News

Jul

2013

Ben Fuchs Talkers Interview

An “Alternative” Approach to Health as well as Radio Syndication

TALKERS | By Jeff McKay
Special Features Correspondent

NEW YORK — While conservative political talk radio still dominates the AM/FM commercial spoken word air waves, pharmacist Ben Fuchs proves syndication, and talk radio in general, can come in many forms. In the case of Fuchs, the host of the nationally syndicated Genesis Communications Network (GCN) radio program “The Bright Side,” he has become a thorn in the side of the pharmaceutical industry by becoming an advocate for better nutrition and a natural healing approach, because, as he says, “I look at the human body as a healing and regenerating system.”

However, Fuchs, or the “alternative pharmacy pharmacist” as he is known, has taken his beliefs a step further, taking to the radio to not only spread his belief, but to help others.

“I was always fascinated with radio, even as a kid. I studied broadcast journalism at Syracuse University, and after I graduated I couldn’t get a job [in radio]. I was able to get a few jobs outside of radio, but not what I really wanted,” says Fuchs. “Then I decided to go to pharmacy school, and as a pharmacist I began to realize what I was doing was selling regulated poisons to people, and people just didn’t know the truths about what was being prescribed for their bodies and the damage those toxins can do.”

Fuchs’ big break came when he appeared on a talk show on KSCO-AM in Santa Cruz, California, the highly-regarded independent news-talk station with a strong local following owned and operated by Michael Zwerling. The show Fuchs appeared on garnered a strong and positive response, which led Zwerling to offer Fuchs a show of his own. His show quickly built a loyal following.

For Fuchs, “The Bright Side” program allows him to reach people who believe in what he believes when it comes to alternative approaches to healing. What he found was that there are more people who share his belief, and many more who are interested in learning about the alternatives. In other words, interest in alternative approaches to health is huge in America and a potent platform for radio.

“The health process requires good thoughts and effective strategies involving food and lifestyle. We are told the only alternative is to medicate,” says Fuchs.

His show is described by syndicator GCN as a “fast-paced, entertaining and educational radio program that focuses on the latest, cutting edge ideas in health and fitness … featuring nutritional and wellness information about exercise, diet and supplementation, prescription drugs, psychological transformational tools as well as the timeless wisdom of all the great religions and philosophies.”

When it comes to the healing process, Fuchs says that should not be about jamming our bodies with pharmaceutical drugs, simply because it’s what we are told to do by a multi-billion dollar industry. Instead, it should be about letting the body do what it does best – heal itself.

“For thousands of years we medicated our bodies with foods and nutrients. My position as a pharmacist is we should be exploiting the best of the non-pharmacy. Only as a last resort should we use pharmaceutical solutions,” says Fuchs.

When you discuss the pharmaceutical industry with Fuchs, you find that for the alternative pharmacy pharmacist it’s not about a hatred of an industry. Instead, it’s a positive view of the human body and why in many cases, we should just let nature take its course.

“There are alternatives to the pharmaceutical paradigm,” says Fuchs, who believes the body’s own healing process is being overlooked. “The healing process is built into our bodies. The human body has always been a natural healing system. There are over 100,000 people who die each year from prescription drugs, drugs that do not reverse degenerative diseases. This proves drugs alone isn’t the answer.”

“The Bright Side” currently has about a dozen affiliates according to Fuchs, including Zwerling’s KOMY-AM in Santa Cruz, California; KCXL-AM in Kansas City and WPBQ-AM in Jackson, Mississippi. The show airs weekdays for one hour live from 10:00 am to 11:00 am ET. What Fuchs also has going for him is the interest, support, praise and belief of such industry movers as impresario Zwerling, GCN CEO Ted Anderson, and TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison. There seems to be a growing buzz surrounding him.

Fuchs, whose show is also streamed on the internet, gives listeners the chance to learn about alternative forms of medicines and natural healing, but also to discuss what concerns his listeners and together how to solve health problems in a language easy to understand, minus what you could call “medical terms.”

“We are told everywhere, in commercials, on billboards, from doctors and hospitals that the only alternative is to medicate. We have given clinical terms to everything because there is a profit to be made from it. Listeners to the show are looking for alternatives, and together we find them,” says Fuchs.

Fuchs believes that radio is extremely important not just for him to do the show, but to give listeners a chance to learn about alternatives to pharmaceuticals, answer their questions, and let people know if they feel the same way they are not alone.

“People who call in have great questions about nutrition and their bodies, and their questions help educate others,” says Fuchs. “I love doing ‘The Bright Side’ because it allows me to reach people I might not have been able to talk to and together we improve the health of our bodies.”

Can a program like “The Bright Side” make it in today’s competitive world of talk radio and shriveling advertising budgets? “Absolutely!” says TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison, adding, “Ben Fuchs is someone to watch in this business. He’s delivers on several levels: First, there is a significant interest in alternative health care in America. It crosses demographic and lifestyle boundaries and is indeed growing leaps and bounds. Second, there is a gigantic and thriving industry catering to this interest offering a wide variety of products to the public – products that sell well within a talk radio show context. And third, this guy has an abundance of broadcasting talent. He supplements his knowledge and passion for the subject at hand with a warm and communicative personality that touches many bases of the day-to-day human experience. Like the great ‘specialty show’ hosts in talk radio – Kim Komando, Clark Howard, Dr. Joy Browne, and of course the phenomenal Dave Ramsey – Ben Fuchs’ specialty is being able to bring much MORE than his specialty to the table.”

(EDITORS NOTE: Ben Fuchs is a registered pharmacist, nutritionist and cosmetic chemist who holds a BA in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse University and BS in Pharmacy from the University of Colorado. He has practiced as a Registered Pharmacist and Consulting Nutritionist for over 15 years, formulating nutritional products and consulting with doctors and patients since graduating from the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy in 1986. Fuchs has also lectured nationwide on the importance of the strategic use of cosmetics and nutritional supplementation for healthy skin and bodies.)

[Source: Talkers]

Jun

2013

High Fructose Corn Syrup Addiction Like Cocaine

Results presented at the 2013 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting shows that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) can cause behavioural reactions similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine.

by APRIL McCARTHY

These results, presented by addiction expert Francesco Leri, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph, suggest food addiction could explain, at least partly, the current global obesity epidemic partly caused by these ingredients.

The same brain circuits are involved when people crave high fructose corn syrup as when drug addicts think about drugs. There is significant activity in all areas of the brain, especially in the hippocampus when consuming potent sweeteners. That region is related to learning, memory and is also related to a lot of things such as sensory and motor impulse and emotional behavior.

The stimulators also sent messages of satiety to brain circuits in the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum, which have been linked to craving and desire in cocaine addicts.

High-fructose corn syrup, which is a mixture a potent concentrated cocktail of the simple sugars fructose and glucose, came into use in the 1970s and by 2010 the average American was consuming about 80 pounds of it per year. Overall, dietary intake of fructose has increased by an estimated 50 percent in the last thirty years.

Jun

2013

Insomnia And Disrupted Sleep During Menopause

Are you kidding me! Of course sleep problems are connected to heart disease in menopausal women. Problems sleeping are classic signs of adrenal production of stress (sympathetic) hormones. and nothing puts more “stress on the heart than stress hormones! That’s why one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself from heart disease or to mitigate the effects if you already have it, is to focus on adrenal health.

When the inevitable hits and a women’s ovarian hormone output slows down, a women’s adrenal glands, which also produce reproductive hormones (except at this point in a woman’s life they’re more accurately health and repair hormones) are expected to pick up the slack. They’re working hard! To give your adrenals some love, use Celtic Sea Salt or Redmond Salt or Himalayan salt. The adrenal gland LOVES minerals! Use lots of Vitamin C too and don’t forget the Zinc and Magnesium. Breath deeply and fully 5 minutes a day paying extra attention to the exhale, it’s activated by the relaxation nervous systems (parasympathetic) and mitigates some of the affects of the stress nervous system. Meditation and Yoga are great too. Us more protein to avoid low blood sugar and eat less food. And as always make sure you’re avoiding problem foods and using probiotics and easting lots of fermented foods.

Insomnia and other sleep disturbances are common among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women and may increase their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Evidence that a combination of altered sleep duration and insomnia among women ages 50-79 doubled their risk of both CHD and CVD over a period of more than 10 years is presented in an article in Journal of Women’s Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Journal of Women’s Health website.

In “Sleep Duration, Insomnia, and Coronary Heart Disease among Postmenopausal Women in the Women’s Health Initiative,” Megan Sands-Lincoln, PhD, MPH and a team of researchers from leading medical institutions across the U.S. gathered self-reported data on sleep duration and insomnia in 86,329 women 50-79 years of age. Shorter (10 hours) sleep duration and insomnia were associated with higher incidence of CHD and CVD over 10.3 years, and when considered together, the interaction risk of insomnia and sleep duration was significant.

“This is the first study to investigate interactions of sleep duration with insomnia in relation to increased risk of CHD and CVD in postmenopausal women,” says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women’s Health. [Read more: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.]

Jun

2013

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Important for the Heart

One of the most important heart supplements you can ever use is Omega-3 fatty acids. These important nutrients have gotten some bad press recently and now research comes out from The University of California, corroborating what most nutritionists have known for decades. Omega-3 fatty acids are indeed important for the heart.There is no system in the body more quickly effected by inflammation than the cardiovascular and these powerful ESSENTIAL fatty acids have well-known anti inflammatory benefits. If you have heart problems uses 2000 mg a a couple of times a day MINIMUM , but you can take a lot more. Make sure you take them with Vitamin E (400 i.u.) and it’s probably a good idea to use an omega -6 containing oil as a supplement AND as throughout the day as dressing for vegetables.

Procedures like angioplasty, stenting and bypass surgery may save lives, but they also cause excessive inflammation and scarring, which ultimately can lead to permanent disability and even death. A new research report appearing in The FASEB Journal, shows that naturally derived compounds from polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3s) may reduce the inflammation associated with these procedures to help arteries more fully and completely heal.

“Our study suggests that biologically active, naturally occurring compounds derived from omega-3 PUFAs reduce inflammation and improve the healing of blood vessels after injury,” said Michael S. Conte, M.D., a researcher involved in the work from Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and the Heart and Vascular Center at the University of California, in San Francisco, CA. “They suggest a new opportunity to improve the long-term results of cardiovascular procedures such as bypass surgery and angioplasty by the therapeutic application of this class of agents or their dietary precursors.”

May

2013

More Evidence Berries Have Health-Promoting Properties

Adding more color to your diet in the form of berries is encouraged by many nutrition experts. The protective effect of berries against inflammation has been documented in many studies. Diets supplemented with blueberries and strawberries have also been shown to improve behavior and cognitive functions in stressed young rats.

To evaluate the protective effects of berries on brain function, specifically the ability of the brain to clear toxic accumulation, researchers from the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and University of Maryland Baltimore County recently fed rats a berry diet for 2 months and then looked at their brains after irradiation, a model for accelerated aging. All of the rats were fed berries 2 months prior to radiation and then divided into two groups- one was evaluated after 36 hours of radiation and the other after 30 days.

“After 30 days on the same berry diet, the rats experienced significant protection against radiation compared to control,” said investigator Shibu Poulose, PhD. “We saw significant benefits to diets with both of the berries, and speculate it is due to the phytonutrients present.”

Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.