Politics Can Negatively Affect Your Health: But There is a Cure

 “In 2012, for example, $66 million was spent on ads against a cigarette tax, with big contributions from Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds Tobacco. Yet, the public was told that the ads were "paid for by Californians Against Out of Control Taxes and Spending."” (source: Ventura County Star: http://www.vcstar.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-help-voters-by-revealing-whos-paying-for-ads_64152538)

Currently, in California, and other states, tobacco companies, Monsanto, big pharma, corporations that produce “food” for the standard American diet (SAD), and other wealthy entities can provided enormous funding for ballot measures that negatively affect the health of Californians, and can do so secretly and under the guise of intentionally deceptive names like Californians Against Out of Control Taxes and Spending.

You’d think this would be illegal in a democracy. But remember the power of money to create laws that favor money over people.

Politics can negatively affect our health when we don’t inform ourselves, don’t communicate with our elected officials, and don’t exercise our right to vote.

This week (August 25-29, 2014), we the people of California, have an opportunity to change this by making sure that our Assemblymembers vote YES on Saturday the 30th of August for SB 52 the DISCLOSE Act.

If you want the truth, you need to call your California Assemblymember as early in the week of Aug. 25-29 as possible! This vote will determine whether the primary funders of ballot measure campaign advertisements in California have to be clearly DISCLOSED in the ads.

There are currently powerful efforts being made to keep SB 52 from passing. Substantial efforts are being made by labor organizations. I am in favor of labor organizations, but secret money is not appropriate for them, or giant corporations, or wealthy individuals, or political action committees (PACs)!

If you live in Assembly District 37, please contact our Assemblymember, Das Williams at (916) 319-2037 and let his staff know that you want the DISCLOSE Act passed; that the people must come first before labor, corporations, the wealthy, and the PACs.

Das Williams is an excellent elected official. But don't assume that he will be voting for SB 52. I spoke with him and his staff on August 22nd and at that time he was not able to commit to voting for the bill. He explained that there is currently much discussion/argument about the details of the bill. This bill and its previous versions have been discussed for years. There is no excuse to not pass SB 52 now!

If you live in another district in California, please call your Assemblymember! Use this link for a 1-2-3 of how to find and call your Assemblymember, and know what to say! http://www.caclean.org/phone?name=call-sb52

Take the cure! Call your California Assemblymember now! Protect your health by protecting your right to know!

To Vitamin or Not To Vitamin?

There has been a small firestorm since the publication on December 17, 2013 of an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine entitled “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements”. This editorial concluded with the following statements; “we believe that the case is closed— supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful. These vitamins should not be used for chronic disease prevention. Enough is enough.”

 http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1789253#r1-11

Let me cut to the chase, I’m going to continue recommending vitamin and mineral supplements for my patients, and continue taking supplements myself.

One of the tip-offs that the content of this editorial would be of questionable value is its use of the phrase, “the case is closed”. No “case” in science is ever closed. Science is always open to new evidence, new viewpoints, and even to rehashing the old. This comment is at best foolish and at worst, rude.

The title “Enough is enough”, even without an exclamation mark, sounds more like an emotional statement than scientific guidance.

In the course of its admonishments, the editorial advises against vitamin supplementation for “well-nourished” adults. But what is “well-nourished”. We have neither scientific agreement on what constitutes “well-nourished”, nor methodology for measuring it. These writers claim that the study subjects lacked for no vitamins, minerals, amino acids, nor essential fats, but, they never tell us how they proved this in the subjects studied.

To additionally explain why I will not follow the recommendations of the editorial, I will briefly comment on the first of the three studies referenced in the editorial. That study was titled, Vitamin and Mineral Supplements in the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer: An Updated Systematic Evidence Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1767855

This study, as stated in its title, was looking at whether nutritional supplements alone would prevent a first occurrence of either cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cancer (CA). This is a fine study question, but would anyone really expect that vitamin and mineral supplements, particularly the one-size-fits-all supplements used in the reviewed studies, by themselves prevent CVD or CA? It is well established that diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors are major factors in both diseases. We know that all disease-influencing and health-influencing factors blend together in the body and contribute to a net outcome. Importantly, if supplements, as utilized in these studies, do not by themselves protect against CVD and CA, it still cannot be concluded that the supplements were of no benefit. When combined with other appropriate lifestyle measures, supplements may well provide health benefits, and even reduce the incidence of disease and mortality.

Others who also appear not to have been convinced by the “Enough is Enough” editorial include:

Why You Should Not Stop Taking Your Vitamins  by Mark Hyman, MD

http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/10/18/why-you-should-not-stop-taking-your-vitamins/

Vitamins Can Help Prevent Heart Attacks by Dr. Leo Galland

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leo-galland-md/vitamins-can-help-prevent_b_4570908.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

4 Supplements to Start Taking Today by Dr. Tom Sult

http://justbewell.info/Blog/4-supplements-to-start-taking-today.html

Why You Should Keep Taking Your Supplements by Ronald Hoffman, MD

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-12055/why-you-should-keep-taking-your-supplements.html

A Vitamin & Supplement Cheat Sheet by Frank Lipman, MD

http://www.goop.com/journal/do/267/a-vitamin-supplement-cheat-sheet?utm_source=GOOP150&utm_medium=TWITTER&utm_campaign=1242014VITAMINMUCH

YES on Prop 37 - Monsanto Thinks You're Braindead

I am speaking out in favor of Prop 37 because powerful, wealthy corporations like Monsanto and Coca-Cola are spending millions of dollars to sucker you with TV ads and fliers like the one I have posted below. They are doing so in order to make lots of money, and will do so at your expense.

Follow the money!


Check out the cover of this flier (on right) that I received today at my home in Ojai, CA.

Monsanto, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods Global, and many others paid for this flier and have contributed more than $35 million to stop passage of Prop 37, while claiming that we who promote Prop 37 are doing so in order to make money. 

The fact is that Monsanto and the others "have one thing on their mind"; billions of dollars. The fact that they are intentionally interfering with our Right to Know what is in our food, does not matter to them.

The issues of California's Prop 37 are simple and critical; 1) our Right to Know what is in our food, and 2) the health and safety of our children and all residents of California.

When passed, Proposition 37 will require foods containing GMOs (genetically modified organisms - genes from one plant or animal inserted into the genes of another plant or animal) to simply be labeled so that consumers know what they are buying and eating.

GMOs have not been proven safe, and there is evidence that they can cause illness, cancers and death.

This section of the same Monsanto-No-on-Prop-37 flier (above) is simply untrue. There is nothing complicated or confusing for the consumer; we will be able to buy GMO or non-GMO foods by just reading food labels. Labeling is not costly, anymore than noting the number of calories or milligrams of salt in a food. Finally, Prop 37 is not a "scheme", it is a proposed law, the intent of which is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans.

If you would like to see the full list of the corporations that are willing to spend millions to make sure that you don't know what's in your food, go to: http://www.noprop37.com/donors/

April Newsletter ~ Ventura Chiropractic & Massage

I'm happy to have our April newsletter up and available to all!

Click away! http://www.ventura-chiropractor.com/storage/newsletter-archive/2012%20d%20Apr%20NL%20blue_2page.pdf










chiropractor Ventura

Functional Medicine Chiropractor: Trend-Setting Doctor

Functional Medicine Chiropractor: Trend-Setting Doctor: It is usually not easy setting trends, so it felt great to get this note today, in the form of a Google review , from a thoughtful and lov...

Take the Plunge ... Elimination Diet

I have had another great day at the office; pretty common. That doesn't mean that I am numb to great days at the office. On the contrary, they inspire me.

So I finished seeing patients and was checking my e-mail. And this is what I found from a long-time patient, a married, working-outside-the-home, mother of three.

"Hi Kris,

Well, I’ve decided to take the plunge and do an elimination diet. I’m tired of talking about what bothers my family food-wise and waffling back and forth about what we should eat and not eat.   My husband and son are my main motivation for doing it, but I know the rest of us need it also.  It includes a 2 day detox of green smoothies (for just my husband & I) with the rest of the elimination part being 28 days.  I was wondering if you have a few minutes if you could give me some tips that might help.

I am providing the link for the diet we  are doing.  I also wanted to ask that if you have any extra greens that you give away, if you would consider contributing to our family.  If you don’t, no worries.

The diet is at http://www.nourishingmeals.com/p/elimination-diet.html

We will be going Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free on Friday the 30th, with the above diet starting Monday April 2.

Any advice would be appreciated.

With Love,

A patient

P.S. I may try and document the process for you if you are interested in it for others."

I am thrilled! I have been gently, lovingly talking with this patient for years about the need for more dietary change for her family. She is ready; in her own time! And I am here to support her!

This communication from this patient and what it represents regarding her family's ability to be healthy, and regarding the effectiveness of our healing relationship is an example of what I referred to at the beginning of this post as what makes for a great and inspiring day for this doctor!

Are you ready to take the plunge into greater health for yourself and your family?

The Ornish Spectrum

Dr. Ornish and Dr. Young

DeanOrnish, MD @DeanOrnishMD and I tweeted back and forth today, and he asked me, “How do you usually respond to stressors?”

This is my response to Dr. Ornish, that I also wish to share with you;

The simple answer is that I try to stack the deck to give me, others, and our world the reserves, the resiliency, and the connections to enable us to roll with change.

In my imperfectness, I TRY to get enough sleep, breathe deeply, practice yoga, raise organic vegetables, drink fresh green vegetable juice, eat unAmericanly large servings of green vegetables each day, walk daily, tell others directly of my love for them, hug, wear a peace symbol, show obvious care, see and feel the magnitude of pain and suffering in the world, experience hope, welcome the tears that so often come to my eyes, express gratitude for all that offer me their love. I’m just TRYING.

Knowing of individuals like you, Dr. Ornish, influences my experience of stress. Your rational and loving guidance in our world, is calming and uplifting. What you are doing, interests me enough that I am looking into training to become a certified provider for your program, The Ornish Spectrum.

http://Ventura-Chiropractor.com