As a doctor who has specialized in healthy and  natural weight loss treatments for several years and as a practitioner who has a unique perspective due to specialization of methods, I have come to realize that weight loss involves not just multiple, but all systems and aspects of the being.  While many individuals will lose weight with modification of diet and lifestyle, there are always those who will not lose or lose with incredible slowness, regardless of the diet and exercise regimen.  It is these people that I see the most often in my clinic and I will provide a glimpse into some of the ways weight loss is affected by something as unlikely as trauma and injury.

Whiplash and neck injury

The thyroid controls metabolism, how quickly one burns up calories and creates energy.  When the thyroid is under-functioning (hypothyroidism), weight loss becomes extremely difficult, and weight gain becomes extremely easy, energy is decreased, hair may change, skin may become drier, thinking and speech may even become slowed.  I have seen numerous instances of thyroid sub function due to injuries from car accidents, sports, falls, even surgeries.  The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland located below some of the cartilages at the front of the neck/throat area.  It lies between two layers of fascia and between these two layers also flows the blood and lymphatic vessels that supply nutrients and remove wastes from the gland.  Neck injuries will often cause adhesions within or between these layers of tissue which restrict fluid movement to and from the gland, but also affects how the gland itself moves.  As with almost all organs and glands, motility (inherent motion) equals function.  If its not moving normally, its not functioning normally.

Assessment of the thyroid gland consists of palpating for size, shape and texture of the gland and also feeling for its rate and rhythm of movement.  I look for even and equal expansion and contraction phases of 13 cycles per minute.  When there is irregular and uneven motility and the cartilages of the neck are skewed or off-center, I look for adhesions within the head and neck.  Greater or lesser activity tells me to look for the root of the problem, whether it lies in the connective tissue components of the neck or whether it is related to the biochemistry of the endocrine system.

Getting thrown/jarred or injuring the ribs

The liver is one of the body’s essential organs, performing an enormous array of jobs including, but not limited to: creating digestive juices, detoxifying internal and external compounds, creating clotting factors, mediating immune reactions, helping to process emotions and storing vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates.  It also processes fats that are liberated through weight loss.  In order for fat to be metabolized and moved out properly, the liver should be functioning well.  Slower liver usually means slower weight loss.  This organ is also prone to fatty accumulations which cause it to enlarge and become torpid.

The liver is always involved in traumatic injury.  It is a blood-rich organ, and the heaviest internal organ in our bodies.  For this reason, when we are thrown, it is thrown also.  There are several ligaments and connections supporting the liver and these tissues will contract when the liver is thrown.  Unless something is done to correct the problem, it will persist indefinitely.  Tight ligaments hold the liver in imperfect positions and prevent full and proper motility.  The ribs serve a protective function for the internal organs, including the liver and most of the supporting ligaments for the liver attach onto the ribs.  Ribs are amazing at storing and holding trauma in the body.  They will hold a mild deformity or twist in their structure for years.  Affected ribs that happen to lie close to or right over the liver tend to cause the liver to function in a very unsatisfactory way.  This is a nuisance, because nobody ever seems to include ribs in their assessments, yet the ribs really can affect how we function and feel in a profound way.   A sluggish or tight liver tends to prevent the normal movement and metabolism of liberated fats, causing a backlog with unsatisfactory weight loss despite our best efforts.  The result of a poorly functioning liver can also be weight gain and low energy and may be accompanied by headaches, shoulder pain and/or nausea.  A manual assessment of the liver would include checking its size and mobility along with motility and also assessing the tension of the surrounding ribs.

Head and facial trauma

There are two important endocrine glands within the skull:  the pineal gland which is responsible for our wake/sleep cycle and the pituitary, fed by the hypothalamus (also endocrine), which is responsible for the coordination of the endocrine system in our daily lives and throughout the changes we encounter in life (pregnancy, child birth, menstrual cycles, menopause/andropause).  The pineal gland is often overlooked, but without the normal functioning of this gland we wouldn’t reap the benefits of proper sleep, some consider the pineal the master gland of the whole body, if it is weak, the entire endocrine system may be set off.

The pituitary is housed in an irregularly shaped bone that makes up part of the bony orbit of the eye, the sphenoid.  Manually the movement of the sphenoid can be checked, it is part of a joint involving the occiput.  Regular movement at this joint allows proper functioning of the pituitary, irregular movement creates irregularity in the functioning of the pituitary and thus the complex coordination of the entire endocrine system.  Unfortunately there are numerous scenarios affecting the movement of the occipital-sphenoid (O-S) joint and head trauma is just one of them.  Any injury to the head or face can cause fixation at the sutures, adhesions within the meninges or dura and within the brain itself.  Any and all of these lesions can account for imbalanced pituitary function.  To fix the movement of the O-S, the fixations must be first identified, then dealt with by manual release work.

Chronic Pain

Ongoing, severe pain is very taxing on both the body and the mental & emotional systems of a person.  Pain is registered as a stressful event and stressful events trigger the stress  response.  Elevated cortisol, blood sugar and blood pressure are all common sequels to pain.  For the purposes of this article I will discuss only the elevation of blood sugar and cortisol – both of which tend to promote weight gain at the abdomen.  Elevated blood sugar also will elevate insulin, which is the major fat-storage hormone of the body.  When insulin is high it becomes very difficult to lose weight.  The are couple options for somebody experiencing chronic pain and wanting to lose weight:

1.  Learn pain management and relaxation techniques that help you feel calm and in control despite the fact there is pain in the body.  This not only decreases the experience of pain, but diminishes the stress response.

2.  Have the pain dealt with, either by having the appropriate corrections made (see Visceral Manipulation) or by treating the pain itself using the variety of methods available (cold laser, TENS, hypnotherapy, etc).  I cannot recommend pain medications which have a propensity to injure both kidneys and liver or the digestive tract and cause more serious long-term problems, including but not limited to weight gain or difficult weight loss.

One of the unfortunate consequences of reductionist thinking and the scientific method is  our propensity to focus on a single part as if this one part, in isolation, held all the answers.  It is very different from systems thinking in which the whole entity (and every entity is a little different) is responsible for the observed effect.   It is similar to the difference between the ego intellect (“I know how this works.  Let me demonstrate.”) and the surrendering intellect (“I don’t know. I trust I will be shown.”).  This second way of thinking is a little more difficult to embrace, package, prove and sell but it is at the heart of holistic medicine – ‘holistic’ being derived from “the whole”.   This has quite different connotations from the term ‘natural’.  If I was just using natural treatments, I might focus on various herbal applications for the shoulder, nutrients that create predictable outcomes for muscle relaxation, ligament tension etc. and still miss the cause of the problem.

So if you think you’ve tried everything with a troublesome shoulder and had  poor results, consider that perhaps one of your organs is persistently sending you a message and requires attention.

Flu shots futile: Study

Dressing
Olive oil ……………………………………………………….1/4 cup
Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar…………………….3 tbsp
Dry mustard powder ……………………………………….1/2 tsp
Grey sea salt …………………………………………………..1/4 tsp
Maple syrup …………………………………………………..1 tbsp

Soak lentils for 16 hours in clean water, drain and rinse.  Combine all ingredients, including dressing, let sit for 2 hours before eating.  Keeps well in the fridge for 2 days.

Dressing
Olive oil …………………………………..1/4 cup
Lemon juice ……………………………..3 tbsp
Maple syrup ……………………………..1 tbsp
Grey sea salt ……………………………..1/4 tsp
Cinnamon …………………………………1/8 tsp

Peel and dice grapefruit, you can cut around the centre and leave the segment skins within the pieces.  Quarter the avocado, remove the seed, and separate the skin from the flesh, and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Sprinkle on sunflower seeds and dress with the oil mixture.

Purified water ………………………………..6 cups
Black tea (eg Tetley) ……………………….9 tea bags
Milk (OG cow’s, soy or almond) ………4 cups
Green cardamom, whole, green ……….2 tbsp
Cinnamon stick ………………………………1
Cloves, whole …………………………………3 – 4
Nutmeg, freshly grated ……………………1/4 tsp
Black pepper corns …………………………1 tbsp
Ginger root …………………………………… 1 inch piece

Crush cardamom pods gently.  Place all spices in a pot with water and bring to a boil.  Throw in tea bags and milk and bring to a gentle boil again, remove from heat.  When the liquid settles, bring to boil again, remove from heat.  Repeat one more time.  Sweeten to taste with honey, stevia or regular sugar or have your guests add their own.  Remove tea bags and strain chai through a medium seive to catch the spices.   Ladle chai into mugs and serve.

Garbanzo beans, dried …………………………2 cups
Water …………………………………………………4 cups
Parsley, minced …………………………………….1 bunch
Lemon juice, fresh ………………………………..1/4 – 1/2 cups, to taste
Olive oil ………………………………………………1/2 cup
Tahini …………………………………………………3 tbsp
Garlic ………………………………………………….2 – 3 cloves
Grey sea salt ………………………………………..1/2 tsp, to taste
Paprika ………………………………………………. a generous sprinkle

Clean and sort beans to ensure there are no dirt clods or stones, rinse.  In a slow cooker, on med or high, cook beans overnight or for 6 – 8 hours.  Individual slow cookers vary in their heat, so it is a good idea to check on them ever few hours.  When the beans are fully cooked, they will be soft and ready to use.  Rinse the beans well in a colander until there is no more foaming.  Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix with a blade on low-med speed, making taste adjustments as you go, if extra moisture is needed, add a little water, extra olive oil, tahini or lemon juice.  To soften the garlic flavour, I often crush the garlic with the salt, first before adding the rest of the mixture.  It is best to let the hummus sit for several hours before serving.  Sprinkle a little paprika over the top for presentation.

Note:  Tahini is sesame seed paste and can be found in small tubs in Middle Eastern  groceries, the ethnic food section or at the health food store.  It is ideally kept refridgerated.

Sunflower seeds ………………………1 cup
Raw almonds ………………………….1/2 cup
Raw walnuts …………………………..1/4 cup
Raw pumpkin seeds ………………..1/4 cup
Garlic …………………………………….1 head
Celery, chopped ………………………1 cup
Lemon juice, fresh …………………..1/4 cup
Olive oil ………………………………….3/4 cup, plus 1 tbsp
Red pepper …………………………….1 large or 2 small
Grey sea salt …………………………..1/2 tsp

Soak seeds and nuts overnight or for 6 – 8 hours in clean water.  Drain and rinse.  While baking something else (e.g. baked tofu), place garlic head and oiled red pepper(s) in an oven preheated to ~ 350 F.  Cook until the pepper is soft and some of the skin has darkened.  Remove the peppers and place in a paper bag to sweat (~10 min).  Place nut/seed ingredients along with salt, lemon juice and chopped celery in a food processor with a cutting blade and mix on a low speed.  Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and add to mixture (can use half the cloves if desired).  Peel red pepper, remove seeds and extra water and add to food processor.  Mix until the pate has an even consistency.  Refrigerate until used.  Can roll in Nori, use in wraps or as a dip with vegetables.

Recently I’ve begun to realize that a lot of people (women mostly, it seems), are going through life unaware of a poorly functioning thyroid.  The result:  weight gain, fluid retention, poor mood and energy, possible hair loss, dry skin and a whole host of other potential problems.  All this and yet the TSH (thyroid function test) is normal when checked by their doctors.  How could this be so?

Here’s the story

1.  The reference range for TSH is grossly imprecise.  Most doctors are looking for a mountain, when they need to be looking for a mole hill.  The American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists have already recommended tightening up the reference range for TSH – anything over 3.0 would be considered high.  Here in Canada, only readings over 5 are taken seriously – at this stage people are really overtly hypothyroid and know that something is definitely wrong.

2.  For some, the TSH never really indicates the true functionality of the thyroid or the rest of the body’s ability to convert thyroid hormone to its more active form (T3).  TSH can be suppressed by T4 alone.  But T4 is not the most active form of the hormone, T3 is, and although found in smaller quantities it stimulates metabolism more than T4.  A conversion is necessary and certain mineral deficiencies will prevent this conversion.

3. L-thyroxin – is T4 alone, not a combination of T3 and T4 and it doesn’t provide the substrate (minerals, etc.) to either build of convert thyroid hormones.  “Properly” medicated people may be getting adequate amounts of T4 and have low TSH values and still not be getting enough T3, thus their metabolism will still be slow and they will not feel at their best.

4. Reverse T3 – the body preferentially makes reverse T3 (aka rT3), when it is under duress:  illness, fasting, etc.  rT3 does not function as T3 and actually slows the metabolism, to help preserve energy.  In these cases, we do not want to add T3, this would speed up the illness and cause unnecessary additional stress to the body.

The conclusion and point of this whole story is simple.  If you are experiencing weight gain, or have difficulty losing weight, you must have your thyroid condition properly assessed and investigated by a qualified practitioner.

On the consumer side, demand has been fuelled by greater diagnosis of coeliac disease, sufferers of which must avoid gluten in everything they eat. The disease currently affects an average of one in 300 people in Europe, one in 200 in Germany and one in 100 in the UK.

There is also a growing belief among sufferers of a wide variety of illnesses (including coeliac disease, autism, attention deficit disorder, irritated bowel syndrome and multiple sclerosis) that gluten-free will provide relief – although science and doctors’ advice may not back this up.

Rapid NPD

Manufacturers have been quick to seize upon the opportunity, bringing a raft of gluten-free products to market ranging from cereals and pasta to cookies, crackers, snacks and bread.

The European supplier landscape is fragmented with specialist manufacturers dominating the scene. However, larger players are starting to emerge with Italy’s Dr Schar claiming market leading status.

Between January 2008 and June 2009, Mintel’s Global New Products Database found gluten-free to be the 10th most popular claim for new product launches throughout Europe with 3,398 gluten-free products launched into the market. The most claims were made on products introduced in the UK (903), Spain (469), Germany (361) and the Netherlands (288).

Growing US demand

In the US, a recent report from New Nutrition Business entitled “Organic and All Natural Kids Snacks and Baby Foods” claimed that 15-25 per cent of American parents actively seek gluten-free food and drink.

“The driver is a belief among people that they, or their children, may have a gluten sensitivity – even though they are not diagnosed as having an allergy,” said the report. “It’s an example of how belief can be a more compelling reason to purchase than rational science.”

Only 40,000 to 60,000 Americans are diagnosed as having coeliac disease, although the federal government estimates there could be as many as 3m who remain undiagnosed.

The budding interest in gluten-free has not escaped the attentions of big brand owners. Since Anheuser-Busch became the first major brand to create a gluten-free product, with its Redbridge beer in 2006, numerous multinationals have entered the fray. The same year, spice giant McCormick and Co acquired Simply Asia Foods while General Mills recently converted its Rice Chex snack to gluten-free status and has launched five new gluten-free formulations under its Big G brand this summer.

Packaged Facts suggests that the current economic slowdown cannot be seen as a negative factor in the growth of gluten-free as hard-pressed consumers are motivated to try dietary self-help when mainstream medical assistance grows out of reach.