This morning as I was sitting down to write I was reminded how easy it is to focus on things we should be doing for positive outcomes instead of addressing our belief system. Applying that thought to health, I came up with this:
Do you have any beliefs about health to share? Any you need to discard? Leave them in the comments so we can continue the discussion.
Today I was thinking of how many of my friends–offline and online–don’t understand chiropractic, let alone my passion for it. I get it, as there are many mixed messages out there, including “chiropractors” who try to practice in a medical model treating back pain (we call these people medipractors). I can see from their perspective it is hard to know what to believe.
Let me share with you what I believe.
A couple weeks ago I wrote a post on why we chose to use a midwife for our firstborn. One of the reasons I highlighted was the astronomically high maternal death rate in the U.S (it is double that of Canada and Western Europe). Since hitting publish on that post, I came across this infographic from Amnesty International—who is spearheading this cause—and wanted to share it with you.
Infographic courtesy of the creative minds @ medicalbillingandcodingonline.org.
Highlights include: How drug companies hooked our nation, more Americans taking drugs than ever before, most drugs have no benefit and some harm.
We have recently launched the Is It Paleo app for iPhone and Android – a constantly updating on-the-go database of paleo/primal friendly foods. Go here to learn about it, or here if you want to download it from the App Store or Android Marketplace. Thanks for your support!
Adapted from author Nicole Voelzke
Have questions about the Paleo diet? Follow this chart to see if you are eating the right foods! I made a chart off a picture my friend sent me of a whiteboard drawing that went viral (I later found out it was done by Nicole Voelzke). Since posting here, Nicole has contacted me and shared her work in it’s entirety. Here it is for your viewing pleasure.
Nicole works at Crossfit South Hills in Pennsylvania. You can follow them on facebook here
That of course is over-simplified for the sake of our discussion, but it is true. Let’s explore why too much sugar is a bad thing. When your blood sugar becomes elevated (by eating to much sugar/carbohydrates) your body realizes it has more fuel than you need, so your body releases the hormone insulin to store that extra fuel for use in the future. This excess sugar is stored as saturated fat (triglycerides). In the continued presence of high blood sugar and high insulin, your body becomes resistant to the insulin and your blood sugar remains unchecked, meaning both insulin and blood sugar are high. You are now inflamed.
Has it ever occurred to you that everything you do in your life is done through your nervous system? Watching a sunset, tasting a great wine, feeling the ocean breeze on your skin — you experience your life through your senses which communicate to your brain via nerves. That is why we call the nervous system the master system of the body, because it controls everything from your heartbeat to perception of pain.
I was talking with a patient this morning, and as she was explaining the stress in her life to me I realized that many people have not heard the full story on stress, how the body responds to it, and what it does to their bodies over time. This is another conversation I have daily, so I wanted to share it with you. First, I will tell you a story about a stressful event, and then we will break it down afterward.
This has to be one of the top 10 questions that all doctors hear on a daily basis. It is actually a troubling question to answer, because if the doctor says “yes,” then the patient is not empowered to change their health, and responsibility moves from the patient to the doctor. Keep in mind that this problem may have taken years to develop, and the doctor is expected to provide a “fix” rather quickly. Of course the doctor wants to say “yes,” but to do so would rob the patient of the key to change their health, and would create an unhealthy co-dependent relationship between the patient (broken) and the doctor (fixer).
Do you feel less creative than your younger self? Has brain-fog and routine become your reality? This spring are you looking for new experiences and new life? If you answered any of these “yes!” then this is being written just for you.
Does your brain feel like this?
I was reading a new study this morning that shows Chiropractic adjustments have been found to improve creative thinking. Like many people, there are times I feel like I am losing my creative edge. That has led me to wonder why that happens as we age – because we have more experiences to draw upon and more time to hone our creative talents. But we also have more demands on our time, more worries, more stress.
If you have ever heard me talk about stress before, then you know that it puts your body into a survival “fight-or-flight” mode. When in survival mode, a part of your brain called the cerebral cortex is shut down.
