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Disarm Your Diagnosis

disarm your diagnosis

Consider the power of the mind. Deep reflection and self awareness may help you to realize how severely limiting, constricting, debilitating, and self-sabotaging your thoughts can be.

If impressed upon you that there was something different about your body that causes it to function sub-optimally, you might for the rest of your life, believe deeply within yourself that you are a victim. You might install a deep seeded belief or value that it is more difficult for you to do something than it is for others. As you age, you may even begin to introduce yourself to others shortly followed by, “I have __________.” Insert any condition here including and not limited to: ADHD, fibromyalgia, arthritis, introvert/extrovert, obsession compulsion, sciatica, depression, flat feet, bad knees, anxiety, IBS, etc. (This list could go on for days.) Each time you say this out loud to others or quietly to yourself this ailment becomes your own. You are assigning ownership to the condition and reinforcing it in your life both consciously and subconsciously. You begin to own this sickness as if it is an accessory or even a pet. Each time it burrows deeper within your being. As time goes by, the condition you are reinforcing becomes so real. It is now a part of you that you may even consider inseparable. The more power that you grant this condition over you, the more limiting it will be in your life.
You can start to “disarm your diagnosis” right now by simply changing how you think about your condition. No longer give it power over you. No longer give it ownership by saying the words: “my bad knees” or “my migraines” etc. Rather, discuss the condition or the symptoms in a way that lessens the ownership. For instance, “Even though I have these terrible headaches, this does not define me as a person.” Or, “Even though I feel discomfort in my knees, this does not limit the activities that I can do in life.” Right away this distances you from the problem. It separates you as a person who has the full capacity to heal and feel well. Keep at it every day, especially if you have already taken ownership to a condition for years. It sounds stupid simple, I know. But I have experienced the improvements within myself and witnessed the life changing progress in others.
Want to take it one step further? You can actually tap into your meridians and remove negative blockages in your body’s energy system with Emotional Freedom Tapping Technique (EFT tapping). This practice, along with the changing and reshaping of your thoughts in relation to the problem at hand, can provide phenomenal improvement in many different areas of your life.

Think well to feel well,

Kelly Baltuska, DC


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Do you even Smoothie?

 

One of many healthy habits that I developed while studying as a Chiropractic student is drinking a homemade smoothie every day. I typically enjoy it as breakfast or as a post-workout recovery drink and occasionally as an afternoon pick-me-up. Here I am 3 years into private practice and I continue the healthy habit daily. Just like Chiropractic adjustments, once you FEEL the difference in your body, it is much easier to continue regularly and make it a priority in your life.
Here are some tips for beginners and new recommendations for the smoothie professional. If you get in the habit of making smoothies every day, definitely use a high-powered blender.
1: Start by choosing one liquid: Water, cold coffee, cold brewed teas, Kefir, coconut water, coconut milk, almond milk, fresh homemade juices, etc. Avoid all of the conventional store-bought juices because it is mainly processed sugar and will make you sicker, not healthier. Read my blog about Kefir at this link and Read my blog about coffee at this link.
2: Add some fruits: bananas, oranges, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, kiwi, berries, cherries, melons, peaches, nectarines, apricots, mango, apples, pears, dates, etc.
3: Add some vegetables: Spinach, kale, cucumber, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, radishes, bell peppers, celery, carrots, etc.
4: Add some extras:
• Raw, free range, farm fresh, organic chicken eggs Mother Nature’s perfect protein. The acquired taste and feel can be easily masked with other smoothie ingredients. As long as they are free range, farm fresh and organic, the risk of food borne illness is negligible.
• Green Superfood powders These are processed but I think we can overlook this in trade for the ability to add exotic superfoods that you would otherwise not have access to such as acai, mangosteen, goji berry, etc. I recommend Pro Alpha Nutrition.
• Protein Powder will help nutritionally balance the smoothie similar to that of a meal. Avoid those with aspartame. There are many different flavors and vanilla blends right in with the taste of most fruits.
• Wheat & Barley Grass Powders are powerful sources of chlorophyll (which is known for balancing blood pH levels) and are known as a “complete food source”, containing vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, and antioxidants.
• Chlorella & Spirulina are amazing sources of almost every vitamin and are 70% protein by weight. They will also turn your smoothie really green!
• Chia & Flax Seeds are both good sources of omega-3 fatty acids and are nutrient rich.
• Herbs and Spices: Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, mint, basil, cilantro mint, cayenne pepper, ginger, etc.
• Avocado and Coconut oil These are my favorite way to include healthy fats in my diet. They also blend into a deliciously creamy textured smoothie. Read my blog about healthy fats at this link.

Other tips for a great smoothie:
Ingredients to Add for Better Creamy Texture
• Nut Butters: (peanut, almond, or seed butter)
• Avocado
• Cooked Oatmeal
• Greek Yogurt
• Home made Kefir
• Coconut Oil
Ditch the ice and freeze some fruits. Want your smoothie to be a bit chilly? Freeze your favorite fruits. This is also a great way to not waste ripe fruits (like those brown bananas on your counter). You can also freeze your leafy greens in a freezer-safe bag. You can save a step by freezing your fruits as opposed to adding ice.
Use Mother Nature’s natural sweeteners. Avoid artificial sweeteners and processed sugars. Add naturally sweet fruits like bananas, mango, apples, pears, dates, berries, cherries, melons, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and winter squash.

The daily smoothie is a great way to catch up on your fruit and veggie intake as well as close the nutritional gap with powerhouse superfoods! Read my blog on superfoods at this link.

Cheers to good health!

Kelly Baltuska, DC


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Get your shots every day! (of apple cider vinegar)

Apple Cider Vinegar

Another simple addition to your self care arsenal is Apple Cider Vinegar.

Drink one to two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar at a time, one to three times a day, mixed in a small glass of water. It is recommended before meals or in the morning, but I enjoy it whenever I can remember to.

Apple Cider Vinegar at a glance:

  • Rich in enzymes & potassium
  • Support a healthy immune system
  • Help control weight
  • Promote digestion & pH balance
  • Soothe dry throat
  • Remove body toxins
  • Maintain healthy skin
  • Promote youthful health
  • Soothe irritated skin
  • Relieve muscle pain post exercise

 

As reported in the Journal of Food Science

“Functional therapeutic properties of vinegar… include antibacterial activity, blood pressure reduction, antioxidant activity, reduction in the effects of diabetes, prevention of cardiovascular disease, and increased vigor after exercise.”

13 Therapeutic Effects of Apple Cider Vinegar

  1. Antimicrobial Properties

The organic acids in vinegar pass into cell membranes to kill bacteria. Foods fermented with vinegar have a natural arsenal of antimicrobial organic acids.

  1. Antioxidant Effects

Antioxidants are a class of molecules that are capable of inhibiting the oxidation of another molecule. Antioxidants play a significant role in your health, as they can control how fast you age by fighting free radicals that result in oxidative stress. Polyphenols and vitamins in many different types of vinegar help ward off oxidative stress due to their potent antioxidant properties.

  1. Anti-Diabetic Effects

Vinegar is said to be anti-glycemic and has a beneficial effect on blood sugar levels making it a good choice for everyone and especially diabetics.

  1. Cancer fighting

The antioxidant content of vinegar may make it useful against cancer, showing particular promise for reducing cancer risk. It has been found to inhibit the growth of a variety of cancer cells, including colon, lung, breast, bladder, and prostate. In lab studies, it has been shown to inhibit the growth of leukemia cells.

  1. Weight Loss

Vinegar may help you lose weight, as it appears to have an anti-obesity effect by increasing satiety and reducing the total amount of food consumed. For instance, when volunteers consumed two tablespoons of vinegar daily for four weeks they lost weight, while those who consumed the same amount of fruit juice gained it. I personally think the taste of the AVC is so wicked strong, that it simply makes me lose my appetite.

  1. Heart Health

As explained in the Journal of Food Science: “Polyphenols such as chlorogenic acid, which is present in high levels in apple cider vinegar, could inhibit oxidation of LDLs and improve health by preventing cardiovascular diseases.” It also appears to help lower blood pressure.

  1. Heartburn and Acid Reflux

Acid reflux typically results from having too little acid in your stomach. You can easily improve the acid content of your stomach by taking one tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water daily.

  1. Injuries, exercise recovery

“Mother” of vinegar, a cobweb-like amino acid-based substance found in unprocessed, unfiltered vinegar, has antibacterial properties that may help to heal burn injuries. The intake of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) may also help to reduce muscle damage caused by inflammation after exercise.

  1. Brain Health

It’s been suggested that vinegar consumption might improve cognitive function in humans, and research shows that acetic acid bacteria produce precursors of important building blocks of brain tissues called sphingolipids.

  1. Increased Nutrient Absorption

Vinegar is high in acetic acid which can increase your body’s absorption of important minerals from the foods you eat. Therefore, it is possible that drinking ACV just before meals might improve your body’s ability to absorb the essential minerals locked in foods. Or, adding vinegar to your salad dressing might help you absorb more nutrients from your leafy greens.

  1. Balance PH levels

Apple cider vinegar helps the body maintain a healthy alkaline pH level. Research shows that higher acid levels (lower pH level) leads to a lack of energy and higher incidences of infection. Sip some ACV few times a day for a natural boost of energy instead of energy drinks.

  1. Great for your lymphatic system.

This miracle vinegar helps to break up mucous throughout the body and cleanse the lymph nodes. Research suggests that apple cider vinegar can help with allergies because of its ability to reduce mucous and sinus congestion. When reducing the effects of allergies, it can also help stave off sinus infections and their related symptoms, such as sore throats and headaches.

  1. Get rid of candida.

This vinegar is rich in natural enzymes that can help rid your body of candida—yeasts that are attributed to thrush in humans. Candida also is blamed for creating symptoms of fatigue, poor memory, sugar cravings, and yeast infections.

Get the one with ‘the floaties’

When purchasing an apple cider vinegar, you want organic, unfiltered, unprocessed apple cider vinegar, which is murky and brown. We use “Braggs with the Mother” brand at home.

When you try to look through it, you will notice a murky hairball-like substance floating in it. This is known as “mother,” and it indicates your vinegar is of good quality. The reason manufacturers distill vinegar is to remove the gnarly appearance that creeps people out. As with many foods, the more processed a food is, the less nutritious, and this holds true for apple cider vinegar.

Cheers to good health,

Kelly Baltuska, DC

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Get fat! The truth about fatty food and nutrition.

Time fatOne of the most detrimental misconceptions over the past 40 years is that “fatty foods are unhealthy”. All types of advertising, food labels, and even licensed nutritionists have been recommending foods that are “fat free” or “low fat” and attribute the fat in our diets with poor cholesterol levels, heart disease, and obesity. Only in the past decade have the mainstream health advocates begun to reveal the truth about fat. Research is pouring in about our body’s requirement for fat in order to function properly.

The truth is, fats provide the building blocks for your cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances. Fats also serve as carriers for the vitamins A, D, E, and K and are required for converting carotene into vitamin A, absorbing minerals, and a variety of other important biological processes. Saturated fat is actually the preferred fuel for your heart. Imagine the consequences of denying your body this essential nutrient!
Good sources of healthy fats to add to your diet include:
• Avocado
• coconut oil
• nuts and seeds
• raw dairy
• real butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk
• organic pastured egg yolks
• grass-fed meats
If you have been avoiding fats for a long time, you may have developed a “sweet tooth” and often crave sugar, soda pop and other soft drinks, candy, fruits, pastries and cakes. This feeling is likely your body signaling to you that you have not been eating enough fat. Many times my patients are able to help remedy their sugar addiction by introducing healthy fats back into their diet.

(While on the topic of sugar addiction it is also important to regularly

consume probiotics and avoid wheat products.)

Types of fats:
Saturated fats: Saturated fats are found in animal products such as butter, cheese, whole milk, cream, ice cream, and fatty meats. They are also found in some tropical plants and vegetable oils such as coconut, palm and palm kernel. (See the list above for my favorite saturated fats in foods.)
Monounsaturated fats: Most commonly from Olive and Canola oil. Olive oil is considered the healthier oil because of the nutrients it contains. Extra virgin olive oil contains antioxidants, polyphenols and omega-3 fatty acids with can promote cardiovascular health and cognitive function as well as boosting your immune system and protecting you from many types of cancer and even prevent or reverse type 2 diabetes. Olive oil even has anti-inflammatory properties, and can be of immense benefit to those with inflammatory diseases like arthritis and osteoporosis. In a speech by one of KC’s best preventative cardiologists, James O’keefe, MD, he said “my family goes through olive oil like your family goes through milk”.
Trans fats: Avoid at all costs! These fats form when vegetable oil hardens; a process called hydrogenation, and can raise LDL (bad cholesterol) levels, and lower HDL (good cholesterol) levels, which of course is the complete opposite of what you need in order to maintain good heart health. In fact, trans fats — as opposed to saturated fats — have been linked repeatedly to heart disease. These fatty acids can also cause major clogging of your arteries, type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems. Be warned! The discovery of the serious health consequences of consuming trans fats has led to the requirements to label it on food sold in stores and restaurants. One loop hole that food companies have found is that if the serving size is small enough, then they don’t have to label “trans fat” on the product. This stinks because we end up doing the same damage by consuming multiple servings of the smaller product. Another name for trans fats to avoid on the food label is “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil”.
Most people poison themselves with trans fats by eating fast food, snack food, fried food, and baked goods. The food industry uses trans fats in these foods for many reasons like increasing product shelf life, decreasing refrigeration requirements and replacing animal fats at lower cost.

(Another important topic in nutrition of fats is the

omega-6 fatty acid to the omega-3 fatty acid ratio.)

Don’t be scared of fat anymore. We had it all wrong and many have suffered because of the misinformation.

Kelly Baltuska, DC


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Healthy Cup of Coffee

coffeeIt is easy to go back and forth with the dangers vs. the benefits of coffee consumption. By sticking to a few key practices, you can be sure that you are avoiding the dangers while reaping the benefits. As with many things, moderation is important. Always avoid more than 3 cups in a day.
Coffee lowers your blood glucose level and increases the metabolic activity and quantity of healthy bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. Fresh coffee from organic, whole beans that are pesticide-free can help keep your brain and muscle tissue young. Drink it black! Adding milk, creamer and sugar (as the popular commercialized convenient stores do) counterbalances all of the wonderful health benefits and value you receive from coffee. Choose organic coffee! Conventional coffee farms use unwanted pesticides. Time it just right! Consume coffee in moderation prior to exercising in order to maximize health benefits. Dark roast coffee beans are richer in beneficial compounds and lower in caffeine than lighter roasts. Grind your own whole beans at home to be sure it is fresh. The already ground up coffee is likely rancid by the time you get it home. Do not use the bleached white coffee filters because they leach poisonous compounds like chlorine and dioxin into your brew.
Some of the more recent research supports the benefits of coffee consumption in areas including:
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Parkinson’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Prostate, Liver, Kidney and Colorectal Cancers
• Heart Rhythm Problems
• Pulmonary Function
• Stroke
• Gastrointestinal Flora
Pregnant mothers should continue to avoid coffee to prevent the increased caffeine from harming the baby during development. Caffeine is a diuretic that may cause dehydration and depletion of certain vitamins and minerals in the body. Be sure to be drinking plenty of water every day and eat a well rounded, whole foods diet. Those with adrenal function problems or struggling with anxiety should avoid caffeine.
The perfect time to grab a cup of Jo is 30 minutes to 1 hour before you exercise. This boosts your metabolism by 20% and gives you a powerful kick-start to your workout and allows you to push harder than you would without the coffee. This practice has also been shown to decrease your post exercise muscle soreness so that you are not so uncomfortable after a strenuous workout and you can stick to your routine. Avoid the Java after the workout because it interferes with your body’s recovery.

Grab a cup of ‘Go Juice’ and then try a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout.

Cheers!


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Certified Medical Examiner for DOT Physical Exams in Lenexa, KS Dr. Kelly Baltuska, DC, CME

DOT & CDL Physical Exams for 5 at Baltuska Chiropractic 

Call 913-283-9803 OR

Schedule Your Own Appointment Online Now Below:


ATTENTION COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVERS

Interstate commercial vehicle (CMV) drivers can no longer get a valid medical certificate from just any healthcare provider. Instead, CMV driver examinations can only be completed by Certified Medical Examiners (CMEs) listed on FMCSA’s National Registry.

In preparation for your exam, please bring your driver’s license, an up to date list of your medications, and be prepared to provide a urine sample. (This is not a drug test) Your exam will take approximately 20 minutes. If you get the chance, you can print and begin filling out the first 2 pages of your intake paperwork using this link.

Call 913-283-9803 to schedule your DOT Exam in Lenexa, KS.

Dr. Kelly Baltuska, DC, CME

CME DOT ExamDr. Kelly Baltuska, DC Lenexa Chiropractor

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You Should Hire a Personal Trainer

Be Fit For Life•Motivation – That New Year’s resolution of yours may have been amped you up for a week or two, but motivation does not last, that is why Zig Ziglar recommendeds it daily. Personal trainers wear many hats, serving not only as coach, but as an educator, confidant, role model and a major source of motivation and encouragement as well.
• Consistency/Accountability – Get it on your schedule! Don’t squeeze time for your workout! Instead, increase the priority of your workout. Scheduling regular appointments with a personal trainer helps eliminate any excuses you might come up with for not exercising. There are SO MANY excuses and they all are ‘weak sauce’ when your trainer is waiting for you to arrive.
• Safety – Many of the exercise machines and equipment at the gym look more like medieval torture devices and you can get a much safer and well rounded workout with free weights or body weight exercises. A personal trainer will show you how to exercise safely and warn you which exercises to avoid.
• Diversity in Routines – I know you’re doing the same routine every week on your own. This is why you’re bored with it and you are not feeling and seeing desired results. Switching up your workout routine is paramount to delivering optimum results. Your trainer will not let you down here. There will always be a new and fun exercise to try. You will experience “Muscle Confusion” and you will love it.
• Effective Workouts – Efficient utilization of your valuable time is crucial. I know people who hang out at the gym for 3+ hours and have little to show for it. Personal trainers help maximize your time by providing workouts designed to meet your goals quickly and efficiently. One of my favorite exercise protocols is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and it only calls for 20 minutes of your time, 3 days a week.
• Supervision – Poor form bro, poor form! You are doing that exercise wrong and it hurts me to watch you keep doing it that way. Continually exercising in bad form will definitely lead to injury and put a huge setback on your goals and your health. Personal attention from your trainer will ensure your safety and keep you from making a fool of yourself. Your trainer will observe, assist and, if necessary, correct as needed.
• Sports-specific Training – Many amateur and professional athletes work with a personal trainer during the off-season to prepare themselves for in-season competition. Whether you want to shave some strokes off your golf score, shorten your race time, or win the wrestling championship, a personal trainer can tailor your program to your sport of choice.
• Injury Rehabilitation – Injuries and accidents can prevent you from participating in your favorite activities. An experienced personal trainer, however, can make the road to recovery a smooth one by recommending exercises that emphasize overall muscular balance to prevent future injuries. Training can also make sure that you don’t lose too much of your progress while healing from an injury.
• Special-needs Training – Research confirms that individuals with health challenges such as diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis or heart disease benefit greatly from regular physical activity. These conditions, however, can make exercising safely a challenge. Many personal trainers are experienced in designing programs that address the special needs of these and other conditions.
• Surround Yourself with Success –If none of your friends or family has made fitness a priority, then this is going to drag you down. Your trainer wants you to look and feel great so that you can refer your de-conditioned friends in for more business. Ask your trainer for tips and advice because they also overcame many challenges to get fit.

I recommend Chad Austin Fitness for all of your Personal Training needs.
Join us on our Meetup Group to get notifications for our free group workouts.


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Chemical Birth Control Dangers & Alternatives

NFP
Did you know that an estimated 150 million women worldwide take birth control pills?
Such widespread use of birth control pills worries me because many women are not aware of the serious health implications of these drugs. I understand that birth control pills are often prescribed for reasons other than birth control such as to address unwanted symptoms (like cramping, spotting, irregular periods and acne) instead of naturally addressing the underlying causes of these symptoms. Much like other prescribed medications, this masks the problem and allows it to become much worse. Many women do not consider the dangerous consequences and side effects of these synthetic hormones and take them for years only to strongly regret having done so later on. Some women even take additional medications to combat the side effects they are suffering from by taking birth control!
Birth Control: Synthetic Hormones
First, let’s understand how birth control pills work in your body.
Typically, your body ovulates once a month, ripening a new egg that will then journey down a fallopian tube. Eventually it reaches the uterus, where it would implant, if fertilized.
If not fertilized by a sperm, then the lining of the uterus that had built up in preparation for the fertilized egg is unnecessary. Both egg and uterine lining leave your body, cleansing your system and preparing for a new month.
When you take birth control pills, you impose unnatural and synthetic hormones on your natural cycle.
Many birth control pills contain high levels of estrogen that swindle your pituitary gland into believing you are pregnant and that you don’t need to ovulate. This explains some of the side effects of the drugs. Because your body thinks you are pregnant, the uterine lining thickens. Once you start the placebo pills, however, your estrogen level drops suddenly, and your body menstruates “normally.” This abnormal cycle is not what Mother Nature intended and is what millions of women experience every month, and yet few doctors discuss the consequences of taking these prescriptions for years.
Real Risks
Here is an overview of the reported risks and side effects of birth control pills. Some physical and emotional changes take place that are permanent while you stay on the pill. Many of these changes occur as your body’s response to synthetic estrogen.
These changes include:

• Weight gain or loss
• Slight nausea
• Reduced or increased acne
• Larger breasts
• Emotional sensitivity right before your period
• Mood swings throughout your cycle
• Irregular bleeding or spotting
• Breast tenderness
• Loss of sexual function
• Nausea
• Fluid retention
• Increased blood pressure
• Decreased libido
The above side effects might be enough to deter some women from taking birth control, but many women are just not aware of them, while others justify the side effects because the pill is so convenient.
But imagine taking your birth control pill, feeling depressed and then taking an antidepressant to handle your mood swings and hypersensitivity. Adding an antidepressant could then contribute to an even longer and nastier list of side effects which might cause you to seek yet another medicine for. What a goose chase!
And even scarier than the “mild” side effects are the serious health risks that accompany birth control pills. These include:
• Increased risk of cervical and breast cancers
• Increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• Migraines
• Higher blood pressure
• Gall bladder disease
• Infertility
• Benign liver tumors
• Decreased bone density
• Yeast overgrowth and infection
• Increased risk of blood clotting
Cancer, heart disease, stroke and infertility! Surely these side effects make birth control pills a less than desirable option for contraception. And now that heart disease has become the leading cause of death among women, one has to wonder if there is a connection between the widespread and long-term use of oral contraceptives, which debuted in 1960… just as the first of the baby boomers were entering their teens.
Another commonly misunderstood side effect of birth control is that regular use destroys the beneficial bacteria in your intestines, much like an antibiotic, making you more susceptible to yeast overgrowth, lower immunity and infection. After years and years of taking birth control pills and creating an imbalanced inner ecosystem with an overgrowth of bad bacteria and yeast, it is no wonder that women are at greater risk for infections as well as chronic diseases like cancer.

While many drugs do provide some benefit in certain situations, birth control pills are rarely, if ever, necessary. In exchange for the convenience of preventing pregnancy—which you can do naturally just as well—you are putting yourself at risk for a barrage of serious health problems.

So either I launch chemical warfare on my body with the birth control pill, or I raise 12 children. These are my two options? What are some natural alternatives?
Fertility awareness is a collection of methods using your body’s natural and normal functioning to determine the days of the month you are most likely to get pregnant. It is also called Natural Family Planning (NFP), the Sympto-Thermal Method, the Ovulation Method, or the Billings Method.
Fertility awareness or Natural Family Planning is a method of birth control that does not use any drugs or devices. It combines the calendar/rhythm method, the basal body temperature method, and the cervical mucus method. You can study how your body works as a means of preventing pregnancy as well as targeting the most fertile time for getting pregnant.
How does fertility awareness work?
The calendar; basal body temperature; and cervical mucus methods are combined to give you the awareness of when your body is most fertile. As you become familiar with your body’s ovulation and fertile periods, it provides you the opportunity and choice to continue or abstain from sexual intercourse during that time. This is such a wonderful, natural and safe alternative to taking medication for birth control. In reality, our body gives us many signals of how it is performing at any given time. By studying these signals, you are studying yourself and gaining powerful insight into your health and how your body functions. You can even find healthcare practitioners who are able to interpret your body signals and treat accordingly for powerful results.

Please visit these websites to find out more about Natural Family Planning. If you are in the Lenexa, Kansas area, visit this first link to find a teacher at Holy Trinity:
http://htlenexa.org/natural-family-planning
http://www.archkck.org/nfp-instructors-and-providers
http://www.creightonmodel.com/
http://www.nfpandmore.org/

Choose health,

Kelly Baltuska, DC


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High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) with Dr. Kelly Baltuska, DC

HIITWhether you are a beginner or an expert in exercise, I’d like you to take a minute to review and consider trying High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This has been shown to provide the most well rounded health benefits in the shortest amount of time. HIIT workouts are considerably shorter than most workouts and involve as little as four minutes of intense activity combined with rest for a total workout of only around 20 minutes. Because HIIT is so intense, you should only do it two to three times a week, making it a workout that even the busiest and most ‘time-crunched’ individuals can fit in their schedules. Use the other days of the week to round off your exercise program with core work, strength training, stretching, etc.

To achieve all of the wonderful benefits of HIIT, follow these time parameters:
• Warm up for three minutes (fast walk, jog, jump-rope, treadmill, jumping jacks, butt kicks, etc.)
• Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should be gasping for breath and feel like you couldn’t possibly go on another few seconds. It is better to use lower resistance and higher repetitions to increase your heart rate. (sprint, climbing stairs, jump squats, mountain climbers, burpees, plank to pushups, etc.)
• Recover for 90 seconds, still moving, but at slower pace and decreased resistance (similar to warm up exercises)
• Repeat the high-intensity exercise and recovery 7 more times. (When you’re first starting out, depending on your level of fitness, you may only be able to do two or three repetitions of the high-intensity intervals. As you get fitter, just keep adding repetitions until you’re doing eight during your 20-minute session)
I recommend HIIT as a key strategy for improving your health, boosting weight and fat loss, promoting Human Growth Hormone production, and improving strength and stamina.

*The types of exercises that you choose to program your HIIT with can vary greatly and are by no means limited to the examples shared here. The possibilities are endless!

Some of the many benefits of HIIT
Studies show that 27 minutes of HIIT 3X/week produces the same anaerobic and aerobic improvement as 60 minutes of cardio 5X/week!
Stimulates muscle tissue at a cellular level, changing mitochondrial activity in the muscles
Reduction of visceral and total body fat
Boost your aerobic power
Improve your heart health
Improve insulin sensitivity
Another study found that unfit but otherwise healthy middle-aged adults were able to improve their insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation after just two weeks of interval training.
A follow-up study also found that interval training positively impacted insulin sensitivity. In fact, the study involved people with full-blown type 2 diabetes, and just ONE interval training session was able to improve blood sugar regulation for the next 24 hours!

Life is motion. Exercise offers too many health benefits to pass up.

Kelly Baltuska, DC


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Raw, Organic, Unpasteurized Milk

raw milk

Pasteurization was originally utilized with milk to allow the farmers to safely store and ship the milk for longer periods before it makes it to the belly of a consumer. Now we understand that the fresher the food is when we consume it, the healthier it is for us. So the health conscious consumer no longer wants their milk to be pasteurized and shipped and stored for extended periods before drinking it. We understand that by this time, the milk no longer contains any of the vital and important nutrients that it originally had.
If you have been up to date on your research in the health realm, you already understand that dairy consumption is associated with many nasty problems from allergies and congestion to cancer. The widely popular book “The China Study” is one of the most comprehensive studies on nutrition ever conducted and warns us to stop consuming dairy products altogether. Unfortunately this study does not take into consideration that most, if not all of the information gathered about dairy consumption was nutrient depleted, pasteurized and processed diary. We altered Mother Nature’s product before consuming. This seems to be the trend as we discover that the foods are much better left the way we found them. For example, the gargantuan problem that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) has been causing. As more families start to become more health conscious and purchase local, raw, unpasteurized milk, I foresee more research to surface of the many wonderful health benefits that this will provide.

Whats wrong with my milk?

Heat from the pasteurization process alters milk’s amino acids lysine and tyrosine, making the whole complex of proteins less available; it promotes rancidity of unsaturated fatty acids and destruction of vitamins. Vitamin C loss in pasteurization usually exceeds 50%; loss of other water-soluble vitamins can run as high as 80%.Pasteurization alters milk’s mineral components such as calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur as well as many trace minerals, making them less available. There is some evidence that pasteurization alters lactose, making it more readily absorbable. This, and the fact that pasteurized milk puts an unnecessary strain on the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes, may explain why milk consumption in civilized societies has been linked with diabetes.
Raw milk contains lactic-acid-producing bacteria that protect against pathogens. Pasteurization destroys these helpful organisms; leaving the finished product devoid of any protective mechanism should undesirable bacteria inadvertently contaminate the supply. Raw milk in time turns pleasantly sour while pasteurized milk, lacking beneficial bacteria, will putrefy.
The natural occurring enzymes in milk are also destroyed with pasteurization. These enzymes help the body assimilate all bodybuilding factors, including calcium. That is why those who drink pasteurized milk may suffer from osteoporosis. Lipase in raw milk helps the body digest and utilize fat. After pasteurization, chemicals may be added to suppress odor and restore taste. Synthetic vitamin D2 or D3 is added — the former is toxic and has been linked to heart disease while the latter is difficult to absorb. The final indignity is homogenization which has also been linked to heart disease.
High-quality raw milk has a mountain of health benefits that pasteurized milk lacks. Raw milk has earned its title of being a superfood because of these reasons:

Whats right with raw milk?

• Loaded with vitamins (A, B, C, D, E, and K) in highly bioavailable forms, and a very balanced blend of minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron) whose absorption is enhanced by live lactobacilli
• Loaded with healthy bacteria that are good for your gastrointestinal tract
• Full of more than 60 digestive enzymes, growth factors, and immunoglobulins
• Rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which fights cancer and boosts metabolism
• Rich in beneficial raw fats, amino acids, and proteins in a highly bioavailable form, all 100 percent digestible

It is not uncommon for people who switch from drinking pasteurized to raw milk to experience improvement or complete resolution of troubling health issues—everything from allergies to digestive problems to eczema. When milk is pasteurized, fats are oxidized, proteins denatured and most enzymes are completely destroyed, resulting in a ‘food’ that may be more harmful than beneficial to our health.
Additionally, the bacteria killed by pasteurization are not removed, so their dead cell fragments remain in the milk to ignite immune reactions in those who ingest them, which is one major cause of milk allergies. Often the ‘milk allergy’ is not to the milk itself, but to the post-pasteurization cell fragments it contains.
For more information on the problems of pasteurization, the benefits of raw milk, and where to find your own supply, visit the following websites:
https://www.gasperfarm.com/
http://www.realmilk.com/real-milk-finder/
http://rawmilk.mercola.com/


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