I try to avoid hospitals like the plague. I certainly wouldn't check myself into one unless my arm was hanging off; but, I have visited a few to see r...

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About 10% of the teenagers and adults in the US suffer from clinical depression. Clinical depression can greatly reduce quality of life and is associa...

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Colon and rectal Cancers are common cancers which strike about 130,000 annually in the USA and cause about 50,000 deaths. Colorectal cancer is particu...

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Folate is a b vitamin found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, legumes, whole grains, liver and yeast. Many previous studies have reported that...

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Phthalates are chemicals found in many types of plastics including water bottles as well as in many cosmetics and personal care products. Phthalates h...

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It has long been know that exposure to such chemicals as mycotoxins from mold (such as alfatoxins from Aspergillus), pesticides, solvents and chlorina...

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Rates of autism and austim spectrum disorders (such as Asperger's syndrome) have been increasing in both children and adults. It is now estimated that...

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Summer means a few things in Texas. It is hot, humid, and my electric bill is about to go through the roof. It also means swimming, kayaking out on th...

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Should You Take That Multivitamin?Dear Pharmacist,The television news said that taking multivitamins will not help me prevent cancer or heart disease. I take several supplements. Have I been wasting my money for years? --W.M. Springfield, IlliniosAnswer: It’s a bad game they’re playing. Like many studies, this conclusion is drawn from fake science and then promoted to naive consumers. That’s not to say that all supplements in any amounts are good, or good for you. Eating superfoods and lots of fresh organic produce is better than taking multivitamins, but unfortunately, today’s foods are genetically modified and/or grown in mineral-deficient soil. So I definitely advocate high-quality nutrients, especially because diseases often...

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I want to start off by saying I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and a welcoming New Year! Wow so much has happened since I have written last. Where do I begin…I will start by saying, just like everyone else my family and I have a New Year’s Resolution. As a working family our time is precious and sometimes it is never enough, so our resolution is to make more quality time with each other.Now to VENT, my family and I watch what we eat, but on occasion we do splurge, everybody has a weakness. Our house is NOT stocked with junk, what I mean by this is if we stray, it is enough for that moment. We have our goody and then it is gone and out of sight. Now with the holidays everyone knows how hard it is to stick to a diet, but even harder to keep family and friends from sharing and giving your children all the things that make us BITE our nails! Everyone thinks you are weird, or you are not letting your kids be kids, and mostly neurotic for even thinking twice about letting your child have some cookies, or have...

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As I sit at my computer today, like so many others, I suspect, my jeans are a little tighter than they were last week. Hmmmm. Is it possible that Thanksgiving feast could have contributed? I can almost hear Doug asking the question, “What makes bread rise?” Yes, I confess, although there was plenty of delicious fungus-free food to enjoy, I also succumbed to temptation by sampling some of the traditional culprits. (Can you spell s-t-u-f-f-i-n-g?) But, I’m happy to report, veering from a healthy Phase One diet for a day or two doesn’t have to mean a return to old habits. With the end of the holiday weekend (and an end to those left-over’s!) it’s time to get “back on the wagon!” So, how best to get back on track and minimize any damage done? Here are my suggestions:1) Psyllium. A heaping teaspoon shaken into a tall glass of water before bed will help “move” those less-than-ideal foods through your system in record time.2) Pro-biotics. We take these religiously anyway, but I like to double-up if I’ve eaten grains,...

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Wow! I am so glad to hear from everyone and to know that I am not alone. I have to apologize for being so slow to respond, this is all very new and exciting. I want to start by saying thank you for all of your encouraging words and sharing your stories. I truly believe all of our experiences can help someone and encourage others to Know The Cause! My son Max just turned one the 8th of October. What a milestone for us, but along with turning one came CAKE! We had an amazing cake made to match our dinosaur themed party. We had so much fun with family and friends, and Max was so excited! Max was very tired and stayed up as long as he could, but ended up going to bed early that night. The next morning when he woke up you could tell he was not feeling well. His eyes were red and puffy, he was crabby, and still acted sleepy. We noticed early in the day that he was starting to run a fever. So we gave him temped baths and let him rest. This continued on through out the day and we could not figure out what was...

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I didn’t realize my “statin insanity” blog would be so well received.  Thank you all for those “attagirl” comments.  Today, I’m going to give you some natural options because I promised you that. If you have heart disease or high cholesterol, it’s high time you started thinking outside the pill.  Why?  Because drugs only lower your numbers, they don’t typically repair the damage in your body, or offer nutritional benefits.  They fix the numbers and when your numbers look good, your doctor is happy.  The labs come out and all your numbers are within normal range.  But the inflammation in your body continues, and the cellular death continues, but your numbers look good.  If they don’t look good, you will be given a higher dose of your medicine.  Modern healthcare is obsessed with good-looking numbers, and I am banging my head over here...

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WELCOME to our newest educational support system~~KNOW THIS, the blog.  Although I'll have regular guests blog with us, my mainstays will be Kristin, Denni and Suzy.  Each have the most amazing stories to share with you.    As a mother and one who has answered my phones for 7 years, Kristin has heard it all.  Most importantly, she now has two small children, who will be robotically and systematically told over and over again that "bacteria" is the reason that they are sick.  Follow Kristin as she takes you from prescriptive antibiotics to natural products that really worked.   Dining with Denni was introduced as a regular segment within my program one year ago.  Candidly, we had no idea how successful these segments would become.  Many thousands of you have left me messages that dining information was important, and Denni fit the bill perfectly!  By the way...she's just as wonderful and fun to be with in person as she is on the TV show!   Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and authors a syndicated column....

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When testing positive for the strep b bacteria I knew what it could mean for Max and myself, whether or not I took the antibiotics we were still in trouble. So how was I going to fix this? I went to the one person I knew that would give me an honest answer. I went to Doug. At this time I was going to my doctor’s appointments every week and thought I could make the changes that Doug suggested and be retested for the bacteria. I went to my next visit only to find out that my doctor was on vacation. He would not be back for two weeks! What was I going to do? So I asked the doctor filling in if he could retest me and he said no. My doctor would have to be the one to decide whether or not he would retest me. So by the time my doctor came back I was angry. I wanted to be retested and asked him if he would do it. He said that by the time the test would come back I would be delivering so he was not going to retest me for the bacteria. I tried to persuade him but he still said no. So I finally asked him you prescribed...

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Wow. I feel like giving a victory shout! Have you ever resisted temptation and asked “for a way out” and discovered a ‘way out” that surpassed the original object of temptation? Okay, if I’ve lost you, let me get specific.This morning I cooked up a batch of wonderful, uncured, applewood smoked bacon. As I was carefully blotting each thick, meaty slice, my gaze traveled just beyond the bacon to the fruit basket on my counter. There sat three beautiful, shiny heirloom tomatoes and two perfectly ripe yet firm Haas avocadoes.Running late for church, I wrapped up the bacon, telling myself I could figure out something later for an early lunch, grabbed a handful of almonds and ran out the door.Well, if you’re anything like me, you know what happened next. In spite of a really terrific sermon, I spent the next two hours obsessing on my childhood favorite treat, the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, made even more decadent with fresh avocado.You know that combination of flavors and textures is just hard to beat. I kept...

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Hi my name is Kristin. I have worked for Doug since I was 19 years old. I remember thinking what is Doug talking about? Fungus? Fungus grows on rocks. I remember giggling to myself thinking of people eating rocks! I was totally ignorant to this theory. I did not know what nutrition meant let alone what it was. Soon enough I was answering phones and speaking with viewers and listening to their stories of overcoming illness. They were so thankful and inspired by Doug. It was amazing. I began reading Doug’s books for myself. As I was reading I was thinking this is me, I have this! It all started making sense to me. I was getting the fungal link. It took me a few weeks to actually stick to the phase 1 diet. I started limiting the bad foods and introducing phase 1 foods slowly and by the fourth week I was on phase 1. I had never felt better. After sometime I went astray and when deciding to go back on phase 1 I realized I was pregnant with my daughter Madison. I was confusing morning sickness as die off. I...

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Have you noticed how awful cholesterol is these days? If you live on planet Earth, you’ve probably noticed the big commercial push for statins, those drugs that lower cholesterol...the bad guy. These drugs include simvistatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor) among others. Before the advent of these drugs, did you hear anyone complaining? Statin insanity is pervasive. It has gotten so bad these days that doctors are now prescribing statins to teenagers. But do the drugs work to lower cholesterol? Yes, in fact they do lower these numbers, but herein lies the problem! Lowering your cholesterol number doesn’t translate to a longer lifespan. I can’t find one good study, not one (!) to show that using statins can make you live longer. What I see in the pharmacy, and from readers who write to me...is that people don’t feel well on these drugs. They lose their memory and get depressed. They also lose passion in the bedroom. Imagine that! It’s because cholesterol is needed...

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I love summer! After several weeks of “May gray” and a couple of “June gloom” here at the beach, we have finally emerged from our marine layer and are enjoying the glorious weather we live here for! One of the benefits of the longer days is the extra time we have to spend outdoors. Whether it’s lounging on the beach or by the pool, working in the garden, playing golf or tennis or just going for a walk with your dog, try to get out and enjoy some fresh air. My daily routine includes time in the gym followed by a long walk or a swim, and I start early. Your routine may be different, but we all benefit from exercise, and the more of it we can do outdoors, the better. Sunshine is actually GOOD for us! (Who knew?) It’s important to hydrate before and after exercise. Even if you exercise later in the day, try to begin your day with a large glass of pure, filtered water, or even a cup of hot water with lemon if you prefer. Herbal teas are a healthful alternative to coffee, and can also be delicious chilled. Get...

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