Blog | Pence Chiropractic Center | Chiropractor in Franklin TN

Apr 06 Comments Off

Zinc?

Posted by pencechiro

A couple of weeks ago I read an article that said several people who had successfully battled the Coronavirus (CoVid19) had lost their senses of smell and taste. The article went on to say some people reported this as the only symptom they had. When I read this I immediately thought of Zinc. Zinc is required for our senses of smell and taste to work properly. Zinc is an essential mineral. It is a component of over 200 enzymes in our bodies. That’s more than any other mineral.

When we consider the most common comorbidities seen with CoVid19, diabetes, pre-diabetes, or a BMI over 30 (overweight/obese), we see a possible connection with zinc. Zinc is needed for the production of insulin. Zinc decreases as we age.

Severe zinc deficiency is rare in developed countries, but marginal zinc deficiency is common. This is particularly true in the elderly (another CoVid19 risk factor). The loss of the sense of taste and smell is a common complaint in the elderly.

Zinc regulates the activity of our genes. It helps to maintain the integrity of membranes resulting in the protection against oxidative injury. Zinc is required for a number of immune functions, including T-lymphocyte activity. Zinc deficiency is associated with atrophy of the thymus gland. Zinc has been found to reduce the incidence of childhood pneumonia by 41%. That’s more effective than any other treatment studied. Zinc is present in high concentrations in red blood cells. Zinc is an integral part of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase. This enzyme is responsible for rapid release of carbon dioxide in the lungs. In double-blind studies, zinc supplementation has shown to decrease the duration of colds by 7 days. This is why zinc is found in throat lozenges and many OTC cold and flu medicines. Zinc’s antiviral properties are well established in the research literature.

Zinc is critical in the production of male hormones and prostate function. Zinc is highly concentrated in the prostate gland and deficiency contributes to the enlargement of the prostate. Zinc supplementation has been shown to reduce the size of the prostate in the majority of patients. Zinc deficiency decreases male sperm count, motility and increases infertility. During puberty there is an increased requirement for zinc due to increased hormone production. Some researchers believes this is why we see the emergence of acne during puberty.

The need for zinc is well established. We cannot be healthy without adequate zinc. The very best way to get any nutrient is through our food. The zinc content of selected foods in milligrams/3.5 oz. serving are as follows:

Oysters, fresh 148.7
Pumpkin seeds 7.5
Ginger root 6.8
Pecans 4.5
Split peas, dry 4.2
Brazil nuts 4.2
Whole wheat 3.2
Rye 3.2
Oats 3.2
Peanuts 3.2
Lima beans 3.1
Almonds 3.1
Buckwheat 2.5
Hazelnuts 2.4
Green peas 1.6
Turnips 1.2
Parsley 0.9
Garlic 0.6
Carrots 0.5
Whole wheat bread 0.5
Black beans 0.4

I hope you’re eating several of these foods several times each week. If not, you might want to strongly consider supplementing your diet with a food based nutritional supplement. I use a quick Zinc taste test in the office and find most people are deficient. The RDA for men is 11mg/day, and 8mg/day for women. Taking more than the RDA is needed to overcome a deficiency. Once the deficiency is satisfied it’s important to take zinc in a balanced formula so as not to throw off the balance of minerals with Copper and Iron.

Consider the following products from Standard Process that I use frequently:

Zinc Liver Chelate 10mg Zn, contains liver, beet root, carrot and oat flour.
Chezyn, a balanced source of zinc (10mg), Iron (5mg), and Copper (0.2mg).
Immuplex, which I have previously strongly recommended contains 4.5mg of zinc per capsule and a ton of other good stuff.
Trace Minerals B12 Zinc 2.7mg, Iron 1.4mg, Copper 0.3mg, and Iodine 145mcg per tablet and other whole foods.

It will be interesting to see in the years to come if Zinc deficiency is a common finding in the people who have had the hardest time handling the Coronavirus. I am not suggesting zinc deficiency is the sole answer, but I believe it should be seriously considered as a contributing factor.

Nutritional deficiencies are rarely isolated. If we find ourselves deficient in one mineral or vitamin there are probably several deficiencies. Taking a whole food based multivitamin/mineral is a reasonable thing to do. I wish the health care establishment would spend just 1% of their money and effort researching the fundamentals of human health rather than looking for the exotic cure-all medicine or vaccine. Unfortunately, vitamins, minerals and whole, natural foods cannot be patented so there is no financial incentive for companies to invest in the research. It’s up to us to use common sense, good judgement and the obeyance of the laws of nature to protect ourselves. If an individual’s zinc level is low, it will make them more susceptible to viral infection. They’ll use up any available zinc as the immune system ramps up. This would leave them with an even more significant zinc deficiency, and thus the loss of smell and taste.

I hope you have found this information helpful and thought provoking. Please let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to research and address. Please feel free to share this information with any healthcare providers you know who are treating CoVid19 patients.

Dr. David Pence

P.S. Here’s some food for thought…

Is CoVid19 caused by a deficiency of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin?

Does everyone who is exposed to the CoVid19 virus react the same way?

If a vaccine is developed will those people who choose to take it all react the same way?

Mar 21 Comments Off

Are You Feeling It?

Posted by pencechiro

When I walked up to the glass front door I could see the residents settling in at their tables for dinner. The Activities Director saw me standing there and came over to the locked door. She cracked the door open just enough for me to slip an envelope addressed to Mom into her fingertips.

I’m concerned that the stress associated with our response to the Coronavirus pandemic will cause more long term harm than the virus itself.

It’s hard not to be worried and fearful when all media is devoted to breathless reporting on national and worldwide infections and death rates. I’ve noticed The Tennessean newspaper has shortened their sports coverage and added a new section called “Coping“. In addition to the disease itself, we are feeling the financial pain of crashing markets and worry about our friends and loved ones losing their jobs. Stress and worry increase when we don’t feel in control of our lives.

Worry increases our physical stress response. We’re all familiar with the stress response. It’s that feeling you get when you narrowly miss a car wreck, or you see blue lights flashing in your rear view mirror. Our adrenal glands pump out adrenalin and cortisol. Your heart starts to race, there’s tightness in the chest, and the palms get sweaty. It’s the same stress response that gives us the sudden surge of strength to scamper up a tree to escape a vicious animal, or to lift the wheel of a car off an injured child.

Once the immediate danger passes we gradually calm back down. However, if the stress is sustained our adrenal glands continue producing adrenaline to the point of eventual fatigue or exhaustion. This is when we get into trouble.

Here’s a partial list of symptoms we may feel when we’re under sustained, unhealthy stress:

General irritability, hyper-excitement or depression
Pounding or racing heartbeat
Dry mouth and throat
Inability to concentrate on the task at hand
An overwhelming feeling of needing to cry or run away
Easily fatigued, or loss of zest for life
Anxiety, or a feeling of panic
Trembling, nervous tics, a tendency to be easily startled
Feeling “keyed up”
Grinding your teeth while sleeping
Insomnia, can’t fall asleep or stay asleep
More frequent urination
Diarrhea, indigestion, nausea or pooting
Migraine or tension headaches
Missed, delayed or altered menses
Changes in appetite
Loss of libido or ED

Over time the adrenal glands will enlarge to meet the increased demand, but eventually they fatigue and fail to respond the next time we need a healthy stress response.

With prolonged excessive stress the adrenal glands, the thymus gland and spleen begin to atrophy (shrink). All three glands are critical parts of our immune system. This leaves us with a compromised immune response and vulnerable.

Excess, prolonged stress suppresses our immune response and makes it more likely we’ll get sick.

I’m concerned the increased stress level over time will lead to an increase in many maladies including a significant increase in the prescription of anti-anxiety drugs. There will be more high blood pressure, strokes, auto-immune conditions, migraine and tension headaches, emotional instability in adults and children, poor sleep quality, PTSD, digestive issues, irritability, cancers, back and neck pain and an increase use of alcohol and recreational drugs.

I can recall a few cases over the years where the was a sudden, unexpected stressful event in the life of a seemingly healthy person, and within a year or two they were diagnosed with a life changing disease process. I’ve often suspected there was an un-researched connection between the distress and the subsequent disease process.

Persistent stress has an adverse impact on our health and longevity.

I don’t want to present a problem without a solution, so what do we do?

Focused Diversion

Hans Selye, MD, wrote in his 1956 book, The Stress of Life, “Nothing is accomplished by telling people not to worry.” Can you recall being worried about something really important to you and a friend or loved one told you “Just don”t worry about it”, or “It won’t do any good to worry about it”? Not helpful.

Dr. Selye also wrote, “Nothing erases unpleasant thoughts more effectively than conscious concentration on pleasant ones”. I think that’s the key. He goes on to explain the concept of “focused diversion”.

In other words, find an activity, consistent with your personality, to divert your attention to something else. If you are naturally a very active person, find an active diversion. You wouldn’t be happy if you were forced to lay around and be lazy. Find an activity that is active. Mow your own yard, hand wash your car, take a hike in the woods, or start and finish a project you’ve been putting off. Likewise, if you are more naturally a calm, sedate type person you probably wouldn’t enjoy doing yard work, etc. Find something more consistent with your personality that causes you to focus on something else. Try a jig-saw puzzle, watch an old movie, fly a kite or take a leisurely stroll around the block.

The idea is to find an activity, consistent with your personality, that causes you to focus on something other than the doom and gloom that can be so overwhelming.

Rest and work must be balanced based on our individual needs. Focused diversion is an effective tool to manage stress.

The envelope contained a letter to my 92 year old Mom who has lived in a retirement home since Dad passed away a little over three years ago. Every evening on my way home from the office I stop and see Mom. This was the first time I couldn’t get in to see her. Mom’s memory is slipping and the letter was a simple explanation of why the facility was closed to visitors and why I wouldn’t be able to see her for a while. I expect she’ll lay the letter on her dresser, and due to her fading memory, reread it often as if it were the first time.

My evening and weekend visits with Mom are typically brief, but I usually take a few extra minutes to visit with some of the other residents I’ve come to know. Some of these older folks rarely, if ever, see family. Most are old enough to have lived through the Great Depression and WWII. They’ve raised children and supported their spouses for a lifetime. They are the parents of our current leaders. They made us who we are. They’ve paid the dues of life and have earned the right to finally take a rest, relax and enjoy the time they have left. It is our responsibility to honor, care for, and protect them. They are often referred to as “The Greatest Generation”. How will history refer to ours?

Let’s do our best to protect all the moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas out there so their remaining years are as happy and healthy as they can be. They deserve it.

Dr. David Pence

Mar 15 Comments Off

Pence Sense: Immune Support

Posted by pencechiro

Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, you’re likely feeling some anxiety or possibly fear over the constant news reporting on the Coronavirus. I want to share my opinion with you to calm your concerns and give you tools to be in better control of your future health.

First, I want you to be assured we are following the guidance of the CDC and the Tennessee Department of Health regarding our practice protocols. It is our goal, like everything we do, to exceed those recommendations.

The family of Coronaviruses are not new, and man is not extinct. Viruses are part of everyday life.

Let’s assume we’ll be exposed to this newly identified virus either this year or in the future. What can we do to improve our ability to survive and thrive ?

I can sum up my approach with the phrase… “Move Well, Eat Well, Think Well.”

#1: Move Well

If you haven’t seen your Chiropractor recently for a check-up and adjustment, you need to do that now. The presence of spinal subluxation will prevent your nervous system from functioning at its best. Our ability to adapt to stress and mount a robust immune response is controlled by our nervous system. It is the interface between who we are and the environment around us. In my 38 years of practice I can clearly see that people who get adjusted regularly are healthier.

Get a little exercise, but not to the point of exhaustion.

#2: Eat Well

Our bodies work well only when they receive the proper nutrients, in the right amount and form, from the foods we choose to eat. In general I advise focusing on God-made foods rather than man-made processed foods. Organic fresh vegetables, fruits, wild fish, meat, nuts and seeds are ideal. Drink enough clean spring water to keep your urine clear. Eat protein three times a day and avoid the starches (bread, potatoes, pasta and rice) to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Avoid sugar. Sugar will decrease the immune response by 50%!

Our diets are pretty horrible compared to our ancestors. I don’t eat a perfect diet and even when I’m trying I know the foods I’m eating were likely grown in nutrient depleted soil.and don’t contain the same nutritional value as the same foods grown even 50 years ago. I take food based nutritional supplements to fill in the gaps and make sure my body is getting what it needs. I recommend you take them as well.

Foundational support for nourishing and supporting the immune system should include a variety of supplements and herbs. Ideally a one-on-one evaluation to determine your specific needs would be best, however most people will benefit from a few basics.

1) Echinacea Premium (Medi-Herb)

Echinacea works very well to help prepare the immune system for challenges.

2) Immuplex (Standard Process)

Think of Immuplex as a multivitamin for your immune system

3) Calcium lactate (Standard Process)

This is the right form of ionized calcium our tissues need to kill bacteria and viruses.

4) Cataplex D, or Cod Liver Oil (Standard Process)

Vitamin D helps move calcium from the gut to the bloodstream.

5) Cataplex F (Standard Process)

This is the right type of essential fatty acid to help transport calcium from the blood into the tissues (lungs, mucous membranes, heart, liver, etc.) where it’s needed.

6) Thymex (Standard Process)

This is a thymus gland support product that helps stimulate our defense mechanisms against bacterial and viral infection. It will support production of killer T-cells.

These are a few of the nutritional tools we use daily in the office and that I take. You can learn more about them at http://www.standardprocess.com There are others, including some antiviral liquid blends we will recommend if you are actively fighting a viral infection. The purpose is to support a normal healthy immune response.

I recommend everyone strongly consider taking the first three listed if you’re not already. Add the second three if you’re in a higher risk group or just want to do your best.

If you’re not already taking these supplements and would like to start, you can call us during office hours at 615-794-3002 or email us any time and we can have them delivered to your door within 2-3 days.

#3) Think Well

Mental, emotional and spiritual health have a direct impact on our physical health. Limit how much time you spend watching the news. If you feel burdened by a particular emotional or mental stress this would be a good time to get up the courage to confront it and handle whatever it is. Free up some space in your head and your heart. Talk to God and give him a chance to talk to you by reading his Word.

I hope this information is helpful for you and your loved ones. Please never hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. Let me close with a quote from the Great Physician.

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing ? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you ? You of little faith ! Do not worry then, saying “What will we eat?” or “What will we wear for clothing?” For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Be well,
Dr. David Pence

Jan 19 Comments Off

Are You a Victim?

Posted by pencechiro

Our health (and the decisions we make about it) is among the most personal of decisions. Are we passive, ignoring our health until we lose it? Or do we actively assume responsibility for and take action to promote our health?

The choice we make is often revealed by how we respond when we have a health crisis.

Jul 24 Comments Off

I’m Pregnant. Why Am I Nauseated?

Posted by pencechiro

“Morning Sickness” is a common early symptom of pregnancy, but it’s not normal.

It has been my observation over 30 plus years of providing supportive care for women during pregnancy that pregnancy tends to reveal preexisting weaknesses in a woman’s physiology. In other words, many women have “weak links” in one or more body systems that they may be unaware of until they become pregnant. The extra nutritional demands needed to build a new human often uncover low or borderline levels of functional nutrients.

Jun 03 Comments Off

Butter or Margarine?

Posted by pencechiro

I received the following information at a recent nutrition seminar and hope you find it helpful. -Dr. Pence

Patients frequently ask me, “Which is better: butter or margarine ?” I think that’s a fair question. And I believe that you not only need to know the answer, but to understand it as well.

Mar 19 Comments Off

Allergies, Foods, and Inflammation

Posted by pencechiro

An allergy is a condition in which the body reacts poorly to a substance that is harmless in similar amounts to most people. Dust, pollens, specific foods, and animal dander do not cause a problem in a normally functioning body.

When evaluating the cause of allergies, I begin with identifying food allergies or intolerances. Continuing to eat foods we are individually and genetically incapable of handling will aggravate existing allergies or make us susceptible to other allergies. Our bodies can only handle so much of an inflammatory burden before it over reacts.

Jan 28 Comments Off

Healthy Weight Loss: Eat Fat to Get Lean

Posted by pencechiro

It’s the time of year when many of us are regretting all those goodies we ate during the holidays. Our britches are a little tighter, we’ve let the belt out a notch or maybe we’re avoiding a certain pair of jeans. Shorts, t-shirts and yes bathing suit weather is fast approaching and we’re about to run out of time to reduce the belly bulge that confirms our winter dietary misbehavior.

Jan 05 Comments Off

Welcome To Our New Website

Posted by pencechiro

Greetings and welcome to our new website. We are happy you found us and look forward to providing timely and helpful health information.

It was our desire to create a website that reflects the unique personality of our practice. Clean, efficient and well organized.

Dec 10 Comments Off

7 Factors That Can Affect Your Healing

Posted by pencechiro

I want to feel better…now!

How often have you been sick and tired of being sick and tired? Wishing that illness would be gone already or that injury would heal?

When you become impatient, remember seven critical factors that affect the rate of your recovery:

Dec 03 Comments Off

My Greatest Responsibility

Posted by pencechiro

I had my first adjustment when I was four years old. My parents wanted me to have an adjustment from the Chiropractor who had found and corrected the cause of my older brother’s life threatening asthma.

I continue to get regular adjustments because I feel better when I do. Our children have grown up with Chiropractic as their primary health care. They know if they don’t feel well, it’s time to get adjusted.