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Tag: lifestyle changes

All Detox Diets Are Not Equal

Detox diets are trendy today.

While each fad diet varies, typical characteristics are fasting followed by a strict diet of raw vegetables, fruits and water. Some detox diets also include colon cleansing and supplements. We’re constantly bombarded with novel detox diets and products in the media.

Like most fad diets, there is little evidence that unsupervised detox diets work. Fad diets aren’t the same as a medically supervised metabolic detox diet. It’s important to understand the difference and benefits between the two.

A metabolic detox diet, supervised by a medical professional, focuses on transporting toxins in your body to the liver or kidneys. Then, the body can eliminate the toxins by excreting them. This filtering process typically involves the digestive tract, lungs, liver and kidneys.

Some of the typical toxins eliminated from your body are:

  • Excess hormones
  • Inflammatory molecules
  • Prescription drugs
  • Alcohol
  • Fat-soluble substances

Many chronic illnesses build up over time with few, if any, symptoms in the early phases. Diseases such as arthritis, heart and lung disease, diabetes and high blood pressure are often attributed to toxins in the body. A medically supervised detoxification diet can flush out chemicals and toxins. Eliminating these toxins can help reduce or reverse the effects of many chronic illnesses without additional medications.

You shouldn’t undertake a strict detoxification diet on your own. Assessing and managing underlying health conditions are critical. Issues such as diabetes, blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and other chronic illnesses must be monitored by a health professional.

The more you and your medical professional knows about your body, the better your detox diet will work. At Serenity Health Care Center, we offer a professional detox approach to help our patients improve health. Call us today to find out more about how a metabolic detoxification diet can put you on the pathway to wellness.

5 Ways to Manage Stress

Stress is normal in today’s world. It seems to parade in front of most of us on a daily basis. When you or your loved ones are dealing with an injury or illness, your stress level gets a boost. My husband’s on-the-job injury resulted in fighting our way through worker’s compensation, medical complications and more. My stress level zoomed through the roof! Here are five ways I coped with stress along the way.

  1. Let go of what you can’t control. Stress is always worse when you when you try to control the uncontrollable. That’s easier said than done. You need to force yourself to focus on what you can control so you can move forward. When my husband was injured, stress became almost paralyzing. I had to force myself to take each step. Moving onward, even if it’s a small success, is empowering and reduces stress.
  2. Use exercise and hobbies as stress reducers. Don’t give up exercise, hobbies or nutrition. You must take care of YOU before you can take care of others. Make time to exercise. Do something fun. It’s easier to manage a stressful situation…and even ongoing stress…. when there’s something you enjoy doing on the horizon.
  3. Reduce extracurricular activities that you don’t enjoy. Trim activities that you don’t have to do and don’t enjoy from your “to do” list. Replace activities that are just taking up your time with things that you must do or enjoy doing. Freeing up time for other things reduces stress.
  4. Manage your time to reduce stress. If you’re letting you to-do list grow, it will soon overwhelm you. I did this when my husband was injured. Looking back, all I can say is: Wow, why did I allow myself to do that! I’m a good manager of time, so I can do a lot. But, there’s a limit on what any person can do. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Pick and choose so that you manage your time well.
  5. Attitude is gratitude. Look for the “pearls of wisdom” in situations. There’s always a benefit or something that you can learn, even if it’s not readily apparent. People who take the time to be grateful exude a more positive attitude. And, there’s your stress reducer.

Stress was such a big part of my life in the years following my husband’s injury that I decided to share my story to help others. You can read my story and learn more about how I coped during this time in my life in “The Dark Side of Injury”.

Are Your Health Insurance Premiums Going Up?

At the beginning of every year our health insurance premiums tend to go up instead of down even if you don’t use your insurance. It is not uncommon for you to see a 24% increase in rates on an annual basis.

Some employers create wellness programs in response to health insurance premiums increasing. Has your employer created a program for you to reduce your rates by quitting smoking, losing weight to reach your BMI (body mass index), lower your cholesterol, or blood sugar numbers?

This can feel overwhelming when you’re told you have to lose 15 lbs, lower your cholesterol by 20 points or get your blood sugar numbers down to normal in 8-5 weeks when you will be reevaluated. You do not need to feel bad about the changes that are needed. Look at these changes as a new life and a chance to lower your health insurance premiums.

Serenity Health Care Center can help you obtain all of these goals. We have holistic programs that will help you successfully reach your goals. Our holistic weight management program can change your life and help you create a weight management program that can become a new lifestyle. We offer a holistic cholesterol management program that contains weight and blood sugar control, cleansing, and biomedical approaches to help you reach your goals. All our programs are individualized programs that are created specifically for you.

Serenity Health Care Center will help you obtain your goals to get the benefits of lower health insurance premiums – CALL 262-522-8640 today!