Avoid these Foods

AVOID:

Ripened cheeses (Cheddar, Emmentaler, Stilton, Brie, Camembert)

                              (permissible cheeses: American, cottage, cream, Velveeta)

Herring, pickled or dried

Chocolate

Anything fermented, pickled, or marinated

Sour cream (no more than ½ cup daily)

Nuts, peanut butter

Sourdough bread, breads, and crackers containing cheese or chocolate

Broad beans, lima beans, fava beans, snow peas

Foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG)-soy sauce, meat tenderizers, seasoned salt

Figs, raisins, papayas, avocados, red plums (no more than ½ cup daily)

Citrus fruits (no more than ½ cup daily)

Bananas (no more than ½ cup daily)

Pizza

Excessive amounts of tea, coffee, or cola beverages (no more than 2 cups daily)

Sausage, bologna, pepperoni, salami, summer sausage, hot dogs

Chicken livers, pate

Alcoholic beverages: (If you do drink, limit yourself to two normal size drinks selected from Haute Sauterne, Riesling, Seagram’s VO, Cutty Sark)

Diet and Headache

Diet and Headache

Below is a list of foods that may trigger headaches. Dietary triggers do not necessarily contribute to headaches in all patients. Certain foods may trigger attacks in certain individuals, but not on every occasion. Be your own expert by trying to log the foods you have eaten before a migraine attack and see whether their removal reduces or eliminates your headaches.

The Lingering Effects of Whiplash

The Lingering Effects of Whiplash

Soft-tissue Injuries of the Cervical Spine 15-year Follow-up

Key Points from Dan Murphy

1)      At a mean of 15.5 years post whiplash trauma, 70% of whiplash-injured patients continued to complain of symptoms referable to the original accident.

2)      Long-term symptoms from whiplash injury include neck pain, arm paresthesia, back pain, headache, dizziness, and tinnitus.

3)      Women and older patients have a worse outcome from whiplash injuries.

4)      Radiating arm pain is more common in those with severe symptoms.

5)      Between 10 and 15 years after the accident, 18% of the patients had improved, whereas 28% had deteriorated.

6)      Soft-tissue injuries to the cervical spine may give persisting symptoms.

7)      Most whiplash-injured patients reach their final state by two years after being injured, but this study shows ongoing symptom fluctuation between years 10 to 15.

8)      At the 15-year follow-up, neck pain was present in 65% and low-back pain was present in 48%.

9)      80% of women and 50% of men continued to have symptoms at 15 years.

10)   Back pain and tinnitus increased between years 10 and 15.

11)   Symptoms remained static in 54%, improved in 18% and worsened in 28%.

12)   Degenerative changes are associated with a worse prognosis for recovery.

13)   60% of symptomatic patients had not seen a doctor in the previous five years because the doctors were unable to help them.

14)   18% had taken early retirement due to health problems, which they related to the whiplash injury.

15)   Whiplash symptoms do not improve after settlement of litigation.

16)   Most radiating pain is referral from the facets, and not radicular.

17)   Chronic whiplash symptoms will cause an abnormal psychological assessment after 3 months.

18)   In this study, 100% of patients with severe ongoing problems had cervical spine degeneration.

5 so-called health foods you should avoid

               5 so-called health foods you should avoid

Eating healthy can be harder than you think, thanks to an enterprising food industry that wants us to consume more than we need. That’s because our country’s agricultural system produces twice what most people require, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. This encourages creative marketing to unload the excess, much of it with minimal nutritional value. As a nutrition consultant, I know that words such as “low fat,” “high fiber,” “multigrain” and “natural” can fool even the most sophisticated customers into believing what they’re buying is healthful. So what can you do? First, make a habit of reading the ingredients list, not just the Nutrition Facts panel. And remember the following products worth resisting.

Reduced-fat peanut butter
The oil is the healthiest part of a nut, containing most of the nutrients, so there’s no advantage to taking it out. In fact, it’s worse because it robs the peanut butter of its health benefits. “Reduced-fat peanut butter has as many calories and more sugar than the regular,” says Bonnie Liebman, nutrition director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Instead: Buy regular peanut butter. Eating one or two ounces of nuts daily is associated with reductions in heart disease and cancer risk. A recent Harvard study showed that eating nuts is associated with lower body weights.

 Enhanced water
Drinks such as Vitaminwater are essentially sugary drinks with a vitamin pill. They are “unequivocally harmful to health,” says Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s School of Public Health. “Whether vitamins dissolved in water have any benefit will depend on who you are and whether you are already getting enough. . . . Some people may be getting too much of some vitamins and minerals if they add vitamin water on top of fortified foods and other supplements.” A recent Iowa Women’s Health Study found an association between certain commonly used vitamin and mineral supplements and increased death rates.
Instead: Drink water, ideally from the tap (“Eau du Potomac,” as it’s known locally). It’s the best drink for hydrating your body, is naturally calorie-free and contains fluoride to prevent tooth decay. No supplement matches the nutrients in whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains.

Energy bars
The reputation of these bars, also known as meal replacement bars, is that they are healthy, aid in weight loss or help build muscle. In fact, they are calorie bombs: candy bars with vitamins, protein or fiber added. For most of them, sugar is either the first (predominant) or second ingredient.
Instead: Snack on fruit or veggies for weight loss and yogurt for muscle gain. If you’re hiking a long distance and want a healthful, nonperishable calorie bomb, try nuts and dried fruit.

Multigrain foods
Multigrain breads, crackers and cereals are often the most confusing foods. People see “multigrain” and think “whole grain.” That’s not necessarily so. This is an important distinction because people who eat whole grains have a lower incidence of diabetes, heart disease and cancers, and are less likely to be overweight compared with those who eat refined grains. Note that when “enriched wheat flour” is listed in the ingredients, that’s refined flour.
Instead: Be sure a whole grain, such as whole wheat, whole oats or brown rice, is the first and preferably the only grain in the ingredient list. A great example is a cereal listing whole rolled oats as the only grain. Alternatively, consider an egg for breakfast. “The huge amounts of refined starch and sugar that many people eat for breakfast, often thinking that this is the healthy choice, does far more damage to their well-being than an egg,” says Harvard’s Willett.

Non-fried chips and crackers
It’s easy to believe these foods are healthful because of labels such as “baked,” “low fat” or “gluten free.” But most are made with refined grain or starch, which provide plenty of calories and few nutrients. Popchips, for example, are a new product marketed as healthful. But the ingredients are highly refined potato flakes, starch, oil, salt and about 14 additional things. Pita chips, made with white flour, oil, salt and several more ingredients, are no better. To boot, research shows that too much refined grains and starches increases the risk for heart disease, cancers, diabetes and weight gain.
Instead: Try Wasa or Finn Crisp Original Rye crackers. They’re 100 percent whole grain and have little sodium. If you’d like a chip, try Terra Chips, made with sliced vegetables, or even a 100 percent whole grain chip fried in a healthy oil, such as olive or canola. Tortilla chips and SunChips are two examples. “Now that trans fats have been removed from most cooking oils, the healthiest part of potato chips is the fat,” Willett says. “And chips made of whole grains rather than potatoes, like Frito-Lay’s SunChips, can legitimately be considered a health food,” so long as you keep to the one-ounce serving size. 

7 bad foods that are actually good for you

           7 bad foods that are actually good for you

Are you shying away from bad foods that are actually good for you? With all the hoopla about healthful eating, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. As a nutrition consultant, I’ve come to realize there is no shortage of surprises and superstitions in the world of nutrition. Here are reasons to enjoy some of your favorites.

Gluten and wheat
They are “the most demonized ingredients beyond high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil,” said Melissa Abbott, culinary director at the Hartman Group, a company specializing in consumer research.
Yet decades of studies have found that gluten-containing foods, such as whole wheat, rye and barley, are vital for good health, and are associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and excess weight.
“Wheat is a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals,” said Joanne Slavin, nutrition professor at the University of Minnesota. She added that the confusion about gluten, a protein, has caused some people to avoid eating wheat and other grains.
Only about 1 percent of the population, or less, cannot tolerate gluten and must eradicate it from their diet to ease abdominal pain and other symptoms, including the ability to fully absorb vitamins.
One reason wheat-free or gluten-free diets are popular is that people who don’t eat wheat often end up bypassing excess calories in sweets and snack foods. Then they start feeling better, lose weight, and mistakenly attribute their success to gluten or wheat avoidance.

Eggs
Eggs also don’t deserve their bad reputation. In recent decades, their high cholesterol content has been thought to play a role in increasing LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and heart disease risk.
But cholesterol in food is a minor factor contributing to high blood cholesterol for most people, and studies have not confirmed a correlation between eggs and increased heart disease risk. The major determinant of LDL (bad) cholesterol is saturated fat, and while eggs are high in cholesterol — 184 milligrams in the yolk — they’re relatively low in saturated fat — about 1.6 grams in the yolk.
Interestingly, some of the biggest egg eaters in the world, the Japanese, have low cholesterol and heart disease rates, in part because they eat a diet low in saturated fat. In contrast, Americans eat eggs alongside sausage, bacon, and buttered toast.
“The amount that one egg a day raises cholesterol in the blood is extremely small,” says Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s School of Public Health. “Elevations in LDL (bad) cholesterol of this small magnitude could easily be countered by other healthy aspects of eggs.”

Potatoes
Potatoes have been blamed for increasing blood glucose levels, insulin resistance, excess weight and Type 2 diabetes. A recent Harvard study that followed large populations and their disease rates linked potato eating with being overweight, blaming it on the blood glucose rise.
But many foods, including whole-wheat bread and whole-grain cereals, cause similar spikes in blood glucose, and are correlated with superior health and lower body weights. How could the higher body weight in the Harvard study be explained?
The study lumped all potato products together, including potato chips and french fries, very fattening versions of potatoes usually eaten in large portions alongside hamburgers, hot dogs, and sodas.
“It’s an easy food to attack; but the meal pattern may be the culprit,” said David Baer, a research leader at the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of Agriculture. “Other epidemiological studies have not verified a connection between potatoes and weight gain or any diseases, and no clinical studies have shown a connection.”
Potatoes are a great source of potassium, Vitamin C and fiber that many cultures — Scandinavians, Russians, Irish, and Peruvians — relied on as a nutritious staple for centuries. And they were not fat.

 Fruits
People often ask me if fruit is too high in sugar, especially for diabetics. This fear of fruit, I believe, is left over from the Atkins craze, which discouraged eating some fruits on the grounds that they are high in carbohydrates.
Avoiding fruit could actually damage your health. Study after study over many decades shows that eating fruit can reduce the risk of some cancers, heart disease, blood pressure and diabetes.
Fruit is high in water and fiber, which help you feel full with fewer calories, one reason why eating it is correlated with lower body weight. Even though they contain simple sugars, most fruits have a relatively low glycemic index. That is, when you eat fruit, your blood sugar raises only moderately, especially when compared with refined sugar or flour products.
Several health organizations, including the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Heart Association, recommend Americans eat at least five cups of fruits and vegetables a day because of their superior health benefits.

Soy
Though popular for centuries in many Asian cuisines, soy is sometimes seen as dangerous after studies found elevated rates of breast cancer among rats when they were fed a concentrated soy derivative.
But studies looking at whole soy foods in humans have not found a connection. In fact, the reverse may be true.
Soy, “when consumed in childhood or adolescence may make breast tissue less vulnerable to cancer development later in life and probably has no effect on breast cancer risk when consumption begins in adulthood,” said Karen Collins, registered dietitian and nutrition adviser with the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Actually, Collins said, the evidence is so strong for protection against heart disease that the FDA allowed a health claim for labels on soy food products.

Alcohol
Alcohol is feared because of the potential for abuse and alcoholism and complications such as liver disease, which are valid concerns.
But decades’ worth of research shows that moderate alcohol consumption “can reduce deaths from most causes, particularly heart disease, and it raises HDL (good) cholesterol,” the USDA’s David Baer said.
Wine may have additional benefits because its grapes are filled with nutrients called polyphenols, which reduce blood-clotting, inflammation and oxidation.
The key is to drink alcohol moderately and with meals. What’s moderation? One serving daily for women and two servings for men, with a serving being 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or 1.5 ounces of spirits.

Fried Foods
While it’s true that frying food usually increases its caloric content, that doesn’t necessarily make it unhealthful.
As long as food is fried in healthful oil instead of butter, shortening, or trans fat, and it’s eaten in moderation, it isn’t less healthy. In fact, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, and heart-healthy, cancer-preventive carotenoids such as beta-carotene (e.g., carrots, sweet potatoes), lycopene (e.g., tomatoes) and lutein/zeaxanthin (deep-green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale), need fat in order to be absorbed by the body.
“The consumption of certain fats, such as saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids [fats that are solid at room temperature], is associated with an . . . increased risk of cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, the unsaturated fats, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids [canola, safflower and olive oils] have significant metabolic benefits and are health promoting,” said the 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

Dance Rehabilitation

Dance Rehabilitation

Dance & Chiropractic

Dance is an art form based on proper body alignment to perform beautiful feats of agility and strength.  Chiropractic is a healthcare system based on proper body alignment to promote optimal health and body performance.

Chiropractors are specifically trained  and educated in applying biomechanical treatments that will effect the body's neurology to improve a dancer’s abilities.

The rigors of dance cause alterations in joint alignments, whether the joint is in your foot or in your spine.  These alterations prevent proper joint motion and may cause injury and muscle tightness.

Joint alterations will also effect a dancer’s ability to create the proper lines of technique and over time, if left untreated, will lead to undesirable dance habits.

Dance Chiropractor

It is important for a dancer to find a chiropractor who specializes in Dance Injury.  Dancers need more than adjustments; they need a doctor who fully understands how to treat dance injuries and most importantly how to properly return dancers back to dance (as soon as possible). 

In addition to returning the dancer to the stage, the chiropractor must correct alterations in the dancer’s techniques to prevent future re-injuries.

When dancing with pain, dancers' bodies will automatically alter their lines to avoid the pain.  The longer this continues, the more the altered lines are neurologically ingrained and incorrectly assumed as dancers' normal lines of techniques.  Improper dance lines will lead to further injuries.  In fact, most dance injuries stem from altered dance lines.

Dance Specific Rehabilitation

If a dancer’s lines of technique have been altered, it is imperative for the dancer to be treated with Dance Specific Rehabilitation.   Dance Specific Rehabilitation should not be based in strength training as strength training will cause unnecessary overuse, fatigue and lead to more injuries.

Dance Specific Rehabilitation involves advance neuromuscular control training and movement training to reconnect the dancer’s body with the lost lines of techniques.

Dr. Giangiulio's years of experience have lead to the creation of the four Dance Specific Rehabilitation Programs that reconnect the dancer with the foundations of dance.  If a dancer has problems in any one of these four areas, the dancer will have altered lines and a high chance of injury.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Kids

Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Kids

An increase in chronic childhood disease is part of the reason parents today seek alternative health care for kids. Chiropractic care is an effective and affordable program by licensed providers that addresses children's health conditions associated with the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Gentle, noninvasive and drug free, chiropractic adjustments treat, resolve and prevent a wide range of health problems. Recent research by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) found spinal manipulative therapy safe and successful in treating children of all ages.

Acute Conditions

Acute conditions may result from birth trauma, sports mishaps and accidental injury. Chiropractic care benefits children by correcting the spinal alignment to improve their overall health. When vertebral joints are misaligned during birth or from a blow or fall, muscle tissue and nerves may also be affected. Spinal adjustment frees joints, restores motion and relieves nerve pressure, which may be the cause of additional ailments. Parents report successful treatment of children's health issues such as acute earache, upper respiratory infection, muscle pain, neck pain and accident trauma. Spinal manipulation for children as young as newborn babies is an alternative treatment for the discomfort of colic and other digestive disorders as well.

Chronic Conditions

Parents surveyed by the ICPA reported behavioral improvement for kids who saw a chiropractor, as well as improved sleep and stronger immune systems. Although scientific evidence in these areas is still inconclusive, the growing number of those seeking children's health care from chiropractors (up 8.5% since 1991, according to the American Chiropractic Association) is a positive endorsement of its benefits. Chiropractic America reports that natural, drug-free chiropractic care is sometimes more effective than traditional medical approaches for chronic earache, scoliosis and neck pain. Headaches and sleep disorders of nonspecific causes respond well to spinal adjustments, which affect and repair interrupted neural pathways. Asthma and allergy symptoms and patterns of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may also be treatable with chiropractic.

Prevention

Success in these areas has implications for chiropracticcare's preventive capacity. Periodic ongoing adjustments at a young age may help stave off the above ailments before they begin. Proper spinal alignment now may delay or prevent degenerative bone or joint disease, such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. In addition to maintaining children's health, regular visits to the chiropractor also instill the value of proactive health care in kids. They'll be more likely to monitor and manage their health as they grow up and less likely to be afraid or in denial of any health problems. Encouraging good lifelong health habits is one of chiropractic's best benefits for kids.