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Category: Studies

Draper ChiropracticBlogStudies
By user Studies , , ,

Blood Sugar Regulation 101

If you’re one of the umpteen-zillion people who have at one point or another tried to shed some weight (don’t quote us on that number), you may have learned a couple of things:

  1. It can be very hard.
  2. It can be even harder to keep it off.

First, there’s more to being healthy than just losing weight, so make sure you have the right goals. Talk to your doctor and/or a nutritionist to help you make solid choices about the target you need to be aiming for in the first place.

Second, your mileage may vary when it comes to these tips. So many variables can come into play, including your age, genetics, activity level, and any pre-existing physical limitations and/or medical conditions.

Third, weight loss is an ever-evolving discussion among researchers and medical professionals. Some studies are contradictory to others, and it can be difficult to make informed decisions. (This is yet another reason to consult a professional to help you make those decisions.)

Regulate That Blood Sugar!

And now to the topic at hand: your blood sugar. Keeping an eye on blood sugar levels isn’t just for those who are diabetic. Stable blood sugar levels help to keep you more energized and feel less hungry—and less prone to the types of cravings that can lead to overeating.

Eating a diet that relies on complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats can help to regulate your blood sugar. (That’s right: “carbohydrate”—or just “carb” for short—is not a dirty word.)

That said, it’s important to distinguish between complex carbs and simple carbs. Fiber and starch are complex carbs; they’re digested more slowly and release glucose into your bloodstream at a more gradual rate. (This is the whole “stable blood sugar” thing we’re going for, remember?)

Simple carbs, on the other hand, are digested more quickly and tend to be the culprits behind the blood sugar spikes and drops we want to avoid. Those ups and downs lend themselves to insulin resistance, which can cause a whole host of problems, including weight gain, higher triglyceride levels, hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), and hypertension (high blood pressure).

Simple carbs include table sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, and fruit concentrates. Some occur naturally, but many are added to sweeten foods you buy off the shelf: sodas, sugary breakfast cereals, and baked goods, just to name a few. You may have heard it’s good to reduce your intake of highly processed foods; one of the reasons is that they’re often chock-full of simple carbs.

Embrace Complexity

So, at this point, you’re probably saying something like, “You’re right! I’m a complex person who deserves complex carbs!” (Okay, you’re probably not saying anything remotely like that, but it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?)

We hear you. If you’re looking to include more complex carbohydrates in your diet, look for whole grains (such as quinoa and buckwheat), fiber-rich fruits (think apples, berries, and bananas), fiber-rich vegetables (include broccoli, kale, and carrots), beans, and lentils.

For a list of more foods—including complex carbohydrates— that can help to regulate your blood sugar, check out 17 Foods To Lower Your Blood Sugar.

by: Brett Hearn

Sources:

Cleveland Clinic: Insulin Resistance

Healthline: 17 Foods To Lower Your Blood Sugar 

Healthline: Simple Carbohydrates vs. Complex Carbohydrates

Women’s Health: Keeping Your Blood Sugar in Check Comes with a Bonus Prize: Weight Loss

By user Studies , , ,

Fun Facts About Bones and Joints

The human body is a mind-bogglingly complex machine. The way its many components (usually) work together in harmony to keep us breathing, thinking, and living is a marvelous thing to behold.

The human body is also pretty weird. These meat sacks we call “us” are a gold mine of trivia just waiting to be discovered and discussed. Since this is a chiropractic blog, it’s worth noting a few things about bones and joints that you can use at an icebreaker at the next party when you’ve exhausted your Marvel and T-Swift knowledge.

Not all humans have 206 bones.

It’s one of those nuggets of trivia you likely learned as a child and proudly recited to show how smart you were: There are 206 bones in the human body. But it would have been more accurate to say that most adult humans have 206 bones. Or that a human adult has about 206 bones.

Why the equivocation? Well, when we’re born, we can have closer to 300 bones! As we grow, some of our bones fuse, leaving most of us with that precious 206 number we all know and love. But adults can have more bones; some of us have extra digits, vertebrae, or ribs.

No one is actually double-jointed. 

Have you ever met someone who could contort their fingers at a stomach-churning angle that, for most other people, would require a trip to the emergency room? Or someone who could drop into full side splits with zero training and no preparation? If so, there’s a good chance that when met with an astonished, “How did you do that?!” they shrugged and responded, “It’s easy. I’m double-jointed.”

If so, that person was lying.

Okay, perhaps “lying” is a bit harsh. It’s possible that some of us are still carrying a grudge from the week’s worth of lunch money we lost when a kid bet they could bend their thumb to their wrist without having to call an ambulance. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say they’re simply mistaken.

What so many of us call “double-jointed” is actually something called hypermobility, which is a fancy term for the ability to move one’s joints further than most of us can without any special training. (If, say, you’re a dancer, gymnast, or martial artist who’s trained hard to achieve a high level of flexibility, that’s not what we’re talking about; this kind of hypermobility is something you’re born with.)

Hypermobility can be caused by a variety of factors, including abnormal collagen or elastin fibers, shallow bones in your joint sockets, and, in some cases, more serious medical conditions.

The smallest bone in your body.

It’s quite possible you already know that the femur is the longest bone in your body. (Another popular trivia question.) But have you “heard” what the shortest bone is?

As you may have guessed from that super-lame hint, it’s in your ear. The stapes, one of the three bones collectively known as ossicles (the other two are the malleus and the incus), resides in your middle ear. The stapes helps to transfer sound vibrations from the external environment to the inner ear, and it’s smaller than one kernel of short-grain rice!

If you think one or more of the bones and joints in your miraculous body may need some attention, make an appointment with a chiropractor.

In the meantime, we hope you’ve learned a little something today. Just be sure you impart your newfound wisdom from a place of wonder rather than condescension. There’s a fine line between being the most interesting person in the room and being the person people dodge on their way to the snack table.

By: Brett Hearn

Sources:

BBC: The Myth of Being Double-Jointed

Cleveland Clinic: 13 Strange and Interesting Facts About Your Bones

healthline: Stapes

StatPearls: Anatomy, Head and Neck, Ear Ossicles

Think Rice: Rice Types and Forms

USA Today: Humans Have Nearly 100 More Bones at Birth Than as Adults

verywell health: Can You Really Be Double-Jointed?