The Key to Building Strong Bones

It’s estimated that nearly half of all Americans over age 50 may be at risk for their bone health. And countless others of all ages are not getting sufficient bone-building nutrients in their diets and the physical activity needed for bones to be strong enough to last a lifetime. We’re living longer today. We want to enjoy our independence and live an active life much longer than past generations. To do that, you need strong bones. And you need them to stay healthy and strong your entire life, not just for pleasure, but also for protection. When you’re older, the consequences of weak bones can strip away your independence in the blink of an eye. They can even be deadly. Strong bones protect your heart, lungs, and brain from injury. And your bones become a warehouse for important minerals that you need throughout your life. Your bones also house and protect your bone marrow where white blood cells develop. How the “Silent Thief” Can Escape Detection – Even for Years Bone is a living substance that contains blood vessels, nerves, and cells. Two types of cells control your bone structure: • Osteoblasts – cells that build your bones and strengthen your skeleton. • Osteoclasts – cells that break down old or damaged bone to make room for new bone Very simply, as long as the bone-forming activity, called absorption, is greater than bone breakdown, called resorption, you are assured of maintaining healthy bones. The foundation for strong bones starts at a very young age. Your “bone growth” stage stretches from birth until about age 30. Then you enter the normal age-related bone mineral loss period that continues for the rest of your life. If not given the right kind of care, bones can begin to weaken early in life. It’s a quiet process that steals away your bones. You can’t feel it happening, at least not in the early stages – hence the name “silent thief.” And here’s something that every woman needs to know: Your normal bone loss accelerates during and after menopause for about five to seven years before returning to the slightly slower rate that men experience. You can lose as much as 35 percent of your bone density during those few, short years! Are These Silent Thief “Helpers” Working Behind Your Back? Many people have weak bones and don’t even know it. Many people may be making mistakes now that can affect their bone health later. Here are some of the most common bone health mistakes: 1. Statin Drugs - One in four Americans 45 and older take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. But doctors often fail to warn patients that statins interfere with vitamin K2’s bone-building functions in your body and increase your risk of deficiency. 2. Antidepressants - Many antidepressant drugs act by altering your serotonin levels and can therefore lower your bone density, according to a recent review of current evidence. 3. Osteoporosis Drugs - Contrary to what you’ve been told, most osteoporosis drugs actually weaken your bones. Bisphosphonate bone drugs impact your normal bone repair process by killing off your osteoclasts, and do make your bones denser, but because the osteoclasts are killed the bone is actually weaker as it is not remodeled properly. 4. Undiagnosed Gluten Intolerance - Could the grains you’re eating be contributing to less-than-optimal bone health? You may not be absorbing the nutrients you need for bone health. 5. Smoking and Drinking - Smoking increases your rate of bone loss, and consuming more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women can interfere with your body’s ability to absorb calcium, slowing new bone formation. 6. Soft Drinks - Studies show that phosphorus in soda weakens your bones by promoting the loss of calcium. And diet sodas might even be worse. The best way to know for sure if your bone health is at risk is to have your bone density tested regularly. Whatever your test results, you’re never too young – or too old – to support your bone health. Exercise is an Essential Key to Healthy, Strong Bones Healthy bones are porous and soft, and as you age, they can easily become less dense and more brittle. Especially if you don’t get the right kinds of exercise. Because bone is living tissue, it requires regular physical activity to renew and rebuild itself. Whenever you jump, run, or lift a weight, the stress of your muscles on your bones signals to your body to add new cells to strengthen your bones. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, “Physical Activity and Health: A Surgeon General’s Report,” healthy individuals should do: • A minimum of 30 minutes of weight bearing physical activity of moderate intensity on most days of the week, if not daily. • Strength training at least two times a week. Weight bearing exercises – activities that force you to work against gravity – strengthen bone by stimulating the bone-building cells, osteoblasts. A good exercise to include in your routine is a walking lunge. This helps build bone density in your hips, even without additional weights. Lifting weights, using resistance bands, and yoga all help build bone density and strength. Other weight-bearing activities include brisk walking, tennis, kickboxing, jogging, climbing stairs, hiking, and dancing. Even if you are not able to do these exercises, walking regularly is highly beneficial. The stronger your muscles, the better your balance and coordination. That’s vitally important, especially as you age. Of course, always consider your current physical condition and obtain your doctor’s consent before starting any new type of exercise program. The Intricate Dance Between Bone-Building Nutrients In addition to the right kinds of physical activity, healthy bones and bone building require balancing four major nutrients: Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, and Magnesium. The functions of these four nutrients are entwined and depend on each other for strength– much like a twisting grapevine. Just as you can’t untangle a grapevine without wrecking its strength, you can’t separate out one nutrient without affecting the actions of the others. For example: • Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in your intestines. • Calcium and phosphate depend upon Vitamin D for bone formation. • Vitamin K2 helps to cement the calcium you absorb into the bone matrix rather than depositing it on the inside of your blood vessels leading to atherosclerosis. • Magnesium is an important to build a strong bone matrix. Imagine the effects on your bones if one of these nutrients is missing – or not present in the right amount! And that’s the thing… this can be happening in your bones for years without you even knowing it’s going on. Calcium is Your Bone’s Best Friend (Most of the Time) As we just discussed, healthy bones require plenty of bone building nutrients. And ideally your bones get many of these nutrients from the foods you eat. Our diets have changed over the years to ones that are heavy in meat and grains, which are naturally low in calcium. And they can have an acidic effect on your body if eaten in excess. Your body will always do what it must to maintain a balanced pH. When your body becomes too acidic, it releases minerals – including calcium from your bones and teeth. However, eating too little protein can be just as bad. Protein deficiency interferes with calcium absorption in your intestines. On the other hand, dark, green leafy vegetables are rich in calcium. And they have an alkalizing effect on your body – two important reasons to eat plenty of fresh leafy green vegetables! Remember, the balance of bone-building nutrients is key. I recommend you get your calcium from healthy sources such as those listed below. Some high-calcium foods also contain naturally high amounts of vitamin K2, such as fermented cheeses and butter from pastured cows. When choosing dairy, look for products made from raw, hormone-free, unpasteurized milk: Sesame seeds (1/4 cup) 351 mg Sardines, canned in oil with bones (3 ounces) 324 mg Yogurt (unsweetened) (1 cup) 300 mg Goat’s milk (1 cup) 326 mg Swiss cheese (1 ounce) 270 mg Spinach (1 cup cooked) 260 mg Collard greens (1 cup cooked) 226 mg Canned salmon with bones (3 ounces) 181 mg Almonds (2 ounces) 150 mg Navy beans, cooked (1 cup) 130 mg Broccoli, raw (1 cup) 90 mg Vitamins D3 and K2? Not Quite so Easy… The best source of vitamin K2 is natto, which is fermented soybeans or chickpeas. The best source of vitamin D is exposure to sunlight. Most people may need as little as 15 to 20 minutes of noontime exposure each day on enough exposed skin to maintain serum vitamin D levels in the ideal range. However, many, if not most people in the United States are vitamin D deficient because they don’t receive enough healthy sun exposure. And if you’re 50 or older, your skin may not produce as much vitamin D in response to sunlight. Vitamin K is available as either K1 or K2. While vitamin K1, found in green vegetables is important for your health, it does not build your bones significantly. Only vitamin K2 does that. Here’s the challenge… If you don’t regularly eat large amounts of grass-fed organic animal products like egg yolks, butter, and fermented dairy, fermented vegetables, or natto, you need to be confident that you are not vitamin K2 deficient. Sadly, unlike vitamin D, there is no blood test you can get to test for vitamin K2 yet. So the only practical way to know if you need vitamin K2 is to look at the sources in your diet, add them up and make sure you are getting at least 180 mcg of vitamin K2 every day. If you come up short then it is imperative that you consider a vitamin K2 supplement. The Problem with Most Bone Health Supplements The average person considers calcium the “darling” of bone health, but is it really? While calcium is certainly important for your bone health, relying on it too much – or the wrong types – may be risky for your health. Many experts believe most bone health issues today aren’t due to insufficient calcium. Rather, it’s a lack of the other nutrients, vitamins K2 and D, and magnesium. The balance of bone-building nutrients is what truly matters. Too much calcium, or calcium without its other co-nutrients can be hazardous to your health, especially for your heart and arterial health. Calcium can end up in the wrong places in your body especially if taken without vitamin K2. The type of calcium you take also makes a difference. You may not realize it, but the calcium used in most supplements comes from mined limestone or oyster shells. On product labels, if the source isn’t specified, the ingredients are most likely different forms of inexpensive-to-mine rock calcium! Calcium already can be a tough mineral to absorb, with estimates for some ranging as low as 20 percent. We were never intended to eat rocks – or oyster shells – so why would you want to get your calcium from them? I prefer getting mine from whole food sources. In addition to knowing how well your body can use calcium, there’s something else you need to watch out for with calcium supplements… Is Your Calcium Supplement Causing You to Overdose on Lead and Aluminum? Over a decade ago, a university research team performed an analysis on over-the-counter calcium supplements after reports of excessive lead contamination surfaced. Their findings? • Four of the 7 so-called “natural calcium” formulations from oyster shell and other natural sources had measurable or excessive lead content. • Four of the 14 refined calcium formulations had similar lead content, including some brand name products from major pharmaceutical companies. Fast-forward ten years… Instead of the situation of calcium contamination improving due to public awareness, it’s actually gotten worse. A group of independent researchers recently tested 27 commonly used calcium supplements for lead content. Now, lead is almost always found associated with calcium, and indeed, lead is naturally found with calcium. But it is excessive levels of lead that is the big concern. Surprisingly, only 10 percent of the supplements met the U.S. acceptable daily lead limit. Lead contamination isn’t your only concern. Aluminum has also been found in calcium carbonate supplements labeled “oyster shell” or “natural source.” And some imported calcium supplements tested positive for lead, aluminum, cadmium, and mercury! Always be suspect when buying a calcium supplement. Know where it came from, its source, its bioavailability, and who made it. That bargain bottle of calcium may not provide what your body needs or the safe product you expect! Absorption Matters, Especially If You’re 50 or Over As you age, your need for bone health support increases. Age-related factors increasingly work against your body’s ability to utilize nutrients and protect important organ functions: • Your skin produces less vitamin D in response to sunlight. • The pH in your small intestine, starts to drop, hindering absorption of calcium. • Your ability to activate vitamin K2-activated proteins that regulate calcium decreases. • Your absorption of magnesium decreases with age. • The increased use of certain medications can result in magnesium deficiency. And no matter your age, absorption and bioavailability matter. Calcium from the right source and in the right amounts are essential for bone health, but you must have vitamin K2 to help take the calcium out of the lining of your arteries and guide it back into your bones where it belongs. I can think of at least five reasons why you need to take action today, if you’re not already giving your bones the care they need: 1. You want to live a long, active life and enjoy the activities you love into old age. 2. You want to maintain your independence as long as you can. 3. You need strong, dense bones to protect against falls and other bodily and organ injury. 4. Healthy, strong bones are a life-long storehouse for important minerals. 5. Taking care of your bones may help you maintain a sharp, clear mind. It all boils down to this: You may not know if the “silent thief” is busy at work inside your body right now. Tragically, the only way many people discover their bone mineral density isn’t what they want it to be is when a bone breaks. Don’t wait another day for that to happen… Your Solution Is Here – Why Not Take Action Today? I can’t think of a better – or easier – way to help take control of your bone health. I’ve done the research for you and have brought together the top three action steps: • Maintain or increase bone density and strength. • Support optimum calcium absorption and utilization. • Support the development of healthy, flexible arteries for cardiovascular health. **It’s never too late to get started taking care of your bones. The only thing that matters is today. Why not take the next step right now. Source: mercola.com, 3/12/18.

Why Some People Die From the Flu

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 2017-2018 flu season appears particularly virulent. Influenza activity increased significantly in December, with influenza A(H3N2) viruses predominating, and in a December 27 notice, the agency noted that “In the past, A(H3N2) virus-predominant influenza seasons have been associated with more hospitalizations and deaths in persons aged 65 years and older and young children …” While influenza can indeed be deadly in rare cases, what most health experts fail to tell you is that these deaths are typically the result of secondary infections, not the flu virus itself. Importantly, research has highlighted the link between influenza and severe sepsis — a progressive disease process initiated by an aggressive, dysfunctional immune response to an infection in the bloodstream (which is why it's sometimes referred to as blood poisoning). Symptoms of sepsis are often overlooked, even by health professionals, and without prompt treatment, the condition can be deadly. Unfortunately, conventional treatments often fail, and most hospitals have yet to embrace the use of intravenous (IV) vitamin C, hydrocortisone and thiamine, which has been shown to reduce sepsis mortality from 40 to a mere 8.5 percent. How Influenza May Cause Lethal Sepsis According to researchers, “Severe sepsis is traditionally associated with bacterial diseases … However, viruses are becoming a growing cause of severe sepsis worldwide.” Some sepsis symptoms also resemble influenza, which can lead to tragedy. Sepsis, without doubt, requires immediate medical attention, whereas most people will successfully recover from the flu with a few days to a week of bedrest and fluids. Just how influenza can lead to sepsis is a somewhat complex affair, described as follows: “Regardless of the etiologic agent, the inflammatory response is highly interconnected with infection. In the initial response to an infection, severe sepsis is characterized by a pro-inflammatory state, while a progression to an anti-inflammatory state develops and favors secondary infections … In the predominant pro-inflammatory state, Th1 cells activated by microorganisms increase transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interferon-γ (INF-γ), and interleukin-2 (IL-2). [C]ytokines … released from endothelial cells and subsequently from macrophages can induce lymphocyte activation and infiltration at the sites of infection and will exert direct antiviral effects. Subsequently, with the shift toward an anti-inflammatory state, activated Th2 cells secrete interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). In certain situations, T cells can become anergic, failing to proliferate and produce cytokines. Type I IFN has a potent anti-influenza virus activity; it induces transcription of several interferon stimulated genes, which in turn restrict viral replication. However, influenza virus developed several mechanisms to evade IFN response … Viral infections such as the influenza virus can also trigger deregulation of the innate immune system with excessive cytokines release and potential harmful consequences. An abnormal immune response to influenza can lead to endothelial damage … deregulation of coagulation, and the consequent alteration of microvascular permeability, tissue edema, and shock.” Signs and Symptoms of Sepsis Common signs and symptoms of sepsis to watch out for include: • A high fever • Inability to keep fluids down • Rapid heartbeat; rapid, shallow breathing and/or shortness of breath • Lethargy and/or confusion • Slurred speech, often resembling intoxication Should a few or all of these be present, seek immediate medical attention to rule out sepsis. Also inform the medical staff that you suspect sepsis, as time is of the essence when it comes to treatment. Hydration is of utmost importance, as much of the damage caused by sepsis begins with fluid loss. Strategies That Can Reduce Your Chances of Influenza, Sepsis and Other Infections Your immune system is your first-line defense against all types of infections, be they bacterial or viral, so the most effective way to avoid coming down with the flu is to bolster your immune function. While conventional health authorities claim getting an annual flu shot is the best way to ward off influenza, the medical literature actually suggests vitamin D optimization may be a far more effective strategy, and the evidence for this goes back at least a decade. Dr. John Cannell, founder of the Vitamin D Council, was one of the first to introduce the idea that vitamin D deficiency may actually be a causative factor in influenza. His hypothesis was initially published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection in 2006. It was subsequently followed up with another study published in the Virology Journal in 2008. The following year, a large, nationally representative study confirmed that people with the lowest vitamin D levels indeed reported having significantly more colds or cases of the flu. Since then, a number of studies have come to similar conclusions. Most recently, a scientific review published last year concluded that vitamin D supplementation boosts immunity and cuts rates of cold and flu. In all, 25 randomized controlled trials were included in the review, involving nearly 11,000 individuals from more than a dozen countries. People with significant vitamin D deficiency (blood levels below 10 ng/mL), taking a vitamin D supplement reduced their risk of respiratory infections such as influenza by 50 percent. People with higher vitamin D levels also benefited, although not as greatly. Overall, they reduced their risk by about 10 percent, which the researchers stated was about equal to the effect of flu vaccines. Coincidentally, 10 percent is the effectiveness rate of this year’s flu vaccine. The take-home message here is that vitamin D supplementation far exceeds the flu vaccine in terms of effectiveness, and the more deficient you are, the greater its protective effects. Aside from vitamin D, loading up on vitamins B1 and C may go a long way toward keeping you healthy through the flu season and beyond. Influenza has also been successfully treated with high-dose vitamin C. Taking zinc lozenges at the first sign of a cold or flu can also be helpful. Zinc boosts immune function and plays a vital role in activating your body’s T cells (white blood cells tasked with destroying infected cells). If you fall victim to frequent bacterial infections or colds, your body might be trying to tell you it needs more zinc. This Year’s Flu Vaccine Is a Poor Match to Circulating Strains Sadly, flu deaths are inevitably used to incite fear, and the recommended remedy is annual flu vaccination. As recently reported by lohud.com, an affiliate of the USA Today Network: “Doctors urged New Yorkers to get flu shots as pediatric deaths surfaced recently while a potentially record influenza season approached its peak cycle. The public-health warning comes after authorities in New York and Connecticut reported their first flu-related deaths took the lives of two children … ‘Influenza is a significant threat to public health, and we are strongly encouraging anyone who has not already gotten the flu vaccine to get one immediately,’ said Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker.” Considering the many studies showing flu vaccines have a dismal success rate even when well-matched to circulating viral strains, the fact that vaccination continues to be touted as your first line of defense against influenza suggests this annual campaign is more about generating conformity for profit, opposed to actually improving and protecting public health. In January 2015, U.S. government officials admitted that, in most years, flu shots are — at best — 50 to 60 percent effective at preventing lab confirmed type A or B influenza requiring medical care. At the end of that same year, a CDC analysis revealed that, between 2005 and 2015, the influenza vaccine was actually less than 50 percent effective more than half of the time. As mentioned, the 2017-2018 flu vaccine has an effectiveness rating of just 10 percent, due to it being poorly matched, yet the call for flu vaccination remains, while strategies that are 10 times more effective, such as vitamin D3 supplementation, are completely ignored! Many also gloss over the fact that flu deaths also occur in those who have been vaccinated. Such was the case with this 8-year-old boy in Arkansas, featured in a recent CNN report. The take-home message here is to do your homework, and not blindly follow public health recommendations. Also avoid falling prey to unreasonable fears. All deaths are tragic, but people die from influenza with and without flu vaccines. People also die without certain drugs, and from drugs. Remember, optimizing your vitamin D to a level of 60 to 80 ng/mL may be one of the most effective flu prevention strategies out there. Also familiarize yourself with the signs and symptoms of sepsis. It just might save your life. Source: mercola.com, 2/20/18.

What You Can Learn From Other People’s Regrets

Story at a glance • While a regret can be phrased either as an action or as an inaction, regrets framed as actions tend to be more emotionally intense than regrets about inactions, but inactions tend to be longer lasting. • One of the most frequently cited regrets at the end of life is not having the courage to be true to oneself but rather doing what others expected. • Other common end-of-life regrets include: Working too much, not expressing one’s feelings, not staying in touch with friends, and taking life too seriously and allowing worries to diminish happiness. • Most men, at the end of life, say they regret missing out on family time because of excessive work. • At the end of life, many finally realize that happiness is an inside job — a choice, not a side effect of living any particular kind of life. Regrets. We all have them — things said or done; things left unsaid or undone. Paths that weren’t followed; opportunities missed due to fear or insecurity. The list is long, but one of the biggest regrets in life reported by a large number of people is not being there for someone at the end of life. In other words, being too busy with “life” to tend to those near death. Interestingly, while a regret can be either an action or an inaction (“I wish I had not quit high school,” versus “I wish I had stayed in high school”), regrets framed as actions tend to be more emotionally intense than regrets about inactions, but inactions tend to be longer lasting. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying According to Bronnie Ware, a former palliative care nurse who ended up writing a book, “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying,” based on her conversations with the dying, the biggest, most commonly cited regrets at the end of life are — beginning with the most common regret of all: 1. Not having the courage to live a life true to oneself but rather doing what was expected. 2. Working too much, thereby missing children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. 3. Not having the courage to express one’s feelings. 4. Not staying in touch with friends. 5. Taking life too seriously and allowing worries to diminish happiness. Ware goes a step further, however, in that she also delves into solutions for these regrets — ways for you to avoid falling into the same traps. The No. 1 regret is a valuable reminder to not give up too many of your dreams to please others (or conform to conventional standards). “It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way,” Ware says. “From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.” Living Life on Your Own Terms Is Key to Dying Without (Too Many) Regrets Virtually every man in listed No. 2: Missing out on family time because of excessive work. “All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on work existence,” she writes: “By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.” No. 4 is a closely related topic. Oftentimes we get so busy we forget to keep in touch with old friends, and over time the relationship fizzles out. Then, in old age, loneliness creeps in. It can be difficult to build a friendship at any age, but it certainly does not get easier with advancing age, when poor health starts limiting your ability to get out and about to socialize. As noted by Ware, love and relationships are usually the only things of true, remaining importance when the end of life draws near. As for No. 3, Ware notes that many “developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried” as a result of holding their feelings in and opting to keep quiet just to keep the peace. If you’re in this category, consider Ware’s commonsense advice: “We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.” Last but not least, at the end of life, many finally realize that happiness is an inside job. It’s a choice, not a side effect of living any particular kind of life. “Deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again,” Ware writes, wisely noting that once you’re on your deathbed, you will not be worrying about what others think of you, so why not choose happiness now, while you still have a lot of life left? The Importance of Relationships and Self-Care Longevity research strongly supports Ware’s overall findings. The same things that people report regretting are also the things centenarians “get right.” In interviews and surveys with centenarians, including the ones interviewed in “How to Live to 100,” two of the most important factors contributing to longevity are having a strong social network of family and friends, and keeping a sense of humor. The importance of social support has also been scientifically verified. A meta-analysis of published studies found strong social support is actually the No. 1 factor that determines longevity. The influence of social support on mortality is so great; it surpasses the influence of weight and even eclipses the influence of smoking. A 2012 article in Forbes Magazine listed 25 top regrets reported by people. Here — in addition to all of the regrets already listed — one of the biggest regrets was not standing up to bullies, be it in school or at work. In hindsight, many feel they should have spoken out and taken a firm stand, even at the risk of losing their job. Another regret that is pertinent for a vast majority of people these days is allowing their phone to take up too much of our time and attention. Related to that one is the regret of “not teaching my kids to do more stuff,” be it raking leaves, learning to throw a ball, cleaning their room, camping or any number of other activities. On this list of regrets you also have “not taking care of my health when I had the chance.” Indeed, many pay no attention to their health until there’s a problem. Unfortunately, by that time, you have a struggle ahead of you, as most health problems are far easier to prevent than to treat. Not to mention the emotional and financial strain a chronic health problem can cause. At the end of life, many wish they’d made self-care a priority. Hopefully, if you’re reading this, you’ve not let self-care slide off your radar. Remember, some of the simplest lifestyle strategies can have tremendous impact, such as: • Getting sufficient amounts of sleep every night • Walking daily (preferably outdoors) and getting plenty of physical movement throughout the day • Meditating or regularly engaging in some form of stress relief • Limiting exposure to electromagnetic fields • Eating real food At the End of Life, Most Wish They’d Lived More in the Moment Another common regret is not living more in the moment. As constant connectivity via technology increases, more people are bound to experience this regret at the end of their life. “Living in the now” is a major component of happiness, and a significant way to grow in gratitude, both of which have an impact on health. It’s really difficult to cultivate gratitude if you’re constantly running; always looking ahead, or, alternatively, looking to the past. Gratitude requires you to be in the moment, and appreciate what’s in front of you right now. A commonly recommended practice that can be very helpful is to keep a daily gratitude journal. This can be done in a paper journal, or you can download a Gratitude Journal app from iTunes. In one 2015 study, participants who kept a gratitude diary and reflected on what they were grateful for four times a week for three weeks reported improvements in depression, stress and happiness. A mindfulness intervention, consisting of a mindfulness diary and mindfulness meditation, led to similar improvements. Remember, you tend to get more of what you focus on, so be mindful of the kinds of thoughts you entertain. Your brain can actually become “hardwired” to feel anxiety, depression, irritability or anger the longer and the more frequent such thoughts are allowed to persist. As noted by Robert Emmons in “The Little Book of Gratitude:” “Everything we do creates connections within networks of the brain, and the more you repeat something, the stronger those connections get. The mind can change the brain in lasting ways. In other words, what flows through the mind sculpts the brain.” Your Life Is Your Own, Live It the Way You Want To The take-home message here is this: If you’re currently doing, or avoiding doing, something you know you’d regret if you only had weeks left to live, change course now. Don’t wait years or decades. Eventually, you’ll run out of time and be left holding a bag of regrets. Your life is your own — you’re the only one who can live it successfully, so follow your dreams and passions, and let go of unnecessary baggage and false limitations. At the end of your life, you’ll realize you don’t care about what other people think of you nearly as much as you believe today, and — if you’re like most — you’ll come to the realization that happiness is in fact an ever-present choice. Source: mercola.com, 2/4/18.

13 Things You Should Give Up If You Want To Be Successful

Somebody once told me the definition of hell: “On your last day on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.” — Anonymous Sometimes, to become successful and get closer to the person you can become, you don’t need to add more things — you need to give some of them up. There are certain things that are universal, which will make you successful if you give up on them, even though each one of us could have a different definition of success. You can give up on some of them as soon as today, while it might take a bit longer to give up on others. 1. Give Up On The Unhealthy Lifestyle “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” — Jim Rohn If you want to achieve anything in life, everything starts here. First, you should take care of your health, and there are only three things you need to keep in mind: 1. Quality Sleep 2. Healthy Diet 3. Physical Activity Small steps, but you will thank yourself one day. 2. Give Up The Short-term Mindset “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” — Mae West Successful people set long-term goals, and they know these aims are merely the result of short-term habits that they need to do every day. These healthy habits shouldn’t be something you do; they should be something you embody. There is a difference between: “Working out to get a summer body” and “Working out because that’s who you are.” 3. Give Up On Playing Small “Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone, and as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”— Marianne Williamson If you never try and take great opportunities or allow your dreams to become realities, you will never unleash your true potential. The world will never benefit from what you could have achieved. Voice your ideas, don’t be afraid to fail, and certainly don’t be afraid to succeed. 4. Give Up Your Excuses “It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand.” ― Randy Pausch Successful people know that they are responsible for their life, no matter their starting point, weaknesses, and past failures. Realising that you are responsible for what happens next in your life is both frightening and exciting. And when you do, that becomes the only way you can become successful, because excuses limit and prevent us from growing personally and professionally. Own your life; no one else will. 5. Give Up The Fixed Mindset “The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.” ― Robert Greene People with a fixed mindset think their intelligence or talents are pre-determined traits that cannot be changed. They also believe that talent alone leads to success — without hard work. But they’re wrong. Successful people know this. They invest an immense amount of time on a daily basis to develop a growth mindset, acquire new knowledge, learn new skills and change their perception so that it can benefit their lives. Who you are today is not who you have to be tomorrow. 6. Give Up Believing In The “Magic Bullet.” “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better” — Émile Coué Overnight success is a myth. Successful people know that making small continuous improvement every day will be compounded over time and give them desired results. That is why you should plan for the future, but focus on the day that’s ahead of you, and improve just 1% every day. 7. Give Up Your Perfectionism “Shipping beats perfection.” — Khan Academy’s Development Mantra Nothing will ever be perfect, no matter how much you try. Fear of failure (or even fear of success) often prevents you from taking action and putting your creation out there in the world. But a lot of opportunities will be lost if you wait for things to be right. So “ship,” and then improve that 1%. 8. Give Up Multi-tasking “Most of the time multitasking is an illusion. You think you are multitasking, but in reality, you are actually wasting time switching from one task to another “— Bosco Tjan Successful people know this. That’s why they choose one thing and then beat it into submission. No matter what it is — a business idea, a conversation, or a workout. Being fully present and committed to one task is indispensable. 9. Give Up Your Need to Control Everything “Some things are up to us, and some things are not up to us.” — Epictetus Differentiating these two is crucial. Detach from the things you cannot control, focus on the ones you can, and know that sometimes, the only thing you will be able to control is your attitude towards something. 10. Give Up On Saying YES To Things That Don’t Support Your Goals “He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.”— James Allen Successful people know that in order to accomplish their goals, they will have to say NO to certain tasks, activities, and demands from their friends, family, and colleagues. In the short-term, you might sacrifice a bit of instant gratification, but when your goals come to fruition, it will all be worth it. 11. Give Up The Toxic People “Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.”— Albert Einstein People you spend the most time with add up to who you become. If you spend time with those who refuse to take responsibility for their life, always find excuses and blame others for the situation they are in, your average will go down, and with it your opportunity to succeed. However, if you spend time with people who are trying to increase their standard of living, and grow personally and professionally, your average will go up, and you will become more successful. Take a look around you, and see if you need to make any changes. 12. Give Up Your Need To Be Liked “You can be the juiciest, ripest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be people who hate peaches.” — Dita Von Teese Think of yourself as a market niche. There will be a lot of people who like that niche, and there will be individuals who don’t. And no matter what you do, you won’t be able to make the entire market like you. This is completely natural, and there’s no need to justify yourself. The only thing you can do is to remain authentic, improve and provide value every day, and know that the growing number of “haters” means that you are doing remarkable things. 13. Give Up Wasting Time “The trouble is, you think you have time” — Jack Kornfield You only have this one crazy and precious life. That’s why you owe it to yourself to see who you can become, and how far you can go. However, to do that, you need to ditch meaningless time wasters and stop allowing them to be an escape from your most important goals. To do that, you should learn how to take control over your focus, attention and make the most out of your 24 hours within a day. Remember that you will die, so never stop creating your legacy and doing the things that will enrich your life. Source: Zdravko Cvijetic, Founder of Zero to Skill, 2/13/15.

How to Fit Exercise into Your Work Day

Most of us know it’s not good for our health to sit all day, but many jobs involve hours of sitting. Many of us work long hours then have family and home responsibilities once we leave work. Is there a way to be productive at work and home while still getting the physical exercise we need each day? Many experts recommend getting in exercise in the morning so that you benefit from an elevated metabolism as you start your day, as well as improved sleep at night. Completing a workout before the commitments of the day begin can ensure that other activities do not distract you from your workout. However, morning workouts can be easier said than done. Many of us don’t get enough sleep as it is, so to wake up extra early to workout doesn’t always happen. Try thinking outside the box. Consider incorporating exercise into your commute. Do you work close enough to walk or bike into work? If not, consider getting off at a farther bus stop or park a few blocks away and walk from there. Discipline yourself to take the stairs or walk the long way to your desk each day. If exercising before work doesn’t seem to fit your schedule, determine when the best time is and try to stick to a routine. According to WebMD: "‘Regular exercise is clearly linked to improved health,’ says Dr. Peter Snell, an exercise physiologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. ‘Still,’ Snell adds, ‘about 60% of adults do not exercise, and only 25% get the recommended amount. Exercise recommendations range from 30 to 60 minutes a day -- on most, if not all, days of the week. Forty percent of adults who don't exercise say they don't have enough time. ‘The availability of facilities to exercise at the work site removes many of the barriers to exercise,’ says Snell. ‘These include: • Finding time • Being self-conscious at public health clubs • Safety • Convenience • Social atmosphere • Weather conditions • Expense ‘Having a place to exercise during lunch can be a real bonus, especially for women with children who may find it difficult to exercise before or after work,’ says Snell.” Dedicating work time to physical activity can lead to higher productivity, according to a study conducted by Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz, PhD and Henna Hasson, PhD published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. This study claims that the same production levels could be achieved in fewer hours leading to greater productivity and better health as a result of regular physical activity. Harvard Business Review (HBR) explains how physical exercise makes us more productive at work: “Exercise enables us to soak in more information, work more efficiently, and be more productive.” There are cognitive benefits that impact our performance including: • Improved concentration • Sharper memory • Faster learning • Prolonged mental stamina • Enhanced creativity • Lower stress In addition, HBR shares the Leeds Metropolitan University study which showed that on days employees exercised during their work day they reported better time management, greater productivity, smoother interactions with colleagues, and greater levels of satisfaction. How do you get in more exercise at work? 1. Stand up at work - While on the phone, stand or pace. Take a stretching break by extending your arms over your head or swinging your arms side to side. Try a twist at your waist or a triceps stretch to waken up your body and mind. 2. Take fitness breaks - Taking a quick walk around the building, a few hikes up and down the stairs, or even a few squats or lunges at your desk can get your blood pumping to beat an afternoon slump in the time it would take to get a cup of coffee. 3. Keep fitness gear nearby - Having a set of dumbbells or elastic bands at your desk can make fitting exercise into your workday easier. Repping out a few bicep curls while on the phone or performing some abductor moves with the band around your ankles can be done while typing on your computer. Many exercises can be done without taking you away from your work. It may be as simple as establishing a routine in your workday. If you have a workout facility or gym at your workplace, be sure to take advantage of it. Usually this is offered as a free service. If you pack your lunch, you will save the time you usually spend driving and waiting for food to be prepared. This time saved will give you the time to workout at lunch. Even if you do not have a designated workout space within your building, going for a run or finding a nearby tennis court or gym will still allow you to use your lunch time to improve your health. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind that will help you stay motivated to workout at lunch time: 1. Choose physical activities that you enjoy doing - You are more likely to stick with an exercise routine if you choose activities that you enjoy. 2. Work out with a buddy - Having someone hold you accountable helps you to show up on days you don’t feel like it. You will have opportunities to return the favor with your friend as well. In addition to strengthening your health, you can strengthen relationships through this shared experience. 3. Set goals - Instead of just exercising for a set time or even a set numbers of days, set an achievement goal so that you feel that you are working towards something. Train for a race, a level of flexibility, or a weight to lift. Set realistic goals and benchmarks along the way to get yourself to your goal. 4. Participate in group activities - Consider participating in a sport, like doubles tennis, where others depend on you. This will help keep you motivated to show up. 5. Bring your lunch - If you know you have a healthy lunch ready to eat after your workout, you will not feel like you need the time to run out and get lunch. It’s already there. 6. Keep a set of workout clothes at work - The easiest excuse to not workout at lunch is that you have the wrong clothes or shoes. Always keep an extra set of active clothes and shoes at work. 7. High intensity for a shorter duration - Results keep us motivated. If you have limited time to work out, make the best use of it. If you are cleared by your doctor to do so, workout at a higher intensity so you gain the same benefit in less time. For example, run for 30 minutes instead of walking for 60. If your job is staying home with growing kids, include them in your workout routine. Kids need exercise too and will love the attention. Play active games. Roll a dice and let each number represent an activity. Do workouts in the park. If the kids fade out, they can play on the playground while you continue your routine. Conclusion Active lives may require a little creativity in the beginning. Once you find a system that works for you, make it a routine. Consistent exercise will reap the biggest reward. Most of us have busy lives. It may be very easy to come up with reasons why you can’t fit exercise in your daily routine, but with a little effort and determination, you will be able to come up with solutions on how to fit exercise in your life. Your increased productivity and improved mood will make the time invested in your health well worth it. Source: medishare.com/blog, 1/1/18.

The Top 5 Diabetes Myths Debunked

So you think you know everything you need to know about diabetes? Diabetes causes more deaths than AIDS and breast cancer combined. The risk of death is 50% higher for adults with diabetes compared to those without diabetes. Yet nearly 1 in 4 adults are living with diabetes – 7.2 million Americans. Most didn’t even know they had the condition since diabetes often does not have overt symptoms at the onset of disease. Learning about diabetes and applying healthy lifestyle practices is your best defense to prevent, delay, or reverse type 2 diabetes. In addition, these practices control blood glucose levels, which reduce the worsening of complications and the risk of developing new complications associated with diabetes. There are many misunderstood facts about this disease. Check out these myths to improve your understanding: Myth 1: Being overweight or obese means you will definitely develop type 2 diabetes. Being overweight is a risk factor for developing this disease. Family history and ethnicity (which we can’t control) may be risk factors as well. However, we can control our weight. This is why so much attention is given to maintaining a healthy weight as a way to prevent the onset of diabetes. Myth 2: If you have diabetes you can never eat bread or chocolate. A dietitian can help you tailor your specific diet needs. But for most, it is less about never being able to have a certain food and more about control of consumption. When it comes to bread, choose whole grains and watch portion size. Your dietitian may feel it’s okay to place dark chocolate chips in a whole grain food now and then. You often get the same enjoyment from bites of rich dark chocolate in a wholegrain food as opposed to just a chocolate bar. It’s good advice for everyone to save these treats for special occasions and focus on more healthful foods most of the time. Myth 3: People with diabetes are more likely to get sick. Those with diabetes are not more susceptible to illness, but if they do get sick, it could make their diabetes more difficult to control and illness is more likely to result in critical complications. Focus should be on hand washing, nutritious eating, proper sleep, and relieving stress – things everyone should do to avoid sickness. Myth 4: Avoiding sweets will control diabetes. It’s not just sweets that affect blood glucose levels. Insulin production, insulin sensitivity, and carbohydrate consumption, among other factors, determine your blood glucose levels. Control blood glucose levels with real whole foods. Avoid packaged or processed foods and meats. Myth 5: Those with diabetes need to follow a ‘diabetic diet.’ Diet recommendations for those with diabetes are largely the same diet recommendations for those without diabetes. Everyone should eat whole non-processed foods most of the time. More specific guidelines include: • Portion control • Eat more vegetables and fruit • Replace refined grains with whole grains • Consume whole food fats as found in avocados, seeds, nuts, and olives • Include lean proteins • Limit dairy In addition to proper nutrition, a regular exercise program will aid in controlling your weight and blood sugar levels. A combination of good nutrition and consistent exercise are your best ways to prevent, control, and reverse diabetes. Making lifestyle changes takes a commitment. Be strong and courageous. It will be worth the effort. *If you have any questions about diet, exercise or nutritional supplements that can help you with diabetes; ask one of the doctors at our office. Source: Healthy Living, 12/3/17.

Safe Spinal Stenosis Exercises You Can Try

Story at-a-glance - • Exercise is one of the recommended options to help patients deal with spinal stenosis symptoms • It is highly recommended that spinal stenosis patients consult a doctor before partaking in these activities. This will help them determine whether certain exercise types are recommended for the severity of their symptoms While your back pain or sciatica usually renders you immobile, exercise can actually help relieve your back pain by helping your spine achieve better alignment and provide better support through stronger core muscles. Exercise Can Help Relieve Spinal Stenosis Symptoms Although it might seem impractical, exercise is one of the recommended options to help patients deal with spinal stenosis symptoms. Certain types of exercise can help free up space in the spinal canal by improving body alignment and correcting bad posture. Some of the recommended exercises for spinal stenosis patients include: • Swimming. Swimming removes the pressure on the spine through water support and helps the back muscles relax. However, note that some strokes can aggravate your back pain because of the backward flexion. Strokes that do not cause back pressure include freestyle and backstroke. • Yoga. Yoga improves the body’s alignment and flexibility, strengthens the core muscles and slows down the progression of spinal stenosis. However, patients should use yoga positions that focus on decompressing their spinal canal. Patients affected by central stenosis should avoid backbends as it further compresses the spinal canal. Side bending and twisting away from the affected areas can help dilate the spinal canal and reduce spinal pressure. • Tai Chi. Due to its gentle and fluid movements, tai chi provides a safe option for older people for relieving back pain caused by spinal stenosis and other back conditions. Tai chi, which is also known as “meditation in motion,” helps in strengthening the core and improving both flexibility and balance. Patients are also advised to do daily stretches to help strengthen the spine. However, it is highly recommended that spinal stenosis patients consult a doctor before partaking in these activities. This will help them determine whether certain exercise types are recommended for the severity of their symptoms. Activities Spinal Stenosis Patients Should Avoid The sensitive location of this spine condition usually entails a variety of contraindications for physical activities. Patients are advised to avoid sports and events that can cause additional pressure on the lumbar region or wherever the compression of the spine is found. Some of these activities include the following: • Heavy lifting. Patients with spinals stenosis are advised to avoid or limit instances where they are expected to lift heavy objects. Wrong posture when lifting heavy objects usually causes additional compression in the lower back. Constant pressure applied to the lumbar region may lead to the aggravation of spinal stenosis symptoms and may even cause spinal cord infarction. Heavy lifting can also lead to disc injuries, muscle tears and joint injuries. • Contact sports. Contact sports such as rugby and football can lead to spinal injuries and bruising, contracting the spinal canal further and making spinal stenosis symptoms worse. It can also lead to quadriplegia when the spinal cord is heavily damaged. *Don't forget that good quality Chiropractic Care can also reduce the pain from spinal stenosis. **Chiropractic care and proper exercise is even better to reduce lowback pain due to spinal stenosis. Source: mercola.com, 11/20/17.

5 Ways to Eat Your Way to Better Sleep

Do you struggle with sleep? Growing up, my problem was waking up, not falling asleep. I was a terrible morning person, so much so that I asked my family to refrain from trying to have a conversation with me in the first 30 minutes of me being awake. In hindsight, I was probably just a moody teenager. Now though? I can't get enough sleep! I find myself going to bed too late, or just not enjoying the type of restful sleep I imagine "normal" people have. I've tried the 5,6,7 and 8 hour sleep cycle with some results but the only outcome was that I'm aware now that I need at minimum of 7 hours of sleep a night to feel rested. Not exactly ground-breaking, but it's progress. New research however offers more insight into a variety of factors affecting your sleep, mainly how you eat. We're all aware that a double espresso or greasy meal before bed probably isn't the best idea, but what other ingredients should we be avoiding? In a new study, Data showed that eating less fiber, more saturated fat and more sugar throughout the day is linked with lighter, less restorative sleep. While tracking diet and sleep for a group of healthy adults over five nights, they found that diet did indeed have an impact on quality of sleep. Sugar, low fiber and saturated fat can cause sleeping problems such as light, non restful sleep and frequent awakenings during the night. You can see how that would be problematic. As much as your diet affects your sleep, your sleep can also affect your diet too. The same study also showed that poor sleep patterns have been linked to eating worse overall, worse diet quality and higher rates of both cardiac and metabolic disease. Here's the good part - you can follow these simple rules to improve both your diet and your quality of sleep. 1. Make Healthier Snack Choices Before Bed 2. Cut Back on Sugar 3. Avoid Heavy or Spicy Foods Before Bed 4. Lay off the Alcohol Before Sleeping 5. Lessen Your Caffeine Intake in the Evening Source: Colin Sparks, Smart Health, 10/25/17.

Up to 40 Percent Decrease of Nutrients in Our Food

• Generations of farming reliant on the use of chemicals has rendered American farm ground sterile and literally lifeless, unable to hold nutrients or water, a problem the U.N. says is a grave threat to human health. • Soil experts are realizing that bare ground between rows of crops increases not just topsoil erosion, but fertilizer and other chemical runoff into water supplies, while others are examining the implications of C02’s role in declining nutrition. • Three recent historical food composition data studies found that as much as 40 percent and even more of minerals in plant-based foods have been depleted by substandard soil. The Problem With 'Modern' Farming Generations of reliance on and insistence on the use of chemicals has rendered farm ground across the U.S. dry and literally lifeless, unable to hold either nutrients or water. The problem negatively impacts not only farmers but our food supply and, ultimately, your health in many ways many have never considered or realized. Drifting topsoil laden with chemical residue is even causing respiratory illnesses in rural areas. Pesticides leaching into drinking water have exposed thousands to levels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deems troubling. In fact, the water that 210 million Americans drink is contaminated with nitrate, a routinely used fertilizer chemical linked to cancer and serious developmental problems in children. As if those problems weren't bad enough, instead of retaining it, soil depletion is releasing carbon, which morphs into the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which is considered by the United Nations (U.N.) to be a grave threat to human health, especially in the next few decades. Another incident is of a group of scientists in a lab at Arizona State University in 1998. Amid luminous glass containers of bright green algae, a biologist told Ph.D. candidate Irakli Loladze they'd discovered something odd about zooplankton, the microscopic critters floating in the world's oceans and lakes that eat tiny algae. The scientists found the algae grew faster when more light was shined on them; it increased their food supply. The zooplankton should have flourished, but as the scientists focused more light on the algae, even though it grew faster and supplied more food, the tiny organisms were beginning to decline. It turns out that the algae, while plentiful, were greatly diminished in nutrition, essentially becoming a junk food. Loladze couldn't help wondering, "Could the same problem affect grass and cows? What about rice and people?" In terms of human nutrition, the similarities and parallels were sobering. The problem wasn't more light — it was more exposure to carbon dioxide over years. "If shining more light results in faster-growing, less nutritious algae — junk-food algae whose ratio of sugar to nutrients was out of whack — then it seemed logical to assume that ramping up carbon dioxide might do the same. And it could also be playing out in plants all over the planet. What might that mean for the plants that people eat?" Not Just More CO2, but Sterile and Depleted Soil Not just the scientific community but an increasing percentage of the general population are beginning to understand that many of the foods we've counted on for the highest nutrition are becoming as depleted as the soil they're grown in. Many have assumed it's been due to the farm industry's mass departure from nutrition based food growing methods toward higher yields through hybridization. A 2004 University of Texas study found in an evaluation between 1950 and 1999 that protein, calcium, iron, vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals in garden crops have been becoming increasingly depleted; in fact, by as much as 40 percent. Just as sobering, Politico states: "Before the industrial revolution, the earth's atmosphere had about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Last year, the planet crossed over the 400 parts per million threshold; scientists predict we will likely reach 550 parts per million within the next half-century — essentially twice the scarcity that was in the air when Americans started farming with tractors." Some scientists believe that as rising CO2 increases photosynthesis, plants grow more, but at the same time, they load up with more carbohydrates like glucose, which shuts out other more valuable nutrients such as iron, protein and zinc. One thing that bothers Loladze is the scarcity of data in the way CO2 affects crops like rice, which billions of people count on for nutritional sustenance. Further, he notes that the way studies are conducted and funded hasn't made it easy for anyone tracking how CO2 is impacting human health. "It is simply not discussed in the agriculture, public health or nutrition communities." Soil Health and What It Means for Sustainable Agriculture One study noted that nearly 3 billion of the world's population is malnourished due to diminished nutritive elements and vitamins in plant-based food. It showed three areas pointing to the sharp decrease in the nutrients of plant-based foods grown in the U.S. and the U.K.: 1. Early studies on fertilization found a link between crop yield and mineral concentrations, known as the "dilution effect." 2. Three recent studies of historical food composition data reported decreases amounting to 5 percent to 40 percent or more in some minerals in certain vegetables and possibly fruits; one study examined vitamins and protein with similar results. 3. Side-by-side plantings of low- and high-yield broccoli and grain cultivars revealed consistently negative links between yield and concentrations of minerals and protein — genetic dilution effect. Seemingly unable to pull away from the practices put in place to increase yield ostensibly for the sake of "global food security," one study called fertilizers and pesticides a "necessary evil" for industrial agriculture, but noted, too, that soil health is crucial for it to be sustainable and maintain biodiversity. At the same time, the damage done to soil microflora is something that can't be denied. The study noted it as a key component of agricultural ecosystems in regard to soil being optimally fertile in its ability to produce crops. The study stresses the impact microbial activity has on "pursuing eco-friendly practices like bioremediation and biocontrol of phytopathogens in agricultural soils." Their presence is an indication of soil health. While such studies cryptically mention how fertilizers and pesticides "influence" nutrients, organic carbon, pH, enzymes and rhizodeposition (the exchange between plants and soil, which plays a role in soil carbon turnover) in plants, one of the biggest problems with the use of chemicals in farming is that the effects linger and cause a "shift" in the number of crucial microflora which, in essence, means "destroy." *Ask one of our doctors if a multi vitamin mineral supplement would be beneficial for your health. Source: mercola.com, 9/27/17.

The Opioid Crisis - Natural Pain Relief with Chiropractic

Story at-a-glance - • More than one-third of American adults were prescribed an opioid drug in 2015, and opioid overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. • Back pain, wisdom tooth extraction and pain during pregnancy are the most common reasons for receiving an opioid prescription. • Drivers killed in car crashes while under the influence of opioid drugs rose seven-fold between 1995 and 2015. Opioids kill patients more frequently than any other medication used for nonfatal conditions, yet disturbing statistics reveal more than one-third of American adults were prescribed these dangerous drugs in 2015. Even more shocking, opioid overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. While back pain is one of the most common reasons for receiving a prescription for a narcotic pain reliever, a surprising number of people — especially teens and young adults — receive these potent drugs from their dentist. Women are also increasingly being prescribed opioids during pregnancy and after delivery, creating addicts in the womb and destroying families by creating drug-dependent mothers and infants. 1 in 3 American Adults Prescribed Opioids Every Year! According to Dr. Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Maryland, 38 percent of adults (about 92 million people) in the U.S. were prescribed an opioid drug in 2015. Women, people over the age of 49 and those without college degrees were most likely to receive a prescription, and the unemployed, uninsured and adults with an annual family income below $50,000 had the highest prevalence of opioid misuse and addiction. An estimated 5 percent of adults (11.5 million people) misused the drugs, and nearly 1 percent (some 1.9 million people) reported addiction. Interestingly, while women are prescribed opioids more frequently than men, men have a higher rate of misuse — 13 percent compared to 9 percent respectively. Of those misusing the drug: • 41 percent reported getting leftover medication from family or friends • 64 percent said their use of the drug was motivated by need for physical pain relief • 11 percent said they took the pills to relax or get high According to Compton: "Overall, the medical profession is doing a poor job of appropriately prescribing opioid painkillers. Even though the rates have leveled off, we have a long way to go in improving medical care so these are not as overprescribed as they are currently … [T]here are a lot of leftover medications. In many cases, physicians could write smaller prescriptions, or avoid them completely for those who benefit from ibuprofen or acetaminophen." Nearly 70,000 Physicians Were PAID to Prescribe Opioids. A recent paper hints at one of the reasons why opioids are still so vastly overprescribed. Between 2013 and 2015 alone, 68,177 physicians received in excess of $46 million in payments from drug companies marketing narcotic pain relievers. In all, that amounts to 1 out of every 12 doctors in the U.S. As noted by pediatrician Scott Hadland, who led the study, "The next step is to understand these links between payments and prescribing practices and overdose deaths." Conventional Medical Pain Management Needs Radical Overhaul. Dr. Karen Lasser, associate professor of medicine and public health at the Boston University School of Medicine's Clinical Addiction Research & Education (CARE) Unit, told CBS News pain management needs significant revision: "Doctors need to adopt a stepped-care approach to pain management. With this approach, doctors would first try to manage pain using nondrug means — or prescribe milder pain medications. Overdose Deaths Continue to Climb. While you certainly hear more about the dangers of opioids these days, growing awareness has yet to impact death statistics. According to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics, more Americans died from opioid overdoses in the first nine months of 2016 than in the first nine months of 2015. Other recent research drives home the severity of the problem, showing opioid deaths have been significantly underestimated. According to this report, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, mortality statistics involving drug overdoses from 2008 through 2014 underestimated opioid-related deaths by 24 percent. Overdose deaths involving heroin was underestimated by 22 percent. Spike in Fatal Car Crashes Linked to Opioid Use. Overdose deaths are not the only problem associated with skyrocketing opioid use. It's also causing people to die on our roadways. Statistics reveal driving under the influence of drugs now causes more fatal car crashes than drunken driving. According to a report compiled by the Governors Highway Safety Association and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, prescription and/or illegal drugs were involved in 43 percent of fatal car crashes in 2015, while 37 percent involved illegal amounts of alcohol. Another recent report found drivers killed in car crashes while under the influence of opioids specifically rose seven-fold between 1995 and 2015. According to lead author Stanford Chihuri, staff associate in the department of anesthesiology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, "The significant increase in proportion of drivers who test positive for prescription pain medications is an urgent public health concern." Co-author Dr. Guohua Li, professor of epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, added, "The opioid epidemic has been defined primarily by the counts of overdose fatalities. Our study suggests that increases in opioid consumption may carry adverse health consequences far beyond overdose morbidity and mortality." President Trump Declares State of Emergency. In related news, a government opioid commission recently called for President Trump to declare a state of emergency to force Congress to fund strategies to curtail and treat opioid addiction. The commission is chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. In their White House report, the commission states: "According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) … 142 Americans die every day from a drug overdose … The opioid epidemic we are facing is unparalleled. The average American would likely be shocked to know that drug overdoses now kill more people than gun homicides and car crashes combined. In fact, between 1999 and 2015, more than 560,000 people in this country died due to drug overdoses — this is a death toll larger than the entire population of Atlanta … In 2015, nearly two-thirds of drug overdoses were linked to opioids like Percocet, OxyContin, heroin, and fentanyl … [H]ere is the grim reality: Americans consume more opioids than any other country in the world. In fact, in 2015, the amount of opioids prescribed in the U.S. was enough for every American to be medicated around the clock for three weeks. Since 1999, the number of opioid overdoses in America have quadrupled … Not coincidentally, in that same period, the amount of prescription opioids … quadrupled as well. This massive increase in prescribing has occurred despite the fact that there has not been an overall change in the amount of pain Americans have reported in that time period. We have an enormous problem that is often not beginning on street corners; it is starting in doctor's offices and hospitals in every state in our nation." President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency on August 10, saying, "The opioid crisis is an emergency … It is a serious problem, the likes of which we have never had … We're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis." Pain and Hopelessness Fuel Opioid Crisis. According to recent research, half of all Americans are living with chronic illness, and many addiction specialists believe pain and hopelessness are driving the opioid crisis in the U.S. As noted in The Washington Post: "Fatal overdoses from prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999 and heroin overdoses have gone up about six-fold since 2001. But other drugs also play a role. A Post analysis of federal health data found that white women are five times as likely as white men, for example, to be prescribed drugs for anxiety in tandem with painkillers, a potentially deadly combination. Meanwhile, the suicide rate among middle-aged white women has risen in parallel with prescriptions for often-ineffective psychiatric drugs. Both have roughly doubled since 1999 … According to federal health officials, nearly 1 in 4 white women ages 50 to 64 are [sic] being treated with antidepressants. Binge drinking is also on the rise, as women close the gap with heavier-drinking white males." Limiting the availability of opioids and making overdose-reversal drugs (naloxone) and treatment for drug addiction more readily available are certainly part of the answer. But it's not enough. We have to take a much deeper look at the root of the problem. What is causing all this physical and emotional pain in the first place? Clearly, the U.S. health care system is blatantly ineffective at treating chronic health problems. Whether ill health is promoting hopelessness or the other way around is difficult to ascertain, but the two appear to be closely intertwined and need to be addressed together. Somehow or another, we need to refocus our efforts to create lives worth living, and improve access to and information about basic disease prevention, such as healthy foods and foundational health-promoting lifestyle strategies. **Nondrug Solutions for Pain Relief are More Effective. It's important to realize that in addition to the risk of addiction, opioids can also severely impair your health by suppressing your immune function. So please remember, opiates are highly immunosuppressive drugs that raise your risk of any number of diseases, as your immune system is your frontline defense against all disease. It's particularly important to avoid opioids when trying to address long-term chronic pain, as your body will create a tolerance to the drug. Over time, you may require greater doses at more frequent intervals to achieve the same pain relief. This is a recipe for disaster and could have lethal consequences. Following is information about nondrug remedies, dietary changes and bodywork interventions that can help you manage your pain. Chiropractic Care Reduces Pain Naturally. Many studies have confirmed that chiropractic management is much safer and less expensive than allopathic medical treatments, especially when used for pain such as low back pain. Qualified chiropractic physicians are reliable, as they have received extensive training in the management of musculoskeletal disorders during their course of graduate health care training, which lasts between four to six years. These health experts have comprehensive training in musculoskeletal management. Other non-drug treatments that have been shown to be effective in reducing pain are: Acupuncture, Massage and Physical Therapy. Many nutritional supplements can help also to reduce inflammation, such as: omega-3 fish oil, vitamin D, ginger, curcumin, boswellia, bromelain. **The doctors and staff at Beck - Thibodeau Chiropractic have dedicated their lives to helping our community become pain-free. If you ever have any questions about Chiropractic or nutritional supplements, please ask them. Source: mercola.com, 8/19/17.

Vaccine Studies: 400 Scientific Papers Reviewed

Vaccines: Are they safe? Are they effective? To help answer those questions is Neil Z. Miller, a medical research journalist and director of the Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute. Miller has investigated vaccines for three decades and written several books on the subject, most recently, "Miller's Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers." "Miller's Review," published in 2016, is a magnificent piece of work. In it, he reviews the concern about vaccine safety and efficacy raised by 400 peer-reviewed published studies. "I got started when my own children were born … over 30 years ago … When my wife was pregnant, I felt I had to do due diligence about vaccines. I have to be honest, though. Before I even started to research vaccines, my wife and I pretty much knew intuitively that we were not going to inject our children with vaccines. "The thing is that when I do things, I do them thoroughly … I was doing my research at medical libraries. I was gathering everything and I started to collate it and coordinate it … People started to find out about the information I had organized. They were asking me about vaccines even way back then. I organized it into a booklet. I started to share that with people. Everything snowballed from that first booklet." Don't Believe the 'There's No Evidence' Argument "Miller's Review" was created in response to the common refrain that "there are no studies showing vaccines are unsafe or ineffective." "Parents come to me all the time, saying, 'My doctor told me that vaccines are safe and there are no studies that prove [otherwise].' I've been doing the research for 30 years. I know of literally thousands of studies that document [concerns]. My books all document [those] studies." "Miller's Review" is unique in that it summarizes 400 studies in bullet points with direct quotes from the study — with one study per page — plus citations so that you can find and read the study in full should you decide to do so. All of the studies are published in peer-reviewed journals and indexed by the National Library of Medicine. "These are valid studies by valid researchers in many journals that people have heard about — The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, all the mainstream journals (and some of the smaller journals) that show there are problems with vaccines: There are safety problems, there are efficacy problems. They're all in one place so that people, like doctors, can get this information all in one convenient place. When medical doctors who are on the fence, or who are pro-vaccine, get this book and read it, I hear back from parents that their doctor is no longer pressuring them to get the vaccines or to go to some sort of alternative vaccine schedule if that's the choice these parents make. I am all about having uncensored, unfettered access to all of the available information out there about vaccines. Not just what your medical doctor wants you to know or what the pharmaceutical companies want you to know or what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is telling doctors to share with their patients. I want [parents] to be free to make a decision whether or not they want to vaccinate their children. It's a human rights issue. It's really about the mandatory aspect of vaccines. I think all vaccines are problematic, not just based on my own feelings, but based on the evidence." Uninformed Decision-Making Is Part of the Problem Ultimately, every parent will make a decision about whether or not to vaccinate. The problem is, most of the time, it's an uninformed decision. There's been a deliberate misinformation campaign aimed at making you believe vaccines are far more effective than they actually are. For example, disease incidence data is used to suggest vaccines have dramatically reduced the incidence of a given disease, when in fact the disease rate had already declined by 90 percent, or more in some cases, before a vaccine was ever available. Measles has been problematic in developing nations, mostly because of malnutrition, vitamin deficiency, a lack of clean water, sanitation and quick access to medical care. As these measures are addressed, the mortality from measles declines on its own. "By the time the measles vaccine was introduced in the United States in 1963, by the late 1950s, the mortality rate from measles had drastically dropped. In my book, I've got many different types of graphs and illustrations that show that these diseases were declining significantly on their own, well before vaccines were introduced. For example, scarlet fever. Where did scarlet fever go? Why don't we see cases of scarlet fever when we didn't have mass vaccinations with a scarlet fever vaccine? That's an important point to be made." Many Childhood Diseases Are Protective Against Cancer Another significant point is there are dozens of studies demonstrating that contracting certain childhood diseases actually protects you against various types of cancer later in life — everything from melanoma to leukemia. It's important to realize that when you have a naturally-acquired infection, you're really exercising your immune system quite profoundly, developing authentic, lifelong immunity in the process, which is radically different from the type of artificial and temporary immunity you get from a vaccine. There's even evidence suggesting childhood diseases help protect against future heart disease. "[A] Japanese study … looked at over 100,000 men and women of elderly age. They looked back at their history of catching these common childhood illnesses. Did they catch chickenpox, rubella, measles and mumps? What they found was it's actually protective against heart disease. You're protected against heart attacks and various types of arteriosclerotic disease of the artery systems. It's protecting the arterial system so that you are protected not only — when you catch these diseases — from cancers, but from heart disease, heart attacks and strokes as well … There are different theories on why that takes place. But the important thing is that study after study confirms that it takes place." Vaccines Create Problematic Mutations Another vaccine-related problem that many are completely unaware of is the fact that vaccines cause mutations in the disease-bearing microorganisms, much in the same way antibiotics cause bacteria to mutate. The diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTaP), for example, has caused the pertussis microorganism, Bordetella pertussis, to mutate and evade the vaccine. The same thing happened with the pneumococcal vaccine and the Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine. "They're finding, for example, when you've got a vaccine that targets only certain strains of disease where multiple strains are actually causing the disease, the vaccine is pretty effective at reducing the incidence of disease from that particular strain. But what happens is the other strains come and take their place … They come back even stronger. That's what [happened] with Prevnar, a vaccine for pneumococcus, pneumococcal disease. All infants that receive vaccines according to the CDC's standard immunization schedule receive a pneumococcal vaccine at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. That vaccine only targeted seven strains. Pneumococcal has 90 different strains capable of causing pneumococcal disease. They came out with a new vaccine in 2010 … to deal with the vaccine losing its efficacy because of what I just explained. The new vaccine included the original seven strains plus six additional strains, the ones that were causing most of the pneumococcal disease now. Within two years of the new upgraded, updated pneumococcal vaccine, the strains had already mutated." Tragically, parents are being blamed and harassed for many of these vaccine failures. Parents are being told that if you don't vaccinate your kids, you are responsible for spreading the disease. That's the idea the CDC, the medical industry and the pharmaceutical industry are promoting. However, if you actually read the studies, you'll find what the scientists know —the real problem is evolutionary adaptation. Dr. Meryl Nass expounded on this issue in a 2013 interview. The microorganisms adapt. "What's happened with pertussis [is] the pertussis microorganism has changed. It's now not only become more virulent; it's become more prevalent," Miller explains. "It's evaded the actual vaccine." Herd Immunity Cannot Be Achieved Through Immunizations Another core argument for mass vaccinations is achieving herd immunity. Miller believes that herd immunity may never be achieved through vaccination because high vaccination rates encourage the evolution of more severe disease-causing agents. In a vaccinated population, the virulence increases due to selective pressure, as the pathogen is strengthened and adapts in its fight for survival against the vaccine. Meanwhile, in an unvaccinated population, the environment actually promotes lowered virulence, as the pathogen does not want to kill its host. A wise pathogen is one that's able to infect many hosts without killing them, because when the host dies, the pathogen loses the environment upon which its own survival depends. However, once the disease organism mutates and becomes more virulent within the vaccinated population, it raises the stakes not only among the vaccinated but also among the unvaccinated, who are now faced with a far more virulent foe than normal. "In terms of herd immunity, you not only have … this selective pressure that's keeping you from being able to achieve herd immunity (because the microorganisms are always attempting to evade the vaccine), and some vaccines like pertussis are only 60 percent effective. That's with the best estimates. And that's only for a couple of years. Studies show that even after three, four or five years, you're back to almost no efficacy whatsoever, almost back to the pre-vaccine period. How can you expect to achieve herd immunity with a vaccine that is only 60 percent effective? You can vaccinate 100 percent of the population and you cannot achieve herd immunity with a vaccine that is only 60 percent effective. Influenza vaccines — many years, these vaccines are not good matches for the circulating virus — so you have zero percent efficacy. In the best years, you only have 30 to 50 percent efficacy." Studies Show Vaccinations Increase Infant Mortality One of the tenets of conventional medicine is that if you vaccinate a population, everyone is going to be healthier. There will be less disease. But when you compare vaccination rates and health statistics, you find the converse is actually true. This is some of the most compelling information Miller shares in his book. For example, when comparing vaccination rates in 34 developed nations, they found a significant correlation between infant mortality rates and the number of vaccine doses infants received. Developed nations like the United States that require the most vaccines tend to have the highest infant mortality. "I'm the lead author on that study, actually. My co-author was Gary Goldman [Ph.D., who] worked for the CDC for seven years. He quit when he found that the CDC was not allowing anything detrimental [to get out]. Goldman found problems with the chickenpox vaccine and wanted to publish that data. The CDC said, 'We're not going to allow you to do that.' That's when Goldman quit. Goldman and I did two peer-reviewed studies. The children in the United States are required — if they follow the CDC's immunization schedule — to receive the most vaccines in the world. Twenty-six vaccines. Other developed nations require less. Some nations only require 12 vaccines — Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland and other European nations — yet they have better infant mortality rates. That's what our study looked at. [V]accines are promoted as being lifesaving. They're given to children to protect them against dying from infectious diseases. We gathered all the immunization schedules from the 34 nations [and found] the United States had the 34th worst infant mortality rate ... It had the worst. Thirty-three nations in the developed world had better infant mortality rates. We did the study and we found what many people would find to be a counterintuitive relationship. We found a statistically significant relationship. There was a direct correlation between the number of vaccines that a nation required for their infants and the infant mortality rate. The more vaccines that a nation required, the worse the infant mortality rate." Why Is This Not Front-Page News? Many naïvely believe that if vaccines truly were doing more harm than good, it would be front-page news. The reason you rarely if ever hear anything about studies such as this one is because the vaccine industry has an iron grip on the information being publicly disseminated. Collusion between federal agencies, the government and the industry is just one of several hurdles preventing this kind of information from being widely known. You have individuals like Dr. Julie Gerberding, who headed up the CDC and was in charge of infectious disease recommendations for seven years before moving on to become president of Merck Vaccines, one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world. That's just one of many dozens of examples of this revolving door, which in turn has led to the breakdown of true science-based medicine. "We have a serious problem with the pharmaceutical industry controlling which studies get published. Also, the pharmaceutical companies are controlling the advertising dollars that go out to the major media. Mainstream media makes approximately 70 percent of its income from pharmaceutical ads. They do not want to publish or promote anything that would be critical of vaccines because it could compromise their potential to keep bringing in millions of dollars they make every year from the pharmaceutical companies." Giving Multiple Simultaneous Vaccines Is Extremely Risky, Study Shows The second study Miller and Goldman published analyzed nearly 40,000 reports of infants who suffered adverse reactions after vaccines. Here, they found that infants given the most vaccines were significantly more likely to be hospitalized or die compared to those who received fewer vaccines. It's worth noting that this data was obtained from the vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) database, a passive reporting system, and that research has confirmed passive reporting systems underreport by 50 to 1. What this means is that when you find one report in VAERS, you have to multiply that by 50 to get closer to reality because, on average, only 1 in 50 adverse events are ever reported. Doctors have a legal obligation to report side effects to VAERS, but they don't, and there are no ramifications for failure to make a report. Parents can also make a report to the database, and I encourage all parents to do so, should your child experience a vaccine reaction. At present, VAERS has over 500,000 reports of adverse reactions to vaccines, and every year, more than 30,000 new reports are added to it. Miller and Goldman downloaded this database and created a program to extract all the reports involving infants. In all, they extracted the reports of 38,000 infants who experienced an adverse reaction following the receipt of one or more vaccines. They then created a program that was able to determine the number of vaccines each infant had received before suffering an adverse reaction, and stratified the reports by the number of vaccines (anywhere from one to eight) the infants had received simultaneously before the reaction took place. They specifically honed in on serious adverse reactions requiring hospitalization or that led to death. Here's what they found: • Infants who received three vaccines simultaneously were statistically and significantly more likely to be hospitalized or die after receiving their vaccines than children who received two vaccines at the same time • Infants who received four vaccines simultaneously were statistically and significantly more likely to be hospitalized or die than children who received three or two vaccines, and so on all the way up to eight vaccines • Children who received eight vaccines simultaneously were "off-the-charts" statistically and significantly more likely to be hospitalized or die after receiving those vaccines • Children who received vaccines at an earlier age were significantly more likely to be hospitalized or die than children who receive those vaccines at a later age Childhood Vaccination Schedule Is Based on Convenience, Not Science or Safety As noted by Miller: "The industry, the CDC and Dr. Paul Offit tell us that you can take multiple vaccines. Offit said you could theoretically take 10,000 vaccines at one time; that an infant can be exposed to that many pathogens simultaneously without hurting the child. The CDC's immunization schedule requires that children receive eight vaccines at 2 months of age, eight vaccines at 4 months of age and eight vaccines at 6 months of age. I ask parents, 'When did you ever take eight drugs at the same time? … If you did take eight drugs at the same time, would you think it was more likely that you would or would not have an adverse reaction?' Because toxicologists know that the more drugs you take at the same time, the more potential for some kind of a synergistic or additive toxicity … What this study confirms is that it's a dangerous practice to give multiple vaccines simultaneously. The CDC has put together a schedule based on convenience. They say '[G]ive eight vaccines at 2 months, give eight more vaccines at 4 months and give eight more booster shots at 6 months' because it's convenient. They're afraid that parents will not come to the pediatrician again and again and again if they have to keep coming back for more vaccines, so they get multiple [shots all at once]. They said, 'We're going to make this schedule based on convenience.' Not based on evidence. Not based on science. There's nothing scientific about the CDC's recommended immunization schedule. We've shown it with our study. We also showed that children who received vaccines at an earlier age are statistically significantly more likely to be hospitalized or die than children who receive it at a later age. We divided it up to children who receive their vaccines in the first 6 months of age versus children who receive their vaccines in the last six months of infancy. Again, off-the-charts statistically significant, it's much more dangerous to give younger infants multiple vaccines than to give older infants multiple vaccines. This makes sense because they're giving the same dose to a newborn or a baby that might be 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 pounds at 2 months of age versus a child who might be 15 or 17 pounds … at a later age." More Information You can find "Miller's Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers" on ThinkTwice.com. This book is an invaluable resource for parents who want to do their due diligence before making up their mind about whether or not to vaccinate their children. On his website, you will also find his other books, along with studies and publications relating to vaccine safety and efficacy concerns. Another resource is the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). NVIC is leading the charge when it comes to educating the public about efforts to impose mandatory vaccinations, and how to preserve our health freedoms on the local, state and federal levels. **Ultimately, everyone will have to make a choice about vaccinations. The key is to make it an informed one — to understand and weigh the potential risks and benefits. To do that, you need access to both sides of the debate, and Miller has done us all a great favor by making the largely hidden side of the equation more readily accessible. Source: mercola.com, 7/15/17.

Fix Stress-Related Burnout

Unless kept in check, stress can wreak absolute havoc on your life, undercutting your health and depressing your very will to live. Around the world, "burnout" is becoming an increasingly pervasive problem, affecting people from all walks of life. Being successful per se will not insulate you from burnout. On the contrary, it may actually raise your risk. "The Day I Snapped" is a mental health documentary featuring five professionals who walked into the proverbial wall one day, "suddenly" unable to cope any longer. However, as noted in the film, while the crisis may appear sudden, that moment when a person "snaps" is really the culmination of an untenable situation that has been going on for a long time. Why the Modern Workplace Promotes Burnout The five individuals in the film suffered burnout due to work-related stress, which is the most typical scenario. But what is it about the modern workplace that pressures people beyond their limits? Key factors highlighted in the film include: 1. People are expected to work at a much faster pace than previously, while frequently having to put in longer hours and/or being closely monitored and evaluated based on a variety of performance metrics. In some workplaces, the pace is so high; they cannot even take a proper lunch break. As noted by one of the individuals in the film, it is the "having no choice in what you do" on any given day that "makes the stress unbearable" 2. Job duties are changing (and expanding) more frequently than before and when combined with poor direction or guidance from management, it can cause a great deal of uncertainty and performance anxiety 3. Many jobs for which people are trained are being eliminated, thereby preventing many from fulfilling their skill-potential. This in turn can breed unhappiness and feelings of worthlessness 4. Deteriorating social support at home and at work Are You Headed Toward Burnout? In the U.K., work is the third leading cause of stress, trailing right behind bereavement and financial woes. In the U.S., work ranks second on the list of sources of significant stress. According to the film, nearly 7 million working days are lost each year in the U.K. to stress-related illnesses such as skin conditions, insomnia, heart disease, memory impairment, digestive problems, autoimmune disorders and depression, just to name a few. In reality, just about any ailment or disease can be triggered or worsened by stress. Symptoms of burnout include but are not limited to: • Physical exhaustion, signaled by chronic fatigue, insomnia, forgetfulness, impaired concentration, inattentiveness, physical illness and loss of appetite • Emotional exhaustion, a "feeling of internal collapse," loss of perspective, detachment, irritability, frequent anger, loss of enjoyment, pessimism, increasing isolation, apathy and hopelessness • Reduced performance and productivity despite best efforts, loss of self-esteem, feeling like a failure • Depression Frequently, people on the road toward burnout will turn to alcohol or other addictive substances in an effort to prop themselves up to avoid the inevitable. Sadly, one of the most serious side effects of burnout is suicide. If you are feeling desperate or have any thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a toll-free number: (800) 273-TALK (8255). Alternatively, call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency department. Preventing Burnout Is Easier Than Recovering From It If you recognize the warning signs of burnout in yourself or someone you care about, remember this: Preventing burnout is a lot easier than recovering from it. Recovery usually takes time — six months or more is not uncommon. The five professionals in the film all eventually recovered, through a variety of different means, which highlights the need to be flexible enough to identify your unique needs. Just as the circumstances that brought you to a crisis point will be unique, so will your recovery. That said, some basic guidelines can be given (see below). A key point that may initially be difficult to accept is that you need to change how you live. The way you've been living so far does not work, and merely taking a few weeks off, only to return right back to it, is rarely going to suffice. For the featured professionals in the film, all of whom suffered "executive burnout" or burnout brought on by chronic work stress, part of the answer was a change in profession. For three of them, this involved going into business for themselves and doing more physically demanding work, as opposed to working in an office. How to Reduce Work Stress and Prevent Burnout If you feel you might be headed toward the proverbial wall, please consider addressing the situation before you break down completely. Psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter offers the following advice for those struggling with work stress. • Take inventory. Write down all of the situations that trigger stress in your life: situations that make you feel worried, anxious, frustrated or helpless. Keep adding to this list as you go along. Next to each item on the list, write down what you can do to reduce the stress it's generating, and implement those solutions whenever possible. • Just say no. Saying no is one of the best ways to protect your energy reserves. Avoid taking on new responsibilities or commitments while you're in recovery. If something must be done, see if you can delegate the task to someone else. Avoid the trap of thinking no one else will be able to do it as well as you. Sometimes "good enough" really is enough. • Schedule breaks and take time to socialize. Make sure you take breaks between projects, to give your mind and body time to recover. Also, be sure to schedule breaks on a daily basis, and do not take work home with you. Cultivating a social life is an important aspect of a well-balanced life, so avoid the temptation to make work your sole focus. • Manage your electronic devices wisely. Smartphones, iPads and computers can be an enormous time drain if you don't manage their use well. The constant barrage of message notifications can be a major source of stress in and of itself. Turn down the stress by turning off all notifications on your devices; batch process your emails, at most four times a day, and restrict social media to a specific time or place rather than trying to "keep up" on an hour-by-hour basis. • Stop multitasking. Giving up multitasking is one of the key strategies of highly productive people. Focusing on one thing at a time will also make you calmer and less stressed out. The Importance of Maintaining Balance in Your Life I recently interviewed Dr. Joseph Maroon on the topic of burnout. He is a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and author of "Square One: A Simple Guide to a Balanced Life," a book that grew out of his own struggles with burnout. The recovery plan detailed in "Square One" is based on William H. Danforth's work, which emphasizes that you have not one but four lives to live: • Physical life • Spiritual life • Work life • Relationship life Maintaining balance between each of these four life segments is key. Each of these needs to be actively pursued and nourished on a daily basis. "We all know that you can't avoid stress in this world — divorce, our jobs; 40 percent of people have difficulty with job relationships," Maroon says. "What happens [is], you get an elevated cortisol level in your blood. What does [excess] cortisol do to the brain? It kills brain cells. What does it do to your memory? It reduces memory, our tissues and everything else. That's what excess chronic unremitting stress [causes], which is what I personally went through. It's incredible depression. Most doctors think depression is [treatable] with antidepressants. I have no doubt that physical activity is the most effective antidepressant we can use … [It] gets all the neurotransmitters back into order — your dopamine, your serotonin and your acetylcholine. The point is we can't escape adversity. We can't escape stress. But what happened to me is I didn't recognize how bad off I was in a one dimensional life." How to Regain Balance and Heal Burnout Based on these four life segments, you can see that to prevent or recover from burnout, you need: • Exercise and a healthy diet that optimizes mitochondrial function and limits inflammation (physical nourishment) • Mindfulness or some form of spiritual practice (spiritual nourishment) • Ideally, work that suits your personality and gives you meaning and purpose; at bare minimum, strategies to control your day-to-day work stress (work-related pursuits) • Family time and social contacts, and/or a hobby or volunteer work (relationship-related pursuits) In a nutshell, recovering from burnout (or avoiding it in the first place) boils down to finding and maintaining a balance between your work life, physical activities, relationships and spirituality or mindfulness. As noted by Maroon: "You need exercise. You need a degree of meditation and spirituality … If you look at people who live to be centenarians … They all have in common a healthy diet and work. They work hard, which is their physical activity … They control stress with, usually, a very strong family unit, spirituality, religion or church. All those things are mindfulness. All reduce stress, the excess cortisol, and try to keep our bodies in balance." To this, I would add a fifth life category that needs balance, and that is sleep. Sleep deprivation dramatically impairs your body's ability to handle stress, and has absolutely no redeeming consequences. Working rather than sleeping will not allow you to get ahead or accomplish more. It's only going to make matters worse. Treating your sleep as "sacred time" that cannot be infringed upon can go a long way toward managing your overall stress and maintaining balance in your life. Finding Work-Life Balance Is Worth Every Effort On the whole, leading a balanced life is not rocket science, but it can still be difficult to do. It's much easier, actually, to focus on work to the exclusion of everything else. Finding balance takes a bit of work. It may require finding and setting new boundaries, which may feel unfamiliar and maybe even a bit frightening at first. The alternative, however, is far worse than any discomfort you might experience as you strive for balance. Arianna Huffington is perhaps one of the most well-known public personas who suffered burnout — and wrote a book about it. In "Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom and Wonder," Huffington, who is the chairman, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, details her downward spiral, and her journey back to health. Her self-reflection resulted in a new definition of success, which includes a "third metric" besides the two conventional ones: money and power. This third metric consists of four pillars: • Health and well-being. If you sacrifice your health and well-being in the pursuit of success, you're really paying an insanely high price. The result of this sacrifice includes everything from diabetes to heart disease, and other stress-related afflictions like depression, alcoholism or drug addiction • Wisdom. As Huffington says: "We have a lot of very smart leaders around making terrible decisions. The problem is not that they don't have a high IQ; the problem is that they are not connected with their inner wisdom. Taking time to connect with the source of our inner wisdom and strength is essential" • Joy and childlike wonder. It's also important to bring joy into your everyday life and to connect with the sense that you are part of "something larger." This includes appreciating ordinary beauty and small everyday miracles • Giving. No complete life is ever lived just for oneself. When you integrate giving, wonder, wisdom and well-being together with the first two metrics of money and power, you can really have a complete life, filled with meaning and purpose. Source: mercola.com, 6/25/17.

Tips to Improve Sleep

Sleep is normally an outcome of two variables: • Sleepiness — Under normal conditions, your sleepiness should increase throughout the day, peaking just before you go to bed at night. This is ideal, as you want your sleep to be high at the beginning of the night. Making sure you're exposed to bright sunlight and high-quality lighting during the day, followed by decreased light exposure once the sun sets, will help maximize your natural sleep cycle so that you're appropriately sleepy by bedtime • Noise — Noise occurs in three zones: the mind level, body level and the environmental level To get a good night's sleep, you want your sleepiness level to be high and the noise level to be low. If the noise is conceptually greater than your level of sleepiness, you will not fall asleep. Examples of body noise include pain, discomfort, indigestion or residual caffeine from drinking coffee too late in the day. Environmental noise includes traffic, a snoring partner, music, lights or being too hot. The most common type of mind noise is called "cognitive popcorn," those unstoppable thoughts running through your mind as soon as your head hits the pillow. This is also the most commonly reported cause of insomnia. Racing Thoughts Keeping You Up at Night? As noted in a recent CNN article on this topic: "Some nights, it's like you can't get your brain to shut up long enough for you to fall asleep. You're mentally reviewing the day you just completed while also previewing the day ahead; sometimes, your mind may even reach way back into the archives and pull up something embarrassing you did back in high school. There's no one solution that will work for everybody, of course, so instead, we've rounded up suggestions from eight sleep experts." Here's a summary of some of the tips gleaned from sleep experts, with regard to quieting racing thoughts: 1. Use creative distractions. If worry has you in its grip, try thinking of something else that interests you but is of no importance. Sleep expert Neil Stanley, Ph.D., said, "I fly a lot, so I imagine I have my own private jet and how would I arrange the furniture on it. If you're someone who likes going to music festivals, what would your lineup be?" 2. Get out of bed. Rather than tossing and turning, allowing frustration to grow, get out of bed. Try writing your thoughts down; just be sure to keep the lights dim. Telling yourself you're going to try to stay awake instead may also have the paradoxical effect of making you sleepy. The reason for this is because once you're OK with being awake, your frustration and arousal level drops, making it easier to fall asleep 3. Make a plan to spend more time in the sun. Oftentimes, lack of sun exposure during the day (especially in the early morning) is to blame for persistent sleep problems. Bright sunlight first thing in the morning and/or around noon helps set your internal clock, allowing you to fall asleep "on schedule" 4. Sleep in less clothes. While not addressed by CNN's sleep experts, one of the benefits of sleeping less clothed is improved sleep quality, in part by preventing overheating. One study showed a surface skin temperature difference of as little as 0.08 degrees F led to sounder sleep. 5. Do some controlled breathing. Breathing is both an involuntary and a voluntary process. You can alter the speed and the depth of your breathing, and you can choose to breathe through your mouth or your nose. These choices lead to physical changes in your body. Slow, deep and steady breathing activates your parasympathetic response while rapid, shallow breathing activates your sympathetic response, involved in releasing cortisol and other stress hormones. The combination of controlled breathing with counting can be particularly effective when your mind refuses to shut down at night, as it gives your mind something to focus on. One breathing exercise involving counting that you could try is the 4-7-8 breathing technique taught by Dr. Andrew Weil. It's a potent remedy for anxiety, as it acts as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system Emergency Remedy Recommendations In the short term, you could try a gentle sleep aid while implementing more permanent lifestyle and/or environmental changes. Natural sleep remedies that may help you get a good night's sleep include: • Melatonin. Start with as little as 0.25 milligrams (mg) and work your way up in quarter-gram increments from there until you get the desired effect . • Valerian root. Studies have found valerian root helps improve the speed at which you fall asleep, depth of sleep (achieving deep sleep 36 percent faster) and overall quality of sleep. Start with a minimal dose and use the lowest dose needed to achieve the desired effect, as higher dosages can have an energizing effect in some people. Typical dosages used in studies range between 400 mg and 900 mg, taken anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before bed. • Chamomile. This herb is typically used in the form of infusions, teas, liquid extracts or essential oils made from the plant's fresh or dried flower heads. It has sedative effects that may help with sleep, which is why chamomile tea is often sipped before bed. • 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). The chemical 5-HTP promotes production of serotonin, thereby giving mood a boost and enhancing sleep. In one study, an amino acid preparation containing both GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) and 5-HTP reduced time to fall asleep, increased the duration of sleep and improved sleep quality. As you can see, sleep problems can have any number of root causes and contributing factors, but considering the alternative, taking the time to identify your triggers is well worth the effort. Sleeping well is a foundational aspect of good health, so every effort should be made to get as high-quality sleep as possible. *Feel free to ask your doctor at our office for additional information. Source: CNN.com, 6/6/17.