Monday, July 19, 2010

Summer is here!

No more teachers, no more books, and no more schedules. Summer is a great time here in the Okanagan, a time where we get to bask in the glory of the valley, take in the sights and entertain all the company that comes to visit.

It’s not a time where we are all that conscious of stress, getting sick, or having to worry about too much other than what we’re going to do this weekend or how we’re going to spend our holidays.

Unfortunately colds, flus, sunburn, food poisoning and heat stroke don’t take a vacation, and air quality in these parts can be pretty bad when the summer fire season is upon us. This month’s article is about getting, and staying healthy throughout the summer months and it’s going to be a short article – because staying healthy is easy.

All you need to do is eat well, take a high quality supplement to fill in any gaps in your diet, exercise regularly, get a good night’s sleep, maintain a positive mental attitude and have a properly functioning nervous system. If you’re having a hard time getting any one of those elements into your regular routine, there are many resources for you to take advantage of including Nutritionists, Personal Trainers, Chiropractors, Counselors and Naturopaths.

If you have those six elements as part of your daily routine, maintaining your great health is a cinch!

Now back to that summer sickness stuff. The warm weather, and poor air quality makes for challenges when you’re getting outside for your daily exercise. Of course you can always head indoors for your workouts, to your local gym or to your home exercise equipment, or you can consider getting up early or scheduling your workout later in the evening when the temperatures cool down. My personal favourite in the summer is to take my workout to the lake and swim! By making these easy changes, you can avoid breathing difficulties, dehydration and heat stroke or exhaustion.

Now that we’ve got your summer workout sick-proofed, we’re going to address your summer diet. Picnic season brings with it potato salad, shrimp cocktail and various other potential food poisoning hazards. The warm weather means that these foods are going to perish a little sooner so be careful about how long they’re not refrigerated, carry lots of ice packs and better yet, get a great cooler bag instead of that old wicker picnic basket.

Sunburn is a major concern of mine recently with the new recommendations of recent research that most sunscreen is more carcinogenic (cancer causing) than the effects of the sun itself. There are organic and non-chemical brands of sunscreen out there that are safe, so do your research when choosing the right one for your family. For those folks who have decided to forgo sunscreen entirely, cover up accordingly, seek the shade and limit your sun exposure to the morning and evening when possible.

Finally, the common cold and flu do not take time off. Even though it is not “flu season”, we still have to maintain good preventive practice to avoid getting and spreading illnesses. This means washing hands regularly with soap and water, cleaning often used surfaces with soap and water, coughing or sneezing into your sleeve not your hands and getting sufficient rest to allow your body to not be run down and susceptible to getting sick.

Maintaining a healthy immune system is crucial to avoiding getting sick and fighting off those illnesses if you do get them. If you find that you get sick a lot more than someone else you know, ask them if they’re sleeping, eating, exercising, thinking positive thoughts and getting adjusted by a chiropractor. You won’t be surprised to find out that they are.

Questions? Contact Dr. Sarah Tremblay and Dr. Travis Pillipow at 250-454-9474, or email at info@healthinhand.ca

Dr. Travis Pillipow DC, BSc.
Dr. Sarah Tremblay, DC BHPE
Health In Hand Family Chiropractic
104-1195 Industrial Rd.
Kelowna, BC VIZ 1G4 250-454-9474
http://www.healthinhand.ca/
Adjusting you for a better life!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Your Body Is Smarter Than You

Our profession is known for its natural approach to health. We always promote a drug free non-invasive method to achieving wellness. Believe it or not, that’s a difficult line to tow these days. The natural human tendency when we’re in pain is to want to stop that pain, and with pharmaceutical advancements we are able to do that with just about every form of illness – quickly. Even with many years of natural health training and teaching when we both got a touch of food poisoning this past weekend, we wouldn’t have wished it on anyone and would have done anything to make it go away. Suddenly taking a Gravol or Pepto Bismol didn’t sound so bad.

We were both able to resist the temptation and the pharmaceutical norm and we’re both still here to tell the story. Really all it took was listening to our own advice, the advice that we give our patients all the time; that your body is smarter than you! The truth of it is that taking an anti-emetic (stop throwing up medicine), can actually put your body at greater risk for bigger trouble down the road. Your very smart body has recognized a poison in your system and is doing it’s best to get rid of it. If you stupidly (as in not as smart as your body) try to stop that from happening, the toxin can stay there for longer causing further damage to you and your poor digestive system. Not to mention the toxic effects of putting a foreign chemical substance in your very intelligent body that it is unable to recognize and has difficulty processing.

Your body is smarter than you, it knows what to do, so just let it!

We were watching an old episode of Two And A Half Men last night and for those of you who have seen the show know that one of the main characters is a chiropractor. In last night’s episode Alan the chiropractor had a headache and his son Jake suggested he take an aspirin. Upon being told that Alan didn’t believe in pills because they were artificial chemical compounds foreign to the body, Jake responded that pills must be safe because he sees them on TV all the time and TV wouldn’t lie.

It seems a little crazy when you see that mentality in print, but next time you’re sitting down to watch your favourite show, take a count of how many drug commercials you see. From Advil to Tylenol and anti-depressants and cholesterol lowering agents, you are guaranteed to see not one, not two, but many every half hour. It’s astonishing really and it has become so normal that we don’t even notice it. Is it any wonder that when we think of illness that our next thought is of the corresponding drug to treat it?

Challenge yourself for the next week to recognize drug advertising and acknowledge that is in fact what it is – selling a product, not the honest truth. The next part of the challenge is to listen to your smart body. When you get a headache it’s definitely not because of an Advil deficiency, figure out what is causing that headache and make some natural changes. Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep last night, or maybe you’re dehydrated, perhaps you’re stressed. Get to the root of your problem to make it go away for good instead of having a pill tell your smart body to be quiet when it’s screaming at you that something is wrong.

Questions or Comments? Contact Drs. Pillipow & Tremblay at Health In Hand Family Chiropractic. http://www.healthinhand.ca/  or info@healthinhand.ca

Dr. Travis Pillipow DC, BSc.
Dr. Sarah Tremblay, DC BHPE
Health In Hand Family Chiropractic
104-1195 Industrial Rd. Kelowna, BC VIZ 1G4
250-454-9474
http://www.healthinhand.ca/
Adjusting you for a better life!

SUNSCREEN!!!!! This Month’s Health Tip

SUNSCREEN!!!!! The media has gone a little crazy in the last little while talking about the dangerous side of sunscreen. Research has shown that the artificial compounds and chemicals contained within most brands of sunscreen are actually more cancer causing than the effects of the sun itself.

We still have to worry about sunburn though, right?

Well you don’t have to give up sunscreen altogether.

Do your research and find an organic natural sunscreen to avoid toxic chemicals and stay out of the direct sun as much as possible. Avoiding the sun will also leave you with less wrinkles and sun spots as you age!


Questions or Comments? Contact Drs. Pillipow & Tremblay at Health In Hand Family Chiropractic. http://www.healthinhand.ca/  or info@healthinhand.ca

Dr. Travis Pillipow DC, BSc.
Dr. Sarah Tremblay, DC BHPE
Health In Hand Family Chiropractic
104-1195 Industrial Rd. Kelowna, BC VIZ 1G4
250-454-9474
http://www.healthinhand.ca/
Adjusting you for a better life!

Health In Hand Family Chiropractic Kelowna