Healthy Life Newsletter, January 2017
Dr. Mha Atma’s New Year’s Message
Dear Patients and Friends,
There are many different factors that affect our health. We h ealthy-living advocates like to say that the lifestyle we choose has the most profound impact on our current and long term health. We want to instruct and inspire folks to understand how they need to live—regarding diet, exercise, rest and other factors—to restore, enjoy and maintain good health. Changing habits can be very challenging, but the rewards for doing so as well as the penalties for failing to change can be great.
Any time is a great time to start making changes to improve your life and health, but the start of a new year is an especially great time to commit to a healthy anti-inflammation diet, a consistent exercise routine, and dedicating ample time for rest, relaxation, nurturing loving relationships, and spiritual pursuits, all of which are important components of a healthy lifestyle.
However there are some components of good health that seem to be out of our immediate personal control. For instance, studies have shown that there is an inverse relationship between good health outcomes in a society with the income gap between rich and poor. The U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world but our nation’s health ranks around #40 compared to other nations. Environmental factors such as pesticide and plastic pollution, air and water quality, and climate change can and will have a significant effect on our present and future health. Stress can have a profound health impact, and many sources of stress including financial stress, job stress, relationship stress, and various other challenges and worries can be very difficult to resolve.
So we need to make and renew our commitment to take good care of ourselves encompassing personal choices like diet, exercise and chiropractic care….AND we also need to make and renew our commitment to looking beyond our personal lives to our society and our world and actively engaging in efforts to demand and create a more healthy, just and sustainable human enterprise for the sake of our health and that of our own family and our human family.
Yours for better health, naturally,
Mha Atma S. Khalsa, D.C.
Anti-Inflammation Recipe
This formula is a simple, powerful way to reduce inflammation and pain with only positive side effects. While anti-inflammatory drugs can have negative impacts on your GI tract, kidneys, liver, heart and other systems, turmeric and ginger reduce inflammation while benefiting your immune system, GI tract, brain and more. You can take turmeric and ginger in supplement form, but the following recipe is a relatively inexpensive and effective way to get a lot of these healing substances into your system. The black pepper and oil greatly enhances the absorption and utilization, especially of turmeric.
Combine well:
1-2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 pinch black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil OR coconut oil
then add to water or tea or a smoothie or somehow consume it
Take 3 times daily for maximum healing results–and an extra dose at bed time if you are having pain during the night. Take at least once daily for health maintenance.
You can find the above ingredients from various sources but one good one: Available on line from VITACOST at vitacost.com
\1. Organic ginger root powder 1 pound $13.69 #767963025760
\2. Organic turmeric root powder $9.79 #767963026248
\3. Organic Black Pepper corns, whole 1 pound $21.99 #767963025999
Note from Dr. Mha Atma: The anti-inflammatory recipe above has none of the side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs–only positive side effects benefiting heart, brain, immune system and more!
Protect Your Heart: Avoid the Anti-Inflammatories
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve, etc.) are among the most widely used pain-relieving medications in the world.
That’s a big problem when you consider the results of a decade-long study that assessed the impact of NSAID use on heart failure risk.
The study, which analyzed NSAID use and heart failure in more than 100,000 heart failure patients and 8.2 million healthy individuals with no history of heart failure, found that nine NSAIDs elevated the risk of heart failure, even in the healthy control population. Included in the nine were ibuprofen and naproxen.
Now here’s the really interesting part of the study: It didn’t include over-the-counter NSAID use (which is presumably significantly harder to track). Does that mean you’re safe if you don’t take prescription NSAIDs, but load up on the OTC variety? According to the authors:
“Our findings, which focused only on prescription NSAIDs, might apply to NSAIDs obtained over the counter as well. Although over-the-counter NSAIDs are probably typically used at lower doses, by younger people, and for shorter durations than prescribed NSAIDs, they are sometimes available at the same doses than those prescribed and may be inappropriately overused. Therefore, our findings could have large scale consequences in public health and further research needs to assess the safety of over-the-counter NSAIDs under the conditions they are typically used.”
So, what’s your heart worth to you? If you turn to the medicine cabinet or local drug-store shelf for a NSAID at the first sign of pain, you could be putting your heart at risk. Talk to your doctor about nondrug options for managing pain stemming from common conditions such as muscle soreness, back and neck pain, headaches, and more – and try natural, drug-free alternatives to medication, including chiropractic care.
Get Fit for Life in 2017
Is “Get into shape” or a similar mandate front and center on your 2017 New Year’s resolution list? If it is, you need a road map for how to get there or you’ll end up putting the same resolution on your 2018 list.
Health Is Where the Heart Is: You can’t beat consistent cardiovascular exercise when it comes to not only building a healthy heart, but also burning fat and optimizing your metabolism. Before you know it, you’ll be leaner, more toned and able to withstand more intense workouts without skipping a beat. Now that’s a recipe for yearlong fitness.
Keep Your Muscles Guessing: Your muscles react to repetitive stimuli just like we do - after a certain point, they get bored. In physiological terms, that boredom manifests as lack of response to your “same old, same old” workouts. To prevent this, mix up your workouts every few weeks, engaging different muscles (you probably didn’t even know you had) and provoking them to respond by getting firmer, tighter and more fit.
Don’t Fear the Break: Burnout is the No. 1 reason many people discontinue exercise; they either push themselves too hard for too long, or do the same workout over and over until they lose interest. You can avoid both and keep going strong by taking a break every so often to rest, recharge and prepare for your next fitness stage. Your muscles need time to recover and repair (between workouts and over time), so give them (and yourself) some much-deserved time off every few months. A week away from the gym will do wonders for your mental and physical health.
You Are What You Eat: Let’s finish this conversation with the often-forgotten element of true fitness: nutrition. Perhaps it’s so often overlooked (or ignored) because for many of us, heading to the gym seems easier than eating broccoli, brown rice and salmon instead of a burger with fries. But face it, without good nutrition, you’re not giving your body the fuel it needs to work out, the building blocks it needs to develop lean muscle –essentially, the tools it needs to get fit and stay fit.
So this time, don’t commit to a year of fitness that falls flat somewhere around April or May; commit to a lifetime of fitness beginning in 2017.
Preventing & Treating Low Back Pain with Diet
Michael Greger M.D.
Low back pain became one of the biggest problems for public health systems in the Western world during the second half of the 20th century. The lifetime prevalence of low back pain is reported to be as high as 84 percent, and chronic low back pain is present in about one in five, with one in ten being disabled. It’s an epidemic.
Are people just lifting more heavy stuff? No. “[M]echanical factors, such as lifting and carrying, probably do not have a major role in this disease.” Atherosclerosis can obstruct the arteries that feed the spine, and this diminished blood flow can result in various back problems. This can be seen on special scans.
Now, we have MRI imaging that can show the occlusion of spinal arteries in people with back pain, and the degeneration of the discs. Researchers showed that patients with long-term lower back pain had constricted blood flow, and those with high cholesterol appeared to suffer with more severe symptoms. Those with narrowed arteries appear about eight-and-a-half times more likely to have suffered from chronic back pain.
Although disc degeneration has multiple causal factors, with genetic, occupational, and mechanical influences, alteration in nutrition has been proposed as the final common pathway. This makes sense. The discs in our lower back are the largest “avascular” tissue in the body, meaning our discs don’t have any blood vessels. Thus, its nutrition just kind of diffuses in from the margins, making it especially vulnerable to deprivation. Using MRIs, we can measure the effects of impaired blood flow on that diffusion. Because of this vulnerability, discs degenerate far earlier than other musculoskeletal tissues; the first unequivocal findings of degeneration in the discs of the lower spine are seen starting around age 11. Nearly all kids have the beginnings of atherosclerosis by age ten. By the early teen years, we can already see the disks starting to deteriorate. By age 49, 97% percent of the discs of those eating the Standard American Diet show at least grade-2 degradation.
Cholesterol plaques in the wall of the aorta obliterate the openings of spinal arteries. Structures with precarious nutrient supply, such as the intervertebral discs, may suffer and gradually degenerate, as well as herniate. There is a link not only between cholesterol levels and disc degeneration, but also between cholesterol levels and disc herniation.
This compromised blood flow may also damage the nerve roots that come off the spine, causing sciatica. Sciatica is back pain that radiates down the legs, causing additional pain, numbness or weakness, and prolonged disability. Sciatica affects as many as 1 in 20 people. Independent of weight, clinical sciatica may be associated with blood cholesterol levels as well. The nerve roots, which are most commonly associated with sciatic pain, are supplied by some of the arteries most vulnerable to atherosclerotic plaque formation. Obliteration of these arteries by cholesterol buildup results in compromised nutrient supply to the nerve itself. That lack of oxygen to the nerve may play a role in the sciatic nerve crying out in pain. Reduced blood flow also hampers the removal of waste products, such as lactic acid, which can irritate the nerve endings, causing pain and deterioration.
Sadly, low back pain is now common in children and adolescents, and getting worse. Similarly, children are now getting disorders like adult-onset diabetes. Teenagers, starting out their lives with a chronic disease; that’s why it’s never too early to start eating healthier.
[Note from Dr. Mha Atma : A quote from the article above: “The discs in our lower back are the largest “avascular” tissue in the body, meaning our discs don’t have any blood vessels.” Besides nutrtion, the discs depend on the movement of adjacent spinal bones to get circulation. When that movement is restricted, whether or not pain is present, the discs suffer. And when spinal joints are fixated or “stuck,” the only thing that gets them moving better is chiropractic adjustments!]
Milk–It Does a Body Good…Except for Prostate Cancer Survival
This may come as a shocker to those who know me. I’m no fan of dairy. Despite the involvement in seemingly every public health recommendation there is, the research on dairy is just not supportive. Actually, the research is less than supportive. In same cases it is downright scary.
As I have mentioned before, I would like to understand the mindset of the first human to look at a filled-to-bursting cow’s udder and thought…”I’ve GOT to try some of that!!” It’s easy to drink out of a carton, but stop for a minute next time and think where it comes from and what it was designed for.
Overall, though, dairy has been linked to ovarian cancer in several studies (these can be read by clicking here) as well as many other chronic diseases (type 1 diabetes, reflux, weight gain in kids). But cancer seems to be somewhat of a recurring theme. This might be because dairy is designed to support the rapid growth of cells. This is great in a newborn, but not such a good idea as we age.
This particular study continues to add to this theme. jn.nutrition.org
Researchers evaluated the data within the Physician’s Health Study on the relationship between prostate cancer and dairy consumption. Here’s what they found:
The intake of >2.5 servings / day of dairy products was associated with 12% increased risk of prostate cancer.
Skim/low-fat milk intake was associated with an elevated risk of low-grade, early stage, and screen-detected cancers (that’s the good news!).
Whole milk intake was associated with a 49% increased risk of fatal prostate cancer a > 1 serving per day.
Worse, whole milk intake led to a 217% higher risk of progression to death once someone was already diagnosed.
So much for dairy being good for us, huh?
At one point is society going to stop believing the propaganda of the dairy council and stop poisoning our kids and yourself?