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Cooking With Coconut Oil

Cooking With Coconut Oil

Coconut oil should be a staple in the kitchen of any health conscious cook.

The benefits of coconut oil are far and wide.  One of the best features is that coconut oil has a high melting point. This helps it to hold up to the high temperatures of cooking where other oils become rancid. During the cooking process other oils can become toxic.

Not only does coconut oil hold up to cooking, its unique molecular structure offers nutritional benefits not found in other oils. Almost half of the fat in coconut oil is called lauric acid. Lauric acid is not found in many other places in nature. Once metabolized in the body, lauric acid is converted into monolaurin which has anti-microbial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties. This makes coconut oil a great friend to your immune system.

Coconut oil is also a rich source of medium chain fatty acids. Unlike long chain fatty acids, MCFA are easily digested and metabolized in the liver to produce energy. This makes it an ideal food for endurance athletes or anyone concerned about their weight or blood sugar. Since it is a fat and not a carbohydrate, you avoid the spike in blood sugar that is often followed by a crash in energy as the body works to balance the blood sugars and insulin levels.

With the increase in popularity of coconut oil in recent years you can find it in almost any grocery store. I encourage you to give it a try. For those of you who don’t like coconut, the flavor of the oil is relatively mild and is usually overpowered by the flavors of the other ingredients you are cooking with.

Bon appetite.

Got Pumpkin?

Got Pumpkin?

Autumn is here and the fall harvest is upon us.  Most of us have eaten a fall harvest product such as an apple, broccoli, cabbage, spinach or squash, but how about a pumpkin (other than pumpkin pie!).  Pumpkins are plentiful and very good for you.  They are low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. Pumpkins are also a good source of Vitamin E (AlphaTocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A in the body. In the conversion to vitamin A, beta-carotene performs many important functions in overall health.  Current research indicates that a diet rich in foods containing beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and offers protection against heart disease, as well as some degenerative aspects of aging.

Pumpkin can be used in many unexpected ways.  Of course you can turn it into pie, but why not add it to your chili, mix it in a stew, make pumpkin pancakes, cook it on your grill, or make it into soup.  Check out www.pumpkinnook.com for some great recipes and information about pumpkins, including the history of the Jack O’Lantern.

Speaking of Jack O’ Lanterns! When you carve pumpkins this year, save the seeds. Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc which is good for the prostate, as well as building the immune system. They also contain fatty acids that kill parasites. For maximum nutritional benefits, seeds should be eaten raw.  However, boiled, baked or raw pumpkin seeds contain essential fatty acids and beneficial proteins.

This year, instead of buying pumpkins only to decorate your front steps, why not try a tasty and nutritious pumpkin recipe.

Why Fiber is So Important to Your Health – Oblander Chiropractic

Why Fiber is So Important to Your Health – Oblander Chiropractic

 

We all know that fiber is important in our diet, but what is fiber?  Why is it good and how do we know if we are getting enough OR too much?

Fiber is the carbohydrate or starch that our bodies cannot digest and can act like a broom to sweep out the digestive tract. Dietary fiber is found only in plant based foods such as fruits,    vegetables, and whole grains.  There are 2 types of fiber:  Water soluble and insoluble fiber.

Insoluble fiber passes through the gut quickly and is known to help prevent constipation, reduce the risk of infections of the gut and the occurrence or development of hemorrhoids, heart disease, and some types of cancer. This type of fiber is found in fruits with skins, uncooked vegetables, nuts, legumes, bran, brown rice and whole-grain flours.

Soluble fiber acts like a sponge in the gut as well as aides in the removal of cholesterol from the blood stream. Because soluble fiber slows the      digestive process, it can reduce the symptoms of irritable bowel/diarrhea and it is known to lower blood sugar, so it is essential in the prevention of diabetes. This type of fiber is found in oats, oat bran, barley, dried beans and peas, and certain vegetables and fruits, such as applesauce,  strawberries, potatoes, citrus, and prunes.

How much fiber should we eat?

The American Dietetic Association recommends eating 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day which is well above the 15 grams the average American eats per day. It is recommended that you slowly increase your fiber intake to avoid gas, cramping and/or bloating as well as maintaining a high level of hydration equal to half your body weight in ounces per day.

How can I get more fiber in my diet?

Start by increasing the amount of fresh or dried fruit you eat each day and use those as a substitute for candy. If you like snacking on chips and dip, substitute with whole grain crackers or veggie sticks and use bean dips such as black bean, hummus and refried beans instead of sour cream based dips. Choose 5 or more servings of fruit or vegetables each day.

After reading this article, I hope you have a clear and useable understanding of fiber and your diet. This information is adapted from a PDF that can be found online at:   http://sci.washington.edu/info/forums/reports/FiberFacts.pdf.
This is an Eat Well reminder and when combined with Thinking and Moving Well, it will provide you with the tools you need to thrive in life!

What You Need to Know About Depression – Oblander Chiropractic

What You Need to Know About Depression – Oblander Chiropractic

I was once a person with depression. Not “just” the baby blues or a few months of feeling down and out – I had all out don’t-want-to-live anymore depression for about 5 years.

It is surviving those five years of my life that has been a major contributor to my passion to help others have health and wellness in their lives.

The dictionary defines depression as: A condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.

My personal definition of depression is pain, anguish, torture, agony, grief, melancholy, and suffering, etc. which overshadows the life of an individual who has every reason to feel otherwise. Depression is the sponge that robs life of its joy and satisfaction while wreaking havoc with relationships, families, and the life of the depressed individual.

Most people think that depression is a mental illness – in the medical books that is how it is defined but I can tell you from personal experience that depression affects every area of health: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. I can also tell you that for each of those headline-grabbing stories about those with “mental illnesses” gone haywire, there are millions of depression victims suffering silently who are of no danger to anyone but possibly themselves. Those millions only want to be well again.

My own experience with depression included allopathic (MD’s) treatment and alternative treatment.

My first experience was with MD’s. MD’s sought to mask my symptoms with medications. The egos of the doctors who treated me did not allow me, as the patient, to be a viable participant in my own treatment. Unfortunately, patients with mental illnesses are often judged incapable by health professionals of being able to have clear, coherent thoughts. My doctors may have thought I was “crazy” but even now – these many years later I believe that I knew my body and what my body was experiencing better than anybody and that I should have been considered an essential participant in my treatment. However, the issues I had with allopathic treatment went deeper than that. I have always believed in addressing the source of a problem. Therefore, I wanted to get to the root of what was causing my depression. Getting to the root of a health issue is not something a standard MD does. A standard MD looks at symptoms, makes a diagnosis, and whips out the prescription tablet. For me, masking symptoms was not an adequate solution.

My second experience was with chiropractors. They tested my blood, found that I was suffering from severe adrenal fatigue and that I was in need of other nutritional components. They recommended the appropriate herbal remedies. From there, they worked with me to get to the root of the other physical ailments that I was suffering from – believing that all of the ailments I was suffering from were related. Finally, they encouraged me to do stretching exercises, deep breathing, and to incorporate inspirational books and literature into my life on a daily basis. Their treatment included regular adjustments to make sure that my nervous system (and therefore my entire body) was working as optimally as it could.

Eventually, we were able to find that my depression was directly related to my 24/7 migraines. I had been suffering from migraines for almost 13 years by the time I first received chiropractic treatment. The chiropractors who treated me helped me find the cause of my headaches and then eliminate them. Once my pain levels were significantly reduced – my depression left.

The chiropractic treatment and nutritional therapy that I received was not a “magic pill” and my depression and migraine headaches were not remedied overnight. However, they were eliminated and, for me, finding  and removing the cause was a much better solution than masking symptoms for the rest of my life.

As a former sufferer of depression, I can tell you what depression was and what it wasn’t and what I have since seen in common among those I know who suffer with depression.

Depression, for me, was not a complete withdrawal from life. It was also not a choice. I could not choose to be better just because I wanted to be. Although learning to have a more positive mindset helped – it too was insufficient.  What depression was was the loss of the emotional coordination I had once had. I was no longer able to navigate the normal ups and downs of life with the same tenacity and flexibility I had once possessed. It was not unlike losing muscle control in a hand or a limb but in this case it was my emotional state that lost its coordination and control.

I also can tell you that just like any victim of an accident or illness – my need for love and support did not go away – instead, it became even more important.

There are several components that I believe link themselves to depression:

Inadequate Nutrition – I believe that the absence of adequate nutrition can be a huge contributor to depression. Good whole food supplements are wonderful but a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains is not just important to a healthy body – it is also important to healthy emotions.

  1. Health Issues – Physical health that struggles can and usually will affect emotional health. Again, what we eat is so important and so is exercise. Those endorphins that help us feel better when we do not have depression also help us feel better when we do. Chemical imbalance is a common culprit in depression. (Sometimes chemical imbalances can be caused by prescription drugs.)
  2. Lack of Proper Self-care – How we take care of ourselves and the expectations we place on ourselves is huge. I was personally guilty of too often burning the candlestick at both ends. I see many sufferers of depression who are guilty of the same thing. Our bodies are amazing in their ability to adapt and compensate. For those who push the limits relentlessly there often comes a time when their body decides to give them a warning that they need to slow down and take life a little easier. Depression is often that warning.
  3. Negative Self-talk – We all talk to ourselves. We all have self expectations. It is common for those who suffer from depression to have unrealistic expectations of themselves and to be especially hard on and/or demanding of themselves. We all need to be as kind to ourselves as we are to our best friend or sweetheart. It is important that we love ourselves.
  4. Lack of Spirituality – Spirituality or the ability to look to a higher source of power to assist us in life is incredibly important. When we believe that we can only rely upon ourselves or that it is us against the world – just that thought alone can be depressing. I found that spending time each day with inspirational literature and working to build my personal spirituality helped me immensely.
  5. Lack of Faith – The faith I am talking about here includes faith in ourselves, in our fellow man and in our creator. Believing in ourselves and in our ability to change, to improve and to create a meaningful life is incredibly important. Believing that we can heal and that life can improve is critical.

 I remember once having a conversation with a woman regarding my depression. Frustrated with my inability to function in a healthy and normal way, she accused me of choosing to be depressed. I can tell you that no one “chooses” to be depressed. However, I do believe that our lifestyle choices can greatly influence our propensity for depression. I also believe that our lifestyle and attitude choices greatly influence the type of health we will enjoy and how we will age. It would be wonderful if depression could become a thing of the past. In the meantime, I hope we will all do what we can to minimize its likelihood and to help those who are suffering!

Why the Concern About Infant Vaccination? Oblander Chiropractic

Why the Concern About Infant Vaccination? Oblander Chiropractic

I just had to share this article on Infant Vaccinations. The article comes from the Herbal Legacy website and is one of their most recent newsletter postings. In regards to vaccinations, there are numerous voices both pro and con which can make the cutting through the arguments and finding good information very difficult. In addition to this article, please keep in mind that a child’s nervous system is not fully developed until about the age of 24 months. Chiropractors are all about obtaining health by natural means but they are also about doing no harm. Within a few years, I suspect that true unbiased studies will back what chiropractors have supported all along…that vaccines have their place and time but they should not be a part of an infant’s “wellness” care. Please enjoy!:

Sponsored by The School of Natural Healing & Christopher Publications

June 6, 2012
 
Infant Vaccinations  -David Christopher MH

We all want to protect babies from disease! How this is accomplished is the dividing factor. We are all exposed to the modern medicine model, in school, through the media, from relatives, and even from churches. Seldom are the alternative voices heard. Let me first say that I believe exposing a healthy person to small amounts of disease is a good idea, it strengthens and prepares the immune system for possible outbreaks. I do not believe the current medical model does this safely or effectively.

We are born with immunity to many diseases, because of our species, population and individual environments. Diseases that might affect us are negated through passive immunity received through the placenta and then from breast milk. Our own immune system starts to develop after a few months, and then starts developing memory at six months and can stop relying on passive immunity from mother’s milk at weaning “around eighteen months”. This is common knowledge acquired in any anatomy text.
My main concern with vaccines is why do they inject them into babies? There is no immune memory till the child’s immune system develops in the time frame of 6 months to 18 months! No benefit, thousands of casualties. I am personally contacted by many women with children who were perfectly normal until these children received vaccines.
We can safely become immune to many diseases by being healthy and interacting in society. We gain this immunity by exposure to our first line of defense, the mucus lining our skin, especially in orifices. This barrier traps invaders exposing them to phagocyte immune cells which engulf them and then alert T-cells and B-cells which target and destroy all invaders. Then memory cells keep us ready for secondary assaults thus creating immunity. This is a lifetime protection.
Vaccines are injected past our natural defenses, and rarely offer immunity for more than a few years. Even though blood work shows active anti-bodies, it is no guarantee against invasion. As an example, many universities have strict admittance requirements to be fully vaccinated. Even with 100% compliance they have experienced disease epidemics in these “protected populations”, with fully vaccinated individuals, coming down with the disease.
I implore everyone to hear both sides of this issue before ever accepting another vaccination. The best alternative treaties on this subject is “Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective” by Neil Miller. This easy read is a fully documented text and is available at Christopher Publications.

David Christopher is a Master Herbalist and the director of The School of Natural Healing. He also co-hosts the popular radio show “A Healthier You” and is a popular international teacher and lecturer. 

Why Your Self-Esteem is Important to Your Health

Why Your Self-Esteem is Important to Your Health

I often work as a weight loss and health coach with patients in our office. Working with our patients in this way has helped me understand something important about self-esteem. I have never believed that self-esteem comes from outside sources as much as it comes from within.

I believe that self-esteem is an accumulation of choices that we make every day of our lives. Whether we recognize it or not – each choice that we make, in regards to the type of person we choose to be, impacts not only who we are becoming but how we feel about ourselves.

I love the following quote by Stephen R. Covey: “Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.”

What I have been able to observe as I have worked with individuals make positive changes in their lives and in their health is that as they demonstrate to themselves that they can make and keep commitments with their selves – their belief in their worth, their strength, and their potential grows.

I believe that conscience is a major player in self-esteem. I suspect that many people struggle with their self-esteem because their choices, their actions, and their lives in general are not congruent with their beliefs. Self-esteem is developed over time based on the balance of decisions we make, the actions we take, the way we treat others, the standards we set and maintain in regards to our goals and aspirations, and the level of respect, integrity, compassion, and discipline we give and receive throughout life.

I remember one of the women I worked with coming into my office after being on a modified diet for only 3 weeks. Each of those weeks she had lost weight and better yet, each week she had been able to sense how much better she was feeling. There was a light in her eyes and a noticeable difference in how she carried herself. Never before had she believed in her ability to make and keep a commitment – in her words “I have always believed I had no will power”. Three short weeks had taught her differently.
So what influence does self-esteem have on health?

I believe that when we live in harmony with our conscience – we make better choices in regards to the foods we eat, the activities (such as daily exercise) we participate in, and how diligent we are about our overall health.

How Does Chiropractic Work?

How Does Chiropractic Work?

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I find it interesting when I hear people ask if subluxations can really affect a person’s health. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue because to me it seems so obvious. After all, when a spinal cord is severed….is the ability of the individual with that spinal cord still able to move and function like it did previous to the injury? I obtained the following information from www.mdguidelines.com:

If the spinal cord is damaged, additional complications from paraplegia or quadriplegia include pneumonia, recurring urinary infections, decubitus ulcers, nephrolithiasis, and osteoporosis.

Think about it! If an individual receives injury to their spine in the neck area – why would urinary infections, etc be affected? Because the spine is home to the body’s nervous system and impairment to ANY area of the nervous system has the ability to affect any area of the body that that nervous system supplies information to.

Millions of instructions flow from your brain, down the spinal cord, and out to every organ and tissue. Signals sent back to the brain confirm whether your body is working as it should. Improper motion or position of the moving bones of the spine may interfere with this vital exchange by irritating nearby nerves and the tissues they control.

Nerve interferences are most common along the spine.  Chiropractic adjustments (manipulation) are designed to help correct or reduce those interferences. Research confirms that interferences to the nervous system change the way the body functions. Therefore, when interferences are allowed to continue without correction – health issues can develop over time which might have otherwise been avoided if they had been corrected with timely chiropractic adjustments.

Since it is possible to have subluxations and not know it (like the early stages of tooth decay or even cancer) chiropractors believe it is a good idea to be checked regularly for subluxations and to have those subluxations corrected.

Chiropractors are trained to find the subluxations you are experiencing. They then can use various adjusting methods to correct the subluxations. Some doctors only use one method – I personally like to be treated by a chiropractor with more than one tool (adjusting method) in his doctor’s bag. Here, at Oblander Chiropractic, I love that Dr. Oblander uses a variety of adjusting techniques which is often determined by both the desires of the patient and what is seen by Dr. Oblander as the best way to correct the subluxations.

Chiropractic is a science, art and philosophy. It’s a scientific fact that your brain and nervous system control every cell, tissue and organ of your body.

Chiropractic works by reducing or eliminating subluxations (interferences). The methods employed by chiropractic work because the body is a self-healing organism that is controlled and regulated by your nervous system. Utilizing adjustments to remove interferences the nervous system is experiencing is like taking a 1930’s home electrical system and replacing it with a state of the art electrical system. The shorts and faulty wiring from the old system are remedied and “whole” home (body) runs better, is more solid! A healthy nervous system is key to optimum health!

Some of the Rumors about Chiropractic are True But Most are False

Some of the Rumors about Chiropractic are True But Most are False

I remember going with a friend of mine to a chiropractic appointment she had several years ago. She only went because she was in agony with a back issue and nothing else had given her relief. (Those were the days back before my husband was a chiropractor… before he had even thought about becoming a chiropractor.) One of the first things she said to me as we left the appointment was, “The doctor wanted me to come back in for another adjustment but I never made the appointment – chiropractors do that so they can make more money.”

I have to admit that I bought into the chiropractors only use “additional appointments” as a money making scheme until my husband went off to chiropractic school. You might think that I got “brainwashed” along with my husband once my husband became a chiropractic student but the truth is that if I didn’t know what I know and hadn’t experienced what I’ve experienced, I wouldn’t be writing this blog. (I hate doing anything I believe is a waste of my time and talents!)

One thing that everyone should know is that I love a bargain. I did not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the free care offered to student family members was a smart thing to take advantage of. As a frequent “guinea pig” of the student clinic of my husband’s school, I got a little education of my own. As the student interns took care of me under the direction of the supervising chiropractic doctors, I learned both from their discussions with each other and the results I experienced from my frequent appointments. Here are a few of the things that I learned:

• A small minority of chiropractors do encourage more appointments than are necessary but most want to see patients come back because they know that one chiropractic adjustment is not going to properly fix the issue being treated. Those conditions we seek treatment for are not created overnight and most cannot be fixed overnight either. (I call that the Law of the Harvest.)
• Chiropractic is safe and is based on preventative (wellness) care of the spine that keeps the nervous system free from interference (subluxations). One statistic I recently came across puts chiropractic safety into perspective: “More people die from complications of drugs and surgery in one single afternoon than in 20 years of cervical adjustments.”
• Chiropractors are real doctors not qwacks. There was a time when members of the American Medical Association (AMA) tried to discredit the chiropractic profession. A lawsuit filed and won by chiropractors showed that the AMA attempted to “destroy a competitor” because of economic concerns. It is unfortunate that any of those lies were ever told. However, studies and the experiences of patients continue to bolster the known effectiveness of chiropractic in treating health related issues!
• Chiropractors believe that the body is a self-healing organism. Because of that mindset, they believe that when a body is free from subluxation, it is free to heal. Chiropractors address health from the root of the issue. Medical Doctors, on the other hand, look to diagnose and then medicate the issue rather than find and eliminate the cause.
• Chiropractors believe in a Universal Creative Force (what I prefer to call God). Although I know that many MD’s personally believe in God, their training excludes use of a “whole body” mindset that chiropractic utilizes and focuses on the body only without recognizing the effect that mental, emotional or spiritual health can have on an individual.
• Chiropractic has been shown to boost immunity by an average of 200% for patients who receive regular care. However, like all forms of health care, it can’t cure everything.

These are just a few of the things that I learned while my husband was in chiropractic school but they are things I am grateful to know and understand. I wasn’t a regular patient of chiropractic until my husband attended Chiropractic College. I am now. Yet, there is one thing that I have found is hard to explain to those that don’t use chiropractic or who only use it as my friend did – you can’t feel the real difference that chiropractic makes unless you have regular treatments. Adjustments to treat pain and aches will help but you won’t feel the “complete difference”. I wish that I could have known and experienced that difference sooner!