El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez takes a look at desserts and sweets.
Would you feel guilty eating sweets? You must not. There’s nothing wrong with eating an occasional sweet. It is much wiser to plan a dessert that is sweet again and now, rather than deprive yourself for weeks only to eat half your body weight in sweets later.
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Balance Counts
Regrettably, way too many Americans eat way too much sugar. Our per capita consumption of sugar is 120 pounds per year! This works out to 600 extra calories a day which are devoid of any nutritional value. In view of the fact, it is obvious why Americans have a problem with obesity while falling short with other crucial nutrients like calcium, iron and folic acid.
A short note has to be stated about carbohydrates along with the bodies’ capacity to burn them. Which food would you believe causes obesity? As sugar is a concentrated supply of carbohydrates, extra calories can be carried by it. Excessive calories are converted into fat!
It can cause other health problems although sugar in the diet does not have the killer status of salt and fats. Tooth decay can function as the effect of sweets taken in between meals. Honey, which many believe is fitter than table sugar, truly has a paste which adheres cavity causing bacteria to teeth.
Sugar:�An Acquired Taste
Luckily our taste for sweets is acquired substantially like our taste for salt. This means by changing the numbers in our diet we can alter our flavor acquity for sugar.
Gradually replace less sweet foods, like tea biscuits and fruit tarts, for icing-load cakes and cookies. Make some of your favorite recipes with a third less sugar. Without altering the final product the sugar generally in most recipes can be reduced by 50 to 75 percent. You may use half the amount of concentrate to produce the same amount of sweetness as fruit juice concentrate is as sweet as sugar. Fruit juice concentrate additionally helps supply moisture to baked goods which are reduced in fat.
Assess the “tips” section for additional thoughts on checking your sweet tooth. Don’t forget, you want nutritional value for your calories. More healthy options go a long way in making you fit thin and cut.
Strategies For Cutting Back On Sugar
If sweets are your downfall, try saving them. Plan cookie or a candy bar on the weekends, say, ahead of time. It’s far better to incorporate them to them than binge when feeling deprived.
Bake your own sweets. Or try substituting applesauce for sugar in muffin and sweet bread recipes.
Use dried fruits in cookies as additional sweeteners. As stand alone snacks beware as they�may stick to teeth and are rich in calories.
Use powered sugar as a substitute for icings on chocolate cakes. Get a doilie and position on top of cake. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and remove doilie… Wallah! Poetry with no additional fat!
Use “conserves” instead of “preserves”. The former do not have added sugar.
Use sliced fresh fruit for pancakes or french toast. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. This helps bypass the maple syrup.
Buy basic non fat yogurt and add your own personal fresh fruit. Flavored yogurts can include up to seven teaspoons of sugar that is added. This works nicely for sweetening chilly goods, but breaks down in cooking.
Search for more than four grams of fiber and breakfast cereals with six grams or less of sugar that is added. Browse the label and beware of words that end with “ose”. These are sugars also: corn syrup solids, dextrose, maltose etc.
Create your personal drink with half fruit juice and half mineral water.�These items can have just as much sugar as sodas.
Eat fresh fruit whenever possible. When buying canned fruit, purchase those packaged within their very own juice or “lite” syrup.
Avoid having sweets near “guests.” It is likely that you’ll eat them before your friends and family will.
IRVING, Texas � The UTEP women�s tennis team will begin play at the 2017 Conference USA Championship on Thursday, April 20, as the 14th seed, the league announced Monday. The Miners (4-13, 0-1 C-USA) will face No. 3 seed Marshall (13-9, 1-1 C-USA) at 12 p.m. (CT) at Waranch Tennis Complex in Denton, Texas.
If the Miners win, they will face the winner between No. 6 WKU and No. 11 Florida Atlantic on Friday, April 21 in the quarterfinals. Defending tournament champion Rice and FIU earned a first round bye with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. In the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, Rice is ranked No. 35 and FIU No. 37 among Division I schools.
All six Miners will make the trip to Denton. Milou Pietersz, Lois Wagenvoort, Raven Bennett, Daphne Visscher, Duda Santos and Maria Paula Medina fielded a full line up last Friday, when the Miners fell 4-3 to NM State. It was the first time since March 4 that the injury-plagued team had a full lineup, helping the squad to the doubles point and two singles wins against the Aggies.
The Miners are led by Pietersz and Wagenvoort, who link up for the No. 1 spot in doubles. The duo recorded their first shutout of the spring season when they blankedNM State�s Vanessa Valdez and Rebecca Keijzerwaard 6-0. In singles play, Pietersz had a comeback victory against Valdez in three sets (0-6, 6-1, 7-5) at the No. 2 spot, while Wagenvoort added to the Miners� score with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory on court four. Bennett sports a team-best 5-5 singles record in dual match play primarily at the No. 6 position.
The Thundering Herd slipped by Old Dominion 4-3 on March 19, but fell to Rice, 4-1, on April 9 in Houston. The Herd has defeated four Power Five conference teams in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Virginia Tech and Penn State.
Five Marshall players have recorded at least 10 singles wins, led by senior Derya Turhan, who sports a 17-3 record at the No. 1 position. Stephanie Smith, who is 13-5 in singles at the No. 3 spot, pairs up with Daniela Dankanych at no. 3 doubles, earning Marshall�s top doubles record at 11-4.
The first round of the tournament will begin with No. 8 Southern Miss taking on No. 9 UTSA and No. 7 Charlotte facing No. 10 Louisiana Tech, with both matches at 9 a.m. (CT). The winner between Southern Miss and UTSA will face top-seeded Rice in the quarterfinals.
Other first round matchups include tournament host No. 5 North Texas battling No. 12 Middle Tennessee at 12 p.m. (CT) and No. 4 Old Dominion facing No. 13 UAB at 3 p.m. (CT).
The Conference USA Championship match will take place on Sunday at 10 a.m. CT.
2017 Conference USA Women�s Tennis Championship
First Round � Thursday, April 20
Match 1: (8) Southern Miss vs. (9) UTSA � 9 a.m.
Match 2: (7) Charlotte vs. (10) Louisiana Tech � 9 a.m.
Match 3: (5) North Texas vs. (12) Middle Tennessee � 12 p.m.
Match 4: (3) Marshall vs. (14) UTEP � 12 p.m.
Match 5: (4) Old Dominion vs. (13) UAB � 3 p.m.
Match 6: (6) WKU vs. (11) Florida Atlantic � 3 p.m.
Quarterfinals � Friday, April 21
Match 7: Match 1 winner vs. (1) Rice � 10 a.m.
Match 8: Match 2 winner vs. (2) FIU � 10 a.m.
Match 9: Match 3 winner vs. Match 5 winner � 2 p.m.
Match 10: Match 4 winner vs. Match 6 winner � 2 p.m.
Semifinals � Saturday, April 22
Match 11: Match 7 winner vs. Match 9 winner � 12 p.m.
Match 12: Match 8 winner vs. Match 10 winner � 12 p.m.
Championship � Sunday, April 23
Match 13: Match 11 winner vs. Match 12 winner � 10 a.m.
El Paso TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez takes a look at medication for joint pain and how they can make the pain worse.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are as common as candy, a staple of every home medicine cabinet and tossed casually in desk drawers, purses, and briefcases. Many people take these drugs, which include ibuprofen (sold as Motrin and Advil), naproxen (Aleve), and aspirin, at the first sign of a�headache or muscle cramps � and they are a daily ritual for many people living with arthritis.
But few people realize that NSAIDs carry a black-box warning, the strictest warning issued by the Food and Drug Administration. �Most people think that the government or FDA would not allow something dangerous on the market, especially since most of them are over-the-counter and [used] without a prescription,� says integrative medicine expert Sunil Pai, MD, author of An Inflammation Nation. �A black-box warning is the FDA�s attempt to let you know that you can end up in a casket if you are unlucky enough to suffer one of a medication�s serious reactions.�
Not only have NSAIDs been linked to a slew of serious side effects, including ulcers, hearing loss, allergic reactions and miscarriages, but they can actually worsen some of the conditions, such as arthritis, they are supposed to help.
�The scientific literature makes it abundantly clear that NSAIDs�have a significant negative effect on cartilage,� which accelerates the deterioration of arthritic joints, says Pai. �NSAIDs have no beneficial effect on [cartilage] and speed up the very disease for which they are most used and prescribed.�
Even worse, NSAIDs do not address the underlying conditions that cause pain and inflammation, such as a leaky gut, and can even exacerbate them. Stress, infections, alcohol, and a poor diet can all irritate the gut lining and lead to a leaky gut, but so can NSAIDs.
�If you use a full therapeutic dose of NSAIDs for two weeks, there is a 75 percent chance you will develop a leaky gut that doesn�t go away when you stop taking the drug, Leo Galland, MD, tellsExperience Life magazine.
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6 Simple Dietary Interventions To Fight &�Heal A Leaky Gut
So, how can people with acute or chronic inflammatory conditions fight pain naturally? Some simple dietary interventions go a long way towards fighting inflammation and healing a leaky gut.
1. Try an Elimination Diet
Removing common foods that can irritate the gut, including gluten, sugar, dairy, processed foods and soy, can jumpstart the healing process. Sugar (and refined grains, which turn to sugar in the body), for example, is one of the single biggest drivers of inflammation and its downstream consequences.
When sugar cravings strike, try roasting root vegetables or sweet potatoes. Roasting concentrates the natural sweetness of the plant, but the fiber slows down sugar absorption in the bloodstream.
2. Eat Whole Foods
Michael Pollen�s recommendation � �Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.� � Is great advice when it comes to naturally fighting inflammation. Eating a Standard American Diet (SAD) � high in processed foods, unhealthy fats, and sugars � is like pouring kerosene on inflammation�s fire. Eating whole foods, rich in phytonutrients, helps put out that fire.
One fun way to eat more plants? Strive to �eat the rainbow,� or get at least one whole food from all the different colors of the rainbow each day:
Animal protein doesn�t need to be avoided if it�s grass-fed and pastured. Instead, try to reverse the ratio on your dinner plate: Make meat the side dish and vegetables the main course.
3. Supplement with Glutamine
Glutamine helps heal your gut by fueling the cells in your gut lining. You could think of it as a leaky gut superhero. �Glutamine heals the intestinal lining more than any other nutrient,� Liz Lipski, Ph.D., CCN, author of Digestive Wellness, tells Experience Life.
4. Get Your Omega-3s
Omega-3 fatty acids are natural inflammation fighters. Good whole food sources of omega-3s include wild-caught fish, grass-fed meat, pastured eggs, algae, and seeds such as hemp, chia, and flax. A high-quality omega-3 supplement is also worth considering. Even on a largely whole-foods-based, it can be hard to get the recommended daily amount of omega-3s.
5. Drink Bone Broth
Bone broth is one of the best natural sources of collagen, a protein found in abundance in our ligaments, tendons, bones, and skin. The collagen in broth is easily absorbed by our tissues and can not only help promote healthier connective tissue and ease joint pain, but it can also help heal a leaky gut. The best bone broth is homemade�but increasingly high-quality bone broth is available for purchase at cooperatives and health food stores.
6. Consider Botanical First Aid
Many plants are powerful inflammation fighters. Turmeric may be the best known and most studied.�Recent research suggests that the active ingredient in turmeric (called curcumin) has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities on par with commonly prescribed arthritis drugs like Enbrel and Humira.
A lot of other plants and plant compounds show similar activity in the body, including ginger, bromelain (an enzyme found in pineapple), capsaicin (the active ingredient in hot peppers), and ginger. Consult your healthcare practitioner before taking botanical supplements.
Once you’ve developed symptoms of back pain, you may need to visit a physical therapist. A physical therapist will then work together with the patient to help restore their original mobility and help heal their body as a whole. Moreover, the therapist can also recommend a series of methods and techniques to help the individual minimize their pain and symptoms in the future.
Physical therapy includes both passive and active treatment options. Passive treatments are helpful for helping people relax while also helping the body heal. These are referred to as passive treatments because the patient does not need to actively participate in them to experience the benefits. Most physical therapy treatment plans may begin with passive treatment while the body begins to heal, however, the goal is to ultimately get the patient to participate in active treatments. Therapeutic exercises can help strengthen the body in order to help prevent future episodes of back pain.
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Passive Treatments
A physical therapist may offer the following passive treatments including:
Deep Tissue Massage: This treatment method targets chronic muscle tension and/or spasms that build up as a result of daily life stress. Muscle tension or spasms can also be caused due to strains or sprains from sports injuries or trauma from an accident. A physical therapist can apply direct pressure and friction to the affected region in order to release the tension in the soft tissues, such as ligaments, tendons and muscles.
Hot and Cold Therapies: A physical therapist can alternate between using hot and cold treatment methods for a variety of symptoms. Through the use of heat therapy, for instance, the therapist can achieve an increased blood flow, bringing more oxygen and nutrients to the affected regions of the body. Good blood circulation is essential to remove waste products which may have manifested due to muscle spasms in addition to helping the patient heal. Through the use of cold therapy, for example, also referred to as cryotherapy, blood flow is decreased or slowed down to help reduce pain and inflammation from muscle spasms. Applying a cold pack to the affected region or an ice massage are common ways of applying cold therapy. Another option to cryotherapy is a spray called fluoromethane, which functions by cooling the tissues. After the application of ice to the affected area of the body, a physical therapist may help stretch the affected muscles to improve healing.
Transcutaneous nerve stimulation or TENS: A TENS machine helps stimulate the muscles through the use of electrical currents which help reduce muscle spasms by boosting the body’s production of endorphins, or the body’s natural pain killers. The TENS equipment a physical therapist utilizes can be considerably large, but smaller TENS units are available for use at home. Utilizing transcutaneous nerve stimulation can be beneficial.
Ultrasound: This form of treatment helps reduce muscle spasms, cramping, swelling, stiffness and pain by also increasing blood circulation. This is achieved by sending sound waves deep into the muscles and other tissues of the body, creating mild heat which functions to enhance blood flow.
Active Treatments
Active physical therapy treatments a therapist can perform includes guiding the patient through a series of stretches and exercises which can help improve the body’s overall strength, mobility, flexibility and stability. Each person’s physical therapy program should be specialized according to their specific needs and their type of injury or condition. Taking into consideration the individual’s specific quality of life, health and well-being, particularly for someone who has back pain symptoms, the physical therapist should develop a physical activity program which will best benefit the patient.
If needed, you may additionally need to learn how to correct your posture and incorporate ergonomic principles into your daily activities. This is all part of the “self-care” or “self-treatment” aspect of physical therapy: through physical therapy, you learn good habits and principles that enable you to take better care of your body. Your physical therapist may also suggest a personalized exercise program for you. This can help reduce the likelihood of your back pain recurring and can also improve your overall health and wellness.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is an well-known, alternative treatment option utilized to prevent, diagnose and treat a variety of injuries and conditions associated with the spine, primarily subluxations or spinal misalignments. Chiropractic focuses on restoring and maintaining the overall health and wellness of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations, a chiropractor, or doctor of chiropractic, can carefully re-align the spine, improving a patient�s strength, mobility and flexibility.
El Paso TX. Chiropractor, Dr. Alex Jimenez discusses ways�to assist you to get the care you’ll need at your next appointment. Dr. Michael J. Cooney, D.C�I�ve been treating patients with severe and chronic pain from around the corner in Rutherford, New Jersey to as far away as Australia and South Africa.
From our patient�s first reference to the past treatment office visit, the success of any pain treatment we prescribe is contingent upon us (the health care provider) correctly treating the root cause of your pain.
As the patient, just describing your intense pain or neuropathic pain is a high stakes� conversation that is �. I am able to read your medical history, attributing lab results and physician reports, however this really is secondary to understanding each patient�s pain mechanics. It is absolutely vital this is communicated to your pain management provider as correctly as possible.
For those fighting �invisible pain” such as fibromyalgia, CRPS (complex areas pain syndrome), RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), diabetic neuropathy or long-term pain after cancer treatment, correctly communicating the place, frequency and depth of the discomfort can be especially demanding and emotionally taxing.
You might wish to bring this short article for your next doctor visit and go over each of the key pain description points I�ve outlined below.
I really hope your doctor will ask you these questions, but if not, you are able to behave as your own pain promoter and offer this information.
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�Tell Me About Your Pain�
Based upon your medical records, we already know the reason behind your pain (injury or ailment). In order to restart your highest quality of life possible, our goal would be to remove or minimize this symptom.
Pain symptoms are private, subjective –and unique. (What Joe describes as �unbearable pain� could be considered �fairly disagreeable pain� to Mike). Through the years, I developed my own �pain diagnostic� conversation with patients to assist my team and I understand what, where, when and just how much pain patients are feeling.
I�ve outlined key points below:
Time Matters
This is key to a proper analysis. Don�t presume we know you�ve combated with this pain to get a month a year or a decade.
1.I�ve had this pain for _________________.
2.How frequently and how long does it last?
3.What ignites (flare) or lessens your pain and for how long?
Location, Location, Location
Graphic of a human body with a rear & front view (see above)
Doctors may instruct you to indicate the area/s where your pain is concentrated. They may also request that you notice a difference between pain which is on pain and the surface that’s below the surface.
The front and back of the unisex individual figure are the most identifiable, although this tool comes from the McGill Pain Questionnaire including other measurements.
Most referring physicians, regardless of their medical specialty, utilize 1 to 10 point pain scale that is simple, so�I keep everyone on the same page.
This tool comes from the McGill Pain Questionnaire including other measurements, but the front and back of the unisex person body are the most identifiable.
How Bad Is Your Pain – Measurement Tool
Simply said, take into consideration where your pain level falls the majority of the time�unless you experience extreme pain changes.
No Pain
0 � Painfree
Manageable Pain
1 � Pain is quite mild, barely noticeable. You don’t think about it.
2 � Small pain. Annoying and may have occasional twinges that are stronger.
3 � Pain distracting and is noticeable, you may get used to it and adapt.
Moderate�Pain�Disrupts Regular Day-To-Day Living Tasks
4 � Moderate pain. If you should be deeply in an action, it may be blown off to get a time frame, but is diverting.
5 � Moderately strong pain. It can’t be dismissed for more than a few minutes, but you still can manage to work or participate in some social activities.
6 � Rather strong pain that interferes with normal daily activities. Difficulty focusing.
Severe�Pain�Disabling; Debilitating, Reduces Daily Quality Of Life, Cannot Live Independently
7� Severe pain that dominates your senses and significantly restricts your capability to perform ordinary daily tasks or maintain social relationships. Interferes with sleep.
8� Intense pain. Physical action is seriously limited. Conversing requires great exertion.
9. Not able to converse. Weeping outside or moaning uncontrollably.
10� Unspeakable pain. Perhaps and bedridden delirious. Mobility may be undermined.
�My Pain Feels Like��
Most of the time, patients experience one or two consistent pain �feelings� but some can experience a variety of sensations.
The most common pain kinds are:
Sharp stabbing pain
Extreme heat or burning sensation
Extreme cold
Throbbing, inflamed tissue
Susceptibility to contact / touching
Itching
Numbness, tingling, pins & needles
Create A Pain Journal
I motivate patients or their family members to document a weeklong pain cycle till they meet with chiropractic, their pain management or alternative medicine team.
Additionally, jot down any treatments or activities�that lessen or increase your discomfort.
As an example, maybe you have discovered that hot showers or cold weather allows you to feel worse, but exercise or Epsom salt baths makes the pain more manageable.
If you come prepared with all this information, your time with all the physician can be spent focusing on next steps and also a treatment plan, rather than a lengthy Q & A review of the information supplied here.
More importantly, addressing these issues beforehand will ensure your physician receives up-to-date, higher quality information.
Consequently, your case could be assessed more quickly and a pain management plan can be placed into action to begin removing or reducing your suffering as rapidly and efficiently as possible.
Life is busy. It can feel impossible to move toward your dreams. If you have a full-time job and kids, it�s even harder.
How do you move forward?
If you don�t purposefully carve time out every day to progress and improve?�?without question, your time will get lost in the vacuum of our increasingly crowded lives. Before you know it, you�ll be old and withered?�?wondering where all that time went.
As Professor Harold Hill has said?�?�You pile up enough tomorrows, and you�ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.�
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Rethinking Your Life &�Getting Out Of Survival�Mode
This article is intended to challenge you to rethink your entire approach to life. The purpose is to help you simplify and get back to the fundamentals.
Sadly, most people�s lives are filled to the brim with the nonessential and trivial. They don�t have time to build toward anything meaningful.
They are in survival mode. Are you in survival mode?
Like Bilbo, most of us are like butter scraped over too much bread. Unfortunately, the bread is not even our own, but someone else�s. Very few have taken the time to take their lives into their own hands.
It was social and cultural to live our lives on other people�s terms just one generation ago. And many millennials are perpetuating this process simply because it�s the only worldview we�ve been taught.
However, there is a growing collective-consciousness that with a lot of work and intention?�?you can live every moment of your life on your own terms.
You are the designer of your destiny.
You are responsible.
You get to decide. You must decide?�?because if you don�t, someone else will. Indecision is a bad decision.
With this short morning routine, your life will quickly change.
It may seem like a long list. But in short, it�s really quite simple:
Wake up
Get in the zone
Get moving
Put the right food in your body
Get ready
Get inspired
Get perspective
Do something to move you forward
Let�s begin:
1. Get A Healthy 7+ Hours of�Sleep
Let�s face it?�?Sleep is just as important as eating and drinking water. Despite this, millions of people do not sleep enough and experience insane problems as a result.
The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) conducted surveys revealing that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders. Not only that, 60 percent of adults, and 69 percent of children, experience one or more sleep problems a few nights or more during a week.
In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month?�?with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more.
On the flipside, getting a healthy amount of sleep is linked to:
Increased memory
Longer life
Decreased inflammation
Increased creativity
Increased attention and focus
Decreased fat and increased muscle mass with exercise
Lower stress
Decreased dependence on stimulants like caffeine
Decreased risk of getting into accidents
Decreased risk of depression
And tons more� google it.
The rest of this blog post is worthless if you don�t make sleep a priority. Who cares if you wake up at 5 o�clock A.M. if you went to bed three hours earlier?
You won�t last long.
You may use stimulants to compensate, but that isn�t sustainable. In the long-run, your health will fall apart. The goal needs to be long-term sustainability.
2. Prayer & Meditation To Facilitate Clarity & Abundance
After waking from a healthy and restful sleep session, prayer and meditation are crucial for orienting yourself toward the positive. What you focus on expands.
Prayer and meditation facilitate intense gratitude for all that you have. Gratitude is having an abundance mindset. When you think abundantly, the world is your oyster. There is limitless opportunity and possibility for you.
People are magnets. When you�re grateful for what you have, you will attract more of the positive and good. Gratitude is contagious.
Gratitude may be the most important key to success. It has been called the mother of all virtues.
If you start every morning putting yourself in a space of gratitude and clarity, you will attract the best the world has to offer, and not get distracted.
3. Hard Physical�Activity
Despite endless evidence of the need for exercise, only one-third of American men and women between the ages of 25 to 64 years engage in regular physical activity according to the Center for Disease Control�s National Health Interview Survey.
If you want to be among the healthy, happy, and productive people in the world, get in the habit of regular exercise. Many people go immediately to the gym to get their body moving. I have lately found that doing yard work in the wee hours of the morning generates an intense inflow of inspiration and clarity.
Whatever your preference, get your body moving.
Exercise has been found to decrease your chance of depression, anxiety, and stress. It is also related to higher success in your career.
If you don�t care about your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer. Humans are holistic beings.
4. Consume 30 Grams Of�Protein
Donald Layman, professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois, recommends consuming at least 30 grams of protein for breakfast. Similarly, Tim Ferriss, in his book, The 4-Hour Body, also recommends 30 grams of protein 30 minutes after waking up.
According to Tim, his father did this and lost 19 pounds in one month.
Protein-rich foods keep you full longer than other foods because they take longer to leave the stomach. Also, protein keeps blood-sugar levels steady, which prevents spikes in hunger.
Eating protein first decreases your white carbohydrate cravings. These are the types of carbs that get you fat. Think bagels, toast, and donuts.
Tim makes four recommendations for getting adequate protein in the morning:
Eat at least 40% of your breakfast calories as protein
Do it with two or three whole eggs (each egg has about 6g protein)
If you don�t like eggs, use something like turkey bacon, organic pork bacon or sausage, or cottage cheese
Or, you could always do a protein shake with water
For people who avoid dairy, meat, and eggs, there are several plant-based proteins. Legumes, greens, nuts, and seeds all are rich in protein.
5. Take A Cold�Shower
Tony Robbins starts every morning by jumping into a 57-degree Fahrenheit swimming pool.
Why would he do such a thing?
Cold water immersion radically facilitates physical and mental wellness.When practiced regularly, it provides long-lasting changes to your body�s immune, lymphatic, circulatory and digestive systems that improve the quality of your life. It can also increase weight-loss because it boosts your metabolism.
A 2007 research study found that taking cold showers routinely can help treat depression symptoms often more effectively than prescription medications. That�s because cold water triggers a wave of mood-boosting neurochemicals which make you feel happy.
There is of course, an initial fear of stepping into a cold shower. Without a doubt, if you�ve tried this before, you have found yourself standing outside the shower dreading the thought of going in.
You may have even talked yourself out of it and said, �Maybe tomorrow.� And turned the hot water handle before getting in.
Or, maybe you jumped in but quickly turned the hot water on?
What has helped me is thinking about it like a swimming pool. It�s a slow painful death to get into a cold pool slowly. You just need to jump in. After 20 seconds, you�re fine.
It�s the same way with taking a cold shower. You get in, you heart starts beating like crazy. Then, after like 20 seconds, you feel fine.
To me, it increases my willpower and boosts my creativity and inspiration. While standing with the cold water hitting my back, I practice slowing my breathing and calming down. After I�ve chilled out, I feel super happy and inspired. Lots of ideas start flowing and I become way motivated to achieve my goals.
Plus, it�s healthy to do something in the morning that kind of freaks you out! Get�s you feeling alive and sets the tone for living outside your comfort zone!
6. Listen To/Read Uplifting Content
Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning. It is common for the world�s most successful people to read at least one book per week. They are constantly learning.
I can easily get through one audiobook per week by just listening during my commute to school and while walking on campus.
Taking even 15�30 minutes every morning to read uplifting and instructive information changes you. It puts you in the zone to perform at your highest.
Over a long enough period of time, you will have read hundreds of books. You�ll be knowledgeable on several topics. You�ll think and see the world differently. You�ll be able to make more connections between different topics.
7. Review Your Life�Vision
Your goals should be written down?�?short term and long term. Taking just a few minutes to read your life vision puts your day into perspective.
If you read your long term goals every day you will think about them every day. If you think about them every day, and spend your days working toward them, they�ll manifest.
Achieving goals is a science. There�s no confusion or ambiguity to it. If you follow a simple pattern, you can accomplish all of your goals, no matter how big they are.
A fundamental aspect of that is writing them down and reviewing them every single day.
8. Do At Least One Thing Towards Long-Term Goals
Willpower is like a muscle that depletes when it is exercised. Similarly, our ability to make high quality decisions becomes fatigued over time. The more decisions you make, the lower quality they become?�?the weaker your willpower.
Consequently, you need to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. The important stuff.
If you don�t, it simply will not get done. By the end of your day, you�ll be exhausted. You�ll be fried. There will be a million reasons to just start tomorrow. And you will start tomorrow?�?which is never.
So your mantra becomes: The worst comes first. Do that thing you�ve been needing to do. Then do it again tomorrow.
If you take just one step toward you big goals every day, you�ll realize those goals weren�t really far away.
Conclusion
After you�ve done this, no matter what you have for the rest of your day, you�ll have done the important stuff first. You�ll have put yourself in a place to succeed. You�ll have inched toward your dreams.
Because you�ll have done all these things, you�ll show up better in life. You�ll be better at your job. You�ll be better in your relationships. You�ll be happier. You�ll be more confident. You�ll be more bold and daring. You�ll have more clarity and vision.
Your life will shortly change.
You can�t have mornings like this consistently without waking up to all that is incongruent in your life. Those things you despise will meet their demise. They�ll disappear and never return.
You�ll quickly find you�re doing the work you�re passionate about.
Your relationships will be passionate, meaningful, deep, and fun!
You will have freedom and abundance.
The world, and the universe, will respond to you in beautiful ways.
Neel Anand, MD demystifies common myths about back pain. Dr. Anand is the Director of Orthopedic Spine Surgery at the Cedars-Sinai Institute for Spinal Disorders in Los Angeles.
Your mother wasn�t entirely incorrect; hunching your back can definitely be bad for your spine. Nevertheless, the reverse is true also. Sitting up straight for too long without a rest may also add stress to the structures of the spine. Be sure to stand up, stretch, and take a quick walk several times a day to help you from developing complications which can lead to injury.
Conversely, a mattress that is too soft could lack the support necessary to allow appropriate movements. Studies reveal that the medium-firm mattress offers an ideal level of support to help prevent additional injury.
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Exercise Behind Back Pain
A survey by the North American Spine Society revealed this as the number one misconception. Of course, in the event that you aren�t energetic all week and you participate in a strenuous activity soon after, you could readily experience injury. It’s possible for you to help prevent back pain by preparing your body for especially more intense work outs and the shock of everyday motions before engaging in physical activity with stretches and warm-up exercises to greatly help wake up muscle tissue. (Take a cue from professional sportsmen who factor stretching and warm ups within their daily routine.) By strengthening your core and torso, you strengthen your back. That means exercises focused on strengthening back muscles and your stomach together with cardio to improve your total fitness.
Other Causes for Back Pain
Getting older doesn�t mean life needs to be debilitating. While there are aches and pains which occur naturally with age, remaining physically fit through exercise helps keep our bodies strong, flexible and limber, making them extremely beneficial to your overall health and wellness. There are so many exercise options to try including Tai Chi, Pilates, yoga and other treatment options that range from acupuncture to complex treatment alternatives, surgical and nonsurgical, to physical therapy. The bottom line is, back pain is not something you should have to live with.
Back pain sufferers often claim that an improper twist caused their injury. However, that occasion was probably the end result of a great many other variables. Overdoing a workout, while lifting heavy things, using poor techniques, bad posture and particularly weight gain can all place strain on the spine and lead to seemingly �out of nowhere � spasms. Occasionally the issue is more serious, as with joint and disc disorders and injuries.
There are few things as relaxing as sinking into a warm tub, but after injuring your back, doing so could really make your situation worse by increasing inflammation. Healthcare specialists recommend applying ice to the affected region for 20 minutes at a time for the initial two or three days in order to be able to decrease pain and inflammation. Individuals who suffer with chronic back pain and who do not experience inflammation can find relief with a warm bathtub. Play it safe and check with your healthcare professional for the best treatment option.
Most people will experience some form of back pain in their life, but the majority will find relief through simple lifestyle changes such as exercise, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines, physical therapy, or even simply by waiting it out. In fact, spine surgery is only recommended to a small percentage of patients after all other methods of treatment have proven futile. These patients frequently suffer from joint issues that cause persistent pain or degenerative back issues. Whether you comprehend the source of your back pain or not, a fear of movement shouldn’t ever prevent you from living.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Weight Loss Eases Back Pain
Back pain and symptoms of sciatica can affect a majority of the population throughout their lifetime. Research studies have demonstrated that people who are overweight or obese experience more back complications than people with a healthy weight. A proper nutrition along with regular physical fitness can help with weight loss as well as help maintain a healthy weight to eliminate symptoms of back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic care is also another natural form of treatment which treats back pain and sciatica utilizing manual spinal adjustments and manipulations.
One in three Americans is overweight and another third are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But while carrying too many extra pounds can increase your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers, health experts say a little bit of flab may actually be healthy.
But there is a kind of “Goldilocks Effect” — not too much, not too little — when it comes to body fat.
“Researchers have concluded that fat is actually a vital organ that releases hormones and sends special signals to the brain,” notes Dr. Holly Lucille, ND, RN. “Fat is an important macro nutrient and like any other macro nutrient, the quality makes a difference. Having the right kind of fat on your body is both protective and important.”
Jeffrey Friedman, a molecular biologist at Rockefeller University was among the first scientists back in the 1980s to discover that there was more to fat than merely storing calories. In his experiments with mice, he found that fat produces a hormone called leptin which is released into the bloodstream and binds with the areas in our brain that are responsible for appetite.
His lab’s obese mice had a genetic defect in their fat that prevented the manufacture of leptin which gave them the signal to stop eating. Humans with the same genetic defect can eventually eat themselves into obesity and premature death.
So, losing weight becomes a double-edged sword. When we lose fat, we lower our levels levels of leptin, the appetite off switch, and we become hungrier than before.
Leptin also affects our muscles and thyroid hormones so that lower levels of leptin slow down our metabolism. This combined effect drives us to regain weight. It may also explain why extreme dieters who lose vast amounts of weight in short periods of time nearly always gain it all back — and then some, scientists say.
Scientists also know that fat affects the size of our brains. People who are genetically leptin-deficient have smaller brain volume in some areas as do patients who are suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia which leave them malnourished. Leptin is also helpful in healing wounds and strengthens our immune system by activating T-cells.
“What’s important is the quantity and quality of your stored fat,” Lucille tells Newsmax Health. “The ‘good’ type of fat is called subcutaneous and is found directly under our skin in places such as our abdomen thighs, buttocks, and arms.”
Subcutaneous fat is easy to grab with your hand and tends to shift as the body changes position.
The so-called “bad” type of fat is visceral fat which is stored under the stomach wall, nestled against our internal organs. This type of fat can become inflamed and lead to diabetes and heart disease. It tends to be firmer and dense.
But experts warn that excess body fat of either kind is unlikely to be health-promoting. It’s important to keep fat levels at their optimal levels which can vary according to age and sex.
In general, women with more than 30 percent body fat are considered to be overweight and for men, the threshold is more than 25 percent.
Dr. Cate Shanahan, author of “Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food,” tells Newsmax Health that women, especially need a body composition of at least 10-12 percent fat in order to produce enough estrogen to cycle regularly and to maintain normal libido.
And as we age, a little more fat can enhance our looks.
“As we age we lose that facial body fat and our hormones simultaneously fall,’ she says. “Body fat helps support normal estrogen levels and therefore contributes to normal bone density — a critical factor in healthy aging after the age of 65.
“But that minimum percentage must be subcutaneous fat. When the visceral fat reaches more than 2 percent of our body composition it can lead to poor insulin sensitivity and potentially the beginnings of diabetes.”
The good news is that the “good” fat can fight the “bad” fat. By making a substance called adiponectin, subcutaneous fat helps take circulating fats out of your veins and into the subcutaneous tissues where they belong.
This hormone also reduces visceral fat. Exercise helps release adiponectin which is why sumo wrestlers can be both fat and fit. They exercise seven hours daily which keeps their visceral fat under control.
Experts say we should embrace the new science of fat, and Shanahan quotes an old French proverb that praises fat more poetically: “After a certain age a woman must choose between guarding her figure at the price of a hollow face.”
“I think the take away message of the new research is that we must keep a healthy level of fat to reduce our risk of disease while maintaining optimal body function,” notes Shanahan. “But don’t rationalize and run with the theory that eating bad fats are good for your health. You still need to choose your fats wisely and keep them within healthy levels.”
Chronic low back pain can be a challenge to treat, but new research suggests that massage therapy may provide some relief.
“Current medical guidelines actually recommend massage therapy prior to the use of opioid medications for lower back pain,” explained William Elder, the study’s principle investigator.
“Yet even with those guidelines, physicians and nurse practitioners are not recommending massage therapy,” said Elder. He’s with the University of Kentucky’s departments of family and community medicine and clinical services.
Low back pain is a common problem, and for most people, it’s short-lived. But for about 15 percent of people with low back pain, the problem becomes chronic and lasts more than three months, the study authors said.
There aren’t a lot of effective treatment options for chronic back pain, and physicians often prescribe opioid painkillers such as OxyContin or Percocet to ease the pain. But those drugs come with a risk of addiction.
Other possible treatments include exercise, steroid injections, behavior changes, chiropractic, acupuncture and surgery, according to the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
The new study sought to simulate real-world back pain and treatment. Researchers asked physicians to recommend massage for people with chronic back pain.
Just over 100 study volunteers were then paired with an approved, experienced massage therapist in their area who assessed the problem and created a treatment plan. The study participants received 10 treatments, which they set up directly with their therapist.
More than half of the participants had less pain after 12 weeks and many continued to report reduced pain after three months.
The research also showed that massage therapy worked better with patients aged 50 years and older, although younger people benefited, too.
“These results are exciting because it shows that most doctors can refer their patients for massage as a treatment. It’s applicable to the real world,” said Elder.
“Some medical providers have taken interest in massage, but most don’t know which type would be helpful. We learned that just referring the patient to a massage therapist and letting them work to select the therapy is effective,” he added.
Dr. Anders Cohen, the neurosurgery division chief at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City, recommends massage therapy to his patients as part of what he calls a comprehensive treatment plan.
“Massage is great way to break up adhesions and is great for soft tissue,” Cohen said. “If the back pain is a soft tissue issue, such as muscles and ligaments, it works great. Plus, there is the bonus of therapeutic touch.”
Patients in the study received the massage therapy free of charge. But, cost could also explain why some physicians recommend opioids instead. Cohen noted that massage prices vary, and may not be covered under some insurance plans.
Study co-author Niki Munk is a licensed massage therapist who’s with the Indiana University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She said the researchers saw that massage needs to occur regularly when someone begins treatment to reduce the pain.
Munk added that more research is needed on the ideal pain maintenance schedule. But the study authors think that once a level of comfort has been achieved, people can continue to manage their back pain through regular massage therapy on a schedule that fits their needs, such as once a month or every other month.
Munk also noted that selecting the right therapist is important.
“Look for a masseuse that you can establish a therapeutic relationship with over time,” she recommended.
“Chronic low back pain is a complex issue that can’t be cured from just a one-hour massage. Find a therapeutic massage clinic and ask questions about the therapist, such as their initial training and continuing education. Also, make sure that the therapist sets up a treatment plan that will work for you,” Munk said.
The study was published online recently in the journal Pain Medicine.
If you think that you can improve your brain by playing brain-training games, save your time and money, say researchers from Florida State University.
“Our findings and previous studies confirm there’s very little evidence these types of games can improve your life in a meaningful way,” said Wally Boot, an expert on age-related cognitive decline and an associate professor of psychology at FSU.
A growing number of people believe that brain training protects them against memory loss associated with aging. “Brain challenges like crossword games are a popular approach, especially among baby boomers, as a way to try to protect cognition,” said Neil Charness, professor of psychology and a leading authority on aging and cognition.
The belief is fueling the brain-training industry, which has become a billion-dollar business. Games are available online and through mobile apps for about $15 a month. But the Federal Trade Commission is looking at companies’ brain-boosting claims, and fined one for false advertising.
“More companies are beginning to be fined for these types of inflated claims and that’s a good thing,” Boot said. “These exaggerated claims are not consistent with the conclusions of our latest study.”
For their study, the FSU team focused on whether brain games could improve the “working memory” needed for a variety of tasks. They set up one group of people to play a specially designed brain-training video game called “Mind Frontiers,” while another group of players performed crossword games or number puzzles.
Researchers tested whether the games enhanced players’ working memory and therefore improved other mental capabilities, such as reasoning, memory and processing speed.
That’s the theory behind many brain games: If you improve overall working memory, which is fundamental to so much of what we do every day, then you can enhance performance in many areas of your life. “The thing that seniors in particular should be concerned about is, if I can get very good at crossword puzzles, is that going to help me remember where my keys are?” said Charness.
The team examined whether improving working memory transfer would translate to better performance on other tasks, something the researchers called “far transfer.”
“The answer is probably no,” says Charness.
What does work to improve aging brains? Exercise, he says, and predicts that “exer-gaming,” which combines exercise with� brain games, will increase in popularity.
“If your real goal is to improve cognitive function and brain games are not helping, then maybe you are better off getting aerobic exercise rather than sitting in front of the computer playing these games,” he said.
One activity that might fit into the area of exer-gaming is dance. A study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that dance was the� most effective way to reduce the risk of dementia.
Seniors who took part in brain-stimulating activities such as reading, writing, and doing puzzles, lowered their risk of dementia by as much as 47 percent. �Ballroom dancing, which combines thinking � remembering how to perform dance patterns � reduced the risk of developing dementia by an astonishing 67 percent.
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