Transforming
Health and Longevity
Consciousness Worldwide

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Body Conscious or Health Conscious?

by Leave a Comment

Are you Body Conscious or Health Conscious?

Unfortunately, too many people are concerned about how they look and not necessarily about their health. Perhaps you do not know the difference between being body conscious or health conscious. The following information will help you understand this critical difference as it relates to the following topics:

Eating Fats

If you are body conscious, you will not eat fats out of fear of adding fat to your shape. If you are health conscious, you will eat a moderate amount of healthy fat because hormones, nerves and cell membranes require fat to function properly.

Eating Sugar

If you are body conscious, you believe sugar gives you energy to workout and if you work out more, you can build larger muscles and look better. If you are health conscious, you know that energy from sugar is temporary, empty calories. You’d rather eat natural whole foods of complex carbs for sustained energy.

 Sleep

If you are body conscious, you believe that you will get enough sleep to keep circles from forming under your eyes. If you are health conscious, you recognize that sleep is essential to re-boot your system and rejuvenate your body.

Lifting Weights

If you are body conscious, you lift weights to create larger muscles for a “hard body”, muscular look. If you are health conscious, you lift weights to gain/maintain strength and structural integrity.

 Aerobic Exercise

If you are body conscious, you believe that if you do cardio today, you can have dessert and/or eat whatever you want today. If you are health conscious, you believe that if you do cardio today, you will improve your heart strength, your endurance and create a strong heart to serve you for years.

Doing Yoga

If you are body conscious, you may think, “How does yoga help with my body shape? It is a waste of time”. If you are health conscious, you know that yoga centers, stretches and strengthens you from your core. It calms you and helps keep you balanced.

Chiropractic Care

If you are body conscious, you believe that you will go to a chiropractor to help alleviate an ache or pain, so you can workout and look better. If you are health conscious, you know that you will go to a chiropractor to alleviate an ache or pain and continue to utilize care to keep your nervous system working at its best. Like eating healthy foods and exercising regularly, it keeps your body functioning at optimum levels.

So Which are You?

Body Conscious or Health Conscious? Are there any changes you know you need to make? A Doctor of Chiropractic will support you so you can be the healthiest version of you possible.

Find a Provider

Natural Fertility Support

by Leave a Comment

Starting or expanding your family may be an important component of your 100 Year Lifestyle. Fertility challenges can be discouraging and frustrating. To increase your chances for an easy conception and pregnancy, keep your spine and nervous system healthy with Lifestyle Care and try some of these healthy tips!

AVOID – MicroNutrient deficiencies which can result from stress, smoking, toxins, poor diet, and prescription medications including certain contraceptives.

TRY – A good whole food multivitamin and probiotic, during and after birth control use, to prevent nutritional deficiency and restore already depleted levels.

AVOID – Having an abnormal body mass index. Being underweight or overweight can affect fertility in both males and females. In a person who is underweight, the body naturally panics and shuts down many important bodily processes and literally turns down reproduction.

With obesity, adiponectin (a protein released by fat cells that assists in burning up fat) decreases. Adiponectin would normally help to make the body more sensitive to insulin (which enhances ovulation). Without sufficient adiponectin, the body becomes resistant to insulin and fertility is compromised.

TRY – Normalizing weight before trying to conceive. Good nutrition helps to create a “clean slate” within the body that helps it to respond and utilize other natural remedies better. Try “cleaning and greening” your life before trying to conceive. Be sure that you are eating adequate amounts of foods such as dark leafy greens, sesame seeds, seaweed, almonds, quinoa, chia, and bone broth to maintain proper hormone production.

AVOID – Oxidative stress. This is heavily linked with many chronic diseases and fertility challenges. When we are exposed to environmental stress such as pollution, radiation, toxins in the home and work place, caffeine, smoking and drugs, the body accumulates oxidative stress. This may result in significant damage to cell structures, sperm cell development and ovary function, decreasing chances of fertilization and increasing the chance of miscarriage. Hundreds of synthetic chemicals found in our environment are now identified as hormone disruptors for ovulation, fertilization and implantation of the embryo.

TRY – Natural products for household cleaning, body care, pest and weed control and building materials.

AVOID – Spinal subluxations which occur when there are misalignments of the spine or pelvis. This results in altered joint motion and nerve irritation which can lessen organ function and general health. Both the severity of the subluxation and the length of time it has been left uncorrected dictate the impact on fertility.

TRY – Removing spinal subluxations so that proper nerve messages that initiate and sustain reproduction can do their job. Don’t wait for a crisis to get started under chiropractic care. Make the critical transition to Lifestyle Care to optimize the function of your nervous system, which can contribute to the likelihood of conceiving.

Whether you are planning to conceive or not quite yet, these tips will help you live healthier and prepare you for parenting.

Contributed by Dr. Kendra Becker

Yoga Recommended by Chiropractors

by Leave a Comment

Stress Relief

Yoga can help limit the negative impact of daily stress on your life. It can also strengthen your core, calm your body and ease your mind. Many chiropractors recommend yoga as an exercise for their patients and it is also recommended in The 100 Year Lifestyle Workout.

Starting is Easy

There are many yoga websites you can visit to get started right away and in the comfort of your home. If you want to venture out, most yoga studios offer Beginner’s classes so you can get comfortable practicing with other people at your skill level.  Try to encourage a friend or partner to join you. Healthy living is contagious, and you can hold each other accountable on days when one of you may not feel up to a workout.

One of the great appeals of yoga is its low barrier of entry. All you need is a yoga mat and some comfortable clothes and you are on your way to being a master. Classes vary in price, but many studios will offer a discount if you buy a multi-class package. Before you do though, take some time to make sure you have found the right class and teacher for you.

The Right Fit

There are many different types of yoga and it is fun to experiment with different styles to find the best fit for you.  Good yoga instructors share common traits. Their focus should be on creating a positive, comfortable setting for your instruction. Pay attention to ambience when you are sampling different yoga studios. Most instructors will dim the lights and play gentle, comforting music during their classes. Good yoga instructors also know how to manage the volume and tone of their voices so that they can teach the class without dominating your headspace. Listen to the words they say during a class. If they don’t resonate with you, look elsewhere. Test your comfort level before you select a yoga studio and commit to the fee. The more comfortable you are, the more likely you are to continue going.

Health Benefits

Yoga is good for your entire body as well as your mind and it can be a nice complement to your chiropractic lifestyle care.  A healthy spine and nervous system is essential for a healthy life and promotes the strength and stability necessary for any kind of exercise. It is also valuable in detecting any underlying condition which can help avoid injury so get checked before starting a new fitness or exercise program.

Pain Relief Drug Concerns

by Leave a Comment

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the powerful opioid narcotic painkiller, OxyContin for children as young as 11. While we are compassionate for everyone in pain, especially children, we are also very concerned about how their pain is being addressed. Parents must become educated and cautious. Consider the following before introducing any pain reliever, especially a narcotic that has the potential to create long-term addiction and abuse.

– Nearly two million Americans, aged 12 or older, either abused or were dependent on opioid painkillers in 2013. [1]

–  “One in 25 high school seniors has abused OxyContin” said Scott Hadland, a specialist in adolescent medicine and substance abuse treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

– The number of prescription painkillers sold has quadrupled since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

– More than 44,000 Americans die of drug overdoses each year. Some people who become addicted to prescription painkillers switch to using heroin, which has become cheaper and easier to access than OxyContin.[2]

– Every day, 44 people die as a result of prescription opioid overdose.

– There were 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States alone in 2013. Of these, 22,767 (51.8%) were related to prescription drugs.

– Drug misuse and abuse caused about 2.5 million emergency department (ED) visits in 2011. Of these, more than 1.4 million ED visits were related to prescription drugs.[3]

We don’t want you or a loved one to become a statistic. If you are considering medication for yourself or for them and are looking for a healthier long term solution, keep in mind the holistic options available that help the body heal itself and function the way it’s supposed to.

Chiropractic care can get to the cause and relieve pain resulting from spine and nervous system imbalance. Research published in the January 2005 issue of the scientific periodical the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, (JMPT) showed that patients with chronic spinal pain syndromes did markedly better under chiropractic care than patients who received medication.

Seeking chiropractic care as part of the journey to relief can result in improved conditions today and enhance your quality of life as you age.

[1] http://usat.ly/1NuMZFN

[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Vital Statistics System mortality data. (2015) Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm.

[3] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Highlights of the 2011 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) findings on drug-related emergency department visits. The DAWN Report. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2013. Available from URL: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k13/DAWN127/sr127-DAWN-highlights.htm

Top 10 Reasons To Get Your Spine Checked

by Leave a Comment

10. The times that you need your spine the most will be the time that it will tend to give out on you.

If you neglect your spine and nervous system, you can be sure that when you need it the most due to stress, physical activity, business or pleasure travel, it can give out on you. Extra stress on a weakened spine and nervous system can overload your system and contribute to health problems. Lifestyle Care can keep you healthy and prevent these inconvenient episodes from putting a damper on your life.

9. Nerve pressure can exist without pain.
According to the research, pain is not a good indicator of how healthy or unhealthy your spine and nervous system are. Spinal examinations such as posture, weight balance, palpation, muscle testing, computer scans and x-rays are much better indicators. Pain is usually the last to show up and the first to be relieved when you begin chiropractic care.

8. Nerves supply your whole body.
Your spine protects your nerve system, the master control center of your body. Vital energy flows over your nerves and communications with every cell. Nerve pathways must be clear for the messages to get through. If you have an uncorrected spinal problem, it can cause a decrease in the function of vital organs and systems, and lead to unecessary pain or health problems.

7. Deterioration can begin within 2 weeks.
Researchers found that when the spine is misaligned it can begin to deteriorate within 2 weeks. Think about how many two weeks have passed since you were born, which is often when the first spinal injury or vertebral subluxation occurs. How many two weeks are there from a childhood fall to age 50? Is it any wonder why more than 15 million people are diagnosed with osteoarthritis each year? Don’t wait another 2 weeks for a check up.

6. Your quality of life depends on a healthy spine.
If you want to be healthy and active as you age, your spine and nervous system must be healthy. Period.

5. The straw will break the camel’s back.
We’ve all heard the expression “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” This is so true for too many people who ignore minor spinal problems. One day they do something simple, like bend down to tie their shoe, and they can’t get up. Major problems are much more painful and expensive to care for, and they can ruin your day, or even worse, your life.

4. Grandma and Grandpa didn’t get crooked overnight. They grew that way over time.
Over time, the spine and nervous system deteriorates, not because of age, but because of subluxations. Just like the tires on your car wear down unevenly when they are misaligned, the same can happen in your spine. You may have some areas in your spine that look and feel like they are 80 years old while you have other areas that are more like a 30 year old. You can keep your entire spine healthy with chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

3. Good posture keeps you young and attractive.
When your body becomes bent over and crooked, you will look and feel old and decrepit. If you keep your posture and your spine straight and strong, you will stay healthier and feel younger and more attractive. People often use drastic measures to preserve their youthful appearance as they age. Don’t you think a facelift would look silly on a person whose spine and nervous system were neglected?

2. You can’t afford to get sick or injured.
Now more than ever, you cannot afford to get sick. Crisis care costs are astronomical and an unhealthy spine and nervous system can be the cause of many problems. Getting your spine and nervous system checked and adjusted regularly can help you stay healthier and save you money in the long run.

1. Because you were born.
Everybody deserves to be healthy from the time they are born through their last breathe of life. This includes you. Too many people wait until they have intense pain and suffering before they make their health a priority. Don’t let this happen to you.

DD’s Important Timeless Question

by Leave a Comment

Over 100 years ago, DD Palmer, DC asked an important question that sparked a new profession – the Chiropractic profession. He asked, “I desired to know why one person was ailing and his associate, eating at the same table, working in the same shop, at the same bench was not. Why? What difference was there in these two persons that caused one to have various diseases, while his partner escaped?”

This question is just as important for you and your family today. There is so much toxicity in the air, food and water that we consume. Chemtrails mark the skies, genetically modified foods are sold in our stores, and the quality of our water supply is so poor that the bottled water industry generates $11 billion a year.

How resistant are you to all of these toxins in the environment? How capable is your body of resisting the stress from the negative forces all around us? What is the answer to DD Palmer’s question?

Without a doubt, one important part of the answer is that your body must be able to adapt in a healthy way to your surroundings. The system within your body that controls and coordinates every function of your body and adapts you to your environment is your nervous system.

Healthy nerve supply is essential for a healthy life. Your brain consists of 100 billion neurons and sends messages at 325 mph over 45 miles of nerves within your body. This highly sophisticated and coordinated network is the Information Technology (IT) super highway that must be functioning properly for your body to appropriately adapt to your environment. Cut off this system completely and your cells, tissues and organ systems will die. Interfere with this system and your body cannot function the way that it is supposed to. Your internal adaptation mechanisms become weak.

Vertebral subluxation is a condition that happens in the spine and nervous system when it is injured from the birth process, childhood falls, accidents, or stress of any kind. Because your natural IT system can be affected by this condition, it can result in immediate symptoms and mimic any diagnosis or it can lie dormant and asymptomatic for decades leading to many types of health problems in the future. If you truly want to strengthen your body’s ability to adapt, you must make the correction and elimination of this condition a priority – before it leads to problems.

Certainly, healthy non-toxic food is an important and healthy choice. Exercise to keep your body fit and strong will build your confidence, increase your resistance, and help prevent health problems. However, without a healthy spine and nervous system, the food and the fitness cannot be assimilated properly. Dr. Palmer was correct and the profession he founded lives on, 118 years later and counting. Isn’t it time that you make the health of your spine and nervous system a priority?

Make the health of your spine and nervous system a priority. Make good choices across the board. Live The 100 Year Lifestyle and enjoy a sensational century.

Who’s Got Your Back?

by Leave a Comment

In challenging or prosperous times, who can you count on? Who’s got your back? We all need help. Alone we are nothing. We need support physically, emotionally and spiritually. Most of what we have accomplished in our lives was because people had our back. We are responsible for ourselves but we could not do it alone.

When it comes to your health care, does your doctor or team of doctors have your back? Do you trust that your health care providers will guide you in the right direction? Through this journey called health, are your doctors inspired to help you reach your health goals or do you feel they are just doing a job, going through the motions to get paid?

 

 

Here are a few characteristics of a doctor who truly has your back:

·         They stand for you being your best

·         They provide a healthy vision for the future

·         They are not merely drug-pushers

·         They empower you to make healthy choices

·         They educate and inform you

·         They are a source of information

·         They present your options

·         They care about your family

Does your current health care team have these traits?  You need two types of health care providers. One that helps in times of crisis and one that helps prevent a crisis from happening by optimizing the function of your mind and body. Through all the healing arts there are examples of these kinds of doctors.

The 100 Year Lifestyle provides breakthrough solutions for real, lasting, personal and cultural change. The resources and information will empower you and your loved ones to live your best life today and every day, to 80, 90, 100 years and beyond. We’ve got your back!

Contributed by Dr. Dennis Buckley

Lifetime Care Study Reveals…

by Leave a Comment

In a new pilot study performed by the Life University Research Department, Dr. Eric Plasker and The Family Practice, the data suggests very promising results relating to quality of life and length of time under chiropractic care.

Eleven clinics and more than 100 patients ranging from one to three years under care to more than 20 years under chiropractic care, show two trends worth noting.

The first trend is that people under chiropractic care during their first three years showed a definite improvement in their overall health even beyond their initial complaint. In patients under care from three years to more than 20 years, the second trend takes the form of a leveling off effect – indicating that there was no decline in health with age.

This is an important finding as many advocates for lifetime chiropractic care have described how chiropractic care as a part of their lifestyle contributes to their quality of life and activity level as they age.

Staying healthy is more important than ever as we are learning that we have a greater longevity potential than our parents and grandparents.

In fact, 100-year-old people are the world’s fastest growing group and we are the first generation in history that is getting the advanced notice that whether we like it or not, we will probably live longer than we ever thought.

According to the New England Centenarian Study, “Health span equals lifespan…. Instead of the aging myth that the older you get, the sicker you get, it is much more the case of, the older you get, the healthier you’ve been”.[1] Staying healthy is more important than ever to ensure your quality of life as you age so that your health span matches your lifespan.

Too many people are crisis oriented when it comes to their health. As the study suggests, if you want to be healthy, make the critical transition from Crisis Care to Lifestyle Care and make the health of your spine and nervous system a priority.

The pilot study results are preliminary and require confirmation in a larger study that we are planning now. We will keep you informed as to when the results of Phase Two are completed and ready for circulation. Between now and then, make this transition with your family and make Lifestyle Care your top priority.

1. Hitt R, Young-Xu Y, Perls T. Centenarians: The older you get, the healthier you’ve been. Lancet, 1999;354 (9179):652.

Healthier Pregnancy, Healthier Life

by Leave a Comment

New longevity research declares that babies born today could routinely live to 100-120 years and beyond. Parents need to know how their lifestyle will affect their baby today, tomorrow and for a lifetime.

It’s wise for pregnant moms to reduce and avoid stress. Stress affects longevity by shortening telomeres, the caps on chromosomes. They are considered the timekeepers of the cell and telomere shortening can happen at any age. When umbilical cord blood is drawn from newborns, the babies whose mothers experienced more stress during pregnancy showed shorter telomeres than those moms who experienced easier or less stressful pregnancies.1

If conditions during pregnancy were not ideal, then embracing a healthy lifestyle now with good nutrition, exercise and a balanced spine and nervous system are vital for mom and child, to preserve and optimize their longevity potential while also reducing the risk of degenerative diseases.

The science of epigenetics empowers us with the knowledge that we have greater control over our own and our baby’s destiny than we may have thought. Depending on the research you read, between 5 to 30% of disease development is determined by your genetics while 70% or more being related to your lifestyle choices, how we take care of ourselves today. This is a game changer for making the extra effort to create the healthiest pregnancy, delivery and environment for mom and baby. A vitalistic, less stressful pre and post-natal phase can set the stage for health.

The old saying “you are what you eat” is especially true during pregnancy and quality prenatal supplementation plus eating nutritious whole food is important. Include protein sources rich in omega 3 fatty acids and free from hormones and antibiotics. Eliminate exposure to toxins, pesticides and estrogen mimickers commonly found in plastics, sunscreens, cleaning agents and insecticides. Pesticide exposure can be reduced swiftly by switching to organic foods.

Regular exercise like walking, swimming and stretching prepares the body well for labor. Building strength will prepare mom for the endurance needed during delivery and the weeks following birth.

The structure of the mom’s pelvis can determine her ability to carry and deliver her baby in a healthier way. Lifestyle chiropractic care can align her pelvis and contribute to a delivery with less stress on her and her baby. If mom’s pelvis and/or sacrum are misaligned, abnormal tension can occur in her nerve system leading to unnecessary complications such as breach or transverse presentation, back pain, sciatica or severe ‘back labor’.

Women receiving chiropractic adjustments report shorter labor times and better delivery experiences. Offering the gift of a chiropractic checkup to an expectant mother can be the highlight gift at every baby shower. Proper spinal alignment before, during and after pregnancy sets the stage for mom and baby to live their ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

1. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2013 Feb;208(2):134.e1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2012.11.033. Epub 2012 Nov 27.

Contributed by Drs. David and Lorraine Melendez, 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliates in Cardiff by the Sea, CA

We Are Not Just Lucky

by Leave a Comment

Luck, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, is the force that causes things, especially good things, to happen to you by chance and not as a result of your own efforts or abilities. Winning the lottery would classify one as being lucky and for the amateur golfer, so is a hole-in-one.

The athlete who trains for their sport day after exhausting day, the straight-A student who reads and studies extensively, the person who changes their eating habits and becomes more active and returns to their ideal weight…their success has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with action and choices!

What about health? Is it luck that allows children to be born drug free and without intervention? Is it luck that those same children enjoy a childhood free from ear infections, antibiotics and trips to an urgent care facility for every illness that happens to be going around? What about when they grow into adults who do not require major surgeries, countless prescription and over-the-counter drugs and ultimate confinement to a bed in a nursing home? The answer, is no. It involves effort and choices.

Paying close attention to eating a healthy menu of food and exercising on a regular basis is helpful. These actions are of vital importance to overall good health; however, there is another piece to the puzzle. You were born with the Innate Intelligence that gives your body the ability to heal from the inside out. From the moment of conception, the power that made the body heals the body. You must choose to trust your body to do its job. 

In order for your body to do this, the pathways by which it receives its messages from the nervous system must be clear. The function of every cell, tissue and organ depends on it.

Interference in this communication can be caused by events such as birth, or a fall, or a sports injury, or a car accident. Interference can also be caused by choices such as eating poorly, drinking too much, strenuous work, heavy exercise or not enough movement. Outside influences such as stress at school or work, chemicals in our food and toxic exposure affect the nervous system. The effects of interference can express itself in ways such as physical illness or pain. It may occur today or it may occur in the years to come, but when it occurs and how should not be left to luck.

A chiropractic examination will determine if you or your loved ones have spinal or nervous system interference. A chiropractic adjustment is the way to remove that interference. The beneficial side effect is a body that has the ability to heal itself from the inside out, just as it was meant to do. The need for sick days, medications and surgery decrease and the potential to live a long, healthy, active life increases. Who would not want that for themselves and their loved ones?

Choose chiropractic for your health, get your spine checked and get those you love checked. When we make a choice, when we take action, when we put our abilities to work then good things happen. Enjoy living life at your best instead of hoping you are just lucky.

Contributed by Jaime Coxon, RD, LD

© 2018 — LCFE, LLC and The Family Practice, Inc. All Rights Reserved