Tag Archives: healthcare

The turning point

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I’ve been thinking about how we approach our healthcare. When I have conversations with friends and family about illness or concerns, they tend to refer to a doctor’s suggestion or ask me “What did the doctor say?” These conversations made me realize that I rarely refer to a doctor when confronted with an illness or ailment. When I started to think about it and looked at how our life style has slowly evolved over the years, it made a lot of sense. The turning point was when we decided to try to get pregnant. I looked at my body scientifically; I decided that if I was going to attempt to grow a life inside it, I was going to try to give it every possible advantage for a healthy life, within my power. That meant prior to any attempt to conceive, I was going to slowly detox my body over a six-month period so it was a healthy vessel for a new life to live in. I started to reduce my caffeine and alcohol intake so I wouldn’t miss it during the pregnancy and breast-feeding period. I also began to focus on regular exercise and nourishing my body with healthy whole food.

I had never thought about having a child before, so I started to do a lot of research about pregnancy and raising an infant. I went to a wonderful holistic practice, where the doctors and midwifes were well versed in medicinal herbs, nutrition and alternative modalities such as acupuncture, chiropractics and massage.  Over the years, I have met doctors who were somewhat familiar with other modalities but their normal response was – it couldn’t hurt but if it doesn’t work, we will give you a pill for it.  Nevertheless, at this practice they could actually recommend herbs that would help with my slight anemia, and prenatal vitamins that were made with superfoods. I was actually able to discuss my healthcare; my input/needs were respected. It really empowered me and set the stage for me to take charge of our family’s healthcare needs.

As Mathew was growing inside me, I became more aware of his nutritional needs (I was growing a life), and how I looked at food. Of course, it had to taste good but the quality of the ingredients became more and more important. I have always enjoyed veggies and fruits, but started to look at where and how they were grown. I began to get to know the farmers and buy locally. This was rather easy as I lived in a vibrant farming community and married to a farmer.

Mike and I love food. We really enjoy eating and trying new things. Unfortunately, ever since Mathew was born, he has had very little interest in eating. I nursed him on-demand, but since he rarely ever demanded, I actually set my alarm in order to nurse him during the night when he was a newborn. At 8 years old, his eating habits have not improved. He rarely requests to eat and shows very little interest in exploring new foods. So, whenever he does eat, I make the best attempt to give him nutritionally packed meals, because I am not sure when he will eat next.  For example, when serving him French toast for breakfast, I search for the best pastured local eggs, whole grain bread (Alvarado St. Bakery California Style Complete Protein Bread is one of my favorites) and local maple syrup. So, if this is Mathew’s only meal for day, which is sometimes the case, he will have a protein based whole food meal to fuel his day.

I think the combination of finding an excellent practice while I was pregnant and my desire to fuel our family with nutritious local whole foods was the turning point in my life. I knew that having a baby would change my life, but I really had no idea it would change my point of view on health care, eating, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

What was your turning point, how has your views on food, healthcare changed over the years? Please share and I will continue to share.

 

 

 

Taking charge of our healthcare

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Our Apothecary

Our Apothecary

A while back, my brother and his wife came up to visit for the weekend. Susan, my sister-in-law needed something from a pharmacy and asked me where to go. I mentioned the two local national chain pharmacies and she asked me which one I liked. At that moment, I realized that I had no opinion. Even though we moved to this area over two years ago, I never visited either one except for developing film. All of sudden, I realized my family had turned the corner. We have been in charge of our health care, nourishing our systems without the aid of mass-produced pharmaceuticals or allopathic medicine. Allopathy is a biologically or western-based approach to healing. For instance, if a patient has high blood pressure, an allopathic physician might give him/her a drug that lowers blood pressure. Then, perhaps, recommend lifestyle changes to facilitate lowering blood pressure, as well. Maybe.

I am not a purist. I appreciate all medical modalities and know there is a place for each one. We do have an allopathic family physician that we see for annual check-ups and blood-work. Over the years, it has felt like many physicians simply throw a pill at an illness. That style just does not fit us. When an illness or medical situation rears its head in our family, our first line of attack is to nourish our bodies, and strengthen our natural defenses. If my approach does not find positive results, of course, I would seek medical advice. However, as the years have passed, this tends to happens less and less.

For the most part, we have been able to nourish our bodies and take care of our health issues on our own. This did not happen overnight, but has evolved over the years. After much thought, I realized it started with how we view our bodies. Our bodies are quite amazing. They adapt to stressful conditions and have many lines of defense against invaders. When our systems are weakened or stressed, they need extra help, nutritious unprocessed food, exercise or rest and nourishing herbs. Through the years, we have learned what our bodies need at different times of the year. As our awareness of nutritious foods grew, we need less intervention from medicinal herbs to combat illness. Our focus, has switched from “fighting” illness to nourishing our bodies.

Although, you can find ibuprofen in our medicine cabinets, they tend to be stocked with tinctures rather than pills. Our pantry has more herbs for nourishing teas than culinary uses. Moreover, the best part is that many culinary herbs are medicinal as well as delicious!

The other day, I got a call from the school nurse who asked if I was in town. Apparently, Mathew’s arm was aching and he requested arnica for it. She didn’t have any, tried a warm compress, which didn’t work and hoped I would be able to come by to administer some arnica to Mathew. Arnica montana is wonderful for pain relief for strains, sprains, and bruises. It works by stimulating the flow of white blood cells that process congested blood and by dispersing trapped fluid from joints, muscles and bruised tissue. Mathew has been a big fan for many years. When I got off the phone with the school nurse, our conversation gave me pause as it validate that our family has indeed taken charge of our healthcare.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition.