Is Your Diet NOT WORKING? Metabolic Reasons Why You May Not Be Losing Weight.

When it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, the biggest farce perpetuated upon the public is the notion that weight loss is all about "calories in versus calories out".  Doctors, dieticians and trainers are all teaching patients that the key to their weight loss is to churn and burn.  What you have never been told, and what you must understand, is that you do not just have a weight problem.  You have a health problem.  There is something going on with you body's metabolism that is causing you to retain fat and gain weight.  

Are you struggling with your weight even though you are on a low calorie diet?  I want to explain to you the reason why, and also the reason that it is imperative that you have a full diagnositic work up to understand what is going on with your body.  And before you say "Dr. Boggs, my lab work checked out fine"...let me assure you that you have NOT had all of the testing done that is necessary. 

Here is a list of metabolic factors that can influence your weight that have nothing to do with the balance of the calories that you eat and burn:

Autoimmune conditions, TH1, TH2 immune imbalance:   Imbalances in the immune system will cause increased TH17 activity, resulting in increased inflammation.  This will inhibit your normal metabolism, causing your cells to not burn glucose the way that it should.

Parasites: These critters like to gobble up B vitamins, this could potentially decrease energy production  and fuel utilization

Dysbiosis: Altered gut bacteria can caused abnormal calorie utilization from your food

Insulin resistance: If you have subjected your body to constant insulin spikes and drops through the poor standard American diet, your cells will not respond to insulin.  When this happens, glucose can't get into the cells to be used for energy, and are instead moved to fat for storage

Reactive hypoglycemia: Blood glucose levels fall quickly so one may reach for a sugary snack to bring glucose levels up quickly, likely these are calorie dense not nutrient dense.  These people are also normally sluggish and unable to exercise

Anemia: Back to the fuel story, all cells need Oxygen and glucose in order to make ATP to make sure cellular processes happen, if this is a stomach cell then maybe we aren't producing hydrochloric acid that we need to start digestion process

High cortisol: This is going to cause altered feedback throughout the body, will cause water retention, likely due to increased aldosterone production, also cause impacts on the hippocampus which will in turn decrease output to the thyroid gland, also blood sugar is mobilized from fat, muscle, liver glycogen stores and if not utilized can add to insulin resistance, blood sugar is usually restored as abdominal fat. Cortisol issues are usually also due to the sympathetic nervous system overfiring, digestion is a parasympathetic process

Low cortisol: May allow frequent drops in blood sugar, causing one to reach for sugary snacks to bring blood sugar up, if this happens too much, our bodies may go into starvation mode holding onto more of everything that you put in.

Excess estrogen: Will cause fat deposition, usually occurs in tandem with blood sugar/ adrenal/ insulin related issues

Excess progesterone: The case is usually for decreased progesterone, so there is an estrogen :progesterone imbalance, causing the body to lean toward fat storage, progesterone in women helps to stimulate TPO enzyme to produce thyroid hormone

Low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria): Can be caused by many things, but this sets up the whole digestion cascade, helps to digest protein, need acidic food bolus entering the small intestine to trigger pancreas to release enzymes, and gall bladder to release bile and Cholecystikinen (CCK, one of the Satiety hormones), also helps to establish healthy gut flora. If we have decreased breakdown of food, we are probably not absorbing the nutrients that we need and we eat more food to get those nutrients

You need to understand that diet and exercise are vital to any weight loss program.  However, the bottom line is that you need to fix your "foundation" before you work on your "penthouse". 

If you need help with your weight, you can contact my office at (304)255-4325, or you can reach me at drdanboggs.gmail.com

5 Reasons People Don't Get Healthy

Today, I'd like to address what I feel are the top 5 primary reasons why people don't get healthy and stay well.  I'll be coming from a perspective that you probably haven't heard before.

1.  It never occurred to them they they can be healthy:  This is a serious problem in our society, particularly in southern WV where we are surrounded by ill health.  I'm sure you've heard the saying "birds of a feather flock together".  Well, look around you.  Many people grow up with parents and family members who don't exercise and don't eat right.  Health statistics validate this.  50% of the population is diabetic.  1 out of every 3 is obese.  We tend to mimic those that we are surrounded by.

On the flip side, this is why people that exercise in gyms and participate in competitions like 5K runs, triathlons and things of that nature stick with their programs better.  This is why people who join weight loss programs that have weekly meetings or doctor's visits tend to do better.

So, what you need to know and realize off the bat is that you CAN be healthy.

2.  They never decide to be healthy:  Even if you realize that good health is within your reach, nothing will change until you make the decision to take action.  I don't think anyone really plans on staying unhealthy.  Most people have the best of intentions to join a gym, do on a diet, eat better, etc...but they never take the initial step.  If you don't take action and start doing things differently, you are going to get the same results you've always gotten.

3.  Procrastination:  I see this all the time.  Patients tell me that they are going to make a change, but they always have an excuse.  They are going to diet and exercise, but it's always "after"...after the holidays, after vacation, after the first of the year...Look, there will ALWAYS be something that is coming up.  The perfect time to get started is NOW.  The bad thing about procrastination is that it becomes a habit.  You must break this cycle!

4.  The inability to delay gratification:  We live in a society that focuses on instant gratification.  If you think about it, this is where poor eating, lack of motivation and exercise comes from.  In the moment, donuts taste better than vegetables.  Watching t.v. is less physically demanding than exercise.  Fast food is quicker than preparing healthy meals.  As a society, we have become weak-willed and weak-minded.  You must make the right decision in THIS moment.  The decisions you make today have long lasting effects.  Which brings me to my last point...

5,  Lack of time perspective:  The average person lives to be 78 years old.  That's 4,056 weeks.  If you take your age, multiply it by 52, and subtract that number from 4,056...that's how many weeks you have left on this earth (if you're average).  The decisions you make in your life right now will determine if that number is higher or lower.

So, what should you do right now to change your health?  Well, here are the 5 keys to good health that you can start right away:

1) Begin exercising
2) Eat clean
3) Get regular chiropractic care
4) Get enough sleep
5) Work your your spiritual outlook

If you need help with any of these areas, feel free to contact me.

In Health,

Dr. Daniel Boggs
1808 Harper Road
Beckley, WV 25801
(304)255-4325
drdanboggs@gmail.com

Is A Little Okay?

Today we are hearing more and more about the side effects of the additives in the foods we eat.  These are the same additives that the Food and Drug Administration has easily deemed “safe” for us, the American public at large, to ingest. 

"Safe" is defined by Congress as “reasonable certainty that no harm will result from use of an additive.”  The list of safe additives is 700 items long and includes the most common artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, Splenda, NutraSweet, and Equal.  It also contains hydrogenated oils and artificial colorings as well.  All of these additives are human made and the FDA either approves their use, or limits their use.   In many cases, "limiting" the use means that companies can add 1/100^th of what is considered to be dangerous into any one portion of food.  The FDA considers this amount safe, but you need to know that much of the damage that comes from these additives is cumulative.  That means it builds up with each and every exposure!

So you say, “How does this affect me?”  Well do you ever read the labels of candy, ice cream, protein bars or any other pre-packaged foods?  Most of them not only have preservatives for a long shelf life, but have colorings to make you think the food is pretty and artificial sweeteners which are many times sweeter than sugar!

 Did you know that the long term side effects of such additives have been linked to different cancers? 

And short term side effects include the following;

hearing impairment, vision distortion, tinnitus, headaches, dizziness, sleepiness, depression, irritability, inability to maintain focus, breathing difficulty, bloating, aggression, diarrhea, decreased fetal body and placental weights and brain development, etc.  The list does not end there. 

So if the list does not end there for the short term, meaning you could experience any one of these things with one use, and the long term gives way to a possibility of having a deadly disease, what amount is worth it all?

Is a little okay?

Remember the real damage is accumulative.  So how much is okay?

Well the FDA knows many of these additives are not healthy, hence the limitation of their use in single portions.  But is the FDA going to tell you how many portions over your lifetime that you can have?  Are they going to govern what you actually eat? 

Just take one portion that you may eat on a basis of 3 times a week.  Multiply it by 52 weeks in a year and you have eaten 156% of the amount that is considered to be dangerous, in just one year with just one food item of your diet!

Just think the average American drinks 55 gallons of soft drinks per year.  Soft drinks are also the biggest culprits of osteoporosis.  Do you think this is a little amount?

You have to look at the big long term picture on a daily basis!  And you have to be the one to decide what is safe for you to eat!  Don’t leave it up to the FDA.

                                    Created by Kea Popovics, copyright 2004

Why You Should Think Twice Before Getting The "Flu Shot"

Why You Should Think Twice About Getting The "Flu Shot":

It's that time of the year again. It's the dreaded flu season. This is a time where we are implored by "health" care officials to get flu vaccinations injected into our bodies. I would like to show you some of the many reasons why flu vaccines are not only a waste, but also harmful to your body.

The first major truth that needs to be told is this: The flu vaccine does not prevent the flu, and it does not protect against the majority of flu related deaths.

First of all, the reports of flu deaths are vastly distorted. On the CDC's website, they claim that approximately 36,000 people die from the flu every year. However, if you look at the most recent data that is available (from 2005), the true numbers show that only 1,806 people died from the flu that year. The remainder of the deaths were attributed to the flu when in fact they were deaths from contracting pneumonia. Given these numbers, more people die from asthma every year than from the flu.

The second thing that people need to know about the flu vaccine is how it's made. At the beginning of each year, health officials travel to Asia to determine which strain of the flu will be active. They are assuming that the strain that is active in Asia will makes it's way to the U.S. If it so happens that the strain in the U.S. is different from what is active in Asia, your flu shot will be worthless.

The flu strains are cultivated in chick embryos, which are then inactivated by formaldehyde, which is a cancer causing substance. They are then perserved with thimerosal. Thimerosal is made up of 50% mercury. According to the CDC, some flu vaccinations contain up to 25 mcg of mercury per dose. THIS IS 250 TIMES THE EPA's SAFETY LIMIT FOR MERCURY.

In addition to mercury, flu vaccines contain the following:
- Aluminum, which is a neurotoxin
- Triton X-100, a detergent
- Phenol
- Ethylene Glycol (antifreeze)
- Betapropiolactone - a disinfectant
- Nonoxynol - used to kill or stop growth of STDs
- Octoxinol 9 - a vaginal spermicide
- Sodium phosphate

In addition to reactions to the unhealthy ingredients in the flu vaccine, you are at risk for the following:

-Guillain-Barre Syndrome (a severe paralytic disease that is fatal in about 1 in 20 cases)
- Encephalitis (brain inflammation)
- Neurological disorders
- Thrombocytopenia (a serious blood disorder)

So, given all of the hazards surrounding the flu vaccine, we need to know: Is it effective? In short, NO. The vaccination is based on the assumption that the flu strain will stay consistent from Asia to the U.S. Various studies have shown that the vaccine has terrible results in preventing the flu and flu deaths.

One of the most popular flu vaccinations is FLULAVAL. The following is a direct quotation from FLULAVAL's packaging insert: " FLULAVAL is an influenza virus vaccine indicated for active immunization of adults 18 years of age and older against influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and type B contained in the vaccine. This indication is based on immune response elicited by FLULAVAL, and there have been no controlled trials demonstrating a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination with FLULAVAL.”

Let me repeat that, "...there have been no controlled trials demonstrating a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination with FLULAVAL." This quote is from the manufacturer of the vaccine!

Are you still not convinced? Consider this:

- A study published in the October 2008 issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine found that vaccinating young children against the flu had no impact on flu-related hospitalizations or doctor visits during two recent flu seasons.

The researchers concluded that "significant influenza vaccine effectiveness could not be demonstrated for any season, age, or setting" examined.

- A 2008 study published in the Lancet found that influenza vaccination was NOT associated with a reduced risk of pneumonia in older people.

This supports an earlier study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

- Research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine also confirms that there has been no decrease in deaths from influenza and pneumonia in the elderly, despite the fact that vaccination coverage among the elderly has increased from 15 percent in 1980 to 65 percent now.

- In 2007, researchers with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institutes of Health published this conclusion in the Lancet Infectious Diseases: “We conclude that frailty selection bias and use of non-specific endpoints such as all-cause mortality,have led cohort studies to greatly exaggerate vaccine benefits.”

- A large-scale, systematic review of 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in 2006, found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo in children. The studies involved 260,000 children, age 6 to 23 months.

So, what can you do to prevent the flu if the vaccination is not helpful. I recommend taking the following steps:
1) Supplement with Vitamin D. Adults should take 4-5,000 IU's daily. Children should have 2,000 IU's daily.
2) Wash your hands often
3) Get plenty of sleep
4) Exercise
5) Eat a healthy diet

If you happen to come down with the flu, increase your Vitamin D dosage to 1,000 IU's per pound of bodyweight for 3 days and that should take care of your symptoms.  (yes, that much...)

In Health,
Dr. Daniel Boggs

Metabolic Syndrome: The Gateway To Diabetes

Metabolic Syndrome is a major cause of ill health in America.  This condition is also known as Syndrome X, but it would more easily be understood if it were called "pre-diabetes".  Metabolic Syndrome is quite possible the most pervasive health problem in the U.S., affecting approximately 60 million people.  These numbers increase every year and are starting to include more and more children.

So, what is Metabolic Syndrome?  According to the American Medical Association, if you meet any of the following three criteria, you have Metabolic Syndrome:

1.  A waist measurement of 40 inches or greater in men and 35 inches or greater in women
2.  Triglycerides of 150 mg/dl or higher
3.  HDL cholesterol less than 40 mg/dl in men and less than 50 mg/dl in women
4.  Blood pressure of 135/85 or higher
5.  Fasting blood glucose of 100 or higher

It is important to understand that the key issue with Metabolic Syndrome is control of the blood sugar, not just the glucose level on your lab test.  This is really an issue of how much insulin is need to keep the glucose level within normal limits.

The cause of Metabolic Syndrome is, quite simply, a poor diet.  This is a lifestyle modulated disorder.  Excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates rapidly convert to blood sugar and over time stress out the system.  Over time, the body becomes unable to metabolize carbohydrates normally, which means that you need more and more insulin to do the same work.  In essence, the normal amount of insulin isn't working.  This is called "insulin resistance."  Other factors that play a role in this disorder are stress, lack of exercise and nutritional deficiencies.

Why is this important to you?  Metabolic syndrome can have devastating effects on your health.  These include:  weight gain, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, fatty liver, inflammation, kidney destruction, blood clotting and eventually, diabetes.

This condition also affects hormone function.  Too much insulin in men can lead to decreased testosterone.  Elevated triglycerides can block substances called "leptins", which normally tell the brain that you've had enough to eat.  This leads to overeating.  Cortisol, which is your stress hormone, can cause glucose to be elevated even when you haven eaten.  It does this by breaking down lean muscle mass.

It is important to properly evaluate your metabolism to see how Metabolic Syndrome has affected your system.  A number of lab tests are relevant in this scenario.  These include: glucose, hemoglobin A1C, cholesterol, triglycerides, SGPT liver enzyme, uric acid and phosphorous.  Also, with heart disease being one of the primary concerns with Metabolic Syndrome, it would prudent to check c-reactive protein and fibrinogen.

Based upon your lab findings, there are a number of things that can be done to reverse Metabolic Syndrome.  Nutritional supplementation, diet and exercise are key.

Metabolic Syndrome can have devastating affects on your health.  Because of this, you should be coached through a recovery program with a doctor who is well versed in functional medicine and nutrition.   If you meet 3 of the above criteria and would like help reversing this syndrome, call Dr. Boggs at (304)255-4325.

Dr. Boggs' Top 20 Success Tips

1. Everything you need to live can be found in the produce section.
2. Shop two times a week in order to get fresh produce. Most leafy greens have a refrigerator shelf life of 4-5 days.
3. Buy your produce first. It is the most important food. If you are on a budget, shopping for produce will maximize your dollar as you will avoid junk food while you have a cart full of produce.
4. Wash leafy greens by separating the leaves. Rinse well in order to remove pesticides.
5. Keep your refrigerator well stocked with fresh vegetables. This way you will always have what you need for a delicious salad.
6. While shopping, ask, "How will this go with a salad." Try to consider everything as something that will go into a salad or alongside it.
7. Eat a variety of foods in a rainbow of colors.
8. If using salt, use Real Salt or Sea Salt.
9. Eat breakfast: You need to ingest food within 30 minutes of waking up.
10. Eat 4-6 small meals throughout the day. It will keep your metabolism going.
11. Eat last meal of the day before 6 pm.
12. Go to bed early and get at least 8 hours of sleep. Don’t sleep with pets in the bed
and don’t watch anxiety-inducing TV shows before going to sleep.
13. Exercise — according to Dr. Boggs’ recommendations
14. Learn to deal positively with stress.
15. Listen to the body. The body will tell you what it needs and what it doesn’t need.
16. Become educated on how the body works.
17. Live a positive, happy, healthy life.
18. Eat twice as many veggies as fruits
19. No processed foods! If its wrapped in plastic or boxed up by a big company with
flashy words on the cover….. think twice
20. No MSG, and NO CHEMICALS!

Do You Suffer With Thyroid Symptoms?

Attention Thyroid Sufferers: If you have been diagnosed with a thyroid disorder, or if you have any symptoms of thyroid malfunction, then you must attend this free workshop. Some of the topics to be covered: 1. Why do you still have thyroid symptoms when your lab values are normal? 2. Why thyroid tests that are normally ordered by your primary doctor DO NOT give a complete, accurate picture of how your thyroid is functioning 3. The various patterns of thyroid dysfunction (There are more patterns than just hypo- and hyper- thyroid!) 4. How an autoimmune disorder may be killing your thyroid without you even knowing about it 5. How we can easily detect your pattern of thyroid malfunction and support it naturally This workshop will be held on Monday, October 17th at Boggs Chiropractic Center at 1808 Harper Road in Beckley, starting at 6:30 pm.  Please call (304)255-4325 to reserve your seat, as space is limited to 10 attendees.