NEWSLETTER: May, 2010
You are what you eat (oh, boy)

Over the years I have been surprised when a patient that I thought "got it" turns out to be eating poorly and or not exercising. That's like drinking enough good, clean water but not breathing. You kinda want to do both. While Chiropractic is a great foundation for your health plan, proper diet is also necessary. Think that's a new concept? Over two thousand five hundred years ago Hippocrates (often called the father of Western medicine) said to "let food be your medicine". Important words then and maybe even more so today.

Obesity is literally KILLING us, with over 34% of Americans being 30 pounds or more overweight. A recent study in USA TODAY found that obesity will cost the US health care system $344 BILLION a year to manage with the health hazards now rivaling smoking and that being obese can cost you twelve years off of your life. Extra weight increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer. I see patients everyday with herniated discs, degenerated knees and hips that have been complicated, if not caused by extra pounds. Think about what those extra pounds may be doing to your joints. Just saying.

So, who you gonna call? The average Doctor of Medicine only receives 24 hours of nutritional instruction during their entire training. Chiropractors? Try 90 hours with many continuing their studies post grad.

Remember during the Regan administration when certain Nutritionists wanted to tell us that ketchup was a vegetable? Nice try. Even scarier, Coca-cola has become partners with the American Academy of Family Physcians to promote, and I kid you not, health education to consumers. You don't suppose that a "six figure" contribution to the AAFP will influence health care providers to families, do you? Not to be out done, Pepsi seems to be following Coke's lead. A holistic health and wellness group that I belong to on Linkedin recently had a poster promoting an event sponsored by Pepsi. Pancreatic Cancer is a particularly vicious type of cancer and one that struck close to home, having lost my mother (of blessed memory) to it. The survival rate three years after diagnosis is only 30%, dropping to a mere 5% five years after diagnosis. A recent 14-year study found that drinking only two or more soft drinks a week increased the risk of pancreatic cancer by 87%. When compared to fruit juice, the study found "no statistically significant association between juice consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer." Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention February 2010 19; 447

So, start slow but start today. Substitute fresh fruit and vegetables for those unhealthy snacks. Get out and exercise more (remember my last newsletter?), come in and get those achy joints checked out. Eat clean fresh food and drink plenty of fresh water. You'll be surprised how good you can feel.

Until next time, be well.
Stephan Howard-Cooper, DC