Dr. Grossman’s Blog

We came across a perfectly fascinating article about the fact that whether a baby is a boy or girl may be related to the mother’s diet at the time of conception … which is also true in nature.

“A joint study conducted by researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Exeter has turned up the tantalizing evidence that a child’s gender might be determined by mother’s diet around the time of conception.

If this is true, it goes a long way in solving the mystery of why there is a decreasing number of male babies born each year in the industrialized nations of the world, including the United States, Canada, and the UK.” (from Medweb)

The researchers analyzed 740 women’s diets - women who were pregnant with their first child, and who didn’t know the child’s gender.

“Using dietary intake as a measure, the mothers were divided into three groups according to their energy (caloric) intake around the time of conception. Of the group consuming the highest-energy diet, 56% had boy babies. The lowest-energy group produced only 45% boys.

“The highest-energy group not only consumed the most calories, they typically consumed a very nutritious diet, too. The foods they ate were of better quality, providing a healthy level of nutrients. The foods eaten were rich in Vitamins C, E, and B12 as well as calcium and potassium. The mothers producing sons also consumed a breakfast of cereal on a routine basis.” (MedWeb)

In the developed, industrialized nations both the rate of male births and caloric intake have declined. Citizens of industrialized nations consume more and more empty calories, including processed foods, and non-whole grains, and foods which are suspect due to their containing many chemicals not naturally present, such as pesticides, not to mention genetically modified plants and medicine-contaminated water.

This is really nothing new, but it apparently hasn’t been researched before. It’s well known that wealthier families, with a better diet, often have more sons than daughters - compared to the average families of that community.

“The value of a high-energy diet in determining gender has been observed with in vitro fertilization (IVF), also. High glucose levels produce more male embryos and inhibit the development of females. Eating breakfast raises glucose levels and signals the body that there is an abundance of food available. Skipping it signals a poor environment with spotty nutritional availability.” (MedWeb)

The full details of this study can be found in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust provided funding.

Juicing Fundamentals I:

What are enzymes?

The basic key to the efficacy of nourishing your body is the life present in food and of those intangible elements known as enzymes. Enzymes are complex substances that enable us to digest food and absorb it into our blood. They are the body’s ‘working force’ that act as catalysts for many essential life functions, such as separating the nitrogen from the air we breath, so we may absorb the oxygen. They act as catalysts in probably millions of chemical reactions that take place throughout the body. They are essential for the digestion and absorption of the food we eat and drink … for conversion of food to body tissue, and for the production of energy at the cellular level.

Enzymes become sluggish at cooking temperatures above 118 degrees, and are destroyed at temperatures above 130 degrees (microwaves completely destroy enzymes in your food).
Fresh juices are a wonderful source of enzymes. Food which has been cooked at temperatures above 118 simply don’t have the properly functioning enzymes to allow you to enjoy the full benefits of their nutrients.

Why not just eat fruits and vegetables for our essential nutrients?

Solid food requires many hours of digestive activity before its nourishment is finally available to the cells and tissues of the body. While fibers in foods are essential for helping cleanse our digestive tract, the removal of fibers in the extraction of juices allows essential nutrients to be absorbed within minutes instead of hours, and with little effort by our body.

Do vegetables contain protein?

Although fruits and vegetables do not contain large quantities of protein, their juice can be a convenient carrier. Simply add some brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, or whole grains to whatever you’re juicing. These give you protein without the fat that meat contains, and protein that is quickly and easily absorbed by the body.

We consider daily juicing of primarily organic vegetables and fruits to be an essential part of any long term healing program. Juicing provides a highly effective and efficient way for the body to be able to absorb essential nutrients into the blood and cells, taking a little as a few minutes for the body to start utilizing these nutrients.

Why is juicing so important?

1. What are enzymes? The basic key to the efficacy of nourishing your body is the life present in food and of those intangible elements known as enzymes. Â See more info …
2. Why not just eat fruits and vegetables for our essential nutrients? Solid food requires many hours of digestive activity before its nourishment is finally available to the cells and tissues of the body. See more info …
3. Can juicing prevent disease? Many studies point out that a diet high in fruits and vegetables does in fact reduce the incidents of serious disease.
4. Do vegetables contain protein? Although fruits and vegetables do not contain large quantities of protein, their juice can be a convenient carrier. See more info …
5. What are phytochemicals? They are substances in plants that are linked to good health and to prevention of specific diseases. They are found only in fruits and vegetables, and juicing is a great way to get them.
6. How much juicing can be taken safely? As much as one can drink comfortably without forcing oneself. Recommended amount of juice per day is at least 1 pint per day. Some healing centers actually do 2-8 pints per day for therapeutic purposes.
7. Can I store the juice I make? Juices should generally be drunk when prepared, since certain enzymes and vitamins break down pretty quickly in sunlight.
8. What combinations of fruits and vegetables would be best to juice? There are many different recipes See more info …, but in general at least 50-75% of the juicing should consist of greens (spinach, kale, chard, parsley, dandelion, watercress, broccoli, etc.)
9. Can I still continue to eat fast food and sugar products? These should be kept to an absolute minimum as they use our precious resources to breakdown and digest, offering little in the way of healthy nutrients.
10. Should I use only organic products? In general, yes. By juicing all non-organic products, we stand the chance of taking in concentrated amounts of pesticides used on the plants, thereby negating the value of daily juicing. See more info …
11. What juicer should I use? There are a number of excellent juicers. The juicer we decided to offer on our website is the Omega 8002 juicer, which juices without generating heat that can destroy some of the essential nutrients. At 80 RPM (most juicers work at 3600 RPM and higher), it essentially masticates the fruits and vegetables slowly, preserving the most nutrients possible. The disadvantage is that the process is a little slower, and cleaning takes a couple of more minutes.

Next week I’ll talk about what juices are good for specific diseases.

Free Teleconference

Dr. Marc Grossman will be hosting a FREE teleconference on Visual Longevity. The teleconference on May 15, at 8pm, will discuss issues and answer questions about ways to preserve vision naturally through nutrition, diet, exercise and lifestyle changes. Dr. Grossman has been a practicing eye doctor since 1980, author of 5 books on natural eye care, international lecturer, consultant and licensed acupuncturist.

• International best seller Magic Eye Beyond 3D: Improve Your Vision, published by Andrews and McNeil in 1996,
• Natural Eye Care - An Encyclopedia published by McGraw Hill in April, 1999,
• Greater Vision - A Comprehensive Program for Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Clarity published by McGraw Hill, 2001, and
• Natural Eye Care - A Comprehensive Manual for Practitioners of Oriental Medicine, published by Vision Works, Inc. 2002.

Since 1980 Dr. Grossman has helped many people maintain healthy vision and even improve eyesight. He is best described as a Developmental/Behavioral Optometrist, dedicated to helping people with such conditions ranging from myopia and dry eyes to potentially vision threatening diseases as macular degeneration and glaucoma. His combined multi-disciplinary approach using nutrition, eye exercises, lifestyle changes and Chinese Medicine provides him with a wide array of tools and approaches to tackle difficult eye problems. Dr. Grossman’s background includes degrees in Optometry, Biology, Physical Education and Learning Disabilities, coupled with yoga, bioenergetics, nutrition, Chinese medicine and acupuncture, the Alexander technique and Feldenkreis. This orientation provides the foundation for an integrated approach to vision and its influence on the body, mind and spirit of each patient.

Most floaters are the result of bits of cells that remain in the vitreous humor after birth and float around when the vitreous becomes more liquified later in life.

Over 50% of people over 70 years of age report seeing floaters. Most floaters are age-related. The vitreous humor thickens and clumps as we age, and floaters result from the clumped vitreous gel.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, floaters are an indicatoin of congestion in the liver, kidney and colon. Nutrients can eliminate congestion in these organs in order to keep the vitreous of the eye clear from these annoying specks, as well as to help strengthen the retinal tissue and integrity of the blood vessels.

Read more about why eye floaters develop and what you can do about them, as well as other causes of spots and dots in the eyes along with some cautions. Specific nutrients recommended are the chinese herbal classic formula Rambling Powder (Xiao Yao San) and Advanced Eye & Vision Support Formula, a proprietary formula of European Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), South American Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), European Eyebright Herb (Euphrasia off.), European Horsetail Herb (Equisetum arv.), European Pine Bark (Pinus pinaster), South American Barberry Bark (Berberis vulgaris), Chinese Gingko Biloba Leaf, Lutein (3.5mg), Zeaxanthin (6mg) from Marigold (Tagetes erecta), Alpha Lipoic Acid (naturally-derived), Grape Seed Extract (pesticide-free), South American Piper Nigrum Seed, Grade A Japanese Chlorella (C. pyrenoidosa), Wild Blue Green Algae (Aphan. flos-aquae), European Vegetable Extracts (Carrot, Broccoli), European Propolis Extract(pesticide-free), Medicinal Mushroom Extracts (raw & fermented mycelial extracts), Reishi (Hericium erin.), Coriolus versicolor; Japanese Marine Coral Minerals, Stabilized Rice Bran, and Plant Enzymes.

Macular degeneration has been found to be a nutritionally responsive eye disease, as demonstrated in numerous peer review research studies. Some of the following nutrients have been show to help prevent the onset of macular degeneration, while all of the nutrients below can help preserve vision … for those with macular degeneration including the following: lutein, zeaxanthin, omega-3 fatty acids, taurine, lycopene, vitamins A and E, zinc, copper, betacarotene, selenium, as well as gingko biloba for circulation, bilberry and glutathione.

See our list and summary of related peer review research studies and Dr. Grossman’s free monthly natural eye care newsletter.

See info on how to use the amsler grid to self-test for macular degeneration.