Childhood Obesity Awareness Campaign

Not too long ago I wrote an article about another article about childhood obesity. Yesterday I stumbled on another article about Childhood Obesity Awareness. In my position I wanted to add in my insight on childhood obesity, my position is from being an obese teenager. A lot has changed since then I am more in shape than before but am forever imprinted a concern about my weight and appearance. I question myself every day on my looks and even my self esteem, which has improved.
A series of ads have been released discussing childhood obesity in order to make it aware. It was quoted that it blamed the victims of childhood obesity and their family. A line saying "it starts at home and at the buffet line" another saying "it's hard to be a little girl when you're not." Blunt. The debate in the article on whether it would cause parents to take action or would it do the opposite and cause parents to avoid it even further. Very interesting debate.
As a teenage, if I saw that ad I would be even more ashamed of myself. The reason I say that is because being in the position I was in, I was already sensitive of how I looked. I would avoid my reflection like it was the plague, which I sometimes do right now. The ad just states what I already know, not how to fix it. I feel like it takes a lot for a person to take responsibility for their body and improve themselves. Parents today are confused on how to tend to their children's health without just taking them to the doctor. They expect to just drop their child on the laps of a doctor and everything would be ok. The ad should be talking about something like that.
I was fortunate to have my parent's support. My father actually jogged beside me as he encouraged me to run laps around the soccer field near our park. That was one of the most difficult moments for me. Positive reinforcement can help too by telling your child how much nicer they looked. You must make the positive outweigh the negative as much as possible. The little girl in the video talks about being picked on because of her weight, I remember those days. I agree, parents need to stand up and encourage their children to eat healthy, stay active and most importantly be positive.

Do you own a mini drugstore at home?

One of my favorite sites to visit is the Maximized Living website. There are a lot of information on the website about different health topics that goes on. It's a great resource to learn ways to take care of yourself without succumbing to the medical model. I have learned and hope that all of our readers out there will that sometimes even so someone says one thing we should always learn more about it then make our decision.

This time the article that caught my attention is on Cholesterol medication. "Is this Malicious Health Scandal Stealing Your Money?" Prescription drugs hit home with me because both of my parents are taking pills every day to keep "healthy" but it seems every few months instead of taking less pills they are taking more and more. My mother has a shoe box of bottles and among them includes cholesterol pills.  Wouldn't you think it's a concern when the drugs are piling up at home and not dwindling down?

Another interesting article that I found in regards to statins was at Dr. Mercola's website.  It was about 11 Dangerous Statins. After reading this article it makes me realize that majority drugs out there have side effects which causes more problems. These problems are countered by adding more pills to the mix. In the end we end up with a drug cocktail. Oh yummy! "Your body NEEDS cholesterol—it is important in the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function."

To be fair I read an article by Mayo Clinic about Cholesterol-lowering drugs. One statement caught my attention "If the only risk factor you have is high cholesterol, you may not need medication because your risk of heart attack and stroke could otherwise be low. High cholesterol is only one of a number of risk factors for heart attack and stroke." So even the doctors at Mayo Clinic admits that High cholesterol does not indicate that you are at high risk for heart problems. So high cholesterol does not mean you need to take a statin to lower it.

They posted a list of other risk factors that comes into play for if you are in risk of heart disease:


Other risk factors
Before you're prescribed a statin, your cholesterol level is considered along with other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including:

• Family history of high cholesterol or cardiovascular disease
• Inactive (sedentary) lifestyle
• High blood pressure
• Age older than 55 if you're a man, or older than 65 if you're a woman
• Poor general health
• Having diabetes
• Overweight or obesity
• Smoking
• Narrowing of the arteries in your neck, arms or legs (peripheral artery disease)

  I am ultimately impressed because not many people think about the whole picture. We are living in a society of people who want the instant cure. The pill to make you skinny. The pill to make your pains go away. The pill to make you pretty, etc.

There are so many ways we can take care of ourselves and lower our risk for heart disease. Why must we be lazy about it then blame the health care system if we fail. It is our own undoing. Watch what you eat. Go out and exercise. Our body is our own business, you only get one. Take care of it today.

Birth Control, healthy or not?

A friend of mine have recently been prescribed birth control pills for her acne. The doctor told her that her hormones are imbalanced and that birth controls pills would help her regulate that so she won't have break outs. She is among the several million people out there who wants the easy way out for their health. The toxicity causing acne and break outs I would like to talk about another time. The focus today is on birth control, something I have very little knowledge about but because of my friend I am curious to learn about them.

According to the Planned Parenthood website they give you birth control pills at a glance:

• Take a pill each day to prevent pregnancy
• Safe, effective, and convenient
• Easy to get with a prescription
• Cost about $15-$50 each month

 The way that some birth control pills work is that they contain two hormones: estrogen and progestin. When taking the pills, they prevent woman's ovaries from releasing eggs - ovulation. Hormones also thin the lining of the uterus and thickens the woman's cervical mucus to block sperm from joining with an egg.

One thing I love is that where is says Birth Control Pills are safe is also says "But all medications have some risks, so safety is a concern when choosing a birth control method." So some risks includes high blood pressure, it's bad if you have had breast cancer, blood clotting problems, lupus, diabetes, liver disease, smoke, etc. This surprises me because in my friend's family there has been diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. Did her doctor look into that before prescribing it?

I stumbled upon an article about blood clots and Birth Control Pills. In particular it referred to a research study done by the FDA on pills containing drospirenone. They estimated 10 in 10,000 women taking the drospirenone drug would get a blood clot per year. "A clot in the blood vessels can prove fatal if it breaks loose and travels to the lungs, heart or brain." Not good. This is a concern because it includes popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin.

The second half of the article included interviews with doctors and people on their views of the data. One person stated that if the doctor prescribes it then they will go with it. As much as I know doctors do not intend on harming their patients but honestly how much do they really know about the drug. They know what they are told by the pharmaceutical reps.The best thing for any decision is to make sure you make an educated decision. Do the research.

Arsenic Consuption in our Water and Apple Juice

Arsenic is a semi-metal element that is odorless and tasteless. It was once a popular poison for assassins and unhappy widows. There has been a lot of debate lately on how harmful is the little bits of arsenic we get in water and apple juice. According to the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) that there are non-cancer effects which includes "thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness in hands and feet; partial paralysis; and blindness." But Arsenic has also been linked to several including bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver and prostate.
I am not sure about you but reading this makes me concern. Then why are we letting juice companies tell us that the little bits of arsenic we are feeding not just ourselves but also our children is okay? It's not. In an interview with Fox News, Michael Taylor (FDA's deputy commissioner for foods) said "We continue to think that apple juice is generally safe based on the fact that the vast majority of samples are very low. But we want to minimize these exposures as much as possible."
Currently the FDA uses 23 parts per billion as a guide to judge whether apple juice is contaminated. Consumer Reports published an article recently about arsenic in apple juice. They tested several popular brands of apple juice to find there were higher levels of arsenic. "Five samples of apple juice and four of grape juice had total arsenic levels exceeding the 10 ppb federal limit for bottled and drinking water. Levels in the apple juices ranged from 1.1 to 13.9 ppb, and grape-juice levels were even higher, 5.9 to 24.7 ppb. Most of the total arsenic in our samples was inorganic, our tests showed." Consumer groups also stated that the FDA's level is too high and isn't enforced with enough urgency.
Not too long ago popular TV Doctor, Dr. Oz did a program that did similar testings. He was criticized and the FDA responded saying that most of the arsenic were organic so they were harmless. Since then the FDA now has new research that says that arsenic was really inorganic and that makes them harmful now. Doesn't this make you concerned? Sometimes I question if the FDA is concerned about the people or are they concerned about making the big corporations happy?

Free Workshop on Water Detox hosted by Dr. Trent Iverson at Bandana Chiropractic and Wellness Center at 11:15 AM. Call 651-354-8343 to reserve a seat today.

Childhood Obesity, what does that mean?

I stumbled upon this article yesterday: “Obese Third Grader Taken From Mom, Placed in Foster Care.” The boy was a third grader who weighted more than 200 lbs which is obviously not good. The state took him away and put him foster care. This is not the only incident but it brought up a very interesting topic.

Childhood Obesity has become very prominent over the past few years. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the past 30 years childhood obesity has more than tripled. This is very alarming and bring obese is a precursor for several diseases including cancer, diabetes and many problems.

I do empathize with the parents who are in this situation. Yet the best way for a parent and family to help the child is to change their lifestyle to help encourage change in their children’s lifestyle. This refers to activities in the family, eating habits, hobbies and much more.

So what happened in the past 30 years to make childhood obesity so prominent today? Well lifestyle in general has changed. ‘Let’s Move” is a program throughout the United States that is supported by First Lady, Michelle Obama. The program encourages keeping our youth physically active. They state children today experience a different lifestyle. “Walks to and from school have been replaced by car and bus rides. Gym class and after-school sports have been cut; afternoons are now spent with TV, video games, and the Internet. Parents are busier than ever and families eat fewer home-cooked meals. Snacking between meals is now commonplace.”

So what can parents do? According to KidsHealth, the best way to prevent child obesity is to changing the way your family interacts with one another through eating, exercises, how you spend time together. “Helping kids lead healthy lifestyles begins with parents who lead by example.”

The best practice to raising a healthy child is to lead by example. In January 2012, Dr. Hugh Wegwerth at Bandana Chiropractic and Wellness Center will be hosting a workshop, the “Extreme Makeover”. The Makeover offers an historical view of how our eating habits have changed for the worse as well as simple, easy to implement, baby steps to making healthy living part of your lifestyle. It is free and open to the public, call 651-354-8343 to register today.

Vitamin D3 in a New Bottle

Last year around this time I was sitting in a lecture by guest speaker Dr. Mayer Eisenstein. Our clinic had invited him to Minnesota to give a lecture about Vaccines. I remember him being a very pleasant man with a lot to say.

As he discussed vaccines he brought up a very important vitamin. Vitamin D3. It is something that we get naturally from sunlight. The problem though is that most of us are not outside bathing in the sun anymore, we are spending our time inside. It helps with our immune system and when you are sick you should be getting in more Vitamin D3.

What was recommended is that if you are ill you should be taking in 1,000 IU for every pound you weigh. Example if I weight 150 lbs, which I don't, I should be taking 150,000 IU. The company that Dr. Mayer Eisenstein has offers it in 50,000 IU pills, Home First. We do carry these in our office.

The other one we carry in our office is the Maximized Living Vitamin D3. In a few weeks we will be carrying a newer version of the Maximized Living Vitamin D3. It is the same price but what is the difference? First of all the quantity is the first thing that I noticed.
Our original bottle has 100 capsules while the new one has 33 capsules. So what are the benefits of these new bottles? The new bottle now not only has the 5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 but also they have added "1 Billion CFU of powerful probiotics with an organic whole fruit and vegetable blend."