This is the 3rd installment of Health and Chiropractic:

We are always told that exercise is good for you, but no one tells us which ones and how much.  When I was younger, as with most people, I could do any type of exercise and feel fine.  I would run, hit the weights, and my body would respond with my desired results.  But as I got a little older, I noticed this body of mine did not respond the way it used to.  My brain said let’s go, but the body said otherwise.  In my early 40’s I started boxing, which was a great cardio workout as well as building up my muscle tone.  I also like the physical aspect of getting in the ring, but the one thing I noticed was this body of mine could only take so much.  If I worked out more than 3 times per week, it was too much for my body and I became extremely sore.  So I settled in for workouts 3 times per week and enjoyed it.  But like many other people, life took over and I stopped the boxing.  I am turning 48 this year, and I decided I needed another intense workout program, so I started the Insanity program which requires you to work out daily for 6 days, rest on the 7th.  These workouts are generally 45 minutes long.  Well it did not take me long to realize that this body of mine would not recover like it used to.  I became very sore, and my body just did not respond like it used to.  What was happening, the mind said yes to the workout, but the body said no.  I thought to myself, is this what getting old feels like.  I am only 48!  I have decided that instead of the intense workouts, I am going to try yoga, stretching and start on a less intense workout.  So when thinking of a workout program for yourself, realize that your body changes as you age, and what you did years ago, might not be the best thing for you now.  So listen to your body, and you will greatly improve your health thru exercise.

Dr. Richard Aragon DC

Earlier we talked about how chiropractic can influence good heath, but that is not the only way to obtain great health.  It may seem obvious, but food has a profound impact on our health.  The challenge is that food is not made to keep us healthy.  It is made for shelf-life and price control.  Most of our foods are empty calories, keeping us hungry to eat more.  Yes, these empty foods taste great ( french fries, fried foods, etc.) but they do nothing to help keep us healthy.  Instead they create a constant need to eat, resulting in the vast majority of our population to suffer from obesity, diabetes, heart problems and an overall problem of ill-health.  In our nutrition program we monitor our patients with a daily nutrition diary with our goal to not go from a poor diet to a totally sugar free, trans fat free diet immediately, but to gradually improve their diet.  I find that with this program, it is easier for patients to stay on a more improved diet.  With this improved eating habits and our whole food supplements, our patients are greatly improving their health and well-being.

Dr. Richard Aragon DC

Earlier we talked about how chiropractic can influence good heath, but that is not the only way to obtain great health.  It may seem obvious, but food has a profound impact on our health.  The challenge is that food is not made to keep us healthy.  It is made for shelf-life and price control.  Most of our foods are empty calories, keeping us hungry to eat more.  Yes, these empty foods taste great ( french fries, fried foods, etc.) but they do nothing to help keep us healthy.  Instead they create a constant need to eat, resulting in the vast majority of our population to suffer from obesity, diabetes, heart problems and an overall problem of ill-health.  In our nutrition program we monitor our patients with a daily nutrition diary with our goal to not go from a poor diet to a totally sugar free, trans fat free diet immediately, but to gradually improve their diet.  I find that with this program, it is easier for patients to stay on a more improved diet.  With this improved eating habits and our whole food supplements, our patients are greatly improving their health and well-being.

Dr. Richard Aragon DC

There is a lot of talk about health care and Obamacare.  Most people do not understand what health really means.  Is being pain free considered to be healthy?  I have known many people who were not in pain but had cancer and by the time they had any symptoms the cancer was considered stage 4.  My uncle had a heart attack on the dance floor but had no symptoms before that.  Was he considered healthy before the heart attack?  Health is not determined by how little pain you have.

There are 4 aspects of health and in today’s blog I will talk about how chiropractic can help with the first part of being healthy.

I see many patients who have very little pain but when I do a posture exam and x-rays of their spine, it shows a severely deteriorated spine.  I know that even though they are not in a lot of pain, that they are experiencing nerve degenration, muscle atrophy and will develop future problems.  For me health is a combination of things.  First you must have a sound nervous system.  Our bodies communcates thru the nervous system and the spine protects the nerves that exit out of the spinal column.  Our brain communicates with the rest of the body thru these nerves and if the spine is out of alignment, then it will alter the communication to wherever these nerves go to.  So chiropractic is very good about taking care of these spinal problems by increasing the motion to the spine, re-education the spinal ligaments and surrounding muscles and correcting/improving the posture and structure of the spine to allow better communication from the brain to the rest of the body.  Through chiropractic adjustments, soft-tissue work and specific exercises we have made dramatic improvements to peoples health and well-being.

Dr. Richard Aragon DC