The five-year question
A few years ago one of my chiropractic mentors presented me with a set of questions. The questions were: are you healthier today than you were five years ago, in five years will you be healthier or sicker than you are today? These questions are not as easy to answer as they may seem.
Many people when addressing their future health will say as a knee-jerk reaction, “well I’ll be healthier.” But is that really the truth? When we break the question down and really truthfully look at it there are many factors that determine your health in five years. Some of those include: over the past five years has your health improved or worsened? How good or bad is your daily diet? How often do you exercise? What health destroying habits do you have like alcohol use, smoking, junk food consumption? How much stress are you under emotionally, physically and chemically?
Now that we’ve determined some of the negatives that affect your health in five years, what are things that you can do to positively influence your future health. First you have to realize the importance of your nervous system and how it adapts to stress. Every experience of life: touch, taste, hearing, vision and smell are processed by your amazing brain and nerve system. However, if you are under too much stress physically, chemically or emotionally (or all of them) the brain cannot adapt properly because it gets overwhelmed.
So how do you fix that problem? Well the place to start is to be sure that your nervous system is functioning at its best. How is that accomplished? It’s quite simple really. Find ways to decrease your physical, chemical and emotional stressors. One very powerful way to accomplish that is by receiving regular chiropractic care. How does this work? As I stated before the brain processes and tries to adapt to everything we experience each day. When you receive an adjustment a number of things occur: the brain stimulated, the immune system is stimulated, the part of the brain that recognizes your position in space is stimulated. All of these help the brain adapt better. Studies have clearly shown when the brain adapts better it is better able to keep you healthy and rejuvenate your body.
Other than regular chiropractic care what are some other ways to help be sure in five years you are healthier than you are today? One of those is very simple, eat a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable before each meal. This accomplishes something very important, it gets more vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants into your body. Those things are vital to improving your health. If you’re not doing it right now add 20 minutes of exercise three days a week. This can be as simple as a brisk walk or as complex as high intensity interval training, weight training, biking, running or many other forms of exercise. But the key with exercise is consistency. Meditation or deep breathing exercises are also wonderful helpful in decreasing stress.
Are you going to be healthier in five years than you are today? The answer this question might not be as simple as it was before reading this article a few minutes ago, but if you apply the principles discussed here by getting regular chiropractic adjustments, and decreasing the stressors you are under each day you will be well on your way to a fabulously healthy future. So if you want to be healthier in five years give me a call and schedule a spinal check-up. After all what do have to lose but a little bit of unhealthiness. If you know anyone who might benefit from this article please point them to this post.
Yours in health,
Greg Cruz D.C.