Stress and its Severe Impact on the Body

Photo Credit: Abigail Keenan

So, let’s be honest, we’re all stressed in some form of another. We inherently KNOW that stress is bad for us, but do we really know HOW bad stress is for our bodies? 

Even those of us who don’t “feel” stressed can show signs of stress in our bodies. The word “stress” simply means too much burden for the body to handle. So, it starts to compensate in unhealthy ways. Stress isn’t just related to work or relationships, though it definitely can be. Here are some other stressors we have in our lives which can cause similar symptoms in our body: mental/emotional stress from present events or past events (your childhood trauma and painful experiences), chemical stress (foods that you put into your body that are unhealthy and harmful), toxins (which we cannot get away from in our environment, in our atmosphere, in our drinking water, etc.), structural (our bodies are not moving in the way that they are designed because of muscle imbalance, joint dysfunction, spinal misalignment, etc.), electromagnetic (put down your phone and computer), etc.

You start to get it; stress can look very different for different people and the physical implications of it will also look very different to each person based on their health history, genetics etc. Stress, no matter what area, will impact your body the same way. It will raise your cortisol levels (which is your stress hormone) and longterm cortisol release is toxic to your body!

 So, in general how does ‘stress’ look like and how does it impact our bodies:

·      Suppresses our thyroid function

·      Suppresses our reproductive hormone function

·      Causes glaucoma, cataracts, vision issues

·      Causes GI disease: ulcers, crohns, ulcerative colitis, IBS, IBD….etc

·      Increases fatty liver disease

·      Causes insulin resistance

·      Causes blood sugar dysregulation (hello diabetes and pre-diabetes)

·      Increases fatty acid production (hello elevated cholesterol levels)

·      Promotes abdominal fat

·      Makes you retain fluids

·      Increases blood pressure

·      Makes you crave carbs and sugars and fats

·      Causes osteoporosis

·      Causes skin issues

·      Suppresses immune system

·      Lowers your libido

·      Causes chronic disease like heart disease, hormone imbalances, kidney disease, arthritis, cancer and so on.

·      And plenty more.

 Sound familiar?

 Over the next few weeks I want to talk about the following topics as it relates to stress:

1.     Stress and your hormones

2.     Stress and your past emotional trauma

3.     Stress and your gut health

4.     Stress and your brain function

5.     How to naturally deal and stop stress

I’ll also touch on what we can do to limit the impact of stress and prevent it from occurring. I look forward to you following along!

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

Common Gut Health Questions

Photo Credit: Ben White

In the past I’ve written extensively about the gut and how to naturally restore gut health, you can read that here. Today, though, I would like to address some commonly asked questions about gut health.

1.     How long does a gut treatment take? What factors impact gut health?

This is a great question (you’ll hear me saying this a lot as I constantly receive amazing questions from you guys!). Gut treatment can be as quick as one session with me in my Elmhurst, IL office, or it could require longer term care or periodic maintenance. Let me explain. Let’s say you are dealing with a singular cause that’s irritating your gut, such as a nut allergy (which is super common). In my office, we can identify which foods are causing your gut irritation (in this case, nuts) and then try to balance your gut and your body through a series of chiropractic, mental/emotional techniques (read about those here) and acupuncture point therapies. So, after receiving treatment, you take nuts out of your diet and you’ll be all set and ready to take on the world without needing to come back (unless you want to). However, if you’re dealing with something more complicated, which is also unfortunately common, it can take longer to reach resolution. On the bright side, we will still be able to identify the cause, which may include emotional past events/trauma, parasites, adrenal fatigue, hormone imbalance, heavy metal toxicity, infections, allergies, chronic stress, or fungus/candida issues. But these issues can take longer to treat and resolve. Of course, resolution and freedom from these issues is worth it in the end.

2.     How do I know if my gut isn’t working well?

You guys, I feel like our society doesn’t really understand what it means to feel healthy and VIBRANT anymore. Even some people who look fit aren’t necessarily healthy. I think we settle for such a low bar of feeling well. Let me explain this as it relates to gut health. If you are having any of the following symptoms you do NOT have normal digestion: bloating, gas, heartburn/indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, blood in the stool, painful digestion, nausea, etc. This is not healthy; you should absolutely not pass “Go” and collect 200 dollars. Monopoly, anyone? But honestly, you guys, we are walking around “dealing with symptoms” or simply “managing” our gut issues through medications and even natural products. Here’s the takeaway message: you should have no symptoms, zero, as in NO symptoms of poor digestion. If you have any, that’s not a normal sign.

3.     What if I have digestive symptoms every once in awhile? Can I just take some digestive enzymes/probiotics?

Step into my office, my friend. We have much to discuss. Let’s use a fire analogy. If you have a fire in your kitchen, like on the stove or microwave, wouldn’t you put it out? Or would you close the to door to the kitchen and go back to sleep? Since you are smart, you would put the fire out before your entire house burns down, right? Well, those of you living with chronic, low grade digestive issues, are basically doing the latter. You are closing the door to the kitchen and going back to sleep without putting out the fire. Soon your whole house (your body) will have bigger issues that you won’t just be able to ignore. Let me give you some examples. If you have chronic digestive issues that have been occurring for more than a few weeks, here are just SOME of the areas you will also impact in the body: your immune system, your adrenals, your hormones, your thyroid, your reproductive organs, your moods (insert anxiety/depression here), your joints (back/neck/joint pain and arthritis), autoimmune issues, skin issues, sleep problems, migraines/headaches, and on and on this goes. Take away message: it will impact your WHOLE body. Yup. Getting to the root cause of your gut issues should be your top priority because without good gut health, you have no other good health. Period. End of story. Gut health is foundational and impacts function of the entire body.

4.     I have candida issues, my doctor told me that I need to do a candida diet, what do you think?  

First of all, it’s important to note that we all have bacteria and fungus living in us. This is normal and serves good and healthy function. This is only problematic when bad bacteria or fungus overgrows and our body cannot keep tabs on it anymore, i.e. you become symptomatic. So, bacteria and fungus are NOT our enemies. If you’ve been on anti-candida diet and it sort of worked but sort of didn’t and you’re still struggling with issues, here’s why. You need to address WHY the fungus is overgrowing and why your body cannot keep tabs on it. If you keep just doing symptom management, even with natural products, you will continue forever and a day to deal with candida issues. I’m guessing you’re reading this thinking “hmm, I’ve had this for a while and all of the medications and diet isn’t working long term.” Well, friend, you’ve come to the right place! If there are aspects in your lifestyle (diet, etc.) which are irritating your body, and specifically, your gut, you will forever be managing symptoms unless you resolve this component. Get to the root issue and be free!

5.     I live in a house that has mold in it, how is it impacting my gut?

Great question! Mold is neurotoxic. What does that mean? It means that is poison for your nervous system. Your nervous system (i.e. your brain and your spinal cord) control the function of your whole body and how it works. Yup, every single cell of your body. Which means, if you are inhaling toxins day in and day out, that will impact every single cell of your body. Okay, that’s the bad news. The good news is this, while you are working on addressing the mold in your house/apartment/place where you lay down your head at night, you can do a LOT of various natural detox support to help your body properly and effectively detox all of this toxin. If you don’t, your cells will retain it and over time you will start having health issues as a result. This is so prevalent. I see a lot of my patients struggling with this, having health issues as a result of mold. The good news is that they tend to do much better with some basic digestive detox support, as they are working to resolve the mold issue in the house. So, there is treatment to help.  

6.     I have family history of gallbladder issues/stones. Most of the women in my family have had theirs out, is there hope?

As long as you live and breath there is hope! Gallbladder issues are as common as allergies these days. Most of people that I see in my chiropractic practice in Elmhurst, IL have gallbladder issues. Why? Let me tell you some of the things that impact your gallbladder: diet high in carbohydrates and sugar, hormone imbalance (estrogen/progesterone imbalance), high stress levels, adrenal fatigue, stomach function issues making the gallbladder have to work harder, dehydration, lack of movement, etc. There are so many. The reality is that we as humans NEED and are directly dependent on healthy fat levels in our bodies for so many functions (cell repair, hormone balance, vitamin absorption etc.), so without healthy fat utilization (gallbladder function) ALL of those functions struggle. I help my patients resolve gallbladder issues a LOT. So, if you are struggling, let’s talk! Removing gallbladder will not resolve these issues, it will only complicate your digestive issues. Trust me, I’ve seen it. You develop larger, worse issues! If you want more information on liver/gallbladder health, let’s talk!

7.     My friend/neighbor/co-worker is selling (fill in the blank with the latest product here) and says it will help my digestion. What do you think?

Now I KNOW you guys are smarter than this. This drives your doctors (insert me and ALL of my colleagues) crazy. Here is why. You have to take health advice FROM HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. You know why? Let me explain. Let’s say you need to have surgery and instead of going to a top surgeon you go to your mechanic. He says he’s watched an hour-long YouTube video on how to do knee surgery and feels 100% confident that he can do a good job. OR…you need your car engine repaired and instead of going to a mechanic you go to your hair stylist. Sounds crazy and irrational, right? But this is what’s happening with medicine. Now don’t laugh, because I know we’ve all done this. But who googles their symptoms? Don’t raise your hand because I know you have. You google headache symptoms and instead of getting a simple migraine solution you find yourself anxiously shaking in your bed because you’ve decided you all-of-a-sudden have a brain tumor. Guys. We seriously need to stop doing this. And then you come into my office telling me this. And God bless you, I will help you and tell you that most of the time, most things are THANKFULLY not a brain tumor. However, stop asking advice from people who are not qualified to give you advice. This includes non-medical professionals or people with cure-all products to sell. And stop Googling your symptoms. You will not only waste your precious time and money but you will also think you’re dying 99% of the time. Here’s the name of the game: you get what you pay for in medicine. When you take advice from non-qualified sources (people and or Internet) you will suffer longer and unnecessarily, you will take more products that you don’t actually need and you won’t address the root cause of your issues. And the reality is this, while maybe well meaning, someone else giving you advice will not be able to fully evaluate your health history, do a physical exam, or evaluate your blood work before prescribing products (medicine or supplements). Their goal is to simply sell you a product. They may believe in the product and it’s possible it did some good things for them, but that doesn’t make it a substitute for a true medical, comprehensive approach. And just because something is “healthy” doesn’t mean that A. you need it and B. it’s the right product for you. Every single medication/natural product will have a very specific impact on your body; just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s safe for you. Which means that if you don’t take all of the factors into account, you can cause longterm harm. That’s right, don’t be fooled! I’m sorry, I had to get this out because it’s driving me crazy to watch people with simple health issues that can be quickly and painlessly resolved suffering due to lack of proper education or following advice from people who probably have no business giving it. Go see your doctors who are qualified in giving medical advice based on a host of factors and health history. No, you don’t need to come in to see me. You can but you don’t have to. Just find someone who you trust and who has the education and reputation to back up their claims.

8.     How do I know which supplements to take and why?

You’re in the right place. I’ve written extensively on areas to evaluate when you are considering taking supplements. You can read about what areas to evaluate before taking anything here. And why the quality matters here. But let me give you a bit of an overview. Those who are further interested click the links above. Before taking any supplements/vitamins/herbs/homeopathy etc., make sure you ask yourself the following questions: 1. Can I get this from my diet? If the answer is yes, eat your minerals/nutrients. You can easily and more efficiently gain benefits from eating healthy foods vs. simply taking supplements (yes, this makes me less money telling you this). 2. Why am I taking this? Simply taking something for the heck of it or because it’s “healthy” is nuts. Just because a product is healthy doesn’t mean that you need it or that it’s the right one for you. Every single product no mater medication/vitamin/herb etc. we take in will produce an effect. Just because it’s natural doesn’t mean that it’s safe for you. Make sure you work with a health care doctor to evaluate your needs and make sure you’re taking proper dosages and that you have solid reasons for taking them. Taking the wrong products can cause more harm than good. Seriously. Stop googling or listening to your neighbor on why you should be on products. Those are just two questions. I get way more in detail on my other blogs found above. Go check them out if this is your jam.

9.     Do you ever recommend a multivitamin?

99% of the time I do not. Granted, there are some very special cases, but in general here are some of the guidelines that I use to evaluate why people need supplements and how to give them. Again, more can be found on my vitamin blogs, you can read that here. But in general I try to get people, as a chiropractor in my practice in Elmhurst, IL, to focus on food first and to fix their eating habits. This will go along way in NOT needing to take unnecessary products. Second, I evaluate their full medical history, do a thorough physical exam, evaluate blood work, evaluate them holistically with muscle testing for any underlying predispositions that the blood work and exam didn’t pick up before I recommend anything. Why? Because if you do a thorough job most people will only need a handful of very specific vitamins for very specific needs. Your vitamin needs should change with seasons, throughout the years, with different stressors. For example, your needs as a growing child are not the same as an aging adult. Your vitamin needs as a person struggling with an infection are not the same one as struggling with hormone imbalance. You get the idea. Supplements should always be supplementary to a good diet. They should always be very specific to the needs that you have at your current time.

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

Combating Allergies Naturally

Photo Credit: Tim Mossholder

It’s Spring! But that also means it’s allergy season. The last few weeks, as it has gotten warmer and I’ve noticed more of my patients complaining about allergy-related symptoms. These include watery eyes, sinus congestion, sneezing, itching, headaches (migraines), runny nose, increased asthma symptoms, and fatigue. Here are a few tips of mine that have helped my patients get through this season with less discomfort and more hope for the warmer, sunnier days!

 1. Get adjusted: your nervous system helps to control every system in the body, including your upper respiratory system, lungs, and many others. When you get adjusted, the communication from your nervous system to those other systems improves, which enables your body to function at its optimal capacity!

 2. Drink more water: this sounds very easy, but we don’t always drink enough. Dehydration causes mucous membranes to dry out, which leads to dried air passage ways. This allows allergens to enter your body more easily! H2O also helps to reduce histamine, which is a chemical that promotes inflammation and pain, and, in this case, upper respiratory discomfort!

 3. Eat cleaner: choose healthier foods, high in antioxidants, that help to lower inflammation in the body. The right foods help to reduce allergy symptoms and strengthen the immune system. I do a thorough analysis with my patients concerning any foods that might trigger production of mucus and inflammation, to help us reduce or eliminate allergies. Many foods that we eat can either help us fight allergies or help to promote them, so food becomes vital in reducing allergies.

4. Supplements: there are amazing supplements that my office carries to help deal with allergies in a natural way. These supplements are non-drowsy and very effective and you don't have to do painful shots!

If you are interested in a full allergy evaluation and treatment, please call my office or click the button below to set up an appointment! There is no reason to suffer with allergies this beautiful spring season! 

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

5 Common Causes of Anxiety and Depression

Photo Credit: Anh Nguyen

Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression have become commonplace conditions. We can all safely name several people who are close to us, including perhaps ourselves, who might struggle with depression or anxiety. This fact should not only shock us but upset us. While there should certainly be no stigma attached to these problems, I’m sure we would all like to see depression and anxiety decrease in prevalence. Why have the rates of depression/anxiety skyrocketed in the past decade? This is especially concerning in the United States, where food and shelter is plentiful and most of us don’t face the everyday battle of “where is my next meal coming from?”

I commonly see people turn to medication for these issues. While medication, of course, has its place, many people are often still feel sad/depressed/anxious, etc. Is there another way to help or understand address these sensitive mental health issues?

Today I want to discuss some causes of depression and anxiety. This is not intended to be an all-encompassing list, but hopefully a helpful one in learning more about underlying causes of these problems.

 Here are my 5 top reasons why someone could be struggling with depression/anxiety.

 1.     Leaky gut

There is a big buzz word for you. We hear it ALL over the place but what does it mean and how does it impact our moods? First, what does normal gut function look like? Our gut is like a big hose, think a garden hose, and it extends from our mouth to our tailbone. The function of the garden house is to keep water in and moving forward, just like the function of our gut is to keep the food contents going/digesting/absorbing in proper times. If we have leaky gut we literally get “leaky” cells which let out its contents (proteins/fats/bacteria) etc. into the blood stream. Our bodies try to protect us from these foreign objects in the blood stream, so they send white blood cells to fight off our food particles. This is all good and well if it happens once. But when this happens over and over again, guess what happens? You develop an autoimmune reaction from those immune cells, which then go and attack your own healthy tissues like your joints, your thyroid gland, your BRAIN (yes, your brain), your placenta (if you’re pregnant), and any other organs or healthy tissues in the body. Guess where else the majority of your “happy” neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, etc.) are made? Yes, the GUT! So, if your gut is stressed out, you will FEEL stressed out. Check out my article on how to naturally address gut health and feel better!

 2.     Inflammation

Inflammation is directly linked to depression. A 2014 research article by Harvard University showed a direct link between depression and inflammation. You can measure your inflammation rates by several different markers in the blood and one of them is C reactive protein. If it is high then your inflammation is high. Inflammation is tied to a plethora of autoimmune diseases, hormone imbalances and finally mood disorders. So, if you’re wondering why you have depression/anxiety, it might be that you have higher than normal inflammation markers in your blood. (Stay tuned on how to fix that naturally.)

 3.     Toxicity

What does this actually mean? We hear so many people around us going on detoxes and doing juice cleanses, etc. So, let’s break it down. In our society today, we are faced and bombarded with a ton of chemicals and pesticides EVERY DAY. Where do we find these things? How about in our cleaning products, our self care products, our lotions, our candles, anything scented around you that’s not found in nature, crop protectants, food dyes, toxic chemicals used to kill weeds, the list really goes on and on. The reality is that we cannot get away from those things. But the trick is that if you have a healthy and functional digestive tract you can live in this environment without getting sick. In my practice with my patients I rarely advise them to go on a detox. Why? Because I find that once we ensure that our digestive system (liver, gallbladder, small intestine, larger intestine, stomach, etc.) are fully functional our body does this process naturally and GENTLY without putting yourself into a crazy detox state which makes you feel horrible. The benefit of doing a gentle detox is that it happens gradually without making you feel super sick and it helps to retrain your body to get rid of those wastes products without shocking your system.

 4.     Suppressed emotions.

Okay this is a tricky one but we all do this. Something traumatic/painful happens in our lives, whether we lose a dog at a young age, we are rejected from a sports team, we suffer abuse, we lose a loved one, anything that our body and mind holds on to and deems to be traumatic. This will look very different for each one of us. As a result of these experiences, our bodies and our brain go into a protective mode, and protect us dealing with these things as we’re going through them. This is very healthy and normal at first. However, most of us aren’t able to process and work through those emotions until YEARS down the line. And these emotions get stored in our bodies, in different parts of our brain and nervous system. If we don’t process these emotions properly we can get physical symptoms, such as headaches, hormone imbalance, digestive issues, adrenal stress, and most commonly depression and anxiety.  In my office, I do Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET), which helps people connect with those emotions. It helps them to truly let go, not only emotionally but physically. (I attached a link here where you can read more about this technique and how it helps people). In the long term, these stored negative emotions can also become toxic and inflammatory to our physiology and can really hinder the way that we are able to live.

 5.     Bugs/Infections/Heavy Metals

That’s right getting an infection, and having too much heavy metals in our bodies can also inflame us. Again, our bodies try to protect us from these “foreign” molecules and will mount an immune response to keep us from becoming sick. Over the long term we develop low grade inflammation, most commonly in the gut, which will disrupt the synthesis (production) of neurotransmitters (happy chemicals) and will impact your brain.

 This blog post included some of the WHY we see inflammation and how its linked to depression/anxiety. Later I will address HOW we can go about fixing it so that we can finally feel free happy and at peace!

 If you have been struggling with anxiety or depression and want to learn more about how I can help, click the link to schedule an appointment.

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

Addressing Other Fertility Factors

Photo Credit: Kaylee Garrett

I want to take some time to address several factors that we don’t normally put into the category of "fertility" but are important to consider.

1.     Treating both partners

Historically, we are really good at concentrating all of our medical attention and treatment on women, as it relates to fertility. After all she’s the one who gets pregnant, carries the baby and gives birth. However, when it comes to doing the work of conceiving, she’s only 50% of the equation. Health of both partners should be considered. If you’ve been reading the other blog post series you have noticed a pattern: healthy gut = healthy hormones, toxicity impacts our hormone balance, hormones are directly unbalanced by irregular blood sugar levels and so on. This relates to BOTH people.

 If you only treat one partner, and the other one has the issue, you will be forever chasing your tail. You need two to tango, quite literally in this case. You need a normal ovulation cycle, a viable healthy environment for conception (healthy Fallopian tubes where sperm meets the egg), normal hormone cycles in order to support proper implantation and growth of the embryo and normal, healthy sperm to penetrate the healthy egg. You need normal adrenal function in both sexes to have proper hormone balance. If any one of these steps breaks down by functional deficiency, lack of minerals, unhealthy hormone balance, etc., no fertilization or viable implantation occurs. If your male or female partner does not have healthy adrenal functions, and the adrogens don’t convert to testosterone/estrogen, healthy fertility levels do not occur. If you're emotionally taxed and do not have a healthy sex drive, guess what suffers? Yes, your fertility status.

 You would be shocked to learn how many couples who "want to have a baby" do not have normal sex drive or are not having sex regularly. You know it’s a process, people. You have to have sex to have a baby. Help me out here!

 2.     Why do I feel so bad with completely normal blood work?

This point relates to all types of health issues, not just fertility. It is very common for me to see patients come in with absolutely normal-looking lab work who feel terrible. They can’t sleep, they can’t digest, they are constipated/have chronic diarrhea, they have skin issues, joint pain, chronic headaches/migraines, they are angry/sad/bitter/depressed/VERY anxious, they are sick ALL the time and, often times, we also see infertility.

So how does this make sense?

 Because blood work only demonstrates disease. You need to be pretty far along, with about 60-70% loss of function, in order for blood work to pick up a "problem." Blood work is also just a snapshot in time of what's going on in your body; it changes hour by hour. It’s a relatively reliable snapshot, but its not everything. So, if you feel terrible and have normal blood work, join the group. There are many people out there with the same issue. Often times they’ve been told "it's all in your head." Most of the time it's not! That’s why simply treating off of blood work will never get you true health. That is why people who suffer with normal blood work are so frustrated and feel hopeless!

 This is why I love muscle testing and treating acupuncture points. It allows us to identify issues in function (NOT pathology) at about 2% deficiency. That's fixing the problem as or before it starts. Compare that with 60-70% deficiency that is finally recognized by blood work and the contrast is staggering.

 Function and disease are two different issues. If we identify the issue in your body, we can often bring your body back into balance long before a problem ever shows up in blood work. Don’t wait until you have a "disease" to do something about your chronic symptoms.

 Often times, using these methods, I’m able to identify issues with patients that they've been struggling with but never told me about. They give me a "how did you know that?" look. Your body doesn’t lie! Through the use of muscle testing and acupuncture systems, we're able identify and treat underlying disturbances. It is a very powerful system.

 So, if you are struggling with your health, with fertility, with joint pain, with hormone balance, with headaches, whatever else, you are NOT alone and there IS a better way. You don’t have to continue to be part of the opioid epidemic that our country is struggling with. You can choose health by identifying your individual issues.

3.     Subclinical infections, allergies, mental/emotional trauma.

There are other factors which should be addressed when looking at the health of any patient. These include infections. Often times our bodies hide underlying infections. For example, you can get pockets of infection, even those that dental procedures cannot correct, because they are deep in your tissues and your immune system is constantly fighting. These can be addressed diet, supplements and other careful evaluation (including, of course, treatment).

Allergies can also impact your gut, raising inflammation, stressing out your gut lining and preventing you from properly absorbing nutrients (check out my gut post for more information). This causes malabsorption and the inability to rebuild the cells of the body, causing weakness in immune system function, hormone system balance, and overall physical health.

My final point in this section is about mental/emotional trauma. Let's face it, many of us have past mental emotional trauma/pain that we’ve not overcome (even if we don't think of it using a severe term like "trauma"). If you have any of that from your past, and we all do to some extent, it can trigger cortisol production (stress hormone), which then prevents normal hormone balance, proper sleep, digestion, and neurotransmitter production (happy chemicals your brain needs). We can, at times, see mental/emotional stress impact structural elements, causing joint pain of low back, neck, headaches, etc. Mental/emotional pain highly impacts our health. We often suppress our pain, but, even if it is from years ago and not consciously on our minds, it can resurface with physical symptoms. How does it impact us day to day?  Just think of when you're under stress and your immune system suffers. Well, when you have mental/emotional trauma from the past, it constantly triggers your body. So, you're constantly under higher levels of stress, which prevents homeostasis (balance) in your body and true health.

As I mentioned in my first blog, there are a variety of methods you can use to address all of these problems. Here are some of the tools I use in my office: 

1.     Applied Kinesiology

Utilizing the tool of muscle testing we’re able to identify and address the underlying root of the issue, whether it’s physical, mental/emotional or biochemical. We quickly determine what is wrong and remove any barriers to care. Instead of chasing your tail, we identify the ROOT problem and fix it. It is an amazingly accurate and powerful tool.

2.     Adjustments

Your body's nervous system (which is housed in your spinal cord and surrounded by the joints of your back) regulates all of the functions of your body, from gut health to emotions to moods and many, many aspects of your health including your hormones. If your spine isn’t moving well, the signals from your nervous system are not properly relayed to other systems of the body. This can lead to disruption. 

3.     Mental/emotional work - often times pain or trauma (both physical and emotional) from our past is a barrier that prevents us from healing, connecting with the outside world, and forming healthy relationships. Suppressed emotions impact different systems of the body. For instance, liver is highly sensitive to anger. Through a series of mental/emotional techniques we help your body to heal and move forward from past pain and trauma.

4.     Supplementation/Herbs/Homeopathy

While we’re resolving underlying issues, it's often helpful to support patients with various vitamins, homeopathy or herbs to allow their bodies to heal from the inside out. Again, we use the tool of muscle testing to figure out your INDIVIDUAL needs. Not everyone needs the same supplements. We support your system in specific and precise ways that are right for YOU. In order to support your health, you need specific supplements. We’re all different and shouldn’t just be "taking a multivitamin." We can do better than that!

 I hope you have enjoyed this series on fertility. If you are struggling with this issue, and want to come in and see how I can help (or receive a consult), I'd be absolutely happy to help. Thanks for following me on my series this week, and I wish you the best in your health journey!

 For more on fertility see my other posts here: understanding fertility, working with hormones, fixing the gut and toxicity and fertility. 

If you’ve struggled with infertility and would like a natural approach click the button below to schedule your appointment!

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

Is Toxicity Impacting Your Fertility? And How Do You Detox?

Photo Credit: Wes Hicks

There is a huge buzz in our society right now regarding detoxes and cleanses. It seems everyone is juicing and posting on social media. They often describe how horrible they feel before coming alive 10 pounds lighter once the detox is over.

With all of the hoopla, let's step back and ask ourselves a few questions. How do you know that you're "toxic" in the first place? Where do toxins come from and how do you avoid them? And what's right way to do a detox?

What does toxicity mean? And why is it important?

 When your body is toxic it means that substances in your body or in your environment are harming you. This can be pollution from the environment. It can also be chemicals you are exposed to from your cleaning products, perfumes, hair dyes or even foods you have eaten. Medications you’re taking now or have taken in the past can continue to impact you as well. (If they become part of your cell makeup they can stay with you for a long time.) In some cases, powerful emotions can have a physical impact on you too.

 On the physical level, toxicity impacts our digestive tracts. Typically, toxins are held by our bodies for too long. They stay in your kidneys or your large intestines and are reabsorbed back into the system. This messes with our normal hormone balance and suddenly you get abnormal hormone findings. Worse yet, your lab work is clean and "normal," but you know you know something is wrong and you’re having issues conceiving.

 I get it. We don’t live in a bubble, so its almost impossible to get completely away from all toxins. Yes, you can make smarter choices with what you eat, what you put on your skin and what products you use to clean your house (the more natural, the better). However, we cannot fully avoid toxins. So, in order not to get sick from constant exposure to toxic substances, it's imperative to have fully functioning detox organs.

 How to Detox

This is why detoxes are so popular. They allow your cells to dump a bunch of toxins into your blood stream to be eliminated. However, most of us do detoxes wrong. We don’t support the detox organs and end up feeling completely miserable for days (I know some of you have tried this!). So what’s the alternative to doing a harsh detox?

It is healthier for your body to detox naturally and gradually. If you eat clean, drink water and properly exercise, your body will detox without going into shock. AND the end result will be long lasting elimination of harmful toxins instead of a shock to the system.

 Toxins and Fertility

In my last post, I talked about how properly working gut will help to secrete hormones naturally. However, if your detox organs--such as kidneys, bladder, liver, gallbladder, skin and intestines--are not eliminating toxins at a healthy rate, then all of those toxins get reabsorbed back into your body and mess with normal body functions. This includes hormone balance, fertility, allergies, mood disorders, increased rate of flu/colds, stress on your vital organs, etc.  That's why in my practice we always look at detoxification organs, because they help us keep the homeostasis (fancy word for balance) in the body.

 Questions to Ask if You're Having Fertility Issues

 So if you’re having fertility issues, ask yourself a few questions:

1.     Do I have digestive issues? Bloating? Gas? Difficulty digesting foods?

2.     Do I have undigested food in my stools?

3.     How regular am I? (If you’re not going at least once a day, you’re considered constipated)

4.     Do I have chronic diarrhea? If this is the case, you're also not absorbing nutrients as you should be.

5.     Am I sick more often than I like to be? If it's more than once per season, yes you are.

6.     Do you have chronic headaches?

7.     Joint aches?

8.     Allergies?

9.     Have you and your partner tried getting pregnant for a year and haven’t been able to conceive?

If you answered "yes" to one of the above (this is not an all-encompassing list) you likely have toxicity and gut stress. Once again, eating clean foods, using natural products, and drinking lots of water will help you begin this process. 

Let us help you by addressing these issues and jumpstarting your body's detox process. Not only will your gut thank you, but you'd be surprised at what other aspects of your health will get better!

If you liked this fertility blog, check out my other posts on understanding fertility, managing hormones, and how fixing your gut promotes fertility.

If you are struggling with fertility and would like a natural approach, click below to schedule your appointment!

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

Promoting Fertility with Hormone Balance

Photo Credit: Devon Divine

Hormone balance is a great place to start when talking about fertility.

To put it simply, hormones are messengers that carry information from one part of the body to another. If there is an imbalance, the information is not relayed, causing disruption and, eventually, pathology. 

The Importance of Blood Sugar Regulation

The key to hormone health is proper blood sugar regulation. There is just no way around it. So, how do you balance your blood sugar? Of course, limiting sugar intake helps. But that's not the full picture. There are many other factors that impact blood sugar. Did you know that not getting enough protein in your diet, being dehydrated, and having unstable emotions (among other factors) can negatively impact your blood sugar?

 Once your sugar becomes imbalanced, it throws off some of the following:

 1.     High sugar levels suppress your thyroid hormone - without proper thyroid hormone function you cannot sustain a viable pregnancy because thyroid regulates progesterone levels.

 2.     Sugar imbalance affects your reproductive organs - these organs are responsible for secreting estrogen and progesterone in women and testosterone in men.

 3.     Sugar imbalance also impacts your adrenal glands - your adrenals produce androgens, which convert into estrogen and testosterone. So, if your adrenal glands are impacted by irregular sugar cycles, your hormones take a hit.

 4.  Sugar imbalance paralyzes your gut function (stay tuned for the next blog about gut health tomorrow)  - sugar imbalance slows down your liver, which is responsible for processing estrogen in women. It also slows down your colon, which is responsible for eliminating hormone byproducts. If hormone byproducts aren't eliminated, they are reabsorbed back into your system, throwing off your hormone balance. Your gut (small intestine) also produces hormones. So, as you can see, gut stress can prevent your body from both processing and producing hormones.  

Those are just some basic examples of the fundamental importance of sugar balance, and how it impacts your hormones. What I’m trying to say is that it's not always about the hormones themselves. Although hormone imbalance may be the presentation, it is often secondary to another underlying disturbance in the body. It's important not to fixate on the surface issue (hormone imbalance) and miss WHY there is an imbalance in the body in the first place.

Restoring Balance in the Body

Fertility can be impacted by any number of different aspects of hormone imbalance. With my patients, I typically look at a triad of hormone glands: the thyroid, adrenal and gonads (reproductive organs for both sexes). All of these glands are interrelated. If there is a weakness in one, the other two will suffer.  For example, if you have low or under active thyroid, you might be feeling great taking thyroid hormone. However, your thyroid could be under active due to high sugar levels. If your adrenal glands are struggling, they also bring down the thyroid function with them. So, it is important to not only give thyroid hormone, but address the UNDERLYING issue so balance can be restored. In practice, we utilize muscle testing to identify which gland is primary to restore the balance in all three.

In the office, we are able to perform a simple and quick blood sugar correction, which enables your body to regulate blood sugar properly and optimize the function of all of the hormones better. Ultimately, this supports healthy fertility status, enabling higher odds of fertilization to occur as well as sustaining the pregnancy to full term.

It is my goal to get my audience and my patients to think more holistically about their health. Thinking locally and with blinders on causes us to miss what matters most. Let's fix the root cause of issues!

Tomorrow we will talk more about the impact of gut health. Stay tuned! If you missed it, yesterday I briefly mentioned some outside the box evaluations I do with my infertility cases (don’t worry I still evaluate blood work), read that blog here.

If you or someone you love have been struggling with infertility and would like to try a natural approach to supporting infertility, click the link below to schedule your first appointment.

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

Understanding Fertility

Photo Credit: Suhyeon Choi

I would like to spend this week covering an issue that’s touching millions of people every single day. An issue that’s both incredibly complex and incredibly painful. An issue where there aren’t many words, and where many doctor visits and interventions often do not give much hope.

 It's the issue of fertility.

 It is my goal through this blog series to educate you on various aspects of your health that impact fertility; factors you may be familiar with, and others you may not be aware of.  All are VERY important to consider as they directly impact fertility status.

 In this series we’ll talk about a number of topics, ranging from hormone health (because, after all, hormone balance touches every aspect of fertility) to gut health to toxic environments and many others. Here’s a bit of an overview of what you can expect to see in the next few days:

1.     Hormones, a holistic approach to a complicated topic

2.     Treat the hole in the middle - making sure your gut health is in order (it impacts a lot more than you think)

3.     Toxicity and how to know if you are toxic

4.    Other fertility factors you might not have considered (example: why you are still struggling, even if your blood work is perfect)

It is my goal to both educate and give back hope to those who have lost it, those who have been beat up by their struggles. In my office, I use some of the following treatments to restore health and promote ideal fertility status when working with couples:

1.     Applied Kinesiology - utilizing the tool of muscle testing we’re able to identify and address the underlying root of the issue, whether it’s physical, mental/emotional or biochemical. We quickly determine what is wrong and remove any barriers to care. Instead of chasing your tail, we identify the ROOT problem and fix it.

2.     Adjustments - your body's nervous system (which is housed in your spinal cord and surrounded by the joints of your back) regulates all of the functions of your body, from gut health to emotions to moods and many, many aspects of your health including your hormones. If your spine isn’t moving well, the signals from your nervous system are not properly relayed to other systems of the body. This can lead to chaos.

3.     Mental/emotional work - often times pain or trauma (both physical and emotional) from our past is a barrier that prevents us from healing, connecting with the outside world, and forming healthy relationships. Suppressed emotions impact different systems of the body. For instance, liver is highly sensitive to anger. Through a series of mental/emotional techniques we help your body to heal and move forward from past pain and trauma.

4.     Supplementation/Herbs/Homeopathy - while we’re resolving underlying issues, it's often helpful to support patients with various vitamins, homeopathy or herbs to allow their bodies to heal from the inside out. Again, we use the tool of muscle testing to figure out your INDIVIDUAL needs. Not everyone needs the same supplements. We support your system in specific and precise ways that are right for YOU. In order to support your health, you need specific supplements. We’re all different and shouldn’t just be "taking a multivitamin." We can do better than that!

I'm very excited to take you through this blog series! Tomorrow we’ll explore the hormones. Stay tuned all week for more! 

If you or someone you love are struggling with fertility natural medicine can help! Click the link below to schedule your appointment!

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.

How Chiropractic and Applied Kinesiology Help Athletes

Photo Credit: Keith Johnston

At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, Dr. George Goodheart, the founder of Applied Kinesiology, became the first ever recognized and appointed Olympic Chiropractor for the U.S. Olympic Committee. Today, chiropractic is a commonplace treatment for high-level amateur and professional athletes.

Applied Kinesiology, which evaluates patients for underlying issues through mental/emotional, physical and biochemical lenses, allows the practitioner to identify specific deficiencies in order to promote overall health and wellness. This allows athletes to perform at their peak ability, recover from their injuries incredibly fast and prevent severe injuries that are common for Olympic athletes. What makes this type of care so effective for athletes (and everyone else)?

I’ll use an example. All muscles and joints of the body are interconnected. So, let’s say an athlete sustained a previous neck injury, perhaps in a fender bender car accident. The neck flexors aren’t on, so they aren’t stabilizing the neck. Also, because of the neurologic connection, they are shutting off lower leg stabilizing muscles. This means that you can predispose yourself to a serious injury if you don’t ever address the neck flexors. So, while you may present as having lower hip flexor weakness, the problem actually stems from the neck. If you don’t fix the neck you will not find complete restoration and healing to the lower extremities. It’s imperative to look at the body as a whole instead of focusing on one muscle group. Applied Kinesiology evaluates and fixes lower and upper gait mechanisms. And athletes need both to be functioning for full body movement and performance.

Here is another example. If your hamstrings are typically tight (and a lot of people have this) it’s often because the quadriceps in the front are weak. Therefore, hamstrings are tight and shortened. Yes, foam rolling them or massage will help them to relax for a time, but they will retighten again and you will continue to see tight hamstrings. In this case, when specific muscle testing is performed, we often see weak abdominal muscles. Both abdominal muscles along with quads are related to small intestine on acupuncture evaluation. So, if an athlete has a digestive issue, they will continue to shut off those muscles, making it difficult to perform and predisposing them to an injury. Thereby, you can work on tight hamstrings all day, everyday, OR you can simply identify the root cause of their tightness and fix the underlying issues. This will improve performance, endurance and strength of that muscle. It is devastating to see athletes get injured and never recover (yes, some injuries are worse than others). Most can be helped and they can continue to compete at high levels for longer periods of time utilizing this type of approach to healthcare.

These are just two examples of how Applied Kinesiology is able to identify and fix the underlying issues with athletes. Obviously, the same principle applies to non-athletes as well.

Dr. Goodheart has left a profound legacy and we’re so grateful for his contribution to the chiropractic profession.

So, if you or someone you love struggles with recurrent muscle weakness, tightness or inability to fully recover from a past injury, give us a call or click the button below to schedule your appointment. You might be surprised at how good you can feel and how quickly you can get back to doing what you love!

Dr. Veronika Vlasov is a chiropractor and natural health doctor located in Elmhurst, IL. To set up an appointment or reach out for more information, visit the schedule now page.