Tampa Chiropractor

Trick-or-Treat-Give Me Something Good to Eat

via Integrative Nutrition Blog by Integrative nutrition on 10/28/09

 

It’s that time of year again, the beginning of the season for consumption of all things sweet.  Halloween marks the start of the holiday season that extends until the beginning of January.  The tendency to overindulge in sweet treats rises, the sugar rush ensues, and waistlines expand.    Considering the rise in childhood obesity, here are some ideas to curb the sugar rush, and still keep the kids happy and healthy.

For the ghosts and goblins that come knocking: Select dark chocolate options for trick-or-treaters.  Dark chocolate has health benefits such as antioxidants. Give out granola bars, 100% fruit chews, and yogurt or carob covered raisins.  Look for the fun or mini size candy options for the ghouls and goblins; the smaller the better.  Or, avoid candy altogether and hand out coloring books and crayons, glow sticks, or stickers. 

And for your little pumpkins, avoid all unnecessary sugar on the day of Halloween. Omit soda, fruit drinks, certain cereals and other sugary stuff since you know they’ll be eating candy.  Feed them a healthy meal before they go out roaming the neighborhood.  The hungrier they are, the more candy they will eat along the way.  Get them exercising!  Throw in a Thriller mix and have a little zombie dance party.  Also, have them walk from door to door. 

Do you have any tips for healthy treaters? 

 

 

Posted via email from chiropracticnews’s posterous

“Almost” isn’t generally a word we affiliate with accomplishment. Indeed, not many things in life, it seems, count much at all if you don’t “hit the nail on the head.”  Well, it would seem that this may not be an absolute when it comes to living longer. As a chiropractor in Tampa, who has many middle-aged patients and who is also a firm believer in the advantages of exercise at every age, I was very happy to read about the results of the following study.

Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” in a recent study of nearly 4,400 healthy Americans, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the nine years of the study as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (That is to say, those 20 percent who were almost at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the proverbial “bad news/good news” outcome. It is obviously bad news if you are a confirmed sofa spud. However, it is undoubtedly good news for those who haven’t quite hit rock bottom in the sedentary lifestyle department but are not, by any means, very active. Apparently, those men and women who remain even moderately fit as they age may live longer than those who are totally out-of-shape, the study suggests.

The study included 4,384 middle-aged and older adults whose fitness levels were determined during exercise treadmill tests sometime between 1986 and 2006. For an average of nine years thereafter, the researchers pursued the study groups progress. Such factors as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure were considered in the study. This, in and of itself, highlights the importance of physical fitness itself. In an email to Reuters Health, Dr. Sandra Mandic, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and lead researcher of the study wrote: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”

Nearly two-thirds of the participants at the least-fit level failed to get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, five or more days a week, which was the minimum recommended amount of exercise. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”

Classifying the participants into five groups based on fitness levels, the researchers determined that 25 percent of the least-fit men and women had died during the study period, versus 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape. Among adults in the most-fit group (the ones who “hit the nail on the head”, so to speak) only 6 percent died during the follow-up period.

The five fitness-level groups showed little variance, overall, in their reported exercise habits during most of their adult lives, but conspicuously, they varied in activity levels only in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”

And, of course, imagine the health benefits we could all obtain if we sought to achieve the higher levels of fitness.

SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.

Technorati Tags: exercise, longevity, middle age, physical fitness

via Integrative Nutrition Blog by Joshua Rosenthal on 9/28/09

What’s for dinner at your house tonight? How about a meat–free dish? Just by reducing animal protein in your diet, you could lessen your risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes. Many people have found that reducing animal protein consumption can help with low energy and sugar cravings. You can also improve the health of our environment by preserving natural resources like water and fossil fuels.

Join a growing number of people all over the country in the Meatless Monday movement and pledge to eat meat-free once a week.  What will you eat in place of your meat entrée? Try incorporating more vegetables into your meal, which are high in fiber and will make you feel full and satisfied. Beans, peas, lentils, nuts and seeds are also a great meat alternative. They are high in protein, iron and magnesium and contain little to no saturated fat.

You’ll also reduce your carbon footprint by cutting back on meat just once a week. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, the meat industry generates nearly 1/5 of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide. Our precious water resources are exhausted daily and the demand continues to grow. Approximately 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. This total far surpasses the amount of water needed for vegetables and grains.

People are confused about how to start making improvements to their health, let alone make sizable changes to the environment. Start with what you put on your dinner plate. Start today. You don’t have to become a vegetarian to make a difference. Michael Pollan recently stated on the Oprah show: “Even one meatless day a week — a meatless Monday, which is what we do in my household — if everybody in America did that, that would be the equivalent of taking 20 million mid-size sedans off the road.”

Need recipe ideas? Check out Meatless Monday’s recipe page. Just think about the health message you’re starting today and how you can extend it for the rest of the week. Go meatless and the possibilities are endless!

 

 

 

 

 

Posted via email from chiropracticnews’s posterous

Chiropractors, like your Tampa Chiropractor, are committed to making sure their patients know the importance of drinking a sufficient amount of water everyday. The positive repetitive stress is on “Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!” In order for humans to survive, they must have air and water (in that order). Survival instincts, then, would appear to guarantee that we would drink enough water as naturally as we breathe in air. (Most people aren’t getting enough oxygen either, but let’s talk about why staying well-hydrated is so important.) Your good health depends on your drinking water, and lots of it. Every system in your body — every cell, tissue, and organ — needs water to function adequately. Your saliva, and the fluids surrounding your joints, are essentially water. Your blood is kept circulating and your body temperature and metabolism are moderated by water. The improvement of nutrient absorption and toxin removal, as well as the reduction of heartburn, hypertension, exhaustion, and headaches have been attributed to staying well-hydrated.

Athletes are particularly at risk when it comes to functional challenges caused by dehydration. “Physiologically, their core body temperature could be higher than it should have been if they were hydrated. Their heart rate will be higher, and they’re going to perceive that they’re working harder than they actually are,” said Susan Yeargin, assistant professor of athletic training in Indiana State’s College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services.  According to researchers at Indiana State University, a high percentage of collegiate and professional athletes begin the season dehydrated, putting their health at risk even before they begin strenuous workouts. In fact, Pre-season physical examinations, in fact, found that 80 percent of football players presented with.

Just how much water is enough water might have you confused. Chiropractors, like the majority of other health care professionals, suggest no less than eight, 8-ounce glasses of water every day for most patients, however for our patients who are athletes, or for those who carry around excess weight or exercise or work in a hot environment, we recommend even more. There is a fairly uncomplicated way for you to know if you’re drinking a healthful quantity water. The color of your urine is a good guide. If it comes out a light, pale yellow, it’s evidence that you’re well-hydrated!

Technorati Tags: chiropractors, drinking enough water, exhaustion, headaches, heartburn, hydration, hypertension