The Keys to Optimal Health and Well Being

Get Great Sleep

For anyone who has trouble with sleep, we work on handling this as a first step on the program as bodies heal best when good sleep is available. This can sometimes involve specific treatments for sleep. It is during sleep that the body is able to heal and repair. Poor sleep and insomnia are often precursors to the human body breaking down and needs to be addressed at the time of your visit.

Eat well

Altering your diet and making proper nutritional choices greatly affects the body’s ability to self-heal. What you eat signals the body how healthy you want it to be.  Eating the proper foods is the essential foundation for healing.  The old adage “you are what you eat” still, and will always hold true.  The once recommended “Food Pyramid” is not the ideal way of achieving optimal health. There are no set diets that are right for everyone. Often foods considered “healthy” are the ones causing problems.  We can help to identify holes in your diet and will give you the appropriate recommendations either by recommending specific foods to eat, or recommend the proper food supplement to add to your treatment plan.

Our standard recommendation is the Mediterranean diet comprised of real, natural, whole foods that are non-processed and organic when possible. We also will help to determine whether or not supplements that someone is taking is contributing to some of the health problems they are experiencing. Most people are not aware of the impact of poor supplements and poor food choices on their overall well-being. To see a list of restaurants and local merchants that use or sell good quality food go to www.eatwellguide.org.

Eliminate burdens on the body including allergies and sensitivities

Our immune system is always on high alert.  When an unhealthy substance invades the body or comes in contact with the tissues of the body, the immune system makes protective antibodies to fight the substance. Unfortunately, for some people, the immune system can go overboard and begin attacking and fighting off everyday foods that are being consumed.  Symptoms of this heightened immune system response may include common allergy symptoms such as, coughing, congestion, diarrhea, watery/itchy eyes, hives, sneezing, bloating and stomach aches.  Other less obvious symptoms of our body’s response to certain foods may be fatigue, headaches, joint pain, or mood swings.  Common foods that seem to trigger this response in susceptible people include dairy, wheat, soy, corn, yeast, eggs and nuts.  We are trained to identify patients who are susceptible to these common food allergens both through the history and physical examination and in some cases, blood testing.  We find that a majority of people are eating some food on a daily basis that they don’t realize is having a large impact on their health.

Other burdens on the body may include bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, candida and heavy metals.  When patients present to our office with any one of these suspected “intruders” we do the appropriate testing and/or make the appropriate referral to most effectively manage these conditions.

Address Nutritional Deficiencies

First and foremost, food is the best medicine. Supplements are not meant to replace healthy eating. With that said, the majority of people are not receiving the appropriate vitamins and minerals needed for optimal health with food alone.  Due to various factors including soil mineral depletion, pesticide overuse, unavailability of food and driving food costs, vegetables and fruits simply do not have the nutritional content they had decades ago.  For this reason, supplementing the diet with high quality nutritional supplements fills in the gaps and aids to maximize peoples’ potential for healing.  We are trained in identifying deficient nutrients and providing patients with quality supplements that will aid in promoting overall health and provide the body with what it needs for repair and function

Many supplements create imbalances over time that can stress and age the body. Many “nutritional” products on the market contribute to stress and aging on the human body because they are imbalanced and require the body to “give up” nutrients to balance them. Actually some supplements covertly increase your nutritional deficiencies.  These low-quality supplements are not made to be easily absorbed. A supplement needs to be in the correct form and have certain supporting nutrients (cofactors) to be absorbed. Additionally, many people are sensitive to some ingredients and fillers in supplements, which can cause unfavorable reactions.

Improve Posture and Biomechanics

We locate postural stresses which can include uneven leg lengths, dropped foot arches, poor ergonomics (cars, chairs, airplane seats, etc.), and positions that aggravate the body structure (sleeping, exercises, and work).

There are many solutions for these situations that vary based on the patients’ needs. These may include a specific exercise program addressing a patients’ weak and/or tight muscles that may be contributing to the faulty posture.  Additionally, we may recommend shoe lifts, custom-made foot orthotics, lumbar or cervical cushions/pillows, or joint stabilizing supports or wraps.  Sometimes something as basic as carrying a bag or purse in a different way, changing a sleeping position,  or altering a computer workstation will be the key to decreasing a stressor leading to poor posture and biomechanics .

Be Educated

The more a patient understands their treatment program, the more they can work with us to help reach their goals. We allow ample time to answer health-related questions so that we can better understand a patients’ desires and needs.  Due to this, we teach and educate patients about many topics including, but not limited to cooking and eating food that is healthful and fun, identifying and eliminating  offending foods on their condition, and what exercises or stretches are best for each specific patients’ conditions and goals.