A Commentary

Richard C. Gerardo, D.C.
Charles L. Blum, D.C.

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Dr. Richard Gerardo – D.C., C.S.C.P., D.A.C.B.N.

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Dr. Richard Gerardo, D.C., C.S.C.P.

Use Flax Oil to help you with an internal cleanse

One of the very best things you can do for yourself is to give your body a chance to cleanse and detoxify its liver and gallbladder. Here’s an easy, effective, safe and enjoyable way to accomplish this task.

The Liver & Gallbladder Cleanse

Your liver, gallbladder and colon work synergistically (they all work with one another) to keep you healthy. They overwork when you consume too much fat. To encourage bowel movements and to aid your liver and gallbladder, fresh beets are a truly remarkable food. This is ever truer for women.

Besides getting more beets into your diet in general, here is a 6 Week Program to stimulate your gallbladder and enervate your liver and colon.

Beet Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

-1 cup of finely shredded raw beets (preferable organically grown)
-2 tbsp of either Virgin First Pressed Olive Oil or Raw Flax Oil
(Flax Oil is available in the health food store. Be sure the name is “OMEGAFO” on the bottle)
-½ lemon – fresh squeezed juice

*COMBINE all ingredients

1. Take a teaspoon of this mixture every 1-2 hours during the day for 3 days.
2. After the first 3 days, take 2 tablespoons of the mixture 3 times daily, before meals for a week.
3. After the initial 10 days, continue taking 2 tablespoons of the mixture 3x a day, 3 days a week, for a month.

Is your Gallbladder up to par?

If has long been my suggestion that EVERYONE do a liver and gallbladder cleanse once a year. Although there may be some people with a very healthy liver-gallbladder-colon system, most people can use some help.

If you would like to check your liver and gallbladder without spending a few hundred dollars, here’s a simple test. If you have a majority of the flowing symptoms, your liver and gallbladder are not up to par:

• Dry skin
• Falling hair
• Metallic taste in your mouth
• Crave sweets
• Frequently dizzy, bilious, anxious or insecure
• Sensitive to hot weather
• Burning feet
• Nightmares – needs laxatives often
• Upset by greasy foods
• High blood fats (cholesterol and triglycerides)

Super Charge your Cleansing Program

When you begin to purge the liver and gallbladder, you are going to get a change in your bowel movements. To encourage the removal of toxins and debris from your system a bowel cleansing program with psyllium can be instituted during the same time as your liver and gallbladder purge. This will “super charge” your cleansing program.

How to use Psyllium

First of all, you need to get a good psyllium product. This should be 100% pure psyllium husk fiber with no sugar, salt, starch or ADDED ANYTHING. Most health food stores carry this type of product. We use a product called Colon Cleanse by Health Plus, Inc., but any brand fitting our description will do.

Start your colon cleanse slowly, taking only a teaspoon of psyllium per day with at least 8 ounces of water, If you have any bowel problems, talk with your physician before starting this program,

If you have no problems with a small amount of psyllium, progress to a tablespoon then up to 2 tablespoons daily. Always mix the pysllium in a tall glass of pure water then follow it with another glass of pure water with no pysllium. At 2 tablespoons daily, almost everyone will begin to notice a change in their bowel movements. Most noticeable the still will become bulky and there be signs of dark material or mucus.

To get a really good colon cleanse, you can use up to 2 heaping tablespoons in water, 3 times daily. Most people will not need this psyllium but if you start slowly, use care and work with your physician if necessary. It is completely safe.

Once you reach your “cleansing level” of psyllium intake, you will maintain at least on bulking stool daily with lots of psyllium flakes throughout. Along with the flakes, there will be plenty mucus, debris and dark material that will pass also. Maintain this level of psyllium for the duration of your liver and gallbladder cleanse.

Conclusion

When your cleanse is complete, don’t stop taking the psyllium “cold turkey”. Rather, slowly reduce your intake until you are no longer using the product. In some cases, it may be necessary (and normal) to take a tablespoon of psyllium daily for a prolonged period of time or even indefinitely.

Any problems encountered with psyllium, generally result from:

1. Using too much too soon.
2. Using too much psyllium with too little water
3. Not following your psyllium drink with an additional glass of water
4. Starting a program when you have serious bowel problems (ex: diverticulitis, colitis) without consulting your physician.

A money-saver and a life-saver

You can use this information to help determine if you need a liver and gallbladder support, cleanse your system, and greatly enhance your digestion and energy levels. You can also help control your blood fat level and add years to your life by using this cleanse yearly.

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Many mothers experience difficulties breastfeeding their infants. Why? The act of breastfeeding is a complex one involving the coordination of multiple muscle movements and structural factors, in addition to positioning and nutritional considerations.

Is your baby experiencing difficulties latching on, disinterest in breastfeeding or feeding constantly but unable to get enough milk?

Frustrated and fearful their babies are not getting the nutrition they require, parents may resort to bottle feeding early on. Formula feeding isn’t always the best option, however.

While breast milk is individualized for your child’s specific needs, formulas are general derived from soy or cow’s milk—neither of which are optimal for human infants. Scientists are recently finding that breast milk for girls even differs from that for boys! Infant formulas are mass produced and contain substances such as BPA, corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and genetically modified ingredients, all of which carry potentially harmful side effects. Formula feeding compromises nutrition and introduces unnatural proteins and carbohydrates, which can be extremely detrimental to developing infants. Studies show that formula-fed babies are at greater risk for ear infections, severe respiratory infections, dermatitis, asthma, obesity, immune system dysfunction and gastrointestinal damage, among other issues.

In addition to the nutritional advantages breastfeeding offers, the physical act of breastfeeding encourages normal infant bone growth and muscle development. Without this natural sucking pattern, issues may develop around proper function and development, airway restriction and facial abnormalities.

Although some parents must resort to formula feeding due to factors outside of their control, many of the common problems that discourage parents from breastfeeding can be successfully addressed and treated.

Causative factors impacting breastfeeding may include:

• Lip mobility
• Lingual (tongue) functioning
• Latching issues
• Lip tie
• Tongue tie
• Stiff neck/wry neck/torticollis
• Mother’s consumption of foods that baby is allergic to

Here at Wholistic Chiropractic, we care for and treat adults as well as children (and pets!), and we love to assist in healthy babies’ development!

If you have any questions about breastfeeding, bring your infant in for an evaluation. Solutions may be simpler than you think!

In Health and Happiness,

Dr. Richard Gerardo

D.C., C.S.C.P., D.A.C.B.N.

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Do you, like many Americans, engage in chronic tooth clenching and/or grinding? If so, the stress levels in your life are too high and causing deleterious health effects.

Period.

Why does everyone now seem to use night guards? Two decades ago that wasn’t true. The presence and intensity of ‘busyness’ and stress in our daily lives has increased astronomically over the past twenty years. Between over-working, poor diet, lack of sleep, little exercise and/or trying to be all things to all people as quickly as possible, it’s all too common to experience exhaustion and significant stress on a daily basis.

Enter: Clenching and Grinding.

Both clenching and grinding are reactions to instability in the body’s systems. While both are significant issues, grinding indicates a more severe form of distress. Systemic instabilities typically originate with chemical, physical or psychological/emotional imbalances and very commonly, from a combination of all three.

Here’s the bottom line:

When the body is literally destroying itself (it’s quite common, when clenching and grinding, to not only grind teeth down, but to actually chip and crack them as well), it is a pathological state and a sign that the system is seriously out of whack.

What to do?

The simple answer is not always an easy fix. But here it is: Decrease stress.

Growing older occurs naturally, but aging happens when the body fails to adapt to the forces we face daily. Our bodies work tirelessly for us and don’t WANT to fail, but we routinely overwhelm our systems with insurmountable amounts of stress. Given half a chance, the body will heal itself and allow us to pursue happy, healthy lives.

Decreasing stress (and subsequent clenching and grinding behaviors) requires taking an honest look at our lives. Examining daily habits, sleep patterns, workload, diet and exercise, as well as injuries, inflammation, exposure to chemicals and repetitive stress patterns is critical to getting a handle on stress. Overhaul anything that’s inflicting significant stress and if you can’t change it yourself, get help.

While expensive life-coaches and personal trainers can be life savers, so can books, articles and plain old common sense. The important thing is just to dive in, be truthful about when you’re crossing the line of “too much” and start to prioritize ​ health and well-being.

At Wholistic Chiropractic, we are happy to serve as an integral part of your de-stressing, anti-aging team.

In Health and Happiness,

Dr. Richard Gerardo

D.C., C.S.C.P., D.A.C.B.N.

Clenching and Grinding – Burbank & Thousand Oaks CA

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Stress Management Tips

The other day I saw a coffee cup that read: “Stress is Caused by Giving a F@%&”. That’s one take, but I’ve got a different one:

Stress is the result of holding expectations that are out of alignment with reality.

What happens when you expect your relatives to finally get along at the next holiday party, but they don’t? Stress. Or when you try to get more work done than can be accomplished in a workday? Stress. What happens when we expect things to go well on a blind date and instead the night is awkward and strained? Stress.

What would happen if, instead of paying attention to expectations, we were simply open to experiencing what is actually occurring? A lot less stress.

Aim for the stars, absolutely! Those who follow their hearts and live their dreams but also live with the awareness that in reality, things don’t always go as planned experience much less stress in their lives.

The key? Realize expectations are only fantasies. An expectation is merely an expression of how you want things to go—just knowing that takes a lot of the kick out of dinner cancellations, rained-out games and catching a cold on vacation.

In a traffic jam? Re-frame and replace the stressful, reality-fighting thought of “I have to get to work on time!” with “There’s nothing I can do about this. Next time I’ll leave earlier. Today I can enjoy this ride by talking with a friend/listening to some music/noticing the beautiful scenery.”

Motivational comedian Kyle Cease sells shirts that say, “I hope I screw this up!” Why? To remind him that what’s important is the experience, enjoying the moment and responding to what’s really happening rather than trying to stick with a pre-made plan that may no longer work for him or for the situation—or worse—trying to be perfect. How many times do we forget to enjoy what’s going on around us because we’re trying to say the right thing, not appear this way or that, or to get others’ approval? Living life from a point of authenticity can be an incredibly freeing paradigm shift.

Remember the old saying “live and let live”? There’s a lot of wisdom there. We can often dial down the stress in our lives simply by taking responsibility for our own thoughts and actions, letting others do their thing and realizing that getting what we want (our expectations), is not always on the agenda.

In Health and Happiness,

Dr. Richard Gerardo

D.C., C.S.C.P., D.A.C.B.N.

Stress Management Tips – Burbank & Thousand Oaks CA

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Do you clench or grind your teeth at night? Many do. Left untreated, teeth grinding may lead to jaw disorders, headaches, damaged teeth and other issues.

Otherwise known as bruxism, teeth grinding is often related to pain or instability in the musculoskeletal system. System imbalance can lead to a constant state of musculoskeletal tension as the body attempts to adapt and compensate for misalignments and/or pain. The longer the system has been adapting to a condition of imbalance, the more complex the resulting distortions.

The following imbalances create a cascade of symptoms that may include teeth grinding, clenching and bruxism:

• Increased muscle tension in the jaw
• Loss of cervical curve; increased forward head posture and increased tension in cervical musculature
• Sub occipital tension
• TMJ/CMD symptoms
• Decreased lumbar curve and/or increased lumbosacral disc angle
• Chronically unstable SI joint
• Forward or anterior hand position in standing posture
• Pain in feet and metatarsals, poor foot mechanics and/or collapse of arches
• Muscle tension and/or spasms

The art and science of holistic chiropractic treatment is learning how to read, understand and treat the reactions and compensations of the body. All cranial therapies work off of this premise.

In our clinics, we employ Sacro-Occipital Technique (S.O.T.), a therapy that targets adjusting patterns in the body rather than individual body parts alone. S.O.T. uses a system of categories and indicators to systematically reduce the stresses, reactions and compensations and can significantly reduce or eliminate clenching and bruxism.

Holistic treatment always aims at resolving imbalance, tension and pain and returning the patient to a state of true integrative health.

Call our office today to schedule an appointment to address the root causes of your tooth-grinding or clenching.

In Health and Happiness,

Dr. Richard Gerardo

D.C., C.S.C.P., D.A.C.B.N.

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Both conventional health care and alternative/holistic medicine diagnose and treat symptoms. But there are some important differences.

Conventional Health Care: The Bottom Line

Due to the current climate of insurance policy and health care regulations, rather than taking the time to correctly diagnose a patient and create an appropriate treatment plan, many health care professionals today respond by increasing their rate of prescribing medications as a quick fix.

Public pharmaceutical marketing campaigns and the resulting perception of prescription drugs as a panacea for symptom relief only intensifies the situation. Patients themselves frequently request medications as a first-line of treatment. Physicians, also encouraged by prescription drug companies, all too often respond in kind by prescribing millions upon millions of pharmaceuticals each year, creating an ever-increasing cycle that primarily benefits the pharmaceutical companies.

Both patients and physicians pay a high cost for this “easy fix” mentality. Patients, prescribed medications they don’t necessarily need (while the underlying causes of their health concerns remain unaddressed), are often left to deal with unwanted side-effects, in addition to the worsening of existing conditions. Doctors may lose faith in their own profession as they begin to see their integrity, skills and talents eroded by policy and regulations and undermined by pharmaceutical companies’ pull towards profit.

There is another way: Welcome to Wholistic care.

As most conditions, including the TMJ, may be affected by any imbalance in the body from the soles of the feet to the top of the head, a whole-body approach to diagnosis and treatment is critical. We are proud to offer top-of-the-line approaches for integrated health and wellness at all of our clinic locations. Experience whole-body health through Wholistic healing.

In Health and Happiness,

Dr. Richard Gerardo

D.C., C.S.C.P., D.A.C.B.N.

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"Hi TMJA, I’m a big fan of your website and newsletters and have found both helpful and reassuring. I wonder if you could include something in a future newsletter about the romantic/sexual side effects of TMD which I feel aren’t talked about much but are pretty relevant.

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