Chiropractic care doesn't cost, it saves!  

Doctors of Chiropractic serving as primary care physicians led to better clinical and cost outcomes.

It was observed in Illinois over a 4 year period that people who chose Chiropractic as their primary source of health care spent:

• 60% Less in Hospital Admissions
• 59% Less Hospital Days
• 62% Less Outpatient Surgery and Procedures
• 85% Less Pharmaceutical Costs

The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between the structure and function of the body and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health.


The study spanned four years and included 21,743 patient months.




Source: Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics, June 2004.

Aspartame and Your Health

In this post I’d like to discuss how consuming aspartame affects the brain.  Before I get into what aspartame is and what it does in the body, I’d like to first refresh our memories about why as a Chiropractor I care so much about the brain.  The brain and spinal cord, which are housed inside the skull and the 24 bones of the spinal column (plus the sacrum and coccyx/tail-bone), together comprise the central nerve system (CNS).  The CNS is the first element of our bodies that forms in-utero from a structure called the neural tube. 

What Chiropractors understand is that since the CNS is the first thing that forms and it branches off to become the rest of the nerve system, the peripheral nerve system (PNS), which in turn creates the impulses that allow everything else in the body to form … then the CNS must be an extremely important structure.  The entire nerve system is like a switchboard that allows your body to communicate with itself and the outside world.  Any interference with this system be it physical, emotional, electromagnetic or chemical will impede your body and mind from working at its maximum potential.  Then what?  Stress builds up in the body and mind.  Then things start to not function as well.  Then we start noticing things are just not right … we don’t sleep as well, digestion is off, we’re moody, our minds are “foggy” … we’re just not at our best and it shows.  We’ve let too many interferences interrupt the function of our bodies. 

Most of you reading this post have taken a huge step and invested in your health by getting adjusted regularly to remove the physical stress in the nerve system … but what are you doing to remove other toxins from your environment and body??  Some are doing a lot … others, well not so much.  My main focus in these posts to inform you of some of the things you can do to remove the chemical, emotional and electromagnetic interferences in your life making your Chiropractic investment in your health even more valuable and effective.

So what about aspartame and your brain?  Consuming a lot of aspartame may inhibit the ability of enzymes in your brain to function normally, according to a review by scientists from the University of Pretoria and the University of Limpopo.  The review found that high doses of the sweetener may lead to neurodegeneration. It has also previously been found that aspartame consumption can cause neurological and behavioral disturbances in some people.  You may remember from the post about MSG that an excitotoxin is a substance that causes over stimulation to nerve cells until they burn out and die.  Aspartame is also an excitotoxin like MSG.  Therefore, large quantities and long term use will cause never cell death.  Aspartame is a poison that does not belong in your body.  Yet, this toxic substance is consumed by over 200 million people around the world and is found in more than 6,000 products, such as soda and chewing gum, desserts, yogurt, and even some vitamins and cough drops even contain it … this is a very small sample of possible places to find aspartame.   Again people, read your labels.  Know what you are consuming and feeding to your families.

Aspartame is the result of an accidental discovery in 1965 by James Schlatter, who was working on a drug to prevent ulcers. When he made aspartame from aspartic acid and phenylalanine, he noticed its sweet taste.  Aspartame as it is found in many products today consists of three components: aspartic acid, phenylalanine and wood alcohol.  It is the aspartic acid component that has the excitotoxic properties.  Too much aspartate in your brain kills certain neurons.  Large levels of phenylalanine in your brain can cause the amount of serotonin in your brain to decrease, causing emotional disorders such as depression. Methanol/wood alcohol is a deadly poison.  It breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde which is a deadly neurotoxin in your body.

These are a lot of big scientific words but what it boils down to is that aspartame and its component parts are dangerous to our nerve systems, therefore harmful to our bodies and our health.  It is said that aspartame is responsible for as much as 80-85 percent of the food complaints registered with the FDA.  Besides the damage it can do to your brain, aspartame has been found to cause cancer. One well-controlled, peer-reviewed, 7 year study even found that as little as 20 mg per day can cancer in humans.  That said, one 12-ounce diet soda contains about 180 mg of aspartame … you do the math ….  

If you are concerned with consuming too much sugar and would like to know about some healthier alternatives stevia and agava are two natural sweeteners that you may want to try.  Below are a few links to investigate more about aspartame, as well as, information about stevia and agava. 


Sweet Misery

Aspartame side effects

The Stevia Story: all about the herb that’s sweeter than sugar

All About Agave

Aspartame withdrawal and side effects

As a part of our commitment to empower our Clients to get healthy and stay healthy for a lifetime, we will be holding Free Weekly Live Wellness Workshop presentations*.  

The first one is entitled THE 7 SECRETS TO HEALTH AND BETTER HEALING.  This will be our foundational discussion with subsequent advanced topics to follow.  THE 7 SECRETS … discussion will be held here at ICS live and in person for you and all the people you’ve been working on introducing to Wellness Chiropractic care at ICS. 

This is the perfect opportunity for you to refresh on some of the points we discussed way back when you started your care and to learn some new information about Wellness, Health and Better Healing … and an excellent time for you to invite guests into the practice to experience the relaxing atmosphere, while getting to meet me and the staff.

Best of all I will explain in easy to understand terms all the great health information you have come to experience while being under regular Chiropractic care with us and a whole lot more!

For more information or to reserve your spot, please call 973-857-0303.

To make your reservation online, please click here.



*Workshop Schedule

Jan. 24, 2012 - 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 31, 2012 - 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 7, 2012 -  6:30 p.m.
Feb. 21, 2012 - 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 28, 2012 - 6:30 p.m.

You will receive the following:
1.  Consultation about your health with Dr. Parker
2.  Full Professional Wellness Chiropractic Exam
3.  THE CUTTING EDGE HIGH TECH NERVOUS SYSTEM SCANS,
     Thermal scan, and Surface Electromyograph Scan
4.  Full report of what Dr. Parker has found and her recommendations to correct your nerve system interference and gain or regain your optimum health.

Researchers have found that your skin is populated by trillions of bacteria and some of the bacteria live there permanently.

“There is no need for alarm.”  Said microbiologist Dr. Martin Blaser of New York School of Medicine, “The bacteria have been with us for quite a while and some are helpful.”  The National Academy of Science published research from Dr. Blaser who identified 182 different kinds of bacteria on our skin.  “Based on those number, we estimate there are probably at least 250 different species in the skin.”

Bacteria are single celled organisms that are often blamed for our diseases.  However, “without the good bacteria, the body could not survive.” Added Dr. Zhan Gao, a scientist in Dr. Blaser’s lab.  Bacteria normally live on and in our bodies.  They perform essential function in our digestive system.  We call these good bacteria our natural body flora.  In our skin, the bacteria serve to help protect the skin.  “That’s why I don’t think it’s a great idea to keep washing all the time because we’re basically washing off our defense layers,” Blaser added.  Many health providers even call our natural bacteria our second immune system because of the protection it provides us.

The researchers indicated that the bacteria are so prevalent that they actually outnumber the cells in our body 10 to 1.  Are we more “bug” than human?  An amazing finding was that the permanent bugs found in our skin were Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Corynebatreria and Propionacteria, with these four genera of bacteria making up more than half the total population!  We are so afraid of Staph and Strep, yet they are in our skin all the time.

“Microbes have been living in animals probably for a billion years.  And the microbes that we have in our bodies are not accidental.  They have evolved with us.” Blaser added.

Every time you wash your hands with antibacterial soap or take an antibiotic, you are damaging your natural bacteria that are protecting you and your health.  The reason we get sick is not the “bugs,” it’s due to poor immune function.  Doesn’t it make better sense to take responsibility for your heal and build a healthy immune system?  Of course, and Chiropractic is always part of building a strong immune system and healthy body.

Call Inspiration Chiropractic Studio at 973-857-0303 to reserve your seat for the
7 Secrets of Health and Better Healing Wellness class to learn more about Chiropractic care and your health!