Omega 3 Fatty Acids / Fish Oils

Here are a few words on Fish oils:

Although I do not believe there are any "Magic Pills", panacea supplements that cure everyone of everything, I do think that a quality fish oil supplement comes darn close. In our modern lives we consume much less omega 3 essential fatty acids than humans are typically used to. Fats are considered essential to our bodies if we need them to survive/thrive and our bodies cannot synthesize them on our own. That means these fats need to be consumed on a very regular basis. Our bodies happen to be extremely resilient and may be able to live without adequate amounts of essential fatty acids, but to live without them is to live below our potential for health and vitality. There is a lot of info out there on omega 3's so search our website (www.innatechiro.com) or around the net if you want to learn about why you may need to be taking omega 3 supplements, but here are the very basic essentials.

#1-Foods that contain omega 3 essential fatty acids(EFA)
-the most abundant sources of omega 3's are found in certain nuts and seeds and in fish.
-the best sources from nuts and seeds are Walnuts, Almonds, Pumpkin seeds, and Flax seeds.
-All fish are good but fatty fish are best--Tuna, Salmon, Sea Bass, Blue Fish, my personal favorite Sardines, and herring are great sources.
#2-If you are looking for an omega 3 EFA supplement the best source is a fish oil source. Now I know I will take some flack from the nut and seed lovers out there but in my humble opinion fish oils are much more efficient than nut and seed oils. Here is the reason. The most important product s that we need the omega 3's for are the constituents EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid). Our bodies can break down the omega 3 fats from nuts and seeds into these component parts but it does have to do work in order to do that. If you take your omega 3's from a fish oil the work has already been done for you. The fish have eaten plants, algae or other fish that are sources of omega 3 and performed a conversion so when we consume fish we get the full effect of the EPA and DHA. Some people tend to be able to convert better than others and those people would do just fine on a flax or some other seed or nut oil but how do you know how efficient your body happens to be? Taking fish oils can be a much more efficient way of getting these amazing nutrients into your body.
#3- Quality. Here is the most important point. Not all fish oil supplements are created equally. The quality of your fish oils is very important. Here is what you want to look for when purchasing a quality fish oil supplement.
First a glass bottle is preferable to a plastic bottle. Glass doesn't allow any air to penetrate into the bottle and ensures more stability to the oil. Plastic bottles are not necessarily bad but if you don't know how long a plastic bottle has been sitting on a shelf or if it was exposed to some very hot days on a truck or in a storage room you are taking some risk that the oil may be at the least less potent and at the worst rancid. Glass bottles are no guarantee but I buy my quality olive oil in a dark glass bottle for the same reasons.
Number two you want to make sure your fish oils are screened for traces of mercury and PCB's, two hazardous materials that are found in the fat of many fish. A good company will do extensive testing to ensure that their fish oils are free from contaminants. Remember also that unfortunately the supplement industry is self regulated so just because a company makes claims that their product is the best doesn't necessarily mean they truly are. There are a lot of good products out there but I put my full trust into Metagenics brand of fish oils.

#4- How much should you take? There is no substitute for having a qualified health practitioner help you to find the correct dosage for each individual. Every body has different needs. Fish oils can help to thin your blood and lower your blood pressure so you always want to have professional advice if you plan on taking any nutritional supplements for long periods of time, especially if you take any medications. A safe dose for most people though is 2 grams a day.

I hope that answers some questions. Check out our website www.innatechiro.com to update yourself on more omega3 and fish oil research.

Sleep

Sleep is a great subject to go over. How many hours do I need? What type of bed should I use? What position is best? I could go on and on with the various questions I am asked from my patients on a regular basis; actually why don’t I? The format of this section will be a basic Q & A. Here it goes…

1. How much sleep do I need?

- There are no definitive studies that suggest that humans need a minimum requirement of a certain amount of hours of sleep per night. The amount of hours really is a personal issue. There are some people that thrive on 6 hours and some that really need 9 hours. In my opinion between 6-8 hours of sleep per night is healthy for the average adult. Children can sleep 10-12 hours easily and still need a nap. Remember children need the sleep so they can grow and repair from their highly active days.

- The key to sleep should focus less on the amount of hours you are sleeping but the overall quality of your sleep and how you feel when you awaken. If you are limited in the amount you sleep by time constraints from work or from children or your cat climbing on your head in the middle of the night there is less that this chapter will help you with. What you should be concerned with the most is that you fall asleep easily at night when you get into bed and that if you happen to wake up or are woken up by kids or cats that you have the ability to fall asleep again very easily.

- If there is trouble falling asleep or staying asleep the first thing I would look into is if you are getting enough calcium and trace minerals in your diet, and the answer to that is no. Yes that is a generalization but most people (unless you are already supplementing your diet with a high quality mineral supplement) are not getting enough minerals . Minerals tend to work like tranquilizers in a way. They keep your brain from vibrating with too many thoughts at night and also help to make your body more alkaline (or less acidic) which will also help you to sleep better. If you have trouble falling asleep you need a good source of calcium and magnesium ( I prefer Calcium Lactate –Standard Process ). And if your problem is waking up too often or trouble falling back to sleep after waking then trace minerals will help you more often. Trace minerals are zinc, manganese, molybdenum, copper…Trace minerals should always be taken with care. They are called trace minerals because you only need trace amounts of them in your body if any one gets too high there can be side effects. This is why when supplementing with trace minerals I prefer whole food supplements rather than individual trace minerals.(I prefer Min-Tran Standard process again)

2. What bed is best?

-There truly is no perfect answer to this question. Beds are very personal and individual choices left up to the comfort perceived by the one sleeping on it. In general a bed should have a very firm base but the top layers of the bed should allow your body to sink in a bit to contour the shape of you body. The bed should have enough give to allow for the curves of your body but still be able to give you firm support underneath.

That pretty much sounds like every bed advertisement that you have ever heard and they are all correct. Each company just goes about it in a different manner. Some use air, some water, some space age material, and some springs. My best advice is to figure out a budget that you can afford to spend, making sure that you keep in mind that a bed is a good place to make an investment. You do spend a lot of time in bed and money spent will typically be worth it. After you have an idea of what you can spend try out as many beds in that price range that you can. No matter what you choose it is hard to make a bad choice, with beds it typically is a matter of good, better, and best. My personal favorites though are the Kings Down beds at Sleepy’s.

3. Pillows/ What positions do I sleep?

-There is one piece of advice that I think tops all others when it comes to comfortable sleep and that is correct pillow technique. The technique depends on the position that you are sleeping. First of all the only poor position that you can sleep in is on your belly. The main reason is that you wind up placing entirely too much stress on you neck because it is turned to one side for hours at a time. I can’t tell you how many countless times that I work on patients’ stiff necks after “sleeping wrong”, which usually means sleeping on their stomachs.

-The best way to sleep is on your back, I don’t know many people that do sleep on their back, but if you do the proper pillow technique for you is to have one firm pillow under your head that supports the natural curve of your neck and doesn’t allow it to be pushed forward too far ( see Diagram). If you are still using your grandmother’s soft fluffy pillow get rid of it now. It may have been OK to use 30 years ago but pillows aren’t built to last forever. Also, if lying on your back, it is a good idea to keep a pillow under your knees. The size is up to your comfort levels just a few inches of bend in the knee is sufficient.(See Diagram).

-The position that most of us sleep is on our side and to make lying on your side as comfortable as possible I feel that the three pillow technique is the best. First the pillow for your neck is similar to the lying on your back position. There should be enough support to not allow your head to sink into the pillow and also not be too big as to push your head away too far( See Diagram). Second there still should be a pillow for your knees; this time in between your knees so they are not knocking together and there is something to prevent you from rolling onto your belly. Third and most importantly is everyone needs a hugger. If you are one of those people that is comfortable hugging your spouse or partner or dog all night then Kudos for you but most of us can’t sleep with all that extra body heat next to us. The perfect solution is a body pillow. The purpose of this one is to keep your shoulders from caving in on each other while you are sleeping. This also helps out those of you who like to sleep on your stomach by giving you something that puts a little pressure on your belly and makes you feel secure.(See Diagram)

-The last little tidbit about sleep is for you to switch sides of the bed more often. If you do share a bed typically you wind up sleeping on the same side over and over again and typically you also wind up sleeping on the same side of your body (if you are a side sleeper like most of us) the tendency is to face the edge of the bed and keep your back to the center of the bed. This is a more secure position that enables us, innately not worry about falling out of bed so easily. So switch side every 2-3 months. It may feel weird at first but believe me you will get used to it.

Hope this helped you to start enjoying more quality nights of sleep.

Yeast Free Diet

Here is some info about a diet I prescribe often in my practice. It is a yeast free diet. The main purpose of a yeast free diet is to treat dysbiosis. Dysbiosis is a very fancy word used to describe an imbalance in the normal flora or bacteria that reside in our digestive tracts. We all have bacteria that live on our digestive tract walls. These bacteria should be helpfull to us, but not all of the little bugs in our belly are so helpful. A yeast free diet is one tool that you can use to help promote good bacteria and to kill off the bad.
First I'll give you some background into why you should care in th efirst place. Beneficial bacteria (certain strains of acidophilus, bifidus, lacto bacillus...) help us digest our food and help us form nice healthy bowel movements. Good bacteria basically eat the undigested food (mostly fiber) that gets to our lower intestines and create beneficial byproducts for us (one example is vitamin K). Good bacteria also help us to create soft airy well formed poop. Bad bugs also eat our undigested food, but they create byproducts that that can cause excess gas and bloating, and can disrupt the quality of your poop. The bad bugs can include many forms of yeast, candida, parasites, molds, or fungii.
We all have a mix of beneficial and harmful bugs in our bodies. Every person is affected differently by different bugs. The general idea though for a healthy digestive tract is to have abundantly more beneficial than bad. The main causes of dysbiosis (abnormal ratio of good/bad bacteria) are varied. They include the use of antibiotics, caffeine, alcohol, eating refined foods, eating unsanitary foods (contaminated with a bug of some sort...you really don't want to know what actually winds up in our food supply on a regular basis) and even high emotional stress.
The number one offender in my opinion is the use of antibiotics. The use of antibiotics is necessary at times and the benefits may outweigh the risks on occasion. We should understand though that antibiotics that help to kill off bad infections can also kill off the beneficial bacteria in our gut. That is why every time you take an antibiotic you should also take a probiotic. A probiotic is a supplement with certain strains of beneficial bacteria in them. There are many probiotics to choose from so do your research. I personally recommend a 'live' bacteria blend that needs to stay refrigerated over the 'Freezedried' form. I have seen benefits in using both types but the live bacteria make more sense to me. A general reccommendation is to look for a refrigerated mix of strains including acidophilus and bifidobacterium. In my office I use a few different Metagenics brand probiotics. Take the probiotic of choice as prescribed on the supplement's label or as prescribed by your health practitioner. The typical course of treatment with no symptoms but merely as precautionary after taking antibiotics is 30 days.
Getting back to the yeast free diet. Now that you have a basic understanding that there may be some 'bad' bugs living in your belly, you can take one of the steps to eliminate some of them. By no means is a Yeast free diet a cure-all it is merely a safe diet to try out if you are having digestive symptoms. The best results will probably be for people with symptoms of lower abdominal bloating and constipation. Results will vary from person to person, that is why the best reccomendation is to be under the care of a health practioner. If a yeast free diet is not working for you for some reason a good doctor will find out why and recommend a change in your diet and can recommend the right supplements/medication for you or in some cases will know to refer you out to a specialist.
The basics of the yeast free diet are simple, don't eat anything white and don't eat anything that has been fermented. So what does that leave you? Plenty! If you are eating a healthy diet a yeast free diet should not be too difficult to follow. You are allowed to eat all the animal proteins you want (except dairy and deli meats) , you can have all the vegetables you want, there is no limitations on oils, you can use rice as a form of starch. There are plenty of other internet resources and books that give you yeast free recipes. Just google yeast free diet. There are some very strict versions out there but the following list of foods are the foods I have sucessfully used in my office for many years. If there are ever any questions regarding the information posted please feel free to conatct our office at any time.

Cut out all of the following Foods:

sugar, all types, syrup, molasses etc...

yeast products, breads, pizza, buns, bagels etc...

white flour products, cakes, biscuits etc.

all prepared breakfast cereals (unless you find one without sugar)

cured products: bacon, deli meats, kippers etc.

fermented products, vinegar, pickles, chutney, tofu, soy sauce

alcohol

tea (herbal is OK)

coffee

ovaltine, or any sugary drinks etc.

all malted products

cow’s cheese -limit dairy produce or cut out completely

dried fruit, dried herbs

limit fresh fruit (cut out completely in the first three weeks) Apples and berries if you must have something

canned foods

mushrooms

peanuts and peanut products

To reduce the strain on the immune system and to allow the maximum absorption of the nutrients you are advised to combine your foods properly and to rotate them. A simple explanation of food combining is not to eat proteins and starchy foods at the same meal because they are digested in different acidic environments. See the Food Combining Thread on this blog.

Food Combining

Food Combining:

I’ve spoken about it in my office so many times I guess it’s time to put my full explanation of food combining rules in writing.

First of all food combining does not need to be practiced by everyone. It is one of the most common suggestions I will make to someone with any digestive problems. The basics behind food combining are as follows:

-Don’t eat starchy foods around the same time that you eat animal proteins!

That’s it! It is one of the easiest recommendations I can give a patient that will most likely have a great impact on their digestive symptoms. Again, food combining is not for everyone. Patients that I have seen and have prescribed food combining will more likely receive the benefits; rather than the average person reading this blog. This is a reminder for patients that have forgotten the rules or for anyone with digestive issues that wants to try something that at least can’t hurt.

Now let me fully explain food combining. When you eat any protein, especially a protein from an animal source (i.e. eggs, milk, cheese, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, butter…) you need a very acidic environment in your stomach in order to digest it. When you eat something that is very starchy (i.e. breads, pastas, grains, rice, peas, potatoes…) you create a more alkaline environment in your stomach. You basically make it more difficult to digest your meal. Now if you want to build muscle or want to be on a diet that is good for balancing your blood sugar a complex ‘not properly combined’ meal is probably beneficial to you. Also if you don’t have any digestive problems find another topic to read. Look for more info on the rest of the blog.

If you do have digestive problems, virtually any, proper food combinations can help. Why would you want to burden the digestive system any further? All you have to do is separate your animal proteins from any starchy foods by at least 3 hours. Now I did write starches, not carbohydrates. Non-starchy vegetables and fruits can be combined along with proteins and of course along with other starches. Confused at all? Take a look at this chart:

So most sandwiches are out…Pizza? Gone!...Chicken and rice? NO!...Pasta with sausage? No!...Cereal with Milk? No again!....Get it?

What can you eat?

Breakfast: Cereal with Soy or Rice milk (not an animal protein)

Eggs

Omelets

Peanut Butter with Jelly

Muffins (yes they are made with eggs but most people tolerate bake goods as a starch)

Snack: Handful of nuts or seeds

Lunch: Salads with Chicken/Tuna or Egg (no croutons)

Soups

Veggie burger/veggie burrito (no cheese)

Grilled vegetable sandwich

Rice and beans

Snack: Piece of fruit

Dinner: Hamburger/Turkey Burger (no bun) with veggies

Pasta with Veggies

Roast chicken with veggies

Fish with veggies

It may be a simple concept to master but implementing a lifestyle of proper food combing is not easy. It takes getting used to. The best thing to do is try your best to do it 100% all out for 4 weeks and notice how it makes you feel. If you feel better than try throwing in a few non-combined meals and see how they make you feel.

If you feel better eating well combined meals than stick with it. Anytime that you want to eat a poorly combined meal than do it! Just remember that you will pay for it. You now will have the power to choose when you want to feel bad. Want a slice of Pizza? Go ahead have it! Maybe you’ll fell bloated for 6-8 hours and then you’ll go back on the wagon again. About 80% of my meals are properly combined and it’s easy for me to keep it up because when I don’t I feel like crap. I don’t like to feel like crap so I eat well. If you don’t mind feeling bad go ahead and eat whatever you want whenever you want. Food combing is a great way of eating though. Not too many rules to follow. There are no bad foods so you can eat anything, just watch how you combine them.

By the way if you do want to eat poorly combined meals occasionally try taking a quality digestive enzyme along with your meal. If you choose the right one it will make a big difference. I test 4 different ones out on my patients to find the best fit for each individual.