From the Desk of Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC.....

Fork Fitness

This guest blog article from Dr. Jeff Donatello focuses on the "Fork Fitness" component is to get you back on track with the best way to eat healthy to optimize your methylation pathways, boost your metabolism and decrease inflammation (ie. heart attack or stroke) and heal from chronic pain.

If you go to the local bookstore, you will see entire rows of books on this subject. As a nutritionist I have seen and heard it all, which is why I like to keep it simple.

Five Basic Principles :

1. Eat real food
2. Eliminate toxins and toxic food (processed foods)
3. Eat slowly
4. Eat for you
5. Follow the 80/10/10 Rule

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Cellular exercise in the form of PEMF can help your body heal itself. PEMF is short for pulsed electromagnetic fields.

For a few years now, I have been researching PEMF and how to incorporate it into my natural healing practice. With the myriad of different systems available, I wanted to ensure I chose a PEMF system that was robust, effective and made in the United States. After reviewing a few systems, I decided to use one that several of my colleagues found very effective and that stood the test of time in regards to durability and one that effectively improved my patients' healing ability. In my office, patients who have chronic knee pain, chronic shoulder pain/"frozen shoulder, neuropathy, fibromyalgia, Parkinson's disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), ADHD, and a host of other chronic and acute health challenges are benefitting from cellular exercise using our Pulse Centers XL Pro system.

What is an electromagnetic field? What are PEMFs?

"If you have ever held two magnets in your hands, tried to force them together, and felt a resistance between them, then you have experienced a magnetic field. The Earth has its own magnetic field, produced by fluxes in the molten metal in the core of the planet. The presence of this field is what causes a compass to rotate so that the ‘north pole’ of the compass points roughly north. A changing magnetic field (such as a magnetic field moving through a coil) generates an electric field (which would drive a current in the coil). This forms the basis for many electrical generators and motors. Similar to the way that a changing magnetic field can generate an electric field, a changing electric field generates a magnetic field. This is a natural activity of the universe. An electromagnetic field is a physical field produced by moving electrical charges. It affects the behavior of any other charged objects in the vicinity of the field.

PEMF stands for Pulsed ElectroMagnetic Fields, which are widely used these days to improve circulation and cell metabolism. The body can become accustomed to nonmoving (or static) magnetic fields, which are generally unable to deeply penetrate the body. A pulsed electromagnetic field, however, is quite dynamic, is able to penetrate all the way through the body, and creates a cascade of effects within the body.

It is important to distinguish between the electromagnetic fields we use for therapeutic purposes, and other man-made electromagnetic fields from power lines, microwave ovens, cell phones, etc., which can cause damage to our bodies. The PEMF devices we recommend all produce safe, natural electromagnetic fields which are of lower frequency, and are complementary to the chemistry and functions of the body." [1]

What effectively sold me on PEMF (and the system we use) was the benefits I personally experienced using the cellular exercise device. Let me explain how PEMF may help you:

"You have over 75 Trillion cells in your body. Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things.They provide structure for the body,take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions.

Cellular exercise increases cellular membrane permeability. This allows better circulation of oxygen and nutrients into your cells. Additionally, PEMF helps eliminate carbon dioxide and waste products out of the cells.

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Chronic health challenges are very disruptive to living the life you deserve. Just treating the symptoms with drugs obviously is not the answer, or you would be back to vibrancy.

Many people just exist day to day with low energy, pain and dysfunction. If this decscription fits you, then you need to learn about a concept that may be new to you called methylation. My aim is to help you reclaim your life by deciphering your metabolism.

Since my professional mantra is "The more you learn about how your body works, the better you can take care of your health", I am happy to provide this introduction to methylation. In fact, part of my driving force to my continuing education is to learn more about what drives the illness that plagues my family lineage. My father, his father and his mother all had Parkinson's disease. My mother had Hashimoto's, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and dementia. You can bet my family history is one strong driving force to my incessant investigation into the nuances of functional medicine.

Methylation allows us to be human. Essentially methyl groups (CH3 in chemical format) act as keys or switches to turn reactions on or off. In some situations, adding methyl groups stops reactions (DNA replication) and in some situations adding methyl groups allows chemical reactions to occur. Millions of methylation processes occur every second in every organ in every cell, and in the fluids between our cells. Methylation plays a role in our physical, chemical and emotional status.

Reduced methylation capacity and defects in methylation can be tied to nearly every chronic disease and disorder (see the list below). The level of our health is really determined by the function of our methylation processes. By definition, methylation is the process of adding a methyl group (CH3) to a chemical (hormone, toxine, gene, etc.) to change its function, activate the chemical, or deactivate the chemical.

I promise you that learning about this concept of methylation can bring you joy and hope! Dive in and learn the answer to this question: Can optimized methylation be the key to your health recovery?

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I bet you are wondering why eating gluten-free can keep you ill, don't you?

There are many advocates of adopting a gluten free diet for the purpose of regaining health and reclaiming ones life from the ravages of an autoimmune or other illness. I am one of those advocates. I have witnessed first hand how removing gluten from ones diet can bring about a massive improvement in very ill patients.

Trying to heal your body on a gluten-free health supporting diet can get you into trouble, if you don't know what you are doing. This article can help you understand why eating gluten-free can be like opening Pandora's Box...when it comes to your health and healing. Keep reading and I promise you I will explain. You may have to read a couple of other article I wrote to totally "get it". It will be worth your efforts to dig into this important topic.

Some of the  patients who I have served had been searching for answers for their "mysterious" health challenges for 50 years! 

After a thorough case review and adequate testing to reveal the underlying causes of the patients body dysfunction, a proper course of action can be commenced. Often I place the ill patient on a very clean, limited food choice diet in order to curb inflammation and reduce exposure to food intolerances noted on the patients' test results. Commonly the patient is advised to avoid gluten among other substances.

After celebrating with the patient for doing such a great job with their health supporting diet over the course of 1-2 months, we start expanding their food choices. At this point is when a health transforming care plan can go very wrong without expert guidance...

Patients often think that using so-called gluten-free foods to replace items they gave up to regain their health is totally okay. Unfortunately for many, eating the gluten-free analogs of the foods they used to eat habitually, often leads to a regression of their health. Substituting gluten-free prepared food items in an effort to be compliant with a health supporting diet is a newbie mistake.

In this article I will outline 5 reasons why eating gluten-free products can keep you ill.

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If you are experiencing gluten intolerance symptoms, or you have been tested and you have been found to have gluten intolerance, the products in this blog post should be avoided. Instead, concentrate on gluten free, brain-healthy foods, which you will also find listed in this blog post.

Although this list is not exhaustive, you will find it quite complete and will get you off on a great start to healing from the ravages of gluten:

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One of the complications of diabetes is peripheral neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropathy is a result of nerve damage which often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in your hands and feet.

People generally describe the pain of peripheral neuropathy as tingling or burning as well as a loss of sensation compared to a feeling of wearing a thin stocking or glove.

Peripheral neuropathy is a serious disease of blood vessels that supply the nerves as well as the nerves themselves

The most common drug prescribed for people suffering with diabetic related leg pain is Lyrica®.

But it comes with a huge price.

To be quite honest I have to wonder how this drug was ever approved. One look at the PDR will get you wondering to.

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