Patients are really great teachers and wonderful reminders of the natural order of health. As a chiropractor, I get to see really sick and disabled people every day.

Friday was a pretty awesome day for one young gentleman. He came in because of a lot of organ dysfunction and in general being very unhealthy, so much so, that he is in the E.R. about every 3 weeks.

Since, the time I did the exam on him and Friday til the time I adjusted him, he had seen a homeopath for a boat load of supplements and other remedies. He did a very mature thing and declined the supplements until he talked to me and saw his x-rays.

Now, most of you who are long time readers may be thinking, “I thought supplements were good for you?”.

They are!

I take 7 different ones a day.

What I want you to learn is the order of events. We haven’t talked about this concept for a long time and Friday gave me a good reminder.

I started using Supplements in practice about 12 years ago because patients were struggling to heal. As I learned more, and realized they wield tremendous power to help people, I started counseling people from all over.

It took me about 5 years to see a stark difference in patients.

All of the patients I was adjusting and giving supplements to were doing much better than the ones who were just getting supplements. And so my number one rule for supplements began.

“Supplements come second”

I still don’t help counsel people unless they are getting adjusted. So, when people call me from other areas of the country for help, I’m glad to help, but my first question is, “When was the last time you got adjusted?”

Every action in your body is controlled by your nervous system, every one. Your nervous system is influenced by the function of your spine. The University of Colorado found that a misalignment can cause up to a 60% loss of function of the nerve.

How much pressure does it take? About the weight of a nickel.

By their very name “supplements”, they are supplemental. Meaning they are an additional therapy to help the patient regain their health or maintain their health.

The harsh reality is that supplements are necessary by nearly every one. Researchers started seeing nutritional deficiencies back in the 1920’s. Do you think people in general eat more processed food now or back then? Do you think farming has stripped more nutrients from the soil by now or back in the 20’s.

Those are things I think about when I am feeling awesome. I get adjusted and take supplements even when I feel amazing because I still want to feel amazing 20 years from now.

So this is just a reminder for many of you in Minnesota and possibly new info for those of you who I haven’t adjusted.

For the best results… make sure you are getting adjusted by a chiropractor no matter where you live.

Lessons of the post:

#1 Get adjusted. Even if you are only getting adjusted 1x a month that’s enough for many of you to keep your body running very well.

#2 Use whole food supplements. That means the supplements are still living foods not ripped apart dead, deficient, items from a national brand. If you see your supplements on TV. They are not worth buying. If you have questions just email me or read older posts.

#3 The best place to start. Standard Process makes the best and original whole food supplements. If every one took just their Multi (Catalyn), Their B (Cataplex B), and (Cruciferous Complete) the green supplement, we would see a dramatic improvement in the health of the nation.

Like I said earlier, I take 7 things, but those extras are specific to me. Each person, may need something different, but those 3 above are foundational supplements every one can take.

Number Two, Large scale national organizations stepped in line to poo poo prevention. Basically, a pink ribbon flying organization told me that classes on breast cancer prevention were not part of their objectives. Arrghh. More on that later too.

Back to insight number 1.

The Sunday after my class, I’m sitting in church and we have a guest speaker. I’m thinking, oh no. But, God had a different plan. It was a fabulous sermon with a personal story from the pastor about his mom who developed breast cancer and refused chemo and radiation and lived and is actually doing very well.

O.K. now I’m interested.

Most people aren’t willing to talk about the alternative things they are doing or they did. Why?

As soon as people talk, the criticism comes flying. It is a rare person that can stand up to the fear mongering and say, “this is my body and I think I need to do this______.”

The harsh reality that no one really wants to talk about is that traditional cancer treatments have a very poor success rate. Using the word “success” is also a misnomer.

So I called this pastors mom and interviewed her. Now, I am going out on a limb here and giving you some details, but I feel like I have to give you the legal FDA warning. I don’t recommend any of the things on the list as a treatment.

• Every cancer is different.
• Consult with an alternative doctor.

These are the things “she” did. I personally would do all, or nearly all of them, if I have cancer. I am going to give you a summary of our interview. Ready? She also gave these things to me in a rough order of the importance she gave them to her success.

1. She cleaned up her diet. Lots of organic foods and more veggies and she completely cut out sugar.
2. This one is also very key. She saw a naturopath and had her blood tested for food intolerances. The number one thing that she cut out was dairy. The liver is the key. If it is struggling with foods it can’t process well, it doesn’t work well to get the toxins out of your body. This is why I take “Cruciferous Complete” from Standard process and “LivCo” from Mediherb. They help the liver immensely.
3. She felt that digestion was a primary thing to improving her health. To ease the burdens she cut out turkey, pork and red meat. One thing I would have maybe added was digestive enzymes or “Zypan” from Standard Process.
4. Based on some help from another doctor in California, she switched to a diet that was 80% vegetables and 20% meat.
5. She also tested her pH levels and was very acidic, so she went on a month long program of juice fasting and raw foods. It wasn’t the Purification Program from Standard Process, but something a little simpler.
6. She drank a lot more water, good clean water, that is.
7. She did another detoxifiction program for 5 days.
8. She found some one to do “foot zoning” for her. She used that to monitor how her liver was doing. She felt the liver was key to her getting better.
9. She used a few naturopaths to get guidance and have access to the hormone testing kits from Diagnostechs. I was pleased to hear that ecause I’ve used Diagnostechs for many years.
10. She also found a clinic in Idaho that did mineral I.V.’s. She found them very helpful and I believe she did the myers cocktail.
11. She also took Essiac Tea twice a day. If you need a source let me know. I think this should be a mandatory protocol for all cancer patients.
12. She also took advantage of Reishi Mushrooms healing effects.
13. And last but not least, she did caster oil packs over the affected areas.

Now, this is not everything she did. These are just the big things. You might be looking at the list and saying, “what on earth was she doing?”

I put this out to give you some new ideas and just expose you to the concept that there are a lot of ideas out there on cancer. I have a book of dozens of treatments that were successful, but sadly have all been wiped of the earth by the all knowing FDA.

The real problem for long term success with things like chemo is the fact that healing occurs from the inside out. Things that create illness can’t simultaneous create health.

Only healthy things can create a healthy body.

This is why I enjoy Standard Process supplements, organic food, and chiropractic adjustments so much. They allow the body to heal from the inside out without getting in the way.

SP order line 612-BE-GREAT (612-234-7328)

or just email with questions, or better yet leave a comment, those will get to me also.

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What if you could control the matrix?

When the bullets are flying, wouldn’t it be great to be able to see them coming and bend left, then right, and watch them fly by in slow motion?  To do that you need to learn some secrets of slow motion.

I’m sure you could make a cool Youtube video of you in slo-mo.

Is it possible to live a slower life and actually enjoy it?  Absolutely.  Now, it wouldn’t be fun to actually live and move in tree sloth time.  What I want you to see is the perception of time shifting into a lower gear.  The real “secret” is being intentional about the speed of your life.

Time, itself, slows down when you do.

Talk to almost anyone older than you and they all say the same thing.  “The older you get the faster time goes.”  I would say that most of the retirees that I know are busier now than when they were still working.  On the flip side, if a retiree sits in the rocking chair and does nothing, they quickly degenerate and die.  It’s true that “a rolling stone gathers no moss”, but what if the stone is rolling too fast?  Chaos can quickly ensue with an out of control boulder.  “Rock Slide”

It is hard to do less. I spent Thanksgiving and the days after hanging out with family and friends purposefully doing nothing.  It was hard to slow down. Oh, so worth it.

Every part of our lives are built around being as productive as possible, or at least as busy as possible.  Everyone feels more important if they are busy, or appear to be busy.  I’ve seen elementary kids with planners.

If you don’t have much experience in simple living and slow living you may just have to take a vacation to kick start a new out look on life.

“Doctor’s orders”

Now, any time off will be great, but you need at least 4 days, preferably longer, to let your brain begin to slow down.  For the first 3 days you will likely be antsy and wanting to do something, resist it. On a “vacation” don’t plan anything.  That’s right…NO plans.  You’re on the non-plan plan.  Some of the best trips and most memorable were never planned.  The patients I prescribe a vacation to need to do nothing and let their minds and bodies rest.  You don’t want to have to take a vacation after your vacation.

If you are taking a R & R vacation my suggestions would be to the mountains or the ocean.  Both of with have a lot of power, energy, and the ability to humble you with their grand scale.  I realize you can get peace anywhere but humans have always gravitated to these places, they offer that little bit extra.

Now if you are really in need of peace and reflection you could sign up for a month of meditation in a Katmandu monestary.  Since that kind of isolation would break most people, me included, go for the ocean or the mountains.

If you are really strapped for time a lake or a forest will do if you don’t live close to the big ones.

A few other suggestions to SLOW life down and enjoy it.

• Go to a foreign country- you will be forced to slow down with unfamiliar surroundings and language barriers.
• Turn off your phone and computer for the day.
• Have no plan
• Travel light - Walking on the cobblestone streets in Mexico I saw this poor guy dragging 2 huge suitcases along while he followed his female companion.  I thought “poor #$%^&*”  Don’t drag burdens around with you.
• Spend the night cooking a big meal and enjoy preparing each piece.

Benefits to you:

• You sleep better
• You feel less pain
• You have more energy
• Life can take on more meaning than to-do lists and bills.

But “I don’t have time…I have this to do…and that to do”

If anything close to those words just came out of your mouth…you must go.  Everyday you wait , you rob yourself of life.  All your stuff will be waiting for you when you get back.

Try this easy, warm, healthy potato soup.

Last night I made a potato soup that my wife and I love.  I savor each bowl of this filling soup.

If you need a warm meal after being outside try this.

Ingredients for 2 people:

• 3 medium potatoes (Preferably organic)
• Onion (small)
• Green beans (about 2 cups)
• Dill (as much as you like), we use a lot.
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 2 cups Milk (Preferably raw, if not then whole milk)
• Salt / Pepper (Preferably Celtic Sea Salt)

Step 1:  Start with the potatoes.  Clean the outsides, leave the peels on.  Cut into 4 pieces.  Boil for 20 minutes

Step 2:  Steam the green beans ~7 minutes

Step 3:  Heat the milk on medium on the stove ~10 minutes.  Be careful not to heat too high or too long.  You want it to be “soup” temperature hot.

Step 4:  Blend on “High” for 1 minute.  Milk,  butter, dill, 1/2 of the potatoes, 1/2 of the green beans, 1/2 of the onion.

Step 5:  Add the rest, blend on low to just chop the rest up.  This gives it a chunky texture.

Step 6:  Salt and Pepper to taste.

Enjoy, and eat it SLOW,

Dr. Altman

It is no secret that medically prescribed hormones are extremely dangerous. Since 2002, when the Women’s Health Initiative was published knowledge of the dangers was made public. I still run into women taking medically prescribed hormones once in a while, but I hope it ends today. In todays New York Times a new bomb shell was dropped.

Another study proves the dangers of these hormones

Since it is still October and Breast Cancer awareness month I hope women continue to take less and less of these toxic drugs. It is up to you to help all of your friends become more aware of the dangers of taking medically prescribed hormones. No more…

An ominous fact that medical science never discusses is that as soon as women STOPPED taking the drugs back in 2002 the rates of Breast Cancer fell.

Things you should know

In the new breast cancer study the two most significant findings:

1. If women were taking the hormone drugs and they developed breast cancer, the cancer was more aggressive and invasive than in women who didn’t take the drugs. Suddenly hot flashes sound better than cancer.
2. The drugs also increased breast tissue density and made detection of cancer mush more difficult.

So let’s think about this…

Drugs obviously are unhealthy. We as a society seem to have looked the other way when they are prescribed by a person in a white coat instead of a guy in a back alley van.

Your best defense is a good offense

Think about prevention now, because the odds are heavily stacked against you. So here is what I recommend to my wife.

1.Avoid sugar, I know this includes chocolate, so maybe just reduce the amount you consume. If you have cancer, then NO sugar. Sugar feeds cancer.
2.Exercise! It can decrease your cancer risk by 35%.
3.Eat good hormone producers -raw butter, extra virgin olive oil, cod liver oil, and coconut oil.
4.Wear a bra for less than 12 hours per day. It can decrease breast cancer risk by half.
5.Eat lots of raw fruits and veggies.
6.Save your liver- less alcohol, medications, and toxins in general.
7.Eat as many anticancer foods as possible: kale, beets, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, garlic, onions, and leeks.
8.Get your vitamin D naturally. Sunlight is best, then cod liver oil.
9.Eat organic as much as possible. More nutrition, no pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilizers, or injected hormones.
10. Do drink clean water, not tap water. Reverse osmosis is the easiest to get.
11. Use Olive oil- liberally, extra-virgin, and not “PURE”.
12. Use Saturated fats: butter, coconut oil, and lard. They are stable and good for
you, and support hormone production. This is a really hard one for many
people to accept. Think about this. As people have eaten less saturated fat
over the last 50 years, cancer and heart disease rates are worse.

13. Avoid Hydrogenated oils: They block good hormone production.

14. Use Omega- 3 fatty acids: fish, flax, green leafy veggies and walnuts. They
keep inflammation down and are a good source of fats.

15. Avoid Omega- 6 fatty acids: safflower, sunflower, and other vegetable oils.
They go rancid easily.

16. Avoid Milk with RBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone).
-U. of Illinois toxicologist Samual Epstein, M.D. “All women, from conception to death, will now be exposed to an additional breast cancer risk due to milk from cows treated with RBGH”.

17. Avoid estrogen hormones: They directly cause cancer. A 2002 large federal
study revealed that hormone medications were causing breast cancer, heart
disease and other problems. Within months, millions of women stopped taking
estrogen and progestin medications. In 2003, breast cancer rates dropped
dramatically for the first time in a long time…hmmm.

18. Take Cruciferous Complete by Standard Process. Every woman should take this daily. It is easy and cheap.

Without a lot of detail, two easy solutions for women whose hormones are already a little wacky

1. Use Ovex-P from Standard Process to help feed the overall hormone system.

2. Use Chaste Tree from Mediherb as a natural hormone balancer.

3. Magnesium lactate also works very well if a woman has cramps

Now does that work in all cases, no, but a lot of them do get help that easily. Some however, are significantly more difficult.

All of these are from Standard Process. If you need help just email. If you need supplements just email docaltman [at] gmail [dot] com or call our web based order line and just leave a message, 612-BE-GREAT (612-234-7328.

Related articles

• Breast Cancer Risk Exacerbated by Hormone Replacement Therapy (womensrights.change.org)
• Hormone therapy raises breast cancer deaths: study (reuters.com)
• You: Hormone Therapy Raises Cancer Risks, Study Finds (nytimes.com)
• You: Breast cancer study finds prolonged risk to hormone therapy (latimes.com)
• Hormone therapy linked to increased cancer risk (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• Hormone therapy linked to more breast cancer deaths (boston.com)
• Hormone Therapy Linked to Higher Breast Cancer Death Risk (abcnews.go.com)
• Hormone Pills Boost Breast Cancer Risks (newser.com)
• Mysa.com: Hormone therapy linked to deadlier breast cancers (mysanantonio.com)
• Hormones for Menopause Increase Breast Cancer Hazard (livescience.com)

I hope you have a lot of really natural A’s.

Vitamin A is sooo good for your immune system. The natural stuff not the artificial junk in most supplements. The Atlas, or the first cervical bone is critical, and the Adrenal glands are also important to the immune system.

This is shaping up to be a nasty year for colds and flus. It has already started. Vitamin A can be a secret weapon.

Normally this time of year I’m thinking about how to promote football and chiropractic. The closest I’ve come, is the fact that all the NFL teams have a team chiropractor.

The best athletic teams use chiropractic for 2 key reasons. Chiropractic decreases injuries and enhances performance. Great joints just work better.

But this year, I can hear the coughing from anywhere in the office. The sneezing has already blown a disc for a patient. We have run out of kleenex’s wiping little kids’ noses. It’s not a pretty picture.

If you need any furniture sanded, my hands
can help from all the washing.

Kids in school, people in church, husbands, wives, dogs, cats, and random deer are coughing in the woods. Everybody seems to be sick. People I haven’t seen in 3 months are coming in sick, and they know they can get better by getting adjusted.

One of our tricks in school was to get adjusted 3-4 times a day. I was always better the next day. The upper part of the neck, primarily the Atlas bone, controls all the parts of the immune system. High stress in your body increases dysfunction quickly. That’s why 3-4 visits/ day works.

You need good nutrition to heal and be healthy, along with some good sleep. Your adrenal glands need those things too. If you are constantly tired and can’t get out of bed in the morning, Cha-Ching…you are whipping your adrenal glands like a race horse and they are giving up before the finish line.

Guess what else? Your adrenal glands also control your immune system in your nose, your mouth and your lungs. This is why lots of stress and the go…go…go… attitude can drive you to being sick often.

I first started thinking about long term patient health 9 years ago when I started reading Bruce West’s newsletter. He made a profound statement.

He said it is much harder to help people get well today than it was 20 +years ago when he started in chiropractic. After 13 years, I would have to agree. What used to take 6 visits now takes 16 for people to get better. People have fewer resources to heal.

Our acceptance and tolerance of bad, cheap, non-nutritious food won’t change unless we educate ourselves and our loved ones.

Back to being sick. I know where it comes from and I know I need your help to educate others.

Ramp up your immune system everyday.

A summary of 2004 research on Vitamin A

Vitamin A benefits:

1. Improved hormone patterns in girls

2. Enhance immune function

3. Protect against cancer

4. Modulates inflammation

5. Vit. A&D decreased cell number of pancreatic cancer cell lines.

6. Protects against chemicals and pesticides (this is one of my favorites, everyone needs this)

7. Lack of Vit. A screws up the lining of the small intestine.

8. Improves iodine efficacy in kids. A healthy thyroid is critical for healthy nerve functions.

This is also another reason to eat butter instead of margarine. Butter is a natural source of vitamin A. Margarine is made from laboratory chemicals. No matter what your doctor says or what the label says

Do Not Under Any Circumstance Voluntarily eat margarine