Dr David M Balster’s Health Blog

Who benefits when you drink your favorite Diet Coke or Mountain Dew? Not you. Did you know that one can of soda is empty calories with no nutritional value whatsoever and can be loaded with artificial colors, artificial flavors, and preservatives such as sulfites?  A single can of soda can have up to ten teaspoons of sugar, 30 to 50 mg of caffeine, and 100 to 150 calories.

Plus, phosphoric acid in the carbonation is detrimental to the alkaline balance necessary in healthy individuals and contributes to weak bones and osteoporosis.

Diet soda with aspartame or NutraSweet is a chemical used as a sugar substitute. It has been linked with numerous potential side effects including brain tumors, seizures, diabetes, behavioral disorders, and birth defects. It has also been linked with weight gain because the body is fooled by the chemical, forcing it into a survival mode whereby it holds onto weight thinking it is in starvation mode.

Soda pop has been associated with osteoporosis, tooth decay, diabetes, weight gain, and heart disease. It accounts for approximately twenty-five per cent of all beverages consumed in the United States. School age children are the biggest consumers. The increase in children’s obesity, diabetes, and behavioral problems is generating more awareness about the negative impact soda pop can have on children’s health and development. More schools are choosing to either reduce the amount of vending machines with soda pop while including more healthy alternatives such as pure fruit juices and bottled water or eliminating soda pop vending machines entirely.

Do you want to improve your overall health and longevity? Stop the soda pop habit. It is not glamorous to health. Drink pure water such as reverse osmosis water (Aquafina, for instance, is purified using reverse osmosis). If carbonation has a hook on you, sparkling mineral water is a better selection. Just say NO to soda pop. Say YES to yourself and put yourself in charge. Make a conscious decision to be able to proclaim, “Yes, I am contributing to my health today by drinking pure water.” For in the end your health, either good or bad, is a culmination of the many habits you make day after day. Your health really is your choice.

David M. Balster, M.A., D.C.

Founder Center For Creating Wellness

Uncategorized

Have you ever wondered why it is that we as a culture seem to be getting heavier and heavier and sicker with more chronic degenerative diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, gout, heart disease, obesity, cancer. We live in a land of plenty and yet with all our technological advances and knowledge, we have not solved the eating solution. Incorrect nutrition is involved in at least six of the ten leading causes of death in the United States according to government reports.

With all the conflicting diet “fads” and contradictory information in the news about what to eat, the consumer often becomes confused and frustrated. The first rule, when in doubt, is to look to how nature does it. In nature, plants are whole and unadulterated. They are not refined or processed and  contain no preservatives, food enhancers, stabilizers,  fillers, or fortified ingredients. In nature, there are no artificial ingredients, no artificial flavors, no chemicals, and no added food colorings. Looking to nature is appropriate and definitely helps in choosing what to put on the table. Reading ingredient labels on grocery food items is valuable.

Rule number two in taking the nutritional path to good health has to do with understanding the difference  between alkaline-producing and acid-producing foods. A short explanation is helpful. When we are born, our bodies are in an alkaline state. If our blood gets even somewhat acid we will die. When we metabolize the food we eat, it leaves a residue called  ash (think of a log burning in the fireplace and after it’s burned it leaves ash).This ash that is left is either alkaline or acid depending upon the types of food we eat. The ideal diet contains approximately 75% alkaline-producing foods and 25% of everything else.

Alkaline-producing foods are fruits and vegetables and can be raw or cooked. Acid-forming foods are meats, dairy products, pastas, breads, nuts, and grains.

What we drink is also a concern.  Pure fruit juices, vegetable juices, and water are best. They contribute to maintaining an alkaline balance. Coffee, alcohol, teas, soda pop, and other soft drinks are stimulants contributing to an acidic environment. Moderation and the 25% consumption in the ideal diet apply with these latter drinks.

Think about the foods you eat on a daily basis. Make a list. In our office, we have a form that we have patients fill out that we evaluate to suggest areas to improve nutritional health.

Look to see where you fit on the 75% of your diet being fruits and vegetables and 25% being anything else. Many people find that they consume just the opposite ratio with a

predominance of meats, grains, dairy products, and pastas and very few vegetables or fruits.
Rule number three is common sense. Improve nutritional health and vitality gradually by first adding more vegetables. Next gradually add more fruits and natural juices to the diet. Remember to include drinking more water. Then consciously decrease the amount of protein, fat, salt, sugar, and other stimulants such as soda pop, coffee, alcohol. Be aware of what you are putting in your mouth and what you snack on. Monitor your food choices. As you do this process, cravings for salt and sugar will likely decrease as your body is now getting the revitalizing nutrients from fresh fruits and vegetables that it was not able to obtain from the previous diet. In a nutshell, add more fruits and vegetables and decrease the amount of meats, grains, dairy, pastas, soft drinks, coffee, alcohol, sugar, and salt products. The appropriate alkaline/acid balance is the nutritional path to good health and wellness. How are you doing? Are you eating away at your health?

It’s your choice. Proper nutrition can make a difference in your long term health and vitality. Some benefits include feeling better, losing weight, more energy, avoiding osteoporosis,  a clearer mind,  improved outlook on life, reducing the amount of stress you feel, reducing arthritic symptoms, stomach distress, reactions to allergies, and helping your body resist disease.

Uncategorized

Human beings are designed to survive. If a tiger or bear attacks, the autonomic nervous system goes into full time defense to protect the body from danger and any physical harm. Blood pressure rises as adrenaline is pumped to put the body in an emergency response. This automatic, subconscious response to external physical danger is precisely how the body is designed to survive the present moment. This defensive physiology for survival can literally be a lifesaver.

In our society, survival issues that the body defends against can be as varied as air pollution, improper food and drink, safety issues, perhaps physical assault and countless other situations that may arise in our daily life.

Defense physiology is a physiological response that takes place automatically by the subconscious triggered either by external physical stimuli or by internal stimuli of thoughts with accompanying feelings.

When considering health and wellness, defense physiology as elicited by the internal stimuli of our thoughts and feelings can literally put the body in a survival mode minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day.

Picture a scenario driving down the street and seeing red lights flashing behind the car. What is the sensation in the pit of the stomach? Compare that situation to seeing a stop light turn red driving through town. Ho-hum.  In both cases a red light is seen. However, the physiological reaction is completely different in each situation because of the interpretation given the red light.

These thoughts with attached feelings can exert a powerful effect upon physiology and subsequently upon health. Defense physiology from external physical dangers such as the tiger or bear is a completely natural, normal, and necessary response for survival of the species.

However in our society, most defense physiology occurs from internally driven, non-physical threats from emotions such as worry, prolonged fear, anxiety, resentments,  anger, guilt, depression, despair, jealousy, grief, loneliness, judgment, and feelings termed “negative”. What becomes so detrimental to health is that worry or resentment for example can go on for days, months, and years. So the body goes into survival mode to protect and defend from the perceived danger elicited by negative thinking accompanied by feelings.

The impact on health from negative thinking/feeling is one of duration and intensity that can remain in our memory either consciously or subconsciously. Sometimes situations can remain indefinitely. Suppressed memory of feelings can be on-going long after the event that originated the feelings.

The detriment to health is that the body is not designed to stay in a defensive, survival mode for twenty-four hours a day, day after day, for months or years on end without incurring damage and breakdown. In time the body becomes exhausted, affecting the immune system, setting the stage for disease and symptoms to manifest. The body cannot defend and fully rejuvenate at the same time.

Emotionally-induced defense physiology puts the body into a survival mode that can go on indefinitely. This reality is a classic example of the mind-body connection and why thoughts are so powerful. The cause of defense, and thus the ultimate cause of pain and disease as a result of continuous defense physiology, is in a person’s thoughts. Unless the cause of the symptoms is addressed, a person cannot truly get well even though symptom patterns might be treated. Why? Because the symptoms are a result of a stressed-out system caused by a person’s thoughts.
The way a person thinks, therefore, can influence health and affect the way the body works and functions. Constant negative stress of any kind such as worry, being unhappy at work or home, the hatred or jealousy of another person, guilt, financial duress can  rob you of peace of mind and eventually lead to sickness and disease.

Continuous survival mode physiology mandates sickness. It affects your health and your quality of life.

Uncategorized

If wellness is the degree to which an individual experiences health and vitality in any dimension of life, a question might be how, as an individual, can I raise or improve my own personal health and wellness quotient?  Subtle symptoms such as being tired all the time, not sleeping well at night, being depressed frequently, lack of enthusiasm, or more pronounced symptoms such as diagnosed diseases and medical conditions all reflect an  imbalance in our  bodies and therefore in our lives.

Six essential areas for evaluation in raising your own personal health and wellness quotient are under your control. This list includes what you eat and drink, how you exercise and rest, what and how you breathe, and most importantly the thoughts that you think. The significant factor is that you have control over the choices you make in these six areas that lead either to health and vitality or to sickness and disease.
Which one of these six areas is the most difficult for you? Which is the easiest? And

why are thoughts and feelings about our experiences in life so paramount to health and wellness?

Let’s first consider how habits and our health are interwoven.

Our health is our choice though we often do not view that we have very much control over what happens to us when it relates to the state of our health. Yet every day we live our lives through our choices (our habits) that over time result in the state of our current health and vitality (good or bad).  We often do not look at these habits as a choice because that is how we have always done it.

However, what if we became more conscious and more aware of how our choices and habits can sabotage our best intentions, particularly in these six essential areas listed above? Look at examples from your own life. Have you ever felt like you just can’t seem to get ahead no matter how hard you try? Or that something is always holding you back, particularly in areas that you want to improve and take control over….yet you feel the resistance of life-long habits that make change so difficult.

Look at topics concerning weight management, fitness and health, relationships, self-esteem. Yet we know we need to break these self-defeating habits and replace them with responses (choices) that give us more of what we truly desire for our lives.

So how do we go about changing our self-defeating habits and mind-set? One way is to start using the Law of Attraction that states, “What we think about expands.” Therefore, when we think about what we don’t want, we get more of what we don’t want. By the same token if we put our attention on what we do want, we naturally bring into our existence more of what we intend to have happen in our life. Here are the specific steps for how you personally can use this universal law to your advantage.

The first step is awareness of self-defeating habits. The next logical step is to determine exactly what it is that you do desire or want in this situation. Give this acknowledged desire your undivided, conscious attention. A powerful last step is to picture yourself as already having accomplished this new goal or habit. Note the corresponding feeling or sensation in your body. Focus intently on this feeling that is associated with getting what you desire. Whatever you put your attention on, always has a feeling involved. And now that feeling that has your undivided attention is on what you want. (Not on what you don’t want.)  Recognize the Law of Attraction at work, aiding you now in expanding or attracting to you more of what you intend in your life. It’s that simple.

Habits and reactions that don’t serve us well can imprison us.  By the same token, conscious choices that become new habits can empower us and set us free. Our health is our choice. However, we may never have looked at our health this way. Now we can.

By: Dr. David M. Balster, M.A, D.C.

Founder of the Center For Creating Wellness

309 E.1st St.

Monticello, IA 52310

Uncategorized

Why is it that two individuals can have similar circumstances and their lives can be so different?  One component is found in the choices these individuals make and the attitudes they bring to these choices.

Some choices don’t seem like choices in the beginning.  We just do what we’ve always been doing.  It’s called “habit”.  “Good” habits make life easier because they give us more of what we desire.  When it comes to health and wellness, these same good habits can contribute to our well-being and quality of life. By the same token, we have habits that undermine our health and affect our state of well-being.

It would be helpful for us to look at where we are at this point in our lives and see how healthy we really are.  Ask yourself, on a scale of one to ten: “How good do I feel everyday?  When I wake up, am I refreshed and ready to start my day?  When I go to work, am I relaxed and willing to take up new challenges?  When I finish at five o’clock, am I energized and ready to take a jog with my dog?  As I fall off to sleep at night, am I at peace and do I sleep uninterrupted through the night?”

We live in a dynamic universe.  We are constantly changing – either moving towards increased vibrancy and energy or a lowered state. Which direction have you been taking?

On the following scale, rate your energy/health level this year, last year, and five years ago.

Less Energy       Increased Energy

Low Health/Sickness      Improved Health

More symptoms Feel Fantastic

Be honest with yourself now.  Rate yourself on this scale.  Place a red dot where you see yourself today, in the past year, and in the past five years.  Which way have you been heading?  Toward an increase in energy and vitality?  Or is your health and vitality deteriorating into various health conditions and symptoms?

This column is designed to get you to start thinking about your wellness and vitality quotient.  We will be addressing the issues in your life that will help move your energy level to the right side of the scale.

Let’s define wellness.  Wellness is the degree to which an individual experiences health and vitality in any dimension of life. Is wellness something you do or is it a state of who you are at this time in your life?

Can we improve the quality of our life wherever we are at this present time? Yes…  Why? Because wellness is a continuum as our previous scale depicted.

A person can have a high degree of wellness or a low degree of wellness.  The body is never static.

Every decision, thought, and action you take moves you toward wellness or away from it.  If you don’t like your decisions, find out how to change them.  Reclaim your life.  To do so, you must learn how to make health-enhancing choices in six essential areas: what you eat and drink, how you exercise and rest, what and how you breathe, and most importantly, what you think.

In the future, we will focus in more detail on these six essentials for life .It’s worth remembering that every day we follow habits and a lifestyle that is and will be affecting our health and the overall success for our life and our state of happiness.

Creating wellness begins with you.

This column is dedicated to raising your awareness and creating wellness in your life and in your family’s life.

By:  Dr. David M. Balster, M.A., D.C.

Founder of the Center For Creating Wellness

309 E 1^st St

Monticello, IA  52310

Uncategorized

Forgiveness has the power to transform your life and to alter your destiny. And when done on a massive scale, it can change a community’s identity or a country’s destiny.

Practicing true forgiveness can take the emotional charge off of past unpleasant experiences. The list can include emotional/ traumatic situations, events regarded as a personal attack, and incidents of feeling wronged, misunderstood, cheated, violated. The list is endless.

How can this healing process of forgiveness be set in motion? How can you release the feeling of being a victim to being a champion of what is possible and taking responsibility for everything that happens in your life?

First, you forgive for your own health’s sake. When you hold onto hurts and grudges, you are controlled by that person or that event.

Forgiveness is not about condoning someone else’s behavior. People’s behavior can be dastardly.

So you forgive for you—for your health and your sanity. As long as you hold onto that grudge/hurt, you cannot truly be free. And frequently, your health will suffer.

There are five steps for true forgiveness. Each step is to be carried out with feeling and emotion. You do not have to be physically present with the other people involved. You can do each of these forgiveness steps “in your mind” and these steps can be done even if the other person is no longer living.

1. Forgive yourself for allowing this situation to affect your life and in turn the quality of your life/health.

1. Forgive the other person/persons for any harm they caused you.

1. “In your mind” give the other person/persons permission to forgive you for any harm you may have caused them. Remember, it takes two people to tangle.

1. Find the good in every situation. What is the lesson that you can learn? Why are you a better person because of this event?

1. Be thankful for the learning experience. If this forgiveness lesson involves other people, “in your mind” wish them well and mean it.

Practice these five steps for true forgiveness on a regular basis. Make it a part of your daily routine. Pay attention to what is affecting your life and your health.

The rewards for your diligence in making this process of forgiveness a habit is peace of mind, improved health and quality of life, and feeling good. Best of all, you will have found the secret to living well.

Forgiveness is truly the key. Heal the mind and you heal the body.
David M. Balster, M.A., D.C.

Uncategorized

A recent Stanford University study conducted over many years enumerates remarkable health and longevity benefits found in long-term runners.

Before we can truly appreciate these benefits, we need to dispel some of the common myths associated with running. As a runner, here are some of the misconceptions I hear:

1^st.  Running will ruin your bones and your joints, particularly your knees and hips.

This notion is false and not borne out by research studies. On the contrary, the weight bearing effect of running enhances bone mineral density thereby preventing osteoporosis and decreasing the risk of bone and hip fractures. Research studies find that runners do not have higher incidences of knee replacements or osteoarthritis.

2^nd. Running will lead to injuries.

As a wellness doctor to top performance athletes, I have found most running related injuries result because of poor biomechanics and postural imbalances.  Correct the abnormal biomechanics and address other underlying issues and most running injuries can be resolved and prevented.

3rd. Running will cause heart attacks or heart conditions.

Again, this idea is mostly a myth depending upon the underlying wellness of the person. Running requires more of an oxygen load and oxygen debt initially. If the body is already too acid, strenuous exercise of any kind could lead to potential problems with increased lactic acid build-up. (A urine acid challenge test is recommended. Call our office.) Research confirms long-term running leads to a strengthened heart and cardiovascular system thereby reducing the risk of heart disease-the number one cause of death in the United States.

4th. Running will lead to premature death.

Again the statistics bear out just the opposite. In the Stanford study, there were half as many deaths among runners when compared to non-runners. Running adds years to your life and helps slows down the aging process even delaying disabilities. This study found the onset of disabilities was delayed by 12 to 16 years as compared to non-runners.

So running adds years to your life and life to your years. So maybe we will become a nation of runners after all, now that some of the myths are dispelled and the health benefits revealed.
David Balster, M.A., D.C.

Uncategorized

Stress got you down?

It can be a tough day out there. You may ask yourself “where am I going to find the time or energy to do it all?”  It can be so draining with all the competing demands and expectations. So no wonder at the end of the day you are tired, sometimes exasperated, and more often frustrated.

And then there’s the internal stress of worrying about the family, paying the bills, getting enough sleep, finishing all the work. And the list goes on.

And you are left to question what life was supposed to be all about. Is it mostly work, obligations, and constant stress? Or can life be a requiem for joy and feeling good.

Because the alternative to this life of stress and worry and not feeling good is to create a life that exudes enthusiasm, passion, and true joy.

The good news is you can learn to feel good more often. You can train yourself to line up with your own internal monitoring system that lets you know when you don’t feel good.

Simply put, when you feel anxious or are stressed, you are focusing on something you don’t want or something you don’t have. Acknowledge what you are putting your attention on. Then you simply pivot and turn around your attention by asking yourself what you do want or desire.

It’s as simple as that and it’s easier with repetition. Begin to ask yourself what you do want from every situation in your life. What would be your ideal if you could have whatever you wanted or desired?

So begin to relax, enjoy, and listen to your body.  And when you do, you will begin to have more of what you want show up in your life.  It all begins with a thought and the attention you give that thought. To feel good, spend more time in putting your attention on what you want instead of what you don’t want. Allow the magic of feeling good to be your primary experience.

David M. Balster, M.A., D.C.

Uncategorized

The movie “The Secret” is taking the world by storm since it was released this fall.  This thought-provoking movie explores and delineates the power of manifesting and how to use the Law of Attraction to create whatever it is that you desire in your life. Leading scientists, philosophers, doctors, and authors reveal the application of this universal law in terms that can be followed and understood.

This secret of manifesting and using the Law of Attraction is available to every one, not just a select few. However, for centuries this law of manifesting (the secret) was shrouded in mystery and intrigue and reserved for the upper echelon. Have you ever wondered what set apart such colossal figures in our history such as Plato, Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci , or Lincoln? They all used the secret to transform their lives into “greatness” and to create a lasting legacy.

Bob Proctor, one of the contributors featured in this movie states:

“ The Law of Attraction is always working, you can never escape it. Everything that comes into your life, you are attracting into your life; and you see, as we understand The Secret, then we can sit down and dictate exactly what we want to come into our life, and with absolute certainty it will arrive….It’s absolutely phenomenal when you stop and think about it. Build the image of the world you want to live in.

Watch the film… over and over again….to help you alter your conditioning, change your habitual way of thinking, and when you do that you have changed your world.”

Learning and applying the secret can change your life forever. The secret is the key to everything you hold dear—health, money, relationships, love, career, happiness. This secret is the key that unlocks all the powers of the universe to you.

This holiday season make an investment for you and your loved ones. Learn the secret to manifesting the life of your dreams. The Secret is on DVD and can be found at Barnes & Noble, video stores, and the internet. Any further questions call my office at 319-465-4415.  Enjoy and Apply.

Uncategorized

We are in the midst of the holiday spirit as Christmas is past and New Year’s Day awaits. This time is often one of celebration and joy as we spend time with family and friends as we relax from the normal routines of life. As the symbolism of the New Year approaches, we are given the opportunity to reflect on the year past and to set forth our intention for the coming year. Perfect timing to apply deliberately the Law of Attraction (watch the movie, “The Secret”—A must for the entire family).

What promises do you make for yourself for 2007? Goals on health, weight, physique, money, career, relationships? And will you commit and follow through?

Our family was at a bakery shop outside of San Antonio, Texas, last Christmas. The owner had a sign hanging up in her shop that reflects the sentiment I want to share with you on how you can make life divine in 2007.This prose reflects the essence of health and wellness.  Post this saying where you can see it every day.

Promise Yourself

“Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile. To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.”    Christian D. Larson

Wishing each of you the happiest of holidays and the very BEST for 2007! Live deliberately with intention and passion.
Dr. David M. Balster, M.A., D.C

Uncategorized