detoxification – We Only Get One Chance

EXPANDING

The services at Cafe of LIFE are EXPANDING!!!

I have been in private practice for almost 12 years. Over the years, we have seen many patients come through our doors and heal, healing on levels both big and small.

There are so many different aspects to what make up our health and while chiropractic is a BIG PART of that, many people also have other areas that need assistance to sort out and change to really express more life and ease in the day to day. Things like diet, exercise and stress-reducing activities are so important in maintaining good health.

In the end, I am only one woman. And although I have created this facility and, along with my team, have grown it into what it is today, I am still only one woman, with only so much energy and only so much time. I realize that I cannot do it all. I also realize that you all need more.

So it is PERFECT TIMING to partner with a couple of dynamic women who have been doing HOLISTIC LIFESTYLE COACHING for a few years now. Jennifer Ream and Christine Landaal, otherwise known as the OSO Sisters, live locally here in town and have been coaching through an online and telephone platform. They are ready to bring their services out into the community and reach those in search of assistance to move their lives and health forward.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing, is a certified Reiki practitioner, and is a life-long student of spiritual awareness and holistic healing. She is also a wife, mother and lover of the outdoors and enjoys helping to guide clients towards reconnecting with themselves, healing from the inside out (which is also the chiropractic philosophy, seriously a perfect match for us) and learning tools to manage everyday life with ease.

Christine has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and is a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. She is a wife and mom and has done some work with her son’s food allergies as well as healing herself through an autoimmune disease. Her knowledge and personal experience has led her to pursue her passion for nutrition and healthy living and assisting her clients on their health journeys.

WE ARE THRILLED to have such qualified and dynamic women here to assist us in furthering our mission to help serve this community better in your multitude of health needs.

Jennifer and Christine are conducting their business here Tuesday mornings from 8am-2pm. Go to www.OSOSisters.com to learn more about their services and schedule a consultation. Find them and “Like” their page on Facebook at OSOSisters or email them directly at JenandChristine@OSOSisters.com.

Some of our patients have had concerns about how we will all fit into this space. One day we hope to EXPAND the building, but for right now, we will be working with our different practicioners (there are 2 others joining us as well that I will introduce over the next couple weeks…stay tuned!!!) during hours we are not regularly open. Chiropractic care and massage therapy will carry on as they always have.

We are excited to be EXPANDING and able to offer you a little more in an INTEGRATED HEALTH TEAM atmosphere here at Cafe of LIFE.

While you are at it, grab your calendars and mark THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 to join us here at the Cafe of LIFE from 6-7pm to meet our team and learn more about our INTEGRATED HEALTH TEAM!!!

WHAT SHOULD I EAT?

“Hey Doc!!! What should I eat???” I have gotten this question so many times over the past few weeks at the Cafe of LIFE that I wanted to answer it in a much bigger way and really put some information out there for you.

There are so many concepts of this food is good, and that food is bad, and that and that is bad, and this is good. Where does one even start???????? And you might be thinking and asking that same question and maybe you have been asking these questions for a long time now.

Should I eat meat or be a vegetarian?
What about being a vegan? What about red meat? And eggs or just egg whites?
How about that gluten stuff?
What about corn? And soy? And sugar? Should I have dairy?

I do not have all the answers. I am not a nutritionist. I do however have A LOT of years of trial and error of my own, worked with patients and have done a TON of research, seminars and have been learning and learning and learning as I go.
Here are a few tips on how to determine what to eat:

EAT FOODS WITH ONE INGREDIENT: This is what my diet consists of and most of it is vegetables. What do I mean when I say ONE ingredient? Well when you look at a cucumber for instance, it is just a cucumber. I doesn’t have any additives, it hasn’t been processed and is just the thing that grew from the ground. Chicken and fish are just that, chicken and fish, just one simple ingredient, and baked or broiled, delicious. Sweet potato is just one ingredient. Lettuce, tomato, rice, oats, apple, orange…you get the picture. Cracker, for instance, is usually some sort of flour mixed with something else and baked and they added salt and probably high fructose corn syrup and all other kinds of things. So when you sit down at the table to eat your meal, how many ingredients are in the stuff on your plate? Eat more WHOLE FOODS, more items that are just the food itself, just ONE ingredient.

EAT LOTS OF PLANTS: Each time we look down at our plate and are about to eat a meal, I suggest more than half of your plate should be plants or the product of plants and is considered a PLANT BASED DIET. I am not recommending a vegan or vegetarian diet, although I do have my own good and bad experiences, that is completely up to you. You can decide if meat is right for you and which meats you choose to eat. When choosing meats, clean, organic, grass fed animals is what you want to choose. How do they grow and what do they eat when given their natural environment. So many of the meats have been mass produced at overcrowded farms. Not good. And if you are eating the meats, skip the sauces and figure out some herbs that you can use for flavor. When I say I recommend is a PLANT BASED DIET, that just means load your plate up with the vegetables and then a clean protein. In other words, consume lots of live things that grew from the ground.

PROTEIN, FAT and FIBER: One of my mentors has done away with the idea of PROTEIN, FAT and CARBOHYDRATES and has replaced the last part of that with FIBER. This goes back to getting our actual carbs from FIBER, mainly vegetables and some fruits. When we have the word “carbohydrate” on the back of a package and we know we need a certain amount of carbohydrate per day, we will give ourselves an excuse to eat some food that is not beneficial to us. This doesn’t mean that we can get our carb allowance for the day from some sort of processed food and call it the same as eating a sweet potato, oats or brown rice, it doesn’t work like that. Fiber keeps our digestive system clear and moving, keeps our blood sugar regulated and it should be the key ingredient when you go to choose your carbohydrates for the day. Let’s think about replacing the word “carbohydrate” with “FIBER” and make our choices be a lot more vegetables and a whole lot healthier.

EAT HEALTHY FATS: In this culture we have gotten to a point that we are primarily driven by sugars. Our body is breaking down sugars as an energy source and we really need to revert back to breaking down fats. If the body is constantly able to just use sugars and carbohydrates as energy source, we don’t get to the powerful energy source which is fat. When the body switches back over and starts burning fats for energy, it will start to burn more body fat and melt that right off the body as well.
How do we go about switching our bodies from sugar burners over to fat burners? Start adding super healthy fats into your diet when you need a little energy boost and at the same time
limit your sugar and carb intake. Some ideas for healthy fats are avocado, coconut and coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, whole eggs, fatty fish like salmon, fish oil or flax seed oil supplement or a little bit of dark chocolate.

DRINK MORE WATER: Water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water. Period.

In the end, our diet doesn’t need to be and probably should’t be exciting. Food is for nourishment and what I have noticed over the years, for myself and my patients, is that the cleaner and simpler it is, the more nourishing it is and the better the body feels.

The question, “What should I eat?”, I hear it a lot. There is no “one size fits all” recipe for life. In sharing this, I hope the simplicity helps a bit and helps you realize that the choices we make today effect us right away…but the long term cumulative effects of good choices really adds to our overall quality of life now and especially down the road. The name of this blog is “We Only Get One Chance” and we may as well treat our body in a way that our one time around is the healthiest it can possibly be.

SUGAR

It starts with Halloween and ends with New Years Day….SUGAR, SUGAR EVERYWHERE!!! Notably this is also considered “COLD AND FLU SEASON”. Guess what? Sugar is a major factor in decreased immune system function and when that happens, the “invaders” (viruses and bacteria) have a chance to take over.

Let’s learn some physiology…
White blood cells are a HUGE PART of your functional immune system. They travel through the body and convene around areas of “invaders” and do some clean-up work. White blood cells need Vitamin C in order to activate and do their job of phagocytosis (in essence “eating up”) of the viruses and bacteria. Sugar and Vitamin C have a very similar structure and compete for the same activation/binding site on the white blood cells. If sugar is around, Vitamin C doesn’t get to do its normal work and your immune system becomes compromised. When you decide to eat sugar, you can think of your immune system becoming a slug and slowing down to a crawl…every year…around this same time and going all the way through the New Year.

Certain minerals are required in order to process the sugar you eat. Because refined sugar doesn’t contain those minerals, chronic ingestion of sugar can lead to depleted levels of essential minerals in the body which creates further problems and compromises health.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO TO KEEP A STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM?
Great question!!! Let’s take this little bit of awareness in to this holiday season and see how making a few better choices in what you put on your plate and in your mouth can have a drastic effect on your energy levels and immune system function.

WAYS TO BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM:

Drink lots of water
Eat your vegetables
Get plenty of rest
Exercise/move your body daily
Take your vitamins
Steer clear of sugar
Steer clear of alcohol
Keep up with your regular chiropractic care
Get outside for some fresh air
Laugh often and take some time to play
Keep a positive mental attitude

The nerve system and immune system are interconnected (some will say they are the same – neuroimmuno system). When the nerve system is compromised, so is the immune system. REGULAR CHIROPRACTIC CARE will help maximize your potential for health by keeping your nerve system clear and your immune system strong. Swing in to the Café of LIFE Chiropractic Center! We would love to help you and your family have a wonderful, HEALTHFUL holiday season!!!

ADDICTION

I have uncovered an intense addiction I had no idea about.

Ten months ago, I began a new and different journey with my health. Many of the “healthy” things I was doing, especially where my diet was concerned, weren’t the most complete choices I could be making. Unbeknownst to me, I was chronically depleting my body of a few key nutrients that eventually led to disfunction of certain organ systems. Good news, it was all fixable and 70% of that has been taken care of by diet change and a tailored plan of supplementation.

There still remains a few nagging small concerns and 2 of them fall on the “autoimmune” spectrum.

I have been working closely with a nutritionist on this path and have come to the conclusion that going “gluten-free” was a necessity and so 10 weeks ago, I began my gluten-free journey.

I knew it was going to be a little challenging, however I have succeeded in completing harder tasks in my life, or at least that is what I thought when I got started.

Living in a small town is a challenge in and of itself due to the simple fact that there aren’t many resources. Fortunately for Fenton, there are 2 really great health food stores right in town and one of them tailors their entire store to the gluten-free popluation.

Day 1 of my new life was simple. I was highly aware of the shift I was making and so there was a lot on my mind, lets just say I was obsessing about food.

Day 2 started and ended pretty easily and the change appeared to be progressing smoothly.

Day 3…not so much. It turns out that I fall into a category of people that are “addicted” to gluten. When I sat back and watched what was coming up for me as well as discussions with my nutritionist, I became keenly aware that about every 3 days, I need a “gluten fix”. I needed something to spike my sugars and give me that endorphin kick.

So I pressed on and for the next 4-5 days, it was an hour by hour choice to not eat anything containing gluten. Of course, because I was so focused on getting over the hump with this process, all I could think about was eating gluten. As the days ticked by, I watched as my body’s cravings decreased little by little.

Three weeks into this process, a mourning phase set in. I remember driving home from the gym and passing by Uncle Ray’s Dairyland and becoming overwhelmingly sad because I was never going to be able to eat cookie dough ice cream ever again in my life. Do you know how much cookie dough ice cream I have eaten in the past decade? Maybe one serving. It is not something that I have on a regular basis, however in that moment, that was really sad to me.

Over the next couple weeks I came to terms with WHAT I EAT and WHAT I DO NO’T EAT and it is as simple as that. I stay strict and do not allow for little slip-ups. With gluten, and especially when dealing with gluten addiction, it is not something you can have “here and there” or “once in a while”. For me, I have to remain clean and clear of it altogether.

Today it has officially been 10 full weeks. When I first started, I thought it would be a bit challenging. In retrospect, I have to say it has been one of the hardest things I have done, but now that I am here on the other side, I am happy, healthier and will keep my life free and clear of gluten.

I have never dealt with an addiction before in my life and though this is to a mildly noxious substance, I have a bit more compassion to those who deal with addiction of any sort on a daily basis. It seems as I go through life, I am presented with lessons that do exactly that, build more compassion. I also believe that being compassionate is one of the keys to living a happy, healthy and well-rounded life…or at least I hope so. Thank you for this lesson, Universe!!

DAY 15

Today begins the last week of this 3 week cleanse that follows the book “Clean”. It has been an interesting couple weeks so far. Easy at times, difficult at times, impossibly to continue at times…anytime I am working hard to change habits, it is difficult. I think that is human nature. The first week was a challenge with detoxification headaches. I live a pretty clean lifestyle however that first physical detoxification symptoms were pretty intense.

I experienced a nagging headache for about 2.5 days. Most people wouldnt think that is “intense” however it is so rare that I ever have a headache that it did feel a little overwhelming at times because of the length of time it lasted. Last week I experienced more of just emotional cravings for food. This cleanse is done in a way that you really don’t have to walk around feeling hungry all the time. It is a peaceful contentment inside with enough nutrition to keep from feeling hungry but never an overload (overloaded tends to be the American way). Last week was free of physical symptoms but more of a feeling like I wanted to be done. The longest cleanse I have ever done was 10 days so I think it was a part of me inside that was making those requests. The great thing is that there are about 10 people doing this cleanse along with me and having those people to reach out to has been key. This past weekend was full of parties. Seems like I was at one gathering or another with food and drinks all over the place. I had beans, almonds, apples and water and had to skip the chocolate cupcakes, macaroni and cheese and other foods that are usually around when people gather. It is difficult at first however there is a piece of me that refers back to my time running the marathon. By the time I was to 22 miles, I knew I had to just finish though everything in my body was ready for me to be done. I knew that in order to get to 26.2 miles, if I didn’t do it in that moment, I would have to run 22 miles again and add 4.2 more and that it was going to be easier to continue than to start all over from 0 again. So now that I am at day 15, it is better for me to just stay strong and complete the full 21, otherwise I will have to do 15 days again and add another 6. Its easier to continue doing what I have been doing and allow my body the full spectrum of benefit, than to start all over again at a later time when I “feel like it”. So I am pushing on….I look forward to checking back in with all of you at the end. 🙂

YOGA TRAINING UPDATE

It is amazing to me how much time lapses lately before I get back on to my blog. My intention is to blog more often that I do however doesn’t time just fly by! Anyways we are a month into yoga teacher training and I wanted to give you an update about how things are going. It has been an interesting process to start the day with meditation, become vegetarian and have an asana practice (that means practice yoga) everyday. It has been a good change and addition to my life however I have also noticed that besides the three things listed above, my life is still the same. I am having to do a lot of reading and journaling on a schedule now to make sure it all fits in, however it is what I do on a daily basis anyways. I haven’t had anything really profound or any “ah-ha” moments happen just yet, though I also know that during this process, the transition can be really subtle and unnoticable on a daily basis. Today begins a 21 day cleanse from a book called “Clean”. An MD designed the plan and wrote the book to allow a way for people to use his system. He comes from a mindset that our internal environment and our overall health come from the building blocks that we put in our bodies and that we never allow our bodies a chance to switch into detox mode. His program is designed around drinking breakfast and dinner (smoothies/soups or fresh juices) with a food meal for lunch and allowing 12 hours between dinner and breakfast so the body has time to get past the digestion mode and into the detoxification mode. It seems like a real simple and easy-to-follow detox/cleanse program that I am looking forward to seeing how my body does. So far so good but it has just been one meal so far. 🙂 Spring cleaning of the house is such a mainstream idea, I often like to do spring cleaning of my body at the same time to wash away the sluggish-ness of the long winter months.

If you are not interested in doing a detoxification program full force, how about some other simple ways to detox:

-take 10 minutes out of your day to lay and do some deep breathing

-increasing the amount of water you drink

-adding fresh squeezed lemon to your water

-finding time to sweat everyday – working out, sauna or steam room

-skin brushing – light bristle brush used all over the skin prior to showering or bath

-cleaning up your diet and include lots of raw, organic fresh fruit and vegetables

If you haven’t started already, it would be really wise to become a little more conscious about what we put in our bodies. Every decision we make has ripple effects into the future…and we only get once chance.