I was asked to contribute to this blog on my experience with Chiropractic and boosting energy. I hope you enjoy!  Dr. Steph

Looking for ways to boost your energy during the hot summer months? Read our latest, helpful blog article.

Feeling tired all too often? You’re not alone. Blazing hot temperatures and humid weather can really zap your energy, especially if you work in a concrete jungle. Looking for ways to increase your stamina, energy, and brain power through the summer?

• Start the day with the marvelous energy inducer – exercise. The old adage, you have to give to get is true when it relates to exercise and energy.
• Stay hydrated. Drink water before and after exercising to promote endurance and prevent fatigue.
• Get on your feet every hour, stretch and do at least 2 exercises before sitting down again.
• Walk, dance or exercise to music to motivate you, boosting your mood, and energy level. Make exercise something you look forward to.
• Do what you love, whether it’s swimming, ballet, basketball, Taekwondo, jogging, walking your dog, dancing, strolling in a park or taking a lap around the mall while window shopping.

• Getting less than 8 hours of sleep compromises your immune system, increases your chances of illness, reduces your ability to concentrate, and depletes your energy. A good night’s sleep is necessary to keep your body charged and your brain functioning well.
• Beverages containing caffeine and alcohol can dehydrate the body and increase chances of fatigue. Avoid drinking stimulating beverages close to bedtime. Studies show that when more than one alcoholic beverage is consumed, it stimulates the body, increases your heart rate and causes stress on your circulatory system.
• Getting in and out of a hot car is sure to zap your energy level. Save running errands for when the sun starts to set, when possible.
• If you exercise during your lunch break, avoid exercising outdoors in bright, open areas consisting largely of asphalt or concrete. Instead, exercise indoors or in a shaded area.
• Avoid these energy zappers: hot showers and baths or sitting in a hot tub or sauna.
• Don’t skip meals when you’re tired. Refrain from eating energy robbing foods: sugar, refined white flour products, highly processed foods and unhealthy fats. Consuming these foods also promotes unhealthy weight-gain, another huge energy robber.
• Avoid sitting for long periods of time. Get up and move every hour.

• Eat plenty of fresh fruits rich in water such as watermelon and vegetable or salad based meals instead of heavy red meat entrees.
• Consume these energy producing foods: green beans, grapes, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, almonds and pumpkin seeds, black beans, white fish, brown rice and unrefined, whole grains. Drink a healthy green drink daily. Wheatgrass is especially noted for increasing energy.
• These nutritional supplements fight fatigue and increase energy levels: MSM, bee pollen, magnesium and calcium, Brewer’s yeast, vitamin C, vitamin B Complex and ginseng. Consult your health practitioner before starting a supplement regimen, especially if you are taking medications, have allergies, or an existing health condition.
• Take a cold, refreshing shower or bath to rejuvenate energy levels before and after working outdoors, when you’re feeling hot or tired. Soaking your feet in cold water helps too. (If you have a heart condition or circulatory problem, check with your doctor before trying cold water treatments.)
• Practice good posture when sitting, standing or walking. Correct, strong posture allows you to breathe deeply and enhances your overall wellbeing. Ask your chiropractor to show you posture strengthening exercises.
• Fresh air and sunshine is invigorating, healthy and a mood enhancer. Spend 15 to 30 minutes outside daily for a healthy dose of vitamin D, as weather permits.

Note: Fatigue is a symptom of most illnesses. If fatigue is chronic, consult a health professional to determine if you need to adjust your diet, have a vitamin or mineral deficiency or other health condition.

By Dr. Stephanie Maj

Meet this week’s Chiropractic Care contributor: Dr. Stephanie Maj is the author of the book, You Can Be Well! How to Improve Your Quality of Life Through a Healthier Lifestyle. She has been coaching families to a healthier lifestyle for over 16 years. Dr. Maj has a thriving family practice in the heart of Chicago. Check out her blog at www.drmaj.com.

You cannot have Wellness without Chiropractic!

• The flow of energy in the body travels through the body’s wiring system – the nervous system. That flow travels in a looping cycle over your brain and spinal cord, through the nerves and back to the spinal cord and then back to your brain. Chiropractic adjustments remove interference to this nerve flow and allow your energy to be balanced, your immune system to be strong and your resistance to stress, high.
• Chiropractors look for interferences in that natural flow of energy. Because your nerves come through every level of the spine, an unbalanced spine can create blockages that may cause physical and emotional fatigue.
• Understand that chiropractic adjustments “Turn your body’s power ON!” By removing the interference in the flow of the nerves, the body is able to achieve optimal function in all areas, thus unlocking the flow of energy and supercharging the body.

Finding a daily routine to include yoga in your life isn’t always easy and excuses can sometimes prevent you from creating a healthy and habitual yoga routine. This article focuses on the ways to ensure that yoga becomes a daily routine for you that is both enjoyable and beneficial, and in particular, that fits in with your life rather than feeling like an enormous burden.

Short and simple should be your focus instead of not at all…

1

Set aside a regular time for yoga. Once you make a decision to do something, you’re telling yourself that it is going to happen. If you’re new to yoga, it may not be a practical idea to practice yoga daily, especially while you’re getting used to yoga in your life. Instead, aim for at least one practice a week outside your regular class (if you attend a class), and gradually increase the days you’re practicing until it becomes daily without you finding this a hurdle. As you become more aware of the philosophy behind yoga and find yourself more attuned to it, daily practice will soon become part of who you are; there is no point rushing this natural realization – as yoga instructor Christina Brown says: “First, it becomes habit; then it becomes a lifestyle; then it becomes who you are.”

Some people find that keeping to a routine of the same time and same place each day is most beneficial. Your mind and your body will associate that time and place with yoga sessions, which can serve as great internal motivation. Be sure to pick a time when you know there will be no interruptions or distractions, such as early in the morning or late at night. The best times to practice yoga are considered to be sunrise and sunset.

2

Be kind to yourself when you practice yoga. Go slowly, especially in the beginning, and listen to your body. It knows what it can do. If it says “stop,” then stop. Don’t push it. Yoga is not a competitive sport; indeed, if you feel that way about it, you will not progress. If you push too hard, you probably won’t enjoy it, and you may hurt yourself.

Whenever possible, work with a teacher, and use books, videos and websites to supplement your classroom instruction. Most of all, stick with it. If you practice, you will improve.

Choose routines that work for you now. If you try to do yoga positions before you’re ready or keen to do them, it’s likely that you’ll set yourself up for a fall. Keep in mind that a little done often is always best for you and your body and giving 15 minutes of your time a day soon adds up over a week. Eventually you’ll be able to do more difficult routines as time goes on.

3

Be regular, not rigorous. It is far better to practice a little on a regular basis than to push yourself into a long practice on an irregular basis. It doesn’t matter if you can’t do certain poses for now. Do the ones you can do; better still, do the poses you enjoy. Perfect those before moving on to the ones you experience more difficulty with. Remind yourself that it is better that you’re doing some yoga than none at all.

Avoid adopting a negative mindset in which you tell yourself you “can’t” do certain poses. You can, it just may take some time and you may need to practice a great deal on the build-up poses that lead in to the more difficult ones. Practice does help!

4

Prepare well for each yoga session. Part of the comfort factor of yoga will be derived from how you prepare for it. Ensure that you have comfortable clothing that allows for freedom of movement and leaves the abdominal area and ribcage free to expand; avoid tight clothing. Make the area where you are practicing comfortable as well. Lay down a sticky yoga mat or a folded blanket and have a cushion handy to support your neck if needed. Ensure that the practice space is warm and quiet but well ventilated.

Practice yoga on an empty stomach. This is the best time for yoga practice, and it is a good idea to allow the digestion of a meal to be done before practicing yoga, so leave 2-4 hours between your meal and yoga practice.[3][4] Yoga before breakfast is an ideal option.

If you feel hungry prior to a yoga practice, drink a little diluted fruit juice or warm milk with honey.[5]

If you feel the cold easily, have a blanket to cover yourself for the relaxation phase of your practice.

5

Study each posture. The practice of yoga exercises or Asanas can improve your health, increase your resistance strength, and develop your mental awareness. Doing the yoga poses requires you to study each pose and to execute it slowly as you control your body and your mind. Read widely online and in yoga books so that you can understand both the mechanics behind the poses and the philosophical underpinnings of yoga.

Maintain full awareness when practicing poses. It is far better to stay aware and take it slowly during a pose than to hurriedly proceed through a whole group of them without pausing to reflect.

When you’re starting out in yoga, choose the easier exercises indicated by your yoga book, DVD, or teacher. Find the ones that fit with your physique naturally and perfect the basic instructions before moving on to the more challenging ones.

6

Decide on your best starting position. This may change over time depending on what you’re most comfortable with but it is important to have a starting position that grounds you and prepares you for the rest of the yoga session. A starting position is best when it helps you to focus awareness on breathing and the body, helps strengthen your lower back and opens the groin and hips. Here’s an example:

Sit cross-legged with hands on knees. Focus on your breath. Keep your spine straight and push the sit bones down into the floor. Allow the knees to gently lower. If the knees rise above your hips, sit on a cushion or block. This will help support your back and hips. Take 5 to 10 slow, deep breaths. On the next inhale, raise your arms over your head. Exhale and bring your arms down slowly. Repeat 5-7 times.

7

Rest between poses. Again, nothing should be rushed in yoga, and resting in between poses gives you time for reflection and your body a chance to take a break. Keep all movements slow and breathe calmly.

8

Fit yoga into your daily life. As well as dedicated yoga time, practice small elements of yoga throughout the day where possible. There are yoga moves you can practice using your office chair, simply standing, or while waiting. Practice inhalation and exhalation exercises anywhere at anytime. Close your eyes and do a few minutes quiet reflection amid the busyness of everything else going on around you.

9

Expect gradual improvement, not miracles. Daily practice will start to flow through in evident changes in your life but it won’t happen immediately and sometimes you might feel things are not happening at all. Give it time and suddenly you will realize that your daily practice is beneficial and is having a positive impact on the rest of your day. The body is happiest with regular practice and will respond well to your daily efforts.

10

Balance your routine. As you get more used to yoga and you’re into the swing of daily practice, aim for a balance of yoga exercises. Yoga expert Christina Brown recommends including at least one exercise from each of the following categories:[6]

• A flowing activity that increases your awareness of breathing
• A standing posture
• A side stretch
• A forward bend
• A backbend
• A twist
• An abdominal strengthener
• A balance
• An inversion
• Another forward bend

Final relaxation (Pranayama and meditation). You can choose to spend as long as you like in this final step.

11

Remember that time is always on your side in yoga. The more you practice, the better you will get but at your pace, not any pace set by a training manual or coach. Yoga is a journey, not competition or expectation of achievement. The great thing about yoga is that you continue to improve through life, and age has nothing to do with ability in yoga. Indeed, practicing yoga daily into your senior years is a goal to aspire to as it will keep you fit, confident, strong, flexible, mentally and physically balanced, and self-disciplined.

Don’t make a huge issue out of missing a day here and there. It happens, just pick up from where you left off. Body memory is powerful, so let your body ease back into it without allowing your mind to infect it with anxiety over missed practices!

Dr. Stephanie Maj has a thriving family practice in the heart of Chicago. Her clinic is located at 1442 W. Belmont Ave., 1E, Chicago, IL 60657. 773.528.8485. www.communitychiropractic.net

#9: Chiropractic Alleviates Pain – Chiropractors address the underlying cause of pain disorders, headaches, low back pain and sports injuries by treating the cause, not covering the symptoms. Quite often, those painful conditions are linked to dysfunctional areas in the spine known as vertebral subluxations – where movement is restricted or spinal bones are misaligned. Chiropractors adjust vertebral subluxations and this often alleviates the pain.

#8: Chiropractic Boosts Productivity – Since chiropractic care keeps you healthier, you will also find that your efficiency at work increases, also. For instance, chiropractic care rids LBP associated with sitting hour after hour in ergonomically incorrect chairs. “Sitting causes the pelvis to rotate backwards and causes a reduction in the lumbar lordosis, chunk-phi angle, and knee angle” notes researchers. Treatment also causes “an increase in muscle effort and disk pressure” (JMPT 1999; 22:594-609). In relating LBP can lead to work absence and higher medical costs: the focus of a study published earlier this year. In a review of 250 employees receiving workers compensation for low back pain– 72 of whom had no physically therapeutic care — patients receiving spinal adjustments experienced greater reductions in pain and disability. This translated into lower therapeutic costs and a faster return to work (Spine Journal 2006; 6:289-295). Chiropractic care effectively restores proper spinal alignment and reduces LBP. Missing appointments however, may foster a “one step forward, to step back” scenario.

#7: Chiropractic Improves Cognitive Function – Mapping of brain activity before and after chiropractic adjustments of the spine and the neck reveals that chiropractic care stimulates cognitive function. In a study involving 500 adult volunteers, researchers used cutting edge technology to create maps of functioning in the cortical portions of the brain before and after chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine. Researchers found that “cervical adjustments activate specific neurological pathways” in the brain, potentially stimulating cognitive function (JMPT1997;20:529). Chiropractic adjustments also enhance response mechanisms in the brain, according to researchers in New Zealand who conducted a study involving 30 volunteers: all with evidence of cervical spinal joint dysfunction. Instead of cortical mapping the researchers used reaction time to various stimulation as a gauge. “Multiple sites of cervical spinal joint dysfunction were related to impaired cortical processing,” noted the researchers. This was demonstrated by “significantly less accurate response selection and a trend toward more variable performance of an anticipated response.” (JMPT 2005;28:502-7). After chiropractic adjustments, the volunteers demonstrated improved cortical processing and response selection.

#6: Chiropractic Boosts Immunity and Prevents Other Conditions – Scientific research reveals that regularly scheduled chiropractic care may boost the body’s immune response. And a powerful immune system is a key component of chiropractics all-natural approach. One study involved 11 patients over a nine-month period. The pilot study provided preliminary information regarding chiropractic care and possible links to improved immune status. Chiropractic care also boosted other aspects of health and quality of life – as mentioned above (JVSR 2006 1-6). Another study in 1991 even found that chiropractic adjustments boost levels of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and monocytes — white blood cells associated with a healthy immune system (JMPT 1991; 7:399-408).

#5: Chiropractic Reduces Stress – Chiropractic care reduces stress by allowing the body to achieve a balance. In addition, chiropractic helps keep patients free of the impairments to regular exercise, which is key to reducing stress and preventing stress-related anxiety and depression. And, while chiropractors do not treat depression, preliminary research demonstrates that chiropractic adjustments may ease depressive symptoms by increasing endorphins. “It has been long speculated that chiropractic interventions may affect mental health problems,” note researchers. Investigators followed 15 adults who were both clinically depressed and had cervical spine subluxations. Before and after receiving an adjustment, the subjects completed a standard assessment for depression called the Beck Depression Inventory II. Results revealed a marked reduction in depression scores following treatment (JVSR 2005:1-4)

#4: Chiropractic Care Encourages Increased Physical Activity – New patients frequently find that chiropractic care jump starts them toward a more wellness oriented lifestyle, simply because they can move more and with less pain. For instance, many chiropractic patients report improved function and with that, an increased ability to stick to a regular exercise program.

#3: Chiropractic Reduces Dependency on Medications – Individuals who maintain regular chiropractic care are far less likely over use medication, which all have dangerous side effects. Even OTC pain medication may cause problems in the gastrointestinal system. In addition, long-term use of pain medication can actually worsen the very symptoms they was intended to reduce – a “rebound’ reaction. “Rebound” headaches are relatively new, and describe a long standing, “unnamed” and largely unrecognized condition caused by taking painkillers — daily or on a regular basis — from migraines or other headaches. Remember, these conditions are common, they are NOT normal!

#2: Chiropractic Improves Sleep Quality – Chiropractic patients often enjoy improved quality of life, including sleep quality. This is due to a reduction in pain and anxiety which often interferes with sleep patterns. Improved sleep enhances immunity and your ability to fight disease. Some exciting preliminary research links insomnia with vertebral subluxations. The study collected data on 221 patients being cared for by 15 different chiropractors. According to the findings, “one third of the 154 patients who completed the semi structured interview reported their sleep pattern was changed immediately after their chiropractic adjustment. All but one of these 52 patients reported improvement” in the 20 patients with insomnia, improved sleep was noted in the six days following the chiropractic adjustment. ”However, no consistent trends were noted in the days and weeks following care, so additional research is necessary before a firm link may be established” (JMPT 2005;28:179).

#1: Chiropractic Adds Life and Improves Structural Wellness - Regular chiropractic care instills patients with sense of ‘health-confidence” and self-confidence. Much can be said for first impressions. So whether it be in business or in our personal lives, your posture can speak for you before you ever utter a word. If you see someone standing upright, they carry an aire of confidence that bears watching and commands respect. Contrast that mental image with someone who is hunched over or slouches and you can see what I mean. Chiropractic patients learn to take charge of their own well-being, and in turn, increase their longevity by adding a heightened quality-of-life.

Thank you to Dr. Russell D. Caram, Chiropractor, from Bethel, Connecticut!

Dr. Stephanie Maj has a thriving family practice in the heart of Chicago. Her clinic is located at 1442 W. Belmont Ave., 1E, Chicago, IL 60657. 773.528.8485. www.communitychiropractic.net

– Thu May 26, 11:47 pm ET

THURSDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News)– Lists of the side effects for prescription medications on drug labels, packaging and advertisements have mushroomed up to an average of 70 per medication, a new study reports.

Cautions about side effects were designed to inform doctors and consumers of potential hazards, but this expansion may have more to do with worries about litigation rather than actual health concerns, say the study authors, who argue the information could be presented much more efficiently.

“Having a high number of side effects on a drug’s label should not suggest that the drug is unsafe. In fact, much of this labeling has less to do with true toxicity than with protecting manufacturers from potential lawsuits,” the study’s lead author Dr. Jon Duke, Regenstrief Institute investigator and assistant professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

An analysis of more than 5,600 drug labels and more than 500,000 side effects found that prescription drug labels include an average of 70 different potential adverse reactions — a number that jumps to 100 side effects for some commonly prescribed drugs.

Some drugs in the upper range even listed up to 525 reactions.

Duke pointed out that the large number of side effects listed could overload doctors who must sift through this information in order to make informed decisions about medications on behalf of their patients.

For the study, published in the May 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, the researchers compiled a list of the types of prescriptions drugs that were most likely to have a high number of labeled side effects. These drugs included antidepressants, antiviral medications, and newer treatments for restless legs syndrome and Parkinson’s disease.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers additional information on drug side effects.

Dr. Stephanie Maj has a thriving family practice in the heart of Chicago. Her clinic is located at 1442 W. Belmont Ave., 1E, Chicago, IL 60657. 773.528.8485. www.communitychiropractic.net

In this age of over-antibiotic use, I found this study interesting. The normal bacteria in the gut (the good stuff in yogurt) gets altered by the use of antibiotics. Now there is a study that says that this alteration can affect mood. This is profound because I find a large number of my patients have altered gut ecology due to a lifetime of periodic antibiotic use and the constant stream of these drugs consumed our meat and milk.  I hope you enjoy and also find a solid probiotic to help with healing!

We’re all familiar with the term “gut feeling”. As it turns out, the term may be more apt than we realize. In recent years, research has increasingly identified the role the gut can have on mood and behavior, leading many scientists to refer to the gut as the “second brain”. Now, for the first time, researchers have found conclusive evidence that conditions such as anxiety can originate in the gut instead of the brain.

In a study just published in the journal Gastroenterology, researchers at McMaster University found that bacteria residing in the gut influence brain chemistry and behavior.

The research is important because several common types of gastrointestinal disease are frequently associated with anxiety or depression. In addition there has been speculation that some psychiatric disorders, such as late onset autism, may be associated with an abnormal bacterial content in the gut.

“The exciting results provide stimulus for further investigating a microbial component to the causation of behavioral illnesses,” said Stephen Collins, professor of medicine and associate dean of research at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. Collins and Premysl Bercik, assistant professor of medicine, conducted the research in the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute.

Working with healthy adult mice, the researchers found that disrupting the normal bacterial content of the gut with antibiotics produced changes in behavior; the mice became less cautious or anxious. This change was accompanied by an increase in brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which has been linked to depression and anxiety.

When oral antibiotics were discontinued, bacteria in the gut returned to normal and Collins reported that there was “restoration of normal behavior and brain chemistry.”

To confirm that bacteria can influence behavior, the researchers colonized germ-free mice with bacteria taken from mice with a different behavioral pattern. They found that when germ-free mice with a genetic background associated with passive behavior and were colonized with bacteria from mice with higher exploratory behavior, they became more active and daring. Similarly, normally active mice became more passive after receiving bacteria from mice whose genetic background is associated with passive behavior.

Collins said that his team’s research indicates that while many factors determine behavior, the nature and stability of bacteria in the gut appear to influence behavior and disruptions from antibiotics or infections might produce changes in behavior. Bercik said that these results lay the foundation for investigating the therapeutic use of probiotic bacteria in the treatment of behavioral disorders, particularly those associated with gastrointestinal conditions.

The gut is home to about 1,000 trillion bacteria. The gut also contains around 100 million nerve cells (neurons), more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system. This multitude of neurons in the enteric nervous system enables us to “feel” the inner world of our gut and its contents.  Neurons in the gut also use serotonin to signal back to the brain – and 95% of all serotonin in the body is in the gut. About 90 percent of the fibers in the primary visceral nerve, the vagus, carry information from the gut to the brain.

Generally when people think of “gut feelings,” they are thinking about instinctive-like reactions such as the “butterflies” or “hollow feelings” one may get due to fear, bad news or an upcoming daunting task. Now it is apparent that other serious conditions may originate at least partially in the gut. Maintaining a healthy digestive system, including a healthy intestinal flora mix, could be a key in helping to prevent and control such conditions.

In our clinic we recommend a variety of intestinal flora supplements called probiotics.  Probiotic means pro-life. The scientific definition from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States and World Health Organisation is: “probiotics are live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts encourage a health benefit in the human intestine.”

Dr. Stephanie Maj has a thriving family practice in the heart of Chicago. Her clinic is located at 1442 W. Belmont Ave., 1E, Chicago, IL 60657. 773.528.8485. www.communitychiropractic.net

In a group of young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), nearly two-thirds who followed a restricted elimination diet experienced a significant reduction in ADHD symptoms and oppositional defiant behavior. Going off the diet led to relapse. These are the findings in a study last month in the medical journal The Lancet.

I am struck by the possibility that if this study holds true to the majority of this population of kids (10% of children in the United States), that this new research confirms that FOOD is a major causative factor in ADHD!

This study reminds me of a study done about the overuse of caffeine. In a nutshell, this study took a group of medically diagnosed anxiety patients that were slated to get on drug therapy for their problem.  Before they were given the drugs, the patients were taken off all forms of caffeine.  About 75% of patient’s anxiety vanished with the removal of caffeine and thus they did not need to go on the meds.

This new study in The Lancet links ADHD to food hyper-sensitivity, suggesting that a restricted diet could help kids more than drugs.  Food for thought, don’t you think?!  Easy, NO. Worth it in the long run for the health of the kids, YES!

“In all children, we should start with diet research.  If a child’s behavior doesn’t change, then drugs may still be necessary.  But now we are giving them all drugs, and I think that’s a huge mistake,” says the study’s lead author, Dr. Lidy Pelsser of the ADHD Research Centre.

March 12, 2011

Hyperactivity. Fidgeting. Inattention. Impulsivity. If your child has one or more of these qualities on a regular basis, you may be told that he or she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. If so, they’d be among about 10 percent of children in the United States.

Kids with ADHD can be restless and difficult to handle. Many of them are treated with drugs, but a new study says food may be the key. Published in The Lancet journal, the study suggests that with a very restrictive diet, kids with ADHD could experience a significant reduction in symptoms.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Lidy Pelsser of the ADHD Research Centre in the Netherlands, writes in The Lancet that the disorder is triggered in many cases by external factors — and those can be treated through changes to one’s environment.

“ADHD, it’s just a couple of symptoms — it’s not a disease,” the Dutch researcher tells All Things Considered weekend host Guy Raz.

The way we think about — and treat — these behaviors is wrong, Pelsser says. “There is a paradigm shift needed. If a child is diagnosed ADHD, we should say, ‘OK, we have got those symptoms, now let’s start looking for a cause.’ “

Pelsser compares ADHD to eczema. “The skin is affected, but a lot of people get eczema because of a latex allergy or because they are eating a pineapple or strawberries.”

According to Pelsser, 64 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD are actually experiencing a hypersensitivity to food. Researchers determined that by starting kids on a very elaborate diet, then restricting it over a few weeks’ time.

“It’s only five weeks,” Pelsser says. “If it is the diet, then we start to find out which foods are causing the problems.”

Teachers and doctors who worked with children in the study reported marked changes in behavior. “In fact, they were flabbergasted,” Pelsser says.

“After the diet, they were just normal children with normal behavior,” she says. No longer were they easily distracted or forgetful, and the temper tantrums subsided.

Some teachers said they never thought it would work, Pelsser says. “It was so strange,” she says, “that a diet would change the behavior of a child as thoroughly as they saw it. It was a miracle, a teacher said.”

But diet is not the solution for all children with ADHD, Pelsser cautions.

“In all children, we should start with diet research,” she says. If a child’s behavior doesn’t change, then drugs may still be necessary. “But now we are giving them all drugs, and I think that’s a huge mistake,” she says.

Also, Pelsser warns, altering your child’s diet without a doctor’s supervision is inadvisable.

“We have got good news — that food is the main cause of ADHD,” she says. “We’ve got bad news — that we have to train physicians to monitor this procedure because it cannot be done by a physician who is not trained.”

Dr. Stephanie Maj has a thriving family practice in the heart of Chicago. Her clinic is located at 1442 W. Belmont Ave., 1E, Chicago, IL 60657. 773.528.8485. www.communitychiropractic.net

Below is an example of why label reading is essential to a healthy diet in today’s grocery stores. The food industry is more about chemistry than nutrition and these high sugar cereals prove it.  Keep reading those labels people!!

Dr. Steph

(NaturalNews) A cereal offered by General Mills called “Total Blueberry Pomegranate” cereal has been characterized as a “total fraud” by investigative journalist Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as part of a non-profit Food Investigations documentary being shown at www.FoodInvestigations.com.

Yet it is called “Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal” and positioned as a highly nutritious cereal with the words “100% nutrition,” “Blueberry” and “Pomegranate” appearing prominently on the front of the box, in a very large font size.

While the cereal contains no actual blueberries or pomegranates, it does contain eight different sweeteners: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Brown Sugar Syrup, Malt Syrup, Sucralose, Molasses and Honey. The blueberry-like appearance of small bits in the cereal are accomplished through the use of artificial colors like Red #40 and Blue #2, combined with various oil sand sweeteners such as soybean oil and sugar.

“When consumers buy Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal, they fully expect it to contain at least some amount of real blueberriesand pomegranates,” explained award-winning investigative journalist Mike Adams, who narrates the Food Investigations video. “For General Mills to use these words on the front of the box and then fail to deliver any actual blueberries or pomegranates in the product is extremely deceptive.”

“By choosing to pursue this deception, General Mills has tarnished its reputation among consumers worldwide who are now learning they cannot trust General Mills products to be honestly labeled,” Adams added.

Adams is a strong proponent of real blueberries and pomegranates, which he describes as “plant-based medicines” that offer powerful nutritional support for preventing degenerative disease. Over the last several years as the news about thehealthbenefits of blueberries and pomegranates has spread, large food companies have jumped on the bandwagon and attempted to use blueberries or pomegranates in their formulations. “General Mills jumped on the blueberry bandwagon but forgot to bring the blueberries,” Adams added.

Adams suggests General Mills should change the name of their cereal to “Totally NOT Blueberries and Pomegranates.”

Join the online protest against General Mills. General Mills is not an evil company, at least not in the sense of “Monsanto evil.” Although they made a huge mistake with their misleading Total Blueberry Pomegranate cereal, they do provide several healthy brands such as Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen. They also bought Larabar a year or two ago, and that’s a decent food bar (although it’s still not organic). We want to help educate General Mills to the fact that customers are smarter than they think. We are paying attention, and we will boycott General Mills when they decide to treat us like consumer morons.

Join us in contacting General Mills and urging them to stop their deceptive marketing practices that deceive consumers about what’s really inside the box. Use the following contact page to offer your feedback: http://generalmills.com/en/ContactUs.aspx

Volunteering his research efforts under the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center, the Health Ranger found that Total Blueberry Pomegranate cereal contained neither blueberries nor pomegranates.  Source :General Mills website nutrition facts label, downloaded January 19, 2011: http://www.naturalnews.com/images/Total_Blueberry_Pomegranate.jpg