Physical activity has significant health benefits, for example in the prevention of cardiovascular and coronary disease. Extensive research is now showing substantial benefits for psychological health and cognition as well. Exercise not only improves cognitive function in normal individuals, but is also associated with a lower risk for depression, Alzheimer’s disease and other types of neurodegenerative diseases. Clinical studies have repeatedly demonstrated that exercise benefits neuronal function, promotes brain vascularisation, stimulates neurogenesis and enhances learning. Exercise elevates levels of neurotropic factors, factors that regulate the proliferation and differentiation of cells in the central nervous system. Among these factors brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) is a molecule that is consistently demonstrated to be up-regulated with exercise. BDNF has been shown to be necessary for long-term potentiation, a neural analogue of long-term memory formation, and for the growth and survival of new neurons. Both animal and human studies have demonstrated that BDNF increases with exercise. The health-enhancing potential of physical activity can be accomplished by incorporating physical activity into the daily life routine.

Exercise and Inflammation

Many epidemiological and clinical studies show that extended exercise programs generally reduce markers of inflammation (like C-reactive protein) over the long-term. The general gist is that while regular exercise tends to lower markers of systemic inflammation, acute exercise increases acute inflammation markers. The question arises: how do we avoid making those acute spikes into chronic ones?

An individual engaging in too much physical activity and poor recovery time can provoke oxidative stress and cause a constant or chronic low-grade inflammation in the body. In particular professional athletes suffer high levels of oxidative stress and sustained low-grade inflammatory response. More at risk however are amateur athletes and fitness fanatics. This group is especially vulnerable because they lack professional support from trainers, nutritionists, medics etc. Amateur athletes often lack sufficient dietary knowledge and obtain less physical recovery as a result of family or work-related responsibilities and/or stresses.

Below I have summed up a few inflammation inducing factors that also tend toward prevalence in developed countries.

• Toxic diets: High-sugar, high-processed carb, high-industrial fat, high-gluten, high-CAFO meat, low-food is a pretty accurate descriptor of the modern Western diet.
• Insufficient omega-3 intake: Omega-3 fats form the precursors for anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, which are an integral part of the inflammatory response. Poor omega-3 status means insufficient production of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids and a lopsided inflammatory response to normal stimuli.
• Excessive omega-6 intake: Omega-6 fats form the precursors for inflammatory eicosanoids, which are an integral part of the inflammatory response. High omega-6 status (especially when combined with poor omega-3 status) means excessive production of inflammatory eicosanoids and a lopsided inflammatory response to normal stimuli.
• Lack of sleep: Poor sleep is linked to elevated inflammatory markers. Poor sleep is a chronic problem in developed nations. Either we go to bed too late, wake up too early, or we use too many electronics late at night and disrupt the quality of what little sleep we get. Or all three at once.
• Lack of movement: People lead sedentary lives, by and large, and a lack of activity is strongly linked to systemic, low-grade inflammation. People don’t have to walk to get places, they take escalators and elevators, they sit for hours on end, and they don’t have time for regular exercise.
• Poor recovery: Other people move too much, with too little rest and recovery. When I ran 100+ miles a week, I certainly wasn’t sedentary, but I was chronically inflamed. Overtraining is a form of chronic inflammation.
• Chronic stress: Modern life is stressful. Bills, work, commuting, politics, exercise that you hate – it all adds up and it doesn’t seem to let up or go away. And if it becomes too much for you to handle (I know it’s too much for me at times), your body will have a physiological, inflammatory response to emotional stress.
• Lack of down time: When you’re always on the computer, always checking your email/Facebook/smartphone, you are always “on.” You may think you’re relaxing because your body is stationary, but you’re not relaxing.
• Lack of nature time: We spend too much time contained in cubicles, cars, trains, and cities, away from trees, leaves, and soft earth. In a way, nature is home for us. Going home certainly has its measured benefits.
• Poor gut health: The gut houses the bulk of the human immune system. When it’s unhealthy, so is your inflammatory regulation.
• Poor acute stressor/chronic stress ratio: We respond far better to acute stressors than repeated, sustained stress – even if the latter is of a lower intensity.

Effective exercise is inflammatory exercise… to a point.

Some degree of inflammation is necessary if you hope to get anything tangible out of a workout regimen – hypertrophy, increased stamina, increased strength, improved work capacity – because your body gets stronger via the inflammatory response to the stress and by rebuilding and refortifying its tissues to deal with future demands. An effective training session is basically an acute stressor that initiates a transitory, temporary, but powerful inflammatory response. An effective training regimen is composed, then, of lots of those acutely stressful training sessions interspersed with plenty of recovery time against a backdrop of lots of slow moving and good nutrition. You can’t escape that.

Avoid continuous inflammatory response.

Track your workouts plotted on a graph: exercise type, intensity level and duration. The inflammatory responses to your training should resemble a series of peaks, dips, and valleys without overlap. If you don’t let your last exercise-induced inflammatory spike recede before exercising again, you will create inflammation overlap which over time will become a type chronic inflammation. Space inflammatory spikes with sufficient recovery time from the previous workout.

Remember that an inflammatory response resolves almost as soon as the offending factor is removed. As long as you remove your hand from the flame, you will allow your system to recover and oxidative stress and chronic inflammation will subside.

Endurance Training and Overtraining

Any type of exercise – besides maybe walking – has the potential to become chronic and induce a state of chronic inflammation. Doing high-intensity Crossfit WODs every single day, will do it. Training for a marathon will do it. Do what you enjoy without it becoming chronic. Endurance events aren’t going to kill you, but on the long run the training and preparation for them might do.

The reason why I single out Chronic Cardio like marathons, triathlons, and other ultra-endurance events (and why it’s the easiest way to over-train and overstrain the body, which results in systemic low grade inflammation and oxidative stress) is because these activities usually require ridiculous amounts of training time. If you want to be the best Olympic weight lifter you can be, you’ll have to train hard and train often and undergo serious stress, but you won’t be under load for more than a second or two at a time. If you want to be the best endurance athlete you can be, you’re likely going to be “under load” for hours and hours each day. In these sports there is very little margin, which is why regular endurance work is so problematic for so many people.

The actual idea is to subject to body to an enduring type of cardiovascular activity. This type of exercise is essential to the primal lifestyle, and contributes to a large number of benefits. Let me name a few:

- Exposure to sunlight. Curbs natural vitamin D production. For more information on the benefits of Vit D, read this post. In the forest, there is only so much exposure to sunshine because you walk in the shade of the trees. Risk of sunburn is much lower.

- Outdoor hikes make you reconnect with some of the elements. This has a relaxing effect on both body and mind. No big city pollution, no distraction like work, traffic, other people, phone, social media etc.

- Endured slow pace activity helps you to build resistance. It also promotes capilarization and building new blood vessels, especially in the extremities and around the heart.

- The biggest benefit for me is to see that in nature nothing is perfect. Trees and other vegetation grow cris-cross, but it’s these imperfections that give it its beauty. Being in nature always provides me with the insight, that we’re mere passengers, and really not that important as we sometimes think we are.

Well anyway, after three hours of moving through the forest on beautiful sinlge trails, different types of vegetation we got back to the meeting point. Everyone tired but extremely satisfied.

See you next time.

Nevertheless I really feel I need to write this post, directing my attention to the many questions I get from clients about chiropractors and their doubtful adjustments and marketing practices. The number of questions I get on chiropractic treatment and the doubts and insecurity that arise by their invasive techniques and abusive marketing schemes are immense. Therefore this post. Let’s get some of the facts on paper.

For acute relief of pain and discomfort.

First of all let’s look at the treatment itself. Is it beneficial, is it dangerous, are there any contraindications to getting a chiropractic treatment. From a scientific point of view, if there is a relief from pain, discomfort and related physical immobility, and this is what usually a chiropractic treatment serves for, there is a definite positive relation to what we call acute pain relief or mobility increase after chiropractic treatment. There are thousands of people that have benefitted from the acute relief.

For chronic illness or chronic conditions

This is the point where I think one needs to be a very careful. The common fear mongering that happens once you are in the grip of a chiropractor is what puts me off most. I get people on the phone that are crying after their intake with a chiropractor. Some even feared death if not adjusted. This is common practice to get the patient stuck to the treatment table for a prolonged period of time usually many times per week. Later on I provide you with a link  to a video on death related to stroke induced, not uncommonly due to chiropractic adjustment.

People’s common sense often say: is it good to get you back, neck and hip adjusted so many times? It is certainly not natural and cannot be good for the body or…? Personally I’d rather people start exercising and get their bodies moving, change their diet and their lifestyle a bit, then to see them being ripped off, put into a state of fear twice a week and risk stroke from neck adjustment.

But is the chiropractor to blame completely? Some say yes, I say no. People nowadays want quick fixes, they don’t want to invest time and effort into knowing their bodies and healing their bodies. I even think some people even like the attention they get from having an ailment or condition. Anyway, the combination of the fear-inducing ‘chiropractor’ combined with laziness and wishful thinking of his patients, is what puts chiropractors firm in their saddle and make them earn thousands of euros on you in relatively short period of time. Note that a chiropractor can treat up to 8 people an hour. Calculate your profits. More to that later…

Malpractice and Risk of Stroke

I suppose there are good, less good and bad professionals in any sector, but the amount of posts and sites available on chiropractic malpractice are just enormous. I would recommend you investigate a little bit before you make a decision on what treatment you want for your illness, injury or condition.

I also found a funny post that explains something about chiropractic practice. It basically talks about diagnosis, subluxation complex and common patient scare tactic (which is obviously found throughout the whole chiropractic world). Another website I found has some quite shocking posts on what some call the white coat mafia.

I stumbled across an MSNBC article about Chiropractors Inducing Strokes with their cervical neck manipulations.
Dr. Kazmi examined her only a few minutes before he escorted her across the street to Montefiore Medical Center, where doctors took scans of her neck and brain. “Christa is lucky to be alive” he says. “I knew the moment I saw her that she had had a stroke.” And he is convinced that the stroke was caused by Heck’s neck adjustment, which tore a critical artery that keeps blood flowing to the brain. “I see at least two cases like this or worse a year” Dr. Kazmi says. “Cervical manipulation is a preposterous thing to do, and it should be banned.”

According to Heck’s medical records, the chiropractor’s neck adjustment left a 4.5-centimeter tear in her left vertebral artery, one of four pathways that control blood flow to the brain (the others are the right vertebral artery and the left and right carotid arteries). This is something I’ve known about for a while, from following James Randi’s efforts to banish nonsense in all forms; including chiropractic “medicine”. This isn’t new information, just a far better publicized than average story about it.

Wade S. Smith, M.D., director of the Neuro-vascular Service at the University of California at San Francisco, was the lead author of a 2003 study in the journal Neurology that confirmed the connection between cervical manipulation and stroke. In the study, Dr. Smith says, patients with strokes caused by torn arteries were nearly five times more likely to have had a recent neck adjustment than those with strokes caused by something else, indicating that “recently seeing a chiropractor is an independent risk factor for stroke.” I mean, seriously, the story goes on to talk about people who got so fucked up from having their necks torqued around that they now have to eat their food through a feeding tube.

Given the enormous amount of chiropractic visits in this country, Dr. Schievink says, the risk per visit is tiny. On the other hand, patients see chiropractors an average of 10 times during treatment. “If you take into consideration how many times they go and how many manipulations are performed, it does become a public health concern” he says. “It’s a low risk but potentially a life-threatening one.”

Chiropractors Marketing

My personal story is that I met a chiropractor through a mutual friend. I did have very occasional headaches (once a year max) and have a slight scoliosis but without any discomfort or pain. I was immediately told I had subluxations in the atlas and dorsal spine and should visit him several times per week for treatment. After a while I felt my neck got blocked and stiff more rapidly and I also experienced constant cracking when moving my head. Headaches became more frequent, my back even started aching so I decided to leave it. My neck is still cracking regularly, and I get blocked more frequently as well. Something I never used to have. But that’s not all. After befriending with him (I do know many people that can afford his 6 months cracking schemes) we started meeting up for a coffee from time to time. I soon realised he only talked about how to make more money, how to go from 5 visits an hour to 10, how to make 30.000eur a month instead of ‘’only’’ 17.000eur. He never spoke about quality, never mentioned exercise or diet, the whole world of chiropractors it seemed to me, revolves solely around the number of patients you can treat per hour and how you need a chiropractor to stay free of disease. If felt like talking the operations manager of a large car factory. It put me completely off. His personal health is bad. He has a chronic knee problem, necrosis of the femur bone and doesn’t seem to free himself of that. He’s been seeing specialists on a regular basis and a chiropractor every three months… isn’t that a bit odd.

Here is an excerpt of a chiropractor marketing tool:

We need more chiropractors serving more people to help them heal and grow naturally with the chiropractic wellness lifestyle (bleh). I am sure you agree that our current national healthcare system is not healthcare at all (risky remark Sir). Read the full article here and decide for yourself whether they mention care more than they mention client acquisition.

There is a lot of solid evidence for manual therapy (adjustments), but it has to be for the right person for the right procedure. Many chiropractors hold the belief that “subluxations” are the source of pain or that the “hole in one” theory whereby the whole body can be treated by manipulating the spine. For these chiropractors, there is NO good evidence for what they do. Because of the suspicion the public has about the practice of chiropractic, the demand for patient education materials and practice-building courses for use by chiropractors has created a lucrative business opportunity for chiropractic entrepreneurs. Chiropractic journals and newspapers are filled with ads selling tapes, books, and seminars on how to attract new patients and build a million-dollar practice, all espousing the vertebral subluxation theory. The newest twist in practice-building is the “integrated” chiropractic office in which there is an MD on staff to sign insurance claim forms for conditions and procedures not normally covered under chiropractic care.

As far as i know no doctor has ever been able to reliably demonstrate the existence of “subluxations. No-one has ever been able to locate a “subluxation” through X-Rays, MRI or any other diagnostic test. (Apart from Chiropractors of course, who seem to see them everywhere), Here’s an interesting article called ‘’7 Things You Need to Know About Chiropractic Therapy’’ , the article is very neutral and explains the history of chiro, so have a read yourself.

‘’When is chiropractic care a scam’’ is an in-depth article by Todd B. Kashdan, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of Psychology, debunking some of the myths while offering red flags to any type of holistic treatment mostly referring to chiropractic care. This is a well-investigated and well-written article, anyone should read before using any type of holistic care. It reflects a bit my personal story or having a bit of a distance to my own chiropractor.

Another new hype is chiropractic treatment for babies and children. I strongly advice against this practice and would NEVER take my child or newborn to a chiropractor.

Resumen:

The overall feeling I get with chiropractic care is that the sick, the weak and the desperate get preyed upon. Treatment schemes are abusive and they are designed to dig very deep into your wallet. In my opinion regular treatments of this kind are too invasive, can cause harm and permanent damage to the body and should only be done on a randomly occasional, non-regular basis by a very reputed professional. Below a link on how to assess your chiropractor and to see whether he is a white-coated car sales man or operations manager or a health care professional that serves the wellbeing of his patients.

Regular exercise, balanced nutrition and stress relief management should be the primary focus for patients suffering any type of chronic condition or illness, and any other type of invasive treatment should be handled with care. Quick fixes don’t exists and anyone with a recurring illness or condition should invest time and effort into investigating possible relieves and improvements for that condition. I see chiropractic care as a possible therapy for acute muscular pain or stiffness and surely has helped thousands of patients worldwide. But after my experience I have been put off completely by the marketing and greed chiropractors universally seem to exhibit.I also wasn’t informed of any risks of treatment whatsoever.

I definitely recommend osteopathy over chiropractic treatment. I also recommend exercise, diet and lifestyle changes over any type of invasive quick fix treatments. And I would say make an effort to understand your condition. Listen to your body and meditate… there you will find answers. Go to your GP or specialist with those answers. And if you still want to try chiropractic treatment here is a last post with advice on how to assess your chiropractor.

Last but not least this video channel  dedicated to raising public awareness of the dangers of chiropractic neck manipulation, which include stories about chiropractic stroke, disability and even death. Also visit whatstheharm.net a fabulous website for questioning all sorts of alternative medicine. Here a list of ”what’s the harm of going to the chiropractor”:  http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html

Again I am not here to tell you chiropractors are bad, but they should not be allowed to manipulate your neck. They should also inform you on the risk of neck adjustment, which to stop people running away from their hands, they never seem to do. For your own sake and that of your loved ones, spread this post and help people make an informed judgement on chiropractic care. For more info on how to rebalance yourself emotionally, chemically and physically you can visit www.marksdailyapple.com

Please do not hesitate to leave your questions or remarks. I might upset some chiropractors by this post, but let’s stay factual, we are in the end talking about people’s health as well as sound business principles and morality.

Bit by bit we’re leaving the winter behind and enter spring time, one of the best seasons to enjoy the better climate, the sun (in Spain for sure) and the lengthening days. At the same time our cells demand nutrients, as some vitamin – mineral deposits have been depleted after the long winter time.
In this post I will write about one of the biggest vitamin deficiencies that occur during and shortly after the winter, Vitamin D

During winter time we get much less outdoor activity and therefore less sun. As a consecuence for those who haven’t travelled to some exotic destiny, your Vitamin D reserves are practically empty, especially in the months February and March (including April and May for those who spend more time indoors or live on higher latitudes.

Our body can obtain Vitamin D from two sources. One is the already mentioned sun, the other our diet. The sun activates vit D production through activating the skin. The main dietary sources of vit D are fish (salmon, herring, sardines), cod liver oil, milk and eggs.

The five main benefits of Vit D are:

1. Better nutritient absorbtion through the intestine, especially calcium and phosphorus, which helps to maintain strong teeth and bones, this is especially important for the elderly.
2. Strong immune system, more active hormone system and better cell nutrition.
3. Muscle tissue recovery and HGH activation
4. Reduces Blood Pressure, Stress and Depression.
5. Better and more healthy skin, improves insuline secretion and can thus improve weight loss and digestive track conditions like constipation.

Cod liver oil is the best source of dietary Vit D. Taking it by the spoon has never been very tasty but nowadays there are odor free capsules available. If you are particularly tired or low on energy, or even depressed, I would recommend taking a combination of supplements that can help you feel more energetic and more positive. This is what I take in February/March

1x day – 1000mg cod liver oil

1x day – Multimax Minerals

1x day – Green Tea Extract

Probiotics

Chlorella o Spirulina

This makes me feel more energetic and alert. It helps my training efficiency and performance.

These suplements dont substitute a healthy lifestyle with abundant exercise and a balanced diet. Do not take these supplements in case you doctor or your medication indicate otherwise. These supplements don’t cure disease. In case you have any questions or doubts, feel free to contact me by email sascha@active-8.es or give me a ring at: 675 41 46 43.

Salud!

Sascha Rado

This graphic, provided SELF NUTRITION DATA,  indicates the percentage of the food’s calories that are derived from the three main macronutrients—carbohydrates, fats, and protein. If the food contains alcohol, a fourth number will appear that indicates the percentage of calories derived from alcohol.

Each position within this special graph indicates a different caloric ratio. The top point of this pyramid indicates a food with 100% of its calories derived from fats (and 0% from carbohydrates and protein). As you move downward on the pyramid, the percentage of calories from fats decreases; the very bottom line of the pyramid indicates a food that is completely fat-free. In a similar manner, the left-most corner of the pyramid is 100% carbohydrate and the right-most is 100% protein.

How to use the Caloric Ratio Pyramid™

Although there are differences of opinion over which ratios are most optimal for health and weight loss, many popular diets are based on a particular caloric ratio. For example, the USDA guidelines recommend that approximately 60% of the calories you consume should come from carbohydrates and approximately 30% from fat. Proponents of the Zone™ diet recommend a ratio (40%-30%-30%) much lower in carbohydrates but higher in protein. Advocates of the Atkins™ and South Beach™ diets recommend even lower consumption of carbohydrates, while many other diet philosophies focus on an ultralow consumption of fats.

Regardless of which diet philosophy you subscribe to, the Caloric Ratio Pyramid™ will show you how various foods and meal plans align with your dietary goals. Any recommended caloric ratio can be envisioned as a “target zone.” (Please see examples below.)

If you are new to the paleo diet, you may find yourself a bit lost, but here are the general rules:

In:
You can eat all lean meat, fish, seafood & eggs
You can eat all non-starchy seasonal vegetables
Plenty of seasonal fruit
Moderate healthy fats
Moderate nuts and seeds

Out:
No grains or cereals at all
No legumes
No dairy products (eggs are not dairy)
No processed foods – make it yourself!
No sugars, so agave, organic honey, molasses, pure spun golden sunshine are out.
No artificial sweeteners. These are not food, so they are out too.

The hardest part of any journey is always taking the first step. A new diet is no different. Making the paleo switch comes with challenges. Depending on how heavy your diet is with grainsand sugar before you switch, you will experience an adjustment period of varying degrees of intensity.You will experience a dip in your athletic performance and have times when feel lethargic and cranky. This period usually lasts about two weeks. Keep in mind that your body is going through withdrawals and I can tell you from my own experience that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Do I feel good about my body? Maybe you want to lose a couple of kilos, maintain your clothing size or return to having a firm belly,
Do I feel good about myself? Maybe you want to eliminate stress, improve your lifestyle, increase your self-esteem etc.,
Am I in good shape? Maybe you could be stronger, improve your aerobic capacity or flexibility.

For that and for many other purposes, people hire a personal trainer or fitness coach. The most common goals are:

Muscle toning or muscle definition,
Weight reduction or weight control,
Increase in muscle volume,
Sports Performance,
Specific Race Preparation,
Exercise for Elderly
Postural Improvement, Spine Therapy
Injury and Illness Prevention
Functional Training
Exercise for Pregnant Women
Postpartum Training

How to get going…

Your personal trainer should adapt every personalised training program to your individual needs and physical ability ,in order to be able to obtain good results. To determine your body fat %, weight, height, lifestyle, blood pressure, etc. a personal trainer should always conduct initial measurements. Through  addditional fitness tests, we can get a fairly accurate idea of each person’s fitness level, thanks to which we can design training programs more effectively. Depending on the goals, a controlled diet is recommended by most fitness trainers in order to get to achieve better results.

For more information: info@active-8.es