Weekly Wellness Note #1 - Take Care of Your Health

Welcome to my first in a series of Weekly Wellness Notes! I decided that I'm going to get a headstart in developing my skills in Patient Education, so any comments are more than welcome.

So what will you find here? Well one of my hobbies lately has been to search the Internet and find articles by the leading health and wellness experts from around the world. Here, you'll find some of the easy, inexpensive, and POWERFUL ways to improve the way your body works.

Here's a little teaser of what you'll find:
- Research on Omega 3 fatty acids have shown promise in more than just heart disease (read: depression, ADHD, MS, Parkinson's, and more)
- Exposure to sunlight (read: no burning) helps PREVENT cancer by increasing Vitamin D.
- Always getting headaches? Cut out your sugars, especially High Fructose Corn Syrup. Sugar substitutes (aspartame = neurotoxic) are no better, and over the long term are probably worse.

Today's article: Taking Control of Your Health

Myth 1: "I'm young, I can worry about my health when I get older"

United States Leading Causes of Death:
1. Cancer (New 2006 stats)
2. Heart Disease (New 2006 stats)
6. Diabetes (Old 2004 stats)

So what's the big deal? These diseases are for the most part completely preventable.

And I know most of you are young adults and things like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are buried in the back of your minds because that's a middle/old age thing. But here's the thing: NO ONE HAS EVER WOKEN UP ONE DAY WITH CANCER, HEART DISEASE, or DIABETES.

It's a slow gradual process of people not taking care of themselves. So many people just accept these things as part of the aging process because they're so common now, but it is absolutely untrue. Your body has an amazing ability to heal, and it doesn't just breakdown like that without your help! Given the proper resources, your body can recover from almost anything.

I don't know about you, but as I grow older, I refuse to accept a lifestyle of chemo and pain killers (prolonged use leads to GI eroding and liver malfunction). It starts by taking control of your health now.

So here's my philosohpy on achieving true Health and Wellness:
1. A nervous system running on all cylinders without interference (more on this later)
2. Proper excercise and nutrition (read: the food pyramid is wrong)
3. Reducing the intake of common and unknown toxins.
4. Balance and moderation of your indulgences

My notes will focus on easy ways to reduce the physical, chemical, and emotional stresses placed on your body that lead to dis-ease. So stay tuned, some of the things you'll be reading about here will change many of your lives.



Be well and stay adjusted,
Jonny