Shape up in 2012 Part 2
Diet/Nutrition and Chiropractic
Structure First, Nutrition Next
Many of our patients use our office as a resource for questions regarding nutrition/diet. For this second newlsetter installment of healthy lifestyle categories for the "New Year/New You" series, I'd like to offer you a few suggestions from the magnitude of resources available to us on this topic.
I don't need to remind you that your diet (eating habits and routines) is critical to maintaining a healthy body. There is so much information on diets available that there is often confusion on what are the "best" suggestions. There is much popular debate over choice of "diets," but these suggestions refer to weight-loss strategies and not to what comprises a daily healthy diet, nor do they discuss, generally, diet and nutrition for specific conditions (after an injury, for example), or for a more common situation; inflammation, which is rampant in our society.
Think Nutrition for Health
Since this newsletter can only just skim the surface on these topics, most suggestions will be to discuss what it takes to maintain a healthy diet. If the intention is on health, rather than a condition or a dis-ease, you will be at least on the right road towards balancing out any concerns, and supporting middle-of-the-road, foundational, healthy nutritional needs.
Take Time to Cook, Prepare and Eat at Home
Although it may seem over simplified, it is important enough to emphasize the need to include all of the basic food groups in your daily intake and avoid junk food. The prevalence of fast food establishments, and the ease as to their availability are marketing successes, not successes for your health. Preparing wholesome food choices at home and taking time to eat in a relaxed environment is an important integer to our nutrition/health.
Eliminate for Health
The elimination of refined white flour as commonly found in white bread, white rice, pasta, and tortillas is a huge first step. Replace these items with their whole grain counterparts like whole grain or sprouted bread, long grain or brown rice and whole wheat pasta. There are also whole grain choices for tortillas available as well. Using non-gluten grains, like amaranth or spelt, for example, is another way to supplement with grains without the negative impact that glutens such as wheat, rye and oats, for example, have on many of us.
Sweet Warnings
Eliminate white sugar and high fructose corn syrups from your diet. White sugar is a simple carbohydrate that causes a spike in blood sugar, followed by an energy dump. White sugar is also full of empty calories that have no nutritional value. It can be found in candy, cakes, soda, and other common junk foods. Sugar also slows healing, accelerates tissue breakdown and has no intrinsic health benefits to speak of. Artificial sweeteners are just as harmful for you, if not more so, so I recommend natural sweeteners, like honey, xylitol and stevia for those with a sweet tooth. And watch the amount that you use of these products, as well.
Eliminate Unhealthy Drinks
Sodas, coffee, and alcohol are foods dense in harmful and non-beneficial ingredients. Just this one suggestion, when applied, has assisted numerous healthy benefits. Fresh, clean and filtered water, teas, low sugar juices and home made broths make wonderful substitutions.
Eliminate Damaged Fats
Damaged fats include polyunsaturated oils, margarine, hydrogenated oils (e.g. vegetable shortening), and any foods containing them. It would logically follow then that deep fried foods are also on the list of forbidden foods. You can replace damaged fats with hard to damage fats such as olive oil, nut oil (sunflower, walnut oil) and tropical oils, like coconut.
Whole is Better
Remember that the less refined foods, the better. Organic, whole, raw, or lightly steamed veggies; organic grass-fed, hormone-free fish, poultry, eggs and meat; low sugar fruits, such as berries, and lots of fresh, filtered and clean water are all wonderful suggestions. Purchase foods from local sources or foods grown close to us is the best. And speaking of less, eating smaller sized portions of foods, more regularly, and maybe even adding a liquid meal or fast day once or twice a month (unless you have a medical situation that this is antagonistic for), is indicative of longer and healthier lifestyles.
Individualize Your Needs
Adapt your dietary needs to fit your life. If you are an athlete, pregnant, raising a child or assisting the dietary needs for a senior, repairing from an injury, avoiding potential food sensitivities, have a particular health challenge or condition (diabetes, MS, Gerd, osteoporosis, etc...) adapt your increased needs appropriately. Each one of these situations, and many others, are individualized. Many times the health requirements cannot be met with just dietary applications, but will need extra supplementation. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, botanicals, enzymes, probiotics, stress reducing glandulars, etc, are all suggestions that must be discussed and offered for where you are right now and where you want to go.
How Healthy do you Want to Be?
We offer numerous recommendations to enhance and supplement your dietary and nutritional requirements. The second most asked question I receive, after dietary recommendations is: "What supplements do I need to take for overall health?"
Individualized, Reliable Supplements Recommended
While a whole newsletter can be written on individualized supplements, the basic 5 nutritional products that I recommend to everyone are listed below. Just like the source of your food is important, the source for the nutritional supplements are equally as important. The products that we carry at the office are from exemplary, reliable sources. Recommendations are based on the levels for your individual needs through advanced Applied Kinesiology testing. Be sure to ask us about this service the next time you are in the office.
The Basic 5
1) A Complete Multi-Vitamin/Mineral
2) A Complete Omega Oil
3) Plant Based Enzyme for Dietary Digestion/Assimilation
4) Complete Probiotic for Digestive and Immune Health
5) Vitamin D
What If More is Needed?
While the suggestions above are available for everyone, our office has products available for numerous individualized situations; to repair and enhance physical states, for athletic performance, to accelerate healing and injuries, to balance and alleviate inflammation--as well as to assist chronic digestive, allergies, and organ system imbalances. Using advanced Applied Kinesiology scans for detecting imbalanced organ systems, limitations are identified and recommendations made with state of the art supplements. For those who have taken advantage of this additional nutritional service in our office, wonderful results have been received.
More
To aid our quest for even more individualized care, our office has adapted a web based program to integrate your blood lab results (and saliva hormonal results) for even more individualized supplement suggestions. It has been an efficient and enhanced tool for dietary and supplement recommendations. This has been an invaluable resource to provide true preventative health recommendations based on YOUR individualized blood panel.
Give Us a Call
If you are unsure exactly where to begin, give our office a call at 775-852-8000. I would be happy to discuss our available nutritional and supplement programs with you.