I will be back at the High Hampton Inn this June.  After the response we received from my last wellness retreat there, I have been given the reigns to do what I want.  And so I tell you, most of you have not had a chance to get what I can offer you.  Your level of value from me has been good, as my chiropractic is close to the cheapest of all in Maximized Living.

But your level of value from me could be absolutely great if you had a chance to take the steps that I teach towards overall health.  Why do I perceive the value as great?  Ask anyone who has been through a total food makeover.  Especially if they have lost over 20 lbs and kept it off.  Why else?  Ask one of our CrossFit members how they feel about life.  Ask one of our patients who began detoxifying after a hair analysis.  Ask a patient who did a BIA and found their fluid distribution was off… and better yet, talk to someone in our patient base who found cancer after they had already started a cancer fighting protocol.  If you want to meet someone with a story, you should talk to someone like that.

You see, our value, my value, is more in my experience than it will ever be in my effort of today.  God has blessed this office with an incredible amount of learning, and thus teaching.  So that is my goal for you, as it relates to me, and June 9th through the 16th.  During this week long retreat (you can take Monday through Thursday am if you like), I will be pouring in as much as I can into the participants.  Workshops, workouts, personal testimony of both good and bad, reflection… it all relates to the importance of health pursuit, but also how to be a health nut without being a health nut.  I have plenty of good friends whom I can hang out with who do not feel like they are int he presence of a health Nazi   This is important.  I want everyone to understand the peaceable way to pursue health over a lifetime.  

But one of the best reasons to come up to the High Hampton, is to enjoy the scenery and the great feeling of relaxation that accompanies this outing.  I was planning on letting you know about this in detail in January, so I could really help you plan, and now it is mid April, how does this happen?!?  The stay includes all of your meals, and one spa service (which will be scheduled with Faith – she used to work my front desk, but when her husband got this job offer to be the club golf pro, they couldn’t refuse, and then she was hired to run the spa), and it includes all of your time with me.  

The property itself is amazing, just look at the view you get every morning!  But if you head out to hike some trails along Lake Glenville, you will not be disappointed!  The week will be all about digging into the areas that need to be worked on, but with relaxation.  I know, they sound contradictory, how do you relax when looking into all of your bad behaviors?  But it can be done, and this is just the place to do it.  As I dig more into the wellness retreat side of my career development (yeah, I would like to do more of these), I see endless possibilities here, where people get stuck in their normal day to day lives, habits picked up while away can really be embedded deep.   

The cost per night for double occupancy under this package is around $170 per night per person.  $250 ish for single occupancy.  Not bad when you consider what you are getting.  Add children to the mix and you are adding $42 a night for up to 11 years old, and $75 a night for 11 and up.  This includes the 3 meals per day.  There are a ton of kids camps available during the days, most cost about $7 an hour.  The place is great, cabins are awesome if you upgrade to one of them, even in June the mornings are cool enough to have a fire, and yes, all the fireplaces come fully stocked with firewood and kindling to get it going.

The High Hampton Inn does not have the event details on their site yet, but will really soon.  Here is their website, I’ll push out their link as soon as it is up!  Thanks!  http://highhamptoninn.com/lodging.aspx

Yeah, this is a life changing week, hope to see you there!

Be Blessed and Well – Dr. E

Did you see the Tom Cruise movie, Minority Report, where the “pre-cogs”, or the three people who had pre-cognitive dreams/visions, were able to predict future crimes?  Well, this interesting article about BIG BROTHER, suggests you won’t need the movie, because it might become real!

Interesting, odd, enjoyable, scary… all the emotions that go with reading this article!  Thanks for keeping your ears perked – Dr. E

Will Big Brother read brain scans to ‘see’ who will commit future crime?

(NaturalNews) Imagine a society where your brain can be scanned to see if you are a danger — because the scan can predict that you are likely to commit crime. This may sound like a sci-fi movie but the brain scanning technique already exists, according to a new study conducted by the Mind Research Network (MRN) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The research, just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigated impulsive and antisocial behavior and centered on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that deals with regulating behavior and impulsivity. By looking at prison inmates, the scientists claim they were able to identify inmates with relatively low anterior cingulate activity and show these people were twice as likely to commit crimes in the future as inmates with higher brain activity in this region.

But this is brain science and has no real ramifications about how a government might one day use this information to decide who is, in a sense, a criminal before they even commit a crime, right? Maybe not.

The push to use brain scans to predict crime

Consider what Dr. Kent A. Kiehl, who was senior author on the study, director of mobile imaging at MRN and an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico, had to say about the study’s results. “These findings have incredibly significant ramifications for the future of how our society deals with criminal justice and offenders,” Kiehl noted in a media statement.

“Not only does this study give us a tool to predict which criminals may reoffend and which ones will not reoffend, it also provides a path forward for steering offenders into more effective targeted therapies to reduce the risk of future criminal activity.”

In all, the new study looked at 96 adult male criminal offenders between the ages of 20 and 52 who volunteered to be research subjects. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) collected neuroimaging data as the inmate volunteers completed a series of mental tests while their brains were scanned. Then the research subjects were followed over a period of up to four years after being released from prison. Kiehl explained that the scan provided “.. a look into who is more likely to demonstrate impulsive and anti-social behavior …”

“These results point the way toward a promising method of neuro-prediction with great practical potential in the legal system,” Dr. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Stillman Professor of Practical Ethics in the Philosophy Department and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, who collaborated on the study, said in a press statement. “Much more work needs to be done, but this line of research could help to make our criminal justice system more effective.”

According to the new study, the ACC of the brain is “associated with error processing, conflict monitoring, response selection, and avoidance learning,” and ACC-damaged patients have been classed as having an “acquired psychopathic personality.”

The four-year study was supported by grants from two US government agencies — the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) — as well as pilot funds by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Law and Neuroscience Project.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1219302110

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/du-bsm032813.php

http://www.mrn.org/research/category/forensics/

About the author:
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA’s “Healthy Years” newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s “Focus on Health Aging” newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic’s “Men’s Health Advisor” newsletter and many others.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/039825_Big_Brother_brain_scans_thought_crimes.html#ixzz2PqL6AGDZ

Dr. Eric is out of town, so there will be no Saturday hours tomorrow or next week, but will return for early hours on the 20th.

Sometimes my teaching comes more like my learning.  The hard way.  So we will struggle through the hard teaching today, and see where it leads you.

First off, the most important thing is that we learn from our mistakes.  I might seem like I am slow to learn, but it comes down to what you want me to learn.  See, I have suffered a number of injuries in the last few years.  Leg, shoulder, calf, shoulder… eye.  And it has invariably inspired a decent number of my patients to say, “you should stop doing that stuff”, where stuff might mean adventure racing, or CrossFit, or perhaps wrestling with my girls.  

But this “stuff” is what makes me a really useful chiropractor.

What I mean is, I have done it all.  Your injuries are mine.  I have lived through a messed up back, for years.  That is why I am a chiropractor, because it changed my life after thinking I would need surgery to fix me.  Most of my injuries stem from the fact that I played hockey, and this is where I am going to help you struggle through this mindbender to see why my calf tear might mean something to you.

I separated my shoulders, repeatedly (they just weren’t made for someone who liked to check hard, and that’s what I liked to do); I broke a tooth, I messed up my ankle (the thing still randomly swells for no reason from time to time), my leg, my jaw, my nose, my knee, and I messed up my back.  All of this through my collegiate career.    But as many of you know, this isn’t the kicker injury.  We are coming up on 7 years from the day I lost my eyesight.  One explosion of pain and that was it, a hockey puck had hit my eye at full speed, resulting in 23 stitches just to keep the eye together, but blindness from that moment forward (though I still have that “against all odds” prayer and belief for healing).  

So what did I get from hockey?  A bunch of brokenness.  But a lifetime of successes, successes that will keep me glued to the pursuit of success.  And this is what really matters.  Success in the belief that every single day, this body is a gift, a gift from God that can do AMAcrazyZING things.  Why?  Because I ask of it.  Sure, I got this cool ring too.

This is a National Championship Ring, not an NCAA Div I ring… that would be real cool, but still, fun to obtain.

So, today, I am a pretty big fan of John Eldridge books.  I have read Wild at Heart several times just to remind myself of how crazy I strive to be (http://ransomedheart.com/).  I want to be the most passionate person you ever meet… about life.  Not about chiropractic, not just about God, but about everything that is given in abundance.  

So when I tore my calf, it was just me choosing to be bullheaded and youthful in my approach to life.  “Better to the orthopedists instead of the cardiologists” is what my good friend Bruce Sofge says.  Yeah, I was able to secure a no cost injury rehab on this one, with a free MRI to boot, but I won’t always escape so unscathed in the future I am sure; but I definitely don’t plan on giving any money to a cardiologist anytime soon.

A Facebook message came in tonight “how many “tears”  (pronounced ‘tares’ not ‘teers’ in this instance) before you realize you are old?  Just sayin’ “.  She is having fun with me, but the reality is that most people start to die down, and give up when injuries come.  And that is exactly what I say NOT to do.  I can do amazing things with the other 80% of my body that is working great right now, and I can strive for new accomplishments for the other 20%.  Live!  Live!  Live!

So real quick, in the wrap-up… my eye.  If you have never heard me tell the story of the  incident, be sure that you get that chance at some point.  It is a good story.  But I have realized that I have more injuries now, because of my lack of site, than I ever would have.  The calf… no.  But my last shoulder separation, yes.  The knife stabbed through my thumb last summer… yes.  I have what I call proximity injuries.   When you have no idea the proximity of certain things, and movement is happening at high speed, that is what you are left with.  Proximity injuries.

Do you really think it would be healthier for me… my body and my mind, if I chose to give up on living because of that?  Perhaps the couch would be a better place to hang out?  

I want you to find that same passion for living!  I know many of you have, and that is why I love being surrounded by you.  And for those who have not, well, my hope for you is why I love being surrounded by you!

Be well, be blessed. – Dr. E

PS – if i get a chance to hitchhike on an Orca’s back at Seaworld, you can be sure that I will.

We will have no Saturday hours 4/6 or 4/13! If you are in town Dr. Levi will be here so you can keep up with your adjustments.

I have a sponsor of the Garage Games that I am in pretty constant contact with, these guys make protein bars, check them out – Quest Nutrition (www.questproteinbar.com)

Their bars are ten times better than the average protein bar when it comes to health.  But, even at that level, they don’t have a single bar that I would say, “perfect” too. And they have some that I still wouldn’t touch.  Why? Sweeteners. 

For many other bars on the market, it is more the ingredient list outside of the sweeteners that first concerns me, but then they always get into the sweeteners as well.  So let’s talk sweeteners, including sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and see where that leads us.  

Aspartame is probably the most common artificial sweetener at this time.  Most of you have heard my position as it relates to aspartame… DO NOT CONSUME.  Under any circumstance.  If you are drinking diet sodas, you really need to stop.  Much like Peter and John as they became before the council of pharisees, they said they wouldn’t stop preaching on what they had seen with their own eyes.  I am in the same boat with aspartame.  I have had patients with “pseudo-tumors” in their brains, that disappeared when they halted.  Patient…s,  plural.

Aspartame (nutrasweet) was the primary attack of the movie that we have shown several times in our office, Sweet Misery, a great SCARY movie about aspartame.  The problem with aspartame, is that the chemical was found to cause massive tumors in rodent testing.  We clear it faster, so it is unlikely to cause tumors that quickly, but over time, the concern exists.  

The next one on the list, Sucralose… aka Splenda.  This sweetener was introduced to the world with all of the fanfare of a major blockbuster movie, or video game for that matter.  But the point, it came out to the world with a lot of money behind it… “made from sugar”. But sadly, even though it comes from sugar, it is worse for you than the sugar alcohols.  Sucralose is what is present in about half of the bars sold by Quest.  I don’t recommend you buy those, buy the ones with stevia.  In Dr. Joseph Mercola’s book, Sweet Deception, he shares that he hired seven full time investigators for TWO YEARS to get to the bottom of the story on these sweeteners.

Common sweeteners that you will find, often added to the use of stevia (they do this because stevia is good, we say YES to stevia, but it doesn’t match the taste of Americans who are addicted to sugar), that you should avoid.  acesulfame potassium (Ace K), aspartame, sucralose, or a host of other sugar alcohol sweeteners.  Malitol, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol.  These are the regular sweeteners.

In the list of sugar alcohols however, there are some ones that have significant impact on the body.  Wiki shows how some of these are used as drugs, because they have such significant impact on the body,  Because of that, we generally say that you should stay away from the “-itols”, but I give you a few free passes.

Xylitol is the safest of the group, with minimal negative impact other than mild diarrhea in some people.  This happens because the sugar alcohol isn’t fully absorbed, thus the body pushes water into the colon to dilute it, and boom, bathroom time.  For that reason, I would say you should always minimize the use of xylitol (but for any of you drinking aspartame diet soda, you should probably feel free to consume as much xylitol as necessary to get you off of the aspartame).

Erythritol is the next safest on the list.  Diarrhea and headaches along with some rushing pulse can happen with this one, so we would say that you need to keep the consumption really low. A few grams a day and you will (should) be safe.  If you get into the other sugar alcohols, you are definitely getting yourself into trouble again, just like the artificial sweeteners.

So how about sugar?  High fructose corn syrup?  Honey, Agave, Maple Syrup?  Well, they all damage you.  Period.  But HFCS is by far the most damaging  so drinking soda is bad.  Period.  Sugar is bad.  And even the REAL sweeteners of honey, agave and maple syrup are bad at high concentration   They will all create significant insulin response, leading you towards diabetes.  Keep all of them in check, and in the end, get used to the taste of stevia. This is your best option.

Hope that helps give some direction!  Be well and blessed!   – Dr. E

It was only a handful of months ago that the hype was building for the 2012 Winter Flu Season.  The opportunity for medical labs around the country to boost profits, and play on fears.  Yep, strong language, but its the truth.  I would retract my statement, if only the flu manufacturers and providers considered the research and data that came out of their own establishments.

But, because they choose to ignore it, I choose to see them for what they are.  Profit driven off of fear mongering.  You might not remember the information we put out earlier in the year about how the CDC had some of its own scientists question the effectiveness and eventual ethics of the Flu vaccine. That was a pretty rough piece of information for anyone supporting the flu shot, but it was no more than a week of negativity, then it was forgotten, by most.  ( CDC. Interim Adjusted Estimates of Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness—United States, February 2013. MMWR Feb. 22, 2013; 62:119-23.)

So as I read the recent report (article published on the National Vaccine Information Center website - http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/March-2013/effectiveness-of-flu-vaccine-raises-more-red-flags.aspx#_edn1) about the increased risk of influenza to those who take the flu shot year after year, I had to jump on it, even though it isn’t flu buzz time.  I am counting on two key reasons why it is important to write this now.

1. By writing this now, I can recall the information, and re-post this, or re-write this information in October when you are once again bombarded with flu shot propaganda. 
2. You will develop such a strong level of concern from this information, that right now, you will make a decision to never take the flu shot again.  And this will strengthen as your position over time.

PS – nobody pays me if you don’t take it, I just get to be part of the group of people changing the world for the better.

So this is the data, and it comes from the February edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases take a look at this excerpt:

The researchers followed 328 households with 1,441 members from before the 2010-2011 flu season through the end of it. A total of 866 study participants received the flu shot before the flu season started. Nearly one quarter of the households with 125 members contracted the flu during the 2010-11 season, as confirmed by laboratory tests.

When the researchers separated out those, who were not vaccinated in the previous flu season, they found less of a benefit with the flu vaccine. The influenza vaccine was 62 percent effective among people, who did not receive a flu shot in the prior year. In comparison, vaccine effectiveness among those, who did get a flu shot in the previous year, was substantially lower at -45 percent.

This is not the first study of its kind, and the article goes on to reference the other studies.  But there is this really important piece of data that is often looked at as trivial in the scientific community, yet I think it is the most valuable.  And that is simple empirical data.  Empirical – evidence that is acquired simply through observation.

The reason why I trust it more, is because there is no bias in the mind of the observed (yes, it is very possible to have bias in the observer), it is more true to life than a clinical trial, and it more directly mimics the way we live, because what is being observed is simply daily life.  

When I consider what I have observed, there is an interesting bend towards those who receive the flu shot, get the flu.  And those who don’t, rarely do.  Or if they do, it is fought off with great effectiveness in many cases.  The reason why this empirical data is so important to me, is because it is also supported by the scientific data.  Over this last few years, as I have seen more and more data come out of the scientific world, that has said the flu shot is ineffective, there wasn’t some strong opposition by any group saying, “wait a minute, this has been show to be incredibly effective, look at our observations, or look at our numbers”.  Instead those who are on the side of promoting the flu shot fall back on their same party line, thousands of people die of the flu each year, everyone needs the shot (oh by the way, do you remember that it is up to 2,000 a year who die from the flu, and 35,000 a year from pneumonia, but they steal the pneumonia stat every year and call it flu… lies).

If the flu shot is effective, then why are there not any studies that show it being effective?  This is the same reason we chose not to vaccinate our children, nor would I accept any vaccine at this point in my life.  No tetanus boosters, no hep vaccine.  I would need to see a study showing effectiveness, along with another viable reason showing risk (you don’t get tetanus from “rusty nails” or rusty anything… unless it was rusted by growing in fecally contaminated soil, sometimes just knowing where a virus actually lives will help you choose more wisely).

So.  With the data starting to show that by getting a flu shot, you actually are becoming more likely to get the flu, I would recommend you think twice.  Unless you are my friend Andy McCann, then you might want the drive through McDonald’s Happy Meal Flu Shot combo.  Inside joke, they don’t actually have that…………  yet.

Be well, and Be Blessed!  – Dr. E

I will be in from 9am until 11am tomorrow.  My wife is spending the night at the hospital with her father as he has not been doing well at all.  I ask for prayers for him (Fred), for healing.  His blood pressure has been extremely low through the day and he was moved into ICU.

I will have my girls, and have to prepare them for a full day, so I dare not say any earlier than 9am.

Thanks for understanding, hope to see many of you in the AM!

Dr. Eric

Hey, Dr. Eric here.  I have my usual 45 minute block for adjusting this Saturday, but wanted to expand that for anyone who needs to.  In other words, I want to make up for being closed on Good Friday.  So the schedule is 9:30-10:15.  I can be there at 9am if you want, and if i get a bunch of people requesting that, will come even earlier for others.  So send requests in, but pay attention to a post like this coming out Friday evening.

If you want later, just let me know.  I’ll creep it along as long as people are filling in the gaps.  So if you have a request, send it now.  Don’t wait.

DrEric@Healthsprout.com

FYI – I look at Good Friday as the reason why we are all able to experience Joy.  More than Christmas, more than Easter itself.  Because on this day, our Savior willingly went to the cross.  The grave is cool to have conquered, but to willingly have gone to the cross is awesome!  Thanks for understanding!