June 1, 2005

KAT’S INTERIVEW: LONG-TIME MEMBER & NUTRITIONIST, SHIRLEY FARLEY

Shirley Farley recently wrote to us expressing her appreciation for our Milk Thistle and Alpha Lipoic Acid products for detoxification. Shirley has been a Co-op member since the very beginning and has a Ph.D. in nutrition. For those of you who might not know, this means she specializes in human biochemistry and how it functions in relation to nutrients found in the diet.

Since our last member interview was some time ago, I decided to invite Shirley to chat. I wanted to know what made Shirley so interested in detoxification. Here’s what she had to say:

“Did you know there are over 70,000 synthetic chemicals produced in the U.S., and they make their way into food, fabrics, cleaning products, carpets, paints, pesticides, etc.? Permanent press sheets alone take at least 50 washings to stop off-gassing the formaldehyde used to make them perm-a-press!”

Fast factoid: The average home has more synthetic chemicals than a typical chemical plant in the late 1800s. As many as 600 of the chemicals frequently found in the home are known to cause cancer.

http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/household/carcinogens_home.htm

I know, not a very cheery way to start, so let’s get back to Shirley’s story.

“I was a painter and a writer for many years, including a stint as the editor of “Southwest Art.” I had a gallery on the Texas coast, where they sprayed malathion constantly for mosquitoes. While the mosquitoes seemed to always proliferate, I started getting sick. There’s an area of the liver called the cytochrome P450 enzyme system, which is involved in detoxification, and that part of my liver became damaged from repeated exposure to malathion over the course of five or six years.”

“As an interesting side-note, this part of the liver was researched by NASA to determine whether liver enzyme concentrations change during space flight. In addition, scientists explored how the body got rid of toxic chemicals. They found the P450 system was responsible for eliminating the tens of thousands of chemicals we’re exposed to every day. Anyway, if this part of your liver is not working properly, toxins start to accumulate in your system, and the effects mimic a lot of other illnesses.”

“The first phase of your body’s detoxification takes place in the endoplasmic reticulum of the cell. It transforms toxins into a compound that can easily eliminated. However, often this transformation isn’t enough.”

“Outside the endoplasmic reticulum, but still inside the cell, the cytoplasm (or cytosol) handles the second phase of detox. In this step, a large molecule is hooked onto the toxin making it bigger and more electrically charged. In this form it is more readily soluble in water and can be excreted through bile and passed into the feces thus sparing the kidneys.”

“Anyway, after many exposures and with my symptoms mystifying everyone, I continued to get worse. Ultimately, I went into anaphylactic shock and ended up in an emergency room. The problem was that all the physicians I saw wanted to treat the symptoms they saw, which they diagnosed as everything from arthritis to depression, yet none of their treatments worked.”

“Then I met a physician in Dallas, who specialized in environmental illnesses. He found that that my liver was not able to detoxify my system efficiently any more. The detox pathways were overloaded and therefore damaged.”

“It was at this point that I became passionate about holistic health back in the 1970’s. I was convinced that there had to be answers that would do more than treat my symptoms.”

“I became very interested in Dr. Sherry A. Rogers’s work. She was the first M.D. to get board-certified in environmental medicine and gave frequent lectures to her peers about toxins in the environment. Dr. Rogers educated people to understand the severe reactions possible to new carpets and even to polyester fabrics, which are considered to be hypoallergenic by many. Polyester, according to NASA, outgases the greatest volume of toxins.”

For those of you interested in Dr. Rogers’s work, go to www.amazon.com and search for “Detoxify or Die,” which was published in 2002. A “top ten” reviewer gave Dr. Rogers’s book “five stars,” in case you care about what the critics are saying!

Ahem, now back to Shirley’s story once again (sometimes I do wander around a bit – kat’s prerogative, of course).

Shirley went on with her journey:

“So, after educating myself extensively, I started writing for an alternative medicine publishing firm. Ultimately, I got my Ph.D. in nutrition and studied detoxification at the molecular level.”

“While I am a certified nutritional consultant (CNC), I never set up shop formally. My private practice evolved naturally, through referrals from clients and health food store owners. I help clients change both their lifestyle and diet, as well as augment their diets with supplements. By the time people make their way to me, they are usually pretty motivated, and that’s what it takes. It’s hard to change both diet and lifestyle, but when you’re sick enough, you are willing to try anything.”

“There are three points I try to make when consulting with a new client. The first is that nutritional requirements vary from one person to the next. This means we have to listen to our bodies and do things like keep diaries listing food and supplement intake, etc., and keep track of subsequent symptoms. You live with your body 24 hours a day, you know it better than anyone else.”

“The second point is that we all need supplementation so I usually begin with a good, balanced base of nutrients (multivitamin/mineral supplement) and add from there. Vitamins and minerals can't work alone. None of them can be absorbed and assimilated by the human body without certain other nutrients being present in the proper amounts. That is why it is so important to begin with a broad, balanced nutrient base.”

“The third point is one no one ever wants to hear— exercise, even if it's hobbling across the living room --exercise!”

I asked Shirley more about nutrition and whether she sees a big change in how the medical field is responding to nutritional needs in treating patients. Shirley groaned softly and shared a very personal story:

“Sometimes, it’s just ignorance that prevents simple interventions. The nephew of a friend of mine, who went to the Baylor Medical School for tests, was diagnosed as having Lou Gherig’s disease. He was floored. He decided to quit his job and planned to travel with his wife while he still was mobile. They traveled to Mexico, to the Yucatan Peninsula, and he came down with a bad case of Montezuma’s revenge.”

“A doctor, in the depths of the Yucatan, did a blood serum test and noticed that he was critically deficient in potassium. As it turns out, he was on a potassium-wasting diuretic that was originally prescribed at Baylor for mild hypertension. It turned out that he didn’t have Lou Gherig’s disease at all, but was deficient in a common mineral!”

“This isn’t uncommon, as your pharmacist friend from Chicago noted when he talked about vitamin D deficiencies being treated with far more expensive approaches and far less effective results.”

Since Shirley has been a member since the beginning, I asked whether she sends folks our way.

“I sure do. The first thing I recommend is a visit to the kat's website! This is especially important for those on fixed incomes. In addition to Milk Thistle and Alpha Lipoic Acid, I recommend Apple Pectin, which is in your Fiber Fit, as a good addition to a detox program.”

“However, I often recommend blood and saliva work first. Most physicians are not aware of the availability of these tests or how to use the information gained from them.”

“So I recommend using the Great Smokies lab tests. They test the three major detox pathways by administering aspirin, No Doze, and Tylenol, which are all eliminated along different pathways. The tests give a good indication of how efficiently a person is able to detox along these three pathways.”

For those inquiring minds who want to know more, here’s a link to the Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory:

http://www.gsdl.com/home/assessments/

 Meanwhile, I asked about approaches to detoxing. Shirley had this to say:

“I am a strong believer in the gradual detox approach. Instant detox programs are very hard on the body – you can feel bad enough when your body starts releasing toxins. Although it is part of the healing, detoxification programs can feel like a crisis. You can feel like you have the flu or worse, so it’s best to take a gradual approach.”

“I also like to encourage people to be supervised by professionals with good references and a good reputation, since some programs promise too much too fast. I definitely don’t advise self-administration for any serious detox program.”

When I asked Shirley how she found the Co-op originally, she shared that she had gotten online earlier than most of her peers, partly because of her role model, a woman named Bernadine, who is now 86!

Shirley was happy to share that she is a vibrant 69! Go sextagenarians! ^..^

Shirley’s fussy about the products she brings into her house, preferring to use citrus-based cleaners made from orange peel oils. We talked about some sources she considers reliable, including:

www.seventhgeneration.com (household cleaning and paper products)

www.lifekind.com (bedding, linens, and more -- where Shirley bought her favorite organic mattress)

Shirley wouldn’t mind seeing and didn’t mind hinting that the Co-op should carry a green cleaning product. Good grief. Everyone always has a suggestion. Our list of wished-for items never gathers any dust!

Meanwhile, I had to ask the question about how Shirley Responds to the kat stuff.

“I love the kat! The newsletters are so much more fun to read! I loved all the updates during the hurricanes last year, and the personal stories you share make me feel so much more connected to you and the rest of the community.”

Shirley was quick to point out that she appreciates the lab tests too. Sigh. It’s bad enough that I’m always sharing billing with humans -- now the lab tests keep upstaging me. ^..^

Before we said goodbye, Shirley shared that another priority topic for her is the subject of inflammation and how important it is to treat inflammation rather than the many symptoms it causes. We’re planning a newsletter on inflammation, so stay tuned.

Now, time to scat. ^..^

Still purringly yours,

Guido

Making Health Affordable Together