Detox Yourself!

The body needs consistent energy to get through the day. The central nervous system runs from the brain, down through the spine, and then towards every organ and region of the body. The central nervous system works by sending signals to the organs or the body's moving parts. But when there is a kink, misalignment, damage, or injury in the spine or other joints, the signals don't get sent or received correctly.

Pressure builds on the nerves causing the signals/messages sent from the brain to the body to start to slow down and the body's responses. This includes not just physical reactions but the body's metabolism. Slow metabolism causes the body to become sluggish and slow. Regular chiropractic adjustments can remove the kinks restoring proper energy flow. When the body's cells and organs are sending and receiving the signals correctly, the body gets the full force of the energy that the body has stored.

Energy Drain

Spinal misalignments can cause a multitude of symptoms. The most common problem is pain. Misalignments can also lead to energy-draining problems. These include:

• Headaches
• Difficulty concentrating
• Joint pain
• Inflammation

The body absorbs toxins from the air, water, food, or direct contact. A buildup of toxins can make the body sluggish. Chiropractic adjustments release these toxins so that the body can rid itself of them. Being out of alignment and balance requires the body to use more energy to get anything done. Even easy to do activities, chores, tasks, etc. When the body's natural balance is restored, the result is more available energy.

Stress Management

Stress management is vital as chronic stress increases the risk of developing health problems. Learning to manage stress can help increase energy. Therapeutic massage can help with stress relief. A chiropractor will determine the best type of massage for each individual's situation. The physiological effects of massage to reduce stress include:

• Increased endorphins, serotonin, dopamine.
• Decreased cortisol.
• Increased tissue elasticity.

Endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine are neurotransmitters that are released by the autonomic system when stimulated.

• Endorphins are responsible for relieving anxiety.
• Serotonin prevents depression and gives a sense of well-being.
• Dopamine increases motivation and prevents self-doubt.

When the body lacks these positive hormones, an individual can become stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed. A therapeutic massage stimulates the autonomic system, increasing the release of positive hormones. Increasing the level of positive hormones reduces stress and anxiety and improves overall mood.

When a decrease in cortisol occurs, stress is also reduced. Cortisol is a negative hormone released from the adrenal gland when stimulated by the brain's hypothalamus region. The adrenal gland is located on top of the kidneys. Cortisol is released into the blood and is transported around the body. Cortisol increases:

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Responsible for the fight or flight response.

When large amounts of cortisol are released in response to pain, stress levels increase, and the immune system is suppressed. A massage helps flush out the cortisol from the blood and replace it with the positive hormone endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, decreasing stress and increasing relaxation.

Central Nervous System and Chiropractic

Chiropractic looks for the root cause of the problem and addresses that issue. Individuals can keep their bodies stay in balance by:

• Getting the proper amount of sleep.
• Staying hydrated.
• Scheduling at least 30 minutes of exercise.
• Making healthy diet adjustments.

Chiropractic treatment can help improve quality of life and overall health.

Body Composition

Neglecting A Healthy Diet

Individuals might begin a weight loss journey by going to the gym, which is great, but neglecting a healthy diet is just wasting energy. Fat loss happens when the body is in a caloric/energy deficit. This means an individual has to take in fewer calories than the body is using. According to the CDC, individuals need to reduce food intake by at least 500 calories a day to lose around a pound of body fat a week.

• Individuals that start increasing exercise/workouts make the body instinctively want to increase calorie intake.
• Eating more calories than are burned means the individual is wasting the workout.
• For example, the body needs a 2,100 calorie diet to maintain its weight, and on average, an individual eats 2,100 calories.
• This means the weight won't change much, if at all.
• If an individual burns 300 calories from a workout, the body needs 2,400 calories to maintain weight.
• If no changes are made to the diet, the individual will be in a negative -300 caloric deficit.
• Suppose an individual starts increasing their caloric intake because they think their metabolism is speeding up, which is not how it works, then the individual negates any energy deficit that they worked for, leading to no fat loss.

General Disclaimer *

The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional, licensed physician, and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified health care professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from a wide array of disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and support, directly or indirectly, our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed in: Texas & New Mexico*

References

Carlson, Linda E et al. “Integrative Approaches to Stress Management.” Cancer journal (Sudbury, Mass.) vol. 25,5 (2019): 329-336. doi:10.1097/PPO.0000000000000395

Kültür, Turgut et al. “Evaluation of the effect of chiropractic manipulative treatment on oxidative stress in sacroiliac joint dysfunction.” Turkish Journal of physical medicine and rehabilitation vol. 66,2 176-183. 18 May. 2020, doi:10.5606/tftrd.2020.3301

Salleh, Mohd Razali. “Life event, stress, and illness.” The Malaysian Journal of medical sciences: MJMS vol. 15,4 (2008): 9-18.

The ability of turmeric to fight cancer has been extensively researched. In fact, over 1,500 published studies show that curcumin, turmeric’s active ingredient, is an effective treatment for over 100 different types of cancer.

The fact that mainstream medicine hasn’t embraced turmeric as a non-toxic cancer therapy is nothing short of outrageous. But a new study, in which curcumin outperformed conventional chemotherapy drugs, may finally bring turmeric the recognition it deserves.

TURMERIC GAINS POPULARITY FROM GROWING AWARENESS OF CHEMOTHERAPY & SIDE EFFECTS

Chemotherapy targets cancer cells as foreign invaders to be eliminated – an approach that ignores the root causes of the disease, and doesn’t help to create an “anticancer” environment in the body. Toxic chemotherapy drugs – which kill healthy cells and cause debilitating side effects – are not very effective against cancer stem cells, the “mother cells” that regulate the growth of tumors.

In fact, the result of these toxic drugs is to make the body even more susceptible to the cancer stem cells – spurring them to create even more treatment-resistant cells.

However, chemotherapy does succeed in killing significant amounts of cancer cells, and this is not to say it should never be used. But, the opinion of many integrative healthcare professionals is that it should be used as a last resort, not a first line of defense – especially when safer, non-toxic options are available.

CURCUMIN MAKES CHEMOTHERAPY SAFER & MORE EFFECTIVE

In a 2015 study published in Cancer Letters, curcumin was tested in conjunction with the chemotherapy drugs 5-fluoroucil and oxaliplatin against colorectal cancer. Adding curcumin to the regimen improved the efficacy of the drugs – the curcumin inhibited cancer cell growth and even increased apoptosis, or cancer cell suicide.

Even more impressive, the curcumin appeared to help the chemo drugs specifically target cancer stem cells, reinforcing the drugs’ cancer-fighting abilities while lessening the side effects – including the neuropathies that can be caused by oxaliplatin. Side effects from curcumin – on the other hand – were minimal, involving mild gastrointestinal upset and dry mouth. Researchers concluded that curcumin is a “safe and tolerable adjunct” treatment.

But this wasn’t even the most significant result of the study.

STUNNING FINDING: CURCUMIN OUTPERFORMED CHEMOTHERAPY DRUGS

In a small subset of patients, curcumin alone was found to be more effective in reducing overall cancer cells and cancer stem cells than the pair of chemo drugs alone. In other words, curcumin went head-to-head with chemo drugs and outperformed them – a truly astonishing result.

Researchers credited curcumin’s multiple methods of action with its success. Curcumin not only directly killed cancer cells, but also induced apoptosis, inhibited the growth of new cancer cells on a genetic level, and prevented blood supply from reaching new tumors.

All this, while promoting health with beneficial anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hormone-balancing properties.

EXTENSIVE STUDIES ATTEST TO CURCUMIN’S ABILITY TO FIGHT MANY TYPES OF CANCER

As the researchers noted, clinical trials of curcumin in an oncology setting have targeted many types of cancer, including colorectal, pancreatic, breast and blood cancers.

In one study, colorectal cancer patients who were given 1,080 mgs of curcumin daily showed an increase in the amount of dying cancer cells, a reduction of inflammation, improved body weight, and higher gene expression indicating suppression of cancer.

In another study published in Nutrition Research, curcumin-supplemented lab animals showed a 40 percent decrease in the development of colon tumors. These results are supported by an animal model of colon cancer in which curcumin improved survival rate and colon health by completely eliminating cancerous tumors.

In yet another study, patients with pancreatic cancer who were given 8,000 mgs of curcumin a day showed increased survival time along with significant reductions in tumor size – in one case, up to 73 percent.

And, finally, in a study involving prostate cancer, curcumin was shown to cut in half the growth rate of prostate-specific androgen, a marker of tumor progression.

TURMERIC IS STILL UNAPPROVED & UNACKNOWLEDGED BY CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE

In spite of its proven results, turmeric is not approved by the FDA for cancer treatment – and does not enjoy mainstream acceptance in the conventional medical community. The reason, many say, is financial – with hundreds of millions of dollars invested in clinical trials, and massive profits to be made, big pharma doesn’t have much incentive to develop a treatment from a common kitchen spice.

In fact, the industry lobbies to make treatment of cancer by alternative means a criminal offense.

Having said that, we naturally suggest you talk to a trusted medical professional before using turmeric – for any reason – and, don’t stop taking prescribed medication unless advised by your physician.

It should be noted that in the past, turmeric’s therapeutic potential has been limited by its poor bioavailability – the fact that the body doesn’t absorb or use it effectively. But, the development of liposomalized turmeric extract has changed all that, increasing the bioavailability 10 to 20-fold and allowing the curcumin to begin its health-promoting and cancer-fighting work.

Hopefully, the research – presented in this article – will shine a light on the amazing healing potential of turmeric. We encourage every caring physician to do their own research – for the sake of their patients.

Editor’s note: I, personally, use a wonderful liposomal form of turmeric – which you can purchase here and, yes, your purchase does support our operations – at no extra cost to you.


References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4510144
http://www.naturalhealth365.com/curcumin-prevent-cancer-1803.html

http://www.naturalhealth365.com/curcumin-cancer-cells-2009.html