DLPA is included in three of the four Nutri-Prevention plans because it’s a natural, safe and effective tool for energizing your immune system. As I explained in my book, DLPA to End Chronic Pain and Depression, DLPA can relieve arthritis, low back pain, whiplash and even the terrible pain of cancer. Available at vitamin and health food stores across the country, it’s a completely natural substance your body needs, and it’s found in many foods.

DLPA works by protecting and enhancing the endorphins in your body. It’s the endorphins that actually block pain signals from reaching the higher centers in your brain and lift your mood. New studies have shown that the endorphins also strengthen the immune system.

DLPA enhances the endorphins. That’s why DLPA is part of my Nutri-Prevention program.

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Put both arms straight out in front of you at about shoulder height, palms facing down. Make two very tight fists, as tight as you can make them. Bending at the wrist, push your fists down toward the floor as hard as you can. Feel the muscles in your wrists and forearms tighten, and feel the tension, especially in your forearms, up to your elbows. Hold that position and count: one thousand … two thousand … three thousand … four thousand … five thousand … six thousand … seven thousand . . . eight thousand . . . nine thousand . . . ten thousand.

Slowly relax. Open your fists. Rest your hands, palms down, on your knees. Feel how relaxed, refreshed and tingly your hands, wrists and arms feel.

Now, take in a deep breath through your nose. Hold it for a moment. Let it out very slowly, through your mouth, taking at least five seconds to let it all out.

Take another breath … hold it … let it out slowly.

Again. Put both arms straight out in front of you at about shoulder height, palms facing down. Make two very tight fists, as tight as you can make them. Bending at the wrist, push your fists down toward the floor as hard as you can. Feel the muscles in your wrists and forearms tighten, and feel the tension, especially in your forearms, up to your elbows. Hold that position and count: one thousand … two thousand … three thousand . .. four thousand .. . five thousand … six thousand … seven thousand … eight thousand … nine thousand … ten thousand.

Slowly relax. Open your fists. Rest your hands, palms down, on your knees. Feel how relaxed, refreshed and tingly your hands, wrists and arms feel.

Now, take in a deep breath through your nose. Hold it for a moment. Let it out very slowly, through your mouth, taking at least five seconds to let it all out.

Take another breath . .. hold it … let it out slowly.

Now hold your arms out to the sides of your body at shoulder level, palms up. Close your hands into tightly clenched fists. Bend your arms at the elbow, bringing your fingers to your ears. Clench your arm and shoulder muscles, especially the bicep muscles in your upper arms. Hold tight and count: one thousand . .. two thousand .. . three thousand . . . four thousand . . . five thousand … six thousand . .. seven thousand .. . eight thousand . .. nine_ thousand .. . ten thousand.

Slowly relax, dropping your arms to your lap as you take in a deep breath through your nose.

Take in a deep breath through your nose. Hold it for a moment. Now, let it out slowly, very slowly, through your mouth, taking at least five seconds to empty your lungs.

Take another big breath, filling up your lungs.

Hold it for a moment. Now, let it out slowly, very slowly.

Again. Hold your arms out to the sides of your body at shoulder level, palms up. Close your hands into tightly clenched fists. Bend your arms at the elbow, bringing your fingers to your ears. Clench your arm and shoulder muscles, especially the bicep muscles in your upper arms. Hold tight and count: one thousand . .. two thousand … three thousand . .. four thousand .. . five thousand … six thousand .. . seven thousand .. . eight thousand .. . nine thousand … ten thousand.

Slowly relax, dropping your arms to your lap as you take in a deep breath through your nose.

Take in a deep breath through your nose. Hold it for a moment. Now let it out slowly, very slowly, through your mouth, taking at least five seconds to empty your lungs.

Take another big breath, filling up your lungs.

Hold it for a moment. Now, let it out, slowly, very slowly.

For just a moment, concentrate on your arms. Feel how light and tingly they are.

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BEAN LENTIL SUPREME

1/2 cup
dried white beans
1/2 cup
Lentils
1/2 lb.
Cabbage
4
Carrots
3
stalks celery
1/2 lb.
Chinese mushrooms
3
tomatoes
2
potatoes
2
onions, chopped
2
cloves garlic, minced
6
cups water
1 tsp.
tomato paste
8
slices whole-wheat bread

white pepper to taste
Cook beans and lentils separately. Save cooking water. In blender or food processor, puree half the beans and lentils. Set aside.

Wash all vegetables. Core and shred cabbage, grate carrots, chop celery, slice mushrooms, peel and chop tomatoes and dice potatoes. Saute onions, garlic, carrots and celery in water. Add cooking water, plus enough water to make 6 cups, tomatoes, tomato paste, remaining vegetables, seasonings, beans, pureed beans and more water if necessary. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour.

Toast bread, break into croutons. Mix soup and bread pieces in bowls; garnish with chopped green onions and parsley.

Serves 8.

MARGARITA’S BLACK BEANS AND RICE

1
Onion
1
sweet red pepper
1
clove garlic
2 qts.
water or stock
1 lb.
black beans
1 tsp.
Oregano
1
bay leaf
2 tbls.
cider vinegar
1
cup brown rice, cooked

a pinch of cayenne pepper
Slice onion, dice pepper and crush garlic. Cook all ingredients, except rice, together for 3 hours, or until beans are tender. Serve over 1 cup cooked brown rice. Garnish with tomato wedges, chopped green onions and chopped parsley.

Serves 6 to 8.

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I’m sure you’re aware of the link between excess fat and heart disease, excess fat and strokes, excess fat and cancer; in fact, excess fat and all kinds of diseases.

Imagine trying to work in an office filled with thick, gooey fat. It’s all over your desk, in your drawers, oozing out of the walls, falling from the ceiling. It’s packed so thickly over your telephone receiver that you can’t hear what your caller is saying. You can’t even write, because your papers are covered. You can barely wade through the gunk piled two feet high in the hallway, and when you open the door to the adjoining office you’re buried in an avalanche of glop.

How much constructive work could you accomplish in such an environment? None. You’d spend all your time trying to clean up, to get the junk out of there before it destroys the office, and you along with it. How much health-building work can your

“doctor within” do if his workplace—your body—is literally covered with fat? If the fat has clogged up and closed your arteries, your “doctor within” can’t even get basic nourishment, let alone try to build good health.

We do need fat in our diet, but only in small amounts. Inside the body, a small amount of fat is useful for storing energy, carrying fat-soluble substances through the watery bloodstream, protecting and insulating us. Fat is like protein, in that a little bit is good, but too much is dangerous. Unfortunately, the S.A.D. is absolutely loaded with fat. And fat contributes to or exacerbates an amazing number of health problems. The “cancers of affluence’—cancers of the breast, colon and rectum, prostate, pancreas, ovaries and uterus—give gravestone testimony to the deadliness of dietary fat. So, do your “doctor within” a favor: keep your fat intake as low as possible.

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Because the structure of your mouth and jawbone changes as you age, if you wear a partial or full denture, you should expect the fit of the denture to change as well. In fact, because of the loss of teeth, the jawbone, which supports the dental appliance, will shrink even more quickly than if your own teeth were intact.

Your lower jawbone is especially at risk if you wear a full or partial lower denture, since the base plate of the denture places an abnormal amount of stress on the natural gums and underlying bone. This can cause the jaw to deteriorate even more. As the bone changes, you’ll probably find that you have to change the dentures to fit better. Fortunately, new technology is making possible dentures that fit better and adjust to changes in pressure. They’re also better able to absorb the shock of chewing and biting down, thus redirecting some of the stress away from the gums.

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As with any viral infection, the most severe period is the initial flare-up. When your physician determines that your rash is Ramsay Hunt syndrome, he will treat it with corticosteroidal preparations in either oral or topical form. But because the virus hides in the nerves of the spine for many years, it may cause permanent nerve damage when it surfaces after being dormant for decades. Though this is rare, you should see a neurologist at the first sign of a flare-up.

Special Mention for the Elderly

When an elderly person is affected with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, an extremely painful condition called postherpetic neuralgia can sometimes occur. Men and women 60 years and older are prone to postherpetic neuralgia because of their naturally lower immune systems. Postherpetic neuralgia is signified by facial paralysis, constant headache, and severe pain where the rash initially occurred.

Medications such as Zovirax and pain medications will help lessen the outbreak. If pain persists, a medication such as Zostrix can be very helpful in alleviating it.

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For most of us, a certain amount of deterioration in our vision is almost inevitable as we grow older. I find I can no longer work on models with small parts, as I have trouble focusing my eyes. I refuse to give in, however, which runs counter to the advice that my own ophthalmologist has given me. I will not wear reading glasses or bifocals, mostly for reasons of vanity. Instead, I wear contacts. The lens in one eye is for distance, while the other lens helps me to do close-up work.

I’ve found that what is almost universal among midlife adults and older is the gradual appearance of a kind of farsightedness called presbyopia, in which you will find it increasingly necessary to hold a book or newspaper farther away from you in order to see clearly. Whether you’ve traditionally been nearsighted or farsighted in the past doesn’t matter. And if you’ve always been envious of a friend who’s enjoyed 20/20 vision most of his life, relax, because there is such a thing as divine retribution—even people blessed with perfect vision are affected by presbyopia to some degree.

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Flashing lights are pretty when they’re part of a Christmas or Fourth of July display, but when they regularly occur as part of the early stages of a migraine headache, they quickly lose their luster.

Migraines have the reputation of being able to totally disable a person, and for good reason. If you’ve ever experienced a migraine, also known as a vascular headache, you know that the pain in your head can be so intense that you’re physically unable to do more than lie in bed in a darkened room and wait for the pain to subside.

Before a migraine hits fully, the flashing lights appear because the constricted arteries reduce the flow of blood to the part of the brain that controls your vision. In addition to the flashing lights, you may experience blind spots, vertigo, and nausea. These are all signs that a migraine is imminent.

We don’t know exactly what causes a migraine headache. However, at a migraine’s worst, the carotid and vertebral arteries in the brain, which supply it with blood, first narrow and then swell up, sometimes to twice their normal size. This decreases the amount of blood supplied to your brain. The combination of the swollen arteries and the reduced blood supply is the reason for the crushing pain that can totally incapacitate you. Most migraines last from a few hours to several days. After the pain subsides, you’ll probably feel groggy and lethargic for a while.

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If you think you have temporal arteritis, you should see your doctor immediately, especially if you have experienced sudden blindness. He will conduct a blood test that includes a test for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or ESR, which will check how quickly red blood cells settle in the bottom of a test tube. A high ESR is an indication of an inflamed artery, as in temporal arteritis. Your doctor may also perform a biopsy of the temporal artery in order to make a positive diagnosis.

If you do have temporal arteritis, you will need to treat it with a regimen of corticosteroid medication such as prednisone on a long-term basis, possibly for months. This will help reduce the swollen artery to its normal size. In order to prevent future problems, however, you will need to continue taking the medication for a year or more; regular blood tests that monitor the ESR in addition to your symptoms will help your doctor to guide your treatment.

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Due to the increasing number of reports about possible serious side effects from collagen, many people are looking for a safe, effective and inexpensive alternative face-smoothing treatment. There are actually many such treatments available. Here are four of the most recommended alternatives to collagen injections:

1) Dermabrasion— this is a technique which has been around for awhile. It involves the use of a hand-held machine which a doctor uses to sand down the skin. The procedure is effective in smoothing out deep scars caused by acne. lt has also been used effectively to smooth out fine-line wrinkles, especially those around the mouth. After the procedure is done, it will take about two weeks for the swelling to go down completely. You’ll also have to avoid exposure to the sun, and use a sunscreen with a SPF of at least 15 all year long. This is a permanent procedure, so give it plenty of thought before you have it done.

While this treatment can be highly effective, it can also result in some problems. In some cases, the treatment has resulted in uneven pigmentation, and it can cause deep and permanent scars. Dermabrasion can cost up to $5,000, depending on the extent of the treatment.

2) Chemical peel— this is a newer version of dermabrasion which peels off layers of skin, using acid instead of sanding. There are three types of peels: superficial, for people with active acne and fine surface lines or wrinkles; medium, for people who have skin that has been damaged beyond its years by the sun, and excessive wrinkling; and deep, for those people with excessive sun damage, obvious pigmentation irregularities, and moderate to severe wrinkles.

The chemical used for the peel is a mixture of two or all of the following, in various combinations: Retin-A, alpha hydroxy acid and trichloroacetic acid. The exact mixture depends on the level of the peel. Following the treatment, you should not be exposed to the sun at all for about six months. When the six months is up you have to wear a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 year round.

The procedure, incorrectly performed, can cause scarring, burning or infection, and possibly even heart damage. Make sure you have plenty of information before you opt for this procedure. A superficial chemical peel will cost from $300 to $700, and a deep peel will cost approximately $2,000 to $3,000.

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