Chiropractic Holistic Care

Why Do Some People Get Sick After Getting Their Annual Flu Shot?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:43:00 +0000

Happy Holidays and New Year to all!

Every year, during the flu season, I receive many questions from my patients. Basically, they focus on whether or not one should get a flu shot. In hopes of helping folks make informed decisions on their own behalf, I've written the following article. You can find it here on the PR Web website.

If you think that you would benefit from a free 30 minute consultation, then please call my office and we can discuss your condition. You can reach me at the Center for Holistic Health, (510) 652-2302.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

Why People Don't Heal!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:13:00 +0000

Your cold doesn’t go away. Your knee remains sore. Your headaches persist. Month after month, the same ole aches, pains and nuisance ailments drag you down. What is it exactly that prompts these chronic infirmities and thwarts your ability to heal? The answer is that imbalances in your nutrition, body or thoughts are constantly giving way to the conditions that foster this ill-health!

What most folks don’t know is that diseases don’t manifest because of outside influences alone. In fact, a mix of internal and external imbalances is usually the cause of our current maladies. When we don’t heal, the first thing that we must do is to examine all the systems that govern our health and determine which ones are working and which ones are not. In these answers, we will discover the source of our health dilemma.

The Usual Causes of Bad Health!

1) Your Body Doesn’t Like the Food that You Give It!

Most people determine their daily diet by their taste buds, not their body type. As a result, many of us try to sustain ourselves on nutritionally deficient diets that are jammed packed with too many carbohydrates. Of course, we all know that this habit leads us to the well-publicized diseases like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cardio-vascular disease. Yet, do we change our menus to accommodate healthier foods? Rarely!

To help my patients in their quest for better health, I use Kinesiological techniques that can easily identify a person’s body type and determine which foods are suitable. In addition, I check the digestive system and hormones to see if all of these things are working properly.

2) A Dysfunctional Lymphatic System

The lymphatic system is a remarkably complex web of capillaries that keeps the muscle and other body tissue healthy. Basically, lymphatic fluid collects waste products from the cells and moves them through tiny collecting ducts, eventually emptying them into the blood stream. The waste is then routed to the liver where it is made excretable.

The lymphatic system relies on voluntary muscle contraction to move the lymphatic fluid through the capillaries. Hence, if you don’t do enough exercise, or if you do the wrong type of exercise, those fluids become stagnant, and the toxins build up. In this case, our body’s healing power becomes significantly reduced.

3) Heavy Metal Poisoning

Heavy metal poisoning (mercury, lead, arsenic, nickel, cadmium, etc.) and petroleum solvent toxicants can disable your liver’s ability to neutralize poisons. Mercury from contaminated fish and from the mercury amalgams in dental fillings can also interfere with the production of hormones and enzymes. But the most insidious source of toxic heavy metals is drinking water. This includes many, but not all, bottle waters. Using Applied Kinesiology (muscle testing,) we can easily detect heavy metals in a person’s body tissues and apply the appropriate therapies to correct the condition.

4) Allergies

Environmental and food allergies, such as one’s negative reaction to B vitamins, can suppress the immune system. Additionally, if one’s blood gets too alkaline – a condition that is provoked when bodily systems try to compensate for an excessively acidic internal condition – then the immune system begins to attack things that it would normally not attack. These events become obvious in what most of us call ‘severe allergy attacks’.

5) Dental Foci

A slow growing infection behind the teeth (a “dental focus”) can filter back into the nervous system and inhibit its autonomic (automatic) regulation. This condition is often not detected with dental x-rays, but it is easily identified with the applied kinesiology techniques that I use with my patients.

6) Negative Emotions and the Self-Sabotage Syndrome

Did you know that your thoughts and the feelings that they provoke directly affect your nervous system? Well, it’s true, and more validating scientific research is being done on this topic all the time!

Dr. Candace Pert, Ph.D., has researched the process of generating neuro-transmitters and neuro-peptides-essential components in neural functioning. She found that these are influenced by one’s conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings. It is estimated that 80% of all diagnosed physical problems have an emotional component to them. That’s right – 80%!

So, if you’re not healing properly, it may be that some undetected trapped emotions are contributing to a subconscious desire not to heal and/or a fear of change. Without a doubt, these subconscious influences can sabotage your efforts to remain healthy.

I have long been interested in this therapeutic aspect of health care. In fact, I specialize in a process that discovers the emotional blocks that impede healing. With a combination of chiropractic, acupressure and kinesiology, I help patients overcome these subtle, but distinct barriers to good health.

The method that I use to eliminate the trapped emotions is based on The Emotion Code, by Dr. Bradley Nelson. This information has enabled me to devise a special healing protocol that allows the patient to release the stuck emotions relative to the stressful situations in his/her life. The result of these treatments is astounding and is most successful in dissolving the patient’s neuro-emotional blocks.

How Do You Relieve the Chronic Suffering?

Do you suffer from chronic pain? Does a loved one suffer from persistent health problems that interfere with their joy of life? If so, you can bet that some imbalance in their whole-body-system is the cause. Please call my office, the Center for Holistic Health, and schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Together, we can determine the best health care therapies that can help you to regain your optimal health.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

Toxicity, Deficiency and You!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:34:00 +0000

Today, more than ever, the human body is inundated with harmful toxins from countless sources. Environmental pollutants, pesticide-treated foods, and a whole host of other such contaminants create a situation in which the body must struggle to remain healthy. Sustained exposure to such stresses weakens the body’s resistance and, finally, all sorts of health problems result. In this process, toxins lodge in the body’s tissues and organs and, eventually, disease manifests.

In reality, this overload from toxicity is just one of the two conditions that rob us of good health. The other is deficiency –deficiency of some element necessary to the well-working of the body. Let’s explore the meaning of these two words.

Toxicity manifests when too much of something is present within the body. Deficiency occurs when too little of something exists. Typically, this something can be too much or too little of things like nutrition/biochemistry, exercise, and/or negative thoughts and feelings. Of course, too much of a ‘good thing' can also be a problem. For example, if you stay up late every night and get little sleep before your work day begins, you will eventually experience a general fatigue that will affect you health.

The fact is this - everyone, at one time or another, experiences some illness that suggests that their system is imbalanced either by toxicity or by deficiency. We can improve our odds at averting these occurrences by creating a self-care maintenance health program that fosters a ‘whole’ or holistic balance in the bio-chemical, structural and emotional systems of our body. Good health is basically the balance between these three sides of the health triad.

Over the years, I have suggested to my patients that a periodic detoxification program is a great way to re-establish and maintain this good health balance. Now, detoxification doesn’t mean some rigorous and depleting process that leaves you starved and exhausted! In fact, I use a method that is much easier than that! Let me explain a little about it.

In general, I advise a specific line of homeopathic remedies from Apex Energetics that include both detoxification AND drainage substances. The reason for this combined approach is that it provides the most effective and gentlest means by which the body and its’ organs can relieve themselves of the impurities.

Detoxification means dis-lodging the toxin from its hold over the cells in the tissues and organs. Yet, it is best for the patient if the body releases the toxins easily and without stress. For this to happen, the body must provide a good drainage system for the elimination process. Without it, many folks experience difficulty in the detoxing phase and become ill.

This illness is called a ‘healing crisis’. Basically, this occurs when the body releases too many toxins at one time. In other words, the body’s routes of elimination cannot process the toxins fast enough. (The body’s routes of elimination are a combination of organs and organ systems and collectively dubbed the seven routes of elimination. They are the liver, lungs, lymphatic system, kidneys, skin, blood and bowel or colon.) Consequently, it has to manifest sickness – flu symptoms, fever and the like – in order to process the toxins out of the body. This definitely doing it the hard way!

So, the solution to preempting this discomfort is to add what we call adequate drainage to the detoxification process. Drainage therapy is used to open up the elimination routes so that they can adequately remove the dislodged toxins from the body just as fast as they are being released during the detoxification process. In this way, the body is not overwhelmed and there is not the necessity for a healing crisis. With the Apex Energetics remedies, gentle drainage of multiple organs can occur at the same time. Ingredients and potencies are selected for their deliberate gentle actions.

Usually, it is a good idea to begin drainage therapy just prior to beginning the detox – say one or two weeks before. In this way, the body prepares itself for the cleansing and will respond without stress. However, some folks only implement drainage therapy simultaneously with the detoxification process. I work with my patients to determine which of these protocols works best. Of course, I monitor their progress as the detoxification regime continues.

If you think that you would benefit from a gentle detoxification and drainage therapy, then please call my office for a free 30 minute consultation and we can discuss this protocol as it relates to your condition. You can reach me at the Center for Holistic Health, (510) 652-2302.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

Are Supplements Necessary?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:31:00 +0000

In the mountains of Tibert, eastern Pakistan, Russian Georgia, certain regions of Turkey and in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes are five well-known human cultures whose peoples routinely live to their maximum genetic potential of 120 or older.

These cultures have some interesting similarities. Their populations live at remote elevations ranging from 8,500 to 14,000 feet, far removed from the pollution of heavily industrialized cities. Their water source for drinking and irrigation comes from glaciers and runs down over pulverized rock. This water is so highly mineralized that it's opaque and whitish as milk. It is also true that these indigenous cultures use only natural fertilizer for growing their crops.

If we all could maintain a low-stress, pollution-free, nutrient-rich lifestyle like those remote mountainous peoples, we probably wouldn't need nutritional supplements. Unfortunately, for most twenty-first century folks, life is not so simple. In our hurried lifestyle, we fail to eat properly. We live in environments in which our food and air are often polluted. And the stresses of modern life undercut our body's ability to fight disease.

Some of us try to compensate by turning to organically grown foods. But what we don't realize is that our earth is becoming anemic.

"Those who now advocate eating natural foods as the only source of vitamins and minerals live in a dream world of yesterday, " says Joel D. Wallach, M.D., and Ma Lan, M.D., authors of the book Rare Earths: Forbidden Cures. "It really doesn't matter how well you balance your meals, you still run the risk of malnutrition if you try to get all your vitamins and minerals exclusively from the foods that you eat."

Why is that?
Mineral-rich soil has millions of micro-organisms living in it. Their primary function is to decompose anything that falls on the land, and to break down mineral deposits into plant food. If we grew plants in this kind of topsoil, we could be a lot healthier! But, in many parts of the industrialized world, especially in our own United States, the topsoil that formerly contained a rich supply of micro-organisms and trace minerals - nutrients which found their way into our diet - has long been exhausted. To remedy this, the topsoil has been loaded up with artificial chemical fertilizers. As a result, our foods no longer contain the dozens of micro-nutrients that are so essential to a healthy body. So, unless you're living in one of those five high altitude, pristine, mountainous environments, you're still going to need to take vitamins and mineral supplements.

To be properly assimilated, the macro-nutrients that we consume - carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water and fiber - need to be combined with micro-nutrients in the form of vitamins and minerals. In fact, there's not a single organic function in the human body that does not require the aid of a trace mineral or vitamin to facilitate it's process.

If your food does not give you all the vitamins and minerals you need, can you correct this situation by simply dropping by the local retail shop and loading up on vitamin and mineral supplements? It's not that easy!

Not All Supplements Are the Same!
How much of a the supplemental vitamin or mineral you assimilate is determined by several factors. First, there's the delivery system.

Until the 1950's, the only supplements we had were composed of inorganic minerals like calcium carbonate and zinc carbonate. The problem is that the body is capable of absorbing about only 10% of a mineral in its inorganic form.
Then, chelated minerals were introduced in which the minerals were biologically attached to an organic substance. Because our bodies accept a chelate more effectively than they do an inorganic form of the mineral, the mineral can be absorbed in ranges up to 50%.
Finally, in the 90's, colloidal minerals were introduced. That is where the micro-nutrient particles have been made so small that up to 90% can be absorbed by the cells.

Thus, the form of supplement that you take is critical in determining how effectively your body is benefiting from it.

You also have to consider whether you are taking a micro-nutrient in its natural state. Why? Vitamins and minerals in their natural state are absorbed into the body far more effectively than anything distilled in a laboratory. For example, your body will more readily absorb vitamin C when it is combined with other naturally occurring compounds such as bioflavonoids. This form of vitamin C is described on the bottle as "C Complex". However, most people take vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid and as such are only getting the anti-oxidant protective part of the natural, living, vitamin C complex. Ascorbic acid is 2% of the whole, natural vitamin C complex by weight!

What are the other factors that enable the vitamin to go into biochemical operation? They are enzymes, co-enzymes, trace elements, activators, and other unknown factors that enable the vitamin to go into biochemical operation. Some of these vitamin C factors are called bioflavonoids, "P", "K", and "J" factors. Vitamins are living complexes. So people who are taking only ascorbic acid (which is the FDA name for vitamin C) are not absorbing anywhere near as much of the vitamin C as they think that they are.

The quality of supplements can also vary tremendously between one retail source and the next. Most of the supplements you see in the usual retail store utlets are created chemically in test tubes, and some companies do a better job of doing that than others.

What Supplements Do We Need?
For certain, we all need to take a healthy supply of anti-oxidants -vitamin C, A, E, selenium, grape seed extract, and so on - to neutralize the pollution from the environment that slows down or stops enzyme activity in the body which leads us to disease or dysfunction. We also need a good selection of natural extracted vitamins and minerals.

Your micro-nutrient deficiencies can be evaluated in various ways, such as with hair analysis and certain blood tests. However, a more cost effective approach is to have me detect these deficiencies by using advanced applied kinesiological techniques. I can also use the same process to test the supplements that you are now using to see if they are having a beneficial effect. You might be surprised at what you discover.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

What is Healthy Exercise?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Sun, 15 May 2011 03:25:00 +0000

Are You Exercising in a Healthy Way?

Ask a hundred people, “Does exercise promote good health?” and almost everybody will tell, “Of course!” Mostly, they’re right. Exercise is healthy. It’s what allows your lymphatic system to move waste products out of your body.

But some people exercise incorrectly. They’ll sing the virtues of raising the heart rate, and then they’ll work themselves to death in aerobics classes and gyms. Instead of promoting endurance, fitness, and health, they end of doing just the opposite.

What leads them down the wrong path is a belief that the faster and more intensely they exercise, the better. They never learn the difference between aerobic (fat burning) and anaerobic (sugar burning) exercise, and how one can inadvertently evolve into the other. In fact, lack of proper information about exercise has helped to foster the largest non-microbial epidemic in the U.S. It’s called ADS, which stands for aerobic deficiency syndrome.

The Spread of Misinformation

During the 1980’s, fitness maven Covert Bailey promoted an early formula for the ideal heart rate which would, if not exceeded, give you optimal aerobic benefit. (Aerobic is defined as improving the body’s oxygen consumption.) The popularized formula he used was 220 minus your age times 65-85 percent, depending on your state of health.

But in the early 1990’s, Bailey discovered that the optimal heartbeat rates he published were too high for almost half the population. At those rates, bodies burn sugar as a source of fuel, instead of fat. The revised formula is now 180 minus your age, plus or minus points for good health.

The problem was, few people paid attention to the revised formula, and consequently, the old numbers are still widely accepted as the standard. These numbers can lead to unhealth. Let’s see why this is so.

Burn Fat or Burn Sugar?

The body has two sources of fuel: fat and sugar. Fat is the body’s preferred source, because (1) it doesn’t take away sugar needed for the brain, and (2) because it does not create waste products that remain in the body. Oxygen is drawn into the body through the lungs and is combined with the carbon in fat. When you burn fat, the waste products –carbon dioxide and water vapor-are expelled through the lungs. It is a very efficient, clean burning process. There are virtually no residue or waste products left behind.

But if you enter into strenuous physical activity such as lifting weights or when you run too long and too hard, your heart and lungs can no longer deliver enough oxygen to the muscles, and the muscles stop burning fat as fuel and start burning sugar. This switchover takes place because sugar can be turned into fuel without additional oxygen. Once this happens, your exercise has switched over from being aerobic to being anaerobic.

Anaerobic exercise gives you energy at a price. When sugar is burned, it creates lactic acid which must be excreted through your liver and kidneys. It is a very dirty burning process. If too much lactic acid is created, the buildup creates stress and leads to cramps, headaches, lethargy and fatigue.

Thus, doing aerobics too intensely or spending too much time in the weight room without sufficient aerobic exercise to balance it can be unhealthy because you’re creating more toxins than your lymphatic system (which moves out waste) can keep up with.

Develop A Sound Aerobic Base

Here are several things you can do to make sure you don’t suffer from ADS:

1. Keep yourself aerobically fit. This calls for exercising aerobically at least three times a week for a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes, making sure that you do to overtax your body so that it starts burning sugar and storing fat. You can determine your ideal aerobic heartbeat using the correct formula of 180 minus your age, plus or minus minor adjustments depending on your health. The most accurate way to monitor performance is with a heartbeat monitor, the kind you wear on your wrist and that gives you on-the-fly reading. M-F Athletic Company at 888-556-7464 can give you advice on the make and model that best fits your needs.

2. If you work out at a gym, maintain a ratio of three minutes of aerobic exercise (treadmill, bicycle, stair machine, etc.) to one minute of anaerobic exercise (weight lifting).

3. If you want to know if your workout is truly aerobic, monitor your heartbeat immediately after you stop exercising. For the exercise to have been aerobic, your heartbeat should drop at least 30 beats per minute in the first 60 seconds after you’ve stopped the workout.

4. Reduce stress wherever you can, since the body’s fight-or-flight response is totally anaerobic (sugar burning).

5. Finally, eat balanced meals that give you the right proportions of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Consider taking carnitine supplements if necessary. Carnitine is a biochemical that is derived from food as well as synthesized by the liver and kidney. It’s needed to transport fat to the portion of the cell where it is converted into energy. If you have too little carnitine in your body, you’ll find that even with aerobic exercise, you’ll have a hard time getting rid of those fatty thighs and unwanted middle. Thus, if you want to lose fat, you want to make sure you’re getting enough carnitine by eating sufficient quantities of cottage cheese, seafood, meats, soy products, lentils, and chick peas. Carnitine is also available in supplement form.

Live Smarter and Live Longer

For being such a technologically advance nation, we aren’t very smart when it come to our own health. Do you know that a recent studies show that the typical person spends his or her last 12 years of life suffering from a severe aerobic deficit because of curtailed physical activity? This undoubtedly shortens the average life span.

Aerobic exercise is not a cure-all, but it can often work wonders. Mental and physical fatigue, depression, low blood sugar, and high cholesterol can be partly or completely remedied by a planned aerobic training program.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

Notes from Dr. G

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Every year at this time, the medical community begin touting the benefits of the latest flu shot. Yet, before you go and get inoculated, you might want to investigate some facts.

Countless studies show that there are many folks who react to flu shots and other vaccination in a negative way and that this reaction can actually weaken the immune system rather than strengthen and protect it.

All vaccines produce antibodies. Actually, they produce circulating immune complexes called CICs. Your immune system ends up attacking these CICs. When it does, it deflects its energy from it’s more important job - protecting you from more harmful viruses and bacteria. Like fighting a war on two fronts, your body is similarly splitting its resources in an attempt to defend you. In other words, your immune system is trying to protect you from the vaccine by creating an allergic reaction to it. If another virus or bacteria comes along, there are fewer lymphocytes left to kill it.

In his book , The Case Against Immunization, Dr. Richard Moskowitz notes that immunizations can lead to certain types of chronic diseases.

“Far from providing a genuine immunity…,” say Moskowitz, “vaccines may act by actually interfering with or suppressing the immune response.” Moskowitz indicates that the rise in auto immune diseases is an automatic result of injecting live virus and foreign antigens into children. As a result, the body can no longer tell the difference between good and bad cells and starts attacking itself, producing such auto immune responses as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue immunity deficiency syndrome, and other degenerative diseases. In fact, there is almost a one-to-one statistical correlation between the incidents of vaccinations and auto immune diseases in this country!

I have personally treated many people who have gotten severe cases of the flu after they have taken a flu shot. In my many years as a Chiropractic physician, I have concluded that it is better to boost one’s cell-mediated immunity through natural methods than to rely totally on the anti bodies in any flu vaccine.

Of course, the decision to take or not to take a flu shot is an individual decision - an informed decision. No matter your choice, if you experience flu like symptoms or contact the flu, please call me at the Center for Holistic Health (510) 652-2302 and I can do a kinesiological flu treatment protocol on you that , in most cases, will have you back on your feet within 48 hours.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

Buidling a Strong Immune System III

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Here is more of the wonderful 8 Step Self-Care Program that is specifically designed for enhancing your body's immune system. Continued from last week's blog:

3. Avoid junk food and too many carbohydrates. A poor digestive system with too much processed food and not enough healthy protein, roughage, and fruits and vegetables is a big cause of a weakened immune system. Here is why.

When you eat a meal that is too high in concentrated carbs - starches and processed flour - your blood sugar level rises. Your body then produces insulin to bring down the sugar level. However, in 50 % of all people, the blood sugar level drops too far below normal. Consequently, the body releases cortisone, which is a hormone, to bring the blood sugar back to an acceptable level.

The problem in this cause and effect reaction is that cortisone suppresses your immune system. It encourages the wrong type of bacteria to grow in your gut. This bacteria produces organic acids that weaken the wall of the gut, allowing impurities to pass through. This condition is known as ‘leaky gut’. Eventually, it will provoke an ‘overwhelm’ in the immune system making it difficult for the system to function properly. The way to prevent leaky gut is to follow a healthy diet that works for your body type.

4. Use immune-enhancing herbs. If you feel a cold coming on, there are natural immune-enhancing stimulants that help build up your immune cells. These include such herbs as Echinacea, garlic, golden seal root, chamomile, and the Chinese herb astragulus.

5. Get assistance from holistic health practitioners. Such practices as applied kinesiology, chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, and massage are all very helpful in getting and keeping the body in balance.

6. Find time to relax. Research has shown that chronic tension reduces the effectiveness of your immune system. So don’t be a workaholic! Take time to have fun. Enjoy yourself. Laughter and a happy heart are the best natural medicines that there are.

7. Take in emotional support. Countless studies have shown a strong link between negative emotions and lowered immunity, so it’s important to build a support network of people who care about you.

8. Find meaning and purpose in your life. When people become bord or when they develop a lack of purpose, they have a hard time fighting off disease. Consequently, if life is tiresome and unchallenging, it makes good sense to take matters in hand, rather than remaining at the effect of circumstances.

Eating and exercising right and keeping a good attitude may sound like obvious and uninspired advice, but they are as correct today in the 21st century as they were in the 10th century. Don’t discount the old wisdom.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

Building a Strong Immune System II

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:27:00 +0000

At the Center for Holistic Health, I make sure that your cell-mediated immune system is working properly. I do this by way of a nutritional check-up. In other words, I test to see if your diet is stimulating any inappropriate antibody (allergic) reactions which might be putting your immune system at risk.

Additionally, I use specialized reflex muscle testing to see if your body has an allergic reaction to any of its own immune cells. If it does, there are ways to re-program your body so it will stop suppressing your immune system.

I can also help to enhance your immunity by assisting it in cleaning up your digestive system. Through drainage therapy, nutritional supplements, kinesiological therapeutics, and a good body-type specific nutritional diet, I can help ensure that good digestion takes place in your body and that there are no ailments such as leaky gut. (I’ll explain more about leaky gut in the next segment.) Of course, these are just a few of the techniques that can help one maintain an optimum cell-mediated immune system, which is the body’s preferred response.

Here is a wonderful 8 Step Self-Care Program that is specifically designed for enhancing your body’s immune system.

1. Follow a regular exercise plan. To have a healthy immune system, waste products must constantly be moved out of your cells through the lymphatic system. The most effective way to circulate lymphatic fluid is through aerobic exercise. In this type of exertion, the energy is clean burning and moves the toxins and impurities out of the body without creating additional impurities.

2. Consume enough antioxidants. Anti-oxidants work to neutralize pollution and other impurities so that your cell-mediated immunity doesn’t have to work so hard. Look for foods and supplements that contain an ample supply of vitamins A, C, E, carotinoids, selenium, zinc, cysteine (an amino acid), and glutathione.

Well, these just the first few steps in the 8 Step Self-Care Program. I’ll have more for you in my next blog segment. In the meantime, if you feel that you would like to chat with me about your health, then please give me a call at (510) 652-2302. We can talk about the ways in which I can help you to boost your immune system.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

Building a Strong Immune System 1

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:23:00 +0000

In my last blogs, I explained carbohydrate feasting and its role in suppressing the immune system and in creating a myriad of other health problems, i.e., fatigue and blood sugar imbalances. In this current report, I want to explore how to build a healthy and strong immune system. This is an especially timely topic as we are entering the annual flu season. In the next two blogs, look for a special 8-Step Self-Care Program that details helpful tips on how to improve and maintain a health immune system.

All of us want to stay healthy. Yet, most of us don’t understand how to maintain our health and to avoid illness. The immune system is your body’s way of defending itself against invasion by foreign substances produced by the body such as cancer cells.

When a foreign substance (virus, bacteria, etc.) enters your body, one of two types of immune reactions takes place (sometimes both reactions happen). The preferred reaction is called cell-mediated immunity in which T cells are released into your blood supply. T cells are made in your bone marrow and mature in your thymus gland. These T cell are scavengers that circulate throughout the body and destroy the invaders. They do so by directly attacking and digesting the foreign material.

The other kind of immune reaction is called B cell or antibody-mediated immunity. B cells are made in the bone marrow and create antibodies (specialized proteins) that attach themselves to the invading substances. In this way, the bad cells are flagged so that your body’s scavenger cells can identify and destroy them. The attachment of antibodies to invading substances creates a new combination called a circulating immune complex. In this situation, the antibodies simply serve as markers.

The problem with antibody-mediated immunity is that the foreign substances that have been so marked (circulating immune complexes) can travel through the blood and lymphatic system and bind to organs and other tissues such as bone, cartilage, liver, muscle, eye and brain. When the scavenger cells attack the foreign bodies, they can sometimes destroy the healthy tissue to which the foreign substances have attached themselves. This is the basis of auto-immune diseases and reactions to vaccines.

For this reason, cell-mediated immunity is always the preferred response. You want the bad cells to be destroyed by an immediate and direct process, rather than a slower and more indirect one. In this latter case, the bad cells undergo a two step elimination process. First, they are marked by antibodies and then and only then are they destroyed.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

Carbs and Your Immune System Pt. III

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:11:00 +0000

In my last blog, I spoke about the roles that the pancreas and cortisone have in our sugar handling system. This week, I will explain why folks who eat a high carb diet and experience fatigue also suffer from suppressed immune systems.

What most folks don't know is that cortisone is a powerful suppressant that is used specially to inhibit the immune system after any kind of organ transplant. When the body has no more glycogen available to convert to glucose, the unattached cortisone roaming through the body provides a similar service to the immune system as when it is used for transplant patients. It inhibits it and makes one more vulnerable to colds, viruses, internal fungi and other pathogen!

And that's not all it does. The excess cortisone can also confuse your immune system into thinking that some of your healthy cells are pathogens that need to be attached and destroyed. (Pathogens are those disease-causing agents such as bacteria, virus, fungus, yeast and parasites.) Yep, I bet that you can guess the outcome of that little drama! The attack on the healthy cells eventually produce none other than an auto-immune reaction. If this condition is left unaltered, it will lead to any number of chronic symptoms such as fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Alzheimer's disease.

Thankfully, most of the patients who I see do not suffer from acute illness. They have chronic conditions with symptoms caused by a malfunctioning immune system. For example, a consistently carb loaded body ( which has jacked up amounts of cortisone) may feel as if it is arming itself against a virus when, all the while, the real problem is a raging internal fungus. In this case, the patient will feel a whole range of discomfort and fatigue.

When helping patients with this problem, I use Applied Kinesiology (AK) methods to carefully diagnose the type of 'bullets' that the immune system is making to kill the pathogens. This identifies the pathogen(s). We then find out what complicating factors are present, if any, that may be hampering the immune system.

The most virulent complicating factor is toxic, heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, etc. Advanced Applied Kinesiological (AK) methods followed by detoxifying foot baths can get rid of the heavy metal. A second complicating factor is the presence of trapped emotions. This condition can be released by another AK technique called The Emotion Code. The third complication can be the load of toxic chemicals in the body. Potent enzyme supplementation can negate this problem.

Of course, the point of all of this is that there is a better, more efficient way to gain optimal health. Treating symptoms is fine and has its place in the scope of things. Yet, finding and eliminating the cause of the ailment does much more for the patient and his/her quality of life. If you are willing to take some time to discover a proper diet, the right supplements and exercise program, then you really can balance your immune system so that it works effectively. You can do this. I know you can. I'm here to help you.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed. D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website at www.drgertler.org.

Carbs and Your Immune System Pt II

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:47:00 +0000

The Pancreas and Its Job

In the last segment, I spoke about how carbohydrates affect not only one's weight, but also the blood sugar levels in the blood. You might remember that the pancreas has a large role in the body's coping mechanism when it is faced with dealing with a carb overload. Whenever you load up on concentrated carbohydrates such as processed flour and starches, a rapid rise in blood sugar (glucose) levels is generated. When these levels get too high, the hypothalamus tells the pancreas to secrete insulin. The insulin proceeds to remove the excess glucose from the blood and delivers as much of it as it can to our muscles and liver.

The glucose that can't be used is converted into glycogen or stored carbohydrates. When the body depletes its primary glucose account, it relies on this glycogen reserve to fund it. Basically, the glycogen receives a signal to break down, convert and send back the glucose into the system. This process restores the body's glucose levels to a healthy state. (Note: Cortisol is naturally created by the adrenal glands. Cortisone is an artificially made pharmaceutical drug.)

When there is too much glucose to be used either by the primary or by the secondary storage accounts, the glucose is domiciled as body fat. As we know, if the body fat builds up to the point of obesity, it can result in a myriad of health complications that worsen over time.

Cortisol: The Good Guy - Bad Guy Syndrome

For many folks, the pancreas over-reacts to a carb dump by removing more sugar from the blood than is necessary. So, in order to raise the blood sugar back to a healthy level, the body produces a hormone called cortisol.

Cortisol triggers the body to turn glycogen back into glucose by attaching itself to the glycogen storage receptors. This is the good-guy-role that cortisol plays. On the flip side, this hormone plays the villain when the body produces more cortisol than glycogen. This occurs when the pancreas becomes depleted in insulin or when the body manifests an insulin resistance. This condition happens when one's diet is loaded with the high carb foods like bread, pasta, cookies, high carb energy bars, rice and the like. The excess cortisone that is circulating in the body starts looking for some other thing to which to attach itself. In other words, when there are not enough available receptors to accommodate the overwhelming quantity of cortisol, then the cortisol looks for another place to go.

What happens next? The cortisone actually hooks on to the next best thing - the receptors of your immune cells (the white blood cells)! Why? Well, its is really a case of mistaken identity in a way. The receptors of your immune cells (white blood cells) that line the gut look almost identical to the glycogen storage receptors. So, the cortisone naturally identifies them as handy opportunistic targets and attaches itself to them. This is definitely not good! In the process, the white blood cells are immobilized and they stall in the performance of their necessary function. OOPS!

I'll have more for you in my next segment. In the meantime, if you feel that you would like to chat with me about your health, then please give me a call at (510) 652-2302. We can talk about the ways in which I can help you regain your energy ans stamina.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website drgertler.org.

Dr. Gertler has been designated as a TOP Chiropractor in This Prime Buyer's Report! Click here.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

How Excess Carbohydrates Undermine Your Immune System

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:43:00 +0000

In my last blog, I wrote about the effects of prolonged fatigue on the body systems. In this segment, I'd like to explore the consequences of what is called carbohydrate feasting. This habit favors carbohydrate rich foods (sugars and starches) over other necessary nutrients such as proteins (meat, eggs, dairy products, legumes and whole grains).

Carbohydrate feasting prompts the question: Are carbohydrates good, or are they bad? Well, as usual, the answer is “Its all relative.” Actually, it is a hard question to answer! Many health care authorities disagree as to how many carbs are too much to eat in one day. As often happens, one source says that Diet plan A is good for this and another says that Diet plan B is great for that! No wonder folks get confused about what foods can aid them in establishing a healthy lifestyle.

Today, schedules are so jammed that many of us resort to eating meals loaded with carbs. You know what I mean. Lunch boxes and dinner plates are filled with pasta salads, packaged soups, rice, frozen entrees, pizza, stuffed potatoes, specialty energy drinks, French fries, bread rolls, cookies, and pastries. Most of us feel that all of this passes for a satisfying meal. Sure, protein is included in some of these. Yet, it is hardly in proportion to the carb intake.

As we chase from one task to the other, we rarely are conscious of the fact that our rush-around-the-whole-day-diet is, in fact, suppressing our immune system and making us more susceptible to colds and serious illnesses. If you are wondering why you are so constantly fatigued, try looking at your diet for the answer! It is in this examination that you will find not only the ways to maintain your weight and to regain some energy, but also the means to prevent illnesses.

Amidst the large swirl of dietary fact and fiction, I’d like to present a concise explanation of how excess carbs can suppress your immune system and make you more susceptible illness. It is my hope that this information will aid you in your journey to wellness.

How Carbohydrates Turn Into Sugar

It’s 3 p.m. and you are beginning to get that dragged out feeling. Worse yet, you know that you have several more hours of work and home duties ahead of you. What do you do? You go to the local coffee shop and get a latte and a Danish! This power snack should give you the extra push-power that you need to get through the rest of the day. Right?

Well, you might get the extra energy that you needed. Yet, do you ever wonder what happens to all the sugar and carbohydrates that you just ingested? Well, first, it gets converted into glucose (a form of sugar) which is used by the cells for energy. Then, it stores what it can’t use for another time in the form of GLYOGEN - our long-term energy storage unit. It is interesting to note that the average person, who ingests a mixed protein/carb diet, has enough stored glycogen in their body to run around for 1-2 hours at the speed of a marathon!

Since our bodies are not genetically designed to handle such a deluge of FIBERLESS complex carbohydrates, we all of a sudden find ourselves with too much sugar in our blood. That’s when the pancreas is called into action to help the body cope with the overload. It’s a big job and one that puts a great burden on our inner mechanisms.

Here are some little known facts:

the brain actually gobbles up about two thirds of the glucose to fuel its complex operations.
vegetables with high fiber ( lettuce, avocado and broccoli) are digested slowly and gradually release glucose into the blood.
low-fiber, complex carbs such as bananas, cereals, bread, pasta, potatoes and rice quickly dump huge amounts of glucose in to the bloodstream.

I’ll have more for you in my next segment. In the meantime, if you feel that you would like to chat with me about your health, then please give me a call at (510) 652-2302. We can talk about the ways in which I can help you regain your energy and stamina.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M. Ed., D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website http://www.drgertler.org.

Dr. Gertler has been designated as a TOP Chiropractor in This Prime Buyer's Report! Click here.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

Feeling Drained and Tired? Part IV

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:47:00 +0000

In the last segment, I talked about the possible consequences of not treating a prolonged fatigue condition. Of course, blood sugar problems are among the issues that demand quick attention. Yet, there are other ailments caused by chronic fatigue that require treatment as well.

Leaky gut is one of those problems. This is a pesky issue. It is caused by the lack of a nightly repair of the mucous lining of the gut. This happens when an on-going fight-flight-reflex shuts down digestion. As a result, bacteria and partly digested food escape the intestine and take up residence in the body cavity and in the blood. This can produce unwanted waste products, infections, and allergies. Eventually, any or all of these will begin to slow down the body in general. Usually, the condition can be treated. Herbs as well as holistic therapies, such as Neuro-Emotional and Emotion Clearing techniques, can help to repair the mucous lining and turn off the on-going fight-flight-reflex.

The lymphatic system also suffers in overly fatigued folks. This remarkable mechanism is essentially the body’s garbage disposal and, like every refuse bin, it needs to be cleaned out regularly. But before it can be cleaned out, we must make sure that the system’s main valves- open/close doors - are working. Commonly, we find the main valves are stuck in a closed position. This causes congestion in the flow of wastes and results in constipation, liver back-up, weight gain, and more fatigue. In order to open these valves, a trained physician needs to manipulate them manually. The patient is then given special, slow aerobic exercises that are repeated for several days. These activities clear the lymph system and restore its ability to flow and to detoxify naturally. Once this healthy condition manifests, more strenuous exercise can be done.

Food allergies are yet another problem faced by many chronically fatigued people. They can be identified with muscle-testing and cleared with a special allergy technique that combines chiropractic and acupuncture (without needles). Many allergies are a result of a less-than-optimal digestive system. As we have discussed already, the digestive system is significantly affected by the fight-flight-reflex that causes partly digested particles to enter the blood. When this happens, the immune system identifies these particles as “foreign” and does what it can to attack them. In order to restore one’s immune system to good health, a person must get out of the fight-flight condition.

Finally, the fight or flight mechanism produces a tension that, often times, results in a variety of structural problems. This mechanism vertically compresses the body in order to make it a smaller target - a great defense mechanism if an aggressor is chasing you! Ailments like neck and back pain, TMJ (temperomandibular joint), face-head-shoulder pain, digestive upset and gait pain are among the nasty consequences of a prolonged fight or flight condition. I have found that chiropractic is an excellent method for identifying such structural abnormalities and for applying satisfactory remedies.

Well, we have come to the end of our discussion on fatigue. I would like you to remember this, please. If you are experiencing fatigue, then your body is trying to tell you something. Just think about this metaphor for a while:

When the body aches or is tired a little, it is whispering a message.
When the body aches or is tired as lot, it is yelling loud and clear - HELP ME!

Ignoring this message is not going to help you in any way. Certainly, it won’t help those that depend on you. Disregarding this body communiqué is nothing more than a successful self-sabotage method. So, if you are feeling fatigued more often than not, it is time to take constructive action and take back your life. I know that you can do this. I’ve helped many patients down this path to wellness and I could do the same for you.

I’ll have more for you on this topic in my next segment. In the meantime, if you are feeling any of the symptoms mentioned above, please give me a call at (510) 652-2302. We can talk about the ways in which I can you regain energy and stamina.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M. Ed., D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations. For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website www.drgertler.org.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend! You can do so by using the white envelope icon that is below this Blog~

Feeling drained and tired? Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:40:00 +0000

In my last segment, I talked about the fight or flight reaction and it’s need for a high carbohydrate diet. Here is a little more on that subject.

The problem with feasting on carbohydrates is that it runs up your blood sugar levels. The only way to resolve this problem is by lots of physical exercise. If the carb load builds up and is not burned off, then an imbalance occurs that leads to a number of health issues. One of these consequences is fatigue.

If the fatigue is not corrected as soon as possible, then other physical problems result. As health care practitioners, we now know that weight gain/obesity, sleeping problems, and insulin resistance (pre-diabetes) are all possible ailments resulting from untreated, prolonged fatigue. Of course, a host of digestive problems ranging from heartburn to ulcers to chronic mal-absorption and mal-nutrition can complicate the story even more. These latter conditions can and often do lead to cardiovascular and other degenerative diseases such as chronic infections and ultimately, cancer.

The first step toward remedying fatigue is getting the blood sugar balance back in order. This can be done in a number of ways. The first step is modifying your diet. The best diet incorporates 40% of calories from carbs, 30% from fats, and the remaining 30% from protein. It’s important to consume these ratios at each and every meal and snack - no ice cream binges or candy frenzies! In mild cases of fatigue, this diet need only be used for several weeks before you feel more energized. In more severe instances, folks might need to balance their meals for a longer period.

I’ll have more for you on this topic in my next segment. In the meantime, if you feel that you would like to chat with me about your fatigue, then please give me a call at (510) 652-2302. We can talk about the ways in which I can help you regain energy and stamina.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M. Ed., D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website http://www.drgertler.org.

Dr. Gertler has been designated as a TOP Chiropractor in This Prime Buyer's Report! Click here.

Feeling drained and tired? Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:15:00 +0000

In my last segment, I talked about fatigue, its symptoms and the important role that blood sugar plays in helping you to maintain your energy. Here is a little more on that subject.

The fight or flight reaction is always triggered by stress. For example, a mugger accosts you and, consequently, you run for your life - this is the fight or flight response in action. In such a case, you would have experienced more energy and strength than you ever thought possible!

Yet, in reality, a life-threatening experience does not always have to be present for your fight or flight response to be activated. In other words, you need only to perceive some in-coming harm - real, physical, non-physical or imagined - and your body will counter with the appropriate fight or flight response in order to match the threat.

For some people, this fight or flight system is permanently switched on. Yes! You read that right - PERMENANTLY switched on! Life circumstances are so stressful that their minds and bodies are consistently mired in this state. This is easy to understand in light of the current economic times. When job and home are threatened, it is very natural to experience a fight or flight reaction.

For many people who find themselves in this condition, carbohydrates are their main food attraction. Basically, carbs give the body the energy it needs to fuel the fight or flight mechanism. Of course, that makes perfect sense. Remember, we need lots of energy when we are escaping from the mugger and those carbs really come in handy when we are the object of a hot pursuit. However, when that fight or flight burst of energy lasts for too long a time - weeks, months or years - the resulting hormone rush will cause a fatigue, obesity and, eventually, a system-wide burn-out.

I’ll have more for you on this topic in my next segment. In the meantime, if you feel that you are in a consistent fight or flight condition, then please give me a call at (510) 652-2302. We can talk about the ways in which I can help you recover your ease and regain energy and stamina.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M. Ed., D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations (for California residents only). For more information, please call (510) 652-2302 or visit his website http://www.drgertler.org.

Feeling drained and tired? Could this be one of the causes? Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Larry Gertler, M.Ed., D.C.) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:06:00 +0000

Fatigue affects people in all walks of life. It's no wonder that so many folks have it. People are chasing around complaining of how busy and tired they are. For most of us, a run to Starbucks is the easiest way to keep ourselves going. You know what I mean. It is a huge relief to get your hands around that grande cup of ambition that will surely give you enough energy to get through the day.

Still, there comes a time when that a sip of that magic java does not produce the effect that it has in the past. Something inside you knows that all the coffee in the world will not give you the energy and focus that you need. You are not bouncing back as quickly now and feel even more tired when you wake up than when you went to bed. What is wrong?

Well, you have fatigue! The symptoms are very noticeable. They include lethargy, delayed recovery from exercise, vague depression, poor concentration or even heart palpitations. These conditions can be mild or severe. Despite the intensity of it, some underlying root cause is telling you that the body needs fixing before things will get better.

There are many reasons why people feel such fatigue. Diet, leaky gut, anemia and food allergies are just a few of the stressors that provoke fatigue. Still, one of the most common root causes is blood sugar problems.

Those who need to eat all the time usually subsist on fast food, snack and graze extensively. Often times, they eliminate well-balanced meals and exercise erratically. These folks frequently suffer from a blood-sugar system that is all out of whack. Relying on a diet that is too rich in carbohydrates looses a barrage of hormones that cause the liver to back up and poison the body, leading ultimately to fatigue.

I'll have more for you on this topic in my next segment. In the meantime, if you are feeling any of the symptoms mentioned above, please give me a call at (510) 652-2302. We can talk about the ways in which I can help you to regain your energy and stamina.

Dr. Larry Gertler, M. Ed., D.C., is a nationally known holistic chiropractor and teacher. He is available for in-office visits and telephone consultations. (Telephone consultations are for California residents only.) For more information, please call the Center for Holistic Health at (510) 652-2302 or visit this website http://www.drgertler.org.

Dr. Gertler has been designated as a TOP Chiropractor in This Prime Buyer's Report! Click here.