Organic or Not

 

Two years ago a study released by Stanford University questioned the value of purchasing and consuming organic foods.  Is it really worth the extra expense to purchase a brown banana that goes bad twice as fast?  Stanford concluded that the nutrient levels found in conventional vegetables are actually very similar to that of the organically grown variety.  Other studies dispute these findings, but even if Stanford has it correct, there are other important advantages to purchasing organic you should know about.

There have been 343 studies looking at the advocacy of organic vegetables over the last couple decades.  All these studies agree on a couple of things.  First it is well recognize that organic fruits and vegetables contain anywhere from 18-69 percent more antioxidants than conventionally grown foods.  These antioxidants are known to reduce the risk of numerous chronic diseases and in particular several varieties of cancer.  Antioxidants are also linked to how quickly you age by reducing how quickly you oxidize or degenerate.  Think of this process similar to rusting.  This alone would justify the expense for eating organically, but there’s another important reason.  Studies agree that organic foods have fewer toxins and pesticide residues.  In fact, the difference in the levels of cadmium alone is thought to be on average 48% less.  Cadmium is a toxic metal that is known to be linked to numerous concerns.  Likewise, the levels of pesticide residues are found to be four times higher in conventional fruits and vegetables than in their organic counterparts.  These pesticides kill off the bad bugs that would eat away at the crops, but they also kill off the good bugs that should be found in healthy soil and should be passed onto the fruits and vegetables.  These are the probiotics that promote a healthy digestion and immune system and serve to reduce overall inflammation in the body.  The other bigger problem with the pesticides is that they too have been linked to different cancers and they are directly related to thyroid problems as I reported on a few weeks ago.  The thyroid maintains your metabolism and energy level and when it starts malfunctioning, this leads to many health problems but also increased weight particularly around the hips and thighs.

While the experts will still argue about the nutritional value of organic over conventional, I hope this other information makes a strong enough case to choose organic.  In my experience with thousands of clients, most of us simply need to eat more fruits and vegetables more regularly.  If you truly are looking for the very best source, then you’ll want to do your own homegrown organic vegetables or find a good source through a farmers’ market.  This takes more work and time, but these sources have been shown to have the highest levels of nutrition and probiotic levels as long as the grower is well trained in organic methods.

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 new 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.

A Double Cross

As a chiropractor, neck pain, headaches, and shoulder pain or tension are some of the most common complaints that walk through the doors.  While spinal adjustments are usually very effective at providing relief for these symptoms, just like with any health problem, when you go back to the very same lifestyle habits or routines that were the root cause of the problem to begin with, the pain or ailment often returns.  When it comes to spinal or muscular pain, the root cause is often very simple – our posture and daily activity alter the alignment, balance, and function of our spine as well as the muscles that move and support our spine.  In recent decades, we have become world–class sitters and the posture we assume during prolonged hours of sitting becomes the regular posture of our spines.  In the upper back and neck, this postural distortion is known as Upper-Crossed Syndrome.

In Upper-Crossed Syndrome (UCS), tightness of the upper shoulder or trapezius muscles on the back side “crosses” with tightness of the chest muscles on the front side from sitting with rounded shoulders.  Likewise, weakness of the front neck muscles crosses with weakness of the middle back muscles as a result of not using these muscles when we sit. This pattern of imbalance creates joint dysfunction, particularly in the neck and upper back.  Think of this phenomenon literally as a tug-of-war on the muscles and internal structures.  This imbalance and stress on the spine correlates with the primary areas of spinal misalignment or subluxation, disc degeneration, and arthritic change we commonly see in the spine as we age.  These postural changes seen in UCS, include forward head posture, tension up the back side of the neck, loss of curvature in the neck and an increased curvature or “humping” in the upper back resulting in “winging” of the shoulders.  In addition to neck and upper back pain, these postural changes are known to cause numerous problems and excessive wear-and-tear in the shoulder joints.  While this postural change is very common, it is also completely preventable and usually reversible.

Think of what your neck, upper back, and shoulders look like when you sit at a computer, drive in a car, or relax on the couch.  The head is forward and bent, and the upper back and shoulders are rounded.  The good news is that when you work to reverse this posture, the syndrome and the pain associated with it can be reversed as well.  In this case you simply need to perform stretches and exercises to move the head backward to bring the ears over the shoulders.  Similarly you need to perform stretches to open up the chest and exercises to strengthen the shoulder blades and bring the upper back into extension.  In most cases, it may take several months to reverse these changes, but for someone suffering from chronic upper back, shoulder, neck pain, and tension headaches the work is worth the effort.  Reversing these postural distortions is also the key to getting the longest lasting results with your chiropractic care by addressing the root cause of these particular spinal problems.  If you’ve been dealing with these problems, I encourage you to get with a chiropractor who incorporates this work or simply look up Upper-Crossed Syndrome to learn more about the appropriate exercises.  

A Thyroid Thing

Thyroid disease has quickly become one of the most common health problems faced by Americans.  An underactive thyroid gland is known as hypothyroidism and is thought to afflict anywhere between 10-40% of Americans.  However, I’ve heard experts say they believe that subclinical hypothyroid is present in nearly 80% of women in the U.S.  This means they have signs and symptoms and are headed toward full blown thyroid disease but are not to the point that it would be diagnosed by blood tests.  Depending on the source, there are multiple causes for thyroid gland dysfunction, but the good news is there are a few things you can do to prevent or even reverse damage to this vital gland.

The thyroid gland can go either overactive or underactive, and both conditions are a problem, but the majority of all the thyroid problems are on the underactive or hypo-side of things.  Hypothyroid is classified by numerous symptoms including: increased weight, fatigue, ringing in the ears, dry skin, course hair, constipation, sensitivity to the cold, morning headaches, frequent urination, slow pulse, hair loss, inability to sweat, and a general lack of get-up-and-go.  Blood testing is the standard for diagnosis, but many times in the early phases of dysfunction these tests will come back as false negatives while the problem is still progressing.  This is particularly true when only the basic blood thyroid hormones are checked and not the full panel.  Many people believe that one of the reasons for dysfunction of the gland is related to the chloride and fluoride in our drinking water and eating brominated flour.  The thinking on this is that these elements are known to displace iodine in your body and the two basic thyroid hormones responsible for your metabolism are made largely of iodine.  Similarly, we do not get much iodine in our diets particularly in this part of the country.  This has been known for nearly a century and was classified as the Great Lakes Effect because culturally, the Midwest simply does not eat as much ocean-caught seafood that is rich in iodine.  Another cause of the dysfunction is toxicity.  Part of this is thought to be from pesticides as I reported on a few weeks ago, but other research shows that heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, mercury mess with thyroid function as well. 

If you’re already dealing with thyroid problems, I would check your blood iodine levels and look to supplement with iodine, but I would also get with a doctor who checks for heavy metals and is able to perform chelation to detoxify and remove these metals.  You do not want to attempt this on your own – look for a doctor of Integrative Medicine to assist with this process.  If you’re just looking to avoid thyroid problems or worry due to a family history, I’d do a regular detoxification at least once per year, I’d still check my iodine levels and I would recommend sticking to a whole food diet while maintaining adequate levels of exercise and practicing some form of stress reduction technique such as meditation or yoga as, like with everything else, lifestyle factors play a role in thyroid function too!

Butter is Back

Do you remember back in 1977 when, in an attempt to reduce cholesterol and deter heart disease, the government released their “Dietary Goal for the United States?”  As a result, eggs were replaced with egg beaters, whole milk with skim milk, butter with margarine, and we entered the era of low fat yogurt, oatmeal, cheese, hot dogs, salad dressing, crackers, cookies, and just about anything you could think of.  Well, I remember and it made sense because fat was bad and the government spent $150 million on a study to prove it to us.  However, if you saw the recent article in Time magazine, you know that after nearly four decades, this experiment was a failure.  Americans are fatter and sicker than ever and still 1 in every 2 of us will die of heart disease.  The biggest difference since the no-fat agenda was introduced is that type 2 diabetes has risen 166%.

The thinking on fat started to turn in the 1990’s with people looking at the Mediterranean diet and recognizing that fats from vegetables like olives, and in fish like salmon, or even the fats from nuts and seeds could actually be protective against heart disease.  This began the era of good fats versus bad fats and the perception that the saturated fats were the enemy.  Unfortunately, a study of all the research on this published in 2010 concluded that “There was no significant evidence that saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.”  Modern research shows that because the saturated fat found in red meat raises both the bad, LDL cholesterol and the good, HDL cholesterol in essentially equal amounts this makes the saturated variety of fat a “cardiovascular wash.”  The same research shows that there are two kinds of LDL particles.  There are large fluffy ones found in most forms of fat that seem to have little effect on cardiovascular disease.  But there are also smaller, dense LDL particles that seem to stick to the arteries and cause cardiovascular disease.  These small, sticky LDL particles are found largely in processed carbohydrates such as breads, pastas, chips, crackers, cereals, and white rice.  All the war on fat seemed to do was decrease our saturated fat intake from milk, beef, eggs, and butter moderately while increasing our calorie intake from corn products by 198% and increase our intake of high-fructose corn syrup by a whopping 8,853%!

My take on all of this is the same it’s always been.  When you replace real food with fake food you will always pay the price and disease will be the result.  While the recent article from Time is advocating a movement back to butter, red meat, and whole milk in place of all the fake oils and low fat processed carbs, the only question I have is where is that butter, red meat, and milk coming from?  You are what you eat is just as true from the rest of the animal kingdom.  If we’re eating the fat from animals that were fattened up on grains and hormones, this is not the same as animals that were permitted to graze in the fields and mature naturally.  It costs a little more, but try to find eggs and meat products that are organic and free range.  Likewise, try to find fish that is ocean-caught and not farm-raised.  You do this while at the same time reducing your intake of processed carbohydrates and increasing your fruit and vegetable intake and your cardiovascular risk factor will go down as they intended way back in 1977.

What I've Seen

Just recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that 110,000 Americans die as a result of obesity each year, and that one-third of all cancers are directly related to this excess weight.  In fact, obesity now leads to more doctor visits than smoking. Studies show that the number of overweight or obese people has nearly tripled since 1980. Virtually every health problem that afflicts our population is connected in some way to this obesity epidemic proving we truly are what we eat.  However, if you’ve ever dealt with excess weight, you know that weight loss is not always that easy.

In theory, weight loss should be as easy as, eat less, and exercise more.  However this isn’t always the case.  Many times, exercise is not enough, despite the numerous other benefits of physical fitness.  If you’ve ever tried calorie counting, you know that not all calories are created equally.  While most of the experts are agreeing that highly processed grains and sugars are the primary problem, there are numerous other factors that contribute to weight gain and inhibit our best efforts for weight loss.  If you’ve been following this column, you know that inadequate sleep, incomplete exercise routines, toxicity, stress, and hormonal imbalances can all contribute to weight loss difficulties.

The one thing I’ve learned from our many customers that have committed to our 8 Weeks to Wellness program over the last 3 years is that the ones who get the best results in regard to weight loss are the ones who perfect their diets.  We’ve had men and women lose up to 40 pounds in just eight weeks when they get the diet right!  I’ve heard experts say that adhering to the right diet is 70% of weight loss and exercise is just the other 30%.  But for some people, even this isn’t enough.  I’m a huge advocate of undergoing a detoxification before even attempting a weight loss program because the fact is that toxins are stored in fat cells and when you start dumping the toxins into the blood by burning fat, your body will naturally prevent further loss in order to protect itself from the toxic burden.  Many times this type of detoxification should be done for up to 30 days in order to get results.   For other people, cortisol levels from chronic stress are the barrier that must be overcome.  In these cases, physical exercise coupled with stress reduction techniques such as meditation or yoga are imperative to reverse the trend.

In the end, this obesity trend must be reversed.  My advice is get with a professional to help determine where the problem originates from and take a multi-dimensional approach to correction.  Whatever approach is determined appropriate, give yourself about 90 days to make significant changes.  Feel free to contact our office for advice or attend our Eat Well class for instruction on a low glycemic diet.

A Three-Legged Stool

When it comes to health challenges and even wellness goals, I find that people often put all their eggs in one basket.  What I mean is, we try just one thing and if that doesn’t work, then we try another one thing.  Unfortunately, most people neglect their health until they get sick and then their one treatment consists of drugs without regard to the side effects or what lifestyle factors ultimately caused them to get sick in the first place.  This is true even though the New England Journal of Medicine has determined that 80% of our health problems should have been prevented through proper lifestyle.   I even find the same phenomenon with people seeking chiropractic care – they simply want to get adjusted without concern of what caused their problems or what else they can do on their own to improve their outcomes.  But there is a much better way.

Chiropractors deal with misalignments of the spine called subluxations that place pressure and tension on the nervous system.  Just like other health problems, subluxation is caused by excessive amounts of physical, chemical, and emotional levels of stress beyond what the body can adapt.  In fact, for a bone to become misaligned, there must be an imbalance of the muscles that are designed to keep the bones aligned, and at least five ligaments of the spinal joints will have been compromised as well.  The number one complaint about chiropractic care is that people respond and do well while they’re under active care, but when care is reduced the problems begin to come back.  Realize, this is not a chiropractic problem; this is either a stability or lifestyle problem.  In terms of stability, most people have imbalanced or weak muscles from sitting too much or doing the same activities over and over causing some muscles to be over-developed and others to be under-developed.  This phenomenon creates inherent stress on a joint and makes it very difficult for people to “hold their adjustments.”  In physical therapy, they would rehab those muscles to stabilize that joint.  My concern with this is what if the joint was imbalanced to begin with and we’re strengthening an improper structure?  In the past, as a chiropractor, I used to believe that all I had to do is restore the alignment and movement of the joint and the body would take care of the rest.  I have learned this is not true when that joint is supported by weak or imbalanced muscles.  When you restore alignment and strengthen at the same time, it’s a win-win.  In terms of lifestyle, I hope it’s only common sense that if I go back to the same faulty lifestyles that caused my problems to begin with, of course my symptoms will return.  This is why the physical, chemical, and emotional components must all be addressed.  When people address their physical stressors and begin to exercise, when they clean up their inflammatory diets, and when they work at reducing stress in their life through exercise, meditation, or other techniques, this is when health is truly restored.

We need to look at health as a three-legged stool where physical, chemical, and emotional well-being makes up the foundation.  When any one leg is compromised, the whole thing suffers.  We live in a world of numerous demands and stressors that complicate healing.  Whether we’re talking about a chiropractic problem or any health problem, you need to look at healing as a multi-dimensional process where you will likely need to make changes on more than one level to achieve real results.