Ben Fuchs

Ben Fuchs is a nutritional pharmacist from Colorado. He specializes in using nutritional supplements when other healthcare practitioners use toxic pharmaceutical drugs.He is the founder and formulator of Truth Treatment Systems for skin care, host of The Bright Side syndicated radio show, a member of Youngevity's Scientific Advisory Board, health expert and frequent guest on Coast to Coast am with George Noory."The human body is a healing and regenerating system, designed divinely to heal & renew itself on a moment to moment basis." "Take charge of your biochemistry through foods and supplements, rather than allow toxic prescription drugs to take charge of you." ~Ben Fuchs

Nov

2013

Obesity is a Disease?

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

Well, its official, obesity is a disease. So declared doctor delegates at the American Medical Association’s annual meeting this past June. Americans are the second fattest people in the world (second only to Mexico, and only by 1 percent, according to Scripps Media Inc.). And according to Dr. Patrice Harris, a member of the association’s board, considering corpulence as a doctor issue is good thing. “Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans, in the words of Dr. Harris.

From left to right, as labeled in the original image, the “healthy” man has a 33 inch (84 cm) waist, the “overweight” man a 45 inch (114 cm) waist, and the “obese” man a 60 inch (152cm) waist.From left to right, as labeled in the original image, the “healthy” man has a 33 inch (84 cm) waist, the “overweight” man a 45 inch (114 cm) waist, and the “obese” man a 60 inch (152cm) waist. By Victovoi, via Wikimedia Commons

How exactly these changes will show up remains to be seen. AMA doctors say reclassifying it as a disease will reduce the stigma that can result from the silly idea that obesity is simply the result of too much food and too little exercise. Apparently, our medical saviors feel that their patients do not have control over their weight and physiology.

And it’s not like modern medicine has a great or even good track record when it comes to dealing with the diseases that are already on its plate. Americans spend more money on doctor care than any other country in the world. And for all those dollars spent, we are statistically worse off than any other in nearly every single marker of health, including disease incidence, infant mortality, and longevity. And now the geniuses of the American Medical Association want us to trust them to deal with another “growing” health crisis?
Could it be that after medicalizing obesity we’ll see even more high tech medical options than bariatric surgeries and gastric banding? Or will we have even more potent anti-obesity medications?

Interestingly, two anti-fat pharmaceuticals were released the same month as the American Medical Association’s decree. The first, Qsymia is combination of a couple of poisons (drugs). One, called phentermine is an amphetamine like stimulant that has been available for over 40 years and was the second agent of the famous weight loss combo therapy known as “Fen-phen”. Phentermine use is associated with a whole host of adverse reactions including: fainting, dizziness, inability to exercise and insomnia. The other is a seizure medicine called topiramate, which boasts its own unpleasant side effect profile including: skin rashes, digestive difficulties, uneven heartbeat, muscle coordination issues and problems breathing. Nonetheless, if you want to drop a few pounds and don’t mind taking anti-convulsants and speed to do it, Qsymia is the choice for you! The second, Belviq works by activating one of the body’s stress management hormones, serotonin. In a fashion similar to (although not the same as) Prozac and other SSRI drugs, Belviq works by essentially potentizing the action of this important neurotransmitter; appetite is suppressed, satiety induced and vigilance and alertness promoted. Belviq essentially puts the body on an emergency status which has the effect of reducing hunger and the desire to eat. Unfortunately, as with all prescription medications, adverse reactions are possible, including: low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), mental problems, slow heartbeat, headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, dry mouth, and constipation.

One of the more insidious results of the doctor’s decision to label obesity as an illness is the fact that now 100 million Americans will be considered diseased. And that of course means medical treatment and overtreatment. Essentially the AMA has now made one third of all American’s wards of the medical model. And that’s a lot of new customers!

Obesity is no more of an illness than meth-rotting teeth and gums are dental disease or self-injurious cutting is a skin disease. It is, for the most part, (with some exceptions) a consequence of lifestyle choices and behaviors that are none of the medical model’s or your doctor’s businesses. Even though physicians would love nothing more than to have another billable, reimbursable product (and that’s what so-called diseases are), medicalizing obesity is a classic case of the camel sticking his nose under our tents. And make no mistake about it. If the camel is the medical model, you can rest assured, it’s being ridden by a government bureaucrat.

Nov

2013

Enzyme Nutrition

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

In his classic work on the therapeutic use of digestive enzymes “Enzyme Nutrition”, Dr. Edward Howell, wrote that food processing and reduced intake of plant enzymes is one of the major causes of enzyme deficiency and ultimately of chronic degenerative diseases.

Enzymes, substances that speed up the rate of chemical reactions in living systems (including the human body), come in two varieties. The first affect foods, and increase the reactivity rate of digestive chemistry, and are called appropriately enough, digestive. The second, those that affect the rate of all other chemical reactions, including healing, growth, repair, cancer-fighting, immune boosting, and ant-aging are called metabolic enzymes. In addition to being found in all living beings, so-called digestive enzymes are also found in foods themselves. Unfortunately, these food enzymes are delicate and ephemeral and unable to survive the intense processing of the modern industrially produced modern foods. Doctor Howell believed that by eating these kinds of foods Americans were killing themselves with their diet. He said that when digestive enzymes were missing from foods, the body’s precious allotment of metabolic enzymes was used up for the digestive process, thereby causing their depletion and ultimately shortening life.

Whether or not that is the case, the fact cannot be disputed that food enzymes found in foods can make a substantial contribution to the digestive process. Enzymes in vegetables, as well as meat and dairy and eggs, can allow food to self-digest or predigest even before it’s blasted with digestive tract enzymes. However, because of the delicate nature of these enzymatic substances, they are typically unable to withstand the rigors of ordinary cooking and processing.

This makes the dietary use of uncooked and unprocessed foods very important. Certainly, light and quick cooking can be helpful. It can make foods safer in the case of bacteria and other pathogens, and steaming or slighting roasting can help released nutrients, but the fact remains; cooking destroys enzymes.

Dr. Howell also came up with a concept he called the “food enzyme stomach”. He noticed that many animals have their food pass multiple stomachs and that in many cases the initial stomachs don’t have their own enzymes, but rather are a holding area where enzymes in the foods themselves can in essence self-digest their food. This makes them easier to process and help support the animals digestive enzymes breakdown foods. Giraffes, yaks, and many farm animals (scientifically classified as “ruminants”) have four stomachs, the first three of which are enzyme-less. Other examples in the animal kingdom include the three stomach’s of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and the pre-stomach-like “crop” in birds.

According to Dr. Howell, human beings also have a version of a food enzyme stomach even though, unlike ruminants, quite obviously don’t have four. Rather, human beings have one stomach that is divided into 4 sections. The first part is where food enters into the stomach from the esophagus, the “cardiac stomach”, so called because it’s located just beneath the heart. This section like the initial stomachs of ruminants, birds and cetaceans produces no enzyme secretions. According to Doctor Howell it is the equivalent of a food enzyme stomach. That means that like the fore-stomachs of various animal species, the cardiac stomach is an ideal setting for the enzymes in raw vegetables and in minimally cooked meat and fish to do their predigestion work on food, so that when it progresses into the latter areas of the stomach and the intestine the digestive process has already begun.

Thus the importance of eating slowly and ingesting smaller bites and portions of food. By reducing the speed and the amount of substances that enter into the alimentary tract and the enzyme secreting areas of the digestive tract, food stuffs can spend more time in the cardiac stomach holding area, where they can be pre-processed, i.e; self-digested, prior to their contacting the body’s enzyme juices. The end result of such pre-digestion is a more efficient utilization of comestibles, a reduction in the formation of toxins and potentially allergenic unprocessed food, and much improved nutrient availability.

Nov

2013

Survival Genes Called Sirtuins

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

The latest darlings in the world of biochemistry are family of genes called sirtuins, represented most commonly one that goes by the name Sirt2.

The sirtuins compose an important part of a basic and ancient genetic stress response system, they are part of a section of DNA that codes and creates proteins, and ultimately chemicals, that for millennia have contributed to our ancient ancestor’s abilities to survive famine, wild animals, and other threats on the great grasslands of Paleolithic Africa. Scientists say that the sirtuins are highly “conserved”, which means that the same set of genes are found in a wide range of life forms with a broad spectrum of evolutionary sophistication, from primitive yeasts to highly developed human cells.

The sirtuins can best be thought of as survival genes. The end result of sirtuin activation involves a vastly unader-apprecitated facility for dealing with stress. Sirtuin activation produces anti-cancer substances, anti-inflammatory and immune boosting chemicals, and supports cell energy and overall metabolism. Sirtuin induced synthesis of proteins makes a cell stronger, healthier and more reliant and long-lived.
Despite the tremendous importance of sirtuin stimulated health, the relevant link between stress and wellness remains a secret. Why? Because we hate stress! And, we’ll do anything to avoid it. We have created the biggest and most intrusive and oppressive nanny state in the history of mankind simply because we want security and can’t bear to deal with stress of uncertainty. For the same reason, 21st century mankind is mired in addiction to food, drugs, and diversion. The lesson of the sirtuins is that, ironically, the ability to handle stress requires us to undergo stress. Animals that face regular episodes of hunger or starvation develop more efficient energy extraction mechanisms for leveraging whatever caloric intake they can manage to get. In the vegetable kingdom sirtuins in plants that only get watered occasionally stimulate the development of stronger moisture trapping roots.

Over past decade, the Sirt family of genes have been increasingly exploited for health and beauty; recently they have caught the attention of the trade journal “Cosmetic and Toiletries” which made the registration of new sirtuin activating ingredients one of their monthly patent picks. Studies show Sirt induced proteins can protect skin cells from aging and amplify their production of chemicals that up-regulate sun protective chemistry.

Ingredients like resveratrol, a nutritional supplement and skin care ingredient that can be extracted from grape skins, has been shown to have powerful sirtuin stimulating benefits. And a molecule called quercetin, which is found in fruits and vegetable, has been shown to have beneficial effects on sirtuin activation. Ditto for branch chain amino acids, which are prized by athletes for their muscle building effects, and which may also have a beneficial stimulating effect on sirtuin 2 activation.

One of the best ways to take advantage of sirtuin benefits is fasting or caloric restriction (CR). A 2010 study published in the journal “Cell” firmly identified the Sirt genes as being responsible for the many of the health benefits associates with CR. A second paper, this one from from MIT Department of Biology, reported that “Sirt 2 is required for lifespan extension by CR”. And in a third article this one published in the journal “Nature”, earlier this year, the authors determined that Sirt stimulating compounds like resveratrol have health and longevity benefits for a cell that are indistinguishable from those achieved by reducing calories.

Nov

2013

Glycation of Sugars

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

One of the most important and under-recognized causes of accelerated aging is a chemical process called “glycation” (also known as “glycosylation”). Best thought of as a reaction between sugar and protein (and sometimes fat). Glycation can be thought of as a type of caramelization, a candy making technique that creates a characteristic confectionary quality that candy cooks have exploited for centuries. During the caramelization process, sugar is heated to high temperatures until it turns brown. And it’s not just candy that caramelizes, or glycates. The same phenomenon occurs when bread is toasted, or onions or potatoes are grilled. French toasted bread, fried onions and French fried potatoes, also are among culinary delights that are carmelized.

In the body, caramelization/glycation of sugars can occur in conjunction with proteins, and as with caramelization of foods this can manifest itself as browning and subsequent degradation of various structures. Smaller systems are especially likely to be damaged; most especially tiny blood vessels and capillaries. Glycation is a leading cause of blindness and kidney diseases. Both structures are packed with thousands of miles of microscopic circulatory vessels. The net effect of this kind of damage can result in pockets of oxygen deprived, nutritionally starved, and toxin drenched tissue. Not good!

Even worse, there an important relationship between glycation and oxidation, which is thought to play an important part in accelerated aging. As it turns out, glycated proteins can be a source of free radicals that are responsible for the oxidation, which can be thought of as a type of “biological rusting”. In an article published in the journal “Glycobiology”, researchers claimed that glycated proteins produce 50 times more free radicals than non-glycated proteins. According to the article, free radicals amplify the production of inflammatory peptides and the net result is not only rapid aging of organs and tissues, but also many health challenges including diabetes, neuro-degeneration, and kidney failure.

The best way to protect yourself from glycation is to keep your blood sugar concentration as low as possible. There should only be around one (1) teaspoonful of sugar floating around in the blood at any given moment. It’s not uncommon for blood sugar concentration to double after a carbohydrate-laden meal. Reducing your intake of refined carbs (flour, fruit juice, cereals, dessert, etc.) should be a priority, making sure you’re taking in lots of water, especially after drinking a soda pop or indulging a sweet or a starchy bread-filled meal. Supplements can also be beneficial. The B-complex stands out in importance, especially Vitamins B1 and B3. Use a B-100 or something like Youngevity’s Beyond Tangy Tangerine. Vitamin C is important too, 1000mg maybe. Minerals like Magnesium Glycinate, Zinc , Selenium, Chromium, and Vanadium are known to help the body process sugar. Arginine and Taurine are two amino acids that improve sugar metabolism and the B-vitamin-like substance choline can be helpful, too.

*Did you know that the sugar beet and sugar cane are excellent sources of many of the nutrients that the body needs to process carbs?*

Nov

2013

Cryptosporidium Contamination

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

Drinking water contaminants which include disinfection by-products, brain numbing fluoride, and cancer causing trihalomethanes are never pleasant to think about. But perhaps the most disgusting and dangerous, and unfortunately wide-spread, of all tap water pollutants is the deadly cryptosporidium bacteria which moves into its new digs in the water supply post-departing it’s old home in human and animal fecal material. That’s right, it’s a short hop for the excrement loving microbe from elimination from man and animal intestines, to the water supply, then to your tap, and then to you and your family’s drinking water. How delicious!

Up until recently, chlorination was the most effective way to deal with cryptosporidium contamination, but recently it has come to light that many of the parasites of poop are learning to adjust. So-called chlorine resistant cryptosporidium are responsible for one of the more common of the water borne diseases and can be the source of serious intestinal distress that can last for weeks. Because it takes 7-10 days for the symptoms of cryptosporidiosis to show up, you may not realize what caused your diarrhea, abdominal pain and low grade fever. All are associated with the parasitic infection. According Jack Barber of Water Wise Purification Systems, up to 63 percent of all water borne illnesses may be directly caused by chlorine resistant cryptosporidium cysts which are super hard “eggs” just waiting for the right opportunity to hatch or sprout, or otherwise come to life.

The best way to avoid crap-tosporidium is to stay away from human waste, the most likely source of infection, and be very careful of tap water. Basically water has to be pasteurized to assure that it is cryptosporidium free. Distilled water works, too. In fact distilled water is pretty much the safest source of water going. Not only does it free the water of parasites like cryptosporidium, but a good steam distiller is the most effective of all water purification systems. It can eliminate heavy metals, solid materials of all kinds, as well as the prescription medications that are showing up increasingly in tap water. A good distiller can get rid of fluoride, too. Pretty much all of the 85,000 different chemicals that are listed in the Federal registry, and that can show up in tap water, are removed by steam distillation.

And don’t believe the silly stories about distilled water leaching minerals out of your bones. While it’s true distilled water is empty water and “hungry” for minerals, it can’t steal them from your skeleton which guards its precious bone hardening substances very carefully. Distilled water may however help solubilize calcium deposits that can harden soft tissues of the body. And distilled water is a circulatory system purifier too. It can help improve elimination of toxic substances that may be in blood and lymphatic fluids.