Dr Djavid's Healthy Corner

Improve your Posture- Feel better and look better!

Dr. Nona Djavid — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:40:18 +0000

Your posture is like a double sided mirror. As you may have heard your mom tell you to sit up straight at the dinner table or at your computer desk, it can influence a lot more than just your appearance. Your spine holds your nervous system which in turn controls your entire body. Now imagine your posture being a representative of how your spine and nerves are being stretched. Poor posture will cause an interference with the nervous system and can cause a variety of disease.

Improving your posture is going to take some work especially with the habits of today’s modern living, but in the long run will increase your chances of living a healthier life. If the health of your nervous system is not your priority, you must be warned research has shown that erect posture has also been linked success in the business world and taking off a few years off your real age. So if success or looking younger is your priority, read on.

To discuss what things can be done to improve your posture, the need to understand what good posture is becomes important. Your spine has three major curves that hold your body erect and create an “S” shaped curvature throughout the spine. This “S” curve is designed much like a spring to absorb the compressive load and is able to handle tensile loads by optimally balancing muscles on the front and back of the spine. With a sedentary lifestyle or sitting for prolonged hours, your body adapts to the hunched-over posture your spine will resemble a “C” curve instead of the nice “S.” This not only increases your risk of injury but is also responsible for a long list of symptoms. Are you suffering from headaches, muscle aches and imbalances, tingling and numbness in the extremities, carpal tunnel syndrome, joint pain or dysfunctions, sciatica, chronic fatigue syndrome, and most importantly, poor posture? The reason may just be that.

If someone is observing you from the side, your ear, shoulder, hip, and ankle should all line up in a straight line. Now this becomes complicated if you have rounded shoulders and a forward head posture. If you are being looked at from the front, your feet must not be turned out or in noticeably. There should be not rotation or tilt in your head, and your chin and belly button, should be in a straight line.

Exercise is the most basic and well known remedy to improving your posture. For those of you who are gym rats, you do take your poor posture with you to the gym. Working out with a good posture is in a sense more important than having good posture while you sit at your desk. When you do exercises that place your spine in more of a “C” type curve, it is making you more prone to injury.

Most people suffer from what is called an “Anterior Weight Bearing” or a forward head posture. In simple terms, your head is more forward than the rest of your body and from the side your ear and shoulder do not line up. To correct this posture, while you are seated at your chair before starting to do hours and hours of work at your desk, you can tuck your chin in and retract your chin back towards your neck and hold that position for three full breaths. You can start at five repetitions, and build up from there. In order to correct shoulders that are rounded forward, you can extend your arms out and up to about shoulder height, bent at the elbows. Imagine a pencil in between your shoulder blades and your job is to squeeze that pencil in between your scapulas. You should feel a stretch along your chest and the front of your shoulders. Hold for three full breaths and repeat 5 times.

Improving your posture and re-creating the normal “S” curve in your spine can increase your range of motion, optimize your nerve function, reduce tension in your neck, shoulders, and jaw, expand your lung capacity, relieve muscle aches and sciatica, and most importantly make you look and feel younger!
Correcting your posture or rebuilding it may take some work, but you have to be aware that if you have a structurally rotated, or translated, or shifted spine, then exercises alone will not improve your posture. A hand full of chiropractic doctors here in California focus their doctorate studies in Postural Correction. Consult with one if you suffer from poor posture and it is affecting your health. Check out our website for more information: www.nonadjavid.com or call us at 949.922.3465

A Role for Sweet Taste

Dr. Nona Djavid — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:06:02 +0000

The incidence of people who are obese has increased dramatically in the past 30 years. This suggests that this is not only an epidemic, but it has environmental factors and origins tied into it. One major factor that is correlated to the current obesity epidemic is the wide scale introduction of non-caloric, high-intensity sweeteners. I dedicate June’s main article to calorie conscious individuals or diet and non-calorie food seekers. I recently read an article which in simple terms shows the important relation between sweet taste and predication of caloric content of food. We use sweet taste to predict the caloric contents of foods. If you use sweet non-caloric substances, you may degrade this predictive relationship which then leads to positive energy balance; this means increase food intake. Through this research they found that reducing the correlation between sweet taste and the caloric content of foods using artificial sweeteners in can prompt your body to take more calories, increase your body weight, and adiposity. Artificial sweeteners are also linked with cancer and a list of other side effects. To name a few Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose, and Acesulfame K, and Neotame are some of the ones that are unfortunately FDA approved. If you are a fan of diet beverages, zero-calorie drinks, Splenda or other artificial sweeteners. Most baked goods that you buy in the store contain these substances. Healthier alternatives to satisfying your sweet tooth are simply sweet fruits. Living a healthy life and losing weight are not tied into zero calorie meals, but directly go with exercise and a healthy, organic and natural diet. Call us for a consultation at 949.922.3465 or go to our website www.nonadjavid.com to get more information.

Going Green

Dr. Nona Djavid — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:28:23 +0000

My reason for being a chiropractor is to bring more balance and motion to my patients spines and lives. This month I am asking you to examine the phrase “Going Green.” It can be more than just recycling and buying better light bulbs. Of course let’s do what we can to help our mother earth, but I think an important first step is appreciating and admiring her. Instead of just going green, let’s “Go in Green.” Here in Orange County, we have spots of green amidst our urban jungle, but I think making an effort to submerge oneself in nature can be truly amazing.

Have you experienced a moment during a hike when time slows? You look out over a valley or up into a canopy of trees, take a deep breath, and feel complete peace. I hope your answer is yes. I believe the more you get into nature, the more connected you feel with yourself, your loved ones, and your planet. Make it your goal this spring to bask in our planet’s beauty, even if it is just to go to the park and sit under a tree. For local hikes, visit www.localhikes.com. You will feel rejuvenated physically, mentally, spiritually and hopefully feel inspired to take a reusable water bottle.

Prevention!

Dr. Nona Djavid — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:13:02 +0000

In today’s society we are often reactive in many ways, something happens and we react to it. How we approach disease is no different. Disease or “dis-ease” in the body is a sign that we are out of balance in some way. Our systems have lost their state of ease. Whether fighting a virus or cancer cells, our ultimate success relies heavily on our body’s ability to heal. Do you know if your body is functioning optimally? As a culture, when we get sick or feel pain, we usually take medicine to defeat it for us and hope for the best. Our symptoms usually go away and we continue to do the same things that caused the problem in the first place, so the cycle continues. Do you see this may not be the best way to approach something as important as your health? Choosing to live a life that will optimize your body is the best answer. We have some things in our environment we cannot control, but there are many things we can choose to change that will help us feel great. What can you change today to optimize your health? A great place to start is having your physical alignment evaluated. When your overall alignment is off your body can not function at its best. Often you will feel pain, stiffness in the low back or shoulders, tension headaches, or general fatigue by the end of day. This is you’re your body’s way of telling you there is a problem. The human body is amazing and it has the ability to beat almost anything when it is functioning at full capacity. We may never be immortal, but we can do our best to give our body what it needs to live our best each day. Call us at 949.922.3465 to get more information or to book a consulation with us.