Sugar: The Rodney Dangerfield of Sweeteners [NBC 25]

As seen on NBC 25, written by Joel Feick, with Liz McFarland



Poor poor sugar. It get's no respect. But a local nutrition expert says if you have to sweeten up your coffee (or iced tea or whatever), it's not a bad way to go.

Dr. Dan Kehres is a Saginaw chiropractor with a passion for nutrition. The former college football running back leads an extra-healthy lifestyle and urges you to consider doing the same. He's a regular contributor to NBC 25 Today. 

Dr. Dan is all about eating things that aren't processed and sugar products are no different. He showed us a host of artificial sweeteners: aspartame, sucralose, etc. He says these products aren't good for your body because they're hard to digest.

Instead, stick with the all natural sweeteners: honey, fruit and yes even sugar. It's better than the pink stuff: all chemicals. He also likes a product called SteviaPlus. It's all natural.

Dr. Dan's advice: be good to your body. Skip the food that contains chemicals. Stick with food that's all natural. 

Pretty simple advice.

Eat Local: The Maple Grille

The Maple Grille in Hemlock, Michigan

The Maple Grille is open for the summer! After a big renovation this summer to offer indoor seating, we are excited to get back to our favorite restaurant.

Chef Josh Schaeding and his family operate the restaurant on six acres of land where they grow the majority of the produce they use. 

Check out The Maple Grille's Facebook page for the daily menu as it changes depending on what fresh foods they have. 

Located on Gratiot Road (46) just west of Saginaw, they are open Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 8 pm.


Learn more the benefits of eating local.  

The Maple Grille

13105 Gratiot Road

Hemlock, MI 48626

989-233-2895

The Problem With Pain Pills

Chronic pain now affects 116 million Americans and our medical system's first line of defense is typically powerful pain medications. This is a problem for a variety of reasons, but here are a few reasons that it's a ridiculous route.

1) Pain pills don't do anything to fix the problem, they only cover it up. For example, why fill your car with oil when you can just disable the oil light on your dash?

2) Powerful pain killers take away the pain, but they can also cause serious addiction problems. I personally have witnessed too many lives ruined by pain medicine addictions. 

It is not always the doctor's fault either. Patients need to take responsibility for their own health. If you keep going to your doctor for chronic pain but haven't tried to make a change in your lifestyle (nutrition, stretching, posture, chiropractic, massage, acupuncture) then you will most likely become addicted to pain medications until the issue requires surgery.

Take your health into your own hands to do whatever possible to avoid pain medication.

Eat Local: Michigan Dinner at The Bavarian Inn

This Friday, I had the opportunity to attend The Bavarian Inn Restaurant's Michigan dinner! A six course meal, the delicious dinner featured all locally grown, caught or made food and drink.

The picture at right is one of the courses; Michigan bluegill served over arugula with a hard cider and stone-ground mustard vinaigrette.

Another course was an onion soup served inside a full onion! The Michigan farmer who grew the onions spoke at the dinner about his farm and even went as far as making onion wine! (I don't think it was the biggest hit of of the night.)

This year go out of your way to eat local! We have so many great things in Michigan and if we start supporting them not only will it help our communities financially but from a health aspect as well.

Visit our Kehres Health & Chiropractic Facebook page to share with us what are you going to do this year to support our local community.

Natural Spring Cleaning Tips [NBC 25]

Saginaw chiropractor, Dr. Dan Kehres, as seen on NBC 25


True health is total health. One aspect of total health is reducing the toxins in your environment.

A recent study by the EPA stated that the toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor air.

One of the best all-natural cleaners is white vinegar as it is non-toxic and inexpensive. It can be used to clean almost anything!

For general cleaner mix half water, half white vinegar and a few drops off essential if you want a scented cleaner.

To mop your floors, we use the same mixture. It is safe for kids and pets too!

Another simple way to create a healthier home is to remove two common sources of chemicals from your laundry room -- fabric softener and dryer sheets.

Here are some of the chemicals found in commercial fabric softeners and dryer sheets you want to avoid:

•  Alpha Terpineol: can cause central nervous damage and respiratory problems

• Benzyl Acetate: linked to pancreatic cancer
• Camphor: causes central nervous disorders, is easily absorbed through skin
• Chloroform: a carcinogenic neurotoxin that warns inhalation can be fatal

To reduce toxins in your laundry, replace dryer sheets with dryer balls. Plastic dryer balls can be found at many home good stores, but wool dryer balls are your best option. They help reduce drying time (saving money) and help soften clothes too. To find wool dryer balls locally, visit Sweet Peach Baby Boutique in Bay City, Mich.

Also, try swapping out fabric softener for white vinegar. Fill a Downy Ball with white vinegar and throw in the wash on top of the laundry. It works great, is a natural antibacterial cleaner and fabric softener. And it doesn't leave your laundry smelling like vinegar.

Incorporate some of these natural spring cleaning tips for a healthier home!

How to Lose Fat

To understand how to lose weight it's more important to understand how you gain weight in the first place.

1) Carbohydrates (not fat, or protein) increase the hormone insulin
2) Insulin shoves carbohydrates into cells and stores them as fat
3) The more insulin and carbohydrates you have the fatter you get

The only way to lose weight is to remove the carbohydrates that are causing the fat storage. 

Once you reduce and eliminate these, then your body will burn the fat already stored as energy.

There is no secret surgery, pill, potion, lotion. You will NEVER lose weight until you stop fat storage first by reducing the carbohydrates!

Find healthy recipes on drkehres.com. 

Recipe: Healthy Deviled Eggs

Eggs are a healthy and easy source of protein and nutrients, and can be made in many different ways. Deviled eggs are a great healthy appetizer for your next get together. Be sure to eat the yolk too!

Healthy Deviled Eggs recipe:

photo from thenourishinggourmet.com

• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp mustard
• Half of a squeezed lemon
• 1 tsp paprika

Mix the ingredients until fluffy (add the olive oil last). Scoop back into the egg whites and sprinkle with paprika. 

Enjoy!

Other healthy egg recipes:
Mini Egg Muffins  
Venison Egg Breakfast Salad
Eggs in Peppers
Blueberry Crepes

Recipe: Mango Spinach Protein Shake

As seen on NBC 25
March 12, 2013



Enjoy Dr. Dan's Shamrock Shake, a healthy mango spinach smoothie!

Recipe:

• 1 cup spinach
• 1/3 cup frozen mango
• 1/4 cup frozen peaches
• 1/2 banana
• 1 scoop unflavored whey protein powder
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or 1/4 cup canned coconut milk and 1/4 cup water)

Blend and enjoy!

This recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free. 

See other shake recipes:
Vanilla Coffee Protein Shake
Peppermint Mocha Protein Shake
Cherry Chocolate Protein Shake 
Chocolate Banana Protein Shake
Dr. Dan's Veggie Shake
Pumpkin Spice Protein Shake
Berry Protein Veggie Shake