Vitamin D

Last week I shared the importance of Vitamin D in preventing osteoporosis and Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.  If you recall, the best source of this nutrient is the natural kind that causes our own vitamin D to be released from the skin with moderate exposure to direct sunlight.  In addition to influencing the regulation of our hormones, Vitamin D has also been found to influence the regulation of over 2000 of our genes making it crucial for preventing a variety of diseases.

For instance, Vitamin D has been found important in reducing weight and high blood pressure and preventing Autism and autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, M.S. and Chron’s. In addition, the vitamin has been found helpful in preventing infertility, asthma, and Alzheimer’s.  According to Dr. William Grant Ph.D., it may be the most important chemotherapy ingredient ever discovered and may be critical in preventing up to at least 30 % of cancer deaths.  Unfortunately, it is estimated that in the winter months, approximately 85% of Americans are deficient in this vital nutrient especially in this part of the country.  Ideally, we should be getting about 15-30 minutes of sun exposure per day.  When this is not happening, an oral dose of about 4000 units per day can be used for the average sized adult.  If taking this dose, you want to make sure the vitamin you are taking is Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and not the synthetic Vitamin D2 more commonly used.  For complete information on this subject, I recommend looking up information by Dr. Joseph Mercola on his website mercola.com.

Are You at Risk of Getting S.A.D

If you’ve been a reader in the past you may recognize that this is a repeat article on seasonal affective disorder or S.A.D.  This condition is more commonly referred to as the “winter blues” and it is characterized by a sense of depression that starts in the fall and ends in the spring.  It is accompanied by decreased energy and initiative.  While this condition is commonly treated with prescription drugs and antidepressants, often its ‘cure’ is intimately related to its cause.

The reason many people get S.A.D. in this part of the country at this time of the year is because the weather forces us into hibernation with a deficit of sunlight exposure.  Regular exposure to sunlight stimulates our skin to release vitamin D.  In truth, vitamin D is less of a vitamin than it is a hormone precursor.  Optimal levels of vitamin D simulate and balance our hormones to help regulate our normal physiology.  When we are lacking adequate sun exposure causing a deficiency of vitamin D, our hormones become imbalanced resulting in depression, fatigue and numerous other problems.  If you worry that you suffer from these winter blues and weekend trips to the Bahamas are not an option you can try a couple options.  First, you can supplement with vitamin D.  While this often works, you need to take much more vitamin D than is in your multivitamin as it does not get into the system easily.  When supplementing, you do need to practice caution because it is possible to get too much vitamin D and the only way to truly know your level is a blood test.  The second option is the use of light therapy using a light box that runs about $60 and is intended to provide synthetic sunlight.

  

A Painful Grudge

As a veteran chiropractor, I’ve seen my share of back pain.  It may come as a surprise that most people afflicted with back pain don’t have any idea what caused their back to “go out.” Many of the insurance companies have sought to uncover the cause of back pain through numerous studies.  Unfortunately, the only result to come out of these studies is that the cause of back pain is largely unknown.  In fact, the only consistent predictor of back pain is what is referred to as psychosocial stress – meaning back pain is often caused by factors such as financial, job, and relationship stress.

A study titled “A Painful Grudge” was released from the journal, The Back Letter.  The study reported, “Holding a grudge may somehow increase vulnerability to a heart attack, heart disease, hypertension, as well as peptic ulcer disease.”  Researchers found “bearing a grudge had an association with chronic back and neck problems, arthritis, and frequent headaches.”  This is one of many studies that show all forms of stress, physical, chemical, and emotional will impact the nervous system and affect physiology.  In this case, the lesson is to drop your grudge and practice forgiveness.  This type of forgiveness does not mean you need to agree with or condone the wrong that was done to you, but that you agree to forgive yourself and the other person so that you can move on for health’s sake.  Even the Mayo clinic is teaching people with chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia to practice forgiveness.  For more information on this, please contact our office.

Water Bottles

Water is essential for our joints, muscles and nearly all the millions of chemical reactions going on in our bodies.  In order to stay hydrated, many of us use plastic water bottles.  Some of us also reuse these water bottles. Unfortunately, research has revealed some alarming information about this habit.

Nearly all disposable bottles are made from a type of plastic called PET that does not stand up to repeated use, washing, heat, or harsh handling. After a few uses, the plastic starts to break down and leach into the water we drink and we digest this undesirable chemical. Some believe this toxin can contribute to different cancers.  The longer the bottle is used, the more likely the breakdown can occur. If you keep a bottle in your car, the summer heat will further speed up the process. Other studies have found that even if you wash your bottles frequently, you may not be able to prevent bacteria from building up on them.

Check the bottom of your plastic bottles; if there's a “1” inside the recycling symbol, it's only meant for one-time use and keep it out of the heat.  When reusing plastic bottles, you want the number to be greater than “3”.  Even a better solution is to put your daily water supply into glass or invest in a stainless steel water bottle.  Either way, keep drinking your water!

Overcoming Stress

Last week I touched on the detrimental effects of chronic stress.  The points I hope you remember are first that the stress response is a normal and programmed response consisting of a cascade of changes in the body all designed to help us survive a threatening (fight/flight) situation.  Secondly, like any habit, our nervous system learns to activate the stress response and over time we can go into to this reaction more easily or continuously.  While the stress response can help us survive a threat, the body changes that occur in the stress response are devastating over a sustained period of time.  So all we need to do is cut the stress, right?  Everyone knows, this is not always easy.

When in a time of stress with factors outside our control, there are several things we can and should do to minimize or turn off the stress response.  Positive thinking truly works by interrupting the negative thinking patterns that feed the stress response.  Making regular time for prayer and positive affirmations or writing in a gratitude journal every night before sleep really pays off.  Similarly, practicing meditation where you simply sit quietly and try to quiet your thoughts will also break the habit of negative thinking and stress.  Caffeine, nicotine, and sugar all stimulate the body and feed the stress response.  However, fruits and vegetables, particularly those rich in B-vitamins will aid to shut off stress at a brain level.  Likewise, lack of movement feeds stress while physical exercise stimulates the nerves that report to the brain and act to shut off the stress reaction.  You must eat well and get up and move to relieve stress!  Most people don’t know this, but massage and chiropractic care works much in the same way as exercise to combat the stress response.  Releasing muscle tension and adjusting the spine shuts off the stress producing nerve signals of pain and at the same time stimulates the signals that go to the emotional center of the brain to shut off the stress reaction.  Even though we often cannot control the situations that cause stress, this information should help you see the stress response as a brain phenomenon that can be altered or controlled.  Whether you choose to see a chiropractor or massage therapist, follow a healthy diet, work on positive thinking, or exercise, all of these methods are proven to help us adapt to our increasingly stressful environment.   

Stress

I recently found some new stats on stress.  In a survey of 30,000 people in 30 countries, it was reported that women who work full-time and have children have the greatest level of stress.  Half of the population reports that their stress level has gone up in the last year.  Eighty-one percent of Americans report that money is their number one source of stress.  As I’ve reported in the past, this chronic stress takes a toll.  The six leading causes of death have been linked to stress including cancer, heart disease, lung disease, suicide, accidents and cirrhosis of the liver.  Add to this the other diseases related to stress (diabetes, stroke, digestive disorders, depression/anxiety, hormone and reproductive problems and immune disorders) and stress is the greatest cause of death and disease we are facing.  Medical researchers estimate that stress is the underlying cause of 80% of all illness.  But I somehow doubt this comes as much of a shock to most people.

So what do we do about stress?  The first thing is to realize that stress is a perception that occurs in the brain.  I’ve heard it said, “It’s not the stress, it’s how we respond or react to the stress.”  We need to realize that the stress response is a programmed reaction that starts in the brain and is carried through different hormones and chemicals to change our physiology so that we can better respond to a threat.  This cascade of chemical reactions is measurable, reproducible, and predictable – it happens to some degree every time we perceive stress.  You also need to realize that the stress response is a perfect reaction!  The response is programmed in all of us in order to increase our chances of survival.  The problem is that when stress is perceived the process starts and the brain does not know or care whether we are threatened by money and taxes or confronted by a tiger – the reaction is the same.  The response that would be of benefit if we were running from a tiger is devastating over time with daily stresses of modern life.  The other problem is that our brain and nervous system is always learning and adapting.  In the same way that practicing the piano will make us a better player, practicing the perception of stress will send us more easily into the stress response.  Realize that stress is a habit that must be interrupted and then retrained and this takes practice.  Please check in next week and I will share several strategies on how to start this process that can make the biggest difference between health and disease.

Exercise and the Brain

How do you fix a broken brain?  For most of history, science has believed that the brain is stagnant and unchanging with fixed memory and potential.  We know the brain can lose function with trauma, drugs, alcohol, etc.  But nobody believed that the brain could repair or rebuild.

I’ve reported on this in the past, but another study released in Scientific American has shown that the previous beliefs about the brain’s limited potential are simply not true.  In reality, the brain has the potential to build and repair its cells and it is routinely laying down new ‘wiring’ to interconnect cells based on new experience for more efficiency.  In previous articles I’ve reported on ways to boost brain power.  But this recent study performed on animals shows that physical exercise is one of the strongest brain boosters and can double the number of cells found in the hippocampus.  This part of the brain has always been associated with converting short-term memory to long-term memory; explaining why exercise can improve memory.  Other literature suggests that the hippocampus is also involved with the stress response in the body.  This gives insight to how physical exercise is consistently the most effective stress reliever to decrease anxiety and depression.

I encounter many people that try to stay healthy with diet, rest, and positive thinking while neglecting any form of exercise.  While these are all critical factors, there is too much research like this study proving that you can never be as healthy as possible without including exercise as part of your lifestyle.

Cholesterol

Want the latest on cholesterol?

While some drug companies are pushing to have the cholesterol numbers lowered again, recently, the Mayo clinic did a study to see how lifestyle changes would compete with taking a prescription (statin) to lower cholesterol.  The results . . . there was no competition.

In the study, the first group took 40 mg of a commonly prescribed statin and their “bad cholesterol” number did go down.  The second group was given vitamins and fish oil and placed on a 12 week program of healthy diet and exercise.  They were taught the Mediterranean style diet.  They also learned about saturated fat and were instructed to limit overall fat consumption to under 25% and to reduce sugar and processed carbohydrates.  They worked with an exercise physiologist to gradually increase their exercise to 5-6 times per week for 30-45 minutes per day.

In the end, the medication group did lower their bad cholesterol number.  But the lifestyle group also lowered this number without any medication and reported feeling better, having more energy and losing weight.  Another bonus is that the good (healthy) cholesterol goes up with proper lifestyle and diet and this second group also benefited from lower triglycerides (not seen with the statin group).

Whether watching your cholesterol or not, we all can benefit from a Mediterranean diet, exercise, and omega 3 fatty acids (such as fish oil).  This combination reduces the inflammation in the body that is linked to high cholesterol, heart disease, and virtually every other disease as well.

Health Problems vs. Lifestyle

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.

Brain Builders Week 3

 As promised, this week I will share the final five strategies to maximize mental clarity and keep your brain youthful.

Strategy number 11 from the brain study is to always learn new things.  Ideas include reading books on different subjects, learning new language or taking up a different craft or hobby.  The 12^th strategy is simple, but critical.  If you hope to clear the clutter from your mind, you need to clear the clutter from your life.  Identify your highest priorities and decide what is really important in your life and what may be wasted time and energy.  Get organized and consider a course on goal setting.  Most of all, make your decisions based on your life’s purpose.  When you can filter your priorities through your purpose, making decisions becomes easy.  Thirteen on the list is to practice memory games and repetition exercises.  Number 14 may be one of the most crucial and that is proper rest.  It is recommended that we all get at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Without this, our hormones and our brain will simply not function right.  Lastly on the list, it turns out an active sex life increases circulation to the brain and produces hormones that improve brain function.  Oxytocin helps your ability to come up with original solutions.  Serotonin and dopamine help creative thinking and decision-making.

To review, the 15 brain builders you can implement are as follows:

1. Physical Exercise

2. Staying Hydrated

3. Stay Stimulated by using aromatherapy and painting your surroundings with vibrant colors.

4. Think Happy Thoughts

5. Play Games 

6. Watching Quality TV

7. Surf the Internet

8. Eat Brain Food

9. Omega 3's like Fish Oil

10. Eat Weeds like Gingko Biloba & Ginseng

11. Learn New Things

12. Clear the Clutter from Your Life

13. Practice Memory Games & Repetition Exercises

14. Proper Rest - Sleep at least 7 hours per night

15. An Active Sex Life

Brain Builders Week 2

Last week we discussed the first 5 of 15 strategies to maintain or increase your brain power and clarity.  Do you remember them?  It’s o.k. if you don’t as I’m going to give you five more from last year’s published list.

Numbers 6 and 7 I regret to admit are “watching quality T.V.” and “surfing the internet.”  Before you get too excited, both of these are qualified by choosing programming that would force you to learn something new or quiz you about something you already know – you know educational T.V.  While I’m not crazy about these, the next three recommendations on the list redeem the study.  The number 8 strategy is to eat brain food rich in protein, vitamins and minerals.  You need vitamins A and C to protect brain cells;  vitamin E to reverse brain deterioration; amino acids, vitamin B, and magnesium to grow nerves; and Zinc to detoxify impurities from the brain.  All of these can be found in vegetables and lean/healthy meats, in particular organic meats.

The 9^th recommendation is to load up on fish oil for omega 3.  Omega 3 promotes dopamine levels (to prevent Parkinson’s and depression) as well as nerve growth of the frontal cortex and circulation in the brain.  The 10^th recommendation is to “eat weeds” in the form of brain-boosting herbs.  The two most important of these are Gingko Biloba and Ginseng which help promote adrenal gland function to adapt better to stress.

I hope this helps – check in next week for the final five strategies!

If you missed last week's tips, find them here: http://rivertownwellness.blogspot.com/

Brain Builders

Do you remember things as well as you used to?  Do you feel as mentally sharp as you did five years ago?  Loss of mental cognition, memory and alertness seems to be an increasingly common complaint.  Fortunately, a study last year identified 15 different solutions to increase your brain power and mental clarity.  I plan to spend the next three weeks reviewing these for you – hope you can remember them!

The first thing on the list is something we’ve discussed.  Physical exercise is exercise for the brain.  The study cites cardiovascular exercise and yoga, but other studies have shown that walking and strength training also benefit.  The second result is staying hydrated with water and they point out that caffeine can constrict the blood vessels limiting blood to the brain.  The third recommendation is to stay stimulated by painting your work and living areas with vibrant colors and using aromatherapy.  The fourth point may be the most important and that is to think happy thoughts.  It turns out that stress affects mental ability so the key is to reduce stress and recognize the positives in your life.  The fifth key to increased clarity is to play games such as word games, puzzles, crosswords, and sudoku.  The brain is like anything else in your body – if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Work on these five and I’ll give you five more brain-builders next week!

Eating Your Fruits & Veggies

Recently, a couple studies came out regarding diet that recommended what we should already know.  The first study performed by Harvard nurses, monitored the diets of 110,000 people for 14 years.  They found that the people who ate more fruits and vegetables had lower risk of developing heart disease.  Heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S. accounting for almost 1 out of every 2 deaths!  The nurses concluded that increasing your daily fruit/vegetable intake will decrease your risk of heart disease by 4 percent per serving.

A similar study done at University College London found that diets including plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish help decrease the risk of depression.  In the study, those who ate a diet based on fresh, whole foods had a 26% lower risk of depression.  Furthermore, those who ate diets high in fried food, processed meat, high-fat dairy and sugar had a 58% higher incidence of depression.  Despite their risk of suicide, deeper depression and outcomes that are often not any better than placebos, anti-depression drugs are one of the most common prescriptions in the U.S.  What if simple changes in diet along with regular exercise could eliminate depression for most people?

The recommendation on fruits/vegetables is five-to-thirteen servings per day depending on whether your sources are organic or lower quality mass produced sources.  As I’ve discussed in the past, fruits, vegetables, and fish are the foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids that reduce the inflammation associated with heart disease, depression and most other common ailments.  One of the best health tips you could ever implement is to include a fruit or a vegetable with every meal.  Plan this for yourself and your family and you will see the results within a very short time.  I don’t care if it’s the same vegetable every single meal; just do it!  The only thing I would recommend is that you try to keep your fruit/vegetable sources raw or lightly cooked.  Heavy cooking, freezing and canning can destroy the fiber, enzymes, and vitamin/mineral complexes you are trying to gain by eating these foods.

Bacteria and Your Immune System

With flu and the immune system being such a hot subject, I have been asked about any 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.