Archive for healthy lifestyle
Here’s another blog on exercise, my favorite topic as a Sacramento Chiropractor other than talking about the benefits of chiropractic treatment. And, if you’ve read my other blogs on exercise, you know I’m a big believe in “move it or lose it.” But, if you’ve read the entire content of most of my blogs, you also know that I believe that exercise is just part of a healthy lifestyle. An essential part, to be sure, but eating nutritious meals, drinking plenty of water, and visiting your chiropractor (that last one may be slightly biased), along with giving up unhealthy habits like smoking, are crucial not only for maintaining good health, but in keeping body weight in check. That’s why I wasn’t surprised by the latest government data that indicated that more Americans are exercising, but rates of obesity and smoking have not changed.
Health experts, such as chiropractors, and the U.S. government all recommend getting daily exercise — about an hour a day of moderate exercise for most adults — to keep weight off and prevent heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Plus, we chiropractors are well aware that keeping weight off not only helps to prevent the diseases just mentioned, but it also helps to slow down, and often prevent, arthritis and stress injuries of the musculoskeletal system caused by excess weight.
But, excess weight is not only caused by, and sustained through, lack of exercise. Here are some more “fun facts” from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics:
- The prevalence of obesity among adults aged 20 and over has increased from 19.4 percent in 1997 to 28 percent in 2009.
- In 2009, 9 percent of adults 18 and over had diabetes, up from 8.2 percent in 2008 and 5 percent in 1997.
- 20.6 percent of adults smoked, about the same as in 2008.
- Nearly 23 percent of adults had at least one day of binge drinking in 2009, defined as having five or more drinks in a day.
- Most Americans believe they are healthy. More than 66 percent said they had excellent or very good health, down from 68.5 percent in 2008. 2.4 percent said they had poor health.
- Just over 4 percent of all Americans said they had an asthma attack in the past year
There are no shortcuts and no way to get around it: Good health and vibrant wellness is created and maintained through an overall healthy lifestyle.
First of all, if you are someone who reads my Sacramento chiropractic blogs, you know that as a Sacramento Chiropractor I am a passionate advocate of living a healthy lifestyle that, as I’ve written so many times, includes a healthy diet, good hydration, plenty of exercise and, of course, regular chiropractic care! In addition, I’m sure that if you are someone who is already concerned about your health, you don’t get your diet and nutrition guidelines from watching television. We all know that most TV advertisements that are about food, especially “convenience” food, are meant to sell, sell, sell, whether or not the product is actually good for you. That said, it always nice to take a moment to reflect on just how “unhealthy” TV ads can be. So, I read with great interest an article today in the New York Times Fitness and Nutrition section on the subject. The article detailed a study that concluded that if Americans ate only foods advertised on TV, they would consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat they need, but less than half the dairy, fiber, and fruits and vegetables.Yikes! Those statistics even shocked me!
Taping 28 days of prime-time TV (as well as Saturday-morning programming) on the four major broadcast networks, researchers identified 800 foods promoted in 3,000 ads. Then, using a nutritional software program, they analyzed the content of the items, comparing the foods’ nutritional values with the government’s food guide pyramid and recommended daily intake values for various nutrients (based on a 2,000 calories per day diet).
Are you ready for this? Not only would a 2,000-calorie diet made up solely of foods from commercials provide too much cholesterol, saturated fat and salt, and not nearly enough nutrients like iron, calcium or vitamins A, D and E, just one advertised food item by itself would provide, on average, three times a person’s daily recommended servings of sugar and two and half times the daily recommended servings of fat.
The study will be published this month in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
A Lot More Than You May Think Depends On Your Health
Posted by: | CommentsENJOY A MORE SATISFYING SEX LIFE! Okay, now that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s talk about your health. As a chiropractor I advise my patients everyday about the need to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, especially as they age. An individual’s “invincible” 20s give way to a few health challenges in their 30s, and then almost exponentially an unhealthy lifestyle starts showing up frequently in the organ and musculoskeletal systems of the body. But, even given an armful of reasons to get and stay healthy, a lot of people still continue along the slippery slope of bad health choices. So, here’s a reason that will, no doubt, be put on the top of the heap, for getting and staying healthy: A new study making “breaking news” today shows that people who are in good health are nearly twice as likely to be interested in sex in middle and older age and also more likely to report having a busy and satisfying sex life.
Sexual activity has long been associated with health benefits and longevity, but these reseachers say that this is the first study to look at how general health affects the quality of sex as people age and to calculate what they call a person’s “sexually-active life expectancy.”
The researchers gathered information from more than 6,000 men and women in midlife and later life. The researchers estimated that at age 55, the average sexually active life expectancy is 15 years for men and 10.6 years for women. But, here’s the kicker. Researcher Stacy Tessler Lindau, an associate professor at the University of Chicago wrote in the journal BMJ, “Although the period is longer for men, they lose more years of sexually-active life as a result of poor health than women.”
The study found both men and women in very good health were 1.5 to 1.8 times more likely to report an interest in sex than those in poorer health. And, among those who were sexually active, good health was not only associated with more frequent sex (once or more weekly) in men, but with a good-quality sex life in men and women.
So, if you haven’t been interested in developing a healthy lifestyle, but you’re still interested in a healthy sex life, you may want to reevaluate your current diet, increase the amount of exercise you get on a regular basis, learn to deal effectively with your life stresses, and start drinking plenty of water every day. Because now you have one more good reason to get healthy and stay that way.
Why Select Chiropractic Care? Your Sacramento Chiropractor Has the Answer!
Posted by: | CommentsDid you know that chiropractic treatment has been increasing in popularity for a long time and that it’s continuing to grow each year as the favored healthcare option for many folks? As your Sacramento chiropractor, I can tell you with confidence that individuals are choosing chiropractic treatment due to the many health benefits that such care offers. No alternative medical approach is less invasive to the body and, at the same time, is able to stimulate the body’s organic facility to heal itself as opposed to masking symptoms with medications.
Let’s face it, where there is a musculoskeletal system, like in the human body, there’s the chance of musculoskeletal dysfunction such as lumbar pain and neck pain, pain in the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee joints, and ankle and foot pain. No one is immune from misalignment of the spine and joint swelling, despite the fact that numerous troubles are often the result of sports injuries, accidents, and the aging process. Regardless of the source, just about any type of movement on a traumatized area of the body can not simply result in further pain or suffering, but incapacity. And, not surprisingly, a number of musculoskeletal difficulties, if left untreated, can lead to irreversible disability.
It has been declared of chiropractic care that its “positive factors exceed” eliminating just one particular condition. What does that mean? It means tha someone who comes in to see a chiropractor for lower back pain, for example, not only gains from pain reduction, but also improved circulation, a lowering or elimination of lactic acid, smoother travel of oxygen and nutrients within the body, much more flexibility, less general pain and tenderness, better recovery time, a more comfortable feeling, and the reduction of future injuries! Is it any wonder why chiropractic care has become the treatment of choice for more and more people?
In addition to providing experienced musculoskeletal care, chiropractors also promote education and support as it pertains to enhancing your general health and wellness. Chiropractors understand that in order for individuals to get healthy and remain that way, it is important to select a simple health-oriented approach to life such as consuming plenty of water to keep the body hydrated, following a nutritious diet plan, and establishing a daily stretching and exercise routine.
Chiropractic care doesn’t quite work “miracles, ” however it comes very close in many areas that could possibly surprise you. For example, chiropractic care has helped women that are pregnant deliver more easily. It can increase developmental abilities of babies, like increased motor skills, and it can commonly avert scoliosis. Chiropractic adjustments for kids have helped relieve asthma discomforts, ear infections, and bed-wetting. In addition to the health benefits stated just now, regular chiropractic management can help adults to feel more vital and dynamic, which in turn heightens productivity and life enjoyment. And, certainly, for maturing baby boomers and the senior population, not only can chiropractic care aide in reducing age-related complications and keep a person more productive in later years, it can help reduce the balance problems that all too commonly lead to critical injury from falls.
If you are already visiting a chiropractor, that’s great! You have no doubt already experienced most health benefits stated earlier. If so, why not tell an associate, a friend, or a family member about chiropractic? Don’t let someone you care about fall victim to the type of misinformation relating to chiropractic care that can keep them from living their daily life more actively. Tell someone in pain about Dr. Yong Kim, your chiropractor in Sacramento. He can help!
