Pflugerville Wellness

Chiropractic, Acupuncture, and Massage Therapy in Pflugerville TX

Dr Trent Peng

Max Pulse

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max pulse
Max Pulse

The Max Pulse is a cardiovascular screening device that informs doctors and patients as to the elasticity of their arteries (arterial compliance). The Max Pulse is non-invasive and uses a photo-electric finger clip which shines a light on the fingertip to detect the volume of blood in the fingertip. This technique is called photo-plethysmography, which means measuring the volume of blood using light. The Max Pulse is manufactured in South Korea by Medicore Co Ltd

Max Pulse Tests

The Max Pulse performs two important cardiovascular tests. The first test is the arterial stiffness test. The reason this test is so important is that patients often fall between the existing tests and do not get much in the way or warning as their cardio health declines. If you go to a doctors office, they will test your blood pressure and your cholesterol. But these results may under-state the situation with your cardiovascular health and in fact blood pressure and cholesterol are not a direct measurement of cardio health, only an indicator. As the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease show, these are not working well as an early warning. A more accurate test is getting a sonogram of the carotid artery in the neck. But this is rarely available at your family practice and the reality is that patients do not to and get a carotid sonogram periodically to check their arterial health. They rely on their doctor to do this. The Max Pulse test can be done in 1 minute, with a non-invasive finger clip that just sits on a patients finger and the test can be done each time a patient comes in.  The report generated evaluates the patients arterial flexibility and gives a score of 1-7 with one the best and seven the worst. Also the report show the percentage of heartbeats that fell into each category. For example a patient might score a 2 because most heart beats are at that level. But if there are a lot of heart beat lower than that, then its well worth taking care and starting a program of improvement.

Testing Stress Levels

The second test measures heart rate variability and evaluates stress levels. This is really important because you stress level tells how you will deal with a cardio event. If you have a heart attack or other cardio event, you are more likely to die from it if you have high stress levels already. So having a machine that can quickly and non-invasively tell you if your arteries are hardening and also tell you if your stress levels are too high is a very important way to discover your risk levels well in advance of an actual heart attack or other cardiovascular failure.

Pflugerville Wellness does not have this machine on-site, if you would like to get this test, contact Long Life Cardio, TX for the location of the provider closest to you.

Click here to visit the Max Pulse website and learn more.

Coffee ….Good or Bad for you? How much is beneficial?

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HD Organogold coffee

From the Desk of: Dr. Trent Peng

It’s a seemingly contentious issue: is long-term consumption of coffee bad for your health? For this most consumed drink in the world (after water), this becomes an important public health question! The behavior of the media is bipolar, often portraying coffee as beneficial one day and life-threatening the next, based on the conclusion of the individual research study hot off the press. To have a definitive answer, I started doing research on whether coffee is good or bad for your health. Amazingly, I came across this video from YouTube (our educational central nowadays), which very clearly explained and summarized research studies that should put the notion “drinking too much coffee is bad for you” to rest. It’s only a seven-minute video and I have the link HERE.

As usual, I can summarize the key points for you:

1) Coffee consumption is associated with: decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, liver disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimers/Parkinsons, and all-cause mortality. It even decreases the risk of erectile dysfunction, according to researchfrom my school.

2) Most of the studies discussed in the video are “systematic review” or “meta-analysis”, which means data from individual studies are pooled together by researchers and analyzed to find conclusive evidence between a risk factor (coffee consumption) and disease. Meta-analysis is considered highest level of research evidence, and all the evidence points to coffee being beneficial (see #1).

3) Most important point: we are simply not drinking ENOUGH coffee! In most of the studies, those that consume 3-5 cups of coffee (8 oz) had the lowest risk of diseases. In the type 2 Diabetes study, those who drank 6-8 cups (!!) had the least risk!

The evidence from the literature is OVERWHELMING. I used to feel bad about drinking 2 cups of coffee, fearing ill effects. Now I know the HEALTHY number is between 3-4 cups, time to up my game!

But that’s just research on coffee alone. Here at PWC we carry a special blend of coffee that is infused with a “superfood”. This superfood has a myriad of health benefits based on Traditional Chinese Medicine AND current research, and syngergistically increases the beneficial effects of coffee. We will have special Health and Wellness Seminars this month to discuss the effects of this superfood and provides FREE tasting of the delicious coffee. The dates are July 13th (Wed) at 12:05 pm and July 23rd (Sat) at 1:30 pm. Please join us and let us know you are coming, as seating is limited to the first 10 people!

New Report: Body Weight Status

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From the desk of:  Dr. Trent Peng, MS, DC

body weightA new study has recently been published from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS, part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) showing body weight status and trends of obesity in U.S. adults and youth.

The National Center for Health Statistics, which performs surveillance of disease rates and reports at regular intervals, has had obesity on their radar for years.  There are several important findings (regarding adults) I will point out in this blog, and present them in a “good news, bad news” format.   Which one do you want first?

First, we need to define what we are looking at.  How is one considered overweight or obese?  The objective standard remains the Body Mass Index (BMI), which is your weight relative to your height.  Although there are exceptions to the rule (ie. short but muscular bodybuilders will be incorrectly considered overweight/obese by BMI), height and weight are proportional in most of the population (ie. you are not considered overweight if you are 6’3″, 180 lbs versus 5’4″, 180 lbs), so it is still the most utilized tool to assess obesity.  The most common BMI categories are listed as follows:

  • BMI < 18.5 – Underweight
  • BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 – Normal weight
  • BMI between 25 and 29.9 – Overweight
  • BMI 30 or higher – Obese

(To calculate your own BMI, click here and you can plug in your own height and weight to get your BMI).

This study was analyzed by the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survery (NHANES), a large-scale, national survey which performed extensive interviews as well as physical examinations on the sampled and is conducted yearly. Weight and height were objectively measured to arrive at the BMI statistics.  This study looked at most recent data, 2011-2014, and compared to previous data points of 1999-2000 and 2003-2004.  First, the good news:

  • The prevalence of obesity has remained “stable” between 2003-2004 and 2011-2014, according to the researchers.

That’s the good news.  There have been no significant increase in obesity (statistically) since 2003-2004.  Now, the bad news:

  • Just because there wasn’t significant increase in obesity the past 10 years, it does not mean there was no increase.  The proportion of obesity in US adults has been increasing every year, just rising slower.
  • The same authors also did similar analyses in 2007-2008, and 2011-2012 (2, 3), and I will put them side by side to illustrate my point above:

 

Obesity (%) 2007-08 2011-12 2011-14 (average) 2013-2014
Overall 33.8 34.9 36.5 37.7
Men 32.2 33.7 34.3 N/A
Women 35.5 36.5 38.3 N/A

So, just looking from left to right, it’s not hard to see the proportions of obesity has been steadily rising over time.  The trend is similar both in men and in women.   Also, it was already a bad percentage in 2007-08, with more than 1/3 of the population classified as obese.  The number is now approaching 40%.   Epidemic proportion, no?

It is obvious that our US government has been tracking the obesity epidemic (these surveys are US government property), and they have implemented various programs over the years.  One such program is shown below:

food pyramid1

Yes, the original Food Pyramid, the ultimate fat-bashing and all-you-can-eat carbs pyramid.  When that didn’t work, we shifted to the “MyPyramid”:

mypyramid_web

When this 7-pyramid-in-one confusing mess was mostly neglected by the public, the government came up with yet another plan, MyPlate:

my_plate_the_usdas_new_healthy_eating_symbol

While an upgrade over previous versions, MyPlate shares some similar traits to its predecessors, traits that promote weight loss failures:

  • The concept that eating “healthy” or “balanced” will help you lose weight.  This is NOT TRUE.
  • The abundance of grains, fruits and vegetables.  While there are health benefits with these foods, they all belong to a food group of carbohydrates. Look at MyPlate again, it looks like >75% of MyPlate consists of carbohydrates (one of many problems with the MyPlate diagram)!

My point is, there is a reason the proportions of overweight and obesity continue to rise, and the way to control it is NOT eating a “balanced diet” or “lots of fruits and vegetables”.   The diet needs to be unbalanced in a healthy, controlled manner, in order to achieve effective, consistent weight loss.   In my next post I will talk about the ketogenic diet, a scientifically proven, effective diet that forms the basis of the diet program (Ideal Protein) at our clinic.  And this diet does what I just said: an unbalanced but healthy way of eating that promotes loss of body fat.  Stay tuned.

PS. In the weekly workshop conducted at our clinic, Pflugerville Wellness Center, I go over details of the Ideal Protein program and how it helps people lose weight effectively.  Please call (512) 251-9686 if you are interested in attending the FREE workshop.  

Reference

  1. Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., Fryar, C. D., & Flegal, K. M. (2015).  Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults and Youth: United States, 2011-2014.  NCHS Data Brief, No. 219 (November 2015), 1-8.
  2. Flegal, K., Carroll, M., Ogden, C., & Curtin, L. (2010). Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999-2008. Jama, 303(3), 235–241.
  3. Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. JAMA : The Journal of the American Medical Association, 311(8), 806–14.

Weight Loss Programs Rankings

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From the Desk of: Dr. Trent Peng

weight loss programsThis just in: Dietreview.com, a prominent website that features detailed reviews on various diets and weight loss programs, published the annual “most popular diets” for 2015.  Details can be found from the link below:

Most popular diets of 2015

Guess what program ranked #1 in 2015?  Hint: not Weight Watchers, not Nutrisystem, not HCG, not Jenny Craig, and not anything that is widely advertised on TV.  The #1 ranked diet in America is Ideal Protein, the weight loss program current offered here at Pflugerville Wellness Center!

The next question is, of course, how this website arrives at the rankings.  According to Diet Review’s explanation, ranking is determined by “traffic”, or number of clicks, to a particular diet’s review page.  This makes sense, because more people searching for the diet means more people are interested in it, perhaps seeing their friends/family/coworkers lose weight successfully.  Ideal Protein jumped from #13 the year prior to the top spot this year.

We have implemented the Ideal Protein program since early 2014, and the results have been phenomenal.  As of today we have lost more than 1,750 lbs as a group.  So there is no question in its effectiveness.  Also, there are a few more reasons that I believe contribute to the success and rapid growth in popularity of Ideal Protein:

  1. Scientific: Its based on BASIC human physiology, with a lot of support from the scientific literature.  I will elaborate on it in a future post.
  2. Doctor recommended: you see GPs, endocrinologists, cardiologists, and chiropractors all recommending this program, because again, it makes scientific sense to medical professionals (point #1).
  3. Ease: no counting calories; just purchase products that replace most of your meals (with 70+ products to choose from each week).
  4. Support: weekly consults with the health coach, daily emails with helpful hints and videos, and multiple forums/website online that talk about how to successfully implement the program, plus recipe books specific for Ideal Protein.

I have no doubt about the safety and efficacy of the Ideal Protein program, having gone through the program myself and recommending to hundreds of dieters.  And the new ranking provides further proof that, out of all the weight loss programs offered, this program works!  Contact our office about the details of the program if you are interested.

Prolonged Sitting versus Low Back Pain

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For those of you that have not heard, Dr. Peng is attending graduate school (Master of Science in Public Health, specializing in Epidemiology) at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Austin Regional Campus.  What is Epidemiology, you wonder?  A brief definition of Epidemiology is,

“The study of the distribution and causes of diseases or injuries in a select population”.

Therefore, epidemiological research attempts to find risk factors associated with a disease or injury.  As an example, Dr. Peng’s independent study course this summer involved a review of existing scientific literature on the association between prolonged sitting (since so many of the patients that visit PWC work in front of a computer for so many hours) and low back pain.  After reviewing several dozens of research articles, the following conclusions are made:

1) Prolonged sitting, or long sitting hours, did not show a consistent association with low back pain by itself.
2) However, the association between prolonged sitting and low back pain is much stronger if some of the other factors (indicated below) are also present:

  • Static and/or awkward posture (ie. bent over, like the above image)

  • Driving (or more precisely, whole-body vibration involved with driving, which increases compressive forces on the spinal structures)

  • Physically handling objects, ie. excessive lifting, pushing, pulling


Based on the above information, some of these factors often occur along with sitting, and some workers are definitely more prone to low back pain than others: for instance, white-collar office workers, and truck drivers.  Now that we’ve scientifically identified the risk factors, the advice we give to patients here at PWC make sense:

  • Avoid sitting  too long: once an hour, get up and stretch your arms, shoulders, move your head. 

  • Have an ergonomic person inspect your desk to make sure you are not in a non-neutral position.

  • Stop and stretch your back if you are driving for long hours. 

  • Make sure the item you are lifting is not excessively heavy, get a partner to help.  Don’t be a hero!

Also, if these factors are simply difficult to avoid at the workplace, it’ll be a good idea to come in periodically to make sure your spine is in good shape and muscles not too tight!

To ease low back pain, I also highly recommend improving your sitting posture as described in the Gokhale Method. You can read more about this here. 

— Dr. Trent Peng, Pflugerville Wellness Center

Cholesterol and Natural Support for Cardiovascular Health

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Quick, if I ask you, what is the best-selling pharmaceutical drug in the world, what would you guess (hint is in the title)? Yes, the #1 selling drug is Atorvastatin, commonly known as Lipitor. Its sales in 2010 was 11.7 9377Billion dollars, followed closely by Plavix. It is interesting to note that, on the table listing the top selling drugs, it also mentions what condition it is for. Advair will be used to prevent Asthma, for example. When it comes to our top-selling drug, however, the condition listed is “cholesterol”. What are we really trying to prevent here? Cholesterol is NOT a disease, but fats necessary for cell building, brain development and hormone production.

We need not forget why we are concerned about cholesterol. Cholesterol was indicated in atherosclerotic plaque, essentially fatty deposits on the blood vessel walls, causing coronary heart disease (CHD), the top cause of death in the US. Decades ago, cholesterol was the sole cause of atherosclerosis. With time and further research, however, different fractions of cholesterol like LDL and HDL were discovered. LDL and HDL are transport vehicles for fats (cholesterol, triglyceride), with LDL as having more sticking potential in the arteries, and HDL being capable of transport cholesterol to liver for removal (hence the nickname “bad” and “good” fat, respectively). So, our focus changed from looking at cholesterol level alone to monitoring HDL and LDL.

Recent research goes into even more detail, indicating that watching LDL, HDL, and cholesterol for risk of CHD might not be that accurate. Potential of these fatty particles to stick depend on the amount and type of surface proteins attached to the LDL and HDL (named “apolipoprotein”). For example, apolipoprotein (a) is the surface protein that most likely results in coagulating and causing inflammation on the arteries, and is a predictor of coronary artery disease.

Another interesting recent discovery is that inflammation on the surface of the arteries can be the trigger in atherosclerosis. The integrity of arteries is compromised, and cholesterol is basically used as repair material (to prevent leaks). Recent research on Lipitor states that it prevents CAD not because of its cholesterol lowering power, but its effectiveness in reducing arterial inflammation. Essentially, people are admitting or finding that it is not an issue of just cholesterol.

So, equipped with all this information, are there any nutritional considerations that can aid in improving our cardiovascular health?

(Disclaimer: the following suggestions are not to treat any diseases, but general reference material aimed to improve health. Please always consult your physician and do not use the recommendations below to replace your medications).

• Vitamin C: if there are no weakened vessels in the heart, plaques will not need to form. Vitamin C was found a century ago exactly for this purpose: to stop scurvy, bleeding from weakened vessels. Collagen is the tissue cement that strengthens vessels, and Vitamin C is the necessary material to build collagen. Daily vitamin C intake can be guard against arterial inflammation and plaque buildup.
• Dietary fiber: studies have found two things about dietary fiber: 1) fiber can decrease the number of LDL (“bad fat”); and 2) fiber in some studies actually outperforms statin drugs (ie. Lipitor) in reducing LDL. Good sources of fiber include psyllium, oats and flax.
• Niacin – part of the Vitamin B family, it is found to reduce the surface proteins (apolipoprotein a mentioned above) that stick to arteries, and increase the level of apoliprotein A-1, another surface protein strictly found on HDLs (“good” fats), thus increasing the level of HDLs.
• Dietary Considerations: drug ads always say “when diet and exercise are not enough”. Actually, it should say “when diet and exercise are not adequate”. We should consider a low-fat, low glycemic-index lifestyle to adequately manage blood lipid levels. Low-fat lifestyle does not mean hating all fats, but rather limiting the man-made trans-fats that plaque our arteries and produced solely for the manufacturer’s profits. Also, a low glycemic diet promotes proper blood sugar balance, reducing storage of excessive blood sugars into triglycerides (a topic we talked about in last month’s issue).
• Omega-3 fats: we need not only to reduce the intake of bat fats (transfats), but also increase the amount of good Omega-3 fats, typically found in fish oils and flax seed oil. Omega-3 fats help produce anti-inflammatory proteins in the body, and are known to increase the level of HDLs.

There are many more beneficial nutrients to consider, but I’ll stop due to article size. Also note that since cholesterol is removed by the liver, a good liver detox program can assist in maintaining healthy blood lipid levels, a topic we will cover later.

Our Precious Blood- What To Do For Anemia

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drop-globe-man1 John 1:7b “…and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.”

When I think back to my past involvement with non-profit organizations, there were many. I was a member of the medical crew for the Susan Komen Foundation 3-day walk; worked as a volunteer with Kiwanis international, and of course, serving in our church. What I had the most involvement with, however, were the blood banks. Back in Chiropractic school in Chicago, I was president of the academic fraternity, delta delta pi, and I organized a couple school-wide blood donations with the local blood center. After arriving in Texas, I organized another blood donation event with the local Scott & White hospital, and many bags of precious blood were collected. It is a wonderful feeling to know that my efforts will be helpful to someone’s health or even be life saving.

While it is obvious that the blood of Jesus is the most precious and effective, cleansing us from every sin, it is also undeniable that the blood in us is essential. Without a healthy circulation and transport of vital oxygen and nutrients, and removal of wastes, we die!

There are many benefits of blood donation. Reduced red blood cells after donation stimulate the bone marrow to produce new blood cells. Therefore, you will be getting fresh, new blood of better quality. You also get screened for diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis, and your hemoglobin level will be checked for anemia. Of course, helping others is mood enhancing and can add years to your life. There are free cookies and orange juice too, but we shouldn’t talk about that in a nutrition column.

A great topic for this month, since we are talking about blood, is anemia. Anemia is characterized by insufficient red blood cells (quantity), unhealthy red blood cells (quality), or both. There are many types of anemia, from iron-deficiency anemia (iron is an essential part of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells), megaloblastic anemia (change in blood cell size due to lack of Vitamin B12), pernicious anemia (the stomach cannot effectively absorb B12), anemia due to secondary factors (ulcer, menses, pregnancy, hypothyroidism), and hereditary anemia (red blood cells are malformed and dysfunctional, ie. Thalassemia, sickle cell anemia). A simple blood test can often differentiate the different types of anemia.

In terms of iron-deficient anemia, the most common type, an iron supplement is usually recommended. I would caution about this simplistic approach. The best iron supplement, once again, comes from your food. Iron in food rarely exists by itself. In fact, iron is usually paired with copper, and long-term intake of iron by itself can cause imbalance in copper, which serve many functions, including red blood cell production and assisting iron absorption! Therefore, the best strategy is to consume mineral-rich foods, such as dark leafy greens, and taking multi-mineral supplements that include iron and copper.

Another very beneficial nutritional support for people with low red blood cell count is sesame seed oil. Sesame seed oil can stimulate bone marrow activity, inducing more blood cell production. Since bone marrow produces all three types of blood cells (red, white, and platelet), sesame seed oil serves as an immune booster as well.

Finally, I want to mention Chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the energy producing part for the plant (photosynthesis), and also what makes the plant green. It can also be considered as the “blood” of plants, because its molecular structure is very similar to hemoglobin. Taking this blood of plants helps improve the quality of our own blood. Also, as a bonus, chlorophyll is effective in repairing and improving the gut lining.

Hope these tips can help in your quest to protect and improve your own precious blood. And if you don’t have anemia, please don’t wait and call the local blood center today.

Six Tips to Eliminate Sugar Cravings

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poshloliAccording to 2007 statistics from the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, there are currently 23.7 million of Americans afflicted with diabetes, which accounted for 7.8% of the population. To say that we are a sugar craving nation is an understatement. Of course, we did not catch the “diabetes virus” overnight. Long-term sugar and starch abuse results in insulin resistance, which increases blood sugar levels, and diabetes is just the final destination. That is the topic for another article, however.

In my clinical experience in guiding patients to weight loss and improved dietary habit, we often encounter the problem of “Doc, I keep dreaming about chocolate cake!” The basic principle to stop sugar cravings is to prevent rapidly spikes in blood sugar. When a massive amount of sugar enters into the bloodstream (after eating a Twinkie), the pancreas scrambles to send out large amounts of insulin trying to maintain blood sugar balance. This surge of insulin brings sugar rapidly into the cells, causing a dramatic drop in blood sugar. The brain senses this deficiency in blood sugar and sends out emergency signals, urging the body to hunt for food, and the most desirable food during that time is simple sugar, since it can be rapidly absorbed and enter the bloodstream. The vicious cycle continues – consumption of sugar causes sugar craving, which causes overconsumption of sugar, and more sugar craving. So, how do we break this vicious cycle?

There are several strategies that aim to balance blood sugar and decrease sugar craving, as described below:

1) Substitution – yes, we need to eventually quit eating so much sugar. To satisfy cravings in the initial phase of a diet modification, however, I would often recommend Stevia, a plant with very sweet leaves. The trick is, these leaves contain plant sugar that cannot, and will not be absorbed by human body. Therefore, eating it will not affect your blood sugar. What a perfect cheat in nature! Side note: a small amount is sufficient; putting too much will create a bitter taste.

2) Gymnema Sylverstre – this is an herb based in India, called “sugar destroyer” by locals. One research study involved chewing the leaves of Gymnema, and eating sweets afterwards.Amazingly, the subjects could not taste the sweetness, and even had an aversion to sweets.Later studies also demonstrated the potential of Gymnema in balancing blood sugar, thus minimizing cravings. This is my Ace and patient-favorite in craving control.

3) Chromium and Zinc – chromium is a mineral touted as one of the most essential elements of glucose tolerance factor, a complex that maintains the shape of insulin molecules, enabling insulin to effectively transport blood glucose. Zinc is a versatile mineral with many roles in the body. Its role in sugar metabolism is increasing the sensitivity/ response of insulin to blood sugar, making transport of blood sugar more efficient.

4) Vitamin B Complex – To effectively metabolize sugar to be used as energy, vitamin B complex plays an important role in the metabolic pathways breaking down sugar into energy. With the excess sugar intake in our modern society, Vitamin B can deplete quickly, and supplementing with Vitamin B complex can be helpful in sugar metabolism.

5) Gradualism – Be aware of your sugar intake by taking a diet diary, and make goals to reduce or replace sugar. For example, if you find out that you drink 4 cans of soda this week, make a goal to reduce that to 3 cans next week. Trying to quit cold turkey won’t work.

6) Beware of foods other than sugar that raise blood sugar too quickly – Carbohydrates, like pasta, bread, and white potato, can cause blood sugar spikes as well, triggering sugar cravings. Choosing foods that contain a lower glycemic index (a number assigned to each food based on the speed of the food being converted to blood sugar, compared to sugar or white bread, which is assigned with the number 100. The higher the number, the more easily it causes blood sugar spikes) is critical. If the majority of our diets contain foods with low glycemic index, such as vegetables, sugar cravings will disappear. The glycemic index chart can be found on the internet. Or, shoot me an e-mail and I will send you one.

Just by implementing some or most of the strategies indicated here, you are almost guaranteed a safe and effective path to eliminating sugar cravings and creating a healthier you! I wish you success.