Friday, June 29, 2007

Food as Fuel

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially for children. The word breakfast comes from the saying "To Break Fast." Eight to ten hours of sleep during the night was considered a fast from food. The first meal following a night's sleep was breaking the fast. The morning meal supplies the food fuel for energy that lasts the entire day. The morning assimilation of important nutrients, carbohydrates, proteins and fats is what fires up our brain cells and allows us to better focus. Breakfast should be the largest meal of the day, full of healthy carbohydrates like whole grain cereals or oats, fruit for a quick pick-me up and a yogurt or egg for protein.
Lunch is the meal that gets us through the afternoon. Lunch is the middle meal and should not be as large as breakfast. Lunch should be a medium carbohydrate meal with an emphasis on protein. Whole grain bread with natural peanut butter and jelly, a glass of milk and a piece of fruit would be an ideal example for the perfect lunch. If peanut butter is a problem, turkey breast and a slice of cheese is just as good.
Dinner should be the smallest meal of the day and the meal lowest in carbohydrates. A healthy salad with grilled chicken breast and a side of broccoli would illustrate the components of a healthy dinner. This meal plan, the descending order of meal sizes is designed for a reason. As the day goes on, a person's energy and or caloric requirements change. For instance, carbohydrates like bread, pasta and potatoes are used for energy. Once eaten, they are broken down slowly and then their calories are used for fuel. This is great for the morning when our body needs energy for the day ahead, but this is not good for evening. In the evening, we are usually sedentary and do not burn much energy or calories. By the time the food is digested and it's calories are ready to be used for fuel, we are in for bed. The excess calories are then stored as fat. In general, think of breakfast as the carbohydrate, energy meal. Think of lunch as the smaller, pick-me-back-up meal, and dinner as the smallest, "We don't need the energy meal."

Thought for the Week:
"Whence comes greatness? The potential is in you. It lies dormant, inactive, like a smouldering volcano choking back it's pent-up fires, ready to burst forth as soon as a natural opening is made possible." -----BJ Palmer, D.C. 1949

Chiropractic Thought for the Week:
"I see people going to the chiropractor to get well and leaving their kids home to get sick."
----Reggie Gold, D.C. 1986

Sunday, June 24, 2007

The Fine Art of Label Reading

In regards to proper nutrition, the easiest way to modify poor eating habits into healthy ones is practicing the art of label reading. Labels are the most important part of eating right. The little box of words placed on all of our processed food products is akin to reading a detective novel. Little clues and hints are available to help you make the correct food choices. The key to success, as in all mundane tasks, is to make a habit out of reading labels. Once you start reading labels and label reading becomes routine, you will always check your food's ingredients. It actually becomes enjoyable, finding out what foods are good, which ones are bad, and how often a food company is trying to pull a fast one on you. Here are five key areas you should pay attention too. 1. Serving Size. A lot of food companies try to trick you on this one. For instance, many refreshing soft drinks and even juice drinks will list the calories. Most people think the calories are for the entire bottle. Wrong. There are usually two servings in that "little" bottle and now you have twice the calories. 2. Trans Fats. The label sometimes will have a Trans Fat category. It usually only has this category if the product doesn't have any Trans Fats. The food company is bragging their zero trans fat percentage. If there is no Trans Fat category, we typically have a problem and now have to use are detective skills. Go to the ingredient section and look for the word HYDROGENATED. If you see the word hydrogenated, with an oil following it, bingo, we have Trans Fats. Trans Fats cause heart disease and strokes. Stay away from those foods. 3. Sugar. If it is above 5-8 grams per serving, the food is too sweet and contains to much added sugar. Another clue, is too look for the order in which sugar is listed on the ingredients. If it is to close to the beginning of the list, you just won bingo again. Food ingredients are listed in order of their weight in the product. Sugar at the top of the list means the product is mostly sugar. 4. Corn Syrup. Possibly the worst hidden sweetener ever concocted in a laboratory. Much sweeter than sugar, studies have shown that any form of High Fructose Corn Syrup increases your appetite and makes you eat more!! A major contributor to childhood obesity. 5. Artificial Sweeteners. There is mounting evidence that artificial sweeteners are dangerous neurotoxins. If you choose to avoid artificial sweeteners, watch for the words Aspartame, Acesulfame, Splenda, Sucrulose, and Nutrasweet.

Thought for the Week: "Life only demands from you the strength that you possess. Only one feat is possible------not to have run away.
---------Dag Hammarskjold

Chiropractic Thought for the Week: "Regular chiropractic examinations determine the existence of vertebral subluxations. Subluxations, resulting from "minor" traumatic episodes can lead to nerve interference that later in life displays itself in pain syndromes and organic malfunctions we call disease. A spine chiropractically maintained in youth is the best assurance to a healthy life that you can give a child."
---------Fred Barge, D.C., Ph.C

Grilled Vegetables

Summer time means outdoor grilling. One of my favorite food groups to cook on the grill is vegetables. Outdoor grilling adds a certain taste to the vegetables and allows them to stay crispy, keeping all the nutrients in the vegetable where they belong. Two of the vegetables I like to grill are asparagus and eggplant. Asparagus is a great vegetable on the grill. Brushed with a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil, seasoned with garlic powder and lemon pepper, asparagus is a tasty treat. Asparagus's main claim to fame is that it removes excess ammonia from the body. Too much ammonia leads to fatigue and problems with the reproductive organs. People often comment that when they consume a lot of asparagus, their urine gives off a strong smell. That smell is the excess ammonia. Asparagus is high in vitamin c, carotene and selenium, all powerful antioxidants, which are helpful in repairing damaged cells in the body. Asparagus is also high in folic acid, a vitamin that prevents birth defects in pregnant women. Grilling eggplant is just as helpful to the body's health and taste buds. Eggplant can be cut into little chunks or sliced into thick wedges. Brushing olive oil and fresh garlic onto an eggplant and flipping often is my preferred method of grilling this vegetable. Eggplant's biggest health benefit is that it inhibits the production of cancer causing nitrosamines and has nutrients contained in it that fights the production of tumors. Eggplant is high in minerals like calcium , iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc.
Eggplant also contains copious amounts of phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are tiny particles of nutritious vitamins that play an important part in many functions of the body. A side note on both of these vegetables is that they may aggravate arthritis. Eggplant is a nightshade vegetable. Nightshades tend to aggravate arthritis in people who have severe cases. Asparagus can aggravate gout. .
Thought for the Week: "When the body sends us a message in the form of pain, we must not simply anesthetize our senses to it, but make sense out of it!" ------ Fred Barge, D.C.
Chiropractic Thought for the Week: In 1970, Reggie Gold, Chiropractor, educator and philosopher said that "In order to heal, the body needs no help, just no interference." This statement holds true. Since the nervous system controls the function of every organ and system in the body, If there is interference or disruption of spinal nerve flow, the body cannot function at 100% of it's capability. If the body is not functioning at it's highest level, it cannot heal as natured intended it to.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Chemical Stress

Of all the possible contributing factors for disease, the most secretive would have to be chemical stress or environmental toxins. The word secretive is used, because each and everyday our bodies are exposed to toxic substances that slowly chip away at our health. Yet, we are hardly aware that the process is happening. These toxins are so damaging, that over time they may even be changing our genetic structure, which means we pass the damage down to future generations. Toxic chemicals slowly build up in the body, mutating cells. The mutation of cells leads to diseases like cancer, tumors and cysts, as well as contributing to auto-immune disease, such as diabetes, asthma and allergies. Chemical stress is linked to muscular reactions, resulting in contractions, spasms and even fibromyalgia.

Now that I have your attention with the fire and brimstone message of danger, what can be done to avoid toxic health destruction? Paying attention to what you are eating, drinking, breathing and rubbing on your body is a start. Avoid foods that are covered in pesticides. Choose organic food whenever possible. When not available, make sure the fruits and vegetables you purchase are scrubbed clean. Limit consumption of PCB and mercury containing fish, like tuna. Try instead to get your healthy Omega 3 fats from a liquid fish oil that has been tested for contaminants. Limit or avoid foods that have chemicals and preservatives in them. The processing of food is one of the biggest health risks that we face daily. Try switching your chemically enhanced deodorants, toothpastes and skin lotions to all natural ones. When you rub these products on your skin, the toxins are absorbed into the blood stream. Do not use insect spray or cream that contains DEET. DEET is a known toxic chemical. Why do you think the bugs won't go near it? Artificial sweeteners are neuro-toxins that can lead to neuroglogical damage. If you need a sweetener, try real organic sugar and or organic honey. Last but certainly not least, avoid all drugs whenever it is possible. Drugs are the epitome of chemical stress (since they themselves are chemicals). Avoid over-the-counter medications, such as pain killers, as these drugs contain chemicals that damage the stomach, liver and kidneys.

Thought for the Week:
"To live, not only must we breath and drink pure air and water with nutritious food, we must stay in contact with the outer world using our eight senses. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, plus common and horse. The 8th sense is instinct or nature. Inside the body is an instinctual, magnificint, innate intelligence that regulates and runs the body in every wonderous way."
-------BJ Palmer, DC 1949 (paraphrased)

Chiropractic Thought for the Week:
Misaligned, subluxated vertebra in the short term can cause aches and pains. In the long term, degenerative damage to the bone and nerve disruption leading to bodily malfunctions is apparent. Subluxations are caused by three types of stress to the muscles of the spine, 1. Physical 2. Emotional and 3. Chemical. Chemical toxins can cause muscular contractions that will subluxate spinal bones leading to ill health.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Autism and Mercury Poisoning

Medical News Today reported on a study whereas the implications of the results are so profound, I am almost tempted to type this week's Health Tip in bold print. By using a highly accurate, inexpensive Urine test, researchers have found that autistic children were clinically found to be mercury poisoned. This study, conducted in 2006, used French and American children. Mercury levels were taken from two groups, children with autism and children without. Normal siblings of children with autism were also tested. The children with autism were found to have toxic mercury blood levels high enough to have been clinically poisoned from mercury. The more severe the autism, the higher the levels of mercury. The children without autism, including siblings, did not demonstrate any levels of mercury poisoning. The urine test, Urine Porphyrin Profile Analysis (UPPA) is being used to test for mercury in populations of autistic children, identify children and adults who were mercury poisoned and measure the removal of mercury in poisoned individuals via chelation therapy. According to the article, researchers on autism were divided into two camps. One group felt autism was a genetic abnormality the other group felt that autism developed do to ingredients in vaccines and other medicines. A recent paper based on the Autism Genome Project 2007, found that there was no statistically significant linkage to autism and genetics. On the other hand, Mercury toxicity from vaccines and other medicines containing thimerisol, clearly shows a clinical link to autism. Thimerisol, up until recently was a main ingredient in vaccines and is currently used in the Flu shot, which is still being recommended to pregnant mothers, babies and small children. The Center for Disease Control estimates that the autism rate in New Jersey is 1 for every 94 children. Any parent who wants to have his or her child tested for mercury poisoning can do so at any Labcorp with a prescription for UPPA CLIA Certified Test # 120980. Chelation Therapy is a process using intravenous minerals that gradually remove mercury from the body. Chelation Therapy is performed in Medical Doctors office's that specialize in said treatment.
Thought for the Week: "He who stops being better, stops being good." --- Oliver Cromwell
Chiropractic Thought for the Week: "In chiropractic, the doctor /client relationship is different than the doctor/patient relationship. Patients have a short term outlook (get me out of pain), patients look at chiropractic as something that happens to them and they see health as a destination. Chiropractic clients enjoy a long term perspective, they are in-touch with their bodies and want to opitimize their health. Clients see health as a process, not a destination. The client realtionship is more of a partnership approach to health with open lines of communication. Are you a client or a patient?" ------- Bill Esteb, Health Care Author

More Sugar...Less Health

Recently the New York Times reported that food companies have doubled the amount of sugar they add to many of their products. Soups, cereals, and other foods have been heavily sweetened to attract more customers. Breakfast cereals have seen some of the biggest increases, but even whole grain bread now routinely contains almost a teaspoon of sugar in every three slices. In 1978, Kellogg's Special K contained about 10 grams of sugar for every 100 grams of cereal, but that amount has now increased to 17 grams, very close to the sugar level of vanilla ice cream. Over the same period, the sugar per 100 grams in tomato soup has increased from less than 3 grams to more than 6 grams. Processed foods contain some of the highest sugar content, often with levels close to or higher than 20 grams of sugar per 100 grams of food. Sugar consumption has been implicated in rising levels of tooth decay, diabetes, and obesity. On the other side of the sugar coin, people have been led to believe that if they want to eliminate sugar, they can use an artificial sweetner. Sadly, we are not told that artificial sweetners can be dangerous to our health. Many studies show that artificial sweetners like Nutrasweet, Sucrolose and splenda are neuro-toxins that disrupt brain function and overuse can lead to conditions that mimic many other diseases, even Multiple Sclerosis. My advice is this; Avoid all artificial sweetners. The true toxic effects won't be known for years and there is no way to know the damage to your health or that of future generations of you. Secondly, sugar is okay. In moderation. Sugar in its natural form, organic and unrefined (which you can get at the health food store), has vitamins and minerals and is relatively low in calories, 16 calories per teaspoon. The trick in life is avoiding added sugar in processed foods. As mentioned above, some foods may add 4-5 teaspoons per serving size and you won't even realize it. The way around this is to read labels. Always purchase the foods with the lowest amount of sugar listed in the nutrition labels. If sugar or Corn syrup is the second or third ingrediant in a product, the odds are that the food has too much sugar and should be avoided.
Thought for the Week: "Lord, deliver me from the man who never makes a mistake, and also from the man who makes the same mistake twice." ------- Dr. William Mayo
Chiropractic Thought for the Week: " We chiropractors work with the subtle substance of the soul. We release the prisoned impulse, the tiny rivulet of force that emanates from the mind and flows over the nerves to the cells and stirs them into life. We deal with the magic power that transforms common food into living, loving, thinking clay; that robes the earth with beauty and scents the flowers with the glory of the air."
------- BJ Palmer, DC, excerpt from his poem, "The Truth"