Supper in Sapa

Today, I had a nice discussion with a patient, Martin, about whether eating meat is healthy. Martin’s brother is a butcher in Mexico. In the butcher’s small town, an animal is slaughtered and processed by hand before being sold directly to villagers. Martin told me how the meat is much paler than what we see in the supermarkets here. Does that mean it’s not as fresh? No, it’s likely...

Chiropractor or Pain Medication? What’s Best?

Say your back is hurting and you are in a lot of pain. Should you go to the urgent care and get medication, or go see a chiropractor? Well, often times chiropractic care can help, but it’s not going to be as immediate as taking a painkiller. The painkiller isn’t going to get at the root of your problem, but will quickly mask it for a while. Those of...

Can Chiropractors help with Migraines?

If you are a migraine sufferer, you know that a tension headache can’t hold a candle to your debilitating migraine attacks. You’ve lost entire days lying in dark rooms, missing out on work and play. A migraine with a visual aura or scotoma can be particularly frightening. Over the years, I have met so many people who have suffered with migraines, people who didn’t know that chiropractic care can...

Back Pain Solved by Wallet-ectomy

Quite frequently a man will come into Chiropractic Advantage with a particular kind of back pain. It may have started after a long drive, or from sitting a lot, say, in jury duty. Sometimes the pain goes down the buttock to the back of the knee. During the examination, I notice a bit of a limp, a hesitance to bend backward at the waist. If he’s really in trouble,...

Pregnancy and Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care during pregnancy is generally a great idea! Here is what you should know: There are no contraindications to getting a chiropractic adjustment during a normal pregnancy. During the first trimester, you will probably still feel comfortable lying face down on the chiropractic adjusting table. At Chiropractic Advantage, I use a special body cushion with a bowl-shaped cutout to ensure that you can comfortably lie face down until...

Chiropractors eat Veggies!

Last week, my assistant Melissa and I hung out with 100 chiropractors from across the U.S. at the Standard Process farm in Palmyra, Wisconsin. You may wonder, what can 100 chiropractors have in common? We loved the food! Here’s what was on our plates: turnips, beets, broccoli, yams, and wild rice. We met some of the nicest people, like Dr. Diana Hudgins Brown from Boaz, Alabama. Dr. Hudgins Brown,...

Heading to the Standard Process Farm

May 16-19, 2013, my assistant Melissa and I head to Wisconsin to visit the famous Standard Process organic farm! It will be great to see for ourselves how they grow the beets, kale, brussel sprouts and more that go into their whole-food supplements. We’ll find out how 25 pounds of produce get condensed down to fit into one small glass bottle. What we like about Standard Process is this:...

Living in Alignment

When our actions are in alignment with our beliefs, we are living with integrity. Do you think one thing but find yourself doing another? Let’s say you believe that drinking water in plastic bottles is harmful for your body and for the environment. You don’t want to consume a mess of hormone-disrupting chemicals, ever. But when you’re thirsty, you forget all that and find you’re holding a plastic bottle...

Hand Washing: Keep it Simple, use Soap

When did hand washing become a dangerous activity? When chemical companies started telling us we needed triclosan, an antibacterial agent. Triclosan doesn’t seem to do a better job than regular old soap, but there are a number of hazards associated with its use. It is a hormone disruptor, so it supresses testosterone and thyroid hormone levels in the body. It promotes the development of super-strains of bacteria. It slows...

A Little Common Sense Beats Too Much Health Care

In today’s Los Angeles Times, there were three articles with a common theme: too many people are being sold medical tests and procedures that do not promote better health. In the first Times article, we learn there are 220,000 bariatric surgeries performed a year. Originally it was hoped that, by undergoing this drastic procedure, people might be spared from obesity-related diseases such as diabetes and arthritis. Alas, the ongoing...