I take 2 organic eggs daily (hard-boiled) in my diet. I see that you suggest raw eggs instead. I'm fine with that (I can blend them into my flax seed meal/green food drink in the morning), but I remember my mother (a health nut from way back) saying that raw egg white has avidin? or some such thing in it that binds to biotin making it unavailable to the body, leading to a deficiency. Is this true or is that an old-wives tale.

Yes avidin in the egg white does bind to biotin. At the same time and fortunately, mother nature compensates by making the egg yoke rich in biotin. If you take the whole egg raw (both yoke and white), you will not have the opportunity to develop biotin deficiency. If you just take egg white without the yoke for a long time, you will have biotin deficiency. You are very safe if you take the whole egg raw.

Does sprouting and/or growing seeds in soil to produce green shoots deactivate lectins? I am Type B and interested in using "Living Foods" as taught by Ann Wigmore. However, many of the grains, seeds and nuts that form the base of that diet are avoid foods for B types. Will sprouting make them beneficial for me?

There has been some information that lectins may be inactivated by soaking, sprouting, cooking or fermenting. Soaking legumes over night, draining the water, rinsing and draining again does seem to remove or inactivate many of the lectins. Heating seems to remove others in some foods but not all. There is little data to prove that any of these methods remove lectins completely as few foods have been tested and of those that have lectins many seem to remain after processing.

Excerpt from Plant Lectins , Pusztai A, Cambridge University Press 1991 pg.108

For further reading: http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html

Would you please answer a question for me concerning carbohydrates and the information on labels? I am trying to eliminate as much sugar from my diet as I can, but I'm confused as to what number I should be concerned with. Just as an example, on the side of a can of corn it reads: 19 grams total carbohydrate, dietary fiber 2 grams and sugars 5 grams. If I were counting carbs for the day, would I count 19 grams or 5 grams? I read that a diabetic must count the total amount, but if I am not a diabetic, does that still apply to me when trying to lower sugar intake? Another thing that confuses me, if the fiber is 2 grams and the sugar is 5, how do you account for the other 12 grams? And yes, I know corn is not the best vegetable to be eating when it comes to restricting carbohydrates.

Most people are confused on carbohydrates. There are good carbohydrates (complex carbo) and bad carbohydrates (simple carbo). The sugar that you mentioned are therefore of 2 types. The simple refined carbohydrate that we know as table sugar. This occurs in many canned foods (such as corn in your case), dessert, candies, soft drinks, etc. This type of sugar definitely should be avoided.

The 2nd type of carbo comes in the form of starches, they can be simple or complex. Simple starches occur in refined white flour, corn flour, etc. The complex starches are found in wheat flour, oats, rice, fruits, vegetables.

When you try to avoid carbo, it is best to stay away from all grains and their products, fruits (don't eat more than 2 serving a days, avoid banana, watermelon and cantaloupe), roots vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets). All vegetables are complex carbohydrates.

The reason for avoiding carbo is to stabilize your blood sugar. Please refer to the following web page on the subject of glycemic index as a guideline to which food raise your blood sugar faster.

http://www.drlam.com/opinion/glycemic_index.cfm

There is lots of controversy about whether soy is good for breast cancer risk. What supports the thought you have that type A people should eat lots of tofu?

There is tremendous debate occur as to the benefit of soy and breast cancer. Five years ago, studies are showing soy is good. Now it is the other way around. There are researches pointing to the use of tofu (10% dry weight contain lectin) which binds to cancer cells especially for type A people. I think this whole arena of research is unclear at best. The reason is simple: We are still at the infancy stage of understanding what nutrient can do what at what dosage. So it is common to have opposing studies since each study try to isolate the nutrient and come to a cause-effect relationship which is not possible. You have to understand that nutrients do not behave like drugs. The curve is not linear, and the results often are paradoxical, depending on dosage. For example, 100 mg of Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant, while 10,000 of vitamin C acts as an oxidant . It is therefore common to be confused unless you are into the research.

I would suggest that until the science is more definitive, which will take another 10 years, you err on the side of moderation. Fermented soy such as miso, tempeh, and natto are very good. Unfermented soy such as tofu should be taken in moderation at best.

I had blood test done recently and my cholesterol was 266 but my triglycerides was only 90. My HDL is 101 and my LDL is 82. The only other problems I seem to have is elevated liver enzymes. Does it effect my health in anyway for my HDL to be above the high range? I know it is good for it to be higher as opposed to lower. Also why is my cholesterol so high with my triglycerides so low? I thought if the triglycerides were low it would bring the cholesterol down. I am 5'7' and weight 160. Have lost 25 lbs. over the past 8 months thru Weight Watches, so felt it was a healthy way of eating. I drink lots of water.

You are doing fine is my view. A high cholesterol in and of itself does not tell the whole story. When you HDL cholesterol is high, your total cholesterol will automatically be high. The key is that your total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio is 2.5 which is excellent. A high HDL is not harmful to the liver. Anything under 3.5 is good. Your trigylceride is also low that indicate that your diet is low in grains and that is excellent as well. Your LDL is within normal limits indicated low degree of oxidative stress.

The purpose of cholesterol is to measure cardiovascular disease risk. There are advance markers nowadays such as homocysteine, Lp(a), and C Reactive protein that are far more sensitive than cholesterol. Ask your doctor to check these next time you see him .

At the interim, just continuing what you are doing.

I am a female, 42 years young, 5'6, 145 lbs.

Total col 181, LDL 111, HDL 37, Tri 162

My doctor has told me that me hdl (good cholesterol) is low and recommended exercise 4-5 wk for 30-40 minutes. Which I am doing and feeling better all the time. Is there any vitamins that would help increase my hdl? I am currently taking garlic, b-complex, c, ginko biloba, e, fish oil omega 3, folic acid, calcium - RDA's on all of them, I am 42 year old women. I am eating better more veggies and fruits. PS. I believe I've inherited my father gene on this, HDL. Will there be gene therapy on this matter too?

My doctor told me that my HDL should be about 50. I am going for another blood test on May 19th , 3 month check , should I ask her to check for any thing else while I am there?

Your total cholesterol is not high, but as your doctor pointed out, your ratio is not good. Your HDL is low. Interestingly, your triglyceride is very high. That indicates that your diet is high in grains (potato, bread , pasta , rice etc). If you try to restrict your trigylceride by 30% in the next 90 days and redo the test, you will find all numbers will improve significantly without doing anything else. Read more here:
http://lammd.com/opinion/triglyceride.cfm

Your problem is not too low a HDL cholesterol but too high a trigylceride.That is the key. Follow my protocol and your doctor will be pleasantly surprised in 90 days.

You can ask him to check Lp(a), homocysteine, C reactive protein, and fibrinogen. These are advance markers of cardiovascular health. Read more here:
http://lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/1999-No5-NewMarkersofCardiovasularDisease.cfm

What is your advise on how to overcome chronic sinus, the natural way? My mum has sinus all the time, and worst, when she goes into an air-conditioned room.

She may have sensitivity to temperature or the dampness or to some form of irritant. The best way is to reduce the inflammatory response, and reduce histamine release. Natural substances such as quercetin in high dose (3000 or more) have anti-histaminic effect. Plant sterol have anti-inflammtory action but very very week compare to steroids and these can have good symptomatic relief. Improving one's immunity with medical mushrooms such as maitake, shitake, and cordyceps will help open up the meridian allow better flow of the body channels. Last but not least, a clean and healthy diet together with a detox program often helps. Read more on detox here:
http://lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/2002-No1-Detoxificaton.cfm

I am 41, perimenopausal. I have regular, yet heavy periods. I have insulin resistance, which I treat with low-carb and exercise; therefore, I am no longer overweight. I am still having worsening of hirsutism and hair loss (itchy, oily scalp, graying and breakage). My nails have developed longitudinal lines. My TSH is 2.0 on saliva test. Progesterone cream was prescribed, but it only increased my insulin resistance, or at least my oily, loss of hair. My estradiol is high, but estrone and estriol are low. Giving me a luteal phase 0.18L for 24-hr urine level of estrogens total. My testosterone is normal-high and so is cortisol, DHEA low. I took Kenalog shot for allergies back in 1992 and I believe the side effect of ballooning out/water retention over entire body, set off the high cortisol that I can't seem to lower---even though I quit my job 4-yrs ago and now go quite happily to college part-time. I am no longer stressed, in other words. Doctor suggests Estrofem (17-estradiol) tablets at .50, and estriol cream at 2mg, plus progesterone cream last week before period only. Any suggestions? Hope you can make sense of this! I can send you my actual Body Balance saliva sample numbers if you need them.

Your doctor is trying to re balance your hormones. When your testosterone is high, you can get the symptoms you mention. Estrogen have some testosterone balancing effect. You may wish to talk to your doctor about tri-est if estrogen is needed. Tri-est is the natural form and low in E2 while the drug is pure E2 which is not as natural. You need to normalise your cortisol level and the cortisol to DHEA ratio. Too high a ratio ( high cortisol and low DHEA ) indicate a catabolic state and a catabolic state can be associated with estrogen dominance ( with heavy period , for example), insulin resistance, and excessive testosterone. Once your adrenals are balanced ( normalization of cortisol and DHEA ), it is likely that the rest of your symptoms will be reduced. The bottom line - don't just adjust the female hormones without paying attention to the adrenals which may likely be the route cause. Read my adrenal fatigue here in its entirely and you will know what I mean:
http://lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/adrenal_fatigue.cfm

While your TSH is considered normal by conventional standards, I would caution you to look at other hypothyroid symptoms as any number 2 or higher is an alert. Get your doctor to do a free T3 and a Free T4 for more info. read more here:
http://lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/hypothyroidism.cfm

I have given you quite a bit to read. It is imperative that you understand that in women, the thyroid-ovarian-adrenal axis are highly interrelated, and imbalance of this axis may be the route cause of your problem, and you need to consider all three as a syndrome and not try to put a band-aid one at a time which will invariably fail.