I am a compassionate person and physician and I have seen patients, friends and family suffer horribly from diseases and the treatments for them. I am a keen observer by nature, not always by choice, which has resulted in all the suffering I have seen-and currently in my medical practice the unhappiness that the symptoms of aging and disease cause, both physically and psychologically, in men and women- being vividly recorded in my memory banks, and indisputably has and continues to determine my mission as a physician- to KNOW- and INFORM everyone possible- how to prevent, restore, slow down and turn back the clock, rejuvenate and cure- internally and externally. That is why I am a wholistic dermatologist- because the skin is a window to what is going on inside, from health comes beauty and the side effect of creating beauty in my practice is health. So I daily, in all age groups, have the pleasure of helping to cure- internally and externally-not just treat symptoms in perpetuity, which results in my promoting and creating health as well as beauty and the greater happiness they bring- and knowing that I do what I can to prevent and lessen suffering.
So-when I happened to be home, cooking, on 2- many months apart- Sunday nights, turned on the television and it was tuned to the TV show, The Biggest Loser, which I watched, I was so profoundly disturbed by the suffering I saw that I discussed it with friends, associates and other physicians and vowed to find the time to write a blog, to spread hope to those who struggle with their weight, that there are a PLETHORA of scientifically correct ALTERNATIVE methods to lose weight and get healthy, that do NOT involve the UN-necessary suffering that I witnessed those poor contestants enduring on that show for no medical reason! That disturbing show’s marketing experts are ecstatic I am sure, that I was so moved, however I watched only those 2 episodes- I could not bear more. I only watched the second one because I wanted to be able to CLEARLY communicate to people everywhere who, like those terribly suffering show contestants, desperately want and need help and motivational methods to get started and the fastest yet safe-without all that passing out, icing joints, pain and suffering- path to change and success against weight struggles, disease and disability. I was REALLY motivated by watching, to facilitate informing everyone disheartened or not, by the show’s methods, that there is an ENTIRELY different roadmap to create much better and lifelong health- and such that from health also comes beauty- and looking as good as possible compounds everyone’s happiness in my experience-even more motivating goals!
The practice of medicine is an art as well as a science and the body is a COMPLEX piece of machinery that we only know a fraction about- which is why there are always many approaches to solve your body’s problems. The experts and the producers of The Biggest Loser have chosen their approach and the network and sponsors seem happy.
Here is what I would recommend and enact for those poor contestants-and everyone who suffers with their challenges to be THE BIGGEST WINNERS- if I were in charge. This is the wholistic-looking at the body’s problems and challenges as a whole, at all the organs together, approach, in order to assure, as much as I have control over, cure, not just treat symptoms in perpetuity, using the best, affordable, doable, available tools for the job, scientifically correct methods.
1. You are completely what you eat and your health is almost completely determined by what you CHOOSE to put in your mouth-despite your genetics. Life is meant to be lived though and perhaps contrary to what you may believe, you do NOT have to be deprived, you have to be educated, objectively and scientifically correctly-not marketed- as to what, why and how to eat, then you make informed choices and you understand the consequences of your choices. I do walks for health and beauty through certain grocery stores to help teach people how to eat, why, what is everything in the grocery store, how to use and cook it for tasty, satisfying, affordable and doable, variety, joy, health and beauty. This also instructs you as to how to make best choices if traveling and eating out, so you live life and give your body what it wants and needs for health, beauty, anti-aging, disease and weight struggle prevention.
There is also VERY importantly- psychology- and we can be very traumatized by life-and not know or recognize it- from even incidents we don’t remember. Eating can consciously and unconsciously as a result, be an action in response to unhappiness, dissatisfaction, frustration, loneliness, mistreatment, depression, anger, exhaustion, unfairness and more. Gaining and understanding this awareness must be addressed, so you don’t unconsciously self-sabotage, so you are empowered to control, choose, develop the confidence, courage and self discipline skills to make life what YOU want it to be, with YOU being the conscious, best captain of your happiness ship and EVERYONE can do this no matter where you are and at what point you are beginning. Knowledge is power!
The first thing I would do for my contestants-patients- is determine what is your blood type. I see in my practice that we all have food allergies, some of us much more sensitive to them than others, which inflame and damage our gut cells (symptoms can include gas, bloating, constipation, irritable, ulcerative, Chron’s bowel diseases and more). What food allergies do is increase internal inflammation significantly which promotes disease, aging, immune dysfunction and weakness, rosacea, acne, skin rashes and diseases, aches/pains, feeling bad, exhausted, no brain power and much more. The best guides to start with on how you should eat are- the book “Eat Right for your Blood Type”, combined with the Paleo diet and the Bali diet- but if Paleo and Bali say you should eat something that Eat Right says you shouldn’t for your blood type, then Eat Right trumps the other two in my experience. If you are not eating right for your body and genetics and increasing your body’s inflammation, disease and challenges-inflammation is the cause of all disease and aging- then weight loss can be VERY difficult to impossible, no matter how much you diet and exercise, you feel bad, have aches, pains and cramps, exercise is infinitely harder and you are aging more quickly so you don’t look so good and you probably aren’t happy, don’t sleep well nor are easy to get along with. Fat cells store inflammatory chemicals as well which makes them very hard to get rid of, increase significantly your risk of disease and your rate of aging and its symptoms.
2. I would, at the same time, determine both from clinical symptoms and blood work, the thyroid and all hormones status, complete blood work of each contestant, male and female, to determine all their hormone levels, blood sugar, level of total body inflammation, vitamins, critical nutrients, their heart, blood vessels, liver, kidney, pancreas, gastrointestinal, joint status, blood pressure, back, muscle, arthritis and past medical histories. I wanted to call and verify that the medical team for the disturbing show had done all of this, when I watched and was dumbstruck at the severity of exercise they seem to force those poor contestants to challenge fate and jump right into, with disturbing medical consequences. Just your thyroid, DHEA, testosterone, progesterone, estradiol hormone body levels- and they can be really abnormal at any age and sex-can make it almost impossible to lose weight no matter how brutal the exercise and dieting regime. So the weekly weigh in for weight loss, that all the contestants are subjected to in order to remain on the disturbing show is COMPLETELY unfair. If there is not a level hormone playing field, meaning everyone’s hormones have been optimized clinically, men cannot compete with women due to their different metabolic rates and amounts of body fat, nevermind heavy metal toxicities and SO very much more. This show is completely unfair, scientifically and psychologically WRONG in my medical opinion and experience.
There are well known physical attributes that low thyroid patients demonstrate-the skin is a window to what is going on inside-and when I watched the show, it was all I could do not to call the producers and demand as a caring human being and physician to confirm that these people had been tested. If hormone levels are askew you further can have physical and psychological symptoms that are very difficult for even the strongest person to cope with and control. AND if you have been eating all the carbs, sugars and processed fats and foods, as these poor contestants have been, you are so overgrown with fungus and bacteria in your entire body that when your diet is suddenly changed and you are removed from all these carbs and sugars, without treating the overgrowth first to reduce the fungal levels, your brain is so deprived of fuel, which is all stolen and first obtained by the overgrowth of fungus, that NO ONE can resist eating everything in sight. Also you are then so diseased and inflamed internally in every organ and joint, you do not feel-or look- well at all and certainly physically-and psychologically- are put at great risk of injury and much more, to be forced to jump in and start marathoning like they make those poor contestants do. All that pain, suffering, unfairness, passing out and icing of joints is unconscionable to me as a physician. My contestants-patients-would have as much as physiologically possible-a level hormone playing field so they all had equal opportunity to win.
3. What I would do after leveling the hormone playing field and identifying each contestant-patient’s- increased risk, due to the myriad of medical issues they have- is put the contestants on the HCG diet and have my nutritionist tailor the diet to their blood type then watch and record the weight loss, health and motivation begin. The HCG diet, done correctly, in my practice works superbly and consistently in the short and long run. The program would be concomitantly done with the expert assistance of the trainers starting appropriate exercise, then ½ to 1 pound per day of weight loss, or more, is the rule and no one is suffering. PLUS the HCG diet helps the skin tighten, so loose skin is lessened with weight loss, it makes patients feel happy while they are doing it and skin overall looks healthier and pinker and younger vs the sallow, saggy and grey of what you see on that disturbing show AND no one is hungry. Then my happier, less diseased, more energetic, more beautiful contestants will be more likely to be open to my trauma psychologist helping them help themselves exponentially more, without the browbeating and drama manufactured for the disturbing show, which I feel sure causes more trauma to the LONG suffering contestants.
One month to 40 days-the most you can do the HCG diet at one time and my feeling good, sleeping well and happy contestants are correctly weaning off the HCG diet onto the diets in #1 above. They are increasing exercise appropriately- which is further improving their growth hormone, all hormone levels, total body health, decreasing inflammation, which results in tighter and more attractive skin, hair, enhanced weight loss (conservatively my patients have all lost 30-50 pounds at least in one month with no increased suffering and injuries physical nor psychological) and consistent disease disappearance. Their exercise regimen consists of yoga for flexibility, pain and injury resolution and prevention, weight lifting to increase metabolic rate for even faster weight loss and bone building, and cardio that is varied, fun and individualized to their updated medical and musculoskeletal condition.
4. I would have already screened my contestants for specific food allergies such as gluten and many more, to began curing the skin, gut, joint and all organs and greatly decreasing inflammation symptoms; digestive enzyme deficiencies which prevent even the healthiest food from being digested, resulting in limited to no nutrient absorption and many intestinal and total body symptoms; heavy metal levels as I have shockingly found in my practice that virtually all of us are laden with them, which include aluminum, lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and sadly more-which further impedes weight loss and results among other symptoms in brains that are foggy and tired, medical problems that are almost impossible to cure with the usual treatments that normally work, immune systems that are quite compromised, hair loss, recalcitrant skin rashes, faster aging, MANY symptoms due to all cells and collagen production in the body being so negatively impacted. I have seen for example, young frequent sushi consumers with really high heavy metal levels and to quell the argument that exists of does it matter-well when my patients are treated, they significantly feel and look better, their brains work much better they describe, their energy and endurance is better, they lose weight spontaneously that they have struggled with longterm, and bothersome symptoms and diseases disappear. My belief as a physician is if the patient gets better then I must be doing the right thing.
5. I would recommend individually tailored, assured quality supplements to further maximize my contestants’ health, energy, brainpower, beauty, mood, organ function, anti-aging, prevention, detoxification and weight loss. I try to recommend the least we need, to get the most. Correct and nontoxic food is our first medicine but we cannot eat nor get enough of what we need for today’s stressful and toxic world, so some supplements are necessary. Everyone overall should be taking at least Vitamin D3 to have a blood level of 70-100, most should also be taking resveratrol-I recommend 250 mg of the trans form, R-lipoic acid 300 mg once or twice a day, omega 3’s from no heavy metal nor PCB’s fish or Krill oil 1500-2000mg per day, omega 6’s from Borage Oil 1000 mg per day, Vitamin E that has all the forms of E and the tocotrienols, Vitamin C 1000-2000 mg per day, perhaps MSM 2000-4000 mg per day, Selenium 200-400 micrograms per day, B-100 1 pill once or twice a day, perhaps digestive enzymes if needed with or without HCL depending on what testing revealed, kelp or Iodoral or Lugol’s, maybe adrenal gland support, maybe CoQ10 100-200 mg per day and lots of dark greens especially kale and dark, tart fruits for starters. All supplements are NOT created equal, you have to be VERY careful about sourcing of the raw ingredients in today’s world and everyone does not need the same ones, nor dosages, which is why it is preferable to have professional guidance.
6. My contestants would be using individually prescribed therapeutic concentration, nontoxic ingredient, skin products, chirally correct, so their skin is working maximally, at the most youthful rate possible, to tighten, lift, restore, rejuvenate and clarify. In men and women their pores get smaller, acne, scarring, brown spots, melasma, rosacea, skin tags, eczema, psoriasis, dryness diminish progressively, then over time disappear (NOTHING in the body clears overnight and the skin is the LAST place the body will dedicate its resources unless you are burned and your life is threatened, which is why skin issues always take longer to clear and cure. The blood supply to the skin is compromised over time and disease which is why you MUST put therapeutic AND nontoxic concentration of ingredients- in a chemical form that the skin can absorb, needs, recognizes- meaning has a receptor for AND which turns on a positive NOT a negative reaction, which is why there is, for instance, no glycolic acid on my contestants’ skin- ON the skin as well as IN the body otherwise the skin is starving for nutrients no matter what you take by mouth). I might very well add non-inflammatory, CONstructive peels and lasers that are best tools for the job for deeper penetration into the deep dermis where no skin product can go, to treat the entire skin otherwise their skin care house is built on a shaky not firm foundation and they will not have the best nor longevity of result. (this is a future blog)
When my contestants leave my show they have all the tools to be successful in lifelong weight control, creating beauty, health, prevention and happiness. They know people genuinely care about them and there are doable and affordable methods, solutions and options available to them no matter where they live in the world. They have been taught all the skills, how to eat, choose and cook, that are scientifically correctly what your body wants and needs- not that you have been marketed to believe is fact, that life is what you make it and can be happy no matter what, how to healthily eat, drink, live life and not suffer negative consequences, balance, moderation, defeating self sabotage and self loathing. Overall my contestants have been taught how to be “good”-meaning they follow overall what I have PROVED to them works to achieve their goals, they know how to be “good” and when they are “bad”-meaning they deviate from what nutures health and beauty then they know they are consciously choosing to be temporarily “bad” and that is OK as long as you are in control and aware. They have become aware and conscious of how being “bad” makes you feel-and look-so that becomes more motivation to be “good”, but they can be “bad” sometimes but never get out of control and overall follow the prevention, health and beauty road map. I tell my patients in the office who think they can’t do something, that first you learn what is the correct way for you, then you just get on the journey, think about it for a while then “go to boot camp” for 1-2 months (meaning doing the “right” thing for health and beauty). After that they can never return to being “bad” because it makes your body feel and look so bad after you have detoxified and been good for a month or so, that you just can’t revert.
Which show do you prefer? If you choose pain, suffering, injury, iced joints, psychological drama and trips to the emergency room-then I can recommend a great trauma psychologist for you! I want everyone to know how to have health, avoid suffering and disease-inside and out- as much as possible, be happy about the way you look and feel and have the opportunity to make life what you want it to be and struggle as little as possible-no matter where you are in the world. It’s not that hard and the choice is yours but my job, my mission, is teaching you how to do and achieve it, to understand all your options. We’ll see what that disturbing show has to say in its defense! I thank them though for the opportunity to teach you “why this vs. that”!
