VOLUME 14 ISSUE 6
In Good Hands
A Free Monthly Newsletter for the Friends and Patients of Ward Beecher DC
“Realize that everything connects to everything else.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci
Tired? Fatigued? A Little Overweight?
Do Lazy People Eat
Junk Food or Does Eating
Junk Food Make People Lazy?
Study offers surprising answer…
Also this month:
 WARNING: New research shows coughs and sneezes travel much further than expected!
 The Shocking Cost of Obesity! How much more will an obese child pay in medical costs over
his or her lifetime compared with a child of normal weight? You will probably be surprised.
 Awesome Person Alert! If you found a stranger’s wallet with money in it and no one else
knew, what would you do? What this person did is incredible…
ouston – Which came first, the chicken or the
egg? People have debated this question for
millennia and there is still not a clear answer.
However, there is another debate that is probably
much more important to you. Knowing the answer to
this other debate may give you more energy, improve
your health, and make you feel much better.
What is this debate? Here it is…
Does Junk Food Make People Lazy
or Do Lazy People Eat Junk Food?
There is a belief that people who eat junk food
and become overweight do so because they are lazy.
But, a new study conducted at the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found the opposite
to be true.
According to Science Daily, "Life scientists led
by UCLA’s Dr. Aaron Blaisdell placed 32 female rats
on one of two diets for six months. The first, a
standard rat’s diet consisted of relatively unprocessed
foods like ground corn and fish meal. The ingredients
in the second were highly processed, of lower quality,
and included substantially more sugar – a proxy for a
junk food diet.
"After just three months, the researchers
observed a significant difference in the amount of
weight the rats had gained, with the 16 on the junk
food diet having become noticeably fatter."
Dr. Blaisdell reports that the rats on the "junk
food" diet became obese while the rats on the
healthier, more natural diet did not. The researchers
also noted that as they gained weight, the rats on the
junk food diet demonstrated impaired physical
performance and required more rest to perform basic
tasks. This suggest laziness and fatigue are caused by
eating poorly and gaining weight, not the other way
around.
In this study, “junk food” was described as,
“highly processed, of lower quality, and included
substantially more sugar.”
Most Americans eat a diet high loaded with
processed foods that contains a lot of sugar and most
Americans are also either overweight or obese. In
H
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fact, according to studies published in the Journal of
the American Medical Association, more than 2 in 3
adults are considered to be overweight or obese and
more than 1 in 3 adults are considered obese. More
than 1 in 20 adults are considered to be extremely
obese. About one-third of children and adolescents
ages 6 to 19 are considered to be overweight or obese
and more than 1 in 6 children and adolescents ages 6
to 19 are considered to be obese.
One of the most common complaints many
people have is being tired and fatigued. Next time you
go out to eat, just eavesdrop on the conversations
taking place around your table. EVERYONE IS
EXHAUSTED.
So, is it your fault if you are overweight, tired,
and fatigued? Perhaps not. Processed, high-sugar
content foods have been heavily marketed for
decades, especially to children. They are much more
accessible and cheaper, and many times, food labeling
can be misleading or even deceptive. If you do not
have a degree in biochemistry, you can easily be
fooled. To make things even worse, serious evidence
is accumulating that sugar is very addictive.
According to a WebMD article on sugar, “Sugar
fuels every cell in the brain. When you overload on
sugary foods, it may alter the parts of the brain that
control how much you eat. In lab studies, rats that
binged on sugar had brain changes like those of
getting off drugs. In humans, just seeing pictures of
milkshakes triggered brain effects like those seen in
drug addicts. It was strongest in women whose
answers showed they were more hooked on eating.”
Clearly, quitting a diet of processed and sugarfilled food is not an easy task for many people, which
is why so many people try and fail. Many end up
quitting for a certain time and falling back into their
old ways. This is referred to as the "yo-yo effect" and
can lead to serious weight gain.
Understanding this issue is the first step to
making a lifetime change, a change where you finally
lose weight and keep it off. Just as important, your
energy levels will rise so you will not constantly feel
tired and fatigued. Oh, and another thing, you may not
get sick as much…
The researchers at UCLA found that the rats on
the junk food diet grew a large amount of tumors
throughout their bodies by the end of the study.
Those on the more nutritious diet had fewer and
smaller tumors that were not as widespread.
If this research is correct, processed foods high in
sugar are the cause of weight gain, fatigue, and may
contribute to serious health problems.
On top of all that, they are most likely very
addictive.
What About Exercise?
There is no doubt exercise is good for you. There
is plenty of research in that regard. But, there is one
thing you must understand: You cannot exercise
away a bad diet.
This is probably the most common
misunderstanding and mistake when it comes to
losing weight and increasing energy.
Eating processed foods full of sugar will create
weight gain and fatigue no matter how much you
exercise. In fact, eating poorly will make exercise
extremely difficult because of the fatigue it causes.
If you want to lose weight and have more energy,
it is highly recommended you cut processed foods that
are loaded with sugar from your diet.
One more thing: New research shows that the
average lifetime medical costs for an obese child are
$19,000 higher than those of a child of normal weight
who maintains normal weight through adulthood.
These are direct costs and are probably higher when
factoring in indirect costs. Cutting processed foods
that are high in sugar from your child's diet could
have a huge impact on their life and healthcare costs.
Don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or
concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us
with your questions. We’re here to help and don’t
enjoy anything more than participating in
providing you natural pain relief.
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Presented by Beecher Chiropractic Clinic1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston TX 77062(281) 286-1300
Inspirational Story Of The Month
(Names And Details May Have Been Changed To Protect Privacy)
Awesome Person Alert!
If you found a stranger’s wallet with money in it and no one else knew,
what would you do? What this person did is incredible…
It’s a very old and commonly used ethical question. If you found a bag of money and no one knew, would you
keep it or return it? A quick Google search of this topic reveals many important things…
First, there are a lot of people who jump into the legal debate. In other words, whether they keep or return the
money is solely dependant on what they are legally bound to do. They say, if it is legal, they will keep it and vice
versa. The situation gets more complicated depending on the amount of money in the bag. For example, it is much
easier returning $20 than it is $1 million. What if the person who finds the money is poor? Does this mean it is
okay to keep someone else’s money? It all depends on your situational ethics.
That’s why this story is so impressive.
Christian Reyes lost his wallet at a Florida Marlins’ baseball game and the person who found it did something
amazing. He looked in the wallet and found Reyes’ Miami Senior High School student ID card. He brought the
wallet to the school and turned it in. When he went to the front office, all he said was, “Somebody lost this wallet.
One of your students. I think it’s one of your students from this school, lost this wallet at the game, and I just want
to make sure he gets it back.”
Then, the good Samaritan left, not even telling the office staff his name. But here is the most amazing part:
When Reyes got his wallet and opened it, he found there was EXTRA money in it and a note. Whoever found and
returned his wallet actually put an extra $20 in the wallet with a note that said...
“I added $20 to it so you know the world is a great place. Do me a favor, when you get the chance, do something
nice for someone else.”
Reyes is reported as saying he is looking forward to holding up his end of the deal. This is incredible because
not only did this kind person add money to the wallet, he did not even tell anyone his name. He is obviously just
looking to make the world a better place and not looking to make himself look good.
But this is not the only good Samaritan case. According to the Boston Globe, last October, Red Sox player
Shane Victorino lost his wallet on a plane. A good Samaritan actually shipped the wallet back to him from Paris!
Victorino told the press, “There’s honest, trustworthy people in this world.”
Here is one more good Samaritan story that is nothing short of awesome…
A bunch of college kids got intoxicated and were smart enough to not drive home. They decided to take a
chance and knock on the front door of a house at 11:00 p.m. and see if they could get a ride back to their house.
What greeted them when the door opened was a little scary…
You see, the house they chose was being rented out by several professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters
and the guy who answered the door was 6’3” pro MMA fighter Jake Gombocz. As you can imagine, this story could
have gone very wrong for these drunken college kids pounding on a stranger’s door at 11 p.m.
But it didn’t. Jake is a gentle giant and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Jake offered them a ride
home all the way across town. When the college kids offered Jake money, he refused to take it and told them to pay
the kindness forward to someone else.
The most amazing part of all these stories is the good Samaritans did not give their names and did not try to
take credit for their acts of kindness. We only found out Jake’s name because one of his friends was there and
posted the story about Jake on his Facebook account.
Maybe these are the real heroes we should pay attention to, praise, and look up to. 
We love helping our patients and their friends and relatives through their tough times and
getting them feeling better! We are here to help you stay feeling better and looking younger!
Don’t be a stranger. You really can afford Chiropractic care! Don’t wait until you can no longer move!
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Presented by Beecher Chiropractic Clinic1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston TX 77062(281) 286-1300
Did You Know?...
The Benefits of Happiness
The feeling of happiness – whether you equate it with optimism, joy, well-being, personal achievement, or all of the
above – goes hand-in-hand with healthier habits. People who are in good spirits tend to eat better, exercise more
frequently, and get better sleep than those who are not. This could be because leading a healthy lifestyle helps you
achieve your goals, which leads to happiness. It could also be that such habits lead to better health, which, in turn, lends
itself to a better mood and contentment.
Beyond these rather common-sense associations, there’s something more about happiness that makes you healthy. It
appears that a positive mental state may have a much more direct effect on your body. Positive thoughts and attitudes are
able to prompt changes in your body that strengthen your immune system, boost positive emotions, decrease pain and
chronic disease, and provide stress relief. Happiness, optimism, life satisfaction, and other positive psychological
attributes are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. People with a deep sense of happiness and well-being have
lower levels of inflammatory gene expression and stronger antiviral and antibody responses.
Tip Of The Month
WARNING: Coughs and Sneezes Travel Much Further than Expected!
Researchers have known for some time that coughs and sneezes travel quite a distance. You have probably
seen slow motion videos showing the huge droplet mist caused during a sneeze. Well, new research conducted by
researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shows that coughs and sneezes have associated nearly
invisible gas clouds that travel much further than previously thought. According to Dr. John Bush, a Professor of
Applied Mathematics at MIT, “When you cough or sneeze, you see the droplets, or feel them if someone sneezes on you.
But you don’t see the cloud, the invisible gas phase. The influence of this gas cloud is to extend the range of the
individual droplets, particularly the small ones.” The new research shows the smaller particles travel between 5 to 500
times further! Even more shocking is that because particles are suspended in a gas, they are much more likely to be
picked up by air circulating systems such as heating and air conditioning vents. This can spread “germs” throughout an
entire building, just about instantly. Oh the horror!!! Or is it?
The first thing to understand is while this research is new, the distance traveled by sneezes and coughs is not. In
other words, “germs” from sneezes and coughs have been suspended in small gas clouds that travel large distances and
possibly through heating and air conditioning vents since there have been sneezes, coughs, and vents. Researchers (and
you and I) knowing about it is the only thing that is new. So, two things are clear. (1) Knowing about it does not mean
more people will get sick and (2), which is the most important, this is just further evidence that “germs” are everywhere.
Everyone breathes them in constantly. If you are breathing “germs” in all day, and germs make you sick, then why aren’t
you constantly sick?
The answer is quite simple. Germs will never be eradicated, and they should not be. They are an essential part of
our ecosystem. Beyond living in a bubble, you are always going to be in contact with germs. So, the best way to deal
with “germs” is to make sure your immune system is functioning to your genetic potential. This is because “germs”
easily invade a body with a weak or weakened immune system, take hold, and make that person sick. On the contrary,
“germs” are easily fought off by a strong, well functioning immune system. This is why), holding all other factors
constant, people who do not get enough sleep, drink excessively, smoke cigarettes, have high stress levels, and eat a poor
diet (loaded with processed food and sugar) are more likely to get sick when exposed to the same “germs.” Even worse,
their sickness can be worse and last longer which is all the more reason to focus on the things you can control like diet,
sleep, and stress reduction.
Remember, we’re always here to help your body heal
and maintain the pain free body you deserve.
This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be
done through the advice and counsel of a chiropractic professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.
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Presented by Beecher Chiropractic Clinic1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston TX 77062(281) 286-1300