Make 2022 Your Healthiest Year Yet!

Welcome to a brand new year! With the new year comes new opportunities to improve your health and wellbeing, and there are many places you can start. Whether you’re looking to eat more greens, move your body in new ways, decrease stress, improve sleep, or finally address that nagging pain, now is the perfect time to try something new.

At Kennedy Chiropractic Center of Wauwatosa, Dr. Corinne Kennedy helps patients of all ages prevent and reduce pain and improve their sense of wellbeing. Read on for Dr. Kennedy’s top tips for making 2022 your healthiest year yet, and to learn more about how chiropractic care can help you manage back and neck pain, have a healthier pregnancy, and more.

Health Resolution #1: Eat to improve gut health.

One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions involves losing weight. However, weight loss can be slow and extremely challenging, leading many people to give up on this goal by February. A better way to approach this resolution is to focus on how eating better can improve your overall health. Research indicates a strong link between what we eat and the health of our gut microbiome, the millions of bacteria that live in our digestive system and have an impact on everything from our immunity to disease to our mental health. Luckily, by making a few small dietary tweaks, you can increase your gut health and positively impact your overall wellbeing.

Here are two tips for eating to improve gut health:

• Eat the rainbow – much on fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods in a variety of colors to ensure you’re eating all the nutrients that your gut bacteria rely on to thrive.
• Choose fermented foods – pickles, yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, and kimchi contain bacteria that provide essential probiotics to feed your gut microbiome. Translation: fermented foods make your gut happy. Try adding one fermented food to your diet each day — yogurt with breakfast, pickles with your sandwich, kimchi on your salad, or swapping out that happy hour cocktail with bubbly kombucha.

Health Resolution #2: Stay active to improve mental health. 

Daily movement is critical to the health of our mind, bodies, and souls, yet many of us live largely sedentary lives. The challenges of the last year have also taken a toll on our mental health in ways we may not even realize. Luckily, you can improve both your physical and mental health at once. Here are our top tips:

• Walk with a friend — invite a family member, neighbor, coworker, or friend to meet you for an outdoor walk. This allows you to move your body while enjoying the beauties of nature and catching up with a loved one — all key strategies in maintaining a good sense of mental wellbeing.
• Find an accountability buddy — do you have a friend or coworker who is also looking to move more? Make them your accountability buddy! Decide together how often you want to exercise, then check in with each other regularly to share successes and challenges. You can even switch off choosing workout videos on YouTube or meet for safely distanced outdoor exercise. Once again, this strategy combines positive physical movement with socialization, improving both your body and mind.

Health Resolution #3: Take action to address and prevent pain. 

If you’ve noticed a new pain or are living with chronic discomfort, it’s time to take action. Many people assume physical pain is a natural part of getting older, but it doesn’t have to be. And one of the most effective ways to manage and prevent pain is also one of the easiest – set up a chiropractic appointment!

Chiropractic adjustments are an excellent addition to any comprehensive wellness plan. The purpose of chiropractic adjustments is to relieve pressure on the central nervous system and restore balance to the spine, which will reduce or even eliminate bodily inflammation that leads to chronic pain. An experienced Wauwatosa chiropractor like Dr. Corinne Kennedy will personalize her approach to your specific needs and can provide additional insight on ways to improve your overall health and wellbeing.

For more support on your health journey, contact Kennedy Chiropractic Center today.