From office parties to holiday buffets temptation is all around us This is one of the most difficult times of the year to eat well. We eat out more often, travel to relatives homes, and tend to put aside our health objectives. Although we tend to only gain a couple pounds from Thanksgiving to New Years it tends to be weight we don’t lose. And from a chiropractic standpoint our weight is a big factor in our spinal health. For example, for every 10 pounds you gain, regardless of where it is, you put an additional 100 pounds of pressure on your spine. So, watching our weight is indeed important. Here are 5 easy and practical substitutions this holiday season that will make a difference.

Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month. Confidential government reports say that about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month if patients switched away from Avandia. One report, by Dr. David Graham and Dr. Kate Gelperin of the FDA, argued that Avandia should be withdrawn from the market.

Want cheap, portable, "good" preventative health care? Here it is. Vaccines! That's the answer coming from the government, AMA, and pharmaceutical industry. At the moment it is heavily involved in the new health care bills in congress and there is great incentive to continue.

(This article comes from Dr. Mercola, www.mercola.com.) In the United States, the idea that cholesterol is evil is very much ingrained in most people’s minds. But this is a very harmful myth that needs to be put to rest right now. Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found not only in your bloodstream but also in every cell in your body, where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps in the formation of memories and is vital for your neurological function.

Currently there have been 45 deaths attributable to the Swine Flu. But the latest headlines from the administration say that up to 90,000 could die. However, Peter Gross, chief medical officer at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said the predictions seem “overblown,” given that swine-flu outbreaks in 1968 and 1957 failed to cause as many deaths, even with medical technology and disease surveillance less advanced than today. Interestingly, Mike Shaw, associate director of the CDC, has stated that anyone born before 1957 likely has a natural immunity due to previous swine flu versions that circulated from 1918 into the 1950’s. This is good news indeed.

Like so many young women, Amy King always took great pride in her appearance. Standing in front of the mirror to check her make-up before a night out, the 21-year-old would always try a smile - friends told her they loved the way it lit up her face. Eight weeks ago, all that changed. The student from Plymouth was admitted to hospital where, in a single operation, she had every tooth in her mouth removed.

What do most people do when they suspect their child has allergies? "Take the kid to the doctor and consult whatever 15 year old they made a Resident that week, who after a five minute interview declares the child has "allergies" which are due to a genetic deficiency of Benadryl, or other drugs. And in one fell swoop the patient is now categorized as having allergies and put on a regiment of drugs that will last for years. Not a word about the box of frosted flakes and the 4 doughnuts the kid has for breakfast or the 4 cokes he has at school throughout the day or the carton of ice cream he needs for his midnight snack---no. None of that is taken into the equation. No, this is all genetic. It's not his fault."- Dr. T. O'Shea

Wouldn't it be great to lose weight while eating the foods you normally do? What if there was a product that you could just sprinkle on your meals and successfully eliminate 25% of the calories you intake and help you lose an average of 8 lbs a month? Sounds almost too good to be true but it's not!

Ahhh, Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Caribou (for you mid-westerner's out there), Peet's. You can probably smell the aroma now as you think about it. Well, everybody loves to have a cup of coffee in the morning but the following article will shed some light on your favorite beverage!

The vaccine machine rolls out heavily this week with a massive effort to see that as many Americans as possible receive flu vaccinations. Recommendations from government health officials and those in line to profit from this flu season's vaccination efforts is coming on strong with media blasts scheduled to appear online, in print, and on television. I predict this is going to be one hell of a season for the flu and human flu vaccination.