Proper nutrition is essential for a healthy body and spine.
Scientists and nutritionists continue to argue over what constitutes a vegetable. Strictly speaking, a vegetable is any part of a herbaceous plant eaten by humans as food. So, in this sense, lettuce leaves are vegetables, asparagus is a vegetable, carrots are a vegetable, as are garlic, peas and beans, squash, peppers and tomatoes. Tomatoes, however are also consider fruits under the botanical definition and under the legal definition. For the purposes of this discussion, botanical and culinary fruits such as green peppers or pumpkins and nuts, herbs, seeds, and grains and fungi such as mushrooms will be ignored to focus on culinary vegetables.
Broccoli Broccoli is high in dietary fiber and is missing only vitamin B and vitamin D to have a full range of vitamins. Broccoli has no saturated fat and only some sodium. Cholesterol in broccoli is non existent. Broccoli is one of those foods that is good to choose when trying to lose weight. It even is a good source of protein, which surprises many people. This is helpful to know when one is combining vegetables to form a complete protein source.
Spinach Cooked spinach is one of the highest ranking vegetables in providing complete nutrition. It is high in dietary fiber and gets top marks for every other nutrient identified in the diet with the exception of vitamin D and vitamin B12. It is low in saturated fat and fairly low in cholesterol. The most outstanding negative feature in consuming spinach is that is contains a significant amount of sodium.
Carrots Almost everyone is aware that carrots are one of the highest nutritional sources for vitamin A, but carrots are also an source rated as excellent for antioxidants. Reduced heart disease, cancer protection and increased night vision are all positive qualities associated with this root vegetable. Many people do not realize that a diet rich in carrots will help to protect a person exposed to second hand smoke from contracting cancer and other diseases associated with cigarette smoking.
Cabbage Cabbage is part of the cruciferous family of vegetables named because of the cross (crucifix) shaped flowers. Medical researchers have found that the phytochemicals in cabbage known as indoles inhibit the growth of colon, stomach and breast cancer. On the down side, excessive amounts of cabbage in the diet may lead to problems with the thyroid gland. Cabbage prepared in coleslaw has significant amounts of iron, vitamin C, potassium and calcium.
Celery Celery is one of those foods that most people love or they hate, but there is no question that it is a dieter's friend. In addition to it's very high fiber content, celery is excellent in providing phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, riboflavin, manganese, potassium, folate, and vitamins K, C, and A. Unfortunately, celery is also high in sodium content which is not the best nutrition happening. Dieters love the food because it contains negative calories. It actually uses more calories to digest it than you take in by eating it.
Asparagus Providing almost 60 percent of the recommended daily allowance of folic acid, asparagus plays a starring role of vegetables helpful in prevention of spina bifida. Asparagus has a wealth of nutrients, dietary fiber and it is low in sodium. Asparagus is another vegetable that contains no cholesterol or fat, making it a dieter's friend.
Sweet Corn Consuming a diet that includes corn and other foods high in beta-cryptoxanthin, a carotenoid also found in pumpkins and red bell peppers may significantly reduce one's chances of developing cancer in the lungs. This is true even if the person is a smoker. Corn is also beneficial in the amount of fiber that it adds to the diet and in the folate found in corn.
Radish Radishes are known for the ability to add piquancy to a salad, but they are also good for optimum health in that they contain high dietary fiber, very low fat and cholesterol. Consuming three radishes raw provides potassium, folate and vitamin C, calcium, vitamin B6 and riboflavin. In addition, radishes provide manganese, copper and magnesium.
Green Beans Some would argue that green beans are not a vegetable, but a fruit in that they contain the seeds inside the pod in the same way that apple seeds are found within the apple. However, few people would accept green beans as a fruit. They are excellent choices for obtaining vitamin K, vitamin C, manganese and vitamin A to your diet. In addition, green beans are high in dietary fiber.
Lettuce Romaine lettuce contains a significant portion of the daily recommended allowance of vitamins K, C and A. It is also noted for the presence of manganese and folate. Since a one cup serving adds only 15 calories to your daily intake, lettuce is an excellent choice for weight reduction.
To get rid of pain fast call
Michael Kenny, D.C. 7439 Frankford Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19136
As defined in medical terminology, scoliosis is characterized as a complex rotational and lateral deformity and curvature of the human spine. This condition may either be classified as idiopathic, a secondary symptom, or congenital.
Causes for some forms of scoliosis are still undefined or unknown. This condition is more adamant among females. Some people often falsely associated scoliosis to bad posture, slouching, and awkward positioning of the body. This condition is also not caused by carrying heavy objects, and it also has nothing to do with a person’s lack of calcium in diet.
Although, it is mostly the adults who experience extreme back pains due to scoliosis, the symptoms and signs for this condition generally worsen during the adolescent years.
The symptoms for scoliosis vary. Persistent back pain does not necessarily confirm one to have scoliosis. Some of the most common signs of this condition are the following:
1. Prominent shoulder blades 2. Uneven level of shoulders and hips 3. Uneven distance between body and arms 4. Clothes do not fit or hang appropriately
The most popular relief treatments for scoliosis condition are surgery and bracing, and the most common treatment is by means of observation. Surgery is recommended to patients with curves that have high degree of progression. It is also a solution for those who experience pain regularly as well as for those who have curves that significantly affect their physiological functions.
On the other hand, bracing is commonly advised among adolescents to further prevent progression of their spinal curves. Braces, however, do not always give the same result. There are instances when patients still undergo surgery even after they were braced. This scoliosis treatment also has several types, depending on the condition of the patient’s curve.
Aside from surgery, bracing, and observation, yoga or exercise is also known to be a great treatment for scoliosis. Performing yoga exercises helps in correcting and easing the pain brought by scoliosis for it thoroughly stretches the body.
Although some experts claim that yoga and exercise have little effect to correct scoliosis, these actually help in avoiding further progression of the spinal curve. These can also reduce the angle of the spinal curvature. Patients with braces are also recommended to perform yoga or exercise, for these help them adapt more quickly to the brace.
Recommended yoga exercises for patients with scoliosis
1. Crocodile Twist scoliosis exercise
This yoga exercise is regarded as one of the most effective yoga exercise for patients with scoliosis.
2. Passive back arch scoliosis exercise
This exercise is a good way to reduce the pain brought on by scoliosis and it is an effective alternative treatment for related body conditions.
3. One leg up and one leg out scoliosis exercise
This exercise is reported to be very effective as it reduces tensions in the leg muscles. The seated twist version of this exercise is also a recommended exercise to treat thoracic twist condition. Apart from its simplicity, the seated twist exercise helps a lot in correcting the body alignment.
If you are busy, not able to get up early morning or have no time for gym just follow this 20 minute home work out to stay healthy and fit.
1) Jog in place for 3 minutes
2) Jumping jacks perform 25 repetitions
When landing, bend your knees slightly to reduce the impact on knee joints.
3) Crunches perform 15 repetitions
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Place your hands behind your head with elbows pointing outwards. Support your neck with your hands. Keep your neck in a straight line with your spine. Flex your waist to raise the upper torso from the floor then lower yourself until the back of your shoulders touch the mat.
4) Pelvic Bridge perform 10 repetitions
Lie on your back with your hands facing palms down on the floor. Bend your knees by putting your feet flat on the floor. Then Lift your hips off of the floor and squeeze the buttocks muscles tight and hold this position for approximately 5 seconds. Then lower yourself down to the floor.
5) Step – up’s for approximately 1 minute
Just step up with the left foot then down and then step up with the right foot and down.
6) Reverse crunches for 15 repetitions
Lie on your back with your hands at your sides. Keep you knees bent. Bring your knees towards your chest, till your hips come slightly off the floor. Hold this position for a second, and then lower your knees.
7) Mountain climbers for approximately 1 minute
Get your hands and knees and raise your knees like a starting block sprinter. Run in that position, supporting your upper body with the palms of your hands. Keep your back straight.
8) Push – ups for 10 -15 repetitions
9) Squat thrusts: 1 minute
Stand straight. Now, drop to a crouch position. Immediately thrust your legs out straight behind on your toes, in push up position, now jump to pull legs back to the chest, in crouching position , then stand up straight,
Cool down by walking around, till your heart rate returns to normal and stretch.
A minutes rest is needed in between exercise. Proper form is important. Do not hold breath. Sip water during the workout. This workout targets the whole body, improves cardiovascular efficiency and tones and strengthens the body.
To get rid of sciatica and back pain fast call
Michael Kenny, D.C. 7439 Frankford Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19136 Call: 215-332-4770
One of the best ways to get rid of your back pain and sciatica pain is by losing weight and toning the stomach muscles and back muscles. There has always been a controversy over what is the best type of exercise to do in order to lose weight. In my opinion the best type of exercises to lose weight are combining an exercise program that consists of resistance training as well as cardiovascular exercise.
Now everyone knows what cardiovascular exercise is. Cardio usually consist of people pedaling on a stationary bicycle, walking running or jogging on the treadmill or even performing cardiovascular exercise classes.
But with resistance training there seems to be an abundance of confusion and an never ending supply of misinformation. If you look at most regular people and they are lifting weights totally wrong and usually because of this day winds up injuring themselves quite severely.
You see resistance training is actually a great way to lose fat because it develops lean healthy muscle and muscle actually burns more calories than fat. Meaning you can have a 150 pound person who is made up of mostly muscle and compare them to a person who is 150 pounds and has a lot of fat and during the course of the day the person who is mostly muscle will actually burn more calories doing the same activities throughout the entire day as compared to the person who is mostly fat.
A good weight loss program should be performed approximately 2 to 3 times a week and it can be as simple as performing two sets of exercises for a specific body part and perform just 10 repetitions for each of those sets.
Now when you are performing these exercises make sure to take your time and lift the weights up slowly taking anywhere from 3 to 5 seconds and then slowly lowering it down taking approximately 3 to 5 seconds. This will increase the time under tention for that particular muscle and the longer the time under tension is the more muscle will develop.
And when you can perform the two sets of exercises for 10 repetitions very easily make sure to increase the weight that you are lifting. I would only increase the weight approximately 3 to 5%.
Please keep your resistance training sessions to no longer than 20 min. The mistake most people make when lifting weights is that they think they have to perform marathon sessions and work out for 1 to 2 hours with weights every day. When in fact short periods of resistance training with moderate intensity give you the best results for developing a hardly muscular body.
In addition to performing resistance training 2 to 3 three days a week I would perform 60 min. of cardiovascular exercise approximately 3 to 4 days a week. This combination of cardiovascular exercise and resistance exercise will give you the best results for weight loss and getting lean.
For a low back and sciatica pain relief consultation call me at 215-332-4770
Michael Kenny, D.C. 7439 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19136 call me at 215-332-4770
As a Philadelphia chiropractor for the past 20 some years the most often question that I am asked almost on a daily basis is if the exercises that people are given and that they see online are really good for getting rid of sciatica pain. First let me say that before you ever attempt any type of exercises to get rid of your sciatica pain you should always consults your medical doctor, chiropractor or physical therapist. Unknowingly if you do the wrong type of movements you may actually do more harm than good. With that being said here is why therapeutic exercise are often times the answer for getting rid of your sciatica pain.
One of the best exercises for getting rid of your sciatica nerve root pain are the stretching exercises otherwise known as the spinal elongation exercises. The spinal elongation or spinal traction exercises are one of the oldest and most beneficial exercises for getting rid of your pain.
Other great pain relief exercises are muscle stretching exercises. For example often times sciatica pain can be caused by extremely tight buttocks muscles. If that is what is causing your pain loosening these muscles will prove to be a great pain relieving exercise.
And let's not forget the strengthening exercises. Not only are strengthening the low back muscles as well as the stomach muscles very beneficial in providing sciatica pain relief but they will also help prevent future episodes of low back pain and sciatica pain.
Even though many of these exercise are great for getting rid of your sciatica pain please remember that you really should see your medical doctor, chiropractor or physical therapist to determine the actual cause of your pain and what the best type of therapies would be to get rid of your pain and return you to a normal active lifestyle.
For a sciatica pain relief consultation please call me at 215-332-4770
Michael Kenny, D.C. 7439 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19136 call me at 215-332-4770
This is going to be the first in a series of articles reviewing some of my favorite exercises that are fantastic at warming up the body and getting you to burn fat fast. These are to exercise is that I regularly use with my weight loss and personal training clients. Now of course always remember before you start any exercise program to consult your medical doctor or chiropractor to make sure that these exercises are safe for you to perform. If you suffer from low back disc herniations or sciatica nerve pain I would definitely not exercises until your medical and health practitioners have given you the ok.
Okay let's get started now! For the first exercise I'm going to recommend using an elliptical machine or cross-trainer. Stand upright on the machine and pedal forward with your legs to push the footpads while simultaneously pushing and pulling the handles of the machine with your arms. Doing anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes on an elliptical machine is a great way to get the muscles and joints of the body warmed up and to get the blood flowing as well.
The second exercise that I'm going to recommend is jogging in place. Now this exercise is very simple but there is no better exercise than this for increasing your body's temperature, increasing your heart rate and for burning fat and losing weight. Beginning standing upright start to jog in place, lifting your knees and swinging your arms. Make sure to keep your arms and elbows close to your body. The key to this exercise to trying to remain in one spot the entire time. You can do this exercise for about 5 to 7 minutes for great warm-up. Of course you can do it longer if you would like.
So there you have it two of my favorite exercises warm ups. You can also do these exercises on their own just longer and at moderate intensities for a fact burning exercise routine in and of themselves.
For more information on exercises to lose weight and burn fat and for exercises to get rid of back pain and sciatica go to my website at http://www.chiropractorphiladelphiapachiropractorphiladelphiapa.com
We are getting great results in helping people with severe low back pain, sciatica nerve pain and even pain from lumbar spine disc herniations.
Call now for a consultation: 215-332-4770
People no longer have to suffer from low back pain, leg pain and sciatica pain because of spinal decompression therapy. Spinal decompression therapy applies gentle traction to the spine and increases the amount of fluid in the disc. This should increase the space between the vertebrae of the spine and hopefully un-pinch the pinched nerves that are causing your pain.
A disc herniation is like a jelly doughnut with the jelly sticking out of the side of the doughnut. With spinal decompression we hope to bring the jelly that is sticking out back into the center. This is of course a very simplified explanation of a disc herniation and spinal decompression therapy but it works.
So if you have back pain and or back pain that goes into your buttock and leg call now and schedule for first appointment. Discover why spinal decompression therapy is now the gold standard for back and sciatica pain.
Yoga exercises are great for relieving low back pain and overall health. The primary goal of back pain relief exercises is to elongate the spinal and balance the muscles of the body in order to provide support and protection to the spine and discs.
These exercises are great yoga exercises for back pain relief. Now please do each exercise slowly and carefully and make sure you check with your Doctor and Chiropractor to make sure these exercises are ok and safe for you to do. And of course you should work with a trained instructor.
Here are the three exercises:
1. Sun Salutation: stand in an upright position and hold your hands in a prayer position in front of your chest.Inhale deeply and slowly raise your arms over your head. If this feels good that’s great. You can stop here or you can continue and slowly bend forward. It is not necessary to touch the floor all you have to do is stretch forward to a nice comfortable stretch. You do not want to feel any pain at all.
2. The Corpse: lie flat on your back in a relaxed position, place your arms at your sides, with your palms down, and keep your legs flat down in a relaxed position and have your knees out turned slightly. Now just breathe deeply and let the stress and strain float out of your body.
3. The Cat Pose: the starting position is to be on your knees and hands and keep your back flat. Keep your hands directly under your shoulders and keep your knees directly under your hips. Now relax and loosely face the floor and take several deep breathes. Inhale deeply and and then as you exhale arch your back and tuck your chin into your chest and tuck your tailbone. Keep this posture for 5 to 10 seconds or more if it feels good and then return to the starting position.
Please always see your Chiropractor, Doctor or Physical Therapist before starting any exercise program.
If you have back pain and want to get out of pain fast call Mary and schedule your consultation.
Back pain relief is the goal of millions of people around the world. Often times it seems to be quite elusive especially when you have everyone telling you how they cured their own problem. However, I am going to tell you the one simple exercise that works approximately 80% of the time in getting rid of your aches.I am also going to give you 2 additional tips to speed up your healing.
Tip # 1: First be sure to always be properly hydrated as dehydration is one of the leading causes of muscle spasms and sciatica. A good rule is to try to drink at least 1 L of water a day. I have even read literature that recommends you to drink 2 to 3 L of water a day. Water is necessary t maintain proper muscle balance and tone and will help get rid of and prevent cramps and Charlie horses.
Tip #2: Take a daily calcium and magnesium combination multivitamin. This supplement balances the minerals and nutrients in the muscles and not only works as a natural relaxant when you have a problem but it will also help prevent spasms as well.
The main exercise: The one exercise to relieve your back pain is as follows. Lie on you back and gently move close to a wall and place the heels of your foot on the wall. Start out by having your legs at a 45% angle going up the wall and stretch your arms over your head. You should feel your spine and muscles stretching. As you become more flexible and your pain decreases move your feet up the wall so that your legs are close to a 90% angle. Now this exercise takes some practice so please work your way into this stretch.
Sciatica pain is pain is usually on one side of your back that goes into your buttock and into your leg and down into your lower leg area below your knee.
You can get sciatica from lifting heavy objects, car accidents, work accidents, gardening, playing sports or even by brushing your teeth and twisting the wrong way.
You should always see your Family Doctor or Family Chiropractor if you experience any type of back pain or sciatic nerve pain for an appropriate evaluation and treatment program.
Here is my Sciatic Nerve Pain Relief Treatment Protocol that I have many of my patients perform at home.
But please do not attempt these exercises until you have been properly evaluated by your Family Doctor or Family Chiropractor and they tell you that you can do these exercises.
1. To decrease the inflammtion of the Sciatic nerve you should lay on your side with your painful side up; then palce a pillow between your knees and place an ice pack on the painful area for 10 to 15 minutes. You can do this 2 to 3 times a day. Just make sure that you wait 2 hours between each ice therapy session.
2. Lay on your back and gently and slowly bring one knee to your chest and gently hold it there for 20 seconds and then repeat this with the other leg. You can do this exercise a total of 3 times per leg.
This exercise should feel really good and not hurt at all so if it does hurt immediately stop this exercise.
3. Lay on your back and slowly and gently bring both knees to your chest at the same time and hold them to your chest for 20 seconds. Perform this exercise a total of three times.
Remember this should feel good but if it hurts stop the exercise immediately.
4. Lay on your back and bring one leg up with the knee pointing straight up towards the ceiling. Hold the knee up by holding the back of your leg with a long bath towel and gently straighten and extend your leg. Then bring your foot down. You can repeat this maneuver 8 to 10 times with both legs.
For Sciatic Nerve Pain Relief call Dr. Kenny at 215-332-4770
RSS Feed