How to go gluten-free the right way

Anyone concerned with health and wellness has heard about the gluten-free diet. Eliminating gluten is critical for those who have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. What many gluten-free newcomers don’t realize is that many common gluten-free foods contain ingredients that just promote a different set of health problems. In this article we’ll discuss how to avoid this common pitfall so you can transition more easily to a healthy gluten-free diet.

The hidden risk in going gluten-free

Many people rely on packaged and prepared foods for the bulk of their diet, such as breads, pastas, crackers, sauces, and mixes. The tendency when going gluten-free is to replace those items with gluten-free versions of the same products. When you look at the label for packaged gluten-free products, however, you will see ingredients such as rice flour, tapioca starch, corn starch, and potato starch, plus a load of unhealthy fats.

Though free of gluten, these highly-processed, high-sugar, high-carb, low-fiber ingredients can contribute to blood sugar imbalances that affect weight gain, mood, brain function, and other aspects of health. Many of these processed foods also lack vital minerals and nutrients, which over time can contribute to micronutrient deficiencies. Overall, the general lack of nutritional density of packaged gluten-free products outweighs their convenience.

Variety, nutrient density, and whole foods key in healthy gluten-free diet When choosing to go gluten-free, keep in mind the basis for any truly health-supporting diet: simple, fresh, whole foods that are as close to their original state as possible. The more processed a food is, the less it has to offer your body in the way of nutrition and health.

Variety and high nutrient-density foods are key for long-term health; a diet of only cheese and rice pasta won’t make you much healthier than your former gluten-laden diet did. When you’re craving the comfort of carbs, go for a baked sweet potato instead of bread. Curb cravings by eating a diet heavy in fresh vegetables and modest amounts of fruit (so as not to imbalance blood sugar). You may need to retool your eating habits but you will be amply rewarded with significant improvements in how you feel and function.

A smart transition to a healthy gluten-free diet

Although any major dietary change is challenging, a healthy switch to a gluten-free diet can be easy and rewarding with some mindful lifestyle habits. Below are some tips to help with the transition:

1. Learn to read and understand nutrition fact labels

You will quickly develop an eye for those low-nutrient, highly processed ingredients, and learn what products contain them. These should never, or rarely, be in your grocery cart. Also, learn which common ingredients have hidden gluten in them, and eliminate them from your kitchen.

2. Make whole, unprocessed foods the bulk of your diet

Whole, unprocessed foods are the foundation for any diet that supports long-term health and wellness. Avoid the packaged food aisles, make friends with the bulk and produce departments, shop your local farmer’s market, and if you don’t already cook at home…

3. Learn to cook from scratch

- Cooking from scratch can be satisfying, easy and very rewarding

- Cooking at home means you know what’s in your food, and you can more successfully avoid gluten cross-contamination

- Batch cooking meals that you can refrigerate or freeze and re-heat makes it much easier

- A crock pot, blender, and food processor are very useful for making big-batch meals ahead of time

- Many fabulous blogs are devoted to healthy gluten-free home cooking

4. Mindfulness at the grocery store

When you pick up a package of processed gluten-free food, ask yourself if you’d normally eat it, or if you’re picking it up just because it says “gluten-free.” You may find yourself putting a lot of things back… especially if you look at the nutrition label!

5. Commitment

Remember every day why you have chosen to go gluten-free; you are honoring your own body and long-term health by making a positive choice. Stick with it!

Gluten can cause depression, anxiety, brain fog and other brain disorders

Do you suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, brain fog, memory loss, or other brain-based issues? While conventional medicine turns to drug treatments, recent research points to poor gut health as the root of mental illness. This is because inflammation in the gut triggers inflammation throughout the body, including in the brain, bringing on depression, anxiety, brain fog, memory loss and other neurological symptoms. Although many factors affect gut health—and hence brain health—one of the more profound is a sensitivity to gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and other wheat-like grains. In fact, a gluten sensitivity has been found to affect brain and nerve tissue more than any other tissue in the body.

Gluten sensitivity once was thought to be limited to celiac disease, an autoimmune response to gluten that damages the digestive tract and is linked to depression. However, newer research has confirmed the validity of non-celiac gluten sensitivity, an immune response to gluten that causes many symptoms, including digestive problems, skin rashes, joint pain, and neurological and psychiatric diseases. Recent research shows gluten degenerates brain and nervous tissue in a significant portion of those with gluten sensitivity.

How Does Gluten Affect Mental Health?

Gluten can affect mental health in a variety of ways.

For instance, gluten sensitivity can lead to depression, anxiety, brain fog and other brain symptoms by irritating the lining of the small intestine, resulting in “leaky gut,” a condition in which the intestinal wall becomes overly porous. This allows undigested food, toxins and bacteria into the bloodstream where they trigger inflammation throughout the body and brain. Also, certain harmful bacteria that travel through a leaky gut into the bloodstream release toxic molecules (lipopolysaccharides) that are linked to depression and various psychiatric disorders.

Another way gluten can trigger depression is through gluten cross-reactivity. Because gluten is similar in structure to brain tissue, when the immune system attacks gluten in the blood, it can confuse brain tissue with gluten and accidentally attack brain and nerve tissue as well.

Gluten is also known to disrupt the balance of good and bad bacteria in the digestive tract. There is a relationship between gut bacteria and the brain, and an imbalance in gut bacteria has been linked with psychiatric disorders.

The gut damage caused by a gluten sensitivity can also prevent the absorption of nutrients essential for brain health, especially zinc, tryptophan, and B vitamins. These nutrients are critical for the synthesis of brain chemicals that prevent depression, anxiety and other brain-based disorders.

What Steps Can You Take?

If you are experiencing depression, anxiety, brain fog, memory loss, or other unresolved brain-based issues, testing for gluten sensitivity can be a valuable tool in knowing how best to manage it. Addressing leaky gut is also paramount.

Ask my office for more information on leaky gut and the connection between gluten and depression, anxiety, brain fog, memory loss, and other brain-based disorders.

The functional medicine approach to high blood pressure

The most commonly diagnosed medical condition in the United States is high blood pressure, or hypertension, and blood pressure medications are among the top 10 most commonly prescribed drugs. However, these medications can cause undesirable side effects. It’s better to address the underlying causes of high blood pressure—research shows diet and lifestyle changes may be just as effective or even better than medications in lowering high blood pressure.

Why should you be concerned about high blood pressure? High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. Thirty percent of the population has high blood pressure, and another 30 percent has pre-hypertension, or somewhat elevated high blood pressure. Men are more likely than women to have high blood pressure before the age of 45, but after 65 the ratio reverses.

Diet and lifestyle changes most effective approach

Instead of merely treating symptoms, addressing the actual causes of high blood can lead to longer lasting, better health. Studies have shown that lifestyle changes alone can reduce risk of heart disease by a dramatic 90 percent. Lifestyle interventions influence the fundamental biological mechanisms leading to all chronic disease. For instance, regular exercise is one of the best ways known to control high blood pressure. Other important factors include a whole foods diet rich in plant fiber and low in sugar and sodium, maintaining a healthy weight (a BMI less than 25 is ideal), not smoking, and managing stress, such as through yoga, meditation, walking, and laughter.

Adding the functional medicine approach

In my office, I look for why the person has high blood pressure rather than simply at what can be done to lower it; it’s a person-centered approach, versus a disease-centered one. Factors to consider include genetic predispositions, nutritional deficiencies, neurological imbalances,  environmental triggers, and lifestyle habits, such as:

• Deficiencies in nutrients such as biotin, vitamin D, vitamin C, B1, choline, magnesium and CoQ10.
• Toxic levels of mercury.
• Hypothyroidism: Appropriate management of a thyroid condition such as autoimmune Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism can normalize blood pressure.
• An overactive sympathetic nervous system will increase stimulation of the adrenal glands and will increased blood pressure.
• A lack of dietary potassium and too much sodium. Balancing these nutrients can help balance blood pressure.
• Magnesium deficiency. Many people are deficient in magnesium, which can help relax the blood vessels.
• Chronic systemic inflammation.
• Elevated blood sugar and metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes), which are related to hypertension.
• Hormonal imbalances, such as an estrogen deficiency, can lead to high blood pressure.

By addressing these and other factors, a functional medicine approach addresses the root cause of high blood pressure. Research has shown that up to 62 percent of high blood pressure patients were able to go off their anti-hypertension medications and maintain normal blood pressure by making diet and lifestyle changes. Eating a whole foods, vegetable-based diet and avoiding processed foods will help keep you sufficient and balanced in the right minerals to support healthy blood pressure. It is also imperative to have a neurological examination performed as increases in blood pressure may be an indication of brain degeneration. One quick way to screen for imbalances in the nervous system that may be playing a role in increasing blood pressure is to check blood pressure levels on both the left and the right side. The pressure should be within 5 points on each side. If there is more of a discrepancy than that it may be an indicator that there is a neurological change driving up the blood pressure.

Feel free to call my office at 763-398-7770 for more information on how you can address the root cause of your high blood pressure.

God Bless,
Joshua Huffman, DC, DACNB, DAAIM, DABAAHP, FICT

How stress harms the body and what to do about it

Did you know that approximately two-thirds of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related complaints? Stress is the body’s reaction to any situation that is demanding or dangerous. When we experience stress, the body responds by making adrenal hormones (such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol) that help your body cope. Commonly called the “fight or flight” response, this is where your blood pressure increases, your hands sweat, and your heart rate and breathing quicken. You’ve probably felt it during that big job interview, before a first date, during an argument, or being stuck in traffic when you’re running late.

Our bodies normalize quickly after responding to short-term stressors. But problems arise with chronic stress, such as financial worries, major life changes, job stress, or an ongoing illness. Other chronic stressors are not lifestyle related but instead metabolic: gut infections, leaky gut, food intolerances, blood sugar imbalances (low blood sugar, insulin resistance, or diabetes), anemia, autoimmune disease, inflammation, and environmental toxins are examples.

It’s no wonder adrenal stress is one of most common problems encountered by functional medical practitioners.

How stress damages the body

In chronic stress, the adrenal glands continually produce the hormone cortisol. Known as the “aging hormone” (ever notice how you look older when you are stressed a lot?), chronic high cortisol is linked to:

• high blood pressure
• diabetes
• depression
• insomnia
• suppressed immunity
• insulin resistance
• increased belly fat (muffin top anyone?)
• reduced libido
• bone loss
• low energy
• heart problems

How do you know if you have adrenal stress? You may experience ongoing fatigue, energy crashes, difficulty recovering from long days or stressful events, headaches, difficulty falling and staying asleep, difficulty waking up, mood swings, sugar and caffeine cravings (do you need to refresh from the afternoon blahs?), irritability, lightheadedness between meals, eating to relieve fatigue, dizziness upon standing, gastric ulcers, and hypothyroid symptoms.

Adrenal adaptogens help buffer the damages of stress

Everyone is familiar with classic stress-relief methods such as meditation, exercise, enjoying hobbies, and socializing, but there is much more you can do to support the body’s stress response.

One of the most reliable ways to buffer the damages of stress is to take adrenal adaptogens. These are a unique class of healing plants that support healthy adrenal function and help regulate the body’s stress response. Adrenal adaptogens include panax ginseng, Siberian ginseng (eleuthero), astragalus, rhodiola, ashwagandha, licorice root, holy basil (tulsi) and schizandra.

In addition to soothing inflammation and increasing energy and brain function, these herbs can also help the body and brain cope with stress. Although they come from the plant world, adrenal adaptogens are potent medicines that should be taken under the supervision of a trained practitioner.

Other smart tools to protect you from the damage of stress

There are other tools to add to your stress-reduction program. For example, phosphatidylserine can help normalize cortisol levels and protect the brain from the damages of stress.

Of course, one should always consider lifestyle habits when addressing stress. Below are lifestyle suggestions to help support healthy adrenal function and stress response:

• Avoid or greatly minimize stimulants.
• Eat nutrient-dense foods.
• Avoid high carbs and sugars.
• Avoid dietary causes of inflammation such as food allergens, high fructose corn syrup, refined foods, and especially industrial seed oils such as canola oil.
• Have adequate intake of essential fatty acids (DHA and EPA).
• Have proper sleep habits.

Though we may live in a world of unrelenting stress, it is possible to successfully manage the body’s response through a combination of healthy lifestyle habits and herbal adrenal support.

For more information on how to identify and manage adrenal stress, contact our office at 763-398-7770.

Why some people need to avoid nightshades

If you’re following the strict leaky gut or autoimmune diet, you may have noticed nightshades are on the list of foods to avoid. Many common and much-loved vegetables belong to the nightshade family, including eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet and hot peppers (but not black pepper), and chili-based spices, including paprika. What many people don’t realize is nightshades contain compounds that can contribute to their pain, digestive issues, and inflammation. Some people are sensitive to nightshades so it’s important to determine whether they might play a role in your symptoms.

The word nightshade typically conjures images of notorious toxic plants such as jimson weed, petunias, and deadly nightshade. The nightshade family, called Solanacea, has more than 2,000 species, most of which are inedible and many of which are highly poisonous. However, many edible plants also fall into the nightshade family.

Below are some of the other less well-known nightshades:

• Bush tomato 
• Goji berries (a.k.a. wolfberry) 
• Naranjillas 
• Pepinos 
• Pimientos 
• Tamarillos 
• Tomatillos  

What’s the problem with nightshades? 

 Several natural compounds in nightshades can make them problematic: saponins, lectins, and capsaicin. These compounds make nightshades a common food sensitivity, and they can lead to leaky gut, a condition in which the lining of the small intestine becomes overly porous. A leaky gut allows unwanted pathogens into the bloodstream, leading to health issues including inflammation, allergies, and autoimmunity. Researchers also suggest that even moderate consumption of nightshades can contribute to a variety of health conditions, arthritis in particular.  

Saponins in nightshades 

 Saponins are compounds that have detergent-like properties and are designed to protect plants from microbes and insects. When consumed by humans, saponins can create holes in the gut wall, increasing leaky gut and allowing pathogens and toxins into the bloodstream. Saponins also have properties that can encourage the immune system to make inflammatory messengers that cause inflammation in the body. Peppers are high in saponins. Ripe tomatoes have low levels of saponins, while green tomatoes and hot-house tomatoes (those that are harvested before they are ripe), are exceedingly high in saponins.

 Lectins in nightshades 

Another compound found in nightshades that can be problematic for some people is lectin. Lectins are a concern because they resist digestion, are able to withstand the heat of cooking (which means they are intact when you eat them), and help create a leaky gut. They can penetrate the protective mucus of the small intestine where they promote cell division at the wrong time and even cause cell death. Lectins can also perforate the intestinal wall, and trick the immune system into thinking there’s an intruder, causing an allergic reaction. Tomato lectin is known to enter the blood stream relatively quickly in humans, while potato lectins have been found to irritate the immune system and produce symptoms of food hypersensitivity in both allergenic and non-allergenic patients.  

Capsaicin in nightshades 

Capsaicin is a stimulant found in chili peppers that helps give them their heat. While a variety of health benefits have been attributed to capsaicin, it is also a potent irritant to mucous membranes and may contribute to leaky gut as well.

Yams and sweet potatoes are not nightshades 

Yams are in the same family as sweet potatoes; true yams are not very common in the United States. Fortunately, sweet potatoes and true yams are not part of the nightshade family despite their names, and do not exhibit the same tendencies as nightshades toward promoting leaky gut and inflammation in the body.

Anyone wishing to improve digestive health and manage inflammatory conditions, autoimmune diseases, or allergies may want to consider drastically reducing or even eliminating their consumption of nightshades to determine whether they are a problem.

Ask my office for more information about the leaky gut, or autoimmune, diet.

Lose Weight Fast with Revolutionary Laser Treatment

The most popular new years resolution in America is weight loss. Has your weight loss journey been slower or less successful than you were hoping for? The Zerona laser is the first and only FDA approved laser for circumference reduction and body re-sculpting. This non-invasive laser is completely comfortable for the patient and has been scientifically proven to be effective in reducing multiple inches in as little as two weeks. The Zerona Laser has been featured on Dr. Oz, The Doctors, CBS, FOX, and NBC. So what is all the buzz about?


How does the Zerona Laser work? The laser works by creating a small pore in the wall of the fat cell. While the cell remains healthy and alive, the fat is emptied out of the cell through the open pore. Your body then flushes the fat out of your body through the lymphatic system. Below is a picture of how this process works, courtesy of myzerona.com.

The picture above shows how the laser therapy effectively empties the fat cells decreasing the size of fat within the cell.  After the procedure the fat remains exposed to the lymphatic system for the next 72 hours. This means that the procedure continues to be effective for 72 hours after your treatment.

In my practice I have found the laser to be an effective tool to jump start weight reduction in patients. Obviously there are many long term changes that can be made to further aid a patient in weight loss, but the Zerona laser is an invaluable tool to getting patients moving in the right direction.

Just as important as opening the fat cell's pores and letting the fat drain into the lymphatic system is that we make sure that your lymphatic system is moving and able to get the fat out of the body. This is why I pair the Zerona Laser with the Theravibe Whole Body Vibration. The theravibe is a one of a kind whole body vibration platform. The theravibe produces pure vertical vibration, which is unique to this vibration plate. The acceleration of movement helps increase blood and lymphatic flow optimizing the patient's ability to get the drained fat from their cells out of their body. For more information on the theravibe see www.theravibeusa.com.

If you are interested in more information and want to know if you would be a good candidate for Zerona Laser Therapy, I am offering free consultations to those who read my blog. If you would like to set up a consultation with me to see if the Zerona Laser could be the missing link you have been looking for to help you reach your weight loss goals call my office at 763-398-7770 now to schedule. My office is located at 2220 County Rd 10 in Mounds View, MN 55112.

God Bless,

Dr. Joshua Huffman

Board Certified in Chiropractic Neurology and Integrative Medicine

The Auto-Immune Connection to Parkinson's Disease

It is a growing fear for all of us...the prospect of spending the last years of our lives trapped in a body with a degenerating brain. Conditions such as parkinsons, alzheimers, and dementia are becoming more and more common and unfortunately, are touching more and more lives. The most devastating fact about these disorders is that once they are diagnosed  treatment efficacy is limited, and the disease is bound to progress. The good news is that there are red flags that doctors can use to see if a patient is at an increased risk of developing a neurodegenerative disorder.

One such marker that can be used is homocysteine. Homocysteine is a marker that gives a measure of inflammation and it has been associated with brain inflammation more specifically. Studies show that homocysteine levels above 7.0 may be associated with increased risk of these neurodegenerative disorders. This is a marker that I perform on nearly all of my patients for this very reason.

Another risk factor for developing these conditions is the presence of auto-immune disorders. It is estimated that one out of every eight Americans suffers from an auto-immune disorder. Auto-immune disorders are characterized by abnormal immune system attack against one's own tissues. Common auto-immune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, hashimoto's, grave's, sjogren's, lupus, ulcerative colitis, crohn's, celiac's disease, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia (I consider fibromyalgia an auto-immune disorder until proven otherwise). Symptoms for patients that may indicate the presence of auto-immunity are irritable bowel, migraines, chronic headaches, allergies, neuropathy, sinusitis, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, chemical sensitivities, and many others.

Auto-immunity leads to destruction of tissues within your own body and rampant inflammation throughout the body. This cascade leads to the perfect storm for developing neurodegenerative disorders. I have attached one research abstract below that re-iterates the correlation between autoimmunity and the development of parkinsons.

      Immunology, Autoimmunity, and Auto-antibodies in Parkinson's Disease.

Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2011 Jan 14. [Epub ahead of print]Immunology, Autoimmunity, and      Autoantibodies in Parkinson's Disease.Benkler M, Agmon-Levin N, Hassin-Baer S, Cohen OS, Ortega-Hernandez OD, Levy A, Moscavitch SD, Szyper-Kravitz M, Damianovich M, Blank M, Chapman J, Shoenfeld Y. SourceFaculty of Health Sciences, Medical School, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba, Israel. 

AbstractRecent revelations of immune alterations in Parkinson's disease have led to the convergence that an autoimmune mechanism may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disease. In the current study, 77 Parkinson's disease patients and 77 matched healthy controls were analyzed for the presence of seven autoantibodies previously found to be associated with central nervous system manifestations namely: antineuronal-cells, anti-brain lysate, anti-dsDNA, anti-phosphatidylserine, anti-cardiolipin, anti-serotonin, and anti-melanocytes antibodies. Patients underwent systematic assessments of demographics, clinical, and biochemical manifestations. Three autoantibodies were found to be more prevalent among Parkinson's disease patients (antineuronal cells10.3% vs. 1.3%, p = 0.017; anti-brain lysate 9.1% vs. 1.3%, p = 0.032; anti-dsDNA 10.3% vs. 2.6%, p = 0.049). Clinical manifestations of Parkinson's disease, particularly dyskinesia and depression, were found to be associated with the presence of these autoantibodies.

You may be asking yourself, 'What good is it to have a predictive marker if you can't change that risk factor?' The good news is that we can help to change these risk factors. By investigating what factors are driving inflammation (homocysteine/auto-immunity) we can make lifestyle interventions that will stop or reduce this immune mediated mechanism of destruction. By reducing these inflammatory reactions you will not only lower your risk for developing one of these crippling conditions, but you will also find yourself feeling much better day in and day out. 

The most important message to take away from this week's blog is that if you are struggling with any type of chronic health issue, for which you have received no relief, you need to take action now. Many times individuals make excuses for why they have different health issues, but this lack of initiative can be allowing disease to further progress in your body. If you have poor digestion, chronic pain, insomnia, neuropathy, headaches, etc. find a qualified practitioner that can help you assess your immune system and that will look at these inflammatory markers to help you discover what is really going on. 

For more information please feel free to visit my website at www.moundsviewchiro.com or contact my office at 763-398-7770 to set up a free 5 minute phone consultation that will allow me to answer your specific questions.

Thanks and God Bless!

Joshua Huffman, D.C., D.A.C.N.B., D.A.A.I.M.