Pain Relief Center - Weekly News You Can Use - August 11th, 2008 1901 S. Hwy 183, Leander, TX 78641 512-260-4020 Office News We have reached the 6 month mark at our new location and we have now added another Doctor! Thanks to all of our wonderful patients and all of their much appreciated referrals our clinic is busier than ever and last month we saw 24 new patients! Our new Doctor is Rene J. Garcia, D.C.. He is very experienced in the Gonstead technique of Chiropractic and he is finishing a Diplomate Advanced Training in Pediatric Chiropractic. We are pleased to offer this additional level of expertise. If your young child, grandchild, neice, or nephew is suffering from ear aches, asthma, hip or leg pain, scoliosis, headaches, or allergies, bring them to the office for a FREE CONSULTATION with Dr. Garcia. This Week's Special One hour Massage and an Adjustment for ONLY $69.00. Only available to existing patients as a way of saying thanks. This is a $10.00 savings off our regular combination price. Only available through the end of August. Did you know? Most carbonated soft drinks (pop) have a pH of about 3, making them about ten thousand times more acidic than pure water. Please remember this the next time you think about drinking a can of pop. For more info, read the article below about alkaline and acidic foods. Dr. Group On the Web - More evidence of Cell Phone Dangers (NaturalNews) Extended exposure to the radiation of a mobile phone, even when not in use, can cause headaches and disrupt the body's ability to enter deep sleep, according to a study conducted by researchers from Wayne State University in the United States and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and published in the peer-reviewed online journal Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium. Researchers conducted an experiment on 36 women and 35 men, of whom 22 and 16, respectively, had previously reported symptoms that they blamed on use of mobile phones. The remaining 33 participants had not reported any symptoms. All participants were screened carefully by doctors to make sure that they had no underlying medical condition that might interfere with the results. They were all recruited specifically for the current study. During two different sessions, the participants were exposed either to real or sham radiation for three hours, but were not told which they had been exposed to. The radiation was equivalent to that emitted by a mobile phone, giving an average exposure of 1.4 Watts per kilogram. It included simulations of a phone being both in use and inactive but still turned on. Researchers collected data on the participants before, during and after each exposure. Upon questioning after the exposure, neither the radiation nor the control group was able to guess which group they were in any more accurately than by chance. Participants took longer to reach stage 3 sleep when exposed to radiation than when exposed to sham radiation, and stayed in stage 4 sleep for a shorter time. These stages of deep sleep are believed to play an important role in helping the body recover from everyday stresses. Participants who had not previously reported any symptoms were also more likely to report experiencing headaches while being exposed to real radiation than to sham radiation. Recommended Web Sites Essential Details on Acid and Alkaline-Forming Effects of Foods and How Your Body Maintains a Healthy pH By Dr. Ben Kim DrBenKim.com Also found on Chetday.com Is it true that each food that you eat can cause your blood to become more alkaline or acidic? The answer is: not really. The pH of your blood is tightly regulated by a complex system of buffers that are continuously at work to maintain a range of 7.35 to 7.45, which is slightly more alkaline than pure water. If the pH of your blood falls below 7.35, the result is a condition called acidosis, a state that leads to central nervous system depression. Severe acidosis - where blood pH falls below 7.00 - can lead to a coma and even death. If the pH of your blood rises above 7.45, the result is alkalosis. Severe alkalosis can also lead to death, but through a different mechanism - alkalosis causes all of the nerves in your body to become hypersensitive and over-excitable, often resulting in muscle spasms, nervousness, and convulsions; it's usually the convulsions that cause death in severe cases. The bottom line is that if you're out and about, your body is doing an adequate job of keeping your blood pH somewhere between 7.35 to 7.45, and the foods that you are eating are not causing any wild deviations of your blood pH. So what's up with all the hype about the need to alkalize your body? And what's to be made of the claim that being too acidic can cause osteoporosis, kidney stones, and a number of other undesirable health challenges? As usual, the answers to such questions about human health can be found by understanding basic principles of human physiology. So let's take a look at the fundamentals of pH and how your body regulates the acid-alkaline balance of its fluids on a moment-to-moment basis. pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a liquid is. With respect to your health, the liquids involved are your body fluids, which can be categorized into the following two main groups: Intracellular fluid, which is the fluid found in all of your cells. Intracellular fluid is often called cytosol, and makes up about two-thirds of the total amount of fluid in your body. Extracellular fluid, which is the fluid found outside of your cells. Extracellular fluids are further classified as one of two types: Plasma, which is fluid that makes up your blood. Interstitial fluid, which occupies all of the spaces that surround your tissues. Interstitial fluid includes the fluids found in your eyes, lymphatic system, joints, nervous system, and between the protective membranes that surround your cardiovascular, respiratory, and abdominal cavities. Your blood (plasma) needs to maintain a pH of 7.35 to 7.45 for your cells to function properly. Why your cells require your blood to maintain a pH in this range to stay healthy is beyond the scope of this article, but the most important reason is that all of the proteins that work in your body have to maintain a specific geometric shape to function, and the three-dimensional shapes of the proteins in your body are affected by the tiniest changes in the pH of your body fluids. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A liquid that has a pH of 7 is considered to be neutral (pure water is generally considered to have a neutral pH). Fluids that have a pH below 7 - like lemon juice and coffee - are considered to be acidic. And fluids that have a pH above 7 - like human blood and milk of magnesia - are considered to be alkaline. It's important to note that on the pH scale, each number represents a tenfold difference from adjacent numbers; in other words, a liquid that has a pH of 6 is ten times more acidic than a liquid that has a pH of 7, and a liquid with a pH of 5 is one hundred times more acidic than pure water. Most carbonated soft drinks (pop) have a pH of about 3, making them about ten thousand times more acidic than pure water. Please remember this the next time you think about drinking a can of pop. When you ingest foods and liquids, the end products of digestion and assimilation of nutrients often results in an acid or alkaline-forming effect - the end products are sometimes called acid ash or alkaline ash. Also, as your cells produce energy on a continual basis, a number of different acids are formed and released into your body fluids. These acids - generated by your everyday metabolic activities - are unavoidable; as long as your body has to generate energy to survive, it will produce a continuous supply of acids. So there are two main forces at work on a daily basis that can disrupt the pH of your body fluids - these forces are the acid or alkaline-forming effects of foods and liquids that you ingest, and the acids that you generate through regular metabolic activities. Fortunately, your body has three major mechanisms at work at all times to prevent these forces from shifting the pH of your blood outside of the 7.35 to 7.45 range. These mechanisms are: Buffer Systems Carbonic Acid-Bicarbonate Buffer System Protein Buffer System Phosphate Buffer System Exhalation of Carbon Dioxide Elimination of Hydrogen Ions via Kidneys It's not in the scope of this article to discuss the mechanisms listed above in detail. For this article, I only want to point out that these systems are in place to prevent dietary, metabolic, and other factors from pushing the pH of your blood outside of the 7.35 to 7.45 range. When people encourage you to "alkalize your blood," most of them mean that you should eat plenty of foods that have an alkaline-forming effect on your system. The reason for making this suggestion is that the vast majority of highly processed foods - like white flour products and white sugar - have an acid-forming effect on your system, and if you spend years eating a poor diet that is mainly acid-forming, you will overwork some of the buffering systems mentioned above to a point where you could create undesirable changes in your health. For example, your phosphate buffer system uses different phosphate ions in your body to neutralize strong acids and bases. About 85% of the phosphate ions that are used in your phosphate buffer system comes from calcium phosphate salts, which are structural components of your bones and teeth. If your body fluids are regularly exposed to large quantities of acid-forming foods and liquids, your body will draw upon its calcium phosphate reserves to supply your phosphate buffer system to neutralize the acid-forming effects of your diet. Over time, this may lead to structural weakness in your bones and teeth. Drawing on your calcium phosphate reserves at a high rate can also increase the amount of calcium that is eliminated via your genito-urinary system, which is why a predominantly acid-forming diet can increase your risk of developing calcium-rich kidney stones. This is just one example of how your buffering systems can be overtaxed to a point where you experience negative health consequences. Since your buffering systems have to work all the time anyway to neutralize the acids that are formed from everyday metabolic activities, it's in your best interest to follow a diet that doesn't create unnecessary work for your buffering systems. Acid and Alkaline-Forming Effects of Common Foods Generally speaking, most vegetables and fruits have an alkaline-forming effect on your body fluids. Most grains, animal foods, and highly processed foods have an acid-forming effect on your body fluids. Please don't forget: Your health is best served by a good mix of nutrient-dense, alkaline and acid-forming foods; ideally, you want to eat more alkaline-forming foods than acid-forming foods to have the net acid and alkaline-forming effects of your diet match the slightly alkaline pH of your blood. The following lists indicate which common foods have an alkaline-forming effect on your body fluids, and which ones result in acid ash formation when they are digested and assimilated into your system. Foods that have a Moderate to Strong Alkaline-Forming Effect Watermelon Lemons Cantaloupe Celery Limes Mango Honeydew Papaya Parsley Seaweed Sweet, seedless grapes Watercress Asparagus Kiwi Pears Pineapple Raisins Vegetable juices Apples Apricots Alfalfa sprouts Avocados Bananas Garlic Ginger Peaches Nectarines Grapefruit Oranges Most herbs Peas Lettuce Broccoli Cauliflower Foods that have a Moderate to Strong Acid-Forming Effect Alcohol Soft drinks (pop) Tobacco Coffee White sugar Refined Salt Artificial sweeteners Antibiotics (and most drugs) White flour products (including pasta) Seafood White vinegar Barley Most boxed cereals Cheese Most beans Flesh meats Most types of bread Please note that these lists of acid and alkaline-forming foods are not comprehensive, nor are they meant to be. If you're eating mainly grains, flour products, animal foods, and washing these foods down with coffee, soda, and milk, you will almost certainly improve your health by replacing some of your food and beverage choices with fresh vegetables and fruits. The primary purpose of this article is to offer information that explains why I believe that you don't need to take one or more nutritional supplements for the sole purpose of alkalizing your body. Your body is already designed to keep the pH of your body fluids in a tight, slightly alkaline range. The ideal scenario is to make fresh vegetables and fruits the centerpieces of your diet, and to eat small amounts of any other nutrient-dense foods that your appetite calls for and that experience shows your body can tolerate. Herbal Insight Cherry Juice for Gout - Cherry Juice has been shown to lower uric acid levels in the body which can dramatically improve Gout Symptoms. We have known for a long time that cherries are good for arthritis and other forms of inflammation but now it is being used for gout as well. A commonly prescribed drug, allopurinol has been used with great results and research has also found a link to high uric levels and systemic osteoarthritis.................. Health News Around the World Taking Charge of Your Health: Is a Health Savings Account Right for You? Reprinted from To Your Health Newsletter March 20, 2007 [Volume 1, Issue 6] You've got the savings account, the checking account, the 401k – maybe even the investment fund or the college savings account. Now consider joining the 3 million Americans who have invested in a health savings account (HSA). With the future financial stability of Medicare in question and the cost of health care rising exponentially, the outlook is bleak, at best. You can protect yourself against these risks using a health savings account to gain tax-free savings for future health care expenses. The tax advantages of HSAs are what sets them apart from other tax-advantage programs. Not only is the money deposited into the account tax-deductible, but the interest earned and any qualified withdrawals also are all tax-free. Moreover, the HSA, unlike a standard health insurance plan, in which your premiums are "lost" forever, ensures that your money goes into a savings account. You choose which providers you see and what health care you use, as long as HSA funds are used only for "qualified expenses." If you want more control over your health choices, get the facts on how a health savings account works and how it could help protect your future. Remember, a HSA isn't right for everyone, so find out more from your health insurance representative today. Refer a Friend We appreciate all of the referrals that our patients have given us. It is a great honor to know that you trust us with the care of a friend or family member. Do you know someone that could use Chiropractic care but they just keep procrastinating about getting information? Maybe they have back pain, neck pain, or can't sleep comfortably? Maybe they just need some good advice on healthy living? In any case, simply click on the link below and finally give them an opportunity to get the help they need. To send a Friend a FREE Consultation by email simply reply to this newsletter or send an email directly to Dr. Group at thediscdoctor@gmail.com and we will forward a FREE consultation email to them. Remember, if you send a referral, our massage therapists will give you a complimentary 30 minute massage as a way of saying thanks. http://www.austindrx.com http://www.hillcountryspine.com To unsubscribe from this Weekly Newsletter, simply reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the SUBJECT area of the email and we will take you off our email list. WE WELCOME FEEDBACK - If you have any ideas or positive/negative feedback about our clinic or any of our staff members, feel free to call or email Dr. Group at thediscdoctor@gmail.com Jonathan N. Group Doctor of Chiropractic Registered Dietitian 512-260-4020