Having the proper nutrients can affect everything from your DNA to how happy you feel. Proper nutrition is an important factor in maintaining good emotional and physical health. Alcohol consumption and eating refined foods negatively exacerbates both your emotional and physical health.

Drinking alcoholic beverages requires your body to use nutrients more rapidly. When your liver begins to feel the strain brought on by alcohol, your bloodstream, organs, glands and skeletal system then become the source by supplying much needed nutrients to boost liver function needed to detoxify alcohol, and its toxic metabolites. As a result, there are several physical issues that often occur when people try to stop drinking alcohol such as muscle weakness, blood sugar imbalances, fatigue, and generally feeling “hungover”. More serious issues include tremors, “the shakes”, nervousness and tension, poor sleep and insomnia, appetite issues, and memory issues. In many cases these issues are the result of nutrient deficiencies and chemical imbalances.

Alcohol also perpetuates a cycle of dependency which stems from a person’s lack of ability to ‘feel relaxed’ in their body. Many people reach for an alcoholic beverage because they feel they cannot relax without it. This tension stems from overly toxic organs and glands, strained to their limits, which in turn can communicate with our muscles creating ‘muscle tension’, besides an overall feeling of unease and agitation. When this occurs, the body cannot produce the adequate levels of hormones, neurotransmitters, and chemicals needed to achieve relaxation, and a deep restful sleep with few interruptions. This also can prevent your muscles from relaxing.

After a stressful event
Following a stressful event, if your body is healthy, your muscles and your mind can calm and relax itself in a ‘normal’ period of time. As a chiropractor, when palpitating the backs of patients, I frequently find that they have overly tight (‘stiff as a board” as I call it) muscles that are rigidly locked in tension. This is a result of an overly toxic burden resulting from poor diet and reliance upon medications, and alcohol plays a role in this process. Alcohol merely numbs us from feeling this tension, but does nothing to address the cause of why we feel stressed. This perpetrates a continued cycle of reliance on alcohol.

How alcohol makes you gain weight, and makes you “fatter”
Many people are unaware that alcohol, in any form, makes you fatter. Any benefits to drinking “low carb” alcoholic beverages are an advertising gimmick to fool you into thinking that you won’t gain as much weight. Believing that you can avoid the carbs and not gain as much weight, and fat, if you drink more concentrated forms of alcohol such as vodka instead of beer, isn’t accurate.

Alcohol metabolism yields a highly toxic metabolite called Acetaldehyde, which is hugely damaging to liver and pancreas; both of these organs are required for sugar metabolism. Ingesting alcohol has shown to create large spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels in certain studies. Higher blood sugar and insulin levels not only perpetuate inflammation, but also fat accumulation! Alcohol increases Triglycerides, which is a type of fat made from sugar. Triglycerides elevate in our blood, which in turn can travel and deposit anywhere in the body, but especially around our belly, and can also transform our liver into a ‘fatty liver. Every patient who has quit or cut out alcohol, and moderately changed their diet to include more whole foods, all mention how easily the fat fell off their body, and many times this was without adding exercise.

Alcohol destroys critical vitamins you need for good health.
Vitamin B-complexes are easily destroyed by alcohol. These vitamins are essential to mental and emotional well-being. Strict vegetarians can also often have Vitamin B deficiencies. Vitamin B deficiencies can trigger depression and irritability can cause neurological and cardiac disorders among alcoholics, contribute to feeling anxious, depressed, fatigued, chronically stressed and depressed. Often these feelings trigger an alcoholic’s need to ‘self-medicate’ which leads to more alcohol consumption.

Vitamin B12 is also known as “the energy vitamin” because your body requires it for a number of vital functions. These functions include energy production, blood formation, DNA synthesis, and myelin formation. According to an article by Dr Mercola, MD, “Recent studies from the U.S. Framingham trial show one in four adults in the United States are deficient in this vitally important nutrient, and nearly half the population has suboptimal blood levels.”

Other nutrient deficiencies can cause chronic depression and fatigue (Vitamin C), confusion, apathy, loss of appetite, weakness and insomnia (Magnesium), apathy, lack of appetite and lethargy (Zinc), and so on. Calcium depletion affects the central nervous system as it is required for nerve impulses.

How we detect nutritional and health related issues
Even if you take the RDA (Recommended Daily Amount) of micro-nutrients, how can you be sure you are absorbing them? Drugs can also play a role in nutrient deficiencies, as they may interfere with the proper absorption of nutrients in your body http://fundamentalhealthsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DrugNutrientDepletion.pdf. You may be eating the right foods and yet you may still be deficient in key health building and maintaining nutrients.

Our practice uses the TRIAD Blood Spot test. This is a simple test that our patients perform in the comfort of their home. It requires obtaining a blood spot/smear, and a urine collection, all contained within the kit performed by the individual and does not require a lab. This test, which is billable to insurance, collects a large amount of data, more than most lab tests used today, that tells us what nutrient deficiencies you are experiencing, how well your body is healing and repairing itself, neurotransmitter status required for optimal brain function, gut health, any hidden infections, food sensitivities which can hinder your energy and fatigue levels, energy production and maintenance. We continually hear from patients how amazed and appreciative they are from the results, which are printed in a neat, easy to read 10 page colored report, which also outlines your nutritional deficiencies.

This test can provide answers for many people who feel as if they are aging faster than they should, or for those who are approaching their senior years but who want to maintain an active and vital life.

Call or contact us now for more information on how we can help you feel good again, avoid the nutrient depletion “pull” to drink again, have more energy, and reduce aging related issues that can be reversed.

References:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/19/warning-potentially-life-threatening-vitamin-deficiency-affects-25-percent-of-adults.aspx

https://www.bouldermedicalcenter.com/articles/Alcohol_Nutrition.htm

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)

Nutritional deficiencies can contribute to visible signs of aging, as well as feeling that loss of vitality! This can happen for a number of reasons. The high stressed, fast paced lifestyle that most people experience increases poor dietary choices, which hastens nutrient depletion even if you are eating well.

As we age, most people begin to experience an increase in fine lines and deep creases, skin wrinkles, our faces begin to appear more hollow and less plump the way we looked when we were teenagers, and even issues like receding gums. We address these issues by looking at what builds health in the body by focusing on the foundational areas that contribute to looking older. In addition to helping our skin and joints look and feel better, a key to turning around the aging challenge also addresses digestive issues. As a result, the visible signs of aging slow, and even reverse, for people who have followed our schedule of care.

Skin, Joints, and Gum Health
After the age of 40, our collagen levels begin to decline. Collagen, the most abundant body protein, is responsible for giving skin a youthful, resilient, wrinkle free appearance. It is also an important protein that helps to hold our joints together as well as to cushion them. With collagen, we can have a bounce to our step. When collagen levels are lower than they should be, the bounce is replaced by a feeling of stiffness and discomfort. Less collagen also means our skin begins to lose the fullness we had in the past.

That “bounce to your step” is also impacted by the presence of Chondroitin Sulfate, due to the shock absorbing features that it provides. Low levels of it can make you “feel” your joints with every step you take. If your levels of Chondroitin Sulfate are sub-optimal, then maintaining a lively gait can be much of a challenge.

Hyaluronic Acid, or H.A. also is a key factor needed to maintain a youthful appearance, because it is responsible for giving our skin a more full, wrinkle free look. It also lubricates our joints! Maintaining the right levels of H.A. means that we look and feel more youthful. As our H.A. levels decline after birth, we often experience more physical effects of aging, including joint stiffness, discomfort and decreased range of motion. Low levels of H.A. are also associated with skin wrinkles, creases, deep folds, and fine lines. Patients have also reported improved gum health as well as reduced, and even corrected dry eye problems. With regular use of highly absorbable form of H.A., the body is able to produce the natural lubrication that the eyes need for good ocular health.

Food Absorption Impacts Muscle Mass
Even if you eat the right foods which contain quality protein, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, that does not mean you will necessarily absorb them! Under production of Hydrochloric (stomach) acid, and stomach acid suppressive therapies, along with low levels of enzymes can lead to mal-absorption of nutrients. One way this is evident is with a decline of muscle mass. Without addressing this, a person can become frail, which means they have inadequate muscle mass for their age. As we lose muscle mass, we begin to more easily accumulate fat since muscle is required to burn fat. Once the stomach’s acid production is returned to normal levels, and sufficient levels of enzymes are present, we can absorb our nutrients.

Weight gain and loss
Enzymes, exercise, and good colon health help our bodies regulate proper weight by absorbing and eliminating our food quickly, thereby speeding up our metabolism. Enzymes help us detoxify our tissues more quickly, and at a deeper level, which helps our body have a proper metabolism needed to maintain a healthy weight. Eating foods that are appropriate for our blood type can determine how efficiently we “burn” calories, and how we look and feel. Weight gain can often occur when we eat foods that are not compatible with our blood type.

Regain that peppy feeling
Today most people are drained and tired, feeling depleted of energy. One of those factors is stress. Stress can come from environmental factors, our demanding lifestyle, and physical injuries, whether from accidents, traumas, or sports related. While we can mask the feeling of stress by using caffeine, nicotine, and refined sugars, the key is to address your energy levels at the cellular level so that you can feel energetic in a way that helps your body and builds good health, while helping you feel more energetic.

Mental Clarity
Low levels of blood oxygen have been shown to contribute to physical and mental fatigue, “fuzzy” thought, poor endurance, lactic acid build up and a decreased ability to heal. To increase your blood’s ability to carry oxygen, debris in the blood needs to be cleaned up. The cleaner the blood, the more effectively it can transport oxygen to essential body parts of your body such as the heart, muscles, and the brain. Debris includes high serum protein levels, and oxidized solids such as plaque, cholesterol, uric acid and fibrin, all which decrease the blood’s ability to carry oxygen by congesting your blood and thickening blood vessel walls via inflammation.

Blood tests to identify these conditions can be done in our office via live blood cell analysis, and out of office via our comprehensive functional blood chemistry analysis.

At Fundamental Health Solutions, our anti-visible aging supplementation program includes the use of a clinically tested, bio-available liquid supplement that contains highly absorbable collagen, chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid, known for helping to hydrate your skin, as well as the ability to contribute to joint lubrication

Besides providing our body a structural framework which allows our muscles, ligaments, and connective tissue to work, our bones provide a mineral reserve that our body calls upon during times of depletion and stress.

Contained within our bone tissue are large amounts of important minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, boron, protein, and vitamins.  These are used by our body, released from our bones, to drive other essential chemical reactions in the body. For long term bone and overall health, your bones need to have an adequate supply on reserve.

Why is bone health so important to the rest of our body?    Our bone marrow, the innermost portion of our bones, is the “manufacturing plant” for all our blood cells.   Bone marrow makes our red blood cells, which carry precious oxygen to our organs and glands, and returns the gaseous waste product carbon dioxide back to our lungs.  Bone marrow makes all of our immune cells, called white blood cells, which are the guardians of our health.   Our bone marrow also makes platelets, the third type of blood cell, which serves to clot blood when we are bleeding.  When our bone health suffers, only a good “Health Detective” will seek out the underlying cause.

Thick Bone Versus Strong Healthy Bone
It is the quality of a bone’s composition that makes them strong, not necessarily the thickness.  Because conventional approaches only look at thickness, and not bone quality, the structural integrity of our skeletal system is suboptimal.  For example, one type of conventional approach allows weaker, poorer quality bone tissue to build up to achieve thicker bones.  The quality of these thicker bones often contains dead bone tissue that should have been removed in the first place. Good quality bone means that the bone is of strong architecture.

At Fundamental Health Solutions we use a more sensitive laboratory test called the NTx Osteomark Urinary Assay to assess bone health. The NTx urinary assay measures a specific amino acid unique to bone which is found in the urine and detects subtle changes in bone loss, which occurs in everyone over the age of 50. This test provides more information than traditional tests, such as a DEXA scan, without radiation exposure.

DEXA Scan Versus The NTx Urinary Test

The NTx Osteomark Urinary Assay measures present, not past bone loss and it measures the bone loss rate.  Unlike DEXA scans, we can measure your bone health every 3 months, or less, versus annually.  This also allows us to monitor the effectiveness of the recommended protocol, as well as measuring system wide bone loss, versus (DEXA) only focal bone loss.  The NTx Urinary test is an easy and non-invasive way for our patients that enables us to monitor and identify potential problems with your bones before they turn into a more serious problem.