In Part One of this topic, “Does Spinal Alignment Influence Life Expectancy and Disease Rate?,” I discussed how the spine acts as a circuit breaker of sorts for the nervous system’s electrical impulses coming in and out of it. When misaligned, one side of the spine may transmit too many signals, while on the other side, the circuit breaker is off completely. This can have adverse effects throughout the body. Now, let’s look at the muscles of the body and how they affect overall health.
Muscles fire and have a memory that is transmitted from the brain and spinal cord. A muscle can be functioning normally, be overly excited (hypertonic), or under excited (hypotonic). Muscles are connected to one another through fascia. Fascia is a thick covering that surrounds the muscle and links with adjacent muscles. Since the fascia is linked like a train throughout the body, a restricted fascia in the foot can affect cranial fascia or neck pain and so on. (See “Anatomy Trains,” Thomas Myer.)
Much research has hypothesized that fascia, or the fascial train, carries an electrical charge throughout the body. (See Harold Burr of Yale’s biofield studies as well as Dr. Robert Fulford’s work, ayurvedic medicine and Chinese medicine.) Since we are electromagnetic bodies, with polarities just like the north and south poles, it can be theorized that if a muscle is not functioning in one part of the body, it affects the whole fascial train, and ultimately the electrical charge or “healing energy” of the body. This tradition of “healing energy” has been carried down for centuries as Chi, Prana, Ki, or Innate.
We can then say that it is integral to have a balanced body, with both a balanced spine as the circuit breaker sending out proper internal messages, as well as a healthy muscle and fascial system to transmit our vital energy. If there is an imbalance, we are not at our full potential. We may be able to get by, but we can’t excel.
A full exam is necessary to diagnose your muscle and fascial system, with postural checks, movement screens, strength testing, and most importantly, palpation. A skilled clinician can often feel or sense the hidden blockages that may be the root cause of your problem. Many problems stem from old or new traumas, both physical and emotional, that must be released from the muscle in order for you to heal.
Through hands-on work, using muscle and joint manipulation, your chiropractor can balance your electromagnetic, spinal, muscle, and fascial systems. You will feel more alert, have less pain, and old conditions that you never thought would go away may clear up.
Healing Tip of the Week
If you feel like you are not functioning at your body’s full potential, have your chiropractor perform a full exam, which includes the muscles and fascial system. Some simple muscle and joint manipulation can dramatically enhance your performance.
Have you ever experienced the infamous “food coma”. Most of us have. This is the feeling of fatigue and the need for a nap after a big meal. Or have you ever had weakness or “the shakes” after forgetting to eat, which promptly goes away after eating? Truth be told, both of these experiences are not normal and are in fact an indicator of less than optimal health.
Large changes in energy after eating is a sign of poor blood sugar stability. Blood sugar stability is a crucial aspect of health. It affects everything from your risk of developing Type II Diabetes to the promotion of inflammation and auto-immune disorders within your body. The bottom line is that any drastic change in your energy, whether it be fatigue or increased energy, is not healthy. You want to work toward steady, constant energy levels throughout the day instead of experiencing that post-lunch, 3 o’clock crash.
Here are some key things to look for when monitoring your blood sugar stability:
Fatigue after meals
Sugar cravings after meals
Difficulty falling asleep
Or
Energy after meals
Sugar cravings before meals
Inability to stay asleep
Crash and crave sweets between 3-5pm
So how do you attain this nice, steady energy? As always, it starts with the basics. Eat every few hours. Focus on meals and snacks that increase your fiber and protein intake and decrease your sugar and starch intake. Good snacks include nuts, seeds and veggies. Avoid going more than 12 hours without eating. This may mean that you may need to eat dinner a little later to shorten the fast between dinner and breakfast. Also start exercising. Any exercise that you look forward to doing and enjoy is beneficial. If this does not calm your symptoms down, you may need to see a professional at AWC who can prescribe a supplement to modulate the systems responsible for blood sugar stability.
Healing Tip of the Week
Always have a healthy snack at the ready in your purse or glove compartment. Getting hungry and being far from home can lead to unhealthy eating, such as fast food or gas station snacks. Having a bag of nuts or a healthy bar can help you stop your hunger just long enough to get you home to a healthy meal.
Most people will say they’re healthy, because they don’t have any “dis-ease” limiting their daily lives. Does this mean we should sit back and wait for disease to happen? No way! Take a moment and ask yourself the following questions:
What level of health do you really desire?
You may be feeling OK, but are you waking up full of energy and maintaining any amount of that energy as you work through your day? If your answer is no, but it sounds like a pretty good way to feel, then raise your standard of health to include a sense of quality of life. This means you not only pass all of the tests on your physical exams, but you also have enough vitality and energy throughout the day. It means your emotions, or spirit, are lifted and stable, which you can use to live in a meaningful and rich way.
How do we get to that point if we’re not already there?
Only YOU can achieve health for yourself. No one can do it for you. There is so much we can do to increase our quality of health and life. Eating well, exercising regularly and getting enough rest are the basics to having good health. To increase your health to a higher level, do whatever helps to keep the vast majority of the trillions of cells in your body working properly. Oriental medicine is one great way of working with the energy systems and treating on that cellular level. Everything from reproduction to infections to repairing broken bones happens on a cellular level. Chiropractic treatments, meditation/prayer and all forms of massage can also help keep us in tip-top shape. That’s one reason the Advanced Wellness Center has a variety of treatment options. When you’re ready to include overall quality of life and vitality in your definition of good health, we’re here to support you in your growth!
Healing Tip of the Week
Spend some time answering the following questions for yourself: What is my definition of good health? Am I feeling as good as I want to? If not, what do I need to add or subtract from my health regimen to achieve my desired level of health?
Want to eat a more nutritious meal? Do you have digestive issues, or do you take digestive enzymes? We spend a great deal of money on health food, supplements and expensive produce. These can have a tremendous impact on our health; however, it’s easy to overlook some of the most basic, yet effective, ways of extracting more vital nutrients from our food. Case in point: chewing, or mastication.
If food is not properly chewed, much can go to waste, passing through the system as a fermenting, decaying mass, including those precious vitamins and minerals that we need to stay healthy. This is especially important for raw fruits and vegetables. Nutrient portions in these foods have indigestible cellulose membranes surrounding them that must be broken down by the teeth before they can be digested. Furthermore, taking the time to chew tends to slow down the dining process, resulting in smaller portions needed to appease your hunger.
Hatha Yoga practitioners have been in tune with the importance of chewing for a long time. They believe that food has prana, a vital energy force, and that by chewing properly, prana is liberated from the food and travels through the nerves of the mouth and tongue into the nervous system, giving you energy.
So how do you know when you’ve chewed your food enough? Chew it until there is no taste left. Allow the food to gradually melt away in your mouth until you realize that it is all gone. By doing this, you will improve your gastrointestinal health, give precious nutrients to your body and, best of all, increase the enjoyment of your food.
I am always amazed by how the body can combine several functions into one while making it an enjoyable experience for us. As a wise yogi once said, “Mastication is a most pleasant process, and so it is in the case of the lower animals and the children of the human race. The animal chews and munches his food with the greatest relish, and the child sucks, chews and holds in the mouth the food much longer than does the adult.” What other mundane processes do we take for granted that may be playing much larger roles in our bodies?
Healing Tip of the Week
Try eating an apple in the way described above. You’ll be surprised at the feeling of having eaten a fair-sized meal and the sensation of increased strength.
Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Dysfunction may be caused by a direct injury to the jaw, dental work, chewing to one side, sleeping on your side with your mouth open, or resting your chin in your hand. It can be extremely painful, or you may merely experience an audible clicking or popping. Other symptoms associated with TMJ are headaches, jaw aches, neck pain, difficulty eating/chewing, and difficulty opening and closing your mouth.
To alleviate pain or discomfort, try these exercises:
Place your closed fist directly under the jaw joint. Press the jaw into your fist, hold the pressure for a count of 10, release, and go to the opposite side. Repeat 10 times.
Place three fingers at each jaw, below the joint, and apply light pressure evenly. Slowly open the jaw and do not allow any noise. If there is clicking or popping, you may have tension in the jaw, release the pressure and begin again. Repeat 20 times.
Curl your tongue upward, and place the tip as far back in the roof of your mouth as you can. Now hold in place while opening and closing your mouth. Repeat 20 times.
If these therapies do not help and your pain persists, a few modalities offered by the Advanced Wellness Center that may help alleviate your pain or discomfort are: chiropractic care, cranial adjusting, acupuncture, massage, ice and exercise to balance the muscles of the jaw.
Healing Tip of the Week
If you have a noisy or painful jaw, you should not chew gum. We tend to chew on one side and can further misalign the jaw and imbalance the muscles causing more problems.
A study conducted in 1920 by Dr. Winsor, MD, proved it does. To summarize the quotes from the research below, Winsor came to realize that when the spine is shifted, the curves in the spine that compensate the changes begin to affect the organs close to them.
How could this be? Passing out of each spinal level are sympathetic nerves. These nerves are in control of adapting to threats and keeping the body alive. Dr. Winsor’s research found that the firing of these nerves increased (in reaction to the spine out of place) until the amount of tone to the organ was so high, it became exhausted, gave way and became diseased. Is this the cause of all disease? The answer is “no.” There are many other factors to take into consideration. But we can hypothesize that the spine and nervous system hold the key to a large part of health and well being.
When we look at the function of the human body, we see that all function is controlled by the brain, spinal cord and nerves. They are the electrical wires, and the spine could be viewed as somewhat of a circuit breaker. When it becomes imbalanced, some areas get too much electricity; some too little.
This change in nerve firing is not from the actual bone “pinching” on the nerve, but from the adaptation of the nervous system to compensate for these changes in spinal/muscle position.
To care for the spine holistically, the practitioner applies proper balance to the spine through specific motion. In the new school of chiropractic, sports therapies, rehabilitation, breathing exercises and muscle manipulation are also employed to keep the spine balanced and the nervous system firing.
Winsor, H. Sympathetic segmental disturbances — II. The evidences of the association, in dissected cadavers, of visceral disease with vertebral deformities of the same sympathetic segments, The Medical Times, November 1921, pp. 267-271
“Therefore, in 50 cadavers with disease in 139 organs, there was found curve of the vertebrae, belonging to the same sympathetic segments as the diseased organs 128 times, leaving an apparent discrepancy of 10, in which the vertebrae in curve belonged to an adjacent segment to that which should supply the diseased organs with sympathetic filaments.
The disease appears to precede old age and to cause it. The spine becomes stiff first and old age follows. Therefore, we may say a man is as old as his spine, the arteries becoming hardened later from constant vaso-motor spasm, following sympathetic irritation.”
“New results from the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial showed that eating a low-fat diet for eight years did not prevent heart disease, breast cancer or colon cancer; and didn’t do much for weight loss, either,” according to an article from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), December 2006.
The truth is, we need some fat. But, we need to choose the right types of fat. In fact, eating good fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, might actually lower the risk for certain diseases!
It’s still important to limit the amount of cholesterol in your diet. However, the average person makes 75-percent of blood cholesterol in the liver, while only 25-percent is derived from food. So, the main problem is in the blood cholesterol level, not so much dietary cholesterol. High blood cholesterol levels greatly increase the risk of heart disease.
What is the biggest influence on the blood cholesterol level? According to the HSPH, it’s the mix of good fats and bad fats in the diet.
Good fats, like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, actually lower your LDL (bad cholesterol) and increase your HDL (good cholesterol). Some monounsaturated fats are: olives, olive oil, canola oil, cashews, almonds and other nuts, and avocados. Some polyunsaturated fats include corn, safflower and cottonseed oil, as well as fish. The fats you definitely want to limit are the saturated fats, and the ones to completely eliminate from your diet are the trans fats. Manufacturers are now required to list the amount of trans fat in their products, so check out the label before you buy. Here are some tips from the HSPH for lowering your trans fat intake:
Choose liquid vegetable oils or a soft tub margarine that contains little or no trans fat.
Reduce intake of commercially prepared baked goods, snack foods, and processed foods, including fast foods.
To avoid trans fat in restaurants, avoid deep fried foods, because many restaurants still fry with partially hydrogenated oils.
Healing Tip of the Week
When foods containing partially hydrogenated oils can’t be avoided, choose products that list the partially hydrogenated oils near the end of the ingredient list.
When you overwork, eat poorly, think negative thoughts, think about things obsessively, can’t sleep and any number of negative stressors, your body’s energy, or Qi, slows or gets blocked. Over time, symptoms develop, such as pain, cough or disease.
Acupuncture can alleviate the signs and symptoms associated with stress, treating the root cause of the problem. We can’t avoid stress. It’s a part of life. However, there is positive stress and negative stress. Like everything in life, the key is finding a balance. In this case, the balance is increasing the positive stressors (without overexerting) and decreasing the negative stressors.
Here are some positive ways to help you get some relief today:
Feel good. Even if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed (whatever that means for you), think of something that makes you feel good. Allow your energy to shift to the positive and know that you don’t have to carry those “wrong” feelings with you all day.
Smile and laugh … a lot.
Spend time with people who you feel good with. People who boost your spirit, make you laugh, support even your “oddest” ideas. Spend time with people who really care about you and want the best for you.
Sleep at least seven to eight hours a night.
Do one fun thing a day, at least. No matter how busy you are, find even just a few minutes to do at least one thing YOU love or enjoy or makes you laugh. Just do it!
Check in with yourself. Take a few moments to be still and feel your body. Do you hurt anywhere? Are you tired? Are you hot or cold? Do you feel angry or frustrated? Are you excited about the day ahead? Just check in with yourself once in awhile, be aware of how you’re feeling, and work on taking care of yourself in the moment.
Eat smaller meals throughout the day rather than 1, 2, or 3 large ones. Big meals are harder to digest. If your body is tied up with digesting big meals, it has less energy to do all the things you want to do in a day. Try it. You’ll have more energy if you only eat until you’re about 75% full.
Exercise. Choose something you enjoy, and work up a sweat 3-4 times a week. Your body, mind and spirit will thank you for it.
Be grateful for what you have. Stop worrying about what you don’t have.
Open your mind to life’s infinite possibilities. If you feel stuck, take a moment to sit down and comfort yourself. Imagine that you’re not stuck. Imagine what you would be doing if you were right where you wanted to be. Feel it. Do this for just a couple minutes each day, then forget about it. Know that it’s your life, you CAN change it, and it’s OK to ask for help.
One more thing you can do to prevent illness and feel good is see your acupuncturist regularly. “Regularly” depends on your current level of health and the level of health you wish to achieve and/or maintain.
When you’re ready, call us at the Advanced Wellness Center and learn more about how we can help you heal and reach even greater heights with your health.
It’s true! Recent studies are indicating that vinegar can actually help decrease blood sugar levels. According to an article in the New York Times Health and Science section, several studies have been conducted on the effects of vinegar on blood sugar.
One study done by Italian researchers tested participant’s blood sugar prior to eating and then again 95 minutes after their meals. The results showed that when healthy subjects consumed about four teaspoons of white vinegar as a salad dressing with a meal that included carbohydrates (sugars), there was a 30% reduction in their glycemic response compared with subjects who had salad with a dressing made with neutralized vinegar (a placebo).
In 2004, a study published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association, found similar results in people with diabetes who consumed a vinegar solution vs. a placebo before a carb-heavy meal.
These studies suggest that adding vinegar to a meal may reduce the meal’s impact on blood sugar. In other words, when carbohydrates (sugars) are consumed, vinegar appears to be keeping the blood sugar more stable. When blood sugar is stabilized, your body is more apt to use fat as a source of fuel. For information on other natural ways to improve your health, make an appointment with one of the professionals at the Advanced Wellness Center.
Healing Tip of the Week
Add a little white vinegar as a dressing on your salad, especially if you’re eating bread or other sugars with it. It aids digestion, and studies are showing that it can help keep your blood sugar more stable.
Flu season is here and so are the holidays. It seems fitting to go over some natural and easy things you can do to stay healthy.
Get Probiotics in Your Diet Regularly
The “gut” or digestive system is home to 80% of your body’s immune system. Here, good bacteria keep your immune system balanced and fight off intruders. Many of us do not have the balance of “good bacteria” we need in our digestive systems. Foods such as kombucha, kefir, raw milk and organic sauerkraut (especially Bubbies brand) have probiotic cultures. Add some of these foods to your diet daily. There are also pill form options of probiotics.
Whole Food Vitamin C
Instead of just taking Vitamin C in a pill form, try eating several servings of a natural source every day, such as an apple or an orange.
Address Your Stress
Take breaks often to regain peace throughout your day. Take time for prayer and meditation and practice positive thinking.
Reduce Sugar, Processed Foods — Increase Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Processed foods and foods high in sugar reduce the immune system’s power. As much as 80% of your diet should be lean meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts, natural oils, seeds and legumes. The other 20% can be set aside for less ideal foods found in holiday meals and busy schedules.
Natural Healing Methods
Research supports chiropractic, acupuncture, nutritional supplementation, meditation and massage in reducing the frequency, duration, and severity of illness. Make an appointment for a consultation with any of our practitioners at the Advanced Wellness Center to learn more about how we can help balance and support your immune system.
Healing Tip of the Week
So important, it needs repeating. Eat based on the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time, eat a balanced diet. Then, set aside the other 20% for eating less ideal foods. Moderation is the key.
