Healthy Food Choices

In an article written by Kristin Olhson titled, “6 Ways to Find Food From Good Soil”, she discusses the importance of soil health. She suggests buying organic food whenever possible. This helps protect the consumer from ingesting pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer, GMO crops, and even antibiotics that are used in meat. Organic food growth can help increase the health of nutrients in the soil. If you are able to speak with the farmer where your food is coming from, there are a few questions to ask to inquire about the health of their soil. These questions include: “Do you practice no-till agriculture? Do you use synthetic fertilizer and killing chemicals? If so, how often? How does your farm promote biodiversity? Are there animals on the farm? Do you live on the farm?” These questions can help give you insight into the health of the soil and produce. If farmers are living on the land they farm, they are more likely to take care of the soil. 

It is critical to not only use your eyes to choose produce to buy but also using your sense of smell can give you insight into the health of soil. Plants that have strong scents can indicate phytonutrient levels, which can provide medicinal qualities. Speaking of using your eyes to choose produce, it is a myth that it is best to avoid ones that have blemishes or bruises. Oftentimes, those can be the healthiest produce available. It is because the produce has had to produce phytonutrients to protect and repair itself. It is best to buy meat, dairy, and eggs that come from pastured animals. Pastures can provide healthy soil and often contain many types of plants that can contain medicinal properties. Pastured animals are often eating herbs and plants all day that can provide health benefits. Foods that are grown right outside your home can provide one of the most nutritious produce. To find out more ways to keep yourself and body healthy, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com.

Source: https://experiencelife.com/article/6-ways-to-find-food-from-good-soil/

Safe Water

Courtney Helgoe discusses in her article titled, “Truth on Tap”, about how the tap may be a better choice for water consumption. For endless years, water has been cycled through evaporation, condensation, and through rain and that is the only water that we ever have. Only three percent of the world’s water is fresh. 60 percent of the human body is made up of water, and we are only able to go three days without drinking water. 

There have been ideas spiraling that bottled water may be healthier, likely due to water crises similar to what was seen in Flint, Michigan. According to Helgoe, bottled water is not necessarily safer. Bottled water has had a long history. Well water was deemed best in the Middle Ages because of its healing properties. The wells likely had high mineral quantity, which could have been medicinal during that period of time. A specific well called St. Maelrubha’s may have contained lithium, which is used today to treat bipolar disorder. In Europe during the 19th-century, spa waters that contained minerals were utilized for healing. Spa owners would bottle up the water for consumers to take home with them. Perrier mineral water was introduced in the United States in the 1970’s. This type of water was seen as a special luxury. By 1999 though, bottled water was becoming increasingly popular. During 1999, it was found that Americans drank 17 gallons of bottled water each year and now that total is up to 40 gallons. The concerning part is that most of this water comes from single serve bottles. 

James Salzman, states that 55 percent of the bottled water comes from underground aquifers, and this can be claimed as “spring water”. Three brands in particular, Aquafina, Dasani, and Pure Life are “highly filtered tap water”. He goes on to explain that the $1.50 you may pay to purchase a bottle of water could help you to buy up to 1,000 gallons of tap water. To create a bottle of water, it relies heavily on resources, energy, and creates waste. When examining waste of bottles, 22 billion are thrown away each year by Americans. In regards to energy use, it can take three liters of water to create one liter of bottled water and shipping can also be a part of resource use. 

Contaminants can also enter bottled water, and regulations are less strict on bottled water as compared to tap. Bottled water is regulated by the FDA and is tested weekly, although they are not required to reveal if any contaminants are found. Most municipalities test their water daily, and most do even more often than that. Each water system is required to put out a yearly report to discuss any contaminants or any violations they had. This can provide the consumer with critical information about the water they are consuming, that may not be possible when drinking bottled water. The use of bottled water can reduce the amount of investments put into municipal water. 

To break a bottled water habit, there are some tips you can use. A glass or stainless steel bottle can be used and investing in a water-filtration system can be beneficial. It is important to be aware of water issues in the area you live in and making local lawmakers about them. 

To find out more ways to keep yourself healthy, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com. 

Source: https://experiencelife.com/article/truth-on-tap/

Health Benefits of Saunas

Amanda MacMillan writes in her article titled, “The Surprising Health Benefits of Saunas” about the possibility of saunas reducing high blood pressure. A recent study researching Finnish men was featured in the American Journal of Hypertension. The results showed a decrease in high blood pressure by nearly half for those participants who used a sauna four to seven times a week for approximately 19 minutes, as compared to their counterparts who only used the sauna once a week.

In this study, it included 1,621 middle-aged men from Finland for 22 years. Sauna use in Finland is quite common. Men that had normal blood pressure and used a sauna for at least one day a week were included in the study. Over the study period of over 20 years, approximately 16 percent of the participants developed high blood pressure, which is considered to be greater than 140/90 mmHg. When adjusting for variables such as BMI, smoking, alcohol intake, cardiorespiratory fitness and SES, the participants who just took one sauna a week were at the highest risk of developing high blood pressure. For those that used the sauna two to three times a week, their risk decreased by 24%, while those that took saunas four to seven times a week, saw a decrease by 46 percent as compared to their counterparts who only took a sauna once a week. 
There are multiple reasons why saunas may be beneficial to health. Saunas can cause the body to warm up by 3.5 degrees causing vessels to dilate, which can decrease blood pressure and easing blood flow. Saunas can also increase heart rate from the typical resting heart rate of 60-100 beats per minutes to 100-150 beats per minute. This helps improve the pumping abilities of the heart. Another factor to why saunas may be beneficial for health include increasing sweat production. Sweat removes fluid from the body, thus decreasing blood pressure. Saunas can be quite relaxing and can help people manage their stress. 
It is important to remember when looking at the results of this study that Finnish saunas get quite warm, ranging from 176-212 degrees. The authors noted that the benefits of sauna use may depend on the type of sauna used. It is important to note that sauna use is deemed relatively safe, but if someone has heart or blood pressure issues, they should be aware of a potential drop in blood pressure after use. The benefits found from this study may not necessarily apply to other groups of people such as women or those that have not used saunas before. It is always best to speak with your healthcare provider before starting any new healthcare routine. To find out more ways to keep yourself healthy, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com.

Source: http://time.com/4967605/sauna-lower-blood-pressure/

Thyroid Imbalance in Women

Women have been found to be 10 times more at risk of developing a thyroid imbalance, according to Jill Grunewald in her article, “Why Do Thyroid Disorders Affect Women More Often Than Men?”. Sara Gottfried, an integrative physician and gynecologist, explains why this may be. She states the increased risk of developing a thyroid imbalance is linked to certain female hormones, particularly estrogen. Laura Thompson, PhD, states that birth-control pills containing high estrogen can lead to low thyroid function. Hypothyroidism and a woman’s reproductive system are quite interrelated. Hypothyroidism can lead to issues such as infertility, miscarriages, PMS, osteoporosis, endometriosis, PCOS, irregular menstrual cycles, fibroids, low libido, and difficulty in menopause. 

Issues with the thyroid may develop when hormones are altered such as during childbearing, periods of intense and prolonged stress. Gottfried states that, “women are most vulnerable after pregnancy, during periomenopause, and menopause. Thyropause-which is a drop in reproductive hormones that often triggers hypothyroidism- is the main cause of fatigue, weight gain, and depression”. Many healthcare providers do not test for thyroid issues and if they do, they typically only test for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). TSH is not an accurate representation of thyroid function. If you would like to have your thyroid tested by a provider, tests that look at Free T3, Reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies, TPOAb and TgAB, are more accurate of thyroid function. It may be beneficial to be tested for celiac disease because Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease involving the thyroid, can be interrelated. It is best to always speak with a provider if you are concerned about your thyroid function. To find out more ways to keep yourself healthy, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com. 

Source: https://experiencelife.com/article/why-do-thyroid-disorders-affect-women-more-often-than-men/