My Opinion on OCD

by Glen Depke

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or better known as OCD is a widely diagnosed challenge for many individuals today. Is this much different today than it was decades ago? Is this a disease? How do you overcome this? These are just some of the questions that I hear from clients on a regular basis. I will provide my answers to these questions and more, while sharing my opinions on OCD.

First let’s look at a medical definition of OCD.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - Disorder characterized by persistent, intrusive, and senseless thoughts (obsessions) or compulsions to perform repetitive behaviors that interfere with normal functioning.

First, let’s look at the words, normal functioning. Based on our current state of health and wellness of our society, I would hope that your goal is NOT normal function. “Normal” people are diagnosed with chronic disease on a regular basis. Heart attacks, cancer, autoimmune disease, diabetes, pain, digestive disorders are all a part of what is “normal” these days. So to be clear, this is not what we want.

So how do we become abnormal? We have to obsess over something different.

There have been many individuals in our world history that would now be considered obsessive compulsive. Do you think Christopher Columbus was OCD about finding the new world? How about Alexander Grand Bell and the telephone? Thomas Edison and electricity? Henry Ford and automobile production? Albert Einstein and the theory of relativity? I think you get the picture.

Heck you can ask my wife and she would tell you that I am OCD about health and wellness.

The OCD that is typically diagnosed would not be tied into inventing or discovering the new world. This is typically tied into individuals that do something excessively that would potentially lead to harming themselves in some way; physically, mentally or emotionally. This could be somebody that excessively cleans themselves, extreme hording, excessive sexual thoughts, and an aversion to particular numbers or nervous rituals.

I do not see the OCD itself as the challenge: I see the underlying core belief behind the OCD as the challenge.

Let’s understand that the deep need is in shifting the underlying core belief to something that is empowering rather than destructive. I get that this is often easier said than done, but it is very possible and I see it all the time in my clinic.

The deeper challenge is tied into the story that is being obsessed about. For the person that has OCD, I will share that the story is not yours. This is a story that you have been taught by somebody else in your life and you have created your own personal tests to confirm this story. At some point it has over taken your life and can create substantial challenges if continued.

I will also share that by the time I see a client with OCD in my office there are typically other physical challenges which hinder your ability to shift your thoughts and ideas. Most with OCD are also living with adrenal challenges, gut/brain/immune imbalances and very often some level of malnutrition. With this said, I do not feel that this is a disease but a combination of disempowering thoughts, a strong story built around these thoughts as well as the physical challenge that hinder your ability to shift your thoughts and ideas to create new, healthy and empowering thoughts.

Most are not able to simply shift their thoughts immediately. If this was the case, I feel that you would. When you take into account the multiple physical, mental, emotional and chemical aspects of this imbalance, it makes shifting thoughts and ideas much easier for most.

If you would like to discuss OCD further, feel free to leave a comment below or sign up for a FREE 20 minute phone consultation to discuss this with me personally. If you are not a current client of mine, click here to register for your FREE consultation.

Steps for Optimal Healing

by Glen Depke

You have heard me in the past discuss most aspects of healing but how do you put it all together. Well, there is one way to do this that I definitely do not recommend and that is doing it all at once. Your body, mind and spirit did not fall apart all at once and it is not going to move into balance all at once either.


So many individuals seek assistance from others or take all the information they have researched and then want to do it all at once and all right now! I am sure you have seen this before; it is a cultural challenge.

So many of my clients come into my practice that have already worked with incredible practitioners and followed some awesome protocols, yet still feel frustrated with the lack of success. This is more than often do to the fact that they are on step C, but have yet to work on steps A and B. Make sense?


As an example, if a client has brain symptoms, I would not jump into protocols to balance the brain. I would start with their fundamentals, address their adrenal health, then the gut and then finally the brain. So here is the fun part. Often by the time we get the the last steps, the challenge or symptom is often gone. So even though the symptom may have appeared to be in the brain, maybe it was actually an adrenal or gut challenge. Maybe the gut or adrenal challenge was simply tied into the foundation of your fundamentals, which is your mental/emotional health. So the whole problem may have originated from stress. If this was the case, you may have found a small level of relief addressing the brain symptom but overall, you would have not found your level of balance due to the lack of addressing your reaction to stress in your life.

While nothing is absolute, I want to show you the flow and patterns I have seen thousands of times with clients in my practice. Addressing your health in this way will start at the beginning and allow one step to build upon the other. Ultimately this can create many mini successes along the way to continue your further balance and allow you to reach your goals of optimal health and wellness. 


Very exciting!

Here are the steps I typically follow when assisting my clients with chronic health challenges.

First I always address the fundamentals of health along with assessing their adrenal function. Once we have some balance in the fundamentals and adrenals, I would recommend addressing the gut/immune connection. Once these areas are addressed, it would be best to look at neurological function and address healing the aging brain. Once the aging brain is moving toward balance, you can then start detoxification and any lingering nutrient replacement.

As I mentioned earlier, it is often the case that my clients do not have to address every single level because the underlying challenges are so often addressed earlier in the game and they are feeling health and balance. Some have to go through at the steps while others do not.

Since we cannot know this at the beginning, it does not make sense to try to do it all at once. At least it does not make sense to me. What makes sense to you is really the question.


For those that have any questions or comments to this article, feel free to leave a comment below.


If you would like further information on this subject and would like to talk to me directly, I offer a FREE 20 minute phone consultation. I currently work with clients all across our fine country, so distance work is not foreign to me.

Why are Probiotics Important?

by Glen Depke

For those that are not aware I want to share that when I refer to probiotics, I am talking about beneficial bacteria. For a healthy person, this beneficial bacteria comprises approximately 90% of your digestive tract and honestly, there is more bacteria in your gut than there are cells in your entire body. To me, that is an amazing stat in itself. 

So what are the biological functions of these beneficial bacteria? 

·         Beneficial bacteria in the colon convert cholesterol to coprostanol for excretion, thereby lowering total serum cholesterol levels

·         Beneficial bacteria enhance the health of the digestive system

·         Beneficial bacteria strengthen the immune system functions of the intestines

·         Beneficial bacteria help to reverse intestinal permeability

·         Beneficial bacteria alleviate some of the symptoms of IBS (especially intestinal cramps and flatulence

·         Beneficial bacteria may assist with urinary tract infections

·         Beneficial bacteria enhance the function of the immune system function by producing substances that help counteract antigens such as detrimental bacteria and viruses 

Beneficial bacteria enhances the function/production of these substances. 

·         Beneficial bacteria in the large intestines cause the fermentation of your nutritional carbohydrates

·         Due to this fermentation, your body will benefit from the result of helpful volatile fatty acids

·         Beneficial bacteria produces hydrogen peroxide which is utilized by the body to “extinguish” neutralized antigen/antibodies

·         Beneficial bacteria reside in the body’s intestines and can manufacture many vitamins including those listed here; biotin, choline, folic acid, inositiol, PABA, vitamin B2, vitamin B5, vitamin B6 and vitamin K 

These substances enhance the function of beneficial bacteria. 

·         Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) provide nourishment to most types of beneficial bacteria. Note: because beneficial bacteria are living organisms they require nutrition as any other living organism. Another note: FOS is not a source of nourishment for toxic bacteria

·         Butyric acid fees the beneficial bacteria within the digestive tract 

As you can see, probiotics play a significant role in your overall health and wellness. Due to the fact that we typically do not eat raw naturally fermented foods, this places a significant need to take probiotic supplements. I use probiotics myself daily and this is a regular recommendation for my clients also. 

Follow this link to learn more about the probiotic offered at the Depke Wellness Store. 

If you have any comments or questions about this article, please leave your post below for me to answer personally.

Pure Encapsulations Probiotic GI

The shelf stable (no refrigeration needed) Probiotic G.I. provides 10 billion CFU per capsule of the beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus. Research indicates that these strains provide particular support for a healthy inflammatory balance within the GI tract. Beneficial microflora are crucial for proper gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) function and development. The GALT helps protect intestinal mucosa from allergens and toxins and is a major component of the body’s immune system. It is estimated that more than 70% of the body’s B lymphocytes are found in the GALT. Probiotics are believed to support healthy GALT composition, and in turn, support barrier function, GI epithelial cell health and T cell function within the GI tract. Some probiotic strains may also modulate local production of cytokines in the GI epithelium. L. casei and B. lactis support healthy T cell activity and cytokine production in the intestine, at least in part by regulating transcription of genes that encode for cytokines. L. acidophilus promotes healthy cytokine production in the colon. Research also suggests that metabolites produced from Streptococcus thermophilus may cross the intestinal barrier to support healthy cytokine production and inflammatory balance. 

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

As always, shipping/handling is FREE from the Depke Wellness Store.

Order Now

Probiotic G.I.

Supplement Facts

each capsule contains:
ascorbyl palmitate	20 mg.
(fat-soluble vitamin C)
probiotic blend	10 billion cfu
providing:
Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-14)
Lactobacillus salivarius (Ls-33)
Lactobacillus casei (Lc-11)
Bifidobacterium lactis (Bl-04)
Bifidobacterium bifidum (Bb-02)
Streptococcus thermophilus (St-21)
Contains milk, *soy
other ingredients: rice starch

1–2 capsules per day, in divided doses, with or between meals.

*Pure Encapsulations uses only high quality fermented soy

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As always, shipping/handling is FREE from the Depke Wellness Store.

Brain Basics Supplement Protocol

If you have not read the post Healing the Aging Brain as of yet, I would recommend that you visit this article first. If you have already read this, please proceed.

There are some basics from a supplement protocol for moving forward with healing the aging brain.

First it is important to increase blood flow to the brain. Understand that by increasing blood flow will increase both oxygen and nutrient uptake. To achieve this I use a combination of 2 supplements. One is called Nitric Balance, which is suggested for an immediate impact on increasing blood flow to the brain and the other is NeurO2, which is used for the long term increased blood flow.


While improving blood flow will increase the nutrient uptake, the next step is to increase the primary nutrient for your brain health, which is DHA. I am sure you have heard of the importance of omega 3 fatty acids, such as fish oils. Well, the two components of fish oils are DHA and EPA. The DHA is the aspect of the omega 3 that has the significant impact on brain health and the Phyto Brain-E is a 24:1 ratio of DHA to EPA. To my knowledge, this is the highest ratio on the market today, to assist healing the aging brain.


I also include a FREE 10 minute phone session to explain the use of these supplements for you individually.

The cost of these supplements, including your phone consult is $169.00 plus $8.95 for shipping an handling and the supplements will last at least 30 days. This is invaluable for those with aging brains, which in all honesty, is all of us.

To order this please call my office direct at 949.642.2094 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            949.642.2094      end_of_the_skype_highlightingor email me at Glen@DepkeWellness.com.


If you have any questions feel free to post these below.

Healing the Aging Brain

by Glen Depke

Regardless of your age, your brain is aging. This suggests that neurons in your brain are becoming unhealthy and they are dying. Once a neuron dies, it is gone, and your brain cannot make more. Let me repeat this, once a neuron dies, it is gone for good. This is why it is so important to nourish your brain and to address the aging brain now, rather than waiting until brain degeneration is advanced.

When we think about the aging brain and brain degeneration, we often think about challenges such as Alzheimer’s, dementia or Parkinson’s. These are obviously very late stages of brain degeneration. Do you really want to wait until this progression leads to severe life challenges or would you like to address this when symptoms are much less problematic? 

So what are the earlier signs of the aging brain?

Earliest signs of an aging brain are fatigue promoted by brain activity such as driving, reading or other brain tasks, depression and poor digestive function.

Moderate signs of an aging brain are an inability focus or concentrate, difficulty learning new tasks, chronic constipation, poor enzyme insufficiency, increased sympathetic dominance which often leads to increased blood pressure, increased resting heart rate, susceptibility to stress and poor blood flow.

Significant signs of an aging brain are the inability to work professionally, inability to appreciate life, inability to recognize neurological loss, tremors, and an inability to follow find directions.

Signs of a severely aging brain are neurodegenerative disease, uncontrolled bladder tone, bowel obstruction, inability to digest food, inability to taste, smell or develop social relationships and dependency on family and/or medical staff for daily function.

So really, look at yourself. Which of these areas do you feel that you fit into? Hopefully you are not in the significant or severe range so you can focus on healing the aging brain.

So what do I mean by healing the aging brain?

Obviously by my comments above, once the neurons are dead, they are gone for good. Let me explain this deeper and you will see how much you can really assist your aging brain.

Let’s say you have neuron number 1, number 2 and number 3. Number 1 sends a message to number 2, which then sends a message to neuron number 3. Well if neuron number 2 dies, how does number 3 get the message? Unfortunately, neuron number 3 will never get the message in an unhealthy brain. So who knows what the communication of neuron number 3 is to the rest of the brain and the body. What we do know though, is that this is not happening any more in the unhealthy brain.

Wait, there is hope!

Even though you cannot bring neuron number 2 back to life, the healthy brain can solve this problem with relative ease. You see, we have dendrites which are projections from the neurons that will have the ability to extend from neuron number 1 and neuron number 3 as mentioned above. This will enable the continued communication even though neuron number 2 is dead. Our brain is amazing, remember though, this happens in a healthy brain and not in a brain that is in continual degeneration.

The two first steps in moving toward a healthy brain is to increase blood flow to the brain and to nourish the brain. Not only do I recommend this for my clients but I also follow this protocol personally. I regularly take a liquid supplement that has a very powerful effect of creating an instant increase of blood flow to the brain. When I take this supplement, I actually feel like the whole world brightens up for me. This is due to the immediate increase of blood flow to the brain. Understand that by increasing blood flow you are increasing oxygen and nutrient uptake. I also take a capsule with each meal that continues to maintain a long term increase of blood flow to the brain. While this response is not as immediate as the liquid supplement, this is still very much needed.

The other supplement that is a basic need is DHA. DHA is one of the components of your omega 3 fatty acids. While the EPA is also important for the body, the brain is really looking for DHA. I take and recommend a supplement that has anywhere from a 14:1 or 24:1 ratio of DHA to EPA. This along with increased oxygen flow will nourish your brain and begin creating positive health within your brain.

Another key is physical activity. Moving your body is so important for your brain function. If your health is challenged and all you can handle right now is a short walk, do it. Any movement is better than no movement.

Interestingly, one of the buzz words used so often these days is anti-aging. When I hear the term anti-aging, I always think, BRAIN HEALTH! Studies have shown that the healthiest of elderly tend to find minimum cognitive decline even into their ninth decade. Yes, you read that correctly, a healthy functioning brain is firing almost as well at 90 years old as many decades earlier. So much for the thought of the natural aging process!

Remember; do not wait until it is too late. Waiting until severe dementia, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s is asking for a miracle. Catch this at an early stage and live well into your 90s and further will optimal cognitive function. It’s your life and you are worth it.

If you are not a current client of mine, feel free to register here if you would like a FREE 20 minute consultation to learn more about the protocols used by Glen Depke of Depke Wellness.

Click here if you are interested in the basic brain function supplementation protocol. This also includes a FREE 10 minute phone consult to explain the supplement use.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave a post below.

"Time to Thrive" Fund-Raiser for Breast Cancer Scar Tissue Recovery

by Dawn Depke

When I found out that a friend of mine was on her 5th surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and in tremendous pain with "normal" movement from scar tissue adhesions. The scar tissue was created from her mastectomy, expander surgery, implant surgery, then another surgery to remove the implants after a staph infection. This resulted in a tremendous amount of scar tissue in her breast area. I was horrified!

We decided to "experiment" on her with a technology called Endermologie to see if that would decrease the pain and increase the range of motion. This machine was originally designed to decrease restriction of scar tissue and increase circulation. This provides a flow of nutrients to those restricted areas resulting in decrease of pain, increase in range of motion and improved circulation. Endermologie is heavily promoted as a non-invasive cellulite treatment, but it is so much more.

We "played" and it was a huge success! She had a decrease in pain on increase in elasticity, getting hr ready for her 6th and final surgery.


Her story inspired me to educate, inspire and empower the women of Orange County that there is something is something they can do about the pain and restrictions they are suffering from post surgery.

Together we can make a huge difference in our community and the lives of women in your life. I invite you to join the cause.

Follow this link to be a contribution to the breast cancer community!

Hospitals are Still Screwing Up!

by Glen Depke

According to (Reuters) 04/07/11, about one in three people in the United States will encounter some kind of mistake during a hospital stay.

Yes, you heard that right, one in three!

These findings are based on new assessment tools used to measure hospital mistakes and is actually providing an estimation that is approximately 10 times higher than presently expected.

According to Susan Dentzer, editor in chief of Health Affairs, "Without doubt, we've seen improvements in health care over the past decade, and even pockets of excellence, but overall progress has been agonizingly slow."

Really?

10 times worse than originally thought does not communicate agonizingly slow, it tells me we are worse of today then ever. Now I am not going to get into the whole blame game on this subject...not that there isn't plenty to go around. I just want to bring this to the attention to our readers.

The medical errors assessed range from bed sores, to objects left in the body after surgery to life threatening staph infections, bu there's more...

The research found that the top 10 types of errors accounted for more than two thirds of the total medical cost in regard to these mistakes. The top 3 of these 10 are bedsores, postoperative infections and persistent back pain after back surgery.

If you are going to the hospital for any procedure, you don't want to be one of the 33.33% as a statistic. What is the best way to prevent from becoming this statistic. Obviously...stay out of the hospital!

There is a time and a place for conventional medical care but this is after your own personal focus on self care and if needed holistic care. If these avenues do not work, by all means, seek conventional assistance but only when necessary.

Let me be clear, I am not telling you to not go to the hospital if you have a problem; but by all means, do what you can to stay out. Your health may depend on it.

Feel free to visit Depke Wellness and browse around the Fundamentals of Health, Energetic/Emotional Release, Gluten Intolerance, Adrenal Insufficiency, Gastro Intestinal Health, and Nutritional ID. This can give you some basic information to create a positive shift in your self care.

Beyond this, you can follow this link to set up a FREE 20 minute phone consultation with me personally, to discuss the health building protocols as used by Depke Wellness. I feel so strongly about the systems and protocols used in my clinic that I freely provide these initial FREE consultations.