What's the Problem with Stress?

(This newsletter issue for January 2013 is brought to you by Life Wellness Center)

We live in stressful times. The economy is tough, global conflicts rage, and our numerous technological devices don't seem to be making things any easier. Of course, this is nothing new. Every generation thinks theirs is the best of times and the worst of times. But the result is that people everywhere have high levels of stress. Sometimes stress is a good thing. But chronic, ongoing physical and mental stress, the kind that affects us every day, is not good for us. As we are all subject to numerous stresses every day, it's very important for us to develop strategies that will be successful in helping us manage the ongoing stresses in our lives....

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Topic of the Week: Top Heart Health Supplements

Introduction
Achieving and maintaining excellent heart health has never been more important. According to Harvard Health Publications, approximately 65 million people in the United States have high blood pressure, 7 million people have had a heart attack and 11 million people are currently suffering from some other type of cardiovascular disease that affects their circulatory system and quality of life. Cardiovascular disease is a major health problem in many countries around the world. Lifestyle factors play an important role in preventing heart and circulatory problems and a well-rounded approach to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease involves good nutrition, consistent and appropriate exercise and weight control. Certain dietary supplements may also play an influential role in preserving your heart and blood vessel health. Your chiropractor can counsel you on the most effective supplements for your specific needs and he or she may recommend some of the following supplements.

Fish Oil
Fish oil can be obtained from eating fish - tuna, salmon, mackerel, sturgeon and sardines, among others - as well as dietary supplements. Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and it has been used, in supplement form, to treat a wide variety of conditions, including conditions of the heart and blood vessels. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, fish oil may be helpful in reducing blood pressure and triglyceride levels and preventing heart disease or stroke. A 2000 article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reaches similar conclusions, stating that fish oil (and omega-3 fatty acids in particular) favorably affect atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, inflammatory disease and even certain behavioral conditions.

Garlic
Garlic, which is rich in antioxidants, has been used as both food and medicine by many cultures for thousands of years. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, research evidence suggests that garlic may slow the progression of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and decrease blood pressure by 7 to 8 percent. Garlic also appears to possess anticoagulant, or blood thinning, properties, which means that it may help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)
Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, is a vitamin-like substance found within your body, especially in your heart, liver, pancreas and kidneys. CoQ10 can be obtained from certain dietary sources - meats, seafood - or in supplement form. This supplement is commonly used in treating congestive heart failure, chest pain, elevated blood pressure and heart problems associated with certain cancer drugs. A 2006 study published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure states that CoQ10 does indeed improve systolic function, or the heart’s pumping ability, in people who have chronic heart failure.

Resveratrol
Red wine contains antioxidants called polyphenols and one polyphenol in particular, resveratrol, may help prevent blood vessel damage and reduce the likelihood of blood clots, notes the Mayo Clinic.6 According to a 2009 study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology resveratrol helps reduce the number of deaths associated with cardiovascular complications, favorably alters the progression of atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease and even increases life span by activating longevity genes. Resveratrol can be obtained from red wine or certain dietary supplements.

Green Tea Extracts
Green tea has long been used for medicinal purposes, including to improve heart and blood vessel health. Green tea, which contains powerful antioxidants called polyphenols, prevents inflammation in your body’s tissues, which helps keep your blood vessels flexible and relaxed. Flexible and relaxed blood vessels are better able to handle constant fluctuations in blood pressure. According to a 2004 study published in the journal Heart, green tea consumption can reverse endothelial dysfunction – dysfunction of the inner lining of blood vessels – in seemingly healthy smokers, most likely through its strong antioxidant effect. The antioxidant properties of green tea - and green tea extracts, herbal derivatives from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant - may help prevent atherosclerosis, particularly coronary artery disease.

Considerations
You should avoid taking dietary supplements to improve your heart health until you speak with your chiropractor. Your chiropractor can counsel you on the most appropriate supplements to support your heart health and other health concerns. Your chiropractor understands the role of supplements in supporting your longterm well-being and can make valuable supplement recommendations based on your own unique health history.

Disclaimer: Information contained in The Wellness ExpressTM newsletter is for educational and general purposes only and is designed to assist you in making informed decisions about your health. Any information contained herein is not intended to substitute advice from your physician or other healthcare professional. Copyright © - The Wellness ExpressTM

Exercise of the Week

Quote of the Week:

“A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.”~ Nelson Mandela

Topic of the Week: The Importance of Prenatal Chiropractic Care

Introduction
Prenatal chiropractic care, or chiropractic care for pregnant women, is an important and frequently used service provided by chiropractors. All chiropractors are trained to manage the unique set of musculoskeletal symptoms that arise during pregnancy and to improve the quality of life of the person expecting. Some chiropractors even specialize in this discipline and provide personalized care to women both during and after their pregnancy. The American Pregnancy Association states that chiropractic treatment during pregnancy by a chiropractor trained to work with expecting women is safe. In this edition of the Wellness Express we will examine the importance of prenatal chiropractic care for the health and well-being of expecting mothers.

Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy
Chiropractic, as a profession, has a long history of caring for pregnant women and this treatment approach has been adopted by more and more women as the interest in natural birthing methods increases. The weight increase and changing body shape associated with pregnancy cause a shift in expecting mothers’ center of gravity, resulting in certain postural compensations and structural changes that may lead to spinal and pelvic misalignment. Ligament laxity is another factor that may increase joint instability in pregnant women - especially in the spine and pelvis - leading to pain. According to a 2001 study published in the journal Acta Obstetrica et Gynecologica Scandinavica, there is a clear relationship between asymmetric laxity of the sacroiliac, or SI, joints and pregnancy-related pelvic pain. Chiropractic care can help address these common causes of pregnancyrelated pain or discomfort.

Reasons to Seek Chiropractic Prenatal Care
Chiropractic pregnancy experts use special equipment, including tables, that adjust for a pregnant woman’s body as well as techniques that minimize or eliminate pressure on the abdomen. Prenatal chiropractic specialists provide well-rounded care, including appropriate adjustments and soft tissue work and the prescription of a stretching routine, or other exercises to help reduce pregnancyrelated discomfort. A 2006 study published in the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health reports that chiropractic care is a safe and effective way to reduce the intensity of low back pain in pregnant women. Another study, published in 2008 in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, states that chiropractic care improves outcomes in women who have pregnancy-related low back pain.

Benefits of Prenatal Chiropractic Care
Women receiving prenatal chiropractic care may experience numerous potential health benefits, including decreased back pain, neck pain and pain or discomfort in other joints, reduced nausea and an all-around healthier pregnancy. Chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy and other supporting therapies may also help treat headaches during pregnancy. According to a 2009 study published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, chiropractic care is both safe and effective for patients with pregnancy-related headaches. Your chiropractor is a health coach who can counsel you on the benefits of various lifestyle choices, especially exercise, and how these choices affect your pregnancy. Women who exercise during pregnancy, notes a 2007 review article published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, have more energy, achieve more restful sleep and manage stress more effectively. This article also notes that women who exercise during pregnancy experience shorter, easier labors, fewer cesarean deliveries and a faster recovery after giving birth. Your chiropractor can help you decide on an exercise routine that is most appropriate for you during your pregnancy.

Postnatal Chiropractic Care
Receiving postnatal chiropractic care is an important health action for new mothers. Postnatal chiropractic care may be helpful in speeding post-birth healing and recovery, improving emotional well-being, restoring pelvic and spinal alignment and ensuring a swift transition to breastfeeding by improving the integrity of mid-back structures.

Speak with your Chiropractor
Chiropractic pregnancy care is a healthcare approach that supports your body’s structure and function in a natural way. Speak with your chiropractor to see how you and your developing baby may benefit from chiropractic pregnancy care.

Disclaimer: Information contained in The Wellness ExpressTM newsletter is for educational and general purposes only and is designed to assist you in making informed decisions about your health. Any information contained herein is not intended to substitute advice from your physician or other healthcare professional. Copyright © - The Wellness ExpressTM

Quote of the Week:

“Healthy bodies make healthy babies so you have nothing to lose!”! ~ Heidi Murkoff

Top Two Tips for Reaching Your Normal Weight

(This newsletter issue for January 2013 is brought to you by Life Wellness Center)


Chiropractic Care and Lifelong Health
Chiropractic care helps support all your health-related activities. Following a healthy food plan and making sure to eat at least five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day is one important step. Engaging in a regular program of vigorous exercise is a second critical step. A third key component of an overall health-and-wellness program is regular chiropractic care.

Regular chiropractic care helps you get the most out of all the other things you're doing. By helping reduce nerve interference, chiropractic care helps your body perform its tasks properly. For example, your digestive system works more efficiently and you're able to make better use of the good things you're eating. Your musculoskeletal system is better able to adapt to stresses and strains and your body builds lean muscle mass where it's needed. Regular chiropractic care helps your body do the things it needs to do to keep you healthy and well.

It's well-known that one-third of American adults are overweight and an additional one-third are obese.1 In addition, 17% of U.S. children and adolescents are obese.2 Worldwide statistics are similar. These facts are strongly associated with ongoing epidemics in diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Diabetes may cause loss of vision, kidney problems, and loss of circulation in the legs and feet. Cardiovascular disease includes high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attacks. Being overweight or obese may cause diseases which require lifelong treatment. Personal action is needed to begin to restore good health, but it's important to understand the specific nature of the actions to take.

What is not required is a drastic reduction of body weight to some idealized norm of "thinness." It is not appropriate for people to attempt to force themselves to look like runway models. What does work is applying simple techniques and strategies to encourage a gradual loss of weight. Over time persons on such a plan will achieve a body weight that is normal for them. There are two key steps to reaching your normal weight.

The first step is to reduce your overall intake of calories by eating six small meals a day. If five small meals works best for your schedule and daily needs, that’s fine. The main point involves total calories. With six small meals, each one is about 300 calories - a little less for women and a little more for men who are taller and more heavily muscled. For men the daily calorie intake is between 1800 and 2100 calories. For women, the daily calorie intake is between 1700 and 1800 calories. By experimenting a bit, you’ll find your optimal calorie level that results in consistent weight loss. Make sure to combine complex carbohydrates and protein at each small meal. The numerous benefits of food combining include maintaining insulin levels in a normal range and improved cognitive/mental function.

For many people, this reduction in daily calories will have an immediate and dramatic impact. There may be real hunger pangs, and it will be important to remember that the next small meal is only a couple of hours away. The pounds you lose in the first couple of weeks will likely provide plenty of reinforcement to help you through the times when you are really hungry.

The next and simultaneous step is to begin a program of regular, vigorous exercise. Of course, if you haven't exercised in a long time you'll need to start slowly. Your goal is to build up to 30 minutes of vigorous exercise five times per week.3 Ideally you'll be doing both cardiovascular exercise and strength training, and in the process you'll build lean muscle mass. The result is an elevation in your basal metabolic rate which causes your body to burn fat even while you're resting!

As you follow these two health-promoting programs, you will notice that you're steadily and gradually losing weight. There will come a time, anywhere from 6 months to a year after you've begun your new lifestyle, when your weight loss will stop. For example, you'll notice you only lost half a pound over the previous week or two. Then you'll know that you've reached your "ideal" body weight. You've reached the weight that is normal for you. It is very likely that your new body mass index (a ratio between your height and weight) is now in the normal range or very close to the high end of normal. You've taken control of your health and your life, and the very good news is that you've built new habits that will last a lifetime.

1Ogden CL, et al: Prevalence of obesity in the United States, 2009-2010. NCHS Data Brief No. 82. National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 2012

2Waters E, et al: Interventions for preventing obesity in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 7(12):CD001871, 2011

3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Vital signs: walking among adults - United States, 2005 and 2010. MMWR Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep 61:595-601, 2012

Quote of the Week:

“To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” ~ Budda

Exercise of the Week: Reverse Crunch with Exercise Ball plus Oblique Twist

Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Start: Lie on back with hands behind head, elbows out. Position ball behind legs so it can be lifted off floor with hamstrings/adductors.

Exercise: Lift ball just off floor. Pull stomach inward while inhaling. As you exhale, simultaneously bring knees up toward chest and try to touch right elbow to left knee. Pause, then return to starting position. Switch sides. Repeat 10 times.

Topic of the Week: The Restorative Effects of Saunas Introduction

A sauna is a wood-lined room or small house designed for heat sessions. Sauna heat sessions can involve dry or wet heat and are intended to promote health in several important ways, such as relieving stress, reducing muscle and joint achiness and enhancing cardiovascular function. Saunas are particularly popular in Finland and Estonia, though many cultures around the world engage in some form of sweat bath for health benefits.

Saunas - which can reach temperatures of 185 degrees F or 85 degrees C, or more, cause profound physiological effects. According to Harvard Health Publications, saunas can cause a rapid increase in your skin temperature, boost your heart rate by 30 percent or more and cause you to shed a pint of sweat during even short sessions. Your chiropractor may prescribe sauna therapy to help augment your in-office treatments. You should always talk with your chiropractor before using sauna therapy for health purposes, as this therapy may not be appropriate for everyone.

Conventional vs. Infrared
The two basic sauna styles are conventional and infrared. Conventional saunas warm the air, while infrared saunas warm objects. You can use a conventional sauna to create a high heat, low humidity environment and generate temperatures in the range of 185 to 195 degrees F (80 to 90 degrees C). In a conventional sauna, you splash water over heated stones and this water is vaporized to create a dry heat that has soothing effects. Infrared saunas produce infrared radiant heat, which creates a milder environment and warming effect. Infrared radiant heat is absorbed by the surface of your skin and heats your body directly.

Relaxation & Feelings of Well-Being
Saunas are best known - and most commonly used - for aiding relaxation and creating feelings of well being. Many people use the sauna to help reduce stress levels. The sauna’s heat helps relax your body, including tight muscles and the sauna is a place to unwind and find relief from stress in other aspects of your life. Improved blood flow and oxygen supply relaxes both your body and your mind, leading to feelings of well-being and a sense of rejuvenation. An article published in the journal Physiology states that the principle reason for sauna’s continuing popularity is its ability to evoke pleasant feelings of deep relaxation.

Cardiovascular Health Benefits
The health-positive effects of saunas may extend well beyond relaxation and feelings of well being. A 2009 studied published in the journal Canadian Family Physician states that there is at least some evidence that far-infrared saunas may help normalize blood pressure and treat congestive heart failure. Another study published in 2001 in the American Journal of Medicine notes that sauna bathing is safe for most people with coronary heart disease with stable angina pectoris or old myocardial infarction or heart attack. This study also notes that sauna therapy may not be appropriate for individuals who have unstable angina pectoris or severe aortic stenosis or narrowing of the aortic artery. Individuals who have experienced a recent myocardia infarction should also avoid sauna therapy.

Addtional Health Benefits
Additional health benefits of sauna therapy may include the soothing of joint aches and pains, the cleansing of skin and flushing of toxins from the body and the promotion of deeper sleep. According to a 2011 review article published in the Alternative Medicine Review: A Journal of Clinical Therapeutics, people who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic fatigue, chronic pain or addictions may also benefit from sauna therapy and that existing evidence supports the use of saunas for environmentally-induced illness.

Considerations
Talk with your chiropractor before using sauna therapy for health purposes, especially if you are pregnant. Your chiropractor understands your unique health history and can assess your readiness for this treatment approach. Some good general rules sauna users should employ include avoiding alcohol and medications that may limit sweating, staying in the sauna for no more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time, drinking two to four glasses of water after each sauna session and avoiding sauna therapy if feeling ill.

Disclaimer: Information contained in The Wellness ExpressTM newsletter is for educational and general purposes only and is designed to assist you in making informed decisions about your health. Any information contained herein is not intended to substitute advice from your physician or other healthcare professional. Copyright © - The Wellness ExpressTM

Proprioception - Making Your Body Smarter

We usually don't think of our bodies in terms of their being "smart." For example, we walk to the corner store without giving a single thought to the complex mechanics involved in getting there and back. But behind the scenes there's plenty going on and your body's "IQ" has a lot to do with your success in accomplishing everyday tasks.

Proprioception is one of those background physical processes that make up your body's total IQ. Proprioceptors are specialized nerve endings located in your muscles and joints that inform your brain about your body's position in three-dimensional space. You're able to write legibly because proprioceptors are sending instantaneous data about the angles of the small joints of your fingers and wrists as your pen moves across the page. You're able to run on the beach because proprioceptors are continuously sending signals to your brain about the changing shape of the uneven surface of the sand.1

Without these specialized nerve endings, we'd never be able to hit a baseball, throw a Frisbee, or drive a car. But proprioceptors can be smart or less than that. It all depends on how well-trained they are. One person out for a stroll might trip over a crack in the pavement and suffer a badly sprained ankle. Another person might trip over the same crack, even badly turning over their ankle in the process, and keep on walking without even a trace of a limp.

The difference between injury and non-injury is the level of proprioceptor training, and this level usually is related to whether you're doing regular exercise.2 Exercise trains your muscles and joints to adapt to varying kinds of stresses (weight-bearing loads) throughout a variety of positions (the full range of motion of those joints). As a result, trained proprioceptors can withstand a high degree of stress (such as a sudden twisting of an ankle). The untrained ankle, possibly the ankle of a person who hasn't done much walking, running, or bike riding in the last 5 years, will be damaged by an unusual and unexpected stress. The result is an ankle sprain of varying severity and possibly a broken ankle.

Similarly, it is well known that older adults experience more frequent falls than do younger adults. Part of the explanation involves proprioception.3 Many older adults don't engage in regular exercise. Proprioceptive function decreases, changes in level or surface aren't recognized quickly by the person's feet and ankles, and the person falls.

It's easy to see that the effort to maintain your body's IQ is time very well spent. The fastest way to boost this skill set is by doing regular exercise. All kinds of exercise provide benefit, so the best exercises are the ones that have some interest for you personally. Optimally, a person is doing both strength training and cardiovascular exercise. As always, the key to long-term health and wellness is consistency.

1Wong JD, et al: Can proprioceptive training improve motor learning? J Neurophysiol 2012 Sep 12 [Epub ahead of print]

2Ferreira ML, et al: Physical activity improves strength, balance and endurance in adults aged 40-65 years: a systematic review. J Physiother 58(3):145-156, 2012

3Howe TE, et al: Exercise for improving balance in older people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2011 Nov 9(11):CD004963.