Nutrition and Chiropractic Update

Back in the early part of April, I posted a blog article regarding chiropractic care and nutrition, specifically, my own nutrition. Being the owner of my San Diego Chiropractic office, I spend most of my days treating patients with neck pain and back pain. While neck pain and back pain are very important to resolve, there are other health concerns that must be addressed if we expect to be truly healthy.

Several months ago, I had a hair mineral analysis performed on myself. The results of that test were surprising to me. Aside from my calcium and magnesium levels, every other nutrient mineral was deficient.

Even iron!  This is normal for women but not so common in men.  Without the analysis, I would have never thought this finding was a possibility.

As I had indicated in prior posts on this topic, one of my primary health concerns over the last 10 years has been lack of restful sleep or insomnia.

As I read up on the minerals that I was deficient in, insomnia was a side effect in two of them in instances of deficiency.

That bit of knowledge was not enough to quiet the skeptic in me. After all, the company that does the hair mineral analysis also makes the vitamins and minerals that they recommended to me. In addition, I also indicated on my paperwork that insomnia is one of my health concerns.

In order to test these results, I bought mineral supplements from a local source and began taking them as directed on the containers. It took about 11 days before I could say for sure that the quality of my sleep had improved. Within a few more days the improvement was dramatic. Prior to taking these mineral supplements, a good nights sleep was limited to two or three nights per month.

As I write this blog post, I have slept well, over 7 hours per night, for the past month or so. Despite all this quality sleep, I still feel like I am playing catch-up with my rest. I suppose that is the result of 10 years of poor sleep.

I will do future posts on this topic. In the mean time, remember that you are what you eat! Poor dietary habits definitely create a need for dietary supplements. Maintaining your health is work but it is worthwhile.

Nutritional Pathway to Health

Several posts ago I did an article on my nutritional state. I am doing this for several reasons.
First of all, I want to get healthier and I want to set a good example for the patients' of my San Diego Chiropractic practice. While I had a fantastic educational experience in nutrition 18 years ago in chiropractic college, my implementation of my nutritional education has been absent from my San Diego chiropractic office. I take some responsibility for this as my focus has been on helping patients with specific complaints of neck pain, low back pain, headaches and the like.


Secondly, before I implement anything into my patients' care I like to be on board with it so I can have first hand experience with its benefits. Nutrition is no different. I have been hit and miss with my diet and supplements for years - it is time for a change.


To recap my first post on this topic, I had a hair mineral analysis performed approximately on e month ago. The results revealed deficiencies in many nutrient minerals. Some of the minerals that I was deficient in have the ability to cause anxiety and may affect my ability to sleep soundly. Both anxiety and insomnia are conditions that I have struggled with for years.


The lab that I used for my hair analysis not only provided a report regarding my deficiencies, but they also gave me a supplement recommendation list that I could use to restore proper mineral balance in my system.


As of the date of this post, I have been taking my supplements as advised by the lab for about ten days. At this point I feel a bit more clear headed and I have slept soundly for over 7 hours per night over the last three nights. I know that three nights good sleep is not a fix, but it is unusual. In a typical month I usually only get two or three good nights sleep.


Three good nights sleep in a row is a record for me and enough evidence to justify continuing with my nutritional supplements.


I will post again on this topic in a few weeks to let you all know how I am progressing.

The Pursuit of Better Health

Like many of the patients in my San Diego Chiropractic practice, I desire to be healthier than I am. Chiropractors spend much of our time helping our patients relieve their neck pain, back pain, headaches, etc.

This year I am doing all I can to regain some of the health that I have lost along the way. As I have aged, I notice changes in my energy levels, my anxiety levels, my ability to get a good nights sleep, etc.

I eat reasonably well avoiding fast food and soda. I never have candy or chocolate in my house and I try to watch my fat intake. While this diet plan has kept me in decent shape in regards to my weight, my blood pressure and cholesterol level, I still feel like age is creeping up on me.

You guys remember fitness guru Jack Lalanne don't you? He is 93 years old, maybe older. That guy looks like he is 60 and can probably beat me and most of you in every test of physical strength and aerobic conditioning. If I keep going in my current direction, I will be in a wheel chair at 93 - if I am alive at all!

I think that most of us want the same things from a health standpoint. We want to not only look healthy but we want to be healthy. Health improvement can only be accomplished through proper nutrition and exercise.

For the last 20 years or so I have been a vitamin / supplement consumer. Truthfully, I am hit and miss with taking my supplements. The reason for my departures is the fact that I have no real guide for what I should be taking. At least until now!

In our pursuit of a healthier body, both Linda and I recently had our hair tested for mineral content (Hair Mineral Analysis). The results of my tests were what I would expect for a guy (me) that is forty something and has no real basis for taking the supplements that I have been taking over the last 20 years.

The lab that we used provides a full breakdown of the content of nutrient minerals, toxic minerals (including lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and aluminum) and a ratio of significant minerals. They also provided detailed explanations of the findings as well as supplement recommendations including the type and the time of day that they should be taken.

I like this type of nutritional assessment. Not only does it give me a starting point for taking nutritional supplements, but I can retest in 12 weeks and check my progress.

I recently read an interesting quote from a respected nutritionist. He said "It is a mistake to think that you can loose weight and get healthy, the real path to losing weight is by regaining your health".

I think I will run with this and see where it takes me.

If you want the tools to take your general health up a few notches a Hair Mineral Analysis is an excellent (and encouraged) place to start.

Chiropractic and Nutrition - Another Angle

I want to be healthy - and 30 again! Only one of these things can happen and I am never seeing thirty again.

Many San Diego Chiropractors incorporate nutrition into their practices. It is a logical step and an essential part of helping patients regain and maintain their health. That being said, I have not quite grasped some of the concepts employed by chiropractors and other doctors regarding testing for nutrient deficiencies.

I have always liked measurements to guide my outcomes. Granted, in health care, many times "improvement" in a patients' condition is driven by the patients' symptoms.

In other words, when they are out of pain they are done with care!

This is seldom a good call, most of the time it isn't. Even doctors are advised against making judgments regarding delivery of care for their own illnesses. After all, many patients are riddled with cancer or have major blockage in their hearts' arteries yet the patient has no symptoms. Like any of these conditions, treatment for even seemingly minor symptoms is best when delivered until the illness is completely resolved.

Our state of wellness is fleeting and worsened when we ignore signals that we are losing our health.

We can develop mild symptoms like insomnia or anxiety or fatigue for example and attribute them to something other than some internal issue. Often our symptoms are attributed to things such as work stress or relationship problems. While those stresses are contributors to our symptoms, diet and ultimately nutrition take the lead role in producing symptoms of ill health.

I recently made the decision to have a hair analysis performed for mineral content. The lab that we are now using for hair analysis uses state of the art equipment to analyze the hair sample then they generate a report containing specifics regarding their findings. They also include recommended supplements and gobs of information regarding the consequences of their findings.

Having considered myself above the average as far as my health goes, I was shocked by the reports findings.

This report is exactly what I need to drive my nutritional supplement schedule. It provides a measure of where I am and what I should take to get where I need to be.

One last thing, for those of you who have dismissed the findings of a hair analysis as inaccurate, improvements in this procedure over the last ten years have made it as accurate as blood tests - which are quite accurate.

If you are serious about getting healthy, do yourself a favor and get a hair analysis performed. It will do wonders in guiding your nutritional plan and will keep you on a course toward better health!