Top Ten Vitamins for Winter

In the darker winter months—and year round, really—everyone can benefit from eating lots of brightly colored foods, including fruits, vegetables and dark leafy greens, and cutting back on junk food, coffee and alcohol. In addition to eating the right foods, taking the right vitamins and supplements can go a long way to keeping you healthy and well.

Below is a comprehensive list of the top 10 vitamins and supplements to help counteract the common (and not-so-common) effects of winter:

10. Biotin. While technically classified as vitamin B, this one is all cosmological. Brutal winter air can bring hair, skin, and nail problems. Biotin gets to the root (no pun intended) of the problem and rebuilds from beneath the skin, unlike most topical ointments and shampoos. Biotin can also have enormous benefits for pregnant women and diabetics.

9. Vitamin A. This vitamin, like others, has valuable antioxidant qualities. Antioxidants help to prevent the invasive actions of free radicals, substances that can lead to common and uncommon ailments. Vitamin A also helps your eyes adjust to different levels of incoming light, and with unpredictable winter driving weather, top-notch vision could never hurt.

8. Magnesium. Cold months and dry air can lead to stress and dehydration, which can lead to headaches and even migraines. Magnesium deficiency has recently been “uncovered” as a possible underlying cause of certain kinds of headaches. The supplement has also been linked to important heart functions, and in return, the cause of certain heart problems.

7. Fish oil. A lack of outdoor exposure can often lead to a lot of brain fog and concentration problems. Fish oil can help you concentrate and stay on task. According to Mayo Clinic, fish oil also has many heart health benefits as well.

6. Vitamin B-12. The cold, cloudy winter months can often lead to signs of depression and anxiety, and even the disorders themselves. B12 is one of the first vitamins depleted during times of depression and anxiety. According to healthaliciousness.com, seafood, beef, eggs, and cheese are all often high in B12.

5. Vitamin D. Needless to stay, for a lot of us, winter brings some pretty dreary weather. Sometimes you may not see the sun for weeks at a time. Since vitamin D is relayed through (but not limited to) sunlight, northern residents don’t get a lot of it. WebMD reports that vitamin D deficiencies can lead to cognitive problems, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer.

4. Calcium. Not getting the usual amount of exercise during the winter can lead to muscle weakening. When our muscles aren’t up to par, more pressure is exerted on our bones. Calcium strengthens your bones in preparation for a potential rise in exercise with warmer temperatures. ScienceDaily even reports that calcium supplements reduce fracture incidences, regardless of age or gender.

3. Vitamin C. Although other forms of immunity are emerging as effective, vitamin C is still crucial in the cold/flu season battle. Drink pure fruit juices, many of which contain 100% of your daily vitamin C requirement in a single glass.

2. Water. OK, so it’s not technically a vitamin. However, increased time indoors goes hand-in-hand with the arrival of winter, and indoors usually involves turning up the heat. What goes hand-in-hand with “faux” indoor heating? Dry skin and chapped lips, which many times represent dehydration. That pound of lotion and chapstick you’re using every day may only be covering up the underlying cause.

1. Zinc. The closest you can get to a “magic” vitamin during cold and flu season. Not only does Zinc boost your immunity, but it has been proven to shorten a cold when you already have one. Emerging science suggest that even those with mild Zinc deficiencies are much more susceptible to “a variety of infectious agents.” The main ingredient in the over-the-counter nasal gel Zicam (which is supposed to shorten the duration of a cold) is none other than Zinc Gluconate.

Note:

As always, check with your doctor before starting any vitamin or supplement regimens. Everybody reacts differently to different treatments and should check with a professional to determine dosage amounts. If you do start to feel run down, visit your Doctor of Chiropractic. Doctors of Chiropractic are experts in spinal adjustments and other manual therapies that can help keep you healthy and well and they can also provide nutritional counseling, exercise recommendations and other advice to promote good health year-round.

8 Fascinating Pain Facts You Didn’t Know

Do women feel chronic pain more than men? Can the brain feel pain? Find out whether you can separate pain facts from pain myths.

Acute pain is your body’s way of waving a red flag for immediate attention, often because of an injury.Chronic Pain, on the other hand, is pain that lasts for weeks, months, or years, and it affects about 116 million Americans — more than cancer, diabetes, and heart disease combined. But how much do you really know about it? We’ve rounded up eight little-known facts about pain.

Pain Is Both Physical and Emotional

Pain, especially chronic pain, affects more than your body. It’s psychologically stressful and can (understandably) lead to emotions like anger and frustration. And pain and stress can be a vicious circle: Pain can increase stress levels, and increased levels of stress can make pain worse. Also, 77 percent of people with chronic pain report depression, and 70 percent report trouble concentrating.

Women Feel More Pain Than Men

Women actually do experience more pain than men over their lifetimes because of conditions and experiences such as menstruation, childbirth, and migraine headaches. Studies also show that women may experience pain differently — often more intensely — than men do. For example, some animal studies show that females require twice as much pain medication to get the same relief as males. However, there’s conflicting research on whether women actually have a higher tolerance for pain than men (although millions of women who have gone through childbirth might disagree).

The Brain Doesn’t Feel Pain

Ouch! When you stub your toe or touch something hot, your body releases chemicals that send pain signals up through the spinal cord to receptors in the brain. The brain then sends the pain message back down to the part of the body that hurts. But although it’s the interpreter of pain, the brain itself does not have pain-sensitive nerves. Only the structures that surround the brain feel pain. As a matter of fact, once inside the brain, surgeons can operate on the brain without anesthesia. In one technique known as brain mapping, surgeons probe brain tissue while monitoring reactions like muscle movement and speech — all while the patient is awake.

Back Pain: The Most Common Pain Condition

All those aching backs! In a survey done by the National Institutes of Health, 27 percent of Americans said low back pain was their most common type of pain, followed by headaches or migraines (15 percent). More than 26 million Americans aged 20 to 64 suffer from back pain, and each year we spend at least $50 billion on back pain relief. What’s the best way to ease chronic back pain? Experts say a combination of gentle, regular stretching and strengthening exercises, as well as reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight, can make a real difference.

Gout: The Disease of Kings and Dinosaurs

Gout, a painful type of arthritis that affects about 3 million people every year, was once called the disease of kings because it was blamed on too much eating and drinking. Today we know that gout — and the pain associated with it — is caused by the buildup in the blood of a substance called uric acid, which causes sharp crystals to form inside joints. But one “king” who had gout was the king of dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex. Analysis of casts of a forearm from a tyrannosaurus fossil named Sue revealed that the dinosaur had a bad case of gout. Today, the dinosaur’s relatives, including birds and all orders of reptiles, can also develop gout.

Creaky Joints in (Pre)History

Osteoarthritis, which affects about 27 million Americans, is a type of arthritis that causes chronic pain due to gradual wear and tear on joints. It’s also been plaguing humans for a long, long time — in fact, osteoarthritis has been found in human skeletons dating back to the Ice Age (before 8000 BC), and it was also detected during x-ray examinations of Egyptian mummies. But despite the fact that osteoarthritis has been around forever, doctors still do not completely understand the cause.

Want to Help Osteoarthritis Pain? Get Moving!

The belief that rest is the best treatment for a back, neck, or knee that is painful due to osteoarthritis is a pain myth. Experts agree that exercise is an important way to manage and in fact prevent pain due to osteoarthritis. Benefits of exercise include increasing blood supply to cartilage and bone, strengthening the muscles that support joints, and decreasing joint stiffness. Exercise also improves general health and reduces the risk of injury and osteoporosis in people with osteoarthritis. Finally, exercise can improve sleep and help fight depression for people with chronic pain from osteoarthritis.

Kick the Habit, Ease Your Pain

Studies show that smoking increases your risk for back pain, and it’s also been shown to increase chronic pain in people with fibromyalgia and neck pain. Nicotine in cigarette smoke can decrease the blood flow to joints in the back and can delay healing as well as increase the risk for further injury. Also, people who smoke need to take more medication than those who don’t to get back pain relief.

 Tips for Staying Healthy While Flying During Holiday

Cold and Flu season is upon us and if you’re planning on getting on an airplane you’ll want to follow my tried and true tips for staying healthy!

· Strengthen your immune system before you even get on a plane. Eat right and exercise. Think fresh fruit and vegetables, less sugar, and whole grains. A healthy lifestyle may prevent you from catching your neighbors cold!
· Sleep. Get a good nights rest the night before you fly. If your body is not used to it flying will make you extremely tired. Add the stress you’ll probably be feeling and you have a recipe for exhaustion.
· Meditate. Speaking of stress, take the time to relax and before you travel, properly prepare yourself by packing a full day before and give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport. That way if you get stuck in traffic or the security line you can relax.

10 Tips to Become or Remain Healthy in 2012

The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), the professional association that leads, connects and defines the active-aging industry, searches health-and-wellness research studies every year to find the most relevant to adults ages 50-plus. This year ICAA has sorted through these studies to compile a list of tips that governments, communities, businesses, families and individuals can use to encourage older adults to achieve a healthy lifestyle in 2012 (citations available on request):

1. Expectations: If you’ve followed a healthy lifestyle this year, keep going. If you need to make lifestyle changes, start by anticipating success-and don’t let age be a barrier. Research has shown that thinking negatively about getting older can shorten your life by as much as 7.5 years.

2. Enthusiasm: Few people are thrilled with every aspect of their lives, but many have at least one area-family, friends, work, hobbies-that they feel good about. Identify an activity or connection that sparks your enthusiasm and make it your lifeline, then do your best to extend that enthusiasm to other areas.

3. Energy: Having the energy and motivation you need to age well are hallmarks of healthy living. If you’re tired all the time, don’t let apathy and lethargy drag you down. Instead, get a checkup to try to determine the cause-and the solution.

4. Eating: Eating a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy weight are keys to physical and mental health. If you need to lose weight or make changes in your diet, keep your expectations high. You can do it!

5. Exercise: Staying physically active fuels the body and mind. If you’re already exercising regularly, keep it up. If you’re getting started, know your fitness level, then set goals and progress at your own pace. The key is to be consistent.

6. Engagement: Get involved in your community. Research has shown that people who volunteer have higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction than people who don’t. Volunteering and other kinds of civic and social engagement can contribute to better health.

7. Emotions: Everyone feels down at times, but full-blown depression is a major cause of disability. If you’re feeling out of sorts for two weeks or more, talk with your doctor or take an online screening test at http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/. In many instances, simply exercising and eating right can change your mood.

8. Education: Lifelong learning is important to living an independent and fulfilling life as you advance in age. Start now to learn new subjects or physical activities-it’s good for the brain.

9. Effort: Changing expectations and embarking on new behaviors take energy and effort, but the results are well worth it.

10. Enjoyment: A healthy life generally is a joyous one. Savor the process of being or becoming active, engaged and truly alive in 2012.

A New Agenda for Whiplash Research

New approaches to early management of whiplash injuries are needed to reduce the high percentage of patients who go on to develop chronic neck pain and disability, according to a special article in Spine Magazine.

  “The burden of whiplash injuries, the high rate of transition to chronicity, and evidence of limited effects of current management on transition rates demand new directions in evaluation and management,” writes an expert panel led by Gwendolen Jull, PhD, of The University of Queensland, Australia.

Can Early Treatment Prevent Acute Whiplash from Becoming Chronic?
Whiplash is a very common type of neck injury, typically caused by rear-impact traffic crashes. Studies consistently show that neck pain and other symptoms of acute whiplash injury clear up within a few months in about half of patients. The other half have continued pain and disability one to two years later, with up to 20 percent having moderate to severe pain.

Early management may have a critical impact on the long-term outcomes of whiplash. Many different approaches have been tried, ranging from exercises, to immobilization, to acupuncture, to electromagnetic fields. None of these treatments has been convincingly shown to reduce the risk of whiplash symptoms becoming a chronic problem.

To address this issue, Dr. Jull and a multidisciplinary group of professionals took part in an “expert debate and synthesis of research” on treatment for acute whiplash. Their goal was to outline plans for developing more effective strategies for early management of whiplash, based on “biological, psychological, and social perspectives.”

An important starting point is the development of a triage system for early management. Because initial symptoms of whiplash vary significantly, it would be helpful if early factors associated with better or worse long-term outcomes could be identified. For example, in addition to severe pain, the prognosis may be worse for patients with headache, very limited neck movement, and psychological distress. Early identification of these factors might help to guide appropriate treatment for the individual patient.

The Roundtable participants also urge research into new approaches addressing the pain, physical, and psychological symptoms of whiplash. They suggest a systematic research agenda addressing four key areas:
• Education.—Research to identify the most effective ways of communicating accurate “information, assurance, and education” to patients in the acute phase of whiplash injury.
• Early pain management.—Studies to see if effective pain management can improve long-term outcomes, particularly in patients with more severe pain who are at higher risk of chronic whiplash symptoms.
• Physical rehabilitation.—Studies assessing the most effective approaches to physical rehabilitation after whiplash injury, focusing on reducing the rate of transition to chronic whiplash.
• Psychological rehabilitation.—Equally important, research into the psychological factors that can hinder recovery, and how best to manage them.

The Roundtable participants hope their research agenda will provide a firm foundation of knowledge for developing effective strategies for managing whiplash—especially in the acute phase after injury. They conclude, “Future high-quality clinical trials are needed to test the impact of new strategies on the rate of transition to chronicity,” Dr Jull and coauthors conclude.