Don’t Let Them Amuse You to Death
Healthy Tip:
October seems to start the sugar rush for the next several months. From Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas and New Year’s all the way to even Valentine’s day and Eater the average American’s consumption of sugar skyrockets! Sugar decreases your immune system’s ability to fight infection by 50% for 4-5 hours after it is consumed. I think this is one of the reasons for so many winter illnesses. Now that you are aware of this: TAKE SOME ACTION! Make healthier choices and pass on a lot of that extra sugar. Choosing only those things which are your favorites is a good place to start. Decreasing the sugar in your diet will help keep your immune system stronger and give you some added protection from the winter funk!
Monthly Article:
Don’t Let Them Amuse You to Death
Dr. Llana Call Smith
I read a quote by Voltaire: “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while Nature cures the disease.” At first I thought it was funny, but true. When I started thinking about it more I thought it would be a great topic to write on.
People go to the doctor for “fill in the blank” problem. A symptom has gotten bothersome enough and they want it fixed. Often a medical doctor will then prescribe some sort of medication that will make the symptom go away.
What most don’t realize is that this is simply ‘amusing the patient.’ The only problem is, that once the symptom “goes away”, the underlying problem is then never addressed. This means that nature, as Voltaire puts it, never gets the chance to heal the disease.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a definite place for medicine. I don’t believe, however, that we should use medications like we often do. Medications should be used in an acute situation only to give us the time to actually address the underlying imbalance. Many people are on prescription or over-the-counter medications for chronic issues. Most of these chronic issues are the body telling us it is out of balance and that balance needs to be restored. Taking a medication may seem to alleviate the symptoms but the medication often results in more symptoms because of the medication itself and the original imbalance is left to grow.
Instead of relying only on medication, get to the root of the problem. Find out what your body is trying to tell you with the presenting symptoms. If you are already on medications for a chronic illness, it is not too late to start correcting. I DO NOT recommend stopping any prescription medication that you are taking without doing the following:
Discuss your concerns with your medical doctor.
Make sure you are addressing the imbalance itself and beginning correction before even considering stopping a medication with your medical doctor’s supervision. You want to make sure that your body is prepared to handle itself well before withdrawing medications.
If your medical doctor agrees that you can safely stop a medication, I often suggest slowly tapering off the medication to give your body time to adapt.
A great way to help find the root of the problem is using the body’s own natural reflexes to determine what is out of balance. Nutrition Response Testing is an ideally suited technique to determine imbalances and find what each individual body requires to restore that balance. If you haven’t tried Nutrition Response Testing, please call Dr. Smith and see if she might be able to help you. If you have tried Nutrition Response Testing, please tell someone else who may need some help getting to the root of their problem before they are “amused to death!”
Recipe of the Month:
Pumpkin Spice Bread
Dry:
1 cup blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
Spice Mix:
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
Wet:
½ cup roasted pumpkin or winter squash
3 eggs
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon stevia drops (optional – this makes it slightly sweeter)
Instructions:
1. Mix dry ingredients and spices together in medium-large sized bowl.
2. Mix wet together in a smaller bowl.
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry and mix together until smooth.
4. Pour batter into 2 small greased loaf pans or 1 large greased loaf pan.
5. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 40-45 minutes. Bread is done when knife inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and cool on rack.
Variations:
Pumpkin Walnut or Pecan Loaf – Add ½ cup raw walnuts or pecans.
Sweet Potato Loaf – substitute sweet potato instead of pumpkin.
Pumpkin muffins – makes 10 muffins – bakes for approximately 22 min.
Author: Amanda Love (Adapted from Elanaspantry.com)
This recipe has been pinned on our Pinterest page: www.pinterest.com/smithchirop0683
Upcoming Activities and Announcements:
Roots to Health talk Tuesday, November 14 at 6:15pm; Saturday, November 18 at 10am. Please sign up at the front desk. Bring a friend and write a question! This is a casual time to learn about the real Roots to Health!
Closed Thanksgiving Day. We pray you have a blessed Thanksgiving and remember to count your many blessings!
A note on same day appointments: Remember that our goal is for you to have WELLNESS and to do so, regular check-ups are recommended so that you don’t get into crisis. As a quote on the internet says, “If you don’t make time for your health today, you will have to make time for your sickness later.”
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