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

Having the proper nutrients can affect everything from how healthy and strong your bones are, to how happy you feel. Proper nutrition is an important factor in maintaining good emotional and physical health. Often we think of people who easily break their bones as being elderly, and in obvious poor health. Lifestyle choices that include alcohol consumption, strict vegetarianism and refined foods can contribute to early onset of poor bone health and other issues, as a result of nutrient deficiencies. Many strict vegetarians also are very diligent about their nutrient sources and for good reason.

I was recently told of a woman who was an avid runner, and a strict vegetarian. She was not diligent about addressing her nutrition. At around 40 years of age, one day she took what seemed like a misstep on a sidewalk and fell, screaming in pain. Part of her shin bone had shattered in pieces and she now has metal plates in her leg. At no time previous nor after this event were any nutritional tests run, so this woman still runs the risk of further injuries.

Vitamin D is important to your bone health
According to the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:”
“For adults, vitamin D deficiency has more subtle effects on the skeleton, and can lead to a situation of reduce bone mineral density and ultimately precipitate or exacerbate osteoporosis. Vitamin D deficiency causes a mineralization defect of the collagen matrix that is laid down by osteoblasts. The rubbery matrix does not provide structural support, which increases the risk of fracture.”

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? Besides RDA values being outdated and insufficient, drugs can also play a role in creating nutrient deficiencies, as they can interfere with the proper absorption of nutrients in your body. 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.

Bone Health
We also work with the NTx Urinary test, which is a non-radiation based test that provides information on bone health. 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. Read more about this on our main website: (http://fundamentalhealthsolutions.com/services/diagnostics/bone-density/)

Both tests can provide answers for people who are concerned about their bone health, and are wondering if nutritional deficiencies are contributing their feeling suboptimal in terms of vitality and energy.

Call or contact us now for more information on how we can help you feel good again, avoid nutrient depletion, physical and emotional drain, and to assess how good your bone currently is, compared to where it should be.

References:
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/80/6/1678S.full
http://fundamentalhealthsolutions.com/services/diagnostics/bone-density/

Ron introduced his exclusive formulas to Tom, who at the time could bench press over 400 pounds. Tom Manno is considered to have been the world’s strongest man over 40 years of age. He shattered 53 world records and 80 American records. At his peak, he bench pressed slightly less than 900 pounds. Tom used the Enriching Gifts product line (which we carry at Fundamental Health Solutions) to achieve his amazing results.

Identifying nutritional depletion that contributes to performance issues, range of motion, pain, stiffness, joint and fascia issues is key to maintaining optimum health. All athletes utilize almost every nutrient more rapidly than non-athletes, so it is important to focus on areas of deficiency so that athletes can compete at optimum level. Neglected nutrient depletion can contribute to: lack of stamina and endurance, improper coordination, inability to provide “bursts” of strength, stiffness, decreased range of motion. It is important to find out what nutrients are missing in your body if you want to maintain your competitive edge.