What the World's Healthiest Diets Have in Common!

When Harley Pasternak traveled to the healthiest countries on the planet to look at their diets, he was looking for one thing:  What do all these diets have in common?  Pasternak, an author and nutritionist, was looking for the answer to the question his client always asked, "What's the healthiest way to eat?"

In general, he found that the healthiest people ate much smaller portions than Americans and much less processed foods.  They ate less and they ate real foods.  But what they actually ate varied greatly.  There was no common super food or type of diet.

But here's what Pasternak had to say about what he did find in common in all of these places: "The only overlapping feature in most of these healthy countries around the world is that they all walk way more than the average American.  So, really, regardless of what you're eating, if someone's walking four miles more than you each day, they're going to be a lot thinner and live a lot longer than you."

So, yeah, eat less and eat real food, not processed food.  But, if health is what your looking for, get moving!  Build a habit of a daily walk if you're not already doing that. It just may be the missing "ingredient" in your diet.

Ken Hicks, D.C.
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

As a side note:  My favorite book on what to eat to be healthy is Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.

Can exercise affect your genes?

OK, so we all know that exercise is "good" for you.  But, did you know it can actually change your DNA?  Yep, it's true.  A study just released from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden showed that endurance exercise affects DNA related to muscle adaptation, carbohydrate metabolism, and inflammation.  Basically, it showed that exercise helps us at a genetic level to build better muscle, metabolize carbohydrates better, and create LESS inflammation.

All of this happens due to epigenetics.  Simply put, our genes have switches that turn them off or on.  Healthy life choices predictably turn on "good" genes and turn off "bad" genes.  The opposite is also true.  Bad lifestyle choices equals "bad" genes getting turned on.  In a nutshell, this is epigenetics.

It's actually great news.  For years we assumed we had no control over our genes.  Now more and more we are seeing just how healthy choices affect our health, not just superficially, but truely at the genetic level.

So, get out there and do something healthy for the sake of your genes!

And, yes, doing something healthy includes regular chiropractic care.  Remember, once a month, even if you feel fine, keeps you in good shape!

Ken Hicks, DC
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

Is texting like having a 7 year old sitting on your neck?

For years I've been talking to patients about the stress having their head too far forward puts on their neck and upper back and the the degeneration and pain that this forward head posture causes.  More recently, we've started talking about "texting neck".  

With so many devices like smart phones and iPads all you have to do is look around and you will see your friends and family members looking down at their phones.  It almost seems normal, or at least common these days, to see folks looking down at various devices.  But the truth is that it puts a tremendous pressure on your neck.  


A new study published in Surgical Technology International finds that texting can add up to 50 pounds of pressure on a person’s spine.  Yep, like having a 7 year old sitting on your neck!  “Loss of the natural curve of the cervical spine leads to incrementally increased stresses about the cervical spine, these stresses may lead to early wear, tear, degeneration, and possibly surgeries.” wrote study author Dr. Kenneth K. Hansraj, a spinal and orthopedic surgeon.

As always, regular chiropractic care and spinal stabilization exercises are vital to a healthy spine and body.  But the solution to this new "texting neck" problems is even more simple ...hold your dang phone higher!

Ken Hicks, D.C.
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

Is it just tight muscles?

One of the things I heard often since starting practice in 1999 is "I think it's just tight muscles."  Patients often say this if there is no obvious joint pain, yet they still feel a tight painful area along their spine.  It's easy to think it's either  a muscle problem or  a joint problem.

In truth, it's usually both. Tight muscles affect the spinal joint and subluxated (misaligned) spinal joints affect the muscles.  It goes both ways.  That's why we use soft tissue techniques to loosen up the muscles and the spinal adjustments to bring the spinal joints back into their normal range of motion.

The interesting thing is the spinal adjustment helps the muscles settle down regardless of whether we do the soft tissue work or not.  In fact, research shows that the adjustment alone reduces muscle tension by 25%.  This was published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2005;28:465-71).

Combining the adjustment with soft tissue work is a great way to return the spinal joints to their proper range of motion and take the tension away.  What does that mean for you?  It means you FEEL and FUNCTION better.  So, come on in and let us keep you in great shape!

Ken Hicks, D.C
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

Can vitamin D help prevent the flu?

Yep, it looks like it can.  In a 2010 study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, those supplementing with vitamin D3 were almost half as likely to have the flu as those not taking vitamin D3.  The reality is that most Americans are low in vitamin D.  Our bodies produce it when were out in the sun and we spend so much time indoors these days, especially once it starts getting colder, that we simply don't produce enough.  So, we need to be supplementing with vitamin D3.

We carry a high quality vitamin D3, so next time you're in for your adjustment (at least once a month, right?) just ask us about vitamin D3 and we'll get you started.

Ken Hicks, D.C.
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

Creating the Habit of Doing Your Spinal Exericses

I've been practicing since 1999 and if there's one thing I know it's this:  the great majority of patients don't do their spinal exercises.  Over the years I've learned that if I ask how the exercises are going and the patient says "Well.." or "Um.." it means "I'm not doing them".  It's so consistent that it makes me laugh a little these days.

Here's the thing though, a five minute spine routine done on a regular basis can make all the difference in the world in both how strong you are and how you feel.  In essence for a few minutes each day you get a huge pay off.

Our patients are smart folks, so why do so few stick with it? 

I believe it boils down to trying to use willpower instead of habit power.  Willpower is a limited resource.  This is well documented.  In the beginning, when motivation is high, we're good at sticking to the plan.  But as motivation fades and our days get busy, the five minutes spine routine gets skipped ...and eventually dropped all together. 

What's the solution?  Create a habit.  The advantage of a habit is that it takes willpower out of the equation.  The spinal exercise routine become "automatic".

How do we do this?  First, and probably most important, you need a cue.  A cue is simply a sign to do the spine routine.  I have a cup of coffee in the morning and I've used finishing my coffee as my cue to do my spine routine.  It took a little motivation at first, but now it's on autopilot.  My coffee is done, I do my spine routine, period.  I don't even think about it.  It works for me.

What did not work was thinking "I need to do my spine routine sometime today".  I needed to tie it to a cue ...and so do you.  Find a cue , "right after ________ I will do my spine routine."  You will have to power to create a life long habit instead of relying on willpower each day.

If you need help with the WHAT to do part, just ask.  We've got a great printout of a very effective spine routine that only takes a few minutes a day!

Ken Hicks, D.C.
Lookout Valley Chiropractic
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

Our genes control everything, right? …well, not exactly.

Did you know scientists discovered the gene that causes osteoporosis?  They did!  It’s a gene that controls the Vitamin D receptor.  The news even made the cover of the journal Nature.  It was a researcher's dream come true …well, except that it wasn’t really true.

According to Professor Tim Spector of King’s College in London, “In the case of osteoporosis, we now believe there may be 500 genes involved.”  Oops.  I guess they didn’t find THE gene that caused it after all.

Far more interesting than trying to find the ONE gene that causes ONE disease is looking at how our choices and our environment play a role in our overall expression of our genes and how that affects our life.  Science for science sake is pretty interesting, but what I find most interesting is when science shows us real things we can do to improve our lives.

And that’s where the twins come in, specifically identical twins.  You see, identical twins are the result of one fertilized egg that splits in two.  The result is they have the same exact genes …they're clones!  I should say “we’re clones” as I am an identical twin myself.  

The reason identical twins are so useful to look at is that if our genes controlled everything, then the twins would have exactly the same health advantages and problems as they age.  But, they don’t.  In fact, over their lifetimes, identical twins can have dramatically different health.

The reason for this is epigenetics.  There are whole books about this, so I will not try to explain it in detail.  The bottom line is pretty simple though: our genes are affected and controlled to a degree by our environment.   That is, what we eat, how much we exercise, what chemicals we’re exposed to, all of that and more, actually have the ability to turn genes off or on.

Here’s my favorite part: You could ignore all of the science and just make healthy choices and you will be improving your genetic expression and therefore improving your health.  I know it sounds overly simple, but the research proves that good choices help good genes express themselves and bad choices help bad genes get expressed.  It’s like all we really ever had to do was listen to our great grandmothers!

…and what does this have to do with chiropractic?  Getting your spine adjusted is a great way to take stress off your spine and nervous system and is one more healthy choice that affects your overall health.  So, if it’s been more than 4 weeks since you’ve been adjusted, it’s time to come in!