The Trouble of Toxins

A toxin can simply be defined as something found in the body that is not supposed to be there.  The trouble is that most toxins we experience are things you cannot see, smell, or feel and you don’t know they are there until you come down with a chronic disease.  Over 3000 chemicals are added to our food supply and another 10,000 are used as solvents and preservatives.  Add this to the heavy metals and the 77,000 other chemicals produced in North America and you can see that toxicity is unavoidable and is a common denominator in chronic disease.  In fact, the British Medical Journal estimates that about 75% of all cancers are caused by environmental and lifestyle toxins and Americans have somewhere between 400 and 800 chemicals stored in their bodies.

What can you do about this?  The first objective should be to reduce the toxic load.  This means watching everything you eat and drink.  You should eliminate all processed and fast-food and eat only real food that walks on or grows from the earth.  Your food sources should be organic and free-range.  You should drink mostly purified water from a reverse osmosis source.  You need to watch your household products as well.  There are more and more companies that sell natural cleaning products.  You should try to use natural sources of toothpaste, cosmetics, antiperspirants, soaps and shampoos as well.  While you cannot necessarily control the quality of the air you breathe outside, you can get a filter for your inside air – most agree that this is the primary source of airborne toxins anyway. 

In the end, toxicity is a fact of life even if you take these measures.  For this reason, I also recommend that you do a detoxification at least once per year.  Numerous herbs and minerals are known to bind to toxins and help eliminate them from your body.  There are numerous programs out there that work.  But don’t forget one of the simplest ways to clean out your system – regular exercise is as important as anything.  Next week I’ll share some of the most common sources of the most dangerous toxins.

A Heavy Head

I feel compelled to discuss a problem that I consider totally preventable, yet, that I’m seeing more often and in younger populations.  The condition or symptom relates to neck and shoulder pain and headaches, but the real problem or source has to do with posture and position of the head.

The human head filled with circulating blood weighs about the same as a full-sized bowling ball.  In saying this, yes, I realize I sound like the kid from Jerry Maguire; but it’s a very real thing.  When head posture is where it’s designed to be – with the ears directly above the shoulders, hips, and ankles there’s very little problem.  However, as is so common, when the head starts to shift forward, this creates unnecessary tension on the neck, shoulder and upper back muscles that causes pain in these areas as well as tension headaches and spinal misalignments.  Think of this as if you were holding a bowling ball with arms outstretched away from your body.  It gets heavy and pulls on the muscles. 

This forward carriage of the head has always been common as posture is compromised by sitting in front of a computer, driving a car, or reading.  I believe the reason I’m seeing this more often and in younger people has everything to do with smart-phones, tablets, gaming systems and other handheld devices.  As we spend more and more time with our head forward and looking down, we set ourselves up for future problems.  Fixing this problem begins with mere awareness and attention to our own (and our kids’) posture.  Another helpful tip is to hold these devices up, raise them higher by using a lap pillow or sit them up on a counter or table during use to avoid forward head bending.  Beyond this, chiropractic adjustments, massage, and simple head and neck exercises do the trick.  They may not appreciate it now, but educate your kids about head and neck posture to avoid future problems.

Pasteur Knew It

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist known for his creation of the first vaccine, the pasteurization process, and thought of as the father of the “germ theory of disease.”  I heard a tale of Pasteur late in his career that happened during a presentation to his colleagues.  Allegedly, the chemist was attempting to explain that germs were not actually the ultimate cause of disease, but that germs are opportunistic and can only cause illness when they have a vulnerable host.  The story goes that Pasteur, to prove his point, broke a couple vials of Staph. Bacteria and spread the contents all over himself assuring the others that he would not get sick because his immune system was working properly. 

I found this story relevant because I’ve seen so many people lately with allergies, colds, sinus infections, and even bronchitis that they’ve “caught”.  Understand that germs are everywhere all the time and unless you come in contact with that rare bug that your system has never come in contact before, your immune system is equipped to recognize and eliminate the threat.  This is always true except on the occasion when your immune system is not working properly.  The question then should be what factors cause our immune system to become weak and vulnerable?  As for myself, since I’ve been looking at things this way, I’ve only missed a total of 1 ½ days of work due to illness in nearly 18 years.

Just ask yourself the following questions.  Have I been getting enough rest?  Is my diet o.k. or have I been eating too much sugar and fried foods?  Has my stress level been high or has my exercise level been too low?  Whenever I ask these questions, I usually get my answer and when I address the shortcoming, my immune system bounces back.  Just like Dr. Pasteur, you need to remember that infection from bacteria and virus are the result rather than the cause and always address the cause.

Sound Sleep

The psychology textbooks will teach you that there are four stages of sleep. This is true, but when it comes to health and vitality, there are two levels that are highly restorative. These are the deep sleep level and the rapid eye movement (REM) level of sleep. Sleep experts like to refer to these levels similar to nourishment where deep sleep is like water and REM sleep is like food for the mind. In the end you need both! While required amounts of sleep vary from person-to-person, most experts agree that if you’re getting less than seven hours per night, you simply are not getting enough of these deeper levels of sleep. For this article, I found some data on why getting the proper amount and the proper type of sleep is so important.

To prevent sleep deprivation and the host of health problems it accompanies, we should commit to at least seven hours of sleep per night. In general, you should look at your energy levels through the day. If your energy is steady and consistent you’re probably doing o.k. The next question is how deep is your sleep? It turns out dreaming is very important and it occurs in the latter third of our sleep time within that REM stage. It generally takes 4-5 hours to get into this level. Research has proven that dreaming is tied to our memory and our ability to learn from the information that we’ve acquired over the last few days. When we dream, the hippocampus portion of the brain becomes very active. This part of the brain is known to convert short-term memory into long–term memory. Think of this as downloading recent information that you’ve learned or experienced onto your hard-drive. When you’re not getting into this deepest level of sleep your memory will suffer and you stop adding to who you are.

I find that many people simply have trouble sleeping. Many times this is due to pain or discomfort and many times it is due to a chronic level of subconscious stress. Fortunately for me, one of the most common “side-effects” of chiropractic adjustments to remove stress from the nervous system is . . . better sleep. If you are someone who has trouble sleeping, you will want to make certain your sleep area is dark, quiet, and cool. For many people, the electromagnetic fields created by cell phones, TV, alarm clocks, and electric blankets will mess with your energy and deter proper sleep. Try to move these devices away from your bed. Likewise, the blue light that comes from television, computers and phones will suppress melatonin production. Melatonin is important for sleep, but it also has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits. For these reasons, you should try to shut down all electronics for about an hour before sleep. 

In the end, most sleep problems are not the result of inadequate sleepiness, but are due to excessive wakefulness. Most people are simply running too hard and are revved up due to stress and stimulants. Find some habit after you unplug the electronics to slow your system down! As I’ve reported numerous times, meditation and yoga can be very effective for slowing your brain down and calming the stress hormones. Go to the internet or YouTube and find guided meditations. Even if you just listen to these before going to sleep, your results will often be improved.

The Artichoke

I don’t know how to open one or how to cook one, but I recently received some information on the numerous health benefits of the artichoke.  As it turns out, prickly vegetable is particularly good for the liver.  It’s very high in Silymarin and Cynarin which are known to help detoxify and clean out the liver.  Studies have shown that they may even help regenerate the organ.  By helping the liver, artichokes have been shown to raise HDL (good cholesterol) while lowering LDL (bad cholesterol) at the same time.  Likewise, the vegetable increases bile flow which improves gall bladder function and aids in digestion of fats.

Artichokes are also good for the colon due to their high fiber content.  A medium artichoke contains more fiber than a cup of prunes.  One of the biggest benefits of artichokes is that they have more antioxidants than any other vegetable and ranked seventh in a study of antioxidant levels of over 1000 different foods.  This may be part of the reason why studies using artichoke leaf extract have killed cells involved with different forms of cancer including leukemia, prostate and breast cancer.

While this was all new information to me involving this one particular vegetable, I believe you will find similar health benefits of nearly every vegetable and fruit out there.  Nature provides us with everything we need.  In general, the more fresh, natural, and alive the foods you consume are, the more energy, vitality and health benefits you will receive from these foods.  Likewise, those foods that are unnatural, processed and manmade will generally detract from your energy, vitality and health.  Make a commitment for you and especially for your kids to have a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables with every meal.

The Missing Link

What are the necessary components to better health?  Certainly diet, exercise, water intake, and proper sleep would all be high on the list.  But there is one critical dimension that people often overlook and that is how you think or better yet, how you relax.  In our 8 Weeks to Wellness program, people are expected to practice simple relaxation or meditation for just 10 minutes each day.  Understand that all we’re talking about is simply quieting the brain and resisting the constant chatter of your left brain for just a few moments so that you can start developing a habit of relaxation and calmness.  My experience is this is the hardest part of the program for most people and the part that people most often fail to implement.  Perhaps it would help to share some of the reasons why this is a good practice.

Meditation has been taught in hospitals for years to relieve the physical pain as well as stress of those with chronic illness such as fibromyalgia and even cancer.  It has also proven helpful to boost the immune system in these subjects.  Recently, the National Institute of Health (NIH) reported that meditation may work by reducing the activity of the sympathetic (fight/flight) nervous system.  Studies at Yale and at Harvard showed that regular meditation directly coincided with increased brain size and increased thickness of the gray matter and that this increase could be associated with decreased deterioration of the brain due to aging.  As recent as 2010,  Blue Cross-Blue Shied found that factors such as high blood pressure, insomnia, and heart failure actually decreased amongst meditators.  Another study found that meditators had 30% higher levels of telomerase – an enzyme that protects the chromosomes of DNA from deteriorating and aging as quickly!

Everything I’ve studied shows that the NIH is right – meditation helps shut off the stress response in the body.  This is the very reason that meditation provides all these other benefits listed and any more.  Of course, there are many schools of thought and even spiritual outlooks on meditation.  All I’m advocating is that you take 10 minutes of your day to sit comfortably and start practicing the art of quieting your mind and shutting off the stress.  Try to focus on your breathing and think of nothing!  For many people this is a tall task and getting a meditation C.D. or some relaxing music to focus on may prove helpful.  There are also several meditation apps available, some of which can be found at the bottom of this article.  But my experience is that meditation/relaxation provides the most dramatic effects for those whom it is the hardest to perform.

Recommended Meditation Apps:

Insight Timer, Stop, Breathe & Think, Calm, Aura, Omvana

Spice it Up!

The Journal of Medicinal Foods recently published a top-ten list of herbs and spices that decrease aging.  Mostly due to their antioxidant values, this list included spices such as: cloves, cinnamon, allspice, apple spice, pumpkin spice, Italian spice, oregano, marjoram, sage, and thyme.  As a general rule, all herbs and spices are health-promoting largely due to their inherent minerals and vitamins.  With this in mind, I uncovered some specific cooking spices that have been well recognized in boosting health.

If you are looking to boost your general immune function try the following:  Licorice can reduce inflammation by boosting the steroid production of the adrenal glands.  Turmeric and oregano act as very strong antioxidants which will reduce stress to the immune system.  To help with other inflammatory and infectious disorders try these:  Cloves, ginger, and nutmeg all reduce inflammation and help fight against bacteria.  Likewise, cinnamon helps fight various bacteria and has even been known to kill E. coli and assist with urinary tract infections.  Although it’s only been proven in mice studies thus far, nutmeg has elicited significant reductions in anxiety and depression and also insomnia.

In addition to its immune benefits, turmeric has also been proven to provide numerous anti-cancer benefits.  Turmeric is a spice that is mostly found in Indian food where rates of colon, breast, prostate, and lung cancers are all 10 times lower than what we see in the U.S.  How does it do this?  Numerous studies have found that turmeric inhibits the production of tumor cells, it boosts liver function to help detoxify, and it also helps destroy mutated cancer cells so that they cannot spread through the body.  Just like the rest of these spices, turmeric only works if you cook with it and this only happens when you are in your kitchen cooking real food.  Don’t look for many of these spices when you are going out to eat.  My advice would be to look up a few recipes containing these spices that you could start cooking routinely.

The only downside to turmeric is that most of it is bioavailable at 15%. This means that however much you eat or take in a capsule is only getting into the cells at 15%. Inflavonoid by Metagenics has solved this problem. When they combine curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) with fenugreek fiber, absorption into the cells is increased by 45 times making it that much more effective. We carry this as a regular supplement in our office if you’re interested in trying it.