Unplug during Screen-Free Week



The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero screen time for children under 2 and less han two hours per day for older children.  Yet, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that 40 percent of 3 month old infants are regular viewers of television and DVD's and school age kids spend nearly twice as many hours with screen media such as television, video games, computers and handheld devices as they spend atending school.  To help kids, families, schools and communities turn off screens and turen on healthier activities, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) urges everyone to participate in Screen-Free Week, April 30 through May 6.

CCFC is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents and individuals, with a mission to reclaim childhood from corporate marketers.  Learn more at www.Commercial-FreeChildhood.org.

Laugh It Up!

What makes YOU laugh?

For years, Readers Digest has featured the column “Laughter, the Best Medicine.” It contains jokes, riddles and humorous musings designed to tickle the funny bone. But just how important is laughter to our everyday health?

Turns out that when we laugh we produce natural killer cells which destroy tumors and viruses. Plus there’s an increase in the production of Gamma-interferon (a disease-fighting protein), T-cells (important for our immune system) and B-cells (which make disease-fighting antibodies). Besides lowering blood pressure, laughter increases oxygen in the blood, which also facilitates healing.

Laughter helps us to deal with stress, cope with loss, work through tragedy, hide our embarrassment and calm our fears. Laughter helps the body relax. It lowers blood pressure, increases immune system functioning and assists in warding off disease.

In terms of mental health, laughter:

Helps us connect with others – humor is often used as a means to help us collectively cope with grief, fear or loss.

Makes us more productive – happy people have more energy.

Releases negative emotions such as anger, fear, sadness, resentment, depression.

Increases the likelihood that we will feel happy.

Releases endorphins in the brain that help you to feel good.

Did you also know that laughter is a form of aerobic exercise?

You may even feel fatigued if you laugh continuously for any length of time! Just remind yourself to laugh well and often in order to experience the aerobic benefits of laughter.

What steps can you take to increase the amount of laughter in your life?

 

Surround yourself with positive upbeat people who laugh a lot – laughter really is contagious!

Find out what makes you laugh – is it funny movies, watching the comedy channel, reading funny material?

Whatever it is – do it more often!

Don’t take yourself, or anyone else, or even life so seriously.

Always remember, happiness is your birthright… so laugh and when you do, laugh loud and often!

Journal More, Worry Less

Keeping a journal helps clarify your thoughts, get solutions.



Health care professionals have long praised the benefits that keeping a journal has on one’s mental health. And it can certainly be proven that journaling or recording one’s life experiences is an aid to self-development and self-awareness, since it records information about one’s innermost feelings and ideas.

In fact, much has been written about the benefits of keeping a journal, including:

• · Journaling helps clarify goals and dreams
• · Journaling helps quiet the mind; it provides you with the ability to focus on anything you want
• · Journaling provides you with “ME” time, time alone with nothing but yourself and your thoughts
• · Journaling provides a private arena to say and feel whatever you wish
• · Journaling provides a written account of where you’ve come from and where you’re going
• · Journaling helps with stress reduction – things don’t seem to bother you as much once they are written down
• · Journaling helps provide a written account of your personal history, something to look back on
• · Journaling can be done any way you choose, daily, randomly, when the spirit moves you, whenever; there are no rules, no musts
• · Journaling helps you speak what’s in your mind and in your heart
• · Journaling is a form a self-expression

Many use the excuse, “I don’t have the time to journal!” Try it for a few minutes a day for a month. See how it makes you feel. Many people admit that they don’t know how they lived without their journals after a month’s time. It becomes a valuable resource, a pleasurable pastime, and a trusted friend to process situations and maintain our emotional balance.

 

 

Safety of Vitamins Confirmed

The use of supplements is increasing without serious adverse reactions.

Safety of Vitamins Confirmed
　

It is estimated that approximately half of the US adult population takes dietary supplements. Alvin C. Bronstein, from the American Association of Poison Control Centers (Virginia, USA), and colleagues analyzed reports of poison-related encounters by 2.3 million Americans. Whereas analgesics were involved in 11.5% of human exposures, and sedatives (including sleeping pills and antipsychotic drugs) were involved in 6% of cases, the researchers report that zero deaths were linked to the consumption of vitamins. In particular, the team notes zero deaths from any B vitamins, zero deaths from vitamin D, and zero deaths from the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E.

Exercise – A Natural High! 


Running, cycling, swimming are all great ways to increase endorphin production and feel better natrually.

Want to feel good on a regular basis and just be “high” on life? Then exercise! Exercise releases endorphins in the brain. What are endorphins? They’re the body’s own natural painkillers that produce feelings of euphoria. Not only are they free, but they’re available without a prescription. But be warned: they are habit forming!

Scientists accidentally discovered the “feel good” benefits of endorphins when they conducted studies on drug addiction in the 1970s. They found that the brain produced chemicals that far exceed the strength of opium, morphine or even heroin.

The body releases endorphins during stressful periods and in response to regular physical activity. It’s why someone involved in a life-threatening accident doesn’t feel any pain. In addition, many athletes claim to feel “great” after a particularly strenuous workout session. These can be explained by the effects of these natural brain chemicals. In fact, many who participate in regular exercise programs become “addicted” to it because of the natural high they experience.

Running, cycling and swimming are all known to release feel-good endorphins. If you suffer from depression, are stressed out or just want to feel better, exercise. Take a walk or jog around a local park, jump on a treadmill, lift some weights, do some Pilates, throw on a workout DVD – anything to get yourself moving. Stay with it long enough and you too will become addicted!



If you are unsure about what exercise you can do, make an appointment with Lisa, our fitness trainer, and she will guide you through what is good for you. 954-9591

Stress Management - New Series



You won't know if you've attained a goal
if you haven't written it down.



What makes 3% of the population successful, 30% moderately successful and the other 67% just exist? Well, according to Harvard Business School researchers, the 3% who are successful have concrete goals that they’ve written down. The 30% who are moderately successful have some type of plan. But the remaining 60% are merely accepting life as it’s dished out to them.

There are many reasons (excuses?) why people avoid setting goals: not enough time, no clear idea of what they want, fear of success, fear of failure, others’ expectations of them and lack of focus. Ironic, since feelings of powerlessness and the inability to control outcomes cause us the most stress. Setting goals could help.

It’s important to write down your goals. Don’t leave them as vague feelings in your head! Each goal must be personal and clearly stated. You cannot be successful if you are not sure what you want. Nor will you ever know if you’ve attained it! This will only cause more frustration.

Dr. Joseph Mercola of the Optimal Wellness Center outside of Chicago offers these suggestions for setting and achieving goals: 

• Decide on the exact goal you want to achieve
• Write it down clearly and in as much detail as possible
• Set a deadline to achieve the goal, with measurable steps if it is a large one
• Make a list of all that you need to do in order to achieve the goal
• Put all those “action” steps in order, by priority and sequence
• Take immediate action on the most important item in your list
• Do something each day towards attaining your goal

Goal setting doesn’t have to be time consuming or elaborate. In fact, the simpler, the better. The point is, you’ll never get to where you want to go if you don’t have a clear sense of where you are headed. It’s just that simple – so get started!

Endometriosis

Resolving back pain may also improve nerve supply
to reproductive organs, improving fertility.

At first, it may appear to be coincidental. You are having trouble becoming pregnant and you also have a problem with low back pain. Are they related? Can low back pain actually be a factor? The answer to the first question may be "yes," while the answer to the second question is more along the lines of, "The cause of your infertility may also be the cause your lower back pain."

Many women have problems conceiving because of a condition known as endometriosis. In fact, endometriosis is the cause for 30-40% of female infertility. This condition occurs when uterine tissue, known as endometrium, attaches itself to tissue and organs outside the uterus, including other reproductive organs, the bladder and the gastrointestinal tract. While the primary symptom of endometriosis is painful menstruation, back pain may result as well.

Obviously, it is imperative for you to see a health care professional when either one or both of these conditions are present. If your diagnosis is endometriosis, chiropractic care may reduce much of the pain and discomfort associated with it. In addition, several chiropractic case studies have documented cases in which infertile women have become pregnant after starting chiropractic care.