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Our 4 Week Class Teaches You How To Start The New Year Right: Sign Up By Christmas and Save

December 19, 2011 | Filed under: Dr Cohen,General Interest,Nutrition

My practice gets you out of pain and back to what you love doing by considering the whole picture. In addition to the musculo-skeletal problems you expect your chiropractor to note, I look at how your diet or emotional stress may be interfering with your system hindering your ability to recover and heal efficiently.

ProActive Chiropractic, in San Francisco, will run a cutting-edge nutrition class in January 2012 the will teach you simple ways to clean up your system therefore helping improve energy and complement your exercise goals for the new year.

To make it reasonable in the midst of the financial stress of the holiday season, we are offering a special: register with a friend by Christmas and we’ll waive the second registration fee! That’s two for the price of one! Email or call us (415-762-8141) to get more information.

Become your own Health Champion™ with assistance from Detox 360°™, an integrative new detox system. Look great, renew your health, and energize your life!

There are many different detoxes or cleanses out there now. I researched a ton of them, narrowed the field to the three that most closely match my practice’s priorities and goals, and tried  out those three. I even tried them on my wife before I settled on Detox 360°™. The supplies provided by Detox 360°™ best fit my practice because the supplements are cleanest and most honest and the materials share my focus on educating patients to keep themselves out of the doctor’s office. Over four sessions (Thursdays in January at 6pm), I will lead support sessions to help you through the detoxification and show you how to make long-term changes that will benefit you long after you’ve finished the cleanse.

Do You…

  • Experience headaches or migraines?
  • Feel fatigued or sluggish?
  • Have aching joints or muscles?
  • Feel your weight is getting out of control?
  • Feel unfocused or foggy?
  • Have digestive problems?

If so, the Detox 360°™ program can help renew your sense of well-being. Read about the program’s unique, multi-pronged approach to learn how Detox 360°™ differs from other detox methods.

Why Should I Detoxify?

Never before in human history have we been exposed to so many environmental toxins! The air we breathe and the chemicals in our food, water, houses, and workplaces, as well as the various products we put on our bodies, all expose us to environmental toxins. Low-level bioaccumulation from multiple sources, building up year after year, increases our toxic load. This may result in symptoms such as fatigue, rashes, brain fog, etc., manageable at first, but then gradually may result in degenerative disorders, autoimmune, neurological dysfunction, and hormonal imbalances. Our bodies are equipped to neutralize these toxins and clear them out or store them.

Our detoxification organs—kidneys, liver, lymph, lungs, intestines, and skin—work hard each day to address such exposure. However, due to factors such as genetics, stress levels, dietary issues, lifestyle practices, nutritional balance, and exposure levels, our ability to neutralize and excrete these toxins may vary. Unless we take active steps to address toxic exposure, our health may be affected to varying degrees.

The best approach is to fight this problem on many fronts. A simple cleansing diet or supplements, although helpful, may not be enough to make a major difference. The Detox 360°™ program has been designed by healthcare and nutrition experts to provide a coordinated, multifaceted answer.

More Than a Cleansing Program

Detox 36°™ is a multifaceted foundational system, which incorporates many important clinical considerations in its planning and design. It addresses several key areas such as allergies, inflammation, toxicity, systemic and metabolic stress, mental-emotional stress, susceptibility factors, and much more. It is primarily a lifestyle-changing program, which helps anchor health-promoting habits and dietary adjustments that can become a new way of life, or may be used periodically to take advantage of its dramatic benefits. It can be used as a stand-alone program, or in conjunction with the therapeutic regimen recommended by your healthcare practitioner. The goal of Detox 360°™ is to provide a clinically tested system of dietary and lifestyle recommendations, with supportive formulas, which when used together, will have a significant impact on your health.

Detox 360

This 4-week program includes educational DVDs, a highly detailed manual with easy-to-use food guides and recipes, daily journals, detailed explanations of toxicity sources, detox mechanisms, detox-promoting lifestyle practices, targeted nutrition, as well as supportive therapeutics. You are taken through a simple, step-by-step approach with clear explanations of how to complete each week’s regimen.

About the Detox 360°™ Process

In just a few weeks, you can begin to experience results and look forward to continued improvement. The Detox 360˚™ program includes:

  1. Dietary support of the body’s detox processes, emphasizing whole foods and eliminating known inflammatory and allergenic foods
  2. Lifestyle practices, such as regular exercise, healthy sleep habits, etc. that support detoxification
  3. Support of liver detox pathways
  4. Stimulating kidneys, lymphs and liver through physician-formulated homeopathic drainage formulas

Testimonials

“My nutrition practitioner recommended a food elimination and detoxification program (Detox 360°™). After four weeks, I was out of pain for the first time in years.”
- Suzanne K, School Superintendent

“I was suffering from depression and unmanageable perimenopause symptoms. My health practitioner suggested the Detox 360°™™ program, and it was amazing to see my depression disappear and my hot flashes become bearable.”
- Sheri S., Home Health Nurse

The content and images on this page are property of Detox 360°™

Posted via email from ProActive Chiropractic in San Francisco, California

Sid Crosby Concussion Helped by Chiropractor

December 14, 2011 | Filed under: Celebrities and Chiropractic,General Interest,Video

Chiropractic Neurology Addresses Symptoms Concussion: Specialized Intervention Speeds Recovery for NHL’s Sidney Crosby

After a traumatic vestibular concussion resulted in year-long symptoms of instability, fogginess, dizziness and light sensitivity, National Hockey League (NHL) standout Sidney Crosby has reported improved cognitive and physical functioning and is progressing remarkably well, thanks to the care of a Doctor of Chiropractic with specialized training in neurology. The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress calls upon all coaches, parents and athletes to learn concussion signs and symptoms and what to do if a concussion occurs. “In professional hockey alone, there are more than 50,000 hits annually, and far too many of these are serious injuries to the head,” says Dr. Ted Carrick, the Chiropractic Neurologist who treats Crosby and other NHL and NFL players. Dr. Carrick is the Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Life University, Marietta, Ga., and points to vestibular concussions as a national epidemic requiring a resolution.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Concussions can also occur from a fall or a blow to the body that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth. Health care professionals may describe a concussion as a “mild” brain injury because concussions are usually not life-threatening, but their effects can be serious.

“Concussions can occur in any sport or recreation activity,” says Dr. Carrick, a spokesperson for the Foundation. “Many people who suffer these injuries suffer seemingly irreparable symptoms that affect their daily activities and performance. With experience specific to the neurological system, our specially trained team utilizes an exclusive neurologically-based intervention that oftentimes is successful in the recovery process.”

According to the Foundation, board certified Chiropractic Neurologists are specialists within the chiropractic profession that receive an additional three years of specialty training following a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, to specifically deal with the functional integrity of the brain and nervous system. Treatment methods are brain-based, non-invasive, drug-free physical rehabilitation, using receptor-based stimulation, such as chiropractic adjustments, movement, light, taste and smell, in conjunction with nutritional therapies, exercise and rehabilitation. Collectively, these approaches work to re-establish balance as well as maximal brain and nervous system functionality.

According to Dr. Marc Ellis, a board certified Chiropractic Neurologist on Dr. Carrick’s Life University clinical team who also represents the Foundation, “Concussions and their debilitating effects have been receiving increased attention, particularly with professional athletes sidelined because of the lasting effects of a concussion. The issue has also become a flashpoint in youth sports – especially bicycling, football, playground activities, basketball and soccer.”
According to a recent report by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, more than 500,000 concussions are sustained by the 4.4 million children who play tackle football. Dr. Susan Esposito, another expert from the Life University Neurology Clinic shares, “Our society needs to place greater emphasis on prevention, while continuing to address those who experience concussions resulting from sports injuries, car accidents or other mishaps – especially our youth. This approach will not only have a major impact on professional and amateur athletes, but also the health of all Americans.”

Read more in the The Boston Globe

Notes from Dr. Cohen: In recent years, the increased focus on concussions has provided the healthcare community with ever-improving knowledge of how best to manage concussions. Determining the ideal time to return an athlete to play is key to achieving an optimal recovery. As the National Hockey League knows, pre-season physicals and brain function tests are useful tools to aid physicians, coaches, and athletes deciding when a player can return to the field, track, or court. I use SCAT-2 testing, designed by The Zurich Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport, and endorsed by The International Olympic Committee. The test is a standard element of a pre-season physical performed in my San Francisco office, ProActive Chiropractic. Currently, I’m becoming a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician, a post-doctoral degree that enables me to better care for athletes and get them back to work and back to play!

10 Worst Breakfast Desserts, I Mean Cereals.

December 7, 2011 | Filed under: General Interest,Kids,Nutrition

“Most parents say no to dessert for breakfast, but many children’s cereals have just as much sugar as a dessert— or more”, says the Environmental Working Group.

The 10 cereals with the highest sugar content (by percentage weight) are:

  • Kellogg’s Honey Smacks (55.6%)
  • Post Golden Crisp (51.9%)
  • Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow (48.3%)
  • Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries (46.9%)
  • Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original (44.4%)
  • Quaker Oats Oh!s (44.4%)
  • Kellogg’s Smorz (43.3%)
  • Kellogg’s Apple Jacks (42.9%)
  • Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries (42.3%)
  • Kellogg’s Fruit Loops Original (41.4%)

The EWG just published a wonderful report addressing this issue and giving healthy alternatives (remember protein is crucial at breakfast). Spend a few minutes going through it, especially if you’re a parent and your kids eat dessert for breakfast, I mean cereal.

Avoid These 7 Foods Like the Plague

December 6, 2011 | Filed under: Dr Cohen,General Interest,Nutrition

This is a great article to pique your curiosity and awareness. I imagine a few of you are familiar with this from conversations we have had at ProActive Chiropractic (e.g. corn fed beef and farmed salmon) but for some it may be a surprise. Luckily living in San Francisco there are lots of good alternatives.

7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips

Is your food loaded with toxins and chemicals? Here, simple swaps to protect yourself

Available at: http://www.prevention.com/tips/nutrition/7-foods-should-never-cross-your-lips

Which foods should you avoid?
Clean eating means choosing fruits, vegetables, and meats that are raised, grown, and sold with minimal processing. Often they’re organic, and rarely (if ever) should they contain additives. But in some cases, the methods of today’s food producers are neither clean nor sustainable. The result is damage to our health, the environment, or both. So we decided to take a fresh look at food through the eyes of the people who spend their lives uncovering what’s safe—or not—to eat. We asked them a simple question: “What foods do you avoid?” Their answers don’t necessarily make up a “banned foods” list. But reaching for the suggested alternatives might bring you better health—and peace of mind.
1. Canned Tomatoes
Fredrick Vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, gives us the scoop: The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. “You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.” The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe’s and Pomi. Budget tip: If your recipe allows, substitute bottled pasta sauce for canned tomatoes. Look for pasta sauces with low sodium and few added ingredients, or you may have to adjust the recipe.
2. Corn-Fed Beef
Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming, gives us the scoop: The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. But more money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. “We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure,” says Salatin. The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers’ markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It’s usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don’t see it, ask your butcher. Budget tip: Cuts on the bone are cheaper because processors charge extra for deboning. You can also buy direct from a local farmer, which can be as cheap as $5 per pound. To find a farmer near you, search eatwild.com. Get Healthy Beef Recipes
3. Microwave Popcorn
Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group, gives us the scoop: The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize—and migrate into your popcorn. “They stay in your body for years and accumulate there,” says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then. The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix. Budget tip: Popping your own popcorn is dirt cheap.
Note from Dr. Cohen: I prefer an air popper than cooking it in a skillet because it’s less greasy and more efficient.
4. Nonorganic Potatoes
Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board, gives us the scoop: The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes—the nation’s most popular vegetable—they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. ” Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.” The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn’t good enough if you’re trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh. Budget tip: Organic potatoes are only $1 to $2 a pound, slightly more expensive than conventional spuds.
5. Farmed Salmon
David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish, gives us the scoop: The problem: Nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. “You could eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. “It’s that bad.” Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals. The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it’s farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon. Budget tip: Canned salmon, almost exclusively from wild catch, can be found for as little as $3 a can.
6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones
Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society, gives us the scoop: The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. “When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract,” says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. “There’s not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans,” admits North. “However, it’s banned in most industrialized countries.” The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products. Budget tip: Try Wal-Mart’s Great Value label, which does not use rBGH.
7. Conventional Apples
Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods, gives us the scoop: The problem: If fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don’t develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that it’s just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. “Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers,” he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson’s disease. The solution: Buy organic apples. Budget tip: If you can’t afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them. But Kastel personally refuses to compromise. “I would rather see the trade-off being that I don’t buy that expensive electronic gadget,” he says. “Just a few of these decisions will accommodate an organic diet for a family.” Get more tips on how to go organic without breaking the bank http://www.prevention.com/budgetorganic
Note from Dr. Cohen: I would put conventional strawberries with apples because they are very high in pesticides and extremely difficult to wash (or peel for that matter).
Copyright December 2011, Prevention

Tips for Those Who Want To Start a Weight Training Program

November 30, 2011 | Filed under: General Interest

First off, I think you should start with a trainer who really knows their stuff.  I recommend you start with 2-3 sessions so they can teach you healthy lifting techniques. Believe me -  training research has changed and taught us many new things since you were in high school. Therefore, if you haven’t worked out with a trainer in 10 years, do so.

If you have worked out with a trainer and have just taken a long break and forgot how much weight to start lifting, this is a good tip:

Body weight can serve as guideline or starting point to identify the weight that beginning adult lifters, performing three sets of lifts, should perform to get started:

Barbell Squat                     45% of body weight

Universal leg press            50% of body weight

Barbell bench press           30% of body weight

Universal bench press       30% of body weight

Universal leg extension    20% of body weight

t Leg extension                    20% of body weight

Universal leg curl              15% of body weight

Upright rowing                  20% of body weight

Newer lifting techniques integrate more than one body part at a time, which has many benefits that can be applied to sports. Talk to me if you have any questions.  Going through the Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician program gave me many tools and techniques to help you achieve your workout goals, whether it’s recommending a fabulous trainer or giving you tips to improve your current workout.

Secret Health Risks They Aren’t Telling You About: Antibiotics and Vaccines

November 28, 2011 | Filed under: Drugs,General Interest,Nutrition

There are not many people writing about the potential down sides of vaccines and antibiotics but it’s worth noting. This is a great article written by Health Realizations, Inc:

Two of the top man-made medical breakthroughs in the past 100 years may also be two of the deadliest and most harmful to you and your loved ones. Further, odds are nearly 100% that you and your loved ones have already been treated with these two “breakthroughs” — and may be at risk of the effects now or in the years to come.

Three-quarters of U.S. children have taken antibiotics by the time they’re 2 years old. What does this mean for their future health?

1. Antibiotics

Antibiotics can work wonders when they’re prescribed for bacterial infections like pneumonia, tuberculosis and meningitis. In this way they truly have been a breakthrough that has saved countless numbers of lives.

The problem with antibiotics is that they are often prescribed to treat viruses — against which they are useless. Viruses like upper respiratory infections, measles, mumps, chickenpox, flu, and gastroenteritis are all viral infections, which antibiotics do nothing for.

Antibiotics, however, do kill bacteria, and they do this quite well. The problem is that they not only kill the bad bacteria that may be causing your illness, but they also kill ALL bacteria, including the good kind in your digestive tract that your body needs, leaving barren territory for all sorts of trouble to brew.

If you have taken antibiotics unnecessarily, for a virus, for instance, you may have therefore killed off all of the good bacteria in your system.

You are exposed to antibiotics not only by prescription medications, but also in animal food products and possibly your drinking water. In fact, about 70 percent of all antibiotics produced in the United States are given to livestock and poultry, which you then feed to your family.

Further, when drugs are excreted in waste, the compounds linger in the environment. In the case of livestock waste, the antibiotic-laced manure is spread directly onto farm crops as fertilizer. From there it may run off into nearby streams.

The result is that bacteria is able to mutate into strains that are resistant to the widely spread antibiotics, paving the way for infections that cannot be easily cured.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2 million people in hospitals get infections each year, which cause 90,000 deaths. Of these, more than 70 percent of the bacteria that causes these infections are resistant to at least one common antibiotic that is typically used to treat them.

New research from the University of Iowa found a new strain of MRSA in 70 percent of hogs and 64 percent of workers on farms that routinely use antibiotics. Experts are now realizing that these drug-resistant bacteria can spread via the food supply, water runoff and other methods, potentially putting the entire population at risk.

(Stay tuned for an upcoming article on this rapidly growing man-made antibiotic health risk that is causing MRSA outbreaks across the U.S.!)

2. Vaccines

Vaccines commonly contain toxic additives including aluminum, mercury, antibiotics, formaldehyde and MSG.

Like antibiotics, vaccines have been touted as a medical breakthrough that has saved many lives. However, recently there has been growing concern that the country’s one-size-fits all, and sometimes mandatory, vaccination policies are not in the best interest of your individual health.

For starters, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) points out that vaccines bypass your body’s natural processes for establishing immunity, leading to what some experts call “artificial immunity.” NVIC states:

“Vaccines provide temporary immunity and sometimes vaccines fail to provide even temporary immunity for some individuals. Because vaccination does not exactly mimic the immunity produced after natural infection, which is often longer-lasting or permanent, booster doses of vaccines are often required to extend vaccine-induced immunity.”

Another issue of concern is the potentially dangerous ingredients added to vaccines. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Chemicals are added to vaccines to inactivate a virus or bacteria and stabilize the vaccine, helping to preserve the vaccine and prevent it from losing its potency over time.”

The CDC continues:

“Chemicals commonly used in the production of vaccines include a suspending fluid (sterile water, saline, or fluids containing protein); preservatives and stabilizers (for example, albumin, phenols, and glycine); and adjuvants or enhancers that help improve the vaccine’s effectiveness. Vaccines may also contain very small amounts of the culture material used to grow the virus or bacteria used in the vaccine, such as chicken egg protein.”

It says right on the CDC’s own Web page that the following ingredients are commonly added to vaccines. You may notice that most of these additives are potentially toxic, and likely substances you do not want injected into your (or your child’s) body:

  • Aluminum gels or salts of aluminum, which are added as adjuvants to help  stimulate a better response to the vaccine.
  • Antibiotics, which are added to some vaccines to prevent the growth of germs (bacteria) during production and storage of the vaccine.
  • Egg protein is found in influenza and yellow fever vaccines, which are prepared using chicken eggs. Ordinarily, persons who are able to eat eggs or egg products safely can receive these vaccines.
  • Formaldehyde is used to inactivate bacterial products for toxoid vaccines, (these are vaccines that use an inactive bacterial toxin to produce immunity).  It is also used to kill unwanted viruses and bacteria that might contaminate the vaccine during production.
  • Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and 2-phenoxy-ethanol, which are used as stabilizers in a few vaccines to help the vaccine remain unchanged when the vaccine is exposed to heat, light, acidity, or humidity.
  • Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative that is added to vials of vaccine that contain more than one dose to prevent contamination and growth of potentially harmful bacteria.

The bottom line is that vaccination is not a foolproof way to avoid disease. The shots do cause side effects, and sometimes those side effects are serious, even deadly.

This is why NVIC continues to ask, “Is the atypical manipulation of the immune system with more and more vaccines in early life setting some children up for chronic disease and disability? Is less better?”

They point out that American children are the most highly vaccinated children in the world (receiving 49 doses of 14 vaccines before the age of 6), and are also among the most chronically ill and disabled. The CDC admits that one in six U.S. children is now developmentally delayed. NVIC also points out:

  • During the past quarter century, the number of children with learning disabilities, ADHD, asthma and diabetes has more than tripled.
  • More than twice as many children have chronic brain and immune system dysfunction today than did in the 1970s when half as many vaccines were given to children.

So before you decide to get vaccinated (or vaccinate your children) make sure you’re informed of the risks and alternatives first.

Already Taken Antibiotics and Received Vaccines?

You’re far from alone.

The vast majority of Americans have received all of the CDC’s recommended vaccines (along with their toxic additives). Further, 63 percent of U.S. children have taken antibiotics before their first birthday, and 75 percent have gotten their first dose within two years of birth.

So what can you do to protect your health from these potentially toxic assaults?

Fortify Your Body With Probiotics

Give Your Body the Good Bacteria it Craves


You can help fortify your gut health (and your family’s gut health) with these superb probiotics

Donna Gates, nutritional consultant, points out that, fortunately for us, our bodies are remarkably intelligent and quite capable of keeping us healthy if we give them the right “tools.” The key to fighting off illness within your body (this includes not only bacterial infections but also viruses too) is to balance the good and bad bacteria in your gut.

Probiotic supplements have recently become increasingly popular in the United States for this reason, but there’s another way to get good bacteria in your system — and it’s quite tasty! Cultured foods, things like kefir (a fermented milk drink that tastes like tart yogurt) and traditionally fermented sauerkraut, natto and other vegetables are among the best sources of probiotics around.

This is especially important if you have taken antibiotics. Gates says:

“It is absolutely essential to eat probiotic foods and drink probiotic beverages like kefir if you must take an antibiotic. They are a much smarter “antibiotic,” as nature, which is far smarter than humans, has equipped them with the innate ability to know which bad bacteria to attack, and which bacteria to leave alone.

If you consume them during antibiotic therapy, they will continually replace the good bacteria that the antibiotics wipe out. Then continue eating them for a minimum of three months to ensure that you renew a new, healthy “inner ecosystem” in your intestines. Best yet, incorporate these delicious new foods into your diet forever. You’ll be very glad you did.”

So whichever method you choose (choosing both the supplements and the cultured foods is best), be sure that your body is getting a steady source of good bacteria. Once your gut is balanced and healthy, you’ll have to worry much less about illness in the first place, because at this point your immune system will be functioning at its optimal, disease-fighting level.

In choosing a probiotic supplement for yourself, choose one of a high therapeutic dose if you have been on a round of antibiotics.

It can be used where a more aggressive therapeutic approach is required, such as if you are coming off antibiotic therapy. Probiotic Supreme™ delivers 15 billion organisms per dose in a caplet form and uses a patented delivery system to ensure delivery of the highest number of live organisms to your intestinal tract.

Studies have shown that probiotics may be helpful with both immune system modulation and allergies, plus they’re imperative if you’ve recently been on antibiotic therapy. It’s a simple step that may help keep you and your family in the best health possible.

Detox Your Body of Heavy Metals From Vaccines

Along with taking probiotics to fortify your gut health, we highly recommend detoxing heavy metal toxins from your body on a regular basis.

There are many ways of removing toxic chemicals heavy heavy metals from your body, but most of them involve expensive treatments where a doctor injects you with drugs or vitamins intravenously via a drip. Many of these drugs will also strip the good minerals from your body, something that is not recommended since it is difficult to replenish these important substances.

Like other chemicals, heavy metals can accumulate in your body not only from vaccines, but also from silver dental fillings, contaminated seafood and other foods, cosmetics, pollution, contaminated water, and other sources, so it would be wise to disarm this potential “time-bomb” now before it causes serious illness in the future.

Since most of you reading this have likely already been exposed to the secret health risks of antibiotics and vaccines described above (and probably for many years now), consider asking me in my San Francisco office about detox options and probiotics to rebuild healthy flora.

Thinking Outside the Rx Pad- Our healthcare system needs healing…from its addiction to drugs.

November 23, 2011 | Filed under: General Interest

I love this article because it touches on the many ways I can help people even if they don’t have back pain. Daily I help manage diabetes, cognitive decline, blood pressure, cholesterol, hyperlipidemia, and osteoporosis.

The article was written by Bill Morgan, DC who is a chiropractor for Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Most healthcare money is spent on conditions resulting from lifestyle choices, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, certain cancers, osteoporosis, hyperlipidemia, sexually transmitted diseases, pulmonary disease, hearing loss, skin cancers and vascular diseases. We spend billions for treatment of easily prevented diseases, instead of seriously promoting prevention.

Managing Conditions Without Medication
Do the drug companies have a vested interest in having our nation’s health care based on treatment vs. wellness and prevention? The answer is obvious. The drug companies continue to brainwash our country and our physicians that health can come from chemistry. The system is fully willing to pay millions for kidney dialysis, an amputation or an organ transplant that may be required as a consequence of diabetes, but it does not have the fortitude to confront the lifestyle changes that could prevent diabetes and its many consequences.

As doctors of chiropractic integrate into mainstream health care, it is our responsibility to hold true to our banner of patient empowerment, personal responsibility and self-management of health. We need to continually remind our patients and our medical colleagues that an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure.

Here is a succinct but impressive list of conditions that are much easier to prevent with lifestyle changes than treat with drugs and procedures:

Diabetes
Adult-onset diabetes and metabolic syndrome, especially in the early stages, can be effectively managed or even reversed with diet, exercise and weight loss. Yet, these syndromes are poised to break the national bank as the number of obese Americans continues to balloon, and with it, the number of patients with adult-onset diabetes.

Cognitive Decline
Mental exercise and stimulation may slow cognitive decline when used along with physical exercise, proper diet and adequate sleep. Currently, physical exercise and activity have the greatest supportive evidence for slowing cognitive decline.

Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and Hyperlipidemia
Exercise, weight loss and diet can control or at least aid in the control of these conditions. Of course, lowering dietary sodium is also cited for affecting elevated blood pressure.

Osteoporosis
While taking calcium does not reverse osteoporosis, a lack of calcium (and other nutrients) can contribute to the development of this disease. Weight-bearing exercise along with diet seems to be the natural treatment of choice.

Depression
Exercise, adequate sleep, diet, temperance, sunlight exposure and strong supportive social networks have been shown to help with depression. Certainly, isolation and loneliness are contributing factors to many behavioral health conditions, and we should recognize that some of the patients coming into a doctor’s office are there as much for the therapy of social interaction as for any medicinal intervention.

This list could go on, but I would be preaching to the choir. Chiropractic is based on homeostasis and the restoration of the body’s inborn ability to heal itself. It has always been our goal to remove any impediment to healing. These impediments may range from spinal dysfunction, to obesity, an unhealthy diet or a sedentary lifestyle. Our society wants to have a simple solution, a pill to solve its healthcare woes, instead of accepting the hard answers of personal responsibility and discipline. As we integrate, we must promote wellness to our patients and colleagues, not passive prescription-pad health care.

To find out more about Dr. Morgan go to  www.drmorgan.info.

Environmental Working Group Offer’s Healthy Holiday Tips

November 17, 2011 | Filed under: General Interest

I have linked to Environmental Working Group, EWG, in the past in regards to their groundbreaking analysis and ranking of sunscreen’s effectiveness and toxicity.

Now they are providing useful Thanksgiving cooking tips.

As Senior Vice President for Research at EWG, I want to make it easy for you to prepare your holiday feasts with your family’s environmental health in mind. Just follow these simple tips as you shop, cook and eat together:

  1. CHOOSE FOOD LOW IN ADDED CHEMICALS AND POLLUTANTS

    Food can contain ingredients we don’t want to eat — from pesticides to hormones to artificial additives to food packaging chemicals. Some simple tips to cut the chemicals:

    • Buy organic when you can. I make sure fresh fruits and vegetables are on the menu, and I go organic when I can. Organic produce is grown without synthetic pesticides (I prefer my dinner without, thanks!). Organic meat and dairy products also limit your family’s exposure to growth hormones and antibiotics.
    • It’s OK to choose non-organic from our “Clean 15″ list of less-contaminated conventional fruits and vegetables, too. EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce ranks popular fruits and vegetables based on the amount of pesticide residues found on them. Check out our Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce (and get the iPhone App).
    • Cook with fresh foods, rather than packaged and canned, whenever you can. Food containers can leach packaging chemicals into food, including the synthetic estrogen bisphenol A that’s used to make the linings of food cans. Go for fresh food or prepared foods stored in glass containers. Pick recipes that call for fresh, not canned, foods.

    When I’m planning a grocery trip, I like to check in with EWG’s Healthy Home Tip: Go organic and eat fresh foods.

  2. USE NON-TOXIC COOKWARE

    Using a great pan makes a huge difference when I cook. I skip the non-stick so that my kids (and our dog) don’t have to breathe toxic fumes that can off-gas from non-stick pans over high heat.

    Non-stick cookware is in most American kitchens. Is it in yours?

  3. If you’re ‘stuck’ with non-stick, cook safer with it. You can reduce the possibility of toxic fumes by cooking smart with any non-stick cookware you happen to own: Never heat an empty pan, don’t put it in an oven hotter than 500 degrees F and use an exhaust fan over the stove.
  4. Learn more about cooking safely in our Healthy Home Tip: Skip the non-stick.

  5. STORE AND REHEAT LEFTOVERS SAFELY

    Leftovers can extend the joy of a holiday — by giving you a break from the kitchen! But be sure to avoid plastic when storing and (especially) when heating them. Here’s why — and how:

    • Skip plastic food storage containers if you can. The chemical additives in plastic can migrate into food and liquids. Ceramic or glass food containers (such as Pyrex) are safer. Click here to get a 10-piece Pyrex set on Amazon (and a portion of your purchase will go towards helping EWG!).
    • Don’t microwave food or drinks in plastic containers, even if they claim to be “microwave safe.” Heat can release chemicals into your food and drink. Microwave ovens heat unevenly, creating hot spots where the plastic is more likely to break down.
    • If you do use a plastic container, handle it carefully. Use it for cool liquids only; wash plastics by hand or on the top rack of the dishwasher, farther from the heating element; use a paper towel instead of plastic wrap to cover food in the microwave. Also, avoid single-use plastic as much as possible — reusing it isn’t safe (it can harbor bacteria) and tossing it out fills up landfills (and pollutes the environment).

    Read more about heating and storing food safely in our Healthy Home Tip: Pick plastics carefully.

I hope these tips make having a green holiday easier. Happy Holidays!

Posted via email from ProActive Chiropractic in San Francisco, California

Too Much Sitting Raises Your Odds for Cancer, Study Says

November 10, 2011 | Filed under: General Interest

A study published at the American Cancer Research Convention last Thursday Nov. 3rd linked colon and breast cancers to the immobility of sitting.  In North America alone, an estimated 1/3 of colon cancers and 25% of breast cancers or up to 85,000 colon cancers and 60,000 breast cancers per year could be attributed to immobility of sitting. 30 min of exercise per day is no longer sufficient. Risk of cancer starts to rise as soon as one sits still for an hour.

Breaking down the immobility of sitting is no longer a choice for better spinal health.

I recommend a Back Vitalizer – it is the perfect tool for breaking down the immobility of sitting, at work, at home and on the road. Why stop short with the suggested 1-2 minutes of activity break every hour, when one can maintain trunk activity through out the hours of sitting?

Beside, it is also a popular and thoughtful holiday gift for loved ones. Watch this ProActive Chiropractic video on the variety of options.

CTV News

Posted via email from ProActive Chiropractic in San Francisco, California

Exercise and Reducing Depression

November 9, 2011 | Filed under: General Interest

We all know that exercise is good for us – but did you know that it can also help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety?

Exercise can release feel-good chemicals such as endorphins in your body, which can help reduce depression.  It can also reduce immune system chemicals that are linked to worsening depression.

For more details on the benefits of exercise, read this Mayo Clinic article.