Tips for preventing winter falls

Wow, it's icy outside! (In Michigan)

Falling on ice can be very devastating for many people, from broken hips to compression fractures in the lumbar spine. 

Do you know the best way to prevent falling on ice?

Take very small steps and strengthen your legs!

Small steps keep your feet under your body and allow your foot to maximize it's surface area, making you much more stable. The farther your foot gets in front of you the greater your risk of falling.

Also, do body weight squats on a regular basis to keep your legs strong, if you start to fall strong legs will help you get your feet under you again preventing you from falling.

Eat Local Michigan bags are now available!

We now have Eat Local Michigan reusable grocery bags! 15" canvas bags with long straps, they are perfect reusable grocery bags, lunch bags or for shopping at the farmers' market.

Available at Kehres Health & Chiropractic in Saginaw or online, click here to purchase an Eat Local bag or shirt.

Proceeds go to the Michigan Farmers' Market Association.

Junior League of Saginaw's Festival of Trees - 2013

Here is our Kehres Health & Chiropractic "Have a Very Harry Potter Christmas" tree for the Junior League of Saginaw Valley's Festival of Trees.

Did you go to the festival this year? If so what was your favorite tree?

Here is the tree from the 2011 Festival of Trees and 2012 Festival of Trees.

Grass Fed Beef for Sale at Kehres Health & Chiropractic in Saginaw, MI

Guess who has local grass fed beef by the pound?! Kehres Health & Chiropractic in Saginaw, MI does.

We literally have hundreds of people we meet who don't want to buy quarter of a cow and are only looking for a few pounds at a time. We now have that for you!

We will carry burger, steaks, soup bones and everything else. If you have something specific please let us know.

The ground beef will be $5.50 per pound and the steaks will vary depending on size and type. $5.50 is more than reasonable for local, drug and hormone free, grass fed beef!

There is no better way to make a community healthier than to eat local and support local farmers. #eatlocalMI

Happy Halloween from Kehres Health & Chiropractic!

Recipe: Grass-Fed Beef Chili

Chili is a healthy, protein packed food that is perfect this time of year. It can be made with grass-fed beef or venison, and these ingredients are typically easy to find organic. 

Here is our go to recipe:

• 2 lbs. grass-fed ground beef (or venison)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 15 ½ ounce cans red kidney beans, drained
• 1 28 ounce can tomatoes, cut up
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons chili powder

Cook the beef and onion until the meat is browned, drain off excess fat. Stir in beans, tomatoes (undrained), green pepper, celery, tomato past, garlic, salt and chili powder. 

Cover and let simmer for 1 - 1 ½ hours, stir occasionally. Makes 10 - 12 servings. If you want to make in a crockpot instead, cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

(If a less thick chili is desired, substitute one 8 ounce can tomato sauce for the tomato paste and do not drain the kidney beans.) 

See more Kehres Health recipes at DrKehres.com. 

Is Butter Bad for You?

Simply looking at the butter from grass-fed cows it's easy to see the difference in color. Grain-fed butter is a dull white color.

It depends what kind of butter it is!  

Butter was given a bad rap in the 1950s when Americans started their fat-phobia phase. This inspired a common, but untrue, belief has been that butter causes heart disease, cancer and obesity.  

But if this were true, how would some of the world's healthiest populations have always had butter as a continuous staple in their diet? It just doesn't make sense, or does it?

There is a huge difference between grass-fed cow's butter and grain-fed cow's butter. It is like calling a golf cart and a Cadillac the same thing just because they both have a motor.

Cows are meant to eat grass. When they eat grass, they are healthy and produce healthy butter. It also means they are getting exercise and living in an environment that they should be living in. Grain-fed cows are fed an unnatural diet, typically don't have much room to move around and are at a higher risk for disease. This, in many cases, causes acidosis in the cow leading to liver problems, nutrient absorption issues, digestive problems, dehydration and many other issues that can be fatal. Grain-fed cows do not produce healthy butter.

One of the main differences between grass-fed butter and grain-fed butter is the Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio. When you have more Omega-3's compared to Omega-6's, it helps to reduce inflammation. Grains increase the amount of the unhealthy Omega-6's leading to excess inflammation. Cows that are fed grass have 50 percent of their fat in the healthy Omega-3 form, while cows fed grains have almost none. This makes grain-fed butter very inflammatory, potentially leading to many health issues from fibromyalgia to cancer.

Eating grass-fed butter on a regular basis can have many health benefits:

• Full of Omega-3s: reduces inflammation, therefore reducing pain and disease. 
• High in CLA: has been shown to help with weight loss and to prevent cancer.
• Contains Vitamin A: provides positive benefits for your eye health. Vitamin A is what gives grass fed butter the bright yellow color.

The two types of grass-fed butter that I typically buy available locally: Kerrygold and Thomas Organic Creamery.

The next time someone tries to tell you butter is bad for you, you are welcome to teach them about the differences between grass-fed and grain-fed cows. And don't even get me started about margarine and other fake butter... it is even worse than butter from grain-fed cows.     

World Map of Obesity... USA leads

Go USA!!! uh...wait... this isn't a good thing to be leading the world in...

We spend way more money than any other country on our health care system yet this is where it gets us.