10 Reasons to Avoid Eating Sugar

Sugar, in its many forms, is an increasingly common ingredient in processed foods.Look at the nutrition labels on your foods/drinks and try to calculate how much sugar you consume on a daily basis. Many of us eat the equivalent of 53 teaspoons of white sugar every day!

People often eat sweets instead of other foods that are more nutritious and, as a result, their overall nutrition suffers.

Here are ten reasons to avoid refined (white) sugar:

1. Sugar contributes to tooth decay because it decreases the effectiveness of a particular type of white blood cell that “eats”  harmful bacteria.

2. Sugar causes the body to release more adrenalin, which may explain hyperactivity in young children.

3. Calcium loss in urine occurs when a person consumes a soft drink containing sugar.

4. Ingesting sugar makes the pancreas work harder to produce insulin. Diabetes results when the overworked pancreas can no longer eliminate sugar from the blood stream.

5. Bleached with chlorine, when white refined sugar is exposed to certain organic compounds it converts to dioxin, which is a lethal compound.

6. Sugar can hinder weight loss because high insulin levels (see number 4 above) cause the body to retain any excess carbohydrates as fat.

7. Sugar increases the likelihood of chronic fatigue.

8. Sugar increases mood swings, irritability and anxiety.

9. Sugar compromises the immune system because it lowers the efficiency of white blood cells for a minimum of five hours after ingesting the sugar.

10. Eating sugar can decrease helpful high-density cholesterol (HDLs) and result in an increase in harmful cholesterol (LDLs).

Need to sweeten your food? Raisins, dates or honey are safe and simple alternatives. They’re easily available in many forms and can be the perfectly natural way to satisfy any sweet tooth!

Holiday Office Hours

Happy Holidays from all of us at Champion Medical Services! 

Please note our holiday office hours, beginning next week:

Both Midtown & Downtown offices
Open: Tues. Wed. Thurs. (12/27, 12/28,12/29) from 11am-5pm
Closed: Mon. 12/26, Fri. 12/30 & Mon. 1/2

Regular hours will resume starting January 3rd, 2012.  Click here to see our normal office hours.

We wish you a wonderful holiday and a healthy, successful New Year.  

Yours In Health,
Champion Medical Services Team

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So, What the Heck is Pilates?

You may have heard about Pilates (pronounced puh LAH teez), a form of fitness training, but how does it help your body?

Pilates and chiropractic care are a powerful combination.

Pilates combines strength and flexibility training, using exercises that tone and condition the entire body. Particular attention is paid to building and developing the area of the body called the “powerhouse,” the core region of the body that includes the abdomen, pelvis, lower back and buttocks.

Pilates also creates a powerful mind-body connection, developed through proper breathing technique and concentration on smooth body movements to achieve better mental and physical health and reduce stress.

Some of the benefits of Pilates include:

• Increases flexibility and agility
• Develops muscle strength, without “bulking” up
• Reduces stress
• Provides effective rehabilitation for injuries
• Flattens abdominals and strengthens back muscles
• Provides a gentle, low-impact, whole body workout
• Increases energy, invigorates the body
• Strengthens the mind-body connection
• Alleviates back pain
• Improves body posture and movement

Pilates and Chiropractic Care

Pilates is a body conditioning routine that helps build flexibility and long, lean muscles, strength and endurance in the legs, abdominals, arms, hips, and back. It puts emphasis on spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing to relieve stress and allow adequate oxygen flow to muscles, developing a strong core.

Having a properly adjusted spine is essential to achieve optimal results with Pilates fitness.  Remember: structure dictates function. Not only do core exercises help hold spinal adjustments, but chiropractic care is also helpful when starting a new workout routine.

It is important to check your structure to make sure your body is well-balanced and that you avoid any injuries that could occur due to a postural imbalance. Imagine a car driving down the street with abnormal alignment. To avoid a potential “crash,” get a thorough examination to make sure you are in proper alignment, making you the best and most functional that you can be.

Many gyms offer Pilates classes and Pilates tapes are available in many places that sell videos. You might want to rent one and try it out before investing in it. It only takes a few weeks to produce a noticeably toned body and it may very well be the workout that works for you!

Still in pain? Not anymore.

Laser therapy is embraced by professional and Olympic athletes worldwide. The devices are FDA cleared, easy-to-use, and very effective.

At Champion Medical Services, we take pride in offering our patients state-of-the-art technology. Our Midtown office location is equipped with the world’s most advanced healing modality for pain relief. The MR4 Laser Therapy device, featuring exclusive Multi Radiance Technology, is clinically proven to reduce pain and accelerate healing, providing natural relief without the drugs, side effects or invasive surgery.

Laser therapy is used throughout the world to treat acute and chronic pain, maintain wellness and improve health and athletic performance. The hand-held device emits a painless light that is applied according to specific protocols for the given injury. A breakthrough in pain relief and healing, the MR4 Laser effectively treats a variety of conditions, including:

Laser therapy is a cutting-edge approach to pain management. The cells in our body use a substance called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to bring in oxygen. When there is a lack of ATP, our cells cannot use oxygen effectively. Laser therapy helps to increase levels of ATP in the cells, transforming them to stable and healthy state.

• Back Pain
• Sciatica
• Arthritis
• Neck Pain
• Tendonitis
• Carpal Tunnel
• Tennis Elbow
• Fibromyalgia
• Rotator Cuff Injuries
• Disc Herniation
• Muscle Strain/Spasms
• ACL/MCL Sprains
• Hip/Knee Pain
• Heel Pain
• Sports Injuries
• Headaches
• TMJ

In just a few quick treatments, patients experience dramatic relief from chronic pain conditions and accelerated healing of soft tissue injuries. If you’re in pain, don’t give up. Schedule an appointment at our Midtown office and ask us how laser therapy can help provide you with natural pain relief.

For more information about the MR4 Laser, visit www.multiradiance.com.

TMJ Pain and Chiropractic Adjustment

Does a simple yawn produce clicking, pain or muscle tightening? Could be a TMJ issue that chiropractic care can often help.

It hurts when you talk, yawn or chew. The pain can be constant or intermittent and varies in intensity at times, but the condition can really drive you crazy. If you have Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction, called TMJ for short, you know exactly how this feels. Your temperomandibular joints connect your lower jaw to your skull, right below both ears, and they consist of bones, muscles, and nerves.

Symptoms of TMJ include a locked jaw (the inability to open your mouth), popping and clicking sounds with jaw movement, chewing problems, headaches, facial pain, earache, and dizziness. Treatment options may include:

• Resting the jaw, keeping the teeth apart as much as possible to avoid wearing them down. Soft foods that require reduced chewing are recommended, as are liquids. Chewing gum and hard crunchy foods (i.e., candy, raw vegetables, and nuts) are best avoided.

• Ice/heat application – to reduce inflammation and pain and relax muscles.
• Stress management techniques, such as biofeedback and talk therapy, as TMJ is often stress-related.
• Prosthesis to wear while sleeping to prevent teeth gnashing and grinding.
• Dental correction of abnormal bite – orthodontics (braces), dental restorations and realignment of bridges and crowns may correct dental abnormalities that contribute to TMJ

For many, chiropractic care has proven to be helpful in alleviating the symptoms of TMJ.

The TMJ has a distinction of being one of the few that is both synovial (freely moving) and containing a disk. It is controlled by cranial nerve V, but runs along the same pathways as several nerves of the neck, so TMJ syndrome can also cause neck pain and vice versa.

We can locate spinal misalignments and conduct appropriate range-of-motion and mobility tests. We can often create a care plan that does not rely on the use of medications or surgery to correct your condition. We emphasize a return to full mobility and a multi-disciplinary approach if needed.

The most common causes of TMJ are thought to be misalignment of the teeth, emotional stress, bad postural habits, whiplash or physical trauma, misalignment of the spine, or disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Check out the results from a pilot study that was done – from the Chiropractic Journal of Australia, Vol. 26 Number 4:

A pilot study was done in which 12 patients were assessed by dentists in private practice as having TMJ Syndrome. These patients were randomly assigned to a chiropractic treatment or placebo treatment (remote trigger point therapy) group. Patients in the chiropractic group received weekly chiropractic adjustments for six weeks to correct cervical spine dysfunction. Those in the placebo group received weekly trigger point therapy to muscles. The results showed both groups demonstrated positive changes. A subjective, graphical comparison of results suggests that spinal adjustment may have some superiority over the trigger point method.

Anyone experiencing TMJ symptoms should see a dentist or chiropractor for help.

How Did You Sleep Last Night?

If you aren’t getting enough sleep or enough high quality sleep, the problem may simply be the amount of light you’re exposed to.

Still tired when you wake up in the mornings? The problem may be the light you're exposed to when you're sleeping.

Melatonin, which is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, affects both our desire to sleep and the quality of our sleep. Darkness enhances melatonin production, while light inhibits it. Therefore, shift workers typically experience drowsiness when at work and suffer from insomnia when they try to sleep during daylight hours.

Night Lights

Because bright lights can disturb the normal production of melatonin, make sure your bedroom is completely dark. Create a darker environment by using light–blocking blinds, lined curtains or even an eye mask to block out all light.

Don’t overlook night lights and bright clock radio lights! Even an area of light the size of a coin falling onto your skin can affect the production of melatonin.

The Elderly Suffer Too

A major health complaint for the over-65 population is difficulty sleeping. Many elderly people do not spend sufficient time outdoors and therefore, lack an adequate amount of bright light exposure.

Getting outside more, or increasing the level of light in their homes during the day and early evening hours may actually alleviate the major cause of their sleep distress!

Inflammatory Foods

Certain foods can have anti-inflammatory qualities.

Inflammation of any part of your body is your immune system’s response to an infection, injury or irritation. Localized swelling, redness and pain are the usual warning signs and symptoms of inflammation. Did you the the foods you eat can also contribute to a similar inflammatory response?

While we usually think of inflammation as something outside the body, inflammation inside the body may cause strokes, heart disease and a variety of other ailments. Nicholas Perricone, MD, author of a number of anti-aging books, proposes that inflammation may well be the force behind premature aging. He and other researchers believe that widespread inflammation is largely the result of our diet and may be the main factor in the rise of a number of degenerative diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s Disease.

If your diet consists mostly of foods cooked at high temperatures (most “fast food” falls into this category) and foods that are high in sugar and hydrogenated or refined oils (chips, margarine and many processed foods), you are more likely to be experiencing inflammation.

What types of foods should you eat to combat inflammation? Dr. Perricone and others recommend:

• Fruits, such as apples, berries, fresh pineapple, lemons, limes
• Vegetables, such as onions, greens (spinach, broccoli, kale), garlic
• Spices, such as cinnamon, ginger, basil, mint, parsley, rosemary
• Nuts and seeds, such as sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds
• Fish, such as halibut, salmon, sardines, oysters
• Olive oil
• Beverages, such as green tea, black tea, red wine and lots of water!

Fortunately, we can control inflammation in our body by watching the foods we eat. Try to introduce at least one anti-inflammatory food into every meal. Many quickly notice relief from some of the symptoms that have been bothering them. Plus, as an added bonus, they’re better able to help you maintain a healthier weight!