BEACON - Health & Wellness (January 2015)

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Reminiscing wards off depression page 6

Chicken soupcuts the cold

page 12

Dave Morison “hammering at the edge” of the overhang near

Twin Lakes, 1966. Page 2

Your Guide to a Healthy Mind & Body

Health &WellnessWINTER 2015

2 HEALTH & WELLNESS www.BeaconSeniorNews.com Winter 2015

By Melanie Wiseman

It’s difficult to keep track of the ex-tremely active timeline of 91-year-

old Dave Morison’s life as it is packed full of athletic feats, extensive travels, and historic firsts. Morison’s photo-graphic memory lets him relive all of the meaningful events in his life, and to share them with other out-door enthusiasts.

“I reminisce a lot about all of my adventures,” Morison said. “My memories are what I have now, but I’m not done yet.”

Born is Ohio in 1923 and raised in Fort Collins, Morison gradu-ated from high school in 1942. He enlisted in the Air Force, serving in the Pacific until 1945. He wore his uniform proudly on a 2011 Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. The emo-tional honor guard and community welcome home at the Grand Junction Airport was the trip’s highlight.

His career as a draftsman and il-lustrator in Denver left him itching for more, which he found in the great outdoors.

“Work for me was just a job so I could get out and do other things,” Morison said. “I just love being in the mountain air.”

He joined the Colorado Mountain Club in 1947 and is still an active member today. Morison has climbed all but 12 of the 54 Colorado 14,000 foot peaks, and many of those he has climbed numerous times. The Cana-dian Bugaboo Mountains remain a favorite destination.

In 1948, he went to climbing school and was a technical rock climber until 2008 at the age of 85. His last climb was a vertical in Boulder Canyon. Hiking and climbing would be just the beginning of many

athletic adventures.As a young man, Morison loved to

fish high mountain lakes. Back in the day, 20 fish was the limit.

“At 12, 13 and 14 inches per fish, that was a lot of weight to carry,”

Morison said. His solution? “In 1948 I

pushed my balloon-tired bicycle (no gears) 10 miles to lakes at 11,000 feet to fish,” he said. “Then I rode my bicycle back to the car, becoming the first mountain bicyclist. I did it many times that year and other years as well.”

You can find articles written about Morison in

the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Morison began biking the foothills of Denver on an English four-geared bike, and soon bumped it up to eight gears with Pikes Peak in sight. In 1951 a Denver Post photographer fol-lowed him and friend Norm Mulligan as they rode the rugged, all-dirt road to the top of 14,115-foot Pikes Peak. It took them seven hours but it was quite the accomplishment. Motorists and the tollgate patrolman did double takes at the bicyclists. They ended up waiting three hours at the top for the photographer, who had car trouble.

“We had to watch our speed com-ing down or you could go over the edge,” Morison said.

Morison has ridden over three-quarters of Colorado’s mountain passes, many of them back when they were nothing more than dirt roads.

“In 1952 we were the first to have our bikes rigged with 24 gears,” Morison said.

Every one of those gears came in handy as he set out to do on bicycle what few had done on foot. Morison

91 and slowing down? Not a chance!

Morison holds Air Force awards with awards for photography on the wall behind him.

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Winter 2015 www.BeaconSeniorNews.com HEALTH & WELLNESS 3biked to the top of Colorado’s highest peak, 14,439-foot Mt. Elbert without the benefit of a road or continuous trail.

“I’ve always believed that a good cyclist using one of these specially geared jobs can go anywhere a Jeep can go,” Morison told the Denver Post. “Any average robot can drive a car up and down a mountain or over a pass, but mountain cycling de-mands a bit of nerve and stamina.”

This stamina helped him bike 60 miles each way from Denver to the top of Mt. Evans (14,271 feet), not once but twice.

If just reading about his hiking and biking adventures hasn’t exhausted you, let’s throw in ice-skating. Mori-son began roller skate dancing in the late 1940s and switched to ice skating in 1950.

“I skated alone for 21 years but always wanted to ice dance,” Morison said. “I finally joined a club and won several ice dancing competitions over 18 years. I like the ice dance steps and the music.”

He attended the Figure Skating World Competitions in Copenhagen and Helsinki in 1982 and 1983. You can still find him on the rink today, every Tuesday at Glacier Ice Arena.

“I was single for nine years after the Air Force doing outdoor adven-tures,” Morison said. “I wasn’t going to marry someone who didn’t enjoy

the outdoors.” He met Micki on an ice-skating trip

with the Outing Club. They enjoyed 50 years of worldwide experiences together before she passed away in 2005.

“She loved skiing best of all,” Mori-son said. “We hiked up to Hanging Lake one winter with skis I had cut down to four feet. We skied down that steep winding trail just once. That was enough.”

His best adventure with Micki was flying to Belgium in 1959, where they bought bikes and traveled for 43 days together. He can still recount what they did every day of that trip.

They would enjoy six more extended trips to Eu-rope together.

Morison has a unique way of preserving his memories.

“By 2010, I had taken 23,620 stereo (3D) slides before everything turned digital,” Morison said. “I have been in photography exhibitions worldwide and received many Photographic Society medals. Over the years I have given many 3D slide presentations. The au-dience wears 3D glasses and I give them a thrill.”

Not all of Morison’s adven-tures are in the past.

“I believe if you’ve been active, you better stay active as you get older,” Morison

said. “Someone told me I should start slowing down and I said, ‘No, I’m just getting better.’”

Morison continues to ice-skate, hike and bike on a weekly basis.

“I ride my bike out in the country and collect cans along the way,” Mori-son said. “I’ve gotten up to 300 cans on one ride. I get exercise, clean up

Morison routinely biked with family dog, Cindy, on his back for 36 miles at a time.

the roads and collect money when I turn them in.”

Morison may seem like an iron man at his age, but he’s had his share of spills and broken bones.

Bike accidents in 2003 and 2006 landed him with a broken hip and fractured knee. Ice-skating falls in 2010 and 2014 resulted in a fractured pelvis and broken collarbone. Despite these challenges, he heals and keeps going.

“My only health issue is that my health is in excellent shape,” Morison said. “I’m fortunate my eyes are still 20/20 and I take no medications, only a few vitamins.”

Be on the lookout for this athletic wonder at the rink or in the great outdoors. If you’re able to keep up with him, he’ll love sharing his ad-ventures with you.

“I’ve had a good life,” Morison said. “I made use of every year and still do.”

If you’re interested in having Dave Morison make a presentation to your group, call 256-7230. ■

Morison ice-skates every week.

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What is bursitis? How do you treat it?The Healthy GeezerBy Fred Cicetti

Bursitis is a condition that often occurs as we age.

Bursitis describes inflammation of a bursa, a small sac filled with fluid that acts as a shock absorber and grease for our joints. We each have about 160 of these bursae, which act as buffers between bones and over-lapping muscles, or between bones and tendons/skin. When bursae become inflamed, they can ache.

Repetitive motions are the worst things for people who tend to get bursitis. Other causes include joint trauma, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and infection. Simple pressure can also cause inflammation. Movements such as pushing a vacuum cleaner can give you bursitis in your elbow, but sitting on a hard surface for a long time can inflame the bursa over a bone in your buttocks.

People with bursitis may feel pain

or stiffness in the elbow, hip, knee, shoulder, heel, big toe or other joints; stronger pain with movement or pressure; swell-

ing, warmth and redness.You can usually take care of

bursitis. Rest the affected joint and use an ice pack to reduce swelling. To reduce pain and inflammation, take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) such as ibuprofen or aspirin, if your doctor approves. It usually takes a week or so for bursitis to go away.

You should see your doctor if symptoms don’t subside after 10 days. Symptoms may include a fever, excessive swelling, redness, bruising or a rash in the affected area. You should also see your doctor if the pain is sharp, shooting or disabling, or if you have a medical condition or take drugs that may increase your risk of an infection.

Your doctor may recommend physical therapy or a cortisone injec-

Send your general health questions to the Healthy Geezer in care of the BEACON, or email [email protected].

tion into the bursa to relieve inflam-mation.

Ultrasound treatment is often used by physical therapists and other health care providers to treat bursitis. Ultrasound relieves pain and inflam-mation, speeds healing, reduces muscle spasms and increases range of motion through high frequency sound waves, which vibrate tissues deep inside the injured area, creating heat that draws more blood into the tissues. The tissues then respond to healing nutrients brought in by the blood.

Treatment is given with a sound-head that is moved gently in strokes or circles over the injured area. The procedure may be performed with the soundhead alone or with a topical anti-inflammatory drug or gel.

However, if the bursitis is caused by a bacterial infection of the bursa, it will have to be drained and you will need antibiotic treatment.

Here are some tips to help prevent

bursitis:

* If you must undertake a job that requires repetitive movements, take many breaks.

* Avoid sustained pressure on a bursa. For example, don’t sit on hard chairs for long periods. If you have to do a job on your hands and knees, use knee cushions. Don’t rest your elbows on hard surfaces. Don’t wear ill-fitting shoes.

* Exercise the muscles in the joints that tend to get bursitis. You can protect these joints by strengthening the muscles around them. Of course, don’t exercise until all bursitis symp-toms are gone.

* Stretch and warm up your mus-cles before exercising. ■

Winter 2015 www.BeaconSeniorNews.com HEALTH & WELLNESS 5

By Tait Trussell

Millions of Americans are suf-fering needlessly with chronic

pain, according to a new book, “A Nation in Pain” by Judy Foreman.

Foreman calls the opioid wars medical but also psychological, eco-nomic, political and cultural. We are suffering needlessly in what she calls “an unrecognized health epidemic.”

Pain is the main reason seniors visit their doctors. Research shows that 50 percent of older adults who live on their own and 75-85 percent of the elderly in care facilities suffer from chronic pain. Yet pain among older adults is largely under-treated with serious health consequences such as depression, anxiety, decreased mobility, social isola-tion, poor sleep and related issues.

Doctors-to-be, how-ever, get only 8 to 16 hours of pain instruction over four years. Only four U.S. medical schools, Foreman wrote, get a full course on pain manage-ment. Veterinarians, she wrote, get twice as much pain instruction as do physicians. She also reported that our country has only 3,000 to 4,000 pain specialist physicians.

She writes that in one survey of doctors, about a third of them said they weren’t comfortable about treat-ing patients with chronic pain. And young doctors have little interest in learning more.

Patients who seek relief from agony are often suspected of seeking mind-altering recreational drugs. Sometimes they are dismissed as drug addicts.

Foreman wrote that two pub-lic health issues are on a collision course: the abuse of narcotics, such as Vicodin, for pain and street drugs, such as heroin.

“Often older people with no his-tory of drug abuse can’t get drugs they need,” she wrote. “Physicians have recognized the under treatment of pain as inhumane and have called

for reforms in regulation. But there remains a pervasive suspicion about narcotics, which allows the epidemic of untreated suffering to continue.”

Few would deny potent painkillers to the terminally ill who are dying of diseases such as cancer. But the sobering news is that even powerful drugs aren’t up to the task of reliev-ing pain. Even in high doses, opioids cut pain by only 30 to 40 percent. Even in hospice, pain is quite common.

Foreman’s book went beyond its emotional appeal and reported argu-ments about the failures of palliative care in the U.S. Pain in itself lacks an

institution or estab-lishment for pain management.

She reviewed evi-dence of some prom-ising approaches, ranging from massage to nutrition to acu-

puncture. She argues that fixing pain is a moral imperative.

The National Center for Comple-mentary and Alternative Medicine announced in September that 13 research projects totaling about $21.7 million over five years will explore non-drug approaches to managing pain and related health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), drug abuse and sleep issues. The effort seeks to increase options for the management of pain and asso-ciated problems in U.S. military per-sonnel, veterans and their families.

One positive development is that medical marijuana may be able to provide chronic pain relief where many traditional chronic pain medi-cations don’t. Cannabinoids have doc-umented analgesics that make medi-cal marijuana an effective medicine to treat some cases of chronic pain. In scientific studies, most medical marijuana patients experience pain relief. While marijuana potentially has detrimental mental effects, sometimes the pain relief may be worth it. ■

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By Melanie Wiseman

What if you were told you could never reminisce again? No

looking at old pictures or talking about your growing up days, your first car, finding that special some-one, your first home, favorite pets, raising children, family vacations and the birth of your grandchildren.

“I would say that’s impossible,” Wilma Baumbach, 84, said. “Where you are now is where you’ve been and came from. You can’t start here and go on. You’re part of an ongoing process.”

“Reminiscing is who you are,” her husband of 64 years, Ralph, 88, said. “Everything that’s happened to you is a part of you, both the hurts and the joys. You can cut off a tree but you can’t cut off roots.”

Wilma said that as you age, reminisc-ing becomes even more important.

“Reminiscing gives you satisfac-tion and you’re content to live more simply,” she said.

Anyone old enough to have a mem-ory loves to reminisce. As people age, reminiscing takes on greater signifi-cance. Experts studying reminiscing and aging say those who take the time to look back at the highs and lows of their lives find greater satis-faction later in life.

Ministers, social workers, nurses, psychologists and psychiatrists have all used reminiscing when working with older clients. When individuals tell a part of their life stories, those who listen act as a mirror, reflecting and affirming their lives.

Reminiscing, also referred to as “life review,” is widely used in senior counseling as people search for per-sonal validation, meaning and emo-tional resolutions. People who have the opportunity to reminisce tend to have a more favorable view of the past and are more optimistic about the future.

As they age, people often lose what has defined them: family, spouses, friends, careers and homes. To help

define who they are today, they need to remember who they were. Remi-niscing is a mechanism for coping with change as individuals are forced to shift from an active role of being in control of his or her environment to being more passive.

Some researchers say that encour-aging people to talk about past ex-periences can help reduce stress and depression, and improve the quality of their lives or even prolong them.

A Harvard study suggests that social activities such as reminiscing are as effective as fitness activities, linking meaningful reminiscing to lowered blood pressure and heart rates in participants. Reminiscing can also benefit individuals’ health by drawing them into conversations that get their minds off their medical problems.

A sense of communityTelling stories about ourselves

helps build a sense of community. When people are engaged with others in meaningful ways, there is an increase in trust and a greater sense of well-being. As opportunities for self-esteem decline later in life, reminiscing interactions form social support, which allows for an esteem lift from others.

“Reminiscing with seniors is a great way to draw out even the most reluctant individual,” The Fountains of Hilltop Activities Coordinator Linda Larson said. “Many times, if I’m having a difficult time interact-ing with a senior, whether it’s due to shyness or they tell me they just don’t want to participate in any activities, jogging their memories of something from the past just tends to open up the flood gates. That in turn tends to help form friendships with others.”

Depression and isolation can play a part in the lives of some older people. Reminiscing can help relieve boredom and form a sense of com-panionship with the person interest-ed enough in them to listen.

Being able to relive and relate their

Reminiscing for the heart, soul and mind

Winter 2015 www.BeaconSeniorNews.com HEALTH & WELLNESS 7life stories can give them a sense of purpose and self-worth, and they will have a better outlook on life.

Family bondsElizabeth Atkinson, 79, moved to

Grand Junction in 1998 to be closer to her grandchildren. Every Sunday at noon for the past 16 years, her dining room table has been surrounded by family. The glow on her face during these special meals speaks louder than words.

“Sunday family meals are good food and time with family when the rest of the week we’re going in different directions,” Elizabeth’s daughter, Ann Peterson, 56, said. “Everyone in the family looks forward to it and doesn’t want to miss it.”

While conversation tends to focus on the grandchildren and creating new memories, they learn a lot about Elizabeth as well. They recently learned that as a little girl, she used to play basketball in a skirt.

Clark Atkinson, 50, said, “Mom has always been the listener and Dad was the talker. While he was alive, Dad did a good job of reminiscing about the past and their growing up years.”

His father, Neal, didn’t know at the time how special his reminiscing would be, as his life was cut short in an accident 33 years ago. Now Elizabeth and all five of the Atkinson children share memories of their dad.

“Something Mom has been do-ing the last few years is giving away some of her things,” Peterson said. “Along with each gift comes a story associated with it.”

Elizabeth has also been sorting through pictures and making special

albums for each child. Pat Pruess, 79, feels fortunate to

have all three of her children living nearby. She recently reminisced with her daughters about her favorite part of the day when they were growing up.

“When we did the dishes together, that was our special time to do spell-ing, geography, math, etc.,” Pat said. “We had a lot of fun as a family.”

Pat and her daughters, Shari Wilson, 58, and Dani Pruess, 56, all laughed at the differences between the two girls as they were growing up and how Pat screened their boyfriends.

Shari recalled going through her mom’s and grandmother’s jewelry boxes with her own daughter and reminisced with Pat about where each piece came from.

Dani fondly recalled going through her grandmother’s things.

“Her sweaters still had her smell,” Dani said.

“I still have my mother’s perfume and give it a squirt now and then,” Pat said.

Remembering the past can bring a new awareness to the present. Memo-ries can be explored in many creative ways that place value on a person’s unique life experience. The best trig-gers are those that stimulate our five senses: taste (grandmother’s recipes), smell (aroma of fresh baked bread), touch (textures), sound (music) and sight (photographs).

Reminiscing is a tool to promote communication, encourage self-expression and recollect valuable memories. Ultimately, reminiscing can be a pleasurable experience for all involved.

Connecting with those with dementiaPeople find reminiscing to be a

new way to communicate with peo-ple who have dementia or Alzheim-er’s. People with dementia often have a keen ability to recall long-term, personal memories when the details of the present may escape them.

Reminiscing increases confidence and builds on people’s remaining skills. It concentrates on early memo-ries that remain vivid when recent events fade. It also allows people to return to times in their lives when they were active and healthy.

If only for a moment, reminiscing gives people a different identity in the way they think about themselves. When you ask a people to tell stories

about something that’s meaningful to them, it broadens their sense of who they are at the moment.

While living with dementia can be isolating, reminiscing helps them be involved and to re-engage.

You can make a differenceEach of us is part of a rich history

that needs to be shared and preserved. Tap into a senior’s life story—write it down or capture it in a live record-ing. Ask open-ended questions and actively listen. By valuing their memo-ries from the past, you can show them they are valued in the present.

When you take time to reminisce, you’ll make a significant difference in the life of someone else, as well as your own. ■

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By Wendell Fowler

Shakespeare and Da Vinci poeti-cally suggested that the eyes are

windows to your soul; that you can see somebody’s heart by focus-ing lovingly, deeply into their eyes, effortlessly surpassing any earthly panoramic landscape. Your eyes are nature’s wonders, functioning like photo cameras, only substantially more complex. On a clear day, can you fully absorb an awe-inspiring vista, or see the loving energy radiat-ing from someone’s soul?

You see, each of your body’s organs have specific nutritional essentials that must be respected to function as the divine intended. Our compassion-ate creator fashioned us to express perfect health and wholeness, not to become malnourished—an unfor-tunate tragedy in today’s bar-coded population. Are age-related vision difficulties making your brown eyes blue? Have you consistently nour-ished your “soulular” window?

It’s widely accepted that the bed-rocks of most eye diseases are genet-ics, damage from sun rays and eating nutritionally inferior food, starving the eye of nature’s sustaining, divine sustenance. It’s my humble layman perspective that if all of us hadn’t been encouraged to eat nutritionally bankrupt iceberg lettuce and instead, consumed dark leafy greens and yel-low/orange vegetables while cruising from infancy into adulthood, there’d be significantly less age-related macu-lar disease (AMD). Alas, a nation trusted biased commodity brokers and bankers to be their nutritionists and obediently embraced iceberg sal-ads whose leaves contain much less nourishment.

Have you innocently starved the windows to your soul? It’s never too late to properly feed your trillions of cells, my friends.

Romaine, as opposed to iceberg

lettuce, contains a complete protein containing all essential amino acids, iron, molybdenum, potassium and B vitamins and fiber. Kale, riding a wave of popularity, packs a colossal punch of vitamins K, A (the good stuff), C, calcium, foliate and potas-sium. Collards, turnip and mustard greens have undergone a popularity renaissance with similar benefits. A good rule of thumb is that the nutri-tional value increases as the green in the leaves gets darker, making iceberg easy to identify as the least helpful.

Powerful antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin in certain colorful vegetables belong to the group of carotenoids called xanthophylls. Regular consumption may decrease the incidence of AMD, according to the American Optometric Associa-tion. These antioxidants help main-tain macular health, according to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation.

Studies in “American Journal of Epidemiology, Ophthalmology and Archives of Ophthalmology” found that higher levels of lutein and zeaxanthin in your temple’s diet are associated with a lower incidence of AMD. Why? One cup of iceberg lettuce has 152 micrograms of lutein and zeaxanthin, whereas one cup of romaine contains a whopping 1,087 micrograms of lutein and zeaxanthin. Cooked spinach contains both lutein and zeaxanthin. According to Web-MD, carrots, milk, cheese, egg yolk, and liver, all rich in vitamin A, are especially vital for good vision.

What a privilege to be the sole architect of your health. Don’t hasten AMD. If you already experience vi-sion loss, blurred vision or flashes of light, seek medical guidance. If you take blood thinners, consult with your phlebotomist. If they warn you not to eat green veggies, find a new doctor. ■

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Studies show that untreated hearing loss is more than an incon-

venience. It robs us of our quality of life because it leads to stress, depres-sion, social isolation, fear, irritability, poor concentration, insomnia and even dementia. But that’s not new information to someone living in the shadow of hearing loss.

A woman sees her normally affable, gregarious mate withdraw from so-cial gatherings or become cross with her for mumbling. She thinks that perhaps he’s ignoring her because he doesn’t respond to what she says. The cumulative stress, if it doesn’t totally destroy their marriage, trans-forms a once lovely relationship into one of dispassionate coexistence.

The vice president of a large com-pany resigns from his six-figure-a-year job after 30 years because his hearing loss has become a liability. Most of the information he needed to do his

job well came from informal conver-sations in the hallway, or on the work floor, or around the coffee pot or at business lunches. Misunderstanding or totally missing what was being said caused him to feel (and appear) incompetent.

Stories like these are played out daily. Yet they never have to end so sadly. The truth is we don’t have to surrender our favorite activities and precious relationships to the effects of hearing loss. We don’t have to reel in our lives and our dreams.

When asked if she could have either vision or hearing, Helen Keller chose hearing, commenting that, “Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people.”

Keller conquered her challenges one step at a time, turned the world’s attitudes about disabilities upside down and won the Presidential

Turning the tables on hearing loss—the Helen Keller wayMedal of Freedom. Her credo was “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do.”

All it takes is the right people to come alongside with understanding, compassion and solutions. All it takes is each of us taking Helen Keller’s words to heart and to “not refuse to do something I can do.” For the frustrated spouse, it means adopt-ing good communications habits. It means recognizing that the symp-toms of hearing loss are just that—symptoms—not a death sentence. It means not trusting the perception that the other person is ignoring you or just doesn’t care enough to listen. In fact, odds are that distant, grumpy spouse would like nothing better than to hear clearly.

The first steps toward taking con-trol are

1) Recognizing and owning the problem

2) Seeking the help of a qualified and dedicated hearing professional

3) Agreeing on a solution

4) Sticking with it, keeping ex-pectations realistic and recognizing improvements

There are plenty of solutions out there. Some technologies are better suited to particular types of hearing loss, lifestyle or temperament. Make 2015 the year you take control of your life and stand with Helen Keller in saying, “I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do.”

Looking for answers? Call Colo-rado West Audiologists at 255-3548 or visit www.facebook.com/Colora doWestAudiologists. We can help! ■

“Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people.”


By Suzy Cohen

As the snowy cold weather begins to roll into Colorado where I live,

I crave warmer, heartier meals like chili, stews and brisket. Juicing kale and celery when it’s four degrees outside doesn’t cut it. So at this time of year garlic and curry go in every-thing I eat.

Let’s talk curry. Penang, or red or green curry—it’s all good with me. Curry sounds like it’s one spice, but it’s actually a blend of spices, and it always contains some turmeric spice.

Turmeric comes from the ginger family. This yellow-orange spice was first used as a dye until its medici-nal properties were uncovered. Our research today proves turmeric positively benefits hundreds of health conditions, making it a healthy and tasty sprinkle for any dish. Do I want it right now? Yes, please!

You can buy the spice called tur-meric all by itself if you don’t like curry. Supplements of turmeric are

Curcumin and curry spice help diabetes and cancersold everywhere. And you’ll also find curcumin, which is one potent extract of turmeric.

Curcumin may prevent or improve age-related cognitive decline, demen-tia and mood disorders. This is not wishful thinking. It’s true. A random-ized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial observed 60 adults between the ages of 60 and 85. One hour after their curcumin dose, these adults enjoyed a higher attention span and better memory than those who swallowed the dud pill, the placebo. After four weeks of curcumin supplements, memory, mood, alertness and con-tentedness were considerably better in the participants.

Curcumin is the “Kardashian” of herbs. It’s spicy, notorious, and a little goes a long way if you know what I mean.

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Curcumin is a hot supplement, not spicy hot, but hot in the sense that research is conducted frequently. I found more than 900 published research papers pertaining to cur-

cumin’s anti-can-cer activity. One of these papers found that curcumin has the ability to make some cancer cells commit suicide. Basically, curcum-in programs the cell to die.

Technically, we call this apoptosis. Cancers that are

resistant to multiple chemotherapeu-tic agents seem to still respond to curcumin, at least in mouse studies. Because of curcumin’s long-term record of safety and low risk of side effects, I think it’s a great natural adjunct to many protocols, especially for breast and prostate cancer. It’s a

strong anti-inflammatory.Type 2 diabetes has reached epi-

demic proportions. “Diabetes Care,” the journal of the American Diabetes Association, published a study about curcumin’s ability to prevent pre-diabetic patients from becoming full-blown diabetics. Results after nine months showed 100 percent success. No one progressed to full diabetes. Further, curcumin-treated patients had better pancreatic beta cell func-tion and higher adiponectin.

Curcumin is the “Kardashian” of herbs. It’s spicy, notorious, and a little goes a long way if you know what I mean. Too much is not good because it’s a laxative. Most importantly most physicians consider curry and cur-cumin effective and safe. Ask your doctor about supplementing with it if you have inflammatory condi-tions, especially autoimmune ones like rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s and psoriasis. ■


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By Allison St. Claire

Remember President Hoover’s fa-mous slogan, “A chicken in every

pot?” (Actually King Henry the IV said it several centuries earlier.)

In the midst of these dark winter days, miserable flu season, and the even darker times of a sluggish economy, a chicken in your pot and the health-ful, delicious broth it creates is one of the brightest foods you can make.

Easy: All you really need is a chick-en or its carcass, and water.

Hundreds of recipes call for chick-en broth or stock. Only the ratio of bones and meat used differentiates them. I can’t think of a single vegeta-ble or grain I cook that isn’t infinitely more flavorful and nutritious with some added chicken stock. There’s no need to buy store-bought, which is far more expensive and unhealthy.

Unfortunately, homemade broth has been replaced with bouillon, which is perhaps the worst item in the market, as it is full of sodium and

MSG. Some pre-made liquid broths also have added MSG and “natural fla-vorings” which are a negative. They are not cooked in the traditional way to gently extract the minerals, col-lagen and gelatin from real bones and have very little nutritional value.

Plus, soup cans, as well as other food cans, are lined with an estrogen-like chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) to help prevent rust. But this chemical doesn’t just sit there in the can lining. It breaks free and leaches out into the soup. That means you’re getting a secret burst of hormones with every spoonful. Mmm? Yuck!

Starting simpleUse a whole chicken (preferably

organic, pasture-fed or from a reputa-ble supplier) or parts, such as backs, necks, wings and especially feet. Yes, the feet are an extremely nutritious gelatin provider. Note: Every meat purchase does at least double duty if you buy it bone-in. Meat closest to the bone is more flavorful, and bones

A chicken in every pot, broth for every daymake excellent soups and stocks.

Really basic: Put chicken and a splash of vinegar (to help extract minerals from the bones) in a large pot and cover with water. Cook on the stove top at a low simmer, or uncovered in the oven at 170-180 degrees for six to 24 hours. Espe-cially with factory-farmed chickens, you may want to quickly boil first to release scum that you will skim off.

Stock 1.0: Add a large onion, chopped, at the beginning.

Stock 2.0: Additional vegetables. If you plan to toss mushy vegetables away or blend them as a base for soup and gravy thickeners, add two carrots, peeled and chopped, and three celery ribs, chopped, at the start. If you plan to include them in a bowl of chicken soup or casserole later, add during the last hour.

Stock 3.0: If you have them and like additional layers of flavor, at the start, add peppercorns for spiciness, garlic for added sweetness, two bay

leaves for savory depth, and parsley and/or thyme at the very end for floral, herbal notes.

Store broth in your refrigerator for several days, or save space by freez-ing it in an ice cube tray. Each cube would nicely flavor a couple of serv-ings of cooked vegetables, provide a steaming cup of drinking broth, or provide a rich base for rice, quinoa, couscous, wild rice or other grain.

Building healthAlmost 1,000 years ago, physician

Moses Maimonides prescribed chick-en broth as a treatment for colds and asthma, thus the name “Jewish penicillin.” Recent scientific studies confirm what we’ve known all along. Meat stocks contain the minerals (especially calcium, magnesium and potassium) of bone, cartilage, mar-row and vegetables as electrolytes that are easy to assimilate. The gela-tin produced allows the body to use the complete proteins you consume. Gelatin also helps in treating many chronic disorders such as diabetes, muscular dystrophy, gut problems and even cancer. ■


There’s a reason why so many dis-eases are increasing in frequency

in the United States, making some that were almost unheard of 100 years ago commonplace today, said Dr. Robert Thompson, an OB/GYN and integrative medicine specialist.

“The United States is now 46th in men’s mortality and the abso-lute worst country in the industrial-ized world for first-day infant mortal-ity,” said Thompson, author of “The Calcium Lie II: What Your Doctor Still Doesn’t Know,” (calciumliebook.com), a book that details the roles minerals play in overall health and how to identify and correct deficien-cies and imbalances.

“The current rate of diabetes suggests 95 percent of our adult population will be diabetic by 2030,” he said. “The number of children with life-threatening allergies has increased more than 1,000 percent since 1995. Mineral deficiencies are responsible for a host of health prob-lems, which are incorrectly treated by drugs.”

Thompson offers these suggestions for Americans to take charge of their health.

• Get a hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) to determine your mineral status.

This may be the most important health test that exists, Thompson said. Only when you and your doctor know for sure your mineral status and important ratios can you adapt your diet, minerals and supplements to work toward proper balance.

Thompson recommends using Trace Elements, Inc. clinical lab in Addison, Texas because it adheres to the highest standards. The lab accepts only samples submitted by health-care providers, including physicians, nutritionists, and others, so you need to find one who does HTMA and uses that lab. (Individuals who can’t find a provider can call the lab for help in locating one.)

• Do not take calcium supple-ments unless tests indicate a deficiency. We’ve all been told that

4 tips for getting seriously healthywe must ingest lots of calcium to en-sure strong bones. In fact, calcium is just one of at least 12 minerals in our bones, all of which must be present in the right balance for good bone health. Calcium has been added to so much of our food, it’s unlikely most of us are deficient. And yet, people are told to take calcium supplements. Excess calcium can cause kidney and gallstones, arterial plaque, bone spurs, calcium deposits in tissues other than bone, and brain cell dys-function, brain shrinkage and demen-tia. Instead of calcium, Thompson instructs all his patients and readers to take a minimum of 3 grams of trace minerals derived from sea salt every day.

• Salt (sodium) is necessary for digestion, nutrient absorption, cell function and metabolism. Limiting salt intake is not only the wrong advice for 90 percent of the people at risk for high blood pres-sure, but it also contributes to the lack of minerals in our bodies. Many of us are actually deficient in sodium.

Salt is a mineral, and unrefined sea salt and rock salt are the best sources of sodium and ionic minerals. If you are sodium deficient, add harvested pure sea salt liberally to your foods. It is important to use pure sea salt, and not the common table salt, as pro-cessing has stripped common table salt of its mineral value.

• Use only vitamin supplements made from 100 percent organic whole foods that have been vine ripened.

Almost all of us need supplements because contemporary food supplies lack adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, thanks to soil deple-tion. Most store-bought vitamins include just one component of the many complex molecular elements contained in the naturally occurring vitamin source. You need all of the nutrient components to get the full benefits. The best natural sources of readily available vitamins include raw seeds, stabilized rice bran powder, vine-ripened fresh fruit and berries. ■

BEACON - Health & Wellness (January 2015)

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Transcript of BEACON - Health & Wellness (January 2015)