Healthy Life Newsletter, April 2023
Patient of the Month: Marie Lee
Growing up with poor posture, I often experienced pain in my neck, hips and knees. The pain intensified as time went on, to a point where it was impossible to walk more than 30 minutes. This went on for more than 10 years. I would feel discomfort throughout the day resulting in not being able to walk or do physical activities. I would take Advil sometimes, but the pain would always come back.
I was doing yoga to improve my posture and to feel better, but I decided I needed professional care to deal with and relieve the pain. When I started with a chiropractor I had some doubts it would help because it was a new and unfamiliar treatment. But I continued for a year and my condition steadily improved. Then I came to Khalsa Chiropractic.
I found the office here very professional and caring. The videos in the beginning sessions gave me additional context to feel comfortable about the practice. Dr. Mha Atma thoroughly analyzed my body status and provided clear documentation and ways to improve and be aware of my posture. Within a month of treatment, my pains in my knees, neck and hips diminished tremendously. I’m feeling rejuvenated to have been treated by Dr. Mha Atma in the past year.
My partner, William is also being treated here now for effects of his poor posture. He is more aware now but needs to be treated more!
I would highly recommend chiropractic care to anyone. We get so much tension around the neck and whole body, which can result in more stress. It really helps to improve your overall health and physical state.
This will be an ongoing maintenance treatment for me moving forward. Thank you for caring so much about your patients! Anyone would be lucky to have found your team.
Start Pain Relief Early with Chiropractic
When it comes to spinal pain, it’s a big mistake to limit the conversation to adults. In fact, anyone at any age can suffer spinal pain, which makes chiropractic care essential for people of all ages. What’s more, research shows that even in adolescent, teen and young adult populations, chiropractic is effective at relieving pain.
Case in point: a study published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice that evaluated chiropractic management of younger people (ages 10-24) with spinal pain. All study participants had spinal pain in one or more of the four regions of the spine (cervical – neck; thoracic – upper- / mid-back; lumbar – low back; and sacral – bottom of the spine / tailbone).
Patients showed “statistically and clinically significant improvement on the numeric rating scale (NRS) in all four spinal regions following chiropractic management,” which included spinal manipulation and other techniques commonly performed by chiropractors under their scope of practice, including mobilization, soft-tissue therapy and other modalities. Simply put, chiropractic relieved some or all of their pain.
By the way, while this study evaluated children as young as age 10, research also suggests chiropractic care is effective – and necessary – for children at any age, including infants. Birth / delivery trauma, childhood falls, poor posture, excessive sitting / slumping and a variety of other life events can cause spinal pain. Talk to your doctor to learn more about how anyone can benefit from the power of chiropractic!
Studies show that eating more fiber reduces inflammation…
…leading to reduced incidence of knee arthritis and generalized osteoarthritis, as well as reduced cholesterol, reduced incidence of strokes, and reduced chance of death from cancer and heart disease…not to mention reduced constipation. Fiber is plentiful especially in root vegetables and beans and whole grains, and somewhat in fruit and other vegetables. Here is an excerpt from the article about fiber:
“Dietary Fiber Intake in Relation to Knee Pain Trajectory” is a study that followed thousands of patients. Researchers found that a high intake of dietary fiber, which is to say just the minimum recommended intake, was “associated with a lower risk of developing moderate or severe knee pain over time.” What’s more, two Framingham studies found that higher fiber intake was related to a lower risk of having symptomatic osteoarthritis in the first place.
Don’t a variety of diseases have an inflammatory component, though? How about “fiber consumption and all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortalities”? Researchers found that, compared with those who consumed the least amount of fiber, those who consumed the most had 23 percent less cardiovascular disease mortality, a 17 percent lower risk of dying from cancer, and 23 percent lower mortality from all causes put together. “Unfortunately, most persons in the United States consume less than half of the recommended intake of dietary fiber daily.”
You can read the rest (not too long) at nutritionfacts.org
Two Nutrients Proven to Stop Your Brain Shrinking
New research shows that the combination of B vitamins and omega-3s are a dynamic duo against dementia and stopping the brain shrinkage that is the hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
The discovery, hailed as the “a major step towards Alzheimer’s prevention” was first made at the University of Oxford, but has now been confirmed by research groups in Holland, Sweden and China.
the research has found that giving older people with the first signs of cognitive impairment supplemental B vitamins (B6, B12 and folic acid) at higher levels than can be achieved through diet to those with sufficient omega-3 fats produced 73% less brain shrinkage in a year, compared to placebo. This reduction brought brain shrinkage down to the level found in those elderly with no cognitive impairment.
“The effect is greater than that of any drug treatment to date – with no adverse effects.” says Professor Smith. In contrast, the recent trials of anti-amyloid drugs have reduced brain shrinkage by a non-significant 4%.
Read the rest a t grassrootshealth.net .
New Study Indicates That Chiropractic Adjustments Reduce Likelihood of Back Surgery
In a review of 11,000 patient records of folks with recently diagnosed lumbar disc herniations and/or leg pain stemming from the lower back, researchers found that those receiving chiropractic adjustments were significantly less likely to have surgery than folks who did not receive chiropractic care. They stated that surgery was avoided due to the pain relief resulting from chiropractic treatment. BMJ Open 2022
Protect Your Brain
We’re not talking about a helmet that protects your brain from impact (and by the way, research is showing even helmets – e.g., the ones football players wear – don’t appear to offer nearly enough protection). We’re referring to new research that suggests obesity initiates brain changes similar to that seen in Alzheimer’s.
Published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the study used brain scans to document brain changes in 1,300 people. In obese study participants, scans showed patterns of brain shrinkage (declining cortical thickness) in regions that influence learning, memory and judgment. Scans of Alzheimer’s patients showed similar changes. (The study involved four groups: Alzheimer’s patients, healthy controls, obese – but otherwise healthy – individuals, and lean individuals.)
While obese participants did not display overt deficits when assessed via cognitive tests, the findings may indicate that obesity initiates brain changes that could lead to cognitive deficits / Alzheimer’s. (Previous research suggests being overweight at middle age increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.) The study authors emphasized the importance of their findings, stating: “Our results highlight the importance of interventions aimed at decreasing weight and metabolic risk factors in obese and overweight individuals in mid-life to decrease the subsequent risk of neurodegeneration and dementia in the population.”
If you’re struggling to lose weight, perhaps this will be added motivation: Achieving a healthy weight can help protect your brain, not just the rest of your body, from disease. Ask your doctor for advice in outlining a sensible diet and exercise program to help drop the pounds. Your brain and your body will thank you for it.
Slowing Memory Loss
Your brain is an amazing, incomprehensible marvel (unless you’re a neuroscientist, in which case it’s just as amazing, but definitely more easily comprehended). But just like every other organ in the body, it generally doesn’t function as well over time.
Memory loss is a perfect example, and a troubling one for most people. After all, your ability to remember – particularly life events whose lasting significance is based on your ability to recall them) – is what keeps you alive even when the moments have passed.
How can we slow memory loss? One way is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here are the “simple six,” according to the latest research involving 29,000+ adults ages 60 and older with no cognitive issues at baseline:
A healthy diet
Regular exercise
Active social contact
Active cognitive activity
Never smoked or quit
Never drinking alcohol
Researchers divided participants into three groups: favorable (4-6 healthy lifestyle factors), average (2-3 factors) and unfavorable (0-1 factors). Memory function, assessed via the World Health Organization / University of California-Los Angeles Auditory Verbal Learning Test, was preserved to a higher degree in the favorable vs. unfavorable group (slower memory decline). Of note, this trend was observed even in carriers of the APOE ε4 gene, which is known to increase the risk of memory decline and impaired memory performance. Findings appear in the British Medical Journal.
So, let’s say you do all six of the above. How much is enough? Per the researchers, here’s how it breaks down for the first four (smoking and alcohol status are self-explanatory): 1) a healthy diet: recommended intake of at least seven of 12 eligible items (fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, dairy products, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts, and tea); 2) regular exercise: ≥150 minutes of moderate intensity or ≥75 minutes of vigorous intensity weekly; 3) active social contact: visiting with friends, chatting online, traveling, etc., at least twice per week; and 4) active cognitive activity: writing, playing cards or other games, etc., at least twice per week.
What’s Your Eating Window?
Intermittent fasting is an increasingly popular method of weight loss, but it also has profound cellular benefits, according to an expanding body of research. It also isn’t nearly as challenging as you might think, so let’s explore why contracting your daily eating window should be under consideration, regardless of whether you need to lose weight or not.
Let’s deal with the difficulty factor right off the bat. If you eat within a 10-hour window (let’s say 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.), that means you fast for 14 hours per day. Not too shabby – and completely achievable, considering you’re likely sleeping for more than half of those 14 hours. If you don’t eat breakfast until 9-10 a.m., that gives you more flexibility in terms of eating until 7-8 p.m. (if work and other obligations make an early dinner challenging).
How about the cellular benefits? When you’re not eating, something simple happens: Your body has time to rest and rejuvenate. Insulin levels go down, fat cells release stored sugar for energy (because no new food / energy is being consumed), and other biomarkers (inflammation, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) also appear to improve over the long term, according to research.
But there’s more to it than that. Your cells can’t be working 24/7 processing food. During the fasting window, they appear to switch from a growth phase to a repair phase, allowing for increased cellular defense, stress resistance and more. In other words, a healthier, stronger you from head to toe!
There’s another reason to restrict your daily eating window, and it has to do with both weight maintenance and overall health. If you’re eating 18 hours a day and sleeping for six, at least two major events occur. First, you probably ingest too many calories, and particularly later in the evening, those calories are more likely to be the unhealthy variety – snacks, desserts, etc. Second, if you eat too close to bedtime, you may find your sleep habits aren’t as pleasant as they deserve to be. That’s because your body is focused on digestion, not rest and rejuvenation.
There’s no danger in giving intermittent fasting a try, particularly if you stick to the suggested window that includes sleep time. And remember, just because you’re contracting your eating window doesn’t mean you’re starving yourself; it just means you need to be cognizant about getting enough of the food your body needs. (For example, skipping meals during your eating window likely won’t work.)