Can We Stay Forever Young?

This is a repost from the Millar Chiropractic Clinic website.

Can We Stay Forever Young?

The Fountain of Youth and Chiropractic Care

There is no literal fountain of youth, of course, but there are ways to enhance and extend our youthfulness. Anyone can do this by following a consistently healthy diet, getting regular vigorous exercise, and making sure to get sufficient rest. Additionally, when you add regular chiropractic care to your long-term program, all your efforts provide an even greater yield. Chiropractic care works by optimizing the functioning of your spinal system. The spinal column plays a very important role, housing and protecting the spinal nerves - branches of your central nervous system that carry messages and instructions to all the other parts of your body. When the various parts of your spinal column (the vertebrae) are working well together, messages can flow freely back and forth along the spinal nerves. By helping ensure this free flow of information, chiropractic treatment helps you get the most out of your exercise and nutrition programs.

Do you consider yourself young at heart, even if you're not actually young in years?  Do you wonder if it's possible to remain "forever young" in terms of good health and wellness? Of course, there are positive aspects to getting older that we shouldn't discount in our search for the fountain of youth. Most of us probably wouldn't want to trade our positive life experiences, accomplishments, and the personal growth we have achieved. Our life experiences contribute to our character growth and help us to gain a broader understanding and appreciation of life.

 

There are many positive aspects to getting older, including gaining skills and hopefully wisdom, but is it really necessary for our physical bodies to break down along the way? We may not be able to hold on to the full bloom of youth as we advance in years, but there are a few things that may help us retain much of our youthful glow and vigor as we get older. Perhaps we may not remain "forever young" in the truest sense, but we can certainly embrace the ideas that "50 is the new 30" and "60 is the new 40". Here are two simple suggestions that may seem rather obvious, but can actually be very effective if you implement them consistently over the long term.

 

Suggestion #1: Eat a high quality diet and do not overeat! Each individual has their own metabolic balancing point beyond which extra food, especially excess carbohydrates, will be stored as fat. If you are eating a nutrient dense diet - focusing on high quality protein, fats, and vegetables and keeping your average daily calorie consumption in balance with your energy expenditures - then all the energy in the food you eat will be used to repair your tissues and to support your physical functioning.

 

On the other hand, if you regularly overindulge in excess calories, especially carbohydrates, the excess calories will not be utilized, and will instead be stored as fat. These abnormal fat stores tend to eventually lead to chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. So for your highest likelihood of enjoying long-term health, it's very wise idea to avoid overeating, at least most of the time. Keep in mind that you don't have to be perfect.  If you eat a high-quality diet within your caloric range on six out of seven days each week, you can think of that seventh day as a free day when you can indulge a bit more.  The idea is to make eating well a lifestyle choice that you can maintain over the long-term, helping you to stay "forever young".¹

 

You may have heard the term "Intermittent Fasting" which has become increasingly popular as a way to receive the benefits of calorie restriction without restricting the amount of calories consumed.  Proponents suggest that you can receive all the benefits of "calorie restriction" by not reducing your total daily caloric intake, but instead eating the same number of calories each day during a smaller window of time - thereby fasting for at least 14-16 hours or more, with the balance of the day being your shortened "eating window".  The studies that have been done on this technique look promising except for one huge caveat.  Most of the studies have been done on men, and the few that have included women seem to indicate that intermittent fasting may have the opposite effect for women - causing hormonal disruptions, insomnia and even weight gain and increased insulin resistance.  For women especially, it is prudent to avoid prolonged fasting states, and instead follow the advice above - eating a high quality diet with an appropriate amount of calories - and spacing your meals throughout the day to keep your blood sugar and hormones balanced.

 

Suggestion #2: Get more exercise. Did you ever see a competitive swimmer, gymnast, or professional dancer who didn't look fantastic? These young men and women are in such good shape owing to the high volume of exercise they do every week. Do you know any older adults who were gymnasts or professional dancers in their younger days? Isn't that person still unusually healthy and fit? Such long-term fitness results from a lifelong habit of regular exercise. The wonderful news is that even if you haven't exercised in many, many years, you can still derive benefits for years to come by starting to exercise, right now.^2,3 It's never too late to start!  Begin wherever you are fitness-wise, and build up gradually.  Not only will regular exercise improve your waistline, it will also likely improve your mood, enhance your sense of well-being and even help you to have more energy during the day and sleep better at night. The most important thing is to begin and to be consistent.

 

Another caution, because many of us tend to think that if something is good for us, then a whole lot is much better.  We just finished advising you to get more exercise, and for most of us that is just what the doctor ordered.  However, please pay attention to your body.  Start slowly and build up.  It's easy to get caught up in an activity and overdo it.  Try to find activities you enjoy, and get some exercise every day.  Also, it is best to vary both the activities and the intensity. 

 

Although the vast majority of us don't get enough exercise, there is a small percentage of people that will tend to consistently push their bodies too long and too hard.  Too much intense exercise can actually stress the body.  Exercise creates free-radicals and you can eventually deplete your free-radical scavenging antioxidant stores if you continually overdo it, especially as you age. Just like with your caloric intake, it is prudent to find your "sweet spot" with regard to exercise - getting enough to enjoy all of the many benefits, but not so much that you are taxing your body and creating chronic stress.  Like most aspects of life, it's all about balance.  Exercised should leave you feeling good, relaxed and energized.  If you are feeling depleted or exhausted you are doing too much.  Back off a bit and give your body a break.

 

These two suggestions, eating less and exercising more (within reason), have been known for decades. But in order to reap the many benefits, what's required is to actually do these things. We can be "forever young", by taking these simple actions on our own behalf.

 

 

¹Campbell KL, et al: J Clin Oncol Reduced-Calorie Dietary Weight Loss, Exercise, and Sex Hormones in Postmenopausal Women: Randomized Controlled Trial. 2012 May 21 [Epub ahead of print] 

²Umpierre D: Physical activity advice only or structured exercise training and association with HbA1c levels in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 305(17):1790-1799, 2011

³Betof AS, et al: Effects and potential mechanisms of exercise training on cancer progression: A translational perspective. Brain Behav Immun 2012 May 17 [Epub ahead of print]

 

 

 

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The Human Body is a Very Complex System

This is a repost from the Millar Chiropractic Clinic website.

The Human Body is a Very Complex System

Your Partner in Good Health - Chiropractic Care

Good health rarely happens by accident.  That is especially true these days, because the typical American diet and lifestyle stacks the odds against us. A very small number of fortunate people will enjoy good health no matter what they do. Perhaps you know one of these rare birds who do all the "wrong" things and in their advanced years, will tell anyone who will listen how they've never been sick a day even though they smoke, drank, ate fried foods etc. But for the rest of us, we need to make healthy lifestyle choices in order to enjoy long-term health and wellness. Perhaps our goal is simply to be consistently well enough that we can live an active life without chronic aches and pains interfering with it, or constantly worrying about our state of health and what might be going wrong. Chiropractic care is an important component of healthy lifestyle. Regular chiropractic care can help ensure that we get the most value out of the other healthy lifestyle choices we make. Regular chiropractic care can help us achieve the long-lasting good health and wellness that allows us to get the most out of life.

The concept of complexity is a useful way of helping us better understand the world around us.  Complexity theory is a scientific concept that has spread rapidly throughout the collective consciousness during the last several decades. Anyone who watches the television show "The Big Bang Theory" has heard various references to complex systems, chaos theory, and emergent phenomena. Perhaps surprisingly, these fascinating topics from the fields of mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry also have special importance for human health and wellness.

Examples of chaos and complexity are prevalent in the natural world. Weather systems are a good example of complex systems, which is why the weather is so difficult to predict, even in the short-term. This is primarily because the basic structure of a weather pattern can change in an instant.  The scientific understanding of chaos theory has been advanced by studying another natural phenomena - avalanches.  Another example in the natural world is the flocking behavior of birds, which demonstrates the ever-variable outcomes of a great number of factors.

An emergent phenomenon is one that cannot be predicted from studying the various parts that make up the whole. Emergent phenomena include the flocking behavior of birds in flight, in which large flocks create beautiful, shifting, dynamic patterns as they fly; the structure of beehives; and the World Wide Web. Even human consciousness may, from a certain perspective, be considered an emergent phenomenon.

From an individual health perspective, the relative health and wellness of any particular person is also an emergent phenomenon.^1,2, For example, fighting off the flu or a common cold is a dynamic process with many complex and chaotic interactions taking place in order to determine the outcome. The individual fighting off the flu or cold may be aware of how things are going in general, based upon how well or sick they are feeling, but they are not aware of each of the specific cellular and subcellular activities that are happening in their body.

Are our white blood cells working together effectively to keep us healthy?  Is their behavior organized? Do they know where they need to be in order to battle the invading forces? Or is their behavior uncoordinated and random causing us to end up sick as a result?

Consistent, long-term health and wellness emerge from a variety of prerequisites, including proper nutrition, sufficient rest and regular exercise. These activities are considered healthy lifestyle choices because they promote good health. Because the body's functions and the interactions with its environment are very complex, it is impossible to guarantee a specific outcome. But we can make an educated prediction based on historical data and analyzing the facts. It is clear that the outcomes we want - long-term health and wellness - are most likely to result from a set of healthy lifestyle choices that are made consistently over the long-term.

 

¹Koonin EV: Are there laws of genome evolution? PLoS Comput Biol Epub August 25, 2011

²Jayasinghe S: Conceptualising population health: from mechanistic thinking to complexity science. Emerg Themes Epidemiol 8(1):2, 2011

 

 

 

 

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Performing Complex Movements

 This is a repost from the Millar Chiropractic Clinic website.

 

Performing Complex Movements

Wall Push-ups for Beginners

Performing a regular push-up correctly and effectively requires a large amount of coordination and strength. If you are significantly overweight and/or haven't exercise in a while, regular push-ups performed on the floor may be too challenging, even if you do the easier version with your knees bent. You can work up to those more advanced push-ups by performing standing push-ups against a wall, until you build your strength.  Also, wall push-ups are often a better choice for people with back problems, because standard push-ups can stress the lower back. To perform wall push-ups, stand facing a wall and place your hands on it, slightly wider than your shoulders.  You should be standing far enough from the wall so that your hands touch the wall with you arms comfortably outstretched but not completely straight.  Your fingers should be pointing upward. Keep your tummy pulled in, and inhale while you bend your elbows and lean your body toward the wall. Exhale while you slowly push yourself back to your starting position.  Make your movements slow and controlled and make sure you're not arching your back.  Repeat several times until you can do a set of 8-12 repetitions.  As you get stronger, you can take a short rest and then repeat one or two additional sets. A wall push-up is a compound exercise because it helps to strengthen several major muscle groups, when performed correctly, including your arms, pectorals and core.

During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Mao Asada not only won a silver medal in Ladies Figure Skating, she also landed three triple axels during that competition which was a feat that no competitor had previously accomplished.  While all figure skating spins, jumps and other technical elements have varying levels of difficulty, the triple axel is especially challenging. A triple axel consists of many moving parts, which must all be perfectly coordinated in order to complete the requisite rotations in the air before landing safely on the ice.

How does a figure skater assemble all the various parts of this daring and beautiful element? Certainly not by thinking about them. The timing of this entire feat happens in a matter of seconds, while the individual moving parts of a triple axel happen in a fraction of a second. Therefore, if the skater tries to think about what is coming next, they will most likely end up falling instead.

Well-executed triple- axels, salchows, and flips combine exquisite beauty, athleticism and grace. Double and single jumps are also very impressive, requiring a very high level of coordination and skill.^1,2 A skater learns how to perform these elements by training, honing their ability to focus, and countless hours of practice. The months, and years of training result in these moves becoming second nature to a skater. At this point, generally speaking, thinking plays no part in performing these "tricks", because we can't think at skating speed.

So how can we bring a skater's level of excellence to our own training? Whether we're riding a bike, running, doing yoga, walking, swimming, dancing, or playing basketball or volleyball, a high level of commitment is necessary in order to excel.³ A half-hearted effort will not get you significant results. If we truly want to increase our health and well-being, it is necessary to commit to a regular exercise schedule. In order to do this, we need to plan and use our time efficiently, making sure that we set aside at least 30 minutes each day for our daily exercise activities.

We need to make sure that we optimize our exercise time to get the best results. The main objectives of exercise are to tone and strengthen our muscles, increase our aerobic capacity and increase our flexibility and the range of motion in our joints. In order to do this, it's important for various parts and systems of your body to communicate with each other efficiently, otherwise some of your effort will be wasted. The most effective way to ensure optimal functioning of all our physiologic systems is to make sure our nerve system is operating at full capacity. Chiropractic health care focuses on fulfilling this need.

Regular chiropractic care helps to restore and maintain optimal functioning of the all-important nerve system. This helps all the various body systems function effectively so that you can derive maximal benefit from your exercise efforts. Your body becomes smarter and able to perform at higher levels. You are supported in developing new physical skills and abilities. You may also notice an improvement in your sleep resulting from a better functioning nerve system, and perhaps even an increase in creativity and joy in your life.



¹Tanguy SG, et al: Are otolithic inputs interpreted better in figure skaters? Neuroreport 19(5):565-568, 2008
²Lockwood KL, et al: Landing for success: a biomechanical and perceptual analysis of on-ice jumps in figure skating. Sports Biomech 5(2)231-241, 2006
³Rinne M, et al: Is Generic Physical Activity Or Specific Exercise Associated With Motor Abilities? Med Sci Sports Exerc February 13, 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

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Maximizing Your Health Account

Maximizing Your Health Account

Deposits and Withdrawals from Your Health Account

In terms of your health and well-being it's very important to not to "overdraw your health account". Withdrawals should never exceed deposits. The trouble is that sometimes we don't even realize that we're making a withdrawal, or we forget to make sure we've had enough deposits to cover a big withdrawal. When this happens, we tend to get sick. Stress can cause a very large withdrawal from your health account. Your body will expend a large amount of resources as it tries to cope with stress. The result is the same whether the stress is psychological, emotional or physical - all types of ongoing stress result in ongoing withdrawals. When we are under a lot of stress, it's especially important to pay close attention to our health accounts. Proper nutrition, sufficient rest, and regular exercise become even more important when we're under increased stress. The trouble is, heightened stress levels go hand in hand with chronic exhaustion - so we tend to feel like we just don't have the energy necessary to do the things that will keep us healthy. We tell ourselves that we're too stressed out and we don't have enough time to workout or make an effort to buy and prepare healthy food. But the thing is, that's when it really is most important to make the effort and take the time to do what's best for our health.  Even if we don't really feel like it. Take the time now to pad your health accounts, so that you will have the necessary health resources down the road when you really need it.

Everyone wants to increase the balance in their bank accounts. The health of our finances is largely determined by the level of our resources. The more money we have in the bank, so to speak, the more secure we feel overall. If our resources are nicely diversified among liquid assets, property, stocks, and bonds, we are apt to feel even more secure.

We can similarly use this type of fiscal accounting as a metaphor for our physical well-being and health. The more resources we are able to accumulate in our "health account" the healthier we will likely end up being. To take it one step further, if we're able to diversify the assets in our health accounts, as it's prudent to do with our financial accounts, we're more likely to experience better outcomes with regard to our long-term health.

You may notice that your physical resources probably fluctuate as often as your financial resources.  With the metaphor of health accounting, we can still think in terms of income and expenses. If your "income" is greater than your "expenses", you will likely enjoy overall higher levels of health.  Of course, the opposite is also true - when expenses are greater than income, health tends to deteriorate.

What kinds of things can we use to pad our health accounts? The most obvious and crucial aspects are food,¹ exercise ² and rest.³  With each of these, quality is more important than quantity - especially when it comes to the food we eat.  Eating a large quantity of poor quality food will eventually lead to being overweight or obese.  On the other hand, when you focus on quality - enjoying a diet that primarily consists of high-quality protein, high-quality fats, and plenty of fresh vegetables and some fruits - you will usually become more fit and naturally lean.

When it comes to getting adequate rest, most people usually do best with seven to eight hours of sleep each night. There are exceptions, but for most people, getting less than six hours of sleep per night long-term will eventually deplete their health account. In rare cases, getting too much sleep long-term can also lead to negative effects. Just like with food though, quality can be more important than quantity (or at least equally important).

There are many additional sources of "income" that can increase the balance of our health accounts. Close and loving personal relationships with family and supportive friends, interesting and stimulating interests and activities, exploring new places and learning new skills all help to grow our health accounts, enhancing our long-term health and increasing our overall sense of well-being.

Chiropractic care is another wonderful source of "income" for our health accounts. Receiving regular chiropractic care can help a person maximize the value - on a physiological basis - of the food, rest and exercise they are getting. Chiropractic care assists people in getting the most out of their health resources, by optimizing their physiology and thereby improving their health and increasing their well-being.




¹Greenwald P, Dunn BK: Do we make optimal use of the potential of cancer prevention? Recent Results Cancer Res 181:3-17, 2009
²Jackson AS, et al: Role of lifestyle and aging on the longitudinal change in cardiorespiratory fitness. Arch Intern Med 169(19):1781-1787, 2009
³Smaldone A, et al: Sleepless in America: inadequate sleep and relationships to health and well-being of our nation's children. Pediatrics 119(Suppl 1):S29-S37, 2007

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