Don't watch this while eating!!!

At a recent health fair in Alameda County, I was thrilled to see a booth from the Health Department and to learn of their campaign this summer.  The campaign is entitled "Have a Soda-Free Summer". 

I love the idea. 

But, I knew we'd be going to Aunt Sue's for the 4th of July, and what would the 4th be without a root beer?  So, although I did NOT make the pledge to go all summer without a soda, I did reaffirm my commitment to focus on healthy drinks ALL YEAR LONG (with an occasional toxic soda).  The BEST choice for a healthy drink is pure water or pure water with a squeeze of lemon or lime. 

New York apparently thinks going soda-free is a good idea as well, here is a commercial for their campaign.  This one gives a great visual of just some of the nastiness sodas can cause to a body.  Also noteworthy is the fact that the dairy industry was able to get a promotion snuck into this campaign (fat-free milk with the same color design as the water - sneaky). 

This leaves some explaining to do seeing as how fat does not make you fat (blog topic coming soon).

The best drink you'll drink this summer is pure water - get your energy from food not drinks.

Reconnecting you with a correct understanding of consequences.

Enjoy the video:

What happens to your body when you drink Coke?

Watch what happens when you drink a can of Coke…

In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)

40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

After 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

After 60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.

After 60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, excreted away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like being able to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth leaving you more susceptible to the diseases that plague Western Countries - Osteoporosis, Heart Disease, Dental Problems, Fatigue, etc.
 
From Nutritional Research Center
http://www.nutritionresearchcenter.org/healthnews/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-a-coke-right-now/

Food, Movement, Thoughts

Yesterday during church the most impressive moment for me was when someone got up and related a profound story. He asked a coworker what the most valuable thing was in his life. He was inspired by the coworker's response-after thinking for a long moment, the coworker replied, "Relationships."

So true. I even took a moment to write this down (a rare thing for me as I'm usually too busy wrestling with the girls and feeding them snacks to write anything during church services anymore).

Indeed relationships are the most important thing we can cultivate in this life. During the Sunday School lesson I gave, I was sure to repeat this sentiment. Critical relationships in our lives are with our families/friends, our Creator, and also with our own bodies (physical, mental, spiritual). When we lose track of this fact, we become less happy and don't often realize why.

Importantly, many of us are removed from the last relationship - with our own bodies.  Because of the constant bombardment of conflicting ideas, many of us don't truly understand what to feed our bodies in terms of food, movement, and thoughts. Most of us have a general understanding and yet we don't act in ways that produce vibrant health.  Interesting... 

Most of us are disconnected with what our bodies try to tell us on a daily basis.  When we take time to listen, we will sometimes hear, but more often feel whether a behavior was beneficial for our body.  When we learn to listen more intently to our bodies, they will help guide us in becoming more healthy.  When we let the film of interference from outside signals fade away by cultivating an innate awareness from within, we can begin to express the health that our bodies are designed to express.

This is the very reason I created this blog - because our behaviors have consequences and what we do will spill over into what our children do. We need to reconnect with a true understanding of what our bodies naturally require and then figure out how to get ourselves to properly nourish our bodies...for our children's sake.

In Health, Love, and Freedom,

Stephen Perry - Wellness Expert and (soon-to-be) Chiropractor

Go for the wins!

What kind of wins do you have at your house?  What kinds of things will tell you that you've done what you set out to do as a parent?

For me and my daughter - it's when at 3 years old she finally eats some salad because she wants to.

It's her reading a book to her little sister and then running races with her.

It's her giving kisses to her toy baby while laying her down for a nap and telling her, "I love you" after just nursing her.

It's teaching her sister her newly acquired vaccuum-fixing skills.

What do they all have in common?  They all exemplify nourishing her mind, body, and spirit.  It's setting her up for a lifetime of success--of health and happiness and love and growth and service by role modeling.

It's the best gift a parent could ever give to their child and the community - not by coercion or force, but through encouragement and permission.

What kind of wins are you working towards?  How will you know when you have been successful?

If you don't like flies...

Today as I was picking something up from the store for my lovely wife who is preparing for tomorrow's yard sale, I noticed the hand sanitizer by the counter. I thought to myself, "Hmm, they're still selling that stuff?" You see, it's been a long time since I've used it even though it sits on every counter in the Health Clinic. I personally prefer rubbing my hands under running water rather than putting toxic substances, like alcohol, on my skin. (Did you know kids have eaten that stuff and been hospitalized for alcohol poisoning?) I'm very selective about what I put on my skin because the skin is a very absorptive organ and what you put on it goes into your blood similar to if you had eaten it.

So, my next thought was "Why are they still selling that stuff?" and realized, "Oh ya, the flu," - in other words 'bugs'. When reflecting on the last time I was sick, I don't really recall when it happened, and I haven't had a flu shot since 2004, so it's not due to being up on my vaccinations.

There's a better explanation to "epidemics" of flu and illness than lack of hand sanitizer and flu shots. A great doctor said it very well when he described the following scenario:

A woman in the kitchen was annoyed that there were so many flies coming in through the window and insisted that her husband take a look at the scene and kill all the flies. He complied by noting that there were indeed many flies and so sprayed toxic chemicals around where the flies were hanging out. Sure enough, soon there were no longer flies buzzing about. The wife was happy, and when wife is happy, husband is happy too.

But after a couple of days one or two flies started buzzing and by day three there were just as many flies as before. Wife knew just what to do, called in the husband who also understood what was to be done. Again with the poisonous chemicals, again with the mass death of the flies, again one satisfied couple, and again with a couple of days' silence followed by a renewal of flies buzzing.

This carried on for a number of weeks and finally the wife decided she didn't like the continuous exposure to toxic chemicals. She got smart and asked a very important question- "Why are those darn flies buzzing about anyway?" The husband looked outside and saw that the garbage can was directly beneath the kitchen window. Now he had a decision - spray down the garbage can, which, from experience he knew would only be a temporary fix - or he could get rid of the garbage. What do you think he did?

Many of us experience repeated bouts of illness and disease and have been trained to ask what chemical we can use to sanitize the area to kill all those bad bugs and take away the symptoms of the disease. This seems like a logical question, but misses the bigger picture. If we never ask the right questions, we'll never arrive at the right answer.

So, why DO some people get sick when others stay well? Why doesn't everyone at the office "get" what's going around? The answer is NOT that they are exposed to less bugs. The answer, as in the story above, is that they have an internal environment that is less hospitable to the "bad" bugs. They have less areas of garbage in their system, and their body's systems which respond to those bugs are working properly.

The answer is that they have an internal environment that is well-balanced. Could the couple in the story have continued to spray down the garbage and repeatedly kill the flies? What would have been the result? What is it about spraying with chemicals that can EVER get rid of the garbage?

The moral of the story is two-fold:

1. Asking the right question is EVERYTHING. The quality and quantity of our lives is determined by the quality of the questions we ask ourselves.

AND

2. Finding out what garbage we have in our systems is critical because only when we identify it do we have any chance of purposefully removing it.

As a wellness expert, I train people to identify areas of "garbage" in their lives and show them easy, gradual, and comfortable ways of removing them thus allowing their bodies to regain NORMAL, optimal function - NATURALLY. In other words, I help people look for the CAUSE.

The major causes, or categories of garbage, in our lives are:

CHEMICAL (e.g. sugar)
EMOTIONAL (e.g. unmanaged stresses)
PHYSICAL (e.g. chronic sitting, injuries, subluxation)

What drug is ever going to solve the problems caused by an unhealthy diet?

What drug can overcome a problem caused by not moving enough?

What drug can solve a problem created by not feeling loved, appreciated, and having a sense of belonging?

Until next time, live well, naturally, and remember - if you don't like flies...take out the garbage.

Happy 4th of July

Spending time with family is what I remember most about 4ths of July growing up.  Swimming at Aunt Sue's, BBQ'ing, and sitting on the roof watching the Cal Expo firework show were part of growing up.

Being young, I don't know that I really understood the depth of the sacrifice that was required to bring about the great holiday that we all have the opportunity to celebrate this weekend.  The celebration more often became admiring the biggest or the best firework display, having something good to eat, spending time with family, and twirling sparklers while constantly being warned not to burn the other kids.

As a child, I don't recall ever having the desire to take up arms in the service of my country.  I never considered that war would have anything to do with my life.  That changed as I watched the tragic events unfold on the television on September 11, 2001.  I enlisted February 8, 2002 and was deployed in January 2004.

During my service in Afghanistan with the (Inter)National Guard, I gained insight into what it means to give not of your means but of yourself in a very literal sense in the form of blood, sweat, and tears.  I know what it means to live every day as though it may be your last.  I know what it means to spend holidays with family half a world away and I feel for the troops doing the same now.

It is with a full heart that I say to those in the service - Thank You.

I completed my service to my country in February 2010 and since then, my thoughts have turned from being one of the troops enduring in the field to civilian life, endeavoring to inspire those at home to really contemplate our role and responsibility as citizens of the United States.  Our responsibility as parents, as teachers, as role models, and as stewards of the earth.

In June I had a wonderful opportunity to visit Philadelphia, PA and Independence Hall, the birthplace of our nation, and to see the very room in which the Declaration of Independence was signed.  What a humbling experience to be where this treasonous act would begin a war which led to the sacrifice of so many so that we could be free.

I am honored to be the beneficiary of those who gave of themselves not for their own benefit, but so their children and their children's children could have the ability to choose their own government and have real representation - of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Government is supposed to be a representation of our beliefs and our goals.  It is supposed to act as we would act, embodying our values and our desires.  It is my prayer that this can one day happen.  It's our responsibility to work towards making this happen, and when it doesn't, to get educated and send a message to those representing us that they are servants and should be replaced if serving in any way other than as true representatives embodying our values.

Let us all remember our responsibility to have values that would uplift, inspire, and help those around us.  Let us remember for what our forefathers fought - Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - to allow all men (and women) the ability to live a life free of unjust rule.

I hope that each of us truly understands what men (and women) of great courage gave us as we celebrate this holiday - the birth of our nation - which began with an act of treason.

It is with great honor and gratitude that I remember those founding fathers and all those, both living and dead, who followed their footsteps in order to realize this dream.  I honor all those who continue to have this dream in their hearts and who are engaged in the struggle to bring it to pass.

Happy 4th of July!

Who's ruining the planet?

In a recent article which examined the impact of different countries on our environment, the countries were ranked according to their relative and absolute impacts in various environmental categories, which included: natural forest loss, fertilizer use, water pollution, and threat to animal species.

Because of my travels to some very poor countries, I have had my eyes opened to different ways humans live resulting in different impacts on the earth and on our fellow travelers-the other animals.  I've seen people living in ways that represent much less abuse of earth's resources and much more respect to the ecosystems which sustain life and keep us healthy.  These observations coupled with my studies of the beautiful organization and synergistic workings of the human body have made me very interested in the organization and cohesive workings of the earth's ecosystems as parts of a whole.

Just like within the body, the whole is healthy when all of its parts are healthy and working together the way they were designed to.  When certain parts are no longer bearing their load or become sick, the organism as a whole begins to break down.  This is true from the cell, to an organ like the liver, to the human body as a whole, to the society as a whole, to the earth as a whole.  Each larger organization is dependent on the health of the smaller parts, and anything that affects those smaller parts also affects the whole.

In light of my experience with other populations of the world, I'm always curious to see how America stacks up when it comes to our impact.  I'm not being critical when I say this next sentence, I'm just calling like I see it: 

In my opinion, Americans tend to have a very narrow understanding of global cultures and don't understand that the way we do things here is very different from the way all other humans live and have lived.  This includes everything from the way we sit on a toilet to mall shopping. 

I'm not making judgement about the way we do things, I am however saying that we tend to have quite different values and place our money on very different priorities compared to the rest of the world.

So in answering the question of this blog post "Who's ruining the planet?" I must say that fortunately, America didn't come in first. Unfortunately that honor was left to Brazil which is destroying the lungs of the earth (the rainforest) so fast that we were pushed to a close 2nd place. I'm not feeling so proud to be an American at this moment.

Table 7. Ten worst- and best-ranked countries by individual absolute environmental metrics: natural forest loss (NFL), natural habitat conversion (HBC), marine captures (MC), fertilizer use (FER), water pollution (WTP), total threatened species (THR), and carbon emissions (CO2).


If you can make out the above chart, you can see that America received the rank it did mostly because we use more chemical fertilizers than anyone else.  These fertilizers have been shown to seep into the soil and to contaminate our drinking water sickening and killing not only animals but our children and ourselves as well (have you heard of "blue baby" alerts, here is a door-hanger alert from the government).
 
When thinking about the fertilizers, I can't help but turn my thoughts to the corn and soy fields of the Midwest which continue to be subsidized by tax dollars so that we can support our addictions. Addictions to what you ask?  Why, firstly to diseased cattle and chickens which are turned into hamburgers, hotdogs, and "nuggets" which make up too many American fast food meals. And secondly to the corn sweeteners which help to plump our little ones. These corn sweeteners are in a very high percentage of processed "foods" from ketchup to fruit drinks, sodas to candy. Is it any wonder why the top diseases killing most Americans are Heart Disease, Cancer, Type II Diabetes, Obesity, and Strokes?

Please understand that I am not being critical of Americans for this, for it is our lack of understanding that allows us to be in the current situation, but I wouldn't be doing my duty as an American if I didn't let you know that the current epidemics of chronic health issues are not normal.  The question we must ask ourselves is:  As far as the earth goes, what do we want to leave to our children? 

As a Boy Scout, I was always taught to "leave it better than you found it" and I can't help but wonder if there's any chance of doing that with the planet as a whole.  If we continue to do what we've done for the last 30 years, the answer will be "no" and our children's health will continue to decline and disease will become even more "normal". 

But there is hope!  

As they say, recognizing the problem is the first step.  And once we've identified a problem, we can work towards solutions.  There will be many articles to come on this blog about solutions because as I see it, the only way for we as humans to be healthy is to clean this place up, and I believe we can do it. 

The movement has already started. 

And when I look at my kids and know that if we don't do something they have no chance, I get the motivation to spread the word about how we can have a mutually beneficial relationship with the earth rather than a parasitic one.