On February 23^rd at 7:15 PM, Juszczyk Chiropractic has a special presenter, Tim Bahan,  coming in from Columbus to discuss the benefits of cleansing your body with the Standard Process Purification Program.  This is a fantastic 21 day cleanse that will free your body of built up toxins, impurities, and extra fat.  I am on day 12 and I feel amazing.  I have more energy, clearer mental acuity, and more restful sleep.  I have even lost 7 pounds.  All are welcome to attend, please call the office to reserve a spot in this lecture.   

Shake It Up: Smoothie Recipe

Double your energy by cutting out your morning caffeine and replacing it with exercise and this deliciously healthy shake recipe!  

• ½ cup frozen berries for high antioxidants or 1 banana  (Tip: Costco’s frozen 3 Berry mix)
• 1 serving high quality protein blend.  (Tip: Purpose Easy Shake is an excellent high quality protein powder with ingredients such as whey, fiber and probiotics in one)
• 1 tablespoon of almond butter
• 1 cup water or almond milk (use more or less for desired thickness)
• 1 tablespoon of greens powder or flax seeds 
• 2 or 3 ice cubes

Finding the Right Chiropractor for You

Finding a new health care professional of any type can be both confusing and stressful. As a chiropractor I’m frequently asked by friends and family members if I know a good chiropractor in their area. Most of the time I do not so I can only advise them on how to go about finding the right chiropractor for them. 

What not to do. Location is not the most important factor. If the best chiropractor just happens to be next door great, but I don’t recommend making location the number on factor. Do not base your decision on an attractive sign or advertisement. 

Keys to finding the right Wellness Chiropractor for You

1. Meet the doctor. Most chiropractors will be willing to meet with you for a consultation at no cost. This is a great opportunity to ask the doctor any questions you may have about chiropractic care or any questions you have about the doctor. A few things to look for are:

· Does the doctor look healthy? If the doctor doesn’t him/herself look healthy they may not be the best person for your health advice.

· What does your gut tell you? Most people will have a gut feeling about how they feel about the doctor after visiting with them for a few minutes. If you feel comfortable with the doctor it might be a good fit.

· Does the doctor teach you about chiropractic? One of the main jobs of any doctor is to explain to the patient what they will be doing. Does the chiropractor do a good job explaining to you what chiropractic is? Does he/she explain the functions of the nervous system? Does he/she explain what a subluxation is and how it affects your health?

2. Ask your friends. If you have friends with similar health views as yourself, ask about their chiropractor. Ask what they like and what they don’t like. 

3. How are you examined? Chiropractors, like any physician, can use various methods to evaluate their patients. Be sure the chiropractor took a through history so he/she fully understands your problems and concerns. What was your exam like? Did the doctor explain to you what he/she was looking for and what his/her findings were? Many chiropractors will us advanced instruments such an EMG or a thermograph scan to functionally evaluate the nervous system.   Were x-rays taken to see if you have a major injury or structural damage?

4. Training. Education and licensing are now standardized for all chiropractors. However, very few chiropractors or any physician for that matter is actually wellness certified. There is only one specialized wellness training program for chiropractors and that is the International Chiropractic Associations wellness certification program. Look for a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Provider (C.C.W.P.).

5. Fees. Insurance isn’t really “health” insurance, its sick insurance. This is because most forms of health care will only pay for specific conditions. Your health insurance will likely only pay for a portion if any of your care, so ask about payment options to make your care affordable for you.

Chiropractic care has the potential to greatly influence your health. The key is to find the right chiropractor for you. Following these 5 steps will help make sure you have a great chiropractic experience.

About the author: Dr. Paul Juszczyk is a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Provider that specializes in helping people with a wide variety of spinal, musculoskeletal and nerve issues. He is also well known for being a health coach with his advanced wellness training. 

PROBIOTICS – The Healthy Bugs That You WANT, and Why

– by Dr. Nick Araza

The Good, The Bad & the Ugly

Probiotics are health-promoting bacteria (normal flora) that are supposed to line the walls of our digestive tract.  There are 100 trillion of these cells in your guts – that’s 10x more cells than in the rest of your entire body.

Okay, got it.  Healthy bacteria…why’s that important?  Why should I spend my hard-earned dollars on these little so-called “friendly” bugs?

Great question – here’s why this is so important:

PROBIOTICS have many functions and are ESSENTIAL for you to be HEALTHY.  Sadly, AMERICANS ARE DANGEROUSLY DEFICIENT in these essential organisms!

The TOP 3 FUNCTIONS OF PROBIOTICS:

1.  Probiotics help normalize (which will mean improve to pretty much all Americans) the function of your immune system, which should be high on your list of bodily functions to keep in prime working order coming into the flu season.  Improving your immune system should not just be a goal for the cold and flu season, but all seasons, considering we’re entering the cancer decade and the diabetes century - and that’s because all lifestyle diseases are directly related to your immune system.

*  Probiotics are able to improve your immune system by out-competing bad (pathogenic, disease-causing) bacteria, yeast, fungus, and other harmful microorganisms for space on the wall of your digestive tract.  80% of your immune system is in your digestive tract because it is the largest area of our body that is exposed to the outside world (ie. the largest area for bad stuff to get into us, through the food that we eat).

2. Probiotics improve (normalize) our digestion by helping to break down certain foods and nutrients that we can’t otherwise break down.

3. Probiotics make certain vitamins that we don’t typically get enough of.  These include many of the B vitamins, which have to do with energy production, as well as vitamin K, which is important in clotting/coagulation in wound repair.

So, if we have so many of these things in our guts, why should I take any more?

Well, there have been massive amounts of research done on this topic, and as always it boils down to this:  we aren’t living a life that anyway remotely resembles our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and our lifestyle wreaks havoc on everything, including our friendly bacteria.

Here are the 5 reasons why:

1.   We aren’t eating dirty foods covered in healthy bacteria; we now wash our foods and spray them with terribly toxic things.  This translates into you getting roughly 1,000,000 times less of these probiotics into your GI tract (keep in mind, you want to be like a healthy lake or pond - i.e. good inflow and outflow, because outflow only – stagnation - equals death).

2.  Many of the things we do eat here in America (processed foods, unhealthy meats, dairy and grains) are as terrible for our little helpers as they are for us.  Toxic foods produce acidic environments that kill off our healthy bacteria and promote the environment where yeasts and fungi thrive.

3.  We consume antibiotics by the truckload.  I know that roughly 20 million prescriptions are written incorrectly each year, not to mention all of the antibacterial soaps and other ridiculous products that straight up target and destroy our bacterial buddies.

4.  We rarely play in the dirt!  We now play computers, Nintendo, or work out in swabbed gyms.  This would be absolutely absurd to a hunter-gatherer; dirt was the only thing they could play in.  This not only ensured enough of the good bacteria, but it also ensured that his or her immune system was challenged in the right time and way to guarantee an extremely powerful immune system.

5.  Chronic stress – wreaks such havoc on us and our synergistic bugs, they don’t even have a chance.

Now that you know the WHY, you are ready for the HOW…

ACTION STEPS:

1.   Buy some probiotics - but not just any probiotics.

*  They should come refrigerated or out of the freezer (because they are alive, they need to be cold to keep them alive long enough to ingest them).  Also, there are certain strains (types) of healthy bacteria that have been shown to be more beneficial than others.

2.  Take the probiotics!!  This is something you take daily for life, to address a deficiency.

* I take the brand Innate Choice Probiotic Sufficiency (retail about $35 for a month’s supply) because I feel that it is the healthiest, most congruent brand out there.   There are some decent brands I have found at Whole Foods, but just make sure it is cold and contains some, if not all, of the above strains of bacteria.

* Note — DURING THE FIRST WEEK OR TWO OF STARTING PROBIOTICS, THERE MAY BE SIDE EFFECTS, SUCH AS HEAD OR BODY ACHES, GAS, BLOATING AND/OR DIARRHEA  … This is okay, this is normal.  This happens because the harmful microorganisms are fighters, and as they get pushed out and/or killed by the good bacteria, they often produce more toxins as they die…stick to it because you are worth it!!  (Isn’t it interesting how differently wellness doctors handle side effects, verses the pharmaceutical industry?   Hmmmm… who’s hiding what and why?  I’ll tell you right now, I’m not trying to sneak nothing by nobody!).

* If you experience any of the above side effects, start slowly by taking one capsule every other day for the first week, then one/day for another week or two, then up to the full 2 capsules per day recommendations.  I like to take mine morning and night, because I like to spread out my wellness.

Children should take ½ of a capsule/day per 40lbs of body weight (of the Innate Choice’s brand). You can pull the capsule apart and put it in a smoothie, in some water or on some food.  It’s flavorless.

3.  Lastly, enjoy knowing that you are one sufficiency closer to living a wellness lifestyle (kind of gives you that warm and tingly feeling all over doesn’t it?), and that you just increased the quality and the quantity of your (and your family’s) life.

If you want more information and science check out www.innatechoice.com.

Who Needs Chiropractic?

For a long time, many people thought chiropractors only helped patients with bad backs. What they didn't realize was that the nerves traveling down the spinal column go to every organ and cell in the entire body.

For back pain only?

When a spinal bone (vertebra) is out of alignment, it can interfere with the normal flow of life energy through nearby nerves. If the affected nerve happens to be carrying a message to the liver, the function of the liver can be altered. If the nerve is taking instructions from the brain to the heart, that organ's function may be upset.

The fact is, the health of every part of the body depends on the proper flow of nerve energy. If that normal flow is interrupted or interfered with, the result is dis-ease. Some part of the body will not be able to function at peak performance.

Chiropractors locate misalignments in the vertebrae, called subluxations. They use spinal adjustments to correct these subluxations. When the bones are allowed to go back to their proper positions, the nerve energy can resume its normal flow.

Only then can the body continue its natural effort to maintain optimum health.

Helping the Body Help Itself

When the flow of nerve energy is restored, the body is often able to heal itself. Hundreds of thousands of patients report that chiropractic helped "cure" them of headaches, sinus problems, high blood pressure, ear infections, leg pain, arthritis, and many other illnesses.

Many had been suffering for years with their condition Some had tried medication or even surgery, but nothing seemed to help. That's because medication and surgery can't restore the normal functioning of a part of the body. Only the body's wisdom itself can do that. When these people went to a chiropractor, the actual cause of the problem -- the nerve interference -- was corrected. Their bodies were able to work properly and regain their healthy balance.

Today, people come to chiropractors with a variety of health problems. Many leave feeling better than they have in years!

No Cures?

But chiropractic didn't cure them. In fact, it's important to understand that chiropractors don't treat illness. They locate and correct subluxations in order to help restore the normal flow of life energy throughout the body. After the interference is eliminated, the body's own healing power takes over. Just as dis-ease is caused by interference in the normal flow of energy, health depends on having a normal flow of energy.

Who needs chiropractic? Think of it this way: Who needs a normal flow of life energy in their body? People who have headaches or back pain or any other kind of illness need chiropractic. So do people who have liver problems or arthritis. So do people who feel great!

In other words, everyone needs to make sure their bodies are free from subluxations and able to function at peak performance. That's why we ALL need regular chiropractic visits.