A few new book reviews~

Breath by James Nestor was excellent as far as the importance of how we breathe, and the many aspects of how most of us are breathing poorly.  I started learning about proper breathing from different sources over the last few years.  When James was in wrestling, his coach taught him all about keeping breathing controlled when in tricky situations, and how to calm their brains down when being pinned down.  How to reset their minds through calm breathing to be ready to make a comeback at a moment when defeat is quite probable.  How not to be a victim of his circumstances due to hyperventilating/anxiety.  Important stuff for all of us, in various other situations.  I also learned about mouth breathing vs nose breathing in regards to jaw formation in kids, and why so many kids these days need braces when proper breathing would solve the same problem, but takes much more time and has to be implemented younger, before the jaws grow.   I also learned more about it during speech therapy, as much speech (good or bad) is related to how we breathe.  Tongue/lip tie release, myofascial release, and proper tongue placement is key to good speech.  And when your tongue is positioned right, you'll breathe right.  Is your tongue resting on the roof of your mouth at all times, if you're not talking or eating?  It should be!

This book was more about one man's quest to find out how to breathe properly, and the journey it took him on.  He was his own guinea pig for all sorts of trials and theories on breathing, and he put them all to the test.  He ended finding out that the way we breathe is far more important than we think, and that we can do something simple to improve our health.  Breathe through our nose, intentionally for starters and then it'll become natural over time.  We can build new jaw bone and change the shapes of our faces even as adults after all these years of bad habits.  

There's also a new batch of dentists who focus on this, called orthrotropics, which means changing the shape of the growing jaw rather using braces/retainers to correct it after the fact (orthodontics).  There are many factors involved in the process for causes and effects (breast vs bottle feeding, sucking thumb/pacifier use, eating too many soft foods, etc).  The long and short though, is that we all should be breathing through our noses and not our mouths, day and night.  It just takes retraining yourself to do so if you don't.  Many people who don't, either have a tongue/lip tie or allergies causing the nose to become plugged, but this is solvable too with new habits.   

Another reason for the need for nose breathing is for nitric oxide.  To quote Dr. Steven Lin who wrote The Dental Diet, "Nitric oxide is produced in the nasal sinuses by specific enzymes. It’s instrumental in delivering oxygen around the body efficiently because it regulates blood flow. When it mixes with air delivered to the lung, it increases arterial oxygen tension and reduces blood pressure.  Nitric oxide also has a vital role deep within your body’s cells. There, it influences platelet function, immunity and the nervous system. It’s also important in homeostasis and the regulation of mitochondrial function. It’s produced elsewhere in the body but the biggest contributor is the minute amounts inhaled through the nose into the lungs." (source)

Here are some videos that he mentions in the book on how to learn to breath better. It just takes a little practice to get into thinking that way (and maybe a few note cards taped up to remind yourself).  Some people even tape their mouths shut to remind themselves to keep their mouths shut while they sleep.  Suit yourself!

The next book is called The Genie in Your Genes and it was way over my head as well.  Although I am interested in epigenetics, I'm not interested in all the chemistry involved in making conclusions.  I wouldn't be a good researcher as I just want the end findings and the whys.  I'm too impatient to put in the time to figure it all out.  Since most of it was over my head, I'm just going to review a quote from elsewhere below.  I'm also not sure how this all plays in as a Christian.  He talks much about beliefs of different religions in the book, but I'm not going to say that the power of all of them is equal.  Praying to different gods/God is not going to elicit the same responses, although belief in a "higher being" is known to be more helpful than believing in none.  Only Jesus can free us from guilt and wash away our sins.  No other God proclaims "it is finished"; all other gods demand works, good deeds, and endless lists of more and more to do to please or appease them.  So I don't think you can categorize them all in the same class.

"Your genes respond to your thoughts, emotions and beliefs. The way you use your mind shapes your brain, turning genes on and off in ways that can dramatically affect your health and wellbeing. In this best-selling, award-winning book, researcher Dawson Church reveals the exciting applications of the new science of Epigenetics (epi=above, i.e. control above the level of the gene) to healing. Citing hundreds of scientific studies, and telling the stories of dozens of people who have used his ideas for their own healing, he shows how you can apply these discoveries in your own life. He explains how electromagnetic energy flows in your body and affects your cells, and how the new fields of energy medicine and energy psychology can help cases that are beyond the reach of conventional medicine. He shows how your hormonal, neurological, connective tissue, and neurotransmitter systems all work in harmony to conduct a coordinated flow of information throughout your body. As you take conscious control of the process, you produce a positive effect on your health, becoming an "epigenetic engineer" of your own wellbeing. Practical and scientific, this book has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people. This new edition is updated with the latest research and clinical breakthroughs."  (source)

Nutrient Power is the last book today.  This book is an excellent resource for any sorts of mental illness, including autism, ADHD and Alzheimer's, which he has complete chapters on.  He worked in prisons for years and ran millions of samples on over 30,000 patients.  This guy has done his homework, and although it's mostly over my head with all the chemistry and terms that I don't know yet, but was a good read.  The long and short of it can be listed below from another review here (on their website). 

"THE REPEAT OFFENDERS: For several years I was perplexed by the repeated presence of certain biochemical imbalances in completely different mental disorders.  For example, copper overload is present in most cases of hyperactivity, learning disability, post-partum depression, autism, and paranoid schizophrenia. In another example, undermethylation is often present in antisocial personality disorder, clinical depression, anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizoaffective disorder.  The primary repeat offenders are copper overload, B-6 deficiency, zinc deficiency, methyl/folate imbalances, pyrrole disorder, and amino acid imbalances.  Eventually I realized these factors had something in common --a direct role in the synthesis or functioning of a major neurotransmitter.

"With respect to mental health, the nutrient SAMe is a natural reuptake inhibitor for serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.  Folic acid is a natural reuptake enhancer that can combat excessive dopamine activity.  The individual levels of methyl and folate in the brain are not as important as the methyl/folate ratio . . ."

He talks of how depression can be from undermethylation or overmethylation as well as copper overload and pyrrole disorder (low B6 and zinc), as can schizophrenia, so the treatment isn't always going to be the same.

Videos of William Walsh (author of the book) on the subject.

Chart of how the symptoms overlap and are specific to each root cause.

Here's a great chart to compare undermethylated to overmethylated symptoms.

Here's the Walsh Institute website where you can find a doctor to test for all these nutrient levels and see what the root problem actually is.  Randomly prescribing medications is like shooting in the dark, without knowing where the target is.  I just talked to my friend who is a Psych RN at the local VA hospital and she said that psych nursing is the most vague thing she's ever experienced.  The meds get changed so often that you never know what is coming or going.  That's why so many patients never get better.  She said it's endlessly frustrating to have repeat patients in the revolving door of severe illness to moderate wellness because no one looks into root causes.  Never remission or complete wellness. So sad.  

Side note:  Dr Kelly Brogan and Dr. Carol Banyas are two holistic psychiatrists who also use nutrition to heal mental illness, if you want more resources.  They both were convicted about the uses of medications and knew there had to be a better way to get better.  Dr. Banyas is a spokesperson for True Hope vitamins and has several videos about her experience using them.