Top 5 Travel Essentials: Get “The Glow” on The Go!

 

We would love to hear your tips on staying healthy and beautiful when you are on the go. What do you do to keep your skin hydrated, healthy and on its best behavior when you’re traveling?

From The Doctor’s Desk: Wellness Is Not Band-Aid Medicine

So you wake up one day and you have symptoms. You select a doctor, make an appointment, recite your symptom list, receive a diagnosis, get a prescription, take the prescription and hope that the prescription gets rid of the symptoms.

But the question is this: Are you well?

Symptom relief medicine is great, but it is reactive medicine. I call this band-aid medicine. Just throw a band-aid on it in 5-10 minutes and ignore the real underlying cause. You can relieve symptoms with band-aids, but if the cause is left unchecked (usually an imbalance of some sort), then disease will be the result.

I like to use symptoms as clues to finding the cause. I call it proactive medicine. Symptoms are the result of imbalance. Disease is the result of ignoring the symptoms. It is a progressive cycle: imbalance, symptoms, disease.

Balance is the key.  As I said above, symptoms are the result of imbalance. Medicine today has lost site of this. In the fast pace of the typical doctor’s office (even mine many years ago), all we have time for is symptom focus and treatment. There is no time for focus on cause.

You don’t have to look to far to see the importance of balance.  Look at our bodies.  They are all about balance:  two eyes, two ears, two legs…you get the picture.  This balance is by design. We should not lose sight of the fact that symptoms are the body crying out for help.

Symptoms reveal imbalances, and the imbalances can be quite diverse. They can include hormones: Estrogen/Progesterone, Thyroid/Cortisol, Growth Hormone/Cortisol, just to name a few. But imbalances can involve more than just our hormones. Neurotransmitters can be imbalanced. Have you ever heard of anxiety or depression? Neurotransmitters involve serotinin, glutamic acid, and nor-epinephrine just to name a few.  And no, anxiety and/or depression are not the result of a SSRI deficiency.

Even Fats can be imbalanced.  Everybody has heard of Omega 3.  Omega 3’s are anti-inflammatory, they lower cholesterol and are good for the skin. But have you heard of Omega 6 fats. Omega 6’s are pro-inflammatory. Americans have excessive Omega 6’s in our high processed diets. The typical American diet is 24 to 1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3. A healthy ratio should be 3 to 1.

Symptoms are the body’s way of asking for help. Let’s start listening.

Omega 3s…the Super Nutrient

Essential fatty acids are a type of fat each person’s body needs but must get through their diet. One such fat is Omega 3 fatty acid which is found in fatty, cold water fish, walnuts, flaxseeds and soybeans. Omega 3s have many beneficial properties including:

• Reducing inflammation
• Reducing excessive blood clotting
• Lowering cholesterol and triglycerides
• Reducing the risk of becoming obese
• Improving insulin response
• Preventing cancer cell growth

Recent reports show almost 99% of Americans do not get enough omega 3 fatty acids in their diet and therefore have a deficiency. Deficiency symptoms are often vague and misdiagnosed. Some of the symptoms include fatigue, dry or itchy skin, frequent illness, brittle hair and nails, poor concentration, and joint pain. Most likely a higher intake of omega 3 fatty acids would benefit you, but where do you start? For more information about super nutrients and improving your immune health, call Seasons Women’s Care of Ruston, 318-255-3223, to schedule an appointment.

Is Organic That Much Better?

People have asked me if they have to buy organic foods. There are many cases where I recommend organic over conventionally grown foods; however, I recommend organic dairy to everyone.

Modern dairies use different chemicals for milk production including pesticides, fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics. Organic dairies are prohibited from using these chemicals to produce milk and other dairy products. There is much controversy over whether these chemicals reach our food supply, but the difference in nutrient content is not debated.

Organic dairy contains significantly more amounts of:

• Omega 3 fatty acids
• Vitamins
• Conjugated Linoleic Acid
• Antioxidants

Organic milk and dairy can be purchased at health food stores and most grocery stores. If you would like more information on organic food or recommendations, please contact our office to set up an appointment.