Adytum Sanctuary is a Transformational Experience and Evolving Still...by Kat Carroll, NTP

Welcome to Adytum Sanctuary!

Adytum Sanctuary lives in the hearts of most guests who have experienced the transformational experience in this sacred space. You’ve shared some incredibly touching heartfelt feelings with us over the last two years about what it meant to have magical time at the retreat overlooking Lake Mayfield, The Cowlitz and the Tilton Rivers, the blueberry and bulb farms... Your gracious, loving words have nurtured us when we were tired, and kept us making improvements when you suggested them so we were sure to spoil you rotten! Here are some incredible examples at Yelp where we enjoy an amazing ALL 5-star status: http://www.yelp.com/biz/adytum-sanctuary-mossyrock or Trip Advisor with 21 5-star reviews and rated the #1 B&B in Mossyrock: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g58621-d1861391-Reviews-Adytum-Mossyrock_Washington.html   Thank you to every one of you who took time to share!

The Blueberry Fields are Russet Now; Lake Mayfield so Blue...

When life began changing like a kaleidoscope last year we realized that in order to continue opening Adytum to each of you, we would need to find a new Way…creating something that wasn’t perhaps the usual business model but one that would work for each of us. What drove us to this decision?

First, travel came up with the National Health Federation, my volunteer position for the oldest health freedom federation in the World: some trips in the states to Health Freedom Expos, Health Congresses, etc. or trips overseas to attend Codex Alimentarius requiring lengthy absences, and more writing and  associate editing responsibilities emerging as well with NHF’s quarterly magazine.

Kat with Country Delegates on Break at Codex Alimentarius in Bad Soden, Germany 2012

As you all can guess, writing is an intense fulfilling passion for me and I have contributed to every issue of the Health Freedom News magazine ever since I was brought on board. (This is writing I know each of you would benefit by reading- mine and also the great contributions from others like our President and Senior Editor, Scott Tips, Jeffrey Smith, David Wolfe, Donna Gates, Dr. Alan Gaby and many more passionate writers and activists. Please visit www.thenhf.com and when you join, you will get HFN every quarter.)

Then our Optometry Clinic Manager of 17 years moved and after a new staff person left her new position because it wasn’t quite the fit she wanted, I had no choice but to step full time back into a position I’ve held off and on over the past 18 years at our two clinics.

Our Optometry Clinic in Morton, WA 

Next Adytum’s cleaner moved away, and George, who helped on Adytum lands was hired full time on my son’s construction team at Gritton Building Co (www.grittonbuildingco.com) when the weather changed and will remain there….so Donn and I have absorbed all that extra work and at 6000 sq. ft. and 16 acres, believe me, it could be a full time job in and of itself! 

Ever the Lover of Nature, my father Wayne Edwards Passed Away  Shortly After This Last Trip to Mt. Rainier

Then to top it off, my father passed away in the midst of closing the family home of 22 years this January leaving us in grief and also supporting my 85 year old mother more and more in her many sudden transitions.

So needless to say, even my new routine of getting up at 3:30 a.m. to begin working from bed on my writing and administrating 11 Facebook pages for all our businesses plus the National Health Federation’s domestic and international pages(https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Health-Federation/121416927890343)

wasn’t keeping me ahead of the curve and I was getting very tired. Something had to give… Donn and I have worked side by side in the kitchen from 8 a.m. until noon for two years now (sometimes me alone when he went on to the office), making healthy gourmet breakfasts for you and now, that amount of time is simply being transformed into other areas, like helping our patients- once again, together or keeping Adytum clean, beautiful, and ready for drop in guests.

There were points where we considered just closing Adytum to our guests. All of the ‘what if’s’ surfaced: “What if you’re in Beijing and we get a reservation? What if we are working at the Olympia office and someone calls to reserve that night? What if, what if, what if…” We need clones! Finally, after so many heartfelt comments kept coming in from precious friends who have been forever transformed by Adytum’s grace and healing peace, it was clear…we had to find a new Way…and it had to work for every single one of us.

Lovely Lake Mayfield from the Deck, Westerly View

The Star of the North- 1250 Sq. Ft of Romance and Luxury

The Star of the North and The Orion Suites are already set up to be independent from the main house. So the logical conclusion was to keep offering those two suites independently from the main house like a vacation rental. If we were out of town, guests come on in and make themselves at home in their private suite and we’d meet up later that evening.

So the solution was born: take Adytum from her current full-use, full service role and transform that into a vacation rental model so that guests can still enjoy time in the exquisite beauty and peace that is Adytum Sanctuary.

In every reorganization there are trade-offs. I include a comment below from an Adytum guest so you can see…all is not lost! We’re still going to be there- at least one of us and usually both of us. Who knows, we may find things change and we can reinstitute Sunday Champagne brunches…We enjoyed them as much as you did, particularly on the patio overlooking the Lake under the orange umbrellas on a sunny, summer morning. But for now, rest assured that in our experience at least 50% of our guests actually were using Adytum Sanctuary in this proposed model voluntarily. They never came into the main house but were content to enjoy one another in the privacy of their suite or on their private courtyard or deck. Many were up at the crack of dawn fishing or hiking and were providing their own breakfast. There are many of our guests that fell in love with our healthy cooking, and we want you to know that we are hoping to have Gritton Building Co. install a kitchenette in The Star of the North so that it’s more amenable to making a great breakfast. 

You're Welcome to Enjoy Sunset from One of the Many Decks!

And the salt water hot tub and BBQs are still available for guests’ use and now, even our kayaks because our insurance company agreed we could share them. Hopefully we will also have bikes to share this year because it’s so fun to bike through the tulip fields when they’re blooming and explore the tiny town of Mossyrock- all the nooks and crannies found on the back roads; a slice of Americana. We still have 16 acres to roam through with Dash, Gabe, and orange tabby Gizmo…

We Enjoy This Twice Daily Most Every Day With Dash, Gabe, and Tabby Gizmo and so have YOU!

Once again, we will listen to you and together we will keep bringing Adytum Sanctuary to the place where everyone’s needs are met as best as we can. I can’t tell you how much of Adytum was created by the ideas and suggestions of our friends, our guests. So take heart! If I have time perhaps you’ll find a basket of gluten free muffins…the healthy apricot-date, made with honey ones, at your door in the morning but meantime just know that these changes will allow you access to literally one of the very best views in all of Lewis Country and some have said, anywhere in the World. The magic continues! And each of you embodies the magic, the mystery, the love, and peace you feel when you drive through the gates of the Castle Adytum and we are so grateful for each of you.

Comments pulled over from my Kat Carroll FB page, from a treasured guest after reading the first part of our website rewrite:

Yes! This all so true! I think about my experience at Adytum all the time and reading this brings it right back I will however miss your amazing breakfast and the opportunity to talk with you Kat, that's half the appeal to Adytum, you bring it to life Kat Carroll
16 minutes ago via mobile · Unlike · 1


Kat Carroll Ah you're sweet! OF COURSE I WILL BE THERE to talk to and share with (for the most part (: ) but alas...my work as Associate Editor of Health Freedom News and managing 11 social media pages, my full time work at Medical Vision Center and Martin Way Vision Center plus traveling to Beijing to attend Codex regarding contaminants in our food and other far flung lands (just back from Germany having attended the Codex meeting on Nutrition) necessitates having to make some hard decisions. Gee, do we close Adytum (just lost our househelp - again....and our yard help...again...) or try to find a way to make this work for everyone? Each of us has Adytum in our hearts and Adytum Sanctuary belongs as much to you as it does to me. Adytum is for everyone. So in this way, we can keep opening this sacred space. Who knows, maybe things will change (like hiring staff that will allow me less participation at both optometry clinics for starters...that will allow Donn and I to resume at least Sunday Champagne brunches...we enjoy cooking for you all when we're able to, you know! Anyway, let's see what happens. Some good news: we got our commercial insurance company to agree that we can share our kayaks- if you haven't experienced kayaking into the mouth of the Tilton, into whitewater with 2' long rainbow trout swimming around the boat- 100's of them and I'm not exaggerating- then...it's time! Watch for specials on this FB page- especially for returning guests who need no orientation. Thank you again and I promise, I'll cook for you again sometime (maybe we'll ALL get in the kitchen to play, who knows??

We'll Figure it Out  and Make it Work for All of Us!

Views From the Tower Room at Adytum Sanctuary

January 2013 ~ Morning to Night at Adytum Sanctuary

There comes a certain morning when the soft Northern light hits just right and I know my plans are put on hold as I head out with my camera. When light calls like this and the Lake turns deep blue and the blueberry fields russet branches burn in their glory all the way up Birley Mountain, everything is put on the shelf at Adytum. From the growing eastern light to the sky bouquets of night...all gives way to the spectacular star light... millions of pulsing stars in the Milky Way right over the salt water hot tub where lovers linger.

Adytum is a place of beauty, a place of love, creativity, and a place to truly reconnect with all that really matters in life.

All our guests say the same thing, "The pictures on your blog and website just don't do it justice..." but we try to bring a little more rugged, natural beauty to your World though this lens, through the blog.One day, I'll take some lessons but for now, enjoy a clear day in January with us: (double-click on the pictures to enlarge)

Codex Alimentarius is One Big Football Game By Kat Carroll, NTP, Associate Editor, Health Freedom News, National Health Federation

Kat Carroll, NHF Delegate at Codex Alimentarius Meeting in Germany: Day Before Proceedings- Nearly 300 Attending

For those of you following my passion for activism, below is the latest from Codex- this time in Bad Soden, Germany- the meeting supposedly on "nutrition" that turned out to be the epitome of "malnutrition" in reality. I came off an eleven and a half hour flight, two hours drive back to Adytum from Seattle-Tacoma Airport to welcome Adytum guests from Nashville, TN for the next three days. I'm finding out we are all capable of doing much more than we ever imagined, particularly when fueled by passion for justice and the protection of our health freedoms and liberty!

Mme. Chairwoman Dr. Pia Noble, Front and Center and Headed On a Course of Global Destruction

These meetings are real eye-openers...please take time to read this from the eyes of a 'newbie' and see how policy is set for you and your children. It is nothing short of shocking:

Play by play, either that ball is moving forward, backward, or it’s being  passed or kicked into oblivion without regard to any real goal in a last ditch effort to get rid of it before being tackled. In a worst case scenario, Codex is rigged. It takes a skillful operator- in this case Dr. Pia Noble (what a misnomer…) who can lead the room and in clearly balanced opposition somehow convince or cow the country delegates into believing there is actually consensus. That’s how Codex operates: by consensus. We don’t vote unless pushed. The World must agree, must cooperate…however what I witnessed at the 34^th session of the CCNFSDU was clearly in legal terms “leading” and manipulating the room to the wishes of three strong forces: the US, Australia, and of course, Mme. Chairwoman Dr. Pia Noble.

This "Nutrition" Codex Meeting Should Have Been Named "Malnutrition"

At Codex Alimentarius- Latin for “Food Code”, the plays are read, line by line and debated on by a World that doesn’t necessarily even accept certain principles in their daily life- like taking supplements. As a Nutritional Therapist, this was MY meeting. I had to be there. Thankfully a few staunch supporters made sure that happened.

In the case of the Codex Alimentarius meeting held in Bad Soden, Germany on December 3-7, 2012, the ball was in jeopardy of being punted into oblivion when we hit the discussion of Nutrient Reference Values. Was there anyone out of the nearly 300 delegates who really cared at all about the issues that will impact you when you go to the health-food store this coming year? This was my second meeting and I could see clearly that the paragraphs dedicated to the discussion of our Nutrient Reference Values were in danger of being accepted as written and set into stone around the World in favor of getting to the coffee break and I mean that literally.

Kat Carroll, NHF Delegate and Ursula Trueb-Rubeli, On Swiss Delegate Team

You have to understand, the United States citizens enjoy unprecedented access to supplements with values that actually have the power to prevent disease or heal ill health – the rest of the World either does not use supplements, believing they are toxic – like drugs – or the nutrient reference values (RDAs) are so low that multiple bottles would have to be purchased at great expense to create the impact that one good U.S. bottle creates.

NHF President Scott Tips with Benin Delegate Discussing NRV's

I saw this firsthand in Germany. We went into a health-food store and I could hardly find the vitamin/mineral section. When I did find the ONE shelf, the highest values for D3 were 400 IU’s. I take 25,000 IU’s daily…Talk about breaking the bank. No wonder the World, represented in the form of country delegates, were anxious to get to the free coffee, sweet rolls, etc. at the break. Their countries can’t afford this nonsense so they mentally have moved on and disregarded this argument. This was not their World. If the National Health Federation were not present at this crucial meeting on setting Nutrient Reference Values, I can guarantee you that your World would never be the same again. Once lowered, do you really think they stand to somehow go through Codex’s 8-step process to rise again?

NHF President & Lead Delegate Educating Malaysian and Benin Delegates on NRVs on a Break

From a Nutritional Therapist’s standpoint, several of the nutrients that were placed on Codex’s sacrificial altar were methylation factors. B6, B12, Folic Acid…If we don’t methylate well, we can develop opportunistic diseases. Cancer…heart attack that occurs when Homocysteine elevates…Some, like calcium, which Codex wished to elevate out of proportion to stabilizing magnesium, when taken out of balance, create disease as well by mineralizing in the vessels instead of the bone and teeth. So, at this point I’m thinking, “Is Codex out to kill us?” It’s no secret that depopulation is one aspect of the World’s agenda, “Dr. Henry Kissinger wrote: "Depopulation should be the highest priority of U.S. foreign policy towards the Third World." Apparently America is the new ‘third World.’

Setondji Ignace Zinsou, Benin, Kat Carroll with NHF, Ms. Fatima Sulong, Ministry of Health, Malaysia

The attack on these particular NRV’s, from my professional standpoint, is designed to take out a large number of the population at least in the U.S. where we have access to supplements with values that are currently at least approaching sufficiency and where we have the incomes generally to support their purchase.

What was so incredibly ironic about this meeting was the emphasis on malnutrition in the World. It actually sparked a growing interest in me about the integrity of infant formulas. They are including transfats and contaminants in infant formula! When we learn that in France, for example, breast feeding is neither popular nor widely practiced, it pays to defend the integrity of infant formulas! But the trajectory of the morning – 3 hours before NRVs were even approached – was on ‘growing up milk,’ which Elizabeth Streken (an INGO representative of the International Baby Formula Action Network) said was a market ploy to get mothers to feel guilty if they didn’t keep bottle feeding babies way past time… 

NHF Presdent Scott Tips with Ms. Elizabeth Sterken, Director, IBFAN, International Baby Food Action Network

At any rate, the discrepancy and complete disconnect in regards to the NRVs was that supposedly Codex was there to prevent malnutrition in the World, yet they were the very ones in favor of lowering our already malnutrition promoting low NRVs, which are set to prevent the very last-ditch disease processes before death instead of promoting optimum nutrition and vibrant, disease-resistant health.

So, these two themes predominated:  (1) Get through the tedious drivel and get me to the coffee and donut cart; and (2) The incongruous ‘Yes, we are all for stopping malnutrition…let’s lower the values in the supplements, shall we?”  And then let us not forget the overarching theme by Mme.Dictator Chair –  “What I Decide, Will Be.”

Kat Carroll, NHF Delegate with Antoinette Booyzen, Directorate, Food Control Dept. of  Health , South Africa 

National Health Federation has been in existence long before any other health-freedom organization was even a ‘gleam in the father’s eye.’ We are the granddaddy of them all. We’ve employed a continuous lobbyist in Washington, D.C. the entire time. We alone hold the distinction of being the only health-freedom organization able to speak at Codex. So, do you see now how important this ability is? Not only can we speak, but we can submit paperwork – and we did – three times on the NRV issue prior to the meeting in Germany (twice as part of the electronic working group hosted by the ultimate opposition: Australia, and once directly to the Committee). And moreover, we stay until the final page of the Report is agreed upon and have the ability to make corrections to that final Report in which omissions are frequently noted….

Do I feel fortunate to be on the team of the most powerful health-freedom organization at Codex? I feel incredibly humbled. For one who had little political interest or influence in the past, I am now thrust into the heart of the action where policy is set for the World. It is not only quite humbling but it carries an enormous responsibility to carry the wishes and desires of those that NHF represents to the seat of power. And we do faithfully time and again.

As It Appears on the Screen

NHF President Scott Tips Speaking for YOU at Codex, Bad Soden, Germany 2012

The lives that are impacted are not only our own but our children and grandchildren. Our family’s health is at stake. In the final analysis, if we lose our health we have lost. It is all we have besides the faith that sustains us and keeps us seeking the path of Light in the growing darkness of the World. The Codex meeting on nutrition was anything but. It was about marketers seeking to manipulate the World – guilting them into keeping children on formulas when they needed to embrace a solid diet – real ‘growing up’ food. It was about lowering key nutrients and raising others that would ensure that our health would deteriorate. It masqueraded in the guise of compassion, yet all the while was undermining our health by chipping away at the very foundations in the name of greed and ill health.

We at NHF spoke for YOU. At the end of the day, I approached the dais where Dr. Pia Noble held court. I asked her for 5 minutes at the next meeting to explain the science behind our commitment to NRVs. She grimaced, rolled her eyes, disregarded me completely in the most disrespectful way possible for one woman to address another and deferred to the Secretariat. The answer was – you guessed it – NO. “It might create further discussion….”   Codex is a UN-sponsored concept and organization, under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In 1994, the World Trade Organization entered into the fatal game and now who speaks for you? National Health Federation. That’s the real WHO.

To access NHF President Scott Tips' article summarizing the Codex meeting, visit the website at www.thenhf.com or this direct link: http://www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=3567.  While you're there, we invite you to join our efforts to protect the health of the World by becoming a member or underwriting expenses to future Codex Alimentarius meetings like the one upcoming in March 2013 in Beijing where the topic of 'contaminants' will be reviewed.

Kat with Taylor, One of Our Five Grandchildren: You Bet We're Concerned About Contaminants....

My current personal passion is also focusing on contaminants in infant formulas, as well as aspartame and aluminum in our food supply. We really can't fight this fight without every one pitching in and doing their part and it's so satisfying to know we really ARE making an impact on this World for future generations to enjoy.

NHF President Scott Tips with Malaysian Delegate Discussing Calcium to Magnesium Balance on Break

Postscript: I received permission from a Facebook friend to include this interchange from this morning:

Tom: Kat, I am attracted to people adept at putting pen to paper, particularly when the subject matter involves calling out the dark forces who treat humanity as their tool to help formulate their hideous agenda.

Kat Carroll: We each have to be true to our calling and this is clearly my destiny. I come from a strong line of activists who weren't afraid to call a spade a spade, even to the point of landing up in jail! (Grandfather...) I never woke to this side of myself until I read Scott Tips' excellent article about Ractopamine, and despite being a 25+ year vegetarian, I found my 'fire lit' and off I'm blazing! I appreciate your words here, and thank you for them, as well as your support of the National Health Federation Tom. We were the ONLY ones speaking at this vital Codex meeting despite all the health freedom organizations in existence taking money from people that believe they're helping them...sad. We are truly on the front lines, thanks to staunch supporters like YOU!

Nearly 300 International Delegates Present at Codex Alimentarius, Bad Soden, Germany 12-12

Next Stop for NHF – Bad Soden, Germany December 2012 By Katherine A. Carroll, Associate Editor, Health Freedom News, NHF

Last Year National Health Federation Represented Your Health Freedom Here As We Will This Year

The first week of December 2012, the National Health Federation will take its seat at the Codex table and prepare to represent those who are dedicated to health and health freedom. As many of you know, I have volunteered for over a year in many positions, my latest as Associate Editor of Health Freedom News for the National Health Federation. As I’ve shared before, it’s quite humbling to learn – after the fact – that someone has been protecting and watching over you and your loved ones’ health freedom before you were even aware. NHF has been there since 1955 doing just that. It’s such an honor now, after learning how much NHF has been doing for me and my family, to be a part of the largely-volunteer team representing true health freedom at this week-long meeting.

Some Of My Large Family And Myself, Grateful For NHF's Work Protecting Us When We Weren't Aware Especially!

Yesterday I revisited a few earlier blogs I’d posted on Codex and NHF’s role in the World to prepare for my first radio interview. The links are all posted at the end and it might be a good refresher for you to review them too as well as listen to my first interview on the radio talking about Ractopamine, Codex, NHF and our role in the World, and a little on Macular Degeneration as well.

We’re in a busy holiday season, yet taking time out to focus on protecting the nutrient levels in our supplements – making sure they don’t fall further, or, as in the case of fluoride, become classified as a nutrient when it is simply industrial waste . . . well, it’s an important investment of time when there seems to be no extra time. Thank you to those who have supported the vital, ongoing work of NHF for this trip and over the years. Please, don’t stop now!! We have fats and oils in Malaysia to speak on in March 2013. Codex’s use of “junk science” to support reduction of saturated fats is simply disconnected from current research and the differentiation of a good saturated fat like coconut oil versus a lesser quality fat has not been made. After that in Beijing, contaminants in foods are decided upon. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want ANY contaminants in my food. I certainly don’t want melamine in baby’s formula and trans-fats…These are real issues. It is vital that we attend.

“I can’t talk yet but I hope you tell them I don’t want trans-fats & melamine please!”

NHF speaks good, old-fashioned common sense at Codex, with a healthy dose of up-to-date studies from independent researchers backing up every statement NHF makes. There are NO OTHER HEALTH FREEDOM ORGANIZATIONS speaking for you. I mean that literally. NHF is the ONLY health freedom organization able to speak, submit paperwork (which President Scott Tips already has- three separate papers in anticipation of the Nutrition Codex meeting in Germany), and correct the entries to the final report. Another health-freedom organization has claimed that they are going to this upcoming Codex meeting to speak for you, but the truth is that they cannot speak out at the meeting as NHF does.  They are simply an individual member of a country delegation and are actually forbidden to speak to other delegates unless it is to parrot the U.S. party line.  There are no substitutes for NHF at this meeting.

NHF President Scott C. Tips and Past President Charles Crecelius

As in the Canadian meeting, NHF will attend the final meeting not leaving until the report is considered complete and closed. Do you know how many attend to the “bitter end?” Not many, I can assure you. NHF demonstrates time and again real service and dedication to the truth; our right to decide what goes into our body, what practitioner we will employ, etc.  Volunteering the last year or so has changed my life and the lives of many! And it all began because I read an article – just one article by President Scott Tips…

This Was the "Magic Bullet" for My Transition Into Activism for Health Freedom

What can you do today to help? Consider these action steps if you please:

·        Visit www.thenhf.com and get behind current issues by signing petitions you’re passionate about.

·        Support by clicking the donate button on the website or our FaceBook pages.

·        Consider monthly support, as some of our members provide, to ensure your representation at every Codex      meeting and not just the ones we can ‘afford’.

·        Consider mentioning NHF in your Will to ensure your investments in health freedom don’t stop.

·        Be persistently vocal. Don’t stop with one interaction. Call your representatives, visit them in person, write a letter to the editor, blog, share a passionate email with your contact list, and leverage it by asking them to share it with theirs too.

·        Start a chapter meeting in your town to raise awareness and fight for the issues that are near to your heart.

·        Volunteer to host a table at a Health Expo, Health Freedom Fair, etc.

·        Practice your passion: if you’re a writer- write! A speaker? Speak! A singer? Sing!

We can’t do it without each one of you!

I Wear Many "Hats"...I Love Them All, Am Passionate About Protecting Health Freedom!!

·        My first radio interview for NHF. Kind of like riding a roller-coaster…scary-fun!!  It starts at the 7:11 minute mark:  http://kcaaradio.celestrion.net/kcaa-podcasts/about/20121128.html

·        http://www.thenhf.com/blog/2012/06/codex-first-time-firsthand-the-fortieth-session-of-the-codex-committee-on-food-labelling-ottawa-canada-may-2012-by-katherine-a-carroll/

·        http://www.thenhf.com/blog/2012/04/the-national-health-federation-is-the-fulcrum-that-tips-the-world-by-katherine-a-carroll/

·        Contact: contact-us@thenhf.com

·        1.626.357.2181    or write to: National Health Federation, P.O. Box 688, Monrovia, CA 91017

·        https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/dMZya

Our Book- A Must Read To Understand the Reality  of Codex www.amazon.com

Immune Mechanisms In Allergic Eye Diseases: What Is New?

We've had requests to blog on health, nutrition, and alternative therapies including orthomolecular medicine- using supplements vs. drugs to create a healing influence. Yesterday we created a new blog, medicalvisioncenter.blogspot.com that is really just a culmination of years of studies, consults with patients, and finding solutions for ocular disease and issues like dry eye or allergy eyes- both common complaints and the launching off point for the Medical Vision Center blog. You can sign up at that address for updates and you'll save yourself many trips to the eye doctor by implementing some of the suggestions. Also you'll see the latest studies supporting protocols we've developed for use with patients at both clinics. 

If you need more information or particular brand names (and we ARE particular having found the brands that have integrity and the ones that don't) then email me at katacarroll@gmail.com and I'll be happy to help. In addition to the other hats I wear with Adytum Sanctuary and as Associate Editor for Health Freedom News, I still maintain a private practice doing nutritional consults at both clinics and by email. We're committed to this lifestyle and to finding solutions in nature. Just say 'no' to drugs and you'll stand a winning chance of truly solving your problems because there is ALWAYS an answer in diet, lifestyle, supplementation, attitude, intention, and prayer.

In 2011-2012, Dr. Donald Carroll performed the first office trial on using a proprietary blend of red wine extract with wet and dry macular degeneration patients. The study involved review by Dr. Stuart Richer who pioneered the treatment for this blinding disease using supplements to restore vision. Their joint paper will publish soon and the results are great! Medical Vision Center in Morton, Washington, our main practice where Donn's worked for 32 years and myself for 17 years, is now a designated Macular Degeneration Research Center. 

I hope you enjoy this departure from the usual Adytum Sanctuary Life blogs as we discuss treating ocular allergies with probiotics and enjoying not only relief from symptoms, but a chance for healing.

Aside from dry eye syndrome, the most common complaint at the clinics is itching, burning, excessive tearing, grittiness, and irritation. This often makes comfortable contact lens wearing out of the question. It isn't confined to any particular season either. Unfortunately many people think that medicines like Pataday will eliminate allergy symptoms for good and, like eliminating dry eye, it isn’t going to resolve with a topical medication. It takes working from the inside out.

The gastrointestinal tract and the liver are intricately related to eye health and vision. When people get jaundice, a liver ailment, it shows in yellow-tinged eyes. When people can’t stop rubbing their itching, watery eyes, it can often be traced back to a GI tract overrun with yeast, bad bacteria, and an imbalance of ‘friendly’ bowel bacteria.

A healthy digestive system is filled, from one end to the other, with nearly five pounds of good bacteria and microbes. We usually think of the GI tract in terms of digestion, but 60% of our immune system is found here in the form of Peyer’s Patches making this the logical place to start eliminating allergic eyes by strengthening the immune system.

Basically the GI tract is also a lymphoid organ with lymphoid follicles called Peyer’s Patches similar to lymph nodes. They are responsible for immune function at this level. “The lumen of the gastrointestinal tract is outside of the body and much of it is heavily populated with potentially pathogenic microorganisms. It is thus important that the immune system establishes and maintains a strong presence at this mucosal boundary, and indeed, the digestive tube is heavily laden with lymphocytes, macrophages and other cells that participate in immune responses.” Here’s a good explanatory link where the quote originated from:http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/basics/gi_immune.html

Peyer's Patches

In order for this system to function at its peak it requires the proper balance of bacteria. We include not only probiotic capsules in our diet (taken on an empty stomach with cool water) but we also eat cultured fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, cultured almond-milk yogurt, kim chi, and drink kombucha, etc. Staying off sugar is wise. We also teach a 4-R program to restore the GI tract. Homeopathic solutions like Similacin work well as a topical agent.

Dispensary and Tech Office

Donna Gates wrote The Body Ecology Diet (http://bodyecology.com/)which gives a good understanding how to build healthy bowel flora in the GI tract. The Gaps Diet, Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia by Natasha Cambell-McBride, is another.

We all know antibiotics kill good bowel bacteria, so many of us use garlic instead. But stress is often the overlooked culprit in reduction of good bacteria and generally damaging the GI tract. An October 2012 study show “rats subjected to heat stress damages intestinal mechanical and mucosal immune barriers, and reduces immune function of the intestinal mucosa and mesenteric lymphoid tissues, leading to bacterial translocation.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23094661. 

The bottom line is that ocular and overall health is gained when we establish and maintain friendly bowel bacteria. Studies follow taken from PubMed:

Medical Vision Center in Morton, WA- We were the first to add Nutritional Therapy

Improvements in seasonal allergic disease with Lactobacillus plantarum No. 14.

¹We conducted two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies of Lactobacillus plantarum No. 14 (LP14) in female students with seasonal allergic diseases. We also examined the mitogenic activity and cytokine inducibility of LP14 using Peyer's patch cells and mesenteric lymph node cells of swine. For subjects who took 8.7×10(8) of LP14, a significant improvement in ocular symptom-medication score was observed. In the placebo group, the T helper type 1 (Th1)/T helper type 2 (Th2) ratio tended to decrease after a 6-week intake period, while in the LP14 group, the percentage of Th1 cells significantly increased. Post-intake eosinophil counts significantly increased in comparison to those at intake cessation in the placebo group, but it appeared to be suppressed in the LP14 group. There were no changes in fecal microflora. LP14 strongly induced the gene expression of Th1-type cytokines. This study indicates the clinical effects of LP14 on seasonal allergic diseases.

Clinical efficacy of probiotic Bifidobacterium longum for the treatment of symptoms of Japanese cedar pollenallergy in subjects evaluated in an environmental exposure unit.

BACKGROUND:

Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCPsis) affects nearly one in six Japanese. Oral administration of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 has been shown to be effective in relieving JCPsis symptoms during the pollen season.

METHODS:

This double- two-way crossover study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of BB536 on reducing symptoms in JCPsis patients exposed to Japanese cedar pollen (JCP) in an environmental exposure unit (EEU) outside of the normal JCP season. After a 1-week run-in period, subjects (n=24) were randomly allocated to receive BB536 powder (approximately 5x1010) or placebo twice a day for 4 weeks. After a 2-week washout period, subjects were crossed over to another 4 weeks of intake. At the end of each intake period, subjects received controlled JCP exposure for 4 hours in the EEU. Symptoms were self-rated 30 minutes before and every 30 minutes during the exposures. From the first day of exposure through the next 5 successive days, participants self-rated their delayed symptoms and medication uses. Blood samples were taken before the exposures. The mean JCP levels for exposures were 6500 to 7000 grains/m3 air.

RESULTS:

In comparison with placebo, BB536 intake significantly reduced the ocular symptom scores during JCP exposures. Evaluating delayed symptoms after exposures indicated that scores for disruption of normal activities were significantly lower in the BB536 group compared with the placebo group. Prevalence of medication use was markedly reduced by BB536 intake.

CONCLUSIONS:

These results suggest the potential beneficial effect of BB536 in relieving symptoms of JCP allergy.

¹http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20834165Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2010;74(9):1869-77. Epub 2010 Sep 7. Nagata Y, Yoshida M, Kitazawa H, Araki E, Gomyo T. Source, Momoya Co., Ltd., Saitama, Japan. y.nagata@momoya.co.jAbstract

²Allergol Int. 2007 Mar;56(1):67-75. Epub 2007 Jan 29. Xiao JZ, Kondo S, Yanagisawa N, Miyaji K, Enomoto K, Sakoda T, Iwatsuki K, Enomoto T. Source,Food Research and Development Laboratory, Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., Kanagawa,Japan,j_xiao@morinagamilk.co.jp Abstract