A Piece of the Puzzle

  

When people ask how private counseling or one of my classes can improve their overall health I begin to rattle off a myriad of ailments. For example some of the things I help people work on are asthma, seasonal allergies, food allergies and sensitivities, migraines, chronic runny nose, IBS, constipation, bloating, gas, weight gain, joint pain, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, and overall malaise. Then the inquirer replies, "So you can like heal everything?" Uh, no.

Let me introduce you to the world of alternative medicine. We are one big team which thrives on working together much like the organs in your body work together. If your liver gives out, your hard working heart cannot save you. The body only lives when all organs participate and are functioning well.

 Likewise you may go to a a dietitian such as myself for joint pain. I can help you minimize and control the pain through diet. You might even find out that a food allergy was the source of pain and by avoiding that food you can eliminate the problem. Or alternatively you may find that an anti-inflammatory diet helps you control pain from an old injury and with the help of a chiropractor and eating well you can begin to heal.

Sometimes we want one book or one health care provider to solve all our problems. And if they don't heal everything, we throw the baby out with the bath water. If I choose to go to an acupuncturist for all my health problems and she at some point refers me to a naturopathic physician that does not make her a failure. Each practitioner provides a piece to the puzzle which in the end will give you a beautiful picture of health.

My sister in a wonderful example of this (and I could share many others but I know she doesn't mind). When she was diagnosed with lupus she immediately changed her diet and avoided all foods that caused her joints to ache. She sought the services of an acupuncturist for healing and pain control. With both diet and the acupuncture treatments she began to feel better but she felt like there was more she could be doing to help her body. A naturopathic physician was soon added to the team and remission was suddenly in sight (I say suddenly but it actually took a lot of hard work from everyone, especially my sister). But if my sister ignores her diet she will be right back where she started. Acupuncture and essential oils from the natropath alone won't save her. Neither will nutrition.

So to answer the original question, no I can't heal everything. But nutrition can heal many things and without it nothing can heal. It's a piece to the puzzle, that's all. But every piece is important.

Join me for Health Bootcamp. It begins this week! We will meet at Dr. Kyle Campbell's Thursday April 26, May 3, and May 10 from 6 to 8 PM. The cost is $65 (get $15 off if you bring a friend). Message me on facebook if you would like to attend or call 903-938-9931 to reserve your seat. See you there!

Biting the Bullet

  

A couple of weeks ago I finished Jon Acuff's book, Quitter. It's how-to-succeed-and-reach-your-dreams literature stuffed full of surprising humor. Enormous amounts of laughter do not usually accompany the self improvement books that I read so he gets an A+ there. But more than that, I did find it helpful and inspiring. You may be wondering what a win-at-life book has to do with the picture of a reverse osmosis water filtration system shown at the top of this post. Well, I'm not tell you yet!

To be honest, I enjoy reading career oriented types of books such as Acuff's. But the reality of it is, I have an adorable little chubby hand two-year-old boy and an ever adventurous seven-year-old daughter who are the focus of my life right now. Obviously I keep my toes in the water of my career by teaching seminars locally, providing private counseling, and in last place, my website (it is in a sad state isn't it?). Still, my family is first priority.

In spite of having an alternative focus, these types of books always contain nuggets of wisdom I can use now and more knowledge to be utilized later on. For example, Acuff talks about the pitfall of perfection in his book. We put off getting started because we can't do it perfectly. Thus for most of us, we never start. My site is proof of that! I put off blogging because I know I don't have enough time to search out the perfect picture to go with the post. And I avoid playing around on my site to improve it because computers just aren't my thing and I'm afraid my effort will be futile.

Digging deeper I realized I even do this in my personal life pertaining to health! Yes, I too have trouble getting started making changes (see I've told you I am not perfect!). And here is where we tie in the picture above. Since college I have said that I want a reverse osmosis system to filter ALL the water in my house some day. Reverse osmosis is suppose to be the best water filtration system and limiting to the kitchen would be a big mistake. After all your skin is the biggest organ of your body. A hot shower opens up the skin's pores allowing it to soak in heavy metals, pesticides, and other undesirables. My plan was to have a system installed that filters the entire supply of water to my house some day when I bought a home. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that that kind of system is a wee bit expensive.

I have now been in my current house for ten years and admit to having the same goal. And in the time of ten years I have not achieved this goal and had such a large system installed. You know what? Life happened and that large expense was put off. But as I taught a detoxification seminar last month someone mentioned to me that they had one installed under their sink from Lowe's for $158. Really? $158 is all that has stood between me and a more pure water source? Sadly, I had been told this before and continued to pass on this idea with the hope of having a more perfect house-wide system later on.

Then my two-year-old's natutropathic physician tested him for heavy metals as a part of his normal protocol. Although Archer didn't get a "bad" report, the heavy metals that did show up were ones typically found in tap water. I asked his doctor if a reverse osmosis system would catch them. He replied that that would clean this little problem up easily. Easily? Somehow I don't think my perfect big plan really trumped the $158 unit that would filter my son's daily drinking water.

Needless to say the next day we spent $158 at Lowe's purchasing the reverse osmosis system shown above to be mounted under our sink by my husband. You can pay a little more and Lowe's will install it for you but my husband reports it was a simple job and he is no plumber.

So many of you have shared that you are overwhelmed by the idea of getting off processed foods as if it is an all or nothing choice. And the task of cooking "whole foods" seems to consume people as if a special degree in this area is required. We are missing the forest for the trees. Just because I took this small step does not mean I have settled and will never get a larger system for the house. And just because you've only gotten off diet cokes and still ate a process breakfast cereal this morning doesn't mean you are a failure. Haven't you ever heard practice makes perfect???

Now I'm off to swallow my own advice and see where else I am stalling!