Keeping Score

How do you measure wellness? For that matter, how do you even know when you are well or not? We all know people who we thought were in pretty good health that suddenly came down with terminal cancer or died of a sudden heart attack. If I feel pretty good today, but have a heart attack tomorrow, was I really healthy? The more I learn about questions and subjects like this, the more I appreciate all the work and forethought that was put into our 8 Weeks to Wellness (8WW) program. In 8WW we use a Wellness Score to evaluate wellness. This score comes with a report of numerous tests including blood tests. But unlike most tests, these aren’t necessarily looking for what’s wrong or disease processes, these tests are looking to see how you are functioning. Because, we know, that when you are functioning at or close to 100%, you don’t have illness, health problems, or even symptoms. While I don’t have room to talk about all of these tests, I would like to focus on a couple.

Perhaps your most important test is your body composition; looking at your ratio of lean muscle versus fat. In our office, we use a bio impedance analysis machine to measure this as it’s supposed to be the most precise method. But for home use, you can use a Tanita handheld device or measure skinfolds with calipers. The reason this measurement is so important is because just last year they declared this composition to be the single best predictor of biological age and longevity. What this basically means is that those carrying and maintaining the most lean muscle through life win. The ideal ranges for this measurement vary depending on age and gender, but the solution to maintaining lean muscle is around 200 minutes of exercise per week that includes strength training and a low glycemic diet with adequate protein. Another simple but potent measurement is your abdominal fat. All you need for this is a tape measure and a bellybutton. Simply measure all the way around at the level of the bellybutton and record your number. For men, this number should not exceed 40 inches and for women it should stay under 35. When this measurement comes back high, you are at significantly higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. While exercise is important for this measurement, the solution for belly fat is largely diet. Excessive fat in the abdomen is mostly due to excessive sugar in the diet. Cut the sugar, grains, pastas, cereals, and white potatoes and you can watch the belly fat shrink away!

To learn more about the importance of a low glycemic diet, I would like to invite you all to the Red Bicycle Hall on Main Street in downtown Madison on Tuesday, September 30th at 7:00 pm. We’ve purchased the rights to show the movie “Fed Up” that is currently in theaters. This is a movie that USA Today said “Will change the way people think about eating.” If you plan on attending this impactful event, please go to the Rivertown Chiropractic Wellness Center Facebook page and find the post on “Fed Up” and click “join.” You can also call us at the office number to RSVP. This way we can tell the Hall how many people to expect. Hope to see you there!

Tea it Up

I hear many people complain that they feel like they can’t do or eat anything as it seems that everything in this world is bad for their health.  In writing these articles it’s easy to fall into that same trap and report on all the things that detract from health.  So when I come across something that actually promotes health and longevity, I try to take notice and bring it to your attention.  One of those things is Green Tea!

I hope that by now, you've heard that green tea can be effective at reducing the risk of numerous forms of cancer.  Studies vary, but on average drinking five cups daily of the antioxidant extract can reduce general cancer risk by around 50%.  You may have even heard that drinking green tea can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.  And with diabetes being the fastest growing form of chronic disease, you may want to take note that green tea helps with insulin resistance which is the very mechanism of type II diabetes.  For me, that alone is enough to seek out the stuff and drink it down.  However, recent research has discovered that green tea also has the potential to prevent and possibly even reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.  Alzheimer’s occurs as the result of your brain cells being impaired and killed from something called amyloid plaques.  Like every other degenerative process in the body, these plaques are the result of oxidative stress and free radical damage that are directly related to inflammatory diet, stress, and lack of exercise.  Before this study, the only proven method of preventing Alzheimer’s was physical exercise and consuming excessive fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant benefits.  There are only five drugs that treat the disease, but they only partially treat some of the symptoms temporarily for about half the patients who take them.  Scientist have found that green tea not only prevents the formation of amyloid plaques but can actually break down existing plaques in early development and can even promote the production of new nerve cells in the brain (which was thought to be impossible not too long ago).  These new cells were noticed in the part of the brain known as the hippocampus which is known to convert short-term information into long-term memory.  Through the use of functional MRI, the scientists of a European study were able to see changes in the brain cells with just a single dose of green tea or with just one week of green tea supplements!

I would like to clarify that the green tea we’re talking about here is not the stuff you buy at the gas station that is loaded with high fructose corn syrup.  You need to get the real thing.  In researching this, the types that consistently came up with the highest level of anti-oxidants were brands of Lonjing or Dragon Well teas.  However, I did find results from a UCLA study that claimed even the Celestial Seasonings and Lipton green teas were considered high in these same anti-oxidant levels.  In my search, I was unable to determine which brand is the best for sure, but one thing I know is that I’m going to start drinking some form of Dragon Well tea right away!

Oil Pulling

 

This week I’m fulfilling a request to write about a procedure that many think is new but in actuality goes back several thousand years in India.  The procedure is known as coconut swishing or also as oil pulling.  In the past, I’ve written about the health benefits of coconut oil.  I’ve discussed how it is a medium chain fatty acid that does not raise insulin levels and therefore can be a good source of energy because it is converted in the liver to energy rather than stored as fat.  Coconut is also beneficial for the heart, brain, and thyroid and it’s valuable for the immune system as well.  “Oil pulling” with coconut oil is done by swishing the oil in the mouth to draw out different toxins, germs, and other pathogens.

It’s long been recognized that coconut is an effective anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial substance.  Recent medical journals have also published research that shows the oil fights against various yeasts such as candida.  Ancient Ayurvedic texts claim that oil pulling may cure about 30 different diseases and help detoxify the entire body.  These claims are not necessarily supported by modern research, but there is a growing body of research that supports the use of coconut swishing for cleansing and healing benefits of the mouth.  Research from the Indian Journal of Dental Research states, “Oil pulling has been used for strengthening teeth, gums and jaws and to prevent decay, oral malodor, bleeding gums and dryness of throat and cracked lips.”  One of the primary mechanisms that allows coconut oil pulling to make these claims is that the research shows it is effective at killing off Streptococcus Mutans bacteria.  This is the acid producing bacteria that is known to contribute to tooth decay and plaque accumulation.

Oil pulling involves "rinsing" your mouth with the oil, much like you would with a mouthwash. The oil is "worked" around your mouth by pushing, pulling, and drawing it through your teeth optimally for a period of about 20 minutes.  You do not want to gargle. Oil pulling will work your jaw muscles as another benefit, but if yours become sore or tired you're probably "swishing" the oil too vigorously. Just relax and focus on moving the oil with your tongue as well as your jaw muscles.  When getting started, you may want to try it for just five minutes at a time. The process allows the oil to "pull out" bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other debris from your mouth. It may not sound very appetizing, but once the oil turns thin and milky white you'll know it's time to spit it out. The best time to do oil pulling is in the morning before eating breakfast, but it can be done at any time. When you're done, spit out the oil and rinse your mouth with water or a combination of water and baking soda. Avoid swallowing the oil as it will be loaded with bacteria and whatever potential toxins and debris it has pulled out.  Go buy some 100% coconut oil and try this procedure.  You should notice results within about a week.  And don’t forget about the other health benefits of eating the oil on its own – a tablespoon a day is a good start!  Thanks Andra for this recommended topic and thanks for reading every week!

It’s a Brain Thing

 

Even after 120 years, there are still a lot of people confused about chiropractic adjustments because they don’t want to get their “bones cracked, or popped.”  They believe that the adjustment “pops” a bone that is out of place back into place like snapping Legos into position.  Some of this is the fault of the chiropractor as we have allowed this simplified interpretation to be perpetuated over the years rather than tell the whole truth which is a little more complicated.  The truth is that the adjustment is more about the brain than it is about the bones.

Chiropractors detect and correct something called a subluxation.  Subluxations are indeed minor misalignments of the spine that can create pressure and swelling on the nerves causing interference with the nerve signals thereby adversely affecting everything under the control of that nerve.  The problem with this is that bones don’t just go out of place on their own – they are controlled by the muscles.  There are approximately 108 muscles of the spine whose job is to keep the bones of the spine in proper alignment.  That’s great, but for the fact that muscles don’t do anything on their own.  In truth, muscles do only one of two things – they turn on to contract, and they turn off to relax much like a light bulb.  However, just like the light bulb, the muscle requires an electrical stimulus from the wiring system of the body or the nerves.  And when it comes to maintaining the alignment of the bones through the muscular system, the nerves that coordinate all of this are controlled largely by the coordination center of the brain known as the cerebellum.  This part of the brain requires constant incoming information from all the joints and muscles of the body to coordinate balance and movement and maintain normal posture and proper structure.  So you see, a misalignment of the spine or subluxation is really a coordination problem.  There has to be some kind of disconnect between the bones, muscles, nerves and cerebellum that would allow a bone to stop moving correctly and become misaligned.  Therefore, you cannot truly “pop” a bone back into place.  Even if you could, the imbalanced muscles would pull it right back out of place.  Rather, the chiropractic adjustment moves the bone enough in the right direction to fire off the nerve endings in the joint that report to the coordination center of the brain (cerebellum).  This stimulus from the joint gives the cerebellum the information needed to begin re-coordinating the imbalanced muscles so that the body can begin to move the bone back into proper position and heal on its own.  I like to think of this like resetting the circuit breaker.  Because the muscles and the nervous system itself are very habit-forming this process usually requires repetition to retrain the complex and ultimately correct the misalignment or subluxation.  So even though most people go to chiropractors for various pains, the process really is not about reducing pain, but rather about improving the function of this brain/body communication.  When this is accomplished, higher function not only leads to less pain, but better performance and ultimately better health because the brain is communicating with the body more efficiently through the nervous system as it was designed to do.  I share this perspective with you because many people are suffering unnecessarily due to commonly held misconceptions about how chiropractic and the chiropractic adjustment works.

Hunger Help

 

Do you know the old joke regarding Chinese food – “You’ll just be hungry again in 15 minutes?”  I ran across a piece that indicates there could be some truth to this premise and it’s not just about Chinese food, but rather several of our most popular choices that can make us hungrier in the long run.  The common denominator with all of these foods is that they are considered high glycemic resulting in a spike in insulin.  Insulin is the hormone from the pancreas that moves sugar out of the blood and into the tissue to be burned or to be stored for later.  This ultimately creates a drop in blood sugar that when it happens quickly will result in increased hunger.

So what are some of these high glycemic foods that are being targeted?  Let’s start with the processed grains found in cereals, white bread, pastas, pizza dough, and rice.  The grains found in these foods have been stripped of their fiber content leaving them with mostly empty calories from sugar.  This high sugar content causes insulin to rise and then drop again leaving you hungry and wanting more.  A Spanish study of 9000 people found that those eating just two slices of white bread per day were 40% more likely to become obese.  Eating these foods in the morning when cortisol levels are naturally elevated is worse because cortisol lowers your ability to metabolize the ingested sugar.  So cut out the toast and cereal in the mornings!  Do you like beer with your pizza or pasta?  Alcohol is also high glycemic causing the same reaction as the grains, but alcohol also depletes your levels of leptin which is a hormone designed to make you feel full.  The diuretic effect of alcohol will also make you lose electrolytes causing you to crave salty snacks (also high glycemic).  What about a diet drink with your pizza?  The artificial sweeteners found in diet drinks or added to coffee may lack the calories of sugar, but they still cause insulin to spike resulting in more hunger and a craving for more sweets.  Do you really know who has lost weight drinking diet drinks?  I’m afraid fruit juices aren’t much better.  Like the processed grains, juices have been stripped of all their fiber found in the fruit leaving them mostly with calories from sugar that will cause a large spike in insulin.  Obviously the bread, soda, and potatoes found in all fast food will create this same insulin phenomenon.  In fact, some studies show that the high fructose corn syrup used in these foods will cause a greater insulin spike than regular sugar.  Add the trans fats found in these foods that inflame the gut and retard the dopamine and serotonin which help to control hunger and you have a generally bad situation.  That leaves us with the Chinese food?  A study has shown that MSG can cause a 40% increase in appetite.  Add the insulin spiking rice and sweet sauces to this and you do have a recipe for increased hunger.

As I write these words, I can already hear the common complaint, “Just what can I eat then!”  When it comes to controlling hunger and losing weight, clearly sugar is the enemy.  This leaves you with friendly fiber from fruits and vegetables as well as protein from lean meat and even healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, and seeds.  Because they take longer to digest, protein and healthy fats will control hunger much more than carbohydrates and fake foods listed above.