Do you rely heavily on the SNOOZE button?  If so, you are probably not getting enough sleep.  Giving your body the proper amount of sleep is critical for healthy living.  Here are some of the reasons sleep matters:

• Your body repairs and heals while sleeping
• Sleep strengthens your immune system
• You will have an easier time losing weight and maintaining a normal body weight
• You will be able to think clearer during the day when you get the proper amount of sleep
• Sleep reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and reduces stress-related chemicals in your body
• Sleep helps balance your mood
• Memory is improved by sleep

The average amount of sleep you need can be summed up as follows:

• Adults: 7-8 hours
• Teenagers 11-17 years old: 8-9 hours
• Children 5-10 years old: 10-11 hours
• Preschoolers 2-4 years old: 11-13 hours
• Babies and Toddlers: 12-18 hours

9 Tips for A Better Night’s Sleep

1. Go to bed close to the same time every day.
2. Avoid eating a great deal of food or liquids just before bedtime.
3. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine in the evening time
4. Exercise regularly
5. Create a comfortable, quiet, and dark bed room
6. Avoid naps after 3:00 PM, and do most of your sleeping in the PM
7. Choose a comfortable and supportive pillow and mattress
8. Start a relaxing bedtime routine
9. Only go to bed when you’re tired and turn out the lights

Enjoy a peaceful and  restful night’s sleep!

Our wellness team specializes in balancing the spine and body.  That’s our job.  That’s what we love to do.  Drop by our office… you relax, and we’ll do the work.

But what about your life?  Is it balanced?  Are you putting forth the effort to have a balanced life?  What are you doing to help establish or maintain a healthy and balanced life?

A healthy life involves a balance of many different areas in life:

• Physical health (are you giving your body what it needs to be vibrant?)
• Mental health (what is the quality of the things you focus your mind on?)
• Spiritual health (Are you connected with God?  Do you have inner peace?)
• Social health (How are your relationships?  Your friendships?  Your family?)
• Career health (Is your career meaningful?  Are you productive?)
• Financial health (Are you living within your means?  Are you content?)

It’s a good exercise to go through these areas and rank yourself on a scale of 1 to 10.  If you realize that you are out of balance in any of these areas, you may need to make some changes.  You may need to set new goals.

You may need to sacrifice some TV time to spend more time nourishing a relationship with a family member or friend.  You may need to cut back on late night activities so you can give your body some extra rejuvenating sleep.  You may need to prioritize your spending, and channel more of your resources into health-related activities.

Evaluate your own life and see if your activities are congruent with your life goals.  Remember your primary goal to have a healthy and balanced life.

The bottom line is that your health affects everything you do and everyone you know.  Achieving a more balanced life will not only benefit you, but also your family, friends and even co-workers.

On June 19th, 2008, I posted an article entitled “Everyone Needs Good Support and Balance“.  I explained how important it is to have a thorough exam by someone who knows what to look for.  Then your problem(s) can be handled from the right “angle”.  

I explained that you may need adjustments, massage, and exercise therapy.  Or perhaps you may need laser therapy or electrical stimulation.  I went on to explain that regardless of your condition, you need good balance and support.  Then I described a very common condition called excessive pronation.  If you haven’t been tested for this condition, please let me know, because…

This Condition Has A Damaging Effect On The Whole Body!

I now use a digital foot scanner, that (in just about 5 minutes) will allow me to test both of your feet for possible arch problems. In addition to recommending spinal pelvic stabilizers by Foot Levelers, I went on to recommend running shoes by New Balance, model 1123.

NEW BALANCE 1123 REPORT

I’ve been using them for nearly a year now.  I use them when I run 2-3 times per week on average.  I can tell you so far that I’d give them 5 stars out of 5!  They are extremely comfortable, stable, and hold my Foot Levelers spinal pelvic stabilizers perfectly.  They appear to be very durable.  The only signs of wear are some tiny “chunks” of rubber taken out of the back of both heel areas (not on the the sole).  So I can say very confidently that they are still HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 

Mostly all of us have been taught to view symptoms as bad.  And when you have spinal pain, headaches, or just feel rotten, you’re told to get rid of the symptoms as fast as possible. But usually this is done without regard for your own health and without understanding the role of symptoms in your health.

When we are suffering we are told to take aspirin, or Tylenol, or to TAKE MORE AND MORE CHEMICALS!  Listen.  First of all, health can’t be found in any bottle!  Second, symptoms and pain are NOT always bad!  Your body was designed with a special warning system to let you know if something is harming you.  Pain is a way that your body talks to you.  Back pain may be your body’s way of telling you that you’re injured and need rest.  In many ways, pain helps you prevent injury and harm to your body. 

Covering up the pain can be DANGEROUS and can even invite the possibility of further injury.  It’s like having a really expensive fire alarm system in your home…and then disconnecting it before you go to bed so that it doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night!  BUT THAT IS ITS JOB!

If you injured your back, can imagine the damage you could do if you used a simple pain-killing drug that allowed you to forget the pain.  You might begin lifting again, which could very easily cause severe muscle and joint damage worse than the first injury!

There’s another aspect of symptoms that we need to look at.  Sometimes your symptoms are an indication that your body is doing its job perfectly.  Vomiting and diarrhea are natural body functions that could save your life!   If you’ve eaten bad food, you want your body to do its best to flush out the toxins you just ate!  These types of symptoms are your body’s own defenses working to keep you as healthy as possible!  Trying to remove these types of symptoms would be just plain harmful to your health!

Now let’s look at this from a different angle.  Most of us believe that if you feel good then you are healthy.  Let me explain why this is a very dangerous way to measure your health.  First, we already saw that symptoms aren’t always bad.  Sometimes they’re present when your body is working fine… as warning signs of damage, or as natural defense mechanisms.  Secondly, many times symptoms are the LAST stage of a disease. 

Did you know that the FIRST symptom of high blood pressure is often a DEADLY STROKE?  The first symptom of heart disease could be a FATAL HEART ATTACK!

You see, heart disease is a process – it takes time before your heart gives way.  By the time you feel it, it may be too late.  To put it simply, symptoms are a terribly inaccurate measurement of your state of health.

This is why I take a different approach to health care.  I won’t put my focus on your symptoms… I’ll put 110% of my focus on your health!  I understand that if your health is good then you are less likely to get sick. And my techniques are guaranteed to help you be healthier!  Let’s face it, what you really need to do is this:

TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH NOW BECAUSE BY THE TIME YOUR SYMPTOMS WARN YOU OF A PROBLEM, IT MAY BE TOO LATE! 

You’ll be much less likely to be sick and suffer from symptoms if your body is really healthy!  

Since TRUE HEALTH IS NOT DETERMINED BY HOW YOU FEEL, then how do you really know if you’re healthy?  You’re probably thinking, “What determines health, if it isn’t determined by the absence of things like symptoms and pain?”  The answer is…

SUPERIOR HEALTH IS DETERMINED BY THE PRESENCE OF THINGS – NOT BY THE ABSENCE OF THINGS SUCH AS SYMPTOMS OR PAIN!

Health is determined by the presence of all of your body parts functioning at their optimum levels.  In other words, when all of your body parts are working at 100% – you are 100% healthy.  It’s that simple!  If there were one thing I would want you to remember from this article, it’s this:

HEALTH IS THE NORMAL STATE OF YOUR BODY!

You need to view your health as something that can be created, enhanced, destroyed, and lost. You can picture your health like the contents of a bucket.  Doing the right things adds to the contents of the bucket and increases your health.  Doing bad things lessens the contents and may bring about disease.  Unfortunately, there’s an inherent problem with the bucket… it has holes at the bottom through which the contents continually leak.  Some of the holes are due to things you can’t change such as: aging, unavoidable stress and previous injuries.  But remember, there are many things that are in your control that cause holes.  So what are you to do when the contents leaks out all over the floor?   Should you spend time mopping up the floor?  NO!  This is just taking away the symptoms of a possible deeper health problem.  And we already discussed that this is taking a dangerous risk with your own health.  To really make a positive change in your health, you need to continually add to the contents of the bucket and to avoid things that cause more holes in your bucket.  You can’t do much about the past.  But remember:

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BEGIN TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT AND BEGIN DOING WHAT IT TAKES TO EXPERIENCE SUPERIOR HEALTH!

And remember that I’m here to help!  I’ll work with you one-on-one and help you with your individual needs.  I promise to do my best to guide and encourage you to get on and stay on the road to good health!

Your focus then moves from treating symptoms, to actively doing the things necessary to EXPERIENCE SUPERIOR HEALTH!  If you make the effort to stop chasing your symptoms and start moving towards optimum health then you’ll be truly practicing preventative health care.

Why be content to be merely free from symptoms when you can ensure better health & vitality for yourself and your whole family for your entire lives?

A lot of patients ask me what foods they should avoid to be healthy. They ask me which are the really bad ones? They want me to tell them they’re doing fine because they avoid red meat and eat only poultry and fish. But there’s an inherent problem with this way of thinking.

If you’ve heard the news lately, there have been reports listing America’s worst foods. Of course everyone wants to know the #1 worst food. It happens to be a side dish that may have well been served by the Grim Reaper himself…

Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing

2,900 calories
182 g fat
240 g carbs

This weapon of mass construction is the caloric equivalent of eating 14 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, before your dinner arrives. Even if you split this “starter” with 3 friends, you’ll have downed a meal’s worth of calories.

(If interested: do a search on Google for “America’s worst foods“.)

Oh how we love to point the finger at people doing things worse than us. Don’t we? We love to compare. It makes us feel good. We think somehow that people indulging in Aussie Fries justifies my eating fried chicken, because the chicken isn’t rated as bad as the fries. The problem is, you can always find something worse.

Take the Aussie Fries for instance. I could make them even less healthy by coating them with an extra layer of lard just for kicks. That would probably make them the equivalent of 16-17 Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Does that make the original version of the Aussie Fries okay now?

Isn’t it better to just focus on the good stuff? You can spend a little time reading and quickly learn what foods truly promote superior health. Then clean house.

Cleaning House Action Step for Promoting Superior Health

• Learn what “junk” food is and get all of it out of your house.
• Stock your refrigerator with a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits. Go for different colors and flavors.
• Keep your freezer filled with frozen fruits, vegetables, ground flax seed, whole grain pita bread and whole grain wraps. These are handy to have for quick meal preparation.
• Keep your cabinets filled with a variety of beans, nuts, seeds and dried fruits. You can make different varieties of “snacks” with different combinations of nuts, seeds and dried fruits. Be creative and experiment.
• Keep a supply of fresh and clean water for drinking.
• Supplement with a natural, safe and powerful product like Intra-Max.

From time to time our family has to repeat this action step because we accumulate “junk foods” in our house. It’s best to simply get it out of your home.

So it’s not a good strategy to just avoid eating the “bad” foods because this doesn’t ensure that you’ll be eating the best foods for promoting superior health. But if you follow the simple plan I’ve outlined above, you’ll be far more successful in your health journey.

- First remember that superior health is not a destination… it’s a journey. Take that first step!

- Physical health & wellness is more than just feeling good. Your body is truly healthy when the whole body is working together at full capacity.

- Our physical health & wellness is impacted by: nutrition, rest, exercise, maintaining healthy body structure & alignment (chiropractic care and massage) and management of stress. Other areas of wellness include: mental health, spiritual health and social health.

- A lifestyle of healthy eating can greatly impact your health. By pursuing a whole-food plant-based diet, you will be healthier, have more balanced energy, have improved digestion and be more resistant to the onset of disease.

- By prioritizing healthy living, you will be going against the mainstream in our society. Get support from family and friends, you’ll need it!