If any of us have told you to consume more foods that are high on the ORAC index (high in antioxidants), know that culinary herbs and spices are among the highest. Even more than regular vegetables and fruits. So I decided to geek out and put all of the indexed culinary herbs on a spreadsheet to graph out for you. Keep in mind that all fresh herbs are good but note which ones are the highest. I personally like to get my fresh organic herbs from the farmers markets. One of my favorite farms that I don’t get to often because they are only at the Santa Monica market here in LA is Coleman Family Farms. Brandon and I visited their farm years ago and their herbs truly have a lot of… “Qi.” But there are a few stands at the Hollywood market that has excellent herbs as well. Even better would be if you grow them yourself! I always put a ton of fresh herbs in my salads either mixed in with the lettuce or incorporated into a dressing (perhaps a non-dairy green goddess?). I also like to make pesto and pistou with an assortment of fresh herbs. I don’t recommend cooking fresh herbs too much as that will inactivate some of the antioxidant activity. 
 

Researchers from the CDC analyzed data from 13,155 women who had children with birth defects. They found statistically significant correlations with antibiotic use. Two classes were identified as the main culprits: sulfonamides and nitrofurantoins (commonly used to treat UTI’s e.g., Macrobid). Other classes of antibiotics such as penicillins, erythromycins and cephalosporins seemed safer and were not significantly associated with birth defects, though there were some.
 
The main point here is that we need to be very careful with indiscriminate use of antibiotics. If you are sick, it doesn’t mean you have a bacterial infection and if you have a bacterial infection it doesn’t mean that just any antibiotic will kill it. There are also a lot of people taking antibiotics prophylactically during pregnancy to prevent all sorts of things like UTI’s, etc. I think this study is a wake up call. We should only use antibiotics when they are necessary and when we know that the organism is susceptible to the particular antibiotic.
 
Also note, that the women they looked at included women who took antibiotics one month before becoming pregnant. Prevention is the best medicine and during pregnancy there are many things you can do that have been proven to optimize your immune system such as acupuncture, good food choices, moderate exercise and stress relief.
 
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2009; 163 (11): 978

Gluten sensitivity is a known risk factor for recurrent miscarriages. However, until recently we weren’t sure whether it was the gluten itself causing it or the some other factor associated with gluten sensitivity. In this study they investigated the effects of a gluten free diet on recurrent miscarriages and they found that you can greatly reduce your risk of pregnancy loss by avoiding wheat (and all gluten sources) if you have a gluten sensitivity.
 
Dig Dis Sci. 2008 Nov;53(11):2925-8

If you’ve been to one of our seminars on improving ovarian function, we frequenty recommend various vegetables and juices and we often incorporate carrots. There are many reasons for this, but in this study they showed that a vitamin A deficiency can prevent your eggs from maturing properly. Now if you plan on eating tons of carrots, keep in mind that carrots don’t directly supply much vitamin A, you have to be able to convert the b-carotene to vitamin A. If you directly take a vitamin A supplement, it’s easy to get poisoned in which case you end up damaging your reproduction among other things. So this is where we not only stress diet, but also improving absorption and metabolism and this is one of the places where acupuncture can be extremely useful.
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Biol Reprod. 2009 Jul 8.

In this disturbing study, chicks exposed to mobile phone radiation had a 75% miscarriage rate. Chicks not exposed had only a 16% miscarriage rate. Now a chick is much smaller than we are, so we would have to use a mobile phone the size of a small elephant to get the same relative intensity of exposure. However, in this study their exposure was only for 21 days and our exposures are much longer than that. While this study certainly is far from being conclusive for humans, nonetheless it is very disturbing and if you are pregnant, I would recommend keeping your cell phones on airplane mode or off entirely. Turn them on when you need to make a call … that’s what I do. If you absolutely have to be reached then get a pager and keep it away from your belly.
 
Radiats Biol Radioecol. 2003 Sep-Oct;43(5):541-3.

Many people assume that their cell phones, laptops and all the other electronic gadgets they keep around them are safe. However, more and more, research is showing that there are a variety of hazards associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). In this study they demonstrated that EMFs can significantly increase the incidence of hyperploidy. Down Syndrome is one example of hyperploidy.
 
Mutagenesis. 1997 Sep;12(5):347-51.

I love this study. A perfect example of data manipulation. I actually cut and pasted the abstract below. The conclusion of the study stated that “Our data show that the 900 MHz EMF exposure, at least under our experimental conditions, does not appear to affect endocrine functions in men.” However, if you read it you’ll notice that growth hormone was reduced by 28% and cortisol was reduced by 12%. However, levels returned to normal when cell phone usage was discontinued…. Ok, so how many people use cell phones for a month and then discontinue using them? … that would be almost noone. These authors clearly had an agenda or were funded by a cell phone company.
 
Fortunately, we have the actual data (assuming it wasn’t also manipulated) and it showed that when you use cell phones, growth hormone levels and cortisol levels decrease dramatically. Consider that growth hormone is involved in tissue repair and in “anti-aging”. Cortisol helps control inflammation, anxiety, etc. So when you are using a cell-phone regularly or even a cordless 900mhz phone, you are accelerating aging and degenerative disease. If you have questions about this, you can call us, but use a land line .
 
Radiat Res. 2008 Mar;169(3):337-43

abstract from medline:
Influence of electromagnetic fields emitted by GSM-900 cellular telephones on the circadian patterns of gonadal, adrenal and pituitary hormones in men.
Djeridane Y, Touitou Y, de Seze R.

Faculté de Médecine Pierre et Marie Curie, Service de Biochimie Médicale et Biologie Moléculaire, INSERM U713, 75013, Paris, France.

The potential health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMFs) emitted by mobile phones are currently of considerable public interest. The present study investigated the effect of exposure to 900 MHz GSM radiofrequency radiation on steroid (cortisol and testosterone) and pituitary (thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone, prolactin and adrenocorticotropin) hormone levels in 20 healthy male volunteers. Each subject was exposed to RF EMFs through the use of a cellular phone for 2 h/day, 5 days/ week, for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected hourly during the night and every 3 h during the day. Four sampling sessions were performed at 15-day intervals: before the beginning of the exposure period, at the middle and the end of the exposure period, and 15 days later. Parameters evaluated included the maximum serum concentration, the time of this maximum, and the area under the curve for hormone circadian patterns. Each individual’s pre-exposure hormone concentration was used as his control. All hormone concentrations remained within normal physiological ranges. The circadian profiles of prolactin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropin and testosterone were not disrupted by RF EMFs emitted by mobile phones. For growth hormone and cortisol, there were significant decreases of about 28% and 12%, respectively, in the maximum levels when comparing the 2-week (for growth hormone and cortisol) and 4-week (for growth hormone) exposure periods to the pre-exposure period, but no difference persisted in the postexposure period. Our data show that the 900 MHz EMF exposure, at least under our experimental conditions, does not appear to affect endocrine functions in men.

A very interesting study conducted on 900 Mhz frequencies found that they reduced thyroid function in rats. 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week for 4 weeks only. Compare this to the average person talking on the cell phone for hours a day seven days per week, 52 weeks per year for many years. By the way, regular cordless phones are also frequently at 900Mhz, so these can also cause problems. Now other frequencies are being used as well, but we don’t yet have data on how they may be affecting us. Note that the study said it “lowers TSH and T4 and T3″, but they probably meant that it raises TSH and lowers T4, T3. Regardless, T3 is the more active form so if that is reduced then your thyroid function is reduced.
 
Toxicol Lett. 2005 Jul 4;157(3):257-62.

I have many patients that want to get pregnant and lose weight at the same time. This is generally a bad idea (at least how most people do it). It has been my clinical observation that people who were dieting (esp. through caloric restriction) did not get pregnant as easily. This study confirmed my clinical observations. They found that a hormone that produces hunger in the body (Ghrelin), suppresses LH in rats. Suppressing LH can translate into ovulatory problems, and we (the reproductive medicine community) currently believe if you aren’t ovulating, you won’t get pregnant. In this study they found that fasting (i.e., caloric restriction) made it even worse. Having said this, there are ways to lose weight and improve your fertility at the same time, but this has to be done carefully. One way is through metabolic typing.
 
Neurosci Lett. 2009 May 27

There is mounting evidence that high levels of folic acid can increase cancer risks. Prior studies had shown prostate cancer risks increasing and now a study suggests that breast cancer risks may be higher if your folate intake is high. This is troublesome since it was done in pre-menopausal women. This becomes very problematic where patients have certain genetic issues like MTHFR polymorphisms that require higher folate intake. If you are trying to get pregnant, they recommend a minimum of 800mcg, but usually people take 1mg. So if you are trying to get pregnant, more folate is not necessarily better.
 
BMC Cancer. 2009 Apr 24;9(1):122