Toxins

We live in a world where the products that we use on a daily basis are actually laden with some of the most toxic chemicals on the planet.

I was recently diagnosed with higher than average mercury levels in my blood. This was determined to be caused by my “mercury amalgam” fillings. Surprise surprise to me when I was told that a lot of the health problems I had been plagued with my entire life were directly caused by this mercury leaching into my blood stream from my teeth.

Studies are now showing that continuous exposure to toxic chemicals in personal hygiene products, such as antiperspirants, may be related to allergic reactions, Alzheimer’s, and even breast cancer in woman. This may come as no surprise considering the fact that most deodorants are made up of aluminum chlorohydrate, as well as up to 20 other toxic chemicals.

A study from the Journal of Applied Toxicology conducted research on antiperspirant with high levels of aluminum. The addition of aluminum, a chemical which enters the bodythrough the sensitive underarm tissue, works to block our sweat ducts, thus reducing the amount of sweat that the body produces. But is this lack of perspiration and neutralization of body odor worth the constant daily intake of high levels of aluminum?

Similarly, a recent study from Reading University found that cancerous tumors are most likely to appear in the parts of the female breast which is closest to where antiperspirants are applied. Of the women studied, it was found that cysts in the armpit area of the breast had 25 times more aluminum than the common amount found in blood.

Antiperspirants containing aluminum, work to stop completely perspiration from occurring. Deodorants do not contain aluminum. Deodorants allow perspiration. They work to kill the bacteria that causes odor when we perspire. From a purely natural standpoint, it makes more sense for us to use deodorants, as it is clearly more natural to allow our bodies to sweat.

Of course none of us wants to emit an unpleasant, offensive odor, but aluminum-free underarm deodorants do work to keep us feeling clean and fresh and bonus are all natural.

WARNING! These other products may contain Aluminum!

Antacids Vaccines Cookware Dentures Lipstick Toothpaste Astringents

Nasal Sprays Baking Powder Vaginal Douches Processed cheese Buffered Aspirin Hemorrhoid medications Anti-Diarrhea Medication

Emotional Clearing

To stay on our current topic following my podcast, I recently read Candice Pert's (Ph.D. former NIH researcher, now Georgetown University research professor) book, Molecules of Emotion, and was fascinated with the connections she found and the ones she hypothesized concerning emotions being stored in the body.

During my chiropractic appointments we are always “clearing” emotions in my body. I mean everything is emotional and there is proven science to say that we store emotions in our bodies.

Our body is like a giant circuit board. Every cell in our body responds to every thought we think and every word we say. Every emotion we feel we react to, negative emotions drain us and positive ones light us up. Its that simple.

Certain emotions are “harbored” in certain areas of your body. The mantras of Louise Hay’s bring to light what kind of thoughts can trigger pain and discomfort in different areas of the body. Sometimes so much harbored negative emotions can cause problems, such like a lot of hair down the shower drain can cause a clog.

Emotion is just energy in motion. Strong feelings we experience are an important aspect of health. They are the tools we use to create our existence. These emotions are normal and healthy when they are flowing but like above can cause a pretty bad clog and some serious problems when not addressed.

Minor “clearing” can be the best thing in the world. Holding onto these emotions can weight you down and you might not even realize it until you clear it and feel light again. Most emotions for me are stored in my upper back, shoulder area. I seem to like to place all my worries on my back sort to say.

First things we clear the emotions, to finish I get an adjustment of my back, and with all the emotions released and in perfect alignment I feel like a million bucks and you can too. Check out all of the things chiropractic can do for you.

Check out kinetics3.com for further information on chiropractic in Newport Beach.

For Your Listening Pleasure.

This weeks a bit different, I've made my very first podcast!

Click Here

This week I had a sit down with Dr. Daniel Stone of Kinetics 3 Chiropractic in Newport Beach. We chatted on chiropractic care, alternative health, and everything in between. Enjoy.

For more info on Dr. Stone, please visit kinetics3.com

Times Get Hard for Vitamins

Everyone needs vitamins, which are critical for the body. But for most people, the micronutrients we get from foods usually are adequate to prevent vitamin deficiency, which is rare in the United States. Some extra vitamins have proven benefits, such as vitamin B12 supplements for the elderly and folic acid for women of child-bearing age. And calcium and vitamin D in women over 65 appear to protect bone health.

But many people gobble down large doses of vitamins believing that they boost the body’s ability to fight cancer and heart disease. In addition to the more recent research, several reports in recent years have challenged the notion that vitamins are good for you.

This week researchers reported results from a large clinical trial of almost 15,000 male doctors taking vitamins E and C for a decade. The study showed no meaningful effect on cancer rates.

Another recent study found no benefit of vitamins for heart disease.

And recently, doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have said that vitamin C seems to protect not just healthy cells but cancer cells, too.

Despite a lack of evidence that vitamins actually work, most appear unwilling to give them up. Which is good because in some cases vitamins have been proven to work well for some. Everyone is different, as always consult your doctor prior to see if anything you are taking is necessary and works for you individually.

Depression treatment could treat more than just the sufferer

Recently I read an article on the affects of a Mother's depression on childrens injuries. The article in ScienceDaily says, infants and toddlers whose mothers are severely depressed are almost three times more likely to suffer accidental injuries than other children in the same age group, according to a new study.

The study's findings, published May 14 in the Advanced Access edition of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, suggest that proper treatment for depression would improve not only the mothers' health, but the health of young children as well.

A likely cause for the link between severe maternal depression and young children's injury risk is that chronically depressed mothers may not appropriately safeguard the physical environments that children engage in. Another cause may be that symptoms of depression include inattention, poor concentration and irritability, which might lead to poor or inconsistent supervision and enforcement of safety-related rules.

Another article in ScienceDaily claims Young children whose mothers are depressed are more prone to behavioural problems and injury, suggested by US research published in Injury Prevention.

Children whose mothers scored persistently high marks on the depression scales were more than twice as likely to have been injured as those whose mothers had a low rating. And children whose mothers had a high rating were significantly more likely to have behavioural problems and to "act out." Boys were more at risk of this than girls.

And in a third article, A study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and nine other U.S. centers, evaluated the effects of maternal depression on children's development.

Found was that depressed mothers in general were less sensitive to their children, that their children displayed poorer verbal and language skills and that those children showed more problem behaviors. Children whose mothers were more sensitive, however, did better on our measures and behaved better regardless of their mothers' level of depression.

What this all leads down to is just how important mental and psychological health is to our over all health and the health of those closest to us. There is no doubt that a mother and child have a closer relationship than most, but in most cases I wouldn’t be surprised if a husband and wife living in close quarters experienced this same kind of affects. We need to begin taking seriously the effects of our psychological health and what it is doing to us. For the most part parents and adults alike believe they can handle it themselves and this is prove it is not worth handling when it is affecting those closest to you.

Scientists find safer way to make human stem cells.

According to a Reuters article dated March 26, 2009 – U.S. researchers have found a safer way to coax human skin cells into embryonic-like stem cells.

What does this mean? Well the researchers feel this is taking a step closer to their potential in using stem cells as treatment for diseases.

A team at the University of Wisconsin has published their findings regarding the so-called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells.

In theory these iPS cells harness the unique qualities to create new treatments for a variety of medical conditions. According to the Reuters article, Induced pluripotent stem cells promise many of the possible therapeutic benefits of embryonic stem cells without the ethics controversy because, unlike embryonic stem cells, they can be created without destroying a human embryo.

In the future we can hope to see several methods come out for creating iPS cells, then scientists can start to look for the ones that provide the most consistent results. But for now it looks that President Barack Obama’s move to lift the Bush administration’s restriction on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research is the only move.

Lets keep up the good work guys and gals. I can’t wait to follow this story further as it develops.

Lack of technology or what?

In a recent article I read that a mere 1.5 percent of hospitals nationwide are using some kind of electronic health record system.

Now I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing? I understand not wanting too much of your personal information out on some kind of database for just anyone to access. But really people all of your information is out there, what would this change.

Recently I found out that most companies could easily obtain a credit report regarding any of their customers if they can show that you owe them some kind of money. Just like collection agencies can look at your credit report. And that holds tons of personal information, social security numbers, all you’re past addresses, etc. And not only that these people don’t care who you are and they don’t care about your information.

You wonder why there is such a problem with identity theft – all of our information is right there for whoever wants it.

Back on the subject of hospitals though – is it good or bad? On the other side it could be beneficial if you are in an accident that they can pull up some kind of record on you anywhere.

“The federal stimulus package recently signed into law contains $19 billion for hospitals to adopt the technology and incentives for doctors to use it, with the hope that getting data online will improve patient care and save time and money.”

Right now larger hospitals in urban areas and teaching hospitals are the ones most likely to have electronic records but recently announced wal-mart in their sams club locations will begin selling medical record software. I guess we’ll have to follow this to see if this will be a good addition or a bad move.

Aromatherapy

Who doesn’t love aromatherapy? Only those who’ve never used it of course! BUT, if you’re anything like me, you can appreciate and enjoy the pleasant aroma of a scented candle, a floral spray or perhaps a sensual scented oil massage.

But did you know that scents and oils could actually be beneficial to your health and well being?

I didn’t until I stumbled across a book on aromatherapy some time ago. I was so fascinated and intrigued by what I read that I just had to learn more.

What I discovered was that true aromatherapy isn’t just the “smell good” stuff you can buy at your local grocery or drug store. It’s actually considered to be a form of holistic alternative medicine.

So what is aromatherapy? It’s a technique that uses the body’s sense of smell to help boost your mood, relieve stress, energize and encourage better health. It’s also used to treat certain emotional and physical conditions.

Did you know the pure essential oils are the main ingredient in true aromatherapy? Synthetic or chemically produced scents don’t carry the health benefits of essential oils.

Essential oils are the pure “essence” of a plant and when used properly will provide both psychological and physical benefits.

For example, peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils are mentally stimulating. They can help you to maintain a clear focus. Try mixing this combination in water and then letting it steep in a pot over the stove, filling the whole house with the beautiful aroma. You’ll love the tingly sensation throughout your body.

Lavender and chamomile have the opposite effect. If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, these two refreshing scents will help you relax. For example, a nighttime massage with this combination and you’re off to la la land…

Are you feeling tired or lethargic? Try lemon and rosemary essential oils to revitalize your body.

My absolute favorites are aromatherapy bath salts, added to your warm bath water to help you relax. But whether your looking for something to perk ya up or relax ya before bed there is something natural and pleasant in your local selection of aromas.

Would you like 50,000 chemicals with that?

Many different chemicals are used in food processing and preservation that we know. But here’s a scary fact from a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientist, Dr. James Pirkle: "If you gave a sample of blood or urine to us, we could find all sorts of things you didn't think you had. We are regularly, every day, exposed to 50,000 chemicals." Only a fraction of these chemicals, which were being bombarded with each day have been studied for their effects on humans. And there have been no studies at all showing the consequences of using these agents in combination with each other.

Scared yet?

Well don't be scared be aware and be proactive. I believe whole-heartedly that if people are aware they are more likely to make a change. I mean how can you be asked to change if you don't have a reason to.

Now bombarded with all of these toxins what's a girl to do? DETOX.

Detoxification is a natural health-preserving strategy, which helps remove harmful toxins from the cells and tissues, restoring their normal functions. Detoxing doesn't have to be negative as if your being sent away as they show with addicts on t.v.. In today’s world our body’s detoxification system is overloaded and unable to function like it did in the past. Certain people seem to have better coping abilities and rarely become sick despite the unimaginable stress on their system. Then there are others whose body had surrendered to the attacks and are not able to fight sufficiently.

The Master Cleanse, also known as the Lemon Cleanse and the Maple Syrup Diet, is a dieting program created by Stanley Burroughs in 1941 and made popular by Peter Glickman through his book Lose Weight, Have More Energy and Be Happier in 10 Days. This is the most popular cleanse/detoxification process today, mostly because of Glickman’s book.

Burroughs states that his Master Cleanse is a detoxification program that aids in the removal of harmful toxins from within the body, as well as a reducing diet for loss of weight, and a cure for ulcers and "every kind of disease," resulting in "the correction of all disorders."

Whether you decide to only eat maple syrup for days or find another alternative it is important to cleanse what needs to be cleansed. Not all cleansing is considered equal and not all people need to cleanse. Some like stated above have no problems and their bodies can combat toxins better than say someone else. Know your body and always seek medical advice before starting or stopping any kind of health regiment.

Yuk! Healthy not so tasty?

It doesn’t always have to taste good to be good. And it doesn’t. Food marketed as “healthier” doesn’t always taste good, I mean when put next to a cheeseburger ya its gonna taste like dog food. Supplements, for example a very close friend of mine takes oils every morning to improve brain functioning – they’ve got to be the most disgusting things ever but their “good for ya”. 

Most people don’t see how bad things can be – fast food, fruit juice (filled to the brim with high fructose corn syrup), candy bars, and more – it taste good so how can it be bad. I have heard from time to time the age old “everything is good in moderation” – but most aren’t moderate and time and time again the easier fix is the worst. 

In the book “Eat this, not that” you can find many of your favorite meals or cravings “heathier” alternative – usually half the sugar or have the caleries. Its simple to make the easier choice, but its smarter to make the better choice. Take care of your bodies as always.  

True Beauty: in the mirror or in the heart?

Recently I caught an episode of True Beauty on ABC. True Beauty is a reality type show where they have “collected” in a way 12 beautiful contestants and pits all 12 against one another in competition to win a place in PEOPLE magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People issue. The contestants are made up of body builders, models, the occasional stripper, and male chip-n-dale. What really roped me in though is the catch, and yes with reality TV there is always a catch. What the contestants don’t know is that the judges have secret cameras and spy’s and their not being judged solely on their “outer” beauty, meaning their looks, the judges are also looking at their “inner” beauty. I love the line host Vanessa Minnillo uses at the end of every episode as she sends the loser home, “True beauty comes from within.” This show is rather played and according to many just not good. Washington Post says ABC’s scraping the bottom of the reality-television bucket Monday night when it aired "True Beauty." To some extent the only thing this show does do is provide a good message, and it succeeds if only in that mission. Beauty is inside as well as outside, so take care of your body.

Is Dieting Ever Healthy?

In today’s pop culture day and age it is impossible to be seen as “healthy”. Healthy is not a word used to describe a young woman’s appearance. Words like “sexy”, “sophisticated”, “beautiful”, “skinny”, “fat”, and of course the oh so popular “unattractive”, but not once would you comment on a woman’s healthiness as a criteria for her attractiveness. A group of young boys wouldn’t be ogling a woman’s “healthy body” they’d be off giggling about her “sexy but-tay”.

Even the magazines put this stereotyped woman on their cover. She’s skinny, and sexy, and without a care of what she eats. She doesn’t work out, she doesn’t drive the carpool or pack the lunches in the morning. She is the ideal, living her life without a care while the rest of us stress our lives out trying to achieve “her”.

So in this chase for the essence of sexiness, most women in one point of their lives or another will do the drastic DIET. Whether it’s to loose weight, built muscle (come on ladies you love those abs), one thing I don’t hear often enough is that you’re dieting for “health reasons”.

But that’s the question, can dieting ever be healthy?

In a recent article I read “Healthy Eating: Tips for a Healthy Diet”, the author says this “Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible”.

Now isn’t that what you want in life, to feel great, have more energy and be healthy. Why yes I say it is.

Now in another fascinating article, this one from WebMD, experts around the country chimed in with their best diet tips, here are a few:

• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 1: Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages
  
• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 2: Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away.
  
• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 9: Spice it up.
  
• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 14: Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress.
  

What I love is tip #2. Dieting isn’t always about taking out your favorite foods, no more pizza – no more ice cream. Sometimes it can be about adding more fruits and veggies and just less sweets.

There are many many types of diets. For instance there is the gluten-free diet, one that I am personally familiar with (my mom has a gluten intolerance). Basically avoiding grains, like wheat, rye or barley. These grains contain the protein “gluten”. And to people with gluten intolerance “gluten” is like a poison. It causes numerous intestinal problems and the antibodies are unable to defend against the protein.

In most cases this diet is strictly for health purposes, a person with gluten intolerance is made sick by gluten therefore they remove it from their diet, and poof all better. But as I was made aware of in a recent U.S. News article, gluten-free diets are become a fad diet more so than they are being used to treat a health issue.

So can dieting ever be healthy? Yes I believe it can. I believe research into healthy diets is necessary, don’t just stop eating (that cant be healthy but I know a numerous amount of girls will do anything to loose weight), and be aware of your own body. When it comes down to it, what you do affects you – you cant do a diet just because the magazines say it’s the best way to drop 15 pounds if that diet is unhealthy for your body, and know every body is different. Listen to your body and I believe everything will be fine.

For more info on healthy eating, I recommend reading, “Eat right for your type” by Dr. Peter D’Adamo. It gives insight into the different “healthy” diets for each person’s individual blood types.

And as a side note if you do diet make sure you are getting your right needs fulfilled. Cutting carbs and proteins is very unhealthy. Everyone should be taking supplements to gain the nutrients missing but especially with diets. Don’t just assume you do not need these nutrients. 

Stress. Its a Killer!

Okay so I recently scanned an article “7 Leading Causes of Stress” and do you have any idea what #1 is? No. Well good because I am going to tell you. And not only that I am going to give you some mega good tips to natural cures for stress.

Double bonus!

So #1 cause: Finances.

Oh great I thought when I read that. First off who isn’t stressed everyday of their lives and now with the condition of our economy, no question stress is on everyone’s list.

2..3… & 4 are work, family, and personal concerns. Personal concerns? Hmmm could that not be just about anything? Ya it is just about anything that doesn’t fall under 1,2, or 3.

Lets recap shall we… Everything causes stress therefore everyone is stressed. Good now lets talk about what we can do to fix it. 

The most common cures for stress:

• ·      Start with a healthy diet. Eat breakfast, eat veggies, and cut out the fatties [you know the candy bars and the extra scoop of ice cream].
  
• ·      Exercise. Pulling from my Legally Blonde database “Exercise releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy and well happy people..” you know the rest. Exercise can just make ya feel good.
  
• ·      There's always the alternative remedies, a good massage or a nice chiropractic crack releaves built up tension and a lot of the time stress. [but this is usually a short lived rememdy, fyi]
  

My advice, turn to the herbal supplements. Now right off the back I love homeopathics and believe in them 110 % of the time, so you are going to hear this answer from me more often than not. There are tons of stress herbs out there. For instance, lavender is a natural flower essence. It can be found in many forms; oil, crème, bath salts, just about any form and it can be used to calm.

For a pilule form, try Nelsons tension & stress clickpak. It is perfect for people on the go and no water is necessary to take (as with most homeopathics). Symptoms are most often relieved immediately. 

Homeopathics are non-habit forming, 100% natural, and therefore have no side-effects or conflicts with anything else you may be taking. There is little to no chance of “over-dose” with homeopathics as its almost necessary to take more.

These rememdies and more can be found at any healthfood store, vitamin shop, local drugstore – just ask the phamisist where the homeopathics are.

As we’ve realized stress is everywhere and caused by everything so why not be prepared. And heck save some money – a homeopathic is gonna cost ya loads less than a doctor visit and a prescription. There just cured some stress right there. 

Drum Roll Please.

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. To my blog o'Health. 

In here I will be talking all health all of the time. Good health, bad health, ugly health, and everything else health. We'll talk alternative health most often than not but lets not limit ourselves. We'll be discussing healthcare, and healthy cures. I'm sure we'll blog all day about cancer and chiropractors. But lets not give it all away today. 

Stay tuned to Healthwise.