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At Risk For Kidney Stones? Don’t Drink This…

1 Mar

According to Loyola University Health System, do NOT drink iced tea if you have a history of kidney stones. Iced tea contains high concentrations of oxalate, one of the key chemicals that lead to the formation of kidney stones, a common disorder of the urinary tract that affects about 10 percent of the population in the United States.

Though hot tea also contains oxalate, it isn’t as easy to consume a quantity large enough amount to encourage the formation of stones. “For many people, iced tea is potentially one of the worst things they can drink,” said Dr. John Milner, Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL. “For people who have a tendency to form kidney stones, it’s definitely one of the worst things you can drink.”

What should you drink to stay properly hydrated?  SPRING WATER.☺

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8 Interesting Facts About Dreams.

28 Feb

Dreaming is one of the most mysterious and interesting experiences in our lives. During the Roman era, some dreams were even submitted to the Roman Senate for analysis and dream interpretation. They were thought to be messages from the gods. Dream interpreters even accompanied military leaders into battles and campaigns! But, what do we actually know about dreams? Here are a few interesting facts about dreams:

  1. Within 5 minutes of waking, half of your dream is forgotten. Within 10 minutes, 90% is gone.
  2. Every human being dreams (except in cases of extreme psychological disorders).
  3. In our dreams, we only see faces that we already know. Our mind does not invent faces. We see real faces of

    real people whom we have seen during our lifetime but may not know or remember. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces throughout our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.

  4. The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety. Negative emotions are more common than positive ones.
  5. You can have four to seven dreams in one night.
  6. Animals dream too. Studies done on many different animals show the same brain waves during dreaming

    sleep as humans. Watch a dog sleep. Their paws move like they are running and they make yipping sounds

    as if they are chasing something.

  7. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a normal stage of sleep characterized by rapid movements of the eyes.

    REM sleep in adult humans typically occupies 20-25% of total sleep, or about 90-120 minutes of a night’s sleep. During REM sleep, the body is paralyzed by a mechanism in the brain in order to prevent the movements which occur in the dream from causing the physical body to move. However, it is possible for this mechanism to be triggered before, during, or after normal sleep while the brain awakens.

  8. Dream Incorporation. Our mind interprets the external stimuli that our senses are bombarded with while we are asleep and makes them part of our dreams.
  9. Dream interpretation has many forms. In one technique, everything in your dream in considered an aspect of you, including people, places and events. If your mother shows up in a dream, it may be a symbolic representation of the mother (care giver or nurturer) inside of you.
  10. Dream Control. Lucid dreaming is a technique that can be practiced over time,           acquiring the skill to make decisions in a dream. This technique may be useful in helping individuals avoid conflict an negative emotions associated with their dreams.

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Are You Tired All Day But Can’t Sleep At Night?

27 Feb

Are you tired during the day, but then can’t fall asleep at night? Do you lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling,

wondering why you were falling asleep at work? Do you wake up more tired than when you went to sleep? How about this one…

Do You Look At The Clock And Calculate How Many Hours Of Sleep You Could Get If You Fell Asleep Right Now?

If you do, you are not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Insufficient sleep is a public epidemic. An estimated 50-70 million U.S. adults have sleep or wakefulness disorder.”

The CDC recommends school-age children (5-10 years) sleep 10-11 hours, teens (10-17 years) sleep 8.5-9.5 hours, and adults sleep 7-9 hours per night.

Of course, everyone is individual. Some people need more sleep, and others need less sleep.

One thing is certain: If you are not getting the proper amount of sleep you need, there are health risks.

Barring a health condition that may cause an inability to sleep, stress may be the biggest cause of insomnia.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms: Difficulty falling asleep, waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep, waking up too early in the morning, and feeling tired upon waking.

Some of the consequences of insomnia are: Sleepiness during the day, general tiredness, irritability, and problems with concentration and or memory.

You May Suffer From “Adrenal Fatigue”

According to Dr. James Wilson, author of the book Adrenal Fatigue: 21st Century Syndrome, 80 percent of people will suffer adrenal fatigue at some point in their lives.

Adrenal glands help your body handle and deal with stress. The more stress you experience, the more your adrenal glands have to work. There is a point when the adrenal glands become over-worked. When this happens, it is VERY bad for you and your health.

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This is a condition called, “Adrenal fatigue.” The adrenal glands secrete cortisol, a powerful hormone that is responsible for gluconeogenesis and activating anti-stress and anti-inflammatory pathways. Cortisol prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation.

Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects including a quick burst of energy for survival reasons, heightened memory functions, a burst of increased immunity, lower sensitivity to pain, and it also helps maintain homeostasis in the body.

But, it is important for the body to have a decreased or “no stress” period so its functions can return to normal.

When constant stress is present, high cortisol levels remain in the blood stream.

This causes all kinds of health problems including: Impaired cognitive performance, suppressed thyroid function, blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia, decreased bone density, decrease in muscle tissue, higher blood pressure, lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and increased abdominal fat (which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body).

Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat include:heart attack, stroke, metabolic syndrome, increased “bad” cholesterol (LDL), and decreased “good” cholesterol (HDL).

In other words, it is VERY bad. But things can get worse…

If the overload of stress continues, the adrenals become exhausted and actually become resistant to the stress. This can result in hemorrhaged adrenal glands, high insulin levels, atrophied thymus glands, biochemically devastated bodies, a total collapse of body function, or a collapse of specific organs or systems.

Obviously, this is no laughing matter.

STRESS KILLS
So what can you do? Stress reduction is a must,

and since it is virtually impossible to eliminate all stress from your life, you should take measures to minimize it and re-charge your body.

There are several great ways to reduce stress, such as yoga.

Here are the results from a recent study, according to Science Daily: The participants were randomized into two groups. The meditation group was taught the 12-minute yogic practice that included Kirtan Kriya, which was performed every day at the same time for 8 weeks. The other group was asked to relax in a quiet place with their eyes closed while listening to instrumental music on a relaxation CD, also for 12 minutes daily for 8 weeks. Blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study and again at the end of the 8 weeks.

“The goal of the study was to determine if meditation might alter the activity of inflammatory and antiviral proteins that shape immune cell gene expression,” said Lavretsky. “Our analysis showed a reduced activity of those proteins linked directly to increased inflammation.”

In other words, this form of yoga practiced 12 minutes a day, everyday for 8 weeks, seemed to reduce harmful stress (a very good result).

Now, check this out… Recent research also shows that telling fewer lies can lead to a healthier life.

In a study, researchers used 110 males and females, between 18 and 71 years old. Fifty-five were told to stop lying completely for 10 weeks and the other half were given no special instructions about lying. They went to a laboratory each week to complete health and relationship questionnaires and to take a polygraph test assessing the number of major and minor lies they had told that week.

According to researchers, the group who stopped lying complained less of headaches, sore throats, tenseness, anxiety and other problems than those who were given no instructions. Results also showed that the non- lying participants had improved close personal relationships and smoother social interactions.

The research has not been published in a peer- reviewed journal, but was presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting.

Researchers also mentioned that lying can cause a great deal of internal stress.

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An Important Message From The Most Famous Chiropractor You’ve Probably Never Heard Of.

24 Feb

There is a very famous person you probably do not know was a Chiropractor.  Here is a quote from one of his shows… let’s see if you can guess who it is…

“You know this is a nation of tired people.

“Everyone is tired.

“Everyone is suffering from that disease I like to call pooped-out-itis.  

“People wake up in the morning they are tired.  They go to bed at night they are tired.  They are tired throughout the day.  And life doesn’t hold much is store for anyone when you are tired all the time.  

“Now let’s find out why people are tired.

“#1 LACK OF EXERCISE.

“#2 EMPTY CALORIES.

“#3 NERVOUS TENSION.”

Know who it is?  It was Jack Lalanne (yes, he was a Chiropractor) and this quote was from the 1950s!  Jack was far ahead of his time. It’s no wonder he was able to perform all those incredible feats of strength and lived to be 96 years old.

Here’s the best part (and how this ties into this month’s newsletter)…

On the same video we pulled the above quote from, Jack says (in reference to something he was reading), “The doctor emphasized the importance of physical exercise.  There is evidence to show that hard physical work is good for us, but moderation and consistency is important.  We ought to play 3 holes of golf every day and not 18 of golf all at once.”

Jack went on to say, “Try to get a few minutes of exercise every day rather than to get a whole lot every once in a while.”

In this month’s Health News & Views, there is information from a new study that says strenuous exercising may be bad for your heart.  It seems that Jack Lalanne had one of the keys to health and success back in the 50s:  Consistency and Moderation.

Eat right, get proper rest, reduce stress, exercise moderately… and do it all CONSISTENTLY.  In other words, be the tortoise, not the hare!

There are no quick fixes.  But, there are long-term solutions  So, start right now.

Watching Your Back,

Dr. Brent Binder

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Why The Secret May be Causing Your Aches, Pains and Poor Health.

23 Feb

We all want the secret. So, when the DVD/book The Secret came out, it was a big success. At least a COMMERCIAL SUCCESS.

But, what if someone told you your aches and pains (and many other problems in your life) were actually caused by The Secret?

How is that possible? Well, the information in The Secret is nothing new. Most of the book was actually taken from a book written in the 1920s by Robert Collier called The Secret of the Ages. They didn’t even change the title that much.

Anyway, it’s the age-old, “what you believe, you can achieve” stuff. So, if you are not achieving, then you are not “believing” hard enough.

In reality, belief is a very important part of achieving. But, belief is not the only part. In fact, it is useless without something else.

If you read the inspirational story this month, you already know what that other part is. If you haven’t read it yet, then you are going to love what you discover.

Here’s something that was not mentioned in the inspirational story in this month’s newsletter but is on the video.

“The part that The Secret missed… is belief and work ethic. They left that part out. I don’t care how much you believe something is going to happen, it’s not just going to manifest and happen if you don’t work at it… and when you fall down you have to get back up again. Brush yourself off and keep going. And you have to believe when you get knocked down again and again and again… that’s the thing.”

Yes, that is “the thing.”

Clearly, there are no “secret” shortcuts in life.

There are no shortcuts to staying healthy, either. Staying healthy is a lifelong journey that includes eating right, exercise, stress reduction, Chiropractic care, etc.

You will get knocked down. You will eat junk foods. You will get stressed out. You will abandon your Chiropractor for periods of time.

But, as long as you get back up and get back on track, you will be okay.

Belief and hard work.

Now, that’s a plan. Simply “hoping” is not. Take action today for whatever you want.

Watching Your Back,

Dr. Brent Binder

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Hugs Not Drugs? New Research Reveals The Healing Power Of Touch.

23 Feb

“We may go to the moon, but that’s not very far. The greatest distance we have to cover still lies within us.” – Charles de Gaulle

Maybe the popular rock n’ roll band U2 had it right back in 1991, in their hit song Mysterious Ways with the lyric, “To touch is to heal.” 

However, they weren’t the first to make the claim. The healing power of touch has been written about since close to the dawn of civilization. To many, there was no scientific evidence to back it up and so it had no place in the healing arts.

Here’s an interesting example that shows one BIG flaw with that kind of thinking…

Let’s say you have a bucket filled to the top with water.  What happens if you stick your fist in the bucket?

The water in the bucket will overflow, right?

This is because your fist displaces water in the bucket, causing the water level to rise (and ultimately spill over the top).

If the bucket was not already full, then the water would rise in proportion to the volume of the fist and the change could easily be measured.

Now, think about this…

What happens when you put your fist in the ocean? Your fist displaces the exact same amount of water it did in the bucket.  

But wait, did the ocean rise?  

The answer: Yes.  The water level in the ocean rose.  It rose in such a small amount that we do not have measuring devices sensitive enough to measure it.  So, even though we cannot readily measure and prove it rose, we know it happened.

Hmmm.  Very interesting.

The truth of the matter is: There are many things that happen that we simply cannot measure.  

That’s one of the reasons science is so fascinating.  New ways of measuring and testing are constantly developed to uncover the many mysteries of the universe.

Just because science has not yet “proven” something does not mean it is not true or does not exist.  One great example of this is the probable discovery of what is being called, “the God particle.”

According to ABC News: 

After decades of careful experiment, physicists say they have found the ‘strongest indication to date’ to prove the existence of the  HYPERLINK “http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/apnewsbreak-verge-particle-discovery-16693242” \l “.T_G9MVLNmU4” Higgs boson — a subatomic particle so important to the understanding of space, time and matter that the physicist Leon Lederman nicknamed it ‘ HYPERLINK “http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/higgs-boson-rumors-fly-god-particle-announcement-cern/story?id=15124806” the God particle.’

The announcement today, based on experiments at the Department of Energy’s Fermilab near Chicago and other institutions, is not the final word, but it’s very close. And it comes just before a major meeting this week in Australia, where more findings will be announced from the giant underground particle accelerator at CERN, the great physics lab in the Alps on the French-Swiss border.

“This is one of the cornerstones of how we understand the universe,” said Rob Roser, a Fermilab physicist, “and if it’s not there, we have to go back and check our assumptions about how the universe exists.”

Until very recently, researchers did not have the technology to discover this particle.  So, did it not exist before 2012? 

  What about the healing power of touch?  An article published in Scientific American (July 11, 2011) reads, “A team led by Professor Ron Frostig of the University of California, Irvine, induced strokes in rats by blocking an artery to the brain. The researchers then stimulated their whiskers, intending to measure the rats’ brain activity to learn how the stroke damage affected sensory functions. Instead they found that if they vibrated a single whisker within two hours of the stroke, neurons that ordinarily would have died continued to function normally, and the rats ended up with no paralysis or sensory deficits. The exact mechanism of the protective effect is not clear, but it seems to involve a rerouting of blood through undamaged veins in the brain.”

The article later revealed that the pattern of tickling the rats’ whiskers did not matter, but more tickling helped. 

Here’s what WebMd says about “Touch Therapy”:“Emerging research suggests that touch therapy works: In one landmark study, 16 happily married women were subjected to the threat of a mild electric shock; touching their husbands’ hands brought immediate relief from the resulting anxiety. Even a stranger’s touch was somewhat calming. “We know that anxiety decreases immune function and makes you get sick more often,” says study author Jim Coan, Ph.D., a Neuroscientist at the University of Virginia. “If touch can help you be less anxious, you’re more likely to stay well.”

Here’s one more just for good measure…  Science Daily reported on June 26, 2012, “A new study by the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center shows that patients reported significant improvement in side effects of cancer treatment following just one Jin Shin Jyutsu session. Jin Shin Jyutsu is an ancient form of touch therapy similar to acupuncture in philosophy.”

Of course, every article or study ends with “more research needs to be done.”  That’s a good thing.  The more proof, the better.

However, absence of proof is not the proof of absence.  Chiropractors (and others in the medical and healing arts) have known for a long time there is something wonderful about touch.  Patients get better, with or without scientific studies published in peer review journals.

Thankfully, now science is shedding light on what Chiropractors have known for over 100 years.  There is no doubt more research will open more healing doors and help more people stay healthy and pain free.

 

 

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