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Mushrooms for health and longevity, plus chiropractic and colic, pregnancy info

 Mushrooms are very popular around the world for their use in many recipes. In the past, mushrooms were used by many ancient civilizations for medicinal purposes. Ancient Egyptians even called them the plant of immortality. In addition, they ruled the food a royalty food and banned commoners from purchasing mushrooms.  Mushrooms may have cancer fighting properties. In a 2010 study, they researched five different mushrooms. These included maitake, crimini, portobello, oyster, and white button. They found that the consumption of these mushrooms was linked to significantly suppressing the growth of cancer cells, especially breast cancer.  Lentinan is a sugar molecule found in shitake mushrooms.  The compound does not kill cancer cells directly, but it does boost the immune system, which aids in providing the body with a stronger defense line against cancer.  Beta-glucans are found in the cell walls of many mushroom types. These beta-glucans boost the immune system. They have been shown to increase the number of T-1 lymphocytes in the blood and reducing inflammation in the body, which is very important in numerous health issues. Beta glucans are found in many varieties of mushrooms, including the common button mushroom.  Mushrooms also have properties which help lower cholesterol levels in the body. The popular shiitake mushroom assists the liver in quickly processing cholesterol and removing it from the blood stream. This action helps keep blood cholesterol levels low. In addition, this action prevents cholesterol from sticking to arterial walls and forming plaque build-up. Plaque build-up is very harmful as it can cause high blood pressure, atherosclerosis.   What is especially beneficial about mushrooms is that the food contains numerous antioxidants. Most foods do not contain anti-oxidants in high amounts like mushrooms, making mushrooms one of the highest dietary sources of anti-aging compounds.  Mushrooms can be easily incorporated into the diet. They can be added to salads, soups, sandwiches, burgers, as garnishes, and so on. The possibilities are truly endless with the fungi. In addition, they are also very easy to cook. Thrown onto the stove with olive oil, the fungi cooks in minutes. Overcooking the food can lead to loss of nutrients, thus it is important not to overcook the mushrooms.

 

Infantile Colic and Chiropractic Care:  Parents say part of the reason they are attracted to chiropractic care is that practitioners promise relief for problems traditional medicine often cannot solve, particularly colic, one of the most distressing and little understood conditions that affect newborns. Colic is intense and prolonged crying in an otherwise healthy infant, but the crying episodes typically resolve over time, without treatment, according to the Mayo Clinic.  In a 2021 study, researchers in Denmark conducted a randomized, controlled trial of chiropractic care that studied 185 colicky babies. The chiropractors used light pressure treatments on the baby’s spine or neck, depending on where the child’s movement appeared to be restricted.  “You do a touch-and-hold technique where you actually put your finger on the joint and just leave it with a slight pressure,” said Lise Hestbaek, one of the study authors and a former chiropractor who is now a professor at the University of Southern Denmark. She said the level of light pressure is about the same as the “amount of pressure you can apply to your eyeball without pain.”  Taken from the Washington Post 9/15/22

 

Pregnancy Prenatal Chiropractic Care:  Here is a very good reason to manage your stress levels during pregnancy.  Pregnant people who had bigger fluctuations in stress from one moment to the next -- also called lability -- had infants with more fear, sadness and distress at three months old than mothers with less stress variability, reports a new study.  Taking to the time to relax and use stress reduction techniques during pregnancy like exercise, meditation, deep breathing, yoga, chiropractic and massage are effective ways to lower pregnancy stress levels.

Author
Dr J. Zimmerman, Chiropractor Dr. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor from Galloway, NJ with 30 years of chiropractic practice.

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