Weight Loss?
Not as Hard as You Might Think.

So you want to lose weight fast and improve your overall health. Quit eating so much sugar. End of newsletter. Well OK if you insist I'll expand on that thought.
Most of my patents say, “I don’t eat much sugar.” The truth is most likely you do.
It is not that you are consciously putting the white stuff we know as table sugar on our food in large quantities. The fact is sugar has made a insidious invasion into so many processed foods.

Recently I had my own blood sugar checked as well as my cholesterol. Both were very high. I went to a friend of mine who is a nutritionist and asked him what I should do. We did various tests and blood work ; but the thing that revealed as much about my diet was keeping a food diary for a week. I had to literally write down everything that I ate. Eat a handful of peanuts write it down. Eat three Wheat Thins write it down. Squirt a tablespoon of ketchup on something write it down.

After my nutritionist friend reviewed my diary he said that I was eating better than 95% of the people that came to see him. That was the good news. The bad news was that my eating habits were still pretty pitiful. (In truth his language was a little more forceful than that. What he actually said may be offensive to some readers.) Needless to say I felt like a nutritional “Loser”.

The problem is that the consumption of sugars of all kinds is on the rise. Let me give you an example of how it can play out. I recently was at a convention and during a break they handed out Nature Valley Trail Mix Fruit and Nut bars; mmmm yummy. It had the phrases “100% Natural” (I always like to point out that hemlock and poison ivy are very natural) and “Good source of Whole Grain”
With the words Nature, Valley, Trail and Natural it sounds so good and earthy it just has to be nutritious for you.(They also included “chewy” on the label; yum yum ) So before I tried to get all that rich goodness in me I thought let me read the back to see the ingredients; which by the way are hidden under a flap in the wrapper. The List of ingredients were ans follows:
1. Whole grain oats
2. High maltose corn syrup (a sugar)
3. Crisp rice (made with rice flour, and take a guess, sugar and
malt extract, which is another form of sugar 4 .Sugar (this would be regular table sugar; sucrose)
5 .Raisins (which are very high in fructose (sugar)
6. Honey (sugar)
7. Dried cranberries (high in sugar)
8. Rice maltodextrin (a sugar)

What this all means is that in reality the first ingredient is not oats but in fact sugar; they just came up with 6 or 7 different names for sugar. In fact instead of reading all of the contents just read the sugar content in grams. For this bar it was 14 grams. 4 grams of sugar is approximately a teaspoon. So in this little tiny bar about 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches long I am getting 3.5 teaspoons of sugar; which by the way is about 35% of what should be your total intake for the day. If you drink one 12 oz. soda you are most likely over your limit for the day for sugar intake.
According to a nutritional program being conducted at the University of Nebraska you are consuming about 65 pounds of sugar in a year if you drink one sweetened soda per day.
According to the US Dept. Of Health the consumption of caloric sweeteners rose form 127 lbs per person to 153 lbs per person in the period from 1986-1996; almost a 20% increase.

So how did this all come about. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is much of the problem. The production of HFCS became perfected in the 70s and later became the source for sweeteners in soda. You may remember how the price of Pepsi and Coke dropped in half in the 80's when those companies switched to high fructose corn syrup. I won’t get into the whole issue of which is worse HFCS or sugar. I researched HFCS for 2 weeks and have still not made up my mind whether one is that much worse than the other. I think HFCS is possibly a little worse than sucrose but it is like questioning whether replacing one poison with another similar poison is better for us.

The fact is HFCS is so cheap (driven by corn lobbyists getting government subsidies and tariffs on cane sugar) that is has infiltrated more and more of our foods. The tastebuds of the American consumer have become so increasingly jaded that food manufacturers are adding more and more sugar to satisfy our ramped up craving.

One other factor must be taken into account. HFCS is high in fructose, in fact about 55% fructose. But wait isn’t fructose the sugar that you get from fruit? And aren’t fruits good for you? Yes to both questions. When you eat fruit the fiber and food must be broken down slowly so the influx of sugar into your system is stretched out over a period of time in which the body can adapt and handle it. When you drink a soda for instance there is no breakdown the influx of sugar is too rapid and your pancreas that produce insulin are over taxed. (Visualize drinking from a fire hose as opposed to a water fountain.) Some studies indicate that such an influx of fructose fails to stimulate insulin secretion which in turn fails to stimulate leptin production. Leptin is the hormone that basically tells your brain “YOU ARE FULL ! STOP EATING!” Fructose also seems to keep ghrelin turned on. Ghrelin is the hormone that says “YOUR HUNGRY. GO GET SOMETHING TO EAT!”

So the overall effect of HFCS is to tell our bodies “YOUR NOT FULL KEEP EATING!” This is probably why a lot of people binge eat. In fact this was my own problem. I could go to a buffet and eat non-stop. I had many people over the years after dining with me tell me that was the most food they had ever seen anyone eat . I did this all the time. My nutritionist friend told me that I was not producing enough insulin. That in fact I had been overstimulating my pancreas by binging and that if I continued this habit I would be diabetic. This huge influx of blood sugar was also driving my cholesterol to around 300.

So what did I do? I eliminated as much sugar out of my diet as possible. You have to read the labels on everything you eat. If it has sugar in any large quantities don’t eat it. Keep your total intake to 40grams or below. I also started taking supplements that sensitized my body to the insulin I was producing. What was interesting was that in a week or so of doing this I found I was not craving food. Before I had to will myself not to eat more. I wanted more but would fight my urge to get more food. That was a tough battle that seemed to be constantly waging in my mind; one that I lost about 50% of the time. I had a goal weight of 185 lbs. I would reach it with sheer will power but a week later be back up over 190lbs. I could not sustain it. After eliminating the majority of sugar from my diet and taking various supplements I now find it hard to get my weight up to 185lbs. In fact many of my patients were asking my assistant Melissa if I was sick because I had such a sudden weight loss.

You too can do this, it is not as hard as you think. Eliminate as much sugar as you possibly can. Get hooked up with a nutritionist to help you with the proper supplementation. My nutritionist is Dr. Scott Banks his web page is bankschiropractic.com. He is a well respected lecturer and researcher and will work with patients over the phone. Start today to read the labels on the foods you eat.

I asked a patient the other day why they kept eating a brand of cracker that was too high in sugar. I had informed them that they were not healthy to eat.
“They taste good.” was her reply.
“Rat poison tastes good to the rats.” was my response. .

 

Free Weights vs. Machines

Dear patient,

"I won’t get hurt working out because I use machines instead of free weights." I hear this statement quite often from patients who have started weight training. The consensus of many of the trainers of elite athletes is that training with machines can actually make you more susceptible to injury.
What? Don’t machines enhance stability during exercise? Yes, they stabilize you; because of that very thing people using them fail to develop their own ability to stabilize. The muscles used to stabilize our bodies are not required or recruited when using most weight training machines. Training in a one dimensional pattern with machines, leads to injury in a 3-dimensional world.
Our bodies are meant to work in an integrated pattern. Isolating a muscle group as in a leg extension machine will be useless when it comes to moving the refrigerator to clean behind it. The lack of stabilizing strength will cause the nervous system to limit the body’s ability to use the machine developed strength. The nervous system will sense an overload to your body’s stabilizing ability and shut your musculature down.
Most sports and everyday activities, such as lifting a load of laundry or a bag of groceries, starting a mower, etc.. require strength and coordination in multiple planes of movement. Lifting on a single plane movement machine will increase susceptibility to injury in the other planes of movement that have not been trained.
It would make sense to train; at least some of the time, asymmetrically. One of the best methods is the large exercise balls; sometimes called "Swiss balls". Performing exercises on these balls require the use of your stabilizing musculature. Muscle fibers are worked in multiple planes. This leads to greater stability, as well as the ability to recover when presented with unbalanced stress loads such as stepping off a curb or slipping on a wet surface.

Do some sort of exercise everyday. Make it a habit! The balls are good to have because they don’t take up a tremendous amount of room, they are extremely versatile, and the whole family can use them.
Now, just do it!!!

The Truth About Ruptured Discs

Dear patient,

Who hasn’t heard the term "ruptured discs"? It is a loosely used expression to describe what may be one of many conditions of a disc that is causing pain or nerve conduction problems. The disc is a cartilaginous pad; actually a ligament that binds one vertebrae to another, and allows the spine to be mobile. Without the discs, the spine would be like a stick. There is in fact a disease process called ankylosing spondylitis in which the discs actually get covered over with bone; fusing one vertebra to the other. This disease is also called "bamboo spine" because the spine takes on the look and function of a bamboo stick. People with this condition have an extreme lack of mobility.
There are two primary areas of concern in the disc. The outer portion called the annular fibrosis (think of the rings of a tree after it has been sawed through). It is made of tough fibrous connective tissue. The fibers of each ring run in the opposite direction of the ring next to it. This gives tremendous strength to the disc. There is an inner gelatinous core to the disc called the nucleus pulposus,(think of jelly in a jelly donut). Many of the problems with discs occur when the core shifts to one side of the disc. This shift can occur over time due to low grade stress ; such as being seated or bent over for extended periods of time. A shift of the inner core material can also occur due to an acute loading of the disc to one side ; such as picking up a very heavy suitcase with one hand. This shifting of the core probably led to the term "slipped disc".
The outer annular rings can break down without any shifting of the core material. This breakdown can occur from twisting type motions especially while holding something heavy. An example of this type injury might occur when picking up a bag of mulch and turning quickly to throw it into a truck bed.
The aging process can lead to drying or what is referred to as "desiccation" of disc fibers causing a break down of the annular rings and eventually shifting the core material through the area of weakness. If the core material shifts to one side of the disc, but remains contained by the annular fibers it is called a "disc protrusion". If the core material "ruptures" out, it is called a disc prolapse. There are variations of naming these protrusions and prolapses which is more detail than we need to get into.
After treating patients for ruptured discs for over 20 years, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of ruptured discs come from abnormal dynamics of the spine. The areas of altered vertebral performance, which cause the disc to rupture, are often times removed from the area of the disc damage. Most doctors focus on the disc as the problem. Injections of steroids or surgery are often performed to no avail since the problem is not the disc itself. The problem is poor dynamic motion in the spine, leading to a focal point of stress on one disc that eventually inflames or ruptures.
The approach I take is to find the area of abnormal spinal performance and restore the motion to as close to normal as possible. This area can be either above or below the disc problem; and at times there are problems both above and below contributing to the dysfunction. Areas of hypomobility (not enough motion) must have movement restored. Optimizing spinal function distributes stress letting the agitated disc rest and heal.
Over 1/3 of the population has a ruptured disc; I have two in my own neck. Just because a physician finds a ruptured disc in the area of your pain does not mean it is the underlying problem; or that you are a candidate for surgery. I suggest you contact a chiropractor before undergoing any surgical procedures for a disc problem. Chiropractic will usually help the problem and is extremely safe. You cannot reverse many of the effects of surgery once it is performed. If chiropractic care fails to remedy your condition, you can always have the surgery.

 

What exactly is arthritis?

Arthritis is a loosely used term. Many of my new patients have been told by their primary doctors that their aches and pains are due to "arthritis." This word "arthritis" covers a lot of territory and comes in many different forms. "Itis" means inflammation of, and "arth" means joint; so the literal interpretation is joint inflammation. There are two major categories of arthritis:
       1. Inflammatory
       2. Non-inflammatory
Inflammatory arthritis is the more serious of the two categories. This group includes rheumatoid arthritis which has an actual blood component called "RA factor." This is the arthritis that leads to the fingers being deformed toward the little finger side or ulnar bone, called ulnar deviation. There are other manifestations but this finger deformation is the most classic sign. Another form of inflammatory arthritis is suppurative. This kind of arthritis occurs when an infection from a cut or abscess spreads into a joint causing inflammation of that joint. Other forms of inflammatory arthritis include gouty arthritis (which most often starts in the big toe), psoriatic arthritis, and dysenteric arthritis.
Non-inflammatory arthritis is commonly called osteoarthritis and/or degenerative joint disease. This is usually the arthritis that doctors are talking about when someone has a chronic complaint of pain in a specific joint. There is a genetically transmitted form of this arthritis also which leads to nodular lumps on the joints just below the fingernails, called Heberden’s Nodes. Osteoarthritis was once thought to be caused by too much movement in a joint causing the joint to wear out. Now research has indicated that lack of motion in the joint causes osteoarthritis as well. To make lab rats arthritic for research, scientists bind the joints of the rats so they cannot be moved. After a few weeks of not using the joint, the joint becomes arthritic. It is because of this finding that the wearing of cervical collars should only be in cases of severe ligamentous damage and joint instability. The collars should be taken off as soon as possible; otherwise, like the rats, arthritis will infiltrate the neck due to the collar restricting the motion of the vertebral joint.
Can chiropractic help arthritis?
Yes. Chiropractic is more effective with some forms of arthritis than others.
It is important to remember that the purpose of chiropractic is to restore nervous system function. Normalizing nerve communication enhances organ and tissue function. If the arthritis is the result of altered organ performance, correction of nerve flow may restore organ function reversing the arthritis. This would be more likely in the inflammatory type arthritides, which are a result of dysfunction somewhere in the body.
Chiropractic is probably most effective with osteoarthritis, which is a consequence of altered joint function. Chiropractic restores joint movement, diminishing the effects of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis usually is initiated from trauma of some kind. It may be an acute type trauma, such as a car collision or sports injury. Micro trauma can lead to degenerative changes also. Holding the phone between your shoulder and ear or watching TV in bed with your head propped up can, over the years, lead to joint injury and arthritic infiltration.
The next time someone says their doctor diagnosed them as having arthritis, ask them what kind of arthritis. Most people are not aware there is a difference. Chiropractic helps in almost all cases of arthritis, especially osteoarthritis; also known as degenerative joint disease. Please inform people suffering from arthritis that there is a drugless option for their condition (approximately 16,000 people die each year from over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil, Motrin and aspirin.). Chiropractic is one, if not the safest, form of primary health care; tell them to give me a call if they would like to discuss their condition. Thanks for your help

DO YOU THINK GRAINS ARE GOOD FOR YOU?

(MAYBE NOT)

Nutrition is an ever-changing field of study. It seems like new theories come and go like the latest pop stars. What is good for you this year is bad for you next year. Remember when eggs and bacon were part of a nutritious breakfast? Then cholesterol became the enemy.  Then Atkins came out with a diet high in fat that actually lowered cholesterol. So what can we believe? 

All we can do is read the latest research; especially that research that is supported by many different sources. Keeping all of this in mind the latest research indicates that grain and grain products (bread, biscuits, muffins, donuts, pasta, tortillas, rice, oatmeal etc.) cause inflammation.  These food groups are high in omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 6 fatty acids cause an increase in the production of the precursors of inflammatory agents in the blood.  We need to eat foods high in omega 3 fatty acids to counteract the effects of omega 6.

Grains have not been around very long (about 10,000 years or so) compared to how long humans have been on the planet (probably 2 millions years). Our genetic code was shaped by the eating habits of these ancestors and has not changed much, but the foods we consume have.

So why are grain foods so popular? One reason is because grains store longer and are cheaper. You can put oatmeal in the pantry and pull it out a year later and cook it and eat it. Try doing that with a salad. As one of my patients said, “That’s because grains are dry and dead while fruits and vegetables are green and alive.”

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, oats and a few other grains. It is not found in rice or corn. Gluten causes a range of symptoms such as headaches, chronic fatigue, digestive complaints (Celiac disease is a serious digestive disorder caused by gluten.) and anemia.

Lectins are proteins found in grains and beans (legumes). These are difficult to digest and cause inflammation of the digestive tract. Recent research indicates that diseases such as arthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, cataracts and autoimmune problems are related to the consumption of lectins.

The pH of our bodies becomes more acidic with the consumption of grains. Grains also contain phytic acid a substance that reduces the absorptions of calcium, magnesium and zinc.

So what do we eat? The more we eat like hunters /gatherers the better off we are. Eat fruits and vegetables raw or lightly cooked. Fresh fish  (try to stay away from farmed salmon  since they tend to be higher in mercury than the wild salmon), wild game and grass fed animals are high in omega 3. Nuts (peanuts not included) such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts eaten raw help fight inflammation.  If you eat eggs try getting the ones high in omega 3 such as Christopher, or Eggland eggs. Don’t use vegetable or peanut oil to cook with. Use olive oil, coconut oil or butter. Butter from grass fed animals is best. If you just have to have bread, try Ezekiel Bread. It can be found in the frozen food sections of some stores  (Kroger has it). The bread is made from sprouts and has no additives or preservatives so it must be kept frozen.

When making changes in health habits be patient.. Remember, if we can improve the healthy things we do by 1% per week, by the end of the year the positive overall effect to our health can be dramatic.

Reference
1 Seaman D. The diet induced pro-inflammatory state: a cause of chronic pain and other degenerative diseases? Journal Manipulative Physiol Ther 2002