Does Soda Make You Fat

I cam across an article on NaturalNews.com reporting on a study released by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research titled, Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California.

This landmark study provides important scientific evidence of the direct contribution of sugar-sweetened beverages to California's $41 billion obesity epidemic.

The researchers interviewed more than 43,000 adults and 4,000 adolescents from every county in the state of California

Here are some of the findings reported:

The study found that 41% of children (ages 2 - 11), 62 percent of adolescents (ages 12 - 17) and 24 percent of adults drink at least one soda or other sugar-sweetened beverage every day.

Regardless of income or ethnicity, adults who drink one or more sodas or other sugar-sweetened beverages every day are 27 percent more likely to be overweight or obese.

Soda consumption rates vary from county to county and city to city, with dramatic variations between some counties and some cities.

The average California teen consumes 39 pounds of liquid sugar a year solely from soda consumption

Although most of you reading this don't live in California, soda and other sweetened drinks effect you the same way, so be cautious in your consumption.

If you would like to review the articles for yourself view the Los Angles Times article or the California Center for Public Health Advocacy article.

You may also be asking what you can do. Check out the recommendations from the CCPHA here.

I recommend water

Is Your Cell Phone Safe

An email I recieved from the Environmental Working Group, a public health protective and information group, posed this question:

Have you ever wondered if the cell phones that we all depend on emit radiation and are safe to use?

Frankly, I was very interested in reading more on this particular subject. Myself and everyone I know uses a cell phone without a second thought. So I felt it would be wise to familiarize myself with some of the safety recomendations and research surrounding this issue.

Here's some of the key points from EWG's cell phone report:

- A joint study by researchers in Denmark,Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom found that people who had used cellphones for more than 10 years had asignificantly increased risk of developing brain and salivary gland tumors.

- Multiple studies reported that the brains of young children absorb more radiation than those of adults. Researchers in Sweden found the highest risk of brain tumors among people who started using cell phones during adolescence

- Health agencies in six nations — Switzerland,Germany, Israel, France, United Kingdom, and Finland — have recommended reducing children’s exposures to cell phone radiation.

- The U.S. government should require phones to be labeled with their radiation emissions at the point of sale, so consumers can make informed decisions about the phones they buy.

To find out more what you can do to protect yourself take a look at this guide to reduce you cell phone radiation exposure.

Psychiatric Drug Searchable Database

If you watch television, listen to the radio, or read any magazine or newspaper, then you are well aware of how many medications are available to take.

Literally hundreds.

Most people understand that there are associated side effects with these medications. But have you taken the time to think about what this truly means.

When you take a medication the side effects are not really the side effects. They are the effects!

As reported by Reuters and Dr. Mercola a research article made available in 2007:

47 percent said their doctors dismissed their muscle or cognitive problems, and said they were not statin-related
51 percent with a type of nerve pain called peripheral neuropathy said their doctors denied a connection to the drugs
32 percent said their doctors denied a connection between their symptoms and statins
29 percent said their doctors "neither endorsed nor dismissed the possibility of symptom link to statins"

These stats are related to statin drugs, which are for cholesterol concerns. For more info regarding cholesterol read this previous post.

Ok, getting back on track. I was made aware of a new database for reviewing the effects of taking anti-depressant medications. Psychiatric Drug Side Effect Database

If you or someone you know is on these medications find out if you are aware of these effects. I would also visit the Citizens Commission on Human Rights for a transparent look at what these medications can do.

They questions I feel you should be asking are, does taking these drugs make my entire body balanced and more healthy, or does adding the chemicals create a negative body burden and only cover up the symptoms?

When you honestly answer these questions in your mind the outcome is obvious.

Do You Choose Foods Labeled ‘Zero Trans Fats’

Have you ever found yourself in the grocery store, standing in the chip isle, reviewing the nutritional content on the back?

You are not alone. According to a new survey from market researchers Greenfield Online

72 percent of Americans said they read nutrition labels and facts panels in an effort to make healthy choices when grocery shopping. And 61 percent said they considered ‘zero grams of trans fats per serving’ to be the most important claim for heart health.

Another other story from SmartBrief.com reports

But consumers may be surprised to learn "zero" isn't always zero when it comes to trans fat. Products labeled "zero grams trans fat" could contain up to .49 grams of trans fat per serving under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines. That means consumers could easily, and unknowingly, exceed the American Heart Association's recommended limit of no more than 2 grams of trans fat a day.

So despite some of your best efforts, you have been duped.

Well as they say 'the devil is in the details.' Learning to understand the fine print is the key to truly understanding the ingredients in your food choices.

SmartBrief.com

Trans fat in the form of partially hydrogenated oil is most common, which can count for up to 45 percent of total fat content. It is cheaper t to produce that healthier oils, provides food manufacturers with greater processing stability and gives foods a longer shelf life.

The key is to look for 'partially hydrogenated oil' in the list of ingredients. That's a dead giveaway that there's trans fat in the product no matter what it says on the package," said Alyse Levine, a registered dietitian. "Here's a simple rule to follow -- if you see 'partially hydrogenated oil' listed on a product's label, just put it back on the shelf and find another product that doesn't," Levine added.

So next time you find yourself in the grocery store, take a brief moment and read the fine print... look for partially hydrogenated oil. I also recommend that you take a look at this page to learn more about the other ingredients in your food.

The Miricle of Chiropractic

Just about everyday in the office someone mentions an old ache or pain that they have been dealing with. In fact just yesterday a women said that she was unable to schedule with her family doctor to look at her knee and ask if I could take a look at it and see if I knew what could be troubling her.

Of course said I would have a look, and I was able to help.

Her knee, just like a spine, was subluxated.

Chiropractic involves more than just the spine. Chiropractic is involved in aiding the entire body to heal.

From your ears to your toes, when there is a misalignment due to habits, injuries, and just plain wear and tear, a chiropractic adjustment releases these stuck joints.

Like I said above, chiropractic is more than just the spine. I wanted to share a few news videos about different "Miracle" stories involving chiropractic. The truth is, the body new how to heal the whole time. It was the subluxated vertebra in the spine that was interfering with the nerve supply to the body part that was sick.

How Do You Want To Look?

I came across this great article on Mercola.com entitled "Will You Look as Good As Jack Lalanne at Age 93?"

The story starts off by showing a few before and after pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alec Baldwin, Pierce Brosnan, Russell Crowe, Clint Eastwood and more. Take a look here. All heart throbs and mans men in their day, but as the photographs show, aren't any more.

But when you get down to Jack Lalanne's picture, there is a dramatic difference. He still looks good, is in better shape, and has more vitality than any one of these above mentioned stars.

Below I'm going to post Jack's pictures and some old T.V. spots that he did back in the black and white days. I was certainly impressed with what Jack was trying to show America back then. The funny thing is, with ever advancing medical diagnosis and treatment, disease get more and more difficult to deal with and more and more people are suffering from them. But the true cause of health and healing has never changed.

Take a look...


Age 40



Age 71




Age 93

So what's his secret?

Watch these two brief You Tube clips and you'll find out.

You can see more from Jack Lalanne on Jacklalanne.com, check out the TV!

Our Genes Don't Control Us

The title of today's blog may come as a bit of a surprise to most people, but if you have been around our office you may have heard that all healing power comes from within. Chiropractors term this as Innate Intelligence. In other words our body heals from within.

For example, if you sustain a cut on you're arm you don't have to actively think about stopping the bleeding, forming the scab, begin tissue healing, and ultimately form new skin. This whole process happens automatically and occurs at all levels in the body.

New discoveries in cell biology, genetics, epigenetics and physics demonstrate that we are not victims of our genes but instead have unlimited capacity to live a life overflowing with peace, happiness, health and love. Click below and join cell biologist Bruce H. Lipton as he discusses how the power of your mind and the environment you decide to place yourself in controls your health. To gain a better understanding of this idea read this post.

To fully understand what I am referring to watch this brief YouTube video from a talk Bruce Lipton did. This section is part 1 of 7 and I highly recommend that you take the time to watch the whole thing. For me it was extremely rewarding listening to someone who was describing what I have been studying with Dr. Chestnut.



For more information stop by our calendar page to find out when our next Half Hour to Health Workshop is taking place.

NSAIDs, Fish Oil and Pain

Most people come to our office because they are in pain, and they've tried just about everything to help themselves get better. But the pain remains, and even worse, the pain is typically at it's highest levels by the time they come in.

I would venture to guess that a vast majority of people at some time have taken over the counter pain medications to help get rid of the problem. But if you stop and think logically about it, taking pain medications only masks the problem, in addition research shows us that these medications, both prescription and over the counter, have many harmful effects associated with them... including death.

In a recent post The American Chiropractor touched base on this same topic and reviewed a research article titled:

Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oil) as an Anti-inflammatory: An Alternative to Non steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) for Discogenic Pain.

I wanted to highlight a few key points and recommend a few actions steps.

Please keep in mind that this article review only focus's on a small portion of the benefits gained with proper Omega 3 to Omega 6 balance. To learn and understand more join us this Monday, August 10th. You can see more details here.

Here are some of the points taken from Dr. Dan Murphy article review:

1. The use of NSAID’s is associated with extreme complications, including gastric ulcers, bleeding, myocardial infarction, stroke, and even death.

2. In this study, after seventy-five days on fish oil, 59% of patients who were taking NSAID’s for chronic spinal pain and who had degenerative spine disease were able to discontinue their prescription NSAID’s, and 88% stated they were satisfied with their improvement and that they would continue to take the fish oil.

3. The beneficial anti-inflammatory effects of high-dose fish oil include the reduction of joint pain from rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, improvement in dry eyes and macular degeneration, reduced plaque formation, reduced arrhythmia's, and reduced infarction from coronary atherosclerosis.

4. In this study, fish oil supplementation was not associated with any significant side effects.


Action Steps

1. Join us August 10th for our open workshop on The Importance of Omega 3's. All are welcome!

2. Become a student again. Realize that what we are told is good nutrition is only a small piece of the puzzle. If the typical recommendations for being healthy were accurate, then there would be very little sickness and disease. (By the way, we are currently the sickest species on the planet.)

3. Next time you're in our office, ask how you can find some of the best fish oil available.

4. Receive you regular adjustment. Chiropractic is not about pain, although it can help, chiropractic is a lifestyle and a method utilized to keep your body running at its optimal performance.

5. Share this information and your chiropractic story with your friends and loved ones. Currently, most people have heard of chiropractors but don't have a clear view of how chiropractic works.

The Swine Flu Mandate

Earlier this year there was the swine flu scare, and it was the biggest news event for a few weeks. Since that point, I feel that this situation has not come to a conclusion. Right now the wheels are in motion for a drastic change in our personal choice of health care.

I'm not referring to the up coming changes in health care system, I'm referring in mass inoculation for the swine flu.

In a recent post by Dr. Mercola, he outlines many concerns with the flu shot, swine flu shot and forced vaccination of children.

Here are some of the topics covered

- The Current Status of the H1N1 Flu Vaccine
- Significant Health Risks Posed to Your Children
- Tamiflu Likely Useless Against Swine Flu
- Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccinations a Real Possibility
- What You Can Do Right Now

Below is a video clip that Dr. Mercola posted with this article, it is a music video with some thought provoking lyrics regarding the flu shot debacle.



If you would like to know more facts visit the the National Vaccine Information Center.

For another opinion on Swine Flu vaccination schedule I would also take a look at this brief article posted by NaturalNews.com entitled: 10 Things You're Not Supposed to Know About The Swine Flu Vaccine.

Thoracic Fulcrum Home Exercise

Many of our patients have different recommendations to enhance their care at our office. The following exercise is used to help aid in the upper back curve correction and provide relief for muscle tension and tightness.

This brief video demonstrates three different positions in which to hold your hands while performing this type of traction, some people find it easier to perform one method versus another.

The three positions noted are: Hands at the waist, hands resting on the chest, and hands held above the head.

Newcomers to thoracic traction should begin with 5 repetitions for a 15 second hold. If you are a more seasoned veteran, then performing more repetitions with a longer hold is appropriate.

If you have been given specific instructions by the Doctor, follows those directions.

If you have not been specifically directed to perform this exercise then please do not perform until a full chiropractic evaluation can be administered.

Next time you're in the office ask one of the Doctors if some type of traction may benefit you.

Does Your Sunscreen Work?

This is the title of an article posted on the Environmental Working Group website. Now I know the summer season has already begun, but you have to admit, June provided us with all the rain we needed for a while. Regardless, it's never to late to get started with protecting yourself as much as possible.

This article is a report of over 1600 different types of sunscreens, lip balms, skin moisturizers, etc. If you were not aware, many of the ingredients in these products are very toxic for your body and this helps clear up the confusion.

To quote a line from this report "Surprisingly, 3 of 5 brand-name sunscreens either don’t protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals — or both."

Now, I would also like to comment on the necessity of getting enough sunshine without using different forms of sunscreen. The human race and every other known life form on our planet has been living under the sun for thousands of years without the supposed benefit of SPF 30. So the sun can't be all bad. In fact, the sun provides us with one of the most important ingredients to sustain life as we know it, Vitamin D.

Vitamin D recently has been increasingly understood to provide us with a wide rage of health benefits including issues related with diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer, brain function and more. To read more about this information check out these articles found on NaturalNews.com and Mercola.com.

To sum it up, getting the right amount of sunlight and avoiding harmful chemicals both should be a priority for an individual looking to improve there health.

The Dangers of Cholesterol Medication

CBSnews.com

When Jim Matthews needed to slash his cholesterol and heart attack risk, he joined the millions taking the world's top-selling drug, Lipitor. After five weeks, he was struck by cognitive chaos and confusion. All of a sudden, he found himself asking: "Did I go get the mail or did I just think I was going to go get the mail? Did I give my dog her thyroid pill, or did I just think I gave the dog the thyroid pill?"

He couldn't function for hours.

Everywhere you turn Cholesterol is talked about as a major cause of heart disease, but is it really? What does cholesterol do in our bodies?

An article posted on Dr. Mercola's website, Cholesterol is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease, gives a great description of some of the functions that cholesterol plays in our physiology.

Here's a few paragraphs from the article:

"Think of what happens if you were to cut your hand. Within a fraction of a second, chemicals are released by the damaged tissue to initiate the process known as inflammation. Inflammation will allow that little cut to heal, and indeed to keep you from dying. The cut blood vessels constrict to keep you from bleeding too much. Blood becomes "thicker" so that it can clot. Cells and chemicals from the immune system are alerted to come to the area to keep intruders such as viruses and bacteria from invading the cut. Other cells are told to multiply to repair the damage so that you can heal. When the repair is completed, you have lived to be careless another day, though you may have a small scar to show for your troubles. "

"We now know that similar events take place within the lining of our arteries. When damage occurs to the lining of our arteries (or even elsewhere) chemicals are released to initiate the process of inflammation. Arteries constrict, blood becomes more prone to clot, white blood cells are called to the area to gobble up damaged debris, and cells adjacent to those damaged are told to multiply. Ultimately, scars form, however inside our arteries we call it plaque. And the constriction of our arteries and the "thickening" of our blood further predisposes us to high blood pressure and heart attacks."

If you would like to read more about the cholesterol debacle visit this page on Dr. Mercola's Web site. It contains more than 30 articles about cholesterol and the usage of medications.

There is also conclusive evidence that proper levels of exercise and nutrition have a much higher success rate of reduce cholesterol levels and preventing heart disease. But if you are interested in adding a specific component to your diet, I would suggest reading the article about Red Yeast Rice on NaturalNews.com

High cholesterol is not a result of bad genes, bad germs or bad luck. Our genes require certain nutrients in the right amount to function normally. Those nutrients are diet, exercise, and mental health. Our genes, and therefore our bodies, adapt to the environment they are placed in.

If you choose not to eat properly and value taste more than nutrition, or value relaxation more than keeping fit, then you have decided the environment to place your body into. Your physiology has to adapt, and that adaptation leads to disease, every time. To get my point a little better watch this video... it's a must see!!

Neck Curve and Your Health

Every time you come into the office we are talking about your health, posture and your spine. I wanted to show you some examples of x-rays of what happens to someone when they haven't taken care of the spine.

Unfortunately what has occurred in our society is that an individuals posture is not truly considered in someones overall health assessment. And what I also find that is not commonly considered is that our posture changes over time, which means our spine changes position over time, and therefore symptoms that accompany these changes come about slowly. Just like the Colorado river carving out the grand canyon.

To get a sense of what happens when our spine changes position, or as chiropractors call it - subluxation - think about all the times when you've hit your "funny bone" I'm not 100% sure about you, but it's not a fun experience. It's estimated that the pressure on a nerve equal to that of the weight of a dime resting on a nerve changes how information, a.k.a. your sense of pain, temperature, vibration, organ control, etc. is affected. This affect can go one of two ways, either the sensation is too strong or too weak.

It would be a good idea to review this nerve chart before you look at the x-ray's below to get an idea of what some of the effects of improper nerve function are. I would also recommend taking a look at this other nerve chart, which many of our patients may recognize from a similar version in our office.

Normal Cervical Curve

Let's first get a sense of what a normal cervical curve looks like. In this picture the example is facing to the right, take notice of how each bone appears smooth and square like, has a clearly marked dark space between each vertebrae and has a gentle banana shaped curvature with the rounded portion pointing towards the front.


In this next picture, the individual is facing to the left but direct your attention to the arrows pointing out the increased bone growth and loss of disc height. ( The loss of disc height is the black space between the vertebrae)















What you are seeing is arthritis, also known as degeneration or osteoarthritis.

The bone spurring is a result of a normal process known as Wolff's law and the disc degeneration is well explained in this great article from chirogeek.com

Some of you may be thinking that this persons neck curve does not look bad, in fact it seems to follow a curve like pattern. Well you are correct, the curve is not that far from normal. But that is only one way a subluxation pattern occurs.

Another pattern that causes degeneration is lack of normal movement in a spinal segment. So even though an individual may have good posture, how those individual segments move is equally as important.

Next I'm just going to have you take a look at other types of neck curves that people have. Some of these patients come in with severe pain and other related symptoms, sometimes these patients come in with minimal symptoms.




On the left we have a reversal of normal cervical curve without a lot of degeneration. This person has an opportunity to correct their spine.



On the right this individual has severe degeneration with fusion of the bones, but as you can see the curve is maintained. This person will be able to benefit with some pain relief but will be unable to reverse these severe findings.















Finally, here are a few x-rays of individuals that have chosen the path of medications and surgery to solve there problems.

Unfortunately no one had truly explained to them the facts regarding chiropractic. If someone had, perhaps they could have saved a lot of money, pain, plates and screws.
















Be proactive with your spine and with your health. The difference is more than feeling good. The difference is the quality of life and the future of the ones around you.

Someone planted a seed in your mind about chiropractic care, do the same for someone else. It just may change their life.

The Most Astonishing Health Disaster of the 20th Century

This is a video I came across while reading through Dr. Mercola's website. This video was put together in 2007 and has statistics that originate from a few years before. In my opinion, some of the facts reported are probably a bit higher than what is stated in this clip.

The point I would like to make, and I believe Dr. Mercola is trying to make, is that there is a better way to take care of our health and our lives that to depend on medications and quick fixes.

There are a large number of natural and homeopathic methods for treating problems that come along in our lives. And if you are aware that we can help these problems naturally when they happen then we should also be aware that if you can be proactive with your health many of our problems wouldn't even be a concern.

As the old saying goes "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of the cure"




Be proactive with your care in our office.

Be proactive in sharing with your friends the good news of chiropractic.

If you are not deciding what happens to you in life then you have made the decision to let life make decisions for you.

The Mother's Act

Back in June of 2006 a Senator from New Jersey introduced a bill entitled The Mother's Act. This bill aims to eradicate the devastating effects of postpartum depression for women and their families.

The intentions of dealing with and attempting to rid our society of this very difficult problem are very honorable in my opinion, but there are many problems with how the bill will allow this challenge to be handled.

The nuts and bolts of this bill will allow physicians and other health care providers to diagnose pregnancy and post-pregnancy issues as a new mental disease and therefore provide mind-altering medications for those mothers.

When one looks closely at the important sections of the legislation, it is clear that this costly and sweeping mental health legislation not only fails the mothers of America, it’s intended to inflate the balance sheets of Big Pharma. If you would like to read the full article describing some of the points for contention follow this link.

Here is a brief section of an article written by Byron Richards, a very well respected wellness practitioner.

"The Mothers Act proposes sweeping and dramatic changes in the delivery of pregnancy care by all health professionals. It demands that health professionals indoctrinate pregnant women into mental health treatment options for mild depression-like symptoms experienced during or following pregnancy, including moderate symptoms they call “baby blues” which they say affects 80% of pregnant women. In other words, this is a massive federate health mandate to get the majority of pregnant and nursing mothers on psych drugs – a new target market for Big Pharma. "

I would highly recommend that you review a few of these following articles for information regarding this issue.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights
Natural News.com
Uniteforlife.org

There are many other articles available to read, just perform a google search and see for yourself.

Understanding this problem of postpartum depression is very valuable, but in my opinion, it would be more valuable to understand what these mothers are missing from there nutritional, exercise, mental and chiropractic needs.

When you supply the body with what it requires, health happens!