Chiropractor Dot-Cdl Physicals by B4L Functional Medicine Center

07/14/2025

Big News for Commercial Drivers!

There is a new Integration rule that just went into effect for the FMCSA but CA will not come into compliance, reportedly, until the end of September 2005.

What this means:

Commercial drivers will not longer be required to submit paperwork (Medical Examination Report and Medical Certificate) to the DMV, nor will they be required to carry a copy of their medical certificate. Exam results will be uploaded to the FMCSA by the examiner and the FMCSA will be the sole notification source to the 50 state (plus territories) driver licensing agencies. Employers may still require a physical certificate for their own internal purposes and they will be available on request, however employers will no longer be required to verify that the examiner is certified to perform the exam and they will be able to verify driver certification via the FMCSA online.

Until September, this office will continue to issue paperwork as usual.

Note that CA state-required Class C driver commercial endorsement physical exams are not reported to the FMCSA and thus those drivers will still need to submit results to the DMV and to carry a copy of their certificate when they are driving the vehicle for which they are required to be endorsed.

07/07/2025

Trivia Question for 7/7/25: What hormone, often elevated in functional medicine for its role in stress and adrenal function, also influences spinal disc hydration and is indirectly associated with back pain?

01/27/2025

01/05/2025

Proposed changes to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) are reviewing proposed updates to the guidelines that would prioritize plant-based proteins over animal-based ones. The new guidelines would recommend eating more beans, peas, and lentils, and less red and processed meats. The protein food group would be reorganized to list plant-based foods first, followed by seafood, then meats, poultry, and eggs. [2, 3]
Health benefits of plant-based diets
Plant-based diets can help lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and many cancers. Plant-based foods are lower in saturated fat than meat, eggs, and seafood, and they contain fiber. [1, 4]
Other considerations
Other reasons to consider a plant-based diet include environmental conservation, sustainability, ethical concerns regarding the treatment of animals, and religious influences. [4]
[1] https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/dietary-guidelines-for-americans-poised-for-bold-plant-based-shift/
[2] https://www.today.com/health/news/2025-us-dietary-guidelines-plant-based-foods-rcna183797
[3] https://vegconomist.com/health/proposed-us-dietary-guidelines-prioritize-plant-proteins-over-meat-first-time/
[4] https://www.kirtland.af.mil/News/Commentaries/Display/Article/2348713/transitioning-to-plant-based-eating/

The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are set to prioritize plant-based protein over meat, eggs, and seafood. Learn more here.

10/15/2024

Do you have higher than ideal blood pressure? Do you have a hard time losing weight? Here's something to check on to help maintain your healthy fitness for duty...

Are you drinking enough water?

Turns out that dehydration reduces the volume of blood in circulation and triggers the kidneys to release a hormone called angiotensin. That hormone does a few things:

1. Trigger thirst
2. Causes arteries to constrict to accommodate the lower blood volume in circulation
3. Increases fat storage in fat cells.

When your "taste for water" drops off habitually, this results in less sensitivity to thirst signals and triggers chronic low level dehydration. That causes slow weight gain over time and chronically constricted arteries which contributes to high blood pressure.

FWIW, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables (with or without any animal products) helps support hydration, but it is still important to cultivate your thirst sensation and to restore your taste for fresh clean water.

Send a message to learn more

11/16/2023

Quick Summary - Weight Loss Drugs Don't How Money Works Seminar. Don't bother reading this if you or a loved one isn't struggling with obesity, just go have a nice day. However, If you or a loved one is considering this approach, please read on for for details...

Many weight-loss medications on the market have serious potential side effects.

-Qsymia, which contains phentermine (the phen in fen-phen), can cause seizures if stopped abruptly. Although it was rejected in Europe for safety concerns about its long-term effects on the heart and blood vessels, at the time of this writing, it was still available in the United States.

-Belviq is another weight-loss drug allowed in the United States but not in Europe due to concerns about cancers, heart valve problems, and psychiatric disorders.

-Saxenda requires daily injections, costs nearly $1,300 for a 30-day supply, and carries a black box warning for thyroid cancer risk.

-Contrave also carries a black box warning—about possible increased thoughts of su***de.

-Alli causes fat malabsorption, which may result in such side effects as “f***l urgency, oily stool, flatus with discharge, and f***l incontinence.” Although company-sponsored studies claimed every adverse event related to Alli was recorded, a Freedom of Information Act exposé found that one trial apparently failed to mention 1,318 of them.

An analysis of more than a hundred clinical trials lasting up to 47 weeks of anti-obesity medications found that drug-induced weight loss never exceeded more than nine pounds.
Since the underlying cause (a fattening diet) isn’t treated, weight tends to return upon stopping the medication.
Most users of weight-loss medications stop taking them because they’re so disagreeable.

Researchers have found that many physicians tend to overestimate the amount of weight that can be lost with these drugs or just don’t know.

The principal author of clinical practice guidelines that go out of their way to advocate prescribing medications for obesity is significantly linked to six pharmaceutical companies that work on obesity drugs. In contrast, independent expert panels (e.g., Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care) explicitly recommend against their use, due to their poor track record of safety and efficacy.

10/30/2023

In looking at over 270 studies of how exercise helps to lower blood pressure, they compared all forms of exercise. Comparing High Intensive Interval Training (HIIT), strength training, body weight exercises (e.g. yoga), cardio exercise, etc, the most effective, in terms of demonstrated reduction of blood pressure readings was isometric exercise! And the one isometric exercise that seemed to demonstrated the greatest effect was wall squats.

03/02/2023

Typical information coming from the American Cancer Society. Listen to this Chief Scientific Officer dance like a Riverdancer:

“We’re not trying to blame anybody for their cancer diagnosis,” Dahut said. “But when you see something occurring in a short period of time, it’s more likely something external to the patient that’s driving that, and it’s hard not to at least think – when you have something like colore**al cancer – that something diet-related is not impossible.”

If you haven't seen it, watch this documentary "Healing Cancer from Inside" https://youtu.be/fRKbtWblICE

Once you've seen this video, you begin to recognize the typical B.S. statements like, "The new report also says that more people are surviving colore**al cancer, with the relative survival rate at least five years after diagnosis rising from 50% in the mid-1970s to 65% from 2012 through 2018, partly due to advancements in treatment."

Meanwhile the Big Medicine/Pharma is handled with kid gloves by Congress while they contribute huge dollars lobbying Congress and charging Mega $$$ for the same treatments they've been using since the 1960s and pushing for "early detection" so that they can claim improved survival rates after diagnosis. And what is considered survival? How many are alive 5 years after diagnosis.

Then go back and read this article and you will gag...

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/health/colore**al-cancer-statistics-2023-report/index.html

"...it’s more likely something external to the patient that’s driving that, and it’s hard not to at least think – when you have something like colore**al cancer – that something diet-related is not impossible.”

Ya think??????

Adults across the United States are being diagnosed with colon and re**al cancers at younger ages, and now 1 in 5 new cases are among those in their early 50s or younger, according to the American Cancer Society's latest colore**al cancer report.

01/27/2023

Important health tip for those with high blood pressure.

First, a little background...

Increasing dietary fiber (fruits and veggies) while decreasing saturated fats, salt and sugar will help with reducing weight and lowering blood pressure. Cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the US, involves chronic inflammation affecting the lining of the arteries which interferes with the ability of the arteries to dilate which is a cause for hypertension. That mechanism involves the production of nitric oxide and as the arteries get "clogged" the production of nitric oxide is reduced...

Here's the relevance...

Turns out that the oral microbiome, the bacteria that reside in your mouth (primarily on your tongue), are normally helping to produced nitric oxide by converting nitrates from your (hopefully) ample dietary green leafy vegetables into nitric oxide. And the nitrates that go unconverted are recycled to be secreted by the salivary glands to be re-exposed to the bacteria!! I find that amazing...

Anyway...

You may have heard that scraping your tongue helps with halitosis, aka "bad breath". Experimental study has now scientifically proven that scraping your tongue also helps to enhance the health of the native bacteria of your oral microbiome INCREASING the oral creation of nitric oxide. The effect on oral nitric oxide production was shown to alter blood pressure within a week's time!!!

So... the point...

Scrape your tongue as part of your tooth brushing routine to improve your health. And DO NOT use antibacterial mouthwash unless your were told to do so by your doctor. You need the bacteria that live throughout your digestive tract!!! You can use mouthwash, but no hydrogen peroxide or other such oral mouthwashes or toothpastes.

10/08/2022

If you are challenged by high cholesterol and/or are being told you are pre-diabetic and are pursuing lifestyle changes (i.e. improving your diet, exercise and reducing your alcohol consumption), then this is a useful addition to your "natural" efforts to reduce your cholesterol.

Fenugreek is a spice that has been shown to significantly improve the metabolism of blood fats in diabetics with no adverse reactions.

Three important points:

1) always consult your treating doctor regarding any "therapeutic herbs and supplements" since they can affect blood thinners or the action of other medications you may have been prescribed, and your doctor needs to know what you are responding to, even if he didn't prescribe it. (As a side note, fenugreek has been used as a lactation aid for new mothers, but, here again, talk with your OB/GYN or a Pediatrician first)

2) there are studies that warn of negative reactions to doses high enough to demonstrate significant improvements in blood fat metabolism, but the levels studied often involved concentrated doses that you would never consume except under under medical supervision, and

3) the studies referencing negative reactions also spend a lot of time discussing the fact that not all supplements contain what is on the label, and some may contain other ingredients not on the label. So, there is some politics going on here as there has been a big push to require prescriptions and to regulate the use of herbs and supplements. That said, if you were to make your own herbal tea, you would absolutely KNOW what you are consuming and you wouldn't be taking crazy doses that would put you at significant risk (and see point 1 above again).

I found the Winco in Roseville has an amazing bulk food section with a wonderful supply of many many spices, including fenugreek, anise seed, and fennel. I put equal amounts of each into a spice grinder and put the resulting blend into a tea strainer in a hot cup of water. After steeping, I added a little maple syrup (you can use stevia, monk fruit sugar, agave. or honey) to sweeten it just a little. It had a wonderful flavor and is quite satisfying way to relax at the end of the day.

The stainless strainer pictured worked great in a cup and allowed me to stir the spices to improve the osmosis/saturation of the tea. You can find it or similar on Amazon for about 5 or 6 dollars.