Many people who come to our office who have lived a typical American lifestyle usually have osteoarthritis in their spine and are overweight by the time they are 50 years old. The question I want to bring to the table is whether osteoarthritis and obesity is a good thing or a bad thing?
The common excuses why people think they have arthritis or obesity are age and genetics. Are there people in their 50’s with no osteoarthritis in their spine who are fit? Yes! Is it due to age? No. Is this related to genetics? No. When it comes to arthritis the only way it can be considered related to genetics is if is a rheumatoid arthritis. So when it comes to osteoarthritis the only way it can happen is due to poor biomechanics and according to the Mayo Clinic is the wear and tear arthritis.
The Question Remains, Is This Bad?
Osteoarthritis is not a bad thing, but it is not good to have arthritis in the spine. In fact, the reason osteoarthritis happens is because the body thinks it is under a physical stress, and it is so smart that it starts to adapt by building more bone. This reaction is the body’s protective mechanism against improper posture, so while arthritis shows the body is working properly, it is not healthy to have.
For example, if the Hoover Dam was built with the wrong curve, then it would not be able to support the water and would break. If the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was built with the wrong degree angles, then it would fall. The difference between humans and those architectural structures is the body has a power inside of it called innate intelligence, so instead of the neck or low back collapsing when it loses its normal angles, it builds bone, which is called osteoarthritis.
This is similar to the person who eats an inflammatory diet filled with grains, processed foods, and sugars and then becomes obese. Is the process of building fat cells a bad thing? No. However, is it good to be obese? No. The body detects a stress, which is a harmful diet filled with toxins, so it creates fat cells to put around the gut and organs as a protective mechanism.
What Next and How to Think of Your Health?
Looking at innate intelligence and the protective mechanisms of the body, we notice that symptoms are signs of stress. Unfortunately our healthcare system looks at the body wrongly and has a goal to treat symptoms rather than correct the cause.
If your front left tire is worn out, yet you put all the tires on the car at the same time, then would just replacing the front left tire be the solution to prevent it from wearing out faster the second time? Of course not. You would think “Why did this tire wear out faster then the other tires?” most likely the answer is in the alignment of the car, so the problem is not the front left tire but the alignment of the car.
Similarly with osteoarthritis, the problem is not the bone spurs and degeneration but the improper biomechanics in your spine. My article “What is Corrective Chiropractic?“” shows what an abnormal spinal structure looks like and what can be done to correct its alignment. Walking against gravity all day and having poor posture will wear out the spine much faster.
In the obesity example, the problem is not the fat cells but what causes the fat cells is usually a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle. Unfortunately, many people want to treat the symptom and remove the fat either through drugs, liposuction, tummy tucks, and gastric bypass; instead of going to the cause of weight gain. Unfortunately now people will take drugs to reduce fat cells instead of going to the cause which will usually be their diet and sedentary lifestyle.
Look at the following list of the most common symptoms people experience, and think about what causes them. Our country is addicted to taking pills, and most of those pills are designed to remove the symptom but NOT address the cause. Drugs are not necessarily bad, but we need to really think about our health and what is the underlying CAUSE of these symptoms.
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- High blood sugar (diabetes)
- Low serotonin (depression)
- Low melatonin (sleep trouble)
- Acid reflux
- Digestive disorders
Are You Treating Symptoms or Chasing the Cause?
To close, if your car’s engine light appears would you put black tape over the light and keep driving, or would you get the car checked? Most people would get their cars checked, as the engine light is a symptom to an underlying problem. Sometimes when any of the above symptoms occur most people put black tape over it and ignore the problem. We need to look at the causes to eliminate our symptoms.
