To be honest, I have never actually had a patient ever ask me this question. Upon further consideration, I don’t think it really should ever be asked in a chiropractic office! But why is this question interesting? Well, potentially it might be true.
There was a study performed on chickens where they separated the chickens into two groups. The first group had their regular veterinarian care, while the second group had chiropractic adjustments, prior to their delivery to the farmers who raised them. The farmers noticed a crazy trend, that was substantiated by a well designed scientific study. The reults; boiler chickens that are adjusted for vertebral subluxations not only grow bigger and faster than ordinary chickens (2 months faster on average)…but they actually tasted better in a blind taste test which compared these chickens to conventionally raised chickens, and store bought pre-prepared chicken. Seriously?
You probably are scratching your head and wondering why. Well, the answer is probably a little bit too complicated for this blog, but because the adjustments were able to change the physiological makeup of these birds, it suggests that chiropractic adjustments can play a role in epigenetics.
Epigenetics, simply put, are the parts of our cellular system that turns our genes on or off. It tells our body what “features” to express or “turn on”, and which ones to “turn off”. That can be good things like turning on genes that are positive, and it turns off the bad genes that could be harmful (think cancer genes). Something that is super valuable this day and age of “genetic” research.
So what does this mean for you? Well, obviously we are not planning on inviting you over to become the main course of a meal, but it demonstrates chiropractic’s profound effect on not just our neurological and structural function, but our genetic potential as well. Pretty crazy stuff.
So next time you get your adjustment, instead of envisioning your subluxations being corrected and the power in your brain re-connecting with your body (which is what is actually happening), how about envisioning your good genes being turned on …. or being more tasty if that actually is your goal.
Dr. Josh
Recent Comments