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Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards: All Talk and No Action?
I hear through the grapevine ...
National Small Business Week
The 50th anniversary of the ...
A Change for the Better at the Massage Therapy Foundation and AMTA
This past week the Massage ...

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Alternative Health News
Telecommuting and Technology: Ergonomic and Worker's Comp Considerations
As our world becomes more and more reliant on technology, equipment becomes more dependable and we become increasingly more comfortable with e-mail, the fax machine, the Internet and the smartphone, it is becoming easier and easier to work away from the office.
Repeating Bone-Density Tests
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women older than age 65 undergo bone-density testing. However, organizations in general have not stated when repeat bone-density testing should be done.

Herbal Medicine: Go Mainstream
When it comes to practicing herbal medicine in a mainstream setting, there are a number of important points to understand when it comes to prescribing formulas. Some important questions to ask are - what method of prescribing and dispensing is most effective in this setting?
Peer Points: Stories of Practice Success
When patients go see Arizona-based acupuncturist Jing Liu, it is to get top care from an practitioner well versed in all aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Helping Patients Through Pregnancy Loss
There is a lot of focus in the acupuncture world on fertility and helping women get pregnant. It's exhilarating to hear the news that a patient is expecting a baby. The other side of that is pregnancy loss. That includes abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth.
We Get Letters & E-Mail
Passing Over a Fertile Niche; I Treat Segmental Dysfunction.
The Spirits of the Points: The Gall Bladder Official
The Gall Bladder is known as The Official of Decision Making and Judgment. In any given day, this Official makes countless decisions – conscious and unconscious, which influence every aspect of our being.
The Pallof Press for Core Stability Evaluation
Many people become injured because of instability, weakness and poor neural-sequencing patterns in the core. Lack of bracing and support from the inner core cylinder during coronal and transverse movements makes the body vulnerable to compensation injuries.
Wisconsin Exam in the Spotlight
You've passed your national boards with flying colors, including Part IV, the practical examination, at a combined cost of more than $3,000.
You are What You Eat Part II: Integrative Protocols
In the previous installment of this article I discussed important ideas concerning gastrointestinal health and foundational ideas from TCM, which can provide key insights into creating effective protocols for healing the gut.
Helping Infertility Patients with the Spirit Essence
As many of you know, when it comes to treating infertility, we are dealing with a patient population that is, generally speaking, in emotional turmoil. These patients often experience fear, anxiety, despair, hopelessness, grief and anger.
History Repeating Itself in Wisconsin?
Thirteen years ago, the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association (WCA) "agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that [the association] orchestrated a conspiracy among WCA members to increase prices for chiropractic services and to boycott third-party payers to obtain higher reimbursement rates."
Medical Payola (Part 2)
Not only has Medtronic made billions selling expensive screws and hardware for highly controversial spine fusions, but a Senate investigation also found Medtronic felt compelled to write and edit medical journal articles attributed to outside physicians that downplayed the risks of the company's best-selling bone graft, Infuse.
Evidence-Informed Practice?
In a previous column, I discussed the history and definition of evidence-based practice (EBP), and expressed concerns with how the concept has been narrowly construed by some academics and payers.

Economics of Complementary/Integrative Care
Although this column doesn't usually feature a book review, we're going outside of our usual public health format to discuss a new book written by Patricia Herman ND, PhD.
Healing Leaders

Energy is a hot commodity. Society pays dearly for it and for the expertise of those who know how to cultivate it.


There Are No Secrets: Treating Complicated Conditions with TCM
Including standardized extra points, there are just over 400 acupuncture points on the body. You get 400 and I get 400 - same. Yet, time and time again treatment protocols are coveted as if they were some secret formula only intended for the right and privileged.
Covering Chiropractic as a Profession, Not a Single Service
Recently Dynamic Chiropractic published a front-page article about various state essential health benefits and referred to Oregon and four other states not currently providing chiropractic as a covered benefit.
Calcium Supplements and Mortality
When the National Institutes of Health's AARP Diet and Health Study reported that men who took calcium supplements had a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared those who didn't, it was the third large cohort in six months with alarming findings regarding calcium supplements.

Happenings in Our Evolving Profession
Good things seem to be happening for our profession and recent developments show we are all on board. Talking about being on board, this September The Veterans Express-Purple Heart Tour is expected to make its way out of the station.
A Freebie
Let's face it – patient evaluation takes time. Unless you are really into the diagnostic evaluation game, you probably have found the formal exam protocol tedious if not downright annoying.
Spinal-Cord Injuries: Saying No to Steroids
With steroids, epidural and otherwise, in the news lately for their overuse when treating back pain (and their danger when tainted by fungal meningitis), it was high time for a policy change, and we've got one, from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
News in Brief
Cancer Treatment Centers of America Continues Support of Chiropractic; ACBOH Announces 2013 Practical, Written Exam Dates; PCORI Approves Funding for Research on Spinal Stenosis; Macquarie University to Cease Offering Chiropractic Program.
Business Building: What's Your Strategy?
I know some in our profession love to debate about whether or not spinal curvatures change as a result of our chiropractic adjustment, but I have a question that hits a little more close to the belt than that: Are chiropractors capable of change?
Chiropractic Research: A Moral Issue
This year I've had the opportunity to go to three great chiropractic research conferences; the ACC-RAC, the Fédération Internationale de Chiropratique du Sport (FICS) Congress and the World Federation of Chiropractic Congress.
Exercises for Back Pain: Low-Compression Training Program
This program is intended for two groups of people: 1) those who want to engage in resistance exercises for the major regions of their body without developing back pain in the process; and 2) those who already have back pain and want to do resistance exercises, but consistently re-irritate their back when trying to do so.

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Massage Today
February, 2012, Vol. 12, Issue 02

Get Optimal Energy with Nutritional Self Care

By Ben Benjamin, PhD and Lois Orth-Zitoli

It is our experience that massage therapists are some of the most giving, compassionate people on the planet. While we might be exceptional at caring for others, many massage therapists put themselves last when it comes to their own self-care.

Being a massage therapist is a physically and emotionally demanding job. If you feel totally spent at the end of each work day, then applying a few small changes to your daily eating habits may give you the necessary boost of optimal energy to meet the demands of each day.

Over the next several issues, we will talk about how to eat, when to eat and what to eat to keep your energy levels steady. This information is particularly useful for those of you who always feel tired, those of you who experience a daily 3 p.m. slump, and for those of you who wonder why you can't seem to lose any weight, despite eating a diet of healthy foods.

How To Eat

People seem to be moving at a pace previously unknown to humankind. Words like multi-tasking came into existence to describe this trend. While many think that multi-tasking makes you more productive, it often backfires when applied to mealtimes. According to recent research, multi-tasking causes us to lose focus and decrease productivity. Have you ever shared a meal with someone who eats like they are in the Indy 500? As you are enjoying your second bite of a lovely meal, suddenly you notice your friend's plate is already empty! Or maybe it's your plate. So, why is this relevant?

Nutritional Self Care While you can eat the healthiest meal imaginable, if you are not in a relaxed state during this time, your metabolism is literally shut off. As therapists, we are aware of the "fight-or-flight" response. When you eat in a hurried state, even if you aren't feeling stressed, you are placing the body into a "fight or flight" mode. All the physical changes of the stress response are activated: heart rate speeds up, blood pressure increases, respiration quickens, blood reroutes away from the midsection of the body and hormones (such as adrenaline and cortisol) are released into the bloodstream. Not the greatest scenario for your digestive tract. In fact, when you eat a meal while in a stressed state, you actually absorb up to 50 percent less nutrients from your food. Therefore, if you want to improve your digestion and metabolism, pay attention to how you eat. Also, schedule breaks between clients that are long enough to incorporate the following Mindful Eating Tips:

  1. Sit down to enjoy your meal.
  2. Look at your food and appreciate what you are about to eat. This visual observation initiates the cephalic phase digestive response (CPDR) and the flow of gastric juices.
  3. Take five long, slow, deep breaths (food + oxygen=calorie burn).
  4. Chew every mouthful twenty-five to fifty times.

If you tend to eat while standing up, driving or watching TV, then you might find the practice of mindful eating challenging at first. The key word is "practice." Bad habits do not change overnight. If these Mindful Eating Tips seem insane or impossible to you, then just choose the easiest one of the four tips and try it for two weeks. After two weeks, try to add another tip to your Mindful Eating practice.

Click here for more information about Ben Benjamin, PhD.

Lois Orth-Zitoli, of Full Circle Health, maintains a private practice in massage therapy and health/nutrition coaching in Chicago. She is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Lois leads workshops on nutrition, coaches both individuals and groups, and teaches healthy cooking classes. She can be reached at .

 

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