Tasty, Natural Foods to Boost Your Immune System This Spring

Many of these superfoods are packed with Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Beta Carotene, and other components to help boost your immune system. By utilizing these in conjunction with NeuroStructural Chiropractic, you can be assured that your body is processing the nutrients as it should. 

The best way to receive supplementation is through whole foods, so see how creative you can be with this list in your day-to-day recipes! 

If you feel as though you’ve made a killer recipe to help boost your immune system, please share them with the us and we can pass them along to others!

• Grapefruit
• Oranges
• Tangerines
• Lemons
• Clementines
• Red Bell Peppers
• Broccoli
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Spinach
• Almonds
• Turmeric
• Green Tea
• Poultry - Chicken and Turkey
• Sunflower Seeds

Cross Crawl Patterns for Neurologic Coordination

What is Cross Crawl?

Cross crawl refers to movements in which we use opposition such as crawling, walking, running, and swimming. Opposition means that opposite sides of the body work together to coordinate the right arm and left leg, then the left arm and right leg.

Therapeutically, cross crawl refers to any intentional cross-lateral activity in which you cross the mid-line of the body, such as touching your left hand and right knee or foot and vice versa. Performing this movement builds the bridge between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, allowing for electrical impulses and information to pass freely between the two, which is essential for physical coordination as well as cerebral activities, such as learning language, reading, and hand-to-eye coordination.

Why is Cross-Crawl Beneficial?

As soon as we start to crawl, this cross-lateral pattern of movement stimulates more complex brain and nervous system development and integration. In addition to firing neural pathways in the right and left hemispheres simultaneously, a cross-crawl movement stabilizes the pelvis while mobilizing the shoulders, reinforcing the walking-gait reflexes.

In short, any time you do cross-crawl, you are re-intergrating your brain and nervous system and re-organizing your mind-body connections. Because we are constantly being bombarded and impacted by multiple stimuli and tasks, practicing cross-crawl throughout the day is one of the best self-care activities you can do for yourself. Think of it as a basic part of wellness, like drinking plenty of water. You will not only feel clearer, you will behave and perform better. Try it before homework, testing, or an important meeting, after anything stressful and between different kinds of activities. If you’ve been reading and it’s time to go play soccer - cross-crawl. If you’re frustrated with a project - cross-crawl. You need to clear your mind - cross-crawl!

Through mind-body science, we now understand that physical coordination precedes cognitive coordination. The ability to do cross-lateral movements with the body literally lays the foundation for other cognitive abilities, such as readiness for fine motor academic work. Though it seems to be a fun, simple exercise, here’s what cross-crawl is doing for you physically and mentally:

1. Stabilizes your walking gait coordination - builds core strength
2. Energizes your body and calms your mind - releases tension and stress
3. Improves your eye teaming skills - essential for focus, reading and writing
4. Enhances whole brain thinking - your left and right hemispheres work together
5. Develops proprioception - your spatial and kinesthetic awareness

Cross Crawl also offers an effective way to reboot your nervous system and re-integrate mind and body. You can use it regularly to both discharge and recharge your attention and energy. It’s a great break from over-focusing and it works just as well to bring body and mind online. As a stress buster or a warm-up for doing your best, cross-crawl has significant social-emotional benefits:

1. Increased self-awareness
2. Situational insight
3. Clarity of thought
4. Impulse control
5. Physical coordination in general

Spring and Adaptability

Spring is such a wonderful season due to its ability to bring about new life in the form of flowers, bustling activity with the nicer weather, and shedding off the layers of clothes that weigh us down during the winter months. These are all great assets to Spring, but sometimes they can bring about added stress. Many times we realize just how much winter weight we put on and it doesn’t seem to shed off as easily as those winter coats. Or the activity levels and obligations with children ramp up so that often times you are running around from dawn until dusk. With this added stress, the nervous system must ramp up its adaptability so that you can function at a cellular level during all of this craziness. Not only does life get crazier, but often times many people notice that they have an increase in seasonal allergies. Have you ever wondered why your friend doesn’t “have allergies” but they are exposed to the exact same pollen-filled air as you? This is due to an individual’s level of adaptability. We are all exposed to the same “junk” in the air that we breathe, but some can tolerate it better than others. By assessing one’s nervous system and removing any NeuroStructural Abnormalities, the body can then function better and respond to these outside allergens a lot more efficiently than someone who does not get checked. 

So what can you do to ramp up your adaptability levels? At home, you can stock up on local honey in your area! By having locally sourced honey, you can be sure that there are antibodies to allergens specific to your region and it is a great way to boost your natural immune system. Honey is also packed full of anti-inflammatories that will help decrease the time you have a stuffy nose. You can also consume Elderberries and other herbs that are high in antioxidants that help repair cells quickly if damaged by an outside source. Of course you can get checked by your NeuroStructural Chiropractor who will ensure that your brain-body connection is communicating as it should so that your body can adapt to all the added stress.  

With chiropractic being one piece of the puzzle when it comes to health and wellness, it is extremely important to take action in your day-to-day lives to ensure that you are living a well-rounded healthy life. Spring is finally here, are you ready? 

Trajectory of Life

The start of a new year often brings big goals and big aspirations of making this year your best year yet! Often when I ask someone, “Did you set any new goals for this year?” I frequently get the answer, “No, I used to do that stuff, but not any more.” 

I look at my life as a book. Each year is a new chapter that brings new experiences, new stories to share and of course, lessons learned from the previous years. A few years back, Mary Ann and myself found it to work best for our growing family to focus on simplicity… thus leading us to describing our focus for the upcoming year with one, two or three words for the year. After much discernment and prayer starting in October 2017, I came to realize that the perfect word for my year in 2018 would be GROWTH!   

Now, for those that know Mary Ann well and for how much she loves babies, NO, it does not mean that we are planning on growing our family. This year, growth to me is about growing deeper in relationships with God, Mary Ann, my kids and of course you, growing in understanding how this wonderful and crazy world works, growing in making better health decisions and growing to be a better chiropractor. 

One of my chiropractic mentors wrote a book a couple years ago and labeled his first chapter The Trajectory of Life. That chapter has really put life into perspective for me as it is easy for us to get wrapped up into the day to day life experiences, but often we forget to re-assess the overall affect each day has on the long-term outcome of our lives. 

With the type of care we provide in our office with NeuroStructural Correction (NSC), we get to focus on the technical sides of detecting and correcting the NeuroStructural Abnormalities (NSA) in the body, but we also get to appreciate and assess (you get to experience the effects of) the overall long-term outcome of your health and the importance this has to do with Trajectory of your Life. 

As Brian Tracy is famous for saying in his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Keep the End in Mind.” So to ask again in a different way, 

“What does this year / chapter have in store for your Trajectory of Life?”

Treating the BARK vs. Correcting the CAUSE!!!

There is an old saying that goes when you step on a dog’s tail, it barks out the other end. In Chiropractic that means, when you perceive a symptom (the bark), it isn’t necessarily where the problem is (the tail). Many times the pain (secondary condition) you feel in one area is actually a referred symptom from somewhere else. For example, someone with sciatica may feel pain traveling down their leg, but the source of their problem is a NeuroStructural Abnormality in their spine (primary condition). 

NeuroStructural Chiropractors recognize that if you remove the cause (primary condition), the body will no longer produce an unwanted effect (secondary condition). This is why during your Chiropractic visit, we focus on detecting and then correcting the NeuroStructural Abnormalities of the body. Chasing after secondary conditions is like stepping on a dog’s tail and muzzling it or disciplining it so that the dog doesn't bark. It’s a much smarter and more effective process to address the underlying cause.

Salmon Cakes and Avocado Bean Wraps

Why Do We Scope?

Nerve Retracing

Lucky Shamrock Eggs and Leprechaun Dip

Overcoming Muscle Memory

Who’s the Golden Goose?

We all have excuses for not getting to the Chiropractic office more often… too many appointments, too many responsibilities, (too many ‘you fill in the blanks). You’re the Golden Goose and you have little time and LOTS of people to satisfy.  But what you don’t realize is those ‘I’m too busy’ excuses are the EXACT reasons why you need to take better care of your body and Nerve System.

Every activity you perform starts as a mental impulse in your brain that travels through your spinal cord and nerves until it reaches its final destination.  Nothing happens in your body without FIRST being patterned in the Nerve System.  From the  simple act of getting up from a chair to more complex ones like balancing your books, everything you do in life is first done in your Nerve System then executed in your body.  And the more clear your Nerve System is kept with regular protection chiropractic care, the more efficient and effective those jobs become.

A full plate is no excuse for missing your chiropractic appointments.  If you have family and co-workers depending on you, you owe it to them AND yourself to maintain a clear, fully functioning Nerve System so you can always perform to your best abilities.  A well-adjusted goose lays more golden eggs.

3 Exercises to Improve Your Core!

Last week at True Chiropractic we had the awesome opportunity to learn some core strength exercises with our friends at Anytime Fitness of Little Canada! According to Anytime trainer Mara, “Strengthening your core will enable you to keep your chest up higher and your spine stronger, which correlates with upper and lower back pain relief.” Read below for 3 core exercises you can do at home without any equipment that can help you with your spinal health! (Try for 10-20 reps for each!)

1. Bird Dog Crunches: abs, hamstrings, glutes, shoulders

Start on the floor on all fours with hands under your shoulders and hips in line with knees. Simultaneously extend your right arm to shoulder height and lift your left leg straight back. Return to beginning position and repeat on other side. Do this slowly to maintain balance!

2. Spidermans: lower abs, obliques, shoulders, and glutes

Start in a push-up position, hands under shoulders, body in a straight line. Lift right leg to the outside of right elbow. Return to plank. Repeat on left side.

3. Shoulder Taps: abs, shoulders

Start in a push-up position, hands under shoulders, body in a straight line. Lift right hand to tap the left shoulder while keeping hips square to the floor. Return to plank. Repeat on the other side.

These exercises were given to us by our friends at Anytime Fitness. If you are interested in improving your physical fitness talk to Dr. Wing at your next appointment!

Lose the weight : Eat bacon?

Obesity is a major issue in the United States today. In fact, as of 2013, 25-30% of Minnesota adults were considered obese according to the CDC.¹ That’s every 1 in 4 adults! And, let’s face it – losing weight can be difficult. According to the Monte Nido Eating Disorder Treatment Center, “95% of diets fail and most will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years”.² So that begs the question – what are we to do? How can we go about losing our excess weight and living healthier lives?

According to Gary Taubes in his book, “Why We Get Fat”, the answer to losing weight is quite simple – ditch the carbohydrates.³ Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t fat that is making humans fat, but those pesky carbs. But how can this make sense? The answer lies in a little chemical called insulin.

Insulin is a hormone produced by our pancreas. The main purpose of this hormone is simple – to stimulate our body cells to take up the extra glucose in our bloodstream after a sugary snack. Insulin is surely our body’s friend – continually keeping our blood sugar in balance. However, this hormone has other very important functions related to fat metabolism, or fat burning, in our body.³

Insulin also affects two other hormones in the body, namely lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL). The first, LPL, is a cell membrane protein responsible for pulling the fat in our bloodstream into fat cells. Insulin activates this protein, especially in our abdominal regions, which causes more fat storage in the body. The second hormone, called HSL, is inhibited by insulin activity. HSL is responsible for breaking fat down from an unusable to a usable form so that it can be burned for energy. Therefore, when insulin is around, two main things happen - we store more fat and stop the body from burning fat.³

It seems that avoiding carbohydrates could surely help our body in burning its fat stores. Therefore, a great way to shed some excess weight would be to avoid foods that spike our blood sugar (and insulin secretion) such as bread, cereal, pasta, beer, fruit juice, soda, potatoes, rice, and corn.³ Furthermore, don’t be afraid to eat fat and protein – they have no effect on insulin secretion and will keep you from feeling hungry for a longer time period. If you want to lose weight, it may be time to change that breakfast cereal for a little bacon!

1. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html
2. http://www.montenido.com/pdf/montenido_statistics.pdf
3. Taubes, Gary. “Why We Get Fat”. 

by Kelsey Petersen, ACP Chiropractic Intern and the True Chiropractic Team

THE SIX HUMAN NEEDS

 When thinking about relationships, an important concept to keep in mind are what Anthony Robbins calls “The Six Human Needs”. These six things are required to live a fulfilled, vibrant life. The following is an explanation of these human needs. Are you fulfilling these needs for others in your relationships? Are others aiding in the fulfillment of these six factors for you?

Certainty/Comfort:

This is one of the most important of the six essential human needs. Basically this is the human need for safety or comfort. If this human need is not fulfilled, nothing else really matters – if you feel as though the ceiling above you may cave in, there isn’t much else in your life that matters right?

Uncertainty/Variety:

Conversely, lifelong fulfillment also requires a little mystery. This is what creates excitement and surprise in life. Living each day in complete comfort and certainty would be quite boring. You feel wonderful when your significant other surprises you with roses, right? A happy life, it seems, requires a little spice.

Significance:

Everyone has the basic human need for significance. What is it that gives your life meaning? Why do you do what you do? This can be gained through having unique talents/skills, through your career, or through caring for your family. The human experience is so much richer if you have a meaningful and significant purpose.

Connections and Love:

Interconnectedness with people is important for personal fulfillment. Have you ever had a day when you spoke to no one else? How did you feel at the end of the day? Did you feel enriched, satisfied? We as human beings have the essential need to love and to be loved by others.

Growth:

Are you growing or are you dying? Everything on this planet is continually moving in either direction on this spectrum. We have the need to grow as a person – to learn new things, to run faster, get stronger, eat healthier, feel better. Chiropractic can help fulfill this human need of growth. By ridding the spine of neurostructural shifts, the human body can function more optimally – you can sense your world more clearly, feel better, have higher energy in your day to day life. Who wouldn’t want that?!

Contribution:

Lastly, humans have the basic life need for contribution. Are you making the world a better place? Will your life having meaning? Like significance, this basic life need can be met through our careers, raising our children to be good people, or through our volunteer work. To live a truly fulfilled life, we must have a positive impact on the world around us.

Kelsey Petersen Chiropractic Intern & the True Chiropractic Team

Relationships and Chiropractic

Relationships are so delicate and can break on minor issues and simple misunderstandings. Once broken, it is a die-hard task to mend the relationship and get back the same intensity of affection in the relationship. There can be visible reasons, maybe a misunderstanding or communication gap. It could also be that problems are invisible; perhaps this has been brewing under the surface. 

Neurostructural Shifts are very much like a broken relationship. A slight miscommunication between the brain and body can create secondary conditions such as: digestive disorders, sciatic pain, headaches, low-back/neck pain ect.  Just like a relationship, Neurostructural Shifts can occur from what is perceived as “minor”.  However, this may have been the problem that broke the camel’s back.  

At True Chiropractic we work through our Neurostructural Analysis to locate the Neurostructural Shift, which we call the Primary Condition.  By restoring proper alignment and optimal nerve supply the body is able to function how it was meant to, healing from within.  It is of utmost importance to address these miscommunications before they do get out of hand and can lead to more serious issues.  

To learn more about this Neurostructural Shifts, please contact Dr. Wing and the True Chiropractic Team.  Your body will thank you later.

Two Types of ChiropracTORS

           Not all chiropractors are alike.  Although they go by the same name, chiropractors today differ greatly in technique and philosophy.  The traditional philosophy that chiropractic was based on has never changed, but for social acceptance, on a cultural level some chiropractors have.  As a result, when patients go to different chiropractors they get different opinions, care provided and results  This can be both confusing and frustrating to the patient.  If expectations aren’t met, patients stop chiropractic care, and never get to experience the great results chiropractic care can give them.  Basically, there are two types of chiropractors. The musculoskeletal chiropractors who work on symptom relief and the traditional wellness chiropractors who work on subluxation and structural correction.

            The symptom relief chiropractors primarily focuses on, you guessed it, relief of symptoms.  Adjustments are performed on the spine to decompress the joints, free fixations and reduce pain.  In addition, electrotherapies such as ultrasound, muscle work, physical therapy, electrical stimulation, laser and acupuncture are often used.  In some states chiropractors are even trying to “expand their scope of practice” to prescribe drugs.  The length of care under symptom relief chiropractors is usually dictated by the patient’s symptoms or insurance coverage.  Under this type of care, the treatment plans are determined according to symptoms or what the insurance will reimburse, neglecting the fact that your body is unique and heals different than everyone else, resulting in shorter treatment time yet still leaving the cause of the symptom untouched.  The patients typically feel better temporarily, but since the spine is still structurally misaligned, it continues to degenerate silently resulting in damage and dysfunction to the discs, joints and whatever part of the body the nerve supplies.

            The wellness chiropractor practices the traditional philosophy of chiropractic, dating back to 1895, which focuses on detecting and correcting vertebral subluxations and correcting the structure of the body.  Simply put, a subluxation is a misaligned vertebra which interferes with the nerve impulses.  Nerve impulse is the electrical impulse from the brain that regulates all function of the body and keeps us alive.  Although wellness chiropractors want their patients to “feel better,” their primary focus is removing the nerve interference and restructuring the spine and posture to it’s most stable biomechanical position, thus leading to lasting symptomatic relief.  By maximizing the integrity of the discs, joints and nerves through spinal adjustments and postural correction, the body’s wellness, health potential and ability to function improves!  This is done through a corrective care plan.  By focusing on the cause of the problem, not only do the symptoms disappear, but the patient’s overall health and well being are much improved as well!

That’s Not Normal

“Hey Doc, I need your help today, my breathing is not normal!” “What do you mean, not normal?” I asked. “Well, it’s normally right around 15 breathes per minute, but today it’s going almost 25 breathes per minute and it’s labored—definitely not right!” At first, you may think, “Yep, something’s definitely not normal there.” But the problem here is not with this man’s respiration rate.  It’s with our definition of the word normal.  What he really meant to say is that his respiration rate was not average.

Regrettably, these terms are very often used in place of one another incorrectly.  One of the areas this mistake is most often seen involves the day-to-day functions of our bodies.  Science has established what it calls normal figures for our physiological functions.  These include respiration rate, heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol, temperature and everything else you can think of.  Medicine has even established a number as far as what each person should weigh.  However, what we are really looking at is not what is normal, but what is average.

An AVERAGE is rarely a number that is actualized by any individual in a group.  In fact, forcing a person’s body to conform to the average can actually be harmful to an individual.  The average is simply the median of the group.  The average value is something that is easy for us to know – all it takes is a simple mathematical equation to figure it out.  NORMAL on the other hand is something that is not as easy to figure out.  In chiropractic, we say that we are ever changing, constantly adapting, self-regulating and self-healing organisms.  We say that normal is something that can only be determined by the Innate Intelligence of the body. This is an important distinction to understand.  Even though the average respiration rate of an adult is 15 beats per minute, it may not be what is necessary for an individual at any given time.  In other words, if a person’s body needs to increase its respiration rate for some reason, it may not be average, but it can most certainly be normal!

Is it normal for a healthy baby to have a runny nose, fluid in its ears and a fever?  Is it normal for a healthy woman to gain 1-2 pounds per week?  Is it normal for a healthy person to vomit and have diarrhea?  Is it normal for a healthy person to have muscle spasms, inflammation and pain in his/her neck?

How did you answer these questions?  If you said no to any of them, you may be right.  And, if you said yes to any of them, you may also be right!  This is why:

1.      A healthy baby who is cutting teeth can have a runny nose, fluid in its ears and a fever.  These are all normal parts of the process of cutting teeth.

2.      A healthy pregnant woman will normally gain 1-2 pounds per week for nine months.

3.      A healthy person who eats a bad piece of fish will vomit and get diarrhea as a way of healthfully expelling toxins.

4.      A person who has injured his neck will have muscle spasms to protect the area from further damage while it heals.  He will also have inflammation to begin what is called the healing cascade.  And, his body will produce pain so that he knows to be careful until all is well.

It turns out the man who was concerned about his respiration rate had been in a bowling alley the night before and it had been a smoky environment after he had spent 3 hours mowing down an overgrown field full of weeds the morning before.  His body was likely raising its respiration rate to expel the toxins and to increase the rate at which his cells received oxygen to speed healing of the damage done by the smoke and allergens.  So you see, nothing was wrong, it just wasn’t average.

ChiropracTIC recognizes that normal is a state that can only be determined by your body’s Innate Intelligence.  We do not try to make you conform to a standard level of function.  Rather, we accept you for the unique individual that you are and we rejoice in the knowledge that when you have a clear nerve system and a healthy lifestyle, your body will do whatever is necessary to progressively and consistently grow you toward the full expression of your purpose and potential in life.  HAVE A NORMAL DAY!

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”

          The first Time I read this saying forced me to do a double take. This again made me realize how wise Albert Einstein was and how much I have to learn from. The whole point of this saying is to keep in the forefront of our minds that we should discover the more important lesson that should be learned in all areas of our lives. Many of you first came to True ChiropracTIC because of a crisis situation and wanted to be "fixed" and to be relieved of your symptoms.

            Now that you are educated about your body, hopefully you understand the importance of getting to the root cause of your health crisis and you realize masking the symptom is only a short term solution for a long term problem that has been festering inside your body for years.  Obviously one adjustment cannot undo a problem that has been inside you for years.

            Healing takes time!  Healing is a process so please respect this principle.  As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Neither was your body, nor your family, nor your house, nor your relationships, nor your expertise with the work you do.  The list could go on and on.

            So why would anyone expect anything different to apply when your body fails to adapt and you develop a health crisis or symptom? Your high blood pressure, heart condition, high cholesterol, digestive problems, obesity, lower back pain, migraines, vertigo, fertility problems, asthma and numbness didn't just appear overnight. So why expect these conditions to heal over night?

            Knowing that your nerve system controls how your body functions (and all the conditions above), we need to make sure there is proper communication from your brain to your body and back to your brain so your body can heal itself. This is how ChiropracTIC works.

Getting What You Deserve

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."  Sir Isaac Newton's Third law of motion

Why are you dealing with this health condition – is it happening because yousomehow deserve it?  Did you ask to get sick?

When a person "gets" sick, did they "catch a cold" because a bacteria or virus decided to pick on them and not their spouse, that essentially lives the same lifestyle?

Some people think it's in their genes that they get sick more often than others.  It is amazing what some people come up with to explain why they are sick all the time.  Then there are others that act clueless as to why they are sick as if out of the blue a virus jumped out and gave them sickness and they ask the dreaded question, "What did I do to deserve this?"

There is a direct correlation between health and lifestyle habits that people seem to fail to connect. We don't get sick, we do sick. The better question we should ask is, "What did we do to become sick?" It really is about the "Three T's":  THOUGHTS, TRAUMAS and TOXINS.

What we focus on is what we bring more into our lives.  This is the simple law of attraction.  If you are completely focused on just getting rid of your current sickness / body signal, what happens?  Your health crisis will eventually disappear for a while until the next health crisis appears. If you start focusing on correcting the problem, instead of just masking the body signal, you will come to discover there will be fewer and fewer health crises in your life.

When it comes to traumas, we need to make sure you are physically conditioning your body to last you a lifetime. Unfortunately, getting adjusted for the rest of your life is not the answer to your health problems if your body can't physically last you a lifetime.  Proper motion into your body, when your body is healthy enough to handle it, is a statement I can't express enough.  Timing is everything, especially when it comes to your health.

Lastly, the toxins and chemicals your body comes in contact with plays a major role in your health. The old saying, "you are what you eat" is only partially correct. "You are what you digest" is a much more accurate statement.  You can only utilize the nutrients you put into your body only if it's digested correctly.  The other part is the toxins your body is exposed to.  The more toxic chemicals you expose your body to, the more likely you'll produce a toxic body that will provide many body signals.

Don't forget we all have a unique Innate Intelligence that knows how to control our body according to what's best for our individual self.  It just needs no interference (subluxations). What is toxic for one person may not be toxic to another person. Same premise holds true for the amount of physical activity for one person may not be enough for someone else to become healthy and stay healthy.  This also holds true for why some people can deal with emotional stress better than others.

This is why I always ask before I begin care with anyone, "Is your health enough of a priority to start the journey to create a healthier you? The choice is yours!"

The 5 Keys to Optimal Health that you can really focus on are:
1. Proper nutrition
2. Proper exercise
3. Proper emotional stress relief
4. Proper sleep patterns
5. Proper functioning Nervous System

5 Signs of life

If you spend any time in our office, you will realize we focus heavily on how the body is functioning as that is the best sign to see what direction your health is heading.  In ChiropracTIC terms, we focus on analyzing how the body is adapting to the stressors it's being exposed to.  We break the functioning categories into 5 Signs of life:

1.  Assimilation: The body's ability to absorb food materials, digesting them and making them a part of itself. In other words, converting this food into such a form that it become a part of the body.
2.  Excretion: The body's ability to give off waste matters, which not only are no longer of use in the body, but which may be detrimental to the body if retained. You must realize this is different than secretion.  Secretion is something formed by the body to be used inside the body and has a definite function.
3.  Adaptability:  The body's intellectual ability to deal with the external stressors it's exposed to from a physical, chemical and emotional perspective.
4.  Growth:  The body's ability to expand according to the intelligence of the body to a mature size and dependent upon the power of assimilation.
5.  Reproduction: The body's ability to develop and maintain the existence of it's life form from a cellular level all the way to the entire life form.  Reproduction is truly dependent upon the power of growth and the power of assimilation.

These five signs of life are what I analyze in my office to determine what direction you are heading toward.  Just because you appear healthy today, doesn't mean you will appear healthy tomorrow as your body is in a continual state of change. This is why regular check-ups are so crucial to your success of health.  Your body is in a constant state of repair and breakdown.  As long as your body is repairing faster than it's breakdown, you will have hope with healing and becoming healthier.  If you absorb only one thing from this article, hopefully it is this:

Repair  >  Breakdown

Avocados & ChiropracTIC a Winning Combination

Often we hear we should stay away from eating foods that are high in fat.  Often, avocados are one of those "high fat" listed foods. However, avocados contain great nutrients for your body that can also lower your risk of heart disease.

It has been known that the monosaturated fat in avocados can help promote "good" HDL cholesterol levels.  A recent study conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles found that avocados contain considerable amounts of beta-sitosterol, a phytochemical that helps lower total blood cholesterol levels and the fiber in avocados and you have a powerful cholesterol-fighting functional food.

Combine this with healthy eating and ChiropracTIC care and your body will function in a healthy way -- innate intelligence at its best.  So before you put a "do not eat" list together read about each food so yo make the correct choices that are heathy. 

In addition, UCLA also found out that the avocados have nearly twice the amount of vitamine E as many other foods... they also contain omega 3-6-9 fatty acids, potassium, vitamin A and other nutrients including many other vitamins, calcium and minerals zinc and maganese.

Avocados were also rich in lutein, a phytochemical whcih helps protect against cataracts and macular degeneration; and contains glutathione, which helps regulate the body's antioxidant defense mechanism.

Guacamole is a delicious way to add avocados to a snack or meal, it can be used as a sandwich spread, a dip for raw vegetables or with healthy crackers.  Another way to consume this healthy food is to add a quarter of an avocado into your smoothie to make it creamy and delicious.

Be sure to maintain a healthy lifestyle by keeping the three types of stressors from causing subluxations inside your body:  Thoughts, Traumas and Toxins...

Your nervous system is your super highway system to your health. ChiropracTIC care for you, your family and friends will ensure that your nervous system is functioning at 100% by keeping the brain and body connected and communicating smoothly. 

Digestive Health

What most people don't know about Chiropractic Care...

Nerves from many regions of the spine have a definite digestion connection. These spinal nerves are capable of speeding up or slowing down the passage of food through the gastrointestinal tract, increasing or decreasing the amount of digestive juices secreted into the tract, and sending a greater or lesser supply of blood to various digestive organs. 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.

An Australian survey of 1,494 chiropractic patients revealed that spinal pain is often accompanied by heartburn or indigestion. The majority of these patients never told their doctors of chiropractic about their stomach symptoms - only their spinal pain, which usually was located between the shoulder blades. Of the patients with indigestion or heartburn, 22 percent reported relief from their digestive symptoms, as well as their spinal pain, while under chiropractic care.

            Unfortunately, many people with back pain, neck pain, tension headache and other types of spinal pain turn to painkilling medications before trying chiropractic care. This decision may be detrimental to digestive health. For example, the American Gastroenterological Association estimates that some 16,500 Americans die each year from bleeding ulcers related to the use of nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).  This category of drugs includes several that are commonly taken for spinal pain, such as Aspirin, Advil, Aleve, Motrin, and Naprosyn.

Tylenol is not an NSAID and is not believed to be responsible for significant numbers of bleeding ulcers, but it has been linked to another digestive problem - liver damage.  The risk to the liver posed by Tylenol is especially severe in patients already taking other medications with known liver toxicity.

No painkilling drug can match the safety record of chiropractic care. Is it reasonable to make painkilling drugs your first line of defense against spinal pain? Or is it more intelligent to consider this approach: Chiropractic first, drugs second, surgery last?

ChiropracTIC is so crucial to all aspects of your life!  Please don't underestimate the power of your body to heal and function.  It is designed to improve your body's ability to adapt and function.  

“Never Lost with Chiropractic”

Ever drive lost for miles and miles before stopping for directions? Before the advent of GPS, that was pretty common.  When you finally discovered how off course you were, you most likely had to re-trace the roads you were on to get back on track.

Getting lost with your health is similar.  If you've 'traveled' the wrong way for miles and miles with your health – popping pills to mask your pain or searching endlessly for the right pillow – when you finally stop at our ChiropracTIC office to get good directions, you might have to retrace those lost miles with intensive care to get back on track.  But the good news is, you won't be lost any longer.
  
Once you get pointed in the right direction, ChiropracTIC care is the GPS that keeps you on course.  Get checked regularly and stay on the right road - we'll help you reach your destination.