Most of my early drafts of blog posts start with “I was minding my own business, surfing the net….” That is something I often do; “surf the net,” I mean. Not “minding my own business,” something which my Mother-of-Blessed-Memory would attest I haven’t done since the beginning of high school.

This time I was thumbing through a copy of the “New York Public Library Desk Reference.” In my lap as I write, it’s a 1989 edition — Simon and Schuster, New York, of course. I have wanted one on and off for a long time, despite the presumed omniscience of the internet. It showed up in our favorite local thrift shop, evidence of how the universal intelligence of the, well, universe works. The first thing I had to check was anything calendar related, which would obviously be the limitation of the book. Surprise — a universal calendar with days of the week through 2076. This is as omnipotent as a book can get.

But who would have believed that the first thing to otherwise impassion me, a non-homemaker on the best of days, would be in the section with information appropriate for homemakers. Within the list of food additives, on the right hand side of page 519, was brominated vegetable oil (BVO). It’s an “emulsifier or clouding agent” and is in body fat. Marked gently, for those who would check the code, as “A” to avoid, BVO rings familiar.

I have already blogged about this additive in Gatorade, as noted by a 15 year old girl. Insufficiently tested, slipped in maybe to maintain color or prevent stuff from floating to the top or something. I do not know exactly what it is doing there, nor does anybody else. But I do know now, thanks to the colorful workings of the unit, that we have known at the level of New York Public Library reference knowledge that it ought to be avoided. Me, I just keep on moving. If label reading seems too onerous, maybe at this point it is easier to know that anything that seems too widely used or “advertised” is suspect, for they often times go together. Anything that seems to be processed too much should probably be avoided.

Keep it simple and diverse. This may be the key to keeping it healthy.

Author's Bio: 

Estelle Toby Goldstein, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist in private practice in San Diego, CA.

Practicing Medicine Since 1981

In her medical career, she has studied in Europe and Canada as well as the USA. She has attended specialty training beyond medical school in the fields of general surgery, neurology and neurosurgery and psychiatry (specializing in psychopharmacology).

Experienced In Many Situations

She has worked in a variety of positions, including:
■Fireman/EMT
■Medical school professor
■General and Orthopedic surgeon
■Brain surgeon
■Army Medical Corps psychiatrist
■Prison psychiatrist
■Community Mental Health Center staff
■Consultant to a major transplant hospital
■Drug researcher

“Whatever It Takes!”

She currently has her own indepenent clinic in San Diego where she is concentrating on what she calls Mind/Body medicine — or Integrative Medicine. Her practice is cash-only, doesn’t accept insurance or government payments, and she operates on the concierge, or “private doctor” practice model to give her patients the absolute best quality of care and the highest level of confidentiality.

Dr. Goldstein’s philosophy is “Whatever It Takes!” Her goal is to do everything possible to solve whatever problem she is presented. This includes seeing patients as quickly as possible — not making them wait weeks for an appointment. This includes making appointments days, nights, weekends or holidays. This includes making house-calls. And it includes using the best, most innovative treatments available — most of which are unknown to standard, mainstream doctors.

Her focus is on transitioning patients away from prescription drugs and onto natural substances. She is also a master practitioner of Emotional Freedom Technique, a powerful and dynamic form of energy psychology that usually brings quicker results than traditional psychotherapy.