September 2, 2019

What I Believe as a Health Professional

Prior to working with any health professional, I believe it is important to understand their background, training, and beliefs to see if they align with yours. My focus in my practice is to help your body function optimally to meet your health goals through a focus on nutrition, lifestyle, and supplementation when needed. You can read more about exactly what a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner is in this post. Here are a few things that I believe as a health professional:

-I believe that your health is one of the wisest investments you can make. Yes, "we are all going to die of something", but I would prefer it to be old age with my mind and body intact.

-I believe that health is a journey and not a destination. If you don't consistently take time for your health and wellness, you will be forced to take time for your illness. (I learned this the hard way and don't want that for you!)

-I believe that food provides the building blocks for every cell in your body. If you want your house (body) to be constructed well and last for a lifetime, you must build it out of quality materials.

-I believe that we are exposed to more toxins than any other time in history and this negatively affects our health. There are toxins in the air, water, food, soil, personal care products, cleaning supplies, furniture, clothing, building materials, etc. Every exposure matters and making small changes to minimize your exposures can make huge differences in your health.

-I believe that your symptoms are real even if your lab results are "normal". This often means you need different testing or your symptoms are being caused by something for which testing is unreliable or frequently inaccurate (ex. gluten sensitivity, Lyme disease, EBV, etc).

-I believe that the epidemic of chronic illness and disease in our country can be directly attributed to what we eat, our toxic exposures, and our stressful lifestyles.

-I believe that we are all different and that one size fits all dietary and supplement recommendations are a disservice. This is why what worked for your spouse, brother, mother, cousin, or friend doesn't work for you.

-I believe that if your holistic health practitioner gives you 12 different supplements, but doesn't talk to you about diet and lifestyle then they are not addressing the root cause of your concern.

-I believe that one practitioner for all your needs is often inadequate in the era of increasingly specialized and complicated medicine. You may also need a chiropractor, acupuncturist, massage therapist, physical therapist, psychologist, functional medicine doctor, or a number of other practitioners to achieve optimal health.

-I believe that conventional medicine and holistic medicine do not have to be at odds with each other and that we are privileged to live in a time where we can take advantage of the benefits of both. Of course, if your physician tells you things like "what you eat doesn't matter", that's a different story!

-I believe that I don't have all the answers and that you should run from practitioners who claim to or act like they do. Scientists discover new things about health and the human body every year and to pretend like we know it all for the sake of our pride is a disservice to our clients. If an issue is outside of my area of expertise, I will happily refer you to another practitioner who can help.

-I believe that your healthcare practitioner should be your partner in health and not your dictator. You know your body best!