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How To Detoxify Your Environment

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By Georgianna Donadio, MSc, DC, PhD

Detox Your EnvironmentWe are bombarded every day with hundreds of chemical toxins in our environment. Plastic particles, heavy metals, pesticides, cleaning toxins, air pollution and hundreds of other chemicals find their way into our lungs, blood stream, immune system and body systems.

Here are 10 easy tips from the National Institute of Whole Health, to help de-toxify your environment and purify your body, preventing illness and even early aging.

Tip #1: Protect your body from pesticides by thoroughly washing your fruits and vegetables to remove most of the pesticide residue.
If you can find, grow or afford organic produce, this is your best assurance against ingesting unwanted pesticides.

Tip #2: Use cotton, polyester or hemp over plastic bathroom shower and window curtains. Plastic emits toxic chemicals easily eliminated by using alternative materials

Tip #3: Don’t inhale gas fumes when you are filling your tank and avoid exhaust fumes when jogging or walking in a heavily trafficked area. We know that gasoline contains lead and other pollutants and should not be inhaled>

Tip #4: Use only natural body creams or replace them with olive or walnut oil. The chemicals found in body creams and lotions as well as makeup and other beauty products can be carcinogenic and should be avoided.

Tip #5: Avoid all second-hand and third-hand smoke. Exposure to second- or third- hand smoke kills over 50,000 people every year.

Tip #6: Keep over the counter pill use to a minimum. Studies show a direct correlation between high over the counter drug use and liver and brain damage, as well as an increase of Alzheimer’s disease.

Tip #7: Wipe your feet or take off your shoes of before coming into your house. This will reduce the amount of lead dust and allergens you can bring into the house from your shoes.

Tip #8: Lather up. Using soap liberally when you are showering or bathing is the best and most natural way to eliminate environmental toxins from your skin, which is the largest immune component of your body, and also the part of the body most in contact with the external environment.

Tip #9: Eat low mercury fish. By choosing cod, flounder, wild Alaskan or Pacific salmon – as well as clams and shrimp – you can avoid mercury rich foods. Swordfish, mackerel and tuna fish all have higher levels of mercury than the white fish mentioned.

Tip #10: Replace highly chemical house cleaners with the now popular green cleaners that do not irritate the lungs or skin.

By following these 10 simple ways to detox your environment, you can save your liver and immune system the work of detoxifying these chemicals out of your body. This will, over time, prove to be a “life saver” – literally!

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NIWH Whole Health Educators™ Empowering Better Health

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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 does not get regular exercise and are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. There is a clear need to empower others to take control of their health and wellness.

There has been an explosion in obesity that is cited 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. These factors underline the importance of a Whole Person based accredited health coaching program.

A Need For Real Health Education

Core factors for this epidemic amongst Americans can be found in a recent government study. 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 and wellness 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 and wellness or prevent chronic disease. This reveals the need for more Whole Health Educators (TM), Advocates, and Coaches to bridge the gap.

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 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.”

NIWH Has An Answer

Addressing this problem, as far back as 1977, the National Institute of Whole Health in Boston, Massachusetts, in cooperation with physicians, nurses and online health educators, began research and development on an extraordinary, whole-person focused model of health education. The product of these 30 years of development in Boston area hospitals, the Whole Health Education® accredited health program, has today found its way into the medical mainstream.

These specialized health educators, Whole Health Educators ™, are uniquely trained to maintain a respectful presence and mindful listening skills as well as evidence-based, integrated health sciences to demystify for their clients the five major factors of health that influence how well we are or how sick we become. By providing “the big picture of health”®, an integrated understanding of how these five aspects can cause health or disease, the patient or client can possess the knowledge and tools to make necessary lifestyle changes and behavioral choices that are personally right for them. Identifying the root cause and effect of a chronic condition can free an individual to make changes they may not have previously considered.

You Are The Solution

There’s something that students and alumni of NIWH’s accredited health program have already discovered. If you are looking for work with purpose and integrity and are a health care professional, or entry-level candidate, who desires to serve others by providing evidence-based health information, and a natural, spiritual outlook on healing, this program may be of interest to you. NIWH offers Holistic Nurse Certification and Health Coach Certification. Program are offered through distance learning as well as optional in-person weekend classes, conducted at a Harvard affiliate hospital in the Boston area, which includes nationally recognized health experts and outstanding core facility members. For more information visit www.niwh.org or call 888-354-HEAL (4325)

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

Acting Courageously To Inspire Others Now

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It is my pleasure to offer a Guest Post by Mr. Michael Harris, author of “Falling Down and Getting Up”. Check out Michael’s organization, The Getting Up Project at www.thegettingupproject.com

ACTION – Acting Courageously To Inspire Others Now

This acronym seems to say it all. There can be such tremendous joy when a personal action can help others feel inspired. This is one of the most valuable skills learned through health coach certification. But you don’t need to complete a program to help others. It could be inspiring your children to enjoy school and create a wonderful life. Perhaps it is speaking on the stage and inspiring the audience to fully live life. There is also another way to describe the action with greater intensity

“To exert a force with sufficient conviction and bravery to arouse greater efforts in another person at the present moment.”

What would happen to your life (and others) if you created ongoing action? If you are in a place where you are stuck, it just might move you in a way to get unstuck – especially if you are sitting on the couch too much! Maybe today is not a day you are taking action or doing something that can inspire others. Perhaps next time someone asks “how are you?” Instead of the standard “ok”, you say “I am grateful for today.” When you do that you may find the other person smiling – and inspired.

It can become a positive habit and a self-healing experience to ask yourself each day how are you “Acting Courageously To Inspire Others Now?”

Michael Harris is a popular yoga teacher, successful businessman, and business coach. He is the author of a soon to be published book, “Falling Down, Getting Up”, and inspiring journey of his personal process and ultimate success with standing back up again after falling down from health and personal struggles that forced him to develop skills and great wisdom on the subject of “falling down and getting up” again. He is the founder of The Getting UP Project, a growing movement that offers ideas and inspiration to live life with greater action and abundance. To find out more, visit www.thegettingupproject.com.

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.

Can Being Too Clean Be Harmful?

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Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. According to the outcome of the data they found that young children and teens who are overexposed to the chemical triclosan, found in anti-bacterial soaps, could have an increased risk for developing hay fever and other allergies. This finding actually suggests that being too clean can make people sick, the researchers say.

The same study found that bisphenol A (BPA) which is widely used in soaps, toothpaste, plastic products, medical devices and other commonly used items can also weaken the immune systems of adults exposed to higher than normal levels of the chemical. It is believed that BPA effects the immune system through its effects on the human hormonal system.

In this study researchers compared levels of triclosan and BPA in the urine with cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody levels and diagnosis of allergies or hay fever in adults and children over age 6.

“We found that people over age 18 with higher levels of BPA exposure had higher CMV antibody levels, which suggests their cell-mediated immune system may not be functioning properly,” researcher Erin Rees Clayton said in a university news release. The study findings are published in the Nov. 30 2006 online edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

For more whole health discussions, listen to Dr. Georgianna Donadio’s radio show Living Above The Drama.

Female Hormones and Depression

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Recent research review by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) looked at hormonal dysfunction in women as potential causes for depression. This should be of interest as it lends to the mindset of clients with depression.

The focus of the review by the investigators and their subsequent report was on how the female reproductive system interacts with the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, which regulates the body’s stress response. This mechanism can set up a biochemical environment for psychological disorders in females. It was noted that females are twice as likely as men to experience depression.

Through the HP-axis, stress in women impacts the reproductive hormones which can upset patterns of ovulation. This upset can contribute to the lost of menses and to infertility. If the inter-relationship of stress and female reproductive hormones becomes chronic, then behavior and mood disorders and depression can increase significantly.  We know that when oxytocin is suppressed due to excessive stress hormones, fertilized eggs cannot implant into the uterus. This is believed to be a primary cause of infertility in American women, owing to our highly stressful lifestyle.

Depression, eating disorders, alcoholism or other addictions may occur with the estrogen-induced disruption of normal HPA function. The key to preventing or correcting the problem as we find in many physiological conditions is to create a more balanced, less stressful lifestyle. If the body’s stress adaptation system becomes overwhelmed, and cannot appropriately adapt to the environment and demands of everyday life, many disorders and conditions can develop, depression being just one of them.

Regarding postpartum depression, the investigators identified that chronic hypersecretion of the stress hormone cortisol during pregnancy creates a temporary suppression of adrenal function following delivery. This coupled with the sudden drop of hormonal levels of estrogen after birth may be a significant factor in postpartum depression or subsequent immune dysfunctions such as postpartum thyroid conditions.

It is very important for women, because of our very integrated hormonal and nervous systems, to work towards a balanced, low-stress lifestyle. Unlike our male counterpart, our hormonal system immediately lets us know when we are “off-center” by delivering loud messages through hormonal dysfunction.

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.

What’s Keeping Veterans From Seeking The Mental Health Care They Need?

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Too many veterans today have unaddressed mental health issues; according to studies, almost a third of all service-persons who have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have from a mental health condition. Left untreated, these illnesses could lead to violence, addiction, and suicide; statistics show that veterans are more than twice as likely to die by suicide compared to their civilian peers. With these numbers, it’s clear that not enough is being done to help our veterans. So, where are we falling short?

Closing The Access Gap

Some mental health issues develop, or are aggravated, due to a lack of access to healthcare. Veterans have reported difficulties making appointments, as well as finding transportation to the doctor. And when physical ailments aren’t treated immediately, these could lead to mental health issues.

Tinnitus, for instance, is the most common disability among veterans, even surpassing PTSD. Characterized by ringing or buzzing in the ears, tinnitus can lead to issues like anxiety and depression if left untreated. One 2015 study found that 70 percent of veterans with tinnitus had anxiety, while 59.3 percent had depression, and 58.2 percent had both. Chronic pain also affects more than half of veterans and has been linked to depression and PTSD.

Thankfully, the VA has also implemented new rules in June 2019 to make healthcare more accessible. Previously, veterans who had to travel 40 miles or more to get to a VA health care facility were allowed to use a private health care provider. But now, veterans who live 30 minutes away from a VA clinic will be able to choose private care. By listening to veterans and focusing on improving overall health, the VA can help combat mental health issues faster.

The Battle Against Shame And Stigma

Studies reveal that only half of returning vets who need mental health treatment get these services. Today, more than half of those who need mental health care don’t even know that they need it. We need more whole health advocates to bridge this gap.

Some veterans also believe that therapy may not work, or that talking about the trauma will make them feel even worse. Many more veterans may choose not to get help because of social factors, such as embarrassment and the fear of being seen as weak. Even though getting professional treatment is nothing to be ashamed about, there’s still a lot of stigma around mental health issues.

The Department of Defense has recognized this and is taking steps to eliminate stigma, such as no longer requiring servicemen to report having sought out mental health treatment for combat-related issues. More high-ranking personnel are also coming forward to share their experiences with PTSD, and what kind of treatment helped. When more veterans and active servicemen become transparent about their illnesses, this doesn’t just help destigmatize mental health issues, but also raises awareness. Though changing people’s perceptions about mental health care is an uphill battle, raising awareness is a powerful way to help veterans get on the road to recovery.

How To Support Veterans’ Mental Health

The support of the community is crucial to helping veterans recover. Veterans’ families, especially, should educate themselves on mental health issues that frequently affect veterans. Many experts agree that encouragement from their families can also help veterans overcome some common barriers to treatment, such as fear and shame. 

Most people in the armed forces understand how important it is to take care of their bodies, but sometimes neglect the mental aspect of their health. If you are a veteran experiencing mental health problems, or if you think that a veteran family member may benefit from mental health treatment, seek help. Call Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK). This is a 24/7 toll-free, confidential hotline manned by mental health professionals. You may also text VA at #838255, or chat online with a counselor at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net.

Author Credit: Allie Oliver

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

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.

Looking Beyond The Hype: Digging Deep into the Reality of Supplements

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Market research conducted in August 2018 found that the Vitamin and Supplement Manufacturing industry in the US ballooned to profits of $31 billion. This number is a clear sign of the American public’s great desire to pursue a greater level of whole health and integrative nutrition. The debate, however, still continues to thrive in regards to the safety, efficacy, and even necessity of taking supplements. While supplements aren’t new, it’s still worth exploring and discussing them before jumping on the bandwagon.

The Rising Popularity of Supplements

A commissioned study from 2017 found that 76% of respondents say that they consume dietary supplements. The supplements they take commonly come in the form of pills, powders, and even herbal teas. The common responses when asked why they took supplements were to “improve” and “maintain” their health. Another 15% claimed that taking supplements boosted their immune system and that they were getting sick less often. Word of mouth and social media have all been conducive in spreading the glowing reviews of satisfied users to entice other people into using dietary supplements, as well.

The Unforeseen Risks

The issue begins when the supplements that people purchase are fake and contain harmful elements that end up compromising their whole person health. Even when the supplements are authentic, there’s a risk to combining different ones and using them with medication. Taking too much of certain nutrients like iron can cause hemochromatosis, as warned by the FDA. Popular supplements like St. John’s Wort originally enjoyed a reputation of being effective in boosting moods and chasing the blues away. It wasn’t until later when people found that it curbs the efficacy of antibiotics and even antiretrovirals. You just might be risking your health because of a post that you read online, so it’s best to be careful.

A Life Without Supplements

Consumers that are skeptical or have heard horror stories about fake ones wonder if it’s possible to survive without them. It actually is; it’s just going to involve a lot of dedication. A lot of the vitamins and nutrients that supplements claim to give you are readily available in the food we consume regularly. When you carefully plan the food that you eat, you can actually get the nutrient count that you need. You can try to create a food plan that maximizes your nutritional intake or you can have a health coach or dietitian help you out.

Finding the Right Balance

There are supplements that do as advertised and there are all-natural diets that work. It is entirely possible to reach some sort of compromise between supplements and diet; all that’s needed is due diligence. Read up on different findings to build a study-based and fact-based opinion on supplements and nutrition. There’s a wealth of information out there about integrative nutrition. If that isn’t enough, you can always ask your trusted nurse coach or other healthcare professional for their educated opinion.

At the end of it all, doing research about supplements will safeguard your whole person health. As a consumer, it’s your responsibility to see if something trendy is worth dabbling into. Always avoid putting your health at any unnecessary risk.

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

Author Credit: Allie Oliver

Are You Consuming Too Much Sodium?

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Are You Consuming Too Much Sodium? Here's What The Experts Say.

Sodium is a naturally occurring, essential mineral that helps regulate body fluids and kidney function. Of concern to many is the fact that high doses can cause hypertension, kidney damage, and decrease of calcium absorption. It can cause bloating, fatigue and increase your risk for strokes and heart disease.

The Right Nutritional Value

The recommended daily intake of sodium is 2,300 mg per day. A low sodium diet is considered between 400 – 1000 mg a day. A normal sodium diet is considered between 1500 – 2,300 per day, and a high sodium diet between 2,500 and 4,000 mg per day. The average American diet contains over 3,500 mg per day, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. Experts agree that damage of high sodium accumulates and can have a long term, life threatening effect.

Even those of us who think we are eating well and are careful about our food choices, may not realize how much sodium is lurking in our foods. Processed, canned, jarred and frozen foods have high levels of sodium, as do most restaurant prepared meals and certainly “fast foods” where sodium and flavor enhancers are added for taste and texture.

Few of us realize that foods we eat every day are loaded with sodium. In considering the examples below, it becomes clear that, once again, the best foods to eat are fresh and unprocessed, which not only contains more nutrients, but contains much less sodium.

High Sodium Foods To Avoid:

> One cup of cocoa has 950 mg of sodium.
> A chicken fillet sandwich has 940 mg of sodium.
> Tomato ketchup has 1042 mg.
> Parmesan cheese contains 1862 mg.
> Processed cheese has 1189 mg.

The list goes on. The more processed the food, the more likely it is to contain high sodium levels. On the other hand, Fresh fish, fruits, nuts, eggs, beans, meats and vegetables have low levels of sodium.

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

Parents Model Behavior and Self-Esteem

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Lessons In Whole Health: Behavior and Self-Esteem

One day I noticed my daughter was watching a reality television show about high school students. The lack of respect that many of them showed towards other students was stunning. What was even more disconcerting was their lack of awareness that the people they were taunting and verbally abusing had the same range of feeling they did; wanted to be accepted and valued as they did; and wanted to belong within their peer groups, just like they did.

The main theme of the program was having a facilitator come into the school and educate the verbally abusive students on the basics of how to have appropriate relationships. It was portrayed that these young people had never seen respect or compassion modeled for them at home. They were not “aware” that other students, young people like themselves, had essentially the same need to belong and the same feelings and desires that they did.

My daughter commented that it was obvious that these insensitive high school students were suffering from low self-esteem to be treating other people that way. This started a conversation about “where do we develop healthy self-esteem from” and why do some people develop it easily and others not at all.

Self-esteem is so intimately connected to whole health and how we treat ourselves; which is also connected to how we treat others. The role of a patient advocate is to instruct a patient on “how to be in the world” and to provide the training, if you will, to have the skills, tools and awareness to develop a strong sense of self and self esteem.

“Roots and wings” was the expression many years ago, which refers to the stability, discipline and security that allows us to go out into the world and have the confidence in ourselves to “spread our wings” and fly.

As parents we have the profound responsibility of modeling to our children what they need to learn to be both healthy and happy. Children learn with their eyes, their ears, and their hearts. It really does not matter what we say to our children, or what we say to others, it is what we do that counts. When we take the easy way out as parents and do not provide our children with a strong example and foundation of learning responsibility, integrity and how to respect others, we fail them and we hurt them.

To educate our children to be healthy and happy we must advocate the number one rule of liking themselves, which leads to liking others: When our behavior is congruent with our values, with what we know intellectually and intuitively is right and good, we like ourselves. When our behavior goes against our values and what we know is the right way to behave, we have low self-esteem. We don’t like ourselves when we behave in a way that directly or indirectly hurts ourselves and others.

I remember talking one time with one of my children who was complaining that they “didn’t like themselves.”

I asked them an appreciative inquiry question: “Do you think that feeling might come from something you know about yourself that the rest of us don’t?” Several days later he shared with me that it “was one of the best questions anyone had ever asked him” and that it helped him to stop doing something that he felt really bad about doing.

This is a question to ask ourselves and to model to our children, who learn more from our non-verbal communication than anything we might “tell” them about how to live a happy life and support their own whole person health.

For more whole health discussions, listen to Dr. Georgianna Donadio’s radio show Living Above The Drama.