ClickCease
Unexpected Benefits of Chiropractic

Unexpected Benefits of Chiropractic

Unexpected Benefits of Chiropractic

It was once considered a fringe medical treatment, but chiropractic has come into its own in recent years, with tons of research and clinical studies to support the benefits of chiropractic and its effectiveness and safety.

More than 35 million Americans now visit a chiropractor every year. Most of these patients visit a chiropractor to ease back pain and avoid the need for meds or surgery. Although, pain relief is only one of the many benefits of chiropractic.

Keep reading to discover all the different benefits of chiropractic care.

Improved Immune Function

Chiropractic adjustments help regulate the nervous system. As a result, this can then offer immunity improvement. When the nervous system can perform as it should, it’s better able to fight off infection and disease, showcasing one of the benefits of chiropractic.

Easier Breathing

Once your nervous system is in line, your body’s functions will all start to regulate. Because of this, many chiropractic patients notice that they can breathe easier. Patients with asthma also report better asthma control following chiropractic care, highlighting another benefit of chiropractic.

Fewer Headache Symptoms

Headaches are often the result of tension in your joints and muscles. Chiropractic adjustments help release this tension by realigning your body. This ensures that headaches and any accompanying symptoms are a thing of the past.

Better Sleep

Pain and tension inhibit true rest and relaxation. Thanks to the way chiropractic relieves these, patients often sleep better after treatment.

Increased Energy Levels

Chiropractic care can help you get in tune with your body’s natural circadian rhythms. As a result, you’ll likely have more energy during the day.

Lowered Blood Pressure

Forty-seven percent of American adults have high blood pressure. This is a huge risk factor for stroke and heart disease. Chiropractic adjustments can be effective at lowering blood pressure over time, illustrating another benefit of chiropractic.

Better Balance and Posture

By realigning your body, chiropractic adjustments improve your posture and balance. Posture improvement also helps prevent further pain and degeneration later in life.

Healthier Pregnancies

Chiropractic can relieve the pain caused by a changing center of gravity during pregnancy. Here, the Webster technique is especially beneficial. Through this method, chiropractic offers expecting patients healthier pregnancies and easier childbirths.

Improved Range of Motion and Sports Performance

Chiropractic adjustments relieve inflammation and tension in your joints and muscles. Following chiropractic, patients often notice greater mobility, flexibility, improved sports performance, and improved recovery time.

Faster Recovery

The increased mobility that chiropractic promotes can help you recover from sports faster. Other benefits, such as better sleep and less tension, also boost your chances of a quick sports recovery as your body can rest and recuperate.

Your Guide to the Unexpected Benefits of Chiropractic

As this long list shows, there are many unexpected benefits of chiropractic.

From easier breathing to better sleep, chiropractic can help in many more ways than people realize.

To find out how chiropractic could help you, schedule an appointment with us today. Or, for more information, contact us at Amazing Life Chiropractic and Wellness!

Tips for a Healthier Heart

Tips for a Healthier Heart

Did you know that heart-healthy activities like exercise can cause you to live longer? Use this guide to learn tips to maintain a healthier heart.

Exercise

Tip one for a healthier heart, exercising, particularly cardio, can be a great way to get the blood pumping and exercise your heart.

There are tons of great ways to get out there and keep your heart happy, like running, biking, or swimming. Try going for a hike on the weekends to keep your heart working hard and your mind clear and relaxed.

Avoid Unhealthy Habits

Did you know that smoking can be a massive risk factor for conditions like heart disease?

Don’t let caring for your heart come second to a harmful habit. Cut down today to reap the benefits for your long-term health.

Eat Healthier Fats

There are foods you can eat that will do the heavy lifting of maintaining your heart health.

Some fats are healthy, some not so much. Unsaturated fats, and specifically omega-3, are the way to go when it comes to including heart-healthy fats in your diet.

Use this section to learn about the types of fats that can help your heart health. 

Nuts and Seeds

Fight cardiovascular disease with healthy fats found in foods like nuts. Some of the most common nuts that include that heart-healthy dose of fat include:

  • Almonds
  • Pecans
  • Walnuts
  • Pistachios
  • Cashews
  • Other tree nuts

Seeds also contain this healthy fat, including sunflower seeds.

Avocados

Try adding a slice of this delightful food to your sandwiches, salads, and more to improve heart health.

Fish

Did you know that fish can be a massive source of omega-3 fatty acids? Use fish in your recipes as your meat source so that you can tailor meals to your heart health.

Avoid Saturated Fats

This type of fat can be found in foods like butter, milk, yogurt, and meats. Be sure to limit your intake of saturated fats as you turn your focus to increasing healthier omega-3 fatty acids.

If you’re wondering how to improve heart health, swapping saturated fats for unsaturated is a great start.

Address and Minimize Stress

Stressing out can be your ticket to the hospital if you can’t find ways to manage it. Being overwhelmed with stress can lead to heart problems if you aren’t careful about managing it.

Activities that help to reduce stress in the body, like physical activity and chiropractor services, can help.

Activities that help you clear your mind and focus on the good things, like yoga or meditation, can also be great to help maintain heart health.

Jumpstart Your Heart Health Today

Holistic, full-body health is the best way to take care of the heart. Maintaining a strategic diet, exercise, and healthy habits are the perfect stepping-off points to taking your heart health seriously.

Schedule an appointment today to get started as a new patient for chiropractor services and more. You are only a few steps away from a healthier heart.

Take a Rest Day: The Dangers of Overtraining

Take a Rest Day: The Dangers of Overtraining

The benefits of a good training regimen are undeniable but there is something called “overtraining.”  Read on to learn more about the dangers of overtraining.

Daily exercise is proven to improve your overall physical health, as well as boost your mood and decrease feelings of depression. If you put in the right amount of work, you’ll feel and look great for a long time.

That said, it is possible to overdo things. In this post, we’re going to discuss the dangers of overtraining. As important as training is, it’s also important to take a rest day every now and then to let your body rejuvenate. 

Keep reading and you’ll have a better understanding of the problems that come from overtraining, as well as the benefits of a well-balanced training routine.

What Is Overtraining?

In short, overtraining accumulates stress on the body due to hard training and other factors, like your diet or stress levels. When you start training, it’s common to strive to push your body as far as it will go.

This may feel great for the first little while, but without the proper amount of rest, your body will start showing signs of wear. The symptoms of overtraining include increased heart rate (10-15 BPM), soreness lasting longer than 3 days, a drop in sleep quality, and a drop in your overall performance level. The biggest risk with overtraining is the potential for serious injury.

If you’re constantly dealing with little injuries as a result of your training, there’s a good chance you’re overtraining. Eventually, as you push through these smaller injuries, you’ll end up having a big one. Continuing to work out when you’ve got small tears or strains is only going to make you weaker.

Overtraining Syndrome

Overtraining syndrome (OTS) occurs when you have chronically elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol is your body’s primary stress hormone, which regulates blood pressure, controls inflammation, and manages the way your body uses carbs, fats, and proteins.

While short bursts of increased cortisol are good, overtraining can lead to chronically elevated cortisol, which will have numerous negative effects. You may notice feelings of lethargy and moodiness, and your body may start losing muscle while storing more fat, even as you continue training. You’ll feel sick, tired, and slow until you correct your OTS.

How to Avoid Overtraining Muscles

By taking stock of how you’re feeling after each workout and planning regular rest days, you can stop the symptoms of overtraining. Buy yourself a heart rate monitor, get the right amount of sleep, and make sure you’re eating a balanced diet. Combined with rest, you’ll be in recovery mode in no time.

The best way to create the perfect fitness routine is to listen to your body. It’s important to have fitness goals, but you also have to be reasonable and give yourself breaks.

The benefits of proper training are countless. You should feel happier, healthier, and more energetic when you have a good exercise routine. Push it too far and the opposite will happen, so if longevity is what you want, then don’t overtrain.

The Dangers of Overtraining Are Real

Now that you know the dangers of overtraining, you can take the steps to avoid injuries and OTS. If you’ve been injured as a result of overtraining, contact us at Amazing Life Chiropractic in Mill Creek. We offer natural and reliable pain relief to help you recover from your overtraining injuries so you can get back to training responsibly.

Ignore Fad Diets: Change Your Lifestyle Instead

Ignore Fad Diets: Change Your Lifestyle Instead

Did you know that the United States ranks 12th in the world regarding obesity? Read on to learn why you should ignore fad diets and how lifestyle matters more.

Many people attempt to lose weight quickly by following a fad diet. The diets can sometimes work long enough for you to lose weight for a special event. Other times they don’t work at all, and you gain ten more pounds by the time you give up.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that fad diets fail. They promise to lose 30 pounds within two weeks, which is unrealistic.

Rather than trying to become vegan or follow the keto diet, ignore these fad diets and change your lifestyle. Don’t know how to do it? Below, we’ll tell you why you should avoid fad diets and how you can lead a healthy lifestyle.

Why Should You Be Avoiding Fad Diets?

Crash diets are so popular because they promise you the body of your dreams within a short time. Unfortunately, while it is tempting to change your diet for two weeks to eat only certain foods, you will only do further harm to your health. 

The struggle of following a fad diet damages your body physically and mentally. Below are some of the ways crash dieting harms your body:

  • It puts your body at risk of nutritional deficiency
  • The diet can make your metabolism slower
  • You start having an unhealthy food group balance
  • Fad diets make it harder for you to socialize with friends and family

The biggest risk you put on yourself is developing an eating disorder. This is because the yo-yo dieting and worrying about calories make you obsessed with food. 

These actions can lead you to develop an unhealthy relationship with food. You can start overeating or undereating when this happens, eventually damaging your health.

Instead, decide to make permanent lifestyle changes that will create healthy habits you’ll follow for life instead of following the latest diet.

What Lifestyle Changes Should You Make?

The road to making healthy lifestyle changes depends on what you want to accomplish. For example, do you want to lose weight by making small changes to your diet or becoming more active?

Of course, you should do both, but sometimes it’s better to tackle one healthy habit instead of five at the same time. For example, let’s say you want to make small changes to your diet by cutting out soda and fast food. 

You start taking the time to fix more healthy meals at home and drinking water. Then you can include walking around the neighborhood for fifteen minutes three times a week for exercise. 

In this example, you’re putting more emphasis on your diet than exercising. You can also switch this around by going to the gym three times a week to focus your weight loss more on becoming active. 

Changing your lifestyle isn’t just about these two things. To cope with the stress of the weight loss journey, you can also try to meditate or read more to help you build a better mindset.

Fad Diets versus Lifestyle Change

You hear all the benefits of fad diets, which are usually lying. That’s why you should ignore fad diets and focus on the benefits of lifestyle changes. Below are some of the benefits of lifestyle changes:

  • Lowers your risk of obesity diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure
  • You gain more energy
  • It helps you handle stress better
  • Self-confidence increase 

Choice and action go hand in hand with a healthy lifestyle. Healthy living is dependent on the choices you make every day and how you act on those choices.

Making positive choices in fitness, stress, and nutrition promotes happiness and overall well-being.

A Chiropractor in Mill Creek, WA Can Help Change Your Lifestyle

Instant gratification is the norm in our world, and discomfort is frowned upon. A magic pill that promotes weight loss sounds easy and convenient, but it isn’t healthy.

So instead of following a diet, decide to make healthy decisions to change your lifestyle. If you need any help changing your lifestyle, schedule an appointment with us today.

Red Light for Skin Treatment

Red Light for Skin Treatment

Benefits of Red Light Therapy for Your Skin

Maybe you’ve heard of red light therapy — or by one of its other names:  bio-stimulation, low level light therapy (LLLT), or photobiomodulation (PBM)? Perhaps you’ve heard about an interesting new therapeutic procedure that can treat and reduce scars and promote wound healing to your skin through red light? You may have even heard about its amazing results in weight reduction? Read on to see what Red Light Therapy is and how red light can help the skin.

What is Red Light Therapy?

In the 1990’s NASA Scientists discovered that Red Light Therapy, or RLT, helped plants grown on space flights. Specifically, they discovered that red LEDs produced an intense light that promoted photosynthesis leading to growth in plants.

It wasn’t long until scientists made the leap to healthcare where they wanted to know if RLT would increase the energy within human cells that could stimulate growth and regeneration. 

Explaining the Red Light Therapy Process

It’s believed that by penetrating about five millimeters below the skin’s surface, RLT stimulates and strengthens the mitochondria which powers individual cells through an energy-supporting molecule called adenosine triphosphate. 

This stimulation causes the cell to repair and rejuvenate itself leading to noticeable skin improvements. And since there is no damage to the skin like is experienced with laser therapy or pulsed light therapy, skin shows immediate progress.

Red Light Therapy Benefits and Your Skin

While studies are numerous and ongoing, there seem to be promising results evident on the benefits of red light therapy when focused on repairing skin tissue. RLT has shown benefits when treating the following skin issues:

  • Diminishes scars and stretch marks
  • Promotes tissue repair and wound regeneration
  • Stimulates healing in diabetic wounds
  • Greatly improves acne scars
  • Improves psoriasis
  • Alleviates some side effects from treatments for cancer
  • Helps in weight loss
  • Diminishes wrinkles and improves the skin’s texture
  • Reduces pain and stiffness in people with rheumatoid arthritis
  • Helps to repair damage from the sun

Are There Side Effects of Red Light Therapy?

No, as long as you are working with a knowledgeable, experienced healthcare provider, you shouldn’t experience any discomfort or side effects when being treated with red light therapy.

In fact, you may find that red light therapy addresses multiple issues in addition to the initial treatment sought. For example, treatment for a facial scar may also help to reduce fine lines, age spots, or signs of aging.

Red Light Therapy Near Me in Mill Creek, Washington

While there are non-traditional businesses advertising red light therapy, like day spas and tanning salons, it is best to obtain care from a licensed healthcare professional. Not only can they recommend treatment based on your overall health, but they are also trained in what works best for your specific health issue and what to watch out for overall. Contact us for more information!

How Red Light Therapy Targets Fat Cells

How Red Light Therapy Targets Fat Cells

Using Red Light Therapy to Targets Fat Cells

In weight loss, targeting fat cells is crucial, and red light therapy is particularly effective in this regard. At a wavelength of 635 nm, red light therapy activates the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase, which opens the pores in fat cells, causing them to deflate like a water balloon. The released fat then enters the bloodstream and can be burned for energy through exercise and a proper diet, leading to fat loss through fat cells.

To maximize results, it’s important to avoid counteracting these benefits with high-sugar or high-glycemic index foods. Studies have shown that combining red light therapy with exercise can enhance peak performance by 15%, compared to 10% with exercise alone. This synergy illustrates how working with your body can improve overall wellness.

How Many Inches Could You Lose with Red Light Therapy?

Other researchers revealed startling evidence from their study that red light therapy sessions at 635 nm with the light six inches away from the body three times a week for six weeks caused a 5 inch reduction in hips, abdominals, waistlines, and thighs, targeting the fat cells.

Another study, this time for only 2 weeks with 67 volunteers and 3 sessions of red light therapy per week led to a 1-inch loss in the waistline, 1-inch loss in the hips, and 0.65 inches from the thighs. You might be thinking that’s not much, but actually it’s not too bad for those who aren’t dieting, aren’t altering their diet in any way, and aren’t exercising. 

Red Light Therapy Targets the Reasons Why You Gained Weight 

The most common reasons why people gain weight include:

  • They are under too much stress.
  • They don’t sleep well at night or long enough.
  • They aren’t particularly happy and run to comfort foods.
  • Their body is inflamed.
  • They continue eating during the day beyond regular meals due to appetite. 
  • Their metabolism has slowed down. 

Red light therapy works on every one of these reasons. 

When you’re under stress, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline. These two hormones cause the production of belly fat. Red light therapy decreases levels of these two hormones.

Red light therapy stimulates the production of melatonin. This is the hormone that is released while you sleep. It causes regeneration to occur in your body.

Red light is part of the full spectrum light therapy that is used to treat patients with seasonal affective disorder. However, recently red light therapy has been used with excellent success. The treatment helps bring the patients out of their acute depressive state faster than any other treatment plan, one psychologist from the UCLA Medical School stated. 

Red light therapy is well known in the studies to decrease inflammation. When you have inflammation, you have blockages in the energy circuits of the body. Red light therapy clears out the inflammation.

Red light therapy also increases leptin levels while lowering ghrelin levels. This ends up causing a reduction in hunger. And with less hunger, there’s no reason to eat. 

And if you want to know how red light therapy affects metabolism, it does so by increasing circulation to the cells of the body. Greater circulation means more cells are working at high capacity. 

If you would like more information about Red Light Therapy, contact us and we would be happy to help!