Just because you shop at Whole-Foods or Trader Joe’s doesn’t mean you are consuming healthy products.  Webster defines Marketing – the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.  Not to get too deep into this subject I would like to focus on fresh meats and fresh animal products.  Typically at your local grocery store they have fresh meats that are available in different grades from the USDA. They measure the quality grade a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor). These factors include carcass maturity, firmness, texture, and color of lean, and the amount and distribution of marbling within the lean. Beef carcass quality grading is based on degree of marbling and degree of maturity. Now that being said you would think that USDA prime is top notch, well it is according to the USDA.  What you may no know is these animals are consuming ingredients that are genetically modified grain and soy that are kept at artificially low prices by government subsidies. To further cut costs, the feed may also contain “by-product feedstuff” such as municipal garbage, stale pastry, chicken feathers, and candy. Yes Candy.  They are also being raised in overcrowded confined quarters.  Well you might say well I buy free range meats which is a better choice however, they are still raised in an overcrowded environment and feed GMO grains but in non confined quarters.  Well what the heck do you do?  Eat grass fed or pasture-raised.  It will lower your cholesterol according to this research  Davidson, M. H., D. Hunninghake, et al. (1999). “Comparison of the effects of lean red meat vs lean white meat on serum lipid levels among free-living persons with hypercholesterolemia: a long-term, randomized clinical trial.” Arch Intern Med 159(12): 1331-8. The conclusion of this study: “… diets containing primarily lean red meat or lean white meat produced similar reductions inLDL cholesterol and elevations inHDL cholesterol, which were maintained throughout the 36 weeks of treatment.”

WHAT I thought I was supposed to stay away from red meat, yes if the animal is fed candy and garbage.  We have been fed a lie so you will purchase processed cheap to produce nutrition.   I love the high fructose commercial stating that it come from corn so it is natural.  Natural what?  I have been recommending the Paleo diet for many of my patients.  See if it is right for you.  A great place to start is http://www.paleoplan.com/.  Have fun and remember do not take life too seriously, just keep it simple.

Article Date: Feb 09, 2011

Case Study Quality of Life Improvements and Spontaneous Lifestyle Changes in a  Patient Undergoing Subluxation-Centered Chiropractic Care: A Case Study Yannick Pauli, D.C. Bio [October 11, 2006, pg 1-15]

Purpose of study:  This case study is to report the improvement in quality of life  experienced by a patient undergoing subluxation-centered chiropractic  care.

Clinical Features:  A 36 year old male presented with  primary health concerns of stress,  eye pain and left leg pain of 14 years duration radiating to the foot  and secondary complaints of gastritis, ulcers, nervousness, depression,   lack of concentration and general loss of interest in daily life. The  patient also smokes, does not exercise, eats a sub-optimal diet and  rated his family and friends support, as well as job satisfaction as  sufficient.

Intervention and Outcome:  We discuss the various analyses employed to evaluate vertebral  subluxations, including paraspinal surface electromyography and  thermography. Adjustive care included a combination of Network Spinal  Analysis, Torque Release Technique and diversified structural  adjustments to correct vertebral subluxations over a six month period.  We used visual analog scales, open-ended questions and selected items  from the Self-Rated Health and Wellness Instrument to monitor health  changes, as well as the positive improvements in quality of life as  perceived by the patient himself.

Conclusion:  This case study demonstrates that the correction of vertebral  subluxations over an 11 month period was associated with significant  improvements in the quality of life of the patient.

Chiropractic for Colds and Flu

Chiropractic for colds and flu?  by Tedd Koren, D.C.

But isn’t chiropractic just for back pain? Not at all. Many people who initially visit chiropractors for aches and pains discover to their surprise an improvement in their general health, including no or fewer (and less severe) colds, flu and other respiratory problems.The Chiropractic ApproachChiropractic doesn’t “treat” cold or flu; chiropractic promotes improved body function which creates high natural resistance.  Natural resistance is the only reason why your cold “goes away” rather than lasting for weeks, months or your entire lifetime!

How do chiropractors help raise your natural resistance to disease?

By removing a serious interference to your proper body function: vertebral subluxations.What Are Vertebral Subluxations?Vertebral subluxations (VS) are misaligned vertebrae in your spine that interfere with your nerves and the flow of information and energy between your brain and the rest of your body. VS lowers your natural resistance to disease by unbalancing your nervous system.  You may have a subluxation and never know it.

Chiropractors Adjust Subluxations

Chiropractors perform spinal examinations to detect and locate vertebral subluxations in your body, then correct them by giving chiropractic spinal adjustments. This reduces or relieves your spinal nerve stress and helps restore optimal body functioning for higher resistance to disease, which, we cannot overstate, is the best defense against the common cold.

Clinical features: A 33-year old expectant mother presented 8 months pregnant with her second child. There were no complications with her first pregnancy. A breech presentation was noted by her midwife and vertebral subluxation and muscle spasm were observed upon chiropractic evaluation.

Intervention and Outcomes: The patient was managed utilizing Webster’s Technique and progress was monitored, specifically noting changes in the baby’s position as reported by the midwife between adjustments. The fetus was no longer breech after nine visits and the mother delivered a healthy baby.

Conclusion: This case describes the resolution of a breech presentation and a normal vaginal birth following the administration of Webster’s Technique. More research is needed to determine the nature of outcomes related to the utilization of this technique.

Pamela Stone-McCoy DC Bio, Melissa Sell DC Bio, Krystal Drwencke DC Bio

Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic ~ Volume 2012 ~ Issue 1 ~ Pages 5-11

Clinical Features:  A 15-month-old female patient presented to a chiropractic office after her mother noticed developmental delays in the child. These developmental delays included not standing, walking or talking for her age level. Previous chiropractic care had been sought for complaints of GERD and colic in the child from birth to 5 months of age.  Those complaints had resolved after she received three chiropractic adjustments, once a month for three consecutive months. 

Krishma Guliani DC Bio & Drew Rubin, DC, CCSP, DACCP Bio

Interventions and Outcomes:  Patient was examined and management included using Infant Toggle Headpiece and Logan Basic protocol.  Vertebral subluxations were identified at C1 and sacrum.   Adjustments along with cranial work and rehabilitation exercises were also used as an adjunct to care.  Improvements were noted after 18 visits as the patient was able to walk unassisted and speak 3-4 words in Greek and English. GERD and Colic had resolved after she received three chiropractic adjustments, once a month for three consecutive months. 

Conclusion: The case of a 15 month old female with developmental delays, colic, and GERD is presented.  Significant improvements were noted following the introduction of chiropractic care.  More research is warranted in the area of developmental delays, colic and GERD and the benefits of chiropractic care for the pediatric population.

“My son, Blair, was born without ears. The two physicians who brought him into the world warned me that Blair would always be a deaf mute. I warned them my son would eventually have his hearing 100%.
“the true story could not be told until the two physicians who brought him into the world had died, because they were Blair’s uncles and they objected to the way and method of bringing complete recovery of his hearing.
“Up to the age of 18 months, Blair could not hear a sound. We had tried every known test and Blair had been examined by many specialists… all who said he would never hear.
“Then a ‘miracle’ began to happen. I took Blair to a chiropractor who began giving him adjustments (against the objections of his mother and other relatives). By the end of the first month, and after adjustments three times weekly, we knew that Blair was beginning to hear. He would turn his head to listen when I clapped my hands behind his back.”
“The adjustments continued until Blair was 4 years old. By that time, chiropractic had developed 65% of his natural hearing capacity… enough to get him through grade school, high school, and three years in the University of West Virginia.
“The Acousticion Company, manufacturer of hearing aids, heard about Blair’s miraculous improvement in hearing through chiropractic and made a special hearing aid for him which gave him 100% hearing capacity.
“Blair is living a normal life, thanks to my having stood my ground for chiropractic adjustments when others around me were fighting me and the chiropractor.
“I began taking chiropractic adjustments along with Blair and I have continued to do so for the past 50 years. Perhaps this explains why, at the age of 85, my annual physical checkup fits perfectly with the health pattern of a man not over 50 years of age.”
“I take chiropractic adjustments regularly… not to get well, but to keep from getting sick.
“With this public statement, I have paid a long overdue debt which I have owed to chiropractic for saving my son from going through life as a deaf mute and myself from being an ‘old’ man at the age of 85.”

Last month, a government panel recommended an end to routine PSA screenings. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force found limited evidence that screening average men boosts survival. That’s
largely because so many men are diagnosed with slow-growing tumors that never
would have killed them. Still, they have treatments that can cause incontinence,
impotence or even lead to death.

Health care has become more about diagnostics than treatment, however the diagnostics themselves could lead to more costly treatments and complications.

One of my favorite commetns is American Cancer Society’s Dr. Len Lichtenfeld says “We have cells in our body that are abnormal all the time, and our bodies deal
with it,” he says. “Our technology takes us further and further down the
early-detection path, and we need to sort through all this.”

By Marlene Merritt, DOM, LAc, ACN

What I’ve seen in my years of adding nutrition to my practice, is that a lot of people “know” certain things about food. “Know” in the sense that we don’t question the thought anymore. Like we “knew” that low-fat diets were healthy, right? (see my article titled “Big, Fat Lies” in December).

Or that we “know” eggs can raise your cholesterol. So let’s look at a big myth that when you actually learn all the facts, makes you wonder how we got so bamboozled.

Let’s start with the myth that soy is a health food. Years ago, China and Japan planted soy beans, NOT as food for people, but for the sole reason of returning nitrogen to the soil since growing rice was especially nitrogen-depleting. They knew better than to eat soy, as it was particularly difficult to digest, causing gas and bloating. However, at some point someone figured out that if you buried it for six months and fermented it, it didn’t cause those symptoms. And so miso, tempeh, soy sauce, and natto were created.

Soy made its way to the United States in the 1900s, where Dr. John Harvey Kellogg – the breakfast cereal king – championed the health benefits of the legume and railed against the evils of meat. Henry Ford spent $1.2 million in an effort to make soy plastics and a soy car, and Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were busy promoting soybeans in traditional foods (flours, polenta, etc.) Soy products in the West are treated very differently than they are in the East — soy is a product of the industrial revolution and is an opportunity for science to develop cheap meat substitutes, to put soy in familiar food products, and to produce soy-based pharmaceuticals. Soy wasn’t even seriously considered for food until World War II shortages created a demand for cheap protein. It has been touted as healthy for decades, and the vegetarian population has embraced this, without really knowing the implications of ingesting soy.

Soy Facts

There are a couple of reasonably well-known facts about soy that bear repeating here. One, soy is the second-most genetically modified crop in the United States, with corn being the first. Secondly, it’s very difficult to digest for most people — and why is that?

Soy is the only legume that, despite soaking, sprouting and slow cooking, will NEVER neutralize its “anti-nutrients.” These anti-nutrients include phytates, protease inhibitors, lectins and saponins and are all developed for protection of the seed and plant, but those protections cause a huge number of problems for digestion. What do those anti-nutrients do to you?

Here are some examples:

Phytates — these block seeds from sprouting too early. The high levels in soy bind tightly to calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc, leading to everything from osteoporosis, anemia, and immune deficiency, among other things.

Protease inhibitors — prevent seeds from being digested, and interfere with pancreatic enzymes, especially trypsin and chymotrypsin. Heat will denature some, but not all,in soy. Protease inhibitors can cause cell proliferation in the pancreas as it becomes overworked to produce the digestive enzymes that are being inhibited.

Saponins — cause the soap-like suds when seeds are in water. They contribute to damaging of the intestinal mucosa, along with lectins, causing “leaky gut,” interfere with digestive enzymes trypsin, chymotrypsin and succinate dehydrogenase, and may also be goitrogenic. They stick like glue to the soy protein and no food processing method will work to remove them.

Oxalates — bind tightly with minerals, especially calcium. While spinach and rhubarb are highest in oxalates, most people will not eat them excessively. High amounts over the recommendation of 10 mg (textured soy protein has the highest at 638 mg per serving) cause kidney stones. Also can be poisonous — for example, the oxalates in sheep’s sorrel will kill you if you eat too much of that plant.
So why is this a big deal? Not enough zinc affects growth, immunity, intelligence, wound healing and 300 other enzymes. Iron deficiency leads to anemia and reduced thyroid function. Claims that plant-based diets provide enough calcium is severely undercut if those diets also include soy, leading to osteoporosis. Yes, adding calcium and zinc to soy milk is ridiculous, and yet the manufacturers say nothing. Eat a little bit here and there, and soy doesn’t pose much of a problem, but more than that, and digestive lining damage occurs, as well as a myriad of other problems.

And what about all that gas? The oligosaccharides raffinose and stachyose are the ones responsible for the flatulence that results when most people eat soy, and again, preparation with soaking, sprouting or cooking does not neutralize them. Beano is a product that contains the enzyme required to break down raffinose and will work for some people, but not for others. Either way, that doesn’t change soy’s interference with mineral absorption.

That difficulty in digestion would be avoided if soy were fermented. The problem is, most people are not ingesting fermented soy — they’re taking it in as soy milk, or tofu, or textured vegetable protein (TVP) or as an additive to other foods. And that’s just talking about the digestive problems with soy — there are other significant problems as well.

Beyond Digestion

For babies, the effect of soy is especially damaging — it has been linked to pediatric and autoimmune thyroid problems, aluminum toxicity, and early puberty. As I said earlier, as a trypsin inhibitor, it affects protein digestion and pancreatic function. Soy increases the requirements for vitamin D, reduces the bioavailability of zinc, iron and the other minerals as mentioned earlier, and lacks cholesterol, which is vital for brain development (breast milk has six times the daily amount of adult requirements). And yet, soy is used in a huge percentage of baby formula — why? Well, where are you going to put a “health” food that is our second largest crop?

Adults also get detrimental physiological effects of soy. The thyroid is very negatively affected by soy — this has been known for over 60 years. Hypothyroidism and goiters are directly associated with intake of soy, and its isoflavones. While hypothyroidism can be caused by deficient iodine intake, as well as from adrenal stress, if a patient is ingesting soy, it must definitely be removed from the diet before any improvement can occur.

You may have patients who have had breast cancer and their oncologists have recommended against ingesting soy. Or their health food store “expert” said it was helpful for hot flashes. That’s because soy is a phytoestrogen (it’s particular type is isoflavones) — it gives SOME estrogen response in the body. It’s argued that it binds to the estrogen receptor sites, preventing stronger estradiol from causing damage, and it’s also argued that phytoestrogens are estrogen modulators, but either way, there’s an estrogenic effect that needs to be taken into account.

How about accelerated brain aging? It’s being hypothesized that the isoflavones are contributing to diminished cognitive ability, doubling the chances of being clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and has shown brain atrophy and lower brain weights. This particular study is considered by fellow researchers not on the soy industry payroll “one of the more robust, well-designed prospective epidemiological studies generally available.”

Counter-Intuitive

All of this seems crazy, in the face of the happy families drinking soy milk on television, doesn’t it? If you were to believe the marketing, you’d think you can’t get enough of “healthy soy.” I’ll say this again, and again — don’t fall for marketing.

Regarding soy lecithin — lecithin is a vital nutrient that protects cells, reverses liver damage, improves brain function and memory AND the best source for that is egg yolks. While soy lecithin is a waste product coming from soy oil production, it’s not usually a problem, even for people allergic or sensitive to soy. It’s probably more important to avoid soy protein and soy oil than the occasional product with soy lecithin.

Take a look at the ingredient list next time you’re at a grocery store. Soy is mixed into other oils (good luck finding a salad dressing, even in health food stores, that doesn’t use soy oil), soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein are used in imitation foods, commercial baked goods, diet beverages, meal replacements and fast food products. Check your bread the next time you buy some from the store — and don’t be surprised to find soy in it. Soy is used extensively in school lunch programs, senior citizen centers, and any other program that uses processed, industrial-developed food. Please protect your health and the health of your family — educate yourself fully on what you eat, even if you think you really “know” it’s good for you.

For more information about the damaging effects of soy, read “The Whole Soy Story” by Dr. Kaayla Daniel, PhD, CCN.