Seniors:
The older you are the more difficult it is for your body to synthesize Vitamin D from sun exposure. Obesity also inhibits the absorption of Vitamin D. Vitamin D3 plays a very important role in calcium and potassium blood levels and re-absorption helping nerves muscles to function normally and bones to stay strong and not become brittle.
My ill attempt at humor:
What? Your wife and kids don’t want a beef liver, eel, sardines and mackerel omlet for dinner again? How can they get enough vitamin D in their diet in Portland, Oregon’s cloudy and rainy winter months?
Food Sources, Supplementation, or Tanning?:
Vitamin D3 is kind of tough to come by these days in our diets. D3 is only naturally present in our diets in human breast milk, some cold water fatty fish, some animal’s livers and free range eggs (you must eat the yolk too).
Natural sources of vitamin D include:
• Fish liver oils, such as cod liver oil, 1 Tbs. (15 ml) provides 1,360 IU (one IU equals 25 ng). Beware of non-molecularly distilled fish oils as they may contain heavy metals and toxins which can accumulate and potentially toxify your body.
• Beef liver, cooked, (3.5 oz), 15 IU
• Catfish, (3 oz) provides 425 IU
• Eel, cooked, (3.5 oz), 200 IU
• Herring, (3 ounces (oz) provides 1383 IU
• Mackerel, cooked, (3.5 oz), 345 IU
• Salmon, cooked, (3.5 oz) 360 IU
• Sardines, canned in oil, drained, (1.75 oz), 250 IU
• Tuna, canned in oil, (3 oz), 200 IU
• A whole free range egg, 20 IU.
Note: No yolk = No vitamin D. So tell the next person you see ordering an egg white omlet this fact please.
Note: Cows milk has Vitamin D artificially added to it.
How much vitamin D is enough?:
Theoretically, about 3,000 IU of natural vitamin D3 for every 100 pounds of body weight assuming you do not have a systemic disease which may require more. Your age, body morphology, distance from the equator, weather, and daily sun exposure will all affect your requirements. Don’t forget that clothing and many types of lotions and make ups have SPF properties which will block the UV B rays and not the UV a rays thus preventing vitamin D formation naturally within your body. Monitoring for optimal blood levels should be performed seasonally. The human body can convert up to 20,000 units of Vitamin D3 per day with ideal sun exposure. The NIH has set the safe upper limit at 2000 IU, but acknowledges newer data supporting a UL as high as 10,000 IU/day.
Vitamin D testing or vitamin D assays are done for 25 Hydroxy vitamin D3 also known as 25(OH)D3. Testing is performed via mass spec or RIA (Dia Sorin). At home finger prick blood spot tests are also available and are nearly as accurate. Blood levels of 25 Hydroxy D are defined as the following, Deficient: 0-50 ng/ml, Optimal: 50-65 ng/ml, Intoxication: >100 ng/ml. Autoimmune diseases may require more than 65ng/ml.
Take a vacation:
Snowbird or go somewhere sunny for the winter to up your vitamin D levels. In winter try to get as much mid-day sun on your face as you can in Portland. Go eat lunch outside if it is at all sunny. Finally, find safe-tanning beds or one’s with an electronic ballast and 10:1 ratio of UV A to UV B as opposed to a magnetic ballast and 20:1 ration of UV A to UV B. FYI the sun has a 20:1 ratio of UV a to UV B.
General rule for toxicity:
Don’t apply anything to your skin that you are not willing to eat. Your skin is your largest organ. It has the ability to instantly begin to absorb many nutrients and toxins when they come in contact with the skin especially when the skin is warmed and pores and capillaries begin to open.
Don’t scrub your skin with soap for at least 1/2 hour after you get sun exposure:
This one caught me by surprise as well. You can actually wash away the vitamin D3 as it is forming in the more superficial layers of your skin. This would be a great time to eat calcium rich foods or take a calcium supplement as the newly formed D3 would facilitate the absorption of the calcium into your body.
To schedule a Chiropractic exam for your self or a loved one call 503-626-5761 and ask to see Dr. Pierce.
Yours in health,
Dr. Christopher Pierce
Chiropractor
Chiropractic First, llc
222 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
12820 SW Second St, Beaverton, OR 97005
503-626-5761
www.c1pdx.com
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Got enough Vitamin D? I bet not. Part 1/2
Got enough Vitamin D? I bet not.
85% of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D as are 95% of American seniors.
Facts:
Vitamin D is classified as a group of fat soluble phormones. The two major types are vitamin D 3 or cholecalciferol and vitamin D2 ergocalciferol. Vitamin D has been proven to influence over 2,000 of the 30,000 genes in your body.
Vitamin D Recipe:
Cholesterol often gets a bad rap in the world of layman’s nutrition so here is its moment to shine. This is how our bodies make vitamin D in a nutshell. Cholesterol (90% of our cholesterol is produced by our liver) flows through your bloodstream and sunlight’s UV B rays penetrate the thinner areas of your skin with the greatest concentration of blood vessels and begin the conversion of cholesterol into Vitamin D.
Tips:
Check your cupboard, if you are consuming any supplement with vitamin D 2, stop taking it and toss it out because it will interfere with vitamin D 3 conversion. If you are taking any supplement with D 3 that is not natural vitamin D 3, stop taking it and toss it out. Find a good sublingual natural vitamin D 3 spray.
Benefits:
Vitamin D acts as an antibiotic by increasing antimicrobial peptides. Vitamin D can be helpful in preventing colds and influenza. Vitamin D helps prevent age related DNA damage (aging) and lowers inflammatory responses helping to prevent chronic pain.
Vitamin D plays a central role and strong correlation with auto immune diseases. RA, MS, Chron’sDz, Diabetes Type 1 & 2.
Vitamin D also helps to treat or helps to prevent: Psoriasis, eczema, some types of hearing loss, some types of muscle pain, cavities, athletic performance, blindness (age related macular degeneration), reducing the risk of autism, pre eclampsia, improved fertility, depression, myopia, seizures, asthma, cystic fibrosis, migraines, depression, schizophrenia and migraines. As if that were not enough vitamin D also helps to prevent heart disease, cancer (vitamin D acts as a chemotherapy agent), diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Influenza. The #1, #2, #6, #7, and #8 most common causes of death in the USA.
The Big C … Cancer:
Cancer is one of the scariest words there is, especially when your doctor brings it up. Well, I am a doctor and this paragraph had better shed some light on the mistakes that the medical community has been making since the early 1980’s with regard to the use of sunscreen. For every one death from skin cancer due to excess UV exposure, there are 200 deaths from cancer related to insufficient UV exposure and vitamin D deficiency. Simply put, UV A contributes to skin cancer. UV B helps make vitamin D3 from cholesterol which helps prevent many cancers. Sunscreen blocks UV B not UV A. Therefore sunscreen contributes to cancer formation and vitamin D deficiency with sun exposure. Most car and home windows also block out UV B. Normal sunlight has a 20:1 ratio of UV A to UV B. Optimal vitamin D levels can cut the risk of 16 types of cancer by 30-60%. Because UV A does not cause reddening of the skin (erythema) it cannot be measured in SPF testing. UV B causes some damage to collagen but at a very much slower rate than UVA.
***Please re-read the previous paragraph until you can explain it by memory so that you can educate others especially your family and loved ones.
To schedule a Chiropractic exam for your self or a loved one call 503-626-5761 and ask to see Dr. Pierce.
Yours in health,
Dr. Christopher Pierce
Chiropractor
Chiropractic First, llc
222 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
12820 SW Second St, Beaverton, OR 97005
503-626-5761
www.c1pdx.com
85% of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D as are 95% of American seniors.
Facts:
Vitamin D is classified as a group of fat soluble phormones. The two major types are vitamin D 3 or cholecalciferol and vitamin D2 ergocalciferol. Vitamin D has been proven to influence over 2,000 of the 30,000 genes in your body.
Vitamin D Recipe:
Cholesterol often gets a bad rap in the world of layman’s nutrition so here is its moment to shine. This is how our bodies make vitamin D in a nutshell. Cholesterol (90% of our cholesterol is produced by our liver) flows through your bloodstream and sunlight’s UV B rays penetrate the thinner areas of your skin with the greatest concentration of blood vessels and begin the conversion of cholesterol into Vitamin D.
Tips:
Check your cupboard, if you are consuming any supplement with vitamin D 2, stop taking it and toss it out because it will interfere with vitamin D 3 conversion. If you are taking any supplement with D 3 that is not natural vitamin D 3, stop taking it and toss it out. Find a good sublingual natural vitamin D 3 spray.
Benefits:
Vitamin D acts as an antibiotic by increasing antimicrobial peptides. Vitamin D can be helpful in preventing colds and influenza. Vitamin D helps prevent age related DNA damage (aging) and lowers inflammatory responses helping to prevent chronic pain.
Vitamin D plays a central role and strong correlation with auto immune diseases. RA, MS, Chron’sDz, Diabetes Type 1 & 2.
Vitamin D also helps to treat or helps to prevent: Psoriasis, eczema, some types of hearing loss, some types of muscle pain, cavities, athletic performance, blindness (age related macular degeneration), reducing the risk of autism, pre eclampsia, improved fertility, depression, myopia, seizures, asthma, cystic fibrosis, migraines, depression, schizophrenia and migraines. As if that were not enough vitamin D also helps to prevent heart disease, cancer (vitamin D acts as a chemotherapy agent), diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Influenza. The #1, #2, #6, #7, and #8 most common causes of death in the USA.
The Big C … Cancer:
Cancer is one of the scariest words there is, especially when your doctor brings it up. Well, I am a doctor and this paragraph had better shed some light on the mistakes that the medical community has been making since the early 1980’s with regard to the use of sunscreen. For every one death from skin cancer due to excess UV exposure, there are 200 deaths from cancer related to insufficient UV exposure and vitamin D deficiency. Simply put, UV A contributes to skin cancer. UV B helps make vitamin D3 from cholesterol which helps prevent many cancers. Sunscreen blocks UV B not UV A. Therefore sunscreen contributes to cancer formation and vitamin D deficiency with sun exposure. Most car and home windows also block out UV B. Normal sunlight has a 20:1 ratio of UV A to UV B. Optimal vitamin D levels can cut the risk of 16 types of cancer by 30-60%. Because UV A does not cause reddening of the skin (erythema) it cannot be measured in SPF testing. UV B causes some damage to collagen but at a very much slower rate than UVA.
***Please re-read the previous paragraph until you can explain it by memory so that you can educate others especially your family and loved ones.
To schedule a Chiropractic exam for your self or a loved one call 503-626-5761 and ask to see Dr. Pierce.
Yours in health,
Dr. Christopher Pierce
Chiropractor
Chiropractic First, llc
222 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
12820 SW Second St, Beaverton, OR 97005
503-626-5761
www.c1pdx.com
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
My son Aiden's story.
My son Aiden's story.
In my last 9 years in practice as a Chiropractor in Portland and Beaverton, Oregon I have performed as many as 5,000 to 10,000 adjustments per year to Oregonians and Washingtonians of nearly all ages. My most impressive adjustment was the one that may have save my newborn son's life by allowing him to clear his lungs of meconium and take his first full clear breath after the medical staff at our local hospital had run out of treatment options for him and they told me there was nothing they could do. (No offense to the hospital, I still believe to this day, that they are the finest hospital in Oregon or I wouldn't have gone there in the first place for this emergency situation.) Fortunately I rejected their diagnosis and prognosis and came up with my own treatment plan and prognosis. Their plan was to wait for him to maybe live or die. They never checked his neck to see that they had subluxated or dislocated it during the birthing process causing not to be able clear his lungs of aspirated meconium. Essentially his neck was stuck, misaligned and rotated fully to the left. Try turning your own neck all the way to one side and you will see that you throat begins to close as you approach 90 degrees of cervical rotation. His neck was beyond that. The doctors and nurses didn't seem to think that was a problem or there was anything that could be done about it. They took an X-ray and showed me that his lungs were indeed full of meconium. They hooked him up to a breathing and heart rate monitor and placed him under a heat lamp and then left us. They left one nurse in the room to take notes. I was watching my son drown in his own poop and die right in front of me. He simply couldn't get any air in his lungs. I placed my hands gently around his head and tried to gently turn his head toward mine so I could see his eye. I wanted to get a feel for what he needed to get through this urgent situation. As I tried to turn his neck and his whole body went into full convulsions and his heart rate maxed out above 220 BPM (normal 100-160) his respiratory rate was also around 220 (normally 40). In that very moment I went from exhausted, worried new father to a Chiropractor on a mission. I experienced complete clarity of what the problem was, and what the situation needed to resolve it. I immediately adjusted his neck with a swift upper cervical adjustment using both hands. I heard a cavitation or popping noise come from his neck. He turned his head fully to the right then fully to the left. He arched his tiny chest upwards and proceeded to "poop" meconium out of his mouth and nose simultaneously in one explosive thrust (if flew up nearly 2 feet). And then like angels singing, he took in a huge breath and began to cry. He was breathing. His cries were the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. Immediately his breathing and heart rate normalized. And then it hit me, I realized the greatness and importance of this situation and opportunity. My whole life, all of my education and experience, all of the thousands of people I had adjusted prior to my son on his day of birth had led me to this one moment, this one test. This one act of faith that his life literally laid in my hands when the medical system had literally walked out of the door on him in his greatest time of need. All of my Chiropractic training and experience was meant for this one moment. He not only survived but thrived from that moment forward. He was released from care & observation in less than 3 days. The doctors said that if he survived he would need at least a month of observation. I'm glad they were wrong.
How is Aiden doing today?
Today Aiden is 4 years old and soon to be 5. He is healthy, happy, loving and smart. He is as normal as I think a boy should be when given every opportunity to be healthy and thrive. He is and has always been drug and medicine free, including vaccines. He studies immersion Japanese at school and Urdu and Arabic with grandma. He is teaching himself Spanish via the TV and summer school and wants to start learning Mandarin soon. He loves swimming in the ocean, kayaking, boating, fishing, swinging from ropes and gathering eggs from our chickens. He has never passed up jumping in a puddle of water. He loves to paint with his hands or a brush. He loves playing on our iPhones. He loves to draw hearts and give them to both mom and dad. He eats his liquid vitamins and Omega-3 rich fish oils most days. His favorite foods are tobiko, onigiri, seaweed, most sushi, anything chocolate, mangos, madelins, buffalo jerky and olives. He enjoys reading before bed and staying up later than he should. He loves his karate lessons and playing in the park. His favorite places in the world are the beaches in St. Lucia, followed by Kauai and then St. Thomas. I love my son and I cherish every moment we are together. He is more than a miracle, he is my purpose.
Yours in health,
Dr. Christopher Pierce
Chiropractor
Chiropractic First, llc
222 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
12820 SW Second St, Beaverton, OR 97005
503-626-5761
www.c1pdx.com
In my last 9 years in practice as a Chiropractor in Portland and Beaverton, Oregon I have performed as many as 5,000 to 10,000 adjustments per year to Oregonians and Washingtonians of nearly all ages. My most impressive adjustment was the one that may have save my newborn son's life by allowing him to clear his lungs of meconium and take his first full clear breath after the medical staff at our local hospital had run out of treatment options for him and they told me there was nothing they could do. (No offense to the hospital, I still believe to this day, that they are the finest hospital in Oregon or I wouldn't have gone there in the first place for this emergency situation.) Fortunately I rejected their diagnosis and prognosis and came up with my own treatment plan and prognosis. Their plan was to wait for him to maybe live or die. They never checked his neck to see that they had subluxated or dislocated it during the birthing process causing not to be able clear his lungs of aspirated meconium. Essentially his neck was stuck, misaligned and rotated fully to the left. Try turning your own neck all the way to one side and you will see that you throat begins to close as you approach 90 degrees of cervical rotation. His neck was beyond that. The doctors and nurses didn't seem to think that was a problem or there was anything that could be done about it. They took an X-ray and showed me that his lungs were indeed full of meconium. They hooked him up to a breathing and heart rate monitor and placed him under a heat lamp and then left us. They left one nurse in the room to take notes. I was watching my son drown in his own poop and die right in front of me. He simply couldn't get any air in his lungs. I placed my hands gently around his head and tried to gently turn his head toward mine so I could see his eye. I wanted to get a feel for what he needed to get through this urgent situation. As I tried to turn his neck and his whole body went into full convulsions and his heart rate maxed out above 220 BPM (normal 100-160) his respiratory rate was also around 220 (normally 40). In that very moment I went from exhausted, worried new father to a Chiropractor on a mission. I experienced complete clarity of what the problem was, and what the situation needed to resolve it. I immediately adjusted his neck with a swift upper cervical adjustment using both hands. I heard a cavitation or popping noise come from his neck. He turned his head fully to the right then fully to the left. He arched his tiny chest upwards and proceeded to "poop" meconium out of his mouth and nose simultaneously in one explosive thrust (if flew up nearly 2 feet). And then like angels singing, he took in a huge breath and began to cry. He was breathing. His cries were the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. Immediately his breathing and heart rate normalized. And then it hit me, I realized the greatness and importance of this situation and opportunity. My whole life, all of my education and experience, all of the thousands of people I had adjusted prior to my son on his day of birth had led me to this one moment, this one test. This one act of faith that his life literally laid in my hands when the medical system had literally walked out of the door on him in his greatest time of need. All of my Chiropractic training and experience was meant for this one moment. He not only survived but thrived from that moment forward. He was released from care & observation in less than 3 days. The doctors said that if he survived he would need at least a month of observation. I'm glad they were wrong.
How is Aiden doing today?
Today Aiden is 4 years old and soon to be 5. He is healthy, happy, loving and smart. He is as normal as I think a boy should be when given every opportunity to be healthy and thrive. He is and has always been drug and medicine free, including vaccines. He studies immersion Japanese at school and Urdu and Arabic with grandma. He is teaching himself Spanish via the TV and summer school and wants to start learning Mandarin soon. He loves swimming in the ocean, kayaking, boating, fishing, swinging from ropes and gathering eggs from our chickens. He has never passed up jumping in a puddle of water. He loves to paint with his hands or a brush. He loves playing on our iPhones. He loves to draw hearts and give them to both mom and dad. He eats his liquid vitamins and Omega-3 rich fish oils most days. His favorite foods are tobiko, onigiri, seaweed, most sushi, anything chocolate, mangos, madelins, buffalo jerky and olives. He enjoys reading before bed and staying up later than he should. He loves his karate lessons and playing in the park. His favorite places in the world are the beaches in St. Lucia, followed by Kauai and then St. Thomas. I love my son and I cherish every moment we are together. He is more than a miracle, he is my purpose.
Yours in health,
Dr. Christopher Pierce
Chiropractor
Chiropractic First, llc
222 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
12820 SW Second St, Beaverton, OR 97005
503-626-5761
www.c1pdx.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
