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We all know that we should be eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. However, knowing and doing are two different things, aren’t they? Sometimes, it is just not easy to buy or eat the right food all at the same time. We are constantly tempted to fill up on convenience and junk food. If your family were anything like mine, they would rather fill up on a bag of chips, a bowl or plate of fried rice, noodles or pasta instead of trying an apple or a plate of steamed broccoli and carrots. We will have to be creative to change die-hard habits and food choices!

 

Here are some ideas to ‘sneak’ some extra vegetables and fruits in your family’s diet.

10 Healthy ‘Sneak’ Tips

1. Start the day with a breakfast smoothie. All you have to do is to put some fruits, low-fat yogurt and ice in a blender. You may also want to add a scoop of protein powder for good measure. Blend for a few seconds and you have the perfect breakfast ready to go. I like to sip mine in a thermal cup on the way to work. You can also make different types of smoothie everyday just to keep it interesting and novel. To make it even more appealing for your children, use some frozen yogurt or a scoop of ice cream in the smoothie. They will be delighted that you are letting them have ice cream for breakfast!

 

2. Make dried fruits an excellent snack any time of the day. Add some small portions of raisins in your children’s lunch boxes; pack some yogurt-covered raisins in your husband’s briefcase; and keep some natural dried fruit or vegetable snacks conspicuously around the house for snacking. No potato chips, please. You can also add dried fruits to oatmeal and whole grain cereal in the morning. You children would love those crispy banana chips in their breakfast cereal.

 

3. Add some fruits and vegetables to your family’s sandwiches. You can add some cut banana, sliced apples or strawberry to a peanut butter sandwich. Top a chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and preserved olives. You can even make a ‘sub shop style’ vegetable sandwich by adding different vegetables. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper, but avoid mayonnaise and cheese, as they are high in fat content.

 

4. Create a salad bar for dinner. Set up a nice display of colourful variety of chopped vegetables with whole leaf lettuce as wraps, with baked chicken slices, salt/pepper, croutons, and several choices of salad dressing to suit your taste buds. You can find interesting Japanese salad dressing that appeal to Asian taste buds in our supermarkets. Let everybody create his or her own perfect salad.

 

5. Let them ‘drink’ their fruits and vegetables. Keep an assortment of pure fruit and vegetable juices in the fridge and encourage everyone to drink them as a ‘snack’. Get creative. You could start ‘family cocktail hour’ by pouring everybody a glass of his or her favourite pure fruit and/or vegetable juice over ice. Add some nice straws, cocktail umbrellas, mixed nuts and sit together under warm lights in your favourite family space, balcony or garden and share how everybody’s day went.

 

6. Enjoy this fruity dessert. Put a small scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt in a bowl and top it with lots of fresh or frozen fruit.

 

7. Offer fruits and vegetables as snacks. You can cut apples into slices and top them with peanut butter or tomatoes. ‘Cube’ fresh cucumbers and serve with grapes or blueberries and some mint leaves. Cut up some fresh veggies, carrot and cucumber sticks and serve them with homemade sesame dressing or dip.

 

8. Try new fruits and vegetables. Pick something exotic to get your family’s curiosity. With a little luck, their curiosity will outweigh their initial apprehension in trying something new. You could try Thai jambu, Ecuador yellow dragonfruit, kiss melon, Thai star fruit, Lebanese cucumbers, or anything interesting you can find in your neighbourhood store, supermarket or wet market.

 

9. Make a pot of mixed vegetable soup or stew heavy on veggies and easy on meat. Both of these make great comfort food when you feel low or the weather gets colder. Alternatively, you can make homemade ramen with plenty of vegetables and slices of organic chashu.

 

10. Start ‘My Veggie Day’. Each family member gets to pick a vegetable one day of the week. They qualify to pick a vegetable as long as they have tried the weekly vegetable choice the week before; otherwise, they lose a turn and Mom gets to pick.

Incorporate a few of these ideas above, and you will have everyone in your family eating more fruits and vegetables in no time.

Here is another tip:

Now that everyone in the family has gotten a taste for healthy fruits and vegetables, make sure you always have plenty of fresh fruits and veggies available and ready to snack on.

This is a very good lifestyle habit to complement the health and wellness paradigm. Research shows that consuming more fruits and vegetables have long-lasting health benefits and will reduce the amount of free radicals and stress in your body system. This will also well prepare your body to be less ‘tight’ in order to receive an effective chiropractic adjustment.

Your Trusted Chiropractor

 Dr. Nicholas Lim, D.C., ANutr, B.Sc.(Hons)

[Dr. of Chiropractic & Nutritionist]

 WhatsApp :+65 9352 8828

Telephone : +65 6970 8152

Email : contact@drchiro.com.sg

 

Most of us are fond of at least one product that has the effect of a stimulant that may eventually become an addiction. These products include exercise stimulant drinks (they come in cans and look like cola), fizzy aerated drinks, tobacco, betel nut, betel leaf, strong coffee, strong tea, ma huang (an ephedrine-like compound consumed in China), and alcohol.

Before I tell you why we should not consume these harmful products, I would like to deal with the question on why we consume them in the first place.

We all know that consuming the products mentioned earlier, in excess, can severely harm our bodies and brain. Yet, we often find them hard to resist. The need to eat stimulant food is a simple human weakness that has existed for ages: humans (and many animals) have always indulged in foods that give a sort of emotional high. In clinical terms, this could result in rapid heart beat, perspiration, dilation or constriction of the pupils of the eye, a warm flush on the face, and a sense of greater sensitivity, concentration and perception. These have adverse effects on the nervous system. And because the basis of chiropractic is about the nervous system, the effect of addictive foods can have dire consequences on our health.

Usually, the ‘high’ sensations fade off within a few hours, and we are left feeling listless, low and lost. This leads to a craving for that addictive food or item again, to experience the high one more time. Sadly, it is not one more time, but many more times. And we end up going round and round in a vicious circle.

This is how the physiology of addictions work.

When you eat an addictive product, it stimulates the hormone-like substances found at the end of your nerves. This triggers an avalanche of similar stimulatory substances, and you experience a ‘high’. As the substances near the nerves are depleted, you get into the low phase, which leads you to crave for that food or product again. This yo-yo phase of nerve stimulation and depletion leads to a pattern of addiction.

Consuming addictive foods is one of the oldest unhealthy food practices and, despite a revolution in health consciousness, it shows no signs of dying out.

Here are some side effects of certain addictive food and products:

• Alcohol: Erosion of stomach and intestinal lining, liver damage and cirrhosis, nutritional deficiency.
• Tobacco: Erosion of gum and tongue, which can lead to cancer of the buccal mucosa.
• Betel nut: Discolouration of teeth, erosion of the lining of the mouth, and cancer of the mouth and upper tract. It can also lead to heart problems among those who already have a weak heart.
• Ma huang: It contains ephedrine and leads to heart problems.
• High-sugar aerated drinks and soda: Sodas have high doses of caffeine, which may cause heart palpitations; high sugar drinks can lead to diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and chronic heart diseases.
• Caffeine and xanthine: Found in tea and coffee, these become harmful only in very high doses; do not consume more than five cups a day.
• Mixed drug reactions: People who take medications for the heart, hypertension and asthma have to be very careful about the interactions of the drugs with stimulant foods, as mixing the two can be fatal. After years of experience, all doctors know how difficult it is to break the food addictions of their patients. So like them, I can only advise a good compromise. If you cannot break the addiction, then at least you should practise moderation.

We should live life and eat food the natural way as much as possible and avoid living or eating food in an unnatural state. Based on our actual physiology, we need to avoid manipulating or changing our “form” unnecessarily. Thankfully, Chiropractic can help us to remove the unnatural interferences through our thoughts, traumas and toxins, and keep our best health paradigm, from the inside out.

Let us help you transform your health, as you take control of your health and life.

Your Trusted Chiropractor 

Dr. Nicholas Lim, D.C., ANutr, B.Sc.(Hons)

[Dr. of Chiropractic & Nutritionist]

 WhatsApp :+65 9352 8828

Telephone : +65 6970 8152

Email : contact@drchiro.com.sg

Inflammation is a major component in most pain conditions, such as rheumatic pain conditions or rheumatic diseases. It is advisable to eat a good amount of right food that reduces inflammation and to reduce the consumption of those that contains inflammatory agents.

We offer you some simple dietary advice that will help reduce rheumatic conditions, and help you live well.

 

Things You Should Eat to Reduce Pain and Rheumatic Pain

Fish, especially fatty fish, fish oil, olive oil, walnut oil and rapeseed oil should form part of your main diet. The fat in these types of food, especially Omega-3-poly-unsaturated fat, reduces inflammation. If you add these oils to your diet, you should reduce the intake of other types of fat, so that you do not get too much fat into your system. You should also eat more vegetables, as these contribute to your overall body chemistry that helps to reduce inflammation.

Omega 3 is essential for human health. Dieticians no longer recommend eating fresh fish to get your Omega 3 dose. The mercury levels that are prevalent in almost all fresh fish these days can be very detrimental to your health. Hence, many pharma companies have manufactured fish oils that are mercury free by processing the oils that naturally occur in the fish.

Omega 3 contains two fatty acids that benefit the human body greatly, known as DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid). As your body can only make a small amount of DHA from other fatty acids, you need to consume it directly from food (oily fish like salmon and anchovies) or supplements.

DHA and EPA can help prevent heart diseases, cancer, and many other diseases. DHA is also required by the human brain. Low levels of DHA in the brain can cause depression, schizophrenia, memory loss, and an increased chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease. Regular consumption of Omega 3 fish oils can greatly help affect the quality of your life for the better. Just like Chiropractic, which optimises human potential and your quality of life, Omega 3 does the same.

Things You Should Not Eat Too Much of

Do not consume corn, soy, sunflower and vegetable oils, which are relatively cheaper oils, as these can increase inflammation. Most ready-to-eat food that you buy from factories, eateries or restaurants contain these types of fat. You should therefore reduce the consumption of food you do not cook yourself. Be your own chef to be well!

Bread, cereals and products made of corn or cereals also increase the inflammatory response, especially if they contain wheat. Wheat causes a special type of inflammation in the intestines called celiac disease in some individuals, but may also trigger inflammation of non-celiac type. Full-corn cereals and full-corn bread, however, can be valuable types of food: so, you should not stop eating them altogether. If you like to eat bread or corn products at every meal, you should reduce your intake of these and eat more potatoes, beans and peas, to balance your diet.

Things You Should Ideally Not Eat At All

You should not consume ‘chemically-altered’ fats that give it consistency for food production. These fats have very negative effects on your health, and may be very potent inflammatory agents. Margarine, popcorn, snacks, fast food and ready-made cakes or cookies often contain such fat. Unfortunately, the humble bread is often not a healthy staple. A good idea is to bake your bread!

Proper Nutrition with Chiropractic Adjustments, as well as exercising regularly, can be a big help to improve the quality of your life, to fit the holistic health paradigm.

Your Trusted
Chiropractor Singapore

 Dr. Nicholas Lim, D.C., ANutr, B.Sc.(Hons)

[Dr. of Chiropractic & Nutritionist]

 WhatsApp :+65 9352 8828

Telephone : +65 6970 8152

Email : contact@drchiro.com.sg

 

Do you feel lethargic and experience Pain during your Work-from-Home routine? If you do, then you may have certain imbalances in your body or misalignments of your musculoskeletal functions and posture.

We want to help you get you out of Pain immediately before anything more serious happens. How can you help yourself?

 

Pain is never welcomed; neither is it the enemy.  Pain is sometimes a necessary evil to enable you to know what has gone wrong with your body or if any of your daily activity/ies is/are irritating your condition(s). Pain is there to help us be more sensitive to our bodies.  If the pain is chronic or serious, you do need professional help to adjust your musculoskeletal functions, posture or spine to relieve your conditions.

I have outlined several recommendations to help you feel and live better prior to and after seeing a chiropractor.

Key Tips to Live Better

1. Sleep on your back. Sleeping on your back has the least pressure on the muscular and nervous system. If you are a side sleeper, instead of rolling from side to side, make a ‘pit stop’ on the back before you go to the other side.
2. Sit with a lumbar support. As much as possible, use a lumbar support while sitting on the couch, at your desk or in the car. This accentuates the natural arches of the spine and helps to pull the head back over the body. This may feel awkward at first, but you will soon be used to it. If it starts to hurt, take it out.
3. Don’t ‘look down’ at your phone/iPad/PC. We are all hooked to our beloved electronic gadgets. ‘Looking down’ at your gadgets continually causes extra spinal cord pressure, especially if your cervical spine has lost all, or some of its curve. Use a phone, iPad and notebook stand to maintain eye-level view of your gadgets.
4. Eliminate deep-fried and inflammatory food. These include food with high oil, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sodas, sweet fruit juices, high-sugar fruits and gluten (anything with wheat, such as bread, cakes, crackers, pastry, ‘kuehs’ and cereals). I am not saying you cannot ever have it, but if you want to get out of pain right now, cut it! Instead, eat plenty of non-sweet fruits and vegetables, and non-deep fried food.
5. Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. Water is necessary to support your vital body functions, including your muscles, kidney, digestion, circulation. It helps to lubricate your joints, flush out toxins, as well as aid in weight loss.
6. Have adequate sleep and rest. In our hectic lives, many of us suffer from sleep deprivation. Adults below 65 years need between 7-9 hours of sleep per day; those above 65 years need 7-8 hours per day; teenagers need 8-10 hours per day; and younger children need 9 hours and more per day. Having adequate sleep is vital for cognitive growth and repair. It also protects your emotional, mental and physical health, well-being and safety.
7. Think positive and maintain good relationships with people. Get rid of all negative emotions and thoughts! They are health killers and causes of many diseases. People who have positive outlook, thoughts and relationships often enjoy better health, live happier lives and have smoother careers. Positive thinking helps you with better stress management. Studies have shown that personality traits like optimism and pessimism can affect your health and well-being!

Let us help you transform your health, as you take control of your health and life.

Your Trusted
Chiropractor in Singapore

[Dr. of Chiropractic & Nutritionist]

Dr. Nicholas Lim, D.C., ANutr, B.Sc.(Hons)

 WhatsApp :+65 9352 8828

Telephone : +65 6970 8152

Email : contact@drchiro.com.sg