Finally, Some Clarity With Nutritional Supplements.

There has always been a lot of confusion in the world of nutritional supplements. What vitamins to take? What minerals are important? What antioxidants do I need? How much do I take, how do I know what’s right for me? Etc…etc…etc… yada…yada…yada….

If you’re reading this blog, I’m sure you’re taking some nutritional supplement based on something you’ve read or something someone has told you. Albeit a good book, your family doctor or an educated friend. But, how do you know what you’re taking is right for you?

Answer: You Don’t.

Why? Because until now, there have been only generalities and not specifics. Don’t get me wrong, we know certain nutrients are good for certain conditions and ailments. Wild salmon and eggs are essential for your eyes and brain, green leafy veggies are good for your teeth and bones. But how do you know what Y-O-U need? Not the person sitting next to you, I mean YOU…..? How do you know? Because when you go to the store, the supplements are made for everyone...so how do YOU know what YOU need?????

A doctor takes a history and a family history from a patient to get insight as to what he or she may be dealing with. Often, illness and disease run in a family. You can change many things in your life, but you can’t change your parents, grandparents and your genes. Your DNA is your DNA. Your genes are your genes. It's that way for life. Wouldn't it be cool if a company could take your DNA and figure out what your nutritional needs are?

Well, one company has figured it out and is making life much easier when prescribing nutrients for my patients and myself. Now, recommending nutritional supplements is as easy as taking a Q-tip swab of a patient’s cheek (like they do on CSI-Miami). The cheek swab DNA is analyzed and you get an analysis of your specific nutrient needs based on your specific DNA. Cool huh? Furthermore, they take your specific genetic information and make custom Organic Whole Food based nutritional supplements SPECIFIC TO YOU!!!

How sweet is that?

Finally, with 20 years of genetic research behind it, the guesswork is taken out of nutritional supplementation. This is the future of nutrition. In fact, genetics is the future of medicine. Now, your doctor can finally make recommendations specific to you.

For my patients, I’m now doing the genelink-genewize testing in my office. If your doctor isn’t, ask him or her to call me and I’ll help them advance their nutritional practice into the next millennium. Or, just click here to email me. There is a seminar being planned for medical professionals (MDs, DOs, DCs, dentists, eye doctors, pharmacists, trainers and nutritionists) in about 6 weeks and I'll have more info soon.

Oh, sorry guys, this doesn’t take the place of good healthful eating. You still have to eat good. All that stuff I’ve written about over the past 2 years still holds true. Now, you just have a good foundation on which to base your preventative health.

Interesting stuff for sure. Especially for the nutritionally geeky-science discovery channel people like myself.

'nuff said

DocT

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

Is What You’re Eating Killing Your Performance?

The more I read about athletic performance and work with athletes and Type-A personality business men and women, the more I realize good nutrition is vital - and quite hard to get in this country. The more I read about good nutrition, the more I realize your health depends on the health of the food you eat. (as a side note, the more I read and learn about nutrition, the more I confirm that being a vegetarian is wrong too. But, that's for another blog post)

So, you’re out there training hard and recovering as best you can so you can go back out and train real hard again. It’s a constant cycle and it’s always about making gains. Each time you go out there you want to exceed what you did the time before. But what if the food you’re eating is killing your performance?

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and questioning what I (think I) know is healthy and have been quite intrigued by the answers I’ve come up with. The most common answer has to the question of “is what I’m eating healthy” has been yes and no, it depends.

For example.

Is Salmon healthy? Yes and No. It Depends.

Here’s why.

If you’re talking about Wild salmon, the answers is yes, it’s definitely healthy. It has spent it’s life living in its natural environment, eating its natural diet which give you all the nutritional benefits you’ve come to expect when you sit down to eat salmon.

But, it you’re talking about farm raised salmon the answer is no.

Why? Because the farm raised salmon is in a confined environment (which means it lives in a high stress environment without being able to exercise as it swims thousands of miles throughout its life. The Salmon lives in a chemically toxic water (would you want to dine where you and your room mates urinate or defecate?). The farmed salmon is fed a grain diet, much different than the natural diet of a wild salmon.

Why is everyone Wild about salmon anyway? Simply put.... It's The Omega-3 Fish Oils.

Salmon are naturally carnivores. They eat mackerel, sardines, herring, krill, shrimp and other fish. When they eat their natural diet, they are chock full of those very healthful Omega-3s. As Jonny Bowden, PhD puts it in his exceptional dissertation The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, wild salmon is the “Best Source of Omega-3s on the Planet”

Omega-3 oils are natural anti-inflammatory Cox-2 inhibitors.

Now you should also know that Wild Salmon also contains Omega-6s. A very low dose dosage when compared to Omega-3s. Hence, there is a natural balance of the anti-inflammatory Omega-3s to the pro-inflammatory Omega-6s. Suffice it to say there are much more Omega-3s in Wild Salmon than Omega-6s, which means, it’s good for you.

BUT…That’s NOT true in farm raised salmon.

Not only is it not true, it’s the opposite.

There are much more Omega-6s in farmed salmon than omega 3s. So, not only is farm raised salmon not good for you, it’s actually unhealthy for you.

Sorry sushi lovers, most of your salmon is farmed. Not wild. You have to ask the sushi chef or restaurant owner to know for sure.

So, if you’re trying to perform your best, recover from your last workout or prevent your next heart attack and stroke, farm raised salmon isn’t helping even a “wee” bit. It’s probably actually hurting you.

I stopped eating beef 12 1/2 years ago because of the Mad Cow scare going on. And, it wasn't from Oprah's show of that year, it was a news magazine story that I saw and it just didn't sit well with me. Too much of my food was coming from people simply trying to make a buck and not caring how they made it. Cow farmers grinding up dead diseased cows and mixing them back into their vegetarian feed just didn't make sense to me. Forget the fact they were diseased, a cow is a vegetarian, this just wasn't right.

Turns out I was right. Not only do most of our beef cattle today not eat their natural food (grass), they are fed a diet of genetically modified corn (which is 100% of the corn on the commercial market today including the stuff YOU eat), but it's mixed with soy and other stuff (stuff being animal by products) as well. Some people are proud to proclaim that their cattle is natural 100% corn fed. To that I say, so freaking what! Corn isn't a cow's natural diet, grass is and the meat produced by it is crapola. They should be grazing in a field getting fat over the course of 4-5 years. Instead, they feed them corn and they get fat in 16-18 months. So, with some rare logical thinking, I hit the nail on the head with my reasoning.

Do you want to eat beef? There really are some wonderful health benefits to 100% Natural Grass Fed Grazing Beef. Did you know this kind of beef actually has some beneficial Omega-3s??? When you cook the beef, some of the saturated fat turns into CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, another healthy fat that has been shown to get rid of your belly... BUT THOSE HEATLHFUL BENEFITS AREN'T IN the mass produced cows that you find represented at your favorite steak house or in your local grocery store. So, buyer beware (If you want to know more about how your food goes from the farm/field to your plate, read The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan). Although to find it, you'll have to go to a Whole Foods or find a 100% Natural Organic cattle farm (which you can find on the internet). Remember, 100% is the key. Not just organic, not just natural. (You can thank your government for screwing up the terms natural and organic to where you have to now look for "100%")

Remember the phrase: “You Are What You Eat” ??? You’ve probably heard it growing up and a few times since… But, I’m gonna change that phrase for you (you can thank me later) because it’s not nearly complete. It should be: You are What THEY Eat.

Because what your food eats, drinks and absorbs, makes a HUGE difference in your health. Here’s the question you need to ask……Is your food eating it’s natural diet?

Not is it eating “A” natural diet….is your food eating “IT’S” natural diet.

If you remember nothing else about nutrition or health, remember that. Your health, your athletic performance depends on the health of the food that your food eats. Over millions of years, we’ve evolved as part of a food chain. Luckily we’re on the top of that chain (except for the occasional surfer or SCUBA diver). So logic tells you when you mess with the food chain and try to circumvent it, you mess with your health.

If you continue to eat a diet that’s not native for the species you're eating, not only will your performance suffer, but eventually, disease will follow.

Bottom Line: Your health depends on the food that your food eats.

‘nuff said

DocT

Oh....One more thought....

Have you ever traveled to another country, ate the food of the land and then discovered that when you returned you felt great and lost weight.... Ponder that for a while and ask yourself why.

That happened to me when I traveled to Colombia for 2 1/2 week in July 2006.

______________________________________________________

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

Please Don't Eat The Wallpaper

I enjoyed her book so much, I asked her to write a "guest blog" here at Natural Sports Medicine Blog. She agreed. So, here are a few words of wisdom from Dr. Nancy Irven, author of Please Don't Eat The Wallpaper.



Enjoy,

Doc T

_________________________
In my book, “Please Don’t Eat The Wallpaper!,” I tell my story about volunteering at the local high school to educate fourteen year old students on better nutrition. One of the letters I received from a student said, “Dr. Nancy you surprised me. I thought when Mrs. Powell told us that we were going to be learning about nutrition, that we’d be learning something pretty boring. Not something life changing! I can’t tell you how much this helped my family and I eat better.”

I teach the students to stay away from refined grains, trans fats and refined sugars, primarily high fructose corn syrup. I teach them to eat vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. What makes this life changing for a fourteen year old? I remind them of the healthy foods they do like, but have forgotten about and encourage them to eat those foods. I gave them a sheet of paper with eleven headings: Vegetables, Fruits, Meat/Eggs, Dairy, Beans/Legumes, Whole Grains, Nuts/Seeds, Herbs/Seasonings, Condiments/Oils, Sweeteners, and Beverages. I asked the students to raise their hands and tell me what vegetables they liked. The room was full of students with their hands up! As they started naming all the various vegetables, I asked them to write down the ones they liked. One girl in the back of the room started laughing. When I asked her why she was laughing she exclaimed with enthusiasm, “I like fifteen vegetables and I didn’t even know it!” Now she knows what she can eat. One student was thrilled to learn that it was okay to eat mashed potatoes with butter and milk. We went through all eleven headings and even the picky eaters discovered at least twenty or more good whole foods they actually liked. I simply encouraged them to eat those foods regularly. I gave them no restrictions on any whole food. I helped them understand that if humans have been eating a food for thousands of
years, then the answer is … yes!

I helped them understand that if humans have been eating a food for thousands of
years, then the answer is … yes!

This means I said yes to saturated fat in the form of red meat, cheese, butter, and dairy. The present generation of teenagers has been raised in a “zero fat” environment and many of them believe that any fat is bad. I teach them this is not correct. I have seen that if they can eat nature’s fats in any form, they eat less man-made fat, which is the real health threat. According to Harvard, reported in Harvard Women’s Health Watch, “The Trouble With Trans Fat.” March, 2004, Vol 11, no.7, over 30,000 women die each year of heart attacks and strokes due to trans fat consumption in the United States. This study did not even include men.

If you would like more information, please read an article titled, “What If Bad Fat Is Actually Good For You?” By Nina Teicholz in the 2007 November issue of Men’s Health Magazine. Go to http://www.menshealth.com/. Consider this quotation from the article:

“When people replace the carbohydrates in their diet with fat – saturated or unsaturated – the number of small, dense LDL particles decreases. This leads to the highly counterintuitive notion that replacing your breakfast cereal with eggs and bacon could actually reduce your risk of heart disease.”

When I taught students they could eat eggs for breakfast in the name of “health,” many were excited, but still skeptical. Some of their parents were even more so. It’s amazing to me so many people, teenagers and adults, start their day with a breakfast cereal with a long list of ingredients including enriched grains, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup as well as many other chemicals and food dyes but they believe eggs are bad for them.

I suggest a web site, http://www.westinaprice.org/ for more information on healthy eating. In addition, the book by Michael Pollan, “In Defense Of Food” is an excellent book to read. I only disagree with him on one point. He quotes the research that makes the case that saturated fat is not unhealthy. However, he still follows the collective consciousness against the health benefits of saturated fats in a few of his comments. Still a good read!

Have a great day! Eat well and live long!

Dr. Nancy Irven

_______________________________

Thank you Dr. Irven for contributing to my blog. Her book, Please Don't Eat The Wallpaper is geared towards high school kids. I bought it anticipating that I would read it first, then give it to my kids to read. They both enjoyed it and had a lot of questions for me after. My children are much younger than the target audience, however, it sparked a similar result. A conversation was started about what is and what is not healthy for you.

'nuff said

Doc T

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

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Are Glue & Plastic Part of YOUR Diet?

Human performance depends on a few factors. Good genes are important and at this time, effecting them is virtually out of our control. An athlete needs skill, focus, a good healthy body and good training in order to compete. Just like a top NASCAR race car or an F-18 jet fighter, in order to run at those peak performance levels, you’ve got to put in the best fuel possible. Anything less will clog up the system and break down the engine. Just like the glue and plastic in your diet right now!

But what about for those of us who aren’t athletes? Who aren’t on the path to be the next Olympic gold medalist or the next person to break the record running the NYC or Boston Marathon…What about the rest of us. The weekend warrior, the high school student, the business man or woman who is trying the best they can to get through the day?

The fuel you put in your body DEFINATELY influences how you perform. Even if you don’t realize it. Our bodies are extremely complex biological systems that developed ALONG WITH OUR FOOD over tens and hundreds of thousands of years. That’s why even those tiny little nutrients that our scientists 'aren’t sure what the heck they are yet', are so sarn important. They matter.

Elements that exists in micrograms can be essential nutrients. AND if not consumed, over the course of a couple of decades could cause irreparable damage to your body. Hey, a little stream millions of years ago eventually carved out what we know as the Grand Canyon! Little things do make a difference, it just takes time.

In her book, Please Don’t Eat The Wallpaper!, Dr. Nany Irven described what has become the staple of the American Diet. Glue & Plastic….yes, I said glue and plastic.

In the not-so-old days, wall paper hangers use to mix white flour and water to make paste to hang wallpaper. Dr. Irven remembers her mother doing the same thing. Essentially what they were making was a simple glue. This glue being the main ingredient in most breads, pastas, cookies, cakes and more.

The plastics being partially hydrogenated oil. Why plastic? Well, as Dr. Irven states it in her book, the chemical process of creating plastic and creating partially hydrogenated oil is the same. Interestingly enough, partially hydrogenated oil is about as healthy for you as plastic. Both being poison.

The best this about her book, besides the information itself, is the way it’s written. IT’S EASY TO READ!!! And is specifically targeted toward teenagers. But, for all you parents out there, you need to read this first!! The information in this book represents the foundation of a healthy life. Bottom line is, you can live to be 100 and be in a wheelchair, on oxygen, needing assistance and having a miserable time of it, OR-you can be 100 and out there running around playing with your great-grandchildren.

The choice is yours, the essential information is in this great, quick read.

Glue, plastic or real food…..You decide. Personally, I want to be out having fun riding my bike and playing with my kids, not a grumpy old yuk-yuk that can’t get out of a chair.

Kudos to you Dr. Irvin



Don't even get me started on the high fructose corn poison they sweeten everything with nowadays. If you want an update on that, read my earlier blog post, or just read Dr. Irven's book.
‘nuff said

DocT




Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

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Why Eating Like A Caveman Is Your Best Bet

In 1 word….EVOLUTION.

Yep, our bodies evolved over millions of years with our genes stretching back an estimated 2.6-4.5 million years, adapting to our environment all along the way. This is the key to how we as a species are supposed to eat.

I understand the argument from all those vegetarians and vegan types out there that it’s cruel to eat animals and there are more modern ways to eat. But the bottom line is, if you eat like a caveman, you’ll increase your health, reduce your weight and finally be feeding your body what it was designed to eat. Your physiology was actually developed out of our specific adaptations to our diet. A diet of fresh fruit (mostly berries), fresh veggies and animal protein from animals that ate their natural evolutionary diet (you see, your health also depends on the health of your food's food), throw in some nuts, seasonal eggs, the (very) occasional honey comb (stingers included) and all the work it took to hunt and gather these foods and you have a clear blueprint to health.

What we aren’t supposed to eat has pretty much been invented and introduced into our diet over the past several hundred years and research shows the downfall of our diets dating back to the inception of the agricultural age 10,000 years ago. We simply haven’t had the luxury of time for our anatomy and physiology to properly adapt. That takes hundreds of thousands of years to happen.Until then, we'll suffer from what's called "adaptive physiology" where you body does its best to adapt to something foreign and results in the abnormal changes we call disease. 

This week in a newsletter from Men’s Health Magazine, a new study was reported on where volunteers were put on a hunter-gatherer diet of berries, nuts, lean meat, fish, and vegetables. The volunteers cut out cereals, dairy products, and refined sugar. After only 3 weeks they had lost 5 pounds, their waistlines were slimmer, and their blood pressure was lower.

This however, was not a controlled study. The results weren't compared to a standard low-calorie diet, and the long-term effects of this “hunter-gatherer” way of eating still need to be tested (you'd likely fall short on calcium without some dairy in the mix). However cavemen probably ground (or chewed their veggies) and plants longer, breaking up the cellular matrix and releasing the calcium that typically goes undigested in our modern day unhealthy guts. So, when you eat that salad, think about grinding your greens longer (yes, like cows do). The study group size was small—only 14 people were included—so take the results with a grain of salt, as more info from larger study groups is needed.

But let’s look at the big picture. The basic findings would help anyone lose weight: Nix the hydrogenated fatty, processed crapola, unhealthy oils, any grain products, the enhanced processed sugar and high fructose corn syrup sweetened junk (this includes Agave Nectar which has higher levels of fructose than HFCS) in favor of whole & healthy foods, and make the healthy stuff convenient (this means prepare ahead of time).

As Men’s Health put it, even Fred Flintstone would have opted for a Whopper if it meant he didn't have to hunt for his dinner.

‘nuff said, now where the (grass fed) meat…!?!?

DocT

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

#chiropractormiamibeach #MiamiBeachChiropractor #SportsInjuriesFixedHere #DrNarson #ToddNarson #Narson #TriDoc #TriathlonDoc #ChiropracticSportsMedicine #ACASC #SportsMedicine #SportsChiropractor #MiamiBeachSportsMedicine #SportsMedicineMiami #MiamiSportsMedicine #MiamiChiropractor #Triathlon #Running #Ironman #IFixPeopleInPain #TrainWithoutPain #MiamiBeachChiropractor #GrastonTechnique #FAKTR #IASTM #Chiropractor #FootPain #Narson #NarsonBodyMechanic #NarsonTool #DACBSP #CCSP #ACBSP #BackPain #NeckPain #ShoulderPain #RotatorCuff #ITBandSyndrome #runnersKnee #PlantarFasciitis #Plantarfascitis #AchillesTendonitis #AchillesTendonosis #GettingAthletesBackInTheGame  #MiamiBeachChiropractor #MiamiSportsMedicine #MiamiBeachSportsMedicine #WeFixPeopleInPain #TrainWithoutPain #ChiropracticSportsMedicine #ACASC #ProSportChiropractic #FunctionalMedicineMiami #DrNarson #BackPainRelief #NeckPainRelief #SportsInjuriesFixedHere #LaserTherapy #RockTape #KinesioTape #KTTape #Nutrition #21DayPurificationProgram #DetoxProgram #PaleoDiet #PaleoDoc #FunctionalNutrition #Chirooractor #Chiropractic #ChiropracticPhysician #DoctorOfChiropractic #USATriathlon #USAT #TeamUSA #CorporateWellness #HappyEmployeedProfitableBusiness #HeadacheRelief #MigraineHeadacheRelief #Migraine #SportsSpecificExam #SportSpecificTreatment #WorkCompDoc #WorkersCompensation #ankleSprain

Taking care of yourself first

I’d need 10 pair of hands to be able to count how many times I’ve told my patients to realax and take care of themselves this week. People seek advice from me about how to best handle their injuries, their aches and their pains. Yet, when I tell people to apply ice or apply heat, or to take a hot bath, I’m constantly told I don’t have time.

What? You don’t have time. Well, then you’ll just have to continue to suffer. (Sometimes I think it, sometimes I actually say that to them)

There’s no way you can walk into a doctors office, regardless of discipline or specialty, dump your problems off on your doctor and then come back in a week or two and expect your problems to be fixed. Good results in your health always come when a patient and a doctor work together as a team.

So, let me let you in on a little secret…..

Shhhhhhhhh.

Ya ready???

Start taking care of yourself first.

That’s it.

Start taking care of yourself first. Seems simple enough. That's your part in this doctor-patient "TEAM". At the end of the day, come home, eat a light dinner then when you start to wind down…take a nice warm or hot bath for 20 minutes and just relax your body and mind. Let the physical and emotional stresses of the day just float away. I bet you’ll sleep better as well.

If you sleep better, you will get the proper release of growth hormone from your pituitary. Growth hormone helps your body heal and really rejuvenates you. It's like a little in-born fountain of youth. That’s why all studies on sleep deprivation show a link between poor sleep and just about every condition you don’t want. Diabetes, cancer, obesity and a general piss-poor attitude.

So, start with numero-uno. Start by taking care of yourself. An unhealthy ‘you’ can’t perform your job, your career or take care of your family to the best your potential will allow. By taking care of yourself first, you’ll be able to best handle all things life throws at you and then some. So tonight, go take a nice bubble bath and see how much better you feel in the morning.

Unless you have some medical condition that you shouldn’t use moist heat on or increase your heart rate, this should be a nice way to get started on taking care of ‘you’

OK?

Good. Now, on your mark….get set…..GO.

‘nuff said

DocT

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

HCFS Is Not Natural Says the FDA!!!

FINALLY more justice for my blog articles. For the past couple years I have been mouthing off about this horrible sweetener called High Fructose Corn Syrup and I featured 2 prior posts on this just this HFCS stuff(Drink Soda-Get Diabetes & Is Yogurt As Bad As Soda).

Put up as another form of a "natural type sugar", this crapola is used to sweeten everything from ketchup-to-Yogurt-to-Coke & Pepsi. And, in all those wonderful children's cereals and other foods. But finally, the FDA has take the double talking money mongering larger than life food industry corporations to task. High Fructose Corn Syrup, even though it is derived from corn, is not natural. Because, it takes a chemical process to create it. Read more on the FDA decision.
Hear me now food industry...JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING STARTS OFF AS A NATURAL OR WHOLE FOOD, WHEN YOU ARE DONE PROCESSING IT, IT IS NO LONGER NATURAL.

Valium once started out as Velerian Root. Does that make Valium natural? NOT!!!

The stuff this chemical process creates is something foreign to the human body. High Fructose Corn Syrup (here after known as HFCS) is as artificial as any other artificial sweetener and in my humble opinion, can have equally devastating effects. Basically, you are forcing your body to use a sweetener it was never made to use. Therefore, the digestive process must process something it hasn’t spent the last 100,000+ years evolving with. Corn itself, in its current form hasn't been in evolutionary food chain long enough for our physiology to adapt it as a healthful food for us, so HFCS a real no-no (read the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma for more info on that).

Now, any food, drink or other product to be consumed that contains HFCS can no longer advertise as “natural” or “all natural”.

BUT….WATCH OUT!!!! I “guaran-damn-tee” you that you’ll find products on the market, such as breads, advertising “100% whole wheat”, which in the mind of the consumer, will imply it’s a natural product. Flip the package over and I’m sure you fill find my sugar-wannabe arch nemesis high fructose corn syrup. Read the food label, not the packaging. They'll find a way to fool you on the packaging, but the food label is closer to the truth.

Why is this HFCS so bad? Well, I’ll have to refer you to an early blog post. The explanation has more to do with the history of our evolution as humans over the past hundreds of thousands and even millions of years. If you are a Discovery Channel or Science Channel buff, you’ll find it very interesting. If not, then, well, it may put you to sleep.

So, chalk one up for the consumer. We finally get a little closer to the truth in labeling we all deserve. Now, if a company wants to increase its profits by using a cheap artificial version of sugar in the form of HFCS, go right ahead. I'm all for making a profit. After all, why else are you in business? But, just label your products as such so we as consumers can make the right choice for ourselves and our families based on truthful information.

I for one don’t mind paying a bit more for something that I know is good for me, rather than getting fooled into the belief that something good for me is basically a Trojan horse for a company trying to hide the truth. Let's be honest capitalists, okay big food corps? This way we let the consumers drive the markets based on the truth.

As a doctor though, my advice is to cut out all HFCS and hydrogenated oils, add whole grains, fresh fruit and veggies and you’ll have a much better life. Remember, HFCS is one of the main culprits in childhood obesity, diabetes and weight gain. 3 more great reasons to cut it out of your life.

For those who read my blog and ask what the heck does this have to do with sports medicine….well, if you put good high quality food into your body, you’ll get better performance out of it.

‘nuff said.

DocT

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.