Did you know that there’s an amazing connection between your lungs and your eyes. And this connection goes beyond the oxygen your lungs bring in for your entire body. Yes, your eyes need a steady flow of oxygen to remain healthy, just as the rest of your body does. But there are more connections than this. For instance, in 2008, researchers discovered that severe eye pain and rapidly deteriorating eye sight can be early symptoms of sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is a chronic lung disease that involves inflammation. This inflammation can spread throughout the body. But early signs often appear in the eyes.

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 Did you know hearing loss is the second most common disability in those over the age of 60? And did you know that hearing loss usually starts with the high-pitched frequencies? These are the frequencies that most women and children use when they talk. As a result, our ability to hear conversations dwindles. It’s very frustrating. But there may be a way to preserve our high frequency hearing.  A recent study looked at 126 healthy adults over the age of 60. They wanted to find out if the participants’ blood levels of melatonin and vitamin C had any correlation to hearing loss. What they found gives us a good idea of how to prevent hearing loss.

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You’ve probably heard that eating local raw honey can help with allergies. When the bees in your area make their honey, they use the local plants – the ones you’re allergic too. So when you eat the honey, it helps your body build up defenses against those allergens. Well, what if I told you that an actual weed can help you fight allergies? And what if I told you this same weed can fight pain at the same time?  Well, it’s true. And this particular weed doesn’t have to be from your area. It’s the weed butterbur. Butterbur is actually part of the daisy family, though it’s much more robust than your typical daisy. Some people don’t consider it a weed, but I’m not here to argue botany (I’d lose).

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On Saturday, I showed you how selenium can help you avoid or correct an iodine deficiency and hypothyroidism. For many people, a deficiency of this simple mineral may be the underlying cause of their thyroid problems, including their lack of energy and memory loss. But now there’s growing evidence that the real cause of hypothyroidism could be your gut. Back in 1998, researchers found that severe gastrointestinal disorders can slow the absorption of selenium, creating a deficiency. In this study, the researchers measured the selenium levels of “86 patients with Crohn's disease, 40 patients with ulcerative colitis, and 39 patients with various other gastrointestinal diseases.” They also looked at the selenium levels of 27 patients that received their nutrition via a feeding tube because their gut was too diseased to absorb nutrition.

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 If you google iodine deficiency, you’ll see a number of websites that say, “Iodine deficiency is rare in the U.S.” But I was talking with a doctor friend of mine and he said that’s just not true. In fact, it’s so common, they pretty much assume that everyone coming into their clinic has a deficiency. So they test everyone and it’s rare that someone isn’t deficient. Naturally, they recommend supplementing with iodine. But there’s something you should take with iodine to make it work even better.  As you may know, iodine is vital for a properly functioning thyroid. When it’s deficient, you can develop hypothyroidism. Most of the people I talk to are very aware of iodine deficiency. But what they don’t know is that a deficiency in another mineral can worsen the impact of an iodine deficiency.

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