Chiropractor, Grand Junction, CO - Daniel Lonquist, DC, CCST, CCWP
Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner. Back To Health Wellness Center, 970-257-9199
www.BTHWellnessCenter.com Google Places Page
 |
| Climbing that Mountain |
| You may have been considering making positive lifestyle
changes for a long time. You’d love to lose a few pounds, maybe more
than a few, and you’d love to be one of those people who somehow find
the time to exercise every day. It’s certainly true that for people who
make their own schedules it’s easier to plan time for exercise and food
preparation. It is somewhat tougher for those who work on a more formal
schedule and for those who are raising children. But regardless of your
specific situation and your specific circumstances, each of us gets to
choose how we’re going to find the time to do things that are in our
long-term interest. A truism is that if things don’t get scheduled, they don’t get done. For people very busy with commuting to work and raising a family, finding time to exercise might require getting up an hour earlier each day or going to bed an hour later each night. That’s just one of the many possibilities for “expanding” one’s day. The good news is that once you’re doing this, you become highly motivated to continue doing it because you begin to feel better and reap the benefits of your new health-focused schedule. |
What is your lifestyle? Not whether you are married or where you
live, but rather, how are you choosing to live your life? What choices
are you making to keep yourself and your family healthy and well?
It is startling to learn that some of the most prevalent causes of illness, disease, and death – including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes – are all heavily influenced by lifestyle. For example, we don’t usually think of cancer as a lifestyle disease. We think a person is unlucky if they have cancer, and often we have a fatalistic outlook toward news that someone has developed cancer. “It’s in their genes,” we say. Or “stuff happens – the luck of the draw.”
It is startling to learn that some of the most prevalent causes of illness, disease, and death – including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes – are all heavily influenced by lifestyle. For example, we don’t usually think of cancer as a lifestyle disease. We think a person is unlucky if they have cancer, and often we have a fatalistic outlook toward news that someone has developed cancer. “It’s in their genes,” we say. Or “stuff happens – the luck of the draw.”
But only approximately 10% of cancers are based on genetics. The
vast majority of cancer cases are very much related to how we live our
lives – our environment, the food we eat, whether we exercise regularly,
and the quality of our relationships. Within the last ten years medical
researchers have been learning of the strong correlation between
overweight/obesity and a person’s likelihood of developing cancer. It
seems that fat cells are not merely passive storehouses of excess energy
in the form of fat. Fat cells are metabolic furnaces that spew out a
wide range of chemicals, including hormones and inflammatory agents that
may often cause normal cells and tissues to become cancerous.1
Most people and even some physicians are unaware of these facts. The connection between lifestyle and heart disease, and between lifestyle and type 2 diabetes, seems obvious.2,3 But cancer, too, is a lifestyle disease. The very good news is that by creating the willingness to make healthy lifestyle choices, you’re making positive long-term changes in your health and well-being.
Most people and even some physicians are unaware of these facts. The connection between lifestyle and heart disease, and between lifestyle and type 2 diabetes, seems obvious.2,3 But cancer, too, is a lifestyle disease. The very good news is that by creating the willingness to make healthy lifestyle choices, you’re making positive long-term changes in your health and well-being.
Additional good news is that these choices are in your hands.
Every day you get to choose a healthy lifestyle or not. Of course, some
days or even some weeks just seem to go by without a real opportunity to
do things that are healthy. You might be on a business trip in a
country where it’s difficult to find good, nutritious healthy food. It
might also be difficult to find the time to exercise when you’re on a
travel schedule. That’s OK, though, because lifestyle is a lifetime
project. If you’re eating healthful nutritious food most of the time and
doing daily exercise most of the time, you can take a week off or even
two weeks off here and there. The main goal is to be on a healthy
lifestyle path the vast majority of the time.
Chiropractic care is an important component of healthy living.
Chiropractic care helps ensure that your body is functioning at its
maximum. Chiropractic care helps ensure you’re getting the most out of
the healthy food you’re eating and the healthy exercise you’re doing.
Your chiropractor will be glad to provide guidance on creating
nutritional plans and exercise programs that will work for you.
1Chan AT, Giovannucci EL: Primary prevention of colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology 138(6):2029-2043, 2010
2Shi Y, et al: Cardiovascular determinants of life span. Pflugers Arch 459(2):315-324, 2010
3Ma J, et al: Evaluation of lifestyle interventions to treat
elevated cardiometabolic risk in primary care (E-LITE): a randomized
controlled trial. BMC Fam Pract 10:71, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment