It Just Takes 25¢

Several years ago a study from the University of Colorado proved that as little as 10 mm of pressure on a nerve root coming out of the spine would cause at least a 50% reduction of the electrical impulse traveling down that nerve from the spinal cord.  10 mm of pressure is equivalent to the weight of a quarter and this pressure could come from sources including simple misalignment of the individual vertebrae, bulging of the disc, swelling of the soft tissues, or arthritic degeneration.  Whatever the cause, minimal pressure on the delicate nerve root exiting the spine would diminish the electrical signals going out to the body by at least half!

Certainly anyone who has experienced what is so commonly called a “pinched nerve” running down their arm or leg can attest to the significance of this research.  But let’s look at the bigger picture.  What controls, organizes, and regulates every function in your body?  Hopefully you’re thinking: The Brain.  But to function, the brain must communicate with the rest of the body and it does this through the nervous system – that network of wiring that communicates with all parts of the body.  The nervous system carries thousands of messages between the brain and body every second and all these signals travel through the spinal column and the holes found between the individual bones of the spine.  If there was pressure or tension on the nerves where they exit through these holes found in the spinal column, doesn’t it stand to reason that that could cause problems not only at the point of pressure, but also wherever that nerve travels?  Obviously, if this pressure were on the sciatic nerve going down your leg it could cause leg pain or if the tension was on the greater occipital nerve going back to your head, it could cause headaches?  But what if the pressure was on the nerves going to your stomach, bladder, or colon; would they work better or worse?  Fortunately, the body is smart and it doesn’t devote just one nerve to every organ and gland, but it stands to reason that any interference with those signals would decrease efficiency and function.

This research and the simple philosophy behind it has been the basis of chiropractic care since its inception in 1895.  When you reduce tension from the nervous system, you improve the communication between the brain and body which in turn improves the body’s ability to feel right, heal right and function right.

Resolutions Pt. 2

New Year’s resolutions are upon us!  Last week I shared the reason most resolutions fail is that our resolutions are focused on changing habits or behaviors.  To get lasting change we need to change the belief structure behind these behaviors.  Keep the focus on ‘why’ you want to change and learn how will your life be better by this change?  If your resolution for 2010 is related to health, remember that it is easier to add something healthy than it is to take away something unhealthy.  Whatever our unhealthy habits might be, we indulge them because they give us a degree of pleasure.  This is a belief structure that will take some work to change.  Rather for your resolution this year, set an intention to add some of the things you know you should be doing.  Here are some suggestions based on subjects discussed in this column over the last year.

You can commit to drinking 6-8 glasses of water each day – have two in the morning before you get going.  You can commit to eating at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal.  Or, commit to at least seven hours of sleep per night.  Pick a few forms of exercise you enjoy and schedule time every week for at least 100 minutes of these activities.  Take multivitamins, fish oil, and other supplements to promote health.  Make time for a daily hobby or activity that relieves stress or spend time daily in prayer or meditation. 

If you’ve followed this column at all you should know that our state of health or disease is in direct relation to the quality of the choices we make and no matter where you are now, you can always work to improve your state of health.  These are all simple examples of choices you can make that will ultimately add to your health and decrease your risk of disease.  Pick one to get going and then next month, add another healthy choice!  I wish you the very best and a healthy new year!

Resolutions

I’d like to share my thoughts about beliefs, behaviors, and resolutions.  The New Year is rapidly approaching and with it brings a time for resolutions.  A resolution by definition is an attempt to change your behavior.  In the next few weeks, millions of Americans will join a gym, start an exercise or post-holiday starvation plan, or maybe try to stop smoking.  While all of these are excellent plans, why do most of these resolutions fail and old behaviors return?  All our behaviors are learned habits that our based on pleasure and pain.  We fail because most of us try to change the habits that give us pleasure and move toward habits that are perceived by pain.  For instance, most resolve to give up foods we like and start an exercise program we don’t like (so much).  This is a recipe for failure and is in contradiction to human nature.

The reason resolutions often fail is that we attempt to change the behavior rather than the belief system that is at the root of that behavior.  Nobody who smokes, or overindulges in sweets or alcohol does so without knowledge that it is bad for them – they do it because it gives them pleasure.  To get results, we need to change our beliefs.  For instance if you want to lose weight and get in shape, purchase a book or program that is more than a strategy – you want to learn the ‘why’ behind the strategy.  Learn how the body works and why this program works to get the results you desire.  Learn everything about the benefits/pleasure you can enjoy with weight loss and fitness.  If you want to quit smoking, learn all you can about the devastating effects that smoking has on all parts of your body. Your belief and understanding of the pain of smoking must become greater than the pleasure you get from the habit.  More on this next week!

Not the Same

I found an article by Dr. Mark Hyman that I thought should be shared.  Dr. Hyman is a New York Times bestselling author and a doctor of functional medicine addressing the root causes of chronic illness.  The title of his article caught my eye as it was Five Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You.  While that’s certainly an attention-grabber, I was particularly interested because I spent some time with a sales rep. from one of the biggest High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) producers in the country at a wedding a few years ago.  I decided to ask him his side of the story and he somewhat defensively explained that corn syrup is “natural” and there was absolutely no health risks associated with HFCS that weren’t associated with regular sugar.  Unfortunately, Dr. Hyman’s research does not support this position.

Yes, it is true that sugar in any form can and will contribute to obesity and chronic disease.  Each sweetened soda, sports drink, or tea contains the equivalent of 12-17 teaspoons of sugar.  This adds up very quickly and will contribute to disease whether it’s in the form of HFCS or the real sugar.  A key difference of HFCS is that its molecular structure is different from regular sugar and that allows it to be absorbed into the blood stream more rapidly.  Furthermore, the fructose in it goes straight to the liver and triggers the fatty production of cholesterol and triglycerides.  Over time, this can cause fatty liver disease which afflicts 70 million people.  This phenomenon drives obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.  Dr. Hyman reports that high doses of free fructose in the gut have been proven to “punch holes in the intestinal lining allowing nasty byproducts of toxic gut bacteria to enter your blood stream and trigger widespread inflammation” that we know is linked to so many diseases.  Even worse, some research has shown that HFCS is contaminated with mercury.  This is certainly not natural as mercury is considered toxic at any level and is associated with numerous neurological diseases.  Perhaps one of the biggest problems with HFCS is that it does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production as natural sugar is intended to do.  Insulin and leptin are regulators of food intake essential to controlling our appetite and weight.  Obviously, this dilemma leads to overconsumption and obesity.  The final warning that Dr. Hyman presents regarding high fructose corn syrup is that foods containing this ingredient are most likely fake, manufactured foods that are devoid of any other nutritional value as well.  He advises using HCFS as a red flag for foods to stay away from and making a habit of consuming only real food that truly is natural.

The sugar consumption in this country is out of control and directly responsible for much of our chronic disease and unnecessary suffering.  We have to recognize this and cut back.  However, I hope from these critical distinctions pointed out, you can see that even though it’s cheaper and reportedly safe, high fructose corn syrup is not natural and is indeed worse than regular sugar.  My challenge to you is to read all your labels and try to go two weeks without HFCS and see what happens.

Would You Wash Your Car in It?

I had a request to revisit the drinking water controversy.  While I’ve covered this material, I decided to oblige this request at this time because I always find more people dehydrated in the winter than even in the dead of summer.  The reason for this is that heat kicks in our thirst mechanism from the brain and gives us the urge to hydrate.  As a result, people need to make a conscious effort to drink water in the winter months.  Let me stress that water is not optional.  Our bodies are approximately 70% water by weight and of the millions of chemical reactions occurring in your body every second, nearly every one occurs in a water medium.  Lastly, water detoxifies – it is a cleanser.  You wouldn’t wash your car with anything other than water, why would you wash out your body with anything less?

Once you accept that water is mandatory, the debate is what type of water to drink?  Ideally, you would walk out to your unpolluted mountain stream to fetch some high quality H₂O.  Since that is not a reality, here is a breakdown of your five basic options: 1. Tap Water – quick and convenient, but how many pollutants lurk in your water?  And what about the fluoride that has been proven to contribute to osteoporosis?  2. Bottled Water – Did you know that 40% of bottled water is actually tap water? With or without filtration – you’re paying through the nose for it. Worse, an independent test by the Environmental Working Group found arsenic, DPBs and 36 other harmful pollutants hiding in bottled water. 3. Distilled Water – While this is very clean, long-term use can invite health problems, because its minerals are evaporated out.  Distilled water actually sucks minerals out of your body.  4. Vitamin Waters – these contain high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, additives, preservatives, and caffeine.  Sounds a little like soda, right?  They are!  5.  Filtered Water – reverse osmosis is going to be your cleanest source of water while maintaining the proper mineral balance.  While this is ideal, any form of filtered water is better than unfiltered.  If you are drinking anything unfiltered, your body becomes the filter!

I hope this helps.  At a time of the year when most people are looking to what they can do differently with their life and their health, please resolve to drink approximately 6-8 glasses of water per day.  You will reap the benefits within the first couple weeks!

Seasonal Solutions

With the colder, wet weather, I’ve been seeing more people with flare-ups of chronic problems and complaints of various aches and pains.  While, I suppose on one hand this is good for business, on the other hand, there are some simple solutions to deal with these aggravations that we all should consider as the seasons change.

In following this blog, you should already know that it’s been proven that low pressure fronts in the weather do indeed increase the inflammation associated with arthritis, allergies, sinus problems, and general aches and pains.  Likewise, you should also know that inflammation has been implicated with pain as well as every disease known to man.  If you can win the war on inflammation, you feel better and live a longer, healthier life!  So, if the crappy weather increases inflammatory problems, how do you overcome this, outside of moving to a less threatening environment?  The obvious solutions are the same lifestyle strategies that help any health problem – eat better, mover better (exercise), and think better by reducing stress and getting proper sleep.  These should always be your long-term strategies.  However, there are a few short-term approaches that can give you some quick relief.  At this time of year you should always think about taking or increasing your vitamin D.  The only way to truly know if you’re low in vitamin D is through blood testing, but it is generally accepted that D can be safely taken at 4-5000 I.U.s per day especially through the winter months until we begin getting our D naturally from sunlight again in the spring.  Vitamin D is particularly important for dealing with seasonal affective disorder, more commonly known as the “winter blues.”  Another common solution is fish oil and vitamin C.  The C and the omega 3’s from fish oil are necessary ingredients for all the steroid hormones produced by the adrenal glands.  These are your body’s natural anti-inflammatories.  In fact, 3000 milligrams of vitamin C have been proven to be as effective in reducing inflammation as prescription medications without the nasty side-effects on the kidneys and liver.  There are also some less scientific “folky” methods of reducing inflammatory pain.  Possibly the oldest remedy is organic apple cider vinegar.  While the reason for its results are largely unknown, cider vinegar can be very effective at reducing joint and arthritic pain and some studies have even shown that it reduces blood sugar and insulin levels.  It’s thought that 2 tablespoons of vinegar in the morning diluted in water or juice is the best way to achieve results.  Vinegar is very acidic so make certain you dilute and use the dark, organic variety.  In the end, reducing inflammation has much to do with antioxidants.  These are the little chemicals that fight against free radical damage.  Fruits and vegetables are your primary source of antioxidants, but as I’ve mentioned before, green tea is a super anti-oxidant.  Use a combination of these strategies along with a healthy lifestyle and this should help you get through another long cold winter much more easily.

No-Fat Fantasy

Do you remember the no-fat hot dogs and no-fat cheese that was so popular in the late 80’s and 90’s?  Whatever happened to that stuff?  Have you wondered why so many people went on low-fat diets for nearly a decade and cholesterol levels continued to rise and heart disease is at an all-time high despite more prescriptions?  A report from the British Medical Journal may shed some light on this phenomenon and give valuable insight to some dietary methods to prevent heart disease and numerous other chronic illnesses.

This editorial titled, From the Heart, Saturated Fat is Not the Major Issue may debunk a half century’s worth of thinking and previous research.  This most recent study suggests that the avoidance of saturated fat actually promotes poor health and may increase our cardiovascular risk.  Conventional thinking was that the large type A LDL particles that come from saturated fats were the bad guys, but new findings show that it’s actually the smaller, type B LDL particles that are implicated in cardiovascular disease.  Where do these type B particles come from?  They are responsive to carbohydrate and sugar intake.  Recent studies have shown that appropriate fat intake may actually be protective.  They have found that when you decrease fat and increase refined carbohydrates, you promote obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.  This is not all new information.  A similar study was published in the Lancet back in 1956.  They compared groups of people on 90% fat, 90% protein, and 90% carbohydrate diets and found that the fat consuming group lost the most weight.  A 2010 review of 21 other studies found no difference in the risk of heart attack and stroke between people with the lowest and highest intakes of saturated fats.  And in 2010, the Journal of Clinical Nutrition stated that “dietary efforts to improve your cardiovascular risk should primarily emphasize the limitation of refined carbohydrate intake.”

Does this mean we should bring on the fried chicken and pizza?  I’m afraid not.  Corn oils, vegetable oils and trans-fats are still known to be bad.  What this really means is sugar and all the refined carbohydrates are the enemy.  We need to cut breads, pastas, and nearly all the snack foods and sugars.  We should replace these with large amounts of vegetables and moderate amounts of organically raised proteins.  We should get our fats from raw nuts, organic eggs, avocados, raw dairy, coconut and coconut oil, wild fish and grass-fed meats.  This is basically the Mediterranean diet which has been shown to be three times more effective at reducing cardiac deaths than cholesterol drugs!

My Flu Strategy

I’m running this article again because, like last year, several people have asked me if I’ve gotten my flu shot this year.  I confess that I’ve never opted for the flu shot in the past and I’ll admit that I don’t plan on getting one because of fear.  I’m afraid of many of the chemicals that are included with the shot to attenuate the virus – these are preservatives that keep it alive and maintain its shelf life.  These include thimerosal (a mercury derivative), formalin (a formaldehyde derivative), as well as polysorbate 80 and sodium deoxycholate (known to cause cancer in animals).  More than this, I’m afraid of the research submitted by Hugh Fudenberg, M.D.  He is one of the world’s leading immunogeneticists and in 1997 he announced that having five consecutive flu shots (in 5 years) would increase the chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease by 10 times.  This research has been greatly debated – some concur while some deny.  As for me, I’m still afraid.

You’re most certainly going to come in contact with several strains of the flu virus this season.  So whether you opt for the shot or not, what should you do?  Fighting the flu is a little like fighting cancer.  The goal should not be to fight the disease, but to fortify your own immune system so that you recover rapidly or avoid getting the virus to begin with.  The standard recommendations are as follows: 1) eat a healthy diet high in vegetables and low in sugar and trans-fats; 2) get around 7 hours of sleep per day; 3) exercise regularly; 4) drink plenty of pure water and 5) wash your hands regularly.  I also take a high quality multivitamin and use extra Vitamin C when I detect any symptoms.  I also rely on regular spinal adjustments to reduce interference to the nerve system that is intimately linked to the immune system.  You may ask, “Can popping your back really help keep you healthy?”  Dr. Pero of New York’s Prevention Medicine Institute published a study that showed individuals who had been under regular chiropractic care for at least 5 years had a 200% greater immune function than the general public.  More than this, he found that the chiropractic group had a 400% greater immunity than people that already had a disease.  These strategies have allowed me to miss very few days of work due to illness in nearly eighteen years of practice.

DNA & Positive Thinking

For those of you who are regular followers of this article, I hope that you’ve grasped the concept that health exists on a continuum and that everything you do; everything you eat, drink, or breath are all either moving you toward health and away from dis-ease or moving you toward dis-ease and away from health.  I found an outstanding article that suggests that one of the biggest factors on this continuum is our own thoughts. The article identified several research studies that show how we think can actually change the behavior of our DNA.  In one study performed by the military, DNA from white blood cells was taken from people, placed in a vial and moved to be monitored in another room.  The people were subjected to different emotional stimuli while their DNA was monitored.  As the donors were stimulated, they found that their DNA exhibited similar electrical responses at precisely the same time in the other room.

In a similar study done by the Institute of Heartmath, 28 scientists took DNA from other people and were taught to generate strong emotions in the presence of the DNA samples.  When the scientists generated feelings of joy, love, and gratitude, the DNA relaxed, unwound, and lengthened.  While they generated feelings of anger, fear, and frustration, the DNA tightened, shortened and shut off many of its codes.  The researchers applied this discovery to HIV-positive patients and discovered that when the AIDS patients generated feelings of joy, love, and gratitude their immune systems became 300,000 times more resistant to the virus than when they were not feeling this way.  Put simply, our thoughts affect our physiology and can have as great an impact on our health and wellness as any other factor.  Think about what you think about!

The Importance of pH

In his Textbook of Medical Physiology, Arthur Guyton, M.D. states that when the body is alkaline it converts free radicals to harmless water and oxygen, which maintain energy and vitality.  This means that the body will always work best when it maintains an alkaline or basic environment rather than an acidic one.  In fact, I’ve read some authors who state that disease cannot exist or even manifest in an alkaline environment.  Either way, understanding pH and how to keep your body alkaline is good practice.

When blood pH is at 7.365 (alkaline) the cells receive nourishment and release waste with ease.  When pH drops below this number you are considered acidic.  In an acidic environment, the body tissues become susceptible to chronic inflammation and free radicals will become more prevalent.  This by definition is the phenomenon known as “oxidative stress” which is associated with chronic disease, degenerative processes and increased aging.  Early symptoms of oxidative stress often include chronic joint and muscle pain or aching.   In the body, pH is affected by emotional stress (how we think) and chemical stress based on what we eat, drink, and breathe.  For this reason, pH changes all the time based on our habits.  If we have adequate mineral reserves, our bodies can adapt to temporary emotional and chemical stressors that produce acidity.  Unfortunately, chronic stress and poor diet will overwhelm the body’s adaptive ability resulting in acidity.  So this is something we need to continually work on and in my experience it’s easier to control your chemical stress by watching what you put into your body than it is your emotional stress which is often the result of outside factors.  Foods that alkalize the body include most of your green vegetables as well as fruits such as berries, apples and pears.  Pathogens and disease processes thrive in diets high in animal products, processed and refined foods, and synthetic chemicals.

Monitoring your pH is a relatively simple process that only takes a couple of minutes.  We can do saliva testing in our office and teach you how to check yourself simply because this is so important to long-term health.  Even if you don’t check your pH, keeping check of your diet and stress level and committing to a regular intake of vegetables and fruits will pay off in the long run.

Skin & Diet

I read an article about healthy skin and diet.  This article stressed how an unhealthy diet can be the primary contributor to acne.  It turns out acne affects one in five adult Americans and is a problem to 85% or all Americans at some point in their lives.  While poor skin isn’t necessarily a life-threatening condition, I do want you to understand that it is a sign or symptom that your system is not as healthy as it could or should be.  Skin blemishes are a major source of embarrassment and self esteem problems that people spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars upon.  What you need to know is that anytime you fight a symptom like this, most often there is an underlying cause that is not being addressed.  And like anything else in the body, when you are able to address the cause of a problem, the symptom takes care of itself.

To sum up the author of this article as concisely as possible, it is recommended that you cut sugars and grains to reduce any and all skin problems.  The sugars should come as no surprise.  In the past I’ve discussed numerous times that sugar increases inflammation in the body.  Skin problems are often a sign of an inflammatory process going on inside.  The skin also acts as a third kidney to help detoxify the toxins that are often included with the sugary foods.  As people clean up their diet by following a low glycemic eating plan, we always see their skin look more youthful just in the first couple weeks.  You may be surprised by the recommendation to limit grains for healthier skin.  Whole grains are healthy, right?  They are a good source of fiber and numerous vitamins and minerals, but all grains ultimately get broken down to sugar and all grains, even whole grains, feed inflammatory processes.  Likewise, many people have a sort of allergic reaction to grains.  This is often due to the gluten – a binder that is added to grain products to hold them together.

A 2007 study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that subjects struggling with acne and skin conditions who followed a low-glycemic diet for 12 weeks showed significant improvements with all their skin sensitivities.  Try cutting grains and sugars for just a few weeks and see if you don’t notice a major change!

Stress Solutions

Adrenal fatigue, as I’ve indicated in the past, this is a phenomenon that I believe is a much bigger issue than most health professionals give credit.  Our healthcare system is so busy treating the symptoms that result from adrenal fatigue that they never get time to uncover the ultimate cause.  But if you know what to look for, you can often self-diagnose adrenal problems and address them before they require more aggressive symptomatic treatment.

Your adrenals are thought to be your stress organs because they produce and release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin.  They also produce sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, some dopamine and about 30 different steroid hormones.  These hormones are why your adrenal glands are intimately tied to the function of your thyroid, pituitary, kidneys, reproductive system and even your brain function.  But just like any muscle or other organ, your adrenals can become fatigued through overuse.  In the case of these vital glands, the stresses that tax the adrenals include: lack of sleep, sugar and processed foods, stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, excessive activity (work, overtraining), and of course emotional trauma and stress.  All these factors move us into a stress physiology more commonly known as fight/flight mode.  This is a good thing if you need to fight or escape from a tiger, but it’s a terrible thing on a day-to-day basis.  There are many signs and symptoms that you might be dealing with adrenal fatigue.  These include: arthritic tendencies, body aches/pains, extreme fatigue, low blood sugar and low blood pressure, light-headedness and dizziness upon rising from sitting or lying down, salt and sugar cravings, sleep disturbances, infertility and reduced sex drive, hair loss, depression, migraines, menstrual difficulties, blurred vision and severe allergies.  Of course these are merely symptoms and many of these can be tied to other health problems as well.  The preferred adrenal test can be done through blood or saliva testing to check the cortisol and DHEA levels.

Like most any health problem, when treating adrenal imbalances, the cause is the cure.  There are several strategies that help support the adrenal glands such as B-vitamins (especially B5), Omega 3 fatty acids such as fish oil, vitamin C, magnesium, and various other herbs.  We use a product called Alkadrenergy that works particularly well.  However, unless you desire to take these products for the rest of your life, you must ultimately address the lifestyle factors at the root of the problem.  Much of this involves changing your routines.  For instance, you should go to bed at the same time and try to get close to eight hours of sleep each night.  Exercise is critical to reduce stress, but don’t over-train.  If you’re stressed with your work or personal life, make time for stress relieving activities such as yoga or meditation.  Some people just need to learn to say no and not do everything for everybody!  Fruits and vegetables actually have a sedative effect that will help relieve the fight/flight response whereas most processed foods and sugars feed it.  Likewise, consuming quality fats and proteins such as raw nuts and coconut oil can be helpful as well.  In some cases, adrenal imbalance is caused by food allergies and going sugar-free or gluten-free is the best solution.  Regardless of whether you’re suffering from adrenal fatigue or not, stress is indeed the “silent killer” and all of these lifestyle and stress-relieving strategies are helpful for promoting a greater state of health and wellness in addition to relieving adrenal stress.

Keeping the Curve

When we look at the spine, it should be straight from the back, but from the side view we should see three distinct curves.  These curves in the spine are there to provide shock absorption like a spring to limit stress and trauma to the bones and discs of the spine.  Despite the importance of these curves, after observing literally thousands of x-rays, I’ve seen that very few adults, probably only 10-20%, actually maintain these curves.

At birth, the spine is in a C-shape from being in the fetal position.  The normal curvatures of the spine develop as an infant begins to crawl.  Gravity seems to draw the low back or lumbar spine forward toward the floor and holding the head up while moving on all fours causes a forward curvature of the neck or cervical spine.  Just like a dam or a bridge, these curvatures create strength and stability in the spine and by placing the weight on the back sides of the vertebrae where the joints are designed to carry these forces.  This, in turn, keeps pressure off the discs and helps maintain normal alignment of the individual bones.  This is how things are supposed to work, but then life happens.  Over time, the muscles will change tension and the ligaments that hold the bones together will be compromised allowing the spine to take on the position of the postures that we maintain through our daily lives.  Let’s face it, we sit at computers, we drive with our neck and shoulders forward, we use pillows that push our head forward.  Perhaps the biggest concern for the future is all the time kids (and adults) spend looking down at Ipads and phones.  This all takes a toll over time and the curvature of the neck becomes straight or sometimes even reversed.  What are the implications of this?  As the weight of the spine shifts forward this causes excessive wear and tear on the discs and the fronts of the vertebrae resulting in degeneration and permanent arthritic changes of the spine.  As the curve is lost, the muscles on the back side of the spine are stretched resulting in tension up the back of the neck to the head causing chronic neck pain and tension headaches.  If this isn’t enough, straightening of the neck causes a loss of range of motion not only in your neck but also in your shoulders.  You can try this yourself by pushing your head forward and trying to move your neck and raise your arms over your head.  Numerous studies have shown that breathing capacity is decreased as the curvature of the neck is lost.  There are even a few studies that show a straight or reversed neck creates increased tension on the spinal cord that can cause people to live 2-3 years less than those fortunate enough to maintain their cervical curves.

The good news is that the curvature can be maintained and even restored.  Of course, watching your posture to begin with is paramount.  Learning to become a back sleeper and using a contoured cervical pillow also helps.  However, if the curve is already lost or reversed, you have to do more than this.  Neck and shoulder exercises to improve posture and strengthen the muscles on the back of the neck are necessary.  And, even though it’s a process that can take 6-12 months, using some form of cervical traction unit where you let your head lie back over a fulcrum for several minutes per day will slowly reverse the changes.  Nearly any chiropractor can assess for these postural changes and make recommendations to restore the integrity to the spine.

Happy Birthday

It was 124 years ago that D.D. Palmer of Davenport Iowa laid Harvey Lillard, the janitor of his building, on a table and placed his hand on the boney lever of Harvey’s 3^rd thoracic vertebrae and gave a thrust in hopes of restoring the bone back to its normal alignment and movement.  You see, Harvey had gone almost completely deaf 17 years earlier when he felt something pop in his back.  D.D., who at the time was titled a magnetic healer, examined Mr. Lillard and found an abnormal boney spot out of position.  The two men agreed that the bone would likely be better off if it were placed back in its normal position and in an instant what would come to be known as the first chiropractic adjustment was performed.

The story goes that Harvey sat up off the table and said for the first time in years he, “could hear the racket of the wagon wheels in the street” and his hearing was restored.  D.D. proceeded to send out letters inviting those with hearing loss from around the country to visit Davenport, Iowa.  Many came, but unfortunately no others had their hearing restored.  But many of these people had other conditions and problems in addition to hearing loss that improved with D.D.’s new discovery.  In time and with diligent study of the anatomy and physiology, Dr. Palmer learned that chiropractic wasn’t really a “treatment” for any of these conditions.  Rather, this new form of healthcare was a means of restoring balance back to the structure of the body so as to relieve tension and pressure off the nervous system allowing the body can function normally or function within what is known as homeostasis.  When the body is functioning in homeostasis, it has the ability to regulate all the different organs and systems and it has the best ability to heal and recover from different conditions or ailments.

Today we know this is true.  Health is defined as your ability to respond to physical, chemical, and emotional stresses.  So health is about adaptability.  When pressure or tension exists on the nerves and spinal cord, your ability to adapt to these stressors is diminished.  When this pressure is reduced, the nervous system functions more efficiently and your ability to respond and adapt to stress is improved.  So this Wednesday, I say Happy Birthday chiropractic and thanks Dr. Palmer for you hard work, intuition, and wisdom!

Common vs. Normal

One of the hardest things for me to deal with as a chiropractor is all the unnecessary struggling that presents into my office.  The Annals of Chronic Disease report that 80% of Americans will die of a chronic disease.  However, the New England Journal of Medicine has stated that, “Preventable illness makes up 70% of the burden of illness and the associated expenses.”  So we’re afflicted with all these ailments that should have been avoidable in the first place.  This is the very essence of the “healthcare crisis” we hear so much about on television and from our politicians.  The problem as I see it is that we Americans have become complacent and reserved to the idea that disease is normal – that it is to be expected as a part or routine aging.  Science simply does not support this!  While the disease rates we experience in this country have become very common, this phenomenon is far from normal.

When you look at the statistics, America leads the world in degenerative diseases as well as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer and the numbers are markedly higher than they were just a few decades ago.  If all this were “normal”, these rates would not change and the rest of the world would share a similar plight.  As a chiropractor, I was taught that the body developed from two cells using its own innate intelligence and this same intelligence is there throughout life to organize, regulate, and heal the body naturally.  Disease is merely a state of dis-ease where the body is not in homeostasis (balance) and health is not being expressed.  This philosophy is similar to the concept that darkness is merely a lack of light.  If our bodies have this intelligence, could it possibly be normal for things to just break down and begin to fail after 30-50 years?  If you can accept this, then why do we have such high rates of disease and why are these rates so much worse than a half century ago?  Obviously there can be only one answer.  Lifestyle!  Our habits are not only keeping us from performing and functioning at our best, they are literally robbing us of our “light” that is our health and vitality resulting in alarming rates of disease.  If I’m right about this (and I know I am), then we should be able to observe disease processes reverse when people drop their bad habits and begin practicing a healthier lifestyle.  This is the best part of my job – on the occasion when I see a person take responsibility for their health and begin to work on their diet, exercise, sleep, stress, and improve the function of their nervous system through chiropractic adjustments, I get to observe these changes first hand.  Once health is enhanced, disease begins to diminish every time.

Recognize that our bodies perform miracles every day.  There are over a million chemical reactions going on inside every second that are controlled automatically.  You have an amazing potential to heal when health is allowed to be expressed.  However, to express health and wellness, we have to practice healthy habits and lifestyles.  Just don’t wait until health is completely lost to start making those changes and making better choices and don’t accept that disease is just a normal part of life.

Posture Proof

In the past, I’ve discussed the importance of regarding your posture and maintaining the proper position of the neck.  I’ve also warned of habits such as texting, gaming, sewing, and even reading with head bent forward and how this can lead to numerous problems.  While I hope this makes some common sense, part of me presumes you would expect this kind of advice from one of those crazy chiropractors much in the same way those crazy dentists are always hounding us about flossing our teeth.  But just why is neck posture so important?

Beyond the painful symptoms of neck pain, shoulder problems and tension headaches, proper position and curvature of the neck relates to some very real and critical health functions.  For example, multiple research studies show a loss of the normal curvature of the neck will reduce lung capacity by up to 30%.  Calliet, M.D. reported that decreased spinal curves and position affect the heart, lungs, and digestive systems.  In 1979, Korr displayed that faulty posture of the neck weakens the immune system and increases sensitivity to pain.  In a 2001 edition of Neurology India, it was reported that upper neck problems often result in disturbances in gait, dizziness, and loss of balance.  In 1974, Reich, M.D. reported that the decreased blood from abnormal posture is a major factor in all disease including cancer.  Dr. Freeman reported in 1997 that posture deviations result in overall poor health and quality of life as well as shortened lifespan.  Similar findings were reported in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in 1981 stating that loss of spinal curves increase mortality and can take up to 14 years off your life.

So don’t just take my word for it!  Maintain proper posture with good habits, exercise, chiropractic and massage.  Impress upon your kids that this is so important because like everything else, the mistakes they make now will be paid for later in life.  Look better, feel better and minimize these health problems simply by taking pride in your posture!  Oh, and keep flossing those teeth as well.

Two Studies

As a chiropractor, I’ve always considered it my job to help people age gracefully and deal with any health concerns without taking a bunch of drugs.  Obviously, this objective is a more holistic view focused on overall health.  Unfortunately, due to the branding of the profession through the 70’s and 80’s the chiropractor became known merely as a lower cost treatment for neck pain, back pain, and headaches.  While there’s certainly value in this to the person in pain, it doesn’t have much to do with overall health.  With this in mind, I wanted to look for studies that showed a correlation between chiropractic care and improved health and wellness.  I quickly found two similar studies that were published in recent years.

In the first study, the researchers looked at individuals over 75 years of age and they compared those who were chiropractic patients to those who had not seen a chiropractor for any health concern.  The individuals in the chiropractic group reported, “Better overall health, fewer prescription drugs, and more activity.”  Even more impressively, the chiropractic group on average had 21% less time in hospitals over the three year period prior to the study.

In the second study, they looked at senior citizens over the age of 65.  But in this study, they wanted to look only at those individuals who had been under regular chiropractic or “maintenance care” at a frequency of at least once per month for five years or longer.  In this study, they found that the chiropractic group had 50% fewer medical provider visits and 95.8% of those surveyed found their chiropractic care to be “considerably” or “extremely” valuable.

How can this be?  It starts by recognizing that health is an inside job.  Our bodies are designed to be self-healing and self-regulating.  The brain and nervous system control all the functions of the body through the nerve signals that travel down through the bones of the spine.  When, from various lifestyle stresses, those bones of the spine should become misaligned, they will place tension and pressure on the delicate nerves causing interference or a lack of communication between the brain and the body.  A chiropractor’s job is to detect and correct these misalignments so that the nervous system can function as it was designed and the body can better express its full potential.  While both of these studies cited were looking at individuals over 65, please recognize that what’s true for an older population who likely has more accumulated life stresses and health problems, will be every bit as true for younger populations as well.

Starting a Program

You’ve likely heard by now that sitting is considered the new smoking; meaning that the health detriments of prolonged sitting day in and day out are just as dangerous if not worse than smoking cigarettes.  I recently read a report that two hours of continuous sitting will undo the benefits of 20 minutes of exercise.  This is just more evidence that we need to get up and get moving and get out of our seats at home and at the office.  Obviously any form of exercise is better than none at all, but what type of exercise should you be doing to gain the greatest return on investment for you overall health and wellness?

As I’ve reported before, the best exercise programs include dimensions for strength, cardiovascular, as well as balance, coordination, and flexibility.  Most people simply don’t do this.  The weight lifters are often lacking the flexibility and cardiovascular components.  The walkers/runners are often lacking the strength and flexibility.  The yoga enthusiasts could do better with strength and cardio.  Again, this is not to downplay any of these forms of exercise as they’re all equally great in their own right; they’re simply incomplete by themselves.  The standard recommendations that are most widely accepted are to do strength training twice per week where you work on all the major muscle groups at least once each week.  Try to make your strength training as “functional” as possible where you are performing common, real-life movements with resistance rather than isolated muscle training.  A personal trainer can help you with this.  In addition to strength, cardiovascular training three times per week is the most commonly accepted schedule.  In order to get the greatest health benefits and weight loss out of your cardio work, practice what is referred to as HIIT or high intensity interval training.  This type of training is so important on many levels and it is where I’d recommend getting started if you’re just getting back into exercise.  The advantages of this training include insulin regulation, maximized growth hormone, but also time management.  Through HIIT training you can get a better workout in just 20 minutes than what you would otherwise do in an hour on a treadmill or bike with a steady heart rate.  Again, a trainer can provide different options for HIIT.  In regard to flexibility and coordination, it’s a good practice to include 10 minutes of this at the end of every workout.  This practice will relieve stress off your muscles and joints that can lead to injury but more importantly, working on balance will help prevent dangerous falls as we age.

What I’ve just described is the type of workouts provided in our wellness program.  This program was designed using the latest science and research.  In addition to this, our trainers focus on core strength and posture to retrain the posture patterns that cause much of the back and hip as well as neck and shoulder problems that people suffer from.  We have three trainers in the office doing this work and they’re eager to help. Contact us to get started with your personal wellness program and let us help you reach your goals.

Sleep Soundly

I had someone come into the office without physical complaints, but rather to be checked to see if something was going on with his nervous system that would keep him from sleeping.  He reported to me that he had not slept normally in over a year!  This case alerted me to what a big problem insomnia and other sleep disorders are to people and how important it is to have some strategies to get the necessary rest for proper health.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans suffer from occasional sleeplessness.  Of those polled, 40% said they wake throughout the night and more 25% reported that they don’t fall asleep or wake too early.  Improper sleep causes numerous problems including poor memory, confusion, poor immune function and healing response, increased stress response, low mental and physical energy, difficulty losing weight, coordination problems, moodiness, depression, and hormonal imbalances amongst other things.  A recent study showed that just one night of low sleep reduced your ability to function the next day by 30%. 

Barring those who have breathing problems, sleeping problems are almost always related to hormonal imbalances as a result of chronic stress.  As I’ve said numerous times, stress is a learned response.  We experience stress, and then we practice it until we get really good at it.  By this time, adrenal, thyroid and pituitary hormones are out of whack and the brain begins to respond in a manner of stress physiology.  Within a stress response, lack of sleep is perfectly normal.  When this is the case, the only way to increase sleep is to decrease the stress.  Exercise is very important for this, but 10 minutes of meditation per day is what I have found to be the most effective.  Eliminating caffeine, nicotine, sugar and white flour from the diet can be very important for some people as well.  I also advocate the habit of writing in a gratitude journal right before bed.  You cannot be in a state of gratitude and stress at the same time.  If you’re waking at the same time every night about 4-5 hours after you go to bed, this is a sign of liver toxicity and a detoxification can be enormously helpful.  Eating foods high in tryptophan such as turkey or consuming something with fat in it like milk or cheese can be helpful before bed.  When all these suggestions fail, I recommend supplementing with melatonin. This is a chemical released in the brain to stimulate sleep, but it gets out of balance due to stress and irregular sleep habits.  Melatonin will not make you drowsy the next day and many times it only needs to be taken for a short while. Benesom, from Metagenics, is a sleep supplement we carry that has melatonin as an active ingredient. In addition to melatonin, CBD oil has been shown to improve sleep. For more information on CBD oil, please contact our office.

Either way, adequate and sound sleep is critical for health.  If you’re one of the two-thirds of Americans that suffer, try some of these strategies to break the cycle.  As for the young man who came to the office, fortunately for him, after just a couple easy adjustments to remove pressure off the nerves in his upper neck, he is sleeping soundly.

Chronic Stress

I found an article in Brain World titled, “Chronic stress and how it can harm you.  In the article, they compared psychological stress to mechanical stress as in engineering.  This engineering outlook defines stress as the amount of resistance a material offers to being reshaped and reformed.  In other words, a steel beam can handle a certain amount of stress before it collapses under the load and the structure suffers.  The authors in this article look at psychological stress in the same way, stating that we can all handle a certain threshold of stress, but at excessive levels, we breakdown.  What I liked about this particular article is that the authors offer a slightly more complete picture than what has been presented in the past.

Emotional stress is perceived in the brain, but then chemically generated by the stress hormone cortisol from the adrenal glands.  In chronic stress, the adrenals will produce higher and higher levels of cortisol that act to decrease a part of the brain’s resistance to free radicals.  This part of the brain is called the hippocampus and it is associated with converting short-term memory to long-term memory.  The free radical damage to the nerve cells of the hippocampus will negatively impact memory, learning, and creativity.  The cells actually shrink and die in this process.  In studies using rats, they found that the stressed rats became less creative and cunning predisposing the animals to doing the same thing over and over.  There’s more to this, but this damage to the hippocampus is the mechanism by where memory and our ability to learn effectively are diminished as a result of chronic stress.  As it turns out, the hippocampus is also the mechanism by which the adrenals are regulated or shut off.  Thus, as the nerve cells in this part of the brain become damaged and die, there is no regulator for the adrenals and the process spirals out of control until the adrenal glands become damaged themselves.

There is a big silver lining to this study however.  The authors researched how this process could be reversed and how the damaging effects of stress could be limited.  They found that the hippocampus could be protected through calorie reduction, fasting, and mental and physical exercise.  These healthy activities increase a hormone that acts to protect the hippocampus from free radicals associated high cortisol levels.  In past articles, I’ve made reference to our Wellness Program.  The research documented in this study is precisely why we incorporate, meditation, massage, and chiropractic along with a healthy diet and exercise into our program.  In fact, I would argue that if you’re doing any kind of weight loss program that doesn’t include physical exercise and stress reduction, you’re not going to get favorable results.  Understand that stress literally is the silent killer and the goal is not necessarily to try to eliminate all forms of stress.  Rather, promoting healthy activity such as proper diet, exercise, meditation, massage, proper sleep and chiropractic care all combined to help shut off the stress response and the associated damage to the brain is the way to go.