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Alternative Treatment Including Behavioral And Dietary Changes

Alternative Treatment Including Behavioral And Dietary Changes

Considering the origins of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome, it stands to reason that there may be non-medical alternatives in its management. If emotional, mental, or physical stress can lead to the development of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome or can aggravate it, then the elimination of stress from one’s life might be a good place to start. Of course, eliminating destructive stress is one of the great secrets of life. A certain amount of stress is unavoidable, and in some cases it may actually help us grow stronger and more adept at overcoming obstacles. But when the stress is overwhelming, then “injury” can result.

Considering the reduction and/or elimination of stress from one’s life as an alternative treatment of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome calls to mind a fascinating case history. It is very interesting because prior to seeing this patient I was in the habit of suggesting to people to eliminate stress when they asked me about what they could do to correct Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome without medical treatment. As I would review the alternative measures that one might implement, I would include that one could “completely eliminate stress out of his life.” With that they would frequently look at me with a look on their face as if to say, “Yeah, right, who is ever going to be able to completely eliminate stress out of their life?” Sometimes I would jokingly say, “Yes, if you didn’t have any job concerns or family concerns, and you lived in the Bahamas and you walked, ran, swam at the beach or exercised all day, and you ate pineapple, fruit and practiced good nutrition all day long and relaxed, then you would probably be much better.”

Coincidentally, much later, the patient with the following case history came to my office. She had many complaints including fatigue, depression, fluid retention, PMS, irritability, itchiness, dry skin, dry hair, and inappropriate weight gain. One of the things that troubled her, however, was something that she could never understand. There was a brief period of time in her life that lasted approximately two years in which she did not suffer from these complaints. Prior to these two years, she had developed Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome and, among other things, had quite a bit of difficulty with maintaining her weight. But then she went through that two year period of time losing 60 to 80 pounds, no longer having a tendency to gain weight inappropriately. Then after that two year period was over, she suddenly began gaining weight inexplicably (with no increase in dietary intake or decrease in activity) and gained all of her weight back. She couldn’t understand how she could possibly feel badly and have a weight problem, then feel well with the weight problem resolving on its own, and then all of a sudden feel poorly again and have a weight problem again out of the blue. After a careful history and questioning, a very interesting pattern became apparent. The patient had undergone a stressful living situation which started her Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome. At the beginning of the two year period she also underwent a life-style change. What had happened, believe it or not, was that her husband who was in the military, had been transferred to the Bahamas. He was stationed on a military base, and while they were there, the utilities were paid, their food was paid, their rent was paid, as were all their other necessities of life, including clothing and other needs. She had spent a great deal of time on the beach lying out in the sun. Notably, she did not get an excessive amount of exercise, but she did rest a lot. And she remembers eating more at that time than she had previously or afterwards. When the two years ended, she and her husband moved back to the states and once again needed to concern themselves with living expenses and other problems associated with daily living. Without an increase in her appetite or dietary intake and without a decrease in her physical activity, her symptoms returned as did her weight problem. This patient’s case clearly illustrates how Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome can sometimes come and go under periods of stress and relaxation respectively.

The body can also be prompted to leave the conservation mode and return to the productivity mode by leading it to think that certain important things need to get done. The conservation mode is not productive and not favorable when it prevents the human body from protecting himself from predators; and when it prevents him from hunting, obtaining food, and building a shelter for his family and for himself. So if a patient can mimic the physical activity that would be required for a human to protect himself from a predator (to flee or to fight), and the level of physical activity that would be required in hunting game and building shelters, it may be possible to coax his body to return back to the productivity mode. The body may pull out of the conservation mode and return to the productivity mode if it is persuaded to realize that it is necessary for survival. In other words, a good moderate exercise program, even 12 to 15 minutes at a time, 2, 3, or 4 times a day, especially after meals, may be enough to encourage the body’s metabolism to come up out of, and stay out of the conservation mode. This can be accomplished by walking, swimming, treadmill, exercise bike, or similar activities.

Since Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome is, among other things, a coping mechanism for starvation gone amuck, it is easily understandable why patients often do better on hypoglycemic-type diets. Hypoglycemic dieters are characterized by small frequent meals, usually six small meals a day rather than the usual three. These diets are usually higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than other diets; that is, they are higher in meats such as chicken and turkey as well as others and include eggs, tuna fish, and other sources of protein. They have less carbohydrates such as potatoes, bread, fruits, vegetables, and refined sugars such as cookies, candy, cakes, etc.

I sometimes describe a very simple diet for people to follow that involves eating from these different groups. The protein group includes tuna fish, yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken, turkey, fish, and even beef and pork. The carbohydrate group includes bread, cereal, potatoes, pasta, crackers, rice, and preferably should be of the less refined variety. The fruit and vegetable group includes, of all things, fruits and vegetables. To make it easy, I suggest that the patient trace a silver dollar and two nickels. I recommend that patients eat foods from the three groups in those proportions. A “dollar” size of protein, a “nickel” size of carbohydrates and a nickel size of fruits and vegetables six times a day. Some patients may do better with a little less protein than this, and it can be adjusted. One patient with a classic story for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome was able to correct her symptoms and return back to normal merely by changing her eating habits and using a hypoglycemic type diet. She was able to have her symptoms of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome disappear with her metabolism returning back to the productivity mode.

The benefit of hypoglycemic diets are interesting from several different perspectives. First, it can be pointed out that foods that are higher in protein have higher “biological” value than carbohydrates. To illustrate the principle of biological food value, let us consider a typical food chain. If one considers a field of grain, that grain might be harvested and consumed directly in the form of carbohydrates by people; or the grain may be first be consumed by pigs, cattle, and chickens, and in turn the chickens, cows, and pigs might then be consumed by the humans. Because the cows and pigs feed on the grain, they are higher up in the food chain than grain, with humans being at the very top. Because the pigs and cows are higher in the food chain, they are considered to have a higher biological value than does grain. One reason is that since the cows and pigs feed on the grain and burn up the calories of that grain in their daily activities and in the development of their bodies, quite a bit of grain can be consumed in the raising of those domestic animals.

For argument’s sake, let us suppose that a human can survive on the grain harvested from a two-acre field for a period of one year, subsisting only on that grain. Let us suppose that a pig would require 1 1/2 acres and a cow 3 acres. Let us suppose that one cow and two pigs would be necessary to sustain that same person for the period of one year if that person subsisted only on the meat of the 2 pigs, and the cow. Then, if he subsisted on grain alone, he would account for only two acres of grain in a year’s time. However, if that same person were to subsist on one cow and two pigs, he would account for six acres of grain. So more acreage of grain would be necessary for the sustenance of one person, the higher up in the food chain he eats.

So it can be said that the cow and two pigs have a greater biological value because as sustenance for a person they represent six acres of grain, as compared to the two acres of grain a person would consume if he ate the grain directly. It is an interesting consideration to me because it seems to me that if conditions became severe (famine), then less grain might be “wasted” on domestic animals and more grain would be consumed directly by people, in order that the available harvest and food would go farther in feeding them and there would be enough food to go around. It would seem that under such conditions the people would live less “high on the hog.” They would probably eat more beans and rice and grains rather than the biologically “costly” meats and proteins.

This causes me to wonder if diets high in carbohydrates and low in protein do not send a signal to the body that times might be hard, encouraging the body to enter into the conservation mode. I wonder too if diets higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates signal the body that times are plentiful, and by keeping a little bit of food on the stomach all day (with six meals a day) the body might have less incentive (won’t think it’s starving) to enter into the conservation mode, and indeed might be more prompted to enter into the productivity mode. This may partly explain why hypoglycemic diets are very helpful for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome sufferers. Second, some of the symptoms of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome are consistent with symptoms of low blood sugar, for example, night sweats that wake a person in the middle of the night, clamminess, lightheadedness, shakiness, headaches, and even anxiety.

Patients have noted that these symptoms are sometimes improved in the short run by drinking a glass of orange juice or having something to eat. It is interesting that many diabetics have noticed that when their blood sugars are low, their body temperatures are low and when their blood sugars are higher, their body temperatures are higher. Hypoglycemic diets may be helpful in these patients to the extent that they help prevent low blood sugar levels and, therefore, help prevent lower body temperature patterns.

Patients suffering with Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome occasionally suffer from intense and previously unfamiliar cravings for sweets. The low body temperature patterns might affect the function of enzymes involved in glucose metabolism which may result in lower blood sugar levels which might contribute to sweet cravings.

Another observation is that Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome sufferers frequently do most poorly on a diet regimen that might put more of a strain on blood sugar levels namely; not eating anything all day and just eating dinner at night right before going to bed. Interestingly, many patients with Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome , especially those who work have fallen into this very eating pattern – which is not preferable.

As an aside, many times a patient’s predisposition towards having these symptoms of hypoglycemia has been resolved with normalization of body temperature patterns with the WT3 protocol. The WT3 protocol may help eliminate hypoglycemic tendencies by limiting blood sugar fluctuations by limiting temperature fluctuations.