The Fat Burning Hormone

You may have heard that eating before bed is a big-time "no no" for those looking to lose weight. In fact, you've probably even heard that eating late at night will undoubtedly cause you to GAIN weight...even worse!



Well, there's good news, and that good news is that not every food that you eat past 7PM will be automatically deposited to your butt, thighs, and love handles.



In fact, there are certain foods that you can eat as a late-night snack that can actually INCREASE your fatloss results! The key is knowing which foods to eat, and which to avoid, as the evening progresses.



Here's a good rule of thumb: Avoid carbs before bed in favor of slow-digesting high-quality protein.



Carbohydrate consumption causes significant rise in the storage hormone insulin, which also puts the breaks on fat-burning. That's a recipe for disaster in the late evening hours as your metabolism is winding down, but fortunately, slow-digesting protein isn't.



Instead, slow digesting proteins provide your body with a steady flow of amino acids throughout the night to help you recover from exercise and maintain your calorie-burning lean muscle as you lose fat.



Here are some of my top pre-bedtime choices:



1. Animal and Marine Protein (not red meat) - Animal and marine protein sources such as chicken, turkey, and fish are great pre-bed meal choices because they digest slowly and have a very low insulin release. These sources also promote the release of another hormone, glucagon, that assists the body with breaking down stored carbs and fat within your body to be burned for energy...a double win! Red meat has a significantly higher insulin response so it's best to avoid in the evening.



2. Cottage Cheese - Cottage cheese is very slow digesting and coats the stomach to be assimilated by the body over many hours. As a protein, it also stimulates glucagon release; a solid pre-bedtime choice. Just make sure you're using plain cottage cheese, not the flavored varieties with added sugars.



3. Green Vegetables - While these aren't considered a protein, they contain virtually no calories, are high in fiber, and they're very filling. Often times when I get a late night craving I eat a big bowl of green veggies and it completely kills my craving...a diet savior!



4. A Slow-digesting, Low-carb Protein Shake - I use a slow-digesting protein shake before bed literally every day. It's become somewhat of a ritual and great, tasty way to end my day. The vast majority of my clients have grown to love the habit as well...who doesn't love dessert before bed? :) I normally blend the shake with almond butter to get some healthy fats in there, and man, it tastes good with the right protein powder.



WARNING: Avoid taking a simple whey protein powder before bed...research has show



that it causes more of an insulin release than white bread! Instead, you need a time-releasesd blend that includes a blend of slow-digesting, high-quality proteins.



Source: Biotrust Nutrition

We Are All Winners

Last night was the last game for my eight-year-old son's soccer
team. It was the final quarter. The score was two to one, my
son's team in the lead. Parents shouted encouragement from the
sidelines as the boys clashed on the field. With less than ten
seconds remaining, the ball rolled in front of my son's teammate,
one Mikey O'Donnel. With shouts of "Kick it!" echoing across the
field, Mikey reared back and gave it everything he had.
All around me the crowd fell silent as the ball flew into the
goal. Mikey O'Donnel had scored!
Mikey had scored all right, but in the wrong goal, ending the
game in a tie. For a moment there was total silence. You see
Mikey has Down's Syndrome and for him there is no such thing as a
wrong goal. All goals were celebrated by a joyous hug from Mikey.
He had even been known to hug the opposing players when they
scored.
The silence was finally broken when Mikey, his face filled with
joy, grabbed my son, hugged him and yelled, "I scored! I scored.
Everybody won! Everybody won!"
For a moment I held my breath, not sure how my son would react. I
need not have worried. I watched, through tears, as my son threw
up his hand in the classic high-five salute and started chanting,
"Way to go Mikey! Way to go Mikey!"
Within moments, both teams surrounded Mikey, joining in the chant
and congratulating him on his goal. Later that night, when my
daughter asked who had won, my son smiled and replied, "It was a
tie. Everybody won!"
Author Unknown

Breakfast Anyone?

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, and 3) and have recently
completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was
Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the
qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.
Her last project of the term was called “Smile.” The class was
asked to go out and smile at three people and document their
reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at
everyone and say hello anyway, so, I thought this would be a
piece of cake, literally.
Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest
son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March morning. It was
just our way of sharing special playtime with our son. We were
standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden
everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband
did. I did not move an inch. An overwhelming feeling of panic
welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.
As I turned around I smelled a horrible “dirty body” smell, and
there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked
down at the short gentleman close to me, he was “smiling”. His
beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched
for acceptance. He said, “Good day,” as he counted the few coins
he had been clutching.
The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his
friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged, and
the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I
stood there with them.
The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He
said, “Coffee is all Miss” because that was all they could
afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up,
they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).
Then I really felt it – the compulsion was so great I almost
reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That
is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me,
judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind
the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate
tray.
I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had
chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my
hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me,
with tears in his eyes, and said, “Thank you.” I leaned over,
began to pat his hand and said, “I did not do this for you. God
is here working through me to give you hope.”
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son.
When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That is why
God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.” We held hands for a
moment, and at that time, we knew that it was only because of the
Grace we had been given that we were able to give. We are
believers.
That day showed me the pure Light of God’s sweet love. I returned
to college on the last evening of class with this story in hand.
I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she
looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as
she got the attention of the class.
She began to read, and that is when I knew that we as human
beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and
to be healed. In my own way, I had touched the people at
McDonald’s, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that
shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college
student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever
learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.
- Author Unknown

Chiropractic and Work Related-Sciatica

Work-related sciatica is clinically challenging and an expensive problem for our health care systems. One recent study found that workers with sciatica are significantly more likely to be prescribed opioids for their condition.¹ Another study found that workers with low back pain and sciatica showed the highest level of disability of all back pain patients.²
With these issues in mind, the orthopedic medicine department of a hospital in Norway has examined the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment with patients with severe sciatic pain. This new study³ looked at 44 workers who presented at the hospital with severe sciatic pain that required hospitalization. “The patients underwent clinical, neurologic, and radiological examinations as well as laboratory screening, including urine specimens, parameters of infection, and system diseases.”
The hospital chiropractor then performed a chiropractic examination on each patient that included an analysis of posture and gait, passive and active range of motion, and palpation of the lumbar spine. “The main treatment consisted of joint adjustment techniques of the lumbopelvic fixations, usually performed in a side posture position...Joint adjustments in other parts of the spine and limbs were usually necessary as a result of the compensatory dysfunction.” Ice treatment was applied after the adjustment, since there was soft-tissue soreness experienced by the patients.
“Patients were treated daily while they were in the hospital; they were treated for 3 days a week for the first 2 weeks while they were in the clinic. Depending on need, some patients received follow-up treatment once or twice a week for some time. Following Norwegianpublic health regulations, cost refunding is limited to 14 treatments; therefore, the total number of treatments rarely exceeded this number.”
The authors found the following:

• All of the patients had experienced three or more weeks of pain before hospitalization.
• 35 patients underwent MRI and 7 had CT scans; there were no structural changes on any of the imaging tests.
• After the treatment, 40 patients (91%) returned to work full-time within an average of 21.1 days.
• Two patients returned at reduced work levels: one at 80% and another at 50%.

“The positive effects of cooperation between orthopedic surgeons and chiropractors may be measured in the reduced duration of sick leaves.” The study refers to Norwegian public health records that show that the average patient with sciatica is disabled for 72 days; in this study, the time to return-to-work was just 21 days—a 70% reduction.
The authors point to how chiropractic can improve functioning in the spine:
Stimulation of “muscle spindles caused by sprain strain has been shown to be capable of starting a long-lasting train of action potentials in the motor neuron (i.e., long-lasting muscle contraction in the motor unit in question). Similarly, a brief inhibitory impulse, such as that from antagonistic muscles, may stop the signal train in the motor neuron. Chiropractic joint adjustment probably provides a similar inhibitory impulse. The chiropractic joint adjustments must cross the barrier of passive joint motion range to stimulate muscle spindle receptors.”

1. Stover BD, Turner JA, Franklin G, et al. Factors associated with early opioid prescription among workers with low back injuries. Journal of Pain 2006;7(10):718-25.
2. Arana E, Marti-Bonmati L, Vega M, et al. Relationship between low back pain, disability, MR imaging findings and health care provider. Skeletal Radiology 2006;35(9):641-7.
3. Orlin JR, Didriksen A. Results of chiropractic treatment of lumbopelvic fixation in 44 patients admitted to an orthopedic department. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2007;30:135-139

Chiropractic Information

Chiropractic More Effective Than Physical Therapy for Back Pain

Numerous studies have shown that chiropractic can be an effective treatment for patients with low back pain. Now a new report¹ has looked further into the effectiveness of chiropractic by comparing it to physical therapy treatment, and, more significantly, studying the long-term benefits of chiropractic as measured by the annual number of office visits.
Most studies that look at long-term effects of treatment simply look at self-reported outcomes: level of pain and disability. This study took a different approach. By examining how much care patients sought after the initial study period, they could determine the effect each treatment method had on future health care consumption:
“Care seeking behavior by patients with low back pain is most commonly associated with increased pain and disability, meaning more care is sought when worse symptoms are experienced. The amount of health care utilized may therefore be used as a measure of patient health status, and thus may be compared between groups of patients to determine effectiveness of certain therapies.”
“Proctor et al.² determined that about 25% of patients with chronic, disabling, work-related musculoskeletal disorders pursue new health care services after completing a course of treatment, and among those who sought additional health care from a new provider, a subgroup of <15 a="a" accounted="accounted" an="an" and="and" care="care" chronic="chronic" dimension="dimension" disabling="disabling" disorders="disorders" disproportionate="disproportionate" disputes.="disputes." financial="financial" for="for" from="from" further="further" health="health" important="important" in="in" is="is" lost="lost" more="more" musculoskeletal="musculoskeletal" new="new" of="of" ongoing="ongoing" outcome="outcome" p="p" patients="patients" post-treatment="post-treatment" procedures="procedures" productivity="productivity" provider="provider" share="share" stated="stated" surgical="surgical" that="that" they="they" utilization="utilization" with="with" work-related="work-related" worker="worker">The authors started with 191 patients with low back pain. 107 patients received chiropractic care (flexion/distraction treatment, or FD) and 84 patients received active exercise therapy (EP) from physical therapists. All patients received treatment 2 to 4 times per week for four weeks. The study subjects were then followed for one year to assess outcomes. The authors found:

• 38% of the FD patients and 54% of the EP patients sought care for their back pain during the one-year follow-up.
• FD patients had an average of 2.2 visits to a health care provider after the treatment period, while EP patients had an average of 6 visits.

“We hypothesized that there would be no group difference in the average number of visits to any health care provider. The results demonstrated that actually there were significant group differences during the year after trial participation, with a higher number of visits to any health care provider and to a general practitioner in the EP group.”
The authors conclude:
“Based on one-year follow-up data imputed for complete analysis, participants who received physical therapy (exercise program) during a clinical trial attended a higher number of visits to any health care provider and to general practitioners during the year after care when compared to participants who received chiropractic care (flexion distraction) within the trial.”

1. Cambron JA, Gudavalli MR, McGregor M, et al. Amount of health care and self-care following a randomized clinical trial comparing flexion-distraction with exercise program for chronic low back pain. Chiropractic and Osteopathy 2006:14:19.
2. Proctor TJ, Mayer TG, Gatchel RJ, McGreary DD: Unremitting health care utilization outcomes of tertiary rehabilitation of patients with chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 2004, 86A:62-69.

Chiropractic Safe And Effective For Back Pain During Pregnancy

Low back pain can be a serious problem during pregnancy: studies show that over half of women report back pain at some point during pregnancy. Furthermore, as a new study1 explains, many women experience their first episode of back pain during pregnancy:
“The incidence of low back pain with an onset during pregnancy has been reported to be 61%. It has been shown that among women with low back pain of pregnancy, 75% reported no low back pain before pregnancy. In a study of women with chronic low back pain, up to 28% stated that their first episode of back pain occurred during a pregnancy.”
In this report, the authors studied 17 women with low back pain lasting an average of 21.7 days. The intensity of the back pain was 5.9 on a 1-10 scale, and the onset of pain occurred at 20.6 weeks into the pregnancy.
Each study participant was treated according to the particular symptoms that the patient was experiencing. The authors reported the following:

• About half of the women were self-referred, and the other half were referred by their obstetrician.
• The average time to reach clinically significant pain relief was 4.5 days, while the range was from 0 to 13 days after the initial treatment.
• The average number of treatments necessary to reach clinically relevant pain relief was 1.8.
• The pain levels decreased from the 5.9 at the beginning of the study to 1.5 at the end.
• The patients received between 3 to 15 treatments, with the average being 5.6.
• One patient did not experience clinically significant pain reduction.
• There were no adverse reactions reported by any of the patients.

Low back pain during pregnancy may not seem like a serious problem, but it can have adverse affects on the woman’s health, as the authors explain:
“In most instances, the average pain level is moderate, but severe pain has been reported in 15% of cases. Pain intensity often increases with duration and can result in significant disability. Sleep disturbances have been reported by 49% to 58% of women and impaired daily living by 57% in women with low back pain of pregnancy.
“Despite the apparent impact it has on women, many cases of low back pain of pregnancy go unreported to prenatal providers and/or untreated. Wang et al. found that just 32% of women reported their low back pain of pregnancy to their prenatal providers, and just 25% of these providers recommended a treatment. Skaggs et al. found that among women with low back pain of pregnancy, 80% thought that their providers had not offered treatment for their back pain.”
This study shows that chiropractic effectively reduced pain from low back pain during pregnancy, without any adverse effects.
Lisi AJ. Chiropractic spinal manipulation for low back pain of pregnancy: a retrospective case series. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health 2006;51:e7-e10.

Neck and Back Pain in Children... The Role of Backpacks

Public health experts have recognized for many years that excessively heavy backpacks can cause back and neck pain in children. Three new studies have recently been published on this issue, and they shed some light on prevention of back pain in children.

Physical and Psychological Factors in Children with Back Pain

This British study¹ was designed to examine ergonomic and other factors that might account for back and neck pain in schoolchildren.
The authors gave questionnaires to 697 children aged 11-14. Of these students, 27% reported having neck pain, 18% reported having upper back pain, and 22% reported having low back pain.
After analysis of the collected data, the authors found the following:

• Neck pain was linked to school furniture, emotional and conduct problems, family history of low back pain and previous treatment for musculoskeletal disorders.
• Upper back pain was associated with backpack weight, school furniture, emotional problems, and previous treatment of musculoskeletal pain.
• Low back pain complaints were associated with school furniture, emotional issues, and “family history and previous injury or accident.”

Effects of Backpack Weight on Posture

This Italian study² looked at 43 students with an average age of 12.5 years. The authors tested each of the children with an 8-kg and 12-kg backpack, and they had the children wear them over one shoulder and two shoulders. Posture was evaluated on the children while they did a 7-minute treadmill walk.
The authors found that the posture of the children was substantially altered under load. Not surprisingly, asymmetrical loading (carrying the backpack on one shoulder rather than both), resulted in the most complex postural changes.
“Our results suggest that a 12 kg load, fairly common in this population (carried at least once a week), seems to push the postural system to its physiological limits.” ²
They found that the postural changes were corrected once the load was removed, but the long-term consequences of these excessive weights are unknown.
Limit Backpack Weight to 10% of Child’s Body Weight

In the third report,³ the researchers interviewed 531 children from 5th to 12th grade and weighed the backpack of each student. The found that:

• “Younger students and females are more at risk due to relatively lower body weight...”
• Female students carried heavier backpacks than did male students.
• “Greater relative backpack weight is associated with upper– and mid–back pain reports but not neck or lower back pain; it is also associated with lost school time, lost school sports time, and greater chiropractic utilization.”

The authors of this study recommend that backpacks weigh no more than 10% of the child’s body weight, which is lower than the current recommendation of 15%. Previous studies have found that students often carry between 17-22% of their body weight. ²
From these studies, it’s clear that a significant number of children suffer from neck and back pain. Because a substantial portion of these complaints may originate in backpack usage, it is critical when dealing with children with neck and back pain to ask about backpack usage. Musculoskeletal pain in children is especially a concern since it has been associated with pain in adulthood.

1. Murphy S, Buckle P, Stubbs D. A cross-sectional study of self-reported back and neck pain among English schoolchildren and associated physical and psychological risk factors. Applied Ergonomics 2007;38(6):797-804.
2. Negrini S, Negrini A. Postural effects of symmetrical and asymmetrical loads on the spines of schoolchildren. Scoliosis 2007;2(1):8.
3. Moore MJ, White GL, Moore DL. Association of Relative Backpack Weight With Reported Pain, Pain Sites, Medical Utilization, and Lost School Time in Children and Adolescents. Journal of School Health 2007;77(5):232-239.

Gift Of Love

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford

Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liza who was

suffering from a disease and needed a blood transfusion from her

five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same

disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the

illness.

The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and

asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his

sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep

breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liza."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister

and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her

cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice,

"Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the boy had

misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give

her all his blood.

-- Author Unknown

A Quiet Voice........

This little story reminds us to listen to that small quiet voice

from within -- you never know where it will lead you.

As a teacher of origami (the ancient Japanese art of paper

folding) at the LaFarge Lifelong Learning Institute in Milwaukee,

Wisconsin, Art Beaudry was asked to represent the school at an

exhibit at a large mall in Milwaukee. He decided to take along a

couple hundred folded paper cranes to pass out to people who

stopped at his booth.

Before that day, something strange happened -- a voice told him

to find a piece of gold foil paper and make a gold origami crane.

The voice was so insistent that Art actually found himself

rummaging through his collection of origami papers at home until

he found one flat, shiny piece of gold foil.

"Why am I doing this?" he asked himself. Art had never worked

with the shiny gold paper; it didn't fold as easily or neatly as

the crisp multicolored papers. But that little voice kept

nudging. Art tried to ignore the voice. "Why gold foil anyway?

Paper is much easier to work with," he grumbled.

The voice continued. "Do it! And give it to a special person." By

now Art was getting a little cranky. "What special person?" he

asked the voice. "You'll know which one," the voice said.

That evening Art carefully folded and shaped the unforgiving gold

foil until it became as graceful and delicate as a real crane

about to take flight. He packed the exquisite crane in the box

along with about 200 other colorful paper cranes he'd made over

the previous few weeks.

The next day at the mall, dozens upon dozens of people stopped by

Art's booth to ask questions about origami. He demonstrated the

art. He folded, unfolded and refolded. He explained the intricate

details, the need for sharp creases.

Then, suddenly, there was a woman standing in front of Art. Was

this that special person? Art had never seen her before, and she

hadn't said a word as she watched him carefully fold a pink piece

of paper into a crane with pointed, graceful wings.

Art glanced up at her face, and before he realized it, he found

himself reaching for the "gold-foil crane" he'd labored over the

night before. Carefully he picked up the gold crane, and gently

placed it in the woman's hand.

Art said: "I don't know why, but a voice told me to give you that

golden crane. The crane is the ancient symbol of peace," Art

said

simply.

The woman didn't say a word as she slowly cupped her hand around

the fragile bird as if it were alive. When Art looked at her

face, he saw tears filling her eyes.

Finally, the woman took a deep breath and said, "My husband died

three weeks ago. This is the first time I've been out. Today...."

She wiped her eyes with her free hand, still gently cradling the

golden crane with the other. Then she said very quietly, as

tears

streamed down her face. "Today would have been our 'golden'

wedding anniversary."

Then the lady said in a clear voice, "Thank you so much for this

beautiful gift. Now I know that my husband is at peace.

Don't you see? The voice you heard, it was the voice of God, and

this beautiful crane is a gift from Him. It's the most wonderful

50th wedding anniversary gift I could have received. Thank you

for listening to Holy Spirit within your heart."

And that's how Art learned to listen very carefully, when the

Holy Spirit speaks to him within, and tells him to do things he

may not understand -- now or even later.

Are you listening, my friend? God may be speaking to you.

-- Author Unknown

Are You Out Of Control?

Does your life feel like's it out of control sometimes?

Did you ever say to yourself, "Why does this always happen to me?"

The decisions we make every minute of the day sometimes come back to us later and we're not always happy with the results.

But an important secret to success s to accept responsibility for every decision we make, not just the good ones.

When you take responsibility for your own actions, positive things start happening in your life.

I don't know what the reason is for that, but as soon as you accept the responsibility for where you are and what you are and what you've done suddenly you are in control of your life.
You realize that all the blame is on you. You are where you are in life because of CHOICES you've made... no one else.

No one else is to blame for your situation. Only you are to blame.

Once you realize that and accept that, you're in control. And once you're in control you can change your situation - if you want.

Does your life feel "out of control" sometimes (all the time?). This is the reason why.


I want you to get this planted firmly in your mind:

"I am responsible for my own actions. I am responsible for the situation I'm in right now. No one else is to blame for it. It's my mess and I'm going to do something to clean it up starting today."

The question you need to ask yourself continually is:

"What am I going to do to change my life right now, for the better?"

Now if you're one of those individuals who has always accepted responsibility for your own actions, then bless you.

You are to be congratulated- you are also rare.

I guarantee you though that re-affirming "you are responsible for you own actions" will be good to remember once in a while.

Start taking control of your life instead of being lead by your fears, insecurities, phobias, hate or other people.

It starts by accepting responsibility for yourself and your actions.


David J Vallieres

Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression

Non-surgical spinal decompression

In nonsurgical spinal decompression, a patient is strapped securely to a table.

Straps.

Mechanical traction slowly and temporarily alleviates spinal pressure.

Non-surgical spinal decompression is achieved through the use of a mechanical traction device applied through an on-board computer that controls the force and angle of disc distraction, which reduces the body’s natural propensity to resist external force and/or generate muscle spasm. This enhanced control allows non-surgical spinal decompression tables to apply a traction force to the discs of the spinal column reducing intradiscal pressure, unlike previous non-computer controlled traction tables.
Inversion therapy, which involves hanging upside down, is a form of mechanical traction used for spinal decompression.^[4]
The practice is promoted as safe and effective without the normal risks associated with invasive procedures such as injections, anesthesia or surgery. Spinal decompression works through a series of 15 one minute alternating decompression (using a logarithmic decompression curve) and relaxation cycles with a total treatment time of 30 minutes. During the decompression ^[5] phase the pressure in the disc is reduced and a vacuum type of effect is produced on the nucleus pulposis. At the same time nutrition is diffused into the disc allowing the annulus fibrosis to heal. Very rarely is the nerve root compressed from the herniated disc and usually the back and leg pain associated with these conditions is a result of irritation to the nerve root sleeve by the inflammatory chemicals that are released as a result of inflammation in the disc.^[6]
For the low back, the patient lies comfortably on his/her back or stomach on the decompression table, with a set of nicely padded straps snug around the waist and another set around the lower chest. For the neck, the patient lies comfortably on his/her back with a pair of soft rubber pads behind the neck. Many patients enjoy the treatment, as it is usually quite comfortable and well tolerated.^[7]
The treatment has several varying versions, including articulating spinal decompression or range-of-motion (ROM) decompression, which enables the doctor or therapist to adjust the patient's spinal posture during the decompression. Varying the spine's posture enables the decompressive pulling forces to reach into spinal areas and tissues that basic linear decompression misses. The Antalgic-Trak is a brand name for an articulating decompression system.^[8]

Source: Wikipedia

Low Blood Sugar

Carbohydrate foods are foods such as breads, pasta, cakes, cookies, candy, muffins, rice, beans, whole grains, tacos and tortillas. Starchy vegetables such as peas, corn, potatoes, acorn squash, and other winter squashes also contain high levels of carbohydrates. Milk products are another good source.

 

It’s okay to have carbohydrate foods in your diet, but limit them to a maximum of three or four servings per meal. Some people must limit them to one or two to become headache-free. Watching your diet for the number of carbohydrates eaten in any one meal can be a big revelation into why you have headaches. Too many carbohydrates cause headaches by raising insulin levels that lower blood sugar too fast and also increase inflammation in the body. 

 

Here’s an example of too many carbohydrates in a meal:

Oatmeal with raisins, orange juice, a muffin, and an apple.

 

You may think that the oatmeal meal is a healthy meal but it contains too many carbohydrates. The headache-free breakfast would be oatmeal with milk and an apple. You could even add an egg to this new meal.

Bad Sleep Habits And Headaches

Sleeping on your stomach or with your pillow bunched up is a sure way to a headache. What happens is that your neck becomes twisted for long periods of time as you sleep, putting pressure on the nerves, blood vessels and vertebrae in your cervical (upper) spine. That pressure sends messages to the brain that there’s something that needs to be addressed, and a pain signal is sent to your head. Presto! You have a headache and your neck hurts as well.

 

The solution is sleeping on your back with a pillow that supports your neck fully. You may also sleep on your side, but check with us at the office about the proper sleeping position that won’t create headaches. If you bring in your pillow to our office, I’ll check it to see if it’s part of the reason you have headaches. For example, a pillow that is too thin or too fluffy will contribute to headaches because it doesn’t support the cervical curve in your neck. The cervical curve is a natural S-shaped curve in your neck. If the pillow is too flat, that pillow flattens your cervical curve. If the pillow is too fluffy, it exaggerates your cervical curve.

 

In the past 20 years, chiropractic physicians have used a complete range of cervical pillows to fit the necks of those who are young and old.