March 2005

Nutrition and chiropractic

by Dr. Howard Loomis

Last month, I concluded my column by stating that monitoring your patients for weight, abdominal girth, and blood pressure is an excellent method to broaden your practice. Anytime you increase your service, you increase your income. One of the concerns of many DCs I meet during my seminars is a desire to leave an insurance‑ or HMO‑based personal injury practice and enter a cash‑based general practice. It seems strange to me that our profession seems to be back where it started. But, hopefully we can include not only a spinal‑visceral concept but also realize we MUST include visceral‑spinal problems.

In keeping with last month's column, I would like to revisit my very first column published in The Chiropractic Journal in September 1995. I wrote then that nutrition had become the bastard child of the life sciences. That is, nutrition does not have a philosophical superstructure of its own. All disciplines of the healing arts pay lip service to it, but none can completely incorporate it into their paradigm.

All health care practitioners have a passing acquaintance with the subject, usually from a chapter or two in our biochemistry courses. We all know that what is nutritious is good for us. We all know a few of the basic ground rules or nutritional guidelines. Still, those who would practice nutrition for its own sake are adrift in a sea of ambiguity since it does not have a philosophy of its own.

Some chiropractors would have us ignore the subject entirely, arguing that nutrition is not part of chiropractic. They take the position that as long as we eat "three square meals a day" the nutrients will take care of themselves. Others would have us abdicate our historical position on healing and adopt the medical position of using isolated nutrients as "magic bullets" against disease. Like most "all or none" theories, neither of these positions makes much sense in light of the facts.

So, before we begin, I feel it imperative to state my position regarding nutrition and chiropractic: the single most important factor for determining nutritional supplementation is the state of the extracellular fluids and maintenance of homeostasis. In my opinion, chiropractors are best qualified to perform this function because of their unique training in physical diagnosis and chiropractic philosophy.

I am reminded of Dr. Harlan A. Larson who wrote upon his retirement (in "The First Hundred Years," published privately) that he had used supplements, but found that patients did not seek repeat purchases, and he made just enough profit from them to pay for the supplements he and his wife used. Dr. Larsen volunteered that he did not use dietary supplements in his practice anymore. He had not been able to achieve consistent results using them, and had begun to have second thoughts concerning the ethics of charging his patients for procedures that did not contribute to their recovery.

What a dichotomy. Nutritional supplements are big business in this country and in our profession. Yet, many chiropractors are frustrated in their efforts to apply dietary supplements in a manner that yields satisfying results for the patient and themselves. Many systems have been offered to chiropractors for the incorporation of supplements into their practice, yet few will stand scientific scrutiny and, even less, the test of time.

Is nutrition part of chiropractic? This question has sparked a great deal of controversy in the chiropractic profession since dietary supplements became a part of the healing arts following World War II. Obviously, nutrition is a part of chiropractic because nutrition is a part of living and nutritional status is an important part of any case evaluation, and therefore a part of chiropractic. The real question is, "Are dietary supplements a part of chiropractic?" That is a completely different question.

We usually take for granted certain terms we use as part of our every day language. For example, we assume each of us understands the term "nutrition" when expressed in the question, "Is nutrition a part of chiropractic?" Perhaps we should address the real question, "Are dietary supplements nutritious?" and "If they are, why do they sometimes cause side effects?" The answer seems to be (by definition we can discuss at another time) that they are not foods, but drugs!

Since chiropractic has evolved from a philosophical paradigm, founded on the principle of vitalism, we assume other areas of scientific investigation also have a strong and well‑understood philosophical intention or purpose. Unfortunately, this is not usually true.

So, doctor, expand your horizons. Move into an area that is uniquely chiropractic and the rest of the healing arts completely ignores. The relationship of structure and function ‑‑ they are inseparable. Why practice with one arm tied behind your back?

(Dr. Loomis welcomes input on the subjects covered in this column. To make a comment or ask a question, write to him at 6421 Enterprise Lane, Madison, WI 53719. Visit www.loomisenzymes.com online or call 800/662‑2630 for information on upcoming Loomis Institute seminars.)