Support Your Shoulders: Solutions for Neck and Back Pain
Sometimes it might feel like you are carrying the weight of the world on your back. You might be feeling stressed out with upper back pain and limited flexibility of the shoulders and neck. You are not alone. Our culture has become increasingly addicted to the computer using lifestyle. We sit at our desks all day at work in front of a computer and then go home to sit in front of a computer for even more hours. Suffice to say computers are not going anywhere. What we can improve is our posture, limiting upper back pain and neck pain while increasing strength and flexibility in this area....
Read MoreSimple Tips to Sleep Better
Dr. Gil and Christie discuss simple things that can be done to help with problems with...
Read MoreAntibiotics Increase Food Allergies
While this may come as no surprise to your naturopath, recent studies have linked use of more than 2 courses of antibiotics in the first year of life to a significantly increased rate of food allergies. It is believed to be due to the disruption of the normal gut flora. As many know, antibiotics do not target only the “bad” bacteria, nor do they target one body part. Antibiotics given for an ear infection, for example, can wreak havoc on the good flora that populates your gut as well. This positive flora has many different roles, from helping you digest food and access your nutrients to...
Read MoreSupport the Feet! Why You are Probably Wearing the Wrong Shoes!
Well it’s getting to that time again. The weather is getting warmer and people are preparing to be outside more and more. The Pacific Northwest has quite a few choices when it comes to outdoor activities including nature walks and hiking trails. This is a great time to remember that it is important to take care of your feet and ankles so that you can continue to be active throughout the Spring and Summer. Ideally we want to increase flexibility and strength of the feet and ankles simultaneously, and this requires care, patience, and the right shoes. Hiking is a wonderful outdoor,...
Read MoreSleep Better and Lose Weight
Have you struggled to lose weight? Have you lost weight and then gained it all back? Have you changed your diet for the better and increased your exercise only to find that the weight didn’t melt off like you thought it would? This is a relatively common scenario, and the culprit here may surprise you. Instead of those other questions what you should be asking yourself is: 1) How much sleep do I get? 2) What is the quality of that sleep? Of course the answers to these questions may be a little different depending on age and lifestyle, but in general the average adult should get between 7...
Read MoreDistracted Eaters take in more Calories
You’ve been told there is no “magic bullet” for weight loss, but one simple thing may come pretty close. Think you don’t have time to sit down and enjoy a meal? This news may convince you otherwise! A recent study showed that people who eat meals or snacks while watching TV, playing games, reading or are otherwise distracted, tend to consume more calories in a sitting. This is especially true later in the day. In fact, distracted eating could increase the amount of food consumed by up to 50% and the person may not even be aware! On average, eating while distracted increases the amount eaten...
Read MoreAutism and Allergies
April is Autism Awareness Month and the CDC recently stated that 1 in 50 children in the US are now diagnosed with Autism! April is also the time of year that people’s allergies can flare up. But did you know there is a connection between allergies and autism? Allergies can become more prominent in patients with autism. Holistic doctors can use allergies as a guide to treatment as it may reveal much about the person. The cause of allergies vary from person to person. In the general population, seasonal allergies,which includes runny nose, sneezing and so forth arise as the body’s...
Read MoreHead injuries increase addictive behavior
A study published this February showed an increase in addictive behaviors in those who suffered a mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). While the study showed a link between TBIs and alcohol or nicotine dependance, one must also consider the effects a brain injury may have on our addictive behaviors around other things, like food. Might a past head injury or brain trauma influence our cravings and addictive-like behaviors around certain foods and contribute to weight gain? Might alcohol and cigarette addiction best be treated by treating the brain first? The study looked at head injuries...
Read MoreHow To Control The Pain
Pain is arguably one of the most common things someone seeks a doctor’s care for and one of the most difficult things to treat effectively. This is because pain takes on many forms, responds erratically, and is not well understood by medical science. But we cannot deny the importance of pain as it is estimated there country loses $60 billion per year in lost productivity. And people buy pain medication to the tune of $20 billion a year in this country. Pain is something we should be discussing and actively trying to find answers to address. So let’s...
Read MoreIt’s Not All About Diet.
An appropriate diet is essential to good health and disease prevention. Food should definitely be medicine. We truly are what we eat, and there is no way of getting around that. Every new cell that your body makes has components that had to come from somewhere, and the source is the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. Without the incorporation of an appropriate diet, true healing likely will never take place. But is diet all that there is to health? The simplest answer is absolutely not. There is so much more to a person than...
Read MorePreparing To Lose Weight
Weight loss is an important issue in this country. Obesity is linked to a wide array of chronic and debilitating diseases, and it also gets talked about quite a bit in the media in general. Having a healthy weight should certainly be a primary health goal. One of the main problems observed when people entertain weight loss programs is that they tend to regain the weight they lost after the program has concluded. Why does this happen? What good is a weight loss program if it doesn’t teach you how to maintain a healthy weight? Oftentimes the mental...
Read MorePost-Holiday Insomnia
This time of year it seems more people come to Insights to Health Clinic with complaints of poor sleep. The holidays throw our schedules off which confuses our sleep rhythm. Our diet regime gets thrown out the window as our dietary guidelines become less stringent and clean. Finally, the overall stress burden increases. For these reasons and more, our bodies begin to suffer; for many people the byproduct of this is insomnia. While every person’s reason for insomnia is unique, the doctors at Insights to Health excel at discovering the cause. A common factor in sleep troubles is an...
Read MoreMore clues as to the cause of ADHD
Wondering if attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is in your genes? Can it be passed on to your children? What can a pregnant woman do to reduce or eliminate passing ADHD on to her unborn child? Some of these questions were answered in a recent German study. This study, from September 2012, identified some of the risk factors for ADHD. It found that the combination of gestational diabetes in the mother and low socio-economic status are strong predictors of ADHD in the child. Why? For one, there is likely a large nutrition component here. Other patterns have been discovered...
Read MoreArthritis Demystified
Joint inflammation is very common in America. Over 50 million adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with some type of arthritic condition. This is a staggering number of people, and it is quite possible that you or someone in your family is affected by a chronic joint condition, and suffering diminished enjoyment and quality of life as a result. People are often given very little in the way of effective solutions for the pain and discomfort that arises from their condition as analgesic medications or steroids are given as the only options before potential surgical...
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