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What’s Age Got to Do With It?

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People who are 100 years old are jumping out of airplanes, running races and traveling the world while other people in their 70s, 80s and 90s are suffering and in assisted living centers and nursing homes. Quality of life, activity level and energy have nothing to do with age.

Imagine what your life at 100 would look like based off of your current lifestyle choices. Do you get excited or scared? As centenarians, 100 year old people, are proving, how you age is largely dependent on the lifestyle choices you are making right now. Getting older doesn’t have to mean aging along the way.

While many older people still languish in assisted-living facilities, hampered by poor health and decreased mental agility, centenarians across the globe are showing that it doesn’t have to be that way. Consider Verdun Hayes, who set a world record in May of this year by becoming the world’s oldest tandem skydiver at age 101. Then there’s Don Pellmann, a 101-year-old track star from Santa Clara. He began running in track events at age 70, and has since participated in 890 of them, winning most and even breaking world records. Some other great examples of high-quality 100 year living are Fauja Singh, the 106-year-old marathon runner, and Mieko Nagaoka, who is still breaking world records in swimming at 102 years old. Compare these go-getters to people you might know in their 80s or 90s who are living lives of poor health and low energy, and you’ll begin to realize that quality of life has very little to do with age.

People across the globe are living longer. Information from a CDC study indicates that in the United States, the number of people 100 years old or older has increased greatly in the past few years, jumping by 44%! If you knew you could live to more than 100 years old, wouldn’t you want to be as healthy as possible?

How can you live a healthy, fulfilled life all the way to 100 years old and beyond? The 100 Year Lifestyle promotes practices that can be easily remembered if you use an acronym related to the word fitness. Take the NESS from fitness, square the “N”, and use this acronym to enjoy your healthiest today while propelling yourself into a healthy, happy 100 years and beyond.

– N is for Neurology. All of your conscious and unconscious functions are controlled by your nervous system, including your heart, muscles, digestion and circulation. Taking care of your body means paying attention to your neurology, which is an integral part of chiropractic care and promotes full body health.

– N is also for Nutrition. You’ve heard it said that you are what you eat, and it’s absolutely true. A diet full of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins, low in sugar and processed carbohydrates, is essential to a strong and healthy body.

– E stands for Endurance. You can build your endurance through cardiovascular activities like walking, running, swimming and bike riding, which increase your heart rate and strengthen your cardiovascular system. Start slow and steady, be consistent and you’ll be able to increase the frequency, intensity and duration of your endurance training over time. Who knows? You could be a 106-year-old marathon runner, too!

– S is Strength. Don’t wait until you lose your strength to prioritize it! Instead, start strength training today, so that as you age your muscles will remain strong and healthy.

– S also means Structure. Staying active and healthy means keeping your spine healthy, strong, and straight. That’s why so many world class athletes turn to chiropractic care to help them protect this important part of the body.

Are you ready to get started? It’s time to live your best life for at least a century, and we can help! It’s all about making the critical transition from crisis care to lifestyle care, taking care of your body so it will be in good shape throughout your (long) life. Visit our office and give us the opportunity to make a difference for you.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/25/health/centenarians-increase/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db233.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/europe/101-year-old-skydiver/index.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/100-year-old-track-star-don-pellman-keeps-breaking-records-california-santa-clara/
https://www.thenational.ae/sport/other-sport/101-year-old-japanese-swimmer-aims-for-more-world-records-1.158307

Easy Hard or Hard Easy?

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The great philosopher Aristotle once asked, “What is the ultimate purpose of human existence?” He, among many other philosophers of his time, agreed that it was happiness. We all want great relationships, wealth and good health. We want these things because we believe that they will bring us happiness.

How many people do you know who are truly happy? Better yet, how many people do you know that are 80, 90 or 100 years old and are truly happy? Many people at these ages are sick, suffering or dissatisfied with their lives. If the ultimate purpose of human existence is to be happy, why are so many people sick, suffering and dissatisfied?

Jerzy Gregorek, a 62-year-old and four-time world champion in Olympic weight lifting, lives his life by the following principle: “Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.” If you make your choices based off of what is easiest and most convenient, a harder life will follow. If you make your choices based off of what will give you the most satisfaction and growth for the long term, an easier life will follow.

Whether you like it or not, want to or not, you will probably live longer than you ever expected. Why not make the decisions today that will give you an easier, happier and more fulfilled life today and for the years to come?

Many people make what appear to be easy choices when it comes to their health and the health of their families and suffer long term consequences. For example,
– It appears to be easy to stay sedentary and not exercise.
– It appears to be easy to eat fast food.
– It appears to be easy to stay up late every night.
– It appears to be easy to take a drug to mask uncomfortable symptoms rather than address the underlying cause.

All of these ‘easier’ lifestyle choices can cause interference in your nervous system and directly affect the way you age. If you make these choices now because they appear convenient and easy, they can lead you down a path that is much harder in the future. Think of your parents and grandparents who may be 80, 90 or 100 years old. If they are sick and suffering, how different would their life be had they made healthier decisions when they were younger?

On the flip side, many other people choose to make what appears to be harder choices when it comes to their health and the health of their families.
– It appears to be hard to exercise consistently.
– It appears to be hard to eat well-balanced, whole-food meals and take the time to prepare food properly.
– It appears to be hard to get adequate amounts of sleep.
– It appears to be hard to consistently see a chiropractor for Lifestyle Care.

However, these people experience an easier life because they consistently make choices that are good for them today and the long haul. While these choices may appear to be harder, by making them daily habits, each choice will become easier and it will result in an easier life. As it says in The 100 Year Lifestyle, “learn to love the things that are good for you.”

Your 100 is coming, you make the call.

Centenarians are the fastest growing segment of the population. You and your family will probably live longer than you ever expected. Take care of your body now by exercising, eating right, getting rest and keeping your spine and nervous system in balance and well-adjusted so that you and your family can enjoy the active, happy and fulfilled life you deserve.

Contributed by Adam Coats, B.S.

Tennis Anyone

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The US Open Tennis Championship is one of the biggest tennis events in the world every year. Millions of avid tennis players and fans will be watching this prestigious tournament. While the grueling battles for every point can be awe-inspiring, they are also very hard on the body, spine and nervous system. It’s no wonder that many of the top tennis players utilize chiropractic care to keep them fit, healthy and on the court.

Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has said, “Chiropractic gives me the flexibility I need to keep me in the game.” Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have also been known to utilize chiropractic care for faster healing, staying fit and performing at their highest level. In fact, top athletes in many sports rely on chiropractic care including Tom Brady, LeBron James, and Kerry Walsh.

Tennis is a great game for people of all ages to play. Kids, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens all enjoy being on the court. The sport brings friends, families, and even countries together, nurtures individual responsibility, encourages teamwork, and promotes physical, mental and social well-being. And best of all, tennis is fun.

As captain of the men’s tennis teams at both Fullerton High School and Cal State University at Fullerton, Dr. Kevin Joe was so excited about how chiropractic care helped him in his athletic career that he chose to become a chiropractor.

Lifestyle Care helps athletes by removing spinal subluxations, keeping the body functioning optimally. Chiropractic adjustments balance the spine and nervous system which can improve coordination and prevent injuries.

Unfortunately, too many athletes, tennis players included, suffer from imbalances and nagging injuries that affect their health and weaken performance. For the amateur or weekend player, it can take away from the enjoyment of the game.

Dr. Patricia McLean is another athlete that went from the court to career. As a practicing chiropractor in Maui, HI and Virginia Beach, VA, she won a National Championship with her amateur team. “Receiving Lifestyle Care definitely contributed to our championship run. Our team stayed healthy, recovered more quickly than our opponents and this gave us the competitive edge.”

In addition to chiropractic care, you can improve your tennis game by strengthening your Core. There is a Core Strength and Stability Test in The 100 Year Lifestyle Workout book that builds your Core Strength in just 2 ½ minutes a day. You can download this test from www.100yearlifestyle.com or by asking a member or our staff for a copy.

Don’t wait for a crisis to make your health a priority. Make the Critical Transition to Lifestyle Care and take your health, and your game, to higher levels.

I Just Woke Up With It

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Do you know someone that woke up with an injury or illness and attributed it to sleeping? It is not uncommon to hear people say something like, ‘I just woke up with it.’

While sleeping in awkward positions may trigger aches and pains in the morning, there are usually underlying conditions that are the cause of the problem.

Jacob Riis, esteemed reporter and colleague of Theodore Roosevelt once said, “look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

The same principle holds true with your health, including the health of your spine and nerve system.

Spinal injuries known as subluxations, for example, can occur during the birth process, when a child is learning to walk, from childhood falls, toxicity and stress just to name a few. This condition can lie dormant for decades and suddenly show up one morning because the way you slept was ‘”the straw that broke the camel’s back.” And if the nerves are involved your entire body could be affected.

Your nervous system controls the function of every cell, tissue and organ in the body and adapts you to your environment. Brain function,heart rate, digestion, elimination, movement, strength, stamina, the ability to focus and adapt are just a few of the daily functions of your nervous system.

Research shows:

– 8-10 mm of pressure, the weight of a dime, can reduce spinal nerve transmission- CU

– Nerve compression can exist without pain- Spine.

– After only two weeks since an injury, the nerves begins to degenerate- T. Videman, MD

Other lifestyle habits that can affect your spine and nervous system are overeating, poor nutrition, slouching, excessive drinking, taking prescription or non-prescription drugs, or sitting too much.

Because it only takes a small amount of pressure to injure a nerve and a little bit of time for the degeneration to set in, regular chiropractic check-ups should be a priority.

Don’t wait until you ‘feel it’ because you may not have pain at first. Schedule an appointment today to begin enjoying your sleep, waking up refreshed and getting back to living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

Article contributed by Emily Plasker, BA.

Genetic and Lifestyle Misinformation

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Do you have a family member who redefined your family’s longevity potential, outliving everyone else who’d come before them? Do you want to be the next one to break that barrier with quality years? If you have bought into misinformation about genetics and lifestyle, some of the fiction you’re believing may be keeping you from living your best life.

Think about this for a moment: We live in a culture of misinformation and fake news. For example, we’re told that egg yolks are bad for us, margarine is better than butter and that fat makes you fat. All of these are proven falsehoods, yet this misinformation persists. Even the connection between cholesterol and heart disease has been debunked in the literature.1 It’s no wonder so much of our population is struggling with their weight or suffering from ill health.

The misinformation prevalent in our society has led to an astonishing overuse of medications, because people believe that magical pills can solve their problems. From prescription medication overuse and drug abuse, to the 100,000 people who die from reactions to over-the-counter medications, we’re seeing the terrible price that’s being paid from a failure to examine what we are being told.

We humans are complex and dynamic beings who are self-regulating and self-healing, and it’s crucial to understand how the human body functions in order to live well. The nervous system is our master control system, and keeping it healthy must become a priority if we are to overcome the stress factors that affect us every day. There’s no quick fix that can heal, we need a holistic approach to health and longer life.

But don’t our genes lay out the roadmap of our lives and encode the lifespan of our bodies? While genes certainly play a role, a recent study published in the journal Immunity and Aging2 found that only about 25 percent of the variation in longevity has to do with genetic factors. You can have much more influence on your lifespan than you may think.

Modifying your lifestyle to take care of your body is key to a long, full life. Prioritize nutrition, endurance, and strength training. Take care for your nervous system and spine with chiropractic check-ups. Once you make the transition from crisis care to lifestyle care, you’ll have much more control over your health of your body.

Visit our office or call today, and let us help you live your best life every day, your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

1 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/06/12/high-cholesterol-does-not-cause-heart-disease-new-research-finds/ (accessed 10 November 2017)
2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4822264/ (accessed 10 November 2017)