Monthly Archives: February 2007

Lab Testing – Simple Urine Test Tell a Big Story

Imagine a simple lab test that can determine whether you are getting adequate levels of nutrients, whether you are properly utilizing fatty acids, if you have intestinal bugs which are hampering your ability to absorb food and nutrients, and see if you are being exposed to an excessive amount of petrochemicals. Imagine no more as US Biotek, based in Seattle, Washington has that test and its easier than you think.

All that is required to get a comprehensive report is a first morning urine sample that saturates a dry strip collector. From there you let the dry strip air dry for an hour, place it into a bag of dessicant and stick it in the mail. No freezing the sample, no extensive prep work needed, and better yet, no blood draw necessary. The test not only looks at functional markers of nutrient insufficiency, it also can track your excretion of benzene, toluene, xylene, styrene, trimethylbenzene, phthalates and parabens. All of these toxins can have a huge effect on your health.

If your health care practitioner doesn’t want to order the test, call the people at Direct Lab Services at 1-800-908-0000 and ask them about the test. It will be well worth your while.

Lab Testing – Which test is best?

Of all the questions I get as a consultant in the field of laboratory testing, this is by far the most asked one. This question was once posed at a conference I set up back in 2004 here in Reno, Nevada. The panel included three top people in the field of laboratory testing and each of course had a particular favorite test but when it came down to picking a test that wasn’t from their lab they all agreed on one, the comprehensive blood chemistry.

This test includes a full chemistry also known as an SMAC 25, with a complete blood count (CBC), a differential (white blood count analysis) along with a thyroid panel which should include a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). There is one small drawback and that is how to interpret the results. This is something I have been doing for over 20 years, the past 12 of which I have been using a system I developed called LabAssistTM  which has been improved by the team at Health Director and is now known as the Bio-Clarity Report. Currently it is available through your health care provider. All they have to do is contact my office at Lab Interpretation LLC (775)851-3336 and ask for an information packet. Alternatively, if you don’t have a willing practitioner, you can contact Direct Lab Services and they will order the test for you along with the Bio-Clarity Report.  You can click on the link above or call them at 1-800-908-0000.

Tomorrow, I will review a simple urine test that will give you more information about your chemistry than you could ever imagine.

On the Radio

Yours truly was on San Francisco radio station KPOO 89.5 today. For those of you who couldn’t listen to the show you can go to their archive (as soon as its up).

On a further note, I’ll be posting some new and interesting information later today on the world of health and nutrition along with a couple of must have new books for you to read.

Intolerance and Hatred – There is no place for it in a enlightened world.

Earlier today news that former NBA player Tim Hardaway made the following statement about John Ameche another former player who admitted being gay, “Well, you know, I hate gay people. I let it be known I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to be around gay people. I’m homophobic.” — Tim Hardaway, on Dan Le Batard’s radio show made all the sports and news talk shows. What strikes me is not the idea that someone is opposed to the gay lifestyle but the use of the word hate. I am not one to judge people like John Ameche for his lifestyle or Tim Hardaway for his comments, that is for a greater being than I am, what I do have a problem with is the lack of respect for a fellow human being and the hypocracy that is Tim Hardaway, his comments and others who have the same deep seated anger.

While listening to the Colin Cowherd talk show on ESPN radio this morning, I was astonished at the number of angry callers who agreed in principle with Mr. Hardaway. One caller claimed that since he was molested as a child he had a good reason for hating gays. Thankfully, Mr. Cowherd admonished him and reminded him that fully 80% of child molesters are heterosexual not homosexual. It is through ignorance that we generate hate, not intelligence. Hate is a base emotion that is borne of frustration and lack of knowledge for the most part.

Gene Wojciechowski wrote what I think is a brilliant response to this situation where his major astonishment is how a man like Hardaway can show such bigotry since he “…played at the same university and for the same coach who, years earlier, helped destroy racial stereotypes by starting five African-American players against all-white Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA Final Four championship game.” So I guess Mr. Hardaway feels it is all right to be a bigot against gays but not blacks.

What I hope for is that news of another gay person coming out of the closet is relegated to the back page of the newspaper, buried with other unimportant issues. The same for the announcement that this Super Bowl is the first with two black head coaches or other news like that. My ideal world would be one where people who are unique don’t have to hide from the spotlight but also that they don’t need to have a spotlight shown on them because they are different.

There are far more pressing issues in this world than the fact that an athlete is gay or that an ignorant ex-player hates him. Let’s move on to more important things like saving our environment or making the world a better place for our children to live in. Oh, and if you have some hate mail for me because of my point of view, just leave it in the draft box because I won’t pay any attention to it.

Rotary Presentation – Ten Things You Can Do To Save The Environment

Earlier today, I did a presentation about saving the environment to the Rotary Club of Incline Village. Instead of ranting on the negatives and how we are destroying our world (which we are), I listed 10 simple things that would help improve our world. Of course, it isn’t all encompassing but if everyone did what I suggest, our world would be a better place for it.

I’ve attached a PDF file of the Powerpoint presentation (just click on the link below). Please feel free to pass it around. Just tell people where you got the information. I am also available to do this talk to any group in the Reno Tahoe area, just e-mail me at marks at crayhon dot com.

Ten Things You Can Do To Save The Environment

Blogcast for February 11th, 2007 – Codex Alimentarius – Real or Not Real?

Codex, the name brings fear to the hearts of many a follower of alternative and complementary medicine. It is a law that has swept through a number of countries throughout the world limiting peoples access to nutritional supplements. Some fear mongers here in the U.S.A. have warned people that it is coming to America. Let me put your fears to bed, it is not coming any time soon if ever.

Download my blogcast as soon as I can get it uploaded (tomorrow I hope) called Real or Not Real and here me explain the truth about this issue. You can also go to the Natural Food Industry website and read more about the subject as well.

To all my loyal readers, please e-mail me at schauss at carbonbased dot com (have to spell it out because those spammers would like nothing better than to get my email address for their bots) with questions and topics you would like me to write about. If you want to know about health, research, nutritional supplements or laboratory testing, please feel free to ask me questions and I’ll add it to my blog in writing or on my blogcast. In the coming weeks, I will be producing a podcast which will be posted at iTunes and on Google podcast. I have already lined up a few interviews so things are coming close to fruition.

Want to Make an Ecological Difference? Stop Buying Bottled Water

When I came upon this bit of information I was astonished and dismayed. Bottled water is not only environmentally bad, it is harmful to third world countries and its people as well.

This coming Monday, February 12th I will be doing a presentation entitled “10 Things You Can Do To Save The Environment And Protect Your Health” at the Rotary Club of Incline Village. My tenth item was about not buying bottled water anymore. Here are the major points. After reading it I bet you will never look at bottled water the same ever again.

  • Let’s take the example of Fiji Water.
  • It is transported 8,700 killometers from Fiji to San Francisco. Imagine the fuel used to transport the water and the bottles (it is bottled in Fiji).
  • The bottles themselves use petrochemicals to manufacture and the plastic for the bottle is transported from China about 7,000 kilometers away requiring more fuel to transport.
  • A bottle that holds 1 liter requires 25 liters of water in its manufacturing process (this includes power plant cooling water).
  • Every bottle takes 1,000 years to biodegrade. More than 50% of the bottled water brands out there simply purchase U.S. municipal reserve water (your tap water) and filter it before bottling it. Then they resell it to you for an average of $5/gallon.
  • Buy a water filter. You’ll save lots of money.
  • One thing that should outrage every Rotarian especially.
    Companies like Coke (Dasani), and Pepsi (Aquafina) have discovered that buying up the drinkable water from some third-world country, bottling their water source and shipping it to you to sell to the U.S., is less expensive than paying for water from the municipal reserve. And they’re buying up the ONLY drinkable water sources in some countries.
  • So every bottle you drink is not just at the expense of the environment, but also at the expense of another somewhere else, who doesn’t have any other water. And you do.
  • Do you wonder why third world countries don’t like us?

Buying bottled water, unless you really need it should embarass you. It is unnecessary and bad for the environment and does nothing to make you any healthier than if you bought a water filter for your kitchen tap and filled a reusable bottle everyday. Come on America, stop being lazy and uncaring and change your habits. You will save money and make the world a better place.

A Rant in Time, May Save the Environment

Today I’m a little peeved. No, make that really angry.  Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of The House is telling everyone she needs a big plane to go from Washington D.C. to California and back because of her position. Now I’m not just a little mad that this will waste taxpayer money, no I’m really mad because this hypocrite who criticized President Bush for his horrible (and it is horrible) environmental track record is going to waste ten’s of thousands of gallons of jet fuel every year because of her position. Hey Nancy, that is just not right.

Al Gore is another one who should talk about the environment while he flies around in a private jet and riding in a gas guzzling limo. I can understand having some privileges in life but holy cow does it have to be so blatant and wasteful? I bet Al Gore’s ecological footprint is the size of a few hundred of us “simple folk.”

If people are going to buy into the whole “save the environment, save the world” issue, our leaders need to step up to the plate and lead by example. Don’t tell me to cut back on my consumption when you waste so much fuel that I couldn’t make up for it if I lived in a cave and never used a bit of energy for the rest of my life.

Lest I sound like a Democrat basher today, the revelation that 87% of Republican Congressmen don’t buy global warming makes me wonder whether we have a mandatory I.Q. test for our representative or whether all you need is a smile, a few million bucks and a friend in some major industry. Hey guys, if you’re right we will be forced to spend money on making our environment better for generations to come and if you’re wrong and we do nothing like you seem to suggest, our coastal cities will be underwater, our environment will be in horrible shape leading to an increase of disease and suffering (and the added expense of dealing with all those sick people) and droughts will wreck havoc with major regions of the world.  Hmmmm.  What should we do?

What Does 200 Calories Look Like and Cost?

Interested in what 200 calories looks like? The differences between a Snickers bar and a plate of broccoli? Well look no further than the WiseGeek website.

How about the cost of 200 calories? Try MyMoneyBlog which uses the same photos as WiseGeek but translates the data into dollars and cents. What is interesting with this data is that cheap calories are just that, cheap. They have little fiber or nutrient content, mostly empty calories which may explain why the poor in our country have such an obesity problem.

Weekly Nutrition Update

Beneficial Effect of Green Tea Extract on Serum and Cardiac Lipids – Aside from its known benefits in protecting you against cancer, turns out green tea extract (GTE) helps improve your lipid makeup which may help reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Policosanol Supplement Found Ineffective in Altering Serum Lipid Profile – While other studies have suggested that policosanol was as effective as statin drugs in improving serum lipids, this study suggested otherwise. A few possible reasons that the results were different

  • is that this study only looked at individuals with mild hypercholesteremia
  • the doses (20 mg/d) were too low
  • the study was too short (8 weeks)

Reduced Form of Coenzyme Q10 – Ubiquinol – Found to be Highly Bioavailable and Safe at Doses up to 300 mg – A complaint from traditional medicine is that nutrients are not tested for safety at high doses. Here is yet another study that begs to differ with that assessment. I have always recommended 100 mg per day of CoQ10 in split doses and here we see safety at three times that amount. Taking CoQ10 should be part of everyone over the age of 40’s regular regime and 100-200 mg’s minimum if you are taking stating drugs.

Dietary Supplementation with Flaxseed Oil May Lower Blood Pressure in Dyslipidemic Men – If you have high blood pressure and have a poor LDL to Total Cholesterol ratio, start taking flaxseed oil. Of course this shouldn’t be the only thing you do (lower your weight, exercise and eat better) but it seems to be a good step in the right direction based on this study.

Dietary Treatments that Raise Low HDL Cholesterol Levels – While this study suggests that soy protein isoflavones are beneficial in raising low LDL levels, it was the additional mention of adding multivitamins to the mix that caught my attention.

Consumption of Trans Unsaturated Fats may Increase the Risk of Ovulatory Infertility – As if we needed another reason to ban trans fats, here is yet another. Given the fact that infertility is at an all time high, is it any wonder that trans fats are being implicated. Taste over sanity I guess.

Low Levels of Coenzyme Q10 May Be Linked to Migraine Headaches in Children and Adolescents – Supplementation with CoQ10 May Help – This one caught me off guard but it did suggest that CoQ10 may be beneficial in treating children with migraines. From what the earlier study showed, adding 50-100 mg’s of CoQ10 is a safe protocol to try out.

Thioctic Acid (Lipoic Acid) May Be Effective in Preventing Migraine Headaches – In this small study lipoic acid was shown to be beneficial in preventing migraine headaches. One interesting thought is that according to Dr. Andrew Cutler , lipoic acid is a good chelator of mercury from the brain which may explain its benefits here.

Supplementation with Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids May Improve Psychological Well-Being in Patients with Recurrent Self-Harm – Long known for psychological benefits, this is just another in a long string of positive studies on the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Supplementation with Calcium + Vitamin D during a Weight-Loss Intervention May Enhance the Beneficial Effect of Weight Loss – You should know my opinion of vitamin D by now so if you need more information and research on its benefits, here is yet another study showing additional benefits not reported previously.