Courtesy of:

John H. Keefe III, D.C.

(918) 663-1111

IN THE NEWS: The opioid crisis is worsening. Over 42,000 Americans died of an opioid overdose in 2016, and government and public health officials are scrambling to find effective ways to reverse this frightening trend. Note: government research shows that chiropractic care along with acupuncture and other natural techniques can control most pain. It’s only due to politics in healthcare that these are not fully utilized and so people keep dying. There is a very simple solution to the opioid crisis. Try a natural approach first then and only then should medication be considered.

CHIROPRACTIC: Keep Your Spine in Shape Your spine is the backbone of your entire body – literally and figuratively. That means poor spine health can negatively impact you from head to toe. How can you keep your spine in shape? Let's learn more about this critical anatomical structure and take a look at some of the simple strategies you can employ to ensure a healthy spine and a healthy body. Exercises First, a strong core supports the spine, whereas a weak core can lead to pain and injury. To build the core, think planks, bent-leg knee raises, stability ball exercises, ab curls, medicine ball slams and other exercises that strengthen the core muscles (remembering to keep your spine protected at all times by avoiding rounding the back / neck). Sleep Matters: Your sleep position and the overall quality of your sleep play a big role in spinal health. The ideal position for the spine during sleep places you on your back with a pillow under your legs. As you might imagine, lying on your stomach is the worse position. Nutrition Essentials: Believe it or not, certain foods promote a healthy spine (and vice versa). For example, adequate water intake is necessary to nourish not only the body's cells, but also the spinal intervertebral discs, which consist primarily of water at birth. As you might imagine, water helps keep the discs (and thus the spine) from getting stiff and subject to injury.  In addition, an anti-inflammatory diet is key to preventing back pain and other spine problems Chiropractic Care: No conversation about spine health would be complete without mentioning chiropractic, an entire health care profession founded on the principle that a healthy, properly aligned spine has far-reaching effects on the entire body. Research asserts chiropractic's effectiveness in treating back pain, neck pain and various other musculoskeletal conditions, and the goal of periodic chiropractic care is to maintain spinal health, optimize the body's self-healing capacities, and thus prevent pain from returning.

WELLNESS: 3 Ingredient Daily Drink Tonics for Your Best Health Here are two three-ingredient concoctions that may just provide that miracle of health and healing you’ve been searching for. Apple cider vinegar, honey and cinnamon super syrup. While very simple to make and with no rare or hard-to-find ingredients, this health tonic is wide-ranging in the benefits it bestows upon those who drink it. It can relieve constipation, reduce inflammation, support kidney function, promote heart health, prevent or fight urinary tract infections, protect against bacterial, fungal or viral attack and keep the common cold at bay. As you can see, it is a heavy-hitter in the realm of health care, helping to boost your immune system and support strong heart and organ function. The key to success with this health tonic is to source only the highest quality ingredients. Now is not the time to worry about your wallet at the supermarket or health-food store. It’s absolutely a worthwhile health investment to buy high-caliber ingredients. With this in mind, here are the qualifications for each ingredient: The apple cider vinegar must be raw and organic. Raw means it still contains the active cultures that support your gut biome and bolster your immune system. Organic means the apples from which it was made are not coated in pesticides, heavy metals and toxins, which would then pass into your system and offset all your hard work. The honey must be raw, preferably organic. Organic just implies the bees have not pollinated flowers or plants which are treated with pesticides, herbicides or other nasty applications. This ensures you get only the highest quality honey from known sources. Raw means that the honey has not been pasteurized, a process to increase its shelf life but can render it biologically inactive by killing off the active enzymes in the honey — the reason it’s such a potent ingredient. And of course, your cinnamon should also be organic. As with our other ingredients, buying non-organic cinnamon means you’re at greater risk of ingesting harmful toxins and heavy metals, which can negatively impact your health. Combine two cups of the apple cider vinegar, one cup of honey and two teaspoons of cinnamon in a jar and stir/shake well. Store your super syrup in a cool dry area, keeping in mind that placing it in the fridge will cause the honey to harden and settle to the bottom. A couple of sips in the morning, and again at night are enough to ensure you enjoy all of the nurturing benefits of this tonic. Warm water, lemon and apple cider vinegar health-ade. That’s right, we’re once again employing the health properties of our friend apple cider vinegar — it’s just that good! This time it’s a simple concoction you can make in seconds if you have the ingredients ready; all you need is some warm or room temperature filtered or mineral water, raw organic apple cider vinegar and half an organic lemon. Simple as that. Drinking this each morning, as soon as you wake up and before you put anything else in your stomach, is an excellent way to start your day. It stimulates digestion, expels toxins from the liver and supports your digestive enzymes for a busy day ahead. Fill a glass with warm water, squeeze in half a lemon, and pour in a rough teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Sip it slowly and let it work its magic! These health tonics work best if you keep at it — make sure you drink them as directed for at least a week to begin experiencing the myriad of health benefits they offer.

FUNNY BONE: Analyst: I can give you the numbers, but you can’t go public with it. Marketing Manager: I’m not going to go public with it. I’ll just present it at a meeting. Analyst: Who’s going to be at the meeting?

Marketing Manager: It’s a stakeholder meeting. So whoever wants to come. You know, it’s open to the public.@@Thanks to autocorrect, 1 in 5 children will be getting a visit from Satan this Christmas.@@When my eight-year-old asked how I knew I was pregnant, I told her I had taken a pregnancy test. “Oh,” she said. “What questions were on the test?”@@Autocorrect has become my worst enema.