Owner of Innovative Healing, Inc.

DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13

• Aristo Vojdani, PhD, MSc, MT, CEO, ImmunoScience Laboratories
  
• Mark Hyman, MD, Chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine
• Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, MMedSci, Creator of the GAPS Diet
• Erica Kasuli, MS, RD, CDN, Director of Nutrition at Amen Clinics

DAY 4: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14

• Marios Hadjivassiliou, MD, Educational Associate, Association for Historical Dialogue & Research
• JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS, Best-selling author of "The Virgin Diet"
• Tom Malterre, MS, CN, Co-owner of Whole Life Nutrition

DAY 5: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15

• Daniel Amen, MD, Author of "The Amen Solution"
• Andrew Keech, PhD, DSc, Author of "Peptide Immunotherapy: Colostrum a Physician's Reference Guide"
• Nora Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT, Author of "Primal Body, Primal Mind"
• Peter Osborne, DC, CNCB, Founder of GlutenFreeSociety.org

DAY 6: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16

• Loren Cordain, PhD, "Godfather" of the Paleo Diet
• Jeffrey Smith, Founder, Institute of Responsible Technology
• Deanna Minich, PhD, FACN, CNS, Nutrition & Health Expert
• Sayer Ji, Founder of GreenMedInfo.com

DAY 7, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17

• William Davis, MD, Best-selling author of "Wheat Belly"
• Jaqui Karr, CSN, CVD, Nutritionist & Lifestyle Expert
• Dave Asprey, Writer of The Bulletproof Exec Blog
• Suzy Cohen, RPh, "America's Pharmacist"

DAY 8 -- BONUS DAY! -- MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18

• Umberto Volta, MD, Director of Coeliac Disease Simple Unit, St.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Italy
• Yehuda Shoenfeld, MD, FRCP, Head of Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center
• Tom O'Bryan, DC, CCN, DABCN, Founder of theDr.com & The Gluten Summit

As you may have noticed, each day has at least one scientist/researcher, one well-known clinician, and one renowned Nutritionist/Registered Dietitian, which makes every day of the summit a lab-to-real-life educational conversation.   This will be an awesome event that you will not want to miss! 

See you there!

 

Celiac Disease and Environmental Illnesses

Once in a while I read something that propels my mind to a greater understanding of my body and this is one of those moments. Listed among "Related Conditions" to Environmental Illness was Celiac Disease and Candida. You may read my discovery at the Environmental Illness Resources website. I have included an excerpt that particularly interested me. The complete article is excellent and informative to those with Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease and Environmental Illnesses

Those suffering from environmental illnesses may be at increased risk for developing celiac disease. The main reason for this being that those with environmental illnesses experience a much greater number of allergies and autoimmune conditions than do otherwise healthy individuals. For example, the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in the US reports that allergies are present in 75% of CFS sufferers, compared to only 10-20% in general in the population as a whole. Sufferers of all of the Environmental Illnesses often have a history of allergies before the onset of their illness and most develop new allergies after getting a diagnosis of CFS, fibromyalgia etc. There is also a substantial body of research demonstrating that the immune systems of environmental illness sufferers are shifted towards a Th2 type response. The Th2 response is aimed at extracellular invaders such as bacteria, toxins, and allergens, and a Th2 shifted immune response is associated with an increase in allergies and autoimmune diseases (7,8,9). As we have learned, allergies and autoimmune diseases are well recognized as increasing the risk for celiac disease.

Another possible connection between environmental illnesses and celiac disease involves the gut flora. Various studies have shown disturbances of the healthy gut flora in environmental illnesses and many doctors who specialize in treating them advocate treating overgrowth of Candida and bacteria in the intestines. Research published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet in 2003 proposed that Candida in the intestine may act as a trigger for the production of antibodies against gluten and the intestinal tissue which cause celiac disease. This assertion is based on the fact that the yeast Candida contains proteins that are identical and very similar to those found in gluten, including gliadin. Candida also triggers the same tissue transglutaminase and endomysial enzymes involved in celiac disease. It is therefore possible that changes in levels and behavior of Candida in the intestines may result in an immune response to the organism which is then transferred to gluten and intestinal tissues due to the common proteins they contain. The end result would therefore be celiac disease (10).

References:

7. Lancet. 1997 Jun 21;349(9068):1831-3. Gulf War syndrome: is it due to a systemic shift in cytokine balance towards a Th2 profile? Rook GA, Zumla A. Department of Bacteriology, University College London Medical School, UK.

8. Pharmacol Rev. 2000 Dec;52(4):595-638. The sympathetic nerve--an integrative interface between two supersystems: the brain and the immune system. Elenkov IJ, Wilder RL, Chrousos GP, Vizi ES. Inflammatory Joint Diseases Section, Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

9. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000;917:868-75. Altered glucocorticoid regulation of the immune response in the chronic fatigue syndrome. Visser JT, De Kloet ER, Nagelkerken L. TNO Prevention and Health, Division of Immunological and Infectious Diseases, P.O. Box 2215, 2301 CE Leiden, The Netherlands

10. Lancet. 2003 Jun 21;361(9375):2152-4. Is Candida albicans a trigger in the onset of coeliac disease?Nieuwenhuizen WF, Pieters RH, Knippels LM, Jansen MC, Koppelman SJ. Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) Nutrition and Food Research, PO Box 360, 3700 AJ, Zeist, Netherlands. nieuwenhuizen@voeding.tno.nlThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Giving Thanks

It's the week of Thanksgiving and you might be expecting a gluten-free recipe to tempt your taste buds, but today I decided that while food is important and I am very thankful for it, there is more on my heart that I want to write about.

At this time of Thanksgiving, I want to share a special person with you who I found on my healing journey. But first, I need to tell you a bit of my story. I apologize for the length of this post, but feel that it's the only way for you to appreciate why I'm feeling especially thankful.

In the Spring of 1999, I was pregnant and began having difficulty with the pregnancy. At 13 weeks I had a miscarriage. A few weeks later at my checkup with the obstetrician I was told that my platelet count was seriously low and continued to drop into the mid teens. A normal platelet count should be in the 130-400 range. I was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, immune mediated thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP.

Treatment with high doses of immune suppressive steroids for about 7 weeks failed to correct the problem. Then about six weeks later my spleen was removed. The surgery went well and my platelet count rose up wonderfully. After my last checkup visit with my hematologist, he followed me out of the examination room and as I turned to say goodbye he reluctantly warned me with the words, "most people come back". I knew this meant that the only treatment would be those horrible drugs that they didn't want to give me when I protested that I didn't want to give up my spleen. At that moment, I made a choice deep within myself that these words would not frame my life. I prayed and was determined that I would find a better way.
Four months later I was expecting another baby and my platelet count remained stable. On October 3, 2000 the Lord blessed us with a son, who is now eight. I had been told by the OB that there was a chance that my baby could have low platelets from the antibodies that were still in my body. When he was born his platelet count was seriously low at 25 and was administered immune globulin through IV. After 3 months his body began to clear my antibodies. He is a miracle, as are all babies, and he is a normal healthy child.

With a newborn there were many sleepless nights to add to the chronic fatigue symptoms that I had experienced since my first son was born. I quickly lost weight to 87 pounds and experienced chronic yeast infections. None of my doctors could figure out what was wrong with me. With little energy left, I searched more doctors for answers. They had none. I began to read and study all that I could and learned that I needed to find a naturopathic physician who understood these chronic health issues. But where would I find one?

My dear husband spoke to a co-worker about me and asked if he knew of a holistic doctor. His co-worker didn't, but thoughtfully contacted his physical therapist, who gave him two names. I held on to them for a while because I had no energy to go to another doctor.

One day I was feeling so bad and noticed the bruises and red pin point dots (petechiae) on my legs which meant my platelets were too low. I knew I had to get help. I called a name on my list. This is when I found a doctor who I'm honored to call my friend and I want to share him with you. My special person is Dr. Maurice Werness. He practices naturopathic medicine and resides in Durham, North Carolina. I could spend days writing about all he's done for me and what he means to our family. To learn more about Maurice and his practice, you can contact him at: DrWerness.com.

Within a week of following his recommendations of holistic treatment for a leaky gut and candida my legs became perfectly clear. I knew my platelets were better than ever. Healing was beginning to manifest and I had found my miracle and answer to my prayers.

After all the difficulty I had finding a doctor who understood my health conditions, I am thankful that I found Maurice. He has always given me the support and time that patients with multi-dimensional illnesses require to unravel. I never have returned to the hematologist. I give great thanks! My last platelet count was normal at 272!