Tag Archives: cranial nerves

Two Main Nutrients needed for the Brain.

Happy Monday Warriors!

I hope you all have had a wonderful October so far. It’s hard to believe it’s already 3/4 through the month!

Last month we talked about viruses that affect the function of the brain.  If you missed it, make sure you catch up, since viruses seem to be the hot topic this time of year!

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This week I wanted to talk with you guys about certain nutrients that are needed for your brain to function at its best.  If you’ve been following me for awhile, you might already know them and if not then WELCOME!  You will learn quite a bit about the brain if you stick around.

Today I want to not only talk about these nutrients, but talk about them in two different ways through Craniopathy Chiropractic and through Genetic Based Nutrition, because those are what I believe are the BEST ways to get these nutrients effectively.

Nutrient #1. OXYGEN. 

The brain uses three times as much oxygen as the muscles of the body do. It requires about 20% of the human bodies oxygen.  We know that oxygen is VITAL of course, but for the brain it allows for growth and healing to occur.  Our blood carries oxygen to the brain and is reliant on sufficient nitric oxide to do so. Oxygen comes from the lungs, in particular the lower part of the lugs that hold the most red blood cells to accept more oxygen.

The BEST way to get the most amount of oxygen is to breathe through your nose and fully expand your diaphragm. This will actually enable you to get that lower part of your lungs so the blood can carry it back up into the brain. 
Oxygen depletion is the #1 thing that I focus on in my practice.  This being because if your brain doesn’t have enough oxygen, you will constantly be chasing what is going on in your body.  Whether pain, infections, or proper nutrition.  It doesn’t matter how much good nutrition tips you get, how much water you drink or how much you exercise, if you aren’t getting oxygen up there… You won’t heal.

HOW DO I ASSESS?
Through the cranial system of course!  There is a specific rhythm that the bones of the head go through.  This rhythm is super important for blood to flow in and out of your brain, and oxygen to enter.  When there is tension in this system, this means that this rhythm will be disrupted.  Tension is this system also means a difficult time breathing correctly in and out of the nose.  Some individuals find it hard at all to nasal breath, and when that is the case, there is severe tension within the head impacting the sinuses.  Don’t just go running to the ENT, most of what I find is that the cranial system as A whole is the problem, not the sinuses.
Remember, the only way to access that nitric oxide is to nasal breathe!  Time and time again, patient after patient will leave my office saying OMG I can BREATHE!  It’s amazing how much your mood even changes when you are properly oxygenated. 
This is why children and adults have temper and mood issues when they have sleep apnea or are mouth breathers.  It affects how your brain functions! 

The oxygen level also impacts the health of your lymphatic system in your brain, so if you aren’t properly oxygenated, you can have toxins build up in your brain and cause severe inflammation.  

HOW DO YOU GET MORE OXYGEN THROUGH NUTRITION?!

You can also enhance your oxygen levels by enhancing the nitric oxide cycle through nutrition. Nitric oxide helps vasodilate (meaning expand) blood vessels to allow for more oxygen.  However, for some, their genetic profiles don’t allow nitric oxide to be formulated effectively.  Because of specific mutations and because this pathway is extremely sensitive to radiation and free radical damage, the cycle can get compromised, meaning less oxygen available.  Not having enough nitric oxide can be very damaging neurologically to the body as well.  You see, just like your brain, your nerves also need oxygen.  Without it, they don’t function as well.
Finding out if your nitric oxide cycle is compromised can be found through specific kinesiology genetic testing (which I do).  When we know that this is a player, the customized nutrition will help to overcome this obstacle and allow you to get more oxygen!  Pretty cool right?

Nutrient #2.  Energy (glucose & ATP). 

Energy. The brain utilizes more energy than ANY other organ.  I mean think about all that is has to do right?
The brain and body need actual ENERGY made from within called ATP.  This is needed for every single cell of our body to do what it needs to do.  If we don’t have enough ATP, our brain and body will be depleted.  WE also get energy from another source: glucose.  What’s the big organ for glucose production? The Liver. 
The liver supplies sugar or glucose by turning stored glucose (glycogen) into glucose! It can also make glucose by harvesting amino acids, waste products and fat by products! Another reason to love that liver!

So we must have a robust and healthy liver to actually supply the energy (glucose) needed to our brain. Yet another organ our brain relies upon.  The first if you remember were the lungs.

Body wise, we need make sure the liver is moving... All organs MOVE, and need movement to do what they need to do.  So just like the brain needed to have proper movement for blood flow to happen, the other organs as well need proper flow and mobility.

HOW DO WE GET IT TO MOVE?
Through body work!  Working on the nerves that control the liver are key to make sure it knows what to do!  So enhancing the spinal areas related to the liver are key through chiropractic manipulation.  Also doing reflex techniques to get the liver and gallbladder working more affectively through abdominal work is really helpful to get them moving!
Lastly, the liver is a big source of emotional stress, so if this is the case, you must uncover and start to heal from those emotional wounds so that the liver can do what it needs to!  Emotional wounds cause physical problems too!

HOW DO WE GET BETTER ENERGY THROUGH NUTRITION?!

This is one of the FIRST and biggest impact pathways we focus on first with genetic nutrition.  This being because if you don’t have enough energy, you can’t even begin to work on other genetic factors like MTHFR and others(HUGE mistake made by many who do genetic testing).  Getting your body to make more ATP and to make and enhance your liver and glucose is really impactful!  Many on my genetic protocols will say even after a week that their energy is amazing!  We don’t have to give them extra energy help or adrenal supports, their own bodies make the energy they need!
Any why are they happier?
Because their brain is happier.  It has the energy it needs to do what it needs to!
And, your liver is happier too.  Which means detox pathways, hormones and other systems will work more efficiently!
A couple genetic variants I see when this is really impacted is the NDUFS gene and the ACAT gene mutations.  Take care of those and the rest of the energy pathway will clear and be happy:)

So there you have it folks.  Oxygen and Energy.  If you give your brain these two, it will work for you the way you need it to and in a much HEALTHIER more EFFICIENT way.

Questions?
Ask Away!

That is all for now.

Dr. Hamel DC.

Supercharging your Cranial Nerves

Happy Monday Tribe!

Last week we talked about how the nervous system can trick us in various ways through motor and sensory deficits.  If you missed it, make sure you catch the replay on Dr. Hamel’s Website!

This week I want to dive into a super important part of healing which is incorporating the cranial nerves!  The WHAT?  Don’t worry we will get there.

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What are cranial nerves?
The cranial nerves are 12 different nerves that come out directly from the brain, not the spinal cord.  They exit through the skull bones and provide different functions for the rest of the body.

Although all nerves of our body are vital and important, the cranial nerves are by far the most life changing when interrupted. 

(not my image)

Why are they so disrupting?

Well being that close to the brain, and really being an extension of the brain, they have HUGE effects on the rest of the body.  It also puts a big STRESS on the brain when they aren’t functioning their best.

Let’s chat about what each one does.

Cranial Nerve 1.  Olfactory.  This is a sensory nerve which is responsible for smell.
Cranial Nerve 2. Optic.  This is a sensory nerve which is responsible for sensation of vision.
Cranial Nerve 3. Oculomotor. This controls 4 of the 6 eye movement muscles and eyelid muscle.  It also controls the lens and pupil.
Cranial Nerve 4. Trochlear.  Controls the superior oblique muscle of the eye.
Cranial Nerve 5. Trigeminal.  Two components.  Sensory of the skin of the face. Motor, muscles of the jaw.
Cranial Nerve 6. Abducens.  Controls lateral rectus muscle of the eye.
Cranial Nerve 7. Facial.  Two components. Sensory-taste sensation to front of the tongue.  Motor- controls muscles of the face.
Cranial Nerve 8. Vestibulocochlear. Sensation of hearing/balance.
Cranial Nerve 9. Glossopharyngeal.  Controls muscles of the pharynx, parotid salivary gland, taste sensation (back of tongue), detection of blood pressure changes.
Cranial Nerve 10. Vagus. Abdominal organs or thorax and abdomen, sensation internal organs, controls muscles of the pharynx/larynx
Cranial Nerve 11. Accessory Nerve. Controls two large neck muscles.
Cranial Nerve 12. Hypoglossal Nerve. Controls muscles of the tongue.

So as you can see, these twelve nerves have a list of things that they control in your body.
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I want to just briefly chat about a couple of these nerves and the impact they have.

Cranial Nerves 2-4, 6.  These nerves control all the movements of the vision, and our perception of vision. Vision is HUGE for the brain.  This is one that the majority of chiropractors miss in their practices.  If there is any disturbance in these nerves, once that person gets of the table and opens their eyes, they will go right back into a misalignment.  Weakness in any of these nerves puts a HUGE stress on the vision, and a HUGE stress on the brain.  It’s always trying to compensate for the vision deficiency!

This is where just getting glasses or lasik can also be really confusing for the brain.  These are usually bandaids on the visual system, when what is needed is to fix the nerve dysfunction then retrain the muscles.

Cranial Nerve 10.  HUGE one.  This is a calming nerve.  Controls REST and DIGESTION.  How many people have problems with this?  Like, everyone.  It also controls heart rate and throat muscles.  This nerve dysfunction creates wired and tired adults and children.  They can’t relax.  They can’t heal.  Kiddos with this will have problems with constipation, colick, reflux, and spectrum issues. 

Cranial Nerve 11.  Classic neck pain people.  These two main neck muscles will always be tight and cause problems when these cranial nerves aren’t addressed.

Cranial Nerve 12.  Tongue!  Huge for breathing issues, swallowing, speaking, snoring.  Kiddos with feeding issues, speech.  The tongue is a muscle, so you need to make sure the NERVE getting to it is efficient. You can do all the speech therapy and tongue protocols in the world, but if the nerve isn’t functioning=no success.

These are just some examples on SYSTEMIC effects these nerves have on your entire body.

So…… What how do we check their function and what do we do if we have dysfunction?

Checking the function of these nerves requires specific training to test each nerves function, and then test that function with STRESSING the body.

Example.  Someone can have their vision testing with near and far and test perfectly fine, no blurriness, ect.  But, when you tell them to do this function and hold up a muscle at the same time, their nervous system shuts down.  This isn’t effective use of the nerve.

In my practice I can check the direct function of each of these nerves, stress them to their max and allow the nervous system to adjust to that normal. 

How?

Well, we first address the cranial system and make sure their is no pressure on these nerves directly affecting their function.  Many of these nerves will normalize on their own once the pressure is taken off.

Sometimes though, after cranial work, some of these nerves still need some rehab.  And that is because depending on HOW long the nerve has been dysfunctional, it has nerve memory.  So we need to correct this improper memory!

How you ask, through quantum neurology and light therapy.  Once this is done, I usually refer for vision therapy if needed.  But other cranial nerves usually heal without other support.

Pretty amazing right?

Totally life changing.

Don’t live with visual, smell, neck, tongue, facial abnormalities, stress, sleep issues…. So much potential for healing is available!!!

That is all for now,

 

Have a happy and healthy week

 

Dr Hamel