So February's challenge: consume less than 2300 mg of sodium per day may be a little more difficult than drinking half your body weight in ounces of water. Because it requires you to really pay attention to what you're putting in your body - you have to read labels, not only with the food you buy, but when you eat out too. If you cook most of your meals at home using fresh, real food most of the time, you should have no problem staying well under the 2300 mg limit. But if you tend to eat a lot of processed food and eat out regularly, that's where the problem lies.

The following foods have more than 500 mg per serving:

- Soup -1 cup is up to 1000 mg

- Soy sauce - 1 tsp up to 900 mg

- Taco - 1 small has 800 mg

- Sauerkraut - 1/2 cup 780 mg

- Vegetable juice - 1 cup 650 mg

- Ham - 2 oz. 600 mg

- Pasta sauce - 1/2 cup is up to 900 mg

- Hot dog - 500 mg

The scary thing is that if you eat out and you think you are eating something healthy like a salad, it actually has a ton of added sodium! For example, the Baja chicken salad at Wendy's has 2200 mg of sodium! And at Chili's, the classic chicken fajitas have 1330 mg and the Margarita Grilled chicken with rice and beans has 1870 mg! Unfortunately, restaurants don't always have nutrition information available. I use a cool App on my iPhone called My Fitness Pal that has the nutrition info for almost every food, including restaurant meals and specific grocery items from stores like Trader Joe's. It really comes in handy and makes you think twice about what you eat. So be wary of what you are eating and try to do most of your eating at home to decrease your sodium intake. And I hope you are drinking a lot of water too!

Tomorrow marks the last day of the month and the last day of the water challenge! I have to say that I faithfully drank 65 ounces of water every day except for 2 this month. One day I had a stomach bug and was scared to drink a lot of water for fear that i wouldn't be able to keep it down....but I was so dehydrated the next day that I drank even more. And one day I didn't meet my goal be she's I was just lazy! Yes, I have those days! Overall, drinking so much water wasn't too hard and now I just do it without thinking. I definitely think I have more energy and felt fuller too. I will definitely keep this up! For February our challenge is to keep your sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day. Our bodies definitely need sodium to balance blood pressure and blood volume, but too much is not so good. The problem is the added sodium in processed and fast food, not the salt found naturally or good for us, sea salt (full of minerals and iodine). I was researching certain foods and their sodium content and I was shocked! 920 mg in a multigrain bagel with cream cheese at Dunkin Donuts! Stay tuned for more awesome info about the good and. Ad about sodium this month and join us in our challenge!

I am on Day 11 of our 2012 monthly challenge. I started New Year's Eve. And in case you don't know what this challenge is, it's a water challnege. Specifically drinking half your body weight in ounces in water every day. Yes, that's a lot. And I am constantly running to the bathroom, but that is the only downside. I definitely have more energy and feel less hungry. I am hoping my body eventually gets used to the water intake and I don't have to go as much! One of our patients asked a good question: "What color should my pee be?"  Good question! The color of your urine is directly linked to hydration status because the yellow tint is a measure of how many solid particles (sodium, chloride, nitrogen and potassium) are excreted. The intensity of the color depends on how much water the kidneys mix with the solids. Less water = darker urine. More water = lighter urine. Light yellow urine is the best and is a sign that you are adequately hydrated. (Remember that some vitamins, particularly B and C can turn your urine bright yellow, so don't be alarmed). When you first wake up in the morning, your urine is darker, right? You haven't had anything to drink all night so that makes sense. That's why it also makes sense to drink lots of water right away in the morning (yes, before your coffee) to replenish the fluids lost during sleep. Aim for half your body weight in ounces each day and more if you exercise heavily. Gotta run to the bathroom and then fill up my water bottle!

Happy drinking!

Dr. Carla

Did you know that only 1 in 5 of us drink at least 8 glasses of water a day? Most of us only drink about 4! And the experts are saying that we need to be drinking half our body weight in ounces each day! That's a lot of water! (I weight 130 lbs. so I should be drinking 65 ounces of water?!) Wow. I'm on day 5 of doing that and I feel great! I challenge you to do the same! Half your body weight in ounces every day for the month of January. Why half your body weight? Well, first of all, our bodies are 75% percent water and our brains are 85% water. Without adequate hydration, our metabolism slows down, energy levels drop , toxics build up and cells are deprived of vital oxygen and nutrients. Signs of dehydration that we have before we even feel thirsty are subtle like feeling sleepy, achy and hungry. What do we usually do? Reach for a snack or a second cup of coffee. Instead, grab a glass of water.....less calories, and it will speed up your metabolism by 3% (according to a study at the University of Utah). Imagine that! Losing weight just by drinking more water?! Some more reasons to drink up:water helps the digestive system operate more efficiently and helps you absorb more nutrients and lessens cravings and water also fights fatigue induced hunger.

Take the January water challenge with me and I promise you will lose weight, have more energy and save money buying coffee at Starbucks!

In 1950, a new mother in Moscow was told that her twin babies had died after birth. However the truth was far different: they were sent to an institute near Moscow to be studied. This was to be the fate of Masha and Dasha, one of the most unusual sets of Siamese or conjoined twins ever born. The twins died 2003. Here is their fascinating story:

Identical twins are formed when a fertilized egg divides into two eggs. The two eggs grow into babies that are identical in every respect. Conjoined or Siamese twinds are formed in the same way as identical twins but the eggs, for some reason,don't completely separate; instead, they remain partially attached. It was the unique way in which the twins were connected that caused soviet scientists to take such an interest in them. Masha ans Dasha had 4 arms, but only 3 legs. they stand on 2 of their legs, one controlled by Masha, one by Dasha (they were 5 before they learned how to walk) while a third, vestigial leg remained in the air behind them (it was later amputated). Their upper intestines are separated but they share a single lower intestine and rectum. They have 4 kidneys and 1 bladder, and often disagree on when to urinate. The have a common reproductive system.

Because their circulatory systems are interconnected, the twins share each other's blodd. Therefore, a bacterium or virus that enters one twins' bloodstream will soon be seen in the blood of her sister. Yet surprisingly, illness affects them differently. Dasha is short-sighted, prone to colds and right-handed. Masha is healthier, has higher blood pressure, good eyesight and is left-handed. The twins differing health patterns present a mystery. Why did one become ill with a childhood disease, like measls, for example, while the other did not? The measles "bug" was in both of their bodies, in their collective bloodstream; so why didn't both get the measles?

Evidently there is more to "getting the measles" than having the measles "bug". This phenomenon was seenover and over again with the girls (flu,colds, other childhood diseases were all experienced separately). If germs alone had the power to cause infectious diseases, why would one of the twins be disease-free while the other was ill?

Although Masha and Dasha had common circulatory, digestive, excretory, lymphatic, endocrine and skeletal systems (they were joined at the hips), they had seperate spinal columns and spinal cords. This was the only important difference between the two girls! These extraordinary twins are an invaluable example confirming that there is much more to "catching" a disease than simply breathing in germs; germs can make you sick if and only your body provides fertile ground to grow in.

What does this all mean? The state of your nerve system can determine whether you have high or low resistance to disease! If you are suffering from disease, the health of your nervous system will play a role in your recovery. By keeping your spine and nerve system free of subluxations, chiropractic care keeps you functioning at your best!

The other day a patient who is in her first trimester of pregnancy was chatting with me about different stuff and asking for some advice with pregnancy. Since I am pretty experienced with pregnancy and birth having had both extremes (a C-section and then a natural home birth), I said she could come to me anytime for questions. She thanked me and said it was so much easier to talk to someone who actually listens and understands! I asked her what she meant and she said that she felt her OB-Gyn didn't seem to care much how she felt and didn't take her concerns and questions seriously. She felt like she was "just another pregnancy". That upset me because pregnancy is supposed to be such an amazing, wonderful time, not some kind of disease! And of course a first-time mother is going to have a lot of questions and is freaking out! I suggested she think about using a midwife for the rest of her pregnancy and delivery. Midwives are trained in birth, while Obstetricians are too, they are better trained for emergency situations that require intervention like a cesarean section. And bottom line, if she is not comfortable with her doctor, she should definitely change!  I also recommended The Birth Book by Dr. Sears for her to read. It really explains well the whole pregnancy and birth process and what's happening in your body from the start of the first contraction right up until the the baby is born. A lot of women have a fear about labor and birth because they have never experienced it before, and let's face it, there will be pain! But if you really understand WHY the pain is there and the incredible things that are happening during labor, it is easier to handle the pain and prepare yourself ahead of time. Trust me, having a natural, drug-free delivery was amazing and definitely worth it! As women, I think we forget that WE are in control of our bodies, not a doctor, midwife or anyone else. YOU are your best doctor, so it's up to us as women to not only take care of our bodies but to understand them and do our own research so we are more empowered in any situation!

Dr. Carla

It's not rocket science....we all know too much sitting is not good for the spine, right? But too much sitting doesn't just cause pain, but lots of other health problems like increased blood pressure and obesity. When we sit or lie down too much, we aren't using stimulation from gravity and we aren't using our core and spinal muscles. What happens when we sit? Our head bends forward, and where our head goes, our shoulders follow, so they round forward. then the rest of our spine rounds forward and our pelvis tucks under, putting a whole lot of pressure on our lower backs. Keep this scary looking posture up for 10 hours a day (yes 10 hours if you commute to and from work, sit at a desk on your computer at work, sit for meals and sit on the couch for the rest of the night), then our spines will literally rot But we think it's ok because we went to the gym and did the elliptical for 30 minutes and lifted some weights, right? Wrong! Even if you're an exercise nut, if you spend most of your day sitting, your spine will still take a beating! And what about our kids! They are no better off than we are! Kids, especially school-age are sitting now more than ever!

So the obvious solution would be to sit less and move more right? Yes! But we have to take active steps on a daily basis to improve our posture just like we brush our teeth everyday! So get up from a sitting position as much as you can at work and do the following spinal exercises.

Wall stretch: Find a wall (this should be easy) and stand against it with your heels, calves, butt, upper back and shoulders and head touching. Lift up your arms in a 90 degree position to touch the wall. Engage your core (ie. suck in) and hold for 30 seconds. Don't forget to breathe!

Doorway stretch: Stand in a doorway and bring your arms up to touch the door frame in a 90 degree position. Press chest forward to you feel a stretch in your chest and in your back between your shoulder blades. Hold for 30 seconds

Sounds easy, right? It is! So just do it!

Your spine will thank you

Hello everyone! This is my very first blog post! I can't believe it took me this long to start! I will be postlng great information at least once per week, maybe more. I would like to focus on sharing helpful information to parents about how to raise healthy babies and kids the natural way. I am very passionate about this topic and I always have so much information to share and I figured my own blog would be the perfect place to do that! I will also share stuff about nutrition, exercise, my own words of wisdom and of course chirorpactic care. Stay tuned!