Allergy Afflicted??

More talk on Allergies:

"Allergies are caused by the mistaken immune system responses to harmless substances such as pollen, cat hair, or dust mites. These responses produce defensive immune symptoms such as runny noses and watering eyes. The allergy industry treats allergies through the exclusive use of drugs that either desensitize the immune system toward potential allergens or suppress its natural response system altogether. Most of these drugs have multiple side effects and are only marginally effective. The concepts of advanced hygiene offer better cleansing techniques that will keep most of the offending substances away from your body (and may even avoid triggering an immune system response altogether.)"

Stay tuned next week, when we'll discuss aspects of Dr. Rubin's "advanced hygiene."

Motion Is Life

On a personal note, Jeremiah and I just finished our events at the United States Air Force Marathon; 1/2 marathon for me, full for him. The races were good, but I think we were both glad to see that FINISH line at the end. Speaking of finish, I just read about this postrun sequence and wanted to share it.

Stretches for Injury Prevention

FLEXIBLE ROUTINE

A 10-minute postrun yoga sequence that will improve your range of motion and prevent injury.

By Sage Rountree

Image by Daniel Krall

From the October 2009 issue of Runner's World

Most runners wouldn't describe themselves as limber or loose—especially after logging a five-, 10-, or 20-miler. But practicing yoga after your workouts can remedy that. By increasing blood and oxygen flow to muscles, tendons, and ligaments, yoga boosts flexibility, reduces soreness, and speeds recovery. This series of six poses targets runners' tightest and weakest spots, improving range of motion and strength to keep muscles and joints healthy. And as a bonus, you'll also develop balance, core strength, and focus. Done together, these exercises make the perfect postrun routine.



1. Triangle
Stretches the outer and inner hips and thighs; strengthens the core and legs.







2. Pyramid
Stretches the hips and hamstrings; strengthens the quads and core.







3. Quadriceps Stretch in Lunge
Stretches the front leg's hamstring and the back leg's hip flexors and quadriceps.







4. Pigeon Forward Fold
Stretches the hip muscles, including the piriformis, and the iliotibial band.







5. Happy Baby
Stretches the hamstrings and groin and helps release tension in the back.







6. Head to Knee
Stretches the hamstrings and calves. Use a strap for assistance if your legs are tight.

Real Milk is Raw Milk

Powdered skim milk, a source of dangerous oxidized cholesterol and neurotoxic amino acids, is added to 1% and 2% milk. Low-fat yogurts and sour creams contain mucopolysaccharide slime to give them body. Pale butter from hay-fed cows contains colorings to make it look like vitamin-rich butter from grass-fed cows. Bioengineered enzymes are used in large-scale cheese production. Many mass produced cheeses contain additives and colorings and imitation cheese products contain vegetable oils.

Boycott counterfeits.

How To Get Sick

Don't breastfeed your baby.

"Mothers, consider breastfeeding your children if you don't want them to risk the trauma of numerous childhood diseases and if you don't want ot pay the hospital bills. It will also reduce your risk of developing breast cancer by 25 percent, and it may lower the risk of postpartum depression. Mother's milk contains cells that attack harmful bacteria in the baby's system, and it is able to form antibodies that destroy invading viruses as well. Mother's milk is the Maker's perfect food for babies, delivered in the close bond of maternal intimacy."

Allergies and Your Environment

Allergies

Back To Health Center

Van D. Merkle, DC, CCN, DACBN, DABCI

Andrew R. Dyer, DC

Tracey C. Merkle

Springtime means the start of little league games, gardening, long walks

with your dog, and for at least one in five Americans, itchy watery eyes,

sneezes, runny noses, swelling, nasal congestion and a slew of other allergy

related symptoms. But before you start pointing fingers at pollen, grass,

weeds and molds for bringing on these maladies, take a look at your

immune system.

The pollen, dust and mold are actually just harmless substances in our

environment which some immune systems inappropriately target as

dangerous invaders. To protect the body, white blood cells called mast cells

and basophils are activated to fight off the invaders leading to an extreme

inflammatory response and the release of a chemical called histamine into

the blood stream. This immune system malfunction causes your common

allergy symptoms like watery eyes, swelling and mucus production.

Amazingly, most people simply suffer through these symptoms year after

year or mask the problem with over the counter medications or allergy

shots but we need to realize that this problem is not going away. In fact, it

is getting worse. An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from allergies

and this number has been climbing for the past two decades among all

races and ages. It’s currently the 5th leading chronic disease in the U.S. for

adults and 3rd for children with 10,000 kids missing school due to allergies

on any given day for an annual total of 2 million lost school days.

Why is this disease on the rise, especially among children? Interestingly it

doesn’t appear to be hereditary as many people assume. While genetic

factors can be linked to susceptibility, the massive allergy diagnosis

increases occurring in such a short time span more readily suggest

environmental or lifestyle changes. Thus, allergies may be linked to a more

germ-a-phobic society and the increased usage of antibiotics or other

immune system related drugs.

Studies show that individuals who live in too sterile environment are not

exposed to enough pathogens and endotoxins, thus normally benign

microbial objects like pollen will trigger an immune response. Researchers

found that children who grow up with siblings, who enter daycare at an

early age or who live on farms were less likely to develop allergies because

they were exposed to a multitude of pathogens and endotoxins leading to a

stronger immune system.

Evidence suggests that priming of the immune responses against allergens

starts happening in utero and is thus affected by the mother’s environment.

In addition, early life exposure to normal microbial flora primes the

immune system for a non-allergic phenotype.

The use of anti-bacterial cleaning products may also be linked to

autoimmune dysfunction. An article published in the American Journal of

Respiratory and Critical Care Management found that the weekly use of

household cleaning sprays put participants at an increased risk of asthma

related symptoms with an even higher incidence among people using the

sprays four times weekly.

Epidemiological data also supports the “hygiene hypothesis”. Studies have

shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less

common in the developing world than the industrialized world and studies in

third world countries demonstrate an increase in immunological disorders,

like allergies, as a country grows more affluent and presumably cleaner.

Today’s society relies heavily on medications which have also been shown

to cause autoimmune problems. The use of antibiotics in the first year of life

has been linked to asthma and other allergic diseases. Scientists at the

University of Michigan Medical School found that antibiotics may be

responsible for producing changes in microbes in the GI tract, which in turn

impacts the way the immune system responds to airborne allergens.

Sadly our response to increased allergy symptoms frequently includes

upping our medication intake. The main problem with this approach is that

antihistamines simply chase the symptoms without getting to the root of the

problem. Allergy shots are somewhat effective against airborne allergens

however the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology does

not recommend this treatment when it comes to other types of allergy

triggers - such as food allergies and skin reactions. These shots also require

extensive skin tests followed by years of bi-weekly or monthly shots.

Instead of suffering with each season change, consider getting a blood workup

to isolate and correct any imbalances/deficiencies which can increase

your immune system’s likelihood of misfiring. It is essential to get a

complete work-up because simply testing your white blood cell counts will

miss the problem. You already have the allergy symptoms, which suggests

higher white blood count levels but what about your protein levels? That’s

right; protein plays a part in allergies.

The immune system utilizes protein-based substances to defend the body

against germs, allergens and invaders. If you are protein deficient, the body

will not have the resources to create roadblocks against diseases.

Without knowing what parts of the body are not working, how can you

expect to correct the problem?

Recipe of the Week

Dutch Baby Pancakes

(serves 4-6)

1 cup freshly ground spelt, or whole wheat flour

1 cup buttermilk, kefir, or yogurt

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 cup filtered water

4 tblsp. butter

pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Soak flour in buttermilk, kefir, or yogurt in a warm place for 12 to 24 hours. (Those with milk allergies may use 2 cups filtered water plus 2 tbslp. whey, lemon juice or vinegar in place of buttermilk, kefir or yogurt). Place eggs in food processor and process several minutes. Add flour mixture, vanilla, water and salt and process another minute. Place 2 tblsp. butter in a large skillet and cook in a 400 degree oven until it melts and sizzles. Pour half the batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees until pancake is puffed and browned. Repeat for second pancake. Dust with nutmeg if desired. Serve with butter and honey, sorghum syrup or maple syrup.

* I used raw whole milk in place of the buttermilk.

" I know, too, that the body is affected differently by bread according to the manner in which it is prepared. It differs according as it is made from pure flour or meal with bran, whether it is prepared from winnowed or unwinnowed wheat, whether it is mixed with much water or little, whether well mixed or poorly mixed, overbaked or underbaked, and countless other points besides... The influence of each process is considerable and each has a totally different effect from another. How can anyone who has not considered such matters and come to understand them possibly know anything of the diseases that afflict mankind? Each one of the substances of a man's diet acts upon his body and changes it in some way and upon these changes his whole life depends."

Hippocrates