Dear Steve,

DID YOU KNOW that the authors of a study in Frontiers in Nutrition examined the risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA) in coffee drinkers?

While beneficial for many, there are some who simply do not tolerate coffee because of its acidic nature. This excess acid can ultimately lead to gastrointestinal reflux or pain-related autoimmune disorders such as osteoarthritis.

In this study, the researchers discovered a positive correlation between OA prevalence and coffee intake equal to or 95 milligrams of caffeine per day. Eight ounces of normally brewed coffee usually contains about 95 mg of caffeine.

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Steve: If you read my newsletter during and shortly after COVID, you may recall me saying how important vagus nerve function was to recovery. In a recent interview with Dr. Eric Topol in his "Ground Truths" newsletter, Dr. Svetlana Blitshteyn, one of the foremost authorities on autoimmune disorders POTS and Long COVID, discussed how everything begins and ends with vagus nerve function when it comes to immune function.

Just to refresh your memory about the vagus nerve: it is the longest nerve in the body, starting in the brain and ending in the lower trunk. Thus, the vagus nerve connects to more vital organs then any nerve. There is no more important organ system for immune function than the GI tract, with vagus nerve playing an inextricable role. Here is a brief excerpt of the conversation between Dr. Topol and Dr. Blitshteyn.

Dr. Topol: "Now gets us to the biggest thing of all. There was a paper from Columbia last week that taught us about the body-brain circuits between the vagus nerve and the caudal Nucleus of the Solitary Tract (cNST) of the brain and how this is basically a master switch for the immune system. And so, the vagus nerve there and then you have this gut to brain story, which is the whole gut microbiome is talking to the brain through the vagus nerve. I mean, everything comes down to the vagus nerve. So you've been working all your career and now everything's coming into this vagus nerve kind of final common pathway that's connecting all sorts of parts of the body that we didn't truly understand before. So could you comment about this because it's pretty striking."

Dr. Blitshteyn: "Absolutely. I think this pandemic is highlighting the pitfalls of everything we didn't know but should have in the past. And I think this is one of them. How important is the autonomic nervous system and how important is the vagus nerve that is the longest nerve in the body and carries the parasympathetic outflow. And I think this is a very important point that we have to move forward. And again, Kevin Tracey's work was groundbreaking in the sense that he connected the dots and realized that if you stimulate the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic outflow, then you can reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and that he has shown that you can also improve or significantly such disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune inflammatory conditions."

If you have an autoimmune disorder and have not looked into the vagus nerve stimulation therapies we recommend, here is a list I published last year.

Specifically for those with POTS, here is the recent study performed using non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation.

Bonnie: Over 7 years ago, a middle-aged male and family friend announced to me that he was becoming vegan. He was very fit at the time, having previously accomplished a grueling Ironman competition. I told him to please reconsider his vegan choice since he is blood type O. After 40 years of clinical data, we have found that blood type O's do not use plant foods such as beans as viable protein. I also told him that excess dried beans contain phytates and lectins that block essential minerals, especially zinc, magnesium, and calcium. Since he was 56 years old, his ability to absorb plant foods as proteins would worsen even further because of less available digestive enzymes.

Unfortunately, he did not follow my advice. I saw him recently and he mentioned that he should have listened to me. He needed a knee replacement which did not heal well. He had to give up Ironmans completely due to chronic knee pain. He also became severely hyperthyroid. His endocrinologist tried to regulate his overactive thyroid to no avail. This came as no surprise as he was consuming large amounts of soy and pea protein from dried peas daily. Soy, in particular, is known to spark an overactive thyroid. His blood protein also became dangerously low at 5.8.

Eventually, he remembered our vegan conversation and added back eggs and fish to his daily diet. He especially loved adding back the super food sardines in olive oil. Moreover, he stopped eating soy foods. Within as little as three weeks his overactive thyroid became almost normal. He even stopped having chronic knee pain.  

He was dumbfounded by his rapid improvements as was his doctor. After three months, his blood protein level also normalized. He now has learned a powerful lesson. Humans are omnivores and are not "one size fits all". He also said that anyone who wants to be vegan needs to be closely monitored by a knowledgable health professional.

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Disclaimer: Case reports are not intended for self-healing. Case reports are for references purposes only and should be discussed with your health professional.

In Chicken Soup for the Chiropractic Soul there’s an account of a chiropractic patient who had been a POW. His leg was blown off, he had shrapnel on his spine and other injuries from when he was captured in the war. The chiropractor studied his previous medical records, performed a chiropractic exam and also took a set of spinal X-rays. 

It was determined that he could undergo chiropractic care and so he began coming in a few times a week. A month later he asked if he could attempt to play golf again as he used to be good at it. The chiropractor gave him the ok, so the patient entered the State Amputee Golf Tournament. He ended up winning it and then decided to enter a Regional Championship game.  

He continued with chiropractic care and then went off to the next tournament a month later. Once again he won and was so excited that on his next visit he brought his chiropractor a gift. Not only was he grateful about winning the tournament, he told his chiropractor that after he began receiving care he was able to make love to his wife again. Something he hadn’t been able to do for several years. He told him there was no price he could pay for that, so he gave his chiropractor the wings he earned in the war. 

What a powerful example of how when interference to the nervous system is corrected with Chiropractic care, then the body can express its full potential. What health issues would you like chiropractic care to help you with?

Dr. Liselotte Schuster is a Holistic Family Chiropractor and has been in practice with Nutritional Concepts since 1989. She uses a variety of techniques to help children and adults reach their full potential, trusting in the healing powers of the body. Contact Dr. Schuster at (847) 509-9067 or drliloschuster@sbcglobal.net.

Bonnie, Steve, Liselotte, Lori, Sharron, Cindy, Diana and Carolyn