Winterizing Your Immune System

I had the opportunity to write a health and wellness article for the first copy of Birmingham Sports and Family Magazine that came out this month. The article focused on things parents could do to help their young athletes stay healthy throughout the winter months. However, most of the things mentioned are useful for everyone! Therefore, I'm going to repost the article text for everyone so that you can take these tips into your home, too! (A note: This was originally written in early December, so please disregard the references to the holidays! :) )

- Dr. Drew

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The weather has changed late here in Alabama, and the seasons aren’t quite sure exactly where they want to be. There is school, meals, and practice to think about on top of decorating, shopping, and all the preparation that goes into those special days with your family. When you couple this with the fact that temperatures are finally falling and the sun isn’t out as much as it was a few months ago, it can be much easier to feel the effects of the season. If there has ever been a time of year to watch your diet and maintain your immune system, it is now, especially for your children involved in sports throughout Birmingham. Although their lives may seem simpler than yours as adults, they feel the effects of stress and the change of season just like an adult.

In my office, one thing we often talk about with patients is supplementing your diet with vitamins and minerals. Not everyone does it these days, but they should. Here is why: Even if you eat very healthy, you’re limited by how your food is produced. Unfortunately, the modernization of food production in our country often strips or leaves out many of the nutrients that the food is known for. Even if you ate all fruits and vegetables all the time, you still would most likely need to supplement your diet to get all of what your body needs.

Here are some key nutrients you want to supplement to make sure your immune system functions optimally: Vitamins A,C, E, B6, B12, Zinc, Selenium, and Folate are very important. They act as fuel for immune response. Also, much of your immune system is contained in your digestive tract in the form of helpful bacteria which process and deal with many of the other nasty things we come in contact with. Supplementing those helpful bacteria with Prebiotics and Probiotics can increase your chance of illness prevention. An easy way to get those is by eating yogurt, but make sure that the variety you buy doesn’t have too much sugar in it. Finally, emerging research is showing that Vitamin D plays a big role in proper immune response. Vitamin D is primarily acquired through sunlight on the skin, but in the winter, this can be tougher to accomplish as we’re often covered up with coats and long sleeves. If you supplement these key pieces of your diet, your chances of fending off those bugs and bacteria are much higher.

A big reminder: It’s almost always easier to prevent illness than it is to treat it. Drugs like antibiotics leave your immune system weakened and susceptible to further illness afterward. Taking small steps towards your family’s health promotion like supplementing the items mentioned here is a cost-effective and easy way to keep them out on the field, in school, and out of their beds. If you have any questions about any of the items mentioned here, please don’t hesitate to call our office.

BPA and You: Ways You Can Limit Your Exposure.

So, starting a blog is harder than I expected! Hopefully, we'll get more info out there soon! Once a week might be harder than I thought...

An article appeared in the USA Today recently, talking about BPA in cans. Here is the link for that article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-19-cans19_ST_N.htm

I've gotten many questions about it, so I'd like to share my response to that article that we keep in the office as part of our "Article of the Week":

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For many years now, I’ve been talking, learning, reading, and studying about BPA and possible dangers. In science, it’s always important to look at the full body of evidence. As the end of the article suggests, there are many studies to suggest that BPA is safe. However, many of those studies are funded by the same groups who stand to profit from those findings. Many other studies have shown that the synthetic estrogen leached from plastics can really be dangerous to us. So how do we know what’s right?

In my opinion, in the absence of solid proof, logic must prevail. We know that synthetic estrogen is dangerous. It’s applications in many other areas have been shown to be carcinogenic and unhealthy. However, like the article says, it’s going to be very difficult to remove ourselves from contamination with current production methods. Therefore, you won’t be able to completely remove yourself from exposure, but it would be prudent to limit that exposure as much as possible.

Here are some tips:

1. Don’t heat plastics, no matter what they say about safety. We know that more BPA is leached out when they’re heated, so keep plastic out of the microwave, oven, sun, etc. That means you folks who like to heat things in gladware, or keep cases of bottled water in your car back seat! Use only crockery in the microwave (if you must use it). Also, don’t cover your items that you heat in plastic. That can leach BPA too, as well as leave behind a smell and aftertaste.

2. Don’t buy things encased in plastic that aren’t chilled whenever possible. This even includes paper cartons like those used for milk or orange juice. Guess what they use to coat the inside… that’s right! Plastic!

3. Buy fresh foods to avoid packaging. As the article suggests, canned foods typically have some exposure, as they are lined with plastic too. Be especially wary of tomato and other high-acid products in cans too, as they are more likely to leach. Also, just because they are room-temperature in the grocery store doesn’t mean they always have been. You don’t know whether or not they’ve been heated in transport.

4. Stainless steel and glass are your friends! To the best of my knowledge, there is little danger from using these materials. Bowls and bottles made from these materials can be sterilized and won’t leach. Get a filter at home and fill your bottles at the start of the day. Even if they get warm, they wont leach out harmful chemicals. (Note: Be wary of the aluminum bottles that have become more popular. Aluminum can be very toxic as well, which is why they line them with… guess what!... PLASTIC!... which defeats the purpose of buying them in the first place!).

This can also be an avenue to eat healthier inadvertently! Remember my biggest rule to eat healthy: When you shop, don’t buy anything in a box or bag unless you put it there (excluding the fried chicken, of course! ). Most processed foods come in some sort of plastic packaging!

Remember, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”! You can live healthy now with a better future, or eat like crap today and pay more for it later!

Good luck! - Dr. Drew

Welcome!

For months now, I've been toying with the idea of a place to catalog and list the research I do for my patients, my friends and family, and for myself. Yesterday, while discussing the confusing topic of artificial sweeteners, it was suggested by a few friends that this would be easier with a consolidated spot for information. This blog, in conjunction with our practice website and Facebook page, will hopefully become that.

Lets face it: Educating yourself about health and wellness isn't easy. Life is already busy enough, and most Americans just don't have enough time for everything that needs to be done. If you have kids, it's even more difficult as you try to manage the complexities of our society. However, if you haven't noticed, the world has become more about profit and money and less about right and wrong these days, especially when it comes to taking care of ourselves. Most people are more interested in "keeping up with the Jones's" instead of doing whats right for themselves and their family. Furthermore, we're under assault. The media has grown to massive proportions, inundating us with commercials, infomercials, ads, webpages, email, celebrity endorsements, and in many cases, complete crap. The power of psychology has run amok, convincing us all in some recess of our mind that we need this pill or that remedy; that we need a bigger/smaller/safer/faster widget; that we have xyz condition and you better be treating it now!

Scary, isn't it? I know I am, at times. I'm sure of one thing though: Wellness is possible. How? Through you! You have to want it!

I'm reminded of a quote from "The Shawshank Redemption". "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'...that's damn right" Lets get busy living and doing it in a way that's not harmful, but helpful. Let's talk about so many of these things we come across daily, and we'll try to separate the nonsense from the truth.

I'll try to boil down the ideas to key points and bullets so that you can easily read and learn about issues without having to spend hours looking/reading through information. If you have suggestions for topics you would like to discuss, please don't hesitate to leave them in my email box at dr.dklein@gmail.com. Also, we have a new facebook page for the practice; just search for LakeCrest Chiropractic in Facebook, and sign up to become a fan. That's where many of the links and videos will be posted. Finally, don't forget to visit www.lakecrestchiropractic.com for more information on chiropractic and wellness.

I look forward to learning with you!

Dr. Drew