e enjte, 12 korrik 2007

RFH - Best exercise in the world

Recipe for Health

If you have not done so please visit Dr. Nicholas Balovich at www.drbalovich.com.

“Best exercise in the world”

We have hundreds of joints in our bodies “MOVE THEM.”

Why should we do any exercise anyway. Well moving your muscles also moves the blood and fluid throughout our bodies. This distributes nutrition to all the cells and carries the waste to the places in our body that gets rid of that stuff. Also maintaining our flexibility is really important for taking care of ourselves as we get older. Have you ever wondered why the older athletes seem to get injured more often that the younger ones. Well it’s a gradual loss of flexibility that happens if we don’t pay special attention to maintaining it. The long scientific answer deals with collagen production and would put everyone to sleep. The short answer is muscles and tendons need to be stretched regularly so they don’t stiffen up . As an athlete gets older there is a longer period of “warming up” to loosen all the joints. If you move your joints they will keep moving. If you do not move a joint eventually you will not be able move it.

What is the best exercise in the whole world? Well I don’t know about the rest of the world so we’ll concentrate on the U.S. In the seventies the running revolution hit the US. In the 80’s it was aerobics with Richard Simmons and the FIRM workout. The Nineties gave way to resistance training and machine cardio. The new millennium has gone back in time to yoga and Pilates. Even though there is a change ever so many years (we could document the passage of time by the exercise equipment we remember) people still gravitate to what they like. We still have runners running and they can be healthy. People still do aerobics, now with balls and hand weights and they are healthy. There are those who love to pump iron and spin and if done correctly they are healthy. It also works that we have moved back to bodyweight exercises such as Pilates and yoga (with or without the extra heat.) SO WHAT IS THE BEST ONE?!?!?!?!?

The answer is really simple. The best exercise is the one you enjoy and will do regularly. The most important element is consistency. Going to the gym or running once a month for 2 hours won’t help you a bit. An effective schedule would be some activity twenty or more min a day for three to five days a week. So if you enjoy an exercise and will do it regularly and it challenges you then you have found the perfect workout for you. By the way challenging doesn’t mean it would push Lance Armstrong. If you break a sweat and breath deeply during your activity then that’s perfect. Life is a journey so you will feel compelled to change up your activities or background. Ex. If you walk on a treadmill all the time then sometimes you can walk around the neighborhood for a change of scenery. Also if you start walking 10 min a day then after a week or so you can walk for 15 min till you are comfortable adding more time. So should you move till you drop??? Um no that would just a bit counter productive. The best rule is “move everything that will move until you are tired then STOP.”

Dr. Nick Balovich – Zone Healing Center

To schedule an appointment, or if you have any questions contact:

Dr. Nicholas Balovich

drbalovich@drbalovich.com or visit us on the web at www.drbalovich.com

RFH - Give your Stomach a workout.

Recipe for Health

If you have not done so please visit Dr. Nicholas Balovich at www.drbalovich.com.

“Give your Stomach a workout.”

So what is the one thing we can do to make our eating habits healthier?

Whatever “diet” we choose we can get the most nutritious food possible. The best way to accomplish this is to get foods as close to their original form as possible. Every time a food is cooked or tampered with it loses some portion of its nutritional value (vitamins and minerals.) Ex. Broccoli that comes out of a can of soup is wayyyyyyy less nutrient dense than a head of broccoli. Just to get to the can the broccoli was cooked then it was mixed with other stuff and cooked again. Then the “mixture” was put through a preserving process so that the end result has calories but really doesn’t stoke your digestive fire. The following example would be considered a “dead” food with little of its original vitality. “Live” foods come unchanged from nature and are as fresh as possible. Ex. These would be, apples, nuts, grapes, carrots, celery, spinach, pears, zucchini etc, Right out of the ground or off a tree. Our bodies have not changed the way they absorb food in thousands of years. As we have developed new technology we begun to cook, preserve and tamper with food destroying much of its original nutritive value. This processed food takes less effort to digest and actually weakens our digestive “muscles.” To maintain a strong vital digestion we need to eat foods that are not easily digested. It’s the same way we build or maintain our muscle tone. The old adage is “you are what you eat” but this can be improved to “you are what you absorb.” Nourishment comes from what can be absorbed from the food we eat. If our digestion has become weak from consuming processed foods then even when we eat good vital foods we are unable to break them down. That can be accompanied by gas. By the way that gas is a signal that our bodies are trying to get back into shape. It’s a lot like being sore after working out so don’t let it alarm you. Remember that malnutrition is not just underfed. There are many overweight people who don’t get the nourishment they need so they are driven to consume far too many calories in an attempt to obtain them.

Special Tips:

  1. Most people eat too much starchy foods. These “Comfort” foods clog the system making it difficult to eliminate wastes from the system.
  2. Meat is considered an acid forming food. Consuming lots of meat and other proteins will raise the overall level of the body’s acidity and has been linked to gout (esp. red meat) and joint problems.
  3. Water used to cook vegetables should not be thrown away as it contains vital minerals. It can be useful if drunk as soup.
  4. Do not eat just to eat. If you are not hungry come mealtime then eat lightly to stimulate your appetite for your next meal.
  5. If you are looking to gain weight then plan to sleep directly after a meal. If you do not want to gain weight then plan to stop eating 2 hours or more before bedtime.
  6. A great Idea is to replace much of the starch “bread, pasta, cookies and cakes” with fruits and raw veggies.

Dr. Nick Balovich – East Coast Clinic of Chiropractic

To schedule an appointment, or if you have any questions contact:

Dr. Nicholas Balovich

Zone Healing Center

drbalovich@drbalovich.com

or visit us on the web at www.drbalovich.com

RFH - Cool Drink of Water

Recipe for Health

If you have not done so visit Dr. Nicholas Balovich at www.drbalovich.com

“Cool Drink of Water”

This summer is a scorcher. Shade and a cool drink seemed mandatory just survive. Actually your survival does depend on you drinking water. Water is that important to you staying alive.

Did you know that you’re made up of 70-80% waster? In fact water is really important not just to keep us from shriveling up like a raisin but to keep the fluids in our bodies flowing freely. Dr. Chopra compared the body to a river which paints a clear picture of how we need to work with our bodies to achieve health. So can you clean a river by dumping lots of stuff into it? Nope… you need to put only what it needs and let the waste wash out all on its own. Also if you stop water from running into the river it dries up. So let’s think about a puddle after a rainstorm. At first it’s clear and clean with plenty of water. After it begins to dry then the mud begins to cloud the water and eventually it gets thick and dirty. If we fail to put water into our bodies the same thing happens to us. We get cracks in our skin and it starts to look all dry and withered. Pretty much the healthy flush of our skin is turning to mud. The body does this to protect the water we have for what it thinks are more important things like pumping blood, elimination of waste, breathing and other really important functions. The folks in the know say you need half of your bodyweight in Oz. per day and that’s if you are NOT ACTIVE! That’s right, NOT ACTIVE. If you increase activity go right ahead and bump up your intake to at least your bodyweight in Oz. Think about it you go out and cut the lawn and come back 4-8 pounds lighter. That’s all water weight you’ve just sweated out. Eight pounds is a gallon of water. I’ll say it another way, a gallon of water weighs eight pounds. If you are a athlete you can lose 15-20 pounds during your workouts (especially wrestlers whose favorite way to cut weight is by dumping water). So these athletes are really drying out their bodies. Here’s the rub. If you sweat out a gallon of water then you need to put it back, plus all the water you need for your normal activities (the whole pumping blood and eliminating waste thing). We use water to eliminate waste products from our bodies. So without water all that mud from the dried up puddle just clogs up the works. We normally sweat just to keep our skin moist, when we fog up glass with our breath that’s water coming out of our lungs, urination is a no brainier and for a bowel movement water is critical. So what’s the best source of water? Well its water. Everything that you put into the water, tea, coffee, soda and even sports drinks changes the property of the water you’re drinking. For you parents, a Popsicle is cool and kids like them but they are NOT a great source of water. It takes water to digest the sugary syrup and more yet to warm up the stuff so we can absorb it. I can hear you groaning but yes room temperature water is absorbed better than cold water. So make it a habit to ask for water and get your kids to drink water. We all need to drink water and keep the river flowing.

Dr. Nick Balovich – East Coast Clinic of Chiropractic

if you have any questions contact:

Dr. Nicholas Balovich

Zone Healing Center

drbalovich@drbalovich.com or visit us on the web at www.drbalovich.com