Holistic Health Tips from NYC Chiropractor Dr. Louis Granirer

About two weeks ago, I received an email from my apartment building in Manhattan. The email read that the electricity would be turned off in my apartment on a particular Monday for approximately 15 minutes. Con Edison was planning an upgrade for our hallway electric meters. As I read this email, the dots were slowly connecting in my brain, and the anxiety-producing realization of what “upgrade” meant set in. They were very likely going to install microwave radiation emitting “smart meters.”  My apartment is directly across the hall form a large electrical utility closet that houses about 20 analog electric meters. These “old school” (safe) Westinghouse analog meters are read each month by a Con Edison worker who has to come out to the meters to read them physically. Smart meters transmit the meter information directly to Con Edison. Smart meters save the utility company money because they don’t have to come out to their customer's residences each month. The cost savings for t

On October 23, 2018, a California judge rejected an appeal from the company Monsanto to overturn a jury verdict, which found its pesticide "Roundup," or glyphosate, causes cancer.  In August 2018, Dewayne Johnson was awarded 289 million dollars (this award was later reduced to 78 million dollars) for asserting that his exposure to glyphosate, as a former groundskeeper, caused his non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Glyphosate is the number one herbicide used in the United States. Over 300 million pounds of this herbicide is applied to US farmland each year. It was introduced in the 1970s, and its usage has increased by 200-fold in the last 40 years. More recently, farmers have been spraying it on nonorganic crops to dry them out, so they don't have to wait the extra two weeks or so to naturally dry out. This process is known as desiccation. One of the problems with glyphosate is its motility in our environment and the lack of biodegradability. It is sprayed on nonorganic and GM

There are many types of patients with diverse objectives for their care and a wide array of health concerns. Some are extremely ill with autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammatory response syndromes, and Lyme Disease. These patients just want to be able to function normally. Others who are more wellness-minded, like professional athletes, want to optimize and upgrade their performance and have very different goals. Everyone has individual requirements, and what may be the right approach for one person can be the wrong approach for someone else. You may hear someone talk about a specific way of eating or an herb or nutritional supplement they are taking and insist that it changed their life. It is important to remember that we are all unique individuals with different requirements based on our genetics and environmental stressors. This leads me to our topic, which discusses one possible way of eating that may help you achieve certain health goals. It is important when a new format o

Nature - a MUST for Any Healing Regimen. As I sat down to write this, I was managing a wave of irritability resulting from inane annoyances. Today, I am in the Catskills, admiring the slow-moving ripples of a pond, listening to the background sounds of cicadas, a grey owl's hoots, and the low peeps of grasshoppers. I often like to write outside, as my creativity and life force seem to flow better when I'm in nature. After about 20 minutes of listening, observing and pondering a newsletter topic, that cement block of irritability and frustration lifted and was replaced by a wave of calm, peace, and centeredness. This medicine that changed my mood is right here in front and all around me. The best medicine for my ill mood; being in nature, outside and in the stillness of the trees, plants, birds, and wildlife. I think most of us intuitively know that a weekend out of the city, spending time on the grass in a park, hiking, or planting our feet in the sand on the beach has

I'm one of those who can't sleep if it's too hot, and at times heat has brought out that part of my personality that may err on the crankier side (the cranky race is probably tied between heat and code-red hunger). I do love summer, but I am extremely grateful for air conditioning. I listened to a podcast about four months ago, and the interviewee was Wim Hof, aka "the Iceman." Some of his amazing feats include standing in a container filled with ice cubes for 112 minutes, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in shorts, and swimming 198 feet underneath the ice. Wim touts the benefits of extreme cold therapy (cryotherapy) as a tool for transformation and wellness. I started doing some more research on cryotherapy and found some interesting studies and evidence supporting its benefits. Cold Therapy The case for cold involves the body doing the following: increasing its circulation (asking the circulatory system to work harder and more efficiently) breathing deeper t

The combination of genes and our environment influence whether a genetic factor will be expressed. Genes can either be turned on or off, depending on nutrition, physical or emotional stress, stages of development and other factors. Genetic testing can be a valuable tool to determine whether a particular medication may be contraindicated. It can determine if you are more likely to have a problem with hormone regulation, or even more at risk for strokes and heart disease. Recently, I decided to get a genetic testing panel to see if there is any more information that I can incorporate into my wellness routine. Although a pharmacogenetic testing profile didn't necessarily apply to my specific needs, this was one of the tests on the panel. This is a patient's likelihood to experience a problem with a pharmaceutical drug or not respond to a medication. One of the medications that came up on my panel to seek an alternative to was codeine. I was given codeine in college for pain

The endocannabinoid system is a receptor system found all over the human body, including in the brain, gut, immune system, peripheral nervous system, bone, and skin. It touches every single organ and system in the human body. It has been overlooked by the medical community for many years and is now garnering much necessary attention, as studies have shown how important it is to the overall health of the human body. There are two major receptors involved in the endocannabinoid system. One is CB1 found primarily in the brain, and the other is CB2, which is found primarily in the immune system. Cannabinoids are molecules that attach to these receptors. Cannabinoids are produced naturally by our bodies (endogenous cannabinoids) and are also produced by plants (phytocannabinoids). Anandamide was the first endogenous cannabinoid discovered in 1992. It was named after the Sanskrit word ananda, meaning joy or bliss, and is also known as the bliss molecule.  In 1995, a second endocannabi

The body uses glucose as its primary source of energy. When carbohydrate or glucose metabolism is restricted, the body will produce ketone bodies from fatty acids as an energy source. If someone reduces the number of carbohydrates they consume, or are fasting, then ketone bodies become the default energy source. Ketone bodies consist of Acetoacetate, which can be detected best in the urine, Beta-hydroxybutyrate, which can be detected best in the blood, and Acetone, which can be detected best through the breath. The standard ketogenic diet consists of 75 percent fat, 20 percent protein, and 5 percent carbohydrate. The average American's diet consists of 56 percent carbohydrate, of which a large percentage is refined and simple sugars, which spike insulin and lead to insulin resistance and weight gain. The ketogenic diet changes how your body uses energy through entering a state called ketosis. The body has to adapt to this new way of working through ketogenesis. In this process of

Sometimes the things that are so easy, simple, and literally right under our noses are the things we overlook and pay little attention to. Breathing is one of those things that many of us don't think twice about. Unless we have a cold, allergies, asthma, exert ourselves, or travel to a high altitude location, it is something that many of us don't think about on a regular basis. Yet, the breath is probably the most vital process to our survival. What other process in our bodies can be stopped for minutes or less and lead to death? Yoga and meditation practices have raised awareness and a greater understanding of deep breathing and its connection to calming the mind and body. There have been many published studies detailing the positive effects of deep breathing on blood pressure, lipid profiles, mood, stress levels, and even alternating the Ph of the blood. What is it about deep breathing that has so many proven benefits for the mind and body? One answer lies in the element