Each day patients come to my Chiropractic Office in San Diego complaining of pain. It may be neck pain, back pain, headaches, leg pain, arm pain etc. etc. etc. – you get it.
For the most part, these patients are not really responsible for the cause of their pain. They were injured by a fall, a whiplash accident, a work comp related accident a sports injury or some other sort of accident.
That being the case, some are directly responsible for their pain – which takes me back to the title of this article – and the answer. THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT YOU CAN EVER DO FOR YOURSELF IS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS! INCLUDING YOUR HEALTH!
I will follow this statement by admitting that even though I have been treating patients and handing out advise on health for over 15 years that I do not always make the wisest choices regarding my own health. I find this frustrating. A recent example involves a soda that I bought the other day. I succumbed to a craving.
That soda was the inspiration for this blog post.
In the past, I have written at least one article on the ill effects of soda. When I do cave in to my occassional desire to drink a soda, I usually hit the internet to review the reasons why it is so bad for us.
Years ago, I had given up coffee – all coffee – even decaf. What I didn’t give up was caffiene. I got my daily caffiene fix from diet Coke. It took me awhile to figure it out but eventually I recognized that soda made me anxious. Especially regular soda. There came a time that I knew I had to give it up – for the sake of my health.
For over five years I drank no coffee or soda. I felt pretty good as a result. My digestion was better, my anxiety faded and my feelings regarding my own health improved.
At this point I do have a soda once in awhile – which aggravates me to no end.
In researching the current literature for the ill effects of soda, I found an article that links soda to gout. This article sited studies that indicate that drinking regular soda, not diet soda, has a significant effect on your chances of developing gout. The study found that consumption of two or more soft drinks each day upped gout risk by 85%. The same study found that one soft drink each day upped gout risk by 45%.
Beer raises gout risk by 49% per daily serving. A daily serving of spirits raises gout risk by 15%.
For those of you who do not know, Gout is an extremely painful form of arthritis in which uric acid crystals accumulate in the joints. It most commonly affects the big toe but commonly affects other joints in the leg. While men are more likely to suffer gout than are women, a woman's risk greatly increases after menopause. About one in 10 people over the age of 60 develops gout.
A gout flair up can cause weeks of suffering. It is very severe pain. I had a gout attack in the early 1990s and I can say that it was the worst pain I have ever had to endure.
My gout attack affected my big toe and recall excruciating pain with any kind of contact on that toe – sleeping was a nightmare. Anytime the sheet touched my toe it sent me through the roof!
Gout causes intense pain and swelling, one of the worst pains you can suffer.
This study has been significant because it is the first one that links these commonly consumed drinks to gout. That being said, the study definitely links soft drinks to gout risk, but it does not prove that cutting back on soft drinks will lower that risk.
Wheather or not your family history predisposes you to gout formation or not, you have to realize that high-fructose carbonated beverages don't have any nutritional benefit what so ever.
The association of gout with soda consumption is just one more reason to eliminate soda from our diets.
The point of this article is to draw your attention to the fact that we have a tremendous amount of control of our own health. By using the information that is readily available we can take responsibility for our health by making wiser decisions
Call Steve Jones at his San Diego Chiropractic Clinic
(619) 280 0554
www.jonespainrelief.com
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