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Parkinson’s and Constipation?

October 13, 2025 by towers

HOW MANY CHRONIC DISEASES ARE CONNECTED TO TOXIN EXPOSURE?  This question must be asked and the answer should be the focus of research.  This summary explores Parkinson’s Disease which is a very good example of a chronic disease which can result from long-term exposure to environmental toxins.

Summary from a Mark Hyman  MD podcast with two prominent neurologists.

Before Parkinson’s Disease is ever diagnosed, these prodromal signs may manifest:

-constipation

-loss of sense of smell

-gut dysfunction

-acting out dreams (REM sleep behavior disorder or RBD)

-anxiety

Wow!  What does constipation have to do with the brain?  Turns out the buildup of mis-folded proteins that are associated with Parkinson’s show up not only in the brain but in the gut and the skin!  This is a whole body disease that was first observed in London during the Industrial Revolution when the air pollution caused by coal-burning was extreme.  It has been associated with farmers who are heavily exposed to pesticides/herbicides for decades now.  And people who live within one mile of a golf course have a 126% increased risk for developing Parkinson’s from the chemicals that are sprayed there.  Also, the heavy metal toxins, aluminum and mercury, are found in high concentration in the brains of not only Parkinson’s but Alzheimer’s patients as well.

Small wonder we are seeing an epidemic of Parkinson’s disease! Low-level, chronic exposure to toxins has almost never been recognized by medical professionals as a cause of chronic disease.  And the number of toxins we are exposed to has steadily increased over the last one-hundred or so years.

So there are two kinds of Parkinson’s—one that is gut first (toxins are ingested) and the other which is brain first (toxins are inhaled).  The common denominator seems to be mitochondrial damage mainly to nerve cells from toxins whether they are air-born or from food and drink, and whether they affect the brain through the olfactory nerve or the gut through the vagus nerve.

The bottom line– prevention is the most important strategy we can use.  Some suggestions:  Avoid constipation and address gut dysfunction (schedule a nutrition consult), avoid exposure to aluminum (from cans, cookware, vaccines) and mercury (from fish and amalgam dental fillings), carbon filter your water (consider a reverse osmosis unit), use indoor air-purifiers, buy organic as much as possible (visit ewg.org) and wash your produce, and take good quality nutritional supplements (ask us for help with this).

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

The Risks Are Real

September 29, 2025 by towers

TYLENOL RISKS ARE REAL

Helping you to better health naturally has always been our purpose.  That means using natural means as much as possible for pain relief and chronic conditions.  We inform our patients about the side effects of their medications in order to increase consumer awareness.  It has been well known for many years that Tylenol can increase liver enzyme levels in blood tests.  What does that mean?  It means that this drug causes destruction of liver cells.  Many studies, as summarized in the link , show an association of tylenol use during pregnancy with the development of autism.   Since there are natural options to deal with pain and fever, why take the risk of tylenol?  Chiropractic and nutrition therapies are the best natural, non-invasive, first choice for pain relief for people of all ages—including pregnant women.  The risk discussed in the statement below should be taken very seriously.  This is not about politics—it’s about your health and the health of our children

 

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

Read Before You Buy To Save Money & Your Health

September 5, 2025 by towers

Do you read the ingredient label on foods you buy?  Most people still don’t!   My best recommendation is to never buy any food without reading the ingredient label first and then use your best judgement before purchasing.  So don’t go into the supermarket without your reading glasses if you need them–and some of the print on those labels is very small and hard to find!  Arm yourself with a few guidelines which will make your decision very easy. You will save money because you will buy fewer packaged (or value-added which means more expensive) foods AND you will also be eating a much cleaner diet.   This will mean cooking from scratch but isn’t it about time to just commit to doing this?

Some Simple Guidelines:

  • Don’t buy foods containing any seed oils–canola, sunflower, safflower, corn, soy.  This will eliminate fried foods cooked in these oils which are the worst!
  • Don’t buy foods containing “wheat flour”  which means refined white wheat flour–Even if it IS organic.
  • Don’t buy foods that contain sucrose, sugar , high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, or erythritol.

JUST DOING THESE THREE THINGS WILL ELIMINATE MOST OF THE BAD FOODS AMERICANS EAT.   IF YOU CAN DO MORE, ADD THE FOLLOWING:

  • Buy foods that are organically grown.  Research is proving you will reduce your exposure to chemicals.
  • Buy animal products that are from pasture-raised animals that have been fed glyphosate-free feed (corn and soy in animal feed is a major source of cancer-causing, gut destroying glyphosate in people!)  Finding a vetted, local source for your dairy, beef, chicken, pork and eggs is the best way to insure quality.
  • Cook from scratch using the best ingredients and avoid eating out except for special occasions.

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

Warning, Don’t Be Fooled: Good Diets Do Include Good Carbs

August 4, 2025 by towers

The epidemic of pre-diabetes, obesity, and diabetes along with a host of digestive ills has resulted in many people taking some extreme low or no carb dietary measures to either reverse or prevent these health problems.  It’s great to be pro-active but a good maintenance diet does include good carbs and going without them can create new health problems and failure to see good results long-term.   If we focus on blood sugar levels we may miss the fact that it is insulin resistance that is causing poor blood sugar control and insulin resistance is caused by inflammation.  To complicate matters, other factors besides dietary can cause inflammation.  The key seems to be reducing inflammation in order to have insulin function normally.  Common sense and a lot of what we already know about inflammation can help us sort all this out.  We are here to help with the sorting out if you are confused, but here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • A good balance between carbs, protein and fat has been part of traditional diets that supported good health for generations across the world.  Quality is the determining factor for whether foods containing a balance of these macronutrients are health promoting or not but the condition/function of the gut is key also.
  • Exposure to toxins/chemicals from our food, water and air has greatly increased over the last 100 years or so and this has resulted in an abundance of poor quality foods.  For example, glyphosate exposure from desiccation of our grains and legumes since the 1990’s has sky-rocketed.  Also, seed oils have flooded the food supply with omega-6 fatty acids (most of which are damaged into free-radicals by processing) and  were foisted on the unsuspecting public about 100 years ago and have only increased since then.  Another example, mercury from coal-burning plants ends up in the fish we eat.
  • These toxins/chemicals cause leaky gut and a bad mix of microbes growing in the gut.  They also lodge in the cells (they often store in fat) and lymph tissues.  Once the gut is compromised even the best quality carbs can make digestion worse because bad microbes are making irritating by-products from these carbs and they get readily absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body causing further health problems.
  • So the solution is to rebuild the gut with the best quality foods and supplements and with easily digested low carb content initially.  With time and as tolerated, more good quality carbs can be introduced all while reducing exposure to as many chemicals as possible.
  • There are lots of measures that can be taken to help the body cleanse itself  from modern-day toxic exposures.  Give us a call to schedule a nutrition consult if you would like help on your road to better health.

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

Herbs For GI Cleanse

July 16, 2025 by towers

MediHerb makes Wormwood Complex which has four powerful anti-parasitic herbs:  black walnut hulls, wormwood, stemona root, and clove.  It is recommended for cleansing the lower gastrointestinal tract and maintaining healthy gastrointestinal flora.  Along with a good spore-based probiotic and an anti-inflammatory diet, this herbal formula is a good place to start for cleansing the gut.  We carry MediHerb Wormwood Complex and MegaSpore probiotic.   If you need help addressing digestion problems, call for a nutrition consult today!

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

Go Organic!!!

July 10, 2025 by towers

Bayer is at it again–with a new agrochemical to replace glyphosate that, if you can believe it, is more toxic than glyphosate!  I am linking this article in the Organic Consumers Association’s newsletter because it updates us on the importance of going organic.  The best we can do to decrease our ingestion and exposure to these toxic chemicals is to grow our own organic food if gardening is possible, buy locally from organic farmers, only buy organic in the grocery stores, and stop using chemicals on lawns and gardens.  I know growing organically is possible–you can do it without the chemicals–because I have been gardening this way for decades.  You can make a difference!  Stay informed and support better choices!

Organic Bytes Newsletter #902: New Agrochemicals Are Even More Toxic

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

Castor Oil and Baking Soda Skin Treatment

June 10, 2025 by towers

Castor oil is likely the most effective and  inexpensive ingredient  for cleaning, healing, and moisturizing the skin.  Be sure to buy organic castor oil in glass and not a plastic bottle.  This recipe with directions for a deep cleanse of the face (which makes use of another inexpensive and common ingredient–baking soda) has been made popular on a youtube video.  They make claims that it is effective for reducing wrinkles and dark spots.  Here is the summary for how to do the cleanse.

Cleanse your face with the following procedure.   For a deep, exfoliating cleanse, use castor oil and baking soda together –this mixture will also rejuvenate the skin.  Mix 1 tsp. castor oil with ¼ tsp. baking soda (be exact). If you have acne-prone skin, add 1 drop (no more!) tea tree oil.  Massage the paste into your face gently, covering the entire surface of your face but avoiding the delicate area around and under the eyes. Leave on for 15 minutes and then wash your face with warm water and pat dry with a towel.   If any irritation of the skin occurs, wash off the baking soda mixture sooner and reduce the baking soda next time.  This combination will help remove excess oil, dirt and other pore-clogging material and rejuvenate the skin.  The castor oil will absorb in 30 minutes or so and leave the skin feeling clean and moisturized.  However, there are different skin types, so if your face feels too oily afterwards, use a warm wet washcloth to help remove the excess oil.  If your face does not feel oily after the treatment, follow with a few drops of plain castor oil massaged gently into the skin and leave it on.

This mixture can be used on the hands also.  DO NOT DO THIS DEEP CLEANSE MORE THAN 2 TIMES A WEEK.  The recommendation made on the video is to do the cleanse Monday and Thursday evenings on a set schedule.  It should be done before bed for best results.  The castor oil alone can be used every night to remove make-up and clean the skin– use 1/2 tsp. castor oil applied with a warm wet washcloth and gently massaged into the face (add a drop of tea tree oil as an anti-bacterial if desired).  Leave on the skin.

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

EXERCISE FOR OPTIMAL LYMPH FLOW!

May 23, 2025 by towers

A very good article, “Unlocking Your Body’s Detox Potential–The Crucial Role of Lymphatics” from Dr. Mercola’s September 8, 2024 newsletter does an excellent job describing why and how to target the six major areas of lymph drainage in the body (collarbone area, behind angle of jaw,  shoulder/arm pit area, abdomen, groin area, behind the knees) in order to improve detoxification and decrease infection/pain/inflammation/and arthritis.  While the many benefits of exercise are generally well known and documented, anyone designing an exercise program really needs to insure including movement of all primary joints plus diaphragmatic breathing.  Of course, chiropractic adjustments are an integral part of maintaining joint mobility.  In addition, at our clinic we have been recommending breathing exercises, strength and flexibility exercises, walking outside in nature for daily sun exposure, infrared saunas, and rebounding for several years so this article was a welcome affirmation for us  that we have been emphasizing the best home practices for not only addressing pain and inflammation but improving overall health and detoxification.  Be sure your exercise routine for the week includes as many of these practices as possible and remember that the older you get the more time you will need to dedicate to maintaining your health.  Talk to us for more ideas on how to customize your exercise plan!

Filed Under: Healthy Habits Tagged With: exercises for lymphatic drainage, lymphatic drainage, lymphatic stagnation

Four-Season Gardening

March 27, 2025 by towers

 

Did you know that you can garden all year long?  Yes, you do need a yard that gets a lot of sun but if you have that and a desire to grow some of your own food you can do it!  I highly recommend Eliot Coleman’s book, “Four Season Harvest”, as an introduction.   If you do three season gardening you won’t need cold protection, but if you want to do four season a cold frame or greenhouse is necessary in Virginia.

 

Here are some Fall carrots we planted late summer and harvested in November.  Because most people grow garden plants in the summer, they may not be as familiar with the plants that tolerate colder temperatures and which will survive winter in a cold frame or greenhouse.  The cold tolerant vegetables we grow are carrots, lettuce, kale, collards, broccoli, onions, parsley, cabbage, and radish.  We have grown all of them in both the greenhouse and cold frame.  Below is a picture of the cold frame taken in late winter on a nice day when the cover was off.  Give it a try–you’ll get better with experience every year!

Filed Under: Healthy Habits

Why We Recommend Rebounding

March 17, 2025 by towers

Rebounding is one of the best exercises to decrease inflammation and improve immune system function because it improves toxin and waste removal from the body.  All you need is a good-quality rebounder and a workout routine that targets the major areas where stagnation can occur.  Chiropractic adjustments help to decrease stagnation in joint areas but rebounding helps keep the lymph flow going!

We recommend David Hall’s rebounder which comes with a variety of workout routines.  Watch his intro video before you purchase a rebounder.  He explains why you don’t want to buy a cheap rebounder–it’s too easy to get injured.  This is an investment but so worth it; you will appreciate the convenience of exercising at home– besides, it’s fun to bounce!

Filed Under: Healthy Habits Tagged With: lymphatic stagnation and rebounding, rebounding, where to buy a rebounder

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Good Nutrition

Gluten-free Pesto Pizza

This is a summer/fall recipe for basil lovers to try when they still have fresh basil and vine-ripened tomatoes available.   It is quick to make if you have some pizza dough or gluten-free bread … [Read More...]

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Children’s Adjustments

Children's chiropractic adjustment at Towers Chiropractic

Children with back pain

Children suffer injuries that lead to misalignments just as adults do. Children generally respond very well and quickly to gentle chiropractic adjustments. A case in point is that of a 5 year-old … [Read More...]

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Towers Family Chiropractic

2302 Colonial Ave, SW, Ste A
Roanoke, VA 24015
(540) 343-6636

Our hours are:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday:
10:00am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Tuesday, Thursday:
7:30am – 11:30am and 12:30pm – 4:00pm
Saturday:
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