You may have heard that Susan has suffered a stroke. It saddens me to tell you that this is true. I know you join me in wishing her well and I thank you greatly for your love and prayers. I cannot thank you enough. She is expected to make a full recovery, but that will take time.

Susan has helped a lot of us over the years and now she needs our help. One question that may be on your minds is, “what will happen to Susan’s office until she returns?” Well, that may be up to us, her patients. It struck me very gravely that my children need me to be very healthy, especially now. So, I would like to invite you to join me in rededicating myself to do what Susan had instructed me to do nutritionally and lifestyle-wise. Let’s follow the advice she gave us: let’s take our vitamins. Get healthy. Stay that way, because there are people that need you. Your family needs you and the community needs you.

And by improving your own health, you will help keep Susan’s office open until she returns. She will return, because we all want her to be there when we need her. Now, the best way we can help her is to follow the personal instructions she gave each of us to TAKE OUR VITAMINS.

We want to help you stay close to the ones you love.

Sincerely,

Paul Player

I had a rude reminder this past week that all the people on planet Earth don’t yet know to AVOID using aluminum cookware. Here is a heads-up, as you perhaps have Thanksgiving dinner planned at a restaurant or a relative’s or friend’s home. Even many people who don’t usually use aluminum cookware sometimes compromise with turkey roasting pans or purchased pies.

Taking some extra vitamin C can help to counteract the incoming aluminum to minimize its detrimental effects on your body.

Core Level C-TR or Pedia C (for kids) from Nutri-West are both excellent supplemental sources of vitamin C. They are available at our office if you don’t already have them. The dosage would vary depending on how much aluminum intake occurs. Usually 1 – 3 near the time of the meal is good, although you may need to up to 6 or so if all or most of the foods are prepared in aluminum cookware.

~Susan

I had an eye-opening experience when I did my recent grocery shopping. I compared prices on a small sample of organic foods between a big grocer and our local independent health food store. Except for the yogurt, all the other items were less expensive at the health food store, sometimes by a large amount. A three pound bag of organic Gala apples was $2 cheaper at the health food store! I truly was shocked. Having a “reputation” for being more expensive isn’t always based on fact.

Do your own comparison shopping and let me know what you find out.

Also be sure to have the list of high-pesticide foods handy when you are shopping so you spend your “organic pennies” wisely. The list may be found at:

http://www.drplayer.com/blog/2006/03/when_you_cant_buy_all_organic_1.html

~Susan

This is another clue that you can use to determine if there is an imbalance in the body before it turns into a bigger problem.

Other indicators of possible large intestine dysfunction are dark circles under the eyes, less than three bowel movements per day, and soreness if you squeeze the web muscle between the thumb and index finger. If you have these conditions, let me know at your next appointment so we can get your body working better.

~Susan

I don’t know about you, but I get fed up with all the drug ads that are in most magazines. At one point I had been receiving free copies of Reader’s Digest at the office. After I tore out the drug ad pages, about half the magazine was missing!

There is a publication company whose magazines have NO drug ads at all and only a few ads in total. The company is called Reiman Publications (www.reimanpub.com). They have about ten different magazines including Country, Reminisce, Birds and Blooms, and Backyard Living. Their magazines have beautiful color photos and interesting and uplifting articles. My current favorite is Country which I have available at my office.

If you want something that points out the better parts of life and the beauty around us they are a great option. With Christmas coming up, they make great gifts for relatives as well.

~Susan

If you find that you are having stress reactions to the changes in the economy, I want to remind you that it is really important to keep doing the things that are successful in keeping yourself healthy. This isn’t the time to stop taking the supplements that have tested as beneficial for you. In fact, you may benefit from adding or increasing two nutrients in particular.

Core Level Magnesium helps the nervous system and muscles to relax. Core Level Thiamine is a B vitamin that is especially depleted during stressful times. Together, they can decrease or eliminate feeling on edge, not sleeping well, and being quick to anger.

When you are calm, sleeping well, and higher toned you are able to come up with creative solutions to problems.

Be sure to keep yourself well!
~Susan

Many conditions that children are given antibiotics for, such as ear and throat infections, can be easily addressed with natural remedies. Let’s help their future health and keep antibiotic use ONLY for those rare instances were they are truly needed.

~Susan

One of my very good friends is a big tea drinker. I am always amazed by how quickly her water heats up. She is barely gone from the table, and “poof” she is back again with her hot tea. She uses an electric tea pot (AKA electric tea kettle) to heat up her water. There are many styles available online, priced from about $20-50. I would recommend getting a stainless steel one.

For my die-hards who refuse to get rid of their microwave ovens in order to heat up their tea or coffee quickly, this may be the item needed to get you onto a totally microwave-free life! The quickly boiled water can also make noodle cooking much faster.
~Susan

In all of these patients’ situations, having the correct information makes a difference regarding how we will manage some immediate symptoms, as well as making the needed changes to avoid having potentially serious health problems in the future.

If you ever need help getting your test results, let me know. We have a form that you can fill out that is effective.

~Susan

Some of my patients have noticed that I recently switched to Mountain Valley spring water at my office. This brand of water is delivered in glass bottles which is what I have always recommended as best.

In the last few months there has been research released regarding the #7 recycled bottles (the large 5 gallon plastic bottles are made from this). A chemical in that type of plastic called bisphenol-A (BPA) has been possibly linked to some health problems.

I am still researching this, but in the meantime decided to make the switch at the office. The downsides are that this water is more than double in cost and the bottles are HEAVY. At home, I am still using the spring water in the #7 bottles. Sometime soon I will do a full article on my findings in the NewsPlayer newsletter.

~Susan

Recent conversations with two of my patients reminded me of a basic action I recommend one do to improve one’s sleep. It’s as simple as this: don’t watch TV, especially before bedtime. I have always recommended little or no TV, especially for children. I also recommend not watching TV news programs. In addition to the actual news frequently being upsetting, the methods used to deliver news items on TV (and also radio) add to the upsetting quality of the information.

One of the women was having trouble sleeping for months. The last 6 days when she stopped watching TV before going to bed, she has gotten to sleep easily and slept soundly for 7-8 hours. It makes a world of difference to get a good night’s sleep! Try this and let me know how much it helps you.

~Susan