The First Tomato

Living next to the "Greenhouse Capital of Canada" means that those living in Medicine Hat have fresh local produce almost all year round.  It tastes great and is far better than the vegetables that are shipped from the other site of the planet.  

Yesterday my wife and I made a Greek salad with local cucumbers and peppers.  For the tomato we used the first vine ripened tomato from our backyard garden.  Oh, my!  The flavour of that tomato burst into our mouths, out shining everything else in the salad.  At the first taste there was no doubt this fresh, red orb was just brimming with nutrition that the tomatoes we buy just don't have.   This is the reason we have a garden.  This is what we wait anxiously months for.  The taste and nutrition of a home grown, organic tomato is beyond compare.

It's a privilege that our society and technology have advanced to where we can have fresh produce year round.  We are healthier for it.  But the taste and nutritional value of homegrown, in season produce just cannot be matched.  That's why we have a garden.  If you don't have a garden you are missing something very special and when I eat my tomato I feel sorry for you.

Stampede Time

The annual Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede is now going on.  It's the time of year when all things western are celebrated.  Living in Medicine Hat, it's hard not to be involved at least to some extent because ranching has historically and remains a big part of the economy of the area.  We have a large number of ranchers as patients in the office.  Although it's dangerous to generalize, but I'm going to state with confidence that as a group ranchers are wonderful people.  Their connection to the land, to their community, and to their roots helps them to develop great character traits.  

Work on the ranch can be physically demanding, involving heavy lifting as well as riding and wrangling.  I'd like to share a case of a rancher patient.  Todd (not his real name) came to our office with a complaint of low back and pain in both hips that had been persistent for the previous year.  The pain was constant and interfered with his sleep as well as making his work nearly impossible to do.  Riding his horse had become shear agony.  This was a serious situation for this 32 year old man!  No work, no pay when you are a self employed rancher.  Todd also had been experiencing headaches daily for the previous 5 years.  He discounted the severity of the headaches, but his wife insisted they were also interfering significantly with his life.

The exam we performed  showed several vertebral subluxations in Todd's spine.  We adjusted him using Activator Methods protocols.  After his first adjustment he experienced significant relief and was able to ride again. Even though he lives 2 1/2 hours from our office, he was desperate to get better and took the time necessary to come for treatment.   After the second adjustment he was able to lift light weight again and the headaches were very intermittent and mild.  After the fourth visit to our office Todd was pain free; no headaches, no back or hip pain.  He was pleased with the way his back now felt, but was ecstatic about how great it was to have no headaches.  Once the headaches had gone he realized how much they had been affecting him.


I don't necessarily like to relate cases where the results are nearly miraculous, but there is something very significant about Todd's case that can be a lesson for all of us.

One of the advantages of working on someone who rides horses regularly is that they usually have great core strength.  This is a real asset when rehabilitating the spine.  Strong core muscles are essential to support the spine.  Ranchers tend to respond very well to chiropractic care for this reason.  Many of the work activities, not to mention rodeoing,  can be hard on their backs, their strong core muscles help them recover quickly when they do injure themselves.
 
From my observations working with ranchers for many years now, their strong core muscles really protect their spines.  For those of us who do not have the opportunity to ride horses regularly, we have to find other forms of exercise to help us.  Our office can certainly provide you with some good core exercises.  Sorry, they won't be as much fun as riding a horse.

Keep Trim, Strong, Agile and Fast

There was an ad last year for a fitness club in Britain that was pulled because it wasn't politically correct.  I thought it was quite humourous.  Maybe I found it amusing because of the red neck in me.  The ad said, "ADVANCED HEALTH WARNING!  WHEN THE ALIENS COME, THEY WILL EAT THE FATTIES FIRST!

I certainly don't want to belittle those with weight issues.  I carry a few pounds more than I should.  I also have family members who struggle with being over weight.  Fighting to keep pounds off is no laughing matter, but the health club ad still put a smile on my face.  It should get us all thinking about our weight.


The reality is that those who are trim can run faster and fight better.  It is unlikely that we will have to run from or fight aliens.  But, we do need to run from and fight invaders that are forever attacking our bodies.  Viruses, bacteria, toxins, and stresses are all out to destroy our bodies.  Those who are fittest survive; those that aren't get sick and die first.

Sometimes we need a little jolt to get us to take action to make the changes that will help us to be healthier.  We may need to exercise more, eat healthier, take more supplements, reduce stress, sleep more, and get more chiropractic adjustments.  It's not just about losing weight or being physically fit.  It's about adopting a lifestyle that promotes your health.  Being the right weight is just one component of health.

For some people joining a health club can be a step in the right direction.  Even if the club runs an ad that is a little offensive.  If it motivates you to action, it's done a good thing.  Stay trim, keep strong, run fast, and remain agile.  You'll be one of the last to succumb to the aliens.

A Great Office

From my perspective, I'm privileged to work at a great office.  I hope the patients who come to our office agree with me.  We have a wonderful facility.  It was purposfully designed not to look or feel like an office building.  We wanted it to feel more like a home.  But as Dionne Warwick sang, "A house is not a home."  It takes more than a building to make a place homey.  It takes people.  The same applies to an office.

It's the efforts of our outstanding staff that makes our office what it is.  Yes we doctors have a part to play in helping patients, but our staff allow us to do what we do best.  They look after the details and make sure the place runs in a manner that will give our patients the best experience.  Our combined goal is to make the chiropractic office visit a pleasant event that people want to keep participating in.  The dedicated chiropractic assistants we have work diligently day in and day out toward this goal.

It's during times of crisis I really take note of how tremendous our staff is.  This past Friday afternoon our computer server crashed.  (It was a full 25 hours old at the time.)  Needless to say that without appointment books and the ability to bill, things became a little chaotic.  It turned out all the data we had entered since our last backup 3 hours earlier was lost.  Terri, Myra, and Morganne stepped into high gear.  They looked after the patients coming into the office, assisted Dr. Ruzycki and myself, and had the afternoon's data rebuilt within a couple of hours.  There were no complaints, just a committed get things done attitude. What could have been a disaster was quickly put to order.  I know full well that if Pam and Fran had been working Friday they would have done the same. 

Thank you ladies!  You make our office great!

You Can't Just Squeeze a Fish

You've heard the advertising: omega 3 added, good source of omega 3 oils, or fortified with omega 3's.  So why in the last couple of years are food processors adding omega 3 oils to so many products?  The answer quite simply is that omega 3 oils are essential to being healthy and most people consume hardly any in their standard diet.  

The term "essential" is often associated with omega 3 oils (more correctly called fatty acids).  From a technical standpoint, it means that the body cannot manufacture it's own omega 3 fatty acids but they must be consumed from an outside food source.  There are several fatty acids in the omega 3 category with the most significant being ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).  ALA is generally found in seeds such as flax.  EPA and DHA are found in significant amounts in fish.  Our bodies use primarily EPA and DHA but can convert some of the ALA to these compounds at a rate of about 15%.  Consequently our best source of omega 3 oils is fatty, deep sea, cold water fish.   

Omega 3 fatty acids are necessary for both mental and physical health.  They are a component of nerve membranes and are essential for brain, nerve and eye development.  Deficiency has been associated with depression, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer's, and other nervous system disorders.  Their effects are not limited to the nervous system.  The health of the cardiovascular system also depends on omega 3 fatty acids.  Heart arrythmias, blood clots, strokes and heart attacks are reduced when a person has adequate EPA and DHA in their systems.  Fetal development, joint health, immune system health, kidney health, and lung health all require omega 3 fatty acids. There really aren't too many functions in the body that don't require DHA and EPA.

Certainly having omega 3's added to food products is a step in the right direction for a society that is generally very deficient.  But it is just a very small step.  Most of the added oils are ALA which must be converted to EPA and DHA.   A better solution should be to consume more fatty fish.  That however is not advisable because these fish usually have high levels of toxins.   The toxins are found in the same oils we want to consume for health benefits.  As omega 3 expert Dr. Dan Murphy says, "You can't just go squeeze a fish and get good oils."  The safest way to get the omega 3 fatty acids you need is to get an oil supplement that is made from clean fish stock and is certified pharmaceutical grade with no toxins.  You cannot be healthy without omega 3 oils so please supplement and be sure to supplement with a high quality oil.    

Don't Believe Everything You Read on the Internet

The other day one of our front desk staff was looking at the weather forecast on the internet and excitedly announced that thunder showers were no longer in the forecast.  Low and behold a few hours later we had showers and thunder.  Although the meteorologists tried their best, the information they gave out was not accurate.  We know that Environment Canada is a reputable organization. I think we've all come to realize that when we look at the weather forecast, we need to always take the information with a grain of salt.  Granted they are trying to predict the future which is dicey at any time, but the point is that even information from a trusted source like Environment Canada is not always reliable.

Often information we get on the internet is from sources much less reliable than Environment Canada.  Yet the information obtained is considered to be valuable.  And it may be, but it may not be.  Opinion is often mistaken as fact.  Data may be taken out of context or may be false.  Like most of you, I use the internet to obtain information.  I also know that I need to confirm the validity of the site I get the information from and I need to confirm the information on other sites that are not directly connected to the first site.

I write this because so many of us go to the net to get information on health and health related issues.  There is an unfathomable amount of great information available that is accurate, but there is also a large amount of it that is not.  We need to be able to weed out the bad so we can feed on the good. 

This blog contains a great amount of opinion, which I've developed over the last 26 years as a chiropractor.  My hope is that it will stimulate you to think about chiropractic and natural health in some ways that you maybe wouldn't have otherwise.  I also try to present accurate data.  You don't have to believe everything I write, after all this is on the internet.  Evaluate my posts against other reputable sites and check my data.  Let me know how I'm doing.  Click the "Reactions" at the bottom of each post.  That's totally anonymous and easy to do.  Better yet post a comment; join the conversation.  Your opinion counts on the web.

Craving Chocolate?

Are you craving some creamy milk chocolate?  Some rich dark chocolate?  Some nutty chocolate?  If you weren't before, you probably are now!  One of the reasons we crave chocolate is that it contains magnesium and most of us are deficient in magnesium.  Our bodies need magnesium for many basic physiologic functions. Our innate intelligence will direct us to foods which will supply what our bodies need to survive.  In this case, chocolate to supply magnesium.

Magnesium is used in the body to aid the absorption of calcium, to maintain healthy teeth and bones, support the immune system, relax muscles, nerves & blood vessels, improve sleep patterns, it's essential for fundamental cellular production including the storage of energy & protein synthesis (ATP), and it helps to lower blood pressure and reduce bad cholesterol levels.  As a matter of fact there are about 300 different processes in the body that require magnesium.

Unfortunately a large portion of us are deficient in magnesium because processing foods destroys the magnesium.  The standard North American diet is high in processed foods and consequently low in magnesium.  Another problem is that many of the foods we consume that should contain magnesium have only small amounts because the the soils they are grown in are magnesium deficient.  When consuming magnesium rich foods many people also fail to have benefits because their digestive systems do not function well enough to absorb this mineral.  This can be the result of low levels of stomach acid or an unhealthy lining of the gut.

Good sources of magnesium are whole grains, nuts, seafood, dark green vegetables, and of course chocolate (preferably dark).  Per capita consumption of  magnesium rich, whole foods (other than chocolate) has decreased 50% over the past 50 years!  It's no wonder we are magnesium deficient.

So you may have a very good reason to be craving chocolate - a magnesium deficiency.  If so it is wise to look for ways to get the magnesium that are healthier that chocolate.  For most people supplementation is the best solution.

Still craving that chocolate? Well maybe, just perhaps, it's because it tastes yummy.