Category: Breaking Bad Habits

In early winter, whether we’re celebrating Hanukkah or Christmas, both or nothing at all, families and friends gather to share food and drink and give thanks for a year successfully completed. We send up a rousing holiday cheer and share delicious holiday cheer in celebration of our accomplishments and to honor our cherished relationships. It’s also useful to take a few moments to ponder and examine the many factors contributing to our ability to navigate the twists, turns, and surprises that daily life has to offer. Foremost among these factors is ongoing good health throughout the year.

As we proceed with our self-inquiry, we begin to understand that work is required to maintain our personal optimum levels of good health. Such work includes engaging in various health-promoting lifestyle activities, encompassing regular vigorous exercise, eating a nutritious diet, consistently getting sufficient hours of restful sleep at night, and having a positive mental attitude. But none of these healthy lifestyles is obtainable without intention, planning, and effort. In a very real sense, we have to make room in our busy lives for the activities that will help to keep us healthy and well.

Consistency and habit are the keys to adopting and maintaining healthy lifestyles. If one is not eating a nutritious diet or not doing 30 minutes of vigorous exercise at least 5 times a week, it may seem impossible to get these things done. Inertia holds sway and it’s all too easy to believe that it’s just too much trouble. But from the perspective of efficiency and utility, as well as from the perspective of health and wellness, the benefits of spending time now to engage in healthy lifestyles far outweigh the multiple costs of having developed a chronic illness later on. The good news is that as you begin to perform daily lifestyle activities, the successes you begin to achieve build upon each other and you instinctively want to continue doing the things that are making you feel healthier. This reinforcement helps establish consistency and helps establish healthy lifestyle habits.

Regular chiropractic care helps us accomplish all our healthy lifestyle activities. By detecting and correcting sources of nerve irritation, regular chiropractic care helps ensure optimal functioning of your nerve system, your body’s master system. As your nerve system controls all the physiological functions of your other body systems, regular chiropractic care helps ensure that your body as a whole is working at peak efficiency. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps your body put all your lifestyle activities to good use, and helps you and your family achieve long-term health and wellness.

1. Phillips C: Lifestyle Modulators of Neuroplasticity: How Physical Activity, Mental Engagement, and Diet Promote Cognitive Health during Aging. Neural Plast. 2017;2017:3589271. doi: 10.1155/2017/3589271. Epub 2017 Jun 12
2. Pablos A, et al: Effectiveness of a school-based program focusing on diet and health habits taught through physical exercise. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2017 Nov 14. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2017-0348. [Epub ahead of print]
3. Jakicic JM, et al: Role of Physical Activity and Exercise in Treating Patients with Overweight and Obesity. Clin Chem 2017 Nov 20. pii: clinchem.2017.272443. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2017.272443. [Epub ahead of print]

n this 200th anniversary year of the birth of Henry David Thoreau, each of us can increase our health and well-being by applying his guidance to our regular exercise activities. Thoreau, one of the United States’ greatest writers, naturalists, and philosophers, not only walked the length and breadth of Concord, his beloved hometown in Massachusetts, but also walked and hiked far and wide across farms, riverbeds, parklands, and mountains all over Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

In Thoreau’s time, the early and middle decades of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was just beginning to impact daily life. In those days, men and women still engaged in substantial quantities of physical labor, and exercise as such was never conceived as necessary. At present, in marked contrast, regular exercise is a key requirement for a healthy life. We need to break away, for at least 30 minutes every day, from our computer monitors and our mobile device screens. Thoreau would not recognize the sprawling urbanity of our cramped cities and their satellite suburbs, but he would likely strongly encourage us to get out there, walk as much as we can, and enjoy as much green space as possible.

For Thoreau, being outdoors was imperative. In his revered essay, “Walking,” he informed his readers that he could not stay in his “chamber for a single day without acquiring some rust.” Admittedly, our mode of living is quite different from his. For many of us, getting to some green space requires a bit of effort. However, in the 21st century, we need to make sure we’re doing sufficient vigorous exercise, and walking on city streets and avenues counts as much as does walking along a tree-lined lane.

For those of us who haven’t done any regular exercise for some time, walking is an optimal way to get back in shape. Regardless of one’s age, renewing one’s acquaintance with the process of exercise should be a gradual process. Start slowly, beginning with a 15-minute walk at a slow pace. Increase your pace over time until you’re able to do a brisk 15-minute walk. Then increase your duration in small increments, decreasing your pace if needed. Within, typically, four to six weeks, you’ve become able to do a brisk 30-minute walk. Longer durations may be appropriate, whenever possible. The federal government recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of vigorous exercise five times a week to achieve and maintain good health.

Regular chiropractic care helps us achieve our exercise goals and is an important component of our overall health and well-being strategy. Regular chiropractic care helps our spines maintain their balance, flexibility, and mechanical integrity, and a well-functioning spinal column helps ensure optimal activity of our nerve system. When the nerve system, our body’s master system, is functioning properly, all our other physiological systems are able to do their jobs more effectively. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps us get the most out of our exercise activities and helps us obtain high levels of health and wellness.

1. Shanahan DF, et al: The Benefits of Natural Environments for Physical Activity. Sports Med 46(7):989-995, 2016
2. Ulmer JM1, et al: Multiple health benefits of urban tree canopy: The mounting evidence for a green prescription Health Place 42:54-62, 2016
3. Cox DTC, et al; Doses of Neighborhood Nature: The Benefits for Mental Health of Living with Nature BioScience 67(2):147-155, 2017

The recent school year has long been over, but the echoes of learning, striving, and achieving persist. We may, if we choose, apply these remembrances of ourselves when we were in school to the circumstances of our health and well-being. We all want good health for ourselves and the members of our families, but most of us are uncertain as to the actions we need to take to attain this goal. For example, it’s easy to get caught up in the notion of “perfect health.” Such a misconception may have dire consequences, as the image of being “slim and trim” or being able to sport a set of “washboard abs” may actually prevent us from getting started on developing healthy lifestyles. The impossibility of obtaining an idealized result is discouraging and actually prevents us from taking any action. If we perceive the road to climb as too steep, we may never even begin the journey.

But as in school, although achieving an “A” is the highest goal, those who earn other passing marks are able to continue on to the next grade as well. If students stopped themselves from persisting in their educational programs owing to failure to obtain top marks, they would have failed to observe that they had gained substantial benefit via their efforts in reading, studying, and doing assignments. Plenty of learning can be accomplished even though the student doesn’t earn an “A.” The real benefits are not so much in earning top grades but rather in participating in the process. Ultimately, the grades you earn matter less than the results you obtain by having applied what you’ve learned.

Similarly, our goals when we initiate a new healthy eating program or a new program of regular vigorous exercise are not to achieve an ideal weight or an ideal “look.” Being “skinny” or even “slim” may not be possible for many people with certain genetic predispositions. “Packing on muscle” or developing a “six-pack,” as well, requires specific predispositions of metabolism and genetic makeup. For everyone else, appropriate and effective goals consist of simply becoming healthier than we are at present. For example, losing 5 pounds by maintaining a new healthy diet is a significant accomplishment. Having done that, we might be able to lose 5 pounds more. Walking 15 minutes a day, too, represents progress toward improved health if we haven’t done any form of exercise for a while. Having done that, we could progress to walking 30 minutes a day and even begin going to the gym and lifting some light weights.

Any efforts one makes in the direction of achieving optimum health and well-being will be supported by regular chiropractic care. Whether you’re designing a new exercise program, enhancing your healthy nutrition plan, engaging in a new mindfulness activity, or all of the above, regular chiropractic care helps provide your body with the means and tools to derive the most benefit from your upgraded healthy lifestyle choices.

Limitations to the gains we can make are often caused by nerve interference and spinal dysfunction, two physiological roadblocks to achieving high levels of health and wellness. By analyzing, detecting, and correcting the sources of nerve irritation and altered spinal mechanics, regular chiropractic care frees your body and enables your cells, tissues, and organ systems to become revitalized as a result of your new lifestyle activities. In this way, regular chiropractic care itself becomes an important healthy lifestyle choice.

By becoming healthier, many other aspects of our lives improve. We begin to notice that we’re sleeping more restfully and have more energy during the day. We may even find that new ideas are coming to us regarding our work and other projects that are important to us. Overall, we begin to find that we’re happier and deriving greater satisfaction from our daily tasks and interactions with friends and family. By beginning the various processes of improving our health and well-being, we find that we are winning. What we are actually able to accomplish is what counts.

1. Schuch FB, et al: Exercise improves physical and psychological quality of life in people with depression: A meta-analysis including the evaluation of control group response. Psychiatr Res 241:47-54, 2016
2. Cramer H, et al: Yoga for improving health-related quality of life, mental health and cancer-related symptoms in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017 Jan 3;1:CD010802. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010802.pub2
3. Veronese N, et al: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with better quality of life: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Am J Clin Nutr 104(5):1403-1409, 2016

Everyone knows the old adage that declares “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This time-honored wisdom certainly makes sense. We wouldn’t wait until we were riding on the wheel rim before we repaired a leaking automobile tire. We wouldn’t wait until there were obvious signs of termite damage to our home before calling in the pest control experts. But, in contrast, many of us fail to implement the same kinds of straightforward preventive measures to help ensure appropriate levels of physical fitness and ongoing good health.

The main problem with preventive measures is that they consume time. The adage, however, implies that much more time will be spent, as well as financial resources that could be better directed toward other projects, in trying to cure damage, illness, or disease that would likely have been prevented by consistently taking a few necessary steps. In the case of achieving wellness, most people are aware of the need for good nutrition and regular exercise. But even with this awareness, many people persist in avoiding taking the time to do the things they need to do to retain and maintain robust good health.

What is missing is the commitment to be the person who accomplishes such goals. Change comes from within, as is asserted by another well-known aphorism. In order to take on meaningful change, despite the implication that there is going to be a certain expenditure of time and some inconvenience, the value of the activity needs to outweigh the costs. This means a person needs to be willing to authentically choose to take long-term actions in the areas of healthy eating and exercise. Sometimes it takes a wake-up call to get going, but it’s much better, in the context of “an ounce of prevention,” to start to make things happen before a real problem develops.

Many people will persist in their habits and resist the self-creation of more healthy lifestyles, as demonstrated by the ongoing worldwide epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. But many others will one day get out of bed in the morning and experience the sensation of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. On that day, such a person will have the immediate realization of the great value to be obtained in taking care of oneself, despite the short-term costs of time and effort. These “aha moments” are the inspiration for many to adopt and maintain a range of healthy lifestyles, with the result of long-term health, happiness, and well-being.

Regular Chiropractic Care and Healthy Lifestyles

Another well-worn yet still meaningful adage is “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” Although friends may tell us what they think we should do, and loved ones may attempt to instruct us in hopes of bettering our welfare, most of us have a fairly ingrained resistance to following the recommendations of others if those recommendations didn’t match up with our own already developed plans.

It may be that many friends and loved ones have recommended regular chiropractic care to us over months or even years, with the intention of helping us obtain better overall health. When the time comes when we begin to realize how valuable good health actually is, we will discover for ourselves the value and importance of regular chiropractic care. We will then want to sure that we’re getting the most out of our good nutritional practices and the time spent engaging in regular exercise, and we will find that regular chiropractic care helps us do so. By detecting and correcting spinal misalignments and optimizing functioning of the nerve system, our body’s master system, regular chiropractic care helps us achieve our goals of long-term health and wellness.

1. Kang DW, Lee J, Suh SH, et al: Effects of Exercise on Insulin, IGF-axis, Adipocytokines, and Inflammatory Markers in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 26(3):355-365, 2016
2. Hayes BD, Brady L, Pollak M, et al: Exercise and Prostate Cancer: Evidence and Proposed Mechanisms for Disease Modification Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 25(9):1281-1288, 2016
3. Micha R, Peñalvo JL, Cudhea F, et al: Association Between Dietary Factors and Mortality from Heart Disease, Stroke, and Type 2 Diabetes in the United States JAMA 317(9):912-924, 2017 Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (CRPS) (ICD9 337.2):26 visits over 16 weeks Arthritis (ICD9 715): 9 visits over 8 weeks

Recent discussions in the scientific literature are focusing on monitoring and possibly improving cardiovascular health in children. There’s been a lot of conversation and a lot of controversy. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association¹ argued that universal screening of children could result in young people being put on cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins. And, according to certain experts, there just isn’t sufficient medical evidence to justify such prescriptions.

These are not new proposals. In July 2008 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that some children as young as 8 be treated aggressively with cholesterol-lowering drugs.² Soon thereafter, in November 2008, researchers recommended that statins be prescribed for millions of healthy people with normal cholesterol levels.³

What’s going on here? Healthy adults and healthy children should take drugs? How can we make sense of these medical controversies and how can we take action that is actually appropriate to the health and well-being of ourselves and our children?

First, it’s very important to take responsibility. That’s difficult, because it seems that we live in a culture of denial. No one is responsible for anything. “Twinkies made me do it.” “I have bad genes.” “It’s not my fault.”

A person’s health is usually evaluated in the same way. Who is responsible for a lifelong two-pack-a-day smoker developing lung cancer? The tobacco company, of course. Who is responsible for someone gaining 50 pounds in a year? Well, the fast food chain is responsible. Who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of Americans developing diabetes each year? Candy manufacturers, naturally. Throw in doughnut-makers, too.

But, people are actually responsible for their own actions. Going further, in many cases people are partly responsible for the diseases and disorders they develop. It’s not that I’m a bad person, but I may be making choices that aren’t in my own best interests.

“Lifestyle health” is a relatively new term being used by many researchers and health practitioners. From a lifestyle perspective, many cases of diabetes, overweight and obesity, and high cholesterol are caused by lifestyle choices. High-fat diets, high-sugar diets, lack of daily fruits and vegetables, and lack of exercise will cause people to develop diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol.

Lifestyle health is directed at causing people to choose healthy behaviors.⁴

So taking statins when you’re healthy to prevent high cholesterol and associated cardiovascular and inflammatory disorders is highly questionable. Giving medicines – whose long-term effects are largely unknown – to children makes even less sense.

Am I going to choose risky behaviors for myself and recommend risky behaviors for my children, causing us to possibly need medications down the road, or am I going to choose and recommend healthy lifestyles and take responsibility for my health and well-being and that of my children?

Statins like Crestor and Lipitor have certainly helped millions of adults with serious health problems. Still, taking these medications is like slamming the barn door after the horse has run away.

Let’s see. If I’m healthy now, will I choose to maintain my good health by regular exercise, a consistent healthy food plan, and sufficient rest? The choice seems clear.

¹Psaty BM, Rivara FP: Universal screening and drug treatment of dyslipidemia in children and adolescents. JAMA 307(3):257-258, 2012

²Daniels SR, et al: Lipid screening and cardiovascular health in childhood. Pediatrics 122(1):198-208, 2008

³Ridker PM, et al: Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein. NEJM 359:2195-2007, 2008

⁴Chan AT, Giovannucci EL: Primary prevention of colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology 138(6):2029-2043, 2010

Long ago and far away, a fourth-grade teacher told a student to “stand up straight – you look like a pretzel”. The unthinking adult only offered criticism. The child was left to try to unkink himself in the ways that probably caused more structural damage.

Most of us think good posture involves thrusting out the chest and pulling back the shoulders. Informing a person that he needs to improve his posture usually results in a sudden, robot-like increase in stature, the person stiffly incorporating most or all of these muscular stresses.

As a direct result of our weak relationship to sound concepts of what good posture actually is, most people have protruding stomachs, slumped shoulders, and necks that protrude far in front of their body’s center. Aside from perpetually unattractive aesthetics, such chronically inefficient posture places ongoing strain on back and neck muscles. Poor posture interferes with normal functioning of your heart and lungs. Metabolic processes deteriorate owing to lack of normal oxygen supply. Poor posture not only leads to musculoskeletal problems like chronic back and neck pain, but also is implicated in gastrointestinal and endocrine diseases and many other disorders.

The welcome news is that achieving good posture is not that difficult. Work is required, of course, as well as consistent attention. But the work is not hard – it is merely new and different, for most of us. As we can guess, the key element in good posture is a straight spine. Importantly, straight doesn’t mean rigid.

The main consideration here is how to get your spine straight without tightening all your muscles and holding your breath.¹ The solution requires a little imagination. Picture in your mind a string dangling from the sky and attaching it to your sternum – your breastbone. You can name this image “hitching your sternum to a star”. You dangle from the string like a puppet.

Also, you imagine that the string is supporting all your weight. As a result, your chest lifts up easily and your spine straightens naturally and smoothly.

Another piece to the posture puzzle is to allow your shoulder girdles to rest on your rib cage. You don’t have to press your shoulders down to do this – just don’t hold them up. Most of us unconsciously tighten our neck and shoulder girdle muscles all day long. By starting to be conscious of what’s going on, we can start letting go of tight shoulder girdle muscles. The shoulders will then gently descend and come to rest on top of the rib cage, where they belong.

By paying attention to these basic postural corrections, over time we can develop a posture that is fluid and efficient. We will appear taller, comfortably reaching our full height with grace and ease. Tension and anxiety begin to reduce and we sleep more restfully at night. Good posture is good health.^2,3

¹Movahed M, et al: Fatigue sensation, electromyographical and hemodynamic changes of low back muscles during repeated static contraction. Eur J Appl Physiol Sep 30, 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

²Edmondston SJ, et al: Postural neck pain: an investigation of habitual sitting posture, perception of ‘good’ posture and cervicothoracic kinaesthesia. Man Ther 12(4):363-371, 2007

³Prins Y, et al: A systematic review of posture and psychosocial factors as contributors to upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain in children and adolescents. Physiother Theory Pract 24(4):221-242, 2008

We all know people who get up with the first rays of the sun. Some people wake up even earlier, bouncing out of bed before there is even a glimmer of Homer’s famous “rosy- fingered dawn” in the eastern sky. In contrast, for many people leaving the confines of their comfortable bed is a daily exercise in frustration. They know they “should” get up, they know they should “be on time”, but each day they find themselves pushing the Snooze Button “just once more”. “Really, this is it,” they declare to their spouses and children. “I’m getting up. Just five more minutes.”

What is the difference, the distinction, between those who are able and willing to throw off the covers at an early hour and those who struggle mightily to respond to the summons of the buzzing or tootling clock-radio? The nature and organization of your biorhythms – your body’s set of internal timepieces – provide a large part of the answer.

The field of chronobiology – the study of biologic time – investigates various physiologic biorhythms. In animals these rhythms are associated with sleeping,¹ eating, metabolic and hormonal regulation,^2,3 cellular regeneration, and mating. In plants biorhythms are associated with photosynthesis and movements of leaves and stems. Circadian rhythms describe 24-hour cycles. Diurnal and nocturnal rhythms are active during the day and night, respectively.

There is good news for those who would appreciate the benefits of getting a head-start on the day’s activities but nevertheless consistently get out of bed 30 minutes late, an hour late, or even later. Circadian rhythms can be changed. It takes commitment and effort, but it can be done. Good health is required in order to successfully cause a shift in one’s basic functioning. Will power is not enough, as anyone who has tried to force themselves to get up earlier on a day-to-day basis can attest. A healthy diet and regular, vigorous exercise are key to making any long-lasting change in our biorhythms. Add a strong desire to the mix and long-term positive results can ensue.

¹Priano L, et al: Non-linear recurrence analysis of NREM human sleep microstructure discloses deterministic oscillation patterns related to sleep stage transitions and sleep maintenance. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Cos 1:4934-4937, 2010

²Kalsbeek A, et al: Hypothalamic control of energy metabolism via the autonomic nervous system. Ann NY Acad Sci 1212(1):114-129, 2010

³Eisenberg DP, et al: Seasonal effects on human striatal presynaptic dopamine synthesis. J Neurosci 30(44):14691-14694, 2010

Some people do all the right things and still develop serious health problems. Others flaunt their bad habits and are able to live long lives, dying peacefully in their sleep at the age of 95. For example, high blood pressure (hypertension, HTN) is a common chronic disease in the United States. With HTN a person’s heart has to work much harder, all the time, to pump the blood needed by the rest of the body. HTN is associated with heart attacks and stroke, and hypertensive heart disease is a leading cause of death. ¹

HTN is often described as a lifestyle disease. ^2,3 Those who are overweight and/or obese (this characterizes two-thirds of American adults) are at increased risk for HTN, as are persons with diabetes. People who don’t exercise regularly are more likely to develop high blood pressure, as are those who smoke cigarettes. In fact, overweight/obesity, lack of exercise, and tobacco use are the top three causes of HTN.

Obviously, achieving an average weight, exercising regularly, and stopping smoking (or never starting) are three main lifestyle actions related to decreasing one’s risk of developing HTN. But some people who are slim, have exercised all their lives, and do not smoke may still develop high blood pressure. In such a case, HTN is termed “essential hypertension”. The person has a very healthy lifestyle, there are no risk factors for HTN, and still they become hypertensive. That is the luck of the draw, otherwise known as a genetic predisposition to this disease.

In a contrasting example, a few people may smoke two packs of cigarettes a day since age 15, drink a quart of gin every few days, and never get really sick. They don’t develop lung cancer or liver cancer and have no problems with HTN or heart disease, and live lives that fly in the face of all received wisdom in the field of public health. They continue to thrive well into their 80s and beyond and love to tell their well-meaning friends and relatives, “I’ve never been sick a day in my life” while lighting up another cigarette. Such persons are described by epidemiologists as outliers, those whose health parameters represent an outlying 2.5% or less of the standard values. Their luck of the draw lies in possessing an indestructible constitution.

Of course the exceptions only prove the rule. Their existence does not suggest that rules for good health should not be observed. Regular vigorous exercise and a healthful diet containing plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables are important for all of us, young and old. Chiropractic care is an important component of the lifestyle mix. Chiropractic care helps people, young and old, achieve the best health possible. This natural form of health care helps take the “luck” out of the equation. We can make our own luck and chiropractic helps us do that in the arena of health and well-being.

¹Zhang WW, et al: Hypertension and TIA. Int J Stroke 4(3):206-214, 2009
²Schmid AA, et al: Current blood pressure self-management: a qualitative study. Rehabil Nurs 34(6):223-229, 2009
³Pascual JM, et al: Body weight variation and control of cardiovascular risk factors in essential hypertension. Blood Press 18(5):247-254

Is it possible to create a new personal reality? So-called unscripted television shows say you can – “The Biggest Loser” being one of the more popular of these tell-all and show-all programs. But most of us realize that these shows don’t closely represent reality as we experience it. What causes us to tune in anyway? The answer is that even though reality shows may be scripted or controlled in some ways, they do contain an element of reality regarding the actual problems of the participants/contestants. We empathize with their struggles, and hope to discern some new knowledge that may help us overcome our own hurdles. But can a real person, in real life, make long-lasting changes in lifestyle, health, and wellness?

The provisional answer is yes.^1,2,3 A real person can lose significant weight and keep it off. A real person can become physically fit, even though she hasn’t exercised for 20 years, or ever. A real person can create a nutritional food plan that covers all the basics and also tastes great. A real person can sleep seven or eight hours a night, most nights, and have the ongoing experience of feeling well-rested. A real person can enjoy meaningful and fulfilling relationships with family and friends. In short, a real person can design and have a real life, even though from today’s perspective such a rewarding life might seem an impossibly unattainable goal.

Your new reality is possible, but it doesn’t come for free. If no effort were involved, every person in the developed world would be living happy, creative, self-fulfilled lives right now. You can see that is not the case when you look around at your workplace, the local market, or the shopping mall. How many people appear to be happy and engaged? How many appear anxious or stressed? Many times, anxiety and stress far outweigh happiness and enjoyment. For many, our default way of being seems to include worry, disorganization, disorder, and breakdown. These conditions lead to anxiety, which leads to stress, which leads to more worry and anxiety. When they form, these negative habits of thinking and action are habitually ineffective; they continue to be negative influences on our lives until we abolish them. In terms of health and well-being, our negative habits lead to the opposite conditions – we aren’t healthy and we don’t feel good about ourselves.

The world around us works the same way. Every moment, the universe is tending to greater entropy – the breakup of organized energy patterns and greater disorder. On the other hand, life has the power to reverse the natural tendency toward entropy. Life creates structure. Life creates organization. Think of honeycombs. Think of dams. Think of skyscrapers.

Why then do human lives often seem to fall apart so easily? The missing secret ingredients include intention, planning, and effort. And not only the effort required to keep the whole thing operational. Extra effort is called for to really make a difference. Extra effort that we take on our own behalf. In order for us to create a new personal reality, extra effort will be required. Weeks, months, and years of extra effort. This sounds like a lot. It is. The good news is that the payoff can be huge. The real payoff is the person you become as part of this process of renewal. You become your authentic self.

¹Totsikas C, et al: Cardiorespiratory fitness determines the reduction in blood pressure and insulin resistance during lifestyle intervention. J Hypertens 29(6):1220-1227, 2011

²Lohmann H, et al: Fitness consultations in routine care of patients with type 2 diabetes in general practice: an 18-month non-randomised intervention study. BMC Fam Pract 11:83, 2010

³Ryan AS: Exercise in aging: its important role in mortality, obesity and insulin resistance. Aging Health 6(5):551-563, 2010

Did you know that drinking too much soda or other carbonated beverages could interfere with calcium absorption – a problem that could eventually lead to osteoporosis? Or that slouching at a desk all day or tapping away at a computer keyboard can lead to painful strains in your wrists, shoulders, elbows and back?

These are just a few of the bad habits that can lead to musculoskeletal problems-conditions that have an enormous impact not only your health, but also on society as a whole. In the United States alone, musculoskeletal conditions cost society an estimated $254 billion every year and one out of every seven Americans reports a musculoskeletal impairment.

Doctors of chiropractic, in particular, have long emphasized the importance of spinal health, posture and other lifestyle factors in the body’s ability to function optimally. Poor spinal health, for instance, can cause a negative chain reaction throughout the body. It can cause stress on joints, which, especially if the muscles are weak, can cause wear and permanent damage. The ACA and your local doctor of chiropractic offer the following advice to help improve and maintain your musculoskeletal health.

At the Office

• Make sure your chair fits correctly. There should be 2 inches between the front edge of the seat and the back of your legs. Sit with your feet flat on the floor, with your knees at a 90-degree angle. If you can’t sit that way, use an angled or elevated footrest.
• Take periodic stretch breaks. Clench your hands in a fist and move your hands like this: 10 circles in, then 10 circles out. Put your hands in a praying position and squeeze together for 10 seconds and then “pray” with the backs of your hands together, fingers pointed downward for 10 seconds. Spread your fingers apart and then bring them together one by one.
• Hold the telephone with your hand or use the speakerphone. Don’t cradle the phone between your ear and shoulder. This can lock up the spinal joints in the neck and upper back, and eventually cause pain.
• Take breaks and alternate tasks that use different muscle groups.
• Arrange your desk so that everything is handy – phone, mouse, reference materials, reports – to minimize awkward stretching and reaching.
• Position your computer monitor so that the middle of your chin is aligned with the middle of your monitor. This will allow for good neck posture.

At Home

• When you wash the dishes, open the cabinet beneath the sink, bend one knee, and put your foot on the shelf under the sink. Lean against the counter so some of your weight is supported in front.
• When resting or watching TV, don’t use the sofa arm as a pillow. The angle is much too sharp for the neck.
• Don’t bend from the waist when you lift a child. Squat with your back straight. Keep the child close to you and use your legs and arms to lift.

In the Yard

• If you shovel snow, push the snow straight ahead. Don’t try to throw it and walk it to the snowbank. Avoid twisting and turning motions. Bend your knees to lift when shoveling. Let your legs and arms do the work, not your back. Take frequent rest breaks to take the strain off your muscles. Try to stand as erect as possible.
• When raking leaves, use a scissors stance: right foot forward and left foot back for a few minutes; then reverse, putting your left foot forward and your right foot back. Bend at the knees, not the waist, as you pick up leaves. Make piles small to decrease the possibility of back strain.
• For mowing, use your weight to push the mower. Whenever possible, use ergonomically correct tools for the job.

Playing Sports

• Warm up slowly before a game. Do calisthenics, flexibility exercises, or light running to increase your heart rate.
• When sweat beads form, your body is at the proper temperature to stretch the tendons and muscles.

While Traveling

• When driving, adjust your car seat so you can sit firmly against the seat back without having to lean forward or stretch. Buckle your seatbelt and shoulder harness, and adjust the headrest so that it supports the center of the back of the head.
• Invest in a wheeled suitcase that has a sturdy handle.
• Don’t always carry the weight on one side – take frequent breaks and transfer the weight to the other side.
• Don’t try to carry too much. Even wheeled suitcases can cause problems to the neck, shoulders and lower back when pulled from behind.
• When traveling by air, check all bags heavier than 10 percent of your body weight. Overhead lifting of any significant amount of weight should be avoided to reduce the risk of pain in the lower back or neck. While lifting your bags, stand directly in front of the overhead compartment so the spine is not rotated. Do not lift your bags over your head, or turn or twist your head and neck in the process.
• While seated in an airplane, vary your position occasionally to improve circulation and avoid leg cramps. Massage legs and calves. Bring your legs in, and move your knees up and down. Prop your legs up on a book or a bag under your seat.

For Children

• Have a smaller table for them where they can do their homework, rather than force them to use a standard table and chair. If the child’s feet don’t touch the floor, place a footrest or box under the feet. Position the computer monitor so the top of the screen is at or below the child’s eye level.
• Make sure the straps of your child’s backpack are padded and worn over both shoulders, not just one. Also, the contents of the backpack should not weigh more than 10 percent of your child’s body weight.
• If your child is involved in sports, make sure all equipment, including helmets, pads and shoes, fits your child properly. If your teenage child is involved in soccer, make sure they are taught how to “head” the ball properly. A young child should not use the heading technique at all, according to ACA experts.
• Make sure your child has enough calcium included in his or her diet. ACA recommends 1 percent or skim milk for children over 2 years old, and whole milk for those younger than 2. The calcium in milk is essential for healthy bones and reduces the risk of joint and muscle-related injuries
• Make sure your child avoids sugar-loaded, caffeinated and carbonated drinks. Rather, encourage them to drink plenty of water. Caffeine can dehydrate your youngster, and the high levels of phosphorous in sodas and other carbonated beverages can interfere with calcium absorption – a problem that could lead to osteoporosis down the road.

While the ACA encourages you to follow these tips for better musculoskeletal health, remember that good spinal health is but one component in a healthy lifestyle. Exercising, getting a good night’s sleep, drinking plenty of water and eating a nutritious diet contribute not only to health but also to the ability to heal after an injury.