Sound Integrative Health Blog

You have heard the phrase the "The enemy of done is perfection". I would like to take that a step further. Inflexible planning is the enemy of done. Let me explain... You walk out of my office with at treatment plan that says the following: Exercise 60 minutes a day (preferably high intensity interval training 2x per week, walk 4 times per week, and sprint 1 x per week)  Eat three square meals per day (better if anti-inflammatory, home cooked, free-range, organic) Sleep 6-8 hours per night (better if without EMF exposure, cell exposure, light exposure, absence of snoring, non-interrupted) Are you getting frustrated yet?  Yeah of course you are. Because it already seems impossible for 95% of the people on this planet. Better to do the following...  Have your goals broken down to the following categories: Category 1: Goals that that you could reach if you only had 10 minutes to address the issue or if you had a tremendously challenging day. Category 2

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A recent 2016 study for 29 female patients with chronic constipation and Small Intestinal Bacteria Growth (SIBO) used 24 mcg twice per day of Lubiprostone (a prescriptive intestinal secretagogue). 41% of those people who tested positive for SIBO were SIBO negative after 2 weeks. This well designed (but albeit small) study also measured gastric emptying time, small bowel transit time, colon transit time (CTT), combined small and large bowel transit time (SLBTT) and whole gut transit time were measured using wireless motility capsule and showed improvement in those parameters. Stooling increased from 2x per week to 4x per week. As someone who treats a lot of SIBO and Chronic Constipation this is a promising new integrative treatment that may even have better results combined with natural therapies and even other conventional therapies. I am investigating more about the reported low side effects of Lubiprostone. The most exciting thing is that it helps us understand more of the mecha

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latest blog post from Dr. Rinde from Sound Integrative Health, PLLC http://ift.tt/2cECyb5 via IFTTT http://ift.tt/2cECyb5 http://ift.tt/2cGWuqZ

Recently my wife and I took a class together. The topic came up about what questions a patient should ask when being told to consider a treatment or procedure. The instructor talked about using the acronym BRAIN to formulate your questions. I liked the basic structure of the acronym but like any good nerd (I say this lovingly)...I decided to improve it and I changed the acronym to brains BRAINS. So here it goes.... A doctor walks into the room and says "I want you to take this pill"....before you say "OK"; follow this train of questions. BrainS B: What is the Benefit(s) of the Treatment or Procedure? R: What is the Risk(s) of The Treatment or Procedure? A: What Alternatives are available besides this treatment? I: What is my Intuition telling me (or gut feeling) about doing the treatment or procedure? This you must ask yourself N: What would happen if I do Nothing? Or Need Time before making a decision? S: my addition. What happens if I suddenly stop tre

This post is about Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal gland Axis (HPA) management. Specifically how to decrease anxiety. How do we decrease anxiety? Ask people to be clear of what is expected of us. And upon hearing what's expected be honest with ourselves and others about what is possible. If we you have expectations from others and for ourselves that have no boundaries; then we are likely going to experience an arousal state in the brain. This trickles down to anxiety related symptoms. Vice versa by not setting expectations we can reak havoc on our inner self relationships and outer self relationships. Of course I could write all day about lifestyle changes and herbal interventions that might help but the inner game of anxiety is so much more.

How to decrease anxiety? Ask people to be clear of what is expected of you. And upon hearing what's expected of you be honest with yourself and others about what you can do. If you have expectations from others and for yourself that have no boundaries; then you are likely going to experience an arousal state in the brain. This trickles down to anxiety related symptoms. Bo

In continuation in this series of food items that may help your gut, today we discuss Kimchi. I have to admit I had a Kimchi kick (no pun intended) about 6 months ago and I fell off the wagon. It seems that I personally like Kimchi in the winter but not so much in the summer. Wait. Before I get too far ahead of myself. What is Kimchi? Chances are you have seen it, heard about it, and maybe even tried it. Nonetheless, I will break it down. Kimchi is fermented cabbage and spices that is a traditional condiment in Korean food culture. It is thought to be healthful and is being studied for its effect on boosting the metabolism and also for improving the gut microbiota to a more favorable balance. Typically it is made of fermented cabbage, garlic, ginger, red pepper, and green onion.  (Matthews, 2014) If you can include Kimchi in your diet while you are feeling well then then its likely to build upon your good health and prevent recurrence of digestive problems. I recen

I had the great pleasure of being interviewed on Tap Integrative this week. This is likely going to be featured in the coming months on www.tapintegrative.org  I spoke as an expert in the digestive disorder Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Here is a picture from the set. I look pretty darn serious but mainly super focused! Much to my surprise Dr. Tori Hudson interviewed me. Dr. Hudson has been one of the physicians I have respected the most since I considered joining the profession in 1998.  I ironically interviewed her in 1998 to see if I wanted to join the profession....she convinced me then! I had a lot of fun as well as Dr. Hudson has a great way about her and a clever sense of humor! I also had a great round table conversation with Dr. Joshua Goldenberg a evidence based medicine expert in Natural Medicine and Dr. Mark Davis an expert in Fecal Microbiota Transplant. I felt honored to be there and among so many great minds in my profession. I am inspired to keep lea

Before refrigeration how did we preserve vegetables? Fermentation. Fermentation adds lactobacilli and other helpful probiotic organisms to your food. . Helpful for preserving  food and  helpful for our gut When your digestion is stable and you want to keep it being stable, try adding fermented foods into your diet. Here are a few recipes to consider which  I  learned from Liz Lipski, PhD an expert in nutritional approaches to  address  the  microbiome. She recently spoke on Tap Integrative. Kefir : is fermented milk. What you will need: 1. Purchase a package of Milk Kefir grains (not dehydrated or powdered) at your local health food store.   These are re-usable. Or order from someone like www.culturesforhealth.com 2. 1 quart of pasteurized, raw, skim, 2%, or whole milk (cow goat, coconut, or other milk) How do  make it: 1. mix 1 tablespoon of Kefir "grains" with the one quart of your chosen milk. 2. cover the mixture  with a paper coffee filter held in place w

Many of my patients are on a low carb diet. Great for so many things. However it does put them at risk sometimes for constipation and also restless sleep. Likely due to overnight dips in blood sugar or due to reduced serotonin and  melatonin production that is derived from the food amino acid called Tryptophan. Healthy evening serotonin levels are also needed to reduce effects of elevated evening cortisol. There are some ways to help and my favorite way is this bedtime meal that I call "Sawing Oats" as in "Sawing Logs". I digress. Here is the simple recipe: 1/2 cup Oatmeal 3/4  cup Cashew Milk  (oat milk or almond milk is fine) 1 tablespoon of Almond Butter 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/8 tsp of poppy seeds Directions: Bring milk and oatmeal to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer  down for 5-10 minutes until mixture is soft , moist, and but not drippy. Remove from stove Add 1 tablespoon of Almond  butter and stir until it blends with the oatmeal

Fifty-six names for sugar according to Dr. Robert Lustig. No wonder its so challenging to reduce sugary foods in the diet that are tied with obesity,diabetes, high cholesterol, gout, hypertension, heart disease, steatohepatitis to name a few. This should have been my first class in medical school under the topic “First Do No Harm; watch out for these ingredients”. The 56 names of Sugar Agave nectar* Barbados sugar* Barley malt Beet sugar* Blackstrap molasses* Brown rice syrup* Brown sugar* Buttered syrup* Cane juice crystals* Cane sugar* Caramel* Carob syrup* Castor sugar* Confectioner’s sugar* Corn syrup Corn syrup solids Crystalline fructose* Date sugar* Demerara sugar* Dextran Dextrose Diastatic malt Diatase Ethyl maltol Evaporated cane juice* Florida crystals* Fructose* Fruit juice* Fruit juice concentrate* Galactose Glucose Glucose solids Golden sugar* Golden syrup* Grape sugar* High-fructose corn syrup* Honey* Icing sugar* Invert suga

I am attending the SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) Symposium this weekend in Portland. Part of the time I'll attend on-line and the other in-person. I have looked forward to going to this conference for a while . Why am I going? As you may know I treat a fair amount of SIBO and have lectured on the topic   and have put a great deal of study into it. I have seen a profound change in my IBS, IBD, and digestive disordered patients by assessing for and treating SIBO, but there is so much to learn about how to effectively manage it. Treatments aren't perfect and  far from it. So, I am going to learn any inside pearls of information especially on the Archaea species who produce methane gas leading to constipation. Here are some general tips to know if you have been diagnosed with SIBO If you have any specific questions for me to take to the symposium please email me at info@soundintegrative.com  today or tomorrow.

Plateauing in the process of change. I have experienced and you have experienced it. Things are going well and then we hit a flat point of progress. The typical  response to the plateau that  I have seen is to "do more" ,"add more", and "be more". It makes sense,right? Or does it? You're climbing a mountain after learning, growing, acquiring skills, and carrying  more responsibility, motivation, and discipline. It  seems worth it because you're seeing your health improve, relationships improve, mental health improve, and  spiritual health improve. Then you suddenly you're at a flat point. Things are not quite where they need to be and you have acquired new things, skills, tools that require maintenance and nurturing. If you don't continue them you would... well....fall back down the mountain. Or would you? So we add more stuff, more noise, more ideas, more skills, and suddenly we look like a pack mule climbing to our asc

The economy of Inflammation I spend much of my day talking about inflammation. Why? Simply because I feel inflammation is the marker of the economy of the body.  If we are overly inflamed the economy begins to deteriorate and we start to first see belly fat, stiffness, fatigue,  skin changes, mood changes, and this progresses to  high cholesterol, insulin resistance, and/or hypertension. If the economy takes a hit for too prolonged period we see the body express imbalance in a degree where we see conditions such as Diabetes, Gout, Chronic Kidney Disease,  Fatty Liver Disease, Osteoarthritis, Depression, Fibromyalgia, and yes, sometimes Cancer. This is so much of what I see happening in my practice that I have thought about changing my practice to the Sound Inflammation Clinic. The remedy to inflammation are plants in our diet, omega-3’s and other healthy fats, mild exercise, stress release, sound sleep, and a whole array of herbal and nutritional supplements. You have hear

Many of us have heard the trend of bullet-proof coffee (which is basically coffee that is blended with grass-fed butter or medium chain triglyceride oil (MCT oil). I  must admit 3 years ago I jumped on the trend and jumped right off. My love of iced-americano's has been the main reason I strayed.  Also I don't really need another reason to like coffee...I like  it enough. Fast forward and I have been doing a lot of study and research on the impact of food on blood sugar. Its amazing to me how many of us fall into the pre-diabetic category and even with a normal caloric diet  and adequate exercise carry an extra 30-40 lbs. This is a complex web that involves stress, sleep, gut health, and hormonal health. So the emphasis in this arena today is to add healthy fats as the main caloric feature of your plate. Some people state that you can get to place where your body is more "fat-adapted" and not "carb-adapted. When you are fat adapted you burn fat for

This is a sleep remedy that comes from India. I learned it from one of my students a long time ago. The properties are very interesting as the healthy fat (ghee)content calming to the brain and the drink is also rich in magnesium which calms glutamate in the brain. Poppy works on the  benzodiazepine receptors in the brain. When you try it...it will probably remind you of how you felt when your mom rocked you to sleep. Hot Milk with Almond and Poppy seeds 1 teaspoon blanched almonds 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds Succanut to taste 1 pinch of nutmeg powder 1 teaspoon ghee 1 1/2 cup 2% or low fat milk( or almond milk) Place almonds and poppy seeds in a coffee or spice grinder and grind until reduced to fine powder. Add nutmeg and grind one more time to mix the spices well. In a heavy non-stick sauce pan, combine the milk with the spice mixture and bring to boil, stirring over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring for 1 minute. Pour the milk in a cup an