Dr. Ozzie recommends the Xymogen Brand
Join Dr. Ozzies 12 week weight loss program!
Have you been tested correctly for food intolerences?
CLICK HERE to Recieve 20% off a 30 min Functional Blood Chemistry AnalysisDaily Archives: October 28, 2011
Womens Health: In direct proportion to stress load
Stress is one of the major causes of women’s health issues today.
Women are more stressed out than the human body can handle. Being a mother, a wife, a professional, and/or being physically fit can be very stressful. To avoid the build up of stress, we need to realize that the body does need rest and that we may need to lessen our work load or rearrange our priorities. Too much of anything can have serious negative effects. If you re-evaluate your work load and balance it a little better you reduce the stress and come to a place where your body can be manually supported so you can endure your everyday life without some of the life threatening consequences.
So what are some of the major womens health concerns? Every day I see women who come into my office who are concerned about weight gain, thyroid problems, hormone imbalance, infertility, and cancer. Would it surprise you to know that all of these can be directly or indirectly related to stress? This is why I always recommend that every woman who seeks my help does a salivary adrenal stress test, which we offer in our office. The adrenal gland is a gland that rests on top of your kidneys and deals directly with all the stress in your life. Once the test results come back we begin to recommend interventions and treatment plans to help repair your adrenals and balance out other systems in your body that may have been pulled out of line in response to stress.
Here are a few things you can do to decrease your stress from womens health concerns. Before going to sleep lie in bed and visualize all the stressful moments of your day; a angry co worker an undisciplined child etc. Do your best to use all your senses to get you back to this moment in time. When you are back there again relive this situation with it having a funny outcome i.e. your co worker with a clown face. You should literally crack a smile or laugh then you can move to the next stress until you have visualized them all in a funny way. Next contract every muscle you can think of one at a time starting from the tip of your head and down to your feet. Contract them for two to three seconds, relax for two to three seconds and then move to the next one. Do this two to three times and then start breathing deeply, concentrating on seeing your stomach move not your chest. Once you feel your body relax and release the tension you are ready for bed shut everything of and go to sleep.
Stress Management: The key, know your stresses.
The key to stress management is to know your stresses.
What a hot topic – who isn’t stressed these days?
There are three main stresses that the body encounters – structural, chemical and mental. Everyone suffers from one or more of these stressors and this adds up to one unhealthy nation. For over 10 years I have been developing different techniques in my office to counterbalance all three.
Structural Stress:
First of all let me provide a brief example of all three stresses. Structural stress occurs when the muscles or joints are not functioning properly. This could be caused by sitting at a desk all day at work, which may cause body stiffness, getting into a car wreck, or just by playing sports. In order to counterbalance this stress, one should see a chiropractor. Through numerous studies performed by governments worldwide have proved that chiropractic care is by far the most cost effective, least invasive and most importantly safest way to deal with structural stress. Chiropractors are not limited to spinal adjustments. If you have any muscle or joint pain or discomfort anywhere in your body chiropractic care is your best choice for this stress management.
Chemical Stress
Chemical stress is caused by what we ingest through food, water and air. There are over 10,000 chemical additives in our food supply. The average American ingests 14 pounds of additives, 158 pounds of sugar, and 8 pounds of salt per year! This is way more than the body’s organs were designed to handle. We are constantly ingesting heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, and many more everyday again through the air we breath, water we drink and food we eat. At the Functional Medicine & Wellness Center, we have specially-designed programs to help patients rid their bodies of these toxins, also known as detoxification. (Please do not attempt to detox on your own seek the help of a trained Physician as detoxing can be extremely dangerous if not done correctly.) A stress management technique you can do at home is eat as much raw organic fruits and vegetables as possible. Eat organic free-range chicken, beef and fish when possible. Drink reverse osmosis purified water and eliminate your intake of all soda, diet soda and heavily processed foods.
Mental/Emotional Stress
Mental/Emotional stress is the most common of all three stresses Mental/emotional stress stems from issues dealing with family, romance, work, and/or finance. Many of use often think that because this stress is not physical that it has no bearing on our bodies. In a recent study, it was been proven that the same receptor sites for the neurotransmitters in the brain are on your immune system as well. Meaning that the thoughts you think have a direct impact on your health and your immune system. This is why someone who has a huge mental burden, such as the loss of a loved one, can become ill within a very short period of time. These people really need stress manangement.
Another example is that of sports psychology and mental imaging study where they attached electrodes to an Olympic athlete and mapped the muscles that fire when they are actually doing an event. While mentally imagining this event with the electrodes attached, they noticed that the exact same muscles fired at the exact same time. In my clinical experience this mental/emotional stress component left unaddressed can be the most debilitating and disease causing of all the stresses. In our office we have developed specific techniques to counterbalance the negative effects of this stress that may include acupressure with mental focusing along with homeopathic supplementation when necessary.
To set up an appointment with Dr. Ozzie, please contact him at:
Functional Medicine & Wellness Center
2653 Sagebrush Drive, Suite 230
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
CITYPLACE FITNESS
2711 N. Haskell Avenue, 3rd Floor
Dallas, TX 75204
214.395.7264 ● 972.899.8146
Neck pain and headaches are the most common and most successful things chiropractors treat.
Any type of pain or headache can be a sign of a toxicity. Another trigger, especially with migraine headaches, can be caused by a food intolerance. It is stated that 90% of all migraine sufferers have a dairy allergy. It has been my experience that if a migraine sufferer can withdraw from dairy for at least eight weeks and get past the first few days of withdrawal symptoms, they will see a significant decrease, , in the intensity, frequency and duration of their migraines. In some cases this is the answer to the problem and the migraines will stop completely and as long as the patient stays away from dairy the headaches will never return.
To assist in the process of withdrawing any food intolerance from the body, we encourage detoxification[1]. Any and all raw organic fruits and vegetables with organic lean sources of protein will help promote detoxification. In addition to a lean diet, one can also utilize shower-hydrotherapy, saunas, dry skin brushing, bathing in Epson salts as well as other baths that can be found on my website under home detoxification ideas.
Another major stress that can induce neck pain and headaches is structural stress. I have seen numerous times over the last 10 years patients who have had a physical trauma happen to them some time in their life, such as a car wreck or a sporting accident, that is the sole reason for their neck pain and headaches. Many times these traumes go untreated or not properly treated and proper joint and muscle function is not restored which leads to your pain and headaches. There are numerous receptors in the shoulders, neck, jaw, and cranial bones that can lead to neck pain and headaches when not stimulated correctly. There are many techniques we use in our office to gently and easily restore proper motion thereby regulating the stimulation of these receptors. A lot of people may not realize it but any problem with jaw motion can lead to pain. If you have been told that you grind your teeth by your dentist or if your jaw pops, clicks or locks up, you have a jaw problem that may be leading to your pain or headaches and we can help.
If you experience neck pain or headaches or both please call our office and set up an appointment.
[1] Any detoxification process should include physician supervision.
To set up an appointment with Dr. Ozzie, please contact him at:
Functional Medicine & Wellness Center
2653 Sagebrush Drive, Suite 230
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
CITYPLACE FITNESS
2711 N. Haskell Avenue, 3rd Floor
Dallas, TX 75204
214.395.7264 ● 972.899.8146
Exercise and Fitness
Disclaimer:
One of the biggest things that I have noticed about exercise and fitness over the last 10 years is what little people know about their current health status before they start an exercise and fitness plan. I’m not talking about the physical assessment you may do at a gym when you consider height, weight, body fat, and blood pressure. I am talking about an individual person’s chemical makeup (blood, urine and saliva as well as body composition). If you don’t know where you are starting from how do you know how to get to where you are going? In my professional experience, this is one of two reasons most exercise programs soon plateau or just don’t work at all.
The first problem is that most diet and exercise programs concentrate on the scale and not the overall body composition. All to often I see someone lose weight but actually lose muscle mass and water which makes them more unhealthy then when they started. We want you to lose weight but we want you to lose fat not muscle or water. The reason for this is because higher muscles mass equates to higher metabolism so when you get the weight off you keep it off. Another problem in today’s world is that almost everyone is OVER stressed. Being stressed causes your Adrenal gland in to go into a “fight or flight” mood which increases Cortisol and shunts everything away from your sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone.
There are three phases of adrenal deterioration: 1) alarm, 2) resistance and 3) exhaustion. The first two phases will see an increase in Cortisol and the third will see a decrease. This sets off a tidal wave of complications initially it will raise your blood sugar levels causing you not only to become fatter and increase cholesterol which increases your chances of heart attack or stroke but it will also make you insulin resistant increasing your chances of diabetes. Second if you have your heart rate too high when you are working out and you are in one of these phases you will make this situation worse. I believe two tests are imperative if you want to maximize your time, money and effort in achieving your fitness goals. One is something called an electrical Bioimpedance Analysis and also an Adrenal stress index panel which are both offered at our office.
To set up an appointment with Dr. Ozzie, please contact him at:
Functional Medicine & Wellness Center
2653 Sagebrush Drive, Suite 230
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
CITYPLACE FITNESS
2711 N. Haskell Avenue, 3rd Floor
Dallas, TX 75204
214.395.7264 ● 972.899.8146
Diet and Nutrition
Disclaimer:
Understanding the crossroads of diet and disease, and the role of nutrition in both the creation and elimination of disease, is both practical and instructing. It is practical in the way that it is the most powerful clinical tool in preventing and treating disease. It is instructive because food plays a key role in every biological process in our body. That being said it is interesting that today’s current diet is the main agent of chronic degenerative disease in our time, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, etc. However, when clinical nutrition is used by a trained physician it has the ability to prevent, reverse and even cure these diseases.
One major problem with our food supply today is that it is not nutrient dense like it was 50 to 75 years ago. The second major problem is that we consume way more toxins today then ever before. What does this mean to you? It means that the foods we eat that eliminate these toxins cannot keep up with the amount of toxins you are taking in causing your body to degenerate faster. One solution is to eat pure organic foods in their raw state if possible – but, even doing this may not be enough. This leads us to something called nutriceuticals: high dose vitamins, minerals and herb therapies that are specifically designed to target the promotion of specific biological processes in your body. Thereby supporting and stimulating the processes needed to repair your body and support your body in the fight against disease.
In my years of clinical experience I have seen very few, if any, people eat their way out of a disease. What I mean by this is that one can maintain and support their current health or lack of health status. If one wishes to improve their health or support their bodies fight against a disease, they need to implore neutraceuticals. The combination of which can be extremely potent. I have seen miracles modern western medicine could only dream about when one assumes healing power of the human body.
It is extremely important to also understand that one person’s poison may be another one’s medicine. There have been countless times, I have had patients complain about constipation and their primary physician is telling them to eat more fiber and grains, causing the condition to worsen. What the doctor didn’t take into consideration is that everyone has a bio-chemical uniqueness and this person had a food intolerance or even allergy to wheat/gluten and was the very reason they were constipated in the first place. So, although this may be good advice for some it was terrible advice for another. There are some very simple and inexpensive tests that we offer our office that can diagnose many of these common food sensitivities/food intolerances.
To set up an appointment with Dr. Ozzie, please contact him at:
Functional Medicine & Wellness Center
2653 Sagebrush Drive, Suite 230
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
CITYPLACE FITNESS
2711 N. Haskell Avenue, 3rd Floor
Dallas, TX 75204
214.395.7264 ● 972.899.8146
Children's Health
Unfortunately, children’s health concerns have become a very popular issue these days. More and more parents are becoming increasingly concerned with their children’s health or lack thereof. Younger kids are being placed on adult medication for diseases that have only been thought of as adult diseases, such as Type-II diabetes otherwise known as ADULT onset diabetes.
Obesity among children is now an epidemic as well as heart disease and high blood pressure, and even depression. The odds of learning disabilities are now 1 in 6; Autism is 1 in 150 and getting worse, ADD and ADHD seem to be everywhere; and childhood cancers are rapidly rising and some are being diagnosed within the first years of life. Fifty years ago none of these diseases were imaginable or even heard of in children. So what is going on and what can we do about it?
First of all we need to understand that each individual has a unique body structure and chemistry and that “one size dose not fit all”. What may be good for one person may be extremely bad for another. For example, you may have heard of a baby who has extreme colic while drinking milk, but when taken off the particular milk, the bay is completely fine, while others may thrive on that exact milk. Secondly, we have to understand that the more we change our environment, like our food supply, from its original state the more stress we place upon our body which ultimately lays the foundation for disease.
So what parents can start to do is get their children off all processed and preserved foods which is (anything that can sit in your fridge or cabinets for more than three to four weeks without spoiling). A child’s diet should not include sodas or juices made from concentrate, and anything with high fructose corn syrup which is a major contributor to insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. High fructose corn syrup has recently been discovered to contain mercury that can cause brain damage among other things. Buy as much organic free-range chicken, fish and meat as possible.
As a doctor, I find it ironic that traditional medicine is worried about pro athletes being on steroids and that it sends the wrong message, but they don’t realize that the meat, chicken and/or pork products that kids eat today has been injected with steroids, hormones and antibiotics. In my opinion, this is the reason girls are starting their menstrual cycle at an earlier age or why younger boys have the bodies of grown men. Also, the antibiotics in the food supply are transferred to us, which cause severe problems for our digestive tract. To counteract antibiotics, a good idea is to get a good source of probiotics. I recommend a dairy-free source in case you have intolerance to dairy that is unknown.
Another reason we have such a problem with childhood obesity is that most kids have a poor diet that includes fast food, sodas, and frequent snacking. Although kids eat all the time they are malnourished. The same thing applies to a lot of children who eat a more balanced diet but because it is non-organic, the food is NOT nutrient dense which also causes malnourishment too.
It is imperative that your kids do saliva testing to determine if they have a food intolerance of any kind. We offer this testing in our office it is easy and inexpensive and worth it. I encourage you and your children to eat as much raw organic fruits and vegetables as possible. Inorganic fruits and vegetables contain Herbacides and pesticides that are extremely toxic and decrease the nutritional value of food.
It is also a good idea to see a chiropractor to ensure proper movement and muscle balance which is essential for a healthy body. Kids that are more physically active are in better health than those that are not active. Imagine how much more health benefits these active kids would have if their joints and muscles were more in balance.
To set up an appointment with Dr. Ozzie, please contact him at:
Functional Medicine & Wellness Center
2653 Sagebrush Drive, Suite 230
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
CITYPLACE FITNESS
2711 N. Haskell Avenue, 3rd Floor
Dallas, TX 75204
214.395.7264 ● 972.899.8146
Any type of joint problem is caused by muscle dysfunction. Muscles move bones not the other way around. It is most important to diagnose the weak or inhibited muscle as opposed to the painful muscle if we want to fix the actual problem. All too often doctors like to chase the pain rather than look for the cause and fix the problem. In the majority of cases the painful muscle or joint is not the problem, it is a result of the problem. How many of you have seen a medical doctor, chiropractor, physical therapist or massage therapist only to have the pain disappear for a few days or weeks and then come right back. This is because they focused on the pain and not the cause.
Applied Kinesiology (AK), an advanced technique in chiropractic, focuses on the weak or inhibited muscle, finds the cause and removes it when possible and repairs the damage. The AK process works towards taking the pain and discomfort away permanently with less trips to your doctor.
Specifically, with the low back and Sciatica, I always find an imbalance with the psoas muscle that attaches to certain disks of the spine. With this imbalance these disks are the most often herniated. What pulls them from correct position is the imbalance in the psoas muscle. Adjust the psoas muscle correctly and you fix the herniated disc and sciatica.
Another major problem that most people don’t consider is constipation that leads to toxicity and inflammation. In fact, anything that causes toxicity or inflammation can lead to low back pain or sciatica. The disc mainly consists of water and has limited room to expand. Too much inflammation caused by toxicity will eventually cause pain and push on something it shouldn’t, like the sciatic nerve. Constipation in my definition is if you don’t move your bowls at least once to twice a day without straining, everyday.
To set up an appointment with Dr. Ozzie, please contact him at:
Functional Medicine & Wellness Center
2653 Sagebrush Drive, Suite 230
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
CITYPLACE FITNESS
2711 N. Haskell Avenue, 3rd Floor
Dallas, TX 75204
214.395.7264 ● 972.899.8146
What is Stress?
What exactly is stress? Stress can come in many forms. It could be emotional stress, chemical stress (toxicity), electromagnetic stress, physical stress, or anything else that elicits a stress response in the body. It doesn’t matter what kind of stress you have, your body perceives them as all the same. Stress has many effects on the body. It can lower your immune system, increase your cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. It can cause sexual dysfunction, arthritis, heart disease, weight gain, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers, cancer, as well as lower thyroid function and metabolism.
When you’re under stress your body switches into a fight or flight mode. When this takes place there are several physiological responses. You have a decrease of all non-critical processes. Your energy will be mobilized to your muscle. Digestion will be turned off (50% of people have digestive complaints), detoxification will be impaired, you have a decrease in cellular repair, and you will be placed in a catabolic (breaking down) state. This catabolic state will weaken your systems.
Stress plays a major part in the basic healthy human functioning. It is important to note that stress contributes to the majority of health disorders. The clinical judgment lies in understanding which of these is both the most treatable and is most likely the best way to reduce the stress on the overall balance of the patients internal systems.
IMMUNE IMBALANCES
Autoimmune diseases, allergies, frequent infections, some cancers, chronic infections
HORMONAL AND NEUROTRANSMITTER IMBALANCES
Hypothyroidism, adrenal exhaustion, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety
STRUCTURAL IMBALANCES
Many types of chronic pain, scoliosis, post-polio syndrome, hypermobility syndromes, surgical absence or modification of organs
TOXICOLOGICAL STRESSES
Heavy metal poisoning, multiple drug sensitivities, hormone disruptors from the environment, various environmental sensitivities
NUTRITIONAL, DIGESTIVE, ABSORPTIVE IMBALANCES
Irritable bowel, bacterial overgrowth, reflux, incomplete digestion, food intolerances, subtle vitamin deficiencies
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL
Early childhood trauma, toxic relationships, chronic stress, isolation, fear, post traumatic stress syndrome
At the Functional Medicine Center, we believe that once the underlying factors causing your chronic health problems are addressed, then you will be able to achieve optimal health. We refer to these factors as the ten modifiable factors of aging.
- Blood Sugar
- Detoxification
- Inflammation
- Methylation
- Chronic Stress
- Mitochondria Function
- Immune System
- Food Sensitivities
- Hormones
- Digestion
What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic Care
(Some information is copyrighted by the American Chiropractic Association)
Chiropractic care envelops a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. Chiropractic focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and their effects on general health. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches.
With broad diagnostic skills Chiropractors are trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling.
The most common therapeutic chiropractic procedure is known as “spinal manipulation,” also called “chiropractic adjustment.” Manipulation restores joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile – or restricted in their movement – as a result of a tissue injury. Tissue injury can be caused by a single traumatic event, such as improper lifting of a heavy object, or through repetitive stresses, such as sitting in an awkward position with poor spinal posture for an extended period of time. In either case, injured tissues undergo physical and chemical changes that can cause inflammation, pain, and diminished function for the sufferer. Manipulation, or adjustment of the affected joint and tissues, restores mobility, thereby alleviating pain and muscle tightness, and allowing tissues to heal.
Chiropractic adjustments affect nerves, which control the function of virtually every system in the body, including the organs. As a result, adjustments can also be extremely effective for a wide variety of other health problems including asthma, digestive problems, fatigue, infections, arthritis, hormone imbalances, and many more.
In many cases, such as lower back pain, chiropractic care may be the primary method of treatment. When other medical conditions exist, chiropractic care may complement or support medical treatment by relieving the musculoskeletal aspects associated with the condition.
At the Functional Medicine & Wellness Center, Dr. Ozzie may assess patients through clinical examination, laboratory testing, and other diagnostic interventions to determine when chiropractic treatment is appropriate or when it is not appropriate. Chiropractors will readily refer patients to the appropriate health care provider when chiropractic care is not suitable for the patient’s condition, or the condition warrants co-management in conjunction with other members of the health care team.
Below are the general phases of chiropractic care given at the Functional Medicine & Wellness Center
Phase 1: Relief Care
If you are in pain when you come into our office, the first objective is to help you feel better.
Depending on the severity of your problem, it is typical to need care 2-3 times per week for 4-12 weeks.
Phase 2: Corrective/Restorative Care
During the corrective care phase, muscles and other tissues are allowed to heal more completely, thereby helping prevent injury.
It is typical to need care 4-8 times per month for 6-24 months, depending on your overall health and the severity of your problem.
Phase 3: Wellness Care
Once your body has fully healed, it is important to come in for periodic adjustments to avoid problems in the future.
Usually, this only requires a quick visit to the chiropractor 1-4 times per month, based on your lifestyle and goals.
