Olathe Chiropractic

01/30/2026

Is your leg pain bursitis or a tendinopathy?

Women experience are often diagnosed with bursitis when the pain may actually be a tendinopathy related perimenopause and menopause.

Why Hip, Glute, and Hamstring Pain Increases During Menopause

If you’re noticing hip pain, deep glute pain, or hamstring tightness that just won’t go away — you’re not imagining it.

As women enter perimenopause and menopause, hormonal changes (especially declining estrogen) can:
• Reduce tendon elasticity
• Slow collagen repair
• Increase inflammation
• Decrease blood flow to tendons

This makes areas like the hip, glute, and hamstring tendons more vulnerable to pain and injury — even without a specific “incident.”

👉 This is called tendinopathy, and rest alone rarely fixes it.

The good news?
There are non-invasive treatments that directly stimulate tendon healing.

Dr. Joe Anderson and the Olathe Chiropractic team provide shockwave therapy, low level laser therapy and therapeutic exercises that help the muscle and tendons heal.

📖 Learn how shockwave therapy helps chronic tendon pain:
https://www.olathechiropracticclinic.com/radial-shockwave-therapy-for-chronic-pain-and-healing

01/27/2026

Eat fish or supplement with omega-3 fats for brain health.

This is the first study to show that blood lipids could help explain why women carry a greater risk for Alzheimer’s disease. 🧠

A 2025 study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia (PMID: 40832908) analyzed 841 adults across Europe using high-resolution lipid profiling.

Study Groups:

- Women with Alzheimer’s
- Men with Alzheimer’s
- Healthy women
- Healthy men

Findings:

🧬 Blood fats

- Women with Alzheimer’s had a sharp drop in protective unsaturated fats (like omega-3–rich lipids).
- Men showed no such decline.

🧠 Brain health

- The women with the lowest omega-3 lipids scored worse on memory tests.
- Their blood also showed higher levels of markers of neuronal damage and inflammation.

⚙️ Why women?

- Healthy women normally carry more omega-3s in the brain than men - a natural advantage.
- After menopause, estrogen no longer boosts the enzyme (FADS2) that helps make long-chain omega-3s like DHA.
- At the same time, the brain’s delivery system for omega-3s (MFSD2A) appears to weaken.
- Together, this strips away women’s biochemical shield.

💊 Omega-3 dosing evidence (review of 58 RCTs - PMID: 40836005):

- 1,000–2,500 mg/day EPA+DHA = the “sweet spot” for cognition.
- Benefits are strongest in prevention trials (

01/23/2026

People focus too much on biohacks and need to make sure they have the foundation in place first. Food choices do matter.

🧠🥗 Your diet isn't just fuel, it's an intervention.

This image shows something modern nutrition is finally catching up to: Different diets create different microbiomes and those microbes actively shape metabolism, inflammation, and disease risk.

What you eat determines:

🦠 Which gut bacteria dominate
⚗️ Which metabolites they produce (SCFAs, bile acids, aromatic compounds)
🔥 How much inflammation is generated or resolved
🩸 How glucose and lipids are handled
🧬 How your immune system and gut barrier behave

That means food isn’t just calories or macros.
It’s a repeated biological signal. Plant-rich diets tend to promote microbes that produce short-chain fatty acids linked to metabolic and immune health.

Highly processed, animal-heavy patterns often shift the microbiome toward inflammatory metabolites and poorer glucose regulation.
Low-carb, ketogenic, gluten-free, and regional diets each create distinct microbial fingerprints with measurable downstream effects.

There is no single “perfect” diet but there is a perfect diet for shaping a specific biological outcome. Every meal is a quiet vote for which microbes thrive…and which physiological pathways get activated next.

Aslam et al., 2026
Dietary interventions and the gut microbiota: A systematic review. J. Transl. Med., 24, 39.

01/23/2026

01/21/2026

Good nutrition and strength training. Let’s go.

Bones aren’t just structural. They’re metabolic.

Mechanical loading on bone doesn’t stop at strength or density. It triggers endocrine signaling that directly influences glucose regulation.

When bone experiences load:
• Osteoblast and osteoclast activity increases
• Osteocalcin is released into circulation
• Insulin sensitivity improves
• Skeletal muscle glucose uptake increases

This creates a bone–pancreas–muscle feedback loop that links movement, bone health, and blood sugar control.

In simple terms:
Load the skeleton → signal the pancreas → improve glucose handling.

The B.O.N.E.S. framework captures how this works in practice:
• Bear weight regularly – resistance and impact matter
• Oppose gravity often – prolonged sitting blunts signaling
• Nourish bone function – vitamin D, K, protein, and minerals
• Every session matters – consistency beats intensity
• Strength training first – skeletal loading outperforms cardio alone for this pathway

This pathway is well-established in animal models, with growing human data showing strong correlations between bone loading, insulin sensitivity, and metabolic health.

Bone is not passive tissue.
It’s an active organ participating in energy regulation.

Movement doesn’t just burn glucose.
It teaches your body how to handle it.

01/20/2026

Just keep moving.

Skeletal muscle has two modes: signaling and silence. Modern life keeps people geared toward a silence state.

When muscles contract, they don’t just generate force. They release myokines, signaling molecules that communicate with the brain, immune system, liver, adipose tissue, and vasculature. When muscles remain inactive, that signaling largely shuts down.

The difference is biochemical, not motivational:

• Contracting muscle releases myokines into circulation
• These signals help regulate inflammation, metabolism, and stress responses
• Inactive muscle becomes metabolically quiet and chemically disengaged

This is why regular movement consistently lowers chronic inflammation, even without weight loss or major changes in fitness.

Same muscles. Same genome. Completely different signaling environment. Exercise doesn’t just build strength or burn calories. It determines whether skeletal muscle participates in whole-body communication (or remains silent).

01/19/2026

Although I love the nerdy science. Keep it simple and just move. Especially after you eat.

Your muscles clear glucose in two different ways after a meal.
Most people only use one.

When you sit after eating, glucose disposal depends almost entirely on insulin signaling from the pancreas. That pathway works, but it has limited capacity, which is why post-meal glucose spikes are higher and longer.

When you move after eating, even lightly, a second pathway turns on in parallel.

Muscle contraction independently activates glucose transporters (GLUT4), allowing glucose to enter muscle without waiting for insulin. The result is faster clearance, lower peaks, and less strain on the pancreas.

What’s happening under the hood:
• Muscle contraction triggers GLUT4 translocation
• Glucose enters muscle directly
• Blood glucose falls more quickly
• Insulin demand is reduced, not replaced

This isn’t about burning calories or “earning” food. It’s about using the physiology you already have. Walking after meals doesn’t override insulin. It adds another clearance pathway.

That’s why timing matters.

01/10/2026

Your metabolism is complex. Stimulating it is simple. Our red light therapy beds are a great way to help boost your metabolism and health.

This is the REAL reason you feel tired… or energetic… or mentally sharp… or completely drained.

Every second of your life, your cells are doing one thing above all else:
➡️ Turning the food you eat into energy (ATP).

This diagram explains the whole process in a way anyone can understand.

Your body isn’t powered by calories (at least in that form), it’s powered by ATP, the molecule your cells burn for everything: thinking, lifting, healing, digestion, immunity, even staying alive.

Here’s what this chart makes clear:

🔵 Step 1: Glycolysis (Quick Energy)

Happens in the cytoplasm.
Breaks down glucose fast.
Creates a little ATP.
This is why carbs hit quickly: rapid fuel access.

🟢 Step 2: Krebs Cycle (Clean Energy)

Happens in the mitochondria.
Breaks down the leftovers from glycolysis.
Releases CO₂ and loads up the electron carriers.
This sets the stage for the real payoff.

🟣 Step 3: Electron Transport Chain (Big Energy)

THIS is where the magic happens.
This step makes about 90% of your ATP.
This is why mitochondrial health = actual energy.

So what’s the practical takeaway?

Your body isn’t just “tired," your cellular engines are underperforming.

Want more natural energy?

🔥 Move your body → activity stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis
🔥 Eat enough protein & micronutrients → they’re required to run these pathways
🔥 Get sunlight → supports mitochondrial signaling
🔥 Prioritize sleep → mitochondria repair while you rest
🔥 Control stress → chronic cortisol suppresses mitochondrial output
🔥 Breathe deeply → oxygen literally feeds the final step of energy production
🔥 Avoid ultra-processed foods → they disrupt the pathways shown in the graphic

When people say “boost your energy,” THIS is what they’re talking about, improving the most fundamental process your cells use to stay alive.

The more your mitochondria thrive, the better YOU feel: mentally, physically, emotionally.

Energy isn’t motivation.
It’s cellular metabolism.
And you can support it every single day.

01/09/2026

We make this simple at our clinic. The science is complex but the answers are simple.

Sarcopenic obesity isn’t just “fat + muscle loss;" It’s a self-reinforcing biological loop. Poor diet, inactivity, and aging don’t act independently, they converge to reprogram metabolism, muscle, and adipose tissue at the same time.

What the system looks like ⬇️

🍔 Energy excess + inactivity
↑ Visceral & ectopic fat
↑ Insulin resistance
↓ Metabolic rate & anabolic hormones

🧠 Adipose tissue becomes inflammatory
↑ Cytokines
↑ Leptin resistance
↓ Protective signaling

💪 Muscle becomes metabolically impaired
↑ Myostatin & altered myokines
↑ Mitochondrial dysfunction
↑ Oxidative stress & anabolic resistance
This fat–muscle cross-talk accelerates decline rather than compensating for it.

Downstream consequences'

❤️ Higher cardiovascular risk
🧬 Increased cancer incidence
🩸 Greater diabetes risk
🦴 More fractures & frailty
🏥 Higher hospitalization, morbidity, mortality
♿ Reduced independence and quality of life

This isn’t just a weight problem. It’s a signaling problem. Sarcopenic obesity represents failure of muscle and adipose tissue to communicate properly, and treating one without the other rarely works.

Muscle is not just for movement.
Adipose tissue is not just storage.
Both are endocrine organs — and when their signals break, the system follows.

doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1185221

01/04/2026

VO2 max testing is a great test if you want to know your current cardio fitness level.

How much oxygen your body can use is one of the best predictors of long-term health

This figure shows how cardiorespiratory fitness (VO₂max) - the body’s ability to use oxygen during exercise predicts health, longevity, and physical capacity across life. VO₂max reflects how efficiently the lungs, heart, blood, and muscles work together to deliver and use oxygen.

🟡 Panel A: VO₂max levels across populations
Elite endurance athletes reach 70–90 mL/kg/min, while sedentary adults average below 45. Values under 17.5 mark the aerobic frailty threshold, and below 10.5 approach the mortality threshold where daily function and survival are compromised.
➡️ Training can raise VO₂max by 10–20%, while aging lowers it about 7–10% per decade.

🟡 Panel B: Fitness decline and mortality risk
VO₂max steadily declines with age but staying in higher fitness percentiles dramatically reduces all-cause mortality.
➡️ People in the “exceptional” fitness range have about five times lower risk of death compared to those in the lowest fitness group. Even being “above average” lowers mortality by over 40%.

🟡 Panel C: The physiology behind VO₂max
Every system contributes to oxygen delivery and energy use:

Lungs and respiratory muscles draw in oxygen

Red blood cells carry it through the bloodstream

The heart pumps oxygenated blood to tissues

Vessels distribute oxygen efficiently

Muscles extract and convert it into ATP for movement

💡 The bigger picture
VO₂max is one of the strongest predictors of overall health and lifespan—more powerful than blood pressure or cholesterol. Improving it through regular aerobic exercise strengthens every component of the oxygen delivery chain, protecting against disease and functional decline with age.

DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00045.2024

12/28/2025

Reduce stress, anxiety and improve allertness without the jitters.

L-Theanine - how it calms the brain without making you tired

L-theanine is an amino acid found naturally in green tea. It’s best known for its unique ability to promote calm alertness, relaxing the brain without causing drowsiness. Here’s how it works:

1️⃣ Shifts Brain Waves Toward Calm Focus

Your brain constantly produces electrical patterns called brain waves.

Beta waves = active thinking or stress (high frequency).

Alpha waves = calm focus, daydreaming, creativity (medium frequency).
L-theanine helps reduce beta waves and increase alpha waves, promoting relaxed alertness; the state of being calm but mentally sharp.
🟢 Example: It’s the difference between feeling wired and feeling centered.

2️⃣ Modulates Key Neurotransmitters
L-theanine increases levels of GABA, serotonin, and dopamine — the brain’s calming and mood-stabilizing chemicals — while reducing excitatory signaling from glutamate.
🟢 Example: This creates a steady, focused mental state similar to meditation or deep breathing.

3️⃣ Supports Stress Resilience

By balancing these neurotransmitters and brain waves, L-theanine helps buffer the physiological effects of stress, lowering cortisol and blood pressure in stressful situations.
🟢 Example: That sense of calm alertness you get from green tea comes largely from L-theanine, not caffeine.

4️⃣ Enhances Attention and Sleep Quality

When combined with caffeine, L-theanine improves focus and reaction time.

On its own, it can promote relaxation before sleep by quieting neural overactivity.
🟢 Example: It’s often described as “mental clarity without sedation.”

L-theanine gently tunes your brain waves, reducing the noise of stress (beta) and amplifying the rhythm of calm focus (alpha). That’s why green tea feels soothing yet mentally sharp: it’s neurochemistry, not magic.

PMID: 17182482