by Admin | Apr 6, 2017 | Uncategorized
If you’re anything like me, your taste buds love the flavor of sweet. The sweeter the better! Anything that is sweet, by law has to have sugar. Unfortunately, sugar is harmful to our bodies. Even in smaller amounts, sugar can affect us in a negative way. It doesn’t matter if it’s processed sugar, which tends to be thousands of times sweeter than the natural form, or just plain old fruit. Sugar is sugar. The reason sugar is so harmful to our bodies is that it causes inflammation in our cells and hijacks our nervous system. Inflammation has been discovered to be at the root of every chronic disease we know, whether we’re talking about heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. Sugar also affects our nervous system negatively. It causes the same sort of reaction that cocaine does. We become hooked on sugar just like we would become hooked on a street drug. Sugar has been found to be just as addictive. It creates a loop. After we have some sugar, a few hours later we crave more of it. This process will continue and grow stronger and stronger. It’s even harder to break the sugar addiction because of how commonplace it can be found. It’s literally everywhere. In fact, if you pick up a box, package, or can at the store, chances are extremely high that you will find sugar somewhere in the ingredients. Companies have become smarter about how they label sugar in their products. They know people have started to look for it. Instead of calling it “sugar” they label it things like, “natural flavors” or “fructose”. If...
by Admin | Mar 24, 2017 | Uncategorized
Life is movement. Think about it… Anything that’s alive has movement. Sure, animals are easy to see move, but it’s not always crystal clear, like with a plant. However, if you look long enough and deep enough, you will eventually find the motion. For example, plants grow and sway in the breeze. They also have a chemical/neurological system inside that sends nutrients and messages throughout. Without this movement, the plant would surely parish. Humans and animals are no different. Movement is key, and a major sign of life. Without movement, humans would not be able to get the blood to circulate the body. It would pool, and it often does when you look at someone who has been on bed rest in a hospital, or at home in bed for long periods of time. Movement helps hormones circulate around the body properly. It builds and tones muscles. It allows the heart to work better and the lungs to pump more oxygen and carbon dioxide. All those processes are essential for your body to function at its highest level. However, there’s one process that is more important than anything else that I’ve spoken about…getting energy to the brain. Did you know the brain uses about 80% of all the energy supply in the body? Pretty incredible, huh? Did you also know that about 80% of the energy the brain gets to run comes from spinal motion? That’s right, movement of the spinal bones creates energy that helps the brain function properly. Without it we would die! Chiropractic plays a vital role in the brain getting the energy it needs. Especially...
by Admin | Mar 21, 2017 | Uncategorized
Do you feel good? This is the question we often ask ourselves to determine whether we’re healthy or not. Sometimes we look in the mirror and wonder, “Do I look good?” If that question is followed with a “Yes”, then we most likely conclude that our health is also good. Why would we think that? Because, years of reading magazines, watching commercials, listening to our friends have conditioned us to think this way. But does that make it true? Far from it. In fact, our health should never be based on how we feel or how we look. The health in our body is dependent on thousands, if not millions of variables, and how we look or feel is just one very small piece of the pie. Currently, heart disease is the number one killer of all Americans. If you did some research to find out what the number one sign that lets you know a heart attack is imminent, what do you think you would discover? The answer will probably shock you. The truth is, when you suffer a heart attack, you much more likely to collapse and die without any prior warning. That means no crushing in the chest, no numbness and tingling down the arm, etc. The most common sign of a heart attack is death. So, there you go. We feel great, but what does that mean? We may be out mowing the lawn tomorrow and collapse/die due to heart disease. This is because we don’t feel the plaque building up in our arteries. That happens deep in our bodies, unbeknownst to us. The only...
by Admin | Mar 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
If we lined up all the papers detailing what good diet and nutrition is from end-to-end, we could probably stretch the papers around the earth a few times. It’s an immense topic, with a lot to still be learned. We know artificial flavors aren’t good for our body. Neither is sugar, dairy, wheat, or hormones in the meat supply. There has been lots of evidence come out lately supporting a diet that’s high in fat, like avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, etc. All this new research plays an incredibly important role in more people having a healthy body and having a better quality life. One facet that underlies all this research and doesn’t get the notoriety it clearly deserves is the nervous system. The nervous system runs everything in the body. It ‘s the master controller. It determines what foods will be broken down and used as tissues and cells, what nutrients will go to building hormones and enzymes, and what needs to be discarded because it serves no purpose, or has already been used. Without the nervous system functioning correctly, there’s no way our body can digest and break down foods properly. It won’t be able to assimilate the nutrients and use it in any productive way. If the nervous system wasn’t working, our food would just sit in our bodies, rotting us from the inside. This is not the problem for most humans. However, occasionally, there will be stresses in our life that can tax the nervous system like, anxiety, a car accident, loss of sleep, a night of drinking, etc. When this occurs, our nervous system...
by Admin | Mar 3, 2017 | Uncategorized
As chiropractors, we see miracles happen everyday. We don’t need validation for what we do. However, sometimes the public needs a little more help to be brought up to speed. So, it helps when research comes out supporting the importance of the adjustment in keeping people well. This was recently done by researchers at Harvard. The topic of the article was migraines and what causes them. According to the article, the number one reason for migraines is misalignment of the top bones in the neck. These bones happen to be the most important bones in the entire spine because the brain stem sits where they are located. If there is any misalignment in that region, there’s a vast amount of symptoms that can result due to pressure at the base of the brain. One of these symptoms is, as mentioned before, a migraine. The other two causes of migraines aren’t specifically a misaligned vertebrae. However, they both have to do with the vertebrae altering vasculature in the brain, which eventually leads to a debilitating migraine. This happens because the misaligned vertebrae put pressure on the blood flow to the brain, thus causing a chain reaction by the vasculature to try and restore the movement of blood back to normal. At the same time, this can cause intense pressure in the head and set off a migraine. Misaligned bones don’t always cause migraines, but they definitely can. If a problem like this goes undetected for long periods of time, then the symptoms will tend to get worse and also multiply. The purpose of the work we do with the less...
by Admin | Feb 24, 2017 | Uncategorized
There is a big school of thought when it comes to what drives people. The theory is that we are either moving towards what we want, or moving away from pain/what we don’t want. At Hands For Life, we tend to agree with this idea. The same thing goes for when our body is feeling pain. Pain is an uncomfortable signal that the brain picks up from somewhere in the body. It could be coming from something like our ankle, shoulder, or stomach. Our initial reaction is usually to shut off the signal as quick as possible, at all costs. We take medications, drugs, utilize surgeries, all just to avoid the awful feeling of pain. However, is pain really that bad and something to be avoided? The purpose of pain is not bad. In fact, it’s extremely helpful for those people who choose to pay attention to it and not shut off the signal. The reason it’s so beneficial for us is because it lets us know an area of the body is hurt and needs time and/or assistance to heal. Therefore, pain should never be avoided. In fact, if the signal continues longer and we avoid it, then the problem tends to become worse. Instead of thinking of pain as a horrible thing, start recognizing it for the benefits it brings. Begin listening to your body and its painful areas. Work to resolve the pain through eating well, exercise, and chiropractic adjustments. Stay healthy...
by Admin | Feb 17, 2017 | Uncategorized
Are you addicted? In our culture today, there is no shortage of places or information for people to seek out on addictions to alcohol, street drugs, pornography, etc. However, something that isn’t talked about as much and creates just as much of a negative impact on our lives is sugar addiction and the effects it has on our nervous system. In studies, sugar has been shown to be as addictive as cocaine. It hijacks our nervous system and makes us a slave to its demands. To make it worse, major food companies go to great lengths to hide the sugar in their products. In fact, there are over 60 different names these companies will use to disguise sugar. For example, “natural flavors” is a common name substituted for sugar. By using this name, the companies trick us into purchasing something we think is good for us with the word “natural” in it. Instead, it’s a hidden killer, sugar. Sugar has been linked to most all major diseases in America. For example, heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, stroke, etc. The overwhelming majority of these cases can be linked back to sugar. So, how do we stop the addiction? First, we need to understand what it’s doing to our bodies. Then, we need to brush up on all the different marketing tactics companies use to get us consuming it. Finally, we need to remove it from our diet as much as possible. Since sugar hijacks our nervous system and desensitizes our brains to its effects, when we remove it, our brains begin to re-wire. When this process takes place, a...
by Admin | Feb 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
February is “Heart Health” awareness month. What many people aren’t aware of is that heart disease is the number 1 killer of all Americans today. That’s right. Heart disease kills more of people than car accidents, guns, suicides, medications, drugs, or even cancer! Want to know the craziest part? Heart disease is largely lifestyle-related. Meaning, the choices you make on a daily basis, i.e. what kind of foods to eat or drink, going to exercise or not, thinking negative or positive thoughts effect whether or not you will suffer with heart disease. Obviously, eating clean healthy foods, thinking good thoughts, and getting exercise is important. However, one thing that commonly gets left off the list that needs to be included is chiropractic care. The reason chiropractic care is so vital is doctors of chiropractic work with the nervous system in the body. The nervous system runs every process and function that takes place. Which includes making your heart pump and work properly. If there is a breakdown in communication between the brain/nervous system and the heart, then there will always be malfunction with the heart. This can lead to heart attacks, high blood pressure, or worse, death. Why wait? You and your loved ones should be checked by a chiropractor as soon as possible. Did you know, the most common sign of a heart attack is actually death? Meaning, you don’t even know you have a problem until you collapse one day never to get up again. Make sure your choices are the right choices and make sure you’re getting your nervous system checked and adjusted when necessary. Stay...
by Admin | Feb 3, 2017 | Uncategorized
Every once in awhile I draw a blank on what to write about. This post was one of those times. However, after some brainstorming I began to think a lot about the things that get people into trouble. We sometimes call these bad habits or addictions. We are creatures of habit guided off mostly subconscious feelings and thoughts. Sometimes, these feelings and thoughts can be detrimental to our bodies. Working through these thoughts and overcoming them requires work. However, if we decide that change is too difficult, or we’d just rather stay where we are presently, then the subconscious beliefs remain in tact. This can be a problem when we are prone to choose habits that are unhealthy and bring our entire being into negative vibration. Things like eating foods loaded with sugar, or drinking alcohol every night break down our body and lead to disease. When someone falls into this situation, they are often unable to pull themselves out of the hole. They need help. Not only do they need psychological help, they also need a physical reset. The best way we know how to take stress off the body and bring it to a state of ease and peace is through chiropractic care. Without it, there could be relief, but there is a strong possibility there’ll still be remnants of stress stored in the nervous system. The only way to truly get rid of stress like this is through correct eating, thinking, movement, and adjustments. Once this has been done, the body has the ability to recover and reach a point of optimal function. Anyone suffering from...
by Admin | Jan 29, 2017 | Uncategorized
Pregnancy and Chiropractic? Have you been pregnant, or known someone who was? Did they receive chiropractic care while carrying the baby? Yeah, that’s a typical answer. In fact, most people respond that way. See, the truth is, that most people are unaware of the benefits chiropractic can offer a pregnant woman. Let’s start with this, carrying an extra 35lbs gets heavy and taxing on the body. Joints don’t work as well under such weight. Chiropractic adjustments help to free up the restricted joint, or area, and give some relief to the mom-to-be. But it’s not just that…chiropractic adjustments also help nerve signals get through more properly and allow the baby to receive as much health and nutrition from the mom as possible. Also, when it’s time for the baby to come out, the pelvis needs to be as open as possible. This helps the baby move through the birth canal easily. Chiropractors excel in adjusting the hip and pelvis areas to allow for the greatest amount of space and room for the baby. So, the next time you hear someone you know is pregnant, mention chiropractic care. They may be suffering with discomfort or just hoping to have the healthiest delivery possible. Chiropractic can help. Stay healthy...
