Boost Your Immunity Naturally- Forgo the Flu Vaccine!

It’s that time of year. It’s Flu season, it’s the season for every kind of illness to make the rounds. People flock to their pharmacies and doctors to get their flu shots, in hopes that it can prevent them from getting sick. There are a couple of problems with this, however. Every year the good people at the Center for Disease Control get together and do some math and figure out which strain of the flu is going to be the most aggressive and abundant. With this information they make the decision on which strain they will vaccinate against for the season. That means that even with the vaccine you may still get another strain of the flu. Well, that’s just rotten!

Did you know that there is a safer, and much more natural way to help protect your body from the flu. It can be used at the first sign of the flu, or as a prophylactic flu shot. Vitamin D Therapy has been used by doctors in Europe for years. It is very safe, however if you suffer from kidney disease, sarcoidosis, or high blood calcium levels consult your physician before attempting this therapy.

For adults that weigh 150lbs or more, take 150,000 IU/day of Vitamin D for three days. The next three days take 100,000 IU/day.

For adults under 150lbs and Children start with 1,000 IU of vitamin D per pound of body weight for three days. The next three days reduce that amount by half.

You can use pills or liquid vitamin D drops. If you are taking it at the first sign of the flu, take as indicated above. If you would like to use in lieu of a vaccination: take one regimen the first week of school and then a second in mid December. Vitamin D is a great immunity booster. Save your body the stress of vaccination and give it a try!

BANNED Across the Globe, but We Eat it Here: Maybe this is why Americans are so unhealthy…

It’s time for your daily dose of “OMG”… A lot of people know that some of the food sold in the US is far inferior to the same foods sold in other nations. In reality, there are many foods sold here that are BANNED in other countries. Yes, BANNED. Some of it is so bad that these countries wouldn’t dare sell these items to their citizens, and yet we consume them on a daily basis. As a whole, Americans’ overall health is much lower that other industrialized countries. Just think, some of these toxic foods may play a role in the rising rates of disease. Check out this list of BANNED FOODS that was recently featured in an MSN article: Farm-Raised Salmon: There are so many health benefits in fish. However, steer clear of farmed fish, particularly the farmed salmon as it is fed dangerous chemicals. It’s all about the color. Wild salmon is so bright pink, it’s practically red, and that color comes from natural carotenoids found in their diet. Farmed salmon, on the other hand, is fed and unnatural diet of genetically engineer grains, antibiotics, and other drugs and chemicals that are known to know be safe for human consumption. As a result, their flesh is a very unappealing gray color. To “pinken them up” they are fed synthetic astaxanthin  made from petrochemicals. It’s not a big surprise that his is not safe for human consumption and has well known toxicities. I won’t drone on, it’s simple… avoid Atlantic Salmon, it’s usually farmed. Alaskan and Sockeye is generally wild. Farmed salmon is pink, whereas wild salmon is so bright it’s almost red. I think farmed salmon is like a boxed blond, don’t try and trick us. The good folks in Australia and New Zealand aren’t tricked, they have BANNED IT! Ractopamine-Tainted Meat:  What’s that? The packaging at the stores doesn’t specify if the meat is tainted with ractopamine or not? That’s likely because they don’t even know if the meat has it or not! You are also probably wondering how this may end up in meats. This is because it is a repartitioning agent that increases protein synthesis; in other words, it makes the animals get all big and muscular so there is less fat. Ractopamine is used in a large percentage of pigs, cattle, and turkey. It is said that 20% of it remains in the meat that you buy from the supermarket. It can cause some severe problems with the human cardiovascular system, and has been suspected to cause chromosomal abnormalities and behavioral changes.  Why are we still using this when over 160 countries have banned it’s use in food animals? Get it together, America! Flame Retardant Drinks: You have to laugh when you even think about that. My first thought was I would want to drink something flammable. I then found out what this really meant. Brominated vegetable oil is used in the United States in drinks like Mountain Dew and sports drinks. Originally this chemical was patented by chemical companies as a flame retardant! This chemical has been shown to bioaccumulate in human tissue and breast milk, and animal studies have shown that it can cause reproductive issues and behavioral problems in large doses. Bromine is a central nervous system depressant. The amount of problems that it can cause is soooooo not worth the sugary sweetness of those drinks!  Just ask all of Europe and Japan, they don’t allow that stuff! Arsenic-Laced Chicken: We are not even making this up. This sounds like something that a wife would use to slowly poison her cheating husband, but no, this is something that you may very well buy at your local grocery. In the US arsenic-based drugs are approved for use in animal feed because they makes animals grow quicker and make the meat appear pinker (fresher). The FDA says that these products are safe because they contain organic arsenic. Well, okay, as long as the poison is organic, I am totally cool with ingesting it. I just hate when my poisons are processed or synthetic. “They” say the organic form is less toxic than the inorganic form (which is a known carcinogen). Still, there is a problem, I mean, besides the fact that it’s arsenic. The issue is that scientific reports have found that organic arsenic could transform into inorganic arsenic. There have been elevated levels of inorganic arsenic found in supermarket chickens. For this, and many other reasons the European Union has always banned arsenic based animal feed. Olean/Olestra: Oleastra is a calorie and cholesterol free fat substitute used in “fat-free” snacks. It was named one of the 50 worst inventions by Time Magazine. Still many companies use the ingredient to take advantage of people’s (incorrect) belief that a fat-free snack in always a healthier snack. This “product” can cause intestinal problems, actually increase weight gain, and delays/blocks the absorption of some vitamins. The UK and Canada aren’t fooled by this, they have BANNED it! The truth is, there are so many more food products that we use here in the US that are banned throughout the world. While we can’t control what is being sold to us, we have the power to control what we purchase and consume.

Creve Coeur Chiropractor Talks about PCOS

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) effects 8-10% of reproductive age women. That statistic may sound small, but it is one of the most common female endocrine disorders. Twenty years ago, healthcare providers may have only seen one or two cases, but now, that figure has greatly changed. If a doctor sees 100 patients it is likely that at least 10 of them will suffer from PCOS.

This condition can cause many complications, including weight loss resistance, obesity, type 2 diabetes, even infertility. It is often recognized by signs such as changes in the menstrual cycle and abnormal acne. While a lot of traditional doctors only mask the problem with pharmaceuticals, however the diagnosis is complex, and these was be a complete assessment done in order to find how to truly treat the problem.

Wouldn’t you know that the latest research has shown that metabolic dysfunction associated with poor glucose handling is the cornerstone of PCOS (hence, the increased inflammation and cardio-vascular risk).

Metabolic dysfunction can be managed through pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods. It is crucial that healthcare professionals have a proper understanding of this condition so that patients can have at least satisfactory outcomes. The processes traditionally used to asses and treat the condition do not aid in reversing the disease.

Often times the best approaches are the non-pharmacological approaches. These work with your body to allow it to heal itself. If you suspect that you may have this condition, talk to you healthcare professional.

CooCoo for Coconuts

A lot of people have been talking about it lately: coconut oil. What we are being told is that there are a lot of great health benefits that can be found in coconuts. If someone would have told me that a few years ago, I would have thought someone dropped a coconut on their head. However, the studies are out and the proof is IN!

These studies are saying one thing that people are especially excited about; coconut oil can help with weight loss and lowering body fat mass.

In one study, the effects of either 2 tablespoons of coconut oil or 2 tablespoons of soybean were tested on a group of 40 women over the span of 28 days. This study went on to show that the group that ate the coconut oil had a decrease in abdominal fat. Adversely, the group that ate soybean oil showed a slight increase in abdominal fat. The coconut oil was also shown to increase HDL, the “good” cholesterol. And guess what, the group that ate the soybean oil has decreased HDL cholesterol and increased LDL (“bad” cholesterol). Isn’t that something?

Journals are legit… and the Journal of Nutrition published a study where researchers looked at studies relative to medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) that are abundant in coconut fat and weight management. The data concluded that diets rich in fats such as those found in coconut oil prompted a boost in metabolism, a decrease in food consumption, increase in energy, reduced body weight and lower body fat mass.

If you get nothing else from this: coconut oil is awesome. Give it a try, there are so many ways to incorporate it into your life and diet.
For some awesome uses of coconut oil (101 to be exact) go to wellnessmama.com/5734/101-uses-for-coconut-oil

Make 2015 Your Healthiest Year!- St. Louis Nutritionist Talks about Easy Ways to Jump Start Your Year

It’s a new year! Want to start the year off right? We have some great tips to make 2015 your healthiest year yet!

1. Clean up your diet!

Get rid of the foods that irritate your gut. Foods like sugar, alcohol, caffeine, non-organic foods, and GMO foods do nothing but make you feel worse. Nutrient-dense foods are what will give you the fuel you need! These foods include: wild-caught fish, organic grass-fed beef, pork, and lamb, pasture raised poultry and wild game. You need complex carbohydrates and healthy fats (yes, there is such a thing).

It may all sound a bit over whelming at first, but it doesn’t have to be. Start by making a couple of healthier choices each week, each day. Switch out one item per meal.

2. Heal your gut…

It’s pretty simple, your health is rooted in your gut. Issues that stem from an unhealthy gut can effect every part of your body, and lead to chronic illness. There is a simple 3 step approach to getting your gut back in check:

REMOVE the bad: It’s about your diet. Get rid of foods that are unhealthy, inflammatory, or irritating.

REPLACE the good: It’s all about the food. Nutrient-dense foods are the way to go!

REINOCULATE with beneficial bacteria. This is where taking a pro-biotic everyday becomes essential. Your gut needs some bacteria.

3. Eat more food!

That’s the tip everyone has been waiting for. There is a catch: it has to be good food. Eating higher quality food increases your energy and can aid in weight loss.

Make this year your best yet! It’s time to stop talking about getting healthier and take the steps to actually do it.