Welcome

Posted on January 6, 2011 by kumahealthcare

Welcome to our website.  Our intention is to provide a safe and informative oasis to share knowledge and celebrate wellness.  Please feel free to join us, and make sure to click on the Contact page and let us know what we can do to make the site more valuable to you.

Dr. Barb, Jim and Kuma

Kuma Health Care

(708) 352-1000

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Feed the Hungry

Posted on December 5, 2011 by kumahealthcare

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Yoga and Weight Loss

Posted on August 25, 2011 by kumahealthcare

One of the easiest things we can do to help control our eating and help to loose weight is to chew each bite of food slowly and completely.  This accomplishes two important things.  First, the saliva starts the breakdown and digestion of the food in the mouth, and second, this will give our stomach more time to tell our brain “I’m Full!” so we don’t overeat.

The following is a really interesting article about how yoga helps us focus on the “mindful eating”.

Yoga and Weight Loss

By Margaret Furtado, M.S., R.D.

Yoga… it means union of mind and body, and you probably know what sets it apart from stretching or calisthenics: the deep and distinct connection with your breath. Did you know, though, that even gentle yoga can help with weight loss?

Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center showed that regular yoga practice helped:

  • prevent middle-age spread in people of healthy weight
  • promote weight loss in those who were overweight

The researchers first developed a questionnaire or feedback form, which determined how mindful and focused each participant was while eating. By filling out the questionnaire, participants could see when they were eating while distracted, eating despite already being full, or using food to mask emotional distress.

All the participants were physically active, following regimens that included walking for at least 90 minutes per week, and one group regularly practiced yoga.

Simply put, what the scientists found was that a consistent yoga practice was strongly associated with mindful eating. In fact, the study found that yoga–regardless of whether it was practiced vigorously or not–was the only physical activity consistently associated with attentive eating.

So what’s so great about mindful eating, you ask? The researchers explained that the people who ate mindfully were aware of why they were eating and were thus more apt to stop eating when they were full; that is, focused eaters tended to eat because they were hungry and not because they were trying to mask anxiety or depression. The yoga participants also weighed less, had lower body mass indexes, and were less likely to be obese than were the subjects who were not as mindful while eating. (In fact, the lower a participant’s BMI was, the higher was his or her awareness rating on the questionnaire.)

If you’re eating mindfully, chances are you’re eating more slowly. And if you’re eating slowly and paying attention to what you’re doing, you’re going to be more apt to notice when you’re feeling full–your brain gets the stomach’s signal of fullness more promptly when you’re paying attention.

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Ketosis Diets For Weight Loss And Other Health Benefits

Posted on July 25, 2011 by kumahealthcare

For all the hundreds of weight loss plans and diets available, there are only a handful of actual theories that all these plans have sprung from.
In the 90s, the low carb/high fat or ketogenic diet was popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins, although we know that this diet was in use at least as far back as 1800 for the treatment of diabetes.
What makes this diet so effective is it helps the body to burn existing fat and also contributes other health benefits.
Currently there are many popular ketosis diets including the South Beach Diet, the Zone Diet, the Earth Diet, and our personal favorite – the Ultra-Lite Diet.
This article gives a good summary of Ketosis. As with any significant dietary change, you should not try this without consulting your healthcare practitioner.

Ketosis Diets For Weight Loss And Other Health Benefits

By Kristjan Gunnarsson

Ketosis diets are sometimes called ketogenic diets or very low-carb diets. Ketosis is a biochemical phenomenon which occurs during starvation or extreme carbohydrate restriction, but the word is not supposed to be confused with ketoacidosis, which is something that happens to diabetics when their blood sugar goes out of control.

Ketoacidosis is dangerous, but only happens to diabetics. Ketosis is a natural phenomenon that is in no way dangerous and has some miraculous health benefits. Some people like to think that Ketosis is in some way harmful, but they are confusing these two terms.

Ketosis diets have been used in the past for controlling epileptic seizures in children who haven’t responded to any sort of medication. These diets were in common use for this purpose earlier in the 20th century. Interest in this diet plan has been reestablished for diseases such as brain cancer, obesity, diabetes and many, many more.

Ketosis Diets and Obesity

Low-carb, ketogenic diets have been studied and well documented with regards to obesity, and participants usually notice an appetite suppressant effect. When researchers compare low-fat to low-carb diets, they need to actively restrict calories in the low-fat group in order to achieve comparable results.

Low-carb diets are often high in saturated fat, but are still able to improve biomarkers such as HDL cholesterol, insulin resistance, triglyceride levels, and have a positive effect on LDL cholesterol patterns, changing them to large, fluffy type (good) instead of small, dense type (bad).

There are often claims about ketogenic diets being restrictive, but in many studies the people following those diets have a higher chance of completing the studies than the comparison groups (usually low-fat/high-carb diets).

Conclusion

There are many other diseases that may massively benefit from ketosis diets, and it is strange that these kinds of diets are not more often used for therapeutic purposes. The side effects of drugs, which are often not that effective, are most certainly a lot worse than the mild side effects and minor nuances of following a restricted diet.

Kris Health Blog at http://www.kriskris.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristjan_Gunnarsson

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Manual Therapy Best Alternative Treatment for Neck Pain Relief

Posted on June 16, 2011 by kumahealthcare

NEW YORK (MedscapeWire) May 29 — Fueling the raging debate over which alternative care is best for pain, results of a randomized, controlled trial reported in the May 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine suggest that manual therapy is better than physical therapy or continued general practitioner care at relieving symptoms by 7-week follow-up.

“Although differences were not particularly large for all outcome measures, manual therapy seems to be a favorable treatment option for patients with neck pain,” write Jan Lucas Hoving, PT, PhD, from Monash University in Victoria, Australia, and colleagues.

This study followed 183 outpatients, aged 18 to 70 years, who had nonspecific neck pain for at least 2 weeks. Treatment groups consisted of 6 weeks of manual therapy once per week, physical therapy (exercise therapy) twice weekly, or continued care by a general practitioner including analgesics, counseling, and education.

A specially trained physical therapist performed the manual therapy, which involved spinal mobilization with low velocity at the limit of joint range of motion. It did not include spinal manipulation with low amplitude, high velocity thrusts. Patients in all groups were allowed to take analgesics.

After completion of treatment, success rates were 68.3% for manual therapy, 50.8% for physical therapy, and 35.9% for continued care. Reduction in pain intensity and most other outcome measures, such as patient-perceived recovery and functional disability, were significantly better with manual therapy than with the other modalities.

In an accompanying editorial, Joel Posner, MD, and Catherine Glass, MD, from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, note study limitations including lack of blinding and “the infectivity of therapeutic enthusiasm.”

“If the better outcomes seen in this study are indeed due to effects specific to manual therapy, further studies should be done to determine which of the eclectic collection of manual techniques used contributed to a successful outcome,” they write. “Such a determination would be essential to allowing broader evidence-based recommendations.”

Ann Intern Med. 2002;136(10):713-722, 758-759

Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD

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SMART Tips for Acheiving Your Health and Fitness Goals

Posted on June 9, 2011 by kumahealthcare

Here is a SMART way to identify and achieve your goals.
SMART is an acronym to help you not only create your goals, but gives you specific tips to help you reach them.

SMART goals have these attributes -
S- specific
M-measurable
A- attainable
R- relevant
T- timed

Let’s take a look and see how this formula applies to our health and fitness goals.

Specific -   When you create a specific goal such as “lose 20 pounds”, or “run a 6 minute mile”, your mind will know exactly what to focus on, and you will be able to create a definite plan that will help you achieve that goal.  A goal that is unspecific like “get into shape”, will give you no direction.

Measurable – if you can’t measure your results, how will you know what results you are getting?  Whether you are measuring weight, time, or inches, having a measurable goal allows you to see progress and adjust your plan accordingly.

Attainable – make sure your goal is realistic for you.  Setting impossible goals will only set you up for failure.

Relevant – if your goal is not relevant for you, when the going gets rough you will quit.

Timed -  make a commitment to yourself that you will accomplish your goal by a certain date.  And most important, when that day comes and you have reached your goal, CELEBRATE  You deserve it!

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The Wellness Formula

Posted on May 21, 2011 by kumahealthcare

I enjoyed reading this article on wellness and healthy lifesyle choices and I wanted to share it with you.  I especially like the quote….

“Our health, or lack thereof, is dynamic… constantly flowing. It’s either flowing toward optimal health, happiness and function, or away from it toward chronic illness and lack of any function at all”.

The “Secret” Formula to Creating Optimal Health and Happiness
By: Colleen Trombley

When it comes to creating better health, several years ago I adopted a simple strategy to simplify the process, eliminate
confusion and focus my efforts. I refer to it as “The Wellness Formula”.

The Wellness Formula is a succinct summary of how health and optimal function are created, and how we get sick.

Simply, The Wellness Formula states that there are two basic requirements for health: Pure and Sufficient lifestyle choices, and two causes of all sickness and chronic illness: Toxic and Deficient lifestyle choices.

What are “lifestyle choices”? As Dr. James Chestnut of The Wellness Practice in Victoria, B.C. describes, there are three main categories of lifestyle: how we eat, how we move and how we think. Obviously, there are many sub-categories, like sleep patterns, how we respond to stress, products we use on our bodies and in our homes, and so on. These are all included in the three main components of lifestyle.

As human beings, with a genotype that has gone virtually unchanged for tens of thousands of years, we share the same innate genetic requirements for health. There are certain raw materials that are requirements for our optimal function.

When something is required for the creation of optimal health, it’s a “pure” choice. Making sure we have enough of it is “sufficiency”. Not having enough results in a “deficiency” of that building block. Things that move us directly away from health are considered “toxic”.

Our current level of health will always be the result of the choices we’ve made thus far, and the environment we’ve exposed ourselves to. It is clearly understood and accepted among leading scientists worldwide that chronic illnesses, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, depression, infertility, digestive disorders, attention and learning deficits, and so on, are the result of our environment – not genetics.

This is the science of Epigenetics – it’s like the ‘advanced’ or new and improved study of genetics. It’s our lifestyle choices that will determine our genetic expression. The internal environment we create will determine which of our genetic ‘codes’ will be revealed. It’s not that the “old school” study (and dogma) of the genetic theory and family history is wrong… it’s just woefully incomplete.

Now, back to The Wellness Formula. Pure and sufficient choices in the way we move, eat and think result in dramatically different levels of health, happiness, function and the prevention of chronic illness than do toxic and deficient choices.

It’s absolutely not about being perfect, and making pure and sufficient choices 100% of the time! In fact, I believe that’s impossible. It’s about making better choices, more often, for a long period of time (ideally, a lifetime!).

Every choice we make counts. Our health, or lack thereof, is dynamic… constantly flowing. It’s either flowing toward optimal health, happiness and function, or away from it toward chronic illness and lack of any function at all.

There isn’t one right fad diet or one right fitness magazine work out or one right pathway to happiness and balance. That being said, there most certainly may be one particular nutritional approach (diet) that is ideal for you to follow… right now.

There may be a particular work out that gets you the results you’re looking for… right now. And there might be one way you respond best to for reducing your stress, creating balance and nurturing your spirit…right now. That’s all great!

There are countless wise and experienced experts in the fields of exercise & fitness, weight loss, nutrition, spiritual and emotional fulfillment. I highly recommend working with many of them – these are gifted individuals. I just don’t believe there is only one way to health and happiness.

I think we need to mix things up – health is a constant ebb and flow, remember? Try different programs, work with different coaches… as long as they all fit within the parameters of The Wellness Formula they will move you toward optimal health. If a particular approach doesn’t meet the standards of The Wellness Formula, get rid of it. It won’t result in better health and function, and it could be harming you.

As human beings, we simply require an abundance of pure and sufficient foods, a wide variety of daily stimulating movement, and healthy doses of love, gratitude and fulfillment.

That’s the secret formula for a healthy, happy life… The Wellness Formula!

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Best Foods to Lose Weight By

Posted on May 5, 2011 by kumahealthcare

Here is an interesting article that helps us simplify the process of making good food choices.  May I add that if you wait until you are hungry to eat, it will be much harder to eat wisely.  Eating a little every couple hours makes healthy choices easier.

Best Kind of Foods for Losing Weight

By Fritz Ilagan

A lot of us get overwhelmed by the amount of available products in the market when trying to decide what kinds of food will give us the greatest benefit while trying to lose weight. Many think that only consuming tasteless low fat products is the way to go when trying to stay fit.

But sacrificing quality will not always generate the results we want as some products that promise to be low fat or lite can still pack hidden sugars, calories or carbs. Also, when we take too few calories for a long period of time, the body can interpret it as starvation and goes into “survival mode” which will lead you to pack the pounds again… that is why drastic diets are never recommended.

Here are some of the best kinds of food that can help you remain fit and healthy without sacrificing a satisfying meal.

Best vegetable: Broccoli. Without a doubt, this vegetable is one of the healthiest things you can buy and eat. Broccoli is packed with vitamin C, potassium, calcium, fiber and even anti-cancer phytonutrients. Add it in salad or steam it for a side dish, broccoli needs to special treatment and each serving goes a long way.

Best fresh fish: Tuna. No one will say no to tuna as it has excellent taste and can be prepared in various ways and in different dishes which mean you will not get tried of it easily. Tuna is also full of nourishment which includes omega-3 fatty acids which is great for a healthy heart, high protein content for muscle growth and development and low-calorie count so assured to have no guilt.

Best pasta: Whole wheat noodles. Who says all carbs are evil? Whole wheat noodles give you the choice of enjoying pasta dishes with more benefits compared to ordinary noodles. Each serving of whole wheat noodles will give you minerals like magnesium, protein, fiber and vitamin B. Usually, prices of whole wheat noodles are not that different to conventional pasta.

Best meat: Turkey breast. You do not have to wait for Thanksgiving to enjoy turkey more so if you want to get lean or lose weight. It has the highest percentage of muscle-building protein compared to bovine (cow/beef) and porcine (hog/pork) equivalents. Protein in poultry meat like turkey is high quality and the fat in them are polyunsaturated making it a healthier choice.

Best cheese: Cottage cheese. Great to snacks for those who always like to nibble on something while watching TV or as a party food. Cottage cheese is high in protein but hardly has any fat which makes an ideal nosh for everyone.

Best take-out food: Sushi. You will never go wrong with sushi as it contains fish, vegetables and very few calories. Sushi provides the frequently missing nutrients in many people’s diets like fatty acids and iodine. A perfect sushi meal can include maki (seaweed/nori wrapped around filled rice) with vegetables, nigiri (rice with fish on top) and California rolls (rice on the outside). Sushi serving looks rather deceptive as they tend to look small but after eating, most people get surprised at how filling it is.

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Stress and Low Back Pain

Posted on April 18, 2011 by kumahealthcare

Here is an interesting article that helps explain why a holistic wellness approach to health issues such as low back pain is so important and effective –

Physical and Emotional Sources of Low Back Pain
By Jennifer J. Butler

Do you have low back pain? Does it hurt on your lower back when you get up, sit down, twist or even move in the middle? If you are suffering from low back pain, you probably have some degree of discomfort, from mild to severe, when you shift your body in some way that involves your lower back. With all of the bones, joints, ligaments, discs, nerves and muscles of our back, it is possible to suffer from many different reasons. There are several sources of low back pain, but also physical and emotional treatment modalities to make the pain subside or go away completely. Yes, there is healing for low back pain, in the form of conservative, non-invasive treatments.

Physical Sources

Almost all low back pain begins with stress or strain to the muscles. This can be caused by overworking it around the house, or during athletic or other heavy back movement activity. In addition, when your back muscles are tight, weak or out of balance, sometimes the slightest irritation will cause a great deal of aggravation. This may occur in the form of a harsh sneeze, bending over to pick up something, or a quick turn to respond to someone calling to you. There are exceptions of course, for example, when a person has been in an accident or had a serious fall. But underlying all that is the source of the pain, which are the muscles. The muscles are directly connected to the nerves that send pain messages to the brain.

Complicating the muscle pain is the issue of emotional trauma or stress. When a person is under duress, muscles will tighten and when contracted for too long, become stiff and uncomfortable, leading to pain.

There are also structural defects to the spine which may be causing pain. A back disc, which is the cushion between each vertebrae on the spine, can be ruptured and that places pressure on the nearby spinal nerves. This type of damage can occur in a patient as early as the age of 20. Spinal stenosis, which happens in older patients, is the compression, or narrowing of the spinal canal typically due to osteoarthritis or a congenital defect. There is also degenerative joint and disc diseases which when not treated, will only become more challenging to correct.

Emotional Sources

Unfortunately for humans, when a person is stressed, their muscles automatically tense up, as if for preparing for a fight. If a person has had an injury to their low back, these tightened muscles only agitate the low back pain. And even without a previous injury, a stiff, tensed up back could be compared to a dry twig instead of a leafy branch. With a slight provocation, it is apt to “snap” and cause low back pain. Stress comes from many sources and in many forms, relating to work, family and many other issues. If you have trouble sleeping or concentrating AND low back pain, the pain is probably stress-related.

Physical Treatment

The actual physical source of back pain can be difficult to diagnose directly to the source in some patients. A specific injury that you may or may not remember may have started the process. Sometimes the lower back will try to overcompensate for the injury, causing yet another problem. Add to that the stress of everyday life and you may have low back pain that may become chronic, lasting more than three months.

An orthopedic or pain management specialist can help diagnose the source of the pain and prescribe specific exercises, stretching or massage that will relieve pain and heal the low back pain over time.

Emotional Treatment

When a person is suffering from low back pain, it is best to treat the whole person, not just the back. There is certainly a connection between the mind and the body when a person is in consistent pain. Sometimes the tension in our back that makes our muscles contract and give lower back pain is caused by stress, worry and even anger.

Combined Relief

For a low back pain treatment analogy here, when you are diagnosed with strep throat, it is because a particular bacterium is found and so you are given specific antibiotics to treat it, as well as rest and plenty of liquids. In the same way, if you have low back pain, is could be a result of stress in your life as well as a disc or muscle problem. This must be treated from the perspective of the muscles of the back as well as the emotional point of view. This treatment strategy includes both the emotional and the physical structure of the back, and a scientific way of looking at both. An exceptional health care provider will ask questions about your lifestyle and current stress levels to see if your low back pain is related to your emotional state. If it appears that therapy would assist in treatment, he or she can refer you to a counselor to treat both sides of the problem.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3799658

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More Jack Lalanne

Posted on April 5, 2011 by kumahealthcare
Here is another gem from Jack Lalanne. This time he is sharing how important happiness is to all of us, and how healthy diet and exercise can help you become happy and stay happy. This guy was really awesome!

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Jack Lalanne

Posted on March 24, 2011 by kumahealthcare

Here is a classic clip from a great man, and it is as true today as it was in the 1950s.  Exercise, Nutrition, and Stress Relief are the three keys to being healthier and feeling more energetic.  Enjoy!

httpv://youtu.be/vBVk071N88M

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