there is no finish line...enjoy the ride...

Ride to Conquer Cancer

A week ago I participated in the Ride to Conquer Cancer with seven of my work colleagues.   We joined over 1800 cyclists from across the province of Alberta as they rode over 230km over a weekend.  Collectively our team raised over $43,000, adding to the over $8,000,000 this single event raised in the fight against cancer. 

It’s said a picture is worth a thousand words, than I guess a video must be worth a million words.  Below is a short 10 minute video I produced to capture the event’s highlights.  Enjoy. 

  

My Observations:

The majority of the people riding in this event were your everyday person and I couldn’t find a single person that hasn’t somehow been personally affected by cancer, either personally or through a close friend or relative. 

I write this blog with the intent to increase the quality of life through providing readers information about diet, exercise and general healthy lifestyle choices.  During the weekend, I listened to the many stories about people that had cancer and lost the fight, and those that won the fight.  But as I listened, I found myself making a mental tally how many cases were the result of “bad cards” vs how many were because of “bad habits”.  It didn’t take long to realize the majority were the result of poor lifestyle choices.  Obviously, this is not a scientific study, but the point I’m trying to make, is that many people contract cancer because they have adopted unhealthy habits from their parents, or friends and without even knowing it they find themselves running directly towards a serious cancer event. 

Too many of these cases is simply a lack of education regarding the risk factors beyond genetics.  For example, eating a diet that’s high in acid, is a breeding ground for cancer (the typical North American diet, especially soft drinks and alcohol are very acidic), or not eating foods that are high in antioxidants, that remove free radicals that cause oxidative stress, which may lead to cancer.  In the absence of information, people will do what others do with little consideration to the consequences.

The other comment I heard over and over again during the weekend was how cancer caught the person by surprise.  Cancer is generally a disease that takes years or decades to develop to the point of crisis.  Except for the people that were given “bad cards”, cancer should never come as a surprise.  If you are overweight (BMI greater than 24.8, which is now over 55% of all Canadians), or you smoke (21% of Canadians), or you drink more than the safe limit of alcohol (one drink a day for women, two for men), or if you don’t exercise daily, etc. etc. then don’t be surprised if one day cancer knocks on your door.  The decisions you make today about your health will affect you decades from now.

Regardless of how or why a person contracts cancer, this disease affects more than that individual, and events such as the Ride to Conquer Cancer raise much needed awareness in addition to the funding needed for scientific research that hopeful brings a day when we live in a cancer free world.  Until that time comes, take it upon yourself and make healthy lifestyle choices for you and your loved ones.

Enjoy the Ride.....Rob

Prevention Is Thy Cure

I don’t talk much about my day job, but let me start off by saying, I love what I do.  I get to work in an area that aligns with my passion for health by marketing solutions that improve the quality of life by leveraging technology.  Whether it’s Personal Health Records that enable citizens to monitor their own health and wellness, and that of their loved ones, or Remote Patient Monitoring thereby empowering individuals to self monitor their condition(s) and become more aware of their own health recovery.  All the solutions I sell to government and health institutions are designed to increase health quality, while reducing overall costs. 

I’m always surprised where I get the inspiration for my blog content.  The great thing about blogging is there is no preselected topic or a schedule to maintain.  I just write when something catches my attention and aligns with the purpose and theme of my site that I think you may be interested in reading.  And today, my inspiration came while meeting a healthcare executive that’s about to embark on an impressive transformational initiative that reminded me of an article I read in the Globe and Mail at the beginning of the year.  The title of the article was “Wellness Model Emphasizes Illness Prevention”.   (I’ve also copied the article below for your convenience)

I’ve often said the majority of North Americans don’t care about their health until they’re faced with a health crisis that forces them to care.  I’m often challenge when I say this, but how can you argue the fact that 50% of Canadian’s don’t meet the minimum physical activity and healthy eating recommendations, or 55% of Canadians and over 70% of Americans are overweight or obese.  Approximately 20% of Canadians still smoke (and amazingly, male smoking is back on the rise) and alcohol consumption has increased to the point that many no longer know or choose to care what is consider unhealthy.  The Heart and Stroke Foundation published a study conducted in 2010 that an amazing 9 out of 10 Canadians are jeopardizing the quality and length of their lives by ignoring these and other risk factors that they’re in complete control of.

In Canada, over 40% of your tax dollars feed an ever ravenous healthcare system, but did you know that the use of the system you pay into is wildly disproportionate.  People with one or more of the five major chronic illnesses consume over 66% of our health services.  If Canadian’s attitudes towards their personal health and illness prevention continue, the statistics above will surely worsen (and take note, the situation in the USA is even worse).  Healthcare institutions throughout North America and around the world are continually exploring options and solutions to keep up with the demand for health services, while at the same time the people that complain most about the quality of care are the same people that take little or no interest in their lifestyle choices that directly affect their health.   

Besides being a health advocate that is concerned about the quality of health of individuals and the greater population, I’m also a businessman that is witness to a healthcare system that has the potential of either bankrupting our country if current spending trends continue, or my larger concern is that the quality of life for so many will be compromised when governments and health institutions have the difficult decision of selecting which programs are to receive funding and which ones will not because of a lack of funding. 

So the day of waiting for the crisis has arrived at our door step.  The question is what can you do about it?  The answer has been under our noises for decades.  The cure to prevent many chronic illnesses and recover our critically ill healthcare system is one in the same....PREVENTION through healthy lifestyle choices. 

I’m not sure if we’re actually seeing more marketing and media push in the area of illness prevention, or if it’s just that I have a heightened sense of awareness given my passion for the topic and the career I’ve chosen.  Regardless, there seems to be more and more information available and the article below from the Globe and Mail is just one of many examples I’ve read or seen on television. 

I’ve often said, “If you don’t take time for your health today, you will have lots of time to be sick in the future”.  I’m not so sure this statement is entirely  true, because if things go unchanged and the health of North Americans continues to deteriorate at its current rate, we will run out of money to treat the volume of people with chronic illnesses and the expanding services they demand, and you may not have as much time to be sick in the future as you once thought. 

Make your health and the health of others a lifelong priority so you can “Enjoy the Ride”....Rob

CHRONIC DISEASE

Wellness model emphasizes illness prevention

The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Nov. 24 2011, 2:28 PM EST

Dr. John Haggie is a strong proponent of the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

As a surgeon practising in Gander, Nfld., he has first-hand experience with serious medical conditions that could be prevented with early intervention.

Among his examples, Dr. Haggie points to a patient who is about to lose her leg due to complications of type 2 diabetes. “This outcome could have been avoided at any number of points,” he says. “Better childhood nutrition and fitness could have prevented the obesity that led to the development of this woman’s diabetes. Better drug coverage could have improved her blood glucose management. Even something as simple as having her feet checked by a nurse, which costs about $20, could have saved this woman’s leg and tens of thousands of dollars to the health care system.”

As president of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Haggie is promoting a transformation of the health care system that will focus on illness prevention and health promotion. “The current acute disease model of health care is 20 years out of date. Today, the biggest burden on the system comes from largely preventable chronic diseases and their complications,” he says, noting part of the challenge in promoting health is that many highly effective interventions are based in the community, not in hospital or doctors’ offices (for example, programs to encourage youth fitness and smoking cessation initiatives). As a result, they are not funded by medicare.

“We have to convince the government to invest in primary and secondary prevention initiatives. The evidence shows that an upfront investment more than pays for itself down the road,” says Michael Cloutier, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Diabetes Association. He notes that just a two per cent reduction in diabetes prevalence rates would result in a nine per cent reduction in direct health care costs.

Unfortunately, the tools and medications that promote health are not accessible to all Canadians. Almost two-thirds of people with diabetes report that they cannot afford to comply with their prescribed therapy to effectively manage their disease. “A lot of people have to choose between paying for their rent or for their medications. Many more – especially those in remote and lower income communities – cannot afford healthy food. The result is more diabetes-related complications, poorer quality of life for these individuals and an increasing strain on our health care system,” says Mr. Cloutier. “We need to create a standard of care for chronic disease management across Canada.”

The Canadian Medical Association is advocating for co-ordinated investments in health promotion and disease prevention that will eliminate these gaps.

“Our goal is to ensure that by the end of the end of the next Health Care Accord, Canadians will have the best health in the world,” says Dr. Haggie.

“There is no reason why we can’t do that. By emphasizing health promotion now, we will see results by 2020.”

Four Habits to Live By

This week, Dr Les has summarized what I shared with you in a post I wrote in November 2010 titled, "Lifestyle Choices for Positive Health".  The following are the four habits to live your life by to avoid the most common chronic health issues that are so prevalent within our healthcare institutions. If you integrate these four simple habits into your daily routine, your body will repay you with a long, healthy and active life. 

So if these habits are so simple, why do we see our healthcare institutions struggling to treat an increasing number of people with serious, preventable diseases? 

I don’t believe anyone wishes for poor health at any time in their life, but unfortunately North Americans and cultures that have adopted their lifestyle have not made the four habits Dr Les describes below, part of their daily routine.  They would rather wait for a serious health crisis to occur before springing into action, but unfortunately, it’s often too late and these people end up fighting poor health for the remainder of their years.

Just remember, if you don’t make health a priority today, you will probably have plenty time to be ill in the future.

Enjoy the Ride….Rob

Four Habits to Live By.....Dr Les

In a previous blog, I made the comparison of great health to great snow. Different elements in the weather determine the quality of snow just as the combination of measurable “lifestyle elements” determines the quality of our health.  

You probably aren’t thinking about snow right now. You are probably thinking about summer vacations, building a new deck, having friends over for a BBQ.  You might have signed up for a triathalon or marathon and are wishing you had more time to train.  Life is complex with many competing priorities.

Yet consciously or unconsciously you have made lifestyle choices that have created the habits that have determined the quality of your health. Your habits, more than your words, articulate the principles that you live by.  Your guiding principles then are your beliefs in action. In other words, what you do is a better indicator of your beliefs than what you say. The validity of the principles that guide your life is determined by the outcomes of adherence to these beliefs.

I want to share the principles of my health paradigm.

1. The body is an ecosystem that must be kept in balance.
2. In order to maintain order and balance, the primary communication is through the nervous system.
3. If order and balance are maintained, the body has an inner wisdom that allows it to be self-regulating and self-healing.
4. Health is an outward expression of the inner state of order and balance of our body’s ecosystem.

Our body’s ecosystem is much like the earth’s ecosystem. It is not just one element that keeps our ecosystem healthy and in a state of order and balance.

Thurman Fleet was a distinquished WWI vetern. After surviving horrific wartime experiences and a prolonged recovery from severe injuries, he studied health and healing extensively before deciding to become a chiropractor. While I don’t agree wih all his teachings, his description of the quality of health being the interplay between four basic elements is excellent. Our health is either improved or compromised depending on how much we keep these four physical elements in balance.

The four elements are:

1. Nourishment: Clean air, water and fuel for energy and the building blocks of repair.
2. Movement: We are designed for movement. Recent studies have shown that sedentary jobs increase the risk of ill health.
3. Recovery: This is rest and the restorative miracle of sleep. Inadequate sleep results in elevation of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress. This in turn leads to myriad health concerns including weight gain.
4. Elimination: We must eliminate the waste products of energy production and the cellular debris created with our body’s building and repair processes. Toxins inhaled, ingested or absorbed from our environment must also be eliminated.

Most of my patients are aware of the importance of a good diet and regular exercise but they often ignore the value of quality sleep and regular elimination. This model (based on Fleet’s teachings) reflects the critical interplay and influence of each element of our ecosystem. Nourishment and movement directly impacts our quality of sleep and elimination, just as movement is impacted by recuperation and elimination. Ignore any of these separate elements at your peril. At some point your capacity for training will be dictated by the quality of your ecosystem!

Remember: “First we make our habits; then they make us.”  Which is more important – sitting to watch TV or going for a bike ride or hike with your family? Your choice. 

Adding Life to Your Years....Dr Les.

Common Sense Isn’t So Common Anymore!

I just finished my annual two week cycling training camp at my place in Arizona.  It's a place where the weather is more conducive to early season cycling, unlike my home town of Calgary where you can still get caught in a freak snow storm in the middle of a 100km ride.  My feelings about Calgary weather are another topic and not what I’m writing about today. 

As I was returning home and waiting for my plane in the Phoenix Sky Harbour airport, I stopped at the bookstore to get something to read for the 3 hours flight back to Calgary, so I picked up the current issue of Bicycling Magazine when I came across an article that I just have to share with you.  The title of the article is: “Why Johnny Can’t Ride” and I’d like to hear from you on this one.  I hope I’m not the only one that thinks the “Nanny State” filled with “Helicopter Parents” has gone too far.

I wrote a post a while back titled, "Childhood Fitness, Where Did It Go".  The topic was about the absence of kids playing in the streets and parks because of many factors including, over-protective parents that can’t let their kids out of their sight for more than a nano-second, and the fact that today’s children are addicted to video games and monitors (TV, Computers, etc), which are both contributing to the probability if a child is under the age 16 they will live a shorter and less healthy life than their parents (if that can even be possible, judging by the current health of North Americans adults today). 

The more I read this article about Adam's situation, the more piss-off I got.  It’s a long article so let me give you the “Cole’s Notes Version”.

This is a story about a seventh-grader at Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga Springs, New York.  His name is Adam Mario and he’s getting a firsthand lesson in civil disobedience. The 12-year-old and his mother, Janette Marino, are defying Saratoga Springs school policy by riding his bike to school; yes, you read that correctly, for biking to school.  Something we as kids took for granted and were encouraged; in fact, we had two ways to get to school back then; you either walked, or rode your bike.  Adam rides about 4 miles (6.4km), each way to school and his mother rides with him to ensure his safety.   By the way, this is something my mother at that age would never do, nor would I want her because I enjoyed the confidence my parents had in me, not to mention the feeling of independence.  So when Adam and his mother arrived at his school, they were met by school officials and a State Trooper who informed them that such an act was extremely dangerous, strictly prohibited and she would have to come back to the school and pick up his bike.  They went on further to say the only two modes of transportation to and from the school were bus or car.

Janette Marino believes they didn’t do anything wrong and that it’s none of the state or school’s business what form of transportation she uses to get their son to school, as long as he gets there on time.  Besides, Adam would be one less child why the school has to buy another polluting bus, or idling car that sits in front of the school during pick up and drop off time.  The Marino’s  are part of a small, but growing number of parents challenging the sedentary habits of today's youths and what they view as overanxious "helicopter parenting”, where “Free Range” children is considered irresponsible parenting.  To these modern day parents, the thought of sending their children out the door to participate in unsupervised play, or to let them walk to school themselves is simply unthinkable.  So the Marino's basically said to hell with you; try and stop us.

Riding his 21-speed Giant mountain bike to school benefits Adam Marino's health and the environment, but state and school believe that biking and walking (which is also banded, believe me, I can’t make this stuff up) are too dangerous for middle school aged children to handle, although no walking or bike accidents have ever been reported on the school’s road.

So that’s the summary of this story; read the full story to fill in the gaps and I’m sure you will shake your head like my wife and I did.  There are many social issues one can comment on a story like this, especially given the health of the typical North American.  Given the theme of my blog I will focus on two that I believe are contributing negatively to the health of our children:

1)      Helicopter Parenting

2)      Health is Not a Priority

Helicopter Parenting:  I’m not sure when it happened, but over the decades since I was a kid, parents have become so protective of their children, it’s now affecting their health.  And for the most part, they fear something that’s not real and only in their mind.  This fear is further manifested when they hear about the one or two child abduction cases that are sensationalized by the media.  They fear if their children play too out of their sight that bad shit will happen to them, when in fact this kind of smothering is one of the causes why we have so many obese children.

My father who’s now 87 told me a great when he was a young lad of 7 or 8 years old, growing up in Scotland.  He and his best friend set out to ride their bikes from Edinburgh Scotland to Blackpool England a distance of 320km (one way) with no parent supervision.  They had a map, (which they could read and understand), a few shillings in their pockets to buy some food and shelter, and good health to get them there and back!  Remember, I’m talking about two 7 year old boys and the only thing my Grandmother said to him as he set off, was to ride safe (oh yea, and they weren't wearing helmets).  This could never happen in today’s culture, because every stranger is considered a potential kidnapper, or worse and what would happen if their little sweethearts fell.  Not to mention, most children are so out of shape they could never physically consider such a trip.  Finally, today's children are driven to all their activities, so they have no idea how to navigate much further than a few hundred meters from their front door.  If today’s Child Services ever caught wind of such parental freedom for their children, they would have locked my Grandmother up for being an irresponsible parent.  (By the way, the two lads only made it as far as Carlisle in Northern England, because they realized they would run out of money.   Even still, they rode a total distance of 320km and spent a couple nights on their own staying at youth hostels!) 

This story is so extreme by today’s standards, were “Free Range” play for children is such a rarity.  Except for organized hockey where my father was the coach, we never participated in any organized play, however we were always playing sports in the fields, climbing trees, riding our bikes, playing touch football and scrub baseball.  And there was never a parent watching over our shoulder.  This unnatural act that parents have developed prevents their children to roam free and play naturally.  By restricting the movement’s like we see today, says to children that their parents can’t trust them to be responsible for their decisions and actions.  No wonder children are so rebelious today.  And when combined with the Nintendo Culture of sitting their little fat behinds in front of a monitor for 5 to 6 hours a day you have a major contributor to the obesity epidemic we find in our young people today.

Health is Not a Priority: the fact that the majority of North Americans are not healthy means that health is no longer a priority in many people’s lives.  The statistics don’t lie and the costs to our healthcare system are out of control as a direct outcome.  If health isn’t a priority for the parents, it’s certainly not going to be a priority for their children’s.  Children emulate the actions of their parents, not their words.  So if they see dad sitting on his fat ass all weekend watching sports on TV, while eating junk food and drinking beer, instead of actually participating in a sport, they will do the same.  If the family eats highly processed, or  fast food from one of the many unhealthy convenient fast food restaurants, because mom or dad are too lazy to prepare something healthy, well this sets in motion a lifestyle of poor eating habits, which leads to all kinds of degenerative diseases. 

So as I read this article about Adam Marino and the Nanny State at the Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga Springs, I realize what a bizarre world we live in.  A world that’s so up-side-down, that something as healthy and natural as walking or riding a bike to school is considered dangerous to your health and should be prohibited. 

If you’re of a certain age, leave a comment and tell my readers about a story of “free range” play you used to do as a kid before the helicopter parents and the nanny state stepped in and ruined the fun we used to enjoy and take for granted as we explored our neighbourhoods and beyond.

Enjoy the Ride.....Rob

Right Information! Wrong Conclusion?

For decades I have been an advocate for natural health.  It’s my belief that “good health” is a natural and normal state for the human body, not illness and disease.  To achieve and maintain good health, one must stick to the basics, ie. Eat a healthy diet, exercise daily, attempt to reduce the stress in your life, receive adequate sleep, etc.  If you notice, I didn’t say anything about taking prescribed or over-the-counter medication for months, or in many cases years.  

Given the way medication is advertized in the media and prescribed by our doctors, one may think drugs are a prerequisite for good health.  It’s my belief if you’re taking a prescribed medication; it should be your doctor’s responsibility to find the root cause of your health issue and get you off the medication as soon as possible.  But we all know that we live in a world where our “healthcare system” actually implies, “illness care” and health has very little to do with the system. 

So you can understand how I enjoyed reading Dr Les Davidson’s blog post below, describing how a doctor in a recent news article could review the same research information and come to such a different conclusion, and recommendation for his patients (and readers).

Enjoy the Ride ….. Rob 

 

 

Right Information, Wrong Conclusion

The majority of my time as a chiropractor is spent treating mechanical issues like lower back and neck pain. Although my practice is not focused on the management of general health conditions, spines don’t come without a body.  Take Dave’s body for instance:

Dave has lived a life of adventure - skydiving with a few rough landings, riding his Harley with a few rough landings and ...well you get the picture. At 63, he is already a marvel of medical science having died once from cardiac arrest. They revived him, put in a couple of stents and he was back on his Harley in no time flat.

I have been providing chiropractic care to Dave for over 25 years. He says that if he knew he was going to live this long he would have taken better care of himself. He stops by the clinic regularly for an adjustment. The adjustments help him remain agile enough for his physically demanding job repairing heating and air conditioning systems, limber enough so he can play with his young grandson and active enough so he can look forward to his next adventure.

During one of his visits he mentioned a Maclean’s interview with oncologist Dr. Agus, author of, "The End of Illness."  http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/01/23/the-end-of-illness/

“Hey Doc. It says here that science can help inflammation so I can continue to work until I reach Freedom 85.”

Yes and No.

The right information!

Dr. Agus’ strategies for the end of illness can be condensed to two commandments:

1. Cut down on daily sources of life-threatening inflammation
2. Take an active part in your own health care

I concur completely!

I also agree with the following statements made by Dr. Agus:

The strategies employed by medicine in the fight against infectious disease are not effective with chronic illness

1. Systemic inflammation is a common factor in many chronic diseases
2. Each person's health needs are different and unique
3. Prolonged sitting is a significant health risk
4. Some vitamin therapies are contraindicated
5. The body is a system
6. Regular sleep is critical to good health
7. Health care is stuck in the diagnostic model - wait for symptoms to emerge and then treat a disease that is already in progress
8. Each person's health needs are different and unique

The wrong conclusion?

1. Everyone should consider the flu vaccine regardless of age or underlying health.
2. Everyone over the age of fifty should take one baby aspirin daily
3. Everyone over the age of fifty should be on statin drugs like Lipitor and Crestor

How can the same information result in such opposing conclusions? We filter information through different perspectives or lenses!

Dr. Agus subscribes to the importance of modifying lifestyle risk and yet maintains that the answer to good health is with more pharmacy. He focuses on the benefits and downplays the risks associated with Aspirin, Lipitor and Crestor. For more information on this topic, read Rob's post title: "Would you like Lipitor with your burger". 

My perspective is that the continuum of care that "integrative health" offers, empowers patients with knowledge so they can implement conservative care to support their body in optimizing function and then draw upon pharmacy and surgery as a last resort.

Dr. Agus is concerned with the money spent on vitamins which could be better spent on medications. Yet Americans already spend over $200 billion each year on prescription medications.

It is critical to become educated. For example in “The Great Cholesterol Con,” cardiologist, Malcolm Kendricks outlines the risks of statins and the shift to selling statins to treat inflammation.

Dave (my patient), like many of us as we get older, have issues with inflamation and pain. My concern is that Dave will look to Dr. Agus’ recommendations as cutting-edge solutions to his health issues. My question for Dave and for us all:

Do you think symptoms such as inflammation are an appropriate response of the body to certain health challenges, diet or lifestyle factors?

If yes, then why would we take medications that will suppress this appropriate and natural response? Wouldn’t it be better to focus on changing the factors that cause the inflammation?

Dave had already quit smoking. We encouraged him to eat  healthier and continue to be active. He left the clinic with Vitamin D and Fish Oil supplements to help his body shift from inflammation ‘naturally’.  Like I did for Dave, I perscribe the same for you, good health "naturally".

Adding Life to Your Years ..... Dr. Les

If he can do it, you can do it too. No excuses.

I wrote a bog post a while back about the most common excuses I hear from people why they don’t exercise and make health a priority in their life. At the age of 86 my father is extremely healthy. He eats a healthy diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, limits the starchy foods, doesn’t smoke, rarely drinks and he exercises every day. He does 10km of a kind of walk-jog thing to keep himself in shape. And when I say every day, I mean it! He says he dedicates every morning to exercise, regardless of whether it’s in the rain, shine, snow or sleet, he’s on the roads making tracks.

Well, I came across another motivating story that makes my father look like a young buck that I just had to share with you.  Mr. Robert Marchand of France set the one hour world cycling record for a human over the age of 100!  Talk about being committed to one’s health.  In a world where the developed nations see increasing numbers of adults and young people that are overweight and obese, and suffering from preventable degenerative diseases, this centenarian proves that a lifetime committed to one’s health is rewarded with a life that’s not only long, but of the highest quality. 

Mr. Marchand says he’s lucky that he hasn’t had any health issues throughout his life.  I contend that luck has little to do with it.  As Dr. Kenneth Cooper (the father of modern day aerobics) once said, “We don’t stop exercising because we’re old; we become old when we stop exercising”.    

Below, I have copied the entire story from Velo News.  If this doesn’t inspire you to get up and move, I don’t know what will. 

Well, time for a ride and I’m going to dedicate it to Mr. Marchand.

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob

 

 

Centenarian claims hour record

By UCI Communication Services and AFP

At the age of 14 he entered his first cycling event under a false name because he was too young: yesterday he established the first-ever best hour performance… in the category over 100 years.

And that pretty much sums up the personage of Robert Marchand. Full of energy and motivation, when he gets an idea in his head, nothing will stop him.The centenarian rode 24.25 km (15.1 miles) in 60 minutes watched by crowds of cheering supporters at the International Cycling Union (UCI) velodrome in Aigle, Switzerland.

The feat does not threaten the 49.7 km (30.8 miles) achieved by Czech cyclist Ondrej Sosenka in 2005 at the age of 29, but it will be recognized by the UCI in a new over-100s category.  But I’m not playing at being a champion,” he said. “I just wanted to do something for my 100th birthday.”

With that intention in mind, less than three months after his birthday, he made the trip from his studio in Mitry-Mory (near Paris) to Switzerland to attempt the world hour performance on the center’s velodrome. The suggestion that Marchand make the attempt came from Gérard Mistler, president of the Ardéchoise Cyclo-Promotion, an annual sportif event that Marchand never misses.

I think he is a human example of the benefits of cycling,” said Mistler. “The fact that this performance is achieved at the WCC, headquarters of the International Cycling Union, is truly symbolic.”

With Mistler taking care of the administrative side of this record attempt, the athlete himself was able to concentrate on his preparation, which included familiarizing himself with the center’s track during the four days directly preceding the official date. While his ability to ride non-stop for an hour was not a concern,  Marchand had to dig deep into his personal cycling history to retrieve the sensations of riding on the track.

“I haven’t cycled on a track for 80 years. You have to get used to the fixed gear. I prefer cycling outside but that is impossible at the moment,” he complained as he watched the snow fall heavily outside the WCC. “I don’t want to catch the flu. So I am short on training.”

His build-up at the WCC included a first initiation under the watchful eye and guidance of Magali Humbert, former junior world champion in the sprint and multiple French champion. The following days, he rode around the track accompanied by his “coach” Humbert, increasing his time in the saddle as the day of his challenge approached.

“The track is small. You just turn round and round,” he commented after one of the training sessions. “I could keep going for another hour. I’ve been told not to raise my pulse too high so I’m not even tired.”

For all his physical exploits, this man of small stature but big personality is obedient and follows medical advice. He has been told not to go raise his pulse over 110, and it is a rule he respects with reverence, for the most part. “I did climb a steep hill not long ago and went up to 134 but it’s best to avoid that,” he admits with a mischievous chuckle. “But I would be very surprised if I had heart attack,” he offers spontaneously. Marchand’s first ever cardiograph last week revealed that his heart was in excellent condition.

Optimism aside, he knows his limits and remains cautious. “For the last five years I have decided not to go for rides of more than 100km. There is no point going overboard. I want to keep cycling for some time yet.”

These words of wisdom come from a man who last competed in the Bordeaux-Paris race at nearly 90 years of age, completing the 600km in 36 hours. In addition to filling sportif event results with his name, Marchand has a mountain pass named after him. 

What is his secret? How is it possible to be in such frighteningly good physical, and mental, health at 100 years old?  “I’ve never abused anything. I don’t smoke, I never drank much. The only thing I did in excess was work. I retired at 89 years old.”

His many jobs include looking after cattle, his first job as a boy, his time as a gymnastics monitor with the Paris Fire Department, his eight years in Venezuela as a driver, his three years in Canada where he was a woodcutter. Then there are the myriad other sports he was involved in when he was younger: boxing, gymnastics (he was French champion in the pyramid as the lightweight at the top), weightlifting (“I was good,” he explained. “I could have been a champion”).

“I have to try to resume everything or we’ll be here all night.” It would certainly be worth staying up all night to listen to this man who has a memory that would put anyone to shame and stories to keep any audience captivated.

“But basically, I am like everybody,” said Marchand. “I am lucky that I haven’t had any major health problems. My advice to anyone, young or old, is to keep moving. I do ‘physical culture’ every day. It works out my whole body and keeps me supple. Some people when they reach 80 years old, start playing cards and they stay immobile. Not me. I’ve never been able to keep still.” Clearly.

Happy Valentine’s Day - Top tips for a Healthy Heart

It’s Valentine’s Day and I felt it was only appropriate to share my top 10 tips to for maintaining a healthy heart. There are many steps you can take to prevent heart disease and concentrating on key lifestyle areas such as eating, exercise, smoking and drinking, and considering other factors like diabetes and stress are all great places to start. Here are my 10 top tips for a Happy Valentine heart

1. Stop smoking. Quitting smoking is the single most important thing you can do to live longer. If you are a smoker, you are twice as likely to have a heart attack than a non-smoker. But from the moment you stop smoking, the risk of heart attack starts to reduce. With public smoking bans introduced just about everywhere, there has never been a better time to give up.
2. Cut down on salt. Too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Avoid foods like chips, salted nuts, canned and packet soups and sauces, baked beans and canned vegetables, pork pies, pizzas and processed meals from a package. Many breakfast cereals and breads that appear healthy also contain high levels of salt, so keep your eye on these too.
3. Watch your diet. A healthy diet can help to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, and can also help increase the chances of survival after a heart attack. You should try to have a balanced diet, containing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, oily fish and limit you consumption of starchy foods. Avoid foods like cookies, cakes, pastries and dairy products that are high in saturated fats and most importantly, all forms of sugar.
4. Monitor your alcohol. Too much alcohol can damage the heart muscle, increase blood pressure and also lead to weight gain. Binge drinking will increase your risk of having a heart attack, so you should aim to limit your intake to one (for women) and two units a day for men.
5. Get active. The heart is a muscle and it needs exercise to keep fit so that it can pump blood efficiently round your body with each heart beat. You should aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day. If this seems too daunting, start off gently and build up gradually. Keeping fit not only benefits your physical health - it improves your mental health and wellbeing too.
6. Manage your weight. The number of people who are overweight in Canada and the United States is rising fast - already more than half of the adult population is overweight or obese. Carrying a lot of extra weight as fat can greatly affect your health and increases the risk of life-threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. If you are overweight or obese, start by making healthy changes to what you eat, and try to become more active.
7. Get your blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked by your Doctor. The higher your blood pressure, the shorter your life expectancy. People with high blood pressure run a higher risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. High levels of cholesterol in the blood - produced by the liver from saturated fats - can lead to fatty deposits in your coronary arteries that increase your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and diseases that affect the circulation. You can help lower your cholesterol level by exercising and eating high-fiber foods such as porridge, beans, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables.
8. Learn to manage your stress levels. If you find things are getting you down, you may fail to eat properly, smoke and drink too much and this will increase your risk of a heart attack.
9. Make sure you can recognize the early signs of coronary heart disease. Tightness or discomfort in the chest, neck, arm or stomach which comes on when you exert yourself but goes away with rest may be the first sign of angina, which can lead to a heart attack if left untreated.
10. Know your Numbers. Monitor the top ten health indicators and take the necessary action if they trend negatively. Knowledge is Power, but it takes Action to flick the Switch.

Happy Valentines and Enjoy the Ride.....Rob

Our Work Style maybe KILLING us

You’ll want to stand up when you read this......

I came across this article in the Globe and Mail a little over a month ago that has been on my mind ever since, mainly because it’s describing me the way I work.  I thought I did everything possible to prevent myself from visiting our Healthcare system with some kind of degenerative disease.  I eat a very healthy diet, with the odd exception now and then and being a cycling fanatic, I have no problem getting enough exercise.  In fact, some might say I exercise too much.  I don’t know why I haven’t considered this as a health issue before, but my work style should be taken into consideration, given how many hours a day I put in behind the desk of my home office.

Like so many of us office workers who sit on our butts most of the day and hardly move as we plough through the endless emails, documents, spreadsheets, presentations and conference calls. One has to ask is this type of work style is conducive to a healthy outcome?  The article below, which I copied below for you, presents some early conclusions regarding people like me that work in jobs that require sitting behind a desk for the bulk of the day.  The early results are worth careful consideration.  Sitting for hours at end can increase our chances of developing several types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and Type II diabetes.  And that’s just the beginning, as I’m sure more research in this area will uncover even more facts worth careful consideration.  

Since reading this article, I’ve made a couple adjustments to how I approach my work day, given the majority of my work is at a desk in front of a lap top computer.  Given that I work at home and may have a little more space and flexibility than those of you that work in an office, you may have to come up with your own plan. 

Here are the two things I’ve started doing since reading these studies:

• I purchased a Bluetooth wireless earpiece for my cell phone so I can walk freely around my house when I’m on a conference call.  If I don’t have to be in front of my laptop, I walk, and if I need my laptop, I stand whenever I’m on the phone.  This is great, because many calls last for at least an hour. 
• At the top and bottom of every hour, I walk up and down my stairs a few times, just to raise my heart rate and get the blood flowing throughout my body.  Not only does this address the concerns raised in the findings below, I find the movement increases my energy level and alertness.

How we live our lives is always changing and we should be mindful of health consequence brought on by these changes. I know some people will read this post and say, “Enough is enough; will the list of things that are bad for us ever end?”  But the good thing about new research is we uncover important information that may make a difference in the quality of our lives.  If getting off my butt a couple times an hour will make a positive difference to my long term health; well the decision is pretty simple.

Enjoy the Ride.... Rob

Is Your Office Chair Killing You?

Dave Mcginn, Dec. 05, 2011

You’re going to want to stand up for this. Researchers of sedentary behaviour, a burgeoning field with Canadians at its forefront, are beginning to amass a large body of evidence with one unsettling conclusion: Sitting down is killing us.

For decades, hundreds if not thousands of studies have examined the relationship between our activity levels and our health. Only recently have researchers turned their attention to the consequences of sitting at a desk all day and lying on the couch all evening.

 “We’re talking extensively and producing public health messages about what we don’t do. And we don’t talk at all about what we do do: We don’t move very much, but we do sit idle,” says Dr. Mark Tremblay, director of healthy active living and obesity research at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.

The average person now spends 9.3 hours a day sitting. People who sit for six or more hours per day are 40 per cent more likely to die within 15 years compared to someone who sits less than three hours a day, even if they exercise. Obese people sit 2½ hours more each day than people of normal weight, according to data compiled by Medical Billing and Coding, a U.S.-based organization.

As recently as 2006, there wasn’t much data about this – that’s when a group of Canadian scientists published a commentary calling for research on sedentary behaviour in the Canadian Journal of Public Health. “Research into sedentary behaviour is at an early stage,” they wrote. “We actually know very little about the nature of sedentary behaviour, its dimensions, determinants and relationships to important health outcomes.”

This year marked a huge turning point in the field. Research may still be at an early stage, but scientific interest has reached unprecedented levels. In February, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology launched its sedentary behaviour guidelines for children and youth, the first systematic evidence-based sedentary behaviour guidelines in the world. The August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine was dedicated to the theme of sedentary behaviour. The Journal of Applied Physiology, followed suit in October, with a theme issue of its own, highlighting the physiology of sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity. And in September, Dr. Tremblay and his team launched the Sedentary Behaviour Research Network, a first of its kind that has so far connected more than 100 researchers from around the world.

“We realized that there’s this big growing field of research, but we aren’t actually linked by one organization,” says Travis Saunders, one of Dr. Tremblay’s colleagues who helped establish the network. “So many labs are getting into this area that it’s hard to keep track of who’s doing what.”

Studies of sedentary behaviour suggest that sitting for extended periods of time increase a person’s chances of developing a wide range of illnesses and diseases, including several types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and Type II diabetes.

“It’s definitely an emerging area,” especially in cancer research, says Dr. Christine Friedenreich, senior epidemiologist at Alberta Health Services.

“There have only been 10 studies that have been published on sedentary behaviour and cancer risk, and most of them have only been published in the last one to two years,” she says. Meanwhile there have been more than 200 studies examining the link between physical activity and cancer, most of them published over the last two decades.

In a recently published study, Dr. Friedenreich found that high levels of physical activity reduced the risk of breast and colon cancers by up to 30 per cent, reduced the risk of prostate cancer about 10 to 20 per cent, and reduced the risk of endometrial cancer between 30 and 35 per cent.

The most arguably disquieting results of her study? People who jog for half an hour in the morning and then sit at a desk all day may be no better off than those who don’t go running, even if they are technically meeting the requirements of Canada’s physical activity guidelines, which recommend adults be active for at least 2½ hours a week.

“The big public health message is that people have been thinking they reduce their risk of cancer by doing something like 30 minutes a day of some sort of moderate to vigorous exercise, but that’s not in itself necessarily going to be sufficient,” Dr. Friedenreich says. “We haven’t quite done the research yet to figure out exactly how much you do need to break up your time.”

Such a study is currently being conducted by Australian researchers, one of many studies of sedentary behaviour needed to determine just how dangerous inactivity is to our health. For instance, while Canada was the first country in the world to launch sedentary behaviour guidelines for children, no such guidelines exist for adults, Dr. Tremblay says.

“Over the next 25 years you’ll see a ballooning of this type of research,” he says.

Whatever that research might discover, there is already enough evidence to draw a clear conclusion, says Frank Booth, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri. “It’s a lifestyle factor that’s like a bomb on health.”

Paula Deen – Deceit and the Quick Fix

I’ve commented frequently about the unhealthy state of the average North American’s diet and how it’s accepted, and in some cases sensationalized through programs like Man vs. Food.  This past week, Paula Deen came out of the closest, so to speak. One look at her and it really shouldn’t be a big surprise what came walking out of the closet.  The cookbook author and television personality, known for her high-fat and fried foods, has been a closet Type 2 Diabetic for three years.  Keeping an illness like Diabetes private (especially Type 2 Diabetes, which is generally self inflected) is obliviously a personal choice that should be respected, but to continue to promote her unhealthy recipes to her loyal fans for three years when these very recipes are the source of her disease is unconscionable.

This kind of deceit is already low enough, but let's be clear, Ms. Deen is not coming out to inform her fans that all those years of eating her unhealthy recipes will increase their chances of becoming a Type 2 Diabetic like her.  No, she's come out of her closet for finaincial gains, as she is to become the official spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures her Type 2 Diabetes medication, Victoza.  So now in addition to promoting her unhealthy eating habits, it's Deen's new role to help us see "Diabetes in a new light," according to the company's website. Their sales slogan is: "Live a life that's delicious."  With a slogan like that, it almost makes you wish that you had Type 2 Diabetes like her.

As their new spokesperson with a loyal following of viewers; no doubt many of them will also have Diabetes.   I can already see them lining up to ask their doctors if the $500-a-month Victoza drug that Ms. Deen is promoting to manage her Diabetes is right for them.  Besides, isn't this why companies employ celebrities.

So let’s look at the “Delicious” hard facts of what Deen and her new employer are spinning.  Instead of promoting a healthy diet and regular exercise, which will prevent this disease, they’re suggesting that you continue with your reckless lifestyle, which consists of life-threatening complications like, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disorder, amputations, dental problems, pregnancy complications, and the catchall other complications categories include coma, greater risk of death from pneumonia, trouble with physical activity, and no surprise depression, because Novo Nordisk has a drug fix that will mask the symptoms.

More than 28 million North Americans, have diabetes today, and at the current growth rate, 1 in 3 of us will have it by 2050, and 90 percent of these cases are Type 2 diabetes, which obesity is the # 1 risk factor.  Although recent obesity numbers may have flattened for the first time in 30 years, the poorer and minority groups are getting larger and are also the demographic that have less access to healthcare to manage their illness and won't be able to afford Deen's $6,000 a year drug fix.

I’m thinking many people that read this blog will like Ms. Deen’s spin of, I’ll eat whatever I want and take a pill to manage the negative consequences of my reckless behavior, over my message of healthy diet and regular exercise.   I know a number of people that suffer from Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes and while a diabetic's life is manageable, it's anything but “delicious” .

The life of a diabetic is something less than what is being marketed by Deen and Novo Nordisk.  That said, they’re no different to other drug companies that promise to medicate away the symptoms associated with depression, gas, incontinence, clogged arteries, fibromyalgia and dozens of other preventable health conditions that result from our North American lifestyle. 

Paula Deen is actually an insignificant player in the bigger promotion and marketing of drug products made by multi-national pharmaceutical companies that believe in treatment over prevention (there’s no money in prevention).  Unfortunately, what Deen does represent is North America’s continued and growing love and acceptance with behaving recklessly just because there‘s a potential pharmaceutical fix that's just around the corner.  The only thing that’s healthy about this story is Paula Deen and Novo Nordisks’ income statements.

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob

Is Something You're Eating Making you Sick?

If you eat cheeseburgers and french fries all the time, or drink six Coca Colas a day, you likely know you are shortening your life. But eating a nice slice of whole wheat bread--how could that be bad for you? 

What most people don't know is a dietary staple that humans have been eating for thousands of years may be causing serious health complications for many.  That staple is wheat; well not so much wheat, but the Gluten within wheat.  A very good friend of mine is fighting her second battle with cancer and only now, in her 50’s has she discovered that she is Gluten intolerant and her cancer events and her gluten intolerance may be linked.  In addition to this kind of more serious condition, do you wake each morning with thick mucus congestion, blow mucus for an hour after waking, or do you have asthma, or get the bi annual flu or head-cold, sore throat, fever thing, or suffer from frequent ear, nose and throat infections.

Well, new research shows that people with wheat allergies and gluten intolerance in particular have these symptoms, in addition to serious conditions like heart disease, cancer and even death.   After nearly a year of researching this topic, in today's blog I want to reveal the truth about gluten, explain the dangers and provide you with a simple system that will help you determine whether or not gluten is a problem for you.

Background:

Gluten is a protein contained in many grains, including wheat, barley, rye, and oats. It is even found in more unusual grains, such as spelt, kamut and even in beer. Wheat or gluten intolerance plague many people and cause gastric disturbances, but research now shows chronic health conditions are triggered by gluten intolerance, gluten sensitivity, and the extreme form of wheat allergy called celiac disease.

Gluten sensitivity creates inflammation in the entire body, beginning in the gut. It is a form of autoimmune disease. Celiac disease, the chronic and most severe type of gluten intolerance, affects 1 in a 100 people. This represents over 3.5 million in North America alone. Less severe symptoms of gluten allergy or gluten sensitivity may affect as much as 1/3 of the entire North American population.

An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported on a study with over 30,000 patients. The data was collected from 1969 until 2008. Divided into three groups, the patients either had celiac, had intestinal inflammation but not full-blown celiac disease or had gluten sensitivity. Those individuals with full blown celiac disease had a 39% higher risk of death. The risk was 72% for those with intestinal inflammation, and 35% for those with gluten sensitivity.

Another study looked at the blood tests of ten thousand people from 50 years ago and compared them to tests on 10,000 people today. The study discovered a 400% increase in full-blown celiac disease. The results were measured by elevated antibodies in the blood, called TTG antibodies, which increase when there is a reaction to gluten.

Many people suffer from gluten intolerance and are not aware that this is the cause of their symptoms. Symptoms can include irritable bowel disease, canker sores, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, osteoporosis, anemia, cancer, autoimmune disease, MS, and neurological problems such as depression, anxiety, dementia, schizophrenia, nerve damage, migraines, epilepsy, and autism.

The Real Cost of Gluten

Undiagnosed gluten problems cost the North American healthcare system billions of dollars.  Dr. Peter Green, Professor of Clinical Medicine for the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University studied all 10 million subscribers to CIGNA and found those who were correctly diagnosed with celiac disease used fewer medical services and reduced their healthcare costs by more than 30%. Unfortunately only 1 % of those with the problem were actually diagnosed. That means 99% are walking around suffering without knowing it, costing the healthcare system billions of dollars.

Why haven't you heard much about this?

Well, actually you have, but you just don't realize it. Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity masquerade as dozens and dozens of other diseases with different names.

Gluten Sensitivity: One Cause, Many Diseases

A review paper in The New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 "diseases" that can be caused by eating gluten. A few more common ones include, osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other autoimmune diseases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, migraines, epilepsy, autism and neuropathy (nerve damage).

We used to think that gluten problems or celiac disease were confined to children who had diarrhea, weight loss, and failure to thrive. Now we know you can be old, fat, and constipated and still have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

Of course, that doesn't mean that ALL cases of depression or autoimmune disease or any of these other problems are caused by gluten in everyone--but it is important to look for it if you have any chronic illness.  By failing to identify gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, we create needless suffering and death for millions. Health problems caused by gluten sensitivity cannot be treated with medication.  They can only be resolved by eliminating 100 percent of the gluten from your diet.

The question that remains is: Why are we so sensitive to this "staff of life," within our diet?

There are many reasons...

There is fairly strong Paleolithic evidence that 10,000 years ago humans did not consume many grains. We were hunter-gatherers who subsisted mostly on vegetables and meats.  10,000 years is a mere blip on the evolutionary scale with over 99% of our genetic make-up already in place, before we ever started consuming grains.  Wheat was introduced into Europe during the Middle-Ages, and 30 percent of people of European descent carry the gene for celiac disease (HLA DQ2 or HLA DQ8), which increases susceptibility to health problems from eating gluten.

American strains of wheat have a much higher gluten content (which is needed to make light, fluffy Wonder Bread and giant bagels) than those traditionally found in Europe. This super-gluten was recently introduced into our agricultural food supply and now has "infected" nearly all wheat strains in America.

To find out if you are one of the millions of people suffering from unidentified gluten sensitivity, just follow this simple procedure.

The Elimination/Reintegration Diet

While testing can help identify gluten sensitivity, the only way you will know if this is really a problem for you is to eliminate all gluten for a short period of time (2 to 4 weeks) and see how you feel. Get rid of the following foods:

• Gluten (barley, rye, oats, spelt, kamut, wheat, triticale--see http://www.celiac.com/ for a complete list of foods that contain gluten, as well as often surprising and hidden sources of gluten.)

• Hidden sources (soup mixes, salad dressings, sauces, as well as lipstick, certain vitamins, medications, stamps and envelopes you have to lick, and even Play-Doh.)

For this test to work you MUST eliminate 100% of the gluten from your diet--no exceptions, no hidden gluten, and not a single crumb of bread.  Then eat it again and see what happens. If you feel bad at all, you need to stay off gluten permanently. This will teach you better than any test about the impact gluten has on your body.

But if you are still interested in testing, below are some things to keep in mind.

 

Testing for Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac Disease

There are gluten allergy/celiac disease tests that are available through medical Labs. Ask your doctor.  All these tests help identify various forms of allergy or sensitivity to gluten or wheat. They will look for:

• IgA anti-gliadin antibodies
• IgG anti-gliadin antibodies
• IgA anti-endomysial antibodies
• Tissue transglutaminase antibody (IgA and IgG in questionable cases)
• Total IgA antibodies
• HLA DQ2 and DQ8 genotyping for celiac disease (used occasionally to detect genetic suspectibility).
• Intestinal biopsy (rarely needed if gluten antibodies are positive--based on my interpretation of the recent study)

When you get these tests, there are a few things I found to keep in mind.

In light of the new research on the dangers of gluten sensitivity without full blown celiac disease, consider any elevation of antibodies significant and worthy of a trial of gluten elimination.  Many doctors consider elevated anti-gliadin antibodies in the absence of a positive intestinal biopsy showing damage to be "false positives." That means the test looks positive but really isn't significant. Given the new research we can no longer say that. Positive is positive and, as with all illness, there is a continuum of disease, from mild gluten sensitivity to full-blown celiac disease. If your antibodies are elevated, you should go off gluten and test to see if it is leading to your health problems.

So now you see--that piece of bread may not be so wholesome after all! Follow the advice I've shared and find out if gluten may be the hidden cause of your health problems. Simply eliminating this insidious substance from your diet may help you achieve lifelong vibrant health.

Now I'd like to hear from you...

Are you one of the millions that have been lead to believe gluten is perfectly safe?

How do foods that contain gluten affect you?

What tips can you share with others about gluten and your diet?

Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Enjoy the Ride .... Rob