Are All Fats Bad?

That's a question I get from a lot of my patients. First things first; eating most foods in moderation is not a terrible thing. An ice cream cone here and there and french fries every once in while is not going to kill you. One thing that people don't understand is that there are certain fats that are good for you. Fat is needed by the body for energy, so it should not be avoided completely. February is Heart-Health Month and I thought it would be a good idea to let people know what fats are healthy and why they are good for you.

Fats are classified as saturated or unsaturated. Saturated fats are the fats that can possibly cause health problems down the road and are the fats that come in diary, red meat, snack cakes, desserts, and chips. Things like coconut oil, palm oil and anything "partially hydrogenated" can lead to the blockage of arteries, increased cholesterol levels and other diseases. As I mentioned earlier, eating foods in moderation is not a bad thing, but if you are going to consume saturated fats, make sure they come from a natural source. Foods like beef, eggs, butter or cheese, when eaten with a well balanced diet, should be fine. Any foods that are processed, or not "natural", should really be avoided.

Unsaturated fats are the "healthy fats"; especially Omega-3's. Omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) are essential fatty acids, which means that our bodies cannot make them, so we need to ingest them in order to reap their benefits. DHA and EPA are "good" fats, and the best dietary sources of these Omega-3's are from cold water marine animals like tuna, salmon and calamari. Foods such as seeds, nuts, beans, and green leafy vegetables contain alpha-linolenic acids (ALA), also an essential fatty acid, that our bodies can partially convert into EPA and DHA, but the best source is from fresh, cold water fish.

Eating Omega-3's support: cardiovascular health, triglyceride (bad fat) levels in our blood, blood pressure, healthy blood clotting, our immune system, cognition, emotional balance, anti-oxidant availability and skin, nail and hair health. Many surveys show that Americans don't consume enough Omega-3's and that can lead to health problems as we age. It is important to add these fats into your diet, whether it is through eating more salmon, tuna or squid, or taking a supplement. I recommend talking to your health care provider before starting any supplement or vitamin regiment.

Eating right is very important to an individual's overall health. We truly are what we eat. The better the ingredient, the better your body will work and function and the healthier you will feel. This starts with cutting out a majority of the saturated and synthetic fats we put in our body, and increasing the amounts of good fat. So go have some sushi, or a nice salmon steak and enjoy the fact that you are eating healthy!

January's Newsletter

How much exercise is needed to make the difference between fit kids and unfit kids? Want to feel younger? Do energy drinks help with your athletic performance? Learn the real truth behind headaches and more in this months newsletter!

How Important is Exercise?

We've all been there before. Your intentions have been good: "I am going to go for a run tomorrow morning" or "I am going to hit the weights before work". The alarm goes off, and although you are warm and comfy under those covers you can tell it is ice cold in the bedroom and to make matters worse, the sun hasn't come up yet. And it won't be up for another hour and a half. So what do you do? Too many times we roll over and hit the snooze button. Then we hit it again, and again, and again and don't leave ourselves any time to exercise. In fact that is exactly what I did the other day. The winter is a tough time to wake up early in order to get in a workout before work. But I know myself too well and when I hit that snooze button, and tell myself that I will work out after work, I know it will never happen. My day is long and I just want to get home at night. I'm sure many of you can relate to that.

But in reality, exercise is the best thing you can do when you wake up feeling lethargic and lazy. Physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your brain and your muscles. In fact, regular exercise helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. When your heart and lungs are working more efficiently, your whole body has more energy to perform throughout the day. Exercising also stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. Wouldn't it be great to go through the day being in a good mood and not grumpy and irritated? Especially in the winter, when a lot of people are affected by S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) a quick run in the morning can make you think clearer and feel more energetic. I know this is true based on my own personal experiences. On the days that I work out I have more energy throughout the day and I am in a much better mood than on the days I skip my workouts.

Besides making your lung and heart function better, physical activity is now being prescribed by doctors for the purpose of preventing and treating various diseases and physical conditions. In Sweden, healthcare professionals have been prescribing physical activity for many years, so this is nothing new to them.

For the individual just starting with an exercise routine or for the advanced athlete it is important to remember to pace yourself and to work within your own limits. It is also good to know that we have nearly 650 skeletal muscles in our body. With repetitive exercise, muscles can become tight. When the muscles become tight. adhesions can form and this traps chemicals that fire off pain receptors. Chiropractic care can help to restore and maintain proper motion of these muscles and bones to help eliminate and prevent these problems.

So, let's recap....exercise has been shown to put you in a better mood and help with certain types of depression, makes your heart and lungs work better, and it makes you look and feel better. Once you're done exercising, you can go for your chiropractic tune up to make sure everything in your body is working right. Exercise is not hard, getting out of bed to get started with a routine is the hard part. If you can get past that, you're in for a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Can the Internet Make You Sick?

We live in age where technology is king! Our phones act as mini computers where we can schedule, e-mail, surf the internet and actually talk to other people (although some people manage to avoid human interaction by sending 20,000 text messages a month). Not only do most people use a computer all day at work, but they come home and surf the internet, play on-line computer games and update their social media status, over and over...and over again. Humans are more connected now than ever before and we learn about current events so much faster than in the past. To put things in perspective...when I started college in 1996, it was the first time I was able to surf the internet without tying up the telephone line and no one, and mean no one, had a cell phone. Crazy and wild times!

Some people tend to spend more time on the computer than others, but it seems that overall we are spending more and more time staring at our computer screens. It seems that the younger generation, especially college students, tend to be the group that is most guilty of "computer abuse". Prolonged time at the computer can lead to several physical ailments that can affect your activities of daily living. Overuse of the computer can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, or CTS. CTS causes pain, numbness and burning in your thumb, first finger and middle finger. This can be caused by typing too much on your keyboard with your wrists held in the wrong position for extended periods of time. Overuse of the computer can also lead to lower back and neck aches, severe headaches, dry eyes, strained vision and sleep disturbances. Many of these symptoms are exacerbated by the fact that people's work stations are not set up properly. The monitor may be too low or high, the mouse may be too far away, the keyboard too close and even the height of your chair can lead to spinal and muscle pain.

If you are an individual, or you know someone, who is always on the computer and complaining of any of the symptoms that I listed above, chiropractic care or massage therapy can really help. Not only can a chiropractor help to alleviate muscular and joint pain quickly, but most chiropractors are very aware of the proper ergonomics for a desk or one's work station. Even if spending excessive amounts of time on the computer is unavoidable, a chiropractic treatment can help prevent your aches and pains from getting worse and can even prevent them from becoming a problem in the first place!

"No thanks, I don't need to be treated. I'm not having any pain."

The above phrase is one that I can guarantee most chiropractors have heard at least once during their career. Heck, I hear a version of that statement uttered at least once per week. The current medical model in this country involves treating people's symptoms or pain. They are given a pill, or the option to have surgery and everyone expects a quick fix. Over the last few years, wellness or preventative care has started to take root and expand, but for the most part, we are taught from an early age that if we are not feeling any pain, then we are healthy; and unfortunately that is not the case.

Both my father and my grandfather were helped a lot by chiropractic care when I was growing up. They both started care after experiencing a bout of acute pain, but they both continued to receive treatment after their symptoms had dissipated. Watching their success with chiropractic is what really influenced me to become a chiropractor. I had never been treated with chiropractic care before attending chiropractic college. I felt healthy; I didn't have any pain; so why did I need to go? I started receiving regular chiropractic adjustments while attending school and kicked myself for not getting treated sooner. I had always been bothered by migraine headaches (which seemed to go away with treatment), my neck and lower back felt looser and I would feel great, both mentally and physically following a chiropractic adjustment.

So why is it a good idea to get treated when you don't feel any pain? Everyday, the activities of daily living and the repetitive micro-traumas that we put our bodies through cause the muscles and soft tissues that make up the joints of our spine to fatigue and toxic metabolic waste to build up around the nerves. Since we don't like to experience pain, our bodies tend to compensate at first. Over time, our bodies can no longer compensate and we start to feel pain. With chiropractic adjustments, the joints stay moving freely and you can prevent those serious bouts of neck and lower back pain.

Personally, I try to get adjusted at least once a month based on how I feel. If I have done a lot of running or played hockey and I am feeling sore, I may go two times that month. A quick chiropractic adjustment can keep me feeling good for several weeks. Even if you're feeling good, it is a good idea to have your spine checked for subluxations or misalignments, that if left untreated can cause problems down the line. Go find a chiropractor and see what you've been missing!

Concussions: Not Just A Problem at the Professional Level

Anyone who is a fan of professional sports knows that head injuries and concussions have become a major problem over the last decade, especially in the NFL, NHL and to a lesser extent MLB. The players are bigger, faster and stronger nowadays. The collisions between these athletes, although high in entertainment value, are becoming very dangerous. New helmets have been designed in both hockey and football to minimize the impact to the brain from these collisions in order to cut down on the number of concussions. New concussion protocols have been enacted in all the major sports as well. Players are put through extensive testing before the season starts to measure their "baseline" levels, so if a concussion is suspected they can be re-tested to see how bad the damage is. Long gone are the days when a player is allowed to go back out onto the field immediately following a concussion. In some cases, a player may miss weeks or months before their brain "returns to normal" and they are allowed to compete again.

Head injuries are no longer just a problem at the professional ranks anymore. According to data obtained from the National Athletic Trainers Association Summit, there were 400,000 concussions in high school football last season! There were 29,000 concussions diagnosed in soccer players, where there were 40% more concussions among the female soccer players. There were also 13,000 concussions in womens basketball last year. It was estimated that 8,000 children are treated, per day , at emergency rooms for sports related injuries, and 62% of those injuries occurred at practice.

Those numbers are staggering, but the next stat is what really bothered me. From January 2008 through November of 2009, 120 young athletes died due to sports related causes in 31 different states! Why does this happen?

Most often these injuries occur when there is a lack of of trained personal to evaluate and treat these young athletes when they are injured on the field. Many times the athletes are told to "play through the pain" and proper attention is not given to what can be a serious condition.

Different steps need to be taken in order to prevent these injuries from happening, as well as being able to identify these injuries early enough, if they do occur. Parents, coaches and athletes need to be trained in the proper way that equipment should be worn (especially helmet use) and also need to be trained in what symptoms athletes exhibit when they have injured their head or been concussed. Having a local chiropractor, medical doctor or physical therapist at practices and games can go a long way. These individuals are trained in their fields and would add a level of expertise to helping diagnose injuries, brain and physical, on the field when they occurred. If an athlete suffers a head injury, there must be a plan in place to prevent that athlete from making the injury worse and that starts with concussion awareness.

Don't Remember to Forget! (Or Something Like That)

There is a great Elvis song called, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget". The song talks about how he can't forget this girl, even though he has told himself over and over not to think about her. I seem to have the opposite problem lately because there are many things I find myself forgetting about, even though I keep telling myself to remember them. In fact, I don't know many people who don't have the same problem I do. When I was younger I remembered everything! I could memorize facts for tests, remember what my homework assignment was and recall the time and date of all my appointments and meetings. I NEVER wrote anything down and amazingly all deadlines and appointments were met.

As I have gotten older, I find that if I don't write something down, fahget about it! Is memory loss something that has to happen as you age? Fortunately there are some steps that you can take to help improve your memory and give your memory a boost! The facts below are courtesy of Eric Plasker, the author of "The 100 Year Lifestyle," (Adams Media, 2007).

• Be Social: Stimulating conversations and interactions with others helps to lower the risk of dementia. So....get off the couch, turn off the TV and find a person to talk to!

• Supplements: It has been shown that people who don't get enough vitamin B12 or Folate in their diet have a higher risk of developing dementia. Spinach, romaine lettuce, lentils, black beans, broccoli and beats are foods that will help with that deficiency. Mediterranean diets rich in fish, vegetables and olive oil help to protect against Alzheimer's. Green tea can help protect against memory loss.

• Exercise Your Mind: Learning new things, working on the crossword puzzle and other brain teasers and reading a book can help keep your mind sharp.

• Nap Time!: Getting 8 hours of sleep and taking a 6 to a 90 minute nap everyday helps your brain sort, consolidate and store memories.

• I'll Have an O'Doul's: Alcohol is especially toxic in terms of memory loss and will directly affect the functions of the brain that preserve memory.

Make yourself a promise, and don't forget to remember the above tips to help keep your memory sharp!

If there are any chiropractic or health related topics you would like to see a post written about, be sure to drop me a line in the comments section.