San Leandro Chiropractor

Pomegranate And Health Benefits

March 14, 2011 by drburt

Growing between five to eight meters in height, a pomegranate is a fruit bearing and tiny tree with deciduous like shrub features. This delicious fruit is native and found mostly in Iran and the Himalayas highlands between North India and Northern Pakistan. Today, it is popularly cultivated in India, Iran, Iraq, China, Azerbaijan, Burma, Afghanistan, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia with lesser cultivation in tropical Africa, the Mediterranean and Southern Europe.

The Pomegranate becomes ripe when you start noticing its distinctive color and when tapped it makes a metallic clinging sound. The fruits should be picked days before maturity when they start showing signs of cracking open. It almost has the same shelf and storage life as the apple and is best maintained at a room temperature of 41 degree Fahrenheit to 32 degree Fahrenheit for a period of 6 to 7 months. It improves its taste and becomes more flavorful and juicier as time goes by.

This fruit produces 16% of vitamin C requirements of adults per 100ml serving of daily nutrients allowance making it one of the healthiest fruits in the world. Pomegranate is also rich in polyphenols and potassium, Vitamin B5, flavonoids, tannins and fiber.

The high fiber content of Pomegranates however, is found in the edible seeds which can also supply unsaturated oils. People who neglect the seeds end up forfeiting its additional nutritional value through its oils, seed fiber and other micronutrients.

Health benefits of this sweet fruit include reducing the risk of heart diseases, heart attacks and strokes. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, medical researchers stated an example of an experiment conducted for two weeks on a group of healthy grown up men and dozens of unhealthy mice. Both groups drank Pomegranate juice everyday for two weeks. The result found out that the adult men experienced a large increase in their antioxidant levels, which translates to a drop of ninety percent in their LDL cholesterol oxidation. The mice also turned up a result of 90% drop in their LDL oxidation of peritoneal macrophages.

The juice that the Pomegranates produced also helps alleviate viral infection and produces antibacterial compounds to battle against dental bacteria and plaque. It was also proven, that this fruit helps reduce the systolic blood pressure by injecting its serum angiotensin converting enzyme.

Another study by medical experts has shown the huge possibility of Pomegranates by way of its extracts help battle the proliferation of human breast cancer cells. The juice of this fruit is very popular among old people as it also helps in the cleansing of the body system by its antioxidants contents and produces a healthy body system thus lessening the chances of a recurring illness.

The Pomegranate has since become widely commercialized due to its health benefits. There are wine, juice, jellies and salad dressing found in the supermarket shelves nowadays. The popularity of Pomegranate is due to the fact many studies have shown that its high level of antioxidants is beneficial to one’s health in a lot of way.

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Papaya and Health Benefits

March 11, 2011 by drburt

Called as a “fruit of the angels” Papaya with its appealing appearance of musky undertones and light colored texture is tastefully sweet was once considered as an exotic fruit but is now found everywhere in the world throughout the year. Though, the season of fall and summer produces the most papaya.

Pear-shaped and spherical, a this fruit can grow as long as 20 inches with the normal size on the market measuring an average of 7 inches and weighs 1-2 pounds. The inner flesh an orange color with pink and yellow hues. The inner cavity of the fruit is color black with round shaped seeds rooted in a gelatin-like form. Its seeds are edible but tastes a bit bitter on the mouth. The papaya also contains papain, a type of enzyme that helps greatly in digesting proteins. The papain is heavily concentrated inside the fruit when it is still on the unripe stages. The Papain is also extracted to create digestive enzyme dietary supplements and is one of the main ingredients in making bubble gums.

Papayas are not only delicious fruits that present a luscious site to the eyes by way of its tropical colors. It is also a good source of rich antioxidants and other nutrients such as Vitamin C, Vitamin B, carotenes, flavanoids, pantothenic acid, folate, fiber, magnesium and potassium. These nutrients and minerals help improve the over-all health of the cardiovascular system and also help combat and prevent against colon cancer.

Papaya has a lot of health benefits. It protects against heart disease because it is rich in vitamin C, A and E. These three powerful antioxidants help prevent the oxidation and buildup of cholesterol. The association of both the Vitamin E and C produces the compound ‘paraoxonase’ a type of enzyme that lowers HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol buildup therefore lessening the chances of suffering from strokes and heart attacks. Another factor why this fruit lessens the risk of heart attack is its richness in fiber. The folic acid and fiber creates the homocysteine substance and converts it into benign amino acids such as methionine and cysteine, a conversion of nutrients that reduces the damage to the blood vessel wall thereby significantly reducing the risk for a heart attack.

Papaya also helps prevents colon cancer by having its fiber bind together cancer-causing toxins and rids of them separately away from the completely healthy colon cells. With the help of beta-carotene, vitamin C and E, found in this tasty fruit, these nutrients serves as the wall that protects against the risk of colon cancer.

Immune support and anti-inflammatory treatment is another benefit. Other health benefits include; protection against macular degeneration or vision loss. In a medical study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, it states that consuming 3 or more servings of fruits that includes papayas per day causes a significant reduce of vision loss compared to individuals who only consumes an average of 1.5 fruits per day.

People suffering from Rheumatoid arthritis are also advised to eat a lot of papayas as the rich vitamin C content of a papaya provides individuals with protection against other forms of inflammatory polyarthritis. Here are just some of the reasons why a Papaya should be a part of everybody’s diet, it is not only tasteful but healthy as well.

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Banana and Your Health

March 9, 2011 by drburt

Bananas are among the healthiest fruit in the world today. It contains three natural sugars; fructose, glucose and sucrose combined with fiber. This fruit is the popular choice among active individuals as it provides a sustained, long lasting energy boost to last the day. Studies have shown that eating a medium sized banana can provide enough energy to help you last through a daunting 90 minute workout. No wonder that this fruit has become the staple energy food among the world’s best conditioned athletes.

Providing energy boost isn’t the only way it helps the body. It is also a leading combatant of a number of conditions and illnesses making it an important to include banana as part of our everyday meals. It contains tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, a chemical compound that improves the mood of an individual by making it prone to relaxation generally making the individual feel happier and light.

Banana not only power up the body it also helps combat a number of conditions making it among the leading health food in the world. Here are just some conditions that this magic fruit helps stave off:

PMS – Women should grab a bite of banana when having their monthly period. The vitamin B6 content helps regulate blood glucose level making the mood feel lighter and relaxed.

Anemia – Having high levels of iron, a banana helps stimulate the hemoglobin production in the blood helping a person stop the occurrence of anemia on its tracks.

Blood Pressure: High in potassium yet low in salt are what makes bananas perfect to offset a high blood pressure. The US Food and Drug Administration recently allowed the banana industry to issue official statements claiming that banana has the ability to reduce the risk of stroke and high blood pressure.

Constipation: Rich in fiber, a diet that includes daily consumption of bananas helps restore normal bowel movement thus helping the body overcome constipation.

Heartburn: Bananas produces high natural antacids in the body that reduces the occurrence of heartburn and helps stop it by providing a soothing relief to this condition.

These are just some of the conditions that bananas helps to combat, other less serious conditions such as mosquito bites, wherein a banana can help by using it as in lieu of insect bite cream. By rubbing the inside of the banana skin on the affected skin will reduce irritation and swelling. Nerves are also calmed by bananas because of its high vitamin B content.

Bananas are not only helpful in fighting off serious body conditions; it is also eaten as a means of prevention from such life threatening conditions such as a stroke. According to the New England Medical Journal, constant eating of bananas reduces the risk of an individual suffering from a stroke by a whopping 40%.

Living a healthy life is important in order to live a less hassle and happy life. By eating healthy foods we also encourage a clean way of living and bananas are included in the forefront of the campaign for a healthy lifestyle. Getting to know bananas as an important part of the battle against serious and life threatening conditions is a start on the right direction.

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Shoulder Injury And Chiropractic Rehabilitation – Ski Crash

March 7, 2011 by drburt

Shoulder Injury And Chiropractic Rehabilitation – Ski Crash

This is the most recent Shoulder Injury case after skiing accident that I have finished rehabilitating in my San Leandro Chiropractic Clinic. Patient is a twenty five year old female. She is a full time student and loves to be involved in different sport activities. She was in a great deal of pain for two months prior coming to my office for rehabilitation of her shoulder.

About two months ago my patient was enjoying the white powdered slopes of Lake Tahoe. Unexpectedly she lost a control on one of the turns and fell really hard on her left shoulder. The left shoulder was in a dislocated position for about one hour. That how long it took for paramedics to reach her on a slope. She was taken to a near by Hospital E.R. and was diagnosed with minor shoulder dislocation without any fracture. She got very lucky that her bones were not broken. As usual patient was discharged and prescribed a ton of pain killers with advice to get some rest and applying ice on the injured area.

After getting back to Bay Area, this patient made an appointment with a local orthopedic doctor. This doctor was “nice enough” to see her in about two months. What if patient needs to be seen ASAP, why such a long delay? After all, evaluation and examination does not take hours, and any doctor can figure out what is going within given time frame.

During these two months period my patient had been taken pain medications which would become less and less effective because the intensity of the pain would go up every week. The pain level began affecting her sleep patterns and thus her ability to concentrate on her professional studies. Sleeping on a left side was out of question at all. She stopped working out completely and had to eliminate some of her activities of daily living.

Many would wonder why so much pain, if hospital has discharged her, and orthopedist thought she could wait for two months and he could cure her shoulder in one visit. The answer is simple enough. This patient had soft tissue injury which required immediate rehabilitation post skiing accident. The best result with soft tissue injury rehabilitation, are within first 72 hour post trauma. Read this post for more scientific explanation: “4 Stages of Soft Tissue Healing.” This particular patient had to wait eight weeks and be in a miserable pain.

EXAMINATION:

During examination I have discovered that patient has lost about 70-80% of range of motion in her left shoulder with severe pain at the end range. This pain was present on active and passive range of motion (ROM) tests. Pain during active and passive ROM is a sign that her muscles, ligaments and tendons were injured – sprain and strain injury. All of the rotator cuff muscles were strained with severe pain during palpation.

I knew that I could help this patient. However, eight weeks of lack of motion in a left shoulder caused increased fibrotic tissue around injured soft tissues. That meant only one thing – longer rehabilitation process. This patient was very eager to fix her problem so the compliance was not an issue.

TREATMENT:

Each session consisted of full spine chiropractic adjustments, which helped to enhance the ability of her body to heal itself. If you want to know how this works please refer to this post: “Relationship of the nervous system and spine to organs.” Prior chiropractic adjustment she would get 15 minutes of electric stimulation with moist hot pack on her left shoulder followed by 20 minutes deep tissue massage from my CMT. After that I would performed post isometric relaxation of her shoulder in flexion, extension, internal and external rotation, adduction and abduction.

RESULTS:

A noticeable response to a therapy was after session number three. Pain level has gone down and ROM has gone up. My original plan was two week of rehabilitation with frequency at three times a week – total six sessions. However, it took me additional 3 sessions to bring this injured shoulder to a full ROM and almost no pain level.

At the end of the session number nine patient informed me that she can have a good night sleep, she can lay down on her left shoulder and she is back to her activities of daily living. She began her exercise routine after last session. Patient was discharged with instructions on how to strengthen and stretch the injured body part.

Below is a Video Testimonial From a Happy Camper!

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