Top 5 nutritional choices to make if your health is important to you

Do you ever feel like: you’re walking around with your head in a fog, have less energy than you used to, maybe you’re not quite as quick to the punch as you once were, or you find that common words seem to continuously slip your mind? Well, this doesn’t have to be. Certain foods can actually help to boost your brainpower, clear away your mental fog and leave you with enviable quick-thinking skills. So if you’d like to increase your intelligence to the level you’re capable of achieving, take a moment and read through the list below. Choosing these foods will not only make you appear smart to those around you, they will actually help you to increase your mental clarity, ability to think and overall health potential.

Fish Oil: As the old saying goes, "Fish is brain food." What I recommend- and I can’t recommend it highly enough is fish oil. Packed with beneficial omega-3 fats including DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid), fish oil may reduce inflammation in the brain and offer a protective effect. Our brains and nerves are made up of approximately 60 percent fat, and most of this fat is either DHA or AA (arachidonic acid). DHA is primarily obtained from fish sources, not plant sources like flax seed. When using fish oil it is important to obtain a high-quality reputable brand. If you would like help finding a quality supplement, please let Mark or myself help you... it can be very confusing and difficult on your own.

Vegetables or a Vegetable Powder Supplement: There is little that compares to the nutritional value of vegetables. Specifically, low levels of folic acid, a nutrient found in green leafy vegetables, have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, and the many antioxidants and phytochemicals in vegetables will help to keep your mind sharp. My general recommendation is to eat one pound of vegetables daily for every 50 pounds of body weight. The easiest way to achieve this is to be regularly consuming vegetable juice or a vegetable powder like the Body By God Green PhytoFoods supplement that I take. It has 2.5 pounds of veggies per serving! With less time to cook and eat quality vegetables I choose to drink them instead. If you are not already doing this I strongly recommend that we talk about how to start using vegetable powder to support your nutritional needs.

Avoid Sugar: This is obviously not a food, but more of a "foods-to-avoid" category. If you want to perform at your top level, intelligence-speaking or otherwise, it is imperative to limit, if not completely avoid, sugar. High-sugar foods will disrupt your body's homeostasis and insulin levels, which will contribute to disease and brain fog. Some easy ways to avoid sugar in your diet is to cut out soda and candy, but also watch out for less obvious sources like fruit juice.

Berries: Not only do blueberries taste good, but they are one of the most potent antioxidant foods on the planet. They are small and densely packed with a variety of potent phytochemcials that can do wonders to normalize and improve health, including direct benefits to the brain. Blueberries have been shown to actually reverse some of the aging that occurs in the brain. Blueberries are full of other health-promoting qualities as well, and my only caution for them is to watch how many you eat at once due to their sugar content. Other small, darkly colored berries, like cherries, raspberries, gooseberries and mulberries provide similar health benefits.

Liquid Multivitamin: There is more confusion about what multivitamin to take than anything else I can think of. Here are my thoughts on how simple this should be… everyone NEEDS a multivitamin nowadays- unless you have a perfect diet, and I don’t know anyone who actually does. Liquid is clearly the way to go in comparison to pill form. The source of the multivitamins nutrient value should be plant derived and preferably harvested from the ocean floor for purity. It is that simple folks. If you need help finding a liquid multivitamin, please ask Mark or myself for advice. I have made many poor choices about diet in my lifetime. I welcome you to learn and benefit from the mistakes I have made and the research I have already done for you. Good nutrition is part of living a Chiropractic lifestyle and a Maximized Life.

Your Maximized Health Mentor,
Dr. Craig

Sugar can destroy your health!

In addition to throwing off the body's homeostasis, excess sugar may result in a number of other significant consequences. The following is a listing of some of sugar's metabolic consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications. You will not believe how bad it is until reading all 70 reasons!

1. Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.^1,2
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. ^3,4,5,6
3. Sugar can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.^7,8
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.^9,10,11,12
5. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.¹³
6. Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.^{14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
7. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.^21,22
8. Sugar can weaken eyesight.²³
9. Sugar can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.^{24,25,26,27,28}
10. Sugar can cause premature aging.²⁹
11. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.³⁰
12. Sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.^31,32,33
13. Sugar contributes to obesity.³⁴
14. Sugar can cause autoimmune diseases such as: arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis.^35,36,37
15. Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)³⁸
16. Sugar can cause gallstones.³⁹
17. Sugar can cause appendicitis.⁴⁰
18. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.⁴¹
19. Sugar can cause varicose veins.⁴²
20. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.⁴³
21. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.⁴⁴
22. Sugar can cause a decrease in your insulin sensitivity thereby causing an abnormally high insulin levels and eventually diabetes.^45,46,47
23. Sugar can lower your Vitamin E levels.⁴⁸
24. Sugar can increase your systolic blood pressure.⁴⁹
25. Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.⁵⁰
26. High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar molecules attaching to and thereby damaging proteins in the body).⁵¹
27. Sugar can interfere with your absorption of protein.⁵²
28. Sugar causes food allergies.⁵³
29. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.⁵⁴
30. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.⁵⁵
31. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.^56,57
32. Sugar can impair the structure of your DNA.⁵⁸
33. Sugar can change the structure of protein and cause a permanent alteration of the way the proteins act in your body.^59,60
34. Sugar can make your skin age by changing the structure of collagen.⁶¹
35. Sugar can cause cataracts and nearsightedness.^62,63
36. Sugar can cause emphysema.⁶⁴
37. High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in your body.⁶⁵
38. Sugar lowers the ability of enzymes to function.⁶⁶
39. Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson's disease.⁶⁷
40. Sugar can increase the size of your liver by making your liver cells divide and it can increase the amount of liver fat.^68,69
41. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney such as the formation of kidney stones.^70,71
42. Sugar can damage your pancreas.⁷²
43. Sugar can increase your body's fluid retention.⁷³
44. Sugar is enemy #1 of your bowel movement.⁷⁴
45. Sugar can compromise the lining of your capillaries.⁷⁵
46. Sugar can make your tendons more brittle.⁷⁶
47. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.⁷⁷
48. Sugar can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders.^78,79
49. Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves which can alter your mind's ability to think clearly.⁸⁰
50. Sugar can cause depression.⁸¹
51. Sugar can increase your risk of gout.⁸²
52. Sugar can increase your risk of Alzheimer's disease.⁸³
53. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalances such as: increasing estrogen in men, exacerbating PMS, and decreasing growth hormone.^84,85,86,87
54. Sugar can lead to dizziness.⁸⁸
55. Diets high in sugar will increase free radicals and oxidative stress.⁸⁹
56. High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.⁹⁰
57. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration and is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.^91,92
58. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.⁹⁵
59. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.⁹⁶
60. Your body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.⁹⁷
61. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.⁹⁸
62. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).⁹⁹
63. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.¹⁰⁰
64. Sugar can slow down the ability of your adrenal glands to function.¹⁰¹
65. I.V.s (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to your brain.¹⁰³
66. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.¹⁰⁵
67. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.¹⁰⁶
68. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44 percent drop in antisocial behavior.¹⁰⁹
69. Sugar dehydrates newborns.¹¹⁰
70. Sugar can cause gum disease.¹¹¹

References are available, but I just simply ran out of room on this one. Please tell your friends, “Sugar is a Bad Idea”

Your Maximized Health Mentor,

Dr. Craig

The Real Dangers of Soda to You and Your Children

How many sodas have you had today? How about your kids? The average American drinks an estimated 56 gallons of soft drinks each year, but before you grab that next can of soda, consider this: one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites.

This is an alarming amount of sugar, calories and harmful additives in a product that has absolutely no nutritional value. Plus, studies have linked soda to osteoporosis, obesity, tooth decay and heart disease. Despite this, soda accounts for more than one-quarter of all drinks consumed in the United States.

Teenagers and children, who many soft drinks are marketed toward, are among the largest consumers. In the past 10 years, soft drink consumption among children has almost doubled in the United States. Teenage boys now drink, on average, three or more cans of soda per day, and 10 percent drink seven or more cans a day. The average for teenage girls is more than two cans a day, and 10 percent drink more than five cans a day.

While these numbers may sound high, they’re not surprising considering that most school hallways are lined with vending machines that sell, of course, soft drinks. It’s not uncommon for schools to make marketing deals with leading soft drink companies such as Coca-Cola from which they receive commissions--based on a percentage of sales at each school--and sometimes a lump-sum payment.

The revenues are used for various academic and after-school activities, but what activity could be worth devastating the students’ health, which is exactly what consuming all that soda is doing? Getting rid of vending machines in schools--or replacing their contents with pure water and healthy snacks--could make a big difference, as vending machines can increase the consumption of sweetened beverages by up to 50 or more cans of soda per student per year. Let’s take a look at some of the major components of a can of soda:

• Phosphoric Acid: May interfere with the body's ability to use calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis or softening of the teeth and bones. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which can interfere with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.
• Sugar: Soft drink manufacturers are the largest single user of refined sugar in the United States. It is a proven fact that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.
• Aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. Further, when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens (cancer causing).
• Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.
• Tap Water: I recommend that everyone avoid drinking tap water because it can carry any number of chemicals including chlorine, trihalomethanes, lead, cadmium, and various organic pollutants. Tap water is the main ingredient in bottled soft drinks.
• Soda is one of the main reasons, nutritionally speaking, why many people suffer health problems. Aside from the negative effects of the soda itself, drinking a lot of soda is likely to leave you with little appetite for vegetables, protein and other food that your body needs.

If you are still drinking soda, stopping the habit is an easy way to improve your health. Pure water is a much better choice.

Your Maximized Health Mentor,

Dr. Craig

"SO MUCH TIME, SO LITTLE TO DO . . . .WAIT - REVERSE THAT"

- Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka

What would it be like to have so much time on your hands, you don't know what to do - without being incarcerated or lost on a deserted island with no one to talk to but Wilson. Most people couldn't imagine that. We get up and go, go, go – usually getting up before we've had the necessary amount of sleep to be mentally or physically well.

The really bizarre part about how busy we are, is that all of the important areas of life – family, health, finances, and our spiritual life are in that tank now more then ever. This of course bears the question, "What are we so busy doing?"

This paper is about choices and your ability to make them. After birth, you're allotted a very specific amount of time. No matter what you believe, your days are numbered - and that's specific. If you live long enough, eventually you're going to die. Last I checked death was still affecting 1 out of 1. Therefore, all that ultimately matters while on earth is what you do with those days. Many, I fear, aren't making the best choices for how limited those days really are.

In my life, when I've been the busiest, I've never been the most successful. First of all, when you let rushing overtake you, you start making bad choices about your life. When I'm rushing to and fro I start missing sleep, eating worse, get off my preferred exercise schedule, spend less time with my kids, and shorten my prayer and Bible reading time. Those are the obvious problems.

Even worse, as I look back to the times I've been the most rushed, I find I'm in autopilot. Moving towards that day of – "When I just past this one deadline" or "When I have this much money" or "As soon as this project gets completed" etc, etc, etc. it's like I'm in a coma. Days, weeks, months, and even years can rush by and you're just getting through them, rarely getting much from them. All with the belief that there's a Promised Land on earth type of destination where you can just stop and enjoy life.

During these times, I also make terrible choices. Being overworked, under rested, and badly stressed negatively affects your decision making ability. Not only are you messing up your life by rushing through it, you further aggravate the situation by making one wrong decision after another.

YOUR LIFE IS NOW!! If you're not experiencing joy and health NOW and you're not working on and investing in your joy and health for later –YOU'RE BLOWING IT!!! Destination living is the proverbial way of missing your whole life and destroying all that's important.

Sit back down with your daily planner and create the greatest year of your life- one that is unburdened by excess stress.

Remember… stress creates dysfunction, makes us ill and ultimately leads to our demise. Our nerve system becomes impaired more and more with accumulating stress. Emotional stress along with physical and chemical stress needs to be minimized or eliminated in order for us to realize our full health potential, and thereby achieve a MAXIMIZED LIFE.

Keep you eyes and calendar open for our newest health seminar, “Managing The 4 Essentials Of Health & The 3 Stresses In Life – Your Future Depends On It!”. In this free seminar we will introduce the concepts of healthier living and ways to achieve a maximized life. You do not want to miss it. By the way… friends, family, coworkers, etc are welcome to attend with you.

Your Maximized Health Mentor,

Dr. Craig