Natural Health Co-op Articles

As spring approaches, thoughts turn to spending more time outdoors. Maybe that involves biking, hiking, swimming, or possibly just lying on a sunny beach. The dreary days of winter are finally behind and we can get outside and get moving again.

In making the transition from indoors to outdoors, we tend to forget about the illnesses that we stereotypically think of only coming in winter. For some reason, we tend to slack off a bit in taking care of our immune system since it seems that all of the colds and flu have gone away for the winter.

Unfortunately, illness does not fly south for the winter and, depending on how we get back into shape, we can actually become more at risk for catching whatever bug or germ may be around. This can come from two directions.

First, since we are out in the public more, doing more traveling, etc., we are being exposed to different kinds of challenges to the immune system than we are used to. Since they may be new to us, the body has not had a chance to prepare and defend against the invader.

The other aspect may be counter-intuitive.

Generally, exercising is considered good for overall health as it can help relieve stress and promote cardiovascular health. But there is the possibility of overdoing it which can actually be detrimental to the functioning of the immune system.

I’ve seen this with elite level cyclists. You would think that this group of individuals would have great overall health and not have to worry about getting sick.

Quite the contrary.

Staying healthy is one of their bigger challenges, because if your respiratory system is not able to work at 100% (from congestion due to a cold or other illness) then training or racing at a competitive level becomes quite difficult. Since most of us do not train at an elite level, does this apply to us?

Most certainly.

If we are making the transition from being inactive in the winter to increasing activity in the spring and summer, our bodies can have a similar reaction if we do not increase our workloads gradually. Going from sitting on the couch watching TV every evening to instead going out and running long distance is not only going to make you really sore the next day, but it will have negative affects on the rest of your body.

So as the weather improves, be smart about the activities you’re restarting after the winter break and add duration and intensity gradually.

Also keep in mind that there are still threats to the immune system out there, even though we don’t think about them as much as we do in the winter time. For more tips on how to keep the immune system healthy, visit this site to download a free immune system health report: boost immune system

By Roger Hutchison

Read some introductory excerpts from our interview with Dr. James Brown, Chiropractor, Rocket City Chiropractics, Huntsville, AL

Listen to our Interview! Chiropractic Care: Understanding Why It Works

Chiropractic is centered around identifying, locating and correcting what we call subluxations. A subluxation is a damaged or injured spinal joint which puts pressure on a nerve. A subluxation is similar to a pinched nerve, except that it can affect everything along the path of that nerve. For example, if I’ve got a subluxation or pinched nerve in my mid-back, my mid-back may hurt, but there’s also a branch of that nerve that may affect the stomach and cause indigestion, heartburn or acid reflux. And, if you’ve ever heard stories like, “I went to my chiropractor for ear infections,” or “I went to him for PMS,” that’s exactly how it works — again, addressing a subluxation can affect everything along the path of that nerve positively.

A lot of people have heard of pinched nerves. You can have a pinched nerve in your neck that runs down into your shoulder and hand and arm and causes pain and numbness and weakness. You may experience all those symptoms even into your lower back or feel it down your leg.

Subluxations usually have five different factors and that’s what we look for when someone comes in as a new patient. It doesn’t matter if they come in for a big toe pain, or if they have indigestion or heart burn or headaches or some other symptom. The first of the five factors is usually pain or tenderness. While the patient may have aches or pains, the specific sign we are looking for is tenderness or pain caused while palpating (or feeling) along that spinal area. For example, someone may come in with a low back pain, but we check their neck and find a sore spot, which is an indication of a subluxation even though the patient may not have noticed anything there.

The second factor is to look for swelling and inflammation in the areas with pain or tenderness, because if a joint’s not working properly, it will be swollen or inflamed. We will also be looking for tight muscles.Whenever a joint is not working properly, the muscles have to compensate and become tighter to try to protect that area because it’s weak. Muscle spasms are our third factor.

The fourth factor is how well the joint bends and turns. For example, if you can look farther over one shoulder than you can the other, that is an indication of subluxation.

As the fifth factor we also look for a temperature difference. The nerve temperature on both sides of the spine should be identical — maybe not from the top of the neck to the bottom of the rear end, but from the left side to right side, within a couple inches of that nerve, the temperature should be the same. If there is a sudden change in temperature, that is an indication of a subluxation.

There are two different instruments which help us identify the location of the subluxation by measuring nerve temperature. One is called a thermoscan and employs computer based imaging. We also have what we call a nervoscope, and I really like that one better, which is not linked to a computer. The nervoscope has been around for probably 60 years or more and has been refined over time and is very accurate. It indicates the temperature difference by a needle deflection, similar to the gas gauge on your car.

In chiropractic, we find out which bone is mis-aligned, we work on correcting that in a particular line of drive and corrective mode so it allows the body to heal up as best as it can.

Getting older is a fact of living and shouldn’t be anything to be ashamed of or feared.  Indeed, healthy cultures revere their elders and treat them with respect.  Unfortunately, our culture is less than healthy and currently obsessed with youth, which leads many (dare I say most) women to treat aging as something to dread.  That’s terrible, and we need to change hearts and minds, rather than resort to looking and acting foolish in an attempt to look younger.

That being stated, there’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to look as good you can, and wanting to avoid behaviors or conditions that contribute to premature aging.  Looking older than our years is oftentimes related to our genetic makeup, but it is now more than ever caused by unhealthy habits and lifestyles. Even genetic “premature” aging can be greatly exaggerated by improper health choices.  Staying informed and making choices that put you on the best possible track early is key to every aspect of health!

Making some simple changes can help you avoid looking older than you are (and feeling older than you are).  Here are a few of the most well-known tips to prevent premature aging — ones under your control.

1.    Avoid those tanning beds at all costs.  You may look great now, but prolonged use of tanning beds can lead to wrinkles and other skin problems.  If you want a tan, acquire it naturally, by sunbathing in moderation in mid morning or late afternoon, when the sun is not at its peak.

2    Eat less. Don’t snack. Our bodies spend more energy digesting food than on any other function.   Making the body work too hard by digesting too much food wears it out prematurely.  In addition, carrying around the extra weight from overeating stresses and stretches the body even more.  Eat wisely for your body type and needs — in moderation. It has been demonstrated that periodic fasting does wonders for the whole system.

3.  Get fit!  Nothing makes you look older than being flabby and out of shape.  So get active.  Start a regular walking program, or start toning, or get a good low impact aerobics DVD and use it regularly and you’ll retard the aging process. If you have physical limitations, check with your health care provider about physical therapists in your area — they can tell you very good ways to implement a long-term fitness plan. Not only will you look better, but also the difference in how you feel will be even greater.

4.  Get plenty of rest.  Sleep is how our body rejuvenates (”restores youth”) itself.  It’s important to get adequate and effective sleep if you want to fight premature aging.  Most experts recommend 6-8 hours a night, and it’s thought that the more sleep you get before midnight, the more restful and rejuvenating your sleep will be.  So don’t skimp on sleep. 

5.  If you smoke, quit.   Smoking is one of the major causes of premature aging in women — to name just one consequence. Your skin and eyes take a beating and you breathe in toxins that the body works constantly to rid itself of.

6.  Make sure you get enough plain water.  If you already know you don’t drink enough pure water, this will really help. Dehydration effects all your systems.  Good hydration is good for your looks!

7.  Make sure you know ALL the side-effects of all drugs you may be taking. Check with your pharmacists and your natural health providers for more information.

Yes, we all know there’s no miraculous Fountain of Youth, and each one of us is going to pass out of this world one day, but there’s no need to hasten the process or contribute to looking and feeling older than we we are.  Premature aging can be prevented.   Making a few simple lifestyle changes will make all the difference — and the earlier, the better. We’ll be bringing provider articles that have a lot of new (and some incredibly old) research on vitamins and nutrients that address aging topics.

Enjoy Greg Todd’s Interview with Deb Thompson at the NHC A Healthy New Year. He’s on to 175 pounds by December.

A snippet from the No More Mr. Fat Guy! Blog:

“The Unbearable Fatness Of Being”

300 pounds, that is. People tell me that I don’t look like I weigh 300 pounds. I guess it’s that my overpowering animal magnetism distracts and confuses them…but it’s true - in that pic below I’m at 296 pounds. And frankly, I’m sick of it. And I’m ready to do something about it.

If you’ve ever been fat, or you’re fat now, you know what I’m talking about. When you’re 120 pounds overweight you’re never comfortable. Walking, standing, sitting, lying down, reclining, it doesn’t matter. You’re never unaware of this massive extra weight that you’re lugging around. It’s always on your mind, and it affects everything you do. If you’re standing, you want to sit down to “take a load off”, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Then, once you’ve sat down, depending on how low the chair is, getting up can be so difficult that you’re sorry you ever sat down. …

exfatguy (at) fatguyblog (dot) com