We’ve heard it before…you can’t buy good health. All the money in the world doesn’t matter if you are sick. The more I study and learn about nutrition, the more I realize that we have a huge responsibility to our own health and the health of our families. What we eat, and especially what we don’t eat, really does matter. As the holidays approach, please reflect back through the year and look forward to the beginning of next year. What have we done well and what improvements can we make? Be honest and realistic. Can we make better choices with how we feed ourselves? Contrary to popular belief, it truly does not take more time or cost more money to eat better. Choosing fruits, vegetables, salads and nuts is just as fast and probably costs less. Whether we eat out or cook at home, better choices are just about priorities. Is your health important to you?

Patients come to my office to get well, but my deepest desire is to help keep you well. Through my 25 years in practice, I absolutely believe in the amazing benefits of chiropractic. However, chiropractic is not just something that I do to you. It is a system of physical movements of the spine along with supporting our bodies with great nutrition and maintaining physical flexibility and strength. This can only really be achieved by eating well, hydrating, exercising and stress management. When any of these pieces fall, sickness usually occurs.

Traditional medicine, although absolutely lifesaving in many cases, is mostly about eliminating symptoms, not getting healthy. If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or acid indigestion and your doctor puts you on medication to “improve your numbers”, have you really become healthy? Maybe your high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart burn is your body’s way of trying to tell you something. Maybe it’s a warning sign to look at what you are eating and drinking and change something. Are you exercising to strengthen your cardiovascular system? Are you practicing some form of stress management through quiet time, prayer or yoga? Do you carve any moments throughout your day for “you time”? Or, do you just take a pill (or many of them) and assume that you are okay?

Please stop and reassess. Make the upcoming new year a time to reflect and improve. Make small and doable changes to get healthier. We are combining our November and December newsletters into a motivating source of information. Please use it as a guide and don’t hesitate to ask any questions or schedule a private nutrition counseling session.

Dr. Cathy

There’s No Place Like Home

As many of you know, I was out of the office for 10 days in September. In my 25 years of practice, this was the longest time I have ever taken off. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit China and had an unforgettable experience. Throughout my tour of China, I was amazed at the freshness of the foods prepared in the restaurants…sometimes too fresh for my American ways! Live snakes, roosters, turtles and fish were available in many places for you to pick, weigh and have prepared. The emphasis of fresh vegetables at every meal, including breakfast, was incredible. Every street had vendors and markets with the day’s fresh choices. The other aspect that was enlightening was the value placed on exercise. Early every morning in the city streets and parks, large groups of   people met to work out. I awoke several mornings to the sound of beautiful music coming from the streets where people were performing group Tai Chi, fan dancing and badminton. Even the very old were participating. What a beautiful memory I have and a great lesson in staying active.

At a hospital in Xian, a large city outside of Beijing, I met with Dr. Li, a Traditional Chinese Medical Doctor in the orthopedic department. It was truly a life changing experience. I learned about their version of chiropractic, acupuncture, herbs, moxibustion (lighting herbs on fire on the skin) and even “blood letting”. On a routine basis, their patients’ care include a combination of all of these treatment modalities. Attention is given to their diet and emphasis is placed on balancing their food choices. He taught me about their philosophy of Yin and Yang and the importance of energy, or Chi, in the healing of patients. Although the streets of China were crowded, busy and loud with the constant noise of horns blaring, the clinic was peaceful with a gentleness used in patient care. I was treated by Dr. Li and had the pleasure of treating him and assisting him with a challenging patient in the hospital. I was taught a few helpful tips for patient care along with some “ancient Chinese secrets”. Although their facility was no where near the modernized version of our hospitals or doctor’s offices, my take away was how much they value and respect the patient’s spirit and their natural healing potential. I came home with a deep appreciation of our modernized medicine and values, but also a deep respect for the natural roots of medicine and how much I love what I do every day.

Dr. Cathy