Exercise: An Essential Element of a Healthy Lifestyle

Exercise: An Essential Element of a Healthy Lifestyle

That dreaded eight-letter word: exercise.

Just like drinking enough water or getting plenty of sleep, we know that exercise is good for us, but it's easy to put it off, to make excuses, or to simply forget about it.

However, the benefits of regular exercise are so great that it should be an easy decision to make it part of your regular routine and healthy lifestyle!

Regular exercise can:

• Improve sleep
• Increase energy
• Help with weight loss
• Improve digestion
• Improve blood pressure
• Reduce stress

You don't have to spend an hour in the gym every day or run five miles three times a week to get these benefits. Even simple exercise can give you noticeable improvements in your health.

However, there are exercises that can be damaging to your spine. Therefore, it is important to exercise carefully and properly so you don't undo all the work your chiropractor and you have done to get your spine healthy!

• DON'T do any exercises or stretches which involve a forward-bending motion: full sit-ups, toe-touches, reaching for your toes in a sitting position, etc.
• DO always keep your back straight and only curve it the way it is meant to be curved.
• DO exercises that are gentle on your spine, such as walking (with good posture!) and swimming. Running and jogging are both hard on the spine and can be damaging to it.

Questions? Ask Dr. Hackbart or Dr. Folkers, or request a copy of our handy exercise guide next time you're in the office.

We also conduct a class for new patients most Monday nights, but anyone is welcome to attend! Learn what good posture really is and how to get it, how to exercise, lift, and even sleep in ways that won't damage your spine, and hear about people whose lives were changed because of chiropractic--and how yours can be changed for the better, too. Just call and let us know that you'd like to attend class so we can be expecting you!

The Role of Food in a Healthy Lifestyle

Chiropractic care is one element of a healthy lifestyle, one thing that helps keep your body working the way it was designed to. Chiropractic doesn't treat or cure any disease; instead, it enables your body to better fight disease and helps strengthen you immune system, as well as relieving pain.

Chiropractic alone isn't enough to keep you healthy. If you visit the chiropractor regularly, that's great, but if you're also putting food into your body that isn't what it needs, if you're not exercising regularly, if you're not drinking enough water or getting enough sleep, you won't be healthy.

What is the role of food in a healthy lifestyle?

Well, we all know that food is what gives us energy. More specifically, our bodies need calories (in the form of fats and starches) to burn for energy, so all the body functions can work. Our bodies need protein to build and strengthen our muscles so we can move. Our bodies need vitamins and minerals to perform all its essential functions. Our bodies need plenty of water for everything!

What foods give us these essential nutrients?

Fresh fruits and vegetables. Meat and eggs. Dairy products. Healthy, natural fats like butter and plant oils such as olive and coconut. Some whole grains, although some people have to be careful with this.

Many "foods" contain preservatives, chemicals to affect their color, taste, or texture, added processed sugars, chemically-produced fats such as margarine, canola oil and shortening--all things our body doesn't need.Not only do our bodies not need these things for proper function, but putting those things in our body actually inhibits its ability to function optimally. Our body has to work extra-hard to clear out all the unnecessary things so it can absorb the good stuff that it actually needs.

So just as eating whole, real, natural foods helps keep your body healthy, eating processed, fake and not natural foods can contribute to disease.

Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with eating the occasional candy bar, doughnut, or Big Mac. It is important, however, to keep our intake of those foods that aren't good for us to a minimum, and fill our menus and stomachs with food that is nourishing and will actually improve our health.

It is unfortunate that it is the processed, less-healthy foods which are cheaper and usually have a longer shelf life. For people on a tight budget, it may be difficult to keep to a truly healthy diet because fresh produce, meat and dairy products are among the most expensive things in the grocery store. But don't let that be a discouragement to you if you're in a similar situation. Do your best with what you can. Here are some ideas to save money and still eat foods that will nourish your body:

• Start a garden if possible and grow your own produce, a much cheaper option than the grocery store or even the farmer's market.
• Skip the coffee shop and make coffee drinks at home with your favorite coffee, milk, and a natural sweetener like honey. You'll save a lot of money!
• Cut out soft drinks and sugary fruit juices, and instead drink water and spend the $3-$5 that a bottle of juice can cost on some fresh fruit.
• Instead of buying expensive and processed lunch meat, buy a whole chicken which you can roast and make into sandwich meat, chicken soup, and homemade chicken stock.
• Buy frozen vegetables instead of canned if fresh ones are too pricey.
• Try making homemade bread to avoid the preservatives and added sugar in packaged bread. Homemade bread can be as simple as flour, yeast, water, and a little fat--very frugal and very good for you.

A healthy lifestyle has many components: exercise, adequate sleep, chiropractic care, and good nutrition. Putting these components together enables your body to work to its fullest potential and keep you healthy and happy!

Avoid Colds and Flu: Get Adjusted Regularly

Colds and flu are no fun, but we've come to expect to get sick sometime during "flu season." Catching a cold isn't always a bad thing, as you'll learn, but there are ways to keep from getting one entirely, and heal quickly when you do get sick.

Why we get sick

You are exposed to "germs"--different viruses and bacteria--every day. Any of these could make you sick except that your body's defense system kills most of those germs before they have a chance to do any damage (unless you are afflicted with a poor or weakened immune system).

When you do get sick, it's a result of a low resistance to disease. This is usually caused by stress: structural stress (what chiropractors correct), emotional stress, and chemical stress (toxins that your body hasn't been able to get rid of). A combination of two or more of these can allow an infection to take over your body.

3 reasons why cold symptoms aren't a bad thing

When you get sick, it means an infection or virus has gotten past your body's initial defenses. In order to get out the intruder, your body goes on the attack. Your body temperature will often raise to try to kill the invading germs (resulting in a fever), and other systems will do whatever they can to get rid of the bacteria or virus (resulting in a runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, or in the cases of a digestive infection, vomiting or diarrhea). These symptoms are uncomfortable and unpleasant, but they're a sign that your body is doing what it's designed to, in order to heal from the illness.

If you take a fever reducer, you're taking away your body's ability to kill an infection with heat. If you take a decongestant to stop your nose or eyes watering, you're keeping the virus or bacteria in your body instead of letting your body get it out.

How chiropractic prevents colds and flu, and helps you heal faster

We've established that you get sick because of a compromised immune system. When your body's natural defenses are not functioning the way they should be, viruses and bacteria can get in and attack. How do you keep your immune system working properly? The same way you keep all your body's systems working correctly: by keeping the nerve pathways between your organs and your brain open and healthy. That's what chiropractic does, by keeping your spine in alignment and the nerves in your spine un-pinched!

Chiropractic also helps you heal faster when you do get sick. Sometimes, even with a healthy spine, you might get a cold, flu, or gastrointestinal infection ("stomach flu"). You'll be able to heal more quickly with a properly aligned spine. That's why it's important to come to the chiropractor when you get sick, ideally before you go see any other doctor. Come see us, then go home and rest!

Other ways to get healthy and keep healthy, naturally

Don't fight your body's well-designed defense system. Work with it! Keep healthy by:

• eating nourishing food, and avoiding food that doesn't benefit your body
• getting adequate sleep (at least 7 hours a night for adults)
• drinking plenty of water
• exercising regularly
• seeing your chiropractor at least monthly!

Source:

Koren, Tedd, D.C. (2014). Colds & Flu (pamphlet). TAN Koren Publications Inc.

Work Like A Charm: an Audio Seminar

benefits of chiropractic for your work and career - Hackbart Chiropractic, Seward, NE

Dr. Hackbart, Dr. Isaacson and I have put together an audio seminar. We've got great tips and advice for staying healthy at work. You don’t have to sacrifice your health for the perfect job – in fact, the healthier you are, the more successful and productive you’re likely to be in your career as well! So give yourself the balanced life you deserve and be happy, and healthy, all work-day long.

With these tips you will feel full of energy, vigor, passion, and enthusiasm!

Click play below to listen to the Work Like A Charm Seminar:

Chiropractic for Athletes

chiropractic for athletes at Hackbart Chiropractic in Seward, NE

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Chiropractic isn't just for car accidents and headaches! We provide care to a wide variety of people, many of whom are avid sports players. Chiropractic care is an excellent supplement to a healthy, fit lifestyle and influences coordination and balance. Regular adjustments can also improve reaction time and strength. One of our local college athletes talks about how chiropractic has benefited him in his athletic career.

Click play below to watch...

Want more information on chiropractic for athletes? Stop into our office and pick up one of our pamphlets full of excellent information and fascinating studies that reveal just how beneficial chiropractic can be in the world of sports.