 There is a lot going on in the wellness world, great concepts and evolutions but sadly there are trends in the wellness industry that are overused, misunderstood, and abused.
Loving your body! You can be beautiful, sexy, AWESOME at any size. Body shaming in the wellness industry is wrong! I have seen healthy bodies and unhealthy bodies in all shapes and sizes. However we cannot take this to the point where we ignore the real health risks of having not enough body fat or too much body fat, it contributes to inflammation, hormone imbalances, and much more, this loving your body movement can be taken too far when we ignore health risks. "Everything in moderation and eat what you love." This message is coming from a genuine place, dieting does not work, and we want to get that message out, but this message can be taken too far or used to justify unhealthy eating patterns. As a Nutritionist, I know what my definition of moderation is, and it varies on the food item as well as the health and lifestyle status of my client. The problem here is we all have a different perspective of what moderation is and this can lead to a lot of issues. Read my article here for a little more on the moderation topic. Eating what you love, well if you told me that when I was in my early to mid-’20s it would have been the typical North American diet full of processed foods, sugar, and unhealthy fats. How is that promoting wellness? We know the leading cause of most diseases is dietary, this is just poor advice all around. Nutritional needs are individualized: Yes, we are all individuals and have different needs, tolerances, and so much more, yet there are still universal nutrition foundations that apply to ALL humans (for example free-sugars have no benefit to all of us not just some of us, and we need to eat in a way that supports a healthy gut-biome...). In my professional and personal experience when people say this to me, they are usually using this as an excuse or argument to avoid making the necessary changes they need to make or to justify fad diets (because it’s working for me…. Until it doesn’t). Most individuals assume if something is not working, they will experience symptoms, however, a lot of damage can occur without indication and are often not discovered until testing is done or it’s too late (disease can be a silent killer). Worse is when one does not want to accept the fact that what they are eating has already contributed to their ill health and instead the individual blames genetics (less than 2% of diseases are genetic) or something else. Wellness professionals and scope of practice. It is common to hear personal trainers, media professionals/reporters, and other health or wellness professionals giving advice that is not part of their scope of practice or advice that goes beyond their generalized education, such as nutrition advice, prescribing/recommending supplements, or even giving advice on the use of botanical remedies including essential oils. As a nutritionist who has a background in sports and fitness nutrition, I was educated in physical activity and movement sciences but it was “generalized education” meaning I was literate enough to educate my clients on how important movement is to their bodies and so on, this education did not qualify me to be a personal trainer. Generalized education is used to help one educate clients/patients about another aspect that may help them attain their goals if they are on board then a referral should be made to a qualified practitioner/professional who specializes in that modality to help them. MLM/Direct Sales in the wellness industry: If you are a professional in the wellness industry whether you are a health practitioner, personal trainer, or yoga instructor and you have brought any MLM/direct sales products into your establishment or to your clients, please reconsider. As a Nutritionist, I can tell you I have yet to see a supplements by any of these companies that are properly formulated. As a Herbalist, I can tell you the essential oils out on the market are way overpriced, the guerilla marketing, and advice being pushed is downright unethical and people have been harmed. Don’t even get me started on their lack of transparency, despite saying they are transparent they give you the run around when you ask for legit information that any responsible health professional would require before recommending a product. MLM/Direct Sales “business'” often contributes to the blurred scope of practice advice I was mentioning above. Sales representatives should not be confused for actual Complementary Alternative Health Practitioner, check credentials before taking or following through with the advice, sales reps are trained to sell products not formally consult and prescribe. If I did not convince you to proceed with caution maybe this will help! The wellness industry is very important for a society that faces unique health challenges, and therefore it’s important we use messaging that cannot be misinterpreted and stay professional. Dana Clark CNHP, CHC, CHN, CLE 👉“The prevailing popular nutrition advice online may increase consumer confusion, skepticism and even avoidance of dietary advice.” - This quote is from a study in the Online Journal of Public Health Informatics. The study reviewed where individuals were getting most of their nutrition advice from and the possible dangers it could pose, it showed social media was a big source. Are you guilty of seeking nutrition advice online? Do you check the credentials of the individual giving said advice? Is nutrition part of their scope of practice (you would be surprised at how many professionals speak out of their scope of practice when it comes to this topic)? Although Nutritional Sciences are advancing and have come a long way, the confusion and appearance of drastic changes in nutritional advice are mostly happening thanks to the media and the online community jumping on poor quality/biased scientific literature, cherry-picking studies to suit an agenda/view, misinterpreting the studies, creating hype for various reasons, and a list of logical fallacies... Unfortunately, this irresponsible reporting and actions have negative consequences with individuals possible harming themselves or giving up on nutritional science. This is why working with a Nutritionist is very important as well as turning off the radio, ignoring the next meme, or online article that talks about nutrition/diet/food circulating in your newsfeed are the best thing you can do for your health and stress level🧘♀️.
👉If you are tired of being confused then I can help you with my background as a Nutritionist & Natural Health Practitioner. Dana Clark CNHP CHC CHN CLE  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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