Category — Food and Nutrition

Yesterday at the office we received a circular advertisement for a local pizza restaurant. It was jammed into our storm door handle. The ad caught my eye, as it was an attractively designed menu with lots of full color pictures. It proudly displayed the restaurant’s wide variety of selections, ranging from “Gourmet White Pizza” to “Bacon Cheese Steaks”, and from “Cheese Fries” to “Double Cheese Burgers”.

The other thing that caught my eye was something different on the back cover. It was actually another ad placed on the back of the menu. The ad was for a medical team consisting of internists, cardiovascular specialists and cosmetic surgeons!

Right on the back of the pizza menu!

Now that’s what I call targeted marketing! I guess these doctors have it really figured out. After all, who’s going to need their services more than a bunch of pizza gluttons!

From now on you don’t need to worry about overindulging on high fat, low calorie, and disease-causing foods!

Clogged coronary arteries?… Not a problem. Unsightly riccotta-cheese thighs?… Not a problem. Stomach ulcer?… Not a problem. Just call the doctors on the back of the menu. They’ve got you covered.

Returning to the office on Monday, I was asked by my staff how my weekend was. I responded, “It stunk”. I’m usually pretty active, especially with my kids on the weekends. But not this weekend.

It began last Friday, with tiredness, fever, periodic hacking cough, and chills. It continued and worsened a little throughout the weekend, although It never got as bad as I thought. When I arrived Monday morning at the office I still wasn’t 100%, but felt well enough to manage okay.

I was asked if I took any medication to help. Did I consult a medical doctor? Did I take my temperature? Was it the flu?… A cold?… A virus?

I didn’t take any medicine, I didn’t visit a doctor, and I didn’t take my temperature. I don’t even know what I had! So how did I recover?… My body healed, naturally.

No medicine needed. No special chiropractic adjustments. No special nutritional supplements. Just the God-given power of natural healing working.

Let me explain a few simple strategies I use when I don’t feel my best.

#1) I remind myself that symptoms have a purpose. Things like fever, chills, coughing, lack of hunger are signs of a healthy body that’s fighting and needs to put it’s focus on a priority situation. I reasonably assess my situation. If it’s an emergency, I seek medical attention… if not, then I give my body the opportunity to heal naturally.

#2) I don’t try to suppress the symptoms with medications (i.e. Tylenol to lower fever). Studies show that suppressing natural body symptoms just prolongs the illness.

#3) I listen very carefully to my body. If I’m thirsty I drink water. If I’m hungry I eat… if not, then I fast. True hunger feelings will be in the throat, not in the belly or gut.

#4) If I’m truly hungry, I’ll eat and choose my foods carefully. I stick with steamed veggies, soups and fresh fruit mostly. It may be better to stick with all raw vegetarian foods, but I usually do better with them lightly cooked and in soups.

So to sum up my weekend: I rested, fasted, drank water, rested some more, and finally ate a little. By Monday night I felt nearly 100%. These strategies have been working for me since the 1987. And my wife and 4 children have been thriving on these strategies as well.

When your body is healthy, it’s quite capable of handling these seasonal-type illnesses without any outside interference. People are way too quick to grab a quick-fix pill. But health isn’t found in a bottle.

Why do people have such a hard time trusting the wonderful healing potential that’s already in each of us?

If you are actively pursuing superior health it won’t be easy. If you think maintaining a healthy lifestyle is easy… think again. You will face adversity. Never mind the media, the government, special interest groups and pharmaceutical companies… some of your strongest adversity will come from family, friends and co-workers.

Your goal should be to enter into a positive and friendly dialog with people. To do this we need humility… which is a modest (or accurate) view of one’s own importance.

With this in mind, it’s helpful to remember that the pursuit of superior health is a journey. We may say that we’re living a healthy lifestyle, but then we discover new things. I know that I’m constantly learning new things and making changes to my lifestyle based on the new knowledge. Just remember that different people are at different places in the journey.

I advise all of my patients to read Eat to Live, by Joel Fuhrman. And if you’ve read it, you most likely know more about healthy eating than 99% of the people (and doctors) you know. However, when communicating our health choices with others, we need to remember the importance of humility!

When associating with others who have unhealthy life habits (especially food), your choices will most likely irritate them. They may just be ignorant. They probably have very strong opinions. They may even become antagonistic (because they want to defend their beliefs).

If they try to get you to change or go off your health plan (i.e. “here try a little”, “I made it just for you”, or “a little won’t kill you”), simply thank them and kindly let them know that you don’t have great self-control (true of all of us!) and that if you went off your plan you would have difficulty getting back on track. Gently let them know that you have been on a healthy groove and let them know that your doctor recommended the health choice (food, exercise, chiropractic, massage or whatever), and that it seems to be working for you now – but you’re always open for change & improvement.

This strategy is detailed in the book, The Pleasure Trap, by Lisle and Goldhamer, and helps position you as a humble student open to learning (not a food guru or an extremist). You’ll find that an attitude of humility goes a long way to keeping a friendly dialog open. And who knows… maybe next time they’ll even agree to try that sprout & bean patty you made!

Earlier this week, I was talking with Christine and Linda about our vision and our passion. After an insightful discussion we summed it up: Our passion is to help our clients get well and stay well – using natural therapeutic techniques that are safe and effective. We love the idea of promoting superior health in our community through natural therapies. We discussed just how different our approach to wellness is than the typical “Western” medical approach. To clarify our thoughts, I’d like to share the following story of a patient who visited us this month. Her story isn’t that unusual…

(I have changed the patient name to protect her privacy)

Debbie was referred in to our office by a caring family member. After she was warmly greeted by Christine and Linda, she was introduced to me. She was pleasant enough and seemed to carry herself well, but I could tell something was bothering her. After Debbie completed some health history forms I brought her into my exam room and began the interview. I looked over her forms with her and when I got to the pain/body diagram, my heart broke for her.

She literally had nearly every symptom checked and every body part circled – indicating she had pains everywhere. She indicated that her pain was a 9 out of 10 and was fairly constant. I discovered that she had been suffering from debilitating pains for over 14 years and had not been getting any better despite the numerous medications and injections she was given. She was at her wit’s end.

I began asking some hard questions. Did any of her doctors recommend chiropractic, massage or any other natural healing art?… “No.” Did any of her prior doctors advise her to a try healthier way of eating?… “No.” How was her diet? “Poor.”

Then I started the exam. Debbie was able to move fairly well during the exam and nothing really struck me as that extraordinary until I had her lie down on my exam table. I performed a detailed exam of her spine and the muscles of her back, thighs, legs, shoulders and arms. I discovered multiple areas of spinal subluxation (“stuck” spinal joints that cause nerve interference). I also found that she had multiple areas of extreme muscular tension and active trigger points (muscular “knots”) throughout her body. Some of her trigger points that were so “fired up” that when pressed they shot pain to across to other areas of her body.

I then asked her if any of her prior doctors examined her like this?… “No.” She told me she her doctors interviewed her and then she had x-rays, MRIs, and lab work. All tests revealed nothing wrong. It didn’t surprise me.  I see this type of case frequently.  I knew that all those expensive diagnostic tests don’t reveal the types of problems I found in her joints and muscles. And I found her problems (and the cause of her pains) by just using my hands. (Side note: chiropractic means “With Hands” or “Hand Practice”)

So what does traditional medicine do when they can’t find any causes?  She was prescribed medication to ease her pain. Over the years that changed to injections, and then more and more drugs. And she just didn’t think anything else could be done.

After finishing the exam, I clearly explained to Debbie what was wrong, and that I could definitely help. I provided hope. Her face lit up.

I let her know that I would accept her as a patient, and there was good hope that she would recover, but she would have to make a commitment to better health. She would have to start a program consisting of regular visits for chiropractic and massage therapy. It was also vital that she change her way of eating. She joyfully agreed. Her journey to superior health was just beginning.

This true story helped me clarify my passion as a chiropractic doctor and a natural healer. And in regards to wellness, it also revealed a very distinct difference between our approach and the typical “Western” medical approach…

We know that true health comes from within… not in a bottle.

And we don’t just cover up the symptoms with drugs… we uncover the true cause of the problem and provide natural and corrective care. How refreshing!

And in Debbie’s case… life-changing.