Chiroblog

Welcome to Week 8 of our Ten Weeks of Wellness! We hope your feeling more energized since cutting out some gluten from your diet and that your are starting to see that making diet changes, while difficult, is not impossible.  This week, with spring time on the horizon, we'd like you to get a little extra sun!

Sunshine is a vital part of leading a healthy lifestyle.  Many of you have heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) - a condition marked by increased feelings of depression in the darker months of winter.  This is theorized to be the result of decreased vitamin D production, which typically occurs when sun shines on the skin causing a complex reaction to occur through out the body.  Vitamin D levels can be managed with diet as well, but getting a little mid-day sun is always best.  Go out, sans sunscreen, for just enough time to turn your skin a little pink.  For some that might be just a couple of minutes, for others it can be a little longer.  Just this much time in the sun is enough to start the chemical cascade to boost your mood!

In the winter and on rainy days there are other ways to boost your mood (while making sure to consume vitamin D in your diet or with supplements)  Just take a couple of moments (5-10 to start) to sit in a quiet room and focus on your breathing.  Taking deep, steady breaths is a good way to reduce stress and anxiety.  Pick a word that is positive and embodies a state you're looking to achieve, and focus on it.  Whenever your mind starts to wander, just return your focus to this word. Or ask Dr Rubin about the Heart Math program he has been studying.  It's a little device the size of a cell phone that measures your heart rate and can tell when you are 'in tune' or 'out of touch' by the pace of your heart.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002499/
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2008/06/23/time-in-the-sun-how-much-is-needed-for-vitamin-d
http://www.project-meditation.org/a_wim1/effects_of_meditation.html

Hopefully you've been finding fun and creative ways to pay it forward this past week!  The positive energy will hopefully be enough to power you through this week's challenge...going Gluten-free!

We know this is a huge change for a lot of people, but it's one we at Rubin Family Chiropractic really find makes a HUGE difference in our patient's lives.  Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye.  It is important for binding molecules together, giving breads and baked goods their doughy texture, as opposed to just crumbling.  The problem is gluten is a highly inflammatory agent.  As it works it's way through the digestive tract it causes it to swell, which allows more of the gluten (and other potentially harmful particles) to get into the blood stream and wreak havoc else when in the body.  Even though few people have a severe allergy to gluten (known as Celiac's disease), many more have some level of sensitivity to gluten, which may not be detected by a traditional allergy test.  The best way to determine if you have sensitivity is to go gluten free for a couple of weeks and see home much better you feel!

For the purpose of our 10 Weeks of Wellness challenge, however, we're just asking you to go a day without gluten. If you make it 1 day, then try another, and so on.  Since the media has picked up on gluten sensitivity recently, it is becoming much easier to find gluten-free alternatives to everyday foods in your local grocery store.  Dr. Rubin has been gluten free for years and is happy to point you in the direction of his favorite products!

What about you?  What are some of your favorite gluten-free snacks and meals?  Let us know here or on our Facebook page!