The Healthiest State Initiative which was endorsed by Governor Terry Branstad explains how we can set a goal to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation in just five years.

Haas Chiropractic Clinic has been promoting these concepts for years and it's nice to see the private and public sectors get on board with these wellness concepts. In America today, 75% of our health care dollars are spent on chronic degenerative diseases that are preventable. We just need momentum to increase awareness for Iowans to make daily healthy decisions.

According to the 2010 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Iowa ranked as the 19th healthiest state. This was based on six sub-indexes which are: Life Evaluation, Physical Health, Emotional Health, Healthy Behavior, Work environment and Basis access (healthy food, water anad shelter).

Along with getting Iowans to start walking which there is a "Start Somewhere walk" on October 7th, other initiatives such as Dan Buettner's Blue Zone Project will be started to help Iowans to live healthier and hopefully longer and more productive lives.

His top nine common characteristics of all the worlds long-lived people are to move naturally where walking is the best activity for longevity. The second is have a reason to get up in the morning, to have a purpose. #3 is reduce inflammation by reducing stress (meditation and prayer) also I would add reducing inflammatory foods (sugars, artificial sweeteners, fried foods and grains). #4 stop eating when you are 80% full and avoid over eating. #5 eat mostly a plant based diet with small portions of meat. #6 1-2 glasses of red wine a day which has anti-oxident properties which may help if you can tollerate alcohol. #7 have a strong thriving family adds years to life expectancy. #8 be connected to your church. People who go to church weekly live an extra 4-14 yrs. according to his studies. #9 expand your social circle to include healthy-minded, supportive people that will lift you up emotionally.

Seventy-five percent of our health status is a result of the daily decisions we make. There are two web sites associated with the Healtiest State Initiative that I would like to share with you. They are very helpful to increase awareness of lifestyles and eating habits that can influence your health. They are BlueZones.com and ChooseMyPlate.gov. I encourage our readers to check these web sites out.

Haas Chiropractic has been assisting patients with eating habits for years and on the diet surveys we accumulate at our office, it is common to see patients miss meals, eat just processed foods, drink little water and eat very few fruits and vegetables. We need to eat a plate of food that has the colors of the rainbow, not just brown food which is common in the mid-west region.

When determining your menu plan we recommend first to think of nourishment. It is the nourishment aspect of your meal that contains the vitamins and minerals needed for the thousands of metabolic reactions to occur in the body. So when formulating your plate of food, choose two fruits and vegetables. That may be one fruit and one vegetable or two vegetables. Preferrably, organic whole foods.

Protein should be 25-35% lean meats. Carbohydrates which is your main source of energy would be 40 to 60%. Fats would be anywhere from 15-25%. Choose healthy fats such as raw olive oil, coconut butter, avocados, seeds and nuts. Fats contain many nutrients such as vitamins A,D,E, and K.

Finally, when choosing your produce, fats, carbohydrates and proteins to consume, we suggest you take it one step further and make sure it's "clean". The more you get back to basic, whole foods, the better off you'll be. You want to choose "clean" foods. Choose fewer foods from a box or bag. These are what we call "processed foods".  Try to minimize food intake that has artificial sweeteners, nitrite or nitrates, canned foods and drinks, MSG, deep fried breaded foods, Trans fats, refined carbohydrates (white sugar, white flour, high fructose corn syrup), chlorine and flouride.

Dr. Richard Haas D.C., F.A.C.O.