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INDEPENDANCE! You will rely on something, Make it Jesus

2/28/2024

   I wrote this article last year and feel the message is ever so critical today. We’re losing our freedoms and are being invaded at the welcome of a corrupt administration. Our votes are more important now than ever.
   Freedom which costs little or nothing is rarely worth fighting for. When I served in Vietnam, I realized the cost as so many failed to make it home. Because of this, my love for our country and our flag exceeds that of so many who have never experienced tyranny.
   Our founding fathers were willing to give their lives to protect and preserve freedom. Today, so many have had everything they desired handed to them. For this cause, many are willing to sacrifice the freedoms they have for a fairy tale.
   This morning I am writing this while waiting for the Independence Day parade down main street. I think of all the freedoms we enjoy and the sacrifices which gave us this freedom.    There are many kinds of bondage and slavery we can be subject to. If we consider the bondage a diabetic endures, that’s just one area of bondage. How about the drug addict who is enslaved to drugs, or the alcoholic in bondage to their habit.
   When my wife and I were out golfing over the weekend we were paired with a couple young men (I can call them young because I was the oldest one in our foursome), and as always, the conversation went to the issue of health.
   The one said his mother had been on a whole load of pharmaceutical drugs, and every time she had a reaction to one of them, she was put on another to cover the symptoms of the first. This woman was far from free in many ways. For one, it was costing a fortune, and secondly she was getting sicker and sicker.
   Thank God for a son who inspired her to begin to change her diet, seek alternate choices, and wean down from all those drugs. He noted she’s now on only one medication and actually feeling human again. This woman has tasted freedom, but it cost her. She had to make changes and seek a healthier lifestyle.
   Often we see where the degree of sacrifice to obtain freedom influences our tenacity to keep it. This is why so many veterans will gladly stand and reverence out flag when it passes, even if they have to get up out of a wheelchair. The greater the sacrifice the greater the love of freedom.
   It’s frustrating to see where we only dedicate one day to our freedom from European tyranny and yet can dedicate a whole month to sexual perversion and immorality. My saying this may irritate some, but the majority of my readers will say “Amen”.
   When I get patients in my office, I realize they are interested in achieving freedom in their health, or understanding how to keep the freedoms they have already received. My goal is to assist everyone in living the abundant, overflowing life Jesus paid for.
   Freedom comes in many appearances. We need to be free from chemical dependance as in pharmaceuticals. Free from mental and emotional bondage. (My neighbor took his life just a couple months ago due to the mental demons from combat). And we have to be free from Spiritual bondage.
   For many, the difference between mental/emotional, and spiritual bondage sounds the same, but they are two totally different areas. This is one of the reasons I believe health care needs to address these areas. If not, tragedies like that of my neighbor occur. In a way, being a compassionate and caring doctor means I have to not just address the physical ailments, but to pastor my patients at the same time.
   Getting free entails understanding where you’re in bondage. An alcoholic won’t seek help until he understands he has a problem. In cases like this, until that happens, they will not hear anything a caring person says. Those caught up in the LBGTQ+ bondage, will not seek help until they realize they have a problem. Usually that comes too late as the suicide rate in this population is extremely high. Here is where the spiritual health is poor.
   Getting free, Spirit, Soul, and Body requires sacrifice. Spending time in God’s word involves giving of your time. Getting physically healthy involves avoiding those tasty toxins, getting adequate rest, staying properly hydrated, breathing good clean, (smoke free) air, and getting adequate exercise and activity.
   Many times, getting and staying free means rejecting many of the things that have ruled our lives forever. That can be a real battle. Winning that battle is something to celebrate.
   He that the Son sets free is free indeed!!! Remember the one who give you true freedom.

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Guard your heart

2/28/2024

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   Conditions of the heart seem to be on the rise. This fits both with physical as well as emotional. The issues we face today of people outraged over wars in our world as well as heartless destruction of the unborn and the mutilation of kids, calling it gender affirming care, are all conditions of the heart.
   If true love ruled our world, none of these issues would be present. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. When it comes to the blood pump in our bodies, there’s been increasing challenges and an emphasis on heart diseases.
   Our hearts never get a break. It’s the hardest working organ in your body. Other muscles get to relax while we sleep, but the heart keeps on working whether we’re awake or asleep. Even in a coma, the heart continues to move life giving oxygen and nutrition throughout our bodies.
   Because of this, worn out heart cells are replaced more frequently than others except for stomach cells, which live in a very hostile environment. These cells are renewed daily.
   Because heart cells are made new every 30 days, the need for appropriate materials to restore and build new cells is much greater than other cells in the body.
   For this very reason, heart weakness tends to be the most specific indicator of a nutritional deficiency in the body.
   Dr Royal Lee realized that if the function of the heart could be monitored by the sounds of the heart, he could observe the effects of nutrition on the heart, and in turn, the entire body. As a very successful inventor, he created a machine called the Endocardiograph. He began selling it to physicians in 1937. This machine amplified and recorded both audible and inaudible heart sounds.
   By identifying disruptions in the normal rate, rhythm, and tone of the heart, he was able to see improvements in these areas after giving the appropriate nutrition. These changes often came within minutes of giving the proper nutrients.
   Over the years, these machines became scarce, as many of the old docs who used them passed away without passing on the wisdom. Teaching on use of the Endocardiograph had pretty much vanished. Years later an updated version was created called the Acoustic Cardiograph. With this being created, there was renewed teaching available on how to identify nutritional deficiencies and treat them observing heart sounds. I acquired one of these years ago and used it till the emergence of the newer Heart sound recorder, which has taken this technology to a whole new level.
   When deficiencies go unaddressed over long periods, it’s assumed there will be degenerative changes like enlargement of the heart, coronary sclerosis, valvular damage, and many others as the machine (heart) is overloaded. In these cases, the person will be more susceptible than normal to infections, colds, and relapses of chronic conditions, and reduced vitality.
   An interesting note is that when Dr Royal Lee created the Endocardiograph, his primary nutritional support was Catalyn, the product he developed in 1929. He found that in 1933, fifty out of one hundred people had a heart, being deprived of certain necessary materials. With this, he noted that addressing these deficiencies, the person would be able to work harder, think clearer, and live longer.
   Now, mind you, that was 1933. With the denaturing of foods, the use of petrochemical fertilizers, pesticides, and food storage which depletes nutrition, fifty out of one hundred would be pretty good today. Unfortunately, we’re seeing a major health crisis which chemicals can’t fix. The lame attempts of synthetic vitamins will never match nutrition from real foods. Devitalized foods will never replace the real thing. And now we see drugs trying to correct the results of starvation.
   So what’s a person to do in today’s world? Not everyone can plant and tend a garden. Having the space and healthy soil is a challenge. Most of us find ourselves challenged with even having enough time to grow healthy food. Having a community with people producing healthy foods can be a real health saver. I have a farmer where I obtain health beef and my chickens give me good free range eggs. I plant a small garden, but I can’t produce enough food for a year.
   Because of all of this, just adding six Catalyn daily has the potential of laying a good sound foundation. Because of other nutrients being stripped from our systems due to added sugars, preservatives, and bad fats, I have to look at what other elements are required. Living where there’s not enough UV rays of the sun to create vitamin D in my system all year is why I insist getting my Cod Liver oil in daily. With the stress factors encountered while still working, I make sure to get my Cataplex B daily along with any others the heart sound recorder shows to be missing.
   We don’t have to allow our heart and organs to go without. A good place to start is to take six Catalyn every day. You can order direct from Standard Process at my website. drjohnabriggs.com

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Feed your endocrine glands

2/28/2024

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   Thyroid deficiency is one of the most common of conditions and often either missed, ignored, or improperly treated.
   levothyroxine was isolated in 1914 by Dr Kendall before the FDA existed. It’s assumed he had a patent and had a licensing agreement with Squibb Laboratories at that time. Squibb sold levothyroxine to treat patients with hypothyroidism in 1916 or 1917, even before the FDA existed. When the FDA was created, levothyroxine was grandfathered in.
   In the 1950s, a British pharmaceutical company developed a method to make synthetic thyroxine no longer extracted from pigs. The FDA accepted it because they already had grandfathered in the natural product extracted from pigs. The FDA never asked for safety testing or effectiveness of the synthetic levothyroxine.
   Since that time the discussion of which works best in the patient has continued. Many say the natural extracted from pigs can’t be counted on as there’s no consistent levels of both T3 and T4. Then there’s the concern that synthetic fails to fully restore function.
   With the use of synthetic T3 which is much more powerful than T4, but with a shorter half life there’s the concern of over driving the heart and creating palpitations and tachycardia. These two issues need to be considered when doing any supplementing with thyroid, either natural or synthetic.
   In desiccated thyroid extract, we have 4 molecules of T4 to 1 of T3. Our thyroid contains a different ratio. It's like 14 to 1. There's an idea that perhaps the desiccated thyroid extract could give a little bit too much T3. If a patient takes, let's say, 100 mg of desiccated thyroid extract, T3 levels will increase. 3 hours later there will be a T3 peak. Experts think there’s insufficient data on safety for these peaks of T3. A concern is if a patient takes desiccated thyroid extract for life, could these peaks of T3 be a problem with the heart or bone? This has been a historical concern.
   There were 20 randomized clinical trials comparing synthetic (T4 and T3) combination therapy with natural thyroid, and the effectiveness and safety was identical. There were no more adverse reactions in the combination therapy as opposed to desiccated thyroid.
   There were two clinical trials using desiccated thyroid extract, and they didn't find more adverse reactions as compared with synthetic thyroid. There was a commercially sponsored, multicenter clinical trial with desiccated thyroid extract published at the American Thyroid Association meeting last year, showing again there were no more adverse reactions with desiccated thyroid extract.
   With all this information, I’ve seen over the years patients who responded better with the synthetic and those who did better on the natural thyroid in the form of Armour or NP thyroid over the Synthroid.
   In all of this, the main question needs to be asked, why do we need to replace the function of one of our endocrine glands? What would cause this organ to fail in suppling what our body needs? Why would any organ of our body not do what it’s designed to do?
   The answer is usually as obvious as the nose on our face. If you starve your dog, it will fail to fetch when you tell it to. Our body has specific nutritional requirements. When those basics are ignored and the organ is left to starve, production and function will drop off.
   When the thyroid is starved of nutrition, which includes iodine, it might just enlarge in an attempt to create a big enough factory to make levothyroxine. This is called a goiter. Iodine is the primary mineral which comprises thyroxine and triiodothyronine. When this is withheld from the diet your thyroid cannot keep up with production.
   Years ago, iodine was added to salt since so much of the nation was suffering from goiter. Unfortunately due to cardiovascular reasons, doctors began to limit sodium intake, cutting out the salt, resulting in lowered thyroid output. Adding to that, many fail to eat sea food and miss iodine which is there.
   Because Japan relies heavily on the ocean for their food, the iodine intake of most Japanese is far higher than here in the USA. That being said, obesity in Japan is much lower than here. Another issue is that of iodine requirements elsewhere in the body.
   Breast tissue requires iodine, and it’s been seen that the larger the mammary glands, the greater the iodine need. Because of this, it’s seen that larger breasted women tend to suffer from thyroid deficiencies more often unless they include adequate iodine in their diets.
   The incidence of breast cancer in Japanese women, eating a traditional high seafood diet is much lower than those not getting adequate iodine in the diet.

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INDEPENDANCE! You will rely on something, Make it Jesus

Guard your heart

Feed your endocrine glands

Dr John Briggs

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