Whole Health Healing
The Budget-Friendly Natural Wellness Bible for All Ages
Dr.Thomas J. Potisk
Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Thomas J. Potisk
All rights reserved.
Published by MavenMark Books, LLC
2625 South Greeley Street, Suite 201
Milwaukee WI 53207
www.mavenmarkbooks.com
ISBN:
Smashwords Edition
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Photography by John Lathrop and the author.
Cover design and illustrations by Czysz Design.
To my wife, Susan, and my three children,
Andy, Emily, and Mike.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to my office staff, my book coach/editor Kira Henschel, my colleague Dr. Jerry Zelm, and my many wonderful patients.
Thank you also to my graphic designer, Carolyn Czysz, model Shannon Carney, and photographer John Lathrop.
My gratitude to my family for their patience, understanding, and encouragement in writing this book.
Disclaimer
The contents of this book, all text, graphics, images, studies and information are for informational purposes only. The content is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read in this book. This information is not meant to prevent, alleviate, or cure any disease or disorder. Always seek the advice of a holistic-oriented physician, doctor of chiropractic, or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
The purpose of this book is to compliment, amplify, and supplement other text. You are urged to read all the available material, learn as much as possible, and tailor the information to your individual needs.
Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion within these pages or on our websites. Further, if you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek professional medical help.
Table of Contents
Preface: Here’s my outrage. Where’s yours?
Why I had to write this book
Chapter 1: What Is Real Health?
A new, practical definition that can help YOU (instead of helping your doctor become wealthy)
Chapter 2: Exercises That Really Work—and Those to Avoid
If it isn’t fun, it won’t get done
Chapter 3: Enjoying Eating
And doing it in ways that are good for you, without going hungry
Chapter 4: Your Posture
How to check it, improve it, and how it influences your health
Chapter 5: Structure-Based Healthcare
A forgotten, but important, priority and what it means for your well-being
Chapter 6: Help for Your Ailments
Common questions and practical answers
Chapter 7: Talking to Your Doctor
Using the power struggle to your advantage
Chapter 8: Strategies for Prevention of Illness
Saving time and money on your healthcare
Chapter 9: Growing Older and Really Enjoying It
Lessons from my observations of thousands of “primetime” patients
Chapter 10: Raising Healthier Children
Passing a healthier torch
3. Traditional and Modern Uses for Common Herbs
~Forthcoming books by Dr. Tom Potisk
~~~~~~~~~~~
Here’s my outrage. Where’s yours?
(Why I had to write this book)
I did not want to write a book. I did not want to be an author. But I had to. Let me tell you why. For over twenty years now, I've been a very successful doctor. I own and operate one of the largest natural healthcare clinics in the state of Wisconsin, serving thousands of patients each month, from infants to senior citizens, with a wide variety of health problems. Each and every case is uniquely interesting, and working with all these people has really taught me a lot of practical lessons about health, lessons that are not always taught in any schools—not only about becoming healthy (healing), but also about staying healthy (prevention). A calling to share this knowledge and experience, a sort of inner voice, has been nagging at me for years. I’ve suppressed it and swept it under the rug, using all kinds of excuses, like “no time,” “don’t want the hassle,” “don’t want the fame it might bring,” and even “can’t type well.” I can best describe the calling to bring this book into the world as an intense bother, a never-ending and gradually intensifying urge that could no longer be ignored.
Since you are now holding this book in your hands, you might suspect that I just caved in and wrote. But what really inspired me and got me started was when I recognized and defined my life’s purpose!
At some time in your life, you must have asked yourself the ageless question, “Why am I here?” Some people live their entire lives assuming they’ll never really know. Some know the answer from their earliest days of consciousness. Some answer it simply by observing their current state of affairs and stating, “I’m here to be the best spouse to …,” or “the best parent to …,” or “the best employee of …” Perhaps those responses are sufficient to some, but to me, those are givens.
I decided there had to be more, there had to be something deeper, something that would “rattle my soul” when I defined it.
# Have you ever explored what your life’s purpose may be?
In the hot summer of 2006, I crossed paths with two wonderful, insightful ladies who brought me closer to that “rattle”: Sunni Boehme, a self-defined “joy manager,” and Kira Henschel, a book coach. It all started when Sunni asked me the following profound question, explaining that the answer would satisfy my quest for purpose: “What do you want people to say about you at your funeral?” she asked.
“Why, do I look ill?” I replied.
“No,” she laughed. “What do you want engraved on your tombstone?”
I immediately recognized the point she was making and without hesitating, answered: “Here lies the guy who improved the world by empowering people to make wiser healthcare choices.”
Stating those words was the first time I was sure, without a doubt, of my purpose. The question was now how? On a small scale, I had been empowering thousands of individuals one on one over the past two decades through my clinic. It was time to move on and reach out to the millions of people I never had the chance to meet in person, to help each and every one in some way. How better to do so than by sharing my knowledge and experiences in healthcare with a book and more.
# Listen to what your mind is telling you and pray for some more direction. Pay attention to it and follow your intuition.
Much of that insight is about your life’s purpose and it’s important that you use and share it for the greater good of all. With the assistance of Sunni and Kira, I envisioned a mass multi-media health information outlet that anyone could access easily. It would contain simple, commonsense, natural (when possible), and practical procedures for people of all ages to help themselves become and remain healthy.
I also decided that any information I shared must be “clean.” By clean, I mean uninfluenced by commercial sponsorships from professional organizations, pharmaceutical or vitamin manufacturers, or other healthcare product distributors.
The book you hold in your hands is the beginning of this grand adventure. I present to you this book with great delight. You will find it easy reading, to the point, and full of practical tools. You might already be aware of many of the things I will be talking about, such as exercise, good nutrition, and more, but perhaps you have forgotten the details or are hesitant to apply that knowledge.
If you find yourself skeptical or surprised as you read, then congratulations! Those emotions are some of the first steps toward learning and being enlightened. I can assure you that everything you will read comes from my heart, soul, training, and most of all, experience.
I’m well aware that there are doctors who have practiced longer than I have, or have more training or more letters after their names. Some have done a good job sharing their experience with the masses. But my sharing is different in a more practical, simplistic, really usable form. I’ve always had a knack for condensing and simplifying things. Best of all it’s a practical, objective, and uninfluenced book, and that’s very rare these days.
On some pages, I’ll illustrate the text with stories from my practice, using a different font, like this:
~~~
All the information in this book is a compilation of my training and experience over the last 20-plus years. The actual words and sentences came to me, though, in a rather bizarre way. For years, this book was not so much on my mind, but rather, in my mind. I’d be doing some activity, not anything in particular, walking, working, even sleeping, and there it was, just as clearly as if someone were talking in my head. I tried ignoring it, and I worried because I’d heard that mentally ill people claim to hear voices.
Sunni, the self-described “joy manager” I mentioned above, really a life coach, taught me that those “voices” are usually a blessing of creativity, that I should embrace and recognize them, and use them for the greater good of all. So I started paying attention, first by writing the words and ideas down, then by dictating them into a tape recorder. Doing so gave me a deep feeling of relief. I found that what I was expressing was of profound content that people could use for their betterment, and that the words and information came more often and more easily if I was relaxed, not hungry, and well rested.
Being a Christian, I also came to recognize and realize that the inner voice, one’s calling and purpose is really divinely inspired. I began praying more frequently and intensely for answers and directions from God and Jesus, my personal savior. What you are reading here is really from my ultimate guide: The Holy Spirit.
~~~
Laughter is the best medicine so occasionally I’ll add some humor like this. The little smiley faces will appear before and after the humorous parts.
I treated a sweet, elderly lady named Myrtle on several occasions. During one visit, she mentioned she had recently had cataract surgery.
“Can you see better?” I asked.
She looked up at me, smiled, and said, “Well, I can see your gray hair now.”
(Don’t worry. All names have been changed to protect the innocent.)
Here’s My Outrage. Where’s Yours?
I sincerely want this book to be positive in content, to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to make wiser healthcare choices. However, sometimes the words you read might come across as a bit negative, critical, and even accusatory at times. Some of the schemes, scams, and darn right dishonesty in the healthcare system do need to be exposed for your benefit. I apologize in advance if what’s written here causes you to second-guess the healthcare provider you’ve trusted and counted on for so long.
For years, I’ve told my patients that my only concern, my only “agenda,” is for them to get and stay well. I have the same intentions with this book.
If you’re a doctor or healthcare provider of any kind and are reading this book, congratulations for at least opening it up! That alone shows that you want to improve your services. If some of what you see here makes you feel guilty about what you’ve been doing to people, that’s another step in the right direction. If this information makes you fear for a patient’s safety, you’ve got a lot to learn. I’ll put the safety record of natural providers like me up against that of conventional medical providers any time.
First they ignore you,
then they laugh at you,
then they fight you,
then you win.
—Mahatma Gandhi
I respect anybody’s decision to disagree with these writings, but I do believe the recommendations presented here should at least be tried and will help most people. I can’t promise to help everybody. If any doctor promises you a cure, don’t just walk away, run! You see, the human body is far too complex for anyone to ever make a promise like that. Confidence is only good to a point.
I didn’t write this book to gain friends; in fact, I expect to lose some when they come to realize what I stand for. I welcome critics and consider them blessings. Even the greatest healer ever known, Jesus, has his critics.
You won’t see me quoting much research, even though I do keep up with what’s going on in the healthcare field. I’ve learned to be very suspicious of much of the published information, mainly because it doesn’t take long before the results of one study contradicts another. Much of the so-called science coming out these days has more to do with business and the marketing of products than with good health. I recognize science as being valuable but not when it belittles common sense.
~~~
For years I’ve tried, really tried hard, to open the lines of communication between mechanistic health professionals (mainly medical providers) and vitalistic health professionals (like myself who focus on the inborn healing ability of each person). I attempted this because increased cooperation between health providers would be more beneficial to patients.
On the rare occasion when I did manage to get some attention from other healthcare providers, they may have acted interested in what I was proposing; however, it soon became apparent that he or she wanted me to refer my patients for drugs and surgery, even if the patients did not need anything more than the care I was providing. For the record, I have never hesitated to refer patients for medical care when they really needed it.
Several examples of deft and clever attempts to win over my referrals include a pain management doctor who specialized with injections of drugs directly into the spine. He started dropping off basketball tickets and bottles of fine wine at my office. A radiology clinic brought golf balls and invited me to expensive dinners, urging me to send more patients to them for highly profitable MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging). I could go on and on.
Sadly, in over two decades of reaching out, I can’t say I really connected with any medical providers. I can’t help but chuckle when I hear the stargazers ask, “Is there any intelligent life out there?” I can relate.
Astronomical antenna
~~~
The principles and practices of getting and staying healthier presented in this book are not all new or revolutionary. Many are basic concepts like making better food choices and getting more exercise that have remained unchanged over time, but have been too difficult or confusing. The new advancements in healthcare featured in the media like full body diagnostic scanning to detect early problems (expensive and rarely helpful) or the endless advertisements for new drugs (with lots of expensive side effects), are tending to drown out the basic commonsense principles and practices of getting and staying healthy. Bringing the basic, age-old principles back into common practice is my intention with this book, not to mention some new, fresh concepts, like the importance of balanced body structure, that are suppressed by the medical industry for lack of understanding or, worse yet, economic advantage.
So my outrage lies with the current healthcare system. I see through the untruths told about what health really is. I see through the over-promotion. I see through the reluctance to fully reveal the dangers and side effects in the new advances except in fine print. Don’t misunderstand me; I realize that many modern healthcare procedures are lifesavers and miracles in and of themselves. But unless there is an emergency, or the simpler, more natural, commonsense approaches have failed, they should be delayed because of increased risk and expense.
~~~
I actually started out studying to be a medical doctor. I was following the pre-med program at the University of Wisconsin. As I progressed, I became more and more disenchanted with the system as I observed the focus on profit, the arrogance, the ignorance and disrespect for other healthcare ideologies, and the general unhappiness of those I was learning from. One fall afternoon, early in my pre-medical studies, as I was studying organic chemistry at the kitchen table, I overheard a program about chiropractic featured on a popular documentary-type TV show, 60 Minutes.
As it turned out, the show presented interviews of MDs (who I later found were misinformed) espousing the danger and lack of science behind chiropractic. But the program did provide a fairly accurate explanation of the chiropractic principle: how disturbed body structure particularly misaligned spinal joints) affects health through disruption of the nervous system. That made more sense to me than anything I’d learned about medical care at school so far. The physicians were followed by interviews of several chiropractic patients who extolled the benefits they’d received.
The next day, I was in the college library, looking up chiropractic, trying to navigate through the mostly negative, critical books about chiropractic to find the truth. Within days, I made up my mind that chiropractic was the career I was looking for. My med school colleagues soon abandoned me, considering me a traitor. Off I went to four more years of chiropractic training at the renowned Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.
~~~
The Smoke and Mirrors of Drugs
Can you see through the smoke? Have you noticed the increasing number of advertisements for medications in the media? Have you looked at all that fine print at the end or back pages of magazine drug advertisements? Those are the potential side effects known about—so far! Worse yet, the investigative teams/ researchers who are supposed to determine and report the potential side effects are most likely employed by the manufacturers of the drug, creating a tremendous potential for dishonesty. Have you noticed attractive, sharply dressed young people frequenting your medical doctor’s office? Many of them are drug salespeople, who come bearing gifts like free tickets to sporting events, seminars in exotic places, pens, stacks of sticky notes, and prescription pads with the drugs’ names already on it, in hopes of influencing our doctor to prescribe their particular drugs.
Have you noticed the numerous professionally produced news clips about the newest advances in medical care, whether it be a new surgical procedure, medication, or injection? Those are produced and distributed by public relations firms working for the medical societies and drug manufacturers!
If we don’t hang together, we’ll each hang separately.
—Benjamin Franklin
Have you noticed the price of all that fluff? My neighbor told me his wife recently went through a procedure to take care of a lump in her breast. She’s doing fine and certainly needed medical care, but when the bills were tallied, they amounted to a whopping $153,000.00! And how about the many people paying hundreds of dollars for medications each month. Don’t worry, the new Medicare drug plan will cover it. Ha! We all pay for it in higher taxes!
If you’re not as outraged by this as I am, I call on you to become outraged. I can’t accomplish this plan to improve the world alone. I need your help!
I want you to go about your healthcare differently, more intelligently, and for the better. Don’t abandon or completely alienate yourself from your old ways but build on them. Don’t quit medical care cold turkey. Not all of what you are, or were, doing is bad. The information contained in this book is in no way a substitute for any other healthcare you may need. I’m not stating this as a cop-out the way many other health writers do, as they hope to avoid legal troubles. My point is that you may need help other than what I offer here; don’t hesitate to seek it out. I’ll help you with getting the best of both worlds (holistic/natural healing and medical) with the suggestions I give you in my favorite chapter, Chapter 7, “Talking to Your Doctor.”
# I propose that health be a priority and a personal responsibility. And I propose that health through natural methods, through commonsense principles and practices, be the main source of health and well-being for everyone.
~~~
How is my my own health, you might wonder? For years, my medical bills have been at or near zero. Ditto for my wife and three children. No, we don’t always feel perfect. If you think we should or that you should, then you really need to read Chapter 1, “What is Real Health?”, where I explain what health really is. If you want to know our secrets for doing so well, you’ll learn it all in this book. We practice what I preach. Yes, we expect to die someday; but at least we’ll die healthy!
~~~
True, the average person is living longer. But particularly for Americans, overall health is declining. People are fatter, lower in energy, less active, on more medications, and paying more for healthcare than ever before. But I call for more than just your outrage! And I need more than just your help! I need you to join me! You can start by taking better care of yourself and your family by using the information I provide in this book. Then spread the word to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
# Let’s have a healthcare revolution and take control of our well-being. Let’s get wild about our health!
Dr. Tom Potisk
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Chapter 1 What Is Real Health?
A practical definition of health that can help YOU (instead of helping your doctor become wealthy)
Ready for a shocker? The way you feel has very little to do with how healthy you are. That’s right. Whether you feel good or not doesn’t mean as much as you might think. Now notice I’m not saying it doesn’t mean anything.
The problem lies in the fact that most people believe that the way they feel means everything. I call it “worldly healthcare,” because it’s what most of the world mistakenly follows, particularly people in the U.S. Symptom relief is what most of modern medicine focuses on (mainly by writing prescriptions for medications) and is one of the ways they shortchange people because, quite often, the true cause of the symptom is not fully addressed. Now before you accuse me of being a fanatic or worse, know that I realize some medications are necessary. But let me remind you that our healthcare system is broken as I detailed in the Preface, and the prevalence of symptom relief through medication is a big part of the problem.
This concept is so important it bears repeating: The way you feel has little to do with how healthy you are. Until you can comprehend this, until you can accept it, and embrace it, you’re not truly enlightened and on your journey to better health. There is much more to real health than what you have been led to believe.
The assumed, incorrect definition of health as “an absence of symptoms” and its common misuse is responsible for millions of people being unhealthy and an equal number dying prematurely.
# The current healthcare system is severely flawed. Let’s look at health from a new, better perspective.
So, if health is not defined by how good or how sick you feel, then what is it? Check Webster’s Dictionary—you’ll see that health is truly defined as a condition of wholeness to which all of the organs are functioning 100 percent of the time; and the World Health Organization says that health is a state of optimal mental, physical and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmities. I’ll go a step further and state that spiritual well-being needs to be added.
The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature truly cures the disease.
—Voltaire
Now if you were to ask me, “Dr. Tom, having total mental, physical, and social well-being makes me feel good, right?” I would answer, “Not necessarily.” And if you would ask me,
“Not having total mental, physical, and social well-being makes me feel bad, right?” I would again answer, “Not necessarily.”
Here’s an example. If you accidentally ate some food that was spoiled, you might very well get some unpleasant symptoms like headache, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Suffice it to say, you feel awful. But these terrible feelings are simply the result of your body doing exactly what it should: expelling the toxins you swallowed as quickly as possible. In this case, you could be healthy, but feel awful.
Here’s another example, quite a common one, in fact. John or Mary was a picture of health, was never sick, didn’t smoke or drink, but dropped over suddenly from a heart attack. In this case, the person was unhealthy but felt good until it was too late. (Nearly every case of heart attack involves a long buildup of unhealthy heart tissue.)
~~~
Gary, a husky man of 58, recently retired, occasionally came into my clinic seeking help for sports injuries acquired during his frequent hunting and fishing excursions. As he described where he felt bad, where he had a muscle ache or sore back, he would always end his sentence with, “Other than that, my health is good!” Although I helped him with his backaches, he rejected my explanations of what real health is, not to mention my suggestions of how he could prevent further health problems.
One day, his wife called my office. She said Gary had died that morning from a massive heart attack simply upon rising from a chair. On top of that, she said he had had a thorough medical physical just days before. That’s a nice, quick way to go but I can’t help wonder if Gary would have enjoyed his retirement longer had he been wiser about his healthcare choices.
~~~
There are numerous examples of how you can feel lousy but be healthy, and vice versa. Cancer, for example, starts with the mutation of one cell and can commonly progress with no symptoms until it’s at an advanced stage. Some cancer is only found by accident, like when a doctor spots it during a routine X-ray. Here again, the patient was unhealthy all the time their cancer was progressing, but likely thought they were healthy because they felt no symptoms. In my own practice, as another example, I’ve seen many cases of arthritis on X-rays of my patients, yet upon questioning, they had no idea it was there. Having no apparent symptoms led them to believe they were healthy.
Another common example of how the presence or absence of symptoms does not define true health is fever. Rarely does your body ever raise its core temperature (fever) other than as a self-helping reaction to fighting a foreign invader like a bacteria or virus. Fever makes us feel awful, but in reality, our bodies are doing exactly what they should (real health), using our own natural healing ability. True, some fevers are a problem that need professional help, but in most cases, it’s best left alone and best to remember that healthy bodies use fever as a valuable tool to fight infection.
The vast majority of healthcare providers are getting wealthy through “sickness care” or “symptom relief” rather than true “healthcare.” Nearly the entire modern healthcare marketplace—hospitals, clinics, drug manufacturers, vitamin manufacturers, doctors, and so on—are banking on you to come running for help when you’re desperate and don’t feel good. Some will clean up even more when you feel good but don’t do anything to maintain real health, because soon you’ll not only come running, you’ll come running with an emergency like a heart attack or other silently accumulating problem. That is, if the undertaker doesn’t clean up first! Do you see the ridiculous cycle or trap it’s become? Some would say the current system has you “coming and going.”
This book, and your thorough understanding of what true health really is, will empower you to make better decisions not only when you are truly sick, but also concerning real practical prevention.
~~~
Have you ever noticed that the names of most prescription medications either start with or contain an unusually high number of letters from the end of the alphabet; for example: Valium®, Vytoxin®, Nexium®, Viagra®? Is it a coincidence? Not hardly!
You see, the medical/pharmaceutical industry is big business, we’re talking trillions of dollars. They do their homework, and they learned through market research that the public is more impressed with and will pay more for drugs that are named this way. Here are some more examples: Xanax®, Celebrex®, Vytorin®, Zoloft®, Prozac®, Paxil®, Vicodin®, Vioxx®, or Zantac®. They’re brilliant! Have they got you sold?
~~~
“Sickness” Insurance
Health insurance is a misnomer when you consider that it really doesn’t cover the true definition of health. They will provide payment for exams, X-rays, therapies, and surgeries for illnesses, accidents, and injuries (sickness care); but any costs associated with exercise, exercise equipment, vitamins, mineral supplements, eating healthier, guidance on lifestyle modifications, or periodic chiropractic preventive care (real healthcare) are rarely covered by health insurance policies. Sure, some health insurance companies now encourage smoking cessation classes, offer discounts at health clubs, and require regular wellness checkups. Those are all steps in the right direction, but still rare.
Nevertheless, “sickness insurance” would be a more accurate name for the coverage. Practically every week the newspaper features an article about the skyrocketing increases of health insurance premiums, and there is no end in sight. The current system is doomed to fail because of the flawed understanding of what health really is and the weak encouragement of prevention and personal responsibility. The larger the mess gets, the harder it will fall. It’s already slowly imploding now.
Evidence of this is seen in the growing numbers of uninsured people, the swelling incidence of obesity, and the public’s increasing unhappiness with the service they are getting in the healthcare marketplace. Health insurance has become big business and they want maximum profits.
No, I don’t think a government-run health insurance overhaul is the answer, either. That will be at most a temporary patch. The ultimate answer is in having wiser consumers and more personal responsibility. I want you to be a responsible, wiser consumer of healthcare; for most, all it takes is better understanding and some lifestyle changes.
~~~
Some make a good argument for a national health-care system. But I’m quite sure that would be a short-term fix and become a long-term nightmare. Case in point; I’ve been blessed to travel to several countries like England, Mexico, France, Belize, and Canada. They all have government run universal health coverage. As I’ve been driven through their cities by taxi, I‘ve noticed numerous private doctors’ offices.
When I ask the cab drivers if anybody can go there, the consistent reply I get is, “Yes, anybody can go to those independent doctors, but we must pay out of pocket for that good care. If we want to see the government doctors, we go to the public clinic, take our chances, and, most times, wait a long time.”
~~~
Money Well Spent
The idea of spending money to maintain your well-being is the same principle involved in maintaining your home, car, or anything you own. You are responsible for spending a little regularly to avoid bigger expenses later. As an analogy consider this: if you avoided some car maintenance like oil changes, you’d be able to keep driving your car for quite a while, saving a few bucks. Eventually, though, you’ll face an engine rebuild that costs hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
~~~
A (50-something) lady named Julie periodically sought my help for her fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. She responded well, understanding the principles by which I practice, and was enlightened about what true health means, but she acted on very few of my lifestyle recommendations like exercises, nutritional supplements, detoxification, and massage. I was confused by her lack of action. While she sought relief from the pain and lack of energy, she seemed to be focused only on what her health insurance would or would not cover, even though she and her husband drove new cars, owned a nice house, traveled frequently, and appeared to be well off. On one visit to my office, she told me a recent flare-up of her illness was due to stress, worry, and general unhappiness. Since she never seemed to follow much of my advice, I suggested she see a colleague whom I thought might be able to help her symptoms.
She responded with, “I know, I know, there are lots of things that could help me, but I just can’t bring myself to spend the money!”
~~~
I truly believe some people have gotten conditioned or brainwashed into believing that if their health insurance doesn’t cover certain procedures, they can’t or shouldn’t have them. I know some truly can’t afford what they need, but I see many people who convince themselves that they won’t afford it. What are your priorities when it comes to your own and your family’s well-being?
You will have to spend some money and time to obtain and maintain true health, but it’s money well spent. It’s an investment. What good is a fat savings account if you’re not able to be active and enjoy it? Investing in yourself is the best investment you can make. Be wary of financial advisors who don’t have that outlook. Your wellness must come first.
A prevailing myth is that people get sick because of bad luck, bad germs, or bad genes. I say that the leading cause of death is really suicide by lifestyle choices. You don’t have to be a part of the insanity of how most of the world sees health: waiting until you have symptoms and then covering them with higher risk and more expensive prescription medicines.
# Let’s keep our private health insurance, modifying it, or at least not expecting it to cover much more than our crisis needs and emergencies. We’ll beat the system at its own game by investing in ourselves, taking responsibility for improving and maintaining our well-being (real health), and keeping control of what’s best for us.
That’s what I earlier referred to as “worldly healthcare.” There is a better way: focus on your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Details about how to prevent illness and maintain health are provided in later chapters, but I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that it’s really about the choices you make. For example, are you going to spend hundreds or maybe even thousands of dollars for a big-screen TV with monthly cable charges, or will you commit that time and money to improve the well-being of your family? I’m not saying you shouldn’t have luxuries like that big TV, but I am saying you ought first be spending money for better, fresher food (organic), regular holistic preventive treatment (massage, chiropractic, nutritional supplements), physical recreation (bicycling, hiking, skiing, swimming), and exposing yourself and your family to positive, uplifting, and inspiring information and education (reading, lectures, classes, better quality schools). Simply having the ability to make these choices is a blessing in itself. Don’t throw that away.
Be prepared for ridicule from adversaries if you choose to put into practice your new-found enlightenment about true health and that it really involves taking responsibility for your own well-being. Most of the world is on the other side of the fence. Their focus is on taking the short road to instant gratification with things like materialism, accumulating debt, and covering symptoms with medication. Einstein said, “Great spirits have always encountered resistance from mediocre minds.”
# Expect criticism because we seem different to those who don’t yet have the enlightenment about health that we do. They’ll accuse us of being fanatics or belonging to a cult simply because we take better care of ourselves through things like better eating, exercise, and structural balance. But don’t mock others who are still trapped by the old system. Help them to gently see the truth about their choices. Sometimes all you can do is plant seeds.
Also be aware that the providers of that old, insane system of what they call healthcare are also well entrenched, partly because that’s where the big bucks are. The medical industry is very profit driven, and it won’t budge easily. Bartholomew Joshua Palmer, the developer of the chiropractic profession said, “The path of least resistance makes rivers and men crooked.”
If the better way fails you, you can always cross back over to the other side for traditional medical help. Traditional medical care works wonderfully in crisis situations, like heart attacks, stroke, broken bones, open wounds, and so on. Seek that help immediately when needed, but do so cautiously and with an escape plan.
~~~
Karrie, a patient of mine, told me she was worried about her 81-year-old mother who had been suffering with a respiratory infection for several weeks. Her mother refused to visit any doctors due to pure stubbornness. I volunteered to call her mother and urge her to get some medical care, warning her of the risk of pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses.
Karrie’s mother cussed and swore and promptly hung up on me. Karrie later told me that her mother soon did go to the medical clinic and got the help she needed. Soon after, her mother became my patient, thanked me and utilized the preventive care I offer. I shared with her much of what you read in this book.
~~~
If you’re hesitant at this point to accept this more logical way of looking at health, that’s okay. This is a big change for most people and it takes time. Many people get confused because the media (where most people get their health information) is slanted toward their advertisers, favoring the popular “worldly healthcare” system. Also, it’s easy to focus on the exceptions rather than the rules. For example, we all know or have heard of somebody who lived into their 80s, 90s, or beyond, smoking, drinking alcohol, eating poorly, breaking all the rules for true well-being. That does happen but it’s far from common. And consider how much more fulfilling, rewarding, and productive a life like that could have been, had they followed at least some well-being concepts. Quality of life is overlooked for length of life. Consider this half-truth: you’ll see frequent reports about how the average longevity is increasing year after year. It’s true but they fail to mention that true health, as defined by well-being, is decreasing. Also, they don’t mention that the life expectancy in the U.S. still lags far behind many other countries, even though we have the easiest access to all the modern “health” technologies.
# Let’s be wise to the current “sickness-care” system, use it when necessary, but focus our efforts on true health, our physical, mental, and social well-being.
# Share your knowledge and experience because you care. It’s awfully hard for others to chastise you if you’re sincere. At the very least, try asking, “Have you considered some natural approaches?” or “Can I suggest a book called...?” (Hint, hint). If you at least make a suggestion, then you have fulfilled your responsibility. The guilt of not doing so is worse than the rejection or ridicule you may encounter.
Lifestyle Changes
So for now, relax and take a quick survey of your own well-being, and enjoy reading all of this book. Physical well-being involves eating properly, exercising regularly, and maintaining structural balance. Mental well-being involves feeding your mind with positive material, learning new things, and helping others. Spiritual well-being involves learning more about yourself, where you came from, your purpose, and where you’re going. Which of these areas do you think you need to work on? For most of us, the answer is “all of them.” Don’t be overwhelmed. Pick one that really strikes a chord with you and focus on just that. You’ll find details on each of these items in this book.
A man and his wife were sitting in recliners, watching television and drinking beer. The man turned to his wife and said, “Honey, I want you to know that I don’t ever want to be left in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine, and given fluids.” So his wife got up, unplugged the TV, and threw away all of his beer!
Well-being Checklist:
~ Daily exercise
~ Eating several portions of fresh vegetables and fruit daily
~ Prayer
~ Learning something new
~ Minimizing alcohol
~ Complete relaxation
~ Several glasses of pure water daily
~ Stretching and balancing body structure
~ Good postural habits
~ Generosity
~ Reading positive, uplifting material
# Relax and enjoy learning about this new way of enhancing the quality of your life. We’re talking about lifestyle changes, so that will take some time and patience.
I’m always amazed at how much healthier people can become by making even one change. Weight management, for example, when practiced as a long-term lifestyle change, can produce astounding benefits. Chapter 4, “Enjoying Eating,” shows you how to accomplish it. Chapter 6, “Help For Your Ailments,” contains numerous examples of practical applications to deal with common health problems. It’s also important to focus your efforts on prevention after gaining control of your illness. You’ll find that practical plan in Chapter 8, “Strategies for Prevention of Illness.”
But first, can you accept these new ideas? What wake-up call do you need—cancer, a heart attack? By then, it may be too late!
~~~
Throughout my career, I’ve helped a lot of people with their back pains. My success rate is very high, in the 90 percent range. One challenging case was an overweight young man named Ernie. His back pain responded well to my treatment, but he’d feel better for only a few days, then the pain would return. This went on for weeks. He was getting angry with me for the repetitiveness of treatment, and I was getting angry with him because we both knew his weight was the holdup and he wasn’t following any of my weight-loss recommendations.
After one of the treatment sessions, we both blew up, flying off the handle with our words. I said, “You’re not getting better because you’re fat! Your poor little backbones can’t hold all that weight!” Ernie turned red in the face and stormed out of the office. I never thought I’d see him again. It shook me up also, but I had to give him a wake-up call.
One year later, a young, trim gentleman stopped in the office. I noticed tears in his eyes. He said, “Do you recognize me? I’m the guy you scolded for being too fat. No one ever made that so clear to me before and it hurt my feelings, but it made me start eating smarter and exercising. The back pain that bothered me for years finally is gone thanks to your treatment and wake-up call. I just wanted to stop in and thank you.”
~~~
Symptom Covering
Be wary of symptom covering. This is the mainstay of current worldly healthcare. You go to the doctor with a symptom, you walk out with something to cover it up. I don’t blame you for wanting relief, especially in the most extreme situations. But consider that the symptom is a signal that your well-being is weak in some area. Simply covering it is temporary and may result in something worse down the line.
Returning to our car analogy: If your oil pressure warning light turns red on your car’s dashboard, would you cover the light and keep driving, or would you stop as soon as possible and check the oil level? If you had to proceed driving your car with the red oil warning light on, you would do so cautiously, knowing that you must address the cause of the warning soon, before more serious, more expensive damage occurs. If you have to cover up one of your body’s symptoms, proceed in this same cautious fashion and with a plan to soon seek the source of the symptom.
Consider also that covering symptoms might suppress your body’s inherent ability to heal. For example, in the earlier example where someone had food poisoning, taking medication to ease those symptoms might very likely prolong that illness, because the body produces those uncomfortable symptoms to eliminate the toxins. Minimizing or eliminating the symptoms would allow the toxins to remain.
When you have a cold or flu, the fever, tiredness, aches, and weakness are symptoms your body uses to force you to lie down and rest. If you can’t rest, then at least reduce your work load or activity level. The fever is your body’s inherent knowledge to alter your temperature to create an undesirable environment for the bug that caught you. The nasal discharge or frequent bowel movements are a similar story. Does it make sense to cover or eliminate all these? Of course not. Your body is doing exactly what it needs to. Leave it alone if at all possible. Perhaps help yourself by drinking extra water, soaking in a hot bath, and setting up a vaporizer in your sleeping quarters.
# Help your body; don’t fight the symptoms.
Focus on strengthening your body’s natural defenses and resistance. The result will be faster recovery and stronger immunity to prevent a recurrence. A good adage to remember when you get a flu or cold is that “you don’t really catch germs; they catch you when your resistance is down.” So focus on increasing your resistance. Strengthen your immunity with things like more rest, a chiropractic adjustment, more fluids, nutritional support like Vitamin C, and so on. If you absolutely have to take a pill or potion to have relief, then do so as minimally as possible, and try the natural approaches as presented in Chapter 6, “Help for Your Ailments.” Save the medications as a last resort.
~~~
An elderly lady named Carol, a patient of mine for many years, came into my office for treatment of her neck problems. She had tears in her eyes because her son, James, had recently died from addiction to prescription pain killers. I remembered James; he had been a patient of mine a few years before, appeared to be a trim, fit young man, but was non-compliant, meaning he didn’t follow my directions for easing his knee pains. James chose the worldly path, the path of least resistance, and decided it was easier to get a pain medication prescription instead of the natural help I had to offer like chiropractic treatment and some rehabilitative exercises.
Over the years since James was in my office, I’d heard from his mom, Carol, about how he’d been struggling with an addiction to those pain meds. I tried to suggest some help such as a thorough internal cleansing that might help him, but all Carol said at the time was, “We’ll see.” I believe Carol’s lack of assertiveness here contributed to her son’s demise. Sometimes we all need to be more outspoken.
~~~
# When you’re feeling great, let that also be a calling to actively pursue and maintain your wellness and keep it a priority. That’s how we’ll laugh at and beat the current racket. Make your well-being a way of life!
If you currently have no symptoms, congratulations! But you’ve got a real challenge. Can you accept that you may still be in great danger? The “worldly way” would be to tell yourself that “all is fine.” Those are famous last words. I can assure you there is trouble brewing if you’re not focusing on maintaining your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Go ahead, take a chance at doing nothing.
Accepting and living your life in accordance with the true definition of health is more respectful of your creator. If you tell me that you don’t believe in a creator, I’ll slam dunk that argument by pointing out that human physiology is highly organized, and there is no organization without higher intelligence. Abandoning or ignoring the body’s innate healing ability is a total disrespect for the intelligence of the creator.
As a Christian, I’m amazed how many fellow Christians and others who believe in creation by a higher power, claim to be wise to the ways of the world, but then never question the “worldly ways” of healthcare. I teasingly call them “healthcare heathens.” Not all invasive procedures, such as surgeries and medications, are bad. Certainly, many are gifts from God, even miracles at times, and many doctors, clinics, and hospitals are excellent, but let’s not get the priorities mixed up. The body’s inherent, God-given healing ability needs to be respected and given priority, instead of circumvented.
A Vitalistic Person:
~ Believes in a vital force that exists outside and animates the body.
~ Believes a human is made up of more than just chemical elements and compounds.
~ Believes a human’s organization and animation comes from a “Creator.”
~ Has more respect for the spirit/soul.
~ Has more respect for common sense/principles and intuition.
~ Has less respect for scientific research.
~ Questions conclusions based on partial facts.
~ Focuses more on the spiritual.
~ Believes a human is more than a machine.
~ Believes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
~ Focuses on removing interference to allow “real health.”
A Mechanistic Person:
~ Believes a human is made up of just chemical elements and compounds.
~ Believes a human’s organization and animation comes from “self.”
~ Questions the existence of the spirit/soul.
~ Has less respect for common sense/principles and intuition.
~ Relies mainly on scientific research.
~ Makes conclusions based on partial facts.
~ Focuses less on the spiritual.
~ Believes a human is more of a machine.
~ Believes a human is equal to the sum of its parts.
~ Focuses on adding to (medications) and/or removing (surgery) to allow relief of symptoms.
The care and advice that doctors like myself offer can be termed “vitalistic,” meaning alive with a vital, spiritual, internal guiding force. We say all true healing comes from within, and that there is more to a person than just the sum of his or her parts.
True or Real Health:
~ Focuses on principles.
~ Emphasizes optimal function.
~ Takes an inside-out approach (improves oneself).
~ Seeks underlying source of symptoms.
~ Practices prevention by action to improve oneself.
~ Accepts that some symptoms are actually good.
~ Uses a proactive approach.
Apparent Health:
~ Focuses on research studies.
~ Emphasizes absence of symptoms.
~ Has an outside-in approach (through medication/surgery).
~ Covers symptoms.
~ Attempts prevention through periodic testing.
~ Practices a “waiting-for-a-breakdown” approach.
***
Some Side Effects of Common Types of Over-The-Counter (OTC) Drugs
All OTC drugs also interact with prescription medications, so always consult with a physician if you are using these. Check for the following ingredients on any OTC drug.
HEARTBURN DRUGS: ANTACIDS
Examples: Aluminum-magnesium, magnesium, calcium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate
Some side effects: Thirst, stomach cramps, whitish discoloration of stools, constipation, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, difficulty urinating, mood swings, muscle weakness or pain, swelling of feet or ankles. Can also mask stomach ulcers and stomach cancer. Excessive calcium carbonate intake can cause kidney stones.
HEARTBURN DRUGS: ACID BLOCKERS
Examples: Cimetidine, famotidine, nizatadine, ranitidine
Some side effects: Abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, headache, joint pain, dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, insomnia, hallucinations,; impotence and enlarged breasts in men. Prolonged use can also mask stomach ulcers and stomach cancer.
PAIN RELIEVERS
Examples: Aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen
Some side effects: Heartburn or indigestion, stomach cramps, nausea, decreased clotting; bloody or tarry stools, with prolonged use, rebound headaches, anemia, kidney or liver damage.
ORAL DECONGESTANTS
Examples: Pseudoephedrine
Some side effects: Restlessness, nervousness, insomnia, headache, sweating, difficult or painful urination, nausea, shortness of breath.
TOPICAL DECONGESTANTS
Examples: Oxymetazoline, phenylephrine
Some side effects: Burning, dryness, stinging inside nose, nasal discharge, sneezing, headache, irregular heartbeat, blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness, insomnia.
***
Recently in my local newspaper was a front-page article about a group of high school students. They were caught skipping school and getting high on cold medicine. As a result, some needed emergency medical assistance. I bet they hadn’t been taught much about respect for their bodies or health. Instead, they were most likely influenced by what they observed their parents doing or what they saw on TV. When Mom and Dad don’t feel good, they reach for medicine to feel better, just like on TV. When teenagers are feeling a little down, heartbroken, or are low on self-esteem, what do you think they’ll reach for when they’ve grown up in an environment that lacks respect for the well-being of the body?
Wouldn’t the respect I propose be one of the answers to the recreational drug problem? Do you see how important the focus on true health needs to be and how it could influence future generations like your own children and grandchildren? Do you see why I had to do something about it? Why I call for a revolution in the introduction of this book? Will you help?
The Bible says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? Therefore honor God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:19).
# We can really improve the whole world by improving how we go about our health. Young people are watching and learning from us. Treat your body as if it’s a temple housing your spirit. We are responsible for setting a good example. Think of the consequences our actions are having on generations to come.
Make your health a priority. Be passionate, be “wild” about your health and well-being! Don’t just focus on symptoms, focus on wellness. Utilize invasive procedures only when absolutely necessary. Learn and use natural methods, like those I cover in this book. Respect your body’s inborn ability to get and stay healthy.
The World’s Greatest Tragedy
Some say hundreds of thousands have died. Others say it was millions. No one will ever know for sure, although the death toll is certainly much higher than that of all the wars combined through history. Nonetheless, the numbers are still growing each day. Yes, this battle is still going on, even as we speak. Will you or a member of your family be the next victim? It’s a real possibility.
The battle I refer to is between healthcare philosophies: mechanistic/ allopathic/ medical versus vitalistic/ holistic/ chiropractic/ clinical nutrition/ acupuncture and massage. The deaths inadvertently induced by a physician or surgeon, treatment, or procedure are shown in the following table:
U.S. Deaths from medical care complications (last 20 years)—estimated 20 million
vs. U.S. Deaths from all wars (last 200 years)—estimated 1.2 million.
If you rely solely on the advice of one or the other type of practitioner, you can be caught in the middle, possibly becoming collateral damage. There can be no ultimate winner. Only mutual cooperation can end the battle, because both sides hold benefits for the public. The vitalistic/holistic side openly and voluntarily comes to the bargaining table regularly, almost pleading to be heard. The mechanistic/allopathic side is already holding most of the territory, most of the inhabitants, and most of the assets. The vitalistic side holds on with higher safety, patient satisfaction, and patient approval.
Deaths occur when patients don’t get the best choice of treatment. Due to the lack of cooperation, patients are at risk because of the high incidence of medication side effects or complications of surgery. Fatalities due to complications are called iatrogenic deaths and their total dwarfs those of all the war deaths combined. As the table and graph above indicate, some scholars believe that these iatrogenic deaths are the leading cause of death. I truly believe many could be prevented had they gotten holistic care. Many patients may never have known that there were other options to surgery and drugs. Similarly, patients are at risk when they have conditions too complicated and too serious to be dealt with adequately through holistic methods.
This turf battle dilemma leaves patients caught in the middle, forcing some to choose and rally on one side or the other. The better choice is to utilize the benefits of each, but deciding when to use one or the other isn’t easy at times. It’s perfectly clear to me and will be to you as you read this book that generally, in non-emergency situations, it is better to choose the less invasive, more natural, holistic treatment, and relying on the allopathic side for a backup or at least some relief until the body has time to do its healing.
Currently, this protocol is reversed but slowly changing. There is a slow increase in cooperation among the philosophies. Some allopaths, however, are beginning to embrace some utilization of holistic care, but instead of referring cases to properly trained, qualified, and licensed practitioners, they attempt performing natural treatments with little or no experience.
Economics is a major factor at work on both sides, the holistic side not wanting to lose what little market share it has and the allopathic side not wanting to give up any piece of the pie.
One would expect that malpractice lawsuits or licensing boards would settle this matter, driving each side to do what’s best for the consumer, the patient. To some extent, those controls do work, but the vast majority of the malpractice lawsuits are initiated by patients suing medical personnel and institutions for mistakes and complications, and the vast majority of disciplinary actions from the licensing boards are found to be on the medical side and the abuse therein. This further reinforces my notion that the protocol for healthcare is reversed, as evidenced by the fact that lawsuits against holistic providers are rare due mainly to the safer, less invasive treatment.
In my eyes, altruistic cooperation between the holistic side and the allopathic side is the only solution. Unfortunately, it won’t come easily and the media, government agencies, and corporate world seem biased toward the old allopathic order. Market forces are ultimately in control as patients vote with their feet. What I mean here is that a shift will occur in healthcare as patients become wiser with their choices. I’m happy to be a part of that with this book.
# Let’s all demand the cooperation needed for our well-being. Insist that your doctor communicate with all your other healthcare providers.