Dough Ornaments

13 Dec 2018 Recipes & Home Remedies

Based on recipes.com
Ingredients: 4 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups warm water
1 Cup Salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) or just shape and allow to air dry can take up to 5 days.
Combine the flour, salt and water; mix well and knead for 10 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured surface. The thicker you roll out the dough, the more it puffs up when baking.
Cut into desired shapes and make holes for hanging. Bake for 30-40 minutes; allow to cool (usually 1 full day)
Decorate with poster paints or tube paints

Sports rehabilitation for kids

13 Dec 2018 Healthy Child , ,

If  your young athlete gets injured, it can set the stage for pain and growth abnormalities for their lifetime. We want you to look out for these injuries as they can occur during your family holiday football or basketball game.

Sprained ankles; just one can set you up for getting more and more sprains which eventually create weak ankles as an adult.
Getting your ankle adjusted and the muscles and ligaments worked on with hands or a tool will help speed recovery and prevent future injury
Pitching shoulder; can happen due to over-training but can also lead to shoulder pain, lack of range of motion, arthritis and even frozen shoulder as an adult. In severe cases, they may not be able to raise their arms above their head.

Massaging an injured arm by making sure that the arm is moving in its full range of motion and adjusting the spine and shoulder to make sure they are free from joint restriction.

Spine misalignment and pain in the low back can be from falling off the monkey bars or from growing pains. Severe cases such as scoliosis need regular maintenance to help prevent progression causing heart and lung issues. Both are helped by making sure the spine is properly aligned
Children are less likely to have severe growing pains when joint and muscle alignment is more relaxed.

Brain Fog and Dementia

13 Dec 2018 Your Overall Health

Millions of Americans are suffering from what we call brain fog and they often worry that it is dementia. But brain fog is when the brain’s ability to think quickly or to respond to more complex tasks or speed of remembering something is compromised; just like the processor speed of a computer that is running too many applications. Dementia is a general symptom of several diagnoses and only impedes memory. We are going to delve into the most common causes of brain fog and how you can work to make sure your brain is protected and working at its best possible speed.

What are common reasons for brain fog to occur?

Menopause
Reaction to allergen’s – food or seasonal
Hormone shifts
Early Alzheimer’s or Dementia
Extreme Stress
Lack of regular sleep (often due to not getting 6-8hours a night)
Depression and anxiety
Medications
Blood sugar dis-regulation

What are the symptoms?

The definition of brain fog is temporary diminishment of the mental capacity, reasoning and memory. Here are the things you can expect someone to say who has brain fog:

  • Repeating the same question because their brain doesn’t actually take the time to wait and listen to the answer
  • Trouble remember details of an event or daily life
  • Trouble remembering names and even faces
  • Getting distracted in the middle of a task and not being able to come back to that previous task to complete it.

What is the difference from brain fog and dementia?

Brain fog effects several areas of the brain such as, conscious reason, confusion, poor spatial awareness (clumsiness), memory and lack of concentration; while dementia only effects the memory part of the brain. Brain fog can be brought on by a lot of different causes such as stress, whereas dementia is most often symptomatic of a more serious disease such as Alzheimer’s.

How do I prevent Brain fog or dementia?

By knowing that brain fog or dementia runs in your family, you can create ways to prevent it from progressing or effecting your life.

  • Get regular sleep of 6-8 hours
  • Manage your blood sugar by making sure you eat protein with food even snacks
  • Get exercise which improves blood flow to the brain and to the body
  • Reduce stress
  • Remove any vitamin deficiencies
  • Learn new things

Once I have dementia or brain fog is there anything I can do?

Even though diminished brain function can’t always be reversed, you can recover significant amounts of ground through correcting imbalances in neurotransmitters, nutrient deficiencies, hormones, digestion and work – stress balance, and here is how:

  1. Take B- vitamins, especially B6 which is very important in the function of nerves and the brain
  2. Take nutritional sleep aids if you are having trouble sleeping such as melatonin, phospatidylserine etc. (please always consult a doctor first)
  3. Detox from either heavy metals or toxins to help the brain function better
  4. Fix digestion issues since the brain and gut function on an axis that is necessary for them both to work
  5. Avoid food’s that tend to cause brain inflammation or what we call molecular-mimicry, such as wheat which molecularly looks like the cerebellum and can cause brain fog and other issues

Huperzine and lion’s mane can be very helpful in improving cognitive function by improving neurotransmitter levels. (consult your doctor before use)
Brain exercises can be done through programs like Luminosity.com or taking a class and learning something new to you. Do what you are not good at -for example, an athlete will take an art class or an artist will take a sports class.
Exercise 20 minutes a day to improve blood flow and function of the heart as well as the brain.
Anti-inflammatory supplements and diet can also help if auto-immune disease is present such as fish oil, turmeric, boswellia and gluthione etc.

Fermented Beets

23 Sep 2018 Recipes & Home Remedies

A few months ago a Patient brought me a jar of fermented beets that were absolutely delicious. We know that fermented foods are really good for the gut micro biome especially a diverse number of fermented foods as they feed different strains of bacteria. Here is her recipe. I am also sharing some of the local resources for helping you do your own fermentations.

This link below is the Mountain Feed & Farm Store in Ben Lomond where I bought my supplies. https://www.mountainfeed.com/products/complete-mason-jar-fermentation-kit. There are multiple jar systems available to ferment. I chose the Mason Wide tops kit.

For one jar, I used about 1/4 teaspoon or so of Caldwell starter to use less salt.  https://www.culturesforhealth.com/caldwell-starter-culture-for-fresh-vegetables.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItuqBzO6r1wIV0brACh0oHgjLEAQYAiABEgJVkvD_BwE
I used one tablespoon of Celtic grey salt. Many people use Himalayan pink salt, but I found the taste too harsh. Both websites, mountainfeed.com and culturesforhealth.com,  are excellent resources for fermentation.

Instead of using a starter culture, people often use just salt or whey that is strained from yogurt. I have a friend who strains yogurt to make Greek yogurt for desserts with fruit. This article discusses the different choices for fermentation. https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/natural-fermentation/salt-vs-whey-vs-starter-cultures/

FERMENTED BEETS
One quart wide mouth jar
Pickle Pipe Silicone Airlocks (or other airlock system)
Fermentation weight
3.5 Cups distilled water (important to use distilled to avoid bleach which should halt the fermentation)
3 or 4 Beets
1 large Leek
Fresh Basil, rosemary, thyme
Teaspoon of whole pickling spice and a teaspoon of a good Italian seasoning (put in a little muslin bag)
1/4 teaspoon of starter culture

Put the washed jar, top, and weight in a large bowl then pour some boiling water over them to sterilize. Peel and slice beets and leek thinly using a mandolin. Place beet slices in the jar, alternating with fennel and fresh herbs until the jar is almost full. Include some fennel fronds. Put dry herbs and pickling spice into a muslin bag or square of muslin and tie up, then place in the jar. Press everything down tightly with wood tamper included with kit or something similar. Mix distilled water with salt and stir until dissolved, then pour into the jar until all of the beet mixture is under water. Place weight and add more water if needed. Secure with airlock. Shake jar a little to try and release air bubbles.

Find a dark, cool place to store the jar, such as in the rear of the lowest cabinet. After a week the fermentation is complete. Replace the top with a lid and refrigerate.

How to keep a healthy balance.

23 Sep 2018 Tips & Tricks

How to keep a healthy balance

1. Surround yourself with people who help you grow

This is important because love gives us energy and energy is life. When we have people in our life that either take our energy or don’t love us and cause pain and hurt, it takes our energy away from being who we are.

2. Eating Healthy

When we put healthy food in our body, we can have a clear mind and body to function at our best. Some of the common foods to reduce in our diet are sugar, caffeine, wheat and dairy. You can always try eliminating food and see if your body reacts.

3. Spend time doing something you love

It is good to have things in your life that bring you joy and it’s usually better to choose things that are only yours. Spending time with your partner and kids is fine but it needs to be something you can turn to even if you are all alone. Gardening, crafts, cooking, sports, photography are all things you can choose that can be a solo activity enjoyed on your own.

What is autoimmune disease?

23 Sep 2018 Your Overall Health ,

With Autoimmune issues on the rise today, people are more and more concerned with prevention and how to protect themselves.

What is an Autoimmune condition?

Whenever the body starts attacking its own tissue and cells, we characterize this as autoimmune. Some of the most common autoimmune conditions are hypothyroidism, gastro-intestinal issues, arthritis and many more. Autoimmune conditions are categorized by the organ they attack and are not currently being treated as an attack on the whole immune system.

Here are a small sample list of autoimmune diseases:

  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Sjogren’s arthritis
  •  Lupus
  • Celiac Disease
  • Polymyalgia Rheumatica
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Ankylosing Spondylitis
  • Vasculitis
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis
  • Type 1 Diabetes

What causes Autoimmune conditions?

As a growing number of conditions falls under the autoimmune category, we wonder the possible causes. Some are more likely to have auto-immunity in their families, some from toxins, more from poor diet (weight can play a factor), smoking, drug use (including prescription), severe or chronic stress and hormonal imbalances. There are more than 80 classified autoimmune diseases and they can be difficult to determine where they come from and which one you have.

What are the most common symptoms of Autoimmune disease?

  • Fatigue
  • Joint Pain
  • Swelling
  • Skin problems (like eczema)
  • Abdominal pain and discomfort
  • Recurring Fevers
  • Swollen Glands

If these symptoms sound vague and like the symptoms of a lot of different diseases, you would be right and this makes diagnosis so difficult.

What testing is done?

Doctor’s start with laboratory testing to determine which type or category of disease a patient has and may order the following tests:

  • Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA)
  • Autoantibodies (thyroid or other organ based)
  • Immunoglobulin A (IgA)
  • C-reactive Protein (CRP) Test
  • Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)
  • Complement Test C1, C1q, C2, C3, C4, CH50, CH100, Total Complement

How is it treated?

Autoimmune conditions are treated in several ways such as diet, exercise, nutraceuticals, hormones, anti-inflammatories and sometimes steroids if the attack is severe enough. Most people try and use natural alternatives and only steroids when more severe attacks occur. Below is a list of treatments including Dr. Walker’s favorite functional medicine strategies:

  • Diet: Autoimmune Protocol Diet (AIP) similar to paleo but much stricter (see a basic list on our website link)
  • Exercise: Low impact exercise such as yoga, biking, swimming and walking with mild weight lifting being done as ability allows
  • Nutraceuticals: Vitamin A and D, Liposomal Glutathione, Short-chain Fatty acids, Turmeric, Boswellia, L-Glutamine, essential minerals (some of Dr. Walker’s list)
  • Steroids and autoimmune suppressants: in more severe cases: Hormones, estrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormone, melatonin to help balance the system.
  • Anti-inflammatory drugs: Ibuprofen and Naproxen

If you are struggling with what you think may be autoimmune don’t suffer alone, there are lots of health care professionals to help you and at our office we work together with your specialist to make sure you are uniting both functional medicine and Western care to have the best and healthiest you possible. We don’t want the feeling of sickness to prevent you from enjoying life!

Capture the special moments of your baby’s birth with birth photography

20 Jun 2018 Women & Pregnancy ,

Why Birth Photography?
by Caren Hespeler, doula and birth photographer www.heartworkdoula.com

Why birth photography? The birth of a baby is one of the most amazing experiences of our lives, some would say more so than getting married. To allow our body to grow a human being and then work to bring that human into the world, in whatever means necessary, is something you will remember for a lifetime, but will fade in detail. Capture the moments with birth photography to give yourself, your partner, and especially your baby the gift of remembering the details of his or her entrance into the world. The joyous smiles, grimaces, yawns, sweat and tears, and everything in between are worth capturing.As a birth doula for several years, I’ve seen many partners become parents with the birth of their child. There are such loving yet intense moments between couples when laboring. I started to capture some of these moments when a client asked to get some pictures during the process and I was always taken back by the beauty in those raw moments.

In sharing these photos with my clients, they were able to process their birth a little easier by filling in the spaces where their memory wasn’t serving them properly. Of course, during labor, a mama can be in a totally different realm while working to bring her baby into the world. These images of moments I witnessed helped the mama in understanding her birth journey and even in understanding her power as a woman birthing her baby. As one of my recent clients explained in a testimonial of my services, “Parts of the delivery were so fast and sort of a blur in our memories, so the photos are a gift we will always treasure.”

Since adding birth photography to my birth doula work, I capture what I see as it unfolds in front of me. I feel so amazingly privileged to be witness to such precious and raw moments. To be trusted by a mama to guide her through this event and to watch as a couple become parents is an indescribable honor. To be able to capture a woman’s partner holding her bravely, caressing her loving smile between contractions, rubbing out stiffened shoulders with soft yet strong hands, holding the scissors with a shaky hand to cut the umbilical cord. These are moments the couple is living as the process unfolds and to have the ability to share my perspective with them after all the hard work is done is so fulfilling and magical.

As most of the dads explain after hiring me to take photos for them, “I couldn’t imagine having to try and take photos while I was supporting my wife through labor.” Would you have tried to take photos of your own wedding day? If not, consider hiring a birth photographer to capture these precious moments in your life so you can be less stressed and more focused on the work ahead.

If you are interested in learning more, please visit www.heartworkdoula.com and contact me about your birth photography wishes. We will discuss, in detail, the arrangements before so you can be worry free when it comes to the arrival of your little one!

The Chiropractic Approach to Low Back Pain

18 Jun 2018 Pain, Your Overall Health , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What is back pain?

Back pain typically occurs in the lumbar spine and pelvic region otherwise known as the buttocks.  The pain can occur from a tightening of muscles or joints that get jammed due to a specific incident or small injuries that occur over time from work, athletics or even desk jobs.

What is the most common cause of back pain?

The most common cause of back pain is related to repetitive strain injuries that occur on the job or during daily activities.  Working on the computer, cooking, sewing or any activity that keeps you repeating the same movements from the same position can be the culprit of that nagging backache. The strain happens when either the muscles are tight and you are unable to stretch them, or when a joint is misaligned and the muscles become painful as they try to re-align the joint.

What are the less common types of back pain?

Degenerative disc disease, arthritis, herniation and neurologic conditions are all injuries that occur to the spine and more commonly in the low back.  These conditions will likely cause you great distress and you will need to seek a health care provider’s services.  The following symptoms require an immediate visit to your doctor:

  • History of cancer
  • Unexplained weight loss >10 kg within 6 months
  • Age over 50 years or under 17 years old
  • Failure to improve with therapy
  • Pain persists for more than 4 to 6 weeks
  • Night pain or pain at rest
  • Persistent fever (temperature over 100.4 F)
  • History of intravenous drug abuse
  • Organ transplant
  • Recent bacterial infection
  • Major muscle weakness
  • Trouble lifting your foot
  • Numbness and lower extremity weakness
  • Anal sphincter dysfunction
  • Recent trauma
  • History of osteoporosis

What are the basic causes of back pain?

  • Desk job
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Herniated disk
  • Gravity
  • Sports injury
  • Bacterial Infection
  • Fractures
  • Cancer
  • Repetitive strain
  • Jammed (misaligned) joints

Why see a Chiropractor instead of a massage therapist?

Chiropractic care helps re-align joints which stops the pain related to the muscles trying to push the joint back into alignment.  A typical response to this type of pain might be to stretch or get a massage.  While this might temporarily ease the pain, if you don’t re-align the joints, the muscles will loyally return to their job of trying to push the joint back into place and you will be back in pain once again.  This isn’t to say that massage can’t be a terrific partner in getting rid of long term pain. We feel that massage and chiropractic can make an excellent team!

Getting adjusted not only will help relieve your low back pain, but offers other health benefits as well.  According to research by Sean M. Hannon, BA, DC, chiropractic adjustment can result in the following physiologic changes:            

  • Increased strength
  • Increased oxygen consumption capacity
  • Increased range of motion
  • Decreased pain
  • Increase cardiac regulation
  • Increased immunity

Considering these benefits, it is easy to see why athletes and other health conscious people seek out regular chiropractic care. If you suffer from chronic or even occasional back pain, contact our office.  We can help!

What are some of the techniques we use to treat low back pain?

Our doctors are trained in many different types of adjustment techniques ranging from hands-on to instrument adjusting.  They also use different types of soft tissue therapies that can benefit an injury whether it is chronic or acute.  Treating both joint and soft tissue issues allows an injury more complete resolution than either alone.  The techniques used are:

  • Graston – soft-tissue and fascia therapy
  • Activator – instrument adjusting (non-force)
  • Sacro-occipital Technique (SOT) – Use of pelvic alignment (non-force)
  • Diversified Adjustment – Manual medicine with hands
  • Thompson Drop Adjustment – Using the table to increase speed of adjustment but not the pressure put on a body
  • Quantum Neurology – instrument adjusting (non-force) uses nerve reflexes as well
  • Gonstead – Classic manual chiropractic adjustment
  • Kinesio tape – muscle therapy and proprioceptive training using tape
  • Cranio-sacral technique – hands-on soft-tissue manipulation
  • Pediatric and Pregnancy Specific adjustments – hands on but specifically designed for certain times of life
  • Webster Technique – pelvis alignment for turning breech babies

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