Have you quit?

Cigarette smokers are at risk of developing all sorts of significant health issues from lung and bladder cancers to depression. According to TIME, Healthland, maternal smoking during pregnancy contributes to child behavioral disorders such as bullying, aggressiveness and breaking rules. Of note, the study from Pediatrics interested in child development also concluded that parental smoking, specifically paternal smoking, led to heavier children than the children of non-smoking dads.

Another point to consider are the numerous smoking bans that have been implemented in Austin in the last few years discouraging residents and students at UT alike to stop polluting the air.

If you have pledged to quit but find it difficult to stick with it, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has provided numerous web links and sources to help you achieve your goals. To Your Health online magazine, suggests you find support for yourself or support a loved one in achieving their goal of quitting smoking.

In health, Amanda Gibson, DC

Three Reasons to Limit TV Time

By Editorial Staff at To Your Health

21st century people have one huge addiction: TV. We love to go home after a long day at work and take a seat in front of the tv, inevitably to leave a dent in our couch and back side or consume more food than we need.

What we really need instead is to get off our butts and move. One hour of inactivity lowers your metabolism and increases your waist line. Hanging out in front of the boob tube also makes us hungry and more likely to consume processed foods right before bed time, contributing to fatigue and other weight-related conditions like diabetes. Lastly, television negatively impacts our health and since a well rested body makes us innately more in tune to our selves, television may be anti-health because we end up not giving our bodies the rest it needs.

While television may be fun to watch and a good source of info, set some boundaries for yourself that revolve around moderation.

In Health, Amanda Gibson, DC Clear Point Wellness

Talking Natural Health With Dr. Weil

From To Your Health Newsletter:

Dr. Andrew Weil's name is synonymous with integrative medicine; he is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2005. Recently, Dr. Weil took time to answer a few questions about topics central to chiropractic care, including the innate power of healing and dealing with modern life using a drug-free approach. Here's some of what he had to say:

"At the root of good healthcare is an acceptance of each person's responsibility for her or his own health. Identify and work with a good primary care physician with whom you can engage in a healing partnership and get credible assistance with developing a personalized healthy diet and lifestyle program to prevent illness and optimize health. Then maintain that program as best you can for the rest of your life."

"Practitioners of conventional medicine are perhaps even more fed up than patients with the drug-only approach to preventing and treating illness. Most doctors today are hungry to learn more about the mind-body continuum and how they can better help patients access their innate healing capacity. I define integrative medicine as healing oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind and spirit), including all aspects of diet and lifestyle."

"Mind and body are inseparable. Most experts now believe that longstanding emotional disturbances can elicit inflammatory changes in the physical body, and chronic inflammation is the root cause of many serious illnesses, especially those related to aging."

Dr. Weil is among a growing number of health care practitioners, including doctors of chiropractic, advocating a holistic approach to patient care that moves beyond the medication-only conventional medical model and recognizes the power of the human body in health and healing. Talk to your chiropractor about the power of the human body and how they - and you - can optimize its potential.

To read more, click here.

In Health,
Amanda Gibson, DC

Natural Approach to Hypertension

Essential hypertension accounts for 90% of high blood pressure; the other 10% is secondary hypertension due to a variety of conditions such as renal, endocrine, vascular or neurological disorders. Most cases of hypertension respond well to medication but can have short-term undesirable effects and financial implications. There are natural methods to return blood pressure to normal and improve overall quality of life that include combined therapies of life-style modification: weight reduction, diet, exercise, sleep, and chiropractic adjustments.

The effects of blood pressure are easy to feel and recognize. Simply observe your own reaction in a stressful situation and you will feel tension and elevation of your heart rate. In a chronically stressed situation like overcrowding, tense home life or high-paced lifestyle, the resulting blood pressure elevation is exaggerated and causes other problems in your stress pathways, like adrenal fatigue.

Chiropractic offers an additional, hygienic and natural approach that, when effective, eliminates the side effects of drug therapy. A hygienic approach revolves around diet modification--decreasing processed foods and refined sugars, improving sleep quality with an improved mattress and lower set pillow, supplementation--vitamins A, C, P, exercise through walking, spinal stretches and specific chiropractic adjustments.

Over 28 million Americans suffer from hypertension of "unknown cause", and at least 3 million cases of "secondary" high blood pressure are misdiagnosed and could benefit greatly from the hygienic approach mentioned above. To determine if you have hypertension, several readings must be made over the course of a few visits and a full history must be done that includes present medications and an examination of your own personal habits.

In Health,
Amanda Gibson, DC
Clear Point Wellness

Source: Applied Kinesiology by Walther, 2nd Edition

A Natural Kind of Health

When you enter Clear Point Wellness, you know it's different. We intentionally made this place one of healing. We want you to enjoy a long life of well-being and satisfaction in all areas including: physical, emotional and chemical. So we address neuro-musculoskeletal complaints and have found that adjusting one part of the body by removing stress off a system positively affects other systems that were being overworked due dis-ease. We also address nutritional needs of a person through homeopathic remedies, vitamins or simply increasing the quality of water you drink. Emotional balancing occurs as we discover stresses in your life that contribute to dis-ease and discomfort. These components converge into the triad of health. By improving the way your body adapts and responds to stresses, removing resistance and irritation in your system, we unleash the healing power within your body to help you live a healthier, wealthier life from the inside out. And that is priceless.

In Health,
Amanda Gibson, DC
Clear Point Wellness

Toxic Food Syndrome

If you think you might be suffering from a food sensitivity, click here to take a symptom survey that might recommend a more comprehensive Immuno BloodPanel. Immuno Labs and Better Health USA have taken over 28 years of science to help people discover their own food sensitivities and now offer a low cost test that will change your life.

For a more comprehensive test, visit Clear Point Wellness and we can assist you on your journey toward an allergy free life.

In Health,
Amanda Gibson, DC

Some Tips to Live Longer

Chronic disease linked to obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke can all be avoided or decreased in severity through exercise. It doesn't matter what type of exercise you do as long as you are getting up and moving at least 30 minutes per day. Low tech exercises like walking and biking are usually free and fun. Nutrition also plays a role in chronic diseases and it's easy to make small changes to eat a more quality diet, decreasing your overall calories and eating the way we were designed to. Here are a few ideas to do this season to get yourself on track to decrease your chance of chronic illness.

You must watch this video lecture called 23 1/2 hours. Click the link here to learn about the single best thing you can do for your health.

Clean your pantry out! The general rule is that if it comes in a box or a bag, there's a decent chance it doesn't provide you with the nutrition you need. Focus instead on eating real food first.

Hear this Life By Design Podcast titled "You're Not Losing Fat Because".

Quit Smoking.

Maybe you can try my new favorite podcast: Yoga for Buns. Or get connected with Shiva Rea, an inspiring yogini who focuses on chakra balance.

Get more sleep.

Drink more water, preferably filtered.

Try these tips for two weeks and then check back in.

Experience Life.

In Health,
Amanda Gibson, DC