When we laugh our bodies release a cocktail of hormones & chemicals that have astonishing positive effects on the systems running our bodies. Stress is reduced, blood pressure drops, depression is lifted, your immune system is boosted & more. Western science is just starting to discover the great effects of laughter. It is currently being used in some progressive cancer treatment centers but clearly not enough in everyday America. Laughter is the best pill on the planet! Mixing laughter with living is one reason the rest of the world has a much better health picture than Americans.

The laughter movement started with Dr. Madan Kataria in India in 1995 and now there are over 2000 laughter clubs all over the world. Who would have thought that happiness could bread healthfulness? This is another case where we don’t need science to prove the obvious.

This topic is something I am most passionate about.  Every lecture I give, every patient I talk to, any chance I have, I discuss this horrible exploitation of human emotion in North America.  Every third American, every third patient in my office is on SSRI’s (antidepressants).  Prozac, Effexor, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro…. SSRI prescriptions have skyrocketed over the last decade and so have the pockets of drug companies Prozac alone netted over 180 billion dollars last year in profit.

Let’s break down the words in SSRI:  Selective Seretonin Reuptake Inhibitor.  This means that the drug Selectively Inhibits the receptors sites for Sereotonin blocking its resorption thereby allowing Seretonin to float within the synaptic cleft longer increasing positive affect (mood).

• Get active
• Exercise that increases your heart rate at least three hours a week (or 30 minutes a day) may help boost your body’s natural mood-enhancers (endorphins)

• Check out St. John’s wort
• Take 600 to 1,200 mg a day of a standardized herbal extract containing of 0.3% hypericin to help with mild to moderate depression—but talk to your doctor first as St. John's wort can interact with certain medications
• Take 5-HTP (300mg) take 100mg dosages three times per day

• Get enough iron
• A lack of iron can make depression worse; check with a doctor to find out if you are iron deficient

• Try B vitamins
• Take a supplement that contains folic acid and vitamins B12 and B6 to help correct deficiencies associated with depression

• Seek counseling
• A mental health professional may help you make a full recovery

Yours in Health,

- Dr M.

 Heart Disease Prevention

• Say no to smoking
• Limit chemical damage to blood vessels by stopping now

• Trim the unhealthy fat
• Protect your arteries by cutting meat, dairy fats, and foods containing trans fats out of your diet
• Take Fish Oils (Take Essential Blend 750 Advanced)

• Get to know tocotrienols
• Take 200 mg a day of these potent antioxidants to slow down the build-up of plaque in your arteries

• Take extra garlic
• 900 mg a day of standardized garlic powder can help slow down the process of hardening of the arteries

• Lower your homocysteine levels
• Reduce the blood levels of this potentially toxic substance by taking a daily B-vitamin combo containing folic acid (400 to 1,000 mcg), vitamin B12 (50 to 300 mcg), and vitamin B6 (10 to 50 mg)

Diabetes

• Aim for total nutrition with a multivitamin
• Help ensure your body is getting the vitamins and minerals it needs to help prevent