What referring health professionals are saying...  

 Nirvana's integrative programs are very different from the traditional western medical approach that most American medical doctors learn in medical school. Every so often we get an opportunity to turn a medical doctor into an advocate for our approach when they get the chance to do a program for themselves. This past July, Nirvana was honored and privileged to have world renown brain surgeon Don Becker, MD., come for a two week intensive anti aging program to test out the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and supporting therapies for this purpose. We invite you to read his personal testimonial of his own experience with our anti aging program.

Patient Testimonials

At Nirvana, we love our patients! New patients come to Nirvana as strangers and they leave as dear friends. Our highest priority is fullfilling our patients needs and wants so to facilitate their healing and rejuvenation process. Nothing makes us happier than seeing them recover their health, their happiness, and their quality of life. Since we opened in April 2010, we have had the opportunity to meet some extraordinary people and we would love to share with you some of their own testimonials about their experiences at Nirvana. Here's what they have to say about our one of kind treatment programs for:

Fibromyalgia & Parkinson's Disease - Cindy Stevens

Rejuvenation & Anti Aging - JS S

Autism Spectrum Disorder - Audrey Griswold

Respitory Illness - Leslie Franklin

Rapid Recovery from Injury - Sara Dominguez

We will be adding to this page often so please check in periodically, or even better call us.  We'd love to introduce you to HBOT so that the next great experience is yours.

Also, we invite you to share your experiences or ask us questions on our FACEBOOK PAGE as well.

Warm regards to all from the entire staff at Nirvana!

Thaddeus Jeckell - Your Fitness Advocate

Blog Entry

5/13/2012

EATING ORGANIC ON A BUDGET

Hi everyone, Happy Cinco de Mayo.  This day is not just another excuse to party.  Here is a quick history lesson, and yes I googled it.  Many have mistaken Cinco de Mayo as the celebration of Mexico’s independence.  May 5^th is actually the celebration of Mexican troop’s unlikely victory against the overwhelming French forces early in the war.  After celebrating the Mexican culture with food, drinks, and music it is time to get back to the diet, and make up for the cheat day.  My wife made an amazing mango salsa that I would like to share with you.  You will need: 1 mango, ½ pineapple, 1 jalapeno seeded, 1 avocado, cilantro, 1 purple onion, and juice from 2 limes.  Chop and mix all ingredients together. 

We all wish that we could buy exclusively organic, but it is not always possible.    If you were to ask my dad what organic is he would have said “groceries for twice the price”.  In a way, he is right, organic foods and beverages can cost as much as 50-100% more than conventional foods.  If you had to buy organic produce, could you afford it?

What is organic food?  The USDA organic seal indicates that the food was grown, harvested, and processed according to national organic standards.  The standard restrictions consist of the amount of residues, hormones, and antibodies in the food.  These foods cannot be treated with any synthetic pesticides, sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation. Conventional crops are treated with pesticides and fertilizers to enhance growth and prevent infestation.  Organic foods generally cost more because without the use of pesticides the farming of the crops becomes more labor intensive.  The term organic has restrictions and are regulated by law.  “100% organic” is for foods that have no allowable synthetic ingredients.  “Organic” foods have a minimum of 95% organic ingredients.  “Made with Organic Ingredients” must contain at least 70% organic ingredients.  These foods are not eligible for the USDA organic seal.  “Free-range,” “hormone free”, or “natural” are terms not regulated by law, so don’t mistaken them for organic, although they very well may be.

Eating organic doesn’t have to break the bank.  The following is a recommended “How to eat organic on a budget” checklist.

·         Rethink your food budget.  Cut costs from your conventional food budget, to free up spending for organic food.  Transition into eating organic.

·         Visit your local farmers market.  They have a wide selection of organics and guaranteed to be fresh and in season. 

·         Pick and choose your organics.  Follow the EWG’s Shoppers Guide to Pesticides list (Dirty dozen & Clean 15)

·         Be on the lookout for organic product coupons.  Email organic companies and have them send you available coupons

·         Grow your own.  If you don’t have a garden, go purchase some medium sized planters.  We have 3 or 4 planters with random herbs and veggies at any given time.

·         Shop in season.  Crops are the cheapest when they are the most abundant.

·         Buy in bulk.  Buy the in-season produce and then can or dry it to have it available all year long.

·         Don’t limit yourself to the organic section of the grocery store.  There is several ways to buy organic

The EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce:   THE DIRTY DOZEN (Buy these organic):  Apples, Celery, Strawberries, Peaches, Spinach, Nectarines, Grapes, Sweet bell peppers, Potatoes, Blueberries, Lettuce, and Kale.  THE CLEAN 15 (Lowest in pesticides):  Onions, Sweet corn, Pineapples, Avocado, Asparagus, Sweet peas, mangoes, Eggplant, Cantaloupe, Kiwi, Cabbage, Watermelon, Sweet potatoes, Grapefruit, and Mushrooms.

Here are some tips on eating produce if you can’t purchase organic.  Wash and scrub produce for at least 30 seconds under running water.  Do not eat the skins of produce.  Discard the outer leafs of green leafy veggies.  Buy canned fruits and vegetables.  The canning process removes toxins.  If you can, choose organic, otherwise use “The dirty dozen” as your organic grocery list.

Diet Success Challenge:  This week’s challenge is easy.  Concentrate on perfecting your organic grocery list.  Follow the EWG’s pesticide guide when putting together your menu.  Eating healthy doesn’t have to bankrupt the wallet.

Fitspiration:  I would rather say “I did it”, than “I gave up”

Workout Challenge:  Let’s keep this simple.  This workout should last 10-12 minutes.  Exercises performed include: pushups, lying leg lifts, and squat jumps.  Perform these 3 exercises back to back to back.  The workout will be done with descending reps for each set (i.e. 10 pushups, 10 leg lifts, 10 squat jumps, the next round will be done with 8 reps for each exercise down to a round of 2 reps for each exercise.) Perform this workout without rest if possible.  Good luck.

Nirvana News:  Acupuncture activates and balances the body’s vital substances bringing about a highly direct and controlled restorative response.  Acupuncture can stimulate nerves, increase blood circulation, relieve muscle spasms and reduce inflammation.  Acupuncture can cause a release of hormones, for example “feel good” chemicals such as endorphins or cortisol, which make you feel peaceful and relaxed.  Acupuncture treats the whole body by stimulating the body’s immune system so the body can heal itself.  The ultimate goal is for your body to balance itself and keep you happy and healthy, free of “disease” on its own.  Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute has a full time acupuncturist on staff, call to schedule.

Your “Fitness Advocate”

Thaddeus

At Nirvana, we believe that our clients are seeking a hyperbaric program that provides them with the most value for their money, they are also seeking to attain their health and wellbeing goals in a timely manner, and they are seeking extraordinary customer service to make their treatment plan as enjoyable as possible.

There are many differences between hyperbaric centers.  Some of those differences include:

• Whether they utilize hospital grade hyperbaric chambers or whether they are offering "the bag" --mild hyperbaric chambers
• Whether the center treats their clients seven days a week or whether they treat their clients Monday through Friday and then give them the weekend off.
• Whether a center offers an integrative program that includes combining synergistic therapies with the hyperbarics or whether the center offers strictly hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

So how do you know how those differences will affect the outcome of your treatment plan?

• Hospital grade hyperbaric oxygen chambers use pure medical grade oxygen versus the mild hyperbaric oxygen chambers which utilize manufactured oxygen from an oxygen concentrator or generator.  More importantly than that is that mild hyperbaric oxygen chambers can not pressurize above 1.3 ATA.  Almost every HBOT protocol calls for a pressurization of at least 1.5 ATA and most often these healing protocols call for a pressure of somewhere between 1.8 ATA to 2.4 ATA.    What does this mean?  This information reveals that mild hyperbaric chambers are therapeutically insignificant and therefore you are wasting your precious dollars and your precious time.
• Treating clients on a seven day a week protocol versus five days on and two days off means that clients gets better quicker because HBOT is a cumulative process.  When you take days off during your prescribed treatment plan, your body has to make up those gains that were lost by the interruption with your next treatment versus charging forward and making more progress.  This can make the difference between a client accomplishing their health and wellbeing goals in 20 to 40 treatments versus 40 to 60 treatments.  You save time and money when you are treated on a seven day a week protocol!
• Treating clients with an integrative program versus stand alone HBOT stimulates and complements the incredible healing process that is created by the HBOT.  Once again you save time and money because you are able to accomplish your health and wellbeing goals in a shorter period of time. 

The Nirvana Program

Our center uses only the most patient friendly hospital grade hyperbaric chambers to treat our clients.  During your treatment, we offer Netflix movies that you watch on a screen attached to your chamber, or you can read a book or you can listen to music.   At Nirvana, we treat our clients on a seven day a week schedule because we know that time and money is important to you.  But what makes Nirvana's (HBOT) program truly unique from any other program being offered at other hyperbaric facilities?  Our center is founded upon the vision of combining synergistic therapies appropriate to the needs of the individual to ignite a much more powerful wellbeing and regeneration process.  While all of our therapies are very effective in their own right, the transformation and restoration that you are seeking from hyperbaric oxygen therapy happens much quicker when you combine therapies that complement each other.

Every client that purchases a treatment package of 5 or more HBOT sessions at Nirvana automatically receives complementary usage of our one-of-a-kind exercise with oxygen therapy (EWOT) program, under the daily guidance of our Fitness Therapist, Thaddeus Jeckell, and of our Sunlighten infrared saunas during the duration of their hyperbaric treatment plan .   For some clients, these extra services may not be appropriate but that is something that will be determined by you and our medical doctor during the intake prior to your first HBOT.  These complementary extra services create an added value for you of $60.00 per day over the course of your treatment plan.

The added benefit of combining an EWOT session with a session of HBOT is that you are adding movement to the equation.  You first receive all of the deep healing benefits of HBOT and then you follow that with a 15 to 20 minute EWOT session at a level appropriate to your physical condition where the focus is on deep breathing of the oxygen while increasing your cardiac output, not on how fast or how long or how hard you can exercise.  The results? You feel an almost immediate extra boost of feel good energy and euphoria. The combination results in a sharper mental focus, and it helps you to sleep through the night, all very important to the wellbeing and regeneration process.

The major benefit that the infrared sauna therapy brings to the equation is that it detoxifies your body at a cellular level.  HBOT helps in the detoxification process because the tremendous oxygenation stirs up toxins in addition to fighting microorganisms including fungi and mold, especially those that thrive in a low oxygenated environment.  Our skin is our largest organ of elimination.  By utilizing the infrared sauna to immediately start the elimination process after your HBOT treatment you are reducing the burden on your kidneys and digestive tract in purging these toxins from your body.  In addition, the combination has synergistic effects that can increase the benefits for pain management, weight loss, skin purification and stress management.

For more information on our one of a kind hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment plans and on pricing, please contact us at 805-693-8100 or e-mail us at info@nirvanahbo.com.

TOXIN SABOTAGE

Hi everyone.  Are you getting bored with your fitness routine?  Is it getting harder to make it to the gym or finding the energy to get out for your morning jog?  Everybody needs motivation and inspiration to keep on keeping on.  When my wife and I need inspiration or what I like to call “fitspiration”, we both have different avenues that we explore.  My wife will log on to her Pinterest account and navigate it for 2 hours, for some people inspiration takes longer than expected.  Pinterest is addicting, to defend my wife.  For me it is simple, the more I workout the more I can eat.  Find your source of “fitspiration” and keep it close and available.

Today I want to concentrate on how toxins affect fat and fat storage instead of the actual cleansing needed to remedy the problem.  You can refer to a past blog of mine, if you want more details on how to cleanse and detoxify the body.  Search the archives on the website www.nirvanahbo.com for the blog named “Your Organs Deserve a Vacation”. 

Are you doing everything right, and still can’t lose weight?  Don’t get frustrated, I may have a solution to your future weight loss success.  Toxin accumulation may be the culprit to your hindering weight loss program.   Toxins are chemicals or poisons that are known to have harmful effects on the body.  Toxins are small molecules or proteins that can cause disease on contact with or absorption through body tissues interacting with enzymes and cells.  We can break toxins down into 4 categories: toxins from the air, water, food and chemicals in our environment.  I want to concentrate on toxic foods since that is something that we as individuals can control the easiest.  Toxic foods include: food additives, highly processed foods, genetically modified foods, and even chemical ingredients in food recipes.

How do toxins cause excess fat in the body?  Toxic overload is one major contributor to weight gain.  In different words people have difficulty losing weight because of the poisons being stored in their body.  We store toxins in fatty tissue to protect the body.  This is much safer than allowing these toxins to enter the bloodstream and circulate.  When the body’s fat cells are filled to capacity, the fat cell will actually expand to take in more toxins.  A person who has too many toxins to process will make new fat cells and store those toxins along with fat in them.  The body holds on to these fat cells, and does not want to let them go, making it difficult to lose weight.  This is the body’s strategy to keep toxins from circulating and keeping away from vital organs.  Toxin storage process is the good news, the bad news is that fat stored toxins still create substantial damage and contribute to unhealthy conditions such as cellulite.   

Toxic overload impedes weight loss.  The body transfers its energy to detoxify the body rather than burning calories.  Toxins stored in fat cells are difficult to get rid of through dieting alone.  You must first detoxify the body.  During weight loss toxins can be released back into circulation, especially in cases of significant weight loss.  Toxins can make you feel sick and irritable during this time.  If you experience a detoxing feeling, you may need to alter your weight loss strategy temporarily.  Don’t let the potential for toxins being released into the bloodstream during weight loss deter you from starting an exercise and diet program today.  For the most part, your body is quite well equipped to naturally detoxify most toxins that are ingested.  This should be a good reason to stay lean and eat healthy.  

Our bodies have built in mechanisms to detoxify toxins.  Detox organs include: liver, kidneys, skin and lungs.  Our digestive, circulatory and lymphatic systems all play a role in detoxification.  The following tips will help you keep the body cleansed.  These tips are also easy rules to follow during a cleansing stage in your diet.

• Eat organic (Eliminate processed foods and food additives)
• Eliminate refined sugars
• Increase your fiber intake (fiber acts like a sponge for toxins)
• Increase your antioxidants and vitamin D
• Stay fully hydrated (Water, herbal tea, coconut water)

Diet Success Challenge:  I challenge you to a raw food cleanse.  Pick 2 days in a row this week where you will be able to commit to a cleanse.  Remember that your energy levels may diminish during this time.  Eat only organic raw fruits and veggies for 2 days.  Make sure you drink plenty of water.  If you decide to try a cleanse, I strongly encourage you to read a prior blog of mine “Your organs deserve a vacation” as mentioned earlier.  This will give you more direction and details on the aspects of a cleanse.

Nirvana News:  Massage Therapy is a natural way to speed up detoxification.  By massaging your muscles and tissues, you are loosening the toxins that are stored or building up in your cells.   Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute’s signature massage incorporates the infrared sauna to warm tight muscles and tendons before the massage to optimize the benefits of the massage therapy.  Call to schedule one of our massage packages.  (Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute (805) 693-8100)

Fitspiration:  “It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger”

Blog Teaser:  Check out next week’s blog “Eating organic on a budget”

Your “Fitness Advocate”

Thaddeus

Thaddeus Jeckell - Your Fitness Advocate

Blog Entry

4/27/2012 

SPICE IT UP

Hi everyone.  Let’s say farewell to the tax season.  Release the stress with a homemade concoction of mine.  Let’s broaden our taste buds from the usual glass of vino and enjoy a fresh bloody mary.  This is my bloody mary recipe that I will share with you, as long as you promise not to give away the recipe at your next party.  You will need to make a trip to your local market to pick up some ingredients.  If possible use your local farmer’s market for the veggies.  The secret ingredient list: purple onion, small red chili pepper, green bell pepper, habanera pepper, fresh cilantro, horseradish, fresh lemon, organic tomato juice(I recommend Knudson’s), crushed red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper and of course your choice of vodka.  Dice a small portion of the green bell pepper, purple onion, habanero, and chili pepper.  Depending on how spicy you want it, will determine how much of the habanera and chili pepper you use.  I use only about a 1/3 or less of both of these spicy peppers to make 2 drinks.  Chop the cilantro and add all chopped veggies into a shaker.  Add a small spoon full of horseradish, some salt and pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, a lemon squeeze, and Worcestershire sauce to the shaker.  Add 2 shots of vodka, your tomato juice, and then shake.  Pour over a glass of ice.  Garnish with a celery and a green pepper ring around the celery, and 2 olives.  If you don’t prefer vodka, you can also go “virgin” on this and reap the benefits.   “Here’s to you” ENJOY. 

Are you looking for an easy way to lose or maintain weight?  Are you looking for another way to burn more calories, or speed up your metabolism?  I have the answer for you.  All you have to do is fill a bowl with spicy peppers, chilies, and jalapenos, cover it with cayenne pepper, and cumin, and then enjoy.  Eat every pepper flake and seed and you are on your way to losing weight.  As you cry and sweat your way through this bowl of spiciness, you are actually inducing weight loss.   It doesn’t have to be that intense but eating spicy food can help you lose weight through thermogenesis.  Thermogenesis is the process your body’s cells use to convert their energy into heat.  The heat production in the body is determined by a person’s basal metabolic rate (calories burned while sedentary).  Thermogenesis can also be determined by what the person consumes.  This is referred to as diet-induced thermogenesis.

Diet-induced thermogenesis takes into account how food affects a person’s body. One of the weight-loss effects of spicy foods is due largely to capsaicin.  Capsaicin is what makes spicy foods spicy.  This substance seems to alter the behavior of a protein in your muscles, causing your cells to burn energy.  Capsaicin produces a sensation of heat by irritating nerve endings.  It is found mostly in peppers.  The higher the capsaicin levels are the spicier the pepper is.  Spicy foods that contain a level of capsaicin, provide a variety of health and medicinal benefits.   Thermo boosting foods may:

• Decrease bodyfat and increase fat mobilization
• Enhance digestion
• Increase nutrient absorption
• Increase satiety
• Reduce pain
• Increase metabolic rate (body burns calories to bring down core temperature)
• Help to resist invading infections (anti-microbial effects)
• Reduce inflammation
• Thin your blood (reduces heart complications)

To make the most of your body’s thermogenic capabilities, here is a list of some peppers and spices that may harness the greatest potential:  Cayenne peppers, jalapenos, chilies, habanera peppers, serrano, pimento, and cherry peppers.  Cumin, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and curry are some spices that all have similar benefits.

Spicy foods can irritate ulcers and induce heart burn.  Slowly increase your consumption of spicy foods to decrease the risk of these side effects: stomach upset, diarrhea, and gas.  Consult your physician if you have a chronic gastrointestinal issue or have a history of ulcers.  If you happen to bite into something to spicy, or take a dare on eating a red hot pepper, fight the fire with milk not water.  Capsaicin is not water soluble so a big glass of ice water will be ineffective.  Grab a glass of milk to kill the burn.  The casein protein in milk bonds with the capsaicin molecules and washes them away.  Enjoy everything with moderation and that is no different with spicy foods.  To get the thermogenic effect of spicy food, moderation is key.  The body can desensitize, if it is a norm in the diet.

Diet Success Challenge:  This week add some spicy foods to your menu.  Pick up a couple of peppers you have never tried.  Make a virgin bloody mary or prepare a stir fry. 

Blog teaser:  Next week’s blog “Toxins = Fat”

Nirvana News:  Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute is proud to present our new “Wellness Daycation” packages.  We will be introducing new packages for Weight loss, Detoxification, Anti-aging, and Pain relief.  With our state of the art therapies and modalities we invite you to spend a day of well-being with us.

Your “Fitness Advocate”

Thaddeus

Thaddeus Jeckell - Your Fitness Advocate

Blog Entry

4/20/2012

CONTROL YOUR CHOLESTEROL

High cholesterol can affect anyone.  High cholesterol increases your risk for heart disease.  Heart disease is the number one killer of American men and women.  The higher your blood cholesterol is the greater your risk of heart disease.

What is cholesterol?  Cholesterol is a type of a fat that circulates in you blood.  Cholesterol is produced by the liver and is required to protect nerves and construct cell tissues.  Cholesterol is very important to our health, but an excess amount can bring negative impact to our overall system.  Cholesterol comes from two sources:  Your body makes its own, regardless of what you eat.  Cholesterol also comes from directly from the food you eat.  Cholesterol is found only in animal products.  Cholesterol circulates in cholesterol and protein carriers called “lipoproteins”.  There are 2 types of lipoproteins:

• Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) =  To remember refer LDL to “lousy fats”
• High-density lipoproteins (HDL) = To remember refer HDL to “healthy fats”

LDL’s also known as the “bad” cholesterol carries cholesterol from the liver and delivers to cells.  HDL’s also known as the “good” cholesterol removes excess cholesterol from the blood and takes it to the liver.  Another chemical form in relation to cholesterol is triglycerides.  Triglycerides form the plasma lipids (blood fat).  It’s this form in which most fat exists in the body.  Calories we consume from food  that are not used by our tissues are converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells.

What’s so bad about cholesterol?  When there is to much cholesterol in the blood, it can be trapped in the arteries.  With time it builds up and forms a plaque.  This plaque narrows the blood vessel and it becomes hard.  This decreases the blood flow to the heart muscle.  High cholesterol levels can cause, angina (chest pain), coronary heart disease, heart attack, cardiovascular conditions, atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries), arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), and strokes.

What does your cholesterol level tell you?  Fats, lipids, and cholesterol levels can determine how healthy you are and how strong your heart is.  Here is a list of healthy cholesterol levels:

Total cholesterol  <200 is desirable

HDL cholesterol  >45 is desirable

Triglycerides  <200 is desirable

LDL cholesterol  <130 is desirable

 High total cholesterol levels doesn’t always indicate a risk for heart disease.  Women in particular have higher HDL levels than men.  This will make their total cholesterol higher but would not indicate a higher risk for heart disease.

Follow these steps to lower your cholesterol:

• Eat fewer fats and fried foods
• Choose non-fat ad low-fat versions of foods.
• Select unsaturated fats over saturated fats
• Lose extra weight
• Eat more soluble fiber
• Choose egg whites over the yolk
• Choose fish and poultry over red meat
• EXERCISE

 If you have high cholesterol, some foods you should avoid are saturated fats from animal sources, such as meat, poultry, egg yolks, liver, butter, cheese, and other dairy products.  Add these foods to your diet if you have high cholesterol: whole grains, blueberries, chlorella (omega 3 fat), raw dark chocolate, avocados, olives, olive oil, goji berries(prevents arteries from narrowing), flaxseed, and pomegranate juice (contains nitric oxide which helps reduce arterial plaque).

Everyone should get their cholesterol checked.  Cholesterol isn’t the only reason why people have heart disease but it can play a huge role.  Many factors play a role in having high cholesterol, but our food intake is one that we can control.  Anyone can develop high blood cholesterol and everyone can take steps to lower it.

DIET SUCCESS CHALLENGE:  The Mediterranean diet has long been associated with a low risk of heart disease.  The challenge is to try this diet for at least 7 days.  Your food list consists of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, olive oil, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, yogurt and red wine.  Eat 4 meals per day including snacks using this food list.  Print a Mediterranean Diet Pyramid and it will break down the servings per day and month. 

BLOG TEASER: “Spice it up”

NIRVANA NEWS:  Try Nirvana’s Far-Infrared Sauna Heat.  FIR waves provide rejuvenating radiant energy in form of heat, similar to that of the sun which all life depends on.  The Far-Infrared heat (FAR light waves) penetrates your skin, giving you that wonderful natural warmth.  Far-Infrared heat is completely healthy and safe for all living things.  Benefits of FIR include:  skin purification, pain relief, muscle recovery, increase oxygenation and circulation, wound healing, circulatory cleansing and natural body detoxification.

Your “Fitness Advocate”

Thaddeus

NIRVANA CELEBRATES 2ND BIRTHDAY WITH FREE OPEN HOUSE ON THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012, FROM 4:30-6:00PM

WHAT:

Free Open House and 2^nd Birthday Party. The public is invited to join Nirvana’s co-founders Kelly Schreiner and Roger Hunter and staff in celebrating two years of service to the community in providing leading-edge health solutions.

 WHY:

“We gratefully acknowledge all the support we’ve received from health professionals, the public and area leaders over the past two years. Despite opening in the midst of a global recession, Nirvana is thriving and will continue to expand our services in this coming year,” remarked Roger Hunter. “We are having this open house and 2^nd birthday party to thank everyone who has helped, welcome the public to share our joy and experience a taste of Nirvana and along with some birthday cake!” shared Kelly Schreiner.

WHEN:

Thursday, April 19, 2012 from 4:30pm -6:00pm

• Complimentary refreshments, cake, sparkling beverages and facility tours.
• Information on:
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)
• Oxygenated Fitness (EWOT)
• Heart Centered Therapy; Lymph Drainage; and Cellulite Reduction Therapy
• NES Health: Provision and miHealth
• Acupuncture
• Chi Nei Tsang
• Medical Massage
• Bio Energetic Synchronization Therapy (B.E.S.T.)
• FAR infrared sauna
• Chiropractic

WHERE:

Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute - 2028 Village Lane, #104, Solvang, CA, 93463

RSVP:

Please RSVP with Joli Foster: info@nirvanahbo.com  -  805-693-8100, we want to make sure that we have enough cake and champagne for everyone!

About Nirvana:Founded in April 2010 and rooted in modern modalities combined with ancient healing techniques—Nirvana = A place of complete bliss, delight and peace. Hyperbaric = 100% pure medical grade oxygen delivered under pressure to rejuvenate, heal and optimize body and mind. Institute= An organization devoted to a cause, dedicated to learning and achievement. Nirvana is open daily offering a wide variety of wellness services including Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Exercise with Oxygen Therapy, Infrared Saunas, Medical Message, and more. Details: www.NirvanaHBO.com

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Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute ◊ 2028 Village Lane #104 ◊ Solvang, CA 93463 ◊ 805-693-8100

Spotlight on: Nirvana

The new way to look after yourself; grant yourself healthy and fortifying wellbeing breaks!

We offer the future in personalized wellbeing: choose a package from one of our Day Pass Options for:

• Anti Aging
• Cellulite Reduction
• Detoxification
• Relaxation
• Weight Loss

These one day passes come in $200.00, $250.00, and $300.00 denominations include customized combinations from our service menu of:

• NES Health Provision Health Analysis
• Body Composition Analysis
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy*
• Guided Imagery
• Exercise with Oxygen Therapy (EWOT)
• Oxygen Spin and Sculpt (one on one w/fitness trainer)
• Whole Body Vibration with Stretch and Flex (one on one w/fitness trainer)
• Acupuncture
• Massage with Aromatherapy Oils
• FAR Infrared Sauna Therapy
• NES miHealth
• Neuro Care
• Nutritional Counseling 
• Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique (B.E.S.T.)
• Lymphatic Drainage Therapy
• Chi Nei Tsang (Abdominal Massage Therapy)

 To purchase a Day Pass and schedule your wellbeing break, please contact us at 805-693-8100 or e-mail us at info@nirvanahbo.com.

Thaddeus Jeckell - Your Fitness Advocate

Blog Entry

4/10/2012

 DOES MILK DO A BODY GOOD?

Hi everyone, hopefully you made it through April Fool’s Day without being tricked or punked to badly, and if so hopefully you got a laugh out of it.  I stood guard all day with my defense up waiting to be punked and it never came.  At the end of the day I guess the April Fool’s was on me. 

How many times have you heard “Milk does a body good” or “Got milk”?  How about the famous milk mustache that we have all seen on our favorite athlete or actress.  Have we been tricked by the pro milk propaganda or are the anti-milk claims true.

Let’s start with what we know about milk.  Our whole lives we have been educated on the health benefits of dairy and why it is essential.  As a child we were taught that dairy was a food group of our standard food pyramid.  Milk is an ideal source of nutrients such as calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, protein, zinc, and several vitamins (A, D, K, B2, B12).  Milk gives us strong bones and teeth.  Milk helps in prevention of chronic ailments.  We have to drink milk, where would we get our calcium if we didn’t?

As shoppers we now have options.  With many educating themselves, looking to take health and nutrition in their own hands, many ugly facts on the actual health benefits of our commercial foods have been discovered.  We as a society have been shown the realistic side of how our foods get to our dinner table.  The dairy and milk industry isn’t so innocent either.   Every person knows someone who is lactose intolerant and/or has an intolerance to dairy.  95% of African Americans are lactose intolerant, 20-40% of Caucasians are lactose intolerant, and 50-70% of Asians are lactose intolerant.  That is a lot of people who have an allergy to a food that is supposed to be very healthy for us.  Lactose intolerance in layman’s terms is “milk makes people sick”   Why is this?  Milk was our very first food.  It was our route to survival.   As an infant we live off our mother’s milk, but after the age of 4 or 5 our bodies lose the ability to efficiently digest milk.   Many people lack or lose the ability to digest lactose.  Other species are weaned and then taught to eat regular food; even cows do not continue drinking their own milk in adulthood.  Not only do we continue to drink milk, but we are drinking milk of another species. 

Is milk bad for us?  Milk is frequently not tolerated by the gastrointestinal tract.  It may cause bloating, constipation, and reflux.  Cow’s milk and dairy products have been linked to many diseases and ailments including: Heart disease, Diabetes, breast cancer, Lymphatic leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut syndrome, iron deficiency due to milk induced gastrointestinal bleeding, kidney stones, Parkinson’s disease, MS, obesity, stroke, Autism, Lupus,  Rheumatoid arthritis, acne, eczema, sinus problems, and many more.    Milk is also a mucus-producing food and is thought to aggravate congestion.

Is our  “MOO” juice unsafe?  Today’s milk is a processed food.  Homogenization is the industry standard now.  Homogenization is a process that makes a mixture the same throughout the entire substance.  When a cow is milked, the milk will settle, and a layer of cream forms at the top of the milk.  This use to be how people would judge the quality of milk.  This process alters the milk chemistry and actually increases its harmful acidifying effects.  Homogenized milk has resulted in longer lasting milk, and the ability to ship it greater distances.  Pasteurization is another trend in the industry, which is the process of heating milk at very high temperatures to destroy bacteria, molds, and yeasts.  The pasteurization process destroys a high percentage of most of the nutrients, and kills beneficial enzymes and antibodies.  Milk is a great source of calcium, but pasteurization makes calcium harder to absorb.  Our body needs phosphates to absorb calcium and they remove the phosphates to make sure the milk has been properly pasteurized.  Even after pasteurization, milk is not totally stable.  Pasteurization renders milk safer to drink but also destroys digestive enzymes that make it easier to digest.  How does cow’s milk get contaminated? Milk contamination can occur in many different ways.  Cow diseases and infectious bacteria (including Mad Cow Disease, Salmonella, E.coli, Brucella, and Listeria, to name a few of the top ten can contaminate the milk.  Cow diseases and infections of the cow’s udder may end up in our milk jugs.  Cow feces coming into direct contact with the milk is another way of transmission.  Bacteria that live on the skin of cows can infect us also.    The environment including feces, dirt, and processing equipment are easy ways of milk contamination.  Humans and cross contamination from soiled clothes and boots from foot traffic is a common way of poisoning milk.  Milk is an ideal environment for microbial growth, which leads to bacterial diseases that produce toxins.  Milking cows are given antibiotics and injected with hormones.  Bovine growth hormone is a man-made synthetic hormone used to artificially increase milk production.  This hormone has come under serious scrutiny because of the increases of blood levels of the insulin growth factor 1 in people who drank it.  IGF-1 survives the pasteurization process and can enter the human bloodstream.  These high levels have been linked to several cancers (i.e. breast cancer).  Bovine growth hormone also causes cows to have more breast infections for which they must receive additional antibiotics, which can get transported through the milk. Cows that get fed grain get fatter quicker, which makes them less healthy.  This translates to less healthy milk being produced.  Milk acidifies the body pH which in turn triggers a biological correction.  Calcium is an excellent acid neutralizer, so the body pulls calcium from the bone to neutralize all the damaging acidic protein, as a survival method to protect the kidneys and urinary tract.  The ending result is an actual calcium deficit.  In different words milk depletes the calcium from your bones.  This is tough to accept, I have been taught my whole life that milk is great for my bones.

In closing I would like to say that I drink milk every day and have never had any ill-effects what so ever.  I have cut back on my consumption of milk on a daily basis because of the methods it goes through to get to our tables. I’m not ready to insist that everyone swear off dairy.  If you are looking to make healthier choices, go with grass fed cows and buy organic, but even organic milk has been homogenized and/or pasteurized.  Going dairy free means you need to substitute those nutrients in other ways.  Where do cows get their calcium?  Cows get their calcium from the grass they eat.  The best human source is green leafy vegetables.  There are several milk substitutes that are available.  Unsweetened almond milk which is alkalizing, rice or soy milk.  Try to get organic soy milk to ensure it’s not made with genetically modified soy.  Look for containers that clearly state that the cows used to produce the milk were not given any hormones or antibiotics.

Diet Success Challenge:  Try being dairy free for the next 7 days.  Calculate how you feel and make note of any changes.  As a warning you may not tolerate the dairy as well after adding it back into your diet. 

Your “Fitness Advocate”

Thaddeus