The White Stuff

Tricked or Treated  Today's edition is brought to you by the real boss, Mrs Spine: It's that time of year again, where parents will be busy with all sorts of Halloween related activates. My kids like yours are so hyped up about the upcoming "Holiday". My middle daughter came home yesterday and informed me that she needed to use a pillow case for trick or treating because you can get more candy that way. Halloween has turned in to sugar-polooza. Once a year is one thing. But anyone who's ever tried to lose weight, rid themselves of Candida or balance their pH knows that sugar is el Diablo. But sugar is found in almost everything we eat, in addition to the obvious sweet and tempting treats such as candy and cookies, cakes and pies, sugar is found naturally in fruit and milk, and is an ingredient in many brands of yogurt, tomato sauce, and salad dressings. Also, many foods are converted to sugar once they pass the pie hole. It's called the 'glycemic index,' Google it, you may be surprised. Sugar not only adds sweetness to foods; it also plays a role in our ability to eat and enjoy food in many other ways. It creates texture and color in baked goods, adds body to yogurt, balances acidity in tomato products and increases the boiling point and reduces the freezing point in foods. Have you ever noticed that your kids act differently after eating certain foods? Most people will build up a tolerance to sugar as you eat more you do not feel its effects. In our house you will find fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, yogurt and other healthy snacks. But on occasion we do let our kids have whatever they want. I can instantly see a difference in their attitude and behavior. For example when taking our oldest girl to a certain Italian Ice stand, we immediately notice a difference in her attitude and behavior. She turns into a completely different little girl...for the worse I might add. My weakness is chocolate like most women. When I first met Doctor Lee, my favorite green food was green peanut M&M's. I loved chocolate with all three of my pregnancies. The only thing I found to help curb my chocolate addiction was when I completed the Novolife cleanse, three years ago. Completing this cleanse stopped my cravings for chocolate and carbs as well. I went from eating chocolate every day to having a bite of brownie every once and awhile, and a few bites of birthday cake.

The Hip Bone is connected to the....

Last month I experienced a first. My first earthquake. Actually it wasn’t my first, but the only one I’ve ever felt. Strange because I live through a few in California and Asia that knocked stuff off the wall, but I was sleeping or just didn’t notice. But the big (not that big according to West Coasters) East Coast Quake of 2011 I felt. It’s one of those forever remember what you were doing moments: sitting where I’m sitting now. My mind went through the list of possibilities: Another truck hit the light pole/bank on the other side of the parking lot (happened already), this close to APG I thought they did something or worse Peach Bottom; then one of the dozens of helicopters flying past went down. (My brother the Air Force pilot and Astronautical Engineer has always said planes are designed to fly, helicopters to crash).  No matter, when you live this close to DC, NYC, an army base and nuclear plant, your heart skips a beat anytime there’s a rumble.

Turns out it was an earthquake down in Virginia, 154 miles away from my front door, according to Google. That was the epicenter, but it was felt as far away as New York and Georgia. According to one of my very nerdy friends, the reason this earthquake has such a large spread was something to do with how the continental shelf is connected. Your back is the same way.

Let’s say your main diagnosis is a herniated L5 disc. Your disc is the epicenter of your problem, not the only problem. That disc doesn’t exist in a vacuum, It’s attached to stuff (and yes, stuff is the technical term). The damage from a bad disc spreads out all over your body. It leads to muscle spasm up and down the spine; muscle imbalance throughout the trunk, arms and legs; tendonopathy, neuropathy, and myopathy from head to toe and can mess with the innards too.

This is why we employee a whole body approach to treating what may seem like 1 sq inch of disease, but that’s attached to stuff.