The skinny on weight loss: Part XII

The Sept. 27, 2004 edition of Newsweek Magazine had the following on the front page: "The New Science of Mind and Body." (with Harvard medical school). This was a Health For Life article that took up over half of the entire magazine.

As I read through this article I was struck by the following quotes: "So why is Newsweek devoting this Health For Life report to the mind-body connection? Because the relationship between emotion and health is turning out to be more interesting, and more important, than most of us could have imagined. Viewed through the lens of 21st-century science, anxiety, alienation and hopelessness are not just feelings. Neither are love, serenity and optimism. All are physiological states that affect our health just as clearly as obesity or physical fitness. And the brain, as the source of such states, offers a potential gateway to countless other tissues and organs-from the heart and blood vessels to the gut and the immune system. The challenge is to map the pathways linking mental states to medical ones, and learn how to travel them at will."

"That effort is now burgeoning. The federal government's 5-year-old Integrated Neural Immune Program will spend $16 million on mind body research next year, and private foundations will spend millions more. At least one leading managed-care organization, HIP USA, has started to cover mind-body practices, and Medicare now reimburses for certain relaxation techniques administered by psychologists. Hospitals, for their part, are opening mind-body clinics.... According to a recent government survey, nearly half of all Americans used mind body interventions in 2002." What was very impressive to me was that this article acknowledges the following: "Indeed experts now believe that 60 to 90 percent of all doctor visits involve stress related complaints." With those kinds of odds it would seem that more primary care physicians would be looking for probable emotional links to the conditions they are being consulted for. Sadly most are not.

Candace Pert PhD, research professor Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University School of Medicine has written two books: "Molecules of Emotions" and "Your Body is Your Subconscious Mind" where she talks about this important connection.

Alternative practitioners have been using simple but effective techniques such as N.E.T. (Neural Emotional Technique) for more than 20 years uncovering and releasing negative and health sabotaging emotions successfully as witnessed by improvement in patient's conditions. These techniques are quick and effective.

So how does this relate to obesity and weight loss? Essentially if there is a conflict between the conscious and subconscious mind the subconscious mind tends to win. What I find in some individuals is a block to their success with weight loss. Either they cheat on their diet or they just stop losing weight or slow way down. A simple muscle response test reveals if there is a "psychological reversal" or negative emotions that are responsible for this condition and a quick emotional technique clears the obstruction to success. The next visit almost always shows that the patient is back on track with weight loss.

For information on the Ideal Protein Diet/treatment or to attend a complimentary class or consult please call our office at (208) 772-6015.

Come on Coeur d' Alene, lets lose weight and get healthy together.