A lot of people have asked me what I mean by quantum health. The traditional approach to medicine is wholly "evidence-based." It is aimed at diagnosing a problem or a set of symptoms and then finding a drug that relieves those symptoms. It may or may not get to the underlying cause or root of the symptoms, or address the underlying energy imbalance that causes the body to be in a state of disharmony in the first place.
Quantum health is a paradigm shift in the approach to health and wellness. It incorporates all of the amazing technology, drugs, and diagnostic tools we have at our disposal, and combines it with a deeper understanding of how nutrition, energy, and psychology relate to health. It aims to address not just a set of symptoms, but to take a closer look at the nutritional, emotional, and environmental causes of dis - ease (or a lack of ease) within the body.
Ultimately, we are all vibrating energy. Everything in the universe, including the cells in the body, are made up of atoms, which can be broken down into quarks, which has ultimately been described by physicists as vibrating energy. At the quantum level, the cells in your body are always adapting to the energy they are receiving, through your nutrition and environment, and on a deeper level, your thoughts (thoughts are an amazing powerful form of energy). This is why the placebo effect (which is traditionally shrugged off by evidence based medicine) is so important to understand and leverage.
In a nutshell, a quantum model seeks to treat the symptoms of the dis-ease you have already created in your body, but also addresses the underlying energy cause, so your body can go back to its natural state of being at ease. How do you address energy causes? Good question! I'm am hoping to expand a lot more on this in the next few articles. Correcting nutritional deficiencies, eliminating stress, addressing fear-based emotions (fear, anxiety, anger, etc), and meditating are just some of the ways to correct energy imbalances.
In the next few weeks, I will be writing separate articles addressing all of these issues in much more depth! For now, welcome to quantum health!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Why I Gave Up Artificial Sweeteners
One of the things they teach you about early in medical school is how food is metabolized. Calories you ingest in the form of food get broken down by enzymes based on the type of food (carbs, fat, or protein), and then absorbed through the rich blood vessel system in the gut into the bloodstream and ultimately different cells in the body.
But what happens to no-calorie foods like artificial sweeteners? How do Splenda, Equal, Sweet&Low, etc. get metabolized by the body? The default assumption is that these chemicals have no calories, therefore don't get absorbed, and therefore have no influence on the body.
In reality, these chemicals have carcinogenic and toxic effects that we don't completely understand at this point. What many people don't know is the reason they are not well studied is because no one stands to profit from such studies if they were to show unfavorable results. And so it's difficult to get funding for large safety trials to gauge true long-term effects.
What we do know is that artificial sweeteners trick the body. They fool your body into thinking that you have ingested glucose, or regular sugar. So, you get the same insulin spike (the hormone that regulates sugar metabolism and is deregulated in Type II diabetes) through Splenda as you do through sugar. This ultimately promotes hunger and increased calorie intake.
In addition to your stomach not being able to differentiate artificial sweetener from sugar, what's scarier is that your brain is unable to distinguish between the two either. Normally, before anything can get from your bloodstream to your brain, it gets filtered extensively, so only "good molecules" like glucose (which your brain cells need to function) can get through. The blood brain barrier cannot tell the difference between a Splenda molecule and a sugar molecule - so these chemicals get into brain cells, are broken down, and are deposited there. Who knows what the long term effects of this are on brain functioning and health?
Short term side effects of artificial sweeteners can include anxiety, muscle aches, nausea, foggy thinking, and fatigue. Although these are very non-specific symptoms, I personally noticed that my energy level and clarity visibly improved after cutting back on diet coke and the Equal I was putting in my coffee throughout the day.
Now, I have given up all foods and drinks with artificial sweeteners completely, and although I definitely miss my afternoon diet soda fix, my body is already starting to thank me.
But what happens to no-calorie foods like artificial sweeteners? How do Splenda, Equal, Sweet&Low, etc. get metabolized by the body? The default assumption is that these chemicals have no calories, therefore don't get absorbed, and therefore have no influence on the body.
In reality, these chemicals have carcinogenic and toxic effects that we don't completely understand at this point. What many people don't know is the reason they are not well studied is because no one stands to profit from such studies if they were to show unfavorable results. And so it's difficult to get funding for large safety trials to gauge true long-term effects.
What we do know is that artificial sweeteners trick the body. They fool your body into thinking that you have ingested glucose, or regular sugar. So, you get the same insulin spike (the hormone that regulates sugar metabolism and is deregulated in Type II diabetes) through Splenda as you do through sugar. This ultimately promotes hunger and increased calorie intake.
In addition to your stomach not being able to differentiate artificial sweetener from sugar, what's scarier is that your brain is unable to distinguish between the two either. Normally, before anything can get from your bloodstream to your brain, it gets filtered extensively, so only "good molecules" like glucose (which your brain cells need to function) can get through. The blood brain barrier cannot tell the difference between a Splenda molecule and a sugar molecule - so these chemicals get into brain cells, are broken down, and are deposited there. Who knows what the long term effects of this are on brain functioning and health?
Short term side effects of artificial sweeteners can include anxiety, muscle aches, nausea, foggy thinking, and fatigue. Although these are very non-specific symptoms, I personally noticed that my energy level and clarity visibly improved after cutting back on diet coke and the Equal I was putting in my coffee throughout the day.
Now, I have given up all foods and drinks with artificial sweeteners completely, and although I definitely miss my afternoon diet soda fix, my body is already starting to thank me.
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