Thursday, March 18, 2010

Vitamins and Free Radicals

Free radicals are little scavengers that come by a cell and "steal" parts to make themselves whole while leaving the cell damaged. Free radicals are a part of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can be thought of as "rust on the inside".

Vitamins and minerals protect the body and the cells by giving the free radicals the parts they need- effectively neutralizing them. For this reason vitamins (and their mineral co-factors) are more accurately called anit-oxidants.

The sad fact is that it is just about impossible to get enough vitamins and minerals from food. It has to do with the way food is farmed, processed, packaged, and stored. An apple today does not have the same nutrients as an apple 100 years ago.

What is the way to get the vital anti-oxidants? Supplements. I use and recommend USANA Health Sciences. Their quality is unsurpassed anywhere. They not only use the best ingredients, they also have the most complete and bioavailable (absorbable).

You can learn more at USANA.com or scheduling a nutrition consultation with me.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

High Glycemic vs. Low Glycemic Eating

Foods that are both healthy and delicious are an important part of life. What foods fit into the category of healthy and delicious? Whole foods. Lean meat, fruits, vegetables, beans (legumes), whole grains, and even some dairy. These are foods that build the body strong and healthy.

If you don't think they are delicious it may be that you are used to eating high glycemic foods. High glycemic foods cause a sharp spike in your blood glucose. This would be processed foods: sugar, flour, pasta, bread, potatoes, and rice (there are some exceptions).

WARNING: HIGH GLYCEMIC FOODS ARE HIGHLY ADDICTIVE.

High glycemic foods cause the body to release large amounts of insulin and set off a cascade of ill effects. Blood sugar comes crashing down leaving you hungry, fatigued, and even light headed.

Think about a child at a birthday party. They eat cake and ice cream and they seem to be bouncing off the walls. What happens in the car? They crash (sorry, but the pun is intended).

Most people think they are just tired from running around and having fun. The truth is that their blood sugar is crashed to hypoglycemic levels and they CAN'T stay awake for anything.

Eventually the body becomes resistant to the insulin and you develop Metabolic Syndrome (Syndrome X) or what is now called "pre-diabetes". Left uncorrected it will become full blown diabetes.

The good news is that this can be corrected. It takes making some lifestyle changes and time but what better reason is there for a lifestyle change? Stop, control, or even reverse diabetes. That means no diabetic neuropathy, less stroke, aneurism, and heart disease.

That is why Backbone offers the Healthy for Life program. Dr. Cohen and his team are Certified Team Leaders. For more information check out the Healthy for Life program and USANA Health Sciences or just stop in my office and schedule a consultation.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Exercise at the Gym Won't Fix This

When you have Forward Head Posture (FHP) your neck literally doesn't work right. FHP and loss of the normal curve (lordosis) go together all the time. Losing the curve means the muscles don't work properly.

Going to the gym and pumping iron (which I do encourage people to after their spine has been corrected) simply won't fix the problem.

The reason is that you have postural muscles. Going to the gym only helps with phasic muscles. What's the difference?

Postural muscles cannot be controlled by thinking about them. Phasic muscles are can. In other words- you can choose to flex your arm (biceps) but you can't choose to wiggle one of your backbones.

Our program is specifically designed to work with your postural muscles.