Monday, February 27, 2017

Antibiotics & Probiotics

With flu and the immune system being such a hot subject, it’s important to address my concern of taking antibiotics.  I often explain to the members of our practice that taking an antibiotic will work like a nuclear bomb – it will often kill the bad bacteria, but it can eliminate all the good bacteria as well.

We have become a society obsessed with germs, but the reality is that there are over 70 trillion cells in the body and for every one of these cells, there should be about 10 “good” bacteria to support our system.  In a healthy individual there should be approximately eight pounds of these good germs just in the colon alone!  They exist in the body to digest waste products and toxins and to assist the digestive system by breaking down waste in the bowel.  Most importantly, these good germs seem to act as a first line of defense for the immune system by attacking any bad germs that enter our body when we eat, drink, or swallow.  When these good germs are killed off by excessive antibiotics, the immune system will be compromised leaving us even more susceptible to the bad germs.

My standard recommendation to people is to use antibiotics sparingly and only when the body is unable to fight off infection on its own with the help of a healthy lifestyle.  If antibiotics are used, try following them up with a protocol of probiotics.  These are the good bacteria that should be in our systems.  You can find these in a liquid or capsule form and what you will be looking for is something that contains lactobacillus acidophilus.  Yes, you can get some of this by eating natural yogurt, but many of the commercial yogurts are so laden with sugars that undermine the function of the immune system and promote yeast. 

Monday, February 20, 2017

Eating Late

Certainly there are several effective strategies out there to help with weight loss and promote a healthy way of eating.  I came across this recent study and wanted to share it with you to prevent self-sabotage when it comes to preventing weight gain.
Researchers from Northwestern University have found that eating at the wrong time leads to more than twice as much weight gain as when eating at appropriate times.  These findings were consistent in all the subjects studied.  So what is the wrong time to eat?  Apparently eating after dark is the problem. While still uncertain to the ultimate cause, they believe that metabolism slows at night in response to darkness and circadian rhythms in the body. Calories taken in after dark will not be burned up and will be moved to storage instead.  While we all have different sleep patterns, nighttime is a time for rest and for the body to repair and recharge.  Regardless what time you actually go to sleep, at night your thyroid functions at a lower level dropping your body temperature, lowering your metabolism and encouraging sleep.  This lowered thyroid function and metabolism is likely the cause of this dramatic difference in weight gain at night.
I suspect many of us are guilty of late dinners and evening snacks, but hopefully knowing that these habits deliver twice the punch will make us all modify our habits and plan meals accordingly.  

Monday, February 13, 2017

Could you live to be 100?

How old are you going to live?  More importantly, what will your life look like in the later years?  The average American lives to be 78 years of age.  However, scientists believe that one in ten thousand people can and will live to be 100 years and they can do this without complications of so many age-related diseases.  In fact, some research has shown that our bodies and organs are designed to function normally up to 135 years!  This means that most Americans are living 30 to 60 years short of their potential.


Why are we aging less than our potential?  A recent study identified two factors that may dramatically increase our age and decrease risk of disease.  Not surprisingly, both of these are related to diet.  The researchers found that decreasing our daily caloric intake by 30-40% can extend life by up to 60%!  This is consistent with other studies that report daily caloric intake should be less than 2000 calories in order to control insulin levels and enhance DNA repair.  The second factor identified in greater longevity is again related to omega 3 fatty acids.  They found that people who lived longer typically had very high levels of HDL (good cholesterol).  The thought is that high amounts of large molecule HDL helps remove free radicals that damage DNA.  If you’ve been reading these articles, you know that you get a higher HDL from omega 3 sources such as fish, fish oil and green vegetables.  For more secrets of longevity, check out the book, “Healthy at 100” by John Robbins. 

Monday, February 6, 2017

What is Out of Balance in Your Life

As a chiropractor, I see all kinds of physical complaints and pains especially involving the back.  I recently heard a speaker ask the question, “Is back pain really a back problem, or is it a health problem?”  The point he was making is that pain is not really the problem.  Pain is a programmed response that the body provides to let us know that there is a problem.  Pain is an electrical signal received in the brain.  You see, pain is like the smoke alarm that tells us there is a fire.  We spend money, time and effort fighting aches and pains without ever uncovering or even looking for the real problem.  We should be looking for cause rather than fighting the symptoms of pain.


The body is designed to heal on its own and when we have pain, especially chronic pain, this is the result of a problem that is failing to heal.  In other words, this is a health problem.  If you’ve been following this column, you know by now that most health problems can be linked to improper choices regarding lifestyle.  For this reason, when someone is having a pain, symptom, or health problem, I like to ask the question, “What is out of balance in your life?”  The common answers to this question include excess emotional stress, lack of exercise, poor diet, dehydration, poor posture, excessive caffeine, reactions to medications, lack of sleep, and all the other things discussed in this column.  The point is that many times the ultimate cause of problems is simple and yet we turn to complicated solutions rather than make changes.  I can’t tell you how many times a person’s pains are the result of a bad chair, pillow or mattress.  If you are dealing with any kind of health problem, please take time to analyze your lifestyle – more often than not the answer is right in front of you.