SEPTEMBER HEALTH FACTS
NEWSLETTER
BACK TO SCHOOL
Our Children’s
Immune Systems
Why do children seem to get sicker once they first start going to school. A
common denominator is that the immune system is slightly stressed and compromised
for various reasons.
One reason of course is the stress of a new
schedule and changes in sleep patterns. Other
factors such as diet, change of weather, sensitivities
to airborne allergies such as goldenrod and
mold create increased susceptibility to sinus
and upper respiratory conditions. Many children
will also exhibit increased asthma symptoms
during this time of the year.
So what can be done to decrease the likelihood
of our children’s immune systems succumbing
to colds, flus and other maladies? Of course
whatever we discuss here also holds true to
for adults since many of the same stresses
are occurring to us as well.
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Sharing a Gift From
a Patient
I want to share some information from a great book that was given to my by
a patient (thank you M.F.). The book is called, Healing With Whole Foods, Asian
Traditions and Modern Nutrition. The author is Paul Pitchford and the publisher
is North Atlantic Books. The book is full of wonderful information and is a
great resource of 700 plus pages. I would like to share some of the philosophical
ideas to show you the general building blocks from which the book develops
out of and possibly share more specific information as well in the future.
The main theme is about whole foods.
So much of our food is over processed and
refined, which strips many valuable nutrients
that are necessary for the proper health. Ironically,
in the United States, a land of plenty - indeed
excess - many people are highly deficient in
minerals as a result of our food production
and processing methods. This deficiency can
unfortunately leave us predisposed to many
health conditions and particularly those resulting
in degenerative diseases. It is difficult for
all the biochemical processes of our body to
work efficiently if the minimum amount of needed
nutrients is not available.
Another unfortunate development over the last
50-100 years has been the abuse of our topsoil
from which all our vegetables and fruits come
from. For the sake of production many chemicals
such as pesticides have been utilized which
have affected the health of the topsoil from
which all our food is grown. In addition without
allowing the land to rest in between a number
of years of harvest, replenishing our vital
nutrients back into the soil does not occur.
In a sense, if our soil is deficient and sick
so are the foods that grow from them. And further
complicating this situation is genetically
modified foods along with hybridization.
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CHIROPRACTIC CORNER
The Iliotibial Band
Syndrome
The following information has been
condensed from a health article sent to professionals
by the International College of Applied Kinesiology.
This specific article was form the Take Charge
newsletter form June 2004, Volume7, issue
2.
The iliotibial band (ITB) is a hard fibrous
structure that runs down the outer side of
our leg. It is usually just an extension of
the fascia, the shiny covering of two muscles
of your pelvis, the gluteus maximus and tensor
facia lata. It descends down the outer surface
of your upper leg and inserts just below your
knee into the top part of your major lower
leg bone. Its function is to give outside support
to the knee and pelvis. This support is crucial
in walking, running and just standing with
your leg straight. Tension on the band can
come from the muscles that attach to it or
from pelvis or lower extremity problems. If
it gets too tight or adheres to the underlying
structures, it will cause symptoms when you
are running, walking or climbing stairs.
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"NUTRIENT OF THE
MONTH"
COEnzyme Q10: The
Powerhouse Nutrient
COQ10 is a powerful, fat soluble, vitamin like substance found naturally in
all forms of animal life. It is synthesized in the membranes of the cells in
humans and is vital to the production of energy. It is the power plant of the
body that is found in most cells, with especially high concentration in the
heart, the organ that requires high levels of energy for normal operation.
In addition, it is a potent antioxidant, similar to Vitamin E.
COQ10 is the spark plug that ignites the body's
engine by jump starting energy production in
all cells. The body then uses that energy to
fuel all its vital processes, including muscle
contraction and digestion. Without an adequate
supply of COQ10, the body cannot maintain normal
levels of activity nor can it ward off or fight
health disorders. COQ10 is effective in increasing
energy levels, in treating heart disease, enhancing
the immune system, in reversing periodontal
disease, in providing antioxidant activity
and preventing certain side affects of common
drugs. COQ10 supplements have been utilized
by millions of people for close to thirty years
without adverse effects. At this time there
has been no toxicity shown even at high dosages.
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article >>
Glycemic Index
Some of the following information was taken from the newsletter referred to
earlier called Take Charge. The particular issue that this article was in
was July 2004, Volume 7, issue 3. I wanted to take the time to bring up this
important issue in light of the ongoing fad of low carbohydrate diets. Some
of the more popular diets include Atkins, The South Beach as well and the
Zone. When picking a healthy way to eat the best method is through knowledge
and study sprinkled with common sense. One way to determine the efficacy
of a diet plan is to understand the concept of glycemic index. In this way
we can begin to realize that the issue isn’t low or no carbohydrates
but the more healthy carbohydrates. The fact remains that we need carbohydrates
for proper function and health. Understanding blood sugar issues and glycemic
index will begin to make this clearer. Basically the glycemic index is a
ranking of carbohydrate foods based on their immediate effect on blood sugar
levels. The speed at which a food is able to increase a person’s blood
glucose level is the glycemic response. Carbohydrates that break down quickly
during digestion have the highest glycemic indexes. The blood glucose response
is fast and high. Carbohydrates that break down slowly release glucose gradually
into the blood stream and have low glycemic indexes.
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