You Control Your Health

Time to get serious, people. Forty percent of all cancers are preventable. Listen up: 4.8 million cancer cases do not have to happen. Get it? You are in charge of your health. Health is NOT random. If you are living by that philosophy, you're sunk.

Is there a health care crisis? You bet. The crisis lies in the idea that you are not responsible for your own health, or your health care. Forty percent of all cancers are preventable. This from a report by the Geneva-based International Union Against Cancer (UICC). As UICC president David Hill says, "If there was an announcement that somebody had discovered a cure for 40 percent of the world's cancers, there would quite justifiably be huge jubilation." No kidding.

OK, so what can you do? First, let's look at the top three cancers:

• Breast (women)/Prostate (men)
  
• Lung
  
• Colon and rectum

What can you do today that can help prevent these cancers tomorrow?

The first thing you want to do is observe your diet. Minimize processed foods, or better yet, get rid of them altogether. Whole and natural is best. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Take your vitamins. Drink lots of water (two liters per day, minimum).

Next, minimize or quit smoking. Minimize smoking? Exactly, most people that smoke can't do so moderately, so kick it altogether. Try breathing clean air, too. How about an air purifier? Don't minimize their usefulness. If you own a home in Los Angeles, contact me, I've got a guy that can set you up.

Minimize alcohol, recreational drug, and pharmaceutical drug consumption. These substances are toxins to the body. Stress the liver and kidneys and you'll be increasing your cancer risk (among other illnesses) exponentially. Alcohol can cause many different forms of cancer--2-4% of all cancers to be exact--including esophageal, stomach, liver, breast, colon and others. And don't underestimate the drugs your doctor gives you; they're poisons, too.

Maintain a healthy weight. I'm not one to lay on the guilt trips, so simply put, if you are overweight, just lower it by something. My dad dropped from 225 to 190. He's still about 25 pounds overweight, but that drop he made was significant to his health.

Exercise regularly. C'mon now, if you are not doing this you are missing out on so many health benefits that, well...you've got nobody to blame but...OK, no guilt trips. Just do it.

Get plenty of healthy sun, but don't overdo it. Listen, we all need the vitamin D, and we now know more than ever how much so. But sun worshiping, tanning beds, Jersey Shore...puleeze! Be smart, protect yourself--safe sunning is the only way to go.

There you have it: You are in control of your health. Health is not random. There is a health care crisis, and it's that far too many people neglect some very basic health enhancing behaviors. My book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, has these and hundreds of other tips to prevent cancer and live a life of health and vitality. You can direct your health: you are responsible for the health you have and maintaining it. Nobody else.

West Hollywood Chiropractor The Six Keys to Optimal Health

My book The Six Keys to Optimal Health is the quintessential guide to achieving and maintaining great health in the twenty-first century. In it we discuss the six key areas that people need to focus on if they wish to improve their health or maintain the great health they already enjoy. This book is for people trying to bounce back from drug addiction, for those trying to lose weight, and for those that have never really thought about their health and wish to take care of themselves, now. This book is universal in that it does not matter who you are or where you come from, what illnesses or conditions you currently have, or what you have done or not done in the past--everyone can use and master the principles outlined in this book to reach optimum levels of health. If your health is important to you, please grab a copy of The Six Keys to Optimal Health today--it will change your life!

Don't Give Up Exercising

A message that I try to get out in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, is that exercising for purely aesthetic reasons is a sure to lead to frustration and disappointment for many. It's the best way to guarantee an abandoned physical fitness program when things don't turn out the way you've fantasized. I think a much better approach is to exercise for the myriad of physiological or health benefits you will surely enjoy if only you can keep up the effort.

I think what happens is that people want to lose weight and "get ripped." Nothing wrong with either of these desires. But what happens when it doesn't occur over night, or in a few months? Well, many people end up frustrated, and say, "This isn't working." They then come up with all kinds of implausible excuses why it's not working for them: genetics, slow metabolism, or the old, "I work out all the time, but I never seem to lose weight."

Well here's good news this week out of the University of Michigan: Fat metabolism speeds up in just one exercise session. That's right! Just one workout and fat burning increases. This lowers your chance of developing insulin resistance--the hallmark of type 2 diabetes--and increases your ability to burn fat in the future. How? Exercising increases the ability to store fat in the muscle tissue as triglycerides, which makes it available for quick energy; much quicker than the fat filled adipose tissue we store around our bellies, butts and hips.

So even if you find that you "never seem to lose weight" no matter how much you exercise, just know that despite what seems to be slow going, you're doing yourself a great physiological and health service by working out regularly. If what you say about working out all the time is true, then you might need to be honest with yourself and cut the calories you're ingesting everyday in the form of food, booze or soda. But you can be sure that your metabolism is working faster and burning fat more efficiently if you are exercising. And even if that's the most you get out of it, you are still doing your body a world of good.

Losing Weight is a Lifestyle Choice

If I had to guess the lazy man's ultimate fantasy, I would have to say that it's probably a "lose weight while you sleep" program. How does that sound? Do absolutely nothing and shed pounds while you snooze. Ooh, I like the sound of that: Losing weight while sleeping. Well, now your dreams can become reality. So says a study out of Europe showing that lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. Hey, that's not the same thing. I know, but I had to get your attention somehow.

According to French scientists, sleep deprivation has an effect on two principle appetite-controlling hormones, grehlin and leptin. Grehlin makes people hungry, slows metabolism and decreases the body's ability to burn body fat, and leptin, a protein hormone produced by fatty tissue, regulates fat storage. In the study, sleep deprived people (only four hours sleep two nights in a row) showed an 18% loss of the appetite-cutting leptin and a 28% increase of appetite-causing grehlin. The people also showed about 25% increased hunger. according to lead author, Karine Spiegel, this translates into an additional 350 to 500 kilocalories a day, "which for a young sedentary adult of normal weight could lead to a major amount of added weight."

Add to this a second study which discloses that children who lack adequate sleep (and those who watch more television, but that's another story) have double the chance of being overweight, raises the chances of later anxiety and depression. Looking at 915 children in Massachusetts, researchers at the Harvard Medical School found that those who slept less than 12 hours a day in the first two years of life were twice as likely to be overweight at age 3 than children who slept longer.

These stories bring out two predominant thoughts for me: First, when it comes to weight management, it really is all about lifestyle choices. It's not solely about genes or foods--it's about how we choose to live our lives. I push the principle that sleep is absolutely necessary to a well-functioning mind and body. I see the effects of sleep deprivation every day in my patients, and I've got plenty of my own experience, and I know, it'll kill you.

But it will also lead to poor energy utilization and, as a result, more weight gain. Think about it: You don't sleep, you are tired, your body get discombobulated and starts using your stored energy rapidly to keep you going. You secrete the appetite-stimulating hormone, grehlin--your body's way of saying, "more food, more fuel". The hormonal imbalance leads you to crave foods heavy in fats and sugars--foods that are high in energy and efficiently stored as fat. And on your way to the bulge.

The second predominant thought is that losing weight for the long-term isn't often correlated with following a particular fad diet. It really is about the lifestyle changes one makes, like:

• eating healthy, wholesome foods
• exercising regularly
• getting sufficient sleep
• getting rid of pain that prevents exercise--try chiropractic, it rocks!
• balancing one's perceptions

These are the true tricks to trimming down. It's not rocket science, but it can be hard work. I tell you though, it is worth the effort. Start today by getting enough sleep, and your lazy fantasies can become reality. Isn't it great to know that not all healthy habits are a pain in the rear?

Tai Chi's Miraculous Health Benefits

Anyone familiar with the martial art Tai Chi Chuan knows the many physical benefits it provides. But now the rest of us have proof. New studies coming out of Australia and Taiwan show that the ancient martial art lowers weight, helps curb type 2 diabetes, and increases immune function. Wow! It does all that? Yup. Check it out.

In the Aussie study, conducted at the University of Queensland, researchers led middle-aged and older participants through 12 weeks of Tai Chi. The program consisted of three 1.5 hour sessions per week, and participants were also encouraged to practice on their own at home. At the end of the study period, participants were found to have lost an average 6.5 pounds, and their blood glucose levels improved (all had metabolic syndrome--a triumvirate of medical conditions including diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure). Participants also showed significant decreases in blood pressure, more than what could be accounted for by simple weight loss.

In the Taiwanese study, participants were also taken through 12 weeks of Tai Chi. Researchers found an increase in both helper T-cells (important immune system cells) and interleukin levels (immune system mediators) in the participants. And as an added benefit, researchers found a decrease in levels of glycated hemoglobin--excess sugar carried by red blood cells--in participants that had diabetes.

These findings are huge. By doing moderately paced exercise--as Tai Chi Chuan is--one can significantly decrease their chances of developing type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome; or even improve one's chances of managing the disorders if already affected. Excellent. I studied Tai Chi myself very briefly about 15 years ago (the school I attended in San Francisco and, in my opinion, the very best). I found it a stupendous form of exercise. However, I do wish to point out, just as the authors of the Australian study have, that any form moderate exercise will accomplish the same results. It's just that the benefit of Tai Chi Chuan come from its slow, flowing pace and wide sweeping, rhythmic motions. These types of movements, I think, connect us to a Universal rhythm, which have deeper, spiritual effects on us. Other than that, though, doing Tai Chi should also help you kick a little ass--and that never hurts now does it?

Lean Toward Breakfast

Want to know one simple habit that can reduce snacking, increase activity, and help you lose weight? Eating breakfast regularly is what: A study conducted at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health showed that teenagers who ate breakfast regularly had lower body mass index (BMI) relative to their breakfast-skipping peers. And they weighed about five pounds less on average too. Nice.

Although conducted on teens, I believe we can extrapolate the the research finding to adults as well; I mean, the conclusions make sense. According to Mark Pereira, lead author of the study, breakfast eaters probably have better control of their appetites throughout the day, and they are less likely to pick up sugary snacks, like doughnuts, muffins, or scones--items many of us grab on our run through Starbucks.

Think about this for a minute: Who's more likely to gain weight--people who eat an early morning meal or people who skip it? Duh. It all has to do with blood sugar. Let yours get too low--easy to do if you don't get fuel first thing in the morning--and your body will surely convert much of your first meal into fat. But guess what? It'll be the least of your worries. That volatility in blood sugar concentration can lead to diabetes. Diabetes+weight gain/obesity=big problems.

Don't do it to yourself: Eat a hearty breakfast. Skipping any meal, in my opinion, is a poor dietary practice; but breakfast, especially, should be eaten every day. If the risk of disrupting your blood sugar isn't enough to get you noshing first thing in the morning, then the thought of packing on the pounds unnecessarily should. In a culture and society prosperous enough for us to even have this choice, we should never take our early morning meal for granted--breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day.

Smart Food

Which diet is better? A low carb, high protein diet like Atkins or South Beach? Or a high carb, low fat diet--the type pushed by the sponsors of the food pyramid? Well as far as weight loss is concerned, you know my opinion--calories are calories. So, either way, you'll gain weight if your calorie intake is greater than what you burn.

But one thing we know for certain: Diets that are higher in carbohydrates seem to fare better for those involved in intense mental activity. And now we've got further evidence. Recent research shows that, although both low carb, low fat and high carb, low fat diets help people lose weight, the latter will actually help increase cognitive processing. That is, high carb diets help the brain work faster.

Yup, you all knew that right? Glucose--a carbohydrate--is the only fuel suitable for the brain; therefore, carbohydrate is essential. In the study, overweight and obese men and women were fed either a high carb or low carb diet for eight weeks. The researchers then looked at mood and cognitive function (through intelligence and reasoning tests). Mood was not affected by the amount of carbohydrate consumed, but those eating more carbs solved problems faster.

I find this important information because I am often asked what I think about the low carb diet. My standard answer: Eat everything in balanced moderation, and increase carb or protein depending on your activities. Working hard at the office? Increase your carbs a little. Fruits are best, but grains are good too; just don't make Pringles your carb of choice (well, OK, have a few). Working out a lot? Increase your protein intake. Try nuts, cheese, turkey meatballs, chocolate milk (yes, it's good too...in moderation), or whatever floats your boat. All this information, and more, is in my soon to be released book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health. Just follow basic principles and forget the fads, man. Fads come and go (remember food combining and Fit for Life?), but principles are forever. So be smart and eat well. It doesn't have to be rocket science.