New Biginnings

The time is always right to begin returning to good health. Regardless of whether your issues involve weight, exercise, diet, blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic pain, now is the time to begin taking action on your own behalf.

You are not alone. Literally hundreds of millions of people worldwide have various chronic complaints and illnesses.^1,2,3 Some problems are more serious than others, but everyone eventually wants to find a better way to manage their health problems. Eventually everyone wants to actually begin to be healthier and feel better.

Of course, a healthy diet and regular vigorous exercise are the key elements in any process of returning to good health. People know this, but for the most part this knowledge alone does not do any good. The deep truth is that feeling good and actually being healthy takes a lot of effort. It's much easier to pick up dinner from a fast food restaurant than to spend precious time planning and shopping and preparing meals. It's much easier to sit on your couch and watch people on TV trying to lose weight than to actually do the work of losing weight yourself. It's much easier to spend 30 minutes watching the news for the third time that day than to put on your workout clothes and go for a brisk 30-minute walk.

We are all slaves to our habitual ways of thinking and habitual ways of living. Just as in physics, people have inertia. Newton's First Law of Motion states that a body at rest stays at rest and a body in motion stays in motion, unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force. We will do the same things we have always done, achieving the same results we have always achieved, unless we make an active choice to engage in new thinking and new activities.

By the way, no one is going to make any lasting changes in their lifestyle - for example, by choosing a healthy diet and daily exercise - merely because someone told them they needed to do it. If you're chronically overweight, your doctor has told you every year that you need to make changes. Every year at your annual physical she tells you to begin regular, vigorous exercise and adopt healthy eating habits. Do any of these admonitions ever make a lasting difference? They don't, not becauses they are bad advice, but because they were not a match for your own world view. Real change, lasting change, has to come from within, from your own personal choice.  

When a person is actually ready to choose to revamp her lifestyle with respect to achieving good health, there are many possible steps to take. Chiropractic care can be an important and critical component of an overall health improvement strategy.

¹Temple R, Murphy H: Type 2 diabetes in pregnancy - An increasing problem. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 24(4):591-603.

²Li S, et al: Genetic predisposition to obesity leads to increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Diabetologiz Jan 26, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

³Urquhart DM, et al: Increased fat mass is associated with high levels of low back pain intensity and disability. Spine Jan 25, 2011

Top 5 Foods to Prevent Bad Breath

Bad breath results from two key issues: oral hygiene and gastrointestinal health. Basically this means that breath odors originate not just inside the mouth but also from your digestive tract. The culprit in both cases is largely bacteria. Doctors will tell you that if you have bad breath, you should first make sure you are eating right (getting a balanced diet of protein, carbs, lots of fruits and veggies and plenty of fluids to keep the GI tract healthy) and brushing and flossing after every meal. But that still doesn't mean you might not be offending your friends and co-workers after lunch at the new Italian place. Here are some things you can ingest (or chew) that can help.

1. Chew on this. Move over parsley, there are some new halitosis-fighting herbs in town. "Coriander, spearmint, tarragon, eucalyptus, rosemary and cardamom are all good for fighting bad breath," says Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, who has lectured on oral health. You can chew on fresh herbs or make tonics by steeping them in hot water (as a tea). These herbs make an excellent digestive as well-doubling the benefits of ending a meal this way.

2. Get some active culture. No, not Cirque du Soleil, but yogurt. A recent study found that a serving of yogurt each day reduces the level of odor-causing hydrogen sulfide in the mouth. Apparently it also cuts back on bacteria in the mouth-plaque and gum disease were reduced in the study's yogurt eaters as well. Plus, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends getting enough vitamin D from yogurt, cheese and milk if you're worried about halitosis because this vitamin creates an inhospitable environment for bacteria growth. Be sure to get the kind of yogurt with active cultures-not overly processed or sugar-added varieties.

3. Crunchy types. Apples, carrots, celery-basically any fiber-rich fruit or vegetable is your friend when it comes to fighting halitosis. "Inside your mouth, plaque build-up causes odors," explains Cynthia Sass, ADA spokeswoman and registered dietitian. "Eating foods that increase saliva production keep the mouth moist-and rinsed out. Also, many carbs and proteins can get stuck in your teeth-even healthy foods like whole grain cereal or chicken breast." So follow a meal with a Granny Smith (feel the saliva kick in at the mention of it?) to cleanse the mouth.

4. Masking techniques. Sugarless gum shouldn't replace brushing your teeth after a meal, but in a pinch it can freshen breath (masking odors) and is another way to increase saliva production to rinse away plaque and bacteria. Mints can mask as well, but only briefly-and go for sugarless. Sugar creates plaque, and no one wants a mint that makes breath worse.

5. High C's. Eating berries, citrus fruits, melons and other vitamin C-rich foods create an inhospitable environment for bacteria growth. A diet rich in vitamin C is also is important for preventing gum disease and gingivitis-both major causes of halitosis. Get your C in foods, not supplements, which can cause gastrointestinal upset in some, according to Sass, and exacerbate bad breath.

     

Source: http://health.msn.com/health-topics

Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help Prevent Age-Related Vision Loss

According to a newly published 10-year study on 38,022 women, omega-3 fatty acid consumption (found at high levels in fish) may help to lessen age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD affects millions of older adults in the U.S. alone and is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Doctors have been able to prevent the progression of AMD once identified but are still not able to reverse the disease. This study was therefore important to identify what factors if any might be able to prevent AMD for occurring.

Researchers found women who consumed foods with higher levels of DHA and EPA, both omega 3-fatty acids, experienced a 38 percent lower risk for AMD and a 34 percent lower risk for AMD, respectively. However, researchers were not positive if the omega-3 fatty acids were responsible for the lower incident of AMD or that those who consumed more omega-3s were also leading healthier lifestyles that were responsible for the lower incidence of AMD.

Clearly more research is necessary. Previously, the only known way to help prevent AMD was to never smoke or for smokers, to stop smoking.



Source: Archives of Ophthalmology, online March 14, 2011.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help Prevent Age-Related Vision Loss

Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help Prevent Age-Related Vision Loss

According to a newly published 10-year study on 38,022 women, omega-3 fatty acid consumption (found at high levels in fish) may help to lessen age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD affects millions of older adults in the U.S. alone and is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Doctors have been able to prevent the progression of AMD once identified but are still not able to reverse the disease. This study was therefore important to identify what factors if any might be able to prevent AMD for occurring.

Researchers found women who consumed foods with higher levels of DHA and EPA, both omega 3-fatty acids, experienced a 38 percent lower risk for AMD and a 34 percent lower risk for AMD, respectively. However, researchers were not positive if the omega-3 fatty acids were responsible for the lower incident of AMD or that those who consumed more omega-3s were also leading healthier lifestyles that were responsible for the lower incidence of AMD.

Clearly more research is necessary. Previously, the only known way to help prevent AMD was to never smoke or for smokers, to stop smoking.



Source: Archives of Ophthalmology, online March 14, 2011.

Vitamin D and Breast Cancer

Vitamin D from supplements may reduce the risk for breast cancer in women with relatively low vitamin D intakes, suggest study findings published online April 14 ahead of print in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study also found a significant inverse trend for higher calcium intakes but no interaction between vitamin D and calcium. However, no associations were found between overall combined vitamin D or calcium intakes from food and supplements and breast cancer risk.

It is unclear whether the possible association between dietary vitamin D and reduced breast cancer risk is confounded or modified by calcium and vice versa, Laura N. Anderson, from Population Studies and Surveillance, Cancer Care Ontario, in Toronto, Canada, and colleagues note in their article. It is also unclear whether the association between dietary vitamin D and breast cancer differs by menopausal status.

To investigate these uncertainties, the researchers used the Ontario Cancer Registry to identify 3101 women aged 25 to 74 years diagnosed between June 2002 and April 2003 with a first pathologically confirmed breast tumor (case patients). The researchers used random-digit dialing methods to identify 3471 matched women without breast cancer (control subjects). All of the women completed an epidemiologic questionnaire and a modified Block food frequency questionnaire that measured 178 foods and supplements.

Supplemental vitamin D at more than 10 µg/day (400 IU/day) vs no supplemental vitamin D was associated with a reduced risk for breast cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 - 0.98). However, no dose-response relationship was observed.

The study authors note that the mean intake of vitamin D in study subjects was low. Only 13% of case patients and 14% of control subject reported using single-product vitamin D supplements or cod liver oil. No associations were evident between total combined vitamin D intake or vitamin D intake from foods alone and breast cancer risk.

In addition, there were no statistically significant associations between calcium intake from foods, supplements, or total combined intake and breast cancer risk; however, a significant inverse trend was noted across categories of calcium supplement use (P for trend = .04). Calcium supplement use was more common in study participants than was vitamin D supplement use; 33% of case patients and 35% of control subjects took calcium.

Moreover, the results "do not suggest an interaction between calcium and vitamin D intakes, and these 2 variables did not confound each other," according to the researchers. There were also no significant interactions between vitamin D, calcium, or menopausal status, and multivitamin use was not associated with breast cancer risk.

The study authors point out that measuring vitamin D or calcium from foods as opposed to supplements may be more prone to misclassification (potentially biasing results toward the null). It is also possible that foods containing vitamin D and calcium contain other detrimental components that counteract the potential benefits from vitamin D, such as dietary fat in milk. Furthermore, the possibility that the observed associations were the result of chance or residual confounding cannot be ruled out; however, the finding that multivitamin use was not associated with breast cancer risk suggests that the associations are not because of residual confounding by other unmeasured healthy lifestyle traits among supplement users.

Strengths of the study, the authors say, include its large sample size, population-based recruitment of case patients and control subjects, and high response rates.

Limitations of the study include observational design, possible misclassification of measurement of vitamin D or calcium from foods vs supplements, and possible chance results or residual confounding.

"Further research is needed to investigate the effects of higher doses of vitamin D and calcium supplements," the researchers conclude.

The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Am J Clin Nutr. Published online April 14, 2010.