U.S. Life Expectancy Continues To Fall - Where Are We Going Wrong?

According to a recent report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, American’s life expectancy is falling, not rising.

Not good. Our life expectancy should be increasing, shouldn’t it? After all, we spend more money than any other nation in the world on “health care”. We have more hospitals, more doctors, more nurses, more drugs, and more surgeries than any other nation in the world; so how are we LOSING LIFE? And why are we ranked 37th out of 39 developed nations by the World Health Organization in terms of healthiest nations?

Because we are also the most irresponsible, lazy, and marketed to nation in the world. We are raised with the immediate gratification, “pop a pill”, victim mentality. Victims of our genes, victims of germs, victims of bad luck. How is that working for us? How is the brainwashing by Big Pharma, Fast Food companies, and Big Government affecting us? It’s killing us. Not just in terms of health, but in every societal and economic sense.

Our society and economy are affected because we are continuously marketed to and exploited by Big Business and a government that doesn’t care about our health or our quality of life, only our money. This money focus trickles down to the minds of the public and leads to a mentality of “more”; which leads to a loss of priorities and ultimately, a breakdown of the family unit. Instead of being home having a family dinner, parents are working late to “keep up with the Joneses” and letting strangers raise their children.

What does this financial stress do to families and marriages? It destroys them. Don’t look now, but two parent households are a minority in this nation. Do you think that impacts the self-esteem of our children? Do you think their self-esteem affects our society? Before you answer that question, take a look at the number of children on anti-depressant drugs, at the number of school shootings, and at suicide rates from birth to age 25.

The only solution to this societal, economic, and health decay is accountability. Accountability to yourself for your health, for your happiness, and for your focus. And accountability to your children to be a role model as to how to live a healthy life. We have to stand in opposition to the mainstream and consciously CHOOSE health and consciously CHOOSE life.

What does that look like? Continuously, on a day to day, minute to minute basis choosing healthy nutrition, healthy exercise habits, and healthy relationships and attitudes. It means educating yourself and discovering true health care practitioners like Chiropractors that have your best interests in mind. It means being proactive instead of reactive. It means spending a few dollars today to prevent becoming bankrupt by chronic disease tomorrow.

If you don’t educate yourself and take interest in what’s best for you and your family, who will do that for you?

An Agrarian View of Health

Agrarianist Wendell Berry believed and wrote that we live with and from others in extensive webs of interrelatedness. In other words, our happiness and health follow from the acceptance of responsibility for our interdependence. Put a third way, we cannot hurt the Earth without hurting our bodies.

In his essay, "The Body And The Earth", Berry has a section devoted to health. Although this selection was written in 1977, I think you will find that it is just as relevant today as it was 40+ years ago. Please read it, think about it, and begin to think about how you can change your approach to health.

In it he writes:

"It is therefore absurd to approach the subject of health piecemeal with a departmentalized band of specialists. A medical doctor uninterested in nutrition, in agriculture, in the wholesomeness of mind and spirit is as absurd as a farmer who is uninterested in health. Our fragmentation of this subject cannot be our cure, because it is our disease. The body cannot be whole alone. Persons cannot be whole alone. It is wrong to think that bodily health is compatible with spiritual confusion or cultural disorder, or with polluted air and water or impoverished soil. Intellectually, we knwo that these patterns of interdependence exist; we understand them better now perhaps than we ever have before; yet modern social and cultural patterns contradict them and make it difficult or impossible to honor them in practice. To try to heal the body alone is to collaborate in the destruction of the body. Healing is impossible in loneliness; it is the opposite of loneliness."

Human Genome Mapping A Failure In Finding Cures For Disease

Article Of The Week:
Human Genome Mapping A Failure In Finding Cures For Disease, Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox:
10 years ago, Bill Clinton announced that the complete human genome had been mapped. This was a huge day in science because the thought was that once we map the human genome, we can discover what genes cause what diseases and treat them accordingly by pharmaceutical methods. One quote by Francis Collins at the National Institutes of Health said, "you will see a complete transformation in therapeutic medicine."

10 years later, where are we? No better off. Medicine still has no answer for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or obesity. The genomes are mapped, we know which genes and gene variants are linked to which diseases, yet disease rates are increasing across the board, not decreasing. Where is the pie in the sky? It's fallen on the faces of the medical establishment. You see, there are genetic factors that play a role in cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. But far and away, the more important factor when determining disease risk and prognosis is environment/lifestyle. This was proven yet again in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. After studying 19,000 women with heart disease and finding 101 different gene variants that contribute to heart disease, they found that the fact that the women had a gene that was linked to heart disease had zero predictive benefit over 12 years as to whether or not the women developed heart disease.

So what determined whether they developed heart disease? Their lifestyle. How they chose to eat, move, and think on a daily basis.

Harold Varmus, the president at the National Cancer Institute summed it up in one great line, "Genomics is a way to do science, not medicine."

Diet-Induced Obesity Accelerates Leukemia

Article Of The Week:
Diet-Induced Obesity Accelerates Leukemia

Doctor's Soapbox:
The title says it all. Lifestyle choice causes cancer. Lifestyle choice (poor diet leading to obesity; "diet-induced") causes cancer (Leukemia). It doesn't get any more cut and dry than this. And this is straight out of the medical literature: Cancer Prevention Research.

Each and every day studies continue to show that the more they look at lifestyle choices and their influence on cancer, the more they realize that lifestyle choices cause at least 80% of cancer.

Burger with a side of Statins?

Article Of The Week:
Doctor Urges Fast Food Restaurants To Hand Out Statin Drugs Like Ketchup Packets, Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox:
Seriously?...
I hope there isn't anyone out there that actually believes this is a good idea. This doctor, Dr. Darrel Francis of Imperial College London, recommends handing out Statin drugs at fast food restaurants to "offset the cardiovascular risk of the meal." Really? He thinks that taking the pill will offset the dangers of eating the fast food and all will be fine. How about this, fast food is a chemical concoction of toxic sludge. Statin drugs are a chemical concoction of toxic sludge. Last I checked, 1 + 1 = 2. This doctor seems to believe that 1 + 1 = 0. Take a toxic drug to offset a toxic meal and you're safe. RIDICULOUS.

As if the fast food wasn't bad enough to cause obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and stroke; now the doctor wants to add liver and kidney disease by handing you a Statin. Other side effects of Statin drugs include amnesia, muscle breakdown that leads to kidney failure, CoQ10 deficiency which leads to heart disease, and erectile dysfunction just to name a few.

It is this kind of mindless recommendation by the mainstream medical model that has enlightened and educated citizens looking to the "alternative" practitioners for answers. Mainstream medicine is the #1 killer in the United States (Read Here), ahead of cancer and heart disease, and it's this kind of thinking and recommendation that has earned them that title.

What the doctor should be recommending is "Stay away from fast food!". That way, you won't be exposed to a cardiovascular risk and you won't have to take drugs to be "healthy". By definition, all drugs are toxic. After all, the only difference between a drug and a poison is the dose. Therefore, the fact that you are on a drug immediately makes you unhealthy.

True health does not come from pills. True health comes from providing your body with the proper raw materials needed to express health from the inside out. These raw materials are: proper nutrition from REAL, WHOLE food sources, proper exercise, proper mental attitude/stress levels, and an optimally functioning nervous system to integrate and coordinate the expression of the raw materials into a healthy you.

Mind-Body: Why the Disconnect?

Article Of The Week:

Mind Over Matter? The Psychology of Healing, Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox:

An often overlooked factor in health is the Mind-Body connection. For over 200 years, since Descartes promoted a separation of mind and body in medicine in the 1700s, mainstream medicine has neglected the mind in terms of its power to heal. Fortunately, science has recently taken steps to reconnect the mind with the body in the literature and in the healing arts. Unfortunately, this is not happening fast enough in mainstream medicine and a lot of patients are suffering and/or being exposed to far too many toxic treatments and prescriptions that would not be necessary if the mind was brought into the picture. The above article is perfect proof.

This article from the scientific journal Diabetologia studied diabetic patients (Type 1 and Type 2) that had foot ulcers. Foot ulcers are open sores which form when a minor skin injury fails to heal because of microvascular and metabolic dysfunction caused by diabetes. Up to fifteen per cent of people with diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2, develop foot or leg ulcers with many suffering depression and poorer quality of life as a result. The researchers in this study found that "the way patients cope with the condition and their levels of depression, affect how the wound heals or worsens." Eureka!!!! Mindset matters! This goes right along with the findings of many other studies that have shown that the more depressed or negative a person thinks, the more often they are sick. Science continues to back this up folks, even if your medical doctors give no credence to it. Lucky for you, "alternative" practitioners like myself do recognize and acknowledge the monumental contribution a person's mindset makes to the healing process.

Let's take this a step further, if your mindset determines how quickly your body heals an ulcer, do you think it also factors into how quickly you age, and therefore, your lifespan? Absolutely! Negative thoughts increase the stress hormone cortisol in your body, just like physical or chemical stress. The body reacts to all stress the same, regardless of the mode of input. Increased cortisol leads to increased depression by depleting the brain's stores of serotonin. It also leads to atherosclerosis and increased LDL cholesterol. Does that sound like a recipe for heart disease to you? And what is the number 1 killer and robber of lifespan in America? Heart disease. Does mindset matter? You bet your life it does!

Mainstream Medicine Tries To Jump On Bandwagon

Article Of The Week:

Physician Competencies For Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine

Journal of the American Medical Association July 29th, 2010
Lianov, L., M. Johnson. JAMA. 2010; 304(2): 202-203.

Doctor's Soapbox:
Here is up to the minute proof that what I have been preaching week in and week out is the key to health. Even mainstream medicine is admitting it, and has been. Lifestyle is the key to health. The only difference now is not only are they giving it lip service, but they're trying to get medical doctors to start practicing it. There's only one problem, medical doctors do not have the education or knowledge to provide it. As the article says,

"Even though the most widely accepted, well-established chronic disease practice guidelines uniformly call for lifestyle change as the first line of therapy, physicians often do not follow these recommendations."

Why? If research has proven again and again that people with chronic diseases (cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, depression, etc.) get better faster and live longer, higher quality lives when instituting lifestyle change as the primary treatment, why aren't medical doctors screaming this from the rooftops? There are a couple reasons. First and foremost is money. Medical doctors have 2 tools, drugs and surgery. Those tools are very expensive and very profitable, teaching people to eat better, exercise more, and reduce stress is not as easy to give patients and requires a lot more thinking by the doctor (plus there are no kickbacks from Big Pharma). The second reason, which stems from the first, is that medical doctors don't have the knowledge base or paradigm to teach lifestyle. As the article states,

"Physicians also have cited inadequate confidence and lack of knowledge and skill as major barriers to counseling patients about lifestyle interventions."

So who does that leave to provide true health and healing? What profession provides lifestyle "medicine"? Chiropractic, specifically, chiropractors with the Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (C.C.W.P.) degree through the International Chiropractic Association.

While medicine tries to bail out their sinking ship by jumping on the wellness bandwagon and failing because they don't know how that bandwagon works, take care of yourself and your family by learning how to live a wellness lifestyle from an expert: John Bartemus, DC, CCWP.

Wellness Lifestyle Implementation Steps 5/30/10

Did You Know???: that asthma is caused by a hyperactive immune system? When you inhale pollen and/or other allergens into your airways, your body gets rid of them by creating inflammation against them by recruiting white blood cells to the area and causing them to release histamine. A hyperactive immune system causes too much histamine to be released, this causes narrowing of the airways (bronchoconstriction) making it difficult to breathe (asthma attack). Hence the mechanism of asthma drugs (Anti-histamines). The only problem is, the drugs are addressing the symptom (too much histamine), instead of the cause (hyperactive immune system). Chiropractic addresses the cause. When you receive chiropractic adjustments to specific vertebrae in the neck and upper back that send nerves to the immune organs, you return the immune system to balance. A balanced immune system is a properly functioning immune system. A properly functioning immune system will only release enough histamine to take care of the allergen, not cause an asthma attack.

Book Of The Week: Never Be Sick Again by: Raymond Francis

Recipe Of The Week: Fruit Smoothie
1 cup of water
1 banana
4 frozen mango halves
2 gala apples
1/2 cup of blueberries
1/2 cup of blackberries

Blend until liquid. For creamier texture, add more banana.

Quote Of The Week: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
-Thomas Edison

Goal Of The Week: Call your parents and every one of your siblings at least once this week and catch up on what's happening in their lives.

Article Of The Week:
Low Levels of Vitamin D Make Asthma Worse

www.naturalnews.com/028886_asthma_vitamin_D.html


Doctor's Soapbox:
This article goes right along with the Did You Know??? section above. Vitamin D is a neurohormone, it is a major player in the health and performance of our immune system. If we are deficient in vitamin D, we cannot possibly be at optimal health because our immune system is not operating at full potential. The best source of vitamin D is the sun. Fifteen to twenty minutes of direct sunlight a day is enough to produce 40,000 IU of vitamin D in your body, more than enough of your daily requirement. So if you haven't done so already this holiday weekend, get out in the sun!



A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE REQUIRES TLC!

Wellness Lifestyle Implementation Steps 5/2/10

Did You Know???: that a properly functioning nervous system is necessary for optimal sport performance? Your ability to move is determined by the efficiency of the nerve supply to the muscles. Proper nerve supply allows for maximal muscle recruitment which allows for maximum power production, speed, agility, and reaction time. All of these attributes are key to sport performance. With the summer coming, and training for summer sports beginning, give your child the best chance to reach their full sports performance potential by getting their nervous system checked and corrected by a Chiropractor.

Book Of The Week: In Defense Of Food by: Michael Pollan

Recipe Of The Week: Paleo Pancakes

3 eggs
1/4 cup of almond meal
1/4 cup of almond milk
2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds
cinnamon
maple syrup

Heat skillet to 200 degrees. whisk all ingredients except cinnamon and maple syrup in a bowl as if you're making scrambled eggs. Dump on skillet and scramble. When finished, put result in bowl and add cinnamon and maple syrup as you wish.

Quote Of The Week: "Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence."
-- Jessica Guidobono

Goal Of The Week: Send/leave your spouse, friend, or special person an impromptu card, note, or gift letting them know how much you love and appreciate them.

Top Article From This Week

Epigenetic Concepts Offer New Approach To Degenerative Diseases Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox

Every day science piles on more and more evidence that it's our daily choices in the way that we eat, move, and think that determine our state of health more than anything else. Yes, genetics play a role, but the genes your body expresses are determined by the environmental influences placed upon them. Your gene is a blueprint for the making of Y-O-U. That blueprint is only potential, it doesn't become a reality unless an outside/environmental influence acts on it.

For example, let's look at making a cake. The recipe for the cake is your gene. The cake is the potential of that gene brought into reality. If you take the recipe out, leave it on the counter, walk away, and return 8 hours later, what do you have when you get back? The same thing you had when you left, a piece of paper with a recipe on it, nothing else. The recipe will never express itself and become a cake without an outside/environmental influence. In this case, that outside influence is the cook. The cook brings the ingredients and tools, reads the recipe, and expresses the recipe to produce a cake. Depending on the raw materials (ingredients) used by the outside influence (cook), the recipe (gene) can express a delicious cake (healthy) or a disgusting cake (disease).

In the same way, your choices of raw materials (food, exercise, mental attitude) provide your genes with the means to produce a healthy product or a diseased product. Choose well!

A long, happy life requires TLC

Wellness Lifestyle Implementation Steps 4/27/10

Did You Know???: Chiropractic care is excellent for reducing High Blood Pressure? In a recent study in the Journal of Human Hypertension, an 8 week study by George Bakris, MD found that Chiropractic care "has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination and it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems."

On average, neck adjustments received by the subjects in the study led to a decreased systolic (top #) blood pressure of 14 mmHg, and a decreased diastolic (bottom #) blood pressure of 8 mmHg.

If you are on blood pressure medication and have never tried the natural, side-effect free option of Chiropractic to manage your hypertension, give it a thought.

Book Of The Week: Anatomy Of An Illness by Norman Cousins, MD

Recipe Of The Week: Lemon Chicken Kebabs

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp. coarsely cracked pepper
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

Preheat broiler, or light your grill. Soak wooden skewers in water for 20
minutes to prevent them burning. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine oil,
lemon juice, garlic and pepper. Add chicken pieces, and toss to coat.
Marinate 15 minutes. Thread 3 or 4 chicken pieces onto each wooden skewer,
reserve marinade. Grill chicken over hot coals, baste frequently with
marinade and turning, for 12-15 minutes. Or broil, turn frequently, for
about 5 minutes.

Quote Of The Week: "There are countless ways of achieving greatness, but any road to achieving one's maximum potential must be
built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity."
-- Buck Rodgers

Goal Of The Week: Walk at lease one mile each day this week at as quick of a pace as you can.

Top Article From This Week

Body's Response To Repetitive Laughter Is Similar To Response To Repetitive Exercise Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox

How wonderful is this? You can literally laugh your way to health. Norman Cousins did it. He was diagnosed with a terminal autoimmune disease in the 70s but was determined to heal himself. He did it by laughing himself healthy. Check out The Book Of The Week, above, that's his story.

So if we can laugh our way to health, what do we need drugs for? Good question. We don't. Combine laughter with the proper diet, exercise, and healthy nervous system (through Chiropractic), and drugs are obsolete. Just look at the following quote from the article:

"(Laughing) enhances your mood, decreases stress hormones, enhances immune activity, lowers bad cholesterol and systolic blood pressure, and raises good cholesterol (HDL)."

Sounds like a home run to me, and unlike drugs, there are NO SIDE EFFECTS or TOXICITIES involved. So rent a funny movie, go see a comedian, watch a toddler learn about its environment. Whatever makes you laugh, start doing that as much as possible.

A long, happy life requires TLC

Wellness Lifestyle Implementation Steps 4/18/10

Did You Know???:

Chiropractic care sees remarkable results with ADD/ADHD? Research from the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research states, "The results of this study suggest that Chiropractic has the potential to become an important non-drug intervention for children with hyperactivity."

Key phrase: Non-drug. Our children do not need to be on more drugs. There are over 5 million children in the US on Ritalin today. America uses 90% of the world's Ritalin. According to Dr. Peter Breggin, MD, "Emergency room visits by children ages 10-14 involving Ritalin intoxication have now reached the same level as those for cocaine, which indicates escalating abuse of this highly addictive drug."

Ritalin is the drug treatment of choice for ADHD. It's documented side-effects include: stunting of growth, depression, chronic headaches, nervousness, skin rashes, high blood pressure, pulse changes, the development of Tourette's Syndrome, psychosis, and suicide. Does this sound like the best way of dealing with this supposed "behavioral disorder"? The side-effects of the drug are far worse than any "behavioral" issue caused by ADHD.

Human behavior and personality are governed by the nervous system. If your child displays signs of a behavioral disorder, having their nervous system assessed by a Chiropractor may address some of their needs. Chiropractic removes nerve dysfunction and enables the body to coordinate and control itself better, to cope with stress more easily. Nerve dysfunction is caused by stress placed on the body in the form of physical, chemical, or emotional trauma. Before the age of 6, the average child suffers 2,000 falls, 200 of which are considered serious. These falls may cause nerve dysfunction. When nerve dysfunction is present, areas of the brain and the chemical messages responsible for emotions can be affected. This may alter perceptions, moods, and memory, causing ADHD. If you or your child has never been assessed by a Chiropractor for nerve dysfunction, now is the time to get yourself and your child checked and corrected, enabling you to reach your full health and learning potential.

Book Of The Week: Health And Nutrition Secrets That Could Save Your Life by: Russell Blaylock, MD

Recipe Of The Week: Robert's Greens

1 onion, chopped
many cloves of garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 1/2 long andouille sausage, sliced or chopped
1 large can chicken broth
1 cup canned tomato chunks
2 bunches kale, spines removed, coarsely chopped
olive oil
pepper
hot peppers, fresh (chopped) or dried flakes

Sauté first three ingredients in olive oil until onion is transparent.
Add andouille and cook for a few minutes. Add the broth and tomato and
bring to a boil. Add kale and peppers. Turn heat to very low and
simmer until done. Will be fairly soupy.

Quote Of The Week: "The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold."
-- Glenn Doman

Goal Of The Week: Eat Fresh Fiber First at every meal. Begin each meal with fiber in the form of salad, fresh fruit, or vegetables. Fiber cleanses your intestines of toxins and gives your body the feeling of fullness faster, preventing you from over-eating.

Top Article From This Week

The FDA Shuts Down Common Infant Vaccine After Startling Discovery Become Empowered Here

Doctor's Soapbox

This vaccine with Pig Virus DNA in it was approved by the FDA in 2008. Over 1 million US children have been subjected to the vaccine, and over 30 million worldwide. Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the FDA is quoted as saying to CNN, ""It [Pig virus DNA] should not be in this vaccine product and we want to understand how it got there."

It's a little late, don't you think? Don't you think you should have tested the vaccine for these contaminants before approving it in 2008? That seems logical to me. But hey, that would slow down the profits for the pharmaceutical industry, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck, in this case. Why not poison people worldwide for 2 years, make our money, and determine it's safety in the process? And that's exactly what has happened. The corrupt collusion of our federal government and Big Pharma continues to destroy the American people while fattening the wallets of the elite and their payroll. No wonder this generation of children is the first predicted to not outlive their parents. It's designed to be that way by those in control!!!

And right now you may be offended that I even offer up that idea. If so, try and explain this, why did the independent team of scientists, who found the contamination, notify the vaccine manufacturer first rather than also immediately reporting their finding directly to the FDA? So they can get their cover-up story ready, perhaps?

The point of all of this is I, YOU, WE, need to become accountable for our health and the health of our innocent and vulnerable children. You cannot trust the government and definitely not the pharmaceutical companies to give you truthful, non-biased information. Do your research before subjecting your children to vaccines. The best site on the web to provide you with non-biased information that will allow you to make your OWN DECISION as to vaccinate your children or not is The National Vaccine Information Center. Please make it a priority to become empowered with the information necessary to make an intelligent decision. Your child's life depends on it.

A long, happy life requires TLC

Wellness Lifestyle Implementation Steps 4/11/10

Did You Know???: Did you know that Chiropractic is well known for it's positive results with asthma and allergies? One cause of asthma is bronchogenic inflammation, or inflammation of the airways. This inflammation can be caused by many things: nerve irritation, viruses, allergens, and your own immune system. Chiropractic adjustments help by reducing the nerve irritation and normalizing the function of your immune system.

Book Of The Week: Well Adjusted Babies by Dr. Jennifer Barham-Floreani

Recipe Of The Week: Lamb with Sweet Red Peppers

3 pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups hot water
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces

Season lamb with 1/4 tsp pepper. In a large frying pan or flameproof
casserole, heat oil over high heat. Add lamb and cook, turning frequently,
3-5 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Add garlic, water and remaining
1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook partially
covered 30 minutes. Uncover and cook 10 minutes longer, or until lamb is
fork tender. Add parsley and red peppers to pan. Cook 10 minutes, or until
peppers are just tender.

Quote Of The Week: "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
-- John Milton

Goal Of The Week: Tell someone at home you love them everyday this week.

Top Article From This Week

Expectant Mothers Reduce Diabetes Risk In Newborns By Eating More Vegetables Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox

If you didn't read one word from the article above, all you need to know can be deduced from the title. So what is the main point of the article? Just read the title? What do you think?

The main point is that the MOTHER's CHOICES of what to eat DIRECTLY EFFECTS THE LONG-TERM HEALTH OF HER UNBORN CHILD!!! Eat more grains and dairy, have a baby who's risk for Childhood Obesity and Type-2 Diabetes skyrockets. Eat more vegetables, have a baby who's risk of Childhood Obesity and Type-2 Diabetes plummets. Every choice the mother makes impacts the health of her unborn child, throughout the entire pregnancy (as well as preconception (father too) and post-birth). In the science realm, this field of study is called Epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of how environmental factors (i.e. our choices) influence the expression of our genes and whether or not they produce health or disease. With each passing moment, we in the scientific community are discovering that our daily choices far outweigh our genes as far as determining our current and long-term state of health or disease.

Do you want to love your child? Do you want to be a responsible parent? Do you want to give your child the best chance possible at living a happy and healthy life? Make happy, healthy, responsible choices as far as how you eat, move, and think on a daily basis. After all, you are your child's hero, be a good role model.

A long, happy life requires TLC

Wellness Lifestyle Implementation Steps 3/28/10

I'd like you all to mark your calendars. Transcendent Lifestyle Center, PC will officially open its doors on Monday April 5th!!! Call this week to schedule the first step on your journey toward achieving optimal health. Let's make Charlotte and its suburbs the healthiest city in America.

Book Of The Week: The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by: Lierre Keith

Recipe Of The Week: Banana Pear Ambrosia
1 ripe avocado
1 pear
1 banana
1 tablespoon honey
Pineapple or lemon juice
Blender all ingredients until smooth. Serve in sherbet glasses.

Quote Of The Week: "Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."
-- Erica Jong

Goal Of The Week: Rent the movie FOOD, INC. and watch it with your family.

Top Article From This Week

Scientists Cannot Figure Out Why Type-1 Diabetes Is Raising 3% Every Year The Answer

Doctor's Soapbox

If you were at my talk on Wednesday night at 3 Goats Coffee where we discussed genetically congruent nutrition, you know the answer. You're smarter than mainstream scientists. Research shows that our genes have not changed in 40,000 years. Mainstream science says that Type-1 Diabetes is a "genetic disease." If it was a genetic disease, then only the people born with the genes for Type-1 Diabetes would get it. If it was a genetic disease and you didn't have the gene(s), then it would be impossible to ever develop the disease. The fact that you can develop a disease at some point in your life that you haven't had your whole life, since birth, is proof that that disease is not genetic, but environmental/lifestyle induced.

If Type-1 Diabetes was genetic, and our genes haven't changed in 40,000 years, then there is NO CHANCE that the incidence of Type-1 Diabetes could increase 3% every year. That would mean that our genes are changing 3% every year and 3% more people who didn't have the "Diabetes Gene" last year, now have it this year. Impossible.

Clearly, Type-1 Diabetes is not genetic. It is an autoimmune disease caused by various environmental/lifestyle factors, one of which is the consumption of dairy products, especially milk. Other causes are Vitamin D deficiency, which weakens our immune system, vaccinations filled with pro-inflammtory ingredients such as oil adjuvants, and grain consumption.

It's not rocket-science. Our genes have not changed in 40,000 years, and only 2.5% of diseases are "genetic", as all mainstream scientists are taught. Therefore, genes are not to blame for the current pandemic of disease in our society. Environment/lifestyle is responsible for 97.5% of disease in our society. It's time we stop searching for "Wonder Drugs" and start being accountable for the way we're living.

Change Your Choices, Change Your Health.

A long, happy life requires TLC

Lifestyle Implementation Steps 3/21/10

Book Of The Week: The Greatest Miracle In The World by: Og Mandino

Recipe Of The Week: Paleo-Chili

2 lbs ground buffalo
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves chopped garlic
2-4 Tbs fat (I use pork fat)
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes (I use organic such as Muir Glen)
4 Tbs chile powder
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Brown ground buffalo with chopped onion and chopped garlic, in fat. Then
add chopped tomatoes, chile powder, oregano, cumin, and salt. Add water,
then simmer the mixture for at least two hours, until the meat is very
tender and the tomatoes pretty much cook into the sauce. Four hours is not
too much, but check to make sure it does not go dry.

Quote Of The Week: "So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin."
-- W. Clement Stone

Goal Of The Week: Start a journal. Journal for yourself so you can look back on it in a couple years and remember the little things that made your day today, but may become huge things in retrospect. Also, the journal is a heritage for your loved ones, especially your children. It is a way for them to really learn about you and the things that impacted your life. A journal is a legacy.

Top Article From This Week

Omega 3 Curbs Precancerous Growths in Those Prone to Bowel Cancer Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox

More evidence comes out of the scientific literature everyday stating that Omega-3 fatty acids, Fish Oil, prevent this cancer, that cancer, this heart condition, this allergy, etc. The science world studies Omega-3s to find out if it's a good treatment for a specific disease. Without fail, the answer of their research is always yes. Is this a wonder drug? NO, it's not a drug at all. It's an innate genetically required nutrient that we ALL MUST HAVE daily to manifest true health. The Western Diet has been shown time and time again to be deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids. We all must supplement with Fish Oil, you cannot afford to eat enough fish to get your daily requirement of fish oil, and even if you could, you'd become toxic in mercury, flame retardant, or some other pollutant that is rampant in our oceans today. So please, for the health of yourself and your family, start supplementing with fish oil. The best, most pure brand on the market can be found from Innate Choice.

A long, happy life requires TLC

Wellness Lifestyle Action Steps 3/14/10

Hello Transcendent Lifestyle Center Family!

Thank you for listening in to Wayne Coolidge and I on 1350 AM radio Friday morning for our "Half Hour To Health" radio show. If you missed it, we're on every Friday morning from 9:15 to 10. Please feel free to email me topics that you'd like to hear us address.

Also, my next talk is coming up. Wednesday night, March 24th from 7-8pm, I'll be at Three Goats Coffee discussing the scientifically proven way that we should be eating each day. Let's just say it'll be worth your while to come check it out. For more info check out the Three Goats website.

Book Of The Week: The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason

Recipe Of The Week: White Fish with Macadamia Salsa

Ingredients
2 white fish fillets
¼ cup macadamias, halved
½ cup chopped tomatoes
1 avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
3tbs coriander, chopped
3tbs parsley, chopped
Olive oil

Instructions
Pre-heat grill to medium heat.
Place fish on grill and cook for 3-4minutes or until cooked.
To make the salsa, place macadamias, tomatoes, avocado, coriander and parsley in a mixing bowl, combine well. Add olive oil to coat.
Place fish and salsa on a plate to serve.

Quote Of The Week: "To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing."
-- Elbert Hubbard

Goal Of The Week: Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. Purchase a Klean Kanteen (a stainless steel water bottle) to carry your water around with you. Plastic bottles leach BPA into your water. BPA is an endocrine disrupter, i.e., it messes with your hormone levels.

Top Article From This Week

Nature Heals! Green Spaces Prevent Mental Illness Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox

This article is especially relevant for us, because we all live within close proximity of Lake Norman and various state parks. With the weather improving day by day, let us make an effort to get out in nature daily, whether in your own yard, or in one of the nearby parks. Research shows that the more greenery we are exposed to and surrounded by, the less depression, mental decline, and physical ailments we have. So grab a friend, loved one, or stranger, and get outside this week!

A long, happy life requires TLC

Wellness Lifestyle Action Steps 3/7/10

Book Of The Week: Timeless Healing - The Power and Biology of Belief by: Herbert Benson

Recipe Of The Week: Barbequed Spicy Honey Chicken

3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)

In a large bowl combine honey, lemon and orange juices, herbs, scallions, pepper and fennel seeds. Put the chicken in the bowl and marinate for 1-2 hours. Fire up the barbeque and grill the chicken, turning constantly while basting with the marinade until the breasts are cooked.

Quote Of The Week: "If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it."
-- George F. Burns

Goal Of The Week: Exercise at least 30 minutes a day for the entire week. Be creative and change it up. Take and activity you enjoy doing and make it an exercise. The key is to get that heart pumping and sweat, the way that you do that does not matter.

Top Article From This Week

GABA Reduces Stress Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox

As this article states, GABA (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter found in our brain and spinal cord. Its purpose is to inhibit messages from the outside world from traveling up to our brain and causing negative physiological effects (symptoms and disease). The opposite of inhibitory is excitatory. Excitatory neurotransmitters, like Adrenaline (aka Norepinephrine) function to stimulate the brain and spinal cord and get a given message across. Neurotransmitters are responsible for most body functions, including emotions, movement and the ability to experience pain.

Adrenaline is the neurotransmitter released during the Fight or Flight Response, i.e. Stress. The purpose of the stress response is to save our life in a dangerous situation, like being chased by a tiger. It is meant to be an acute response to provide you with immediate energy to allow you to run away from the tiger and save your life. In our society, where stress is a 24/7 thing for most people, the stress response has become chronic. Chronic stress is caused by poor diets, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, negative attitude and poor self-esteem, and spinal misalignments called Subluxation. This is very dangerous because chronic stress leads to chronic diseases like Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke, Depression, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Asthma, etc.

One way to oppose the stress response, or decrease stress levels, is to increase the production of inhibitory neurotransmitters such as GABA. This is where your Chiropractor comes in. GABA is found exclusively in the Central Nervous System (your Brain and Spinal Cord). The best way to stimulate GABA is by getting spinal adjustments from your Chiropractor, who is trained to correct spinal misalignments (i.e. Subluxations). The adjustment decreases stress in a couple of ways. First, the adjustment corrects the misaligned vertebra, this de-stresses the nerves at that level and normalizes the communication between the Brain and that area of the body. Second, the adjustment causes a burst of GABA in the spinal cord which inhibits the stress signals entering the cord at that level. Lastly, the adjustment decreases stress by increasing spinal range of motion, which triggers the release of the feel-good neurochemicals, like endorphins ("runner's high" chemical), in the brain.

The key to health is balance. We must have equal stores of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters available at all times for the body to function correctly. If one side dominates the scene day in and day out, bad things happen in our bodies. The way to prevent this is by living a balanced lifestyle, consisting of good nutrition, daily exercise, proper amounts of sleep, a positive attitude, and a properly aligned spine.

A long, happy life requires TLC

This Week's Wellness Lifestyle Action Steps

Book Of The Week: Start With Why by: Simon Sinek

Recipe Of The Week: Carrot-Ambrosia Salad

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound carrots -- shredded
20 ounces crushed pineapple -- drained
8 ounces Coconut milk
3/4 cup flaked coconut
3/4 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons honey

Combine all ingredients, tossing well. Cover and chill.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Quote Of The Week: "Active faith steps out on its belief and risks failure because it assumes it will succeed." -Napoleon Hill

Goal Of The Week: Read one hour a day. If you seek to be an expert in any field, reading on that topic one hour a day is a simple way to ascend the ranks. Reading one hour a day leads to 365 hours a year. That translates to 2 full weeks of your life each year that you are growing your knowledge in your field of passion. 365 hours of reading a year also translates to about 50 books a year. The average American reads 1 book a year. Do you want to get ahead? It doesn't get much easier than this.

Top Article From This Week

1. Rates of Chronic Health Problems in Children Soar Read Here

Doctor's Soapbox

This article discusses the same topic I taught on Wednesday night, chronic disease. As I mentioned then, 83 cents of every Medicaid dollar spent in America goes toward chronic disease. Medicaid money is primarily health care dollars spent on children. The Journal of the American Medical Association states, "Chronic health conditions in American kids have increased dramatically in recent years -- rising from 12.8 percent in 1994 to 26.6 percent in 2006." Chronic disease in our children has more than DOUBLED in the past 12 years.

How and why? The mass media would have us believe that it is bad genes, but think about it, do you think our DNA, after changing less than 0.02% in the last 40,000 years, could change that much over the past 12? Absolutely not. The real answer as to why are children are so sick can be found in our living rooms and our schools.

The typical American living room is full of kids watching endless hours of TV, playing video games, and consuming endless amounts of junk food and soda. The same goes for schools. The vending machines and cafeterias in schools do not provide health food, they sell Coke, Pepsi, Gatorade, Snickers, etc. Sugar, sugar, and sugar. Then the kids are expected to sit in their chairs 8 hours a day without any exercise; because, after all, there's a big push to get rid of recess and gym class in our schools. Robbing our children of the few moments that they were forced to actually move around each day. Coupled with the increased sugar consumption and decreased exercise, what have you noticed? An increase in ADD/ADHD, Obesity, Diabetes, Depression, and childhood drug prescriptions. I don't know about any of you, but if what I ate and drank throughout the day was mostly sugar, and I didn't have any chance to get out and run around to burn off some of that energy, I'd find it hard to sit still and pay attention for 8 hours too. And if I lived this LIFESTYLE chronically, week in and week out, I wouldn't be surprised if I developed Obesity, Diabetes, or Depression. What does sugar get converted to in our bodies if we don't burn it? Fat, insulin resistance, inflammation. Our children don't need Ritalin, our children don't need Xanax, our children don't need anti-depressants. What they need is what every child needs. They need healthy, whole foods, they need love and guidance, and they need tons of exercise disguised as playtime.

Have a blessed week!

"A long, happy life requires TLC."

New Website Is UP!!!

Hello Readers,

I wanted to drop you a line and let you know that my new website is running full steam ahead. Check it out!!!

www.TranscendentLifestyle.com

And stay tuned, a new blog will be posted shortly.

Dr. John

Calorie Restriction = Fountain of Youth

A hot topic right now in the news, and one that is always on the minds of adults at some level, is aging. How can we prevent aging and retain our youth? There are plenty of gimmicks out there, one is Resveratrol, another is Mona Vi, and of course there are hundreds of options in the form of lotions, potions, and surgeries to spend your life savings on that claim to make you look younger. But do things such as facelifts make you look younger or just vain and fake?

Current research has "discovered" a way to stay young without spending a penny. I say "discovered" with quotations because scientists haven't discovered this method, they re-discovered it. Or better yet, the knowledge was present and being practiced by certain communities of people all along, we just didn't know the mechanism of this method. What is this method of staying young? It is Calorie Restriction (CR).

What is Calorie Restriction? According to the journal Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, Calorie Restriction is "the reduction of macronutrient intake while maintaining sufficient micronutrient intake." In layman's terms: eating less overall carbohydrates, proteins, and fats while still getting all of the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and amino acids that you need. Broken down to even simpler terms: EAT LESS CALORIES while getting MORE NUTRIENTS from your food.

How do you do this? Simple, eat less grains and dairy, eat more fruits and vegetables. Not rocket science, right? That is why I said the scientists didn't discover this, it is age old wisdom that we all have inside us. You know the inner dialogue. You go to McDonald's, order two double cheeseburgers for $2, and right before you swallow them whole, you tell yourself, "I shouldn't eat this." Exactly, you shouldn't, it is poisonous, calorie dense food with zero nutritional value. Your subconscious knows you shouldn't eat it, and reminded you right before your first bite. But you, you are a sucker for marketing and would rather spend hard earned money on garbage than health.

The health effects of practicing Calorie Restriction are many. Research has shown that Calorie Restriction provides our body with potent antitumor activity (Kritchevsky, 2002). It also causes loss of weight/reduced fat, decreased metabolic rate and body temperature, decreased free radical damage, and decreased insulin resistance. Calorie Restriction also increases our antioxidant defenses, increases bodily repair, and increases protein turnover rates (Masoro, 2007). Yet more research has shown that Calorie Restriction prevents Alzheimer's (Alom et al., 1995), osteoporosis, muscle wasting, and weakened immune and organ function (Matsumoto et al., 2000; Morley, 2001) .

So, how do you start? It's simple, just make the decision to eat less grains and dairy while eating more fruits and vegetables and you're on your way. All of these health effects can be yours. And you don't have to do it alone. There are people all over the world who have made the lifestyle switch. To link up with them in an online community and learn more, check out the following resources:

Calorierestriction.org

San Fransisco Chronicle

BBC News

Remember, in these times of economic and "healthcare" uncertainty, the only one who can guarantee your health is you. You must be your own advocate. CREATE YOUR LIFE. Make the right CHOICES at every crossroads. Choose NATURE OVER MANMADE. Until next time, LIVE WELL.



REFERENCES

Minor, R., J. Chang, R. de Cabo. Hungry for Life: How the arcuate nucleus and neuropeptide Y may play a critical role in mediating the benefits of calorie restriction. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. 2009 Feb. 5; 299 (1): 79-88.

Kritchevsky D. Caloric restriction and experimental carcinogenesis. Hybrid Hybridomics. 2002; 21: 147-151.

Masoro, E. The role of hormesis in life extension by dietary restriction. Interdisciplinary Topics In Gerontology. 2007; 35: 1-17.

Alom, J., R. Galard, R. Catalan, J. Castellanos, S. Schwartz, E. Tolosa. Cerebrospinal fluid neuropeptide Y in Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscience Letters. 1995; 198: 1549-1551.

Matsumoto, A., B. Marck, D. Gruenewald, T. Wolden-Hanson, M. Naai. Aging and the neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction and body weight. Experimental Gerontology. 2000; 35: 1251-1265.

Morley, J. Anorexia, sarcopenia, and aging. Nutrition. 2001; 17: 660-663.