Eat To Live…Not Live To Eat

Cookies, pizza, cakes, pies, potato chips, soda, hamburgers. These are all delicious, but they all have two things in common. 1. There all fatty foods. 2. All these foods increase the chance of obesity and chronic health conditions if consumed on a regular basis. For this week’s blog, we are going to talk about the negative effects of poor nutrition, what proper nutrition is, how to eat to live, and how Wilkins Spinal Care can help.

Negative Effects of Proper Nutrition

As much as how we like food and how it tastes, some of those foods should not be consumed daily. Foods high in fat and lack of nutritional value such as the one’s listed at the introductory sentence of this blog can lead to obesity and other health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, deficits in brain function, etc. Now, why do chiropractors know so much about proper nutrition? Well, chiropractors get extensive training in nutrition because improper nutrition can lead to neurological symptoms as well. Under chiropractic philosophy, improper nutrition is considered a toxin, which can cause an imbalance in the nervous system. Different foods actually can inhibit the nervous system from doing its job causing pain because the nervous system knows it is bad for the body and is trying to protect from any damage occurring. When an individual is obese, it causes the belly to expand forward causing an increase in the low back curvature. Just think how much pressure being inflicted on your nerve roots and disc. Now wonder why your having so much pain.

Proper Nutrition

Proper nutrition is absolutely vital for your health, survival and to prevent any body damage from occurring in the future. In order for our body to function properly, we needed to get an adequate amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Our body requires an efficient amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats for maximal performance.

• Carbohydrates- 35%-65% of our diet should consist of carbohydrates. Yes carbohydrates, but good carbs! Wheat and wholegrains especially. The reason why carbs are essential is because they are extremely important for brain activity.

• Proteins- 10%-25% of our diet should consist of proteins. Protein is important for muscle growth and activity. Meats such as chicken fish and occasionally red meat are great sources of protein. Dark green leafy vegetables, eggs, nuts, etc., are other great sources of protein.

• Fats- 10%-25% of our diet should consist of healthy fats. Fat is important for heart function and performance. Before eating fats, make sure they are not trans fats as those are bad fats that you see in sweets and junk food products. Good sources of fat include fish, nuts, seeds, oil (olive, sunflower, coconut) and avocados.

Now, is it okay to have a cheat day occasionally? Absolutely! Everyone deserves to treat themselves to something they desire but do it sparingly because you don’t want to get into the habit of it. All we are saying is to eat an adequate amount of fruits, vegetable, dairy products and grains daily to stay healthy and stay active.

Wilkins Spinal Care Can Help!

The doctors at Wilkins Spinal Care can provide nutritional advice on how to stay healthy, how to eat properly and how to stay out of pain with proper nutrition. We will also adjust to remove any toxins that affected your nervous system! Our office offers FDA approved nutritional supplements that have been deemed effective and have benefited our patients greatly! Drs. Wilkins and Steinert have been doing extensive research and education on nutrition and supplements and will have more to offer in the near future! If you have any questions about how you can eat to live, not live to eat, please feel free to contact us at (724) 547-3377 or visit our website at www.drlarrywilkinsspinalcare.com.