|
|
|
8 Natural Health Beauty Tips
The number one natural beauty tip I can give you is to take your health seriously. In Chinese medicine, we know that natural external beauty is a reflection of inner health and well being. Often, the solution to external beauty problems is an...
Hyprava Blood Pressure Medicine
The ingredients in Hyprava have been shown to promote cardiovascular activity to regulate blood pressure, calm and strengthen the heart muscles, reduce cholesterol, and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Last but not least, Hyprava is a...
Migraine Headaches - 3 Easy Home Treatment Methods
There are two main categories of headaches, primary and
secondary. Primary headaches are not caused by underlying
medical conditions while secondary headaches are the end result
of some other medical condition such as a brain tumor,...
STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET OFF!
Copyright Victoria Elizabeth 2004. All rights reserved. STOP THE WORLD...I WANT TO GET OFF! -- Or, what was the world like before brand-names & blah-blah-blah? -- Inundated with more than 10,000 messages a day, it’s not surprising that many folks...
Ulnar Neuropathy: Sane Treatment of a Crazy Bone
Do you remember what it felt like when you banged your elbow on a hard surface and it sent shocks through your forearm and into your little finger? Not too pleasant, to be sure. But on the plus side, the unpleasantness was merely temporary and, for...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
When Normal Isn't Natural
Many of us suffer from chronic symptoms and disease. It isn’t very often you hear someone say they feel great and there are no problems. Most people will complain of suffering from at least one of a whole range of symptoms -stress, headaches, heartburn, and the list goes on and on. We are bombarded daily by advertisements for medications for numerous symptoms like anxiety, depression, and various physical maladies. As a society we have begun to accept disease as being natural, and that is where many of us unknowingly tolerate unacceptable conditions under the guise of “normalcy”. This concept permeates many areas of our lives, not merely physical health. Just because something is widespread, does not make it natural or normal.
As a Naturopath, I advocate, “whole being wellness”. I believe all parts work together to make us whole, and that each aspect directly affects the others. The whole being consists of several “bodies”, the mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical. When we suffer from depression or chronic anger, the effects of that stress will also manifest in the physical body through various symptoms. The reverse is also true. When toxins are taken into the body; it must work overtime to rid itself of these poisons. The resulting fatigue may affect the ability to think clearly and concentrate, or cause depression or irritability.
Although Allopathic medicine does recognize many of these correlations, physical symptoms still continue to be treated as stand-alone disorders. The underlying factors are not usually taken into consideration. These diseases are lumped together and treated in “textbook” fashion. As individuals, each of us will have numerous combinations of different variables that contribute to the state of our health. How can it be effective to lump everyone with a particular group of symptoms into the same general category? Naturopathy recognizes this, and seeks to treat the whole person, considering all aspects of the individual’s lifestyle and habits, not only the physical manifestations of illness.
It is my belief through my studies and my own life experience that the majority of diseases are merely the symptoms of a deeper underlying problem. For example, in my teens I was diagnosed with Asthma and Clinical Depression. I was angry a lot, always tired, and irritable. I was sent to a psychiatrist to talk about my feelings and receive medication. The pills I was given not only didn’t help; they made me feel even more worn-out, which in turn increased my anger and depression. I was never asked any extensive questions regarding my diet; sleep habits, activity level, or anything else that directly affected my lifestyle. In typical textbook fashion I was labeled and given the standard, across the board treatment for depression. I was led to believe that depression was “normal” and for whatever reason I must be less than normal if I did not respond to the standard treatment. I felt destined to live a life where I would always feel unhealthy, and that very belief system itself was problematic.
My asthma was very much the same. I was given a slew of chemical inhalants and put on pills to “control” my asthma. I was convinced it was natural for some people to not be able to breathe without the aid of manmade chemical devices. As the years went by, my asthma worsened as my body began to develop a tolerance for the various drugs I was given. It wasn’t until I began to study holistic health and naturopathy that I learned some interesting facts about the lungs. When there are high acid levels in the body, the body works hard to rid itself of the
excess by secreting it through the lungs to be exhaled out of the body. I had been told for years that aerobic exercise would strengthen my lungs, and every time I would try to run or engage in strenuous physical activity I would end up having severe asthma attacks. It turns out the body produces more acid during extreme physical exertion. An already saturated body will then have that much more toxin to deal with. The better choice for me was diet modification and light to moderate activity. I spent years not knowing this because the accepted scientific “norm” doesn’t recognize this particular correlation.
Upon learning this, I began to incorporate many more alkaline-based foods into my diet. I started drinking sufficient amounts of water, enabling my body to cleanse more toxins through the kidneys. I ate less of the prepackaged junk food and cut red meat completely out of my diet. I learned Eastern methods of breath control and enhancement. The result? My asthma and synthetic drugs no longer run my life; I manage my breathing by balancing the Ph level of my body. I no longer take pills because I don’t need them. I use an inhaler a few times a month at worst, as opposed to a few times per day, which was the “norm” when I was only treating myself through conventional methods. Empowering myself was perhaps the best medicine of all. I no longer felt victimized by illness, for the first time I felt in control of my own health and not at the mercy of medicine.
Doctors don’t tell us a lot of these things, because it is not a part of the “normal” treatment plan. This is not a condemnation of allopathic medicine. It certainly has its place. It also has its restrictions based on the judgments of insurance companies and what they deem as acceptable treatments. My biggest concern however comes when one branch of treatment insists its methods are the only right way. We are not all born the same, so how can it follow that all treatment be the same? It makes no sense, and I believe fully and will always advocate the need for balance between nature and science. My life was enhanced on many levels through the introduction of natural methods of prevention and treatment in addition to allopathic medicines.
When my health was at its worst, it’s not a real surprise that so was my diet. In my teens, my daily diet consisted of a lot of packaged foods, fast food, soda and candy. I never drank water. Fresh fruits and vegetables were a rare shock to my system. I was feeding myself a never-ending supply of poisons and then wondering why I felt bad almost all the time. I didn’t realize that I was chronically malnourished and dehydrated, and that was the underlying root cause of my other conditions.
The best offense against disease, depression, and other life-robbing conditions is a good defense. Education and awareness are essential to whole-being wellness. Build the body, mind, and soul through conscious awareness of your choices and actions and how they affect you on all levels. Empower yourself and trust your intuition. Understand that not all symptoms are diseases, and that disease is not a natural state. Health is our natural state and many of us may have to reverse years of chronic abuse through misinformation to return our natural state back to the “normal“one.
About the Author
Christin Snyder is an author and “whole being wellness” advocate whose mission is helping others reach their fullest potential. Visit her website today for empowerment exercises and healing activities designed to help you live a life of joy and peace.
http://www.dailypowerwords.com
|
|
|
|
|
| National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health |
| Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ... |
| www.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com |
| Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns. |
| www.medicinenet.com |
|
| Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine |
| Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications. |
| medlineplus.gov |
|
| Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Journal Home - Nature Medicine |
| Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ... |
| www.nature.com |
|
| The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ... |
| The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ... |
| content.nejm.org |
|
| eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base |
| eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ... |
| www.emedicine.com |
|
| Open Directory - Health: Medicine |
| the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| the www virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages |
|
|
| Medicine - home |
| Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice. |
| www.md-journal.com |
|
| Institute of Medicine |
| The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health. |
| www.iom.edu |
|
| ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News |
| Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily. |
| www.sciencedaily.com |
|
| Google Directory - Health > Medicine |
| Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ... |
| www.google.com |
|
| the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages |
|
|
| PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal |
| PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ... |
| medicine.plosjournals.org |
|
| Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal |
| Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com. |
| www.priory.com |
|
| Entrez PubMed |
| PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ... |
| www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Stanford University School of Medicine |
| Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine. |
| med.stanford.edu |
|
| Medicine OnLine |
| Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ... |
| www.meds.com |
|
|