Madison AL Chiropractors Tell You How to Take Care of Your Body

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

Chiropractic Care and Total Health

You may have noticed that chiropractic care is extremely efficient. By addressing your spinal health and the health of your nerve system with chiropractic care, many of your body's other systems are also positively affected, indirectly. Your central nerve system - your brain and spinal cord - is your body's master system controlling every part of your body. Every other organ, tissue, and cell receives instructions on when and how to do its job from the nerve system, via spinal nerves and smaller nerve branches. Simply put, when your nerve system is not functioning properly your body as a whole will not function properly. You may have pain. You may have symptoms of specific diseases. It is important to address these symptoms. But to really correct the problem, it is also critically important to address possible causes which lie within the nerve system. Using gentle correction of spinal misalignments, chiropractic care helps optimize the functioning of your nerve system. A healthy nerve system helps ensure good health in your cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, and endocrine systems, as well as other body systems.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you were born with an owner's manual for your body? Ideally you would find out the best ways to care for this most precious possession. By finding out how to use your body optimally, you could ensure a lifetime of maximum health and vitality and top performance. You could keep your originally perfect physical vehicle from systematically breaking down.

By developing the most effective practices and techniques now and making them a habit, you could be spared the common experience of many years of avoidable physical discomfort, which often also includes significant emotional/mental suffering.

The good news is that it's never too late to make an effort to improve and optimize your health. The sooner you begin, the quicker you will begin experiencing the rewards.

Imagine the table of contents of your body's owner's manual. What subjects would it cover? Ideally, the manual would cover the usual suspects - good posture, exercise, nutrition, and proper rest - four important requirements for health, that almost everyone knows about but hardly anyone actually puts into practice. One of the best things about having your body's own personal owner's manual would be that you'd automatically know what works best for your body without having to go through a long drawn out process of figuring out what works and what doesn't work. Even more importantly, you would have the knowledge and ability to take proper care of your body - keeping yourself healthy from the start rather than trying to regain your health.

What can a person do to reclaim and maintain their optimal health? Since people aren't born with an owner's manual, and most also never had coaches or teachers who are very knowledgeable, they usually just struggle along. Their posture gets progressively worse, their muscles get progressively tighter as they begin to experience joint problems, and eventually they start to notice various aches and pains that quickly become long-term and unrelenting.

Fortunately our bodies have amazing resilience and recuperative powers. Once we find someone who can guide us to improve our posture and participate in exercise that is appropriate for us, we begin to find that it really is possible to feel better.

A doctor of chiropractic is an excellent choice because these physicians are very familiar with the musculoskeletal system and natural health strategies, and are therefore a good choice to help you figure out the secrets to your own body. Dr. Greg Millar or Dr. Justin Walbom of Millar Chiropractic Clinics in Madison, Alabama can help you get all the benefits of having an owner's manual without having to suffer through the trial and error yourself.

Take posture for example.Dr. Greg and Dr. Justin can share with you the same secrets that most high level competitive athletes, dancers and gymnasts learn from coaches and other mentors. You can be taught about your center of gravity, and how to balance the majority of your weight over the front part of your feet rather than your heels. You can be taught to stand tall and straight without tensing your muscles. You can learn how to breathe deeply and freely - opening your chest while relaxing your chest muscles - so that your lungs can take in all the oxygen you need to function optimally. You can be taught to keep your shoulder muscles relaxed, as you sit with your spine lengthened and your and back and neck muscles relaxed. You can be taught to properly strengthen and engage your core abdominal muscles, to provide a strong foundation for your lower back and throughout all of your daily activities.

Our chiropractors at Millar Chiropractic Clinics are experts of the nerve and musculoskeletal systems, and has extensive knowledge of how your posture and the health and integrity of your spine affects how you feel, as well as what you need to do to take care of your precious body.

If you want to take the best care of your body, as if you had your own personal owner's manual, contact your Millar chiropractor and get started on the path to optimal health and wellness today!

Millar Chiropractic - Madison AL

1908 Slaughter Rd. 

Madison, Alabama 35758

(256) 430-2700

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

1Vidal J, et al: Effects of Postural Education on Daily Habits in Children. Int J Sports Med March 4th, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

2Eriksson MK, et al: Quality of life and cost-effectiveness of a 3-year trial of lifestyle intervention in primary health care. Arch Intern Med 170(16):1470, 1479, 2010

3Huffman DM: Exercise as a calorie restriction mimetic: implications for improving healthy aging and longevity. Interdiscip Top  Gerontol 37:157-174, 2010

Madison AL Chiropractors Tell You How to Take Care of Your Brain

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

Complex Carbohydrates

Sugar is sugar, right? From a physiological viewpoint, blood glucose is blood glucose, right? Wrong. The source of the glucose is what counts and has everything to do with your ability to use food for energy. Complex carbohydrates - found in vegetables, fruits and whole-grains - are digested and broken-down into glucose - the body's usable form of sugar. This process of digestion takes time and the glucose produced is slowly released into the bloodstream, where it is transported to cells for use as an energy source. When you eat simple sugars - a teaspoon of sugar in your coffee, donuts, cookies etc. - you're ingesting ready-made glucose. No digestion is necessary - the glucose is already in its simplest form and goes directly into the bloodstream. Such rapidly available glucose is probably not immediately needed for energy and therefore is stored as fat. Also, the rapid surge of blood glucose stimulates the pancreas to release insulin, setting off a whole cascade of responses. The high-fructose corn syrup used to sweeten most sodas and other products is even worse in this regard and should be avoided at all costs.  Artificial sweeteners also have a host of negative side effects and are not a healthy substitute for sugar. Bottom line - consuming a lot of simple sugars causes your body to store fat and ultimately impairs the functioning of the pancreas, possibly leading to diabetes. Consuming complex carbohydrates provides glucose for energy and, when combined with healthy fats and protein, is part of the natural pathway to good health.

You are the lucky owner of a magnificent piece of biological machinery - the human brain. More powerful than the most advanced computer, your brain is always on, performs lightning-fast calculations, and is a whiz at making connections between seemingly unrelated factors and observations. The only downside is that, unlike your computer, your brain didn't come with an owner's manual.

Fortunately, your brain has no moving parts to wear out.  And, your brain is always available. It will do whatever you tell it to do. All you have to do is take care of it properly - provide it with energy, take it out for a walk, get proper rest and make sure it's connected.

The energy part could be easy, but most of us fall down on the job. Our bodies require high-quality nutrition, but mostly what they get is a poor substitute. Fresh organic fruits and vegetables, whole-grains; complete protein and healthy fats from organic whole milk and yogurt, cheese, pastured eggs and butter, fish (especially salmon), grassfed beef, chicken, turkey; and plenty of water cover daily requirements for optimum functioning.

If you're a vegetarian, make sure you get complete protein from dairy products - rice and beans do not provide complete protein!  Also consider your blood type.  If your blood is type O, you will not likely thrive as a long-term vegetarian.

A balanced food plan provides your brain with all the energy it needs - and it needs plenty of energy! Glucose is the primary source of energy for your brain - complex carbohydrates like vegetables and whole grains make it all happen.

Going for a walk - a metaphor for all kinds of vigorous physical activity - not only helps keep you in top shape but is also one of the best things you can do for your brain. So many recent scientific studies have shown that peak brain function and levels of exercise are strongly related.

Physical activity causes new areas of your brain to "light up" and builds connections between areas of your brain that weren't connected before. So, when you exercise, your brain is getting smarter at the same time that your body is getting healthier! That's a pretty good deal.

Finally, it's very important to make sure that all the parts of your body are talking to each other in the right way and at the right time. Your brain needs to receive the information it's supposed to receive to make good decisions, and your body needs to receive the information it needs from your brain to get all the jobs done that need to be done.

Dr. Greg Millar and Dr. Justin Walbom of Millar Chiropractic Clinics in Madison, Alabama say that regular chiropractic care helps make sure these things are happening. Regular chiropractic care helps balance the flow of information in your nervous system, taking care of you and your brain, and making sure all the important nerve signals get to where they are supposed to be going.

Millar Chiropractic - Madison AL

1908 Slaughter Rd. 

Madison, Alabama 35758

(256) 430-2700

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

 1Rosales FJ, Zelsel Sh: Perspectives from the symposium: The Role of Nutrition in Infant and Toddler Brain and Behavioral Development. Nutr Neurosci 11(3):135-143, 2008

2Christie BR, et al: Exercising our brains: how physical activity impacts synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus. Neuromolecular Med 10(2):47-58, 2008
3Lange-Asschenfeldt C, Kojda G: Alzheimer's disease, cerebrovascular dysfunction and the benefits of exercise: From vessels to neurons. Exp Gerontol 43(6):499-504, 2008

Madison AL Chiropractors Talk About Maximizing Your Health Account

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

Deposits and Withdrawals from Your Health Account

In terms of your health and well-being it's very important to not to "overdraw your health account". Withdrawals should never exceed deposits. The trouble is that sometimes we don't even realize that we're making a withdrawal, or we forget to make sure we've had enough deposits to cover a big withdrawal. When this happens, we tend to get sick. Stress can cause a very large withdrawal from your health account. Your body will expend a large amount of resources as it tries to cope with stress. The result is the same whether the stress is psychological, emotional or physical - all types of ongoing stress result in ongoing withdrawals. When we are under a lot of stress, it's especially important to pay close attention to our health accounts. Proper nutrition, sufficient rest, and regular exercise become even more important when we're under increased stress. The trouble is, heightened stress levels go hand in hand with chronic exhaustion - so we tend to feel like we just don't have the energy necessary to do the things that will keep us healthy. We tell ourselves that we're too stressed out and we don't have enough time to workout or make an effort to buy and prepare healthy food. But the thing is, that's when it really is most important to make the effort and take the time to do what's best for our health.  Even if we don't really feel like it. Take the time now to pad your health accounts, so that you will have the necessary health resources down the road when you really need it.

Everyone wants to increase the balance in their bank accounts. The health of our finances is largely determined by the level of our resources. The more money we have in the bank, so to speak, the more secure we feel overall. If our resources are nicely diversified among liquid assets, property, stocks, and bonds, we are apt to feel even more secure.

We can similarly use this type of fiscal accounting as a metaphor for our physical well-being and health. The more resources we are able to accumulate in our "health account" the healthier we will likely end up being. To take it one step further, if we're able to diversify the assets in our health accounts, as it's prudent to do with our financial accounts, we're more likely to experience better outcomes with regard to our long-term health.

You may notice that your physical resources probably fluctuate as often as your financial resources. With the metaphor of health accounting, we can still think in terms of income and expenses. If your "income" is greater than your "expenses", you will likely enjoy overall higher levels of health.  Of course, the opposite is also true - when expenses are greater than income, health tends to deteriorate.

What kinds of things can we use to pad our health accounts? Dr. Greg Millar and Dr. Justin Walbom of Millar Chiropractic Clinics in Madison, Alabama say that the most obvious and crucial aspects are food, exercise, and rest. With each of these, quality is more important than quantity - especially when it comes to the food we eat. Eating a large quantity of poor quality food will eventually lead to being overweight or obese. On the other hand, when you focus on quality - enjoying a diet that primarily consists of high-quality protein, high-quality fats, and plenty of fresh vegetables and some fruits - you will usually become more fit and naturally lean.

When it comes to getting adequate rest, most people usually do best with seven to eight hours of sleep each night. There are exceptions, but for most people, getting less than six hours of sleep per night long-term will eventually deplete their health account. In rare cases, getting too much sleep long-term can also lead to negative effects. Just like with food though, quality can be more important than quantity (or at least equally important).

There are many additional sources of "income" that can increase the balance of our health accounts. Close and loving personal relationships with family and supportive friends, interesting and stimulating interests and activities, exploring new places and learning new skills all help to grow our health accounts, enhancing our long-term health and increasing our overall sense of well-being.

Chiropractic care is another wonderful source of "income" for our health accounts. Receiving regular chiropractic care can help a person maximize the value - on a physiological basis - of the food, rest and exercise they are getting. Chiropractic care assists people in getting the most out of their health resources, by optimizing their physiology and thereby improving their health and increasing their well-being.

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

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


1Greenwald P, Dunn BK: Do we make optimal use of the potential of cancer prevention? Recent Results Cancer Res 181:3-17, 2009
2Jackson AS, et al: Role of lifestyle and aging on the longitudinal change in cardiorespiratory fitness. Arch Intern Med 169(19):1781-1787, 2009
3Smaldone A, et al: Sleepless in America: inadequate sleep and relationships to health and well-being of our nation's children. Pediatrics 119(Suppl 1):S29-S37, 2007

Madison Chiropractors Talk About Being Young, Feeling Young, and Looking Young

By: Dr. Justin Walbom, DC and Dr. Greg Millar, DC CCEP

Millar Chiropractic - Madison AL

We live in a youth-obsessed culture. Everyday we're bombarded with advertisements for lotions and potions that will supposedly help reverse or prevent the signs of aging. So many people believe in the power of the dollar. They spend vast sums every year on anti-aging, beauty, and cosmetic products in the false hope of being able to purchase remedies that will restore their fading youth.

Others hasten the loss of their youthful glow. Cigarettes, alcohol, and negative mental patterns such as resentment, jealousy, and anger all work to rapidly break down our health and vigor. Negative emotions are particularly insidious. Even if a person is healthy in other respects - eating a healthful diet and exercising regularly - stress, fear, anxiety, and ill-will relentlessly add invisible workloads to the day, sapping our vitality and aging us prematurely.

Most people who look and feel much younger than the age revealed on their birth certificates have learned how to create and maintain a positive mental attitude. It's amazing how much bounce you can add to your step when you purposefully set the intention to have a great day. Of course, this is not merely smoke and mirrors. Those who are intending to be young inside and outside also take the necessary steps to optimize their health and vigor. They don't regularly eat things like doughnuts and fried foods (except perhaps on their free food days). They make an effort to avoid eating fast food. Instead they eat lots of whole, natural foods, and organic fruits and vegetables, and make it a priority to exercise regularly, some even doing some form of vigorous physical activity five or six times each week.

These young-at-heart people get sufficient rest. They are willing to give up the attitudes, positions, and annoyances that do not serve their well-being. And many of them have discovered a natural healing method and philosophy that helps them to be well and stay well - chiropractic care.

Chiropractic is a smart, efficient form of natural health care. Chiropractic care helps remove physiologic obstacles to good health and helps your body learn how to maintain high levels of functioning.

The difference between people who have had a lifetime of chiropractic care and people who have never been to a chiropractor is usually striking. Dr. Greg Millar and Dr. Justin Walbom of Millar Chiropractic Clinics in Madison, Alabama say that those who have taken advantage of all that chiropractic offers will usually enter their advanced years with excellent posture and a normal, easy gait. Contrast this with people who have never taken proper care of their spine.  Too often they will become increasingly hunched over and stiff, walking with the type of gait associated with elderly people who are in poor health.  If you saw these two types of people walking down the street, it would usually be very obvious which one received regular chiropractic care over the years, and which one did not. 

After beginning chiropractic care many people comment that they feel as if they've let go of a big weight they didn't know they'd been carrying around. People say they feel lighter and they have more energy. They sleep better and enjoy increased vitality. They even feel as if they're taller.

Others comment that they've become more effective at work and in their personal lives. As a result of chiropractic care their bodies are expending much less energy in wasteful and unnecessary physiologic activities. The result is more available resources to do - efficiently and well - what is necessary each day out in the world.

One wonderful outcome is the ongoing recovery of the youthful appearance and outlook we always want to maintain.

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

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

1Egger GJ, et al: The emergence of "lifestyle medicine" as a structured approach for management of chronic disease. Med J Aust 190(3):143-145, 2009

2Reinehr T, Roth CL: A new link between skeleton, obesity and insulin resistance: relationships between osteocalcin, leptin and insulin resistance in obese children before and after weight loss. Int J Obes (Lond) Epub Jan 12, 2010

3Cohen DL, et al: Cerebral blood flow effects of yoga training: preliminary evaluation of 4 cases. J Altern Complement Med 15(1):9-14, 2009