Do you have a tendency to drink your calories? Soda, coffee, hot cocoa, fruit juice, milk, eggnog, beer, wine, other alcoholic beverages? There are pros and cons to every food we put into our body, and our culture is increasingly becoming aware of the dangers of consuming highly sugared products on a regular basis. But our love affair with tasty, aromatic beverages shouldn't have to end. If you're looking for a tasty flavored beverage that can be enjoyed hot or cold and has more health benefits than the average drink, consider: green tea.
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There is a revolution going on, and it involves your posture. Until about fifteen years ago, humans had never (repeat, NEVER!) spent minutes or hours at a time hunched over a tiny handheld communications device. Although hands are attached to arms, humans rarely lift these arms to bring this communication device closer to the eyes. In order for the visual organs to receive sensory input from this communications device, therefore, humans have adopted a posture that is brand new in evolutionary science (repeat, BRAND NEW!). Humans have read scrolls for thousands of years and books for hundreds of years, but a device of this miniscule size yet gargantuan human impact has been heretofore unimagined (repeat, UNIMAGINED!). The human body is specifically constructed to stand straight and move gracefully. In fact, many structures of the body only work properly when the body is in motion, such as the veins, the lymph system, muscles, bone strength, intervertebral discs, and so on. The problem with the woman texting (in the picture on the left) is that she is neither standing straight nor moving (except for her thumbs... more on that below). Our brand-new habit of using smartphones is causing a direct confrontation with thousands of years of human development, and the resultant problems are part of the syndrome which has been called Text Neck.
I'm one of the lucky ones. I've never had a migraine.
I've had headaches. But a migraine headache is a different condition altogether, and is best thought of as a "syndrome" instead of a single condition. The Migraine Research Foundation has collected some fascinating facts and statistics regarding migraines: Now that you're all done with your Thanksgiving feasting, here's food for thought on the gorging habits of some of our national idols: professional football players.
We're constantly told that obesity is a danger to our health (and it is!), but many of these football players are giants of men who are often over 300 pounds. Are these men obese? Since they're athletes, are they healthy? What are the health impacts of living large? Would these men naturally be this large? What about life after football? Although the job requires some football players to be enormous, what are the potential chronic health effects of gaining all this weight? These questions and many more are covered in a fascinating series of articles by Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. I highly recommend the entire series of articles. Here's just a snippet to whet your appetite: Peanut allergies appear more prevalent now than at any time in the world's history, and still on the rise. The most obvious question is, "Why?" Why are peanut allergies suddenly so explosive? What has changed? Is the problem genetic, chemical, environmental? Why do so many people's immune systems suddenly regard the humble peanut as the enemy? We are certainly exposed to far more synthetic and concentrated chemicals on a daily basis than human beings have ever been. This is one possible explanation, but it is difficult to verify through research since these chemicals affect everybody. Example: If only a small population of individuals were affected by Chemical A (for example) and also had a higher than normal incidence of peanut allergy, then we might be able to say that Chemical A and peanut allergy are correlated. We wouldn't be able to say that Chemical A causes peanut allergy, but simply that there seems to be a connection between the two. But if everyone is affected by Chemical A and Chemical B and Chemical C, then it's almost impossible to figure out which one of the chemicals might have a relationship with a peanut allergy. That's what makes a new study so interesting. Researchers claim that they've found a subset of the population who has a higher incidence of peanut allergies: the middle class. The upshot of the article is that the wealthier a family tends to be... then the cleaner their house and environment is kept... then the children growing up in these houses encounter fewer bacteria and viruses... then these children have underdeveloped immune systems which are itching for a fight... then these immune systems erroneously identify peanuts as an allergen (enemy). Sounds to me like chiropractic theory in practice! |
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DisclaimerUnless otherwise attributed, all content is written by Kyle Johnson, DC, of Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria.
All images used are under Creative Commons license. Although every effort has been made to provide an accurate description of our chiropractic care and its benefits, the information given on this website and blog is not intended to be, nor should it be interpreted as, medical advice for any condition. If you have any questions regarding your condition, you should seek the help of Dr. Johnson in person, so that he may properly assess your condition. This blog is provided by Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria, S.C., proudly located in Peoria, IL. |