Grass-Fed & Finished, or Grain-Fed?

  Grains, soy, and corn are not natural food for cows---grass is their natural food. 

Even though all calves spend the first part of their lives on pasture, feeding on mother’s milk and grass, at around 7 months old, many of them will be transferred to industrial feedlots, to be quickly fattened with corn or soy. And given growth hormones & antibiotics to maximize profitability.

The corn / soy feeds are often supplemented with cheap filler products---stale candy, soda crackers, fish meal, peanut butter, breakfast cereal, ice cream sprinkles, cookies, hot chocolate mix, etc.---to reduce costs & accelerate fattening the animals.   https://money.cnn.com/2012/10/10/news/economy/farmers-cows-candy-feed/

Meat from these animals is high in inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids and lacking in nutrient value and quality. 

Grass-fed & grass-finished cows eat a natural diet; their meat is more nutritious, higher in healthy omega-3’s and lower in inflammatory omega-6‘s, and doesn’t have the toxic chemical by-products (hormones, antibiotics) found in industrially-raised meat.

The grass-finished designation is critically important. If not specified as grass-finished, although initially fed on grass, the cows may have been soy-corn-filler-feedlot-fattened for a period before processing.  

Learn more at:  https://www.drperlmutter.com/differences-between-grass-fed-grass-finished-and-grain-fed-beef/

Patella-Femoral Joint

      The patella-femoral joint is the connection between the patella, or kneecap (which is embedded in the tendon of the quadriceps muscle) and the femur (the thigh bone). This joint is largely dependent on soft tissues (muscles and tendon) for stability. 

      On the back side of the patella are articulating surfaces that contact the matching surfaces (the femoral "groove") on the femur. As you move from full extension (your leg straightened) to flexion (the knee bending) the patella will contact / slide against the femur. Proper alignment for this movement is critical to maintaining a full, pain-free range of motion. 

     If the alignment of the movement is off, there will be abnormal wear and tear. Uncorrected, this can start to be painful, and a "crunching" or "grinding" may be audible when the knee is bent or straightened. This is the development of Patella-femoral Syndrome (pain during knee range of motion), or Chondromalacia Patella (an arthritic condition under the kneecap). 

     In my office, I assess the knee through ranges of motion, and make precise adjustments with the Activator instrument to correctly align the patella. I show the patient specific exercises to do at home to maintain alignment of the kneecap and prevent this condition.      

3 Secrets to Relieving Sciatica

  Many patients come in suffering the pain of sciatica---pain down the leg. Typically the pain goes down the back of the leg, but can be in the buttock or down the side or front of the leg as well.

Sciatica is caused by impingement of the sciatic nerve, which is composed of branches of the lumbar nerves that exit the spine between the lower vertebrae and travel through the buttocks and down the legs.

“Impingement” can be caused by abrasion, pressure, “pinching,” stretching, or other irritation. The resulting discomfort can be frustrating, difficult to tolerate, and often impacts patients’ ability to go about their daily activities.

Sciatica can originate where the nerves exit the spine, but it is commonly caused by impingement in the gluteal region---the part you sit on. Sitting too long on a hard surface can irritate the sciatic nerve, and chronically tight gluteal muscles can also be the problem.

The secrets? Don’t spend long times sitting; get up and move. Don’t sit on hard surfaces; use a cushion. Stretch; maintain flexibility and good circulation in your gluteals.

What If Medicare Covered Healthy Food?

“Subsidizing fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods under Medicare and Medicaid could prevent millions of cases, as well as deaths from, cardiovascular disease, according to a new model. It would prevent hundreds of thousands of diabetes cases, as well, and save billions of dollars in healthcare costs.”

This would work by having doctors prescribe healthy foods---fruits, vegetables, etc.---and having insurers (Medicare & Medicaid) help pay for them.

A new study found that “subsidizing fruits and vegetables would prevent 1.93 million cardiovascular events, like heart attacks, and 350,000 deaths from the conditions. 

Subsidizing fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods would prevent 3.28 million cardiovascular events, 620,000 deaths, and 120,000 cases of diabetes. 

The fruits and vegetables program would save nearly $40 billion in healthcare costs, and the addition of other healthy foods would save over $100 billion."

Go here to learn more: 

https://www.popsci.com/subsidize-healthy-food-medicare-savings

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002761

The Perils of Plowing---Who Knew??

     Since the beginning of agriculture, there have been progressive loss & degradation of soils all around the globe.

“Humanity is losing 0.3 percent of our global food production each year to soil erosion and degradation and 30 percent every 100 years,” according to a United Nations report on soil. 

Loss & degradation of soils have even played a part in the decline of civilizations--for example, Mesopotamia, classical Greece, and ancient Rome.

   “It also caused the downfall of the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States as a leading agricultural producer, which it had been in colonial America.” 

It turns out that the PLOW is the villain!

What?!?!

That’s right---plowing exposes soil to erosion; disturbing the soil degrades organic matter, the natural biology of the soil. Farmers have to keep feeding the degraded soil more and more fertilizer.

The answer lies in not plowing (“no till”), keeping soils covered year round using cover crops, and rotating diverse crops in the fields. 

These are the principles of Regenerative Agriculture,  which “stimulates soil microbial activity, the “soil food web,” ....”to build fertile soils, which in turn produce healthy plants.”

Learn more at     https://non-gmoreport.com/articles/soil-health-is-the-next-agricultural-revolution/?fbclid=IwAR2zTzoJpw7bvhWxC-2Sz_c6RstRS5g28Xod98IEYxdZJLxIl8m2Raoueak