Wellness
Clinic Wellness Team. A key factor to spine or back pain conditions is staying healthy. Overall wellness involves a balanced diet, appropriate exercise, physical activity, restful sleep, and a healthy lifestyle. The term has been applied in many ways. But overall, the definition is as follows.
It is a conscious, self-directed, and evolving process of achieving full potential. It is multidimensional, bringing together lifestyles both mental/spiritual and the environment in which one lives. It is positive and affirms that what we do is, in fact, correct.
It is an active process where people become aware and make choices towards a more successful lifestyle. This includes how a person contributes to their environment/community. They aim to build healthier living spaces and social networks. It helps in creating a person’s belief systems, values, and a positive world perspective.
Along with this comes the benefits of regular exercise, a healthy diet, personal self-care, and knowing when to seek medical attention. Dr. Jimenez’s message is to work towards being fit, being healthy, and staying aware of our collection of articles, blogs, and videos.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Fitness, Health, Wellness
Did you catch Cher’s performance at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night? Not only did she hit the stage in a sheer, bedazzled body suit looking incredible, she dropped a little humble-brag about how she stays in such great shape. “I can do a 5-minute plank, okay?” she told the audience.
Yep, 71-year-old Cher can plank longer than most people who are decades younger. This wasn’t the only time the pop icon showed off her devotion to working out and living a healthy, active life. For further proof that Cher is a super-strong badass, check out her top five #fitnessgoals moments throughout her career.
RELATED: 20 Ways to Do a Plank
When she showed us how to be forever fit
Cher came out with a book in 1991 called Forever Fit: The Lifetime Plan for Health, Fitness, and Beauty. The epic cover photo shows her in a knotted gray t-shirt with her black boot placed on a barbell. Besides workout advice, the book featured exercise and weight loss programs, nutrition tips, and her favorite skin-care products. If her current healthy glow is any indication, she knew what she was talking about.
When she wore Spandex for her step aerobics videos
In the early 1990s, Cher released a series of fitness videos called (what else?) CherFitness. The videos featured step routines, ab workouts, and dance cardio sessions, all accessorized with black leotards and Spandex. The beginning of this step routine clip offers some major motivation and truth bombs from Cher. Our favorite: “You don’t have to start off perfect, you just have to start.” Preach!
When she killed it while keeping up with Tina Turner
Okay, so this glittery 1970s dance duet isn’t exactly what we think of as a workout today. But it takes damn hard training and effort to do these moves as perfectly as Cher and Tina do—and in heels to boot. Watch and learn, legends at work!
When she was candid about working out 5 times a week
When Cher was 67, she gave HELLO! magazine a summary of how she stays in shape. “I exercise about five times a week because it’s something I’ve always done and I just enjoy it,” she said. “I don’t like meat and so most of things that I like are healthy for you, apart from desserts. I don’t do drugs and don’t drink very often. I try to play the age card with my trainer but she just doesn’t go for it. My farewell tour was one of the longest tours ever, and I think it would be a tour that would kill a 25-year-old girl now.” Props for not pretending she doesn’t work hard at it.
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When she learned to surf in her 60s
During at interview with E! Online in 2010, Cher spoke about how staying in shape is more difficult now that she’s older, but she’s passionate about trying new activities to keep things fresh and exciting. “You have to work twice as hard. You have to be in the gym all the time. But I like it. When I was young I was a tomboy. I played sports . . . and I’m learning to surf right now. I like that kind of stuff, thank God.”
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Cannabinoids, Natural Health, Wellness
Losing sleep increases the risk of becoming obese, according to a Swedish study. Researchers from Uppsala University say a lack of sleep affects energy metabolism by disrupting sleep patterns and affecting the body’s response to food and exercise.
Although several studies have found a connection between sleep deprivation and weight gain, the cause has been unclear.
Dr. Christian Benedict and his colleagues have conducted a number of human studies to investigate how sleep loss may affect energy metabolism. These studies have measured and imaged behavioral, physiological, and biochemical responses to food following acute sleep deprivation.
The behavioral data reveal that metabolically healthy, sleep-deprived human subjects prefer larger portions of food, seek more calories, show signs of increased impulsivity related to food, and expend less energy.
The group’s physiological studies indicate that sleep loss shifts the hormonal balance from hormones that promote fullness (satiety), such as GLP-1, to those that promote hunger, such as ghrelin. Sleep restriction also increased levels of endocannabinoids, which are known to stimulate appetite.
In addition, their research showed that acute sleep loss alters the balance of gut bacteria, which has been widely implicated as key for maintaining a healthy metabolism. The same study also found reduced sensitivity to insulin after sleep loss.
“Since perturbed sleep is such a common feature of modern life, these studies show it is no surprise that metabolic disorders, such as obesity are also on the rise,” said Benedict.
“My studies suggest that sleep loss favors weight gain in humans,” he said. “It may also be concluded that improving sleep could be a promising lifestyle intervention to reduce the risk of future weight gain.”
Not only is a lack of sleep adding pounds, other research has discovered that too much light while you sleep can also increase your risk for obesity. A British study of 113,000 women found that the more light they were exposed to during sleeping hours, the greater their risk of being fat. Light disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm, which affects sleep and wake patterns, and also affects metabolism.
But getting exposure to light in the early waking hours might help keep weight in check. A study from Northwestern University found that people who got most of their exposure to sunlight, even if it’s overcast, early in the day had a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who got their sun exposure later in the day, regardless of physical activity, caloric intake, or age.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Herbs, Natural Health, Wellness
The herb ashwagandha is one of the most important herbs in Ayurveda, a form of natural Indian folk medicine. It has been used for more than 3,000 years to boost energy and ease stress. And modern research is discovering that this ancient herb can treat a host of modern illnesses.
Ashwagandha’s Latin name, somnifera, means sleep-inducing, and a new Japanese study found that the herb truly does improve sleep.
Researchers at the University of Tsukumba used a neurological test (EEG) to record activity in the brains of mice that were given ashwagandha. They found that an extract of ashwagandha leaf, which was rich in the component triethylene glycol (TEG), significantly increased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.
The sleep induced by TEG was similar to normal sleep, and researchers believe that ashwagandha could revolutionize the natural plant-based therapies for insomnia and sleep-related disorders, producing natural sleep without side effects.
An earlier study published in Alternative Medicine Review found that volunteers reported an improvement of 66.9 percent in sleep quality. Participants also reported a 42 percent improvement in emotional health and a 45.8 percent improvement in their social life and activities.
In addition to inducing sleep, ashwagandha also provides the following health benefits:
Inhibits Alzheimer’s. Herbal doctors have been using ashwagandha for centuries as a remedy for memory loss, and scientists at the U.K.’s Newcastle University may have discovered why it is effective. They found that ashwagandha inhibits the formation of the beta-amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims.
The study, which was published in Phytotherapy Research examined the effects of water-based ashwagandha extracts on beta-amyloid peptides in test tubes, and found that the herb prevented them from forming clumps, a main characteristic of Alzheimer’s.
In a study conducted at India’s National Brain Research Center on mice with Alzheimer’s, their brain function returned to normal after 30 days of treatment, and the amyloid plaques in their brains decreased.
Another study published in the Chemical Pharmacy Bulletin found that ashwagandha inhibits acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. (Neurotransmitters are chemicals made by nerve cells that send signals to other cells.) Current drugs prescribed to treat Alzheimer’s disease target this mechanism.
Reduces stress. A 2012 Indian study of people with chronic stress found that taking ashwagandha supplements for two months lowered stress by 44 percent and eased depression and anxiety by 72 percent. Tests showed that blood levels of cortisol — the stress hormone — were reduced substantially.
The study, which was published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine concluded that the herb was safe and “effectively improves an individual’s resistance towards stress and thereby improves self-assessed quality of life.”
Aids weight loss. A 2016 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of stressed volunteers found that ashwagandha reduced stress and food cravings and also helped subjects lose weight. The eight-week study was published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine.
Fights cancer. Studies show that ashwagandha slows the growth of many types of cancer cells. It works in multiple ways to prevent or slow cancer. In a study published in PLoS One, mice with ovarian cancer that were treated with ashwagandha either alone or with an anti-cancer pharmaceutical reduced tumor growth by 70 to 80 percent and also prevented the cancer from spreading to other parts of the body.
A 2011 study published in Biochemical Pharmacology found that ashwagandha was effective against four types of cancer — lung, colon, breast, and central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma — and a steroidal component of the herb called withaferin A showed a stronger effect on breast and colon cancer cell lines than the chemotherapy drug Adriamycin.
Other studies have found that ashwagandha also protects normal cells against cancer, shelters normal cells from being harmed by chemotherapy, and stops the growth of new blood vessels that help cancer grow and spread.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Anti Aging
New US research has found evidence that including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the diet can help to promote healthy brain aging.
Led by Marta Zamroziewicz from the University of Illinois, the research team carried out two studies which looked at omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood of adults ages 65 to 75, and a possible relationship between these fatty acids and the participants’ brain structure and cognitive performance.
As the brain is made up of interconnected parts which age at their own pace, some brain structures and their function deteriorate earlier than others.
The first study, published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience, focused on the frontoparietal network. This part of the brain plays an important role in fluid intelligence, which is the ability to solve new problems that have not been encountered before.
The team looked for a link between the size of this network, performance on tests of fluid intelligence, and the levels of several omega-3 fatty acids in the blood.
The results showed those with higher blood levels of three omega-3 fatty acids — ALA, stearidonic acid and ecosatrienoic acid — also tended to have a larger frontoparietal cortex, which predicted the subjects’ performance on tests of fluid intelligence.
The second study, published in the journal Aging & Disease, looked at the white matter structure of the fornix, which is found at the center of the brain and is important for memory. Previous research has also found that the fornix is one of the first brain regions to be affected in Alzheimer’s disease.
In the new research the team also found that the size of the fornix was associated with a balanced level of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the blood, and that a larger fornix was linked with better memory in older adults.
Although the team noted that further research is needed to test their hypothesis, Zamroziewicz added that “These findings have important implications for the Western diet, which tends to be misbalanced with high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and low amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.”
“A lot of research tells us that people need to be eating fish and fish oil to get neuroprotective effects from these particular fats, but this new finding suggests that even the fats that we get from nuts, seeds and oils can also make a difference in the brain,” she added.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Diets, Fitness
For men experiencing emotional distress like depression, anxiety or thoughts of suicide, having high cardiorespiratory fitness may cut the risk of death in half compared to those in poor condition, researchers say.
“The prevalence of mental health issues is growing in the U.S. and globally,” said lead study author Mei Sui of the University of South Carolina in Columbia. “People are facing many stressors in their daily lives linked to depression, anxiety and other mental disorders.
“Medication to treat these mental problems is not only expensive but also comes with significant side effects such as weight gain,” she told Reuters Health. “Identifying modifiable factors that are beneficial to those with emotional distress has important clinical and public health applications.”
Mental health conditions cost the U.S. about $2.5 trillion in 2010 and are projected to cost the country $6 trillion by 2030, the authors write in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
To see how cardiovascular fitness might affect healthcare costs and outcomes for people with mental health disorders, Sui and colleagues analyzed data from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas, which conducted preventive health exams on more than 43,000 men between 1987 and 2002.
The researchers focused on 5,240 participants who reported a history of emotional distress, including 2,229 who reported more than one emotional distress condition. To measure cardiorespiratory fitness, participants ran on a treadmill until they were exhausted.
Among men who experienced emotional distress, 46 percent reported depression, 58 percent had anxiety, 51 percent had a history of mental counseling, and 8 percent reported ever having thoughts of suicide.
By the end of the follow up period, there were 128 deaths from any cause.
The researchers found that men with the lowest cardiovascular fitness tended to have higher weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels and were more likely to smoke and to be sedentary.
In addition, men who reported more than one type of emotional distress were more common in the low-fitness group.
Compared to the lowest-fitness group, men with moderate cardiovascular fitness were 46 percent less likely to die of any cause during the study, and those in the high fitness group were 53 percent less likely to die.
“This significant strong inverse association between high levels of fitness and longevity in men with emotional distress is particularly interesting,” Sui said. “Clearly lifestyle behavior interventions to increase fitness levels could help those with emotional distress.”
Even moderate levels of fitness were associated with a 46 percent lower risk of dying, she noted. This moderate level of fitness means 30 minutes per day of activity such as swimming, jogging or biking, and is the current level recommended under American sports medicine guidelines.
The study mostly included non-Hispanic whites, and Sui would like to see more research about fitness in women and minority groups.
“This was the missing piece of the puzzle. We know now that assessing fitness and treating it should be at the center of mental health care,” said Davy Vancampfort of the University of Leuven Psychiatric Center in Belgium. He wasn’t involved in the current study but recently published an analysis that found people with severe mental illness are at heightened risk for heart disease
“This adds to our call to include assessment of physical activity and treatment to the standard mental health care package,” he told Reuters Health by email. “Mental health care settings and primary care settings should work closely together on this.”
Future research could also look at older populations, follow people for a longer period of time and account for medication such as psychotropic prescriptions in particular, said Brandon Stubbs of King’s College London in the UK.
“One in four of us will at some point experience a common mental illness in our lives,” Stubbs, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Reuters Health by email. “We can no longer view mental health and physical health separately given that they are so inextricably linked.”
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Natural Health, Wellness
A growing number of U.S. children may develop vision problems before they reach kindergarten, according to a study that suggests eye screenings will become increasingly important for the preschool set.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from U.S. census records and from eye exams on about 12,000 kids under 6 years old. Nationwide, researchers estimated that more than 174,000 kids from 3 to 5 years old had vision impairment as of 2015 and projected that their ranks will swell by 26 percent to more than 220,000 by 2060.
Most of these kids have what’s known as refractive errors, or difficulties focusing on things either up close or far away, that can be often be corrected with glasses. This means parents should take kids for at least one comprehensive eye exam by age 3 and watch for signs of vision issues, said lead study author Dr. Rohit Varma, director of the Roski Eye Institute and dean at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“Parents should watch out for signs such as sitting close to the TV or holding a book too close, squinting, tilting their head, frequently rubbing their eyes, short attention span for the child’s age, turning of an eye in or out, sensitivity to light, difficulty with eye-hand-body coordination when playing ball or bike riding, or avoiding coloring activities, puzzles and other detailed activities,” Varma said by email.
“If children display such symptoms or behaviors then they should certainly get an eye examination,” Varma added.
Hispanic children were most likely to have vision problems, researchers report in JAMA Ophthalmology. As of 2015, Hispanic kids accounted for 38 percent of vision impairment cases, and researchers estimated this proportion would climb to 44 percent by 2060 aided by higher birth rates in this population relative to other racial and ethnic groups.
Based on changing demographics across the country, the second most-affected group is expected to shift from non-Hispanic white kids, who represented 26 percent of cases in 2015, dropping to 16.5 percent in 2060, to African American kids, representing 25 percent of cases in 2015 and 22 percent in 2060, according to the researchers.
The states projected to have the most children with vision impairment by 2060 are California, Texas and Florida, all of which have large Hispanic populations.
Overall, the types of vision problems found in kids are projected to remain little changed by 2060, however.
Refractive errors will make up about 70 percent of cases by 2060, followed by amblyopia, or lazy eye, accounting for 24 percent. About 6 percent of cases will result from eye disease.
One limitation of the study is the reliance on census records with self-reported data on race and ethnicity, the authors note. Researchers also assumed the prevalence of impaired vision within different racial and ethnic groups would not change over time, so increases and decreases are based just on population changes.
Still, the findings should serve as a reminder to parents not to wait to get children’s eyes checked until kids complain about their vision, said Dr. Janet Leasher of the Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“Many children don’t know that the way they see may not be normal, and the only way to find out is to have them assessed by a qualified eye care professional,” Leasher, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “There are pediatric ophthalmologists and optometrists who specialize in children’s vision, but any eye doctor can conduct the tests necessary to determine if there is a problem.”
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Natural Health, Wellness
As warm weather approaches, U.S. health officials are warning that outbreaks of diarrhea caused by swallowing swimming pool water containing parasites have doubled in the past few years.
The infections occur when swimmers ingest water contaminated by diarrhea from a person infected by Cryptosporidium or Crypto, a parasite that is notoriously difficult to kill.
Crypto caused at least 32 outbreaks in swimming pools or water parks in 2016, compared with 16 in 2014, according to a report published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report on death and disease.
Arizona last year reported that 352 people became sick with Cryptosporidiosis from July through October, compared with no more than 62 cases per year from 2011 to 2015. Ohio reported 1,940 infections in 2016, compared with no more than 571 in any one year from 2012 to 2015.
The CDC said it was not clear if there are actually more outbreaks, or if states are doing a better job of reporting them since it introduced a new DNA-based tracking tool in 2010.
Crypto is the most common cause of diarrhea outbreaks linked with swimming pools or water parks because it can survive up to 10 days in chlorinated water. It only takes a mouthful of contaminated water to make a healthy person sick for up to three weeks. Infections can cause watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea or vomiting, and can lead to dehydration.
To kill the parasite, the CDC recommends closing pools and treating the water with high levels of chlorine, called hyperchlorination.
The CDC advises parents not to let children swim if they have diarrhea. People who are infected with Crypto should wait two weeks after the diarrhea stops before swimming. And to keep from getting sick, the CDC advises swimmers not to swallow pool water.
