Change These 4 Things in Your Diet Now

We all know the basics with nutrition, right? Eat more fruits and veggies, watch the sugar and salt, balance your diet with all the colors of the rainbow, etc etc. But there is so much more to eating a truly healthy diet. Here are 4 simple things you can do to start taking your nutrition game to the next level.

Eat whatever you want! As long as you MAKE IT YOURSELF. This is one of the best pieces of advice for anyone trying to eat better. The large food ‘industry’ adds so many unnecessary ingredients into the products the manufacture. There are ingredients to preserve shelf life, ingredients to change color and appearance, even ingredients to stimulate our brains and our taste buds that actually make these foods addictive.

Fats are your Friends! Years ago there seemed to be a war on fats. They were responsible for obesity and heart disease, among other things. But the whole truth is that we NEED fats on our diet. Good fats, that is. Every cell in our body is coated with a fatty layer that allows nutrients to pass in and out of the cell. Our brains and nervous systems are made up of a lot of fatty tissue. Many of our hormones and endocrine glnds rely of fats for proper function. Also, consumption of healthy fats actually DECREASES the amount of bad fats in our body. So eat those avocados, use that coconut oil, eat those good locally farmed eggs. Your body will thank you.

Let’s talk about animal products. Most of our meat, dairy, eggs etc come from large scale farms that don’t always treat their animals the best. They are usually crammed into tight quarters in dirty environments. They are usualy given antibiotics due to the high levels of infections caused by these conditions. Often they are given hormones to make them grow larger, or affect the product in other ways. The high levels of stress these animals experience does go into the product, changing it in an undesireable way. The best thing we can do for ourselves, and for our environment, is to get as much of our animal products from local farms that treat their animals well. Happy animals make a better product.

Fermentation: Fermentation has been a part of every civilization since the beginning of time. I’m sure you’ve tried saurkraut, kimchi, or yogurt in your life. Historically it has been a method of preserving food, but it has many other benefits. Fermentation uses bacteria or yeast to start breaking down foods, but also to prevent bad bacteria and yeasts/molds from spoiling the food. This also increases the amount of certain vitamins and nutrients, like some B vitamins. Fermentation also breaks down something called phytic acid, which is an enzyme inhibitor found on grains, seeds, and legumes. By breaking this down the food becomes alive, and will grow if given the opportunity. It’s always better to eat food that is alive rather than dead.

So take these 4 tips and start implementing them now. You will feel SO much better!

Kids and Chiropractic

As parents, we want the absolute best for our kids. We try and feed them good, healthy meals. We make sure they get exercise through play or sports. We stimulate healthy brain development through reading and teaching them about the world around them. But what about their Nervous System, the system that controls EVERYTHING in the body? Watch below to learn more about how amazing Chiropractic can be for our precious little ones.

The birth process can be VERY traumatic to those tiny little necks, expecially when there is pulling, or rotation as the head is coming out. Even with a C-Section there are a lot of intense forces on the little head and neck.

As our little ones begin crawling and moving around on their own they are bound to fall, or bump thier heads.

Any of these little traumas they experience can misalign those tiny vertebrae, causing pressure on the nerves. When we adjust those bones back into place, the body begins to communicate and work better. This is why kids experience better immune function, less ear infections, less colic, and many more improvements when they are under chiropractic care.

So whether your little one is having some kind of issue, has experienced some kind of fall or trauma, or you just want them to be the best they can possibly be, schedule an appointment to bring them in!

www.icpa4kids.org

3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Immune System

We have a problem in our society. We are so focused on killing the germs. Keeping them OUT! This outside-in approach will only take us so far as our immune system is concerned. You see, our immune system NEEDS things to fight off in order to stay STRONG! We have on average 5 POUNDS of bacteria in our gut which actually help keep the bad ‘bugs’ from taking over. Some say the gut is like the ‘brain’ of our immune system. So in a society so focused on killing and stopping ‘germs,’ what really is the best way to improve our immune function? Watch below to find out!

There are many, MANY other ways to help out this incredible system, but this will at least give you a GREAT start! And remember, CHIROPRACTIC CARE has been shown over and over to help improve our immune function. Not just to boost it (which would not be good for folks with autoimmune issues), but to help it regulate itself, whether up or down. This is one of the reasons getting adjusted can actually help with ALLERGIES.

I hope this helps you to live a healthier, happier, and STRONGER life, and if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

Be well!

Video Series Intro: What is Wellness?

So for a few years now this word ‘Wellness’ has been thrown around quite a bit, without many of us actually knowing what it truly is. Most of us think of it as having something to do with being healthy, but we also hear it used to promote things like flu shots, and over the counter meds. In the over 13 years I have been in practice, I’ve learned it can be simplified into 3 main points:

• How we Move

• What we put into our bodies

• How we think

We are embarking on a new project here at Wellness Pittsburgh: a video series that will focus on how to be truly healthy and well. Have a watch!