How do Structural Shifts Occur?

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​-​Ashley Mayes, D.C.
March 1st, 2019​

Traumas, thoughts, and toxins all cause spinal structural shift or subluxation. 

The original spinal trauma for the majority of people occurs during birth. Even an uncomplicated birth is stressful on a newborn’s neck. As infants, being placed in bumbo seats or bouncers creates strain on the pelvis and lower back. Toddlers learning to stand and walk fall constantly. Then, they start school and spend all day sitting still and looking down, in addition to the hours a day most kids (and adults) spend looking down at their phones. Gymnastics, contact sports, and carrying heavy bags contributes to the structural shifts we start to see in teenage years. Most of the working population spends 6-8 hours sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen. This is made even worse by sitting evenly on one leg or a wallet. These daily micro traumas are compounded by major traumas such as car accidents (even at low speeds) and falls. 

Negative thoughts and emotions change the physiology of our body, creating abnormal metabolic stress and damaging our ability to heal. Negative emotions affect our posture, causing rounding of our shoulders and drop our head forward. A vital part of the healing process is working through past traumas and changing our outlook on life. Meditation is a useful tool for regaining control of our mind. 

Toxic overload from food and beauty products contribute to metabolic stress as well. The vast majority of skin care, cleaning, and personal care products contain chemicals that obstruct hormone regulation and neurotransmitter function. Artificial sweeteners are neurotoxic and can cause damage to delicate nerve cells.

These gradual (and not so gradual) shifts lead to areas of fixation in the spine also called subluxation. Abnormal biomechanics lead to interference in the function of the nervous system, instability, and eventually degeneration.

The goal of correction is to create proper movement of the spine and optimal function of the nervous system. Our nervous system controls and regulates every function of our body, so we have to take care of it! 

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The Clean 15 Price Comparison
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​-Terry Mayes, RN
​November 18, 2019

The Clean 15 are the vegetables and fruits that are grown conventionally with the least amount of pesticides found in them according to the Environmental Working Group.

With the popularity of curbside pickup gaining momentum at local retailers, we assembled the Clean 15 from both the Walmart and the Kroger websites and tallied up the results.

So if you’re not ready to go completely organic, this is a great place to start!
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But before we discuss the results, there are some general guidelines you should follow when buying cleaner food:

​-Avoid canned foods, they contain more sodium and preservatives.

-Avoid microwaveable packages/bags.

-Avoid prepackaged foods. Even though the pineapple chunks in that clear plastic container look great, you don’t know what happened to them before they were put in there. Rather, eat food that still has its original wrapper.

-Avoid any “blends” in products such as fruit cups or salad blends (unless all organic).

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-Buying frozen produce is an easy way to extend the life of your food. It will also eliminate the additives in canned food (there are many organic frozen veggies and fruits out there at reasonable prices).

The only exception to the Clean 15 that we recommend is avoiding GMO corn. Although sweet corn is on the 15, a small amount of corn is grown with Roundup-Ready genetically modified seeds. So it’s best to buy organic corn to avoid the GMO.

The results: Both websites were extremely easy to set up accounts, create favorite lists, add to your cart and schedule your most convenient pick up times. While we were able to find all the 15 on Kroger’s site, the Walmart site came up one short: papayas. So there were only 14 items on the Walmart list.

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Where in The Health Are We Going?


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​This week I stumbled on a list of health rankings by county in Texas put together by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. They established this effort to build a culture of health in our country in order to enable all in our society to lead healthy lives, now and generations to come.

Turns out, we rank pretty low on the list here in our area. Of the 254 total counties in Texas, they were able to rank 244. Here’s some of the unhealthiest counties in our neck of the woods and where they hit the list:

Gregg - 188th
Cherokee - 179th
Upshur - 176th
Harrison - 127th
Smith - 64th (way to go Tyler!)

Here's the website if you'd like to peruse more of the information.


So how did we get here? First, let’s look at exactly what they were measuring.

A few of the most significantly ranked factors:

• Length and quality of life
• Health behaviors like diet & exercise, alcohol, tobacco and drug use
• Clinical Care such as access to a primary healthcare provider (DC’s not included...eye roll) and quality of that care
• Social and Economic factors like education, income, employment, etc.
• Physical Environment (air and water quality, access to housing, etc.)

One interesting measure they used was called “Years of Potential Life Lost”, which is a measure of years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population. The average for the entire state of Texas was 6,700 but for Gregg county it measured at 10,100 years. So that made me wonder, “what exactly is taking out everyone in Gregg county before age 75?”. According to the CDC (where they got the majority of their info), it was by far heart disease and cancer as the two leading causes of premature death before age 75. However, Gregg county is above average in the state when it comes to access to primary health care providers (we have more doctors per capita than most counties). 


So what do we do with this information? Unfortunately, it’s obvious we have plenty of work to do. First and foremost, we have to realize we have a food and water problem in this area. The vast majority of food and water sold here (whether in restaurants or in grocery stores) is grossly nutrient-deficient, over-processed, additive-filled, sugar-laden, and chemical-ridden. It becomes the responsibility of the consumer to know exactly the origins of their food and water and what processes are involved before they reach the table. In East Texas, that can be a formidable task, but it IS possible. 


Educate yourself on where your food and water comes from and what’s in it, whether hormones or antibiotics in your meat proteins, pesticides on your veggies, or pharmaceuticals in your water. Then take steps on how to minimize your exposure to each of these things.


The good news is that nutrient-dense, organic food could save literally thousands of lives in just a few years in this area. Let alone what clean water could do for everyone’s health! Tap water is consistently polluted with pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, pesticides and other known carcinogens. So be sure to filter all the water you can, whether for drinking, cooking, showering, or even washing clothes. 



Hey, if you live in Gregg county, don’t despair...you could live in Marion county like we do.
We come in on the list at number 240 out of 244!