What is Health?

In the language of statistics, health is a continuous variable. A person's health can be expressed as an infinity of values ranging from abundant well-being to terminal states approaching death. If health were a discrete quantity you could assign a number to it. You could say that someone had 95% health or 32% health. You'd be able to measure health on an exact scale. But of course health is much more complex. Health status requires intermediate descriptive states for a more complete understanding of a person's level of wellness.
The practical outcome is that health is an expression of many factors, not merely one kind of activity. A person who has an extraordinarily healthy diet but has very high levels of stress may still suffer from cardiovascular disease, regardless of the amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and fresh fruits and vegetables he consumes.¹ A person may be a champion athlete, such as a ballet dancer or a figure skater, and yet have type 2 diabetes owing to a lifetime of unhealthy nutrition.²
There are many such cautionary tales, including that of a famous runner, author, and fitness expert who died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 52.
Like an archeological dig, good health has many layers. It's always a mistake to stop digging (even though you think you completely understand a process), because a little more effort and a little more thought will reveal new patterns and new connections. This is the major problem with medications. You take a drug to stimulate one thing or inhibit another thing, but there always more layers to consider. Side effects result from trying to manipulate one layer of effects while ignoring the consequences to other important layers.
Statins are a good example of this process of failing to consider the layers of health. These drugs lower blood cholesterol levels by inhibiting the production of a liver enzyme that is part of the pathway of cholesterol synthesis. But statins have many side effects, including Lou Gehrig's disease, memory loss, liver damage, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle pain.³
In contrast, chiropractic care is designed to pay attention to all the layers. Chiropractic care, in fact, is a layer-optimization process. By restoring full functioning of a person's nerve system and improving the mechanical functioning of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractic care enables the body's layers of health to interact in the way they were designed to interact. Chiropractic care is a natural, efficient method of restoring and maintaining good health.

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¹Knoepfli-Lenzin C, et al: Effects of a 12-week intervention period with football and running for habitually active men with mild hypertension. Scand J Med Sci Sports Feb 2, 2010 (Epub)
²Fuemmeler BF, et al: Weight, dietary behavior, and physical activity in childhood and adolescence. Implications for adult cancer risk. Obes Facts 2(3):179-186, 2009
³Sharma M, et al: Systematic review: comparative effectiveness and harms of combination therapy and monotherapy for dyslipidemia. Ann Intern Med 151(9):622-630, 2009

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Daniel Lonquist, DC, CCST, CCWP

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REAL Cancer Advancements that Need to Become Mainstream Knowledge

By: Dr. Mercola

In the last 30 years the global cancer burden has doubled, and it will likely double again between 2000 and 2020, and nearly triple by 2030—unless people begin to take cancer prevention seriously. We CAN turn this trend around, but to do so the medical community must stop overlooking the methods that can actually have a significant impact.
Three cancer advancements in particular merit special mention. These advancements have not yet been accepted by conventional medicine, and they must be.

Number 1: Vitamin D—There's overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that vitamin D deficiency plays a crucial role in cancer development. Researchers within this field have estimated that about 30 percent of cancer deaths -- which amounts to 2 million worldwide and 200,000 in the United States -- could be prevented each year simply by optimizing the vitamin D levels in the general population.

On a personal level, you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure. And if you are being treated for cancer it is likely that higher blood levels—probably around 80-90 ng/ml—would be beneficial.

If the notion that sun exposure actually prevents cancer is still new to you, I highly recommend you watch my one-hour vitamin D lecture to clear up any confusion. It's important to understand that the risk of skin cancer from the sun comes only from excessive exposure.
Meanwhile, countless people around the world have an increased risk of cancer because their vitamin D levels are too low due to utter lack of sun exposure.

The health benefits of optimizing your levels, either by safe sun exposure (ideally), a safe tanning bed, or oral supplementation as a last resort, simply cannot be overstated. In terms of protecting against cancer, vitamin D has been found to offer protection in a number of ways, including:

• Regulating genetic expression
• Increasing the self-destruction of mutated cells (which, if allowed to replicate, could lead to cancer)
• Reducing the spread and reproduction of cancer cells
• Causing cells to become differentiated (cancer cells often lack differentiation)
• Reducing the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, which is a step in the transition of dormant tumors turning cancerous

To learn the details on how to use vitamin D therapeutically, please review my previous article, Test Values and Treatment for Vitamin D Deficiency.
Number 2: Optimizing Your Insulin Levels—Normalizing your insulin levels is one of the most powerful physical actions you can take to lower your risk of cancer. Otto Warburg actually received a Nobel Prize for his research on cancer cell physiology in 1934, which clearly demonstrated cancer cells require more sugar to thrive. Unfortunately, very few oncologists appreciate or apply this knowledge today.
The Cancer Centers of America is one of the few exceptions, where strict dietary measures are included in their cancer treatment program.

High levels of insulin can cause major damage to your body. The most recognized of these is diabetes, but that is far from the only one. As Ron Rosedale, M.D. said in one of my most popular articles, Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects:

"It doesn't matter what disease you are talking about, whether you are talking about a common cold or cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis or cancer, the root is always going to be at the molecular and cellular level, and I will tell you that insulin is going to have its hand in it, if not totally control it."

The good news is that controlling your insulin levels is relatively straightforward. First, limit your intake of processed foods, grains and sugars/fructose as much as possible to prevent your insulin levels from becoming elevated in the first place.
Number 3: Exercise—If you are like most people, when you think of reducing your risk of cancer, exercise doesn't immediately come to mind. However, there is some fairly compelling evidence that exercise can slash your risk of cancer.
One of the primary ways exercise lowers your risk for cancer is by reducing elevated insulin levels, which creates a low sugar environment that discourages the growth and spread of cancer cells. Controlling your insulin levels and optimizing your vitamin D level are two of the most powerful steps you can take to reduce your cancer risk. For example, physically active adults experience about half the incidence of colon cancer as their sedentary counterparts, and women who exercise regularly can reduce their breast cancer risk by 20 to 30 percent compared to those who are inactive.
Additionally, exercise improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. Your immune system is your first line of defense against everything from minor illnesses like a cold right up to devastating, life-threatening diseases like cancer.
The trick about exercise, though, is understanding how to use it as a precise tool. This ensures you are getting enough to achieve the benefit, not too much to cause injury, and the right variety to balance your entire physical structure and maintain strength and flexibility, and aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels. This is why it is helpful to view exercise like a drug that needs to be carefully prescribed to achieve its maximum benefit.
It's important to include a large variety of techniques in your exercise routine, such as strength training, aerobics, core-building activities, and stretching. Most important of all, however, is to make sure you include high-intensity, burst-type exercise, such as Peak 8. Peak 8 are exercises performed once or twice a week, in which you raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, and then you recover for 90 seconds.
These exercises activate your super-fast twitch muscle fibers, which can increase your body's natural production of human growth hormone. For detailed instructions, please see this previous article.

Winning the War Against Cancer Begins with Your Personal Choices

You can do a lot, right now, to significantly decrease your cancer risk. Even the conservative American Cancer Society states that one-third of cancer deaths are linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, and carrying excess weight. So making the following healthy lifestyle changes can go a very long way toward ending the failure-streak and becoming one less statistic in this war against cancer:

1. Normalize your vitamin D levels with safe amounts of sun exposure. This works primarily by optimizing your vitamin D level. Ideally, monitor your vitamin D levels throughout the year.
2. Control your insulin levels by limiting your intake of processed foods and sugars/fructose as much as possible.
3. Get appropriate amounts of animal-based omega-3 fats.
4. Get appropriate exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.
5. Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.
6. Have a tool to permanently erase the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. My particular favorite tool for this purpose, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique.
7. Only 25 percent of people eat enough vegetables, so by all means eat as many vegetables as you are comfortable with. Ideally, they should be fresh and organic. Cruciferous vegetables in particular have been identified as having potent anti-cancer properties. Remember that carb nutritional types may need up to 300 percent more vegetables than protein nutritional types.
8. Maintain an ideal body weight.
9. Get enough high-quality sleep.
10. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.
11. Reduce your use of cell phones and other wireless technologies, and implement as many safety strategies as possible if/when you cannot avoid their use.
12. Boil, poach or steam your foods, rather than frying or charbroiling them.

Daniel Lonquist, DC, CCST, CCWP

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Potassium Iodide: When Not to Use It

By

Alan R. Gaby, MD

Only take KI for radiation protection if you are in a contaminated area and have been instructed to do so by health officials

Related Topics

The recent tragedy in Japan has reminded the world of potential health threats from nuclear radiation, and attention has turned to potassium iodide (KI), a supplement that is known under certain conditions to protect the body from certain radiation effects. However, it is important that people take the time to learn when and how KI may be used effectively and safely, since there is no cause to believe that anyone outside the affected area in Japan should be taking KI, and the risk of taking it could outweigh the benefits.

How does KI work?

For people exposed at close range to large amounts of radioactive material, taking potassium iodide tablets can be very important. Radioactive iodine is one of the materials released after a nuclear accident. The thyroid gland actively takes up and stores iodine, including radioactive forms of the mineral, and exposure to large amounts of radioactive iodine can increase the risk of developing thyroid cancer.

Taking a large amount of nonradioactive iodine (in the form of KI) prior to massive radiation exposure saturates the thyroid gland with iodine and thereby prevents radioactive iodine from entering the gland. This protective effect lasts about 24 hours, so the drug has to be taken daily during a period of intense radiation exposure in order to be effective.

Potassium iodide does not protect against the adverse effects of other radioactive compounds released during a nuclear accident, such as radioactive cesium.

What is the current radiation danger?

So far, health officials report an insignificant amount of radiation reaching the West Coast of the US. For example, the radiation dose a person normally receives from rocks, bricks, and the sun is 100,000 times the amount coming from Japan.

In contrast, the risks associated with daily use of large doses of potassium iodide are not insignificant. Long-term use of high doses of this compound can cause acne, headaches, and other side effects, and occasionally leads to thyroid abnormalities such as hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Because the amount of radioactive iodine currently reaching the US from Japan is so small, the risks associated with taking potassium iodide for radiation protection probably outweigh the benefits.

What about taking extra iodine in the form of iodized salt?

The amount of iodine added to table salt is so small that it would be physically impossible to consume enough salt for it to protect against radiation. Further, high salt intake carries its own risks of adverse effects, so eating more salt is not recommended as a method of protecting against radioactive iodine.

When should I use it?

According to all of the available evidence, the reactor accident in Japan is not a threat to the US population, and the use of KI tablets is not currently recommended. People should only take KI for radiation protection if they live in contaminated areas and have been instructed to do so by health officials. The adult dose of KI for protection against radiation is 130 mg per day, which is nearly 700 times the Recommended Dietary Allowance for iodine.

Are there other protections against radiation?

In areas exposed to dangerous radiation levels, authorities will recommend that people stay indoors with all the doors and windows closed and sealed until the threat passes. The walls of buildings provide some degree of protection against radiation, especially those that are tightly sealed, as this prevents radioactive particles from the passing air from entering the house.

Alan R. Gaby, MD, Chief Medical Editor

An expert in nutritional therapies, Chief Medical Editor Alan R. Gaby is a former professor of Bastyr University of Natural Health Sciences, where he served as the Endowed Professor of Nutrition. He is past-president of the American Holistic Medical Association and gave expert testimony to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine on the cost-effectiveness of nutritional supplements. Dr. Gaby has conducted nutritional seminars for physicians and has collected over 30,000 scientific papers related to the field of nutritional and natural medicine. In addition to editing and contributing to The Natural Pharmacy (Three Rivers Press, 2006), and theA–Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions(Three Rivers Press, 2006), Dr. Gaby has authoredPreventing and Reversing Osteoporosis(Prima Lifestyles, 1995) and B6: The Natural Healer (Keats, 1987) and coauthoredThe Patient’s Book of Natural Healing(Prima Lifestyles, 1999).

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Daniel Lonquist, DC, CCST, CCWP

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970-257-9199

Are Fruits and Veggies the Key to Easing Cold Symptoms?

By

Jane Hart, MD

Reseach found that taking a dietary supplement of powdered fruits and veggies eased the severity of cold symptoms by up to 20%

Related Topics

1. Cold & Flu Health Center
2. Fruits & Veggies
3. Eat Healthy

Advice to eat a balanced diet may hold new meaning for people trying to fight off the common cold, as a new study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that taking a dietary supplement of powdered fruits and veggies eased the severity of cold symptoms in healthcare workers by as much as 20%.

Supplement eases severe cold symptoms

In this study, 529 healthcare workers (who are, by profession, particularly susceptible to colds) were randomly assigned to four capsules of a dietary supplement (Juice Plus+® juice powder concentrates from fruits and vegetables) or placebo, daily for eight months. The participants kept a diary of cold symptoms for six months following the intervention.
Results found that the average number of days with moderate or severe cold symptoms was 20% lower in the dietary supplement group compared with the placebo group, and people in the supplement group also reported fewer days of taking cold medicine. People in either group did not have fewer colds, and there was no difference in the total number of days with any cold symptoms between the two groups.
So while the quest for a cure for the common cold continues, the authors comment, “Given the widespread utilization of concentrated dietary products, the present study has potentially important public health relevance. To our knowledge, it is the first randomized investigation focusing on the benefits of juice powder concentrate in subjects particularly exposed to patient contact.” It should be noted that this study was funded by the makers of Juice Plus. Further research on this important topic is needed.

Tips for preventing a cold

• Get enough rest. Sleep is essential for our health and well-being and getting a good night's rest every night or almost every night is a good first step in helping to prevent infections, including colds.
• Live a balanced and healthy life. A nutritious diet including an abundance of fruits and veggies is essential for keeping our immune system working properly and for our ability to fight off infection. Avoiding bad habits such as smoking and drinking too much is also important in efforts to remain healthy. Regular exercise is critical for keeping the body fine-tuned to ward off illness.
• Cover your mouth and wash your hands. Healthcare workers are particularly trained to wash their hands before and after contact with sick people, and the general public should wash their hands after using the restroom or interacting with people who are sick with a cold or the flu. When possible, steer clear of friends and colleagues who are in the first couple of days of having a cold, which is when they are most contagious, and if you are sick remember to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and wash your hands frequently.

(Br J Nutr 2011;105:118–22)

Jane Hart, MD, board-certified in internal medicine, serves in a variety of professional roles including consultant, journalist, and educator. Dr. Hart, a Clinical Instructor at Case Medical School in Cleveland, Ohio, writes extensively about health and wellness and a variety of other topics for nationally recognized organizations, websites, and print publications. Sought out for her expertise in the areas of integrative and preventive medicine, she is frequently quoted by national and local media. Dr. Hart is a professional lecturer for healthcare professionals, consumers, and youth and is a regular corporate speaker. 

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52 Week Health & Lifestyle Tips

 

01

If you are trying to lose weight, look at your liquid calories. Beverages now supply more than 20% of the calories in the average diet. Most liquid calories come from soda or alcoholic beverages. Studies show that people who get calories from beverages tend to subsequently eat more than those who get the same number of calories from solid food.

02

Exercise every day. Yes, every day. Your ancestors did it. It’s the way our bodies are meant to work. Even 15-20 minutes. How important is it? If an insulin-dependant diabetic does 30 SECONDS of vigorous exercise 4 times a day, they lower their insulin requirements 20%!!! Just DO IT!

 Anyone wanting a FREE copy of my e-book of 52 Health and Lifestyle Tips as well as a free subscription to my health news podcast all you have to do is email me with "Free 52 week" in the subject line and your first name and email in the body. There is NO obligation to buy anything and you will not be solicited either. It is just my way of educating the public on how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Daniel Lonquist, DC, CCWP
Back To Health Wellness Center
970-257-9199
drl@backtohealthgj.com
www.BTHWellnessCenter.com