“You are what you eat! And I am frightened.”

The question that I am frequently asked is, "Do I need to take vitamin and mineral supplements? I eat a pretty good diet and I heard you get all the nutrients you need from your food."

If only that were true! I believe that we, as a nation, would not have the health problems to the extent that we do if our food provided the nutrients we needed. Think back on how dramatically our diet and the entire food supply has changed in the past 100 years. Cattle were raised on the open range eating a diet of natural grasses, and then driven to market in cattle drives.  Their meat was lean and actually contained omega 3 essential fatty acids.  Compare that to today when 99% of the beef cattle treated with hormones and then are finished in a feed lot, eating corn and other grains, insuring that the meat is marbled with fat.  There meat is completely devoid of the omega 3 fatty acids and are loaded with saturated fat.  Food was organically grown or raised on small family farms using no pesticides, herbicides or insecticides.  The fertilizers were primarily organic and the fields were not over farmed to squeeze out the absolute highest yield per acre. The richest farmlands were on the flood plains of the rivers where essential minerals would be recharged in the soil every few years.

Contrast that to today, the farm fields have been overused for decades with synthetic NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium) fertilizer and the crops are sprayed with a variety of inorganic harmful chemicals. As far back to 1934, there was testimony in the congressional record to indicate our farm fields had been depleted of the essential trace minerals necessary for the production of truly nutritious crops. The food looks good, but there is significantly lower amounts of vitamins, essential and trace minerals. There is also the residue of the chemicals that have been incorporated into the food that simply cannot be washed away.

Our food supplies, while abundant, are simply not as nourishing as organically produced food. There was a recent study where a large group of registered dietitians were given the challenge to construct a menu for a week that would provide all of the recommended daily supply of nutrients. The only restriction was that the diet could not exceed 2000 calories per day. It could not be done! Every single diet plan was analyzed and was deficient in at least four of the essential nutrients.

It has evolved to the point that even the American Medical Association recommends that every American should take a multiple vitamin supplement daily. The American Heart Association also recommends that you take a supplement of fish oil daily for your heart health.

So which supplement should you take? Who do you trust to recommend products to you? In 2005 I completed the requirements for my diplomate degree in clinical nutrition. I expect that as you continue to read these newsletters you will come to trust me as an unbiased source of information.

Supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry, which is regulated by the FDA. I have taken the following statements from the FDA website:

Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), the dietary supplement manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that a dietary supplement is safe before it is marketed. …

Currently, there are no FDA regulations that are specific to dietary supplements that establish a minimum standard of practice for manufacturing dietary supplements. However, FDA intends to issue regulations on good manufacturing practices that will focus on practices that ensure the identity, purity, quality, strength and composition of dietary supplements. At present, the manufacturer is responsible for establishing its own manufacturing practice guidelines to ensure that the dietary supplements it produces are safe and contain the ingredients listed on the label.

Since you are at the mercy of the manufacturer, let me guide you through the process of selecting the right products for you and your family. Many of the major suppliers are owned by pharmaceutical manufacturers and outsource their production to China We will continue with this discussion next month. In the mean time, if you have any questions on nutrition, please feel free to email me at

mailto:Drjim@Chchiro.net

To your health,

James P. Seim, D.C.

Numerous studies have shown that years after whiplash victims settle their insurance claims, roughly half of them state that they still suffer with symptoms from their injuries.

Whiplash - Getting Well Naturally

You're driving to work and stop for a red light. You're minding your own business and - bam! - your car rocks forward and backward, slammed in the rear by another car driven by some guy yakking on his cell phone. Or you're a passenger in a New York City taxi. The driver's cruising down Fifth Avenue when a teenager suddenly dashes into the intersection, running across the street against the light. The cabbie slams on the brakes and your head rocks forcefully backward and forward.

Or for reasons known only to yourself you decide it's a good idea to go bungee jumping. You dive into space, the cord extends, and finally the cord is fully played out. Significant physical forces blast through your body as you helplessly bounce back and forth, dangling in the air like a gaffed flying fish. The result of each of these demonstrations of Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion? Later that day, or possibly within several days, you begin to experience neck pain. You might also have shoulder pain, headache, nausea, dizziness, and pain or numbness traveling down one or both arms. You have whiplash - a traumatic injury to the muscles, ligaments, and spinal joints of your neck and upper back.^1,2

If you're lucky you'll get better in a few days. If the injuries are moderate or severe the various complaints will linger and may even get worse. As with any injury or illness, if you're not getting better right away you need to see your doctor. As you've suffered an injury to your head and neck, it may be a good idea to see your doctor as soon as you can, in any case, even if you think the injury is mild.

Your chiropractor is an excellent choice for examination and evaluation of injuries due to whiplash. She will be able to determine the nature and extent of the damage to muscle, ligament, and bone. Taking an x-ray series is a very important part of the evaluation of whiplash, as even seemingly modest forces can result in fracture of one or more vertebras in your neck. Evaluation of nerve function, including both spinal nerves and cranial nerves, is critically important. Pain and/or numbness radiating into one or both arms suggests injury to a cervical nerve root and needs to be thoroughly assessed.

If no fractures have been identified, chiropractic treatment can begin immediately. Over time, chiropractic treatment helps reduce inflammation of injured muscles and ligaments. Over time, chiropractic treatment helps restore normal ranges of motion to your neck and upper back. With this natural form of healing you begin to make incremental, steady progress, recovering the ability to participate in all your daily activities with reduced levels of pain and discomfort.

Chiropractic treatment provides optimal therapy for whiplash injuries, allowing your body to recover and return to normal by utilizing its own restorative powers.³

¹Kasch H, et al: Clinical assessment of prognostic factors for long-term pain and handicap after whiplash injury: a 1-year prospective study. Eur J Neurol 15(11):1222-1230, 2008
²Chen HB, et al: Biomechanics of whiplash injury. Chin J Traumatol 12(5):305-314, 2009
³Michaleff ZA, et al: A randomised clinical trial of a comprehensive exercise program for chronic whiplash: trial protocol. BMC Musculoskeletal Disord 10:149, 2009 (12/2/09)