An update.

Dear readers,
     It is with the utmost excitement that I confess to you, a secret. I am going to have a baby. I'm entering my 6 month of pregnancy and so far, it has been a wild ride. I'm writing this blog post for very similar reasons that I started this blog in the first place. I get asked many questions, most of them all surrounding the same topics. I tend to think that if our conversations and thoughts navigate in certain directions, those subjects deserve some attention. So, let's get to it!

1. How was my first trimester?
       Health wise, my first trimester was incredibly simple. I ate whenever I started to feel poorly, and overall avoided most of the unpleasantness associated with morning sickness, fatigue, etc. That being said, I did experience all the scary things of the first trimester. I had bleeding on a regular basis, I experienced "higher than normal" cramping, but all the while my midwife assured me that I was ok. Then, around 8 weeks, I was sitting at my desk (scrolling through strollers) and a message popped up. And long story short, my husband and I were offered positions in our dream town. We've been here 2.5 months and I we couldn't be happier.

Here's what I've deduced from the first trimester: I am under regular chiropractic care. As a product, I haven't had any low back pain, I didn't really have any morning sickness to speak of, and my fatigue was really mild. Between the support of my chiropractor and my midwife, I've maintained a fairly low stress approach to my pregnancy that I honestly believe would be completely different without them.

2. Where am I going to deliver?
     My husband was born at home, his brother was born at home and his sister was born in a birth center. I was born via c-section due to health risks to both my mother and myself. My goal throughout this pregnancy is to do what is best for the longevity of my health and the health of my baby. In considering what I wanted and what I believe to be the best path with least intervention, my husband and I decided to hire a midwife and pursue a home birth. I was nervous that I would "opt out" due to high blood pressure or other health concerns that my mother had, but so far (22 weeks) nothing has come up. We are also planning to participate in a Bradley birth class to help us prep.

3. When am I due?
     August. I'm willing to accept July 29th-September 3rd. But really any time in that window is fine by me.

4. What cravings am I having?
     Pickles, deli sandwiches, french onion dip (gross, I know), sparkling flavored water (La Croix) and spicy foods. I'm specifically not enjoying peanut butter, bread, bacon, or sweet things.

5. How is my husband doing?
      Like he always does, my husband is my greatest cheerleader and the best support I could ever ask for. Keep an eye out, the next blog will be about dads :)

6. What are you having?
      Hopefully a baby. :) We opted to not find out. But so far we know that baby has ten fingers and toes, 4 heart chambers, a spinal cord, a brain, and a wicked kick.

That's all for now. Check out the next blog in which I make a huge apology to dads.

An unexpected opinion piece on the art and bastardization of supplementation.

Hi. I am Dr. Sam Curtis, DC. And in the past year I have made a dramatic shift away from supplementation.

How perfect is the idea of the vitamin capsule?

 Do you have an ailment but don't like the idea of herding to the doctor for a prescription?

 Have you heard that every pill you take will immediately shut down your kidneys and give you Alzheimer's!?!?!? 

Yep. Me too. So it only seems right that we, as the "thinking citizen", would opt out of those medications until ab.so.lute.ly. necessary. So, wayyy before chiropractic school, way back in my crunchy infancy, I started using supplements. Got a cold? Vitamin C, Zinc, echinacea. Heavy menstrual cramps? Cal/Mag, ginger tea, primrose oil, and a dash of black cohosh. These are the Dr. Google go-to's of supplementation. I firmly believed that if there was an issue, there was a vitamin, a mineral, or a pill to fix it. So maybe you are thinking, "A vitamin is way better than a prescription drug!" And in many ways you are right.

However, in my line of work, healing comes from the inside out. If you are dumping the highest quality gas into a car with a wrecked radiator.... it wont get you to your destination any quicker. As a chiropractor it is imperative that we ensure your brain is able to effectively communicate to your body and vice versa before we begin throwing the kitchen sink into the mix. You do you though. If you want to take a supplement, and you have either been advised by a trained professional or you have done your own research, I am certainly not speaking against that. What I am saying is that the sweeping protocols that make supplementation the billion dollar industry that it is, is really no better or more empowering than a prescription from the drug store. It may be better for you, it may cause less environmental and biological harm, but in simplest words: Allopathy is the method of taking a pill for an ailment

At present I can think of a few examples of supplementation that are misguided, and a few that are exceptions to my "no supplement" rule.

Misguided:

1. Vitamin D. We have ample research that says vitamin D is necessary for calcium to perform its best with bony lay down (new bone as old bone is broken down). Many people at this point will say, "The higher vit D levels the better!" This isn't true! [1]. Basically, about 2 decades ago, some researchers found that people with higher vitamin d levels had decreased homocysteine. Homocysteine is linked to cardiovascular disease. Because heart disease is still a heavy weight contender for most common cause of death, the healthcare world said, "oh, duh! Let's put everyone on a Vit D supplement and watch the heart disease plummet!" The major issue with this is that we aren't meant to ingest vitamin D. We are meant to create it inside of our bodies using our skin, our liver, and our blood. Vitamin D has a similar structure, or a base structure, of cholesterol; this is also true of estrogen and testosterone. So, structurally, vitamin d is like a hormone. What current research is showing us, is that when we put hormones in parts of our bodies that they aren't intended to be (ie estrogen in the digestive tract etc), we open a can of worms that we aren't exactly sure how to close. So oral  supplementation of vitamin D is increasingly controversial. That being said, regulated sun exposure is an AMAZING option for anyone with a heartbeat. I recommend downloading the D minder app (no I don't get any kickback from them, plus it's free :))  and starting there. The app will tell you when to come inside and can even estimate the D3 produced in your body per session.

2. Iron. My grandmother was "iron deficient" for over 40 years. As a kid my iron levels were amazing, and then in my late teens/early twenties, it dipped a bit. If you've ever supplemented with iron, you may know well the constipation and other unpleasantness of supplementation. And if you "picked up what I was laying down" about the digestive tract you may be thinking, "But we do absorb iron through our digestive system!" And to that I, "Heck yeah!" So here are some questions for your healthcare provider if they suggest that you start taking iron supplements:

            a) Is ferritin low? Or hemoglobin? 

            b) Given that Ferritin is NOT synthesized in the blood, EXACTLY how does a serum measurement of Ferritin (i.e. an extracellular marker, and akin to “Kitchen temperature”…) relate to, or have ANY relevance to, the Intracellular Ferritin Protein level (i.e. the storage protein synthesized INSIDE the cells, and is more akin to “Oven temperature”)?

            c) What’s the status of my mineral & vitamin co-factors that REGULATE Iron metabolism: i.e. Magnesium, Bioavailable Copper, Zinc, Ceruloplasmin (Ferroxidase enzyme), & several select Iron markers?

            d) Do I have markers of chronic inflammation (BUN/Creatinine ratio, H1c, CRP? If so, aren't those also heavily correlated to hypoferremia?

The list goes on. If you are ever interested, shoot me a message. There's about 12 other questions to ask before starting iron supplementation. 

3. Folic Acid. Folic acid was synthetically created in the early 20th century. Up until that point our exposure to B9, the well known vitamin that influences neural tube development, was through folate. As of 1998 folic acid is a federally required fortification in many grain products. Unfortunately, as we have seen a dramatic decline in spina bifidas and cleft palates, we have seen an increase in tongue ties, which has an impact on bilateral head movement (ie, breastfeeding on both sides). [2]

Exceptions to the Rule:

A generalized note: Therapeutic supplementation ( short term doses for a diet, for recovery, to support a new body function (like, say, breastfeeding), and for chronic illness, are vastly different than the daily grind of 15-20 supplements that are to "raise your levels". I'm a huge supporter of using supplementation to aid the body through a transition or rehab, but not for longterm generic use.

1. Electrolytes. I don't fan girl over things, and lately the bottom of the list of my fan girl options would be supplements. However magnesium is my jam. Magnesium is necessary for ATP production in the body, as well as muscle recovery after a workout. Without potassium, magnesium, sodium, and calcium our bodies would literally immediately wither into a puddle. I have heart palpitations from my apparent inability to hold on to water/electrolytes (probably a chronic inflammation that I have yet to address). I've been supplementing with magnesium malate off and on for over a year now. If you are taking magnesium I would highly recommend against magnesium oxide (unless it is an external use) and magnesium citrate. Magnesium oxide is used as a laxative if taken orally and will only further dehydrate you. Magnesium citrate has long term negative impact on the ceruloplasmin and can negatively impact iron production.

2. Fish oils/ DHA/EPA. So fish oils....heart health....blah...blah...blah. The biggest thing about DHA/EPA is that our brain needs DHA and EPA to stay healthy. As we get older our ability to hold on to omega 3s becomes even more important. Dr. Dan Murphy claims that a ratio of O3/O6 above 1:25 wreaks havoc on the mental health and memory loss. The american diet is inundated with omega 6's. My general recommendation is to purchase an Omega 3 only, or an O3/O6 ratio as close to 1:1 as possible. There's some evidence that the body can convert DHA to DHEA, though it's hard to solidly say. At the end of the day you are eating animal fat is pretty small doses; to that I say, "No harm no foul". 

A final note on quality. Calcium carbonate is calcite. It's a rock. It's a finely ground rock. You can take that rock, and eat it, and your blood calcium will likely increase. But what can your body do with rock? Chickens eat rocks and it helps to break down the food they eat. We don't have that function, as our stomach acid is pretty bad a** and can breakdown pretty much anything we can fit down our esophagus. Short advice: try to buy foods based supplements. Or even better, try to eat the foods that contain the vitamin/mineral you are looking for.

1.http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/vitamin_d_more_may_not_be_better

2. Flanagan J, Landa R, Bhat A, Bauman M. 2012. Head lag in infants at risk for autism; a preliminary study. Amer. J. Occup. Ther. 66: 577-585.

Good Girls don't....: A guide to true cultural sexual rebellion.

One of the defining moments of my life was when I was in the 5th grade. My mother had been mostly absent for years, my grandmother was my beacon of femininity, and my extended family was doing everything in their power to prevent me from slipping through the cracks (Thank God for them!)

I was 11 years old, and I was sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of my great grandmother's house. I was on the phone with a friend. I said, "I want to be an obstetrician. They deliver babies and I want to deliver babies. I hear it's pretty complicated, but I think I can do it." At this point my well intentioned aunt (pronounced "aint") walked out to me and said, "Good girls don't talk about stuff like that." I remember giggling awkwardly and just telling my friend I had to go. Coincidentally, about a year prior to this I was terribly confused when I looked under that same aunt's bathroom counter and saw these flat wrapped objects, and I genuinely thought that menstrual pads were like rolling your own cigarettes. I was told then that I didn't need to worry with that stuff.

You know what this did? It led me down the rabbit hole. What else aren't we supposed to talk about? In retrospect my grandmother never called sex, "sex". She called it "Making Love" (to this day I hate that phrase). So, around this time AOL discs were a dime a dozen, or literally free at the local grocery store. I went through about 15 discs in 6 months; I think they were 500 minutes free? 1500 minutes free? Anyway, I looked up everything. I looked at always.com, I looked at kotex.com, I looked up informational pages about periods. I looked up books. I got books from the library. I wanted to know everything I could about sex, periods, and pregnancy. I read Judy Blume (not recommended), and other teen based books; often thick with "life lessons on the irresponsibility of sex out of marriage."

By the time I was 14, purity rings were a big deal. I see that they still are; the jury is out on that one. Needless to say, I was opposed to making promises I couldn't keep. I remember being in 3rd grade and refusing to sign the D.A.R.E. promise for the exact same reason. If you want to believe that indoctrination wasn't an issue while I was in school, I'll ask you to view my school record that shows me getting 1 referral in my life: because I refused to sign a piece of paper at 9 years old. PS, there is another referral unofficially on my record for skipping school; at least I'm honest.

In my household nothing was a big deal. Making mole hills out of mountains caused me to not be overly preoccupied with alcohol or sex. This is not to say that sexual curiosity didn't come on early for me, but I wasn't terribly concerned with having sex at an early age. Anywho, I went away to college, was put on birth control for a medical reason, met a boy, and the rest is completely.... deviant from the norm. :)

I moved to California when I was 22. I was put on birth control when I was 19, and around 24 when I stopped. I didn't stop because I wanted to get pregnant. I stopped because it was ruining my relationship. I stopped because my already "dry" emotional state became like a tin roof; nothing stuck. Nothing bothered me, but nothing made me happy. I was non-committal to everything. Plus, it wasn't getting rid of the symptoms it was supposed to. When I stopped taking birth control I was convinced for a year that I would get pregnant. And then I didn't; this is not a miracle or anything, we were using barrier method.

And then. And then. My old employer was a Catholic SAHM. She told me about NFP. And that part really is history. Through, what I can only identify as a rebellion, I've realized that how we speak and react to fertility is perpetuating an unnatural fear of sex. I love sex. I don't just love sex for me, I love sex for all consenting adults. I openly admit in my instruction that my goal as an instructor is to give a couple as many usable days as possible. Call it manipulative, call it unhealthy, but sex is a pretty savvy cure-many (notice it's not a cure all), for relationships. When two people are consenting and having a good time, let the good times roll! Whatever floats your boat, let it take you away. That part is no one else's business.

My goal is to help people be empowered in fertility. Fertility is not a barrier to sex. Fertility is the heartbeat of sex, one to be observed and listened to, like the heart pounding of a first kiss or the barely noticeable slow, patient, beat of a Sunday morning cuddle. You do not have to get pregnant while practicing fertility awareness. It is not a game of chance. It is not purely for Catholics and Muslims. You have been lied to, and I'm here to help.


Marquette efficacy:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18997569

Generic NFP research:
Frank-Herrmann P, Heil J, Gnoth C, et al. The effectiveness of a fertility awareness based method to avoid pregnancy in relation to a couple's sexual behaviour during the fertile time: a prospective longitudinal study. Hum Reprod. 2007;22(5):1310–1319....

Predicting ovulation with at home urinalysis (not produced by Marquette)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23831784

Medical training on forms of natural family planning:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28620604

Ovulation correlation to cervical mucus production:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25724738

Ideal birth; an image

We've seen all seen it. In the age of social media dominance, you've seen that gorgeous mom with the high top messy bun, eyeliner on point, perfect manicured nails, in a deep squat or on her back with a doting scruffy faced husband with a furrowed brow or bulging eyes at his instantaneous conversion of seeing his wife the sex goddess become his wife....The Godess. She is 40 weeks to the day, maybe even a few days early, she gained 20 pounds exactly, and only in the past 3 weeks gave up her back squats. She delivers naturally; probably in a birthing center. She is only moments away from the perfect latch and perfect milk let down. She will be enchanted by her baby immediately and will step into motherhood with grace. Because of her authoritative physical presence, no one will ask her when she will start watching what she eats. No one will bat an eye when baby sleeps for 9 hours a night after the first week until the baby is 13 years old. The baby will never have a blow out, ear infection, and certainly will never cry every night between the hours of 4:30pm and 8:00pm. She will wait the appropriate 4 hours after birth and her husband will post an image of mother and baby on instagram, and he will say his wife is the strongest woman he's ever met and he is SO in love with his new baby.

Gah, these people are such jerks! Right!?!? Nope. They aren't. They aren't jerks. They are two people that decided to have sex during the fertile phase of the ovulatory cycle, and as a result, she had a baby. Even that is presumptuous. That baby could have been prayed for, for years. That baby could be a rainbow baby. The point is not how other people do pregnancy and birth. The point is that you don't have to do it that way. 

There are general markers of pregnancy; as a whole, consuming a bottle of wine a night is not the best idea. It's a good idea to have a birth leader; be that a midwife, an obstetrician, or your Aunt Lucy. They are way more attuned to the best practices of pregnancy, but the focus here is that you choose. 

When anyone tells me they are pregnant I send them to the same place. It is my favorite place to send people because it is a webpage that offers, "40 questions for your midwife." Most often I send people there and they immediately say something like, "I don't even know what half of those words mean." This isn't meant to overwhelm you or make you feel stupid. This is meant to call you to a higher level of thinking. The questions asked on that page are going to make you ask questions. Hopefully, when you ask those questions, you get answers that make sense and align with what you want. My goal in practice is to empower parents to be as present with their children as possible and in my mind, this starts right with that first pregnancy test, and probably even before. 

Your ideal birth doesn't have here or there, or up or down, or right or wrong. It must be one where mama is comfortable. In my social circles, if I said, "You know, I really want to deliver in a hospital with an epidural." I would be harshly judged. That judgement would come from a place of education and statistically likely outcomes... but it's judgement nonetheless. I'm sure there are social groups that would faint at the idea of an unassisted childbirth; it would appear that the politicians making the rules on all of our births are in that crowd.

As a newb entrepreneur, I've been attending a lot of personal growth/mindset meetings in my community. 75% of them are amazing and worthy of your time, by the way. In those meetings the final, obnoxiously esoteric and yet also applicable recommendation, is to envision your dream. I don't see why birth should be any different.

When you think of birth, what are your first thoughts? I suspect that a solid 1/3 of the people reading this immediately thought of the financial burden. Ok, so let's take that and place it aside. What next? What do you see? I think, because I saw it right when it occurred to me that I might one day go through birth, I think of Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up; again...maybe not the best image.

Who is in the room? Who holds your hand? Does your hand need holding? Are you quiet and still? or panting and dancing and wild? What do the eyes look like of everyone in the room? Are they old and crinkled into anticipatory smiles? Are they wide open to take in every velvety moment? Are you on a bed? Or are you on the floor? Are there medical masks? What are you wearing? Are you wearing a hospital gown? Are you wearing a cute piece of lingerie, like women wear when they need an extra "oomph" of confidence? Are you wearing your spouse's old shirt? Are there windows in the room? What's the weather like outside? Are you inside or outside? When you give that last push, what is the first thing you want your baby to feel? Will a doctor catch your baby in nitrile gloves? Will your baby go from one aquatic environment to another? Will you pull him to the outside world yourself? And then what? Will there be shrills and screams of pleasure and excitement? Or will everything melt down into liquid serenity. Will anyone else exist in those precious moments?

I've been told a million times, "I thought I wanted to sit on the ball: I didn't want to sit on the ball". "I thought I would want my husband to rub my back: If anyone touched me I threw up." It's ok for things to change. It's ok to want to wear something special and then it gets poop or pee or some other bodily function on it and have to change. It's ok to start at home and end up not at home. It's ok to have a birth plan that goes out the window. But that doesn't make the birth plan any less significant. Have someone, or a team of someones with you to help you. If you don't want pitocin, and you are offered pitocin...that's not ok. If you don't want an epidural and you are offered an epidural, that's not ok! If you don't want your husband's sister's mailman in the room, guess what? THEY DON'T COME IN. You are delivering your baby into the world. Anyone else in the room is merely an observer or an accomplice in miracle work. Make sure your company is worthy of the experience; because birth is nothing short of miraculous. 

Chiropractic and Birth

For the sake of this post we will only discuss pelvic floor and mechanistic views of the pelvis for labor and delivery. There is A LOT more at hand, but this is the best entry point for what will later prove to be a pretty complex relationship.

Round Ligaments
These are best described as the ropes that tether the top of a hot air balloon. Before conception, these ligaments sort of hang off the top of uterus like arms. The fibers of the round ligament actually descend so far as the labia majora (external female genitalia). As the uterus expands to accommodate the growing baby, the round ligaments look like the ropes that go over the top of the hot air balloon keeping it on the ground.

This balloon is tethered, and look how roomy it is! This is what we want the uterus to look like. If a woman has a traumatic pelvic trauma like falling off of a bike, falling off of a horse, even some hard falls when she was a baby, these ligaments can have different tensions. This would lead to something like this:

This is an exaggeration, but our goal is to give baby as much room as possible to flip and flop and wiggle around all they want until the time comes to get serious. Then, when it's time to get serious we want baby to engage and exit with as much ease as possible, for mama and baby.

Sacrotuberous ligament
This ligament deserves a regal entry. This dude is the unsung hero of all pregnancy. So, the sacrotuberous ligament makes a lot of things work: it attaches the spine to the leg (sacrum to biceps femoris, aka major player of the hamstrings), it protects the pudendal nerve (responsible for muscle tone in the perineum--wowzas!!), contains branches of the gluteal artery, Similarly to the round ligaments, if a woman has pelvic trauma, this ligament can lose it's flexibility, thus preventing the pelvis from opening properly during labor.

Sacrospinous ligament
The fibers of the sacrospinous ligament are integrated into the sacrotuberous ligament, but this job of this ligament is to essentially create the greater and lesser sciatic foramen. If you have ever been pregnant, and developed sciatic-like nerve pain...this ligament could be a contributing factor. Again, this ligament, as it is so closely related to the sacrotuberous ligament is going to have heavy influence on the pudendal nerve, which is the nerve that helps determine the muscle tone in the perineum; if the perineum is taut, you are more likely to have perineal tearing and postpartum incontinence [1]

Abdominal muscles
The abdominal muscles are an accessory in birth. While the myometrium of the uterus is responsible for the actual contraction, the abdominal muscles are there for backup and extra "oomph". Guess where the insertion of 2/3 of the abdominal muscles are? Either directly on the vertebrae in your spine, or on the tissue that is attached to those vertebrae,

Pelvic girdle
The Pelvic girdle consists of muscles, bones, and ligaments of the pelvis that ideally open symmetrically to allow baby to exit. Pelvic girdle pain is exceptionally common in the last trimester and up to 16 weeks postpartum. Many of the muscles in this area are innervated by the pudendal nerve. Previously we said that the pudendal nerve was closely related to the sacrotuberous ligament, and that between the round ligament, the sacrotuberous ligament, and the abdominal muscles, the attachment sites for all of these are either on the spine or directly to the bones of the pelvis.

So what does Chiropractic have to do with any of this?
Chiropractors who specialize in pregnancy should know how to address all of these ligaments and bones. Our pelvis is responsible for keeping us moving. Think of it in terms of survival; our arms are held on by a flimsy articulation and 4 main muscles. You can lose an arm and still get away from the lion chasing you.Your legs are held on by one solid ball in socket articulation; in our body this is the most stable a joint can get and still move. Beyond that, there are at least 5 ligaments and 4 muscle groups (multiple muscles working together) to keep your leg on; because you need the leg to escape the lion. So then amplify that by a million, when we incorporate a mother's protective reflex, and you begin to realize the significance of this hammock that we make while pregnant.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279110/

Carbohydrate consumption and estrogen

It's been a while since we did a more keto/research filled post. So, let's hop on it!

First:
Estrogen dominance is an umbrella term for a culmination of health issues affecting not only fertility, but the whole body [1]. It is important to note that estrogen dominance doesn't necessarily mean an excess of estrogen, but potentially a lack of progesterone. This is significant because in some instances, decreasing estrogen may not be the issue. Over all, we know that elevated estrogen contributes to a gambit of health disorders, but progesterone is what holds estrogen in balance.

Next:
Previously I've shared some articles about long term benefits of a reduced carbohydrate diet. I'll openly admit that the fad aspect of the ketogenic diet makes me want to roll my eyes so hard... BUT, things gain momentum and popularity often because they yield some semblance of the desired result, so for the sake of my experiences with low carb/ketogenic eating, I'm going to stick to it as my reference point. Please feel free to look back at those articles for more generalized information.

Here's what we know:
Xenoestrogens are becoming more prevalent in our lives [2]. This often leads to the body being unable to accommodate with natural progesterone production. Think of it like a line graph.

Sometimes in the cycle, estrogen is meant to be higher. For you Marquette/NFP/FAM people, this is the proliferative phase of your cycle. After the period, estrogen is the hormone responsible for building up a nice pillow soft landing for that fertilized egg. After ovulation, estrogen is starts to wane and progesterone takes over. Again, for your Marquette/NFP/FAM people, this PHASE III!!!! 💗💗💗💗 (for non-Marquette/NFP/FAM people, this is the least likely time to conceive, so, many couples use this phase exclusively for intimate contact). NOW, the important thing to note here is that progesterone is the dominant post-luteal (post ovulatory) hormone. So, for all you postpartum mamas and daddies out there thinking "Oh my gosh! We DTD on day 234234234 (mild exaggeration of course) and peaked the next day!!!" Guess what? Our bodies are so smart that in the postpartum phase, progesterone is trying to come back on line after all that lochia and prolactin and oxytocin that usually that post-luteal phase is so short that the body doesn't have time to make that super comfy pillow before the period starts. This is also a serious concern for all estrogen dominance disorders. This is only true for breast feeding mamas. Formula or non-ecological feeding mamas tend to have an earlier return of their period, and thus, ovulation [3].

So, let's say someone, somewhere, with some authority, has told you that you are estrogen dominant, or you've been diagnosed with dysmenorrhea [4], endometriosis*, uterine fibroids [5]. The information below belongs to you.

From research presented in this post, we can gather that there is a correlation between estrogen related health disorders and thyroid health. We can also gather that there is a relationship between estrogen and liver function. The liver metabolizes fat, filters the blood, and sends cholesterol packin' for the exit.

There are two main reasons that carbohydrates can be a contributing factor to estrogen dominance.

1. Fructose, the sugar from fruit, bypasses normal sugar breakdown and is immediately taken to the liver for storage (fat). Eating WHOLE fruit, not just juice, slows this down, but it happens nonetheless [6]. Also, fast available energy is going to unavoidably increase blood sugar (that's kind of the point), thus kicking the liver into "work mode". This should be a normal and common occurrence, however, in the proportions of the standard american diet, the liver simply can't keep up, at least not on any long term basis. This taxation forces the liver to "prioritize", and depending on the body's state, different things will result, but in any case the result is not the optimization of liver function [7]. Think of it like Lucy and Ethel eating chocolates off the candy line. Recent research shows that adipose tissue (fat) can actually produce estrogen, thus further contributing to the estrogen dominance [8].

2. The other way that carbohydrate consumption influences estrogen, and to me this is the biggest shocker, is mold. MOLD. This one blew my mind. Below, under "extra fun reading" you'll find one legit article, and then several weak, or wiki articles. These are purely supporting pages that let you know the sources of the mold mentioned in the first article. These molds that are directly known as estrogen metabolites are covering most grains, beans, and corn. It's not their fault that these molds love them so much, but anything that is mass ground (wheat, barley, corn) is going to contain at minimum trace amounts of these contaminants. And we aren't saying, "oh this may be a contributing factor." Science is saying "this may be THE THING". Mold.

By consuming a sub 25g net of carbohydrates a day, you are most likely not fitting wheat, corn, or beans into your diet. Thus, potentially removing 60-80% of the contributing factors of estrogen dominance.

*Frankly, non-reputable sources highly correlate endometriosis to decreased sensitivity to estrogen receptors...but I can't find anything that is accessible to the public (there are about 17 sources on pubmed, if you have access), but I wont cite crappy research.



1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3113168/
2. https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-11-S1-S8
3. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000992288802700804 ** if you have access to this article it is GREAT. I can't find it for free to share with you :(
4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02134006?LI=true
5.http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1209993
6. http://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/abundance-of-fructose-not-good-for-the-liver-heart
7.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022473187902007
8.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11511861

Some extra fun reading about contributing factors of estrogen dominance:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC164220/
    a) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zearalenone
    b)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibberella_zeae
    c)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusarium_culmorum

Ferocious Love

Today is not really about chiropractic, keto, or fertility. I guess my last post wasn't either. But today is sort of about my culmination of topics that is fed by my, "Why". Why does all this matter? Do these things even belong in the same sentence? Well, first, a story.

In 2009 I started working for a family in Santa Maria. I hadn't changed a diaper in over 10 years. I'd never worked with a kid with cerebral palsy. But here I was, killing it (sarcasm). I worked for a family with three children. A set of twins and one younger child. The twins' birth had been complicated and as a product, one of the kiddos had a fairly advanced Cerebral Palsy (CP) diagnosis. I was coming in about 6 months after his feeding tube had been removed; I think he was around 7 years old. When I met him, he was vibrant, intelligent, and really in to Batman. While he couldn't walk unassisted, his original prognosis was that he would never talk or eat. One time the mother told me that a doctor consulted her soon after the twins' birth and suggested that the twin with CP go to a home for children "like him." Her response is officially the topic of the day: "Not my boy."

This woman worked a full time 3rd shift job so that she could accompany her son to school when the school provided aid would unavoidably fail to show up. She worked full time in a separate business built for him to get the therapies needed to make him mobile. She lost friends, received criticism from family, and sacrificed promotions at work to make sure that her son was advancing. Her drive and passion throughout the past 14 years is, "He has to be able to survive without me."

So this week, as we barrel towards the Mother's Day weekend, I'd like to celebrate a certain mother demographic, the "Ferocious" Mother.

The ferocious mother is the mother that once she leaves the room, everyone's eyes widen and they exhale for the first time since she walked in. The ferocious mother smiles and rocks on her heels, laying in wait, as she anticipates the fallout. And once the first brick falls, she springs to action like a lioness towards her babies, keeping them safe and slaying people blocking the path towards her children's success. The ferocious mother succeeds when her children accomplish what doctors, family, experts, and sometimes even the children themselves, think can't be done. The ferocious mother is silent and pleasant, until the first glance of a furrowed brow from a baby. Then the ferocious mother becomes a wolf on the hunt.

As most of you know I am not a mother. I hope to become one, sooner rather than later, but as it stands, I don't know what it feels like to love something as fiercely as a mother loves a child. And it is also worth noting that ferociousness is not inherent. The mother that I am talking about is made through desperation. Some mothers are not this type of mothers, and guess what? That's ok!!!!!!  I don't suspect I'll be this type of mother; maybe that's why I have so much respect for these women that fight so hard for their babies.

I love ferocious mothers because a ferocious mother raised me. I was a little girl with a loving father and an absent mother. My grandmother saw that I needed ferocious love and she took me and protected me until her dying day. She pushed me, often to the detriment of our own relationship, towards success and away from the habits and traits that broke my own family apart. I'll never forget her wagging finger as she told my step-father that no stranger would be taking her granddaughter away in a car. I'll never forget the subtle dinner conversations that said, "When you go to college..." And even though she passed away before I started Chiropractic school, she knew I was going. She, in her 60's was waiting for me at midnight after marching band competitions. She threatened me, not with failure, but with mediocrity because to fail meant that I'd tried.

I met a woman recently, with two boys. She thinks that she hurt my feelings. She thinks she was mean. But I must say, with absolute adolation, that she simply let me know that she loves her children ferociously, and she wont let anyone stand in the way of her children's success. So to you, sweet, fiery woman, Happy Mother's day.

Resistance is futile...

Resistance. So, I've been reading The War of Art, and yes, I wrote it correctly. The main point of the book is that there is a force acting against our best intentions that keeps us from achieving our greatness. These barriers to success are usually some variation of rationalization and can best be visualized with the stereotypical frayed hair and twitchy fingers of "writer's block". These are what keep us in bed instead of going for a run. These are the reasons we don't firmly stick out a hand to our heroes and introduce ourselves. And frankly, these are the reasons that Chiropractors never have a community that understands what they do. 

I am a big fan of  knowing your enemy. Resistance is my enemy. It, for me, is the "Don't go to that event, you're so tired." or "Life is hard right now, go watch netflix."We combat resistance by doing what we are afraid to do or what would make us less comfortable. Why are you not getting out of bed to go on that run? What about 30 minutes of sleep (let's be real, facebook), is better than running around the block? 

I'm going to touch a very sensitive subject; one that I have rolled my eyes over for literally decades now. Have you ever known someone with an ok job, or a crappy job and one day that person tells you they are going on a crazy trip to Indonesia? Or that same person comes up to tell you they are going to Europe for a month? And immediately, you think something like, "Where did they get the money to do that?" We must delegate what we value; time and money are easily the most valuable things to most people. Ironically, those two things seem pretty inversely proportional but at the end of the day those two things are what make the world go 'round. So, many situations leave us exchanging money for time, or time for money. And that is the balance right? That's simply how it works. If you know how to get me more of both of these things, PLEASE do not hesitate to contact me :). However, what we need to squash right now is that you don't have time and you don't have money. Neither of those is true. If my super young, super optimistic, go get 'em friend can work a part time job waiting tables for 10 months and then take a month long trip to India, we all need to think about our "resistance" or our "values". 

I implore you to stop saying that! On the other hand, saying "I don't value it" is one of the most powerful things you could ever say. This says to people "I value my time and my money more than I value what you are offering me." And THAT is a game changer because it is a) the truth b) not propagating negative thoughts into the universe c) giving the presenter the opportunity to hear, "hey, what you just said, doesn't make me care any more about what you are doing. So... change it up. Come back later. Make me want it more," How useful is that? My entrepreneurial spirit is swooning at that type of constructive criticism. 

Now, let's tie it all together. I made the photos above, but I certainly didn't write them. Some of you may know that, some of you may have never heard of them before. This weekend I turned 30 years old, and on Saturday morning I attended a women's conference. Fact: moms don't do women's conferences. It's like they're busy or something? :) This conference rubbed me the wrong way. It was offensive, and kinda sorta in conflict with some major teachings of the organization, all that to be said, this was the blessing at the beginning of the meeting. I didn't want to go to this conference, and after I went I wasn't any more pleased but I defied resistance by attending. These commandments, another version of which hung at Mother Theresa's clinic in Calcutta, are my favorite thing. I think they are God, or the Universe's way of saying "Keep going." 

Despite my love of Star Trek, especially Jean Luc Picard (swoon again), resistance isn't futile. Maybe my fist-to-cuffs opposition of resistance is saying through gritted teeth, "Resistance! You are futile"... but really it serves a purpose. It is there to let us know that when we feel most resistant that is when we are meant to push back harder. 

So don't tell people you don't have time. Don't tell them that you don't have the money. You do. If you wanted to, you could. There are a million ways to scrape time and cash together. Tell them flat out that you don't value what they have. Be mindful to the resistance; do you not value it? Or are you afraid that it might actually make you a better person? 

The moving target of an ideal birth.

Millennials (yep, I'm going there), are culturally perceived to be lazy, but more and more research is showing that people in this age group are working harder, spinning their wheels earlier and longer, than other generations (see facebook meme a-aaaaaa, as example).

We as a whole are out to improve the world. As the Harvard Business Review article below states, millennials do not value vacation time, often choosing the statement, "No one can do my work as well as I do" as a comment on why vacations are on the decline. Is this a deep seeded remnant of arrogance? Or, have we simply come to believe what we've been told: "Become the best, so that you can't be replaced."

Maybe I see this more than others because I am in a profession that is solidly planted in entrepreneurship. Burn out is for REAL in my world; it is an actual threat to the survive/thrive plan. So, what does this ideology have to do with birth?

We, you, they, whatever you want to read, are over-achievers. My people, my crowd, my soul sisters and brothers are the Hermione Grangers of the world. I fancy myself more of a Ron, but at the end of the day I'm intellectually one of the laziest of my friends....and I am a HARD worker. This lends itself to smart people with a lot of promise, burning out way too soon. They burn out because their soul kissing dreams are intangible. Words like "success" and "financial freedom" float around, just outside of grasp because they are indefinite. Here's where birth comes in.

Different organizations surrounding birth have created guidelines of what is acceptable in the progression of normal pregnancy, and this amplifies in birth. In pregnancy you should measure a certain way, blood pressure should stay within a certain range, blood and urine analysis should show markers of health, weight gain has its own parameters, and fetal heart rate has a window of acceptable findings. Any variance from these numbers will inevitably involve some element of intervention. Sometimes this intervention is mild, like bed rest. Other times, the end result is a shell shocked new mom with a 24 week gestation baby, or worse. This is in no way to insinuate that medical intervention is unnecessary. I am quite literally the product of medical technology; if not for NICU services, I most likely wouldn't be alive.

In birth, there are Bishop Scores, APGAR scores, statistical rates of advancement, and other markers that indicate necessary intervention. Here is the problem: time is changing these parameters. As overachievers we want to be perfect. Ne'er you mind the mom who smoked throughout her pregnancy in the 60's, moms now avoid flying due to radiation exposure and avoid deli meats all in an attempt to give their baby the best start possible. These moms and dads are changing their whole lives from the day of conception (or possible conception) out of love  to the be the best for their children as possible. This is parenting. This is love and sacrifice from day one. Healthcare professionals tend to want to focus on objective parameters, and that is great! Generally, though, we aim to impose the statistical norms and that takes the control out of mama and daddy's hands, and places them in an algorithm. I am a huge fan of Improvingbirth.org. I want the birth world to be over flowing with research! But at the end of the day, if a mom is comfortable birthing at home, she should, unless absolutely unavoidable circumstances arise, be at home. If a mom is comfortable in a hospital, with every monitor and doo-hicky attached to her, she should be there.

 We can not turn birth in to a race. We can't turn it into a talent show where someone loses. When we do that, competition and self-depreciation become the name of the game and no one, especially that new family unit, will benefit. No matter where a woman labors and delivers, when she meets the eyes of her little one, there should be no room for anything but absolute adulation. The target should be that look. The target is that smile, or sob, or throwing heads back, or hugs, or whatever, but it should be ideal in the eyes of mom and dad. Ideal doesn't mean without a hitch, it doesn't mean a baby born in the caul in a tranquil water birth, it doesn't mean sans stretch mark, it doesn't mean measuring exactly 35 cm at 35 weeks. It means, at the end of the day, Mom and dad (insert any birth partner and their relationship to mom), know that they have done what was best from their own knowledge base.




Harvard business Review article about the work-a-holic-millennials

The Guiding Principle

The guiding principle for all that I do is this: Your body is a self healing organism. Our existence depends on our ability to break down and create new cells, organs, and tissues (with the exception of a few) on a regular basis.

 This principle is dependent on a good communication between the central command, your brain, and the end organ. When everything is clearly heard and understood, the body is functioning at its peak, and this is what we would call health. Anything less than this ideal performance is not ok.

If the communication is compromised by a vertebral subluxation*, or misalignment, then those normal cycles of break down and creation are negatively impacted. When this happens your body is not able to do what it was designed to do, and chaos ensues.

Chiropractic restores order in that chaos, and supports your body's ability to regulate cell, tissue, and organ function on it's own.

When you come in to our office, unless we are old pals, we are looking at your life purely in the information provided from exams, tests, and story that you provide us; this means that as we move through your health and history we are painting a picture of what today looks like for your body. Often this painting gives us a glance at what we can expect from your health ten, or twenty years from now. It is my goal in practice to empower families to be as active and present with each other as possible, to build strong units that adapt to whatever life may throw at them. To me, this means making sure that mom and dad are set up to play, provide, and connect, and that baby is eating, pooping, sleeping, and growing to the best of their ability. Being a parent is basically like being an athlete,..except there's no off season...or sweet endorsement deals. Most notably; it is not easy all the time. Some phases are easier than others, some situations are easier than others. If we have that clear line of communication between the brain and the body and we have a little more of that organization in the chaos, then we have good foundation for that family to grow and develop like it was meant to.

I look forward to getting to know all of you a lot better as I not only re-integrate into the Central Coast culture, but also as I join the Beacon Clinic.


*More on this later :)

NFP vs. Fertility Awareness: Change your language to change the world.

I recently had the honor of speaking with a group of women that all brought different experiences and input on fertility and womanhood. Coming from a higher learning perspective on health and fertility, I was amazed at what I learned. Below are some of the high light take away points:

1. Just because you have said the same thing a million times does not mean that it should not be said a million and one times. My goals in practice are not to have women exclusively home birthing, breast feeding for 5 years, and having baby only touch fair trade organic grown and washed diapers. That's a nice dream, but that isn't reality. A woman delivers her baby, a woman (and partner) makes the decisions concerning the birth and parenting of her child. A woman needs to know what she wants and surround herself with people who will support those wants and desires. Sometimes that means a C-section. Sometimes that means 'sposies. It is not my goal to tell them how wrong they are; it is my goal to empower them to know that what they want is what they are capable of. 

2 . If you want to change the world, change your language. I didn't learn this at this event, but I said it. I wasnt the first person to say this, but it is my mantra concerning Chiropractic and up until this point it never occurred to me that NFP needs a language change. Let's break it down: Natural Family Planning. So, fertility is purely for families? And purely for families looking to manage the number of children they have? OH! No, no no. Fertility, as I have said before is the 7th vital sign! Women, and men for that matter, are fertile outside of marriage. For women, the menstrual cycle is an amazing insight to health. NFP (henceforth known as fertility awareness on this page) is something to be aware of years before sex is even an option. So, despite my beautiful business cards that tout my certification as an NFP instructor, I am a fertility awareness teacher, focusing on Marquette Method. 

3. Pea Salad is WAY tastier than it sounds :) 

I implore you to consider the ramifications of your words. The words we use today will impact how our children and future generations speak on these topics. Speak to your children about their bodies, and use the terms that you want them to use as adults. Teach them early that menstruation is more than just the sloughing of endometrial lining of their uterus. Don't let your children learn about fertility the same way you did. Fertility does not imply sexuality. Sexuality is a different conversation, possibly for a different time. 

Ketosis and Fertility; a marriage made in the blood stream

 Get ready for some citations!

Fertility is ever changing in the female body by design. I've had some men contest the idea of using Marquette method by saying, "This is too much stuff to remember!" To which I respond: You are the one that's fertile all the time! Thankfully that fertile window is established by your brilliantly designed significant other.

Simply put: Fertility is possible through the cooperation of estrogen and progesterone. There are many hormones that influence estrogen and progesterone, but ultimately those two hormones are responsible for "ripening" the egg, and creating a "nest" for a fertilized egg. 

Link number 1 below is a simplified version of how estrogen is stored in, and released from fat. Ketogenesis is a well-known state of fat loss or conversion (depending on the type of Keto), so therefore it becomes imperative to consider the implications of "rapid" fat loss on a person with high estrogen or progesterone. Over the years individuals with one sex hormone disorder or the other have noted the difficulty in weight loss, and then of course a feedback loop develops in which the person has an elevated sex hormone, and then weight causes more production of the hormone, and the sex hormone causes weight gain. 

"Evidence supporting an interrelationship between insulin and fertility exists (Gong 2002, Hunter et al. 2004) but the mechanistic actions of dysregulated insulin functioning at a physiological and cellular level as associated with obesity, remain obscure." ( Mitchell, et al, 2005--reference number 5).

So this means that there seems to be relationship between fertility an insulin, but the research isn't sure of the type of relationship. It is possible, from my perspective at least, if inflammation is triggered by sugar in the blood stream that insulin can not mediate, that that same inflammation may have negative consequences systemically.

There are many anecdotal stories of people ceasing ovulation in a ketogenic state. These stories are generally older, and based on some old research on athletic women. The fact is, that in the US obesity has become a larger and larger issue (punny, right?) Estrogen related issues are also more prominent than they were 60 years ago. What some recent studies are showing, is that women with a higher fat percentage, or women who have irregular ovulation can be helped with a ketogenic diet. So, will a ketogenic diet make you ovulate? Not necessarily. But a Keto diet can help regulate a cycle, thus making ovulation more predictable. The link below is thread on Reddit about ovulation and cycle regularity on Keto:

https://www.reddit.com/r/xxketo/comments/19a517/keto_regulates_ovulation/

**note that these comments are also anecdotal, but at present there is no accessible study available, so this is basically a anecdotal rebuttal to more anecdotes. :) 

1.The light description of Estrogen and Fat
2. Estrogen's relationship with body fat percentage
3. A REALLY good description of the estrogen/fat relationship (slightly more indepth than the livestrong article above)
4. A study suggesting that fat could be converted to estrogen through aromatization

5. http://www.reproduction-online.org/content/130/5/583.long

InCONCEIVABLE!!!!

Little known fact: I became an NFP instructor because I enjoy discussing sex.

**note: I am going to make every effort to make this post as professional as possible. There is a chance that some of the information shared here may not be appropriate for immature audiences.

Sex is weird. It's sort of like sleep; in that 1/3 of our lives is spent unconscious and no one bats an eye. Sex is this weird act where people like each other and penetration occurs. Obviously it's a pretty easy act to achieve, however as our relationships and culture change "with the times" it becomes less and less acceptable to connect with each other on an intimate level. Sex is inherently intimate, but with enough effort and disillusionment, it can be as mindless and heartless as you desire. 

Also, with medical advancements in the past 75 years there's been huge cultural shifts on sexual liberty in the form of hormonal birth control, condom availability, and more invasive/permanent contraceptive methodologies. These advancements all have benefits and drawbacks. I came to NFP because none of them were an option for me. 

So, what is NFP?

NFP stands for natural family planning. Natural family planning is a methodology of avoiding or attempting conception. NFP is sort of an umbrella term, in which there are approximately 13 methods available. If you are familiar with NFP, at this point you are probably thinking of the rhythm method, which is when you look at a calendar, and add 14 days to the first day of your menses, and abstain for 5 days before and one day after (this is a very rough summary). Today, there are many methods aside from the rhythm method. The cervical mucus methods were my gateway drug. I started there, and then a good friend recommended Marquette Method. I am a doctorate student, and I really, REALLY didn't want to have a baby in school. I needed some assurance if I was going to engage in sexual activity, that the likelihood of conception would be comparable to the methods mentioned above (birth control pills/condom usage). 

I could absolutely come at this topic from a place of fear, but intimacy (consenting) is not to be feared. So, yes, Marquette method is over 98% effective at avoiding or attaining conception, and that's great! But that's not the focus here.

Marquette method utilizes either the Clear Blue Easy Fertility monitor, or test strips (Wondfo) to detect luteinizing hormone.  Believe it or not, women are not constantly fertile! Most men are fertile constantly. Women are truly fertile for about 36 hours. When you combine the statistics that sperm can live in the reproductive organs of a woman for approximately 5 days,  a woman and man have a combined fertility window of 10 days (5 days before, 1 day of ovulation, and 24-36 hours after ovulation).

I am an avid fan of Marquette method, but I'm an avid fan of drinking water, why did I pursue the certification to teach other people about NFP? I should have mentioned this in my original post, but my goal as a Chiropractor (I am not a current licensed Chiropractor, I am an intern) is to empower women to make the best decisions for their health; specifically in the context of fertility, pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. The simple facts are: our bodies are ever changing, and ever accommodating to our environment (at least an unsubluxated one ;)). Blood analysis, or any lab work for that matter, is a snap shot in time. It is a single moment. Further more, I can't speak for what is being taught currently in schools, but when I was in school (and most of my clients), we were taught, "You can get pregnant at any time! So, you better not!" And now, we have an entire generation of women who either think or are being told by their medical professional that they are infertile. How many women do you know right now who have at some point in their lives have either thought or been told they were infertile? It is an epidemic! That thought process is literally the first step of disempowerment in parenthood. It perpetuates the idea that we are dependent on an outside redeemer to save us from our broken little bodies. One thing I appreciated about the Marquette method is that in their teachings they only refer to infertile couples when one or both partners has had a sterilizing procedure; everyone else is "sub-fertile", which implies that fertility is attainable. Obviously, it is necessary to point out that there are people who cannot conceive. However, estrogen dominance and the related diseases are NOT a deathwish for baby dreams.

Intimacy:

I won't even try to lie, I am absolutely tee-totally addicted to social media. It's not even the pretty kind where I post informative things and talk to beloved relatives that are far away. I scroll, sometimes for hours, and nothingness. One of my favorite phrases is, "It is common but not normal." That phrase definitely applies here. I doubt I am alone in my addiction, but it doesn't make it ok. Matter of fact aside from the current research on the implications of backlit electronic devices, the distraction of looking at the phone instead of the vast eyes of my husband is arguably a waste of time. 

Yet again, I think this is a cultural epidemic. So, how does my social media addiction relate to Marquette method? Easy: As mentioned above you do not have to have intimacy to have sex, but if you want to have sex and not get pregnant (or get pregnant), a certain amount of communication or cooperation is necessary. When I am instructing clients, I tell them that charting is not enough. I could sit with you and show you what each symbol and color means until we are both blue in the face, but the fact of the matter is, in the heat of the moment... You are going to need a sign. I recommend visual cues. I tell clients to buy a calendar, and as you chart (the paper/electronic charting is massively beneficial not only for correlating signs of fertility, but also for medical history), you should also mark the days on a wall sized calendar. Make it your own! Make symbols for "safe" days, and symbols for "unsafe" days. And then, there's no reading glasses or confusion, when you see the calendar with a giant [insert personalized symbol here] you know that you are good to go! Also, if you are using test strips or the monitor, the male partner can easily help interpret or read for you while you chart. It might take 20 seconds, but at the end of the day you are on the same page. These activities inherently bring consciousness to fertility, and as Dr. Fehring says, the 7th vital sign. 

If you have any questions feel free to contact me via the Google+ home page. I encourage conversation on this topic as one that is close to my heart and my purpose. 

Next up:  

Ketosis and Fertility; a marriage made in the blood stream

Some research for your viewing pleasure: 

1. Efficacy of Marquette method with correct and incorrect use
2. Getting started with Marquette Method

Chiropractic Principles

If you are part of the 85% (rough estimate) of people who do not regularly see a chiropractor, it may surprise you that there is a philosophy and accompanying principles to receiving care. Most of them are pretty straight forward, a quick Google search will give you all 33 principles, but today we will focus on my favorite:

Principle No. 6: The principle of time- There is no process that doesn't require time.

That's it...verbatim. It hurts to read doesn't it? If you are remotely concerned with grammar, your eyes are probably bleeding a little from an official statement from a profession...an ENTIRE profession... with a double negative tucked in. It hurt me. I had to do a project on the principles my first quarter of my doctorate program and I complained IN the project about the grammar. Let's consider that a speed bump and keep on trucking. If it's more of a road block, go pace for a few minutes in the sun and come back and start below:

Time. 

In the previous post we discussed weight loss as a measurement of health. Weight loss is an easy representation of our culture's inability to perceive "time in" versus "time out". Most people do not wake up 40 pounds heavier than the day before. If this happens to you I would suggest seeking medical attention because that implies a serious issue. Plenty of people are on "ask yahoo" or random weight loss forums asking, "How can I lose 30 pounds in 2 weeks?" They probably didn't gain 30 pounds in 2 weeks, yet they expect to lose it. 

However, I would argue this isn't the most alarming form of disregard for time. The worst is when a person makes poor decisions for, let's say 10 years, and after some time their body begins to show signs of neglect: inflammation, pain, dysfunction. These consequences usually surprise people, and the instant reaction is to take a pain killer. And WOW! Those pain killers really work! I should know, I took them in bulk store proportions for about 10 years. Often times we want to cut corners. We want "insta-health". 

Insta-health sounds great doesn't it? Do none of the work, none of the input and boom! You wake up one day with a 65 BPM heart rate, 110/70 blood pressure, ideal body fat percentages, and did I mention you'll look great naked! (And make a 6 digit income, and drive a drool worthy car...I mean if I'm dreaming here, let's go big!) And imagine if all of the bad habits we accumulate could be undone over night with the use of a pill. This sounds like heaven.

The reality is that we are a culmination of chemical compounds that have been assembled and disassembled trillions of times in their existence; but right here and now, you are you. Our parents made a decision to DTD (do the deed, for my non-NFP folks) and sperm meets egg, morula, zygote, fetus, infant, toddler, kidlet, tween, teen, young adult, adult, senior, and then you will one day die. So will I. But the point is that you did not begin your existence today. Maybe you did...maybe today is a new you and a new way of life. Or maybe the life you lead to day was determined by the diet your great great great grandfather ate 250 years ago. The point is that every aspect of our existence, our observations, our interactions, and our world is dependent on time. Time creates and destroys mountains. 

Often times when people start Chiropractic Care, they are surprised or upset when they find that they will need to come in for 3-6 months. The brilliant thing about Chiropractic is that if you ARE in pain (you do not have to be in pain to see a Chiropractor), you most likely won't be in pain for those 3-6 months. Most often pain resolves fairly quickly. However, much like weight gain (consider this a clumping with the pain/inflammation/dysfunction), typically you don't just wake up one day in pain. Aside from acute macro-trauma (car accident, falling, etc), most of us spend decades with poor habits that lead to that sudden onset of pain. So, if we use the idea of "Time", it makes sense that putting a decade of, let's say looking down at your lap to read a text or the morning paper, into your spine may take more than 2 weeks to rectify. You may not experience pain, but as more and more research shows, pain is sort of the last stop on the Body's "Hey Something's Wrong!" Train. So if we take into consideration that pain is NOT a marker of function, and the objective is to be healthy and functional, the goal is for you to NOT need constant Chiropractic care. The goal is for your body to properly function and adapt to it's environment. In this sense the chiropractic adjustment is re-teaching the body where it belongs in space. So while the pain goes away, the body is still accustomed to it's previous position. The care plan that a patient receives should be an estimate of how long it will take the body to re-learn proper proprioception.

Now, this discussion opens itself to a number of critiques. Because I am in the process of opening this can of worms, let's list out a few:

1. If time causes subluxation, why does a baby need to be adjusted?

2. Why would I need to see a chiropractor if I am not in pain? 

3. What can a chiropractor do for proprioceptive issues?

These are totally future blog questions. Next up though, I'm going to give you a little background on Marquette Method and NFP in general...quirky title name to come. :)

Is losing weight a sign of health?

A good friend posed this question to me earlier this week and I was struck by what a complex question this is. I want to address it as thoroughly as possible, but before I do that I'd like to give a brief explanation of what Ketosis/the ketogenic diet is.

Ketosis is a state of being; ketogenic is the way of eating (WOE). So, you are IN Ketosis, and you adhere to a ketogenic lifestyle. The ketogenic diet is described as a composition of specific macronutrient ratios consisting of 5% carbohydrates, 75% fat, and 20% protein. Commonly this way of eating (WOE) results in a calorie deficit, however calories are not considered a priority especially in the initial stages of Ketosis. This diet is arguably the "original" primal way of eating for our species, but beyond that it has hundreds, and probably thousands of research articles on its effect on patients with epilepsy, MS, diabetes, PCOS, neurological disfunction, and over all estrogen dominance disorders (3). Now that we've discussed the diet, what is Ketosis? Ketosis, as mentioned above is a state of being. Ketosis is what happens during and after Keto-adaptation. The body prefers and will use carbohydrates from our food for energy. When the body does not observe carbohydrates coming from digestion, the body will produce ketones which will lead to gluconeogenesis in the liver. Ketones require fat breakdown to exist, so if you are overweight, Ketosis can take fat from your body. If you are not overweight it becomes necessary for the fat to come from your plate. I know that if you are not familiar with Ketosis, the first thing you might think is, "Is this like Ketoacidosis?" Short answer: No. Long answer: No, they have very very little in common. Ketoacidosis has easily 100-1000X the amount of ketones in the blood compared to Ketosis (1). Unless you have certain insulin disorders (DMII is not one :)), it is thought to be impossible to induce ketoacidosis through diet alone. Keto has been recommended for the afore mentioned disorders for almost 100 years now, however in the past 2 decades more research has been produced on the benefits of Keto and diabetes mellitus II (2).  

So, I suppose the first step in determining if weight loss is a sign of health is we must decide if weight gain is a sign of poor health. First, let's go ahead and remove some outliers; rapid unexplained weight loss or gain is not healthy, weight gain for underweight people is healthy, and weight loss for those who are overweight is healthy. Now, what determines that a person needs to lose weight? Tricky tricky! Need implies necessity, necessity implies lack of function due to weight; our bodies are complex beyond our comprehension, within this there are systems dependent on systems dependent on systems. More and more we see that subclinical deficiencies are making an impact on organ systems and maintaining health (4). I am not beyond the idea that some people's constitutions require a heavier load, however I do think that each body has it's own structural limits. Research also suggests that our organs have a limitation in the workload they can handle; for instance long term variances in blood volume is shown to damage arteries. Or, long term blood sugar variances have been shown to tax the pancreas and ultimately reduce insulin production and/or sensitivity (DMII).

What is health? This is a philosophical question. But fortunately for you this is my jam! Health is not the absence of disease. Health is a culmination of physical signs and state of mind. Health is being able to work towards physical and lifestyle goals without physical limitations. If you want to run a marathon; you should be able to train for it and complete it. If you want a new job you should be able to apply mental focus and enthusiasm to attain a new position. If your body or your mental state prevents you from making or achieving goals; this is unhealthy. Age is irrelevant; there is no age in which goals lose value or purpose. I once cared for an 89 year old woman who set the world record for running her last marathon at 84 years old (She no longer holds the record!!!)

Getting to serious business: Weight is one of the 6 vital signs. Obesity has a negative impact on physical and emotional health. The most commonly prescribed medications in the US are drugs that support hormone secreting organs (Thyroid/Pancreas/Uterus). While my previous statement is inference, Metformin, hormone-replacement therapies (HRT), and birth control pills (BCP) are directly related to this conversation. I don't think it is possible to deny the weight:health ratio, however a quick Google search of "Does BMI matter?" Will show you the controversy over determining what "over weight" means. 

Also, within the confines of defining health and word choice, there is a systemic allusion to sustainability and longevity; this inherently means that weight loss cannot be healthy (weight loss is not something you can do indefinitely, therefore it is not healthy). Weight loss should not be a lifetime pursuit. So I suppose my answer is weight loss is not a sign of health. Weight gain is not a sign of health. Equilibrium and the pursuit of affairs outside of the 6 vital signs, is a sign of health. (The last 3 statements can only be true if we remove the outliers mentioned before.) Healthful pursuits are a sign of health, but that does not necessarily mean weight loss or gain. Despite ancestral inclinations of using food to define culture and society, I would call for a transition away from this. We identify with comfort foods, and we make friends around dinner tables. What if we made friends on hiking trails? Or standing in line at the DMV? Or, let's go super modern.... What if we made friends in meetup groups? You see, that's precisely what I've done. 

I am 28 years old. My body has only recently shown signs of trouble; I am fairly healthy. I am overweight, I am anemic, and I occasionally have heart palpitations. These are all things that have existed for years. However, I noticed these things more when they began negatively impacting my life. I began to notice them when other things in my life were going poorly. I moved to a city that I hated, I was surrounded by people I didn't like, and I went from LIVING outside to being inside 23 hours a day. I went from running and riding my bike 20-30 miles a week to not exercising for 9 months. This was my form of depression. It bled into everything. I made friends with people who were depressed. I sank away and despite the extra weight, despite the anemia, and despite the heart palpitations, that is the first time I have felt in poor health. About 4 months ago I started the ketogenic diet again, I registered for a distance bike race, and I forced myself to go to meet ups where I was certain to be the newbie, and a complete stranger. My life is coming back to me. Not only have I lost weight, not only have I actually started TREATING the anemia and heart palpitations, my friends are more supportive, my community is stronger, my life is on a good path. 

Poor health cannot simply be defined as high blood pressure, weight gain, or any other dis-ease. Poor health is the systemic representation of deviation from an innate path. Our culture makes social media addiction a light joke; but we don't see each other anymore. We are more connected and less attached than ever. So, despite the irony of sharing this on a blog, I woud implore you to buy a coffee for the person behind you in line. Carry a small packet of coloring pages and a few crayons for the impatient kid in line at the DMV. When you know you'll be walking in an area with homeless people, tuck a care package in your purse. Smile, just to smile. When you see the overweight man walking down the side walk, say a little prayer that he keeps working. I encourage you to step out. If you like something, there's a pretty good chance there's a thousand people out there who like it too. Make friends! Make connections! Will these things make you lose weight? I don't know. Maybe? But more importantly they press us to the hard lines of our comfort zone. One of the most wonderful men I've ever known told me once, "Life grows in adversity." In recent months, along with my Keto diet, my outings, and my random acts of kindness, I feel refreshed. And while healthy weight and blood pressure are important, so is feeling human. I am optimistic for your healthful pursuits. Please let me know if I can help you in any way. 

Also, if you have reached out to me, I am so honored! Thank you for giving me your time. Next up: Chiropractic principles (Specific focus on the principle of Time!) 

Sources:

 1

 2

 3
 4