Tips for a Healthier Year

by Dr. Alayna E. Pagnani-Gendron

If this past year has put anything into perspective, it should be about health and ways to maintain it. Here are so top tips to be your healthiest self.

Rather than going on a crash diet that is unrealistic for you or starting one and 5 days in feeling guilty about eating that brownie you just could not resist, try to come up with a plan that works for you. The best way to maintain a good diet is to not be on a diet, make it a lifestyle change. Start out with a cleanse can help you get you through that hump or staring new eating habits. Whole 30 is also a great option. But if that doesn’t suit you, try and make minor changes you can stick with year-round. Here are a few suggestions: Add a veggie at each meal. Try putting some sautéed spinach in your eggs in the morning, drink a green smoothie, eat a salad, have some carrots with your lunch or make a hearty side veggie with your dinner. Starting off with a vegetable gives your body the nutrients it needs to power through your day. Switch up what your put in your morning coffee. Are you someone who needs a lot of cream and sugar? Try adding in almond milk creamer (there are flavored ones) or if that is too drastic of a change, do half cream half almond or coconut milk until your palette gets used to it and you can make the full switch. Give this time and stick with it. Limit sweets and “white foods.” If you are a person who lives for desert after dinner try eating something more healthy such as fruit or a yogurt. Limit or avoid all of those “white carbs” that have no nutritional value such as white breads, pastas and French fries. Switch to sweet potato fries, wholegrain bread and lentil pasta. Add in good fats such as avocados, avocado oils, extra virgin olive oil or coconut oils. Our bodies need good fats and these oils have much healthier properties than vegetable oils. Go organic and Non GMO. Why put unnecessary toxins in our body. If you can’t swing going fully organic at least buy organic meats and look up the “dirty dozen” of fruits and veggies and stick to organic for these produce items.

Sitting is the new smoking and most of society has a desk job where they are on the computer most of the day then go home to be on the tablet or phone. Now a lot of us are working from home and not moving as much because of it. It is important that we move more! Doing a couch to 5k sounds awesome but if you are not ready for that try these simple maintainable goals:

Exercise at least 3x a week for 30 minutes. This does not mean you walked around your house or the office. Set aside a designated time to exercise. If you do not have 30 minutes then do 10 minute spurts 3x a day. Try a new exercise. Have you been wanting to try that spin or bar class? Do it. And try it more than once. It takes time to get into the swing of things when starting a new work out. Add in a yoga class. I am a huge advocate for yoga and we should all be doing it weekly at a minimum. It helps to center your body and your mind. Make sure you find a yoga class you like and a trained teacher to prevent any injuries. Take stretching breaks at work. Get up and move every 30-minutes from your desk. There are easy neck and hip stretches you can do right from your chair. Commit to using your sit-stand desk. Start out by standing for 45 mins then take a break and sit for 45 minutes. Continue this pattern until you can stand for longer periods of time. Can’t stand? Invest in a ball chair. The ball chair helps to stabilize your core and forces you to sit up straight and have better posture. Get the whole family involved. Come up with an activity you can all do together, whether that is taking a walk to the playground, riding bikes or playing ball.

We should be getting our nutrients from foods, but since the quality of our food is not the same as it was twenty years ago, supplements may be needed. There are specific blood tests that can show micronutrient deficiencies. Get tested for them so you know what your body needs. Take a high quality vitamin, and not one you get from the drug store. It is easy to feel good about your $20 year long supply of multi vitamin, but guess what, that supplement is synthetic garbage you are putting in your body which defeats the purpose of taking a vitamin. Daily recommendation is to take a high-quality nutrient dense multi vitamin, Vitamin D, Probiotics and Omegas. With COVID I also recommend adding in Vitamin C and zinc as part of your regular vitamin regimen.

Nature is a great way to gain natural immunity. Play in the dirt, don’t wear shoes and soak in that sunlight. Be safe about choosing a quality sunscreen that uses zinc oxide.

We now live in a germ fear world. Let’s not forget we need bacteria and germs for homeostasis. We can not live in a sterile environment, our immune system needs practice and exposure to learn how to fight off viruses. By constantly using hand sanitizer cleaning our space with Clorox wipes or toxic body products such as shampoos, soaps, and makeup we are stripping away our normal body flora. Washing your hands is best vs using toxic hand sanitizer. If you do not have access to soap and water use a more natural hand sanitizer with less toxic chemicals in it. I recommend Thieves © Switch to less toxic body care products that do not contain parabens, known hormone disrupters. Switch to glass or tin tubber wear vs plastic Use a reusable metal water bottle vs plastic bottles.

It is easy to fall out of your maintenance/ wellness treatment plan after you are feeling better but it is important to maintain your adjustments. Regular chiropractic care helps to decrease nerve interference which ultimately helps you stay healthy and feel your best.

Dr. Alayna E. Pagnani-Gendron practices chiropractic at HealthPro Chiropractic, 4101 Greenbrier #135, Houston, TX. 281-506-0105. HealthProChiro.com

Healthy older adults that ate about a half cup of walnuts every day for two years gained a modest reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad cholesterol”, reports a study of 636 people from San Diego’s Loma Linda University. Other risk factors for heart health—small LDL particles and intermediate-density lipoprotein— also decreased, signaling a lower chance of cardiovascular events. “Many people are worried about unwanted weight gain when they include nuts in their diet,” says study co-author Emilio Ros, M.D., Ph.D. “Our study found that the healthy fats in walnuts did not cause participants to gain weight.”

The deep visceral fat that surrounds internal organs is a major indicator of metabolic syndrome and diabetes, but it can be decreased in women by eating an avocado each day, report researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For 12 weeks, 105 overweight or obese men and women were fed a meal that for only half of the participants included an avocado. The women that ate avocados experienced a reduction in visceral abdominal fat, as well as a reduced ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat closer to the skin, indicating a redistribution of fat away from the organs. Fat distribution in males did not change.

Dr. Jackie St.Cyr, DC 8100 Washington Ave, #210 Houston, TX 77007 713-521-2104 n8chiro.com

Dr. Alayna E. Pagnani-Gendron, DC 4101 Green Briar Dr. #135 Houston, TX 77098 281-506-0105 healthprochiro.com

Dr. Brett V. Franson, DC 1652 South Dairy Ashford Rd. Houston, TX 77077 281-701-1596 fransonchiropractor.com

Cornell University research published in the journal Climate indicates that advanced wind energy strategies could reduce atmospheric average temperatures of about 32 to 33 degrees Fahrenheit by 2199. Rebecca Barthelmie, a professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, says, “Early action will reap dividends. In terms of averting the worst of climate change, our work confirms that accelerating wind energy technology deployment is a logical and cost-effective part of the required strategy.” Waiting longer to avert environmental disaster will mean more greenhouse gas reduction scenarios will be needed.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group I Sixth Assessment Report has determined that climate change is rapid and intensifying, and that Earth’s atmosphere could add 35 degrees Fahrenheit of average warming by 2040. Sara C. Pryor, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and co-author of the research, says global wind resources exceed current electricity demand and the cost of energy from wind turbines has declined sharply. “It makes perfect sense to rapidly deploy wind energy as a key part of decarbonizing the electricity supply.” Wind turbines are now deployed in 90 countries, generating about 7 percent of global electricity.

A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) describes a significant decrease in the cost of renewable energy sources compared to 2020, with solar leading the pack by a wide margin. The 10-year average adjusted costs of generation for a plant over its lifetime are 85 percent for utility-scale solar; 56 percent for onshore wind; 48 percent for offshore wind; and 68 percent for concentrated solar power. IRENA continues to see drops of between 7 percent and 16 percent in these categories this year. According to the same report, the 62 percent of new renewables added last year had lower costs than the cheapest fossil fuels.

New renewables are increasingly competitive against existing fossil fuels. In the U.S., 61 percent of current coal capacity already has higher operating costs. Phasing out these coal plants would start saving money almost immediately. IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera states that because renewables cost more upfront than keeping old coal rolling, action is needed to make sure emerging economies are not left behind. “We are far beyond the tipping point of coal.”