Here’s a good tip I heard from a patient.  When she goes into her medical doctor and they ask what supplements she takes, she simply writes “multi-vitamin”.  This allows for honesty as well as simplicity for you (the supplements I use are whole food supplements and homeopathics).  As many nutritional programs change, you don’t need to remember everything that changes.  It also allows them to know that you are taking something and if they need more detail they will ask.

We know that exercise isn’t just to help us lose weight.  It is essential to our overall health.  It benefits our heart, lungs, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, muscle and bone strength, and even our sense of well-being to name just a few.  One area most people don’t think about is your nervous system!  Did you know that by doing a few simple exercises you can strengthen your Dorsal Columns?  Let me explain.

You may have heard that chiropractors work on backs and necks.  While this is true, we are not limited to just backs and necks.  Any competent builder will tell you that a firm, level foundation is the top priority when constructing a building or other structure.  If the foundation is not firm and level, nothing else that is built above it will be straight.  Look at the Pisa Tower in Italy.  The ground that the tower was built on was soft on one side and began to settle as it was being constructed.  The builders tried to compensate for the lean by constructing the remaining floors at an angle. Just like the Pisa Tower, you have a physical foundation.

I’d like to talk about “little ears” this month.  If you have children and have brought them in to see me, you may hear me talk about not saying some of what I’m checking out loud.  I’ll refer to them as ‘parenthesis’ questions and will ask these questions quietly (I’ll sometimes do this same thing for adults for the exact same reasons below).  The reason for this is that those “little ears” may hear what is said and ‘own’ that issue.  I don’t want them to own these negative issues and have it affect them later in life.  As humans, we can be very impressionable and this can be both good and bad.  As adults, we need to recognize that words can be very powerful and do our best to protect those “little ears.” 

Your brain is where all the nerve impulses start from and they go out from the brain, down the spinal cord, and out to every organ and cell of your body.  This means that the nervous system can be interfered with if those bones in your spine are out of alignment and putting pressure on your nerves.  It only takes the weight of a dime to start decreasing the information going through a nerve.  If that pressure continues, it can cause issues right at the spine where the issue is resulting in pain and loss of motion, OR it can cause issues on the other end of that nerve.  Remember, at the end of the nerves going through your spine are the stomach, thyroid, bladder, intestines, liver, heart….I’m sure you get the idea now.

You may have heard of the lymphatic system.  Those lymph nodes that get swollen and tender at your neck when you are sick, etc.  The lymphatic system is responsible for 3 major functions.

1.      Draining tissue fluid to return it back to the venous system.  I will often refer to this as “recycling”.

2.      Absorption and transportation of fat

3.      Immune response

These 3 functions make the lymphatic system really important for your overall health.  If your lymph system is not functioning well you may have issues with swelling in your legs or other areas in your body and your immune system may also be compromised.

We can be exposed to toxins daily in our food, water, drink, and air.  These toxins are often chemical byproducts, heavy metals, microbes, malfunctioning biological processes, petro chemicals, and synthetic chemicals.  What we put in and on our body DOES affect our health.  Toxins can contribute to food cravings and weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, joint and muscle pains, digestive upsets, skin issues, and low libido.  Toxins enter our body through the lungs, skin, and gut/intestines.

It takes time to clean the house.  All the papers must be filed, all the things that were pulled out and not put back must be put back in the right place, surfaces need to be cleaned, and trash needs to be taken out.  In contrast, putting all the stuff in one room and closing a door takes a very short time and then a superficial cleaning can be done to make the house look clean.

This same idea can be applied to the body.  It takes time to clean a body.  Organs need to be cleaned up, new healthy cells need to be made, and damaged cells and debris need to be removed.  The contrast for the body is simply taking a medication to stop a symptom.  The symptom may not be bothering anymore but the underlying problem may not have been addressed at all!  The problem was simply shoved in a room and the door shut!  The problem then has a chance to get worse.  I guess you could think of mold now growing in that room in the house that had all the stuff shoved in it.  An even bigger mess now exists.

The Vitamin Deficiency Epidemic: In a perfect world, the air would be clean, our oceans and water supplies free of pollution, and everyone would get their vitamins and minerals from a well-balanced organic diet and plenty of sunshine. Considering the following wide-spread vitamin deficiencies, however, this is not the case. Most Americans are deficient in the very vitamins and minerals essential for basic body function. But vitamin deficiencies are not at the root of modern disease: the source is toxin-driven inflammation. To truly impact health, underlying inflammation must be decreased. Vitamins and minerals play a key role in this process. High-quality supplements provide nutrients missing from the diet which activate and support the body’s God-given ability to heal….

The holiday season is upon us again.  I hear many concerns during this time of year regarding stress and diets.  There are small changes that you can make in what you eat that will take stress off your body and give you a more pleasant season.

Avoiding sugar is one of the top recommendations I give.  Sugar actually stresses your body and makes it much harder for it to do its job.  The immune system’s ability to fight infections decreases by 50% for about 5 hours after sugar is consumed.  Add the stress of getting the house ready for family fun, finding the right gift, fighting holiday traffic, and fitting in travel time and you increase the chance of adding sickness to the mix.

Cutting sugar seems to be more difficult this time of year but still not impossible.