Well, Google Buzz has been launched. I will use this to help me take even better care of my patients and bring up to dat health info to them…. an you, if you follow me 
Portland chiropractor and nutritionist, Dr. Tim Irving’s Google Buzz Profile
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Well, a few of my patients, especially the athletes in my practice have asked quite a few questions about barefoot running or barefoot shoes. In general, barefoot technology as far as footwear is concerned, is just not as prolific as the non-barefoot shoes. What is a barefoot shoe? I know, the term is contradictory. As a Portland chiropractor and nutritionist, my goal is to help my patients’ bodies to be as pain-free and efficient as possible. I often see feet that are dysfunctional causing low back pain, back pain in general, knee and hip pain and even….. headaches! How is this possible? Well, forces are transmitted through our body through various structures. If those forces are transmitted properly, we can handle them, if not, tissues break down and we may notice symptoms anywhere along the road.
When we are barefoot, and our foot structure has not been malformed by more modern, stylish shoes, every time we take a step, the long bones leading to our toes spread apart, the big toe is aloud to extend freely; this tightens-up your plantar fascia and various ligaments related to your long arch creating a spring mechanism. In addition, your heel is at the same level as the rest of your foot which allows your various arches to do what their supposed to do (support and transfer motion). This means a feet that are allowed to work the way they are supposed to will support you, stabilize you and help to properly transmit forces through your body. This results in less pain and more efficient running and walking, jumping etc.
As I have talked about before….
For there to be functional movement in the body, there must be a balance between mobility and stability (stability = the right muscles are contracting at the right time and motion is controlled). Without proper foot mobility and stability, you are setting yourself up for ankle, knee, hip, low back and neck problems and pain. The foot is THE FIRST structure to begin transmitting force through your body when you are walking, running, jumping or even just standing there, in awe at what you’re reading
Here are a few resources that reinforce my commitment to get everyone of my chiropractic patients to utilize barefoot technology.
The Barefoot Professor on YouTube
Running Barefoot: Why Consider Foot Strike?
If you have any more questions or want to come in to have me examine your foot structure, help you regain mobility and then help you develop supreme stability, comment on this blog entry or contact me through the info on my website (www.OptFunction.com)
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Over the past few years, glycosylated hemoglobin (AKA glycated hemoglobin, HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c) has become a promising marker for diabetes. Most labs have reported a “normal” result is you are less than or equal to 7.0%, my optimal range has been between 4.5% and 5.0%. What does it mean?
Well, HbA1c is a marker that gives your doctor an idea about how well you have regulated your blood sugar over the lifespan of you red blood cells or RBCs. Your RBCs have a lifespan of about 3-4 months. Just testing blood glucose gives you a snap-shot view of blood sugar; the problem is; if you regulated your blood sugar properly the morning of the test but not the 3-4 month preceding the test, you don’t get an accurate idea about the potential risk of diabetes.
So, should you just have your HbA1c checked? No, it’s recommended that you have BOTH HbA1c and blood glucose.
You might think it’s strange reading this info from a Portland chiropractor and nutritionist. In fact, I run lab work on many patients, often at prices MUCH lower than your neighborhood hospital or primary care physician. This may mean huge savings, especially for those without insurance. So, come on in to your friendly neighborhood Portland chiropractor and have your HbA1c checked in addition to cholesterol and other markers as necessary.
Reference:
Carson AP, Reynolds K, Fonseca VA, et al. Comparison of A1C and fasting glucose criteria to diagnose diabetes among U.S. adults. Diabetes Care. 2010 Jan;33(1):95-7. Epub 2009 Oct 6.
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
I came across this article a couple of days ago: Help yourself and your kids; Don’t diet
Chronic dieting can not only lead to obesity and food addictions (click for a link to a previous entry on the topic), it can lead to body image problems and a horrible relationship with food. We are inundated with commercials, shows and print ads telling us what we should look like; here’s the problem…… WE ARE NOT HEALTHY as a culture. That’s a huge difference between looking good and being unhealthy and looking good while also feeling great.
Many of us need to change the way we look and feel about food. To do this, we need to change the way we eat; but more importantly, we need to integrate healthy eating into our current lifestyles.
PLEASE, I urge you, in 2010, DO NOT DIET!
Instead, stick to an eating program that focuses on real food, eaten in smaller meals throughout the day in ways that make it fairly easy to do. Don’t take me wrong, any change seems like a challenge in the beginning but once you have integrated healthy eating into your lifestyle….IT STAYS…. period. I have seen it in a most of my patients; there will be no “yo-yo-ing”, no chronic dieting, no “falling off the wagon”; just healthy and wellness with the side effect of weight loss and healthy body composition.
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
I just came across this article: Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ blues on CNN.
Apparently, some people were so engulfed by the beauty, and CGI realism of the movie Avatar that they are now having feelings of depression and, as the article reports, suicide because they can’t experience the beautiful albeit fictitious world, Pandora. Wow, this makes me sad!
Our own world is incredibly beautiful….. we just need to experience it! To see much of the untouched beauty of earth, one must participate partly or fully, in some sort of physical activity. In addition, we need to take time from our busy schedules to experience our world before we long to experience a fictitious CGI world.
Do you suffer from pain or other problems that cause you not to want to or be able to perform regular physical activity? Are you in the Portland area? Come on in and I can show you how chiropractic, nutrition, functional medicine and hypnosis may be able to help you ’squeeze’ as much joy out of this real world as possible.
Try something new….. I recently picked-up unicycling and am seeing Mt. Tabor in Portland, Oregon in a new light. Before unicycling off-road in the trails on Mt. Tabor, I looked at is as any of the other bluffs in the Portland area. Now, while huffing and puffing on one wheel to get to the top, ride down the trails and then back home, I often catch glimpses of beauty that I would have missed or passed right by before.
Remember….. there’s beauty here…..we just ignore it and would probably do the same on any planet we populate over time.
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
An entry on the Psychology Today blog deals with the topic of chronic dieting and how it may lead to “Food Addiction” Click Here: The Problem with Dieting
This is a great blog entry and cites research that suggests those who chronically diet may actually become “food addicts”. I am sure many of you who read this can attest to these findings if you are a chronic dieter or have been in the past. There are better ways to get control of your eating habits, I can help…..
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Here’s a link to an article about the benefits from quitting cigarettes being decreased if the person is also obese. Decrease in smoking extends life span, but obesity may curb gains
In my Portland, Oregon chiropractic, nutrition and hypnosis clinic, Optimum Function, I often see patients who come to me to stop smoking through hypnosis. Many of them also need help losing weight and becoming healthier and more active; these patients often see the best and most long-lasting affects. Often, it is these patients who are the ones to permanently stop smoking bcause they change their entire lifestyle with regards to exercise, food and habits.
If you have comments or questions, leave them here or contact me through my website.
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Switching to a low-fat, predominantly plant-based diet from one high in fat, processed foods and sugar is a process that I whole-heartedly support in my Portland chiropractic, nutrition and functional medicine clinic, Optimum Function. In addition, I really look towards the gut as my main avenue of treatment. Very often, I treat patients functionally by healing any gut inflammation, replacing enzymes and acids that may be depleted, naturally removing any unwanted bugs (or sending them to a medical doctor if the “bugs” are a bit too hardy for natural interventions), and replacing and nurturing the beneficial bacteria that lives in everyone’s gut or gastrointestinal tract.
Well, a few studies have come out suggesting that a high fat and sugar diet alters the population of microbes (bacteria etc.) living in the gut in less than a day. Even more astounding is that the microbes that tend to thrive on this diet are linked to obesity, according to new School of Medicine research. The study was based on transplants of human intestinal microbes into germ-free mice.
Over time, mice that received the transplants, (who were also on a junk-food diet) became obese. Using the latest DNA sequencing technology, the researchers found that mice on the high-fat, high-sugar diet had more microbes and microbial genes devoted to extracting calories from their standard American diet (S.A.D.). These microbial genes were switched-on when the mice switched to the diet high in fat and sugar.
The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, documents the intimate relationship between diet and the dynamic variations in the community of intestinal microbes that can influence metabolism and weight.
The research also paves the way for using humanized mouse models to tease apart the contributions of human intestinal microbes and human diets to obesity and its converse, malnutrition.
The mice ate low-fat, plant-rich diets in the weeks leading up to the transplants. The mice continued to eat a low-fat, plant-based diet for one month, and their stool samples were analyzed one day, one week and one month after the microbe transplants. Using DNA sequencing tools that allowed the researchers to take a census of the gut bacteria, the researchers found that the microbe transplants were remarkably successful: The mice carried a collection of bacteria that mimicked the human donor’s.
After one month on the low-fat, plant-based diet, half the mice were switched to a high-fat, high-sugar “Western” diet. Stool samples from all the mice were analyzed 24 hours after the diet change and then again weekly for two months.
“We were surprised to see the rapid shift in the microbial communities of mice on the high-fat, high-sugar diets,” Turnbaugh said. “Assuming it takes four to six hours for microbes to move through the intestine, this means that the initial shift in the microbial community occurred 18-20 hours after exposure to a Western diet.”
Interestingly, when the researchers transplanted the gut microbes from humanized obese mice into germ-free mice, the recipients gained more fat even when fed low-fat diets, compared with mice that got human microbes from mice fed low-fat diets. The researchers also showed that gut microbes and their genes can be passed down from generation to generation, suggesting that it is possible for mothers to pass their microbial communities to their children.
Well, this information helps to explain why my “4R” treatment protocol works so well:
Removing any offending substances; like those found in a high fat, highly processed and high sugar diet
Repair any gut inflammation
Replace nutrients lost from a non-functional gut in addition to replacing enzymes and HCL until the healed gut can do so on its own
Reinoculate the gut with a good balance of bacteria and other microbes. Now, there’s been some research showing that we really don’t reinoculate the gut when we take pro-biotics. What taking pro-biotics and prebiotics does is it allows the “scales to be tipped” a bit in favor of the beneficial microbial environment.
Well, that’s it, there are many things that can be caused in whole, or in part by an imbalance of the microbial terrain of your gut. Obesity is one of them……. imbalanced gut microbes can actually pull more calories from the food you eat.
Resources:
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Here’s a link to an article about how Pfizer was ordered to pay millions of dollars in a Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) lawsuit: Pfizer Ordered to Pay $34.3 Million in HRT Lawsuit
While not as prevalent at the 80’s and 90’s, HRT (premarin,prempro, and provera) is still utilized by some women. The problem is, there are some risks that go along with HRT:
Presumably, women are on HRT to combat the symptoms of menopuase and perimenopause. What many of them don’t know is that these symptoms often resolve when natural therapies are utilized to balance the hormonal shifts that are occurring at this moment in a woman’s life-cycle. The process with which LH and FSH (pituitary hormones that affect the rest of your female hormonal system) flip their dominance and estrogen production all but stops completely is a natural process that occurs (to varying degrees) in ALL women. The key to minimizing perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms lies in the balance between all these processes. In fact, with respect to hormones, balance is key….. it doesn’t matter if you’re a man, woman or child.
At my Portland, Oregon chiropractic, nutrition, hypnosis and functional medicine clinic, Optimum Function; I often run a female hormone profile to get an very individualized picture about my patients’ female hormonal status. Once that’s obtained, it’s MUCH easier to determine how best to support her during this time of hormonal change and turmoil. If you want to investigate what natural treatments can be effective to balance out your hormones and help decrease your menopausal or perimenopausal symptoms, feel free to contact me here or through my website Functional Medicine Portland, Oregon
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Have you always wondered why everyone is recommending fish oils and other forms of omega-3 essential fatty acids? Well, there’s a new test that you perform at home and send out to my lab that can test your omega-3’s and give you an omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. This information is incredibly important and is called the Omega-3 Index and you can come into Optimum Function; my Portland, Oregon chiropractic, nutrition, hypnosis and functional medicine clinic to grab your test kit and find out what you Omega-3 Index is.
The Omega-3 Index is the new measure of heart health. It may be the most important number you’ll know.
The Omega-3 Index is a stronger predictor of heart disease risk than cholesterol. Individuals with a high Index have a decrease in the relative risk for sudden cardiac death by as much as 90%!
Are you getting the right types and amounts of omegas in your diet? How much do omega-3 you need? What about omega-6?
Now you can check your omega scores with this convenient at-home omega 3 blood test kit which includes two important measures of omega-3s in your blood, your Omega-3 Index and your Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio, an important factor associated with chronic, whole body inflammation
Knowing your omega levels can help you proactively make changes to your diet to reduce your risk of heart disease and other conditions associated with chronic inflammation.
Taking the omega 3 blood test is easy. Simply follow the instructions in this convenient at home test kit to collect a drop of blood and return your blood sample in the enclosed return envelope. Within about two weeks, you will receive your lab results by mail along with a customized report, explanation of results and resources to help you make and sustain changes to your diet that will positively impact your omega scores.
The cost of the test is $129.95 and this includes my evaluation and diet and/or supplement recommendations if any are needed.
Contact me at info@OptFunction.com or use the contact form to the left of this post for more information or to schedule a time to come pick up your test kit!
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, HypnotherapistOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
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