My favorite coffee cup.

Throughout the years I have heard from some of my patients: “I’m trying to eat really healthy now, I even gave up coffee.” In my head I’m thinking I never thought coffee was so bad for your health, so I decided to do some research. Of course, I always want to read what Dr. Mercola has to say first, as he is my go to researcher. He has written several articles about the health effects of coffee. Interestingly enough, in the past, he recommended not to drink coffee, but in his recent articles he shows new research that supports the health benefits of coffee. In this blog I will summarize the pros and cons of drinking coffee referencing Dr. Mercola’s article “Mounting Evidence Suggests Coffee May Actually Have Therapeutic Health Benefits.”
Here’s the verdict: there are some therapeutic benefits to drinking coffee BUT it depends on how the coffee is processed, prepared and what is put in it. Healthwise, coffee contains vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and bioflavonoids. There is quite a bit of recent studies that show that coffee in moderation can help reduce your risks of certain cancers, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimers. Other studies show that coffee can decrease the risk of Parkinson’s, help keep muscles and other tissues youthful, decrease depression, and increase cognitive function. The above mentioned article, has a chart of studies supporting the therapeutic benefits of coffee.
First off, it is best to buy dark roast, whole bean, organic coffee. As a side note, the darker the roast, the lower the caffeine content. Espresso actually has less caffeine than regular drip coffee. Coffee is heavily sprayed with pesticides. My family buys our organic coffee inexpensively at Costco. You want to brew your coffee with a non- bleached coffee filter. Finally, drink your coffee either black or with raw or organic milk. I call this drinking coffee the “clean” way. Never use sugar because it lowers your immune system and contributes to poor cardiovascular health. Never drink flavored coffee because the flavoring is usually artificial. Remember too, the fancy drinks at cafes are loaded with calories mainly from sugar. The main con to drinking coffee is that it contains caffeine which is a stimulant drug and is habit forming. Coffee should NEVER be consumed by a pregnant women because the caffeine goes to the placenta and can be harmful to the growing fetus. If coffee makes you feel awful, my advise would be to not drink it at all or limit its use, because I always think you should listen to your body. Other negatives are; that some people have a hard time sleeping at night if they drink coffee too late in the day, coffee is stressful to your adrenal glands, especially if you suffer from adrenal depletion, it is a diuretic and therefore it is not good for people who have issues with electrolyte imbalance. Some studies also showed a mild increase in cholesterol with drinking unfiltered coffee. In summary, in healthy, non pregnant individuals who drink their coffee “clean” and in moderation, the benefits outweigh the risks.

When I encounter patients that say I just don’t feel well or I ache all over, I have to think outside the mechanical musculoskeletal box and think in terms of what is out of balance systemically. One of the many important topics I need to address is whether or not they are having a well formed or banana shaped bowel movement daily. Yes, daily! Infrequent bowel movements are associated with bad digestion and can lead to chronic inflammatory disorders such as leaky gut syndrome and fibromyalgia, according to Howard Loomis DC. Not having a daily bowel movement means that the feces are moving very slowly and this gives the body an opportunity to take water from the bowel making the stool hard. As a side note, people who eat a low carbohydrate meal need to drink more water for the same reason. Most importantly, the slow movement causes bacteria and yeast to be absorbed into the blood stream thus causing inflammation of the mucosa of the bowel. This phenomenon is called autointoxication. How to improve bowel function? Make sure that you are incorporating fiber found in vegetables, fruits and grains. Eating a full spectrum of soluble and non soluble fiber from different sources is important. If not enough dietary fiber is consumed then supplementing with natural psyllium husk which can be found at a natural marketplace or non flavored Metamucil from the grocery store is recommended. Make sure to drink enough water daily. You want to drink about half your body weight in ounces or enough water so that your urine is always straw colored. Include food enzymes if you feel bloated or gassy after eating, feel full quickly after eating small amounts, or feel that your food is sitting in your stomach.

References – Autointoxication by Howard Loomis DC which can be found at www.loomisinstitute.com.

Dr. Barker enjoying hooping.

On Memorial Day, this year I received my first custom made hula hoop and I fell instantly in love with hooping. Let me explain what hooping is. It is not just standing in place and rotating a hula hoop around your waist, it is a series of tricks where the hula hoop is on and off of your body. You eventually try to perfect these tricks and put them together in a dance or a flow to music. I learn my hoop tricks from friends, hooping DVDs, and hoop dance tutorials on Youtube. I keep a journal of the tricks I know and the tricks I would like to learn on a weekly basis and then I keep incorporating them into my flow routine. As a chiropractor and health educator, I am so pleased to share with you some of the major benefits of hooping.

1) Cardiovascular Workout
When you dance in a continuous routine and even just learning some of the tricks over and over again, you sweat. I have read that you can burn as much as 250 calories in 25 minutes of hooping. On facebook I have seen the amazing transformation of hoopers loosing a lot of weight enjoying hooping. Hooping also improves blood flow thus improving heart health.

2) You Move Your Whole Body
One of the tag lines I share with my patients is to move your body everyday and in every way to keep your joints lubricated and your muscles pliable. Hooping involves your whole body and achieves just that. It also increases the flexibility of the spine. The spine houses our central nervous system which controls all of our organs, cells and tissues.

3) Improves Posture
As we age or if we adopt a poor posture, it usually looks like our shoulders are rolled forward and our mid-backs start to curve forward. With this posture, the anterior muscles, like the pectoral major and minor, become tight and the posterior muscles of the thoracic spine or mid-back, such as the traps and rhomboids, become weak. I teach my patients to stretch their chest muscles with a corner stretch and I have them strengthen their back muscles with rows and other exercises. I have noticed that many of the hoop tricks encourage both of these movements, thus allowing the chest to open up adopting a much better posture. We also use the muscles in our upper back to push (thus strengthening) when we do chest and shoulder hooping. I believe that when the chest is more open also, a persons attitude becomes more positive and confident. It also allows the heart chakra to open and makes the person more loving.

4) Core Strength
In hooping you can’t escape from strengthening your core. It is virtually a part of every hoop trick on and off your body. These moves strengthen and lengthen the abdominals, obliques and erectors. Strengthening your core improves your posture and prevents back pain.

5) Smooth Moves
Hooping is an art form like any other type of dance and everyone has a slightly different style. Some people hoop fast and some slow, but the common denominator I see in most flows are a continuous and smooth style of dance. I believe this is a great way to exercise because it is not jarring to the joints. I personally love hip hop dance for this reason as well.

6) Improves Your Mood
Just like any other form of exercise and dance, you are improving your emotional health as well by releasing endorphins, which are feel good hormones. Because I love hooping, I really feel happy while hooping and afterward as well. Hooping relieves stress and is also quite meditative.

7) It Helps With Brain Balancing
Any movement that you do that crosses the midline of your body improves the communication of the left and right hemispheres of your brain. We have a left and right side to our brain with a bridge in between called the corpus collosum. Many of us, use one side of our brain more often then the other. But by certain movements, we can improve the communication between the the two hemispheres via the bridge so that we can use both sides of our brain. Just by spinning in a circle in both directions achieves just that. Many hooping moves go across the midline, like weaving. Also, we use both of our hands and this improves coordination and of course brain balancing.

” The hoop is a round circle that is infinite and perfect just like we are.”

Every few years I get inspired by a certain color. Lately it has been purple and even more specifically, lavender. This color was inspired by my new purple hula hoop that my friend Chelsea made for me a few weeks ago. The color of my new hoop is so mesmerizing and uplifting. Then it came to me, I simply must paint my adjustment room lavender. My adjustment room is very special to me. It is a place of healing and of contentment and joy for me and so I had to adorn it in my new favorite color. I searched the internet for the meaning behind the color purple. It signifies royalty, luxury, and ambition. It is the color associated with the crown chakra and therefore it is healing, spiritual, and mystical. I also read, that if you are attracted to purple it means that you are compassionate and supportive of others and that you are a free spirit. I felt the connotation of the color was perfect for me and there you have it – my new purple paradise.