Whether you eat them on a casual day at home or serve them at a party, you can guarantee that almost anyone will enjoy munching on chips. Unfortunately, most chips nowadays are made with genetically engineered (GE) ingredients and mixed with trans fats and other artificial components.
Fortunately, you can still get your fix of delicious and crunchy chips without the health risks. This Simple and Crunchy Kale Chips Recipe, shows you that there�s more to kale than just salads and smoothies. With the right spices, you can transform ordinary kale into chips that are sure to pack a flavorful crunch (pun intended).
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Health Benefits of Kale
Leafy green vegetables are some of the best foods that you can give to your body, and kale is a perfect example. Although its health benefits were just recently known compared to other vegetables, kale has proven itself to be a nutritional powerhouse.
One cup of kale alone may already be enough, as it was shown that this leafy green contains 684 percent of the daily value of vitamin K, 206 percent of the daily recommended amount of vitamin A and 134 percent of vitamin C. Minerals like iron, protein and calcium are present in this vegetable too.
The health benefits of kale do not stop with these nutrients. Kale also contains important healthy omega-3 fats that were shown to assist in regulating blood clots, building cell membranes in the brain, shielding you from heart disease and stroke and fighting off autoimmune diseases. Kale is also a very good storehouse of antioxidants, with three standouts in particular that you should take notice of:
Indole-3-carbinol: helps with DNA cell repair and slowing down cancer cell development
Sulforaphane:assists in protecting against prostate and colon cancers, eases lung congestion and benefits the stomach, liver and immune system
Lutein and zeaxanthin: aids in protecting the eyes against macular degeneration
Lastly, kale was also shown to possess anti-inflammatory capabilities. These are important, especially when it comes to the prevention of heart disease, arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
Take Advantage of the Benefits of Coconut Oil
In order for processed chips to become crispy and crunchy, manufacturers typically use vegetable oils and trans fats, two ingredients that can devastate your health. Use coconut oil instead for recipes like this. Not only will your dishes have that distinct coconut flavor, you will get great health benefits too.
The bulk of the health benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to two substances found in it. The first is called lauric acid, with coconut oil actually containing the most lauric acid out of any substance on earth.
Once your body ingests lauric acid, it is then converted into a monoglyceride called monolaurin, which was proven to be effective in fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains. Monolaurin has antifungal and virucidal effects against other viruses and protozoa, too.1
Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) are the second vital substance present in coconut oil. Unlike long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) in vegetable oils, these MCFAs are known to be easily digested and could readily cross cell membranes. Moreover, these are quickly converted by the liver into energy instead of being stored as fat.
Coconut oil also works as an energy booster, since it is easy on your digestive system and does not trigger an insulin spike into your bloodstream. Other known positives of coconut oil include:
Promoting heart health
Enhancing Immune System function
Increasing and maintaining brain function
Enhancing thyroid function & metabolism
Maintaining skin health and elasticity
Kale Chips Recipe
Ingredients Cook time: 15 min Servings: 4
6 cups of torn and de-stemmed curly kale
2 tsp. coconut oil, grass fed organic butter or ghee
� tsp. Himalayan salt
1-2 tsp. nutritional yeast, or to taste
Optional: 1 pinch sweet or smoked paprika
Directions
Wash and spin dry the chopped, de-stemmed kale. It�s important that the kale is completely dry before baking.
Toss together the kale and coconut oil. Massage together with your hands until every leaf is coated
Sprinkle on salt, nutritional yeast and any seasoning you will be using. Toss again to evenly distribute.
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, arrange the kale evenly without crowding or overlapping.
Bake in a 300-degree Fahrenheit oven until crisp and dark green, approximately for 12 to 15 minutes.
Cool completely before eating. This will allow the chips to crisp up further while cooling.Tip: Spice these kale chips up with your favorite flavors, such as chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder or my personal favorite � Mexican Fiesta by Frontier (spice blend).
Don�t like Kale�don�t worry! You won�t even realize it�s kale that you�re eating. This decadent snack really will help you kick the habit of chips and other crunchy processed junk food. It�s easy to make, tastes great and has the following benefits:
Kale is low in calories and high in fiber
Kale is high in Iron
Kale is high in vitamin K
Kale is high in vitamin A & C
Kale is high in vitamin Calcium
Kale is loaded with powerful antioxidants
It�s a great anti-inflammatory food
Supports brain development in infants
Supports eye health
Kale is a great detox food
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Whole Body Wellness
Following a balanced nutrition, participating in regular physical activity and getting plenty of rest are fundamental factors for maintaining whole body wellness. While all of these can make you look and feel healthy, its also essential to address the health of your spine in order to maintain the proper function of all the body’s structures. Chiropractic care is a well-known alternative treatment option utilized by many individual’s to restore the health of the spine as well as maintain it. Chiropractic can also help prevent complications related to spinal injuries and conditions.
High level performers are always looking for strategies that will give them an edge in their field of endeavor. Athletes want to run a split second faster and jump an inch higher while business executives want to have sharper mental clarity and improved working efficiency. Specific meal timing and superfood strategies have been shown to optimize performance and recovery.
We all want to perform at our peak no matter whether we are a teacher, stay at home mom, doctor or athlete. It is also integral that we recover fast and effectively. The goal is peak performance and quick and effective recovery so we can get up the next day and do it all over again.
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Optimize Your Performance
Performance in any field depends upon high level mental activity and often kinesthetic activity whether that be running or jumping or eye-hand coordination. The keys for healthy function include good fats, anti-oxidants and clean protein sources.
Providing lots of clean healthy foods and meal timing properly can make a huge difference in your overall energy and daily performance. Use the principles in this article to help guide you in preparing your body for great energy and daily performance in your daily life.
Coconut
This superfood is loaded with medium chain triglycerides (MCT�s) that break down for energy very easily. Unlike most fat sources which consist of long chain fatty acids these MCT�s do not depend upon bile and instead go right to the liver and are metabolized immediately for energy.
Muscle cells are also able to store MCT�s and use them immediately for energy during exercise sessions.
Bone Broth Protein
Bone broth contains a wide variety of valuable nutrients including collagen, gelatin, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, glycosamino glycans, proline, glycine, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. These all help with the development of healthy joints, bones, ligaments and tendons as well as hair and skin.
These nutrients are considered beauty foods because they help the body with proper structural alignment and beautiful skin and hair. They also help to prevent against injuries by strengthening joints, tendons and ligaments. Additionally, bone broth is great for the immune system.
If you are unable to make your own bone broth, than you can try our Bone Broth Protein which comes with the same benefits as homemade broth, but it�s even more versatile in so many recipes. Bone Broth Protein begins as a true bone broth liquid. It�s then dehydrated, making it into a concentrated source of high-quality, tasty powder.
Berries
Berries are loaded with anti-oxidants and are low in sugar. Berries contain unique phytonutrients called anthocyanin�s that give them their strong pigments and allow them to handle intense sunlight. Consuming these anthocyanin�s helps our bodies adapt to stress effectively.
Be sure to get your berries organic as the thin skin makes them susceptible to pesticides and they are highly contaminated with dangerous pesticides when produced on conventional farms.
Spinach
This superfood is loaded with blood purifying chlorophyll and the anti-oxidants lutein and zeaxanthin. Spinach also contains its own plant based steroids called phyoecdysteroids that boost the bodies ability to adapt to stress. Phytoecdysteroids are similar to insect molting hormones and have been shown to dramatically increase glucose metabolism.
This keeps blood sugar levels stable and minimizes the need for the critical fat-storage hormone insulin. Additionally, phytoecdysteroids increase human muscle tissue growth rates by 20% when applied in a culture medium.
Rice & Pea Proteins
For sensitive cases where people have pronounced sensitivities I prefer to use either a brown rice or pea protein. Pea protein appears to be the most hypoallergenic of all protein powders and has a 98% absorption rate. This combination of 1% brown rice and 99% pea protein has a great blend of branched chain amino acids, lysine and arginine for lean body tissue development and good circulation
Pea & brown rice protein has also been shown to be very easy on the digestive system and the protein is fairly quickly assimilated into muscle tissue. This is important because slower digesting and assimilating proteins have a greater chance of producing gas and making one feel bloated. Most plant proteins have poor assimilation rates but pea, brown rice and hemp proteins are the rare exceptions.
These are loaded with sulfur containing amino acids like methionine and cysteine which are critical for glutathione production. They are also a rich vegetarian source of branched chain amino acids. They contain essential fatty acids and edestin and albumin which are similar to the makeup of human blood and these help with critical functions like DNA repair.
Grass-Fed Butter
Dairy from grass-fed cows is extraordinarily rich in essential fats and critical nutrients like vitamin K2 and magnesium. The best foods from this group include grass-fed butter and ghee which are loaded with anti-inflammatory fats and anti-oxidants.
Grass-fed butter and ghee are also rich in conjugated linoleic acid, which helps burn fat and is anti-carcinogenic. It is the best food source of the anti-inflammatory short chain fatty acid butyrate. Finally, it is full of choline which supports healthy brain and neurotransmitter production. I use butter and ghee generously each day. Look for Kerry Gold grass-fed butter here
Red Onions
These are loaded with the flavonoid anti-oxidant quercetin. They also contain sulfur containing amino acids that boost cysteine and glutathione production within the body. They also have chromium which helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
Grass-Fed Beef
Cows that are fed a 100% green diet are loaded with anti-oxidants like carnosine and essential fatty acids. Because cows have multiple stomachs and are able to fully digest grass (humans cannot) we are getting the benefits of this fully digested super-greens in a high protein food.
A fantastic source for grass-fed beef and pastured poultry is US Wellness Meats here
Avocados
Avocados are loaded with good fats and carotenoid anti-oxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin. It is very easy on the digestive system and helps support optimal hormone function, muscle development and exercise recovery.
Raw Chocolate
This is rich in good fats and polyphenol anti-oxidants for fuel and recovery. Chocolate contains theobromine which is a natural cardiovascular stimulant that helps improve circulation throughout the body.
Proper Meal Timing
It is best to eat light before our times of performance to keep as much energy focused on the specific performance rather than on digestion. Instead of food, turn to water, as optimal hydration correlates very strongly with great performance. I try to stay super hydrated throughout the day and notice that as my water intake drops, my energy and mental acuity declines.
After the performance we want to have our largest meal to replenish our system with nutrients. Ideally, you have your largest meal at the end of your day as opposed to the beginning of your day. This helps your body to recover from the stresses of the day. You are in a relaxed position at this point, as you no longer have to work hard and perform, so it allows you to digest and absorb the nutrients you need more effectively.
This helps to take stress off of your gut lining and improves the integrity of your digestive system. When you eat in a hurry or have a large meal before a stressful event or a busy day, you compromise your digestive system and cause more inflammation in the body.
These ideas and much more I teach in our Navigating the Ketogenic diet program. Opt-in here for more details and a FREE video training series I give you on advanced strategies to improve your performance.
Diet and Nutrition for a Healthy Back
As most patients are well aware, good nutrition and a balanced diet are important components of overall health. What may surprise people with back problems is that diet, nutrition and maintaining a healthy weight also play a major role in the back � including preventing many problems and healing from injuries.
The bones, muscles and other structures in the spine need good nutrition and vitamins so that they are strong enough to support the body and to perform their other functions. Using these nutritional guidelines, patients can integrate back-friendly vitamins and nutrients into their diets.
Choosing the Right Foods for Optimal Nutrition
Eating a balanced diet that includes the right amount and variety of vitamins and nutrients will reduce back problems by nourishing the bones, muscles, discs and other structures in the spine. Particular importance is given to calcium, which can be obtained through a variety of healthy food choices as well as nutritional supplements.
While a healthy diet calls for many vitamins and nutrients, this partial list highlights a number of healthy choices that can be directly beneficial for helping back patients.
Role of Vitamin or Nutrient Food Sources
Vitamin A
An antioxidant that assists the immune system in fighting off diseases. It is good for the back because it helps repair tissue and in the formation of bone. It also helps the body use protein effectively.
Additionally, the body can convert beta-carotene into vitamin A. Beta-carotene can be found in dark green leafy vegetables and most orange vegetables and fruits.
It�s important not to get more then the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, as too much can promote bone fractures. Beta-carotene does not increase the risk of fracture.
Vitamin A can be found in beef, calf and chicken liver; dairy products like milk, butter, cheese and eggs; orange fruits such as apricots, nectarines and cantaloupe; orange or green vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes and spinach.
Vitamin B12
Necessary for healthy bone marrow and for the body � and the spine � to grow and function normally. Vitamin B12 can be found in meat products, such as liver, fish, red meat and poultry; dairy products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese; and eggs.
Vitamin C
Necessary for the development of collagen, which is an important part of the process that allows cells to be able to form into tissue. This is extremely important for healing problems caused by injured tendons, ligaments and vertebral discs, as well as for keeping bones and other tissues strong.
Vitamin C can be found in fruits, such as strawberries, kiwi fruit and citrus fruits (e.g. oranges, guavas, grapefruits) and tomatoes; many vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, red and green peppers, sweet potatoes and white potatoes.
Vitamin D
Improves calcium absorption, which is important for the development of strong and healthy bones. Adequate calcium absorption is particularly important to help prevent development of osteoporosis, a disorder characterized by weak and brittle bones in the spine that can results in painful vertebral fractures. Vitamin D is naturally occurring in egg yolks and fish oils; also found in most brands of fortified milk in the US; can also be obtained by spending time in the sunlight.
Vitamin K
Needed for the bones to properly use calcium. The combination of vitamin K and calcium works to help bones throughout the body stay strong and healthy. Vitamin K is found in liver, pork, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and broccoli, and dairy products.
Iron
Needed for cells to remain healthy as it helps them receive oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. It also aids in the production of myoglobin, an important element of healthy muscles that are needed to support the spine. Iron is found in meat products such as liver, pork, fish, shellfish, red meat and poultry; lentils, beans, soy, eggs, grains, and green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and broccoli.
Magnesium
Important for the relaxing and contracting of muscles. It also helps maintain muscle tone and bone density, which in turn can help prevent back problems. Further, it assists in the body�s use of protein. Magnesium is found in whole grains and whole-grain breads, beans, seeds, nuts, potatoes, avocados, bananas, kiwi fruit, shrimp, and green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and broccoli.
Calcium
Essential for bone health and helps maintain the necessary level of bone mass throughout the lifespan and especially in old age. Adequate calcium intake is particularly important to help prevent development of osteoporosis, which results in weak and brittle bones in the spine that can results in painful vertebral fractures. Calcium is found in dairy products such as yogurt, cheese and especially milk; dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli and kale; tofu, peanuts, peas, black beans and baked beans; some types of fish (salmon and sardines); a variety of other foods such as sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses, corn tortillas, almonds and brown sugar.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Choosing the Right Vitamins
Following a balanced nutrition can help ensure we receive the necessary vitamins and minerals we need to maintain our overall health and wellness. Although many people may successfully follow a healthy diet, it might not always be easy to intake all the right foods we require. More than half of Americans report taking a multivitamin or dietary supplement. There are a wide variety of supplements available in the market and knowing which of these are the correct ones to take can be challenging for many, according to research studies.
�If you’ve ever heard a loud pop as you bent down to pick something up, you’ll be relieved to know that it’s normal for your joints to make popping and cracking noises.
These sounds can be caused by a number of things, including when soft tissues — such as tendons and ligaments — rub or snap over other tissues and bones, explained Dr. Aman Dhawan. He is an orthopedic sports medicine specialist at Penn State Health’s Milton Hershey Medical Center.
“Our joints are mobile, so there are a lot of things that slide over or run past each other. When they move, there is the potential for anatomy to intersect,” he said in a Penn State news release.
The sounds can also be caused by pockets of nitrogen gas within the fluid that helps lubricate joints and provides nutrition to cartilage, Dhawan added.
Cracking Your Knuckles Is Bad… Or is it ok?
According to Dr. Robert Gallo, another orthopedic sports medicine specialist at Hershey Medical Center, the only time you need to be concerned about noisy joints is if you also have swelling or pain.
There’s no link between joint sounds and arthritis, both doctors agreed. And cracking your joints does not make them swell up or become arthritic, they added.
“Joint sounds are not really an indicator of health or lack of health,” Dhawan said. He pointed out that the cracking or popping sounds “may be irritating to the listener, but that’s a separate issue. There is really no evidence that it causes any damage.”
Some people believe chondroitin and glucosamine supplements or injections help lubricate joints. But there is little evidence to prove they are effective, Gallo said.
Your joints can benefit from stretching and strengthening exercises, low-impact workouts (such as swimming and bicycling), maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking, the doctors advised.
“There is good data to support getting rid of excess weight because it does improve pain in the joints of the lower extremities, as well as decreases your risk of getting arthritis or of having it progress,” Dhawan said. “The joints carry the weight of our bodies, so the less stress you put on them, the longer they will stay healthy.”
Just 20 minutes of moderate exercise may dampen inflammation in the body, researchers say.
The study findings suggest that “exercise doesn’t have to be tremendously hard for you to see health benefits from it,” said study author Suzi Hong. She is an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego.
The researchers focused on inflammation — swelling — in the body.
The immune system produces swelling by rushing to protect the body from injuries and invaders, such as germs. But inflammation can become permanent, poisoning tissues in the body and contributing to diseases, including diabetes, Hong explained.
Obesity, for example, is thought to produce higher levels of inflammation. That inflammation can contribute to heart disease by affecting the arteries, Hong said.
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How Exercise Can Lower Inflammation
Studies have suggested that exercise lowers inflammation, especially when you’re active on a regular basis. However, “what is less known is how that is happening,” Hong added.
For the new study, Hong and her colleagues recruited 47 volunteers — a mostly white group of 26 males and 21 females — with an average age of 41. The researchers gave them blood tests before and after the study participants walked at a moderate speed on a treadmill for 20 minutes.
The investigators found a 5 percent decline in immune cells linked to inflammation. Hong called this a “tangible” and “significant” improvement. But it’s not clear what it means for a person’s health, and the study did not prove cause and effect.
Still, she said, it could be helpful for people, regardless of whether they have a disease linked to inflammation.
It’s also unclear whether more exercise means a greater benefit. However, “if you’re seeing this benefit every time you exercise, it’ll have a cumulative effect,” Hong suggested.
David Nieman, director of the Appalachian State University Human Performance Lab, said the new research did not represent a breakthrough — it just reinforced existing knowledge.
“It’s definitely not a high-level study, just confirming things we already know,” he said. “But it’s fine, another bit of information that confirms what we all know in the world of lifestyle and inflammation.”
Nieman said it’s important to fight off inflammation because “it’s a serious issue that undergirds just about every major chronic disease that modern-day men and women experience. It really needs to be managed and reduced.”
The most powerful way to do that, he said, is by controlling weight.
As for future research, Hong said it would be helpful to better understand exactly how exercise affects the body.
“We want to break it down into bite-size pieces for the public and say there are specific immune-based, cell-based changes you’re making when you exercise,” she said.
The study was published online recently in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Chiropractic and Athletic Performance
Many athletes who are injured performing their specific sport or physical activity, frequently seek treatment from chiropractors. Chiropractic care focuses on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of injuries and conditions affecting the musculoskeletal and nervous system. While chiropractic is a safe and effective form of conservative care for a variety of ailments, chiropractic can also be utilized to enhance athletic performance.
Here’s yet another reason to get off the couch: Inactivity is associated with greater risk of prediabetes, even for healthy-weight adults, a new study finds. University of Florida researchers said the finding may help explain why up to one-third of slim American adults have prediabetes — elevated blood sugar but not full-blown diabetes.
“We have found that a lot of people who we would consider to be at healthy weight — they’re not overweight or obese — are not metabolically healthy,” said lead investigator Arch Mainous III. He’s chair of health services research, management and policy in the university’s College of Public Health and Health Professions.
Mainous and his colleagues analyzed data from more than 1,000 people, aged 20 and older, in England. All had a healthy weight and no diagnosis of diabetes. Those with an inactive lifestyle were more likely than active people to have a blood sugar level of 5.7 or above, which the American Diabetes Association considers prediabetes. About one-quarter of all inactive people and more than 40 percent of inactive people 45 and older met the criteria for prediabetes or diabetes, according to the study.
The study doesn’t establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Still, these inactive people may have unhealthy “normal-weight obesity or ‘skinny fat,’ ” — a high proportion of fat to lean muscle, the researchers said.
“Our findings suggest that sedentary lifestyle is overlooked when we think in terms of healthy weight. We shouldn’t focus only on calorie intake, weight or [body mass index] at the expense of activity,” Mainous said in a university news release.
Because prediabetes increases the risk of diabetes and other health problems, the study adds to growing evidence that inactivity poses a risk to health, the researchers explained.
“Don’t focus solely on the scale and think you’re OK. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, make sure you get up and move,” Mainous said.
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The study results were published online Jan. 19 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
SOURCE: University of Florida, news release, Jan. 19, 2017
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Chiropractic Care for Older Adults
With the progression of age, it�s common for the human body to naturally begin to degenerate. Although degenerative changes in the body are normal, it�s also common for complications associated with aging to develop. Chiropractic care is a safe and effective, alternative treatment option utilized by many individuals to prevent, diagnose and treat injuries and conditions associated with the structures of the spine. Research studies have demonstrated that chiropractic treatment can help older adults find relief from their neck pain and back pain.
The bodies of runners who put in a lot of mileage appear to be more efficient at running compared to those who run less, a new study finds. Jasper Verheul and colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom compared two groups of runners. One group ran more than 27 miles a week, the other group ran fewer than nine miles a week.
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Anatomy of Runners
The researchers examined the activity of muscle groups in the thigh and the motion of knee joints with a variety of tools as the participants ran at different speeds during the research study.
“Given the importance of the knee joint in running, it was hoped that by examining knee joint stiffness and muscle activation levels across a range of running speeds, the adaptations of neuromuscular factors due to running training could be closely explored for the first time,” the researchers wrote.
When their feet landed on the ground, the knees of the runners who put in the most miles had less muscle activity and more stiffness. The researchers also saw that the tendons in the high-mileage runners worked more efficiently at pushing the body forward.
“From this, we concluded that high-mileage training leads to changes in the muscles and tendons that likely reduce energy expenditure during running, and these adaptations are enhanced the faster you go,” the researchers said.
The study appeared in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Chiropractic and Athletic Performance
The prevention of sports injuries through the practice of proper stretches and exercises is essential for athletes. When an injury caused by an accident does occur however, many athletes seek chiropractic care to help diagnose and treat any possible sport-related injuries and conditions. Chiropractic treatment focuses on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of injuries and conditions associated with the musculoskeletal and nervous system through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations. Chiropractic is beneficial for many athletes’s performance.
Exercise is crucial if you have arthritis. But knowing just how much activity to do when you�re hurting can be tricky. After all, research has shown that moderate activity can help prevent the progression of arthritis and improve overall function.
But while mild muscle soreness after a workout is normal, sharp pain during or immediately after can signal injury. And sometimes simply the fear of pain can keep you from wanting to do any kind of exercise at all.According to a new study, however, just a little physical activity seems to go a long way toward helping older adults with arthritis remain able to do daily tasks.
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Arthritis Symptom Relief with Exercise
Scientific studies have shown that participation in moderate-intensity, low-impact physical activity improves pain, function, mood, and quality of life without worsening symptoms or disease severity. Being physically active can also delay the onset of disability if you have arthritis. But people with arthritis may have a difficult time being physically active because of symptoms (e.g., pain, stiffness), their lack of confidence in knowing how much and what to do, and unclear expectations of when they will see benefits. Both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities are proven to work well, and both are recommended for people with arthritis.
Older adults with arthritis-related joint pain and stiffness need to keep moving to remain functionally independent. But only 10 percent of older Americans with arthritis in their knees meet federal guidelines of at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, the researchers said. This Northwestern University study found that doing even about one-third of that amount is still beneficial. The study involved more than 1,600 adults 49 or older who had arthritic pain or stiffness in their hips, knees or feet.
Those who did a minimum of 45 minutes of moderate activity — such as brisk walking — a week were 80 percent more likely to improve or sustain physical function and gait speed over two years, compared with those who did less activity, the researchers found.
“Even a little activity is better than none,” said study first author Dorothy Dunlop. “For those older people suffering from arthritis who are minimally active, a 45-minute minimum might feel more realistic,” said Dunlop, a professor of rheumatology and preventive medicine at Northwestern’s School of Medicine in Chicago.
She said the federal guidelines are important because the more you do, the better you’ll feel and the greater the health benefits. “But even achieving this less rigorous goal will promote the ability to function and may be a feasible starting point for older adults dealing with discomfort in their joints,” Dunlop said in a university news release.
Some mild pain or discomfort is typical when you first start to move, but after a few minutes you�ll usually start to feel better, says A. Lynn Millar, PhD, a professor of physical therapy at Winston Salem State University in Winston-Salem, N.C. �Our joints and muscles get nutrition through movement,� she explains. �Once you start to move around a little you�ll improve the lubrication and circulation around that joint.� Start with some gentle, active range of motion movements and if that feels OK, progress to some low-impact activity like walking, she advises.
Stretches and Physical Activity for Arthritis
In addition to the activities recommended above, flexibility exercises are also important. Many people with arthritis have joint stiffness that makes daily tasks such as bathing and fixing meals difficult. Doing daily flexibility exercises for all upper (e.g., neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger) and lower (e.g., low back, hip, knee, ankle, and toes) joints of the body helps maintain essential range of motion. Some activities take more effort for older adults and those with low fitness or poor function. For example, walking at a brisk pace for a 23-year-old healthy male is moderate intensity, but the same activity may be vigorous activity for a 77-year-old male with diabetes. You should adjust the level of effort during activity so that it is comfortable for you.
Talk to your doctor. If you have arthritis or another chronic health condition, you should already be under the care of a doctor or other health care provider. Health care providers and certified exercise professionals can answer your questions about how much and what types of activity are right for you.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Whole Body Wellness
Overall health and wellness can be achieved by following a proper nutrition and engaging in regular exercise and/or physical activities. While these are some of the most common ways to ensure whole body health and wellness, visiting a qualified and experienced healthcare professional can also grant your body additional benefits. Chiropractic care, for instance, is a safe and effective alternative treatment option utilized by people to maintain well-being.
For people experiencing low back pain, the thought of exercise often seems daunting. But yoga may be a natural fit in the quest to relieve an aching back, a new review indicates.
The findings come from an analysis of 12 studies that included more than 1,000 participants with lower back pain. The studies compared yoga to physical therapy or patient education.
There was some evidence that yoga led to small improvements in pain, and small to moderate improvements in back function at three and six months.
“We found that the practice of yoga was linked to pain relief and improvement in function,” said review author L. Susan Wieland. She is an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Maryland.
“For some patients suffering from chronic non-specific low back pain, yoga may be worth considering as a form of treatment,” Wieland added in a university news release.
About 80 percent of Americans will have back pain at some point in their lives, but treatment can be a challenge. For millions of people, chronic back pain affects their sleep, and their ability to do daily tasks and exercise.
Yoga has become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years. It typically involves a combination of physical movements, controlled breathing, and relaxation or meditation.
The review was published online recently in the journal Cochrane Library.
SOURCE: University of Maryland, news release, Feb. 6, 2017
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Whole Body Wellness
Overall health and wellness can be achieved by following a proper nutrition and engaging in regular exercise and/or physical activities. While these are some of the most common ways to ensure whole body health and wellness, visiting a qualified and experienced healthcare professional can also grant your body additional benefits. Chiropractic care, for instance, is a safe and effective alternative treatment option utilized by people to maintain well-being.
Getting regular exercise and staying slim can lower the risk for an especially hard-to-treat type of heart failure, new research shows.
This specific type of disease is called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Ejection fraction is the amount of blood that’s pumped out of the heart. In many people with heart failure, the heart is so weak that it doesn’t pump enough blood out of the heart to meet the body’s demands.
In HFpEF, the heart muscle becomes stiff and doesn’t fill up with enough blood. This causes fluid to build up in the lungs and the body, the researchers explained in a news release from the American College of Cardiology.
“We consistently found an association between physical activity, BMI [body mass index] and overall heart failure risk,” said study senior author Dr. Jarett Berry. BMI is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight. “This was not unexpected,” Berry said, “however, the impact of these lifestyle factors on heart failure subtypes was quite different.”
Berry, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, is an associate professor in the department of internal medicine and clinical sciences, and director of cardiac rehabilitation. HFpEF accounts for up to 50 percent of heart failure cases. Treatment for the condition often doesn’t work well, which increases the importance of prevention strategies, the study authors said. For the report, Berry and his colleagues reviewed information from three previous studies that included more than 51,000 people. The researchers excluded anyone who had heart disease when the studies began.
The investigators looked for information on how much exercise the participants got, as well as their weight. In addition, the researchers reviewed participants’ medical records to see if people had been admitted to the hospital for heart failure over the several years of the study.
The study authors found that traditional risk factors for heart failure — such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and obesity — were less common among those who were more active. People who exercised more tended to be white, male and have higher levels of education and income, the findings showed.
Meanwhile, people who carried more excess weight were younger, less active and were more likely to have risk factors for heart disease, according to the report. Overall, the researchers identified almost 3,200 cases of heart failure. Almost 40 percent were HFpEF. Nearly 29 percent were heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), which is associated with weak heart muscle that doesn’t pump properly. And just under 32 percent were unclassified.
The study doesn’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship, but low levels of physical activity were associated with a 6 percent lower risk of heart failure than no physical activity. Those who got the recommended amounts of exercise had an 11 percent lower risk of heart failure.
In people who got more than the recommended amounts of exercise, the risk of HFpEF was reduced by 19 percent. In addition, the incidence of HFpEF was significantly higher among those with excess weight, the findings showed.
According to the study’s first author, Dr. Ambarish Pandey, “These data suggest the importance of modifying lifestyle patterns to help prevent HFpEF in the general population.” Pandey is a cardiology fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
The study was published Feb. 27 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
SOURCE: American College of Cardiology, news release, Feb. 27, 2017
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Chiropractic Care for Older Adults
With the progression of age, it�s common for the human body to naturally begin to degenerate. Although degenerative changes in the body are normal, it�s also common for complications associated with aging to develop. Chiropractic care is a safe and effective, alternative treatment option utilized by many individuals to prevent, diagnose and treat injuries and conditions associated with the structures of the spine. Research studies have demonstrated that chiropractic treatment can help older adults find relief from their neck pain and back pain.
Whether from the disease itself or the treatment, cancer can be exhausting, but a new review says there are ways to beat back cancer-related fatigue.
The review included a look at 113 past studies that included more than 11,000 adult cancer patients. The researchers found that exercise and/or behavioral and educational therapy seemed to be more effective than prescription drugs for dealing with fatigue.
“Exercise and psychological treatment, and the combination of these two interventions, work the best for treating cancer-related fatigue — better than any pharmaceuticals we have tested,” noted study lead author Karen Mustian. She’s an associate professor with the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Wilmot Cancer Institute in Rochester, N.Y.
The upshot, said Mustian, is that doctors should consider exercise and psychological interventions as the “first-line therapy” instead of more medications when it comes to tackling cancer-related fatigue. The study team noted that cancer-related fatigue is a very common problem among cancer patients, both during and following treatment. The American Cancer Society describes the phenomenon as distinct from routine tiredness. Even if you get rest, you’re still tired. Your arms and legs may feel heavy. You may feel too tired to do even the simplest tasks, such as eating a meal, according to the ACS.
Beyond affecting overall quality of life, cancer-related fatigue can also interfere with a patient’s ability to continue cancer treatment itself. That may result in a poorer prognosis and, in some cases, a reduced chance for long-term survival, the study authors said.
For the study, Mustian and colleagues looked at cancer-related fatigue triggered by the onset of cancer itself, rather than as a side effect of treatment.
Almost half of the patients included in the review were women battling breast cancer. Ten studies focused solely on male patients. In all, almost 80 percent of study participants were women. Their average age was 54. The analysis excluded studies that looked at so-called complementary therapies, with an exception made for alternative exercise treatments, such as yoga or tai chi.
In addition, the research team didn’t include studies that had assessed drug treatments involving erythropoietin medications (such as epoetin alpha, brand names Procrit and Epogen). These drugs are designed to stimulate red blood cell production, and are “used primarily for treating anemia and are not recommended as a stand-alone treatment for [cancer-related fatigue] due to adverse effects,” the study authors stated.
Studies included looked at the impact of four different treatment approaches: exercise alone (including aerobic, such as walking or swimming or anaerobic, such as weight-lifting); mental health interventions aimed at providing information and/or helping patients understand and adapt to their current situation; a combination of both exercise and psychological treatment; and prescription drugs, including stimulant medications (such as modafinil, brand name Provigil) and ADHD meds (such as methylphenidate, brand name Ritalin).
All four interventions led to improvement in fatigue. But the researchers found that exercise therapy led to the best outcomes. But psychological therapies produced similarly positive results, as did treatments that integrated exercise with mental health efforts.
The team concluded that when it came to controlling cancer-related fatigue, the exercise and/or psychological therapy approaches appeared to outperform prescription drugs. Colleen Doyle is managing director of nutrition and physical activity for the ACS. She said exercise has many benefits, not just helping to ease fatigue.
“But because many people undergoing treatment do experience fatigue, it’s nice to know that there is something an individual can do to help reduce that fatigue and gain some of the many other benefits of exercise [both during and after treatment]: reduced stress, less anxiety, [and] benefits to physical functioning,” Doyle said.
But can the typical cancer patient actually handle an exercise regime? Mustian says yes.
“These are not your elite athletes or fitness buffs,” she said. Almost all of the studies focused on people who had been sedentary and were placed on a low-to-moderate intensity exercise regimen, involving activities such as yoga or resistance training. “So they are normal people who were not regular exercisers, and who were able to complete these interventions and have relief from their fatigue,” Mustian said.
Doyle said that for patients who weren’t previously active, it’s important to start slowly.
“Our recommendation for survivors is essentially avoid inactivity as best you can. There will be days when you feel like not doing much of anything, and that’s okay, but strive to do something. Even if it is gentle stretching exercises, or a five-minute walk down the block,” she advised.
Mustian stressed that relatively few studies looked at combining exercise and psychological therapy.
“So it is not as clear what the best way to combine them would be,” she noted. The researchers said more studies need to be done to explore the ideal way to integrate exercise and psychological interventions.
The study was published March 2 in JAMA Oncology.
SOURCES: Karen M. Mustian, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor, Wilmot Cancer Institute, department of surgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; Colleen Doyle, M.S., R.D., managing director, Nutrition and Physical Activity, American Cancer Society; March 2, 2017, JAMA Oncology
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 .
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.
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