Holistic Health Information Summer Health and Fitness

As summer approaches we tend to want to commit to more fitness activities to get ready to look good in summer clothing.

I suggest that the best way to achieve your fitness goals, is to first assess your current state of fitness: are you currently sedentary or doing some kind of regular exercise, once or more than once a week?

Then, gradually increase the number of minutes and intensity of the exercise, as you achieve your fitness goals.

I recommend Pilates by Design as a great place to begin to get coached on your exercise needs. Owned by Erin Boylan, the studio is offering two for one sessions. Get your special offer coupons in my office now!

Call Pilates by Design at: 760 271 9205

The second thing that you must keep in mind is, that you must burn more than you eat! Eat regularly, do not let your blood sugar drop or rise. This causes stressors to your hormonal system, and deprive the brain from sugar, which is the only thing the brain can use for energy. Once the brain runs out of sugar, it starts destroying its own tissue to liberate sugar. Brain damage is not a good trade off for starvation! Take care of the brain, reduce and avoid as many stressors as possible, and your fitness and health goals will be met. Avoid refined sugars, caffeine, processed, deep fried foods, and alcohol.

Some suggestions for other stress reducing activities are: meditation, prayer, watching a sunset, and everyone would be well served in doing the Restorative Pose to counter stress in life.

The Restorative Pose is: Lay on the floor with calves on a chair, sofa, bed, etc., as long as your legs are at 90 degrees from your torso and your arms are next to your torso extended along your sides. On the ceiling above you, place a photo or picture of a nature scene or resort where you wish you were, and imagine yourself there having the time of your life very relaxed and serene, for 15 minutes every day, do not allow any other thoughts to enter your mind, if they do, go back to the image and the relaxed serene feelings.

Get a massage or a chiropractic adjustment to reduce your stress – once a month is the minimum. Your skeleton and muscle system need tune ups because of the repetitive motion stressors of our sedentary stressful lifestyle!

Sleep at least 7-8 hours a night; this is vital for repair and regeneration to occur in every part of the body including recovery from physical activity.
I believe that if you combine all of this, you will achieve your fitness and health goals for the summer and beyond!

Contact me to learn more about holistic approaches to fitness and health.
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Holistic Health Information Supporting your Liver to Offset the Effects of Chemicals

 

Everything that is made of plastic is manufactured from the waste products of the oil industry. The plastic that is used to make water bottles is the cheapest and most unstable of all of them. Water is a natural solvent, and pulls everything into it. Because plastic bottles are made from a material that releases estrogen-like substances called xenoestrogens into the water that they hold, we are all being exposed and affected by these toxic elements in our bodies.

Normally, there should be a balanced ratio of estrogen to progesterone in the body of a woman. Unfortunately, there is a predominance of estrogen dominance in most women, because of the additional exposure to these xenoestrogens coming from water bottles, pesticides in our environment, smog, paints, carpeting, nail polish, and the increase in use of birth control pills, and hormone replacement therapies from synthetic man-made sources.

This leads to a very serious disruption in hormone balance that leads to erratic menstrual cycles, infertility, PMS, and a much higher incidence in cancers of the breast and ovaries. In order to prevent and protect our health and hormonal balance, it is important to:

1. Use glass or stainless steel containers to drink out of for our water.

2. Make sure that estrogen and progesterone are in proper physiologically safe ratio.

3. Ingest healthy whole foods

4. Avoid the use of synthetic hormones, and long term use of birth control pills.

Supporting our liver, the single most vital organ in charge of detoxifying and processing female hormones, is extremely important. This can be done by consuming herbs and B vitamins that assist our liver in its daily task of detoxification, and filtration of our blood. In order to avoid infertility and hormonal imbalances these steps are vital.

Contact me to learn more about holistic approaches to supporting your liver.

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Holistic Health Information Allergies: Support your Immune System

As spring unfolds, it is time to support the immune system, to avoid the onslaught of allergic symptoms.
Keeping your entire endocrine (hormonal system) in balance is crucial, so let’s review some previous newsletters to remind us of how to keep several of the glands and hormones in balance, including: supporting your adrenal glands; maintaining healthy blood sugar and insulin levels; a healthy intestinal tract; and last but not least a healthy brain.

The brain requires three very important things to function optimally. The first is a regular supply of glucose (the only fuel and energy source it can use), which is delivered by our body through the breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates; and fat. Oxygen is another vital requirement – without it, our brain will die in minutes. Oxygen is supplied by our red blood cells.

Finally, stimulation is necessary for proper brain function and health. This stimulation is external, such as: reading, exercising, doing mathematical operations, engaging in artistic activities, learning new skills, etc. There is also the need for internal stimulation. A balanced production of neurotransmitters, the brain monitors and integrates itself based on the amount and equilibrium of the various neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, and gaba.

In the past two years, by going to seminars about brain health, I have come to understand that in order to best serve my patients’ overall wellness, I must assess and educate them about the importance of having a healthy brain, and its effects and influence on health is vitally important.

Getting 8 hours of restful sleep every night is also crucial – this is the only time our brain and body are undergoing repair and regeneration. The first four hours of sleep are used to repair the physical body, and the last four hours are intended for psychic (emotional) regeneration and repair. In the first four hours, our brain produces its highest amount of growth hormone and melatonin. Growth hormone is responsible for the growth of new and healthier cells in every tissue and organ of the body. This production is dependent on the quantity of DHEA being produced by the brain and body, and is in abundance when we manage our stress levels and balance our lifestyle. Melatonin has a nightly rhythm that gradually increases as we approach midnight, and then declines in daylight. Melatonin is an anti-oxidant, a mood stabilizer, and allows our brain to achieve the deepest of sleep cycles. It is also derived from serotonin, a neurotransmitter that can be depleted by the production of excess cortisol, a hormone that is produced under high amounts of stress.

I recommend that you establish a protocol that will support your digestive tract, immune system, endocrine system, and brain health. Ingesting foods that will not inflame you, and assist in proper blood sugar balance (eating healthy protein and fat at regular intervals throughout the day); taking supportive nutrients such as Vitamin D3, and fish oils, along with adrenal-supportive herbs, such as rhodiola, eleuthero, holy basil, and ashwanganda (these keep your cortisol and adrenalin in balance). Also, anti-inflammatory nutrients such as tumeric, green tea, and flavinoids, and brain supportive nutrients such as vinpocetene, ginko biloba, and cayenne are helpful. Keeping all of these systems healthy goes a long way towards ensuring that your body repairs and regenerates throughout the year, and maintains a healthy response to the stressors of our global environment.

If you do succumb to allergic symptoms, consider making an appointment to treat these symptoms with a technique called NAET- Namudrapad Allergy Elimination Technique. This can greatly reduce or eliminate your allergic symptoms.

Contact me for holistic treatments for allergies.
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