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Vacation Closing Info

As most of you already know, the office will be closed from Friday October 23 through Friday October 30. We will reopen Monday November 2.

If you have a chiropractic emergency while we are away, we recommend Dr. Steven English, DC at Keith Chiropractic Clinic, 5344 Central Avenue, 704-568-4195.

If you do not have an emergency, but are experiencing pain, soreness, stiffness, etc., we recommend all of the following massage therapists:

Jill Akbay, LMBT#7284:  704-661-8410   www.OmEnerji.com

Celeste Christiensen, LMBT, HHP:  704-962-6400   www.CelestialSoul.com

Jenny Hartwick, LMBT#6254:  704-576-8244   www.DilworthMassageTherapy.com

Jennifer Twiggs, LMBT#188:  704-535-8555

Supercharge Your Immune System

20 Ways to Supercharge Your Immune System and Prevent Colds and Flu

from Prescription Alternatives by Dr. Earl Mindell

1. Stretching helps your lymphatic system do its job of removing toxins from your body. Be sure to stretch your neck muscles and your torso, and to stretch your arms over your head.

2. Get an extra hour of sleep, or go to bed early with a cuup of chamomile tea and an uplifting book.

3. Zinc lozenges are powerful weapons in the fight against winter colds. Try the variaties with propolis and vitamin C added.

4. The homeopathic remedy Oscillococcinum will quickly knock out many kinds of flu. The only way to find out if it will work for what you’ve got is to try it.

5. Reduce the stress in your life through meditation and exercise. Chronic stress depletes your adrenals, which play a vital role in immunity.

6. Stock up on the vitamin C and bioflavoniods. If you feel something coming on, take 1,000mg of vitamin C and a bioflavoniod such as grapeseed, green tea extract, or quercetin every hour.

7. Drink plenty of clean water, which will help your body keep itself detoxified.

8. Eat plenty of fiber to keep things moving through the digestive system.

9. Eat yogurt once a day for the calcium and beneficial intestinal flora. The friendly bacteria in your intestines are your best weapon against unfriendly bacteria.

10. Skip the candy and soda pop. Try a peice of fruit or some nuts instead.

11. Keep alcohol consumption low. A glass of wine with dinner is fine. More than that and your liver may be diverted from protecting you from illness.

12. Eat your vegetables — fresh and preferably organic.

13. Are you allergic to dairy products? Wheat? Corn? Chronic food allergies can weaken your immune system.

14. Eat more complex carbohydrates and less refined white flour, which causes blood sugar jumps and constipation.

15. Try shiitake or reishi mushrooms with your veggies — the Chinese use them to bolster the immune system.

16. Take extra care of yourself when you’re under extra stress.

17. If you have a late night or stressful day, balance things out by getting extra rest.

18. If you’re going to be traveling on a plane, take plenty of vitamin C and other cold and flu preventatives for a few days ahead of time.

19. Seek out the company of loved ones or volunteer for someone less fortunate than you.

20. Exercise keeps everything in the body ship-shape, but if you feel weak or tired, don’t push it too hard.

Chlorophyllin-chemo cocktail proposed

Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

A report published in the November, 2009 issue of the International Journal of Cancer describes research conducted at Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute that reveals a potential role in cancer therapy for chlorophyllin, a water-soluble derivative of chlorophyll, the green pigment that gives plants their color. The compound has been investigated for cancer prevention as well as treatment.

Higher vitamin B6 levels correlated with lower heart attack risk in women

Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

In an article published online on August 10, 2009 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, Harvard researchers report an association between higher plasma levels of vitamin B6 and a reduction in the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in women.

The study included 144 participants in the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study who were diagnosed with myocardial infarction. The women were each matched for age, smoking status and other factors with two participants in the same study who did not have a history of heart attack at the time of the heart attack cases’ diagnoses. Stored fasting blood samples were analyzed for plasma pyridoxal 5′ phosphate (PLP), which is the predominant form of vitamin B6 that exists in circulation, and homocysteine, an amino acid which, when elevated, has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Higher levels of PLP were correlated with greater dietary intake of vitamin B6, lower body mass index and lower levels of homocysteine. The researchers uncovered a significant association between plasma PLP levels and reduced heart attack risk. Women whose PLP levels were among the top one-fourth of participants at greater than 70 picomoles per milliliter had a 78 percent lower adjusted risk of undergoing a heart attack compared to those whose levels were lowest at less than 27.9 pmol/mL. When the women were analyzed according to age, those aged 60 and older whose PLP levels were among the top quarter were found to have a 64 percent lower risk than those in the lowest quarter, while those who were under 60 in the top fourth of PLP had a 95 percent lower risk.

The authors remark that the study’s findings are consistent with the role of vitamin B6 as a cofactor in the conversion of homocysteine to cysteine. The vitamin also plays a role in the transport of important minerals such as magnesium across cell membranes. The authors observe that the results of some research suggest that factors other than diet that control vitamin B6 levels could eventually be found to be more important in reducing heart attack risk.

The current prospective study is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to examine the relationship of vitamin B6 levels with heart attack in postmenopausal women. “Our investigation revealed that a lower fasting concentration of PLP is significantly associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction in predominantly postmenopausal women, a relationship that may be causal,” they write. “Future studies are needed to better understand both dietary and nondietary determinants of plasma and tissue vitamin B6 status and their role in the prevention of myocardial infarction and other chronic diseases.”

Majority of American children have insufficient vitamin D levels

Reprinted with Permission of Life Extension

The results of a study conducted by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, published online on August 1, 2009 in the journal Pediatrics, reveal a disturbing presence of low levels of vitamin D among children in the U.S. “We expected the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency would be high, but the magnitude of the problem nationwide was shocking,” stated lead author Juhi Kumar, MD, MPH, who is a fellow in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

The researchers, led by Einstein assistant professor medicine Michal L. Melamed, MD, evaluated data from over 6,000 children aged 1 to 21 who participated in the National Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2004. “Several small studies had found a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in specific populations of children, but no one had examined this issue nationwide,” Dr Melamed observed.

Insufficient levels of vitamin D were defined as 15 to 29 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), and deficient levels as less than 15 ng/mL.Vitamin D insufficiency was revealed in 61 percent of the participants, a percentage which, if applied to the U.S. population, is equivalent to 50.8 million children. Deficiency was found in 9 percent of the subjects, equal to 7.6 million children. Although participants who consumed 400 international units of vitamin D per day were less likely to experience a deficiency, just 4 percent of the children used vitamin D supplements.

“The message for pediatricians is that vitamin D deficiency is a real problem with consequences not only for bone health but also potentially for long-term cardiovascular health.” Dr Kumar concluded. “Pediatricians should be screening children for vitamin D levels, especially in the high-risk populations.”

—D Dye

Bioflavonoid prevents metabolic syndrome and obesity in mice

Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

In an article published online on July 10, 2009 in the journal Diabetes, researchers in Ontario, Canada report that naringenin, a flavonoid present in citrus fruit, prevents weight gain and components of metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes, in a rodent model.

For their study, Murray W. Huff of the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario and his associates used low density lipoprotein receptor null mice that exhibit disordered lipids, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and obesity when fed a high fat “Western” diet. The animals were divided to receive regular chow, a high fat diet, or high fat (42 percent of calories) diets containing 1 or 3 percent naringenin for four weeks, after which plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and insulin levels were measured, and other factors, including glucose and insulin tolerance, were assessed.

At the end of the treatment period, mice that received naringenin had lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than with those that received the high fat diet without naringenin. Insulin resistance was prevented

Calorie Restriction

Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

How long we live may not be determined by what we eat so much as how much we eat. Of all the potential antiaging approaches, none have so far shown the promise of caloric restriction. Over the past 75 years, many studies have shown that caloric restriction extends life span in a wide variety of species, from invertebrates to rodents, to mammals.

Stop Doing Sit-Ups: Why Crunches Don’t Work

Everyone knows that the road to flat, tight abs is paved with crunches. Lots and lots and lots of excruciating crunches. Or is it?

As it turns out, the exercises synonymous with strong, attractive abs may not be the best way to train your core—and may be doing damage to your back.

‘Cell Phone Elbow’ — A New Ill for the Wired Age

Published in HealthDay

First came Nintendo thumb. Then, Guitar Hero wrist. Now, for the latest affliction of the wired age, it’s cell phone elbow.

Medically known as cubital tunnel syndrome, cell phone elbow is numbness, tingling and pain in the forearm and hand caused by compression of the ulnar nerve, which passes along the bony bump on the inside of the elbow.

One of the causes of pressure on the ulnar nerve? Too much gabbing, often brought on by those cell phone plans with unlimited minutes, experts say.

Cholesterol-Busting Supplements

If your cholesterol is over 300, you’ll want to add the following vitamins and minerals to your regimen for six months.  Most of these essential nutrients are antioxidants that help lower your LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels.

• Vitamin C: 1, 000 mg three times daily. If this high dose gives you diarrhea, back off the dose until it goes away.
• Magnesium: 300 mg daily
• Calcium: 200 mg daily
• Copper: 2 to 3 mg daily
• Vitamin E: 400 IU (Total 800 IU daily). In one study, ingesting this amount daily caused a 26% reduction in LDL cholesterol production.
• Psyllium: 1 to 2 teaspoons a day. Be sure to drink eight glasses of water a day, too!
• N-acetyl cysteine (NAC): 500 mg three times a day. This will help raise your glutathione levels, which will support your liver so it can more efficiently excrete cholesterol.
• Green tea: The active beneficial ingredients in green tea are called polyphenols, substances that act as antioxidants, neutralize harmful fats and oils, strengthen the liver, and lower LDL cholesterol while raising HDL levels. You can either drink green tea or take it in a concentrated form as a supplement.
• PCOs or proanthocyanidins: PCOs (grapeseed extract, for example) work specifically to stop “bad” cholesterol from forming and sticking to artery walls.
• Cayenne: This spice lowers cholesterol. Take a daily supplement of cayenne in capsules, or use it liberally on your food.
• Curry: Another spice that lowers cholesterol.
• Guggul: Taking this is a new but old way to lower cholesterol. Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient form of healing from India that relies largely on dividing people into body and personality types, and then prescribing a variety of treatmetns that include plant medicines. One of the best known Ayurvedic medicines is called guggul, a plant traditionally used mainly to treat arthritis and obesity. Studies have shown that guggul significantly reduces cholesterol levels without side effects.
• Red Yeast Rice: This is actually an ancient Chinese condiment made from specially fermented rice. The reaction between the rice and the yeasts used for fermentation yields natural statin substances. Red yeast rice has been used safely to strengthen circulation and help digestion in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years. Several studies have found that red yeast rices lowers blood cholesterol levels.
• Policosanol: Supplements containing this substance have been found to work well to balance cholesterol counts. It has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol levels by up to 20%, and it raises HDL by an average of 10% – without the side effects caused by statins. In one study, researchers enlisted 244 menopausal women for whom six weeks on a conventional cholesterol-lowering diet did no good. The women were given either a placebo pill or 5mg of policosanol each day for 12 weeks. The women given policosanol were then given 10mg for 12 more weeks. By the end of the study, the policosanol users had some amazing changes in their cholesterol levels: their LDL fell by 25.2%, their total cholesterol fell by 16.7%, and their ratio of total cholesterol to HDL fell by 27.2%!

From: Prescription Alternatives, Third Edition : Hundreds of Safe, Natural Prescription-Free Remedies to Restore and Maintain Your Health