Category Archives: Whole Person Health

A Brief Guide To Nourishing Your Immune System

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By Georgianna Donadio, MSc, DC, PhD-

A Brief Guide To Nourishing Your Immune System

Maintaining a healthy immune system is simple, yet in our enormously complex and hurried environment it becomes complicated to live a simple life and stay healthy. This is an important perspective to wrap ourselves around especially regarding our lifestyle choices and how we take care of our health – which is in the main, our immune system.

The National Institute of Whole Health offers this short guide to immune hygiene. To maintain good health and avoid disease, follow these steps.

  • Remember that everything that goes into your body impacts your immune function and immune health.
  • Eat more plant-based, living, nutritious food to support a healthy body.
  • Your thoughts creates proteins that communicate those specific thoughts to your immune cell membranes, so be mindful of your thinking.
  • Chronic stress and adrenal gland function suppress your bone marrow and immune system functions. Find more ways to relax more often.
  • Laughter and joy strengthen immune function by increasing serotonin. Maintain good humor.
  • Clean air and water are basic essentials to a healthy immune system.
  • Compassion and caring increase Immunoglobulin-A, an immuno-protein. Be Kind.
  • Exercise pumps 10,000 white blood cells through the lymph glands, cleansing and detoxifying the “little garbage cans” of the body. Be active for at least 20 minutes every day.
  • Cleanliness and sanitation prevent immune assaults by micro-organisms. Wash your hands frequently.
  • Loving and being loved increases positive immune responses and secretions. Nurture supportive relationships.
  • Purposeful living reduces stress and balances the nervous system. Find your purpose.
  • Eliminating debt enhances longevity through immune system integrity. Use smart budgeting practices.
  • Remember that everything is connected to everything else in your life – especially your immune function. So be kind to your body .

Follow these simple, intuitive and common sense guidelines to preserve and protect the system that protects you. This a great way to stay healthy in any environment.

You may also enjoy this article on Digestion and The Incredible Ways It Affects Your Whole Health!

Join the conversation. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow NIWH on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates filled with useful health advocacy program information for holistic nurses and health coaches.

What Is Stress And Where Does It Come From?

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What Exactly Is Stress And Where Does It Come From?

A statement by the well-known mind/body physician, Herb Benson, M.D. says that 60-90% of all visits to the doctor’s office are due to stress. We all hear about stress, experience stress, but what exactly is stress? Most of us think of stress as the emotional conflicts we experience in our daily lives, but our emotions are just one category or one type of “event” explored in health coach certification that can cause us to experience stress.

In order for us to survive in our ever-changing environments, our bodies are designed to adapt and it does so through a series of biochemical reactions. These chemical reactions are natural and necessary, but they are the wear and tear of living that we call stress.

Here’s an example I like to share in our whole health program because it gives a clear vision of this principle. When I was living in New York City, I drove my little stick shift through the stop and go traffic. Imagine the wear and tear (stress) on the clutch.

There are many events that might cause similar stress to our bodies. Some may surprise you.

  • Weather
  • Excess Exertion (such as too much exercise or lack of sleep)
  • Trauma or Injuries
  • Allergies and Immune Insults
  • Infections
  • Reproduction Related Events (monthly cycle, pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, etc.)

While the common nature of these events does not sound encouraging, there is some good news. If we have a stress response that is short term, like when the phone rings and the nurse tells you that your child had been vomiting, our bodies do just fine.

It is the prolonged stress, like anticipating for two whole weeks a root canal or that pesky “annual office evaluation.” That does us in! In our whole health education programs, students learn that this extended stress affects our digestive system, immune system, cardiovascular and even reproductive systems. Couple this with poor eating habits or insufficient sleep, and we are not happy campers.

While excessive or chronic stress is definitely not good for our health, we need stress adaptation for survival, so it is actually a very good thing. How this adaptation takes place is by way of specialized hormones from our adrenal glands, located in our kidneys. They change our heart rate, blood pressure, lung capacity, and a host of other functions, for our survival. However, these hormones, if secreted too much or too often can suppress our immune, digestive and reproductive systems and even damage our cardiovascular system. Chronic stress is one very large reason why some of us have fertility problems.

So how can we make friends with stress? The answer is good old moderation. Remember being told “all things in moderation leads to a healthy body.” It is true. We do not have to learn to do anything exotic to reduce stress, we just need to balance our lives and avoid excess.

Nevertheless, there is the rub, given modern life. We are all excessing more and more and moderating less. This is part of the reason why health coach certification is essential. For a great book on this subject, check out Why Zebras Don’t Have Ulcers by Dr. Robert Sapolsky. It is a very witty and informative book.

Laugher, as we know, is “our best medicine.” It is also a great stress reducer.

Join the conversation. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow NIWH on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates filled with useful health coach certification information for holistic nurses and health advocates.

Why Is Chicken Soup So Good For You?

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Why is Chicken Soup So Good For You?

Generations of parents have spooned chicken soup into their sick children. Now scientists have put chicken soup to the test, discovering that it does have effects that might help relieve cold and flu symptoms in two ways. First, it acts as an anti-inflammatory by inhibiting the movement of neutrophils — immune system cells that participate in the body’s inflammatory response. Second, it temporarily speeds up the movement of mucus, possibly helping relieve congestion and limiting the amount of time viruses are in contact with the nose lining.

The National Institute of Whole Health supports this integrative approach to nutrition. In addition to supporting the body, food has the ability to stimulate and aid healing. When it comes to chicken soup, the healing qualities come from the ingredients. Let’s break down the components to identify the source of the immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory agents in chicken soup.

Considering that chicken is one of the most popular ingredients in the stock used to prepare chicken soup, it makes sense to understand what exactly it is that chicken has to offer. Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine, a substance released when you make the soup. This amino acid is similar to the drug acetylcysteine, which is prescribed by doctors to patients with bronchitis due to its ability to breakdown proteins found in mucous that settles in the lungs.

Cysteine can be found in proteins throughout the body and when used as a supplement it is usually in the form is N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). The cool part about this is, cysteine, whether taken in supplement form or not, converts to glutathione. Glutathione is a potent antioxidant, protecting fatty tissues from the damaging effects of free radicals. The antioxidant activity of glutathione is attributed specifically to the presence of cysteine in the compound.

In addition, glutathione also plays a vital role in the detoxification of harmful substances by the liver and can chelate (attach to) heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. It is also believed that glutathione carries nutrients to lymphocytes and phagocytes, important immune system cells.

Next, we have the carrots. Carrots, one of the routine vegetable ingredients found in chicken soup, are the best natural source of beta-carotene. The body takes that beta-carotene and converts it to vitamin A. Vitamin A helps prevent and fight off infections by enhancing the actions of white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and viruses.

In addition to their antioxidant and immune-enhancing activity, carotenoids have shown the ability to stimulate cell to cell communication. Researchers now believe that poor communication between cells may be one of the causes of the overgrowth of cells, a condition which eventually leads to cancer. By promoting proper communication between cells, carotenoids may play a role in cancer prevention.

Onions, another chicken soup regular, contain quercetin, another powerful anti-oxidant. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid that is found naturally present in teas — both green and black — apples, onions, and beans. It offers many benefits including maintaining the health of collagen. which is responsible for the firmness and health of our skin. Quercetin also improves the health of capillary and connective tissue (alleviating bruising, edema, varicose veins, etc.).  Other benefits include its ability to inhibit histamine, acting as a natural anti-histamine in many bronchial related conditions, such as allergies and asthma. In addition, quercetin has been ascribed anti-inflammatory and decongestant properties. For individuals who live in high pollen count areas, quercetin is extremely advantageous as it limits allergic reactions due to pollen.

To top it off, stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken-down material from cartilage and tendons–stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.

I could probably keep going but I will let you learn more by giving it a try. As any of you reading this probably would assume, it is best to use only organic, free range protein, organic veggies and filtered water to get the best results from your broth.

For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.

Holding In Our Emotions Can Lead To Illness

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The way we feel — especially when we feel hurt or angry — can cause negative effects in the body due to the neurological and neurochemical connections between body and mind. If we internalize anger, our nervous and hormone systems react, creating neurotransmitter chemicals that can lead to harmful side effects. This can compromise our health as well as our personal and professional relationships. In short, holding in our emotions can lead to illness as well as unhappiness.

Angry Consequences 

Anger that is felt over a period of time is unhealthy. When we become angry and do not express ourselves in a productive manner, the body reacts through the stress adaptation response. This includes biochemical physical responses that can lead to illness or death. If we are habitually angry, the conditions that can occur as a result of this physical response to the chronic or ongoing anger include:

–Asthma
-Elevated blood pressure
-Glaucoma
-Heart attack
-Hiatus hernia
-Hives
-Increased heart rate
-Low back pain
-Migraines
-Psoriasis
-Shortened life expectancy
-Stroke
-Tense muscles
-Ulcers

In addition to thousands of anger and stress studies, many other health studies have connected anger to loneliness, chronic anxiety, depression, eating disorders, sleep disorders, obsessive-compulsive behavior and phobias. It can also have a detrimental effect on our relationships and threaten the development and maintenance of intimate relationships. Communication is the key to learning how to handle our anger and creating healthy and fulfilling relationships.

Better Communication Skills For Better Health

Learning how to communicate does not have to be complicated. While most of us have developed communication skills from our families and environment, there are easy-to-learn, proven skills that can provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to be able to channel and express your anger or hurt feelings appropriately.

When we are able to express our feelings (be they sadness, frustration or anger), we feel more in control of our lives. We are able to create the type of relationships we want to experience with others.

Current whole health research has clearly shown that it is healthier to express and resolve our relationship issues than it is to hold them in and allow them either to make us ill or to cause conflicts at work, home or with friends and colleagues.

Join the conversation.

For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.

Another Flu Season Ahead

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Another Flu Season Ahead: Whole Health Preparations

According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, influenza activity typically starts to increase in October and November, leading to the largest peaks in December and again in February. What are you doing to protect yourself?

Every year we are inundated with reports of possible flu pandemics and cautioned to get our flu shots early. For those of us who are staunch devotees of the annual flu shot, the sooner the better. This is especially true for nurses who, according to the CDC, come in contact with more infectious agents than the average person.

For those who are concerned about putting provocative proteins, such as flu shots, into their bodies–or anyone interested in boosting their resistance further–there are whole health alternatives that can be utilized to prevent from getting the flu. The number one determining factor as to whether or not you get a cold or flu is how resilient your immune system is. The healthier and more resilient your immune system, the least likely you are to get sick, get a cold or the flu.

What is the best way to keep your immune system health and resilient throughout the flu season?

The National Institute of Whole Health offers these tips to use for yourself and also to educate patients or clients you may be nursing or coaching throughout the upcoming flu season.

> Hygiene – Sounds too simple to be important, but hand washing is the number one prevention tool in avoiding colds and flus

> Proper Rest – Getting enough sleep is essential to your nervous and immune system functioning at optimal levels. Being sure not to “run yourself down”, as grandma might have told, is really good advice.

> Proper Nutrition – Vitamin C, B, A, D, E, enough protein, essential fatty acids and calcium rich foods are all important in keeping your body functioning well and having the resilience to fight off colds and the flu

> Keeping Stress Under Control – Stress suppresses your immune function. By keeping stress at bay you will allow your body its best advantage to stay healthy.

> Relax and Have Fun – Laughter and pleasure have been shown in clinical trials to enhance Immunoglobulins which increase immune function activity and keep us healthy. By creating time and opportunity for regular fun and pleasure you will help your body to help you stay well.

> Protection From The Elements – many people don’t realize that the weather and temperature have a significant impact on their stress adaptation and immune system. Being properly dressed against all forms of weather helps to prevent colds and flu.

These very simple yet essential tips for staying well can help, whether you choose to have a flu shot or not, to give your body the best advantage against flu season.

For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.

Mighty Muscles and Bones: How Do The Muscular And Skeletal Systems Help Us Work?

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Our Mighty Muscles And Bones

In the past our accredited health program has explored the nervous system, brain function, cranial nerves, digestive function, adrenal function, and the immune system. Now let’s take a look at the most glamorized, yet under-appreciated, part of our body—our mighty muscles and bones. So, how do the muscular and skeletal systems help us work?

Muscular Attraction

The muscles get a lot of attention with regard to how they can make us look attractive and sexy to others. Our muscle tone communicates how healthy our body is. The strength of the muscles, the lack of water retention or fat in the muscles, and how flexible we are, all indicate that we may be a good reproductive partner and produce strong, healthy offspring. This is one of the functions we all can relate to, but it is certainly not the most important function of our muscles.

Try to imagine what your life would be like if your muscle tissue could not form the shape of your body. What if it didn’t allow you to physically move around your environment? Without locomotion, thru muscle strength and movement, we would be a lump of humanity, never moving from the spot we found ourselves in.

Mighty Bones

Our bones are so amazing too. Remember that apart from their distinctive and critical role as part of the immune system carrying precious bone marrow, they are the armature upon which our muscles are draped. Bones allow cooperation between the muscles, to physically move, play, exercise, work, eat, sleep and achieve all of the mobility we experience throughout our day.

When we look at people stooped over with distorted posture and their musculature not functioning properly, we immediately associate this with either being ill or not “vital.” Our posture is the number one thing people notice, followed by how we are dressed. Our body language is expressed thru our bone/muscle function. In essence, our personality and how we view the world are all communicated in how we move through the space we inhabit.

Working Together

Physiology teaches that our muscles and bones not only share the work load in glucose and immune regulation, body heat production, fat metabolism, mineral storage, and the ability for “fight or flight”—self-preservation. They also communicate to the world what we think about ourselves, others, and the world through the expression of body movement and non-verbal communication. This can be one of the most attractive or frightening aspects about us – depending on how we express our movement and actions.

Keeping your muscles and bones strong thru exercise and a healthy diet is a wise move. Without them, we are literally “going nowhere.”

For more whole health discussions, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama. Also available on iHeartRadio.

Dogs Are An Essential Support To Senior Wellbeing

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Dogs Are An Essential Support To Senior Wellbeing

Animal therapy has become recognized as an alternative method in helping seniors remain healthy, both mentally and physically. In fact, a study published in the journal Pain Medicine found that therapy dogs helped to significantly reduce pain and emotional distress in individuals battling chronic conditions. Moderate exercise and eating right are key to a senior’s ongoing well being, but having a four-pawed companion can have tremendous whole person health benefits as well.

Dog Walking Takes Steps Toward Better Health

On the physical side, having a dog provides a mandatory excuse for a senior to get outside and walk. There’s also the physical movement of feeding and providing water everyday. These activities all contribute to lower blood pressure and fewer occurrences of chronic health conditions like obesity.

In fact, a University of Missouri study showed that walking a dog regularly can lead to a lower body mass index. This can positively contribute to overall health and help prevent conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Seniors in the study who walked their dog also reported fewer doctor visits.

Emotionally, for a single senior, whether home alone or in an assisted-living facility, a dog provides heart-felt companionship to battle loneliness, and gives the senior a purposeful reason to get up and moving every day. Dog-walking also has social benefits. Seniors who walk dogs have an easy way to connect with other pet lovers who cross their path.

Pets Help Maintain The Brain

Memory loss and cognitive health can be a side effect of aging. However, new research has shown that having a pet in the twilight years can spur extended brain strength. These daily routines of pet ownership help keep a senior’s brain focused and even improve memory as we age, according to Dr. Penny B. Donnenfeld. “I’ve seen those with memory loss interact with an animal and regain access to memories from long ago,” the psychologist explains. “Having a pet helps the senior focus on something other than their physical problems and negative preoccupations about loss or aging.”

Assisted Living Pet Friendly Places

Recognizing the correlation between pet ownership and whole health, senior assisted-living communities are now allowing and encouraging ownership. And while on top of paying rent, pets can be another financial commitment, there are federal programs like Medicaid that minimize health care and prescription costs. Those savings can be used by seniors on a budget to feed and support their furry friends. For those seniors who don’t want to own a pet, many facilities and nursing homes have created programs where rescue organizations bring in dogs during the week for resident interaction during so-called “pet therapy” sessions. Staff often report positive changes in mood and behavior of the folks during and after these visits.

Caring and feeding of a dog can have rich results on a senior’s physical and mental health. Walking a dog literally keeps a senior on his or her toes, and takes a person’s mind off pain or loneliness. Dogs remain man’s best friend and maybe even more so in a person’s twilight years.

For more whole health discussions, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama. Also available on iHeartRadio.

Taking Control of Your Health

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Taking Control OF Your Whole Person Health

It’s no secret that we Americans have reached an all time level of being “unhealthy”, thanks to an ever increasing stress-filled lifestyle. Despite widespread campaigns aimed at helping people stop smoking, eat better and exercise, the vast majority of Americans do not get regular exercise and are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. This has resulted in an explosion in obesity that has been sited as high as 63%, along with climbing rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other diseases associated with lifestyle and behavior choices.

As far back as 1996, Harvard Medical School published a 7- year study which confirms up to 70% of all cancer, heart disease, stroke and mature onset diabetes are preventable with lifestyle and behavior changes. And yet, the health of the wealthiest nation in the world continues to decline. Today the fastest growing population for obesity is found in children ages 4 to 8 years old.

Core factors for this epidemic amongst Americans can be found in one particular government study. In 2005, the Institute of Medicine published a major study identifying that ninety million Americans are “health illiterate.” This does not mean, in this Internet dominant society, that people do not have access to or are not receiving enough health information. It means that the majority of us do not know how to interpret or use the health information we receive to control or improve our health or prevent chronic disease.

Think of the last time you read the results of a new study in a magazine, and realized you did not know how to use that information to support or improve your health. In fact, data, presented to the American College of Health Care Executives identifies, “lack of information as the number one root cause of disease and death.” Yet, experts like Susan Edgman-Levatin, Executive Director, John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital, acknowledges “It’s no secret that traditional methods of patient education are hopelessly ineffective.” To compound this, information on the Internet may or may not be reliable and is not crafted to explain the how and why our bodies become sick. We need to know the specifics of how to prevent illness not just what modalities, supplements or therapies can treat the condition.

The focus for this blog is to offer mini-tutorials in the science of whole person health and wellness education through, sharing with readers information that can provide tools, skills and knowledge to:

(1) understand why and how chronic illness or dis-ease manifests in our bodies

(2) what can you do to control and/or heal your chronic conditions

(3) what do these conditions represent with regard to your whole self – what are the physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental and spiritual aspects of your life communicating

This information, while evidence-based and scientific in nature, will be demystified and include a self-care perspective to allow any and all who read this blog to take away some nugget of insight, knowledge or a new perspective they can apply to their personal health and wellness choices. Be sure to check back weekly.

For more whole health discussions, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama. Also available on iHeartRadio.

Use Stress Reduction To Avoid Chronic Disease

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Patients my use stress reduction to avoid chronic disease

Understanding the connection between brain function, cranial nerves, digestion and immune functions illuminates how and why dysfunction and “dis-ease” occur in the body. Just as our machines need electricity to operate, so do our internal organs and cells require electrical impulses to function. The degree to which a patient’s nervous system is balanced and well-functioning – or not – is the degree to which they are healthy and able to function at maximum capacity in the world. This is the key to how students of the accredited health program can guide their patients in using stress reduction to avoid, or reduce the symptoms of, chronic disease.

Many healing arts, such as acupuncture, yoga postures, meditation, chiropractic, breathing techniques, biofeedback, hypnosis, EMDR and others attempt to restore balance to the nervous system as the pathway to improving internal and external bodily function. These methods address the cause of the presenting condition, rather than just treating the pain or symptom of the bodily malfunction.

By looking more closely at the digestive system and its intimate relationship with the immune system and the nervous system, we can easily follow the pathway of how brain function and the nervous system can create a “whole body” systemic cascade of bodily reactions, which over time lead to chronic illness and disease. Our nervous systems are impacted by stressors; however, stress is not limited to just the emotional realm as many believe. The broader topic of stressors and adrenal function are explored throughout NIWH’s health coach and holistic nurse certification programs.

stress reduction whole health educationFor now, keep in mind that when our stress or anxiety causes our limbic system to send biochemical messages to our cranial nerves, our digestive systems can be functionally affected. The anxiety and stress increases our adrenal function output, and this increase of adrenal hormones and steroids in turn decreases our digestive and immune system functions.

A written schematic would look like this:

Stressor = A limbic system response and/or increased adrenal cortisol secretion. = Decreased digestive function thru sympathetic cranial nerves (vagus nerve) and decreased immune (bone marrow) function.

The effect of a stressor on the body in the short term can be readily overcome by a healthy, adaptive nervous system. It is the longer stress–the chronic ongoing conditions and issues–that place wear and tear on our nervous systems and organs. It is this friction or wear and tear that leads to chronic illness.

By understanding the intimate dance of our body’s organs and systems and how to maintain a balanced, healthy nervous system we can help patients use stress reduction to avoid illness and chronic disease, and to live long, productive and disease free lives!

For more whole health discussions, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama. Also available on iHeartRadio.

Are Toxic Chemicals Hiding In Your Bathroom?

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bathroom, washing hands, soap, chemicals,

Cleaning products can be as unhealthy for human lungs as smoking twenty tobacco-based cigarettes a day, according to a study from the University of Bergen. And with 28% of Americans spending more than seven hours a week cleaning their homes, there are potentially big risks involved in being around harmful chemicals. Whether it’s an increased risk of cancer or minor ailments like throat problems, these chemicals can cause significant health issues.

 Formaldehyde

This is one of the most common bathroom product dangers. It’s found in everything from laundry detergent to soap. Unlike green household product alternatives such as organic or self-made cleaning materials, it can cause severe health problems for people who are repeatedly exposed to it. These can include leukemia and other forms of cancer, given that formaldehyde is a carcinogen. Exposure methods are varied. It may be that you breathe it in, for example. You can also take it in through your digestive system if you eat food that has been contaminated by a formaldehyde-heavy environment.

Ammonia

Ammonia is also found in a number of major cleaning products, such as window cleaning fluids and bottles of multi-purpose spray. And it too can cause a number of issues. It’s possible that a person who is exposed to ammonia will experience a burning sensation in their throat, and in the worst case scenario, long-lasting lung problems. Cell damage is also a distinctive possibility for those who breathe in ammonia. When it combines with the naturally-present water inside the human body, it creates the dangerous and abrasive  ammonium hydroxide compound.

 Phthalates

Terms like “ammonia” are relatively well known, even if the exact effects that they can have on people aren’t as familiar. But the truth of the matter is that there are lots of other less recognized chemicals in many bathroom products which are just as problematic for your family – and potentially even more so. One of these is phthalates. These are found in all sorts of bathroom products, including air fresheners. They can even be found in toilet paper.

The effects of phthalates can be diverse, and usually negative. An experiment carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Harvard University found that men with pronounced phthalates levels in their bloodstreams saw lower sperm counts. They’re particularly associated with products which are artificially fragranced. So, it’s wise to go for more organic options if you’re considering buying a bathroom cleaning product designed to keep the smells at bay.

A tub of sanitizer or a bottle of bleach may seem like a must-have when it comes to health and hygiene around the bathroom. But the reality is that these products could be putting you and your family at risk. From the formaldehyde in detergents to the ammonia in those ever-handy surface sprays, there’s a lot to look out for – and it may be worth carrying out a bathroom product audit and weeding out the dangerous items.

For more whole health discussions, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama. Also available on iHeartRadio.