Fruits and Vegetables: Friend or Foe?

Posted by: Dr. Ken Bennett

Did any of you see a recent study that basically said there’s no real benefit to eating fruits and vegetables as it pertains to cancer prevention? Well I did and I was dumbfounded! It’s hard to believe how things like this are allowed in print, let alone a scientific journal…

I just wanted to share an amazing critique that Dr. James Chestnut posted on his blog. He is one of the smartest, logical and straight forward researchers I know. Everything he recommends and believes in boils down to one simple thing. How and what did our ancestors (caveman) eat, drink, and move? If it was good enough for them to live without cancer, diabetes, ADHD, heart disease, arthritis, etc. It should be good enough for us too!

I hope you like the article. I have learned and continue to learn a ton from Dr. Chestnut.

http://www.wellnessandprevention.com/index.cfm/2010/4/22/Fruit-and-Vegetable-Intake-and-Cancer-Risk

Basically, it's just like mom said..."eat your fruits and vegetables"

"I Put Some New Shoes On and Suddenly Everything is Okay..."

Posted by: Dr. Taka Nakaseko

The temperature hit the 80s' last week and everybody seemed to start some activity in the spring breeze. Running is the most cost effective & time flexible exercise. If you can't run, 30 minutes of walking is a good second choice. Research shows even a 30 minute brisk walk 3 times per week can significantly lower the incidence of many health problems such as breast cancer, high blood pressure, and stress.

Go find your pair of running shoes & get ready to run! You don't have good pair of shoes? That's OK, I'd like to share some tips with you on how to choose the right pair of shoes.

Pronation is the key. After you take a shower, step on a piece of paper and look at the imprint. If you have more areas that are wet, you have flat feet (low arch or over pronator), if less surface area is wet, it means your arch is high (under-pronator). An in-between amount of wet area is called neutral pronation. The other good way to tell which pronation patterns you have is to bring your old running shoes to your chiropractor or sports store. Old shoes tell a lot!

As your feet fight against gravity, your feet get wider & longer during a day. Therefore, the best time to buy shoes is in the afternoon. Also, one foot might be bigger/smaller than other. If so, choose the one that fits the larger side.

There are 3 things you need to know before you choose the shoes: where you are going to run, how long you usually run, and what is your pronation pattern. When you pick the shoes, make sure to try them on. Don't go with its appearance!

Stand up and wiggle your feet in the shoes. Make sure your heels don't slide up & down as you walk. Your toes should have enough room to wigg le easily otherwise. You should feel your arch touching in your shoes slightly.

Forward fold, spinal twist, and short lunge are great preparations before a run. Make sure you know how to do those exercises correctly. Doctors at The Balancing Center are very happy to assist you.

Breathing

Posted by: KC McCorriston

Breathing, in its simplicity, is life. In times of anxiety, our breathing is restricted. Many times by relaxing and lengthening our breath, we can release some anxiety. When we are swept up in the ever moving flow of life, we can find stability by equalizing the length of our inhale to the length of our exhale, and making sure to pause between the inhale and exhale. In the morning while we are trying to prepare for our day ahead, we can take short fast breaths and get our energy moving.

The doctors use controlled breathing during office visits, to help with adjustments and syncing the nervous system to the body and mind. There are so many essential uses of the breath that can help us on a daily basis. I tried looking up 'benefits of breathing' online, feeling very ridiculous, until a thousand websites came up with lists of benefits, and how good breathing can help people in so many ways. One website I found listed all sorts of benefits, which amplified my gratitude for breathing to the max: http://www.breathing.com/articles/benefits.htm. Being in tune with our breath is being in tune with ourselves, and being in tune with ourselves can help our quality of life. The simple fact that we are here, breathing, is by far the most beautiful thing we can ever have.

Aluminum in Vaccines

Posted by: Dr. Taka Nakaseko

"No one in my lab wants to get vaccinated..."

According to the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, a recent investigation of the role of Aluminum adjuvant shows that an aluminum compound can cause neurological damage. An adjuvant, found in a large number of vaccines, is added to help the vaccine increase immune response. Aluminum compounds are used as common adjuvant since its discovery many yeas ago. The pharmaceutical industry, various government agencies, and the FDA have proven to use them as a safe additive to vaccine.

The investigators have found various negative effects of aluminum hydroxide in vaccines such as, behavioral deficits, motor deficits, decreased motor neurons, and increased sign of inflammation in the central nervous system (the main control center of your body!).

As you know, your brain and spinal cord are main components of your nervous system, and those two structures are protected by the frame work of bones, your skull and spine. In order to have healthy nerve cells and smooth nerve flow, your frame has to be strong, flexible, and balanced. Healthy nerve function is also essential to your immune function.

Before you stick the needle in, tune-up your nervous system to boost your immune function.

For more information, click here.

Prevent Heart Disease One Day at a Time

Post by: Dr. Ken Bennett

Do you believe the earth is flat?

Me neither. But this concept was accepted as fact for a long time. It took someone sailing around the globe which offered a new perspective to disprove a “fact.”

Might there be some current “facts” that will be proven baseless that we live by everyday? Do you think there might be some other concepts out there that seem far-fetched but sometime during our lifetime (I hope) will become accepted as fact? I, for one, definitely know there are a lot of ideas about health, nutrition, and the body that will become accepted facts.

I wanted to share a great interview with a former heart surgeon about heart disease. Maybe cholesterol doesn’t play such a big role in heart disease…maybe eating right and exercise (I know these are drastic measures) have a much more powerful role. Genetics definitely plays a role in heart disease, as it does in everything that happens with our bodies. However, a more important factor is what we do with and do to ourselves on a daily basis, that dictate how our genes are expressed. (Quick sidenote: If your nervous system runs your body and your spine controls the nerves. Don’t you think it is important to get adjusted, so your nervous system can function properly thus allowing your genetics to express their full potential? Me too, ok back to heart disease…) Please take a few minutes and gain a new perspective, click on the link below. I find this newsletter to be a great resource, always sharing ideas that more likely than not will become facts in the not to distant future.

http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com/2009/09/risking-our-lives-for-big-pharma-profits/

In the future, we can talk more about what eating right really means. Could the food pyramid be another myth?

Please post your comments below.

Every Drop Counts

Post By: KC McCorriston

"If I wasn't well hydrated the day before my stroke, I would've never survived," she told me. She told me what it was like to have a stroke, how she was in her apartment for three days alone, and how if it weren't for water and her overall healthy lifestyle, she would've died. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we are human bodies made mostly of water, and that it is important to remember to drink water and stay hydrated. Our hydration levels are directly related to our lungs (which use many cups of water just while breathing!), skin health, fatgiue levels, sleep patterns, digestion, clarity of mental thought, weight, and so much more! The amount of water we need isn't as clear cut as eight cups a day. It can depend on how much we exercise, our environment, and our health conditions. It's always a good idea to ask the doctors if there are any questions and figure out how water will support the health of your body! After talking to my friend about her stroke, I gave her a hug, thanked her, and poured us both a glass of water.

Defense Physiology: Have You Ever BeenTwo Places at the SameTime?

Post by:Dr. Dan Fedeli

Take a moment to imagine you are spending a peaceful moment in the sun on a park bench. You are open to the gentle breeze and the birds chirping. Life is good. Suddenly, a police car turns on its piercing siren! But that's just life in the city. We become immune--or so it seems. How long did it take for your heart to slow down after being startled? What if, unknown to you, that response lasted days, months, or years, without you even knowing it? Defense Physiology is the body's response to an emergency or a consistent demand (the ongoing stresses of daily life) that becomes accepted as normal and necessary. In other words: we are not truly immune to city life. We seem to have built up a tolerance, but inability to relax, asthma, digestive problems, pain, and tensions are a few of the effects of "daily life." This seeming tolerance is actually abnormal programming in the central nervous system.

For me, my imbalances show up as tension and anxiety. These imbalances are like red flags that signal that my body needs some kind of support. "Support" can be compared to rebooting the computer. Sometimes it just needs to be turned off, and restarted. My internal computer (nervous system) can override the defense systems (fight or flight stressors), when properly supported.

How do you override the main frame nervous system? You do nothing more than make yourself available. When you come in for an appointment, we will notice the pattern in your body and "reboot" your system.

In the meantime, you can use some easy tools yourself. For example, your automatic nervous system can be aided using your breath. Holding your breath and contracting your muscles for several moments sends an emergency signal to the body to focus on immediate life support. You have turned your "computer" off. When you begin breathing again, enjoy some high quality breaths--deep inhales and relaxing exhales. This takes only a minute and can be done anywhere.

You can also control stress by using breathing techniques that lengthen your inhalation and exhalation. They should be proportional--the same length as each other. While breathing, imagine positive outcomes. This overrides the physiological defense patterning that seems to cause stress. These techniques work well with organized movement, like the tensegrity we teach at the BC, mediation, and yoga, to maximize your experience of health and vitality. In the present, you are safe and supported. Why let your body carry around traumas from the past? Here's to being in one place at a time.