Cure-All Juices

Doug Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN gave another great talk at our sports symposium this year. He always covers the newest updates in nutrition and performance. He gave a great run down on all the miracle juices hawked through various MLMs and media.

Try to guess this first one. I'll tell you the answer at the end:

• Grown on trees, named after its color.
• 17 vitamins and minerals.
• 18 amino acids.
• 20 carotenoids.
• Over 150 phytochemicals.
• One medium-sized fruit contains 100 mg vitamin C, 75 mg calcium, 325 mg potassium, 3 g fiber, and 12.5 mg omega-3 fatty acids.
• Taste is delicious.

Indian Gooseberry:

• From a tree native to foothills of India.
• AKA Amalaki.
• Fruit is cherry-sized, lime-green, with 6 furrows.
• Very high in vitamin C (125-475 mg/oz).
• Also contains quercitin.
• Low in other vitamins and minerals.
• Fibrous with bitter/sour taste; often dipped in salt when consumed in India.

Noni:

• Fruit from South Pacific evergreen tree.
• Pale yellow, oval with bumpy skin, around 2" long.
• When ripe has a foul smell.
• Around 20 vitamins and minerals and over 120 phytochemicals.
• Taste is bitter; juice is dark brown; grape and other juices are added to commercial products.

Mangosteen:

• Fruit from an Asian evergreen tree.
• A thick dark purple skin with juicy white tangerine-sized wedges in the center.
• Low in vitamin and minerals.
• Has 40 of the known 200 xanthones which are antioxidants in the polyphenol family.
• Tastes like a grape/strawberry mix.

Acai:

• From a palm tree in the Amazon.
• Purple/black berries the size of a grape.
• 12-15 vitamins and minerals; 15-20 amino and fatty acids.
• High anthocyanin content (class of flavonoids known for red/purple/blue pigment and antioxidant properties).
• High ORAC score but cannot quench hydroxyl radical.
• Tastes like unsweetened dark chocolate.

Goji:

• Berries from a vine-like bush in Tibet, West China, and Mongolia.
• AKA Wolfberry.
• When dried looks like red/orange raisin.
• Around 20 vitamins and minerals; 15 amino acids; 12 fatty acids.
• High ORAC score from carotenoids and vitamin C.
• Has bitter/sour taste.

Did you guess the first one?

Yes, that's right. It's orange juice.

Don't forget we have a lot of great fruits and vegetables that are easily attainable in the continental U.S. let alone Oklahoma. How about blueberries and blackberries? They are a phenomenal source of antioxidants. Blackberries grow in Oklahoma almost like weeds. Strawberries grow wild as well and have some of the highest vitamin C contents around, superceding even oranges. Cranberry and pomegranate juice are also both amazingly good for you.

My point is that you don't have to go to the farthest corners of South America or Tibet to have an excellent arrangement of great-tasting, nutritious fruit or berries. Just eat the local ones everyday, and you'll be doing better than most people.

Here's to your health,

Michael K. Van Antwerp, DC, CPed, CCSP

Crossfit Southwest Regionals 2009

Just for fun, I packed up the weekend of May 2-3, 2009 and drove down to Fort Worth, TX for the Crossfit Southwest Regionals 2009 aka Hell's Half Acre.

For those of you who have never seen a Crossfit workout, it's a combination of gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, and sprint type exercises all combined with a functional approach and timed. You compete against each other in the gym for time.

I have done some work with one of the local Crossfit centers here in Tulsa, Next Generation Crossfit, and Eric and Luila Barber, the owners, invited me down to watch the competition...and, I think secretly for me to tape them up or adjust them as needed :)

The competition was just crazy fun. The sky had opened up and was dumping rain. This was the same weekend that the Dallas Cowboys' practice bubble blew down from a microburst. Competitors were soaked and pumping out reps. People literally left flesh behind on the bars from trying to tape and stay on.

I got a chance to try out my new Osprey bag as a Kinesio Taping supply bag. It worked great. I also had the chance to meet some of the people from Trigger Point Therapy and Airrosti Rehab. It was great talking to them, but I'll keep my foam rollers and tennis balls for home myofascial and trigger point work for patients and keep my Therapy Edge and Vibrocussor for in-office myofascial work because they work even better than my thumbs. Anyone who has performed a lot of ART then Graston will know what I'm talking about.

After this intense weekend, I realize I need to work out more!

Michael K. Van Antwerp, DC, CPed, CCSP

ACBSP Symposium 2009

I had the pleasure of attending the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians in La Jolla, CA on April17-19, 2009. Our focus this year was on the hip and pelvis.

I had finally received my CCSP (Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician) last year after 120 hours spent in extra class time, many hours spent in a car or plane for travel, and many hours spent preparing for the examination. I was excited to learn more cutting edge info on hip and pelvis to add on to last year's topics of shoulder rehab.

As usual the ACBSP more than delivered. We heard from the four official chiropractors from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing: Drs. Amor Adams, Ernie Ferrel, Ted Forcum, and Michael Reed. We went over many great case studies of how Olympians were able to compete and perform well due to sports chiropractic. We also went over the extensive use of Kinesio Tape in the Olympics as well. I learned some great new maneuvers, both joint and muscle, for the hip that are already working quite well in practice.

I always pick up a lot of useful info just talking to docs at dinner or between sessions. I gained some great tips for managing pelvic pain from Dr. Forcum that I was able to use right away.

I did take a break from classes early Sunday morning and hiked out to Torrey Pines to view the sunrise. What a view! I shot a couple of pics with just my camera phone.

The sad note of the trip is that I lost one of my beloved greyhounds, Gracie (the blue gray), to renal failure this same weekend. Thanks for all your kind words for everyone who knew.

Michael K. Van Antwerp, DC, CPed, CCSP

Arnold Classic 2009

I had the privilege of attending the Arnold Classic in Columbus, OH on March 6-8, 2009 for a chiropractic sports conference.

What an amazing event. It makes you appreciate all the hours, sweat, and tears that goes into training for an event like this. From bodybuilding to gymnastics to martial arts, the amount of dedication to reach champion status is unreal.

One of the surprises of the event is that the Ultimate Fighting Championship was going on at the same time in Columbus. I ended up riding down the elevator in my hotel with Randy Couture and saw Urijah Faber and BJ Penn in the lobby.

Arnold came and talked to our group of chiropractors, but for me a better surprise was that Franco Columbu was with him. For those of you who don't remember, Franco Columbu appeared with Arnold in Pumping Iron and is still one of his best friends. Franco holds Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia titles and ended up becoming a chiropractor, which is probably one of the reasons Arnold is such a fan of chiropractic.

On Sunday, I heard a question and answer session with the bodybuilding champions, Iris Kyle and Kai Greene, fitness champion, Jen Hendershott, and trainer extraordinaire, Mike Davies. They laid out the amount of dedication and hard work required to truly reach the top. It made me realize I need to work a lot harder!