If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re part of a growing group of Americans who suffer from daily drowsiness due to “adrenal burnout.” Adrenal Burnout makes life harder by impacting your daily life activities, such as driving a car, work related activities, sex interest, regular sleep pattern disruptions, and can cause you to miss family events and leisure time activities (according to the National Sleep Foundation). Alarmingly, growing numbers of Americans are now being diagnosed as “chronically fatigued!”

Fatigue can be caused by many health related issues; if you have been feeling fatigued on a consistent basis, we suggest that you visit our Functional Medicine practice. We are trained to look at all of your body’s energy producing systems, in order to best ascertain why you have low energy levels. This includes your environment, work, home, and lifestyle, as well as your physical issues.

Many nutrients play a vital role in maintaining your energy levels.

Co-Enzyme Q10, or Ubiquinone
Co-Q10 is responsible for pumping up the mitocondria in your cells. Mitocondria are considered the “powerhouses” of your cells and regulate cellular respiration. Without healthy mitochondrial function, your cells underperform their duties. Co-Q10 is also helpful in liver function as well as maintaining a healthy heart and kidneys, and is known for helping to lower blood pressure.

B-Vitamins
Several B Vitamins are needed to perform chemical reactions in your liver, adrenal glands (the energy organ in your body that produces bursts of energy when needed), brain tissue, nervous system cells, our heart, and many other areas of the body.

Vitamins B1 (Thiamine), B3 (Riboflavin), B6 (Pyroxidine), B12 (Cobalamin), Biotin, and Folic Acid are also critical B Vitamins necessary for carbohydrate and protein metabolism. This is carried out in our liver and other digestive organs. B-Vitamins are also lost in greater amounts, and beverages such as coffee, taken at the same time as Vitamins, can inhibit their absorption. Many Americans have Vitamin B deficiencies, and in many cases their medication may be a contributing factor. Not taking bio-available vitamins also contributes to deficiencies. Often people are surprised to find out that their body is not absorbing what they are taking as supplements.

Enzymes
Many of us have rapidly depleted our digestive enzymes required to break down and utilize our nutrients. According to Nobel Prize Enzymologist Ronald K Schneider, we lose approximately 10% of our digestive enzyme producing capacity per decade, after puberty. For example, if puberty ends in a person at the age of 20, by the time they are 60 years old, they will have 40% less enzyme producing capacity then when they were 20 years old. Enzymes are required to break down and assimilate your nutrients. Without nutrients, our cells have no fuel to carry out their duties. (see our blog on enzymes for more information about this nutrient)

There are many things that “rob” us of our energy:

Insufficient Sleep
Many Americans lack sufficient sleep today. Many Americans cannot sleep soundly through the night! Without sufficient sleep, our body cannot perform the deep healing and recuperation necessary to carry out the next day’s activities. Most commonly, sleep issues boil down to thyroid and adrenal gland issues brought on by inadequate diet and system toxicity. Having too many EMF generating electronics in the bedroom also contributes to quality of sleep issues. EMFs, or Electromagnetic fields, are a part of the invisible light spectrum. Having light waves bathe you while you sleep may contribute to your body’s ability to produce melatonin, which is a major hormone in the body and affects many major functions, including the immune system.

Low grade and hidden infections steal our enery
Many Americans are suffering from low grade infections, many of which can remain “hidden” from traditional lab tests and can slip by undetected. Parasitic Bacteria, fungal infections, Candida Albicans Yeast infection, Lymes, Herpes Simplex I and II, Shingles are several examples of infections that go undetected in the body for a long time. We use functional lab tests, which do a better job of detecting these infections before they fully manifest.

Hypothyroidism
The Thyroid Gland is considered a very important gland when it comes to energy management in the body. When operating normally, our body temperature operates at an ideal range so that we can function in a body in an optimal manner. When our body temperature gets too low, our cell function begins to slow and we can feel tired.

Adrenal Fatigue
Our Adrenal glands produce many hormones and chemicals provide bursts of energy that help us live well despite having stress. Unfortunately, most Americans have “adrenal burnout” because our fast paced lifestyle and inadequate diet are major contributors to adrenal insufficiency. Instead of eating the foods and taking the supplements that continue to build good adrenal health, it is often much easier for people to opt for the ‘band aid’ approach and quick fix, by reaching for poor quality, and high sugar energy drinks in an attempt to ward off fatigue. The real adrenal energy that your body needs is not in an energy drink can or bottle. While these products provide the sensation of a “quick pick up,” they drain our adrenal glands more rapidly. This is because they fail to replace nutrients needed for our adrenals to function healthfully. The best way to detect adrenal insufficiency is with an Adrenal Salivary Index (ASI).

Alcohol
Alcohol robs us of our energy by disrupting normal R.E.M deep sleep patterns. Many people drink alcohol before going to sleep, because it is a depressant which provides a temporary feeling of relaxation. This helps many people fall asleep more easily. Alcohol does not help us maintain the deep sleep patterns necessary to feel energized the next day. Web MD summarized 27 studies showing us how alcohol and quality sleep don’t mix!

Electro Magnetic Frequencies (EMFs)
Besides the EMF issues that can impact our levels of Melatonin production, our bodies are constantly being stressed by being bathed in these man made frequencies, 24/7. Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are both analog and digital. The human body evolved with the Earth’s natural analog frequencies. Man made EMFs first interacted with humans when motors and other electric devices became a part of our quality of life. In the late 1970s the Wertheimer and Leeper study revealed the connection between indoor electrical wiring and health issues; certain wiring configurations were known to create higher levels of EMFs within the home. By the 1980s, Power Lines were also an issue because of their “always on” effect if you lived close to one.

By 2013 we now also have a swathe of digital EMF waveforms that our human, analog body interacts with. Virtually every electronic item we live with and use is emitting EMFs. Dr Robert O. Becker, MD had done much research on the negative bio-effects of EMFs on the human body. These EMFs affect subtle areas of our brain, such as the pineal gland, which can disrupt healthy sleep needed to feel energized the next day.

To learn how you can achieve more restful sleep, contact us today!

References:
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-related-problems/excessive-sleepiness-and-sleep
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20130118/alcohol-sleep

Receiving quality Chiropractic care is excellent for managing pain and increasing function. When a patient comes in and needs corrective Chiropractic adjustments to their physical structure, and if your joints and cartilage are in optimal health, then we typically do not need to see you again until there is another misalignment occurring.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1 in 3 Americans today have joints and cartilage that are not in top-notch health. If this is you, this indicates that there re other problems that go beyond what an adjustment can do. At this point we need to address turning around, i.e., reversing what is contributing to joint degradation, which can be done via nutritional adjustments. When our joints degenerate there is a breakdown, and ultimately a loss of cartilage, along with inflammation. In order to reverse cartilage loss we need to replace the ingredients that make cartilage in the body. Those ingredients are: Type II collagen (specific to joints and connective tissue), Hyaluronic Acid (also called H.A.), chondroitan sulfate, glucosamine and MSM. These ingredients make up all joints and connective tissue in the body, and must be replaced if we are to halt or reverse the process of joint degeneration.

Less Chiropractic maintenance and better joint health can be achieved!
Lower levels of these joint and cartilage nutrients begin to occur after the age of 35; and we begin to lose some after birth! It makes sense that we replace these nutrients to minimize our losses, and more importantly raise the levels of these nutrients in higher amounts in our body. Most over the counter nutritional supplements that contain the needed replenishment ingredients are not completely bio-available. Their cellular forms tend to be very large. In order for your body to effectively utilize these nutrients, they must be modified into a smaller form or your body cannot absorb them. There is a modified version of these nutrients called Liquid Biocell Collagen that provides optimum absorption, which translates into being able to more fully reverse many of the symptoms associated with joint degeneration caused by illness or injury. Chiropractors have been successfully treating back and neck pain for decades; our patients who are on both protocols have reported feeling more energy and not noticing their joints the way they used to when they would walk, run, exercise or climb stairs.

Using our approach, pain levels not only noticeably decrease within a 90 day period, but our patients report that their pain levels continue to decrease as they continue on their home based nutritional therapy. During this time, our patients are able to decrease the frequency of chiropractic treatments. Unlike targeted injections, this nutritional support helps every joint in the body, not just your neck and spine. Our ultimate goal is to hear our patients come into the office for a maintenance appointment while telling us how much their mobility and range of motion has improved, all without surgery! This doesn’t mean that you should entirely stop your maintenance schedule of care with your Chiropractor, but our goal should be to get you to the point where you’re not as dependent upon your Chiropractor, or at all, in order to manage your joint concerns.

We can create better outcomes by reversing the causes of joint degeneration
We provide both the physical therapy via Chiropractic treatments and other Physical Therapy modalities used in our office. We work with a clinically proven joint formula that’s backed by clinical trials. This is liquid Biocell collagen, which contains all the ingredients that comprise our joints such as: Type II collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, Chondroitan, Glucosamine, and MSM. Many of these ingredients are not new to joint nutrition: however, a very important aspect of nutritional therapy involves taking the right supplementation that provide optimum bio-availability to your body.

Bio-availability means that these ingredients are in a more absorbable form that can be assimilated by our joints. Liquid Biocell simultaneously addresses joint pain anywhere in the body. This allows for quick results that continue to improve with time; this is aligned with our goals for our Patients, to get your quickly and firmly on the path of healing and recovery.

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1033256
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22486722

Common examples of neurodegeneration are:

• Speaking abilities deteriorate and the pace of speech is sluggish;
• The person frequently struggles to remember people, places and events;
• Low or no “affect” – the ability to show outward facial emotions and expression;
• Presence of poor body posture: this indicates the body is unable to sustain proper muscle tone in our postural muscles. The result is a tendency to slouch and have a “stooped over posture.”
• Our gait refers to how we walk and move, and can indicate brain degeneration and brain neuron loss:
  • A decreased gait, from a full stride to some form of a shuffle.
  • The loss of our normal opposing arm swing while walking, or a diminished arm swing.
  • A loss of balance, or feelings of “vertigo” is another indicator of a rapidly deteriorating brain.

Many people either have these warning signs or see it in people they know, but feel helpless to change what they think is just a natural occurrence (aging) or a condition that they have no way to control the problem or even or even to reverse it. There are non-drug options that can help this brain degeneration, which can help improve a person’s quality of life.

The chemistry that happens when the brain degenerates:

Much of our brain damage is the result of “free radicals” that lead to a lack of sufficient oxygen to the brain. Free radicals are stray electrons that damage our cells and tissues, and are a key contributor to “oxidative stress,” inflammation, and lack of sufficient oxygen to the brain. This can lead to a buildup of plaque in our brain, and the rapid deposit of “Tau Proteins.” In combination, these factors have been shown to be at the center of many neurodegenerative diseases and conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and memory loss.

Minimizing and reversing your brain’s neurodegeneration is possible
The saying, “use it or lose it” applies here. Our brain is the master control center for our nervous system, and if we don’t exercise it, then we start to lose it more rapidly. It’s important to participate in daily activities that help to stimulate the memory. Playing the card game “Concentration” we played as kids is a great way to have fun, and maintain healthy brain neurons. Crossword puzzles provide another great way to challenge a person’s recall of events, places, words and details, as is studying a new language or learning a new skill.

Physical exercise and exertion activates areas of our brain in other important ways. Our muscles are directly wired to specific areas of our brain and provide stimulation to these areas when we move. Exercise temporarily increases blood oxygen levels which gives our neurons an essential fuel needed to function, which is important for brain and memory health.  Whenever we experience or see a diminishing ability, we need to challenge this system by engaging in therapeutic activities. Diminishing abilities include poor speech quality, balance, or movement.

Nutrients to protect our brain
We want to look at brain essential nutrients that can protect our brain from free radicals, inflammation and oxidative stress, so that our brains can continue to be sharp as we age.

• Co-Q10 is a co-enzyme that increases the efficiency of energy production, and serves as a potent brain and heart antioxidant.
• Alpha-Lipoic Acid regenerates other important brain antioxidants such as Vitamins C, E, and Glutathione, thus extending the life of other antioxidants while providing powerful antioxidant properties.
• N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) dramatically increases the body’s production of glutathione, another very important brain antioxidant. It also helps detoxify our brain.
• Acetyl-L_Carnitine, like Co-Q-10, enhances our nerve cell energy production. This benefits damaged brain neurons, which have low energy production. Studies show that this nutrient profoundly slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. It enhances our nerve cell energy production by transporting fuel into the mitochondria (energy plants) of our cells.
• Vitamin E has been shown to limit free radical damage in the brain and has been noted to outperform an Alzheimer’s drug in clinical trials, per the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Diets rich in Vitamin E, when supplemented with Vitamin C, have been shown to reduce the risk of Parkinsons by 61%.

• Gingko Biloba improves brain metabolism, increases brain blood flow and provides additional antioxidant protection according to double blind placebo trials published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Gingko Biloba was also shown to stabilize Alzheimer’s progression, and was cited in contributing to actual improvement results in standardized psychological tests.

• Vitamin D has been shown in studies to have many free radical scavenging abilities that help the brain.

• Vitamin B12 is essential for maintaining the “myelin sheath” around your neurons, which is the equivalent to the protective coatings on electrical wires. The myelin sheath not only helps to conduct electrical nerve signals throughout your body, but helps to prevent “mixed messages” when neurons cross. When neurons messages become “crossed” we can see problems such as neurological tremors.

• Phosphatidyl Serine produces the important neurotransmitter Acetylcholine, which is responsible for healthy muscle contraction, organ function and most of all memory.

• Flavonoids are found in citrus fruits and many types of berries. These nutrients function like antioxidants and help build the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) which keeps toxins out of our brain.

Other nutrients that are also essential to a healthy brain include Magnesium, Calcium, all of the B-Vitamins, Sodium, Potassium, EPA, DHA, and many amino acids. Many of these nutrients and more are already included in the highly bio-available daily multivitamin our patients take.

When our discs degenerate, many things can happen:

• The outer walls of our discs, which hold everything intact, can become weak and give way, resulting in a protrusion or “bulge”, and even tear in serious cases. This may cause impingement upon a nearby nerve root, with pain being the result.
• Our discs become “irregularly shaped”, and have a “lumpy” and “bumpy” appearance on X-Ray or MRI. These irregularities can create stiffness and discomfort in our spinal joints.
• Our discs “dessicate”, or dehydrate. When this happens, our disc height shrinks due to fluid loss; the fluid lost is largely water, supplied by synovial fluid. This is one of the most common occurrences people experience when they have vertebral disc degeneration.

According to Dr Louis P Brady MD, who pioneered hip replacement surgery in the US, our joints begin to degrade when our joints no longer produce adequate amounts of a special fluid, called “synovial fluid” that nourishes our joints. This fluid contains the ingredients needed to repair and rebuild our joints from the inside. A lack of this fluid contributes to disc degeneration.

Why Do Our Vertebral Discs Shrink?
The discs in our spine, called Vertebral Discs, or Intervertebral discs, are made up of cartilage. This cartilage is very tough, resilient, and long lasting, especially when you have the proper therapeutic activities and nutrients in your diet to support the repair and healthy maintenance of your discs. Under healthy circumstances, cartilage can withstand intense pressures and torsional forces, even into old age. Cartilage tends to not fail unless it is neglected from proper care. Our discs degrade due to wear and tear, trauma, injury, chemical and emotional stress, and an American diet that not only fails to support healthy discs and cartilage, but can also hasten their deterioration and demise.

Disc Degeneration Can Be Reversed!
Many of us have varying degrees of disc degeneration in our spine, but may not yet be expressing outward symptoms. It is unfortunate that conventional healthcare typically views disc degeneration an irreversible part of the “natural aging” process. Alternative health views that focus on nutritional effects address the cell biology, and the many ways that our discs can be nourished to re-establish healthy growth.

Drugless and non-surgical solutions to rehydrate our vertebral discs
Many of us have been told of the multiple healthful benefits of drinking pure, quality water. While one such benefit is that it replenishes lost water in our tissues, including our joints, drinking water alone is not enough to rehydrate our discs. Our joints need to transport and retain water, and a vital, missing ingredient in this chemical process is called Hyaluronic Acid, or H.A.

Hyaluronic Acid, or H.A., also makes up synovial fluid. This all important protein is supposed to be present in our joints, and is capable of holding 400 times its own weight in water. Our body’s loss of this important protein is most evident when we begin to show wrinkles. Our skin begins to wrinkle because H.A. holds water in the good places of our skin and joints. This all important protein, Hyaluronic Acid, or H.A. not only lubricates and nourishes our joints, but it “holds” the water in our discs keeping them hydrated so they don’t shrink.

As we lose H.A. in our discs, they begin to lose their hydration. As a result, we can begin to experience stiffness and possibly impinge nearby nerves. This occurs because of lost “disc height space” needed to keep our spinal vertebrae from collapsing upon each other.

Hyaluronic Acid, or H.A. can be effectively replaced
In our clinic, we use a unique and highly absorbable clinically proven form of H.A. called “low molecular weight Hyaluronic Acid.” The low molecular weight allows this very large protein to be absorbed when consumed orally. Without this modification, the H.A. is too large to be absorbed and must be injected if it is to be of any use; if not, it will pass through our digestive tract unabsorbed, and exits via the bowel. Low molecular weight H.A. has an additional benefit; it has been shown in studies to inhibit the enzyme Hyaluronidase, which is responsible for breaking down H.A. in our body.

Drinking this low molecular weight H.A. inhibits the enzyme Hyaluronidase; this allows your H.A. levels to rise by over 60 fold (6000%) in the blood as demonstrated in clinical trials. The result for you is a better nourishment of your joints which provides better outcomes, and delays the effects of aging throughout our entire body.

For more information about how to increase disc, and skin hydration, and decrease joint discomfort and stiffness, contact us today. (link to FHS contact page)