Are you among those Americans who consume more than 400 million cups of coffee per day? If so, I have some questions for you to consider:

Are you drinking organic coffee? Remember that coffee crops often are heavily sprayed with pesticides.

What do you pour your java into? Tea and cocoa drinkers also should think about this. Are you drinking your beverages from a Styrofoam cup or using a plastic lid? The chemicals in Styrofoam and plastic lids (which contain bisphenol A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor, can be carcinogenic. Starbucks A l

Trawling through some coffee sites recently, I discovered that, thankfully, Starbucks, like many savvy coffee purveyors, is up on plastic-product issues. They apparently removed the few items in their product line that were manufactured with BPA.  Apparently, all of their current products are BPA-free.

Not all coffee houses may be as astute as Starbucks. So if you are a regular coffee-house patron, you may want to bring your own thermos that has a stainless steel interior. Think about what happens when plastic lids get hot — condensation accumulates on them and then drips into your beverage.

Even if there still isn’t conclusive evidence that BPA is harmful (there still are so many question marks out there about it), why take a chance?

What do you add to your coffee? If you are mixing it with sugars, artificial sweeteners, non-dairy creamers, processed creams, etc., you may not be getting any benefits from coffee.

How much do you drink? While coffee may have some benefits and therapeutic applications, consider drinking in moderation. If I drink coffee at all, it’s always organic, freshly ground and just one cup, now and then.

If you’re a health-conscious coffee drinker, I’d love to hear from you and learn about any tips you may have.

Mother’s Day is coming. Here’s my wish for the day that honors moms: A nice, quiet, relaxing day with my family.

Patrick Brys even offered the BWC his own steak recipe to go with the Cabernet Franc (see recipe below).

Photo by Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board

As for the asparagus, according to the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board, these thin green stalks are the leading supplier among vegetables of folic acid. A 5.3-ounce serving provides 60 percent of the recommended daily allowance for folacin, which is necessary for blood cell formation, growth, and prevention of liver disease.

The board also reports that due to strange weather patterns, Michigan growers have lost about 25 percent of their crop. They said that warmer nights will hopefully now allow them to harvest next week, depending on the weather of course. So look for these healthy veggies in supermarkets soon. By the way, only the states of California and Washington produce more asparagus than Michigan.

Photo by Patrick Brys, Brys Estate on Old Mission Peninsula

If you’re looking to treat a mother in your life with something special, prepare a homemade dinner for her.

You might also want to consider adding to that a gift certificate for one of our most popular treatments. The following rank high on Mom’s list:

• Massage. We offer six masseuses who are ready to work the stress out of any frazzled, busy mom. $75/massage.

• Well Wave. Try our series of three Well Wave visits. I can’t tell you how great this works, whether you have acute or chronic issues. It’s also wonderful for tension, injuries and more.

Once, I suffered from horrible neck pain due to being in an uncomfortable position at the hair salon washbowl! Honestly, I couldn’t turn my head when I left the salon. I didn’t have time for a massage so used the Well Wave on my neck. Bingo! I was back to normal.

How it works: The Well Wave basically creates sound waves which in turn create compressive energy that goes into the muscles, improving blood flow, breaking up adhesions, scar tissue and trigger points. The Well Wave was originally designed to break up kidney stones, but engineers and doctors realized that it can help with musculoskeletal issues as well.

Right now, there are only five Well Waves in Michigan that I know of, including the one at our center. $105/three sessions; each session 20 to 30 minutes.

• Reflexology. An in-depth massage of hands and feet that focuses on areas that have positive affect on other areas of the body based on reflexology charts. $45/half-hour.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Pepper-Encrusted Filet Mignon with Black Truffle Butter

(from Patrick Brys of Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery)

Rub tenderloin steaks with olive oil and season generously on both sides with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Grill to your preferred temperature over medium heat.  The secret to creating an incredibly juicy steak is to only move the steaks three times — once when you place the steak on the grill, once when you flip the steak and once when you remove the steak from the grill. After grilling, let the steaks rest for five minutes under foil. When ready to serve, top each steak with a dollop of black truffle butter (available at specialty food stores) and as you walk to the table the truffle butter will melt and create magic on a plate! Serve with Brys Estate 2010 Cabernet Franc.

 Read Cleaning Product Labels

Stop! Before you pull out the mop and rags or hire someone to come in to clean this spring, beware of cleaning-product toxins, perfumes, pollutants … you name it.

Before you set out to make your kitchen spic-and-span like the one in this photo courtesy of KraftsMaid, read the labels of the cleaning products to be certain they are toxin free.

My family uses Seventh Generation products at home. They are available locally at Kroger, Meijer, Plum Market, Whole Foods, to name a few. Based in Vermont, Seventh Generation’s mission is to “inspire a revolution that nurtures the health of the next seven generations.” I prefer their products or those similar to them they are made with plant-derived cleaning agents and scented with real essential oils and botanical extracts (from farms, not factories!).

I also like Method products (we get ours at Target), which also feature natural, eco-friendly ingredients. Incidentally, Method is the brainchild of Grosse Pointe natives Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan. Thanks to these creative Michiganians, gone are stinging eyes, burning lungs and headaches.  

If you ever have those side effects while cleaning, stop using the product that’s causing these effects. Don’t use any products unless you’ve read the label first. I encourage you to only use those that are toxin-free, good for the planet and harmless to your family, pets, friends, etc.

Another great option is to go to the Environmental Working Group website, which provides a great deal of useful information on research and advocacy in the areas of various products' toxic chemicals.

If you hire a cleaning service, you may want to ask about the products the employees use in your home. A Troy-based cleaning company called Ask Alice Cleaning uses only eco-friendly products and offers all kinds of custom services, including deep-cleaning options.  

BECOME A MIXOLOGIST

If you have the time, you could even make some of your own cleaning products. Stubborn build-ups, like mold in bathrooms, is claimed to be easily banished with something as simple as hydrogen peroxide and water, according to eartheasy.com.

Remember that your skin is your body’s largest organ — anything you put on it eventually enters your blood stream.

I also stay away from dryer sheets due to the ingredients, which often are just marked as “fabric-softening agents.” I’m not sure what that means. I’ve heard that you can soften fabric naturally by simply adding a cup of baking soda to the wash cycle.

You could also try adding a quarter cup of white vinegar to the wash cycle to both soften fabric and eliminate static cling. Or check out a local health food store for softeners that use natural ingredients.

Have a cleaning tip you’d like to share? Let me know.

Birmingham Wellness was recently featured in an article published by Sherwin-Williams' home-decor site, www.swstir.com.

Renowned Michigan architect Wallace Frost Frost designed Detroit landmarks such as the Detroit Public Library, the General Motors Building in Detroit and the William L. Clements Library in Ann Arbor. He also practiced residential architecture in Birmingham, Mich., and left a legacy of at least 44 uniquely designed homes — dating from the 1920s through the 1950s — including the site now occupied by Birmingham Wellness.

If your mother was always reminding you to sit up and stand up straight, congratulate her for being right. Correct posture -- or lack thereof -- can play a critical factor in your overall health and wellness. Poor posture can strain or weaken your hip flexors and other muscles, impinge your nerves, cause joint deterioration and affect the flow of oxygen within your body. Physical misalignments can also cause serious damage to your vertebrae and disks, resulting in the need for pain management. Because you cannot necessarily tell when you have a posture problem or spinal misalignment, you should get a posture analysis from a skilled chiropractor as part of your wellness care routine.

Posture Correction and Pain Management from Your Birmingham Chiropractor

Here is a video that I just finished watching done by Tony Robbins.  In the video, Tony talks about how to make 2012 a great year.  The big take away for me, that I want to share with you is a quote in the video, "There are 2 pains in life, the pain of  DISCIPLINE  or the pain of REGRET"   Which one do you want to live out this year?  Some times it takes a lot of discipline to get where we want to go in life.

Enjoy!    

Dr. Jennifer Bonde