FEATURE per day of white meat such as chicken or fish. Encourage your patients to shop the outskirts of the grocery store. They must also start moving. Motion is lotion, whether that means going to the gym or for a walk. Reduce stress, unplug from social media and be pres-ent for your family. Simple changes, done repeatedly over time, will gener-ate the most significant results. When talking about the second lead-ing killer – cancer, diet can also play a massive role here as well. Studies have shown that an increase in vegetables can reduce your cancer risk by up to 40 per cent! There are also certain things to avoid. One of the more prominent contributors to cancer is the way we cook meat. Picture a summer barbe-que, with burgers and sausages char-ring over the grill. This char that gathers onto the meat is just as toxic as cigarette smoke. The toxicity is due to the incomplete combustion yielding highly carcinogenic compounds in-cluding – but not limited to – benzene and nitrosamines. Pretty scary consid-ering most of us have barbequed at some point, if not regularly. What can be done to avoid the char? Lighting only half of the barbeque can reduce the char and reduce the risk of carcino-genic compounds. Smoked meats and processed meats are just as mutagenic as the charred meats. As for neurodegenerative conditions: The biggest problem seen among those with neurodegenerative diseases is decreased mitochondrial functioning. This decreased functioning occurs because of an increase of reactive oxi-dant species. To reduce said species, the first line of prevention here is the Mediterranean diet, which consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts and limited red meat. Not only does it preserve white brain matter, but it also increases cer-ebrovascular function and decreases the risk of cognitive impairment. An-other significant factor in prevention here is exercise. Exercise has been shown to improve cognitive function and subsequently reduce the risk of dementia. Another interesting study found that those who played video games had a decreased risk of develop-ing neurodegenerative diseases because of the increase in grey matter. As we age, not only do our brains begin to deteriorate, our bones do too. So, what can we do to prevent diseases such as osteoporosis? Although many immediately think of calcium and vita-min D, this is not the case. Studies have shown that the required calcium is under 400mg/day yet North Americans get roughly 700mg/day. However, we have the highest fracture rates. Why? Because the key is not merely calcium, but calcium utilization. If someone is following the standard American diet, then it’s high in meat and low in plants, causing an overall acid load leading to a negative impact on calcium balance and thus a higher chance of fracture. I’m sure you’re sensing a pattern here: increase plants and decrease animal protein. Another important aspect of bone health is – you guessed it – exer-cise. Exercise increases bone mineral density (BMD) and therefore decreases fracture risk. One very common disease that is often overlooked in terms of lifestyle factor prevention is Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is one of many chronic condi-tions seen exclusively in North Amer-ica. Once again, the standard American diet is the culprit here. Because of the high sugar intake among our popula-tion, this disease has become rampant. When the body gets a large supply of glucose, it is unable to take it all into its cells via insulin, therefore causing insu-lin resistance. Unfortunately for most people, this means they will be put on metformin, and then progressively in-sulin for the rest of their lives. However, there are lifestyle factors that can not only prevent it but also reverse it. To prevent or reverse Type 2 diabetes, pa-tients must decrease their overall sugar intake and increase vegetable consump-tion. Numerous studies looked at exercise among this population and found that it increases the uptake of glucose into muscle tissue, thereby re-ducing insulin resistance. Now that we’ve covered the more common chronic conditions, what do they all have in common? They are all products of chronic inflammation. In-flammation happens to everyone, and it’s a normal process. Whether it’s from an infection, or from going for a run, more times than not, our body is deal-ing with some sort of inflammation. It is when the inflammation does not subside where we run into issues (chronic inflammation). Chronic in-flammation can be due to anything from an ongoing infection to a long-standing injury. Because chronic inflammation is such a prevalent prob-lem today, we must modify our lifestyles early on to avoid it in the first place. Some supplementation recom-mended for the prevention of the above diseases go as follows: fish oil (this decreases inflammation which can re-duce conditions associated with chronic inflammation), CoQ10 (which was found to be low in almost all pa-tients who had heart disease and/or are taking statin medications, therefore it is an essential marker for preventing this), multivitamin (that is vitamin A free) and melatonin (sleep is an excel-lent predictor for mortality rate, and it has been shown to decrease risks of many chronic diseases because of its ability to promote sleep). Even more important than supplementation, though is to ensure you have a diet that is rich in nutrients and low in processed foods. Implementing exercise into your daily life will also have a profound ef-fect on your health outcome. The elimination diet can also be used to see if certain foods are causing some of a patient’s symptoms. This diet es-sentially strips out sugar, processed meats, dairy, gluten, alcohol etc., result-ing in a clean diet. Re-introduce after three weeks to see which foods may be causing inflammatory reactions. Whether it be for heart disease or cancer prevention, all the way to frac-ture risk, patients can now understand that lifestyle factors are the key. Not only will it reduce the risk of the lead-ing killers and chronic inflammation, but it will also improve your overall health and ultimately, your life. www.canadianchiropractor.ca Type 2 diabetes is often overlooked in terms of lifestyle factor prevention. 26 Canadian Chiropractor September 2019
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor September 2019: Page 26
