Tag: ” Sylvia Onusic

Books, Documentaries, Reviews: David Perlmutter, MD, with Kristin Loberg: Grain Brain

Books, Documentaries, Reviews:  May 15, 2014

Sylvia Onusic’s Review

of

David Perlmutter, MD, with Kristin Loberg

Grain Brain

 

First, Dr. Sylvia Onusic is a Board Certified and licensed nutritionist AND has a PhD in Public Health education.

Dr. Onusic reviewed Perlmutter and Loberg’s book Grain Brain in the Winter 2013 Wise Traditions, the journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation:  Grain Brain – Weston A Price Foundation.

Dr. Onusic gives the book a qualified “thumbs up,” and in the review surfaces the problems she finds within its pages–such as not addressing “the importance and role of healthy carbohydrates in the diet, especially those prepared in ways which enhance their nutrient absorption by soaking and fermenting.”  Or, addressing that “old forms of wheat such as spelt and kamut do not contain the high levels of gluten that modern hybrids do” and that fermenting grains can make them acceptable to those with gluten sensitivities.  Or, the importance of raw milk and its products.  Or, that he claims that DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) made from algae is a “source equal in value to cod liver oil.”  But DHA from algae is man-made, while cod liver oil is a natural source of DHA.  Additionally, algae DHA has a record of causing digestive upsets.  ANd he neglects to explain that while vitamin D is important, it needs to be used with vitamins A and K, as “all three are needed together.  (Cod liver oil contains all three.)

I was intrigued with the discussion of specific foods that “cross-react” with gluten (producing the same reaction).  They include coffee, chocolate, and non-gluten containing grains.  PEG, polyethylene glycol, found in many personal care products is also cross-reactive with gluten.  PEG is found in the gallon of bowel prep used for a colonoscopy and can cause “inflammation which shows up in the test results.”

Also interesting:  “Modern foods contain up to forty times more gluten than traditional grains, and modern gluten can be addictive.”

But, she also says the following:

Grain Brain is a good read packed with a great deal of knowledge related to reviews of the latest research in current nutrient brain-related issues, as well as good detail on gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, testing, cholesterol and fats, and hormones related to inflammation and obesity.  The book continues to enjoy phenomenal success on a number of New York Times best seller lists.

Caesareans and Breast Feeding and food sensitivities:

Research shows that babies born through caesarean section have a higher risk of developing ADHD because they miss out on the probiotic inoculation that babies normally receive when passing through the birth canal.  Breastfeeding is also important in that it may dampen later immune response to gluten and the development of food sensitivities.

Gluten sensitivity can be tested for at Cyrex Labs or Entero Labs.  (I used Entero.)

 

 

 

Interesting Information: Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Interesting Information:  December 8, 2013

Vitamin B12 Deficiency

 

My father’s body stopped being able to use the B12 vitamin in his later years–which is a malabsorption issue.

He got B12 shots, but he slipped into dementia (not Alzheimers) anyway a few years later.

The Spring 2013 issue of The Weston A. Price Foundation’s journal Wise Traditions, Nutrition and Behavior, discusses at length the connections between human violence and other behavioral issues and the lack of nutrients–vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and so forth.

Sylvia Onusic, PhD. CNS, LDN, in “Violent Behavior:  A Solution in Plain Sight” (Wise Traditions, Spring 2013) discusses the lack of B12.

Here’s the link:  http://www.westonaprice.org/environmental-toxins/violent-behavior-a-solution-in-plain-sight

Here’s what Onusic said about the lack of B12:

Vitamin B12 deficiency has a well-known correlation with mental disorders, including irrational anger.  A higher incidence of low B12 is found in mental patients than in the general population.  Deficiencies cause mental symptoms ranging from poor concentration, depression and severe agitation to hallucinations [citation here].  Deficiencies are caused by pernicious anemia, an autoimmune condition; they are also found in vegetarians and vegans, those with low animal protein intake, and individuals with leaky gut.  Drugs including anesthetics can deplete B12 [citation here].

My dad, as I said above, had some sort of malabsorption going on.  He was thin as a rail though my mother, a great cook, fed him very well.  He took a boat load of drugs for allergies and asthma.  (We know now that most food allergies and asthma can be associated with foods and an impaired immune system–not to mention all the chemicals washing over our world these days.  My dad lived across the road from an agricultural field that held skull-and-crossbones signs at its four corners.)  He probably had leaky gut…

Anyway, this article is interesting…

And gives us a lot of information to contemplate.