Protect Your Quarterback!!

The quarterback's job is complex. He's the one player who calls the offensive plays that determine whether or not the entire team scores. He passes the ball to the receivers or the running backs. He has to communicate very clearly to his team while at the same time trying to confuse his opponents who want nothing more than to knock his block off, take him down, push him back, and even injure him enough to take him out of the game.

He needs protection. In fact, he requires linemen who are willing to take a lot of punishment to keep him healthy and doing every aspect of his job. And these linemen need to stay healthy and doing every aspect of his job. And these linemen need to stay healthy and agile too. It's beautiful and symbiotic, that relationship between a quarterback and the rest of his team. The quarterback is looked to as the leader, but even he knows that he is nothing without protection.

It's that time of year when we gather with friends and family around the television to root for the home team, or whoever we grew up cheering for. We watch the action and the plays, but do you see that what you're watching is just another wonderful example of how your body strives to function every day?

The quarterback is like your nervous system. It calls the shots, its makes the plays. Through the autonomic portion, it is regulating digestion, respiration, circulation, immune function, and many other systems. It also plays the key role in allowing you to operate all muscle control in your body. Every blink, twitch, pull, push, lift, step, and twist is performed because your nervous system is able to call the plays. When something in your body isn't working as it should, it can't effectively call the plays, and it usually means that on or more of your "linemen" have either gotten lazy or injured to the point of creating a hole in your offensive line.

Your primary line of defense - your linemen - is represented by your spine, those twenty-four able-bodied vertebra that each have a significant role to play in this game. If they are able to maintain healthy motion and correct position, then they are able to protect the quarterback effectively. If they break down, the team in general stops functioning as a unit and nothing works the way it should. All of a sudden, it's not as much fun to watch or even play this game.

So if you are the owner of a team that isn't getting it done on the field of play, if your body isn't working as smoothly as it should, no matter what is malfunctioning, look to your spine. This is getting to the root of the problem, because if your vertebrae have lost their motion or alignment, there is no way that you will ever make it to the big game.

Stick with your chiropractic care, because everyone wants to be a part of the big game.

(via Country Clinic)

 COMMON FOOD MYTHS DEBUNKED- WORLDWIDE!

There is so much information and misinformation circulated on the Internet, it’s hard to tell what we should be eating and what we should be avoiding.

There may not be one set of rules that works for everyone – but here are some of the most common myths debunked, from publications around the globe.

Want more information? Come to our Special Health care talk with Kristen Kissell on Thursday Jan 23rd from 6-7pm. Or you can attend our healthcare classes on every other Tuesdays.


From Great Britain: (www.nhs.uk) 
Myth: Healthy food is just too expensive!

"People who skip breakfast are unlikely to catch up on all the vitamins and minerals having breakfast provides later on in the day."

Loads of people think this is true, but it’s actually more likely you will find a lot of cheap healthy meal ideas that help save you money. You just need to be clever about it. Buy what’s local and in season. Make meat go further in casseroles or stir-fries by mixing it with cheaper healthy alternatives such as beans and vegetables. Cook batches of dishes such as chili, curry or stew, and freeze them in handy sizes. Then you will have a cheap healthy meal that will last and last.


Myth : Missing breakfast is a good way to lose weight Breakfast is such an important meal. This is because when we’re asleep, we are also 'fasting' for about eight hours, so it’s pretty important to ’break’ this by having some food when we get up. People who skip breakfast are unlikely to catch up on all the vitamins and minerals having breakfast provides later on in the day. If we miss out on breakfast, this often makes us feel hungry later on, so we can end up snacking by mid-morning on foods that are high in sugar or fat. So, skipping breakfast often ends up being more unhealthy than having a good breakfast in the first place!

 
From Australia (Sanitarium.com.au) 
Myth: You need to eat meat to get enough protein Eating a variety of protein-rich plant foods each day will give your body all the protein it needs for good health. Nuts, seeds, legumes and grains are all good sources of protein - and the key is to simply eat a variety of these foods every day to make sure you get the best balance of essential amino acids. Soy protein is a high quality plant protein, that provides all of the essential amino acids we need in the one food. And compared to meat, plant protein foods offer the additional benefits of thousands of phytochemicals that protect against disease.


Myth: All fats are bad for you Healthy fats are essential for good health and have been shown to protect us from a range of diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Healthy fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, found in nuts and seeds, olives and olive oil, avocados, canola and canola oils. They also include omega-3 fatty acids found in linseeds, soybeans, dark green vegetables and oily fish. Healthy fats have been shown to help decrease total cholesterol levels, while omega-3 fats in particular have been shown to have many other health properties, including reducing blood pressure and assisting with inflammatory bowel disease.


From Canada (Besthealthmag.ca)  
Myth: Eggs are bad for you. For years, nutrition experts cautioned that eggs were unhealthy. After all, those gifts from the henhouse are one of the richest sources of cholesterol in the human diet. Since cholesterol plugs up arteries, eggs must raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes, right?


Wrong. Large studies suggest that this theory is full of feathers. For example, the famous Framingham Heart Study, which first showed that high blood cholesterol causes heart attacks, found no connection between eating eggs and cardiovascular disease.


How could that be? It turns out that only about 25 percent of the cholesterol in your blood comes from food. The other 75 percent is manufactured by the liver, which produces lots of cholesterol when you eat cheeseburgers and other sources of saturated fat—something eggs are low in. Eggs are also filled with useful nutrients that may offset any damage done by their cholesterol content, including unsaturated fat, folate and other B vitamins, and minerals.


Myth: Nuts are too fattening—eat them sparingly. To be sure, nuts contain a lot of fat, but it’s mostly the good kind. Dry-roasted peanuts, for example, have three to four times more heart-healthy monounsaturated fat than saturated fat. Recent research suggests that eating nuts as part of a healthy diet may even help you lose weight. Researchers believe that the fat in nuts helps people feel full, and the protein may use up calories as it digests. What’s more, a study by British researchers shows that high-protein foods help trigger the release of a hormone known to reduce hunger.

Nuts’ high concentration of healthy fats makes them a guilt-free way to satisfy hunger without raising cholesterol or other blood fats. What’s more, nuts are an excellent fiber source and provide a long list of nutrients, including vitamin E, magnesium, folate, and copper.

From the US (realbuzz.com)

Myth: Craving is your body's way of saying it needs something

A big misconception about food cravings is that they are our body's way of telling us we are lacking a certain nutrient and need to remedy this immediately via a huge slab of chocolate cake (or your particular food of choice). However, while this theory may help ease our guilt over giving in to cravings, it has yet to be proven true, and more recent research has suggested that food cravings are in fact all in the mind.

Page 3 :: Common Food Myths Debunked – Worldwide! (continued on page 4)

A study published in the journal Appetite has suggested that many people crave the foods that they most attempt to resist, such as junk food. Research has also suggested that people simply crave the foods that they are most exposed to and familiar with, which is demonstrated by the fact that most people crave sugary, salty and fatty foods. Your body and mind will only crave the foods they remember, meaning that eating a healthy, balanced diet - with a little of what you fancy - should help to reduce those junk food cravings.

From (Prevention.com)

Myth: Microbes in our food are dangerous. Again, yes, of course there are sometimes dangerous microbes in food, but I’m more worried about not having microbes in our food. There’s a real danger in sterility because nature abhors a vacuum. Normally, germs keep each other in check: The competition of harmless microbes can keep dangerous ones from taking over. There are some bacteria (Clostridium difficile is the prime example) that are harmless under normal conditions but run out of control when they enter a sterile environment. So three cheers for microbes in food. Besides, the yeasts, bacteria, and fungi make our beer, cheese, and sauerkraut delicious.


Myth: Organic food isn’t healthier. Last year, an analysis of organics suggested that they were no more nutritious than conventional produce. A lot of people were upset by this conclusion, but it only makes sense: Conventional farmers can measure their nutrient levels, and getting this wrong would hurt their bottom line—so they get it right.


If you are looking very narrowly at those nutrient chemicals we already know humans need, organic doesn’t always look very different from industrial produce. But if you take a broader view, things look different: Buying from farms that make the world cleaner and more beautiful rather than uglier and more polluted is healthier. Buying from farms that support a broad middle class rather than tycoons and destitute laborers is healthier. Buying from farms that don’t torture animals is healthier. Buying delicious food—and taking pleasure in every bite—is clearly healthier.


Myth: There is one right way to eat for optimal health. Humans are wonderfully diverse, and this variety extends to our diets. We are hardwired to eat different things. For instance, most humans don’t have the genetic mutation required to digest lactose. It’s also interesting to note that monkeys produce different forms of breast milk depending on whether a baby is male or female. The males get creamier milk, while the females eat a greater volume of lighter milk; the theory is that males feed less frequently and become more adventurous, while females eat more frequently, staying closer and learning more from their mothers. All this is evidence that—rather than having everyone take one portion of milk and three portions of grain—diets should be individualized.


Around the world with thoughts on food – when you are deciding what to eat and not eat, find the balance between contemporary thinking and your common sense – your best diet probably lies somewhere in the middle. See what’s right for you, and enjoy!

Some GREAT BELIEFS

Walt Disney, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr. and Steve Jobs were all extraordinary people for one fundamental reason, they had some GREAT BELIEFS. Three quotes come to mind when asking what those GREAT BELIEFS might have been:

1. Everything in the realm of imagination IS in the realm of reality!
2. Great people are just ordinary people with extraordinary determination.
3. You must change a flat tire with the same enthusiasm that you unwrap a gift!

Each believed that their dreams had the capability to be a reality. Each were determined to make their dreams a reality. And when a road block or speed bump came along, each accepted it, problem solved and with great enthusiasm continued forward.Walt Disney experienced bankruptcy at the age of 22 after a cartoon failure in Kansas City. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985. Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. battled unjust systems. What propelled them forward were their GREAT BELIEFS and the desire to build a better future. They saw their road blocks as a gift and a chance to start fresh.

Walt Disney once stated, "All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind and on to my drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner."

Being that it is November and the month of Thanksgiving, what adversity or road blocks are you thankful for and have looked at as a gift? What has propelled you forward to make your dreams a reality?

In health and wellness,
Seattle Wellness Group

The Priceless Part of You

If you wanted to build a human being from scratch, you could easily find the physical elements in about $20 worth of dirt. The other 'priceless' parts would be much harder to come by.

... just add force and intelligence

The 4th Principle in Chiropractic, "The Triune of Life," describes the human form as the union of matter (dirt) with a force (life), all ordered by an inborn intelligence (innate). From the moment of conception where all three unite, to birth in nine months, through adolescence into adulthood and ending in death, the interplay of matter, force and intelligence defines our basic existence. When they balance, we experience health.

Healthcare therefore, is much more than treating the physical part of you (as in the practice of medicine) but rather the effort to preserve the dance which occurs uniquely between your dirt, your life and your innate... and that is the practice of Chiropractic.

Take action this fall and see how we can help in your goal to become more in tune with your innate intelligence? How can we help you reach your inborn ability to be the healthiest you can be?

Give us a call for a consultation at (206) 826 - 1005

1/3 of Your Life

A few days ago, I was inspired by a teenager who was more intune and concerned with his health than most adults I know, including myself. While waiting for his grandmother to get adjusted by Dr. Bajwa, he asked me several questions about the Tempur-Pedic pillows we have for sale. He had great questions and had told me that his dad and grandma both have a Tempur-Pedic pillow. After about 10 minutes, he decided to buy a pillow with his own money. When his grandmother came out from her adjustment she asked her grandson why he had decided to buy the pillow and not something else. (I was thinking the same thing.) The young gentleman said, "You spend 1/3 of your life sleeping. So I want something that is super comfortable and that will last a long time." Smart guy! I complain that my neck hurts and that I need a new pillow but haven't made an effort to actually buy one. Time to step it up and follow this young gentleman's example. Tempur-Pedic neck pillow here I come!

A Heart-Warming Story

This a heart-warming story about the power of chiropractic care!

"A 16 year old triathlete / downhill skier who has the innate athletic ability of a one legged blind hippopotamus hurt his mid thoracics inexplicably when waking up one Saturday morning. Being a stubborn teenager, he thought he'd go to swim practice anyway just 'swim it off.' After 50m, he couldn't lift his arms above his head. He was devastated because he equated quitting a workout with failure in life and the end of the world.

A few days later, with his back still hurting, he noticed his heart rate speeding at rates of 170-180 beats per minute for hours at a time when sitting in school. He went to a heart specialist who after some tests said, "Well, your dad had a heart attack, so did your grandfather and a few of your uncles. This problem is obviously genetic. You can reasonably expect to be dead by age 30, and your triathlon days are over. Here are some pills. They probably won't work and they'll make you vomit a lot. "

The physiotherapist could not help the pain in the back. He tried for 6 months.

He lived in a small town in Newfoundland, Canada where there were no chiropractors. Until the day his mom saw an ad in the paper-a chiropractor had just moved there and opened up shop. He was one of the first new patients.

The chiropractor took x-rays, and used all these funny words like 'subluxation' and really made no sense to him. "You're a quack", he said, "but do your thing anyway because I'm having surgery for my back next week and if you break it, the surgeon will fix it."

He had an adjustment. He lifted his arms above his head for the first time in 6 months, pain free. After two adjustments, his heart rate returned to normal. He then sheepishly apologized to the chiropractor for that 'quack' remark and within a week had decided to become a chiropractor.

This guy never won a medal at the Olympics, or never made the team either. He also came from a broken home, dealt with an abusive drunken father in his teenage years and could not afford chiropractic. The chiropractor agreed to keep seeing him weekly for free or for sometimes $2-5, whatever he could scrounge together.

The guy who the heart surgeon said would never be able to train again set the fastest time for the 17km WhitSunday to Hamilton Island Swim, 5 hours and 17 minutes. Only 2 other people had ever done it. Thanks to chiropractic and bull headed stubbornness, he enjoys sports to this day.

He is just a few weeks away from turning 37. He is not dead. He tries to avoid letting his ego into the equation, but is fond of the Homer Simpson like expression, "In your face heart surgeon!"

(P.S. We do love and support our heart surgeons, just want people to look at all of their options before choosing surgery.)

Help us welcome our new Massage Therapy Team!  

Nicole Barthel- “I graduated from the Australasian College of Natural Therapies in Sydney, Australia in 2004. I am drawn to deep tissue, myofascial release work and mostly craniosacral therapy. All of which, are combined into each massage session and are personalized to fit the client’s needs. I have been studying craniosacral therapy for the past 4 years and am available for strictly craniosacral sessions upon request.

Laurinda Hager- “I enjoy diversity and have my own unique style—every massage is tailored to those person’s unique and diverse qualities. My intuitive and versatile approach to massage allows me to give a very fluid and energetic massage. I incorporate various techniques to create an original experience for each individual.”  

Josephine Rocha- “No two massages should ever be the same. I like my massages to be designed specifically for each individual client. With my firm yet calming touch, I adapt my pressure and techniques based on each client’s unique preferences and needs. My greatest proficiency is in my structural deep tissue skills, where I have the opportunity to give a meaningful treatment and experience.”  

Lacey Stamper- “Massage therapy is vital to health care, a human art for healing. I have a particular interest in specific muscle work and deep tissue. My overall intention is to help my clients feel improvement in their range of motion, set their mind at ease and be able to improve their general quality of life. I have a passion for helping others, so with each session I enjoy learning from my clients while also educating them through massage.”

Check out our website to schedule your appointment today!