It’s that time of year again. The time that kids dread and (many) parents look forward to as students start back to school. The first couple of weeks are inevitable the most difficult as new relationships and schedules are put in place and kids and teachers alike try to jump start learning process that has all but gone on hiatus over the summer vacation.

To ensure your student excels through this transition and the rest of the year lets go over a few things you can do to help your child and their teacher.

1.) Ensure plenty of sleep. Current research shows children need at least 8 hours of sleep per night, sometimes more depending on growth stages, stress, illness, etc. Set a bedtime that allows them to get plenty of sleep at stick to it. Understand how you feel on days when you didn’t get enough sleep then realize a child’s sleep is much more crucial as they are not only physically growing but are developing the neural processes that will be with them the rest of their life.

2.) Proper nutrition is a must. I won’t go into tremendous detail on this one. That is another article altogether. Realize the body can only perform as good as the fuel you give it. If you drive a Corvette and frequently fill up with 87 octane and don’t change the filters or oil do you think your car will last long? We are talking about your child though. You can’t expect him or her to perform at their best if they are being fueled by processed cereals and sugars for breakfast and fast food (I use the term food very loosely here) for dinner. Strive for 8-12 servings of fruits and veggies every day. Your child will not only maintain their energy longer but will thrive in any environment.

3.) Last but certainly not least, make sure your child is active. How many of you knew that the same areas responsible for movement and balance in our brain are directly linked to the area responsible for forming long term memories and decision making. Knowing that, we can understand the importance of movement and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. Whether it is playing a sport, riding a bike, etc., you owe it to your children to encourage them to stay active. As a rule in my house, when the weather starts warming up the video games go on hiatus until next winter.

One more thing you can do to encourage your student is staying active is to contact your teacher or principal and ask them to replace standard chairs with balance balls. Sitting on a ball not only forces you to engage muscles and improve posture, it also fires those pathways I mentioned that will facilitate memory formation and critical decision making.

These are just a few tips on helping your child in the education process. Remember the most important thing to do for your child is to say you love them and show them.

Yours in health,

Dr. J

In this week’s blog I’m going to channel my inner hippie; that part of us that deep down longs to be outside, closer to nature, breathing fresh air. Granted, some may have to work a little harder than others to hear that voice, but trust me, it’s there. Nature has a healing aspect to it that is often overlooked or ignored in our fast paced society. When was the last time you were in a natural landscape so amazing you could do nothing but stare in amazement? Or how often have you heard someone say “Pictures don’t do it justice”. It’s just something you have to experience in person.

The earth has an energy that evokes not only emotional responses but physiological ones as well. Current research attributes this to the electromagnetic field that surrounds the earth. It is this field, which coincidentally has the same frequency that our brains operate and thrive on, 7.83 hertz, known as the Schumann Resonance. This electric field is what syncs our biological clock, eliminates free radicals (which cause chronic inflammation), and protects us from the sea of electromagnetic (EM) pollution that surrounds us.

The problem is that most people wear thick rubber soled shoes that essentially insulate them from this connection with the earth. By being in contact with the ground you are plugging into that innate force within the earth and grounding yourself to the harmful electric fields surrounding you. For the past 20 years, people have marketed various products (stones, crystals, high tech gadgets) that will help ground us from the EM pollution that is part of our lives now. Even NASA understands the importance of the EM field given off by the earth as it now places a resonator on all shuttles that emits a signal at 7.83 Hz to help prevent the extremely stressful effects astronauts experienced when separated from earth. In fact, according to the NIH, “The Schumann Resonance provides a brain frequency range matching electcromagnetic signal, providing the synchronization needed for intelligence.”

So you see, by going barefoot and reconnecting with nature you are not only doing your feet and legs a service by strengthening and using them how they were intended, you are keeping your entire body and brain healthy and functioning fully. Keep this in mind as the weather turns and we get back outside. Spend some time barefoot and watch the improvement!

Dr. J

I left you last week with a few points to think about. Are we designed to walk barefoot or does our survival and health depend on the latest shoe technology? Let’s first look at how the introduction of the common running shoe has affected mankind.

Mainstream advertising would have you believe people can run faster, jump higher, have fewer injuries, and be outright more successful in life if you own the latest and most expensive pair of sneakers. Millions of dollars in national ad campaigns aside, you will see none of these claims are even remotely confirmed by the research. In fact, a recent study showed that runners using shoes costing $95 and up had twice as many injuries as those wearing shoes costing $40 or less. It would seem the approach of adding more technology and “stuff” to shoes would be the wrong way to go. It is however, where the money is.

So what about barefoot running? The human foot has the highest concentration of nerve endings as anywhere in the body (similar to the hand and fingertips). These nerves serve a slightly different purpose than those in the hand though. The nerves in the foot act as sensors that relay millions of information points to the brain with every step. Elevation change, shear stress, traction, firmness of surface, and impact pressure are all measured, analyzed, and responded to hundreds of times per second, allowing us to quickly navigate nearly any terrain on earth with minimal stress or injury. It is truly one of the most magnificent performances of the nervous system.

Running barefoot allows your feet to perform the job they were designed to do. When running sans shoes, we are forced into a forefoot strike (landing on your heel as you do in shoes would quickly prove futile). By staying on the balls of our feet we assume a more efficient gait, and experience about 1/8 of the overall impact forces as running in shoes, reducing injury of our feet, knees, hips, and more.

Next week we’ll look at other benefits of being barefoot and start tying this all together. Your goal for the week is to spend some time every day with no shoes or socks on. Walk around outside or inside and become aware of what you are feeling. Focusing on your feet as you do this will help to awaken the long dormant nerve endings that are crucial to your balance and agility.  Have some fun with this one. Try out different surfaces, terrain, etc. Think of it like a mini massage for your feet!

Dr. J

Intro to Barefoot Running

This will be the first in a series of articles discussing a new “trend” that seems to be getting mixed reviews, depending on who you talk to. I use the term trend with tongue-in-cheek as this topic has been around for as long as mankind has. In fact, only in the past few decades has barefoot running become a strange and ridiculous concept for us.

Let’s start off simple and look at a little history. Up until the mid 20^th century tennis/athletic shoes as we know them today didn’t exist. In fact, aside from a few types of shoes custom designed for certain purposes, most shoes were quite crude and were worn to provide protection from the elements or terrain. Running shoes in particular weren’t much more than a leather flat that was strapped around the ankles. These sandal type covers offered some protection from the terrain while still allowing the foot to be in contact with the ground.

You see, the foot is a marvelous and unbelievably complex piece of engineering (more on this later). By allowing the foot to work as it was designed to, injuries that are commonplace today such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, etc. were virtually non-existent as early as 50 years ago. By continually adding more cushioning and motion control/support to our shoes, we are not only inhibiting our feet from working as they were designed to, we are also weakening them to the point that some people can’t walk barefoot without considerable pain.

Are we to believe that this is where the great design has taken us? Two hundred thousand years of adaptation and advancement to make it to the point where our evolutionary prime is dependent on finding the correct balance of arch support, heel cushioning, and custom orthotics? Or is our constant fixation on empirical data and scientific achievement clouding the obvious (or not so) observation that we were designed with all the tools necessary to be a fit and active person.

More to follow…

Dr. J

The cold/flu season is upon us and unless you're living in a bubble chances are you know someone who is or was fighting off a bug of some sort.  The purpose of this blog is not how to stay healthy or prevent getting sick.  Instead, I want to (very simply) explain how your body works when you get sick.

 Many of us link the true sign of being sick to having a fever.  Still others see a runny nose and immediately think the worst.  These bodily functions among others are very typical when the body is fighting off a pathogen like a bacteria or more commonly a virus. A fever is a perfectly natural response to an infection that acts to essentially burn off the organism causing the disease.  Fever is often times associated with being uncomfortable, aching, or even being delirious.  These are symptoms caused by the toxicity in our body, NOT by the fever.  Too often we respond to a fever by taking medication to reduce the fever which is like killing the messenger.  Now, we are sick and preventing our body from effectively fighting to clear the toxicity from our system.

 Instead of making your body work even harder to fight off an infection, focus on giving your body what it needs.  Plenty of fluids, fruits and veggies, and NO sugar and processed foods.  You may be uncomfortable for a brief time while your immune system clears the toxicity from the body but you will be back to 100% much quicker! 

 Understanding your body in paramount in maintaining your health and overall well-being.  If you've missed the posts detailing how to stay healthy and avoid flu season altogether and do find yourself fighting off a "bug", remember, your body is an amazing creation that is well equipped to handle what's going on if you let it. 

Yours in health,

Dr. Welsh