Your gut hosts upwards of 100 trillion bacteria, yeast and other microbes with over 500 strains of the microflora. There are only about 75 trillion of your own cells in the human body.
Take a moment to let that sink in. There is an entire living ecosystem within your body that has a population greater than yourself! Much like our own planet’s ecosystem, the gut’s ecosystem works in a very balanced and symbiotic manner if left unfettered. In fact, these organisms are vital in affecting blood-sugar balance, cholesterol metabolism, making vitamins and many other functions. And, between 50-75% of your body’s immune system is associated with your gut.
Most Americans do not have a healthy gut. The 2nd and 5th most prescribed medications in 2008 were the heartburn drugs Nexium and Prevacid.
There are many reasons why you may be having gut issues. These can include food allergies, abnormal amounts of certain bacteria, parasites, antibiotic use, low amounts of acid or enzymes, or damage caused by many factors. Gut health is crucial for overall health. If your body is unable to digest and absorb the nutrients in your food, your whole body suffers. Taking an antacid for your heartburn or a laxative, unfortunately, doesn’t fix the underlying causes.
Healing Tip of the Week
Try making homemade sauerkraut (fermented cabbage). Cabbage, which is the starting material for sauerkraut, is high in glutamine, which is essential for gut repair. Homemade sauerkraut also contains large amounts of bacteria known to be good for gut health. Not to mention it tastes great on a bratwurst!
> In a recent study,“Manipulation or Microdiskectomy for Sciatica?” from the October 2010 Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, researchers concluded that spinal manipulation (as performed by a chiropractor) was just as effective as microdiskectomy for patients struggling with sciatica (pain, numbness, or weakness in one or both legs), secondary to lumber disk herniation.
Overall, 60 percent of patients who received chiropractic care benefited to the same degree as those who underwent surgery. Further the 40 percent who could not be helped by chiropractic care, did go on to benefit to the same degree from the subsequent surgery as those who underwent surgery initially. “There was no detrimental effect cause by delaying their surgical treatment.”
The medical researchers concluded “our research supports spinal manipulation performed by a doctor of chiropractic is a valuable and safe treatment option for those experiencing symptomatic lumber disk herniation, failing traditional medical management. These individuals should consider spinal manipulation as a primary treatment, followed by surgery if unsuccessful.”
Separate studies that I’ve reviewed have additionally proven that cold laser, traction, core rehabilitation, and acupuncture are also effective in treating disk herniations. The Advanced Wellness Center uniquely provides expertise in, and can combine for even greater efficacy, all of these treatments, thus providing our patients the best possible results in overcoming the agony of many debilitating conditions such as disk herniation and sciatica. I’ve personally experienced this very condition and am thankful to the doctors of the Advanced Wellness Center for helping me to overcome it.
Dr. Mark deDubovay, DC, CTN
Healthy Tip: Always consider alternative medicine options first, as many of our patients do. Tell your friends that each and every one of our practitioners offers complementary consultations. During these appointments, all questions can be thoughtfully answered and appropriate care
One question I get asked a great deal is, “Should I stretch before or after I exercise?” Many of us have been taught (since Little League) that you always need to stretch before you do heavy physical activity to avoid injuries. To most of us, this means the type of stretching where you reach down to touch your toes and hold for 15 to 30 seconds.
However, most exercise experts now agree that this type of stretching should be saved for after your workout. When performing stretches that involve long holding times and no movement, also known as static stretches, you are actually temporarily weakening the muscles that you’re stretching. This isn’t good if you’re preparing to play a sport or do exercise where strength and coordination of these muscles is crucial for performance and safety. Instead I recommend what’s called a dynamic warm-up. This involves explosive movements, such as jump squats or lunges, where muscles are being activated rather than turned off. It’s kind of like telling them “wake up, its time to work.”
The static stretching is crucial after your workout. This is where we’re trying to condition your muscles to be “long and strong;” a great recipe for performance and safety.
Healing Tip of the Week Try a dynamic warm-up instead of your static stretches before a workout. I personally like the one demonstrated at the link listed below.
Here is a cooking tip from a Spaniard. Growing up in Spain made me appreciate the simplicity of many of the tasty foods from Spain.
One of the secrets of such cuisine is the liberal use of garlic in combination with parsley. It’s simple and affordable. It gives food a zest it would otherwise lack, and it’s very healthy. Garlic contains hundreds of nutrients and minerals. And, it has powerful antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal properties.
And the best part is that when you handle garlic and find it difficult to get rid of its smell on your hands or your utensils, you just rub parsley on them and voila! The smell disappears.
I had been going to the Advanced Wellness Center for about ten years for Chiropractic adjustments so was very familiar with the center and everything it offered. Usually, I would just go in whenever I felt the need to be adjusted.
A case of a really sore thumb made me look into Acupuncture. It had really gotten to a point where I couldn’t even use my left hand, and the cortisone shots that my primary doctor prescribed were only temporary cures. After the second cortisone shot failed to relieve my pain, I decided to pursue another cure for my thumb.
I took the time to educate myself about Acupuncture and I was convinced that it would help me. I was a little apprehensive. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted a bunch of needles being pierced into my skin. But I knew it was the right move to make and after meeting Dhannel I decided to just go for it!
She was very professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. I was definitely impressed!
I began going in for treatment two days a week for the first month. After those first 30 days, the pain was 50 percent improved. I felt so much better. After the second month, I began to go in weekly, bi-weekly and now monthly. Even now that I am only going in on a monthly basis, I feel like 90 percent of the pain in my thumb is completely gone.
I have also noticed another astonishing effect of the treatment. Since I began going in, I no longer get hot flashes. Its great!
Acupuncture heals. It is completely worth giving it a try, no matter what type of pain you suffer. Go see the practitioners at the Advanced Wellness Center.
In an effort to give back to our devoted patient base, the Oriental Medicine Department is offering a new summer special!
As one of our patients, you understand the value of great health. We would like to encourage you to offer that same value to your friends and family.
Our Friends Helping Friends Program will help you do just that! Tell them about us, and they will receive a 50% discount on their New Patient Visit with one of our experienced acupuncturists. And, for referring your friends and family, you will receive 50% off your next visit with your acupuncturist.
Let your friend know which acupuncturist you want him or her to schedule with. When they call to set their appointment, have them mention your name as the referral source and the Friends Helping Friends Program. After their first scheduled visit, which includes a one-hour consultation, exam and discussion of findings, you will get 50% off your next visit!
Enjoy a happy, healthy summer!
Don Hockersmith
Acupuncture Dept. Administration
* This offer is only applicable with the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Dept. of the Advanced Wellness Center.
Healing Tip of the Week
Make sure that when your friends or loved ones call to schedule the first appointment, they mention our Friends Helping Friends Program and your name. We want to make sure to thank you for the referral with 50% off your next visit!
I don’t think anybody enjoys having to take a daily dose of medication. My digestive system was at a point where I could barely eat plain rice without feeling the effect later. After being diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and liver disease a few months ago, my primary care physician recommended I go on a cycle of daily drugs, lose some weight, and then come back in six months.
To me, liver disease seemed much more important than a “lose some weight and see me in six months.” And at my young age (early 30s), there was no way I was going to begin a lifetime of popping daily pills. I was sure there had to be an alternative. So, I fought it the way any young person would. I Googled it.
I went home and did some research. I quickly found the Advanced Wellness Center (AWC) in the rankings for my local search. After checking out the website, I had no reason not to give them a shot. I called and made an appointment with Sese Novas, DC.
Dr. Novas asked me a lot about my lifestyle and developed an in-depth grasp of my health issues. She also went over my lab exams and gave me a better understanding of what the results showed.
She really woke me up and made me realize what I was doing to myself. Her advice made me want to better my life. And this was all within the first couple of minutes of my consultation. Even before any treatment.
Dr. Novas made several chiropractic adjustments to help alleviate some pains I had been having. Her advice and treatment really helped me get to the root of the problem and showed me how to cure myself through my everyday life. Also, she referred me to Dhannel, an acupuncturist at the AWC, and she helped immensely!
Four months after I began treatment at the Advanced Wellness Center, I went back to my physician for a “progress report.” The results were amazing!
I had lost 35 lbs.
My blood pressure was normal.
My cholesterol was well balanced.
And best of all, my liver enzymes were back to normal and there was no sign of disease.
My physician was absolutely astonished and said she had never seen such an amazing turnaround.
Thanks to Dr. Novas and the Advanced Wellness Center, I am now living a much healthier, happier life. She inspired me to get back into running and now I am back to being fit and running 5-6 days a week.
The Advanced Wellness Center helped me help myself. They helped me save my life.
Have you been feeling overly anxious or overwhelmed with “the tasks of life”? Signs or symptoms of anxiety can be feelings of apprehension and powerlessness, fatigue, increased heart rate with sensations of heat, or even a sense of panic or danger around. Being uncomfortable in ones own skin is a common term used in relation to having experienced some sort of anxiety state. Anxiety disorders affect more than 18 million American adults in any given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Although looked at as bad, anxiety can be viewed, as a sign to observe why this is occurring time and again. Feelings of uncertainty and being fearful of situations lead us to a condition we all know as “stress”. These stressors, or tasks of life, need to be merely managed or reevaluated to find balance within our daily life.
An increased sense of awareness is a great start to more clearly understand the causes of an anxious state. Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher, stated, “When one is depressed they are living in the past, and when one is anxious, one is living in the future”. Here we can see how the busy mind and feelings of increased needs can cause the body’s nervous system to react. Moving away from this state and being more still with ones own self can guide one to more peace.
Through Chinese medicine, we can further understand how our emotions have a direct affect on our physical body. Acupuncture, Chinese herbs, food and lifestyle cultivation are great ways to calm anxiety and provide relaxation for the mind and body.
I had suffered foot pain for years. Some days it would be slightly less than others, but it was still a daily battle for me. It got to a point where I couldn’t ever wear heels. I tried numerous treatments, pills and therapies but nothing seemed to work.
So, I decided it was time for me to get rid of it once and for all. I underwent foot surgery.
As always, I was promised that surgery would be the answer to my problems and the end to my pain. Surgery came and went, but my foot pain remained. I went back to pain relievers and physical therapy but still could not find the relief I was looking for.
One day as I was shopping at the Marketplace, on my way to Trader Joe’s, I came across the Advanced Wellness Center.
I walked in and immediately felt like I was at the right place. When I met Dhanell, my acupuncturist, she made me feel like I could really trust her. I began going in once or twice per month, and at times would even go on a weekly basis; that’s how impactful her treatment was on me.
Dhanell treats my entire body, not just my foot. She really took the time to identify my needs and best of all, she has healed my foot pain.
I have recommended the Advanced Wellness Center numerous times and will continue to do so. They did for me something that even surgery couldn’t. Their professional staff and attentive practitioners really know how to heal.
Thank you Dhanell, I’m finally wearing heels again!
My relationship with the Advanced Wellness Center began about five years ago when my son went to see Dr. Barbara Shur. I don’t remember who recommended her to my family, but we are grateful nonetheless.
My son had suffered from a blinding headache for days. Nothing helped. But, after just one visit with Dr. Shur, he was pain free.
I remembered this experience when, last summer, I suffered from extreme sciatica. At first, I saw both Dr. Fuhrman and Dr. Mark, then Dr. Fuhrman took over my care full time. He used a variety of chiropractic techniques and within four weeks I was pain free.
Toward the end of the year I had another bout with that deep debilitating pain, so once again I went to see Dr. Fuhrman. He worked on me and suggested that I add some sessions of acupuncture to my treatment plan.
I made an appointment with Vince and the treatments went very well. By the end of the month, I was again without any pain at all.
For months, I continued to see Dr. Fuhrman for maintenance, since my x-rays show that I have virtually no discs left in my lumbar spine. I want to make sure I take care of myself.
And I hope to go back to him within a couple of months – just as soon as this cast comes off my foot. Dr. Fuhrman doesn’t know this yet, but I broke my foot and needed surgery.
Thank goodness for the Advanced Wellness Center. I know that once I can walk without a cast and see the professionals at the AWC, I’ll be able to get back to a pain-free status once again.
