Optimum Connections

May Sale

Healthy water for less: Multi-Pure® Fast Track special offer

For a limited time get Multi-Pure's popular new Aqua Dome water filter for $100 off the retail price! This is a $180 value filter for only $79 + tax, shipping/handling and a $4 registration fee (to become a distributor). We took advantage of this offer recently and are passing on the word to everyone that wants to drink healthy water for less money. Multi-Pure is a leader in water filtration technology and with this promotion, we were able to afford the purchase of a filter, eliminating trips to the health food store to fill up our 5 gallon bottles with filtered water. See our article on Healthy water for you and your pets to find out why we recommend filtering your water.

For more information, see our Multi-Pure page, e-mail us or call 303-271-1649 or 866-305-2306 (toll-free).

Oil of the month

by Russell Louie

Relieve It

High in anti-inflammatory compounds that relieve deep tissue pain and muscle soreness. You remember the old saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Mary Young, wife of the founder of Young Living Essential Oils, had a pain that just wouldn't go away. After trying the usual blends of Aroma Siez, M-Grain, PanAway, Peace & Calming, Ortho Ease and Ortho Sport without results, she asked Gary Young to formulate another blend that might help. After finally getting relief from her deep-seated pain, the new formula became known as "Relieve It."

Ingredients

• Spruce (Picea mariana) is anti-infectious, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory.
• Pepper, Black (Piper nigrum) is anti-inflammatory and combats deep tissue pain. It has been traditionally used to treat arthritis.
• Peppermint (Mentha piperita) has powerful pain-blocking, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic properties. One of the most effective essential oils for blocking pain is peppermint. A recent study in 1994 showed that peppermint oil is extremely effective in blocking calcium channels and substance P, important factors in the transmission of pain signals. A 1994 double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized cross-over study at the University of Kiel in Germany found that peppermint oil had a significant analgesic effect (Gobel et al., 1994).
• Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) is anti-inflammatory and anti-infectious.

Application
Dilute 1 part EO to 1 part vegetable oil. Possible skin sensitivity. Apply on location to relieve pain. Use as cold or hot compress.

Testimonial
Sometimes, especially after working out, I experience a lot of inflammation in my thighs and legs that causes pretty severe pain. Using "Relieve It" helps to relieve most of this pain and it does so instantly.
V.M.

Click here to order on our Young Living World Essential Oils website. Go to Product Catalog and do a Product Search on "Relieve It" or go to "Essential Oils", "Blends N-Z". (Product #3411, $34.75/40.24/45.72)

How to improve your pet's health holistically

by Russell Louie & Margaret Auld-Louie

This is a description of a case study showing how a holistic approach can make a difference in our pet's health and how important nutrition is to health. In this case, the pet was experiencing fatty tumors (lipomas). Tumors are unwanted whether benign or malignant. When fatty tumors appear it is a sign the body is trying to get rid of unwanted material but because it is out of balance it can't process this unwanted material through normal channels (kidney, liver, intestines, etc.). Since the endocrine (glandular) and immune systems are usually not functioning at 100%, the body does the next best thing and tries to encapsulate this unwanted material and get it out of the way through the largest excretory organ of the body, the skin. It's like sweeping the dirt underneath the rug when you don't know what to do with it. The fatty tumor is that lump of dirt under the rug.

We had a customer with a two year old standard poodle that started to develop fatty tumors under the skin. As the dog got older they continued to develop and they peaked in numbers at more than ten. At this point the options were:

• Surgically remove the tumors
• Use holistic ointments or supplements targeted at reducing the tumors
• Try a better diet to avoid growing more tumors
• Try a whole food product to balance the glands and boost the immune system, then let the body take care of the tumors

The poodle's guardian decided to try the last two options listed. She took the first step by changing the poodle's food to a premium dry kibble. The premium kibble had more than 35% meat content and no wheat, corn or soy ingredients. The premium kibble also contained no meat by-products or preservatives. She noticed within several months the rough pads on the dog's paw had softened, a sign the dog was getting more nutritious food, especially essential fatty acids (such as Omega 3 and 6). She then added a whole food, super nutritious, algae product called BioPreparation-Formula 3+, which has 75% antioxidants and 25% nutrition, to feed the body super nutrition and balance the glands so the body's natural processes could break down the tumors. These changes were enough to cause some of the fatty tumors to decrease in size and become hard.

Because the guardian did not consistently give the BioPreparation every day over the next year, further reduction in the tumors was not seen. Realizing that premium dry kibble was still not the best diet for a carnivore, the guardian transitioned the poodle to an all raw meat diet on the advice of a local holistic pet store. The poodle was put back on the whole food product, BioPreparation, for three consecutive months.

The guardian recently called to report there is now just one tumor left and it is hard and the size of a pea. It seems the raw food diet as well as the consistency in giving BioPreparation over three months was enough to cause this final reduction in fatty tumors from over ten at its peak to just one small one now. Nutritionally balancing the endocrine (glandular) system and boosting the immune system caused the body to reabsorb the fatty tumors. BioPreparation along with the raw diet literally activated the dog's natural ability to heal.

BioPreparation has been shown in research to supply super nutrition at the cellular level and literally wake up the three master glands in the brain (the pineal, pituitary and hypothalamus). When the master glands of the brain are 100% functional the body can now boost up all the other endocrine glands and entire immune system. With these systems in balance the body can now properly handle the unwanted material originally causing the lipomas (fatty tumors).

It is interesting to note that even a super premium kibble was not sufficient nutrition for this dog's body to heal. Although we are told by the pet food companies and most veterinarians that these foods are complete and balanced, as well as the safest food to feed our pets, this dog was not able to eliminate the tumors while on this diet. It took a raw diet for this dog to get well, something that holistic vets have observed many times in their practices. This is why we often suggest to people that they consider trying a raw diet for their dog (or cat). People that are not familiar with the concept of raw feeding are often horrified when we suggest this. Others may be familiar with raw feeding but feel it is not really necessary and is too expensive and time consuming. However, it makes sense when we look at what dogs are designed to eat by Mother Nature. They have the digestive tracts of wolves (their ancestors) and are designed to eat whole prey (animals), with minimal vegetables. Most veterinarians who promote raw feeding state that dogs have minimal or no need for carbohydrates. To create dry kibble requires using a carbohydrate source, such as wheat, corn, barley, rice, millet, potato or tapioca starch, to hold the kibble together during and after processing. Kibble and canned food is also cooked, which is not natural to a dog's biology (you don't see wolves roasting deer over a campfire). So it makes perfect sense to us that this poodle was not able to heal completely until its guardian put it on a raw food diet. (To learn more about raw feeding, see our book review below. To win a free DVD on the benefits of a raw diet, see our May Sale above.) The BioPreparation product then gave the dog an extra boost of enzymes and nutrients to accelerate healing.

This case study shows how a dog was able to heal from within by using a holistic approach that took into consideration what the body needs to be healthy, rather than treating symptoms. Giving the proper nutrition to a carnivore (meat not carbs) and balancing the dog's endocrine and immune systems were essential to achieving 100% holistic wellness. We find it is not as important to find the perfect remedy (such as a specific vitamin, herb or supplement) to alleviate the symptoms as it is to wake up the master glands of the brain, holistically balance all the glands and organs and give the body the proper nutrition Nature intended.

Book of the month

Work Wonders: Feed your dog raw meaty bones
by Tom Lonsdale, DVM

ISBN: 0975717405

Click picture to order from Dogwise

review by Margaret Auld-Louie

For those who found Dr. Lonsdale's previous book,  Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health, too long and technical, this is a short, simple book that explains how and why to feed raw meaty bones to your dog. You can read this book in an hour or so. If you then want to learn more about the science behind feeding raw, how commercial pet food damages our dogs' health, as well as Dr. Lonsdale's contention that vets are in collusion with the pet food industry, you can return to his longer, more scientific book. This book, Work Wonders, explains briefly the science behind feeding raw, whole carcasses to dogs and how important this is to the health of their teeth and gums, in addition to providing the proper nutrition for a carnivore (meat eater).

Dr. Lonsdale also goes into considerable detail about the logistics of feeding whole carcasses to dogs--where to obtain food, how to store it (buy a big freezer), how to feed it and the importance of varying the diet. Reading that, I thought of a dog I know that was fed raw chicken parts but had a poor quality coat and later developed health issues. It's important to remember that wolves are consuming the entire animal in the wild, as well as a variety of animals. When we feed our dogs a single animal repeatedly and only selected parts of that animal (rather than all the meat, bones, organs, digestive tract, skin, etc.), it's inevitable that they will develop nutritional deficiencies over time. Each different prey animal is high in certain nutrients and low in others. The same is also true of the different parts of the animal. For instance, hearts are high in taurine, adrenal glands in Vitamin C and livers in Vitamin A. So Dr. Lonsdale's tips on proper feeding are very important to the health of our dogs.

The book includes a chapter on "Risk Management", describing the varied risks in feeding raw carcasses and how to minimize these risks. Unlike some books on raw feeding  that minimize the risks and imply that feeding raw is totally safe, Dr. Lonsdale acknowledges the risks as real and then explains how to avoid or minimize them. He addresses the problems of choking as well as  bacteria and parasites in meat. Since he advocates supplementing the diet with table scraps, he also explains the risks to watch for with that, such as human foods that are toxic to dogs (onions, chocolate, etc.).

His position on supplements is that it makes more sense to try to properly balance the diet than to add supplements to it, which could imbalance the diet and even be dangerous. For instance, companies sell flaxseed oil supplements for dogs. He asks, "How does anyone know if their dog suffers a flaxseed oil deficiency? Especially since flaxseed forms no part of a wild dog's diet." We would add that it's unlikely your dog can absorb the nutrients in flaxseed since they are carnivores and therefore probably don't have the enzymes required to convert those oils to the EPA and DHA required by the body (to learn more, go to  http://www.optimumchoices.com/April_2006.htm#Flax-oil). We do feel that superfoods that are native to a dog's diet, such as BioPreparation algae (mentioned in the case study article above) make sense for dogs. Even raw-fed dogs can suffer from nutritional deficiencies that can be hard to remedy by diet alone if they have previously been fed commercial pet food or their parents were fed commercial pet food. Plus, our modern dogs are exposed to high levels of toxins--pollution, vaccinations, drugs, etc., that Mother Nature did not design their bodies to handle, even on a good diet.

Despite the shortness of the book, Dr. Lonsdale touches on many important topics, such as dental problems and the impact on overall health, how pet food affects dogs' behavior and impacts humans (such as a high number of dog bites), the reduced environmental impact of feeding raw and the positive impact of raw feeding on the various body systems of dogs as well as their overall health. We recommend this book highly as a primer, by an expert in the field, on how to feed raw food safely to your dog.

Contact us

Click here to give your pet the fountain of youth today!

E-mail

General Information: Russell@OptimumChoices.com
Webmaster: Webmaster@OptimumChoices.com
Newsletter Editor, Margaret Auld-Louie: Editor@OptimumChoices.com

Telephone

303-271-1649
866-305-2306 (toll-free)
Normal office hours are 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Mountain Time (U.S.). If you would like a return call outside those hours, please specify what days and times are best.

Location (call first for appointment)

416 Plateau Pky
Golden, CO 80403-1533
U.S.A.

Return to top.