"I didn’t tell you this, but..."

It’s a statement we often hear during the early stages of new patient care. They usually go on to describe some aspect of their health that has improved along with the problem that prompted them to begin care in the first place.

Those who see chiropractic as merely a treatment for headaches and back pain overlook the more significant role that chiropractic can play in overall health. Since we focus on the integrity of your nervous system, and your nervous system controls every bodily function, chiropractic care has often helped resolve a variety of non-spinal health problems.

Let’s say you know someone with acid reflux, chronic indigestion, ulcers or some other digestive condition. Millions suffer. At first glance, these appear to be stomach problems. But not so fast!

It’s the brain that controls your stomach. Just as it controls your lungs, your child’s tonsils and every other aspect of the body. It controls and regulates every bodily function via nerve messages sent back and forth over the spinal cord. Interference due to the bones protecting these nerves could show up as a stomach problem. But the real problem is located elsewhere. Correct the spinal problem and the stomach problem often resolves.

Does that make chiropractic a treatment for stomach problems? Of course not. The intent of chiropractic care is to restore the function to a compromised nervous system. Instead of ‘side effects’ the happy result is ‘positive effects.’ Throughout the body!

Heroism and Health Care

One of the most important distinctions we try to make with our patients is the difference between health care and sick care. Our culture has so abused the term “health” that it’s lost its real meaning.

Just look around. The mainstay of many television dramas is the heroic, lifesaving that takes place in hospitals. Whether the main character is a crusty, ill-tempered doctor, over-confident emergency room intern or a compassionate surgeon, the underlying message is the same: medicine saves lives.

And it can. But it isn’t health care.

True, the fragility of life creates the theater necessary to hold the attention of viewers, so it can be sold to advertisers—the primary purpose of television. But what’s missing from these fantasies is the fact that our so-called health care system is burdened by expensive, heroic measures delivered in the last six months or so of life. These procedures are often used to treat disease states caused by years of neglect or poor lifestyle choices.

I mention this because true health care isn’t heroic. Unless you consider getting adjusted on a regular basis heroic! Or eating a salad instead of a burger. Or climbing the stairs rather than taking the elevator. Or drinking pure water instead of a soda. But if you do take these simple measures, you’re a hero in my book!

Food For Thought

By now it’s no secret that our highly “civilized” western culture is experiencing alarming rates of obesity. Especially among our children, who are among the highest consumers of fast foods and the sweetened, salty, crunchy snack foods. Millions spent on advertising, movie action figure tie-ins and catchy jingles make certain fast-food icons the most recognizable figures on the planet.

Some of the brightest minds have been harnessed in this effort. Not just by the marketing departments of these international corporate conglomerates, but by their laboratories, chemists and test kitchens. Their goal is not nutrition, but taste and “mouth feel” that produce repeat business and improved corporate profits.

The younger you are, the more likely you are to eat at a fast food restaurant. The typical person eats at a fast-food restaurant 9.2 times monthly!

And it’s not just what we eat, but how we eat it. If you’re in the habit of wolfing something down while driving or standing over the kitchen sink, you can’t “hear” your body tell you that you’re full, and you’re more likely to overeat. Eat more slowly since it can take your brain up to 20 minutes to register that you’re full.

Most of us spend upwards to 90 percent of our allotted food budget on processed foods. That's a prescription for disaster. To enjoy optimal health, not only do you need an interference-free nerve supply, but you’ll want to make raw foods the majority of your total daily food intake.