Weekly Wellness Challenge #8: Rest and Digest

Did your mother tell you "Don't swim until 30 minutes after eating."  Does that "rule" seem silly? Is it an old wives tale? Maybe not! It makes sense when you understand how digestion works.

The body is always in one of two states: parasympathetic or sympathetic. The parasympathetic is the state of calm and rest.  The sympathetic is the state of stress, also known as "fight or flight". Digestion only occurs in the parasympathetic state.

Think about it, if you are eating your lunch and a pack of tigers comes, your body will prioritize running away as fast as possible (sympathetic state). It will forget about digesting your lunch (parasympathetic state). This example may seem extreme, but in today’s fast paced world, your body confuses everyday stresses with the same response as it would if you were being chased by a pack of tigers.

Furthermore, it's not just physical stress that causes your body to go into the sympathetic state.  Any stress, including mental or emotional stress, can trigger the sympathetic response.

Think about your typical meal times.

• Do you eat breakfast while fighting traffic to get to work?
• Is lunch spent at your desk while working or quickly doing other tasks in that brief window of time?
• Do you eat dinner while watching TV or on your phone?

All of these activities could signal your body that you are in a stressed state. You are not focused on the task at hand – eating.  When this happens, your body will prioritize dealing with stress, at all costs, over digestion. If you aren't digesting your food well, some symptoms you might experience are diarrhea, constipation, gas, or bloating.

Although this week’s challenge sounds simple  it may be difficult until we train ourselves to do it.

Your challenge this week:
During meal times  – Eat Without Distractions.  Make eating the one and only “task” at hand.

Think about what you are eating and how it tastes. Take time to chew your food and enjoy it. If you do this, I have no doubt you will not only enjoy your food more but also feel better after eating it.

We'd like to hear how this challenge goes for you. Let us know on our facebook page!

Joelle Kurczodyna, NTP

Well Adjusted Babies: Using Chiropractic for Constipation

Most people think of a chiropractic adjustment as a treatment to relieve back pain. Did you know that infants can benefit from chiropractic care??

What are babies known for doing? Eating, sleeping, and pooping, right?

If my 6 month old goes a day without pooping, I know that it is time to check out her spine. This has happened 4 times in her life! Each time, I found that the top of her intergluteal cleft (more commonly known as the "butt crack") had veered to one side or the other. This tells me that her sacrum isn't quite balanced, which can impact her colon. The adjustment for this is a soft contact on a certain ligament at the base of the sacrum with Logan Basic Technique. It is a gentle procedure, with a powerful impact.  I am 4/4 on helping her to have a bowel movement within an hour of this adjustment, and twice it happened within 5 minutes!

Chiropractic can also help with reflux, colicky babies, or babies that prefer to turn their heads one direction.

Think about the process of being born. Whether the baby comes out naturally, gets taken out with forceps or vacuum suction, or is a C-section, birth is a traumatic event for a tiny human. Since babies can't talk, crying is their only way to tell us that they are uncomfortable. If you have or know a baby that cries more than you'd expect, they might be feeling after effects from their birth. A simple adjustment might help!

Chiropractic is also important during later transitions like learning to walk, since the baby is constantly falling on their bum.

Want to learn more? Chat with us on Facebook, or shoot Dr. Thomure an email! 

Dr. Jamie Thomure 

Weekly Wellness Challenge #7 - Clean Without Chemicals

Spring Cleaning…Naturally!

When I got married,  I quickly learned that my husband was one of those “clean” people. He cleaned things that I wouldn’t even think of cleaning – walls, fans, ceilings, etc. As someone who grew up resisting when my mom asked me to put things away before the cleaning lady came (spoiled, I know), I had a lot to learn (and still do) in this area.

When we changed our diet to "eat real food", we also realized that we wanted reduce our exposure to environmental toxins. This opened up a whole new world of eliminating chemicals from our lives, including those in cleaning products.

What is the Problem?

There have been 85,000 new chemicals introduced in mainstream products since World War II. Most of these are contained in conventional cleaning products, but are not approved by the EPA. 

In fact the average household has at least 62 toxic chemicals found in their bathroom or under their kitchen sink that they probably don’t even realize. These chemicals include phtalates (in fragranced products), triclosan (in liquid dishwashing detergent), 2-Butoxyethanol (in multi-purpose cleaners) and even chlorine (in laundry whiteners and toilet bowl cleaners). These chemicals affect the air we breathe, water we drink, and are in the top five causes of child poisoning cases. It is not hard to see the reason that we want to remove these chemicals and products from our homes.

How do we do remove chemicals and still make our sinks shine and our toilets sparkle?

My two favorite ingredients to create my own homemade all purpose cleaner that works wonders are baking soda and vinegar.

All Purpose Cleaner Recipe

Mix:

• ½ cups of vinegar
• ¼ cup baking soda
• into a ½ gallon of water.

Put it in a spray bottle, and use to clean showers, bathrooms, and windows.

Not only can I clean the shower without feeling like I’m going to pass out, but I can also trust that my family is not being harmed by toxic chemicals.

Other Resources for Green Cleaners

If making your own cleaning products isn’t your thing, check out the Environmental Working Group’s guide to the top green cleaning products. Here you can find anything from non-toxic laundry supplies and dish soap to beauty supplies and cosmetics.

What are your favorite natural cleaning remedies or products? Let us know on our facebook page!

Joelle Kurczodyna, NTP

Weekly Wellness Challenge #6 - Health-ify Your Favorite Meal

“Health-ify” Your Favorite Meal

There are some foods that we absolutely LOVE, but these foods might not be the healthiest choice.

This begs the question – what are “healthy” foods?

I think of healthy foods as the foods that come from only real food ingredients and are rich in nutrients to nourish and fuel your body. There are TWO key components:

1. Made from real, unprocessed ingredients AND
2. Rich in nutrients.

Generally, if it grew in the ground or was once alive, it is probably nutritious. If it was made in a factory, then think about it more carefully.

To make your favorite foods healthier:  Remove the processed ingredients and add more nutrient dense ingredients.

How does this work?

We were having friends over for dinner the other day and I planned to make roasted chicken thighs, asparagus, and sweet potatoes, but I also wanted to include a dessert. I love brownies, but generally brownies are full of sugar and other processed ingredients, especially if you buy the boxed mix. So with help from Google, and little tweaking, I came up with a brownie that satisfied that sweet tooth, contained mostly real ingredients full of nutrients, and was a hit with our dinner guests. See recipe below.

There are many foods that people often think must be included in a meal, such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or tortillas. While these might seem like healthy choices, they tend to be filler foods that are high in calories and carbohydrates, and low in nutrients. Skip them, and replace as follows:

Substitute / Add Vegetables 

As a rule of thumb, at least half, if not 2/3 or 3/4 of your plate should be vegetables. Try these ideas to add more veggies:

• Add more vegetables to your family’s favorite soup or casserole. It’s amazing how well veggies cook down and you can add lots of vegetables without changing the dish. Soon your family will like it better this way. Note: This could mean adding more of the same vegetable that the recipe calls for or others that you have on hand.
• Remove the bread, and replace with greens, like spinach. Your sandwich becomes a salad. Similarly, replace tortillas with greens to make taco salad!
• Replace pasta with spaghetti squash, spiralated squash, or other veggies.
• Replace rice, mashed potatoes, or pizza crust with cauliflower rice or mashed cauliflower, or cauliflower crust . This may sound strange but it’s a GREAT way to substitute a food with little nutrients to one that is more nutrient dense and still tastes great!

Make it from Scratch

It is easy to get in the habit of using packaged products because it is easier or you don't know how to make it from scratch. Actually, it's often not that hard to make it from scratch, you just need to be brave, find a recipe, and try it.

• Make homemade mayo – Replace those, processed vegetable oils with healthy fats and natural ingredients. Use your mayo as a base in salad dressing or chicken/tuna/egg salad.
• Replace the canned "cream of xyz" soup in your family favorite casserole and make the real stuff – like this recipe.

Healthified Brownies

In this brownie recipe, the flour, sugar, and vegetable oil are replaced with avocados and bananas.

Ingredients:

• 2 Avocados
• 2 Bananas
• 2 Eggs
• ½ Cup Cocoa Powder
• ¼ Cup Raw Honey
• 1 Tsp Baking soda
• ½ Cup Dark Chocolate chips (Optional)

Method:

Blend avocados, bananas, eggs, cocoa powder, honey, and baking soda – an immersion blender or food processor work well. Stir in chocolate chips if desired Pour into a greased (I use coconut oil) 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 25-30 min.

This week, use these tips to “health-ify” one of your favorite meals.

Let us know how it goes and share more ideas on our facebook page!

Joelle Kurczodyna, NTP