You Are What You Eat!

You Are What You Eat!

Welcome back to my blog! Within this particular blog post I will be comparing the chiropractic principle 17 with a topic discussed in my biochemistry course and how each of these relate to chiropractic care. Principle 17 states that “Every effect has a cause and every cause has effects”. I have chosen to relate this principle with the composition of our cell membranes as a result of what you choose to eat. 

In reference to the image above, the decisions about what you choose to put into your body is directly related to the overall composition of your cell membrane. So its actually pretty accurate when someone tells you that you are what you eat! It is important to choose to eat a diet of foods balanced in omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in order to create a healthy cell membrane. By balancing the consumption of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, your body will also naturally produce anti-inflammatory components through the cascades utilized in the breakdown and storage of these polyunsaturated fatty acids. Alternatively if you choose to only eat foods rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, it has been linked to numerous health concerns. An example of this is if you choose to eat foods rich in Linoleic acid (LA) (n-6), you are going to increase the synthesis of arachidonic acid. This begins a cascade resulting in the production of both pro-inflammatory components such as leukotriene B4, as well as components that increase the metastasis of cancer cells, such as 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). 5-LOX also leads to the increased production of 5-hydroxyelcosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE), which inhibits our bodies ability to induce apoptosis of cancer cells. Overall the cause and effect of what you choose to eat can clearly be seen in how your overall health is effected. 

This is similar to the choices you make while receiving chiropractic care. First you have to choose to receive chiropractic care in order to obtain the positive effects it has to offer. While choosing to receive chiropractic care, if you choose to not balance a healthy lifestyle as well and only receive chiropractic care when you’re in pain you are going to have an imbalance of positive and negative forces acting on your body. In this case you will have the negative forces impacting your body possibly out way the positive impacts chiropractic care has to offer. This is why it is so important to receive chiropractic care more than just when you’re in pain, and to balance it with healthy lifestyle choices in order to maintain the best functioning body possible. Eating a salad once a week isn’t going to balance your omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, just like choosing to see the chiropractor only when your in pain isn’t going to help you constantly maintain the body functioning free of interference that you desire!