Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts

Madison AL Chiropractors Talk About Making Better Lifestyle Choices

By: Dr. Greg Millar, DC CCEP; Dr. Ken Randolph, DC ASBCE; and Dr. Jessica Davis, DC
Millar Chiropractic - Huntsville AL (Downtown and Jones Valley)
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Make an Appointment for Healthy Living
Have you, like many people, been thinking about making positive lifestyle changes for a long time?  Would you love to lose some weight and to be one of those admirable souls who seem to somehow be able to fit daily exercise into their busy lives?  It's certainly easier for people who have the luxury of making their own schedules with plenty of leisure time to exercise and prepare healthy food.
What about the rest of us who work long hours, especially if we are also raising a family?  In this case, it is more challenging to live a healthy lifestyle, but also perhaps even more critical, because a healthy lifestyle will help us combat stress and be there for our loved ones. 
Whatever your particular circumstances are, it's still up to you to determine how to find the time to do things that are in your long-term interest.
To make sure you get regular exercise, try making it a priority and scheduling your workout first thing in the morning.  You may even have to get up a little bit earlier, but the pay-off will be a greater sense of well being and increased energy in the short-term, and knowing that you are doing something very positive for your long-term health and well-being. It gets much easier once it becomes an established habit, and you will eventually feel so much better that you won't want to miss a morning workout.
Does your overall lifestyle promote good health and wellness?  Are the choices you make helping to keep you and your family well and healthy over the long term?
Many people think that some of the most common causes of sickness and death, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, are all strongly determined by either genetics or just plain luck of the draw.  That's not really the case, however.  
For example, only about 10% of cancers are determined by a person's genetics. Most of the time, cancer is linked to the way we live our lives - from the food we eat, the exercise we get or fail to get, our environment including exposure to toxins, and whether or not we have positive, loving and supportive relationships. 
In recent years, research studies have shown a significant correlation between overweight/obesity and a person's likelihood of developing cancer.  The evidence seems to suggest that fat cells are not simply passive storehouses of excess energy in the form of fat. Instead, it appears that fat cells are more like tiny metabolic furnaces that spew out a wide range of chemicals, including various hormones and inflammatory agents that may cause normal cells and tissues to become cancerous. The majority of people and even many physicians are completely unaware of this.
The connection between lifestyle and both type 2 diabetes and heart disease, on the other hand, tends to be much more obvious to many people. But cancer, we now know, is also often the result of an unhealthy lifestyle. The great news is that by being willing to make health-enhancing lifestyle choices, we can stack the deck in our favor and create more positive long-term changes in our health and well-being.
The best news is that these choices are in your hands. Every day you get to decide for yourself whether or not to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Of course, it can be easier some days than others to consistently make those healthy choices.  If you travel a lot for work, it may be extra challenging to find good, healthy food and to fit exercise into your daily routine. If that's the case, just do the best you can and remember that living a healthy lifestyle is a lifetime endeavor. If you manage to eat a nutritious and healthy diet and get regular exercise most of the time, you can take a short break here and there without noticing too much of a negative effect, as long as you get back to your positive, healthy habits as soon as possible. Thinking long term and making sure you choose a healthy lifestyle most of the time, will usually allow you to get back on track quickly.

Chiropractic care is another very important aspect of healthy living. Chiropractic care helps to make sure that your body is functioning optimally. It also helps you to get the most benefit from the healthy food you're choosing and the regular, vigorous exercise you're getting. Dr. Greg Millar or Dr. Justin Walbom of Millar Chiropractic Clinics in Madison, Alabama will be happy to assist you in creating an exercise and nutritional program designed to address your particular needs and concerns.
Millar Chiropractic - Huntsville AL (Downtown)
2021 Clinton Ave W
Huntsville, Alabama 35805
(256) 539-2000
http://millarchiro.com/MillarChiropracticHuntsvilleAL(Downtown).html

Millar Chiropractic - Huntsville AL (Jones Valley)
2124 Cecil Ashburn Dr SE #150
Huntsville, Alabama 35802
(256) 713-1830
http://millarchiro.com/millarchiropracticjonesvalley.html

 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

Madison AL Chiropractors Talk About Exercising Outdoors

By: Dr. Justin Walbom, DC and Dr. Greg Millar, DC CCEP
Millar Chiropractic - Madison Al


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Chiropractic Care and Green Exercise
Chiropractic care is the perfect complement to any regular exercise program. Vigorous exercise makes numerous demands on the body, and many people will quickly come up against various physical limitations they didn't know they had.
We want our exercise time to not only be productive, but also fun. We want to have the experience of time well spent. Exercise is definitely not fun if it is regularly followed by aches and pains. "No pain, no gain" is an outmoded, inaccurate, false notion that unfortunately has made its way into the collective unconscious of many people, athletes and non-athletes alike.
Chiropractic care helps ensure that you get the most out of your investment in exercise. According to Dr. Greg Millar and Dr. Justin Walbom of Millar Chiropractics in Huntsville, Alabama, 
it helps ensure that your musculoskeletal system is working properly. When your body is working effectively, exercise helps you get healthier and fitter. You're able to train with maximum effort and get the most out of your exercise time.
Dining in the open air is often much more fun than having a meal indoors. The same may be said for exercise - whenever you have a choice, exercising outside is often much more enjoyable. Exercising outdoors is more rewarding for many people and also provides a wide range of unexpected benefits.
According to Federal agencies, the average American spends about 90% of her time indoors. Coupled with this assessment is the fact that three-quarters of Americans and one billion people worldwide have deficiencies in Vitamin D, a prime life-supporting and health-enhancing nutrient. Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients needed to prevent many common diseases, and it is produced by the body in response to the UVB rays in sunlight. Exercising outdoors for 30 minutes in the midday sun several times per week will assist your body in manufacturing more sufficient quantities of this important vitamin. See the Vitamin D Council's recommendations for maximizing Vitamin D production with sunlight exposure.
Additionally, spending time outside helps improve both physical and mental health. Regular exercise is associated with helping to prevent numerous health disorders, including obesity, diabetes, colon cancer, hip fracture, high blood pressure, cardiovascular conditions, and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.

Sunlight tends to improve a person's mood, so being outdoors is a natural boost to one's frame of mind. Adding exercise to the mix naturally enhances this psychologically elevated state. Since 2005 researchers at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom have focused on the benefits of "green exercise". In one study, participants engaging in a green outdoor walk described improvements in self-esteem, overall mood, and vigor. Confusion, fatigue, anger, and tension were all substantially reduced.

Even viewing green and rural environments reduced blood pressure measurements by almost 9% in 100 treadmillers compared to those viewing blank screens or viewing urban images. If viewing green spaces is beneficial, actually being out-of-doors is likely to provide even greater benefit.
The bottom line? Being outdoors will enhance the value of most exercise activities. Green exercise will often positively impact a person's life in many unexpected ways.
In the Tennessee Valley, we are very fortunate to be blessed with mild winters and wonderfully long spring and fall seasons, which makes this area particularly enjoyable for outdoor exercisers. 
If you're out of shape, haven't exercised for a while, and/or have any health problems - be sure to get your doctor's approval before starting any exercise program. And if you need to, you can start off slowly with just a short walk around your neighborhood. 
As you increase your stamina, you may enjoy increasingly challenging hikes in some of the local parks and greenways. The Creekwood Park Greenway is a favorite among those who work in Research park and also offers a Disk Golf Course. LocalHikes.com is a great resource for local hiking trails, with maps and reviews.  It lists two local trails that are rated "easy" - the Burritt Nature Trail which is 1 mile, and the Monte Sano North Plateau Loop which is 1.5 miles. Another terrific resource for local hiking is the Land Trust of North Alabama which hosts various guided hikes at different ability levels, such as their Wildflower Stroll on Rainbow Mountain in Madison. Check out the Huntsville Parks and Recreation page for some more suggestions.
What if you would love to go hiking or biking in the great outdoors, but don't have anyone to share the experience with and don't want to do it alone?   The Tennessee Valley Adventure Group on Meetup.com has over one thousand local members who enjoy various outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, climbing, paddling, and swimming among other more adventurous pursuits.
Whatever you do, get outside and enjoy this beautiful North Alabama weather!

Millar Chiropractic - Madison AL
1908 Slaughter Rd. 
Madison, Alabama 35758
(256) 430-2700

http://millarchiro.com/millarchiropractic-madisonal-chiropractor.html

1Martins RA, et al: Effects of aerobic and strength-based training on metabolic health indicators in older adults. Lipids Health Dis 9(1):76, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]
2Donges CE, et al: Effects of resistance or aerobic exercise training on interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and body composition. Med Sci Sports Exerc 42(2):304-313, 2010
3Barton J, Pretty J. Urban ecology and human health and well-being. In Gaston K, et al. (eds): Urban Ecology. British Ecological Society and Cambridge University Press, 2010