Diet Soda is Worse than Just Regular Soda

Diet Soda is Worse than Just Regular Soda!

I feel bad for those who have been sitting around for years drinking diet soda and thinking they are doing their bodies greater justice than those “regular” soda drinkers. In fact as recent long term studies have been coming out is has been studied that those who drink diet soda regularly not only gain inches on their waist, but also have a greater chance of developing diabetes. The problem results in the fake sugar (ex: aspartame) that we put in our bodies. While this fake sugar may not have any actual calories it has been shown to be 180 times sweeter than actual sugar. There are many theories still buzzing in the air about what the problem is with diet drinks. It can be linked to other unhealthy choices, the lack of calories makes people more prone to eat more unhealthy calories, or maybe it does have a direct link and fake sugars actual mess with our system.

I encourage all readers to not trust just one or two studies because that can make one deeply misinformed and easy persuaded. But instead keep the information I provide as plausible evidence as you continue to educate yourself about what you are consuming. With that said look at the information below and consider that many things we consume have no place in our nutritional diet and could in fact be doing us more harm than good. On that note look up genetically modified foods and see how those are causing more problems then we can even identify.

The eight year study done by the University of Texas Health Science Center showed some surprising stats that suggest, but not prove the link of diet soda consumers with greater risks than regular soda consumers. This really does come as a surprise and some refuse to believe this as they have sat for years saving calories in their comforting beverage. Here are the stats:

1 can of regular soda a day showed a 32.1% increase in risk of obesity

1 can of DIET soda a day showed 54.5% increase in risk of obesity

At the end of the day we as a society need to choose healthier choices. None of us NEED soda. We consume so much as a society that we can’t escape it any where we go from the checkout at the grocery store to the airplane to even at modern day “lemonade stands” that I have seen in the neighborhood selling a can of pop for a buck. We must seek healthier choices in the drinks we consume. I am not innocent from any of the above that I have written about. In fact as a high schooler I drank a soda a day, as I entered college I thought that I would save some calories and drink diet sodas, but as I reached graduate school I had a good friend suggest that maybe I just am craving the carbonation, such that is in club soda (or rather water with carbonation). Not wanting to fall victim to the cravings of soda I eagerly tried just drinking “water with bubbles”. Much to my surprise, I no longer craved soda and now actually do not enjoy regular or diet soda (thankfully!). Drinking just carbonated water was enough to end this decade long relationship with a sugary drink that provided me with NO benefits. In fact soda has been shown to decrease bone density. Many of our children and many adults today have been showing to have significant decrease in bone density thats hasn't been seen for decades. There is some association with caffeine blocking the ability of calcium to absorb.

I urge those of you who are reading this to not feel guilty about the soda that you may drink, but instead to consider other options that are out there that can satisfy your craving. For some it may be club soda with a splash of juice and others may want to just consider beginning with limiting the amount of soda they drink in a day. As a final note I would like to mention that many people who are overweight in our country could lose easy pounds by eliminating all drinks other than water. The fancy drinks at coffee shops, sodas, energy drinks, and juice. I could write a whole blog on each one of these beverage choices that most Americans have at least one of in a day. If we limited ourselves to just water we would see a huge change in most people with energy level, health, and for some our bank account.

It is these small modifications in our life that can lead us to our optimnum health. Everyone of us can make changes to enhance our living from chnaging our food consumption, chnaging our activity level, and for some ven changing our lifestyle. Hopefully this blog brings up the issue of modification of what we consume so carelssly and help you think about starting a change.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050613/drink-more-diet-soda-gain-more-weight

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41479869/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/daily-diet-soda-tied-higher-risk-stroke-heart-attack/#.TrcVe83NnCo

The Kidnetics Project

THE KIDNETICS PROJECT

The past six months at school there has been a group called Healthy Kids Club that has been developing. The main purpose is to bring education of exercise and nutrition to the bay area specifically to the elementary aged children. The goal is to get kids moving and thinking about healthy choices. They are given hands-on fun activities to learn about different exercise movements, along with basic nutrition. We just did our first event last night with ages from kindergarden to 3rd grade at a supportive housing organization. It was a great first event to understand how we will run the future events. The kids seemed to really enjoy having us there and hopefully will have learn a few things as well! :)

The website is below to check out The Healthy Kids Club blog!

http://kidnetics.blogspot.com/

Familial Ligament Laxity

Familial Ligament Laxity

Information collected from a CCA meeting with Dr. Fysh as the presenter

Beginning Signs:

*adjust their neck

*twist torso while seated

*crack their knuckles

The elastic fibers are so loose that minimum movements provide an audible. However, for Chiropractors these patients with FLL are difficult to adjust due to their excessive range of motion. Often times these patients are tight and sore because the flexibility of their joints allow too much opening and closing. The muscles then have to take the role of stability that the loose ligaments were suppose to provide. Due to this compensation the muscles of a person with FLL can often be very tight.

To help identify FLL the Beighton Criteria has been used to see the level of ligament laxity that an individual may have. The higher the score the higher the laxity.

Beighton Criteria (http://www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/article.asp?article=645)

1. fingers extended back to 90 degrees (2 pt)

2. bend thumb to forearm (2 pt)

3.hyperextend elbows (2 pt)

4. hyperextend knees (2 pt)

5. bend forward and touch the floor (1 pt)

The not so good effect of FLL

Finally, the GOOD out of all the negatives:

1. No stretch marks

2. Often look 10 years younger in age

3. Less wrinkles

Best activities:

1.Yoga

2.Pilates

3.Swimming

Sports that people with FLL have shown to excel with:

Examples:

1. Gymnastics (increase number of FLL cases found in this sport)

2. Swimming (butterfly has increase ROM due to ability to hyperextend elbows)

3. Golf (back swing increased due to the increase in ROM)

4. Yoga

Barefoot Running: The Good, the Bad, and the Not so Ugly Lessons Learned

Barefoot Running: The Good, the Bad, and the Not so Ugly Lessons Learned

Our Feet

These babies are essential to everything we do from sitting to standing to running to jumping to just about anything we do, you name it. Leonardo di Vinci himself called the foot," a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art." Hence why we need to get full function from our feet, but take care of them all at the same time.

So, what do our feet consist of? 28 bones (25% of the bones in our body), 33 joints, 100+ ligaments, and 20 muscles. Not sure what you may be thinking, but thats a whole lot of elements that show why foot dynamics are the talk of the town.

History

Humans were not meant to wear shoes

-Without shoes our toes were splayed out with a straight line running from our big toe to the middle of our heel. Now the line tends to go from the big toe and into thin air look at right foot in picture A.

-The picture A below demonstrates a native foot, along with a foot that has worn shoes showing the conformity of our feet. In picture B the feet demonstrate the wide base that the foot was intended to have.

-Look at ancient statues and the feet will look different than your own with greater adduction, straighter toes, and greater separation of toes.

Pic A Pic B

But now...

-The anterior portion of the foot is narrowed due to the feet confining in shoes

-The range of motion due to wearing shoes decreased in the phalangeal, tarsal, and ankle joints

How did this big change happen?

Over the years we became more and more concerned with protecting our feet. When we once placed soles on our feet to protect ourselves from heat and rocks we had no idea it would turn into shoes with shock absorbers and so much more. Shoes have added extra cushion on the heels, increased arch support, enhanced protections from pronation, and modified our motion control.

What have these modifications to the original shoe actually done? The changes in shoes have all been done with the best of intentions, but have only promoted laziness by allowing our feet to have all these "aids". Instead of having to strengthen our arches we now have an easy fix that is only masking the problem. However, with that said it is not to say that all running shoes and all shoes are bad. They have their purpose, but should not allow for our feet to be lazy.

Correct Running Posture First! Why?

It is absolutely essential to look at the posture of the patient while running. If the form is poor during running then barefoot running is not for them until their form improves! The picture below shows two different incorrect techniques that often occur during running.

Incorrect:

1. heel strike while running

2. Foot landing in front of the body

It is important especially as a clinician who may speak to their patient about barefoot running to then look at their running stride. If they pass with good form you can start on the slow progression into the five finger shoes.

Progression

One who is use to regular running shoes, SHOULD NOT go out and switch to the newest trend of barefoot running in those five toed shoes. This will result in injuries such as stress fractures, knee problems, and numerous other problems. One should go from their typical running shoes and gradually go down to shoes with less support like the nike frees. As one progresses down they should mix in their traditional shoes with their new training shoes. Then again progress down to the barefoot shoes mixing the two throughout training. FAILURE TO STEP DOWN GRADUALLY IS WHEN INJURIES OCCUR. Barefoot running does not have to have as many injuries as it currently as reported, but people are not training properly.

Typical Running Shoe

Nike Free Shoe

Barefoot Shoe

Body Signals

You know your body best! If you experience soreness after running with barefoot shoes this can be normal because you are doing a new activity and activating different muscles. If their is pain, then stop because something could be wrong and you don't want to exacerbate the problem.

When you are progressing into the barefoot shoes the process is gradual. Listen to your body and if its not time to step down then don't. If you feel like you can move on and have been training in both shoes, then try to step down.

If you or someone you know has sensory problems in their feet like neuropathy or have a foot deformity do not do barefoot running.

Strength Exercises "Prehab Exercises"

Complete each exercise 5-10 times, multiple times a day. These are easy to do while standing or sitting.

1. Spread out toes

2. Toe Curls

-scrunch up towel

-pick up a towel with toes

3. Lift up arches

-lift arch up with relaxed toes

-pull ball of foot and heel towards each other

4. Point and Flex foot

5. Roll our feet on a tennis ball every morning and night

My thoughts:

After hearing several different opinions on this "barefoot" running trend I think this is something that will be around for a while. The concept of strengthening our feet and the increased proprioception that is allowed with this new training is nothing but great. I am convinced to go out try this newest trend and see how it actually affects my running. My biggest opinion about this is that it is NOT FOR EVERYONE. I don' think a lot of people should go without the support and I also don't think a lot of people are patient enough to do a gradual step down. As I have stated above without the gradual step down there are more injuries that occur. If you have a huge interest then research it more, have someone look at your running gait, then make a plan of how you will progress down gradually. Finally, don't forget the strength exercises because these will make the step down easier, while also increasing your foot stability, providing greater form, and enhancing your performance.

To Sum it Up:

1. Get fit to run, don't run to get fit

2. Make sure you have proper posture while running

3.Work on prehab exercises for your feet

4.Step down gradually into the "barefoot" shoes

5.Listen to your body

*Much of the information in my blog was from the Perform Better Seminar presented by Mark Verstegen

The Perform Better Seminar: Awesome Experience

The Perform Better Seminar: Awesome Experience

I just got back from Long Beach, CA where I attended the Perform Better Seminar. It is predominately attended by personal trainers, but I wanted to go to learn the information on corrective exercise, stability, core work, and things of that sort. The seminar also helped me meet people that are personal trainers and helped me decide which certification I should get to help with my Chiropractic career. I am currently working towards my Certification of Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and think this will be a good starting point to understanding how to enhance performance.

However, the reason I attended the seminar was to look more at the ways I can help my future patients. I gained a better understanding the musculoskeletal system, the functional movements, and how to optimize health and performance through certain exercises. The main points I took away from the speakers was to make sure there is mobility, then into work into static and dynamic stability, then work on the core, then move onto strength and resistance. I learned so much this weekend that that last statement is only the tip of the iceberg of what I learned.

The hands on are done in a big convention center room.

My next few blogs will be divided into different topics of important and interesting topics that i learned that I want to share with those in a condensed manner who were unable to attend. I heard some incredibly new researched data, listened to incredibly motivating trainers, had some work outs that made me use muscles I've never used, did some circuits that pushed me so hard I almost vomited, and heard some fun exciting things in the fitness world. More blogs to come!

Have a tight "hip flexor"? Let's Stretch that Psoas!

Have a tight "hip flexor"? Let's Stretch that Psoas!

Psoas muscle tightness is a very common problem. It can be from sitting all day in the flex position to walking to running which causes a lot of hip flexion with each stride. The muscle originates from T12 to L4 bodies and discs of the vertebrae and attaches to the lesser trochanter of the femur. Below is a visual to help visualize this muscle and how its dysfunction can effect numerous parts of the body. The wide fanning looking muscle that the psoas combines into is called the iliacus. It rests in the iliac crest of the pelvis and inserts in the same spot as the psoas. They both have similar functions and insertions, which often results in the combined name iliopsoas.

The psoas helps to flex the hip, externally rotate the hip, and helps with movement in the lower spine, along with posture. There is often hip pain and lower back pain associated with the tight psoas due to the origins and insertions. The pull from a tight psoas can pull the vertebrae to several different directions depending on where and how it is stressed. It can can also torque the pelvis causing even further problems all over the body. The big picture is that this muscle does a lot and it needs to be taken care of!

Let's Stretch it Out!

There are many ways to stretch this muscle. One good way is to kneel down with one leg bent at 90 degrees. The psoas of the leg bent at 90 degrees is opposite from the one you will be stretching. Instead of leaning forward to get that strecth, try to pull your pelvis to neutral (usually a posterior motion). This can be done by pulling your gluteus muscle tight. Then raise your arm on the side of the tight muscle straight up. Next rotate back and laterally flex with that arm raised over towards the side of the leg bent at 90 degrees.

If you are doing this stretch correctly, you WILL feel it. The combination of movements listed above helps to best stretch out this commonly tight muscle. Below is a youtube video showing a stretch, but with a slightly modified version than the one I explain just previous. I will film this stretch at some point and post my own demonstration. It is however still a quality stretch the way it is describe on the youtube video.

Now go off and make sure you stretch those tight puppies out! If stretching doesn't do the trick, try to get someone to do soft tissue release work on your psoas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEbvVwuBnzg

The Importance of Research for the Chiropractic Profession

The Importance of Research for the Chiropractic Profession

The chiropractic field is growing more and more, which can be much attributed to the increase in quality research studies. These newest findings have substantial support for chiropractic care our profession provides. A recent study published showing chiropractic care to be just as effective as a spinal disectomy for sciatica. A single study such as this pushes our field even further into becoming part of the orthodox health care system, showing that chiropractic needs to be a regularly used form of care. If our profession becomes one that is integrated throughout the health care system we can help patients with their musculoskeletal problems. This is the number two reason patients seek their medical doctor with the most common musculoskeletal problem being low back pain.

Chiropractic struggled for a while in researching the benefits our techniques for several reasons. One reason is that chiropractic is a manual therapy, which makes creating a placebo a struggle. It is difficult to blind both the doctor and the patient to a therapy that is manual, meaning that they can usually feel the method of healing. Also, chiropractors often use a variety of modalities in their methods of care, but only one modality is usually used in clinical trials. This makes it hard to show how beneficial our profession is since we don’t just do one method. Finally, until recently there was a lack of funds to support chiropractic research, which slowed down the progress of chiropractic research. However, this has changes in the recent years and more fund have been placed into our professions research, which can be seen by the many recent studies showing numerous benefits of chiropractic.

We need to have the evidence to back up the techniques we use and for other care that we provide. There needs to be a reason behind all of our methods to give our profession increased validity. We need to be performing techniques not for just patient preference or because as doctors we prefer one to another, but because it is in the evidence that (blank) technique is best for (blank) problem. To be able to advance our profession we as doctors (or for me a future doctor) need to put the effort in, to critically read the most up to date research and apply that to our patients. We also need to publish research, even if the research we submit may only be a case report. Our profession needs more and more basic findings so that we can continue to build and build, to eventually immerse our field in endless amounts of Randomized Controlled Trials that continuously show the benefits that chiropractic care has for an infinite amount of problems that our patients have experience, currently experience, and may experience in the future. But to prove ourselves to the scientific world we need to research, research, research.

It is our obligation as doctors to maintain educated as more information comes to the surface. We must always remain a student and continue to learn throughout our career so that our patients can receive the best quality care.

The Benefits and Necessity of the Foam Roller

The Benefits and Necessity of the Foam Roller: If you have yet to try this tool, I strongly suggest checking it out.

For anyone who has any sort of muscle that seems tight or has noticed pain in specific muscles often from a new or repetitive motion could probably benefit from this simplistic and modestly priced tool. Essentially the foam roller is a form of self-myofascial release technique that one can do to improve their function, flexibility, performance, and help to reduce injuries.

Often the muscles build up a large amount of metabolic wastes and increases in tissue density. The foam roller is there to work out the muscle similar to what massage and trigger point therapy can do. It allows for soft tissue adhesions and scar tissue to be broken up, works on trigger points, helps with tight fascia, and increases blood flow that helps rid the muscles of the accumulated metabolic wastes. It can be done pre and post and post work out and provide athletes with great overall performance. The pre work out foam rolling will work out the dense areas of the muscle (soft tissue adhesions, trigger points, etc) and the post work out rolling will help rid the muscles of the accumulated metabolic wastes and help with blood flow.

The kinetic chain in the human body helps provide the explanation as to why it is essential to have all aspects of the body working symmetrically to avoid problems. If one muscle is tighter or weaker than the surrounding muscles it can be more prone to injury because it is the weak link in the system. One must work to make that weak link stronger to account for the imbalance and asymmetry. If you have increased metabolic wastes, increased muscle density, or an overall just tight or weak muscle it could create problems for the surrounding areas. Note that of course the foam roller cannot solve this problem, but can aid in fixing this problem. It would be important to see what exercises should be done to fix the underlying issue.

There are different ways to roll out different muscles that are demonstrated on multiple sites. Check them out on youtube or through search engines like google using (Foam Rolling Techniques). A bunch of videos are out there for the taking.

For runners:

The iliotibial band (ITB) and tensor fasicae latae (TFL) are useful areas to tackle to increase performance for running. From personal experience I had always stretched before running and after, which helped but never got rid of my problems of tight hip flexors and lateral knee pain. Once I experimented with actually spending the time to roll out my ITB and TFL everyday during my training I performed significantly better and was able to run pain free without hip flexor problem and without knee problems. This is because I went to the source of the problem and worked on it (TFL and ITB) so that I could avoid the asymmetry and weak link that could have then progressed to hip, knee, ankle, etc problems.

The Start of Something New

I am beginning this blog due to a suggestion by a Doctor who is has been very successful in his practice. He was throwing out ideas of things to do while still in school to start the advancement of ourselves in the chiropractic profession. My main goal from this will be to post things that I have learned from classes, seminars, and speaker that I find would be helpful to my future patients. Starting this blog will begin my process of understanding how to help educate the public on health. I plan to put up exercise concepts for specific injuries, facts about the body, post research articles followed by my thoughts on the subject, along with anything else that seems pertinent. Because this is new it will be a learning process for me and I would appreciate any feedback as to what I can improve or what should stay the same by those of you who view this blog.