Tag: Chiropractic Research

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Weekly Health Roundup

veggies fruit

Welcome to True Health Family Chiropractic’s Weekly Health Roundup, where we’ll take a look at what’s making news in the world of health.

Research of the Week

Sugar is toxic. According to a new study, obesity doesn’t cause diabetes: sugar does. The study demonstrates this with the same level of confidence that linked cigarettes and lung cancer in the 1960s.

Interesting Articles

With spring coming soon (hopefully!), the NY Times explores the benefits of exercising outdoors. In virtually all of the studies, participants reported enjoying the outside activity more and, on subsequent psychological tests, scored significantly higher on measures of vitality, enthusiasm, pleasure and self-esteem and lower on tension, depression and fatigue after they walked outside. Bottom line – get outside when you can – there are benefits to exercising outdoors that can’t be replicated on a treadmill, a recumbent bicycle or a track.

Food for Thought

This chart (The Shelf Life of Food) does a great job at listing some common foods and how long they’ll stay fresh and safe to eat based on different storage methods (along with a few that you might be tempted to freeze but really shouldn’t).

Blog Posts Worth Reading

What most people don’t know about chiropractic care… This article explores the connection between your spine and your digestion. Nerves from many regions of the spine have a definite digestion connection.  The consequences of disturbing these spinal nerves are not necessarily limited to spinal pain, but can potentially involve any function affected by these nerves, including digestion.

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The Importance of Motion

movement is lifeOne of Albert Einstein’s well known quotes is, “Nothing happens until something moves.” Motion is life. Lack of motion is death. Movement is a vital nutrient to your body, just as much as food, water or oxygen.

It feeds the brain, producing essential nutrient stimulation (called proprioception). It’s also a foundational reason why chiropractors adjust spines – to restore normal motion to joints, mental impulse transmission through nerves, and subsequently, life throughout your entire body.

When your spine is not moving properly it begins to degenerate and become inflamed. The spinal joints begin to send stress signals to the brain that can lead to stress hormones being released (cortisol and catecholamines). Lack of proper motion results in a decrease in proprioceptive messages being sent to your brain. This can also (but not always) lead to pain. High levels of stress hormones in the body will lead to fatigue, illness and ultimately – early death.

This is why – regardless of disease or symptoms – a healthy, properly moving, aligned spine is so essential to our health. By restoring motion to the spine (via the chiropractic adjustment), changes will begin to occur, such as: decrease in stress signals and stress hormones, decrease inflammation, and pain (if present) will subside. Most important of all, it results in a healthy body-brain neurological communication which is essential for overall health. This is why we often see patients who will have significant changes in their health, in areas that they were not expecting at all (digestion, sleep, etc…) when they began care. By restoring motion and removing this stressor on the body – you can begin to function how you were designed to.

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Chiropractic During Pregnancy

Chiropractic care is an important part of prenatal care. Often times, preexisting but unnoticed imbalances in your spine can become stressed during pregnancy – resulting in an uncomfortable pregnancy for many women. Did you know that the American Pregnancy Association promotes chiropractic care during pregnancy?

Some of the benefits are:

  1. Relieve and even prevent the common discomforts experienced during pregnancy
  2. Restore balance to pelvis resulting in an easier, quicker, safer delivery
  3. Reduce nerve system stress, improving your body’s ability to function naturally
  4. Supports natural, non-invasive birthing procedures

According to recent studies, chiropractic care may result in easier pregnancy including increased comfort during the third trimester and delivery and reduced need for analgesics (pain medication). In one study, women receiving chiropractic care through their first pregnancy had 24% reduction in labor times and subjects giving birth for the second or third time reported 39% reduction in shorter labor times. In another study, the need for analgesics was reduced by 50% in the patients who received adjustments. In addition, 84% of women report relief of back pain during pregnancy with chiropractic care.

It is not just the mom who benefits from chiropractic care, it can comfort the baby as well. If your pelvis is out of balance in any way, the ligaments which attach to the uterus can become torqued and twisted, which may restrict the baby’s movement. Specific chiropractic adjustments (The Webster Technique) can correct sacral misalignment, balance pelvic muscles and ligaments which in turn removes torsion to the woman’s uterus, its resulting constraint to the baby, and allows the baby to get into the best possible position for birth.

Chiropractic is a natural approach to health that helps an expectant mother gain confidence – in herself, her body, and her baby. You deserve to have the best chance at a successful pregnancy and childbirth, and you can only do that with a nervous system that is running free and clear of interference.

Did any of you visit the chiropractor when pregnant or plan on doing so?

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Healthy Holiday Tips

The holidays are a great time to celebrate with friends and family. Even though many people go into the holidays with the best of intentions to stay healthy- the immune system can be pounded down from the stress of excessive shopping and over-eating, leaving illness an easy entry. Here are a few solutions to keep your family healthy and happy this holiday season:

Stay Away from (Refined) Sugar

Refined sugar is not a treat – it is artificial; a non-food. It cannot be well digested, actually inhibits digestion, is addicting, and causes a great number of biochemical errors. Remember, natural fructose is contained in most raw fruits and vegetables. It is a natural food. Moderate amounts of natural fructose can be easily digested by the body with no stress or depleting of mineral stores. Natural fructose does not cause rollercoaster blood sugar, unless the person overdoes it. Natural fructose is not addicting. There are many other great options to enjoy a sweet “treat”, that don’t involve refined white sugar and HFCS. Continue reading “Healthy Holiday Tips”

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True Health Insurance

Are you one serious illness away from bankruptcy? Many are.

Those of us with “health” insurance policies think we’re protected from the burden of huge medical bills. You may be surprised to learn that’s just not true. In a Harvard University study of almost 2,000 Americans in bankruptcy court, half said that illness or medical bills drove them to bankruptcy. Every 30 seconds in the United States, someone files for bankruptcy because of a serious health problem. Surprisingly, more than 75 percent of those filing for bankruptcy had insurance, losing their coverage during the course of their illness. Thus, they face the double disaster of illness and bankruptcy.

“If you’re sick enough, long enough, you’re likely to be financially ruined,” cautioned Dr. David Himmelstein the lead author of the Harvard study.

Bankruptcy is increasingly accompanying serious health problems. In fact, people who go under from medical debt are mostly middle-class or working-class people who own their own homes. The solution? Don’t get sick, of course. But how?

Keep in mind, health is our normal, natural state. Many people neglect their health, paying attention to it only when their symptoms become unmanageable. By then, problems can become severe, often becoming irreversible. That is why I sometimes sound like a broken record, constantly suggesting preventive and wellness visits, instead of coming in only when pain is present.

This is not simply my opinion. As we’ve discussed before – Chiropractic saves you money in the long term. A 7 year study conducted by an independent physician association found that patients’ regular utilization of chiropractic care reduced the need for: hospitilization by 60%, hospital days by 59%,pharmaceutical usage by 85%, outpatient surgeries & procedures by 62%, and overall global health care costs by 50%.

Visiting our office when you’re feeling great, may sound a little strange to your health insurance provider. It may even sound strange to you. But preventive measures may actually provide more “insurance” than your insurance.