The Natural Health Coach

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Is Hydroxycut Only for Health Nuts?-05/07/2009
It seems like there's been an all-out war against the natural health industry since I can remember. From the time I began my medical training in 1981 until today, there is always an overblown response to any problems that are related to natural health products. AS an emergency room physician I have seen thousands of children and adults with drug-related emergencies that resulted in hospitalization and, sadly, occasional deaths. I have also seen several children who got into mom and dad's vitamins that contained iron which resulted in a dose of Ipecac (back in the day) which made them throw it up so they wouldn't get iron overload problems. Of all the cases I have ever seen, no nutritional products ever resulted in a hospitalization or death.


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Peppermint for Belly Pain? - James J. Mahoney DO-11/19/2008
If you had to decide between peppermint oil, fiber or drugs for your persistent belly pain which would you choose? It would probably depend on which would work and which might cause the most trouble. The American College of Gastroenterology just released a study that showed most people with irritable bowel syndrome did better with peppermint oil than any other treatment. It was twice as effective as drugs and four times as effective as fiber, which hardly worked at all.Read More

Low-Fat Is Not Where Its At! - James J. Mahoney DO-10/16/2008

A two-year trial in Israel showed that the conventional wisdom that low-fat calorie-restricted diets are “the best” is false. In fact, of all three diets tested the Mediterranean diet was the most effective at producing sustained weight loss in women. I think it works the best because the foods in the diet are fresh and satisfying, but you can draw your own conclusions. Low carbohydrate diets, like Atkins helped men a bit better, but the women who tried low-fat dieting experienced almost NO WEIGHT LOSS after two years!

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Cholesterol Drugs and Muscle Disease Go Together! - James J. Mahoney DO-10/02/2008
The latest news from the cholesterol wars is very disturbing to say the least. People who take statin drugs like Lipitor and Crestor who develop muscle pain and/or weakness are at higher risk of going on to develop Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease). At this point it seems the drugs haven't been implicated in causing progression of the illness or early onset but I'm watching very closely. Since there is no clearly known cause of ALS it makes sense to think twice before taking any medication that may heighten that kind of risk. Check out some easy ways to avoid a crisis!
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Money for Nothing? Dementia Drugs or Nutrients? - James J. Mahoney DO-09/11/2008
Alzheimer's drugs have been helpful to dementia patients because they stop the progression of the disease when it's caught early. That's great news, but the bad news is that the medical system piles medication upon medication so there is a tendency to take about $4000 worth of different drugs per year! If the drugs "fixed" the problem I could see point of the expenditure. Unfortunately they only limit the occurrence of new problems and control symptoms. Basically they guarantee "nothing" new. Money for nothing doesn't sound like a good deal. If you want to learn about how to reverse the signs and symptoms of early Alzheimer's disease, I have some good ideas!
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