An Integrative Approach to Your Fertility

Newsletter: The Zone Diet - February, 2005

Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2005

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March Lecture Series: You Are Invited

Feature Article: The Zone Diet

Note From Dr. Breiner:

From time to time we have visitors who unexpectedly stop by our office suite. A few months ago, we had an interesting "walk-in". Dr. Andrew Levi, MD, an infertility specialist, walked in to meet the doctors in our suite. What was Dr. Levi's area of concern? Providing his patients with an integrative approach to fertility treatment that aimed to treat the patient as a whole, rather than targeting a single organ system. Wow - this "walk-in" was a nice surprise!

We set up a time to meet with Dr. Levi to discuss how complementary medicine and dentistry could be of benefit to his patients. Out of that meeting came a lecture series idea that would educate the public on the various healing modalities that can be used as an adjunct to traditional fertility treatments.

During the month of March, Whole-Body Medicine, located in our suite, is hosting a free Health and Wellness Lecture Series. The first four Wednesdays will be devoted to An Integrative Approach to Your Fertility. Each week will cover a different topic. Dr. Levi will present on the various advances in testing and treatment tailored to the individual fertility patient. Whole-Body Medicine's Dr. Bronner Handwerger, ND, will present alternative approaches to complement traditional treatments and I will present on the dental or oral health conditions that may have a significant impact on fertility.

Over the course of thirty years in practice, I have had couples with difficulty conceiving. Once their dental interferences were addressed, they went on to successful conception and pregnancies. Mercury affects both male and female reproduction.

According to Dr. Levi, infertility affects approximately 15-20% of reproductive-aged couples, and appears to be on-the-rise. We are happy to make this informative series available for these couples. I know you will enjoy hearing and meeting both Dr. Levi and Dr. Handwerger. I am looking forward to hearing them speak on this important area of medicine. This series may not be repeated, so please take advantage of this opportunity. And DO let others that are potential first time parents know about this great series. Reservations are advised but not necessary.To reserve your seat, call the Whole-Body Medicine office at 203-371-8258.

Finally, the last lecture in this free Health and Wellness Series will be on Exploring Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy or HBOT. As you may recall, this past Super Bowl had one of the athletes touting the healing effects of HBOT for his sports injury. This has been a popular lecture in the past and is sure to answer your questions about this powerful therapy. Whole-Body Medicine's Dr. Adam Breiner, ND will present. He will cover the history of hyperbaric medicine, how a hyperbaric chamber works, and how your body utilizes oxygen under pressure. Various conditions (in addition to sports injuries) that may respond to HBOT include ADD/ADHD, Autism, CP, Lyme Disease, MS, Stroke, Closed Head Injury, Chronic Fatigue, Parkinsons Disease and others, including the Anti-Aging effects of HBOT. A tour of Whole-Body Medicine's hyperbaric facility will be available following the lecture. Again, reservations are recommended and can be made by calling Whole-Body Medicine at 203-371-8258.

All lectures take place on Wednesday evenings during the month of March 2005 and start at 6:30 p.m. in the second floor conference room at our office building located at 5520 Park Ave., Trumbull, Connecticut.

Now onto our e-zine topic. You may recall that last month we discussed the role of Metabolic Typing in optimizing your pH and in finding which foods are right for you. This month I will cover the science behind the popular Zone Diet. Next month, I will discuss the Blood Type Diet.

March Free Health and Wellness Lecture Series:

Tailoring Fertility Treatment to the Individual Patient - March 2nd
Whole-Body Health and its Role Prior to Conceiving - March 9th
Advanced Fertility Testing & Treatment - What is Right for You? - March 16th
Do You Have Endometriosis? Diagnosis & Advanced Treatment Options - March 23rd

Exploring Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - March 30th
Exploring HBOT Lyme Disease, Stroke, Closed Head Injury, ADD/ADHD, MS, CFS, Anti-Aging & more

Feature Article: The Basics of the Zone Diet

This month as part of our continuing discussion on what is the right diet for you, I would like to talk about Dr. Barry Sears' Zone Diet.

Eicosanoids - What they are and why they are important

Every cell produces hormones called eicosanoids.

There are good eicosanoids and there are bad eicosanoids. Bad eicosanoids are involved at a cellular level in all disease. In fact, Dr. Sears defines optimal health as a proper balance of good and bad eicosanoids. This is called being in the "Zone."

The beneficial effects of taking a daily aspirin, such as decreasing heart attacks and stroke by "thinning" the blood, is due to aspirin's effect of decreasing a specific eicosanoid which becomes thromboxane A2 (TB2), which causes blood to clot. TB2 is a powerful vasoconstrictor, meaning it causes blood vessels to constrict or narrow. The problem with taking aspirin on a daily basis is that it can have side effects (i.e., gastrointestinal bleeding); this is due to its decreasing the amount of good eicosanoids.

You may have heard of prostaglandins. These are a type of eicosanoid. Good eicosanoids,like prostaglandin E1, have very positive effects. Some of these welcome effects are: inhibition of platelet clumping, reducing autoimmune responses; decrease of histamine; reduced inflammation; lowering of cholesterol, and on and on. Bad eicosanoids have the opposite effects. In fact Dr. Sears shows how every disease has a high ratio of bad to good eicosanoids.

Controlling the ratio of good to bad eicosanoids

What helps control the ratio of good to bad eicosanoids? Your diet. Dr. Sears feels that the food you eat is the most powerful drug you can take because of its effect on the eicosanoids.

If you stay in the "Zone" you will produce more good eicosanoids.

The Zone Diet, as I see it, has three main components:

1. The ratio of protein to carbohydrate optimally will be .75. In other words, for every four grams of carbohydrate you need 3 grams of protein. The daily amount of protein a person needs is based on an individual's body type, height, weight, and whether or not they want to lose or maintain their weight. In his book, The Zone, Dr. Sears includes charts to compute the proper amount of protein.

2. The carbohydrate consumed should have a low glycemic index. This means the rate at which carbohydrates enter the blood stream is slow; too fast and you get an exaggerated insulin response.

3. For every gram of protein there should be a gram of fat. However, the type of fat is critical.

The building blocks of eicosanoids are the type of fats you eat.

The fat, arachidonic acid, is the building block of all bad eicosanoids. Arachidonic acid is found in the saturated fat of organ meats, egg yolks and fatty red meats. The good fats are the monosaturated fats like olive and canola oils. These oils do not affect insulin and are eicosanoid neutral, meaning they do not go on to produce eicosanoids.

EFA's are the building blocks of eicosanoids

Within fats are essential fatty acids (EFA), which are the building blocks of eicosanoids. Excess free radicals oxidize the EFA's and they then cannot go on to produce eicosanoids.(Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that have been proven or suspected of being agents of tissue damage including aging. They are known as oxidants and thus people take anti-oxidants. Mercury, which is found in so-called silver fillings, is a strong oxidant.)

There are eight EFAs. These can be divided into omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 6's builds both good and bad eicosanoids. Omegas 3's are relatively neutral in direct eicosanoid production.

What we need to produce good eicosanoids

The EFA linoleic acid is found in most foods, and the higher the fat content the more linoleic acid. The delta 6 Desaturase enzyme (D6) converts this linoleic acid to gamma linolenic acid (GLA). As we age our ability to produce GLA decreases. At age 65 our production of GLA is 1/3 what it was at age 25. When you are in the "Zone", the natural activity of D6 increases. A high carbohydrate diet and partially hydrogenated fats which contain trans fatty acids (i.e., margarine) inhibit D6. Stress, disease, and increased insulin also inhibit D6. Again we see the effect of the wrong protein to carbohydrate ratio and high glycemic foods, through their hyper insulin response. Why is all this so important? We must initially have GLA if we are to ultimately produce good eicosanoids.

GLA goes to DGLA (dihomogammalinolenic acid) almost automatically. Once at DGLA, there are two biochemical paths available. One path leads to good eicosanoids and the other leads to the bad eicosanoids. To go down the bad road, DGLA is converted by the delta 5 Desaturase (D5) enzyme to arachidonic acid, which is the precursor to bad eicosanoids. So we see D5 is key. If we can inhibit this enzyme, the less arachidonic acid, the less bad eicosanoids and thus the less problem with our health, i.e. the less pain, inflammation heart disease, stroke, hypertension, etc.

Why your diet is important in this biochemical equation

What controls D5? It is activated by insulin. This is where the type of diet is so important. Carbohydrates must be kept in proper ratio to protein and the consumption of carbohydrates with a low glycemic index is crucial.

Another key to the puzzle is an EFA called Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA), which is an omega 3 fatty acid. EPA is a key inhibitor of D5. The richest source of EPA is salmon.

This is why studies show a diet high in fish can reduce the risk of heart disease. (However, many fish are high in mercury and PCB's. See my newsletter on fish). In a future newsletter I will go further into the beneficial effect of taking a proper fish oil supplement.

In Summary: the carb/protein ratio, wild salmon and fish oil lead to good eicosanoids

In summation: the closer a person maintains a protein to carbohydrate ratio of .75, the more increase in the activity of the D6 enzyme which gives us GLA. From there the trick is to get GLA to convert to good eicosanoids. This is a function of proper diet, eating wild salmon or by taking a fish oil supplement.

Next month I will discuss The Blood Type Diet.

© 2005, Mark A. Breiner, DDS

The information presented is for educational purposes only. You should consult a qualified dentist or health practitioner for diagnosis and treatment.

Additional Information on dental health and diet are covered in Dr. Breiner's book, Whole-Body Dentistry, available on-line at www.wholebodydentistry.com or by phone at 1.800.BOOKLOG (800.266.5564).

About Dr. Breiner:

Whole Body News Update expert, Mark A. Breiner, DDS, FAGD, FIAOMT, is a leading authority and pioneer in the field of holistic dentistry. He is the author of the popular consumer education book, Whole-Body Dentistry, a guide to the "dental connection" to whole-body wellness. With more than 30 years experience, Dr. Breiner has helped patients from across the US and other countries attain a higher overall level of dental health and general well-being. Dr. Breiner is the immediate past President of The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. He is in private practice in Trumbull, Connecticut.

"Whole-Body Dentistry is more than whether your teeth are healthy; it's whether you are healthy!" - Dr. Robert C. Atkins, M.D.

Attention Meeting Planners:

Need an expert to talk about dentistry and whole-body health for your group or organization? Dr. Breiner, a popular speaker, addresses both lay and professional audiences. Call 203.371.0300 or send an e-mail inquiry to DoctorBreiner@wholebodydentistry.com

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Whole Body News Update is your free monthly e-zine to stay up-to-date on many dental health issues as well as other important alternative health topics; featuring articles, interviews with experts, actual patient stories, Q&A on holistic health topics, with emphasis on the "Dental-Whole-Body Health Connection". This e-zine is designed to help you become a knowledgeable participant in your health care choices.

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