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Are you experiencing health challenges or feeling disconnected from the full vitality of life?

Allow yourself to live life fully by knowing that which makes you weak, and choosing what makes you thrive.  Navigating these choices can be difficult and frustrating.  Illness is often a mystery as it can creep up slowly and be like a haze that separates you from the life you desire.

Working with patients, I assist in this navigation to create the road map back to health.  Utilizing not only lab reports and testing, but also the subtle signs the body offers to understand the core imbalance.  Combining tools from ancient traditions and modern science I am able to build a treatment plan that is successful and doable.  Beyond illness, supporting the journey of optimal health takes us farther than we ever thought possible; thinking with greater clarity, living with more presence and existing to our fullest capacity.

Trained as a primary care physician, I am specialized in treating digestive illness, fatigue, hormonal imbalances, toxicity issues, cancer treatment support and depression.  I especially enjoy the opportunity to work with children and families and see people through all the ages and phases of life.

Questions about Naturopathic or Chinese medicine, or curious to see if these tools could help you?  I am happy to help assist your journey in health.

Enzymes are one of nature’s most amazing substances.  As complex chemical structures, enzymes interact in every part of our bodies to transform substances from one product to the next.  Enzymes are responsible for our metabolism, digestion, breakdown of waste products, energy production, immune activity and much more!  Enzymes require certain conditions in order to be most efficient at their tasks.  Minding our enzymes may make or break our state of health!

Enzymes interact in every aspect of human physiology.  They work as a lock and key mechanism, specifically matching the substance that they are made to break apart or transform.  If we go without one enzyme, this can serve as an obstacle to many other steps in our bodies functioning.

A common example of enzymes effect in our health is within our digestive system.  Before we even take a bite, enzymes are preparing themselves for their daily task.  As we chop the vegetables and smell the food being prepared the salivary glands begin secreting amylase, the enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates.  This creates a domino effect all through the digestive system.  The stomach secretes hydrochloric acid and pepsin to break apart the proteins and kill bacteria.  Then, in the small intestine we have the flood of activity from the bile secretions leaving the gallbladder, enzymes from the pancreas and small intestine.

On a typical day, the alarm goes off and we jump out of bed, slowly waking in the shower and maybe grabbing a quick bite before joining the stream of traffic and activity out in the world.  If we’re lucky, there was a moment of focused concentration on our nutrition but for many this just has to wait.  We eat in our cars, grab snack bars rather than full

meals or skip the hassle of eating and go for a liquid option, coffee, juice or maybe a smoothie to help us through.

Without adequate time and stimuli to warn the body of the food coming in, our enzymatic activity can be slow and the system unprepared for the digestive process to happen well.  Additionally, digestion is an aspect of the parasympathetic nervous system.  When we “rest and digest” our bodies are calm, our minds are quiet, the blood and focus of the body c

an be on our internal organs.  Enzymatic activity is high when we exist in the parasympathetic state.  In opposition, when we have agenda’s to meet, deadlines to address and engage with the busy~ness of the world, our bodies are existing in the “fight or flight” or sympathetic nervous system.  This mode shifts the blood and body focus to the head and extremities so we can deal with the task at hand.

Our biology depends upon routine to function optimally.  When we think about the food we’re going to prepare, see the food choices and choose what appeals to us, chop the veggies and smell the combinations as things are cooking our bodies respond by knowing what is soon to come.  Enzymes release and begin the digestive process before the food enters so that our system is ready to do the job well.

Over time, enzymes will diminish in their productivity.  This is both considered a “normal” part of aging and a consequence of being a part of our overly stressful society.  Gas and bloating are often the first sign of enzymatic weakness in the digestive tract.  Next comes irregularity of the bowel movements.  Often headaches, joint pain or other signs of chronic inflammation in the body are related to enzymatic insufficiencies.

Encouraging optimal enzyme function in the body requires a variety of considerations:

  • Optimal body temperature:  Enzymes function optimally at 98.4 degrees Fahrenheit.  While this is considered “normal” body temperature, it is certainly not typical.  Proper hormone function, exercise and health all help to regulate body temperature.  Routine hydrotherapy is a tool to regulate body temperature if it is not in optimal range.
  • Consistency of routine:  Using cues from the environment and daily flow, the body can anticipate when to act and appropriately react to the changing needs in the system.  Giving adequate time before we eat for the body to respond to the cues of mealtime, eating slowly and at the same time of day is very helpful to enzyme production.
  • Stress free mealtimes:  Maintaining peacefulness in our homes is important but not always possible.  However, protecting the space of our mealtimes so that conflicts are dealt with at other times, multi-tasking is avoided and intention is set for ease of nourishment are important to our health.
  • Exercise:  Enzymes are closely intertwined with our bodies metabolism.   Physical exercise is a great way to support this.  Depending upon your age and stage in life, this may be as simple as daily walks, yoga, intensive cardiovascular workouts, strength training or interval training to help optimize the hormonal and metabolic systems.

Minding your enzymes is about giving yourself the time and space you need to create a healthy rhythm and flow to your daily life.  Proper enzymatic activity results in adequately digested food, properly metabolized wastes and effective transformation of cellular functions.  If you suffer from digestive disorders, fatigue, pain conditions or chronic illness, enzymes used as a therapeutic tool can make a world of difference.

For more information on the many ways to support your enzymes and overall health, please visit www.stillwaterhealingarts.com and schedule an individual consultation.

Preventative medicine is the key to affordable healthcare.  The more we can work to keep ourselves well, the greater contributors we our to our community.  Many states in the US have taken the steps to license Naturopathic Doctors in order to establish their place in the medical world.  Most primary care Doctors are licensed as an MD which means they have completed medical education within the conventional medical, or allopathic approach to health.  This system is ideal for handling emergencies and extreme health imbalances, yet it often has little to offer in keeping people well.  A common recommendation to “watch and wait” with a sub-clinical disease process leaves little hope for improvement.

Naturopathic Doctors are trained in the western medical system equivalent to the MD education.  However, the emphasis shifts in the 3rd and 4th years of training to incorporate herbal medicine, nutrition, homeopathy, spinal manipulation, physiotherapy and more.  The ideal healthcare system incorporates all systems of healthcare to take the best of each and apply them in an effective manner.  For a comparative review of the education of leading Naturopathic and Conventional medical schools in the US, see the attached document here:  Nat-Med-Ed-Comp-Curricula.

Licensing Naturopathic doctors benefits communities in a variety of ways.  It makes more physicians available in an era where there is a nationwide shortage of primary care doctors.  It allows the option for the first point of contact for patients to be with Doctors who emphasize what people can do for themselves to improve their health.  Naturopathic Doctors spend more time with patients traditionally, allowing for more personal attention and an opportunity to explore the mind-body relationship.  Naturopathic Doctors are experts in herb-drug and food-drug interactions providing a close watch to notice when dosages may need to be altered to support the changes in the individuals body.  This expertise is critical in a time where patients glean a great deal of their health information from online sources and natural food store clerks.  People often end up taking a wide variety of substances without any oversight of how things may be working together in their body.

As a healthcare practitioner, my experience spans over 20 years in a variety of roles.  Initially working in home health and institutional care as a Nurse Aid, I observed the end stage of care for a wide variety of chronic health conditions treated exclusively with allopathic therapies.  From there, I witnessed thousands of patients diagnosed with chronic diseases improve as a medical student intern in Integrative Medicine clinics.  As a medical researcher with the Helfgott Research Institute in Portland, I got to know the process of determining what works in healthcare from the evidenced based model.  While the research in natural therapies is generally smaller studies due to financial constraint, there is plenty of data to support its use, once as we begin to look.

Licensed as a Naturopathic primary care Physician in Portland, Oregon I was able to provide both natural and pharmaceutical tools for illness, covered by health insurance.  Some patients prefer to avoid pharmaceuticals altogether or have responded negatively in the past to drug therapies.  Still, there are a wide variety of options to choose from when treating illness with natural medicine.  Other patients present with a health condition that will improve more quickly with pharmaceuticals but whose underlying health can be supported with natural medicine to prevent long term damage.  Many individuals experience a state of health that is not clinically ill, but not 100% well either.  This is where natural medicine can make dramatic change in a person’s life.  Using tools from all systems together gives us the greatest potential to improve health and have lasting change.

Please support the effort to license Naturopathic Doctors in Colorado, and throughout the US in order to provide options for people in their healthcare services.  For specific details please follow the instructions below.

Thank you for your time in supporting natural medicine and working toward affordable options in healthcare.

Sincerely,

Dr. Hart

Colorado Association of Naturopathic Doctors
It’s time to write again!

ACT TODAY – - – IT MAY BE TOO LATE TOMORROW!
HB 1111 will be heard in the Senate Judiciary committee sometime this next week. If we are successful, we “may” be assigned to the Finance committee, but will for sure go before the Appropriations committee… then on to the Senate floor and passage by May 8th, the last day of the 2013 legislative session.
Opponents of this bill have been vocal and unrestrained in spreading false claims about what this bill does.  The legislators want to hear from you… again!  Please take a moment to write the committee members.PLEASE SEND YOUR E-MAIL TODAY TO ALL OF THE COLORADO SENATORS LISTED BELOW.  WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR MESSAGE.   THANK YOU!

1. SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS:

Please support Colorado House Bill 13-1111 concerning “Regulation of Naturopathic Doctors.”

False and misleading claims are being circulated from those fraudulently using the title, Naturopathic Doctor, in order to practice medicine in Colorado.  HB 1111 will protect the consumer by allowing them to check credentials and file complaints against anyone using the title, Naturopathic Doctor or ND.This legislation will protect the health and well being of Coloradans to conveniently and easily:

Determine who is qualified to be called a Naturopathic Doctor and who has completed a four-year graduate level clinical doctorate degree from an accredited naturopathic medical program, has passed a national exam, and has met other qualifications for regulation;

Check credentials and backgrounds of those who are Registered as Naturopathic Doctors;

Lodge complaints against a Naturopathic Doctor should harm or wrongdoing be suspected;

Be confident that when someone is called a “doctor,” that he or she has the training to provide the safe and effective care inherent in the title;

Be assured that their Naturopathic Doctor will communicate and collaborate fully with other health care providers as a member of the health care continuum; and

Be assured that the Naturopathic Doctor they choose has completed annual mandatory continued competency and carries adequate malpractice insurance.

DORA has reviewed this profession numerous times since 1993 and has recommended that Naturopathic Doctors be regulated in 1998, 2005,and in 2008 which is the last time that Colorado law allowed Naturopathic Doctors to undergo the Sunrise process.

The time is now to pass this bill.  Please vote YES on HB 1111!

2. SIGN YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS

# # #

3. Copy and paste into Bcc field:

lucia.guzman.senate@state.co.us; jessie.ulibarri.senate@state.co.us; steve.king.senate@state.co.us; kevin@kevinlundberg.com; irene.aguilar.senate@state.co.us

What’s for Lunch?

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By this time of year, packing school lunches has moved beyond a morning chore to a nearly painful morning ritual that can easily lead to the intolerable battle of wills with elementary school kids (or adults for that matter) in some households!  Here are some ideas to ease the struggle or just inspire the daily habit.

Sandwiches and single serving packaged foods can get extremely boring and may not pack the biggest nutrition for their buck.  Yogurts and snack crackers often contain more sugar and preservatives than the value of their nutrients.  Even many of the foods marketed as health foods contain additional ingredients better off left in the chemistry lab.  Save money, eat healthier and create less environmental waste by getting creative with homemade packed lunches.

Ideas to make morning’s easier:

-       Engage kids in their own lunch creations.  Have them select ingredients from the fridge to begin a creative project of making their own lunch the night before.

-       Purchase re-usable travel containers (local crafters have many cute options available) to help snacks seem interesting.

-       Always deal with food prep after having an adequate breakfast with enough protein to help the blood sugar be stable.  Hypoglycemic irritability can account for many kitchen tantrums (of any age group).

Quick, easy and healthy options for packed lunches:

-       Hard boiled eggs – ideal protein/fat ratio for keeping blood sugar happy and if they’re free range organic eggs they can be incredibly beneficial for cholesterol levels!  Healthy fats are especially important for growing children as they approach the era of major hormonal changes.

-       Lettuce wraps – Skip the bread and create a veggie rich lunch by taking large lettuce leaves and wrapping them around tuna fish or smoked salmon.  Can also add sprouts, cheeses, mayo, rice, quinoa and spices to keep it interesting!  Makes for a better option than the average PB&J if you take a lettuce leaf, swipe a bit of peanut or almond butter through it and layer it with raisins or other dried fruit.

-       Veggie Sticks – skip the puffs, instead pack some lightly steamed veggies for food that’s just as fun to eat and actually warrants the energy expended while munching.  Puffed foods incur high heat exposure, which makes their natural oils no longer beneficial to consume.  A light steam to chopped carrots, broccoli and beets makes the valuable nutrients in these vegetables easy to digest and their natural sweet flavor more pronounced.

-       Trail mix – while it is easy to imagine the M&M filled sugar hunt of many commercial trail mixes, you can create healthy and less expensive options by purchasing nuts and dried fruit in bulk and mixing it to your preference.  Consuming nuts and seeds is the single best way to get the balance of vitamins and minerals in your daily diet.

-       Dried fruit or fresh fruit cut in a unique way can be a fun addition to a packed lunch.  Fruit is often a big hit with kids and can provide an abundance of antioxidants and immune boosting vitamins.  But, fruit sugar will aversely affect the blood sugar levels if there is not already a substantial protein or fat in the body.  The mixture of fruits and nuts makes for a great balance.

-       Left-overs!  Chicken salad, veggies and rice or soups may not be the first thing that comes to mind for a kids lunch but can be a great and easy way to get the job done.  Many families recognize that their dinners are far healthier food choices than the other 2 meals of the day.  Perhaps making “dinner” every meal throughout the day is a better way to go.

The goal for a healthy packed lunch is to come home completely eaten.  Helping kids engage in their food choices can be helpful to their interest in eating it as well.  The goal for the day’s nutrition is to provide the body with an overwhelming quantity of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants found mainly in freshly prepared vegetables, meats, nuts, legumes, whole grains and fruits.  Regardless of how we get the nutrients in us, the most important factor for maintaining growth, energy and concentration during the day is to ensure adequate blood sugar balance and a low-additive diet to prevent the body from getting irritated by unnecessary ingredients.

For a personalized approach to nutrition, schedule a consultation today at Stillwater Healing Arts in Lyons, Colorado.

Knowing Yourself

What makes you tick?

What makes you twitch?

What makes you want to jump out of your skin with a surge of excitement?

What makes you feel your arms like a joyful extension of your heart?

What shuts you down like a squashed pumpkin on Halloween?

What makes your belly happy, your sleep easy and your focus sharp?

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Life is a journey and just as we master one phase, the game changes.  Knowing ourselves takes time, it takes acute awareness and lots of help.  Coming to know ourselves is a process of reflection, deep listening and observation, then testing the waters.  Are we who we really think we are?

Remember a time in your life when you felt like you were so tough?  You could take anything dished at you and eat it all up.  In the food choices, daily routine and the edges pushed.  Then there is the other part inside of you that may make you reconsider, what if you’re delicate?  Sensitive?  Weak?  Deficient?  Excess?  Stagnant? Hyperactive?

We’re all of these things in the continuous and dynamic balance of our 12 organs.  Plus all the daily life choices we make to keep the pot stirring…  None of these are any less perfect, yet each state we experience needs the fine balance of everything else.  Each is it’s own place along the continuum of life.

As you navigate your journey of self-exploration, get yourself a translator.  A guide, an interpreter and an educator.  Get a few.  Different perspectives can be helpful or confusing depending upon where you’re at in the journey.  We all deserve a team of support while walking the unique path of our own life’s journey.

Naturopathic medicine is about listening to the stories, analyzing the body and interpreting the situation to come to understand the dynamics of the body.  With medical training equivalent to an MD’s education, comprehensive education of pharmaceutical and natural therapies and a holistic approach bridging the mind and body.  Choose a Naturopathic Doctor to be your guide to help navigate the journey of knowing yourself, through every age and stage of life.

herbal-medicine-in-jars-0Drippy noses, itching eyes, fatigue and shortness of breath are all a terrible combination of symptoms that tend to show up for millions of Americans in springtime.  While it seems like an awful way for the season to welcome someone, there are numerous ways to help improve the pattern over time.

Allergies are a result of inappropriate immune reactions to non-harmful particles.  The allergic person has somehow determined that cat dander, grass pollen or food substances are dangerous to the body and the resulting attack can be very annoying.  This is especially true for environmental allergies where we cannot stop the exposures from happening.

While it is generally determined that once a person has allergies, that is their tendency for life, we do see improvement over time with a variety of natural remedies:

-       Quercetin – A natural anti-inflammatory and antihistamine, quercetin is a potent bioflavonoid that is found naturally in onions, black tea and apples.

-       Bromelain – This compound comes from pineapples and is a natural anti-inflammatory.  It enzymatic activity breaks up inflammation in the body and is useful for allergies and other inflammatory conditions.

-       N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) – This is one of natures most powerful mucolytic agents.  Used to break up congestion, NAC is created naturally by the body from proteins but can be taken as a nutritional supplement to eliminate congestion.  Especially helpful for chronic congestion of the sinuses or lungs.

-       Nettles – Urtica Dioica is one of North America’s most abundant natural remedies for allergies.  This herb stabilizes mast cells which calms the bodies tendency to react to pollens that enter the respiratory tract.  Taken as a daily tea, encapsulated or tinctured there are multiple constituents in this plant that benefit the immune system.

-       Eyebright – Euphrasia officinalis has an affinity for benefiting the eye when consumed as a tea, tincture or encapsulated herb.  This plant is astringent and can be used topically as a compress for itchy, swollen eyes.  It works equally as well as a homeopathic remedy for allergy symptoms affecting the eye.

-       Vitamin C – Popular for it’s immune stimulating effects, vitamin C acts as a natural anti-histamine, calming the allergic reaction.  This vitamin is water soluble so the body will easily eliminate any excess that may be taken.

-       Amla – This herb is used traditionally in Ayurvedic medicine as an agent to improve digestion.  However, it is one of the only compounds we know of that increases the gut immune function, known as secretory IgA.  To calm the related digestive reactions of allergies, Amla can be added on a routine basis to support the body.

-       Bee Pollen – Oral tolerance is the ability of the body to regulate an immune response to something that caused allergy symptoms.  Oral tolerance can be naturally stimulated to regional pollens by consuming the pollen from bees.  This can be a very effective method of neutralizing the bodies reactions, however it should be done with extreme caution to prevent the immune system from being triggered.  It is helpful to know from skin or blood testing how the immune system is responding because a severe IgE reaction to a pollen may result in anaphylaxis if bee pollen is consumed.

Ways to help shift the immune system from the Allergic/TH2 dominance to create a long-term correction in immune function include:

-       Reducing Inflammation – In addition to avoiding food allergens, minimizing inflammatory provoking agents from the diet can help ease the body.  This includes vegetables of the nightshade family, pork and grain-fed meats, sugar, coffee and alcohol.  This also includes any irritants that the body has identified as harmful including other environmental and food allergens.

-       Detoxification – Enhancing the bodies elimination of irritating agents will help correct immune function.  Ensuring adequate bowel elimination, kidney function and augmenting elimination through the lungs and skin all support the body’s natural detoxification process.

-       Nervous System Regulation – The more we can exist in our parasympathetic, rest and digest aspect of our nervous system, the better the bodies opportunity to restore and heal imbalances.  Utilizing stress management techniques on a routine basis helps us not only feel more calm and peaceful, but also improves our immune system and whole self.

For more information on treating allergies with natural medicine, come to Stillwater clinic for personalized hydrotherapy sessions and holistic health consultations to get the right tools in place to support your unique self.

Our blustery days and lighter mornings are a sure sign that spring is here.  For some, this is such a season of excitement with greater ease of outdoor adventure.  For others, it’s a season better off missed due to the misery of allergy symptoms.

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Over-the-counter allergy medication works well for some individuals to reduce the significance of allergy symptoms.  Itching, water eyes, sneezing, runny noses and fatigue are all irritating aspects of seasonal allergies.  Year after year, symptoms persist and with long-term antihistamine use, they tend to get worse.

Natural medicine therapies can make a significant impact in the expression in allergy symptoms and can even aid the improvement of the immune system to reduce inappropriate reactivity.  Ultimately, it is better for the immune system to be at the ready for a bacterial or viral invasion than calling all alarms for ragweed pollen floating through the air!

Our immune systems have 2 predominant ways of behaving, and only 1 can function fully at a time. TH1 and TH2 is how they’re described.  The TH1 response is the normal response of the body to infection.  The TH1 response activates the white blood cells to target a specific pathogen and destroy it effectively.  This should be the dominant aspect of the immune system in healthy individuals. The TH2 response triggers the immune system to behave more globally, reacting to stimuli by releasing histamine. The TH2 response is what is known as the allergy response.

Individuals can become TH2 dominant through a variety of mechanisms.  Microbial overgrowth in the digestive tract can create multiple inappropriate immune responses to both food and environmental triggers.  Immunizations provoke a TH2 response and the increase in utilization of vaccines in certain parts of the world has a corresponding relationship to the prevalence of allergic type syndromes.  Other environmental toxins can also contribute to TH2 dominance in an individual.  The estimated population of the US that is TH2 dominant is nearly 30% of individuals, increasing in young people including allergies, asthma and eczema.

The foods we eat can have a significant impact on our immune activity.  For some people, individual foods can trigger the immune system directly.  When one aspect of the body is exhibiting a TH2 response, the rest of the body will follow.  Therefore, if we are eating foods that the body identifies as dangerous, our seasonal allergies will also be worse.  While we cannot control which way the winds are blowing or what pollens are drifting by, we can control what we put in our mouths.

Identifying which foods we react to specifically can be a challenging journey as reactivity is a complex process.  There are 3 different types of allergic responses:

-       IgG – This is a delayed type reaction where symptoms may show up anywhere from 24-72 hours after the exposure.  Symptoms tend to be mind to moderate.

-       IgA – Another delayed type reaction, this type also may not show any symptomatic response until 24-72 hours have passed.  Also, mild these symptoms may go completely unnoticed because of the long term nature.

-       IgE – Immediate hypersensitivity shows up with this response ranging from itching in the throat and ears and sleepiness to anaphylactic shock.  This is the most sever form of reaction.

Therefore, the lunch you had today may not be noticed until half the week has passed if you ate an allergen but you’ll only notice this if you only consumed the allergen today.  Otherwise, most of our food reactions are from daily or weekly exposures resulting in low-grade irritation to the system.  The outcome typically is that people go on eating the foods their immune systems react to, have headaches, occasional bellyaches, arthritis, gas and changeable stools or other bizarre symptoms that just become a normal part of who we are.

Identifying allergens is most efficiently done through a blood test that evaluates all 3 aspects of reactivity.   Another effective method is to avoid potential allergens entirely for 5-6 weeks and then reincorporate 1 food item per 48 hour window of time.  This is obviously more challenging as avoidance must be 100% in order to accurately determine reactivity when reintroducing.

Aside from individual food reactions, there are also immune cross-reactions between foods and environmental factors.  For example, if a person is reactive to molds, then cheeses, beer and other fermented foods will make the symptoms worse.  Ragweed allergies are increased by consuming bananas, melons and cucumbers.  Tree allergens such as birch can be worsened by carrots, potatoes and pears.  There are many additional cross-reactions to be aware of with environmental allergies.

Recognizing food triggers is a great way to rein in the immune response and help create a calmer, less irritated state of being.  Reducing inflammation in the body overall will help to begin the shift away from TH2 dominance of the immune system allowing for better balance to exist.  Stay tuned for next month’s article on “Improving Allergies” to learn ways to naturally support both the immediate discomfort as well as work toward correction of the immune response.

For more detailed information and individual care, please schedule an initial appointment at Stillwater clinic in Lyons, Colorado.

 

It’s amazing how much caffeine people can consume…   The tolerance for 8 ounces or 3 pots can be about the same perceived experience from one individual to the next.  Caffeine can make for an incredibly exhilarating sensation with the heart pounding, inspiration rolling, mind sharp as a tack and fingers drumming along the days work effortlessly.

Yet we all know the experience of over-doing it.  Exploiting the clever substance as if to change our personalities to be more energetic, interesting and efficient.  With the mountain of daily tasks most people try to accomplish these days, its no wonder caffeine is the #1 addicted substance in America.

Caffeine comes in many forms and is an amazing compound of nature’s pharmacopoeia.  As with all things amazing, understanding the pro’s and con’s as well as the right dosage to use can make the difference between a panacea and a poison.

It was once said that coffee was meant to be consumed by the scientists and intellectual folks.   It enhances the capacity to move thought rapidly forward developing one concept into the next.  In contrast, drinking tea is for the artists and those with a leisurely life.  Its effect enhances the bouncing around from one thought to the next, growing ideas in every direction.  Then there’s chocolate, known for it’s enhancement of love and sweet sense of satisfaction.  We’ll not even discuss the caffeinated substances that nature did not intend, sodas, energy drinks and various powders.

Coffee has a variety of components that affect physiology.  Primarily, it is a powerfully bitter, acidic and descending substance.  Many people who consume coffee daily nearly depend on the substance to mobilize their large intestine and get the bowels moving to start their day.  When used on a full stomach in the case of the end of a very large, rich meal this effect is supportive to the digestive process.  However, consumed on an empty stomach, coffee wrecks havoc on the digestive system contributing to inflammation in the body.

Black and green teas also have variable levels of caffeine.  Caffeine is a nervous system stimulant, enhancing neurotransmitter activity in the brain.  It also works by increasing cortisol release from the adrenal glands, enhancing our perceived energy.  Black and green teas are mildly descending substances and have beneficial anti-oxidant qualities.

Cacao is another of nature’s substances containing caffeine.  Dark chocolate contains more caffeine than a cup of decaf coffee.  It may stimulate alertness, contributing to a sense of euphoria as well as agitation or insomnia.  In combination with a variety of other compounds, cacao stimulates the nervous system to experience a greater degree of elation than coffee and higher propensity for addiction.

Good or bad?  For the most part, when used moderately caffeine found in natural sources has many advantages for health.  However, like all chemical compounds, the way the body processes it can be either smooth sailing or extremely difficulty depending upon our personal biochemistry.  Many individuals are caffeine sensitive, which suggests that the liver detox pathways that act upon the caffeine molecule are not performing as efficiently as they otherwise could.  This may be genetic or a sign of liver stagnation and toxic overload.

If caffeine is something you choose to use, consider this: if you feel great doing it and you can also feel great without doing it, that’s ideal.  Depending upon external substances for our sense of well-being suggests that we may not be living our lives in balance.  Caffeine as a routine vice may become something that we regret if it contributes to our lifestyles involving higher degrees of stress than we can sustainably manage.   If we can take it or leave it, then we may be better able to manage our stress and keep a healthy balance.

Ways to minimize harm from caffeine consumption:

-       Always drink coffee on a full stomach

-       Use a binding agent in beverages to minimize mineral leaching (cream or milk alternative)

-       Consume at generally the same time each day

-       If you’re an intermittent coffee drinker, stick with decaf

-       Always choose organic

-       Avoid extra sugar in caffeine containing products

-       Give your body extra mineral support if you drink caffeinated beverages regularly

-       Enjoy your vices by ALWAYS using them in moderation! coffee