The Poop on MiraLAX

 

This week we've got a guest post from my good friend Dr. Kaayla Daniel, the naughty nutritionist. I talk to many parents who have been told by their child's doctor that daily MiraLAX is the solution to their child's digestive woes. Kaayla explains in her typical, cheeky way why following that advice is detrimental to long-term health.

Is MiraLAX the New Vioxx? That’s the provocative title of an article by Konstantin Monastyrsky, the author of Fiber Menace.

As of March 2012, the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System showed 2,257 “adverse events” ranging from forgetfulness to death caused by MiraLAX and other polyethylene glycol-containing “block buster” laxative drugs.  Movicol, Dulcolax, LAX-a-Day and a host of other over-the-counter “super poopers” have also been implicated.

The problem is “neuropsychiatric events.” So far, FDA — in its usual “lax” fashion — has decided “no action is necessary at this time.” Yet the laxatives could be contributing to a long list of central and peripheral nervous system disorders, including autism, dementia, depression, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. (more…)

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Mother Teresa and Calcutta: My Inspirations

 

I’m freshly back from an intellectual feast in India, bursting with excitement about what I saw and did. Evidence of the sacred, the intelligent and the profound abound in Calcutta … and one very visible leader is found in more than one place. (more…)

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Zebu

This is my fourth week in Kolkata (Calcutta), and I’m sopping up every precious minute.

I work at the Banerji Homeopathy Clinic and Research Center from about 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but Sundays are for touring and getting to know Kolkata.

It’s an exciting beehive of a place, where life endlessly pokes at the senses.

Foods are prepared from scratch on the street, rickshaws tote people, dogs roam the alleyways and cows meander nearby.

From what I can gather, Indian cows are a breed called zebus. The only reason I know this is because when our boys were little, we had a picture book of exotic animals with a large photo of a zebu. Thus, “zebu” became one of the first words our son learned. (more…)

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Lucky Me!

I’m at the world-famous Banerji Homeopathy Research Foundation and Clinic in Kolkata.

Lucky me! I’m in Kolkata, India, and each day I sit next to a master. I sit snuggly between a well-trained homeopathic assistant (a homeopath in his/her own right) and shoulder-to-shoulder with the famed Dr. Prasanta Banerji, an 80-year-old homeopathic physician who learned not only from his 50+ years of practice but also from his father and grandfather, both of whom were community leaders and homeopathic physicians. (more…)

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Is the Flu Bugging You?

Aside from the many wonderful things I’m learning here at the homeopathy clinic, you might think the recent flu outbreak would make me glad to be in India! Actually, I don’t worry about the flu because I know homeopathy’s track record in treating it.

Even during the deadly Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, homeopathy came through with flying colors.  During a time when about half of the patients treated conventionally died from this infection, homeopaths reported a death rate as low as 2%

With such an impressive history, I know where to turn if I do succumb to the flu. (more…)

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No Jet Lag on My Trip to India

I didn’t want to write about this subject until I was certain that I didn’t experience jet lag. Well, it’s now Day 4 of my and my husband’s India trip, and I can report that we have been free of jet lag. Our travel time from the moment we took off at the Buffalo, New York, Airport until we touched down in Kolkata, India, was just over 30 hours. This was certainly a true test.

This is what I did: (more…)

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First Day in India; First Mistakes

 

We were warned, but I guess you don’t learn until you experience it yourself.

My husband and I ventured into the market square, which we were assured by Americans and British we had already met, was safe but to expect a culture shock. Entering the area wasn't the mistake.

(more…)

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