Chiropractic spinal manipulation associated with reduction in low back surgery

CLEVELAND – A recent study from University Hospitals (UH) Connor Whole Health found that adults who initially visit a chiropractor to receive spinal manipulation for low back pain caused by disc herniation or radiculopathy (i.e., sciatica) are less likely to undergo discectomy (i.e., disc surgery) over the subsequent two years. This study was recently published in the journal BMJ Open, an open access, multidisciplinary medical journal.

Read in SCIENMAG: https://apple.news/Apua5xAc8R26zpGY35G4n8Q

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The Great American Dairy Myth: Learn How to Live Long and Stay Healthy Without the Cow!

 

 

I have long been a proponent of a non-dairy diet.  My 4 children were raised that way and are healthier than most.  My youngest two, ages 16 and 14, have never had dairy since birth, nor has their mother during their nursing.  Both youngsters have less colds and sickness than any of their peers.  I counsel my patients to avoid dairy at all costs.

 

So what’s the problem with dairy you may ask?

 

Cow’s milk and milk products are the most pervasive food allergy causing substances on the planet that are both easily obtained and widely used as foods.  A protein in milk, casein, appears to be the major cause of adverse reactions.  Casein is in milk of all forms, including lactose-free or low-lactose products.  Casein is a very large and convoluted protein, and it is often mistaken for a foreign substance by our immune systems.  And truly it is, because cow’s milk is meant for baby cows, not humans.

A human infant’s intestinal tract is designed to digest mother’s breast milk from birth to at least nine months of age, preferably to 12 months. Breast milk contains immune factors which protect against foreign substances. Breast milk contains three times the lactose, one third the calcium, a more absorbable form of iron, and higher amounts of essential fatty acids than cow's milk. Cow’s milk formula feeding prematurely exposes an infant's fragile intestine to cow's milk, and through a long series of maladaptive biological functions, the infant becomes sensitive (allergic) to that cow's milk.

            Milk Allergy and Lactose Intolerance are not the same issue. Lactose intolerance means that the enzyme lactase is not produced by the body in sufficient quantity to digest lactose (milk sugar) resulting in gastric symptoms, such as cramping, gas, bloating and/or diarrhea. One can be lactose intolerant and yet ingest low-lactose, or lactose-free milk and dairy products without ill effects. Allergy to casein is another matter, and has nothing to do with lactose.

 

Why, then, is our American culture so hung up on cow’s milk?  The problem is multi-factorial and has both cultural and economic roots.  Milk and milk products are big business in America, and many in my generation were raised to believe that milk is an “essential food”; you can not live properly without it.  Nothing could be further from the truth!

 

           

Many of us were raised at a time when the American Dairy Association touted dairy as “one of the 4 food groups”.  Even today, dairy has it’s own section on the USDA Food Pyramid.  In reality, we neither need dairy nor should we look at it as a separate or essential food category in our diet.

 

Two-thirds of the world’s population cannot tolerate milk and a rapidly growing number of Americans are allergic to cow's milk. In fact, cow's milk allergy is one of the most common food allergies.  Many cultures never ingest milk products and are healthier than Americans by far.  These cultures get much of their protein from legume sources and their calcium from legumes and vegetables.

 

One of the biggest untruths the American Dairy Association uses to promote cow’s milk as “essential” is that it is the only good source of dietary calcium. It’s time to debunk that myth as well.  There are many excellent sources of calcium in other foods, such as dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, some fruits and figs.  Many cultures that eat no dairy have better health and stronger bones by getting their calcium from fish, green vegetables, and legumes.

 

As far as protein:  Yes, milk is high in protein, but at what cost?  If casein is one of the most allergic proteins to humans, why ingest it at all?  Soy and other legumes are much better alternatives.  Even lean meats are.  If you are not a vegan, sustainable fin fish that is low in mercury, like salmon and tilapia, are a fantastic source of calcium and protein.

 

Concerning soy products: Much misinformation was circulated in the recent past attempting to tarnish soy’s clean image.  Don’t believe it!  Cultures that have eaten soy and vegetable based diets are the healthiest on earth.  Their people have greater longevity, lower cancer rates and lower rates of chronic illness.  We, the great “milk” drinkers have lower levels of energy, greater obesity, and shorter life spans.

 

My suggestion to everyone is this: Eliminate dairy as much as possible.  Eat more vegetables, fruits and whole foods.  Eat more fiber and less fat, and never, never give babies milk to drink or cheese to eat.  You will live happier, healthier and longer I promise you.

Chiropractic While Pregnant: What Are the Benefits?

 For many pregnant women, aches and pains in the lower back and hips are part of the experience. In fact, approximately 50 percent

Trusted Source of pregnant women will experience back pain at some point before they deliver.

Luckily, relief may be just a chiropractor visit away. Here’s what you should know about the benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy.

Is seeing a chiropractor safe during pregnancy?

Chiropractic care is the health maintenance of the spinal column and the adjustment of misaligned joints. It doesn’t involve drugs or surgery. Instead, it’s a kind of physical therapy to reduce spinal nerve stress and promote health throughout the body.

More than 1 million chiropractic adjustments are given every day, all over the world. Complications are rare. During pregnancy, chiropractic care is believed to be safe. But there are certain circumstances where chiropractic care may not be a good idea.

Always get your OB’s approval before seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy. Chiropractic care isn’t typically recommended if you’re experiencing the following:

• vaginal bleeding
• placenta previa or placenta abruption
• ectopic pregnancy
• moderate to severe toxemia

While all licensed chiropractors receive training related to pregnancy, some chiropractors specialize in prenatal care. Ask if they specialize in this area, or get a referral from your doctor.

To adjust pregnant women, chiropractors will use adjusting tables to accommodate their growing bellies. All chiropractors should use techniques that won’t put pressure on the abdomen.

Chiropractors can also show you effective stretches for relieving tension and easing discomfort.

How can chiropractic care help during pregnancy?

There are many hormonal and physical changes you’ll experience during your pregnancy. Some of these will have an impact on your posture and comfort. As your baby becomes heavier, your center of gravity shifts, and your posture adjusts accordingly.

These physical changes during your pregnancy can lead to a misaligned spine or joints.

Other uncomfortable changes during pregnancy might include:

• a protruding abdomen resulting in an increased curve of your back
• changes to your pelvis as your body begins to prepare for labor
• adaptations to your posture

Regular visits to a chiropractor during your pregnancy can address these issues. One collaborative chiropractic and medical study revealed that 75 percent of pregnant chiropractic care patients reported pain relief. Plus, adjustments designed to re-establish balance and alignment to your pelvis and spine will do more than just make you feel better. Chiropractic care can be beneficial for your baby, too.

Is chiropractic care beneficial for your baby-to-be?

A pelvis that’s out of alignment can restrict the amount of space available to your developing baby. When an external force obstructs your growing baby’s normal movements, it’s known as intrauterine constraint. This can lead to birth defects.

Another complication that a misaligned pelvis may pose relates to delivery. When the pelvis is out of alignment, it can make it hard for your baby to move into the best position to be born, which is rear-facing, head down.

In some cases, this could affect a woman’s ability to have a natural and noninvasive birth. A balanced pelvis also means your baby has a lower chance of moving into a breech or posterior position. When your baby is in a nonoptimal birthing position, it can lead to a longer, more complicated delivery.

Other evidence points to improved outcomes in labor and delivery for women who’ve received chiropractic care during their pregnancy. In fact, it may help reduce the length of time you’re in labor.

In addition, regular chiropractic care while you’re pregnant can offer the following benefits:

• help you maintain a healthier, more comfortable pregnancy
• relieving pain in the back, neck, hips, and joints
• help to control symptoms of nausea

Chiropratic Care & MS: Perfect Together!

 

Multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, is an autoimmune disease where the immune system begins to destroy the outer layer of tissue that surrounds and protects the nerves, also known as myelin, in the brain and spinal cord. The deterioration of the myelin obstructs any communication between the nerves and brain. When the myelin is attacked, not only is the brain/body connection completely disrupted, but the nerves are eventually destroyed, resulting in debilitating complications.

Some of these symptoms include muscle spasms, stiffness, paralysis, problems with the reproductive organs concerning bathroom and sexual behavior, changes in brain function, including memory loss, erratic emotions, depression and even epilepsy. What is most unsettling about the disease is that it has the ability to affect virtually anyone at any age.

However, although it is unknown why multiple sclerosis affects certain people over others, there are certain trends that the disease seems to follow concerning infection. Caucasian women between the ages of 15 and 60 seem to be affected more than anyone else. There are is also evidence that suggests that if your parent or sibling has had the disease, then you have a greater chance of also coming down with it. The disease has also been found to occur more in southern Canada, northern United States, New Zealand, southeastern Australia and Europe. There has also been a link between multiple sclerosis and thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. 

Living with multiple sclerosis is often described as debilitating due to its crippling symptoms. Many people suffering from MS become interested in alternative care in order to find some relief from the daily pain they experience. Although there is little scientific evidence as of right now, there have been many people living with MS that report getting alleviation from their incapacitating symptoms through chiropractic treatment. Patients claim to have higher energy, better muscular control and the ability to be more active in their daily life. Being able to diminish the pain plays a huge part in building confidence in patients with multiple sclerosis, which then aids in better management of the disease, according to doctor Nesanet Mitiku, MD, PhD. Mitiku encourages chiropractic care for patients who are interested in trying treatments, since it gives them a better outlook on living with the illness.

Although chiropractic doesn’t have the ability to treat the mental aspect of the disease, it  may be able to help with the physical side of MS. The nerve damage that occurs during the progression of multiple sclerosis can cause the spine and pelvis to become misaligned. Chiropractic manipulations may be able to realign both these skeletal areas, allowing the muscles to work more efficiently. 

Eating Raw Organic Produce Can Give Your Gut a Healthy Boost

 When choosing organic or conventional produce, there's no simple comparison, even if it's apples to apples.

However, in a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, researchers found that when comparing conventionally grown apples to their organic counterparts, organic apples harbored a significantly more diverse bacteria population.

Conventional apples and organic apples both contained about the same amount of total bacteria, about 100 million per apple. But, that's only if you eat the whole thing — stem, seeds and all.

The production method dictated the types and variety of bacterial colonies.

And that can mean good things for gut health.

Raw Organic Fruits and Vegetables May Be Better for Your Gut

"Vegetables and fruits, especially when consumed raw, represent the most important source for a diverse microbial community, which is mandatory for a healthy gut microbiome and our immune system," said Birgit Wassermann, a PhD student at the Graz University of Technology in Austria, and first author of the study.

Wassermann and her fellow researchers chose to look at apples because of their immense popularity throughout the world.

About 83 million apples were grown in 2018 and production continues to grow. Raw fruits and vegetables are an important source of gut bacteria — cooking tends to kill off all the bacteria.

In the comparison of organic and conventional apples, not only was bacteria more diverse in organic production, but it was also associated with the presence of so-called "good" bacteria Lactobacillus, a common probiotic.

Conversely, conventional apples were more likely to have potentially pathogenic bacteria like Escherichia and Shigella, which are known to cause food poisoning symptoms like diarrhea and cramps.

"The highly diverse microbiome of organically managed apples might limit or hamper the abundance of human pathogens, simply by outcompeting them," said Wassermann. "Probably, the microbial pool organic apple trees are exposed to is more diverse and more balanced and potentially supports the plant also in resistance during pathogen attack."

When it comes to gut health, however, Wassermann explained that it's not as simple as choosing organic over conventional apples.

Such a simple inference can't be drawn from her work alone. Instead, she emphasizes that diverse populations of bacteria — whether found in nature, apples, or the human gut — tend to be more beneficial no matter the environment where they are found.

And for most people, simply eating more fresh fruits and vegetables is a more important first step than discriminating between apples.

"Organic or conventional? Pretty irrelevant. The main thing is that people eat more fresh produce in general," said Wassermann.

With a focus on bacteria and by extension, gut health, the research adds yet another lens through which to view the ongoing debate for consumers on how they choose to buy produce.

And the organic versus conventional debate is far from settled.

But as questions about the benefits of either method have become more nuanced — it's not as simple as saying one is "better" than the other — consumers now have more awareness about what they want out of their produce.

The debate over organic and conventional fruits and vegetables has primarily focused on four aspects: nutrition, environmental impact, cost to consumers, and pesticides.

Depending on how important these factors are to you should inform your purchasing choice rather than strictly choosing one over the other.

What Do ‘Organic’ and ‘Conventional’ Even Mean?

Organic is a label conferred by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on foods that are grown in accordance with certain federal guidelines. These guidelines include things like what kinds of pesticides can be used, soil additives, and how animals are raised.

Conventional refers to modern, industrial agriculture which includes the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms.

Some studiesTrusted Source have found that organic produce likely isn't any more nutritious than conventional, but it will reduce exposure to pesticides and harmful bacteria.

However, that's not to say that organic produce is completely free of pesticides — it's not.

Your choice should also be impacted by other health factors as well, such as pregnancy or other chronic conditions.

Studies in recent years have looked at the prevalence of pesticide exposure among pregnant women via produce, as well as the potential for prenatal pesticideTrusted Source exposure to lead to intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder.

For most consumers, a practical place to start is identifying which fruits and vegetables are more prone to having exposure to high amounts or different varieties of pesticides.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental and consumer advocacy group, annually publishes their list of the Dirty Dozen, which are the fruits and vegetables with the highest rates of pesticide contamination, and the Clean Fifteen, which are those with the lowest rates.

The worst offenders from 2019 include:

• strawberries (coming in at #1)
• spinach
• kale
• nectarines
• apples

For the produce with the least amount of pesticide exposure, reach for:

• avocados
• sweet corn
• pineapples
• frozen sweet peas
• onions

"I usually follow the EWG Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen designations," said Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD, the manager of Wellness Nutrition Services at Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.

"There are also certain things that I always recommend to purchase organic, like dairy productsTrusted Source and strawberries, as well as foods that I usually tell my clients to skip the cost and go with conventional, like produce with a significant outer layer such as pineapples or bananas," she said.

Organic foods may offer some health benefits, but they'll also cost more, and that's a major consideration for most families.

A 2015 study from Consumer Reports found that organic apples were anywhere from 20 to 60 percent more expensive than their conventional counterparts. Milk was similarly 20 to 64 percent and for things like organic strawberries and zucchinis, consumers could end up paying twice as much.

In short, choosing how and why to pick conventional or organic produce is a serious balancing act. But one thing is for certain: You should be eating more fruits and vegetables no matter how they are grown.

"The most important thing I tell my patients is this: Increasing your fruit and vegetable consumption is far more important than organic versus non-organic. If you choose not to eat fruits and vegetables because you can't afford organic, that's the wrong choice. Any fruits and vegetables are better than none," said Kirkpatrick.

Have a cuppa for your heart: Research shows regular tea drinkers maintain better cholesterol levels as they age

Natural News) Tea is a widely popular aromatic beverage that is consumed around the world. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN) claims that tea is the most widely consumed beverage worldwide, second only to water. 

But this beverage is more than just a drink to warm you up during cold weather. Tea is also highly appreciated for the plethora of health benefits it provides. For example, research has found that drinking a cuppa every day can bring with it some heart benefits.

Previous studies have established tea’s ability to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke by decreasing blood levels of low-density lipoprotein or LDL – the so-called “bad” cholesterol that builds up in arteries. However, these studies have not answered how drinking tea affects “good” cholesterol, also known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which helps carry LDL away from the arteries.

But a recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association revealed that a daily cup of tea can slow down the natural decrease in HDL that is associated with aging.

The connection between drinking tea and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels

For this study, researchers from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) analyzed the relationship between tea consumption and blood HDL levels. They observed more than 80,000 people from the Kaliuan community in Tangshan, China over a six-year period. The researchers found that those who drank tea exhibited significantly slower age-related decreases in HDL levels. They associated this with an eight percent decrease in cardiovascular disease risk.

The researchers also discovered that green tea had a significantly stronger effect on heart health than black tea. This was despite both types of tea containing large amounts of polyphenols and catechins, compounds that are known for their anti-inflammatory properties. (Related: A cup of tea or a handful of berries a day can help prevent heart disease.)

The link between increased tea consumption and the slower decline in HDL levels was observed in all participants, though it was more prominent in men and in those aged 60 and above who smoked, were obese or lived a sedentary lifestyle.

“We still observed a significant association in these people, which suggests that the observed association cannot be totally interpreted by someone’s overall healthy lifestyle,” said senior author Xiang Gao, who is also the director of the Nutritional Epidemiology Lab at PSU.

But the study had several limitations. The researchers’ findings were mostly based on self-reported information about general tea consumption (either monthly or weekly). The study also did not include dietary information like the consumption of meat, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, the study exclusively analyzed people from a particular Chinese community who don’t necessarily represent the nation’s entire population.

According to Judith Wylie-Rosett, a professor at New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the study took “a cautious approach to endorsing the benefits” of drinking tea while analyzing its impact on HDL levels.

“We don’t tend to talk much about the decline in HDL cholesterol with age, and our main lifestyle strategies for trying to increase it are vigorous physical activity and losing weight,” she added. It’s nice to know that other lifestyle choices can help support these efforts.

Learn more about the health benefits of drinking tea at Superfoods.news.