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Posts from the Holistic Second Opinion Category
Holistic Second Opinion - A Question About Full-Spectrum Lamps and Vitamin D
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on February 10th, 2009
Hi Molly,
I saw you at the Ranch and I am a great follower of yours. I have a question. I am healthy but low on vitamin D and have terrible reactions to all of the vitamin D pills and liquids that I have tried. I see online that lamps are sold that claim to emit the proper rays that allow your body to create the vitamin D naturally. Do you know if they work and do you have an opinion or suggestion for me?
Thank you,
Amy Belkin
Hi Amy,
It’s really good to hear from you!
Those light boxes and lamps do work pretty well to raise the Vitamin D level in your body. Of course, there is always the caveat about skin cancer risk. If you have a personal or family history of skin cancer, then we should talk about weighing the risks with the benefits.
Everyone’s reaction to both supplements and lamps is different, and we all make Vitamin D from the sun at different rates. In general, the darker your skin, the harder it is for you to manufacture Vitamin D from UV light.
I would suggest that you get a Vitamin D level drawn (a calcium level should always be drawn along with Vitamin D levels) as a baseline before you start using the lamp. You can then start with a desk lamp to use while you are working. I usually recommend using the lamp for 30 minutes to an hour a day for two months. At that point, it is important to check your Vitamin D level to see how well it works for you. Depending on your body’s response, we can determine how much to use the lamp after that.
If you would like, we can set up the lab draws and follow-up time through my office here. You don’t need to be in Tucson for this – we can set it all up by phone or webcam and use your local lab. Let me know if you would like to do that or if you would prefer to follow up with your primary care doctor.
Take care,
Dr. Molly
Holistic Second Opinion - Holistic Weight Loss
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on February 3rd, 2009
A while back, I was asked to give my thoughts for an article on how to deal with weight loss in a holistic way. Here are my answers - you will likely note that I talk about how to get your head and heart around this before even starting the attempt to lose weight. I hope these suggestions help you on your journey!
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What advice do you offer patients who are beginning their journey to weight loss?
My first suggestion to anyone starting on a weight loss regimen is to take some time to smile at yourself in the mirror. This sounds like a simple thing, but it’s actually fairly difficult for those who have diligently avoided looking at themselves in the mirror for several years. It is very hard to lose weight if you are doing it as a punishment for “bad behavior” in the past. It is much easier to lose weight when you are doing it as a way to show love to yourself and to honor your body, and looking in the mirror is the first step to changing this mindset.
At first, you may look in the mirror and hear all those little “demon voices” that we all have in our heads, telling us how horrible we look, how we aren’t worth it, how large our thighs are, etc. It is important to make those voices conscious so that their iron control can be loosened. Smiling at this point will feel forced and fake, but I suggest that you do it anyway. Keep on looking at yourself, look in your own eyes, and keep smiling at yourself.
If you do this diligently, every time you pass a mirror, the smile will start to win out over the voices, and a new voice will start to take hold. The new voice will be saying, “Actually, I’m OK! No matter what my weight is, no matter what else is going on for me, whether or not I ever get thin thighs, I’m OK!” There is literally a reorganization of the brain’s chemistry at this point, and you will likely feel more self-acceptance and hope.
Once this shift happens, I often see a shift in the person’s reason for losing weight as well. They will start to say, “If I do this weight loss thing, I’m going to do it just for me and my own health.” It is then that the weight loss plan has the best chance of succeeding.
I have suggested this not only for weight loss but for depression and anxiety as well for the last 25 years or so with great results. Just last year, I was pleased to see a research study indicating that smiling in the mirror was more effective than an antidepressant for treating depressive symptoms. Not bad!
What is the best way to tap into your body’s innate healing power?
The best way is whatever fits for you, and the key is to find the method that best helps you to hear your own inner wisdom speaking to you. For years, my husband and I have run Mind/Body Skills Groups, teaching people multiple methods for tapping into their own intuition about what they need for healing. What we love about these groups is that it really is a matter of “different strokes for different folks.” The idea is not that you will walk away from this group doing all the many techniques you learned. Instead, the goal is for each person to find those one or two methods that really “ring their chimes,” that most resonate with them and help them to hear their own wisdom. When you discover your unique power to tap in, your healing potential comes to the forefront, and it is a wonder to behold!
What are the most important factors in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and spiritual health?
This is a particularly large question, one that I could write a book about (and I am!). If I were to choose one thing, though, I would say that it is important to continually ask the question, “Am I treating my body and myself with reverence?” That concept of reverence takes the concept of a healthy lifestyle out of the realm of the material (such as calorie-counting or getting exactly twenty minutes a day of meditating) and takes it into a recognition that our bodies are the repository of our souls and should be honored and respected as such. When you are treating yourself with reverence, then every act, every thought is spiritual, and you end up living every moment of your life in a much more meaningful way.
Dr. Molly
Holistic Second Opinion - The Health Benefits of Vitamin D
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on January 27th, 2009
Have you been wondering why Vitamin D is all over the news lately? Well, you would be amazed at what a lot of research has been conducted on this one tiny supplement! I thought you might be interested in the list of illnesses Vitamin D has been found to be helpful for. Before I give you the list, though, there are a few things to know about this supplement that may be helpful to you.
First of all, Vitamin D is not really a vitamin. It was misnamed all those years ago and is actually a prohormone. This is why it affects so many parts of your body.
The research is constantly going on, and it takes an interested doctor to keep up on the studies as well as the latest ideal Vitamin D level in our blood. It is important to get your Vitamin D level tested instead of just taking a supplement. Everyone absorbs Vitamin D differently, and so what would be a huge dose for one person is barely enough to make a dent in another person’s blood levels.
It is also important to keep an eye on your calcium levels while taking this supplement and to avoid Vitamin D with certain medications or if you have certain illnesses such as lymphoma, sarcoidosis or renal failure. These cautions are why it is important to get expert medical guidance if you want to start taking this supplement.
OK, so here’s the list! This is likely to grow and change as we learn more about Vitamin D, so this is just what we know so far. Of course, if you see yourself or a loved one in here, we encourage you to come talk with us about it.
Vitamin D has been found to be beneficial for the following illnesses:
Bone Density
Depression
Diabetes Type I
Diabetes Type II
Epilepsy
Migraine
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Cesarean Sections (decreases risk of)
Inflammation (lowers C-Reactive Protein levels)
Cancer
Hypertension (be careful taking this supplement with certain blood pressure lowering medications)
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson’s Disease
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Osteoarthritis
Musculoskeletal Pain
Small Vessel Disease
Peripheral Artery Disease
Neuromuscular Coordination and Balance
Alzheimer’s
Quite a list, huh?! Give us a call to talk about this if you would like to start taking or are currently on Vitamin D. Your body is a dance of nutrients, chemicals, and biological processes, and Vitamin D is most likely a good dance partner for you as long as you know how not to step on its toes!
Dr. Molly
Holistic Second Opinion - Some Thoughts on Children and Stress
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on January 20th, 2009
Welcome to the Holistic Second Opinion edition of our LightHearted Musings. Another ta-da moment!
Whereas the LightHearted Musings are more inspirational, philosophical and spiritual in nature, this section is meant to give you information about your mind, emotions and body. We honor all of these aspects of who you are, and we hope you enjoy the Holistic Second Opinion as much as you have our other offerings.
This first HSO (Holistic Second Opinion) is in response to Nick’s request after a “Drs. Bruce and Molly in the News” blog post about Dr. Molly’s interview with Univision. The topic was how to help your children deal with stressful family circumstances. The article was printed in Spanish, and Nick wrote in to ask for a translation of the article. Though we can’t provide that for copyright reasons, we can provide Molly’s comments on the subject.
Some Thoughts on Children and Stress
1) It is important for you as a parent to be open and honest with your children when you are going through stressful times. Children always know when something is wrong, and their imagination will often assume worse scenarios than the actual situation may be. They will also tend to blame themselves for the stress if the real source of discomfort in the home environment isn’t discussed. They don’t necessarily need to know every detail, but giving them a general idea of the problem will help them to get a handle on the stress.
2) It is an unfair burden to ask a child to keep secrets from their friends and teachers. If there is something stressful happening in the family, that is when the child will most need the support of their community. If they have to keep it a secret, they will feel more guilt and shame no matter how they handle the situation, whether they keep the secret or tell somebody what they’re going through.
3) Handling problems as a family and as a community is a beautiful way to teach your child that they are never alone in their distress. Keeping the conversation going also opens up the possibility that someone will come up with a unique solution. Problem-solving skills are easiest to teach when an actual problem is going on, and this will help your child learn to be more resilient as they develop problems in their later life. If the child is the one to come up with the unique solution, all the better!
4) Consider having regular family meetings, preferably on a weekly basis. That way, the whole family can check in about how they are doing, can ask for help if needed, where problems can be discussed and solved, and where happy events can be appreciated. This is a great way to head off problems while they are still small and where the child can feel heard and acknowledged as an important member of the family.
5) During stressful times, it can be helpful to focus the attention outward for awhile. Find ways to have your child give to others who are struggling more than the child, and this will help to put the family’s troubles into some perspective. Helping others also gives the child a sense that they can do something positive to make the world a better place, and that can be very empowering.
6) One of the ways that both children and adults can get tripped up in life is to think that they always have to be perfect and happy. Nobody is happy all the time, and most definitely, nobody is perfect! If that is the criteria for a joyful and meaningful life, then we will all fail. Just knowing that everyone has their ups and downs, that there is a rhythm to life, can go a long way in taking out the panic and sense of failure that can happen when the child experiences problems.
7) If your own skills in handling stress are poor, then there is no time like the present to put the energy into learning these skills. Your child is paying attention to you whether you are aware of it or not, and so the best way to teach them how to handle stress is for you to learn first.
8) It is how we handle our problems and human failings that makes the real difference. We can be the hero, the victim or the villain of our own life story. The real challenge is not to be perfect but instead to learn how to step into the hero role during challenging times. Learning to show fortitude, perseverance, love, gentleness, humor and integrity during both good times and bad is a wonderful gift that parents can give their child.
Dr. Molly
