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We all know that muscles “pull” the bones like levers to make us move, but muscles can also “push”, which can be helpful to keep in mind when trying to resolve postural-pain problems.

The statement about "muscles" being able to push is not entirely accurate but if I’d said “myofascia can push”, I’m guessing many of you might not know what I’m talking about. And yes, I know. You can’t push a string. But hear me out.

Each hinge-joint for example, has muscles on the front of it and the back of it, one of which will bend the hinge, and the other which will pull the hinge straight. Hinge joints include the knee, the elbow, and the talus joint at the ankle.

The hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh bend the knee by pulling the lower leg backwards towards the thigh, and the quadricep muscles in the front, straighten the knee by pulling the lower leg forward.  This is simple lever mechanics.

However, because we are not machines and our bodies adapt to how we use them, muscle lengths can be altered from their functionally-optimal length. 

Here is a simplified example to help you understand how muscles can push joints:

If we do not kneel on the floor and sit on our heels as frequently as we bend over from the hips to pick something up from the floor, the body, being economical like it is, decides that since the full range-of-motion in the front of the thigh is not being used we don't need it, and over time the quad muscle (front of thigh) will shorten.

Now the quadricep (fascia) on the front of the knee is tighter than the hamstring (fascia) on the back of the knee, and when we stand we are more likely to lock our knees out, which pushes the joint back, resulting in the shin bone leaning back.  So hyper-extended knees signal the possibility of tight quads.

If you have a pliable rod which you have wrapped in plastic, and you tighten the plastic more on one side, the rod will bend like a bow. The tight plastic is pushing the rod into the more extensible side.

So, if someone stands with their hips forward of their ankles, the muscles behind the hips are tight, pushing the hips forward (external hip rotators, hip extensors).  

If one's pelvis is rotated to the left in standing (right side forward), the muscles in the back of that right hip are tight or overly contracted, pushing it forward creating a rotation.

If one's ribs appear shifted left in relation to the pelvis, the muscles and fascia on the right side of the ribcage are pushing it over (serratus anterior), and that muscle/fascia could use some stretching or massage.

If one's pelvis is shifted right in relation to the feet, the muscles and fascia on the left side of the pelvis are tight are pushing the pelvis right, and could use some stretching or massage.

If the ball of someone's shoulder appears forward on the ribcage and there is shoulder pain, look for tightness at the back of the shoulder and stretch that (infraspinatus, posterior shoulder capsule).

The shoulder case is interesting to me because it was always drilled into my head that a shoulder that is rounded forward is due to a tight pec minor (chest muscle) pulling the shoulder forward.

So I would always give pec minor stretches, and more often than not the results were less than satisfactory, occasionally making the shoulder pain worse.

Following through on the idea that tightness from the back is pushing the shoulder (humeral head) forward, it makes sense that stretching and loosening the front would make things worse by creating a bigger imbalance front to back.

In order to "push" the ball back into the socket, strengthening the muscles at the front of the shoulder would probably be helpful, specifically subscapularis.  Often in these cases, the push muscles (pecs, delts, triceps) are weaker than the pull muscles. 

Chest strengthening would need to be done very carefully, as we would want to avoid further stretching the front of the shoulder capsule. I use three different strategies for this. 

1. Dumb bell chest press is done on the floor so the elbows do not descend below the body resulting in a stretch of the anterior shoulder capsule.  I often don't even allow the elbows to reach the floor, and have occasionally put blocks or towel rolls on the floor so the elbows only descend to the height of the shoulder.
2. I use a close-grip dumb bell chest press to start - hands no more than shoulder-distance apart, and only widen the motion when pain is reduced. Elbows start alongside the ribs, forearms vertical.
3. Chest press and shoulder press are done starting with the palms facing each other, and as the arms reach skyward, the palms turn and face behind the head as far as is comfortable with no strain. The external rotation of the arm at the end of the range of motion stretches the lats and the chest, seems to reduce over-protraction of the shoulder-blade, and also seems to help sink the arm deep into the socket potentially stretching the posterior shoulder capsule.

Pec minor is a small chest muscle that runs from the ribs to the coracoid process of the shoulder blade (sticky-outy bit that one finds if one searches, just under the collar-bone by the shoulder). Pec minor does not attach to the arm or to the ball of the shoulder.  When it is tight, it pulls the shoulder blade up and "over" the shoulder giving the appearance of the shoulder rounding forward.

In order to discern whether the problem is a tight pec minor as opposed to the ball of the shoulder being pushed forward, check the shoulder blade in the back.  If the bottom point is sticking out, and if the shoulder blade appears high, pec minor stretching is probably in order.

Please do keep the comments coming on my blog. If you want to share this article, go to the blog post and scroll to the bottom and click on the “share this” icon. If you want to search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.

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Guest article today by Dr. David Cronauer, Doctor of Optometry.

Can you imagine what it would be like not to be able to see, or to have a dramatically reduced visual ability? There are so many things we take our sight for and yet we do very little to protect our eyes and keep them healthy! Fortunately, there are some easy ways to make sure your eyes get the protection they need to stay strong throughout your life. This post will focus on five key nutrients that will keep your eyes healthy and help avoid the development of eye damage, such as cataracts or glaucoma.

1. Vitamin A. Do you remember hearing that carrots are good for your eyes? That is because carrots are an excellent source of Vitamin A, which plays a key role in vision as well as in cell reproduction and healing. Vitamin A helps you see well in the dark, and a deficiency in this vitamin often causes blindness in third-world countries. In addition, vitamin A helps the immune system. Other than carrots, an excellent source of vitamin A is liver. Nutritional supplements can also provide this important element. Be careful, though, as large doses of vitamin A can be toxic.
2. Vitamin C.Vitamin C has been linked to the prevention of cataracts. Studies show this is most effective over a long period of time, so start focusing on this today! It can also reduce eye pressure in glaucoma patients, easing the stress on their vision. Excellent sources of vitamin C include many fruits, such as oranges, watermelon, grapefruit, and strawberries.
3. Vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects body tissue from cell damage cause by free radicals. Intake of this vitamin can help protect your eye from many diseases associated with aging. Good sources of vitamin E include nuts, nut oils, and green leafy vegetables.
4. Lutein. Lutein is a carotenoid that can protect your eyes from light-inflicted damage. While sunlight is an important nutrient in itself, certain frequencies within the sunlight can be damaging to your eyes. Leafy green vegetables are a good source of lutein, and you can also find supplements that provide carotenoids.
5. Sunlight! Many of us spend the majority of our days indoors, often in front of a computer. Extended periods of time looking at a computer screen and in unnatural light can be very damaging for your eyes. Be sure to take frequent breaks, focus your eyes on a variety of distances, and try to get at least one hour of natural sunlight each day.

We all want to make sure we stay healthy as long as possible. As you take care of your muscles, cholesterol, joints, and bones, don’t forget to also nurture your eyes. They will serve you well throughout life if you make sure they receive the nutrition and care they need.

About the Author

Dr. David Cronauer works for ReplaceMyContacts.com, an online retailer of cheap contacts such as 1 day acuvue tryeye and Proclear Toric. He is a graduate of Wilkes University Pennsylvania College of Optometry where he received his Doctor of Optometry degree. Dr. Cronauer is certified in the treatment and management of ocular disease and specializes in vision-related problems for head injury and stroke victims.

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Staying limber is key to avoiding the closing down of one’s life due to physical limitations

When I was attending the University of Toronto in Physical and Health Education I remember listening in on a conversation that two of my friends were having. They were arguing about what limits our function more, the lack of strength or the lack of flexibility. Both made very valid points, and at the time I could not determine a winner. They agreed to disagree.

Now, after studying how people move in my corrective-exercise practice for close to 20 years (yikes!), I think that a lack of flexibility closes down more lives than a lack of strength. And I think that more frequently than not, the lack of flexibility leads to the loss in strength, usually more so in the opposite muscle to the tight one. (Tight hip flexors lead to weak glutes for example).

Strength-declines follow flexibility-declines, because people tend to stop doing activities which become awkward due to a lack of flexibility, such as getting down onto the floor. Strength is then lost due to disuse. If one does not move regularly through the existing range-of-motion, often all the muscles around a joint become tight impeding function further. Which then decreases strength further. And of course, the less flexibility one has, the less available motion there is to strengthen.

If there is very little slack in the system, it no longer takes much to pull a joint out of its optimal axis of rotation. If the give in the system is no longer adequate, pain is more likely to occur. Simply restoring adequate range of motion can go a long way to decreasing pain, because it puts slack back in the system and makes it more forgiving.

Also too much tightness creates too much compression at the joint, potentially adding to a wear problem within the joint itself, particularly if that joint is not in its optimal alignment.

In most weight-training programs, the emphasis is placed on lifting heavier weights, as opposed to increasing the range of motion. The usual way of progressing the squat, for example, would be to increase the weight as strength improves. But usually people compromise their range of motion as the weight feels heavier and heavier.

The best way I have found thus far to increase flexibility without compromising on the strength-training component of an exercise program, is to work the exercise to the maximum range of motion without allowing any compromise in form, and set up the exercise in a way that forces maximum range of motion with every repetition.

I use box squats to force the full range-of-motion on every repetition. I use stackable stools as my “box”, and determine the least number of stools my client can sit on while leaning forward as if to get up, maintaining a neutral spine, feet flat on the floor etc. Usually this is lower than most people tend to squat to in a gym. The exercise is to stand up, then sit down for the appropriate number of reps using a weight that is challenging and yet does not compromise form.

The first priority goal for progressing is to lower the “box” by taking away stools as flexibility improves. Usually this makes the exercise significantly harder, so increasing the weight is not necessary. If the box cannot be lowered because doing so would cause the low back to round or the knees to roll in, the weight can be increased instead.

For most people that are not accustomed to exercise, the starting weight is their bodyweight. I find often on set 3 or 4, once the tissues are good and warm and the joints are well lubricated, I can take away a stool, thereby increasing the range of motion. The long-term goal for weighted squats is to get to 1 stool (about 9 inches from the floor) or slightly lower using a step, as long as the spine can be held in neutral throughout the range of motion for any weighted squat.

The long-term unweighted goal is to be able to squat to the floor and feel able to stay there for extended periods of time. The low back will round in this position, which is fine for healthy backs.

For those that regularly do squats in the gym, forcing the range-of-motion in this way will mean a huge decrease in weight. But in my opinion, gaining that range-of-motion is a far worthier goal than pushing a heavy weight, as it will translate into an ease in movement in daily life, and far less pain as the slack in the system is restored. And let's face it. How useful is it really, to be able to squat a gazillion pounds through a short range of motion anyway? Do you regularly carry your fridge on your back?

If you want to share this article, scroll to the very bottom and click the “share” icon to post on Facebook, Twitter etc. If you want to subscribe or search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.

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This post was written by the insightful psychic mediums at Hollywood Psychics. They use their ability and insight into the human psyche to help people with their troubles in life and find balance with a variety of different psychic readings available.

The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” – Sophocles

It is typically advised that we all find solace in our most negative of situations; but as time goes by, one must wonder: why go through the negativity in the first place? Finding light in the darkness will never be a problem if you can manage to ensure that the room is constantly lit at a level of brightness that keeps you content, happy, and devoid of the negativity that can so often consume lives. Let’s take a look at ways to remove negativity from your life once and for all.

1. 1. Eliminate relationships that make you feel bad about yourself in unnecessary ways. Though you may feel that keeping these people around will benefit you in some way, you’re more than likely perpetuating a rationale that centers around sought approval. It is natural to want to be liked, but this should never dictate the dynamics of your relationship with someone. What does it matter if someone likes you, if you don’t even like them yourself? Stop seeking approval of those who don’t seek yours.
2. 2. Think good thoughts. Positivity can only be obtained through your own mental perseverance. In all actuality, positivity is something that needs to be forced if you’re looking to make a significant transition from negativity. Your life is not going to magically turn out positive if you don’t make the conscious effort to try. When you find yourself about to open your mouth to complain about something, think twice and reconsider your phrasing, or whether what you’re about to say is at all productive. Remember that there is a fine line between constructive criticism and just being mean. Negativity from outward environments can only have an impact on you if you allow your inner negativity to embrace it.
3. 3. Eliminate the word “should” from your vocabulary. Your life is yours to narrate and navigate, and no one else’s. What other people expect of you is irrelevant, especially if it makes you unhappy. Focus more on the “coulds” in your life.
4. 4. Take the career path that truly grants you fulfillment. Yes, we all have to pay the bills, but that doesn’t mean you need to suffer in the process. Consider that you spend an incredibly large chunk of your day working and focusing on your career, and consider what that may mean for your life outside of work. Like it or not, there is a direct correlation between the two, even if it doesn’t appear to be right in front of your face. Eliminate those mental barriers and take a look at some career options you may have always wanted to pursue but never had the courage to do so.
5. 5. Location, location, location. Let’s be honest, you’re not going to find happiness if you’re an anxious city dweller living a white picket fence lifestyle in rural America. We like to believe that happiness can be found just about anywhere (which is partially true), but finding a happiness that brings out the best version of you can only be accomplished if you’re genuinely content with where you live and the types of people you surround yourself with. Environment goes a long way in building good character and, more importantly, good moods.
6. 6. Give it away. All of that negative anxiety needs to be channeled somewhere, so why not be productive about it? Give back to your community; you might be surprised by how wholeheartedly good it feels to do something for someone else without expecting anything in return. A wise woman once told me that the key to a euphoric happiness is to be able to give love without ever expecting anything in return.
7. 7. Stop listening to power ballads about heartbreak and self-wallowing. It may sound simple, but it goes a long way. After all, what purpose do these things serve other than to evoke our own pain and insecurities? A positive playlist makes for a positive attitude.
8. 8. Exercise the negative away. Take a yoga class, meditate, or start working out. A lot of our anxiety can be worked out through physical activity. It also allows for healthy self-reflection, as these physical activities are typically done alone. (But feel free to bring someone along as a work-out buddy to lift the mood!) Or if physical exercise isn’t your thing, take up a new hobby. The first step to positivity comes in the form of taking an active step forward to drowning out the negativity.

If you want to share this article, scroll to the very bottom and click the “share” icon to post on Facebook, Twitter etc. If you want to subscribe or search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.

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Acid reflux is a fairly common condition that has serious consequences for the body, and can often be addressed without antacids.

Most of us have probably encountered heart burn at one time or another, and many suffer from heart burn or acid reflux on a daily basis. The problem is caused by hydrochloric acid in the stomach splashing up into the esophagous (food pipe) causing a burning sensation in the chest. If this acid gets into the food pipe often, it can inflame and damage it.  The usual medical treatment is antacids, which neutralize the acid, or protein pump inhibitors which block the body’s ability to produce acid in the first place.

But here's the thing. Our body manufactures hydrochloric acid for a reason. We need it to help us break down and digest proteins, to stimulate the pancreas and liver to dump their digestive juices into the tract for the digestion of carbohydrates and fats, and also to kill off dangerous microbes that make their way inside of us along with the food we eat. So by reducing HCL we are destroying one of our very important immune defences, thereby increasing our chances of food poisoning.  And we are severely impacting our ability to gain the nutrition from our food.  Since food provides the building-blocks for our cells, acid reflux can be considered a sign of malnourishment.

Acid reflux can be viewed like a warning light on your car. What would you think of your car mechanic if you brought your car in and he removed the warning light-bulb as a strategy to resolving your car problem? That is exactly what taking antacids or PPIs does - it deals with the symptom but does not address the underlying issue.

Ironically, more frequently than not, those that suffer from acid reflux actually have too little acid rather than too much. Commonly another symptom is an inability to digest meat - it sits in the stomach for hours because there is not enough acid there to break it down. The little acid these people have is floating on top of the other gastric juices, and then splashes up when the valve from the esophagous (food pipe) opens. So taking PPIs which decreases acid production further is actually making the underlying problem worse.

The problem can also be mechanical. The stomach is located on the left side just under the ribs and is snugged up against the diaphragm, which separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. There is a hole in the diaphragm which allows the esophagous (food pipe) through to the stomach, and there should be a few centimetres of esophagous below the diaphragm before it enters the stomach.

The diaphragm moves a long way when we breathe, and if the esophagous is pulled up too high, the valve that prevents the stomach acid from backing into the esophagous may be kinked open due to diaphragm movement, and acid can more easily escape up. If there is a huge amount of upward pressure, the stomach can also be pushed up through the hole in the diaphragm, creating a hiatal hernia.

Other common symptoms related to low stomach acid include belching, gas, flatulance, indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, undigested particles in stool, iron deficiency, fatigue, cracked, weak fingernails, dry skin, food allergies, acne, and/or chronic candida.

Here are some solutions to heart burn, acid reflux or GERD:

• Find a visceral massage therapist who can nudge your stomach a bit lower allowing for proper closure of the valve, and preventing a hiatal hernia.
• Drink at least half your bodyweight in pounds, in ounces of water each day.  A recent study shows that water works better and faster than antacids to clear up heart burn.  And it provides the raw material from which to make your own HCL.
• Drink your water at room temperature rather than ice cold, as ice cold water suppresses HCL production.
• Eat a quarter to half a cup of fermented foods that have not been pasteurized after they were fermented, such as cold sauerkraut or kimchi with each meal, in order to increase the good bacteria in the gut.  Or speed up the process by taking a good quality probiotic.
• Chew your food thoroughly until liquid before swallowing to help digestion.
• Decrease or eliminate sugar intake, which suppresses HCL production.
• Eat lots of bitter greens, cooked -  dandelion is especially effective at increasing HCL production.
• Do not lie down after a meal - stay upright so gravity can aid in keeping the acid down.
• Avoid raw vegetables until digestion is improved but do eat them cooked or fermented.
• Avoid triggers like caffeine, alcohol, hot and black peppers.
• May be helpful to take a multivitamin if you've been suffering from acid reflux for a while, as you will probably be mineral and vitamin deficient.  Vitamin B12 can't be digested at all without adequate HCL, for example.
• To support your digestion until you are making enough of your own HCL, take betaine HCL supplements immediately after each meal. To figure out the right dosage for you, take the tablets / capsules one at a time with a meal until you get a slight burning sensation. Your dosage is one less pill than that with each meal.  When you are at the right dosage, your stomach should feel like you just had a warm cup of tea.
• Digestive enzymes may also assist initially until the body is producing them properly on its own again.
• If you are overweight, decrease sugar and flour products as well as all processed food in order to lose weight.  The extra abdominal weight particularly when lying down, pushes the stomach up, potentially worsening the mechanics.
• Turning the lights out by 10:30pm increases melatonin secretion, which has been shown to reduce acid reflux.

If you want to share this article, scroll to the very bottom and click the “share” icon to post on Facebook, Twitter etc. If you want to subscribe or search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.

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The Glycemic Index is a very useful way to determine how quickly the carbohydrate (sugar) in a food will be absorbed into the blood stream, but the Glycemic Load is an even better measure of determining the insulin response and therefore how fattening a food is.

The Glycemic Index is a list of foods that compares how quickly 50 grams of carbohydrate within the food will raise your blood sugar as compared to 50 grams of sugar
alone. To calculate the Glycemic Index of a food, scientists measure out the quantity of a particular food needed to obtain 50 grams of carbohydrate, they feed that quantity of food to test subjects, and measure the blood sugar response.

They then compare the blood sugar response of the food with the response from 50 grams of straight sugar, which is given a GI value of 100. For example, four slices of white bread has about 50 grams of carbohydrate, and gives a blood-sugar response of roughly 70 to 73% that of straight sugar, and therefore has a GI of 73, if we take the high number.

The more quickly the sugar is dumped into the blood stream, the higher the insulin response, the greater the fat storage and chance for disease. The closer the number is to 100, the closer the food acts like sugar in the body and the more fattening and the more destructive it is. A GI value of 55 or less is considered low.

The problem with the Glycemic Index is that although it looks at how quickly the sugar that is in the food is put into the blood stream, it does not consider serving size at all. One might have to eat a whole lot of some foods to get that 50 grams of carbohydrate in order to figure out the GI.

For example, it takes 1 1/2 pounds of carrots to get the 50 grams of carbs upon which the GI is based. Not many people eat 1 1/2 pounds of carrots at one sitting however. Glycemic Load takes into account serving size, which therefore provides an even more useful number.

Glycemic Load is calculated by taking the number of grams of carbohydrate in the serving of the food being consumed, multiplying that with the GI value, and then dividing by 100. I like the boiled potato example, given in this article written by Bill Campbell, PhD, CSCS.

“For example, a boiled potato has a glycemic index of 101 and a Mars® candy bar has a glycemic index of 65. However, the average serving size of a baked potato is about 150 grams (5.3 oz) and contains 17 grams of carbohydrate. Conversely, a Mars® candy bar serving size is only 60 grams (2.1 oz) but contains 40 grams of carbohydrate. The boiled potato has a glycemic load of 17, while the Mars bar is 26. Thus, even though the potato has a higher glycemic index, the Mars® candy bar has a greater effect on blood glucose than the potato even though the size of the Mars® candy bar is less than half that of the potato.”

A Glycemic Load of under 10 is considered low and would make for the best food choices, particularly if they are unprocessed. Click here for a list of foods and their Glycemic Index and Load.

Note how almost all the grains and cereals, even ones considered healthy like steel-cut oats, have a high glycemic load. For those that fatten up easily or are at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease or cancer, eating pastured steak or eggs along with lots of veggies would therefore make for a healthier breakfast choice.

These lists contain the foods specified alone.  One can also greatly affect the blood-sugar/insulin response by eating the food with protein and/or fat which blunts the blood sugar response. Putting butter on a slice of bread or cream on porridge makes it less fattening than having the bread or porridge alone.

If you want to share this article, scroll to the very bottom and click the “share” icon to post on Facebook, Twitter etc. If you want to subscribe or search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.

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Manual therapists that know how to listen with their hands to what the bodies of their patients are telling them are worth their weight in gold, as they can zone in on the most important area to treat.

Today I’d like to present something a little different. I’m hoping that you will find some wellness take-aways from what happened to me last week, and that you will endulge a personal story.

Those that have been following these tips for some time probably already know that my biggest health struggle is getting to sleep and staying asleep. I have made huge improvements over the last year to 18 months, but in the effort to improve my sleep still further, I began supplementing with magnesium. My understanding is that magnesium is not easily absorbed via the gut, so I was very excited to get my hands on a topical magnesium oil.

As a general rule I put nothing on my skin but soap and coconut oil, in order to avoid the long list of potential toxins in personal care products. The mineral oil ingredients were water and magnesium chloride, so I didn’t figure there would be an issue. I sprayed the oil on my back and a couple of days later realized that I had developed a very itchy rash. Assuming it was an allergic reaction, I tried antihistamine sprays to take out the itch, but they did not work. I did not think anything was infected and I did not want to use corticosteroids, so I did not go to the doctor. But the itch was unbearable.

In hindsight, that is when I made my biggest mistake. I figured my back was inflamed, so I iced it. Those that know me know that for me to resort to ice means that the itching must have been something aweful, because I tend to be cold and have to fight hard to stay warm. But the ice worked like a charm, easing the itch almost immediately. I iced a few times over the course of the day, and once I think I kept the ice on for as long as 20 minutes.

The following morning when I tried to get out of bed, I realized something was very wrong. As I lifted my head up in order to sit up, I felt a strong pull down the left side of my back. It felt like the inside of my ribcage on the left had been encased in shrink-wrap. Every time I moved, I felt this sproingy tug from about the 6th rib on the left side, down to my left low back. Even when I stood normally, a fairly strong pull remained. The sensation in my back was similar to how it feels if one were to pull back a finger and hold it there for several hours. I also felt a tether pulling my stomach off to the left, and my skin around the whole left side of my trunk felt irritated just like skin feels when one has the flu. This was now in addition to the horrible itching.

What had I done? If you are a health-care practitioner, what would you suspect with that symptomology? What would you do to treat?

My suspicion was that the ice had dehydrated the tissues, and that my spleen had firmly attached itself to the posterior wall inside my ribcage. It felt like the spleen was where all the tethering sensations were originating. Suddenly I was remembering what my mother always used to say when we were kids - “don’t let your coat ride up or you will chill your kidneys”. My partner told me that when he was a boy playing hockey, the coaches would never let them lie on the ice because they might “freeze their organs”. Old wives’ tales? Or based in some truth? Certainly ice is commonly recommended to relieve inflammation, and I don’t recall hearing any caveats with respect to icing the back.

I stretched in every way I could think of to sheer the organ away, to no avail. I tried heat and stretched after that. Nope. So, for the last couple of days I’ve been incredibly uncomfortable in pretty much any position. This weekend I’m in a course with a bunch of manual therapists, so today I begged and pleaded for a treatment.

My therapist spent about 20 minutes listening with her hands to what my body was telling her. She did not want me to tell her my story because she knew that that would confuse her sense of touch. Her hands told her that no, the issue was not my spleen but rather that my left kidney, which had been pulled up against my spasming diaphragm. My spleen and stomach were coming along for the ride, but the primary problem was the kidney. She proceded to treat it, and about 5 minutes later I noticed the tethering sensations were gone. I am so grateful! I feel considerably better, and hopefully over the next day or so the achy skin will calm down too.

It is important to understand that our organs are supposed to slide and glide with respect to each other, and with respect to the canister that contains them. They should be attached only at their attachment sites - not be glommed together or glued to the walls. When many think of pain or discomfort, they think muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, but the discomfort can also be caused by a tethering from one or more organs, or from the nerves.

When something stops moving as it should, whether that something is a muscle, joint, nerve or organ, the body is forced to compensate for that lack of movement. Pain or disease happens when the body is no longer able to compensate.

Painkillers only treat symptoms. If there is pain, there is a cause somewhere. And that cause might be very far away from where the pain is. Manual therapists who know how to listen with their hands to what the bodies of their patients are telling them, can locate those causes and help resolve them.

If you want to share this article, scroll to the very bottom and click the “share” icon to post on Facebook, Twitter etc. If you want to subscribe or search for other posts by title or by topic, go to www.wellnesstips.ca.

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This post was written by Dr. Jo Ann Holoka, Jacksonville Bioidentical Hormones Expert. Dr. Holoka is part of BodyLogicMD, a network of highly trained physicians across the country who use BHRT (bioidentical hormone therapy) integrated with nutrition and fitness planning to help those suffering from hormone imbalance.

Our diet plays a crucial role in how youthful we look and feel. If you want to maintain optimal health in your 40’s, 50’s and beyond, it’s important that your diet includes foods that have been scientifically proven to reduce the effects of aging. The trouble with aging is that too many of us think of it as being a problem that must be solved. When in reality, it’s inevitable. However, while we may not be able to turn back the hands of time, there are steps that women and men can take to improve how well we age, and it all starts with what we put into our bodies.

If you wish to follow in the footsteps of Ageless celebrities like Suzanne Somers, there’s no need to waste your money on costly supplements or “miracle” remedies. If you’re still searching for the esoteric fountain of youth, a good place to start would be at your local grocery store.

1. Lypocene - Lycopene is a nutrient found in a variety of foods, such as tomatoes, watermelon, guava, pink grapefruit, papaya and rose hips. This nutrient works as an antioxidant, helping to rid the body of harmful free radicals and oxidative stress. Studies suggest that lycopene may reduce the risk of heart disease, several types of cancer and even osteoporosis.
2. Beta-carotene - Beta-carotene can help to prevent macular degeneration, night blindness and other vision problems. Additionally, beta-carotene has been shown to boost collage levels, giving skin more elasticity and improving the overall quality and texture of skin. Foods that contain beta-carotene include carrots, apricots, lettuce, peppers and spinach.
3. Flavonoids - Flavonoids also have great antioxidant properties. They also help reduce inflammation, which is at the root of a variety of disease and medical conditions. Perhaps the most notable flavonoid is resveratrol. Resveratrol is found in most red wines and has been shown to prevent blood clots, reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and prevent damage to blood vessels, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
4. Vitamin D - It’s estimated that nearly 90 percent of American adults are vitamin D deficient. Many experts believe that vitamin D deficiency is to blame for a higher incidence of cancer and heart disease in American women and men. Vitamin D is found naturally in foods such as milk, cheese, butter, eggs, fish and oysters. It’s important to have your vitamin D levels assessed by your doctor to see if supplementation is necessary bring you within a normal range. Recommendations vary, but a daily intake in the range of 800 to 1,000 IU is likely to benefit most adults.
5. Breakfast - We’ve all heard the stale cliché “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Still the vast majority of us are “breakfast skippers.” Eating a well-balanced breakfast is an excellent way to jumpstart the body’s metabolism. Numerous studies have shown that people who skip breakfast are more likely to deal with weight gain and other consequences of “starvation eating.” The bottom line is: skipping breakfast is setting yourself up for failure.

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Just as Vitamin D did in the last couple of years, Vitamin K will soon explode into everyone’s consciousness, and with good reason. Vitamin K helps prevent osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and some cancers like non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and prostate cancer in particular.

Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin that is not on the radar of most people, yet it is very important for many bodily functions. It comes in two main forms, K1 and K2, but it is the K2 version which seems to be particularly helpful to the above diseases.

Vitamin K1 is most well known for its role in blood clotting, whereas Vitamin K2 is now understood to regulate calcium by keeping it out of the places we don’t want it, like arteries and joints, and putting into the places we do, like bones and teeth.

Vitamin D3 is responsible for helping us absorb calcium, and Vitamin K2 is responsible for directing where that calcium goes. By controlling where calcium goes, Vitamin K2 helps prevent both heart disease and osteoporosis. So taking that calcium supplement without having enough bio-available Vitamin D3 and K2 may be more harmful than helpful.

Inflammation of the arteries is the root cause of cardiovascular disease, which in itself is largely caused by an inflammatory diet that includes too much omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, primarily from the vegetable oils that we are told to cook with like corn oil, soy oil, canola oil etc., along with too much sugar, flour products and processed food. The best solution in my opinion is to stop eating those foods, which would prevent systemic body inflammation in the first place.

Once the arteries are inflamed, the body’s response is to send cholesterol, a powerful antioxidant, to the area to repair the damage. If there is not enough K2, calcium is also frequently deposited at the damaged site, which results in plaque building up in the arteries. Vitamin D3 and K2 work together to prevent the calcification of the arteries from occurring. There are many scientific studies that suggest that increased Vitamin K2 intake decreases risk as well as deaths from heart disease.

Vitamin K2 plays a key role in preventing and possibly reversing osteoporosis. Osteocalcin is a protein that “turned on” by Vitamin K2, and its role is to organize the deposition of calcium and phosphorus into the boney matrix as well as into teeth. If there is not enough K2 around to turn on the osteocalcin, the body can’t properly get the minerals into the bones. Furthermore, Vitamin K2 is also
keeps calcium out of the cartilage at the joint surfaces.

Our primary source of K2 is our gut, as it is made by the good bacteria that live there, so any digestive problems such as ulcerative colitis, celiac disease or Crohn's may result in a deficiency. So might a diet high in processed food, sugar and flour which promotes the growth of unhealthy gut bacteria, thereby crowding out the good bacteria that makes the K2. Broad-spectrum antibiotics would also destroy the gut bacteria making it impossible to manufacture K2. If you’ve been on antibiotics, take probiotics to repopulate your gut with good bacteria. Liver problems may also interfere with K2, due to the liver’s importance in vitamin storage. Also since Vitamin K is fat soluable, very low fat diets make it harder to assimilate.

K2 is most plentiful in the Japanese fermented soy food called natto, but I admit when I took a look at the stuff I could not bring myself to eat it. Looked like brown, moldy soybeans covered in slime. Then again, perhaps if I suffered from heart disease I would plug my nose and gobble it down, as studies show that those that eat the most natto have the fewest deaths from the disease. Other food sources of K2 albeit in much smaller quantities include goose-liver pate, hard and soft cheeses made from raw, pastured milk, pastured egg yolks and butter. K1, needed for blood clotting, is found  primarily in leafy-green vegetables like collard greens, spinach and kale, and a small amount of this K1 the body converts into K2.

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It is common knowledge that when doing squats the knees should stay behind the toes in order to prevent knee problems. At least that is the knowledge that has permeated the fitness industry. Is this true?

Squatting is the movement we do when we sit down on a chair and get back up again. In many parts of the world, squatting right to the floor is common practice. People may squat while cooking over a fire, while reading the newspaper, or while using a squat toilet. In my opinion, squatting to the floor regularly is very helpful in maintaining happy hips, knees and ankles.

In the gym when we squat, we sit down momentarily on an imaginary chair, and when our thighs are about parallel to the floor we stand up again. Squats are one of the key movements exercise professionals teach their clients, and they are fantastic for strengthening the lower body.

I have been in the fitness industry for close to 20 years now, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard that when squatting one must keep the knees behind the toes in order to protect the knees. This rule is very ingrained in the psyche of personal trainers as I have heard the line repeated frequently in the gym. And in the past, I too have tried to shape my clients’ squats to follow the “knees behind the toes” adage, with very unsatisfactory results.

Most people’s lower legs are too long to keep the knees behind the toes even when one limits the range-of-motion to thighs parallel to the ground. This instruction forces strange movement patterns that are awkward and incorrect in my opinion.

The "knees behind the toes" requirement fixes the angle at the ankle; the longer the lower leg, the higher the ankle angle. This forces the hips very far back, and to avoid falling over, the only way to compensate is to bend the hip joint much more than usual in order to get the center of gravity back over the feet again. This movement looks more like a deadlift (bend) than a squat. In the diagram to the right, the foot and knee are butted up against a wall, and one can easily see how there is far more bend at the hips than at the knee and ankle. The spine is at a much flatter angle than the lower leg.

The other common compensation is to actively arch the back a great deal, which can irritate the facet joints and over-use the erector spinae muscles in the back. The spine should remain neutral for most of the range of motion. If one is squatting to the floor, the low back will probably round at the bottom unless one is extremely flexible. (*Squatting to the floor is fine with no weight, but if you are carrying extra weight, only squat as deeply as you can keep your spine neutral. A rounded low-back while carrying added weight is asking for trouble).

Our knees are meant to bend to the point where the back of the thighs can easily rest on the calves. With adequate flexibility, one can kneel on the floor like this putting a fair bit of pressure through the legs without any problem. The knee joint is open, so the thigh bone (femur) and lower-leg bone (tibia) are not rubbing on each other at all in this position. Any strain in the knee area would come from tight muscles, tendons, and fascia. Flexibility is the limiting factor in this case, and that can be slowly improved over time. The limits put on a squat should be determined by one’s own flexibility rather than an arbitrary rule like “knees must stay behind the toes”.

Olympic lifters regularly pass through the front squat position with a very heavy bar, and their knees are often past their toes. They have the flexibility in their legs and back to be able to do the movement without a problem.

One should think of squatting like folding up an accordion. One stays over the center of gravity (the feet), the knees hinge forward tracking over the toes, the hips hinge back, the trunk goes forward again. The spine parallels the shin angle, remains neutral, and is not contorted at all since the hinge is at the hips. This is what we naturally do when we sit down and get up from a chair, so this is the best place to begin a squatting practice.

I find I now often use the cue “knees and nose in front of the toes” when teaching unweighted or back squats, and when the center of gravity is balanced throughout the entire foot the result is usually a fine squat with no deviation from neutral spine - exactly what I’m looking for. I stop their descent just before their low back begins to round, and have them push back up through the whole of their feet.

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