Tag Archives: wellness

A Surprising Connection Between Foot Health And Overall Wellness

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We don’t often reflect on how important the foundation of our body – our feet – really is to our overall whole health. In the decades I have been practicing structural body care, one of the most common complaints that our patients report is the pain they suffer after walking and standing for any length of time. This is most commonly associated with wearing flat shoes.

Unfortunately, foot pain is becoming extremely common, with now about one in every two individuals experiencing some foot pain with prolonged standing or with activity. In order to take the steps to eliminate foot pain, we need to understand why feet can become sore and tender from standing and walking.

Feet are the weight bearing “shock absorbers” of our bodies. They do an extraordinary job keeping our body weight balanced and well distributed. This is one of the functions of our feet that allow us to walk, run and function at high levels of agility and coordination.

The bio-mechanics of our feet include muscles running along the outside and inside of our legs. These muscles and tendons also insert into our feet and have an impact on the integrity of our individual foot function. These same muscles are also, through the spinal cord, connected to various organs in our body.

The expression “feeling weak in the knees” comes from how stress is communicated through the body via nerves, organs and muscle function. The way stress regulation works in the body is through the adrenal glands. These are glands embedded in the kidneys. The same muscles that impact foot function are also connected to the adrenal glands through the spinal cord.

To see an example of this, the gait or foot health of a highly stressed person will most likely demonstrate that their shoes are either turning up, turning down or are considerably worn out.

At much earlier ages individuals are experiencing high levels of stress these days. This can impact the function of the legs muscles and consequently the foot function. This can lead to foot pronation, pain, corns, bunions and other foot malfunctions. Walking in shoes that do not support our foot function is in the long run harmful to our foot and overall holistic health.

By using custom made foot orthotics that are worn in supportive shoes is the easiest and least expensive approach to solving foot issues before they become a complicated and painful concern. You can see your chiropractor or podiatrist who can prescribe if necessary customized orthotics.

For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my hit radio show Living Above The Drama.

Secrets About Our Wonderous Immune System

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Integrative Nutrition Immune BoostTruly one of the most amazing examples of inter-cooperative, biochemical engineering imaginable! The immune system – our own personal National Guard and Marine Corps, rolled into one. It is always vigilant – 24/7 to keep us from harm and invasion by foreign enemies – microbes that want to grow and flourish in our internal environment.

One of the fun things about teaching this course for the past 30 years is watching the reactions of learners as they “get” what their immune system really is – that great
“ah-ha!” moment when the dots get connected and it all makes sense. This is when we start to have a different relationship with our body and a new respect for how awesome, amazing, and comprehensive the immune system is!

When most of us think “immune system” we think of tonsils, spleen, lymph nodes (glands in our armpits, throat, and groin), and of course our white blood cells. These body parts certainly are members of the immune elite. If you check with the encyclopedia or on Google, you are likely to find these wonderful entities under the definition of the immune system.

However, when we look at this amazing system from a Whole Person Health perspective, this shortlist of parts becomes a much longer one, indeed. There are dozens of white blood cells and related specialized immune cells that do a phenomenal job of playing “Pac-Man” with the unwanted microbes in our bloodstream, tissues, and organs. Every organ in our body has an immunological role to play from the liver, which detoxifies, to the stomach which contains hydrochloric acid to kill bacteria and microbes coming in through the mouth, up to and including our nostril hairs that trap unwanted foreign particles before they can irritate our airways.

In fact, there is no part of our body that isn’t part of our immune system. The largest “part” of our immune system is our skin which is responsible for protecting our insides from outside entities and vice versa. As the skin is the number one rated beauty or sexual attraction in both men and women around the world, (anthropological research by Margaret Mead and others) we can easily see that to have beautiful skin is a reflection of a healthy immune system and a strong indicator of a healthy and productive system. Beautiful skin and a healthy immune system, always start from the inside out.

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The Passion Diet

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Dr Georgianna Donadio, PhD

passion diet- whole nutrition

How much do YOU know about your own weight loss and weight gain patterns?

One of the frustrating aspects of health information that we hear the most from consumers is that just when you think you’ve got a handle on what you are supposed to do to be healthy – the information changes.

For example, not long ago those of us who were over 50 were assured that if we moderately cut back our portions, decreasing our calories and exercised for a half hour 4-5 times a week, we could keep at bay the extra body fat that creeps in after menopause.

How many of us dutifully reduced their calories and did their half hour routine daily only to feel that there was “something wrong with them” because this formula didn’t work for their body; but the “experts” said it was the right way to control weight after 50.

Wisdom, from research, has now shifted for women past the age when our estrogen is dramatically lower than pre-menopause. Estrogen, as every woman knows, is that amazing hormone that is a metabolic calorie burner as well as a reproductive hormone. It keeps us heart healthy; keeps our skin healthy and produces “pheromones” for attraction, among other body functions.

No longer is a half hour of exercise deemed adequate to increase the metabolic furnace that is slowed down by the loss of estrogen. We now have to exercise a minimum of one hour per day and really watch everything we put in our mouths, ESPECIALLY carbohydrates, which we want more than ever for the serotonin surge they give us. This new information comes from the fact that women over 50 generally do not lose the weight they want with just a half hour of exercise.

What IS important regarding losing weight and keeping it off after 50 is what our individual body tells us is right for our metabolism and body type. We need to ask ourselves what DO we know about ourselves and our own weight loss and weight gain pattern that should be more important than the “weight loss expert’s” advice.

The big question is, now that we are past the age of reproduction and our body no longer is protecting us against many of the maladies that come with getting older, what are we willing to make our priority and what do WE KNOW about our own metabolic profile and how food and exercise affects our body weight.

In addition, understanding the function of various hormones in regulating appetite and satiety, hormones such as ghrelin, leptin, cholecystokinin, and other peptides all relay peripheral signals to the hypothalamus, which control appetite and satiety. Passion and creativity increase this hormonal function to decrease appetite and increase satiety. Many of us experience this when we fall in love!

Important Questions to Ask Ourselves

1-  What do I know about how I gain weight?

2-  What do I know about how I lose weight?

3-  Do I eat when I’m stressed?

4-  Do I lose weight when I’m stressed?

5-  Do I use food for emotional soothing?

6-  Does eating play a dominant role in my daily routine?

7-  Is losing weight more important than eating what I like when I like it?

8-  What am I willing to give up to get the body weight I want?

9-  Do I feel my food choices need to improve?

10- What is my personal experience with exercise?

11- What works best for me; what kind of exercise do I enjoy?

12- What do I know about how my body responds to exercise?

13- Am I willing to make the time to take care of myself?

14- What are my health priorities?

15- What are my ego priorities?

16- What keeps me from being the weight I want to be – REALLY?

The issue of weight loss is intimately connected with our relationship with our life force. Rarely do we see an energetic, productive, organized individual (men or women) who struggle with weight issues, even after 50 because they are often focused on their external interests and passions. Often these folks suffer from not taking the time to eat when or as much as they should.

One of the weight loss “secrets” I have learned over the years as a nutritionist from my patients is that when they are excited, creative, interested, and passionate about their work, their relationships, learning, doing or being, the issue of a naturally right body weight solves itself. We are often over-focused on the sensory experience and pleasure of food as a main stay for satisfaction and pleasure. Then, often when something else catches our attention, the issue of fulfillment comes from another source in our lives.

Something to consider – Find Your Passion!

References

Empty-Stomach Intelligence

Physiology, Obesity Neurohormonal Appetite And Satiety Control

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Nurture The Thymus To Empower The Immune System

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The Thymus, in yoga and energy circles is often referred to as “the heart” chakra. In an integrative whole health approach to patient care, the Thymus is considered a primary source of all immune cells being formed through the stimulation of “T” (thymus) cells and “B” (bird – because they were first discovered in birds) cells. In encouraging behavior that nurtures the thymus, a whole health nurse coach can assist in empowering the immune system.

From the very early stages of our embryology the Thymus is the primary mover in the development of our immune systems. It shrinks after early childhood but still plays a roll in communicating with the early T and B cells it populated back when we were still in our mother’s uterus.

The Thymus is the self-esteem component of Maslow’s Hierarchy. This is evident in as much as our immune function is an expression of how we care for and think about ourselves. To see this at work, the observation of HIV positive patients, who have a high self-esteem and self worth, rarely manifest AIDS; sometimes never does it manifest, or only when the individual is confronted with profound stress such as loss or grief which lowers the immune system function. Less than 50% of HIV positive patients ever develop AIDS and much of this is contributed to the individual’s self-esteem level. Physically the Thymus is intimately connected to our Immune System and Neurotransmitters.

Regarding Selye’s Stress Model, the Thymus can express Infections/Compromised Immunity – which is a loss of self protection. The Thymus is the environmental (internal and response to the external) component of the Whole Health Five Aspects.

So far we have gone over FIVE (5) of the SEVEN (7) aspects. The last three, as we saw with the reproductive glands, the adrenals and pancreas, clarify the emotional and behavioral aspects of each specific endocrine gland.

The VIRTUE of the Thymus is HOPE – the individual who sees the world as good and holding promise for the future has hope and feels positive about life and what is to come. This also creates a positive sense of self and self-esteem. Hope fills our life with thinking about the future and that we can fulfill our dreams and goals, rather than directing our attention to what others have and we don’t have. With hope comes the belief that we can be valued, loved and belong in this world – which is an important component to being healthy and having a strong immune system.  

The DEADLY SIN of the Thymus is very opposite of the virtue of the Thymus – hope and belief in the future, seeing the world as good and abundant; the sin of the Thymus is that of ENVY – resentment towards what others have; feeling diminished and less valued because another may be perceived as having more than us. Envy, jealously and resentment are poison to the heart, the mind and the body. Envious thoughts send messages to the cell membranes of our immune system that are toxic to the body’s health and function.

Once again we can see the value and importance in understanding how the body works a whole integrated being. The Thymus is a major player in the endocrine system, disabling or empowering the immune system to keep us healthy or make us sick.

The outcome of our Thymus function is up to us – our thoughts, behaviors, virtues and negative actions all play a role in this amazing gland’s function.J


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

Establish These Three Behaviors To Improve Your Life

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The most important relationship we have is with ourselves. The way we think, eat, behave and use our resources define the quality of life we live. We all want to thrive and enjoy a healthy fulfilling life. Yet, in our over scheduled, frenzied personal environments and ever encroaching culture, the simple, basic, no-cost behaviors that will better our lives and foster an excellent relationship with ourselves are often overlooked.

Here is a list of 3 simple behaviors any of us can do immediately to improve and restore our well-being and enhance our health.

1. Buy with Cash

Over the last 5 years, most of us have had a reality check regarding the corrosive nature of debt. It can cause stress, anxiety and sleepless nights, robbing us of our well-being and causing us to lose control over our relationship with money. One of the fastest and easiest ways of “turning the ship around” when it comes to debt is to commit to using only cash for purchases and cutting up the credit cards.

While we can have an emergency card or line of credit squirreled away for a real emergency, by reining in our spending habits and eliminating debt, we can do more for our sense of well-being and health than following the latest health trends and starting an exercise program. Yes, it’s true – reducing and eliminating the crushing stress of debt accumulation is the number one act of self-care we all need to commit to. Studies show that chronic stress and worry will make us sicker and even cause life threatening events such as stroke and heart attack more so than any other lifestyle behavior.

Also, by paying in cash you are more aware of what you are actually spending and have the opportunity to ask yourself: “Do I really need to make this purchase?”

2. Clean out Your Closets

In our consumer-driven environment, we are invited daily to buy, buy, buy and can find ourselves living with closets, attics and basements overflowing with “stuff.” Much of this stuff we do not even use and may not even remember we have.

One of the most satisfying experiences is to clean out closets, drawers, basements, attics, garages, storage areas, and so forth. Thin out all the excess material possessions we have and do not need or use. Giving things away to the local “swap shop” or donating these unnecessary belongings to Goodwill or the Salvation Army will not only free up room and space in our homes, but will also provide a greater sense of control over your living space as well as provide a sense of orderliness and cleanliness – all good things for our health and happiness.

3. Post Your Life Goals and Affirmations

We all have goals and dreams we want to realize. One of the fastest, proven ways to achieve those goals and manifest our dreams is to write them down and post them throughout our whole working and living environments. Take the most urgent and important goal you have at this time and focus on it daily, using post-its or other reminders of what you want to manifest.

This no cost, proven method for creating the things we want in our lives can become an excellent life-long behavior. When one goal is realized or achieved, we can identify the next important goal and work on that specifically, using our desire and unconscious mind to manifest our dreams. After all, thoughts really are “things.” By repeatedly thinking on something, we can create it into reality.

Everything was a thought before it became a reality – the chair you are sitting on was a thought in someone’s mind before it was created. We can and do create our lives with our thoughts – so post away and realize your goals.

For more information about this topic, you can access a free excerpt from the bestselling book Changing Behavior: Immediately Transform Your Relationships with Easy to Learn Proven Communication Skills by visiting www.ChangingBehavior.org

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