3 Tips for Warming Up for Spring - Tip 1

It’s been a long winter and spring is in the air. For many that means tackling projects at home, clearing out the garden, or getting back to outdoor adventures like running, hiking or biking. I lovingly call it being a weekend warrior – squeezing every last bit of sunshine, energy and outdoor time out of the weekend before Monday morning starts the work week again.

The downside to being a weekend warrior? Going from zero to yard work hero without the proper prep and strategy can lead to injuries – from strains and sprains to serious pain. So before you put yourself at risk, take a look at 4 Tips for Warming Up for Spring:

1.       Mind Your Position

Tedious or repetitive activities, like weeding the garden or biking on a long trail, may require you to be in an awkward position for long stretches of time. Be mindful of your posture during these activities and know that there is a right way and a wrong way to position yourself.  Try to keep your head back and not bent too far forward. Alternate between squatting and kneeling when you can to engage different muscles and relax others.

When changing position isn’t an option, make sure that you are taking periodic breaks so that you don’t become stiff or tight. Take a movement toad motion back into your legs if you are sitting or kneeling. Stretch your arms out when you are raking or shoveling. Another option is to change activities all together if there are different parts of a project that you can work on simultaneously.

Before you attempt to move a large rock or pull a big weed out of the ground, test the force that you’ll need to be successful. Over or under estimating the weight or strength of something that you’re trying to more is another way that you can seriously injury yourself. Misjudging the strength and position you’ll need can put you off balance and ill-prepared. Take the moment to test and save yourself possible injury.

With next weekend right around the corner, keep this tip in mind to keep yourself warrior-ready. This is tip #1 of 4. Stop back next week for another installment. 

This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.
Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter. 

Once a Day for Life - Vitamin #4

Why supplement? For starters, no one eats a “perfect diet”. Supplements insure that our bodies get the nutritional building blocks that they require, even when our healthy eating intentions are slightly sub-par. What’s more, research shows that the food we eat today often lacks the nutritional value that it held in previous decades. Adding a supplement helps make up for that gap.

The question remains – what do we really need? In honor of National Nutrition Month, here are the Top Four Musts for nutritional supplementation.

#4 Anti-Oxidants

Anti-oxidants are free-radical fighter. Free radicals are cells out looking to cause trouble in the body; disrupting normal activity and actually damaging DNA, planting the seed for disease. Anti-oxidants neutralize free radicals by sharing their electrons to stabilize them.

There are two kinds of antioxidants that target different systems in the body. Fat soluble anti-oxidants like vitamins E and D help keep the peace in organs and tissues. Water soluble antioxidants like OPCs are effective for blood sugar regulation, circulation, inflammation and immune support.  A mixture of both is a great idea for overall health.

These are general guidelines that can benefit everyone. Adding these four quality supplements into your daily routine is an inexpensive, easy habit that will set you up for healthier future.

This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter. 

One a Day for Life - Vitamin #3

Why supplement? For starters, no one eats a “perfect diet”. Supplements insure that our bodies get the nutritional building blocks that they require, even when our healthy eating intentions are slightly sub-par. What’s more, research shows that the food we eat today often lacks the nutritional value that it held in previous decades. Adding a supplement helps make up for that gap.

The question remains – what do we really need? In honor of National Nutrition Month, here are the Top Four Musts for nutritional supplementation.

#3: Vitamin D

When sunshine isn’t an option, it’s important to supplement the Vitamin D our bodies need to

promote calcium absorption, bone and teeth health and immune system function.

Choose a supplement that includes Vitamin K for improved absorption. Look for an option that is specifically D3 (natural) versus D2 (synthetic) so that it’s bioavailable (ready for your body to use).


This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.   

Once A Day For Life - Vitamin #2

Why supplement? For starters, no one eats a “perfect diet”. Supplements insure that our bodies get the nutritional building blocks that they require, even when our healthy eating intentions are slightly sub-par. What’s more, research shows that the food we eat today often lacks the nutritional value that it held in previous decades. Adding a supplement helps make up for that gap.

The question remains – what do we really need? In honor of National Nutrition Month, here are the Top Four Musts for nutritional supplementation.
#2: Omega 3 (Fish Oil)

Omega 3s are considered “Essential Fatty Acids”. Essential in this context means that it’s not something that our bodies make – we have to ingest it. Omega 3s and Omega 6s support your nervous, cardiovascular, immune, and reproductive systems. You want to keep a healthy Omega 3:6 ratio (ideally a 1:1 – 1:4). The problem? We ingest a much larger amount of Omega 6 in our diets, tipping the ratio.

To balance things out, add 3000mg of a high quality Fish Oil daily. Look for one made with small fish (less toxins), and with both EPA and DHA.

This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.
Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter. 

Once a Day for Life - Vitamin #1

 

Why supplement? For starters, no one eats a “perfect diet”. Supplements insure that our bodies get the nutritional building blocks that they require, even when our healthy eating intentions are slightly sub-par. What’s more, research shows that the food we eat today often lacks the nutritional value that it held in previous decades. Adding a supplement helps make up for that gap.

The question remains – what do we really need? In honor of National Nutrition Month, here are the Top Four Musts for nutritional supplementation.

#1: A Quality Multi-Vitamin

A good multi-vitamin will cover a number of things that the body needs.

You should see the 4 major fat-soluble vitamins (A, E, D, and K). You’ll also want to see that the spectrum of B’s are covered – B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B5 (Pantothenic Acid), B6 (pyridoxine/al/amine), B7 (Biotin), B9 (Folic Acid), and B12 (various Cobalamins).

You should also look for a mixture of Calcium and Magnesium. These two elements work together in bone, muscle, and nerve health.  Other trace minerals are also important, including Iron, Manganese, Iodine and Selenium.

This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter. 

4 Heart Health Hints #4

When a group of children is asked to name an organ of the body, the heart is typically one of the first to come to mind. That’s because we learn its importance at a very young age. The heart is a power-house pump that pushes blood throughout the body and back again. The heart is a well-oiled machine…until it isn’t; then a devastating reality becomes apparent – the heart is only as strong as we make it.

So what can we do to keep our heart strong, healthy, and pumping? I have 4 Heart Health Hints to get your blood flowing (and keep it that way!)
#4  Implement a Consistent Exercise Routine

It’s no big secret that exercise will ultimately be good for your heart. Your heart is a muscles and consistently working it out will make it (and keep it) a lean, mean, blood-pumping machine. I won’t go into the many other reasons that regular exercise is good for your overall healthy; suffice it to say the reasons are many and true.

While you should always consult a health care professional and/or someone certified and knowledgeable about exercise before starting a strenuous exercise program, there are several broad recommendations that can be made. Almost every program should incorporate some anaerobic burst-type exercises. Commonly called interval training, these types of exercises have been shown to have a wide range of health benefits and can be efficiently completed in a short amount of time.

Weight training is also an important aspect of a well-rounded workout program. It doesn’t have to be larger amounts of weight, but the process of working individual muscles groups will strengthen your frame and increase blood flow to the focused areas of your body.

That's the last of our 4 Heart Health Hints. Check in next month for Once a Day for Life: 4 Top Nutritional Must-Haves.

This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter. 

4 Heart Health Hints #3

When a group of children is asked to name an organ of the body, the heart is typically one of the first to come to mind. That’s because we learn its importance at a very young age. The heart is a power-house pump that pushes blood throughout the body and back again. The heart is a well-oiled machine…until it isn’t; then a devastating reality becomes apparent – the heart is only as strong as we make it.

So what can we do to keep our heart strong, healthy, and pumping? I have 4 Heart Health Hints to get your blood flowing (and keep it that way!)

# 3  Improve Your Nerve Function

Blood pressure is one easy to measure indicator of heart health. High blood pressure can be indicative of a heart that is not functioning at its best; working hard, but not efficiently to pump blood throughout the body. Low blood pressure can also be a red flag that your heart is not pumping blood as it was designed to. If your blood pressure lows when you move from a sitting to standing position, this could be an indicator of a heart health challenge.

When an organ is not function at its best, the answer may be that it is simply suffering from a lack of communication between it and the body’s control center (the brain). Typically, it’s not the brain giving the organ the cold shoulder, but the lack of clear communication is due to an interference that is blocking the signal.

Chiropractic adjustments are designed to remove that type of interference (what chiropractors call subluxations) to allow the proper flow of information to and from the brain and other part of the body. That’s why individuals with high blood pressure see their numbers improve with chiropractic care.

A very interesting study was conducted on 50 patients with early-stage high blood pressure at The University of Chicago Hypertension Center testing the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustments on lowering blood pressure. 25 patients underwent 8 week of chiropractic adjustments while the remaining 25 received 8 weeks of placebo adjustments. None of the patients took medication during the 8 weeks.

Compared to the placebo group, those who received true chiropractic adjustments saw an average of 14 mmHg greater drop in systolic blood pressure and 8mmHg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure. George Bakris M.D, the director and study leader said that "This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination and it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems."

Pre and Post x-rays were taken in this study. The pre adjustment x-rays showed that the atlas (or top bone of the spine) was misaligned (subluxated). Even the smallest misalignment to the atlas puts pressure on the brainstem, which boasts control of the cardiovascular system as one in a long list of duties. The post adjustment x-rays for those individuals showed that the atlas was re-aligned and the pressure on the brainstem released.

This study mirrors what I see every day in the office. When we remove subluxations, the result is a better functioning nervous system. When our nervous systems are functioning at their best, the systems of our bodies heal and function at their best. That includes the cardiovascular system and the heart. You can’t get much simpler than that.
This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter. 

4 Heart Health Hints #2

When a group of children is asked to name an organ of the body, the heart is typically one of the first to come to mind. That’s because we learn its importance at a very young age. The heart is a power-house pump that pushes blood throughout the body and back again. The heart is a well-oiled machine…until it isn’t; then a devastating reality becomes apparent – the heart is only as strong as we make it.

So what can we do to keep our heart strong, healthy, and pumping? I have 4 Heart Health Hints to get your blood flowing (and keep it that way!)

  #2 Just Say No to Sugar and Grains

Removing sugar and grains from your diet is a great way to improve overall health. Among other offenses, grains and sugars cause an increase in inflammation, promote allergic response, and raise insulin levels. An elevated insulin level leads to insulin resistance, which cascades into many other health challenges – one of which is elevated blood pressure.

How are insulin resistance and blood pressure related? Insulin stores magnesium. When cells are resistance to insulin, they also reject the magnesium that comes with it, so it passes out of your body through urination. Magnesium relaxes muscles. Low levels of stored magnesium cause blood vessels to constrict rather than relax, raising your blood pressure.

Insulin also causes your body to retain sodium. How does this affect your blood pressure? Sodium retention causes fluid retention. Fluid retention is another cause of high blood pressure. Fluid retention can also lead to congestive heart failure.

One of the many ways that sugar hurts the body is by depleting it of B vitamins. B vitamins are necessary for proper heart function. Having low levels of B vitamins increases inflammation in your body and makes you more susceptible to infection and injury. You can increase your B vitamins through a quality nutritional supplement, or through a well-rounded diet including leafy green vegetables, nuts, and beans.

Eating sugars and grains -- including any type of bread, pasta, corn, potatoes, or rice -- will cause your insulin levels and your blood pressure to remain elevated. Removing these things from your everyday diet will help to regulate both your insulin levels and blood pressure. Eliminating them completely will produce the best change, but even just reducing your consumption may make a noticeable difference.

If your high blood pressure is a complication of insulin resistance, then controlling your blood sugar levels will, in turn, help to lower your blood pressure and improve your heart health. If it isn’t, eliminating grains and sugar is still a smart move that will ultimately improve your overall health. No negative side effects!

Check in later this week for more tips on how to help your heart!

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.
This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.

4 Heart Health Hints #1

When a group of children is asked to name an organ of the body, the heart is typically one of the first to come to mind. That’s because we learn its importance at a very young age. The heart is a power-house pump that pushes blood throughout the body and back again. The heart is a well-oiled machine…until it isn’t; then a devastating reality becomes apparent – the heart is only as strong as we make it.

So what can we do to keep our heart strong, healthy, and pumping? I have 4 Heart Health Hints to get your blood flowing (and keep it that way!)

#1: Normalize Your Omega 3: Omega 6 Ratio 

Both omega-3 and omega-6 fats are essential for your health. But, as in all things, balance is key.

Most Americans get too much omega-6 in their diets. Omega-6 essential fatty acids are found in corn, soy, canola, safflower and sunflower oils. Any this list is found in anything processed, packaged or fried.  Because there is no shortage of these oils in the average diet, you should make an effort to limit your intake of products that boast these ingredients in construct or preparation.

On the flip side, most Americans do not consume enough Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Omega-3s are present in flaxseed, some nuts, and fish.  Because it is often difficult get enough Omega-3 in your general diet, taking a high quality fish oil supplement is a great option that many people choose. (It is important to know the quality and type of fish that your fish oil is made from. Consult your trusted health care practitioner if you are unsure of where to find the right supplement for you and your family).

Consuming omega-3 fats is one of the best ways to re-sensitize your insulin receptors, which will help to keep your insulin levels under control and, in turn, your blood pressure.

Check in next week for Hint #2 and more about ways to keep your heart going strong!

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.
 
This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo. Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.

Stick to Your Resolutions #3, 4 & 5

Everyone wants to start 2015 off on the right foot. And that often means that when we ring in the New Year, we bring on the resolutions. But quite often (more often than anyone wants to admit) those resolutions are forgotten by the time March Madness rolls around – if not sooner.

How do we keep this from happening? What’s the best way to stay on track for a healthier, happier 2015?

Make your resolutions stick by making them SMART and writing them down! SMART is an acronym that outlines a great way to form a goal. Following the smart guidelines will make your goal more attainable and help keep you on track to reaching it!

#3 Achievable: Setting an ambitious goal is great! But it still needs to be something realistic. Your resolution shouldn’t be to swim the English Channel by April if you have never set foot in a pool. Selecting an unreasonable resolution will be frustrating and could lead to setbacks in healthy changes you’ve already accomplished.  Instead, make a resolution that will challenge you and change your habits within the realm of reasonable and achievable. 

#4 Relevant: This one should be obvious, but it’s worth saying. Make sure your resolution is relevant to something you want to achieve. If you want to be in better shape by bathing suit season, making a resolution to become the hot dog eating champion of Diamond Run is not the best goal to get you there. Make a resolution that is in-line with your values and needs and you’ll be much more likely to stick to it!

#5 Timely: Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to achieve your goal and stick to it! Break your resolution into mini-monthly goals to keep yourself on track. We all know how it feels to get to April and realize you’re not where you thought you’d be. Track your success with monthly time limits and re-adjust as needed. Not quite meeting your goal in March doesn’t mean you throw in the towel. That means your make the necessary changes to make April a success!

Adding any one of these tips to your resolution will help to keep you on track for a happy, healthy 2015…using them all will really make that resolution stick! Doesn’t that sound like a SMART idea?

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.

This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
Please contact our office directly at 412-369-0400 or info@turofamilychiropractic.com for details.  
 

Stick to Your Resolutions #1 & #2

Everyone wants to start 2015 off on the right foot. And that often means that when we ring in the New Year, we bring on the resolutions. But quite often (more often than anyone wants to admit) those resolutions are forgotten by the time March Madness rolls around – if not sooner.

How do we keep this from happening? What’s the best way to stay on track for a healthier, happier 2015?

Make your resolutions stick by making them SMART and writing them down! SMART is an acronym that outlines a great way to form a goal. Following the smart guidelines will make your goal more attainable and help keep you on track to reaching it!

#1 Specific : The more specific you are, the more likely you are to accomplish that goal. If your resolution is vague, there are more loopholes and places for rationalizing reasons not to try or succeed. Which goal sounds more attainable: I will finish my housework sometime OR I will empty the dishwasher before 7pm every day.  Multiple specific goals are more likely to be completed than one sweeping goal that covers a lot but is never done.


#2 Measureable: Adding a number or amount to a resolution makes it more tangible. It also gives you a firm endpoint or milestone to reach before you feel like your goal is accomplished. Losing weight is a great example. Setting the goal to lose weight without a measureable component (pounds or inches) keeps the resolution vague and easy to toss aside. Once you’ve lost a single pound, you’ve technically reached your goal. Saying ‘I will lose 15 pounds” not only gives you a milestone to reach, but keeps you focused until you reach it.
 
Tune in later in the week for my next tip to keeping your resolutions!

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.