January is often the time people make resolutions… to lose weight, stop smoking, be a better person. Resolutions almost always fall by the wayside when they are this short-sighted, but when they are looked upon as a lifestyle change, they have the power to do just that – change lives.
This year, a good start to changing your life might be to weave a naturopathic doctor into your wellness routine. A naturopathic doctor is different from a medical doctor in that, instead of focusing on medicine or surgery, they focus on preventative medicine and the body’s innate healing capacity. Licensed naturopaths attend four-year naturopathic medical schools, studying the same basic sciences as MDs, as well as a wide variety of natural therapies.
It’s a completely different way of looking at things, compared to the medical doctor/patient relationship that can result in expensive surgeries and medicated patients with masked symptoms but no real healing.
A compromise would be to have relationships with both a naturopathic doctor and a medical doctor, so the two models can complement each other should the need for medicine or surgery ever arise, with the ultimate goal being prevention and wellness.
According to Dr. Kim Furtado, a naturopathic physician in Lewes, Del., there are some very simple steps one can take if they want to have the best chance at preventing illness before having to treat it. She said teaming up with someone who knows about naturopathy and seeing if you are a good fit are a great place to start.
“You want to connect with someone,” she said, “and you want to start small.”
Small changes are something she recommends for those resolutions, too.
“I don’t believe in cleaning out your cupboards of all the food at once, but getting all your animal fats organic and starting to buy free-range organic meat are good places to start.”
She said pesticides and other chemicals often found in food bio-accumulate in fat, so starting there is a good first step to decreasing things your body doesn’t need while not shocking it.
“First, I’d get all the animal products organic, and then, secondly, start to look at your produce, and purchase from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) or food co-op, or buy in bulk.”
She said the improved connection with food helps people to really realize that what goes into their bodies makes a difference when it comes to wellness and prevention of disease. She also suggested going to seminars or lectures to learn more about how the food people eat affects how they feel.
Furtado also said a great way for people to look at resolutions more holistically would be, after they have examined the food they are putting into their bodies, to find a way to de-stress.
“Yoga centers often have free intro classes, and you can learn meditation techniques.”
Furtado explained that meditation and relaxation techniques help people to deal with the stresses of everyday life and help them to sleep better and “clear the mind.”
While naturopathic medicine is just as individualized as medical or surgical science, if not more, Furtado explained that these basics can help anyone who wants to actually change their life this year and not merely lose a few pounds or drop a pants size.
Another good benchmark is to get a complete blood count, metabolic panel, done – including a cholesterol test, a check of Vitamin D levels and a thyroid panel, which can be done by a medical doctor – and performing an overhaul of personal care products, which she said can often be endocrine disruptors and cause more harm than good, not to mention that many are petroleum or mineral–oil based.
Boiling things down to five steps, Furtado suggests that, in order to take a more holistic approach to resolutions and green your life, there are some simple ways to start the process:
(1) Find a holistic practitioner that you can trust
(2) Learn a meditation technique
(3) Clean your diet of pesticides and chemical residue
(4) Get basic lab work done (can be done with your regular medical doctor)
(5) Take a look at synthetic chemicals in personal care products, such as hair spray and makeup that can run the gamut from irritating to carcinogenic. (Buzzwords include parabens, phalates, sodium laurel sulfate, talc, tulene, formaldehyde and other ingredients that often turn up in those products, and which can be avoided — and at the very least, should be researched by their users.)
Furtado said you shouldn’t just start taking supplements without completing the necessary steps and establishing a relationship with a practitioner, but fish oil, a multivitamin, calcium magnesium and a green drink supplement are good things to research and ask about.
Going green is much more than putting up solar panels or changing your hot-water heater. Being green can be a lifestyle. Starting with what we put in and on our bodies, we can change the way we look at food, at agriculture, at health, at beauty.
Green doesn’t simply mean caring for the environment. It means being the environment. It means changing the environment in which we eat, the environment in which we do our hair, brush our teeth and prepare our food. Going green isn’t a new year’s resolution, something to be forgotten by mid-February.
It’s a lifestyle change.
For more information on how to choose a practitioner, visit http://www.holisticmedicine.org.
For more information on Dr. Kim Furtado, visit http://www.drkimfurtado.com.
Get green from the inside out!
• Watch what goes in your body by changing the way you eat (delawareorganics.com), testing your water (waterquality.delaware.gov) and watching what toxins get into your hair, skin and nails (www.ewg.org).
• Keep your environment healthy by visiting www.delawarehealthyhomes.org.
• Taking care of your own body and home is one thing, but to really make a difference that change has to multiply. Get active in making sure the environment, as a whole, is beneficial for those you love and generations to come. Plenty of organizations are out there every day, making sure basic things like clean air and water are a top priority. Find one and get involved!
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| accupuncture.pdf | 304.38 KB |
