Integrated Medicine of Philadelphia: Search results for pH

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Monday, April 2, 2012

On Fire: the State of Chronic Inflammation

Napa Campfire images, photo credit: Will Fraser

Inflammation is the miraculous response of the body telling you something is wrong. Occurring after injury or sometimes in the normal course of living, inflammation brings on pain, discomfort, bloating, reflux and a myriad of other symptoms. Most of the time we just live with it. But the problem with living with inflammation is that we stop noting the onset and continuation of it, the degrees of discomfort it causes. It goes from being an acute problem (short term) to a chronic condition. When this happens, inflammation can be a killer. Chronic inflammation is linked to heart disease, cancer and arthritis.

We live in inflamed times. High levels of chronic stress, poor dietary choices ( see Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid), exposure to toxins (ie: foods that are laced with pesticide, second hand smoke, commercial grass/plant fertilizers, chlorinated pool or drinking water, vehicle emissions), spiritual alienation and/or strife (symptomology presents as irritability, lack of tolerance for the unknown, anxiety, attachment to control), electro-magnetic (technology) or radiation (unprotected sunlight) exposure are but a few ways low to high grade inflammation can become chronic.

One of the precursors to being systematically in an inflammed state is linked to the pH levels in our body. The more acidic our bodies, the greater chance of inflammation. We want to lean toward a more alkaline pH. Foods that promote alkaline pH are mentioned in the above food pyramid and here alkaline foods list. Generally, staying away from processed foods, red meat, most animal products, increasing non-starch vegetable intake and decreasing high-fructose foods (processed, sugar-based) helps to decrease acidic pH levels. An intact and robust immune system keeps inflammation in check.

Emotional states and an overloaded/balanced central nervous system effects the acid/alkaline levels in the body. Stress and general chronic negativity changes our body's pH to be more acidic. Avoid long term anger, misery, bitterness, resentment, and fear. Prayer, meditation, and the practice of forgiveness and gratitude supports our well being, impacting pH positively.

The challenge I see as a life/health coach in identifying inflammation problems is awareness. People, as mentioned, put up with bloating, reflux, chronic runny noses, mucous in their stool, yeast conditions, chronic joint and muscle pain (all indicators of inflammation in the body) as a matter of routine if they notice it at all. Pain and inflammation are the body's cues it is time to take a different tact in one's lifestyle behaviors.

Following are some good resources regarding diet and natural approaches to pain and inflammation.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet - Dr. Weil

Make muscle pain a memory with ginger 20 Pain Cures You Can ... informative daily help

Saturday, November 22, 2014

pH: It's all about Balance

pHˌ pēˈāCH/noun--CHEMISTRY
a figure expressing the acidity or alkalinity of a solution on a logarithmic scale on which 7 is neutral, lower values are more acid, and higher values more alkaline. The pH is equal to -log10 c, where c is the hydrogen ion concentration in moles per liter.

It's almost common knowledge now (I hope), that inflammation in the body is a major reason why we develop disease (ie: cardiac disease, autoimmune, arthritis, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, cancer). An inflamed system is an ideal host for illness. In my posts, The Body as an Ecosystem and Our Second Brain, I do an education turn on the healthy/unhealthy microbes in our system and our amazing gut which, in its own way, dictate our moods and health. Hence, the importance of keeping our dietary pH balanced (leaning to alkaline) and our emotional well being optimal.

In one of my early posts, On Fire: the State of Chronic Inflammation, I talk about the acidic / alkalinic connection and there are some great links on that post providing lists of foods which are acidic and conversely, alkaline. At this link, Alkaline food chart by degree | greenopedia, is a another list of foods, organized differently (easier/less easy for some).

Most of this is intuitive, although some of it isn't. For example, you would think citrus fruits are high acid; but they are moderately high alkaline. If you look at the lists, you can probably determine where your pH is approximately, that is--- whether you are more alkaline or acidic dependent on the category of foods you eat often. Animal products, processed foods, even whole foods like barley and rice are acidic. The alkaline foods list will probably list out foods you've never tried or are unfamiliar with (i.e.: amaranth). Our S.A.D (Standard American Diet), even when not fast food related, is highly acidic. We are walking disease time bombs.

Not to scare you.

As a health-wellness coach, I see lifestyle behaviors (ie: what we like to eat) is the most difficult thing to change long term. What we were raised on, found comfort in as children is a hard thing to pry out of our normally grasping and gasping being. It's embedded in us since forever. But, lucky for us, humans are habituated. And habits can be changed.

It is possible to change one's food preferences. One can grow fond of (even celebrate with gusto) other foods, learn to be adventuresome in trying the unfamiliar. It is surprising when one makes the intention of having a vegetable at every meal (including breakfast) or diversifying one's meal plate with more than 5 colored fruits and vegetables. You do this for a month, you've changed your habit.

A habit sticks when the emotional center of ourselves gets on board. In experiencing this new habit, when resentment and resistance fall away, and happy anticipation takes its place, the new habit is almost guaranteed. One can liken it to initiating an exercise program. Yes, we hate it until we've been doing it awhile and start to reap the rewards of feeling lighter on our feet, more positive energy coursing through ourselves, a sense of elevated aliveness, perhaps even possibly experiencing regular bouts of joy (toxins clearing out of our system). A regular practice (habit) of anything takes 21-30 days to stick.

In a follow up post, I'll address the bag lunch rut and give some suggestions how to transform childhood comfort foods into healthy, life-giving adult comfort foods. Foods that are more anti-inflammatory and have a higher alkaline pH ratio.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Science Set Free

As is everything else, science is changing. Scientists are now recognizing their playground has been constricted by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. Should science be a belief-system, or an exploration? Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D (Rupert Sheldrake Online - Homepage). is a biologist and author of more than 80 scientific papers and 10 books, including Science Set Free (September 2012), is one such scientist who is turning the dogmas of science into questions, opening up startling new possibilities. For example, he extrapolates about several basic science beliefs: the “laws of nature” may be habits that change and evolve. The Fundamental Constants may not be constant. Minds may extend far beyond brains. The total amount of matter and energy may be increasing. Memories may not be stored as traces in our brains.*

For many of today’s foremost scientists, the world is a strictly material place, made up of dead matter, with no intrinsic purpose, value or meaning. Consciousness is seen as solely a physical function of the brain. Sheldrake demonstrates that these principles are not incontrovertible truths, but rather assumptions that have become dangerously constrictive to the progress of real scientific discovery. With a skepticism characteristic of true scientific inquiry, he sets his sights on ten fundamental dogmas of the science, dismantling each to make room for startling new possibilities. Sheldrake is pro-science, stating, “I want the sciences to be less dogmatic and more scientific. I believe that the sciences will be regenerated when they are liberated from the dogmas that constrict them."*

Sheldrake compellingly argues that long-held assumptions are now limiting scientific progress and preventing us from effectively meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. The belief system governing conventional scientific thinking has become an act of faith. His recent book points the way to a return to true science, a system based on inquiry and skepticism not blind acceptance. Some of these "blind acceptances" he explores:

Are Memories Stored as Material Traces? Repeated failures to find physical evidence of memories etched on the brain suggest another approach is needed. Seeing memory as a resonant phenomenon, which explains the observed phenomena of collective, cultural, and generational memory, belies the idea that memory decays at death, and has profound implications for both teaching and evolution*

Are the Laws of Nature Fixed? Making universal assumptions on the basis of pre-evolutionary philosophies limits our capacity to understand change and evolution. The “laws” of nature are really more like habits—for example, crystals grow as they do because they have grown that way before.

Is the Total amount of Matter and Energy Always the Same? In the last 30 years the total amount of matter and energy recognized by physics has increased more than 20-fold. Dark matter and dark energy, whose nature is literally obscure, are now believed to make up more than 96 percent of reality. Can any of this newly-discovered energy be tapped, with revolutionary effects on the world economy?

Deepak Chopra, who published this last book of Sheldrake's, speaks warmly of his work in his blog (Deepak Chopra - Science Set Free):

"Sheldrake's essential point is that science needs setting free from ten blind dogmas. These dogmas embrace a true belief system as much as Roman Catholicism or any other faith. Behind the daily activity of gathering data, science assumes certain things about reality that, according to Sheldrake, are unsupportable. The first dogma, for example, holds that the universe is mechanical. If that is so, then everything in the universe is also mechanical, including human beings - or to use a phrase from the noted atheist Richard Dawkins, we are "lumbering robots." From a scientist's perspective, to understand everything that you need to know about human beings, you only have to tinker with all the mechanical parts of genes and the brain until there are no more secrets left.

Clearly such a view leaves no room for the soul, which becomes a wispy illusion that needs to be swept away. But then, so does the self, because there is no region of the brain that contains "I," a person. As long as "I" is a hallucination formed by complex neural circuitry, one can throw out - or reduce to mechanical operations - love, beauty, truth, compassion, honor, devotion, faith, and so on, the whole apparatus that makes a person's life feel valuable. A random universe has no purpose; therefore, giving lumbering robots a purpose is dubious."

Chopra makes a wide swing to the other pole in the above statement. Would it be possible that there lies a paradoxical truth; that is, the universe is consumately automatic in every way AND also has a mostly undisclosed potential for a resonating, full intelligence? The impending possibility that there is no fixed "I", only the potential of one-- and truth, compassion, devotion can be as mechanical as anything else, but again, because of this universal possibility contained in consciousness, it could be otherwise. Perhaps we are coming to: these conflicting truths exist simultaneously in all and everything. We and the universe as "systems", embody both mechanicality and an extremely sensitive organism with a layered consciousness.

Chopra continues, "The second dogma he overturns is the belief that matter is unconscious. The whole universe is filled with atoms and molecules that have no connection to intelligence, creativity, or meaning. The problem here is that nobody can explain how atoms and molecules learned to think. No matter how closely you examine the water, glucose, and electrolyte salts in the human brain, you can't find the point where these molecules became conscious. How come the sugar water in a can of Coke isn't thinking and feeling while the sugar water in your cerebral cortex is? For science to brush this problem aside as mere metaphysics doesn't make it go away.

The third dogma is that the laws of nature are fixed and haven't changed since the Big Bang. The fourth is that the amount of matter and energy in the cosmos is always the same. And so the list grows, building toward a shocking conclusion: Science has been explaining a mirage and calling it reality. Sheldrake isn't speaking as a mystic or an enemy of science - far from it. He has kept up with the most current findings in physics and biology. Among these findings are some shattering discoveries, as far as rigid dogmas are concerned:

- The universe operates more like a living organism than a machine.
- The existence of dark matter and dark energy topples the conservation of matter and energy. Because the "dark" dimension operates outside the visible universe, the notion of fixed laws of nature suddenly looks wobbly, too.
- Purpose-driven evolution may explain life better than the random mutation of classic Darwinism.
- Genes, far from being fixed and deterministic, are involved in a far more fluid interaction than anyone ever supposed.

Sheldrake works with many more intriguing discoveries; he has a delightfully inquisitive, penetrating mind. He also seems unflappable in the face of the howling protests he has raised for thirty years, beginning when none of the above findings was even suspected. If science weren't a dogmatic belief system, there would be rational responses to his challenges rather than scorn from true believers. But a major shift is occurring. Under its title in the UK, The Science Delusion (playing off Dawkins' best-selling The God Delusion) Sheldrake's new book is getting positive reviews in high places. Even more promising, a new generation of younger scientists, who are trained (unlike Dawkins) in the shifting new realities of physics, biology, and genetics, is actually intrigued by a universe permeated with consciousness, intelligence, and meaning.

Sheldrake is merciless when it comes to dogmas being preached as if they were truths, but he has a special gentleness that rises above controversy and ill-tempered arguments. "Science is more free, more fun, and more interesting," he says, "when we turn dogmas into questions instead." Can anyone seriously disagree? The beautiful part of reading Science Set Free is the Aha! moments that come unexpectedly. All of us are living with dogmas that we accept as truths. When one of these is overturned, there's an initial gasp, soon followed by a rush of exhilaration. The point of life, as Sheldrake shows so well, isn't to set science free but to set humans free, because we are more precious than any of the false gods we have created."

Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D. is a biologist and author of more than 80 scientific papers and 10 books, including Science Set Free (September 2012). He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge University, a Research Fellow of the Royal Society, Principal Plant Physiologist at ICRISAT (the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) in Hyderabad, India, and from 2005-2010 the Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for research on unexplained human abilities, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. His web site is www.sheldrake.org

Much of the above material was gleaned from Science Set Free *book releases. His book can be found:

Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery: Rupert Sheldrake ...

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Surviving and Thriving During a Collective Crisis

"When everything is moving and shifting, the only way to counteract chaos is stillness. When things feel extraordinary, strive for ordinary. When the surface is wavy, dive deeper for quieter waters." --Kristin Armstrong (most decorated women cyclist in US history)

These are extraordinary times we are living in: calamitous, turbulent, and nerve-wracking. We have been forced to engage like we never have before. We witness the extraordinary power of democracy in action and the often terrifying forces challenging democracy. It has our adrenals and central nervous system working on overdrive. I am hearing and seeing the bouts of crippling exhaustion and despair from many. How can we survive and thrive during this crisis, especially if it is long and drawn out, as it appears it will be.

In my experience, the single most important quality necessary is self discipline. Without this, it is very easy to be pulled off our center of gravity, to lose focus, to become physically or emotionally disabled. These are the days when routine and purposeful activity is mandatory, healthy outer and inner habits leaned upon.

What does this mean in relation to the 4 fundamentals of wellness: rest, nutrition, exercise and spirit work/play?

REST: Make sure you get a lot of it. Try to go bed nightly the same time and wake the same time. If your sleep is broken, start employing self-care tactics to ensure a better night's rest.

Sleep is the most obvious aspect of the rest fundamental. But to give our sympathetic nervous system periodic breaks we should be having other relaxing actions as part of our day. Needlecraft's like knitting, crocheting is a great relaxer, helping get repetitive deeper breathing patterns in play. Playing an instrument, playing record/CD, radio music, watching funny or non-intense movies, reading novels. Know where your threshold is with stress and anxiety and take a break. Take a whole day off from social media or political activities and just have some guilt free fun. In a crisis, it's very important to have a lapse of engagement, where you are not thinking or acting on behalf of the crisis. And in that lapse, to feel joyous in the activity and not guilty you are not "on it". Pick your battles, you can't be part of every march and rally. Know what is the right action and when for you. Become aware of fatigue, burn out, depression and readjust your approach. Navigating this terrain for ourselves is very interesting as you begin to recognize signs and symptoms in yourself and the subsequent choices you make in caring for yourself. Self-discipline brings order and a healthy repetition. Following are some previous posts that might help with this. The Fine Art of Self Soothing, Modern Toiletry, Energy Field Surveillance, Sleep Tight, A Right Rest, Witnessing: Attention, Intention and Healing

"We adore chaos because we love to produce order." M. C. Escher

Photo credit: Lalu Danzker

NUTRITION: Inevitably, we will capitulate to comfort foods; it's winter and there is a crisis. Add some broccoli to your mac and cheese, make some good bone broth for the base of your soups-- very healing, and worth the effort. Cook. Cooking and baking and engaging in that way is very important. It slows us down, it put us in relationship with what we are about to receive, it's caring in action. Sometimes you gotta get takeout. Most of the time take the time to cook for yourselves and your loved ones. Following are some previous posts on this that might help. On Fire: the State of Chronic Inflammation, pH: It's all about balance, Bone Deep.

"Chaos is a friend of mine." "I accept chaos, I'm not sure whether it accepts me." -- Bob Dylan

EXERCISE: I bring this up a lot in my work. Exercise is a major stress buster, helping to regulate our functions and systems. Being mindful of all movement from washing dishes to just spending time in bed stretching legs and pelvis is bringing an attention to the body. It grounds us, creates a sense of the vertical in myself. When crisis hits, most of us fly into our emotional and mental responses, leaving our body disconnected. Our bodies are everything in a crisis; we depend on them for reality checks. Our bodies are constantly giving us cues as to the truth of the moment. If we aren't attending to the body, we miss the cues of what is going on inside and outside. Stay close to the body. Moving the body, the breath in the body opens up our perception; we think more clear, our feelings become regulated. I just said it but I say it again: the body is everything. You lose your connection to your body, you lose your groundedness, your sense of reality, and become subject to the craziness your feeling and head gets into without a relationship to your person. Without your body, you literally lose skin in the game. The body is an equalizing factor. We discount it, disrespect it, bemoan its inconveniences. We have to love it and we have to move it. Following are some prior posts centered on this fundamental wellness principle: Designed to Move

"The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies."-- Napoleon Bonaparte

SPIRIT WORK/PLAY:

Spirit work are activities that center our being. Obvious examples are meditation and prayer. Less obvious examples are walking with an attention to the body ("Zen" walking puts a name on it), Buddhist breathing exercises that open one's heart, and/or dispel negativity. Qigong exercises of bringing in images of patience, magnanimity and letting go images of hate and fear, are among a few. Spirit work grounds us in our internal truths and helps liberates us from the frantic, over kinetic external. It is peace-making. Play is wherever there is fun and humor, satisfaction and that which touches the essential in oneself. All of these can be found in the "mundane", such as knitting or cooking or car mechanics, or guitar playing to name a few. This kind of work brings us closer to who we are and our purpose, not from the activity itself, but from the internal engagement rooted in love of peace. When we get a frequent (self discipline!) taste of this, it becomes much harder to lose that vertical, to be pulled out of an inner, more real alignment. Prior posts that elucidate on this: Humor and Health, Prodigal Return: Community of Self, Oneness: Ho'oponopono,

Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence. --Buddha

As separate as these 4 fundamentals might seem, they are actually deeply connected. They support each other and are often part and parcel of each other's expression. When they're working together (for the most part), I experience an established discernment. My mind quiets to the dramatic headline; it starts to look for plausibility, it becomes inqurious, the guile radar engages. My emotional intelligence kicks in without hysteria. Everything starts to work together. I'm grounded. My more whole self is centered. Thank you self discipline.

Become aware of energy: your own, others and the collective. Pace yourself. Step into the fray when your vertical is vibrating "yes". Be respectful of yourselves and others, others who might not be as equally aligned in a moment. Practice compassion as best as you can with yourself and others. Remember: Kindness. Be kind, no exceptions (even when your mad as hell). Kindness, like forgiveness, like love is a boomerang, it comes right back to you. And hate, fear, ego righteousness-- it does the same thing, it comes back to you almost immediately, toxifying what could be otherwise. So, for your well being's sake, be kind while you are being courageous.

Following are some essays that might be helpful:

The Collective: Group Energy, Anxiety: Inside the Box, Meditate? Do I Have To, Violence: A Cautionary Truth

Thursday, January 1, 2015

2012-14 Post Culmination

Season's greeting! Following is a handy-dandy group categorization of Life Culmination of blog posts IntegratedMedPhiladelphia@blogspot.com (easy reference!). When looking for a specific subject (ie anxiety, relationship, etc), you can go to the blog and write the word in and all the posts with that label will line up for you. Handy, eh? Thanks for staying tuned in. Joy and robust health to you in 2015!

Nutrition

Bone Deep
Food Fascism and the Convenient Microwave

Trojan Wurst III: Organic

Trojan Wurst IV: Sustainable Protein

Trojan Wurst II: SALT

Trojan Wurst 1: EGGS

Giving Thanks: Relationship in Food Preparation

FAT FACTS

Sustainability and Health

Food Glorious Food

Meddle with Nettle

Adaptogens: Love in a bottle