Courtesy of:

John H. Keefe III, D.C.

(918) 663-1111

IN THE NEWS: Peppers to Help Prevent Parkinson's Parkinson's disease, characterized by inflammation, stiff muscles, tremors and progressively more difficulty walking, ranks second among the most common neurodegenerative disease in older people. Recent studies show that some foods can help reduce Parkinson’s symptoms, while other foods may change the factors that cause neurodegeneration and disease progression. Eating Solanaceae, aka nightshade vegetables, such as tomatoes, eggplant and especially peppers, has protective potential; one of the phytochemicals such vegetables contain is nicotine, which appears to be the agent imparting the neuroprotective effects. The amount of dietary nicotine you’d get from eating healthy vegetables is significantly less than what you’d ingest from smoking one cigarette but may be enough to offset your Parkinson’s risk. Eating Solanaceae vegetables, particularly peppers, two to four times per week is recommended for increased neuroprotection.

WELLNESS: Ways to Boost Your Immune System Before it's too Late Don’t mess with your immune system. There are certain things that actively work against our immune systems, such as: drinking alcohol, not sleeping enough, and stressing out too much. So, it’s especially important to do better during cold and flu season. Unfortunately, that may be easier said than done, given that these seasons also coincide with the holiday season, and the bad weather that comes with it. “The weather is crummy, there’s lots of rich foods, and parties, and stress, and alcohol is more abundant this time of year,” says Dr. Roach. Eat well. Eating well can be harder in the wintertime, though. Fresh fruits and veggies may be more expensive or less readily available. If you can’t get fresh fruits and vegetables, Dr. Roach suggests frozen. “Frozen is next best to fresh,” he says. “You don’t want canned because canned fruits and vegetables often have too much sugar or salt and have lost a lot of their nutrients.” But mixing in frozen veggies into soups and stews, or using frozen vitamin-packed berries for smoothies should really help. Exercise. Sure, it’s cold outside, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on your workout routine. Exercise is important for your immune system, Dr. Levine says, because it acts like a natural anti-inflammatory. She’s not saying you need to run a marathon every day, but getting regular exercise — 30 minutes of actual sweating, five times a week — will do wonders for your immune system. Drink enough water. Most Americans are constantly dehydrated, Dr. Levine says, and that directly harms our immune response. Ideally, people should drink about nine glasses of water a day, and even more if they’ve been sweating. Get enough sleep. Sleep is your body’s time to rest and rebuild, Dr. Levine says. So if you’re not getting enough, or your sleep isn’t restful, then you’re not giving your body the chance to take care of itself. “There’s no magic number for most people, but a minimum of eight hours feels good (I don’t like people getting any less than seven hours),” Dr. Levine says. Eat some probiotics.“There’s some data that probiotics can improve general immune health, and that may help decrease the likelihood of getting a cold or influenza,” Dr. Virk says. But again, she’d much rather you get your probiotics from healthy food sources, like yogurt or kefir, than from supplements.

CHIROPRACTIC: The Effects of Chiropractic on the Immune System: A Review of the Literature This paper outlines the many components of the mammalian immune system and the anatomical and physiological connections suggesting that the nervous system plays a role in the modulation of immune response. The few studies attempting to measure the effect of chiropractic or manipulative treatment on the immune system are reviewed. Their results suggest that chiropractic or manipulative treatment may influence T and B lymphocyte numbers, NK cell numbers, antibody levels, phagocytic activity and plasma beta-endorphin levels. The influence of these effects on the outcome of host resistance is unknown. There is now a need for large, well-planned clinical trials using some of the more sophisticated measures of immune function to establish whether chiropractic treatment can influence the immune response in a clinically significant manner. James M. Allen   Chiro J Aust 1993 (Dec);   23 (4):   132-135 Patients who get regular chiropractic care tell me they noticed fewer colds and flus and other illness from their care. Multiple studies were showing how chiropractic adjustments help improves immune function.  The nervous system’s basic function is to regulate and control every other part organ system of the body. When you carry nerve pressure that affects communication channels to your organs and glands and to some degree there function will diminish. Chiropractic care restores normal function and improves immunity. When you follow the five laws of health that  have been referred to earlier in this newsletter you can supercharge your immune function.

FUNNY BONE: How can you make sure you never miss your target? Shoot first, and whatever you hit, call it the target.@@If what you've done is stupid but it works, then it really isn't that stupid at all.@@If you think nothing is impossible, try slamming a revolving door.@@Two mysterious people live in my house. "Somebody" and "Nobody." Somebody did it and nobody knows who.@@Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.@@There are a 100 billions nerves in the human body, and there are people who have the ability to irritate all of them.@@Isn't it funny how red white and blue represent freedom, unless they're flashing behind you?@@Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, and the pig likes it.@@If only common sense were more common.@@If we ever travel far in the universe to another planet with intelligent life, let's just make patterns in their crops and leave.@@With great power comes an even greater electricity bill.