During that time we have helped thousands of babies, children, and adults find relief of and conservative answers to various health problems, and many continue with years of wellness chiropractic adjustments.  Read some success stories here.

The most inspiring moments are when someone looks me in the eye and says, “thank you for helping me get my life back,” and, “thank you Dr. Fuller for helping my child become healthy again.”  These wonderful results, often when  chiropractic is used as a last resort, motivate me to continuously sharpen my provider skills.

Chiropractic as a whole has positively changed over the past 20 years.  It is much more widely accepted, and people are learning that Chiropractic Healthcare is much more than neck and back pain relief.  Also, I have communication with many medical physicians, and we refer back and forth as needed.  This is the way it should be.

Thank you all for giving chiropractic a try, and thanks for your many referrals over 20 years.  You have helped Fuller Chiropractic prosper as a health and wellness center.  I will give you my best effort to offer quality chiropractic care, and nutrition, exercise, and supplement advice for another 20 years and beyond.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Scott Fuller, DC

Another way to avoid coming into my office with an Unhappy Back on Monday is to do your spine exercises several times during your shoveling marathon.  Review the stretches here.  Every 30 minutes take a break and do a few spinal twists, side bends, and an extension stretch.  When you come in for a break, lie down and do a dozen (or more) knee rolls and a couple knees to chest.  At the end of the day double up on the number of stretches; for example, try 20-25 knee rolls each side.  Don’t forget to do the stretches casually and in your pain free zone, as the video instructs!

This video has 2 bonus stretches at the end; cat stretch and child’s pose, here.

Remember, go slow, take breaks to do the Fuller Five stretches (plus the bonus 2), and keep your Happy Back!

First, I recommend watching this video from Barbara Loe Fisher from the National Vaccine Information Center, NVIC.org. It is titled “Influenza Deaths: The Hype vs. The Evidence.”

Next, read the newsletters on my website here and here, titled “The Flu, Chiropractic, and Flu Shots,” and “Swine Flu Vaccine.”

Last, strengthen your immune system with these simple steps:

1. Eat a healthy, high vegetable, low sugar, no processed food diet 

2. Continue with wellness Chiropractic care (the newsletters above tell you why) 

3. Get regular, and enough, rest      

4. Aim for daily exercise, 20-30 minutes a day 

5. Take immune system supporting supplements including fish oil, antioxidants, vitamin D, and probiotics.

6. Reduce stress

It is helpful to reduce your exposure to sick people, but near impossible to avoid all exposure.  However, the healthier you are, the chance of you becoming ill may be much lower even if exposed.

Answer: Neither!

Neither plan will improve your health.  

Neither plan will make a significant shift from the current “Disease Care” system to a “Health Care” system.  A Health Care system spends most of its time and resources on promoting and supporting health and wellness and disease prevention, not waiting for you to become ill before intervening.

Neither plan will make a significant dent in skyrocketing Disease Care costs (now $3 Trillion/year), because there is not enough disease prevention.

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease group stated, “chronic diseases…driving 75%  of annual health spending in the U.S…many of these illnesses could be prevented altogether through lifestyle interventions, like diet, exercise, and not smoking.”  The chronic diseases referred to include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s dementia.  Dr. Richard Carmona, the 17th US Surgeon General (2002-06), and the Canyon Ranch Institute state only 2-3% of care in the U.S. is spent on prevention.

So what should you do?

The answer remains unchanged.  You need to take health care (and therefore, disease prevention) into your own hands.

No one else can do it for you!

What do you need to do?

1. Eat a healthier diet focused on vegetables, a little fruit, and clean meat, severely limiting processed food.  If you want details, order my nutrition CDs.

2. Exercise regularly, as close to daily as possible, and mix it up.  Walking is a good start but it is not enough.  You need a mix of cardio and resistance exercise.

3. Drink only water.  Don’t drink soda, sport drinks, diet soda, diet sport drinks, or any of those funny flavored, enhanced waters.

4. Reduce your stress.

5. Continue with wellness chiropractic care, as you do with your dentist and doctor.

You get antioxidants mainly by eating lots of, and a variety of, vegetables and fruit, and eating a variety is key.  The different colors of vegetables and fruit indicate different, important antioxidants.  Eat more vegetables than fruit at a ratio of at least 3:1.  The best vegetables are cruciferous vegetables* (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, bok choy, and others) and green leafy vegetables.  The best fruits are berries (blueberries, strawberries*, blackberries) and apples.

My 2½ hour CD program “Nutrition for Disease Prevention and Weight Loss” will answer all of the nutrition questions you have. It is a 2 CD set for $25 (plus shipping, if necessary).  Call the office to order or pick up a set.

Due to environmental contaminants, lack of vegetable and fruit intake, and because many vegetables and fruit are not as antioxidant-potent as they once were, I recommend taking supplemental antioxidants.  I wrote about them in my recent newsletter titled “Antioxidants-Cofactors” which is on my website here.

The nutriwest.com company has an excellent formula which I have carried in my office for years, called “complete omega-3 cofactors.”  This tablet is so named because doctors and researchers recommend never taking fish oil unless you take supplemental antioxidants to protect oxidation of the fish oil.  If you would like to start taking the complete omega-3 cofactors, just come by our office.  We can also have them shipped directly to you, if you order 2 or more bottles.  They come in 60 tablet bottles for $28 each.

If you are going to purchase antioxidants on your own, follow the ingredients and dosages I wrote about in my newsletter. You may have trouble finding all of the components in the complete omega-3 cofactors in other formulas.

To reduce your personal toxic load, read Nena Baker’s book and website, TheBodyToxic.com.  Don’t miss her excellent resources section.  SafeCosmetics.org will help you select safer personal care products.

*Note: Always buy organic strawberries, never eat conventional strawberries (Dr. Weil).  Try to eat organic vegetables and fruit whenever possible.  Make sure you understand food and drug interactions, such as green leafy and cruciferous vegetables and anticoagulant drugs.  Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure.

This blog was posted on the wonderful blog “We Blog The World,” here.

The video “Smart, Healthy Children” is on my youtube page here:

www.YouTube.com/DrScottFuller

Thanks to Dr. Mercola for making us aware of this video.

Remember, organic vegetables and meat are cheaper than chemo.

What most people don’t realize is that Alzheimer’s disease may be preventable.

It is not good luck or good genetics that allows an individual to escape the disease.  Regardless of the genes you were given, you may be able to affect your gene expression (called “epigenetics”) with your health habits.  The key is keeping the brain strong and healthy with simple health choices.

Here are five important steps you can do to help lower your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease:

1. Engage in daily physical exercise, including cardiovascular training and weightlifting/resistance training to your ability.  Walking is a good start but not enough.  Challenge your brain by trying different exercise programs and classes. Always talk to your doctor before you start any exercise regimen.
2. Eat a clean diet with plenty of vegetables, some fruit, organic omega-3 eggs, and lean healthy meats (no red meat) such as organic chicken, organic turkey, and fatty fish (non-farmed salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, anchovies).  Vegetables and meat should be organic and local whenever possible.  One tasty, quick way for you and your family to enjoy vegetables is to roast them in the oven.  Mix cut veggies in a large bowl with olive oil and spices; bake at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet to desired tenderness (20-30 minutes ) Make extra for leftovers – they are great cold!  Google “roasted vegetable recipes” for more ideas.
3. Take supplements including high-quality fish oil, antioxidants which contain appropriate doses of B-complex vitamins, vitamin D, alpha-lipoic acid and CoQ-10. A good quality multivitamin and some probiotics are also recommended.  See the fish oil and vitamin D articles in newsletters on my website for more information.
4. Go to a chiropractor for wellness and maintenance care.  Like dentistry, chiropractic works best for prevention and wellness. Chiropractic treatments (called adjustments) stimulate nerve endings in your spinal joints and tissues which activate the brain, and may help keep your brain and body working better.
5. Engage in mentally challenging activities, such as taking up a musical instrument, puzzles and word games, learning a new language, attending adult classes, and reading thought provoking literature.

______________________________

1. www.alz.org

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-hassan/alzheimers-disease-our-bi_b_287044.html

Do you need a workout partner to keep you on the hook?  Get one, and motivate each other.

Do you need a gym membership and a personal trainer to keep you on track?  Get them.

If you live in a colder climate which makes it challenging to exercise outside during the winter, have some indoor options available.  Join a walking club at a local mall or a gym that has cardiovascular and weight/resistance equipment.  You can also exercise at home with DVDs and cable TV shows.  Home exercise does not need to be solitary.  Create an exercise club; invite friends to your home to exercise with you, and then visit them to do the same.

Exercising for life doesn’t necessarily mean doing the same exercise for your whole life.  Vary your routine to keep yourself interested.   As you age, you may need to modify your exercise both in the types and intensity of the exercises selected.  That’s what Jack did.  I have modified my exercise programs through the years, and I am satisfied with the modifications because they will help me reach my goal of exercising for life.

To make lifelong exercise possible, you must maintain your spine.  Add a chiropractor to your health care team for wellness and maintenance chiropractic spinal care.  Chiropractic adjustments and treatments are important for posture and overall health, and excellent for your children’s health, too.

All of my patients receive daily spine exercises to help keep their spine healthy.  You can see the exercises here:

For more great tips on preventing spinal injury to ensure many years of successful exercising, check out my book “Happy Back”.

Thank you Jack LaLanne for being a great role model.  You showed us how vital and vibrant we can be well into our 90’s by simply making daily exercise a habit.  And, by the way, Jack LaLanne was a chiropractor.

Your medical doctor cannot eat healthy for you.  Your medical insurance company will not exercise for you.  Health care reform is not focusing on prevention.

It’s simple.  According to the Harvard School of Public Health and the MD Anderson cancer center, approximately 75% of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle.
There’s no need to wait for health care reform or medical breakthroughs.

Check your health score by taking this quiz.

1. Do you eat a clean diet?
I like the way Michael Pollan’s describes a good diet: “eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

2. Do you avoid processed foods such as chips, crackers, candy, canned and premade “frankenfood”?

3. Do you avoid drinking soda, sport drinks and fruit juices?
Anything but water adds harmful calories.  Every time you replace soda, juice, and sport drinks with water, you are taking a simple step to lose weight and improve your health.

4. Do you eat vegetables?
A healthy lifestyle includes eating as many vegetables every day as you can, and some fruit if you can tolerate it.

5. Do you avoid red meat?
Industrial farming has made much of red meat a health hazard, and red meat increases cancer risk, especially colon cancer.

6. Do you drink enough water?
Many believe 6-8, eight oz glasses is a good goal (although too much for some of you).  If you are drinking much less than that, increase your intake slowly by adding a few ounces or a glass at a time.  Most people notice improvements in how they feel by increasing only 8 oz of water a day.

7. Do you avoid caffeine?
If you drink coffee, try to decrease your amount, tea is better choice.

8. Do you exercise daily?
20 minutes per day can get the job done.  A balanced exercise regimen incudes some cardiovascular exercise and some weights/resistance exercise.  Get help if you need it on how to exercise safely and properly.  (Check out my books/tapes page for some helpful ideas and programs).  Talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program.

9. Do you get regular (and enough) rest?
Most people need 8 hours of sleep a night, but some people can get by with less.  It is best to go to bed and to get up in the morning at about the same time each day.  One tip that may help you get more restful sleep is to get the TV, computer, and other electronics out of the bedroom- and reserve the bedroom for sleeping.

10. Are you engaged in regular chiropractic care?
Most chiropractors focus on health and wellness, and are a wonderful resource for information I discuss here.  Chiropractic care is best used for health and wellness, not just for pain relief and crisis care.

11. Do you smoke?
If you do, quit.  Get help if you need to quit – there are wonderful support systems available.  My father died at age 58 from lung cancer.  He was a smoker, and he could not quit.  Because of his illness, he suffered terribly for two years before he died.  Don’t let that happen to you.

12. Do you have goals for your life?
Determine what your purpose is in this life.  Think about your aspirations.  Create a set of written goals and work toward them.

How did you score?

High marks on this quiz gives you a better chance to enjoy a long and healthy life!
Remember, your health is up to you.  With a little knowledge and the willingness to take care of yourself, you can avoid  the pain and suffering caused by illness and poor health – and it’s simple!