Prescription for Murder

If you have had any exposure to the radio, television or newspaper lately then you are aware of the mother in the Clear Lake area that drowned her five children. The media focused the attention on her depression as the reason for her actions. The talk shows were buzzing with psychologists, psychiatrists, and authors of books about depression to give their opinion on this case. But when I heard this story I thought of electrolyte insufficiency. Electrolytes are trace mineral compounds that when dissolved in water yields ions capable of conducting electricity. There are many of these trace minerals but the most common are sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium. These are the minerals in sport drinks like Gatorade that replenish lost salts. I suspect that her kidneys were weak and letting too many precious electrolytes leave the body via the urine. One clue was she got more depressed after she gave birth, more commonly called post partum depression. We will go into that pathway later but first let’s do a background check on this mother’s lifestyle and see if we can solve this mystery.

Our investigation begins with dirt. Modern agriculture techniques have depleted our soils of trace minerals and the foods grown in this soil have inadequate levels of trace minerals. She already has a handicap because even if she tries real hard to eat well, her diet will still be low in minerals. She probably eats large amounts of grain products because the pyramid food chart says to eat 6-11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta a day. By the way this chart was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Grains have phytic acid, which leach certain minerals out of the body. Grain products are also high in carbohydrate grams causing an increased insulin response. Increased insulin levels destabilize blood glucose levels that create and reinforce a metabolic dependency on sugar.

Improper blood sugar levels coupled with low electrolytes leaves her feeling bad so she goes to a doctor. Her condition is still sub-clinical which means the doctors cannot find anything wrong clinically. Most doctors are trained to find and stop the disease process rather than look for what will turn on life. They tell her, “Nothing is wrong at this time, it is just stress.” I perceive the body with a holistic paradigm and the knowing that an innate power animates and brings life to that body. Anything that gets in the way of this life force causes dis-ease. Physical, chemical and emotional STRESS is the major causation of turning off the power of life. Now back to our investigation.

She does not know what to do with that information so she goes to the health food store looking to buy health off of the shelf. She starts taking some vitamins not realizing that it is making her electrolyte insufficiency worse. Most multivitamins, like much of the stuff marketed as ‘health food’ is nothing but a product of premeditated marketing designed to capitalize on a poor soul searching for a way to feel better. You see vitamins need minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc and copper to carry them through the body. If you arbitrarily take vitamins without the proper ratio of minerals, it depletes the body of minerals. Manufacturers of these supplements use high amounts of vitamins relative to minerals. Mega dosages of the highly recognized C and B vitamins make the product more marketable. Admit it, when you go to Whole Foods and read the label you are more impressed by the larger vitamin dosages. If a little is good, more is better.

With the consumption of starchy carbohydrates in the form of grains, excess sugar and low minerals she finds herself gaining weight. She hears that salt can cause water weight gain so she restricts her intake. This was not a good thing to do because salt or rather sodium chloride is two major electrolytes she needs more of. She already felt bad with low energy and now her self-esteem is assaulted by looking fat. So she starts eating low-fat low calorie foods, which accelerates her already imbalanced hormones into a downward spiral. For some time now her digestive system has not provided her a consistent fuel source leaving her hormonal system the burden of providing stability to her fragile existence. Our hormones are produced primarily from saturated fat, more specifically cholesterol. By taking this food source away, her endocrine system will function in a state of constant survival. She goes back to the doctor and this time they find some things wrong clinically and prescribe some medication to stimulate her hormones and to help her feel better by feeling less. Now unaware and out of touch with her body’s imbalances she tries get on with her life. The stage is set for this paper house body to crash.

She decides to have another child because she remembers feeling pretty good through her previous pregnancies. The reason for this is the fact that her adrenals along with her kidneys and basically her whole glandular system are in a state of depletion. During the last three months of pregnancy the baby’s adrenal glands begin to help the mother’s failing adrenals and she feels somewhat alive again. After the baby’s birth the mother is very quickly left with just two instead of previously four adrenal glands. This is when post partum depression shows up. This process is repeated and exacerbated by each additional pregnancy she has. When the adrenals cannot respond accordingly the ovaries increase estrogen output trying to substitute as a steroid hormone. Because she has eaten so much refined carbohydrates her liver has lost the ability to detoxify the excess estrogen. Excess estrogen inhibits thyroid function leading to lower progesterone production. She becomes more obese; hair falls out, loses her sex drive, and feels more depressed.

She is in worse shape than before and now with the added stress of raising a family. Children born from a mother in a depleted state also have trace mineral deficiencies and typically suffer recurring ear infections, chronic allergies and skin rashes. The onset of puberty transforms this child into an adolescent monster. This child may then be diagnosed as ADD or ADHT and…well the tragedy continues into the next generation.

What we have here is an unfortunate product of our culture and the ideologies upheld by our primary health care system. To understand health by studying disease makes no sense and to block out what the body expresses with medication makes no sense. Depression didn’t kill those children anymore than guns kill. People kill. People kill themselves and others with their choices. Unhealthy people make unhealthy choices. A lifestyle that undermines the innate wisdom of the body is where it starts.

Let’s sum this up Perry Mason style. Isn’t it true that you eat sugar, starch, refined carbohydrates and artificial sweeteners?! And isn’t it true that you are afraid to eat fatty foods containing cholesterol?! And isn’t it true that you don’t get your spine cleared of stress by Dr. Brittain?!!