While doing my research for my book, Sit-Ups Are Stupid & Crunches Are Crap, I was blown away at how important it is for people to get a flat stomach, and not just for looks! The New England Journal of Medicine published a study of 360,000 Europeans in November 2008 stating that people with the most belly fat have twice the risk of premature death! Other than drinking and smoking, belly size is the largest indicator or premature death. Additional studies reveal that belly size is the leading predictor of heart disease, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Large bellies also raise the risk of dementia by three times.
Many people love carbonated beverages. The consensus is that soda is a bad thing, and many people have opted for healthier options, such as sparkling waters. And, alcoholic beverage companies not only sell beer, but also there is a growing trend of consumers preferring flavored alcoholic, carbonated beverages. Though flavored sparkling water may be a healthy alternative to soda, and people think flavored alcoholic beverages may be healthier than beer, these carbonated beverages can create a lot of problems for your body. As I discussed previously in Is Your Diet Causing Your Back Pain, an individual’s diet is a leading cause of back pain.
Celebrities like Kristen Bell, Anne Hathaway, and Liam Hemsworth have all ditched their vegan diets (some due to health complications!). Even some popular vegan bloggers, including Yovana, who at one point had over a million Instagram followers, have stopped preaching veganism. And, many vegan bloggers have faced backlash after dropping their vegan diets. Yovana quickly learned this after she was seen eating fish in a now-viral video posted by a fellow vlogger, which resulted in a huge outcry from her followers. “I was in shock and felt confused and ashamed at the response,” she says.
Previously, I explained how a Backbridge could help you relieve pain caused not only by forward hunching, but also aging, exercise (like sit-ups), and daily life stressors. You may see your chiropractor or physical therapist a few times a month. For a fraction of the time and cost of a chiropractor or physical therapist visit, you can use the Backbridge to get back pain relief at home, increase flexibility, and sustain back health. I believe it is important to complement treatment from medical practitioners with regular and routine stretching to help reduce soreness and tightness, and increase flexibility.
Who do you think has more back pain and worse posture: The farmer, who spends his day plowing a field and shoveling manure, or the office worker, who works at a desk for eight hours a day? The answer - most likely, the office worker.
One Saturday afternoon, I received a call from a Grammy-winning recording artist, who was suffering from severe upper back and neck pain. She was concerned that she wasn’t going to be able to make it through her performance on Saturday Night Live the following day. Her pain was so bad that she could not turn her head. I examined her and noticed that her whole muscular system was tight. I could also tell she was suffering from severe gas pains and she told me that her on-the-road diet consisted of primarily fast foods and processed foods. After further assessment, I determined the root of her back pain was an inflamed digestive system.
After working with back patients for about 20 years, I have discovered why many patients don’t achieve back pain relief or perfect posture. To fix back pain and correct your posture, I have to focus on a patient’s structural, emotional, and digestive issues to get to the truth. Unfortunately, most doctors don’t pay attention to what the rest of the body is telling them about a patient's pain. A single-approach structural treatment plan may apply if a patient is a certain type of back pain sufferer, but may not work if an individual is a different type of back pain sufferer. In today’s post, we will focus on potential structural issues that are causing your back pain and poor posture.
Now, more than ever, we need more kindness. Everyone can probably agree that kindness is good. However, the kindness that I am writing about is self-kindness. While working with patients on a daily basis, I hear people putting themselves down, such as commenting on gaining a few pounds during quarantine, which is not helpful to a patient’s mindset. It’s normal for our bodies to change during new and stressful times. Additionally, too often we reply to compliments with a dig (negative response) about ourselves. As noted in my prior posts, emotions (and mindset) are one of the leading causes of back pain and other conditions.
If you've tried every remedy and can't find the cause of your back pain, you may have DDD. What is DDD? It's a diagnosis that I created called Degenerative Dietary Disease, and it's the most overlooked cause of back pain.
