FYI: For about three weeks, several people on gettr.com recommended a book called HOME DOCTOR (with the subtitle Practical Medicine for Every Household). It was a waste of money. Let the buyer beware.
Amazon doesn't show a preview. I've noticed that's often a clue for poor quality. A lot of poor reviews. One reviewer notes the book says no treatment available for dementia, cites bredesen. Another says it has good graphics on anatomy but no remedies.
You can still afford grass fed beef? I grab it when on sale and freeze it, but we have migrated to organ meats (liver, kidneys, thymus glands) diet, with lots of free range roast chicken in-between. You can grow root crops (potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips) and they store well over winter, and squash is good to have in the garden (winter and summer versions). Green and runner beans, and peas. Corn if you must. Herbs (thyme, rosemary, lavender, parsley, basil, sage, chamomile - medicinal also). Onions, garlic, and lots of cheap reading glasses (of various magnifications). Colloidal silver for internal/external antibiotic/wound-healing. Hoarding the vet medications (clavamox, ampicillin), bandages and dressing. Looking into a wood burning stove that allows for cooking also. And a solar powered generator. And a bicycle. Indoors you can grow pineapple, tomatoes, peppers. The plants of the nightshade family may not work for all. Berries/currants can be dried. One thing to keep in mind - salt. Essential for life and figure 1lb/year/person (gray Celtic with seaweed preferable). Iodine, hand-crank radio (ham radio +++ when sh*t hits fan nobody cares about a license). Chickens are easy to keep lay 1 egg a day each, no cockerel needed. Goats are easy, sweet, and provide milk, butter, cheese, and ultimately meat. And they eat the stuff nobody else wants. Just keep them fenced in. Cats for keeping vermin out, dogs for security (and warmth on cold winter nights). Hooks and lines for fishing, drops to add to water for purification. Diatomaceous earth for keeping chickens clean, bugs out of house. Cedar oil for fleas, mange, ants. That's off the top of my head. Ideally have/produce more than you need - for bartering. A water barrel to collect rainwater also.
Thanks. Yes, I picked a bad time to switch to carnivore. But everything has gotten expensive. I think my meat expenses are less than my gasoline. But organs are still cheap here, too. I live in a small mountain community with a private spring fed water system, so I think we'll be okay for water, but I need to make sure we get backup power for the pumps. My diet worry is a lot of veggies have high oxalates which I don't seem to process well, so one of my criteria for my food storage is low oxalates. When SHTF I don't expect everything my way, but I'm trying to design a system that has best nutrients and least side effects. Chickens and goats sounds fun. I told my wife if times get hard we can eat the dogs. She says I'll go first.
It may become time for MANY people to open their minds and recall that America had a thriving Homoeopathic following with hospitals and medical schools before the pharmaceutical companies shut it down. There are a few histories that describe the details pretty well on-line.
Naturopathic remedies are often just as good, they are in many cases the blueprints for the patent medicines that are acetylated or hydrolized versions of the active ingredient in the expensive tablets.
Then those who want to go a bit more fringe can look into acupuncture, osteopathy, and a long list of other things perhaps ending with Reiki for those so inclined.
Chronic medication will be a real problem for Thyroid diseases and Diabetes.
Once you accept doctors do not know everything your thoughts start to make new connections and the idea that supplementation of Vitamin-D3 top reach natural serum levels will reduce over 80 diseases (adequate Magnesium is a cofactor for full benefits). A UV lamp properly used can provide the same in winter as sunshine in summer. Elimination of Fructose (Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup) can reverse a bunch of other diseases. Cutting back on Omega-6 fats to a few grammes per day from the usual USA diet of 20 grammes can reverse a bunch more, sometimes Type-2 Diabetes and halt coronary disease progress and if not too advanced I was just recently told that it can reverse maccular degeneration.
I think it would be cool if you could team up with a nutrition specialist and ask them for selections on what to hoard. Butter fat, grain fed drippings, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Linseed Oils are at the top of the healthy list. One prepper suggested Sun flower seeds but to be eaten sprouted as raw food, may be healthier as the dry seed has lots of bad omega-6 oils.
I have been digging into Vitamin-D3 for a while even before the plague and can answer questions if you want. I have collected some medical research for those that are interested.
I didn't see a way to ask questions in your wiki. I learned from Carolyn Dean (who sells magnesium) in "Magnesium Miracle" that vitamin D metabolism consumes magnesium. Many people are deficient in Mg, so high doses of D can exacerbate that, and that deficiency in Mg might make D unavailable. I had Mg deficiency symptoms and adding Mg cleared them up. But Mg is bound by oxalates in some vegetables, so I had a vicious cycle going on, initially taking high doses of Mg with no effect, until I cut out oxalate foods, then everything started working right. Our bodies like everything balanced. Just adding more of one element won't necessarily give the desired outcome. All my doctors never figured that out by the way, I had to research and treat myself. Yes, we can do it.
By the way, what level of D in the blood do you recommend? I saw reports in 2020 that covid deaths all had D below about 40 or 50, though I doubt many were actually measured. I've tried to keep mine above 60, most recent test was 78 so I dialed back 1000 iu. I test couple times a year.
The general consensus is that humans should aim to have a serum level of around 50ng/ml=125nmol/l with a happy range of 40-100ng/ml=100-250nmol/l. Those equatorial pastoral folk who are amongst the healthiest have an average serum level of just below 50ng/ml and when pregnant just above 50ng/ml with variation around that. This same set of natural levels are also shown to work against covid in the trials tht have been done. Please always use units when mentioning numbers, they differ in different parts of the world.
It has also been studies that maternal breast-milk has enough for the child but only when the mother is replete. Those on high dose Vitamin-D3 therapies and fall pregnant have anecdotally described very strong muscle tone amongst their newborn babies who are alert and hold up their heads at birth.
Vitamin-D3 hydroxylation enzymes need Magnesium and the gene expression that they control does as well so we should get enough to gain the full benefit. A balanced diet is optimal but very hard for urban populations to achieve so the deficient nutrients that are the most important should be focussed on as well.
Trial results can be seen at vdmeta.com and some other related ones at my link in the comment above.
I'm a big fan of measurement and get comprehensive lab work several times a year. My doctors zero in on a few items, but always go with the standard ranges, which are often too low. For D, my lab considers low to be less than 30 ng/ml, so they never mention it. I read my reports and make my own judgements of what needs to be tweaked. Also, docs look at the most recent report, sometimes comparing with the most recent prior report if they're especially diligent. I record mine in spreadsheets so longer term trends are visible and sho those to the docs to demand their attention. That helps. We really need to change the expectations for medical training and practice to consider nutrient levels more thoroughly. They resist that because their profits improve when we get sick, not healthy. "Health care" is a sadistic misnomer.
Equatorial people have the advantage of a lot more sun, and a lot more skin exposure. Some fabrics block uv more than others, and are actually marketed to reduce exposure. Maybe we can get others to market clothes that actually enhance the uv to improve everyone's D levels. Whole body tans while fully clothed! Too much sun can induce some cancers, but too little vitamin D can, too. We need to find the right balance. It would be good if we could get a wearable sensor that measures sun exposure and sends an alarm when you're behind the curve, or overdoing it.
An interesting book that compares western medicine and older eastern medicines, especially acupuncture, is "The Spark In The Machine." It demonstrates that traditional medicines had it right, just didn't know why. Modern science ability to observe our chemistry in more detail actually confirms traditional approaches. But establishment medicine is a guild, and viciously defends its turf, often improperly, as we have seen in the covid disaster. I use and value the services of MDs, and an acupuncturist, and a naturopath. I also follow advice from disgruntled MDs who don't mind defying the orthodoxies, and are actually more frustrated by the obstinance of the bureaucracy than are the victims of conventional medicine. Patients need to be more assertive in managing our health care, not just blindly follow mysterious directives from any practitioner.
I hadn't even thought of acupuncture until you mentioned it. Ten treatments reduced my chronic pain considerably. The acupuncturist told me that most of her business was VA referrals for veterans with PTSD.
I had a lot of acupuncture treatments for neck pain, always helped for a few days. Recently I determined that honey causes it, or at least exacerbates it. I record everything I eat, and keep a pretty stable diet, so when I get symptoms for something I first check my log and see what changed. Clues, not definitive, but I eliminate foods, check results, restart to check relapse, eventually confirm a new sensitivity. I've tried regular honey and raw, same effect. I don't know why. Apparently an allergic reaction since honey is supposed to be anti-inflammatory. Still investigating, but no honey, no acupuncture, and neck is fine.
I assumed the neck was arthritis, which is usually an inflammatory condition. It ate one of my hips, so I'm researching it, working on an article. One of my dogs was diagnosed with advanced arthritis, became almost crippled. We give him fish oil, glucosamine and NMN, and he's walking like a puppy. Vet is mystified.
"Vet is mystified", that is so sweet, the common doctor often is indifferent in most such cases and not interested enough to even be curious.
I have read mention that honey should be sourced locally as it differs subtly depending on the local airspace that the bees and you both inhabit. Not sure if it will make a difference in your case but might be worth a test if you have not done so before. This obviously presupposes you are not to deep into an urban area where no bees are farmed.
That's a great idea! I'll shop around. I get mine at Costco, so it likely comes from far away.
Our vet is very good, but like all docs is constrained by training and standards. She prescribed the glucosamine and fish oil, but with the damage seen in the x-rays it shouldn't have made much difference. I've been using NMN several years on advice from David Sinclair in Lifespan. It's not yet "proven" but extends lifespans of lab mice considerably. My hair has gotten a lot darker since I've been taking it, so it seems to be doing something. I'll give you more definitive report in 20 or 30 years. So, I figured if it helps lab mice and me, why not try it on my crippled dog. He got much better, quickly. Maybe a miracle, maybe the NMN works.
Thanks Kalle for the Wealth of information. Sunflower seeds (along with pumpkin seeds) are nutritionally important - you have to keep the birds away alas. Homeopathic needs a specialist in that, but very valuable. Naturopathic our grandparents used as local home grown meds. Osteopaths (good ones) can fix animals and people. Butter is underestimated, and drippings. Vit D is available for free May-September, and well-sourced fish oil in the other months.
I avoid all oils. I began my escape from medical tyranny 3 years ago after escalating meds and procedures for a deteriorating heart condition led me to Esselstyn (How To Prevent And Reverse Heart Disease) who forbids all oils. Later I found a clearer explanation of why that works from Saladino (Carnivore Code) with analysis of detailed research showing why the combination of fats and oils produces atherosclerosis. I'm on a high fat diet now and my arteries are much younger than I am.
Some vits are only fat solvable. All fats are not equal. We understand now the value of animal fats. I am very glad you escaped medical tyranny (and it is literally tyranny) and consume a high fat diet. Your arteries are clapping for you! Ironic bc it's the opposite of the standard operational procedure. Wonder why. Stay well and stay strong. Thank you for today's post. The west world is pivoting and I think you are ahead of the curve.
Typo in my last note. "Fats and oils" should say fat and insulin is the risky combo. Esselstyn observed oils are a problem so banned all fats, especially oils. Also complains popular low fat diets are typically 30 or 40 %, which isn't really low fat. Esselstyn wants 10%. Saladino just wants low insulin, which is the root of varying degrees of metabolic dysfunction in over 80% of the population. He has a deep discussion of blood lipids. I get tested frequently, have seen my LDL and cholesterol rise, which terrifies my cardiologists. But my HDL is higher than ever, and triglycerides the lowest, and testosterone is back to normal. So all that LDL is working as advertised. No statins, and happy.
Anybody wants a detailed description of fat metabolism will enjoy "Good Calories Bad Calories" by Taube. Fat is really a critical component of our health, and only accumulates to obesity when we overdose on carbs.
Good stuff David. Fats (basic unprocessed} are our friends. Low insulin can be managed by the carb intake (slow fibrous vs instanoodles). Rice cooked and refrigerated for a day, and the next day, and the next. is low gluten. High cholesterol (and they keep moving the goalposts) is not to be feared. The whole cholesterol /artery clog is a myth fabricated by pharma.
Yes, pharma, and the fast food industry. But they're just catering to their customers. People are addicted to fats and oils and carbs. I blame the government for supporting industry instead of consumers.
FYI: For about three weeks, several people on gettr.com recommended a book called HOME DOCTOR (with the subtitle Practical Medicine for Every Household). It was a waste of money. Let the buyer beware.
Thanks for the heads up. I have the Doctors' Book Of Home Remedies 30 years old now but still logical.
Amazon doesn't show a preview. I've noticed that's often a clue for poor quality. A lot of poor reviews. One reviewer notes the book says no treatment available for dementia, cites bredesen. Another says it has good graphics on anatomy but no remedies.
You can still afford grass fed beef? I grab it when on sale and freeze it, but we have migrated to organ meats (liver, kidneys, thymus glands) diet, with lots of free range roast chicken in-between. You can grow root crops (potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips) and they store well over winter, and squash is good to have in the garden (winter and summer versions). Green and runner beans, and peas. Corn if you must. Herbs (thyme, rosemary, lavender, parsley, basil, sage, chamomile - medicinal also). Onions, garlic, and lots of cheap reading glasses (of various magnifications). Colloidal silver for internal/external antibiotic/wound-healing. Hoarding the vet medications (clavamox, ampicillin), bandages and dressing. Looking into a wood burning stove that allows for cooking also. And a solar powered generator. And a bicycle. Indoors you can grow pineapple, tomatoes, peppers. The plants of the nightshade family may not work for all. Berries/currants can be dried. One thing to keep in mind - salt. Essential for life and figure 1lb/year/person (gray Celtic with seaweed preferable). Iodine, hand-crank radio (ham radio +++ when sh*t hits fan nobody cares about a license). Chickens are easy to keep lay 1 egg a day each, no cockerel needed. Goats are easy, sweet, and provide milk, butter, cheese, and ultimately meat. And they eat the stuff nobody else wants. Just keep them fenced in. Cats for keeping vermin out, dogs for security (and warmth on cold winter nights). Hooks and lines for fishing, drops to add to water for purification. Diatomaceous earth for keeping chickens clean, bugs out of house. Cedar oil for fleas, mange, ants. That's off the top of my head. Ideally have/produce more than you need - for bartering. A water barrel to collect rainwater also.
Thanks. Yes, I picked a bad time to switch to carnivore. But everything has gotten expensive. I think my meat expenses are less than my gasoline. But organs are still cheap here, too. I live in a small mountain community with a private spring fed water system, so I think we'll be okay for water, but I need to make sure we get backup power for the pumps. My diet worry is a lot of veggies have high oxalates which I don't seem to process well, so one of my criteria for my food storage is low oxalates. When SHTF I don't expect everything my way, but I'm trying to design a system that has best nutrients and least side effects. Chickens and goats sounds fun. I told my wife if times get hard we can eat the dogs. She says I'll go first.
It may become time for MANY people to open their minds and recall that America had a thriving Homoeopathic following with hospitals and medical schools before the pharmaceutical companies shut it down. There are a few histories that describe the details pretty well on-line.
Naturopathic remedies are often just as good, they are in many cases the blueprints for the patent medicines that are acetylated or hydrolized versions of the active ingredient in the expensive tablets.
Then those who want to go a bit more fringe can look into acupuncture, osteopathy, and a long list of other things perhaps ending with Reiki for those so inclined.
Chronic medication will be a real problem for Thyroid diseases and Diabetes.
Once you accept doctors do not know everything your thoughts start to make new connections and the idea that supplementation of Vitamin-D3 top reach natural serum levels will reduce over 80 diseases (adequate Magnesium is a cofactor for full benefits). A UV lamp properly used can provide the same in winter as sunshine in summer. Elimination of Fructose (Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup) can reverse a bunch of other diseases. Cutting back on Omega-6 fats to a few grammes per day from the usual USA diet of 20 grammes can reverse a bunch more, sometimes Type-2 Diabetes and halt coronary disease progress and if not too advanced I was just recently told that it can reverse maccular degeneration.
I think it would be cool if you could team up with a nutrition specialist and ask them for selections on what to hoard. Butter fat, grain fed drippings, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Linseed Oils are at the top of the healthy list. One prepper suggested Sun flower seeds but to be eaten sprouted as raw food, may be healthier as the dry seed has lots of bad omega-6 oils.
I have been digging into Vitamin-D3 for a while even before the plague and can answer questions if you want. I have collected some medical research for those that are interested.
https://cholecalciferol.miraheze.org/wiki/DOI
I didn't see a way to ask questions in your wiki. I learned from Carolyn Dean (who sells magnesium) in "Magnesium Miracle" that vitamin D metabolism consumes magnesium. Many people are deficient in Mg, so high doses of D can exacerbate that, and that deficiency in Mg might make D unavailable. I had Mg deficiency symptoms and adding Mg cleared them up. But Mg is bound by oxalates in some vegetables, so I had a vicious cycle going on, initially taking high doses of Mg with no effect, until I cut out oxalate foods, then everything started working right. Our bodies like everything balanced. Just adding more of one element won't necessarily give the desired outcome. All my doctors never figured that out by the way, I had to research and treat myself. Yes, we can do it.
By the way, what level of D in the blood do you recommend? I saw reports in 2020 that covid deaths all had D below about 40 or 50, though I doubt many were actually measured. I've tried to keep mine above 60, most recent test was 78 so I dialed back 1000 iu. I test couple times a year.
The general consensus is that humans should aim to have a serum level of around 50ng/ml=125nmol/l with a happy range of 40-100ng/ml=100-250nmol/l. Those equatorial pastoral folk who are amongst the healthiest have an average serum level of just below 50ng/ml and when pregnant just above 50ng/ml with variation around that. This same set of natural levels are also shown to work against covid in the trials tht have been done. Please always use units when mentioning numbers, they differ in different parts of the world.
It has also been studies that maternal breast-milk has enough for the child but only when the mother is replete. Those on high dose Vitamin-D3 therapies and fall pregnant have anecdotally described very strong muscle tone amongst their newborn babies who are alert and hold up their heads at birth.
Vitamin-D3 hydroxylation enzymes need Magnesium and the gene expression that they control does as well so we should get enough to gain the full benefit. A balanced diet is optimal but very hard for urban populations to achieve so the deficient nutrients that are the most important should be focussed on as well.
Trial results can be seen at vdmeta.com and some other related ones at my link in the comment above.
I'm a big fan of measurement and get comprehensive lab work several times a year. My doctors zero in on a few items, but always go with the standard ranges, which are often too low. For D, my lab considers low to be less than 30 ng/ml, so they never mention it. I read my reports and make my own judgements of what needs to be tweaked. Also, docs look at the most recent report, sometimes comparing with the most recent prior report if they're especially diligent. I record mine in spreadsheets so longer term trends are visible and sho those to the docs to demand their attention. That helps. We really need to change the expectations for medical training and practice to consider nutrient levels more thoroughly. They resist that because their profits improve when we get sick, not healthy. "Health care" is a sadistic misnomer.
Equatorial people have the advantage of a lot more sun, and a lot more skin exposure. Some fabrics block uv more than others, and are actually marketed to reduce exposure. Maybe we can get others to market clothes that actually enhance the uv to improve everyone's D levels. Whole body tans while fully clothed! Too much sun can induce some cancers, but too little vitamin D can, too. We need to find the right balance. It would be good if we could get a wearable sensor that measures sun exposure and sends an alarm when you're behind the curve, or overdoing it.
An interesting book that compares western medicine and older eastern medicines, especially acupuncture, is "The Spark In The Machine." It demonstrates that traditional medicines had it right, just didn't know why. Modern science ability to observe our chemistry in more detail actually confirms traditional approaches. But establishment medicine is a guild, and viciously defends its turf, often improperly, as we have seen in the covid disaster. I use and value the services of MDs, and an acupuncturist, and a naturopath. I also follow advice from disgruntled MDs who don't mind defying the orthodoxies, and are actually more frustrated by the obstinance of the bureaucracy than are the victims of conventional medicine. Patients need to be more assertive in managing our health care, not just blindly follow mysterious directives from any practitioner.
Thanks very much for the tips and the link!
I hadn't even thought of acupuncture until you mentioned it. Ten treatments reduced my chronic pain considerably. The acupuncturist told me that most of her business was VA referrals for veterans with PTSD.
I had a lot of acupuncture treatments for neck pain, always helped for a few days. Recently I determined that honey causes it, or at least exacerbates it. I record everything I eat, and keep a pretty stable diet, so when I get symptoms for something I first check my log and see what changed. Clues, not definitive, but I eliminate foods, check results, restart to check relapse, eventually confirm a new sensitivity. I've tried regular honey and raw, same effect. I don't know why. Apparently an allergic reaction since honey is supposed to be anti-inflammatory. Still investigating, but no honey, no acupuncture, and neck is fine.
I assumed the neck was arthritis, which is usually an inflammatory condition. It ate one of my hips, so I'm researching it, working on an article. One of my dogs was diagnosed with advanced arthritis, became almost crippled. We give him fish oil, glucosamine and NMN, and he's walking like a puppy. Vet is mystified.
"Vet is mystified", that is so sweet, the common doctor often is indifferent in most such cases and not interested enough to even be curious.
I have read mention that honey should be sourced locally as it differs subtly depending on the local airspace that the bees and you both inhabit. Not sure if it will make a difference in your case but might be worth a test if you have not done so before. This obviously presupposes you are not to deep into an urban area where no bees are farmed.
That's a great idea! I'll shop around. I get mine at Costco, so it likely comes from far away.
Our vet is very good, but like all docs is constrained by training and standards. She prescribed the glucosamine and fish oil, but with the damage seen in the x-rays it shouldn't have made much difference. I've been using NMN several years on advice from David Sinclair in Lifespan. It's not yet "proven" but extends lifespans of lab mice considerably. My hair has gotten a lot darker since I've been taking it, so it seems to be doing something. I'll give you more definitive report in 20 or 30 years. So, I figured if it helps lab mice and me, why not try it on my crippled dog. He got much better, quickly. Maybe a miracle, maybe the NMN works.
I have gotten great results from some Homeopathic medicines and Ayurvedic medicine has provided me with relief from allergies.
Thanks Kalle for the Wealth of information. Sunflower seeds (along with pumpkin seeds) are nutritionally important - you have to keep the birds away alas. Homeopathic needs a specialist in that, but very valuable. Naturopathic our grandparents used as local home grown meds. Osteopaths (good ones) can fix animals and people. Butter is underestimated, and drippings. Vit D is available for free May-September, and well-sourced fish oil in the other months.
Don't cook with linseed oil.
I avoid all oils. I began my escape from medical tyranny 3 years ago after escalating meds and procedures for a deteriorating heart condition led me to Esselstyn (How To Prevent And Reverse Heart Disease) who forbids all oils. Later I found a clearer explanation of why that works from Saladino (Carnivore Code) with analysis of detailed research showing why the combination of fats and oils produces atherosclerosis. I'm on a high fat diet now and my arteries are much younger than I am.
Some vits are only fat solvable. All fats are not equal. We understand now the value of animal fats. I am very glad you escaped medical tyranny (and it is literally tyranny) and consume a high fat diet. Your arteries are clapping for you! Ironic bc it's the opposite of the standard operational procedure. Wonder why. Stay well and stay strong. Thank you for today's post. The west world is pivoting and I think you are ahead of the curve.
Typo in my last note. "Fats and oils" should say fat and insulin is the risky combo. Esselstyn observed oils are a problem so banned all fats, especially oils. Also complains popular low fat diets are typically 30 or 40 %, which isn't really low fat. Esselstyn wants 10%. Saladino just wants low insulin, which is the root of varying degrees of metabolic dysfunction in over 80% of the population. He has a deep discussion of blood lipids. I get tested frequently, have seen my LDL and cholesterol rise, which terrifies my cardiologists. But my HDL is higher than ever, and triglycerides the lowest, and testosterone is back to normal. So all that LDL is working as advertised. No statins, and happy.
Anybody wants a detailed description of fat metabolism will enjoy "Good Calories Bad Calories" by Taube. Fat is really a critical component of our health, and only accumulates to obesity when we overdose on carbs.
Good stuff David. Fats (basic unprocessed} are our friends. Low insulin can be managed by the carb intake (slow fibrous vs instanoodles). Rice cooked and refrigerated for a day, and the next day, and the next. is low gluten. High cholesterol (and they keep moving the goalposts) is not to be feared. The whole cholesterol /artery clog is a myth fabricated by pharma.
Yes, pharma, and the fast food industry. But they're just catering to their customers. People are addicted to fats and oils and carbs. I blame the government for supporting industry instead of consumers.