In fact, because of the way the neck muscles attach to the base of the skull at the back of the head, the nerves of the scalp can be irritated causing headaches. You know those nagging headaches that start at the back of your head and go up over the top or the sides?

Would you like to know how to make them go away?

Here are my 3 favorite exercises that you can do while sitting at your computer.  Do them every day and your body will slowly change posture to eliminate the tension on the neck!

Note:   Some conditions may require examination and spinal adjustments by a licensed doctor of chiropractic.  Never attempt to “pop” your own neck by twisting quickly as this can result in further injury!

When I selected my primary product partner, I used the following criterion:

• The highest quality raw ingredients
• The highest quality manufacturing
• Formulas backed by solid research
• Convenient and simple to use

I didn’t realize at the time that I would be so proud to be associated with the people leading the company behind the scenes.  This year’s convention was an absolute blast with great new announcements for the product line and resources to educate and share the message.

Be sure to get on the mailing list to the far right of this page.  We’ll be hosting live webinars for training and exciting updates!

In this video I show you how I make beef fajitas, gluten free, without MSG!

Essential Ingredients:

• Beef (Any thin cut will do)
• 1 yellow onion
• 1/2 red onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 lime
• Onion Powder
• Ground Cumin
• Smoked Paprika
• Ceyenne Pepper
• Chipotle Powder
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil

Secret Weapon Ingredients (Optional but worth it)

• Uncured Bacon Bits
• Worcestershire Sauce (Gluten Free)

Do you have some interesting ingredients for fajitas?  Let us know in the comments below!

Check out some of these other Mexican Food Recipes!

Chiles Rellenos

Guacamole and Salsa

By far my favorite, comes from my pre-K girl, “Is this gluten-three?”

My wife and I laugh about that last comment because she is quite proud of the fact that she can eat both gluten, and “gluten-three.”  It is a common word at our house, I know that because one day she had some red stuff on her arm, and when I asked her what happened to her arm she replied, “Oh, it just has some gluten on it.”

Well unfortunately for me, I’ve learned in the recent past that my body doesn’t handle gluten well.  As time goes by more and more are learning the same about themselves.

So What’s the Big Deal?

Since that time I’ve been riding the roller coaster ride from hell trying to navigate the tragic state of our food supply.  If I’m not careful, I end up dealing with ridiculous joint pain that had me unable to walk for about a week on more than one occasion!

It’s one thing to try to find food that doesn’t have some hidden gluten, but it’s an entirely different story to be the only one in the family who really has to stay 100% gluten free.  If you’ve been there you know exactly what I’m talking about.

My sweet wife makes great effort to find food that I can eat when she makes a trip to the grocery store, and many times comes back successful.  Other times she’ll be excited to show me what she found after searching the entire store, and after a glance at the ingredient list I notice something like “modified food starch” which may very well have gluten.  It’s very frustrating for her and has created a challenging new dynamic to our household routines.

Coming Soon!

I’ve increased my resource list for gluten-free foods, and working in Austin Texas has helped as many people in Austin have chosen to eat gluten-free foods.  Some of which may be a trendy thing to do, but for those who choose these foods for that reason just might be the least likely to develop some delayed food sensitivities.

I’ve developed some great friendships now with other gluten sensitive people, and in the process have been flooded with recipes, and recipe books.  Some of which are fantastic, and others are just not even worth the effort.

So my point in writing this blog today is simply to announce an effort I will now be making to supply some of the really great recipes that I come across, or develop myself.

So I Need Your Help!

With that being said, I have a request of you reading this today.  If you have ANY great recipes worthy of sharing, even if they are not gluten free, PLEASE SHARE THEM WITH ME!  Either post it in the comment section below, or use this contact form.

I would love to tweak to perfection anything worthy of feeding to the entire family.  If I can take great food, make it gluten free and healthier in the process without sacrificing flavor and texture, then those recipes will be made available here on this website.

Thanks in advance for your help in this!

Have you never made your own guacamole or salsa but wanted to know how? Or you’ve ever wondered, “What’s in Guacamole?” You should check out this video.

There are several valuable nutrients in this type of food, and there are no food colorings, artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers, or anything of the like.  Just great plant-based food!

Click here to see the health benefits of an avocado!

Click here to see the health benefits of chile peppers!

The nice thing about making guacamole and salsa, is that as long as you have the right vegetables and good avocados, you can add everything else to-taste!

As I mention in the video, I recommend the following for a good guacamole:

• ~3 Ripe avocados
• Fresh lime juice (1/2 lime)
• Salt (to-taste)
• 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• ~1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1-2 Tbsp of fresh homemade salsa

Do you have some favorite guacamole ingredients?  Share them in the comments below!

Enjoy!

ENJOY!

Top 12 Green Smoothies + 1

1) Mango Tango: Bok Choy Mango Banana Smoothie

2) Green Protein: Kale Banana Smoothie 1 C. packed kale, 1/2 banana, 1 Tbsp hemp seed,

3) Nut o Ramma: 1 Tbs Macadamias, 2 Organic Dates, 1 Small Organic Banana, Spinach Leaves and a bit of water

4) Curl Me Up: Curly kale, a small slice of fresh root ginger, 1/2 a lemon, and apple juice

5) Farm Fresh: Mixed greens, arugula, sorrell, cilantro, 1/2 avocado and 1/2 a banana

6) Aroma Therapy: Basil, Peppermint, Spearmint, Chard, Banana, almond milk

7) Kiwi Burst: Spinach, Kiwi fruit and Banana (try adding strawberries too)

8) Fruit Blast: 2 bananas, 1 cup chopped papaya (red or yellow), 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, a big handful of greens

9) Mint Chocolate Chip: 1 bananas, 1 cups of water (or coconut water for absolute decadence!!), 1 Tbs of raw cacao, 2 handfuls of mint

10) Peaches n’ Cream: 1 bunch green kale, 1 pint strawberries, 3 small peaches, 2 cups almond milk

11) Green Stalks: 1 handful of spinach, 1 stalk celery (Optional), 1/2 cup parsley + stalks 1 yellow mango, almond milk

12) Ant Logs: 2 Tbsp. peanut butter, 2 Tbsp. peanut butter, 1 stalk celery, 1 Tbsp cocoa nibs, 1 handful spinach, almond milk

13) Berry Blast: Black Berries, Raspberries, 1 C. spinach, 2 Tbsp. raw cocoa nibs, almond milk

Do you have a good smoothie recipe?  Please share in the comments below!

Emotions can be blinding. I truly believe that you HAVE to separate yourself from the emotional charge of the word fat before you can see the reality that has been there all along.  It’s the key to understanding, and having a positive relationship with your body.

I propose 2 fat storing triggers you may not have considered before:

1. Our Bodies are Lost in the Seasons

Have you ever thought to yourself, “My body and I just don’t seem to be on the same page!”?

Our current generation has lost one very fundamental truth about being a human.

What is that truth? It is that we live on a planet with seasons!

You may be thinking… “I’m not a complete idiot, I KNOW we live on a planet with seasons.”  Your body is hard-wired to adapt to seasons, but our environment and technology has completely cross-wired that system!

Think about it, only 100 years ago, we didn’t have climate controlled spaces with efficient heating and air conditioning. This meant that when it was summer time in most parts of the world, you were HOT! And in the winter time, in most places you were COLD!  Not only that, but certain foods simply weren’t available year-round.

For thousands of years our genetic makeup adapted to help us to survive during these seasonal changes in temperature.

Look at the animals that fatten themselves up before a winter hibernation.  Fat is a GOOD thing in this case that allows for survival.  It provides the fuel for body heat and survival when little food is available.

Are we so different?

There are signals that occur to tell the body to store fat and prepare for the winter time. Is it possible that the food available during the fall harvest has a ancestral connection with humans that signals a fat storing response? If so, maybe we shouldn’t wonder why we are fat, or be surprised that we have an obesity problem despite our advancing technology? Because of modern farming technology and refrigeration, these foods are available all year long, and in much higher quantities than ever before.

I suppose that deciding whether you should be eating closely to the seasons may depend upon how connected you want to feel with the earth and our human ancestry. In terms of weight management however, I suggest that rather than asking yourself if a specific food will make you fat or not, instead ask yourself if it is naturally harvested just before winter.

Perhaps we should be looking not only at the nutritional value of a food, but also the season in which we should eat each food!  If you’re not careful, your body just might start preparing for winter on you!

2. Fanning the Inflammation

On a similar note, some foods seem to have a pro-inflammatory response, which in-turn leads to a high stress state of the body. Grains for example, which we use to make bread, seem to have a pro-inflammatory response.  They also have a high glycemic index, which causes an insulin response and ultimately results in the body increasing it’s fat stores.

When the body is stressed, it functions in a fight-or-flight state which is very different than a calm a thriving state. When trying to survive do you think the body will store up fat, or slim down? Think about what people do when there is a natural disaster… They all rush to stock up on essential resources like fuel, generators, water, and food!  Your body is incredibly intelligent.  Stress it out too much and it just might start stocking up to prepare for the worst!

Conclusion

The stress you place on your body and the message you tell your body by your food selections might result in your body behaving in a way you didn’t expect.

Very interesting! So does this mean that we shouldn’t be eating spring-time fruits in the winter, or winter foods in the spring? Well it’s hard to say.

What does seem to be true, is that certain foods seem to signal a fat storing response, and the natural season of the food does seem to have a correlation.

Maybe we should stop emphasizing the nutritional labels, and start considering how genetically we might be hardwired to respond to certain tastes, smells, nutrients, and foods. And then consider how highly processed foods are sure to throw any such ‘hard-wiring’ into a state of pure confusion.

It sure makes you want to have your own garden doesn’t it! Real food like our ancestors ate and survived for thousands of years without many of our current degenerative conditions.  What a concept!

Here are some resources to look for the seasons for various foods. (Since we’ve almost forgotten as a society!)

Seasonal Ingredient Map – Epicurious

Eat The Seasons – UK weekly food recommendations

In Season Now – Food Network

Happy Eating!

Kevin McDougal, DC

What do you think about this article?  Let us know in the comments below!  Share any experiences you’ve had with a seasonal approach to food choices.

While there are emergency medical procedures that may help save your life if you fall victim to a stroke, there is a very narrow window of opportunity and the the road to recovery is not pretty, and can be very long. If the signs or symptoms of a stroke are not recognized very quickly, the survival rate goes down dramatically.

Here are 3 things that you may be doing that put you at higher risk of a stroke and you didn’t even realize it.

1. Spending Long Hours in Front of a Computer

Physical inactivity is one of the most controllable risk factors for stroke.  The more time you spend scanning browsing your Facebook news feed and farming your social-media-ville game, the less time you’ll have spent using your body for something physically rewarding.  You certainly can’t control your age, genetics, and gender, but you can change your daily routine!

2. Procrastinating Your Plans to Lose Weight

Obesity is not only closely connected to risk of stroke, but high blood pressure and type II diabetes.  Along with your efforts to become more physically active, you should have a long term plan that results in consistent and sustainable weight loss.  This may be the single most important thing you can do to improve your health overall.

3. Ignoring High Blood Pressure

There are many causes of high blood pressure, and your body is designed to allow for natural and mild fluctuations as you move and go about your daily activities.  If your blood pressure is consistently high, this can be a very dangerous condition for your body.  This greatly increases the potential for a blood clot to break free and circulate through the blood stream where it can find it’s way to the brain and block blood flow resulting in a stroke.

The very nature of hypertension, or elevated blood pressure, often involves inflammation of the blood vessels which can be one of the factors in blood clot formation in the first place.

What You Can Do to Reduce Your Risk

• Increase your daily physical activity.  At a minimum, take a 30 minute brisk walk each day.
• Stop smoking
• Avoid Alcohol
• Eat plenty of fresh vegetables (especially cruciferous veggies like broccoli and Brussels sprouts)
• Include plenty of fiber in your daily diet
• Include high levels of anti-oxidants in your daily diet

In addition to eating these foods, I also personally supplement the above foods with the highest quality nutritional products I’ve been able to find which includes extracts of those cruciferous vegetables and optimal levels of powerful anti-oxidants such as grape seed extract, vitamins and minerals.  If you’d like the information on the products I use, send me a quick message and I’ll forward you the details.

In one study, grape seed extract, which is a powerful anti-oxidant, was found to have neuroprotective effects.  Also a recent *study revealed that “An intake increment of 100 mg Mg/d was associated with an 8% reduction in risk of total stroke.”  This was specifically noted with ischemic stroke.

What is Stroke?

Stroke is sometimes referred to as a “brain attack” similar to a heart attack in which the blood flow to brain tissue is blocked by a blood clot.  This ultimately results in damage or death of the brain cells that do not receive blood flow during the event.  A mild form of stroke is referred to as a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), but does not result in permanent damage, although the potential of an actual stroke is more likely in a person who has experienced a TIA.

According to the National Stroke Association, “Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in America and a leading cause of adult disability.”  And “Up to 80% of strokes are preventable.”

How to Recognize a Stroke

Symptoms of stroke include confusion, dizziness, severe headache, and numbness or weakness, especially to one side of the body.

An acronym has been conveniently created to help remember what to look for if you suspect a stroke: FAST

F – Stands for “Face.”  Look at the person’s face and ask them to smile.  If one side of the face is drooping compared to the other, this is a big red flag!

A – Stands for “Arms.” Ask the person to raise both arms up, again watch for one arm to be weak and dropping down.

S – Stands for “Speech.”  Ask them to repeat a simple sentence and listen for slurred or confused speech.

T – Stands for “Time.”  Time is EXTREMELY CRITICAL! If you see ANY of these signs, call 911 immediately!

It is important that medical attention is received within 3 hours of the onset of a stroke!

Remember these tips, and share this article with the people you care about.  You could save a life!

Yours in Health,

Kevin McDougal, DC

References:

1.
In Koo Hwang, Ki-Yeon Yoo, Duk Soo Kim, Youn-Kab Jeong, Jong Dai Kim, Hyun-Kyung Shin, Soon Sung Lim, 
Ick-Dong Yoo, Tae-Cheon Kang, Dong-Woo Kim, Won-Kuk Moon, Moo Ho Won, Neuroprotective effects of 
grape seed extract on neuronal injury by inhibiting DNA damage in the gerbil hippocampus after 
transient forebrain ischemia, Life Sciences, Volume 75, Issue 16, 3 September 2004, Pages 1989-2001, 
ISSN 0024-3205, 10.1016/j.lfs.2004.05.013.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024320504005326)
Keywords: Ischemia; Grape seed extract; Anti-oxidant; Neuroprotective effects; DNA damage; 
8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine

2.

*Susanna C Larsson, Nicola Orsini, and Alicja Wolk Dietary magnesium intake and risk of stroke: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Am J Clin Nutr February 2012 vol. 95 no. 2 362-366

New research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicate that optimal amounts of calcium and vitamin D actually did change the zone of fat loss between two groups who essentially lost the same amount of weight.  Those who had additional amounts of these two nutrients lost more of the fat from around their organs than the other group.

As it turns out, the fat that accumulates around your organs is much more detrimental to your health than fat accumulation in other areas of the body.  This is referred to as visceral adipose tissue or VAT.

If you or someone you know has a distribution of fat that protrudes the belly area specifically, listen up!  This information is for you!

Be sure you are getting adequate calcium in your diet and sunlight exposure.

Use this calculator to calculate the approximate time needed in direct sunlight to get adequate vitamin D.

Or, to make it super easy, take a pharmaceutical-grade supplement from a trusted manufacturer.

For me personally, I love getting outside as often as I can, and I make sure I supplement!

Yours in Health,

Kevin McDougal, DC

If you don’t have a supplement manufacturer that you can trust with your health,

Click here for a FREE Health Assessment with the company I trust!

Article Reference:

Jennifer L Rosenblum et al. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation is associated with decreased abdominal visceral adipose tissue in overweight and obese adults. Am J Clin Nutr January 2012 vol. 95 no. 1 101-108

http://www.ajcn.org/content/95/1/101.short

So What’s This All About?

Check out the video.  This pretty much says it all!

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