Ellen Potthoff, DC, ND

Newsletter Summer 2009

Nepal

As you know from past newsletters, I went to Nepal the last part of April-early May of this year for 10 days. It was quite an experience! It has taken some time for me to be able to write about it for you, but now I am ready.

We (a small group from Naturopaths Internationa) were in Nepal treating victims of domestic violence in the shelters through Saathi (the local organization in Kathmandu). We saw about 100 patients between us. They were about a third children and 2/3s women. I was actually surprised at how healthy overall they actually were. I grew to learn out why over time being in Kathmandu. Like them, I ate the typical Nepalese diet, at least for lunch (and often for dinner too). This is dal bhaat – dal is chana dal or chick peas as a thin kind of soup over bhaat or long grain white rice. There was also a vegetable curry with a lot of potatoes. Sometimes there were different beans in the dal portion. It was always good, and freshly made, but I did grow tired of the same thing every meal. Breakfast was fruit and curds (a thick yogurt) and orthodox tea (Ilam) served by the pot in the hotel we stayed in. With a diet like this on a daily basis there is a lot of fiber and some vitamins/minerals at least. There is also not a lot of fat and no cholesterol. So the people don’t have high rates of heart disease and cancer. Mostly we saw essential fatty acid deficiency and some nutrient deficiency. The markets were full of fresh fruits and vegetables, but these women had literally no money and were supported exclusively by Saathi. Some of the sex workers we worked with did have some money, but given the wage scale in Kathmandu, not very much.

The other reason the people seemed relatively healthy was that they walked everywhere. The traffic is really awful as the roads are very narrow and built to accommodate many fewer cars. The very narrow streets around Durbar square in Patan would allow only one car to pass through at a time, if that. So, even though the sidewalks were broken, very uneven, often with things sticking up from the surface, garbage frequently, and dogs lying around on them, it was easier to walk on the sidewalk then to drive or walk on the roadway. Beside cars the roads had to transport trucks, busses, tuktuks (small open backed vehicles where people rode knee to knee facing each other in the back), bicycles, bicycle rickshaws (in some areas) and pedestrians. All of these vehicles burned petrol form India that was often adulterated and burned with at times a very black soot. The pollution was remarkable bad, so bad that I never saw the Himalayas, even from the plane. A lot people wore masks against it, but remarkably did not seem to suffer a lot of respiratory problems as a result.

What I did not see but expected to were a lot of begging children as in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. There were beggars at certain points along our standard route to the Saathi shelter, but they seemed to have their own ‘areas’. They often were missing parts of their feet (probably from leprosy). The dogs were actually the most abject. Obviously uncared for they slept during the day and seemed to rummage through the garbage at night We could hear their barking echoing in the empty streets after 10 pm when the traffic died down. They were very thin, often missing as much as half their hair and sometimes limping.

The other thing I didn’t experience was really obvious poverty. There weren’t any slums that I saw at least. The buildings seemed adequate, although they did not have central heating and it gets cold in Kathmandu in the winter. A lot of buildings were concrete construction, and strangely tall and narrow.

In treating the women and children I was also struck by how there was no complaint about their plight, and pretty uniformly it was not brought up. It was only alluded to when it was part of the reason for their current complaint. They also seemed quite happy and very physically affectionate. They really appeared to love their children.

Unfortunately, because I was dealing with the fallout from domestic violence, and because 59% of the women in the country are affected by it, I spent a lot of time in Kathmandu being unhappy with men. They didn’t seem to do a lot of work often. Women did heavy hauling, on their back, with a forehead band to help wit the load. Women experience so much back breaking labor that their backs become bent and uterine prolapse is a common occurrence.

So, all in all when I characterize my experience in Nepal I tell people it was ‘wonderful and horrible’. I saw that written on a window in Kath. – Loving every wonderful, horrible minute of life. At the time I thought it was not true, but I came to realize it applied to Kathmandu. The sensory overload of so much visual, auditory and tactile input took a long time to integrate in my system. After I got back it took about 2 weeks before I wanted to do much or talk with people much. I am only now willing to put into action some of the plans I made there. I am glad I went, but I would think twice about going to an area with garbage, pollution and horrendous traffic all at the same time. Maybe one aspect at a time might be manageable. Certainly the women, and especially the children, enjoyed the attention we paid them. The homeopathic treatments were highly effective on follow-up. It made me really glad and proud I do what I do.

If you would like to see my pictures of the trip, there are 3 separate parts – in order. Please go to (copy and paste into your browser): http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=wildorchid6&target=ALBUM&id=5350762221861953905&authkey=Gv1sRgCNCjo4_7kbSxLg&feat=email

Then: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=wildorchid6&target=ALBUM&id=5350753271725281985&authkey=Gv1sRgCMDw3pDyiq32-wE&feat=email

And lastly: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=wildorchid6&target=ALBUM&id=5350754349300082433&authkey=Gv1sRgCKGU7fX80ci2iwE&feat=email

Acidification of earth and bodies

I saw an article in the paper the other day about how the oceans of the world are experiencing an acidification process from pollution and agricultural runoff. This is apparently causing there to be dead zones in the ocean where there are no life forms.

The same process occurs in the human body as a result of the diet we consume. This is not so much related to whether the food starts out acidic in the body, like orange juice, but rather after it is metabolized whether it produces an acid or alkaline ash. For the most part all fruits and vegetables produce an alkaline ash and everything else produces an acid ash. Given that some people don’t eat any fruits or vegetables at all, it is easy to see where this acidification occurs. Unfortunately, all the diseases of modern man are related to acid body conditions. So, along with antioxidant deficiency (allowing the body to ‘rust’), essential fatty acid deficiency (due to poor choice of fat intake, and rampant inflammatory processes) we experience the breeding ground for the chronic degenerative diseases of modern man: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, even osteoporosis.

So, what is the solution? Eating more fruits and vegetables is the main fix. In addition,
Millet, buckwheat, sprouted beans and seeds, olive oil and soaked almonds are also alkaline foods. The consumer driven food industry is making it as easy as possible to make this change work. Prepackaged washed greens and even whole salads, packaged cut-up fruits also make preparation as simple as opening a bag and pouring, or opening a container and serving. All we need is the will to do so.

So, what is the impediment? Money, yes these products are more expensive than others, especially if they are organic, but what is the choice? Certainly if we get diabetes, heart disease or cancer we will be spending a lot of money, either directly on treatment or on increased insurance coverage. And what about the quality of your life at that point? I am sure you know someone with one of these illnesses. What is their experience of life? Is it what you would like to experience in the future? Because these diseases take a long time to develop it is sometimes hard to see the association.

Will power? I think it is a matter of continuing to make life-affirming choices from the grocery store to your home, everyday when facing the refrigerator deciding what to eat.

Taste? Yes, processed foods have additives that cause addictions to the products and make the product so much more appealing than just fruits and vegetables. But we have dips like humus, salsa, peanut sauce (if it works for your blood type), curry and other great sauces (check out the section at Trader Joes or Whole Foods). And, after a slight withdrawal period you will find that the pure unadulterated taste of real foods (fruits and vegetables) is truly amazing. Fortunately, being summertime, we have a plethora or great produce available.

Want reinforcement? David Kessler (the former head of the FDA) has written a book called The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite about why we become overweight. Also, the movie Food, Inc. has been released recently – is worth a viewing. You can see a trailer at http://www.foodincmovie.com/. Don’t want to know about any of this and live in blissful ignorance? It is easy to do, but very costly. It means your health, at least eventually. It also means missing the chance to make different choices that result in more energy, and vitality. That is the promise of whole unadulterated, organic produce. I hope you make it!

Weight loss program ABC wellness

I reported in a recent newsletter about ABC wellness and a new lab service they had available to find various parameters or your health with a simple, inexpensive urine test. This company also offers a special service to help with normalizing weight. It provides printouts of menus and exercise suggestions based on the results of the urine testing. It is also inexpensive and confidential. You can access customized meal plans based on your unique profile and lifestyle. The program recommends meals from 13,000 foods and includes a grocery list.
According to the website http://www.abchealthsystem.com/ch_mealplan.asp ‘The web-based application allows users to enter and maintain a personal dietary/lifestyle profile, set goals, automatically receive the recommended daily calories and select from a variety of registered diets designed meal plans and grocery lists that fit their dietary needs.
The body composition module supports periodic weight-in data as well as body fat data from any body fat testing device. This data is saved and historical reports can be generated to show changes over time and progress related to weight control and composition goals.’
All the information is available to get started on this project. The fee is $39 for 6 months of support.

Insurance inclusion

People always ask me what kind of insurance I take, and I usually have to answer none, but that insurance often covers my services, if it covers chiropractic care.

Now, I am covered through an organization that works with many of the companies that you might deal with. Healthways is the name of the organization and it works through
Aetna, Anthem, many BCBS groups, Guardian, Humana (national), Microsoft, WellCare (national), and Wellpoint Healthy Lifestyles (national). It allows you to get a 20% discount on my services, on presentation of your member ID cards. For questions or more information, please call Customer Service at 1-800-274-7526.

I hope you are enjoying this cool summer weather. It seems like we had a really protracted spring. Being from the east coast I am used to that idea. The winter always seemed to drag on forever, but then the thaw came and finally it started to get warmer.

Here, we seem to have it go from winter directly to summer with 3 days of humid spring weather in between.

I have just been loving these long warmish east-coast-like spring and summer days.

Happy summer!

Ellen Potthoff, DC, N.D.
(925) 603-7300