Pain Relief Chiropractic

The feeling of happiness – whether you equate it with optimism, joy, well-being, personal achievement, or all of the above – goes hand-in-hand with healthier habits. People who are in good spirits tend to eat better, exercise more frequently, and get better sleep than those who are not. This could be because leading a healthy lifestyle helps you achieve your goals, which leads to happiness. It could also be that such habits lead to better health, which, in turn, lends itself to a better mood and contentment.
Beyond these rather common-sense associations, there’s something more about happiness that makes you healthy. It appears that a positive mental state may have a much more direct effect on your body. Positive thoughts and attitudes are able to prompt changes in your body that strengthen your immune system, boost positive emotions, decrease pain and chronic disease, and provide stress relief. Happiness, optimism, life satisfaction, and other positive psychological attributes are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. People with a deep sense of happiness and well-being have lower levels of inflammatory gene expression and stronger antiviral and antibody responses.

When you drop food on the floor, do you pick it up and eat it? If you do, you are not alone. According to a new study, 87% of people questioned said they would or already have eaten food that was dropped on the ground. Fifty-five percent of these people were women. Here is the most surprising statistic: 81% of the women who would eat the food follow what is known as “the five-second rule.” This “rule” states that food dropped on the floor is okay to eat as long as it is picked up within five seconds. Crazy? Perhaps, but there is also some science behind the idea. A new study recorded the transfer of certain common bacteria from the different types of floors to food over time (3-30 seconds). Both the type of floor and time had an impact on the transfer of bacteria. Bacteria was least likely to transfer to carpeted surfaces and most likely to transfer to tile or laminate surfaces. The bacteria was most likely to transfer to the dropped foods if they remained on the ground for more than five seconds. It also depends on how contaminated (clean or dirty) the floor surface is so don’t laugh the next time someone drops food on a seemingly clean floor, picks it up, and eats it claiming they’re abiding by the five-second rule!

There is quite a bit of proof that breastfeeding is superior to not breastfeeding. One benefit that has been shown in several studies is that breastfed babies have higher IQs and perform better in school. Well, now a new study sheds even more light on this subject. According to Sciencedaily: “A new study by sociologists at Brigham Young University pinpoints two parenting skills as the real source of this cognitive boost: Responding to children’s emotional cues and reading to children starting nine months of age. Breastfeeding mothers tend to do both of those things, said lead study author Ben Gibbs.” This study was published in the March 2014 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics. In other words, the authors do not believe the breast milk itself is the reason for the higher IQ and “smarter babies.” Instead, they believe it is the parenting that makes the difference.
Child development expert from Wayne State University, Dr. Sandra Jacobson, praised the study and said, “Children in the study who were breastfed for six months or longer performed the best on reading assessments because they also experienced the most optimal parenting practices.” It seems that parents who make the decision to breastfeed are also willing to make the decision to do other things that maximize the development of their children.

If you play video games, you are not alone. According to the Entertainment Software Association, as of 2013, 58% of Americans play video games. There is an average of two gamers in each game-playing household in the United States (US). The average US household owns at least one dedicated game console, PC, or smartphone. Fifty-one percent of US households own a dedicated game console, and those who do, own an average of two. The average age of a game player is 30 years old and there are more people over the age of 36 playing video games (36%) than between the ages of 18-35 (32%), with 32% being under the age of 18. With so many people playing, and with such a wide age group, the finding of a new study could be very important.
The study reported by the Association for Psychological Science found that how you represent yourself in video games may affect the way you behave and treat others in real life. They reported, “Our results indicate that just five minutes of role-play in virtual environments as either a hero or villain can easily cause people to reward or punish anonymous strangers.” One experiment studied 194 undergraduates. The participants were randomly assigned to a villain, hero, or neutral avatar in the game. They played the game for five minutes. During that five minutes, their avatar (their identity in the game) fought against enemies. After the five minutes ended, the participants took part in a taste test that they believed was not part of the study. In this taste test, they were asked to taste both a chocolate and a chili sauce and then decide which one and how much to give to the next participant.
According to the Association For Psychological Science, “The results were revealing: Participants who played as [the hero] poured, on average, nearly twice as much chocolate as chili sauce for the ‘future participant.’ And they poured significantly more chocolate than those who played as either of the other avatars. Participants who played as the villain, on the other hand, poured out nearly twice as much of the spicy chili sauce than they did chocolate, and they poured significantly more chili sauce compared to the other participants.”
A second, similar experiment of 125 graduates confirmed these finding. According to the lead author of the study, “In virtual environments, people can freely choose avatars that allow them to opt into or out of a certain entity, group, or situation… Consumers and practitioners should remember that powerful imitative effects can occur when people put on virtual masks.”

No one wants to get sick. In fact, I bet you never want to get the common cold or the flu ever again in your life. While that would be nice, it is impossible. But, new research has shown a way children may get the common cold less often, and shorten the time they have it when they do. This is extremely important because the common cold is responsible for the largest amount of school and work absenteeism and causes a huge economic burden.
A double-blind randomized controlled trial was performed during the winter season in Thailand. Children ages 8-13 were given either a two-strain combination probiotic or placebo twice a day for three months.
According to the study, “Children in the probiotics group had significantly lower risk of fever, cough, rhinorrhea, school absence, and school absence related to common cold compared to children in the placebo group. There was no impact on diarrhea and vomiting.”
What are Probiotics?
Probiotics are microorganisms that offer some form of health benefit to their host organism and they can be found in various different foods. Probiotics are believed to play very important roles in regulating proper intestinal function and digestion by balancing intestinal microflora. Probiotics are normally consumed in fermented foods with active live cultures, such as yogurt, though they are also available in supplement form as capsules, liquid, and chewables. There are many different strains of probiotics, but the most common strains available today are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.