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Showing posts from 2019

Tips to Prevent Body Odor

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Tips to Prevent Body Odor I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has had sobering moments of awareness when you realize that you smell a bit funky. Whether it’s on a hot summer day, walking out of a tepid New York City subway station, or after a gym workout, we all hope that unpleasant smell won’t travel beyond our own noses. It’s normal to smell after sweating, but there are helpful natural ways that can help to control and limit body odor and unpleasant breath. This can be an embarrassing topic for many, but let’s get over it and find some solutions. Microorganisms in the body are a major reason why we have body odor. The two areas of the body that are primarily associated with body odor are the gut and the liver. When the gut or digestive tract is compromised with an overgrowth of candida or other fungi, parasites, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), or other overpopulated strains of certain bacteria, this leads to endotoxin production. These endotoxins interact

Hanging for Shoulder Health

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Hanging for Shoulder Health Chimpanzees are our closest animal relative. We share 98.8 percent of DNA and many social characteristics, such as establishing friendships and smiling. Their bodies are very similar to ours. We have the same nervous systems, bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. We even have the same number of fingers and toes. Chimps have the ability of self-identifying when looking in the mirror, which is rare for animals. Another similarity is our bipedal (walking on two legs) nature, but Chimpanzees can also walk on four limbs and use their arms/shoulders to swing from trees. Their consistent overhead activity keeps their shoulders functioning well and limits injury. The gorilla, gibbon, and orangutan are also able to brachiate or hang by their hands. As a kid, I remember hanging from monkey bars at the playground and swinging from parallel bar to parallel bar. Like most kids, I'm sure, I felt like I outgrew the monkey bars and that was the last of hanging

Unhealthy Sugar

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Newsflash: Sugar isn't so sweet for your health. Cutting it out of your diet, or cutting it down in your diet, is the best thing you can do for an anti-aging/anti-inflammation regimen. As you’ll read below, the process of glycation and the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are part of why sugar causes such problems for our bodies. Glycation is the process by which a sugar molecule like glucose or fructose combines with a protein molecule or a lipid molecule. The combining of sugar and a protein or lipid leads to the formation of AGEs. AGEs are rogue biochemical end products that cause inflammation by disrupting the normal biochemical processes of the body. They are produced in higher numbers based on your dietary intake, and also increase with age. The immune system sees  AGEs as an invader and sounds the alarm to combat them. This sets off a cascade of inflammation. This cascade of inflammation preoccupies the immune system and upsets the equilibrium of the

Natural Healing Before and After Surgery

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At some point in life, a form of surgery may be necessary. Surgery is extremely taxing on the body, and depending on how invasive, it can keep you off your feet for days, weeks, if not months. Healing from surgery can be challenging, but there are important and effective natural ways that you can take to speed up your healing time dramatically. For many surgical procedures, it is recommended that you do not take any supplements that thin the blood for a week or more before the surgery. Beyond that, recommendations on how to best prepare your body for this immense challenge it is about to face, are usually not addressed. Pre-surgical Recommendations (At Least 2 Weeks Before Surgery) 1. Eat a strict anti-inflammatory diet. Cut out all sugar, eat a maximum of 2 servings of fruit per day. Berries are the best as they are super high in anti-oxidants, and they are very low in sugars. 2. No processed foods or starchy foods. This includes not having bread, white rice, nor white pota

What is CranioSacral Therapy?

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CranioSacral Therapy is a gentle, hands-on approach that releases and relieves pain and tension in the body and nervous system to bring about wellness and health. As a Doctor, I have been working with the cranial bones, sutures and the craniosacral system of my patients for many years. More recently, I have taken Upledger's CranioSacral Therapy and have been drawn to diving deeper into this system and the potential it offers to help people get well. Many people believe that the skull/cranium is one solid bone and structure. Actually, the cranium is made up of multiple and separate bones connected by sutures. These bones/sutures can shift and cause tension in the meningeal membranes, which consist of the dura mater, arachnoid mater and the pia mater. These membranes surround the brain and spinal cord. Cerebrospinal fluid is found in the meningeal membranes, and its proper flow is essential for immune, brain and nervous system function. The craniosacral rhythm is a cyclical mo

Inflammation Remedies

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Every one of us will experience inflammation at different times in our lives. Every disease, condition, and injury produces some form of inflammation. Patients often tell me that they feel inflamed and don't know the cause. I want to share some tips and steps to take to reduce inflammation without having to resort to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which can cause many problems for the body over time. There are two types of inflammation; acute and chronic. Acute inflammation occurs when blood vessels dilate, and immune cells release cytokines in response to a pathogen, injury, wound, etc. Certain immune cells like neutrophils will go to the area in the body where there is an injury or pathogen. These immune cells and cytokines bring inflammatory factors to heal the injury, pathogen or infection. This can be seen as redness and/or swelling and felt as pain. Acute inflammation ceases when the injury or problem has been resolved. In the case of chronic inflammation, simi

Foodies Hate Me

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Foodies hate me, or at the very least, they see me as their frenemy. Why? One of the many tools in my tool kit is to create awareness about food. Most patients that walk into my practice have a deep-rooted belief that they "eat VERY healthy." Whether they are vegetarian, paleo, keto, no fast food, or a no processed foods, they are eating "VERY healthy," but come in sick and tired, and tired of being sick and tired. My definition of healthy eating involves one primary notion: Not to consume the foods that you are sensitive to, nor those which create an autoimmune response. When we consume foods to which we are sensitive, the body produces inflammation, and inflammation causes disease in the body.  I use nutritional response testing to figure out whether a food is a problem for someone. If a food weakens a muscle during a reflex test, it is causing an imbalance in the body. The abnormal reflex response that a food can elicit in a muscle test works with the aut

How Oral Health Impacts Your Overall Health

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As a kid, I reluctantly brushed my teeth. I can remember giving my mother a super hard time about having to brush. I admit that there were occasions when I would put some toothpaste in my mouth, swirl it around, spit it out, and call it a night. It wasn't until my first cavity that I decided that the discomfort of having my mouth pried open for 45 minutes with the needle piercing my gums, the drilling of my tooth, and the hours of facial and lip paralysis from novocaine, were hands down less desirous than my daily teeth hygiene exercises. Yes, it is important to brush your teeth. However, oral hygiene should go beyond just brushing twice per day. Many of us harbor dangerous microbes, such as spirochetes, in our mouths and under the gums. Specifically, pockets can develop where the gum meets the teeth that can harbor bacteria and other microbes, which can be released into the bloodstream and travel to other parts of the body. It is well documented that gum disease is linked to