Week 8 This week focus on taking the right supplements

This week focus on taking the right supplements

There are many different companies out there that all claim to have the best products ever, most potent, etc. The best supplements or vitamins are whole food based. That means the foods such as fruits or vegetables make the supplements. Our body breaks down these the best since our body is used to breaking down food.

Many of the supplements out there are man made or made in a chemical lab. They may have the exact amount of Calcium for example; however, it is in a form that is foreign to our body. These products usually go right through our systems either undigested or minimally digested. These usually tend to be the cheaper products such as Centrum or 1 a day. As a basic rule you should not get your supplements from a drug store, superstore (Wal-Mart), or any other discount source. Usually the cheaper the product the less able your body will be to process it. While these products are cheap- they in reality are expensive since they just pass through your body without being absorbed.

The best places to get good quality supplements are Health food stores such as a Whole Foods or a local store if you do not have a franchise. Also try to avoid stores such as GNC as they have a few good products mixed in with a bunch of bad ones.

What should you take?

A whole food multi-vitamin is a great start.

Others you can add to a multi-vitamin are:

Omega-3 fatty acids

Daily fruit and vegetable supplement

Probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium - species that are known to work together to maintain a balance of "good" bacteria along your digestive tract. This also helps boost the immune system.

Don't hesitate to call or email with questions. We are here to help you sort it out.

Yours in health, Naturally,

Dr. Ben

This one is easy.Watch this short ten minute video. Before you hit play be sure you have ten uninterrupted minutes.

Hits the nail right on the head. This costs nothing but your time.

The only question is will you make time???

Van Halen is one of the Best rock and roll groups ever!!!

Okay I know not quite what you may be thinking in a health and wellness blog, but it is true none the less.

Miranda, my wife for some of you who may not know, called me last week and asked me what my favorite Van Halen song was. I thought the same as you, where did this question come from? Yes left field. She would not tell me why she wanted to know but I told her anyway. There was no thinking involved, no hesitation, DREAMS.

Awesome video and song, I know. When Miranda asked me this question I immediately went to you tube, imagine that me on you tube. As I watched the video it brought back a ton of emotions and memories for me. One is of my older brothers who steered me in the right direction of Van Halen. The other was of dreams as a young child. I would listen to this song, watch this video, read books about the Blue Angels, make models of the FA18 Hornet and so on.

You see my dream was to be a Blue Angel pilot in the Navy. That was my only dream, but as I got older I found out I had a slight astigmatism developing in my eye. I knew form talking with Navy recruiters that I need to have perfect vision without any corrections and I realized my life was not going to move in that direction.

Soon after I realized that I wanted to be a fireman, like my cousin in California. Single, nice house, able to go and do as I please. For those of you who know me, I have three awesome children and have been married for 14 years. Quite a change from my second dream and I would not change it for the world. Then came along about a bad left shoulder. Dislocated at least a dozen times form middle school to high school. That was the end of that dream.

Now my third dream came about after Miranda and I were in a car accident and we visited a local chiropractor who helped us get better and cared for our young daughter also. You can say the rest is history.

So what is the point to all this “dream” nonsense? Well I look at our dreams as our goals in disguise. Sometimes we miss our goals because we see them as dreams and not as goals. If you have a dream, write it down, create a plan to achieve it and by all means read it OUT LOUD every morning and every night.

In order to make realistic goals, we need to know how to write SMART goals. A SMART goal is a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-framed. SMART goals can help you to better track your progress, set realistic expectations, and will help get you further along than you could have ever imagined

Believe in your dream/goal. Make it a reality.

Yours in Health, Naturally,

Dr. Ben

Week 7 This week focus on watching less television

The average American watches almost 5 hours of TV every day! Challenge yourself to watch as little as possible, see if you can watch 1 hour or less per night. Let yourself watch you favorite shows, but turn it off after that. It is amazing how the television has an ability to suck you in. Without realizing it you have been watching for hours. In many cases you start with watching a show you enjoy, then it turns into what is the best thing on after that. At the end of the night you: might be able to build a robot or remodel your house (even though you don’t own any tools), you might know everything about all the celebrities (that you will never meet), or you might now know every punch line from you favorite movie (after watching it for the 100th time.)

Television is entertainment and it is designed to keep you attention. Everything we do in life either builds us up or tears us down. Positive things build us up and negative things break us down. If you are watching a show ask yourself is this building me up? If not turn it off. Violence, drama, negativity, poor language. What are we exposing to ourselves, our kids? In addition to what the TV does to your mind, by sitting for that many hours per day and often eating while watching it is no wonder what as a society we are becoming obese so rapidly. If the average American cut that TV time is half and watched 2.5 hours and exercised the other half we would go from one of the most overweight countries to one of the fittest.

You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish by limiting TV hours. You will also start to enjoy life again, instead of getting through it.

What can you do?
• Talk to your spouse
• Play with the kids
• Read a book
• Exercise
• Find a hobby
• Meditate
• Go for a walk
• Play games
• Listen to a motivational or inspirational CD
• Volunteer
• Listen to your favorite songs
• Go to bed early and get the sleep you need

Yours in Health, Naturally,

Dr. Ben

Week 6 This week start eating as many vegetables as possible.

Try to eat at least 3 servings of vegetables every day. The more, different types of vegetables the better since each vegetable gives you different vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc.

When ever possible buy Organic vegetables since they do not have chemicals that you are putting into your body, and they have been shown to contain more nutrients than regular vegetables. Fresh or frozen vegetables are much better for your body than vegetables from a can. If you buy fresh vegetables that are not organic make sure to use a fruit and vegetable spray soap to clean them (you can find this at a health food store.)

The best ways to prepare vegetables are raw or steamed. With boiling or other cooking with water some of the nutrients is released to the water. Try to avoid cooking in butter, oil or with other additives.

Here are some of the best vegetables for you to eat:

• Asparagus
• Avocado (actually a fruit)
• Beet greens
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chinese cabbage
• Chives
• Collard greens
• Dandelion greens
• Green and red cabbage
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce: romaine, red leaf, green leaf
• Mustard greens
• Onions
• Parsley
• Peppers: red, green, yellow and hot
• Tomatoes
• Turnips
• Spinach
• Zucchini

Follow the link and say Thanks to Stanford. Of course don't forget your fruits.

How am I supposed to eat all those fruits and vegetables.

Please keep the comments coming they are very inspiring to me.

As always
Yours in Health, Naturally,

Dr. Ben

Week 5 Invest in Your Health and Wellness

It is the most important asset you have. Investing in your health will help you avoid many health care costs in the future. The investment can be money and/or time.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”- Henry de Bracton

What are good investments for Health?
• Chiropractic- is the only thing that works directly with the nervous system. In order to be healthy it is essential that the nervous system be functioning at it’s best.
• Exercise/Gym Membership- if you can exercise on your own regularly awesome. If you are like most people having a gym membership will help motivate you to do more, since you are paying whether you use it or not.
• Eating Organic Fruits and Vegetables- while they cost a little more, not having pesticides and other chemicals put in you system is extremely important.
• High quality supplements or vitamins from nature (not man made)- our body only absorbs vitamins that are naturally derived. Even if they are cheaper, man made vitamins do very little for your body.

Taking care of your body will pay for itself in many ways:
• You will miss less work and/or be more productive, which will be more income.
• You will have fewer doctor visits in your lifetime, which is less out of pocket and less wasted time.
• You will take fewer prescriptions, which is less out of pocket.
• You can play with you health insurance plan (we will cover this more later) but if you don’t go to the doctor and don’t take drugs you can have a higher deductible insurance plan, which will cost less per month.
• You will live longer and have a better quality of life.

Follow the link, How much is my body worth? to see what they value your body at. It is very interesting. 

Let me know what what you think, leave a comment.

Yours in Health, Naturally,

Dr. Ben

Just a quick and simple blog today to remind us of how fortunate we are for what we have.

I have decided that each day I will write what I am thankful for and I would suggest that you do the same. Sitting and thinking of what we have in our lives is a great way to bring about clarity, peace and reduce stress.

I was going to start this at the beginning of the year and continue for one year then I remembered a quote,

"I am going to stop putting things off starting tomorrow." - Sam Levenson

Yours in Health, Naturally,

Dr Ben

Week 4 See your Chiropractor as often as they recommend

Life gets busy. Of course, It does, if you are a regular follower you know that I have missed the last two weeks of posting any blogs. We have a lot going on at work, home, etc. It can become very easy to just go to the Chiropractor when you hurt or you have symptoms. While Chiropractic can be very effective at making these symptoms go away, this type of Chiropractic is not allowing your body to heal and be healthy.

Symptoms are often the last thing to show up and the first thing to go away, so they are not a very good gauge of your actual health. By working with your body when it “feels fine” the Chiropractic adjustments are realigning your spine and re-establishing correct muscle and ligament balance in your body. This is working to help your body avoid these flare-ups, by actually correcting the problem, as opposed to working towards short term relief.

The quick version of Chiropractic:
Aches and pains are signs that your body isn’t working right. Your brain, spinal cord and all your nerves control how your body works. Physical, chemical or emotional stresses produce a defensive posture. Muscles contract, locking spinal joints that pinch or irritate nearby nerves. Lack of nervous system integrity sets the stage for disease and ill health. A thorough examination helps chiropractors find these vertebral subluxations. Applying a precise force to stuck spinal joints helps the body right itself. Health usually returns as repeated visits restore nervous system integrity. That’s why Chiropractic care has helped millions get well and stay well.

If you do not have a Chiropractor in your area please email me and I will find one near you.

If you live in Sioux Falls and do not have a Chiropractic home I invite you to use the new patient special located on the left side of the page. Just click the big green button and your on your way.

For more information on Chiropractic and Health just browse around the website or sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter. 

Yours in Health, Naturally, 

Dr. Ben

Week 3 eliminate all artificial sweeteners from your “Diet

This week eliminate all artificial sweeteners from your “Diet”.
The first 2 weeks were easy (water and exercise), things that you knew you should be doing, and just needed to get back on track. Now let’s get to some newer concepts that will have a profound impact on your health and well-being.
What are artificial sweeteners?
Splenda, Sucralose, NutraSweet, Sweet ‘N Low, Equal, Aspartame, Saccharin, Sugar Twin, Sweet and Low
Why are they bad for my body?
Artificial sweeteners are bad for the body because they are well, artificial. They are man made chemicals to act like sugar. The problem is our body does not know what to do with it since it is a foreign substance. These products disturb our body’s normal biochemistry which distorts our body’s ability to manage calories. In many cases “Diet Products” actually lead to weight gain. Research shows that Diet soda can double a person’s risk of obesity.
For the past 10 years, studies have been revealing that artificial sweeteners can:
*Stimulate your appetite
*Increase carbohydrate cravings
*Stimulate fat storage and weight gain
Why take the risk of the serious health effects, especially since it isn’t going to help with weight loss or management?
What should I use instead?
Stevia is the best natural alternative to sugar. While sugar is refined it is still much better for the body than artificial products. Other products you can use are maple syrup, brown sugar, or molasses.
Where can I get more information about the effects of artificial sweeteners?

www.truthaboutsplenda.com

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/12/03/sucralose-dangers.aspx

Splenda® (aka: Sucralose) is the derived from chemically altering sugar with chlorine.
Potential adverse reactions and side effects of Splenda® include:

Research in animals has shown that sucralose can cause many problems in rats, mice, and rabbits, such as:
• Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage)
• Enlarged liver and kidneys.
• Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
• Increased cecal weight
• Reduced growth rate
• Decreased red blood cell count
• Hyperplasia of the pelvis
• Extension of the pregnancy period
• Aborted pregnancy
• Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights
• Diarrhea
Things to think about before jumping on the band-wagon with this new ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER:
• Pre-approval test indicated potential toxicity of sucralose.
• There are no *independent* controlled human studies on sucralose (similar to 15 years ago for aspartame).
• There are no long-term (12-24 months) human studies of sucralose's effects.
• There is no monitoring of health effects. It took government agencies decades to agree that there were countless thousands of deaths from tobacco. Why? Simply because there had been no monitoring or epidemiological studies. Without such monitoring and studies, huge effects can easily go unnoticed.

Why would anyone voluntarily put this in his/her body? God made sugar, not Aspartame, not Splenda®, not Acesulfame, not saccharine. Is it really that bad to eat a fruit or vegetable without added sweeteners? God made those too!

Source: http://www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm

Aspartame (aka: Nutrasweet®) is the common denominator for over 92 different health symptoms at the root of modern disease.
Adverse reactions and side effects of aspartame include:

Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Epstein-Barr
Post-Polio Syndrome
Lyme Disease
Grave’s Disease
Meniere’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease
ALS
Epilepsy
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
EMS
Hypothyroidism
Mercury sensitivity from Amalgam fillings
Fibromyalgia
Lupus
non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Eye
blindness in one or both eyes
decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as: blurring, bright flashes, squiggly lines, tunnel vision, decreased night vision
pain in one or both eyes
decreased tears
trouble with contact lenses
bulging eyes
Ear
tinnitus - ringing or buzzing sound
severe intolerance of noise
marked hearing impairment
Neurologic
epileptic seizures
headaches, migraines and some severe
dizziness, unsteadiness, both
confusion, memory loss, both
severe drowsiness and sleepiness
paresthesia or numbness of the limbs
severe slurring of speech
severe hyperactivity and restless legs
atypical facial pain
severe tremors
Endocrine and Metabolic
loss of control of diabetes
menstrual changes
marked thinning or loss of hair
marked weight loss
gradual weight gain
aggravated low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
severe PMS
Gastrointestinal
nausea
diarrhea, sometimes with blood in stools
abdominal pain
pain when swallowing
Chest
palpitations, tachycardia
shortness of breath
recent high blood pressure
Psychological/Psychiatric
severe depression
irritability
aggression
anxiety
personality changes
insomnia
phobias
Skin and Allergies
itching without a rash
lip and mouth reactions
hives
aggravated respiratory allergies such as asthma
Other
frequency of voiding and burning during urination
excessive thirst, fluid retention, leg swelling, and bloating
increased susceptibility to infection
Additional Symptoms of Aspartame Toxicity include the most critical symptoms of all:
death
irreversible brain damage
birth defects, including mental retardation
peptic ulcers
aspartame addiction and increased craving for sweets
hyperactivity in children
severe depression
aggressive behavior
suicidal tendencies

Why would anyone voluntarily put this in his/her body? Remember, lead paint tastes sweet too! Even that has less side effects than Aspartame!

Source: www.sweetpoison.com

Yours in Health, Naturally,

Dr. Ben

Week 2 Exercise 3 time per week.

This week focus on Exercising at least 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes.

If you already exercise this much or more each week, keep up the good work!

What does exercise do?
• Exercise Boosts Brainpower
• Helps reduce stress
• Gives you energy
• Helps fight heart disease, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure
• Boosts your resting metabolic rate
• Helps with weight loss

What are the best exercises?
• Walking
• Swimming
• Jogging
• Circuit training

• Crossfit
• Exercises that use your whole body

When lifting weights, try to lift lighter weight, focusing on the best form possible. Try to pick a weight that you can lift 10-15 times. By doing this you will increase your body’s muscular endurance, muscular strength, decrease the chances of injury and get some cardiovascular benefit as well.

Yours in Health, Naturally,
Dr. Ben