Can What We Drink Make Us Overweight?

Over the past two decades, obesity has escalated to epidemic proportions in the United States and many countries around the world.  More than one billion adults throughout the world are overweight.  Here in the United States, 129.6 million persons (64% of the population) aged 20-74 years are overweight, and 30% of those (38.9 million) are obese.  This obesity epidemic is also seen in children and adolescents.  The reason this concerns health professionals is because being excess weight and obesity are associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.

In our country there is an increase in rates of obesity with consumption of carbohydrates, especially in the form of added sugars.  Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly carbonated soft drinks, is a key contributor to our country's obesity problem because of their high sugar content.  In fact, the increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the prevailing sweetener used to flavor calorically sweetened beverages in our country, has been found to mirror the growth of the obesity epidemic.  

A 12-oz can of soda provides approximately 40-50 g of sugar in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, which is equivalent to 10 teaspoons of table sugar.  One soda per day could lead to a weight gain of 15 lb. in a single year.  The consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages increases fat tissue more than either sucrose-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages.  This is important because most soft drinks in our country are sweetened with HFCS.  HFCS is rapidly absorbable, and therefore is particularly apt to cause wight gain and type-2 diabetes.  It also significantly increases inflammation in the human body.  In addition, most sodas contain phosphate.  Increased phosphate in the diet can cause bone mineral density loss and bone fracture.  Fruit juices, which are consumed in great quantities by young children, are linked to childhood obesity. 

In close, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda and fruit drinks should be discouraged as much as possible.  It may be time to change the proverbial saying from "you are what you eat" to "you are what you drink".

Treatment of Work-Related Low Back Pain

Low back pain is one of the costliest work-related injuries in our country in terms of disability and treatment costs.  Despite this awareness, there has been little success in preventing the recurrence of this condition.  In 2011 a study was performed that analyzed the effectiveness of treatment of work-related low back pain, comparing physical therapy, medicine and chiropractic.  The following conclusions were deducted from the study:

• Patients that manage their pain with chiropractic are significantly less likely to have a recurrence of low back pain.
• Chiropractic patients that do have a recurrence of low back pain do so an average of 29 days later than those that manage their pain with physical therapy or allopathic medicine.
• Patients that manage their pain with chiropractic have shorter periods of disability, meaning they returned to work earlier.
• Chiropractic patients have fewer surgeries, used fewer opioid medications and have lower costs for medical care than the other provider groups.
• The reduced recurrence of low back disability is the consequence of chiropractic care.
• No health maintenance care is generally as good as chiropractic care.

When it comes to treatment of work-related low back pain, this study suggests that chiropractic is more effective than physical therapy or medicine.

What's the Story With Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is synthesized by skin cells in the human body in response to sunlight exposure.  It has received a significant amount of attention recently regarding the health benefits it provides.  It is crucial for the absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorous, which are important in maintaining the integrity of our neuromuscular and skeletal systems.   It aids our immune system.  It regulates over 1,000 genes in our body.  It may even play a role in preventing asthma, multiple sclerosis and cancer. 

Optimizing your vitamin D levels may be one of the most important steps you can take in support of your long-term health.  The ideal way to do this is by exposing large amounts of your skin to sunlight during peak hours (10am to 3pm), specifically your face, arms, hands and back.  Fifteen to twenty minutes of sun exposure at least twice a week without sunscreen is required for your body to synthesize adequate amounts of vitamin D.  However, because our location of residence is far from the equator, our sunlight exposure is less during the late fall, winter and early spring months.  Therefore, supplementing with vitamin D during these months is recommended.  Animal-based food sources, such as fish, cod-liver oil, lard, egg yolks and butter also contain vitamin D.  As a generic guideline, adults need to take about 2,000 IU's per day when sunlight exposure is minimal, however more may be clinically warranted, depending on an individual's current health status and vitamin D level.

Coping with Chronic Pain

Studies indicate that 19% of American adults — almost 1 in 5 — say they suffer from chronic pain.  Although the pain can be frustrating, research indicates that lifestyle-related pain management strategies can improve quality of life.  Here are 6 suggestions to help cope with chronic pain:

1. Eat Well: Inflammation equals pain.  Eating foods that reduce inflammation, such as fruits and vegetables, deep-sea fish and healthy fats (olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds, fish oil etc) while avoiding toxic food additives like MSG, artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup will help nourish your body's tissues.

2. Sleep: Allow adequate sleep to refresh your body.  Remember: consistency is king.  Maintain a consistent sleep schedule.

3. Physical Activity: Movement is life.  Incorporate daily physical activity into your routine.  We suggest focusing on low-impact activities, such as walking, biking or swimming. 

4. Get a Grip on Your Stress: Mental stress and negative thoughts will increase pain.  Practice relaxation techniques throughout the day, such as yoga, deep breathing techniques and self-affirmations to relieve your stress.  And don't forget about exercise :)

5. Develop a Social Support Network: Isolating yourself from others due to the pain may actually worsen the symptoms. 

6. Gonstead Chiropractic: Many chronic pain symptoms are related to structural misalignments within the joints of your body.  Gonstead Chiropractic offers the most specific and precise chiropractic approach, not only for analyzing potential structural concerns, but also in correcting them. 

The Complications of Spinal Surgery

In January of 2012 a study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Spine that studied the mortality rate and complication rate in adults undergoing complex spinal surgery.  This included hospital deaths, unplanned second surgeries, wound infections requiring re-operation and hospital re-admission during the same calendar year as the original surgery.  They also examined adverse events during surgery and after surgery, as well as hospital length of stay.  Nine hundred forty-two (942) patients were studied over a 12-month period. 
The study reported that the average length of stay in the hospital was 13.5 days.  Eighty-seven percent (87%) of the patients had at least one documented complication.  Fourteen deaths (14) were reported during the study.  The rate of adverse events during surgery was 10.5% and the rate after surgery was 73.5%.  The study concluded that major spinal surgery is associated with a high rate of adverse events, and that the true complexity of this surgery may be greatly underestimated.