What is Organic Food, Really?

The term “organic foods” as regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture refers to “the methods used to produce the foods, rather than the characteristic or quality of the food itself.” Organic foods are produced in a sustainable manner without the use of synthetic feeds, pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers. Organically raised livestock tend to be smaller and leaner, fruits and vegetables may be smaller as well.

What foods should I be eating organic?

As organic foods can be quite expensive, Dr. Rothman suggests understanding where “organic” matters most and purchase foods that will give you the most “bang for your buck.” Limiting yourself to organic dairy and meat products such as eggs, cheese, butter, ground beef, and chicken will ensure that you are reducing exposure to growth hormones and antibiotics, while staying within your budgets. Organic leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, and even broccoli are cost effective and will reduce consumption of insecticides. The bottom line is that organically produced products contain more vitamins and minerals than their commercially produced counterparts and have minimal toxic residues.

What organic products are considered a rip off?

Organic cookies, ice cream, sugar, crackers, desserts, and other items that sound too good to be true. The common denominator in these products is that these foods are bad for you regardless of the “organic” label. The best advice is to not waste your money on these items. Fruits that have skins like bananas and melons do not need to be organic and are an unnecessary cost.

Zero Calorie Sodas, the Metabolic Poison of Today

Entire books have been written about the dangers of Aspartame, Sucralose and other additives in zero calorie drinks. These sweet poisons contribute to inflammation, nerve degeneration, and other diseases. These products are constantly promoted to have no calories and therefore good for weight loss. What isn’t disclosed is that inflammatory effects of Aspartame and Sucralose will actually cause weight gain! If you are choosing an artificial sweetener, Dr. Rothman recommends stevia, a sweet, non-toxic herb.

Read the fine print!

While low carb items can be beneficial to a diet, beware of items that have replaced the carbs with artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners can be dangerous and these toxic substances are better left circulating the shelves, not your body.

Protein bars, aka Expensive Candy Bars

Protein is an essential nutrient necessary to grow and build muscles. Protein bars are perceived as a quick sure-fire way to load up on additional protein. However, most consumers are not aware that these overhyped, overpriced convenience foods contain as much calories and sugar as most candy bars! For the average Joe going to the gym a few times a week for a light work out and some cardio, these protein bars are actually deterring your efforts! Save your money and your waistline. Keep these expensive and unhealthy products out of your grocery basket.

VitaminWater?

What’s in a name? You would expect the main ingredients of this popular sports drink to be vitamins and water. Consumers, you have been deceived! The 2 main ingredients in this product are sugar and water. These highly advertised sports drinks are filled with sugar, stimulants, and synthetic vitamin chemicals. This isn’t the product showcased to quench your thirst and fortify your body after a strenuous work out. It is, however, a waste of money. There is actually just as much sugar in Vitamin Water (and countless other so-called “sports drinks”) as there is in a bottle of soda. Stick with spring water, nature’s healthiest drink.

How to Find Reliable Nutrition Information

The bottom line is that you must be very cautious about buying and consuming any foods that contain the “buzzwords” like “smart”, “healthy”, ‘fortified”….These products are designed to separate you from your money (and your health).  Where then should you go to find information that you can trust? Information that is there only to help you and not to sell some useless, overhyped product?  Consider a customized approach through a Metabolically Directed Nutritional Counseling session with Dr. Michael Rothman. It’s a proven way to receive a   dietary program crafted specifically for your body by a knowledgeable, experienced and caring professional.

Visit Dr. Michael Rothman, he has assisted many patients like you to find healthy and balanced nutritional plans, specifically crafted for your unique situation.

Don’t have time to make it into the office? Purchase Edibolic Stress, How The Lies You Are Being Fed Are Making You Sick by Michael E. Rothman M.D., FACEP and Editor/Co-writer Ken Bruck.

A study was recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine titled “Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet”.  Conclusions from this study are now bombarding the airwaves and you will probably be hearing about the “amazing” results of this study for quite some time.  Many “experts” will claim that this study proves that you can derive cardiovascular benefits from increasing the following foods: Olive oil, nuts, fish, fruit, vegetables and red wine.  The “experts” will further extol the virtues of monounsaturated fat (found in olive oil) while continuing to demonize saturated fats (found in foods like eggs, cheese, and butter).

Herein lays a big problem with the “expert” conclusions from this recent study. The “Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet” actually proves that a diet low in saturated fat is detrimental to your health.  Yet many of these same “experts” are trying to spin the results of this study in the exact opposite direction.

The Truth About The Mediterranean Diet

If the authors of “Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet” wanted to prove that saturated fats were bad, why did they not add another arm of the trial comparing a low carb – high saturated fat diet to the study? Would putting study participants on a low carb-high fat diet have been dangerous and unethical? Since “everybody knows” that saturated fats are bad?! Absolutely not.  In fact, another study was done in 2008 and published in the very same prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and titled “Weight Loss with a Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet” looked at this very question.

In this 2008 NEJM study-participants were split into 3 groups:

1. low-fat, restricted calorie – in other words, starve yourself but eat low fat
2.  Mediterranean, restricted-calorie – in other words, starve yourself but emphasize, fish, nuts, olive oil, vegetables and red wine
3.  low-carbohydrate, non-restricted-calorie – in other words, eat as much as you want, but keep your carbohydrate intake very low

This 2008 study showed that diets that were highest in saturated fat yielded the best weight loss and provided the best cardiovascular health markers (like HDL (“good”) and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.

What did the “Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet” study actually prove?

1. That you can improve your cardiovascular risk factors by changing your diet, whether you are fat, old, and even if heart disease “runs in your family”
2. That the typical low-fat diet currently being recommended by nearly all of the experts is clearly inferior to the meditarranean diet.

This study was actually well designed and quite powerful, however, any additional conclusions (above and beyond the two just mentioned) is sheer hype and marketing.

Mediterranean Diet Review

There is no doubt that certain components of the meditarranean diet are very beneficial such as fish, low starch vegetables and olive oil.  However, there may be some components of meditarranean diet that are overhyped, such as nuts, fruit and red wine. There is also no doubt that avoiding certain food items is a “no-brainer” such as sugar and processed meats. However, many “experts” are also recommending the avoidance of saturated fats based on this study.  The truth is that the “Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet” study once again proves that a diet low in saturated fats is detrimental to cardiac health.  Conclusions to the contrary, blaming saturated fats as a cause of heart disease are blatantly false. These contrived, erroneous conclusions, promulgated by “nutrition experts” are just the tip of the iceberg for The Mediterranean Diet Hype Machine.

Would it shock you to read that every single one of the authors of this study have ties to the pharmaceutical industry and/or alcoholic beverages companies and/or nut companies, and/or fish oil companies?

These well-paid “experts” have been telling us for decades that low fat diets are good because of reduced consumption of “dangerous” saturated fats.

Now these same “experts” expect us to believe them again. Even though they have proven (yet again) that low fat diets are bad, they still want to make the false statements that saturated fats cause heart disease. Give me a break! And a big juicy steak!

To learn more, schedule a consultation with Dr. Rothman  (732) 268-7663

Purchase Edibolic Stress, How The Lies You Are Being Fed Are Making You Sick by Michael E. Rothman M.D., FACEP and Editor/Co-writer Ken Bruck.

Each day, heart disease, “the silent killer” destroys the lives of thousands of people in the United States. In fact, the Center for Disease Control estimates that 600,000 Americans die of heart disease each year, the cause of roughly 1 in every 4 deaths. Furthermore, every year almost 935,000 suffer from a heart attack. This is indeed very disturbing news. The good news is that heart disease is almost completely preventable. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” definitely applies to heart disease. Do not wait, start protecting yourself today!

An Age of Awareness

You  are over the age of 40, and you are now past your potential peak of physical health. But if you do the right things you can still look forward to decades of healthy living.  For many of you, your children are grown, your career is well established, and you begin to feel renewed. However, you may also begin to feel the effects of aging. You may be experiencing little aches and pains, weight gain, sluggishness, and other signs of dysfunction. As you hit “middle age” you have an increased risk of manifesting all sorts of chronic degenerative disease, including heart disease.  Now is a prime time to pay extra attention to your health needs.

A Balanced Diet is a Prerequisite for a Healthy Life

Primarily, an optimal diet can significantly affect how rapidly you age and if you will go on to develop catastrophic vascular disease like a heart attack. Nutritional requirements don’t vastly differ as you age. You require the same types of wholesome foods whether you are a baby, an adolescent, a young adult or middle aged or elderly. When eating, you need to supply your cells, tissues and organs with the vital nutrients required for growth and repair. Simply put, a regime of non-processed (and preferably organic) meat, fish, poultry, eggs and cheese, plenty of low starch vegetables and restricted amounts of carbohydrates (grains, fruit, and starches), and adequate amounts of spring water is ideal. As you get older, you may feel the effects of dietary indiscretions more so than when you were younger. This is because as you age, you likely have reduced reserves of vitalizing substances in your body and therefore are less able to compensate for any unhealthy habits you may have. Keeping to a healthy diet will provide you with decades of benefits. The joy of healthy living is a much greater and longer lasting reward then a transient moment of indulging in unhealthy practices. This does not mean that you cannot enjoy and indulge on occasion, but these treats must not be excessively frequent or deleterious.

The Importance of Proper Exercise

Healthy exercise is pertinent at any age. However, as a middle aged person, you must make sure not to over work yourself. Too much exercise is actually much more harmful than too little exercise. “Listen” to your body to maintain awareness of when you may be overdoing your training. The proper balance between activity and rest is vital to your overall wellness. Make sure to give yourself at least 2 days off each week to recover. Resistance training, such as using weights, is necessary for building your muscle mass. Muscle is where you store your amino acids (protein) and one sign of aging is loss of muscle mass. Make sure to do your resistance training with a full range of motion in order to avoid setting yourself up for tendon injuries. Additionally, daily stretching, especially in your core muscle groups are extremely important to maintain your flexibility and keep you limber.

Avoid Health Misinformation

There is so much information out there for mainstream consumption. Unfortunately, most of this information is really misinformation being disseminated by corporations that are more interested in profit than your health. Consequently, much of the health information you hear is designed to provoke some sort of behavior on your part. Even more unfortunately, if you are highly interested in obtaining and maintaining a healthy lifestyle you are very likely at the highest risk for being misled.

Engage Professional Guidance

Dr. Michael Rothman explains that if you are in your forties or fifties, you would benefit greatly in meeting with him. You may be suffering from nagging symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, aches and pains, sleeplessness, anxiety, gastrointestinal problems and other symptoms of chronic unwellness. These symptoms are a result of years of well-intentioned but inadequate diet, excessive work, lack of rest and an overall overstressed lifestyle. By working with Dr. Rothman, you can review your current dietary and life style habits and analyze your medications and nutritional supplements. You may be putting a lot of effort into your health, but that effort can yield much better results when guided by an experienced, knowledgeable and caring holistically minded doctor.  A Metabolically Directed Wellness consultation with Dr. Rothman at MD Wellness in Red Bank, NJ would allow you to utilize an individualized plan combining nutrition and exercise. This personalized program can help you to identify your stressors, rebalance your body chemistry and set a course for a long, fulfilling life

Don’t have time to make it into the office? Purchase Edibolic Stress, How The Lies You Are Being Fed Are Making You Sick by Michael E. Rothman M.D., FACEP and Editor/Co-writer Ken Bruck.

Each day,heart disease, “the silent killer” destroys the lives of thousands of people in the United States. In fact, the Center for Disease Control estimates that 600,000 Americans die of heart disease each year, the cause of roughly 1 in every 4 deaths. Furthermore, every year almost 935,000 suffer from a heart attack. This is indeed very disturbing news. But the good news is, that heart disease is almost completely preventable. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” definitely applies to heart disease. Do not wait, start protecting yourself today!

Empowering Healthy Living

At this stage in your life, it is likely that you’ve chosen your career path and have  even started a family. Consequently, you are very likely putting in many stressful hours at the office and having your sleep interrupted by a crying infant. While you may enjoy the adrenaline rush of long, eventful days, working late and getting up early, this type of high productivity lifestyle can exact a toll in the long run. You may be taxing your adrenal glands to produce excessive quantities of  Cortisol and Adrenaline, two adrenal stress hormones that over time can constrict blood flow to your vital organs, disturb your body chemistry, raise your blood pressure and your cholesterol and lead to other signs and symptoms of chronic unwellness. Many Americans are prescribed medication such as beta blockers, diuretics, and calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure, statin drugs to lower cholesterol and a myriad of remedies to block out other annoying symptoms.  These drugs may help to lower your blood pressure and reduce your “bad cholesterol” but they do NOT fix your underlying problems caused by excessive stress. More importantly, these drugs do NOT reduce your risk for heart disease and other chronic degenerative diseases. Dr. Michael Rothman has some advice, stay off the medication roller coaster and get to the root cause of your ailments.

Controlling Stress  

Learn what areas of your life are causing your stress  and make an effort to reduce them as much as possible. Also, harmful stress results not only from the situation you find ourselves in, but in the way you react to that situation. When you are experiencing an acutely stressful event, try to remain in a calm, composed state.  Use your intellect to reduce your emotional response. Using stress reduction techniques like abdominal breathing can be extremely beneficial in limiting the harmful effects of emotionally mediated stress hormones.

Imagine you are stuck in traffic in your car and are expected to be at a meeting. What are you going to do? You could start screaming, yelling, cursing, and literally freaking out at the prospect of being tardy. Or you could calmly rationalize that this situation was unexpected and not your fault. You could then make a phone call, apologize for any inconvenience you may have caused, put on the radio and have a good time listening to one of your favorite songs. Same situation, two totally different responses.  The lesson to be learned with this example is that how you respond to a situation is perhaps even more important that the situation itself.

For significant life complications such as financial hardship, illness in your family or some other long term unpleasant situation which can cause chronic stress it’s best of course to try to remediate the situation. The next best action is to learn to minimize your stress through specific techniques or activities. Take up yoga, meditation, or some other activity that allows you to experience the “relaxation response”. Learning to “turn off your brain” is a useful skill that you as a high functioning adult must have at your disposal. In addition to mind – body techniques, finding inner peace requires two other practices,  forgiveness and faith.

Stress often causes you to have negative emotions like hate or resentment towards yourself and/others. Learning to forgive yourself and others allows you to move on with your life and start to heal. Faith is also very important, both in yourself and the positive outcomes as a result of your beliefs. While embracing faith, it is important to not  become a victim of fear. Fear of loss, whether financial loss, loss of your health, loss of a loved one, or any other kind of loss is one of the underlying causes of stress.

You Must Get Adequate Sleep and Rest

A habitually stressful life style can adversely affect your sleep in many ways, through sleep deprivation, poor quality sleep and insomnia. Inadequate sleep, regardless of the cause will make all of your health issue much, much worse through derangement of  your nervous, hormone, and immune systems. Poor sleep will, over time contribute to massive metabolic imbalances that can lead to  weight gain, elevated blood sugars, high blood pressure and ultimately heart disease. Your sleep must be in a calm, quiet, darkened and peaceful environment for a minimum of 7-8 hours each night. Otherwise, poor health will eventually ensue.

Thirty-somethings are frequently sprinting through their days with a never ending list of responsibilities. Learning to prioritize your health is paramount to a long and healthy life. Unfortunately many thirty-somethings are pushing themselves to the limit and at the same time attempting to self medicate against stress, fatigue and other symptoms with all sorts of  vitamins, minerals, herbs and assorted prescription and over the counter medications . It’s important to understand that you cannot fool Mother Nature, and eventually any and all unhealthy habits on your part are like an outstanding bill that must eventually be “paid in full”. Make sure to put healthy deposits into your health “bank account” on a daily basis by balancing out your work and play, and your rest and recovery. Make an sound investment and visit Dr. Michael Rothman and MD Wellness in Red Bank, NJ for guidance in sustaining a long and healthy life.

Don’t have time to make it into the office? Purchase Edibolic Stress, How The Lies You Are Being Fed Are Making You Sick by Michael E. Rothman M.D., FACEP and Editor/Co-writer Ken Bruck.

Each day, heart disease, “the silent killer” destroys the lives of thousands of people in the United States. In fact, The Center for Disease Control estimates that 600,000 Americans die of heart disease each year, the cause of roughly 1 in every 4 deaths. Furthermore, every year almost 935,000 people suffer from a heart attack. This is indeed very disturbing news. The good news is that heart disease is almost completely preventable. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” definitely applies to heart disease. Do not wait, start protecting yourself today!

Prevention starts early.

Shockingly, studies have shown that a large number of young adults are suffering from buildup of plaque in their arteries.  The single most important thing that you can do for yourself  to reduce your chances of developing heart disease is to eat and exercise properly. Unfortunately, many of the so called “heart-healthy” mass promoted recommendations are actually not good for you or your heart. The earlier you begin to incorporate real healthy habits the better off you will be.

Excercise – Less is More

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to spend your entire day at the gym in order to improve your health.  Scientific studies repeatedly show that while you do need to move your body every day, trendy exercises that emphasize slow, repetitive routines are time consuming, boring, and not very beneficial. Instead, opt for high intensity exercises like sprint interval training which targets cardiovascular health in a fraction of time compared to a mundane, time consuming workout on an elliptical or a treadmill.

Consider your car as an example of how to optimize longevity and performance.  Certainly the best way to maintain a brand new vehicle would be to keep it safe in your garage, drive it sparingly, and schedule proper maintenance. You would need to drive your car a few times each week out on the highway, reaching fairly high speeds for a short distance and then return safely to your garage. Obviously if you never drove your car at all, its components would suffer and you would have difficulty starting it. Conversely, if you drove your car for hours each day, in stop and go traffic, you would evidently wear out all the parts: tires, brakes, engine, and transmission. Keep in mind that exercising to get your circulation moving and building muscle is benefit enough. Over training is much, much worse for your body then not training enough. Believe it or not, the average coach potato will outlive elite, high performance athletes. You should be able to achieve optimal health while training 90-120 minutes each week. When it comes to working out, opt for intensity not volume.

“Heart-Healthy” Diets Actually Cause Heart Disease

Many foods are being promoted as being “heart-healthy”, and these foods all have one thing in common. These supposedly healthy foods are very low in fat. The problem is that low fat diets are by definition high in carbohydrates. Excess carbohydrates in your diet will promote weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure and eventually heart disease. These low fat diets have been popularly promoted for several decades, yet the incidence of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases continues to rise. Consider the first food you ever consumed – breast milk. Breast milk is 55% saturated fat (by caloric intake) and high in cholesterol, the perfect food for a growing infant. This formula for optimal growth also happens to represent a healthy proportion of foodstuff for you at any age. The notion that dietary saturated fat and cholesterol is dangerous was made up by major food corporations decades ago in an attempt to popularize the use of margarines and vegetable oils. This “Big Fat Lie” is perhaps the biggest contributor when it comes to heart disease development. You must avoid sugars, excess carbohydrates, fried foods, processed foods and vegetable oils if you want to promote true heart health.

The World is not Flat

Start practicing true “heart-healthy” habits while you are young, the sooner the better. Just because “everybody” says something is true does not make it so. At one point in time, most people believed the world was flat, and it was considered heresy to suggest otherwise. The world is not flat and a majority of commonly accepted “heart-healthy” recommendations are not healthy at all. Understanding the hidden dangers of seemingly healthy choices is one step closer to heart health. If you have a close relative who’s suffered from heart disease, your chances of also being genetically predisposed increases. Taking the time to talk with a professional Physician, Dr. Michael Rothman, will assist making scientifically validated decisions about your future well-being. Visit Dr.Rothman and MD Wellness in Red Bank, NJ for guidance in sustaining a long and healthy life.

Don’t have time to make it into the office? Purchase Edibolic Stress, How The Lies You Are Being Fed Are Making You Sick by Michael E. Rothman M.D., FACEP and Editor/Co-writer Ken Bruck.

Scientific reasons why calcium supplementation increases cardiovascular disease

1. Calcium is “nature’s band-aid” – Whenever there is an injury to the tissues in your body, calcium will be incorporated into those tissues to act as a “band-aid”.  Examples – calcific tendonitis (calcium deposited in tendons in area of injury), calcium build up as in “bone spurs”, enlarged joints in various forms of arthritis are caused by calcium deposits. In addition, calcium will also go to injured tissue in your brain, your kidneys and pretty much anywhere damage occurs.

2. Arterioclerosis or “hardening of the arteries”, is the deposition of calcium into your blood vessels. In fact many people are getting ultrasounds and CAT scans of their heart and blood vessels to screen for heart disease. The higher your “calcium score”, the worse your heart disease.

3. Calcium Channel blockers – These are drugs that are used to lower blood pressure and heart rate are prescribed to patients in an attempt to reduce their chances of developing a heart attack or stroke.

4. Calcium is a potent stimulator of your Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS). The SNS is the part of your nervous system that mediates the “fight or flight response”. Calcium helps promote the secretion of adrenaline from your adrenal glands. The adrenaline release increases your heart rate and blood pressure. This is the reason that calcium channel blocker drugs work to lower heart rate and blood pressure.

With such busy lives and distractions, it can be hard to stay on track with resolutions, but it’s not impossible. If you’re aiming for a healthier lifestyle this year, here are five proven ways to achieve that goal.

Top Five Ways to Achieve Healthy New Year Resolutions

1.Perform basic fitness exercises. 

It’s important to exercise regularly for your overall health, but keep in mind that it isn’t time efficient or very healthy to spend a lot of time doing aerobic exercise. The best way to achieve superior cardiovascular health is to lift weights and perform sprint interval training no more than two to three hours per week. When you want to perform basic fitness exercises, train each body part once or twice a week with weights heavy enough for you to complete one set of six to 12 reps to exhaustion. Incorporate interval sprint training on the days that you do not lift weights. Do three to five rounds of 30-60 second bursts of cardio at your highest intensity. Follow this with two to four-minute rest periods of walking. However, be careful about overtraining. Make sure to give yourself 2 days off each week to recover.

2. Avoid sugar.

Sugar is amongst the most health-sapping substances consumed by the majority of people on a daily basis. Especially in the form of-high fructose corn syrup, sugar is one of the leading causes of health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, cancer and heart disease.  Limit your intake.  In fact, even fruit should be limited, as fruit-derived sugar is 100 percent fructose. And don’t be fooled into thinking “good sugars” exist.

3. Avoid fried foods and vegetable oils like soy and canola

The types of fats and oils that you consume are extraordinarily important for your overall health. The oils in fried foods and in soy and canola are extremely inflammatory. These toxic substances will promote diseases, premature aging and long term suffering and misery. Get them out of your life!

4. Get enough sleep.

Sleep is an extremely important part of our daily cycle and should account for about 1/3 of your day. As far as sleep requirements, you should get about seven to eight hours of sleep each night in a room that is as near pitch-black as possible.

5.  Reduce stress.

Don’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.  Stress can lead to insomnia, depression, obesity and heart disease. While stress is an inevitable part of life, there are ways to prevent it. Boost your energy by learning to de-stress yourself. Spend time each day stretching, breathing and relaxing. Learn to forgive yourself for any of your imperfections and allow yourself the time to enjoy the little things in your life that make your day special. Take time to enjoy the smell of flowers, the beauty of a sunset or the company of loved ones. Take time to just be with yourself and do not feel obligated to be productive every moment of every day.

Remember, when it comes to keeping you healthy new year resolutions, plan for bumps in the road. Use a journal to keep track of your health, and keep a support system in place. While it’s easy to lose the enthusiasm months after you’ve watched the ball drop on New Year’s Eve, it’s not impossible to follow through. This year, stay on track. Here’s to your health!

The seemingly simple process of methylation – the transfer of methyl groups (CH3) among various compounds in your body – is critical to your health, wellbeing and longevity. In more simple terms, methylation is what occurs when your body takes one substance and turns it into another, so it can be detoxified and excreted from your body. The process plays a critical role in maintaining DNA integrity, improving neurological function, detoxifying your liver, processing fats and is connected to practically each biochemical process in your body. We gradually run out of  this “methyl power” as we age, but methylation testing and methylation treatment can help you enjoy better health and potentially extend your life span. Luckily, holistic medical doctors like Red Bank, New Jersey’s MD Wellness, can perform methylation detection to see if you have a deficiency.

Common conditions associated with methylation deficiency

Faulty methylation has been linked to heart disease, stroke, neural tube defects, Alzheimer’s disease, colon cancer, reproductive cancers, kidney infarct, cervical dysplasia, faulty detoxification and impaired DNA repair.

How can methylation detection help?

When you have poor methylation, your body’s levels of homocysteine (an amino acid that’s toxic to your body) elevate. High levels of homocysteine have been shown to cause heart disease and stroke in scientific studies.  These same studies found that certain B vitamins decreased homocysteine levels, thereby stopping the heart disease process. Part of the problem also lies in our diet. As a whole, our modern farming and agricultural practices have affected our food supply such that our diets do not supply sufficient methyl groups for our health and well being.. Also many people have specific genetic variants that increase their need for methylated products in their diets or supplements.

Fortunately, modern science has allowed us to discover solutions to bypass these genetic, lifestyle and dietary limitations. A thorough evaluation and methylation treatment by a holistic doctor at MD Wellness will look at your individual metabolic needs as well as any lifestyle and eating habits that may be contributing to a methylation deficiency.

Required Sleep for Adults and Other Recommendations

Are there any required sleep for adults?  What do you recommend?

Sleep is an extremely important part of our daily cycle and should account for about 1/3 of your day. You should get about seven to eight hours of sleep each nigh in a room that is as near pitch-black as possible.

How much do you sleep? Do you nap?

I sleep seven to eight hours each night, which is the required sleep for adults and I very rarely nap.

Do you recommend naps?

If you have a job or home situation (like young children) that hamper your ability to sleep at night, then napping is better than sleep deprivation. However, if possible, try to avoid napping because it interferes with your body’s “internal clock,” and affects your normal circadian rhythm and hormone levels.

What are your methods for reducing stress?

I like to stretch, do breathing and relaxation exercises, meditate, do a strenuous workout, go for a walk, get a massage and play my guitar.

What methods for reducing stress do you recommend to your patients?

I recommend that they learn techniques to breathe (like yoga, martial arts or meditation) and that they spend time each day engaging in some sort of relaxation activity.

Do you exercise? How much and what types?

I stretch every day for at least a few minutes. I also weight train, do sprint interval training and recreational activities (tennis, baseball, Frisbee).I go to the gym three times each week and do high-intensity, low-volume weight training. My goal is to get the maximum results from the minimal amount of training, which is what I recommend for everybody.

Do you recommend outside activities?

Yes, being outside has benefits when it comes to recommended activity for adults. Real sunlight is vitally important for optimal health.  Fresh air is invigorating and cleansing. And letting your feet touch the Earth (especially if barefoot) has a “grounding” effect that is calming and balancing to your internal systems.

Do you take a vitamin ?  Do you have vitamin supplements recommendations?

I take a high-quality bioavailable and bioactive multivitamin that most everyone can (and should) take. I also take special metabolically directed nutrients that are specific for my metabolic needs.

Do you prefer to eat out or cook your own food?

I prefer to eat at home because I have more control of the ingredients that go into my food. Unfortunately, most restaurant menus are geared toward appearance and taste of the food, and the bottom line profits for their businesses. A restaurant’s agenda is not in complete alignment with my agenda (which is to consume only healthy foods).

What are you favorite food spices?

I like various spices in my food. Many spices (if in they’re in their natural, unprocessed forms) have healing properties, as they contain special bioactive chemicals known as phytonutrients. Spices have been used for millennia by cultures all over the world for their health benefits. Unfortunately, too many spices in processed foods have been replaced with artificial flavorings, which not only lack positive effects, but are actually poisonous.

What’s your favorite holiday sweet treat?

I very rarely eat sweet items – perhaps three to four times each year, usually during a holiday or my birthday. I am very picky about the sweets that I consume. They must be “home-made” and use only butter or coconut oil. I especially enjoy cheesecake and ice cream.

What’s the healthiest holiday meal?

A home-cooked meal with plenty of wholesome, natural ingredients, made with love and affection in the company of those you care about.

Do you have New Year’s resolutions?

I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions per se, but the new year is a good time to reflect on my goals and accomplishments from the last year, and what I hope to achieve in the coming year. Most people fail miserably at their New Year’s resolutions. They may resolve to quit smoking or lose weight in the coming year. I believe something is worth doing, then just do it. Why wait for some artificial date to make positive changes in your life? If you want to change, then make changes today.

Do you think cleanses are a good idea?

Cleanses are a great idea… for people selling cleansing books, cleansing teas or cleansing supplements. There’s a lot of money to be made on the notion that “we all have to cleanse toxins”. Instead of cleansing, you should avoid poisoning yourself in the first place. Eat healthy, wholesome, non-processed foods, seasoned with fresh, natural spices. Get plenty of sleep at night in a dark, quiet room. Exercise vigorously three to five times each week, but don’t over train. Get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. Spend time outside with your feet on Mother Earth. Cultivate the ability to relax through quieting your mind, abdominal breathing and stretching your muscles. These healthy habits will allow your body’s natural detoxification and healing powers to manifest a healthy and vibrant you from the inside out.

From Dr. Rothman and all of us at MD Wellness, have a wonderful holiday season, and a healthy and happy new year!

What are Some Common Cytokines Symptoms?

According to the latest scientific research, cytokines essentially regulate your immune system responses and can drive the inflammatory process. In this and other ways, they are aiding your body’s white blood cells in the fight against infection.

Inflammation and Cytokines

Unfortunately, cytokine involvement can also be negative.

• Joint Damage – Abnormal cytokine activity in rheumatoid arthritis has been shown to lead to joint damage
• Autoimmune disorders – Cytokine disturbances can be implicated in other autoimmune disorders
• Alzheimer’s – Elevated cytokine levels seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients have been found to contribute to symptoms
• Weight gain – Elevated cytokine levels impact your hypothalamus and can cause you to gain weight, even if you are dieting
• Hormonal Imbalances – Elevated cytokine levels impact on your hypothalamus can lower sex hormone levels and raise cortisol levels
• Sleep, pain, mood disturbances – the negative effects of high cytokine levels can imbalance virtually all the systems in your body.

In essence, the cytokine networks can be affected at many different levels and have very significant impact on your overall immune system, autonomic nervous system, hormone systems, endorphin levels and much more.

Cytokines and Pain

Aside from inflammation, an excess of these cytokines can bring on flu-like symptoms including fever, fatigue and body aches. Also, some cytokines have been shown to increase substance P, which sends pain messages.

Cytokines and Depression

Several scientific studies found that indicate that inflammation and cytokines may contribute to the development of major depression. This depression is mediated through multiple mechanisms including low thyroid function and high cortisol levels. However, a metabolically directed approach to  cytokines treatment can have a tremendously positive impact on your overall state of health and state of mood.

MD Wellness Can Help

If you’re experiencing unexplained pain, sickness or other problems, MD Wellness can perform a metabolically directed, full-body evaluation to determine if you are suffering from cytokine symptoms. Your condition may be related to imbalances in your body’s metabolic systems. By finding and fixing the cause, we provide the best cytokine therapy to help improve your quality of life.