Pat Sullivan Blog

FreeRice.com Might Save The World's Hunger Problem...But Only If You Can Tell Them the Meaning of The Word "Farrier"

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Have you heard of FreeRice.com?  You should have since it's been around over a month.  (Heavy sarcasm.) 

FreeRice has now donated 1.5 billion grains of rice to the UN World Food Programe...in just 37 days of operations, all thanks to web surfers testing their vocabulary.  Talk about a viral marketing program!  (And yeah, it's pretty addicting.)

According to my (clumsy?) predictions, they'll have donated 1000 tons of rice (or 4 billion grains, 4 million cups) by Christmas. 

My assumptions and calculations:

1. There are about 1000 grains of rice in 1 cup.  (I asked my wife who works from home to count this out.  About 150 grains in, she googled it instead.  She's smarter than me, obviously. ;-)
2. There are 2 cups in 16 ounces, so 2000 grains = 1 pound.
3. So there are 4 million grains in one ton.  (2000 grains x 2000 pounds)
4. The thick green line is what they've done so far.
5. The thin blue line is the trend, brought to you in part by Excel's Chart Trend function, Polynomial type, order 2, for 47 days.  (No, I don't know what that means either.)

If you'd like to take this any further (or fix it), download the spreadsheet.

Other interesting rice stuff:

• 11,340,000 tons of rice is grown in the USA. (Source: USA Rice Federation Fact Sheet)
• My favorite rice as of late is Uncle Ben's Original Ready Rice.  Plain and simple.  Add a little butter when you're eating a piece of steak or fish and it's a great carbohydrate.  (This is some of the only MSG-free ready-to-eat rice products as most contain yeast extract, which is MSG.)
• Looking to do some math problems?

(H/T: PCspy)

"Internet Anonymity is as Destructive as Internet Porn"

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Dear Anonymous, get a name!

I just read Internet Anonymity is as Destructive as Internet Porn, by conservative writer, radio talk show host, and the voice of Jigsaw Magnesium, Dennis Prager. 

Whenever people lament aspects of the Internet, they are most likely to lament the net's ubiquity of pornography. Only God knows, for example, how many kids, searching for some government information, typed in "whitehouse.com" only to be greeted by pornographic images (happily, the website changed hands in 2004). It is almost impossible to completely avoid such imagery even with filtering programs.

But there is something at least as awful -- and arguably more destructive -- that permeates the Internet: the lies, vitriol, obscenities and ad hominem attacks made by anonymous individuals on almost every website that deals with public issues.

[...]

Being identifiable breeds responsibility; anonymity breeds irresponsibility.

[...]

Some might argue that anonymity enables people to more freely express their thoughts. But this is not true. Anonymity only enables people to more freely express their feelings. Anonymity values feelings over thought, and immediate expression over thoughtful reflection.

[...] I doubt I am alone in reading fewer and fewer comments sections because of the low level of so many of the postings. Just as bad money chases away good money, moronic postings chase away intelligent ones.

[...] But there is an easy fix, and websites owe it to society to use it. Just ban anonymous postings.

I couldn't agree more with Dennis' take. 

A little levity

Laughter is a good thing.  My sister in law sent me a video that is really funny.  For all of us who are aging (lets see, that would be all of us) this is/will be us.  Enjoy.

New Look for the Blog

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Thanks to my sister Karin, the "Pat & Pat Show" now has a new slimmed down and simplified look.  (And the code is a heck of a lot easier to manage thanks to some much needed improvements to TypePad.)  All the posts and links should be bug-free, but who knows.  "After all, this is software." as Pat likes to say.

Neither Pat nor myself have been very diligent about posting in the past few months, but with this new look and all the news and controversy kicking up again in the autism world, I'm hoping to get back on the wagon.

The Death of Common Sense

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Something funny in my Inbox...

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.  It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Tylenol, sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I am A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.

MondayMorningMemo

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Do you subscribe to Roy H. William's MondayMorningMemo?  I just met Roy at the beginning of December while in Austin attending a 3-day class at the Wizard Academy.  (No, it's not some kind of Harry Potter thing...)

Anyways, the December 25 MondayMorningMemo was an excellent compilation of "ready to begin the new year?" type quotes.  Give it a read. 

And personally, I'm really looking forward to 2007.  Oh-six had it's share of ups and downs.  Day to day, there were more ups than downs, but the downs did make a noticeable appearance.  Still, hope springs eternal and I have very high hopes for oh-seven.  You?

I am Time Magazine's Person of the Year (UPDATED)

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

That's right, Time Magazine named me as it's person of the year.  :)

Somewhat ironically, this article was just forwarded to me from Andrea, the "community manager" of the new BazaarVoice user reviews feature we added to JigsawHealth.com about 30 days ago.  It's sort of scary to make yourself vulnerable to negative reviews.  I know our products are great, but not every single product pleases everyone all the time.  (Bob Marley taught that business lesson to me.)

But I elected to add BazaarVoice to our website because I felt like customers were searching for this kind of information anyways, so let's just put it directly on every product page.  Let the chips fall where they may.  The winning products should invariably sell better.  And the products that no one seems to like, we'll just drop from the catalog.  In the end, both the customer and the business win. 

Since we just recently added this feature, we only have about 150 reviews.  We started sending out emails to our customer base last week.  Even though we're a small company with only 20 months of operations, I expect to have at least a thousand reviews within the next 3 or 4 months.

So if you're a customer of Jigsaw Health and want to write a review, I would greatly appreciate it.  Find out about writing reviews and learn about the contest we're running to promote this.

PS - This may seem like an odd request.  Out of 150 reviews, our average ranking is 4.8 out 5 stars.  Like I said, I know our products are good, but 4.8 out of 5 stars is borderline unbelievable.  So if you have some constructive criticism, I would actually really appreciate that.  Not that this is an invitation to make up crap about products you've never tried.  :)

UPDATE: What Bob Marley actually said/sang was, "You can fool some people some time, but you can't fool all da people all da time..."  I mixed that up, but the same principle applies.

Vitamin P Show

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

My podcasting career begins.  Check out my contribution to the Health Hacks Podcast.

Then go visit VitaminPshow.com.

Loud Cell Phone Talker

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Hard to not laugh at this clip.  :)

Science & Super-models

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

This is the direction I think RandomJohn needs to go in.  Science and supermodels.  Who knew?  LOL  ;-)

LetsSayThanks.com

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

A friend forwarded me a link to www.LetsSayThanks.com.  Pick a card, sign your name, Xerox prints it and mails it to a soldier.  It's a fanatastic idea, both marketing-wise and lazy-person-wise. 

Take 30 seconds and go send a card!

New Lifecycle

A friend sent this to me.  He thought George Carlin said it.  I like some of Carlin's stuff and this one is too funny not to share.  Enjoy and have a great weekend.

I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, start out dead and get it out of the way. Then you wake up in an old age home feeling better every day.. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement.

You drink alcohol, you party, you're generally promiscuous and you get ready for High School. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a baby, then, you spend your last 9 months floating peacefully with luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, larger quarters everyday, and finally you finish off as an orgasm.

I rest my case.

"Skeptical of skeptics"

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Dear self-appointed "skeptics", please read this.

UPDATE: This post has a popular comment thread.  RandomJohn's take is good supplemental reading, especially after you get through the arguments that Dad of Cameron and I have about "belief."

Beyond Health Radio

I'm calling in now to Beyond Health Radio program.  I'll be talking to Raymond Francis about my book.  You can listen on the radio or on the internet.

My favorite Irish Joke

Paddy O'Hara shows up alone at a bar in Atlanta where he had just moved. The bartender comes over and asks what will you have. Paddy orders 3 beers. The bartender shrugs and gets him his 3 beers. A while later Paddy orders another 3 beers. The bartender is just too curious, so he asks Paddy why he always orders 3 beers at a time? Paddy says, "Aye, it is just a tradition. I always drink 3 beers, one for me brother Shawn, one for me brother Timothy and one for meself." Satisfied, the bartender walks away smiling.

For many years, Paddy drank at that same bar and was served 3 beers at a time by the same bartender. One evening, Paddy comes in and orders, 2 beers. The bewildered bartender serves him his 2 beers. After several minutes the bartender comes over with tears in his eyes and says, "Paddy, let my offer my deepest sympathies to you for losing one of your brothers." Paddy looked at him surprised and said, "Ah, all me brothers are fine. It is just that me wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to stop drinking!"

Jigsaw Health March Newsletter

The Jigsaw Health eNewsletter for March is on Heart Health.  Good work team!

RSS Feeds need to be reset -- Please Read

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr. -- post has been bumped to the top.)

If you use an RSS reader or have added our RSS feed to MyYahoo!, Google, My MSN, etc. so that you can keep up with the latest and greatest on the Pat Sullivan Blog, you may have noticed that it stopped sending out new feeds a few weeks ago.  Apparently, TypePad changed a small server setting and we weren't setup correctly to adjust for the change.  Please click on link below to re-add this feed to your reader/homepage of choice.

Sorry for the inconvenience.  Thanks for being a loyal reader of Pat Sullivan Blog.  Especially you Mom!  ;-)

Mark Schauss is Blogging

Mark Schauss is the founder of Carbon Based Corporation, a unique company that analyzes and correlates data from numerous medical tests.  I have never seen anything like what they do with their CellMate reports.  (Jigsaw Health resells the Foundation Wellness Profile and Organic Acids Test.)

Mark is one of the most interesting and most knowledgeable people I have met in this industry.  His passion and drive has stemmed mostly from trying to figure out the cause to his daughter Tasya's epilepsy.

Enjoy!

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

These are just too funny!  Enjoy!  :)

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

     1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic.
     Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat
     and presto. The blockage will be almost instantly
     removed.

     2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing
     vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while
     you chop away.

     3. Avoid arguments with the little woman about lifting
     the toilet seat by simply using the sink.

     4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut
     yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing
     the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

     5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock ,
     will prevent you from rolling over and going back to
     sleep after you hit the snooze button.

     6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of
     laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.

     7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a
     hammer and you will forget about the toothache.

     Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of
     life really are:

     You only need two tools: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it
     doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it
     shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

     Remember:

     Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. (This is the most important one)

     Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom.

     If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You get
     another chance.

     And finally, be really nice to your family and
     friends; you never know when you might need them to
     empty your bedpan.

New Jigsaw Health Products and Free Shipping

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

We announced some great new Jigsaw Health products today.  Also, we're offering Free ground shipping on all orders and 25% off Probiotics for the month of December.

Comment Formatting Update -- It's FIXED!

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.) 

For anyone who has struggled reading or writing comments on this blog because of lack of automatic line breaks, you'll be happy to know that we FINALLY managed to get it fixed.  It wasn't any fun, but everything should be working as normal and WYSIWYG from now on in the comments.  No need to include the <p> tag.

Thanks for suffering through with us!

Child Beating

APPLETON(AP) - A seven-year-old boy was at the center of an Appleton,
Wis. courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who

should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by
his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in
keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family
unity be maintained to the degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat
him  more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with
her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his
grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning
that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the
judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who
should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child
welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Green
Bay Packers, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating
anyone.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I.

Comment Formatting Update

For the Pat Sullivan Blog regulars, you already know that we've had TERRIBLE problems with line breaks in the comments.  Basically, it has resulted in long blocks of text, no matter how many times you hit the enter key.  While TypePad Tech Support does not yet have a permanent solution in place, we do have a work-around for the time being: the <p> html tag.

Using the <p> html tag to force a line break is actually very easy to do. At the beginning of each new paragraph, you first type <p> and then type the rest of your paragraph. At the end of the paragraph, you "close" that paragraph by using </p>. When you preview your comments, you should see it create line breaks.

Bonus Tips: If you want to bold a word or phrase, put <b> at the begining and </b> at the end. If you want to italicize a word or phrase, put <i> at the begining and </i> at the end.

The secret is don't ever forget to "close" the tag. Hope this helps a little bit until we get the full problem figured out.

Another Update - On the Radio with Gary Null

Update 2 (9/7/05):  Seems to be mass confusion on the Gary Null show!  I called in as requested and the producer did not know that I was scheduled to be on the show.  I guess the person who booked me, forgot to tell him.  Strange!  Sorry for the confusion.  I am sure I will be on sometime.  I'll bump this post back up to the top as soon as it is scheduled.

Updated 1 (9/2/05):  We decided that due to that last minute nature of this, we are rescheduling.  I will be on next Weds Sept. 7th instead.  Sorry for the confusion!  I hope you can join us on the radio or on the Internet at 1:00 EST.  Get the details about where to tune in below:

Original Post (9/1/05):  Hey!  I just found out that I am going to be on the radio tomorrow, Friday September 2nd at 1:00pm EST.  It will be on AM 1600 in the NY and you can listen to me on the web as well. 

Sorry for the late notice but I just found out today myself.

The Gary Null show is the longest-running, continuously aired health program in America and a winner of eight Silver Microphone Awards. Dr. Null provides practical tips, intriguing guests and call-in segments that keep listeners tuning in daily.

Gary Null's website is here. 

I have read a few of Gary's many books, and also have used some of his supplements over the years so I am excited to get to talk to him.

Check it out if you can!

Pat Robertson vs. George Stephanopoulus... Media Bias?

I wrote a post about two days ago about Pat Robertson's assassination comments.  I joined virtually everyone else blasting Robertson for his outrageous comments.  I still think he was way off base for what he said.

However, I came across this NewsMax article which pointed out that George Stephanopoulus (pronounced "step-on-all-of-us"), the former Clinton top advisor turned media pundit, publicly stated the very same thing in 1997 in a Newsweek Magazine feature article.  He gave a long and reasoned explanation about why Clinton should assassinate Saddam Hussein.  The headline read, "Why We Should Kill Saddam."   Wow!!!

There was no media outcry from anywhere.  It was not talked about on every TV station.  No editorials condemning him and what he said.

The article closes with, "The one-time top Clinton aide said that, far from violating international principles, assassinating Saddam would be the moral thing to do, arguing, "What's unlawful - and unpopular with the allies - is not necessarily immoral." 

I wonder how George's same comments would play today?  Wonder if he is saying the same things today?

And really, what is the difference between what Robertson said and what Stephanopoulus wrote?  Stephanopoulus was MUCH more explicit than Robertson and yet NO ONE said a thing that I know of.  Why?

First off, blogging did not exist then!  Today, George would be blasted by the conservative half of the blogosphere for writing that same article. 

Second, George was part of the politically acceptable club and his assasination idea was considered reasoned and intelligent.  Could it be that it was OK for him to say what he said because he was a liberal democrat, fresh out of the administration of the media-beloved President Clinton? 

But since Pat Robertson is a "Wacko Conservative Ultra Right Wing Christian Fundamentalist," he's lambasted!  Say it ain't so.

But of course, it is so...We all know that the majority of the mainstream media has a liberal bias.  This is just one more clear cut example.   And one of the most clear that I know of.

Now, I do want to make sure that my position is understood: I thought, and still think, Robertson's comments were crazy for him to say.  But to be fair, Stephanopoulus HAS to be considered just as crazy as Robertson!

UPDATE: Pardon My English, Hugs, Kisses, and Bombs, and Memento Moron are just a few of the other bloggers that see the same irony I do.

UPDATE: NewsMax also reports that CIA, Military Men Agree with Pat Robertson.  Not that anyone would be surprised at this because this is what the CIA and special ops actually do.  (At least, we think this is what they do!)

A Response To Ed.

My post titled "What are Darwinists Afraid Of?" has had more comments than any other post I have done.  One commentator, Ed Darrell, has posted a few interesting "Pro Darwin" comments.  See the article and comments here.

I liked my reply so much I thought I would re post it.  That is one benefit of being the Blogger!

Repy to Ed: Many thanks to Ed for his well written reply to my comments in reply to his comments. Did you follow that?

I won't reply to each of his statements as I agree with much of what he writes. Sort of! The problem I have is that I totally agree that evolution can and has been observed often in nature. But there are TWO TYPES of EVOLUTION. There is micro evolution - change within species - and there is macro evolution - one species becoming another species.

The first has been observed. The first has been utilized in medicine and agriculture as he says. My problem is not with micro evolution at all. It makes perfect sense and is readily proven that it happened and still happens today! My problem is logically taking that observation and making the jump to MACRO EVOLUTION. I am not aware of any evidence or observation showing that has happened or is happening. The total lack of "intermediate" species in the fossil record are very telling. Also, the sudden appearance of species in the fossil record is totally unpredicted by evolution. Smarter people than I could go on and on about the huge holes in the theory of Macro Evolution.

I think that this is the main problem in a discussion about "evolution". One needs to make sure we know which type of evolution we are talking about! Id'ers, get accused of being stupid because they supposedly don't accept the concept of micro evolution when they readily do.

As to the lack of "published" work from ID'ers, scientific publications are controlled by Darwinists and they are not going to allow anything written by an ID'er to be published so that can continue to use the argument that ID is not scientific because they have never been published! That circular argument works in medicine too!

I also fail to follow Ed's argument that somehow it is anti-God to believe in ID and not in evolution. Clearly the basis of belief for every athiest I have ever talked to has been Evolution and not Creation! It seems rare to find Christians (or any other faith for that matter) who believe in a Creator but also believe that creation happened from NOTHING and totally randomly by chance.

I also don't like the tendency for evolutionists to attack ID'ers personally. I have read things written by people like Dembski and Behe and it is hard for me to believe that they are stupid people with an evil agenda. They seem extremely smart and their arguments compelling.

One could argue as Ed does, that this is because I am simply ignorant and have not been properly taught what evolution really is. The fact is, I have read things from evolutionists and I have gone through the obligatory evolution classes both in High School and College. In those classes I found myself saying, "that is all there is?" "That is what evolution is?" I wanted to know where the beef was.

I don't think the reason that only 22% of Americans believe in Evolution is that 78% of them are just too stupid or ignorant! I think that evolutionists have to do a better job explaining how what is observed, happened totally from NOTHING and totally randomly. That is the huge problem that they have it seems to me.

What is observed appears to be extraordinarily well designed! Nothing that we use or work with in everyday experience came into being from nothing or by chance. Our experience readily teaches us that everything worthwhile has been designed by someone.

Subscribe via email

If you're not into the whole RSS, Atom, XML thing, you can now subscribe to my blog via the old-fashioned way -- email.

Enter your email address in the field along the right-hand side of this page (under Feeds) and click the subscribe button.  Thanks for signing up!

Plug from EIU

It's sort of cool when your alma mater takes note of you.  Thanks for the plug Jacqueline! 

From page 5 of the Eastern Illinois University E-NEWS

Please Support EIU Alums and Friends

- Wellness: Piece by Piece

- Pat Sullivan, Class of 1975

Pat Sullivan, creator of the bestselling ACT!© software, has authored a book chronicling his struggles with chronic illness and offering advice and encouragement to those who also struggle with persistent health issues.  This book is available from your local
bookseller or through Amazon.com.

Also, Pat Sullivan has established a health information network, Jigsaw Health. The web site offers nutritional foods, dietary supplements, and resources on illnesses and treatments.

Upcoming shows for Jigsaw Health

Here is the events schedule for Jigsaw Health:

BoulderFest 2005
July 13-17
Omni Interlocken Resort
Broomfield, CO
http://www.crayhonresearch.com/seminars/default.asp

American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP)
August 24-27
Biltmore Hotel
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.naturopathic.org/

A Successful Book Signing!

Here are just a few pics from yesterday's party here at the Jigsaw Health office in Scottsdale, AZ. It was great to see friends, and also to make many new ones! We don't have an exact count on attendance, but we did give away 100 copies of my book, WELLNESS PIECE BY PIECE. And I was signing books for 2 hours straight! 

The Jigsaw Health Team

With my friend, former AZ Govenor Fife Symington

Signing books...there was a great turn-out!

Some got started right away!

With Carolyn Dohrenwend of Consumers for Dental Choice, which was
the recipient of all donations

Email reply to a new friend

The following is the text of an email that I wrote to a new friend who emailed me about things he found useful in my book, WELLNESS PIECE BY PIECE, and the Jigsaw Health website.  As I re-read my reply to him I realized it could be a good post as it covers so many issues from several angles.  My new friend is a deeply devoted Christian.  I think you will get the gist of his email to me as you read it.

My email reply:

I understand completely about doing two things at the same time and getting better, but then being afraid to stop one of the things you are doing for fear that it was the reason you got better! I have done that MANY times! Uncovering hidden underlying causes of health issues is VERY difficult. That is where I feel I have had so many answers to prayer! I would think that I really understood why I felt a certain way, only to have the Lord somehow reveal something out of the blue that would cause me to realize that what I thought was not accurate.

Lexapro is likely the best of the SSRI's I think. I have never used it but it is highly rated here www.remedyfind.com/rm-3743-Lexapro.asp. I like this site because it is users who rate the various things that they take.

Depression IS an awful thing. Especially if you combine it with an unhealthy sense of "God is punishing me" or "If you just believed right, or thought right, you would not be depressed brother" type of advice/condemnation from well-meaning but ill-informed Christians! Been there, done that!

For some reason I never have used an anti-depressant though at times longed for one. Once a doc did talk me into trying Wellbutrin but that was short lived because it was AWFUL. Total insomnia was NOT a good side effect!

Instead, I have worked hard at trying to understand the underlying cause. I am not totally there yet but feel I am very close. Instead of taking something to re-use serotonin over and over, as in an SSRI, I have focused on helping my body make more serotonin. I figured I did not have a deficiency of Prozac!

Usually depression is one of two things, or both! A deficiency of one or many nutrients needed to make neurotransmitters, or a toxin (like mercury or something else) that prevents the body from making what it needs.

Mercury's number one effect is depression. Dentist's have the highest rate of suicide of any profession!

Really, that is the theme of my book: To discover the things that the body is missing and provide those, AND help it to get rid of the toxins that our generation has been exposed to in ever-increasing amounts!

From my way of looking at it, the Church is oblivious to the physical assaults upon the bodies of its members. We too easily ascribe physical issues with spiritual causes. We pray about our health and that is good, but then we expect God to somehow protect us when we eat like fools and are regularly exposed to highly toxic chemicals and metals in ever-increasing amounts.

I have often wondered if the attack on our bodies were not totally orchestrated by the one who seeks to destroy us. Does he know somehow that because we are looking at spiritual things we won't suspect a direct assault on our bodies which ultimately can effect our spirits?

Christians have had a false idea, it seems to me, as to the importance of the physical body and our responsibility to be stewards of it as well as we are of our hearts!

The body is the "temple of the Holy Spirit" and yet we treat it as though it is this awful thing of "flesh" that we can't wait to get rid of!

We get cancer or diabetes or depression and we say to God, "Why are you doing this to me?" I think He says, "Duh!"

Hosea, says "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." I fear this is our condition today as it relates to the body. We are deceived into thinking that somehow our physical bodies will be protected by our faith. Like walking off a ten story building believing that our faith will override the law of gravity. At certain times it will, as in Jesus' and Peter's case in walking on the water. But in normal, everyday life, gravity wins!

I am glad our website was useful to you for your circadian cycle. Sunlight is extremely powerful! I expect getting early morning exposure to the sun will help you a lot!! The GoLite product that we sell is a great product as well if you find that sunlight does not do the trick totally.

Well, sorry for the diatribe here, but I had too much time on my hands on a Sat morning!  I look forward to getting to know you better!

Pat

New Gmail

I have a new Gmail email -- PatSullivanBlog@gmail.com   

MyYahoo!

We just added a feature that allows new posts on my blog to show up on your MyYahoo! page.  Just click this link --> 

Thanks for adding me to your Yahoo!  Now how about a Yahoo! yodle?

BugMeNot.com

Tired of creating a new login just to read a linked newspaper article?  Next time you get to the registration/login page, check www.BugMeNot.com to see if someone else has created a "shared" login.  This is a very cool idea! 

Google Hacked?

Did Google just get hacked? I did a search with my trusty Google toolbar and this is what came back. The telling sign that makes it looked hacked is the "Google" in the top left corner that *looks* like regular Google, but is obviously not the real logo.

   

UPDATE: Reports are coming in here and here, but they appear to have been from a previous time.  I don't think the blogosphere has a screen shot like the one I've provided, yet...

You need to eat FAT!!

One of the more controversial things I write about in my book, Wellness Piece by Piece, is how research shows that eating a balanced diet which INCLUDES sources of saturated fat is very important.  In fact, it was not until I began to re-introduce healthy sources of fat to my diet—like nuts, butter, cream, and especially coconut oil—that certain health conditions I struggled with went away. 

The boom of low fat diets which began to be recommended decades ago have not stopped the dramatic increase of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity.  In fact, it could easily be argued that these diseases have dramatically INCREASED during the time of this constant attack on eating things that have FAT in them.  Washington University in St. Louis has published a study that adds to the research that shows WHY the low fat craze is simply wrong.

In an article in the May issue of Cell Metabolism titled, "New Fat is Needed to Clear Old Fat from Body," Jim Dryden reports that the body simply cannot process the fat that it has stored, unless the diet includes “new fat.”  Mice fed a “no fat” diet developed fatty liver disease and low blood sugar.  Both of these conditions reversed when the mice were then fed a diet that contained fat.

The article states,

The liver is very important for processing nutrients consumed in the diet and sending them on to the rest of the body. Abnormal processing of glucose or lipids in the liver contributes to problems of type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis, and fatty liver disease often is seen in people who are obese or suffer from insulin resistance.

"There's also good evidence that the liver plays a key role in mediating cardiovascular risk through the secretion of multiple proteins associated with inflammation," said Clay F. Semenkovich, M.D., professor of medicine and of cell biology and physiology. In these mice we found that when too much fat got into the liver (on the no fat diet), there was excessive inflammation." Semenkovich found that the consumption of new fat seemed to solve those problems.

The researchers were not able to pinpoint how the liver differentiated between new fat and old fat but the correlation was clear that it did.  They concluded that people with obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic diseases needed to have fat in their diets. 

This definitely goes against prevailing wisdom.  The problem with a lot of “prevailing wisdom” is that it is widely believed but yet is wrong!  This is why it takes so many years, and often decades, for really stupid ideas to be replaced with sanity. 

In the meantime, do your body a favor and put fat back into you diets!!

"The Drugs I Need"

This made my sides hurt!  "Progenitorivox" is such a classic name!

Colin Powell on "Success"

My son Patrick subscribes to the justsell.com eNewsletter.  Every once in awhile he forwards me one of the daily quotes.  The one from today was a great reminder.

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure."

Colin L. Powell (1937- )
former U.S. Secretary of State and
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

A great trend!

Here is a great website!  Wouldn't it be great to know where you can eat out and not get meats filled with antibiotics and hormones so prevalent today?  Well now you can!  It is called the Eat Well Guide.

This site gives you all the restaurants and stores near you that are committed to providing good, healthy foods!  I have already started to change my habits to support the restaurants near me.  Great idea!!  Check it out!

A Hard Thing To Do!

Having started a company formulating and selling nutritional supplements, I have discovered that one of the hardest things to do is to tell people in a factual, straightforward way exactly what specific nutritional ingredients can actually do for you. 

The dietary supplements/nutraceuticals industry is regulated by the FDA, and to some degree the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).   The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was created in 1994 to bring some regulation to an "anything goes" industry.  Like any law, there are pros and cons. 

The upside of DSHEA is that it gives the FDA authority to go after the literally thousands of companies selling sub-standard products with slick websites that make totally outrageous claims of miracle cures, and when you peel back the curtain there are 1 or 2 people working out of an apartment or a garage.  This is good regulation! 

The downside is that DSHEA limits so severely what you can say (or more specifically what you CANNOT say) when you are trying to sell your products.  The general rule of thumb is that you cannot make a "structure function claim" (i.e. "ABC cures XYZ") because this would be a drug claim and the FDA must have sufficient scientific evidence to approve drug claims.  It doesn't matter if ABC has actually cured XYZ in many patients, you still can't say it until the FDA says so. 

For example, much research clearly shows that niacin, a common B vitamin will lower cholesterol.  But can you say that?  Not if you are selling the product.  That would be a drug claim.  You are only allowed to say that your niacin product will "support cardiovascular health."  And even then, you have to back that statement up with scientific evidence, which by the way, IS a good thing!  (As Jigsaw's chief formulator Dr. Yadu likes to say, "Let science do the walking.")

Health Puzzles

Yesterday, I received an email from a friend who was inquiring if I knew anything about a condition that the wife of one his friends was diagnosed with.  Here is how I answered the question:

Regarding the question as to whether I cover "benign essential tremor" in my book, I would have to say, specifically, no.  However, a few hints in your email here indicate that your friend's wife has been suffering for many years from "multiple" issues—many of which are neurological in nature.  The problem with medicine today is that there is so much effort put into "diagnosing" down to a very specific illness, without looking at the "whole" picture. 

Also, very little effort is put forth in trying to determine real underlying causes.  Rather, the efforts are on how to mask the symptoms, if possible, with drugs.  I am not against drugs in the right circumstances, as long as they are used to help the person WHILE the real cause is being sought.

Mainstream medicine is great at acute medicine and terrible at chronic.  It is so easy to say "It is incurable."  If I was a doc and I was totally stumped, that is exactly what I would probably say too!   I write a lot about this in my book, "Wellness Piece by Piece." (Available from JigsawHealth.com or Amazon.com.  Sneak Preview here.)

Pictures from today's launch

This morning at our office as we launched JigsawHealth.com

"We're live!"

    

"Cheers...we did it!!"

"Those are some great looking products!"

My Book: Wellness Piece by Piece

What they say about the book...

In “Wellness Piece by Piece,” Pat Sullivan openly discusses his own 30-year struggle with chronic illnesses. Though he is not a doctor, Sullivan has become an expert on many chronic illnesses in his search for answers.  Writing from the layman's perspective, Sullivan skillfully blends science, research, and personal experience. 

More than 125 million Americans suffer with chronic illness, and at least half of those suffer from multiple chronic illnesses. With each page, you can feel Sullivan’s passion and empathy for every one of these people. 

While wrestling with Mercury-Toxicity (from dental amalgams), Candidiasis, and Chronic Fatigue, Irritable Bowel, and Adrenal Fatigue Syndromes, Sullivan discovered various pieces to his puzzle, a powerful metaphor used throughout the book.  His motivation to find these pieces came from, as he states, “a deep-seated belief in cause and effect...if there is an effect, there MUST be a cause!”

As Sullivan shares the discoveries that have helped him—practicing proper nutrition, detoxifying mercury, balancing hormones, clearing infections and more—you will find hope, along with practical advice, to begin solving your own chronic health puzzle.

Pat Sullivan's “Wellness Piece by Piece” is a quick, exciting and insightful read for anyone suffering from chronic illness.

Purchase Wellness Piece by Piece: you can find my book on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Health Press, or JigsawHealth.com.

For a sneak preview, go here.

For reviews about Wellness Piece by Piece, go here.

For corrections to Wellness Piece by Piece, go here.

-Pat

Reviews and Press on Wellness Piece by Piece

WELLNESS PIECE BY PIECE was originally published on March 31, 2005, and then re-published by Health Press NA on December 1, 2005.  Here is a list of reviews...

Posted September 8, 2005:  Review from Dr. Miller

Posted September 8, 2005:  Letter from Dr. Messerman

Posted July 11, 2005: Review from Dr. Blaylock

Posted July 9, 2005: Review from Dr. Shoemaker

Posted July 9, 2005: Review from Carolyn Dohrenwend of Consumers for Dental Choice

Posted July 6, 2005: Amazon Review from Jim Abdu

Posted July 6, 2005: Endorsement from Charlie Brown, Counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice

Posted July 1, 2005: A Powerful Review

Posted June 25, 2005: Review from J. Joines on Amazon.com

Posted June 7, 2005: Review from Rex Miller, author of The Millennium Matrix : Reclaiming the Past, Reframing the Future of the Church

Posted June 6, 2005: Review from Dr. Margaret Merrifield

Posted June 6, 2005: Review from Dr. Ann Manby

Posted June 6, 2005: Review from Certified Family Nurse Practioner Jennifer Cox

Posted June 6, 2005: Round-up of reviews on Amazon.com

Book Corrections

As I find corrections to my book, I will list them here.

-- Page 41, Original text: "The book also described how the adrenal glands are part of an intricate system of glands called the HPA axis, made up of the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands all located in the brain."  Correction:  The adrenals are located adjacent to the kidneys, not in the brain.

-- Page 95, Incorrect endnote.  "12" should be "13"

-- Page 98, Incorrect endnote.  "13" should be "14"