An Easy Peasy Make-A-Head Breakfast Recipe!
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Healthy Snack for the Kids…Wonderful and Easy Recipe!
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Have Some No-Guilt Chocolate Coconut Almond Granola for Breakfast!
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Happy Labor Day! Here’s a Simple Healthy Salad for a BBQ!
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“Freshman 15” Facts and Fiction
The “Freshman 15” idea has been around for more than 20 years. It’s the popular notion that students gain about 15 pounds during their freshman year in college as a result of being away from home for the first time without any parental supervision over what (and how much) is eaten. Intuitively, this seems to make a lot of sense. The combination of easy access to the college cafeteria, lots of new campus delivery and takeout options and unlimited late-night snacking potential make it more likely that a student’s eating patterns will shift, often resulting in larger portions containing more fat, sugar, and salt. This can be especially true for young people who find themselves in a brand new academic, athletic and social setting filled with excitement and—yes—anxiety. But how much truth is there—really—in the Freshman 15?
The Freshman 15 By the Numbers
Like many common catchphrases, the Freshman 15 is shorthand for a combination of fact and fiction. First of all, it IS true that many students gain weight during the first two years at college, and that most of the weight gain tends to occur in the first semester of the freshman year. BUT the effect is usually closer to the “Freshman 3 to 10” than the “Freshman 15.” A study conducted by researchers Jay Zagorsky at Ohio State University and Patricia Smith from the University of Michigan, Dearborn took a close look at the numbers. The investigators analyzed data from 7,418 teenagers who took part in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and were followed up on each year thereafter. They found that the average amount of weight gain during the freshman year in college was actually 2.5 pounds for women and 3.5 pounds for men. In addition, 25% of college freshmen actually lost weight during that year. Only 5% to 10% of freshmen really gained 15 pounds.
It’s Just as Much About Time of Life as it is Environment
Researchers Zagorsky and Smith discovered that young adults gained about a pound and a half per year, whether they were in college or not. This suggests that weight gain may be part of a broader lifestyle shift that comes with new independence. So what difference does the college environment itself actually make? According to an Auburn University study, the average student gained 11.7 pounds over the course of four years. Even with dorm living that allows constant access to snacks, fast food, and the all-you-can-eat college cafeteria, it did not make a large amount of difference in how much weight students gained. Those who gained the most weight were those who drank large amounts of alcohol.
Zagorsky noted, “College students don’t face an elevated risk of obesity because they gain a large amount of weight during their freshman year. Instead, they have moderate but steady weight gain throughout early adulthood. Anyone who gains 1.5 pounds every year will become obese over time, no matter their initial weight.” This is a very important observation because young adults who gradually put on pounds—whether or not they’re attending college—are establishing a pattern of weight gain that will almost certainly cause health problems if it continues.
What Incoming Freshman Should Know
For those going off to college, the important things to keep in mind in order to avoid gaining weight are basic rules that apply to everyone:
- Eat reasonable portions of a variety of whole foods (including lean meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit).
- Lay off fast food that is chock full of fat, sugar, and salt.
- Avoid snacking between meals (Eat a piece of fruit if you feel hungry.).
- If you must drink alcohol, drink it only in moderation.
- Make it a point to exercise regularly.
By keeping this handful of healthy eating and exercise principles in mind, freshmen can get a positive start on their college years and create lifestyle habits that will serve them well throughout their lifetimes.
Peaches are in Season!
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Chiropractic Patients Less Likely to Suffer Drug Reactions
Most people experience back pain, and many of these patients use drugs for pain relief. A 2014 study1 found that of older adults with chronic back pain, 72% of them were using some kind of analgesic to help cope with the pain. Another study2 found that 32% of back pain patients in their analysis were using prescribed opiates for relief.
It’s unfortunate that so many patients depend on drugs for musculoskeletal aches and pains, especially when chiropractic is an effective and safe way to not only relieve pain but also prevent future pain episodes.
Now a new study3 shows that chiropractic also is linked to a lower risk of adverse drug reactions in patients with back pain. In this study, the authors looked at the medical records of over 19,000 adults in New Hampshire who had at least two doctor visits for back pain. 9.810 of these patients used chiropractic care; 9,343 patients used regular medical care. The researchers analyzed the number of adverse drug effects (ADEs) experienced by the two groups.
The authors found:
- Younger patients were more likely to use chiropractic care.
- Non-chiropractic patients tended to have more health problems, in general, when compared to those who used chiropractic.
- Chiropractic patients experienced 51% fewer adverse drug reactions (.4% vs .9%) compared to medical patients.
- 15 non-chiropractic patients were diagnosed with drug withdrawal, while zero chiropractic patients had drug withdrawal.
This study had some limitations, as the study data didn’t include details about the types of drugs the patients were using or how frequently they were using medications. But the authors conclude that the “utilization of chiropractic care may be associated with reduced risk of ADEs; however, no causal relationship has been established.”
Another study by the same group of researchers found that chiropractic patients were 55% less likely to be prescribed opiates for their pain and had lower health care bills.
With the opiate epidemic in the US, it’s critical that we find non-opiate approaches to back pain treatment. Chiropractic is about restoring health without the use of drugs. By helping the body heal naturally, chiropractic can help you stay well and help you avoid unnecessary adverse drug reactions, too!
- Enthoven WT, Scheele J, Bierma-Zeinstra SM, Bueving HJ, Bohnen AM, Peul WC, van Tulder MW, Berger MY, Koes BW, Luijsterburg PA. Analgesic use in older adults with back pain: the BACE study. Pain Medicine 2014 Oct;15(10):1704-14. Doi: 10.1111/pme.12515.
- Ashworth J, Green DJ, Dunn KM, Jordan KP. Opioid use among low back pain patients in primary care: Is opioid prescription associated with disability at 6-month follow-up? Pain. 2013 Jul;154(7):1038-44. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2013.03.011.
- Whedon JM, Toler AWJ, Goehl JM, Kazal LA. Association Between Utilization of Chiropractic Services for Treatment of Low Back Pain and Risk of Adverse Drug Events. Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics 2018 May 26. pii: S0161-4754(17)30136-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2018.01.004.
Today’s article was written by Michael Melton and is shared from the following website:https://www.chironexus.net/2018/06/chiropractic-patients-less-likely-to-suffer-drug-reactions/
Here’s a Healthy Muffin Recipe for Back to School!
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Taking Responsibility for Your Health
We had to share a great blog post today from elsewhere on the web! We hope you will read and enjoy!
No one else is responsible for your health and your body, except for you. No-one knows your body like you do.
You simply cannot delegate your health to anyone else and still expect to stay vibrantly well and healthy.
If you don’t take personal responsibility for creating your health, here is a very frightening, but real possibility… the results you get in your health are going to make someone else happy, but not you!
Food companies want you to become addicted to their highly refined, highly processed fake foods. Diet companies want you to eat their diet foods. Big pharma wants you to be on prescription drugs.
These profit-driven companies are very happy to take your money but they will not take responsibility for the quality of health that you experience. If you hand over your health to them, in the hope that their illusory advertising promises are real, you may be faced with the possibility of living out a life filled with disease, food addiction, frustration, stress, anxiety, and unhappiness…
Taking responsibility for your health gives you food freedom.
You can create an incredible sense of ‘freedom around your food’, when you begin to look at your diet and your health. When I awoke to the concept of taking responsibility for the food I ate and the thoughts I had, I started making vastly different choices for myself. I started reading food labels and studying them. I started getting proactive; asking different questions, shopping differently and eating differently.
Here are three things you can do today to begin taking responsibility for your creating your health.
1. Create an enjoyable and sustainable relationship with food.
When I began to heal my body, I knew I was going to make some changes to the way I ate, along with the way that I treated myself. I spent time dedicated to finding a way of eating that would be sustainable for me, based on my goals, food preferences, and lifestyle.
I asked myself the question, “Can I see myself eating like this tomorrow, next week and even next year?” When I found a style of eating that worked for me, I kept it and continued to refine it as my health journey progressed. With a few minor adjustments along the way, it is still the way I eat today – almost 12 years later!
Take care to eat foods that are as close to their natural state as you can, (with minimum intervention by man or machines and no ikky added chemicals). Primarily I ate a plant-based diet, high in whole grains, vegetables and fruits diet that were local, seasonal and organic where possible.
Along with eating sustainably, another thing that worked for me was moving away from the idea of deprivation. Since I loved food, I knew that I needed to change my focus from the rhetoric of dieting dogma and the idea of total elimination to something far bigger and more exciting.
2. Integrate my little-known but powerful ’80-20 Rule’.
While I was searching for a way to eat that allowed me to enjoy my food and still be healthy I stumbled upon the concept of ‘the 80:20 Rule’ and I decided to apply it to what I was learning about food.
Simply put, I began to eat about 80% real, natural foods and 20% lightly processed foods. This allowed me the flexibility to enjoy healthier versions of all of my favorite foods. I loved eating nutritious food that was good for me, tasted delicious and fulfilled and satiated me.
Today I wouldn’t want to eat or live any other way!
3. Take responsibility for detoxifying your body gently.
Another key distinction was that I started paying attention to the quality of food. I started to notice that some food was more processed and higher in toxicity than others. I began to favor food that was less processed and therefore had fewer toxins in it. As I reduced the toxic load I was ingesting, it allowed my body to begin its’ own natural process of detoxification and self-healing. As I began the process of gentle detoxification, my energy levels surged and to my delight, my waistline began to reduce…
Over time, I stopped eating all fake foods. This included processed and manufactured foods such as fast-foods, artificial flavorings, colorings, preservatives, additives, processed and refined white flour, white sugar, high corn fructose syrup (HFCS) or glucose-fructose syrup and all dangerous trans-fats.
You don’t have to make radical changes overnight (in fact I recommend that you don’t!). Instead, take your time to explore and find healthier substitutes for your favorite “fake foods.” Make your changes slowly but surely. Take baby steps to begin cleaning up your diet.
How to get started.
You do not have to be a medical doctor or a dietician to know how to get healthy or to take positive steps in the direction of taking responsibility for your wellbeing.
There are so many easy things, that anyone can do, that can radically transform your life, just like it did mine. Remember that claiming back your health is journey. Just take one more step, and then another. Make the choice to take responsibility to find what foods work for your body and enjoy the process of carving out your personal path to vibrant health and wellbeing.
I did it, and I know that you can too.
Today’s post was written by Katrina Love Senn and has been shared from the following website: http://www.katrinalovesenn.com/index.php/articles/natural-health/82-who-is-responsible-for-your-health
Migraines and Magnesium
A recent study from Iranian researchers found that there might be a link between blood levels of magnesium and migraine headaches.1
Researchers looked at 50 migraine patients and 50 healthy subjects with no history of migraine. The migraine patients had average magnesium levels of 1.86 mg/dl, while the healthy subjects had magnesium levels of 2.10 mg/dl.
The researchers didn’t find any variation in magnesium levels in patients during or between headache attacks.
Other research has confirmed a relationship between magnesium serum levels and migraine, and some headache experts recommend magnesium supplementation for migraine sufferers.2
Chiropractic has been shown to be an effective treatment for migraines, and your chiropractor can help you choose nutritional supplements and dietary changes that might be beneficial in reducing or eliminating migraines.
- Samaie A, Asghari N, Ghorbani R, Arda J. Blood Magnesium levels in migraineurs within and between the headache attacks: a case-control study. Pan African Medical Journal 2012. 11:46.
- Mauskop A, Varughese J. Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium. Journal of Neural Transmission 2012;119(5):575-579.