This is Your Heart Speaking…
Health Tip:
Fats have been so vilified that too often we believe all fats are bad. Fats are important in the functioning of the nervous system, especially your brain. Your brain health depends on the food you eat. Fats from whole foods (nuts, avocados, berries, small fish, butter, pasture-fed meats) feed your brain. Trans-fats, found in many processed foods, keep your brain cells from communicating as well resulting in poor brain function.
Monthly Article:
This is Your Heart Speaking…
Did you know that your heart can speak to you? Most know that we can do tests such as blood pressure and pulse and even stress tests and an ECG (or EKG). One of the best things we can do on our own, however, is to listen to what the body is telling us about our heart.
If we have pain in the chest or down the left arm we are told to seek medical attention immediately due to a possible heart attack. Not everyone has these particular symptoms. The heart’s referral pattern is huge! Discomfort can be felt in the chest, in either shoulder, down either arm, the hands, the upper back, the neck, or the jaw. Most people do not have all of these locations. Usually one of these areas has been bothering a person for a while. My dad, for example, had soreness at one spot on the chest that we had been working with for quite a while. And his acute pain was to the right of his sternum. Another patient had pain in his left hand only. And another had pain in the left shoulder.
Informing you of this large referral pattern is not meant to scare anyone. It is my hope, however, that the information is used to give you insight into your health. If you have discomfort in one of these areas, tell your chiropractor and nutritionist. The problem may be simply due to misalignments in your spine and extremities or it may be your heart speaking. One way I help determine if something is a chiropractic problem verses a nutrition problem is to see how a patient responds to care. If an adjustment helps for only a very short time (minutes to a few hours) it is more likely a nutrition problem.
If it is your heart speaking (or even another organ), getting your nutrition balanced quickly is the best first step. This will likely include diet changes and some supplements. Once the underlying nutrition issue is being handled, the pain and discomfort experienced starts to go away (sometimes very quickly).
So, the take home lesson today is to listen to the little messages your body is giving you and get your body the help it may need to be as healthy as it can be. A healthy body will allow you to do more of what you were put on this planet to do!
Recipe of the Month:
Perfect Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti squash is a great veggie to replace pasta as a base to…well, anything you’d put over pasta! The challenge to me was cutting and cooking it. Spaghetti squash is thick and, even with a very sharp knife, is hard to cut raw. I was delighted to find a way to cook it that allows me to cook it while I’m not at home AND I don’t risk cutting my fingers off (I like my fingers right where they are). The secret? A crockpot!
1. Remove any grocery sticker and wash the outside of the spaghetti squash.
2. Pierce squash 3-5 times with a sharp knife. Be sure to put it in deep enough so you know it is going all the way through the flesh to the cavity inside. Rinse squash and leave wet.
3. Place wet squash in crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours (cooking time may vary depending on your crockpot).
4. Remove squash using pot holders and cut in half on cutting board.
5. Scoop out seeds and strings and discard.
6. With a fork, gently peel the spaghetti-like layers away from the shell.
7. Serve with anything you would serve with pasta.
(Note: You can do the same thing with an Instant Pot for a faster meal…just adjust the time accordingly)
Upcoming Activities and Announcements:
Roots to Health talk: Please sign up at the front desk. Bring a friend and write a question! This is a casual time to learn about the real Roots to Health!
Saturday February 21 at 10 am
Tuesday March 3 at 6:15
Saturday March 21 at 10 am
Are you happy with your care and progress? Please tell others! We love getting online reviews to spread the word. Not happy? Please tell us so we can fix it!