Family Health

I Can’t Believe I’m Sick AGAIN. 5 Things You Need to Do to Stop the Cycle

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Annndddd…. you’re sick again. How many times has it been this winter? Oh? You’ve lost count.

Well, between your children bringing who-knows-what kind of germs home from school, your colleague sneezing down the hall and your mother in law stopping in on her way home from the mall, you’ve caught something again. Or it’s just continually circulated through your home for the last 2 weeks.

Either way, it’s time to boost up your immune system and arm yourself with some seriously powerful natural remedies to help heal your cold / flu / sore throat / as-of-yet unidentified virus.

Here are the basics:

Your body wants to be 100% healthy all the time!! You just need to provide it with the means to do so.

1. What are you eating?

Put down the bagel with cream cheese and reach for some fruit and vegetables. Specifically, oranges, grapefruit, apples, clementines, kiwi, cantaloupe and strawberries. And reach for dark leafy greens, bell peppers and and tomatoes!

For example, 1 medium orange has 70mg of Vitamin C, or 116% of your daily recommended intake. So load up. Every day!! Especially considering that the “daily recommended intake” suggestions for vitamin C tend to be just high enough to keep you from getting scurvy!

According to Dr. Andrew Saul, editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, if everyone were to take 500 mg of vitamin C per day — the dose required to reach a healthy level of 80 µmol/L — an estimated 216,000 lives could be spared of heart failure each year.

So, eat more fruits and vegetables high in Vitamin C – and protect your heart while preventing another cold from circling back to you!

2. What are you popping?

Put down the antibiotics. Antibiotics are scientifically unable to help at all with killing viruses.
Put down the Robitussin. Put down the Advil Cold & Sinus.

Antibiotics destroy the very fragile bacterial ecosystem living in your gut, that actually functions as 90% of your immune system. So while you think you’re killing the virus, you are actually damaging your entire system for many years to come. Just one round of antibiotics kills many of your beneficial bacteria living in your intestines and makes you much more susceptible to getting sick more often.

Every time you take a pharmaceutical, you do damage to your body. Your body must first heal from the illness and then it must heal from the pharmaceutical you ingested.

(Yes there is a time and place for life-saving interventions that require pharmaceuticals, but that time and place, for the great majority of the population, is not from a cold or flu).

3. What should you pop instead?

Nature has created many natural anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal agents that we can use with much less side effects, if any at all. Colloidal silver can be sprayed under the tongue a few times a day and literally wipes out nasty germs in record time. Oregano oil can be taken as a capsule to kill bacteria and viruses. And you should also supplement with probiotics that have a count into the high billions to help rebalance the immune system promoting bacteria in your gut.

4. I need a miracle remedy now!

Essential oils are that miracle. Get your hands on some therapeutic grade peppermint oil, and mix a couple of drops with a carrier oil (coconut oil) and massage it into your throat, over your sinuses, your chest and under your nose. You will be breathing clearly in seconds!!

5. Sleep, tea and time

Yep, you’ve heard it before. Stay rested and drink a lot of warm liquids to stay hydrated. It takes time for your body to kick the virus and bounce back, but it will be much quicker if you follow these natural steps.

BONUS – Stay healthy!

What are you doing to stay healthy and prevent future illness? Try these tips:
1 – Eat a whole-foods, plant based diet with a great variety of colourful fruits and vegetables.
2 – Exercise every day. Even a little bit of joyful movement – your body was made to move!
3 – Drink lots of water. Stay hydrated and enjoy some fresh lemon in your water.
4 – Get enough sleep.
5 – Take a high quality probiotic every day.
6 – Get adjusted regularly! Your spine needs to be free of interference so that your body can heal and function at 100%!

With Sources From:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/09/21/vitamin-c-heart-health.aspx

Stressed to the MAX!

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Hippocrates in 460-377 BC was aware of ‘stress’.  So why has it taken so long for ‘stress’ and mental health issues to finally receive some acknowledgement in OUR time?  Walter Cannon in 1929 confirmed that the stress response is part of a unified body-mind system to take flight or fight. Canadian scientist Hans Selye spent 40 years of his career extending Cannon’s concepts and has since made stress a major concept in psychology and medicine today.

Lately, everyone seems to be getting on this ‘hot’ topic. The media, talk shows, books, research, the Occupational Health & Safety Act, Worker’s Safety and Insurance Board, and the list goes on, finally want to talk about stress and mental health issues. What took them so long?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Mental Health as, ‘The state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.’

The Canadian Mental Health Association defines Stress as ‘the body’s response to a real or perceived threat. That response is meant to get people ready for some kind of action to get them out of danger. But most of the threats people face today aren’t something that they can fight or run away from. These threats are usually problems that people have to work through. Stress is a reaction to a situation—it isn’t about the actual situation.’

Here are my thoughts about stress and mental health issues:

They are REAL. They EXIST.

Very few understand the IMPACT stress and mental health issues have to one’s life, unless you’ve been there, or know someone that’s been there. For those of you who are still sitting on the fence as to whether or not you think this is truly an illness, I would say, ‘it’s time to wake up’. This illness is affecting 1 out of 4 people daily! People lose their relationships, their jobs, their motivation to live, their clarity, their understanding of self AND finding all that again, takes time, patience and plenty of love and support. It’s a long and up hill battle to get your life back, and to eventually find out that your life will never be the same because, THIS stress, mental health issue, changes you, forever.

Have a heart.

If you feel a friend or a loved one is not their self, take the take to listen and extend a helping hand. Suggest natural therapies such as homeopathy, naturopathy, counseling, chiropractic and other modalities to assist them back to health, to work, and to their life again. Slowly, with understanding and guidance, those experiencing stress and mental health issues, will make a recovery to a place of wellness. Until then, direct them to organizations such as the Canadian Mental Health Association or Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, or a psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker or other professional that has an expertise in the field. Together, we can make a difference in someone’s life with compassion and genuine interest by acknowledging and honoring the stress they are going through with support and direction to expert care.

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Blog by Guest Author:

Pic-of-LucieLucie M.H. Fournier RN, COHN(C), BA (Psych)
Founder/Workplace Health Strategist
With over 30 years of experience in disability management, and a return on investment on average of 1:7, Fournier disAbility & Health provides customized and results oriented services in Absenteeism Management including Attendance, Sick Time/Short, Long Term Disability, and WSIB claims for employers across Ontario.
Expertise in 5 distinct niches of disAbility management include:
1. Complex claims management resolution
2. Mental health claim return to work & accommodations
3. Advanced level training for internal claims manager to make a significant impact on the health of the employee and wealth of the organization
4. Transitional Leadership when moving to & from a 3rd party disAbility Management company
5. Sensitive claims & disAbility management of professional staff, such as HR, health team, and/or executives such as supervisors, managers, directors
Find Lucie at www.FournierHealth.com and https://www.facebook.com/fournierhealth/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/luciemhfournier

Put Your Phone Down & Go Outside!!

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unplugged

How many times have you checked your phone today?  Email?  Facebook?  Instagram? Snapchat?  Linked In?  Text Messages?  Many of us just simply do not make it a priority to get unplugged and spend time outside.  Of course, in the northern hemisphere, the climate has a great deal to do with this.  If we don’t play an outdoor sport, or actively enjoy outdoor activities, we may spend the whole winter on the couch!

Alternatively, during the heat of the summer, many of us stay indoors for the air conditioning!!!  This gives us way too much inside, without the opportunity to get fresh air and movement!   It also gives us a great deal more access to screen time.

When is the last time you unplugged and went outside to ENJOY being outside?  Not just running to your car because you’re late for work?

There are many studies showing that many of us are addicted to our devices.  We are compulsively checking notifications, bells, chimes and rings.  We are tuned in to hear our device from miles away, even if we never let it out of our sight!

This problem is compounded for our children.  The time that they spend with a device is time that they are not interacting with you or other humans.

Technology & The Effects On Children

At a young age, children look to their parents for reassurance and direction.  This is where they need to receive feedback on right and wrong, as well as connecting with you while developing normal attachments.

When young children play games on a screen, win a game or get an answer correct, there is no one there to offer reassurance, so they lack an opportunity for confidence building by connecting with you.

The same is true when the kids are playing without a device.  They look to their parents for reassurance.  If you are not unplugged and busy on your phone, you miss an opportunity for eye contact, a smile or something to let them know you are paying attention to them.  Click here to read, “Is Today’s Technology Destroying Your Health?”

What Is The Answer?

Get unplugged!!  Find a few hobbies that your whole family likes to do, and do them often!  Play board games, go hiking, skiing, or skating.  Learn to dance, go swimming or learn a new healthy recipe to make together.  Put your favourite devices in another room.  Turn off the TV and maybe put on some music instead if you are at home.  For a great family recipe, click here for our Chocolate Bread/Cake Recipe.

It’s so easy to surf the channels for something to watch, browse YouTube, hit Netflix or scroll through your social media feeds and relax.  But don’t forget to actually find some ways to spend time with your family and grow together.  Try learning a new skill, enjoying a new hobby or connecting more frequently with your loved ones.  Click here to discover 50 Fun Things to Do Outside With Kids as a Family.

Additionally, it is really important for you to turn your devices off at least an hour before bed to wind down naturally.  Many of us work on a computer during the day, on top of having our device attached to us.  The artificial light so close to our faces in the evening can wreak havoc on our circadian rhythm.  Evenings are a time to enjoy more dull light, to let our bodies know that it’s time to slow down and ease into sleep.  With having around the clock access to artificial light sources, it can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.  For more information, click here to read, “Ten Tricks To Get The Best Sleep EVER!”

So have fun developing some new hobbies with your family, and put your phone down every once in awhile!!!

Chiropractic Heals Nothing!

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subluxation

In the mainstream world, chiropractic is thought of as healing the back and neck pain.  However, in reality, chiropractic doesn’t heal anything!!  What it actually does is remove the interference (subluxation) in your central nervous system, which allows YOUR BODY to restore health through its innate healing abilities.  All on its own!!

Your body functions because your brain says it must. Your brain controls every aspect of your body with messages that are sent through your central nervous system which is encased by the bones of your spine.  If any of the bones in your spine become out of alignment, they put pressure on your nervous system.

Misalignments, also referred to as a subluxation, can happen from hunching over at your computer desk, continually looking down at your phone, or repetitive use injuries.  They can also happen due to stress, traumas and toxins.

chiropractic

When your spinal bones put pressure on your nervous system, the nerves are unable to properly send all of the messages from your brain to the rest of your body to allow your body to function and heal at 100%.

This is why it is critically important to have your spine checked regularly by a Doctor of Chiropractic.  They can identify areas in your spine that have shifted out of alignment, and adjust them back into alignment.

Once your bones are trained to stay back in alignment, the interference to your nervous system are removed.  Your brain can now regain the ability to communicate at 100% with the rest of your body.  Thus, allowing function and healing to return.

This philosophy is true of healing back pain and any other health condition experienced.  For example, if you had a subluxation (misalignment) at the area of your spine that allows the messages from your brain to get to your stomach, your stomach would be unable to function at 100%.  You may experience various digestive issues and discomfort.  By removing the interference to the nerves that direct the function and healing of your stomach, health is able to return. For further help with gut help, click here to read, “6 Easy Ways to Improve Your Gut Health”.

What Your Body Wants!

Your body wants to be at 100% health all of the time.  Give it the opportunity to create healing by removing the interference.  These interference’s are generally subluxations in your spine.  However, they can also be emotional stress and toxins you are exposed to.

To support your healing, it is important to feed yourself with care, try:

Have your spine checked to remove the interference’s from your nervous system so that you can express optimal health!  Click here to find a chiropractor in your area.

Remember, the very first subluxation happens at birth, so be sure to have your little ones checked too.