Winter Wellness: Healthy vs Sick Cells

What are we talking about?

I was five years old when my Dad brought me home my first pet – a goldfish. Growing up on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Australia, I remember collecting hermit crabs and shells from the beach to add to its tank of sand and caves. Within two weeks of being a pet owner, my goldfish had sadly passed away.

There are three trillion cells that make-up the average adult human body, and your nervous system is responsible for the control, coordination, and adaptation of each of those cells – a big job! But what does my childhood pet, three trillion cells, and the human body’s nervous system have to do with chiropractic?

My goldfish – RIP – are a perfect example of what we chiropractors mean by “healthy vs sick cells”.

What’s the difference?

Your three trillion cells are, at any point in time, in a state of “healthy” or “sick”. In chiropractic, this refers to a cell’s ability to adapt to its external environment. If the environment around a cell changes, the cell will adapt so it’s able to function normally. This adaptation only happens if your body’s nervous system is free of interference.

 I remember my parents telling me that the things I had brought back from the ocean led to my fish dying. Being a freshwater species, the salinity of that tank had built up to such a level that my fish could no longer adapt and survive.

Our human cells are no different. Just like my fish, our cells can adapt to incremental changes in their external environment, for example, when we experience a change in seasons. When those changes become too much, like the salinity became too much for my fish, the nervous system can’t communicate adaptation efficiently, and the cells die.

Another example – the human heart is made up of an estimated 50 billion cells. When our heart cells are functioning without interference, it functions beautifully, easily doing its job of circulating blood around the body. It takes years of interference for people to notice their heart not functioning properly but only one “sick” cell to affect your nervous system and the other 49,999,999,999 billion heart cells.

Bringing things back to chiropractic

The change in season shouldn’t stop you or your family from doing what you love.
Copyright: stockbroker / 123RF Stock Photo

Regular adjustments help restore nerve communication which does something amazing to restore “sick” cells. When your nervous system communication is restored, and the interference or subluxation is removed, your body will selectively remove and replace any “sick” cells that aren’t functioning and adapting. As “sick” cells are removed and replaced, they begin to have a positive contribution to the overall function of the organ. The end result? In the case of your heart, 50 billion cells that are functioning and adapting to their environment and responding appropriately aka a well-functioning heart.

The same concept applies to any organ or system in the body, and we all know the benefit of well-functioning organs and systems – a body which can express health and life to its optimal potential.

Dr Thomas Baker

Chiropractor