What is health, and who defines it for you? For many of us, it is the bad news our doctor gives us about the symptom or condition they are experiencing. We do have choices on how we live our lives. Medically speaking, the experience for most of us is that we undergo our periodic physical, have a blood panel taken, and receive vaccinations to protect us from whatever our doctors identify as a risk to our health. Yet, so many Americans live with pain, have diabetes, and many other diseases as they age. Often, this results in the medicinal management of more drugs and people managing their health failures medicinally. Those problems worsen over time unless we decide to do things differently for ourselves. What is a disease, and can we medicate it away? Diseases are collections of symptoms with a similar process or pathology. Often, the disease is more of a category that is usually in search of a drug or medical intervention. Most diseases and inflammatory diseases begin in the gut and are related to how and what we eat. Most notably, autoimmune diseases. An over-reliance on medical specialists and the sidelining of primary care is a huge driver of diseases being more chronic. Improving diets, reducing processed foods, and eating more fruits and greens can improve the gut over time. Avoiding antibiotics unless necessary is better for our health than having to rebuild it after it harms the flora in the gut. Managing diseases instead of programs to help resolve them is wasteful and unhealthy, as the dependence on the system increases while you age with medical problems that continue to worsen over the years. Perhaps this is why Florida, where my mom lives, is a feeding ground for the elderly. Then, there is the problem that has always existed, which is that medically, they understand and care for 45% of the body, but the other 55% is the musculoskeletal system, which is important for the health of the other 45%. The fascial system surrounds and affects all of this between the organs and the way we move and live, and breath,e and the digestive system helps us stay healthy with the right foods and the proper flora or bugs in the gut. Medications cannot fix mechanical problems in the body, and organs are parts of integrated systems. This is why our current overspecialization model fails us when you are sent from doctor to doctor, which used to be performed by your primary care doctor. We have an unhealthy relationship with pain medically as well. Chiropractically speaking, most pain has a mechanical cause, and doctors who improve movement and function, like chiropractors, are underutilized even though they can eliminate those medical risks and costs. Physical therapists can help as well. The problem is access, which is hampered by high costs, copays, deductibles, and tiered care and hospital monopolies. True health begins with a healthier lifestyle. From our earliest days, having colostrum from our mothers, even if they do not continue to nurse, has many health benefits transferred from their mothers. Reducing c-section deliveries also helps since bacteria that are good for the baby are transferred during the birth process, and not having an abdominal surgery reduces lifetime risks for the mom as well. Babies may have a more nutritious experience and have fewer allergies through early exposure to foods such as peanuts, where the trend towards these allergies is lower. Many vaccines have been proven to reduce problems in the population, and less may be more. Currently, there is a public discussion occurring that may lead to fewer vaccines in children. We do not understand the outcome yet, but we will soon find out that more is not necessarily healthier for us. Fewer medications and antibiotics are better for us. Ear infections have been treated successfully by chiropractors for a hundred years. There may be a mechanical basis for it that can reduce medical risk and is worth exploring. There is always room for alternative points of view on health. Growing up eating vegetables and fresh fruits while avoiding sugary juices is healthier for us and improves how the flora in the gut develops. Healthier lifestyles are learned early on, and better eating keeps us healthy, reduces vitamin deficiencies, and fuels us. Those habits learned early on reduce our likelihood of non-genetic diseases developing. Stop ignoring your child’s foot and knee pain while medicating it with Tylenol. Early recognition of problems from the ground up reduces the likelihood of scoliosis, knee, back, and many other musculoskeletal problems. Take them to the chiropractor to evaluate this, as they understand how your children stand and move holistically. Movement and activity keep us healthy in combination with a better diet. Early movement and activity habits can last a lifetime. Learning or developing them later on is always harder and more challenging. Years ago, parents had their children go out and play with others and called them in for dinner. We need to get back to that instead of our current model of everything being pre-arranged. Children need to run and play. Have them learn to play an instrument. As someone who learned guitar at 12 and still plays in a band, it is much harder when you are older, and it helps the brain with many things mechanical and mathematical. If you were never active and are now trying to get to that level of fitness, don’t stop, but realize it is not easy. You will feel and function better over time as things change on the cellular level. Do not ignore pain and think it will go away. Mechanical problems do not go away. They become chronic and become the reason why we perform so many surgeries for hips and knees, and more. A chiropractor should be part of your health team from when you are young. Overall, healthier systems keep us healthy. Movement and breathing feed it all. Improving this is often the cure for obesity, and while so many people are now using the GLP-1 meds to lose weight, they may have problems later in life due to malnutrition. This is because of the loss of appetite. Changing the gut will change appetite naturally, and you can use the GLP-1s to reduce our addiction to simple carbs and sugar, and then you get off. There must be a system in place for success rather than dependence. Natural exposure actually helps us avoid colds as we microdose naturally, which is how our immune system actually keeps us healthy. Our immune system works better than most vaccines and is part of healthier body systems. Better health habits, less medical intervention dependence, and chiropractic care help you stay healthy. We need to own our health, and it is our responsibility. Having pain and need a chiropractic evaluation? Book online or call either of our offices today.