by Sean Croxton

What I Learned Today #1
Currently Reading – Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food

In my quest to become the most prolific blogger in the history of health bloggerdom, I came up with the idea of sharing my newest learnings in the form of the What I Learned Today (WILT) series. This is the first of many golden nuggets of health information gleaned from the pages of the countless books I spend my days and nights reading obsessively. Today, I’ve been immersed in Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan MD, a former low-fatter who once believed she knew everything there was to know about diet and nutrition. That is, until she discovered Weston A. Price, arguably the greatest nutrition pioneer who ever lived.

A page-turner indeed, it was actually a short sidebar on page 12 regarding the Hippocratic Oath that struck a chord with me. As most of us know, our medical professionals take this oath on their graduation day. However, most have a limited knowledge as to what the oath truly means.

Believed to have been written by Hippocrates or by one of his students, the Oath begins:

“I swear by Apollo the physician, and Aesculpius, and Hygieia, and Panacea, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this stipulation . . .”

The Greek god Apollo is sure to ring a bell, but who are these other mysterious characters?

Devout believers in the laws of balance, the ancient Greeks understood true health and wellness to rest upon two complementary ideas. The first is Hygieia, the goddess of health.

By name alone, one may assume that Hygieia solely embodies the concept of general hygiene and cleanliness. However, she symbolizes the application of sound nutrition principles throughout one’s life, as well as successive generations, in order to ensure the proper building of healthy bodies. Such nutritional practices were intended for all phases of life, including prenatal, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Certainly, the proper time for nourishment is any time. Abiding by Hygieia’s decree was recognized as the most effective means of preventive medicine. How easily she has been forgotten.

Aesculpius, the god of medicine, typifies the indispensable knowledge of surgical procedures and remedies. Working with the tools of Panacea (the god of potions and cure-alls), Aesculpius comes to the rescue when nutrition fails, accidents happen, or infections set in.

Surely without Hygieia, there would be no health. And without Aesculpius, there would be no means of recovering health once it falters. The two work in synergy, balancing the feminine with the masculine.

Medicine has lost its roots, electing to abandon the feminine while adopting a hypermasculinized approach to wellness. The building of the body through Hygienic means has become an afterthought. Balance is no longer present. And when such imbalance is present, the inescapable result is chaos and disorder, thus the state of health in the modern industrialized world.

To swear an oath is to declare a truth. Hippocrates’ words represent the ultimate truth in the pursuit of health and sound medicine. Unfortunately, many who raise their right hands and swear this oath have no idea what it stands for. In turn, they have no idea what they stand for. This is the plight of our broken medical system, a system uncertain of the foundation on which it stands.

Medicine needs its woman back.

Sean Croxton
Just a Guy Gettin’ His Blog On…
www.undergroundwellness.com

Skepticism is good.

When I was introduced to Protandim, I was a HUGE skeptic. I read the research and wanted it to be bogus.

I felt the effects and wanted them to be all in my head.

I heard that it could reduce oxidative stress by an average of 40% and I wanted to call B.S.! It just sounded too good to be true.

Over the past three or four years, every supplement under the sun has come across my desk. Each came with a litany of research. But the research was always on the ingredients and never the actual finished product. That’s what set Protandim apart from the others. The research actually had the word “Protandim” in it.

That’s big.

How many supplements are you taking? How many can you look up on Pubmed and find actual research on? Personally, I’d put a lot of tablets and capsules into my body without ever taking the time to look for the specific product research.

I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Protandim currently has 12 peer-reviewed published independent studies on its finished product. Harvard. LSU. VCU. Journal of the American Heart Association. If that isn’t enough, there are at least 22 institutions currently conducting studies on Protandim’s effects on various disease processes.

When I launched Protandim on UW Radio and YouTube, I was hit with more than a few comments about “selling out” and “selling snake oil”. It never bothered me one bit. I had read the research. I had studied the product for over a year. I wouldn’t dare put my name and the UW reputation on the line for nothing.

A friend of mine wanted to see proof beyond the aforementioned studies. He ran Before and After tests on his lipid peroxides, which are markers for oxidative stress. Check this out:

The Before Test

As you see, our subject’s Lipid Peroxides are 9.51, which is a very high score. A score over 6.0 is an indicator of elevated oxidative stress and cellular damage. Oxidative stress has been associated with over 200 different diseases. Notice the “Date Collected” is August 12, 2010. Our subject began taking Protandim the next day.

The After Test

On September 24, our subject completed his AFTER test. His Lipid Peroxides plummeted by 48%, down to 4.90! This is a very significant reduction in oxidative stress.

Snake oil doesn’t do that.

Again, skepticism is good. But you should know me better than that.

Oxidative stress is associated with over 200 different diseases and conditions. I invite you to visit www.pubmed.gov, where you can find 106066 published studies on oxidative stress and its role in disease processes. While the FDA has bound and gagged me from claiming that Protandim reduces disease risk, I leave it to you to connect the dots.

Be on the lookout for Study #13. Any day now.

Sean Croxton
PROUD Independent Lifevantage/Protandim Distributor