Healthy News for YOU!!

This week’s health tip is a hodge podge of healthy news to benefit your body.  High-quality tea—green tea in particular—contain polyphenol antioxidants that are recognized for their disease prevention and anti-aging properties.  Powerful polyphenols found in green tea has been shown to positively impact a number of illnesses and conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.  A recent review of 25 studies concluded that long-term tea intake significantly improved blood pressure.  A number of studies suggest you need to drink approximately three to four cups of tea per day to reap optimal results.  Matcha tea can contain over 100 times the EGCG (a powerful anit-oxidant) provided by regular brewed green tea, and since you’re consuming the entire ground tea leaf, you’re getting the most benefit from each cup. A very old Chinese proverb said that Drinking a daily cup of tea will surely starve the apothecary. 

One cup of pumpkin contains more than 200 percent of your recommended daily intake of vitamin A, which is beneficial for your vision and more.  Pumpkin is rich in fiber and contains vitamin C, potassium, riboflavin, copper, and manganese, along with vitamin E, B vitamins, folate, iron, and phosphorus.  Pumpkin has many medicinal properties including anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory effects.  With a wide variety of nutrients ranging from magnesium and manganese to copper, protein, and zinc, pumpkin seeds are also beneficial for your health.  You don’t have to resort to canned pumpkin; it’s easy to make pumpkin puree at home from fresh pie pumpkins.
Four factors that will shorten your lifespan are excessive sugar consumption, artificial sweeteners, trans fats, and vitamin D deficiency.  A diet high in sugar (which includes processed fructose and grains) causes a host of health problems that can take years off your life, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.  Many mistakenly opt for artificial sweeteners to keep their sugar consumption in check, not realizing just how harmful this trade-off may be. Contrary to industry claims, research over the last 30 years—including several large scale prospective cohort studies—have shown that artificial sweeteners stimulate appetite and increase cravings for carbs.  They also produce a variety of metabolic dysfunctions that promote fat storage and weight gain.  Research also shows that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame actually worsen insulin sensitivity to a greater degree than sugar! 

Trans fat, found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, clogs your arteries and promotes heart disease. Moreover, trans fats prevent the synthesis of prostacyclin, which is necessary to keep your blood flowing. When your arteries cannot produce prostacyclin, blood clots form, and you may succumb to sudden death. Trans fat has also been linked to dementia.

 Optimizing your vitamin D stores can go a long way toward preventing disease and living a longer, healthier life. Researchers have pointed out that increasing levels of vitamin D3 among the general population could prevent chronic diseases that claim nearly one million lives throughout the world each year. Compelling evidence actually suggests optimizing your vitamin D can reduce your risk of death from any cause. At this point, the known health benefits of vitamin D number in the hundreds, if not thousands, in part due to the fact that it influences about 10 percent of all your genes.

Chiropractic Thought for the Week:  When you think of the ideal chiropractic patient, one typically thinks of a person suffering from lower back or neck pain.  Rightly so, as chiropractic is probably the most effective natural treatment for those conditions. However, when I think of the ideal chiropractic patient, I think of a person with no symptoms or complaints.  I think of a person who is interested in maintaining their health by having their spine adjusted and cleared of spinal nerve interference. Chiropractic care used on a regular basis, whether you have symptoms or not, maintains health, boosts immune system function and helps your body function at an optimal level.

Pregnancy and Chiropractic:  More vitamin D news.  Vitamin D levels in the blood during pregnancy are now being linked to IQ scores of your children.  The study suggests that higher vitamin D levels during pregnancy may lead to higher IQ scores.  Add another benefit to all of the other reasons to make sure your vitamin D levels are normal.  Plus, as we talk about all the time vitamin D is very important for immune system health, which is extremely important during pregnancy.

Author

Dr J. Zimmerman, Chiropractor Dr. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor from Galloway, NJ with 30 years of chiropractic practice.