Blog • Pure Wellness

Why Sleep is so Important for Digestion

Sleep is the time when your body and mind rest, recover, and repair themselves. Digestion is the process of breaking down food into nutrients that can be absorbed by your body.

Sleep and digestion are closely linked because they both involve similar hormones and chemicals that help regulate each other’s function. Without enough sleep, you may experience digestive problems such as indigestion or heartburn; on the other hand, poor digestion can cause you to feel tired throughout the day–and therefore less inclined to get enough restful sleep at night!

The Role of Sleep in Digestion

When you don’t get enough sleep, your body doesn’t function at its best. Your digestive system is no exception to this rule. When you’re short on shut-eye, it can affect everything from how fast food digests to how well your body absorbs nutrients from the food you eat.

When we’re awake and active during the day, our bodies are constantly producing hormones that tell us when we’re full or hungry; these hormones also regulate digestion by slowing down when we eat and speeding up when we need to pass waste through our intestines (1). But when we don’t get enough sleep–or if our circadian rhythms are disrupted–these processes become impaired: Our bodies produce less hunger-suppressing leptin and more hunger-stimulating ghrelin (2). This means that even though our stomachs may be full after dinner time, there’s still an urge to keep eating because those hunger signals aren’t being properly regulated by sleep deprivation.

The Link Between Poor Sleep and Digestive Disorders

There are a number of digestive disorders that can be caused by or exacerbated by poor sleep. These include:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, which are inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)

The Benefits of Adequate Sleep for Digestion

When you sleep enough, your body has the opportunity to repair and rebuild itself. This includes the digestive system. When you’re getting enough sleep, your body can focus on repairing any damage that may have been done during the day. In addition to helping with digestion issues such as bloating or constipation, adequate sleep also helps keep you at a healthy weight by regulating hormones like leptin (which controls hunger) and ghrelin (which controls appetite).
If you’re struggling with digestion issues like bloating or constipation, it’s important to consider how much sleep you’re getting each night. If possible try increasing your nightly rest time by 15 minutes until you find what works best for your body!

Tips for Getting Better Sleep

Create a bedtime routine. A regular routine will help your body know when it’s time to go to sleep and when it’s time to wake up.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evenings, as these can interfere with sleep quality.
Exercise regularly, but not right before bedtime–exercise boosts energy levels and makes you feel awake, which can make it difficult for you to fall asleep at night.

The importance of sleep for digestion is clear. If you’re not getting enough sleep, your body may not be able to properly digest food, leading to indigestion and other digestive problems.
Sleep is also crucial for maintaining a healthy gut microbiome–the collection of bacteria that live in your intestines and help break down food so it can be absorbed by the body. When you don’t get enough shut-eye, these microbes can become imbalanced which can lead to inflammation throughout the digestive tract.

In honor of World Posture Awareness Month, we’re sharing…

Proper Posture: The Keys to a Healthy and Confident You

We have all heard it before – sit up straight, don’t slouch, shoulders back – but how important is proper posture? The answer is very important. Good posture not only makes you look more confident and poised, but it also has numerous health benefits. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of proper posture and provide tips on how to improve your posture.

Importance of Proper Posture

The benefits of good posture go beyond just looking good. Here are some of the key reasons why you should pay attention to your posture:

Reduce Pain: Poor posture can lead to back, neck, and shoulder pain. When you slouch, it puts pressure on your spine and muscles, which can cause discomfort and pain.
Improve Breathing: When you sit or stand up straight, your lungs have more room to expand, allowing you to take deeper breaths. This can improve your breathing and overall health.
Boost Confidence: Good posture can make you look taller and more confident. When you stand up straight, you appear more alert and engaged, which can boost your self-esteem.

February is National Heart Month!

It’s always important to take care of your heart, but February is National Heart Month, so let’s look at how chiropractic care is good for your cardiac health. The distribution of the heart’s nerves comes from the thoracic region of the spinal cord, so it’s essential to keep these nerves free from impingement. Chiropractic care does that, ensuring that your heart works properly. Here are some other ways chiropractic care helps keep your ticker, ticking!

Reduce blood pressure

Chronically high blood pressure puts a lot of stress on your heart’s chambers and your arteries and veins. Chiropractic manipulation has been shown to reduce blood pressure, protecting your heart.

Reduce anxiety

Because chiropractic treatment lowers blood pressure, it also reduces anxiety. Anxious people often experience heart palpitations and do not get enough sleep. By reducing the many unhealthy side effects of anxiety, you protect your heart.

Get more sleep

Numerous studies have proven that lack of sleep can lead to everything from stroke and heart attack to high blood pressure and heart failure, so getting more sleep is good for your heart. As we’ve already seen, chiropractic care reduces anxiety, leading to more sleep. It also reduces back, neck, and joint pain, which helps you sleep more.

Improve lung function

To function properly, your heart needs your lungs. If your lungs are not working right, your heart muscle will not have enough oxygen to beat properly. Chiropractic care helps protect your lung function.

Reduce inflammation

Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to reduce inflammation throughout the body. This includes inflammation in the arteries, veins, and heart that causes cardiovascular disease.

Chiropractic care for heart health

These are just some of the many ways in which chiropractic care can help your cardiac health. During February, which is National Heart Month, protect your heart with a visit to Pure Wellness. We would love to show you the many benefits of chiropractic for your overall health and well-being.

5 Auto Accident Injuries that Chiropractic Can Help

An auto accident can disrupt your life – in more ways than one. While you certainly don’t want to incur damage to your vehicle, you definitely don’t want to sustain any injuries.

Unfortunately, car accident injuries are quite common. Even a minor fender bender can mean pain that keeps you up at night and impacts your mobility.

Chiropractic care is a safe, non-invasive treatment for these common auto accident injuries.

Whiplash

Neck pain and stiffness are often associated with car crashes and whiplash is usually the culprit. It occurs when the impact of the crash causes the head to jerk back and forth. It involves the cervical spine (neck area) and shoulders as tension is put on the vertebrae as well as the muscles and tendons in that area. If left untreated, the pain can become chronic.

Sciatica

The path of the sciatic nerve runs from the lower back, through each side of the buttocks and down each leg. Sciatica occurs when that nerve is pinched. It can cause tingling, numbness, weakness, and pain, usually on one side. You might feel these sensations in your lower back and down one leg. Chiropractic is a very effective treatment for sciatica.

Joint Injuries

Joint injuries can occur when you try to brace yourself against the impact of an auto accident. You might hit your knees on the dash or your wrists on the steering wheel or stick shift. Wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, and hips can sustain injuries or become inflamed due to tension, strain, or impact. These types of injuries can cause a loss of mobility, making movement difficult and painful.

Migraine and Headache

Many different injuries caused by auto accidents can result in migraines and headaches. Migraine is a chronic condition that can result from a head injury or whiplash. Chronic headaches and tension headaches can also become a problem due to stiffness in the muscles of the neck and shoulders. Chiropractic can effectively treat both of these conditions with great success.

Back Pain

The lumbar spine (lower back) is a common point of stress in an auto accident, although the thoracic spine (middle back) can also be affected. Sometimes, just the trauma of impact will cause pain due to a spinal misalignment. Other times though, there are injuries directly to the back, such as herniated discs, that cause problems.

Do You Need Chiropractic Care After an Auto Accident?

Many people don’t realize that it is possible to experience few or no symptoms after a car accident. In fact, you may not feel anything for up to 72 hours post wreck. When you are in a stressful situation such as a car accident, your body releases certain hormones that can mask pain and prevent you from feeling the full force of any injuries. Once those hormones subside though, the pain can hit you like a ton of bricks. It is in your best interest to see a chiropractor very soon after your accident – before any severe symptoms present.

In a perfect world, wrecks would never happen, and auto accident injuries would never occur. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Accidents happen and people get hurt. That’s where we come in.

Chiropractic is a drug-free, surgery-free treatment for many injuries caused by car wrecks. If you’ve been in a car accident, call Pure Wellness Chiropractic or schedule a consultation online today.

Our whole-body wellness approach will help you reduce your pain, increase your mobility, and improve your quality of life. You don’t have to live with pain. We can help.

5 Benefits of Long-Term Chiropractic Care

When you think of chiropractic you most likely think about pain relief, but did you know that there are some distinct benefits to long-term chiropractic care? Even after the pain subsides you can still enjoy some great health advantages that you probably never even considered.

And these five top our list.

Stronger Immune System

Subluxations, or misalignments in the spine, can interfere with how your nervous system receives and sends messages throughout your body. This impacts how your body as a whole functions, especially your organs, including your heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. When your body isn’t functioning as it should, neither is your immune system. When your body is in alignment and balanced, your nervous system can work as it should, and you will enjoy stronger immunity against diseases and better health.

Better Balance

When your spine is out of alignment it can throw off your balance. Even slight subluxations can cause a problem. This is especially important if you are older. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one in four adults, age 65 and older, fall each year. One out of five falls causes serious injury including broken bones or head injury. Regular chiropractic care can help improve your balance, thus reducing your risk of falls as you get older.

Increased Lung Capacity

When you think about chiropractic, lung capacity is probably not something that immediately comes to mind, but a growing body of scientific evidence shows that regular chiropractic care increases a person’s lung capacity. This can, in turn, help lower your risk of stroke, heart attack, and other serious cardiovascular issues. Patients who see their chiropractor regularly are likely to experience improved lung volume, so make that appointment so you can breathe a little easier.

Less Prone to Injury

A body that is in proper alignment functions better. It’s just that simple. This means that it has better balance and is stronger which translates to a body that is less prone to serious injury. Regular, long-term chiropractic care keeps your body tuned up and balanced, so it functions at an optimal level. Then, your body can get the most out of your workouts. Additionally, chiropractic helps keep you flexible and improves your range of motion. This is also a very important factor in decreasing your likelihood of being injured during exercise or regular activity.

Improved Mobility and Flexibility

Seeing your chiropractor regularly will help keep your body flexible which can help keep you more mobile. This is particularly true if you sit at a desk all day. Chiropractic care helps you keep your body aligned and everything moving as it should. If you have osteoarthritis or tension headaches chiropractic can provide relief while loosening those joints and muscles so that you can move easier and without pain.

Long term chiropractic care offers many benefits beyond pain management. If you’re not sure what advantages you can enjoy with long term chiropractic care, give us a call.

At Pure Wellness Chiropractic, we see patients every day for long-term and short-term care. Our caring, knowledgeable staff is ready to answer your questions so call today or schedule your consultation online. You’ll be so glad you did!

Staying Mobile as You Age

As we get older, mobility and flexibility don’t come as easily as they once did. As the body ages, there are many physiological changes that take place that affect your balance, stamina, and ability to move. Unfortunately, the more sedentary you are, the less mobile you will be, especially in your later years.

The best way to stay mobile as you age is to keep moving. And the best time to start is when you are young. However, if you are older and find that you just don’t have the get up and go that you once did, there are things you can do to increase your mobility. The best time to start is right now so find your decade below and use the tips to adopt a healthier lifestyle that will keep you moving into your 70s and beyond.

In your 30s

This is where you might start to notice a little stiffness, maybe you just don’t move like you did in your 20s. People in this age group are usually juggling work and family, leaving little time for a workout. Try to carve out a few minutes a day and choose workouts that make every movement count. High-intensity interval training will give you the most bang for your buck. It alternates high intensity and low-intensity exercise and is the smart way to work out because they can be done in less than 30 minutes.

Stretching before and after is very important, especially if you spend a lot of time behind a desk. Try using a standing desk or do some stretching exercises in your office. At lunch, take a walk. Your body will benefit.

In your 40s

Most people start to notice differences in their body when they hit their 40s. Most notice that it’s much easier to gain weight – and harder to lose it. Resistance training and cardio are a great combination to help keep the weight off and keep your muscles supple. Exercise also helps alleviate arthritis pain and can even prevent it. Stretching workouts like Pilates or ballet barre stretching are great for increasing or maintaining flexibility and strengthening the core which will help improve posture and give you better balance. Weight bearing exercise also prevents osteoporosis.

In your 50s

This is the decade that many people develop chronic conditions like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Many women go through menopause around this time and men may also notice changes in their bodies. The aches, pains, and stiffness tend to be a little more common and you may feel like you just don’t have the energy you once did. The best remedy for all that though is good, old fashioned exercise.

A program that includes strength training two or three times a week, coupled with walking about 30 minutes a day is your best defense against chronic disease and the little aches that come with age. Adding some Pilates or yoga will help keep your workouts interesting while improving your balance.

In your 60s

People tend to start slowing down during this decade. It is very tempting to enjoy your retirement years kicked back in a chair, taking it easy. While that’s all well and good, it isn’t very good for you. The risk for certain cancers increases at around this age and exercise can help prevent them. Regular exercise can also prevent or reverse many chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

Cardio is a must. Try to get out and walk at least three times a week. Ideally, you want to aim for 30 minutes or better, but you may have to work up to it. Walk at a brisk pace and swing your arms for a little cardio boost. Flexibility and strength are huge factors now, so you want to engage in activities that increase both. Water aerobics, yoga, and Pilates are great for that and you’ll feel better too.

In your 70s and beyond

Many people who reach this age group get less active. This can result in increased frailty and a high risk of falls. Exercise helps to keep your body strong and healthy, decreasing your fall risk and preventing frailty. It is important though, to work at your own fitness level. Your best bet is to work with an exercise specialist or physical therapist who can help you create an exercise program that is right for you.

Walking is always good, but if you are unable to walk, sitting in a chair or on the side of your bed and working out with a ball or small weights can be very beneficial. Try to do exercises that work your core and legs. This will help you continue to move as well as make it easier for you to do simple things like turn over in bed or tie your shoes.

The key to staying mobile as you age is to keep moving. Add to that a healthy diet, good quality sleep, and staying hydrated and you have a terrific plan for great health. It’s just that simple. Do what you can but don’t be afraid to challenge yourself a bit. Just make sure you stay safe. If you are unsteady, make sure someone is there with you, so you don’t fall or get hurt. If you can find an exercise buddy, that’s even better.

Chiropractic is a great complement to your healthy lifestyle. Regular chiropractic care will help you stay flexible and mobile no matter your age. It can help alleviate pain and even improve some chronic conditions. At Pure Wellness Chiropractic, we are committed to helping you have your best life. Call today or schedule a consultation online with one of our skilled chiropractors and see what a difference great health makes.

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