Dr. Rathburn's Blog

Don't regain the weight and have a diet "do-over"!  Don't let these diet mistakes happen to you!

1. Overeating away from home.  Eating out poses a special challenge when calorie counting because restaurant portions are, shall we say, OVERGENEROUS!  Ask for a to go box as soon as your meal gets to the table and put half your meal in it to eat later.

2.  Not reading labels.  Just a tad bit of reading when grocery shopping will be wonderful to your health.  Pay attention to serving size and calories in the serving size.

3.  Eating too fast.  If you eat quickly, your brain won't get the message that you are full in time.  Put the fork down between each bite and chew slower.

4.  Denying yourself your favorite foods.  Totally banning a favorite "unhealthy" food from your diet sets you up for temptation.  Instead, use your calorie counting skills to allow a small indulgence occasionally.

5.  Guilt over mistakes.  If you are out with friends and get talked into dessert, don't beat yourself up.  Don't go in a backwards direction - instead put it in perspective.  It's just one mistake, not a ton of them!  It's the ton of them that will lead you in the wrong direction.  Get over it!

6.  Putting too much "weight" on the scale.  Weight is a measurement that is incredibly crude when dieting.  Why not use percentage body fat.  It's not hard to measure with a simple handheld device.  Also, take into account other dieting statistics like increasing your veggie intake by one serving per day. 

7.  Not exercising enough.  Even if you can achieve your diet goals by calorie counting alone, you would be more successful (and healthier) if you were physically active.  If you can't do 30 minutes at one time during the day, break it up into three 10 minute sessions.

8.  Emotional eating.  Eating in response to sadness, boredom, or stress wrecks your calorie counting for at least one day.  If you have the urge to eat in response to your emotions instead of hunger pains, find something else to do that will distract you for 10-15 minutes, like taking a walk.     

9.  Thinking of your diet as a DIET!  Instead, focus on making a healthy lifestyle and diet choices that you can live with for a long time.

10.  Letting one mistake start you on a downward spiral.  The remedy for this one - if you make a mistake, admit it, forgive yourself, and get back on track right away. 

If I can keep you from wearing out till you are 100, you win!

When I was in Chiropractic college we spent a lot of time on Chiropractic philosophy.  My previous blogs incorporate some of those discussions.  It's true that we must function mechanically well for our spines, the nerves, and the tissues they control to work well; ultimately leading to "health".  I find that sometimes when discussing what Chiropractic is to patients, it helps to make analogies.  I have come up with many.  Comparing us to a machine is one of my favorites.

Our spines and related muscles, ligaments and joints must function in proper relationship, much like a machine.  Machines must have all of their parts working properly in order to run smoothly without wearing.  When this happens the machine runs well.  It will last a long time, be more reliable and rust slower. 

We are not all that different from this machine.  If our vertebrae are in the best possible alignment and are able to move through their proper range of motion without impingement, we tend to have fewer spinal problems.  Proper motion and function keep us running smoothly therefore minimizing pain and degenerative arthritic "rust" in the future. 

Another reason to keep our spines working well is to insure that the spinal cord and nerves that run between our vertebrae are free and functioning normally.  When this happens, we feel better and information running between our brain and body is transmitted properly; allowing all of our parts to work better.  This leads to better health overall. 

Sound too simple?  I used to think it was also.  Agreed, there are lots of other factors: injuries, conditioning, occupational hazards, obesity......blah, blah, blah, the list goes on.  But still, if you make your machine work as good as it reasonably can then you will feel as good as possible.  Changing parts generally isn't an option.  Medicine helps some with symptoms.  Prevention is ultimately the way to go and Chiropractic focuses on just that. 

To better health naturally,

Dr. Rathburn

1. Every step counts; every bite counts.

2. He who shops on an empty stomach goes home with an empty wallet and wakes up with tight pants.

3. I can tell you what, when, and how much to eat, but I can't be there when you visit with Ben and Jerry.

4. Nobody gets fat eating apples, oranges, or carrots.

5. There are 21 meals a week.  If 18 of them are healthy, you'll be healthy.

6. Eating the fruit is much better than drinking the juice.

7. Better food is fresher food and fresher food is on the perimeter of the market.

8. Show me a person with a magic pill, potion or powder, and I'll show you a person after a bunch of your dollars.

9. You are what you eat, not what you take.

10. A good diet without supplements is better than a bad diet with them.

11. A product that has everything doesn't have enough of anything to really do anything.

12. Sometimes you can't tell whether something's helping until you stop taking it, but if a doctor recommends you stop a product that works, I recommend a second opinion.

As another year draws to a close, here's a preview of what I expect to see more of in 2010.  The negative impact that the misuse and overuse of drugs is having on our global health can no longer be swept under the media carpet. 

A recent article that focuses on the state of antibiotic-resistance in Europe (1) by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) states "If this wave of antibiotic resistance gets over us, we will not be able to do organ transplants, hip replacements, cancer chemotherapy, intensive care, and neo-natal care for premature babies."  According to this article, each year these microbes (sometimes referred to as superbugs) are responsible for 400,000 infections, 2.5 million hospital days and 25,000 deaths, and that's in Europe alone!  The culprits are the same as they were decades ago: medical doctors who keep prescribing antibiotics for viruses (colds and flu) even though they know antibiotics will have no effect.  This situation is costing Europe more than $1.3 billion in hospital stays and another $900 million in lost productivity per year.  Doctors mis-prescribe the antibiotics to save them the time and hassle of educating their patients.  The drug companies make billions selling the stuff and the European economy is stuck paying the tab. 

In the USA this scenario is no different than in Europe, except that here, it's actually worse (something I haven't exactly been quiet about).  This country is pumping out drugs with limited research and then holding its collective breath to see what the long-term adverse side effects will be once the drugs begin being used by the masses.  The strategy seems to be to sell now and factor in the expenses related to the cost of a certain number of lawsuits, recalls, etc., as a cost of doing business (remember Vioxx?)  What is lost in the quest for the dollar is the price unsuspecting patients pay in terms of their health. 

Again, I believe this is something you will read and hear a lot more of in the next year - and the year after that etc., until something is done to change this horrific situation.  Fortunately, the chiropractic approach remains a reasonable and cost effective approach (think about it - when was the last time you saw a TV commercial by lawyers advertising to sue chiropractors?  You only see them wanting to sue over drugs and their side effects!)  In these times of profit maximization, make choices for health and wellness that make drugs unnecessary in your everyday life.  It's just one way to help ensure you'll have a happy and healthy new year.

1. Kelland K. "Antibiotic Overuse Threatens Modern Medicine: Experts." Reuters, Nov. 10, 2009.

This is a post I have debated about writing for at least a year.  Probably because it's controversial, and it's happening to me.  This is one of the most difficult things to endure as a man and it's a big wake up call to men my age.  It's the middle age craziness some men experience.  It's been known by many names, but mostly goes by andropause or male menopause.  Despite jokes and ridicule, research proves its existence and it is both a physical and mental phenomenon.  We'll discuss both aspects.

The toughest part of andropause is the mental aspect.  Some men find it quite easy to accept the aging process: wrinkles, abdominal weight gain, muscle mass deterioration, balding, etc.  Others fight every inch of it with cosmetic surgery and hair replacement procedures.  Some men feel the need to buy stuff like new sporty cars or (in more drastic cases) they start dating much younger women.  I can personally attest to the fact that it is tough seeing your youth slowly go away.  However, in the end the aging process will win.  Try not to fight it and accept the fact that you have a certain mental age and not a chronological age.  Whether you believe it or not, what really matters is how old you are mentally and if you ask a woman, most of them will tell you the same thing.      

Physically starting at around age 30, testosterone levels start dropping.  Somewhere around 30 percent of men in their fifties have lowered testosterone levels, which means lowered libido, depression, memory loss, erectile dysfunction and loss of muscle mass (YIKES!).  If you gain fat weight, you may be asking for real trouble!  Excess weight leads to increased levels of a protein that blocks the action of testosterone, making it unavailable to his body.  Please believe me, testosterone does alot of beneficial things in the human body (NOT just the sexual effects) and a loss of this precious hormone's effects is incredibly unhealthy.  

Pay attention: here is how to deal with this nasty condition, guys (and ladies who want to help their men!).

1.  Get up and exercise!!!  It's a must!  It does wonders for the human body and the mind.  Plus for me, I enjoy running and trying to get a 32 year old man to keep up with me ("C'mon, ya young whippersnapper!").  It also increases your bone and muscle strength, heading off muscle wasting and fat building.

2.  Increase sex time.  Men tend to have fewer erections as they get older.  Up to 90% of erectile dysfunction has a physical cause, not a mental one.  Most doctors are in agreement that being able to have decent sex when you are older is more likely if you've continued to keep your equipment in working order by having sex throughout middle age.

3.  Watch your diet and take advantage of the ways that food can help you boost your testosterone.  Drink less alcohol and avoid low-fat, low-protein diets.  Instead, eat more niacin (pill form is available here at the clinic) for a boost in your "good" HDL cholesterol.  Niacin is found in dairy, lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts, and eggs.  Also, use more canola, olive, and safflower oil, and add some garlic and onions to your sandwiches and burgers to get more allicin.  Not sure what allicin is?  Here is the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allicin

 To find out more, this book has lots of great information!