 One of the things I do during a medical history when seeing a new client is review the current supplements they are on if any. I check to make sure they are in fact merited, there are no contraindications, and finally the quality. In most cases the quality of the supplements is not the best, there seems to be a misleading belief that all supplements on the market are made equally but the opposite is true. How does the average person know they are making the right choice when purchasing vitamins here are some red flags that you may be purchasing poor quality vitamins or “Expensive pee”.
As a Health Practitioner I don’t condone the trend to self prescribe supplements, it is always advisable to seek the guidance of a qualified practitioner a before taking any medicine, natural or pharmaceutical. Avoid seeking advice from those who sell products or your friends despite their good intent. You want to be sure you are not causing yourself or your family harm or wasting money on poor quality or unnecessary supplements. Dana Clark, CNHP, CHC, CHN, CLE Question: I know you are holding a detox and I am on the fence, do we really need to detox doesn't our bodies do that naturally? Question: My 11-year-old son often gets a headache with a stiff neck. Any advice to help ease the symptoms when that happens? Or any ideas of why it is a reoccurring issue? Our digestive system needs a proper balance of good and bad bacteria to help us digest food, absorb nutrients, assist with proper immune function, detoxification, as well as keeping a healthy body composition. Your digestive system is a very important part of your well being and when it does not function properly you become more prone to digestive issues, immune issues, mood disorders & other mental health issues, disease, toxicity, inflammation, hormone imbalances and unhealthy weight gain.
Prebiotics the ignored “biotic” in digestive health: Most people are so obsessed with probiotics that prebiotics are often forgotten. Prebiotics are food constituent that generally come from resistant starches (resistant starches are AMAZING, they regulate blood sugar, blood cholesterol, and are important in weight loss, maintaining a healthy weight as well as hormone balance). They help the good bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactobacteria and many other beneficial bacteria’s grow and flourish in your digestive system. In fact you can take as many probiotics as you want but if you are starving them from prebiotics you are not giving them everything they need to thrive and reproduce. Although there are prebiotic supplements out there the best way to get them is through eating the right kinds of foods which is surprisingly easy if you eat a clean and whole food diet and have not fallen for any of the latest diet fads or strict food regimens out there. Foods high in prebiotics are:
Probiotics have you been bamboozled? If you are tuned into everyday media, you are probably bombarded with probiotic this and that! They even make probiotic gum now to promote proper flora of the mouth! Probiotics are awesome they help colonize your digestive system with good bacteria to keep bad bacteria from taking over. However many people are sabotaging themselves by consuming foods in unhealthy amounts that feed bad bacteria such as processed & sugar laden foods or overdoing the healthier sugars such as honey & maple syrup (you should not consume more than 100 calories from added honey & maple syrup per day), not following up a course of antibiotics with probiotics and falling for marketing of foods touted with being a good source of probiotics. For example yogurt… fruit filled, fruit at the bottom, vanilla, plain, original, unsweetened, fat free, Greek, soy, coconut, organic. The mass production methods of creating most of the yogurt out on the market prevents proper colonization of probiotics in high amounts, on top of this the additives & sugars added to these yogurts counteract the benefits of the small amount of probiotics actually present or the additional probiotics some companies add to the yogurt. If you really are into consuming dairy products even with the growing evidence that it does not do a body good, you are better off making your own yogurt using traditional methods or making kefir. Luckily there are plenty of healthy alternatives full of probiotics:
To help your digestive flora flourish as well as your health be sure to get enough prebiotic rich foods and be sure you are consuming quality sources of probiotics and not just health tooted processed foods such as yogurt. Dana Clark, CNHP, CHN, CHC owner or From the Roots Holistic, Certified Holistic Nutritionist at SBJJ & Muay Thai Academy. This New Year get the whole family on board and make your resolution one that involves everyone evolving into a healthier lifestyle. It will make it much easier for you as an individual if you are doing it together as a supportive family unit.
How do you do this? With baby steps! Going cold turkey OR the All or Nothing mentality most times just leads us back to our old habits. The best way to about it is to work as a family to set some attainable goals. Once you have mastered each goal as a team, you move on to the next goal. Here are some goals to start with: 1) Reassess your lifestyle and find one or two nights/days a week where it's family only time. During these nights/days cook healthy fun meals together that will last you a few days or can be frozen. Take it one step further and turn them into movie and game nights/days to reconnect and destress. During the other days of the week find time to prep quick healthy meals and have healthy snacks ready on hand to grab and go, a bag of veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds are great. Be sure to be consistent with family days or evenings and put your foot down when other things try and impede on these nights/days. 2) Reduce your reliance on processed foods (frozen dinners, dinner in a box, dinner in a can), take out or restaurant food. They are generally very unhealthy and full of hidden ingredients. Focus on those family nights/days to prep a few meals ahead of time as a family. There are quick, healthy food ideas all over the place and leftovers make great lunches the next day. 3) Now that you are making your own food, you are in control of what ingredients you use. Use quality ingredients and limit the 5 white enemies; white sugar, white rice, white flour, white salt, and milk. Reducing sugar is a major thing especially with young children and those with chronic health conditions; you can reduce the intake of sugars and replace sugar with Stevia, pure maple sugar and honey in moderation or mashed fruit. White rice can easily be replaced with brown, wild or any other exotic rice. White flour products can be replaced with whole grains and by that I mean anything but flour, baked goods and pasta from flours even "healthier" flours should be limited. Try using sea salt or Himalayan salt instead of regular table salt and try to limit the amount you use. Milk is linked to a lot of diseases including prostate cancer, type I & II diabetes, and really is not as good for you as they want you to believe. Milk is really not a necessity in your diet with the exceptions of infants, who should be ideally consuming breast milk to the age of weaning between 2-4 years of age or longer. 4) Get out and have fun by playing, it helps get your entire family moving. They also get to see a part of their parents they generally don't get to, the playful child they once were. There is much more to incorporating a healthy lifestyle; however, just starting with the above will make a difference . To find out more about incorporating a healthy lifestyle or to incorporate more ideas that fit with your family and each individual member contact a qualified health practitioner. Dana Clark, CNHP, CHN, CHC owner or From the Roots Holistic, Certified Holistic Nutritionist at SBJJ & Muay Thai Academy.  Did you know that getting sick a few times a year is actually great for your immune system and body? It is a way of exercising your immune system, resetting your body and flushing out excess free radicals. That being said, how you handle it can impede this process or can turn it into an ongoing issue. Being sick frequently is a red flag that your body is off balance and not functioning to its' full potential.
So, what can you do?
Note: We will be holding a Colds & Flu, Gentle and Natural Support Clinic November & December. Contact From the Roots Holistic or the SBJJ & Muay Thai Academy for details. Or check out our event listing on facebook or Google. Dana Clark, CNHP, CHN, CHC owner of From the Roots Holistic, Certified Holistic Nutritionist at SBJJ & Muay Thai Academy.  September is back to school time and sadly the time of year when our children are exposed more often to viruses and parasites like head lice. I thought I would discuss this topic from a holistic point of view.
As a Natural Health Practitioner, I am a fan of preventative medicine. So how does one prevent head lice?
If your child is having an outbreak here are some suggestions:
Dana Clark, CNHP, CHN, CHC owner of From the Roots Holistic, Certified Holistic Nutritionist at SBJJ & Muay Thai Academy. |
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AuthorDana Clark, CNHP, CHN, CHC owner of From the Roots Holistic, Categories
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Preventative & Complementary Alternative Health Care - Holistic Nutrition - Herbal Medicine - Breastfeeding Support
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