What is Your Quality of Life?

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important."

Quality of Life. Noun: the general well-being of a person or society, defined in terms of health and happiness, rather than wealth. 

You may agree that the state of health can determine happiness. If you feel unwell or have pain, it is hard to feel happy. You may feel grateful for loved ones and circumstances in life, but being ill, or having uncomfortable or unwanted symptoms, can severely curtail the very activities that bring happiness.

Our current medical system is not geared towards health or happiness. When drugs alone are used to manage symptoms, there may be some temporary relief. But the side-effects alone can wear down the body and produce weakness in the organs and immune system that lead to further distress or foster disease. 

As a Naturopath my job (and my great passion) is to help determine which factors are the barriers to the body's innate ability to heal. And it is such a joy to witness those healing powers on a daily basis. 

Recently one of my long-term patients experienced a true medical miracle. Diagnosed with a blood/lymph cancer a couple of years ago, this brave lady set out on a journey to heal. She changed her diet, studies alternative treatments, and traveled to Europe twice to seek knowledgeable health professionals. All the while she also came to me for supplements and natural medicine to boost her immune response and supply the building blocks for healthy cells.

Many of you watched the "The Truth About Cancer", the series of videos that presented alternative treatments and survivors' stories from around the world. Based on what I learned from that program, I suggested adding Frankincense Essential Oil to my patient's regimen. She put it on her tongue and massaged it into the tumor, which was visible as a large lump on one side of her throat. Two weeks later, on her next visit, I asked how she was doing and she requested that I look at her throat, as I had done twice monthly for the past couple of years.

This time, there was nothing to see. The tumor had completely disappeared. Instead, I saw pink, healthy, and normal-looking tissue in the place of the tumor. I might not have believed that something could change so rapidly if I had not seen it with my own eyes.

Would the Frankincense Essential Oil have triggered the miracle on its own? We will never know. Perhaps it was just the final burst of support that the body needed for the immune system to slay the dragon. Certainly the patient needed to make the dietary changes she made, and she used many other intelligent and researched treatments-all of them alternative and all designed to support correct cell formation and restore the balance of health. 

And now that her health is restored, she is happier and busier than she has been in a long time. Her quality of life is greatly enhanced.

This is the power of natural medicine. We have been led to believe that natural medicine is not enough, that we need the chemicals and invasive treatments provided by Big Business Medicine. And sometimes we do and I am grateful for those treatments when they are correctly provided.

But there is a great deal of power in plant medicine, in nutrition, and in the loving support of our family, friends and dedicated practitioners. My first professor in Holistic Nutrition told us that our job was to help people find their own medical miracles. What I really prefer is helping you ensure that you never need one. 

Like Martin Luther King, Jr., I have a dream. I dream of a day when holistic medicine and conventional medicine are prescribed according to the needs of the person, without regard to bottom line of corporations. I dream of a day when yearly check-ups involve testing to see what is needed for prevention of disease and improvement in quality of life, and not to test whether you have a disease and are ready to take your turn on the medical Merry-go-round. I dream of a day when all kids have access to fresh, healthy, organic, non-GMO foods every day, at a price that is affordable for families. 

I hope you share my dream because we can make this happen. Meanwhile, let us know how we can help improve the quality of your life, as well the lives of your family and friends. What part of your health is preventing you from pursuing your own path to happiness?

W

Heartburn-That Acid Stomach Feeling and What To Do About It

If your Medical Doctor has told you that you suffer from Gastric Reflux (GERD) realize that digestion is not something that was well taught at medical school.

Most MD’s think the problem is too much (hyperacidity) stomach acid. But most often the problem is actually not enough acid (hypoacidity.)

Americans spend more than $13 billion on acid stopping drugs each year. This expense might be justified if antacid drugs were actually curing heartburn and GERD. But just the opposite is true. Not only do these drugs fail to treat GERD, they will make the underlying condition worse.

Tums and other over-the-counter or prescription medications do work, and they do treat the symptoms. But they do no treat the cause. Stopping digestion, by lowering acid even more, is not the answer. When you lower acid even more, and undigested food hits your intestine, that creates a burden to your guts that sets you up for candida formation and leaky gut. That means you have the wrong kind of gut bacteria growing out of control and undigested proteins and other food components are transferring across the gut wall into the blood. This is a common cause of allergies, inflammation, acne, rosacea, skin rashes, and a compromised immune system.

Improving the stomach acid response, and improving digestion, makes your stomach happy, relieves symptoms, and is very important for your over-all health.

So, if you suffer from acid reflux or heartburn, reach for hydrochloric acid tablets and digestive enzymes. Take a couple of each with each meal and see what happens. If you still suffer with digestive discomfort, let me know. Rarely there is more of a sort-out needed. But most often you will find your digestion greatly improved.

As people age, they lose more stomach acid, although that may be because the standard American diet is a great burden on digestion. Avoid combining fruit with protein, eliminate sugar, coffee, alcohol and breads and pastas for a few days, and see what happens with your digestion.

Lightly steamed vegetables are good for your digestive tract. Chew animal proteins well and don’t drink too much water with your meals. And don’t drink anything BUT water with your meals, and see how that affects your digestion.

Your life-line, the route for getting nutrients to your blood and cells. is through your digestive tract. Most people would not pour Kool-Aid into the gas tank of their car, but they may think nothing of pouring garbage into their mouths.

Naturopaths are very well trained to treat the entire digestive process because it is one of the vital keys to long-term health and strong immunity, feeling great and looking the best you can. It also will help you to lose weight.

If your stomach bothers you at all, come see us. Don’t suffer, but get the root problem fixed.