March 2014 Newsletter

In this month’s newsletter:

This month we feature announcements on upcoming health events from Pete and Zach. We’ll serve up healthy Shamrock Shakes at the office on St. Patrick’s Day. Read for more info on salt, mammograms, low testosterone, recipes, and more. We look forward to serving you, your family and friends. Please contact us with any questions or comments.

How Much Pressure Does it Take to Cause Nerve Interference?

Sometimes people ask me a really good question, “How much stress or pressure along the spine does it take for decreased body function and performance?”

It turns out that the pressure or tension equivalent to the weight of a dime on a nerve root is all that it takes for nerve transmission to be disturbed.

Our bodies are amazing and are always working for us to heal, adapt, grow and improve. Chiropractic adjustments reduce the stress and pressures along the nerves and spine we all encounter from physical, chemical and mental/emotional stress.

It is more often the accumulation of small stresses from posture, diet, lack of sleep, demands of work, and emotional stress that create imbalances and nerve pressure than one single major physical trauma.

Dr. Pete Presents a New Health Class on April 8th – Thrive: The Art of Living Well

Dr. Pete is excited to invite you to a new health class on Tuesday April 8th at 7:00 PM at Thrive. The presentation title is “Thrive: The Art of Living Well”. There is no cost to attend the event, but please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.

The presentation will be about 40 minutes and there will be time for questions of course. You are welcome to invite family and friends. We will look at health from some new perspectives and look forward to your participation:

  • What does it mean to be healthy?
  • How do we create more health for ourselves and our families?
  • What are the hurdles we face in improving health?
  • How can we make being healthy simpler?
  • Is it really an ‘art’ to live well? What does this mean?
  • Can we trust our bodies?
  • What techniques can we use to harness our power to make positive changes?

At the end of the class, the goal is for everyone to have new strategies, new understanding, and a confidence on how to simply live healthier and happier.

Enjoy a Healthy Shamrock Shake at the Office on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th


Come see us on St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17 for a complimentary Shamrock Shake. Unlike the popular McDonald’s version of a Shamrock Shake, this won’t be a disaster for your health. It will actually be healthy!

We’re using this recipe and adding in a bit of baby spinach, chard, and kale… for the color and nutrients… you won’t even taste them!

My brother introduced me to this recipe a couple of years ago. It is delicious. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 

Join Health Coach Zach for “Spring into Health: 6 Months to a New You”


Health Coach Zach has some exciting news! Beginning March 24th, Zach is kicking off a transformational 6-month group program called “Spring Into Health: 6 Months to a New You!”

The program is an absolute game-changer if you are tired of dieting, looking to lose weight, and get healthy! To learn more about how you can enroll, click here

Which is the Healthier Option, Beef or Chicken?

Most people believe chicken is a superior, ‘safer’ protein source than red meat like beef. This is a myth! While both are excellent choices as protein sources, check out these reason why you don’t need to limit your beef from Mike Kesthely’s post on the OPT blog:

  • Creatine:  Despite popular belief, it’s a naturally occurring component, which the richest sources found in cardiac & skeletal muscle, as well as brain.  Beef takes the top spot.
  • Carnitine: An amino acid involves in fatty acid transport and mitochondrial health, the highest naturally occurring food source is once again beef.
  • Omega 3 vs Omega 6: Chickens, even free-range/non-grain/organic will have much higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids than conventionally raised beef.  And, if going the extra mile, grass fed beef has even more omega-3s!
  • Nutrient Density:  Consider Mat Lalonde’s data, rating chicken lower than beef on a nutrient density scale (vitamins A, E, K, B2, B3, B6, B9, and B12, minerals Mg, Zn, Cu, P, K, Na, Mn, Fe, among others)

Recipe of the Month: Beef Hash with Sweet Potatoes

In keeping with the beef theme, here’s a recipe that made FastPaleo Top 100 of 2012, shared via Mother Rimmy. An easy, one-pot meal full of protein, greens, and complex carbohydrates.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds ground beef
  • 1/2 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
  • 1 Tsp ground cumin
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, torn
  • 1 Tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 Tsp black pepper
  • 2 cups chopped spinach or kale

  Directions

  • In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef with onions until cooked through.
  • Stir in sea salt, pepper, cumin, and parsley.
  • Add sweet potatoes and minced garlic and continue cooking until the sweet potatoes are softened (about 10 minutes).
  • Add in chopped spinach or kale and cook until wilted (about 5 minutes longer).
  • Serve!
The Low Down on “Low T”, Low Testosterone for Males

Have you heard or seen promotional ads for men to ‘ask your doctor about low T’? It’s hard to miss these ads, they are everywhere recently.

While there are a small percentage of men who may benefit from testosterone therapy, this is not something every man over 35 needs to function at 100%. Check out this piece from the New York Times for a full report. An excerpt:

But “low T,” as the condition has been labeled, isn’t nearly as common as the drug ads for prescription testosterone would have you believe. Pharmaceutical companies have seized on the decline in testosterone levels as pathological and applicable to every man. They aim to convince men that common effects of aging like slowing down a bit and feeling less sexual actually constitute a new disease, and that they need a prescription to cure it. This is a seductive message for many men, who just want to feel better than they do, and want to give it a shot, literally.

The problem is that prescription testosterone doesn’t just give your T level a boost: it may also increase your risk of heart attack. It can add huge numbers of red blood cells to your bloodstream and shrink your testes. In some men, it increases aggression and irritability. Last week, a large study published in the journal PLoS ONE found that, within three months, taking the hormone doubled the rate of heart attacks in men 65 and older, as well as in younger men who had heart disease.

It turns out that eating clean, maintaining healthy weight, and exercising does wonders for helping male hormone levels.

Mammograms: Major New Study Casts Doubts on Safety & Usefulness

Women may wish to reevaluate the practice of annual mammograms in light of the results from a vast study discussed in this article. This is not the first study to question usefulness and safety of the tests.

    “It found that the death rates from breast cancer and from all causes     were the same in women who got mammograms and those who did not.     And the screening had harms: One in five cancers found with     mammography and treated was not a threat to the woman’s health and     did not need treatment such as chemotherapy, surgery or radiation.
    Researchers sought to determine whether there was any advantage to     finding breast cancers when they were too small to feel. The answer is     no, the researchers report.”

 

Friend or Foe: Should We Avoid Salt in our Diets?

What do you think about salt? Do you limit your salt intake? Are you afraid to use salt? Most people misunderstand salt. Watch this video by Dr. Bart Precourt to learn the difference between traditional table salt vs sea salt.

After watching this video you will feel confident in knowing the differences between salt types and whether you should include more or less salt in your diet.

“The Eleven Most Destructive Nutrition Lies Ever Told”…
 

This article from Business Insider hits on some great points. Do any of them surprise you?

    1. Eggs Are Unhealthy
    2. Saturated Fat is Bad For You
    3. Everybody Should be Eating Grains
    4. Eating a Lot of Protein is Bad For Your Bones and Kidneys
    5. Low-Fat Foods Are Good For You
    6. You Should Eat Many Small Meals Throughout The Day
    7. Carbs Should Be Your Biggest Source of Calories
    8. High Omega-6 Seed and Vegetable Oils Are Good For You
    9. Low Carb Diets Are Dangerous
    10. Sugar is Unhealthy Because it Contains “Empty” Calories
    11. High Fat Foods Will Make You Fat

We look forward to your questions, comments or suggestions. Have a great day!