Yes, Chiropractic is different!  Different because Chiropractors do not use drugs or surgery – they remove interferences to the nervous system super highway to allow the body to heal itself naturally, as nature intended.

In the process, people sometimes use words to describe what Chiropractors do – however you can -

• “Pop” a cork
• “Crack” a joke
• “Fix” a flat tyre
• “Treat” a child
• and
• “Cure” cement

but Chiropractors ADJUST the spine!  Thank you Bill!

THIS IS THE CHIROPRACTIC DIFFERENCE!

Consult a Chiropractic Life Chiropractor and experience the power of an adjustment!

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Helen Taylor - Chiropractor Brighton

Chiropractors Brighton and Hove

It depends on which foods have been canned, but fresh is always best!

Canned foods undergo a heat process which destroys nutrients and affects food to varying degrees  -  depending on which food it is.  Fruit and vegetables are more easily affected than beans.

Fruits and vegetables are especially important sources of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients like carotenoids and flavonoids. Vitamins and phytonutrients are especially susceptible to degradation from heat, which robs food of vast amounts of nutrients.

Heating does not damage protein, fiber, and minerals in the same way as it can damage vitamins and phytonutrients. You can expect to receive the protein, fiber, and mineral benefits from canned beans-in much the same way as you would receive from dry beans cooked at home.  Unlike fruits and vegetables, beans cannot be eaten raw. Beans have to be cooked (or processed in some other way, like sprouted); not only do they have to be cooked, they have to be cooked for a fairly extensive period of time, so if enjoying canned beans is a more convenient option, then use with confidence and enjoy, however any additives should be observed and avoided if possible.  Obviously, organically grown is best.

Chiropractors at Chiropractic Life are committed to the Eat Well, Move Well, Think Well system of living.  Consult us today for the health you want tomorrow.

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Helen Taylor - Chiropractor Brighton

Chiropractors Brighton and Hove

The Observer on Sunday reported that modern life is creating a generation of weaklings.  According to their research, children are becoming weaker, less muscular and unable to do physical tasks that previous generations found simple.

Our philosophy at Chiropractic Life is to Eat Well, Move Well and Think Well and keep the nervous system free of interference through regular spinal maintenance, which gives you and your children the best possible chance of obtaining true health.

Research published in the child health journal Acta Paediatrica highlights health problems affecting children,  caused by the new digital age which has lured our children away from outdoor pursuits and activities that are so vital to building bone and muscle strength and endurance and while not doing that, actively sitting at a computer, play station or  mobile device with head down and forward and often with the spine slumped compromising the flow of vital energy.  A childs body is still developing and many hours spent in the wrong position hails health problems for the future.  As the twig is bent, so grows the tree!

Previous research has all ready shown that children are becoming more unfit, less active and more sendentary, and in many cases heavier.  Added to the decline in physical fitness and strength building activities of children, is the added burden of the increase and consumption of fast foods.   Combine this with what children are actually watching and doing with their minds, it is no surprise we have unhealthy, unhappy children, teens and now adults! – eat well, move well, think well!

At Chiropractic Life our desire is to help you and your family not just survive but thrive, and a healthy nervous system is vitally important to achieving this – spinal fitness is incorporated in “moving well” – since so much of modern day living involves around sitting (which places up to 60% more stress on the spine).

Because of modern day living, Chiropractic care should not be viewed just as an option but a vital part of your health care plan.

Consult a Chiropractic Life Chiropractor to achieve the health you deserve and desire.

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Helen Taylor - Chiropractor Brighton

Proud manufacturers of Stimuli

Brighton and Hove Chiropractors

I am delighted to introduce Brian and Phillipa Murdock from Western Australia (Karen’s brother and sister-in-law) – people who are doing something about the health of our environment!  Brian and Pip are Proud manufacturers of Stimuli a highly concentrated premium organic soil and plant conditioner made from fish and kelp. They are passionate about health and convinced great health begins with healthy soil. Brian and Pip have four children and the family get regular Chiropractic Care.  Brian (congratulations on your birthday today brother!) and Pip have worked tirelessly collecting unwanted fish heads from local fishermen to developing this fish soup for the soil.  Last time I visited them, Brian was keen to show me his homemade manufacturing plant (located on his farm).  I wasn’t as enthusiastic to smell the new product as he was to show it to me, however I was amazed to discover how delicious it smelled!  No sign of fish at all!!  I believe it was something to do with the molasses he was using.  Brian had collected a unused chocolate making vat and used it to create the manufacturing plant for Stimuli.

Why organic? and how does food relate to Chiropractic? The following information was sourced from http://www.drglennfredericksen.co.uk/uk-organic-food-labelling/

Readers of this blog will be well aware of our Eat Well, Move Well Think Well motto and eating organics is all about eating well.  Many will counter that it is more expensive, however that is not necessarily correct and if we consider the long term benefits to individual health and to the environment, it is definitely cheaper.  The effect of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, drugs and chemicals on our health cannot be measured – the sickness and chronic ill health we see around us, is testament to that fact!

As consumers in the UK have you ever wondered what the organic codes mean on your food labels? Any organic product sold in the UK must have a code or logo identifying the organisation that has accredited that product with the organic status. There are currently 10 such organisations in the United Kingdom including the Government’s DEFRA. All ten organisations adhere to the strict EU organic standards but some such as the Soil Association,  employ further requirements to ensure a higher standard or organic produce. The list below is from About organics and shows you the code and the organic accrediting body.

• UK1 - DEFRA
• UK2 - Organic Farmers and Growers (OF&G)
• UK3 - Scottish Organic Producers’ Association (SOPA)
• UK4 - Organic Food Federation (OFF)
• UK5 - Soil Association Certification Ltd (SA Cert)
• UK6 – Demeter / Bio-Dynamic Agriculture Association (BDAA)
• UK7 - Irish Organic Farmers’ & Growers’ Association (IOFGA)
• UK 8 – (see note below) - Food Certification (Scotland) Ltd
• UK9 – Organic Trust Ltd
• UK10 - CMi Certification

At Chiropractic Life we are not only interested in your spinal health, but your whole of body health and what you eat, how you  think and what exercise (or not) you are doing.  Your spine houses the nervous system which controls and co-ordinates virtually every cell, tissue, muscle, gland and organ and system of our entire body and is affected by – what we eat, what we think, whether we exercise or not.   The best part of this idea is that it is sooo simple. Eat natural organic foods, Exercise regularly, Enjoy good company- sharing positive mental attitudes and most importantly make sure you have your nervous system  checked regularly by your Chiropractor.

Chiropractic Life enjoys helping people with a natural approach to health and well-being, focusing on healthy nervous systems in conjunction with nutritional and exercise advice. CALL NOW to schedule your free (no obligation) consultation to see if we can help you  01273 208188

Chiropractors Brighton

We have posted several articles about the benefits of eating cruciferous vegetables and now a new University of Illinois study provides convincing evidence that the way you prepare and eat your broccoli matters too, and also suggests that pairing broccoli with broccoli sprouts may make the vegetable’s anti-cancer effect almost twice as powerful.

“Broccoli, prepared correctly, is an extremely potent cancer-fighting agent – three to five servings a week are enough to have an effect,” said study researcher Elizabeth Jeffery.

Read the full article here

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Glenn Fredericksen – Chiropractor Brighton

Brighton Chiropractors

To the outrage of breastfeeding campaigners and probably the utter confusion of most women with small babies, scientists today advocate rewriting the rulebook to drop the current guidance that says mothers should breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of their child’s life.  Modern scientists are saying that by failing to start weaning babies on to solids before six months, parents could be harming their babies health!  We say – since when did science (which changes it’s mind from decade to decade) know better than the innate intelligence of nature which has been around and has supported life and reproduction since time began?  Who told this mother when to introduce solid foods to her babies’ diet?  Who told her mother, her grand mother, her great grandmother and those before her??  How did they all know??  They trusted their own intuition and I believe we should trust ours too!

Joanne Moorehead from the Guardian had this to say -  The truth is that stories like this affect the most important thing a breastfeeding mother has, which is confidence that her milk can nourish her baby. As a society, we have been chipping away at that confidence since the middle of the 20th century, believing that what comes out of a bottle has to be better than what comes out of a breast.

What a tragedy that is: if breast milk was invented today, it would be the most valuable patent of all time. Nothing on earth has the potential to transform a generation’s health as much as breast milk, yet we undermine it simply because no one stands to make a profit and the budgets to defend it are minuscule. Breastfeeding works: the only thing we have to fix is our belief in it.

For the record Joanna says -  I breastfed four babies exclusively for six months. They’re all healthy, none has been a fussy eater in the long term, none has ever been anaemic, and none has an allergy. Breastfeeding works. It just doesn’t have a big budget to promote itself, and as a society we’ve forgotten that the very best is sometimes what nature gives us for free.

Read more about the decline of the popularity of breastfeeding during the war years here.  Government agencies advocated bottle feeding as being best for babies – because the government wanted mothers to be available to do the jobs that the men had left behind when they went to war!!!!!  Was this information delivered to mothers for their welfare, or the welfare of their babies? – I DON’T THINK SO!  By supporting mothers to do what they know is intuitively right for their baby we provide an opportunity for better health for both mother and child.

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Glenn Fredericksen – Chiropractor Brighton

2010 batch of Gingerbread made by Elise in New Zealand this week.

Brighton Chiropractors

We don’t normally suggest eating sugary treats, but Christmas certainly has to be one exception!  As well as Eating Well and Moving Well,  – Thinking Well is a vital part of the Lifestyle Wellness programme to help ensure ongoing health and vitality.  One of  the ways  that this contributes to “Thinking Well” is by being connected to others and sharing special times.

See below for The McMinn Gingerbread Recipe to share and enjoy, during the festive season.

The lead up to Christmas is as exciting as the actual event and each year I love the anticipation of the gingerbread making routine accompanied by “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree” and lots of frivolity.  Making gingerbread has been Elise’s specialty (Third Generation Chiropractor) and we all enjoy getting into the spirit of Christmas by making (or eating) gingerbread for friends and family, however we have a struggle to hide them long enough in our house so that some will survive until Christmas day.  I love gingerbread and love the process of seeing lots of little people emerge all gloriously brown from the oven.  You may even have to run, run, run as fast as you can to catch these little gingerbread men before they disappear from your kitchen too!   This is one gingerbread recipe that you will want to catch if you can but first a little history………. and then the recipe!

Gingerbread first appeared in central Europe in the Middle Ages, made from sugars and spices that had been brought back from the Middle East by soldiers returning from the Crusades. In England, gingerbread only meant “preserved ginger,” referring to the preservative effect of ginger on breads, cakes, and other pastries. It wasn’t until the 15th century that gingerbread referred specifically to the sweet cake made with treacle and ginger. And it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that the treat became associated primarily with Christmas.

Save your money and save your sanity – stay home and bake Gingerbread for presents this Christmas – this will help restore some of the real spirit of Christmas and help to reduce much of the stress!

Gingerbread
half a cup of golden syrup
half a cup of butter
4 cups of SR flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 level tablespoon ginger

Cream butter and sugar.  Add other ingredients .  Mix well.   Place on floured board and knead.  Roll out thinly and cut into shapes.
Place on greased oven tray.
Bake 7 – 10 mins in a moderate oven

Most importantly – Enjoy!

Chiropractic Life, 88 Portland Road, Hove BN3 5DL  -  Phone 01273 208188

Join Chiropractic Life on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/chiropracticlife

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Glenn Fredericksen - Chiropractor Brighton

Chiropractors Hove

Bernando LaPallo is one hundred and nine years old, walks a mile and a half every morning and eats mostly raw food.  He has never been sick in his life and has written a book  called Timeless Principles To Stay Young And Healthy. These principles are based on the Eat Well, Move Well, Think Well lifestyle approach which we at Chiropractic Life believe will help to ensure your health and vitality through to old age.

Consult Chiropractic Life to help you reach your true life potential.

Follow what he says here

Chiropractic Life, 88 Portland Road, Hove BN3 5DL  -  Phone 01273 208188

Join Chiropractic Life on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/chiropracticlife

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Glenn Fredericksen - Chiropractor Brighton

Brighton and Hove Chiropractors

In a recent post we talked about the health benefits of cruciferous vegetables which are rich in antioxidants and help protect our body’s cells from damage.  This week I discovered the following recipe which not only packs a perfect healthy punch, but is also extremely delicious.  Now that the weather has turned a little cold (a bit too soon for most of us!) having a good soup on standby is the perfect solution for a quick, nutritious meal.

Cream of Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup

• 2 Medium red onions – finely chopped
• 2 large clove garlic – finely chopped
• half teaspoon dry English mustard powder
• 1 cauliflower
• 1 head of broccoli
• 2 medium potatoes – peeled and cubed
• Enough stock to generously cover the vegetables
• 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

To Serve
Coarsely grated mature cheddar

Preparation:

1. In a large saucepan smelt the butter and add the onion, cooking slowly until translucent.  Add garlic over low heat being careful not to burn.  Stir in the mustard powder.
2. Prepare cauliflower and broccoli into florets and steam until almost tender.  Add to the onion and cover with the vegetable stock.  Add the potato and bring to the boil.  Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is cooked.
3. Puree the soup and add the wholegrain mustard and bring back to the boil, reducing the heat and simmer for further five minutes.
4. Serve in bowls sprinkled with the grated cheese, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
5. Note:  I used the vegetable water from steaming the cauliflower and broccoli and had previously cooked the potatoes (in their skins) and used this water too.
6. Please note that using unrefined, untreated (looks grey or brownish) full spectrum sea salt you are adding more minerals to your soup – therefore it will be much more nutritious.  Table salt at best has two minerals – unrefined, untreated has 84 different minerals.  Interestingly, the flavour from unrefined and untreated sea salt is delicious!
7. All organic vegetables were used to make this delicious soup and organic cheese to serve.
8. To make the stock I used Kallo Organic Vegetable Stock Cubes and A. Vogel Organic Herbamare – herbal seasoning salt.

Enjoy!

Remember the Eat Well, Move Well, Think Well System of Living!

Chiropractic Life, 88 Portland Road, Hove BN3 5DL  -  Phone 01273 208188

Join Chiropractic Life on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/chiropracticlife

• Dr Richard McMinn - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Helen Martin - Chiropractor Brighton
• Dr Glenn Fredericksen - Chiropractor Brighton