Archive for February, 2010
Pick Your Poison, Choose Your Beer
Let's face it, if you like beer, you're going to look for a good reason to drink it, whether it's a tailgate party, as a pizza accompaniment, or to help built strong and healthy bones. Say what? Up until I heard the recent news reports and read an article that appeared recently on the HealthDay News blog, I wouldn't have listed that last reason on the "pro" side of any health list I was making. But according to a new study published in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture beer, or at least some beer high in barley and hops contain dietary silicon,contributes to bone mineral density. I'm a chiropractor, so naturally anything that helps to build bone density is good in my book. And, though there are foods, such as bananas, that also contain dietary silicon, if you like beer, this study is good news!
Beer for the Bones? (HealthDay News) — Beer may help keep bones strong because it's a rich source of dietary silicon, which contributes to bone mineral density, a new study reports. But the amount of silicon apparently varies by the type of beer. "The factors in brewing that influence silicon levels in beer have not been extensively studied," study author Charles Bamforth, a professor in the food science and technology department at the University of California, Davis, said in a news release from the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. The study is published in the journal's February issue. "We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer," Bamforth said. Wort is liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer. The researchers tested 100 commercial beers and found that their silicon content ranged from 6.4 to 56.5 milligrams per liter. "Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon," Bamforth said. "Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort, and much of this survives into beer."More information
The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about bone health.
SOURCE: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, news release, Feb. 7, 2010
Your Oxnard Chiropractor Offers An Unexpected Solution to Your Allergy Symptoms
Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, is aware that allergic reactions can make your everyday existence miserable. A stroll in the park, snuggling with your favorite feline, a shellfish dinner, or merely something as minute as a nut is likely to bring about such uncomfortable discomforts as itchy eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, or a skin rash.
But unfortunately, from time to time a person’s allergic reactions can go from simply uncomfortable to dangerous and life-threatening as the air passageway starts to close and inhaling and exhaling becomes labored. This development of difficulties can frequently bring about a state of panic as well as a trip to the emergency room.
Allergy symptoms can, without a doubt, turn out to be a very challenging interruption and make you feel unable to participate in everyday activities. In fact, should you be one of those unfortunate people who have allergy symptoms, it might even appear to you that, on occasion, the environment is a very antagonistic space and that the planet out there you is, literally, out to get you!
Perhaps you contemplate why it is that others tend to be so immune to the exact same environmental stresses that send your system into overwhelm. Other people seem to be either unaware of or plainly`totally unresponsive to the would-be irritants that lurk at every turn, while your system reacts, or rather overreacts, to them. Why you? A valid question. The answer is that plenty of individuals, not unlike yourself, have a hyperactive immune system that basically “goes wild” whenever you come across everyday substances such as pollen, dander, shellfish, or nut products.
Can your Chiropractor in Oxnard help you in experiencing relief from your allergy symptoms? The answer is a unquestionable “Yes,” and the solution may surprise you. A good number of chiropractic patients have noticed that they experience freedom from their allergy symptoms after a chiropractic adjustment, even though chiropractic care does not actually apply treatment directly to allergies, per se. The biology behind the decline in allergy symptoms is because chiropractic adjustment influences your whole nervous system, including the autoimmune system, and that is at the root of your hypersensitive responses. In cases where there is a agitation in the nervous system, in addition to other challenges, the autoimmune system, whose job it is to assist you to adapt and respond appropriately to your environment, will likely become under-active or overactive. In the case of your allergies, the reaction is the latter (it becomes overactive).
Since chiropractic treatments are intended to lessen or even completely get rid of disruptions within the nervous system and recreate symmetry and relaxation to the complete body, coupled with a number of other corrections, the adjustments furnish homeostasis to the autoimmune system as well. A robust immune system responds in a healthy way to so-called allergens within the environment.
So, as stated previously, your Chiropractor in Oxnard doesn’t really target allergies, but that doesn’t imply your allergies won’t get better or go away completely. On the other hand, you could say, instead, that relief from your allergies is simply the result of your rebalanced nervous system. If you would like to get back into a happy relationship with your natural environment as quickly as is possible, phone Dr. Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, today. He will help you to enjoy your environment again!
If You’re Pregnant, You Have Alternatives When It Comes to Back Pain Relief
For many pregnant women, back pain seems to be unavoidable, especially the “more pregnant” a woman becomes! Chiropractic adjustments are safe and highly beneficial in relieving back pain due to pregnancy, and they are also helpful in relieving other pregnancy “complaints” such as heartburn, nausea, and swelling. “As a woman and a chiropractor, I understand the many subtle, and not so subtle, changes that a woman’s body experiences during pregnancy,” said Melody Shubert, D.C., of Shubert Natural Health and Chiropractic in Wichita, Kansas. And, if needed, a well-trained chiropractor can also help with a breached baby. This is done by using the Webster Technique, a low force technique to manipulate the uterus and get the baby into the proper position for delivery. (A simple Google search on the Webster Technique can give you much more information.) Check with your local chiropractor for more information on how chiropractic adjustments can help during pregnancy.
Osteopathic manipulation is another alternative for back pain relief due to pregnancy. “Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a viable option for improving function related to the low back and reducing back pain in the third trimester of pregnancy because its does not appear to have any negative side effects,” said John C. Licciardone, D.O., M.S., M.B.A., the lead author of a study on OMT in the third trimester of pregnancy that was recently published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Results from this study showed that osteopathic manipulative treatment slows or halts the deterioration of back-specific function in the third trimester of pregnancy. To read more about this study, click here.