One of the simplest video’s to open the mind

Dr. Mercola, if you do not follow him, is a physician and surgeon in Illinois. If you don’t subscribe to his newsletter I encourage you to do so. He is always posting valuable information for alternative healthcare that may literally save your life!

This is one of the first clips I checked out when I visited his website a few years ago. Town of Allopath

I first saw this when I was still in Chiropractic school. This is a great summary of our health care system. I strongly urge you to watch this with an open mind. Sometimes we, as a society, put the blinders on and accept anything that we read or watch in the media as truth. But the truth is that any study or any clinical trial can be true if it is based off of the wrong hypothesis! please watch this short video and leave a comment or impression! I would love to hear your thoughts.

Tags: chiropractic, disease, Facilities, health, Health care, Health Systems, illness, Medicine, Mercola, Philosophy, sick, United States, video, Wellness

A Statin a Day…..

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/22/new-study-show-using-statins-actually-worsens-your-heart-function.aspx

I was reading this article the other day and it is the same old story with a different character. This character is statin drugs, or drugs for lowering cholesterol. now I want to say upfront that I am not anti-medicine. In fact, without medicine and medical intervention, a few people very close to me may be in very different situations right now….

But with that being said, this all comes as no surprise. One of the main findings of this report was that cholesterol drugs, although thought to improve heart function and decrease the risk of heart attacks and stroke actually increase the risk! In a clinical trial, the control group actually showed significantly better systolic function than the statin group.

I must say that this is not a shocker. I see this all the time in practice, and it is the mindset of most Americans. Somehow we believe that taking medications are somehow going to make us healthier. Let me pose a question. If you were healthy and you took these drugs, would they make you healthier or sicker? So what makes you think that being sick would actually make you healthier? Is it possible that there are better choices to make such as change eating and dietary habits before going down this path?

I look at the statistics on health in America and I am shocked that we continually think taht there is a miracle drug out there. By 2015 it is estimated that we will spend over $12,000 per person per year on healthcare! If drugs were the answer, wouldn’t that number be moving in the opposite direction?

I am not telling people to stop taking medication, but want you to at least consider other possibilities. We can’t keep waiting around for some quick fix. It takes a long time to become obese, a long time to develop cardiovascular disease, and to think that a pill can turn that around….Well that is for you to ponder.

Statin therapy decreases myocardial function as evaluated via strain imaging.

Clin Cardiol. 2009 Dec;32(12):684-9.

Related articles

• The deadly secrets of Statins (ascleses.wordpress.com)

Tags: Cholesterol Management, Clinical trial, Drug, health, Medicine, Myocardial infarction, Statin, United States

A Nationwide Debacle

“Life is a dance”. I was lucky enough to sit through a presentation today at a toastmasters meeting that impacted my core being. The 8 minute presentation expressed how important it is to get out of your head, feel the flow of the dance, and your body will know what to do.

Too many times we think that the answer to all of life’s problems comes from an outside source. We rely on the next big scientific discovery to solve all of our ailments, cure all of our diseases, and make us feel better.

“Life is a dance”. Maybe it is time to get out of our heads and allow this amazing body to do the healing. To let our inner force provide the answers to what ails us, and trust in our inner selves that we have everything we need inside of us to be well.

I was going through some old articles I thought were intriguing and came across a reuters report. It is from last year and reveals what a debacle health care has become in this great country of ours. Dead last in healthcare, yet again. Yet we spend twice as much per person on health care then the next developed country!!! How can this be?

We spend more drugs then any country yet are last in heathcare!

A quick run to Giant

Like most American‘s, the work week doesn’t leave me much time for exercise during the day. Usually the day entails waking up before 6 to get to work and not arriving home again till well after 7 at night. It is easy to give up, crash on the couch, and say, “I’ll just get it in tomorrow”. But tomorrow is just another excuse, because the same routine will ensue, and that decision of whether to work out or not will haunt me once again.

The other night after work my girlfriend asked if I wanted to get in a quick run before starting to make dinner which would inevitably not get eaten till after 9. As i sat there wavering, I realized that denying myself that run would do more harm then good. Even just a few minutes would give me that piece of mind, that endorphin realease, and a feeling of accomplishment that is so important. But this night was different, because we needed to grab a few items from the store and that would only cause an even later start for dinner. It was at this point that we decided to kill two birds with one stone. We strapped up Macgyver, our 5 year old golden retriever mix and running partner, and headed out for the jog. We cut our usual run short and instead headed over to Giant to do some shopping. While I entered the store to grab a few bananas, some fresh veggies, and a few other small items, Megan and Macgyver kept jogging. Now it was time to head home, with a few weights in hand to make the treck back just a little more challenging.

Our society has seperated exercise from everyday living, and it makes it seem like another chore on the list. Nowrunning to and from the grocery store is not a typical daily activity, but combining exercise into everyday tasks makes it much more likely to get done. Next time you tell yourself that there ‘isn’t enough time’ to get in that run or that weight lifting session, try to plan out some exercise during the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park a little bit farther away from the office and walk (this will help keep your car from getting dinged up as well!). Focus on good posture while driving and you will need to tighten those core muscles, giving those abs a quick tune up when they would otherwise be taking a break. Stop making excuses and make solutions. Tomorrow will always be there, but why wait for it?

Related Articles

• Squeeze It In: Exercises for Women – Review, Discount Inside and 2 Giveaway Winners – Ends 8/24 (momblognetwork.com)
• 7 Reasons Why Exercise Makes You a Better Person (dietriffic.com)

Carbs, Fats, Whats next, Veggies?

The 90′s brought us fat free foods. The next decade; low or no carbs. We now have trans-fat free! What breakthroughs! Or are they? Our country is now fatter then ever! I was just looking at the CDC statistics and they are fascinating! Congrats Colorado: as of 2009 you were the only continental united state to have obesity rates below 20%! Check out this great video clip that shows the obesity statistics from 1985 till now. It’s hard to argue its genetics, considering the gene pool has been so similar for hundreds of years, and obesity rates have skyrocketed (especially in the US) in just the last 25!

So what’s better? Low fat? Low carb? Genetically modified food with altered levels of HDL‘s, LDL‘s, and a bunch of other things that the average person has never heard of? Personally I would rather stick with real food, not modified, easily digestible and bioavailable (able to be broken down by the body and used to make you tomorrow!) Of course, the nutrients in our fruits and vegetables are not what they used to be, and I recommend a whole food vitamin to all of my patients (check out some great documentaries like King Corn or Food INC. to see what has become of our food).

It’s hard to ignore that statistics, and hard to see people struggling with weight issues that contribute to heath issues. I challenge you to take back what mother nature provided. Eat some more vegetables, more fruit, less stuff in a box, and see what can happen. Look at some other countries; what they eat, obesity rates, and the overall health of different nations. Don’t take my opinion as truth; make your own informed choice.

Related Articles

• Is Your Low-Carb Diet Compromising Your Health? (lifescript.com)
• Is Low Fat Really Better Than Low Carb? (lifescript.com)

Tags: CDC, Cooking, food inc., Genetically modified food, High-density lipoprotein, King Corn, Low-carbohydrate diet, Low-density lipoprotein, Obesity, Special Diets

Diet Schmi-et part 2

“I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacation with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change. “Jim Rohn

I would consider Jim Rohn to be one of my mentors. He has a way of making simple observations seems so profound. Although this entry doesn’t provide a list of what to or what not to eat, I think it is the most essential step in the life changing process. 

The first and what I consider the most important step to changing your eating habits, or to achieve any successful change in your life for that matter is to create some goals for yourself. Now I know the task can be tedious, and might seem like a waste of time, but every successful person understands the power of goals. Darren Hardy, editor of Success Magazine, reveals in his book The Compound Effect the power of goal setting.  Writing down a goal makes it tangible, keeps you motivated, and allows you to see your progress even when it may be sutle. Visit www.thecompoundeffect.com/free to find a phenominal tool for goal writing (If you are looking for a great book to read to motivate and provide you with the information necessary to change your life or to grow your business I sincerely hope you check out the book!)

When writing down your goal, be very specific. Make sure to not only your goal weight, but also a time frame for acheiving this weight. Now for the fun part! Since you have written down the goal it is time for some reflection. What steps must you take to reach this goal? Is ordering that appetizer with dinner really going to help you get to your goal weight? How about that slice of cheese in your omelette tomorrow morning? Why proper goal writing is so key to success? You can’t get where you want to go without a map. Your goals are simply the destination; the road map to get there is the real secret to success!

Your task for the day: Write down your goals

If your goal is to lose 30 pounds, put a time frame on it! How about 30 pounds by January 1, 2011. What about weekly goals? If we started today, that would provide 19 weeks to achieve that goal. That is a pound and a half a week! Surely you can cut out a few calories here and there each week to meet your goal.

The next blog will contain one of my favorite tips for changing your eating habits or any habit for that matter! Thanks to all for checking out this blog and I hope this helps you meet your goals for not only losing weight, but for improving your overall health!

Awaken Your Potential!

Related Articles

• Think Thin, Stay Slim (lifescript.com)
• A few Important Weight reduction Tips (stepbysteptips.com)

Tags: darren hardy, Goal setting, health, Jim Rohn, Motivation, the compound effect, weight loss

Diet Schmi-et!

I see it day in and day out. Patients coming to the office complaining that they just can’t lose weight and keep it off. They have tried everything; the juice diet, Atkin’s diet, the South Beach diet, colon cleansing, liver detox, etc.. If you are like most, you have probably tried one or more of these diets. Now all these approaches will help you lose weight, but the problem seems to always come with keeping the weight off. “ Everyone of these diets tells you what to eat, when to eat it, how often, but they don’t provide you with the tools necessary to succeed. They get you excited about losing weight quickly, but fail to help you tough it out when you start to plateau and become stagnant with your weight loss. What do most people do after 1 month of dieting? If you are like my patients, you give up and go back to the old eating habits you once had.
This series of blogs is for those of you out there frustrated with dieting. Those who have “tried everything” and keep yo-yoing back above your pre-diet weight. Those that want to learn how to eat healthy for the long term; to lose weight, feel great, and best of all, be healthy so that you can enjoy a long energetic life!

Tags: change, Diet, health, nutrition, weight loss