Love Your Body, Take Your Health Into Your Hands

The best thing you can do for your health is take responsibility for it.

Valentine's day is here, you are doing everything to show your sweetheart, friends, family how much you love them. Don't forget to give yourself the attention you deserve! 

Take initiative this Valentine's day and take your own health into your hands. Many chronic diseases can be preventable. If you are suffering from chronic or acute disease (high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc.), what can you do to make yourself a little healthier? Here are some tips to take care of yourself today!

1. Pamper yourself. Belief it or not, getting a massage, manicure, and pedicure is a great investment in your health. A massage can help relax your body or treat those sore neck muscles you have from overworking yourself at your computer. A manicure and pedicure increase blood flow to your hands and feet and the massage that comes along with it can help to ease chronic aches and pains.

2. Buy your heart some dark chocolate. Yes that's right, small amounts of dark chocolate can be healthy for you! It has great antioxidants called "Phenols" and "Catechins" that help keep your heart and blood vessels healthy. 

3. Go dancing with your sweetheart. This can be intimate and romantic, and will be sure to get your blood flowing! Dancing is fun and a great aerobic workout if you mix the slow dances in with some fast moves. 

4. Choose the chocolate covered strawberries over the cheesecake. As mentioned above about dark chocolate, strawberries also have a phytochemical in them called "Anthocyanins" in them which is great for cardiovascular benefits.

5. Wild Salmon over Steak or Chicken. If you are going out to eat, wild salmon is a tasty exotic option that is loaded with an essential fatty acid "Omega 3." Great for both cardiovascular benefits and inflammation! Meats are loaded with "Omega 6" which contribute to inflammation.

6. Just because it's yummy, doesn't mean it's good for your tummy. If you have food allergies or mild intolerances to food, it's best to stay clear of them. Some common allergies are Wheat, Dairy, Eggs, and Peanuts. This causes your whole body to be inflammed, even with small amounts. It can cause issues such as skin irritation, gastrointestinal upset, fatigue, hives, and many other symptoms. There are plenty of allergy-free options out there! 

7. Don't let couples get you down. If you are spending Valentine's Day alone, kudos, more time for you! Invest some time pampering your emotions and be good to yourself. Negative emotions and depression can manifest themselves in physical disorders from overeating, lack of motion, lack of sunlight, and less interaction. 

8. Juice your foods! Juicing is highly beneficial to your health. It helps to extract all those anti-oxidants and phytochemicals in fruits and veggies so they are readily available for absorption. Make a nice juice or fruit smoothie for lunch instead of a box of chocolates!

If you are someone suffering from chronic disease and would like a natural approach to disease prevention, please call 401-683-6430 for more information. Dr. Kosciusko is a board certified chiropractic physician and clinical nutritionist. 

Join us today from 1-2 p.m. for a special , free samples and recipes!