Friday, October 25, 2013

Des Moines Chiropractic Newsletter - October 2013

Compass Chiropractic October 2013 E-Newsletter

 
Win an iPad Mini in October!


Need a fall tune-up?  Know a friend or family member who needs our care?

Receive one chance to win each time you come in this month.
Receive five chances to win for each referral!

Don't forget our ongoing 50-50 promotion - When one of our current patients refers in a family member or friend as a new patient, we give them each a $50 credit to use for products or services.

Sorry, credits may not be given to Medicare, Medicaid, or VA-insured patients.

Score Panera bagels and fresh fruit for your company's health fair!


Does your company host periodic health fairs?  Contact Sheri at 309-1217 or compassca@gmail.com and she'll send you a packet of information on the wellness services we provide for larger companies.  We participate in the health fairs of a number of larger companies such as American Equity, Continental Western Group, John Deere, and Heska and would love to help make your company's health fair a success.

Generally at health fairs we perform digital muscle tension scans which employees find very informational.  Lately though, we've decided we should contribute more so we're offering to bring Panera bagels & fresh fruit for all participants.  If no additional food is needed, we may be able to contribute a Kindle Fire HD to give away to health fair participants.  Get in touch with us today to learn more!

No health fairs? Schedule a Lunch & Learn or Screening Session for your team!
 
If your company doesn't host health fairs, don't forget our offer to come and do a lunch and learn.  We bring in a great lunch from a restaurant like Granite City or Biaggi's and Dr. Krohse does a quick talk on staying pain-free at work.  The talk ends with instruction on valuable stretches to keep your team's necks and upper backs flexible and feeling nice through the daily grind.

A screening session is where we bring a great treat such as the Panera bagels and are available in a break or lunch room for anyone interested to visit with us, have their muscle tension checked, and discuss any health issues that they have.

Sandy recommends West End Architectural Salvage


Someone's trash is another person's treasure.  If you find yourself looking for just the right piece of "vintage" furniture to complete a room -- or find yourself on the receiving end of an old family heirloom that needs a little tender loving care, Des Moines has a great business that can help you complete the look of your room -- or provide you with inspiration on how you might repurpose that old family furniture.

West End Architectural Salvage is located at 22 - 9th Street in downtown Des Moines.  They have a warehouse that is bursting at the seams with old furniture, fixtures, lights, hardware and assorted building materials.  With an ever changing inventory it is a great place to roam.   West End is open 7 days a week and has a nice coffee shop located on the first floor of their building.

Sheri recommends Mahjong

I have been addicted to playing Mahjong on my Nook for a about a year now.  I have always loved doing word find games and playing solitaire, which is how I found this game.  Originally I downloaded an app on my Nook for solitaire that had other games.  So one day I started to play it and have been addicted ever since!

Although in doing some research on this game, it seems the apps available out there are slightly different to play than the actual game.  It originated in China and is played by 4 players.  It is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation involving some degree of chance.  It is played with 144 tiles with each player starting the game with thirteen tiles each.  In turns the players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the fourteenth drawn tile to form four groups and a pair.  Now on my Nook app, I simply have to match up like tiles to eliminate them from the board with the goal being to clear the entire board of tiles.  However, you can only choose a tile when it can slide left or right or has no adjacent tiles on one side or the other and does not have a tile above it.  Sounds simple enough.  But even though every game starts with a solvable configuration, moves you make can cause it to be unsolvable.  So thinking moves ahead is key to solving the board.  You also cannot go the next level until you solve the board.

Some researchers believe that playing a form of Mahjong is beneficial for individuals suffering from dementia, cognitive, and memory difficulties.  I love it so much that I now have several different kinds of Mahjong on my Nook and phone.  Right now I am conquering Galaxy Mahjong!  So if you enjoy games like solitaire or word finds, I suggest checking out Mahjong. 

Dr. Krohse recommends his new nutritional handout:

Nutritional recommendations can be hard to make.  There are so many products, so many experts, and so many opinions on nutrition and supplementation.  However, in my practice my "golden rule" has always been to recommend what I would want recommended to me or a family member.  Below are the products and food philosophies I personally use and personally recommend to my family members.

-Dr. David Krohse
 
Supplements that may Decrease Pain, Stiffness, and Tension

Natural Calm Magnesium Supplement

Patients frequently walk out of our office on a Friday with their first bottle of Natural Calm and then come back the next Monday raving about the ways it has decreased their pain, eliminated muscle spasms, helped them sleep better, solved stubborn chronic constipation, and generally improved their life.  It seems everyone notices a benefit when they start taking Natural Calm.

Two minerals play a key role in causing muscles and nerves in your body to become more and less excited.  Calcium can be thought of as the exciter.  Most people focus on getting plenty of calcium.  However, many people neglect to get enough magnesium, the mineral which enables the muscles and nerves to relax properly.  Improving your magnesium intake can improve a number of symptoms including the ones listed above.  I love my Natural Calm and highly recommend it for patients dealing with muscle tension, spasms, pain, tightness, chronic stiffness, restless legs, and painful menstrual cramps.  You can pick up a brochure to read other symptoms that may be helped.

Personally, I take Natural Calm shortly before bed to help me get a more restful night's sleep.  I also feel it does wonders at preventing muscle soreness and speeding up recovery following my intense running and cycling workouts.  Follow the directions on the bottle and gradually increase to your ideal dose as magnesium has stool loosening effects.

Glucosamine Synergy by Standard Process

For tougher cases of tension and tightness, I personally use and recommend Glucosamine Synergy by Standard Process.  Many have heard of the potential benefits of glucosamine supplements for knee and spine arthritis symptoms of tension, tightness, stiffness, and pain.  However, I have read that these supplements generally take months of use to feel the benefits.  My personal experience with Glucosamine Synergy has made me feel strongly that the "synergy" portion of this product vastly speeds up the rate at which it starts to help.

The synergy portion of this product starts with Boswellia Serrata or Indian Frankincense which has been used for hundreds of years in Ayurvedic medicine to decrease arthritis symptoms.  The rest is a health-supporting cocktail of whole food plant and animal extracts which support connective tissue maintenance and repair as well as overall joint health.

I first tried this product when I was experiencing some stubborn neck and top of the shoulder pain that would not resolve.  I began to take the three capsules a day and would estimate that I noticed a significant improvement in my symptoms within the first four days!
 
Supplementation for Everyone

Most health experts agree that the best plan to get the nutrition you need is through your food.  I personally follow a  few simple rules that emphasize eating real, nutrient-rich foods when possible.
•             Unlimited veggies and fruits in a 2:1 ratio (search the web for "dirty dozen, clean fifteen" to find which should be purchased organic)
•             Limited processed foods, grains, legumes, and dairy focusing on lower carb dairy options such as cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, hard cheeses, and half & half
•             Regular consumption of healthy fats to support healthy hormone production such as olive oil, flax seeds, fish oils, nuts, coconut oil, and almond milk
•             Highly satisfying proteins such as eggs, fish, meats, and protein powder supplements
I would describe my diet as an 80% Paleo Diet.  To learn more about how this diet can improve health and decrease weight I recommend reading the book The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf.


In the context of my diet, I add one "supplement" with the goal of filling in any gaps I might be missing.

Vega One
 
I love the story behind Vega One.  Brendan Brazier was a professional triathlete... and a vegan.  Vegans have a hard time covering all the nutritional bases as it is, but when 4,000+ calories per day of endurance activity was thrown into Brendan's life he was seriously struggling to make sure his body was still able to perform optimally.  Vega One was his solution: one plant-based powder supplement to fill in all the gaps in his healthy diet and active lifestyle.  This product takes the place of most of the individual products that health experts recommend for everyone: multivitamin, fish oils (omega-3s), probiotics, greens foods, fiber, and healthy protein.

Personally I have about three to five servings of Vega per week.  My favorite is the Vanilla Chai or French Vanilla flavors and I either mix a scoop of it with some vanilla unsweetened almond milk as a between-meal snack or blend it with frozen tropical fruit to make a delicious morning smoothie.

What About Losing Weight?!?!

Did you know I'm a chubby guy who learned about a plan that actually works?  Up till 2010 I weighed 30-35 pounds more than I do now.  In January of 2010 I tried the Standard Process Purification Program.  In the 21 days of the program I dropped 15 pounds.  Over the next five weeks I dropped another 10 pounds.

This program changed my life!  It dropped weight like a crash diet, even as I was eating as much food as I wanted.  It reset my food attitudes and made me appreciate veggies and fruits for the first time in my life.  It also alleviated my year-round environmental allergy symptoms and let me stop taking daily Zyrtec and nasal steroids. I believe a relatively short, well-designed program  like this can be the best way to start a lifetime of healthy eating and ideal weight.

Read about my experience by visiting my blog, desmoineschiro.blogspot.com and look on the right side. While a person goes through the Standard Process Program, I'd also recommend they read two books: Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes and The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf.



Dr. Krohse cruises to a 3rd place AG finish at the HyVee Tri