Walking to See Waterwheels

My original plan for the weekend of August 6, 2011 was to attend the Ancestral Health Symposium at UCLA.  The symposium was described by Loren Cordain. Ph.D., author of The Paleo Diet, as “The Woodstock of Evolutionary Medicine.”  Alas, I could not get a ticket to as it sold out long ago. 

So I did the next best thing. 

Actually, I did something better than sitting on my rear end for two days.  I took a walk in the mountains.

Reduced Pain from a Shirt?

HB Pier, US Open 2011

When surfers damage their surfboards, mortals send them off for ding repair.  Professional surfers can do the same or merely grab another board from their quiver of multiple boards.  It helps to have sponsors!

When they damage their bodies, repair is not quite as easy and replacement rarely an option but the pros have access to evaluation and treatment when they travel for competition.

Today I had the pleasure of working on the medical staff at the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.  I will be back at the venue later this week as well.   I was part of a team of chiropractic and medical doctors, physical therapists, athletic trainers and massage therapists who were on hand to patch up surfers from around the world.  In addition to hands on examinations, treatment and advice for self-care, the community of surfers is getting exposed to an innovative line of clothing that, as odd as it may seem, can improve posture, reduce injuries, enhance performance and reduce pain.

Inflammation & the Other Oil Industry: Part 3

The diagram above may look chaotic but it is a truly elegant description of how certain dietary fats or fatty acids, Omega-6 and Omega-3, play a role in the body’s production of inflammation causing and inflammation quieting substances.  As explained by David Seaman, D.C., who created this graphic explanation for the text book, Nutritional Considerations in the Treatment of Soft-Tissue Injuries, the standard American diet contains an abundance of Omega-6 fats and relatively fewer Omega3 fats.

Why are we eating so many Omega-6 fats? What are the health consequences of an imbalance in Omega-6 fats compared to Omega-3 fats?  If you eat fish oil capsules, flax or hemp seed, can you put these two types of fat in a better balance?

Inflammation & the Other Oil Industry: Part 2

First off, the picture posted with this entry has nothing to do with inflammation or diet.  I took it yesterday while on a six or seven mile walk, mostly through El Dorado Park and its Nature Center, which are just a few minute’s walk from my house.

   

In an earlier post (June 6, 2011) I discussed the potential of trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils to promote a pro-inflammatory state, among other unhealthy effects.

There are other  pro-inflammatory fats and oils that have intruded into the food supply , which I will discuss at a later date, but first I want to address some of the reasons these oils have come to dominate the standard diet in the US.

What do All Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Have in Common?

What do All Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Have in Common?  And What in the world is this diagram trying to explain?

According to a recently published research paper, from the British Medical Journal in 2011, new data show that all major, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have cardiovascular risks.  Investigators evaluating available evidence report they have found little to suggest that any of the investigated options are safe.

PGAP™

An illustration from philosopher and scientist, Rene Descartes.  The fire displaces the skin, which pulls a tiny thread, which opens a pore in the ventricle (F) allowing the "animal spirit" to flow through a hollow tube, which inflates the muscle of the leg, causing the foot to withdraw.

I do want to return to the topic of inflammation and what I previously referred to as the Other Oil Industry but I just returned from an extraordinary workshop that is worth talking about. 

I just returned from Santa Clara, California, in Silicon Valley, having attended a training program called PGAP™ (Progressive Goal Attainment Program).  PGAP™ is a treatment program for reducing disability due to chronic pain, depression, cancer and other chronic health conditions.  There are very few providers of this service in the United States who currently offer this program.  As for California, until yesterday, there were only a few providers in northern California.  At the conclusion of the training, I join a growing number to offer it in southern California.  I will be working in conjunction with an organization called LifeTEAM, starting in July to offer PGAP™.   

The Worst Diet! It is What I Eat!

 I originally planned to continue a thread on Inflammation and Dietary Fats but recent news caused me to veer off course.  It turns out that US News and World Report has categorized the best to worst 20 diets.  The diet I recommend as the best for managing chronic inflammation and pain, the Paleo Diet, is ranked a lowly 20^th.  I would be embarrassed were it not for the near complete lack of scientific rigor in the article and my disdain for thoughtless conventional wisdom.

Fortunately, Loren Cordain, Ph.D., one of the foremost authorities on the Paleo Diet, has quickly rebutted the journalistic- nonsense with his usual scientific and evidence-based logic.

First read the US News listing of 20 diets.  Next see their criticism of the Paleo Diet.  Finally, take a look at Dr. Cordain’s well researched debunking of the US News analysis and their near total ignorance on the science of nutrition.