Phillips Chiropractic Philosophy: A Balanced Lifestyle Is The Key to Good Health and Longevity
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009Balanced Choices Are Keys to Good Health and Longevity
Last week I saw an article on sciencedaily.com how caffeine reversed memory loss in aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The article began with the angle that “Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup.” It went on to report on back-to-back studies published online July 6 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease that demonstrated that caffeine significantly decreased abnormal levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, both in the brains and in the blood of mice that had developed symptoms of the disease.
However, before you decide to add an extra cup of coffee to your daily intake, let me, Dr. Jamie Phillips add that also on the website, under “Related Stories,” were at least two articles regarding studies that professed to prove the not-so-healthy effects of caffeine, “Morning Jolt of Caffeine May Mask Serious Sleep Problems,” and “Coffee Consumption Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Attack For Persons With Certain Gene Variation.”
Nearly any point of view, I’ve noticed, particularly when it has to do with age-related health issues, can be confirmed, or at least given credence, by other related studies. The “good/bad” studies related to caffeine naturally aren’t, of course, the only ones. Even so, it did get me to thinking about the probability that there will not ever be just “one thing” that will with absolute certainty help we, humans, to live longer, healthier lives. We are dynamic, biological creatures. We aren’t raised in unnatural confinement We are free to participate in life. And, let’s face it, though Alzheimer’s disease is likely on the rise, obviously we, cage-free humans, have not been “artificially induced to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” therefore caffeine isn’t entirely the “one thing” that is going to reverse or prevent it.
Our body is an elegant, complex system that is based on homeostasis, that is to say, balance. Consequently good health is about a healthy, balanced approach to living, as opposed to our being briefly convinced by the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other over-indulgent and harmful things we have done to our bodies.
I believe, as a chiropractor in Santa Barbara, that every single day we have an opportunity to make decisions that will assist us to live longer, healthier lives, healthy choices for our body and mind. We know what actually “feels” life enriching and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for our body. So, I just wanted to pass along a little something for you to keep in mind the next time you consider having that extra cup of coffee or second glass of red wine. Neither one of those things is the “one thing” that will do “everything” for your age-related health issues.