Look at these numbers:

• Every hour spent watching television (sitting) increases the risk of death from chronic disease by 11%
• A recent study in WA found that an office desk job can double your risk of bowel cancer
• One in two office workers suffer neck pain as a result of excess sitting

iPad use, which is expected to hit 80 million users in the US by 2015 (say 4 million in Aus), is already being studied for being the cause of neck pain (read more at the New York Times here)

What you can do to help yourself

Pure Wisdom is dedicating Spinal Health Week (May 21-27) to teaching as many people as possible the solutions to the problems constant sitting creates. We are already booked in to visit local schools, businesses and community groups, and still have two spaces left to give a FREE 30 minute presentation/workshop on constant sitting, why it’s such a problem, and what to do about it. If you would like to snap up one of these places please email marcus@purewisdom.com.au 

The Umbrella solution to sitting is not rocket science. The answer is MOVEMENT! 

• Stand up and walk when you receive or make a phone call
• Take regular stretch breaks and move your body at least every 45 minutes (every 30 minutes is the gold standard)
• Swap the boardroom for the pavement – introduce walking meetings

1. Hips, elbows and knees at open angles (slightly more than 90 degrees)
2. Recline slightly to ease lower back pressure
3. Thighs parallel to the floor
4. Feet flat on the floor (or footrest)
5. Sit approx one arms length from the monitor

 Wishing you a great week of constant movement!

PS – If all of this fascinates you be sure to attend our Daily Physical Mastery workshop this Wednesday May 15 where we look at the correct postures for sitting, standing, bending, walking, running, sleeping, and much more. You are sure to learn at least one new tip to improve your health and wellness. But be quick, there are already 18 people booked in. Click here to register

Don’t get me wrong, technology is sensational! I love it! However, what is not sensational is that we are SITTING down using all of this technology and doing terrible damage to our entire bodies – our brains, our spines, our colons, our muscles, our bones, and more. You name it, chronic sitting affects nearly every single function in the body. As world-renowned chiropractor Dr James Chestnut says, sitting is to the spine what sugar is to the teeth.

When your body adapts to constant sittiting it makes you less skilled at basic functions like standing, walking, running and jumping. Surely you know the feeling of driving to Melbourne and hopping out of the car. It’s harder to stand, it’s harder to walk, it’s certainty harder to run and jump!

Tell the SITTERS in your life about CHIROPRACTIC to WIN

Excess sugar consumption (and yep, you guessed it, Australia is at the top of the tree in sugar consumption, surpassing American and Europe), is the leading cause of obesity in the modern world. But isn’t sugar “fat free”??? On the surface, yes, but in reality, absolutely not!

I recently enjoyed myself over the Easter period, feasting on a selection of chocolate treats, and took my fancy to an organic “sugar-free” chocolate bunny which I had been given. Normally I would say, “sugar-free, but what else have you put in there to make it so?”, but this was a very reputable brand! Without naming names, it’s an organic branch of a leading supermarket! Now I was the sucker as I have since realised, as it was filled with the artificial sweetener mannitol (which I have since learned is used as a weak renal (kidney) vasodilator!)

The lesson – be VERY wary of anything that is HIGH in sugar and LOW/NO sugar. The wisest way to eat your food is select natural foods with natural sugars (fruits, honey and few others you can read about in more detail).

One of Australia’s leading chiropractors, Dr Jennifer Barham-Floreani has put together a sensational synopsis of sugar - Tackling the Sweet Beast, why it’s addicitive, what to look for in alternatives, and what you can do to stop the rot and lead a healthier life (and if you are already living a sugar-free life, how to pass this potentially life-saving information on to others).

Have a safe and healthy week,

Marcus, Dr Sarah & Emma

No, as much as the media and many health professionals try to tell us, colds are not contagious, have never been contagious, and never will be contagious. Did you know that if I had a cold and sneezed on you, you only have a 12% chance or 1 in 8 likelihood of having the same cold as me. Put another way, if I got my cold fluids (gross!), put it in a spray bottle and sprayed it in a room full of people, only 12% of people would likely “catch” the cold. If colds are contagious (as mass media and many health professionals would have you believe), why didn’t EVERYONE catch it?

The medical approach

Orthodox medicine offers no cure for the common cold. Taking antibiotics for a cold is useless because colds are associated with viruses (antibiotics work only on bacteria) Giving antibiotics “just in case” has been criticized in the medical literature as unnecessary and dangerous.

The chiropractic approach

Chiropractic does not treat the common cold however regular chiropractic care can help raise your natural resistance to disease by removing serious interference to your proper body function and improving immune system function. Vertebral subluxation or misalignments in the spine weakens your overall constitution providing fertile ground for germs to settle and reproduce.

At Pure Wisdom we know that a spine and nervous system free from vertebral subluxation keeps your natural immunity high. Maintaining your adjustments during times of illness & heightened stress could be the difference between a quick recovery and a lingering illness!

If you try to give someone a cold, it takes more than a virus.  For germs to grow in you, you must be fertile soil! Fertile soil can look like this: a suppressed immune system, a good amount of stress (work, family, other), regular medication use, poor diet (high in processed foods), poor exercise habits. Pretty simple really. Ever notice either yourself or others get sick when time permits, like on a holiday? The body has normally been keeping us up and about for long enough and then bang, we take a break, the nervous system calms down, and it goes on and begins the healing process.

To prevent and minimise the effect of colds, it’s a matter of doing the opposite to “fertile soil”. That is, optimum nervous system function, no regular medication, healthy diet, regular exercise, great stress management techniques (meditation, deep breathing, compassion).

10 Natural Cold & Flu Remedies

To assist your body to fight any potential colds and flu in the coming months follow these 10 immune boosting tips!

1. Get adjusted! A chiropractic adjustment directly boosts your immune system by up to 300%
2. Take a daily dairy & gluten free probiotic
3. Take olive leaf extract (anti bacterial & anti fungal)
4. Increase your intake of Vitamin C (red & orange fruits & vegetables, green vegetables)
5. Eat organic garlic
6. Eat more foods high in zinc & iron (beans, pulses, sesame and pumpkin seeds)
7. If you have a cold, eliminate dairy & all mucus producing items including bananas
8. Add Apple Cider Vinegar to bath water or use as an inhalant in steam bowl
9. Invest in some homeopathic & naturopathic herbs-multi vitamins & multi mineral drinks
10. Eat a diet high in anti-oxidants (in other words, fruit and vegetables, particularly berries)

Wishing you a happy & healthy week!

Marcus, Dr Sarah & Emma

If you rated your energy out of 10 right now, where are you (If 10 is GREAT energy, and 0 is knocking on death’s door)? Most people I speak to are at about a 5 or 6. It’s not great, is it? The challenge with this energy rating though, is that it’s enough to not commit to improving it. This energy is the “get by” energy, it’s enough to “survive” but certainly not enough to “thrive”. Following are 3 essentials to enjoy thriving energy.

CHOOSE TO OWN, NOT RENT THE HEALTH OF YOUR SPINE

A common cause of fatigue is a misaligned spine.  “How can my spine make me tired?” you may ask.  Here’s how:  If your head is being carried forward of your shoulders it’s like carrying a ten-pin bowling ball away from your body instead of by your side.  It’s exhausting!

Your head weighs anywhere between 3-4kg and this forward head posture (loss of curve in your neck) has an enormous impact on not just your energy, but the health of many other body systems and parts. Did you know that such a postural shift can stretch your spinal cord anywhere between 5 and 7cm and add another 15kg load to your neck?!

Unfortunately, this problem affects more than 90% of our community, translating into a community that has excessive stress on their body and a massive amount of wasted energy.

Plus, that’s the result of just ONE postural abnormality.  Stop to consider how much energy you waste if you are walking around with two or three postural imbalances, such as a high shoulder and dropped pelvis…. It’s easy to understand why filling up on coffee and sugar isn’t the answer!

Subluxations / misalignments in the spine negatively impact the body’s ability to focus, to organize, metabolize and heal. It then makes common sense to have your spine and your family members’ spines regularly checked for subluxation. Haphazard chiropractic care can be effective for pain relief, but it certainly won’t help maintain consistently high energy. Remember, your nerve supply is your life supply.  So for a more energetic life, continue to get adjusted regularly.

DRINK MORE WATER

Did you know that, along with vertebral subluxation, dehydration is one of the leading causes of fatigue? Your brain is made up of 76% water so if you find yourself feeling tired in the middle of the day, drink a big glass of water!  In less than 30 minutes, you’ll likely begin to feel more energized.

What about the times you find yourself hungry, or craving a snack, even though you recently ate a meal?  Often, that might actually be thirst, but your mind is confused, thinking it’s hunger.  Instead of snacking, try drinking a glass of water.  The results will speak for themselves!

To help yourself stay on the path that keeps you feeling energized all the time, you’ll want to avoid drinking soft drinks and coffee.  Sure, both might taste good; but, the caffeine and sugar work to deplete water that’s in your body and mess with your blood sugar.

EAT A GOOD MEAL

Australia has become a nation of energy–deprived overeaters and people obsessed with their weight.  The good news is that most people don’t have to eat less to reach and maintain a healthy weight – they just need to eat “better.”

Score yourself on each of these three essentials: regular chiropractic care, optimal hydration and sensational food choices. Your average score is more than likely equal to your energy score. If you want to improve your energy, simply make improvements in one or all of these three areas.

Wishing you a happy and healthy week,

The team at Pure Wisdom

Tommy Hafey does 200 push ups every day! Photo courtesy Herald Sun

Sadly there are not many great icons for aging well in today’s world. Only one or two generations ago “elders” were revered, honoured and respected in society. Today, our older generation is generally considered a liability. The poor perception of aging today is leading people to look for a quick-fix to hide their wrinkles, zap away fat and hide their grey hair. Unfortunately, these people are finding that expensive short-term fixes don’t buy long-term wellness or vitalistic longevity.

I love Tommy Hafey

If you know me you know I have man-love for Tommy Hafey. I’m attracted to the four-time premiership coach and AFL legend not so much for his achievements in football, but more for his achievements in health and longevity.

Tommy Hafey for me is the quintessential graceful ager. And his secret is that he has never let his age be an excuse for ANYTHING he does. The only thing I could get from Tommy in a recent conversation we shared was that he preferred running by himself at his age because he likes to go at his own pace. As you can see, I’m clutching at straws because that’s hardly an age-related comment!

No, Tommy Hafey doesn’t have excuses for anything. Just like that great line, “You can have excuses, or you can have results, but you can’t have both”, Tommy chooses results every time.

The man is 80. Eighty! He gets up at 5am every morning, goes for a 5k + run, swims in the ocean, does hundreds of situps and push-ups, and works out in the gym every other day.

Watch Tommy’s morning ritual here!

Now this workout regime is not the secret to longevity, but it is a perfect example of many a famous adage. “Age shall not weary them” and “age is no excuse” come to mind; but the question is, what impact does exercise have on aging well?

The research is pointing ever so conclusively that regular exercise, both aerobic (running, walking, dancing, swimming, etc.) and anaerobic (lifting weights & other weight-bearing exercises) is ESSENTIAL to aging well. Why? Because it prevents frailty, osteoporosis and loss of muscle mass. For a quick summary of this, watch the Dr.Oz video we featured last week.

I did a talk last week at the Wonthaggi branch of the Freemasons. I mentioned that Australia’s longest-lived man was World War 1 vet Jack Lockett. He died aged 111 and celebrated over 80 years as a Freemason. On reflection, Lockett proclaimed that the keys to his longevity were “early to bed, early to rise”, regular exercise and a constant focus on the future.

People like Tommy Hafey and Jack Lockett can teach us plenty. The simplicity of regular exercises, good quality sleep and a “light heart” goes a long way to making sure we live a long and dignified life. The wise question to ask yourself today is, “Am I exercising, sleeping well and relaxing regularly?” If you are not, when would NOW be a good time to begin?

Wishing you a sensational week,

Marcus & the Pure Wisdom team

Australia, formerly known as the Lucky Country. You may have seen this article in The Age last week, a very indepth article outlining just how much food us Aussies consume.

Riddle me this; how many hamburgers could Aussie teenagers eat if Aussie teenagers between 14 and 17 could eat hamburgers? You guessed it, 30.2 million burgers and 44.1 million serves of hot chips to go with it.

Is it little wonder that our chronic disease count continues to skyrocket, especially in young people. There are many causes of disease, but chronic poor food choices is one of the biggest.

The late American great Jack LaLanne said it best. “We need to get busy living, not busy dying. We feed ourselves coffee and donuts for breakfast. Would you get your dog up in the morning and feed it coffee and donuts?” In other words, if the Lucky Country is going to improve it’s health, we need to feed ourselves AND our children NATURAL foods (as a general rule if it grows, eat it), not man-made processed foods that put us on the highway to early death.

If you are a parent there is no excuse for what you feed your kids. This may seem harsh, but the question is this: “how much value do you put on the quality of food that your kids consume?” That answer is different for everybody. This is not a right/wrong debate, this is a question of values. Parents all around the world place different value on the importance of good nutrition. Many parents unfortunately though “think”  they are feeding their children good fuel, but aren’t.

The Real Problem

The real problem is that parents are stressed out that their kids are sick, overweight, failing at school and have poor social skills, and don’t link that to the excess sugar, energy drink, soft drink, fast food diet that their kids are eating. And often parents themselves are eating a poor quality diet. Leading by example is perhaps the best way to encourage a healthy eating regime for your kids.

There is nothing healthy about having family time at a fast-food restaurant. You can call it good quality family time all you like, but chances are if this is a regular occurrence for you this good quality family time will be cut short far too soon.

The Law of Accumulative Destructive

Let me digress for one moment and mention the principle of Accumulative Destructive habits. This principle states that if you forget to brush your teeth once, your teeth will be perfectly fine. However, if you avoid brushing your teeth for seven straight days you are going down the path of tooth decay, fillings, and eventual root canals.

It’s the same with food. One or two meals at McDonalds every year is not going to kill you. But if you have a Saturday tradition that includes a Big Mac, medium fries and soft drink, that equates to 52 burgers per year, or 520 per decade, and more than 2500 over 50 years. That is accumulative destructive. And that is why people die of heart attacks at age 50, and not age 5.

The Nutrition Solution

Keep nutrition simple. If it grows, chances are you can eat it. You would know by now if it’s not good for you (like some plants and trees!). If it doesn’t grow, stay away from it. Eat man-made food rarely, do it for fun, not nutrition, and don’t shame and guilt yourself over it. Food is supposed to be enjoyed!!

Wishing you a week of Pure Wisdom,

Marcus, Dr Sarah and Emma

According to the article, around a third of the group reported “more than 90% reduction of migraines as a consequence of the two months of chiropractic care.  About 50% of the remaining participants reported significant improvement in the severity of each episode.”

Doctors of Chiropractic believe the body has an inherent ability to heal itself and that the structure of the spine relates to the function of the human body.  Rather than simply relieving symptoms, chiropractors help patients prevent illness by achieving optimal health.  That’s why regular chiropractic checkups are important, even if you’re not in pain.  And since chiropractors don’t use drugs or surgery, there’s no need to worry about harmful drug interactions of side effects of medication.

Headaches – Not All In Your Head

About 20% of the population suffers from the pain of chronic headaches.  These same people spend over 5 billion dollars on “over the counter” medications each year.  And, while these drugs may cover up the symptoms, they do not treat the cause of the headaches.

Pain experienced during a headache is nature’s warning signal that something is wrong, like a fire alarm signaling trouble.  Pulling the batteries from the alarm does not address the cause.  The same holds true for headaches.  A thorough chiropractic evaluation can determine whether a subluxation, a misalignment of spinal bones, is causing pressure to the nervous system, producing the headache.

Obviously I am not talking about pure distilled water here, but the treated water, which in South Gippsland, is about to have flouride added to it.

To my shock and pleasant surprise, the mass media is beginning to take a hold of this. This kind of topic is one that doesn’t often make it in to the daily papers and news bulletins. Thankfully now, it is!

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FLOURIDE

The flouride that is placed into our drinking water is toxic waste from the production of fertilizer. Flouride (and it’s compounds) use to be allowed to escape into the atmosphere out their factories chimnies (pardon my lack of industrial vocabulary here!), until government stepped in and told them they needed to deal with it some other way. Intelligently, these companies found a use for their previous waste and it now lives in many Australians, Americans and British water systems.

I haven’t kept up with the local media recently, but some Pure Wisdom members have told me it is coming to Bass Coast shire in the next few weeks, and others as far back as a year ago were warning me about it. No matter what happens, I think we should all be grateful that for this long we haven’t even had to think about if flouride is in our water or not.

WHAT IS FLOURIDE?

Flouride is a poisonous substance, a disease-causing agent containing Arsenic, Barium, Lead, Mercury, Copper and other dangerous compounds.

According to the handbook, Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, fluoride is more poisonous than lead and just slightly less poisonous then arsenic. It is a cumulative poison that accumulates in bone over the years.

According to the Physicians Desk Reference, ”in hypersensitive individuals, fluorides ocassionally cause skin eruptions such as atopic dermatitism eczema, or urticaria. Gastric Distress, headache, and weakness have also been reported. These hypersensitive reactions usually disappear promptly after discontinuation of the fluoride.”

From 1990 to1992, the Journal of the American Medical Association published three separate articles linking increased hip fracture rate to fluoride in the water. In the March 22, 1990 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Mayo Clinic researchers reported that flouride treatment of osteoporosis increased hip fracture rate and bone fragility.

An overwhelming number of countries in the world do not flouridate, and guess what: their teeth are just as good, if not better, than ours.

To get more of a history on flouride and how we actually came to think it could benefit us, click on the link below (the thought process is astounding!)

http://drjaygordon.com/pediatricks/general/fluoride.html

1. Exercise – Regularly: Simply stated: If you are too tired to exercise, you NEED to exercise! This is not to be confused with being tired after exercise. No, if you have been working hard, not moving much, and you are tired, your body is screaming out for some movement! There are cobwebs in your body crying out to be broken up. On a more physiological level, your cells are stuck together and they need to be separated, torn apart again so that they can repel and bounce off each other. Exercise is the only thing that will do this. Exercise will re-invigorate your cells, which will re-invigorate your body. Choose from Yoga, Brisk Walking (not strolling), Gym, Swimming, Jogging, Sprinting, Tennis, Basketball, and the list goes on.

2. Drink Water: The first sign of dehydration is fatigue. If you are tired it’s a good chance you are dehydrated. The optimum water intake for anyone is 30ml per kilo of bodyweight. For your child who weighs 10 kilograms, they need at least 300ml of water per day. For a 80 kilo male, that’s up to 2.4 litres. It’s DIFFERENT for every body (it’s not 2 litres per day for everybody.)

3. Eat Well: The quality of fuel in your vehicle is going to influence its performance. It’s the same in your body! We feed our pets good quality food, and then we feed ourselves processed cereals, instant coffee and muffins!?! We would never feed this to our pets yet we feed it to ourselves. No wonder pets often have more energy than their owners! Despite the thousands of diets on the market, I believe most people know what’s good for them and know what isn’t. The sure fire way to know if you are eating well is eat NATURAL foods (did it grow to get to your mouth?). There is no such thing as a “mint slice” plant or a “potato cake” tree. Think of it that way.

4. Think Well: Disempowering thoughts make us emotionally tired. Emotional fatigue inevitably leads to physical fatigue. Stop the stinkin’ thinkin’ by giving yourself a reality check. When a stressful situation comes up, ask “How is this serving me right now?” You will, believe it or, find real answers once you get past the resistance. Every moment has with it the seed of opportunity. Every negative has its equal positive. “No matter how thin you slice it, the cake still has two sides.” Don’t ignore the second side. Expecting yourself or others to only have one-side (always happy or always sad) is a sure fire way to emotional unrest.

5. Move Regularly: If you are in an office job or stationary job, sitting for more than 30 minutes at once will dull your mind AND your body. Move regularly. Do a push-up every 30 minutes or go for a stroll or do a chiropractic exercise (Wall Exercise, for example) or do a few star jumps, sit ups, squats, etc. Whatever it is, just do SOMETHING to break the pattern of constant sitting.

6. Socialise: Being by oneself is a recipe for low energy. If we get “into our heads” too much and not “into our hearts” often enough, we become internal and introverted. If we socialise, listen to others and be compassionate with them, we become external and extroverted. I don’t know anyone that chooses loneliness as a way of life. We all need time to ourselves, that’s for sure, but living by ourselves and not relating to the world around us is a proven early-killer. Just look around some of the local nursing homes to see the effect of loneliness. Make new friends, join a club or two, hug regularly, shake hands, kiss affectionately, and enjoy the tactile requirements of being human.

7. Meditate: There are two things I know that will strengthen the immune system more than anything else. A chiropractic adjustment – scientifically proven to improve immune system function by at least 60%, and regular meditation. Meditation has been studied thoroughly in cancer patients, more particularly survivors, and the act of meditation – that is, being in silence – calms the body down

to the degree that cortisol (stress hormone) levels have shown significant reduction, thereby allowing the immune system to function more robustly, and in many cases, allow the body to heal itself of cancer (and many other diseases). You do not need to have cancer to enjoy the benefits of meditation! No, moreover, time to yourself, and in particular sitting still and in silence (background music is fine (classical is best, preferably no lyrics) – I more mean not talking to yourself), will allow you to live more calmly and presently in your day and allow your immune system to function well, preventing dis-ease and if you have it, healing dis-ease. To practice the art of meditation, find a quiet space, and sit still for 5 minutes. Your thoughts will wander, and that is very normal. Focus on your breath. You may find that at the beginning your breath is heavy, and over time, you may find that your breathing begins to calm down. Feel the stillness of your body and enjoy the silence and peacefulness that meditation can bring.