How Coffee Affects Your Health

We seem to hear different things from the medical community every few years about either the positive or negative effect that coffee has on our health. So what is the most current information? Is coffee good or bad for your health? The answer, in short, is that it’s a little of both.

Too much coffee can lead to a temporary increase in blood pressure, anxiety and upset stomach, in addition to its ability to become addictive. And don’t forget that added cream and sugar contribute to weight gain. For example, a 24-ounce Starbucks venti double chocolate chip frappucino contains a mind-boggling 520 calories!

Despite these drawbacks, moderate coffee consumption can actually have a protective effect, helping to reduce your risk of many problems, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, liver cancer, gallstones and Type 2 diabetes, to name a few. It can also lower the risk of stroke in women.

Current research has indicated that there is no increased risk of heart disease or cancer from moderate coffee drinking. The studies done earlier that reached that conclusion were flawed in that they did not take into consideration other lifestyle habits that went along with increased coffee drinking, such as smoking and lack of exercise, two major causes of these diseases. In fact, coffee has been shown to protect against many kinds of cancer.

A recent study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention found that there was a 25 percent reduction in cases of endometrial cancer in women who drank four or more cups of coffee per day. Scientists believe this may be due to the fact that coffee has the ability to lower concentrations of free estradiol and insulin, in addition to the cancer-fighting effect of coffee’s antioxidant phenols.

Even a few cups of coffee every day can cut men’s risk of developing prostate cancer by 30 percent, with those consuming six cups of coffee a day reducing their risk of a dangerous form of the cancer by a whopping 60 percent.

Coffee also reduces your risk of developing basal cell carcinoma by up to 20 percent, according to scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Another study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women who drink coffee (four cups per day) have a 20 percent lower risk of depression than those who drink no coffee at all.

It is recommended that you get no more than 500-600 mg of caffeine intake per day, the equivalent of about 6 to 8 cups of brewed coffee. Obviously, the amount of caffeine in a cup of espresso will be more than that in the equivalent amount drip coffee.

The key point to keep in mind is to consume coffee in moderate amounts, especially if you are pregnant. But all in all, the benefits of coffee consumption far outweigh the risks for most people, so grab a café grande and drink up!

Nutrition is a very complex and our understanding of it is constantly evolving. If you have questions about your current nutrition or supplement plan, please ask. We are here to help!

How Chiropractic Care Has Helped Me: Introducing Brigadier General Becky Halstead

 

Retired Brigadier General Becky Halstead is no stranger to pain. She spent her entire adult life in the military, and was the first female graduate from West Point to become a general officer. She has seen battle all over the world, including in Iraq. But she has also fought her own personal battle—with fibromyalgia.

 

Fibromyalgia is a condition that is still not fully understood, but it involves symptoms that include headaches, fatigue, muscle pain, anxiety and depression. “It’s as if your whole body is a bruise … You hurt everywhere,” Halstead says. Even something as simple as showering was painful. “The water hitting your skin, it would feel like it was tearing.”

 

The conventional treatment for fibromyalgia involves pharmaceuticals, which Halstead took for a number of years. However, the drugs have only limited effectiveness, and she did not want them to affect her job. She said “I knew it wasn’t going to kill me—I was just in pain, so I took myself off all prescription drugs when I went into combat. I was in charge of 20,000 soldiers. That’s a huge command, a huge responsibility. I wasn’t going to have someone doubt or wonder whether the prescriptions influenced me or my decisions.”

 

However, it became impossible to continue in the military while dealing with debilitating pain, so she retired from the army in 2008. It was then that she began semi-monthly visits to a chiropractor, and that’s when her health began to turn around. Within a year of beginning chiropractic treatment, she was able to discontinue taking pharmaceuticals entirely by combining regular chiropractic spinal adjustments with nutritional supplements.

 

Halstead says of chiropractic care and how it has helped her, “It’s not like you’re cured, but you feel so much better. They set me on a path of getting well. I’m the healthiest I’ve been in 10 years. I was taking eight or 10 prescription drugs in 2008. The more I went to the chiropractor, the less prescriptions I needed.” She continued, “When I retired, my pain was easily a 9 or 10 (on a 10-point scale) every single day. My pain now is a 2 or 3, and maybe even sometimes a 1. I don’t think I’ve hit a 10 since I started regularly seeing a chiropractor.”

 

“If I had known how much chiropractic care would help me when I was a commander in Iraq and in the United States, I could have taken better care of my soldiers.” Although chiropractic care for military personnel was approved by congress, there are still many treatment facilities that do not have a chiropractor on staff, which Halstead would like to see changed.

 

“Until we’ve done that we have not fulfilled our leadership responsibility,” Halstead said. “If you want to help them, see a congressman and ask ‘aren’t our men and women getting these benefits?’ I’m not a chiropractor I’m a satisfied patient, a beneficiary of their talented hands, minds, and hearts. Go find yourself a chiropractor and change your life!”

 

 

 

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

 

Dr. Dubois,a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

 

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130316/LIVEWELL01/703179900

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t22AVZ44z3A (first of a 4-part series)

 

 

 

Related articles

• How is Chiropractic Care Like Health Insurance? Just Read On… (swisschiropractic.wordpress.com)
• Chiropractic Care in the Workplace: Trucking (swisschiropractic.wordpress.com)
• Look Who Else Uses Chiropractic: Arnold Schwarzenegger (swisschiropractic.wordpress.com)
• The Important Role Of Chiropractic Care Coquitlam (allabouthealthandfitnessblog.wordpress.com)

 

How Does Sigma Instrument® Adjusting Work?

As technology advances, so do chiropractic techniques. Instrument adjusting has become the fastest growing form of chiropractic manipulation due to its ease of use for the chiropractic practitioner and the safety to the patient. It can take quite a bit of effort to perform a proper chiropractic adjustment, and most chiropractors can attest to having suffered any number of shoulder, back and wrist injuries from treating patients over the course of their practice.

A Sigma Instrument® adjustment involves the use of one of these special instruments. It has an appearance similar to a drill, and is held in a similar manner. What it does is produce a speedy thrust and recoil motion, similar to the way a chiropractor uses their hands to adjust the vertebrae in your back. The benefit of the instrument is that it performs this high-velocity, low-amplitude motion 12 times per second, and is targeted to a very small area. The force of the thrust radiates through the joint and the tissues that surround it, releasing trigger points that are often the cause of muscle spasms.

As opposed to traditional chiropractic adjustment techniques, use of the Sigma Instrument® does not cause the same popping and cracking noises in the joint that can make some people feel uneasy. It is a gentle, mechanical method of easing the joints back into alignment that is basically an extension of the chiropractor’s hands. Your chiropractor can exert just the right amount of pressure needed by adjusting the force of the thrust up or down from merely a few ounces all the way up to 40 pounds, and it works on a wide range of body areas, not only on the spine.

Several studies have shown that instrument adjusting is just as effective as traditional chiropractic techniques for easing pain and increasing range of motion in patients who have sought chiropractic care. Its speed, gentleness and accuracy are also recommended for populations that may have trouble with the use of traditional chiropractic techniques, such as children and the elderly.

The Sigma Instrument’s® movement stimulates the patient’s special sensory nerve receptors, called proprioceptors, which are responsible for detecting the proper motion and alignment of the body’s muscles and joints, signaling that all is well; however, at the same time it avoids stimulating the nociceptors, the sensory nerve receptors responsible for sending pain signals to the central nervous system.

The use of instrument adjusting, such as with the Sigma Instrument®, allows for fewer side-effects and less post-treatment muscle soreness. If this seems like a form of treatment you may be interested in, consult with your chiropractor and ask if it may be possible to incorporate Sigma Instrument® adjusting into your treatment regime.

 

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

What is Gastric Bypass Surgery?

One of the ways to treat people for morbid obesity is by performing gastric bypass surgery. Those with an excessive amount of fatty tissue are at far greater risk of a host of problems such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma, osteoarthritis and chronic back pain. Gastric bypass surgery significantly reduces the volume of the stomach, which in turn alters both the psychological and physiological response to the food that gets put in it, restricting both the amount of food that is ingested and the number of calories it is able to absorb.

The first step in gastric bypass surgery is to reduce the size of the stomach. This is done by the surgeon dividing the stomach into two parts: a small upper pouch, and a larger “remnant” pouch below it. A section of the small intestine is then attached to the upper pouch (which is where the “bypass” part comes in), so food quickly fills the upper stomach and spends less time transiting the small intestine, where nutrients and calories are absorbed.

The reduction in stomach size by over 90% makes the patient feel fuller and they are satisfied faster, so they will eat less and not feel hungry as soon. Just a couple of tablespoons of food are enough to stretch the stomach sufficiently to stimulate its nerves to send a message to the brain that a large meal has been eaten. Additionally, the smaller upper pouch section of the stomach consists of tissue that is less prone to stretching than the lower portion, so it is not as likely to increase in volume and negate the effect of the surgery.

Despite feeling full, many people have a psychological desire to keep eating, but the effect of continuing to eat for someone who has had gastric bypass surgery is to become significantly uncomfortable, or even vomit, if the person does not stop eating or does not eat very slowly. Experts advise gastric bypass patients eat only two to three small meals daily and resist snacking between meals if they are to reap the greatest benefits of the surgery.

Gastric bypass surgery has been shown to be remarkably effective in reducing long-term mortality rates. There is an approximately 40% lower risk of death for those who have had a successful gastric bypass procedure compared to those who remain morbidly obese. The surgery is not without possible complications, however, and there is a 2% risk of surgery-related death within one month of surgery.

Gastric bypass patients are also advised to get counseling on how to establish healthy eating habits so they do not gain back the weight over time. Despite the risks involved, for certain people who are morbidly obese, gastric bypass surgery may reduce their long-term risk of death.

 

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

 

 

Keys to Safer Painting—Products and Practices

Nothing cheers up a room like a new coat of paint, but it is important to keep in mind that paint can release harmful chemicals into the air you and your family breathe. Many of these chemicals have been shown to have detrimental effects on health. Luckily, we have come a long way since the days of lead-based paints, and more manufacturers are coming out with products that are both safer for human health and better for the environment. That said, there are still a few things you should keep in mind while working on any painting project so that you can give your living space a fresh new look while also reducing your risk of exposure to harmful pollutants.

There are two different types of paint on the market today: water-based paints and solvent-based paints. Most of the paints used for residential painting are water-based, which helps to reduce the amount of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that are given off. VOCs are solvents that are released into the air as paint dries, which in the short-term can cause headaches and dizziness, and which are suspected carcinogens. Solvent-based paints (also called oil-based paints) are what had been traditionally used to paint homes before the advent of improved water-based paints. The coverage of solvent-based paints was better and longer-lasting, but this is no longer necessarily the case. In addition, solvent-based paints not only contain more harmful chemicals such as benzene, but they are also highly flammable.

Although the US government requires that all paint have VOC levels no higher than 380 grams per liter (g/l) for most finishes, some manufacturers have voluntarily developed paint with much lower levels of VOCs. According to Consumer Reports, these include Glidden Evermore, Benjamin Moore Aura and True Value Easy Care paints, which have a VOC of 50 g/l. There have also been a few paints developed that claim to have zero VOCs, which include Mythic and Home Depot’s Freshaire Choice, which has earned the Greenguard Environmental Institute’s seal of approval. However, even these were shown to contain some level of VOCs when tested by Consumer Reports.

Some helpful tips for healthy painting:

• Before you begin painting, you should be sure to have the proper equipment. Invest in gloves, safety glasses or goggles and a dust mask, and be sure to wear sturdy, non-slip shoes when painting.
• If possible, paint the room a month before you plan to use it, since most VOCs will have evaporated by that time. Also, it is best to paint in the warmer and drier months when all windows can be fully open and lower levels of humidity will allow the paint to dry faster.
• The room should be as well-ventilated as possible while you are painting. Keep all doors and windows open, and if possible, mount a box fan in the window (facing outwards) to draw out fumes from the room. Any cross-ventilation you can create is useful.
• Take frequent breaks for fresh air, and stop painting if you develop a headache, watering eyes, dizziness or problems breathing.
• Children and people who have breathing problems should never be allowed in a freshly-painted room.

By taking these few extra precautions, you can safely enjoy the pleasures of your newly-painted home.

 

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

 

The Benefits of Calcium

Just about everyone has heard about the importance of calcium in maintaining strong bones and teeth. In fact, 99 percent of the calcium in our body is stored in our bones. However, the remaining one percent that is located in our blood and cells is just as important. It is necessary to maintain many of the body’s vital functions, and if you do not get adequate calcium from your diet to keep the required amount in your blood, the mineral will be taken from your bones to meet the need.

Heart rhythm, muscle contraction, wound healing, blood clotting and transmission of messages between nerves and between cells are some of the important things that calcium facilitates. In addition to helping prevent osteoporosis, calcium may also reduce the risk of colon cancer, lower high blood pressure, reduce symptoms of PMS (bloating, food cravings, pain and mood swings) by 50 percent, and protect against breast cancer.

The recommended daily intake of calcium for different groups is as follows:

Infants 0-6 months: 210 mg/day

Infants 7-12 months: 270 mg/day

Children 1-3 years: 700 mg/day

Children 4-8 years: 1,000 mg/day

Adolescents 9-18 years: 1,300 mg/day

Adults 19-50 years: 1,000 mg/day

Adults 51+ years : 1,200 mg/day

Most signs of calcium deficiency do not appear until it has become a serious problem. Increased bone fractures are the most common sign. Severe calcium deficiency can cause tingling or numbness of the fingers, an abnormal heart rhythm and convulsions. However, these cases are rare. Most people are able to meet their daily calcium requirement through their diet, but supplementation may be recommended for some people. Those who drink large amounts of caffeinated beverages, soda or alcohol, and postmenopausal women may benefit from calcium supplements.

Taking too much calcium can also cause problems, so don’t take any more than is appropriate for your age group. Excess calcium intake (most often by taking too many supplements) has been implicated in a higher risk of kidney stones, heart attack, stroke and hardening of the arteries.

Calcium is best absorbed when taken with a meal, along with vitamin D. Magnesium is also necessary for the proper integration of calcium into the bones, but it should be taken separately from when you take your calcium, as it (and iron) can interfere with calcium absorption. So take any magnesium and iron supplements at the opposite end of the day from when you take your calcium.

Foods highest in calcium include dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt, and dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens and bok choy. Other good sources of calcium are sardines, oysters, broccoli, almonds, Brussels sprouts and seaweed.

 

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

What is the FDA, and What Does it Do?

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been around in some form since 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law the Food and Drug Act prohibiting the interstate transport of “adulterated” food and drugs. It was originally a branch of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its intent was to protect the health of the general public. In 1927 it was reorganized and renamed the Food, Drug and Insecticide Organization.  Then—three years later—it finally came to be known as the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA is responsible for evaluating, approving and monitoring the foods and medicines available to the public, including overseeing the safety of food, tobacco products, dietary supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals (both prescription and over-the-counter), medical machinery, vaccines and veterinary products. The FDA is also responsible for enforcing laws that have no relation to either food or drugs, such as laws concerning sanitation, household pets and sperm donation.

In theory, the FDA is supposed to prevent the sale of products that have not been tested for safety and to take legal action to stop the manufacturers from distributing products that may be harmful to health of the general public. The public should feel confident that the FDA is providing them with truthful information about the effectiveness of drugs and their potential for harmful or deadly side effects. However, the FDA’s ties to the pharmaceutical industry have been criticized as having unduly influenced the approval of drugs and medical devices that have been shown to be either unsafe or ineffective.

The main problem is described quite well on the FDA’s own web site: “The center [the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research] doesn’t actually test drugs itself, although it does conduct limited research in the areas of drug quality, safety, and effectiveness standards.” The FDA actually relies on research performed by the drug manufacturers themselves as to the safety and effectiveness of the drugs for which they are seeking approval. Yes, the foxes are guarding the henhouse!

A number of drugs approved by the FDA have had to be recalled due to serious health problems and deaths connected with their use. Some of the recalled drugs and their associated health damage include the diet drug fen-phen (heart and lung damage), the diabetes drug Rezulin (liver failure) and the pain reliever Vioxx (heart attack and stroke). Some FDA-approved medical devices have also proven to be dangerous. For a medical device to be approved by the FDA, the manufacturer only needs to state that it is similar to other approved devices already on the market.

Many FDA scientists themselves are critical of the FDA administration and their ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Many of these scientists were dismissed when they criticized the way the FDA was run. A letter written to President Obama by a group of FDA scientists and physicians criticized the FDA commissioner, lawyers and others at high levels in the FDA, stating that they had “violated laws, rules, and regulations” and “suppressed or altered scientific or technological findings and conclusions.”

The stated purpose of the FDA is a good one and is important for the continued health of the general population. However, many people believe that its methods need a serious overhaul if this organization is to rightfully earn the public trust.

 

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

Look Who Else Uses Chiropractic: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Long before his days as governor of California, and even before his acting career, Arnold Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilding champion who could boast 13 world titles. And as any world-class bodybuilder can tell you, the sport is hard on your musculoskeletal system. Schwarzenegger was lucky enough to have his first encounter with chiropractic when he was training in the 1970s, and he has been a fervent supporter ever since.

Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding workout partner, Franco Columbu, began attending chiropractic college during the time they were training together. “Franco would go very intensely to chiropractic college every day,” Schwarzenegger said. “He worked on me all the time. During the course of his education he got incredibly good with both the theoretical and the practical [elements of adjusting] … every time I had an injury, I could call Franco … I would get an adjustment, three or four, and the problem would be gone. So you know, when you see that happening in your own body, that with chiropractic you will be 100 percent, it’s just fantastic.”

Schwarzenegger continued, “I am very fortunate to have, so to speak, my in-house chiropractor, Dr. Franco Colombu, as my own personal chiropractor. He adjusts my wife, my kids, me, everybody gets an adjustment. And we feel always great when Franco leaves.” And “… every time that I had a problem with an elbow injury, shoulder injury, or back injury, he was always right there with the adjustments. This is the way I found out the best way of going is to use chiropractors, not only after injuries, but also before injury.”

In relation to some people’s skepticism about chiropractic’s ability to treat pain without pain relievers, Schwarzenegger said, “They say, ‘I can’t believe that this can make me feel better just like that, without a shot, without drugs…’ It is amazing, and that is what is unbelievable for people. I have seen first-hand how it works.”

As an example of how quickly and effectively a chiropractic adjustment can treat pain, Schwarzenegger related a story about a recent skiing trip: “I was really feeling something was wrong with my back. I felt even more pain at ten o’clock that night. So I called a chiropractor. By 10:30 the [chiropractor] was over at my house adjusting me … the next day I was fine and skiing again. These are the kinds of things when you experience them you feel great about this profession.”

Schwarzenegger has benefited from chiropractic so much during his life that he encourages everyone to make chiropractic care a regular part of their health care regime. Addressing chiropractors at the International Chiropractors Association’s 7th Symposium on Natural Fitness, he said, “We’ve got to let the people know that there is a necessity, it’s not even an option, it’s a necessity to have a chiropractor. As much as it is a necessity to have a dentist, if you have a dentist for the family, you should have your chiropractor for the family….That’s why I always will be traveling … all over the world, talking highly about the profession of chiropractic. You chiropractic doctors are really miracle workers.”

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

Kids, Carpets and Chemicals ¬– Should You Be Worried?

There are few surfaces that babies and toddlers touch more often than carpets. After all, they are a warm, soft surface for children to crawl on and provide some cushioning for when they inevitably fall over before learning to walk. However, that same carpeting may be causing more harm than it seems.

Young children crawling around have a lot of contact with carpeted surfaces and play with toys that often go from carpet to mouth. The chemical toxins that the carpet itself contains, in addition to any household dust it retains, can contribute to a number of health problems in growing children, given their small body size and immature immune systems.

Toxic chemical emissions from new carpet are not a new problem. There have been thousands of cases of people falling ill when new carpeting was installed in their homes, schools or workplaces, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has tried to discover the reasons for people experiencing irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, fatigue and rashes that new carpeting seemed to cause.

Thus far, no single chemical has been pinpointed as the culprit. However, hundreds of different known toxic chemicals are involved in the production of carpeting. Some of these include benzene (a carcinogen), xylene and toluene (neurotoxins) and styrene (a known carcinogen). They are used in the production of the carpet fibers themselves, the adhesive that glues the fibers to the backing, the dyeing, flameproofing, stainproofing and mothproofing of the carpet, and even in the glue that attaches them to the floor.

Unfortunately, if you thought you might be safe in laying down an old antique carpet that is free of those chemicals, your children still may not be free from the effects of contamination. Researchers have found that common household dust contains traces of lead, combustion byproducts and pesticides in levels that could be considered unsafe for children. In fact, some homes have been found to have more toxic dust indoors than in the outdoor surrounding soil.

Experts advise that there are a few things you can do to keep the amount of toxic dust on your carpets to a minimum:

• By using a high-quality doormat, a 1997 study found that the tracking of pesticides into the home can be reduced by 25%, and the reduction in overall carpet dust by 33%.
• Removing your shoes at the door and wearing house slippers results in 10 times less household dust than in homes where shoes are worn.
• As dust mites thrive in high humidity, the allergies and asthma caused by dust mites that accumulate in carpets can be mitigated by reducing the amount of humidity in your home. Use a dehumidifier in rooms where your children come into frequent contact with the carpet.
• Consider installing plain wood or tile floors where you can use area rugs that can be removed periodically for a thorough cleaning.
• Vacuum weekly with a powerhead vacuum equipped with a dirt sensor and a high-efficiency HEPA filter.
• If you do decide to install a carpet, the best choice is a stitched wool carpet that has not been glued or treated with stain guard. Use carpet staples or hook and loop fastening strips to attach it to the floor in place of glue.

 

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.

What Are “Slow Twitch” and “Fast Twitch” Muscle Fibers?

Most of us probably don’t think very much about our muscles from day to day unless we’re either training or injured. However, serious athletes—particularly body builders and runners—are probably quite familiar with some of the ideas we’re going to discuss in this article.

All muscle tissue is not the same. We actually have three different types of muscle tissue in our bodies: cardiac muscle, smooth muscle and skeletal muscle. Cardiac muscle tissue (which is what our heart is composed of) and smooth muscle tissue (such as in the gut, blood vessel walls and urinary tract) do their work in the background without us being aware of it. Skeletal muscles, on the other hand, move in response to nerve signals that are usually under our conscious control.

There are also important differences in the muscle fibers that make up our skeletal muscles. Each of our skeletal muscles contains a combination of two distinct types of muscle fiber, broadly referred to as either “slow twitch” or “fast twitch”.  Each category specializes in a particular type of performance. Essentially, fast twitch muscle fibers are good for when you need short, strong bursts of activity, and slow twitch muscle fibers work well for continuous activities that require endurance over longer periods. The proportion of slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers within any particular muscle depends on the action of that muscle.

Slow twitch muscle fibers are also sometimes referred to as “type 1” or “red” fibers. As their name implies, they are slower in responding to nerve signals than fast twitch muscles, taking about three times longer to contract from the time they receive a signal from the nerves. This means that muscles containing a high proportion of slow twitch fibers will not be as fast or as strong as ones containing more fast twitch fibers. However, these muscles will also not fatigue as easily.

Slow twitch muscle fibers contain many mitochondria (the cell’s powerhouses) and because they work aerobically, they require a significant amount of blood and oxygen. This causes the muscle to become darker in color than fast-twitch muscle. If you consider the meat on a chicken, the legs (dark meat) are made of slow twitch fibers and the breast (white meat) is made of fast twitch fibers, which work anaerobically, thus needing less blood and being lighter in color.

Fast twitch muscle fibers are often referred to as “white” fibers, and are further divided into “type 2A” and “type 2B” fibers. Although type 2A muscle fibers are classified as fast twitch, they actually share some characteristics of both types of muscle. They have the appearance and some of the power of fast twitch muscle, but also the endurance of the slow twitch type.  Type 2A muscles can create energy both aerobically and anaerobically as well. Type 2B fast twitch muscles create their energy anaerobically and are good at producing fast, powerful bursts of speed. You can think of fast twitch muscle fibers as the “Usain Bolt” of the muscle world—incredibly fast and powerful, but only for short periods of time.

Most people are born with an approximately equal proportion of fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers. However, elite athletes tend to have proportions that favor success in their chosen sports.  For instance, a long-distance runner or cyclist may have 80% slow twitch fibers and 20% fast twitch, while a sprinter or weight lifter may have 20% slow twitch fibers and 80% fast twitch.  Scientists are still unclear about whether and how the specific ratio of muscle fibers within any one muscle or within any one individual responds to training or patterns of use.  While some researchers believe it may be possible for one type of muscle fiber to change into another, other scientists suspect that the fibers simply become better at whatever activity is demanded of them rather than actually changing type.  Either way, it is clear that your muscles are quite capable of developing over time to meet whatever challenges you present them with provided that you keep them healthy.

Dr Dubois, DC, CCSP

Dr. Dubois, a Swiss physician, and a Triangle Certified Sport Chiropractor has over 20 years of experience in the treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Amongst his patients, two world champions in martial arts (gold medalists in 2005 WMJA), one carrier of the Olympic flame in 2004, and numerous soccer players, swimmers and athletes of all levels who benefited from his chiropractic care.